I know what my numerous blog readers must be thinking... Two posts in one  night? Wow! Kat must be coming back into blogging full swing!. The truth is, dear readers, I have serious commitment issues. I could list off the things I've given up over the years but that would take too much time (and frankly, too much commitment). That said, I like the occasional bursts of blogging energy I get and I enjoy the sort of accountability  blogging offers by simply putting your goals out there. That's right folks, I've come back tonight with a goal that I want to share... a new journey in thankfulness. God is so faithful to me that I want to make an attitude of gratitude priority number one. I'm using this seven good and perfect gifts booklet as a guide.  My goal is, for the rest of the month of October, to write down seven things I can thank God for every day. If I'm able to complete that goal, I'll extend the deadline. It took me five minutes to come up with things I'm thankful for today so time will be no excuse. My prayer is that my Heavenly Father molds my heart to serve by seeing how much I have to be thankful for. Wish me luck and pray for me!

In case your bored of picture-less posts, here's a picture of a cute baby elephants butt to warm you to the depths of your soul.

:)

I know we've been hearing a lot about the recent passing of Steve Jobs through various media outlets but I wanted to give a little shout out as well. As you can see, the title of my blog is "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." based on a quote from Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement address at Stanford. His speech was very real to me at the time so I wanted to always remember those words of advice. I'm not a huge apple user (though my failing hp laptop is making me wish I was), but I can still appreciate what Jobs did for the world and what his words of wisdom elicited in me. So for the last time, here's the speech that sparked my forgotten blog.

My twenty-first year

My 21st birthday was on May 31st. A good friend of mine once told me that, instead of evaluating your life and making goals for yourself on New Year's, you should take your birthday as a time to do that because it's more special to you. So here goes nothing....

My goals are to:
Be proactive, not reactive. Basically take a more active role in my own life and do the things I talk about doing. 


Spend less time on the internet. (Ironic that I'm posting this on a blog.)


Be more reliable. Recently, I realized how flakey I can be, whether it's not returning a text message or canceling on someone at the last minute. I do not want to be known as that person.


Become a better listener. On the same note as reliability, I want people to know I value what they say by truly paying attention to them. 


Explore and embrace my flaws that form my insecurities. 


Continue to search for God in everything. I'm also flakey in my faith. My spiritual journey has been much more of a spiritual roller-coaster with its highs and lows. I hope to find a more consistent faith in my 21st year.


That's all I can think of for now. Even though I've only been 21 for 11 days, I hope the rest of the year I will find myself asking, "what would 21 year-old Kat do differently from 20 year-old Kat?" Wish me luck this next year!

“Several years back, I was visiting an elderly woman in my Quaker meeting. She was reminiscing about her childhood. I asked her what she missed the most. She closed her eyes a moment, thinking back, then said, “Porch talk. I miss the porch talk.” Social scientists and preachers offer a number of reasons for the decline of civil society: broken homes, poverty, disease, television and increasing secularism, to name a few. I believe all that is wrong with our world can be attributed to the shortage of front porches and the talks we had on them. Somewhere around 1950, builders left off the front porch to save money, and we’ve had nothing but problems ever since.” Porch Talk, Philip Gulley

Post-summer update

LONG TIME NO BLOG!
I'm bad at this whole taking-pictures-and-writing-about-it thing.

So here's an update on all those goals I set out to accomplish at the beginning of the summer. I thought I'd better get this post out of the way, considering it's on the brink of fall here in west Michigan.

• Become a morning person
• WIN! (sorta) Although I'm still partial to sleeping in when I have the chance, I usually go to bed at 11 pm and wake up around 7 on weekdays and 9 on weekends. And I do this all with minimal napping! I give myself a pat on the back for this one. 
• Become a runner
• Summer FAIL, fall WIN! I'm just starting to get into running, now that I'm back at school and less lazy. Better late than never. My goal is to be running 6 miles, 4 times a week by the end of the semester. 
• Become "crafty"
• Didn't happen, probably never will. I'm just not creative. At all. This blog, and the food I make for it,  is the closest I come to creativity. 
• Bible crash course 
• FAIL. I'm going to have to put this one on my fall goal list.
• Go 'vegan" ish
• FAIL because I realized I like cheese too much, and the occasional egg or fish dish. I like to eat vegan, and do so often, but I'll never be a full-on vegan girl.
• Family time/family health plan 
• FAIL but not for lack of trying. My family just was not having it. On the plus side, my mom and I are having a weight-loss contest amongst ourselves, including weekly inspirational emails amongst each other, and weekly weigh-ins. 
• Volunteer or work at a nursing home
• FAIL. I didn't have the time to do this this summer, so I'm working on getting a job at a nursing home this fall.
• READ! READ! READ!
• WIN! WIN! WIN!
• Get my daily dose of Vitamin D (AKA sunshine)
• WIN, literally and figuratively. Not only did I spend ample amounts of time outside, I also added vitamin D to my daily vitamin regiment. 

So without, getting into winded explanations, here are my fall goals:

• Get As in every class
• Spend time in the Word on a daily basis
• Mother-daughter weight-loss (expect weekly posts of this nature)
• Run 6 miles, 4 times per week, by the end of the semester
• Drop 2 pants sizes
• Work at a nursing home or medical clinic
• Develop many meaningful relationships
• Fall related activities! 
• Bed by ten on school nights (all 8ams=yikes)

I've missed blogging! It very therapeutic. Expect food-related posts soon!

Wabi-sabi

Wabi-Sabi: Japanese world view describing the beauty of the imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. Characteristics of Wabi-Sabi include asymmetry, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and the suggestion of natural processes.
I recently learned of the aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi in a book I was reading. Beauty in imperfection? I'm down with that. My life has a Wabi-Sabiness to it. Certainly imperfect but also pretty simple. Love it.

Not a whole lot going down in the food department this week. We're running low on the quality stuff in my household.Yogurt, granola, nectarine combo. It's been so many years since I had a nectarine, I had forgotten what they tasted like. Turns out they're sorta peachy. This is because they are a kind of peach with smooth skin (who knew? Thanks Wikipedia!).

New recipe from The Vegan Table: quesadilla  with hummus, guac, and scallions. Scallions were a new one for me and I really liked them. 

In other news:

Cool new ankle bracelet or injury obtained from unfortunate dog-related incident?
You decide.

 Have a Wabi-Sabi day!

A day like any other...

but wonderful nonetheless.
Why? No work! Yahoo!

I woke up at 9 am (ish) and was excited to get crackin on Amanda's easy baked oatmeal recipe.

I couldn't stand the lack of sweet taste so I added a lil bit of brown sugar.

A magic bullet smoothie made with soy milk,flax, berries, bananas, and a few slices of leftover apples was the perfect partner to this breakfast.

After a lunch of triscuits and hummus, I was really pumped for the dinner I had in mind.
Whole wheat pasta, lentils, brussel sprouts, tomatos,and  feta chesse, all rolled in a couple dashes of evoo.

What a filling meal! My momma and I ate our dinners and the deck and chatted about our future vacations (one real vacation planned up north, while other dream vacations include North Carolina, Hawaii, Greece, and out west). Maybe future vacation planning is a bit impractical, but every summer season brings dreams of the next summer season.

Anyway, sorry for the boring post. Maybe my life will be more exciting tomorrow. No promises, though.

Good night, loves!