The Kramedjian Family

Crazy Oklahoma Weather

2010-05-26T20:25:00.001-07:00

I have not photoshopped or edited these photos.

Before & After

2010-02-27T12:37:00.000-08:00

Missing Nashville

2010-02-02T10:22:00.001-08:00

Besides the friends that always accompanied us, I miss the the Chunky Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese and Citrus Mint Tea Punch from the Food Company in the Hillsboro Village part of Nashville.

So because I'm miles away from there, this is a pretty good substitute. Does anyone have a recipe for Citrus Mint Tea Punch?

Growth Chart!

2009-10-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

ONE YEAR!!!

2009-10-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

COLE DAVID is one!

Happy Birthday Kimmy!!!

2009-09-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

See that girl at the top of the stairs, making a funny face, that was my maid of honor, and it's her birthday today!!

Traveling to Summer Conference

Kim holding NCJ New Years 2004

Kimmy & Meegy

Me, Abby, & Kim at Abby's wedding!

Kate Shmate

2009-09-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

Okay Kate, here goes. In no particular order. These are 5 of my must haves or just things that I like. By the way, I love Charlotte's shoes, on her list.

1.

Description
The Office Clue game is the first and only Clue game that allows die-hard fans of The Office to experience one of Michael’s “team building” events where each employee has to solve the mystery who murdered Toby with what office weapon and where it happened. The games you love - the characters you can't get enough of! Fun for the whole family! Add to your collection!
Dunder Mifflin employees must determine WHO 'killed' Toby, with WHAT office weapon and WHERE the crime occurred. Can you solve this Scranton mystery before it's too late? The classic game of whodunit gets a Dunder Mifflin makeover. A must-have collectible for anyOffice fan!

Product Features
* 9 custom pewter weapons
* 6 employees as the suspects their employee badges as the movers
* 9 locations inside Dunder Mifflin Paper Company where the murder occurred
* Intrigue & clock cards ¿ new to the Clue brand, they provide directives that add fun and intrigue as well as faster game play
* Custom game board features the Dunder Mifflin offices.

2.

I have an unhealthy love for bikes. So of course, to have my son on the bike with me, would be heaven. I don't know the price but I'm sure it's too much.

3.

Aren't these awesome. I would love to have these in the craft closet. What a fun tool. Thanks Martha!!

4. This is a much needed product these days. Cole is learning to feed himself. Very messy. I just wonder what happens when the toddler launches it off the table.

5. This one isn't needed as much now, but when diapers, bottles, and naps were so frequent to count, we really could have used this one. So cool.

ItzBeen Baby Care Timer allows you to remember the exact times of when you fed, changed and put your precious back to sleep with a reminder alarm for each event. If the time limit is reached, the button lights up and the alarm will sound. It also has an additional button that you can time whatever else you might need. You can set it for the last time medication was administered or you can use it to track those walking scenes in LOTR. So, so many walking scenes. It also has a super cool night light, bright enough to help you make your way to your geekling in the middle of the night when you are half asleep. The display is backlit, so you can see the timers in the dark and it has a back clip on it to keep it with you at all times during the day. For nursing moms, there is a left/right nursing reminder that helps mom remember which side she last nursed from. For your wee geek-related chores, you'll have one ItzBeen to record them all and in the darkness time them! (blurb written by thinkgeek.com)

Check This Out

2009-08-13T21:57:00.001-07:00

Just a few Cole pics...

2009-06-27T15:24:00.001-07:00

Doing the Splits
Sleeping on Wes
Flashing a Smile
Acting Like Buster
Sleeping it Off
Eating Some Noodles
Doing Things the Hard Way

Update

2009-06-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

A brief update for all our out of town friends & family that we don't get to talk to very much. Call us, by the way.. Odds are we lost your number. We have both ruined our respective cell phones. One in a tragic washing machine accident, the other in Cole's first swimming pool experience. Call or text us your phone number. We would love to hear from you.

FIRSTS:

Cole. He has his first TWO teeth. He as just recently started crawling. It's a little slow going, but coming a long faster than I think we are ready. He is also slowing starting to eat solids. He isn't quite patient enough, or maybe I'm not, I'm not sure which.

Mini Van. We have one. We bought my, Della, brother's mini van. We've had it for a little over 24 hours. It's awesome, and kind of lame, but more awesome. I just don't feel quite ready. However, today Georgia was in the very back, and Cole could see her, and he could not stop laughing at her. It was so sweet. That made the "soccer Mom" feeling (not that there is anything wrong with it) all worth it.

House. We are closing on our first house on the 15th. We are pumped. We were supposed to close a little while ago, but I made a tiny huge mistake. To qualify for the first time homebuyers Obama tax credit you can't have owned a house in the previous 3 years. I, however, sold my house 2 years, 11 months and 2 weeks ago. LAME. So we had to move the closing date two weeks. It is going to be well worth the wait. Pictures to come later.

Uhhh that's all I can think of right now.

Georgia turned to two last week. She is clearly still very much a puppy.

Lubbock Freakin' Texas!

2009-05-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

I lived here!

RUF and our friend Emily.

2009-04-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

This is an article about the RUF intern program and how it is growing. byFaith Magazine interviewed our good friend Emily Shriver, who was my first roommate at intern training!! She is now working at the home office in Atlanta. Way to go Emily!

RUF Intern Program Grows by 25 Percent

April 2009

“I really learned how to care for people.”

That’s how 25-year-old Emily Shriver described her recent two-year experience as an intern for Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), the campus ministry organization of the PCA.

“It’s a great time to get your feet wet in ministry, to explore the gifts you have, and to spend lots of one-on-one time with students,” said Shriver, who now works for RUF’s national headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., as intern programs assistant.

RUF’s 20-year-old internship program is as old RUF itself. Interns function as extensions of the RUF campus minister assigned to each campus, with the intern’s primary tasks being to lead Bible studies, befriend students, and help them deepen their walk with Christ.

This fall, some 75 RUF interns (mostly recent college graduates themselves) will fan out to campuses nationwide, representing a 25 percent increase over last year’s numbers.

“I think that RUF as a whole is growing—we have ministries on more than 100 campuses now—and as more students are exposed to interns, more students are inspired to become interns themselves,” said Shriver.

In addition to “playing a lot of Ultimate Frisbee” with students, Shriver says that interns have a unique experience of being mentored and shepherded by the RUF ministers assigned to them. “My campus minister taught me a lot of biblical knowledge, but also a lot about people in general. It’s helped me to learn to relate to people across the board—whether they’re believers or not.

“Anybody interested in working intensely with people would benefit from the experience of being an RUF intern,” she said. “You learn that at the end of the day we all need Jesus, no matter how we get there.”

To learn more about RUF’s intern program, contact Emily Shriver at eshriver@ruf.org.

This is what I'm working towards y'all..

2009-04-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

You will never catch us doing this to our dog!

2009-04-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

For more laughs follow this link.

Now available on DVD.

2009-04-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

JD this one's for you!!!

2009-04-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

Standings

Group Standings
Rank Team Name Score Correct Best Score Best Correct Champion
1 Della Kramedjian 235 48 235 48 North Carolina (159)
2 Graham Lea 223 43 223 43 North Carolina (155)
3 Shane Tintle 217 42 217 42 North Carolina (164)
4 JD Stuart 213 42 213 42 Pittsburgh (139)
5 Sarah Tintle 210 42 210 42 North Carolina (168)
6 Sara Brouillard 205 34 205 34 North Carolina (200)
7 Micah Nite 201 39 201 39 North Carolina (167)
8 Jeff Brouillard 194 45 194 45 Louisville (120)
9 Joe Gilbert 190 40 190 40 Memphis (147)
10 Chris Kramedjian 188 43 188 43 Connecticut (170)
11 Kate Stuart 188 42 188 42 Pittsburgh (124)
12 rachel and joseph digerness 188 41 188 41 Duke (108)
13 Courtney Morgan 174 41 174 41 Memphis (173)
14 Jeff Morgan 166 40 166 40 Memphis (120)

Please note that I was also only 2 points away from predicting the overall score. Thank you.

Cole Looks Like WHO?

2009-04-01T18:40:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Della's First Fondant Attempt

2009-03-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I did!

2009-03-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Power Hog

2009-03-02T09:56:00.001-08:00

After looking on a website that my friend Kate had linked to her blog, I found this really cool device. If I weren't a total hypocrite I would get one for when Cole is older and we would use it to teach him about how important it is to conserve energy. Or, another hypocritical thing I could teach him, would be that his time has value. Maybe I should try this thing out on myself first, and then after I've learned my lesson, we can pass it on to Cole.

The Yummy Valentine's Day Card

2009-02-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

4 hours turns into 16! Trip home from Cali

2009-02-26T09:52:00.000-08:00

Trip to Cali

2009-02-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

We made a quick trip to California to see Grandma Susan & Great Grandma Beverlee! It was great to see both of them, and a bunch of cousins!

Georgia misses Happy.

2009-02-16T02:00:00.000-08:00

Learning & Playing! Together!!

2009-02-13T11:55:00.000-08:00

Cole loves his exersaucer. (What a weird word. I'm not sure how to spell it.) Anyway, he loves it. And he apparently really loves this awesome sign language video. We want to teach him the basics like: eat, drink, more, sleep, please, all done. This video is really great because it teaches even more than the basics. I would love for Cole to know sign language. One of the students at Texas Tech that I ran around with was a translator and I think that is so cool.

So here he is playing and learning, Enjoy!

Smiles

2009-01-26T13:13:00.000-08:00

Bath Time

2009-01-19T12:03:00.001-08:00

Cutie Pie

2009-01-16T19:59:00.001-08:00

More Boy

2009-01-07T18:25:00.000-08:00

Check This Out

2009-01-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

We are so popular!

2009-01-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

2008-12-27T09:45:00.001-08:00

Long Time, No Post

2008-12-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I've finally got a break from school and I couldn't be more relieved. It is still taking me some time each day to decide what I want to do. During the last few weeks, I've been so pressed for time that every little decision had to be as efficient as possible. I have to remind myself that I don't need to do that during my break.
Anyway, I thought I'd write a little post since it's been a while.

It is odd to know that I will spend this Christmas here in Norman and next year and the year after that (barring trips to see family). Many years have past since I could expect one year to look roughly like the next. It has probably been twelve years or so. In fact, I've lived in a different place every nine months for the last nine years, except the 21 months that I lived in Lexington. By now I'm sure I've got some coping mechanisms that keep me from relating deeply to avoid the pain of leaving. Nevertheless, settling down for a few years entices me more and more.

Perhaps it seems like a given to you that we would settle down in Norman, OK for a while, and I suppose it is. But I've struggled with the question of where to plant my roots for some time. Unsurprisingly to most of you, Norman was not at the top of my list. This little town lacks so much that I long to enjoy. For instance, every time I go to San Francisco, I wonder out loud and often, "Why don't I live here?" Perfect climate, amazing cultures, architecture, history, native state, etc. etc. Not so much in Norman. The weather here is interesting at best, the culture is somewhat homogeneous, the history is brief, the architecture is unimpressive, and it isn't home... yet.

Noticing that I look down my nose at such a place (as may be obvious from what I have just written), I had to take note of my posture. Do I consider Norman a "flyover state?" The answer is yes. I don't think I like that about myself. When I look good and hard at what I believe about this earth and the Messiah, it becomes obvious to me that my feelings are out of line. Every place must be loved and every people, too. All are Jesus'. Maybe I'm being sentimental, but I see some analogy in Jesus calling me to love a place reckoned by the world to be ordinary, just because.

In any case, I've spent some time thinking about my thinking this break. Norman is becoming more home each day.

Daddy & Baby

2008-12-16T08:35:00.001-08:00

Fun with Baby!!!

2008-12-13T12:39:00.000-08:00

Oh Patty!

2008-12-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

We walked out of the church to this at our wedding, ONE YEAR AGO!!!

This is also my ring on my phone. Love it!

Babycakes

2008-11-24T09:34:00.000-08:00

Cal's Birthday Cupcakes

2008-11-23T06:30:00.001-08:00

Bundled Up

2008-11-23T06:27:00.000-08:00

Thanks Hope!!!!

Fun with Cupcakes

2008-11-18T01:57:00.001-08:00

Jelly Bean kernels and Laffy Taffy Butter!!!

Beverly, Susan, & Mom: This is what you got me for my birthday! Thank you!

The Boy

2008-11-13T12:19:00.000-08:00

Poor Baby

2008-10-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Our golden retriever, Georgia, has proved to be a great family dog since we brought Cole home from the hospital. However, today I think she just needed me to remember that she was my first baby and that she still needs a little attention.

I'm that Mom...

2008-10-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

But let me explain.... he's so cute. I want to post all the pictures because he's so cute. And he isn't doing much so I have a lot of picture taking time. So there. Take it or leave it. I'm that mom.

Cole David

2008-10-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

Cole is a really good sleeper. Just like his Mommy.

To bad Daddy can't sleep this good.

Our friend Rusty brought custard for the whole floor when Cole was born.

Father and Son

Cole was pretty jaundice, so he had to sleep in the Billy Suitcase for a couple of days.

Asleep

Asleep

Awake

Yarn is for what Daddy?

Hiccups

2008-10-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

Didn't see that coming. Well....

2008-10-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

I at least didn't see it coming that quick. No lie, as soon as I put the computer down from blogging that last post, the second I hit "publish post", my water broke. Seriously I still can't believe it.

Sunday after noon, around four, Chris and I had just gotten home from a wonderful marriage retreated in Fort Worth and decided to take a much needed nap. (Ha, naps have a whole new meaning now!) I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions all weekend and my feet were the most swollen that had ever been. We laid down around 5:30pm, I woke up around 7:30pm and Chris slept until 9:30pm. Chris taking that long of nap was a total Godsend, he never takes naps like that. Around that time, our friend Doug called to see if we wanted to come over and play some games. (Our friends, Russ & Katherine Edwards were in town and we wanted to sneak in some extra time with them. Not to mention my husband can't resist a good game at the Servens.) We were both feeling pretty good, so we walked the 2 blocks to their house.

When we got there the boys played games and had a few beers, and Julie, Katherine and I talked about being Moms and the impending delivery, yada yada. 11:00 rolled around and I was feeling tired again and considered walking home alone. This wouldn't have been out of the ordinary, Chris often stayed later than me, and walking home isn't that long of venture. However, I decided to stick it out and do some facebooking and of course the Blog. That's when it happened.

Like I said before, it was only seconds between hitting "publish" and put the laptop on the coffee table, that I felt a pop and then a rush of fluid forming a puddle around me. For a split second, I considered the possibility that I had indeed urinated on myself. After surveying the amount of fluid, this notion quickly let my mind, and the words, "Oh my gosh...I think my water just broke" bubbled out of my mouth. All I remember is all four of the boys at the dinner room table standing up at the same time and just looking at me. (Did I mention that my water just broke all over my friends couch? Ahhh!) Some Krammy rushes over and helps me up and I just stand there in disbelief. It really did take a few minutes of convincing for me to realize that it actually was time, and that I wouldn't be walking home to "see what happens", but that I really needed to go to the hospital.

So that's what we did. We wrapped my bottom half with a towel and piled into the car, drove a few blocks to the hospital and checked it. It was 1:00am by this point.

We will save the rest of the delivery story for the next post.

What are you looking forward to more?

2008-10-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

We talked about this in the car on the way to campus last week. What will we be more relieved to be over with: the current presidential election, which has been going on for what seems like years; or this pregnancy, things are getting a little uncomfortable. Either way, they will both be over, God willing, in 29 days. Crazy.

I hope you realize that we are truly more excited about having are baby in our arms than Bush being out of the White House, but I'm sure you can see the conflict of emotion. Reality is starting to sink in these days. I have currently been really anxious and "really ready to be done". But am I? Really ready? Eh..... I'm not so sure. This is big time. Life. A new life. In our care? FOREVER. Seems like a pretty bad idea to me. Voting I can do. Electing a president for 4 years of service. Big responsibility sure, but seems like just a drop in the bucket when you consider the other things going on with us.

I will say however, even with the fear of being responsible for a new life, and the fear and promise that we will unavoidably screw this new little life up (even really good parents do), I am comforted by this piece of wisdom passed on to me by many ladies from our church: "We may not be perfect parents, but we are the perfect parents for this child."
Meaning: God has made this baby for us, and us for this baby. He will have entrusted us, not by mistake, but by His perfect will, to be the particular parents for this particular child. This is His plan, and we can rest in that.

So while I'm on the verge of freaking out about being a mother, I am also excited to see what God has planned for us. And maybe, if you're lucky, I will hopefully be better about sharing what He is doing, right here...with all of you...on our blog...maybe.

One of the things we will miss.....

2008-07-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

Whole Foods.

Because of my husbands love of farming, supporting the local economy, and just good food in general, we have made one of our favorite dates a common visit to the local Whole Foods. It is just a brief walk down the street, which makes it even more appealing, and they have fresh food made in a buffet style set up so we can pick and choose what we want to try.

We don't often buy our weekly groceries there, it's a little expensive, but we do like to treat ourselves every once and a while. Last night we decided to get ingredients for meals that only require 4 items per dish, from this really cool cook book we have. These are very luxurious dishes, rich in flavor.

I don't know if mushrooms were in one of our recipes, but just the mass variety of different types and the enormity of their cost, sparked our interest. Side note, Whole Foods lets you try anything you want. They will open anything and let you taste test it. Awesome. This made for some fun times at the amazing cheese counter when it was time to pick our Brie. Back to mushrooms. So, Chris decided to ask if we could sample the most expensive mushrooms. To our amazement, they gave us a handful to take home and cook, to experience the real flavor they have to offer. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING?!!? THAT'S LITERALLY $30.00 WORTH OF RARE MUSHROOMS!!!

Man, we are really going to miss Whole Foods.

Our First Ultra Sound

2008-07-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

Baby Krammy

Thumbs up! Everything is a-okay in here!!

My foot is already as big as Mommy's!

Sweet Baby

Linear Algebra

2008-07-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

It doesn't seem that exciting, I'm sure, but I've really begun to study Linear Algebra. And by "really begun to study" I mean that I'm working through every problem in a Linear Algebra text book. Yesterday I did it for six hours. Yes, six. Is that sick? I'm a little surprised that I haven't begun to dream in matrices.
Anyway, I'm hitting the vectors so hard for two reasons. For one, because I'll need to understand this stuff pretty well in the Fall. I've been offered a fellowship, which I've taken, to do a Ph.D. in Economics at OU starting in August. Did I mention I haven't had a high level math course in seven years? Hence my frantic preparation.
Reason number two, our first child should be coming along about a month before finals. I don't want anything to take me away from that experience so I'm trying to get technical stuff done ahead of time. And also I don't want to fail my classes.

19 Weeks

2008-06-14T14:55:00.001-07:00

Thanks to babycenter.com we have weekly updates of how our baby is developing. (Approximately. Every baby is different, you know.) This was my favorite.

Laying aside glory

2008-05-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

We heard a very good sermon today about the friendship between Jonathan and David. It was very encouraging. The chief reminder that it gave me was the sacrificial aspect of love.

Everyday and in every place that I look, I see the worship of glory. The best looking people get the love and attention of our cities, the most sucessful business men are pandered to, and, more relevant to academics, the smartest are encouraged to overtake, dominate, compete, and conquer. The logic is pagan. To the best goes the glory.

This sermon just reminded me that Jesus taught us another way. The one who lays down the glory is the highest. Consider that friends. What is your glory? Will you lay it down to serve and die?

Grace and Peace,
Krammy

Dressing Up

2008-05-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

Some readers of this blog may not know that for eight years of my life I wore the same outfit every day- blue jeans and a white t-shirt. In the last three years I've changed that habit and taken to wearing free shirts (if they're funny) and whatever sort of pants I get.

Della and I reflected on the psychological effect of our clothing as we drifted to sleep last night. I wonder how much my current dress affects the way I see myself and how I interact with the world? I know that I'm very different in a lot of ways than I was then, but how much of that is attributable to my attire? Certainly not all of it, but some of it I'm sure.

I think my initial over-reaction to fashion was to this aspect of clothing- a rebellion against the mere imagery that clothing represented. A well dressed man can still be a scoundrel, and a geeky guy can still be really fun. So, clothing must be false right? At least that's how I thought about it freshman year of high school. Now I think I'm just trying to be normal and approachable. The problem is that I don't think I'm really all that normal and when I dress with intentionality, I feel like I'm acting a role in a play, like I'm playing dress up. There a loss of sincerity there that really makes me miss my white t-shirts.

Just some thoughts. Have you thought about this, too?

Femies

2008-05-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

I saw a a bumper sticker on the way home this week that was a bold faced lie. It read, "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." Baloney.

Before anyone gets crazy, I'm not in the slightest attacking the idea that women are people. I think women are more glorious and consequential than most feminists do I'm sure. I can say that because I believe that women, along with men, are created in the image of a loving, good, and creative God, whereas most feminists have only wishy-washy metaphysical foundations for the importance of persons. Women, in my view are to be respected and cherished on the basis of this foundational point, which a host of other considerations buttress and nuance.

So what is feminism then? Putting a simple definition on it is silly as the movement has become very large and unwieldy, but in its origin, feminism is the belief that each women should decide the terms of her own existence. Thus, the first wave (post 1968 in the USA) of "feminism" followed the existentialist feminism of Simone de Beauvoir, who made recommendations for a moral revolution: on demand abortion, no fault divorce, equal pay for women, among others.

So what is feminism? The idea that women should have the full support of society in being master's of their own fate, capable of at any time and for any reason cutting all ties and responsibilities to their community, to their husbands and to their offspring. Denying them this is now to be interpreted as oppression.

It is, in fact, our commitments and relationships that define us. We can no more determine our own identity than we can determine our species. I don't oppose equal pay for women, but I won't fall for some bumper sticker aphorism that makes such false light of marring the image of God, disconnecting that which was created in the image of the Trinity from the responsibilities and community which are the arena of its glory.

Down with stupid bumper stickers.

Deep Thoughts

2008-04-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I sit down to write one of these things and I think to myself, "Self, you don't really have any thoughts that you'd like to share today. What will you do?" Then I answer myself, "Well, handsome, you could try writing less serious entries rather than trying to be the next Clive Staples Lewis. Who even thinks you're that clever anyway?"

So, in an awkward attempt at the comical, I ask you, dear reader, does the famous Jack Handey from SNL exist?

http://www.deepthoughtsbyjackhandey.com/bio.html

Please, tell me how you voted.

Do Run Run Run

2008-04-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Della and I went out for a treat tonight. First we went to the Whole Foods Market down the street and then we set sail for the movies. Originally I wanted to see- should I admit this online?- 10,000 B.C.

Luckily for Della, that particular flick wasn't rolling at the Green Hills 16. We ended up watching *Run, Fatboy, Run* instead. This was a very, very fun flick. It had lots of every sort of humor from gross (nose-picking) to slapstick (slap-fight and gratuitous groin kicks) to pathetic (the main character). Not to mention a fairly good theme of second chances.

For those of you who may be reading this wondering when I'll get to the Redemptive analysis of the film, there isn't one coming. I just liked it. It was fun. Treat yourself and go see it.

Obedience

2008-03-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've just begun reading Thomas Watson's *The Ten Commandments* in an effort to learn from the Law. Already I'm feeling the heat. This book was one of three that Watson published in a collection called *A Body of Practical Divinity*. (The first book was called *A body of Divinity* and the third *The Lord's Prayer*.) Apparently Watson didn't write much else, but every reference I find to this book is golden.

Almost four years have past since I first purchased the book. It is funny to me that I have such a strong memory of buying it. During a two-week stint in South Africa with the Wegener family, we checked out a Christian book store in Capetown that was supposed to be quite good. The store as a whole was just alright, but an elderly man who frequented the store had just passed away and his survivors had put his entire library up for sale in this shop. On David Wegener's recommendation, I bought three books there that day. The second and third were Watson's *The Lord's Prayer* and Murray's *Redemption Accomplished and Applied,* which is amazing.

Anyway, enough with the nostalgia. I've only begun this one, but it promises lots of conviction and lots of growth. The first part is on obedience. Watson asks the question, "What makes our obedience acceptable?" Aside from the obvious but all important intermediation of Christ, his observations were cutting. Sincerity, for instance. Purity of intent. And, this is where I fall so desperately short, joyfulness in giving our obedience.

I often jokingly boss people around with the command, "Like it!" or "You'll do it and you'll like it!" Well, joke's on me. Sometimes I get the suspicion that we'll spend eternity watching God's homevideos of how we thought we knew what we were doing, but suddenly in a really ironic manner discovered we were wrong/hypocrites/idiots/sinners, like a divine version of "Punked." Does anyone else get that feeling? If the gag reel of my life is available in the life hereafter, please bring popcorn.

Just a wonder...

2008-03-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

How much time would I need to have off to do all the things I've been putting off "until I have enough time?"

There's the learning another language, not to mention linear algebra and real analysis. And I've got quite a bit of working out to catch up on. There's also the book I'd like to write and the things I'd like to ready. Oh, Lordy, the things I'd like to read! I've got at least two-hundred books I'd like to digest. I wish that number was shrinking. There are artsy things, too, like taking a great photo and making a film.

I suppose if I dedicated a hundred hours to each hobby I'd like to pick up, eight hours to each book, two hours to each film, and a five hundred hours a piece to the three or four languages I'd like to pick up, that totals to... around 4,000 hours.

If I devoted two hours a day to this list it would take me two thousand days to tackle it. That's like six years. And what if the list increases?

Should I hope for less, or get cracking? Your comments please.

Peace,
Krammy

Worry

2008-03-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for today has enough cares of its own."

I don't come across this way to most people, but I'm a very anxious person. Lately, I've done quite a bit of worrying about the future. Where will we live? What will we do? How will I ever pay back my student loans?

I wonder whether I'm doing the right thing by burdening my family with thousands and thousands of dollars of debt. At the same time, I wonder whether taking an easy job would be wasting my gifts. Do I need to pursue my interests into the red? Is that glorifying God?

I only ask this question, I now realize, because I'm afraid that God won't bless me if I choose the wrong path. This is where Jesus words comfort me. "When your child ask you for a fish you do not give him a snake do you? How much more will your heavenly Father give you good things when you ask Him!"

Sometimes it is hard to remember that God is not the Devil.

Peace,
Krammy

ok ok already

2008-03-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Maybe I fell off the horse.

What horse you ask? Well, in mid January I put up a little post about how I was gonna post or journal every day. As you can tell from the date on my most recent entry, that hasn't quite been the case. Time to get my life straightened up I suppose.

Speaking of getting my life together, Della and I have been going to the gym semi-regularly. We've been five times in the last two weeks, which is more than either of s could boast for the last five months put together. I'm seeing a chiropractor these days, too. I wasn't kidding about straightening up. I had no idea how crooked I was (literally, although married life is illustrating the figurative aspect).

Well, I better not blow everything I've got to say tonight. I'll have nothing left for tomorrow.

Have you heard of this?

2008-03-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

So last week I was introduced to an elite secret club. I was not offered to join, they don't offer invitations. For, this club is so elite I would not even be granted the paper work necessary to fill out an application to join. I'm of course referring to a select group of people, sometimes mentioned in rap videos, that meet some ridiculous credentials that entitle them to carry an American Express Black card. Or it's proper name, the Centurion Card.

It was a legend I had only heard about until yesterday. This mysterious card, was described to me as being a black covered piece of gold that only two of our employees have ever seen before. The holder of the card may use it just like a credit card, but there are some conditions.There is a US $5,000 one-time initiation fee for new primary card holders, plus the annual fee of US $2,500. Requirements include minimum annual spending of $250,000, exceptional credit history and significant financial assets.

A new Centurion card is crafted from anodized titanium and offers numerous exclusive privileges including:
A dedicated concierge and travel agent
Complimentary companion airline tickets on international flights with the purchase of a full fare ticket
Personal shoppers at retailers such as Escada, Gucci, and Neiman Marcus
Access to airport clubs, first class flight upgrades, membership in Sony's Cierge personal shopping program
The list goes on.....

So who has the cards? Jessica Simpson, Noel Gallager, Janet Jackson, and some guy a helped yesterday. Man, I did not see that coming. Sweet man, mid- 40's, a little over weight, with some tender feet that only Merrells could fix. We spent about 20 minutes looking for the right shoes for him, and some insoles to help his fallen arches. I tried to BS my way through, as best as I can, say a few stupid things that I have to apologize for, and then it's time to check out.

There it was. Heavier than I had imagined it would be. I was stunned but had to play it cool. I didn't want him to know that I knew. I wanted to ask, " so how do you spend close to $700 a day each year?" I didn't say a word. I actually didn't ask to see his I.D. or look to see what the name was on this magical card. I was just in complete shock.

How would you spend $250,000 a year? Over $20,800 a month? $5,000 a week? $686 a day?

Second Coming

2008-02-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

I've been reading Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. It's a great book in which he outlines how four different meals (categorized as "industrial," "industrial organic," organic, and hunter-gatherer) go from ground to plate. He's a great writer and teaches journalism at UC Berkely, which means he includes a tremendous amount of background for every little detail.

Anyway, Joel Salatin, a "beyond organic" farmer in VA, hosts him in one of the many adventures to really experience the local food movement. Salatin is a third generation farmer, whose Christian worldview informs every detail of his farming. Seeing his farm through Pollan's words reminded me of something I'd thought before I started my program here at Vanderbilt- my very reason for coming to study economic development in the first place.

Spending my early life as a Christian in a somewhat fluffy evangelicalism instilled the notion in me that one day Christ would return, put the bad guys in their place, then whisk the repentant righteous away to an other-worldly heaven. Not so. This isn't the promise of the Bible at all.

Heaven is the location of God's throne, and the promise of Revelation is not that we will we translated from this realm to some other, but that we will be transformed. Jesus isn't coming to take us away. He's coming back to stay and make his blessings known as far as the curse is found, i.e. where the land bears thorns and briars. Where we are is where we will be.

A few years ago I re-read the parable of the Master who leaves his servants in charge of his estate while he is away- to one he gives ten, to another five, and to the last he gives one. I had always interpreted "talents" (which is actually a large weight of precious metal) to mean skills, abilities, and opportunities. The parable was purely spiritual and relational. My hermeneutic was only a little different, but the ramifications were universal.

If this earth is Jesus estate, to which He is indeed returning, the parable must mean that Christ has expectations of a physical, tangible, visible, and meaningful increase on what he has given us to steward.

I'm still working out what this means to us in terms of how we deal with the physical world. How do I make an increase Christ will appreciate on my stuff- or to my stuff- or with my stuff?
Socially, it also makes me question whether Christ will judge us by the terrible soil erosion we have caused to his beautiful estate.

Crumbling

2008-02-09T15:38:00.000-08:00

I have ranted thousands of times about the subtle numbing effect of technology. For all of you who've suffered my harangueing, now is your time to gloat...

Today I joined Facebook.

A few days ago my brother gave me a call with a bit of shocking news. Two German friends of mine, with whom I've had little to no contact in the last five years, messaged him on facebook to ask if he was my brother (There were until today, only two other Kramedjians on Facebook.) and if he could get into contact with me for them.

So, he gave me an e-mail address and I got back into contact with one of these friends. Here's the catch- she said that I'd have to join facebook if I wanted to get in touch with Jo. Stinkin' dirty.

I crumbled. Please no one tell Wendell Berry.

powerless

2008-02-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

I haven't hid in a closet since I was a little kid. Closets seemed so much bigger back then. Big enough for two even, and a dog. That's not the case any more.

Della, Georgia and I had to squeeze into our hall closet last night during a tornado warning. While we were crouched/squished in there the power went out and has been out since. I'm writing this from school.

All in all, though, I enjoyed having the power out. It gave us a chance to notice the green lightning after the storm passed by. I felt so stress free. No tv. No internet. No outside world. Just me my wife and my dog.

Strangely, that made me feel more connected to the outside world. The physical world felt more real once I was disconnected to the electronic one. Maybe Marshall McLuhan would say that this was the passing of the numbness brought on by the illusion of the world in media.

Oh the games we play

2008-02-01T22:56:00.000-08:00

Hola Peoples,

Della and I just had some friends over for dinner and a movie, which turned into dinner and a game. We made Pesto pizza, with homemade pesto, feta spinach chicken sausage, chunks of feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and artechoke hearts. Nice eats. Our friends brought over a bottle of wine, too. Yes....

After dinner, we played some Phase 10. It's a decent game. You should try it.

That's all for tonight,

Krammy

A little bit softer now...

2008-01-25T20:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a what a typical day in our lives looks like:

7:30AM Della wakes up and starts getting ready for her day. She might watch the news, or if she's really feeling good get rid of some of the stuff on her to do list whilst Krammy slumbers.

9... or 10... Krammy crawls from his badger hole and prepares for consciousness, just before Della heads to her job at the Merrell store down the street.

11:00AM Krammy achieves consciousness, or something like it. Krammy heads to campus.

Noon Della and Krammy eat lunch separately. :(

4:00PM Krammy heads home just before Della to play with the dog, etc.

6:00PM After our brief chill session, we eat dinner, watch a movie, and/or play a game.

11:00PM Della sleeps. These are Krammy's most productive hours of the day. He gets a solid two hours of work in before going to bed.

1:00AM Krammy slumbers.

That's a sort of typical day.

-Krammy and Della

I'm an ideas man, Michael!

2008-01-24T21:07:00.000-08:00

So, after writing a few posts, I'm noticing a pattern. The subtitle to our blog is "kramily life behind the bluebird cafe," but I don't write too much about our life here. I don't have any desire to change that either. Were this blog devoted to keeping up communication my streak of inquiries would be intolerable. Much to the contrary, I've decided to roll with John Stewart's advice and write about what pleases me... with a little daily life thrown in.

Many of my thoughts begin with, "Wouldn't it be great if...?" Lacking any direction of utter and total conviction that one might call a "career path," these notions are often followed by "I could do that." Oh, if only that were so. Let me give an example.

Nashville is pleasantly separated into lots of little neighborhoods much like San Francisco, but not so distinctly. There is 12th South, Hillsboro Village, Five Points, Nipper's Corner, Sylvan Park, etc. etc. North Nashville, which is more like a huge chunk of the city is one of these "neighborhoods." Ghetto is probably more like it. Edgehill, Lafayette, and parts of East Nashville fall in the same category.

Several days ago Della and I got curious about house prices in Nashville. A real estate agent friend of ours told us we could probably still find a really great deal. So it was. Dozens of houses between $60k and $100k popped up in the first search. After filing through the obvious dumps, we noticed a fair number of decent looking houses gathered together in clumps. North Nashville.

You travel through just about every part of a town when you work in delivery, especially delivery of medical equipment. You get to know places. I've been to North Nashville more times than I cared to. It's the area immediately north and west of Downtown, extending almost all the way to 440 north of West end, stopping shy of the delightful Sylvan Park. It's a memorial to white flight, a testament to urban decay, and a rundown part of town. Not the safest place to live or work.

This place's houses are so cheap because no one wants to live there. There are no grocery stores, no banks, no shopping centers, poor schools, hard drugs, and rough gangs. So much of this has to do with the people's poverty, and the financial institutions with the know-how of increasing wealth are going to be the last ones to head into that part of town.

"Wouldn't it be great if someone started a bank and financial service center at ridiculously low cost to patrons just to lift areas like this out of poverty?" It would have to be in the midst of it. It would have to offer financial planning to an entirely new demographic. It would have to be run terribly well... I could do that!

That's what I spend most of my time doing around here, folks. I get visions of how to help, but don't have the patience or know-how to follow through. Are any of you financial planners or bankers with a heart for the urban poor?

I'll come up with some more ideas soon.

Grace and Peace,

Krammy

That Uncreative?

2008-01-20T19:11:00.000-08:00

I don't know how many people actually read this thing. I don't track hits on this page or any other page for that matter. Not that I feign any grand philosophical argument against such things, but, for those of you (if you, the reader, do indeed exist and I am not writing to no one) who don't know me so well, my participation in the electronica nation has been lower than a snake's belly in a rut. Which is to say that the blogosphere is quite foreign to me. So, dear imagined reader, let me ask you a few questions.
Does one ask non-rhetorical questions in a post?
Do people post to be read or to foster community? Why do we post?
Should I aim for getting people to comment on this thing? And if so, what usually makes people comment?
Just wondering. I've never asked and who better to tell me than you?

Three Challenges

2008-01-10T09:03:00.000-08:00

Austin Bauman and Graham Lea, two of my closest friends here in Nashville, have already changed the course of 2008 for the Kramedjians. Although they followed closely on the heels of all the New Years resolutions, let me be clear that the following are not resolutions that I came up with for myself. A few nights ago, over drinks at the Flying Saucer, Austin had the great idea that, rather than critiquing ourselves and reformulating a course of action on our own, the people who know us ought to be the ones who guide our efforts. We each spent some time thinking up three challenges for the others. Lots of great ideas out there. Reducing carbon footprint, biking a century, reading the whole Bible, etc. This is how my dear friends have challenged me:

1. I must journal or blog everyday, at least three sentences until 2009.
2. I gotta get in serious shape. Not just lose some weight, but get in serious shape. And hold it through to 2009.
3. Della and I have to save $6,000 by 1/1/2009.

Hard challenges, but Della is super supportive and thinks we can definitely do it. Look forward to a lot of three sentence blog entries!

Disney Land

2008-01-01T17:01:00.000-08:00

China Town of San Francisco

2008-01-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

Yosimite

2008-01-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Mariposa Grove

2008-01-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

Yosimite

2008-01-01T16:47:00.000-08:00

Honeymooning it up!!

2007-12-26T10:11:00.000-08:00

I'm writing you from Bakersfield, CA, hometown of my HUSBAND!! We got married about a week and a half ago, and we've been honeymooning in California ever since. We've seen lots of beautiful things, been interesting places, tasted unbelievably good food, and had lots and lots of rest. There will no doubt be pictures soon, but I wanted to share with you my favorite part of our trip thus far.

Acupuncture!!

Our friend Rachel, also newly married, to our friend Joseph Digerness, is Korean. We stayed with them for a couple of nights in San Francisco. (Awesome!) As I'm getting to know her and hearing wonderful stories about growing up with immigrant parents, I learn that he father does acupuncture and has taught her how to do it on herself. (I'm very intrigued by this.) She said she mostly used it for menstrual cramps or constipation, but you really can use it for just about anything that's wrong with the body. I was secretly thinking, my back hurts so bad, I wonder if needles would help. She was out of practice, so I didn't ask her to try it out on me.

However, the next day, Chris and I were walking around San Fran's China town, and we both had an itch for a real cultural experience. We went into a tea store (I guess) and poked around a couple of herbal stores, but instead of buying some real Ginkgo Biloba, we thought what the heck, acupuncture is were it's at!!!

After reading some signs, we headed upstairs to a little Chinese woman's clinic. While we nervously waited she was treating a young girl with cancer, who assured us that this doctor was very good. When it was my turn, she gave me a brief examination and gave a quick look at my tongue, and next thing I know I was lying on the table.

Since it was my shoulder that was hurting me, I was lying on my stomach with my elbows above my head on the table. She only put a few pins/needles in me at first. Maybe six or seven. Then she hooked each one up to a tiny electric cable the sent pulses of electricity to each needle making the muscles contract and relax, contract and relax. Much like a self induced massage. With a heat lamp on this area, I was in heaven. It felt amazing. After about 25-30 minutes of this, she removed the needles and turned me on my side. This is were it gets interesting.

With what looks like a reflex hammer, she begins to beat my shoulder. Not to hard at first, but slowly more aggressive. I looked at Chris in shock, thinking what is going on? On his face was also in shock, because what I didn't realize was that the "reflex hammer" was covered with tiny needles. AS she continued to beat me, sure enough my shoulder was covered in tiny little beads of blood. THEN, if that weren't enough, a flaming cotton ball was moving towards my face. Quickly, she moved the fire ball across the opening of a small glass jar, removing the oxygen so that it would suction itself to my shoulder. She did this again with another jar. These two jars were there to suck all the poison out of my arm. Unbelievable.

When all this was done, my amazing doctor wrote me a prescription for a six day regiment of herbs. The prescription was of course written in Chinese, and was to be taken to an old Chinese herbalist who didn't speak a word of English and calculated the the coast of my regiment with an abacus. This was amazing in it's own right. (Chris fell in love with him.)

Aside from the taste of the "tea" made by the numerous unnamed roots, mushrooms, barks, and other herbs, this was by far my most memorable moment so far.

Disney Land here we come!