friday photos: week 4

friday, october 22

i passed this tree while going for a walk to meet up with some friends to head to a happy hour party. i couldn't resist taking a picture.

saturday, october 23

a fall saturday night in nashville = wine, fire, and music.

sunday, october 24
our friend dan works at a flower shop and brought these over to our house, just because. (i think they were leftover from a wedding.) they're so pretty and fall-y and match our dining room perfectly with its red walls.

tuesday, october 26

the wind was so crazy on tuesday. see that picture frame on the floor near my bed? that's where it was when i got home from work. it used to be on top of the radiator next to the window.

wednesday, october 27

i spent all of wednesday on set of the blue like jazz movie as an extra. we weren't allowed to take pictures, so i took this real fast as i was leaving. i know. it's an exciting picture and you can totally tell it's a movie set.

thursday, october 28

my friend regan played a show at the darkroom in edgehill village. this was her first show in months. she's pretty great.

look for me on the big screen

about six years ago, a group on my college campus was giving away copies of don miller's "blue like jazz". i thought hey, why not, and read the book. and it changed my life. this book helped me realize that it was okay for me to question my beliefs, to challenge the christian ideologies i had grown up with. this isn't to say i ever stopped being a christian, or doubted the existence of god. it was more of a "do i believe in god because that's what i was told to believe or do i believe in god because i see the evidence of his existence in my life and in the world" kind of doubting. and it was hard. and it was good. and from that, i grew. i don't think it's possible to grow without questioning.

and the thing that i liked about the book was this raw honesty. and don's writing is so conversational, it makes for a quick easy read. my friend and i always joked that it felt like we were sitting down with him over a cup of coffee and just having a conversation with an old friend.*

well, a few years ago, some filmmakers from here in nashville approached don about turning this book into a film. so they worked together and changed some aspects of the book to turn it into more of a storyline, and hired actors and a crew. and then about a month ago, they announced they no longer had the funding to go ahead with the filming. until two guys started up a kickstarter campaign on behalf of the film. they set the goal low - with as little as $125,000 they could scrape together what they needed to get rolling. but records were broken and at the end of the campaign (which was this past monday), they ended up raising almost $350,000. and they began filming yesterday. and i got to be an extra.

so really i spent all day yesterday sitting in a lecture hall pretending to be a student at reed college. we sat in that room for about 10 hours, which will translate to probably 10 minutes of film. and though it had it's boring moments, it was still exciting, especially knowing the story behind the whole thing. and the actors were all incredibly nice. marshall allman is playing the lead character, and as a huge fan of lost, i was totally geeking out over the fact that tania raymonde was brought in as well. and of course, don was around for the whole thing.

so when this movie comes out, keep your eyes peeled for yours truly. there's maybe an 80% chance my shoulder will be seen. if you're lucky, i might sign the dvd when it comes out.

*ever since then, having coffee with don has been on my bucket list. so if anyone reading this knows anybody or has any strings they can pull, please, hook a sister up. he'll be in town for about a month.

wednesday wisdom: #4

"and i watched the leaves fall all of the way to the ground. and i knew that that was what love was, to die so that it could be found."

-ben rector

mistakes and frivolity.

god doesn't make mistakes. and as i write this, i'm reminded of what that means. it means it's not a mistake that i'm where i'm at in life, in my career, in the world. i think it's fair to say god also isn't frivolous. i think these two things mean so much more than they seam. it means i was born on february 21, 1983 with a purpose. there is a reason i was born that day, and not the day before. there is a reason "glosli" by sigur ros started playing as i'm writing this. there's a reason i'm in nashville, a reason i live in the house i'm renting with the girls i have as roommates. there's purpose behind my job, even if it's hard to see. he doesn't make mistakes. he did this for a reason.

the question is: what am i going to do about it?

monday meals: chickpea pasta salad

this recipe is the result of a late afternoon trip to the grocery store sans shopping list, and me trying to throw random things together with what i already had at home. it ended up making a lot of food - i ate off it for a week, which made it that much cheaper.

the ingredients in this can easily be altered, which i think makes it even better. throw in whatever you have lying around the house. for example, i think peas and water chestnuts would be awesome, but i didn't have any.

ingredients:
1 15-oz package of whole wheat pasta (i used rotini)
1 can of chickpeas
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
salt to taste
1/2 c black olives, chopped
1/3 c raisins
1/3 c sliced almonds
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
balsamic vinaigrette

directions:
cook the pasta according to directions on package. meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. drain the can of chickpeas, and sautee with the salt, basil, and oregano for 20 minutes. when the pasta is done, drain the water and pour the pasta into a large bowl. mix in the chickpeas, olives, raisins, almonds, and apple cider vinegar. chill over night.

just before serving, add in a bit of balsamic vinaigrette for some extra flavor.

friday photos: week 3

hopefully i eventually get better about taking a picture every day. here we go. week three.

saturday, october 16
remember my perfect weekend? here's a four-in-one photo from saturday. the lighthouse, the pumpkin patch, the vineyard, and stacy lantz's cd release show.

sunday, october 17

day two of the weekend: the cabin stacy's dad built, kirsten fishing for the first time, and the silo we all climbed.

tuesday, october 19

this peaceful pond is over near my office, and i often go there on my lunch break to walk or to read.

wednesday, october 20

a typical day at the office.

hindsight is 20/20

the thing about hindsight is you can look back and see exactly where one small decision led to another decision which led to a life-changing decision. here's one example in my life:

-spring of 2004 i made the small decision to go to my friend angie's church.
-fall of 2004 that church planted a new church and i made the small choice to go with my friend jenna.
-spring of 2005 i made the decision to be a part of the internship that church was having in the summer.
-summer of 2005 that internship totally changed my life (which is a post all of it's own)
-spring of 2006 i chose to move to nashville, which probably wouldn't have happened if not for the people i met during that 2005 internship.

and when i reflect on moments like that, it makes me wonder what small decisions i am making today that will change my life a few months or years down the road. it's kind of crazy to think about sometimes. i guess it's sort of along the lines of the movies "the butterfly effect" or "sliding doors". will my life have a completely different outcome depending on whether i choose to go to frothy monkey or fido to get my daily caffeine dose? i would say most likely not, but you never know.

i think this is just a reminder that god is in control. if he wants to use a cup of coffee to change my life, i'm all for it.