The Gospel & a Workout at 5 a.m.

Happy Easter!

We did something new to us today: we went to a sunrise Easter service at Red Rocks.  We (and by 'we' I mean 'I') always meant to go to the one at Pearl Harbor but year after year we (I) valued sleep more.  I don't have many regrets about missed Hawaiian opportunities, but that was one of them.  So I was determined not to make that mistake in Denver - not that I have to worry about it, though, because we are never leaving here ever no matter what because I love it too much.

When our alarm went off at 4:15 A.M., G goes, "Are we still doing this?"

The time on the microwave clock when we left the house:

We, and 500,000 other Christian pilgrims, made the dark trek up to Red Rocks.

Oddly enough, the early morning traffic was the easiest part.  As soon as we left the car, we walked uphill for about 20 minutes, then up enough steps to make it a religious experience for believers and non-believers alike.  Imagine 5,000 steps.  Then 5,000 more.  I was sure I would see God one way or the other this morning: He would come to Denver or I would keel over and go to Him.  I was covered in sweat when I got to the top and my glasses were fogged over.  I was surely a sight to behold.

It was worth the climb.

The sun began to make its ascent.  This view of my city is one of my new faves:

There is something inspiring about being around huge stones and thinking about one that was rolled away.  There is also something inspiring about rising in darkness and awaiting the light, knowing that it is on its way, knowing that it will be there - no question - at the appointed time.

And also?  There is something miraculous about driving home and spending three hours on the couch.

Amen, and amen.  My legs are already sore.

Something new

Wasn't I just saying something about wanting some novelty in my life?  Here's a new project I'm involved in as part of my Supper Club.  You foodies may want to check it out!  The tone of it might sound a tad familiar.  :)

Speaking of food, in a few minutes I'm going to head out to Dbar (my caloric lover) and grab some desserts for tonight.  It's the most beautiful day ever and we're going over to Nat King Cole's house tonight for a feast fit for kings.

Her husband is not a professional chef, but he should be.  He should quit his job immediately and open up a restaurant and I'll spend all of my hard-earned money supporting him.

I'm tempted to wrap my desserts in tin foil and try the whole I-slaved-in-the-kitchen-all-day-making-these routine, but alas, they know me too well.

I've also discovered this week that my imbibing tendencies of late do, in fact, have their limits.

Most people learn this valuable lesson in college (or even in high school if we're being honest).  I learned it at the ripe old age of...well...you get the picture.  But the good news is that I learned it.  The past couple of days I discovered that one does not recover from a bit too much tequila by...drinking more tequila.  Even if it's the good stuff.  Even if it's the expensive stuff.  My body has been like, WHAAAAAAAAAT, PRAY TELL, IS GOING ONNNNNNNNN?

Just a wee bit too intense for my delicate sensibilities.

I blame most of it on a combination of this girl and the bizarre expectation of my employer that I work five whole days a week.

Time to get outside, play some Taylor Swift at 500,000 decibels on my ipod, and buy some sugary sweetness.

Enjoy the weekend - and Happy Easter!

TGIF, people!

New Seasons

Some of the Easter and Spring decor at this time of year cracks me up.  I offered to dye Orca a nice pastel color to give her a break from the black-and-white, but I don't think she's interested.

I'm ready for a new season, and I don't mean the weather.  It's funny; the past almost-year of my life has been a new season, one desperately needed, one of transition.  It has had its share of stressful moments, and now that we are finally getting settled into a normal pace of life - together - and adjusting to a new city and a new home, I want to breathe a little and enjoy it.

I really am not one of those people who thrives in a continually-shifting environment.  I like to wake up in the morning and have a fairly solid idea of what the day holds.  (Side story:  For a time I taught Critical Thinking to Army soldiers.  It was one of my favorite jobs but the travel was too much for me so I eventually moved on to something else.  Anyway, during that season, so many people asked me if I had served in the military!  Um, no.  They always seemed surprised!  I know and admire so, so many people in the military, but it was never something I was drawn to.  My personality is just not cut out for it.)

Back to my original point:  At the same time, in the midst of a routine, I crave novelty.  And at this point in life I'm trying (1) not to eat everything in sight, and (2) not to buy new things, or anything really, if I can help it.  So the novelty, the subtle changes I crave, have to come from somewhere else.

There is an internal part of me that gets restless easily, and I seem to be fighting the same battle over and over these days.  It's not something I can go into, but it's one of those situations that causes me to roll my eyes at God and go, "just give me a different problem to deal with."  He rolls His eyes back and mentions something about Divine timing and bearing fruit.

The past two springs have been the most difficult seasons of my life.  So bad, in fact, that when Christmas rolled around this year, I sort of braced myself for January - May.  And you know what?  All of a sudden we're already at April!  I don't even know where the past couple of months have gone; for the first time in what feels like an eternity, the long winter, long beginning of spring just...passed.  And the non-ending, never-changing, exhausting mental battle of mine didn't drag me completely down this time.  So that's something.

I think of that when I whine about wanting a different problem.  Because the truth is, as hard as things may be (and we all have our hard things), I am sort of, kind of, almost ok with the unique problem set tailored to me.  Know why?  Because it's almost April and we still start and end every day wrangling Orca up to the table for her meds.  I didn't even think she would be here to see 2013, much less to hop her way through the first quarter of it!  Because G is out here, finally.  Because we both have good jobs and can pay the bills and can plan a vacation to Hong Kong and Singapore.  Because we have good friends.  Because the days are beautiful in Denver, and we got to move out West.

So I'll take my same old battle, and I'll put on the armor and sigh as I walk onto the field.  Because this is my battle and apparently someone wants me to fight it until I win.

Which has, of course, already been done for me in Easter itself.

This Time Last Year...

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

This is perhaps the easiest and tastiest chili I know how to make (I came across the recipe here).  And it includes Rotel which automatically means it will be wonderful.

Sorry about my crappy phone pic but it really is a miracle I have the restraint to stop and take a picture of food before diving in.

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

Ingredients

--1 can tomato soup
--1 can black beans
--1 can sweet corn, undrained
--1 can Rotel
--1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix
--1 tsp cumin
--1 Tsp chili powder
--1 tsp onion powder
--8 oz light cream cheese
--2 chicken breasts, chopped

Directions

--Turn crock pot on high.
--Place uncooked chicken in it.  Top with beans, sweet corn, soup, Rotel, ranch seasoning, cumin, chili powder & onion powder.
--Stir together to combine.
--Put block of cream cheese on top without stirring it in.
--Cook for 3-4 hours.
--Once chicken tears easily, it is done.  Stir it together to combine, and serve.

I serve mine with tortilla chips.  Enjoy!

A Good Balance

This weekend was a very good balance of relaxation and productivity - it was just what I needed.

Saturday was all snow, which meant we had to hole up and do what we do best.

Later in the day, we did stir.  We made a valiant attempt to rescue the treadmill from downstairs storage but it is not meant to be.  It is stuck down there until someone much more motivated than us can get it out.  So we won't be turning the apartment into a gym any time soon.

Yesterday we summoned the strength to go grocery shopping.  For the record, I just do not have the patience for all the people.  This was the shortest line we could find.  We have been known to wait longer in line than the time it took us to get all the groceries in the first place.

Which made our reward system all the more necessary:

We are trying to be more disciplined about taking our lunch to work most days of the week (our goal is 4 days).  This is important because we are both surrounded with yummy options that have turned out to be expensive and calorie-saturated.  So I was productive yesterday afternoon, unpacking the groceries and putting them directly into the oven to make several meals for myself this week.

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

Roasted veggies

Not pictured: marinated chicken, green bean casserole & soft taco left-overs from dinner last night.  Now I have no excuse not to eat healthy (and more cheaply, and conveniently) the rest of the week.

I'll close with an exciting find of late:

Have you tried this?  It's like an answer to prayer - all the taste of Juicy Fruit gum (all five seconds of it, ha) without the sugar!  Yummo.

An Easter Book

If you have not read this book, go get it, hole up in a closet, and pore through it immediately.

King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, by Timothy Keller

Orca put it down long enough to let me take this picture.

In the introduction to this book, Keller writes:

"[The book] is an extended meditation on the historical Christian premise that Jesus's life, death, and resurrection form the central event of cosmic and human history as well as the central organizing principle of our own lives.  Said another way, the whole story of the world - and of how we fit into it - is most clearly understood through a careful, direct look at the story of Jesus.  My purpose here is to try to show, through his words and actions, how beautifully his life makes sense of ours."

The book follows the gospel of Mark (a fast-paced, action-packed Biblical narrative) in its description and portrayal of Jesus.  The intent is to convey what the original writer(s) of Jesus's time were trying to convey about him, and also why those portrayals and descriptions were (are!) important.

In these days (and in our culture) of moral relativism and religious tolerance, at times it can seem rigid and uninformed to point out one sole thing as "the truth" that will make all other claims false.  Keller very gently (and intellectually) points to Jesus as the dividing point in history.  He does not bash other religions but deftly points out key differences in Christianity.  He does not bash doubters, but respectfully (and meticulously) responds to their arguments against God.  Additionally, and it bears noting, he does not bash believers either, but gently points out the times we miss the forest for the trees, and why those dang trees are important to begin with.

Keller tackles complex, emotionally-ridden topics with both attention and ease; his writing style and speaking style are so approachable that I always get the feeling I walked in on him having tea with some good friends.  His tone sounds like he's sitting back, with a friendly smile on his face, and thoroughly enjoying the conversation.  He has been called "The C.S. Lewis of our time" and it's easy to see why.  I want to pull up a chair, sneak a glass of wine under the table, and join him.

In my opinion, we live in sensationalistic times.  Maybe I feel it too deeply or am too sensitive to it, but it is hard to turn on the news these days without my heart rate soaring into the stratosphere as commentators and reporters have heated discussions about everything from politics to pet sitters.  I truly appreciate how Keller can take the most important topic in the world, in all of our lives whether we believe or not, and have a measured conversation about it.

For that reason I recommend this book for Christians and non-Christians, for the curious, the skeptical and the disciples.  Anyone who has ever wondered about this Jesus guy and what the fuss is all about, and anyone who thinks they already know everything about it, will find important take-aways.

Enjoy!  And Happy Easter prepping!

The Rabbit Nursing Home

Welcome to Dawrighthouse Rabbit Nursing Home.

We specialize in the old, arthritic and cancerous.

Our top-notch medicines meet every bunny's need,

As well as our state of the art facilities.

Our staff is world renowned,

And our bunny care is top of the line.

Now, would someone please pay us? We're going broke over here.

*We accept cash, money orders, all major credit cards and volunteers to assist with the manual labor.

TGIF, people!

The Siren song of Sonic...no one is immune.

Fantasizing

So I was looking through some old before/after pics we took of various rooms in the house as we downsized and cleaned up, preparing to rent it out.

I came across these of the laundry room:

Before:

After:

Is it sad that I'm fantasizing about how big our old washer and dryer used to be?  I caught myself gazing adoringly at this picture; the ugliest room in our old house is now so endearing to me.  **sigh**

Meanwhile we're in the process of further crowding our apartment; we're bringing up the treadmill from storage soon.  It will join the stationary bike (somewhere - I have no idea yet) so that we can burn all kinds of calories in the safety and comfort of our own home.  I'm soooooo much more likely to hop on the bike and read or watch TV if I don't even have to walk the 200 feet to our apartment gym to do it.  I see the calories practically burning themselves and me looking like a supermodel in time for our summer Asia trip.

This is just sub par...

Stuck on a lifeboat with a tiger

Source

When the peeps were here over the weekend, we watched Life of Pi.  I had been hesitant to see the movie because I enjoyed the book so much (it occurs to me that I sound like a real joy on this blog: hesitant to read book series, try out nerdy game stores, etc.).  In fact, I own the book and have read it multiple times; it is extremely interesting, complex and beautiful.  However, it's also...mental.  I didn't believe the internal emotional and spiritual struggles would be adequately conveyed on screen.

In fact, they were and they weren't.  The movie, although it started a bit slowly, did a surprisingly good job of letting the viewer in on Pi's state of mind.  Although the book wins every time, I do recommend watching the movie for the stunning images.

Source

I highly recommend the book.  Life of Pi is the story of a young Indian boy's coming of age that is interrupted when his family decides to move to Canada.  It is a complicated journey for them, though, because Pi's dad owns a zoo and must first transport the animals to South America (I think). So the family and all the animals board a Japanese freighter - which of course sinks - leaving Pi alone on a lifeboat with a few random animals and then eventually with Richard Parker, the tiger.  Their journey at sea is a remarkable one that involves the struggle for survival (internal and external), the search for God, and the miracles of life.

Source

I recommend the movie after you have read the book.  :)

Enjoy!

Winter is Coming (A Game of Thrones)

I'm not usually one to read books that are part of a series (Harry Potter, Hunger Games and the Red Mars books aside).  No particular reason for this - it's just that I tend to gravitate toward books that stand alone.  So when I read, I hop from book to book with no thought of a continuing theme, much less a continuing story line.

Until now.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

I had heard about how popular the Game of Thrones book series is (now a major HBO series as well), but it did not sound like my kind of read.  Generally speaking, fantasy books aren't my thing, plus, the only people I heard rave about them were guys and let's face it, their endorsement isn't gonna reel me in when I know both Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner have books out that I haven't read yet.

But I got caught in a bind.

During my last trip to VA for work, I finished The Kitchen God's Wife and was left with no book to read on the way back to Denver.  My coworkers were more than happy to bring me the first book in this series, devious smiles on their faces because they knew I was backed into a literary corner.  The airport terminal I flew out of didn't have any book stores, so everyone involved knew I would be reading this.

To be classified as part of a Fantasy genre, A Game of Thrones doesn't read that way.  You feel more transported to the past than to a different world altogether.  People fight on horseback, live in castles and fortified cities, transport messages across the miles by using ravens.  There are hints, though, that something is amiss; there are tales of life behind the wall, dragons of long ago, children of the forest, and dead men with icy eyes that walk as if alive.

Martin presents the story through the eyes of several characters, which can be confusing in the beginning when the reader doesn't yet know anyone.  Eventually this writing style works, though, because it presents the events through several lenses and continues the suspense well.  The story follows the Stark family of Winterfell, a northern forest town.  They live in a time where the seasons can last for years; the catch being that the longer the summer lasts (10 years, 15 years), the longer the winter will last.  Winters are so rough that they have become part of the colloquialism, a way to interpret life's events.  No matter what, winter is coming.

Before you know it, despite your very best efforts, you will be sucked in to the story.  Even though the book is long, it is easy to pick up and put down as necessary because the story is divided neatly into those narrative chapters.  There may be a time or two when it is easy to get lost in the history of each family, the ancestors going back to who-knows-when (think Lord of the Rings) but these descriptions are rare and usually brief.

There are only five books released, with another two planned to cap off the story line.  When my coworkers gave me this book, it was with a stern warning to take my time and not fly through it.  I was like, yeah yeah.  Then I got into this one and realized I'm in for a world of hurt.  I just finished it a couple of days ago and am already well into the second book of the series.  As much as I tell myself that I'll stop and read other books in between, I kind of already know that I won't.  Which means that in a week or two, I'll be one of those poor souls waiting for the next book to come out.  This goes against my life philosophy.

I recommend that you read A Game of Thrones when you're in the mood for a good story, and for something a little different.

Enjoy! (And if you get into the first one, do yourself a favor and just plan to plow through all of them :)

Not Joking about the Food

When I say we planned a weekend of food with the peeps, I'm not joking.  You know I never joke about food.

Apeep and I spent several hours at Dbar on Saturday.

The place has a bistro feel; it's small with big windows to let in lots of light.  This is important so you can "eat with your eyes" before you eat with your mouth.  Although they specialize in desserts, their regular food is to die for as well.  This place has separate dessert menus for lunch and dinner.  Um, yes.  YESSSSSSSSSSS.

I'll give you a minute to fully appreciate it.

The above picture is the best grilled cheese I have ever eaten.  I could have crawled inside it and taken up residence.  The salad in the background is mainly just for show.  I ordered it so that I could convince myself I was eating healthy.  It worked.  Also, the tomato bisque is like one big vegetable, right?  The cream is incidental really.

For my dessert I ordered the milk and cookies.  When they say "ice cold milk" they mean it - and all the cookies were baked to order.  I wore pants with an elastic waist band and enjoyed every bite.  Everyone has a skill; mine is eating.

After the guys made the nerd circuit, they settled in at home with a board game while we napped so we could recuperate for dinner and a movie.  I made the mistake of napping on the couch, which is within hearing range of the nerdiness.  I won't be making that mistake again.

Orca spent most of the weekend relaxing in her pajamas.

We started Sunday off with a tasty brunch - please notice I also got bangs this weekend.

We went to Red Rocks and burned 1,500 calories simply by watching other people run up and down the steps.  They stop along the way to do planks, jumping jacks, etc.  I get exhausted just thinking about it.

In case you think I'm done talking about food, I am not.  We went home in the early afternoon because I had to prepare to host Supper Club at my place: Fondue Night!  But that's a whole other story.

I'm in deep depression right now because the peeps leave today for a cabin in the mountains and they refuse to take me with them.  Something about leaving their kids at home and wanting time to themselves, blah blah, I wasn't really listening.