Busy Busy Busy

My word, where did May go?

I suppose it flew by as the following things happened:

Alison and I helped our friends the Custers move into their new home.  We originally planned on actually shoving around boxes and trying not to throw out our backs, but when we started on the road and called Fiona, she said that what they really needed was someone to watch the girls.  Not a problem!  

Here is the hardest working mover of the day--little, sweet Megan.

Olivia, their 3.5 year old kept on introducing herself to people whose names she couldn't remember.  When took Alison and I downstairs to show us her new room (painted pink and green, of course!), she finally came across some people she actually knew.  Upon seeing them, she knew she had an opportunity to introduce us and act like she knew what was going on.  But the results were not as she expected; instead of handshakes and cordiality, she caused an uproar of laughter.  "These are my granddaughters, Tamsen and Alison!"

  Bahahahaaaa!  

My sister visited!  We started it out with lunch at my new favorite spot in downtown Littleton, The Fat Frog Cafe.  We ordered sandwiches and a S'mores crepe.  The crepe arrived midway through our sandwiches, and we literally stopped eating lunch to devour it.  Ohsogood.

We also went to the thrift store because I had 50% off coupons (call me a tightwad and laugh, and I will go along saving money using coupons at thrift stores.  Also I will laugh along with you because it is true).  While we are there, she finds this little gem:

Haven't seen a hair crimper since the early 90's?  Me neither.  She dubbed this the "best worst investment ever."  I think I would have to agree. All she needs is a neon mini skirt and an off-the-shoulder sweatshirt.

The band broke up.  And by that I mean the Skrabecs and I don't live together anymore.  With Amber also being in seminary now (yay!), they got offered a spot in the basement of a pastor's home.  And for all my California people, this isn't some creepy dirt-floor hole in the ground, from what I hear this thing is niiiiiiice.  Matt confessed the other day that they like to lay on the floor because the carpet is so wonderful.  

I ended up moving out a few weeks before them, because Justin and I were going to California and would be out of state when the lease was up.  So I got a darling little one bedroom apartment in downtown Littleton (just a 10 minute walk from the Fat Frog), complete with lots of sunny windows, a working air conditioning, a hall closet large enough to fit a third-world family, and hardwood floors.  Pavlov is getting more accustomed to the hardwood floors after skidding all over the place.  The first couple of days there he would only stay in my bedroom, where the carpet was secure enough for his little tootsies.

I'm so glad it doesn't look like this anymore.  But take cute of my fabulous red couch--only $50 off of Craigslist!

The day I signed my lease, Justin and I went to a concert of one of my favorite artists, Anais Mitchell.  So fabulous.  She also was 7 months pregnant at the time and looked super cute playing the guitar as it stuck out over her belly.  She and some other dude were opening for a show and played mostly songs from their new album together, which is only old Scottish and English folk ballads.  During the intermission, we got to meet her!  I was so starstruck all I could say was my name and that I had been listening to Hadestwon on repeat the last four years. She signed my vinyl copy of the album that Justin had sneakily acquired for me, and as we sat there for a few minutes, she asked about my name.  I gave her the abbreviated version of the story, and after I finished, she said, "Wow.  What a beautiful story.  As you can tell, I'm pregnant.  And my husband and I aren't finding out the gender of our baby until it comes.  But we are keeping our ears out for unique names.  I'll have to remember yours!"

Anais, pleasepleaseplease name your child after me. Thanks.

I rescued a lost dog!  Third one that I've rescued in the past year.  *toots own horn here*

  

Meet Sophie.  She ended up living across the street.

She wasn't lost for long, though.  Her owners came and picked her up about 45 minutes after I got her.  But she sure did give poor Pavlov a fright--she was large and happy and intimidating.  It never would have worked out anyway.

We went to California!  We spent two days with my family, got to see friends in Sacramento, went to a wedding, then drove up to Sonoma County to spend a few days in Cotati with my old house. So wonderful!

And of course we went to Leatherby's with the family.

And Acre Coffee with Heather.

Oh, and we got engaged.

As my friend James says in the most loving way, "Oh, you dirty dog."

We drove out to Bodega Bay and had dinner on the harbor.  Justin learned a lot about living by the ocean while on this little adventure--that on the Sonoma Coast, you aren't guaranteed sunsets because the fog and marine layer comes in around 6PM, and also that high tide can ruin your beach plans.  After dinner we went to the beach where he was planning on proposing, but there was no beach left!  Onto Plan B, a beach just a few miles south.  Much more sand on that one.  It was there, at Salmon Creek beach on June 3rd, that he dropped to his knee with overcast skies and the sound of the waves crashing in the background, and asked me to marry him. "Of course!"  I said.  

Team Sear coming October 2013.

We flew back to Colorado the next day, and that evening my dear, dear friends Danielle and Brian came to visit.  We went to the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, bummed around old town for a bit, and had other shenanigans.  It was so fun to have them!  

Photo courtesy of  Danielle's Facebook.  :)

So, I suppose that is where May (and part of June) went.  It passed by busily, happily, and packed full of fun and adventure.

God and Mammon

As someone who has been putting her English Education degree to great use by working in the finance industry,  sometime I forget that it's rude to ask people personal questions about money.

What is your income?  How much debt do you have?  Do you save a percentage of your salary each month?  What does your budget (or non-budget) look like?  How much money did you spend on that?  Is that a wise financial decision?

Whoops. 

Pair that with being the kid of a nurse, and nobody will want to have me over for dinner.  I also don't know where to stop with medical questions (bowel movements, family health history, pain, etc.).

I come from a fairly thrifty middle class family, mostly attributed to my three grandparents who lived through the Great Depression and my remaining grandparent (lovely Oma) who survived the horrors and aftermath of WWII.  Money was rarely abundant for them in the earlier days of their marriages. My parents naturally inherited a thrifty lifestyle, and it also has been passed to my sisters and me. So working for a financial investor who has clients with almost more money than God, it's been an interesting shift.

I've seen how money can be hoarded.  I've seen how families can be financially ruined by children who choose the path of alcoholism and substance abuse.  I've seen a very generous boss invest company money into employees and clients.  I've heard rich people (I'm talking legitimate millionaires here) complain that they are poor, and how they are upset that the government is trying to cap retirement accounts at $3 million (read the article here if you have that much money and are upset about it too).  As if three million dollars weren't enough--what are these people doing in retirement--buying yachts?! What else do people do with it? 

Oooooh, sweet Jesus, forgive me.

As all these things are being observed, I continue to turn to what Scriptures say about money:

• That money is neither good nor bad, but the love of money is.  1 Timothy 6:10
• That money is not mine or yours, but God's.  We merely are stewards of it.  Matthew 25:14-30
• That not all giving is equal.  Mark 12:41-44
• That the way we steward money shows what we really care about.  Matthew 6:19-24  

So far this month, I have cared about sushi with Justin, a magic bullet blender, a new pair of shorts, and concert tickets. Oh, and giving.  Yes, giving.  Has it become an afterthought or is it ever-present like the widow who gives her two mites?  Am I spending my money, or am I spending God's money?  Am I working to have money, or am I working to give it?

Ultimately, I think money (and spending money) displays our priorities.  We will spend (or save) the disposable income that we have on what we really care about.  Do we spend it to be able to stuff more junk in our closets, so that our nails can always be painted, so that our children will know the piano, French, and how to properly lay their forks when they are finished eating, or do we spend it by generously giving to the church and other organizations that provide for people's needs?  


I find that there are always ways for me to shift my financial priorities.  It's also much better for me to give right after I get paid.  That way I won't spend the money that I meant to give. 

"When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart."  John Wesley

Recently...

Whenever someone uses the term recently, I am always reminded of the scene from Snow White & the Seven Dwarves where the new (neat-freak) girl on the block asks all her new little boyfriends when the last time they had washed up was.  As they sheepishly look around at one another, one of them pipes up, "Recently!"  Yeah right!, I imagine Snow White thinking to herself.  She sends them out to the wash tub anyway.

Photo credits here.

Anywhoo, here are some of the things that I have been up to recently.  **And yes, washing my hands is included in that list of things.

• My parents came to visit!!  SUPER fun.  They had an action-filled adventure packed with meeting the boyfriend, making me meatloaf, meeting my co-workers and other friends, going to Garden of the Gods (which my mother referred to as "those big rocks"), meeting up with my dad's cousin who he had not seen in 10+ years, heading up to crazy Boulder for the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory tour, etc.  We also went to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, which my dad said had the best dinosaur exhibit that he had ever seen.  High praise indeed!   I had asked them to send me their pictures from the trip for blogging and other purposes, and the only ones they ended up sending me (on the first round) were ones with me in them.  I did want the other ones, I promise! 

3/4ths of the sweet Custer Family--Olivia (with me), Fiona, & Scott.  Don't worry, baby Megan is sleeping safely in her baby carrier behind us.

• I have been making LOTS of banana bread.  And eating lots of banana bread.  This last week, I didn't have any eggs because I had used them all making a vanilla bean custard or something like that. Oh gosh it was delicious.  Carrying on.  Banana bread.  No eggs.  Yes.  So I tried to do an egg substitute of oil, baking soda, and water...apparently that doesn't work at an altitude of 5,000 ft.  It was goopy and not baked well.  I ended up throwing it out, and then the next day, Amber made some after a trip to the store.  So our banana bread supply was not affected in the atrocity.  PTL.   

• A few oddities:  In the past couple of weeks, I have been realizing how small my little pup really is. He's a pipsqueak!  Also, I have been dialing 9-1 before almost all new numbers I dial on my cell phone--clearly I call a lot of people at work, as that is the dial out code.  So much for leaving work at work. And on the subject of work, I have also forgotten my lunch at home three times within the past week and a half.  Gracious.

Ugh.   Overwhelming cuteness right there.    

• Enjoying nice weather with a picnic on a Sunday after church...and then two days later going into blizzard mode. Not joking!  Sunday was a balmy 68 degrees with a little wind and some clouds, and then Monday night the snow rolled in.  I'm glad I didn't take off my (second) down comforter yet!

• I've been listening to The Wailin' Jennys on repeat for the last few days.  This album in particular.  If you like folksy girls who have awesome and beautiful harmonies who don't sing about lame stuff, they are a band for you.
  
  Photo credits here.
  
  
• Being SUPER convicted at church.  This past Sunday, one of our pastors, Dan, was speaking on Acts 1:8.

But you will recieve power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

 He spoke on how it is important to look at the passage with the eyes of the disciples--when they heard Jesus say the geographic locations, perhaps they did not see cities, but faces.  In Jerusalem, they saw faces of the angry mob who had Jesus arrested, beat, and crucified.  In Judea, they saw the faces of persecutors.  In Samaria, they saw the faces of half-breeds whom often were despised by the Jewish community at the time.  

Why was Jesus sending them to those places?

Ultimately, because He loves those faces.  He loves those people.  And He wants us to share that love with them.  He wants them to have new life.  He wants us, his followers, to love those faces and people as well.  I realized after church that I have believe the lie that my friend's and co-worker's hearts are too hard for the love of Jesus to handle.  Ummm, what?  Where did that come from?  Earth to Tamsen--if Jesus can raise from the dead, He certainly can handle a stony heart.  Does he not promise that to the Israelites in Ezekiel 36:26?

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your chest and give you a heart of flesh.

Music, My Bad Ideas, a New Pope, and Simplicity

First off, I want to be a great friend and share a little something with y’all.  NoiseTrade.com has the entire discography of a fantastic musician and another fantastic band up on their website.  You can (legally!) download both for freeeeeeeee (I’m thinking of Adam Sandler in Bedtime Stories here—a nod to you, Brian and Danielle).  Josh Garrels and Page CXVI are really just a bunch of musical geniuses who are sending us their music like manna for our ears.  Hope you enjoy them!

Yesterday while driving home, I thought I had a really great idea to pass the time while sitting in a little bit of traffic.  I thought it would be a good use of my time to bust out my nail file and go to town on my far too long nails.  Then I immediately had a mental image of me doing so while not paying attention and careening into the bumper of the car in front of me.  That would be a dumb idea, Tamsen.  Did you have any dumb ideas this week you want to share?

And even though I am not Catholic, here are some thoughts on the new pope:  Yay for the first non-European pope in almost 1,000 years!  Also the first Jesuit, a man who takes his vow of poverty seriously (he refused to use the appointed limo he had access to while a Cardinal in Buenos Aires.  He instead took the bus or walked everywhere), and the first Francis.  I think I may like him a LOT. 

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.

My sister Kate sent me a wonderful quote the other day.

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."  William Morris

Doesn't that make you want to go and clean out all the crap you have in your closet, basement, and garage?  I did a little cleaning myself this week.  Three purses, a t-shirt, and a pair of shoes went into the Goodwill pile.  Really?  I had no idea I had three extra purses lyng around!

Granola Round 1: Not Better than Hippie Crack

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man hippie in possession of good fortune oats must be in want of a wife batch of granola.  

Okay, I may or may not have adapted that from beloved Jane, but really, let's be honest with ourselves.  If you eat granola, you have a hippie alter ego.  I think sometimes mine looks something like this:  

(photo courtesy of speeddealercustoms.com)

Or maybe something like this:

(photo courtesy of theclassyfashion.com)

My sister Kate brought me back some delicious granola from her time spent during the Peace Corps paid vacation medical evaluation in Washington, DC.  She and her medical evacuees found this great bakery that sold great granola.  AKA Hippie Crack.

**Clouds part, the sun shines, and a chorus of Hallelujah flows down from heaven** No joke.

Also on the day that she gave it to me, we were hanging out in our parent's kitchen making lunch with our younger sister Megan.  Somebody threw a recyclable item into the trash can, to which I promptly took it out and scolded the culprit.  Their responses?  In very whiny, high-pitched voices, "Oooooh, I'm Tamsen and I'm from Cotaaaaattttiiiiiii!"  And if you know anything about Cotati, you will know exactly what they mean.  They mean hippie.  For those of you in Colorado, think Boulder.

Again, I digress.

This week I was inspired by a few things to make some of my own hippie crack.  As if seeing granola prices at the grocery store wasn't enough (seriously, five bucks for 12oz?! Is anyone else as scandalized as I am?)  An abundance of oats and my rekindled love of yogurt were also inspirations.  Not to mention the fact that the Mountain High brand Vanilla yogurt was on sale this week.

I adapted a recipe from Fine Cooking (find original recipe here).  I swapped out the oat bran for wheat germ, as the store I was at gave me the inability to locate such bran, if it did indeed carry it.  I also swapped out the raisins for dried cranberries, since we already had those at home.  

I burnt it a little.  Actually, I threw out just under half of it because it was too toasty to eat.  I did make an attempt to adjust cooking time for the high elevation (5280 here in Denver), but apparently cutting down the cooking time by 25 min was not enough.  Must go the full half hour or 35 min to avoid excessive toasty-ness. Lesson learned!  

Result:  Hippie Crack > my granola.  But now that I have the secret ingredients to said hippie crack, I can make my own knock-off version!  And minus the coconut.  Yuck.  I believe that I pulled out the coconut from the original package.  And honestly, mine wasn't too bad!  Try it out for yourself if you like.

Snipets from a Saturday

I've recently decided that I want more photos of my life.  As children, my sisters and I used to pour over the photo albums that our parents had created over the years, from their own childhoods (they were darn cute kids themselves!) to dating, our dad's days of Amy basic training, our mom's hours spend in nursing school.  Then came their wedding, complete with a fantastic photo of our mom's dad holding about 3 empty champagne bottles in each hand, the births of Sarah, Kate, myself, and then Megan.  In between those, we have documentation of birthdays, Sarah's first taste of Leatherby's Ice Cream, and the annual pumpkin picking done in Oma and Opa's backyard (there is one photo in particular where all four of us have almost identical haircuts--the infamous bowl cut.  Super cute in an early 90's type way).

In light of that, I have documented a few things from last Saturday morning. 

There is this really fantastic bakery in the Platte Park neighborhood of Denver.  It's called Buffalo Doughboy Bakery, and is absolutely delicious.  They make some of the best savory croissants I have ever had.  Justin and I went for breakfast last weekend.  Ohman. Sogood.

Look at that brioche!  It had a mildly spicy sausage, lots of spinach, and just enough cheese to glue it all together and give it enough saltiness.

(Also, yes, that is a real-deal bear claw stuffed with almond paste--waaaay better than anything you could find at the donut store.)

Enjoying the grub.

Rumor has it that some computer models are coming out with 3-D and scent technology.  Maybe if you try hard enough,  you can smell these...

Don't we all wish.  Well, you can just come do Denver for a visit and I promise to take you there.

This is a result of what happens when I need to get creative and come up with some sort of wrapping paper.  I had a baby shower to go to this afternoon, but had no sort of wrapping for it.  Thanks to Whole Foods for providing me with the paper bags.  Reduce, reuse, recycle.  Repeat.  Clearly I'm not an art major.  But I can get some points for creativity, right?

Do you have any favorite local bakeries?  Interesting gift-wrapping techniques?

2012: A Year in Review

2012. Whew!  What a year.  Here are some highlights, month by month!

January:  I took the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) in order to get into grad school.  The test only took half the day, but then I spent the other half having fun visiting some friends in the Bay Area.  I finished rewriting and editing an essay on Vampires (don't judge me please, it wasn't any of that Twilight trash, but real Dracula and Carmella type vampires), and turned in my application to University of Colorado at Denver.  *Crossed my fingers and prayed HARD.

February:  Found out I got into grad school and cried.  It was a combination of sheer happiness and complete fear.  I was moving to Denver!  I also threw a half-birthday party since I knew that I wouldn't be in California for my real birthday in August.  My mother had bought me a Pie Contest in a Box set for Christmas, and this was the perfect time to take it out.  My parents and sisters even came up for it, and guess who won--my wonderful Mama!

                                          My Pie Contest Judges--James, Laurel, and Ashley

March:  I started telling people that I actually was moving.  It was both liberating and terrifying.  I also started cleaning out my closet like a madwoman--my sister Kate sent me a link to The Twenty Pieces Project.  I was hooked.  But I knew that I couldn't do only 20 pieces if I moved to Denver, so as of the moment I have 5 items or less of each piece (I think I have about 50 altogether now).  I

reconnected with an old friend from college via the Twenty Pieces Project, where she had written a post about giving up all her clothes.  What a neat connection that I hadn't anticipated! 

                                                                      Goodbye clothes!

April:  I went for a long weekend visit to Seattle to visit some dear friends, Brian & Danielle.  Dani & I had roomed together all of college, and then she and Brian got hitched just after we graduated.  Lucky us, we were blessed with the only sunny weekend the entire month.  If Seattle were sunny year-round, I would be sorely tempted to move.  I also fulfilled something on my bucket list--I was in a parade!  The Apple Blossom Festival Parade of Sebastopol, CA.  Our church had a float for the Vacation Bible School happening in June, and I had the privilege of walking alongside it dressed as a hiker (the theme was National Parks) and handing out fliers and candy.  So fun!

                                         Danielle & Jennifer dropping me off at the airport.

May:  I had my last day as a staff member at Sebastopol Christian Church.  I never thought I would be so sad about leaving a job as I was leaving that church.  It was so full of love, grace, Christ, and hugs.  I still miss it and constantly use it as a standard of what churches should be.

June:  The packing begins.  I'm sure the tears started here, too.  It's almost as if nothing significant happened this month, as I am unable to recall anything....

                                           Ah, here is something!  My sister Megan and our
                                          dad met me at Sol Food in San Rafael--some of the
                                            best Puerto Rican food you will ever eat.

July:  My last day of work at my full-time job was on July 19th.  Never before had I been so thankful to leave a job.  An absolutely crazy boss (not in a fun way, but a I-will-yell-at-you-for-breathing sort of way), but who did teach me to have a thicker skin and stand up for myself when I got yelled at and didn't like it.  My roommates threw me a goodbye party, at which I cried almost the entire time.  My dad came that Friday to have last minute festivities with my roommates at The Ito and to go see Batman.  The next day, I left Sonoma County, spent two days in Sacramento County, and began my journey East to Denver.  Arrived in Englewood, CO, on July 25th.

                                      All my worldly belongings shoved into a small space.

August:  My month of prayer, applications and interviews.  I must have applied to close to a zillion jobs, had over 12 interviews, and 2 job offers within a month.  I turned down the first one like a crazy person--I'm sure the recruiter I was working with thought I was an idiot.  But for some reason or another, there was a funny feeling that I just couldn't ignore.  So I said no.  But thankfully, a week and a half later, a better offer (more money, better hours, closer to home, and a more interesting position) came along and I happily took it.  My dear, sweet roommates (Matt & Amber) also graciously threw me a Welcome to Colorado party AND a birthday party two weeks later with all their friends.  I was like, "Oh-hi-I'm-Tamsen-and-I-have-no-friends-yet.  Wanna ride bikes?"  I'm so thankful for the ways that the Lord has provided a job, friends, and a church.  Oh, and I also adopted a dog!  Meet Pavlov. 

                                                               Isn't he so cute?!

September:  This was the month that I started feeling ever so slightly acclimated to living at a mile high.  **Translation:  Tamsen didn't need a nap every day.  September was also the month I decided to commit to the little church in my neighborhood that I could walk to.  Also full of love, grace, Christ, and hugs.  But much closer to my apartment in Englewood than the distance from my home in Cotati to Sebastopol.

October:  I hiked my first 14er (Quandary Peak, elevation 14,271 ft)!  My new friend Randi asked me to come along with her and to go visit some friends who live near Saint Isabel National Forrest.  We spent the night with the Chelfs in Salida and went for a tour of the Aspens the next day. Absolutely breathtaking.  Never before had I been so amazed at creation.  Aspens are quite a change from the redwoods and oaks of Northern California!

November:  I had my first visitor--Jennifer from San Diego.  Right after she left, I had my first bout of the flu that I could remember.  No fun at all, but I was over it in time for my second-favorite holiday--Thanksgiving!  Thanksgiving served as a marker for my first big holiday away from my family.  But what a Thanksgiving it was!  I baked for 3 days straight (3 pies, bread, and home-made stuffing), went for a bike ride with two friends in downtown Denver in the afternoon, and then invited myself over to a late holiday dinner at a friend's house from church.  On Black Friday there were more Thanksgiving festivities to be had, and 20 of us got together for round two.

                                       And, of course, Pavlov and I got in some great hiking.

December:  December 1st rolled around and I sat in shock when I realized how much happened in the past 11 months.  I experienced my first "real" snowstorm and told my boss that I was going to snowshoe to work the next morning (I wish.  8 miles may be a bit too long for my showshoes' maiden voyage).  It seems like I spent the entire month in anticipation of going home for Christmas--looking forward to all the silly Wright family traditions and seeing all of my sisters together for the first time since March.  Kate had left for the Peace Corps (affectionately know as the Posh Corps for her, being placed in Jamaica), and then Megan and I followed her lead in July to go to Colorado and Texas, respectively.  But Sarah and David are happily holding down the fort (and our parent's sanity, I'm sure) in Sacramento.  Lazing about on the couch, experiencing rain again (something that Denver does not have a lot of), going to the Christmas Tree farm, the Wright Family Holiday Catalog Count, etc.  You can read more about the silly traditions here.  Oh yes, and I finished my first graduate level class with an A-.

                                          Footage of the Catalog Count, Christmas Evening.

And here's to a great 2013, full of adventure and love.

A Month of Thanks II

Friends who visit (and those who are near!)
Last weekend, one of my wonderful roommates from college, Jennifer, came to visit me all the way from sunny San Diego.  Even though the trip was a whirlwind and we packed in a bunch o’ stuff, it was a treat to have my very first visitor.  We traveled down to Colorado Springs so she could visit some old friends while I went to a baby shower, went to my favorite bakery, and got stuck in traffic due to almost all of downtown having road closures because of a parade.  The next day, Jen suffered through an hour and a half at church (being born and raised a Lutheran, she’s used to in-and-out services that only take an hour).  She made it through without too much fidgeting.   Finish that off with a short outdoor adventure and a stop at The Chocolate Therapist for chocolate (duh) and coffee, her trip was almost over and I took her to the airport.  I am thankful that I live in a cool enough place that friends want to visit. 

Also, I am thankful for dear new friends who are nearby.  And those who let me invite myself to their Thanksgiving festivities (that’s a shout out to you, Brandon & Val).  And those who so warmly invited me into their communities and adopted a strange girl from NorCal  (the lovely Kerns et. al., Melissa, and Randi, to name a few).  I am thankful for my friends from far away and those who are near.

Health

This may be a no-brainer, but seriously.  I am SO thankful for my health. Why, you ask?  Well because I caught the plague last week and was a big baby.  And by the plague I mean the flu.  But honestly, if I go to a baby shower the weekend before and 8+ women come down with it, does that not constitute as a plague?  Anyway, I spend two and a half days migrating from my bed to the bathroom so I could throw up, then to the guest bed in our loft (in the super-logical state of my fever-racked mind the first night of illness, I realized that heat rises and that the loft would be warmer than my bedroom.  And that there would be two extra blankets up there that I could add to my count of two).  I also spent a record amount of time on the couch, sleeping, watching trashy TV, and also finding some comfort in my favorite Disney movie, Alice in Wonderland.  I am thankful that I no longer have to have a trashcan near me at all times and that I can sleep without waking up to vomit.  I am thankful for my health.

Bobby Pins

I seriously don’t know how I would handle my hair without these God-given contraptions.   I am thankful for bobby pins.

Cheap Flights

Being an adult sometimes sucks.  Because when the holidays come around, you don’t get a full week off at Thanksgiving.  Nor do you get two off at Christmas.  What a travesty!  No, instead of two weeks, I get five days (although I realize that is quite a blessing in and of itself).  The flight home for Christmas was not cheap at all, and I’m fairly certain I was a victim of highway robbery. But on the other hand, Southwest bought its way back into my affections by having flights in January and February 40% off if you flew on a Tuesday or a Wednesday.  Five more days spent at home with family and friends?  Yes please.  I am thankful for cheap flights.

Aaaaand my Bible.

Even though it is true, I felt a little redundant putting my church on the list two weeks in a row.   But I am super-thankful for my Bible, a wonderfully worn-out dirt brown Revised Standard Version printed in the 70’s.  A gift of my sister Kate on my 17^th birthday.  Missing the awful, cheesy caricatures of a white Jesus (I cut them out—last time I checked Jesus was from the Middle East and didn’t have blue eyes and sandy brown hair).  But still full of wisdom, peace, grace, justice, and conviction.  I am thankful for my Bible and the ways it shows me a bigger picture of God.

Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

November, A Month of Thanks

Not only is November fabulous because it means turkey and pumpkins galore, in Colorado it also means snow!  October brought us two snowy days, and hopefully we will be getting more soon.  I told one of my co-workers last time it snowed that this is how I imagined Narnia to look like (well, minus all the roads, cars, and buildings).

Also, it is the month with one of my favorite holidays--Thanksgiving!  In light of this fact, I want to be more intentional and reflective of what I am thankful for each week, the big and the little.

Here are some things I have been thankful for recently:

-It's Friday, people!  And to make things even better, my boss is giving us a new options for schedules.  If we want to take half an hour for lunch for four days a week instead of the usual 1 hour, we can get done at 3PM on Fridays.  Yes please.  It makes me feel more excited than Rebecca Black on a Friday.

-I was at the thrift store shopping for my Halloween costume and decided to peruse through some of the records.  I found one of my all-time favorite jazz albums in perfect condition.  I immediately bought it.

-Even through all this dumb election mail (okay, the election is not dumb, I just can't stand all the ads that I get as a new voter in a swing state; although I am very excited that my vote actually counts for something here), I have gotten some pretty good mail recently:  a letter from my dad, a card from Bethany, my subscription to The Economist, and also a bunch of nerdy bookmarks from Mental Floss.

-Last Sunday at church, our pastor gave a sermon in our series of Ephesians that kicked my butt.  I went straight home, packed a backpack and grabbed the dog, and then drove out to Jefferson County for some quiet and contemplative hiking.  Not only did I get exercise, but also got to see some pretty country and work through some good/hard stuff.  It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Obedience; Alternatively titled, And I Cried.

I just watched and episode of The Office.  And I cried.

It is the one where Michael Scott, the boss, leaves.  Ironically, he too moves to Colorado, but from Pennsylvania instead of California.  He hates goodbyes, and so tells everyone that he is leaving the day after he actually is, and tells most people in the office goodbye in his own secret and undetected way.  I cried most of the episode.

It's been a bit of an odd day emotionally.  In the morning, I kept on thinking about how happy I was living in Colorado, how pretty it is here, etc.  Then, I got to see a friend from high school.  And I cried.  Because, as I drove away, I realized how much I appreciated her in my life.  And when I got home from work I got a note in the mail from one of my old roommates.  And I cried.  Because I realized how much I stinkin' miss her.

I didn't go into work until noon because Aimee was in town for a very short while and I wanted to see her.  She has been living abroad since just after graduating college, working in Cambodia with an organization that combats human trafficking in South East Asia.  An aunt of hers lives in Broomfield, CO, which is just north of Denver.  We met halfway and had some decadent pancakes at Snooze.

Aimee had asked me about my journey to Colorado, what got me interested in it, how I felt like God lead me there, my long journey of obedience to go East.  It was great to catch up, to talk about living abroad in both Cambodia and Colorado, what it means to steward our money and time well, how we both want to be married, what the Lord is leading us to now as well as possibilities in the future. 

As we talked over a plate of fancy pancakes and coffee, she said to me, "Tamsen, it sounds like you are really happy.  I'm so glad!"  Well, she is right.  I am happy.  I thought of that even this morning when I was driving to see her.  I picked up an old dream and moved to Colorado.  It may seem crazy, but I left a house of wonderful roommates, a church that I could not love more, and a job that on most days I liked as long as the crazy boss didn't yell at anyone.  All these things were left for something new and unpredictable.  I followed Jesus straight to Colorado.

And now, I love my roommates.  I am so thankful for Matt and Amber and the way they put up with my eccentric habits and taking over the kitchen table for the weekend to sew.  I love my church.  I am so thankful for the way they love people and show the grace that Jesus gives.  I love my job.  I am so thankful that my boss (as well as the others ) are kind and patient with the new girl.

But it still doesn't mean that I don't desperately miss the things of home.  My family, the house my parents live in, the way that the tractor from the peach orchard wakes me up on summer as it rolls past my bedroom on the corner, the way that there is never enough room in the kitchen for my sisters and I to talk with our parents as they cook dinner in the kitchen.  I miss the ecstatically nerdy conversations my family gets into, because every one of us is excited and curious about practically anything and everything.

I miss the Bay Area, the morning fog and overcast days.  I miss my roommates on Robin Ave., our silly little dog and smelly rabbit.  I miss the spontaneity of living with two ENFPs, walking to Oliver's Market after dark because we wanted dessert, and talking about how Tama Rama's in downtown Cotati most likely is a drug front, not a creepy ice cream shop.  I miss getting hugs from Holly and Eve at church, and the cute way that our pastor's second child never seems to walk anywhere, but instead he does a  wide-eyed run with a huge grin on his face.

Obedience is a strange thing.  It brings mixed feelings of joy and sadness.  As we say yes to one thing, we must in turn say no to another.  As I said hello to Colorado, my goodbye to California was lurking over my shoulder.  As much as I wanted to skip it altogether, like the way Michael did, it was good to close that chapter of my life.  I am glad that I didn't.  Most days are good because I know that where I am is undeniably where God wants me to be--not once have I doubted that.  But on days when you miss your home(s), it makes being joyfully obedient a bit harder. 

Obedience is the road to freedom.
C.S. Lewis