Find joy in every day

I’ve gotten to meet with local attorneys and get pointers on how to break into the legal market here. I’ve also started volunteering at an Immigration Legal Aid Clinic three times a week. Clay and I joined a home group at church. And they are a great bunch. 

Anyway, I won’t be posting here anymore after more than five years at this site. I was just beginning law school, and arise amy was a sort of battle call when I thought I needed to rise to the occasion. Ironically those years I learned that I didn’t need to “rise” I only needed to rest on God’s finished work. And try my best out of that rest. I need only think of that time to remind myself how faithful God has been in my life. I have nothing to fear in these days of new unknowns.

I hope you’ll keep up with me on my next adventure, hopefully for another five years.

1. The amazing fall foliage has almost completely fallen off the trees on our corner. A different sort of beauty is taking over.

2. Lots of moisture, lots of moss in cracks. 

Thanks to our visitors, Clay and I had a very delicious weekend! We got to eat out and get out of our apartment far more than we normally would allow ourselves. We tried Toro Bravo, Pok Pok Noi and Deschutes Brewery for dinner. After hearing a lot of good things about Toro Bravo, I wasn't very impressed. Everything was over-the-top in an unbalanced way for me. The elk burger at Deschutes was very good, but at $13 with a handful of fries, I'm not rushing to go back. Pok Pok Noi on the other hand was the best thing I ever ate in my entire life and I can't wait to go back. We also went on the Widmer Brewery tour and had tastings at two local distilleries--Eastside and House. 

I also made snickerdoodles, oatmeal raisin cookies and ricotta gnocchi with Marcella Hazan's 4-ingredient tomato sauce which was as good as everyone says it is.

Clay and I biked to church today. I felt so happy and cold. Except when I went uphill.

I found nice sticks to use as rods for my weavings so that I can stop using chopsticks and pencils. Doo-doo-roo!

It’s generally getting wetter but the sun has come out everyday. The forecast for the next week does not seem as favorable.

I made 3 more tiny rugs, some watercolors and stitched paper. Jenny sent me two tiny cinnamon stick branches and I turned it into a tree, about to lose its last leaf. On Friday I got 5 rejection emails notifying me that the position to which I applied had been filled. I feel purposeless. It’s a hard thing to have energy, drive, and enthusiasm, and be unemployed.

Do I hang my own shingle? Do I attempt to start a handmade business? It has been a saving outlet. Is any of it viable to support myself and Clay?

1. There are few things Clay and I disagree on. One of them is gravy. Clay made a nice batch from scratch.

2. The light.

3. Stir fried noodles from Frank’s Noodle House. Chewy and delicious hand-pulled noodles.

4. Clay’s seriously sinister pumpkin, rotting inside.

5. My seriously cute pumpkin.

6. My second tiny rug is complete. Much better than the first but still needs work as it tapers towards the bottom and is wobbly on the edges.

7. A fresh batch of yarn scraps from Scrap for more weaving. A gallon bag full for $1.50, yes!

Snack time!

1. His and hers sweet potato tots. Ketchup & mustard for me, chipotle tobasco for him.

2. Carne asada, guacamole, chip. It's taco week in the Powers home. So this was a viable snack option. We ate a pack of 30 corn tortillas in 3 days. Is that okay?

3. Almonds, water crackers, fuji apples, honey, and "unexpected cheddar" from Trader Joe's (highly recommend this cheese).

My first tiny rug is complete. It’s a little rough (lumpy) around the edges but with some practice I’ll get the hang of it. I used an empty picture frame and leftover yarn from “scrap” to make it. Creation on the cheap yo.

On Friday Clay and I went to Clyde Common for happy hour. The $6 burger was incredible (yes, incredible). Buttery pillowy bun, meat cooked medium rare and juicy, pickled onions, oozy cheese, whole grain brown mustard. Flavors worked together beautifully. I liked it better than umami in L.A., but I’m not a fan of umami so take that as you will. Drinks were typical of a joint like it (infused liqueurs) very reasonably priced at $5. Fries were also great, higher quality crispy McDonald’s fries. And that’s not a bad thing, I love McDonald’s fries.

We left to walk around the neighborhood and didn’t get far before we noticed a crowd of people two doors down. They asked for IDs at the door because there was free food and beer inside for the tanner goods and danner boots launch party. Um, OKAY. We shared a pork bahn mi sausage sandwich catered from Lardo’s, a place on our long list of places to eat in Portland. The sandwich was SO good, SO.

Went to Sauvie Island, the largest island in the Columbia River, to pick pumpkins with Jesse and Bo. The pumpkin patch made me sad because it looked like a slaughter yard, pumpkin guts and rotting mixed with still-normal-looking-but-we-all-know-are-dying-everyday, pumpkins.