Small Joys: volume 6

After almost a month of not blogging, my fingers are aching to type this post.  It's been a busy few weeks, hence the lack of posting, and I apologize deeply for my inconsistency with posting over the past few months.  With several things behind me now, I hope to be able to find more time to write again .  I know it's Monday and my joys are usually shared on Fridays, but in an attempt to launch back into writing, here are the small joys of the past few weeks.

No. 1: The homecoming of my sweet fiancé.  Oh, my word. I can't quite explain how full my heart was this past week when Scott was home.  I was so thankful to be able to enjoy over a week off from work to spend time with this handsome man.  We hit all of our favorite local Wilmington spots, travelled to Myrtle Beach with his family, and spent time with two of his friends from Indy who came down to visit.  It was an incredible week, and I'm slightly in denial that it ended so soon.  The next time I'll see him will be the end of September for his sister's wedding.. which isn't too far away at all now! We're so close to living in the same city and I'm so excited for it.

No. 2: Peaches. Yes, peaches.  They are possibly my favorite fruit.  When I was younger, my dad used to make me a treat called "Peach Surprise" that I always loved.  It was basically cut up peaches in a tupperware with a little sugar and whatever sweet beverage we had in our refrigerator-- iced tea (yes, we lived in New York.. so it was ICED tea and not sweet tea :)), orange juice, apple juice, etc.  And it was yummy.  Scott and I spent hours cutting up peaches on a hot June day while his dog played with my family's puppy in his backyard, and then we made peach cobbler in Myrtle Beach (using his grandmother's incredible recipe) that was TO DIE for.  So SO good.

Slicing up peaches with Scott's dad's fancy machine

The finished product-- our peach cobbler!

No. 3: Trader Joe's.  It's a rare occasion these days if I make it to Trader Joe's, which is so sad considering it was once the only grocery store I ventured out to.  The closest one to us is about 20 minutes away now, so I go every so often when I am in Chapel Hill as a special treat.  Yesterday I spent an entire day in Chapel Hill, and on my way home I thought it would be a great idea to stop at TJ's for some groceries.  $50 later I emerged with this bag of joy. Indianapolis, please have a Trader Joe's nearby. Please, please. I'm begging you. 

No. 4: Fresh flowers.  You see them in my TJ's picture above. but here's my arrangement of them in one of my jars that will later be used in our wedding next April.  For $4, I have beautiful flowers to decorate my room with during my week of night shifts.  Another thing I love about Trader Joe's flowers are that they last forEVER.  In the past, I've had them last as long as 2.5-3 weeks. That's incredible.

No. 5: Baking with Shannon. I'm more of a cook myself (though, from my two baking experiences in this blog post, you wouldn't know it), but baking is something that intrigues me and that I like to try my hand at every so often.  Yesterday I spent the afternoon and evening with my dear friend Shannon to help her bake for a gathering at her house that she's hosting today.  She was so kind as to allow me to wait in her apartment for her while she was at her practicum, so I flipped through her cookbooks to see what we could make.  In the end, we decided on Gaia cookies from our book club's read from last month-- Bread and Wine (a MUST read. I can't sing enough praises for this book).  We made a few modifications, and boy, were they YUMMY.  We were excited to break in Shannon's Kitchenaid mixer for the baking extravaganza, and I must say that I quite love Kitchenaid mixers now.  

There she is.  I have registered for one of these

in hopes of having one to use once Scott and I are

married.  It's probably the most expensive item on our

registry.  But I want it so badly that I would almost like to

tell everyone to forget the rest of the registry items and to bring

just $2 to the wedding to contribute to the mixer.  If all of our guests 

brought $2 I would have this incredible item. And Scott would have

none of the tools he registered for :) I'm kidding of course.  But I 

am crossing my fingers for this kitchen item.  

The oh-so delicious Gaia cookie

No. 6: The book of Acts. I've been reading through Acts again and marveling at God's faithfulness to the early church.  I've been particularly captivated by how God used Saul, a man who once detested followers of Jesus and did all in his power to destroy them.  He later became known as Paul, who wrote most of the letters in the New Testament and who was arguably one of the most dedicated apostles of Jesus and the Gospel.  Here's a verse I really treasured when reading through it last week.  It made me realize that no matter what you have done in your life or how wretched you believe you are, God can use you for his kingdom.  What comfort and peace there is in that.  

"Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.  For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." Acts 9:15

And that was said about Saul to a God-fearing man who knew all of the destruction that Saul had brought to Christians.  But God was bigger than that and knew he would use Paul to bring the Gospel to the nations.

No. 7:  Strawbs and bluebs. Yes, more fresh fruit.  Sweet Christie Ray introduced me to this fun way of naming strawberries and blueberries in college, and I have thought it ingenious ever since.  Y'all, the fruit lately has been AWESOME.  I was FaceTiming with Scott last night and he was making fun of me for how much I was eating... but the strawbs were SO GOOD.  Probably some of the sweetest I've ever tasted.  And the perfect shade of red.  I wish I could have fruit this fresh year round!

No. 8: Chapel Hill. Yesterday I was able to spend my ENTIRE day in Chapel Hill.  I forget sometimes how much I love that place.  I spent the morning presenting my new graduate RN project (SUCH a relief to be done with this! It's been weighing me down for weeks now), and then I met sweet Jordan for lunch at Bskis.  Jordan and I have always had a thing for getting lunch together.  We met through my dear friend Hannah, who attended high school with Jordan in Wilmington.  During our freshman year at UNC, Jordan and I would meet fairly regularly for lunches on Franklin St. (any excuse to escape the meal plan!), usually at McAllister's, which I believe is still, to this day, Jordan's most favorite place :)  And since then our friendship has evolved and deepened, and I have been blessed to have such a God-fearing woman as a friend in my life.  I so treasure our lunches together and will miss them terribly when I move to Indianapolis.  After lunch with Jordan, I went to get fingerprinted for my Indiana nursing license (the final step in my application!) and then waited at Shannon's apartment for her so we could bake (you already knew this though, from above!).  It was blistering hot at that point of the day and I was craving YoPo, so we walked to Franklin to enjoy a frozen treat.  I got something way different from what I normally get (I'm boring at YoPo: I always get a kids cup with Ghiradelli chocolate froyo and chocolate sprinkles): Irish mint mixed with Ghiradelli chocolate in a waffle cone with Kit Kats on top. Oh, it was good. 

No 9: Finishing my new grad project.  I don't have much to say about this, except that I surprised myself with this one.  For so long I viewed it as a burden, but when I went to present yesterday, I found that I was strangely passionate about my topic and that I took great pride in talking to people about it.  

No. 10: Running with abandon. Friends, I wish I could explain to you in proper terms what happened when I went for a run last night, but I don't think I can do it justice.  I will do my very best, though.  After spending an afternoon with my trusted and true running buddy, Shannon, I had an itch to run.  I had seen her running shoes sitting by her front door and felt an ache deep in my soul for my own running shoes.  She had even asked me if I had been running recently, and I told her that I hadn't but wished that I could find time to do so.  And as I drove away and headed back to Durham, I was taking in the beauty of the setting sun and appreciating the slight coolness in the air from the summer breeze.  I saw a runner as I pulled into my neighborhood and envied her for the beautiful run she was on.  I ran inside the house, dropped my groceries and quickly unloaded them into the refrigerator, and I ran upstairs to put on my running shoes.  They felt like old familiar friends, though I had neglected them for so long.  I could feel my feet fit into the grooves inside that miles of running have produced, and they were perfectly molded to my feet and ready for this run.  

And I will tell you that I ran like I have not run possibly ever.  This summer marks three years of running for me, and the journey has been an interesting one.  I started with LOATHING running and thinking people who ran all the time for enjoyment were NUTS.  Here I am three years later in the ranks of the nuts.  Last night, I ran like a WILD woman.  I had decided to run as far as my legs would take me before the sun started setting.  At about 1.5 miles, my legs were screaming and the sun was setting further, leaving dusk behind in the summer sky.  I turned around and started heading back to the house.  But friends, I felt wild and free, as I haven't felt in months.  I ran with abandon through the streets of Durham, moving through my old familiar roads and pushing through the burning I felt in my legs.  My little neon yellow laces on my running shoes pushed on, until I ended back in our neighborhood after 3 miles of bliss.  I had neglected all of my usual running rituals and habits and ran what I call an "altar run."  With all of the stress I've felt over the past few weeks with wedding things, looking for jobs, my impending move, and my new graduate RN project, stress had taken over the joy in my soul and I felt so far from Jesus.  On my altar run, I left all of my fears and worries behind and left them at the altar for Jesus.  He has been so faithful to me this year, from my engagement with Scott to carrying me through my first year as a nurse, it's been a blessed year.  I've perceived it as stressful, but when I really think about it, it's been an incredible blessing.  And on my altar run, I landed at the foot of the cross back in my room.  I read through my chapter in Acts and started fresh with Jesus.  My worries and fears from this year weren't with me anymore; I left them on my run.  Friends, I hope you can experience an altar run at some point in your life.  I really feel that it was unspeakably beautiful and so needed for my soul.  

 Thanks for sharing joy with me this week, friends.
Grace & peace to you.
C