"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot

Last night, I went on a tangent about the insignificance of the nuclear family and the tragedy we call the American dream.

This morning, I woke up wondering if I really believed anything I said. If Jesus really is the giver of good things, and if Hallmark really is right, and if love really is more important than everything else... if all that's true, then maybe waking up in a red brick house on the corner of Main Street isn't so bad. 

But what if a good thing, a really good thing, isn't your child's refrigerator art, or sharing a bed with your spouse, or occasionally volunteering at a local charity? Then millions of people are wasting their lives surrounded by floral wallpaper instead of a dirt floor and hurting people.

by now you should have somehow realized what you gotta do
well I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now


there are many things that I would like to say to you
but I don't know how


'cause maybe you're going to be the one that saves me
and after all
you're my wonderwall

Tonight's food experiment:
Pork tenderloin with a curry, basil dry rub and brown rice.


Cross your fingers.


Cotton Bouquets.

Jude 1:24

Yesterday was interesting. 

Thought a lot, read a lot, prayed a lot, wrote a lot, cried a lot, slept a lot.

Daddy would say days like that are good for the soul, like sweet cornbread or big, red ribbons on Christmas presents.


It's pouring rain in Athens today. Opted to catch the Orbit to Park Hall. Bad, bad idea. The only thing worse than crowded buses are buses crowded with soaking wet people. 


When I get home, I'm curling up in a warm blanket, drinking some coffee with forbidden cream, and watching I Love Lucy reruns. 

It's never too early for Christmas music. Seriously. 

Operation Christmas Child collection week is November 15 - 22.  Make a box. :) 

In keeping with my restaurant theme, here's another one for the records:

Veni Vidi Vici in Buckhead offers a Truffle Tasting Menu, featuring nine of the restaurant's top dishes. I can't pronounce half of the words, so it must be good. 

Spotted: Fred and Elina sipping grape juice out of plastic wine glasses. White tablecloth, sticks (of the bread and candle variety), and Barry White. 

Location? Room 326 in the Student Learning Center.

True story.

Found TOP FLR in an Atlanta restaurant search. The Hanger Steak sounds awesomeeee.  

On a lighter note, found a fabulous recipe while perusing the Gluten-Free Goddess blog: Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach, and Chick Peas in Maple Vinaigrette. Determined to try sometime this week.


Maybe this no dairy, no gluten, no egg thing is going to be just fine. 


Planning on overdosing on chocolate milk and omelets on a "cheat day," though. SOON. If you can cheat on a diet, why not on allergies?

Beginning to understand a fraction of who I am. It's not pretty. The moment I think I understand the enormity of my sin, it surprises me. 


It's overwhelming, realizing I do nothing good on my own. I play at kindness, at humility, at mercy, at love. It's like looking in a mirror covered in dirt, soap scum and toothpaste, and wiping a small corner clean with a rag called "trying." The more I try, the more I see who I really am. The bitterness, the selfishness, the envy, the lying. 


It's so much simpler to sing "oh, how He loves us" when sitting in a church pew. Believing it is nearly impossible.

5:47 pm
Tonight's cooking endeavor: Caramel Apple Pork Chops and red wine.

Stay tuned for results.


6:37 pm
UPDATE Success, scratch the wine.

Pixie Lott - Use Somebody

It's another hot day in October.

I feel so... stagnant; chugging along, humming a tank engine's mantra over and over. "I think I can, I think I can." 

I'm so restless. May has never felt so far away.

On a lighter note, found a book that encompasses three of my favorite things: art, architecture and Louis Vuitton. Added to my ever growing Christmas list.

If I never got married, this would be my dining room. 

Unfortunately, I have a love affair. 

This week's resolutions:

Run. Every single day.

Paint nails. No chipping.

Read a book.

Break ANTM obsession.

Ace calculus test. Ha.

Decide life plans. 

Drink absolutely no coffee.

In other news, MARK 4000 proving to be just as boring as every time before.

Boy in front of me Facebook stalking Barbie in a bikini [and to think men claim to be fully evolved]. 

Bad news: she's just as plastic as her 36-18-33 twin.

Love that mirror.

A right to happiness doesn't, for me, make much more sense than a right to be six feet tall, or to have a millionaire for your father, or to get good weather whenever you want to have a picnic. 
CS LEWIS

Love these. Thank you, Facebook, for endless entertainment.

 

"Ladies, LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS. Put some freaking clothes on! Also, just because someone gave them an acid wash and calls them legging jeans, DOESN'T MAKE THEM SO."

 

"They're making a movie about the creator of Facebook. I heard they tried with the creator of Twitter, but its hard to make an interesting movie out of a man who didn't say anything over 140 characters."

Diet coke obsession. Zero calories, sugar high.