The Delightfulness of Approaching Summer

Ahh, I can feel it in the air... full-blown summer is right around the corner. I am loving it!! We were out at the Pizza Joint with some friends last night and we saw so many high school-ish age students. That got me thinking that they must be out of school. Then I saw that a lot of them were wearing pirate hats, and we figured out that they must be going to the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean 3. That made me remember such good times with no responsibility- once school was out, all you had to do was have fun with your friends. That was great. I feel like I keep beating this same drum, but I keep thinking it. I'm reliving those days through the lives of our youth.

Some of my favorite things about summer:
1. Corn on the cob. I love that stuff sooo much. Reminds me of the days when my mom used to send me out to the deck with a brown paper bag and give me orders to shuck about 20 cobs. I can shuck with the best of them.
2. Driving around with the windows down. I think this is done best in the evening. You don't want to fry during the day, but having the windows down in the cooler evening is perfect.
3. Sleeping with the windows open. This is one of my very favorite things. I love hearing the bugs and other things making a ruckus at night.
4. Other summer fruits and vegetables. I just got us some peaches at the store today for lunch, and they were soooooooo good. Add strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon, blueberries... summer is a season for produce that's hard to beat.
5. Going to drive in restaurants. Back in Peoria there's a place called Lou's that is soooo good. They have the best root beer in the world. You drive up in your car, put the window down, and get some really good food. Down in Augusta we go to Sonic, which is a modern-day, chain establishment, but the experience is just as fun. Maybe Josh will take me and Baby Desch there tonight for dinner!! YUM!!
6. Longer evenings. It takes longer for the sun to set. I love the fact that there's more daylight. Summer evenings are just made for being outside and enjoying yourself (provided that you have some kind of bug protection. Those silly bugs.)
7. Vacations!! I love this part!! Getting away from your normal routine and relaxing and having fun is just great!!
8. Lemonade. I love this stuff! Drinking it reminds me of cookouts and good times. Same with Kool-Aid, especially grape. YUM.
9. The smell of food on the grill. I love food on the grill, especially barbequed chicken, baked potatoes, and most of all, HOT DOGS. Yum.

Josh and I are making it a goal to have strawberries and corn on the cob in the house until they are out of season. It's just a good idea to have something that yummy in the house at all times. So if you come to our house any time soon, count on eating at least one of those!! Have a wonderful day!!

"Yeah, Your Baby Is Still In East Timbucktoo"

I went to our OB this morning, hoping for some good news that Baby Desch was beginning to make preparations for his/her coming into this world, i.e., that he/she was starting to drop down into the pelvis, which is one of the first signs that the birth could be approaching sometime. To my dismay, instead of this coveted news I heard the words of this post's title, "yeah, your baby is still in East Timbucktoo." Baby Desch, honestly. East Timbucktoo??? Couldn't you at least budge a little to make your mama happy??

I was telling Josh last night that I am getting more and more uncomfortable. I don't want to complain because I've had such an easy pregnancy. But when you've got this huge bump on your belly, it gets harder and harder to move! I'm beginning to have a hard time just getting in and out of bed, much less putting pants on, bending over to tie shoes or pick something up off of the floor... getting dressed now requires help from Josh, who is very sweet to help. It's just hard to find a comfortable position when laying in bed watching TV, sitting on the couch, etc. I'll be so glad to be able to lay on my stomach again. But I'm not complaining- I have really enjoyed being pregnant and sharing the space with a new little life. I'll just be glad when I can move around more freely. We have to go to the doctor once a week now until Baby Desch arrives, so maybe next week his/her progress will be a little more encouraging. Maybe he/she will have made a migration at least to Eastern Europe or something.

The Difference Between Good Books and Great Ones

So anyone who knows me knows I read a lot. Today, I would like to discuss the difference between good books and great books. I'm not going to tell you the difference between good books and great ones, because I honestly don't know what that is. What I do know, however, is that when you read a great book, you know it, and when you read a book that's only good, you know its only good and not great. As a pastor to be, I run into the problem of what to spend my time reading all the time. Think about it. Its hard to find very many Christian - especially reformed - books which couldn't be classified as at least "good." There are a bunch of worthless books, of course, but there is also a ton of good ones. There are like 800 different commentaries on the book of Romans, for instance. I bet only 100 or so of those are either heretical or just aren't very good. That leaves at least 700 commentaries that are good, in the sense that they are at least somewhat insightful and edifying, and are theologically correct. Nonetheless, there are not very many great commentaries on Romans. People are going to disagree on this, but there are probably only 5-10 great commentaries on Romans, maybe even less. I'm always asking myself, "Is this book worth my time?" I wish I would only read great books, but sometimes I read good books as well. I would say that in my life, I have probably read under 40 great books. I have read parts or all of about 1000 good books. Great books just have the ability to get over the hump, to give that extra 10%, to go the extra mile, that seperates the men from the boys. When you climb the summit and reach the top where great books reside, there's only so much room, and down below you, in the vast abyss, are about 50 million good books, and off in the distance you can faintly see the 500 million worthless books that have been written. Now again, I recognize that everyone has there own set of great books. But for all of us, we're tyring to reach that summit, trying to read as many great books as we can. I can't describe the difference between a great book and good one in much detail, but if I might borrow from another saying, I know it when I read it. How many great books have you read? Here is one example of genuine great book I am currently reading.

How Nice It Is To Drink Coffee

Josh and I have very recently resurrected the habit of brewing a pot of coffee in the morning before work. We used to have coffee every morning with breakfast, and then I always took some to work in a little travel cup (the very essence of adulthood and sophistication in my estimation). That all came to a screeching halt when we found out about the existence of Baby Desch, both for the sake of excess caffeine consumption and the sheer fact that it made me want to throw up. But all of that is past now- we make a compromise on the caffeine by using half decaf and half regular, so Baby Desch isn't thrown into an acrobatic frenzy inside the womb, where he/she has less and less space to move.

I think that a brewing pot of coffee is one of the most pleasant things in the world. I owe my love for coffee largely to my friend Richard Feero, who taught me about the joy of coffee during my last year at Covenant. I don't know why this started, but he issued the "coffee challenge" one day when we were sitting in Greyfrier's, a local coffee shop. Maybe it was because I said I didn't like coffee, but I had always wanted to. Greyfrier's was probably not the best place to start drinking coffee, because like Starbucks, I think their coffee is a good bit too strong for the average consumer. I remember my first taste of coffee, which was at least a year before the beginning of the coffee challenge- I couldn't believe that someone would drink that bitter, vile substance willingly. To me it seemed like something Jack Bauer would pour down your throat in the torture chamber. But Feero began to cultivate my love for coffee, little by little. The coffee challenge was simply taking sips one at a time. He took a sip, and I took a sip. At first, it was bad. But in a few months (the coffee challenge moved to the Great Hall, where we did it frequently), coffee began to take on a pleasantness that surprised me. When did I actually start liking coffee? I don't know. But I know that my liking had its roots in the coffee challenge. Thank you, Richard Feero- I owe it all to you. Without you I'd still think that coffee was a clever torture instrument.

Another step along the road to a real, genuine coffee love was the latte/frappucino step. I loved coffee that was decorated in some way. For example, at Covenant we used to pile in someone's car (usually Kelly's, Tricia's, or Sparky's) and go all the way down the mountain into Chattanooga to Starbucks, where I would get either a pumpkin spice latte or a caramel frappucino. I love those memories!! These trips were usually quite spontaneous and always took the place of something more important, i.e. homework. At this time I don't think I would have drunk black coffee and enjoyed it, but I definitely enjoyed the decorated coffee. I still do, but now I've reached the stage where I'm perfectly content with plain old black coffee instead of the fancier drinks.

Now I love to hear that coffee brewing and hear the machine beep when it's done. I love to grab a steaming mug and drink it either with breakfast or at work. It has such a gentle, friendly way of helping you to keep your eyes open just another minute when you're struggling to wake up (this attribute of coffee is especially helpful to Josh, who has serious issues in the morning). Coffee, how I love you! Thank you for standing beside me in the hardest of mornings, with the sweetest of desserts, and the most pleasant of times in a coffee shop.

Weekend News

Josh and I had a wonderful weekend. Friday night we hung out and did nothing, which was really nice. Saturday was a crazy, crazy day... Josh helped some friends at church move, I had a baby shower with the church ladies, we had a picnic for Josh's softball team, and then we celebrated for a little while with one of the girls from the youth group who graduated on Saturday night. It was all really fun, but we were pretty wiped out yesterday afternoon!

Well, Baby Desch is in his/her 5 week countdown!! June 24th was 5 weeks from yesterday! I can't believe that his/her arrival is coming so soon. It seems like the last few months have just flown by. That's really good in some ways- I'm looking forward to getting back into my normal clothes and not having this huge bump. Josh had to help me put some shorts on yesterday because I can't really bend over- the bump gets in the way. Long ago I abandoned tying my own shoes. But I'll also miss having this sweet little person inside. It's so much fun to feel him/her stretching and kicking, attempting to move in a space that grows increasingly smaller. I'll miss that silent companionship. But of course it will be wonderful to actually meet this little being and have him/her in our house instead of in my body. We're really looking forward to his/her coming!!

Meanwhile I am growing increasingly confident that Baby Desch is indeed a boy. Not only do I have a gut feeling, and have ever since we found out that the baby was coming, but Confucius say we're having a boy, and I've also been dreaming about Baby Desch for the last few nights and he's always a boy. I'll be thrilled either way, with a boy or a girl, but I might pass out if Baby Desch turns out to be a girl, just since Josh and I have been convinced for the last 8 months that we're having a boy. The good thing is that you can't go wrong. A little boy or a little girl will be just wonderful. It's fun to not know what we're having! Makes the labor all the more exciting.

I posted lots of pictures on our flickr page- follow the link and enjoy! Have a wonderful Monday!

The Best Burritos EVER

Josh and I are on a major burrito kick. Burritos are little rolled up packages of goodness. Inside their tortilla outsides are hearts of gold. We started eating burritos one day when we didn't have anything for lunch and had to go to the store to find something. Let me tell you about our very favorites.

Somewhere there's a lady named Amy who makes really good foods found in the freezer section. I've had Amy's pizza, macaroni and cheese, and now her burritos, which are the current object of our obsession. Today we had a burrito filled with black beans, rice, and tomatoes. Wow, it was good. Just wrap it in a paper towel, pop it in the microwavel, and 3 minutes later a masterpiece of delight emerges from the microwave, steaming and ready for your enjoyment.

I think the reason that burritos are so nice is that they are kind of an all in one deal. Inside holds some protein, some carbohydrates, maybe some vegetables if you're lucky... it's a one stop shop. If you're ever hungry and don't know where to turn, remember Amy and her burritos. You won't be sorry.

Josh and I are going to have to get us some popsicles this weekend. Now that the kids are out of school and summer is officially kicked off, I'm craving those frozen sticks of goodness that remind me so much of lazy summer days. I'm planning on sitting on our little porch and racing against the clock to lick the popsicles into oblivion before they melt into juice and get all over my shirt. With Baby Desch growing as much as he/she is, juice wouldn't have far to go before it would fall on the shelf that is our baby and stain my shirt.

Enjoy your weekend!

A Blast From the Past that I Look On With MIsty Eyes

I was sitting in my chair thinking of what I wanted to blog about today, and a story came to me, a story that many of you have probably heard and/or were a part of, but one that is worth retelling none the less. This story is about me and Josh's quite interesting beginning as a couple on the path that would eventually lead to marital bliss, but at the time of this story's occurrence, that possibility wasn't looking too great.

Josh asked me to be his girlfriend on April 13, 2005, and I said that would be great. I had never had a boyfriend, and Josh and I had liked each other since the previous spring, which made for some pretty awkward encounters. But mind you I had never had a boyfriend, so I wasn't quite sure how to begin this endeavor of "boyfriend-ing," if you will.

One day in the Great Hall serves as a particularly good example of my psychoses related to the recent acquisition of a boyfriend. I was sitting with some friends eating lunch in the Great Hall, and all of the sudden we all see Josh come through and swipe his card for lunch. I immediately panicked. I didn't want to have to think about talking to him in front of all of my girlfriends because I knew I'd sound stupid, and I didn't want to talk to him anyway because I knew I wouldn't have anything to say, so I hit the deck. Literally. I crawled under the table until he was gone into an area where he couldn't see my table anymore. My friends all thought this was a really strange way to act when you saw your boyfriend, but it was all I could do. When they told me the coast was clear, I hightailed it out of that room faster than you could say the word "boyfriend." I escaped unscathed from that near encounter. This pattern continued for a couple of weeks. It went pretty much like this.

1. See Josh walking toward me from across the room.
2. Turn around very quickly before he could notice me and walk the other way.

I know, I know!!! This is the strangest sort of behavior possible when you're finally getting to be in a relationship with someone you've liked for a year!! My friends April, Rachel, and Kelly had to talk me out of dumping Josh a couple of weeks before my graduation- they told me I was crazy. Can you see why they thought that?

Yet through all of this Josh remained as patient as can be, and as insistent as ever that he wanted to be with me. Eventually I came around. Now all of that is behind us, and I relish the job of loving him with my whole heart. For some reason that story came to my mind, and I thought you'd enjoy it.