Orla Kiely Bedding Discount

Drooling over my computer... decor8 has negotiated a 15% for anyone using the decor8 discount code at checkout when buying Orla Kiely bedding at dotmaison ... GO! BUY!

Love it.

Mennonite Nat'l Convention

Drew spent a week in Columbus a few months back with our Pastor (who has since retired) and her husband to attend the Mennonite National Convention as a delegate from our church. We just received some photos from them that I thought I would post, while taking the opportunity to express how much we admire Sally and Orwin and miss seeing them on a regular basis!

Here is Drew with Sally, strolling along the Columbus waterfront:
One part of their trip that Drew loved was experiencing Orwin's constant curiosity. As an engineer, Orwin has great interest in construction sites, bridges and other structures that we might pass without second thought. (Chicagoans: he was on the team that designed Wacker Bridge!) Here they stopped to pose in front of one of those curious construction sites:

Drew is now one of the interim church leaders while we take this next year to perform a pastoral search. It's an interesting process, as we are reflecting on who we are as a church and what sort of qualities we need in a leader. That many cultures and ethnicities are represented in our community adds complexity to the decision making process, as do the different perspectives of individuals within the community.

being thankful

We enjoyed our second Thanksgiving with the Peebles family--dear friends of ours and fellow LWCC-ers. Before the meal our little family went on a hike around a nearby forest preserve (we returned with a very muddy but very thankful pup) and made the famous Strait family ice cream pie to bring along. The Peebles' table was so very full of culture and conversation--a family from Iraq, a man from India (whose oft-mentioned wife & baby boy remain in India), and two sweet friends--one of whom is from our dear Seattle & the other who has traveled the world this past year and has many stories still to share. This was our crew in addition to the Peebles fam and ourselves.

We spoke of the conflict in Iraq, war & peace, peace-making versus passive-ism, relationships and dreams... and got in plenty of laughs! I learned so much from my table mates and I believe we all said goodbye with full hearts.

My arms are still sore from drumming for the post-meal Rock Band. I was best at drums. Not so great at vocals. Although the poor vocals performance could be because I was sharing the mic with an adorable 8 year old English-learner. Just saying.

The meal was vegetarian but we went ahead & cooked a turkey the following day. Although... for the record, you can eat SO much more without the meat taking up space!!

love our city

We've felt very in love with Chicago this fall. Drew and I have turned to one another numerous times now with shy smiles and shared: "Are you loving Chicago as much as I am?" My mother once counseled me that it takes ~5 years to feel at home in a new city. We're going on year 4 here in Chicago and I think I believe her.

And because Chicago's so awesome, we've shaved 1 1/2 years off the 5.

Recently we were once again gifted with tickets to the Lyric. Amazing tickets, mind you. Not quite spitting distance from the stage, but close. (Maybe if Dad is spitting.) Tickets many would break a bone for. Wine, coffee, crab & cookies later we finished the show and skipped off to enjoy the rest of the night--amidst the twinkles of Christmas decor and alongside two very special friends.

The show? Janacek's Katya Kabanova.


The entire evening was a true and refreshing blessing. Now back to work.

goin' for a holy swim

Mercedes is a dear friend of ours who moved to the States from Cuba a year and a half ago with her youngest son and husband. We've spent many evenings together gorging on Cuban eats (all three of them can cook, that's for sure!) and laughing Caribbean style. They've had very intense struggles both physically and financially since moving here and we still aren't seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Still, the joy they have in community and their laughter from the heart persists. Drew and I often feel like we're back in the DR when we're all together, sitting in plastic chairs on someone's porch and sipping a Presidente.

Mercedes came with us to church the week after meeting us and has been coming ever since. She's asked about baptism many times and made it clear that she would like to move forward with it as well as to become a full member of the church. It was an honor to meet with Mercedes and one of our pastors, Kristin, and discuss "what is baptism" and how that relates to Mercedes' story. I was pleased be asked to baptize Mercedes alongside Kristen.

We started off that Sunday service by reading Mercedes the membership questions (in Spanish), as she confirmed them.

The church was invited forward to gather around Mercedes and pray for her.

The weather was by no means warm but thanks to the mild fall Chicago graced us with the water wasn't all that bad! Mercedes took her first communion immediately following the baptism and then in turn served each of us the meal.


This woman works a physically demanding job and is exhausted come Sunday, but you'll be sure to see her at church--early, mind you--ready with a warm hug and smile! I'm so thankful for her friendship.

Is this what you do all day?

A friend recently emailed me this link, asking me that very question. I didn't take it to mean "do you jump around to help people sing the pentatonic scale," but rather "do you research music and the brain to help people understand why and how music impacts us?"

My answer was yes.

And here is the video.


I encourage any and all of you to watch more videos from the World Science Festival. SO GOOD.

Breathing in, breathing out

At least I have the basics down.

Other than that? Life's a bit hectic. I've been playing "catch up" all week, recovering from Society for Neuroscience and missing my recent visitors, Mom & Dad Hamblet. Still, I love my life. Wonderful partner, fabulous city, inspirational church community and nurturing leadership in my professional life. And I can start to taste the end of the PhD... far away though it is.

Today? Preparing for a midterm, which I will take tomorrow (yes, that's Sunday). Writing a few letters to funding organizations for a new project at a local high school. Speaking plenty of Spanish in the lab related to that same project. Testing kids for my dissertation project (what, you ask? you actually spend time working on your OWN project??). And? Sipping tea from my darling new teapot. Thanks, Mom!

Sadly enough I do not have a single picture to post from my parents' visit. We pedicured, shopped, walked, laughed, talked, laughed and talked some more. And, thanks to Daddy D, watched a gory--though entertaining--movie. Lots of snorting from Daddy D and giggles from Momma K. And Momma K did plenty of our laundry. Come again soon!

Back to work.

NPR!

Although they've featured us twice this year on Chicago Public Radio (what I like to call "NPR Chicago") I never thought I'd hear my own voice on the real NPR. As in national coverage. Needless to say, I'm excited. (!!)

Click here to listen!

It aired at 5:35pm on All Things Considered.

My mouth feels like cotton from presenting my poster all day at SFN, preceded by the press conference. And my feet hurt. But at least my shoes were cute.

insanity, at times.

Goodness, I have SO MUCH to post about! Photos from my dear friend's baptism at the lake (brrr!)--which we performed all in Spanish, funny fluffy animal picks, lab news and general goings-on in the Strait household. Busy days.

But for now, how about a list of the things I've been up to that have prevented me from a complete installation?

-Leading a parent-teacher meeting for an amazing new project we've begun in the lab, partnering with an inner city Chicago high school (lots of opportunity to speak Spanish...!)

-The baptism of my dear friend Mercedes, from Cuba (complete with pre-baptism meetings, group recognition on Sunday morning and a post-baptism par-tay)

-Coordinating Mercedes' "sewing business" (anyone need curtains sewn? tailoring??)

-Society for Neuroscience annual meeting--where I'm presenting a poster, as well as an auditory satellite (where I also presented)

-Locy snuggling at Reid & Sam's (not nearly as much as we'd like)

-Press conference & interviews about our research (NPR Monday! will post the link...)

-Responding to reviewers & trying to get this paper out the door (ugh)

-Presentation on "Does music make us human?" at the Zygon Center for Religion & Science

-Coffee dates & outing here & there with girlfriends. And my man. And my dog (no coffee dates, just romps in the park).

Phewf. The short of things? I'm happy. Content with life. Pleased to be married to a man with a vision I am passionate about and pleased that he feels the same about me. Excited for what the future holds.

Must protect insurance companies.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Thank you, Blurbomat, for clueing me into this video! It's fabulous.

Announcing: Locy Paige Hamblet

News, news! Big, snuggly news!

Reid & Sam gave birth to the gorgeous Locy Paige Hamblet yesterday evening around 5pm via c-section. Drew & I waited most of the day with Sam's parents, Frank & Camille. Reid kept us posted via text messages and we jumped at the phone every time it made a "bling!" Sam was a champ, pushing for hours, but Locy was backpacked into the umbilical cord & just couldn't make it down any further.

She has the softest skin and a healthy head of light brown hair (yes, mom, it seems like it could have a hint of red in it). We see Sam & Reid all over her darling little face! She enjoys sleeping, eating and--most of all--pooping. That, my friends, is a true sign of being a Hamblet.

We got a few shots of Sam as well--who looked fabulous--but I haven't yet asked for permission to post "post-birth Mama." But trust me, she was there, eating ice chips and flexing her muscles. Way to go Mama Sam!

Changes, Changes...

Change is upon us--in many ways. Drew turned in his thesis for publication Tuesday, meaning I must now address him as "Master Drew" (isn't that what you call someone with a Master's?). We celebrated last night with Whole Food's exquisite whole fruit pie, French cider and plenty of congratulatory flowers.

Beyond celebrating Drew's completion of "graduate degree #1" we also took the occasion to celebrate other changes in our lives. With Drew taking on this new position at the church and a new program at the University of Chicago, a lot of newness is coming our way. He worked his final shift at Peet's Coffee & Tea yesterday and it was a bittersweet day, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

Anne and Louise have been regular Peet's customers for years, usually visiting in the mornings after dropping Louise's older siblings off at school. I now teach Anne's older children piano lessons and love the friendship we have developed--our lives in Chicago wouldn't be the same without them! Louise is thrilled when she finds Drew's moped parked near Peet's because it means Drew's "slinging the bean" inside. Here she is posing with Drew on his last day of work while Drew makes Anne her final "Drew Strait Latte."

So onward we press. What a year we have ahead of us.

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Two birthday congrats today!

1. Daddy Kevin, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. My favorite father-in-law celebrates his special day today and we wish so badly we could celebrate it together. Yet another successful year, and much fun ahead! We love you, are thankful for your example in our lives and cannot WAIT to see you this December.

Here's a photo of Kevin with Drew, Drew's best friend Troy, and Duffy, Troy's dad, while at Priest Lake last summer.
2. Sister Sam, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Her birthday happens to border the due-date of our first niece/nephew!!). Sam, you have a big year ahead and we couldn't be happier for you and Reid! We are thankful to be so close to you for the birth of Baby Hambo and look forward to the many evenings of baby snuggling ahead.

Here's a shot of me with Reid (my brother) and Sam when in New Jersey a few summers ago. This evening followed a full day of riding roller coasters at Six Flags and watching Reid's baseball game (with Brent & Erin Raska, while they were at Princeton).

We love you!

Tennessee Chronicles Part I: Family Fun

Boy has it been a full few weeks! I kicked off the traveling season with a trip to Indianapolis, where I presented my research at the Society for Music Perception and Cognition. Returning on a Friday, I drove straight to the dentist's office where I had some yucky surgery performed (I'll spare you the details!). In order to make my recovery a little less miserable, we packed up our bags as soon as I was mobile and drove to East Tennessee for a visit with my extended family, puffy cheeks and all. We had a lovely trip and they were very gracious with me while I healed. We were SO glad to have this time with family and can't wait to share with you about it!

I'll post some photos in three parts. Here I give you Part I in the Tennessee Chronicles.

We stayed with my Mammaw Lucille (my mother's mother) in Pigeon Forge. This is a hot tourist spot, just bordering Smokey Mountain Nat'l Park. Many of our other relatives (aunt & uncle, great aunts, cousins, second cousins, third cousins...) live in the surrounding areas (Sevierville, Dandridge, Gatlinburg, Seymour). We spent a fair bit of time driving around to our different relatives' homes to chat and see what they've been up to.

Last weekend we had the opportunity to visit my Great Aunt & Uncle Nina and Lawrence. They have apple orchards and honey bees and are situated on beautiful mountainous property. Below is a photo of Drew & me with Mammaw down below some of their orchards.


Here we are with Nina on her front porch.
Back in the "holler" (translates to "hollow" or "valley") is an old two-room shack that has a fair bit of history to it. This is the shack where my Aunt Nina and my Papaw (grandpa) Virgil were raised along with their siblings. Nina showed us where they fetched their water, how they kept their dairy products cold (in the spring) and told us stories about harvesting sugar cane & making molasses, among other things.

I have always admired my Aunts Nina & Ruby (her sister) for all they accomplished professionally. Both of them raised children while working full time as educators & educational administrators in addition to supporting their husbands in their agricultural and professional endevours. Beyond this, they had very little growing up yet built successful lives for themselves once they became independent. These are hard-working and highly capable women! One story they tell about their road to success is how they learned to read by exploring the newsprint that their mother stuck on the inside walls of their home for insulation. I found a spot inside the shack where you could still read the words on the newsprint and took a photo. It seems this print is from an old Sears catalog.


To the side of this house are stacks of honeybee hives. Drew had never seen these before and was enthusiastic about exploring them, though I made she he was careful to maintain his distance (allergy alert!!).
This was a sweet visit! We also spent half a day with Aunt Ruby and her daughters and had such a lovely time catching up. We can't wait to return!!

I'll close this post with a photo of my cousin Andrew playing with Mollie. Andrew and his brother, Logan, kept Mollie well entertained during our vacation. Drew & I had no idea she could play for so long and Mollie was thrilled by all the attention and Mammaw's fenced in backyard!

Pastoral Interim Team

Drew has recently been hired as one of four pastoral leaders for our church during an interim period of at least one year, while we make decisions about how to proceed now that our head pastor has retired. This new position is timely for Drew, having just completed his first seminary degree and ready for more intense ministry involvement (refreshed from our two years of intense work in the DR!). As we were meditating on "what next," Drew was offered this position.
He is honored to serve the church in this capacity.


Last Sunday's service was devoted to commissioning this new team. I was disappointed that it coincided with my departure for Indianapolis (for SMPC's biennial conference) but appreciated Peter's photos, shown here. Members of the congregation washed the new leaders' feet and the church prayed over them in an act of commissioning.

I, for one, am thrilled to see his pastoral gifts again in action and look forward to his leadership in this capacity.

Joel & Tori: Superstars

As I mentioned before, we LOVED having Joel & Tori with us a few weekends ago! I also mentioned that we are terrible picture-takers and made it out with... oh... NONE. But that one. With the red eye.

All right.

So Joel & Tori mercifully sent us the photos they'd taken and here they are! These two are from the motorcycle "really high & scary jump" Red Bull event.

Miss you two already!

Dowtown at Twilight

Charity and I spent a night at Taste of Chicago, which is a huge fair consisting of miles of food booths hosted by restaurants throughout the city. The even takes over a large part of downtown, near Buckingham Fountain/Jackson Avenue. The night we went featured a Counting Crows concert and we got front & center seats, close enough to see the lead singer's individual dreadlocks. We were sure to catch Mr. Jones and Anna Begins before weaving our way out of the crowd.

After spending our food tickets wisely (and carefully documenting each consumption with a photo), we wandered over to Grant Park to see The Bean and this new installment (I forget what it's called, designed to "frame" different views of the Chicago skyline.


We ended the evening at the Hancock tower (of course), where we took plenty of photos from the windowed bathroom (who needs to pay for an observation deck?!). Oh, Chicago. And oh, Charity! Can you believe we've been friends for 15 years now??

Zookeeping

While Drew's at work Mollie pines away. The other day I found that she'd dug out one of Drew's house shoes and snuggled up next to it by the door, awaiting Drew's return. A boy and his dog--so precious!


Tink seems to be getting more and more confident, no longer afraid of big groups of guests or shy with new people. For those who don't know, she was Hurricane Katrina kitty, caught up the storm but lived to tell about it. She was rescued & shipped to Chicago, where her previous owner adopted her. Her first year post-storm she spent alone, as her new owner worked long hours. She was very sensitive to noise and movement when we first brought her home (definitely skittish) but gradually became more and more comfortable--now not sensitive to much at all and desperate for cuddles and affection! Good thing we love to be providers of cuddles and affection. Here she is snuggling with me last night while I got into a new book.


I'm used to waking up with Tink snuggled in the covers by my tummy, or nestled down at my feet. This morning I found that she'd sought out a new snuggle buddy--she was so cute crammed between Drew & the pillow that I just had to snap a shot!

Oh, the adventures of zookeeping. Happy Saturday to you all! I'm off to work but am committed to spending at least some time in the sun before the day is through.

Lovely Summer

Visitors have legitimately made our summer this year. We have had such a lovely June and July, honored to play host & hostess to friends and family. We kicked off the summer with visits from Drew's parents and Charity. In the past few weeks we spent a handful of days with Erin and Brent Raska, who currently live in the Upper East Side of Manhattan (think "Gossip Girl"!) and are preparing to move to Zambia for the next year. Joel and Tori Barbour visited from Spokane for four days, during which we toured the city, ate deep dish, watched movies and--most importantly--witnessed a motorcyclist break the world record downtown for the highest motorcycle jump. Let me tell you, it was high (I watched from a distance with Mollie, from Buckingham Fountain)... although I found it funny that he was breaking his own record. We also had an evening with Jenna Bott, in from Kansas City--what a treat!

Unfortunately, we have all of one picture to show for our time with guests! Guess we were too busy having fun. Below, Joel & Tori's friends spent an evening with us in the city. Tori did her best to get Olivia, a darling 2 year old, to ride Mollie. I'm not sure Olivia was as excited as Mollie was about it (please forgive the red eye--we really need a new camera...!).

Chicago is so fabulous in the summer that is *almost* makes up for the horrendous winters. I've been camping, beach bathing, biking and BBQ-ing and I just can't get enough of the outdoors! Drew and I are looking forward to our anniversary camping trip later this month. What could be better than 'mallows, reading in the hammock and sleeping under the stars with my husband?

A Preggatini Shower

I thought some of you might enjoy seeing more photos from Nicky's baby shower, which I hosted a few weeks ago! Follow the link & enjoy...

My little piece of country

I am in awe of our little home here in the big city this afternoon. I returned from a beautiful walk with Mollie in the park, worshiped at church with brothers & sisters literally from around the globe (part of the sermon was given in Nepali) and am loving the "bit of country" outside my window and... ta-dah!!... inside my home!!

What is this bit of country, you might ask?? I'll not leave you in suspense any longer, dear friends. It's: A VEGETABLE GARDEN!!! A few of my neighbors adore gardening, so I'm accustomed to enjoying the fruit of their labors in the form of flowers in our front & back courtyards each summer (Drew mows the grass & I weed the front flower beds whenever I can carve out a few hours). This year we've started something new with the association dues. Ever since Drew & I moved in, the building across from ours has been abandoned--with weeds growing in the front lawn. We mow them periodically, but this year our neighbors took a rototiller to it and planted a community veggie garden! So far it's looking great, and we're welcome to the products any time. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, melons, herbs... love it! We have yet to taste any of the growth but love that we can see it outside our windows day in & day out. A little piece of country on the street.

And a little piece of country inside my home? Here it is:


It's my new windowsill herb garden! I'm hoping the new plants get enough sun (which definitely won't be the 6 hours of direct sunlight that's recommended). If not I'll transplant them to the street garden, but I just love having tasty (and attractive!) greenery around. We have a mysterious inedible plant (left), next to barely enough sweet basil to satisfy my pesto addiction, pineapple mint (it tastes amazing! I plan to make tea with it this evening), a weary cilantro plant, 2 kinds of parsley and salad burnet (which I'd never heard of before but now love in green salads).

In other domestic news? Made dinner for my neighbors who just had their first baby (Thursday!... after delivering dinner I got in some decent baby snuggle time), made new laundry detergent (I swear by the homemade stuff... works great & no phosphates!), bathed & brushed Mollie and now (*gulp!*)... time to tackle laundry.

Charity in Chicago

What a LOVELY past four days it's been! Charity is my best friend from high school--we've been through so much together & have a wealth of amazing memories. We now live beautifully different lives--she married her high school sweetheart and together they have three of the sweetest children you'll ever meet, a big garden & a picaresque home in Maine. I love to live vicariously through Charity.

I'll post a bit more soon, sharing with you some of the Chicago fun we had but until then, I leave you with a photo from our first day of Charity & Mollie posing at Northwestern with the Chicago skyline as backdrop. Wow I love my city.

'Tis the season for babies

This past weekend was wildly full. I had a blast hosting my special friend Nicky's baby shower for her & Eric's first little one, due this next month.  A photo of Nicky with the first few ladies to arrive is below (I'm still waiting on her to send me the rest of the photos... hint hint...).  As you see, they're all holding martini glasses (the theme was "Preggatini"... not too cheesy, right??)... we had many different "pregnancy-safe" drinks to choose from (accessorized with frozen babies in ice cubes... just because it's funny!) & enjoyed spending time together, celebrating Baby O who'll soon be here!

A month after Baby O's due date, my brother & sister-in-law will be welcoming their own little one into the world.  This babe will be both Drew's & my first niece/nephew and we can't wait to  snuggle him/her and watch Reid & Sam transition into parenthood (and my parents transition into grandparenthood!). They will be fabulous parents and this baby will undoubtedly be gorgeous, intelligent and athletic. 'Tis the season for babies, and we love it!

Sun, you are welcome here

Summer has without doubt arrived here in Chicago!   I just returned from a walk at the park with Drew & Mollie (Warren Park, 1/2 block from our condo--an image of the park is above, painted by Joseph Michaels). It was 90F by 9am today and still pretty sticky tonight. I'm still not sure how warm it actually got today, but I LOVE it.  Winters are truly not my style: this girl was born to bake.

And? It has been a lovely week. For the first time in months I feel life has slowed.  Yes, I have a lot of work and yes, my schedule is full but it's full of things I WANT to do--I want to be writing about my research, mentoring younger students and discussing ideas over coffee with cohorts. I want to be walking Mollie at the park, organizing social events, swimming with Jade and dancing ballet to my heart's content. I even want to be vacuuming my home, keeping things beautifully organized and spic-n-span! I don't mind having a full schedule--especially when I'm at liberty to arrange it myself (for the most part). The only thing I'm missing is a personal chef... cooking's something I just haven't been enjoying much this year & I'm very crafty at making sure I'm too busy to actually prepare a "real" meal. Note to self: must secure more dinner invites. :)

Here's to hoping you all are enjoying these summer months as much as we are! If you need some R & R, we encourage you to come try it Chicago style. We're up for hosting. :)

Here we go again

To quote a favorite Paramore song of mine, yes. It's true. P. Moreau from I. Peretz's lab @ U. Montreal published a review of my winter article in the Scientific American, which spurred yet another round of emails & phone calls from press. My 2 favorite: 1) the Seattle Times (I was quick to inform them of my Washingtonian heritage) and 2) New York's public radio--WNYC, requesting that we be guests on their live show "Soundcheck." Nina did the show, getting to open for The Dolls (yes, she's hot for Punk music... and had, in fact, just learned the drum part to "Trash"). Seems like it was a lot of fun. If you'd like to have a listen you can stream the episode at http://www.wnyc.org/ Click on the "Music & Emotion" link (which today is their feature story--I'm sure it'll be buried by tomorrow!).

Where have I been??!

Teaching Sunday school, defending my dissertation proposal, teaching my 'Biology of Music' course (and loving it!), ballet workouts, dog walking, a visit from the Straits (Debbie & Kevin) and an overall <> quarter culminated this weekend with a much needed LADIES RETREAT at Camp Friedenswald, Michigan. I acknowledge that Drew & I owe you all many many updates but for now, allow me to simply 'check in'. :)

Really, these past 8 weeks have been absolute madness. I was nervous preparing for the retreat in light of all the work I *should* have been doing this weekend. When Amanda & Nicky arrived to pick me up, however, I jumped into the car with the giddiness of a 13 year old heading off to a slumber party. The weekend provided many opportunities to giggle with girlfriends, eat s'mores, tan on the beach and spend time getting to know our cross-cultural group better. We had sisters with us from Burundi, Nepal/Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Cambodia and Liberia. Games not reliant on language--like charades--were a big hit for this group! We stayed in the gorgeous Lakeview Lodge above.

I got a bit of work done but, even more importantly, return to work this evening filled with energy & vision. Thanks to all who put in hard work to make this possible.

an afternoon at the ballet

Once again, I've been spoiled. A yearly indulgence of mine is purchasing a pack of 2 tickets to the Joffrey. I'm considered a season ticket holder... even though I only go to two of the shows... meaning I receive certain perks--like my cherished Joffrey tshirt. My second ticket was for their Spring performance this past weekend, which I attended with my dear friend Jenna. Above is a photo of the final (& titulary) performance of the afternoon--Carousel. This piece turned out to be my favorite of the afternoon!

The fact that I got to sit in the FRONT ROW during that piece could have contributed to my favor (!!). You see, Jenna arrived at the theatre without a ticket & was able to purchase one from a scalper (ballet scalper, you're thinking?? really??... not really, but I'll spare you the explanation...). Providentially, no one ever claimed the seat next to her! Stealthy Dana snuck up front during intermission, giggling with excitement! Let's just say their leg muscles are even bigger in person. I went home a happy girl.

adventures of a sleeping dog

Firstly, I apologize. Not only have I been a fairly delinquent blogger, but... even more... I'm terribly guilty of blogging far too much of my DOG. For those of you non-dog lovers I can only imagine what you're thinking... STRAITS, HAVE A BABY ALREADY! Mollie brings us so much laughter & diversion from fairly focused lives that we can't help but love her to bits!

Secondly, I credit this post to my dear mother who has been asking when the next post of her "grand-dog" would be. If you're sick of the dog I advise you return to whatever other e-activities you have to do (Settlers online? catching up in GoogleReader? Fbook??)... because otherwise, you're about to get even more of our little one.

Mollie falls asleep in the most strange positions--always upside down or with her hind legs propped up on a wall, chair or table. Often, half her body is squeezed under some piece of furniture... and without fail she's somewhere in our near vicinity. I wanted to share a few of our favorite sleeping photos...These poses are becoming a nightly ritual. She's currently at the foot of the bed, legs flailed every which way & fast asleep. Nighty nite!

Mackinzie the Scientist (& Mollie the guinea pig...)

A student at our church has embarked on an ambitious science project, seeking to determine how consistent dogs are in selecting 'preferred' flavors of dog treats. Do all dogs prefer the same flavors? If not, are they consistent in their preferences? Given 3 opportunities to select one of three flavors, do they pick the same flavor each time or different flavors each time?

Mackinzie paid Mollie a visit last week and Mollie was an eager subject. She took her treats gently and was so very pleased! Turns out she liked the turkey & bacon treats. Turkey won, 2 out of 3.

Mollie says: 'Thanks Mackinzie!!'

So much for home hair cuts...

Drew calculated how much $$ we'd save if I started cutting his hair... I tried to pull off a cool 'do' last weekend & ended up just giving him a shave... looks fine. Reminds me of our Dominican Republic days!

Before finishing completely I brushed Drew off & told him we were done, letting him look in the mirror. This is what he found...We had a great laugh! Much to my surprise, however, Drew wanted to keep it. He flies to Portland 1 week from today for a retreat with his best friends and he wanted more than anything to surprise them with this little patch of hair. He couldn't promise he'd wear a hat until then so I took the clippers to it. It was fun while it lasted.
'

Exodus World Service

For the past 2 years we've been involved with a remarkable organization here in Chicago, Exodus World Service, that connects newly arrived refugee families with volunteers committed to visiting them once weekly. The role of volunteers is to provide a smiling face, helping hand and loving heart to these families who are in a huge transitional state and often arrive with any number of emotional or physical scars and little to no English skills. Through Exodus we were connected with both the Feliki family & the Rodriguez family. Both families have taught us so much!

Exodus held their annual banquet this past Friday and for the 2nd year in a row we were hosts. We recruited 2 tables' worth of guests and were pumped to spend the evening with them! We all shared a nice meal in a beautiful ballroom and heard touching stories about how lives of refugees and volunteers have changed through relationships fostered by Exodus.

Above is a photo of our friends Jade and Robert who were generous enough to join us at the event! The photo would be bigger but it turned out really blurry... so.

Easter Beach Trip

We enjoyed a gorgeous trip to the beach after today's Easter service. The sun was shining and there was a fun crew at the dog beach. Mollie attracted a beautiful black standard poodle who followed her just about everywhere.

I love this city... The temple behind Mollie here is the 2nd largest Baha'i temple in the world--a beautiful site, although I'm still not clear on what Baha'i is (?).

Daddy & Dog, having a special moment. Boy do I love these two.

In other news? We became full members of our church this morning and celebrated Easter Sunday in true Living Water fashion--plenty of joyful singing, translating (from English to Khmer to Kirundi to Spanish to French) and lots of story-sharing. We are so blessed by our community.

parts II & III

Yes, the rest of my birthday: Drew was a dear. Amidst this intense time for him as he pushes through writing his thesis and maintaining enough hours at work to keep his insurance... and teaching a class at church... and tending to his puppy's needs... and doing his best to maintain his friendships... (it's a lot!!) he was somehow able to take 2 nights off from writing to honor me. Monday I came home to a small group of friends and Drew wearing an apron. He made the most amazing blue cheese burgers AND the most fabulous gluten free chocolate cake I've ever tasted!! We enjoyed a nice evening together. And I ate chocolate cake at every meal (including breakfast) until it was gone.

There was more to come Wednesday, when Drew took me to a Blackhawks game (that's NHL hockey, for those who don't know). The Blackhawks are good this season for the first time in years and we were there when the season attendance record was broken--the United Center was absolutely packed & the fans were definitely rowdy!! As were the players. There were plenty of fights and exciting maneuvers. Most sports don't move fast enough to keep my attention, but I absolutely adore hockey!!

Thank you, Drew. :)

a chorus in 3 parts

I have always loved my spring birthday because it occurs just weeks after tulips begin their entrance through the cold winter soil and green buds have sprouted on barren trees. In my younger years it consistently coincided with Spring Break, meaning that we could celebrate with giant slumber parties without having to worry about schoolwork or staying up too late. This year I was particularly thankful for the timing of my birthday because it coincided with the RENT tour's arrival in Chicago.

Thus began part I of my 28th birthday (parts II and III to come). Some background. RENT has served as a constant obsession of mine for 5 years running: I own the movie, which I have watched countless times, and have been known to get different numbers stuck in my head for days. I know the original broadway cast and which members showed up to perform in which cities on tours. I know the story behind the musical--about Larson, his other work and his aims for the production of RENT. So when I heard RENT closed on Broadway (after 12 beautiful years!) and some of the original cast members had returned for their final U.S. tour I knew I couldn't miss them when in Chicago.

Charity offered a ticket for my birthday gift, as the first week of the Chicago tour overlapped with my special day. Jade accompanied me & we had an incredible time--the theatre was packed and full of energy (much cheering for favorite numbers & entrances of different characters). Roger and Mark were particularly fabulous (yes, the original cast members... meaning drooling definitely occurred).

Adam Pascal writes on his blog about the closing of RENT: "It means nothing to come and sit in a theater night after night and immerse yourself in fantasy, only then to walk out the door and be unchanged in reality. This show will live on in our hearts but where it truly must survive is in our actions, our compassion and our generosity of spirit towards one another."

Thank you, Charity, for this gift! And I encourage you all to catch the tour if you can!!