"Things that make you go hmmmm"

There are lots of things in North Carolina that make us go "hmmm..." I'd like to share with you this morning's "hmmmm...".

I was driving to work and listening to some random radio station that did NOT happen to be a Christian radio station. In between songs some church has a commercial slot where they share "wisdom and encouragement" with listeners. Today's went something like this (with soft piano music in the background): "Naomi thought God wanted a change in her life so she quit her job and started taking classes, reading her Bible and praying all day long. After a while she was discouraged because she wasn't sure what God wanted her to do with her life. Then her friend, a new believer, had a conversation with her and gave her this amazing piece of wisdom, 'Naomi, be patient. A pickle don't get made in a day.'"

That was it. Then the next song came on.

Water Conservation (on a lighter note)

One of the reasons that our home qualified as a "Green Home" is because we have one very special toilet. When we had our "walk through/homeowner orientation" with the builder, they pointed out that our toilet has two flush buttons. One for "solids," one for "liquids." It took me a second to understand what the guy was saying. It's a very special toilet indeed.

Our agent suggested we label the flush bottons "1" and "2" to avoid confusion. What do you think?

Analysis: Our Refrigerator

**I wrote this last Saturday but didn't post it because blogger wasn't allowing me to upload pictures for some reason.....so I'm posting it here even though this picture is awful. (as if the other pictures on our blog are great) What is that bright light in our freezer? It's kind of creepy.**



A picture of the happy fridge, as per Catherine's request. I guess the freezer doesn't look very different from the empty picture below but it does happen to contain the first piece of meat that has been brought into this home. We've been vegetarians at home since we moved in for reasons that were more financial than dietary. It's actually been great. Vegetarian recipes are fun and colorful. In the refrigerator you'll notice the eggs - those are the first eggs that have been brought into the house. I just haven't had occasion to use them yet but a spinach/pine nut quiche is on the menu this week so they were a must. At the top of the fridge is the first bottle of milk this kitchen has seen (wow, what a splurge at the grocery store this week - lots of firsts I had been avoiding for a while.) Also at the top of the fridge is one of our favorite treats: Fage yogurt* (Greek yogurt) with honey. We eat it with walnuts. It's delicious. I wish we could eat it everyday. What you can't see is the bottom drawer of the refrigerator. It is completely full of grapefruit, tangerines, oranges, lemons and limes. Sameer is developing a serious juice drinking problem. He squeezes it all by hand and it is excellent. It's bordering on excessive but I keep buying his citrus for him because I'm sure it's good for both of us.

*A note about Greek yogurt - I don't even like yogurt (it makes me gag) and I love this stuff. It's the best dessert. Last spring I was at this little store in New Haven looking for yogurt because someone had scared me about osteoporosis and the fact that I don't drink milk (don't worry - I eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables). All they had was Fage yogurt and it looked weird so I didn't buy any but a week later I decided to try it and I am now a fan. It is strained so it's really thick and not watery like regular yogurt. Try it!! (You can find it at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's but it's way more expensive than your "everyday" yogurt)

Shopping

So, I was thinking that maybe I should go grocery shopping today. Not sure. We could always heat up that frozen spinach, sprinkle some lemon juice on it and wrap it in an old whole wheat tortilla. I'm sure that would be fine for dinner.

Suburbia: A Drought of Conscience

Our water restrictions are now pretty severe. Back in August, we could only water every other day - then it went to 2 days a week (Wednesdays and Saturdays) - then it went to Saturdays only (between 5 and 8). As of last Tuesday, we can no longer water our lawns AT ALL. People can water vegetable gardens with a hand held container on Saturdays between 5 and 8. That's it. No washing cars, no hosing down walkways, no serving water in restaurants except upon request (those luxuries were prohibited long ago). Unfortunately, even with all these restrictions, Durham's water usage has only gone down 16%. 16% !! We are entering a crisis. On the city website I found a current lake/river level graph that compared our current state to the drought in 1933-34 (Dust Bowl years). We see people continue to water because they want their grass to grow.

We would like our grass to grow too especially because we just seeded our backyard and we live on a hill. Without roots, our land will erode and void the structural warranty on our new home (and because when it rains here it pours, part of our backyard slides into the neighbor's backyard every time it rains.) So, we are not watering. But we do continue to take regular and long showers, prepare a lot of tea and coffee, use our dishwasher, etc. What we have really started realizing is how strongly we are gripped by a consumer mentality. Several people around us continue to water their lawns (by far the biggest source of water-waste in the present climate), just ignoring the restrictions altogether.......All of us to varying degrees are just thinking "I can have whatever I want and there will always be enough" - it is sickening. Meanwhile every day people are dying in Africa because they don't have clean water to DRINK. And we are concerned about our yards here. Ridiculous.

As Westerners - and especially Americans - most of us see our basic necessities this way - like a grocery store full of unending resources without any consideration for the way that NATURE and the ENTIRE HUMAN COMMUNITY should put limits on what we consume and how often and in what ways. From that perspective, we have surely succumbed to the social conditioning that continually urges us to equate luxury with necessity, and so in our self-deception we GRIEVE when we can't water our lawns, buy our next appliance that makes our lives easier, or improve our "standard of living" etc. We experience the obstacles to reckless consumption as the loss of a BASIC NECESSITY - as a plight that forces us to act to attain e.g., a car with air conditioning with similar relentlessness as we would expect someone from Somalia to pursue the next meal.

Surely a sense of guilt isn't the answer - guilt *alone* seems to just absolve us of responsibility by giving us a cathartic sense of "see - I get it! I care!" and then, once our smitten consciences are pacified, we just turn back to our normal lives of selfish uber-consumption. So yeah, guilt isn't enough, but it sure as hell is a good start.

"For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge humanity into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil deeds, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Flee from these things!!!" (1 Tim. 6:6-11a).

Capitalistic consumption? Environmental stewardship? It's not a conservative or liberal thing. It's a Christian thing.

Three Years!!!

Happy anniversary to us (yesterday). We went out and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Rue Cler in the strangely desolate downtown Durham. The weird thing was that while there was nary a soul walking about on the streets, looking into the windows revealed that the patronage inside the shops and restaurants was quite lively! How did all those people get in there, if they're so afraid of the streets? They may have been holograms, but we resisted the urge to poke at them with our cutlery.

But before dinner we were people on a mission. It came in the form of an electronic communique, but instead of IT self-destructing in ten seconds, *I* (Sameer) self-destructed in ten seconds. For, it was a note from DHL saying that the present I had arranged to have delivered to Whitney at work - at 2 CHAPEL Drive - had instead gone to 2 CHIPLEY Court. Chipley? What the $#@!?

DHL guy 1: "Hey Earl, this here package says, it supposed-ta goto Duke Divinity School on 2 Chapel Drive... Where in tarnation is that? What the sam hill is a s-c-h-o-ol?"

DHL guy 2: "Heck if I know, Clive - let's just drop it off at this here place - it's in a different zipcode at a house steaduva school, but Chapel sounds kinda like Chipley, don't it? *Guffaw*"

Anyway, after unclenching my fist and looking around to check if anyone at divinity school could see the blackness of my heart at that particular moment, I broke the news to Whitney that I sent her something that she wasn't going to get. But oh yes she was. We decided to drive to the residence, which was in a rough part of town in a low income neighborhood in East Durham. We drove twenty minutes out of the way to the other end of town.

We drove through the neighborhood really slowly - I slid the seat back, flossed the wheel and tried to play it cool, bobbing my head in a hip-hop sort of way and looking tough, even though there wasn't any music playing in the car. As we rolled up on the house, we saw our package neatly laying against the front door of 2 CHIPLEY court. We got out of the car, and walked up to the door like we was just chillin' - but then we grabbed it from the doorstep and hustled back toward the car as some high school boys came up the street looking at us like, "Uh-uh, No you DID-NT!" But yes we did. We drove it home and got out the scissors and opened the box. And this is what was inside. Isn't it lovely?

Citrus

Sometimes Sameer likes to make fresh squeezed juice. I like it when he does this - especially when he shares.

Yard Work is Hard Work

We don't love our yard yet (although we like the view) - it mainly consists of hard clay, tons of rocks and black beetles that hop. How do you like our patio? It's a little small.

Countdown to Extinction

Well, we just returned from a long unproductive day of car shopping. It seems that for the past few weeks, we have spent every minute of our free time -- plus stealing several hours of NON-free time from more important things -- trying to find our first good car. By "good" I mean something with fewer than 160,000 miles on it with an engine that doesn't sound like a boot in a washing machine, all the external mirrors are still atached to the car, the trunk opens, and prayer that it won't explode when you get on the freeway is not absolutely necessary (although its never a bad idea).

In any case, after squandering several weekends already encountering very unreliable cars and even more unreliable car salesmen, after Whitney spent countless hours hunting down leads on the Internet and running loan calculators every night after work, after I went from being a month ahead to being a week behind in my coursework -- we were determined. WE ARE ABSOLUTELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT GOING TO DRIVE HOME IN OUR NEW (TO US) CAR TODAY!!!

So after a loooong morning at a local dealership, we took a 45 minute drive to a dealership in a neighboring city to see a Hyundai that seemed very promising (i.e., not a ticking time-bomb, see above), and we were very hopeful that this would be the car. The manager had called us that morning to tell us that he would be getting it ready for us to look at it and we had reviewed the Carfax, which looked really clean. So when we finally got there and talked to the sales people, we were almost positive that this would be our car, and we were on the verge of celebrating as we drove out to the lot to give it a once-over. The whole thing went over great... except the fact that they had already sold it to someone else 10 minutes before we arrived...

Utterly dejected and forlorn, we did what anyone would do - we bought two rakes and a bottle of wine... oh yeah, and a shovel. Anything to redeem the day.

P.S. The rakes are to prepare our barren yard for some much needed professional aeration and seeding. The shovel is to bury the bodies of a few used car salesmen. If you've read this far with anything like an empathic heart you know very well what the wine is for --- to drown our sorrows.

P.P.S. "What have you been driving if you don't have a car?" you ask? A good friend has been letting us borrow his 1989 Honda... the odometer reads 249,000 and counting and every time I look at another mile roll by on the counter, I think the following:

"Dang, Sameer, remember Megadeath's album Countdown to Extinction? Man, I pray that when this thing finally does explode on the freeway that my brain doesn't start playing "Symphony of Destruction" in my head. I hate it when bad speed metal (forgive the redundancy) gets stuck in my head. Actually, I think I'd rather have *actual* metal stuck in my head, which is I guess what would happen if this thing DID in fact explode right now..."

P.P.P.S. Okay now I'm rambling. And we haven't even popped the cork on that wine yet!!!

Autumn at last

1 point for Durham - good Farmer's Markets!

We should have just left the eggplant on the table;

it was much prettier there.

I'll leave the eggplant recipes to the experts.

New blog

Yay! Catherine has a blog!

My trip

Some people shouldn't drive while talking on a cell phone. Apparently I shouldn't walk while talking on a cell phone. Yesterday morning as I was making the long trek from the parking lot to the Divinity School I was talking to Sameer on the phone. I had just been telling him how tired I was when I started flying forward. I tried to stop and catch myself and figure out what has happening and why my legs were way behind. The next second I was face down a good few feet ahead of my last step. My phone flew out of my hand and broke into 3 pieces and both my shoes were off my feet way behind me. This was quite embarassing - and yet so funny I just had to share it. I really have no idea how it happened.

Hymn

Rejoice, the Lord is King!
Your Lord and King adore;
Rejoice, give thanks and sing,
and triumph evermore;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus, the Savior, reigns,
the God of truth and love;
When He had purged our stains
He took His seat above;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

His kingdom cannot fail,
He rules over earth and heav'n,
The keys of death and hell are to
our Jesus given;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

He sits at God's right hand
till all His foes submit,
And bow to His command, and fall
beneath His feet:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope!
Our Lord, the Judge shall come,
And take His servants up
to their eternal home.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Charles Wesley, 1744

Well - lucky me - I didn't have to choose. I was subjected to both situations at once - inane pseudo-intellectual conversation between two people
who punctuate their sophomoric babbling with inappropriate displays of affection...

Wooja Radder?

Maddy liked to play the game "Would You Rather...." (affectionately known as "Wooja Radder?") with us when we were in Idaho this summer.

Here is a real life "Wooja Radder?" from school today.

While attempting to study, and forced to sit next to a
couple of college freshman -- would you rather:

1) that they are having what they think is a deep
discussion about, like, philosophy, and stuff, where,
like, they are totally thinking about stuff like
whether reality, like, totally, is like *real*, or if it
is just, like, your mind thinking stuff but it really,
like, is just your *MIND* and NOT real... whoa.

OR

2) that they are an ultra cutesy couple
who are talking to each other about how
one thinks the other is really cute, etc. etc.
interspersed with ridiculous displays of affection
that are completely unjustified by the context (e.g.,
I just got back from the bathroom, let's hug, or, I
finished reading this sentence, let's make out)...

We just broke the law

There is a bad drought going on throughout the Southeast. When we were staying with friends who had cable we heard about it on the news a few times and learned that it was illegal to water your lawn more than every other day. Before we moved into our house we did hear that Raleigh was enforcing drastic water restrictions but we still thought it was legal to water every other day in Durham.

We forgot to water all weekend - or maybe we didn't really forget - we just neglected to because it's a muddy inconvenience to water an oddly shaped back yard and "2" front yards with nothing but a hose. (Californians with sprinkler systems have no idea.....)

So when we got home from work tonight Sameer immediately started watering the lawn. I opened the mail and got an advertisement from a lawn care company and called them about aeration of our yard. The salesman asked if we had been watering our yard and I proudly said, "Oh yes, we're watering right now." Pause...Awkward silence.... "Well, I certainly don't want to encourage you to break the law. You really shouldn't be watering today," he said.

We looked it up and sure enough, Durham is on strict water restrictions. We may only water on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 5 and 9. Oops. We also read that all citizens are to report neighbors who are breaking the law by watering. So now we're in trouble. And so is our grass. But at least we don't have to feel guilty when our grass dies. We didn't like watering every other day anyway.

How is one to find out about these new laws when one does not have television? Is it a crime to not waste time in front of the tv?

New Home

Well after quite a tiring summer we closed on our home and moved in the same day - August 31st. It has been a relief to settle down and we are loving our place. It is much bigger and nicer than our last 3 apartments and sometimes we have a hard time believing that we actually get to stay here. I guess it feels like we're house sitting or renting or something. It's just plain luxurious after having lived in grad student housing last year. We really really loved our New Haven apartment but while we thought it was very charming and cozy, it was a bit grimy and it lacked the modern conveniences of a garbage disposal, dishwasher, laundry room etc.

We just got internet access here the other day so I wanted to post some pictures of our place. These are pre-furniture pictures taken the week before we moved in. I took the outside pictures today - as you will see, our backyard grass is not coming in at all like it is in the front yard.

Out of touch

The house where we're currently staying doesn't have internet access so we're at "Coffee World" catching up on email and all things internet. The coffee at this place reminds me of my college days when I would make a pot of cheap coffee and just let it sit there and then microwave it and drink it a few days later even though it was disgusting - I just needed the caffeine and I didn't care how it tasted. Well, the coffee at this place is worse than that. It's like drinking acid with a little cream and sugar. The Starbucks across the street doesn't have wireless so here we are.

We visited our soon to be house yesterday and it is all finished and beautiful. We're still kind of holding our breath about the closing and I won't believe it's ours until we get the key. All this moving and job changing we've done over the past couple of years would make any lender a little skeptical.

Sameer had his orientation at Duke last week and he starts classes on Monday. We've met a bunch of great people here already - in fact, we're staying with a really kind student named Melanie right now. She has very graciously opened her home up to us while the Givens have other guests in town. We still haven't found a church yet and I think we'll take some time visiting different ones before we settle - there are so many choices. So far we've visited a really vibrant Presbyterian church that is closer to the downtown area and then we visited an Episcopal church in Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill is a little too far away for us but the worship service was absolutely breathtaking. I have to say that I just love visiting different churches - it is so moving to see more and more of the body of Christ and to worship together with them. We're looking forward to tomorrow...

3 New Blogs

We've added 3 new blogs under "Friends and Family" - Chris & Heather Pelczar, Phil & Megan Camp, and Liz Ingham. Enjoy.

Our Hymn of the Week

Jesus Cast a Look on Me

Jesus cast a look on me,
Give me sweet simplicity
Make me poor and keep me low,
Seeking only Thee to know

All that feeds my busy pride,
Cast it evermore aside
Bid my will to Thine submit,
Lay me humbly at Thy feet

Make me like a little child,
Of my strength and wisdom spoiled
Seeing only in Thy light,
Walking only in Thy might

Leaning on Thy loving breast,
Where a weary soul can rest
Feeling well the peace of God,
Flowing from His precious blood

In this posture let me live,
And hosannas daily give
In this temper let me die,
And hosannas ever cry!

John Berridge, 1716-1793

A hymn for today...

All praise to God, who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
The God of wonders, power, and love,
The God of our salvation!
With healing balm my soul He fills,
The God who every sorrow stills,--
To God all praise and glory!

What God's almighty power hath made
His gracious mercy keepeth;
By morning dawn or evening shade
His watchful eye ne'er sleepeth;
Within the kingdom of His might
Lo, all is just and all is right,--
To God all praise and glory!

I cried to Him in time of need:
Lord God, oh, hear my calling!
For death He gave me life indeed
And kept my feet from falling.
For this my thanks shall endless be;
Oh, thank Him, thank our God, with me,--
To God all praise and glory!

The Lord forsaketh not His flock,
His chosen generation;
He is their Refuge and their Rock,
Their Peace and their Salvation.
As with a mother's tender hand
He leads His own, His chosen band,--
To God all praise and glory!

Ye who confess Christ's holy name,
To God give praise and glory!
Ye who the Father's power proclaim,
To God give praise and glory!
All idols under foot be trod,
The Lord is God! The Lord is God!
To God all praise and glory!

Then come before His presence now
And banish fear and sadness;
To your Redeemer pay your vow
And sing with joy and gladness:
Though great distress my soul befell,
The Lord, my God, did all things well,--
To God all praise and glory!

Johann J. Schuetz, 1640-1690

My Sameer, isn't he talented?!?

We're sitting here in our Hampton Inn Hotel room that we credit to our 3rd successful Priceline experience. (We credit the above picture to a fun night out with Danny, Lindsay, Tracie & Doug - someone was bragging about being able to hold a spoon on their nose, so Sameer one-upped them, promising he could hold one with his forehead...) We've been living with people since July 2nd - first with Sameer's parents - then with mine and then with the Givens family. We've spent a lot of time with people this summer and it's been absolutely wonderful.

There's something about having our own little space though that is so refreshing and relaxing. This little hotel room has given me the best nights of sleep I've had for months. The free air conditioning probably has something to do with that. (We had a record breaking heat wave here in Durham last week - we almost melted, literally.)

As soon as we got here I started my job and we began looking for a house. We found one quickly and we're supposed to close on August 31st if everything goes smoothly. Somewhere in the middle of that Sameer came down with a really bad inner ear infection that caused severe vertigo. Poor guy! I have never seen him so sick. Needless to say, it was a hard transition to Durham.

However, he is now climbing out of it and starting to be his old self. His verbose old self. So, if you dare, check out his new blog: Theoblogical Investigations It will serve as his ThD journal so if you're curious about what Sameer is doing/thinking about/studying, here you go! Just make sure you've got your thinking cap on and you have a quiet place to read.

Idaho Album

Pictures of our week in Idaho:

Idaho Summer 2007

We're staying in a hotel and Sameer's watching a Jet Li movie (not really my thing) so I suppose I'll organize our pictures and update the blog this afternoon.

Click on the photo if you want to see our "house" album.

THE HOUSE

Transition

6 weeks down, 3 weeks to go.

We've been living out of suitcases for 6 weeks now. If everything goes smoothly we'll be in this house by August 31st.

You know you're in the south

when you hear one syllable words (ex: "hi") lasting over 8 seconds long.

We moved

After a wonderful three weeks between Idaho and California we have arrived in Durham, NC. We got here around midnight on Saturday - as we pulled into the neighborhood where we're staying we saw two deer crossing the street....what a treat. The weather was gorgeous on Sunday and the views of the sky and trees were beautiful. These things ease the pain of leaving New Haven a bit.

I (Whitney) am starting my job at the Divinity School this morning. We are staying with Tommy and Kim Givens until we find a house. We started our search yesterday and looked at several homes - we like a few of them so we have a tough decision to make. Hopefully we'll have a picture of our future home up here soon.

Almost Gone...

Well most of our stuff is packed into the truck thanks to several kind friends. We just have to gather up a few more boxes and clean the apartment now. We're hoping to finish by this evening and then perhaps spend one last fun night in New Haven. Tomorrow we'll savor our last time at Christ Pres and in the evening we'll head off to Hartford. Here we are enjoying some delicious New Haven pizza from "BAR" after the hard work. The pizza here has ruined us - we'll never be able to eat pizza anywhere else again - it's just too good here.

What we'll miss the most: Christ Presbyterian Church

(no, it's not snowing in June - this is a winter picture of where we go to church)

When we arrived here last August we happened upon the best thing that has happened to us this year - Christ Presbyterian Church. We had never been to a Presbyterian church before and we weren't sure what to expect. We wonder if we'll ever find another place like it - the combination of the rich liturgical worship, thought provoking and convicting teaching and amazing fellowship is extremely unique.

There is so much going on at this place and we feel we have just barely seen the tip of the iceberg. First of all, I don't think I've ever seen such a large group of people function so well as a family and yet be so so welcoming to newcomers. We were warmly welcomed immediately and sometimes we can't even believe we've only been here for such a short amount of time. This is the place for us - the worship instructs us and draws our hearts to God. This church cares about the poor and the community and is so generous with what they have. This is a church that is mindful of it's urban location and seeks to be a light in New Haven. And the liturgy -I could write pages and pages on why I love liturgical worship. How it nourishes my soul to weekly read the various responses to "Christians, What do you believe?" or "Christians, what is your only comfort in life and death?" We are always reminded of the whole of our faith - from God to Christ's saving work to the resurrection and to the "world without end" that we long for. I love to see the little ones singing the Doxology and the Gloria Patri - these words are etched into their hearts already at such a young age.

A few weeks ago we were in church and I was just amazed to look around and see us surrounded by friends. We feel like we have been here for much longer than 9 months. Leaving this church is definitely the hardest part about moving. People here have been exceedingly kind to us and we have so enjoyed spending the year getting to know them. We are so challenged by the way everyone serves each other and especially by the way they have served us - meeting various needs we have had, like rides to the store or small group...and yesterday several of them loaded all our heavy furniture onto a moving truck. What a help!

Moving across the country to a state we had never visited, where we knew not a soul and had not one single connection (other than the admissions staff at Yale Divinity...) was the most adventurous move we've ever made. I'm amazed at how the year unfolded - how God put so many of His people in our lives so quickly. We leave behind dear friends and an incredible church body that we will sorely miss.

The year is 1957

So the next Indiana Jones movie (can you believe there's actually going to be another one?)is filming a scene or two in New Haven. It's all anybody has been talking about at work the past few weeks. Several people from the office actually went to the casting call and are determined to be extras. The craziness started the other day and downtown New Haven has been transformed into a town called "Bedford" and the year is 1957. Sameer met me after work on Thursday and we thought we'd go downtown for a last stroll through the green and dinner at Richter's (New Haven's oldest bar - one of our many favorite places here...).


We didn't realize that New Haven wouldn't be quite itself for our last night on the town. The streets were filled with 50's cars and all the store fronts were transformed. It was like walking through a museum - except for when we couldn't cross the street or walk a certain direction because they were filming...

Relief

After 3 awfully hot and humid days the weather has changed and we are actually so cold we're wearing sweaters and socks again. Yesterday was my last day at work so today is the day we need to finish all of our packing. Last night we were so miserable in the apartment (no air conditioner...) we could barely stand it. The oppressive humidity was almost making me sick - I had no idea how we would be able to finish packing. Last night I dreamt that someone gave us an air conditioner and sure enough when we woke up at 6:00 a cold breeze was drifting into our room and we actually needed the sheet and blanket. We are very happy and content now and I think we can handle this move.

The Elm City

I LOVE New Haven. When we first got here we heard so many warnings about the danger and crime and poverty. We were honestly nervous to walk down our own street at night. We were skeptical, suspicious and scared. Now, I feel intimately acquainted with this place and I love that. I love that we don't have a car and that we need to walk everywhere. I love taking the city bus to run errands and I love meeting strangers at the bus stop and hearing all about their day. I've never been good at talking to strangers. Living in Santa Clarita and driving a car everywhere didn't help that. I know plenty of people in suburbia who are outgoing and friendly to strangers but it took a place like New Haven for me to learn that I love to meet people and that it's not that hard.

There is so much diversity here. New Haven is not just a university town. Downtown and Yale are all mixed in together.....it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. I love the bustling Green in the middle of town. I love to cross it to run errands and I love that the more I walk around town the more I see some of the same people over and over again. Like the sweet old man who reads the paper at Dunkin' Donuts every morning, or the nice homeless man who sits by the bus stop on Broadway St. and helps lost looking people figure out which bus they need - or Sal, who lives on the bench at the northeast corner of the Green.

I like that I actually know and talk to the owners of a few of the little stores we shop at. I love that on a typical day of walking to and from work and maybe running an errand in the evening I usually see a couple people from church and several people I know from work or from the Div school. I also now have so much admiration for some of the hardest working yet least appreciated people - like the bus driver who picked us up at the train station after we got back from New York at 1:00 in the morning on a Tuesday. He probably had to work all night and didn't have childcare so his two children tried to sleep on the front seats of the bus. We watched people get on and off the bus and accidentally bump into the poor tired kids over and over again. I know of two other bus drivers who have to take their kids to work so unfortunately this situation is not uncommon.

We're moving this week and while I'm excited for what's ahead, I am so so sad to leave New Haven because I adore this place and in a strange way it helps me feel more human. I see more of the raw beauty of life and people here even in the midst of poverty and racial tension and class distinction...I do hope this place has changed us.

Last days in New Haven

So we got together with our small group for ice cream in the courtyard and we ended up spending the evening playing on children's play equipment anywhere we could find it - 5 different locations to be precise. Our only regret is that we never discovered the cool one person "merry-go-round" sooner.

We started with the small stuff and ended up at an elementary school an hour later. Haven't felt that young in years....

It's better on Broadway

The Office, My Office

I never thought that having a "normal" job working with adults could provide as many funny moments as teaching piano lessons did. My students used to say the weirdest things. Sometimes I would write their hilarious quotes in my day planner because certain things should not be forgotten.

Now I work in a large office with dozens of people. We have enough characters for a whole new version of The Office.

There's a nice older man who sits 2 cubicles over from mine. We'll call him Ernie. Ernie is so kind. He was one of the first people to introduce himself to me and he walks by my desk several times a day always saying "Hi Whitney." Last week I was in the lunch room washing my lunch dish and Ernie came up to me and said, "Hi. I'm Ernie. What's your name?" Reminded me of a certain scene involving Creed.

On another office note, we had "Diversity Day" last week.

Lady Liberty

Sameer's mom wanted to take a picture of us in front of the Statue of Liberty, but was unable to fit her in the picture.... Our dismay turned to joy, however, when we noticed that - by pure and blessed coincidence - Lady Liberty sent a stand-in...

Album: Yadavs in Manhattan

NYC with Sameer's parents

Pure Chocolate Whippet

Sameer got these from the store the other day. They were actually quite good...but I think the description on the side of the box is a little over the top:

"Since its creation by the Viau family in 1927, the irresistibly sinful taste of Dare Pure Chocolate Whippet has been Quebec's favorite cookie for generations! Whippet is a heavenly cloud-like marshmallow cookie that is smothered in a pure dark chocolate for a taste that is sure to satisfy your every desire."

Cool and breezy, 50's and 60's

I am loving our weather right now. This is a dream for June!

Commencement Highlights

The rest of the album:

Commencement

Our Vacation Album

More pictures:

Our Vacation

Our Vacation: Boston, Salem, Martha's Vineyard

Busy Busy (a long, boring informative post)

We had an amazing vacation in the middle of May. It was a much needed bit of rest and relaxation before all the craziness that came after it and will continue for several months. (pictures coming soon) When we came home from vacation I went back to work and Sameer began looking for temporary work. We got our humble apartment ready for the arrival of Sameer's parents soon after that. They arrived on Saturday to be here for Commencement. Commencement at Yale is a long noble event. He actually got to don his cap and gown for three separate ceremonies between Sunday and Monday. (pictures of that coming soon too)

The day after Commencement the four of us took the train to Manhattan where we stayed in a fun little hotel on Broadway. On Thursday morning we saw Sameer's parents off at Penn Station where they boarded a train headed for Niagara Falls. We spent the day in Manhattan mostly looking for peaceful places to read. (By our 3rd day in the city we were in desperate need of quietness). We discovered the New York Humanites & Social Sciences Library. It had a huge public reading room and we spent 4 hours there. Then we went to dinner and finished off our last (6th in fact) New York trip of the year by seeing Les Miserables on Broadway.

We arrived home around 2:45am that night (morning) and then 4 hours later I got up to go to work. After work I went to bed early. Then on Saturday we began working on what we had long been putting off....

We're moving. In a few weeks. I don't remember if we've mentioned it specifically, but Sameer is beginning a doctor of theology program at Duke this fall (Th.D.). We're leaving our beloved New Haven and new friends and church to move to the south. We don't know where we're living or when we're going to get there but we do know we're moving out of this apartment sometime between June 29th and June 30th. We hope to squeeze in a trip to Idaho and California at some point but we also want to get to Duke soon so I can start looking for work. In between applying for jobs and writing cover letters we're also looking into buying a home in Durham. We're thinking of renting an apartment for a few months to get to know the area. Things aren't coming together as quickly as I'd like and I find it so difficult to just stop trying to plan things constantly. If you read our very first post of this blog you'll see how wonderfully God provided for us when we moved here. I'm sure He'll take care of us with this move too. I just need to figure out a way to let a few minutes go by without thinking about it.

I look forward to the time when we can get through a whole year without packing up our apartment and moving. We've never stayed in the same place for more than 9 months since we've been married. It must be nice (but maybe boring?) to be settled.

This town loves a parade

Yesterday after church we found ourselves in the middle of yet another boisterous New Haven parade. There have been quite a few since St. Patrick's Day. For some reason people here love to go out to the street and excitedly watch people, dogs, marching bands, trucks, anything. As we ate our lunch at Bruegger's Bagels we got to see Ronald McDonald standing on top of an ambulance waving a Puerto Rican flag. Now that's exciting! Our lunch with friends had just started to wrap up when we saw the commotion. We stared for several minutes trying to understand WHY. We were stunned really and ended up lingering for about 30 minutes because we were just fascinated by the cultural phenomenon that is New Haven and Parades.

Last week during Sameer's graduation his whole class from the Divinity School had to walk together for about a mile to join the rest of the university for the downtown ceremony. He said that pedestrians on the street began stopping and cheering for them as they walked down the hill. To them it was probably just another parade.