I baked.

When people ask me if I like to bake, I tell them no. But I do tell them I love to cook. There is a difference.

When one cooks, one does not need to follow a recipe. One has the freedom to add whatever one wants. No strict instructions to follow.

When one bakes, one must follow the step by step instructions, never missing one or completing them in a different order. Baking just does not work that way.

I love to cook. I have lots of freedom in cooking. Baking is a different story. By the time I have combined all my ingredients, I want to be done. My feet hurt from standing and my stomach hurts from snacking on all the dough/batter/whatever.

With all that said, I baked red velvet cupcakes. Enjoy.

For all you "transies" out there.

And by "transies" I mean people going through a transition stage. Now that I think of it, I am not sure if that is even a word.

"Life is full of unwanted transitions. It is our response to the land between that will determine whether our journey through the desert will result in deep, lasting growth or prove destructive to the soul." -Jeff Manion

I began reading a book called "The Land Between" just the other day. It fits perfectly into my life as I go through a transition phase, myself. Author Jeff Manion, describes the "land between" as a place we face when going through transition phases. Usually, it is a valley. Not a very pretty place. Manion parallels the "land between" with the Israelites and their journey from Egypt into the Promised Land. Traveling through that valley was not pretty and many lessons were learned.

Throughout the book (which I am only on page 66), Manion talks about the Israelites and their lack of trust. You are probably thinking, "Yes, those Israelites, never trusting God. Always rebelling and being pulled back. Again and again and again."

When we think of them, though, do we ever think that, we, ourselves, do the very same thing? Manion asks that question. Do we trust God? Do we completely trust Him? Sure caught me off guard. We sometimes feel like we are above the Israelites, when, we in fact, are the Israelites.

As I think about my life, I find myself being just like the Israelites, constantly doing things my own way, complaining to God about my circumstances, and God always telling me to trust Him completely. It's time to let my life go into His hands, trust Him completely and know that it will be GOOD. I have seen God provide for me in the past, what makes me think He will not provide for me now?

The "land between" is tough. It is not meant to be a walk in the park. They don't call them valleys for no reason. But this is the time for growth and what more can we want out of life than growing closer to a powerful God.

I will comment about this book as I dive more deeply into it. Like I said, I am only on page 66.

On a lighter note, for some reason, every time I am driving in the car, I think about the change I am going through and want to do something about it. With that said, I am either getting a tattoo or dying my hair brown. I will probably go with the latter. I will be living on the streets if I get that tattoo.

Lost and Found.

Right after I graduated and left for Colorado, Teddi began to drive my car. This was my "college car." A small, white Chevy truck that could only seat two people comfortably and one of those was myself. My dad loves this car and loved the fact that only two people can sit comfortably in it...that way I wouldn't be able to drive lots of "kids."

On Tuesday, Teddi walked into my room hysterically laughing. She showed me the glass jar and said, "Were you missing this?" I looked at it and the memories began to flood back to me. YES. That alfredo sauce "went missing" after a day of grocery shopping..hmmm...probably 6 months ago. It took me a few days to realize that I could not find my sauce and I began to play the blame game. I knew one of my 7 roommates had to have taken it. I bought the sauce and it was GONE! I started looking in everyone's labeled cupboards, looked in the refrigerator and even looked in the community cupboard, thinking someone took it upon themselves to share with the rest of the house.

It only took me a few minutes to get over it, but it was always in the back of my mind that my alfredo sauce went missing.

Well, when Teddi came into my room, holding that sauce, like I said, I could not stop laughing. She told me as she was looking for books under the driver seat, this magically appeared.

I'm pretty excited...I know what to make for dinner tonight.

Two of my favorite things.

Panera Bread is my all time favorite bakery/restaurant/coffee shop/library in the world. I have spent many hours at that place, trying everything on their menu and spending much time with good company. Every time I order, I have the hardest time making a decision because everything is so good! Thanks to my old roommate who worked there, I have had the privilege of tasting every treat made there. And I have also had the privilege of gaining a few LB's because of my obsession.

I am so excited that Panera Bread FINALLY came out with Panera cards that you use every time you order. This gives you free stuff, a gift on your birthday and the fact that, ya, you kind of feel cool carrying around your very own Panera card.

What I am even more thankful for, though, is the good company that I follow into Panera Bread. Since living at home, things are quite different, and a lot different than I thought they would ever be. Never did I think I would be living with my parents again during this transition phase. But God has been good through it all. He is teaching me A LOT and blessing me more than I could ever imagine. One blessing has been spending time with a good ("good" is a horrible way to describe her because she is more than "good") friend of mine. Our friendship began last summer while interning in our church youth group. I remember my sister saying, "You are going to love her. Everything she does reminds me exactly of you." The day I met Katie Johnson, I knew that we would be pretty good friends. Such good friends that we discovered our favorite piece of clothing we owned was a puke green vest from Forever 21 and we wore it ALL THE TIME.

Katie and I enjoy spending our time at Panera Bread. She has been such a blessing to me, especially during this time. I love anticipating the time we get to spend together and the words of wisdom she shares with me. I feel incredibly blessed to be her friend and even more blessed that I get to be in her wedding...EEE!!!

Katie and Panera Bread. Two of my favorite things.

One of those.

It was one of those days yesterday. The morning was fine, but it was all down hill after that.

I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for my fingerprints to come in so that I can be put on substitute lists in various districts. I decided to call them and was told that they were mailed to me on September 8th. It was now September 21st. I raced over to the Superintendent building, grabbed them, and ran to Human Resources. I compiled all my paperwork together, gave them to the secretary and waited in anticipation. One of the important pieces was having a physical. Earlier, I had called them more than once to make sure this certain physical I had done would be okay to accept. They told me that was fine. But when they saw it in person, they said, "We cannot accept this. There is too much information on it." Who says that? That is like a teacher telling you a paper that you wrote was too good. No one ever says things like that!

After finding out this sad news, tears began to well up in my eyes. I could tell the secretary felt bad for me and told me I could go to a clinic and get a new physical right away. I grabbed my things, gave her a smile, and said, "I can do this. Just one more loop hole to get there."

I sped over to the clinic, talked to the rudest lady I have ever dealt with, and waited for my name to be called. As I was waiting, I slipped off the bathroom, you know, because I had to go. As soon as I walked out, the nurse called my name. We walked back. He asked me some questions. He told me I needed a urine sample. I looked at him. I said, "Are you kidding me? I just went to the bathroom." He laughed and got me some water. I drank 3 rather large cups of water. The doctor saw me. I told him I was in great shape. There was nothing wrong with me. I peed in a cup and I walked out of that office.

I once again sped back to the Superintendent's building and offered my "correct" paperwork to the secretary. This time it was correct.

On my way home, after my no fun day, I thought it would be appropriate to stop for some frozen yogurt. There is a new place in town called "Burrberry", just like Pink Berry. I stopped in, grabbed some tasty yogurt and got into my car. As I was driving, you can only guess...about half the fruit spilled out onto the floor of my car.

I was ready for the day to be over. I got into bed and began reading my daily devotional book. It said exactly what I needed to hear. When things don't go as planned, we just have to say to God, "Oh, well. That is okay" and know that things will get better. We can't put ourselves down for the small things that go wrong in our lives because we will not be prepared for when big things take a change in course.

I went to bed feeling much better only until I woke up a few hours later with a coughing attack....