Top Ten Likes

I feel like I'm always talking on here about how much I dislike Philadelphia so I've decided to use this as a sounding board to describe some stuff I actually like about this "City of Brotherly Love."

So here they are, in no particular order:

1. Springtime along Kelly Drive and West River Dr. (the trees and plants are absolutely beautiful).
2. The Custard stand (more specifically a small twist cone dipped in chocolate).
3. Our Church (check out the link to the left for more info).
4. The fact that Chipotle is less than 5 minutes from our house.
5. Wissahickon Creek.
6. Humidity (I recognize this sounds odd but after recently experiencing the dry air out west I greatly appreciate the presence of moisture on my skin).
7. All the different neighborhoods and the uniqueness they each bring to the city.
8. The Greek Lady-40th and Walnut.
9. Mabel (ok, so maybe she came from South Jersey but nonetheless we would've never found her if we didn't live in Philly).
10. Good stories from our experiences here to share with family and friends!

Great Summer Reading!

Last Wednesday night our church hosted a book discussion featuring the author of the book Trish Ryan. Trish wrote the book He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not a memoir about her crazy dating life and in the midst of it all her search for Jesus. I bought the book Wednesday and I'm about three quarters of the way done with it (P.S. this is highly unlike me). The book is unlike anything I've ever read, the pursuit of God from someone who had no intentions of falling for him and in fact thought that most Christians were "fruitcakes" to steal a phrase from Passion. I love how real she is about every thought she ever had about men or Jesus. She recounted this at the book discussion by stating, "It was hard to write about all my horrible dating experiences knowing that everybody would read this even my dad." But I certainly applaud her for this and I certainly can't put the book down because of it. So if you need a good book to read this summer in the sand and sun certainly check this one out.

Life Update

I can't really think of a good way to introduce our next bit of big life news, so I'm just going to dive right into it ...

The big news around here is that April and I have decided to leave Philadelphia and our jobs here to move back to Blacksburg, VA and join the staff of the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Virginia Tech. Actually, we made this decision almost 4 months ago now, and the whole process of thinking about the move started sometime last fall. There are still details to work out, but our goal is to be down there sometime in July or August, ready for the start of school in the end of August.

Working in vocational ministry on a college campus is something April and I have talked about for a long time. Being involved in a college ministry during our time as students at Virginia Tech was a big deal for both April and me. When I arrived at college, I was in the beginning stages of my relationship with God. The BCM was a place where I first became part of a community of people who had a passion for God and weren't afraid to share it with me. I found opportunities to be mentored, to serve other students and the community, to go on mission trips, and to take my first steps in leadership. It honestly changed the direction of my life. Our passion is that every student would have that same opportunity to hear and respond to God's love and to be part of a community that supports, loves, and encourages them.

The first big steps we've taken in the process were a visit to the campus over Easter weekend and a trip out to Colorado two weeks ago for a training conference. Part of the Colorado trip included a chance to explore Denver and the surrounding mountains, so I've put a few pictures from that trip below. We are sure that it's going to be a difficult transition, especially since we are leaving the friends it took a long time to make here in Philadelphia and the church that we love so much. But we're also really excited about the opportunity that God has put before us, and we can't wait to see what great things are going to come of it.





By a waterfall outside of Boulder, CO.















View from the top of Red Rocks. That place is amazing.

Sick of Being Sick with the "Stomach Bug"

Due to the infamous "stomach bug" that's been floating around the streets of Philadelphia lately, I was out of work yesterday and stuck in bed. The only upside of spending an entire day stuck inside 4 walls was the afternoon where I watched the 4 hour long TV miniseries, Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story. I got the DVD collection last year (2006) for Christmas and watched the first two DVDs right away, but I somehow hadn't been able to find the time to finish them until yesterday. I can remember watching episodes on PBS with both my parents as a little girl and absolutely soaking in the glory of Anne's freedom and glistening red hair. To be honest though I had totally forgotten about the miniseries/book until I got to college when one of my roommate's friends happened to mention them (she (the friend) actually honeymooned in Canada, due in part to her love of Prince Edward Island and Green Gables). I still haven't read the book but that is next on my reading list (perhaps this'll be motivation to read the five other books on my bookshelf waiting to be read). I do however want to go to Canada now, especially Prince Edward Island. Perhaps I too simply want to be a little girl again and run through the fields like Anne Shirley, full speed ahead and never looking back.

Bustin' Out the Grill

Thanks to the oncoming spring weather, we decided to wheel out the grill tonight for the first time this year. I love grilling season - with just a little practice you can get all kinds of easy and delicious meals while enjoying the weather and proving your manliness. Tonight we tried out a new recipe - barbecued jerk chicken wraps. Our goal was to recreate April's favorite meal from the dining halls of Virginia Tech. The Biewengas were so kind as to bring us back some jerk rub and sauce from their recent trip to Jamaica that I used on the chicken. I also cooked some Spanish rice and sautéed some peppers and onions to complete the wrap. I'd say the results were quite delicious!

Philly Cleanup

One of the first things that April and I noticed when we moved here to Philadelphia was how dirty the city is in general. We had never really lived in an urban setting, so maybe it's something that's seen in every city, but we were shocked to see how much trash blows around the streets. Even more shocking to me were the many times we would see people blatantly drop a Tastykake wrapper, an empty bottle, or a Dunkin Donuts cup that they were finished with. I remember being reprimanded many times growing up by my dad for leaving trash and wrappers around the house, so I can't even imagine doing something like that now.

Michael Nutter (mayor of Philadelphia for a couple of months now) is kicking off his pledge to clean up Philly by having a clean up day on April 5th. They are looking for volunteers to clean up many streets, parks, and public places. April and I will be going out with some friends to clean up the beautiful Wissahickon park which is just down the street from us. If you're around Philly and are free that morning, consider taking some time to make the city a more pleasant and livable place. Check out the link below for details and to sign up.

PBS and Philadelphia, do those two really go together?

Growing up we never had cable in my house other than the basic 12 channels, NBC, CBS, ABC, and then there was PBS. I watched a lot of PBS. I'm not ashamed to admit that I would watch Arthur every afternoon when I came home from high school or the fact that my dad would turn on the Lawrence Welk show at least once every Saturday night and I would often find myself enjoying Mr. Welk as he sang his little heart out to the camera.
I write about this because tonight I watched "The Philly Food Show" on Philadelphia's PBS channel. Of course it was part of a donation drive, which it feels like PBS is always doing, however it was an all around enjoyable experience. It took me back to the days of my childhood when I would watch North Carolina now with my dad. I did notice a few differences between the days of yesterday and today, for one North Carolina accents are far better than Pennsylvania/New Jersey ones (at least in my opinion) and of course I disagree completely with the idea that TastyKakes are even remotely comparable to the amazing taste of MoonPies :). Nonetheless with all the lameness of the recent writer's strike I really respect and appreciate what PBS is doing .