Pearl & George

I opened my mailbox today & found a letter from my mom! Letters are my favorite.
Enclosed with the letter she sent me a picture of my grandparents, Pearl & George from the summer of 1941. I'd never seen the picture before but it is significant to me now especially because my grandma was pregnant with her first baby at the time this picture was taken. Jane was born on December 19 (the same month as the Pearl Harbor attack); our baby is due December 18 (what history makers will mark our time). It's a pleasure to be able to have this picture of my grandparents, getting a glimpse of them at this stage of their marriage on the brink of parenthood while AJ & I are at the same stage the summer before our baby is born.
My mom wrote, "You are at the same stage of pregnancy as she was--you the summer of 2010, she the summer of 1941--sixty-nine years apart. It makes you think about life--it rolls on and on controlled by God. It is beyond us..."

vox celebration

AJ, having worked and saved & also having received birthday & graduation money was able to pay cash for his ideal guitar amp. It's a Vox AC30. The Beatles used an amp like this. So does Dustin Kensrue, one of our favorite songwriter/singer/musicians. AJ likes the smooth sounds he can get out of this amp & also the distortion. This amp is a blessing & it means AJ doesn't have to borrow amps from his friends anymore & can bring his own to band practices & gigs!
Since I don't know musical hardware lingo so well as AJ or his friends, my excited response to show my gladness for this new blessing was to cook! I made up a recipe & called it "Vox International Pitas".

It starts in the sauce pan. Finely chop some garlic & saute with butter on low heat, add some oregano, and saute long enough so it smells lovely & Italian but not so long that it browns.
Place garlic & oregano into a bowl, add chopped tomato, chopped red onion, shredded carrot, and chopped mango. Mix together.
In another skillet I took some brats from Trader Joe's and cooked them. When they were cooked through, I cut them into coin shapes.Take some pita bread, cut it in half, toast it, smear hummus on the inside, insert a nice green lettuce leaf or two, and fill with some of the veggie mixture & brat "coins". Serve with lime wedges & squeeze the lime into the pita filling. Ah! It's like eating the rainbow.
I thought I'd presume to put "international" in the recipe name because flavors in this meal remind me of Italy, Mexico, Germany, and Mediterranean cuisine.

(And this is us on Memorial Day!)

when do you feel most alive?

I've been going through this book called Expecting, which goes week by week through pregnancy & describes the baby's development & the development of the mom & there's a prayer that ties in to the week's developments & finally a page to briefly journal. I've been procrastinating with it, now being in my fifteenth week of pregnancy, so I am going back over the previous weeks & reading & praying what I've missed. Tonight I just finished week 6 & the journal question is: when do you feel most alive? I wrote:

"It always has something to do with the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it's celebrating-a wedding, a graduation, or watching spontaneous baptisms at church! Sometimes it's on a date with AJ when we really get to talking & merely holding hands is electrifying. Sometimes it's talking with a friend (like with Jamie last night) & hearing her stories of God's provision-I get such hope! Sometimes it's when I create-paint, cook. Sometimes it's when I'm on a walk & the breeze hits my face & the air smells like Michigan. Or in the summer when I've just gotten out of a lake & the sun warms me dry. Or when I finish reading something good, or experience something beautiful in an unexpected place. Like a cellist playing in the Portland airport as I wait for a flight."