Just the Two of Us

  This Christmas was good to us. I mean, this Christmas our families were so good and generous to us. My favorite gifts that we received this year were opportunities for experiences that we probably wouldn't have gotten for ourselves. Season passes to Silver Dollar City, babysitting coupons, gift cards to restaurants ... these are a few of my favorite things.

  Anyway, this year my parents gifted us a night away at a hotel & a couple's massage, as well as childcare for our mini stay-cation. We took advantage of their generosity last night - sort of an early Valentine's get-away - and ... It. Was. Glorious.

  I'm always writing about the kiddos, so I thought it would be nice to document the fact that we did something that didn't involve Veggie Tales, diapers, pacifiers, and Hot Wheels. Yesterday afternoon my mom cam over after we got the little ones down for their naps, and then we took off. Freedom! Well, first we went and signed a dozens of papers since we are refinancing our house (yay!), and ... freedom! We picked up lunch and checked into our suite. It was quiet. It had cable. We ate, watched pointless television, read, and then napped at 5pm. Because we could.

  After our evening naps we got ready for dinner at Eleven, the restaurant at Crystal Bridges museum. We've been wanting to try it out for a while, and we were not disappointed. I ordered the Arctic Char and it was seriously one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. I told Josh I would eat the dish everyday if I could, and if we hadn't been in public I probably would have licked my plate. Instead, I settled for scraping every last teensy piece of quinoa off of my plate and using the side of my fork to scoop up the remnants of the pomegranate balsamic reduction. So, you should eat there sometime.

  After dinner we ran by Wal-Mart to pick up some snacks, then went back to the hotel for more R&R. I was a little bummed that I had a really difficult time falling asleep ... apparently I now need the noise of the kids' sound machines coming through their monitors to purr me to sleep. When I finally turned on the sound machine app on my phone I was out like a light. Until 10:30am. That was amazing. Sadly, I woke up to discover I had a voicemail from the spa telling me one of the massage therapists came down with the flu, so we'll have to get our massages another time. The theme of relaxation continued until we checked out at lunchtime and decided to try out Pho Thanh, a Vietnamese restaurant in Bentonville. It was ridiculously good. The prices were very reasonable, we got WAY more food than we expected, and the waitress was so sweet and helpful. The eggrolls were delicious, and if you go I would recommend ordering the bun thit nuong cha gio, or "B2" (this was my first experience with Vietnamese food and it made me feel like less of a rookie to type the full name).

    A quick Target trip after lunch yielded a super cute pair of mint skinny jeans for me ... they actually aren't cute on at all right now, but I need motivation to make myself start working out, so I bought a size too small in hopes that they'll fit sometime in the 90 day return period :) We then arrived home to find a clean house with my massive pile of ironing done (thanks mom!) and sleeping babies. Cora woke a few minutes later and spent about 45 minutes just snuggling me: cooing, playing with my hair, flirting with her daddy, and sweetly flopping her head over on me. She's a heart-melter, that one.

Ahhh. It's good to be home.

Recipes on Parade

 My recent effort to be more consistent with meal-planning has motivated me to start trying out some of the many recipes I've pinned on my "Looks Delicious" board on Pinterest. (Is that enough links in one sentence for you? Buckle up - this is going to be a link-heavy post). There have been a few recipes that haven't made the cut for our household, but we've really enjoyed several of the dishes I've tried. I'm excited to share them, but I don't think I understand proper blogging etiquette/copyright law enough to trust myself to post the actual recipes (or versions of them) here, so instead I thought I'd just review a few we've liked and give you the links to the original blogs so you can give them a shot if you're interested! Here are some that have made the official move to my "Worth Eating Again" board:

No-Bake Energy Bites
 Oh heavens. I'm telling you about these first while I still have your attention because I'm crazy about them. They are basically a healthier version of a no-bake cookie: oats, flaxseed, chocolate chips, peanut butter, honey, toasted coconut ... how could you go wrong with that combo? I also love that, if you used steel-cut oats, this is a quick and easy gluten-free snack. My mom & sister both have to eat gluten-free, so I always get excited when I find something that I think is delicious that I can share with them. I've got a container of these little guys in my fridge right now, and they are so filling that you really wouldn't want to eat more than two at a time. Also, they always make me want to drink milk. You should make these.

Hawaiian Barbecue Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
  I don't think I've mentioned this recipe before, but I've made it several times over the past few months and it has become one of my favorite quick and easy meals. Well, it's quick and easy to assemble, but since it's a crockpot meal I guess it actually takes quite a while.All you need for this recipe is chicken, chopped onion, barbecue sauce, & pineapple; and all that is required of you is to toss it in a crockpot & then shred the chicken when it is nearly done (the shredding even being made a breeze by tossing it in the Kitchenaid mixer - a handy tip I learned from my friend, Carol). It's a great meal to freeze half of for later (or to share, if you're in the stage of life where it seems someone has a baby every other week).

Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken
  I was both intrigued and a little nervous about this recipe, mostly due to the massive amount of brown sugar you dump in your crockpot. Then, in it's early cooking stages, I was sure we were going to end up with a huge pot of chicken we'd have to throw away, because the vinegar smell was a little stinky. However, by the time dinner rolled around and we topped our rice with the chicken, poured on a little of the broth, and mixed in the steamer bag of veggies that were fresh out of the microwave (because this is the only way I can get myself to consistently prepare vegetables without tons of waste - and I'm okay with that), we found it made quite a tasty dish. Since the recipe makes a TON of chicken, I ended up shredding all of the leftover chicken, freezing half, and keeping the other half in the fridge to eat on sandwiches, with rice, or over a salad.

7 Layer Mexican Bean Dip
 I tried out this 7 layer dip for a community group potluck last night. I liked the idea of a dip that is a little different than the traditional cold 7 layer dip I would normally think of. While I probably won't make this often (it's REALLY hearty & a little time-consuming), it's great for a crowd. It takes a little while because you have to factor in baking the spicy brown rice it calls for. I think I might prefer some of the flavors of the traditional cold dip (I'm a big fan of sour cream & guacamole), but it was fun to have something a little spicy and unexpected.

  There you have it - the latest & greatest, from my kitchen to yours.

  Also, if anyone knows of a great resource for understanding good blogging/linking etiquette that would help me make sure I'm not being a pirate or an intellectual property thief, please send me the link. I really try to avoid being a thieving pirate.

Hold My Hand, Just One More Time

The cold January night in 2005 when my sweet husband asked me to be his girlfriend, we sat in his little Acura and talked about our relationship while the song, Elias, by Dispatch, jammed over the speakers.

Ten and a half months later, Josh drove south on I-540 with Elias on repeat, celebrating having received my parents' blessing to ask me to be his wife.

When we were choosing our wedding music we realized that Elias had sort of become "our song". Perhaps a bit less romantic than "The Way You Look Tonight" or something along those lines; but then again ... isn't real romance found in the unique blending of who you and your love are, instead of in some shrink-wrapped ideal that you can grab off the shelf at Hallmark? Anyway, Elias it was, and so, after we had said our vows and exchanged our rings, we took our first steps into our life as the Lawsons with the djembe and bongos setting our pace.

Fast forward five years and two months. I am standing in a crowded little venue, the Pageant, in St. Louis. My husband is trying to shield me from the flailing elbows of moshing frat boys and I'm wondering how it is that I'm surrounded by so many other concert attendees that do not have the "over-21-stamp" on their right hands. I'm realizing that when this band called a hiatus in 2002, these kids couldn't have been any older than 11. I feel old. Actually, I feel seasoned ... I love that for the past seven years (since Josh introduced me to Dispatch) this music has provided a significant part of the soundtrack to our relationship.

 They play all the best songs. They play some new ones, too, and the story behind one of them makes me cry. It is the most fun I have ever had at a concert and I feel so lucky that we are there, just 10-15 feet from the stage where Brad, Pete, & Chad look like they are having a pretty good time, too. It is the best way we could celebrate our 5th anniversary (2 months later).

And just in case you haven't had the opportunity to hear "our song", I give you, Elias (there's probably a better way to embed songs, but I don't feel like taking the time to figure it out right now):

Elias by DISPATCH

A Place Called Blessing by John Trent with Annette Smith

Okay, so my next post won't be a book review ... I promise. I read this book, A Place Called Blessing, while we were at the beach last week & I'm anxious to review it so I can get my next free read :) I chose this book because it is the story of a young man who grows up in foster care, and our church is currently experiencing a surge in families who are fostering - some temporarily and many to adopt. While foster care is not a direction that Josh and I are pulled toward at this stage in our lives, we have started talking about getting approved as foster care babysitters so that we can help give our friends who are fostering some date nights and so we can become more involved in these kids' lives.

 
So, the book ... A Place Called Blessing tells the story of a young man named Josh, whose parents were killed in a car accident when he was very young. He and his brothers are left to deal with a childhood marked by drifting in and out of different foster homes and even further tragedy. I can't lie, by the second or third chapter I was seriously doubting my ability to choose good beach-reading material. Childhood tragedy isn't exactly what you want to think about when you're laying on a beach towel. Thankfully, his life took a few turns for the better as the story went on.

 This book was a very easy and quick read, as well as a bit predictable. By about halfway through the book I knew how it was probably going to end, and with the exception of one surprising twist, I was correct. I have already recommended this book to several friends who are in the foster care training/approval process, because I think it will encourage them to dream and pray about the difference that they can make in a child's life. With that said, I probably won't recommend the book to anyone who isn't in that sort of process. The predictability and lack of depth in the story made it hard for me to stay engaged in reading. I sort of wanted to just skim through to see what happened without having to read every page. I appreciated the heart of the book, but it just didn't grab me.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Kabul 24 by Henry O. Arnold & Ben Pearson

 Because when you haven't blogged in almost 8 weeks you should definitely re-engage anyone who reads the blog with a book review.  That's what the people want. Okay, I guess I'll give a brief family update from the past 2 months and then explain why I'm talking about this book: As previously mentioned, Josh broke his foot on Memorial Day. I guess that's sort of why I've been MIA in the internet world - when your husband can't walk for 8 weeks & you have a one-year-old who can walk very well, life is a little exhausting. By the time I'd get to finally sit down at night (when I normally blog) I really didn't feel like doing anything that required thought. I am disappointed that in the midst of all the busyness I didn't take Liam's 13 & 14 month pics in his chair, or write posts for either of those months, but I guess he still has a chance at a well-adjusted childhood :) I will make it up to him (I mean myself and his grandmas, because I don't think he cares) with a long and gushy mommy post later on.

Today though, I want to share about this book:

  Many months ago I read on my friend Kim's blog about a program, which is now called BookSneeze, that sends bloggers free books in return for reviews on blogs & consumer sites. I love to read & don't mind telling people about what I'm reading, so this sounded like a perfect way to get my hands on some new reading material. So, I signed up, requested my first book, read it ... and then did nothing. I totally forgot to review it and then forgot about the program altogether. I have read so much this summer, though, that I really want to try to get on board with this awesome program. Hence, without further adieu, I give you Kabul 24.

 This non-fiction work by Arnold & Pearson tells the story of 8 western aid workers who had made lives in Afghanistan prior to 9/11. Although the workers, both men & women, were very involved in community development and education, they were glad to engage the Afghan nationals on matters of Christian faith when interest was shown. It was through this sort of relationship with a family that the foreigners were trapped when they showed the Jesus film - a betrayal that resulted in their arrest by the Taliban.

 Although this book wasn't necessarily a dramatic page-turner;  I found it hard to put down as I read the personal accounts of how these men and women sought to honor the Lord and wait patiently during their weeks of captivity. It was fascinating to read about the ways the workers would encourage one another and seek the Lord for courage and strength while under the watchful eye of a harsh regime. I have always been drawn to missionary biographies and autobiographies, and while this book was focused more on a short window of experience, rather than a life story, it had the same effect of building my own faith.

I don't think I'd recommend this book if you're just looking for a fun, easy read or if you're wanting something that will really get your adrenalin flowing; but if you have an interest in missions or learning more about this part of the world, you'll be pleased with what you glean from Kabul 24.

 And if reading a book review wasn't your cup of tea, stay tuned for some mommy gushing sometime soon!

Recent Reading

When the air-conditioning at your house hasn't been working all week, you spend a lot of time after the sun goes down going in and out of your house, trying to find the exact moment when the outside air has finally gotten cooler than the inside air so you can open your windows & hopefully get some relief. Prior to this glorious moment, it is unwise to do chores involving heat, such as washing dishes or ironing clothes. At least that has been my experience this week.

So, I sit here, instead of making things worse by trying to work. I'd watch a movie, but the movie I picked up at Redbox today was intended to be watched while ironing, so I kind of hate to use the entertainment up now. Josh was able to get off the couch & out of the house for a bit tonight, to go see the new X-Men movie with a friend; so it's just me, Liam sleeping in just a diaper, and poor Jack, who probably wishes we would shave him.

I spent some time this evening reading the first couple chapters of Beth Moore's book, Believing God. I'm glad I finally remembered to pick it up at the bookstore today, since I'm attending a book discussion about it in just a couple of weeks. It's kind of nice to have a deadline for finishing a book, since I tend to get excited about too many books at once and then have trouble finishing them because I have 6 or 7 in a heap on my nightstand.

Anyway, back in March I wrote a little post on what I was reading at that time and I thought I'd update with the more recent reads. Sadly, I have not yet finished At Home or 50 People Every Christian Should Know. They are still on the nightstand, so there is still hope. Since they are both a teensy bit tedious it may take awhile, but I'll wade through them eventually. I did, however, complete the Beth Moore study, Living Beyond Yourself, and it was excellent. It was so full of rich truths and new insights that I really need to slowly re-read the study guide and my notes at some point - the saturation point of my brain and heart was definitely maxed out long before the study ended. Gratefully, I do believe that the Word of God does not return void, and so I know the Holy Spirit will use that time spent in study in my life, even if I don't remember everything I learned.

A few nights ago, I also finished reading Dr. James Dobson's book, Bringing up Boys.

Source

 This book has been around for awhile and I was excited to see what sort of "practical advice and encouragement for those shaping the next generation of men" it might offer me, as it's subtitle suggests. I enjoyed the book, agreed with much of what Dr. Dobson had to say, and it was also a fairly quick read. A lot of the reviews of the book that I read online took issue with Dr. Dobson's conservative views, specifically how he dealt with homosexuality and feminism, and if you have more liberal leanings regarding either of those topics, you will probably take issue with his views, as well. I, however, did not.

 It was sort of startling and refreshing to read the words of someone from a different generation than my own: someone who still is willing to claim that there is absolute truth and that God had a really specific idea in mind when he created men, women, and families. I definitely believe these things, but I felt like this book reminded me that I don't have to apologize for it. Anyway, some of the things I enjoyed most about this book were as follows:

• Great research - it was so interesting to read the statistics from the different studies he cited throughout the book. The therapist in me appreciated that aspect of his writing (or some might say the nerd in me ... whichever you prefer).
• Chapters on sons' relationships with both parents - I really loved getting a look at what Josh and my roles in our relationships with Liam might look like in the future. I will probably have to look back at these chapters when I sense myself wanting to be too clingy or over-involved as Liam gets older.
• Warning to protect my children's hearts - Throughout the book Dobson emphasized the God-given responsibility of parents to be aware of that which would attack and wound the tender hearts of their children. I definitely don't want to be a frightened helicopter-parent, but I do want to be vigilant and aware.
• Encouragement to honor my husband (& sons) - Prior to reading this book I had thought some, but hadn't really meditated on, the impact my interactions with Josh will have on how Liam (and any other sons we have) interpret what it means to be a man. I was really challenged to spend time in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to convict me and curb bad habits I have that may be unintentionally undermining who Josh is, as a man.

There were a few things about the book that I wish were a little different (ie, could be pretty tough to read if you're a single mom, lots of focus on the challenges of raising boys but not tons of practical suggestions for how to celebrate sons), but overall I thought it was great and I will definitely encourage friends or clients who are parents of boys to read it.

And what do you know ... the air-conditioning repairman showed up at our house just a bit ago and now gloriously cool air pouring through our vents. Time to pull out the ironing board.

Brain Food

  Today I wanted to do a little post on what I'm reading lately - you know, the stuff that has kept me from blogging very regularly.  The reading that has consumed the most of my time since the middle of January has been for the Bible study I'm participating in this semester.  It's a Beth Moore study called Living Beyond Yourself.

The study is based on Galatians 5, which examines the fruit of the Spirit.  We are only a few weeks into the study, but I'm riveted every week and can't wait to do my homework each day.  Even though it is an incredible blessing - a miracle, really - to have been raised in a God-honoring home and to have been a follower of Christ from an early age; some Scriptures are so familiar that I tend to breeze right through them without really thinking too much about them.  The fruit of the Spirit has kind of been like that in the past for me - a list I can quickly rattle off thanks to years of Bible memory through Awanas & Bible quizzing, but not a topic I've grappled with.  Finally grappling has been wonderful.  I've been so inspired to dream about what life can be like when truly lived in the Spirit, and I would HIGHLY recommend this study to anyone.  I know some people don't have access to the dvds to watch Beth's teaching, but if there is any way you can watch them along with the study it enhances the learning tremendously.  I'm so thankful for the gift of teaching God has given her.

I've also been plowing through this gem since the beginning of the year.

Josh's parents gave him this book for Christmas because he loves Bill Bryson, and I've confiscated it for a bit.  Using his aged home in England as a guide, of sorts, Bryson shares his extensive historical research behind all sorts of common things we tend to take for granted.  I've learned about things like why salt and pepper are the most common seasonings we use, how dining rooms came to exist, and why the commercial production of ice changed our diets.  I know ... a lot of questions that have really been bugging you lately, huh?  It isn't the sort of book I'd take to the beach and read for hours on end, but I like picking it up a few times a week and reading several pages at a time.  Some might find it a little tedious, but I've really enjoyed it.  When I was in grade school my best friend and I would play a sort of game every time we had a sleep over.  She would pick some random item (usually something she would see in one of our rooms) and I would make up some elaborate story about who invented that thing and how they thought of it.  This book is sort of like that, except true.

Finally, I've just recently started reading through Warren Wiersbe's '50 People Every Christian Should Know'.

Ever since I was little I have loved reading biographies of missionaries and other great heroes of the faith.  It is so encouraging and challenging to read about how God has worked through the lives of those who have gone before us.  I've only made it through about the first 10 people in this book, maybe not even that many, but one of the things I really enjoy about it is that I'm only familiar with a handful of the people he highlights.  Each individual has about five or six pages devoted to a brief biography of their life and work, and it has been interesting to learn about some of the men and women whose lives of faith helped shape the church as we know it.  I also appreciate that Wiersbe mentions one or two of his favorite resources regarding that individual so that if you are interested in learning more about them you have a few suggestions for where to start.

So, Liam's awake now and we have a walk to go on,  but now you know what I'll be reading the next time the weather's crummy!

On Shrinking

It's been a great week.  Not much time for blogging, because I've been trying to figure out how to fit p90x into my schedule and it really only works to do the workouts before Liam wakes up in the morning or after he goes to bed at night.  This is also when I had been blogging in December, so it has fallen to the wayside this week.  So far I'm LOVING p90x.  I had started it about three different times over the past 5 months, but each time I lacked the planning & motivation to make it a priority, so it lasted about three days each time.  This time I've made it 5 days (woo hoo!), so I think I've broken through a barrier.  Yep, it's a pretty lame barrier, but you have celebrate the small successes, right?

Speaking of successes, I have to take a moment to promote a product ... just a quick unpaid advertisement to hopefully benefit some of my female friends out there who are still in the midst of their childbearing years.  BUY SHRINKX HIPS.  When I was pregnant I stumbled onto this product, I think through one of those annoying sidebar Facebook ads.  I had never heard of it but the website and testimonials sold me on it and I convinced my husband that, if it worked, it was totally worth the money (I think I found it from some store online for $50).  Anyway, it is basically a wide, thick elastic belt that is secured with super-strong elastic tabs.  You're supposed to wear it 6-8 hours every day after you give birth for 6-8 weeks (while the hormone relaxin is still in your system), and the website claims that you should get your pre-pregnancy hips back.  I certainly didn't wear it that faithfully, but I did pretty good with it.  It was a little awkward under pants, but the pressure felt good on loose, weird post-pregnancy hips.  I felt like I was able to get back in my old pants much quicker than I should have, considering how much weight I still needed to lose, so I thought it had worked, at least to some extent.  Tonight I took my measurements so I can track how I'm doing with p90x and I found a place I had written down my measurements about two years ago.  I'm not sure how much I weighed then, but it was probably about 15 lbs. less than I weigh now.  Here's the fantastic news: my hip measurement is the SAME!!!  Yep, that means that once I lose those 15 pounds my hips will be smaller than they were 2 years ago.  So, sorry this is a very vain post, but I think other women deserve to know about this product, because it is magical.

End of story.

A Plug for Gran Torino

So, I'm a little behind the times. I finally watched Gran Torino this weekend with Josh. I thought it was going to be one of those shoot-'em-up movies that I watch with him on occasion to build up equity for the rare times I really want him to watch a chick-flick or old musical with me.


Oh my goodness ... I was wrong.

I loved that movie. My expectations of the movie were so low that when we first turned it on I was sort of busy doing other projects while I watched; but it did not take long for me to get completely sucked into the story. Since Josh works at a church and I'm never sure who reads this, I feel compelled to say that if you are offended by, um, offensive language in movies, you probably shouldn't watch this. I do not recommend it to you. If not, I totally recommend it. What a story.

Friends from I-540

Since Monday was my last day to drive my 112 mile commute to Clarksville, I felt it only fitting to honor the wonderful podcasters who have played such an important role in my life over the past 10 months. Not only have they helped keep me from falling asleep and from going insane with boredom, they have also informed my mind and heart quite a bit on a variety of topics. I would like to share them with you ... now that I won't be able to spend quite as much time with them they may need your listenership to keep them company.

Here they are, in the order in which they appear on my ipod. I have included my own 5-star rating system. A 1-star means I subscribed to the podcast and never listened to it and a 5-star indicates that even though I will no longer spend hours upon hours in my car each week, I will continue to make it a point to listen weekly to the particular podcast.

** American Public Media: Prairie Home Companion's News from Lake Wobegon.
I love Prairie Home Companion, but I prefer listening to the entire show live on the radio. Fifteen minutes of Garrison Keillor is still enjoyable, but I often forget about this one.

** American Public Media: How to Eat Supper. This was an offshoot of the following podcast. It was practical, but very short.

**** American Public Media: The Splendid Table. I very much enjoyed learning about food from this podcast. Two downfalls, though: it would make me become very hungry which is not good when your only options are fast food places off the highway; and sometimes Lynn Rosetto Kasper's voice made me want to fall asleep.

*** Desiring God (John Piper's sermons). I thought I would love this because I really enjoy reading Piper's books. However, I found that (at least in my opinion) his sermons tend to be a little too structured. Sort of reminded me of Bible class lectures in college. They are great, but you get the feeling that you ought to be sitting up straight and taking notes to get the most out of it.

** Fellowship Bible Church Saturday Night. I only listen to these if I'm not able to be at church. The only reason they didn't get a higher rating is because I usually hear them live.

* Imago Dei Community Podcast. I think I subscribed to this because I liked the name of the church. I really haven't listened to it much at all.

** Learn Spanish Spanishpod. I think this has the potential to be very helpful, but alas, I have not been disciplined enough to stick with it.

**** Mars Hill Bible Church (Rob Bell). I'll have to admit that I listen to this one mostly because Rob Bell is such a controversial figure in the arena of U.S. evangelicalism. Sometimes I really like what is said, other times I don't. Still a good listen.

***** Mars Hill Church (Mark Driscoll). It took me a while to get used to Mark's personality, but I will definitely continue listening to him. I'm very challenged by his sermons, and I appreciate the loyalty to the Scriptures.

**** Mosaic (Erwin McManus). I love Erwin's focus and passion. He is probably my favorite person to listen to, based solely on charisma, but his sermon's tend to be very topical, and as far as regular listening, I prefer a more exegetical approach. He has challenged me a ton in my relationships. I'd highly recommend his series from earlier this summer on practical wisdom.

* Notes in Spanish Intermediate. Never listened to it.

***** NPR: Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me! I love it. Listen to it all the time.

**** Fellowship Blble Church Sunday Morning. I like to keep up with the teaching from the Sunday morning congregation at our church, but it's not often my first choice.

*** The Moth Podcast. Unscripted autobiographical stories told live on-stage.

***** The Village Church (Matt Chandler). I think of Matt as a younger, more entertaining, and easier to understand version of John Piper. Very similar theology, not as difficult to get into listening to.

***** This American Life. Several stories/episode that all relate to a central theme. I'm crazy about this one.

*** Travel with Rick Steves. Fun to hear about other cultures and travels, but for the last several months I've just been more interested in listening to other things.

***** Reformed Theological Seminary: History of Christianity. This one isn't a podcast, but you can find it on itunes u. When my brain is clear enough to really pay attention, I love learning while I drive.

So there you have it ... my podcasts and reviews. Enjoy!