First Communion

For a Mormon girl who has never been out of Utah more than two weeks at a time, I can say that I've probably had a somewhat diverse sprinkling of religious experiences outside of my faith. Most of these stem from my early career as a choir member, singing in Presbyterian and Catholic churches, and even Grace Cathedral, the famous Episcopal locale in San Fransisco. Needless to say, I've spent a lot of this time in the choir loft.

In addition to these experiences, I've attended an Evensong at St. Paul's in London on the Epiphany (January 6th--the 12th day of Christmas) and mass at Notre Dame in Paris. I've been to the United Church of Christ to perform pieces of Handel's Messiah, and I've been to an Evangelical Baptist church to hear one of my friends sing. All of these have been beautiful experiences, but I'm only now beginning to get the hang of things a little. This Sunday, Kevin and I attended services at St. Mark's Cathedral downtown with our friends and fellow bloggers Christina and Dave. They will later come to LDS services with me and Kevin, just to see what the experience is like. The first thing I noticed is that this Episcopal cathedral is beautiful! All the pictures here are from the inside.

The service was a little bit of a whirlwind for me. I'm used to parking in my pew for my worship, but this service required a lot of participation by the congregation. It was the second Sunday celebration of Easter, and the hymns were glorious Alleluia pieces. I was excited to hear some familiar pieces we use in Mormon services too, including Randall Thompson's "Alleluia" and the Doxology:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

One thing that always brings a smile to my face is the sharing of peace. I've seen this at other Protestant churches, and it's where the congregation mingles, shakes hands, and offers peace to the neighbors around you. I don't know why I smile--maybe it's partly because I feel somewhat conspicuous as a visitor, but also I think that it's just a happy thing to do.

I was excited to get a closer look at these services from a historical perspective as well. As a graduate student, I studied in depth the religious goings-on of 16th- and 17th-century England. I spent over a year studying the symbols of the Eucharist and how they relate to a marriage between Christ and the Church, and the only paper I've published in an actual literary journal was on John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress and the textual conflicts of predestination and works. I also studied Thomas Cranmer's original Book of Common Prayer, which is used in American Episcopal services today with some modification (as the Dean of the cathedral explained to me after the service). I probably drove everyone crazy with discussing the origins of the book, but hey, that's what gets me going from a literary sense.

The coolest experience was the Holy Communion. I wanted to see the Eucharist up close for the first time, and was humbled that it was all right for me to go up and receive the Body and Blood from the priest even though I'm not a confirmed member of their faith. What I wasn't expecting was the personal way the sacrament was offered, with a blessing said on each individual each time they received these tokens.

The sermon was on Thomas after the resurrection. The pastor had an interesting take, and jokingly suggested that maybe Thomas was one of those people who scored high on the sensory scale of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. One thing that he mentions is that many witnesses said, "I saw the Lord," but when Thomas sees Jesus, he sees the Lord and God. It was a nice turn that reminds me of the sermons I love that re-define Martha's role, and that's why I posted the Martha and Mary window from the Cathedral here.

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Products I Love: One Old, One New

Today was a great day for product consumerism. To be fair, the products aren't all new. In fact the first one is a retro Atari 2600 system that none of my siblings wanted, so I inherited it by default. I bought some new joysticks online for it, and volia: Great date night at home!

There's this endearing video of Kevin playing Jungle Hunt:

And this one of him crashing in River Raid:

Yes, Honey. I write the blog, so I get to pick the videos.

But my new product is the most exciting, and it's just as fun. I've finally joined everyone in Kevin's family by owning my own Dyson vacuum! This one is absolutely amazing: the DC-17 Absolute Animal with all the attachments. This vacuum is so very awesome. My mother-in-law loves her Dyson so much, she keeps saying she's going to start a Dyson blog.

We vacuumed three days ago with our old vacuum, and put this Dyson to our carpet today and we can see a complete difference.

And what's even better, it even comes with a hot guy who will do the vacuuming for you (limited time offer--while supplies last).

Why I Will Never Have Birdfeeders

Incidentally, over one-third of all US households now house a little tiger.

God is a Big God

Thank you to D'Arcy for this literary quote:

Poppy knew from when he was a boy there must be a kernel of truth on every avenue. "Does it make sense," Poppy said, "that any God would choose some people and leave the others out? If only Christians or Jews are right, what about most of Asia and the Middle East? All these millions of people are just--extras? Ridiculous! God's bigger than that!"

Why would God want to be only large enough to fit inside a certain group of hearts? God was a Big God. Once Liyana answered someone that way, but it didn't work very well.

"What religion are you?"

"Big God."

--From Habibi

A Surfeit of Music

In my undergraduate Shakespeare class I was introduced to the word surfeit, which was used much more in the English Renaissance to describe excess and abundance. This has become one of my favorite words, and I use it casually without ever really thinking of it. I suppose it's my equivalent to Miss Lydia Bennett falling into a chair after running around and saying, "Oh, I'm so fat."

So my new surfeitting is music: Lately I've become interested in jazz. I'm by no means a hard-core fan yet, but I tune to KUER, my local public radio station, more during the jazz program and have purchased several jazz CDs in the last year (I never owned any before).

There's something soothing about the beats, and when I've come home from a busy day at work where I've spent the whole day talking and listening, I enjoy hearing something that doesn't have any words. It calms the savage beast inside me.

How this relates to surfeit? Well, last week I was at Costco to purchase some cast-iron chairs to match my new outdoor bistro table, and I was overcome with the feeling to consume music. I bought on the fly three jazz CDs that contain remakes of popular songs. I've spent all of last week listening to these CDs.

I've had a revelation. Do any of you Utahns remember how FM100 was during the 80's, and how they played nothing but instrumental versions of popular songs? My mother loved this station, and that was always what she listened to as she carted me around to the grocery store, the post office, or wherever she had to go. I never understood why she didn't want to listen to the words. And here I am now, doing the same thing.

Reincarnation

When Kevin and I are driving, we sometimes like to ask each other hypothetical questions. The one that’s been on my mind lately is, If you were to be reincarnated, what animal would you choose?

Here’s some criteria that makes sense to me:
1. Assume gender stays the same
2. Assume that you have no choice over geographical placement (in other words, you may be born in the wild, a zoo, etc.)

My first response was to be a cat because, hey, Aja and Phoebe have it pretty good in my home. But then I got to thinking about all the abused cats in the world. A cat can’t even defend herself very well against a determined five-year-old child. And that’s if you even get a home.

I then started thinking that the following were important factors in my decision:
1. I’d like to be at the top of the food chain
2. I’d like to not have to be a predator who is always striving for the next meal
3. I’d like to have a high chance of making it to adulthood
4. I’d like to have plentiful food sources, allowing for occasional recreation
5. I don’t like the water, so marine life is completely out

So given the above, I’ve made the decision that I’d like to be an elephant or a bear. I’d be an African elephant because they’re smart, social, get to eat a lot, and they take long walks.

I’d be a bear because they always seem to be recreating in the woods and meadows, plus they are so cute. I’d even be a big, fat polar bear. I bet they don't even get to feel the cold.

What about you?

Home Again (from Business)

Well, I got home last night from my first Michigan trip around midnight. That's two Midwestern business trips two weeks in a row. I enjoyed it so much, and I love my new client, but my head is still reeling from losing one our in Daylight Savings and then two more for the time zone. The good news is that I had a great view from my hotel room of the Grand River, which I got to walk across at night.

I also have been inducted into Chef Wolfgang Puck's dining experience at dinner last night (butternut squash soup--I need more of this!). This morning I rose early to come into the office, but as I backed up out of the driveway, I saw my little friend Phoebe and snapped this picture on my mobile phone. Can you see her?

Interior Design Week: Bedroom Shelves

For my last interior design post, I'd like to announce that Kevin and I have completed the last touches on our bedroom remodel! We put up the ceiling fan, we bought the rugs, I found the baskets for our bedside tables, and, my favorite, we found wall shelves that match our look.

You've seen the cats, the vases, and the nature pictures, but here they are all together.

Of course, I never feel like a project is completely finished. I have an open closet I'd like to put doors on. We inherited some original doors that match the rest of the house from our neighbor, and we might try to see if those fit.

My new passion is gardening. This is the summer to design flowerbeds, so I'll post on that in the near future.

Interior Design Week: Mosaic Bistro Table

OK, this is not really interior design, but it's not really garden design either. Last week, Kevin and I spotted an inexpensive mosaic bistro table, and since then we've been trying to see the best value we can get at a low price, as patio furniture was an unplanned expense. We love the French bistro style, and we love eating out on our patio in our current worn-out lawn chairs and looking at our backyard during the summer. We can very much imagine these two things (French bistro and patio eating) combined to make a great outdoor experience.

Here is the table I think I want from Pottery Barn. They only have the blue left, but I like it. I originally wanted something with more pizazz, many colors, etc., but with this one I don't have to sacrifice price or quality. I just have to find chairs to match.

Interior Design Week: Wall Art

Kevin and I have finally put the finishing touches on our bedroom. One new design is that we've placed our own nature photography in frames around our bedroom. Here's a preview.

Interior Design Week: WPA Posters

Sometimes it's embarrassing to splurge. I had just decided not to buy a swimsuit for my upcoming Hawaii trip (yes, I'm going back) because it was too expensive when I ran across these WPA posters from the 1940s. I immediately loved this retro art look, and thought it would be a nice departure in our house from the photographs we have displayed. The Internet buying bug bit me.

The funny thing is that I knew I really admired these Colorado Plateau posters, but I didn't just buy one: I bought three. The price was OK--$40 per poster, but once I saw that $120 added up, I couldn't believe I was forking over that much on a whim.

These posters came last week, and they are gorgeous and wonderful! I am planning to put them up in the study/library of our house. The biggest problem is that they are 13.5" x 19". I searched all over town last Saturday for a frame or mat that would fit, but it was no use. I really hope I find something soon, and I hope I don't have to pay for custom framing. If any of you have suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them!

P.S. Sorry that these sizes aren't all the same. That's pretty lazy of me for design week, isn't it?

Interior Design Week: Cats and Vases

I don't think I've bought cat-shaped decor since I was a little girl. It just seemed so old lady-ish to me (the older woman we bought our house from had these stuffed animals of cats lying around her home in the online pictures--so strange). But when I was at the import store, I knew that these soapstone figures from Kenya were right for me. I liked their different patterns and colors. And they're just funky. I like that. Like they're doing a groovy dance or something.

I'm placing these on the new shelving we have in our bedroom. I also wanted some polished sandstone to put up there with our cats and some nature pictures we've taken, but finding the right decorative rock is turning out to be a harder process. In desperation, I picked up these two vases at the English Garden at the Salt Lake City Library. I like their vibrant colors, and I think they can do until I find some worthy replacement.

There's still more to come for design week. I am on the road for business, but I'll get back as soon as I can.

Interior Design Week: Retro Tablecloth

This last week the snow started melting, and it's just about time. The snow gets so dirty after sitting around for a few months. There's a snowbank outside my office that is entirely black with bits of trash in it. I hope it's gone when I go back. Well, enough of that.

Before I get to thinking about all the things I can do outdoors in the lovely weather, I feel I need to put the finishing touches on some things at home. I've decided to devote a week here to interior design. Yea! Won't that be fun? Come on, you know it will be.

This first post is about the Williams Sonoma tablecloth I had been dying to purchase since I first laid eyes on it. I found it when Kevin went to buy some dipping oil, and I got to roam around the store (dangerous habit of mine). I held off for over a week to make sure I really wanted it, but here it is, in my kitchen.

I just love this retro look. My kitchen "color" is green (all the linens, etc.), and I think in my older house it fits just perfectly.