What I Learned in Autumn
If you haven't heard the reasoning behind this list before, the short story is that these kinds of posts are inspired by Emily P. Freeman and the desire to be more present in my own life and to keep better track of how life is progressing. Recently Raúl and I were answering some random questions, and one of them was how we'd grown in the last year. It was a blessing to be able to readily pick up ways that God had processed me this year and to feel like I have advanced in my walk with God and in wisdom and understanding. As someone who is constantly pursuing learning and wanting excellence, it gives a sense of purpose to recognize the things I'm learning. And, some of these are just fun.
Twelve Things I Learned in Autumn
1) I love the feel of Nancy Meyers' movies because of the set design and music. Movies that she is known for are The Holiday, It's Complicated, Father of the Bride, and Something's Gotta Give among others. I live vicariously in the homes of these movies. They are so open and inviting while still maintaining a sense of coziness. The music is also warm, nostalgic, adventurous, acoustic, and homey. Her style just gives a sense of home and beauty to me, and I enjoy that feeling even more than the plot lines.
from apartmenttherapy.com
2) A lot of finding your purpose in life is finding your people. This was a lesson I learned from Kris Vallotton's book Destined to Win. It's something that really released a lot of the pressures I've put on myself in ministry. I've experienced firsthand that you can have a great vision, a clear path, and even the necessary resources, but if you don't have the people to carry it through it's not ever going to work. We need the Body of Christ. With that said, I don't know that I have found my people yet, which can feel frustrating sometimes. But, at least knowing this keeps my heart seeking to understand God's seasons and to love well no matter what season I am in.
3) Graphic designers are worth their salt. We've had our non-profit ministry here going on five years and had yet to come up with a logo or anything that could be formally used in publicity. I delved into all of my options and tried my hand at watching some tutorials and playing around with some vector graphics programs. In an effort to be frugal, I tried my hand at commissioning a couple people on Fiverr to do a logo for us, and that was a nightmare. I came up with our basic concept and spent hours drawing and toying with our various options. But, I could not transfer that to a vector format in an appropriate way. So, I remembered an acquaintance from college who does freelance work, and she did our logo for us, giving us grace with a discount. She did great work. Look her up--http://www.steviedriscoll.com/
Moral of the story is that making a logo and doing graphic design is an art form, and the graphic designers who do a great job put in so much work and have honed their skills. (And while it's not bad to learn a little about everything and be a jack of all trades, it's also really good to recognize when you're in over your head.)
4) How to shave and sweat celery. Has anyone else had to learn that this is a thing? I only like celery typically in soups when they just melt in your mouth, but my soups were not turning out like that. So, I researched a little and learned that if you want melt-in-your-mouth celery in cooked dishes, it's a good idea to shave your celery with a potato peeler to cut down on the stringiness, and it helps to sweat the celery before putting it in the dish. Sweating celery just involves throwing it in a pan with some oil and letting it cook down a bit.
5) The stories Raúl and I both connect over and enjoy the most are often stories of other cultures. This makes sense as we're navigating our own bi-cultural marriage, but I think it's nice to see other couples or people facing similar obstacles, conflicts, and misunderstandings because of culture. It gives us a sense of relief, I think, that we aren't alone in that. Plus, we both like to travel and have new experiences, and stories of culture clashes almost always include images of new places and people participating in something new to them.
from amazon.com
6) When I have disappointments or unexpected losses, questioning God is okay within relationship, but it's not the most productive. The pain I experience is in my heart, not my brain. So, it's more productive to seek God's healing for my heart (even if He never gives me answers for my brain). Often, even if I did receive the why answer, it wouldn't remove the pain in my heart. This lesson came courtesy of God Is Good by Bill Johnson, the study we recently finished at Ladies' Bible Study.
7) How to make a decent messy bun (with dry shampoo and about a million bobby pins). I have pretty thin hair that gets greasy after just a day. So, any way that I can avoid having to wash my hair every day is a plus. But, my attempts always ended up looking one-sided and floppy and because I have layers would constantly fall down. The game changer, for me, was this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x3mFkORsdo
It's all in how she positions her hair before putting the ponytail holder in.
8) I learned how to make a lot of different foods during the fall including Hollandaise sauce, chicken and dumplings, garlic Parmesan zoodles, and yeast rolls, but the one that I have consistently used over and over again is the bean and roasted veggie salad from Salt Fat Acid Heat on Netflix (based on the cook book). It's just beans, roasted vegetables, a load of herbs, feta cheese, and an acidic vinaigrette. Simple, delicious, filling, and a go-to dinner.
from amazon.com
9) I am a type 6 on the Enneagram. The Enneagram is a personality indicator with 9 types. It is different than Myers-Briggs and many others in various ways. During the Women of Purpose retreat I went to, one of the speakers talked about how she has been using the enneagram in godly ways to better discover her strengths as well as her inner motivations and pitfalls. As part of the retreat, she gave us some information about each type. I had encountered the Enneagram before, but I'd never established what my type was. It took me a while to figure it out since I have tendencies of 1s, 5s, and 6s. But, 6 is what stuck. It has also been fascinating to read some materials about Raúl's type (a 7), and how 6s and 7s should positively interact and what can cause conflicts. Overall, like any tool, it's all in how you use it, but something that can be good to have in the arsenal.
10) I love the show Lost. I know I'm late to the game, and I know it had some crazy plot lines. But, the underlying idea of the loving bond that can form among unlikely people sharing a common experience resonated with me. It's one I'll likely watch again at some point.
from biography.com
11) I recently watched First Man, and while I know everyone is jumping on the Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star Is Born hype, I can't say enough about this film. What is even more impressive is Neil Armstrong's real life. In school, you learn to memorize Neil Armstrong's name as the first man to step foot on the moon, but you don't learn all of the tragedy that he went through before he had that triumph in his life. Loss was often present in his life especially through the death of his two-year-old daughter, Karen, who had a brain tumor. From what I've investigated, the movie is pretty true to real life as the Armstrong brothers, sons of Neil, collaborated with Damien Chazelle, the director, for two and a half years. It was also refreshing to me to see how the humility of such an introverted person led him to mark history in such a profound way even though he was a person who had to have been carrying much grief. As I watched this movie, I could just imagine God with a huge smile on His face as Neil stepped on the moon, knowing that humanity had so adamantly pursued the discovery of the creation He made for them.
from usatoday.com
12) That George H. W. Bush started the tradition of writing and leaving a letter for the next president. As the US mourns the loss of former President George H. W. Bush, as a lover of hand-written letters, I was fascinated to know that as part of his legacy, he was the one who started the tradition of leaving a letter for the incoming president. The circumstances surrounding that decision make his action that much more full of integrity. He had lost the election to Bill Clinton and would not have a second term in office, but he chose to communicate with humility and in an honorable, unifying, uplifting way. This has been quite a year of losses of men who left substantial marks on history--men like Billy Graham, John McCain, and George H. W. Bush (among so many others). With my own grandfather in their ranks as someone who left a great mark on my own history, it does indeed feel like the end of an era.
What have you learned in this season?
Twelve Things I Learned in Autumn
1) I love the feel of Nancy Meyers' movies because of the set design and music. Movies that she is known for are The Holiday, It's Complicated, Father of the Bride, and Something's Gotta Give among others. I live vicariously in the homes of these movies. They are so open and inviting while still maintaining a sense of coziness. The music is also warm, nostalgic, adventurous, acoustic, and homey. Her style just gives a sense of home and beauty to me, and I enjoy that feeling even more than the plot lines.
from apartmenttherapy.com
2) A lot of finding your purpose in life is finding your people. This was a lesson I learned from Kris Vallotton's book Destined to Win. It's something that really released a lot of the pressures I've put on myself in ministry. I've experienced firsthand that you can have a great vision, a clear path, and even the necessary resources, but if you don't have the people to carry it through it's not ever going to work. We need the Body of Christ. With that said, I don't know that I have found my people yet, which can feel frustrating sometimes. But, at least knowing this keeps my heart seeking to understand God's seasons and to love well no matter what season I am in.
3) Graphic designers are worth their salt. We've had our non-profit ministry here going on five years and had yet to come up with a logo or anything that could be formally used in publicity. I delved into all of my options and tried my hand at watching some tutorials and playing around with some vector graphics programs. In an effort to be frugal, I tried my hand at commissioning a couple people on Fiverr to do a logo for us, and that was a nightmare. I came up with our basic concept and spent hours drawing and toying with our various options. But, I could not transfer that to a vector format in an appropriate way. So, I remembered an acquaintance from college who does freelance work, and she did our logo for us, giving us grace with a discount. She did great work. Look her up--http://www.steviedriscoll.com/
Moral of the story is that making a logo and doing graphic design is an art form, and the graphic designers who do a great job put in so much work and have honed their skills. (And while it's not bad to learn a little about everything and be a jack of all trades, it's also really good to recognize when you're in over your head.)
4) How to shave and sweat celery. Has anyone else had to learn that this is a thing? I only like celery typically in soups when they just melt in your mouth, but my soups were not turning out like that. So, I researched a little and learned that if you want melt-in-your-mouth celery in cooked dishes, it's a good idea to shave your celery with a potato peeler to cut down on the stringiness, and it helps to sweat the celery before putting it in the dish. Sweating celery just involves throwing it in a pan with some oil and letting it cook down a bit.
5) The stories Raúl and I both connect over and enjoy the most are often stories of other cultures. This makes sense as we're navigating our own bi-cultural marriage, but I think it's nice to see other couples or people facing similar obstacles, conflicts, and misunderstandings because of culture. It gives us a sense of relief, I think, that we aren't alone in that. Plus, we both like to travel and have new experiences, and stories of culture clashes almost always include images of new places and people participating in something new to them.
from amazon.com
6) When I have disappointments or unexpected losses, questioning God is okay within relationship, but it's not the most productive. The pain I experience is in my heart, not my brain. So, it's more productive to seek God's healing for my heart (even if He never gives me answers for my brain). Often, even if I did receive the why answer, it wouldn't remove the pain in my heart. This lesson came courtesy of God Is Good by Bill Johnson, the study we recently finished at Ladies' Bible Study.
7) How to make a decent messy bun (with dry shampoo and about a million bobby pins). I have pretty thin hair that gets greasy after just a day. So, any way that I can avoid having to wash my hair every day is a plus. But, my attempts always ended up looking one-sided and floppy and because I have layers would constantly fall down. The game changer, for me, was this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x3mFkORsdo
It's all in how she positions her hair before putting the ponytail holder in.
8) I learned how to make a lot of different foods during the fall including Hollandaise sauce, chicken and dumplings, garlic Parmesan zoodles, and yeast rolls, but the one that I have consistently used over and over again is the bean and roasted veggie salad from Salt Fat Acid Heat on Netflix (based on the cook book). It's just beans, roasted vegetables, a load of herbs, feta cheese, and an acidic vinaigrette. Simple, delicious, filling, and a go-to dinner.
from amazon.com
9) I am a type 6 on the Enneagram. The Enneagram is a personality indicator with 9 types. It is different than Myers-Briggs and many others in various ways. During the Women of Purpose retreat I went to, one of the speakers talked about how she has been using the enneagram in godly ways to better discover her strengths as well as her inner motivations and pitfalls. As part of the retreat, she gave us some information about each type. I had encountered the Enneagram before, but I'd never established what my type was. It took me a while to figure it out since I have tendencies of 1s, 5s, and 6s. But, 6 is what stuck. It has also been fascinating to read some materials about Raúl's type (a 7), and how 6s and 7s should positively interact and what can cause conflicts. Overall, like any tool, it's all in how you use it, but something that can be good to have in the arsenal.
10) I love the show Lost. I know I'm late to the game, and I know it had some crazy plot lines. But, the underlying idea of the loving bond that can form among unlikely people sharing a common experience resonated with me. It's one I'll likely watch again at some point.
from biography.com
11) I recently watched First Man, and while I know everyone is jumping on the Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star Is Born hype, I can't say enough about this film. What is even more impressive is Neil Armstrong's real life. In school, you learn to memorize Neil Armstrong's name as the first man to step foot on the moon, but you don't learn all of the tragedy that he went through before he had that triumph in his life. Loss was often present in his life especially through the death of his two-year-old daughter, Karen, who had a brain tumor. From what I've investigated, the movie is pretty true to real life as the Armstrong brothers, sons of Neil, collaborated with Damien Chazelle, the director, for two and a half years. It was also refreshing to me to see how the humility of such an introverted person led him to mark history in such a profound way even though he was a person who had to have been carrying much grief. As I watched this movie, I could just imagine God with a huge smile on His face as Neil stepped on the moon, knowing that humanity had so adamantly pursued the discovery of the creation He made for them.
from usatoday.com
12) That George H. W. Bush started the tradition of writing and leaving a letter for the next president. As the US mourns the loss of former President George H. W. Bush, as a lover of hand-written letters, I was fascinated to know that as part of his legacy, he was the one who started the tradition of leaving a letter for the incoming president. The circumstances surrounding that decision make his action that much more full of integrity. He had lost the election to Bill Clinton and would not have a second term in office, but he chose to communicate with humility and in an honorable, unifying, uplifting way. This has been quite a year of losses of men who left substantial marks on history--men like Billy Graham, John McCain, and George H. W. Bush (among so many others). With my own grandfather in their ranks as someone who left a great mark on my own history, it does indeed feel like the end of an era.
What have you learned in this season?
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