Kathleen's Adventures

I was recently asked to be a speaker at one of my church's Wednesday Lenten services.  Below is the sermon I gave. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A few years ago, Margot Perez-Greene asked if I would speak about my faith journey at one of these Lenten services.  I told her at the time that I had not gotten there yet – as in I was still on the journey (or perhaps I hadn’t even really started).  She said that was exactly the point but I still felt I just did not have that much to share. Here I am few years later still very much at what feels like the beginning of this journey of faith, yet wanting to acknowledge a notable leg of this lifelong voyage. It’s funny – I had a feeling a second ask to speak at a Lenten service was coming, and I couldn’t say “no” this time. I grew up at First United Methodist Church in Beaumont and have fond memories of my time there.   When I moved here for college, my church-g...

I have been making baked oatmeal for quite a few years now.  It started as one oatmeal banana pancake made in a skillet in the morning and morphed into muffins and finally into the gloriousness that it is today.  Six* days (...or should I say "servings" for those of you cooking for more than one) of breakfast made in one fell swoop.  A breakfast that I still get way too excited about each and every day.   I have never liked oatmeal in its "native" form - runny, weird, sticky, and never seeming to stay uniformly warm.  I am also not one to cook on a daily basis - especially not breakfast!  So while the oatmeal banana "pancake" recommended to me by a nutritionist years ago was a good start towards the non-runny way I'd like to be eating oatmeal, it still required more work than I was willing to do in the kitchen each morning.  Shocker.  The recipe I ultimate ly came up with is way more like bread (or any sort of baked oatmeal goody) and seems real...

In my last post , I discussed in detail my first round of egg freezing, or oocyte cryopreservation.  When I wrote that post, I was on the fence about whether or not to do a second round.  I ended up meeting with my doctor the next week and decided to go ahead and plan for a second round.  I was very at peace with the decision as soon as I walked out of the office, and I'm thankful for that.  Per my doctor, an average round produces 10 eggs and that gives you roughly a 40% chance of having one child.  I have 16 eggs frozen so we could possibly call that a 60-70% chance at one child.  I do not like those odds.  I am risk-adverse by profession, and heavily insured (yet have no problem jumping out of planes or climbing tall things...but that is a different story).  I feel I will be able to rest much easier knowing I have 25-30 eggs sitting there waiting for me vs the 16.  Granted round two is not necessarily guaranteed to go as well as round one,...

It is no secret that there have not been many men in my life - especially not any that seemed like the right person to procreate with.  I bought a Chevy Tahoe when I was 23 and was certain I would have kids in it before I was done driving it.  I drove that car seven years and the next SUV for four...then moved to Finland...and still no kids.  Perhaps I should have purchased the two-door sports car at some point if I wanted this to go a different way.  Anyway, that is all to say life certainly has not taken me where I expected it to at this point - turning 36 in less than two weeks.  For the most part, I am okay with that.  I have had a pretty awesome life and have gone on some pretty amazing adventures.  I live a life I am proud of and one that I am happy with.  My family is amazing, work is not too bad, and as of recently, I am a homeowner.  Living the American dream, right?  Mostly.  I do not spend much time focusing on what I do ...