Brussels Sprouts, Skinny Pants and A God Who Loves

Hello. I am still here. My trip is still to come and I am more than ready to stick my toes into the ocean. Toes and oceans goes together like peanut butter and everything else. I am very excited.

In the meantime, I have been cooking and baking like a crazy woman. My oven seems to be on more than it isn't and I have found myself eating watermelon for more than one dinner. Is there anything better than cold, sweet watermelon? Nope, not in August there isn't. Unless it is cold peach cobbler, which, you know, awesome.

I had a cooking class last week with some fabulous girls who I love and adore. We focused our menu on the wonderful world of carbohydrates and made my version of crack bread (look on Pinterest for this...it is everywhere!), baked four cheese mac and cheese with bacon, and homemade salted caramel sauce with ice cream. That meal is sitting nicely on my hips but it was worth every bite. And they did a fabulous job putting it all together!

Tomorrow, I have another cooking class and this one is all about tapas, or, if you are not from Spain, appetizers. But "tapas" just sounds more international and sophisticated, which is what I am approximately .9% of the time. On the menu: prosciutto wrapped asparagus, baked ricotta, stuffed Brussels sprouts and a watermelon and feta salad. For dessert, baked peaches with streusel and maple cream sauce.

And everyone said "amen!"

I am really excited about this class because it is cooking with fresh ingredients that are in season. And the recipe I put together for the stuffed Brussels sprouts may show up on this year's Thanksgiving menu. Who knew a Brussels sprout could be the bearer of herbed cream cheese and bacon? That is something I am already very thankful for.

In other non-gastronomical news, I have now become a fan of the skinny pant.

WHAT the WHAT!?

I know, it's like the world is spinning the other direction (which, wouldn't that throw everyone off!). But it is hard to avoid this trend. "Skinny" is everywhere! And even though this girl is approximately 46,902 treadmill miles away from being skinny, I realized that if I am going to have anything to wear this summer other than yoga pants and my pajamas, I had better embrace them. As a result, I have them in almost every color. Miracles, people. They are happening.

And finally, I heard the most amazing sermon at church on Sunday. I mean, it was life-changing. It was about loneliness and how we were never created to be alone (Genesis 2). And in a world of social connectedness, humans have never been lonelier. One of the things the pastor challenged me on was my desire to only show the good stuff: the happy photos, the beautifully filtered photos, the photos where I look as skinny and pretty as possible. And yet I never show the photos where my hair is gnarly or when I have a zit on my chin or if the dress I am wearing resembles a blimp. As a result, we all think that everyone else has it together and we are the only ones that do not.

Yep, I struggle with that. I am huge fan of the filtered photo probably because I don't think the real one is good enough.

When will my tiny brain realize that the real one is the one God pursues, loves and died for?

I am working on this.

And with that nugget, I give you an unfiltered photo of my skinny pants.