If Betty Crocker and Martha Stewart are the hero's of the kitchen, than Julia Child is a saint.
For Valentines Day, I made Austin Beef Bourguingnonne. Julia Childs Beef Bourguingnonne. I also checked #8 off my bucket list.
I went to two different grocery stores, and a local market with a butcher to get my supplies. I spent 6 hours and 12 minutes in the kitchen, and as I finished the sauce, I watched Julia herself on the first episide of French Chef, make the same dish in 27 minutes.
I was living with my parents, in a crowded house. Sharing space with my brother, his wife, and my niece.
I was in an in between season. I had just returned from Eastern Europe where I lived my dream and returned broke. I had a pierced eyebrow. A two door Dodge that was my very own. And nothing to do with my life.
Sharell was still in high school, working at a diner to pay her way through her senior year. Heather was at University, getting smart and playing dodge ball.
Those days were rather dull. It was hard to wake up. It was hard to be motivated. It was humiliating to work at a pizza chain.
There were a lot of evening walks, and even more night time drives. There was a lot of list making and rule following, and even more bribing to get myself to accomplish every day tasks such as showering and getting out of bed before 10:00 am.
College group was there, but what I remember more than that, was Denny's that followed. I spent a lot of time with Nathan and Aimee. And when she was off work, Sharell and I would meet up. And we would talk. And we would plan our lives over a pot of coffee at Sharis.
Sharell and I sat up more nights than we slept. We sat at Sharis. We sat in the car. We sat at the beach. We sat in front of the TV at her parents. We sat in the back yard at my parents. We sat and looked at the stars. We sat and looked at our toes. We sat.
Sharell and I determined that together we were going to take over the world. We determined to stay sisters all the way through the next ice age. I promised to never let her work at Costco, and she promised that I would get married. We talked a lot about the future. About how life sucked. And about how good Jesus was.
When everything else was going wrong, we always came back to Jesus. And how he saved us. And how we sure didn't understand very much, but we understood that he had a plan for our lives. We clung to him during that time as if he was our very last hope. Because he is our hope. And I can say that those nights, sitting, saved my life.
