new + reconciled

 

Isn't this a great time of year? We come together with our families to celebrate the one who came to save us, and we look forward to new beginnings, new blessings, and new trials. As I reflect on this, I see not just the birth of a Savior, but my own reconciliation as one who has been saved. Each day the profundity of this reality becomes more clear (though I can never fully comprehend it), and with this clarity comes a softened heart, one that desires to make Him Lord in every area of my life. Not in most areas, not in some areas, not in the areas where it's comfortable--in everything. And because I have hope, because I have been united with the one who saves, I feel compelled, convicted, and called to share this hope, this saving grace and this transformative journey. I have journeyed here, and yet I have so far to go. May He be glorified.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

xoxo.

the gift of being together.

This Christmas will be different than others. In Christmases past, I've given Landon books, movies (documentaries, of course), clothes, and shoes. He's given me clothes, journals, washi tape, and books. He even gave me a ring one year.

But this year, we're not giving each other anything. We're giving each other everything. No gifts, no wrapping paper, just time, honesty, and intention. Time to enjoy just being together, honesty as we face the future, and intention in the way we shape our days, putting God's holy work first and each other second, which leaves everything else in a race for third.

We will surely give gifts again in the future, but this year, we're learning how to be generous without purchasing, and how to give without expectation. It's not something we've discussed much, it's just sort of happened in this season of our lives. And it's been exactly what I've needed. No distractions, no holiday stress, just the gift of being together.

xoxo.

that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Charlie Brown Christmas - Kinetic Text Animation from A Pair of Pears on Vimeo

(if you're an email subscriber, you'll need to click the link to view the video)

Charlie Brown Christmas Printable by A Pair of Pears

What's not to love about Linus recounting the story of Christmas? It just never gets old. Plus, Linus has a trusty blanket, and I too had a trusty blanket up until a year and a half ago, so Linus and I have a lot in common. 

xoxo.

our mini-thanksgiving.

Landon and I are celebrating Thanksgiving a little early this year--and since it's just the two of us, I'm keeping the menu pretty simple (just our favorites!). The turkey and trifle recipes are both new (to me), and I'm really excited to try them. I made the twice baked sweet potatoes last year (to die for), and the creamed corn is my all time favorite dish. Really. It's that good. That's why I've deemed it "world's best."

And, on another note, I'm so very grateful for the things I've been learning this year, and the things God continues to reveal to me through His word, the people I meet, the books I read, and the conversations I have. He is so good, and His goodness takes on new meaning for me everyday. It's strangely beautiful how we can be changed in something so constant--His love.

xoxo.

_____________________________________

Thanksgiving Menu

Cranberry Apple Roasted Turkey Breast | World's Best Creamed Corn | Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes | Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles

we'll be home for christmas.

It's official. We'll be back in the Great Northwest for Christmas! We booked our tickets this past weekend thanks to the killer flight prices on Spirit Air, and I'm looking forward to family, friends, cream corn (hint, hint mom!) and, if you're lucky, a return of the elf costume.

xoxo.

last week...

...was amazing. I went back to Portland, and while the trip was short, the days were full and rich with all the things I love. I went to help with CookingThyme's part in the Happy Valley 4th of July Family Festival, which was a blast. A full day with the fam sharing something I'm passionate about? Sign me up. Plus, in just 72 hours, I saw my entire family and Landon's, saw a couple of close friends, and scarfed down everything my mom put in front of me. 

I am blessed beyond words, and my heart is full.

xoxo.

come see us!

CookingThyme will be at the Happy Valley 4th of July Family Festival in Happy Valley Park tomorrow. Stop by our booth for a tasty cupcake and lots of fun!

xoxo.

P.S. A very happy 24th birthday to my dearest friend Maryn!! Love you!

how could i ever say thank you.

 ...to my Grandma, who told me once that attitude is a choice. That the way you respond to the things God places in your life matters. And that wrapping paper is best left on the roll and not removed for wrapping paper roll sword fights. 

 ...to my Grams, who can make me cry in an instant, and who introduced me to beets, serving milk in a pitcher, and the best paper store in the world. She's the closest thing to a saint that I know.

...to my mother-in-law, who raised the man that's my closest friend, and who welcomed me into her family with lots of love. 

 And to my mom, who is an endless source of encouragement, wisdom, and cooking tips. She knows me enough to know when I just need a good night's sleep, even from a few thousand miles away. And she's allowed me to join in her business, which has been such a joy.

 She's taught me how to be sassy and classy and that nautical is always in style.

And to always watch your back when brothers are around. I love you mom!

The mothers and grandmothers in my life are one of the biggest blessings I've been given!

xoxo.

our wonderful weekend.

 Our weekend was made up of three of my favorite kind of days: the ones where Landon and I spend basically every moment together, talking about everything we I can think of. 

First up, a picnic of course! ...And at what we deemed the Mission Bay of Abilene, no less.

...Followed by a trip to the Abilene Zoo! We were quite impressed with this little zoo...

And every cat made me miss our sweet little Snook!

This vulture was clearly thinking, Whaddup suckas?!?!

Also, this...

Our Easter was filled with lots of tasty foods! I'm actually quite happy to announce that, with the exception of my not-so-pretty deviled eggs, everything turned out!

We had sweet potatoes with roasted grapes, goat cheese and honey...

(recipe here, repin here)

...lemony asparagus

(recipe here)

...creamy deviled eggs

(recipe here)

and chocolate shelled cheesecake "eggs" with peach jam!

(based on recipe here, repin here)

I also got to watch my niece and nephew on their egg hunt in my parents' yard, thanks to FaceTime!

Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend!

xoxo.

happy leap day.

I'll be honest, last week's 30 Rock kind of made me wish that Leap Day was a real thing. Anyone else?

xoxo.

[video via]

P.S. If you're reading this via email, click here to view the video.

a very merry christmas break.

Today marks our last day in Portland, so I thought I'd do a quick recap of what we've been up to. We flew in on the night of Dec 22nd, so you better believe that on the morning of the 23rd, I was having myself a Crema latte. Here's a little rundown of how that went:

We spent lots of time with family, and soaking in the beautiful green-ness of Oregon. 

The meals were (of course) to die for: Posole on Christmas Eve, Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas Breakfast, Prime Rib for Christmas Dinner, and on and on...

  

I also got to work on a lot for CookingThyme with my mom and sister. We have all of the January, February and March classes up on the website, so if you're in the Portland area, check them out! It's been a fabulous trip, but we'll be happy to settle back in at home this week. We have so many blessings in our lives, and this trip has been a great reminder of that. We love our family, friends and good food! And this city, well, there just are no words (okay, maybe there's a few). Beautiful. Green. Recyclable. Cultural. Compostable. Etc. Love it.

xoxo.

it's the end of the year, and what a year it's been.

Wow. 2011 has come and gone. What a year. Honestly, I start to tear up every time I think about it, because this year has been so full of change, growth and unexpected blessings. And my only conclusion, my only theme as I look back at this year is that God is so good. God is so good.

Last year at this time, Landon and I were just barely thinking about looking at grad school opportunities for Landon. We hadn't told anyone, but we would spend our nights researching and wondering and praying. We were both ready for a change. In January, we started applying to different places. Different schools, job opportunities and graduate assistantships as they came along. 

In mid-February, we were eating dinner at Air Thai (if you're ever in Lebanon, Oregon, be sure to stop for some pad thai!) when Landon got a phone call. He stepped outside to take it, and ended up missing the entire dinner, so I knew it must be important. It was a professor from Hardin-Simmons University. Landon had sent him an email the week before inquiring about a possible grad assistant position at HSU. From there, Landon was put in touch with the head track and cross country coach at HSU, and things started to fall into place. We waited another month or so to tell our families (partially based off of the philosophy in this TED talk, and not wanting to jinx ourselves), and I announced it on The Bright Life in early April. We were moving to Texas in May. 

We decided to only take one car and whatever we could fit inside. And fit we did. I sat on two blankets in the front seat, with one bag under my legs, one at my side and two on my lap. There was a lot of stress while we were packing, and a lot of, Are we really doing this?

The second night of our trip, we stopped for burgers just outside of Sacramento. We weren't in the restaurant more than 20 minutes, but when we got back to our car we found a shattered window and four missing bags. Our computer, our wedding video footage and my baby blanket, among other things, were all gone. 

Our Christmas Eve service this year was based on the idea of God's interruptions. That God's timing may not always make sense to us, but that His plan is always best. At one point, the question was posed, "How has God broken into your life this year?" It brought me to tears, because I think our break-in, in some ways, was actually God breaking in to remind us that He's in control. That we may spend hours, days, years accumulating things and memories, but they don't matter in comparison to His plan. 

We made it to Texas after over a week of traveling, and settled into our little house. The summer stretched us in many ways, but God's blessings were apparent in each challenging situation. We had to find a new church, so we visited the closest one to us. We were overwhelmed by how welcoming the church members were, and we continue to be blessed by our relationships there. We survived a summer of crazy hot temperatures, which made the fall and winter even more of a blessing. And we learned to rely on God, and not our bank account, because our bank account clearly wasn't going to sustain us. And again, God's blessings and provision carried us through. 

I have more joy and more of a sense of God's presence and plan than I ever have. I love, love, love seeing Landon pursue something that he has a passion for, and I really enjoy my job. I don't know what 2012 will bring, but I'll try to plan less and trust more, because God is so good.

Happy New Year!

xoxo.

wishing you a very...

christmas eve cinnamon rolls [the best in the world]

 I'm making cinnamon rolls today with my mom, sisters, cousins, and aunts. We started this tradition last year, and it's becoming one of my favorites. Here are some photos from last year:

 My mom said to punch the dough, and I took it too literally...and cracked all of the knuckles in my hand...

It's gonna be a good day.

xoxo.

good news {merry christmas}

I bring you good news that will cause great joy 

for all the people. Today in the town of David 

a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Luke 2:10-11

Merry Christmas!

xoxo.

we're off...

...to our beloved hometown! We're looking forward to spending time with family, seeing friends, staying warm and toasty by the fire and drinking lots of Crema lattes. What are your holiday plans?

xoxo.

[image via]

our christmas card.

I really like Christmas cards. My mom usually keeps them in a basket during the holidays, and I love reading through them each year to see what friends and family are up to. I wanted to keep things simple this year for ours, but also signify the big change in our lives that happened in 2011: our move to Texas. I came up with this design, which allowed me to print them at home and send as a postcard...

 We sent these to our family and friends that are sprinkled across the West Coast. I had another set of cards that say "Merry and Bright," that we sent to friends here in Abilene.

Do you send out Christmas cards? Do you like getting them in the mail? I love both the sending and receiving.

xoxo.

P.S. See last year's card here.

good news {love}

This is the fourth week in my Advent series. Advent is an ancient Christian tradition, celebrating this season of preparation and an anticipation for the birth of Christ. Many churches light one candle each Sunday on the four weeks leading up to Christmas. I'm following that pattern, with the themes of hope, peace, joy and love.

love

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. -- Deuteronomy 10:17-19a

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. -- John 13:34-35

Oh, how He loves us. I have been reminded, confronted, surprised and comforted by God's love this year, perhaps more than any other year. When we decided to move to Texas, our family and friends cheered us on, encouraged us and are even operating as storage units for us. When our car was broken into during our move, there were phone calls to sympathize with us and open arms to comfort us. The love of our family and friends is what got us here in one piece. But it's the love, blessings, honesty and generosity of thirteen people that have kept us here, thriving and growing in God's love.

Those thirteen people are our Lifegroup at church. The first Sunday we were in Abilene, Landon and I decided to try the closest church to us. It's just down the street, and the huge building fooled us into thinking that the congregation was in the hundreds. When we walked into the sanctuary, there were about 90 people in the service. And we felt awkward. We're keep-to-yourself kind of Oregonians, so the hug 'n' howdy time of course made us uncomfortable, but I couldn't say that Texans aren't welcoming. People walked from across the room to greet us. And by the time the service was over, I just had a sneaking suspicion that this was place for us. We came back, and kept coming back. Not because of the worship. Not because of the preaching style. Because of the people (although the worship and preaching are great too!). We have been so blessed by the people. People who see a need and give with urgency and generosity. People who know you and allow themselves to be known. People who will dance to The 12 Days of Christmas in front of the entire congregation together. People who know what life is about, and live it. It has been such a blessing to witness the love of our group, and the love in our church. As the verse above says, I have learned to love the stranger, because we were once strangers here, but God, through his people, provided for us and revealed his everlasting love. 

Teach us to love, O Lord. May we always remember to put you first as we follow Christ's footsteps, that we may know your love and show it in our lives. As we prepare for our celebration of Jesus' birth, also fill our hearts with love for the world, that all may know your love and the one whom you have sent, your son, our Savior. Amen.

xoxo.

[prayer and verses via]