I've been tagged! Ashley has tagged me for this fun little meme, so here are 8 random things about my kitchen:

1. My kitchen is decorated with a mixture of burgundy, gold, and green, which are the colors of the rest of my house. There are shots of blue thrown in, from a set of decorative plates I received as a wedding gift. I love the mixture of colors in there, since otherwise the room is rather stark. I've just recently made over my kitchen, and have learned to accept it, even with its limitations.

2. My kitchen is about the size of a Cracker Jack box, and yet I love to cook in it. I've been known to whip up batches of homemade cinnamon rolls and no-knead yeast breads in there. This is the smallest kitchen I've been in to date, but I don't let the size stop me from making what I want. :-)

3. I love to cook. It's the way I unwind after a long day of work. The recipe that I'm loving right now is an Indian chicken curry--I about have the recipe memorized.

4. My favorite "servant" in my kitchen is my Crock Pot. I have no idea what I would do without it. It can make the toughest meat come out tender, without any actual work on my part. While I love to cook, occasionally I will come home tired, so it's great to have the Crock Pot meal already waiting by the time I get home.

5. My freezer looks like it's been hit by a hurricane. I have so much food in there, that I almost have to hold the food in with one hand while slamming the door shut with the other to prevent unnecessary spillage. I have 15 frozen bananas, several cups of chicken broth, veggies, two steaks, a few pounds of chicken thighs, and a whole bunch of other stuff that is now buried somewhere in the depths.

6. My least favorite thing to do in the kitchen is clean it. I think I would rather scrub the toilet that wash dishes, and I'm not even kidding. I hate to get my hands wet. (I scrub the toilet with one of those scrubby brushes, so no need to get my hands yucky!

7. My kitties have figured out how to open the bottom cabinets to get their food. At least Lucy knows how. :-) Yesterday I found her bag of food ripped to shreds all over the kitchen floor!

8. I have a whole cabinet devoted to tea. I'm sure there are many more important things to store in ones kitchen, but I haven't found it yet.

So there's my list. I'm not going to tag anybody this time around, but if you want to do it, feel free!

It's taken a few days for Lucy to get used to the new kitty, but she is slowly coming around. The first day, Lucy was hissing and growling as if her very life had been threatened by a two pound ball of fur, and she was mad at us and wouldn't let us near her. Now, the kitties are playing as if they have always been friends. Strange, huh?

Lucy though seems to have a stomach ailment of some sort. She's not eating a lot, and she has thrown up a few times. We aren't sure if it's just the adjustment from the new cat, or if the kitty gave her a real stomach bug. Otherwise, Lucy seems fine, so I'm going with stress. I really hope she is feeling better soon, since she has me so worried right now!

It's been a long few days . . .

Hubby and I have been talking the past few weeks about the possibility of getting another cat. It seemed like a crazy idea at first, but the more we thought about it, the more excited we got at the prospect. We would have another kitty to love, and Lucy would have a playmate! It seemed like a perfect plan.

We thought thought it was a possibility to go down to the shelter this past weekend, but we weren't sure we were quite ready for the commitment. So, we decided to wait. Well, I decided to be silly during my lunch break and just "check and see" if the shelter had any cute kittens. And there she was. The perfect kitten, on page 4 of the list of available kitties. She was "dilute calico and cream," as the description said. After getting Lucy, who is a glossy black, I really, really, really wanted a light colored cat--maybe gray, or light peachy orange. She was beautiful.

I called the shelter, and yes, she was still available for adoption. My heart skipped a beat. After work, I called Hubby and pleaded. We could go to the shelter that night and pick her up, since she was too cute to pass up. Hubby willingly said yes, if she was really the one I wanted.

After work, the rain started to pour. We were driving to the shelter, with me at the wheel. Traffic suddenly came to a standstill as we rounded a curve on the highway. For 45 minutes we waited, and finally made it just before the shelter closed. The nerves on the drive were torturous. What if someone took her home before we arrived?

Hubby and I headed inside and proceeded to fill out all the paperwork we needed. After that was complete, we showed the lady there a picture of the cream kitty. She looked her up, and yes, she was still available. My heart jumped for joy. I couldn't wait to see this precious kitty and hold her in my arms.

Hubby and I proceeded to the cages, and slowly circled around the room, looking to see our kitty sleeping or playfully batting at a friend. She wasn't there.

So, we circled again. And again. And one more time, just to be safe. I could feel my heart start to flutter. We asked for help from a lady who was sweeping the floors. Maybe, just maybe, our kitty was in the back. She took our slip of paper with her picture and headed to the back. And we waited.

She returned. She couldn't find our kitty. She suggested that maybe she was in a "Pet Parade" at a local mall, and that she would be back in a few days. All was not yet lost.

On Tuesday at work, I kept thinking about that kitty, and how much I wanted to have her as my own. I felt a knot in my stomach just worrying that she was already gone. I checked her picture online one last time before leaving work, and I called the shelter as soon as I got home. I asked about the kitty, and she said that yes, the kitten was still adoptable. I explained what happened the night before. She said she would find out the kitty's whereabouts for me, and that she would call me back.

When she did, I was told that the kitty was adopted.

I was crushed. Even still, another kitty had caught my eye while glancing at the perfect kitty's picture. She wouldn't be the same, or so I thought. Hubby reluctantly agreed to go back up the shelter that day, warning me not to get my hopes up, and I didn't.

We arrived at the shelter, and saw the second kitty I that I happened to see online. She was a beautiful white cat with brown tabby markings. We asked to see her, and immediately knew she was the one for us. She was playful, and cuddly, and the cutest thing I had ever seen. Here she is:


After waiting 2 days, we got to bring her home tonight.

My parents are coming to visit me in 2 weeks! I'm so excited to see them, since I haven't seen them since my sister's wedding in July. I'm trying to think of some really fun, cheap things to do with them when they are in town. We've already done the usual stuff in Houston during the last few times they were here.

At least they get to meet my kitty for the first time!

I saw this article on Amy's sidebar today, and I found this particular section very convicting. The article is entitled "How to Live a Miserable Christian Life."

Not many Christians will deny that God is sovereign…confessionally anyway. There are of course those who believe that God does not know the future or cannot control the future (open theists). I am not talking about this group here. Instead I am referring to those who affirm that God is in control (Ps.115.3) but then deny this theological truth with their life.

A common way that we do this is by worrying. Rarely do we find ourselves worrying about what has happened in the past (unless it is the present or future consequence of the action). Instead we worry about what will happen in the present and in the future.

Jesus diagnosis this problem by saying that it is due to a lack of faith and is a characteristic of unbelievers (Matt. 6.30-32). This really is the issue. When we are worrying about events or circumstances we are reacting with a faithless self-absorption that is upset because we have realized that we are not sovereign. And to make matters worse, we just marinate in this posture of anxiety, refusing to trust and depend upon the God who is sovereign and good.

Read the whole post here.

I'd like to strike through things on my fall cleaning list on my sidebar as I do them, but I'm unfamiliar with how to do that in Blogger. Any thoughts?

I'm currently working my way through the Reformed Expository Commentary's book on Esther and Ruth during my evening devotions. So far I've only plugged my way through half of Esther, which is explored first in the book, but even though I haven't finished, the commentary has proved invaluable to me.

I have always thought of Esther as this amazing woman of faith, someone I could admire, but never quite relate to. After all, she was a queen of Persia who put her life on the line to save her people from extermination! After working my way through the first 4 chapters, it is obvious that the author delves deep into the book and shows just how much Esther is like the rest of us.

She lived in a time where the Jews had returned to Jerusalem after exile, but her family had decided to stay in Susa, the capital of Persia, far away from their Jewish homeland, traditions, and temple. After being summoned to the king's court, she spent a year lavished in beauty treatments, only to find herself married to a heathen king. Mordecai told her to hide her Jewish heritage from everyone. She lost touch with her family for several years, where she was surrounded by Persian culture, living up life in the wealth of Susa. The only contact she had with Mordecai was sending her servant to him. She seemed to have forgotten the Lord and her own people. Then Mordecai asked her to reveal her identity and plead with the king to spare her people after Haman desired to condemn them to death. You can see how Esther is a ordinary person after all, with temptations and sins and shortcomings like the rest of us, as she struggles with fear approaching the king after a life of such comfort and pleasure.

Nowhere is God mentioned in all of this, a feature unique to the book of Esther. Yet you can easily see Him working behind the scenes, orchestrating Esther's life (and others') in this narrative to redeem His wayward people. God uses everyone for His purposes, not just the ones of great faith! How comforting is this to me when I struggle. In this time after Christ, where divine revelation had ceased, it is marvelous to plunge in this book and see that the Lord does obviously guide our lives, even if it is not always visible to us.

For the past few weeks, I have been frequenting the Houston Farmers Market in order to pick up fresh local products. I currently buy milk, eggs, and honey, since most veggies are not producing now. Now that the heat is letting up, I'm hoping for more produce in the next few weeks. I would eventually love to buy all locally grown food, but in this climate and with my income, it just isn't feasible.

I love being able to meet the people who tend the earth and animals, rather than just buying something from the grocery. I love to see the passion on their faces when they talk about the health benefits of their products, or why they just simply taste better. I love that my money is going to support a family in the community, rather than just a big box store. It's much more personal, and that's something that I really appreciate.

Someday I hope to have a large enough garden of my own, where my family and I can put up enough produce to last all year. Maybe I will try my hand at chickens (for eggs, anyway). I've always loved to garden, and I hope to someday enjoy the fruits of that work physically and spiritually. But for now, I'm content to buy just a few local things, and the rest at the supermarket.

Lindsey over at Enjoy the Journey recently finished a series of posts about food culture which I found fascinating. Sneak over there and read the whole series; it's definitely worth it! I plan to read the book she recommended, which is called "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life" by Barbara Kingsolver. I'll let you know what I think of the book in a later post, and hopefully my ideas of food culture and environmental responsibility as Christians will become more clear, and I'll be able to flesh out my thoughts.

I know, more pictures of the kitty. Just humor me, because she's my baby for the moment, until Hubby and I have a real one. Here's the kitty in all her cuteness, sleepily gazing at the camera while on her Daddy's desk:


Yes, she loves to sleep. Whenever she isn't eating or harassing one of us to play with her, she's doing this. Or scratching up the carpet.


The kitty loves to be outside. Here she is doing her best shrub impression. She just blends in with the other foliage, doesn't she?