The Good Life ... Continues

This morning marked marked the second bi-monthly Friday roommate breakfast on Ashworth Ave. The menu? Crepes. Oh, yes.

First up, Granny Smith and brie crepes. Concluding course, Nutella and strawberry crepes.

Company? Excellent. Food? Divine.
There is just something so special about breakfast. Yes, community dinners are excellent - but breakfast? Well, maybe it's the newness of the day, or the sleep that slowly disappears from your eyes, or the anticipation of the day to come, or the very deliciousness of it. All I know is that Jesus said to his disciples, "Come and have breakfast," (John 21:12) so breakfast, we shall!Not a bad way to start the day? You can enjoy community breakfast, too! All it takes is a little planning, and a big appetite.

The Good Life

Today was a gift.

A gift of friends, food, the lake, laughter, tea, cookies, and all the things that make life so good.

It started early this morning. I snipped some purple flowers from the front yard in anticipation of a very special breakfast. A friend was stopping by on his way to the airport. We hadn't seen each other in months and he was moving back to his country (is still on the plane as I'm writing) - so, needless to say, this breakfast warranted special attention.

We ate thick slices of homemade bread covered in cheese and eggs (which I not-so-gracefully cooked), strawberries, and lots of cups of tea. We reminisced, we talked about future plans, and we breakfasted.

The inevitable came to soon and I had to leave for work. I bid him farewell and headed off to spend the day with Mr. Binky. He and I raced cars back and forth, dug in the sandbox, watched some Thomas the Tank Engine, and carefully put stickers on a recycled piece of paper.

Mr. Binky's mom got home early, so I had an unexpected hour in my day. Just enough time to meet a friend to walk around the lake. It was a gorgeous afternoon - a great time to catch up, stretch our legs, and people-watch.

My second lake-date showed up just as I returned home from my first lap around the lake. My second date and I enjoyed another beautiful stroll around the lake. I saw a couple of turtles and many of the same people I had seen on my first lap, which made me think that this whole two-lap thing is not something unique to myself.

Just as we turned the corner to my street, our dinner date called me. She had just arrived to my house. Perfect timing. My second lake-date and I reached my house, greeted our dinner date, and I set out the chips and salsa as I set to heat up our dinner. As we sat down to eat, my roommate arrived home so I set another place setting out. A dinner of four. Perfect.

The corn, bean, and quinoa salad, in addition to the sweet potato fries, turned out to be a delicious meal. The warm glow of the overhead lamp reminded me of the lighting in the credits of tv shows when a family is shown eating dinner together through the front window. Very cozy, very homey - just how every meal should be.

After dinner, we pulled some frozen cookie dough out of the freezer and threw a pan of cookies in the oven (note to self: always have frozen cookie dough available in the freezer), heated water for tea, and settled down into the comfy couches and chairs that make up our living room.

The day drew to an end over a plate with cookie residue and weakened tea bags.

Today was a gift.

A gift of friends, food, the lake, laughter, tea, cookies, and all the things that make life so good.

Awe-ful

Doesn't sound good, does it? And yet it was the best word I came up with when I was watching a peacock this morning.

Let me back up.

One of my places of work is the Woodland Park Zoo. The little boy I nanny (let's call him Mr. Binky) and I frequently go to check out the tractor, the flamingos, Zoomazium, the zoo trucks, the puddles, the penguins (you get the picture). This morning, we saw the peacock standing on a post near the goat pen. The brilliant blue and green hues seemed entirely out of place next to the matted hair and widely-set eyes of the goats. We checked it out for a few minutes (me continually holding Mr. Binky back for fear of his little hand grabbing a fistful of peacock feathers!), then went to check out some more exciting happenings, like the statue of a chicken. A few minutes later, I look over and see the peacock has opened (I'm not sure the correct biological term for this) and it's feathers are towering over it's body in a perfect half-circle.

Wow.

All I could think of was who could ever have dreamed up something as crazy-awesome as a peacock?

And that is when I realized how frequently God displays his awe-fulness to us.

Through the beautiful display of the peacock.

Through a healed wound.

Through the growth of a child.

Through the Cascade mountains.

Through moments of laughter, conversation, and community.

Thanks, God, for being so awe-ful.

More Fair Trade Musings

So, this is not a blog about fair trade, but I guess it is on my mind a whole bunch because yes, I have another blogpost about chocolate and coffee. Two things that are frequently present in my life, and thus frequently featured on the blog :)

COFFEE STORY DU JOUR: My classmate organized a coffee tour and "cupping" (official terminology, people) at Camano Island Coffee Roasters this morning. Engulfed by the aromatic smell of roasting coffee, our tour guide, Dave, described all of the reasons why CICR is such a great company as he brewed us various coffee samples. CICR supports AGROS, an organization that works directly with farmers to help them acquire land and skills to produce coffee. All of CICR coffee is fair trade, fairly-traded (basic idea of fair trade, but just not with the official title), or directly traded (straight from farm to CICR). By purchasing CICR coffee, you help create sustainable economic opportunities for the men and women who grow the beans for your morning cup of joe. Check out camanoislandcoffee.com for more information. I recommend the Sumatra :)

CHOCOLATE STORY DU JOUR: Heading home from a long, wonderful day spent with classmates on Camano Island, I was craving a bowl of ice cream. I gave into my craving and stopped by QFC. Tillamook ice cream was 2/$5 - what a deal! I reached for a gallon of Chocolate Mudslide, then paused. Now, perhaps Tillamook uses Fair Trade chocolate in their products, but I wasn't sure. What's a girl to do when the chocolate craving is strong, yet she wants to focus on her goal of buying only fair trade chocolate? The answer: vanilla ice cream with chopped-up Theo chocolate on top! I had stocked up on Theo bars last week (budget = gotta get them when they're on sale!), and contemplated which flavor to use as I drove home. Coffee? Hazelnut crunch? Vanilla? Or perhaps the Equal Exchange dark chocolate bar that I had picked up? Endless options!

I ended up using a Coffee bar - it was already opened so just easier to use.

Step 1: Chop up the chocolate bar Step 2: Put chocolate on ice creamStep 3: Enjoy a delicious dessert that is not only delicious, but costs an estimated $.80! Fair trade is within even a small budget.

A beautiful (and delicious) end to a great day of friends, feasting, and fair trade!

Neighborly Update

Tonight when I came home (after a delicious sushi dinner with Kayti!), I saw my neighbor putting his garbage out. I got out of my car and smiled at him when he said, "Are you the one who made the cookies?" He hadn't been home when I met his wife and kids last week, but apparently he had heard about my visit. "Yeah," I said. He then proceeded to tell me that he had "inhaled" my cookies. We exchange a formal introduction, and I went home feeling just a little more connected to my block :)

Happy Day

My friend brought me a homemade white chocolate raspberry cupcake today. Thanks, Andrea!

Cloud City

It was cloudy, it was morning, and I needed to crack open a book for school. So naturally, I went to Cloud City Coffee.

There are many reasons why I love Cloud City Coffee, but I feel in love with it even more this morning. As I poured my $1 drip coffee, I read about the origin of my coffee: a farmers' co-op in Costa Rica. It's a beautiful thing.

So, there I was, supporting farmers who live thousands of miles away by enjoying a delicious cup of coffee and reading my social entrepreneurship book. The morning would have been perfect had it started raining. Oh well, a girl can dream, can't she?