We Belong Together!

I just wanted to say that I know I belong with Ryan--how do I know? Well, we're the only two people who understand, and find it perfectly normal, to make up annoying jingles about our pet rabbit and sing them all day. Or change the words to well-known songs to include him. For example, NKOTB song "Right Stuff" turns into "Oh-oh-ooo-oh, Ar-ma-ni-oh!" Lame...I know. I'm not apologizing though.

We are insane, I know. But we love our bun-bun and can't help that he inspires our musical intuition. Here is a picture of our bunny baby...and a bag with my initials...yes, they are EEL. And soon they will be EEK!!!

Writing Collaboration with Crystal!

Last weekend, Crystal from Invitation to Understanding and I decided we were going to collaborate on a writing project a la The Postal Service's album "Give Up." Except with writing and no music. Maybe we'll need a soundtrack too? Who knows...

Anyway, we spent the evening writing the first few paragraphs of a short story together...but we don't really know if it's a short story or something bigger yet. When I write creatively, I always use a piece of art as a springboard-sort of like Tracy Chevalier (love her!) with Girl with a Pearl Earring and some of her other books. For example, I based my senior honors thesis in college on John Singer Sargent's "Madame X" and found the prospect of visual art connecting with written expression, and vise versa, so absolutely thrilling! So since then, a lot of what I write is directly inspired by works of art.

"Madame X," -John Singer Sargent

Since last weekend, we've been emailing each other a new paragraph to add to the weaving thread of our story. So far, it's so fun. It's especially exciting not to simply write your own thoughts and actions and descriptions for the life of a character, but to see how another person directs the story as well. I am just about to email my latest bit to Crystal--can't wait to see what she cooks up for our characters next time.

So Crystal, be watching your email! And anyone else reading this---try this out with another creatively-minded pal---you may be surprised just how awesome it is.

"Brouillard, Avenue de l'Observatoire" -
Brassai (and our current inspiration)

A New Vocation

A few weeks ago, I was offered a teaching position as a 7th grade Language Arts teacher. I am so thrilled, scared, grateful, amazed to be given this opportunity. For pretty much all of my life, I've wanted to be a teacher. There were times where I thought I might want to do something different, but I always came back to the prospect of teaching. I am feeling a lot of emotions pertaining to the fact that I am FINALLY, really, really, going to be a teacher. I am nervous because I have more experience designing units for, and interacting with, high schoolers-I completed my student teaching at a nearby high school. I am about to cross unknown terrain, and being in the leadership position of a teacher, and everything that it entails, is honestly daunting. But wow, it feels great. I have to embrace the unknown. How awesome to be given the opportunity to guide kids in their education, and to hopefully ignite a genuine love for learning.
A professor of mine said it best: "Teaching is not a job. It is a lifestyle."
I say that for the best of them, it's a calling. I hope that is what I will find it to be for me.

In The Depths of Summer

(We love, really love, the out-of-doors).

Finally, we are getting some consistently good summer weather here in New England. Today was one of the first days in awhile Ryan and I got to spend some time just enjoying the fresh air and free time with each other. Although it probably wasn't the best idea to bring my camera along in the kayak, here are some pics from the day. The pics were taken on the lake at Ryan's dad's house.

This was the kind of day that you breathe in and think, life is magical. You know what I'm saying?

We Love Savannah Gumbo!

Recently, I've really started to enjoy cooking. As I've said in previous posts, I really like reading and using the recipes in Taste of Home. I've been making two new recipes a week steadily for the past month and a half or so. Last Sunday, I decided to crack open my Paula Dean cookbook (which had previously been used maybe, 2 times total!) and I ended up making Savannah gumbo with shrimp, sausage, and chicken. Needless to say, it was quite spectacular, according to Ryan. I had to agree it was pretty good myself. I am even more excited about the possibility of getting some new, upgraded small kitchen appliances and tools in the future.

Above are some pictures of the final results!