dominican republic, we miss you

we have been aching for the DR lately. i was thinking this morning about ridiculous things, like the parade on independence day outside our house that consisted of nothing but skinny horses & cowboys.


or the time when people gathered to watch a dude climb a pole. i didn't get a) why, or b) why it was exciting... i guess carnivale does crazy things to people:


how about that once, when i spent 8 hours cleaning out a moldy, bug-infested, nasty nasty fridge? the cockroaches never did move out...


we HATED doing laundry, especially in the humid winter months, because it would take up our entire house, drying...


performing a tonsilectomy was one of my highlights. dr. dana! who needs med school?


DR, we miss you. sweat, scabies & all.

just can't beat it

it's true. there is absolutely nothing better than spending time with your best friends. let me introduce two of my favorite people in the entire world: Cristina (on the left) & Maile (on the right). they are world changers, appreciators of all things beautiful & just darned cute. we spent a glorious weekend in Portland over my spring break, full of ridiculous giggles, wearing matching clothes, sleepless nights from squeezing into one bed & plenty of mimosas.

for my second full day there, we spent the morning wine-tasting in the Willamette Valley. I had no idea how beautiful it was! this picture doesn't do the many hillside vineyards justice, but we were desperate for a group photo prior to heading home:


introducing another favorite person: Jenny! i was so glad to get time with her, although it was MUCH too short.


we spent a day shopping on burnside (i think that's the street?) & found these ridiculous shorts. i felt like we were tweedle-dee & tweedle-dum. now who's dum, you ask?


one afternoon we drove out to a spa at the hot springs... to find that what the receptionist explained as "rustic" really meant nasty, unsanitary, old &....well, rustY. we would have been disappointed to have made such a long, unsuccessful drive if it weren't for the two plates of fries we consumed at the ritzy River's Edge Cafe. audience, i'm pretty sure our server had a mullet.


thank you, ladies, for an incredible week!

big buns, he thought

what was the owner thinking when he decided "big buns" was a great word pair to include in his business title? there are funny signs like this around our neighborhood (more to be posted as soon as i get around to taking photos). my personal favorite includes the word "boob." gotta love Rogers Park.

easter sunday

easter service at living water was definitely joy filled. through our involvement with burundi refugees we now have around 50 of them attending our church on a regular basis!! sundays are always emotional for me as i look around to see members of our church community reaching out to these individuals, dancing with the children, sending them home with food from the kitchen and making efforts to communicate in broken French/Swahili or being patient with their developing english skills. easter was incredible. the church released balloons from the ceiling during worship and all the little african children were in heaven--dancing in them, carrying them around, putting them inside their shirts. the parents were so joy filled as well, happy to be in their new community and praising the Lord. i couldn't hold back tears.

after the service the Peebles hosted a lunch for the Burundians and other folk from the church wanting to spend an afternoon with them. their place was packed--thank you, Tim & Patty, for all your work! below are a few photos from the lunch.

eating soup.


amanda got a baby (wilfred, actually)! the burundi women found this absolutely hilarious--and amanda was terrified wilfred would fall out the bottom at any given moment.


with my darlings: Upendo & Zena

back, by popular demand

okay, so things have been a bit busy. i will post photos of portland soon (i'm still waiting for my dear friend Cristina to send them to me), but will reply to the many requests we've received for more puppy photos for the time being. RuthAnn (although i still dislike her name) is an absolute doll. no chewing, no whining, and potty training's been a breeze. she's at least doubled in size just in the last few weeks--no joke! below are photos from her second & third weeks with us:

RuthAnn loves the snow!! she hops around in it like a bunny & digs caves to crawl in.


after a bath--nice & fluffy.


cuddling with our friend Jeremy (she's definitely too large for this sort of cuddling now).


interns from Spokane's "New Community Church" visited a few weeks ago & Drew hosted them for an afternoon/evening (complete with food at our favorite Indian fast food restaurant, a visit with Burundi refugees and meeting with members of the Reba Fellowship--an intentional Christian community in the Rogers Park area)... this was how she slept during their meeting, right in the center of the action. everyone had quite a laugh.


cuddles. see how big she looks??

meet RuthAnn.

i'm off to portland for the week, & will be leaving these two dolls (+ Tink the cat) behind. missed they will be, but i'm looking forward to this fun-packed week with two of my favorite people on this planet. Teenie & Mai, here I come!

voting disclaimer (scroll down for photos to help you vote)

drew has begged. pleaded, really. that i change the spelling to the right from"Ruth Ann" to the traditional "Rooth Anne", as well as explain its significance (i think he's trying to bias your votes):
1) yesterday was the birthday Straits' beloved black lab, Anne.
2) Anne happened to be named for Drew's grandmother, Anna, whose date of death was the same as Anne the dog's bday.
3) Priest Lake is one of the most significant places for Drew. at Priest Lake is a mountain, "Mt. Roothan", that holds particular meaning for him and his family. additionally, Priest Lake played a significant role in our relationship--serving as the site for our first kiss, engagement proposal and wedding itself!

i think you can tell who's rooting for that name...

the fluffiest straitlet

meet the newest member of our family! & help us name her via the poll on the right: we need your help!!

Pizza Party with the Felikis

Last Wednesday Drew coordinated a pizza party at our place with the entire Feliki clan (=7 kids, 2 adults), the Botts (=Nick & Jenna) & Jessica, who's been helping to tutor Zena & Sikola. If you don't know who the Felikis are, they are a refugee family from Burundi. As Hutus, the parents fled Burundi in 1978--part of the first exodus fleeing the genocide. You can read more about this history on Wikipedia (what doesn't wikipedia know?!). They spent the rest of their lives in refugee camps in Tanzania. Their entire families minus a sibling or two were killed in the massacre, so it was important for Kabura & Janeatti (Janet) to have a large family themselves, wanting their children to have what violence stole from them. Kabura, the Feliki father, was at work this night (he just got a job! yay!) but Janet brought a family friend, Japhet, to accompany her instead.

Here's the group, minus Drew (Mr. Photographer):


Eating PIZZA!!!!!!!!!! They only liked the orange soda, so we were stuck with 2 liters of coke & 7-up... I also made fried yucca, a tradiational Dominican recipe, in hopes that the yucca would serve as a "taste of home" (they eat it in Burundi):


Japhet, Janet & kiddos enjoying "Spiderman" on the couch:


The kids LOVE Tink--every time we see them, they say "we need to go to your house to see Tink!" Even Wilfred got some cuddle action:


What a blessing this family is to us! Thank you, Felikis, for allowing us into your family.

Happy Birthday to Alex Meets St. Paddy's Day

Saturday night we celebrated Alex's (insert number here)th birthday. We visited a local Vegetarian Cafe (Alice's, in North Chicagoland), giggled at all the "un-meat" alternatives (the un-duck proved quite tasty) and returned to the Strait pad for plenty of green beer. Let me just tell you, no one got pinched. Drew's green bow-tie lit up, Dana & Nick had nice shiny hats & Alex.. well, she was the bday girl, after all. The photo says it all. We have a history with Nick & Alex of celebrating St. Paddy's Day & Alex's bday concurrently, & this year proved no exception. Thanks, you two!

a history of modern war, from WWI to the present

brilliant. absolutely brilliant. the biggest **must see** of the season.

dancing for Barack Hussein Obama

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — "An Iowa Republican congressman said Friday that terrorists would be 'dancing in the streets' if Democratic candidate Barack Obama were to win the presidency."

think they'd mind if I joined in? I'd generously supply the confetti. and the streamers.

outside by choice

Do we all
Consider ourselves the outsider
Compelled by faith
to believe
Coming here again will forge
the connection
Bread and wine
the fire
within us, reminding us
He was outside by choice
We are inside Him
And we are together.

thou shalt love thine enemies... right?

"He's not gonna change when it comes to taking on the enemy," Bush said of the senator from Arizona [John McCain]. "He's gonna be a president who will bring determination to defeat an enemy," Bush said. Bush said McCain would be steadfast to one of his [own] administration's policies.

Great. Just what we need. Someone else who can be "just like Bush." We should all be careful with the conceptual framework that we inherit along with our word choices. Enemy is a big word. Not to sound cliche, but we all share the same planet here. How about making our choices accordingly? Defense does not necessitate an "us" & "them" mentality.

On another note, exactly how old (or young, I should say) is McCain's wife? & what number is she--5? Right. I really want someone in the White House who can't keep a marriage healthy. Now that signals great leadership skills.


Please. Obama. Clinton. Whoever.

two little eskimos & an ice sculpture

brrr--it's cold! Drew & I celebrated in true winter style last weekend, taking the opportunity to track the timeline of a new sculpture erected down in Grant Park. The ice sculpture was built by the same artist who made the one for the Salt Lake City Olympics.



As spring comes & winter fades, the ice will gradually melt (gradually, because the icy backdrop is embedded with refrigerator coils). The colors are arranged to bring about a brilliant transition.


(note the bean peaking through in the background!)




the cute couple. who says you can't be newlyweds forever?




well, hello Drew!


we always have to say hello to the bean before leaving Grant Park. it never fails to make me smile.

The drive home reminded me, yet again, why we love Chicago. The Navy Pier is more fun at night!