Coffee Stained Books

Let's face it...

2011-11-17T07:27:00.000-08:00

I'll never be good at blogging. The consistent, interesting tid-bits of writing, apparently are not in my nature. That being said, I enjoy being able to dash over here and write when I do fancy it.

Currently, I'm somewhat successfully resisting the urge to listen to Christmas music ALL day EVERY day. It's tough. Especially since Spotify makes listening to music so easy, add to that the fact that She&Him just came out with a new Christmas album. However, I am resisting. Philip is adamant that I not begin listening until Thanksgiving. My excitement and anticipation of Christmas and all things cheery has been fed by the Target dollar section. I found holiday dog sweaters I am forcing my cats in to (I will take pictures), a fun Christmas countdown felt calendar, and some candle lanterns. Additionally, I am 50% done Christmas shopping. Oh Christmas, I just love the warmth you bring!

I visited my sister Stephanie a few weeks back with my other two sisters. We had lots of fun. We made a mulled wine that I wanted to try. I was hoping it would be magical and the perfect holiday drink for the season. Alas, it was good, but not the magical experience I was hoping for. I likely won't take the time to make it again, but it was fun experience.

Boxing round two (for me) started last week. I am thrilled to be back in it. I can't wait until we put on our gloves next week and start actually punching things. It's the best work out I've ever done (apart from swimming, probably), and it keeps me active. I'm quite lazy when it comes to staying active.

In other news, a couple of women from my church who are even more newly-wed than I am (how long do I get to pretend I'm a newly-wed?) invited me to begin an accountability group with them. Man has that been awesome. I've never been very good at deep relationships with women (apart from my best friend and my sisters). There is so much fear of judgment, fear of failure, fear of not presenting yourself in the best light possible. I have found that in letting my guard down, there is such fruit that comes from being open, honest, accountable, and loving with other Christian women. I come away simultaneously convicted and encouraged. Bonus: I am cultivating truly wonderful God-honoring relationships.

Life is full and good. There are the tough parts, like the fact that Philip hasn't had work to speak of in 6 or 8 weeks. Or the part where we can't really plan life right now as we are in limbo with his job, our living situation, and finances in general. However, through it all I'm so grateful to be just where we are, experiencing just what we are experiencing. We have good friends, we are not hungry, and we love each other.

Well, that was long-winded. Back to the beginning pargraph: what is YOUR favorite part about the holidays? Do you love Christmas, or does Thanksgiving trump it?

Poison Ivy

2011-10-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Philip and I helped out with a youth service project at our church. We were rewarded with Poison Ivy. He's doing all right with it, I, on the other hand, have never experienced anything quite like this. It is covering over half of both my legs (I mean covering - I will spare you from pictures, it's disgusting), and pretty well spread all over both arms, a bit on my stomach, a patch under my chin, and a bit on my hands.

I tried to use over the counter creams and oatmeal baths, but I could hardly stay at work for more than three hours without having to come home and sit in an oatmeal bath. So Tuesday I went to the minute clinic, got some Prednisone and have been taking hefty doses of that for the past three days. Thankfully, slowly it is drying up, not really clearing up, but drying up and itching a little less every day. I'll be on the steroids for two weeks, but I'm hoping I'll be able to normal looking skin in a few more days. We'll see.

We've been having some yummy food despite my condition. Last night we enjoyed Blackened Salmon with avocado and fresh lime juice as well as a few other veggie sides (I'm trying to get back to the whole having 75-80% of the plate be veg, and 20-25% protein). It was delicious, although it did fill our house with smoke and could stand to have the salt scaled back just a touch. It had great spice and great texture. I followed the linked recipe almost exactly.

Wednesday night was small group, so I whipped up some pumpkin cookies. The problem was, I jumped into a recipe that, upon further inspection, looked a little boring and I did not have regular baking flower. So, I decided to have a little confidence, doctor the recipe to my theoretical liking, and substitute whole-wheat flour. After doing so Philip and I tasted the batter, grimaced a little, but decided to bake them up anyway, hoping for the best. They turned out delicious, now if only I knew exactly what I did. :) Here's the recipe I started with. My best estimate for what I did is as follows:
1 can pumpkin
1 very softened stick of butter
2-3 T. oil
1 heaping cup of white sugar
1 egg
1/4-1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 cups whole wheat flour
3ish t. baking powder
2 1/2 t. cinnamon
scant 1/2 t. ginger
heavy 1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. cloves
3/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 T. milk
1 T. vanilla
1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips

Anyway, yum!

Birthday

2011-10-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

My birthday surprised me just a little bit this year. I knew it was coming, but it didn't feel like the right time. Maybe it was the unseasonably hot days or the fact that I did not feel like it was possible I was turning 23. Or, more likely, I'm used to celebrating my birthday with my sister Stephanie (we were born 7 years apart to the day) and once again would not be. I absolutely love celebrations, but having a celebration all to myself didn't sound like as much fun as other holidays or shared birthdays. The key here is shared experience, I've discovered more and more how important shared experience is to me. Whatever the case, I felt apprehensive and underwhelmed by the prospect of a birthday.

I knew Philip was planning something, but decided to resist snooping. My birthday happened to fall on the day of the week that we host small group. I began to be suspicious that Philip was planning some sort of surprise at small group. I told him I didn't like that idea because it would be embarrassing to have a big deal made out of my measly 23rd birthday, he just shrugged his shoulders.

He did indeed surprise me after small group (it was a surprise, even though I'd been suspicious, because he planned it so well). Quite literally as soon as the last person praying said "amen" Luke and Sharon (my sister-in-law and brother-in-law) burst in carrying a Rice Krispy Treat Castle and everyone started singing to me.

Why a Rice Krispy Treat Castle, you say? Well, when I was maybe 17, I decided I wanted a Rice Krispy Treat Castle for my wedding cake. I still thought it was a great idea when I was planning my wedding three years later, however, my Old Hollywood/1930ish inspired wedding didn't really seem to support the idea, so I went with a more traditional cake. I was so happy and surprised that Philip had remembered my silly idea these years later. Side note, I LOVE Rice Krispy Treats.

Philip had also asked everyone to write me a card, so I had a large stack of notes and cards to read. They were all so sweet and heartfelt and encouraging and made me feel very special. Our small group is so amazing. I feel very privileged to have these people in my life as friends and fellow believers.

When all was said and done, I was pretty overwhelmed, but so touched by Philip's thoughtfulness.

And to top everything off, I took a trip to Cincinnati the next day with my sister Elizabeth and Maxfield to visit Ikea and Jungle Jim's. So much fun!

I had a wonderful birthday, and I'm looking very much forward to being able to celebrate with all four of my sisters at the end of this month.

Here's a few pictures of the castle and its creators. As usual, no camera, but a kind friend took a few pictures on his phone.

Carrots! Success!

2011-09-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

This spring I planted some carrots in my shared experiment of a garden. Last week as we were pulling plants out and preparing the garden for winter, Candace and I remembered our carrots and pulled them up. They were pretty huge and strange looking, but still needed eaten. This week I decided to figure out a way to use up all my strange knobby carrots. I was inspired by Candace's use of them in creamed carrot soup and did something similar. I used this recipe as a framework, but pretty loosely. I wanted a more savory soup. My soup was something like this:

1 Shallot, chopped (although 2 would have been better, I only had 1)
1/4 C. Butter
1 clove Garlic
3 C. Carrots, chopped (6-10 average carrots)
2 Potatoes, cubed (Cauliflower could be substituted for an even healthier soup, or just added)
1 Broccoli floret, chopped
2 cans Vegetable broth
1 C. Water
1 t. Salt
1 t. Rosemary (these spice measurements are all *very* rough estimates)
1/2 t. Thyme
1/2-1 t. Basil
1/2 t. Marjoram
1/4 t. Oregano
1/3-1/2 C. Heavy Cream (milk or Half and Half can easily be substituted)

Melt the butter, and cook the shallot. Add the garlic for 30 seconds to a minute. Pour in the liquid, vegetables and spices. Simmer until veggies are soft, for about 30 minutes. Let the soup cool a bit and pour it into your blender for a quick spin (you may need to do this in two batches). Return to pot, add the cream or milk, and stir it in heating through. You may want to add a little more milk or water at this point, depending on how thick you like your soup. Enjoy!

The extra veggies rounded out the sweetness of the carrots, and it ended up being a very savory, Fall soup. Sweet soups aren't really my thing. I want to like squash soup, but it's usually just a a touch too sweet, so I was happy with the flavor in this soup. It was given two thumbs up by more than one taste-tester. It's definitely in my top 5 soup recipes that I've ever made.

Perfect for Me

2011-09-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

This week, I have been particularly thankful for my perfect-for-me husband. It has been a long and stressful couple of weeks in terms of my work. The hours of my work, the responsibilities at my work, and the nature of my work has changed fairly quickly and dramatically. I have been gone for training and work quite a bit, recently. I just arrived in Michigan today and will be here until Saturday.

Philip has really sensed my stress levels, and been there for me. Traveling, while fun, quickly becomes not fun for me if I have to be gone for long periods of time. I'm more of a homebody now than ever before. Philip surprised me with flowers (to cheer up the car and hotel room), an encouraging note that brought tears to my eyes, and three burned CDs of Nordic Mythology (to pass the the time in the car). Only my sweet husband would know that I would love Nordic Mythology for my car ride entertainment. I'm so excited about where God is taking us professionally, spiritually, and personally.

Absent

2011-09-09T21:26:00.001-07:00

Summer was a blur of heat, corn fields, family stuff, concerts, Philip being gone, and other things I can't remember right now. Tonight, I returned from babysitting, and now I pack. We leave for Indianapolis in the morning. Philip has an expo to attend, then we leave for Maryland around midnight tomorrow evening. We arrive in Maryland midday, we will unpack, find someplace to eat and rest. I will be attending a certification class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. to learn the software for an HPLC machine at the lab I work at. Philip will be working on video game music, and putting together cd packets for an upcoming and important show. We will leave Maryland Wednesday around 6 p.m. and drive to a hotel midway. We will sleep and start driving again by 10 a.m. I will drop Philip off in Indianapolis where he will attend an Audio Engineering Society Meeting, I will continue on to Lafayette. I will try to gather myself and run off to babysit at 6:30 p.m. Thursday after I am done babysitting, I will breath for a little while. Friday I will work and then return to Indianapolis for a really big concert Philip will be playing. Friday night we will drive back to Lafayette together. I'm hoping to get some semblance of normal life back by going to my farmer's market Saturday morning. I will babysit again Saturday evening, and then for the first time in over a month we will attend church! Yes, these past few weeks have felt like a run on paragraph, much like the one I just wrote. Some high points, some moments of panic, and a hint of time to breath. We are living life, and there are many things to be excited about.

Picnic

2011-05-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

The most delicious food and the best company a girl can ask for.

Things I'm Looking Forward To

2011-04-30T07:24:00.000-07:00

1.) Planting a garden for the first time in my life. I don't have any space, but another girl who goes to my church also doesn't have any space, so we decided to ask the church if we could use part of the grounds. They thought that was a great idea, but we'll have to start from scratch (killing grass, tilling, etc.). We might do that, but we also found out that we may be able to use another church family's garden plot because they are moving and planning to use their house as a rental property. Either way, I think I'll be planting a garden, and I know that I'm very excited.

2.) Taking a boxing class. My local yoga studio also offers a six-week boxing class for women. It starts the week after next, and I could not be more excited. I know it's going to be really challenging strength-wise (I'm kind of wimpy), but I can't wait to get into shape again.

3.) Finding a new job. I've been applying for a little while now, but I graduate in a week, and I'm starting to feel the pressure. I have my eye on a particular job that I feel would suit me well, but I don't have all the experience they are looking for. Nevertheless, I have applied, and talked to some individuals, and feel mildly hopeful. We will see. Either way, I'm looking forward to finding a new job, soon!

4.) Graduating. Though my educational journey has taken many different and sometimes disappointing turns, I'm grateful for the opportunities I was given at the community college I finished my education at. Sometimes I don't feel very accomplished when I think about what could have been, but at the same time I finished something, finally, and that is an accomplishment.

What are you looking forward to in the next week or month or even this summer? Any exciting vacations or events?

Salmon with Fresh Pineapple Salsa

2011-04-27T09:24:00.001-07:00

This week, I tried a new recipe and fell absolutely in love.

I adapted my recipe, ever so slightly, from one I found on allrecipes.com

Salsa Ingredients:
2 T. Fresh Lime Juice
2 T. Olive Oil
1 T. Soy Sauce
1 Clove of Garlic (either very finely chopped, or pressed)
1/2 t. Sugar
1/3 C. Diced Fresh Pineapple (you'll want this diced pretty small)
1/8 t. Cayenne Pepper
1 Small Tomato, Diced
1 t. Dried Basil (although, the original recipe called for 2 T. fresh, which would have been amazing)

Fish Prep:
Salt and Pepper
2 Salmon Fillets
1/4 C. Chicken Broth
4-6 Thinly Sliced Lime Rounds
Lime Juice

Whisk the salsa ingredients together and put in the fridge.

Put salmon in baking dish, pour chicken broth over the top, squeeze lime juice generously over fillets and salt and (generously) pepper to taste. Next time, I think I would rub the fillets with olive oil (or grapeseed oil, since olive oil apparently goes rancid at high temperatures, I just don't have any grapeseed oil, yet) and salt and pepper prior to the rest of the steps to ensure just a little more moistness. Another option is to omit the chicken broth and wrap the fillets in aluminum foil, which I think would also work nicely.

Bake fillets at 375 for 30 minutes. Get the salsa out of the fridge about 10 minutes before the fish is finished, and then top the finished fillets with the salsa or on the side. This was so good! I will probably be making this monthly!

As usual, no picture, I promise I'll get better. It really was a lovely looking dinner.

Weekend Vacation

2011-04-27T04:26:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, I flew out to North Carolina to visit my friend Rebekah. Friday, we drove down to Myrtle Beach where she had a free two night stay in a beach front resort. We very much enjoyed our time hanging out in the hot tub in the evenings and laying on the beach during the day. We also tried a few restaurants, watched some movies, and went outlet mall shopping. The outlet we went to had a BCBG final cut store. Oh my was I excited! $188 sweaters were marked down to $19! It was ridiculous! I get a little excited about bargain shopping. :)

The most exciting part of the last week, though, was the birth of my newest nephew, Maxfield Atticus. He is oh-so-precious. I was able to see him about four hours after he was born, and he was so beautiful! I can't wait to see him again, hopefully this weekend. Here is a picture stolen off of my sister's facebook page (silly me, I forgot a camera to both Myrtle Beach AND the hospital). Sorry it's sideways, I don't know how to rotate it.

Finally!

2011-04-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

The healthy dessert I promised to share like a week ago. It could be a dessert or it could be a really yummy side, either way, this isn't really a recipe, but more of a guideline.

First, very thinly slice three or so apples. Put them in a mixing bowl and put a couple of tablespoons of honey in there and a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon (this is kind of to taste). After tossing and coating put apple slices into a greased pie plate. Try to spread them out evenly, as they are sort of the bottom layer. I put my apples in first and then put the cinnamon and honey in, but I think it would be easier to mix everything together first.

Next saute a heavy half a cup of chopped pecans in a couple of tablespoons of butter, after they've been well coated, pour a few teaspoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon in the pan and saute the pecans, coating.

Turn off the burner and pour the warm pecans on top of the apple layer, as the second layer. Put pie plate into the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350.

In the meantime, put about 1/3 of a cup of goat cheese into a small mixing bowl, put some honey (or maple syrup) and cinnamon in to taste (I think I used about a tablespoon of honey and 1 1/2 t. cinnamon). Whip the goat cheese with the cinnamon and honey. I didn't know how to put this on top of the pecans effectively so I just put the cheese in a little baggy, snipped the end, and piped the goat cheese on top of the pecans when the apples were done cooking. Put this back into the oven for an additional 5-7 minutes.

Obviously, there is theme of cinnamon and honey, but this was super tasty!!

Note: I am really bad at taking pictures, especially food pictures, so sorry for the blur, etc.

Food, Inc.

2011-04-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

...how I've been avoiding you. See here for more about the movie.

This documentary has been recommended to me countless times in the last two years, or so. I have avoided it for fear of what I might learn. Since, apparently, I'm in the mood to learn and change, I finally faced the facts and watched it. I then made Philip watch it with me. It was really well done. I recommend it.

I just love documentaries of all kinds. Recently watched: The Cove, The Business of Being Born, Wolverines: Chasing the Phantom, The Green Rush. All were fun and informative in some way or another. Documentaries are the best! :)

Favorite Things

2011-04-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to go all Oprah here, but I have been particularly enjoying a few things recently, and so I thought I'd share:

1.) This AMAZING tea! Trader Joe's always has a little bar where you can try a sample of their coffee and some food item. This time they had both coffee and tea. Though I am a die-hard coffee drinker, for some reason tea just sounded perfect that afternoon. I'm so glad I tried this tea. It was delicious. Try some!

2.) My new super nerd-trend Juicy Couture glasses. What can I say? They're awesome. On that note, the green sweatshirt I'm wearing in the picture is my favorite item of clothing right now, too. The picture doesn't do the sweatshirt justice, trust me it's not just any sweatshirt. It's got an over-sized hood, cropped sleeves, and it's longer in the back then the front, plus it's henley-esque. See? Not ordinary at all, but really this is about the glasses.

3.) Mumford and Sons - Though I just mentioned this band a couple posts ago, they deserve mention again. Because my husband is so heavily involved in the music scene (i.e. playing in a band, recording bands, producing bands, mixing/mastering various albums etc.) we have gone to and continue to attend a lot of concerts. The number has decreased since we got married, which I was a little bit happy about. All that to say, it's hard for me to get super excited about bands anymore, but this band is something to get excited about. I have listened to their album non-stop for the past three days, and probably won't stop for another three days. Buy it!

Hope you guys have a great weekend. Stay tuned for a new healthy dessert option recently concocted in my kitchen.

Homemade Granola Bars

2011-03-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

I decided to make my own granola bars. I used a recipe for Energy Bars found here and slightly adapted it. The recipe called for 2 cups of cereal. I figured I could just use oats, but then I realized I had some granola in the back of my pantry that neither Philip or I liked, so I decided to use it.

My recipe looked something like this:

2 C. Almond Delicious Granola
3/4 C. Almonds coarsely chopped
2/3 C. Apricots cut up coarsely
2 T. Whole Grain Flour (my mother milled it for me, so I'm not sure what all was in the flour I used)
1/3 C. Raisins
1 handful Coconut
1/4 C. Honey
1/2 t. Salt
2 Lg. Egg Whites
1 t. Vanilla Extract

I followed the instructions as detailed on the link. I think mine took closer to an hour to bake.

I would call it a moderate success. They are certainly edible, and Philip even said he liked them. I like them pretty well, but I think another egg white and just a touch more Honey would have helped bind things more. I also think the taste I didn't like in the granola wasn't really masked much by everything else, so perhaps just using oats would be better in the future. I also think I would put a bit more dried fruit in next time, but over all a good experience.

In general, I prefer trail mix, so I'll probably make that more often. However, this is nice to have in my repertoire, plus Philip likes to be able to grab a bar quickly.

What would you put in granola bars if you were making them?

Goosebumps

2011-03-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

...not the books. Rather, this song gives me goosebumps and, in often fills me with much emotion. This evening I've been pondering some hard things, friends experiencing heavy pain, friends losing friends in senseless tragic ways. This song came up on my Pandora. I'm always thrilled when Mumford and Sons comes up on my Pandora. This song particularly touched me this evening as it often does. Here is an acoustic rendition of Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page (Bookshop Sessions):

Food for thought, literally.

2011-03-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

So, this past week and a half has been quite full of pondering and learning. It all started with our small group study book having us write our personal testimony, either of how we came to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, or if that was at a very young age, perhaps focusing a testimony more on something(s) great that He has done in our lives. It was a great exercise to help me focus in on what God truly has done. For me, one of the great times of transition into owning my faith was only 2 or 2.5 years ago and it was accompanied by some hard things that I don't like to think about, and probably haven't fully dealt with. The exercise made me deal with them, at least to a degree, and it was extremely cathartic.

After a sort of spiritual renewal, I also began reading a lot about taking care of our bodies through a healthy diet. This is not even kind of a new thought to me. My mother was extremely health conscious, and did a wonderful job of feeding us well. However, once I was in college and then married, feeding myself and my husband well was up to me. Yikes!

I am fatigued and achy more than it seems a 22-year-old should be. I'm learning that this is likely because of what I eat. I know for certain that I eat entirely too much refined sugar. I mean, I love to bake, and I would have cinnamon roles every morning for breakfast, if I could. Sugary snacks are my go to: cookies (for breakfast sometimes), granola bars, fruit snacks, sugar, sugar, I love sugar! :) The thing is, I'm learning that it's not just about eating more fruits and vegetable like you might think, it's about how the food has been grown, and treated. The difficulty isn't so much the lack of information, for me, or even recipes being available, it's how do I make this work with our very limited budget? I'm not sure what the answer is. I shopped somewhere I don't normally shop in order to have access to some things that Aldi (my primary grocer) doesn't have. I ended up spending, quite literally twice as much.

So, I will keep pondering. I'm thinking a few manageable steps I'm going to take are:
1. Eliminate refined sugar, to the best of my ability for 2 weeks and see how my energy level is.
2. Make sure that instead of buying granola bars and quick snacks that have tons of refined sugar, I'll make my own trail mix (I did this the other day, and it was amazing).
3. Start boiling eggs for lunches as opposed to having Philip bring lunch meat sandwiches all the time.
4. Cut veggies every other day or so, so that they are quick and accessible in my fridge.

Any wisdom you care to add, especially about healthy choices on a budget, and if I'm missing some major health choice that I should just REALLY consider, please share. :)

Two years ago today...

2011-02-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

I cooked Philip an okay meal of Jamaican Jerk Mahi Mahi and some homemade goat cheese dip at least. I can't remember the rest of the carefully planned menu. I had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to be a special night, and in typical Margaret-fashion, I had to make sure that I contributed in some way, so as not to feel like I was spoiled too much (I can't explain the inner-workings of my brain). So I insisted that I cook a meal instead of us going out to dinner for Valentine's Day. Dinner was uneventful, and Philip told me he needed to head to Pao Hall to pick something up from Sharon who was working late on some projects there. How romantic, running errands.

We met Sharon and meandered down to where Philip (at the time), spent 75% of his time - the recording studio in Pao Hall. First, he said he'd been working on improving the recording of Swinging on the Rings of Saturn (the very first song he ever wrote for me, before we were officially going out, I might add. Confident dude!), and wanted me to hear it. He played the recorded song for me. I was so happy. That song will always be very dear to my heart. We discussed the changes and improvements, and then he said he had another thing for me.

There were no roses, no candles, just Philip and his guitar. He said he'd written a new song he wanted to play for me. I wish I could find the lyric sheet (he let me keep it), I know I put it somewhere safe, but apparently it was too safe. I just remember that the song incorporated wedding vows into the lyrics, and as he was singing I knew that this was it. After he finished playing, he waited quietly for a moment and said some stuff I don't remember (I don't feel too bad, he can't remember either ;) while he bent down and pulled a ring box out of his guitar case. Then he asked me to marry him. It's fun to remember that day, and unlike my recent track record, I DO have pictures from it! :)

Whoa, February...

2011-02-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

...I don't remember you being a busy month in the past. What happened?

I spent the weekend with my charming and adorable nephews, while their parents had a quick getaway. Fun was had by all, though, as usual, I don't have any pictures from the weekend. I also watched the little rascals yesterday and today, something I do once or twice a month, so Alaina can work.

February is shaping up to be quite a busy month. Every single weekend will be spent in Indianapolis for some reason or another. Next weekend we'll be down just for fun, and I'm anticipating a fun sisters day. The following weekend a baby shower for my sister (yay!), and the last weekend for a show Philip is playing.

In the meantime, Philip has been getting fairly regular work at the studio. Though the hours are crazy about half the time, we are so thankful.

My final (?) school semester started several weeks ago, but since I'm only taking one class and doing a very enjoyable and, so far, easy internship, it feels like it hasn't really started. However, Paralegal Society activities and meeting are picking up, so that has helped me feel more like my semester is in gear. I'm still the secretary, through this semester. It's provided lots of fun, friendship, and opportunity. I must say, for community college, the Lafayette campus branch of Ivy Tech is very concerned about bringing opportunity and challenging their students, at least in the Paralegal department. I attribute this 100% to our program chair who has poured herself (I've seen it) into all of us students, working well beyond the hours she is paid for to make sure she gives us all the opportunity she can.

Philip and I also began teaching the 5-7 year old Sunday school class at church in the evenings a few weeks back. It's been fun for both of us. We spend a couple hours a week planning the lesson based on the curriculum. Then, we divide and conquer. It's a high-energy age, but the kids are so smart and eager.

Well, that's what we've been up to. What about you? Any big plans for February?

Icy Day Fun!

2011-02-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

I didn't do much yesterday, but I did manage to: not change out of pajamas until 4 p.m., clean the kitchen, make chocolate mocha cookies, and clean/sort the overflowing desk of papers and bills.

Then when Philip came home, we finished the bills etc. together, wasted time on the internet, made some Cajun seasoned Tilapia, potatoes, and toss salad and went on a lovely winter walk. After getting pelted by sleet on our return walk, we watched Toy Story 3 and enjoyed some fruit smoothies and hummus with crackers. What a nice day!

Pictures of our adventure:

Lafayette has it's moments of beauty.

We passed three people, and everyone was so friendly. I think the weather and braving it brought some sense of community.

This one is blurry, but that's because I'm a much worse photographer than Philip.

Plans

2011-01-20T18:24:00.000-08:00

I don't know if it's the excitement of a new year, and all the possibility that holds, or the magical snowy weather, but I have just been excited and excitable all week, despite being pretty sick.

I've had plans just growing in my head. Plans on how to celebrate graduating in May. Plans concerning an Oscar Party that I think would be so much fun to throw (too bad we don't have a television that receives any cable or network stations). Plans forming for Valentine's Day. Plans for Philip's birthday. Plans for visiting my dear friend Rebekah while her husband is deployed. Plans! Of note: I often have a half-formed plan that in the back of my brain, it just doesn't usually happen, because life happens. This is just an uncanny amount of plans. Maybe one or two will come to fruition.

I began my internship last Friday for a local judge here in Tippecanoe County. I'm having a wonderful time. I get to sit and listen to hearings and sentences whenever I'm there. It's endlessly interesting and I'm learning a lot about the practical out workings of all the rules and procedures and research that's been stashed in my brain.

It doesn't hurt that the judge is one of the kindest people I've had the pleasure of working for.

Actually of note, I realized that all of the people I've been working for and with for the last two years or so have been wonderful. Prior to that, it seemed that, even though bosses or academic mentors were kind enough, there was always some problem, or drama, or inappropriate comment/situation that surfaced. I am so thankful to not have to deal with these problems in the last two jobs I've had and in my academic career, lately. It's been refreshing, truly. It's amazing how a bad situation in one part of your life takes every part of your life down with it.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend that includes Philip getting his hair cut (Not by me! Thank goodness!), movie night with a couple of friends, and babysitting for my favorite kiddos.

I have a camera

2011-01-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

...but I'm quite bad at remembering to take pictures. So, I'll just have to tell you about the last month or so rather than showing you. I love pictures, and I love reading blog posts with lots of pictures in them, but alas, there are none.

Philip and I celebrated Christmas four times this year. Once together, once with his immediate family, once with his paternal grandmother, and once with my immediate family and paternal grandmother. We started on December 22 and finished on December 31. Although this season can be so busy that it becomes not fun, I actually enjoyed the multiple celebrations it this year, because we weren't away from our apartment for more than two overnights. I am very social, but I need a chance to refuel in my own home quietly, otherwise I become an anti-social grouch.

A favorite gift to give this year for us was the BBC Life series. We gave it to both Philip's parents and my nephews. We're also hoping between the two that we'll get to watch it all the way through. It's very fascinating! It's sort of like an updated Planet Earth, very amazing footage.

A favorite gift to receive this year for me was money to take a yoga class. I'm excited to hopefully start next week.

We welcomed the new year the same day that we celebrated Christmas with my family. Unfortunately sickness took down my oldest sister Alaina, and the celebration was moved to my parents house. My mother was working on a wedding cake for a wedding the next day, so it was a quiet affair, unlike last year.

Philip and I gave Liz and Luke a game called Pandemic and played it several times in the next two days. It's a cooperative game rather than competitive. It's also very challenging, which makes it a fun game to play over and over. I think we'll probably want to own it soon!

I decided to actually have a new year's resolution or two. My resolution is to read more and watch less. It's very easy for me to shut my brain off and watch sitcoms when I have down time. Instead, I want to get back into reading. I read all the time growing up, but just sort of stopped reading for fun in college. I am constantly inspired by my sister Stephanie and her discipline and love for reading.

In light of this, three friends from my major and I have decided to start a book club. This months book is The Joy Luck Club, which so far is pretty good although hasn't quite grabbed me. Also on the list for this year is Glass Castle, Water for Elephants, Suite Francaise, Poisoning the Press, Girl in Translation, Running with Scissors, Lord of the Seas, and my favorite book The Book Thief (this will be the only re-read for me). I am very excited, and really hope we can collectively have enough discipline to really see this through.

This new year will be full of new experiences I am sure. I (hopefully) graduate in May, I'm interning with the Circuit Court judge of Tippecanoe county this semester, and Philip and I are still considering what path I will pursue after I graduate: perhaps finding a "career" job or furthering my education.

Well, maybe I'll be better about updating more often, and won't have to write such a book every time I update. Maybe that should be my New Year's Resolution.

It's been too long

2010-12-16T08:14:00.000-08:00

since, I updated this blog. I've had an eventful December thus far.

I've been to a few holiday art shows. Art shows can be lots of fun or a little stodgy. Going to art showings around the holidays helps keep the stodginess at bay, I've decided. They were lovely.

We saw a Christmas production with the kiddos I babysit and their mom in it at our local Civic Theatre (just two blocks Northwest). This has gotten me thinking a bit. Maybe I should audition? It would be a fun hobby.

Philip and I hosted our first Christmas party for our small group. It was successful, and lots of fun. There was seven-layer taco dip, meatballs, baked brie, queso and chips, hummus and pita chips, candy cane coffee cake, cheeseball and crackers, oatmeal shortbread, sugar cookies, butter pecan fudge, homemade eggnog, and some food I'm sure I'm forgetting. Needless to say, we dined like kings. We followed that up with a white elephant gift exchange, some caroling, board games, and topped the night off with those that stayed watching Holiday Inn. It was very enjoyable, and though our apartment might be a little on the small side to hold 15+ people, it felt nice and cozy and quite cheery.

Yet to come this month: finshing up finals, a Paralegal Society graduation dinner, three Christmases, catching up with my best friend when she's in town, catching up with my cousin when she's in town, finshing Christmas shopping (I'm so close to being done), a few more Christmas parties, and even more baking.

I'm really enjoying this holiday season. I feel I enjoy Christmas and the New Year more every year. Of course, I loved this time of year as a child, but then somehow it lost some of its charm, but I feel the charm creeping back in.

Oddly, I'm even embracing the snow. This hasn't happened in 10 years or more. Recently, I've even been rooting for snow. Everything is quieter, we have to get up earlier to scrape off the car which means we're not in as much of a rush, people drive slower, and frankly, I think it's kind of pretty these days. What's happened to me?

What's your favorite part about the holidays? The food, the family, the parties, the gift-giving, the snow, the goodies? I'm taking it all in and loving it!

Thankfulness

2010-11-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

It's the time of year where we count our blessings and remember all the things we are grateful for. In truth, this should be a habit of the Christian life. But it's wonderful to draw aside as a community and really focus on being thankful.

Just this past week, God provided for Philip and I, yet again, in an incredibly unexpected, almost miraculous way. I'm thankful for these unique provisions that grow our faith and allow Philip to continue to pursue his producing. It's not a particularly lucrative job right now because it takes a lot of work to get going, to make a name for oneself, and to get bands to come to Lafayette to record.

I am increasingly thankful for the church family we are in. I've never been in a church that loves Jesus and people the way our church family does.

I am thankful for where I am right now. It's easy to wish I wasn't living in Lafayette, or wish Philip had a salaried, corporate job, or wish we had more, but I am grateful for where I'm at because there is a reason for it, and I need to live in today.

Pittsburgh

2010-11-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, a friend of mine, Amanda, gave me call suggesting that we go visit a mutual friend of ours, Jill, who recently took a job for an accounting firm in Pittsburgh. I happily agreed and this past weekend we took our road trip. Amanda had her friend Anja, who is studying for a semester in Indianapolis from Germany, come along. We had a great time.

We got to take the cable car up the side of Mount Washington and see Pittsburgh at night. Very beautiful!

We visited the Andy Warhol museum, which I like pretty well, but Amanda wasn't quite as impressed. She works in museums (IMA) and felt the layout left something to be desired. We also spent a lot of time in IKEA, my first time there. That store casts quite the spell. I've never heard myself say "I need" so many times in one afternoon.

In the evening we had a quiet girls night in with lots of brie, wine, and desserts. It was such a relaxing weekend.

Still I Rise

2010-11-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

This poem came up on my poem of the day feature a few days ago. I love it's strong tempo, and victorious attitude. I'd never read it before and was very taken with it. Maya Angelou is amazing.

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

An Ode to my Favorite Dinner

2010-11-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

Growing up, my mother made a lentil rice bake, that despite never sounding appealing, was always delicious! After getting married, I made many phone calls to my mother saying things like "How do you make _______ again?" "Can I substitute __________ in this?" "How do you cook dry beans again?" One such recipe I queried about was the lentil rice bake. She gave me the recipe and Philip and I have eaten this nearly once a month since being married.

It's a recipe Philip feels comfortable making, and as long as you plan ahead a bit, it's the most delicious, nutritious, simple supper ever! So this post is an ode to my favorite quick, cheap supper. The best part is this can EASILY be made vegan or vegetarian. Philip and I usually enjoy it vegetarian style, although my mother's original recipe called for chicken stock. So without further ado, deliciousness:

Lentil Rice Bake
3 C. Chicken or Vegetable Broth (we usually use vegetable)
3/4 C. Lentils (not red, just regular)
1/2 C. Brown rice, uncooked (I make it a pretty heavy 1/2 C. to pump up the dish)
1/2 an onion chopped
1/2 t. basil
1/4 t. oregano
1/4 t. thyme
1/4 t. garlic (I ALWAYS add a lot more, and I usually use fresh garlic)
1/4 t. salt

Put everything in a small casserole dish and stir it around a little. The spices will inevitably end up floating to the top. Bake covered for 2-2 1/2 hrs at 350 degrees. During the last half hour, check it and add water if it's dry. I often have to put about an 1/8-1/4 c. of water in at this point. Top with Cheddar Cheese. The cheese is totally optional, and without it you have something delightful to serve to your vegan friends!

This serves 2-4 people depending on your side dishes. Make this, and tell me what you think. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Pictures of Penelope!

2010-11-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

I finally got batteries for my camera, so I took some pictures of Penelope this morning. Oh by the way, her middle name is Elaine, so that way we can call her Penny Lane if we want to.

So, anyway, before I get to the pictures here's a brief synopsis of Penny:
Things Penelope is good at:
-Being laid back
-Cuddling
-Eating food out of a pot on the stove when I'm not looking
-Knocking my entire box of make up off the shelf resulting in major necessary cleanup
-Jumping about three feet in the air to catch her "da bird" toy.
-Being cute
-Making funny noises that are supposed to be meows of some kind (she sounds like an alien).
-Annoying Todd

So, here are some pictures of her cuteness, and of her getting her toy. I couldn't catch any of her in the air, because she's just too quick, and Philip's not around to assist. She goes RIDICULOUSLY high in the air. There are a few pictures of her stretching and jumping a little bit to get the toy, but that took a lot of coordination as well. Hopefully we'll videotape her antics before too long. Anyway, here she is:

This is her angry face.

Pouncing her toy

Sometimes Todd gets a little jealous of her athleticism.

These two pictures are a bit blurry, but she's just so fast.

New Hair

2010-11-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday!

2010-11-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

It's time to start the Christmas Music!

Christmas Spirit

2010-11-04T06:21:00.001-07:00

As soon as Halloween passed this year, I was already thinking about Christmas. It's not really fair to Thanksgiving, but Christmas is just better than Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving, a lot, but Christmas has so many wonderful traditions and moments that I associate with it.

I used to think that listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving was a travesty, but about three or four years ago my Christmas Spirit began setting in earlier and earlier each year. In fact, this July, Philip and I had an impromptu Christmas party in our apartment. I don't remember how it happened, but it was so much fun.

We did nothing this year for Halloween, not one thing. So, Philip is feeling like my Christmas Spirit is a little early. Fall has not been properly celebrated.

I absolutely love Fall. It's my favorite season, by far, but I love listening to Christmas music. It's quite a problem. Our solution: have a little Fall extravaganza this weekend, just the two of us (we have nothing planned!), watch plenty of horror movies, eat caramel apples and homemade pizza, and enjoy the crisp cool weather that is not yet uncomfortably cold.

When do you deem appropriate to start listening to Christmas music?

Introducing Penelope

2010-11-02T06:51:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago Todd and I went to the vet so that she could get her booster shots. We signed in and sat waiting for our turn. A nurse grabbed us, and within five minutes Todd was boosted, and we were at the desk getting ready to pay. On a counter behind the desk sat a cage with a litter box, food, and a sign that read "Penelope loves people, is so friendly, and needs a good home." Since there was no kitty inside I assumed Penelope had found a home.

I was waiting on my card to process, so I asked offhandedly in a making-conversation-tone, "Oh did Penelope find a home?" Pat, behind the desk, looked at me hopefully and said, "No..." Uh-oh, we all know how this ends. She explained that Penelope was six months old. A nurse had found her in a parking lot abandoned and brought her to the clinic. She'd been cooped up in the cage for nearly a week. She wasn't in the cage because she wasn't supposed to eat or drink before surgery, and they were spaying her that day. "She's not in surgery yet, do you want to meet her?" I paused for a second and then agreed.

Pat brought out a very friendly, very curious little gray and brown kitty. She was purring like a maniac, and very excited to be somewhere new to explore. Todd was in her carrier at this point. I held Penelope for awhile, introduced her to Todd (Todd hissed for the first time in her life) and realized that there was no way I could say no to this little kitten.

I told the staff that I would talk to Philip and call them. Philip, who's been wanting another cat even more than I have, was elated. I called them the next day, and told them we'd love to take Penelope home.

Todd's former illness has left her Panleukopenia positive. So, Penelope had to receive her second round of shots before she could come home with us. We've been waiting for two weeks and we finally were able to bring her home yesterday. We didn't have to pay for her spaying or her initial round of shots. Only the treatment given her since we officially agreed to take her. You can't beat that!

The transition has been really smooth for Penelope. She's incredibly easy going. Todd on the other hand, incessantly looks like she's seen a ghost, won't let us pet her, and won't let Penelope out of her sight (from a safe distance). There hasn't been any fights, just some hissing on Todd's part. I assume Penelope's incredibly relaxed personality will prevail, and Todd will calm down.

We are so in love with this new kitty. She's very athletic (she can jump from the floor to our kitchen counter), she's cuddly (but doesn't insist on being on your lap at all times), and she has not used her claws or teeth on us once. We're not used to this since Todd is a fairly volatile little lady. We hope poor Todd will be able to become friends with Penelope eventually. My camera battery failed, so I only got a few pictures of the initial introduction, but here's Penelope.

Checking out the apartment:

Note Todd's stance versus Penelope's lounging:

I didn't get any good pictures of her cute face because of the camera battery issue, but here's a picture of her coloration. It's very unique, especially on her sides.

Birthday Fun!

2010-10-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well my birthday was two weeks ago, but it felt like my birthday for about three days straight. It was fabulous! It had all my favorite things: shopping, night time in the city, family, yummy food, and lots of laughter.

Philip knew that I really wanted to purchase some new additions for my wardrobe. My shopping habit has sharply declined of late, which is a really good thing. However, my winter wardrobe was looking sparse (to me anyway, this is probably a debatable point). So, he got my family and his family together and everyone gave me money to go on a guilt-free shopping trip.

We headed down to Indianapolis Friday night to do a bit of shopping, then we walked around the city for awhile, and met up with a lot of my family for a late night Scotty's "dinner." It was so much fun. The Scotty's in downtown Indianapolis has a great outdoor patio. Here are a few pictures from the evening:

Downtown with my darling.

The circle.

Scotty's!

The next morning I went to watch Patrick and Calvin play soccer. This was tons of fun. They were so cute. Then Philip kindly accompanied me for some more shopping. That evening we drove back to Lafayette. After being home for about 30 minutes, I got a text from my old roommate, Haiyun, that she was in town and at a concert at the Knickerbocker, which is right under our apartment. So we went down and had a great time catching up and listening to the bands.

Titus at the game.

Calvin was a little more interested in chatting with us than playing the game.

Patrick in action.

Out with Haiyun.

On Sunday, Philip and I met up with Grandpa and Grandma C. in Monon at the Whistle Stop restaurant. We had lots of fun looking at the cool model trains and eating lunch. We went back to their house to play games. Philip learned Sequence. It was a great way to end my birthday weekend.

The following Wednesday, all of us sisters finally were able to get together and celebrate. I'm so thankful for Alaina, Stephanie, and Elizabeth. I'm glad we all have unique perspectives on life, I'm so thankful for the wisdom they share with me, and I'm excited for the changes in all of our lives that keep things interesting. I don't have any good pictures from the evening because we were too busy talking and laughing.

Todd of Late

2010-10-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

Remember this cat? Yeah, neither do Philip and I! Todd was 4 pounds when she was admitted into kitty hospital and less than that when she was released. When we went for her shots a few weeks ago she weighed in at nearly 8 pounds! In a little over three months she has doubled her weight!

Philip and I knew she was getting bigger, but we were both surprised. I asked the doctor if this was a healthy weight. She said it was really a subjective number. The real test is if you can count your cats ribs. Not as in they are jutting through the skin from starvation, but being able to feel them slightly, through her fur. The doctor said she can feel them okay, apparently Todd is on the verge of being overweight for her size. Who knew that could happen!

Anyway, here's a few pictures of what Todd likes to do all day, which is mostly sleeping, lazing around, and sitting.

Snoozing in the covers on our unmade bed.

She likes to sit in any remotely enclosed space (including her kitty carrier, which we've taken to just leaving out).

Something must have been stinky.

Sitting on top of the printer pushing stuff off our very messy desk is her favorite past time.

Why does toilet water taste better than the fresh clean water in your bowl?

She's pretty possessive of her favorite pink ball.

Not so much to play with, just as an arm rest.

Check out her cuteness. Her paws are folded and so are her feet. I love it!

Laundry

2010-10-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well, blogging has been sparse, but life has been full. I have a few posts I want to find time to write soon (especially because I just celebrated my birthday and had the greatest weekend ever), but that will have to wait. Until then, a laundry experiment:

The laundry mat in our building is really expensive, so I usually try to wait until we visit Indy to do laundry. However, we hadn't been to Indy in so long, and poor Philip was running out of essentials. So, I decided to do a small load of laundry in our tub by walking on the clothing like you would when crushing grapes "I Love Lucy" style. I don't think I'll make a habit of this. It took forever, then it took a really long time to dry, and I only washed like 10 things.

However, my cat found it amusing to watch.

Our One Year Anniversary

2010-08-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I've done a fairly bad job of updating my blog of late, but I've been really busy trying to get as many hours in as possible at my job. Summer classes finally finished up which has freed up more time for a couple of weeks here for me to work more.

Philip and I decided to celebrate our anniversary Friday night, though our official anniversary was the following day. Philip decided to plan everything as a surprise which I was excited about. We'd talked about going away for the weekend, but after reviewing things we decided that might not be a wise use of our limited resources. However, I was still quite spoiled.

When I got home from work in the afternoon, this was waiting for me:

The note said that after I showered (I work in corn fields), there would be something for me to wear to our "peaceful dinner." As for the origami flowers, wow, talk about awesome. I couldn't believe the creative initiative. Lillies are my favorite, and whenever Philip buys me flowers it's lilies. So, he decided to change it up a bit, he'd make them. I absolutely loved them!

After freshening up, I found a box on the counter which contained these:

I'm pretty bad about micro-managing and having really specific ideas about things, so, it was good for me to just let Philip plan and not tell him anything specific that I wanted. Let me just say I should let Philip plan things more often. The jewelry was perfect, and being surprised was so much fun!

It was still early in the evening, so he gave me my final gift:

A new game for us to play (I think he's sick and tried of Skip-Bo)! The game is called Carcassonne, and it was so much fun. It ended up being a good two player game. It was in the same vein as games like Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride. Lots of fun!
Our "Peaceful Dinner" was at Peaceful Greens one of our favorite local Vegetarian/Vegan restaurants. I had their meatless Reuben, and it was superb.

We ended our evening watching "Up" for the first time for both of us. All around it was a fabulous anniversary. Don't worry, I did get Philip a present, it was just some new shirts, totally boring, but he has one of them on in the picture above.

Anyway, we had a wonderful anniversary, and I'm so thankful for the year we've had together. It has been full of learning, growing, changing, maturing, and responding to new responsibilities. It's also been full of laughter, fun, and love.

What we've been up to.

2010-07-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun and full week around here.

- Philip finally had time in the studio to do some recording.
- I've been finding the time and desire to cook more.
- We grilled out, which is always so much fun.
- Tuesday night our church's "Summer Book Challenge" kicked off with a discussion of Augustine's "Confessions."
- Thursday I made dinner with my friends Abby and Anna, and we watched "The Road." This Thursday night thing is becoming a tradition with us.
- Saturday Philip and I made homemade pizza and watched a Dario Argento movie we hadn't seen yet, "Opera." It was not his best film, but still quite good.
- Also, the house got cleaned (yay!).
- Today, we went to church, enjoyed roast that I remembered to make in the crock pot ahead of time (for once), and went to the pool for a couple of hours.
- Tomorrow we're looking forward to a fun cook out in Indianapolis with family and friends.
- In the midst of all this, we hardly remembered that we didn't get to go to Cornerstone this week. Due to our work and school and the tickets costing $120/person, we couldn't justify taking the time to go this year. Even though we were both sad about this, we had a great week anyway.

100th Blog Post, or: Stuff you probably didn't care to know.

2010-06-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

So, this is my 100th post, therefore, as is customary, I will be sharing 100 tidbits about myself. I apologize in advance:

1. I like coffee even more than it seems like I do.
2. I've known my husband since I was 10.
3. I like cooking, but I sometimes over-spice/season things.
4. I really like clothing and fashion.
5. I have always sort of wanted to be a runway model, I had my amateur low-key chance this spring, and had a blast.
6. I casually collect decks of cards.
7. I brush my teeth in the shower.
8. Together Philip and I own over 500 CDs, we're talking actually materially owning the CDs, not bought the album off itunes. No, no we house and store over 500 CDs.
9. I'm extremely non-artistic in the traditionally accepted sense.
10. I might be non-artistic in every sense...
11. I'm pretty good at ping-pong.
12. I love my husband's facial piercings.
13. I once tried to rescue a possum I ran over.
14. I guess I'm not completely non-artistic, I have an intense love of makeup: experimenting with it, doing other people's makeup, doing my on makeup, shopping for it, etc.
15. I fancy myself interested in philosophy, even though I have the hardest time reading even one full chapter in something as simple as The Portable Nietzsche.
16. I have a hard time with anyone very close to me having a different opinion from me in regards to almost anything.
17. I was a quasi-vegetarian for slightly over a year. By quasi I mean, not really at all.
18. I once caught a girl's vomit in my hand.
19. I "danced" a choreographed dance to Britney Spear's "Gimme More" with the rest of my pledge class. I may or may not have been one of the 3 girls crawling on the floor. No, you will never see it.
20. I love tennis, but I am nearly incapable of winning a match, no matter how evenly I am matched to my opponent.
21. My relationship with God didn't really become real to me until I was nearly 19, even though I grew up in a Christian home, with a Christian education, etc.
22. I have worked 11 jobs that I can remember 4 of which were declared temp jobs.
23. I have been fired from none.
24. My favorite job to date was the coffee shop. Peace, love, and coffee, what could be better?
25. I think I subconsciously/purposely let my house get really dirty just so I can clean it.
26. Believe it or not, I love cleaning and organizing.
27. As a kid, I read mysteries almost exclusively. I loved them! I don't know what that says about me.
28. I think Lafayette, IN (my current hometown) stinks, like physically smells unpleasant.
29. Ice cream cake is better than either ice cream or cake.
30. I have had somewhat serious "self-image" issues my entire life.
31. Philip is the best cure for that I have ever encountered.
32. I could eat pancakes several times a week.
33. I do have regrets, and I find it hard to believe people who say they have none.
34. Even though Philip and I like many of the same bands, the things we look for in music are very different.
35. This means, if we ever recommend a band collectively, you're guaranteed to like it. ;)
36. I've been deciding whether or not to cut my hair drastically for nearly two years.
37. Philip's favorite physical features about me are often my least favorite.
38. I like my in-laws, truly. I realize I am lucky.
39. My favorite shirt has dinosaurs on it.
40. I own an uncanny amount of Hello Kitty stuff including: a shirt, a mug, pen/pencil set, coffee maker, toaster, scarf, gloves, and key chain.
41. I'm so fully concerned with the freshness of my produce, that I grocery shop as many as 3 times within a 2 week period.
42. I love scary/thrilling/horror movies. The more suspenseful and terrifying the better. i.e. Deep Red or The Devil's Backbone.
43. I do NOT like gory/over-sexualized/horror movies. I find them unnecessary.
44. I began collecting various cups and glasses from stores and antique shops about 8 years ago. My plan was that when I had my own house, I'd have an outrageously awesome collection of cups and glasses and not one of them would be like another. This didn't really work out.
45. I have been to over 100 concerts in the last 4 years. If you count every individual performance I've been to at the Cornerstone Music Festival, it's probably over 200.
46. I had my first (and only, thus far) cavity filled with no numbing of any kind, I was fully awake, and fully feeling because the thought of a needle going into my gum, seemed worse to me than any pain I could undergo getting the darn thing filled.
47. I really like reading YA novels. They are like literary pieces of candy.
48. I would have laughed in your face not long ago if you told me I could love china as much as I love my Kate Spade china.
49. I would like to live where there is never snow.
50. I get bored with nearly anything, even things I love to do, after about 2 hours, sometimes sooner.
51. I haven't really written a poem in nearly a year, this is very sad to me.
52. I was home schooled for my entire education until college.
53. I have attended three different colleges for a year more or less.
54. Marian College (now University) is still probably my favorite.
55. Impatience is, arguably, my greatest fault because it leads to so many others.
56. I love camping!
57. If money were not an issue, boy would I need a huge shoe closet.
58. Antique stores are fascinating.
59. I love going to the Roller Derby in Indy.
60. My wedding day was twice as much fun as I expected.
61. I really can't stand dry elbows.
62. My cat is cuter than your dog any day of the week.
63. I wish I could visit the chiropractor weekly.
64. I hated PB&J sandwiches as a kid.
65. I still don't like them that well.
66. I'm running out of things to put in here.
67. I can't stop biting my nails.
68. My cat tries to eat my hair when she's feeling playful.
69. Oh hey, did I mention I love coffee! :D
70. Tennis is the only sport I will watch with interest, or play with interest.
71. That rule does not apply to the Olympic events.
72. I check imdb.com before watching any movie.
73. I don't like wasting my time (or what I consider wasting my time).
74. I don't eat red jelly beans, for fear that they could be the cinnamon ones. I've mistaken them too many times.
75. I do not like cherry flavored anything: ice cream, candy, pie, nothing.
76. I do, however, love fresh cherries.
77. I'm afraid of living in Indiana my whole life.
78. I've been known to throw things at Philip when we play games.
79. Folk-rock is my recent musical obsession.
80. Philip has been slowly learning to like coffee, since we got married.
81. I'll take the credit. :D
82. One of my all time favorite desserts is chocolate chip cookies. Recently, I've been making them with coconut and oats thrown in. Delicious!
83. I didn't discover pandora.com until this year. I love it!
84. I have taken Latin, Spanish, and French each for at least 2 years. I kept switching thinking maybe I'd be better at the next one. I'm just bad at learning foreign languages.
85. Red pepper flakes are an essential for 75% of the dishes in my kitchen. Just a hint, but I think it makes all the difference.
86. This is taking a long time.
87. Right now, I'm listening to Mates of State on Pandora, consequently this is my newest favorite band.
88. I just learned to play Skip-Bo and I've made Philip play it with me almost every night this week. What a fun game!
89. I've never met a John Cusack movie I didn't like.
90. This does not mean I've watched every John Cusack movie.
91. I feel exceptionally blessed by both Philip and my immediate family and privileged to be a part of both.
92. Did I mention we both have rockin' extended families, too?
93. I took piano lessons for several years (8 or 9 maybe?), and I still miss playing. I hope we own a piano someday.
94. It's always a mystery to me how easy it is to lose contact with people, just goes to show relationships are hard work.
95. I wish I knew how to garden.
96. I (and a few other kids) set off a house alarm by trespassing on someone's property when we were in Florida on a mission trip. It was about 3 in the morning. I could have sworn I was going to jail.
97. I did not.
98. I have only (officially) dated one person, Philip (of course).
99. I want to take modern dance lessons.
100. That seems like enough fun facts.

A Brief Update

2010-06-15T06:43:00.001-07:00

- Todd is fully recovered. We've been affectionately referring to her recently as "a champion." It's kind of weird.

- I had fun last week helping with Calvin and Patrick's 5th Birthday. It was pirate themed, and at one point there were approximately 10 5-year-olds wielding plastic swords in the living room in one epic sword fight.

- This is my 99th post, and you know what that means. My next post will be a ridiculous list of 100 random anecdotes about me or relating somehow to my life in honor of my 100th post.

- Life has been crazy busy since we moved, but I think we've finally unpacked all but maybe 1 or 2 boxes. We love our new place and all the space. I don't have any pictures so you'll just have to come visit.

- Speaking of pictures, I finally have some pictures of Philip's graduation, so I'll throw those on at the end.

- Things haven't been super easy lately, but it's encouraging to experience God provide and to find rest in His provision. It can be scary at times, but He hasn't let us down.

This is the best we could do. We were approximately as far away as one could be sitting.

Philip's mother and his sister, Sharon came to celebrate with him.

Here's us, trying desperately to not get run over during the post graduation traffic (we watched something like 3,000 people graduate).

She's home!

2010-05-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

After Todd had an impressive day Friday, the doctor told us that if we wanted to, we could take her home and monitor her closely. We were shocked. After all the bad news, apparently it took just two good days in a row to know she was probably going to be okay. I don't think it's any coincidence that when we started visiting her regularly, she began her recovery. It was an impressively quick turn around, once she began to actually turn around. So, with that thought, we decided to indeed take her home.

She has acted incredibly normally since returning home. She is eating and drinking on her own. There has been no vomiting, and limited diarrhea, so far. She is practically skin and bones after not eating for four days straight, but we're determined to help her gain back what she lost, and then some. She's currently getting spoiled on soft cat food. We are so happy she's home.

The vet confessed to us when we came to pick her up that she "wasn't really a believer," but that she was glad we decided to continue treatment. So are we. :) There is the slight possibility that Todd could get sick again if her body isn't ready to support itself, but as long as that doesn't happen in the next few days, she is immune for life. Since this is one of the worst illnesses an animal can go through, we are breathing a sigh of relief knowing she has immunity. Here are a few pictures from last night when we brought her home.

The bandage is just because that's the leg the iv/catheter was in, but we took it off later in the evening.

On her favorite kitchen chair. She likes to sleep there during the day.

Don't let her expression fool you, she was ecstatic to be home. For how tiny she is, her purr was louder than ever.

The silence

2010-05-27T12:48:00.001-07:00

The silence is due to so many things going on. Some expected, others not.

The good and expected news: two weeks ago on May 15, 2010 Philip officially graduated with his Bachelors of Science and Engineering with a major in Multidisciplinary Engineering, with concentration in Acoustical Engineering, with a minor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a minor in Theatre Technology and Design. Now you understand why I never know quite what to say when people ask me what he's studying. At any rate, I am so proud of him and can't wait for him to begin work doing what he loves, working in a recording studio.

The expected business also includes: us preparing to move. It's still a week and a half away, but with our schedules, it's best for us to get as much done earlier as possible. Packing, packing, packing!

The bad and unexpected news: our wonderful kitty, Todd, has been extremely sick. I haven't even wanted to blog about it for fear that we were going to lose her.

She began vomiting Friday night, and at the vet's suggestion we monitored her vomiting and waited until it had been going on for 24-hours. This 24-hour period included at least 15 separate sessions of her vomiting. It was so sad to watch, but I kept thinking she'd get over it, so we waited. She didn't get over it. Around 1 a.m. on Sunday morning we brought her to the Animal Emergency Clinic. After being examined and a snap test run, we learned that Todd was critically dehydrated, had a fever of 105 degrees (100 is normal for cats), and of course the vomiting was highly concerning. The snap test indicated that she had Panleukopenia or Feline Distemper, this is very similar to Parvovirus in dogs. We learned she would need to be kept over night, catheterized, have an I.V. and that her survival odds at this point were 50/50. Of course we were heartbroken. It was 3 a.m., needless to say I wasn't really in control of my emotions.

On Sunday, I called to check on her several times and was told there was no change and she would need to be further hospitalized at a vet clinic on Monday morning when the clinics were open for business again. When we dropped her off Monday morning, I was able to call and talk to a doctor later that day. Her tone told me things were not good. She left it up to us to decide if we would continue the very expensive care. She seemed to think the odds of her surviving were more like 1 in 5...a 20% chance. All you can do for a cat with Panleukopenia is give supportive care. There are no medicines, nothing. The virus attacks the intestines and kills the white blood cells. The cats have no appetite, vomit, suffer from diarrhea, run a fever, and become critically dehydrated. For a 4 lb. cat like Todd this likely means death. Despite the doctor's prognosis, we decided to keep giving her care.

It's been a roller coaster ride the last few days. She's still in critical care, and she's still quarantined from other animal's. We were able to visit her yesterday, and she looked worse than I expected. I felt discouraged, perhaps we were just wasting what little money we had. But, we attached to Todd so quickly, and neither of us could stand the risk that she might survive if we just waited it out. So, once again, we made the decision to keep her on supportive care. The doctor suggested we visit her again today. She looked quite a bit better than she did yesterday, she ate some food (which is wonderful news, although she ate a tiny bit on Tuesday, too...), and she clearly knew who we were. For the first time in 5 days, I heard her purr when we were petting her. I feel like this is a huge step in the right direction and really hope that she continues to improve. As soon as she begins regularly eating and drinking on her own again, they doctor's will assume that she's going to be okay and that her body has begun to produce the necessary white blood cells to fight the virus.

I know it's just a pet, but when it's just the two of us, she's like the other part of the family right now. We love her so much, and can't wait for her to be back with us. I feel hopeful, but in the back of my mind I'm still very concerned. The doctor warned us not to get our hopes too high, this is a vicious virus, but perhaps Todd has only used up 4 of her lives fighting it off and she's still got a little more kick in her.

35 Years

2010-05-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! The strength, integrity, and unity of your marriage is inspiring. Thanks for loving all of us, by loving each other.

Girl Todd Noir Zumbrun

2010-05-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

Really, she just goes by Todd or Todd Noir.

We were at our pastor's house for dinner on Sunday. Somehow, by the end of the dinner, we had acquired a cat! Apparently, their 5-year-old daughter, Isabelle, named the cat Todd when she was a kitten. Later, they realized Todd was a girl, so she became "Girl Todd." Our pastor's family has had Todd for about 5 months or so, but she wasn't a huge hit with the kids. I think they prefer dogs. So, we are the happy owners of Girl Todd, who is now Girl Todd Noir Zumbrun. The Noir is because she has some beautiful black fur, and because we think Todd Noir sounds cool.

She absolutely loved sleeping in Philip's arms.

I've never met a cat that was trusting enough to sleep and relax, on his/her back.

Since she's only about 6 months old, she's still pretty small.

Isn't she gorgeous and adorable?

I know we're still young, and we're newly married...

2010-05-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

...but it still seems like it's really hard to find time to relax, hang out, or go out on a date. I know, I know, we don't have kids, neither of us are working full time, but we are both going to school and both working part time. I'm not complaining, not at all, but it does make it challenging.

However, Philip had his last class before finals, yesterday. We had such a great evening, just being with each other. I didn't feel like making anything for dinner, so we picked up some fast food. We realized, once again, how gross fast food is. Next, we stopped by a bowling alley and played a couple of games. I made my highest bowling score, a mere 133, but it was enough to beat Philip. :) He's actually quite a lot better than me, but he had a particularly awful game. We went home, made some drinks and settled in for David Lynch's Mulholland Drive. Yes, it was a very simple and low key evening, but it was so great to have no schedule.

In other news, the weather has been great for tennis, lately. I haven't beat Philip in that, yet, but I can feel it coming. Well, maybe the weather hasn't been great in the last 24-hours, we both awakened with our hearts pounding at 3 in the morning to a extremely jarring peel of thunder. I literally NEVER wake up to thunderstorms. It was kind of exciting.

I hope you all have a productive Saturday.

A Fun Afternoon

2010-04-24T13:40:00.001-07:00

This past Wednesday, I stayed with my three adorable nephews for the day. We had a fun time around the house and going to the park. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Titus still in his PJs being adorable.

Patrick, what a cutie.

At the park.

Calvin, he's such a charmer.

Always full of smiles.

Myers-Briggs

2010-04-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

I have taken the official Myers-Briggs test once, and two unofficial Myers-Briggs tests. I have come out as an INFJ (Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judge) twice and an ENFJ (Extroverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judge) once. If you don't know what this personality test is, google it. My understanding is that it's used in career assessment and professional settings perhaps the most. At any rate, my husband is an ENFJ which leads me to believe that my INFJ results are perhaps more accurate. Philip is much more outgoing than I am, generally speaking. I've always enjoyed personality tests, perhaps because I'm always seeking to understand myself better. I found a description of what it means to be an INFJ. Apart from the artistic part and the gentle part, I found it to be relatively accurate.

Portrait of an INFJ - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging
(Introverted Intuition with Extraverted Feeling)
The Protector

As an INFJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via intuition. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit with your personal value system.

INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals. Artistic and creative, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. Only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types.

INFJs place great importance on havings things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions. This is something of a conflict between the inner and outer worlds, and may result in the INFJ not being as organized as other Judging types tend to be. Or we may see some signs of disarray in an otherwise orderly tendency, such as a consistently messy desk.

INFJs have uncanny insight into people and situations. They get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them. As an extreme example, some INFJs report experiences of a psychic nature, such as getting strong feelings about there being a problem with a loved one, and discovering later that they were in a car accident. This is the sort of thing that other types may scorn and scoff at, and the INFJ themself does not really understand their intuition at a level which can be verbalized. Consequently, most INFJs are protective of their inner selves, sharing only what they choose to share when they choose to share it. They are deep, complex individuals, who are quite private and typically difficult to understand. INFJs hold back part of themselves, and can be secretive.

But the INFJ is as genuinely warm as they are complex. INFJs hold a special place in the heart of people who they are close to, who are able to see their special gifts and depth of caring. INFJs are concerned for people's feelings, and try to be gentle to avoid hurting anyone. They are very sensitive to conflict, and cannot tolerate it very well. Situations which are charged with conflict may drive the normally peaceful INFJ into a state of agitation or charged anger. They may tend to internalize conflict into their bodies, and experience health problems when under a lot of stress.

Because the INFJ has such strong intuitive capabilities, they trust their own instincts above all else. This may result in an INFJ stubborness and tendency to ignore other people's opinions. They believe that they're right. On the other hand, INFJ is a perfectionist who doubts that they are living up to their full potential. INFJs are rarely at complete peace with themselves - there's always something else they should be doing to improve themselves and the world around them. They believe in constant growth, and don't often take time to revel in their accomplishments. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right. In deference to the Feeling aspect of their personalities, INFJs are in some ways gentle and easy going. Conversely, they have very high expectations of themselves, and frequently of their families. They don't believe in compromising their ideals.

INFJ is a natural nurturer; patient, devoted and protective. They make loving parents and usually have strong bonds with their offspring. They have high expectations of their children, and push them to be the best that they can be. This can sometimes manifest itself in the INFJ being hard-nosed and stubborn. But generally, children of an INFJ get devoted and sincere parental guidance, combined with deep caring.

In the workplace, the INFJ usually shows up in areas where they can be creative and somewhat independent. They have a natural affinity for art, and many excel in the sciences, where they make use of their intuition. INFJs can also be found in service-oriented professions. They are not good at dealing with minutia or very detailed tasks. The INFJ will either avoid such things, or else go to the other extreme and become enveloped in the details to the extent that they can no longer see the big picture. An INFJ who has gone the route of becoming meticulous about details may be highly critical of other individuals who are not.

Do you know what your Myers-Briggs letters are, and what they say about you?

Swagbucks Update

2010-04-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

In case you need anymore reason to sign up for Swagbucks, I just wanted to let you know that, as a new user, I have already earned $25 in Amazon gift cards. This was in a month of moderate use of the website. Click here and sign up!

New Apartment

2010-04-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

When Philip's and my spring break coincided a couple weeks ago we had many things we wanted to accomplish, but at the top of our list was nailing down a new apartment that we both liked. Since he's graduating, I just don't think Purdue is going to let us hang around, not to mention, I'm becoming very unenthusiastic about our lack of space.

After visiting 6 different apartment complexes, we felt a little discouraged. Nearly everything fit our price range, but the apartments were so small, and the staff at some of the places were rather pushy, giving us offers that were expiring imminently, shoving paperwork under our noses, etc.

The complexes we visited were a few miles south of downtown, and although we were very interested in living in the heart of downtown, we knew it was typically more expensive, and didn't have all the perks of a complex (pool, parking, etc.). After visiting one leasing office downtown, the man told us he'd let us know if anything became available as soon as he knew. With offers expiring at any given moment at the other complexes, and no idea what the time frame on knowing the availability of the downtown apartments was, we felt a lot of pressure to make a decision.

After sleeping on it, we still had no answer, but that very morning the leasing agent from the downtown apartments e-mailed us and said he had a one bedroom available in May/June and said we could see it Friday. Once we walked in we knew immediately that we preferred this apartment. The staff and leasing agent were very kind, straightforward, and certainly not pushy. I really hope that it turns out to be as good of a fit as we anticipate. It is nearly 250 sq. feet larger than our current abode, which feels like a lot to us. In addition to everything we liked about the apartment itself, it is just outside the local farmers market that happens three times a week in the summer!

We're excited to move in early June!

The Day is Almost Over

2010-03-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

But, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILIP! We celebrated last Thursday because we had plans tonight to go to April's Senior Art Show at IWU. So, here are a few pictures from our modest celebration last Thursday.

Don't judge the "cake" too harshly. I didn't have anything for piping icing, so I used a plastic snack bag, and snipped a hole in the corner of it. Also, I don't always like cake that well, and Philip loves chocolate chip cookies, so I made a cookie cake!

I think he liked it. :)

His main gift was an external hard drive. He was pleased.

Best Friends

2010-03-12T06:59:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's not a very good picture, but it's from the last time we met for a little shopping and dinner. During that shopping trip, Stephanie showed us the new boots she was getting for a steal, and somehow we all sheepishly went home with the exact same boots, swearing to never wear them on the same day. What can I say, when the boots are cute, even risking wearing them on the same day as your sister is worth it.

Have a beautiful weekend, I know I will.

So...about this Swagbucks

2010-03-02T20:43:00.000-08:00

...I just started using Swagbucks about 4 or so days ago, and I'm already 75% of the way to an Amazon gift card. If you're not familiar, it's an online search engine that "pays" you to use it. It will randomly award you Swagbucks when you search using it. Once you spend a bit of concentrated time on the website getting to know all of it's prize winning opportunities (i.e. reading the blog to get tips on finding a swag code, participating in "special offers" that require nothing more than clicking a mouse) it become pretty easy to start racking up the bucks. If you're not a member just click on this link and sign up. It's free, it's rewarding, it's fun, and you won't be sorry. You use the Swagbucks that you earn as online currency to redeem prizes like television show series, amazon gift cards, actual cash through PayPal, and even an iPhone or iTouch. Use it in place of Google, especially for your outlandish "just wondering" searches. The search results aren't as exhaustive as Google, but hey I can always search for Google through Swagbucks. =)

2010-02-25T16:15:00.000-08:00

In case you were interested in understanding more about Piradical and what they do here's a video.

Film Festival

2010-02-14T19:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend the church Philip and I are attending hosted a film festival. Our pastor is interested in teaching and dialoguing about how the church is to interact with pop culture in a positive way, how to be "culture-makers." He made the point that the church tends to go one of two ways when it comes to pop culture, more specifically movies (it was a film festival, after all) - Christians either avoid them to the best of their abilities, putting them generally in a mental "do not touch" box, or they just ingest movies etc. with no discrimination and without engaging with the films in a critical thinking capacity. Both views are equally wrong. In light of that, we watched three films over the course of a Friday evening and Saturday and had interactive lecture/discussions after each film. The following is not so much movie reviews, as it is a reflection on the different types of films that are available to us, and how to digest them.

First we watched "Hellboy," a movie I had never seen, and never really wanted to see. I'm not usually interested in cliched action/hero movies, and because of that hadn't even considered watching the film. Honestly, I liked it about as much as I thought I would. I laughed at parts, rolled my eyes at others, and realized I would never watch "Hellboy" again. Pastor Olivetti considers "Hellboy" and films in that vein to be sheer entertainment. He described it as the cotton candy of films. It is fine to enjoy cotton candy, but one can't live off cotton candy. It's a movie we "stand over, and say things about." On the other hand, the other two movies we watched are movies that we not only say things about, but that talk back to us. They say things about us, we can dialogue with them.

One of those movies was "Born into Brothels," a documentary about children born to prostitutes in India. I was mentally prepared for a real tear-jerker. I anticipated it being moving, eye-opening, and ultimately saddening. It was moving and eye-opening, but it was not sad in the sense I expected. Yes, the circumstances the children were found in, the lives their families lead were sad, but the film had a much stronger message about the strength and drive of the human-spirit. We had an interesting discussion afterwards about grace. God showed those children amazing grace through a woman who was so driven to help them. The woman was not a Christian, and the film did not have a redemption message in the sense that one might expect when the term "redemption" is used. However, it really was a story of redemption, and it showed so clearly the common grace that God pours out on all of mankind because mankind is made in His image. It is easy to forget just how good God is at bringing glory to Himself in every circumstance, even in the midst of the brothels of India. I highly, highly, highly recommend this movie!

Lastly, we watched "Babette's Feast." I had seen this movie before, but enjoyed it even more the second time around. There is so much to say about this film and the discussions it evoked. It was definitely a film that said things back to the viewer. I don't really know how to talk about the film in writing, even the story line would be hard to communicate, but I will say it was a great study of enjoyment. The theme of poverty, frugality, and always giving to others, was powerful. In the end however, the same people who had so steadfastly lived a simple, frugal, giving life, enjoyed a truly lavish feast. It was wonderful to think about the importance of balancing frugality and giving to others, but also knowing that there is a time to enjoy something fancy, whether it's food, mini-vacation, or something else. This is also a film, I would urge everyone to see.

I was given much to think about, not only on how to engage culture, films, art, etc., but also from the films themselves. It was a refreshing perspective, and a great weekend.

Highway Magic: November, 2005 - January 2010

2010-01-27T21:04:00.000-08:00

I suppose it's past time for a blog update. It's somewhat old news now, but Highway Magic, Philip's band, had their final show on January 15, 2010. It was truly a night to remember. Although the band has, at times, been a bit stressful, it was sad to see it come to an end.

Philip's leadership and friendliness really helped the band become something very important in the Indianapolis all ages music scene. There were at least 150 people present to support Highway Magic one last time. I credit Highway Magic in part for bringing Philip and I together. After all, what just-turned-17-year-old doesn't want to date a musician? I was one of maybe 15 people who was present at Highway Magic's first show, and it was exciting over the next 4+ years to see the attendance, as well as quality of music, sky-rocket.

Highway Magic played over 150 shows, had 4 official releases (1 full length and 3 EPs), and had 4 short tours, mostly around the east coast. They have played with the likes of The Zero Boys, Company of Thieves, The Queers, Flatfoot 56, Children 18:3, The Independents, Mercury Radio Theatre, The Copyrights, In the Face of War, and many many more local and touring bands. Probably the biggest show was with The Zero Boys where they had the privilege of playing for over 300 people.

Okay, so maybe I'm getting a little carried away, but I don't think I always did the best at showing my support to Philip and his love for music. Highway Magic has been a huge part of his life, and consequently mine, for the entirety of our relationship. It is strange to see it go. So, now that I'm done with my tribute, please enjoy some crazy pictures from their final show from my camera and from our friend Scott.

Doing what he loves.

Ben - the bassist

Some excited friends.

There was A LOT of crowd surfing.

I don't know who made this, but it was funny.

Baby John wasn't sure what to think...

Mitch used to play in the band for awhile - he still likes to improv perform with them.

More fun!

My sweetie, I love you!

Beginnings

2010-01-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

Beginnings are so exciting. I began school yesterday. Every semester gets me closer, and strangely enough, that sentiment has helped me maintain a positive attitude and forward thinking. Beginnings, as I was saying, are so fun, but the excitement tends to fizzle out pretty quickly. Example A: Walking into my Wills, Trusts, and Estates class, to listen to an awkwardly over-dramatic teacher drone on for 3 hours about why people make wills, why people don't make wills, and why bankers might try to talk people into making trusts instead. I'm quite certain that when I finally graduate, I will do my best to avoid this area of law.

In other news, we made bagels last week. Philip was recovering from wisdom tooth surgery, so we spent a lot of time at home. They turned out pretty well.

Philip was excited to help:

Oh and my hair looks different.

Snow Day Accomplishments

2010-01-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

1.) Bathroom cleaned
2.) Dishes done
3.) Stove top scrubbed
4.) Continued tidying
5.) Homemade bagels were successful
6.) Lots of time spent with my hubby

Snow days are quite nice every once in awhile, especially when we have nothing to do anyway.

Guess what I got for Christmas?

2009-12-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

Our tree.

Celebrating our Christmas, yes, we look a bit awkward, but we had to take a timed picture which, in my opinion, almost always turns out a bit unnatural.

My newest nephew, adorable little John Alexander Zumbrun. He's now 2 months old.

Titus being precious, as always.

Noah got footy-pajamas, enough said...

...yes, that's right, a camera! I was so happy and surprised. Now, you must prepare yourself to be bombarded with pictures on both this blog and facebook, rather often.

Italian Soda

2009-12-12T13:38:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying making amateur Italian Sodas, lately. It's super easy, and really good. I have no idea how to make an authentic Italian Soda, but in the coffee shop I worked in, Italian Sodas were one of our offerings. So, I know how to make The Village Coffee House style Italian Sodas.

First, decide what flavor you want. You can use any flavor syrup that you would use for coffee, or any other mixed drink. The raspberry syrup used in Raspberry Mochas is especially delicious, as is just your basic vanilla syrup. There's also orange, blackberry, mint, and tons of others. Once you've decided what syrup you want to use here's the basic recipe:

4 ice cubes
1 1/2 oz. of flavored syrup (shot glass full)
8 oz. club soda
1 oz. dairy creamer (shot glass almost full)

Put the four ice`cubes in bottom of tall glass. Pour the measure syrup in, pour the measured club soda in, top off with measured creamer. Stir, and enjoy.

It's important that you put the ingredients together in that order, only because the fruited/berry syrups can curdle the creamer if there is no soda mixed with it.

This is more of a summer drink, but we've enjoyed it once or twice recently, as well.

Slender doesn't mean healthy...

2009-12-10T11:36:00.000-08:00

I am a rather slender person, not in a mysteriously disgusting way, or purposefully, it's just the way I have been my whole life (so far, anyway). However, I used to be a lot more active than I have been in the last 2 or 3 years. I used to swim extremely regularly, I played tennis regularly, I even went through a period of time where I was jogging in the mornings (quite a feat for me, I am not even remotely a morning person). In the past few years, my back/neck issues have gotten quite a bit worse, my muscles will hurt from the slightest out of the ordinary exertion, and my energy level is so low.

The other day, I heard an idea that seems both practical and easy. When you're at work or at home, take the time to do 2 minutes of concentrated activity (i.e. squats, "desk push ups," jumping jacks, booty crunches, etc.), every hour. That's only 2 minutes per hour, but in a day that could be up to 30 minutes of activity. This doesn't sound like much, but as an inactive person who is trying to maintain a more active lifestyle, I feel that 20-30 minutes. Besides actually feeling the effects, it's making me think about ways I can be active beyond those 2 minutes. It's creating a habit.

There are tons of resources, but somehow it's easier to think about implementing things into your life when you know somebody personally who has done it, and found it helpful. So, that's why I'm sharing it. Happy moving!

Neglecting

2009-12-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

I have been very out of touch with my blog recently, but I can't say I missed it too much. We were busy all of Thanksgiving week going to various family gathering (four to be exact). Then school became extremely busy for Philip, so I was trying to keep up with everything on my own.

This past weekend we were in Indianapolis for Philip to play a concert, and I was also able to make it to Liz's art show at the Harrison Center. That's always enjoyable because between sampling delicious food (thanks to Alaina and Heather from The Cooks Next Door), and enjoying some great art, I also bumped into several old friends. This usually happens at these events, but it is, nevertheless, very exciting.

We also had Philip's teacher/mentor and his fiance over for dinner. Philip is hoping to work for him for at least a little while post graduation. We had a great time, and we are all very excited about the possibilities.

In the midst of these past few crazy weeks, I was also able to put up our Christmas tree, deep clean the apartment, bake a bunch of cookies, get a lot of Christmas shopping done, and work more hours than usual in the lab.

All in all, in my neglecting of the blog, I've been staying quite busy keeping up with life. I hope you all are taking time to listen to plenty of Christmas music, enjoying the lights, and looking forward to the rest of the holiday season as much as I am.

A Realization and Two Strange Occurrences:

2009-11-18T14:43:00.000-08:00

A realization:
After a two day headache, I figured out the correlation between said headache and the fact that we've been out of coffee for three days. I've yet to find time to go to the grocery store. I always claimed no dependency on coffee because, previously, I would go three or even five days easily without it, but it seems as though that is no longer the case.

Two strange occurrences:
1. I drank pre-ground Folgers coffee, and I enjoyed it. Now, I have certainly enjoyed a cup of Folgers before and I drink Folgers pretty often outside of my home. But it is rare that I really enjoy it. Today, I drank two cups in the space of 30 minutes, it was so delicious! I blame it on the realization above.

2. I enjoyed watching a football game. To be fair, it was the Colts versus the Patriots, I only watched the second half, and I'm informed by other avid watchers "that is about as exciting as it gets."

Pinochle, Halloween, and Babies.

2009-11-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

About a week ago, Philip and I headed north to visit Grandpa and Grandma Cummings. We had such a great time sharing lunch, and catching up. Among the highlights, however, was our after lunch game time. Grandpa and Grandma taught us how to play Pinochle. It was certainly very confusing to begin with, but as we played through, we both got the hang of it, and even the strategy became a bit clearer. It was a great time all around, and we're looking forward to seeing them more often, now that we live a mere 45 minutes south of them.

Halloween has typically consisted of a big, loud, wonderful, concert in Indianapolis with all of our crazy Piradical friends. This year, however, we decided to stay home and enjoy a night of our own festivities, and scary movies. With all of our traveling to Indianapolis nearly every weekend, it seemed much more appealing. However, little baby Zumbrun had other plans. Margie, my sister-in-law, went into labor two weeks early on Thursday morning. After just a few hours, John Alexander Zumbrun decided to join us at 9:34 a.m., just 1 hour and 15 minutes after the mid-wife arrived. We were, of course, ecstatic, so we ended up traveling to Indianapolis, after all, Thursday night. I wished so much I had a camera, he is just too precious. Much to Margie's delight, he has "the Zumbrun chin." We did, however, stick to our plan and enjoyed a night in, on Saturday. We enjoyed a delicious menu of homemade pizza (recipes from The Cooks Next Door, I highly recommend it), homemade caramel and apples, homemade mint hot chocolate, and some veggies and dip.

Observation

2009-10-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Why do we even bother casting each other a tight-lipped smile as we pass on the sidewalk? It's a grimace really, an obligatory "greeting" as strangers pass. I did it just yesterday. I wondered, in retrospect, why I couldn't just smile warmly at a stranger, make them wonder why I was so happy, or perhaps wonder if they knew me and didn't recognize me.

Wow, just wow

2009-10-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Now many of you avid Youtubers out there have probably already seen this, but as someone who spends little to no time on Youtube, I just recently was shown this by Philip. This is not only four times as cool as the video from yesterday, but truly moving. This video is nearly 9 minutes long, so it will take you awhile, but PLEASE watch it. I promise it will be worth your time. It's the winner of the Ukraine's Got Talent 2009 season, click on THIS link.

Great song, awesome video

2009-10-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

Now this is what I call crowd participation. I watched this video twice, and not only do I like the song, but it's impossible not to grin the whole time you're watching it, so check it out. It's only 3 1/2 minutes long or so. Since, I don't know how to put youtube videos on here just click on THIS hyperlink.

An Encounter...

2009-10-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

...with a slightly creepy, but seemingly well-intentioned older classmate. We will call him Bob.

He waited outside the door after class and stopped me:
Bob: Margaret, hi... *pause* ...I have a question for you... *pause*
Me: Okay...
B: This is NOT a line, I'm sorry.
M: Um
B: How do you stay so slender? I mean I know women who would kill to be that slender, this is NOT a line, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, this is not a line!
M: Um, it's okay...I don't know, I suppose a genetically high metabolism?
B: Oh, okay, I just didn't know if you danced, or what? I'm sorry, this wasn't a line I promise... *shuffles nervously*
M: Uh, okay, that's okay.
B: I'm really sorry, okay, sorry, bye.
M: Um, bye?

I'm actually not sure if I sufficiently included all the "this is not a line" and "I'm sorry" statements. If you have to reassure me that many times, this is not a line, then my suspicion is raised. Awkward? I think so...almost as awkward as, I'm certain, trying to walk in these shoes would be:

Soup

2009-10-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

I never really liked soup when I was younger, but in recent years I've come to appreciate it, and have even started cooking it! I had some extra cilantro around and found a soup recipe online that called for it. I took the recipe, modified it to my liking, and have found a new favorite soup. It's a bit of work, but totally worth it.

Ultimate Cheesy Potato Soup

You will need:
1 lb. ham, cubed
2 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
Enough chicken stock to cover potatoes
3 Tbsp. butter
1/4 C. flour
1 C. 1/2 and 1/2
1 tsp. dried basil
3 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 C. grated cheddar
Salt & Pepper to taste
Chopped green onion for garnish

1.) Saute celery and onion in a little butter until onion begins to turn clear. Ad garlic and continue cooking for about 1 minute.
2.) Add potatoes and toss, coating potatoes, I eat too much salt, so for my taste I would toss a little salt in to cook with the potatoes, but it's not neccesary. Saute for 4-5 minutes. Add ham, and cover mixture with chicken stock. Let this simmer until the potatoes are tender.
3.) In separate pan, melt butter, whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 & 1/2, basil, and cilantro. Stir constantly until it begins to boil and thicken. Stir cream mixture into potato pot, add the cheddar. Stir together, and continue to heat for 5-10 minutes. If you don't like chunks in your soup, you can use a potato masher. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with chopped green onion.

Now, I can't guarantee it's the healthiest soup, but it sure is tasty, and it seems to freeze well.

2009-10-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I have no good ideas of what to write about, and I found this in my drafts so here it is...
RULES: There are 100 statements and you * the ones you have done. Grab it and play for yourself!!
1. Started your own blog*
2. Slept under the stars*
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower*
6. Given more than you can afford to charity*
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis*
10. Sang a solo*
11. Had stitches
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch*
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept in an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight*
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill*
24. Built a snow fort*
25. Held a lamb*
26. Gone skinny dipping*
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset*
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community*
36. Taught yourself a new language
7. Had enough money to be truly satisfied*
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke*
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight*
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted* (if you count a charicature)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain*
53. Played in the mud*
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason*
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check*
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy*
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial*
71. Eaten cavier
72. Pieced a quilt*
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone*
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle*
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible*
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox*
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous*
92. Joined a book club*
93. Lost a loved one*
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone*
99. Been stung by a bee*
100. Read an entire book in one day*

Warning: An Ill-informed critique coming your way

2009-10-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Philip and I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The reason I am a self-proclaimed ill-informed critic is because I have not read the short story it was based on. That aside, here are my thoughts:

Halfway through viewing, we paused the movie to grab a snack, and I made the comment, "Man, this is so interesting." We returned to our movie and finished the two and a half hour story. It was very late when it ended, and all I knew was that for some reason I had a strange mixture of emotions that I couldn't place. I think the emotions were mainly conjured from the last scene where Benjamin dies in his sister's arms as a baby. If you don't know the story, I won't go into all of it, but essentially it's based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and it's about a baby born as an old man, with the same degeneration, and as he continue to live he grows increasingly younger as those around him grow older. Sounds interesting, right? Well, it was, except that there was no real point of tension, no problem surfaced that I felt any urgency, as a viewer, to be resolved. The only "tension" or climax to the story was Benjamin's relationship with Daisy, as she grows from child to grown up and he grows from old man-child to milddle aged to child. They meet somewhere in the middle around the age of 43, have a couple year relationship, conceive a child, and decide to part ways due to Benjamin's condition after all Daisy, "You can't raise the both of us."

My complaint is that I don't care about the movie at all, it had potential, but nothing interesting happened. Benjamin didn't even face any real issues regarding his condition. I'm not trying to spoil too much, so I'll speak in somewhat vague terms, and those of you who have seen it, will understand, and those of you who want to see it won't feel (hopefully) too much has been given away. Here are the issues I feel like the movie could have developed and done more with to make it more interesting:

1. There were racial issues that could've been explored with his relationship between Queeny and Benjamin especially considering the time period (1918-1980?).

2. There were religious issues that could've been explored with the minister "healing" Benjamin and Queeny and then promptly dying. Additionally, did Benjamin feel anything when he learned Queeny was "healed" and was able to have a baby? Did he feel replaced?

3. Aside from altering his relationship with Daisy, did his backwards age progression harm or change any other part of his life? Because the movie certainly didn't do a whole lot with that aspect either.

Anyway, if you saw the movie and have thoughts or corrections, please share. I'm just not sure what I missed. Interestingly enough, Philip had few complaints, but has not yet explained in a satisfactory manner why it was a good movie, or what the point of it was.

Birthday celebrations

2009-10-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last night Stephanie, Elizabeth, Alaina, and I met in Kokomo for dinner. We all drove at least 1+ hour one way, and Steph drove significantly more than that, on a Wednesday night, no less. I am so glad we all took the time out of our schedules to travel to the most central location that would have any type of dining options in order to properly celebrate Stephanie's and my birthday. Although, when it comes down to it, our birthdays were really just an excuse. We had such a great time. I hope this becomes a somewhat regular occurrence. We sat in the restaurant for three hours catching up on the little snippets in life that get lost in hubbub when you don't have sisters around to share them with, and of course laughing so hard our stomachs were aching. We don't all live as close as we used to, and even though we still see each other fairly often, it was great to have quality time with just us. I wish I had a picture from the laughter-filled night, but alas none of us brought a camera, and as you might recall, I don't own one. So instead, I've included a rather old picture of us four when we took a trip to the Georgia/Tennessee area for Spring break a few years ago, because old pictures are fun.

Fall Break Plans

2009-10-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, is this really a third post in less than a week? That must be some kind of record. Well, there is an explanation. It's been raining a lot around here, so we haven't been able to work in the fields. This means there is a somewhat bored Margaret sitting around the house.

It's fall break for Purdue, so we are heading back down to Indy for the weekend and part of early next week. We have a wedding, a baby shower, band practice, and game night. I've been wishing a lot lately that I had a digital camera. We've looked at a few, but can't really justify spending the money. I have had some poor experiences with two fine digital cameras, so it's a toss up whether to get a really nice one that will last (we hope), or a low quality one, so it's not a big deal if I break yet another one. Anyway, we're not getting any at this point, but I do imagine a picture here and there would make my blog posts livelier. On that note here are two more pictures from our wedding, of us dancing.

Dressing for fall!

2009-10-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about fall clothing. Sweaters, layers, fun accessories, knee socks, boots, and scarves! I was at Target the other night and found a little section of clothing by Anna Sui. I fell instantly in love. I only bought a shirt with some birthday money, but I loved the dresses. You should check out her designs on this slide show. They are absolutely wonderful!

2009-10-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been awhile, so I suppose I will post again. I am certain, finally, that I am going to enjoy and be able to truly commit to the legal field. It's a nice feeling. All my other interests/majors were areas that I enjoyed and liked as hobbies. You can't really view the legal field or hold interest in it as a hobby very easily, so I am pleased to realize that I am committed to my chosen path as a career, not a hobby.

Philip and I are still doing quite well, we have been blessed in some amazing ways, very recently. God has provided for us unexpectedly both for our physical needs as well as spiritual. We think we have settled on a church, and we are both quite happy with it. The people have been incredibly welcoming, the teaching grounded, challenging, and encouraging, and the location ideal. We are blessed.

In other news, you should check out "The Cooks Next Door," because they are cooking up some pretty tasty sounding things, and it's fun to read about food from people who are so passionate about it.

I turned the ripe old age of 21, yesterday. We went out to dinner, did a little shopping, and played Gin Rummy. It was wonderful. I'm certain there will be more celebration soon, but for falling on a Monday, it was the perfect way to celebrate.

Wedding photos!

2009-09-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

For those of you who prefer to keep up through blogs rather than facebook, here are a few of our wedding photos. Only a few, but perhaps if I get the urge I'll put more up as the week

progresses.

Getting ready...

The first time we saw each other.

Wedding party photos.

My amazing family.

And a glimpse of the reception.

Harvesting Corn...

2009-09-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

...yes that's right, I am officially forced to consider myself a Hoosier now, I think. In all the job searching, for now I have stumbled across a temporary job. It is assisting some graduate students and a professor from the Agronomy department by harvesting corn. My goodness, how could I be so lucky? No, but really, I'm quite thankful for even a temporary job at this point.

On Thursday, I was driving with my cousins home for Louisville in some bad traffic, suddenly, we were rammed into from behind and shoved into the guy in front of us. I was the only person with pain, so I had the chiropracter check my neck out. It is feeling a bit better, but not awesome. I'm not sure how worried I should be...

Philip had a concert this past Saturday. I believe I am still suffering hearing loss from it. It was far too loud of a system for the size of the room. However, despite all the line up changes, and the too loud system, and the sound guy who seemed to think we didn't need to hear the guitar or bass, the Highway Magic set went better than expected. Flatfoot 56 also played, and they are always a good time. Also, a band called The Scissors from Chicago played, check them out! They were really great, lots of fun, and super nice as well.

I did finally receive my text book, although, I am now quite certain the reason I got it for such a good deal is because it is too early of an edition. My text book trials seem to never end. I haven't yet decided how I'm solving this current mishap.

Time for fall

2009-09-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

I cannot wait for legitimately fall-like weather. I'm so afraid that the extreme warmth that has lasted so long will turn directly into freezing cold temperatures and forget to give us the perfect loveliness that is autumn. I bought these fabulous brown boots that were retailing for around $150 for a mere $25 this past spring. I cannot wait to wear them!

I wish we had a larger apartment so we could entertain more. I really want to make spiced hot cider, play board games, have a fire, eat caramel apples, and have pumpkin flavored everything.

My friend Rebekah got married this past weekend. I think her wedding was exactly as she had hoped. Very beautifully traditional and romantic. I hope that she and her husband enjoy many long years together.

Well, I'm off to the post office to harass them about never delivering my book, it's getting ridiculous. I'm also going to try to officially get my name changed at the social security office.

Taking things a day at a time

2009-09-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

Whew, how has it already been over a week since I last blogged?

Well, my classes are enjoyable, but I still haven't received the books for them that I ordered from Amazon, so I'm getting bit antsy about that, and hoping that all my fevered note taking will make up for not having the text the first two weeks.

I finally heard from our wedding photographer. She had some mishap with the edited photos, and now has to edit them again. It's disappointing because we have lots of family events this weekend that it would have been nice to bring the photos to, but what is there to do?

Philip and I are learning to become more and more aware of God's grace and provision. I have not yet found a job, which is upsetting to say the least, but I know the right one is out there, and I will continue my quest. On the up side of that, Philip has found a job it's only very part time (that's all his 17-credit hour semester allows), but it will help a lot until I can find a job. I'm spending my days trying not to feel useless. Poor Philip is taking 17 credit hours, actively involved in the Engineering ambassador's group, actively involved in the Audio Engineering Society he founded, the lead sound technician for the Purdue production of a Street Car Named Desire, and somehow going to squeeze in 8-10 hours of tutoring a week. While I am over here taking a mere 6 credit hours, applying for job after job, keeping up with the house, and blogging. How lame. I'm not used to this kind of free time at all, however, it is giving me time to work on getting my Thank You notes done and mailed.

Well, maybe I'll begin editing some of my poetry again soon, maybe I'll even write a new poem. How refreshing that would be...

Busy Day

2009-08-24T20:39:00.001-07:00

It's late, but I wanted to write because I felt the urge. I had a very productive day. It was Philip's first day of classes, mine don't start until tomorrow. I grocery shopped, baked cupcakes, menu planned for the next seven days, collaborated with mom over the phone and made up some banana/oat/butterscotch muffins with a banana that needed used, applied for a job (please pray that I get it), and stayed on top of the dishes. That last part is more of feat than one might realize. Our dish drainer is tiny (there is no dishwasher), and I have this amazing ability to use more dishes for one project than I'm sure is necessary. So between breakfast, lunch, cupcakes, muffins, and dinner...it's kind of a big deal. ;)

Steph gave me some honey soy marinade sauce that she wasn't planning to use and I began marinading two Salmon fillets, thinking I would use them Sunday. We ended up having friends over Sunday so I made spaghetti instead. Needless to say our Salmon was very well marinated and tender for this evening's meal. It was delicious.

Alaina just wrote a post about what inspires you, and I have come to the cheesy conclusion that productivity inspires me. It's kind of ironic since being inspired usually breeds productivity, so there must be something that inspires me prior to the productivity, but I do know productivity inspires me because it makes me want to do more and try more and accomplish more.

So here is to doing more, trying more, and accomplishing more as I head into a very new phase in life. I hope I like my classes tomorrow, I especially hope I like the teacher, as I just found out I have the same teacher for the only two classes I'm taking.

Someday soon...

2009-08-21T23:52:00.000-07:00

...I will finally update on life, but for now, I am tired. We have been setting up the apartment, and setting up the apartment, and setting up the apartment some more. When will the boxes end?

I will say briefly that our time in South Hampton was wonderful! You could see the bay, and walk down to it right out of the cabin's backyard. We saw a Stingray swim up to our steps down to the bay when the tide was very high. We enjoyed walking along the bay. We went to the public beach. We took in a bit of "town" one evening, but the only shop open was the fudge shop. How disappointing ;). We saw half a dozen eggs marketed at $6.99. We ate at a fun little Italian restaurant called La Parmagiana, I believe that's how you spell it, but I'm not certain. We watched Friend's, and in general lazed around a lot. We talked about going into New York City, we talked about taking in a movie, we talked about visiting Sag Harbor, but in the end it was too nice sleeping as long as we wanted, walking on our private bay, and just chilling with each other.

So...

2009-08-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

I'm getting married tomorrow. Yay!!

This and That

2009-07-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

I've got a long list of things to accomplish, and I'm looking forward to getting them done! We move on Saturday. I can't wait to get all the boxes out of my room at my parents, and start putting stuff in the right place. We'll turn our teeny tiny apartment into a home.

Philip didn't get the financial aid he thought he would for school this year, and things were looking dim, but God has already begun to provide and we are so thankful.

Today is my last day babysitting for the Thompson's. I will miss these sweet kids and their crazy shenanigans.

Have a wonderful weekend, get some sleep for me!

What my mother taught me...

2009-07-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

If you actually commit to something, actually follow through. If you can't follow through, notify whoever you made the commitment to, with apologies.

I have been taken aback, lately, at the lack of this small piece of social etiquette. I don't have perfect social etiquette by any means, and I know their are circumstantial exceptions, but please for your mother's sake, try!

Sorry for the rant, from now on I'll try to stay positive.

Oh the silliness

2009-07-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

Here's something for you to do kids!

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. New York in 16 days.
2. The wedding being awesome!
3. Finding the right under-garment for my dress.
4. Going to bed earlier
5. Being done with summer classes next week.
6. Being married.
7. Having a regular, non-exhausting schedule that includes tennis or some form of exercise.
8. Moving and setting up house.

7 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Dance
2. Speak another language fluently
3. Drive and live more patiently
4. Save money
5. Write a book of poems worth reading
6. Not take things out on the people I love the most.
7.Trust more freely

6 Shows I Enjoy:
1. Friends
2. The Bachelor/Bachelorette (ssshhh)
3. Iron Chef America
4. Any dancing shows
5. Oprah (ssshhh)
6. Friends again, it's my all time favorite.

5 Favorite Foods
1. Potatoes in any form
2. Spaghetti with Marinara
3. Pancakes
4. Fresh marinated vegetable salad
5. Peach Tart

4 Guilty Pleasures
1. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Series
2. Bachelor/Bachelorette
3. Cream in my coffee sometimes, this is only a guilty pleasure because of my upbringing. =)
4. Taco Bell

3 Favorite Smells
1. Coffee
2. Dishwasher detergent (it's weird how much of an urge I have to smell it continually if it's around, mmmmm, I want it to smell that way everywhere!!1)
3. I don't know, anything baking in the oven.

2 Frequently Visited Websites
1. Google (of course)
2. Facebook (of course)

1 Person you would like to have lunch with (dead or alive)
Naomi Shihab Nye

Now tag 5 people you would like to fill it out:
Alaina
Stephanie
Elizabeth
Lana
Samantha

Where to start

2009-07-22T05:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it is sure to be a frenzied, busy, crazy next couple of weeks, and I'm trying to catch up on sleep so that I'm ready. Philip and my schedules aren't really conducive to sleeping, as neither of us seem to have time or availability to see one another until approximately 10:30 p.m. and we both have to get up at 6:30 or 7 a.m. most of the time.

Yesterday, however, we got to see a bit more of each other. After I got out of class, and Philip got off work (which was at 2 p.m., surprisingly), we headed over to Alaina's and picked up Calvin and Patrick to bring them to the pool. We swam for about an hour, and I think Patrick swallowed about a gallon of pool water. He wants to try everything, but he hasn't quite mastered things like blowing out through your nose or mouth when jumping in the water.

We went to the Piradical Production's Tuesday night community dinner that Philip's brother Stephen and his wife host each week. After hanging out there for a bit, we headed over to Ellenberger park on foot with our friends Jennifer, Kyle, and Mikey. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra was playing a free concert in the park. It was very enjoyable. Apparently they do this every year, or have for awile now. I recommend you look into it for next year.

I have felt so blessed and overwhelmed with people's generosity in helping with the wedding and in giving Philip and me some wonderful things to help us get started. It's been pretty unbelievable and it's made everything seem a lot more doable, which is a great feeling.

Have a great week, and if my posting is even spottier than usual (perish the thought), I'm sure you'll understand.

Sometimes I wonder...

2009-07-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

...if I should quit reading everyone else's wedding blogs. I've tried to stay clear of only blogging about wedding stuff, or allowing myself to go overboard stressing about minute details, and to be honest it hasn't been hard, it's not all I think about. However, when I start reading wedding blogs about how cool this DIY bride's reception was, or how great another DIY bride's attitude is about doing what she wants instead of what people think you should do, I start to get discouraged, worried, maybe even depressed about how my plans have unfolded. Will my wedding be unique enough? Is it too traditional? Do people think I'm too young to be doing this? Will there be enough food? Will it seem like it has my personality in it, or will it be just another wedding and reception? Did I put enough effort into the little details that I've tried so hard to restrain myself from worrying about? Is the reception hall going to look how I imagined?

Now, I don't say all this to grab a sympathetic comment, or moan and complain and wallow in self-pity, I say it because it's what I'm thinking about, and sometimes it is okay to acknowledge insecurities.

On a side note, if you are planning a wedding, reading wedding blogs certainly isn't complete poison, I've gotten a lot of great ideas, and learned about exciting vendors. If I had 6 more months to plan, and didn't already have so much done, I'd be able to use more of those great ideas and vendors. I guess that's where the insecurities come from. Will I wish I'd done things differently? I suppose that's the ultimate question, the ultimate fear I struggle with.

I know what you're thinking, "Oh come on, what does it matter? You'll just be happy that you're married, and the day will fly by, and you won't even care about all the details." Perhaps that's all true, but how can I know that, yet?

Health: The Continuing Story

2009-07-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

Well, there is nothing diagnosably wrong with me at this point. I suppose that's a good thing.

This weekend, Alaina and Elizabeth headed up a sisters weekend for all of us. I was so excited Stephanie was able to make it down, and Ashley was able to join us as well. We had a great time just relaxing, eating delicious food, watching a movie, playing games, enjoying the hotel's hot tub, shopping, and having good conversation. It was perfect.

Unfortunately, I have yet to replace my second broken digital camera, so I don't have any pictures from the occasion, but Alaina did take a few, and perhaps I can convince her to post a few over at Meant To Be.

It's less than four weeks until the wedding. This summer has evaported so quickly, which has it's perks and challenges. I suppose I should start counting R.S.V.P.s, figuring out order of ceremony, and designing programs with Liz.

On that note, does anyone have oldish backgammon, checkers, or chess sets that are in decent condition they wouldn't mind us using for the wedding?

Have a beautiful week!

Health

2009-07-09T06:42:00.000-07:00

Well, mine has been off for quite awhile, specifically since April or so. I've had Influenza that knocked me out for a week, various soar throats and colds, an ear-blocking issue for a month, a terrible case of poison ivy, a shallow cough for 2 weeks, and more recently, I've been getting fevers and elevated temperatures on and off. I suppose, I could blame it on lack of sleep or stress, but I just don't feel like that's quite all it is. In the back of my mind, I wonder if it's mono, but I haven't had enough soar throats recently for it to be that. So, if I've seemed a bit off, or looked a bit grey, it's because I haven't enjoyed a solid two weeks of good health in a few months.

I finally went to the doctor, he listened to my breathing, checked the glands around my throat, checked my ears, checked my temperature, checked my throat, and he said everything looked fine. He asked if I was depressed about the wedding, and I laughed. Can you imagine being depressed about your own wedding? How sad, the saddest part is, probably some people are, but I just can't imagine that.

Anyway, they are doing a blood count and testing for mono. He said it could just be lack of sleep, stress, and perhaps judging by my size, Anemia. So, here is to hoping (and praying) that we can get to the bottom of this, quickly.

On a side note, my sister Alaina wrote a wonderful post you should go read on her blog.

Aunt Margaret...

2009-07-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

When you leave your account open, you never know what will be added. :)

Remember how I said...

2009-06-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

...I wasn't feeling very stressed about the wedding, and I wondered if I was forgetting something? Well, I still don't know if I'm forgetting something, but the stress level certainly got kicked up a notch. I suppose it's to be expected.

Yesterday, I went with Mom, Dad, Noah, and Wesley to visit Grandma and Grandpa C. as well as check Aunt Judy and Uncle Rogers new house. It was great to visit, and the house is awesome. The boys and I were able to enjoy their very nice pool for awhile.

It's been a tiring week, and I'm looking forward to a fresh start this coming week. I'm looking forward to getting better, more regular, sleeping hours in, and I'm looking forward to staying on top of everything.

The sermon this morning was about what it means to truly abide in Christ. It's such an important concept, and I could see immediately how much that sort of attitude would directly affect my stress level, so I'm excited to be more mindful of that this week, as well.

Thank you, Alaina!

2009-06-25T06:13:00.000-07:00

She asked to redesign my blog, and I said, "Yes, please!" I think it looks great, Alaina, thanks for doing it!

Dressing for Winter

2009-06-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

I leave my house at 7:30 every morning with either long pants, or tights and a skirt, as well as a nice shirt and a sweater, and possible an additional tank top on underneath. Now, at 7:30 in the morning it's actually already quite warm, the humidity around here is intense, but nevertheless I always bundle up. This is because I work in what could be mistaken for a refrigerator in the basement of the Scottish Rite. It is miserable, because even though I layer up, I'm still cold by the time my brief 4 hours there are complete. On top of all that, once I get out to my car and get inside, my glasses are completely fogged with condensation due the EXTREME temperature changes. What is up?

Anyway, nothing too much to report in these parts. We are steadily receiving RSVP cards and I have been amazed at how many people can come! They say to expect about 2/3 of the invited number to attend, but at the ratio the RSVP cards have been coming in at it will be more like 3/4 or more. I'm very excited, I just hope everyone has a good time. I get nervous, because I put on the invitation to join us for an Old Hollywood inspired celebration after the ceremony, and I hope people notice the word "inspired," it's definitely not a movie set, or anything. I'm just hoping to have hints of that time period in the lighting and band etc. I should stop worrying so much about what people are expecting.

I just found out I'm going to be able to go to Cornerstone for 2.5 days after all, which is very exciting. I thought I was going to have to miss the whole party, but it turns out I'll catch the tail end! I always have such a great time there. It really is nice to be absolutely disgusting, dirty, overheated, and demand free for a week (or 2.5 days as the case may be).

Well, have a spectacular evening.

Music

2009-06-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

I was thinking the other day about the artists that I can listen to over and over again, and how for my extreme love of music, this number is quite small. I'm actually rather moody about my music. It's somewhat seasonal, believe it or not.

Winter is full of things like Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Jakob Dylan, Madeline Peyroux, Cat Power, and other such very easy listening artists that often have a bit of a jazz edge, or folk infusion, or sometimes even operatic quality. This is not a strict listening schedule, but rather the type of stuff I most often am drawn to during the cold months.

Spring is when I listen to classical artists the most, such as Debussy or Beethoven (two of my favorites), as well as straight piano music. Interestingly enough, I also like to listen to somewhat sillier music during this time. Artists like Flight of the Conchords, Prizzy Prizzy Please, Sophe Lux, or Everthus the Deadbeats. Maybe it's because I'm giddy with anticipation of summer.

During summer, I listen to a lot more pop, punk, pop punk, and upbeat-roll-down-the-windows sort of music. The Copyrights, Goo Goo Dolls, Rocket Summer, Rise Against, Kanye West, etc. This persuasion during the summer months probably makes a little sense.

Then when fall rolls around, how I love fall, the time to wind down, and be serious again creeps into our schedules. All the parties are about enjoying warm drinks, and wearing our new favorite scarves. These months are filled with what I suppose you could "indie" music (although that's an incredibly broad term). I find myself listening to more of Travis, A Fine Frenzy, Elliott Smith, Damien Rice, Death Cab for Cuties, Imogen Heap, and the like.

When considering who my constant musical staples were, I could only safely come up with four artists/bands that I can listen to all the time, and do listen to throughout the whole year. These much appreciated few consist of: R.E.M., Citizen Cope, Eve 6, and Company of Thieves. If I were asked who my favorite band of all-time is, I would have to say R.E.M.

Anyway, what is your musical taste like? Do you have seasonal music, or are you much more logical and just enjoy what you enjoy all the time? Any suggestions on bands or musicians I should check out?

They are here!

2009-06-15T21:54:00.001-07:00

Engagement pictures have arrived. There are so many to choose from, Ashley did a great job. I had a hard time deciding which I liked best, but here are a few of my favorites along with a few of my favorite silly ones.

This was an actual sign we came across!

Philip's favorite goofy one.

One of my very favorites!

Checking Things Off

2009-06-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I have had a very productive last few weeks. Elizabeth helped me design and put together the invitations. My mom and Becca also were right there with us. It was actually a lot of fun, and we got 90% of them assembled and ready to mail in one afternoon.

Sharon finished the muslin of my dress. She made the necessary alterations to that and will start on the real thing in the next week or so. I cannot wait! It was every bit as wonderful as I had hoped.

I finally replaced my beautiful '96 Accord that was so mercilessly defiled by a stupid Jeep Wrangler, with a newer, but not quite as awesome car: a 2000 Chevrolet Prizm. His name is Bogardus (Bogie for short), and he runs fine, but I do hold slight grudges against all Hondas I pass on the road. I don't have a picture of my exact car (it's green), but here is a picture of a 2000 Chevy Prizm.

Philip and I met Ashley at Marian College (soon to be University on July 1st, yay!) for some long put off engagement pictures. It was relatively painless, and I think Ashley took some really great pictures. I will post them once she gives them to me.

Additionally, we watched On the Waterfront this weekend. I had already seen it, but was reminded what a truly wonderful movie it is. It's a Marlin Brando classic, and has a lot of interesting things to say about labor unions. I highly recommend this movie!

This week is full of meetings with caterers, figuring out flowers, picking music, and possibly meeting with the photographer. I was telling my sister, Alaina, that wedding planning has really been pain free so far. It's not like I really seriously enjoy it, but it also hasn't stressed me out much at all. I keep wondering if I'm forgetting something, shouldn't I be frazzled? Perhaps when it's the final 4 week count down I'll feel a bit more overwhelmed. Not that their haven't been overwhelming moments, but God's been gracious in providing people to come alongside and help me out so much. Emily is doing the flowers, which is just great because I know she'll do an awesome job, and she has such a creative eye. My old boss is catering, which is also a relief, her food always tastes great. My aunt is decorating, and she has such a great eye for detail. And my mom is always there, helping me think through things, maybe that's why I'm not stressed out.

Well, that's probably enough wedding stuff, I'm sure it's a bit boring, but since it's kind of taking up 75% of my time, I just don't have a lot of other stuff to write about at the moment.

Whirlwind

2009-05-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile because a lot has been happening.

In unhappy news, somebody decided to drive the wrong way in the lane I was turning into, so I am now on a car hunt, again.

In wedding news, the dress materials are bought, the invitations are 90% designed, and assembling will begin this weekend! It does not sound like much, but those two things put together are a huge burden off my back. I just realized that the wedding is really only two and a half months away. Eeeek, I've got to get moving!

In other news, I got to see my sister Stephanie and lots of cousins and aunts and uncles at the Memorial Day family gathering Monday. That was quite fun. Philip was officially introduced as my fiance, and that evening we helped his brother Stephen celebrate his 24th birthday. It was a full day, but lots of fun.

I'm trying to get back into my school mindset as summer classes have now begun. I'm going to be busy that's for sure!

NUVO

2009-05-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

NUVO is hosting their annual Best of Indy poll. Go to: www.nuvo.net/bestofindy/2009 and cast your votes for you favorite: flower shops, burger joints, music venues, winerys, spas, and way more. Just skip the ones you don't know or don't have an opinion on.

Don't forget to vote for Piradical Production's "E.S. Jungle" at www.nuvo.net/bestofindy/2009/best-all-ages-venue. We have been runner up to the Emerson every year, and it's time to win. Family, even if you don't attend the shows, vote for the Jungle.

Edit: Also, don't forget to vote for The Harrison Center as the best local arts gallery. This is where Liz's studio is, yay for First Friday!! http://www.nuvo.net/bestofindy/2009/best-local-arts-gallery

Life Continues

2009-05-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

Philip is finally done with this semester. I don't know how the poor boy survived, everytime we chatted on the phone it seemed he had a "long night of of homework" ahead of him, and every weekend he wasn't home he had lots editing to do in the studio. I'm just glad he's done, and he met with success.

It is less than three months until the wedding. The past three months since we got engaged have been fairly uneventful, but I imagine this second half of engagement will get a bit busier.

I've been recently enjoying Bob Dylan's work a lot. In honor this recent enjoyment, I would like to point out that he considers himself primarily a poet and secondarily a musician which makes me happy. Additionally, here a few interesting things he has said throughout his life:

People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.

I like America, just as everybody else does. I love America, I gotta say that. But America will be judged.

To live outside the law, you must be honest.

Wedding Details

2009-05-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

Well, wedding planning has turned out to be...not what I expected. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it, but regardless of my feelings it must be done.

I'm excited about my flowers, the girl doing them, Emily, suggested we plant some of the flowers in order to cut down on cost. Plus, who doesn't want to use flowers they planted? I love this idea, and my mother is so wonderful that she directly purchased and planted the bulbs.

The cake is still giving me some trouble. I just don't know what I want. I've found this is my main problem. I usually only know what I DON'T want, and don't have quite as clear of an idea of what I DO want.

Also, I'm getting quite nervous about the dress. My future sister-in-law is making it, and I'm so happy about that, because it will fit perfectly. However, until things actually get underway and she starts making it, I will still be anxious about it.

The things that I do have done are: reserving the church, booking the band, finding a photographer, getting a caterer, we've finished registering, we've started pre-marriage counseling, bridesmaid dresses are bought, the guest list pretty much finalized, and decor is almost completely bought. Thankfully, I have Aunt Tanya's genius for the decorations so I'm not too worried about that at all.

I need to round up the groomsmen and get tuxedo details nailed down, I need to get invites pulled together and assembled, and Philip and I need to talk about music.

Anyway, I suppose this was more of a post for myself in order to organize my planning a bit.

Kids, do your homework

2009-05-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

No, really, do it! If I had simply done every single little 5-point homework assignment in my computer class, instead of skipping about 6 of them (due partially to illness, partially miscalculations, and partially to laziness), I would have come out with a 4.0 this semester. Alas, I am 20 points shy of an A in my "easy" computer class.

Oh well, I'm not really that hung up on it, but I thought I would illustrate the value of those simple 5-point extra-credit assignments and "optional" homework assignments.

I feel a bit off today. I think, I've actually felt off for about a week. Perhaps it's my readiness for change, perhaps it's feeling overwhelmed and burdened every time I read the news, or watch a talk show, perhaps I'm just moody. In any case, I don't like feeling this way, and I'm not precisely sure how to climb out of the rut.

In other news, I am still quite available for child care.

Jewelry

2009-04-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Ashley, has been working on some jewelry recently. A lot of it is finished so I came over for her to photograph the pieces. She will be selling them on etsy.com. I was thoroughly impressed with the jewelry. So impressed that I will most likely be making a purchase, and I wanted to let you all know how beautiful and unique her creations are. Here are a few of my favorite pieces and photos. If you want to see all the pictures she has them posted on her facebook, I don't know exactly when they'll be up on etsy, but I believe it will be very soon.

Coffee Grinders

2009-04-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

I seriously love my coffee grinder. I use it probably every day and the adjustable settings for the grind texture as well as amount have made my coffee preparing and consuming endlessly more delightful. If you're looking for a new coffee grinder, you should definitely consider this one. There are definitely grinders out there that are much more expensive and consumers find "more reliable," but I have yet to run into problems with this one. Additionally, to my fairly inexperienced taste buds, the espresso grind it produces is really quite nice. For other espresso queries, look here it is a good resource and is full of great explanations.