Preparing to Move

This is my last night in the old house before our big move across the country. I'll be totally honest, I haven't done diddly squat to get ready for the movers next week. I took Piper for a walk last night around the neighborhood once it started to cool off a little, and it made me a little sad to think that we won't be here very much longer. This move is going to be really good for us. We're moving into a bigger house, James is at a great place in his career progression, I'll be starting nursing school next summer, and hopefully we'll be bringing a baby home soon. We're finally starting to move forward in our lives after having been stuck spinning our wheels for so long. But it's still going to be hard.

Every time I hear Miranda Lambert's new song "The House that Built Me" I practically start bawling my eyes out (which is quite problematic when I'm driving in the car). I don't know why I'm so sentimental for this place all of a sudden. I'm not even gone yet and I'm already sad about leaving my childhood home behind. Growing up, I couldn't wait to move away from this city. When I finally graduated high school and prepared to follow James to college, we joked about how we would NEVER move back. EVER! Four years later, we were moving into our first house... in our old hometown. It was an ironic twist of fate that the military sent us back here, but it worked well because it allowed me to finish school (which is obviously very important).

I wasn't especially excited to be back, although it's very nice to be so close to my parents who live just across town. This city certainly has many flaws, but over the last four years we've managed to build quite a community of friends and family who love and support us. The experience we went through last fall is the best testament to that I will ever have. As hard as it was to go through a disrupted adoption, I have never felt more surrounded by love in my entire life. As empty and devastated as I was feeling, I knew that we had already been blessed beyond measure. We had people we could count on to be there for us when we were in a very dark place. I'm going to miss them very, very much.

There isn't a ton for me to do before the movers arrive on Tuesday to begin packing up our household goods (gotta love the perks of moving for the military). Mostly I just need to separate out the things I'll be moving myself like my wedding dress and wedding mementos, all our photo albums, and some sentimental keepsakes that belonged to James' father and grandfather as well as clothes and toiletries for me to live on for a couple of days. I'll be staying with my parents while the rest of our stuff gets packed up and while I work on cleaning the house and preparing it for our new tenants who arrive on the 5th. As soon as they arrive, I'll be hitting the road for the long, 18-hour drive with Piper to the new house. I can't wait!


And may the peace of the Lord be always with you.

Mary and Martha

The following sermon was written by the Reverend Kate Alexander of Christ Episcopal Church and is published here with her permission.

There is a new book out about how people don’t read books anymore. Author Nicholas Carr has recently published The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. And according to the author, the picture is grim. He argues that the internet is a medium based on interruption, and it’s changing the way people read and process information, even at a cellular level. While once we valued wisdom that comes from concentration, singular focus, and deep reading, there is not much of that to be found online. OK, before I go any further with this, I should confess that I have not read the book, but I did see a headline about it online and clicked on an interview with the author. Case in point.

Carr began research for this book when he noticed a change in his ability to concentrate. This is how he described it. “I’d sit down with a book, or a long article, and after a couple of pages my brain wanted to do what it does when I’m online: check e-mail, click on links, do some Googling, hop from page to page.” And, this kind of multitasking and hopping around lasts long after we shut down our computers. He suggests that in our modern, digital age, we have achieved an almost constant state of distraction.

Well, when I came across Carr’s argument, I felt like he was preaching to me. I fall into that category of the chronically distracted, and I would venture a guess that many of you do, too. I have a smart phone with email, text messages, Facebook and the internet at my fingertips at all times. My news comes not from newspapers but through internet headlines and on the radio in the car. I go online at home and at work. Maybe all of this media consumption is doing something to our brains, though the jury is still out. Whether you agree or not, and whether you’re wrapped up in technology or not, when you take a step back, it’s truly amazing to consider the stream of constant information available to us at any given moment. From images of oil spills to constant interruptions and clicking on links, it can be hard to know how to take it all in.

Overcome Evil with Good

The closer we get to the mid-term elections in November, and certainly as we get closer to the next presidential election in 2012, tension between members of opposing political views is going to grow in intensity. But I sincerely hope and pray that we can see past our differences as Conservatives and Liberals and can unite together with one another as AMERICANS who love our country and all that has made it so wonderful. Divided we can accomplish nothing, and we only make ourselves weaker by quarreling amongst ourselves. If we truly want what is best for our nation, then we will keep personalities, prejudices, and misconceptions out of the discussion and instead focus on hard issues and how best to resolve them peacably.

Romans 12:9-21 (NRSV)

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Our New House!!

After many months of an exhaustive home search and dealing with the stresses and anxieties associated with selling a home, we FINALLY have a resolution to our situation. Earlier this week, we signed a leasing agreement with a couple who's going to rent our old house. At the same time, we also put in an offer to buy a new house that, after some counter-offering, was eventually accepted. We went with our Realtor this morning to the new house for the home inspection (and so that I could measure all the windows to make new curtains). While I was there, I took a bazillion pictures to send my parents back at home.

The house, originally built in 1980, was obtained by the seller in a foreclosure. We saw the pictures from when the house was foreclosed on and it looked TERRIBLE. But the seller completely renovated the home including: new roof, new hot water heater, new heating and AC unit, new siding, new floors (carpet, hardwood, and ceramic tile), new counters, all new fixtures, new kitchen appliances, new master shower, custom master closet, and new back porch. The house is 2,500 square feet and has three bedrooms and two fulls bathrooms. The two car garage has an automatic garage door AND a workshop for all of James' manly man projects. The house sits on 1.25 acres, bordered on two sides by farmland. It's country living, but only five minutes from the rest of town.

The formal living room will become our reading/yoga room and the den will be used as our family room. There's no formal dining room, but since I don't actually have a formal dining table I don't see that as much of a problem. James is going to hang a tire swing from the big tree in the back yard for me and we're going to build a big picnic table to put somewhere in the shade. I want a hammock, but I've yet to figure out where that will go.... or the clothes line, or the vegetable garden, or the fire pit, or any of the other things I want to do with the property. I'm just so excited that I can hardly stand it!

Grilled Chicken and Pasta with Red Peppers and Kalamata Olives

I debated whether or not to even write this post, as the recipe didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped. But if I can learn from my mistakes, then you can learn from my mistakes, too. First lesson, cooking in someone else's kitchen is much hardern than cooking in your own kitchen. We're house and puppy sitting for some friends on vacation. And while I am extremely grateful that they're allowing us to live in their house for free, I'm also quite frustrated that I don't know where anything is. On top of that, I have never cooked on a gas range before. I really like the control I have over the cooking temperature, but it's taking time for me to get used to.

Second lesson, never ever EVER let the pasta get mushy. It's just not good. It doesn't taste any different, but the texture is just... well, mushy. Bleh. So here's what I did, with some notes as to what I did wrong and how I'll do things differently next time.

This recipe is an adaptation of one I found online at BonAppetit.com this afternoon. I added the grilled chicken and the baby spinach.

Grilled Chicken and Pasta with Red Peppers and Kalamata Olives

Part one: the chicken

Take some chicken breasts, season them on one side while still in the package (I used salt, pepper, basil, and rosemary). Then place them in a hot skillet with the seasoned side down. Season the other side and place a heavy iron press on top. I think theirs is a bacon press. Usually I would do this in the George Foreman grill because it's super fast and easy. I found one in the pantry, but I was too lazy to get it down, so I used a pan on the stove instead and it worked just fine. Turn over after a few minutes and cook until done.

Part two: the pasta

Ingredients:
Red bell pepper
Kalamata olives
Baby spinach
Thin spaghetti (I should have used linguine but I didn't have any and the box of spaghetti was open)
Aged parmesan cheese
Balsamic vinegar
Red pepper flakes
Basil
Rosemary

Cook the pasta in salted water until done. Dice the pepper. Sautee the bell pepper, olives, and red pepper flakes until tender. Add the spinach and cook until only slightly wilted (I actually did this last, which makes no sense at all. I don't know why I did that. I'm just retarded today). Add the cooked pasta, balsamic vinegar to taste, basil, rosemary, and parmesan, tossing to coat the pasta.

Serve pasta with chicken on top, sprinkling with parmesan to taste.

This didn't turn out especially pretty, but it tasted amazing. I will definitely make it again, but in the proper order next time. James even really liked the spinach. Yay!