Birthday Party!

The drive to Wausau is kind of long...so I have time for yet another post! :)

The hardest part about going on tour is leaving our friends and family in Tucson. While we were on our tour last spring, I half worried that when we returned our friends would have moved on and found others to replace us since we just weren't there. But, as I should have known, that wasn't the case. And while we didn't get to spend nearly as much time with them as we would have liked, it was so great to spend the time we had together, and be reminded that great friendships don't require being together, as much as they are about just caring a lot for one another.

Our young marrieds group continues to grow more and more into a family. Instead of doing any sort of study or reading a book together for the summer months, we took turns meeting at each other's house for a weekly dinner. Mackenzie and I had a great time being early morning running partners together over the summer. I think we usually spent more time stretching (aka talking) than we actually did running, but that's really what we were getting together for anyway, I suppose. :) We had fun planning and carrying out baby showers for Kristen and Blake. Kristen had a beautiful little girl, Lily Arden, in August, and Blake is due in October! We shared in Chris and Melissa's excitement about their pregnancy! And, once again were reminded how thankful we are to be part of such a unique community of friends!

The Saturday before we left, we drove down to Bisbee, AZ with Melissa and Chris to celebrate all of our birthdays for 2008! In the past, we have always given each other gifts, but we realized that more than any "thing", we just want to spend time together. Here are some photos from our birthday party!

Melissa showing her "tummy-to-be"...


Stop in Tombstone...


Chris accessorizing our van to get it ready for the tour...


More accessories...we decided that making our van looking like a Grandpa van would definitely help prevent break-ins. :)


Back home after a great dinner at Cafe Roka, lots of conversation, and many laughs!

Lovin' our van!

Our stop was brief, so I have more time to write now as we drive to Wausau, WI.
This tour has been very different for us from the last one, and I think I have to give our van a lot of credit for that. I don't think I realized how crowded we were in our Rav4 with the 3 of us, all of our merchandise, instruments, cables, cooler, food bag, computers, etc., until now having cozier means to travel in. I realized this the other day when I was kneeling in the van to get something out and it hit me..."I'm kneeling right now...I actually have space to kneel inside of our van!" We hardly had room to sit in the Rav, let alone a big enough floor space to kneel! I feel like we are all in a better mood now too since we have our own space. Before there was the stress of whose seat was back too far not giving you any room, or when someone asked you to take something out of the cooler and it involved first taking everything off the cooler..balancing it on your lap...and then pulling out the piece of chocolate or whatever was wanted. Now, the cooler has easy access between the front two captains chairs, there is more than enough leg space, and it's possible to even lean back your seat without crowding anyone's space if you want to sleep!

Yesterday, our van started acting funny, so we took it into the dealership to have it looked at. We called our mechanic, Nathan, in Tucson to run by him what the dealership said was going wrong (that there was a cracked spark plug) to see if he agreed, since we've built up a lot of trust with him, and he knows the history of our van. He was bummed to hear that we were having trouble with it, since they had done so much work on it before we left, and pretty much took it on as his own, and asked if he could call the dealership in Wisconsin to talk through what they are looking at and to make sure they weren't going to do anything that didn't need to be done. He called us back about 30 minutes later to say that he felt good about the mechanic's diagnosis, and also that the bill had been paid...what an incredible lesson in generosity!

As for shows, they have been going really well. Sorry I haven't taken any photos to post yet! Last night's show was especially fun for me because Liz's sister, Anastasia, was there! We hadn't seen each other in a couple of years, so it was a fun reunion. She was preparing us for our trip to Uganda by telling us that on New Year's Eve we won't sleep at all...and then on New Year's Day we'll eat all day long...sounds like they know how to celebrate! We'll get to spend more time with her in Green Bay when we are there in October.

"Not The Religious Type"--book review

Hello!
I've been meaning to write a blog post for a few days now, and I thought I was going to get to write one now, but we're actually going to be at our destination in about 7 minutes, so I don't have much time... Instead, I thought I'd post a book review that I wrote about a book I read a few months ago, written by the pastor of our church in Boston.


(sorry you can't actually search inside...I just saved the image from amazon. :)


MY REVIEW: This is a book for everyone. Whether a person of faith, or a person who doesn't feel as if they have ever spent time thinking about faith, you will be engaged (as I was) by the insights Dave shares. His perspective of having been an atheist for the first half of his life offers a unique perspective. The faith that Dave talks about isn't about being right/wrong or good/bad, it's about a connection with a communicative Jesus that offers a life that is more "joyful, purposeful, and connected"...something that I definitely can say I'd love to sign up for and have more of.

And, if you read my friend Trish's book, "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not", that I blogged about last spring, you may enjoy her review of the book from her blog...

TRISH'S REVIEW: If you've read my memoir, you'll remember Dave. He's the exceedingly tall pastor who took the stage the day I wandered into his church. I sat towards the back, scanning the room for cute guys, ready to bolt the minute anyone said anything judgmental or horrifying. But instead, Dave suggested an oddly hopeful approach to God and faith and life, as if he honestly believed we're created to experience things beyond what we might even think to ask for. For obvious reasons, I was captivated. If you've ever read Anne Lamott and wondered where one might find the open-armed, low-pressure/low-rhetoric, Jesus-ey brand of spirituality she describes, NOT THE RELIGIOUS TYPE is a great place to start.

What I love about this book is that Dave does a great job of combining his unique story with wise and thoughtful musings on various topics. I think he's the only pastor out there celebrating the vital contribution of the New Atheists to American society, or admitting in a chapter title that he wants lots and lots of sex. As the jacket copy says, "Dave suggests a new, unexpected way of seeing the world and our place in it." I've know Dave and his wife long enough to know that this isn't just some show he's putting on--it's the real deal. If you're a spiritual seeker, this will be a fun addition to your collection.

On the road again!

We headed back out on the road today! All of the stress of packing and getting the house ready for Ryan's sister to live in, quickly vanished in the first 15 minutes of the drive. Life on the road is just more simple, and I love it! By the 2nd hour of the drive we were all back to where we were on the last tour...Ryan was the driving machine behind the steering wheel, I was fast asleep in the passenger seat, and Cameron was taking headshots of himself in the backseat to picture text to his girlfriend. :)

The first show in Albuquerque tonight was great! It's funny to go back through cities we've played in before because it starts to feel like everyone looks familiar and we actually know the 'fans'.

Some of my favorite things about Albuquerque, should you happen to come here for a visit...

LaMontanita Co-op Grocery store (Nob Hill area)

The Frontier (across the street from UNM) -- they have fresh squeezed orange juice that is delicious!

Winning Coffee Company (Central and Harvard intersection) -- great coffee...and they are great to musicians! They re-open the coffee shop after they are closed for the day for us to come and play there, and they don't even charge us for the room...they definitely deserve a lot of support!

Tomorrow we drive 10 hours to somewhere in Arkansas. If anyone has any funny jokes to pass along...they'll surely entertain us for our drive! :)

Dinner with friends...

Last Thursday Ryan called our friends from Congo and made plans to have them over for dinner the coming Saturday. According to his conversation with them, we went to their house at 6pm on Saturday to pick them up...only to find that only their mother (who doesn't speak any English), and 7-month old Vital were there! The mother (Mary) didn't know where the others were, or when they'd be home...but she was insistent that we stay and wait for them. So, about an hour went by of us trying to communicate with Mary in English, and Mary replying in Swahili...a bit unproductive, but at least we shared some laughs. At 7pm Joseph called the house and talked with Ryan and said he was at a music rehearsal and wouldn't be done until 8pm, and that he also did not know where the others were or when they'd be home. We decided to leave our phone number with them and have them call us when they got home and we could either pick them up then and bring them over for dinner or have them over a different day. We went home to the feast we had prepared, feeling sad that language barriers had once again over powered us, and decided to eat since at that point we had no idea whether or not they'd be coming over. Just as we finished eating, about 8:15pm, Benjamin calls and says they are all home and ready for us to come and pick them up! We are learning that in Africa, it's almost as if time doesn't exist...a bit of a freeing experience I'm sure, although we aren't quite there yet as far as being able to embrace it for ourselves.

So, we drove over to their house, gathered everyone up, and headed back to our place to feast on tacos, beans and rice!


After dinner, a spontaneous jam session with singing and dance took place in our living room...such beautiful music, beautiful people, and a beautiful culture!


This afternoon Melissa and I went over to their house to bring them some photos that we had gotten developed for them. I haven't seen anyone so excited to see photos before! I think they looked through the stack about 7 times before they put them back in the folder they came in.

Grammie's House...

We celebrated Lori's birthday tonight at Grammie's house. There is just something so warm and comforting about going over there. Ryan thinks its the soft carpet that just begs to be walked on barefoot. I think it's the soft music that seems to be on in every room. Or, perhaps it's hearing Grammie's warm laugh repeatedly throughout the night...paired with Lori's laugh, and everyone smiles!

We leave for the tour exactly one week from today. My bag is mostly packed. It is so much easier to pack this time knowing what I actually need...2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, a couple of running outfits...and of course season 2 of Little House on the Prairie! Going on tour for three months is filled with such mixed emotions. I'm bummed to not get to watch my friend Melissa get a little more pregnant with each passing day. (But, she promises to send me lots of pictures!) And, I'm also excited to see the family and friends that live everywhere but Tucson. If you live in a city that we'll be playing in or looks like we'll be passing through...please let us know, we'd love to meet up with you!! I can't tell you enough how nice it is to see a face we actually know while we are on tour! The schedule is at www.ryanhood.com.

Well, Ryan is already in bed...so I should go join him!
good night!

A good dose of self-esteem!

Last night we had a couple of friends and their kids over for dinner. Their kids are 4 and 2 years old. There is just an excitement that comes with kids and everything they say...an adult can say the same thing, but it just doesn't give you the same dose of self-esteem. Their daughter, Lexie, was snacking on some veggies and salad dressing before dinner, and ran (literally) into the kitchen to tell me, "I LOVE the salad dressing!!"...and then after dinner when we brought out ice cream, Brandon gave a huge shout and threw his arms in the air..."Yeah...ice cream!!". I love kids!

Congolese Pool Party!

Last weekend we went with Chris and Melissa to pick up our friends from Congo that we met at the ESL camp earlier this summer, for a pool party! The life guard got quite a treat, as he had to try and explain over and over again to new English language learners that it was not okay to use the life saving flotation devices as kickboards for swimming practice, nor was it okay to do back flips off the diving board, or run around the pool for that matter. He was actually a very nice life guard, but probably didn't realize the work he was going to have when he saw a bunch of young adults walk into the pool area. :)

Our friends from Congo are some of the most joyous people I have ever met. They love to smile, tell us they are having "too much fun", and give God lots and lots of praise for everything.

Here are some photos taken at the pool:

James doing a flip off the diving board...


Bievenue teaching his wife, Elodie how to swim...


Melissa and Vital...


Me, Vital, Elodie, and Melissa...


After the pool party, we went to Chris and Melissa's for a little jam session. These guys and Elodie are natural musicians. They keep asking for Chris to teach them how to drum, and we just have to chuckle to ourselves because I think they have more complex drumming patterns mastered than any of us could ever dream of having.


They are coming over tomorrow night for dinner, and I'm so excited already. Our time with them always feels so full of joy!

Tres Años!

July 30th Ryan and I celebrated our 3rd Anniversary! I feel so truly blessed to have him as my best friend AND husband! Morley Frasier, an 85 year old retired football coach from Albion who had been happily married for 60+ years, gave a talk once on the top 10 ways to have a marriage that lasts, and it included taking a yearly honeymoon. Ryan and I are totally on board with that idea, so this year we went to Patagonia, Arizona for a camping trip.

Patagonia is a sleepy hippie town (population of 825) that rests on Patagonia Lake, a gorgeous body of water surrounded completely by trees, rocks, and rolling hills. It feels like the sort of place where you are sure it's a secret and no one else has found out about it yet because it is just that pristine and magical feeling. (Though, there were others there camping as well, we liked thinking we were there all by ourselves.)


The water was warm, and we found ourselves swimming a lot throughout each day. One morning, we rented a paddle boat and took a self-tour around the lake. And, just as a side note for anyone planning to go paddle boating...paddling a boat with just your legs is actually pretty exhausting...I think we'll go with the canoe next time. :)


Cows drinking in the lake...


Cooking dinner on the picnic table...


Playing cards at night by the lake...


We took a daytrip to Bisbee, AZ...sooo cute, I would love to live there someday! It's another little hippie town filled with galleries, shops, and cafes that looks like it should be somewhere in Europe. The town is built up on a hill/mountain...when you first see it, it looks like Cinque Terra, Italy for those of you who have been there. Everyone was cruising around on their bikes, and no one locked their bikes when they went inside...I loved it!


It was a fun weekend with just the two of us, celebrating us!

Brown's Clearing Survivor!!

This year was the 2nd Annual Brown's Clearing Survivor Games at my parent's cabin in Michigan. My dad, the Game Master, put a LOT of time and preparation into the weekend, and as a result, it was a wonderful time...thanks dad!

Sporting the team colors...


Dividing up the various challeges...


The Game Master showing the kids how to play marbles...


Ryan kicking butt at ladder golf!


This year's games included:
Hula-hoop
BB Gun
Sling Shot
Ladder Golf
Washers
Jarts
Horse Shoes
Running
tricycle races
3-legged race
Bow and Arrow
Bucket Bonanza
Darts (with balloons)
Scrabble
Euchre
Peanuts
Give Me Five
...I'm probably forgetting some others...

Still best friends after fierce competition... :)


All the new babies in the family...

Nichole (Roger) and Elizabeth:


Jason (Tristy) and Eli:


Tom (Cherish) and Adrianna:


Scott (Sharon) and Isabella:


And now for a word from our sponsor of the week... HUG A BUB! :)

This is my sister's hug-a-bub, and when I'm in town I LOVE carrying Elizabeth around in it! It's an Australian sling that distributes the baby's weight so that it doesn't hurt your back or shoulders. It's like hands-free holding a baby...you can eat, go for a walk, play a game, etc...soo great!

Geek Squad?

Last year one of my many odd jobs included helping snow birds (retirees who live in Tucson for only the winter) learn how to use their apple computers better. Now, I wouldn't call myself a computer expert by any means. In fact, Ryan is the one in our family who does all the tech support. So, needless to say, I was a bit nervous when I was first asked to go over to someone's house and help them learn how to use their new Apple. Yesterday, I got a call from one of my old computer clients asking if I could come over and help her. Again, I got the same nervous feeling, worried that she would want me to do something way over my head, but quickly I was reminded of how basic the snowbird's questions seem to be...

1.) How can I print just the page with the actual flight itinerary and not all of the terms and conditions?

2.) How can I email an article from the New York Post to a friend? (This was my favorite, because their was even a button on the page of the article that said "email to friend"). :)

3.) How do I bookmark something?

And this question was from a previous time of working with her, but still a favorite...

4.) How do I correct something I mis-spelled at the top of an email without deleting the whole thing?

Feeling a wii bit bad about mii...

I've been dog-sitting this week, and the house has a wii, and even more exciting for me (or mii), the wii fit! On Monday I decided to try it for the first time. When you first start, it has you stand on the wii fit pad and it calculates your bmi, weight, and your wii fit age. Now, I am not really sure I agree with their system of calculation for the wii fit age...it involves no cardiovascular or strength anything...just standing completely still on the mat for about 30 seconds. I think it's looking at your balance from left to right and front to back..do you wobble, etc? Apparently, I do. In fact, the mii trainer asked me if I trip often when walking because I seem to be shaky! And, she then gave me the whopping wii age of 53!! Needless to say, there wasn't much spring in my step that day..just shakiness. This morning I decided to try it again. The first thing it said to me was, "Looks like you had too busy of a day yesterday to get your workout in, huh?" I wanted to snap back and tell her that I was actually running outside instead of playing her little games indoors, but I was polite and just gave a nice smile instead. It seemed that I gained her favor, because this time my age went down...I'm only 42 now. :)

Mountain Climbed, Ticket Booked, Bags Packed....

Last weekend I went to Colorado for a girls weekend with two friends from Albion, Meredith and Janna. It was such a breath of fresh air (quite literally) to be back with friends from college. Janna summed it up well when she pondered about how we all have ended up in such different circumstances -- we are in different places in the country (we've all been different places in the world at some point), doing varied jobs, and we all married men who are doing different things from each other too, but there are a few core things that will always tie us together: friendship, love of nature, being physically active, and of course the love of food. This year's adventure consisted of camping out in Leadville and climbing Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in The Rocky Mountain Range: 14,433 feet. Meredith was kind to us un-acclimated ones, and let us take a nice pace...it took us about 5 hours up, and 3 hours down.

Here's Janna and Meredith at our FREE campsite near the trail head! :)


Chopping wood for our fire...


Trying to get that fire going...


Cooking dinner...


The start of our hike at 5am with our head lights...


Just before tree line (12,000ft)...


Lots of beautiful wildflowers along the way...


Views of the trail...




The Summit!


The trip down...



After our 3 hour hike down, we stopped for ice cream, and then drove back to Winter Park for a feast! Thanks girls for such a great weekend!

Ryan and I just booked our tickets to Uganda! Our friend Liz's baby is being baptized in January, and we've been invited to be Godparents! I met Liz in Boston when she moved there from Uganda 4 years ago and became my roommate! It has been a huge dream of ours to go to Africa, and to be able to go and be part of a ceremony like this and stay with her family makes it all the more special! We'll be going for 2 weeks this winter, with a 2 day layover in London.

Here is a picture of Liz and Charlene, our God-child-to-be! (The photo is from their visit to Tucson last summer.)


And, for those who are wondering where exactly Uganda is...


As for the bags being packed, that's a little outdated now...I started this post about a week ago. We packed our bags for Michigan to attend our family's annual Brown's Clearing Survivor Games...pictures to come soon!

Running into wildlife...

On the 4th of July, we went and hung out with our neighbors, Jose and Maria. They both work for the prison, Maria is a doctor there, and to be honest I can't remember what Jose's role is. They shared a lot of stories about working there and the stresses of it, not to mention the horrible stories of things that they actually encounter on regular basis. People making alcohol with fermented fruits and becoming really violent when they are drunk, people making weapons by sharpening toothbrush handles, etc. Pretty scary stuff. After chatting away for a few hours, we said we needed to head home because I needed to wake up early to go running. At that note, Jose perked up and said he likes to run and could he join me?

Fast forward now to July 5th at 6:30am... Jose and I meet outside to go for our run. About 1/2 way in, we turn onto Old Spanish Trail, a beautiful road with great mountain views and a pedestrian path. We decide whether or not to actually cross the street to run on the path, or just stay on the side we were on going against traffic...we decide to stay where we are since we wouldn't be on the road for too long. About 15 seconds later, we hear what sounds like a herd of elephants on the path...and look up to see...a herd of javelinas! I didn't have my camera with me, but here is a google image of what a javelina looks like...


They are basically wild pigs. I'm not too sure how safe or dangerous they are in general toward humans. A friend of ours got in between a mother and her young one time and got totally mobbed over, but that happens a lot in wildlife when a mother is trying to protect her kiddos. Needless to say I'm glad we stayed on the side we were on where we could enjoy watching them moving about.

This past Monday night we pulled into our driveway after our salsa lesson, and spotted a HUGE tarantula next to our garage! I've only seen one tarantula before, but Ryan has seen many and claims this to be the largest one he's ever seen. Despite how they are often depicted in the movies and whatnot, they are very slow and gentle creatures. Ryan's family has some well-circulated photos of his dad putting them on his face, shirt, etc...we weren't feeling quite that brave in our observations on Monday night though.

The Art of Eating

This summer we have made it our goal to not go out to eat. I say "goal" because there are exceptions to which we have gone out to eat...but still it is our goal to eat homemade food in a home at a table where we can relax. The reason for setting this goal was largely financial, but also so that we'd be eating healthier. I have to say that I think I have also learned in the process that there is just something really good about eating food that you have poured love into preparing.

Not going out to eat has certainly taught us to be more systematic in planning our meals so that we don't have to go to the grocery store 3 times a day (once for each meal as we decide what we want to eat throughout the day)...as tended to be the pattern of the past. I try to sit down and come up with a menu and a grocery list and hit the store on Wednesday, which seems to be the day that the ads change here in Tucson...and it just so happens that our favorite grocery store (Sunflower Market) does double ad day on Wednesdays where they honor the bargains for the week prior as well as the current week!

We've also been forced to expand our repertoire of meals...(although cheese crisp with salad is still our favorite lunch! :). I've decided to start an online recipe collection so that I can have access to the recipes I like while we are on the road...and so I can share them with all of you!

To access my recipes, go to www.recipezaar.com. There will be a bar with a search option near the top of the page. Click "members" button and then type in absarunnin, and click to search. All of my recipes should come up...I believe in order of when they were posted...with most recent recipes at the top. You'll likely notice that we've been a little addicted to ice cream this summer! We inherited an ice cream maker from Chris and Melissa, and needless to say we have pretty much enjoyed eating ice cream most nights...including tonight. :) If anyone has a recipe for Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream...could you send it my way?? I've been searching online, but nothing is coming up...

Happy Eating!

ESL Camp

Last weekend Ryan and I went up to Mt. Lemmon to be apart of an ESL camp for refugees in Tucson. There were 120 refugees who attended, about 100 were from Iraq, and then a handful from each of the following countries: Congo, Somalia, and Russia. Some had been in the US for 9 months, others for 1 week. It is absolutely unbelievable and humbling to be in the midst of their company and joy. In order for them to be here and have refugee status, it means that they had to flee their own country of political unrest and seek asylum in another country (many that we met were in Egypt, Syria, Rwanda, etc as their asylum country). It could've been for one year or 15 years that were in their asylum country. While there, they apply for refugee status, if they are granted the status, they are then given funds to fly to the US, with 6 months to pay back their airfare. If they don't receive refugee status, they are forced to move back to their original country. Fleeing their own country involves leaving behind family, friends, their home, their cultural surroundings, their possessions, etc...all because they want to have a better life for themselves and their family. If you want to see a great documentary that gives you a glimpse of this, check out, "God Grew Tired of Us", it's about the Lost Boys of Sudan and the transition that some of them make to the US.

The weekend had a large emphasis on English classes, as well as making friends with other refugees and Americans. I worked and played with the kids while the adults took English classes, and Ryan played music during the large group time. But, during downtime we got to just go around and socialize and get to know the families. A friend we met named Munir brought an Oud with him. An Oud is a traditional Iraqi instrument, similar to a guitar though it is double-strung, has no frets, a large curved body, and a bent neck. For almost two hours, he played and sang traditional Iraqi songs while everyone around danced and sang along...no one seemed shy at all...they just wanted in on the fun of music...such a great lesson to learn.

Here are some photos from the camp:

Ryan playing foosball with a group of guys from Iraq...


Munir playing the Oud while everyone is watching Ashrf dance (he's not in the photo)...


Hanging out during free time...


Just this past weekend Ryan's cousin Nathan got married. Going to weddings as a married couple is so refreshing. I love watching new couples embark on this wonderful journey of a life together. Honestly, I usually cry about something during the wedding...it could be the vows, or the way they look at each other, the flowergirls, etc...this time it was the groom's grandfather playing the piano...cute ol' lil' man. :)

Ryan and I went over to the groom's sister's house earlier in the week to help make cupcakes for the rehearsal dinner...


And then on Saturday, the wedding...