Waterfall Wisher

Excited to be 5!

2010-01-30T22:10:00.007-05:00

Yummy recipes to ring in the New Year

2010-01-01T10:14:00.000-05:00

We rang in the NewYear at my sister's house with lots of goodies...beef tenderloin with horseradish sauce, olive-cheese balls, roasted shrimp (ala Barefoot Contessa), crabbies, and blue cheese spread to name a few. This was followed by Rock Band with grandmom, grandad, nana, poppa, and the kids.

I've attached the recipes for the crabbies and the blue cheese spread for all to enjoy!Blue Cheese and

Roasted Red Pepper Spread

½ cup butter, softened

1 8-ounce cream cheese, softened

1 4-ounce crumbled blue cheese

2 Tbs. chopped green onion

2 Tbs. roasted red pepper, drained, finely chopped

½ tsp. dry mustard

¼ tsp. hot pepper sauce

¼ tsp. Worchestershire sauce

Crackers and/or veggies

Combine all ingredients in medium bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Cover; refridgerate until serving time. Serve with crackers or cut up veggies.

Can be stored up to one week. Serve at room temperature.

Crabbies

1 lb crab meat

2 sticks butter (not margarine)

2 jars Kraft Old English Cheese Spread

3 t mayo

1 t seasoned salt

12 English Muffins

Soften butter and cheese (room temp). Mix together well in mixer except the crab meat – fold in crab meat. Spread on English Muffins that have been split in half.

Cut with a sharp knife in four sections and freeze. They can be frozen on a cookie sheet and after frozen – just put in a plastic bag and take out whatever you want – heat in oven about 10 minutes until hot 350 degrees.

2009 CTA Champs!

2009-12-12T01:11:00.000-05:00

I was lucky to get on such a fantastic team as soon as I moved to Naples, and it went uphill from there!!

Advent 2009 - Back at the Center of God's Heart

2009-12-01T10:07:00.000-05:00

This thought began with an earlier facebook post today from a priest that I know;

"Advent: We are not about putting Christ into a season, or anywhere else for that matter. It is Christ who comes to put us somewhere; in our place, where we truly belong - or better, to shed his penetrating light so that we can see and remember the place where God put us at the beginning, and where God holds us even now...: at the center of God's heart. The Festival of Incarnation is at our doorstep. Here is Jesus, whose face, so divine as it is, shows us the face of God and who, with that same face, as human as it is, reveals us to ourselves as God dreams us to be. (Homily, Advent 1)."

Nothing could better summarize how I have been feeling spiritually the past month.

Work has been uncharacteristically slow, and I am adjusting to my demotion. It is a little harder to adjust to the pay cut! My health has not been great - two cancer scares this year, one of which I get a biopsy for this week. And, we are living in a new town without the comfort of familiar family and friends. However, in the midst of darkness, the LIGHT literally bursts forth shattering any lack of hope!

With more time on my hands, I am free to remember where God put ME at the beginning and how much I truly am at the center of God's heart. Since leaving ministry 11 years ago I have spent many hours working, and almost as many traveling from Richmond to D.C. or on the nightmare commute from Maryland to McLean. I quickly succeeded at a new career only to find my inspiration and drive waning and my stress level intolerable in recent years. Economically, we are much better off, and I am happily free from working within a structure that tried to silence my gifts and leadership. Finally, and I am lucky to work for a company with such a positive and ethical foundation and such amazing people.

In this career, I have developed skills and found gifts I never knew I had, but in many ways they are the "shadow" gifts and they cannot sustain me. Nor, can I sustain them without being filled somewhere else.

During the past 11 years I have also experienced the depths of what St. John of the Cross called The Dark Night of the Soul - in this case my own dark soul. I cannot help but believe that I needed to see this darkness within myself to more deeply understand the light.

Now, I am beginning to understand that what can sustain me is the heart's call that I have felt from the time I was a child. I remember being 9 years old and constantly reading (out loud!) Psalm 139 to all who would listen, "Lord, you have SEARCHED me and KNOW me. You know when I sit and when I stand. Your hands are upon ME....!!!!!"

And again, at 14 on a Christian Awakening retreat, I was transformed by grace in a way that changed me forever. And finally upon graduating from JMU AND PSCE, I was turned upside down by grace while trying to flee a vocation. Friends, pastors, and ministers called me back into what would be my career for ten years. Teaching high school theology at Marymount and working at Church of the Redeemer were holy times, times when I almost constantly felt the power of living as God dreamed me to be. When preaching and teaching, I was moving within the heart of God in such an intimate and freeing way. Spiritual gifts were pouring in and out of me like water, and I was always full!!! Watching the faces on Sunday morning at Redeemer (where you can see everyone's face) was in itself a window into God's heart.

But new leadership at Redeemer highlighted the pain of struggling within a patriarchal system where my gifts would always be stifled. Like water that is not allowed to flow, I became clogged and dry. I left ministry with sadness and moved toward, a career that has been fulfilling but much less than a vocation. I know it is not my vocation for two reasons; first, because there are people in my company who I deeply respect and admire for whom our work IS much like I described my time in ministry. It is their heart's desire, and because of this their work is transformative. Second, the detailed and technical nature of my job requires so much of a stretch for ENFJ me, I end the work days exhausted rather than energized.

So, in my new home in Naples, with more time on my hands, I play the piano, sing again, take the children on eco-tours, look for the "green flash" in the sunset, and watch the creative spirit at work in nature and through the work of human beings when we go places like Sea World.

When time with the children doesn't contain the nasty distraction of looming deadlines and unfinished weekend work, my spirit is caught up in being an innocent with them. And, I remember to sing and dance within the heart of God!! I take time to reflect on who I really am and realize that it was all there at 9 years old. And, I need to return to it now.

As soon as I embraced this thought, I could almost physically feel God begin moving fast - almost DRAGGING me - towards something. I feel that same movement every single day lately. I have no idea where I will land, but I know for sure that it will be back at the beginning, and, as the quote says, "at the center of God's heart."

Thank goodness.....now all I have to do is keep up!!!!

Napa and Sonoma

2009-09-26T23:28:00.001-04:00

Sonoma - The Valley of the Moon.

The Sonoma Mission.

Our little cottage overlooking the Napa River. It had a great hiking/biking trail!

Memories of Chandon and Julia and Julia. Later that day we went to Bouchon and met a couple celebrating their engagement. We toasted them with the Chandon Brut Reserve. The caviar at Chandon was amazing.

The Black Stallion Winery.

Mumm Napa and me in heaven with a comparison tasting of 3, then 4 (thanks to our sommelier) small flutes!

I guess we travelled from alligators as pests to rattlers!

The Geyser at Calistoga.

Napa

2009-09-26T23:07:00.001-04:00

Eddie enjoying seeing on of the only Tuckers in existence.

The grounds at Rubicon, Francis Ford Coppolla's high-end winery.

V. Santui Winery was amazing, especially the wine and food pairings and the cheese shop.

The Hess Collection

Good morning sea otters!

2009-09-20T12:10:00.000-04:00

What a joy to wake up in a cozy bed, a Starbucks delivery from my husband, and an amazing view of the San Francisco Bay. Thanks to Eddie's eagle eye for wildlife, we were treated to a glimpse of sea otters hopping through the waves.

I am aware this morning of the layers of stress that usually surround me. I can feel the top layers gradually dissolve in light of morning TV and relaxed conversations with my husband around what to do this week...napa, sonoma, san fran, redwoods, yosemite...? And more importantly, where should we go in Napa for dinner? I am most excited about The General's Daughter, Bouchon (since French Laundry is a bit out of the question!), L'Auberge du Soleil, and Gary Dantin. The choices!

First step, shower. Second step, Napa!

And it looks like The General's Daughter wins for tonight!

http://www.thegeneralsdaughter.com/eat.html

A Feisty Spirit

2009-07-23T18:41:00.000-04:00

Thank goodness my children make me laugh every day! Kara has always been a feisty little thing, and her newest phrase when she doesn't like something someone does is to say, "I gonna karate chop him (or her)!" She says this to her brother most often but it extends quite often to TV characters, the dog, and once, even daddy...that was nipped in the bud pretty quickly. Much more than Jordan, she has been the one more quick to anger and much faster with a punch or a bite!

It is a challenge to help her keep her feisty spirit while teaching her the line between assertiveness and agression. So many women, myself included, lost the assertiveness somewhere along the way as we immersed ourselves in trying to please others. I pray she holds fast to the power of her anger and uses it to fight for justice for herself and others. I pray also that she, and all of us, find the temperance to listen with an open heart and to be slow to lash out with raised fists and angry voices.

My new friend Jennifer

2009-06-30T14:42:00.000-04:00

During the 18-hour trip to Naples, I got to know my new friend Jennifer. At first, it was a quiet relationship, consisting mostly of long silences....I think the longest was about four hours. But as we spent time together on the road I came to appreciate her measured words, her calming voice, her sense of flexibility, and her ability to keep me on track.

Since we've arrived in Naples I have come to appreciate her even more. She seems intimately familiar with the town, even though she has only been here a matter of two days. It calms me immensely to have her along for the ride to get to the grocery store, the Wal-Mart, to register Jordan for camp, etc. And though I don't always heed my friends' advice, I will try my best to listen to hers!

Yes, it is sad that my first friend in Naples is my GPS. Hopefully there will be more to come.

Thanks, Jennifer,

Waterfall Wisher

2009-06-19T11:49:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my blog! I have always loved waterfalls. When I am near one, my soul feels rested. The percussion of rushing water beats a cleansing rhythm, and I am reminded of baptism. God's waters rush through to cleanse me while moving me downstream to a new place where I can be living water for others.

The waterfall today moves me from a place I love, Richmond, Virginia, to a new life in Naples, Florida.

I pray that I can remember to see the dry places in other's lives. God, let me be living water to my family, my friends, and to those I meet in the days to come.