Easter Sunday

Part Two of the Easter Festivities. This first picture is for Kelsa, who absolutely loves Peeps. The Easter Bunny sent me some pretty cute ones this year, but what I want to know is how did they end up in the egg carton?

Because my mom loves me (and I guess Randy, too) so much and knows how much I love my sweets, she sent these adorable little Easter baskets in the mail. We got them on Friday and did NOT wait to indulge in the sweets...
This Easter Sunday was spent in Memphis, and it has become a favorite holiday of Randy and I's to be here and enjoy each other, our church family, and the beautiful spring weather without too many scheduled activities. It also seems to allow more room to contemplate on the meaning of Easter...Christ's resurrection!

Today we went to church service at SOS with all the Christ Community folk, and we got there early to help set up tables for our potluck lunch (I made carrot cake from PioneerWoman and corn casserole) and also hide the easter eggs for the kiddos.

On our way to church, Randy and I joked about how we were going to miss singing "Up From the Grave" (you Church of Christ folks know what I'm talking about)...well, we get to church, and before officially starting, one of the elders got up, welcomed everyone, and started singing "Up From the Grave". Mind you, he is not the song leader. It was great!

After service, we ate our meal and watched the kids find the easter eggs in the parking lot/small amount of grass that is around the SOS building on Poplar...they didn't care how they were hidden, they just had a blast!

Fighting over some of the last eggs.

How cute! I think he had a total of THREE in his basket!

Next it was on to the 2nd Annual Hartman Easter Egg Hunt at our humble little abode. After preparing the basket full of eggs, Jack decided the bunnies belonged to him. This is the second year we have done this, and we have decided it is an important tradition in the making. Each person gets ten minutes to hide the eggs and when you look, you only get five minutes. This next part I would like to leave out of the documentation but cannot. Randy won (for the second year in a row) and the embarrassing score was 21 to 10. It is so much harder than you think, people!! The prize? Top pick of where our next date night will be! Knowing Randy, he'll probably choose Taco Bell or something. I guess it is good for our budget that he keeps winning!

The picture below is of a church is at the corner of East Parkway and Poplar, and until Sunday morning they hang a purple robe on the cross. Early this morning people started putting real flowers on it and I just thought it was absolutely beautiful!

Here are a few lyrics from a favorite song we sing ("In Christ Alone")...

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed!"

Isaiah 53:5

Seder Feast

I thought I could put the entire Easter weekend into one post, but it's just not going to happen. So here is part 1, the Seder Feast. First of all, I doubt too many of you know what Seder Feast is (I had no idea until this time last year) so I will give a brief explanation/history.

Seder (meaning "order" in Hebrew) is the most important celebration feast during the Passover. Passover itself commemorates God's deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. A typical Seder meal is a feast filled with the story of exodus, games for children and it is completely normal for them to last 3-4 hours. Seeing as none of our guests were Jewish, our meal would "technically" be called a Christian Seder. Several characteristics of a Seder meal that we take part in are...

The empty chair for Elijah the prophet.

Matzoh bread. No yeast is used for two reasons: the Hebrew people had to cook in a hurry without knowing when they might be delivered and therefore did not use yeast, and also because yeast has been used as a parallel in the bible to being able to work it's way like sin in a person's life.

Bitter herbs (parsley dipped in salt water and also horseradish) symbolize the bitterness of life in bondage.

Charoset (apple, raisin, cinnamon salad) looks similar to mortar because Jews were slaves, brick builders.

Pesach is the Passover lamb.

Potato latkes are also served, although I don't know what they symbolize.

Afikomen is one of the pieces of matzoh that is covered and hidden in the house for the children of the group to search for...in return for finding the afikomen, they get what they really truly want...candy!

Wine is the drink of rejoicing! And, boy, was there wine!

I never knew Seder existed, and I also didn't know much about the Jewish culture. By taking the history and symbology, many Christians have begun to take part in this Passover celebration. Our house church enjoyed this night as an evening of sacrament and celebrating the story of salvation. The part that I find most intriguing about this night is the sense of tradition and sacrament...you cannot help but be affected by the sacred telling of exodus and compare it to the story of salvation. In Romans, Paul talks about "all of Abraham's offspring" and that we are one community of believers...that has become more and more prevalent to me through the sharing of how Christ is celebrated in the lives of people from all different backgrounds.

Now, onto the pictures and my part of the night...preparing a leg of lamb!! I was equally nervous and excited about cooking a leg of lamb. Excited, because it's LAMB...and nervous, because I never had and it cost FIFTY THREE DOLLARS! At four o'clock the night of Seder, I started preparing the lamb. Garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, and a 7 1/2 lb leg of lamb...Jack was in heaven with the smell of new blood!

Here are some pictures of my first lamb....

All done...YUM! We had a total of 4 of these!

What is a feast without dessert? Especially if you've not had it in a month!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Trifle

Now here are the pictures of our Seder Feast. The pamphlet below is the "haggadah" and has all of the scripture and passages to be read. The grapes and cheese are our American form of having something to munch on during the readings.

That is Rick, the one who did most of the readings, and in the back you see the kids' tables.

Group shot. One of the rooms.

Amos and Shannon.

This picture is awesome...this is how I felt about getting to finally eat sweets after waiting So. LONG.

Baby Ezekiel. Youngest of 10 children.

Okay, on to what happened after the Seder Feast. The kiddos delegated a DJ for the evening and started a dance party.

Randy had to join in on Black Eyed Peas...following were many, many giggles.

Once most of the guests left, some of us stayed up to watch The Passion of the Christ. As powerful and sad as it is, we felt it was a good way to wrap up such an important night.

Randy and I got home around 1:30 am and enjoyed sleeping in on Good Friday!

"Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hands."

Isaiah 53:10

Updates!

The last day of March madness is here! Randy is DONE with his boards! A man of few words, when asked how the test went, he only said "It is what it is". I translate to mean that it went well, but now we have to wait 3+ weeks to hear results! You'd think after seven and a half hours in front of a computerized test it could just spit out the results, but no. I am just happy he can relax now!

Remember the post about the little things and my sweet hubby digging through the recycling bin for bottles? Well, here is our Message in a Bottle art history project! Each one is of a different artist and each contains a letter from the student! Cute, huh?

Last weekend I ran in a 5K. Now I have not run in YEARS! I guess I kinda got burned out of being Coach Tucker's daughter who everyone thought would be super fast and barely finished the race without wheezing uncontrollably. Well, I'm back! Ha! Not really, but I did participate in a 5K in Millington with three of my good friends here in Memphis. The race was for Mitochondrial disease, and since most people don't know what that is, it was named the Mito-What? 5K. The exciting part is that I got a medal...yes, a medal! A third place medal to be exact! Did I do that well? Not really compared to cross country time (I did break 30 minutes which is kinda what I wanted to do in my head) but it felt great to me! I was so proud of myself, and Randy saw me finish (well, actually he was talking so missed me run past him) and said it was "inspiring"..yeah, right! Now, I have a bronze medal to show for it and he wants me to run more! Don't think I'll run much more, especially in Memphis heat, but fun to know that I still have a (little) runner left in me!

I am so proud of us girls, we did it!
Last update: I've been sewing a lot more. I've been inspired by Phyllis and a teacher at school who does quilts, and so this weekend I sewed a quilt top (one row still left and then I'll have pictures), a surprise for a birthday coming up, and pillows out of some fabric I fell in love with when I picked out the fabric for the parsons chairs. It reminds me of a batik (when you go to church with 12 Burundis, you fall in love with their wild colorful batik prints) but has such subtle color. I used the fabric from the parsons chairs for welting and voila! I still have a LOT to learn, but am getting there!

Note: I do not advise sewing when you only have one room available (Randy was still locked up studying at this point) and a JACK CAT on the loose. He almost lost his paw several times!

Sewing perfectionists, please don't start too long at this pic! :) The tiny bit of a pillow in the top right doesn't have a pillow form in it yet, that's why it looks so flat!

March Madness

One week from today, Randy will be taking THE most important test of his life...the one that will decide EVERYTHING...the one our WHOLE FUTURE relies on. Okay, that's going a little far, but it really is a huge deal. On March 30th, Randy will take part 1 of the National Boards, and he has been studying since March 1st. 30 days of studying...I cannot even begin to imagine what that must be like. Luckily, Randy is a very steady, patient worker. He has piles and piles of papers, computer out, dental deck out (like 500 notecards with words I can't even pronounce) and somehow knows what to do. I will be so happy for him when it is behind him. I know he will do well, but it kills me that he has such a heavy load of stress. What is amazing is that he is STILL enjoyable to be around! I would have had plenty of pity parties for myself by now, I'm sure. Anyways, keep Randy in your prayers for Tuesday. Once done (and passed), he gets his white coat in July and gets to start working on patients...yay!

I got a bomb dropped on me today at school, creating more march madness for the Hartman clan. I got my placement for teaching next year, and I will only stay at my base school which I absolutely love for one day a week, and will be at the other school four days a week. This is a huge flip-flop and it will be really hard going into it with a positive attitude. I have the chance to put in a transfer request, and nothing is final until right before school anyways, but I am very nervous about what my teaching career will look like next year. So please keep me in your prayers. It is times like this that remind me that while the public school system is neither consistent nor has my best interest in mind, my Lord and Savior knows just what I need and will guide me each step along the way...and all I have to do is the hard part, have faith!

Spring Break

Oh, the perks of being a teacher! Just when you don't think you can plan out any more art projects for middle schoolers to keep busy, something wonderful called Spring Break comes rolling along and sends a much needed break. This past week was a good balance of: family, road trips, good food, projects, and, oh yeah, more food.

Friday night Randy and I headed to Nashville. He was still feeling really bad, and adding a fever to a month full of studying cannot be fun at all. When my family and I left early for Cincinnati the next morning, Randy stayed at my parents house which he named "the crazy cat house" by the end of the weekend. We arrived in Cincy for lunch and ate some great wings at Toots. I loved seeing my sister and brother-in-laws apartment all decorated, because the last time I saw it it was empty. After lunch we spent the entire afternoon at the theme park-like atmosphere that is IKEA. Since that was enough to tire us, we went back and ate tacos in that night. Sunday was church, a delicious meal at a place named Arnolds, and some sight-seeing. They took us to a place called Mt. Adams that was amazing! It reminded me exactly of the true Hollywood Hills, steep road after steep road with all kinds of interesting blends of new and old architecture. The only problem is it felt like we were on top of a mountain in Canada it was so cold. That night we went to the famous Montgomery Inn, where George W. Bush is known for loving and having their ribs shipped to him. I wanted something light and got the blackened scallops salad and it was de-lic-ious! That night we finished a board game and spent our last night visiting. Monday morning we met Randy's side of the family (my precious Mamaw, Gr'ma and Gr'pa) at Cracker Barrel on the way home and despite being 40 minutes late (yes, we got lost..on the wrong highway to be exact) we had a wonderful time.

This was a monastery on top of Mt. Adams that we, unfortunately, could not get into.

The boys messing up yet another picture.

All the barbeque folk with their bibs on.

Family shot..minus Randy :(

The Wiley's (our gracious hosts) and Me

Back in Nashville, Phyllis (my mother-in-law) came and met us for dinner on Monday night. We had a project that had been set up for a while...my sister took some parsons chairs from a family that was giving them away. After sitting under the house for a while, she was ready to throw them out when I decided to snag them. I had no idea how I could use them, but knew it would be a fun project. My mom and I picked out some awesome fabric back for my birthday, and Phyllis had been taking one apart to find out how we were going to reupholster them. Well, we did it! It was work. And saying we is not politically correct: Phyllis did all the work, I was merely there for moral support. Just by watching (and I did tear apart the second chair...some of it) I feel like I learned a lot. This woman is amazing, I don't know how she does it! I cannot thank her enough for the chairs, they turned out sooo good! They aren't at home yet because we don't have room, but I cannot wait to have them in my home...and Jack will be extremely sorry if he so much as sits on one of them :)

In the midst of reupholstering, I got to go to dinner with Kelsa, who I had not seen in maybe the longest time of our entire friendship. To say it was needed is an understatement. We ate sushi at Wild Ginger, which had the best edamame I've ever, ever had. We talked and talked...and went to Starbucks to talk some more. Nothing better than an old friend who just gets you.

Another thing we were able to do is see our newly-two-year-old nephew, Grayden. Rob, Jen, and Grayden met us for lunch in Murfreesboro and it was so good to see them. Grayden is getting so big and is absolutely hilarious! He squeezed a lemon all over his face and then started licking it like crazy. At one point, Rob had to take Jen back to work and left Grayden with us. What's funny is he was sitting on one side of a long table and on the other side was Phyllis, Randy, and me. It was like he was being interrogated or was the newest contestant on American Idol or something on his highchair- too funny! Luckily it didn't freak him out so much he cried. I managed to snap one picture of him...

Here are the before and after pictures of the chairs, they aren't great but you can get the idea...and if you really want to see them, come visit us in Memphis!

before

after...fabric up close

side view (sorry lighting is so bad)

end result! beautiful!

And, I have to thank my talented friend, Anna Grace, for doing the buttons for us! (we broke ours)

Now it's just getting Jack back into his normal schedule that doesn't involve two cat-friends to play with and lots and lots of laundry for me!

The Little Things

Okay, so it's time I post this story before it gets forgotten, and it's too good to get forgotten. Randy and I have a saying that it's the little things that matter. Randy did the biggest little thing I can think of for me the other day...

I was getting evaluated on a lesson at school, and we were turning recycled wine bottles into art history projects. I had been collecting wine bottles for a while, but found that I had been generously giving them away to other art teachers who thought they could use them as well. So, two days before my lesson and I am NINE wine bottles short. Now, I have gotten better at my past tendency to procrastinate, but it came back here to bite me in the butt. To top it all off I had a bad day at school. When I beat Randy home I just sat on the couch, shoes and school clothes still on (rare because I normally change to pajamas the second I get home) and with a blank stare on my face. Randy came through the door and could immediately see something was wrong. I sorta panicked when telling him what was wrong, it was like all the stress was coming down at once.

What did my husband do? He said, "Come on, let's go." Not having any idea what he meant, I see him go over to the fireplace and get the large fireplace tongs and put on his coat. I got an idea when he told me to get our recycling bucket.

Two minutes later we were at the recycling bin, and if you've ever seen one you know that the hole to throw away the recycling is very small. (I guess to keep animals and trash from getting in) Here goes my husband poking his shoulders, arms, and head through with the fireplace tongs. Kinda like a giant game of Operation without the buzzing when he missed, he individually took out not nine, but FOURTEEN WINE BOTTLES! I guess we hit jackpot because it was after Valentine's Day and everyone had recycled their bottles.

Now that's a true gentleman.

And my lesson went well thanks to him!

a ZOO birthday!

This past Saturday we went to a birthday party at the Memphis Zoo. For a 30 year-0ld. What a genius idea!! I wish I had thought of that!

John David, a friend from church, planned a surprise birthday party for his wife and we all had pizza and cupcakes before enjoying a BEAUTIFUL day at the zoo. Seriously, everyone else in Memphis thought it was a good day for the zoo too. What made the day even better were all the Burundi folks that got to come...they loved it! Their favorite were the sea lions by far, and I must admit the sea lion show was quite impressive. The day was great...even though I've been kinda sick all weekend, we made it for four hours before heading home.

I think a membership to the zoo is in order for the Hartman clan?!

This orangutan was pretty chill this time, but a nut case last time we saw him!

Baby Giraffe! They're (maybe) my favorite!

The zebras...the Burundis told us they saw these a lot back home. Can you imagine?

Randy and Neyo in her pretty, frilly white dress.

Some of our group in the Northwest Passage canoe.

Sea Lion show! What separates a sea lion from a seal? Ears!

Randy and I's favorite, Cat Country. The lions and tigers give me chills watching them- I always think they'll come out and pounce me like Jack does.

The cheetah- beautiful!

If you look in the background, you can see the white tiger. I don't know many zoos that have one of those. She was stunning!

Now I have to make it through this week and then I get to enjoy Spring Break and the LAST quarter of the school year!