a little bit of iowa city life

Something really exciting happened on Sunday. I was reading the paper and there was a huge article about a place called Sunflower Fields, in Postville, Iowa. It's an organic farm that grows tons of organic vegetables and offers delivery to farm share customers in Cedar Falls. The article said they had room for about 20 more customers so I called and signed us up! I'm so excited! We get a box of fresh organic produce every Tuesday until mid-October. The variety changes every week depending on what is ready for harvest. We got our first box today. Since it's pretty early in the spring we got mostly salad greens (all washed and ready to munch) and radishes and even some popcorn! A bunch of folks at Naomi's Kitchen had farm share memberships and I was always so excited to see what would come next and what we'd be eating for the week. I can't wait for tons of different kinds of tomatoes, funky new veggies to try, and always having really good salad ingredients. I'm most excited for sweet potatoes, but that won't happen for a while. I'm a huge fan of fresh, organic food, as well as buying local and supporting local farms that feed local people. Only a fraction of what we buy in the store to eat comes from within our own state which is so silly since I live in Iowa. Oh and it just tastes better. Here's a picture of what a future delivery might look like.

look at all the colors!

You will probably get updates and pictures of future deliveries, as well as cool recipies and other expressions of my veggie-loving joy. Holly is probably the only person I know who will appreciate the vegetable/new recipie madness that will take over my summer. Do they have tomatoes in Arizona?

Hi. I'm sorry that my posts have been so sporadic lateley. My laptop's AC Adaptor is broken so I can't use my computer. It's really annoying. I've been kinda busy lately and therefore not around my computer as much anyway, but not being able to come home and catch up has been pretty annoying. The new adaptor has been ordered so it won't be long, don't worry. I thought it was a problem that required a fairly costly repair but Alisha and I went to the computer place today and the dude confirmed that it was just my cord which is only $30 to replace. Whew! My mom even bought it for me in exchange for painting the front door. I'm pretty much the best painter ever, btw. My painting skillz are one of the many things I have planned to post about as soon as I have access to my pictures and stuff again. 7-10 business days and we're back on track.

PS- Today at Hy-Vee, Lish got to park in the "new and expecting mothers" parking spot. we took pictures. it was pretty great.

and it kinda sounds like "true colors"

Again with the "save as draft" button. Sorry. Then my internet connection freaked out. It hasn't been a good week for the blog. Anyway, moving on.

I just wanted to show you this Sarah McLachlan video I saw on Oprah. I usually really hate chick singers but I have nothing bad to say about this. Except perhaps, that I can't download it or find a larger version. It's been around for quite a while but it took Oprah to bring it to my attention. She's been pretty great lately (Rachel- can I get an amen?). I'm kind of annoyed with the fact that it's super trendy to be socially aware/active and that celebrities are leading the way. I'm glad that important issues are getting much-needed attention but it almost makes us more lazy to see that the extremely wealthy are "taking care of it," making us believe that we don't need to do anything except wear the right colored bracelet. Sarah McLachlan did a good job of actually doing something meaningful instead of just posing for pictures next to starving children.

The problem with social activism is that most of the time it leaves us completely dependent on people to fix the world's problems. Voting records and campaign finances are not eternal. Changing the world doesn't always have to start from the top (although it would be nice if that would happen). I don't think our lazy reliance on legislators pleases God. God should be our model of justice and we shouldn't expect the government to jump on board.

I used to have conversations with Matt (back when conversations with Matt were a part of my life...) about the responsibility we hold because of the amount of information that is thrown at us every day. I rarely live up to this responsibility and wonder if we were really meant to have it at all; if it's something that God has entrusted to us or it is just another problem that we've gotten ourselves into because we're selfish, greedy, fallen people. I think the mom from Ghana had it right:

In my anguish I cried to the LORD,

and he answered by setting me free.

The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.

All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

Psalm 118:5-12

satc night

So, I have this habit. I steal people's friends. It's happened quite a few times and I'll spare you the details, but it's true. I was about to write a happy little post about the girls I've been hanging out with recently that are really Alisha's friends but who are quickly becoming my friends as well, then I realized that I've caught myself smack dab in the middle of a friend budging incident.

Alisha invited me to her friend Andrea's girls only valentine's day party, then I tagged along again last week for dinner with the girls, and we've decided to make it a weekly affair. I'm really excited to have new people to hang out with and I can't wait to get to know them better. I'm also pumped that these girls weren't found in superchristianjesusbubblechurcymcbibleville. It's so good to get out of the bubble. Every week we've planned to get together for dinner and make our way through the entire Sex and the City series. Tonight we got through Season One: Disc One and I can't wait for next week. We decided on the SATC because last week we played the SATC Trivia Game and I pretty much schooled them. Don't try and come between me and an HBO Original Series. It's fun to find people who share common interests (HBO Original Series, bread, Google Earth, pajama pants, etc.) and just hang out and relax with them. Hooray for new people.

So, what's the problem? The problem is that these are Alisha's friends and I've weasled my way right in there. Alisha has always been a good sharer (unless it's something salty...in which case she will always dominate) so I hope she's okay with it. One could say that it's become a pattern. Ecclesiastical even...

what a day

so. i woke up this morning and headed over to the hospital to hang out with my dad. i thought this would be a calm couple of hours but it turned out to be much more than that. included in today:

* wore ugly clothes on purpose so that my stepmom would complain about that instead of something i care about.

* made friends with a 2nd grader who told me her life story and is mad that i cut my hair off because she didn't get to play with it.

* got my first pedicure

* went to hobby lobby where my stepmom bought me a frame to hold a picture of Riley

* went to my dad's to let the dog out, see the new Wizard of Oz stuff in my old room, and check out my grandparents' wedding trunk that they had cleaned and fixed (pretty cool)

* back to the hospital, watched a movie, found out that coconut is bad for your heart, tried to explain missions to my parents...again.

The hospital my dad is at is the same hospital my brother died in. I haven't been there since then. I didn't even recognize most of it because so much of it is being remodelled. On the way back up to my dad's room my stepmom pointed out that around the corner from the elevator is the intensive care wing, where i spent two really hard weeks.

I snuck down there when we were leaving. It was really hard. My reaction was pretty emotional (which was probably not great for the families there) but it was good to acknowledge it. Every square inch of that place had a hard memory. It was so strange. The conference room where they explained that his brain was bleeding, the little machine that served the apple cider and chicken broth i lived on for 2 weeks, the little tiny window i had to peek through to see him before i had a mask on, the little desk where i colored with my nephew, the corner i turned when i saw my dad cry for the first time in my life. It was pretty intense.

On a (kind of) lighter note, it was great to spend the day with Dad and Keely. It was easy. I always get so stressed out about it and it's so silly. God is doing huge things in my heart right now with this family stuff. You're probably getting bored with it all and I'm sorry about that. Okay I'm stopping now because Kate gets to check her email tomorrow so I have to fill up her inbox. Woo! Thanks for listening.

Oh. If you don't know what I'm talking about with this brother stuff, here's the Times article about it.

not fit to be

I found out today that my dad has been in the hospital since Tuesday. He'd been having chest pains for a couple weeks and went to the emergency room and has been there ever since. I found out because I heard my brother talking about it to someone else in another room. I had no idea what was going on so I called my stepmom on my way home. Turns out the chest pains were all stress-related because after a few days of testing they couldn't find anything wrong! Which is pretty surprising because he had 5 bypasses about 12 years ago and sometimes those only last about 10 years. It was hard to be out of the loop on something that could have been a really serious situation. Basically it was just another case of me being out of touch with my family out of laziness and selfishness. I haven't seen or talked to my stepmom since Christmas. I always get myself so worked up about it. The family stuff really is hard for me but it doesn't make it any easier to ignore it until someone is in the hospital. It's just a lot of work. I'm trying really hard not to run from it. I'm meeting Keely at the hospital tomorrow morning and will hopefully make plans to hang out with them every couple of weeks when my neice and nephew are there visiting so that I can be in their lives, too. This whole "new season" business is so great, but sometimes it's a little overwhelming. I just need to learn to be at peace with the family God has put me in and learn what it means to be a daughter. To them, and to God.

to my homies in japan

sushi pillows!

salmon nigiri:

california roll:

edamame body pillow:

pretty great, huh? they're from the original sushi pillow company, of course.

with love from china!

I got a present from China!

Super cool!! It's a stamp of my name! Dan says they're most often used like envelope seals. The little pot of red stuff is the ink. It's kind of like clay. It took a few tries to get it right but it's reall cool. I'm so excited. I haven't gotten to talk to Dan about the "many meanings" he wrote about in the card but I can't wait to hear more about it. This is the kind of thing that fits me really well. It's so cool when you realize that your friends really do know you and care about you more than you could ever expect and go out of their way to prove it to you. That's community.

back to the woods

I have begun to love Sundays. This week I went to Orchard Hill church in the morning. It's a lot like Parkview so it's familiar and nice. It's also where I went to church in high school so I ran into some people and it was really good to catch up with them. Luke came with me, it was fun to be there with him. After church I went over to Alisha's to paint her house. Painting, especially outside, is one of my favorite things to do. I think I've probably posted about this before, but oh well. It just feels so good to clean something up and make it clean and fresh and nice. And when you're outside and the sun is shining and people are outside enjoying their Sundays also...it's just so nice. After painting (really only priming actually) I took Riley out to Hartman Reserve. I love it there.

It was green and beautiful. Hartman has a pretty good canopy going, so when it's sunny out everything is lit in this yellow-green color. Everywhere you look it's beautiful, with steep hills covered in moss and prairies and deep woods. We saw tons and tons of deer, too. Oh, and I wore a hat this time. There will not be another tick incident. Here's proof:

Here's a cool tree we found when we got off the trail:

from the inside:

Then after the hike, I dropped Riley off and went to Abundant Life. I was a little nervous because I was still in my painting clothes and it was only my second time there. It was fine. It has already started to feel really comfortable there. I think that's a good sign. I met a woman Angela who I think is starting a small group that I can hopefully join. It's so good to be in a church situation again and I'm so glad that it's a situation that's challenging and new. This new season could be really good. The last one was pretty icky. Oh! I almost forgot. Brotha got hooked up!

Brooks (Abundant Life pastor) and his wife took Alisha and I out to dinner last week and we talked about church planting and home churches and stuff and I asked if he'd ever read Organic Church. He said he had and that it was good and I mentioned that I'd been hoping to read it and have heard great things about it. Sunday morning as soon as I walked in he ran over and grabbed his copy and gave it to me! Woo! I'm so excited. I'm still in the introduction but I can't wait to dive in.

remember having to change into play clothes?

i've been spending lots (and i do mean lots) of time at my brother's house. this day i came over right after naptime to hang out and safetify the new trampoline (that i'm assuming is mostly for me)

see that safety net? i did that. not bad, huh? i also taught them how great it is to bounce around with balls on the trampoline. when it's hot out i will teach them the greatness of the sprinklertramp.

i think i wore her out. yes, that is a racecar being loaded onto a trailer in the background.
they had lots of fun trying to squish me when i was laying under them

all in all, not a bad way to spend an afternoon...or every afternoon

bargain hunter

timmy was in town this weekend for the event of the season - his neighborhood garage sale! seeing as how his neighborhood used to be my neighborhood riley, luke and i checked it out. tim needed a new coffee table (no luck) and i was hunting for a thermos. here's what i found.

a kickass tree house in the woods at the end of my old street

2! count em 2 awesome thermoses. thermosi?

they even have the cool glass vacuum thing inside
these charm things were supposed to be 4 for a quarter. i paid $2 for all of them! i counted them later and they're worth over $5. that's right.
there are tons of different kinds, cowboys and indians, rockets, animals, penguins, faces, shoes, etc. i picked a couple of my favorites (a tank, a castle and a windmill) and made some jewelery. i'm pretty pumped about the jewelery making possibilities.

luke got a psychadelic orange chair for $5 for his room and riley made lots of new friends. if you know of a coffee table that's up for grabs, give tim a call.

put me in coach

I signed up for my new team! I don't really know much about it, though. I know that there's another single girl from the east coast and that's about it. I got the financial report today and I'm hoping to hear from the team leaders soon. I think I have to get approved for the team first, but I'm not sure. The TIMO website was updated with more information.



I updated my excel spreadsheet and I'm almost 90% done with my outgoing target! 90%! I still need a lot of monthly supporters (I'm only at 35% there) but I still have over 7 months for that to happen. Praise God! I'm so excited. More joy than I've felt in quite a while. It's been a really hard season these past few months but spring has brought so much hope and it feels so good to be getting out of that dark place. Hoo. Ray.

brrr

What is with this weather? It's been raining all week and yesterday it was finally sunny, when I was busy all day being inside! Although being inside when it's nice out always makes whatever you're doing indoors feel a little bit more important because nice weather is the same as having something better to do, therefore making the inside thing more exciting. Or just more annoying, however you look at it. So of course today when I have nothing to do but play outside it's cold and cloudy. At least it's not raining, I guess I can be thankful for that.

In other news:

Alex came to visit! Hooray! We played with our new phones, made my brother sit on the saddle at Texas Roadhouse for his birthday, and went to a church potluck.

Church potluck? Yes. A guy from Nigeria was visiting my parent's church yesterday to talk about an educational partnership between the Nigerian and Iowan Methodist churches. It was so good to talk to him and hear about Africa. I cried twice during his little talk thing. It was so good just to hear his accent. I made African food and it was funny to hear the old ladies trying to figure out what couscous was ("Is it some sort of grain? It's definitely not barley. It can't be pasta can it?").

well hello mr. mayfield

Alisha had a super cool high-tech ultrasound yesterday and I swiped the pictures from her. It's a boy! Alisha says that she and Mark are keeping his name a secret so I'm just going to come up with a name to call him until he's born...and maybe for a while after he's born...at least until he's 15ish. Any ideas? Leonard? Harvey? Virgil? Well, whatever his name is, here he is:

his heart- you can see the four chambers

rubbing his eye

Right now he's the size of a large banana and will be here in the middle of September. Maybe he's going to be named after me. He definitely looks like an Angelino.

she's done it again

My mom, Luke and I went on an outing to Waterloo yesterday (we're quite adventerous) and I picked up Blueprint, the new Martha Stewart magazine. I'm pretty excited about. It's clean and pretty, as one would expect from Martha, but there are little touches on the pages that tie into the theme of the magazine, that it will provide tools to design your life.

So far I have been shown how to fold a silk scarf into a cute purse (see mine below!), find a manual push lawn mower (for people with small lawns and an environmental conscience), and some really cute decorating ideas. as well as some links, like one to where you can buy pre-gathered collections:




Decorating and design ideas, funky gadgets, travel stuff, party ideas, fun things to do with stuff you already have. What more could I ask? Oh yes, FOUR FULL PAGES OF STATIONERY! Oh and when they profile a house or a room, they show the layout (including where the furniture goes). I like it. It's smart and witty and clean and cute and young. Oh and etiquette. Yes, I know, I'll go get you a tissue.

the doorbell rang!

woo!

thanks marley and aidan!

¡Sí, Se Puede!

Today is May 1. Asside from May Day (I'm still waiting for my doorbell to ring), it's the nation-wide one day strike and boycott in support of immigration rights. I think this is a great way to draw attention to the impact of immigration in this country. A day without immigrants in the marketplace should have a huge effect on the day's economy. I took part in the boycott today rather passively because I forgot to put gas in my car yesterday in preparation for not making purchases today.

I have mixed feelings about illegal immigration. Yes, illegal imigrants are in fact breaking the law, and from a moral and biblical perspective I should have a problem with that. I do think that people planning to live here permanently should work towards citizenship with the goal of being law abiding members of the American community, but I think we have made it more difficult than necessary. My ancestors didn't have to take a test in order to become a citizen and it seems like a silly way to promote enculturation. If anything we're lacking in culture in this country and should welcome people and families that can enrich ours.

This is a nation built on immigration. The only people who deserve free reign of this country are the people that we have exploited in every way and pushed onto undesireable land and left to suffer with staggering rates of alchoholsm, poverty and mental illness. It is time for immigration reform in this country but we are going in the wrong direction by making illegal immigrants felons instead of showing them grace and helping make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone. We seem to forget so quickly the lessons we have (apparently not) learned from past hardships and clear mistakes. This is the Jim Crow of our generation and I'm glad that this issue is drawing the attention that it deserves.