Birthday!

I know I promised that the next post would be called "Springtime!" but since it's dumping snow outside right now, I decided to hold that one until a more appropriate weather climate. Instead I thought I'd post the pictures from my birthday that I promised to several people (several weeks ago). I had a wonderfully relaxing birthday, the funny part of Joel's gift to me was the Oregon Trail computer game which both of us played as children. It frequently comes up in conversation as one of those great nostalgic memories (you died from snakebite!). So we played the Oregon Trail and made it safely to Oregon City all in one day, although Kate did die of thirst and Whiskey from a snakebite. So sad. The other part of his gift was perfume, which we picked out together. Joel was a real sport and went with me to smell countless scents until I found the one I wanted, one hour and two headaches later. That night Joel made me dinner (home-made pizza) and we went out for drinks and dessert with friends afterwards. It was great.





Davey and Joel were there also, but they both sneakily managed to avoid the camera. I also took pictures of the parent's gifts. Mom and Dad Ditton gave me this beautiful Monet painting for our bedroom. Obviously it doesn't have that glowing spot of light in the center, I was having a hard time taking a good picture of it. In fact, if you're really interested you can find a better picture here.



And Mom and Dad Cohen gave me a full set of these beautiful pottery barn towels. Really the picture doesn't do their bright, springy colors justice. But yes, they are reversible. And they were meant to go in our downstairs bathroom (I was going for the whole lemon/lime theme) but after seeing them (and feeling them) I put them in our upstairs bathroom and am simply ignoring the fact that they clash with the picture on the wall.



So there you have it! The promised post on my birthday bash. Maybe next time I post the weather will actually reflect the season we're in.

Book Plug

Well, it's more like a chapter plug since that's all I read for school, but I plan on reading the rest of it at some point in my life. The book is called Rainbows for a Fallen World by Calvin Seerveld, and the chapter I read was called "Obedient Aesthetic Life." In this chapter Seerveld is arguing that Christians need to be interested in cultivating a rich aesthetic life, one that delights in the world God has given us (i.e. digging up dirt in the garden, going on bike rides just for the fun of it, reading fairy-tales, drinking fine wine, etc.). He warns against falling prey to a worldly aesthetic, which he calls kitsch. I particularly enjoyed his definition of kitsch:

"Kitsch accepts the technocratic denaturing of ordinary life, but pretends to lift you above it, nostalgically. Kitsch is willing to be slick, it always glitters somehow, bewitching the simple with illusions of grandeur. Kitsch is emotionally cheap, whether it be expensive tinsel and Christmas tree baubels or a technically flawless, effulgent painting by Bouguereau, whether it be an ornate beer stein from the corner variety store, a dirty joke graffito lacquered to it sides, or a sunset with palm trees painted by a native on a piece of black velvet brought back from the Barbados. Kitsch never enlarges experience; it blandly affects a show to stimulate feelings of exquisiteness or a mood of supernal tenderness, but it flops into bathos because it is ersatz, like a seven-inch-high, silver-plated Statue of Liberty trying to be the real thing. Kitsch is like a deodorant next to good perfume (63)."

Catchup Part One: Mountains, Gandalf!

We feel terrible for letting three weeks go by without a single post. Finals week (for Christine) and midterms (for Joel) came and went, as did Spring Break, and now we are facing the final stretch of the journey. Eight more weeks (or so) until we are done with school for the forseeable future. What I have planned for the Cohen blog is a series of catchup posts telling you all the interesting events that have happened over the past week. It will be funny, dramatic, emotional, surprising, et al. I bet you can't wait!

So here is installment one. Last weekend we took a quick trip to Wallowa County, OR. We stayed with our friends the McDonalds and toured the little towns that sit at the foot of the Wallowa mountains (nicknamed the American Alps). The scenery there is truly breathtaking. I often had to remind myself that I was not looking at a painting. I actually find myself missing the mountains now that we're back in Moscow. As you drive to Wallowa, you endure a harrowing trip down and up Rattlesnake canyon (one of those places where the signs for falling rocks really means you are guaranteed to see and need to dodge falling rocks) and then through a forest of Evergreens. And as you come out the other side you catch your first glimpse of the mountains.



Few aspects of creation are as majestic as mountains. I see now why the ancient gods were depicted on mountains, why God met with Moses on Mount Horeb, and why our worship services on Sunday are described as a gathering of the people at Mount Zion.




Our friends the McDonalds were extremely hospitable and fed us wonderful meals. They also have four ridiculously cute children. These are the three oldest.



And here I am in the town of Enterprise:



This is a cute little soda shop in the town of Joseph where we spent a good deal of Saturday afternoon reading and relaxing.


That's it for the first installment of our catchup marathon. Tune in next time for: "Springtime!" (Intriguing, eh?)

Sometimes it's the little things in life...

...that make you the happiest. Take for instance these canisters.



I have waited a very long time for them, which perhaps is the reason I was so excited to get them. They are from IKEA and since the closest IKEA store is Seattle, I had to wait until either we made it over there or a friend could bring them back for us. Many times I was tempted to buy more expensive and less durable versions of these jars, but I held off, and now I'm thrilled that I did. The glass is thick and sturdy and the rubber seal keeps oxygen out, which is especially important for my coffee beans. I also bought a large thin one for spaghetti noodles that is not in the picture. Perhaps you find this to be one of the more boring blog posts from the Cohens, and so as a hecatomb I'll end it with a picture of our silly kitten.

She misses the summer sun as much as we do.