psalms and over the rhine

i was searching for an mp3 link yesterday (by the way, if you find one for mirah's nobody has to stay, let me know. i found a link on funtimeok.com but they left threatening messages about "hotlinking" their mp3's. apparently "that's not cool" in computer land??), and came across over the rhine's flown free. they were requested last year to write a song about psalms 124 and 129 based on the new translation of the book of psalms by eugene petersen (found in the message) and this was the result. very simple, yet very new city fellowship.

psalm 124:8
our help is in the name of the LORD who made heaven and earth...

the russians

my russians are gone. back to moscow! nastia on the left, ilya on the right. now that they're gone it's way too easy to communicate with my staff. i asked ilya what he's going to do when he gets home...
"buy a mercedes benz," was the reply.

we had a quite hilarious conversation the other night, the three of us. it mostly consisted of teaching each other randomn words in our respective languages. don't ask.

so i will miss my russians.

here's devotchka's how it ends for your listening pleasure.

i saw the sign

today, i found this street sign:


in any other part of the world, one might wonder why this street was given this name, you know ponder what church might have existed on the very same spot long ago...



there is no guessing game on long island. you've got a church lane? you've got a church.



i also happen to live on school street which is the very same street on which the only school on shelter island can be found. it's pretty common around here to find only one item of anything in any given town. so it also follows why each street has been named according to that thing located on it. i think it's rather convenient. to find the ferries, you first find ferry road. to find the hospital? yep, hospital road. it hopefully gives you a pretty good idea of how small the towns are out here. kind of funny considering new york city is so close and like a million of everything can be found there...

...i saw a very aptly named fishing boat today when i was on the ferry heading into greenport. the poor fishes. but doesn't the sky look amazing? it truly is beautiful out here...

sitting ducks

today was a day off. like yesterday. so i went to the beach! it started off nice, and then chilled off pretty quickly. it was only me and one other person out there enjoying the ocean. tourist season is pretty much over on shelter island (s.i.). this is nice in many ways since it provides an opportunity to take pictures. i wish i had a better camera!

these are the beach chairs that typically are a hot item and hard to come by on any given holiday. today i had my pick.

fashion sense

i was just skimming through the internet and happened upon the fashion section of the japan times. these are pictures from a recent fashion show. any thoughts?

"Eri Utsugi debuted her mercibeaucoup brand at Japan Fashion Week this March with a catwalk show involving animal-shaped afro wigs and a shower of confetti swept along the runway by models. YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTOS"

garden of eden

one of the perks of living on long island is the plethura of local fruits, vegetables, eggs, bread, CHEESE, WINE, that can be found when driving down any road. my road of choice right now is highway 25. this takes me down the north fork. on highway 25 you can find farm stand after farm stand to pick and choose from when shopping for local goodies. today i chose this special stand. it's also open the latest, a whopping 7pm, every evening.

did i mention wine? yes, long island is also home to many vineyards. apparently the climate here is conducive to certain types of grapes, especially the gewurztraminer, riesling and pinot noir varietals. i have already found a favorite as well. it happens to be the first wine i savored in my new dwelling place, the lenz vineyard gewurztraminer, ben's choice. that boy has immaculate taste...

addendum

i had a request from one mrs. howard to post a picture of my "porch." it is not a porch, as you can see, but a sort of small courtyard. i love it.

home sweet home...

i'm officially living by myself for the first time ever. i have mixed feelings about this. first, since most of y'all know how annoying it is to move, i've made record time in getting unpacked and things placed where i want them to go. some might call this "setting up house." ben being here really helped with this, of course. he moved all my heavy stuff, helped me clean, helped me put shelves up, helped me stay on task, etc. he's awesome and i love him more than i can possibly desribe on this blog. but still, when you live with others it takes FOREVER to get things situated because everybody has an opinion about where things should go, how they should function, who gets what shelf in the bathroom, in addition to who gets what bedroom and has to take out the trash first.

however, i've had approximately a total of 30 different roommates over the past 8 years. while this may seem like a lot, it's pretty much on par with everyone else i know. and come to think of it, i've pretty much been roommates or housemates with everyone i know. weird... anyway, this has conditioned me to actually enjoy sharing space with others. there are of course all the usual little annoyances i've never gotten over. "they never clean..." "their junk is all over the living room..." "i'm the only one who buys toilet paper..." "if they can just wipe down the counters after they cook..." "who took my sweater?..." or better yet, "hey, isn't that my sweater you're wearing?..." and the list goes on until eternity. but these things are so small in comparison to sharing space and life with others. i love sharing life. and front porches ("kiko, you are stoops..."). and food. and wine. so living alone really isn't something i'm looking for in this world. i know that we are meant to be in communion with others. people weren't meant to be alone. we're told that from the very beginning of the world.

that all being said, here is a picture of the living room in my new house, my fortress of solitude. if i was to live anywhere by myself, this definitely is the place to do it. (unfortunately, although his image is captured in the background of this picture, ben does not come with the house.)

'x' marks the spot

this is shelter island. it is located between the north and south forks of long island. well that's what the locals say. i say it's in the crotch of long island.

shelter island got its name from some group of indians (native americans) a long time ago. "the indians called shelter island "manhansack-aha-quashawomock", which means "an island sheltered by islands". and that is exactly what makes this island so special." (i stole that from osprey's online guide). it was originally settled by the manhassett indians in 1652. if you look on the map at the tip of the south fork, you'll see montauk. (if any of you value the movie eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, you'll be excited by this little factoid... "meet me in montauk...")

anyway, shelter island can only be reached by boat. there are ferries that run between it and long island that bring all the cars over. the two islands are really not that far from each other, so of course my first question was why don't they just build a couple of bridges? the answer: exclusivity. these people love their secret, hard to reach hideaway. and i have to admit, it is pretty cool. it also means zero crime rate. all the people out here leave their cars and houses unlocked. it's kind of in the same category as lookout mtn., only even more ridiculously separated from the world.

sarcastic remarks aside, it is a beautiful place. it's very relaxed, and even the "fabulously wealthy" wear wrinkled shirts. i was sitting out front of vsc the other night and a couple came riding up on their bicycles. yes, they were there to eat dinner. i've even seen a couple of people bring their dogs with them to the restaurant (i know that just thrills you, mom). we do ask that they sit outside. sorry pooches.

my father's glory, my mother's castle

so, i thought i would take some "artsy" photos of my current and very temporary residence. but then i realized: how do you candy coat a hell-hole? and yes i do mean "h-e-double-hockey-stick" hole. my front porch being the entrance to this castle, well, it speaks for itself. so to explain: picture #1 = front porch; picture #2 = my boudoir (notice the two fans in the upper left hand corner of the picture... when turned on to full blast they provide a sound barrier between me and the party kids coming in at 4am); picture #3 is the lovely kitchen (the girl being melanie, my rockin' cool roommate... i'm not being sarcastic either: she IS rockin' cool and makes fantastic desserts at vine street cafe, hereafter being referred to as vsc).

this is my residence, my abode, my kingdom. (and i thought andy's house was bad... jk, d)

now for new york...

i'm in new york now. i flew into jfk international airport at 4:00 yesterday. chris and sydney picked me up in a beat up red subaru and we were off! flying out of the airport, taxi drivers honking everywhere, all of us on edge. oh new york city! you are a special place! we drove out of the city towards the eastern edge of long island, the dirtiness eventually fading into a very tybee island like coast. after about an hour and a half, we were on a ferry crossing over to shelter island, then on to vine street cafe, the place that i am working at, to have dinner. chris immediately started introducing me to guests as his "new assistant manager." oh yes, that's me! dirty, tired, haven't brushed my teeth since before i left north carolina earlier that day. "hi, nice to meet you. don't worry, i do clean up well. your hundreds of dollars spent on food will be safe in my hands. you can trust the dirty southern girl..."

that all being said, i did get some sleep last night, realizing before i hopped into my temporary sleeping arrangements (i swore i would never lay my head down in a bunk bed again, but oh well) that i had left my toothbrush in the hotel in north carolina. after buying a new one today and having lunch with my new boss and his girlfriend, i had time to do my devotions and reflect over the past few weeks.

so, they have been quite busy. i finished up my summer at day camp and said goodbye to all the great kids i've had the pleasure of working with this summer. i've been to three weddings, my brother's taking the cake although they have ALL been beautiful. i put in my notice at work, got a new job up here and moved out of my house. there have been people coming out of the woodwork left and right to encourage me along and people that i've been blessed to encourage as well. i've been able to spend time with all the people that i love in chattanooga, having dinner together, going out to lunch together, making cider together, hanging out on front and back porches together, having coffee together, drinking wine together, laughing together, praying together... and most importantly our most gracious Lord has also given me the opportunity to heal two very crucial relationships. i've been looking through my photos taken yet again realizing that i have been so blessed with knowing and learning from so many amazing people. it's pretty cool, really.

this post is devoted to pictures of my last few weeks. i love you all, my friends and family!

brother and (new!) sister

my brother is getting married soon. and by soon, i mean in 2 weeks. and i'm so excited. i finally get to have a sister! and also so exciting is that i am going to be the best woman in his wedding. quite untraditional, but apparently we westcoasters "like to do things differently" (or so said a customer that i had last night at the restaurant).

michael and i have a very close, special sibling relationship. yes we fought like cat and dog when we were young. but what siblings don't? i mean really... we are only 21 months apart in age. we were raised doing and learning basically all the same things at the same time. this is probably why we fought so much and so hard. but even when we were young, he and i exhibited the type of relationship that has brought us so close at this point in our lives. michael was always the passionate dreamer and protector and i always knew what needed to be done. (so much so, i was nicknamed "bossy" at way too young of an age. please act surprised.)

it has been such a pleasure and blessing to see him moving on to this stage of life. his soon to be wife, emily, is such an answer to prayer for me as well. i wanted him to be with someone i could be friends with too. and he's found that.

congratulations michael and emily!