teacher’s pet

I SO am.

But then, does that surprise anyone?

I’m an older, more mature, interested student who sits in the front, doesn’t talk to my neighbor or goof-off, takes good notes and gets good grades (I would say a 91% on a test in which the class average was 65% is pretty good!). What isn’t to love?

I mean, I was pretty “teacher’s pet-like” in high school too, but not in college the first time. I think a lot of that was because I was so overwhelmed at Penn State. Not in a bad way; but being in a class with 800 people certainly makes it hard to make an impression on the teacher.

Anyway… I’ve hit it off pretty well with my Chemistry teacher–he’s in his mid-thirties (which makes it hard to call him “Mr.”) and runs a winery up in Niagara County with his wife–ever since I came into class about a week into the semester stressing about not understanding everything on the homework, to which he replied:

“We’re not even there yet.”

Silly me, here I was thinking I was behind when we hadn’t even gotten there yet.

My Biology teacher is a soft-spoken Indian man who, I believe, in a Christian. He’s brilliant and writes novels on the chalkboard–which I then furiously copy into my notebook. His test was directly from the notes and included minute details; I studied hard and it paid off. He came up to me after class today and asked me what I was majoring in. He said I was a ‘good student.’ Awww.

Then, after my Anatomy and Physiology class (which I love, by the way) I went up to ask the teacher a question. After we chatted, she mentioned that she’d heard people talking about me. Turns out she shares office space with my Chemistry and Biology teachers; they were remarking about my heavy science courseload and what a good student I am. She said she chimed in with a “She’s in my class, too!” AWWWWWWWWW!

I don’t really know what the fuss is about; I’m doing my job to get good grades, which includes studying and listening in class. I realize, however, that many of ECC’s “traditional” students don’t feel the same way. I wish I could bottle-up my enthusiasm and force-feed it to the slackers walking the halls. Teachers the world over would sing my praises.

Guys, I LOVE school. LOVE. It’s taken me this long to find my passion, but it’s so worth it. I love that at least once a day, there is some mention of nutrition in at least one of my classes, if not more. I love learning and getting smarter. I love my backpack. (I do…) I love that every day I’m closer to doing something with the rest of my life.

“homemade” homemade hummus

(This one has been sitting in my “drafts” queue for awhile now; it’s high-time I got it out! I actually still have some of the hummus left in the fridge…not sure how long it lasts, but it seems fine!)

How does ‘homemade’ hummus get even more ‘homemade?’

You start with dry beans, of course!

I did just that, for the first time, and I have to admit–I think I like the canned variety better! Well, I take that back. I think what I didn’t like was the flavor imparted by the vegetable broth and herbs I used to cook the beans; it gave the hummus a subtle ‘herby’ flavor I wasn’t used to. I think next time I’ll start with dry beans and use just water.

The recipe I’ve been using is from Patricia Wells’ Salad as a Meal book. Get the recipe here. I LOVE the recipe–it’s light and bright and fresh–featuring lemon juice, garlic and cilantro.

After soaking and boiling the chickpeas with onion, parsley and bay leaves, I dumped it all into the blender.

Add the olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and cilantro. You whir it around until it’s smooth and creamy, adding water (or some of the broth, if you saved it) as needed. I think it’s the blender (my food processor is in storage…), but I have to add a lot of water to get it to the consistency it should be.

Half the recipe for the dried beans made double what 1 can typically makes, so I’ll have to keep that in mind for next time. Since Andrew doesn’t eat it, I can’t make too much at once.

After blending, top with paprika and drizzle with olive oil. Enjoy!

still blue

Actually, I’m wearing blue today. How appropriate. Except that most of my wardrobe IS navy blue, so I guess it isn’t so coincidental…

I wish I could say things looked better in the morning. They don’t. Not one bit.

In fact, they look worse. I had thought we were completely at the end of our rope a week ago, before we found the house. We were depressed, hopeless, upset, discourages and fatigued with the house-hunt. And then we saw ‘our house.’ Now, it feels like the bottom has dropped out from under us–not only do we have no prospects for a house; we’re faced with an ever-hastening deadline and fewer new houses on the market. We don’t know what in the world to do.

But God isn’t in the business of giving us every little thing our hearts ‘desire.’ All He promises is His love, and all He wants is our joy. And that thought has been going through my mind since yesterday morning, BEFORE we found out we didn’t get the house. Go figure.

And after doing my first day of my new Beth Moore study, Living Beyond Yourself: The Fruits of the Spirit, this morning, in which it talked about Paul getting stoned and Christian martyrs all over the world, I got a little perspective.

Are we still terribly disappointed and completely unsure of what to do next? Certainly. But I am trying, desperately, to keep my chin up look on the bright side. We are happy, healthy and we will be taken care of. We will figure something out. God WILL open a door.

And I’m trying NOT to analyze it. It’s such a trap to fall into… Maybe we weren’t supposed to spend that much, maybe something better (my pessimistic side says that’s doubtful) is just around the corner, maybe we have to move in with Andrew’s parents for a month and we’ll all grow spiritually and emotionally because of it and we won’t know it until five years later… I don’t know! And we can’t really know for sure.

All we know is that (as my wise, WISE friend Emily Wilhelm says), God has us exactly where he wants us. (I love her. Her words of wisdom are often just what I need to hear in times like this.)

We are so thankful for all your prayers (here’s a special shout-out to the Simones, Wilhelms, grandma and both sets of parents) and well-wishes. We love you all so much.

In other news, I treated myself to half a blueberry bagel and cream cheese for breakfast this morning. I LOVE blueberry bagels with plain cream cheese. (Unfortunately, the hotel bagels leave a little to be desired, but it was something.)