Baby, it's cold outside

This dreary weather make me crave comfort foods.  I think tonight I am going to make chicken and dumplings.  They are super easy.  Here is my family's recipe:

Chicken and Dumplings

• 1 whole fryer, or 3-4 boneless chicken breasts
   (boil until done and set aside to cool.  Save the broth.) 

Mix together:

• 4 cups of flour 
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper 

Next, add two cups cooled chicken broth.  Canned broth works well.

Mix until a ball of dough if formed.

On a floured surface, roll out dough thin, about 1/4 inch thick.

I use a pizza cutter to cut dough into 2 x 1 inch strips.

Meanwhile get broth up to a rolling boil (on a medium-high heat).  Drop the strips into the broth.

Dumplings will puff up and float at first.  You can press them down with a wooden spoon, but avoid stirring too much or the dumplings will disintegrate.  Continue cooking until the dough is cooked through, about 20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and butter can be added if the broth is too watery.

While the dumplings are cooking, do-bone the chicken.  Cut into chunks (I just use my hands to pull into chunks.)  I suggest that you do NOT shred it.

When the dumplings are done, add the chicken and allow to warm through.

Set aside and allow to cool.  Broth will thicken upon setting.   

So true....

"There is no life change without life exchange."

Reunited and it feels so good!

Tami and family were back in the states for a short visit.  Natalie, Dana and kiddos loaded up and met me in Broken Arrow where we all got to spend the day with Tami's family. 

We had so much fun playing at the park (although it was cold).  It was good to get to be around Tami's kids, and I think Zeke and I are now best friends!

I am so blessed to have friends like this.  We are more than friends, really, and more like sisters....family.  I love you girls!

Counting Sheep

I got a new bed--a queen!  It's basically brand new and I got it at half the original cost.  It's amazing!  I can now sleep in on Saturdays in style!

All grown up

So today I became an adult.  I am all grown up with a mortgage. 

Going to the chapel.....

.....and Scott and Susanne are getting married!!!!

This is the 6th wedding I have been a bridesmaid.  It was beautiful!  I am so excited for them and the life they have together!  Love you Sus!

Surprise Visitor

I was surprised today at my office!  Amy stopped by to see my new digs and to say hi!  It was such a blessing!

I feel like a freshmen all over again.

Today I feel like a freshmen myself.  The first day of school....not sure what will happen and who you will meet.  Will anyone like me?  Will I do okay? 

Today I start a new job.  It's totally a blessing, but I am nervous too.  I hope that I can do a good job and connect with my students.  I hope they show up! 

I am nervous, but probably not as nervous as the REAL freshmen I am going to meet!  I think I'm ready....deep breath and here we go!!!!

Uncle Jake

I had a great time today with my brothers and family celebrating my Uncle Jake's life.  It was very surreal being back in the church, though.  The last time I was there we were saying goodbye to my daddy. 

Uncle Jake was full of spunk, humor, and love.  He will be truly missed.

Rest in Peace

Lost my great-aunt Louise today.  She was the older sister of my nanny.  I have a lot of funny memories of Aunt Louise.  She was one of those ladies that said what was on her mind whether you wanted to hear it or not. 

She was 84 years old.

Changes, Changes, Changes

First, if you are reading this (instead of hearing it in person), I am sorry! It was not intentional in any way! It’s just happened fast, and I choose this medium for no other reason that it will reach the majority of people who need to know! (Also, there is a tag limit. Not being tagged doesn't mean I didn't want you to know!)

The short story is I have accepted a job at the University of Oklahoma and start August 10. If you want the long story, keep reading.

It will be no surprise to most of you reading this, I have had a rough couple years. God has been teaching me a lot of hard lessons in trust and security--mostly by walking me through the loss of these things. Recently He prompted events in my life that have led me to prayerfully beg for direction and understanding.

In the last month and a half, I have been asking God a lot of questions about where HE wants me. After much prayer and council, I came to a place of peace that the immediate future included a new job. This was hard because I love my job, my co-workers, and my ministry. However, I felt as if God gave me a little push toward the door and told me “I have something new for you, trust Me.” So I did.

After prayerfully pursing several paths, I was lead to the current decision. Decision one was accepting the job I did which created a collateral, secondary decision of staying in Norman.

I applied/interview at several places including Tulsa, OKC, Dallas, and Norman areas. It was narrowed down to two choices—Dallas and OU. There are a lot of cool answers to prayers in all of this I wish I could explain in writing. If you want to hear them, ask me! Anyway, it was clear the OU job was for me.

I accepted the position of “Student Programming Specialist” in the Graduation Office at the University of Oklahoma. That is a fancy term for helping at-risk freshmen adjust to new intellectual standards, find new social relationships, and make appropriate decisions about significant events.

This program is brand new, and I am excited to be in on this ground-floor program. Since it is a new position how it will “look” is still being formed. I should be assigned roughly 30+ students to mentor weekly and on a 1-on-1 basis. I also see the eternal significance of this job. Although it will be a secular, university environment, I’m really excited to bring a spiritual mind-set to the job. OU will be paying me to positively influence freshmen, most of which probably won’t be believers. That excites me!! Please pray that I can truly impact these students lives while they are at OU, but more than that, have an eternal impact in their lives!

One of the other exciting parts to this new job is half-priced tuition. I have goals to start working on a masters degree in Human Relations. OU has an amazing program designed for those with full time jobs…take classes on weekends and work your way through at your own pace. So I want to start that in the spring or fall of next year. ☺

Now, Norman. Since I knew God called me to stay in Norman, I needed to figure out where to live! So, along with my new job, I am going to try to buy a house. PLEASE pray for this! It scares me to death to make such a huge commitment. I also know it makes sense too. Pray God will lead me to the perfect house, that I will make wise decisions, and wait on His peace and timing in all of this!!!

Finally, I will be staying at my church. I’d previously committed to helping start a new ministry through my church that will help college graduates transition into the “real world.” Because I will be here, I can still do that. I am super excited about that. Between my job and this ministry, I guess God calling me to a “transitions” ministry!

I am excited and have seen God walk me through things in ways I can’t express. It has not at all been easy or tear-free…..but as the Psalmist writes in 126:5, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." He also writes in 145:9, "The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made!"

SO that is an update on me. As things progress, I will be updating! Thanks for your love, prayers, friendship, and support.

Stefanie is getting married!

Here is a picture of Amy and I just after Stefanie and Patrick tied the knot.  We were so blessed to be a part of her big day.  I am so happy for her!

My hair looked awesome....and it was all Amy's doing.  She is the hair whisperer.

25 Random Things About Me

It's the thing to do these days, so here is my list. And too many people have tagged me to ignore. I don't know if it will be worth the read, but here goes.

01. This lady at my church (one who was there for charity help more than spiritual reasons) came up to my mom put her hand on her stomach and announced she was going to have a little girl before she knew she was pregnant.

02. I wrote a poem in the 4th grade about the four seasons and my teacher told me I was a good writer. That really started my love of writing.

03. I love serial books. When I was young, my aunt and cousin gave me "Trixie Beldon" books for Christmas, and to this day I love books with the same characters in different or continuing adventures.

04. I've only broken one bone in my life--my middle finger in the 6th grade. We were doing relay races and as I was coming back in (doing the "crab crawl") and the girl going out crunched my hand.

05. I've had a lot of pen pals in my life--when I was young and then in college I had "email" pen pals.

06. I am so bad at math that I took remedial math my freshmen year of college. Don't ask me to make change, balance your checkbook, or count past ten.

07. I'm fascinated with genetics. (You know those graphs of dominate and recessive genes?)

08. I think and express myself better through the written word than verbally.

09. My mom's mom ("Nanny") watched me when I was little....so I watched the soap opera, "Days of Our Lives." until I was in high school.

10. I learn best by being shown once and then doing it. It's common for me to learn things by just experimenting and figuring it out.

11. I love watching football but not really any other sports.

12. I'm an introvert. A perfect day would be one where I was alone and didn't have to talk to or interact with anyone all day. I love being alone.

13. I have really bad carpal tunnel and my hands and fingers go numb very quickly--even now as I am typing these I have to stop and move them to keep them from numbing too much.

14. I was the editor of my high school newspaper and won many monthly writing contest. I was almost a Journalism major.

15. I can't swim.....and still hold a healthy fear of water. Cruises don't really sound too tempting to me.

16. I was saved at Falls Creek in the 4th grade. I still remember the song that was playing and the person who lead me in the prayer. (It was Troy McCoy...and ironically, he and his wife's photo was in my dream last night.)

17. I made a commitment in the 8th grade to never drink alcohol.

18. Although I love reading and writing, I can't spell to save my life. I'm a horrible, horrible speller.

19. I love my knees. I think they are really cute. (This list is called RANDOM things, remember.)

20. I love audiobooks. It's hard for me to find time to sit and hold a book to read it, but I always have a book playing in my car or in the background when I am working on other things.

21. I'm a homebody. I love being at home, and it's hard for me to leave again once I am home in the evening.

22. My nicknames include: George-Earl-Clide-Fritz-III (all one), baby girl, sister, sis, HN, Nikki-no, Holly Nic, Dolly, Hol-Bol, Lolly, and Hols.

23. I cry at movies--especially when it involves the death of animals. (My sister-in-law still makes fun of me for crying so much at E.T. when I was little.) And I am a sucker for an inspirational or "based on a true story" type of movie.

24. I love learning new things. I always prefer watching TLC or History Channel or Food Network over movies because I have a higher chance of learning something new!

25. I am a late-morning and early afternoon type of person. I do my best work and thinking from 10:00-3:00.

I should've listened to my mom..

Yep, mom was right about a fair number of things.

In my defense, my mom tends to tell me mind-numbingly obvious things. She, for example, feels the need to explain how to use anything she gives me. Something like, oh, Windex. (She actually did this--and I was a college graduate at the time.)

So over the years I had a defense prepared for her advice-based attacks. It was something like this:

Step one: Eye roll.
Step two: Deep, pitying sigh. (Because she can't possibly understand.)
Step three: "Whatever, mom, that won't happen to me."

This exact scenario happened when I was wanting to order a senior class ring in high school. She told me I wouldn't wear it, and it'd be a waste of money. After performing steps one through three state above, I argued that I would wear it forever. Ha! I think I wore it for about a month and now it is in a jewelry box somewhere.

More recently, one of her pieces of advice has come back and bit me. After moving recently, I went through all these old pictures from middle and high school, as well as college. Mom always told me to write people's names on the back because, "One day you'll forget who they are."

Insert here eye roll, sigh, and "whatever." My defense at the time was something like, " I went to school with them for 13 years--I won't forget their names!!" Hmm. I should have written down their names--first and last--on the back of the pictures. Or maybe when I scratched out their face with a ball-point pen, I could have jotted down key words next to it to remind me why I was so mad at them. I didn't do either.

I'm just now getting to the age where seeing old school friends is fun. It's exciting to see what they look like now, where they live, and what they are doing. It's fun to laugh at old times and our past fashion and hair-style choices. Thankfully, with the use of MySpace and Facebook or other online communities, it is easier to reconnect and stay in touch.

I'm also getting to the age where I forget a lot. My good friend since middle school, Amy Z, is my connection to the past. I will forget someone and she will swoop in and remind me of a handful of stories and connections that I'd totally forgotten. Sadly, she is not a computer/email/virtual profile sort of person. This leaves me abandoned in the sea of forgetfulness, left to navigate myself to the shore of memories. And I can't swim! *Sigh*

So the moral of the lesson here is simple: write the names of people on the back of pictures. Oh...and I should have listened to my mother.