our garden

Our garden is doing pretty well. We're sharing a city plot with my co-worker and her husband. We have some tomato and pepper plants:

Green beans:
Garlic:

And cucumbers and herbs and things...

Hopefully they don't suffocate too much in this heat.

summer concerts: white marsh

During the summertime in Baltimore, there are numerous outdoor concerts, which is swell because it gives us something to do if we have no plans. We sometimes go to Belvedere Square on Friday nights for theirs, but it's usually crowded and hard to find parking.

The other night, we decided to go to the concert in White Marsh, right in the middle of an outdoor shopping mall. Higher Hands--a funk, reggae, jazz band--was playing. We liked how the space was large, had a fountain and white lights strung in the trees, had plenty of seating and attracted people from all types of backgrounds. They have concerts there every Friday and Saturday night during the summer months.

It was so hot that day--in the 90s--so it was definitely nice to get out of the city. Baltimore seems to retain heat, so going a little north of the city is definitely a relief because it's noticeably cooler.

Speaking of heat, we have no air conditioning in our house. This weekend was in the 90s. Today was 96. As I'm typing (at 10:12 pm), it's 91 degrees. I thought it was supposed to cool off at night? Anyway, we should probably get an air conditioner at some point...our poor cat has been lethargic all weekend.

scenes from around the house

I saw Cal Ripken

The other day at work, I was looking out the window and I saw a man who sort of looked like my Uncle John from a distance. He was sort of on the larger side and bald. My co-worker then shouted, "Hey, it's Cal Ripken!" And it was. He and his wife had parked across the street from my office in their matching black Chevy Tahoes and went to eat lunch at Golden West Cafe, the restaurant directly across the street from Hampden Family Center.

We have huge storefront windows (in which I was gawking), and I tried taking a decent photo with my phone. I think he saw me, and I felt bad being so intrusive, so I hid behind a chair and tried again. I failed to get one, but my other co-worker who has an office upstairs snapped this shot:

To those of you who know John Lennon, resident of Lexington, KY: doesn't he look like him? Albeit a slightly thinner, fancier version?

The IronMan is a huge celebrity in Baltimore, so I'm glad I got to spot him.

The very next day at the same time, his wife and daughter pulled up to eat there again, but sadly, he did not join them.

Scenes from Saratoga Springs

This past weekend, we went up to Saratoga Springs, NY because Tim's sister graduated from Skidmore College. It's a gorgeous town--not a large city, but not too small, either. It has stunning parks, springs from which you can drink (although some of them are gross and taste like seltzer water), a pretty downtown shopping area replete with restaurants with outside terrace seating, large, old houses of all different architectural styles, and a outdoor performing arts center that hosts the Philadelphia Orchestra and New York City Ballet in the summer. I wouldn't mind living in such a town. Here are a few photos from the weekend:

The decorated college graduate

Tim sampling as many springs as he could find.

Nifty bird house in a park

Pools and fountains and ducks everywhere

Pretty, unique windows

Striking old-school hotel in the downtown area

Yaddo Gardens

acknowledgement

I usually post about fun (to me) snippets of life on this blog. I like writing about such things--don't get me wrong. But there's also a time for more serious and thoughtful matters. Maybe I haven't been writing about such matters because I've been lacking substance as of late. Anyway, from time to time, I'm going to try to write about more personal thoughts.

Lately, I've been realizing that I don't have too many thoughts. I used to have lots of thoughts and curiosities, especially about Jesus and what a purposeful life is. However, these past many months, my mind has become dull.

I picked up a copy of a commentary on 1 Peter (from the Bible) at the Book Thing on Sunday; thus, I decided I would do my Bible reading in 1 Peter for the time being.

1 Peter 1:13 says: Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

I am so joyful that the Lord guided my eyes to this book and particular verse; he has a knack for doing such things. This verse was so relevant to my recent worries about the void that is my mind and heart that I wrote the following short journal entry (it is a rare occurrence for me to write in a journal, mind you) that I will share for the purpose of sharing:

I have had very few thoughts these past many months. My mind and my spirit have gone dull as I have slipped further and further from God. It's a snowball effect. The lazier I let my mind become, the less knowledge of God I have, the less passion and interest I have for him, the more I languish in selfishness and the less I love and serve others and live out the Gospel. It's a disaster, if you want to know the truth. I get stuck into a rut out of which it seems impossible to escape. I need to sharpen my mind so I can know God and acknowledge him, so that my perspective is based on his grace and not on my own comforts. Only when I know Christ and share a deep fellowship with him can I truly live for him. I need to know him first!

I found this quotation from the book The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence (which I read last year and recommend to all) in an earlier journal entry, which is also very relevant. He said, "We must know before we love, and to know God we must often think of him. And when we love him, we shall think of him all the more, for our heart is where our treasure is."

My favorite Bible verse is Hosea 6:3 "Let us acknowledge the Lord. Let us press on to acknowledge him." I covet your prayers for renewed discipline to truly know God, and pray for the same for you all.

The other day at work, a guy from the neighborhood, one of my regulars, stopped in. He asked me to make a copy of a postcard for him. I said sure. I gave him the copy. Then he reached in his pocket and pulled out a lid to a Starbucks frappacino, tossed it on my desk and said, "Thanks. Here's a Starbucks lid."

ahaha.

cuteness

The other day, we went to Sandy Point park in Annapolis with some friends and their sweet baby, who is 10 months.

It was quite sunny, so Tim let her borrow his hat, which was obviously way too big for her.

Look how adorable she is:

shrimp curry

I made shrimp curry tonight. I found the recipe in a Fitness Magazine from 2006 that I got for free at the Book Thing. It may be the tastiest food I've ever made myself. It's simple and healthy. Here's the recipe for the most part (it's a little changed from the original):

2 T oil

1 onion finely chopped

5 garlic cloves minced

1 thumb of ginger finely shredded

1 small red chile chopped and seeds removed

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp curry powder

1tsp crushed coriander

1 tsp cumin

1 pound of shrimp

1 can of diced tomatos

some extra tomatoes/tomato sauce if desired (I desire it)

juice of 2 limes

salt and pepper

basmati rice

chopped cilantro for serving

Heat oil in a large pan. Add onion, garlic, ginger and chile; cook 5 minutes. Mix in spices. Add the shrimp; cook 3 minutes. Pour in tomatoes and lime juice; a season with salt and pepper and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add cilantro and serve with basmati rice.

Before I added the tomatoes. The curry makes the color so pretty.

Final product.

indian grocery store

This evening, we went to Punjab Groceries-an Indian grocery a few blocks from our house. It's a tiny little market, but it's packed with lots of stuff--even fresh produce. I needed some ingredients to make a few dishes this week, including Shrimp Curry and Falafel, and didn't think I'd be able to get everything there (like fresh ginger and chili peppers), but they had it all!

We got all of this for only $13--at a major grocery store, it would have cost a lot more (which seems counterintuitive since most smaller markets tend to hike up their prices).

(Multi-grain naan pitas, a thumb of ginger, 2 chili peppers, 2lbs of basmati rice, 200 grams of crushed coriander, 200 grams of turmeric, and a box of a general blend of Indian spices)

This place has limes, peppers, tomatoes, bunches of cilantro, green onions, mangoes and other good produce, too, as well as Indian spices, desserts, frozen foods, meats and seafood, mixes, rice, sauces, etc. To me, it's just amazing that such a tiny place has all of those things. Also, the owners are really nice and helpful. We're glad we live near it.

urban gardens and eyeglasses

This summer, we have the privilege of assisting my co-worker/friend and her husband (Pam and Marty) with their garden plot. Baltimore City has a few urban gardens and one happens to be located a block down from where I work. It's a really swell program. You pay about $30 to rent the plot, and the city provides the dirt/compost and all the rakes and shovels necessary. It's also fully gated, which is a nice surprise, but it's not like there are any deer who would just wander in and eat everything like they would in upstate New York (where we had our last garden).

Anyway, we're excited to grow some of our own food and learn gardening tricks from Pam and Marty, who are very knowledgeable.
Pam and Marty

Tim using Marty's gas-powered tiller, an impressive piece of machinery.

In other news, Tim's eye-prescription changed, so he had to get some new glasses (and I got to pick them out). They're so old-fashioned, aren't they?