Our Time in the Sun

My uncle John published his first novel this past year (he tells us he's working on his second). My dad gave me a copy for Christmas, and I just finished wolfing it down. Quite a fun tale, and his son (my cousin) did the cover artwork you see in the photo. It was interesting to know my uncle and see how his own experiences showed through so much into his tale. I think my favorite part was when the protagonist takes part in a little humorous interlude, which just happens to be the same story my dad has told me for years about my grandfather. =) It is available for online purchase. Thanks, John, for investing your retirement in something so entertaining for me and also full of family legacy.

We did, in fact, celebrate Christmas

Before we get too far into 2008, we should at least make mention of the end of 2007. We worked Christmas, before heading down to TN for McLaughlin festivities. For our gifts to each other, we got tickets to see Over The Rhine at a relatively small folk venue in Ann Arbor. General admission, and we sat on the second row. Very cool. Then, on Christmas Eve, we had a fab dinner (obtained with a Whole Foods Gift card) of crab-stuffed portabello mushrooms (you don't even know...) and of course the obligatory Christmas mulled mead.

TN was lovely with the family, who graciously held off until the 27th when we could be there, before having all the "real" holiday celebrations. We're reposting the McLaughlin Christmas photo here, a composite since there wasn't much in the way of a good chance with us all together this year. Note that we are the only couple not showing affection to each other in the picture. We would like to here state that this is a completely cultural phenomenon, such actions being taboo in Bengali culture. This does not represent any cooling of our affections as we head into our third year of marriage. We did get to visit Sami and Jonathan down in Chattanooga, and saw Curt and Chris Chaffin as well, home from their wild and crazy adoption adventure.

North Dakota Makes Liars Of Us (Again...)

Forgive us. We have lied to you. All this long while, our profile stated that we lived in the only town in the US starting with Yps-. I tried to verify this on Mapquest and found nothing. Eric Selle (Rachel's brother) pointed out that North Dakota also has a town called Ypsilanti. To which we reply, "We don't care." When I was in high school, my friends and I played in a garage band called "Helm's Deep", and were contacted by these Canadians in a band by the same name. They wanted us to change our name, because they had put out a couple records and obviously were headed for the big time. We didn't change our name. However, for the sake of honesty, we'll have to modify our profile somehow. The only problem being, there's really nothing else to say about us...

Bread of the Month Club (AKA Naan-vana)

Eric and I have come to the realization that, with our future plans, many things we love in this life may not be very readily available to us come two years from now. I’m sure we’ll continually be surprised at the availability of things in Africa, but best to plan ahead. So, for example, if we cannot live without Indian food, we should figure out how to cook it ourselves. And there are many bread-type staples throughout the world that are not only fun, but versatile and tasty as well. We are launching on a goal of learning how to make a different bread each month. Because we had already bought our groceries for the month of January by the time this plan hatched itself in my brain, by default January was going to be “Naan” month. It went with Chicken Tikka Masala, which we had already learned how to make (allrecipes.com is the best site ever!).
Above you can see a picture of our results. Obviously, Eric is one happy little naan boy! We mixed up the dough and cooked it on our pizza stone. Our friend Carlan, always a good friend to experiment on, is quoted as saying it was “addictive.” Success! Future breads of the month include pita, tortillas, and crusty French bread.

The Forty-Fifth State

December 29, 2007. A momentous day for me. Some of you know that Eric and I have been in an unofficial “race” to beat each other to all 50 states. Between the two of us, we’ve made it to all 50, but the ones that we have left individually, unfortunately, do not overlap. We were on our way to visit Eric’s sister in Chattanooga (starting from Nashville, where we had spent a delayed Christmas) and came to the realization that one of my remaining six states was only a TEN MINUTE DETOUR from our proposed route. Alabama, here we come! We turned off of I-24 and within minutes, found ourselves crossing over the state line into my forty-fifth United State of America!!! It wasn’t quite everything I hoped it would be…let’s just say the “scenic route” we chose to take was mostly trailer homes and scrub bushes (maybe there’s a reason this was #45 instead of #10 or something). But I can’t be picky.

States we have left are as follows: Eric—Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Nevada, South Carolina. Rachel—Alaska, Vermont, Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia.

Books We're Giving Away

Let us know if you want any of these, or if you just want to stop over and look them over:

We'll give these to the church library if there are no takers:

Churched Turner Christian humor
Mandate for Mercy Stephens missions
Chasing the Dragon Pullinger missions
Tortured for Christ Wurmbrand missions
Always Enough Baker missions
Surprised by the Power of the Spirit Deere spiritual life
Journal of the Unknown Prophet prophecy
Secrets of the Vine Wilkinson spiritual life
Prayer of Jabez Wilkinson spiritual life
He Still Moves Stones Lucado spiritual life
Dominion Alcorn fiction
The Visitation Peretti fiction
The book of God Wangerin fiction
Intended for Pleasure Wheat marriage
Before You Say I Do Wright marriage
Books of Destiny Keith spiritual life
The Torch and the Sword Joyner prophecy
When Heaven Invades Earth Johnson spiritual life
The Message: Job and Proverbs Bible
Vital Doctrines of the Faith Furness theology
Handbook of Theological Terms Harvey theology
Teenagers Pray prayer
In the Eye of the Storm/Gentle Thunder Lucado spiritual life
First Years of Forever Wheat marriage
Bible Study Made Easy devotional
Beginner’s Guide to Prophecy prophecy
10 Things I want my Son to Know Chapman spiritual life
I Kissed Dating Goodbye relationships
Collegiate Devotional Bible Bible
Interpreter’s One Volume Commentary on the Bible

These will go to Goodwill or the Public Library if no takers:

Spanish Dictionary
Musculoskeletal Exam
Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary
Stedman’s Concise Medical Dictionary
Les Miserables (old) Hugo
The Lord of the Rings Tolkien
The Hobbit Tolkien
Jane Eyre Bronte
Five Plays Chekov
The Black Cauldron Alexander
Master and Commander O’Brian
Let’s Go New Zealand 2000
Roget’s thesaurus
My Fair Lady Lerner
Dubliners Joyce
Streetcar Named Desire Williams
Letters of Abelard and Heloise
Cold Mountain Frazier
Last Lecture Pausch
Deception Point Brown
Anne Frank in German or English
Deep End of the Ocean Mitchard
Chocolat Harris
Dangerous Minds Johnson
Absolute Truths Howatch
Utopia
Christmas Carol Dickens

Memoir

This is an old photo, but on rediscovering it, we thought we'd share it with everyone. Celebrating Rachel's car hitting 100,000 miles, she took this photo. Note the speedometer. Please don't show our car insurance company.

Brown Chaffin

For those of you who know (and thus, love) Curt and Chris Chaffin, here's a link to the chronicle of their adoption saga. Merry Christmas, Chaffins 3!

Wine Review

I was listening to NPR this past summer and heard a segment about how the Bordeaux wines from the 2005 season were being called "the best vintage in the last fifty years". I knew then that we would spare no cost to to experience this gustatory rarity. Thus, on our next expedition to Trader Joe's, where such a vintage can be purchased for $6, we let down our normally frugal defenses, and took the plunge. We kept it until an occassion suitable for such elegance, namely our friends Adam and Kelly Rogers visiting a month ago. The complexity of the palatal sensations accompanying such a wine took a full month to process, so it is not until now that we are prepared to offer the following review:

The 2005 Bordeaux experience starts with a smooth uncorking that exudes the most delicate hint of caramel and English toffee. It stands strong in the decanter and displays thin leg support in the crystal itself. The frontal palate senses textures of oak, beech, and bamboo with the nose of a cherry. Just before a finish of a chocolate nutmeg tail, there is subtle but definite distinction which is a mixture of an apricot in one hand, a pineapple in the other, and a heart that beats of cinnamon. We decided it would be best to draw a picture of it using Microsoft Paint. We posted it here.

In all, we would like to officially add our endorsement to Le Figaro, who states "Face to these perfect climatic conditions, numerous wine growers also made a real gustative choice and punched the fruit around the body. Some wine-makers have never seen such a lively fruit!"

Merry Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas family, friends, and blogosphere! Many of you already know how most of our year went, and if you really want a whole lot of details, we refer you to the rest of this website. =)

The holiday season of 2007 also marks the end of our second year of marriage. What a great thing our marriage is. Rachel works a whole bunch at the hospital, and so does Eric, but the important thing is that we still learn, and we take it on faith that all our efforts are resulting in care of the sick and needy. And the schedules aren't as bad as they once were. Together we have delivered enough babies to fill 75.18 minivans (minus the driver; babies don't drive. Babies don't ride in the front passenger seat either, but don't be picky.)

We continue to travel, read, love music, play German board games, geocache, and try to find ways to carve out time with our friends and families. We look to the future, which is not at all far away, and start to set wheels in motion for our careers abroad in medical missions. And in the rush, we do well to stop and seek God, source of life. May God bless your Christmas. May our eyes be opened to know him.

February on Antigua, Eastern Caribbean

Rachel in DC in March

In San Francisco with our friends Adam and Kelly in May

Canoeing Ann Arbor with Mom and Dad in May

Sami and Jonathan's June Wedding in Nashville

Eric and Clayton celebrate their Alma Mater's committment to 'American Idol'

(See "September" for lots of Bangladesh/UAE pictures)

We carve a monacled pumpkin after the fashion of Mr. Peanut in October

Yay! Rachel's family in MN in November!

Our Friends Live in a Barn

Last weekend, we got the pleasure of spending a few days with Eric's good college friends Jonathan and Debby Richards, and their very cute little boy Josiah. They live north of Chicago in a barn. It's a nice barn, calling the old addage "Were you raised in a barn?" into great suspicion. Here's a picture of their barn. Note the ultra cool reading nook above the kitchen table, accessible only by ladder. How cool is that!

We had a lovely relaxed time listening to Josiah's infectious laugh. We also visited the Oriental Institute at the U of Chicago, which was recommended to us by our other friends, the Basteseses. Despite the name, it doesn't really have any artifacts from the orient, but has a bunch of stuff from Ur (like the city Abraham was from), Assyria, the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, and the early Hebrew kingdoms. Very cool.

Oh yeah, and Jonathan took us to the super organic coffee shop where he makes masterpieces of art out of froth, espresso, and chocolate syrup. The straws are made of corn starch, and Rachel decided that she would make a bold attempt to chew the thing until it dissolved into its constituent parts. She chewed for a very long time, but it kind of just looked like a straw chewed for a very long time.

New Ambulators Beware

We had the pleasure of hosting 33 people in our house last night for dinner, a chance for candidates for Rachel's residency program to get to know existing residents. 6 of those people were children, 5 of whom were old enough to walk, but not old enough to hang out in our very non-childproof home without close supervision. Briefly, I submit to you the ways in which our house is not childproof:

1. A cozy woodfire in a hot wood stove protruding from the wall.
2. Drums et al. that are actually somewhat valuable, yet sit on the floor and appear to be fun to bang on.
3. Radiators in operation.
4. Mousetraps (currently not loaded, but sometimes...), and lastly...
5. Daggers, swords, and arrows at the eye level and reach level of someone who is 2' tall.

No one hurt and a great time had by all. Please don't let this hinder you coming to visit with or without your little loved ones. =)

Into the (Minnesotan) Woods

I love my family. Last August, I was chatting with my cousin Josiah when he off-handedly mentioned that he would soon be trying out for one of my all time favorite musicals, Into the Woods. His college was hosting the production in November. Excited, I promised him that if he would get a role, however small, I would travel all the way over to St. Paul, MN, to watch him. Fast forward three months. Josiah not only had a role, he had the MALE LEAD. Yes, my friends, it was quite an accomplishment. And I also discovered that my mom, his mom, my brother, his brother, and a smattering of other cousins and their families would be making the journey as well!

Eric and I decided to make this our big family Thanksgiving this year, which we are really glad we did. I drove out to MN a few days early and got to see my best friend from college, as well as spend time with my goddaughter Jaina (and her 4 siblings) at the Childrens Museum. The whole family had a big Thanksgiving brunch together, played plenty of games, and generally just had a blast spending time together. The highlight, of course, was watching Josiah the star wow the audience with his stellar performance (he was the Baker, for those who know the fun fractured fairy tale of a story)--see picture. We also threw in a picture of my family hanging out at Perkins after the show.

Sometimes we find it really hard to be living so far away from our families, who are spread out all across the US. It's weekends like this, though, that make us thank God for the blessings of the time and the family that we do have. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

"Let these Falling Leaves Cover Me..."

"...as I sink into the ground." Ten super cool points to anyone who knows this lyrical quote.

Not so pastoral and peaceful is the job of raking our leaves. Any of you who have visited our old abode know that the predominate feature of our yard is the huge trees, lovely for keeping it cool in the summer, but the bane of September onwards. In fact, the two lines of trees bordering either side of our backyard are slowing growing together to form a complete canopy. Currently, there is only a thin stretched line of direct sunshine that slowly eases from one end of our yard to the other as the sun courses above, like the most natural of sundials.

Anyways, back to the "bane" part. We have successfully conquered the problem of the shade prohibiting vegetable growth by our community garden (see previous blogs), but when the leaves come to fall, work begins for Eric and Rachel. Bags upon bags filled with copious leaves. Beads of sweat, callouses from rakes, and our only comfort is that our neighborhood promises us that, once a year, giant heavy machinery angels will sweep down our streets and remove any leaves we can get onto the asphalt. Note the picture. Very nice. But note even closer all the leaves still remaining on the trees.

Louisville Conference

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of attending the Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, KY. Some of you may recall that this conference changed our lives four years ago in 2003, since it is the site where we first met each other while Eric was in med school in Michigan and Rachel in California. Here's a picture of us in the very room where we first met each other, after a breakout session entitled "The Myths of Biomedicine and the Wisdom of Middle Earth". I'm not kidding. What a beginning!

Well, this time around, this conference may have been only slightly less life-changing. For the last couple months, a couple of our physician family friends and ourselves have been wondering whether we are called to pursue some kind of joint community activity within the world of developing world medical missions. We are all finishing residency training the same year in different specialities and coming from the same church in the Ann Arbor area. We decided to all meet in Louisville to spend some concentrated time praying and talking with each other as well as a number of agencies that work in mission hospitals. Long story short, we are now in the early stages of perhaps working long-term in southern Sudan after a couple years of extra training, likely in Kenya. It's quite a whirlwind just to be considering all this, but extremely exciting at the same time. Here's a picture of all of us (our good friend Carlan, in the center crouched down, also joined us for the conference).