Camon Sushi.

so i really should have mentioned this in the previous post, but it was long and i was distracted. but, in an earlier post we talked about sushi in columbia, and where the best place to get it was. Colin and I have been everywhere-- Inakaya (pretty decent), Miyo's (great, but we have worn out that menu for sure), Tsunami (trendy, mediocre), Sushi Yoshi (no.)... but never had we ever been to Camon on Assembly. we had heard rumors that it was "by far" the best in Columbia, that it was authentic and quaint... but because of a few horrible reviews and cries of "it's way overpriced!" we never went.

but oh, we went on friday for my birthday! seriously, guys. i keep thinking about it now.

i liked the atmosphere. you walk in the first door and you have to slide a traditional japanese paper door to the side. you get a sense when you sit down that the people eating there have eaten there many, many times before. at first glance the menu may seem too expensive or overpriced, but you have to wait until you see the rolls to judge. their dragon roll, which was BY FAR the best sushi roll i've ever eaten, is $15.50. that sounds like a lot, until you see it. it is MASSIVE. it's a traditional dragon roll (only about 2x the size), but the reason it's extra special and yummy is that they put a little bit of cream cheese and then some softshell crab in it. gah. another plus? it was just the right temperature. i hate cold sushi. it needs to be a little warmer than room temperature (not the fish, but everything else) and melt in your mouth. accomplished. Colin and I also ordered some edamame (of course), the rainbow roll (deeeelish), the sashimi platter (deelish, and so, so fresh), and it came with a seaweed salad (which was just right), and we shared two large Sopporos. they even brought out a complimentary few pieces of a crunchy, spicy tuna tempura roll with spicy mayo on it, which was awesome.

all in all, we were super impressed and fell in love with it, basically. the service was so-so... but we're really low maintenance, so as long as we have our food and our drinks we're set. our bill ended up being the exact same (maybe a little less, even) as when we go to MVista for sushi, so that solves that debacle. if you are a sushi lover, go to Camon, bottom line. and get the dragon roll!

some random coffeeshop ponderings.

1. i am sitting in cool beans with Colin, writing our lessons for High School Bible Study tomorrow night. it struck me as we were sitting down that this is bliss-- going to a coffee shop not completely bogged down with the multiple papers i have to write or chapters of books i have to read by the next day. sigh. i knew graduation would be sweet. i haven't felt this measure of rest in so many years. so here we sit-- he with his mango smoothie that he got for free for helping the girls here move a huge refrigerator, me with "the perfect man", and our massive ESV study bibles, compliments of CotA. we decided to teach through the life of David, which i'm super excited about. God's faithfulness through the Old Testament.. ah.

2. Celebrated my second married birthday this weekend. married birthdays are so much better than single birthdays! 22 years old, and i think for the second birthday of my life i feel every bit of it, and thankfully so. i almost feel like my years need to catch up sometimes with all that i've grown in and learned over the past few years. the 22 that i'm experiencing is so vastly different from the 22 many, many of those around me are experiencing (and vice versa, obviously). it's interesting. Colin spoiled me, as did my wonderful family. My birthday was spent in beautiful Charleston with my parents and Colin. What a wonderful place! If you've never been to the spice and tea exchange in Charleston, check it out next time you're there. Colin bought me some Bombay Chai that i'm really excited about. such a cute little place if you're a tea lover like i am.

3. yesterday night i heard Colin laugh a laugh that is literally a privilege to hear-- those of you who know him know it. it's the ear-piercingly loud "UH-HUH!" that causes him to double over (and in this case, writhe on the ground) for a good five minutes, incapacitated, until he's able to get up again. he literally broke Katie and Oliver's folding chair in all of the calamity. Kudos to Oliver, for telling one of the funniest stories we've ever heard. we love the Thompsons.

4. and, keeping with the recent theme of posting videos, listen to this song by A Fine Frenzy. she is wonderful and i love how she rocks the red hair. ( i would post the original video, because it's super cute, but it wasn't allowed.)



grace and peace,
the wife.

oh, the perils of social networking!

one of the things about social networking that i dislike and am wary of is misrepresentation.

i've come to see that, on the internet, we are free to put forth our "best" face, thoughts, opinions, whatever, for the general public to see. Because of the overall impersonal nature of the online world (facebook, twitter, blogger..etc.), we can be who we want others to perceive us as, and alter our appearances accordingly. we can be more friendly and personable, wear our best outfits in the pictures we post, post Bible verse after Bible verse (or john piper quote after john piper quote) because we know that it's a basically unadulterated version of ourselves. someone goes to your facebook and they see your picture-- one that you picked out, and it flatters you. they see the slew of people sharing love and saying "hi" and telling you how amazing you are because they miss you. they see your music section (where, of course, you post only the coolest music that you want people to know you listen to), and all of your interests that make you, well, interesting. but what they don't see is the fact that you're stubborn, or not truly pursuing the Lord in your personal life, or that you're the world's largest procrastinator. they don't see that you idolize your relationship with your significant other, that you are knee-deep in a serious sin struggle, or that you don't actually look like you walked out of an anthropologie catalog 24/7.

i do not want to be that. it's so easy to (knowingly or unknowingly) put the message across that life is "perfect"-- that your marriage is dream-like, that you are walking a walk with Christ that never falters and are some sort of spiritual powerhouse, that you don't struggle with sin, or that you don't have down days (or weeks). Not that it probably isn't at times, that's not what i'm saying. i'm in no way trying to be cynical, but what i want to say is... what about when it's not like that?

i guess this is just a reminder to myself and the few people who actually read this that i...we... are striving for authenticity, because it's conducive to Truth and real community. so i will keep this in mind as i'm tempted to blog through the good times and not the hard.

picture found via paper tissue.

grace and peace,
the wife.

Well it's been a long time, long time now since i've seen you smile..

talk about a pick-me-up. this song/video always brings a smile to my face.
zach condon was only 19 when Beirut was formed-- such talent.
hope you enjoy and your day is brightened a little bit!

Just for now...

Imogen Heap. such a girl crush.

ah, life.

Colin loves his new job. i love his new job. such an awesome provision! how many random trades can a person pick up in his post-college life? serving in fine dining, pizza delivery, working in a bread factory, now screen-printing!

via b dunlap

if i ever were to get a name tattooed on my body, i love the idea of getting a calligrapher to write it out. this tattoo is absolutely beautiful. i know that it can be pretty cliche, but i don't dislike the idea of tattooing your spouses name on you (in a tasteful way, not in a heart with an arrow through it.) Betsy Dunlap is an amazing calligrapher who does work for things like weddings (invitations, placement cards...etc). check out her website, her work is beautiful!

i have a job interview at 3 today. aaahh. please please please.

Ray Lamontagne put out his new album God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise on the 17th, which you can stream in its entirety here. I am such a huge fan of his. I'm not sure exactly how i feel about this new cd... i know that i enjoy listening to it, and it will grow on me, but i'm not sure i yet love it as much as Trouble and Gossip in the Grain.

And lastly.. Publix. Colin and i love going to Publix. Not only do they have GREAT deli subs, but everyone who works there really seems to like their life and their job. it's clean, well-lit, and really does have great sales. it's not a chore, more like a museum. i have never been so amused by the packaging of a grocery store's generic products before! we walk through all the aisles, finding new puns and clever one-liners on their packages. we love it. for example...



"pistachio mustachio".



"panda-which"


"pecan-can"

like, really. whose job is this?? that must be a very happy person. anyway, there are many other great ones, but i couldn't find pictures of them online. go see for yourself.

grace and peace,
the wife.

I couldn't sing this song forever...

We like the idea of listening to Christian radio. It's a good reminder to not waste your time in the car thinking about nothing, but to worship the Lord and reflect. We do not, however, listen to Christian radio for the musical creativity. or for the music. period.

Christian music seems to go in ten-year (or, many times, less) cycles. What we mean is this: a good song comes out (for example: I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, written by Martin Smith of Delirious?). great song. What is not great, however, is the myriad of amazingly unastounding covers that have flooded the airwaves for the past 16 years. But you may say, Oh Kisers, the reason Christian artists do this is because worship music is different than secular music. Okay, this is true. But that works for our point, actually. more on that later. It does not explain why we need a Jeremy Camp cover, a Chris Tomlin cover, a Hillsong United cover as well as a Barlow Girl cover of songs that have been put out in ten other versions before them. What message is that sending? that, perhaps, people may worship better in their cars to the voice of Jeremy Camp, rather than Third Day? silliness. This may seem too obvious, but to us it implies a lack of songwriting talent.

We aren't talking about worship leaders, or these artists when they are leading worship live. We are talking about the public radio singles that are being put out as the "gems" of the Christian music industry. Where is the originality?

There are a few expressly Christian artists that pop up on the radar as trying to be original and artistic, and not following the "G, C, D, E minor" pattern. Namely, David Crowder, Phil Wickham, and Lady Gaga (wink wink). If you know of any others that fit this category, please let us know.

For the majority of the church's life, it has been the place where art happened in Western culture. I think the reason that this predicament bothers us so much is because we of all people are and should be the most inspired beings. We know and experience Beauty and Love Himself. There is no shortage of inspiration for new and creative songs, whatever genre or form they may take. Sing a New Song to the Lord!

Know that this is not written with bitterness or anger (well, maybe a little frustration), but just an interesting topic about which we wanted to share and discuss.

We know we're going to catch some fire for this one... so let us have it. :)

grace and peace,
the husband and the wife.

axios

Colin here. I apologize for my absence as of late.

God is worthy. Worthy of trust. Worthy to be praised.

This post is about a job that I got today, BUT the reader must understand that God is beautiful, worthy, and faithful in light of this and without it. That being said....

I HAVE A REAL JOB! Frenzy Inc. is a small T-shirt screen printing company that is booming and they hired me onto the team. I'll be screen printing, developing the local market, doing inside sales, etc. I've been longing for a job such as this, where I can feel an ownership over my work and have a chance to excel. Well, this is it. Thank you Lord.

Salary, benefits, sick days, paid vacation, personal days....yes

I'd like to blog more, but after the monotony of work lately I just can't. Hopefully things will change now.

until next time, grace and peace to you from God and our Savior Jesus Christ

When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul. Ps 94

1. Now is when it counts. We will continue to confess God as our Provider and place our situation in His capable hands, because He is faithful and good, even/especially in times of need. Yesterday, literally hours before a lot of things fell through, Colin and I were riding in the car together, and I told him I believed that, although we have been abundantly blessed in the past few months, we would still trust our God, even if and when we weren't in a time of financial stability. That He has strengthened us and been faithful to us and shown Himself trustworthy so well that we should never doubt. So we continue to place our lives in His capable hands. We relish the opportunity to learn more and more what true reliance is. Thank you, Jesus.

2. I went with the nude shoes, by the way. thank you, all!

3. We had the privilege of spending our first anniversary at our friends Patrick and Dayna's wedding. Seriously, what an awesome way to spend your anniversary... celebrating the joy of marriage! It was such a fun wedding, too. We are overjoyed for them both. Tonight, though, we are going to go out and have an anniversary date, compliments of Mama Fien, and enjoy Colin's new-found freedom from waking up at 5 am. We get to stay out late! This morning we actually got to wake up together, too! So, as per usual, we are hitting up MVista for our favorite sushi and drinks. Thanks, Mom!

4. By the way, what is everyone's take on sushi in Columbia? I know that everyone has their favorite. Colin and I have been to most places, but haven't found anything better than Miyo's. We've heard that Camon is supposed to be the best sushi in town, but we're scared to stray and be disappointed because of how expensive it is there. Anyone have any opinions?

5. Yesterday Colin got off work early so we ran errands together in the afternoon. He went thrifting with me, we took care of some stuff that needed to be done, and then we made the mistake of going to World Market. uuuuuggghhhhhh. we wanted coasters. that's it, plain and simple. we walked out with a hanging lantern, ceramic furniture knobs for the dresser i'm going to refinish, and coasters. that place is torture. pure torture. On the topic of thrifting, though, I love sifting through the boxes of books at His House. I always leave with at least a few books and they give them to you for about .25 cents. yesterday I picked up some Shakespeare and The Runaway Bunny. anyone read that as a child? I loved it.


Grace and peace,
the wife.

forgive me for this.

okay, so i feel like such a ridiculous girl for doing this, and Colin will probably be mortified that i put this silly thing on our blog, but whatever.

i decided a few months ago to save up my amazon giftcards that i've earned through swagbucks (i've made $135 to date!) to buy something that i would otherwise never splurge on. since i plan on being an adult, and since i have a husband who takes me out, i thought a quality pair of heels would do the trick. upon looking around, it was obvious-- Guess' Carrie Pump was the one.

these are easily the most popular moderately-priced heels out there. they get rave reviews, they're beautiful, and they're well-made. so here's my conundrum.

black heels are a staple. i don't have a good pair of black shoes but i know every girl should. they're sexy and will definitely get worn.


BUT, i love love love the whole nude pump thing that's been going on more recently. love it. it goes with almost everything and is so classy and understated. i love.

what's a girl to do?? input, please.