PISH. en. ski.

That's how you say Pysanky, the art of Ukrainian Easter Egg Dying. I hosted 28 women here at camp on Friday night for an evening of candles, enya-type music, low lighting and calm conversation. It honestly was one of my favorite events I've led at camp because it was just so relaxed.

My friend Gina and I set up all afternoon so that when the women arrived they each had a place setting with instructions, bee's wax, a candle, two washed eggs and a kiska (the tool you use to apply the wax to your egg).
I had three stations for dying the eggs. And our host Grant (on staff here) made 33 wire egg dippers for me! He's a good guy. The colors of the egg dye are astounding. It's my favorite part of pysanky...the dye is so bright and saturated that the eggs turn brilliantly bright. It's what I always wanted my PAWS to do growing up...but those colors always ended up so muted unless you left your egg in there overnight....

The women all came with a close friend or sister or family member and it was so fun to watch close friends laugh and giggle as they tried something new. I love girlfriends like this.

I began our time together with a flipchart full of instructions. The very first thing listed was: Someones egg will break. It might be yours. It will be sad. And then I warned that these little eggs can become quite precious, but to please remember, it is just an egg.

Thankfully, we only had three eggs break, and they were all the practice eggs. Special thanks to Lisa Groves, my lovely sister-in-law, for sharing Pysanky with me three years ago. Who knew I'd become such an enthusiast?!! If you're interested in learning more, go to: http://www.ukrainiangiftshop.com/

more thoughts on church.

Today is Palm Sunday. On the liturgical calendar, this is a big deal Sunday...the Sunday just before Easter, the beginning of Holy Week. The week begins with this day filled with Hosannas and celebration as Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem, and then Thursday remembers the last supper and his moments of prayer and deep sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane. Friday walks through each agonizing moment of the crucifixion and for three days we wait until Easter Sunday, when we celebrate our Risen Messiah.

Last night on the phone my sister said, "enjoy your Palm Sunday." And I immediately felt disappointed because I knew the church we now attend is so less liturgical than what I am used to, and that the day wouldn't be celebrated. Now, to be fair, we got to the service 18 minutes late, so I might have missed something said or done. But as far as I could tell, we didn't acknowledge this day that is so revered in mainline and especially protestant churches.

But here's the thing. When we arrived (again, 18 minutes late) our pastor was just beginning his sermon and let me tell you, this guy can preach. He is so gifted for sharing God's word on Sunday morning. It always catches me off guard because he seems young (look who's trying to judge!) and the church is new and there is always a part of my self that wants to pick this place apart. But this morning was a holy spirit morning, where I really felt challenged and convicted to set my expectations aside and look at the place God has led me.

And what I saw: a faithful people gathered, listening earnestly to the word of God preached, singing hymns of praise to our Messiah. Hmmm. Sounds a lot like palm sunday.

the story of us

I'm cleaning off my desk today and just came across a card with this link on it. We went to a wedding this summer in Green Bay that blew our minds. It was the wedding of Rory's college roommate, John Link. John and Rory have many a tale to tell...

The wedding was held at an event center, ceremony in the lobby area (lots of windows and glass sculpture) and the reception was held on the stage of the performing arts area. The view was looking out over a huge, stunning auditorium. And the entire reception carried this performance theme. Fitting, as John is a movie maker. I'll post some pictures, but mostly, I just want you to see this video they put together, sharing their stories of dating and engagement. It's some funny stuff.

things I'm thinking about...

***I came home last night after work and found Rory doing Tai Chi in our living room. He had found a dvd at the library and wanted to give it a try. Only thing, was that the video had been shot at a senior home, and was geared towards geriatric tai chi-ers. He told me to just wait until the camera pans out. And when it did, there was the spittin image of my Grandma Harrington. Honestly, could have been her 10 years ago. I would have laughed, but it sort of wierded me out.

***I made enchiladas last night and decided to broil the cheese for a minute just at the end so it would turn nice and bubbly with spots of brown. Unfortunately, when I went to take the casserole out of the oven, my thumb touched the bright red broiler coil directly. Holy hannah, do not try this at home. I had trouble sleeping last night because my thumb was demanding lots of deep breaths and reshifting of the ice pack. Today it doesn't hurt nearly as bad, it hasn't blistered but instead there is a nice brown patch where it was burned. I'd show a picture, but I personally get woozy seeing other people's bodily injuries on their blogs, so I'll try to never do that.

***I have 32 women coming to camp tonight to learn the art of Ukrainian Easter Egg dying. Two years ago my sister-in-law Lisa taught me and I became an enthusiast immediately. Yesterday I spent the day at work mixing up 33 dyes, and hand bathing all 75 eggs, one by one. Pictures and stories to come, I'm sure!

***And finally, I'm excited for the weekend! I'm not flying to North Carolina or California...just staying in Nebraska and that feels lovely and calm. Happy Weekend everybody!

blogging about blondies

Blogging is funny, because so often the pictures paint the scene and leave you wanting to be a part of the moment. I recently saw the lovely sunlit picture above on martawrites.com where she wrote of her butterscotch blondies. And ever since I've been thinking, "my life needs some blondies." So last night, after my sweet husband ran to the store for flour and butterscotch chips, I made my own blondies.

The batter didn't look like enough to fit in my 9x13 pan, so I opted for my smaller size. But at some point in the oven, that 1 Tablespoon of baking soda really took off, and when the timer went off, I found a loaf of butterscotch goodness. Unfortunately, the bottom of the loaf was still raw. So I took the bars out of the smaller pan (thankful for the tinfoil) and placed them in the 9x13 pan for another 20 minutes. And when they came out they were dense as (what's a really dense thing? hmmm...just googled this question and was given the answer plutonium) dense as plutonium.

Rory was gracious and used a lot of milk to get his down. And lets face it, with enough butter and sugar, it doesn't really matter what your end result turns out to be. But just take a moment to compare my picture below to Marta's above. Makes me laugh.