A Trip to the Burgh - Acts 1 & 2

September 1st, the Hasbrouck family embarked on their first plane trip since Hadley joined the team. Below is the story of their journey. (Note to reader: links to places we visited are included for further info, pictures, and details for those interested.)

The main characters:

Jon, father

Cara, mother

Hadley, 15 month old daughter

Aunt Suzi, Jon's sister and Hadley's Aunt

Shawn, Suzi's boyfriend

Pittsburghers, locals in Pittsburgh. Generally sporting either Steelers gear or a mullet.

Setting:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sept 1-6, 2010

Act 1, Scene 1 - The Plane ride to Las Vegas

So we left Tucson at 6am Wednesday morning, which meant leaving the house at 4:30am. Hadley was probably still half asleep by the time we got to the airport but she didn't put a stink about any of it so that was helpful. We toted with us 4 pieces of luggage, a car seat, an umbrella stroller, my purse, a backpack/diaper bag, and a camera bag. I was a little anxious about all the stuff we had to bring but with our mad balancing skills we were able to haul it all over to the Southwest counter and check in. We made it through security fairly easy and then had to wait. Once on the plane we realized it wasn't full at all so we were able to have a whole row to ourselves. We had thought about asking at the counter if there were extra seats so we could use one for Hadley but we decided to gate-check the car seat all the way to Pittsburgh so we didn't have to lug it around the Las Vegas airport. Hadley did well on the plane, we ate our bagels for breakfast and read books. Next stop, Sin City. Hadley loved the flashing lights and loud music from the slot machines in the air port and I wanted to get a picture of her sitting in one of the chairs, but I knew that would be frowned upon and supposedly illegal so we didn't.

Jon and Hadley in the plane from Tucson to Las Vegas

Hadley and I in the Las Vegas airport

Act 1, Scene 2 - The Plane ride to Pittsburgh

We had decided from the beginning we'd try to get as far back in the plane as possible. We weren't in any rush to get a connecting flight and in the event of a melt down from Hadley we'd have easy access to a standing area. This proved to be helpful in the end, although the lavatories Stunk in the back of the plane. This flight lasted 3 hours and 41 minutes and Hadley did really well. She whined a little but that was no big deal. Since the seats are in rows of 3's and this flight was just about full I ended up having a guy sit next to me. He was very friendly and understanding with Hadley. We found out he was a sound engineer for a band called Hotel California, (maybe a cover band for the Eagle's) and they were on their way to start a tour in PA. He also owned a productions company in SoCal. He totally looked the part of someone who would be in a 70's cover band. We landed in Pittsburgh at about 4pm and were met by Aunt Suzi. As we gathered our luggage and headed off to Aunt Suzi's house we were given quite a tour of the city. Just as you'd suspect of an older East-coast American city, there were a lot of buildings and houses, lots of pretty, old churches, lots of trees and hills, narrow streets, tall, skinny houses, and water. That evening Shawn grilled fish for fish tacos which were delicious and Suzi made her infamous guacamole which was also very delicious. We finished the evening off with a walk to a nearby park and through their neighborhood.

Act 2, Scene 1 - Our First Day in Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

Aunt Suzi had to work in the morning but was going to sneak away around lunch time and hang out with us. Since we were all a little exhausted we decided to just hang out at the house while our hosts went to work. When Suzi returned around lunch time we hit up the local zoo. We got in free thanks to our Groupon Reid Park Zoo Membership. We decided to get some lunch and then walk around. The lunch was awful, which we should've known, but it satisfied our hunger so off we went. The zoo was really neat, lots of hills though. One of my favorite exhibits was the Gorilla exhibit. I've never seen actual Gorillas in person and to see a Silverback sitting about 4 feet in front of you was amazing. They are huge animals. They had a few areas where you could actually walk into an exhibit and get close to or even touch the animals. We got to pet some whitetail deer, and get close to some kangaroos. The zoo also had an aquarium on it's property. The exhibits had the usual millions of fish, rays, seals, penguins. Hadley enjoyed watching the penguins swimming. They also had a really neat shark exhibit and polar bear exhibit. I'd say we spent about 3 hours walking around in a nearly empty zoo (since it was a weekday). It was a great time.

Me and Hadley petting the Whitetail Deer. Hadley was not too sure of it.

Upon leaving the zoo we realized we had forgotten a few toiletry items at home so we stopped and picked them up. On the menu for dinner that evening was a brewery restaurant called Church Brew Works. PA has a lot of breweries so we visited many during our trip and still were not able to see them all. This particular brewery was inside the sanctuary of a "desanctified" catholic church. I realize there might be some issues regarding this matter, however Jon and I did not have any problems with it so we went to dine. It really was quite impressive how they set the place up. The moment you walk in, if you looked straight up to the front where the priest may have stood to address the congregation there were GIANT kettles for brewing. In fact, that evening they were boiling (I'll probably be corrected on the actual part of the process) some stuff so the wonderful boiling of hops and grains filled the air. The center isle remained all the way up to the front with a bar area to the left and tables and booths to the right. All the decor was made to look like a catholic church with wooden chairs and beautiful chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. The stained glass windows were all still there as well. Jon and I got a sampling of all the beers offered and Jon and Shawn discussed and critiqued them all. The food was delicious as well.

The Hasbrouck's outside of Brewery #1.

The inside of the Church Brew Works. This is at the very front of the church where the beer is brewed. Those kettles are HUGE.

Act 2, Scene 2 -- The Children's Museum, Primanti Bros for lunch, a back-door brewery and Ethiopian food for dinner

Friday Aunt Suzi had the whole day off so in the morning we ventured off to the Children's museum. Each time we went out we were usually headed to a different part of the town. One thing I have to say about Pittsburgh is it's really confusing to drive around in. I'm glad we had someone to show us the way. The Children's museum wasn't too big but still lots of fun for Hadley. The very first room you walk in to was dedicated all to Mr. Rogers. I think Jon, Suzi, and I had more fun in this room because we all grew up with that show. There were a few other rooms with fun stuff to play with but most of it was geared more toward older kids. So we headed up to the 2nd level where young toddlers were the target audience. The room was quite a bit smaller but Hadley had fun banging on toys, riding a teeter-totter that created bubbles, and looking at a fish tank. The 3rd level had some water play stuff but we hadn't brought extra clothes for Hadley and didn't want to carry a wet baby around for the rest of the day, besides she'd probably have been miserable. There was also a "creative" room where the kids could paint, do printmaking, or paper mache. We got a smock for Hadley and let her do some painting. It's obvious she likes to finger paint even though they had brushes for her to use. After paint was everywhere and her paper was full we cleaned her up and let her play on their small outside playground before heading out for lunch.

Me playing Mr. Rogers

Aunt Suzi and I showing Hadley how to paint.

Lunch was down on "the strip" at the famous Primanti Bros. This place serves artery clogging food....well ok lots of places do in Pittsburgh. They have a lot of sandwiches but on every sandwich they add cole slaw and then SMASH a handful of french fries on it. It was delicious. Hadley's lunch for the day was french fries. Awesome. We walked around the strip which really is just a bunch of stores that sell Steelers paraphernalia.

The front of Primanti Bros. home of the sandwiches with fries on them.

For dinner that evening Shawn and Suzi took us to a hole-in-the-wall brewery called, East End Brewing Co. for what's called "growler hour". If you say it like a true Pittsburgher it rhymes quite well. It's a small operation, located in the warehouse district of Pittsburgh and they give you samples and you can of course purchase the beer in growlers. The beer was pretty good. Jon got to view their brewing room, which turned him into the kid-in-a-candy-store character. We purchased two growlers and headed off to dinner. We stopped at an Ethiopian restuarant called, Abay. The food was delicious. You essentially order a plate of food and use something that resembles a tortilla to pick up the food and eat it. No utensils. We also brought our growlers into the restuarant to have with our dinner. This was a new concept for me. PA has rules about who can sell alcohol and apparently you can bring it in to restaurants with you. Perhaps AZ restaurants have the same capabilities but I've never seen it.

Jon in his element at East End Brewing, sporting his own brewery t-shirt.

Intermission - More to come tomorrow.

2010 Halloween Party Themes

At the Hasbrouck house we have an annual Halloween party. The issue is always how do we plan it this year? Do we do a theme? Do we require guests to wear costumes? We've never really had anything scary or gory since we usually have small children attending and we're just not into that. We've also never done anything specific in the past but many have come with great costumes.

To view pics from 2007 click here

Not many from 2008, click here

2009 click here

This year's going to be different. We're going to have a themed party. The problem is what kind of theme? I came up with a few ideas but could use some help. I've listed below the ideas I've come up with (with the help of a friend) and a bit of a description. Some ideas were better for decorating purposes rather than costumes and vice versa. I've included a poll on the right hand side of my blog so make sure to vote for which one you think you'd take the time to dress up for and enjoy.

Nintendo theme (dorky I know) -- Most of the guests are Nintendo-generation kids. There are many characters to dress up as and the decorating would probably be similar to Mario's world. This would be an easy one for the little kids too.

80's icons -- Not much in the way for decorating but costumes would be a blast. And those really interested in the Nintendo theme could still do a costume related to that.

50's Sock Hop -- The costumes would be fairly simple. Not only could people do the regular poodle skirts and greaser outfits but there were also great celebrates in the 50's like Elvis Presly and Marilyn Monroe. Decor could be records and a juke box with fun music and Grease playing in the background. Food would be a Sundae bar and root beer floats. Another kid friendly theme.

Hollywood Night -- Costumes would consist of movie stars. Food would include popcorn. Decor would be movie cameras, red carpet, and perhaps some Emmy awards. Semi-easy for kids.

Cartoon Characters -- Pretty self explanatory. Decor wouldn't be so easy unless I could correlate with people's costumes which means I'd have to find out what everyone is going to be. Super kid-friendly

Wiggin' Out -- Everyone at least has to wear a wig. Decor could include wigs hanging everywhere. This is probably the easiest of all. Easy for kids if they leave the wig on.

That's all I've got for now. If you have other ideas for themes please leave a comment. I'd love to hear them.

Recent Reading Revelations Pt. 1

Here are a few quotes and thoughts I've had from books I've been reading. They have really stuck out to me and have made me ponder myself, my faith, and Jesus. I hope someone can find a nugget of encouragement, reflection or wisdom in these words.

From the book: No Wonder They Call Him The Savior by Max Lucado

(Italics are my words)

Pg 28 -- We're angry at someone, but we don't know who. We're scared of something, but we don't know what. We want to fight back, but we don't know how....Yet Jesus begged on the cross, "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Uncontrolled anger won't better our world, but sympathetic understanding will.

Pg 39 -- If there was anything Jesus wanted everyone to understand it was this: a person is worth something simply because he is a person. We need to be loving people...including ourselves.

Pg 41 -- You are valuable just because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are.

When Jesus looked down at Mary from the cross, he had to say goodbye to his mother. He knows about goodbyes.

Jesus knows loneliness as he cried from the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

Pg 72 -- As Jesus declared, "It is finished" he walked away with wounds. Remember, a finisher is not one with no wounds or weariness. Quite to the contrary, he, like the boxer, is scarred and bloody.

Pg 87 -- As far as we know, he [Barabbas] took his sudden freedom for what it was, an undeserved gift. Someone tossed him a life preserver and he grabbed it, no questions asked....We take our free gift and try to earn it or diagnose it or pay for it instead of simply saying "thank you" and accepting it.

Doubting Thomas...he doubted but he was so completely loyal to Jesus. God is patient with us and while most of us doubt our loyalty is what's important.

It's interesting the two men who took Jesus' body off of the cross and prepared it for burial were two members of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus. I can imagine what was going through their hearts as they carefully cleaned, dressed with spices and rags the Son of God's body for burial.

Pg 129 -- God may we never be so "educated," may we never be so "mature," may we never be so "religious" that we can see your passion without tears.

Pg 157 -- Mark (14:32) used black paint to describe this scene. We see an agonizing, straining, and struggling Jesus. We see a "man of sorrows." We see a man struggling with fear, wrestling with commitments, and yearning for relief. We see Jesus in the fog of a broken heart. The next time the fog finds you, you might do well to remember Jesus in the garden. The next time you are called to suffer pay attention. It may be the closest you'll ever get to God. Watch closely. It could very well be that the hand that extends itself to lead you out of the fog is a pierced one.

Pg 167 -- I don't care how bad you are. You can't be bad enough to forget it. And I don't care how good you are. You can't be good enough to overcome it. You need a Savior.

Pg 185 -- Christ died when we were still sinners. His sacrifice, then, was not dependent on our performance.

Pg 194 -- God is not stumped by an evil world. He doesn't gasp in amazement at the depth of our faith or the depth of our failures. We can't surprise God with our cruelties. He knows the condition of the world...and loves it just the same. For just when we find a place where God would never be (like on a cross), we look again and there he is, in the flesh.

Ok you're probably thinking I just copied the whole book down but this was such a great book. I'm not sure if it was the fact that Max Lucado is a great writer, perhaps it was the viewpoints he displayed in the book and the stories he told, but they helped me see the events and people surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection in a whole new way. I think I read the short, "gift" version of this book, so now I want to read the real version. I recommend you do the same.

15 months

15 months of nothin' but fun!!!!! Ok well maybe that isn't entirely true but it's 98% true. We took our baby girl in for her 15 month check up and for those dying to know the arbitrary percentiles she falls in to I have them for you. She weighs a whopping 21.4 pounds (10-25%), her length is 29 7/8 inches (25-50%) apparently they can't just round up on these things! And her head circumference is 44.5 cm (10-25%). She's jumped up a little in her head size, her dad is so proud. Now maybe all the kids won't call her pin head. Ha.

Anywhoooo, the doctor said everything was fine. I don't think he was particularly happy about her facing forward in her car seat already, but he didn't try to put up a fight with us. I actually struggle with this a little only because I feel like if it's recommended then it's probably for a good reason so why wouldn't I do the best to keep my baby safe. Well we at least have her sitting in the middle of the backseat, that's a little safer anyway. She loves her new car seat by the way.

Her tantrums have increased 20 fold and we're told it only gets worse. Maybe we were just spoiled with a good baby in the beginning (after sleeping issues were resolved of course). I do have to say that her tantrums generally, and I use that word loosely, only last about a minute at the most. Overall she's a great kid.

Eating is so so. She's gotten more picky (my genes) and usually wants what we have on our plate even if it's the same exact thing. Her appetite is also sporadic which I hear is normal especially during the teething years. I was actually a little worried that she'd have dropped weight by the time her Dr.'s appointment came around but she had not. She's really pretty good at using a fork and spoon. However, just as crawling was easier than walking at first, using her hands are still a more efficient method for her.

We did a week long vacation just recently by visiting Jon's dad and step-mom at their cabin in northern New Mexico and then jumping the AZ border into the beautiful White Mountains for a few days of real camping. We had a blast at the cabin. We hiked every morning so the 4 golden retrievers could get their exercise. Hadley liked bossing the dogs around and did NOT like the doggie kisses. They all played well together though. Hadley slept well most of the time on our trip. Naps were a little tricky but night time was business as usual. We had to share a room with her and Jon and I did not sleep well. We discovered Hadley's a talker while she sleeps (yet my genes again). She loved playing in the dirt and throwing rocks. We visited some horses at the cabin and she was curious but not overly excited.


Playing in a stream near the cabin


While camping we were planning on sleeping in a tent but that didn't work out because we grabbed the wrong one. Luckily, my parents and grandparents both brought their trailers and met us up in the White Mountains so we ended up bunking with them. That went fine. Hadley again, loved playing in the dirt and rocks. There were a million wildflowers up there from all the rain that were about thigh high for her so she'd walk around hitting them all. She was a great camper and I think she'll love the outdoors just as much as Jon and I do. I was worried she'd be one giant mosquito bite but I don't think she got a single one. The weather was great in both places and it did rain which isn't so great for exploring during camping but was still a nice change of pace from the hot temps in Tucson.


Hitting all the wildflowers

She's walking everywhere. Just this week I feel like she's improved a ton in repeating words. I was a little worried about her language development but she's getting there. She knows 'hi,' 'eye,' 'dada,' 'mama,' 'oooo' for moo, 'uff uff' for doggies, and she's repeated various phrases just once and we've never heard them again. She's so curious and adventurous. Doesn't seem to be afraid of much. Doesn't like her teeth being brushed, but LOVES reading books. She'll bring us book after book after book to read. And we'll do that about 5 times a day. I'm ok with that because she likes books more than TV right now.


Playing with dirt

God is

To be able to answer the question, "Is God relevant?" I need to have some sort of picture of who God is. This task is a bit dangerous as it is "putting God in a box," but more than that it's difficult to define such a being. It would seem easier to define what God is NOT. But alas, I will attempt to outline the character of God for myself, in ways that I have experienced him. This is in no particular order.

God is loving.

God is faithful.

God is powerful.

God is merciful.

God is all-knowing.

God is all-seeing.

God is just.

God is jealous.

God is alive.

God is sufficient.

God is personal.

I could sit here another hour or more and probably add to the list. Next I need to be able to articulate how God has shown up in my life in these ways. This is more of a daunting task as I know there are times where I have dismissed, or clearly missed, him being present in my day to day activities. To be able to do this would communicate that God is relevant. I know in my heart and mind he is, but to communicate that to someone who doesn't know God is a whole different ball game.

Is God Relevant?

In church today, Glen started a new series titled, 'Lost'. After writing my long blogs on the parable of the sower I've been thinking a lot about the Jesus my life portrays. Do people see Jesus in my actions? Do they have a glimpse of a God who freely gives grace, who faithfully loves, and who powerfully lives?

My instincts say 'no'. I realize I'm usually harder on myself about personality issues and perhaps it makes me work that much more to become a better person. I don't often have people approach me about my spiritual journey. On the other hand it's not easy for me to initiate conversations about my spiritual journey or another's journey. This kind of delves into a separate issue for me, just being outgoing and approachable, but I digress.

Glen, and a book I'm reading UnChristian, both talked about what outsiders think of Christians. They think God is distant and not personal; God is not relevant. I began to wonder after hearing this, "If someone asked me those questions what would I say?" My answer...."I have no idea how to respond." I suppose I could come up with something and I would depend on the Holy Spirit to be a part of the situation. Unfortunately, I'd have to take some time to think it through. And so I will.

Hypocrisy pt 2

Most outsiders think that Christians are hypocritical and for good reason. I often struggle with this label though. People want or expect Christians to be real, authentic and genuine, and I agree we should be. So there are times in life where I say one thing and then do another for whatever reason. This makes me a hypocrite. I've done it, I still do it, and I know I will probably do it again. To be real I'm admitting I'm a hypocrite, so does that make me less of a Christian?

I understand these expectations come from the high standards that Christians are to live up to and the standards they so often, harshly and unfairly, push on others. If Christians expect outsiders to live up to the standards of Christ this is unfair. Even Paul says in 1 Cor. 5:12, "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?...God will judge those outside."

How do I reconcile being real to those outsiders watching me while still living up to the standards Christ has set up for us and as society expects us? I don't want to seem lazy in my pursuit of righteousness. I don't want to excuse my episodes of hypocrisy. I want those watching to know I don't claim perfection, I claim perseverance. I keep working towards the end result, to live up to what Christ has modeled for me. I know this is the best path.