The story of the kitchenette...

Once upon a time, there was a Kitchenette that lived in a new apartment. The Kitchenette was very cute with a yellow tablecloth and matching kitchen curtains...

Then one day, the Kitchenette sprang a leak through a small hole in the ceiling.

By Monday, the small hole was tired of being so small. "I've been a small hole for too long," it told the ceiling. And so while Natalie was working, the hole grew and grew... it grew until the ceiling could no longer support itself.


When the Kitchenette (and Natalie) realized what had happened, it became very puzzled. "What do I do now?" the Kitchenette asked itself.

The Kitchenette was very sad. "Not too long ago, I was a cute, little Kitchenette! NOW look at me! I'm bare, dirty, stinky and there's a draft. What am I going to do?"

I don't know.


.....to be continued.

Blueberries.

If you would have asked me 3 months ago, "do you like blueberries?" I would have said, "NO, I don't like the taste of blueberries. Actually, they don't really taste like much of anything. No, blueberries are not for me." Well friends, things have changed. Over the summer, I had a change of heart (or change of taste-buds maybe). So, ask me again. "Natalie, what do you think of blueberries?"

I love blueberries!! I can't get enough of them!

How can this be, you might ask? How can you really not like a food one month, and then the next month, love it? Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know...but it can happen. Say for instance, you don't like fish. Or maybe black beans. But you wished you liked them both b/c they are both SO good for you. Have heart. It is very possible that you will have a change of taste-buds :)

Anyways, back to Blueberries. Mmm mmm, I'm eating them as I type.

To the right is a very small wild blueberry "plant" that I found this summer. Look close. Those little black dots are actually blueberries. One day, dad and I went on a search for wild blueberries and that is when I took this picture. We found many small plants like these, and while I picked the blueberries, Dad wasn't content with just the blueberries themselves. He "picked the whole plant," uprooting it, and later replanting it in our front yard (outside of our beach house)! As you probably guessed, the plant died soon after.

That was the fruit of our first Wild Blueberry Picking adventure in August. It was kind of a disappointing trip actually.

A few weeks later though, a friend and I went back to try our luck again. And this time we hit the jackpot! I was in my glory. I even remembering telling my friend, "I am so happy right now." It's all about the little things in life, right? Instead of just finding a few small blueberry plants, this time we found a whole BLUEBERRY BUSHEL!! We both picked and ate our fill. And thus began my affinity for blueberries.Moral of the story. Change. (Sounds like a presidential slogan?!?) You can change! I can change. Things in life will change. Grab hold of it all. Try new things. Give old things a second try. Give people a second chance. And last but not least...don't give up. Love what you do. Do what you love.

Take an "awe break"

Feel like you have too much on your plate? Try taking an "awe break." Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Gunilla Norris, a contributing author to "Weavings" has this to say:

"Many of us are juggling so many things that we are run by our lives rather than living them as gifts from God. What if we could learn to stop for a moment many times a day? What if in those moments we could decide to notice the sheer miracle of being alive? We would then be taking awe breaks instead of coffee breaks."

A couple of weeks ago I began a clinical rotation at a nearby hospital. It's your standard 5 days/wk, 9 to 5 gig. Add in travel time, dinner preparation, a little bit of studying and a little bit of down time and you have the recipe commonly known as, "your typical work day."

Before starting my day, I try to take time to reflect on life and say a prayer of thanksgiving for each new day. Then I jump in car for work, and soon enough,the day has slipped away from me. What if I could "learn to stop for a moment MANY times a day" (not just once or twice) , wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, and I take that a few seconds to thank God for his many blessings.

Love. Health. Family. Friends. Education. Laughter. Food. Clean Water. Shelter. . . etc.

I don't think I'll be giving up my coffee breaks, but tomorrow I am going to try getting ENERGIZED through taking an "awe break." Won't you take a MOMENTary awe break with me?

I was MIA, but now I'm BIA (back in action)

After spending a few months out at Sea (aka: at the beach, on the "4c's", (ok, it looks more like this) fishing off the dock of the bay), I am back in action-back in Philly! I have missed writing and will try to post more frequently.

Stay Tuned: next post I'll report on the "highlights" of my summer. But right now, a word on life back in Philly.

First, I should say that it is GOOD to be back. I have especially missed my church here in Philly and the community and support that goes along with it. It was good to sit in the church pew (well, chair) on Sunday, to sing on the top of my lungs along with guitar, drums and keyboard, and to see friendly faces from my"career and grad group." I, of course, fit into the second group. Personally, I think that the second group is a lot less scary than the first group (but in 1.5 years, I hope to become a member of the first!!!)

Second, I have moved into a new apartment and well, if I could show you pictures (somehow, I've lost the cord for my camera), I think you'd be pretty impressed by the "decor" (thanks mom!) I particularly feel grown up because I have a tablecloth (and place mats) on my table AND (big AND) I bought my first ever iron and ironing Board. Now, I'm still an amateur with my Sunbeam, usually ironing IN more wrinkles than I iron OUT, but hey, it's a step in the right direction.

Thirdly, over the summer, I found TRUE LOVE...

Rice Pudding :)

mmmm, MMMM, good! I have found a recipe and this thursday, I plan to attempt making my very own rice pudding (minus the raisins). I'll let you know how it goes!!