Robb + Jessie Married & in the Badger State
The Best Place to Live (?)
I have now lived in Madison for about seven months now, and probably the strangest thing about it so far is that there really doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. The people of Madison don’t have any real needs that I can see. Crime is low. There isn’t a large homeless population here.
I feel somewhat like I’ve stumbled upon the village of Sandford from the film Hot Fuzz, where everyone and everything is absolutely perfect. (At least it seems that way.)
The example of Jesus is to rebuke religious hypocrisy and embrace the outcasts of society, which in his day were prostitutes, drunks, and the tax collectors who betrayed their people to make a profit.
Who are the outcasts and downtrodden of Madison? Where are the people who are hurting? Where are the real needs in a place where everyone and everything seems to be just fine? I will have to dig deeper to find out.
Soup!
This week, Robb redeemed himself in the kitchen.
He made a basic, but divine, roasted chicken using a recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks, The Joy of Cooking… yum!
In addition to the lemon and herbed chicken, we had some tasty mashed potatoes and veggies, of course. But nothing like that chicken could make my week complete. It was amazing how my tiredness of chicken changed as Robb was carving the bird. There is only so much you can do with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Not to mention, my parents roast or barbeque a chicken weekly and but it to good use in a variety of meals. I suppose I should start doing that now that I am (1) living on my own and (2) a wife. Woot!
Perhaps the most exciting thing about the chicken was the carcass. I have never made soup from scratch before (save split pea soup, butternut squash soup, clam chowder, etc.).
Our church just welcomed a baby into our congregation. To help our the new parents, we are all taking turns and bringing them meals. I was at a loss – what should I cook that is not lasagna? I ended up making a delicious 15-bean soup with chicken and ham. Not half bad. And thanks to Robb’s brother, Harrison, we got to test out our new stockpots capabilities. I think I will be making more soups this year. Especially chilled soups as the weather warms up. Perhaps using some of those veggies from our community garden (pea-patch) plot!
And yes, Robb won the wishbone from our chicken.
Why we love Seattle.
Note: I apologize if you are not from the Greater Seattle Area.
The other night Robb and I watched about a million mini clips from Seattle’s classic “Almost Live!” from the 1990s (similar to Saturday Night Live, but better if you are a Seattleite).
For your viewing pleasure… some of our favourite clips:
Seattle’s own Speedwalker! staring Bill Nye:
The Ballard Files (why Ballard is the coolest neighborhood):
Studs from Microsoft and as your host, Pat Cashman:
Mind Your Manners with Billy Quan: Library of Death:
The Lame List or What’s Weak This Week brought to you by America’s Heavy Metal Community (or Seattle Grunge):
I hope you enjoyed this little sample of Seattle at its finest. Apparently NBC doesn’t want to release Almost Live! on DVDs (what a shame). So you can check it out on YouTube. There are many, many more excellent clips. Enjoy!
Super Envelope!
On January 15, 2008, CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, unveiled the MacBook Air. Pretty much the thinnest computer ever. While it has its drawbacks, it’s pretty remarkable in size and weight and overall capabilities. To market it, they released the following commercial. Simple and chic. Beautiful. Then compare that to the second “commercial” … enjoy!
The Original:
The Parody:
for serrah (from jessie)
5 things you can’t live without under 5 dollars:
1) Loose leaf black tea
2) Post-its
3) Trader Joe’s midsummers night moisturizing cream
4) Avrey yellow hi-lighter
5) Zebra pens (all colours) and mechanical pencils
5 Favorite Movies:
1) Amélie
2) You’ve Got Mail
3) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
4) Serenity
5) Sean of the Dead
5 songs you could listen to over and over again :
1) You and Me - Rosie Thomas
2) Lay Your Head Down - Keren Ann
3) I Eat Dinner (When the Hunger’s Gone) - Rufus Wainwright & Dido
4) Hey Jude - The Beatles
5) Pride (In the Name of Love) - U2
5 people who have had a positive influence in your life:
1) My parents
2) My friends (past and present)
3) Jesus
4) My family (immediate and extended)
5) My husband
5 things [in your purse] you cannot live without:
edit: due to lack of reading the question fully
1) MacBook (esp Numbers & Pages)
2) Red tea kettle
3) My husband
4) My husband’s mewithoutYou sweatshirt
5) Internet (sad, I know. But I don’t have a lot of friends in Madison - yet?)
5 moments that changed your life forever:
1) Moving to Washington in 7th grade
2) Joining Redmond High School cross country team in 9th grade & meeting Robb
3) “Freshmen” years at both Cottey & Central Washington University
4) Knowing and accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in my cousin’s living room
5) Getting married and moving half-way across the country
5 current obsessions
1) Cannon camera
2) Novara bike
3) Pining for the snow to melt
4) Planning outdoorsey events for the summer
5) Seeing my friends and family in Washington
5 places I would love to go (that I have never been to)
1) Germany
2) Thiland
3) Peru
4) Switzerland
5) Hawai’i
5 people who’s top 5 you would like to see:
1) Shazza
2) Sean (he will never do it)
3) Eliz
4) Robb
5) Olivia