Color Collection: Mint

 

necklace | blouse | terrarium | frames | iPhone case | print | shoes

Fish Head

This week our friend Jared Odhiambo is living with us. 

Jared lives in Kisumu, Kenya. He is an incredible man of God.
He oversees the Ringroad Orphan's Day School, as well as two other Christan Schools for Children in need. 

He decided to open an school for orphans when we saw a orphan boy being beaten in the street one day for steal 5 shillings (less than 5 cents US). He paid the man the boy stole from with all he had in his pocket, and asked the boy why he stole. The boy said that his parents died of AIDS and his grandmother could only feed him one meal a day. He and his friends were hungry, so they stole. And that was the beginning of Jared's journey to teach and serve orphan children in his community. He opened Ringroad in 1997, but saw there were many other orphanages that weren't caring properly for the children.

Jared prayed on August 13, 2003, that in a year God would give him the opportunity to work with another orphanage. And on August 14, 2004, Lakeside Christian Children's Home opened it's doors. Then a few years later Alara School.

Jared also works for Christian Relief Fund, where Andrew works.

Side Bar - If you're interested in helping with the work Jared is doing, check out the CRF website.

Okay, moving on...

So last night, Andrew and Jared asked a few other CRF employees to come over for a traditional Kenyan meal. Jared made some delicious food.

 

Going clockwise, we've got:
Onions, obviously
Ugali - Asain kale (or any greens) with onions and spices
Sukuma Wiki - boiled corn mean, kind of like grits
 Chicken Curry - courtesy of Larry Wu
Fried Fish - heads included
Kachumbari - onions, tomatoes and cilantro salad

OH, and I don't mean to brag, but...

Jared said he was impressed that I ate one of the fish heads.
It's not as gross as it sounds...

Too much TV

I'm very not ashamed. I'll say it. 

I watch a lot of TV. I love TV. In another world, I would work in TV.

 (Like as a writer or editor or producer...)

So here's my run down of favorites, what I'm watching currently and so on and such.

Just FYI this ranking changes almost daily, and these are by no means legitimate reviews. 
I'm way too lazy for that. 

Also - this is now a No Judgement Zone. Lunk Alert?

15. Catfish

 

NEV. He just the nicest guy ever. Andrew and I spend as much time talking about how cool Nev is as we do actually watching the show. 

We saw the documentary when it came out - I know, I can't believe it came to an Amarillo theatre either. It's just too ridiculous not to watch.

14. Scandal

Action-packed.

Smart.

Suspenseful.

Kerry Washington.

13. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

 I LOVE JIMMY FALLON. And I loved him even after SNL when he was doing terrible things like the movie Taxi. He is adorable, hilarious and just has so much fun. LNJF is my kind of humor. With sketches like Name that Guy, HeadSwap, and Jacob's Patience, you just can't go wrong. Obviously, he's on way past my bedtime, so I have to watch his show the morning after via Hulu. Thanks Hulu.

12. Seinfeld

This was a go-to resource for parenting in my house growing up. Most lessons my parents bestowed on me and my siblings came from the Bible, Seinfeld or Young Frankenstein. I've seen every episode multiple times, and I don't care about all of you who think it's a show about nothing.

11. Switched at Birth

 ABC Family, you've done it again. I used to be fluent in American Sign Language, but you know how it goes. Either way, I love Switched at Birth. It's a great tribute to the Deaf Community. They recently did an episode entirely in ASL, which is pretty ground breaking. Not only is it a great way to bone up on my ASL vocabulary, it meets the usual ABC Family guilty pleasure drama standards.

10. Alias

Sunday nights were reserved for Alias. My family shut down the house - we didn't answer the phone or the door, and no one was allowed to talk. The first 2 and a half seasons were incredible. Everything would have been fine if Vaughn hadn't MARRIED LAUREN. 

Whatever.

I would also like to throw out that Alias has Bradley Cooper at his best. Will was the most endearing character in my TV life when Alias was on the air. 

9. Nashville

They had me at Connie Britton. Nashville has been a pleasant surprise. The talent is really astounding. I guess I didn't expect it. And everyone is just so pretty...

And those Stella sisters? They should sing on the show more often.

8. 30 Rock

Do I really need to say anything? Blergh.

7. Lost

We are really late to the game, but Andrew and I have been working our way through Lost this year (and part of last). Andrew requested a break during season four, and I obliged. But we've started up again and my brain just feels like it's going to explode.

WHERE. IS. MY. SON?!

6. Friday Night Lights

I started this one because I needed a show that I could watch without Andrew. Little did I know that I was about to embark on a emotional journey that still makes me tear up a little just thinking about it. I just want to move to Dillon and relive high school with Coach Taylor. 

Lions or Panthers??

Uuuhhh, Julie.

Ahhhh, Riggins.

5. The IT Crowd

If you haven't watched the IT Crowd, go to your nearest movie rental store, rent all four series (British vernacular), go home, put in the DVDs, and watch all of them. Or just get Netflix.

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

4. New Girl

Nick Miller is my favorite person on TV right now. New Girl is kind of hit or miss, but lately it's all hit. I'm dying for Nick and Jess to finally just get together...we've waited long enough. If you need a introductory episode to watch, pick Menzies. It's my favorite.

3. Breaking Bad

I could go on for days. And days. And days.

I might say that Breaking Bad is the best show on TV right now. Every element (no pun intended) of this show is incredible - especially character development. Watching the vulnerable, ultimate underdog Walt transform into Heisenberg is mind blowing. It's just brilliant, and I am dying with equal parts anticipation and sadness for the last half of the final season to air this summer.

2. Arrested Development

Hands Down - My favorite TV show of all time.

I can (and do) watch all three seasons over and over, and I never get tired of the Bluths.

I can't really express how insane/crazy/excited I am that Mitch Hurwitz and Netflix took matters into their own hands, and are bringing us a season four - and hopefully a movie.

It ain't easy being white...

1. Parks and Recreation

Parks and Rec is LITERALLY the best.

I laugh out loud so much my tummy hurts. I know this is dangerous territory, but Parks and Rec knocks 30Rock out of the water...in my humble opinion. 
Plus, my brother Dusty IS Andy Dwyer. And my friend Josh IS Jean Ralphio.

On a side note - I often use what I have dubbed "The April Ludgate" method at work. 
Basically, I just stare at people when they're annoying me.

So, that was a lot.

What are your favorite TV shows?