Big Biographies

I know I didn't read all the biographies in the RTBC library before I went to high school or left for college, but I thought Mom would be proud to know that I have been reading some lately. And they're big (at least for me).






They are both great. They are both recommended. Both men are amazing. Without doing a full book report here is a little info. Both do a good job of using lots of primary sources. Both also do a good job of summarizing the theology propounded by their subjects.

The Edwards biography is a little drier, but if there was ever anything you wanted to know about Edwards it's probably in there. I am more convinced than ever that Edwards is America's most intelligent individual.

The Bonhoeffer biography is not quite as timeless, but it does do a great job of describing the atmosphere in Nazi Germany's downward spiral. It is hard to imagine anyone more committed to doing God's will in a hard situation than Bonhoeffer.

Idols vs. Grace

God is in the business of His peoples' sanctification. God smashes our idols. He is jealous for our affections He vigorously cultivates our reliance on Him.

Over the last month God taught me an important lesson about my idols, His work, and His grace. About four weeks ago two of my idols collided. I was scheduled to fly back from a business trip at the same time as the US World Cup opener. At the time I even told Chandra that God had set two of my idols against each other to teach me a lesson. I went ahead and scheduled the flight that was supposed to touch down a little over an hour before the game started. If there were no delays at the airport and no traffic, I could catch half of the game. So I decided to hope that God would provide. Last week, Chandra and I also prayed that everything would go smoothly on my trip. This is the most rigorous test our software has been through, and it is taking place in a high-stress, high-visibility environment.

God would be totally justified in giving me no success on my trip and delaying my flight just enough to miss the entire soccer game. Instead, everything on my trip went more smoothly than anyone expected, and as a result I was able to catch an earlier flight back home. I spent the whole weekend with my wife, watched the game in my own living room, and did not worry about work a bit.

A few weeks ago I felt like God was cold and hard and had no regard for my happiness. Sitting in the airport an hour before my earlier flight, I realized that I don't have to be scared of God smashing my idols. I learned again that God loves to make His people (me) happy. I realized that he “is able to do immeasurably more than all we [I] ask or imagine”.

Also, I'm thinking of renaming the blog to sixbecomewalt.blogspot.com. Objections?

World Cup 2010

Every now and then I look up from my little local life and discover that I am not prepared for something that is looming on the not-so-distant horizon. In this case that "something" is the most popular sporting event in the known universe.

This afternoon I put the dates and times for the USMNT's group play matches in my calendar, and I made sure to forward those appointments to my work e-mail--I'm not missing this. If you are reading this blog, you shouldn't miss it either. (Here is the information for the matches.) There is a good chance that some Houston Dynamo players will make the final cut, too. (If a sports writer for houstonist.com were reading this blog I bet he'd jump all over that story.)

I did some reading up on the team at this blog. Check out this article about their conditioning. Those guys are in some kind of incredible shape. Donovan "ran nearly 36 miles" during the five matches of the Confederations Cup--that was the kind of shape Donovan was in before he started training for the World Cup.
I'm antsy this afternoon as I think about the upcoming games. I've been looking forward to this part of this summer for almost 4 years. I feel like I need to start training or something. I did pick up a digital cable box on Friday--I want to see it all. In the meantime, posts about Bonaire will have to wait.




U! S! A!
U! S! A!
U! S! A!

Don't Call It a Comeback

Well, I know the Eldars have been somewhat MIA on the blog, so I thought I'd catch everyone up to date on what has been going on around here lately and what has been filling up the time I might have spent posting on the blog. (I'll try to put it in roughly chronological order.)

1. I started writing lots of telescope control software.
   
2. Band of Brothers (recorded from SpikeTV)
   
3. Christmas, New Years, and the time in between
   
4. I upgraded to Mythbuntu 9.10 and had to reconfigure my MythTV as a result.
   
5. My main computer, Thorondor, began to die.
   
6. I read two Malcom Caldwell books. (I'll get it back to you, Rob.)
   
7. Duck season continued, ended.
   
8. I saw it snow on Broadway.
   
9. Chandra started working at church part-time.
   
10. The neighbors' dog chewed up the wiring on Paul's boat trailer.
    
11. BU men's basketball became relevant.
    
12. I lost my wedding ring in the snow in the back yard.
    
13. Thomas taught us Sunday School.
    
14. I rebuilt Thorondor and renamed it Fëanor.
    
15. I almost ran over a goat on I-35.

I guess that pretty much sums it up. I'll be sure to provide another update around Thanksgiving. Chandra may or may not get around to posting this year...probably not.

How to Make Texan Pasta

Well, technically speaking, the pasta itself is still pretty much what it's always been, but the presentation is definitely sorta Texan. Faced with another Friday night "what do we have on hand" menu decision, I took some inspiration from the awesome Robb Walsh at the Houston Press and mixed and matched something together, as follows.

Take some bbq sausage links and dice it up into discs or chunks (depending on your preference), and pan saute in olive oil with some coarsely chopped garlic cloves (garlic fiend that I am, I used about five cloves). Once the sausage is browned, deglaze the pan with some white wine and reduce by half. Add some generous handfuls of arugula and diced green onion and let those saute for a while. Remove from heat and add some cooked pasta of any shape or size, along with at least a cup of good Parmesan. Finish with some salt and pepper and you're done!

Perfect end of the week comfort food, especially when served with a spicy red wine. Equally perfect as fuel for a night of hanging pictures in your new apartment. :)

Mole-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Before I post the recipe I would like to share an actual conversation from the Warmaths.

"Thomas, if we have a couple girls first you're going to have a lot of children because we'll just have to keep going until we get some boys."

"Ok."

"We could just give the oldest girls to my mom and your mom if the house got too full."

"Or you could trade one for Noah."

"That is a great idea. I should text Amelia..."

This recipe is doubled to make 6 chicken breasts. We usually just make 4 at a time.

4 Tbsp. light brown sugar

3 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

3 tsp. salt

3 lbs. or 6 skinned and boned chicken breasts

4 limes

4 tsp. honey

2 avocados

1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup chopped red onion

8 tsp. fresh cilantro

Lime juice

1. Preheat grill to 350 or 400 degrees. Stir together brown sugar, chili powder, cocoa, cumin, pepper, and 1 tsp. salt in small bowl. Rub chicken thoroughly on all sides.

2. Grate zest from limes for 2 Tbsp. (I usually give up on this part way before 2 Tbsp.) Squeeze 4 Tbsp. lime juice (I usually use some from a bottle and whatever I can eek out of the limes I zested.) Whisk together honey, lime zest, and lime juice. Add avocado; toss to coat. Stir in the quartered grape tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and 1.5 tsp. salt.

3. Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, 5-6 minutes on each side or to 165 degrees. Garnish with salsa.

We like to have corn and sweet potatoes with it for a very colorful/flavorful meal. One of my favorite things about it is that Thomas can do the chicken while I do the salsa so it doesn't take long to prepare. This recipe brought to you by Southern Living. Approved for the blog by Mom and Dad on their Fort Worth visit.

Big CONGRATS to Michelle!

Dee-luxe Apartment

Next week, the Hayseses are moving into the second house (or apartment, if you want to be technical about it) of our young marriage. The decision to leave our current complex and undo all the nesting that we’ve done over the past year was certainly the largest shared decision we’ve made so far. The process of walking and talking through this decision taught us a lot about each other, our priorities, and how we resolve the resulting conflicts between them.

I’ve lived in the Bayou Park complex for almost two years at this point; I moved in with a buddy from church in the summer of 2008, sharing between us a spacious 2-2 and desire to make our respective girlfriends into our fiancées. I moved out just before our wedding into our current home.

After Mich moved in, the place got dramatically more homey and was much better decorated. As we melded our two lives into one, ground zero was the apartment, and our attachment to its charms and quirks grew accordingly. When it felt sufficiently lived in, we began inviting people over for dinner and parties, and our pride in our shared homemaking abilities soared.

So when the time to renew our lease approached, there was a very strong pull to stay where we were. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. However, there were other concerns to consider. Our rent was increasing, in large part due to cosmetic upgrades to the apartment complex that really had no bearing on our quality of life there. We really craved a second bedroom in which to store the Costco purchases and miscellany that cluttered our bedroom and made it feel claustrophobic at times.

After looking at a wide variety of disappointing rental houses and apartments, we were all but resigned to re-upping at Bayou Park. But with a week left before our deadline to decide, a Craigslist posting fell in our lap: 2 bedrooms in a small Heights apartment complex, for almost a hundred dollars less than our projected rent. The new place had its quirks, too. A narrow kitchen and dearth of natural light were among the chief concerns.

The wrestling then began in earnest. Was the extra bedroom really worth the hassle, the time, and the cost of moving? Would leaving our smallish kitchen for one that’s sort of larger in some dimensions but smaller in others be a sacrifice worth making? How many months would we have to live in the new place before the money we saved each month outweighed the money we spent moving and transferring utilities?

Through all of this, I learned how important the concept of home is to Michelle, and how much ownership she takes in the places she lives. I’ve been relatively itinerant since college, living in five different places in the seven years between graduation and matrimony, and I took for granted the stability and comfort that staying in one place affords. To start from square one, even together, is no small task.

After a second visit to the prospective apartment, it had grown on us sufficiently to warrant a positive decision. We grabbed it just hours before another couple put in an offer. Now we’re in boxes in both places, but we’re looking forward to nesting again. Even more than that, we’re looking forward to the money we’re saving being earmarked for a more permanent nest.

As conflict-averse people, making decisions like this are not cause for fireworks or sweeping declarations. There was disagreement at various points, and we often found ourselves exposed to fundamental ways of looking at life that we hadn’t yet discovered in one another. The beautiful epilogue, then, is that by switching houses, our home is stronger and closer than its ever been.

SNOW!

We've had a snow day, and it has been wonderful. It is the most snow I've ever seen in Texas. According to the news, it is a DFW record with 7.9 inches at the airport...and it's still snowing!

Here are some pics















Amy's Car, late morning
















Our House, late morning
















A shot of the neighborhood, late morning
















Narnia! The white witch is back!




















We built a snowman
















Amy and the neighbors' kids with the snowman
















Our lamp, around dinner time

p.s. Wally and Ann, by noon tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny and 45 degrees, so we will see you tomorrow.

Thomas

Marmot

I will like to respond to Michelle's thoughtful and funny post at a later time. For now I will just leave you with this:

French Marmot

(If you are wondering how we came across it, we bought a ski jacket for me today. The brand is Marmot. I asked Thomas to show me what a marmot is and we found the video.)

Break's over.

OK, everyone. The holidays are over and it's time to get back into the swing of things. I got this blog going the first time and I fully intend to do it again right now. And I've got just the topics - one fun question and one meaningful question.

1. Married birthdays.

First off, they're the best hands-down.
Secondly, now that we've all had a married birthday (R and I finally caught up to the newlywed summer babies), share one of your favorite birthday moments - a thoughtful gift or funny story.

Here's mine-

On his way out the door the morning of my birthday (and he hadn't mentioned my birthday, maybe because he forgot?)-
R: "You are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." (a common term of endearment from Rob)
M: "Can bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh go get coffee this morning to celebrate her flesh's birthday?"

HA. I don't know why that was so funny to me. Maybe because it was a homerun coffee-scoring morning. :)


Second topic- can you share something practical that your spouse does regularly to care for your spiritual well-being? I realize that's a pretty broad, "church-y", perhaps personal topic. But one of the things I've found most helpful this holiday season was our many conversations about money - how to budget, how to save, how to spend, how to think, how to share, etc. - and I think I would glean equal encouragement and learning from your examples of this. Even if it's just a "normal," "right" answer, I'd be interested to hear your experience with that answer.

I won't go first on this one, primarily because my lunchbreak is over. :)

Thanks for keeping me company and thanks in advance for answering my questions...as I KNOW you ALL WILL... :)

Merry Christmas, Poor Walt didn't get any pigs

It's beginning to look a lot like...home

Following in the footsteps of everyone else, this will be a team blog post from Team Hays.

R: One of the hardest things in the world is surprising Michelle. I was absolutely dumbfounded that I was able to sneak my marriage proposal past her notice in the weeks before the event. Any time that I can surprise her, it's a huge moral victory for me. So when I bought Michelle a Christmas "tree" (complete with ornaments) last weekend without her finding out, I think I actually did a little dance. It's not really a tree, of course: we don't have room for some towering fir in our apartment, nor would a five dollar set of ornaments suffice to cover its surface. Instead of an evergreen, we have a potted rosemary plant, surely a more utilitarian solution in the long run, and just the right size:
(yes, we already had the green table.)

M: Wow, look at those presents under the tree! And it's only December 4! (If your name isn't Peyton, Joshua, Lyla or Walt then you better hope that we've thought of something to get you for Christmas. :) Just kidding.)

I walked into the apartment, exclaimed "oh, a Christmas tree!!!" then Rob said, "and we can cook with it!" At first it seemed a little masochistic (Rob spelled that - I like to give props where due), but I guess it's not much worse than watching it slowly rot in the backyard for a few months and then dragging it to the curb. And it's fun to see how one object can delight people in 2 different ways.

Speaking of my chef husband, Rob made a fabulous dinner tonight of sweet potato gnocchi (that's homemade pasta for you at home) and steak (on a huge sale at Kroger). Here he is in his element -

If it looks like pasta-making and steak preparing uses every dish in the kitchen that's because it definitely does. But it was well, well worth it, right dear?

R: Thanks to some Advil and the rejuvenatory effects of red meat, my back no longer hurts like it did, so I concur that it was worth it. Making pasta from scratch (even a potato-based one, which is kinda cheating) was a little terrifying, and things were so busy in our tiny kitchen that I didn't have time to sample the merchandise before I put it on the table. In my mind, there was a very distinct possibility that I had made mutant dumplings unfit for human consumption and served them to my unwitting and otherwise encouraging spouse.

Fortunately, they were rather good.

In related cooking/family news, Michelle was sidelined for part of this week with a debilitating head cold. Giving the plunging temperatures outside, it was unquestionably soup weather. Here, I'll share the recipe (adapted from an Emeril one on FoodNetwork.com based on the ingredients we had available):

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 cup chopped onions
* 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
* 1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
* 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 6 cups chicken stock or canned, low-sodium chicken broth
* 1 pound cooked chicken, shredded
* 1 can black beans, drained
* 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
* 6 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
* Vegetable oil, for frying
* 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and chopped

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, peppers, salt, cumin, and coriander for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the chicken and black beans and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the lime juice, and stir well. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until golden and crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Serve soup with tortilla strips, cheese, and avocado.

M: Yum! All my co-workers were jealous when I took leftovers for lunch on Wednesday.

So today, it snowed in Houston!! Not just a few sprinkles but an actual heavy downfall in downtown/Heights from about 11am to 3pm. It made me miss Bloomington dreadfully, but I got out of work at 12:30 and Rob got home about 3:00 so that was a nice start to our weekend! As a jaded "I-lived-in-snow-last-winter" person, I was surprised that companies and schools were shutting down early. But we don't have the number of street salters that old Bloomy does, so it's understandable.

One of our neighbors built a snowman near the entrance to our apartment complex:

And that was with the snow BEFORE 12:30. There was lots more later.

Well, now I'm reflecting on Rob's title of this blog post: home. It's funny because it's my impression that if you put food in the fridge, hang one picture, and buy a throw pillow, boys think it's quite "homey" and decorated. :) Rob has great taste though, and what always surprises me is how encouraging he is to me in my first attempts at homemaking and how must delight and pride he takes in our first home together. The apartment is a beautiful representation of two lives coming together - and I often remind myself that in 20 years, this won't be the case. Everything we'll have in 20 years will probably be stuff WE received at our wedding or furniture we bought as a couple. But how fun to look around now and physically see our messy, separate, eclectic lives combining to make a home; it's a cool picture of what's happening in our marriage, too, I think.