Becky the Non-Baker

(I wrote this over the summer and never ended up posting for some reason. Nevertheless, please accept this as my attempt to catch up the Blog from the silent summer months...)

I love my husband. I do. I really do. So when we're at Borders one day reading magazines (a favorite past time of ours), Kevin spies the cover of July's Martha Stewart Living (see exhibit A below).



"I want that!" he cried. "We neeeeeed that!" He uses this same voice at the grocery store when trying to convince me that we need cinnamon rolls. So I coyly brush him off, thinking I'll make it for him as surprise later on.

So attempt number 1...I go to the grocery store and purchase all of these ingredients only Martha could love: buttermilk, whipping cream, and parchment paper (are we baking here or drafting historical documents?) The one illusive element left is the star cookie cutter. After three trips to three different stores, I just give up and decide to cut my own stars.

That weekend, I deliberated over whether or not I had the time to create this culinary masterpiece. Plus the goal was to make it a surprise to my timing had to be precise. I tarried in my decision making, and Monday came upon me. Obviously, there's no time to bake during the working week, so my toque once again found its home on my pantry shelf.

Weekend two roles around, and who's surprised that all my ingredients have gone bad. Oh bother! To the store again I go for round two of purchasing. This time, I even have an excuse to make my dessert (as if blessing my sweet husband with sweets wasn't excuse enough). Our small group from church was having a BBQ party that evening. Perfect! I'll dazzle them all with my kitchen prowess. Hardly...

Sunday afternoon (two hours before we have to leave I might add) I make the shortbread with no problem. Though it is noteworthy to say that when Martha says use a food processor, one should probably heed such wisdom. A blender is not the same thing. But nevertheless, I've got two perfectly formed shortcakes which will most definitely stack on top of each other in dainty Martha Stewart style. In they go and the waiting begins. Minutes stretch on like hours until finally the debut of...one big, mushy blob of shortbread mess.

Maybe it was the tight schedule. Maybe it was the money I had already sunk into this project. Maybe it was the fact that I wanted a fun surprise for Kevin. Whatever the reason, the tears come and the emotions peak. Kevin comes to check on me, and I exclaim all these tragedies to him, finally reaching the pinnacle declaration: "I hate Martha Stewart! She makes impossible things look doable!"

So Martha and I are no longer on speaking terms. I'm not looking to reconcile anytime soon either. Until then, I think I'll leave the baking to my oh-so talented sis-in-law Sarah!

Peeks of the World...Unite!

That's right...they're finally here! After a three day cross country trip from Seattle, our dear Christopher & Sarah Peek have arrived in Louisville. And the best part is that they're here to stay! Apart from actually living with family, I don't think I've ever had any in such close proximity. This should be fun. Very fun!

The confusion has already begun though with that whole twin thing. Some of our friends from church already called to invite us to a neighborhood BBQ when they noticed that we were just moving into their apartment complex. No, no, that's the other Peeks. This should definitely be fun. Most definitely!

Our Bethlehem Village

Another things that summer means for us is our church's Vacation Bible School. Kevin & I have been teaching the four year old Sunday school since the beginning of the year, so I was more than happy to help teach one of the Pre-K VBS groups. And what a blessing it was!

We turned our church into a Bethlehem village, complete with Hebrew costumes, a marketplace, and Jewish traditions. We discussed Jesus' birth as if it was happeneing in our own village while we were visiting there. Whereas most VBS curriculum seem to involve penguins in a water part or something silly like that, I loved how our directors designed a program that combined Biblical substance with something that was fun for all of us. But we weren't just there to entertain them, sing some songs, do some crafts, and give their parents a few hours reprieve (though that did happen and is indeed a good thing). We taught about our need for a savior, God's promise of a savior, the arrival of the savior, and finally the death & resurrection of Jesus our savior. These are certainly the most important truths of life! I was encouraged & challenged by my kiddo's questions and eagerness to learn more of Christ. Truly such wisdom can come from the mouths of babes.

Pray with me that the seeds that were sewn in these little hearts this week would take root in fertile soil that would blossom into Christ-abiding, soul-saving faith.

School's Out for Summer...Sort of

For most of us around here, life revolves around the school calendar. Work, work, work from January to May and then summer vacation. Around this time of year, a typical conversation-starting questions I hear is "How's your summer going?" When directed at Kevin, he actually has some sort of response. Direct it at me, however, and the best I can usually do is a blank stare. My July isn't really different from my November. They just don't believe in summer vacation in the corporate world!

Nevertheless, between working 8-5 and Kevin still hitting the books with summer classes, we've managed to do at least something to eradicate the pasty, white color that the office's flourescent lights have cursed upon my legs.



The weekend before last, our friends Matthew & Nikki Savage took us out on their boat on Lake Taylorsville. We floated and chatted all afternoon long. I even got to wear movie star sunglasses, which Kevin teases me about all the time.



Last week, we walked to our neighborhood's Old Time 4th of July Celebration with our good friends Buddy & Kristen He.

We met them at new student orientation when we first moved to Louisville, and they have become some of our favorite people. Buddy is an international student from China, and he & Kristen plan on returning next year to do similar work as we hope to do. But they won't head back until their new baby comes at the beginning of 2008!



So here is our summer fun. All I can say is that I'm thankful for the sunshine.

All Weddings Need Nigerians

To all you engaged women out there, here is my updated must-have list for your wedding:

1) venues
2) a groom you treasure & love forever (or maybe that should be number 1)
3) a dress that makes you feel like a princess
4) Nigerians

Last weekend, we went to a wonderful wedding of two friends from our chuch that included all of the above. Emily is an A&M graduate and a native Texan so natuarlly we think the world of her. Ndagi (we call him Job) is from Nigeria (not quite Texas but a great place nonetheless) and has the biggest smile and the best laugh of anyone I know. Their ceremony was at our church and seemed more like worship than a wedding. Much of Job's family had flown in from all over the world from places Nigeria, Hungary, and Canada and several of them wore traditional Nigerian dress. The reception was at a beautiful hotel right across the street from my office downtown. Though the elegant ambience was nice and the plated meal quite enjoyable, the best part of the reception by far was the dance party. Young and old were on the dance floor in typical African style, and the wallflowers were definitely the minority. You can see how packed it was:



So now I am thoroughly convinced that if you want your reception dance party to succeed, all you need is Nigerians.

A Shower of Different Sorts

I introduced you to our news friends, the Winds, in our previous post. This past week, several of the ladies from our church planned a shower for sweet Mrs. Rachel Wind. Not a wedding shoer (recall man in goofy hat...that's Mr. Wind) and not a baby shower (recall child on swing and child nearly abducted by goats...those are wee little Winds). You see, since Rachel gave birth to both her little girls overseas, our church family didn't have a chance to throw a shower for her. But since they've been back visiting, she's been long overdue. So we had a kiddie book shower! Since there isn't an English bookstore in her city overseas, her girls' library is a bit sparse. But not anymore!

This is just a few from Rachel's wish list for the shower:

* Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever
* Make Way for Ducklings
* Frog & Toad Are Friends
* The Story of Ping
* Curious George
* A Wind in the Willows
* The Little House
* Madeline
* Amelia Bedelia
* Quick As a Cricket
* Little House on the Prairie

I've decided to start collecting children's books of my own. Another premature collection of mine I suppose. Please leave a comment for me and tell me about your favorite children's book.



And a note for Mrs. Wind--I will miss you dearly as you leave, sweet friend. Thank you again for the time you & John have invested in our family over the past few weeks. We treasure you & will be thinking of you as you leave Louisville.

A Dream Realized

We're all familiar with that age-old question that adults seem to always ask little kids: So what do you want to be when you grow up? You can only expect those typical hum-drum answers: a fireman, a ballerina, a teacher, and so on. But not me. I was definitely a lone reed in my dream career path. I wanted to be a farmer's wife. Not a farmer and not a wife but the combination, two-in-one, more-bang-for-your-buck, dynamic duo package: farmer's wife. Most likely I thought it would be fun to wake up early in the morning and milk cows and retrieve chicken eggs. Alas, I'm not a farmer's wife but a seminarian's wife (though I do wake up early and cook eggs every morning.) Yet the dream lives on thanks to Huber's Farm in Starlight, Indiana.



That's right! Just across the Ohio River, a mere thirty minutes from our home, is Huber's Farm where you can pick your own produce and feed farm animals much to your heart's content. Our hearts have obviously been very content as we've been twice in the past month. The first time Kevin & I went, we picked eight pounds of strawberries between the two of us and have since engorged ourselves with lots of smoothies and strawberry ice cream.



Our second visit this past Saturday was with a dear family with whom we've gotten to be quite good friends--the Wind family. The Winds live in East Asia with their two little girls and are involved in the kind of work that we would like to do in the future. They are in the States for six months before heading back over the pond to their overseas home. We have been so encouraged by the time we've been able to spend with them because it's like looking at our own lives fast-forwarded five years.

Our day at the farm with the Winds was quite the adventure. This time Kevin and I had an excuse to do all the kiddie attractions since we were actually with kids!

We made lots of friends that day. Some normal, like sweet Clara Anne (the little girl that is, not the pony):





And some not-so-normal, like Clara Anne's daddy (the man with the fashionable hat this is, not the goat):





Be careful you safe (no, that's not a typo but just Chiner talk in honor of the Winds) for the goats because they will eat your hands and clothing. And their spit is really sticky.



And take caution too that the goats don't steal your baby. I think this one is after Chloe.



So after our fun day at the farm, am I going to abandon my life as a seminary wife in order to seek out my dream of farming splendor? Most likely not. As least if Kevin promises to take me back during blueberry picking season!

Congrats Mrs. Peek!

Congratulations to our very own Mrs. Sarah Peek for her graduation from the University of Washington today. I'm sure no one flips that tassle with as much style as you do. We wish we could have been there, but we're counting down the days until you come here. We love you much!

Nicknames

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title.

Replace Romeo for Kevin & myself and you'll have the subject of this evening's Blog post. I'm not really sure why Kevin's dear mother chose his name but I have this habit of discarding it at will for a variety of replacements. Nicknames, if you will. And he does the same for me. Very rarely do we call each other by our given names. Even less rare for me if you consider that Becky in itself is just a variation of my given names. So here, for your Blogging pleasure, is the evolution of our favorite household nicknames:

Woodchip: It started off as an aversion to the traditional pet names of "dear" and "sweetheart." Kevin just decided to choose random nouns and apply them to me until one stuck. And this one did. Weird but can't we just apply the euphemism and call it quirky instead?

Fish: More than once I've been told that my personality reminds people of Dory from "Finding Nemo." Though I'm not sure that's exactly a compliment, I went ahead and borrowed Dory's sing-song mantra during a tough season of life in college: "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." You know the tune. (If not, you mind want to consider devoting 90 minutes to Nemo to learn it. You'll thank me later). It's my fighter's song of perseverance. Kevin sings it to me to change my tears to laughter. But even on a daily basis, I'm his wife "Fish."

Mrs. Darcy: Though some may mock us that we enjoy and might even prefer the Kiera Knightly version of "Pride & Prejudice" to the 6 hour saga that is the A&E version, we are much indebted for our newest and most favorite nickname. Let me refresh you of the closing scene:

Mr. Darcy: How are you this evening, my dear?
Elizabeth: Very well. Only I wish you would not call me dear.
Mr. Darcy: Why?
Elizabeth: Because that’s what my father always calls my mother when he’s cross about something.
Mr. Darcy: What endearments am I allowed?
Elizabeth: Well, let me think. Lizzy for everyday. My pearl for Sundays. And Goddess Divine...but only on very special occasions.
Mr. Darcy: And what shall I call you when I’m cross? Mrs. Darcy?
Elizabeth: No. You may only call me Mrs. Darcy when you are completely, perfectly and incandescently happy.
Mr. Darcy: And how are you this evening, Mrs. Darcy? (sweet kiss) Mrs. Darcy? (even sweeter kiss) Mrs. Darcy? (the sweetest of all movie kisses—the kind that make you cry and wish the movie wasn’t ending)

Now both Kevin & I begun addressing one another as Mrs. Darcy around the house. I am Mrs. Darcy to him and he is Mrs. Darcy to me. Usually followed with our very poor British accents describing how incandescently happy we are.

So whether it's Woodchip, Fish, or Mrs. Darcy, do we retain, as Mr. Shakespeare says, our dear perfection that we owe without the title? Well, knowing that our perfection is certainly lacking, maybe if quirkiness is akin to perfection, we can still fit the bill!

Birthday Roadtrip

Like I mentioned before, in order to avoid any let down of birthday expectations, we postponed it until Kevin's finals were over and done with. Kevin planned a surprise roadtrip for me to Cincinnati where he took me to ride rollercoasters at Kings Island. It was pretty much the same as Texas theme parks except for it wasn't swelteringly hot--even a bit chilly to be honest! We spent nearly the whole day at the park and had plenty of whirling & twirling and ups & downs. Then we had a relaxing dinner at Cheddars (my fave!) and headed back to our room at the Hyatt that Kevin had reserved for us. As funny as it sounds, flipping channels is always one of our vacation highlights since we don't have TV at our apartment. So we spend the rest of the night hanging out at the hotel.


We spent the next day at a beautiful park in downtown Cincinatti. We read by the pond, toured a free art museum, and played Speed Scrabble. All in all, a wonderful birthday weekend. Three cheers for my husband and his surprise!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I donated my hair to Locks of Love today. Here are some pictures of our hair adventure to prove it:

Going...



Going...



Gone...



























Here is our new marketing idea for Locks of Love. Mens facial hair pieces!



This is by far the shortest my hair has ever been. But Kevin likes it, I like it, and hopefully some little person who gets my hair will like it too!

The Blog hermit once again

Once again, I've let it happen. Once again, the Blog has slipped to last priority in the great scramble of life. But here is my dedication to you, all of my faithful Blog-readers: I've just spent two hours on a beautiful Sunday afternoon updated you all on the past three months of Peek life. To you, Jamie Butts, who has read and re-read January 31 update over and over again. To you, Kari Breed, who so kindly informed me that my Blog had become "officially boring." To you, Chris & Sarah Peek, who waited for the Ebenezer update like a drought waits for rain. To all of you who make this Blog count, this is for you!

(I'm so dramatic...isn't it fun?)

One day you wake up and you're 24...

That was the office quote of the day on my birthday last week. Seeing that I'm the oldest woman in my office, turning 24 set me even further ahead of my other 3 female co-workers.

In order to avoid any birthday disappointments, Kevin & I decided to postpone any birthday celebrations for a few weeks until he finished finals. So it's kind of like I get two birthdays now because that didn't stop the celebrating...

The night before my birthday, Kevin told me that we needed to go over to the Pennington's house to pick something up. The Penningtons are a dear family with whom we've gotten to be quite close. Our small group from church meets at their home every other week, and I babysit their six children often. When we got there, it turned out that they had planned me a family surprise party! With a family of eight plus Kevin & me, that's really all you need for a party. The told me that since I'm just a big kid that they had planned me a kid's birthday party. We played Pin-the-Head-on-Becky, musical chairs, and Kevin, Kevin, Becky (a revision of Duck, Duck, Goose). Each one of the kiddos made me a birthday card, and we had a famous Tracy Pennington birthday cake. So thank you to Jonathan, Tracy, Mandy, Spencer, Grant, Owen, Nathan, and Emma for making this such a special birthday!

Here is the final outcome of the Pin-the-Head-on-Becky game:


























I also got some very fun birthday e-mails. One was from my best friend in China, Leslie. It was so special to me that she actually remembered my birthday! The other was from Elijah Gentry:


























But the best gift is that Kevin is now done with finals! He's taking me on a surprise road trip next weekend. And when I say that I will update the Blog after we get back, I really will try to do it this time. I can't make any promises because obviously I'm a Blog-promise-breaker. But I promise to try my hardest! In the meantime, back to being 24.

A Very Busy Day, Part 1

The count-down began for April 28 at the beginning of the year. As the days counted down, the training miles counted up. First at 6, then at 7, 8, 9...all the way to 13.1 as I crossed the finish line of the Derby Mini-Marathon. Alongside my running buddy Beth Wilson, we finished in 1 hour and 56 minutes. That's right--we're so fast that people on the streets are confusing us for either Dean Karnazes or a Kenyan. Well, maybe not but I'm pleased with our time and we had fun nonetheless.

Here we are shortly after crossing the finish line:





You can also click here for some pictures of Beth & me mid-race. (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger).

Our favorite highlights of the race:

* Running through Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby would be held a week later. We even got to see some ponies running!

* The running Elvis club. There really are people who dress up like Elvis and run road races. They even push a baby stroller with a stereo playing Elvis music!



Now you might be wondering what our dear husband were up to while we ran. They said they would be studying for finals but you can be the judge on that one...







At least they made it to the finish line in time. Or I guess I should more appropraitely be saying at least I made it to the finish line!

A Very Busy Day, Part 2

After 13.1 miles and the hugest blood blisters I've ever seen, Kevin & I got all dolled up and headed over to see the one and only Ms. Vanessa Brooks become the one and only Mrs. Vanessa Kynes. The wedding was terrific. Dr. Al Mohler (the president at Southern) preached for part of the wedding, and the groom's father preformed the rest of the ceremony. My favorite part was that from the preaching to the music, the wedding was very characteristic of Will & Vanessa's personalities.

The reception was just as wonderful. They chose a glass blowing factory as their venue. I'm not talking a dirty industrial building but a beautiful reception room that overlooked these sweaty men making glass. Vanessa's stylistic eye with her greens & browns throughout the decorations definitely deserves a place in Martha Stewart magazine.

But more than the wedding, we are so excited for their marriage. These two are definitely perfect for each other. The Kynes are moving to Scotland in August for Will to pursue his PhD. I will miss you, V, but am so glad that I got to be a part of this Louisville season of your life. Welcome to the SWC!

"Haus"sitting with "Haus"guests

Last month, our dear friends from church, Larry & Kathleen Hausman asked us if we would live in their house for a week while they traveled down to New Orleans. Their dog Romeo is sixteen years old and needs some extra attention. Just so you can get the idea, here is a picture of our decrepit tenant:



Since Kevin was on spring break, we decided it would be a fun opportunity to serve them and have a change of pace for us. So we officially became "Haus"sitters for the Hausmans! Let the fun begin!

And oh boy did it. The kind of fun that involves water heaters exploding and flooding the entire basement. The kind of fun that involves my poor husband spending his spring break pulling up carpet and mopping up puddles. We were so thankful that we were there though--imagine what the basement would have looked like had the Hausmans come home a week later. Yikes!

That same week, sweet Ashley Marshall came up to visit us. I got to take some time off work and just spend the day together. I am so very thankful for Ashley's friendship. Thanks for taking the time to come visit, Ash! Wo ai ni!

Elbow Explosions

A word of caution: when playing intermural basketball, wear a mouth guard. That's all that has to be said. Especially when you're playing with seminary boys. Apparently, all that studying gives you explosive elbows on the court. Elbows that explode into Kevin's mouth...elbows that break two teeth in half...elbows that make us thankful that medical insurace covers emergency dental...elbows that make us thankful as well for dentists that can schedule you 12 hours later for two root canals and crowns.

Another word of caution: this picure isn't for the faint-hearted. So I made it a little smaller.



(This is after the dentist worked on him. When he was in so much pain that night, I couldn't bear to take a picture. We both regret it now because he really did look like a pirate.)

One year later and I'm still this excited!

One whole year of marriage. One whole year of laughter & tears, joy & frustration, quirks (and there are many!) and personalities. One whole year of loving each other more and loving the Lord more. After a year, we are both so thankful for marriage. Even though we see the grace we've been given, we are still learning roles in marriage and how to encourage one another better. We've developed tons of inside jokes, and we're very thankful that our home is filled with laughter.

Our first anniversary would not have been complete without the traditional top o' the wedding cake. My parents certainly were more than willing to pack up my Igloo cooler with ice packs and that freezer-space-dominating cake they've been keeping for the past 12 months. But it made it home and into our mouths on January 7th. It wasn't in our mouths very long though since it was a little too spongy. But tradition is tradition!

Our Ebenezer weekend was exactly what we wanted it to be: a weekend to get away and enjoy each other and to think on how faithful God has been to us.

This is how we felt when we got there!


























The online description of our cabin advised us to take a 4-wheel drive vehicle. Hmm...that could be a problem for our little Civic! So our dear friends Matthew & Nikki Savage traded us cars for the weekend and let us take their fancy 4 Runner. Quite honestly, one of Kevin's favorite parts of the whole weekend was climbing that steep, rocky terrain in his big ol' truck. Thanks again, Savages!


Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend the whole weekend alone. When we arrived, we noticed that our door was falling apart. We had to call the maintenance people and the next day our friend Gene arrived. Now we were quite aware that we were in rural Tennessee but if for some reason that face would have slipped our minds, Gene would have reminded us. He was a good ol' country boy and he sure did love to talk. It took him about two hours to fix our door and then ab out 30 minutes to tell us about a tasty local restaurant. We call him Garrulous Gene.

Another one of Kevin's favorite parts of the weekend was building a fire. It took a while to get it started (I was thankful to have a book at least!) but once it got going, we absolutely loved it.



But finally we had to go home. Back to life, back to Louisville, back to work and school. And this is how we felt then: