Erin's visit

My sister Erin has been in town visiting & it has been such a blessing. The first couple of days were rough because Andrew & I returned from Texas with bronchitis, apparently. I didn't have it as bad as he did, so he was home all week resting, reading & consuming vitamin C. After a couple of days in our little teeny tiny one-bedroom apartment, Erin was offered a place to sleep at her friends Mary & Karri's apartment & it was a good thing for all. Exposing a house (apartment) guest to bronchitis is not showing loving hospitality, methinks. :)

And so, I wondered if I'd ever see Erin again, her schedule being filled with the tons of friends she has in this place...but I did. :) Especially in the past few days we've had some really good time together. I have Wednesdays off from work (note: I am so thankful for my job, it is such a blessing, and I'm glad), and Erin & I spontaneously spent it together...it felt like a day off. No laundry, dishes, housework, etc. We visited Priscilla, a lady who formerly employed us both at the campus library. She gave me lots of papers & magazines for my artistic pleasure & I've been ripping out pages furiously to make into creative envelopes. Erin & I had a chance to go to my favorite coffee place & get real coffee (sorry Starbucks, sometimes I'd like a shape on top of my foam) plus lunch, & played Bananagrams! An amazing game, like speed Scrabble, that's what Bananagrams is. Then we went to this amazing gift shop that is a "sister store", meaning when I need a gift for any of my sisters, that's the place to find it.

Yesterday evening Andrew, Erin, Karri (one of the girls Erin's staying with) and I ate at a southern cooking restaurant... Oh my goodness. Pulled pork, collard greens, yams, beans & rice, sweet tea, all amazing. Before when we went to this restaurant, Andrew's Southern accent came out, but it didn't so much this time because I was teasing him about it, I think. I'll play it more subtle, next time.

After dinner, we went to a free outdoor play of Peter Pan. It was entertaining, but hard to follow sometimes because the wind & sound system caused the actors' lines to be lost. The little girl who played Wendy did an excellent job.

We had more dessert after the play, I admit. Well, coffee/tea/and I had something like gelato/ice cream that is vegan and safe and coconut tasting. It's was delightful.

Sometimes when relatives come to town, we go all out. Like eating a huge dinner, ordering dessert afterwards, and going out to coffee again. Why, even this morning Erin & I went to see Jamie, my dear friend who I want to keep forever (she's a treasure), over coffee. Then Erin has a friend who works at a bakery who can make leaves in the foam of a latte, so in order to see her again before Erin's departure, we visited another bakery. I got a vegan almond delight cookie, compliments of Amber, which I'll consume soon.

Restraint will be exercised soon. It's nice to have relatives in town, it's like a celebration, and a lot of coffees, meals, trinkets are purchased in those times (sometimes), and I think it's okay. Within reason. The reasonable season will begin Sunday, officially, but I'm glad Erin's been around.

Thanks, Abba. It's beautiful, this family idea that's Yours. Great idea. :)

Texas Surprise, etc.

This last Friday, Andrew & I rocketed away on another fun-filled adventure to surprise some family members by showing up last minute for cousin Heather's wedding. The best of the surprise was reserved for Sue, Andrew's mom. She had no clue we were coming & even was talking on the phone to cousin Jill, telling her everything in Texas was going well, except Andrew & Rachel weren't able to make it. Little did she know, a mere number of hours later we'd come in the door of Uncle Jeff & Aunt Yvonne's kitchen door behind her back, causing her to respond in shock/delight/tear-filled exclamations. It was so worth it. Such a blessing to surprise her! One of the highlights of life, I think. Jessica (my sister-in-law) and Jon (father-in-law, Sue's husband) even planned it so that Sue would get us to herself as she was working on Heather's wedding cake & the rest of the family was at the rehearsal.

Here's the glorious wedding cake Sue created for Heather's wedding. Isn't my mother-in-law gifted? I'm amazed.

Since returning to the Northwest, Andrew has developed a fever and my sister Erin is in town for a much anticipated visit. It's crazy in our little apartment. Andrew's fever, my newly acquired cough, and Erin's allergies all flared up last night...we were quite a group. I'm looking forward to health & more good time spent with Erin (so far we've walked, picked flowers, played Bananagrams). Andrew's fever was lower this morning & Erin & I have plans to go get coffee & bring our books along.

In other news, yesterday Andrew & other Burn Pattern band members received the official first copies of their newly recorded album! Since Andrew has been ill, I was his ambassador to pick up some of the CDs for us. Here I am with Cory at the tradeoff, at the appropriately titled Trader Joe's store. Ha ha. Irony I wasn't intending. Unfortunately, we're in front of the dairy section. :( Where's the soy? Anyway, Andrew was so thrilled to get the album. Hard work paying off. I'm proud.

prayer for the nations

In my last blog I mentioned the book Red Moon Rising, which has to do with the 24-7 Prayer Movement. Today I found these videos of key 24-7 people speaking about destiny-shaping events that are happening in the nations right now: UK's elections, President Obama attempting to bridge the gap between Muslims & Christians in the Middle East, elections in Lebanon. There will be one video for every day this week. They're short (around five minutes each) and informative and also offer ideas about how to pray. Please give them a viewing & pass on the word.

Here are the links for the first two videos (others will follow, keep checking the site this week):

http://www.youtube.com/user/247Pray

For more, you can go to the 24-7 website:

www.24-7prayer.com

Love to you!

loving now

Here's what I'm loving now: Andrew's profile. Yeah, it's pretty cute, but aged in a way, or maybe it looks that way because when he smiles or laughs there are crinkles by his eyes. Enough to make me loose my concentration. And his eyes...I'm loving his eyes right now, too. :)

Also now, I am loving re-reading books that I loved before. Among them are Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig & Dave Roberts, the story about how the 24-7 Prayer movement began in England & spread like crazy wildfire. It's arguably my favorite book & it changed my life four years ago when I read it as a soon-to-be-college sophomore. Wild, wild, stuff. We serve a wild, unpredictable God. And He's good, too.


Pause in the narrative: another Andrew thing I'm loving right now is the way he looks at me & then when I look at him, he quickly looks up & around as if he's scanning the room, then looks at me with a surprised look, hiding the fact that he was looking at me. The dear boy. :)

Back to books. The second book I'm re-reading is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which is an impressive title, don't you think? It's by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, her niece. It takes place post WWII, in England & thereabouts & it's about a lady authoress who finds something amazing to write about. Not only that, but the nearly entire book is compromised of letters. What more do you need in fiction, really? There are even allusions to Jane Austen & Oscar Wilde & the Bronte sisters! My reader's heart is won. Did I mention it's funny?

Something else I'm loving is Pixar's movie UP. Andrew took me to see it in the big theatre (what I call the non-dollar-fifty-theatre where we usually catch a show) on Tuesday. Oh, Pixar keeps amazing me with their stories & humor & I am delighted with this latest offering. It had me scared, laughing, crying, smiling... I highly recommend it. Five stars, no kidding. You know how I feel about the number five.

I also loved the downpour or rain we stepped out in after we left the theatre. We were dodging puddles to get to the car. My new shoes were drenched in the first step & I loved it. I'd been hoping & praying for rain. Loving, too, the thunderstorms we've been having. Makes me miss the Midwest.

Further things I love lately: fresh produce. Corn on the cob. Fresh grapes. This feast was the result of a run to Albertsons, where grapes were .99 a pound & I couldn't resist. There is something so satisfying in the crunch of a good grape. I still don't understand why in Japan they peel their grapes. The crunch of the skin of a good grape is too good to pass up. Good grapes!!!

We also ate corn on the cob tonight. I showed Andrew what shucking corn was & he did it with me. Made me remember being home & shucking corn on the porch step next to the driveway, on the somewhat rare occasions we had corn. Dear memory, I'm not sure why. During dinner I explained to Andrew that in my family, growing up, if we bought corn, the plans for the evening were changed...if there was already a plan for dinner, it got postponed because we were having fresh corn!!! (This story may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I like it, and that's how I feel about sweet corn. Let it be a new family tradition! Eat it when it's good!)

Loving Mark Driscoll's sermons online. He cracks me up, but also presents the Bible in a real, practical way encouraging creativity & obedience. Highly recommend www.marshillchurch.org.

All for now. Loving a lot right now. :)