Free Derek Webb

No, he's not in jail. He's just giving away his latest album.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Derek, wow. You've been missing out. Derek Webb (formerly of Caedmon's Call) is possibly my favorite singer/songwriter of all time (OK, he probably is for sure but I just don't like commitment - its easier for me to keep my options open). In addition to just loving his voice, I appreciate his fresh perspective on the church and its place in society, his boldness of speech and thought, his reformed theology and his musical talent and experimentation. From what I know of his career and music, he lives beyond the chains of social protocol and reaches much deeper for what is Truth. Oh, that I could have that perspective.

So in his latest move, derek has made his most recent album Mockingbird available for free online for a couple of months. Very progessive on several levels. Ironically enough, sales for his album seem to have boosted significantly since the promotion began in September.

Be sure to read this for some insight into his motivation. I absolutley agree that the value of music and conversations about such topics is much greater than the price of a compact disc.

Listen and enjoy and share.

And Happy Reformation Day to you all.

The Country's Best Yogurt

I love the fall weather, yes, even here in CA. I have been thus-far quite impressed at the marked change of seasons which I didn't expect of Southern California. Its great to have that chill in the air at nights and truly feels like the falls I have had all of my life. I love how weather and music bring back great memories and the one that this weather reminds me of involves my good friend Reba and an obsession of hers that has amused and befuddled us all. Its called pumpkin frozen yogurt from TCBY. Back during Samford days, there were quite a few of us who religiously made the short trip up Hwy 31 to the TCBY in Homewood, but none as faithful as Rebs during the month of October. Her love for the seasonal flavor will absolutley blow your mind as she has been known to call as often as once per hour to see if it is available. This phone call is often followed by flying accusations of the TCBY employees lying to her and trying to hoard it all for themselves. Upon a positive response to such a phone call, Rebs races up the hill and buys large quantities to store up for the rest of the year. It will be many months until next October.

So here's to you Reba. May the softserve be free-flowing in Birmingham and your freezer be well-stocked until next Halloween.

Caring is Sharing

Adam and I recently returned home from our fabulous Hawaiian honeymoon and were so excited to start our new life together. Sharing everything . . . a house, meals, chores, and soon was I to discover . . . germs. Approximately 28 hours after we got back home Adam started puking his guts out (well, his version of that - he is actually physically unable to throw up - thats another story - ask him about it). Being the loving overly-ambitious new wife, I immediately rushed to his side to comfort and care for him (including a 4am run to the 24-hour Ralphs which had apparently changed to a 19-hour Ralphs just the night before). And to no-one's surprise, I started feeling a little queasy about 24 hours later - I'll spare you the details but it didn't turn out well. We were both down for the count for about 4 days each. Not the lovely image of marital bliss that we had been hoping for during our first week home.

My favorite memory of the whole experience has to be us each lying on a separate couch, near death, but trying nonetheless to watch the Office. Our stomachs were both so sore from throwing up that we kept trying not to laugh. Lets just say it wasn't pretty when Dwight explained how he resorbed his twin in the womb and now has the strength of a grown man and a little baby.

So, thanks for that, honey. I'll be sure to return the favor soon!

Photographers are cool.

As I think back on our wedding, I think my best decision of the event (besides, of course, my spouse!) was our photographer, Jason Wallis. When I first graduated from college and decided to go out on a limb to pursue the whole photography thing, I interned at a magazine called Portico in Birmingham, AL. Jason was one of the staff photographers at the time and I ended up learning so much more from him than the guy I was actually supposed to be working for! Jason let me tag along with him on shoots and most importantly answered my endless stream of questions as I learned how to meter manually, what the heck is white balance, how to shoot in low light, etc., etc. So much of how I shoot now is because of what I learned from him. When I got engaged I knew that he had to be my photographer - luckily we were able to coordinate our schedules and he made the whole day amazing! I was so relaxed and had so much fun because of him and we LOVE the pictures that he has sent us. What a treasure that we will enjoy for the rest of our lives. If you live anywhere in the vicinity of Birmingham, you should probably call him to shoot your wedding, children's pictures, family portrait, birthday party, ummm . . . really anything you can think of. He traveled to Nashville for my wedding, so don't let distance deter you! He's amazing! Check out his recently updated website and also the slideshow he made us of wedding highlights. And call him. To take your picture.

Return to life

No, I haven't dropped out of the blogging world. The past weeks have been filled non-stop with one thing 24-7 . . . becoming Mrs. Rosenbaum! We have officially survived the wedding and I am now a married woman. Despite the weeks and months of stress involved in planning a wedding across the country, it was all worth it and we had such an amazing wedding weekend. Adam and I have been so blessed by friends and family who have supported us throughout our relationship and through the last months of all of this! It has been so much fun but we are thrilled to return to normal life and all the things we've been missing out on like a social life, free time and blogging!