Easter 2013

 

We were Episcopal this Easter. J used to go to the Episcopal service at Fort Jackson during his Army basic training. I think because it was an hour of air conditioning, sitting down, there was wine and cookies and no one screamed at them. ;-) I on the other hand had never been to an Episcopal church. My closest experience is the Mitford books by Jan Karon! Anyway, J had to fly this afternoon and they had a 7am sunrise service and so we were up before dawn. (After staying up too late watching The Ten Commandments.)

The service was nice, very small. Their regular service was still at 10:15. The people were quite nice. The only part that I had a bit of a problem with was communion. Everyone drinks out of the same cup! I hope God didn't mind that I threw in a silent prayer for the protection from the germs I had just ingested...

J is still flying, so I've been watching Easter Parade and talking on the phone. I talked to my Grammy P. who is in the hospital this year. Then I called my Dad, this Easter is also his Birthday. Now I'm off to read my new Maisie Dobbs book.

I threw our pathetic little ham in the oven with a giant baking potato. We've also got frozen rolls to bake and corn to steam. What is with celebrating Easter in TLF anyway? This is our second one! But even our humble supper smells pretty good at the moment.

The other big Easter tradition in our house TLF, call it what you will this year, is coloring eggs. J goes along to make me happy, but he really hates it. Too bad! Color them we did. And I've been eating them for breakfast since Saturday morning too. Yum!

J made the pink one that said I <3 U and the orange one with stick figures of the two of us. I made the blue one that said I <3 J.

Tomorrow is April!

A Daugher's Tale: The Memior of Winston Churchill's Youngest Child

"In this charming and intimate memoir, Winston Churchill’s youngest daughter shares stories from her remarkable life—and tells of the unbreakable bond she forged with her father through some of the most tumultuous years in British history.
The mutual love and affection between Mary Soames and her parents pours forth from every page of this elegantly written memoir. A Daughter’s Tale is both a moving personal history and a source of untold insight into one of the enduring icons of British national life."

This book was a birthday gift. It combines many of my favorite reading genres: history, biography, WWII, British life. The book combines current commentary from the author as well as many extracts from her personal diaries and letters. It begins even before her birth and introduces us to her family long before WWII. And we watch as she grows up into a teenager who enlists as an antiaircraft gunner in WWII while her father, Britain's Prime minister, runs the war. It ends with her marriage shortly after the war ends.

It's quite well written, and her diary entries are just unbelievable. She chats about the highest ranking military and government officials, not just in Britain but the world, with such familiarity. What an interesting life to have lived, seeing so much of major world events from the inside and knowing intimately the leaders making the calls.

As always when reading history books I learned bits that I'd previously not known. Excellent read! Not at all a dry or boring history either as it's painted through the eyes of a young woman with a fun social life, dear friends and a family connected to the highest places in the world.

a quiet week

It's been a quiet week. It started with more snow. I'm not exactly tired of the snow, we've had a month of it and not a whole winter. But I'm not exactly excited about it either. Christmas is gone and I'm longing for spring and green and flowers and warmth. All things I have taken for granted these past 3 years in California.

The snow didn't accumulate, it just twirled down and went away. It's been warmer, warm being a relative term. During the days it's been sunny and in the +20's. Odd that one really must notate the temperature with a + or a - before it here. Still bitter at night though, with a - always before the number. But I suppose we should be happy that there have been no more blizzards.

I'm really longing for rain. That is something we rarely saw in California, and so far here it's all been snow. I hope they have fabulous thunderstorms here!

J and I have been exercising. Monday-Friday we get in a workout. I in the TLF and he at the gym. He's got a PT test at the end of April that he wants to do well on. He lost 10 pounds before we left California working with a personal trainer. They seem to be harder to find out here, but he has kept up work at the gym. I'll be happy to get moved and have something other than a terribly hard concrete floor to use.

It was Grandma P's birthday on Monday.  I called and we had a little chat. Momma had been there since Friday with them. Abbie and Ryan are up for spring break and they stopped in on Friday as well. We had so hoped to get home for "spring break" with everyone else, but it wasn't meant to be I suppose. Too last minute and too expensive. And honestly, I think it would have been too hard to be home and cozy and lovely with everyone and then to return here to such an unfamiliar and un-homelike a situation.

It's Easter week and I've been watching one of my favorite old movies Easter Parade. It's not related to the most important part of Easter, Jesus dying for us and rising again 3 days later. But it's happy and nostalgic and full of spring. All the fancy clothes remind me of buying Easter dresses as a little girl, and the flowers remind me of lilies at church. And Judy Garland is one of my favorites.

 

I also finished a book this week, book review to come. It was very good!

Feeling Odd

March is almost over, I can hardly believe it. Next week is April and we finally get to move into our own space again. Apartment, home, temporary crash pad... I'm not sure what to call it yet or really how I feel about it.

I know moving stinks, it takes time to get the feel of a new place, to meet friends, to find your way around, to settle in and feel really comfortable again. Maybe it's just been so long that I am remembering it in my head, but not my heart and thus I've forgotten what it actually feels like. But I just don't remember this strange feeling of ... well, I'm not sure how to put it into words. I just don't feel right here yet. It feels so not like home, so unfamiliar, so foreign, so yuck. Not yuck bad, but yuck I don't fit in, I don't have a routine, I don't have a group of friends and family away from family. And I don't like it. Maybe the mountains of snow are making me claustrophobic. Maybe it's the fact that we've yet to be in any sort of house. Maybe I've gone through this and felt like this every time we've transplanted and I've just erased it from my memory.

Well future self, remember that this move you felt this way. And (hopefully) it will be short lived and you will settle in and find friends and it will all be OK! Chin up.

And now that I think about it, I remember feeling somewhat like this in Dover. Feeling isolated and unsure and just not right. And it passed.

And while I'm hashing out the odd and unpleasant feelings that come with moving I think another thing to keep in mind is that the more down time, the odder you feel. When we move and it is immediately busy you just don't have time to wallow pathetically. There are things to be done, houses to be cleaned and unpacked and organized. There is a job or training for J to jump into yesterday for 12+ hours a day. It's crazy, busy, stressful. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise because it sure doesn't leave so much darn time for analyzing feelings.

So future self, when you move again one day and are so busy and stressed that you'd give anything for a quiet and boring week with nothing on the agenda, remember how much you are longing to be busy and involved and not having enough time to feel bum right now.

This is an odd entry... But I think I'll post it anyway. Moving is odd and yucky and I want something somewhere written down about this one for future encouragement. (Just remember to gradually document the lessening of said odd and yucky feelings or this will not last as encouragement.)

Next week will be BUSY. So I'm going to try and embrace the lazy this week!

Fun Internet Stuff

Since being stuck in a hotel room for the last, well technically month, I've been doing a lot of internet surfing.

There has been far too much Pinterest lately:

 

 Pin/Photo Source

I've seen only two weeks of late winter in this new state, but already I am convinced that gardening and farmers markets will consume whatever summer there is here. Which inevitably leads to canning and preserving to make it last through these long and harsh winters. This actually looks like a really great resource!

  

Pin/Photo Source

 These are called buttermilk beignets. What that means is fried dough and obscene amounts of powdered sugar (one of my favorite things on earth). Need I say more? These will be made once I am in possession of my own kitchen again.

 

Pin/Photo Source

 I love chickens. I love eggs. One day I want a picturesque little backyard chicken coop. I do understand the ridiculousness of this Pin. But it illustrates that I've been on that website far, far too often as of late

 ~

I've been listening to a lot of Pandora. Now that's not particularly unusual. What is a smidge unusual is that I'm actually paying attention to it, bookmarking songs, albums, and artists that capture my attention. I've been listening to my country hymns station mostly; because it's comforting, because the lyrics help me get through some of these not so fun days, and because it reminds me of my Grandma P.

 

Here is some of my newly bookmarked music with links to the MP3 files and song previews.

 

  Roots Run Deep

"A new record is refreshing amongst the many modern worship albums that have been released lately. Here we have a collection of untraditionally traditional Sunday morning hymns played in a modern fashion by this singer/songwriter Jadon Lavik."

 

Firecracker

I'm not typically a folk music admirer. The a capella song Long Time Traveler on this CD caught my attention. Beautiful song.

 

The Living Room Sessions

Instrumental Hymns on the piano. When I heard one of the songs on Pandora I had to find out what CD it was from. Piano music always reminds me of my Momma. This is very soft and pretty.

 ~

The rest of these internet finds are random and in no particular order.

 

Downton Abbey Puzzle

 

Nerd alert. Yes, this is a 1,000 piece puzzle based on a BBC/PBS show. I realize this puts me into the cool things 80 year old ladies enjoy category. I'm good with that. I really think I need to buy this...

 

Modest Maxi

I. Love. This. Dress. It just looks so darn comfy! It's not even available until the end of April, but I'm seriously considering a pre-order. I'm also considering sleeping in this as well as wearing it to church.

 

Sun Gold Tomatoes

I had pretty grand gardening plans for this spring and summer. Since we'll be apartment dwellers instead of home dwellers, this severely cramps my gardening style. However, I am determined to plant a few things! I want my own herbs. And I am going to order these little gems; the sweetest darn tomatoes you'll ever taste. It's like eating candy. I don't even really like tomatoes, especially not raw, but I pop these like crack candy. Side note: this is one of my favorite seed catalogs/websites!

Idol Lies: Facing the Truth About Our Deepest Desires

  For a wonderful review from Ann Voskamp check out her blog here That is how I found this book. And I'm forever blessed that I did.

"Deep down, every woman longs for security, happiness, and love. Yet most women settle for weak substitutes like control, materialism, sex, and food. In Idol Lies, Dee Brestin explores the hidden idols that destroy a woman’s heart. Using biblical examples as well as her own personal experiences and those of other women, she helps readers move past their cravings to understand—and receive—what they’re really hungering for: an intimate, secure, life-changing intimacy with the True Lover of a woman’s soul."

When I bought Idol Lies my intention was to read it slowly, savour it and complete the bible study section in the back. I just couldn't do it, I could not read it that slowly! Although I marked up the book and started the study, I plan to go back and re-read it in order to finish the study.

So glad I bought this book, because it's a keeper, a re-reader, a mark up the pages and wear out the binding kind of book. It is really Excellent. I also think this book is universally applicable; guys check it out, this is not just a women's book. One of my top 3 books thus far in 2013.

Here are a few things I underlined as I read:

"we often have inordinate desires for God's good gifts, thus turning those gifts into little gods."
"Sin is not breaking rules but breaking God's heart."
"the response our Bridegroom wants is not dutiful and dry religion but adoration, communion and intimacy."

And that's just a small sampling of a few early chapters. A deep, true book that will resonate with your heart and soul. READ IT. Seriously, just go buy it right now and dig in. GO!

Another neat thing about this book are the many references to other books, authors and pastors throughout. If you guessed that my to read list grew, you'd be correct.

Maybe the neatest part of this book though, was that I even bought it. I was in the Christian book store in Vacaville before the move and thought I'd try and find something to do as a personal Bible study during our move. I spotted two books and wasn't sure which to chose. I read a bit from each ... and then God knew I needed this one. It was even the more expensive choice, and those who know me will tell you my tried and true way of breaking a shopping tie is to chose the cheaper. But God knew this was the book for me during this PCS. It practically screamed things to me as I read.

Thank you God!

Maisie Dobbs

  "Maisie Dobbs, junior housemaid, is found reading in the library, assigned tutor Maurice Blanche who trains her in psychological investigative techniques and prepares her for Cambridge. After spending World War I nursing in France, she sets up as a private investigator."
Maise Dobbs was an ebook I was able to borrow from my library in California while in the midst of a move to North Dakota. Oh how I love my tablet and ebooks! Don't get me wrong, I will always prefer an actual hard bound book. But I thank J often for not listening to me pontificate about ebooks because on various travels, and now this PCS, they have been small saviours.

This was a lovely book. It combined the best bits of Agatha Christie: suspenseful but non-gory murder mystery, Sherlock Holmes: historic British setting with a quirky perhaps even nerdy psychological twist, and oddly enough, also Downton Abbey: turn of the century domestic and social plots, love stories and the great war.

It also passed the test of historical fiction most dear to my heart: grammar and language. I can not, and will not, stand reading a story set in 1783 where the characters use phrases similar to the following: "Dude, that's so lame." or "Like, I just don't like know like.". A little research goes a long way! There are a few parts where I winced at the words used, but I blamed it on the stress of war. Overall this book really and accurately transports you to a different place and time.

The best part of this book is that it is #1 in a series! Hooray for finding a good book that has more parts. I've got book #2 on hold from the electronic library already. Excellent fiction.

I interrupt the book reviews to report breaking news...

Yesterday was quite the day!

We leased a new car (photo below). J had been planning on leasing a new Cadillac, but at the last minute decided to be smart practical and we went with a new 2013 GMC Terrain instead. It's got 4-wheel drive and an engine block heater. We fit right in with the Canadians!

Then we ordered new car #2! Yup, we're getting two new cars all at once. Our currant Terrain has retained it's value very well, so J decided that it was time to trade it in (insert my sad face here) and buy a replacement with 4-wheel drive! Trust me, I wasn't sold on all this heavy duty, 4-wheel drive propaganda until we arrived and lived through about 10 days of "mild" late winter weather. Now I'm all about the biggest, heaviest, as many wheel drive as you can buy car. Just show me where I sign.

So... drum roll please, we will be purchasing a 2013 GMC Accadia! The custom order arrives in a few weeks. It's basically our current car + a third row of seating. I think J may have purchased it solely for the transport of his dearly beloved golf clubs after I told him he wasn't allowed to move with them one more time. ;-)

It may not be his dream Cadillac, but he got to pick everything he wanted and with the low lease payments on the Terrain and our trade in, we ended up saving a lot of money. We're hoping the timing works out so that when we're ready to move next time our lease will be up and we will only have one car to drive again.

Then we finally got word that we were approved for the apartment! So we are un-homeless! We get the keys April 2nd and I'm hoping to move in April 3rd. But I'm sure that will all change pending the moving company. I'm still trying to get in touch with them. But we're pretty excited to get our stuff back and continue the house wait in comfort!!

So yeah, a lot happening around here. Thankfully it's all good.

The plans for the weekend are trying a local pizza place tonight, maybe some bowling on base, and church #2 on Sunday.

The Chronicles of Narnia Radio Theater Style

  "Between the lamppost and Cair Paravel on the eastern sea lies Narnia, a mystical land ... Into this enchanted world comes a group of unlikely travelers. These classic stories have enchanted millions around the world. Radio Theatre brings them to life in this dramatized audio production. Recorded in London with an all-star cast of England's brightest talent from the stage and screen, an original orchestral score, and cinema-quality digital sound design, this innovative recording provides hours of entertainment"

I'd read some, not all, of these books as a child. J has seen the 3 recently produced movies but never read any of the books. At $25 for 19 CDs that contained 7 books I couldn't pass this up and we listened to the entire series on our 6 day trip across the Western states.

The not so good: these are "abridged". I hate that about audio books and I usually look very closely to ensure they aren't. These didn't strictly say one way or another, but knowing the books I realized it. I say "abridged" because it may just be that they are altered to be a production, similar to creating a stage play and not strictly abridged. So they're not word for word out of the books, but they're close. Unfortunately the second negative was the actor who plays Aslan. The greatest, strongest, most majestic and mysterious character turns into, well, as J said: "it sounds like he's a crack head." I think it was the actor trying to sound like a lion while reading his lines and it just did not work. Thankfully Aslan doesn't have a ton of speaking parts in most of the books.

The good was everything else. It was fun to have background music and sound effects, it made you feel like you were in the story. I also liked how the various characters had different voices. It made 6 days of pretty boring driving go quickly! And J who isn't a big reader enjoyed them a lot! It made me want to read the books again... so that might have to happen at some point this year.

Another neat feature is that each story is introduced and ended by C.S. Lewis' step-son and thus you learn neat facts about both author and books along the way.

Going to look into more Radio Theater (it's a focus on the family thing, who knew?!).

The Spirit of Food: 34 Writers on Feasting and Fasting Toward God

 "You are invited to a feast for the senses and the spirit! Thirty-four adventurous writers open their kitchens, their recipe files, and their hearts to illustrate the many unexpected ways that food draws us closer to God, to community, and to creation."

The Spirit of Food was a gift from my Momma for Christmas. I'd purposely been waiting to read it until we moved because it was new and it wasn't a library book I had to worry about giving back.

AMAZING BOOK! Before the end of the first "chapter" I was in love. I say "chapter" because it is a collection of stand alone essays or short stories. Often as a homemaker I feel discouraged; like I play a menial or unimportant role. This book spoke to that part of me and said, you as the preparer of food and the hostess of your home are very important. It elevates eating, food preparation, gardening, baking, cooking, entertaining, hospitality, etc. to a whole new level. Great stories and so much Christian and Biblical perspective.

Two other awesome parts of this book are that it is such a fantastic resource! Each section ends with a recipe. Yes please! And each "chapter's" author gets a little intro bio that talks about their other publications and some of their favorite authors so I've got quite a few new "to-read" books to add to my never ending list.

My only complaint, and it's really not one, is that I read this while in the middle of a PSC. All I wanted to do was plan my container garden and bake and cook! Sadly every tool I need for all of that is in boxes.

Along with The Screwtape Letters, this is a top book of 2013!