taking the bus

Recently we moved to a new apartment, anticipating the extra room needed with our little one arriving in December. Our first move. My regular routine of walking to & from work from our former newlywed apartment needed to be reworked since it's too far to walk now.

And so I am now a patroness of the public transportation system of our fair city, and I'm liking it! Today's even my day off & I've taken advantage of my bus pass for the purpose of running my errands to the bank, the library, the natural foods store, all conveniently located from the hub of the bus station. This small town girl feels a little more urban, let me tell you.
It's my hope that this new experience for me (some of you are probably old hands at this sort of thing) will not just offer me more time for getting some reading done as I ride to my next stop. I hope that I will be a blessing and that I'll be brave enough to take opportunities to be courteous and thankful, to be encouraging & that the Spirit of God who lives in me & delights to use even little Rachel will leak out leaving some stardust behind.

after it was over

After John & Kristin's wedding ceremony, we helped clean up a little, and as we were on our way out we said goodbye to Jim, Kristin's dad. (He & his wife Cindy heroically hosted us & lots of other people at their house over the weekend, and it was lovely.)
Jim sat down at the piano and started playing something (I want to say it was a hymn) & AJ & I paused walking down the center aisle out of the church as AJ sang along. Had to bust out the camera & remember it. It was a very "Father of the Bride" and the party's over moment.

Pike's Place Public Market

Day before our friends John & Kristin tied the knot, they & we their friends traversed to Pike's Place Public Market in Seattle to get fresh flowers for the wedding. It was my first time at Pike's and I loved it! Only forty minutes or so spent there, but it was enough to whet my appetite for a longer visit. John bought a fresh sourdough baguette and the pictures below show us consuming it. SO GOOD! I also ate a Russian pastry that had dough that was a gorgeous yellow color (was there saffron in the dough?) with cinnamon and cardamom! Eating it warm on a chilly overcast Northwest morning in the crowds of Pike's Place...ah...it was a moment for me. A foodie moment. :)

Camping

This Friday we went camping with others from our church & had a blast! I'm sorry to say it was our first camping trip being married and we're approaching two years of marriage! Being the daughter of my parents who met as counselors at a camp in Green Bay, Wisconsin, I am appaled at myself that this didn't happen sooner. However, it was lots of fun, we slept in a tent (I love tents!), our campsite was near a river, and we were well fed. (Thank you Raineys & Thomases & Sticklers & Townsends & Werners & Fultzes!) The pictures above are us with bikes that our friends Tim & Amy let us ride on. It was so fun! Another thing I haven't done in...ahem...years... And notice my belly. Twenty five weeks along & little Ransom is moving a lot!

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."