Cooking for a Crowd

We had the "Tubaphonium" crowd over to our house last night for a Back-to-School party. (Tubaphonium=tuba/euphonium ensemble) There were 21 students plus me and Zach. I've never cooked for more than six people at one time, so this was quite an adventure. I made fettuccine bolognese because pasta is relatively easy to cook for a crowd, plus huge amounts of salad, bread, and cookies. The kids seemed to have a good time, and Zach and I enjoyed entertaining a crowd in our home for the first time. We really desire for our home to be a place where we can share the love of Christ with Zach's students through hospitality and the testimony of our lives.

Thanks for the big pot, Ashley! I definitely need to invest in one of these for my own.

The cookies are just that good!

Transformation

My parents generously decided to buy us a guest bed as a housewarming gift, so last week while my mom was here we went shopping for the bed and all the linens. Of course, the new comforter required a new paint color in the guest room. (The color is called Almond Fudge, and it looked just like melted chocolate ice cream in the can.) The transformation was completed today when the bed was delivered. Now all we need is some guests!

The First Day of School

Today was Zach's first day of classes at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His lectures went well, he taught several lessons, and he had his first faculty brass quintet rehearsal. Overall, he likes his job so far. I am so thankful that his first day as a teacher was exactly the opposite of my first day as a teacher in LAUSD: I came home crying and wondering if I could quit, but he is looking forward to his future here. I am so amazed at what a talented, dedicated husband God has blessed me with. Zach has a lot going on right now (starting a new job, preparing for his doctoral qualifying exams, preparing for several performances he's giving in October) and he's doing it all so well. His example helps me be more diligent with my time.

Zach in his office

Sutton Hall, the oldest building on campus

The Oak Grove, home of the campus-wide picnic lunch every Wednesday

The search continues

Zach and I have been in Indiana for a month now and we still are not sure which church we will call home. We have visited four churches so far and each has strengths and weaknesses. Today we went to Faith Orthodox Presbyterian. The people were the friendliest of any church we've been to and the preaching was good. From what we've learned, Orthodox Presbyterian churches have very solid, Calvinistic doctrine that we agree with except they practice infant baptism. We strongly disagree with that, so we wonder if it would be a problem in the future when we have kids but don't want them baptized as babies. We miss Grace so much!

Our new house, then and now

Many of you have seen pictures of our house from our May house-hunting trip; now we finally have pictures of the changes we've made. Nothing major, basically just a lot of paint. (As an aside, we met the previous owner last night at a University reception and realized how thankful we should be for all the things we didn't have to change because he did, like the green shag carpet that ran through much of the house and is now a beautiful hardwood floor.) Anyway, I have been waiting to paint my living space for five years of apartment dwelling and I am quite content with the way things turned out here.

Then and Now

Painting the kitchen made me the most nervous, since we chose such a bright color. I sometimes wish we had chosen a darker blue, but I'm satisfied with this.



















The living room turned out to be my favorite. I love the yellow and red together.












The bedroom is my other favorite place. The wall behind the bed curves up and becomes the ceiling, so we chose a very neutral color for that, but the other walls are all green.

















This is the small office attached to the bedroom. It's probably too small to see but that is the official PCBS picture on the wall!










The former playroom has become Zach's music room. It is wonderful to finally have a dedicated place for all the tuba stuff!









We didn't take pictures of every room in May, so here are extra pics of rooms that only have a "now" version.

Thank you Bill, Becky, and Heath for helping us paint!

Why "psalm1031"?

Ever since we moved to Indiana, PA three weeks ago I've been pondering whether or not I should start a blog to better stay in touch with friends. I finally decided the answer was yes, which brought on an even tougher decision: what to call it! Just about everything I thought of that involved my name was already taken, so I thought of what was really important to me. Psalm 103:1 came to mind: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." That is one of the first verses I memorized when I got serious about committing scripture to memory. As John MacArthur explains it, it's a command to our souls to praise the Lord. Everything in me, everything I do, should praise Him. I fall so short of that so often but it's the longing of my heart and will be a lifelong goal.

So here is my blog about my little corner of the planet. I hope my friends and family enjoy this opportunity to see what the Lord has prepared for us in this new place.