!

WOW

Ragu, baby.

This must be posted. Don't be offended. Just laugh.

William Rockne Odom

My dear Granddad has been in heaven for about 24 hours now. I hope he's not too disappointed that there's no motorcycles or tobacco there. (Or maybe there is?!)

But now he's in the presence of the One who created all of that.
God was so good to him, and had mercy on him, right at the end.
I will miss him, my flesh and blood, William Rockne Odom.

Machine Gun Preacher

Now I'm the last person you want to give you a movie review. If you ask me if I ever saw a movie and what I thought, my answer will probably frustrate you. I don't retain quotes, details, story lines, actors names or any of that important stuff. Usually I'll watch a movie and forget all about it. But if I really like it, I'll usually remember how it made me feel. And I'll tell you about the movie based on that. Sorry.

Anyway, Jeff and I watched an unexpected movie last night. It started out as "let's get a cartoon that we can zone out on and doesn't require much thinking" but ended as "of course we're always drawn to movies with meaning". The cartoon will have to wait. (Do they even make cartoons anymore?)

It's called Machine Gun Preacher, about Sam Childers, and is played by Gerard Butler. It's the story of a man with a past (he was in a biker gang and addicted to all sorts of drugs) who meets Jesus and eventually makes his way to Sudan, where he starts an orphanage that helps kids oppressed by the LRA. "Oppressed" is the least descriptive word I could use. It's horrific.

There are some pretty graphic scenes and language (I had to look away a few times), but the story is powerful. He sacrificed so much because he saw an incredible need. He does it so imperfectly, but he still does it. One thing he said as he was speaking to his congregation (he eventually started his own church in Pennsylvania) is to the effect of: God wants your hands, he wants your sweat, he wants your action.

I feel incredibly challenged by that.

I spoke this last weekend at a youth conference at my home church. There were about 150 people there and I'd never done anything like that before. But the theme of the conference was about being a hero. I talked to them about how any normal person could be a hero in someone's life. You don't have to be a sinless saint to make daily choices that affect others and introduce them to Jesus. It's about seeing a need and doing something about it. And I feel challenged by my own words.

Most of us will never go start an orphanage or live in a 3rd world country. But I have lots of friends who are adopting kids. I'm surrounded by people who love their neighbors. My community is full of the most generous people I've ever met. And I'm equally inspired by them. They inspire me to live by faith, take risks and love deeply. Sam Childers lives in the face of literal death every day, but these take up their cross daily and follow Him.

I want to tell them all thank you. Thank you to all the husbands out there who are so faithful to their wives and children. Thank you to the pastors and elders kids who have shared their parents with a community of people who need them. Thank you to my friends who open their homes to us all the time. Thank you to all the zillions of people who verbally encourage and gently remind me that God is good, and He is faithful. Thank you to the wives I know who set an example of giving their best to the Lord and their families. Thank you to my leaders and pastors, who have given up lives of leisure and ease to serve a greater purpose. Thank you to all of my friends who are in the armed forces. Thank you to all of you who give your hands, sweat and action everyday. Thank you for doing it even though it's not always recognized or acknowledged. You are my heroes.

Adventure isn't missing,

Rose

Philippians 3:8-13

Despite the fact that the Amplified version feels like one really long run-on sentence, I was able to get over it last night and just cried as I read Paul's letter:

"I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One), and that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law's demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith. [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share in His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] that if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body]."

To know Him. That's what I want.

Zing!

You guys.

I make my own salad dressing, and I thought today that maybe you'd like to try it. Here's a picture of what I'm eating for lunch, with the dressing on top, even though it's kind of hard to see. I'm just trying to get you to believe that it's to die for. If you like a little zing, that is.

All you do is add a few tablespoons of olive oil, a few grinds of sea salt, the juice of 1/4 an organic lemon (I'm serious on the organic part, there is such a difference in taste), and a few squirts of dijon mustard. All to taste. Whisk it together with a little mini whisk! That will work for 1 or 2 large portions of salad.

YUMMMMMM!

And another thing, just on a personal note. I say adding goat cheese to anything makes it better.

Bye!

Fun Neighbor Update

Last night I came home from a walk to a pretty note taped to my door, addressed to "Anne". I don't go by Anne, but that is part of my name, so I claimed the note as my own.

I opened it, and it was from our neighbor Lucy. It was meant for me! (She's the one who responded to my May Day flowers with a homemade pineapple upside down cake.) She must have forgotten my name, which I'm totally fine with. I was having a conversation with a friend the other day (someone who shares part of the name Ann[e] with me) and she reminded me that Anne means grace. Grace is something I need so much lately. So I like that she called me Anne...with an e.

Anyway, it's the recipe!! How thoughtful of her. She wrote it all out for me. And I'm pumped to make it!! I made a peach crisp this weekend, and a pineapple upside down cake seems like the next natural step towards becoming a culinary expert. Riiiiight.

I added the recipe if you'd like to try it too. It's delicious. You won't regret it, and neither will your husband. 

Connie is going to join up with us and have a little dinner with Lucy sometime soon. If she shares more of her recipes with me, I'll be happy to pass them along.

Love you all!

Adventure is definitely not missing.

 -Rose(anne)

Follow

Some of you've asked me what song I walked down the aisle to...well, there's a free download on Noisetrade!

Follow
by: Andrea Marie Carr

You have my heart for always
You are my friend
And I will follow you 'til the end

"My life is about telling stories..."

It's Wes Anderson in an American Express commerical! I'm a fan!

I'll never forget the first time I saw Royal Tenebaums. I was confused by the story line some of the time, but aware of the details the entire time. It wasn't neat & tidy in my head, but I appreciated the lack of predictability. I like his imagination. It reminds me that I have one too.

"Then you mix it all together and that's more or less it."

Here are 10 commercials he's directed.

Friends, who are family.

FOURTH OF JULY!

Christy, we missed you!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Steve!!!

Lincoln Park walk!!!

Dogs everywhere!!!

Blonde friends surrounding me!!

Firework show from my deck!!

It turned out to be a pretty fantastic day, even without the hubs.

Happy Birthday, USA!

Last year on this day, Jeff and I braved the mayhem of Gasworks Park. It was our first date, and it turned out to be one of those days we'd never forget. It was hot and we rode the 'ol Bimmer to Seattle with the sun roof open (with a little detour to Maltby). I was crushin' big time. So was he.

We started our day on the lake, and kayaked with some friends. I swear those life vests were meant for two year olds. (And if I ever actually need a life vest while kayaking, something has gone terribly wrong.)

Later, walking through Wallingford, we passed all the houses where families were sitting on their front porches drinking with neighbors, barbequeing, with flags flown, sidewalk chalk and cheer. There's something about the 4th of July that brings people together. It made me want to have a house on a main road, where I could drag all of our furniture out in the front yard, and roast brats for anyone hungry.

At Gasworks, this was when I first knew I could be silent with Jeff. What I mean is, as friends and now as a couple, I can't ever remember us running out of things to talk about. If we weren't talking about things we had in common, or sharing life stories, he was telling me something I never knew before. And I always have prayed for a husband who can teach me things. I wanted him to know more than me, and Jeff does. I'm constantly shocked by how this man retains historical and new information. On every subject. Not only that, but he knows how to do anything. He understands how things work, how things are made, why things are done a certain way...I mean, sheesh. Ask the man a question, and he'll keep you entertained for hours. Because on top of all that great information he stores away, there's always a good story. So. I say all that to say, we are never lacking for words. But in this moment, laying out on my blanket I brought back from Mexico, I felt a quiet peace. And there were moments where we were just quiet. Taking it all in. Letting the day make its mark on us. And it did.

The funniest part of the night has to do with the picture just above. After the fireworks show, it took us all a long time to make our way back to our cars. We're talking thousands and thousands of people, in the dark.

We just got to our car when Jeff says, "Isn't that Phoenix Jones?! Me & the guys were just talking about him!" And I have no idea who he's talking about. Apparently, there's a real live superhero gang that work out of a comic book shop here in Seattle. Their ring leader is Phoenix Jones. They help protect the streets of Seattle. No joke. I hadn't heard this before, but I only needed to hear it once. I wanted to meet a superhero!! In a second, we were out of the Bimmer, running down the street after him, weaving in and out of a the crowds and I was yelling "Superhero!!! Superheroooooooooo!!!" He heard us. He stopped. I met him. I even got a picture. It's so dark out, so I'm sorry if you can't make it out that well. (I have no idea who the other guy is on my right.)

What a hilarious way to end the perfect day.

Jeff is in Toronto today. They celebrated by cutting a red, white and blue cake while singing The Star Spangled Banner. At least that's something. I'll be spending the day with some wonderful friends in West Seattle, then fireworks at my apartment. God bless America!



Quoted.

[I can't remember where I saw this.]

When in doubt, add more cilantro.

Every once in awhile I get this overwhelming feeling like I'm not being creative enough. Like I owe the world my amazing watercolor skills or something. Right. Anyway, I get kind of panicky thinking I need so much more time so that I can caccoon myself in the perfect environment that will just pull brilliance out of me. Right (again). Can you sense the sarcasm?

I was thinking about all this again tonight as I was making my homemade pico de gallo. I'm realizing that even when I do have time, I don't do all those things I think I need to do to satisfy this thing in me. It doesn't come naturally for me to sit down and draw, or paint, or write. I have to work hard at it. And occasionally something will accidentally be decent. And I love that. But it doesn't just happen, even if I give myself the time.

But what I do, when I have time, and sometimes when I don't, and without even thinking about it, is make food that I really like. I love a great meal, especially when it comes from my own refrigerator. It satisfies that thing in me to make something beautiful, but you get to eat it!!! How amazing is that? And other people get to enjoy it!!! It's absolutely SO fulfilling to me to serve up a chorizo + arugula taco with lime + cilantro yogurt sauce, and papaya salsa, and watch my husband translated to the 5th heaven as he takes his first bite.

My neighbor downstairs, Lucy, dropped off a beautiful pineapple upside down cake for us last night. It was a fun, sweet suprise to get that from her. And it's DELICIOUS. She wasn't joking when she told me she was a cook. Like, a real live person who bakes. (I don't bake. I have a love/hate relationship with our oven.) But this was really something.

I'm probably speaking to the choir here, but her doing that for us proves my point. Which is this: you can make a good meal for someone by putting your heart and creativity into it and communicate so much care and beauty and joy, without saying a word.

Pico! Tomatoes, white onions, cilantro, serrano chiles, lime juice, salt + pepper, all to taste

The beginnings of tomato basil soup - thanks Bep.

Taco. Arugula, chorizo, papaya, avocado, lime + cilantro yogurt sauce, onions, more lime, and more cilantro

Thanks for listening to my rant and revelation. My stomache is full, and my breath smells like onions, and life is good. Could somebody just remind me of this post when years down the road I'm cooking for our huge family of and run of out ideas and energy? Thanks.

Love you all.

Adventure isn't missing.

xoxo

Pesto

Once my basil decides to grow and get really big and luscious, I'm going to make this. I've never done it, but always wanted to. It looks so good. My stomache is growling, no joke. And it looks so easy.

Plus I think this video is absolutely beautiful. If you want to see it bigger (and better) view it from their channel.

Two Months Later

Hi everyone! As of TODAY I've been married for two entire months. That's 9 weeks, 61 days, 1,464 hours, 87,840 minutes, 5,270,400 seconds of living a life-long dream. And here I am, right in the middle of that dream. As the time passes, I'm more and more grateful to get to share life with this man. The best moments we've had are not in pictures, but I do have some other documented highlights I wanted to share.

We moved into our apartment in downtown Kirkland.

This is our view! The Olympics are straight past the water.

This was a huge answer to our prayers. It's so much better than we could've hoped.

Which would make this our front yard. Not joking.

%&@$#!!

We had a perfect honeymoon in Cabo.

For that we have to thank the Willis', McCuen's and Somers.

They made sure we had the best trip ever.  

After we got back, Jeff got into intense tour preparation mode.
So it was nice to take a break one night and see a great show at the Taproot theater.
We went with PK, Ash and Riley.

I couldn't believe I'd never been there.

The performance was an hour and a half dialogue between two actors. So impressive.
Thank you, Eric and Laurie for those tickets!

And then the MC tour began. (This photo is from Monroe.)

The play that Jeff wrote and directed (with Mike and Riley Walker) has been a complete success.

I'm so proud of him, and want to see him produce all of his ideas someday.

Jeff hit the road with the MC's on May Day.

That day, I attempted to meet some of our neighbors by hanging flowers on their doors.

I met Lucy from the 1st floor! She's a professional cook and is going to make us dinner soon. 

Tamales! YUM.

What a sweet lady. I can't wait for that meal. 

While Jeff's been gone, I've taken time to catch up with friends.

It's been so fun!

I have some great people in my life who are an amazing support to us.

We are so rich. 

I turned 32 on May 10th!

Last week I took a plane ride to North Carolina and met Jeff on the road. 

It had been 17 days without him. TOO LONG.
Thank you to PK & DeeAnn for the trip!

We led worship together at The Worship Center in Durham.

I got to spend time with the rest of the MC group - who are all just so wonderful.

We both feel really blessed to be able to join up on the road and do what we love together.

It was perfect timing.

Who took this picture? Ash?

Ever been to Waffle House? They're everywhere in NC!

We went there at 1am one night, and I ate the best waffle I'd ever had. With grits and bacon.

Does anyone know of a place that serves grits in the NW? 

Anyway, someone needs to start a franchise in downtown Kirkland.

Which brings me to today. I'm home now.

Spring is here, with warm, wet rain, and peonies.

It's our two-month anniversary!

And Jeff gets home soon.

I'm keeping myself busy with painting our apartment, finishing up my name change paperwork,
coming up with some good, healthy recipes for our new eating plan, and doing some reading.

Love to you all.

Adventure isn't missing.

xxoo

NC!

I'm going to North Carolina tomorrow to visit my husband!

I'll be with him in less than 24 hours. I cannot wait.

He's wearing his dad's old hat that says "I love to tell the story". So true.

What I'm listening to today...

It's not supposed to turn out this way.

I'm ashamed to say it. But I have to confess to my husband somehow, so I'm going to do it this way. I completely killed the cute little herb garden he made me. [I'm sorry babe!! Let's try again?]

The new leaves were so cute and little, with so much potential just a week ago.

I watered them, I put them out in the sun, and now they look like this. Arg, what did I do wrong?

Birdy Bandwagon

I finally got on it.

Try this. I'm not even joking.

Here's what you do.

Toast fresh sourdough bread. The kind you have to cut with a bread knife yourself.

Add sliced avocados.

Squeeze lots of fresh lemon juice over it all. (That part I learned from Patty Hardebeck.)

Add chopped capers. (My own doing.)

Seriously enjoy.