Some new habits

Well, unfortunately, my "blogging" is definitely an area that will see a hit from this new adventure of going back to school. For those who actually stop by and check out this little site of mine, I will still try and get out a post every week, or at least every other week, and I will still faithfully check out your sites whenever I get the chance where I enjoy reading about the happenings in your life and your fun thoughts, ideas, and inspirational stories. Just please bare with the irregularity and often times rushed and boring manner of these posts of mine that will probably ensue...

Anyhow, I've always enjoyed and almost thrived on being busy, but I definitely think I will let out one huge sigh of relief once this year is over! My colleagues, professors, students, and classes are all awesome so I think I will definitely love much of what this year has in store for me, but I'm sure I'll be quite happy once this whirlwind passes :).

This weekend was a wonderful time to just chill-ax a little, however; while Steve was being inspired at the men's retreat with our church out in Long Island (ironically enough), I decided to take a quick trip home. And I do mean quick- I left Friday from Stony Brook on the LIRR to Penn Station then caught the Megabus from NYC to DC, getting into my parent's abode around 8:30 that evening. Then we left this morning at 9:30 to catch the bus in DC, and I came right to work after arriving into Penn around 2:45pm. I did have a wonderfully pleasant surprise though, of my sweet hubby waiting for me when I got into Penn Station, so at least we got to enjoy a yummy lunch together before I started work at 4.

Alas, I digress. As I often do...

The visit went by way too fast, but I got in some fun mommy-daughter time with pedicures and shopping, got to see my brother, and even got to see my Toodaddy (grandpa), as he, Mary Catherine (his wife), and Susan (her daughter) came down for lunch. It was a gorgeous day as we ate lunch overlooking the Potomac River. All in all, it was a great trip.

Getting back to the "new habits" though... I mentioned in my last post my desire to become more steadfast in my prayer life and I'm happy to report some changes since setting out do accomplish that challenge. I spend much more time in prayer now when I would've otherwise just let my mind drift. As my goal originally was to spend my walks to and from work in prayer, and that's been modified to spend my crazy, rushed, ride on the 6-E trains of NYC's illustrious subway system in prayer instead, it's been an interesting transition.

I'd love to have quiet time at home where I can devote a good hour of my day in silent prayer and reverence, but it's been kinda cool to force myself to be in communication with the Lord instead of muttering under my breath at how rude that guy is taking up two seats while the elderly lady struggles to hold onto the metal pole as she tries to maintain her balance, standing jammed between smelly people while the E train violently maneuvers its way along the tracks... So now, I find myself coming up with things to pray about that for whatever reason, I never made time for when I would say a quick five minute or so prayer after reading my bible. It is a challenge to stay focused, and I don't always remember, but I hope to continue this tradition of just speaking with God wherever I am.

Also, Steve and I are now praying aloud together before we go to bed. Usually, my routine would consist of my head hitting the pillow after Steve and I kissed good night, and immediately begin, "Dear Lord..." and after sincerely trying to devote one last moment of my day in prayer, I would inevitably drift off. Now, since we're praying aloud with each other, it forces us to remain awake for a few precious moments longer, while also giving us a precious moment together and a precious moment with Him.

This post is already becoming long-winded (although I don't really feel like it had much substance- I blame my tiredness!), and I'm sure you get the drift. Prayer is important. Obviously. These past couple of weeks have shown me that I can be in steadfast prayer even if my situation doesn't seem to conform to what might be an ideal setting, and I think Steve's and my new habit of praying aloud together each night is going to do wonders not just for our relationship with our Father, but with our relationship with each other as well.

Steadfast

Today we heard JR teach on the last chapter of Colossians. I rarely get many of those final chapters in the new testament- where the writer is thanking people, and mentioning all these seemingly random folks... and JR preached a whole sermon on it! It ended up being a great lesson though, and one particular challenge he gave to us is to be in "steadfast prayer." That really resonated with me, especially over these past couple of weeks with the onslaught of the school madness (side track- see below), as I've been very lax in my prayer life.

(School by the way, is off to quite a bang but going well, although this week will be the real test as lessons will be starting! All in all though, the train ride's not that bad cause I can *hopefully* be very efficient and get stuff done, and in the end, I think I'm gonna come out of this phase having learned an awful lot. It's been quite an overwhelming roller coaster ride as I try to "foresee" how crazy my life is going to become and attempt to plan everything detail by detail, but it's also been a good test in faith and trusting!!! Again, I'm sure more on this will come...)

But, back to steadfast. According to the trusty dictionary.reference.com site that I was directed to when doing a Google search, steadfast means:

1. fixed in direction; steadily directed: a steadfast gaze.
2. firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment, etc., as a person: a steadfast friend.
3. unwavering, as resolution, faith, adherence, etc.
4. firmly established, as an institution or a state of affairs.
5. firmly fixed in place or position.

Whoa. This word is loaded! The adjectives- firm, steady, resolute, established, unwavering- really stand out to me, and really convict me in how un-steadfastly my prayer time has become. My time with Him has been irregular, unfocused, random, drifting, etc, so now, the challenge is on.

Originally, I set out to:

"Spend my walks to/from work in prayer for an entire week"

Now that I'm only working at Lincoln Center three evenings each week (wordy side note- tonight is one such evening and is s-l-o-w, hence giving me the time to finally update the blog personally! Although, my husband did a great job with his post last week- I'm sure he'd love to hear from you and what you thought of this new found interest of his. Leave a comment and let him know!), I won't be walking through the dark and mysterious park when leaving at 9pm, so No. 18 on the list has to be a bit modified.

Since I have quite the commute to take the place of these walks, I'm determined to make this the week where I have very intentional and steadfast prayer, totalling at least an hour of my day (the time it would usually take to walk to work round trip), on the LIRR train or the 6-E trains, and hopefully kick start the beginning of a new phase of my prayer life.

Our church also holds communal prayer times at the church office called "Upper Room" and in private homes, but they both take place on Thursday evenings- one of the three evenings I'll be working at LC- so I'm hoping our community group can become more focused and intentional in our group prayer time, and Steve and I want to make an effort to spend more time in prayer as a couple together, as well.

There is so much to pray for - our world, our country, our city, our spouses, our families, our church, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, ourselves (!)- the list goes on. Hopefully I will really focus on each this week and not quickly pass by the many issues that need my prayerful, steadfast attention because my mind has become overrun by the many other thoughts that occupy my brain. I'll let you know how it goes and would appreciate your prayers on this one. :)

Guest Blog: A developing problem

Becksta here first: heading back to school has taken over so no time to post anything this week. Alas, my wonderful hubby has some very important things on his mind that he'd like to share in this medium that we like to call the "blog world." Quick update on my end though- I did accomplish No. 21 this month:

"Take notes on JR's (or Kenny's) sermons for a whole month"

I definitely paid more attention as a result. There were some amazing sermons this month as JR and Kenny explored the book of Colossians with us, and I wish I had a moment to hash out some of things that were taught. Maybe someday... as for now, please take a moment to read Steve's post.

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I always figured that my first foray into blogging as a guest post here would either be something artistic - like sharing some picture I took, or some attempt at being creative - like writing from the perspective of our cat. For those of you who actually would look forward to something like that: Don't worry! I'll keep shooting, and "A day in the life of Parker the BratCat" will eventually appear here. I have something a bit more pressing on my mind for this post.

I'm sure most of you recognize that cancer is a serious issue here in the western world. It's also no secret that Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, is struggling to combat HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis. What may come as a bit of a surprise is this: in 2002, 7.6 million people worldwide died as a result of cancer. HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis claimed the lives of 5.6 million people combined. I was floored when I first came across those numbers.

Those numbers don't only represent the western world: it's estimated that there will be approximately 16 million new cancer cases annually by 2020, with 8.8 million (over half!) of them coming from the developing world. How bad is the problem in sub-Saharan Africa, for instance? Consider this:

-African women with cancer have double the risk of dying from that cancer as women of the western world.

-2.7 million years of life are lost worldwide due to cervical cancer each year. 2.4 million of those years are from developing areas (that's almost 90%) , with the western world losing 300,000 years. Cervical cancer accounts for 25.4% of female cancers in Africa.

-The incidence of Karposi's sarcoma (a type of cancer found in the skin, mouth, gut, or other locations) has increased by approx. 20 times since the onset of the HIV-AIDS epidemic in Africa.

-As of 2006, Sierra Leone, a country of roughly 2.55 million women, had no mammogram facilities in the entire country. Breast cancer accounts for 19% of female cancers in Africa.

-The most common male cancer in Africa is liver cancer. The predominant form is caused by the hepatitis B virus, and exacerbated by a toxin that is spread across the African continent. A vaccine exists for HBV (and costs ~$0.30 per dose), yet fewer than 7% of people receive the vaccine. The toxin can be detected and avoided, yet isn't.

As members of the western world, we can do something. As Christians, we're called to do something.

The obvious questions are "what" and "how?" That will require ingenuity, sacrifice, and service on our part. For my part, I'm looking into what I can do from over here in the U.S., and if I find something, I'll post an update here. Fortunately, we're not alone in trying to do something. For more information (and until I post again . . .), click on: Africa-Oxford Cancer Consortium.

steve

Home Team and Forgotten Island

Root, root, root for the home team, if they don't win it's a shame.
It was one, two, three strikes, they were out at the old ball game!

They didn't win, but it was no shame. Actually, it was a fabulous time. Friday night, Steve and I had the pleasure to experience some of baseball's finest at the legendary Yankees Stadium. We found out about 3 1/2 hrs before leaving for the game that a good friend of ours was able to get tickets (at no charge to us, thanks to our awesome pals!!!) from his co-worker; we couldn't resist- especially as it would fulfill No. 4 on my "30 by 30":

"Go to a Yankee's or Met's game"

We sat in the rain for about thirty minutes, but once the game got rolling around 8:30pm, we thoroughly enjoyed America's favorite past time with a hot dog, cheese fries, cracker jacks and the rowdy crowd with the "Bronx Cheer" (a.k.a. boos). It ended up being a close one in the 9th inning as the Yankees were down by one, with 2 outs, and 3 men on base... then Giambi hit a fly ball that was caught, and the game was over. Sigh. We walked out of the stadium at the bitter end around 12:04am. All in all, it was awesome.

Then, on Sunday, we took some time on No. 5 to:

"Take the tram over to Roosevelt Island"

This little island, separated from Manhattan's East Side by the East River, runs about two miles long. I loved the ride, taking the little tram over the river, and it was beautiful looking at the water and the incredible city view from benches set out along the river's edge. We also checked out the ruins of an old smallpox hospital that used to operate on the island. Kinda spooky, but cool to look at. Definitely worth the trip.

(More pictures of the game and Roosevelt Island in slideshow to the right... I still can't figure out how to get it into a post- any and all help on that topic is welcome!!!:)

Next week, the madness begins with back-to-back orientations at Stony Brook from Wed-Fri. (Remember- my one-way commute alone will take almost 2 1/2 hrs.) The stress and amount of time preparing for the placement exams has really worn me out lately, so I'll just be happy to be done with them and know what my schedule for the fall will look like. Hopefully it'll all be worth it in the end...

Rockin' Sunset and Rockin' Ribs

With my "back-to-school" adventure looming in the very near future, I've enjoyed experiencing as many of my 30 things as I can before my free time starts to diminish. This weekend was no exception when Steve and I returned to Rockefeller Center on Saturday evening to:

"Watch the sunset from the Top of the Rock"

A few months after we moved to NYC, we went to the Top of the Rock (during the day) with my parents and were blown away by the view, and particularly by the massiveness of our beloved Central Park. Watching the sun set and the city brighten up with lights as the sky grew dark from 70 stories up, proved to be even more breathtaking. The weather on Saturday also happened to be the definition of glorious; it was perfect! Over to the right are some pics of No. 6:

Then on Sunday, our community group joined another couple from Apostles to prepare and serve dinner to the residents and staff at the Bailey-Holt House (BHH) in the West Village. BHH provides housing to those afflicted with AIDS, and our church has partnered with the Isaiah 58 Ministry through Hope for New York to provide meals the 2nd Sunday of every month. Otherwise, the residents would be on their own for dinner that day.

So, eight of us enjoyed preparing some good old southern style cooking with a menu of Pungent Short Ribs, Fried Onion Strings, Cornbread, Applesauce, and Banana Pudding- all made from scratch and made with love :) . In their industrial sized kitchen, we made quantities ranging from 45-70 servings (!!!), with some comical mishaps along the way, including some out of control cream cheese... but overall, ended up with a delicious outcome and a lot of fun.

Recently, I agreed to take on the position of the Volunteer Team Leader with Is 58 for Apostle's Church, where I'll basically be the liaison between Apostles and BHH to make sure all is set up and runs smoothly for the 2nd Sunday meals. It's been great so far and I'm sure it will provide for many fun memories this year as we develop relationships with the residents and staff. I'm sure more will come on this new chapter!

Spoiled Rotten

Yesterday was fun. After a crazy busy week for Steve, I decided I needed to:

"Spoil my husband for a whole day- not his birthday!"

No. 22 on my list was definitely an experience worth repeating. I thought yesterday would be an appropriate choice as his collaborator from Stanford had just left, and after clocking nearly 80 hrs at the lab last week working together on a project, he could use some special treatment. Granted, he was still at work for the majority of the day, so another time I'll have to spoil him on the weekend, but a Tuesday made for an extra special, out of the ordinary "normal" day, so he liked that. :)

Here's a sampling of the spoiling:

* Woke up early to make pancakes and get our lunches ready

* Left a sweet note in his lunch and left him "I love you" txts and emails throughout the day

* Took a shower and wore a cute dress for when he got home

* Had a beer and "appetizer" (hehe, triscuits w/ cheese... nothing fancy, but tasty!) ready for him when he walked in

* Picked up fresh flowers for the table, and was blown away when he came home with a bouquet of flowers for me!!! Such a good man...

* Made one his favorite dishes for dinner- sausage risotto

* Had one of his favorite ice cream flavors (Haagen-Dazs' Sticky Toffee Pudding) over a peach crisp dessert I made

* Did all the clean-up, dishes, AND took the cat droppings out

* Gave him a massage

I'll leave it at that :) . Most of the above are things I should really do more often, and not just as a way to "spoil" my hubby, so it was a good eye-opener for me. It also made me realize just how much he does for me in a day...

Anyway, it was definitely fun to give him the royal treatment for a whole day, and I'm looking forward to finding more ways to show him just how much he means to me.

What are some ways that you spoil your special man? Please leave a comment with ideas and suggestions. :)

People, places, and things

By people, I'm referring to "our new friends." The story continues...

By places, I'm talking about the gorgeous Ft. Tryon Park in upper Manhattan on the west side, home to the Cloisters.

By things, I'm talking food. Good food. Really, really good food.

So, first things first- an update on our new friends. A great big, heartfelt thanks to those who commented on the previous post with such sweet and encouraging words. We certainly don't take credit for any good that may (or may not...) come out of this situation, and in hindsight there is much we coulda/shoulda/woulda done differently, but your comments were incredibly appreciated none-the-less. God has shown to be so faithful and in control throughout this past week, and He continues to lift weight off of our shoulders and into His hands.

We've found out much more about the situation as we've gotten to know this couple and the web grows more tangled. However, we felt very positive when we left them last Wednesday night at a hostel in Union Square, after they joined us for a fun evening at our place with our community group. There was good discussion about the sermon, yummy pizza and cookies, and we were able to help them on their resumes and had some work prospects set up.

Then, we didn't hear from them.

For days.

We left messages on Thursday, and then again on Saturday- nothing.

We had to admit, the break was probably needed. We were both feeling overwhelmed- the thought of finding them jobs, housing, food, clothing, etc was starting to consume us. And we figured maybe they needed a break from us, too. Some time to organize their thoughts, make a game plan...

OR...

Sunday afternoon, after lunch with our community group friends, we were approaching the intersection where we first met our new friends last Friday night, and as I was pointing out the exact spot, there she was. Steve and I went up to her and gasped at the pink, swollen, left side of her face and eye. When we first met, she mentioned abscesses underneath her arm, and she now had them on her face. It was terrible. And, they had lost their phone.

We couldn't believe it and weren't (and still aren't) sure what to do next. We got her some more food and a phone card and told her to please call us using the phone card and we'll go from there if they still can't find their phone. The phone is crucial- they can't get jobs if they can't be gotten a hold of, etc, etc, etc... :(

We're still waiting to hear from them.

So again, please pray for our new friends, and please pray for Steve and I as we continue to just try and lean on our awesome God and look to Him for guidance and wisdom. Thank you!

And on a lighter note~

We recently enjoyed doing two more of my "Thirty" things:

On Saturday, we took a leisurely, gorgeous walk through Ft. Tryon Park with Jay and Desiree (and precious baby James!) where I could

"See the Cloisters in Washington Heights"



and Tuesday night, we ate a delicious dinner at One if by Land, Two if by Sea so that I could

"Finally take advantage of Restaurant Week"




YUMMMMO! I had rock shrimp with linguine and snap peas as the first course and Steve had dive sea scallops with melon; for the main course, I had cobia fish over heirloom tomatoes in a light peach sauce and Steve had an amazing steak with ginger, onions, and potatoes; and for dessert I had a decadent chocolate cake with melted chocolate inside and coconut mousse on the side and Steve had a watermelon salad with sangria sorbet.

Delicious!

We had a fabulous time doing each, and hope to take advantage of restaurant week each time it comes around from here on out, and we plan on seeing the Cloisters in Washington Heights on many more occasions as well!

Our new friends

"Share a meal with a homeless person."

I'd like to reiterate that when I created my "Thirty by 30" list, it was not to have the intention of crossing things off, like "OK, that's been accomplished. Done." My hope and goal is that many of these items will encourage and inspire me to do them more, and that I can be molded into a better person as a result. Of course, there are some items on my list that are more lighthearted than others ("avoid petting the cat for a day", for example:), but on the whole, I take many pretty seriously.

Living in this city has changed my perspective on the homeless and the way we should see them and treat them. Attending our church and listening to the inspiring sermons from JR and Kenny (and Kristian!) have only furthered the desire in me to help these people.

Often times, Steve and I will hand them a $5 McDonald's card, a HFNY resource card, or offer to buy them a meal. We're occasionally turned down, but the majority of our experiences have been positive; those we've helped truly seemed grateful, but we always wonder what more we can do, and I get pretty overwhelemd when I can't help someone. We know we can't help everyone, but sometimes I wonder if my excuses are just that- excuses.

What's all this leading up to? Well, Steve and I have a story to tell.

While running errands up around 86th and Lex this past Fri night, we passed a young woman sitting on the sidewalk with a small cardboard sign that read "homeless- please help." We were pretty loaded down but didn't have any good excuse (there's that word again...) not to stop. I asked her if I could get her something to eat and she smiled and said "Sure, that would be great!" and I let her know I'd be right back with some pizza. I dropped Steve off at Petco with our bags in a shopping cart and went across the street to a pizza joint to get her a slice and a bottle of water.

When I returned, we talked for a little while about her situation and how she got there. Turns out she's married, had a baby several months back and got a severe blood clot as a result, and her husband lost his job while he was caring for her and the baby (in FL at the time). When they moved to her husband's family (in NJ), they were in essence "kicked out" and forced to try their luck on the streets of Philly, leaving their son with his family. After several harrowing experiences there, they decided to catch a bus to NYC and for the past couple of months they've been camping out in an abandoned house in the Bronx, below a few bridges, and behind some bushes they've found.

I told her I'd be back with Steve and some more pizza for her husband, and when we returned we met her husband and spoke with them some more. We told them about our chuch and invited them to come on Sunday; we left them with Steve's "diaconate" card with his number and our church's address, and then couldn't get them out of our minds.

Well, God is good. They showed up Sunday morning, with their pillow case full of their few belongings and were enthusiastic over the service. They sang, took communion, prayed- we were inpressed on Fri night when we met them that they kept bringing up Jesus, and their desire to get back into a church, etc. We never actually told them we were Christian, they just assumed when we mentioned church, that it was that kind of church. Not sure why, but I thought that was pretty cool. We were also impressed that to them, their biggest need right now was to find a job- housing was secondary. We knew they were serious about changing their situation.

It's amazing how the few people we told responded when hearing their story. JR and Kenny immediately offered the churchs' services in finding them a place to stay for the next couple of nights and getting them set up with an unlimited metro card. So our afternoon yesterday was spent getting them set up with metro cards, taking them to a hostel on the UWS and getting them settled there, stocking up on some toiletries and basic needs at a Rite-Aid, and sharing lunch with them.

I envisioned No. 16 on my list quite differently than what we experienced yesterday. There we all were enjoying combo meals at a Subway- four people who you probably would've guessed were just old friends. Much of our conversation was over their experiences as being homeless (days without food, having to pick through trash, getting mugged, being turned down at shelters, etc), but a lot of it was just plain talking- about our likes/dislikes, funny stories, etc.

Well, looks like this post has turned into another one of my very wordy ones, but I could just go on and on and don't really know where to stop- so much to say! Steve and I are feeling so much right now, and we know that we've made a commitment to this couple and that we must be willing to leverage our own lives now (our comforts, our resources, our time) to help them. We left them yesterday in a youth hostel with an air-conditioned room, clean sheets, and a shower for them for two nights, along with a packet full of resources from HFNY; from there, we're hoping to get them set up in another hostel or the "Y" while we (and AC) help them in looking for jobs, etc.

It's such a comfort and blessing to have our awesome church behind us, and all that they have already done to help. We'll hopefully be in touch with them tonight (someone bought them a phone the other day- how cool is that???) to see how they're doing, and we're hoping they'll join our Community Group this week.

Pray for our new friends. We pray that they will find a job to start them on their way of getting back on their feet; we pray that they will find affordable housing; we pray that they will experience God's love and provision through this time. Please also pray for Steve and I- that we will know how best to minister to them, and also have wisdom in discerning which ways we're unable to help.

There will certainly be more on this new chapter of our lives, and thanks for taking the time to read this ...

Four thumbs, two ticks, and a wedding

What a trip! We have returned from our tour down the east coast, and all in all, it was a good time. Never got to see anybody for a very long period of time, but we had nice visits with both sets of parents and my awesome friend, Cindy.

One of the most memorable portions of our trip, oddly enough, happened to be during our bus ride down from NYC to DC. In less than a four hour span, we watched quite possibly the worst movie we had ever seen (shown on screens throughout the bus), followed by one of the sweetest and cutest movies we've ever seen (on the laptop).

"The Eye of the Beholder"

Steer clear of this one! We actually burst out into hysterical laughter when the movie ended, in disbelief at what we had just wasted an hour and 1/2 of our time on. I can't even describe it... it was just bad. But we kept thinking it had to turn around, or there had to be some sort of twist, something to make it worth sticking through! But, sigh, never happened. Ewan McGregor and Ashley Judd couldn't save this one. Steve and I both give it two thumbs way down!!!

"Lars and the Real Girl"

Now this is a movie to see. I won't spoil anything for you, but if you want a feel good movie that makes you think, wondering "what would I do?" and "what would happen if...?," AND has you cracking up with stitches in your side, then this is for you. It was both one of the funniest and most heartwarming movies I've seen in some time, and as it followed one of the most wretched I'd seen in a while, that made it all the better. In fairness though, we did watch "Lars" again with my parents later in the week and loved it just as much the second time through, if not more. So this one gets two thumbs way up from us!!!

Otherwise, not too much else exciting happened on the trip, except that I had a tick on/in me- AAAHHH!!! While we were in NC visiting Steve's folks, we went to a beautiful wooded area so Steve and his dad could do some photography together, and lo and behold after we get home, who's the lucky winner of a tick embedded abdomen? You guessed it. Ick, not fun. Luckily, Steve's mom is a pro at removing them from the head and it wasn't the kind that carries Lyme Disease- whew! Gross none-the-less. Steve found one crawling on his arm on the car ride home and flung it out the window, so I'm not completely convinced it didn't come right back in and burrow into my flesh. Hehe, just kidding, love. I'm sure it was a different one...

Anyhow, at least there were some great pictures out of the whole thing and below is one my favorites from the bunch.

And here we are at the wedding reception with my Cinders (pals since 4th grade!!!) and her husband, Tim.

It ended up being a nice trip, but it's good to be back. :)

A Thousand Words

Don't be alarmed by the title- I'm still sticking to my goal of being less wordy. So below are some pictures that reflect the happenings of the Masons as of late, most of which were mentioned in last week's entry. They're in reverse order of what I had hoped, cause I can't figure out how to move them around once they're uploaded... anyhow, here goes:

Our new table!

Desiree's surprise 30th birthday party at the Gin Mill last Monday- fun times!

Our community group: Steve and I with Jay and Desiree Sholes,

Heather and Pete Little.

Last weekend at the mexican Fiesta party- Gasch Bash 08!

Yes, it does appear that I'm winking at the camera... such a flirt.

In Central Park last Saturday celebrating sweet, baby Kate's 1-year birthday!!!

Kate wasn't too sure what to think about Gracie... she was a good dog though last week; thanks Mom and Dad, for letting us enjoy her!

We also had a wonderful 4th of July celebration at the Sullivan's awesome new digs; we grilled out on their fabulous patio with Shawna's cool parents and our fun friends, Kristian and Katy Rose and The Dunbars- Jeff, Sarah, Jackson, and Chase.

And coming up this week... our tour of the Eastern seaboard! On Monday, we take a bus down to DC and stay the night with my parents in Alexandria, VA; we leave Tuesday morning for a visit to Steve's parents in Wake Forest, NC; Thursday morning we head back up to VA; then Friday afternoon, it's off to Westminster, MD for the rehearsal dinner and Saturday wedding of my dear friend, Cindy's, sister, Lisa. After staying one last night on Saturday with my folks, it's a bus back up to NYC on Sunday. Whew! Wish us luck... :)

Whittling down the Wordiness

OK, so my posts lately just seem to go on and on and for fear of losing readers (and/or commenters), I'm going to attempt a brief post! I don't do this blog thing solely for my own reading pleasure, so I will try to acquire the art of "concise"-ness. It may be a long shot, but I'm willing to try- wish me luck!

For starters on this new quest of mine, here are some quick tidbits on the life of the Masons lately:

* Great, albeit, short visit with my folks this weekend- as a result of selling their house (yeah!!!), we are now the proud owners of their beautiful kitchen table, and proud sitters of their sweet pug, Gracie, while they vacation in Maine next week.

* Stressful times for Steve at work:( and lots of reading/sightsinging/eartraining for me during the slow periods at work as I try and prepare for school this fall- aaah!!!

* Lots of practicing and going through pieces I learned as an undergrad as I prepare to teach undergrads this fall- aaah!!!

*Lots of busy evenings- enjoying dinner and/or just spending time with friends, Community Group, an NY Phil Summertime Classics concert, to name a few.

*Lots of celebrations- the birth of our Pastor's third child, beautiful baby Korey (congrats JR, Ginger, Neeley, and Judson!); birthday celebrations for Kristian, and then baby Kate , Jackie, and Desiree coming up; a fun summer fiesta party this weekend and...

*Celebrating that my brother, Daniel, has recently decided to move back east! Such an answer to prayer and we are sooo excited! More on this to come.

OK, time to stop before the rambling begins. Ha! Let's see how long I can keep the brief blogs going.

Happy Father's Day to a Dad and a Too-Dad

And Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

I've been incredibly blessed with amazing parents AND grandparents, so I'd like to say a few words about the two most special fathers in my life- my dad, Bob, and my grandpa, my Too-daddy.

These two men are some of the most unique men I know. They definitely don't fit any stereotypes, but in all good ways :)

My Dad
The first and foremost awesome quality about him is that he is a man of incredible integrity and deep faith. I pick his brain about in-depth questions I have about the Bible, God, and what it means to be a Christian, and he's always patient with me, answering with truth, conviction, and clarity. He reads dozens of books on the subject, the Bible in particular, and would even listen to the Bible on tape during his commute (something that always kinda cracked me up). He served as an elder at his past church for years, giving selflessly and generously of his time and money. My parents are great stewards, and have highly influenced Steve and I in how we handle (and spend) what God has entrusted to us. My dad is a man who loves God, and I respect him greatly for this devotion.

OK, to make sure this post doesn't turn into a mammoth length novel, I'll just keep this at a small sampling of a few other characteristics that I deeply respect, but that also kinda make me giggle, about my dad:

* I have never, let me repeat, never heard my dad swear in my 29 years of life. You know he's mad when "fiddlesticks" crosses his lips.

* I've never seen him lounging on the couch, pants undone, watching the game with a beer in his hands. Not that doing that is a bad thing, it's just not my dad.

* I remember with fondness when my parents and I were driving back from seeing the musical, "Beauty and the Beast" in DC and my dad got pulled over for going about 10 miles over the speed limit. That was hysterical to me- my dad getting pulled over for speeding! Even funnier however, was the officer asking what my dad had to drink that night. I couldn't resist- I responded, "maybe some milk and cookies!" My mom and I couldn't stop laughing and dad got by with a warning.

* He wears his baseball hats on top of his head, not on his head. They kinda rest gently on top of the head and my personal favorite of his is the red and white hat, that reads "Physics" in felt across the top. He's also particularly fond of his newsboy style caps, and has them in just about every color.

OK, that'll do for now. Dad, you've been an awesome father and I love you. Happy Father's Day!

My Too-daddy
Again, where do I even begin with this wonderful man I'm privileged to call my grandpa? This post could seriously go on for days and I'm not sure how to limit this, so maybe to honor my Too-Dad, I'll just do some free thinking/writing and see where it goes.

My dad's father died two years before I was born, so I never had the opportunity to meet him. I hear he was a great man, deeply devoted to his faith and family, and it saddens me that I never got to know him. Partly for this reason, my mom's father, my dear Too-daddy was especially dear to me. My only grandfather. And with a brother and two male cousins, I happen to be his only granddaughter. I'd like to think we share a special bond.

He, too, is quite a unique fellow. Some people don't know how to take him- his sense of humor, his stubbornness, his quirks, but I love those qualities in him. I have fond memories of sitting on his lap while he sang "giddy up to granny's house to get a piece of cake" and "fire bumper, eye winker, nose smeller, tom tinker, mouth eater, chin chopper..." You'd probably have to be there to get it, but us grand kids loved those songs!

Too-dad used to push us along in the "frogger" (a small toy vehicle in the shape of a frog), and let us ride on the back of the moped. He even had a name for all of us- "Posty's Team." Neily-Pealy, Sam-the-Man, Super-Dan, and Beck-a-beck. We even had shirts inscribed. Seriously. We were too cool. Where'd it all come from you may wonder? Well, "Posty" was the name I gave the teddy-bear he gave me when I was five after Too-dad's last name, "Postlethwait." Yeah, try learning how to spell that as a kid!

Like my dad, my grandpa is one of the most generous people I know. Boy, does he spoil us, but we never take it for granted. He doesn't want the government to have his money :), so he graciously bestows it on all of us and loves doing so. He's also very wise with his resources and spends it where it counts most to him- his family.

Speaking of family, Too-daddy was married to my "Nana-bug" for almost 50 years before the horrific Creutzfeld-Jakobs disease took her precious life in 1995. I adored this woman, and still mourn this loss. I'll reserve more on my Nana for a post all its own, but I can't have a post on Too-dad without mentioning her. As his happiness means the world to us, we were thrilled when he met another wonderful lady, another southern belle, Mary Catherine, and remarried in 1998.

My Too-dad is a spectacular man- at almost 84, he's going strong and doesn't look or act a day older than 65. I treasure the special relationship we share very deeply.

This post can't even attempt to do justice in describing the way I feel about my dad and Too-Dad. I love them both and hope they have a very Happy Father's Day!!!

Silverware and Wood=Five Years of Matrimony!

To celebrate five years of marriage, the contemporary gift suggestion is "Silverware," and the traditional gift suggestion is "Wood." Happy Aniversary, my love- here is a silver spoon and a wooden spoon, to show how much I love thee. What???

I've actually attempted to loosely match my previous anniversary gifts to Steve to the year's recommendation, and will probably stretch this year's gift to somehow fit, but really, I don't get these contemporary/traditional gift things (unless it's diamonds of course!).

Anyhow, if I were clever, I'd use this post to try to come up with some sort of symbolism about silverware and wood, and how they relate to marriage, but I'm not that clever, and I think it would probably just end up being pretty lame anyway. I just thought the title was cute, so moving on...

Since I'm not even going to attempt to be deep, I'd just like to instead honor my husband with five things in particular that I love about him as we approach our big day this Saturday, June 14th.

1. His commitment to his faith. I love that he wakes up over an hour before me and over two hours before he has to leave for work to have time in the Word and in prayer. Even when he could really use the extra sleep, he makes his quiet time with the Lord a priority. It is such an inspiration and encouragement to me, and I respect him so much for this. I also love how selfless he is in his commitment to our church, Apostles, and the load-in/out duties he co-leads, and leading our community group. When he's scheduled to pick up and drop off the van that carries our church equipment to our morning location on Sunday mornings, he leaves our place just after 7am and normally doesn't get back home after church until 1:30-2. But he never complains. I might, but he doesn't. He gives of his time and talents joyfully. I also love how he thoughtfully prepares our CG discussions with a printed sheet containing questions, "business items", etc- too cute. He loves the Lord, and it is very evident through his dutiful and joyful obedience to Him, an obedience I am proud of.

2. His commitment to me. Steve puts up with a lot being my husband. I'm quite a handful, to say the least. He deals with my whackiness, moodiness, flutie-ness, and somehow still manages to love me. In regards to my profession, no matter how much practicing I do and how much schooling I go through, it's just not a lucrative field. But, it's my passion, and I love it, and he knows that, and he supports me in it 100%, regardless of how much it ends up costing us financially, (and the costs in time...) or how little it contributes financially. I also love the little things- how he makes me breakfast in the morning and gets my lunch ready, how he writes me sweet poems and always gets creative with my birthday gifts, how he does the laundry because he knows how much I hate it, and just how he makes sure I always feel safe, secure, loved, attractive (to him, at least) and appreciated.

3. His commitment to his research. I believe my husband is absolutely brilliant. The things he tells me about his day at work just totally floor me. I mean, he's researching brain cancer- how cool is that? (Not cool as in brain cancer itself, of course, but cool as in he's working towards learning more about its causes, effects, possible cures, etc!). I think it's pretty awesome at least, and I hope he knows how much I respect his career choice, and his commitment to its greater good. Again, he could've chosen a field that comes with a much higher salary, more prestige, less work... or even if he still stayed with science, he could've gone into the medical field or biotech, BUT, he deeply cares about researching cancer, and it's worth it to him. An almost flawless straight "A" record through undergrad (he got a B in drama... hehe) and a PhD at age 27 after just five years- he could've gone into just about anything, gone just about anywhere, but he chose a field that means something dear to him and means something dear to others, regardless of the pitfalls, and I'm proud of that.

4. His "all or nothing" passion. Steve doesn't really do anything that's important to him less than 100%. For example, he's recently gotten very into photography. He'll spend hours on a picture making it just right, seeking out comments and suggestions on how an image can be improved upon, investing in better equipment- and this is just a hobby! He also really enjoys to cook, but rarely has the time to do it. So when he does have the time, he loves to surprise me with a carefully planned meal. Not just any meal, but dinners that require special trips for special ingredients, and take hours to prepare. He's even printed menus to match, on occasion. Makes me melt :)

And finally, enough of the sentimentalk talk, here's one final quality that I love about Steve...

5. He's hot. I'll spare the elaborations here ;).

It's been a great five years, my love, and I hope this didn't make you blush too much;). Happy Anniversary and I LOVE YOU!!!

Museum Mile - Love it here!!!

In one of the in-flight magazines during our flight out to Spain, we read that the 30th annual "Museum Mile Festival" in NYC would take place on Tuesday, June 3, offering free admission to nine different museums from 6-9pm. Huh! What a great opportunity for us take a chunk out of No. 1 on my "Thirty by 30" list,

"Hit the major NYC museums- Met, MoMA, & Natural History Museum for starters"

AND enjoy our awesome city with another reason why we love it here. Last night, it was off to the Met- we came, we saw, we didn't conquer...

We obviously weren't the only people to think a free museum night was a great idea, so it was pretty packed. And only the first floor was open to visitors. But, it was a fabulous, albeit short hour and a half whirlwind through one of the world's greatest museums. Lots of cool stuff to be seen, and was seen, in that brief period, and we're really looking forward to returning and enjoying another one of the incredible aspects of NY.

So, to mirror last week's post, here are some other things that rock about our city, state, and/or country that struck us while we enjoyed a different city and country a couple of weeks ago:

* Drinkable tap water and free bread. It's not that the tap water was unsafe or undrinkable in Spain, BUT, we weren't able to get it anywhere! No matter the type of restaurant/cafe/bar, tap water was just not an option. And all of those bottles of water at the equivalent of $3-$5 each really added up, not to mention the waste of throwing away all that plastic! As environmentally friendly as Spain was in many other ways, mentioned in the previous post, this was one area where they could learn a lesson from the US of A. And the basket of bread that is given before meals would show up on the bill at the end! This happened at just about every place we dined so we eventually had to specifically decline the bread, much to the waiter's shock and dismay.

* Faster service. Don't get me wrong- I love to take my time at a nice restaurant and really savor the food, ambiance, and company. But, when it's just lunch time, and I'm sitting indoors with a beautiful day outdoors and lots of sight-seeing to be done, my time could be better spent than waiting for my next course. In general, our dinners in Barcelona would last at least a couple of hours- sometimes we thought it was a bit excessive, but we were on vacation and it was late in the day so it was somewhat of a luxury to just relax and take it all in. We could let the slow service slide. But on our last full day, we decided to do a prix-fixe lunch with yummy paella, and ended up being indoors at that place for over two hours! Not exactly how I intended on spending that time on a gorgeous afternoon, but alas, thus is the lifestyle.

* NYC's abounding musical performances. Granted, most classical music concerts/recitals take place during the evening, with matinees on weekends, but, if I searched really hard, I have a feeling I could find some type of performance going on during the day on any day of the week here. I desperately tried to find some type of concert, any concert, during my one day by my lonesome in Barcelona; I did internet searches, asked tourist info kiosks AND the locals, and visited several music halls, finding nothing. There certainly were tons of things going on in Barcelona, but let's be honest, you simply can't top NY in this regard, which is another huge reason why I, in particularly, absolutely love it here! (* Related sidenote- saw the ballet last Wed and am seeing another one this Sat, going to the Phil tonight, then I'm playing with the worship band for church and in the orchestra for an opera company's concert this Sun, too- love that!*)

* Nude beaches here are the exception, not the norm. Nude beaches there are the norm, not the exception. Going topless was more common than baring it all, so while most of us American ladies don't appreciate seeing a multitude of other ladies showing off what their mamas gave them, even worse were those who did think it was acceptable to bare all. I mean, power to them for having the guts and self-esteem, but come on, put your clothes on, I don't wanna see that.

Of course, we could go on and on about why we love our city, state, and country, but I'll keep the list short with the aforementioned items that stuck out in particular during our trip. We had a great time in Spain and truly loved it there, but there's no shortage of reasons why we simply love it here, too!

Loved it there!

There are certainly ups and downs to being the wife of a scientist, but I recently had the opportunity to enjoy one of the awesome perks of my husband's job- international travel. Conferences in the research world tend to take place fairly regularly and tend to take place internationally (much to my excitement at this revelation), and last week Steve was fortunate enough to attend the Metastasis Genes and Function Conference (one of these days I'll have a post attempting to explain what is it "I think" my husband does...) in Barcelona, Spain. Now, obviously I won't always be able to take advantage of this luxury, but with our 5 year anniversary fast approaching, and Steve's portion of the trip covered, we couldn't pass up the chance to bring me out there for an early celebration. We arrived last Friday morning, returning this past Thursday afternoon, so with his conference only taking up the equivalent of about two days, it turned out to be a great vacation.

The story of our trip can be told in pictures found here:

Pics with us

Pics without us

Therefore, I'll limit this post to some things we noticed and particularly liked about Barcelona (or in some cases, even more broadly, European) living. Next week, I'll share some thoughts on some things we noticed and particularly like about US of A, and sometimes, particularly, NYC living. Neither posts are intended to bash either city or country in any way- they're just some interesting observations we made. So... here is a small sampling of some random reasons why we loved it there:

* Greener transportation!!! Case in point- our car ride to the Newark airport (~30 miles away) took almost two hours!!! Why? Because of all the cars, and all the big cars, with hardly any carpoolers!!! We noticed that Spain was full of scooters, bikes, and small cars, and loved that!

* Greener toilets- ha! Yes, such a thing can exist! Toilets literally had a double-flush. That's right, two different types of flushes - one if just a little flush is needed and one if... well... you get the drift. Water saving at its best- brilliant!

* Greener lights! Ok, this was just our first hotel (yes, we stayed at two hotels- one that we had to cover, and one the conference covered, but hey, we're certainly not complaining!), but the idea was too cool; the lights are set so that you can't leave the room without the lights turning off- once the key is taken out of the slot that it is placed in upon entering the room, the lights go out. Awesome.

* Siestas- enough said.

* Incredible architecture, feel, and views. There's something about a place that has the beauty and charm of old Europe, the vibe of a big city, and the scenery and landscaping of the Mediterranean. Gorgeous!

* Paellas, and Tapas, and Wine- oh my! All good Spanish yumminess. Mmm. Yes, I did mention Spanish wine (and more specifically Catalan wine, as we learned Barcelona was considered to be), and it can give France a run for its' money.

Ok, that'll do for now. It's pretty evident from our MANY pictures the various reasons why we loved it there, so I'll keep it at that. We had a wonderful trip and early anniversary celebration and we feel incredibly blessed to have had the experience.

Nosaltres amor Barcelona!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

In honor of this most special day, I'd like to wish some very awesome moms a very Happy Mother's Day!!! First and foremost, to my dearest mother, Linda, to my mother-in-law, Dee, and to my "step" grandma, Mary Catherine- Happy Mother's Day, ladies!

And I also have to give a shout-out to a few of my sweet friends who are wonderful mothers that I can't wait to pick their brains about the joys and trials of motherhood once my time comes :)-

Happy Mother's Day Christian, Cindy, Desiree, Melanie, Shawna, and Summer!!!

There are many more great moms that I don't mean to leave out, those mentioned above are part of the "blog world" so I hope all of you special ladies have a wonderful day :) .

As is probably evident from my previous post, I've got quite a terrific mom so I couldn't bypass this important day without saying a few words about her, so just for fun, here is a small sprinkling of some my fondest memories with my mom:

* My mom dressed up with mismatched clothing, smeared make-up, and a crazy wig as Mrs. Hannigan, accompanying me on piano while I sang "Tomorrow" from Annie for an elementary school talent show

* Eating pizza in the white van overlooking the ocean in Monterey, CA

* The many tasty and creative cakes mom would make for my brother's and my birthdays- "Strawberry Shortcake", "My Little Pony", a telephone cake during my tween years, and a cake with one of my favorite pieces of music decorated on top... just to name a few!

* My mom directing the church kid's choir in many "Psalty, the singing song-book" musical productions, while we lived in CA, then MD

* Baskin Robbin's ice cream sundaes for dinner whenever it would be just the two of us some evenings throughout middle and high school :)

* Singing at the top of our lungs in the Honda w/ the sun roof open while we still lived in MD, before moving to the Netherlands.

* That fateful day in Canterbury, England on the HS drama trip with mommy as chaperone, lost in the village of Canterbury while I fearfully boo-hooed on the bus while we tried to find her. Alas, she was found and we had a tearful reunion as we hugged and all turned out ok.

* Mom's (and Dad's :) attendance of almost all of my various performances throughout undergrad AND out to San Fran for some grad school performances

* Our many FUN, awesome mommy/daughter trips that we've shared over the years with a ton of great memories: the Bahamas during the spring break of my senior year of HS, Rehobeth Beach right before I got married, Palm Springs when Steve and I lived in San Diego, and the many NYC weekends we've shared and will share now that we live here in this incredible city

Well, the list could go on, but I'll leave it at that.

Mom- you are so special to me and have given me more amazing memories than there's room on a web page to write about and I look forward to many more now that we live so much closer together. I love you!

And to all the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!

Mommy and Me, and No. 11 is complete!

I can't even begin to explain how fortunate and blessed I feel to consider my mom my best friend. As Steve was away on another conference this past weekend, we had the pleasure of having a mother/daughter weekend while she visited me here in NYC. We've had several of these special moments over the years and I treasure them deeply. This was a particularly fun weekend as we ate, shopped, walked, got manicures and pedicures, and ate some more, and I don't think I can laugh with anyone like I can laugh with her... I'm talking "tears in my eyes," "i'm gonna pee!," cackling, snorting, laughing fits, and we had quite of few of those this weekend!

I'll focus this post on the fun we had Friday evening, which also includes the completion of No. 11 on my "Thirty by 30" list:

"Go to a diner after midnight."

My mom got in late Thursday night so we slept in Friday morning, then headed down to the Seaport to get some Broadway tickets at the "tkts" booth. Even though I initially headed the opposite direction out of the subway, we eventually made it (after I swallowed my pride and double checked our new direction with a security guard), and were lucky enough to get tickets to Curtains without even standing "on" line for more than a couple of minutes! It was a beautiful day so we enjoyed a wonderful lunch overlooking the river and Brooklyn Bridge , and spent the rest of the day shopping and relaxing. After some yummy Thai food for dinner,

we took a bus to the theater, taking in the sights along the way- something we especially appreciated about the buses (wink, wink Mom!) .

The show was excellent- very funny, tongue-in-cheek type humor, with great choreography and acting, starring David Hyde Pierce, Debra Monk, and Edward Hibbett. We thought we were hot stuff as we leapt out of our aisle seats at intermission in a mad dash to the ladies room, with NO line, straight to the toilets, beaming at ourselves as we saw the outrageous line that had already formed when we finished. For some reason, that was quite comical to us.

And then after the show ended, feeling particularly giddy, we attempted to take pictures of ourselves in front of one of the signs of D.H.P advertising the show, which resulted in more fits of laughter with people giving us more strange looks.

Still cracking up at our own silliness, we then walked by a large, wooden, chicken thing, advertising some chicken restaurant, and decided it made sense to take pictures of ourselves in front of that. We thought we were pretty funny at least, but I doubt anyone that passed us would've believed me if I said I actually lived here and wasn't a tourist...sigh. Good times.

We had quite an adreniline rush high at 10:45pm and were pumped to hit a diner. We stopped by home first to get more comfortable, and laughed even harder during that bus ride home as I attempted to teach my mom how to "txt message." At the suggestion of menu-pages, we headed down First Ave to "Ritz Diner," walking in right around 12:02ish. It was a very diner-esque diner with its decor and crowd and we ordered a haagen-dazs chocolate milkshake and mozzarella sticks. Mmmm… such yummy goodness. I attempted to take pictures of ourselves as we each drank out of a different straw of our shake at the same time, and that put us into side-splitting giggling, and then my mother decides she needs to floss.

I just about lost it.

I'm telling you, my face and my stomach actually hurt. Seriously. You would've thought we were at a bar, not a diner, kicking back shots of tequila, not sipping a milkshake by the way we were acting. I don't know what it is, but we just crack each other up. We gave up on trying to take our own picture and finally asked the waiter to take one- he was a bit hesitant because of our craziness, but it worked out.


We got home a little after 1am and were very proud of ourselves. It was definitely a fun "challenge" to complete and my mom was the perfect person to share that with. The rest of our weekend was awesome with more eating (Alice's Tea Cup, Hudson River Cafe, Beyoglu, Crumbs, Rosa Mexicana, Jacques Torres Chocolate, to name a few of our stops), more walking, and more shopping. I love you, Mom, and thanks for the unforgettable memories! :)

No. 19 - Completed!

So the great "Thirty by 30" Challenge is underway and I can now cross #19 off of my list:

"Read the Bible at least 30 minutes every day for an entire week."

I started in the New Testament with Matthew and am now midway through the book of Luke. I haven't decided where to go from here... I think I'll finish up through John, and then do some research into finding a devotional guide that will both advise me with what to read, and also provide more in-depth insight and understanding into what I'm reading. Any and all suggestions are very welcome!

I really did enjoy this challenge, and while I'd love to keep up with thirty-minutes of reading every day, I am disappointed to say, (but must honestly admit) that I probably won't be able to keep it up :( - every day for a full thirty minutes each time, but I'd like to come close! I have learned many things over this past week that I hope remain with me, however.

What impacted me most was changing my thinking about how I read the bible. Like I said before, I got into the habit of making 1-2 chapters my goal, so I would end up reading through those as quickly as possible and didn't really let anything sink in. Now, no matter how much time I have (30 minutes or just 5 minutes), I want that time to be purposeful and to let the words really soak in- whether it's a half a chapter, or ten chapters! For me personally, by setting aside the time to read, it wasn't about just getting through the chapters, it became intentional reading. I read slowly. I read aloud. I re-read passages that I didn't understand. This was a pivotal realization for me- I need to stop being preoccupied with how much I'm reading and I need to start focusing on how I read. The famed "quality over quantity" saying does have it's merit, that's for sure!

I'd like to share one passage that particularly stood out to me throughout this past week concerning Jesus' parable of the seeds that were scattered either along the path, the rocks, the thorns, or the soil. I love reading the gospels as they share many of the same stories in their own words because I felt like these stories were really sticking with me, and each time I read that specific parable about the seeds, I had the same thought. I worry that too often, I am like the seed that is spread along the thorns becoming choked once it grows up-

"they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature" Luke 8:14.

I get so caught up in the day to day of life, so caught up in worldy things, so concerned with what others think of me, etc, etc, that I know my "fruit" is not maturing as it could or as it should. I don't boldly share my faith with others at work because of my fear of what they'll think of me- I'm choked by the cares of life and of this world; I enjoy shopping maybe a little too much, and must "keep up appearances" with how I look and how my home looks- I'm choked by the riches of life; I like to be comfortable and am not always willing to give up some of these comforts even when it means I will be helping others or even bettering myself- I am choked by the pleasures of life. And the list goes on...

Thankfully, we have a gracious and merciful God who still loves me and is willing to work in me and change me, because there's a lot of work to be done! I am thankful for the opportunity I had last week to help pinpoint some of those areas in my life that so greatly need to be healed and changed. While I missed Steve terribly (and am so glad he's back!!!), I am glad for the extra time I had to be in His Word and am happy to say that I have grown closer in my relationship with Him through this challenge! :)

30 Minutes and Spouse-less

What do you do when your husband is gone for a week leaving you with extra time on your hands cause for some reason it makes you feel lazy to watch tv on the couch at night all by yourself? Well, for me, I decided what better opportunity to tackle one of my "Thirty by 30" challenges and commit myself to reading my bible daily for a week for at least thirty minutes, than while my husband is out of the country. The purpose of my challenge isn't necessarily that I'll do many of the items on the list just one time to reach my goal, but that with some of these items, I'll be encouraged and inspired to continue. For instance, I'm sure it would only be to my benefit if I regularly took notes on JRs' sermons, but it seems I need some sort of jump start to get me in that habit. However, that's for another time.

As for my daily (or at least weekday-daily...) bible reading, I've lately been in the habit of reading a chapter or two and then patting myself on the back for making that commitment. Obviously, the pat on the back is completely missing the point and not what these devotionals should be about, but I also recently noticed that reading these 1-2 chapters take only an average of just five minutes of my time! I knew it would be a challenge for me to then commit to a full thirty minutes of bible reading, but knew I needed to take that plunge to help me in my understanding of God's word and grow my relationship closer to Him.

I'm happy to say that I've been consistent with this thirty-minute bible reading challenge for the past three days and am enjoying the book of Matthew. I figured a good place to start was in the New Testament and hopefully after this challenge, I'll be inspired to become more intentional with an actual devotional guide. I'm taking my pastor's recent advice of reading aloud, too (well, whispering aloud at least for my voice), and have noticed that also makes me read more slowly and get more out of the passages. There are several things I'm noticing in Matthew now that I don't really "get" or understand that I've never noticed before, so I'm excited to take note of these questions and spark some good conversation with my hubby when he returns.

Speaking of my sweet hubby, Steve... he is in Stockholm, Sweden for the week- the lucky guy. Why you may ask? Well, his prof from UCSD works fairly closely with people at the Karolinska Institute, http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=130&L=en, and goes there frequently as well (he's got a bit of Swedish blood in him in fact); while we were in San Diego, a grad student from KI, Helene, came over to UCSD for a couple months and worked with Steve on one of his projects. Helene is now giving her thesis defense on some of the material they worked on together so she graciously invited both of us out there to attend. So sweet, sigh... but alas, it wouldn't work out for me to go so I'm all by my lonesome. Steve gets to give a talk while he's there which is awesome for him, plus it's an all expense paid trip to EUROPE which is even more awesome for him, so I am happy for him.

But, I am unhappy without him. :(

Life in the Mason household is just not the same with half a Mason gone. Even Parker seems to notice. Luckily, it's a fairly busy week so I'm not at home much with nothing to do, but when I am home, his absence is definitely felt. He spoils me in the mornings making me breakfast and getting my lunch ready and, well, just being there, so I'm not quite as inspired to get moving when I wake up. And falling asleep without him by my side seems to invoke less sweet dreams. I am blessed to call him my husband and miss him when he's away. I could go on and on with this, but will save that for a post of "why I love my husband" for another time.

For now, the first "challenge" begins and I'll return with a report upon its' completion! :)

Tan Dun, Lang Lang, and Firebird

Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 7:30pm

The New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall of Lincoln Center

First half- Lang Lang in world premiere performances of the Chinese composer Tan Dun's "Piano Concerto"

Second half- Igor Stravinsky's, "The Firebird," the complete work written for ballet

What a concert! There are several performances throughout April that I'll be attending, so I didn't intend to write about each one, or any of them for that matter, but I had to get some thoughts out about last night. We always feel so fortunate to benefit from the "free tickets" perk of my part-time job with Lincoln Center, and yesterday was no exception. We sat on the aisle, just slightly off of center with a wonderful view of the pianist and conductor in the 12th row from the stage- normally $106 each!!! We haven't been able to take advantage of this perk very much this year, and are now inspired again to make it a priority. As Stravinsky is one of my all time favorite composers, we couldn't miss this particular concert series. I also had the opportunity to play a piece by Tan Dun for solo "water percussion" and orchestra when I played with the La Jolla Symphony in San Diego, so I was looking forward to hearing his new "Piano Concerto" played by none other than the incredible, 25-year old (sigh...) Lang Lang. I don't want to ramble on and on about my thoughts on this performance so I'll try to keep it brief (but you know me...) by just expressing some of the emotions I felt.

Where to begin... Stravinsky's music can in one moment bring me to tears with the lyrical, soaring melodies and lush harmonies underneath, with hints of folk derived themes and chromaticism; then in the next moment, I want to jump out of my seat like a mad woman, dancing in some type of modern, interpretive dance form as I listen to the pounding syncopated rhythms, harsh dissonant chords, and triple forte tutti orchestra. Aaaaaaaaah... what this music can do. I highly recommend listening to some Stravinsky- either "Firebird," "Rite of Spring," or "Petrushka" should do it :). One of the things I particularly enjoyed about Tan Dun's piece, in fact, was the resemblance it had to Stravinsky's music. It also contained these gorgeous, soft melodies, with hints of exotic orientalism that truly took my breath away, and then in an instant turned to a heart racing mix of sounds with heavy percussion, glissandi strings, and thumping winds and brass.

Of course, the fact that this is the New York Philharmonic playing this music, only enhances these feelings. I mean, this orchestra is incredible, both with its' individual players (the principal trumpet and horn players, for instance, can enter in pianissimo sections without even a hint of cracking the note; the piccolo player plays in tune with a round, full sound in all registers- not an easy feat!, etc, etc.) and as an ensemble, where an entire string section of several dozen players can sound like a single violinist. It was also pretty cool that Tan Dun, himself, came out after his piece was performed to a crowd on their feet as it's pretty rare to see the actual composer of a work you just heard in the flesh.

Last night was nothing less than an experience and it truly affected me. I love this kind of music, and it sort of broke my heart to think that there were some people in that audience who weren't even moved enough to stay awake... sigh. So my encouragement to anyone reading this- listen to some Stravinsky, or some Bartok, or Shostakovich, or any "classical" composer writing music in the early to mid-20th century. I believe you will be glad you did!!!

And if you do accept this challenge, let me know what you thought of it :)