10.26.13

One time, the official blog boyfriend and I went on a trip.  We decided to go hiking - but he decided the rest of the trip should be a surprise.  Eventually I asked enough questions that I found out we were going to Maine, but that didn't ruin any of the surprise since a) I couldn't think of any mountains in Maine that would be hike-able in October and b) Maine is a pretty large state in comparison with all the others in New England.

We drove for four hours or so (with a quick pit stop at McDonalds...classy, right?) and eventually stopped at Camden Hills State Park.  The person at the gate told us that the park closed at 4:30, which meant that we only had 1.5 hours to hike.  I was mildly concerned about that fact.  Nevertheless, the official blog boyfriend would not be dissuaded and we proceeded to hike Mt. Battie nonetheless.  I started to become mildly suspicious, but I talked myself out of it: Don't even think about it.  This is a fun trip, and you can't ruin it by being disappointed and lame just because you thought one thing and it didn't turn out that way.  

We got to the top at 3:40 - just enough time to look around for a little bit and then head back down before the gates closed.  The top of the mountain had a great view.  We could see all the way out over the ocean, including a bunch of islands. 

One of those islands happened to be familiar.  "Hey look!  It's Deer Isle!" I said to official blog boyfriend.  The significance of this particular island is that Diana and her husband Nathaniel live there. "I'm going to text Diana and tell her I can see their island."  

Official blog boyfriend hesitated for a second, then said, "Maybe you should wait until we get back to the car to text her since we don't have too much time up here."  

Too late.  It was sent.

Diana wrote back to say, "What!  So cool!  I've been there.  Wish I could see you!"

(In retrospect: sneaky, Diana.  Very sneaky.)

There were a few other people on top of the mountain.  We wandered around looking for a good lookout spot.  We walked to the edge of the hill.  People shortly followed.  There was a tower on the top of the mountain.  We climbed up there and looked out.  People followed.  Finally, we walked around a copse of trees to a different (deserted) lookout spot.  We looked out.  We hugged.  Official blog boyfriend looked at me and said, "Do you want to get married?"  

I said yes. Enthusiastically.  And he pulled a ring out of his pocket.  

(Admittedly, this picture was from a little later that day.)

And then we had to turn around, because we only had 40 minutes to get back and drive out.  

On the way down, official blog boyfriend told me the story behind the ring.  It was a long, complicated, interesting story.  He'd done an amazing job - at risk of sounding incredibly cliche, I think it's the prettiest ring I've ever seen.  Also, I'm really picky, and he found one that I absolutely love.

Also on the way down, he mentioned that we'd be spending the remainder of the weekend with Diana and Nathaniel on Deer Isle.  Here's the subsequent continuation of the correspondence with Diana:

We made it to the park exit at 4:28!  

After that, we drove the remaining two hours to Deer Isle, and spent a glorious weekend with the most wonderful of friends.

And so 10/26/13 has taken on a special significance for us.

We're so excited.

Too Much Recognition

Confession: I end up at Target probably three or four times a week.  Sometimes more, sometimes less, but on average, it's probably three times a week.  This has never bothered me - I love Target and I will never take it for granted because I didn't have one within a 100-mile radius until college, at which time it was miraculously only 7.7 miles away.  

I like Target because it's clean and nice and it has almost everything I need for day to day life.  It's big enough that I feel comfortably anonymous and no one notices how often I'm there.

UNTIL NOW.

On one of my recent trips on my way home from work, I wandered around for about 15 minutes, picked up the two or three items that I needed, and headed to the checkout.  Following my customary routine (which is probably everyone else's customary routine also...), I picked the shortest line and prepared to pay for my stuff and head out the door.  The cashier woman started ringing me up and, following protocol (no doubt), she asked, "Would you like to save 5% on your purchase today by signing up for a Target card?"  As usual, I declined.  Expecting that to be the end of the conversation, she surprised me by saying, "Well...are you sure?  You come here all the time!"

::awkward pause::

"Uh...haha...ha...you're right...I am here a lot..."

::pays and runs away::

Folks, it's one thing to be recognized at Starbucks or Pinkberry.  It's quite another to be recognized a Target.  I have a problem.

{via google images}

Recent Tragedy

Last Sunday I woke up to four missed calls and a text, all from my mom.  Naturally, I wondered which of my relatives was in the emergency room.  However, I was completely unprepared for what she said.  Tammy called this morning.  There was an accident.  Elijah didn't make it.

At 12:30 am, our dear friends' oldest son passed from this life into the arms of our Lord.  A recent high school graduate, Elijah was headed to boot camp in three weeks, scheduled to depart on his 18th birthday.  He was a leader in the church youth group, an excellent percussionist, and a gifted athlete.

There are so many things to say.

My broken heart is aching.  But this pales in comparison to the agony of my brothers...Elijah's five siblings...his parents...

This is not fair.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding."

The town's response to this event has been nothing short of miraculous.  What an incredible blessing to count this my home.

God's presence is so much more visible than ever before.  He has already worked wonders through this tragedy.

I wish I could describe the profound, grief-stricken, worshipful beauty of Elijah's memorial service, but I don't think it could be put into words.  Elijah's life meant so much to so many, and his faithful commitment to Christ has reached the entire community and far beyond.  Through his death and his parents' constant witness in the following days, hundreds - perhaps thousands - have heard the gospel.



Thanks be to God.

Elijah Todd Davis
September 2, 1995 - July 28, 2013

2013 Wedding No. 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, it has been a big year for the apartment friends...

...which brings me to

Meghanne's wedding!

I was the maid of honor for this wedding, so I was busy for the entire event.  Certainly not a bad thing - it was an honor to be the maid of honor.  (Too much honor?)

Let me set the stage for you.  Meghanne's favorite-beyond-all-favorites color is pink.  I figured this out pretty early on during our roommate-ship.  

It went without saying that the bridesmaids dresses and basically everything involved with the wedding would therefore be pink.  Therefore, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I present you with a post that is almost entirely pictures.

Bachelorette party:

(Please forgive the photo quality - all photos are either from my phone or taken from Facebook, which is admittedly deplorable.)

The bachelorette party was great.  We went to Fire and Ice for lunch and then walked around Boston, keeping mostly to Newbury Street to go shopping.  Woo!

After it was all over, I put together a scrapbook!

And then it was time to head to Rhode Island for the festivities.  Here we go...

Rehearsal dinner:

(Confused?)

Getting ready:

(I wrote my speech on my phone...and then I scrambled to try to write it on paper that morning.  I ran out of time.  I used my phone.  Hashtagfirstworldproblems.)

On the way to the church!

Favorite picture of us...

(CLOUD OF PINK.)

Ceremony:

Flowers:

(Super pink!)

And reception:

And once again, the beloved apartment was reunited!

It's so wonderful having watched Meghanne and Jon's relationship blossom from the very beginning until this stage in their lives.  I have spectacular friends.  If you feel like reading about that, my entire maid of honor speech is below, because I think it says it all better than anything I've written here.

And this time, while I spent a lot of time running around doing stuff, this time I had the world's best date.

If you've made it this far, congratulations!

The Speech:

I met Meghanne during our freshman year of college at Gordon.  Through a number of connections but mostly through the music department, we became close friends and eventually roommates.  I quickly learned that Meghanne considered wedding planning to be one of her most frequent past times, which I has no problem adopting as one of my own.  This led to numerous purchases of premature bridal magazines, the most memorable of which involved a trip to the grocery store at 10 pm on a "school night" for a magazine and some Ben and Jerry's.  Not wanting to be the typical "Gordon girl" - a common stereotype that usually came in conjunction with the somewhat derogatory phrase "ring by spring" - we made a point to hide the magazine under our other purchases as soon as we saw other college students wandering the aisles.

We made it stealthily all the way to the cashier, who loudly asked, "Oh, are you getting married?"  Meghanne thought fast and answered, "No, my....sister is getting married and we're going to her bachelorette party and we want to help her come up with ideas for the wedding..."  We thought it was entirely convincing.

It's worth noting that all of this happened before Jon even entered the picture. Another common past time was making lists of what we wanted in a future spouse.  We thought these lists were so important that I actually took the time to write them down.  So, as of early sophomore year, here's a portion of what Meghanne was looking for in her future husband.

- strong Christian
- has an appreciation for music
- will dance...extensively (all kinds, minus sketchy)
- likes kids and dogs
- good conversationalist
- has an equal say in matters
- doesn't mind talking
- has red hair

Clearly, the next step was to keep an eye out for said Perfect Match.  But our good friend Amber took a look at Meghanne's list and said, "You know...I don't think your perfect match is here yet.  I think you're going to meet a tall, red-headed transfer student, and he'll be the one."

I think it's safe to say that truer words have never been spoken.  Sure enough, the following year a tall, red-headed transfer student showed up in Meghanne's life, and things have never been the same.

But while we joked around about finding the perfect combination of characteristics in our future spouses, we also talked about marriage and what it meant to have Christ-centered lives.  We sought to prepare ourselves to strive to be the wives of noble character described in Proverbs 31. Meghanne...you've been preparing your heart for both this day and the rest of your days together for so long.  You look beautiful today, but what shines through your relationship with each other is a love for God that far surpasses the beauty of today.

Jon, I can't imagine a better person to be Meghanne's husband.  The way you treasure and cherish her in all of your actions, words, and attention toward her is such an incredible witness for what a godly relationship should be.  All of the above makes me fully assured that we can confidently relinquish her to you :)

I'm so blessed to call you both my dear friends, and I feel privileged that I have watched this relationship grow from the very first email Jon sent on February 6th, 2010 all the way through to this wonderful celebration of your marriage, and I can't wait to see how it continues to blossom and grow in the years to come.  

2013 Wedding No. 1

This year has been an important one for the apartment friends.  Let's recap:

Diana's wedding!

As usual, I'm well behind on blogging.  Like...months behind.  Which means that I'm now blogging about a wedding that happened on April 27th.  Nevertheless, it will be blogged!

It was a beautiful Saturday up in Maine.  They couldn't have possibly asked for better weather the entire weekend!  I traveled up with two good friends part of the way, dropped them off at their house, and then continued up to the island for two hours.  The following morning, I met Diana for breakfast.  Here's what went down:

Me: "DIANA!  You're getting married TODAY!"

Diana: "I know...isn't it horrible??"

Of course, she didn't really mean it.  She was beyond excited to actually get married, but I think it was a little overwhelming to realize that her months of planning were finally coming to fruition and there was nothing more she could plan.  I'd say that's a little stressful.

At breakfast, we ran into Laura and Nathaniel! 

Turns out when a wedding is a tiny town and you know many of the folks invited, you and your friends are very likely to take over fill up the local inn.  Meghanne and Jon arrived later that morning and Jon took a room upstairs (Meghanne stayed with me - roommates for life?).  Lauren and Nathaniel stayed in the room one floor above.  Catherine, Beth, and Joel stayed in a room adjacent to ours.  It was a glorious reunion.  

Later that afternoon, we all headed to the church and witnessed the union of two dear friends.

Their love story is beautiful, but that's worth a blogpost of its own.  Summary: read Anne of Green Gables.  Remove all the initial consternation between Anne and Gilbert, and you have Diana and Nathaniel.  What a blessing to be a witness to something so sacred and precious.

Once the ceremony was over, we headed up the hill to the reception.  I was sadly dateless due to the official blog boyfriend's business trip to India:

(I actually missed him even though this photo makes me look gleeful...)

We ate cake, chatted with friends, and watched Diana and Nathaniel dance.

It was beautiful.

After everything was over, Beth, Joel, Catherine, Meghanne, Jon, and I ran around Deer Isle in the dark.  Everyone else in town was asleep (at 9 pm).  We walked in the middle of the road.  We swung on swings in the playground.  I tripped over a curb and went flying about three feet before landing (I was fine).  We acted like we were back in college, and then we went to bed.

Finally, we met up for breakfast and then we headed home.  

The Rite of Spring: 100 Creepy Years

The radio informed me this morning that today is the 100th anniversary of the premier of Igor Stravinsky's famous Rite of Spring.  Sadly, I probably should have known this fact without the help of the radio, but I graduated two years ago now, which means that things like the dates of various compositions are no longer stored in my brain.  Instead I think about things like "Why is this grade not showing up on this kid's report card?  How do I fix it?"

That's beside the point, however.  The Rite of Spring is a unique piece that caused a legitimate riot at its first performance in Paris.  The music is frightening enough by itself, but when you realize that the whole thing is a ballet, you're liable to be terrified.  If you're not already familiar with the story, I'll give you a brief synopsis: a pagan tribe in Russia believes that in order to appease their tyrannical gods, a young girl must be sacrificed each year by way of dancing herself to death.  Fun stuff! 

On my way home this evening, the same radio station that announced the anniversary played a recording of the entire piece.  It was dark.  The rhythmic, uneven chords pulsated and dynamic changes happened suddenly and without warning.  Then rain started pouring down and thunder rolled menacingly.  All at once I could see the ballet in my head, and I pictured the pagan tribe emerging from the trees on either side of the road.  Never has music been quite so emotionally effective as this experience.

I reached over and made sure that my car doors were decidedly locked.

For your viewing pleasure, I'm adding links to a ballet performance that recreates the original choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky.  Please promise me that you won't watch it right before going to bed...

Part 1:


Part 2:

Part 3:

Vegetables

Earlier this week, Jenni challenged her readers to blog every day through the month of May.

Obviously, I failed on Day 1.

However, in an effort to make up for it, I'm just going to go ahead and post more than once!  Since it's already the 5th of May, I probably won't go so far as to post five full times, but I have to start somewhere, right?

I forgot that spring in Massachusetts is gorgeous.  There are flowers everywhere and the weather just makes you happy to be alive.  I don't know how I survived 18 springs in Vermont,where "spring" is just a euphemism for Mud Season.  It snows, then it rains and the ground gets absolutely mud-soaked, and then it's summer.  So while I will exhort the virtues of Vermont for 75% of the year, Mud Season counts for the 25% during which I would caution you to avoid it at all costs unless you really enjoy having broken axels on your car.

I digress.

All that to say, spring in MA is perfect.  So perfect, in fact, that I chose this year to finally plant a garden.  For the first time in my life, I was more than excited to trek to Home Depot.  I was probably too excited, because as I went through the checkout line the cashier remarked, "Wow, someone's going to be busy for awhile..."

She was right.  I turned soil, dumped topsoil, raked, added garden soil, weeded, and finally planted for a good three hours straight.  But it paid off!  

I planted green and red peppers, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, strawberries, and cantaloupe.  Mentioning that I planted cantaloupe led a friend to exclaim, "Cantaloupe comes from the ground??"

Who knew?

Hopefully by the end of the summer, our vegetable shish-kebabs will have been homegrown! 

Thoughts on Boston

It's often hard to find words to adequately address devastating events.  As many have already said, the Boston Marathon has always been a symbol of vitality and the conquering nature of the human spirit, and Monday's bombings wreacked havoc on what should have been an intensely joyful occasion.

Whenever my family went on trips when I was young, I would always ask my mom what would happen if the plane crashed.  Her response was, "If the plane starts to fall, don't be afraid. We'll look for Jesus. He'll be there."

In the midst of Monday's terrifying chaos, I think we saw him.  He was there in all of the policemen and paramedics.  He was there with the doctors who saved injured victims moments from death.  He was there across country, reminding us that regardless of politics, we are one nation, under God, indivisible, and we stand together in the face of evil.  He was there in the outpouring of support in the aftermath - through the prayers, the offers of shelter, the hugs, the innumerable simple gestures of kindness.

Perhaps it's odd, but Monday left me feeling incredibly blessed.  While the bombings were indescribably horrific and the loss was tremendous, we need to remember to be thankful that we live in a place where this type of event is the exception, not the norm.  We have the support, medicine, and spirit not only to recover, but to thrive in the face of disaster and persevere despite the atrocity. We have a nation united against a common threat.  We are surrounded by beloved families, friends, and communities, which give us the resources to carry on.  The evil of the event is so overwhelmingly outweighed by the blessing that I can only stop, breathless, and praise God for his presence in the center of the storm.

Vikings! Sequester! Ah!

The two subjects listed above literally have absolutely nothing in common except for the fact that I've been thinking about both of them lately.  So...one thing at a time!

Vikings

While listening to NPR (I admit it - I LOVE NPR) on my way home from work last night, I heard the beginning of an interview with the man who wrote the new Viking show on the history channel.  Being a small bit Norwegian myself, I found this interview fascinating, and since I had to turn off the radio before the interview was over, I decided to do some research myself.

-- Nerd Alert --

As a result of my research, here are five interesting facts about Vikings:

1. In reality, Vikings did not wear horned helmets.  Thanks for the historical accuracy, Wagner.

2. Most of the literature written about Vikings was composed by Christian and Muslim communities in the lands that the Vikings raided, which means that the Vikings' reputation is much more negative than they likely were.

3. Though I'm sure Christopher Columbus would like to take credit for discovering the Americas, that was simply not the case.  The Vikings - specifically Leif Ericson - sailed to L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland approximately 500 years before Christopher Columbus ever set foot on the continent.

4. Based on archaeological evidence, the Vikings were exceptionally clean people.

5. The Vikings didn't die out.  Instead, when raiding neighboring countries became unprofitable, they simply stopped raiding and settled in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Greenland.

Congratulations.  Now you know more about Vikings.


SequesterSequesterSequester!

At risk of sound criticism from the internet community, I am relieved that the sequester actually happened.  From my perspective, the amount of government spending is ridiculous and completely unsustainable.  If we were discussing personal finances, it makes perfect sense to me that if you're spending far more than you make in yearly income, you will be in too much debt to be able to repay.  The answer to debt is not to take more loans.  The answer to debt is to stop spending more than you have.  Plus, if you look at the graph, the sequester doesn't look like the "deep spending cuts" that we keep hearing about.

While I understand that cutting spending may have an effect on various entitlement programs, the military, and even every day life, it seems better to take a hit now before the debt gets worse.  There's no way to keep up with exponential spending when you're already in the hole without severe consequences, so if we have a chance to fix this with fewer consequences now, we should jump on that opportunity.  Plus, who would complain about the elimination of those awkward full body scanners that the TSA is so fond of?

A Baking Story

Life lately has been...stressful.  That's ok.  It's made me realize how much I appreciate when life is slower and I have enough time to stop and think about all the little things that make it interesting.  Like cookies, for example.

Part 1:  When I was younger, my mom heard from a friend that you can make cookie dough, scoop it into ready-to-bake balls, and then put the dough balls in the freezer.  That way, you can have fresh baked cookies whenever you want, and you can control the portion size so that you don't have a whole batch of cookies that you could never finish by yourself.  (On second thought, perhaps you could.  I've never tried).

Part 2:  I usually eat two out of three meals per day at work, and the toaster oven across from my is often filled with toast, leftover pizza, or whatever else people like to bring for lunch.

Part 3:  Discovery: toaster oven at work + frozen cookie balls = fresh baked cookies at work.  Easy to bake, easy to share, available to whoever wants them whenever they want them.  The hallway smells amazing.

Here's what to do:

A)  Mix up your cookie dough the night before the day you want to eat them.  Limitation: if you want them to be easy, they need to be of the variety that you make from dough balls and don't require extra toppings (i.e. frosting, hershey kisses, filling, etc.).

B)  Scoop your cookie dough on to cookie sheets.  It's easier to clean up if you cover the cookie sheets with wax paper beforehand, because then you don't even have to wash the cookie sheets.

C)  Freeze your cookie dough balls overnight, and place them all in ziplock bags in the morning.  Bring them to wherever you plan to eat them (as long as the place has a freezer).  Obviously, you can leave them at home if you feel so inclined...

D)  When you feel like eating cookies, preheat your oven/toaster oven to whatever temperature the cookies bake at.  Bake them for 5 - 10 minutes longer than the recipe calls for to account for the fact that they're frozen.

E)  Let them cool awhile and then eat them.  Make everyone jealous of the fact that you're eating fresh cookies, and if they ask where you got them, tell them they can make some too!

F)  Achieve fame for out of the box thinking and tasty baked goods.

Cookie recommendations:

Toll House chocolate chip
Chocolate mint chip
Chocolate chocolate chip
White chocolate chip macadamia nut
Oatmeal chocolate chip
Oatmeal raisin
Peanut butter
Snickerdoodles
"Chunky Chocolate Gobs"
Any of the Betty Crocker mix cookies
Funfetti cake mix cookies
...pretty much anything else you can think of that goes on a cookie sheet in a ball...

Next office dessert project?  Microwave cake.

A Bird's Eye View

Today was a great day due to a small thing.  As in...literally a small object.  But before I can talk about this small object, I need to provide some background information.

Our office building is luxurious in that everyone has his or her own office.  I am lucky enough to have a window office that looks out over a large field that may or may not be a swamp.  If it is a swamp, it's been enormously beneficial in allowing various animals to inhabit the area surrounding the office building.  My friend Maria and I have often spent a few moments of our otherwise busy time gazing out the window upon the likes of groundhogs, cardinals, Canadian geese (curse the geese...I'll never escape them!), and even a huge red tailed hawk.

(via)

That was a glorious day.  It sat in the tree next to my window for a full 15 minutes!

Enough background.

Maria walked into my office today with a Christmas gift.  Inside said Christmas gift was a bird watching guidebook and a pair of binoculars.

New.  Favorite.  Object.

I've never been a bird watcher, but all of a sudden I felt like I understood the heart of hearts of all bird fanatics out there.  I have a full book of 121 birds to search for and check off the list!  I have 121 glossy pictures to marvel at!  I have binoculars with which to peer into the sky and watch the 121 birds speed across the horizon!  HOW COULD ANYONE DO ANY WORK WITH BIRDS IN THE SKY??

So if you walk past my office for the next, oh, I don't know...year...expect to see me with the binoculars glued to my face.  I will put a check mark next to every single bird in that book if it's the last thing I do.

All else is for the birds.

Starting Over

Well, 2012 is over and we all lived to tell the tale.  So much for the world ending, Mayans!  I, for one, am glad to have a brand new year to look forward to.

I've been reflecting a lot lately.  2012 was a wonderful, full year, but it was one marked with a strange sort of internal struggle for me.  2013 is a fresh start - the opportunity for renewed perspectives and rejuvenation.  I've let many of my convictions and passions take a back seat, and it's time to bring them to the foreground again:

Music

I no longer have any excuse to not practice.  Someone asked me for lessons, and in order to teach well I need to be able to play well.

Blogging

I used not having internet in my apartment as the reason to assuage my guilt over being too lazy to blog.  I love the idea of having a place to record thoughts, and as I've never been much of a journal-keeper, blogging solved that problem.  I'm not going to let another year go by un-blogged simply because I read so many others that I think are more well-written than mine.  The point of a blog is not to become rich and famous.  The point of a blog (or at least mine) is to have an outlet for thoughts and a record of events.  Therefore...the blog is coming back to life!

Faith

All throughout college, I had this image of myself juggling various items - faith, academics, music, friends.  At various times, I struggled to maintain all of them at the same time, but faith was the one that never wavered, but instead held all the others in balance.  Post college, apathy has gotten in my way, and my relationship with God was the one that took a hit.  I can't let that continue.  I'm going to read through the Bible again this year, and do my utmost to "act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with [my] God."

Friends

I have been so incredibly blessed to have the most amazing friends anyone could ever ask for, and I think it's too easy to take that for granted.  My two closest friends are both getting married this year, and I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate with them!  Those weddings will be such joyous occasions, and it will be a privilege to take part in them.

Organization

If I'm going to juggle well this year, I need to reevaluate how I spend my time off.  I'm completely capable of using time wisely, and yet I've found myself wasting time on the computer, sitting around doing almost nothing, or generally not using free time to its full potential.

So my resolutions this year can be boiled down to just one thing: I need to appreciate the many blessings God has entrusted to me so that I can use them, whether practicing, investing in friendships, church, free time, work, or anything else, to the best of my ability and for his glory.  Here's to a new year ahead!