For the Love of Sourdough

I love me some sourdough bread. Really, I love basically any bread. Okay, yes, I just love food in general. But more specifically, I really love me some sourdough. We keep it in our fridge pretty much at all times. There is a local bakery that makes wonderful artisan breads and we generally get their bread because it's so good.

My Nana used to make bread every week for her church. It was soft, sweet, yummy loaf that all the new church visitors got to take home with them after Sunday church. My nana had a knack for bread making and baking in general. Apparently my great granddad was pretty famous for his sourdough bread as well. 

Thus far in my life I have pretty much sucked big time at making bread. A pumpkin loaf? Sure - but that doesn't count because it doesn't involve yeast. The only bread that I have really done well with is bagels. Which isn't exactly bread, but it does involve yeast so I will count it. Oh, and Pioneer Woman's pizza crust. But again, we're talking bagels and pizza crusts here, people. I have yet to be able to deliver on straight up bread. I can't make a sandwich with pizza crust. I want something I can slather some jelly on, some butter, or make a meal out of. Sourdough bread.

I admit that in the past, I probably should have used an actual cooking thermometer when trying to determine the temperature of the water before I put the yeast in it for making various breads. I mean, I'm giving myself too much credit when I feel it with my hand and think, "yeah, that's about 100 degrees." As if.

Anywho, I'm turning over a new leaf. I am determined. I am going to succeed at making bread. Not just any bread - sourdough bread. Yeah, sure, I know, it probably would be smart to start with something easier. But no, I decided, what the heck? Go big or go home. I'm going to make my own sourdough. And make my own sourdough starter. Like the real deal. Grow my own little yeast guys.

So I got all excited about this venture about ten days ago, got the ingredients, read the instructions, and decided I was all ready to go. I have a friend who is my sourdough mentor. He's the real deal. In case you aren't aware of what you have to do with a sourdough starter, let me liken it to something you might remember from your childhood. Tamagotchi, anyone? 

Yep. A virtual pet. I had one. And mine lived a very long life. Now, with a sourdough starter, you have the same basic concepts. A "pet" of sorts that you have to feed and take care of. Every day - at least until it grows, if you will, and then you only feed it once a week.

So, back to ten days ago. I got all my stuff together and began my starter. And it did great. I was following the instructions so carefully, making sure no one threw it out, and I was so proud. I showed everyone that came over. I could almost taste the delicious bread. Until. Day 7. Catastrophe struck and there was MOLD inside my starter. Black, fuzzy, disgusting mold. I was crushed. In the words of Anne Shirley, I was in the depths of despair. I wanted a sourdough loaf by Christmastime and lamesauce mold better not be what keeps me from it.

I didn't really have much of an option, since the jar was pretty covered in the fungus. I had to throw it out. That's seven days of a sourdough starter that I will never get back. But I'm here to claim that I am back on that horse.

I re-started my starter this weekend, and today is day four. So far, no mold, but I'm tempering my excitement this time. I don't know that I could take another crushing blow to my ego starter.

So that's where we are. Fingers crossed, mouth watering, and nervously trying to follow every instruction to a T. Sourdough by Christmas is my mantra. It will happen. I will succeed. And there will be pictures.

Wish me luck.

~Kathryn

You'll Always Be My Best Friend

Mark and I have been married for three years!!! Crazy, eh? I must say that honestly, marriage is super stinkin' fantastically awesome. It gets better all the time. I am so thankful Mark was patient and waited for me to come around and say yes! (-: I can't imagine my life any differently.

Here's to always being best friends.

~Kathryn

A Restful Sunday

As you are probably aware, based on my lack of posts, and my plethora of pictures, we've been busy lately. Way busier than I like, and way busier than is good for us. They have all been really good things, but man, can't a girl just get a day to relax? To get back in the swing of things, I'm writing a random mc-random blog post, so buckle up.

Well, today is my day. Of course, after I worked five hours. (-: Mark and Karlie have been floating a local river with the church college group, so after church, I had lunch with friends, and came home and planted my rear end on the couch. I have been reading and sleeping, and now I'm blogging. And I'm wearing sweats. That's my kind of Sunday. Although, I did get up for a few minutes to get in my car and drive a half mile to Braum's and get a Coke freeze. What can I say?

Near the end of my spring semester, I made a list of things I would like to accomplish this summer. I have about a month left of my summer break, and that list is really needing some work. I am proud to announce that I have cleaned out the garage (WOO!), planned and hosted several showers, I cleaned out the cabinets above the washer/dryer (which were completely out of control), I have done yard word (as if I could ever finish that task), bought and killed some new plants (I'm skilled), and I have made progress in two of the four books I had written to read. (I have also started reading two books that weren't on my life. Curious? Well, on my life is "Surprised by Hope" by N.T. Wright, "Discovering Biblical Equality" ed. by Gordon Fee, and "Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller. Not on my list but reading anyway are both "One Fine Potion: The Literary Magic of Harry Potter", and "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas.  Glad you asked?

In my time away from school, I have found myself also feeling very unproductive. Going from every second of a day full of either school or homework, to having a half day with *nothing* (yeah, yeah) to do has really made me miss school and realize that I need to be more intentional with my time. I've also been looking into other graduate programs once I complete mine. We'll see where that leads. (-:

A couple friends of mine are 19-ish weeks pregnant with twin girls. They underwent fertility treatments and it took them several years to conceive. I have never prayed so much for people that I haven't yet met. I an overwhelmed when I think about it - how loved they already are, how they are little miracles, and how blessed I am to get to watch. My mom and I are throwing a shower for the two little girls, and I am so excited to be a part of their lives.

I guess thats all I have for today. Hopefully I will get back in the swing of blogging now. (-:



~Kathryn

Extreme Summer of Weddings 2K12

Well, folks, it's over.

I survived. Of course, I got sick two days after it was all complete, but I'm coming out on the other side and I'm still alive.

In the last eight weekends, I participated in three weddings and hosted 3.5 showers. This is one tired (and broke) girl.

Every wedding was different, fun, and unique and its own way. The first wedding was a fun outdoor wedding for my college roommate in her parents' backyard:

My other college roommate got married at the beautiful Dallas Baptist University, and we had such a fun weekend. Two of my roommates got tattoos. I was paying for mine when I realized my wallet was missing and I didn't have my id. The one time in my life I do something crazy and I didn't have my wallet! No tattoo for me. )-:

And finally, my sister got married!!!!! She got married at the Marland Mansion in Ponca City. It was outside and beautiful. We don't have many pictures yet, but here's a sneak peek!

And this is me, after it's all over:

~Kathryn

Wordless Wednesday

Everyone does this, I haven't before, since I don't have much to say, I thought I would do a wordless Wednesday post with events of late.

Ahh, summer. (-:

~Kathryn

The Picture Where I Look Like a Man

My BFF and I recently helped out at another friend's wedding. And by helped out, I mean we did a lot of work, including intense manual labor where we actually used a sledgehammer. Be impressed. Another friend took some pictures of us in action doing various things. After those pictures were reviewed, it was discovered in one that I look like a creatine-laden-workout-addict with popping veins - aka, a man. Don't believe me? I'll let the photo speak for itself.

Yikes. Mark assures me this is not how I look normally. I just thought I would share this "believe it or not" photo, since I don't really any good material. (-:

~Kathryn

What I Learned About Love

I was sitting across a table at Chick-Fil-A from one of my dearest friends on a Friday. The place was packed and noisy with children and toddlers as they were eating their fill of chicken and turning the play area into a zoo. My friend and I were sharing our hearts and most recent life stories while keeping a watchful eye on the kiddos. Our friendship is precious and skips the surface talk, jumping right into what really matters. That day we were talking about love and family.

You see, I have experienced love in a new way in the last eighteen months and have received various responses from by-standers, some standing closer by than others. While the words from most people have been overall encouraging of us and Karlie, with them realizing the uniqueness and specialness of our relationship and respecting it, there have been a few that have been either not encouraging, silent, or worse. And I would be lying if I said it didn’t affect me. Outsiders had me questioning my feelings and my role in her life. That since I didn’t birth her or raise her that these maternal feelings couldn’t be real, right? Some people seemed to think I was just young and naive. And I admitted to my friend that I had felt somewhat hurt and disrespected by some and that at times I felt a need to hold back because of what others thought.

My friend and I talked about it a little and as our conversation started to change and I focused on my pack of nuggets, she interrupted me and said, “Wait - before we change subjects I want to tell you something.” Of course, she had my full attention, and I listened as she told a beautiful story of two children for whom she used to be a full-time nanny. She told me how she loved those children deeply - and that during the years she was their nanny, she prayed for them regularly, read parenting material to be a better nanny for them, and she felt like she was a second mother to them. She said people in her life told her she needed to be careful because she loved them too much, but that she felt it would have been foolish to withhold love, so she went all in. She then said that the children’s mother recognized my friend’s love for her children, and gave a card to her from the children on Mother’s Day and in it, she wrote, Thank you for loving my children as much as I do. Now, years later, my friend has a biological child of her own, and she looked me in the eyes and said said, “It’s different, yes, but I love them as much as my own child. While I did deliver my son and he has my mannerisms and gene pool and looks exactly like my husband, I love those other two children just as deeply. So I don’t know how it will be when you have a baby, but for me, I have equal love.”

And I felt a wave of relief sweep over me. It was like I had permission to not suppress my feelings. It didn’t matter what others thought - I have the freedom and the privilege to love someone fully and completely who is willing to receive it, and not everyone gets that kind of honor. What God clearly orchestrated in our family is not the traditional family make-up, but it is just a real, just as beautiful, and immensely treasured.

My friend also sweetly reminded me that the people who weren’t supportive do not understand. They don’t have the precious moments we have. They don’t see the hours spent in conversation making big decisions. They don‘t get the midnight phone calls. They don’t see the shoulder that has been cried on. They don’t hear about the cute boy from math class, what happened at volleyball practice, or listen to the speech being recited ten times for speech class. They haven’t been there during the eighteen months that she transformed into a confident, secure, compassionate and wise young woman. They weren’t there during the moments that she became a family member and not just “the girl that lives with us.” They don’t feel that tug on their hearts.

But I do. And I realize that not every teenager that lives with a person becomes a family member. But I truly believe God’s hand was so evident in all of this that he knew Karlie was exactly what we needed, and we were what she needed. And God began to stir in our hearts an affection that only he can bring. And we became a family. And Karlie became our daughter. And like my friend, I choose to not withhold love.

And so in asking the question, “What does it mean to be a family?” I have a new, simple answer: Love.

~Kathryn