backyard kitchen

I’ve often wished that Shane had more of an interest in meal preparation, and yesterday I discovered the secret to stimulating his enthusiasm for cooking.  We’ve been talking about buying a grill for a couple of years, and yesterday we took the plunge and picked up a great four-burner gas grill to call our own.  The fact that Shane was up until midnight last night assembling all 4000 of the grill’s pieces told me that he was excited about the prospect of playing the role of backyard chef.

We decided to take the easy route for our first grilled meal and threw some bratwursts on the grill for lunch.  I wrapped a couple of ears of corn in foil and put them on as well.  Grilled meal #1 was a success.  For dinner, we stepped up our game a bit and put a nice thick filet of beef on the grill, along with some potato wedges brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with rosemary, and wrapped in foil.  This was trickier – a steak is so easily under or over-cooked.  We decided to err on the side of rare, but after we’d brought the meat in, let it rest for a few minutes, and then sliced into it, we found we’d erred too far – the steak was far too rare in the middle (”still mooing”, as some would say).  But the edges were perfect, so we at least got to enjoy a few tender, juicy bites.  Lesson learned.  Tomorrow we try pork, then fish later in the week.  Looks like this is going to be one heck of a meat-filled summer – I better start Googling those recipes for grilled vegetable skewers…

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climbing a mountain

Far too often, I take for granted the fact that we live in the midst of the Pacific Northwest and all its natural glory.  And so yesterday we resolved to embrace the outdoors, as we hopped in the car and headed east for a hike up Little Si (Mount Si’s smaller, less intimidating sister mountain).  I am not much of a hiker, but the 2.3-mile trip to the summit sounded manageable.  This hike wasn’t necessarily the leisurely stroll through the forest that I had imagined – within a few minutes I had broken a sweat and fallen short of breath – but as we pressed on, I fell into a groove and we were soon at the summit.  We found a place to sit on a rock and take in the views of the mountains and valleys and endless blankets of lush green trees all around us.  Well worth the sweat.

We are talking about conquering Mount Si later this summer – now if only there were a Margarita stand at the top…

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’tis the season

This weekend was proof that summertime is just around the corner, as I enjoyed: slicing into a perfectly juicy watermelon; taking in a Sunday afternoon baseball game; seeing our little front yard garden grow by the hour; drinking several glasses of chilled white wine; jogging along sparkling Lake Washington; barbecuing in the backyard with neighbors; waking up each morning and opening all the windows in the house; wearing tank tops and flip flops; reveling in the feel of sunshine on my shoulders.  ‘Tis the season for all these warm weather pleasures.

Unfortunately, ’tis also the season for busy-ness, with long hours at work and weekends spent preparing for my next licensing exam.  But I will certainly be taking time to stop and smell the spider mums…  (Flowers courtesy of Shane.)

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sweeping seattle

It has of course been difficult falling back into the daily grind after our 2-week fairy-tale of a vacation, but I feel like Seattle has been especially good to us since our return.  We’ve enjoyed good times with friends and neighbors, and we’ve had some great opportunities to enjoy Seattle’s multitude of entertainment offerings.

We hit up our first Mariners game of the season a couple of weeks ago and are so looking forward to more visits to the ballpark – I have made it my mission to learn the names of at least 9 Mariners and to seek out the best hot dog that Safeco field has to offer.  A daunting mission, yes, but one that will ultimately earn me the utmost respect of my husband, and so I’m calling it a worthy endeavor.

Last Saturday we enjoyed our first ever Seattle Sounders game at Qwest field.  Our friends had scored four tickets right at the 50-yard line and asked us if we wanted to go with them – um, yes, please!  The excitement over Seattle’s soccer club was almost electric, as people jumped and shouted and hugged after each goal.  Confetti rained from the skies when the team declared their victory – it was quite the athletic event.  It’s a bummer that Seattle had to say good-bye to their NBA team last year, but I am stoked about the buzz our city’s soccer club has generated.

Sunday I officially became part of the Aluminum Siding fan club as I watched my friend D’s dance performance at On the Boards.  She titled her piece “Chemo Confessions”, as it explores the struggle she endured in overcoming cancer a couple of years ago.  I was moved to tears as I watched D use her art to express the fear, the pain, and the ultimate necessity for strength that a battle with cancer entails.  I am in awe of the way she has turned her experience into something so inspirational and so beautiful.  I have a whole new admiration for her, and a whole new excitement about modern dance.

Last night we headed to the theater for a performance of Crime and Punishment at Intiman.  The play was intense and dramatic, and the intimate setting of the theater heightened the whole experience.  I could see the beads of sweat on Raskolnikov’s tormented face, the tears falling from Sonia’s desperate eyes.  I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath throughout the final scenes until the stage went dark, the play ended, and I found myself needing to deeply inhale.

So, do I miss Europe?  Well, yes.  Duh.  But I am excited about the breadth of experiences that Seattle has to offer.  Looking forward to taking advantage of more of my city’s offerings!

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reciprocity

Every year, our church gives each community group a certain amount of money and a simple urging to “bless your neighbors”.  Our group threw lots of ideas around during our Tuesday night get-togethers, and when somebody mentioned the struggle of Nickelsville, a large Seattle homeless camp, in their mission for a land grant, I think several of us felt our heart strings being tugged. No, we didn’t have the funds to provide them with the property or the shelter they need, but we could certainly stretch our dollars and give of our time to provide them with a hot breakfast and a few hours of company.  And so we were up at the crack of dawn this morning, elbow deep in pancake batter, to begin preparations for a breakfast to feed 75+ people.  And at 8:30, we all rolled up to the South Seattle church which has allowed Nickelsville to temporarily set up camp in their adjacent empty lot.  Our trunks were laden with 300 pancakes and slices of bacon, a couple hundred sausage links, bags of fresh fruit, and 2 large jugs of coffee.  I will admit that I was anxious as I got out of the car, not knowing what to expect.  Would they be receptive to outsiders such as ourselves?  What could I possibly talk to them about?  Shame on me for my fear and anxiety. These people are not so different from us.  They are men and women that have lost jobs and been unable to pay mortgages, people that haven’t been able to find work or have faced illnesses or injuries that have knocked them off their feet, and they don’t want to be a burden to family members or friends.  Particularly in economic times such as these, circumstances like these aren’t so hard to imagine.  And the openness, gratefulness, and graciousness of this community far exceeded anything I could have expected.  We showed up at Nickelsville this morning with the intention to bless these people that have faced struggles beyond what we can understand.  But as is often the case, as I strove to bless them, I found blessings being lavished upon me in return.  Each story, each smile, each “thank you” struck at my core, and reminded me of the importance of sharing God’s love and provision.  As we were getting ready to leave, one man tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to pray for him.  He has been seven months clean from a heroin addiction, but still struggles with temptation and “could use all the prayers he could get”.  As I laid my hand on his arm and prayed that he would find God’s strength and protection, I was struck by the power of the human spirit as common ground.  Yes, this man and I have had very different life experiences, but at our cores, we are both humans, we are both sinners in desperate need of God’s grace.

And so I am infinitely grateful for what took place this morning.  I am thankful for our church, who cares deeply about the homeless community and continually encourages us to stop averting our eyes.  I am thankful for our c-group, which is full of people that are constantly amazing me with their talents, their faith, and their generosity.  These people really have become our Seattle family.  And I am thankful for the warmth and the grace of the people of Nickelsville, as they opened my eyes to their “realness” and struggles.  Please keep this amazing group of people in your prayers.

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victory!

I struck another item off the list today when I finished the Mercer Island 10k.  Now don’t let the title of this post fool you – “victory” does not signify any sort of record-breaking time.  It just means that I was able to run (translation: jog) the entire race without having to stop at all to catch my breath.  I was able to hang with the “recreation runners” and ended up finishing ahead of a little more than half the women there.  Shane ran too and did really well – he has become quite the hardcore runner these days.  Despite the sense of dread that set in last night at the thought of having to get up early and run in the rain, I am so glad we did this.  I’m proud of us, and it’s nice to feel like I’ve earned my Sunday afternoon nap and bowl of ice cream!  I have been asked by a couple of friends to run a half-marathon with them in June, but I’m remaining non-committal at this point – my jello-legs are telling me that it would have been impossible to run two of these 10k’s back-to-back.  Maybe with enough training – we’ll see…

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getting our ducks in a row

Departure in T minus 16 days, and the major stops on our European itinerary are set – plane tickets and hotels have been booked for the following:

Saturday to Saturday:  PARIS.  We’ve rented an apartment near the Marais for the week, just a few blocks from the Place des Vosges, which is about as Parisian as a place can get.  Can’t wait to spend an afternoon or two there sitting on the grass, munching on a baguette, sharing a bottle of wine, listening to the sounds of all the French-speaking passers-by.  We’re keeping our Paris itinerary pretty loose, just looking forward to waking up each morning and saying to each other, “What amazing thing do you want to go do today?”

Saturday to Wednesday:  Porto, Portugal.  Our good friends from Seattle, J and L, will be flying in on Sunday and we’ll be spending a few days with them as they begin their two-week tour of Portugal and Spain.  I still don’t know too much about Porto, other than:  1) It’s extremely old and unbelievably beautiful, and 2) There’s a lot of good Port wine there, ready for the drinking.  Really, what else do you need to know?  We might rent a car for a day and drive out into the wine country – a day in the Portuguese vineyards definitely sounds like something I could do.  Also really looking forward to seeing the Casa da Musica in Porto.  This is an iconic piece of contemporary architecture, designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas (who also did the Seattle Public Library).

Wednesday to Friday:  Madrid, Spain.  We found super-cheap tickets via RyanAir, and J and L were already going, so we said, why not?  Madrid sounds cool.  Not sure yet what we’re going to do there (except that Shane just discovered there is going to be an awesome Francis Bacon exhibit at the Prado while we’re there – that’s definitely on the list).  And maybe a quick bus trip to Toledo?  Spain is our oyster (for 3 days, at least…).

Friday to Sunday:  Back in Paris, to drink a couple more glasses of wine, to savor a little more beauty, to eat one last pain au chocolat, and to make any last memories that will have to tide us over until our next trip back.

Clearly, we’re still working out the details, though trying not to go overboard with our planning (any good vacation has room for relaxation and spontaneity).  All I know is, in a little over two weeks, I could be walking along the Seine, one hand holding Shane’s hand, the other hand holding a crepe filled with Nutella.  A glorious thought…

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vino and a burger

Today marked the end of another intense cram session and test-taking adventure, so Shane and I headed out to Quinn’s on Capitol Hill this evening to celebrate with dinner and a drink.  I’ve been wanting to visit this place for awhile (see number 6 on the list), and was immediately taken with the urban vibe and the rough-yet-refined interiors.  Deciding what to order was easy – one of their notorious burgers and a glass of red wine, please.  The burger was good, the wine was fantastic, and the chance to sit and leisurely enjoy a meal with my husband was priceless.  I’ve been a bit of a stress mess lately, and so we haven’t had the chance to catch up with each other in awhile.  It was nice to chat, to talk about our upcoming trip, and to just relax.  It also felt good to pull my camera off the shelf and blow the dust off the lens – I’m trying to get back into a picture-taking routine.

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my plate overfloweth

I realize that my entries to this blog have been disappointingly sparse lately – allow me to explain (as much for the sake of me organizing my own thoughts and priorities as for the sake of allowing you all to understand what I’ve been up to).  My plate is full these days.  February has been an exceptionally busy month.  It started with a weekend trip to Portland to visit family, followed by a trip to California one week later to catch up with old friends.  Both getaways were much needed and well worth my time, but I find that I’m still kind of playing catch-up, since weekends are usually my chance to check things off my to-do list.  My days in Seattle since have been filled with studying for my next licensing exam (the mechanical, electrical and plumbing portion – *yawn*); planning our quickly-approaching trip to Europe; attempting to relearn the French language in preparation for said trip (shame on me for all that I’ve forgotten in the past five years!); trying to finish the book for my upcoming book club meeting this Saturday; training for the 10k race that we’re scheduled to run in March; squeezing in an occasional sketch or artistic exercise here and there; pulling together items for an on-line shop I’d like to get going; and struggling to maintain a clean house and a well-stocked fridge (at this, I have failed miserably).  On top of this, my regular weekly commitments are a big priority, like our Tuesday night get-togethers with friends from church (thank God for this mid-week chance to relax with these people who have become our Seattle family); art class on Thursday nights; and teaching Sunday school on Sunday mornings.  Work has been fairly busy the past couple of weeks as well, which means occasionally staying late and skipping my lunch-time study sessions.  And so, here I am: Whew!  Feeling overwhelmed, but grateful that at least my to-do list is filled with things that I genuinely enjoy doing (minus the studying) – I love spending a Saturday afternoon reading or doodling in my sketchbook.  If only I had more Saturday afternoons!  So bear with me, as this blog takes a bit of a hit while I get all my ducks in a row.

p.s.  Major thanks to Shane for doing whatever he can to lighten my load.  The dishes you wash, the trips you make to pick me up from the gym, and the constant encouragement you offer does not go unnoticed.

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sunday sun day

Shane and I were in need of a date, and the weather today lent itself perfectly to an outdoor rendez-vous.  Yes, that’s right, the sun shone in Seattle today!  A January miracle…  We thought the west-facing view from Lincoln Park in West Seattle would be ideal for sunset-watching, and so we hopped in the car and made the quick drive over there.  Man, it felt good to be enjoying the outdoors after so many days of being cooped up inside.  Rejuvenating.

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