Remote control, please.

There are times (like this week) where I just wish that life had a remote control...one with a fast forward button and a rewind button.
I know that if this actually existed, life would be very different and probably very lame, but still, a girl can dream, right?

Since a remote control with such life altering buttons does NOT exist, I am here and now living life and praying for patience.

I am the type of person who NEEDS to be busy. I am a people-person, a "do-er". Well, God is certainly shaping and molding me into someone who is learning (I am fighting this, but slowly relenting to the learning) to be content with NOT having things to do. Ha!
The school year ended and with it went my 5:30am alarm clock ringing and my 7:45-3pm job teaching cute, little children...and now I simply work part-time at WS and (gasp) have a virtually free schedule. Okay, so I babysit 3 nights each week, but I have free days...and I don't know what to do with myself!
I sit and listen to music. I do puzzles. I read. I lay out at the beach. I catch-up with friends. I drink tea. I walk to the library. I enjoy summer...but I am starting to go stir-crazy. I need projects, to help someone, hang out with people, teach people, work, anything.

I know that all things have a time and place. I know that God sees the big picture. I know that a full-time teaching job is waiting for me (some day). I know that love is somewhere down the road. I know that friends will return (and probably leave again)...so now I just need to learn (once again) to breathe and be patient.

The Joys of Living, Part 1

When I moved out, I didn't realize how much I would miss...
1) the live-in spider killer (aka: Dad)
2) walking outside and picking berries to put on my cereal
3) our awesome lime tree

The latest and greatest...

I drink tea. Some days, I go as far as to say that I am hooked on tea...but then I spent 4 days with my good friend and I realized that my addiction is nowhere near an addiction...she is hooked on tea, I merely like it.

White tea, green tea, black tea, decaf, chamomile. It's all in my cupboard. Seriously, if you need tea, come to me.

The latest and greatest kitchen gadget? The Teavana Perfect Teamaker.

My wonderful brother gave it to me for Christmas (yes, it took me 5 loooong months before I opened the box and used it...but hey, I wasn't living on my own yet) and I LOVE it.

It makes drinking loose leaf tea a pleasure. No more floating remnants of tea in your cup. Amazing.

Apricot Tart

(picture courtesy of Miri Leigh)

I cannot wait until apricots are here!!

One more month.

Home, Sweet Home

Well, on Saturday, I started a new chapter of life titled "Living on my own in the REAL WORLD."

Aaaah, I have been waiting for this move for almost one year. In all honesty, the past year has been wonderful and a huge blessing. I do not regret living with my parents (and living rent free) one bit. I love them. That being said, I am now pretty content (and excited) to be leaving the house that has been home for 23 years and making a new home!

I love my independence and freedom. Coming and going as I please, inviting friends over to "my" place, music playing all day, furniture arranged the way I want, my own pictures hanging on the wall, a fridge stocked with my food, and a kitchen ready for my own cooking and baking! I. cannot. wait. And I don't have to. :)

Today I met a celebrity.

No big deal.

Okay, it was kind of a big deal.

A long line that wrapped around the block, pounds of pasta cooked, hundreds of mini pesto crostinis eaten, hundreds of cookbooks signed, and a buzz of excitement that lasted for a solid 3 hours. It was pretty exciting.

Giada de Laurentiis came to Santa Barbara. And I got a picture with her. :)

An apple a day...

...literally. For the past month, I have been given an apple every single school day by one of my students. Without fail, every morning, Kimberly walks in with a cheerful "Good morning, Mrs. Heinz" (yes, she says Mrs. and it is cute), heads straight to my desk, sets down an apple, and says "I brought you an apple!". Every day.

And every day I have brought home the apples, stuck them in my fridge and wondered what in the world I was going to do with them...so today, those apples turned into apple crisp.

An apple a day keeps the teacher happy and baking, I guess.