cupcakes.

7 Jan
Check this out.

Seriously.

Go there now.

And drool.

If you ever need a fancy cupcake while hosting friends or to take to a fancy occasion, look no further.

I’m going to refrain from baking them.  Tony Horton – with whom I spend at least an hour of each evening – would disagree with their beauty.  (That’s right.  Week four of P90X.  Bring it.  I got lazy about walking to the gym.  So now I get my butt kicked in my living room.  literally.  butt.  kicked.)
But if I had to pick one?  24.  or 23.  or 19.

kevin.

7 Jan
I have a friend at school.  (Actually, I have a few.)  We’ll call this one Kevin.  That’s not his actual name, but that’s what I call him.  And he calls me Penelope on occasion (my ‘fake’ name since college).  He’s in my morning January class this year – modern church history.  We give each other air fist bumps.
Kevin is crazy.  In such a wonderful way.  We’ve been friends since our first year when we were in a discipleship group together.  We had to tell our faith story in this group and Kevin – a white man in his early thirties with glasses – rapped his.  From that point on, I was intrigued.
And continue to be.  I can’t figure this guy out.  For example – yesterday –
(My roommate and I made fortune cookies; we brought them to class.)
Penelope: Want a fortune cookie?
Kevin: YES.  (starts to eat) These are good.
Penelope: They have almond extract in them that gives them a lot of flavor.
Kevin: You know, I’m allergic to almonds.  (takes another bite)

Later in the day –

Penelope: Hey Kevin, what are you thinking about?
Kevin:  How to build a climbing wall in Northwestern.
(NW is a building of offices and classrooms on campus.)
Penelope: Do you like to rock climb?
Kevin: No.
Or today.
Our professor mentioned this polar air front that’s supposed coming our way in a couple weeks.  Kevin turns around.  “Where’s Katy Perry when you need her?”  What.  “You know, she’s always singing about California.”
I do wonder what Kevin’s wife thinks.
I can only imagine she laughs a lot.

no-buy January.

3 Jan
Hey!  Happy New Year!

…     …    (awkward side glance)   …   …   (other side)   …   …

Moving on …

I spent a lot of money over Christmas break.  Over my life.  Lots of money on essentially unnecessary things.  There needs to be a no-buy January.

No new cardigans.  
No new wire baskets.
No new nothing.
No-buy January.
The exceptions to the purchasing power of my debit card will be groceries/shampoo-ish items.  (And, if I may, add a Joann Fabrics clause?  I plan on quilting this January and will be doing my best to use what I have but new thread or a yard or two may be needed.  And a long-underwear clause.  I need some when I walk to campus on this chilly days.  Beyond that – no-buy January.)  In addition, I’m starting a box to gather 100 things I can remove from my life.  A move to simplify.  One hundred things to give away or donate by the end of the month.  I was reminded again as I packed the car to come back to St.Paul yesterday: I just have too much stuff.
Moderate expense on social activities/maintenance is permitted.  (Birthday gifts/postage expense/etc.)  But no more than $20/week.
Starting tomorrow.
Because tonight I went to the Minnesota Wild hockey game and that ticket was $35.  It was a last-minute game as my roomie stumbled upon a few tickets from a friend of hers.  I had never been to a Wild game and all I know about hockey I learned from The Mighty Ducks, but it was a blast – they won in overtime.  And I am in awe of anyone who can skate – RUN – on ice.  My favorite part?  The sound the players made when they pushed others with their complete weight and effort into the wall.  I giggled every time.  And the fight.  For fun.

new blog.

2 Jan

My friend, Cassie, has a blog.

Here’s Cassie.

She’s a senior at seminary.  Like me.  We bonded while on safari and shopping the markets in Tanzania two years ago.  We shared a ‘luxury tent.’ (No joke.  The best accommodations I’ve ever had and they were on the plains of Africa.  In a tent.  With a rather large lizard-thing and scorpion in the shower.  But let’s not talk about that.)

Did I mention she has a blog?  Did I mention that she mentioned me?!

You should visit.

nothing like it.

31 Dec
Sitting around an all-too-familiar table with glasses of wine and old friends.  We did nothing but talk … update … catch each other up on our respective lives.  We all had a chance to share, no one person dominating conversation more than another.  Topics ranged from the serious where listening ears and compassionate responses were given, to the ridiculous. (Lynn feels there is absolutely no logical reason for blimps to be in existance.)  We were two Bananas short of the full bunch, but one H-Banana blessed.  (A shout-out to – I’ve learned – a faithful blog reader – erm, stalker? – and Honorary Banana, Theresa, who was hilarious.  As always.  I’m glad she came over to share in the table talk.) 
It has easily been at least four – probably more – years since I’ve walked in the back door at the Schaaf house but I did it so much during high school that it seemed perfectly normal and right last night.  There certainly have been changes since I’ve last sat around that kitchen table.  Marj has a dog now.  A dog.  Jenni has been swept off her feet to live in Indiana with her flannel-sporting mountain man, Joe.  Each Banana has been on her own journey of job transitions, children, marriages, and figuring out what this life is all about.  But we still gathered around that table, drank wine, and shared stories like we had never left.  Nothing like it.

found.

27 Dec
I helped my mother for a few hours last night, sorting and cleaning the basement.  What did I find?
1. My Wisconsin and Iowa teaching licenses.  Never actually used those …
2. Nancy Drew collection.  Belonging to my mom as a young girl, I read all of these yellow hardcover mysteries at least three times as a kid.  My mom thought she might like to try and sell them online – VETO.  I dream of ordering them on a bookshelf of mine someday; books are always pretty but books filled with nostalgia and hours of glorious reading are absolutely wonderful.
3. Eight jars of jam.  Mmm.  Thumbprint cookies to come.
4. “God is Everywhere” picture book.  Sounds like a threat.  (Law and gospel?)
5. My professional teaching portfolio.  Well over 100 logged hours of projects, lesson plans, and papers about to be recycled.  It was the culmination of my undergraduate degree and throwing it out doesn’t make it seem like a waste of four years.  Of course not …
6. Book cloth.  Book board.  Incomplete book art projects.  Proof that I skip hobbies every couple of years and the supplies from the former gather dust.  (An expensive habit.)  Next up: knitting (while continuing to quilt).

merry christmas.

27 Dec
Two days late but still within the season.  Ten days left to buy that pear tree and those drummer boys!  Here’s hoping you celebrated with people you love at the arrival of the newborn king!
What did I do?

I spent Christmas Eve with my immediate family and those on my dad’s side.  We went to church and it struck me – probably my last Christmas Eve service at East Koshkonong with my family.  Next year, I’ll most likely be planning and leading at a church yet unknown.  That makes me sad … but honestly, also a tad excited!  (I’m ready for this next step in life, though it means holidays will never look that same.)  We returned home to watch Friends (“The One with the Holiday Armadillo.”) and play an ever-hilarious game of Apples to Apples with the Luther clan.  Christmas proper had our home as host to the maternal side of the family, a crowd of twenty.  A game of 31, the tossing of a large rubberband, and watching the younger cousins open gifts comprised our day.  After company left, we watched a movie, recouped, and accidently fed my brother’s lab, Jetta, Diet Mountain Dew.  She was okay.  Once she stopped shaking.  (jk.)

the light.

22 Dec

It was eerily foggy last night after a snowfall the evening before, making the light post in our driveway shine amidst the dense moisture and against the lack of light.

“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.  He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.  The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” [John 1:5-9]

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.

The true light was coming.

… is coming.

Being home for Christmas means –

22 Dec
1. No wireless internet.  Means fewer blog postings.  Means I appreciate your patience, dutiful blog readers.
2. Christmas trees and holiday decorating.

3. Passing Santa driving an old rusted Chevy on the way into town this morning.  For serious.  [Driving into town to meet up with my Grandma’s Wednesday morning knitting group at the local coffee shop, only to find she had left before I arrived.  Also, for wireless internet.  See number one.]
4. The annual Christmas program at my home congregation.  As there needs to be each year, there was that one kid who yelled every word to every song.  Classic.
5. Banana Christmas with gift exchange.

Kim: Okay, now everyone wear your gift!

6.  The traditional eating of sponge candy with my Texan Banana, Allison.

7. Reading.  For fun books.  Finished Mansfield Park and onto a rereading of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
8. My mother having each of her four children home at one time.  She has clarified many times that she loves having us home but do we really need to bring so much stuff home with us?

church families.

16 Dec
That’s the language tossed about within congregations – your church family.  The church to which you belong becomes like a family.  But rather, not just LIKE a family but it is your family.  Your church family.  You’re with each other through tough times and great times, the joys and the sorrows.  (Warning: Cliche approaching.)  I am so blessed.  I have THREE church families.  
East Koshkonong is the church family to which I formally belong, the church family in which I grew up.  It’s the country church where I was baptized and confirmed, the church where I spend every Christmas Eve (with the exception of last year).  When I worship at East, I share the pews with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.  One of my favorite memories is as a small girl, crawling over other family members to sit next to my Grandma Vera.  She always had peppermints in her purse.  I remember sitting next to my dad who would always put his arm around me (and sometimes fall asleep during the sermon).  Here I played my flute with the senior choir, I taught Sunday School, and ultimately first felt my call to ministry.  With approval behind me and only one semester ahead of me, I look forward to planning my ordination – a celebration I will have the opportunity to share with this church family, knowing I have their constant prayers and support as I journey in ministry.
Trinity in Stillwater is the second church family of which I ever became a part.  I began working at Trinity in 2007 and worked through the spring of 2009.  I loved the time I spent at Trinity in children’s ministry and working with an innovative staff.  One of the coolest things about this church family is going back to it.  After a year and a half away, I’ve come back to Trinity to worship and to lead a small group of ninth grade confirmation ladies.  It’s crazy to come back and have these children that I worked with for two and half years remember me and still greet me with hugs.  (And many confused looks.  But we’ll focus on the hugs.)  My small group is truly a blessing.  Tonight we wrote on the chalkboard wall in our meeting room for the first time – for fun!  Not only do I get to interact once again with children I’ve known from years past, but I also am blessed to see the staff members. I love hanging out after confirmation is over with Denise, one of my ‘Stillwater Moms’ and my BFF from a Mexico mission trip of the past.  I’ve missed her.
Grace in Dawson is my third church family who I still think of and miss every day.  Lots.  And it is certainly true that people there – members of the congregation and the staff with whom I spent lots of time – became my family when I was away from mine for a year.  I remember tearing up during the candlelight singing of Silent Night on Christmas Eve, missing that moment that I have each year with my family.  But then afterwards, I was invited to dinner, gifts, and games with coworkers and members alike at my supervisor’s home.  Looking back, it was different.  But it was perfect.  They were the ones who supported me in some truly rough times and helped me grow.  A lot.  We drank lots of coffee and had a bit too much fun for our own good.  (I still remember playing baseball in the hallway with Kendall using a rolled up poster and wiffle ball on a random weekday morning.  And don’t get me started on VeeBeeS and sewing purses.  Too much fun.)  I know that I’m in trouble when it comes to my first call; I find it hard to believe that being the pastor of any church can live up to Grace and the year I had there.
I have three church families – even if I’m not actively involved in each at this time.  In any given week, I receive the newsletter from one.  There are facebook friend requests and long facebook messages to keep in touch.  I have a penpal.  Birthday wishes.  Text messages.  Holiday cards. I love my church families and think I’m most certainly blessed to have three of them.  Love it.
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