haters gonna hate

Valentine’s Day. Some people hate it, and some people love it. And for some reason this year (in my experience) it kinda feels like there are more people in the hate-it camp than the non-hate-it-camp. “Oh gosh, I hate Valentine’s Day.” “Valentine’s Day? I don’t even get it. Such a greeting-card-company-concocted holiday. Puh.LEEZE.”

Ok ok. I can understand why some people feel this way. “AMERICA IS JUST TELLING ME I NEED A BOYFRIEND!!!” “AMERICA IS JUST TELLING ME I NEED TO DO ROMANTIC THINGS FOR MY WIFE TO PROVE THAT I LOVE HER!!!” Mmmk. Is it out of our systems now? Because I am about to tell you how BOMB FRICKIN KICK-A this holiday truly is.

To be historically “accurate” (according to the all-knowing source of Wikipedia, of course), we don’t actually know anything for SURE about St. Valentine besides his name. (We like to think he was a dude who married people in secret when Roman Emperor Claudius II ordered that young men stay single.) According to NPR, the saint’s Day didn’t become a holiday for love until Shakespeare and Chaucer romanticized it in the middle ages through their poetic works. The day gained popularity in Britain and Europe and, YES, GREETING CARD COMPANIES HAD A FIELD DAY.

REGARDLESS of how it began or who invented it or WHO is milking it for all its worth now, I for one am glad we have a day devoted to love.

I’m not getting ready to tell you that I have the perfect husband. Or the perfect love. Or the perfect marriage. OR that my Valentine’s Day is filled with flowers and love notes and presents and grand gestures and sweet candies. I don’t love Valentine’s Day because of what I have or what I hope to get. I love it for what it’s for. And I think it’s for a whole lot more than a whole lot of people give it credit.

Ever since I was a little girl, Valentine’s Day has been a unique opportunity to celebrate and ponder on the amazing thing that is love. Romance is a lovely and special thing, but love itself is far more amazing. I like the way Paul puts it (in his first letter to the Corinthians):

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing… faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Perfect love holds all things together. And although we as humans are not able to love perfectly on our own, God has given us the capacity to love one another as He loves us. Perfectly.

His love is perfectly manifested to us through the provision of his Son, who entered our world to die for us because we cannot love like this on our own. When Jesus died, God made us live, reconciling us to Himself, that we might be made perfect in Him. THIS IS WHY WE LOVE. THIS is why love is so amazing. THIS, my friends, is why LOVE needs a DAY all to itself.

Because of this love, I love my husband. I love my friends. I love my mom and dad and sister, and the rest of my family. What’s so bad about a day that devotes us to reminding one another of this love?

Some people say that Valentine’s Day is about getting a boyfriend. Those same people might tell you that if you haven’t got a date or a ring or a bouquet of flowers on Valentine’s Day, it’s proof that no one loves you. Here’s the thing about these people: THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS. And here’s another secret: sometimes these “people” are not people at all. Sometimes they’re voices in your head that do not come from the One who knows what love is.

Take hold of this day. It’s a day of love. REAL love. Remind yourself that YOU are loved. LOVE someone because of the love you’ve been shown. You don’t have to bake heart-shaped cookies and frost them or have a fancy dinner out or be uber Romantic. But take the opportunity this day gives you to really celebrate love.

I, for one, have painted my nails glitter pink.

things to love in the fall

I always thought spring was my favorite season, but after returning to the midwest from six years in always-sunny southern California, autumn may be moving into the lead.

It’s especially great in Chicago, because I think fall lasts a bit longer here. It’s November 2nd, we’re still hovering around 60 degrees, and the trees are still filled with colorful autumn leaves. I love the excuse to have a cup of coffee or tea by my side through most of the day. The skies are often gray, but not dark like they are when the clouds are filled with rain. The inside of my house is filled with a cozy sense of productivity, like I could be content to work here for hours.

September brought us into a fall that began with a host of new responsibilities, sources of stress, and an endless list of to-dos. As I sit in my dining room today (pathophysiology books and study materials close at hand) I’m struck by a new sense of gratitude for this season. There’s just not enough time in life not to reflect on the good things that come our way. Of course many of those things are immaterial; the blessings of good friendships, peace in the midst of uncertainty, the license to spend time working toward a meaningful goal. But some of them are very much material. And these, I pass along to you:

I love this stuff. My favorite way to enjoy the morning is to put on a pot of this, burn my pumpkin nutmeg candle, and let the delightful smells of fall fill our apartment.

This is the tea that just might be able to break me of my coffee habit. Smooth, delicate, floral; this stuff is simply a delight. I especially love it with a little bit of milk and honey.

How many times have you been told by avid Harry Potter fans: “you have to read the books.” It took me hearing that about thirty times before I finally dove into the series. Jeremy and I read them one after another in two months, just recently finishing book seven. I loved them. Partly because they’re great stories; I had to force myself to put them down every now and again so that I could continue doing normal life things. But also because they’re great to talk about and ponder over. This has become the best selling series of books ever written and I think it’s important to be a person who can understand why.

Now I’m reading this. I’m only half way through, but I think I can recommend it. First off, I think it’s really healthy to read good books about real things that happened to real people. Fiction tends to be my favorite recreational reading, but often a good biography is just as enjoyable and can be far more rewarding. It gets a little intense at times (I probably wouldn’t give it to my kids to read), but it’s an incredible true story about a rebel kid turned olympic runner turned WWII bomber pilot.

This actually has nothing to do with my fall this year, but in the spirit of reading books (a wonderful pastime for these cozy days inside) I had to mention this. I just realized I never wrote about this book, which I intended to do when I finished it in June. It’s actually real inappropriate that this is at the end of my blog post, because this ishands down the best book I have ever read (barring the Bible, of course). Unbroken is great so far, but it doesn’t even begin to hold a torch to Eric Metaxas’ Bonhoeffer Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Metaxas is an incredible biographer, writing about Bonhoeffer in a captivating yet immensely informative way. This book amazed me, inspired me, and repeatedly caused me to consider my own Christian life. Bonhoeffer will forever be a hero of mine, and I’d read any biography Metaxas wrote.

Well I suppose it’s about time I get back to working on the things that need to get done and won’t do themselves. I’m encouraged by this season, and excited to see the beginning of November. Here’s to hoping and praying for the ability to keep our lives in perspective, always.

sweet tea in the afternoon

Lovely Bakeshop. A lovely lovely place in Chicago that appears to live up to its name has apparently been hiding from me for the past year. I found this place on Sunday (thanks to some friends of ours) and thought to myself I just might have found my favorite neighborhood coffee shop in Chicago.

It’s simple. It’s just off one of my favorite streets, next to a place called The Butcher and Larder (point for location), there’s lots of natural light and an adorable patio that’s usually about half-shaded (point for charm), it’s got lots of space and not lots of people occupying it (point for low-profile), and they serve Intelligentsia coffee (ten points for my favorite coffee-game over). Good news for me.

Lately I’ve been thinking about taking up a hobby I probably can’t afford to start. I’ve never really been the hobby-having type, but the other day I was hit with an overwhelming desire to get a real camera and start taking pictures. I’ve always told Jeremy he needs to take up photography so we can have great pictures of our lives and future kids. I’ve also always thought it was kind of lame that 90% of the pictures on my blog were taken by someone else.

My dad got a fancy pants camera a couple years ago. Not a crazy professional one or anything, just a pretty simple but high quality digital camera with a great lens and manual capabilities. I loved photography in high school, and I love messing around with normal pictures when I get them onto my computer. I’m pretty nit picky about aesthetics and I think I could really enjoy developing the skill of great picture taking.

The hang up is that I’m definitely not getting a nice camera anytime soon. Our family is on a hard core spending hiatus. Believe it or not, its looking like this house thing I’ve mentioned once or twice is actually going to go through. It seems we may just be the proud new owners of a multi-family home come July 26th. It’s pretty unbelievable and I’m still telling myself it might all fall through, but we’re keeping our wallets closed in the mean time.

So for now I’m looking for ways to keep myself busy this summer that don’t involve much cash. Any bright ideas?

things to try

Recently I’ve been running into things I’d like to try, or things I’ve already come aross that I think other people should try. Here come a couple of them.

First, some recipes that look ultra-delicious (click on the links under each photo to see the full recipe from RealSimple.com):

Pappardelle with Beef and Mushroom Ragu

Yum. Jeremy and I have been cooking with mushrooms a lot lately, and we’ve been pasta-lovers for years.

Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Chili with Sweet Potatoes

I already have a delicious veggie-chili recipe, but sweet potatoes sound like a fun twist on chili. Also, a great excuse to use the slow-cooker.

Spicy Asian Chicken with Brussels Sprouts

Spicy Asian food and Brussels sprouts in one dish? Yes, please. I’m especially excited to try this one.

On a completely unrelated (inedible) note, if you’re looking for a way to be simply delighted in the middle of the day (or any time of day, really), you should visit Jonathan Charles Wright’s blog.

I used to go here every now and then, because Jonathan (who I met through my husband at Biola) is interesting and clever, and writes very well. Jeremy and I think of him as our one friend who will probably actually become a famous writer or something (although he won’t care). Lately I’ve enjoyed reading his blog so much that I just must recommend you go there. It’s more than fun. More than entertaining. Just the best. I’m so happy it exists.

family dinner

Jeremy and I used to cook all the time. Pretty much any night we had together we were making something for dinner, and often something new.

Here in Chicago our kitchen is not quite as conducive to hanging out while making meals, we no longer get all the delicious produce we enjoyed in Echo Park, and our time together post-work feels slightly more limited. As a result, we haven’t had many great dinners together. And we miss making real food. So we’re taking action.

We’re doing that plan-out-your-meals-calendar-two-weeks-in-advance thing, choosing dinner’s we’ll make, delegating who’s in charge of which meals, and taking a major trip to the store for groceries every couple Sundays. We’re only one week in and we started on a Tuesday so it’s only resulted in two new meals thus far, but it’s been great. Thursday night, we lucked out with a great recipe courtesy of Real Simple Magazine. Fun to make, delicious to eat. I highly recommend you give these Chorizo and Potato Tacos with Black Bean Salsa a try.

Read this book. You’ll love it.

Jeremy brought this book home one day from the TFA library, figuring he should have a better grasp on the beginnings of the organization. I picked it up myself out of curiosity with few expectations and no plan to necessarily finish.

I read the book in one day, and what an incredible story. This woman, Wendy Kopp, started this nonprofit fresh out of her undergraduate education at Princeton. Now Teach for America is one of the most successful nonprofits in the nation.

Add this to your summer reading list before summer’s up. You’ll be amazed and inspired.

Six things to make your life better

in no particular order:

1. Organize your Home

Go through all that old junk in those places you never see. Take everything out from under your bathroom sink and go on a throwing-away binge. Dig through your junk drawers and find purposeful places for the few things that don’t belong in the garbage. Rearrange where you keep things. Let nothing in your house have no home! It may take a couple of hard days work but it will be well worth it.

2. Get up Early on Your Day Off

Not a morning person? You should still try this. It’s good to be up when the sun has just risen and the world is not fully awake just yet. It’s very little fun getting up early for work. Choosing to get up early is a beautiful thing and, more importantly, will help you become a better person.

3. Read This Book:

This is a terrible picture of a really wonderful collection of stories. This book will be good for you whether you love to read (and do it all the time), or do not so much like to read (but kind of wish you did). [If you do not like to read and do not wish you liked to read, you should work on that. In your case, this book will also be good for you.] I recommend making a habit of reading it before bedtime, but it’s truly a delight at any time of day. People should be making sure to read quality fiction these days.

4. Listen to the Bible Being Read Aloud

The ESV website is a great tool for listening to the Word. You’d be amazed at how much Bible you can listen to in a relatively short period of time. It seems safe to assume very few of us are reading the Bible as much as we should, would like to, or would be best for us. I also think it’s important to interact with Scripture in a variety of ways. Hearing it read aloud can show and teach us things we might not see when reading it on our own.

5. Start the Day With a Cup of Coffee and a Book

Don’t like coffee? Hot drink for you, then. This book could be the Bible or any other reading material. Does a cup of something hot and some quality time with a good book sound a bit idealistic for the average working adult? It may be. In that case, consider this a good rule of thumb for days off and weekends. Relaxing with something intellectually stimulating in the morning is bound to get your day going in the right direction. If your computer screen is what regularly greets you first thing, change your ways. Reading as your first activity of the day will make your life better in ways that emailing and blogging (ouch!) cannot.

6. Send a Note by Snail Mail to Someone You Love

This is good for everyone involved (duh). It requires a fair amount of thought, effort, and others-focusedness. Sending friendly greetings via the world wide web is good and important too. We should make an effort to do that as well. But when you send a card through the USPS, you spend some good focused minutes thinking about someone else, and you have to construct a jumble of words that is worth getting written down and sent on actual paper to this person for no special occasion. I don’t think I have to mention how great it feels to get a “just because” card in the mail.

I happened to do all six of these things today, which inspired me to write them down as things that will make your life better. Go ahead, try them out.

just in case you didn’t get it the first time

Don’t take it from me. Take it from my eloquent, smart, good-looking husband: See the Fantastic Mr. Fox. Now.

a couple of Movies Worth Seeing

There’s always something interesting happening in LA. Last night, while perusing the options for a mid-week date, Jeremy found a showing of a movie at the Grove, after which the lead actress would be present for Q&A. She’s up for a Golden Globe for Best Actress (for this movie) and the trailer looked pretty good, so we figured we better go see The Young Victoria. The movie is about the young life of Queen Victoria. The film leans more toward love story than historical drama in an intelligent, captivating, anything but over-the-top way. You can see why Emily Blunt (who plays Queen Victoria) is up for a Golden Globe, and her co-star Rupert Friend does an equally fantastic job. If you’re looking for a great date movie, I have to highly recommend this.

While I’m here recommending a movie, I might as well encourage you to see my favorite film of 2009: The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Most people I recommend this movie to don’t actually go see it. I know I know, it’s stop film animation, which is different and seems a little odd, but it’s brilliant! The animation is incredible to watch, the casting is spot on, and it has all the wonderful elements of a Wes Anderson movie (among Wes Anderson’s other films: The Life Aquatic, The Royal Tennenbaums, and The Darjeeling Limited). It’s a great story, cleverly told. It’s the only movie Jeremy and I have ever seen in the theatre TWICE. Go see it. It may be at your local dollar soon.

we are what we eat

Well. We joined a co-op. I know what you’re thinking. It has to be one of three things:

1. What the heck is a co-op?

2. ERIN? Joining a CO-OP? What happened to my non-health-conscious, junky-food-loving [friend/daughter/sister/in-law/other-appropriate-relational-title]?

3. They’ve been in Echo Park for more than a year now. It was bound to happen.

If you’re in the camp that was pondering #1, let me explain exactly what “we joined a co-op” means. A co-op–or, a food co-op, to be more precise–is a form of something known as community supported agriculture, or CSA. We join, or subscribe to, a group of local farms from which we’ll receive a weekly box of produce. Our group is called Abundant Harvest. You don’t choose what’s in your box; the farmers fill it with whichever crops are in season and ready to be harvested. It comes just like this:

It’s all organic. And the point is to eat more (as well as a wider variety of) real food that is good for you, rich in nutrients, and grown by people you can actually meet, as opposed to mass-producing farms across the country (or the world, for that matter.) That’s good.

Well now that you know what a co-op is (or at least have a bit of an idea… I would encourage following my link to Abundant Harvest’s website above to find out more), I’ll address those of you who were thinking #2. (I’ll be clear right now: I’m not going to address the #3′s. Valid thinking, #3′s.)

I guess for me, my great awakening came as a result of this book: In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, the tag line of which is “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

The book is by a guy named Michael Pollan; an author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at UC Berkeley. It’s a book you should read, regardless of whether or not you care about health and eating. It’s an extremely interesting read about American Nutritionism, the Western diet, and the simple answers to our unending list of questions about what we should eat as a result of our obsession with so-called “health.”

To give you a taste of what this book is about, Pollan makes these five suggestions in his chapter entitled “Eat Food: Food Defined:”

1. Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. (The idea is that a few generations back, we were still eating real food, not mass marketed “food products” processed and packaged to look like real food, but made with significantly less nutrients and significantly more unnatural ingredients. His example: Go-gurt. Would your great grandma see a package of go-gurt and think maybe it was toothpaste?)

2. Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include d) high-fructose corn syrup. (These are some hallmarks of processed food labels. For example, a loaf of bread shouldn’t have 41 ingredients, half of which you’ve never heard of and/or can’t pronounce. Apparently this is the case with Sara Lee’s Soft & Smooth Whole Grain White Bread.)

3. Avoid food products that make health claims. (The foods with the most license to make health claims don’t have packages to make them on, for one. Also, foods that need to make bold health claims in order to convince you they’re healthy are often making claims off of “incomplete and often erroneous” science.)

4. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. (You’re more likely to pick up real food here. The most processed foods are typically found in the middle aisles.

5. Get out of the supermarket whenever possible. (Because even the most real foods you’ll find in the supermarket are likely grown and raised in environments that cause them to be far less nutrient-rich as a result of modern industrial agriculture.)

This book has had a profound impact on the way I think about eating, and how to live life in general. We’re a part of a generation that increasingly has no idea how to prepare a meal without taking a trip to Fresh and Easy for something pre-marinaded that we can pop in the oven. We’re lovers of all things easy and convenient, often at the cost of growth and quality. The food that we eat has an impact on far more than our own personal health and well-being. Eating real food is a service to the entire food chain, and a step in the right direction for cultivating a healthy culture, environment, and world. Let’s be wise stewards of what God has entrusted to us here on Earth.