Cooking adventures, life's fun surprises, and giving thanks

I am so excited at how nice the weather has been lately; it's not exactly the typical fall weather we've been experiencing, but it's close enough for Texas! I love waking up early in the morning and opening all the windows of my lovely apartment; I can't believe I'm actually able to do this now. Oh how I've missed fresh air that's far from suffocatingly hot and disgustingly humid! I love how there's a carpet of crispy, colorful leaves leading up to the doorstep of my apartment! But most of all, I love how, right after Halloween, stores will start stocking up on Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations! I can't help it, I'm definitely a tiny bit happier during the Autumn and Winter months. You know what else excites me? The idea of being in a completely different section of the US this time next year! It's ridiculous how long I've wanted to live on the East Coast, and I'm thrilled that it's actually going to be a reality very, very soon!

I'm very thankful with how things have been going lately. Of course, life is never perfect, but I definitely feel like I can handle its little imperfections a lot better now than I could before. A big part of it has to do with the fact that I'm actually able to get out of the house a lot more. Sure, I definitely have my moments when I prefer to be indoors, but I notice that I'm a lot happier when I can interact with the world, at least for a couple of hours--and lets not forget my love for nature, trees, and sunshine; I even notice I feel better when I have the windows open, this is why I'm glad that it's actually been cool enough lately to be able to do that.

And the cooking adventures! There have been a lot of those...and in the future, there will probably be even more, especially since I'm actually cooking for a family now! It's like a little job of mine to be the personal "chef/cook" gal for this family I recently met through the school where I work on Tues/Thurs. I know it's just a tiny step, but I really do feel like this "culinary dream" of mine is coming to life a bit more as a result of this occurrence; it's like I can actually picture myself a caterer and restaurant owner. Even if I'm unable to attend culinary art school in the future, I don't see why those things still couldn't happen if they're already starting to, slowly but surely, become part of my reality...yes, very slowly...slow enough for me to really understand the science behind both cooking and baking...

Which reminds me, I've been planning on getting some books on cake/cookie decorating. You know, I always hear people say that "chefs don't bake" and that it's not possible to be a good baker and cook, but I don't buy it. I personally enjoy cooking and baking for different reasons. I do have to admit, most of the time when I bake, I'm so fixated on trying to make something quick enough to satisfy my impatient sweet tooth that I often overlook the aesthetic aspects of baking...you know, the decorating part. I focus more on trying to make it tasty rather than pretty, but I want that to change. I don't see why I have to sacrifice one for the other in that department either. Also, I feel like most of my food is "practical" in the sense that it's not new and creative, well, most of it isn't. The actual recipe might be creative in that it uses unique ingredients, but I would really love to incorporate flavors from different countries. I'd see this pursuit as something resembling painting--mixing different colors together, or flavors in this case, to get an amazing shade that'll effortlessly make the painted image pop out of its lifeless and confining canvas. I realize trying new foods will probably be the best way to do that, taste buds do make for a great palate, but we'll see how it happens...this should be interesting considering my demonic digestive system. Ah, so many obstacles to overcome, but this one is a cinch compared to all the other ones I've faced!

So if you see me around any time soon, I'll probably have an apron on. Ha. No, no. I'll probably just have a couple of oddly shaped fingernails. What? You ask. Yep, you read right. This is kind of grunny (aka funny and gross united to make a word I'm probably too embarrassed to use in real life but have enough guts to use in my blog because it won't be associated with my overly-dorky minnie mouse voice.): The other day I was cooking and noticed a piece of my nail was missing, it definitely looked as if a knife had severed it at an awkward angle...I have a feeling it ended up in our dinner...YUMMY! Hey McDonald's has their secret sauce, so I guess that makes us all entitled to our own little special ingredient, whatever it may be.

my world gets an occasional but very welcomed snowfall

Even though my glass looks cloudy on the outside (from the dirty fingeprints left by my hand that's usually been clutching the glass much too tightly in fear of dropping it), I always try to look at it half full instead of half empty. Of course, that's not always easy. But here's what came to mind this morning after finding out a little bit of good news that definitely brightened my day...

I've often thought about how it seems so many good people suffer the most, they get more than their share of burdens and heartache in life. It didn't seem fair to me, especially after seeing people I love go through more than just a few difficult situations. I wondered that if God really promised to protect his children, then why would he allow them to suffer so much, especially if they were leading meaningful and godly lives. In my younger years my grandmother would even tell me that we each had our own little guardian angel there by our side, and I loved that idea so much that I held onto it. To this day, I don't doubt that there are supernatural beings under God's authority protecting us, and I still believe that miracles happen on a daily basis. Even if they are as invisible to us as the face of God himself, they still impact our lives greatly, sometimes they are even the reasons why we are alive.

I've experienced my own miracles in life, and what's recently occurred to me is that I don't know if I could've experienced them in the same way had my life been easy from day one. But like every other human being, I do get tired of challenges; sometimes it seems like I want a life that's more like Candy Land instead of Trouble. Still, I also realize that it is easier for a couple of snowflakes to stand out among a murky field of dirt cakes than a blanketed field of flowers, if you catch my drift. If you're from Texas, and you've traveled to places where people actually have a white Christmas, then you know how much more excited Texans become when they're blessed with a day filled with an interesting mix of snow/sleet than those who take part in shoveling huge piles of snow on a daily basis (at least during the winter months, it isn't such a blessing to the latter group). But I guess when you're in a state, literally and figuratively, that usually resembles Hades, at least temperature-wise, then snow really is a blessing when the Cold Miser stops by for a brief visit.

So on days like this I celebrate. It's gonna be hot again, but my own little world got a tiny smidgen of snow today. It turns out one of the medical bills I thought I had to pay is actually going to be covered in-full by the billing department itself, since my insurance refused to pay what I initially thought they were going to; it's a complicated story, but here's the interesting thing... Even though for a while I had the extra burden of having to worry about another bill, if I never had that temporary disturbance, I wouldn't have been able to experience that slight tinge of happiness after discovering my balance on the bill would be brought down to $0. I would've just gone on with my life and missed out on a little blessing that originally started out as a burden. These are the things I need in my life to make me a thankful person.

You know, now that I think about it, I'm glad my life isn't like Candy Land. After awhile, I'd have a mouth empty of any teeth or full of cavities. I wouldn't appreciate life's sweet moments that seem to come along right after the more bitter ones. I'm glad my life is this way, it's like a dish I developed a taste for after realizing its complicated flavors actually do complement each other quite nicely while they enhance the overall eating experience. I always find a way to make food analogies, it seems :). But yeah, I don't like bland food so why would I want my life to be that way?