When I lose my vision

I titled this post before I started typing because it's the root of how I feel. Then I realized it's irony to my career choice and had to laugh a little. I wrote this post a few weeks ago in the midst of studying for midterms and preparing for a practical, when my classmates and I were stressed to the max. I've been hesitant about sharing, because it's revealing. But let's be real here for a little bit.

Optometry school has to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.  You might think, it's just school. You just go, and study, and then your done...after a while.  Nope. Not really. It's the biggest challenge I've ever faced. Why? Because I lose sight of so many things while I try to keep my head above water.

On days like today, while I'm writing this, I've literally been doing school related things from 8am until right now (10:45pm).  I mean, I had lunch. And I did take the time to have dinner downstairs with our friends before Community Group. Which I arrived home just in time to throw some clothes in the laundry and walk downstairs to. Then I dipped out of the actual Bible study part of group to come back up to my desk and start my "homework."

Not everyday is like this. And there is plenty of my time I don't spend wisely.  But school seems to engulf me- some weeks with crashing waves. And many times I have reached the point where I just go to bed and start to cry because so many things seem out of whack in my life:
- not enough time spent with my husband
- not enough time spent reading my Bible
- not enough time to volunteer at church
- not enough time spent with my friends
- lack of sleep in general
- I'm behind. I'm always behind.
- I could go on, and on

And to be quite honest, I've wondered if I could quit. Could I just call this off? Walk away and pretend it never happened. That I never got this far. And then I think of all the other things I could do with my time. (This usually involves cooking and baking, and all the things I've saved on Pinterest; heck, maybe even taking up embroidery! Oh the things I could do!) Then Jesse reminds me that I have to tough it out for this part, this short little part of my career, to reach my real goal. A goal I've been hunting down for so many years. (He always seems to also mention the growing amount of loans... I don't blame him.)

But then I snap out of it (for a while) and remind myself that he is right. And I try to remember that all of this is part of my purpose. My God-given drive and passion. Because if it wasn't God behind all of this, I would drop it and walk away.  I love optometry and people, and want to love people through optometry.  I've learned through this journey the past couple of years that for me, it is definitely not about selfish ambitions, a title before my name, or the money I may make one day (which, by the way, insurance policies are slowly washing down the drain).  When I lose sight of this vision God has given me, I'm not trusting Him. I feel so alone in this because it feels like such a struggle, but really He has placed me here and knows my outcome. This is His plan for me, and this is how I can serve Him. If I could just remember that these long days and nights of studying are really worshiping and glorifying Him, maybe they would be more enjoyable.

Tim Timmons, a singer/songwriter that has been to our church in the past, sings beautiful reminders in this song.  If you watch the video, you'll see that Tim's struggle is much greater than my own, but this song is an inspiration to me, and I keep it on repeat in my car for my morning drive.

"Remind my soul that Your in control. Praise to the Father, with every breath I take. In joy and sorry, all for Your Kingdom's sake. Be thou my vision. Be thou my hope restored. Now and forever, you are my great reward."

I'm not looking for sympathetic words or for you to feel bad that I get discouraged.  I just wanted to point out that we lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing sometimes- the purpose behind it, and if it's the right thing or not. We get bogged down in what feels like a burden sometimes, but really it's just the path we are to follow, which is not always easy.
Spring break is next week and I'm planning to make the most of it, relaxing and renewing my mind for the end of this semester!

Birmingham Adventure - Rock Climbing

Friday night we went out to First Avenue Rocks here in Birmingham.  I got Jesse a Groupon certificate for this back in October for his birthday, and we never got around to going.  It was about to expire, so we used it this weekend. We needed a night out together after I had a very stressful week of midterms.

We had a good time challenging ourselves.  You can choose courses to do from "very" easy to much more difficult by choosing a certain color tape to follow.  I mostly just tried to make it up the wall any way I could.

Jesse immediately scaled up the beginner wall, and we had to move on to harder territory.

It was a really neat experience. There were numerous courses to try (many of which were way too difficult for us). Watching other people that obviously come there often was fun too. It's a great way to work your upper body, and since I don't do that often my arms felt like Jello before we left.

Afterwards, we drove around downtown and enjoyed the night time view of our city.

I found this Buzzfeed article recently of 50 things to do in Birmingham. We have done quite a few of them, but have plenty more to do!  This adventure was another check off the list!

High Five for Friday

HAPPY FRIDAY Y'ALL!

1.  We went home last weekend to take a look at a table that we are re-finishing and had a lunch fish-fry with both of our parents.  This is a very dear table, and I will be telling you more about in the future. We're not quite finished with it, and I'm saving the photos for before and after. I can't wait to have it here in Birmingham with us! We did use some of Gene's leftover wood to make a little shelf for our bathroom, and I got in on the power tool action.  Maggie also had a good time, can you tell?

(guilty)

2. Jesse had to go to Dothan again this week for work. After having him home from Pennsylvania, I didn't think he was going anywhere for a while. I was wrong. Thankfully it was only a 3 day trip this time, and he's back now. :)

3. One midterm down this week, 3 more to go next week. I'll let you know next Friday if I'm still alive or not.  Probably pumped full of caffeine and with a large deficit of sleep.

4.  Wednesday night we helped our friend Mike get settled back into his condo after having an upstairs neighbor caused a great deal of flooding.  He's so happy to be back at his home instead of a hotel room, but that meant he took his kitty back from us. I got a little sad having to give up the fluff-ball.

5.  My friend Heather and I went to a local high school today to give a presentation required by one of our classes.  We spoke to 10th and 11th grade students that are in advanced placement courses and interested in medical-related careers.  We presented them with a little ocular anatomy and information on admission into optometry school.  It was so much fun to pour into their young minds, and we hope we inspired some of them today!

From Our Kitchen - Sweet Potato & Quinoa Soup

A little while back I posted this recipe on quinoa stuffed bell peppers. The stuffing was great, but the peppers were kind of a flop.  That was the first time I tried quinoa, and I cooked way too much for my recipe, so I had all of this quinoa leftover. I tasted it to see if I could just serve it up as a side, like rice, but it wasn't very flavorful.  In my opinion, it's definitely an ingredient I enjoy, but it needs to be dressed up a little bit.

So I turned to my old ways, and used to to create a spin on one of my favorite soups. (I didn't realize it had been 2 years since posting that recipe. The photos show our old stove in Auburn... so reminiscent!) Sorry, back to the point: quick and simple! All you need is 1-2 diced sweet potatoes,

a can of black beans (drained and rinsed),

cooked quinoa (a cup or so),

shredded chicken (mine was from leftover rotisserie chicken; 1-2 cups),

chicken stock (one carton), and the most important ingredient to make this soup a hit: cilantro! Roughly chop a small handful and through it in right at the end. I promise you won't feel like you are eating salsa. Cilantro is a frequent ingredient in Thai and Indian soups, and it brings a great refreshing flavor to the dish.  You can also season this soup however you'd like with salt and pepper, thyme, or other herbs.

A few tips:  I made this a second time with low-sodium chicken stock and it just wasn't the same. I'm usually all for healthier options, but if you're making a soup that is heavily based on it's broth, the broth itself needs to have good flavor, and unfortunately for our palettes, that means salt.
Also, I finally tried preserving my cilantro by placing it in a cup of water in the fridge with a damp paper towel over top. This made the cilantro last SO much longer! Definitely do this to extend the life of this fresh herb so you can use it in other dishes without rushing.

Click HERE if you'd like a printable recipe version.

High Five for Friday

I am thrilled that it is Friday! Jesse has been at a training session in Pennsylvania for two weeks, and I am SO ready to see him today when he gets back! I tried not to let on in last week's High Five that Jesse was gone, because I didn't want the interwebs to know I was home alone (because I'm crazy like that). So let's recap from this week:

1.  You might have already thought that this means Jesse wasn't home for Valentine's Day. We never go all out for Valentine's anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal. He did, however, have our friend (and neighbor) Kelsey come into our apartment and leave a card and chocolates from him for me. It was a sweet surprise when I got home from class on Friday. But don't worry, I didn't spend Valentine's alone. Kelsey's hubby was also out of town, so she and I, plus friends Ronda and Rebekah had a girl's night. We stuffed our own calzones for dinner, and Kelsey made an amazing chocolate raspberry cheesecake! Then we watched a southern classic: Fried Green Tomatoes. It was a fun night!

2.  My mom came to visit me over the weekend. I took her to one of my favorite lunch spots (Urban Cookhouse) and she was able to stay to go to church with me on Sunday and meet some of our friends here in Birmingham. I loved that she came to visit me and keep me company over what would have felt like a long weekend without Jesse home.

3.  Meanwhile, Jesse was battling snow storms to get to work nearly every morning. In weather that was well below freezing!

4.  Jesse's half-brother, Stan, and his family are currently living in Pennsylvania and were in driving distance for Jesse. He went to visit them over the weekend, which was great because it's been a long time since they've seen each other, and it gave Jesse something to do with his free time there.

5.  I also received this picture from Jesse during his trip. He consumed nearly all of this sandwich that was twice the size of his own head. I'm not sure how he packs away the food, but if you know him at all, you know that he can!

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday!  I think I've missed a couple lately.  Let's link up with Lauren and run through this weeks high five:

1. Jesse and I ate at a new-to-us sushi place recently. It was quite delicious, and we will definitely go back to try more!

2. Maggie got cute and comfy.

3. I got a new nail polish color this week. I think it's my new absolute favorite.

4. It snowed. Again. I think I can speak for 99% of the state of Alabama and say we are over the snow. I know I can speak for my classmates. Snow days are no longer fun when you have to reschedule classes to your lunch hour or until 7:30pm. Not fun, snow. Not fun.

5. The Olympics are on!!! We've been watching lots of those, at least in the background. My favorite for the winter would have to be ice skating. They just make it look so effortless and graceful. Jesse enjoys the snowboarding events, which were full of frustration this year on the half-pipe. USA is not doing so hot on the medal count, but there are plenty more events to compete in!

And a special bonus:  it's Valentine's Day!  Don't forget to tell people how much you love them today!

From Our Kitchen - Breakfast Quiche

This week I made a quiche for Jesse and I to eat for breakfast. I've been inspired for months (maybe longer) to try to make quiche. My mother-in-law has made it a couple of different times while we've been home. Then my friend Kelsey served up a variety of quiche for Community Group one night. I've even marked Pioneer Woman's Cowgirl Quiche in my cookbook I received at Christmas. But it was during our "snowpocalypse" that I got the final nudge to boost the inspiration. My friend Rachel whipped up a quiche to serve us for breakfast with just the few ingredients she had on hand. I told her I love quiche but have never tried to make one. To which she said, "It's so easy!"  So I put her words to the test on Sunday night and tried to use up some ingredients hanging out in our fridge.

I used the Pioneer Woman's cookbook as a guide, but I didn't really follow the recipe. I wanted to throw in the ingredients and see what came out. Rachel was right, it's SO easy! I chose to add red bell pepper, onion, spinach, and bacon.

I didn't want to have big chunks of onion, even diced, so I used my food processor. (A secret from my mother-in-law because Jesse doesn't like bites of onion in dishes... it only took me 2+ years of marriage to try this and make his dish more pleasing...) It took about 3 seconds and I had very finely diced onions, and no watering/burning eyes. This was a life-changing moment. I will be doing this forever more. I've always thought it was unnecessary to dirty up the food processor just to chop an onion. I was wrong. Totally worth it.  Then I did it to my red pepper, and smiled again with satisfaction.

For my quiche: it all started with bacon. Everything's better with bacon.

All I did was whisk some eggs (I did 6), added some heavy cream I had on hand (milk would obviously work and be a healthier option).  Then I added in the bacon, onion, red pepper, spinach, salt, and pepper. I used a pre-made pie crust to make it quicker.

I mixed all the ingredients together in one bowl.

Then poured into the pie crust.

I covered it with foil and baked at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Then I removed the foil and cooked for another 15. It should just barely be "jiggly," so pop it back in covered if it's not ready.

I will say that all the spinach floated to the top, and the bacon to the bottom. I'm not sure how to fix the bacon, but next time I might saute the spinach before adding it into the quiche mixture.  But the flavor on this thing was excellent! Even if you don't like onions, by chopping them so finely in a food processor or blender (or by hand!) you couldn't pick out an actual onion flavor, but it added so much depth to this simple meal.

We both ate a slice each morning throughout the week. I loved having a warm and delicious breakfast without any work in the morning!  Let me know if you decide to make one too!