Kings Bay Adventures

Hey there :-)

So, I am back in Rochester after spending some time with my husband, who has been in Georgia for several weeks.  Here are some of my experiences from the week:

1.  From Saturday until Thursday, Brian & I were staying in some base housing.  For the first time I got to experience a taste of what it's like to live on a naval base...  Some of it was great, and some of it was frustrating.

• I felt super cool & official whenever I drove onto the base.  I handed them my id card, and they said "have a nice day Mrs Dahl," and let me in!!
• There are several different gates to get onto base, and they all have different hours.  It is complicated trying to get back onto base, and having to figure out which road I needed to take.
• Kings Bay is in the middle of nowhere, so if I wanted to get off-base for awhile, it was quite a drive to get to civilian-civilization.
• The base itself is pretty; lots of places to walk around.  

I started watching the show Army Wives on Netflix.  It follows 4 wives (and one husband) who are married to military men (and woman) and are living on an army post.  It was neat to start watching that, and then to see the reality of some of that as I was on base...  One of the themes in the show is how people on a base come together & care for one another:

On my first day on base, I went to pick up some groceries.  I got lost, and found out the commissary was closed, and finally found a mini-mart on base.  I had been traveling all day, was in unfamiliar territory, and my husband was on duty until the following morning.  All those things combined, made me a little emotional...  They Navy wife who rang me out commented that I looked new, and asked me how I was doing.  And I maybe emotionally threw up all over her, and she was kind and compassionate.

Living off-base in Virginia has plenty of advantages.  But, I think in some ways, I miss out on some of the connection that people have when they are on base together.        

2.  It was AWESOME spending time with my husband.  I really miss him, and I LOVED every second we had together.  We spent our evenings eating out (we had a kitchenette with fridge & microwave, but no way to cook a proper dinner), and hanging out.

On Saturday we drove to Jacksonville to have some adventures in Florida!!  We spent a lot of time at the zoo, and then went to the beach for awhile; 2 things I really love to do!!!

3.  The weather at the beginning of the week was not great; it was actually warmer in Rochester than it was in Jacksonville the first couple days!  But by the end of the week, things got much better.  Wednesday I went outside to read, and walked around the base.  Thursday & Friday we had to move to a hotel off base (the room we were in on base had previously been reserved for the weekend), and I sat by the pool and dunked my feet!  And then  Saturday was beautiful, sunny and 85 degrees, and we got to wade in the ocean!!

I decided I would probably enjoy living in Southern Georgia or Northern Florida :-)

... And then Sunday I flew back into Buffalo.  And it snowed on my drive back to Hilton.

Want to see pics from my time down there?  Check out my facebook album.

Hopefully I'll be back in Virginia with my husband soon; the date is still a little unknown!

Love Songs; Part 2

So, if you haven't already checked out part one, go ahead and scroll down (or click this link).

I think most Christians would agree that it is bad to worship anything other than God...  And I may (or may not have) convinced you that when we sing love songs to our bf/gf, we are worshiping them rather than the one who truly deserves our worship.

However, here is why I don't think it is 100% wrong to have love songs about being devoted to another person:

I know very little about marriage, and despite being a Christian for a long time, I know even less about God.  How great is God; beyond our understanding.

But.  Having said that: I will readily admit that my marriage has helped me understand God better.  And knowing God has helped me to understand what it means to be married.

When I see the way my husband loves & cares for me, I can't help but see a little more clearly how God loves & cares for the church.  Just as God is loving, patient, and kind to His people, so my husband is with me.  And just as Christ sacrificed for His church, so my husband works and is diligent and sacrifices for me.

And I hope and pray that just as I yearn to be faithful and honoring to God- that I would also always yearn to be faithful and honor my husband.

Comparing marriage to our relationship with God isn't something I invented.  God Himself uses this example!  We see all over Scripture that Christ is our Bridegroom, and the church His Bride.  We see a God who turns into a jealous husband when His wife betrays Him.  We see a beautiful marriage celebration between us & Jesus Christ.  Heck, the book Song of Solomon is a beautiful love story between and man & his wife- meant, in part, to reflect our relationship with God!

So.  It really shouldn't be too surprising when secular love songs sound like worship music.  And I don't think it's wrong, in the right context, to have a secular song that expresses head-over-heels adoration for another person.

(here is where I would like to mention that I don't include profane or degrading songs that are on the radio...  I don't believe those honor God, or the marriage relationship).

If a worship song sounds kind of like a love song on the radio- so what?  I am the bride of Christ; my Maker is my husband.  And it is totally appropriate to sing a sappy love ballad to God.  It is no less reverent than an old hymn; it is just different.      

Beautiful One
You open my eyes to Your wonders anew
You captured my heart with this love,
because nothing on earth is as beautiful as You.

Beautiful One, I love.
Beautiful One, I adore.
Beautiful One, my soul must sing.  

Love Songs; Part 1

Over the years, I have occasionally encountered an attitude about Christian music, and I thought I would take some time to share my perspective:

I don't like modern worship music; it sounds too much like the secular stuff they play on the radio.

If you took out God's name from that song, and replaced it with Dave (or whatever name) it would sound just like all the other non-Christian love songs out there.

Christian music nowadays has lost its reverence; it isn't "holy." 

I believe those statements are more a reflection of secular attitudes, than it is a criticism of Christian music.


Let's look at the Christian worship song, "One Thing Remains," by Jesus Culture (which I heart):

Higher than the mountains that I face.
Stronger than the power of the grave.
Constant through the trial & the change.
One thing remains.
You love never fails
it never gives up
it never runs out on me.

Could we flip this song and make it about a guy or girl?  Sure?  We think the love we have for our bf/gf is insurmountable.  Nothing & no one could ever stop it.  My boyfriend's love will never fail me, or give up on me, or run out.  Our love is powerful, even death is no competition for our love...  It's kinda Romeo & Juliet.

Just because we could turn this song into a secular one, doesn't make it less of a worship song.  It just means that sometimes our priorities are a complete mess.

Romeo & Juliet worshiped each other, rather than worshiping God.


Secular songs might be pretty similar to contemporary worship songs.  Not because worship songs lack reverence   But because people singing secular love songs are worshiping their boyfriend/girlfriend.  The love, devotion, and admiration they ought to have for their Creator, is being placed onto the created.

We were designed to worship.  Lets take a look at Colossians 1, and allow me to paraphrase 16-18:

All things were created BY God FOR God, so that in everything HE WOULD BE THE CENTER.

You were created by God, for God, so that He could be your ultimate.  He would be the center of your life. He would be the object of your worship.

But we miss the mark.  So very often.  We worship things that aren't worthy of our devotion-
... money
... power
... pleasure
... status

... we worship other people.

And this is so apparent in secular music.


If you took a secular song, and replaced a guys/girls name with God, you might actually end up with a decent worship tune.


Let's look at the new Justin Bieber song; "As Long as You Love Me" (which, by the way, I also heart):

As long as you love me-
we could be starving,
we could be homeless,
we could be broke.
As long as you love me-
I'll be your platinum
I'll be your silver
I'll be your gold.

So.  Apparently, the Biebs really loves this girl.  It doesn't matter their circumstances, their love is enough.  Now.  Lets tweak it a little-

As long as God loves me-
I could be starving,
I could be homeless,
I could be broke.
As long as God loves me-
He'll be my platinum
He'll be my silver
He'll be my gold.  

I had to change the perspective on the last part.  Because God does not need us to provide for Him...  But I think the message is still clear.  It doesn't matter what my circumstances are- God is enough; He will provide for me.  Hello Matthew 6!!

So.  I think people have it backwards when they say Christian music sounds too much like secular.  I believe the attitude of secular music is too much like worship songs.



Part 2 coming soon; where I maybe revise my opinion just a little ;-)

   

Life Update.

Hello from Kings Bay, Georgia!!

It has been awhile since I've written a post, and I thought I would update everyone on life :-)

So, since I last wrote, Brian's boat went underway (out to sea for a short time) and I came home to Hilton.  I was really sad to leave my husband, but it was also nice to be back.

The Montpelier did not have a very smooth trip out, and subsequently they pulled into Kings Bay to do some unexpected repairs.  And what was supposed to be a 2.5 week underway, has turned into a "we don't quite know when we are coming home" situation.  Sigh.  Life with the Navy is never predictable.

Since we spent our whole time dating & engaged long-distance, being apart for long stretches isn't new for us...  But I know we didn't plan on spending our second month married away from each other.

So, I am down here visiting him for a few days!  He had the day off yesterday, and has his evenings free the next couple days.  It is just so nice to be together!!

It was exciting to fly into Jacksonville; I had never been to Florida before!!  Though I picked up my rental car, and drove right out!  I have now been to 31 states; I would love to do 50 by 50!!!

Yesterday we went to a state park because I wanted to see an alligator, but we couldn't find one ;-)

Praying for everyone in VA & in New York.  Hopefully the hurricane doesn't amount to much.  Though I am kinda hoping my flight home will be canceled and I'll have a few more days with my bf!!

Hey- if you want to see our wedding pics, you can check out my facebook album: Katie & Brian Dahl

Not too much else going on.  I am looking online for new sneakers.

Hopefully will have more adventures to post soon :-)

Sneezing in the South

Today as I was leaving the grocery store I sneezed.  This is pretty normal; I usually get a sun sneeze when I walk out into the sunlight.  What made this particular sneeze different was that everyone in the parking lot turned and said "God bless you!" ...  No joke.  All 5 of my fellow shoppers said it.

I had 2 thoughts:

1.  I am not an especially delicate sneeze-er.  I am not dainty or cute when I sneeze; I am loud and squeaky.  Once, when I was in High School, I was babysitting, and the kid said "you sneeze like Pikachu," which I think to an 8-year-old boy is a good thing?  But I think most audiences do not necessarily think that highly of my sneezes.

2.  I am living in the South (it's true, I checked!)

My experience has been, the further south you travel, the more polite people are.  When Brian was living in South Carolina the people there were almost sickly-sweet; I was forever being called "hon," and "darlin'."

I know a whole lot of nice people in New York; most people up there are pretty polite.  And I try to be courteous; I say please & thank you.  I call my dad "sir", and women I don't know "ma'am."

But even though I have pretty good manners, I just don't think my politeness is any match for a Southerner.  In the last couple weeks, I have been surprised frequently by how darn polite everyone is; it is kind of disarming actually.

I would say most people here seem genuinely kind and courteous.  But every once in awhile, the politeness has a ring of dishonesty to it...  Like the expression "bless her heart," which I am fairly certain is a nice way of saying someone is completely ridiculous or entirely stupid.  "Did you hear that girl sneeze?  What a racket; bless her heart."

So.  Even if I am not as polite as the rest of the south...  I am just going to be as courteous as any Yankee can be, and I am going to be genuine when I do it ;-)

So.  Those were my thoughts.  Other thoughts/updates:

• It is kind of weird to think I am living in a state that was part of the Confederacy.  
• I baked some peanut butter/oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies this morning.  And they are awesome.  If you come over, I will give you some.
• This weekend Brian & I have a party to go to with the other officers from his boat.  I am 10% excited and 90% nervous.
• If all goes according to plan, I will be back in Rochester this time next week; Brian will be doing Navy things...  I have such conflicted emotions.  I am going to miss my husband like crazy.  But I am also excited to see all the people I miss.  And also excited to see my cat.  

That's it.  I need to get started writing thank-you notes; I have avoided it for as long as possible :-)  

Bread Disasters

On several occasions I have tried to make my own bread.  And on several occasions I have failed.

I do fine with cake-y breads, like banana or zucchini; it's yeast breads that I have trouble with.  When my family first got a Kitchen Aid stand mixer I was excited about bread baking; it came with a kneading hook!!!  So I set out to make my first loaf...  All seemed to go according to plan.  Until I went to eat it.  It was dense as a brick.  Sigh.

A short time later I decided to try again.  Same results.  I am pretty sure the Egyptians could have made their pyramids out of the loaves I baked.  

After that, I gave up.  Bread frustrates me.  I am usually a pretty successful baker- I am a great tart maker!  Seriously, I make a mean tart.  Muffins?  No sweat.  Brownies?  No problem...  The exceptions to this are chocolate chip cookies (which is another story) and bread.    

Tonight we are having soup, and what goes better with soup than a nice crusty piece of bread??  I maintain, nothing.  So I decided it was time to try my hand at bread baking again.  I think I was hopeful that when I became a wife, I would magically be able to do all the domestic things that had previously eluded me.

I even found a recipe that claimed to be fool-proof.  You didn't even need to knead it; you just mixed it up and let the dough rise for 12 hours.  So I mixed it yesterday, and baked it this morning.  

It looks pretty.  But I didn't trust it.  So before I served it to my husband, I decided I better check it.  

Sigh.  It is not a success.  It has a nice crisp crust, but the inside?  Not light and fluffy.  Dense & chewy.  

I think the thing that really bothers me is: I followed the directions!!  Every time I've made bread, I've done exactly what the recipe says I should do.  And I get lame results.  

I just think if you follow the rules, you should get what you're promised.  That is how life should work...  And when bread doesn't bake like it is supposed to, it reminds me that this world doesn't always work the way it should...  So, poorly-made bread turns into this metaphysical dilemma in my universe.    

So.  Tonight my husband and I are going to eat chewy bread.  And next time I will buy a loaf.  

Unless anyone has any tips for me???    

Penne with Roasted Asparagus

Have I said how much I love Pintrest??  It makes finding new recipes super easy!  I found one for this Penne with Roasted Asparagus awhile ago, and finally tried it this week:

You can view the original post here; it comes from foodandwine.com.  I followed it fairly closely, but I did adjust the ingredients so that it was better portioned for two and tried to cut the butter way back.  

1/2 pound fresh asparagus

1 T Olive Oil

Sprinkle of Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp brown sugar

1/2 pound penne pasta (although bow ties would be great too!)

3 T butter; cut into pieces

1/3 c Parmesan cheese  

1.  Heat the oven to 400.  Trim & discard the ends of asparagus.  Cut the asparagus into 1"-2"pieces, and place on baking sheet.  Coat with olive oil and salt & pepper to taste.  Roast for 10 minutes, until tender; turning once.

2.  Pour balsamic into small sauce pan and reduce FOREVER!  When it reduces to about 2-3 tablespoons, take off heat and add brown sugar & a couple grinds of pepper.

3.  Cook pasta until desired tenderness, drain.

4.  To pasta, add butter, asparagus, cheese & balsamic sauce.  Eat while hot & enjoy!!

I served this alongside baked chicken breasts (which also happen to need a 400 degree oven; about 25 minutes, so I started them first).  Seasoned them with Italian spices, and more parmesan cheese.