kitchen conquests.

i'm not joking around. i don't joke around about food. this was one of the yummiest combinations of flavors that i've had in a while. in my mind, you absolutely can't go wrong with feta cheese, caramelized onions, and balsamic vinegar. if you're looking for a good vegetarian meal that's also pretty healthy, give this a try.


Sexy nachos with spinach, feta, fresh basil, caramelized onions, and balsamic glaze.

also, she's right. don't scrimp on the fresh basil, you'll regret it. it's necessary (thanks to my amazing neighbor and friend, Caroline, who contributed basil to me from her plant). i made it again with fresh cilantro, and that was also really good. Colin and I added a squeeze of lime and some black beans to make it a little more meaty. it was a perfect afternoon snack/pre-dinner appetizer!

broke and healthy is an awesome blog if you're.. well, broke, and want to eat things other than ramen and mac and cheese. she does a really good job of being creative and sharing foods that are interesting and always fairly easy to accomplish. check her out!

grace and peace,
the wife.

and we frolicked about in our summer skin.

there are so many things about summer that i absolutely adore. always have. the longer daylight hours, tan skin, dresses, time spent at the river.. it's glorious. My times with the Lord even feel richer when i'm able to walk outside, feel the sun on my skin.. when I can sit and just be.

when i was younger and didn't mind school, it was because i could jet out the door at 7:30 am to find my neighborhood friends and spend the day catching turtles in the pond and building forts until it got dark at 8:45. in high school it was because i could spend as many days as i wanted with my best friends who went to different schools, and we could take countless day trips to the beach, enjoy our newfound freedom of driving, have sleepovers, make stupid music videos and dream about college. in college, it was because it was the only time i got to see my close friends who had moved away, or because one glorious summer i got to live with two of them on the beach all summer, living the dream. those were times that Colin and I could take roadtrips to see friends who have moved away, visit family, and do fun non-school things like go to busch gardens.

now i know it will be different. college graduate. real world. i don't think it gets much more real after being married at 20 and 22 and being plopped into full responsibility, but i like real. i like embracing independence. it kind of weirds me out to think that it's completely normal for our generation to graduate college and go back to their parents' homes and live there for a while while they "figure things out". that's another opinion for another time, though.

this past week i got to focus a lot on doing the things that i neglected the last couple of weeks of school-- the everest-sized pile of dishes, the even higher pile of laundry, endless straightening up, letting my body get better after a week-long sickness, reading for fun (WHAT?), tweezing my eyebrows, and catching up with friends. oh, and grocery shopping. haven't done that in far too long. Colin and I got to go to beautiful Charleston for the day yesterday with some dear friends who are moving out of the area, and get to be part of a book club that will meet around our good friends' and neighbors' campfire. there's something so peaceful about sitting around a fire with good people, sharing drinks, too many laughs, and conversation. it's those nights that we come back to the house and feel absolutely loved by God.

Most importantly, though, has been time with Colin, and best of all attempting more consistency in our time with the Lord and in prayer together. that has been a breath of fresh air. that was one of the hardest things we went through this year, with the absolute most sporadic schedules of all time, never being able to have consistency in even meals. sometimes we would eat dinner at 10-11 at night! seeking the Lord with Colin is right. praying for our friends, family, and the world is right, and so, so good. worshiping the Lord on my knees with Colin right beside me is not only right, but pleasing to Him. if you remember, pray for us that we would continue to seek Him together.

just thought i'd finally write on this thing. i figure that i don't have to have a deep thought to write in our blog-- so, much more often than not, it'll just be life stuff.

grace and peace,
the wife.

Stand by me.

since I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now that's due tonight, I will make this brief, very brief. I watched this video on one of my (many) study breaks tonight and it made both my heart and I smile. so here you are, let your day be brightened!

Stand by Me from theRedPillRadio on Vimeo.

grace and peace,
the wife.

Return the Sugar

Colin here...

Aaron Weiss is a poet. His medium is music. His music has changed my life.

He's like a prophet. He's even got the garb and personality to go with the job. With cutting cultural, personal, and spiritual insight, he blasts himself and all who ignore and dishonor God.

The first time I ever heard mewithoutYou, I cringed. Their earlier stuff is called "spoken word." The vocalist simply speaks, screams, or whispers the words. mewithoutYou is set to a solid and rocking band with tight drum and bass, piercing guitar melodies, and and overall dirty sound.

Strangely, I've come to love the amelodic ranting about God, faith, love, sin, depravity, and suffering. Sometimes the truth of it reaches into my chest and shakes the cobwebs off.

These honest and real-life confessions have been formative in the past few years for both Rachel and myself, so I thought I'd share some of Aaron's genius. As you listen, be prepared to maybe not like the music...just focus on the words. I have a selection from the end of the song posted below.




(here he is talking about being enthroned on human praise...)

"...And the misguided insects crown me their grasshopper king with a dance of celebration.

After years with a crown on my head, I've grown overfed, unconcerned and comfortably numb.
Kept busy indulging in the pleasures of the wealthy.

O someone make me afraid of what I’ve become!

At the first sign of possible sorrow, I turned my heels and ran.
Oh, I’ll never learn.

My life is a cup of sugar I’ve borrowed before time began and forgot to return."

-January 1979, Catch For Us The Foxes, mewithoutYou

Every once in a while I'll post a mewithoutYou lyric for reflection, hope you'll join in with me. Look the song up as well, so you can hear the intensity and passion with which it is sung.

O that God would shake us awake from the unconcerned, comfortably numb life we tend to seek after and even slip into, and instead enliven us unto returning our lives to Him who has given us breath. amen

First, one

When considering blogging, one should consider the masses that have perilously traveled before them unto their own demise. Vacant URLs crowd the internet with what could have been an interesting blog about how your dog Rufus is doing.

A verse comes to mind.

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." Matthew 7:13-14


I am considering how I might heed Jesus' warning (above) about frequently traveled highways and wide, easy gates. I'm banking on a different reading of this text, my own destruction pending :) Nevertheless, my lovely wife and I will attempt to enter through the narrow gate in blogging, as some have done before. Travel wisely, pilgrims, and pack lightly.

My wife Rachel came up with the idea to start a blog to inform family and friends (and arch-nemeses?) of what we're doing and thinking, mainly because we know we're cool and wanted to inform everyone. I jest. We would cherish your interest and comments on our random postings and simply your general sharing life together with us.

I (Colin speaking) will most likely post thoughts of the Bible, cultural critique, music, and my endeavors in following the Christ.

Alas it is late and I must retire. Grace and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


here I sit, I can do no other.