10 Things I Learned In October

At the end of each month, I write about things I learned. This practice has helped me pay attention to life, myself, and God's presence. In no particular order, here are 10 things I learned in October:

1. Baseball is probably my favorite sport to watch on TV. Granted, I only began watching when the Giants made it to the World Series, and it's extra exciting when you're rooting for a great team. But still...the drama of baseball is more compelling to me than other sports. And that is clearly an effect of being married to my husband. 

2. My 2-year-old daughter pronounces "sparkly," "fuck-y." As in, "Me wearing my fucky shoes." It makes me laugh every time.

3. Nigella Lawson has this incredibly easy no-churn ice cream. You need 4 ingredients, no ice cream maker, and you end up with absolutely divine ice cream. I have made the original coffee flavor, as well as vanilla bean.

4. My faith journey has been significantly shaped by Dr. Larry Crabb. His books and teachings have been foundational in my life, and this month I had the joy of being personally mentored by him for a week with 30 other people. It was water to my soul.

5. Our kids love story time. Their current favorite book is B.J. Novak's brilliant The Book With No Pictures. No kidding, I think we read this 9 times in a row on the day we got it. I bought the book after seeing this video of B.J. reading it out loud to a group of thrilled children:

6. Sometimes my husband and I act like we're still in college, and order a pizza delivery at 10:30pm at night. Shhh...don't tell our kids.

7. I have a love/hate relationship with my Inner Perfectionist. She's disciplined and principled, but boy, she really stands in the way of creativity and joy. I've decided that sometimes (oftentimes), I need to give myself permission to completely ignore Perfectionist Larissa.

8. There are a gazillion ways to use coconut oil. Cooking, natural bug repellant, homemade lotion. We have 2 huge tubs of coconut oil from Costco, so if you have any favorite ways to use it, let me know!

9. The baby in my stomach has a new habit of using my bladder as a punching bag. 

10. Second row is my seat of choice. Whether it's in an audience, classroom, or at church, I will always prefer the second row.