my dirty little secret: I do not like to cook.

Now this poses a problem because I have a husband who is super blessed when I prepare dinner for our family. A little unknown fact is that I am not one of those wives that does this every night. Even when I have a husband who feels so loved by it. Cooking actually gives me anxiety. I will clean and scour our home into the ground, but to prepare a grocery list and cook, takes me a couple hours of emotional preparation. Plus, while I was single, I would have been completely content eating cereal for every meal whereas my husband prefers a much more diverse palette of dining options.

However, I recently realized two ways in which I can get myself to cook and actually enjoy it. One, I love hosting events! I absolutely love having people over with us in our home... and usually this involves a meal, so that means I cook (which I still don't enjoy the actual process of, but can do it with joy as I think about our guests that particular evening). Two, I went with my sister-in-law and friend Kathy to the PLU senior art exhibition a few weeks ago to support one of my former graphic design students who was now graduating college! Anyway, one of the pieces there was by a senior who had interviewed several international students for recipes from their hometowns, cooked, photographed and then complied these recipes and images into a beautifully designed cookbook. It made me think, Would I enjoy cooking if I then photographed the creation? The answer: yes.

So, the last couple of days, I have been photographing my meals. Nothing too fancy, but this is a gal who would be content eating a PB&J sandwich just like her daughter for weeks on end.



I hope that soon what motivates me to cook through my anxious emotions is realizing just how loved Drew feels when I have actually planned dinner... and... a dinner that includes meat. ha.