Our Pioneer Camping Trip

Well, now. Since my friend (and soon-to-be neighbor) amberZon mentioned me on her blog yesterday, I suppose it's about time I start catching you guys up with some new material! (Welcome, Zonbie fans!!)

Last fall, Shane and I went camping for the first time. As a kid, Shane would go out roughing it with his friends pretty often, but I had never really been camping myself. Some of our friends invited us to join them for an overnight, so we bought a tent and dug out our sleeping bags. It turns out you need to have a bit more equipment than that for a truly successful camping trip! But our friends had lots of those other things, so we still had a blast.

Our piggy-backed camping trip last fall

Thanks, Wells and Dutras for showing us the ropes!

This spring I got it into my head to flesh out our camping supplies. It started with just an air mattress. Then a travel French press. Before I knew it, I'd amassed quite a kit! I found a giant Rubbermaid container lying around the house and it became home to our camping supplies.

Our set-up, complete with giant Rubbermaid.

Once I had all of the equipment, I couldn't wait to use it! Shane had a birthday coming up. So I took the Friday of his birthday weekend off, and we made a mini-vacation! Friday morning, I picked up the rental car and took it to buy groceries. Then I went home, filled the cooler, and loaded the car. After a short break to catch my breath, I drove out to Carnegie, PA to pick Shane up from work. Now that I drive very rarely (because we don't own a car), I find driving stressful. So, I felt really proud of myself for trucking all over kingdom-come. Shane drove for the rest of the trip. Bless him.

We stopped off at Lowe's for fire wood (which they had trouble finding for us...), and were on our way. I had reserved a plot online at Raccoon Creek State Park. It's just an hour out of town, and I read somewhere that it was a good place for novice campers. It turned out to be a nice enough place, but I don't think we'll go back because it was close to an airport. The low-flying planes interrupted the peaceful feeling of remoteness we otherwise enjoyed.

Our plot: Before & After

It was a lovely little spot; very large, and far removed from the other campers. We set up shop, made dinner,   and sat quietly by the fire until we were tired. I started the fire too! I don't believe I've ever started a fire all on my own before. I was super ambitious with my choice for dinner: steak and potatoes. The potatoes (and green peppers an onions) turned out great! But while Shane was able to save it, I will not be trying to cook raw steak over a fire ever again. (Maybe if I cooked it at home a bit first...)

The next morning, we woke earlier than I expected to. It was the beginning of May, so the morning was very cold. I was glad to have thought to bring our winter coats along! Shane made eggs and coffee for breakfast, and we took our time.

We put together deli sandwiches for lunch, and decided to bike to the wildflower reserve at the other end of the park. We thought the map said it was 2.5 miles away. The map lied. It turns out, it was more like 5 very hilly miles away. When we stopped under a bridge near the reserve and ate our sandwiches, I proclaimed that I could bike no further. Shane, being a saint and in better shape than I, happily rode all the way back to camp and came back for me with the car. He even had the energy to walk around the wildflower reserve with me! He took lots of pretty pictures. Here are a few:

After our flower-gazing, we hopped in the car. On the way to meet me, Shane had run into a ranger who told him about a store nearby selling ice cream. We decided a pit stop was definitely in order! It was hilariously back-woodsy (intentionally, I think). The ice cream was great, and they had cheap wood for sale, which was good because we underestimated how much to pick up at Lowe's.

We went back to camp, and cooked up the fried rice I'd packed for dinner. I pulled out my little blue ukulele, and we sang together by the fire. Then, we made s'mores with roasted bananas! It's my new favorite thing. It's super messy, but delicious! We read books by flashlight until the fire was low (and I was "attacked" by spiders one too many times). Some noisy neighbors had moved in that afternoon, and they woke me up once. But otherwise our cheap air mattress gave us another good night's rest.

Banana S'mores!!!

The next day, we were beat. There were more eggs for breakfast, and more deli sandwiches for lunch. I gloated a bit in my head while watching everyone else pack up early, knowing we had the whole day to get ourselves together. When cleaning up, we discovered that our tent had been pitched near an anthill! But we never had any trouble with them in the tent. Yay tent! (And yay for the tarp I bought to put under it!) Around noon, we loaded the car and headed home. We were happy and relaxed from our weekend in a way I've never experienced with a "vacation" before. But we were also happy to go back to our bed and shower!

Baseball in Pittsburgh

On Saturday, April 13^th, Shane and I went to a baseball game! (It took me a while to write about because I had some trouble getting the pictures off the camera...) We took a bus downtown early, and waited for our friend, Al in one of our favorite coffee shops; Crazy Mocha.

Once Al joined us, we started heading across the river to the stadium. I took some random pictures while we walked. Here are some magnolia trees and a pretty building. Fun fact: The middle magnolia with the pale flowers is fake! It's actually made of metal, and might be my favorite piece of public art ever.

Before every game, they block off the Roberto Clemente bridge for foot traffic only. The first picture is looking up the Allegheny River at the Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson bridges. The bottom-left is the bridge sidewalk crowded with baseball fans. The bottom-right is the top of the stadium peeking out behind the bridge.

The sidewalks are packed because the street was being used for set-up of the post-game fireworks show! Here's a picture of the rows of cannons, followed by a picture of (far to near) Al, Shane, and Al's friend Creighton admiring the equipment.

The air force recruiters were outside the stadium with a VR ride. We have no plans of joining up of course, but Al and I checked it out anyway. I tried to catch Al's excited smile from afterward, but I missed it. Here's his contented/let's get going face with the ride behind him:

Our tickets were free box seats from Shane's workplace. The box is like a hotel room with a balcony of stadium seats and no bed. Check out the posh appointments: (Yes, that's a picture of the bathroom. How cool is it not to have to wait in line at the stadium!?)

My companions: The view to my left is a bit blurry, and Al's making a goofy face; but at least it's a happy one! Katherine joined us just after the game started! (I made her pose before she could so much as take her bag off.) They were both lots of fun, and Al's enthusiasm for the game was positively infectious!

PNC Park is one of the most beautiful stadiums! The view of downtown is spectacular. (The sky was doing some cool things that evening.) And as far as the game itself goes, I hear there are no bad seats.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' mascot is a neon-green parrot. Here are some pictures of him being silly/obnoxious on top of the visiting team's dugout box. On a side-note: If you click on the left picture to embiggen it, you can see a guy in the bottom-left corner who is wearing a Steelers jacket. That's the football team. This kind of cross-sport merchandise was a super common sight around the baseball stadium. (There were also plenty of folks in hockey gear.) I guess it makes sense since they use the same colors for all three teams, but I still find it a bit odd.

Speaking of mascots, every baseball game includes a pierogi race. Pittsburgh is so weird! Pierogies; large pasta pockets stuffed with other stuff, usually mashed potatoes; are a local specialty. And between innings near the end of the game, four of them race around the field. My pictures turned out super blurry, so I included one taken by a  real photographer so you could see what they look like up close.

What would a baseball game be without concession food!? Delicious, delicious, over-priced junk. The Pirates even have a special section of the stadium where a ticket gets you unlimited food a drinks. Maybe I'll try that sometime... and eat nothing else that day.

Here is a picture of the much-anticipated fireworks! You can see the bridge in the background with the next round already being fired off.

Oh, and the Pirates won, by the way. It wasn't about that for me. I don't like sports generally and don't really understand them. But I enjoy going to baseball games for the atmosphere and the experience! I'll leave you with this parting shot of the stadium, the beginning of the bridge, and a statue of Roberto Clemente.

A Feast of Ice and Fire

This will be a quick post (compared to my usual length). I want to celebrate my housemate, Beth!
About a week and a half ago she accomplished a difficult personal goal. I imagine it was something like climbing a mountain all by yourself, but without all the fresh air and beautiful views.

Because she is awesome, (and probably because she's unaccustomed to being lazy), she decided to devote all her new found free-time last weekend to preparing a big meal for all of us!

Pictured: Elaborate Meal, Beth's Arms, My Stained Oven-Mitts

She chose all of her recipes from a cookbook we've had for a while, but haven't used nearly often enough: A Feast of Ice and Fire. It contains historically researched medieval recipes inspired by the "Song of Ice and Fire" book series by George R.R. Martin; which became the TV series "Game of Thrones".

My husband  Shane got the book as a gift from my folks. We later learned that one of the authors grew up with our housemate, Kira. What a small world! The book started with a blog: The Inn at the Crossroads which still posts new dishes regularly. Author Chelsea Monroe-Cassel also blogs about Westerosi* Beers at Game of Brews, and posts recipes from other works of fiction at Food Through the Pages. Author Sariann Lehrer blogs about her "culinary exploits" at Chopped Ginger.

Shane and Beth love these stories. I know Shane has been through the books several times. Housemate Kate and I have been watching the show with them too. That leaves out Kira, but she enjoyed the food just fine without knowing the background fandom. :)

Beth made Cornish hens with apple-raisin stuffing, mashed potatoes and a delicious pearl onion sauce. 

For desert there were amazing glazed lemon cookies and beautiful stuffed baked apples. We devoured our chicken and potatoes before the broadcast, and then finished off the wine and cider with cookies while we watched the new episode together.

We were too full for the apples. So we had them the next day with ice cream. While ice cream is decidedly not medieval, it was delicious! Three cheers for Beth!! She's definitely the kind of gal you want around when winter is coming.

*Westeros is the country where most of the action in Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire takes place.

Murder Mystery Dinner Theater

I go to a strange church with a long name: Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community. It is crazy, vibrant, and awesome. It is often disorganized and chaotic. It doesn't shy away from controversy. It is constantly changing. It is full of people who love each other, even when they don't agree. Sometimes especially when they don't agree. It took me a while to get used to how loose and spontaneous things can be there, but now I  am proud to say Hot Metal is my home.

I spent a good chunk of time there at the end of February preparing for a special annual fundraiser. In 2008 we started a relationship with a community in the Chiapas region of Mexico. Every year, we send a group South for an intense mission trip. I will never have the chutzpah to join them. Lucky for me, just about every year we support them by hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater. That I can do. Our pastors met at acting school, so theatrics are a part of our church's heritage. Also, we don't take ourselves too seriously. I think that's important if you're going to joke about death over food.

This year's setting was a circus freak show. Here is our writer/director/sound engineer Rv. Jim Walker explaining to the audience what's about to happen:

Photo by Tammy Weins (Swiped from Facebook)

Check out those set flats! They were all painted by artist, church handy-man, expert do-gooder (and my neighbor): Dylan Rooke. I joked with my housemates about having him paint the living room like that. I was only half-kidding.

The first act of the show was all about establishing the setting and meeting the quirky characters. Here's my mug-shot:

Photo by Jim Walker

I played Tulip Marcella; wife of the ring-master. She was sort of like Miss Piggy, but without any redeeming qualities. And here's the whole cast in that unavoidable mush-together pose:

Photo by Jim Walker

At intermission, the audience was fed a delicious Pittsburgh-style dinner made from scratch. After the plates were cleared way, the second act began. That's where the fun really started. Pretty much everyone on stage spent the second act finding a reason to want to "off" the main character:

Photo by Jim Walker

Dennis Bateman took up the mantle of pretend murder victim this year as Georgio Marcella, the ring-leader of a failing freak show. He delivered the demanding role with pizzazz despite a nasty head-cold. The show ended with a literal "bang" as Georgio staggered onto the stage covered in soot from the explosion of four cartoon-style bombs.

After the show, dessert was served while murder suspects wandered from table to table giving their defense. The audience used these statements to track Georgio's final moments on a paper map. The first table to correctly guess the murder was awarded gift certificates to a local restaurant. To avoid temptation, only Pastor Jim knew who the real culprit was. I was surprised (mostly) to find that the first night's murderer was little old me. That was momentarily terrifying, but ultimately a blast.

My house came to see the second performance, and I'm proud to say I didn't let slip that it had been me before. It's never the same murderer twice. I'm even prouder to say that they came in second-place even without insider tips. That time, the mermaid did it. (By the way, major props to the costume volunteers for pulling off a mermaid costume. Holy heck, folks.) I'm sorry I don't have a good picture of the mermaid costume right now. I'll search my camera later to be sure I didn't get one myself.

After the second, and final performance; I went out to karaoke at a local bar with the house, the mermaid, a magician, a dancing bear, her keeper, the spectre of death, and conjoined twin bank-robbers. It was the perfect way to unwind after a crazy time at my crazy church.

Photo by Carrie Oakley (Swiped from Facebook)

Trust God: Make a Blog

Hello there! Haven't see you in a while. Hope things are going well for you. I'd like share a little bit of what I've been up to while I've been gone. I started another blog! No worries though, this one's not for me. It's for my friend LuAnn.

LuAnn is a super sweet lady who moved to Pittsburgh with her husband, Sam, just a couple of years ago. They found our church, and were soon pitching in all over the place! They both spend a ridiculous amount of time and energy helping people, and are a blessing wherever they go.

Last fall, LuAnn was leading a women's bible study. (I must admit, I never attended.) In early December, she decided to stop teaching and start writing devotional reflections. She started by sending almost-daily emails to the contact list from the study. In just a few short months, her list has grown to nearly 100 women and men!

I asked LuAnn last week if I could help her reach even more people by setting up a blog for her. She said yes, and here is the result: trust4god.wordpress.com

It's simple, but I'm pretty proud of it! Now the whole world can access LuAnn's messages of hope, courage, and perseverance. I named it "Trust God" because it seems like she's always saying that in one way or another. It's something I need to be reminded to do often myself. In her fourth ever message she says:

"Trusting God is one of the hardest things I’ll ever do in life. Mike talked today in his sermon about waiting. Waiting isn't fun. Sometimes we want the answer right away and it isn't going to come for some time. Trusting God is hard but worth it in the end.

I know some of you are struggling with issues in your life and I’m praying for you. I don’t know what is troubling some of you but I’m here if you need a listening ear. Many times we just have to listen and in my case, share.

These devotionals are a reminder for me as well. I don’t have all the answers."

Two days before that she said:

Put today in the hands of the Lord who loves you and wants what’s best for you. He won’t let you down even when others do. Find something you can do for someone else and it WILL brighten your day.

That right there is LuAnn in a nut-shell! I guess I took her advice; because making a blog for her sure did brighten my life a wee bit. So please, check out the archive. It goes all the way back to the start in December. And if you like what you see, you can sign up for the email list just like that tiny women's group last fall. (The internet is awesome!)

Kira's Art Show

I would like to introduce you to my housemate Kira! I have lived with Kira for a year and a half now, and I've learned that she likes indie music, cute dinosaurs, and quiet time at home. She devours fiction books and gluten-free baked goods with equal enthusiasm. She is ridiculously skilled at braiding her super long hair, and is learning to play the glockenspiel. But I think the first thing most people remember about Kira is her art. She majored in art at college. She carries her sketchbook with her everywhere. And this month, she put up a public art show!

I got to help hang her pieces. Here she is making sure everything is just right. They had a really neat mounting system; a metal runner stretched across the wall and wires were hanging from it. Each wire had an adjustable hook attached, so we could easily change the height and spacing of every frame.

The ‘gallery’ is also a hair salon. Tula Organic Salon & Spa is a new business in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Every month they feature a different local artist on their walls.

(Fun fact: Tula means “balance” in Sanskrit.)

A week ago, she held an art show opening party. Here’s Kira in her cute new "I'm the artist" outfit:

(The dress is from ModCloth. And you can’t see it here, but her earrings totally match her tights!)

My husband and I bused straight from work to the event. We arrived a bit after it started and the place was packed!

Everyone had a great time talking and checking out Kira’s work.

And what was I doing this whole time? Why, taking pictures of course! Here’s a self-portrait of me being overwhelmed by all the happy people:

I suppose you would like to see the art itself. Here you go:

The middle frame in the top picture got a lot of attention. Kira is considering making prints of it since the original has already been sold. The right one is the background for her business cards. She works mostly in colored pencil, but has started adding water-color paint sometimes too. Her pictures are often semi-autobiographical, and tend to have a flowing feeling of movement to them.

You can check out more of Kira’s art on her portfolio page. And if you’re in Pittsburgh, you can stop by Tula to see them in person! The salon welcomes visitors. Kira’s work will be on display until February 28^th!

^{UPDATE: Kira has an album up now of all her pieces from this show. They look much better than my hastily color-adjusted snapshots. Check them out HERE.}