Cooking School

One of the things I love about my family is that when we do all get together, which isn't often, we do fun things. We try not to over plan, but we also try to have a few activities arranged in advance. We have learned from extended family gatherings in the past that it not healthy to sit around the whole time talking, debating, arguing.

So when my parents and I were planning on descending on my brother in San Diego for Christmas, my brother suggested that we spend one of the evenings at cooking school. It was an activity he had already done with his girlfriend and they had a great time.

He sent us a list of possible cooking sessions to pick from, and we ended up picking one that involved making cocktail party food and of course cocktails. Yes it's true that I don't drink, but the rest of my family does occasionally, and the food on the menu sounded awesome.

We booked our class, and on December 21, off we went.

It was a phenomenal family event. Everyone had a great time, we interacted a ton with each other and other people in the class, and we all learned some awesome new recipes.

It was our first night together as a family and it set the tone for a laid back, fun Christmas. I don't know what your family does when they all get together, but if you are looking for an awesome activity for the adults, I highly recommend cooking school.

Packing Cubes

As I was wrapping presents today, I was thinking about the best presents I've ever given or received. I feel the need to highlight a few.

Last year for Christmas I got a gift from my best friend Arwen that I was excited about. I didn't realize how it would transform my life.

What I opened on Christmas morning was a package of packing cubes.
You can buy them here.

I had always had a problem with suitcase explosion. I would try to be strategic about my packing, putting my PJs on the top, but inevitably, within 24 hours of the start of a trip, the contents of the suitcase would be in a huge pile surrounding the suitcase.

After receiving the cubes, I tried several different arrangements over the course of the last year. I've finally come to a packing plan that works for me.

Specific cubes for whole specific outfits, socks and all. The picture below is the cube for the bus ride home outfit. I carry it into the gym with me before the game. It's amazing.

And now my suitcase looks like this.

What's more amazing than the fact that my suitcase starts out like this, is that it stays relatively like this for the duration of the trip. And yes that is a candle, yes it goes on the road with me.

Looking for a great gift for that person who travels a ton? Look no further than the packing cube.

Entertaining Angels

I used to squirm about the idea of having people over to my house, mainly because I tend to compare myself to my mom in the area of hospitality. Anyone who knows my mom knows that she most definitely has the gift of hospitality.

I realized about a year ago that comparing myself to her was ridiculous. She is definitely one of the most generous people I know, but she also stayed at home almost my entire childhood, and she had domestic help in the form of what we Aramco Brats like to call the houseboy.

Our houseboy, Maurti, came twice a week, he vacuumed at lot, he did laundry, he washed the car, he did whatever my mom had on a list for him to do.

I don't have a houseboy, and I work more than 40 hours a week.

I started having people over more, but I also spent my free time beforehand trying to vacuum a lot.

Then life happened.

Then the girls in my Bible study wanted to have a function at my house, a game night for Christian single people we know. No couples allowed. No children allowed. No toddlers allowed.

I said okay and we started planning it.
We invited people.

THEN MY WORK SCHEDULE CHANGED. SHOCKER.

Then they were throwing a party at my house that I was going to be over an hour late to.
I didn't have time to scrub and clean and vacuum, and make sure there was lots of extra toilet paper in the bathroom, or to even clean the bathroom.

AND SOME HOW I WAS OKAY WITH THAT.

Truly a Christmas Miracle.

So Tuesday night I called to make sure they had gotten into my house okay, and then to tell them that all I had to drink was eggnog, and that I hadn't gotten around to making the spinach dip I was suppose to make.

And then an hour after the party started, I showed up. I walked into my house and they exclaimed "Cate, you're home! How was work!?" And it was just what I needed after a really long day at work. There were people I didn't know there. I thought for a second "Oh no, this is their first impression of me, my carpet has some dog hair on it, I only vacuumed it last week." And then I let it go, and had a great time.

I am not my mother. One day maybe, if I ever am blessed to be a stay at home mom, I will be able to throw parties remotely close to what my mom throws, and they will be awesome.
I am not in a season in life where I can do that right now, and that's okay.

But I can remember that the things I have aren't really mine, they were intrusted to me to bless others.
And I can remember that hospitality has many different looks.
And I can remember Hebrews 13:2 which says "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

New YEAR, New POSSIBILITIES

Christmas is over, and New Years is over. Both were awesome. Christmas was so quiet and peaceful out at the lake. New Years was a ton of fun, even though I had to leave in the morning for Eastern Illinois, it was a joy to spend time with friends here in Kentucky. It's been a while since I really got to spend some quality time with my new friends here in Kentucky, and they are wonderful. They are fun and funny and most of all, is that they know who they are in Christ, and they are okay with who they are. There is no performance, there is no competition. It's just fun to be able to hang out with people who just delight in each other. One thing that was rather strange was watching the New Year on TV in the central time zone. I am so used to watching it in the Eastern time zone so it was rather anticlimactic to watch the ball drop in times square at 11 pm. We are home from Illinois and it is great to be on a 4 home game stand. Then after that we have some away games that are day trips. Tonight will be the 3rd night in a row that I get to sleep in my own bed! And I think the most exciting thing!!! is that a couple of the athletes I work with have asked to go to church with me!! How exciting as it says in 1 Timothy that God has appointed me to this ministry. So pray for them and for me, pray that they would not just come to church, but that they would be able to see that it's about a relationship. That going to church is something we do in order to worship the Lord not because it's "what we're suppose to do" but rather that we choose to do it because of our relationship with the LORD.

the "DEEP" south?

Well school is out around here, basketball is NOT. We leave tommorrow for the "Southern swing of the Ohio Valley Confrence." We are going to Alabama. I must first admit that I have never been to Alabama. I am a little nervous because I have heard several interesting stories about the state as a whole. And on top of that people around here call it "the DEEP south." Well golly I thought Kentucky was the south, apparently it's not really the south because it's not the DEEP south. Then when I arrive home on Tuesday night/wed. morning I am going to have to totally clean my apartment at lightening speed because my mom will arrive mid morning. My apartment is currently tidy, it's just not mom clean if you know what I mean. And then I step back for a moment and realize how very easy it is to get caught up in the daily mundane stuff. My to do list seems miles long before my mom and my brother and grandmother get here. I drove out to the condo on the lake that we are staying for Christmas after work today, and I decided that I am grateful beyond explanation that we are staying out there, the phones are turned off for the winter, no cell phone reception, no television. Just peace and quiet, the lake, the wild life, and no one around for miles. And now I am off to church for the carol sing before I head into my office to finish packing for the "southern swing." Christians wonder why we as a society have forgotten the meaning of Christmas, and then I think to myself, maybe they have forgetten because we Christians have so much to do that we forget ourselves, and we forget to live it out.

Straw vs wiskers

I've been having a hard time trying to figure out what I should get people for Christmas. I mean my older brother and his wife are having a baby in April so it was real easy to get them stuff and my mom is always easy, but my younger brother want all this really expensive stuff for his bike, and my grandmother needs some new winter clothing with easy to unbutton, unzip type stuff, but I live in Kentucky so it's difficult to find a good selection of winter stuff because frankly it's not that cold. I was at Walmart this evening perusing their selection, and I get so frustrated because people are all over the place buying practically the whole store, and I just think, they are missing the whole point. The Christmas card I am sending have Isaiah 9:6 on them " For unto us a child is born." I've decided that I don;t want to participate in Santa Claus, and if I ever have children we will have a Jesus birthday party but no Santa Claus. Some people say that it is a bit extreme of me, but as I walked around Walmart, I was saddened almost to tears, because Jesus loves them, yet the are spending beyond their means because they want to feel needed and loved and better than the next person. If they would just set aside all their burdens and look beyond the singing dancing santas into the quiet manger, they would see the Savior of the world. So I commit to spending the rest of this Christmas season not worrying about what exactly I will get for my boss and the million other people I have to buy for, and I will quiet my heart and look into the manger and into the heart of my God who made Himself flesh and dwelt among us.