when the moon fell in love with the sun/all was golden in the sky/all was golden when the day met the night

So.....I don't have any new food stuff to put up. Or rather, I do, but I'm too lazy to go get my camera right now to get the pics. But pumpkin crepes, coming soon! I also tried using up extra coconut milk with baked bananas in coconut milk. but it didn't taste so great, so I now have to think of something creative to do with baked bananas. Banana pumpkin bread? I don't know. Still have coconut milk and I'm thinking about coconut pudding..............

But anyway, I thought I'd just put up a post about me. Since this is my blog and it's all about me anyway, self-centered as that is. :P I'm kind of crazy between work and school, but my matra is that variety is the spice of life, and I'm honestly enjoying splitting my time between school and three different jobs. I think I would actually get bored if I only worked one place and did school. Not having time for a social life isn't too bad, as half of my friends (the ones I physically see more often) are off at school now anyway.

School kind of sucks - the best part about it (besides the epicness of choir every morning, of course) is the variety.....botany lab with certain people monday, lectures tuesday and thursday (in which I pretty much just chat with my adorable friend Christina), bio lab on wednesday with different people, and only choir on fridays. Homework is killing me, but the school part is really quite easy, thankfully. Sooooo much reading though. I think geography might be getting more interesting though, which is good because I've literally been falling asleep trying to read the textbook. Worse than any other class/textbook I've had to deal with yet. But I'm figuring out how all the homework works and what days I need to do certain things, so even that is calming down.

Menchie's is fun. Slowing down a bit, because of the weather. I love that all my coworkers there are so nice and so much fun, and not working the closing shift anymore is incredible. I love being with customers more and less cleaning, but above all not having to do the late nights. Getting a little more sleep is going to save my sanity this quarter. :)

Bath and Body Works is also really fun! I've worked (during store hours) three times now, and I'm really starting to get the hang of it. And it's weird, but I still love interacting with customers. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't been in retail long enough, or if it's just that God has wired me to like working with people. I love getting the focus off of myself and trying to help someone else and make them happy, and generally the people who come into both stores are already fairly happy. So it all contributes to a really positive atmosphere, which is fantastic. Even when I don't want to go to work, as soon as I get there I'm energetic and upbeat and it usually carries through the rest of the day as well. What's also nice is that as the work at Menchie's gets a little slower, Bath and Body Works is really picking up because of the holidays. And piano is.....haha, well it's piano. I love it and it's exhausting. But I'm starting to think Christmas music, for myself and for some more advanced students, which is fun.

Family stuff is still interesting. Still can't go into details, but please pray for my family. Things are generally getting better, meaning that God is working for good even in some bad situations that are going on, but it's still difficult and there are some great days and some really bad days too. Some dear friends of mine have been so encouraging, and I think the biggest comfort is just being reminded of the goodness of God, and knowing that people are praying for me all the time. Our God is amazing and I'm reaching the point where it's not so difficult to praise Him, and to see Him at work, even in the midst of pain. Crazy funny, but our pastor is starting a new sermon series about Job (kind of) and life during trials. That is also encouraging!

I'm soooooo excited about fall, and looking ahead of that to Christmas! We have pumpkin fro-yo at work now and I had some tonight with graham cracker crumbs, caramel syrup, and a mini cinnamon roll, and it was SO AMAZING! I'm baking a lot with pumpkin. The weather is just beautiful, even when it's raining. I can wear scarves and sweaters again!

It's also a busy season for me with some annual stuff that is coming up. MissionsFest Seattle is this weekend and I'm going up on Saturday, which I'm really looking forward to. I always learn so much there, and meet amazing people, and it's just such an awesome time of seeing what God is doing all over the world and where He is leading His people. Next up is our church's harvest fest, which is Peter Pan themed and I am Wendy. I'm also in charge of cookie decorating, my goodness. Lots of kids, lots of frosting = hectic. :P

In a couple of weeks I'm taking a personal weekend and heading over to our family condo in eastern WA for a couple of nights to myself. I plan to bring lots of paper and pens, junk food, puzzles, maybe some movies and books. But I have the feeling I could use some introspection time and that maybe something will happen there, that maybe God will be telling me something there, when I actually make the time to listen. I'm not sure, but I'm really looking forward to it.

November brings the Christian Musician Summit up at Overlake, and finally I am going!!!!! I went once or twice, years and years ago with our old church. I was a terrible keyboardist then and don't remember much from those trips. But now I'm a fair keyboardist and have much to learn, and I'm so looking forward to how I can improve myself through the workshops and stuff there. Plus half the people from our church's worship teams are going and we're all sitting together, so should be a fun time. :)

And now, dear friends, I am tired and since the weekend is over and I have to get up early (did I mention I started jogging before school??) I'm off to bed. I hope this little update finds you all well and enjoying autumn as much as I am!