lyricalisse

In case you haven’t heard– Joe and I are engaged! Here is my version of the story:

On Sunday afternoon, Joe proposed to me at the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden ( –by sculpture #16 if you’re interested in details like me

It started as a typical Sunday after church– we had lunch with friends at Full Kee (the only place we go in DC’s Chinablock), and spent the afternoon roaming around downtown (which we often do). Joe suggested we go to the Sculpture Garden (which I did not find suspicious, since we hang out there every now and then).

We found a shaded area that was free from tourists and sat on the grass, people-watching, talking, commenting on the sculptures. After about an hour, I suggested we go back to my place to make dinner. As I was about to get up, Joe stopped me, and said “Hold on, I have something to give you…” and that’s when he popped the question! We celebrated by sharing the good news with our family and enjoying Malaysian/Singaporean food at Straits of Malaya. (Joe’s family is from Singapore)

The ring is from Brilliant Earth, which was especially important to me, because I had expressed to Joe my distrust in the Kimberley Process and that if he were to give me a ring (yes, I did give him the option!), that I wanted it to be as socially responsible as possible. Brilliant Earth specializes in conflict-free diamonds from Canada and recycled gold; they also donate 5% of their profits to rebuilding African communities affected by the diamond industry. (For anyone interested, they also have a blog that covers conflict diamond and mining issues.)

I feel so blessed for all that God has given me here in DC– a good job, a great place to live, a loving church community, wonderful friends, and now Joe. We are so grateful to God, the source of every good gift, and to our friends and family who have supported us from near and far.

The most interesting vegetable we got this week: purple string beans!

We didn’t get many, so to supplement, I got some green string beans from the grocery store, hoping that it’d make a nice color combo. However, it turns out that the purple beans turn green when cooked. Interesting.

Other items we got in our share this week:
green garlic
cherry tomatoes
leeks
potatoes
basil
peaches
apples (don’t remember what variety)

Happy Canada Day! I still have difficulty remembering how the Canadian national anthem goes (I keep thinking that the melody is the same as “O Christmas Tree”), and Joe won’t sing it for me, so I will remain an ignorant American for now. O Canada, O Canada… how lovely are your…. branches….

I wonder if there’s a test question on this to become a permanent resident? Hmm.

I am oh so excited for our CSA share this week! We just got the weekly announcement– we’re getting:

garlic
yellow squash
zucchini
cucumber
basil
salad greens
pears (from a 100+ year old tree!)
broccoli or cauliflower
chives
calendula

I’m a little sad that the garlic scapes are gone, but I can’t wait until the tomatoes and eggplant are ready!

Feeling thankful for:

1. Dinner at the park with Joe last night. We got some Chinese takeout and headed for a picnic table shaded by lots of big trees. Even though we both enjoy sitting in front of a computer, we also enjoy being outdoors!

2. Sunblock, which protects my skin from getting irritated or burned (I’m very photosensitive!)

3. Abby’s hugs– she’s 14 months now and so adorable! Joe took a funny video of her trying to drink out of a Deer Park water bottle (and consequently spilling water all over herself).

4. Celia bought me a pair of organ shoes! I was kind of floored. This means I need to start incorporating the pedals! I’m going to attempt to add them next Sunday– going to start off easy though, only the I, IV, and V bass notes for now.

5. Pastoral candidate’s message on Sunday about unity and growth of the church– he quoted a metaphor by A. W. Tozer that I really liked:

If you have one hundred concert pianos, and you tune the second piano to the first, and the third piano to the second, the fourth piano to the third, until you have tuned all one hundred pianos accordingly, you will still have discord and disharmony. But if you tuned each piano to the same tuning fork, you would have unity and harmony. So, too, in the body of Christ, when we each tune ourselves and our lives to Christ’s we will have unity.

— A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Christ as our tuning fork. I’ve been thinking about how true this is, not only in the Christian community, but also in my relationship with Joe. Sometimes I get critical about the ways our relationship could be more perfect, or more Christ-centered– but instead of thinking up projects on how to accomplish this, it makes sense that we “get back to the basics” and each focus on our individual walks with Christ. If we’re both intimately connected with the vine, that nullifies the need to try to “tune” to each other. I think a lot of following Jesus really comes down to going back to the source– going back to the root, and making sure it’s planted and cultivated well. I love how Jesus used farming as a metaphor in his parables– it makes so much sense!