7-Layer Season

Seasons of life. I'm realizing more than ever that we are always in a season of life. Often I stray away from this 'season' language because I can't ever figure out a really cool title for my season. The truth is, our seasons are multi-layered, like Taco Bell's 7-layer burrito. Well I think The New DeLews are in a 7-layer season.

Career-focus. We have the freedom and desire to focus on our careers, for which we are deeply thankful. I've gotten used to my new schedule and long commute- thanks to multiple public transportation catastrophes including missing my train after getting stuck behind a bulldozer (in the city?!), wandering around sketchyville while waiting for a ride, sitting on a delayed train for 3 hours, just to mention a few. But honestly, it's not that bad.

Extreme winter. I'm just going to say this once- I'm over it. Completely over it. Cold, snow, cold, thundersnow, ice, all of it. I'm done. I'm tired of not being able to run outside because there's ice everywhere, and thus, I'm tired of my jeans being a bit tighter than usual. Confession- the button of my jeans popped off the other day. I cursed Chicago-winter at that moment.

Maturing marriage. As we approach our 2-year anniversary, I feel like Mark and I are learning how to care for each other in deeper ways. Because our schedules have changed so much, we are having to be more intentional in our communication and teamwork. And in all of this, we are becoming more and more connected at the core. It's super cool.

Budget cuts. Can I blame this one on winter? As a Californian-at-heart, I don't think I understood the effect that Chicago-winter has on my psyche. The primary/only activity available, besides being cooped up in your house, is to go out to eat. All that to say, we have to scale back on our eating out, big time. I ate broccoli for dinner because that's all we had at home and I'm trying to save money. Makes me sound hard core and healthy, but man I'm hungry right now...

Tighter jeans. I'll blame this on winter too. My jeans are tighter than they were post-marathon. I'm not real pleased about this. Remember the button of my jeans popping off incident? Yeah...

The Medill Inn. Our apartment has become an inn, or I'd like to say a hotel. Within one month, we are having nine different people spend the night at our place. And honestly, we love it! It's time that we break down and buy a second pair of bedsheets, so that we're not constantly doing laundry.

Renewal. Mark and I are sensing a strong movement deep within us. We're asking ourselves difficult questions about our purpose in our particular neighborhood, our passion for living alongside and serving the marginalized, and what that practically means in our daily lives. We're asking the Lord to renew our desire to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. It's not clear exactly what that might look like, but we're eager to follow His lead.

Whatever season we're in, whether it's multi-layer or elusive, I hope that we will be thankful and intentional, open to change and welcome to all.

Changes Come

As the seasons change, the New DeLews have found themselves in a time of transition. This Autumn has zoomed by us, especially after the marathon (which was one of the best/funnest experiences of my life). And although no one would call the New DeLews particularly handy in the home project arena, we've spent the past month trying to make our lovely rented apartment feel like a home (pictures to come... eventually). We've been having a grand ol' time nuzzling into our lives here, making ourselves pretty comfortable and pretty settled- essentially preparing to hibernate for winter.

Occasionally I have looked at other jobs. Usually this didn’t mean anything because we have this nasty thing called the economic downturn. So really I was browsing what might be out there if this dream called ‘a good job market’ ever comes true. So one month ago, I applied to a couple of jobs. Within a week, (to my complete surprise) I had 2 interviews scheduled and I was thinking through those awful ‘what are your strengths and weaknesses’ questions. After a couple more interviews, I accepted a position at my college alma mater as the Associate Director of Reunion Class Giving.

The words from the Over the Rhine song have been playing in my head- "Changes Come, turn my world around..." And I feel like that’s what is happening. Our worlds are being turned around and we are feeling stretched and excited. A couple of rites of passages are occurring right now (not in order of importance):

1. buying my first business suit (Mark is SO happy)

2. deciding to leave my current position for the unknown of a different job.

3. writing and submitting my first letter of resignation

4. initiating the first major lifestyle change for the New DeLews

I think that number four has been the scariest. Both Mark and I have an abnormal love of city living. Because we both currently work downtown, we love commuting together, having a 25 minute commute, getting home at 5pm sharp and having the entire evening to run together, make dinner, entertain. And yet, with this new position, I will be doing the reverse commute via train- to the suburbs- probably taking an average of 1 hour each way. Although the idea of drastically changing our lifestyle like this is particularly daunting, we are confident that this is the beginning of a new season in our lives. Yes, we will both put more of ourselves into our jobs and we’ll have to be more intentional about our time together and with others, but changes come. And we believe God is in these changes, and so we are thankful.

As the song says- “Changes Come, Leave my burden down." So as the changes in front of us are SO exciting and a little daunting, we rest in the reality that this is where God is leading us now. We have learned over and over again, He is faithful and He will sustain us. So we’re excited for the journey ahead.

10/10/10

After spending a long week in DC not for vacation, the New DeLews are back in Chicago and eagerly preparing for the much anticipated event of the fall- The Chicago Marathon!! This Sunday, 10/10/10 I will be running my first ever marathon (26.2 looooong miles) alongside 45,000 runners and over 1 million cheering fans. Needless to say, this is super exciting. There’s a lot of mental psyching up and planning that goes into this event, so I’m going to run over my little checklist:

The Last Supper (Saturday PM): Carbload! Homemade lasagna, bread, salad, and most importantly- NO WINE.

The Last Breakfast (Sunday AM): 2 scrambled eggs with a bit o’ cheese in a whole wheat pita. And most importantly- Coffee. Got to get things moving- in every possible way.

Music Playlist: Start off with all three volumes of the Glee Soundtrack (should last me about 2 hours), then depending on my mood, either go Gospel music or angry white boy music

Outfit: a bright blue running shirt with my name on it, black shorts, running shoes, red anti-sweat headband

Gear: running belt with tons o’ nutritional goos, cell phone, ipod shuffle, and plenty o’ anti-chafing lube (I’m not going to say any more about that one. But did you ever expect to see the word ‘lube’ on the New DeLews’ blog?)

Pacing: I’m running the marathon with my partner in crime, Ashley. Our goal pace is 9:30 minutes per mile, which would allow us to finish the race in a mere 4 hours and 9 minutes. Although the race officially starts at 7:30am, we most likely won’t cross the start line for quite a while. But if we cross the start line at 7:50am, we will be finished by 12:00pm sharp!! Here’s to hoping!

Meeting up: The Other DeLew will be trekking around the city with my lovely Mama George, finding strategic places to cheer! The Main DeLews will join in the cheering, along with a couple other friends. Every time I think about seeing friends and family on the sideline, I get a little choked up. I’ve been so blessed by people’s support over the past few months.

Post-Marathon Crash: Stumble back to the Medill and order out tons o’ food. And celebrate with fam and friends. Perhaps with wine.

Shout-out: And I must thank the lovely Other DeLew. Mark has been amazing- waking up early to run before work, biking alongside me on the long runs, caring for me when I got heat exhaustion, and constantly encouraging me to train hard and well. I could not have done this without him.

We’ll see how this Sunday goes. 10/10/10- bring it on!

An Urban Pizza Incident

It’s a beautiful weather day here in Chicago. As everyone knows, we get about two of those days per year, so I had to make the most of it. One of the things that contributes to the New DeLews' ‘uber-urban persona’ is the fact that we both work downtown, and we love that! Unfortunately our offices are on opposite sides of downtown, so we can’t meet up for lunch very easily. But in the past we’ve tried creative ways to meet up. One time I walked to his office (poor decision, as it was about a 30 minute walk), I’ve taken the bus to his office, he's taken a taxi to mine, we've both taken buses to meet up in the middle, etc… All that to say, when there’s a will, there’s a way, but it’s always a little rushed and stressful.

Well today I decided to try yet another creative method to see the Other DeLew. The Chicago Water Taxi! The mucky green Chicago River flows through downtown, and there’s a water taxi with a couple of strategic stops for $2! I took a perfect 5 minute walk to the river, hopped onto the boat, and 10 minutes later I was at Mark’s office! It was so refreshing.

Mark enjoyed some Chicago-style deep dish pizza for lunch today (for a work function), and he graciously offered to give me his leftovers. I’ll be eating dinner solo tonight because Mark is a big business man and has a big business dinner. I had asked him to bring me the pizza when I met up with him today. “Mark, please put the pizza in a bag so I can bring it home after work.” I believe those were my exact words on the phone. And dear Mark came downstairs with the bag of pizza in his hand. We took a walk, got some coffee and relished every moment together. And then I gave Mark a quick kiss and hopped on a bus back to work, bag of pizza in hand.

As I sat down on the bus, I casually looked into the bag of pizza for the first time. And here is what I discovered….

Ahh, the Other DeLew. He did exactly what I requested. Exactly. Love it. Love him. I cherish these moments. Hilarious and just plain wonderful.

That Naive Girl

This New DeLew has never been known as a fashion guru. Back in the olden days, pre-marriage, when I was a 'Young George', I was morally against 'cliche fashion' (as I would call it), because I strongly believed it communicated materialism and consumerism. At the end of freshman year of college, I donated over half my wardrobe because I decided to take a stand against materialism's hold on my life. And although that decision resulted in wearing the same black long-sleeve shirt every day of my college career, I truly believed that this was one of the ways I can be subversive in society. That is, until I needed to dress up for some event and I realized that I didn't have anything fancy. And let's be real here- my definition of fancy was (and kind of still is) 'anything that isn't cotton'. And in the end, I would bow to the god of materialism by raiding my roommate's closets. But anyway, I reflect on that time of my life with a sense of endearment. Part of me says 'what a naive girl', but the other part of me says 'where has that girl gone?'

This past weekend we were in Madison, Wisconsin for a wedding, and we had the chance to spend some time putt-putting around the little city. On Sunday morning we were sitting in an independent coffeeshop surrounded by college students who were working on papers amidst their facebook stalkings. The student next to me was wearing a 'Free Palestine' t-shirt while his girlfriend was using political theory to bash one of Sarah Palin's speeches. And for whatever reason, it brought me back. I was reminded of the numerous thought-provoking discussions that I had in coffeeshops that totally rocked my entire understanding of reality. I remembered that feeling of challenge and uncertainty that I experienced when I was discovering a new way to perceive the world, this society, and my life in the midst of it all. I remember those late nights that we would spend dreaming of ways to be subversive against mainstream society, to fight the system of injustice, and to be communities of peace. These are the visions that make my heart beat. They are conversations that feel raw, that make me feel more alive.

And I asked myself, when was the last time my understanding of reality was rocked? How often do I question the powers that be and seek ways to be subversive? Not just for the sake of being subversive, but because I believe in an alternative vision for this world- a world where people choose love over hate, community over self, and humility over pride. Have I just become another cog in the machine of society?

I refuse to believe that these thought-processes are only for certain stages of life. Yes college students may have the luxury of time to theorize about life and society, but now ideally, I may have the resources and ability to put some of those theories into practice. It may take a different form now, as I can't wear a black long sleeve shirt to work everyday. But that doesn't mean I should just fall into the routine of materialism and consume everything I can. It just might require a bit more nuance now. And however counter-intuitive it might seem, we must continue to live in the midst of complexity and be comfortable with challenge. Now is our time, whatever stage of life we are in, to challenge what we consider 'normal' and be open to alternative visions for how we ought to live in this world- however subversive they might be. It's not naive, it just might be the way we were meant to live.

Did someone say berries?

Let's play a word association game, shall we? When I say Scarecrow, you think Harvest. When I say Glass of Wine, you say Heaven. When I say Midwest, you say The No-Man's Land between California and New York City.... juuuuuuust kidding......... and lastly, when I say Fall is Around the Corner, you say Berry Pie. Right?
Although I'd like to think that I made a berry pie because my psyche is so attuned to the changing of seasons, in actuality I was sitting on the couch and realized that frozen berries could be used for something besides smoothies. And let me say, this epiphany has changed the New DeLews' lives forever. My sister (who is an incredible composer, gourmet cook, and mother of two with another on the way) has a 'healthy' recipe for an Amazing Berry Pie. Now to my dismay, I probably wouldn't consider this pie as healthy as, let's say, kale. But hands-down, I agree that it is Amazing. Ah-maze-ing. If you happen to be anywhere near The No-Man's Land between Calfornia and New York City within the next four months, you will most likely smell this berry pie as it bakes in my oven. We can't get enough of it.

Amazing Berry Pie
A couple notes: I tweaked the recipe a bit, because I don't do the top crust. I don't have the patience or a big enough food processor. So instead I make a sugary, cinnamony, oat-y topping that is amazing. Makes it more like a pie-cobbler fusion.

Preheat oven to 350

Crust:
1.5 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter (chilled)
1/4 c water

Process ingredients in a food processor until it becomes a big blob. Either roll out or pat out in the pie pan. (I don't own a rolling pin)

Filling/Topping:
5-6 c fresh or frozen berries (I used rasps and boysens, but definitely toss in blacks and huckles!)
1/2 c flour
1 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbs butter
1/2 c oats (any kind)

Combine sugar and cinnamon, then cut the butter into the mixture. Sprinkle 1/3 of mixture on the pie crust in the pan. Combine flour and berries. Pour berries into the pie pan. Add the oats into the remaining sugar, cinnamon, butter mixture. Pour on top of berries so that it's well-covered. Bake pie until brown and bubbly, (took my pie about 1 hour and 15 minutes). Let sit for 1-2 hours before serving. Enjoy!!

A Collage of Summer

The New DeLews are not a picture-taking couple. We like the idea of it, and sometimes we even bring our camera, but all too frequently the camera gets swallowed up by the deep mysterious creature known as my purse. (Why must my purse be so big?) But every once in awhile we (actually, the Other DeLew) manages to take a couple of pictures. In order to make up for all the lame posts that have been pictureless, I've decided to share a couple of our summer events through the medium of rather amateur photos. As summer is sadly coming to a close, here's a brief overview of some (not all, by any means!) of our summer happenings in Chicago.


Let's talk about my brief, yet passionate obsession with kale. Oh yes, my grand idea of making 'kale chips' was supposedly going to solve any desire to eat normal potato chips. These are the types of things I do when Mark is on business trips. Although he tried to feign excitement for the kale after returning from the airport, when he really just wanted a piece of meat, let's just say, I haven't made the kale chips since.


Family visits! We had a wonderful time when my parents visited from California, my sister's family (including 2 babies!), and multiple visits from out-of-towners and overnight guests. The Medill has acted like an inn, and we love it! As Mark and I continue to learn how to be hospitable, we have realized that often we work better as a couple when we are hosting people in our home. So people, when you come over for dinner, you're helping the New DeLews be the couple we're meant to be! Thank you for sharing your lives with us!



Mark has continued to improve on his dishwashing business at the Medill. When we moved, we made the switch from having the dish rack on the counter, to placing it in the sink. And this has really developed Mark's incredible jenga-like stacking skills. It's an art.



Grilling and Lemon Drops. Because of the horror known as Chicago humidity and a lack of central AC, we have increased our use of the outdoor grill, and also perfected our recipe for lemon drop martinis. Sitting outside with friends, grilled burgers or grilled pizza and lemon drops? Now that's what I call summer! We have had wonderful conversations with our landlord and friends, sitting over citronella candles and good food.


Time together. Although it has been a busy summer for the New DeLews, we have enjoyed the bike rides, el rides, frozen yogurt, lake outings, and so many wonderful evenings wandering the city streets. We are deeply thankful to live in the city of Chicago, (particularly during the summer months), and we are thankful for the people in our lives. It's the people that bring beauty into our daily lives. So summer, you have done well this year.