just because

 A dear friend of mine gave me this book, just because....

Just because she saw it at Anthropology, and just because

she had been to the ice cream store in question last year

on a road trip and it was seriously the best ice she's ever had,

and just because I recently bought the ice cream maker the

recipes were designed for, and just because Anthropology 

has the most beautiful packaging, so you feel like you're

buying a gift every time you shop there. I am thoroughly 

enjoying the book for all the above reasons, and because

it includes stories about the founding of the business itself

and descriptions of the chemistry of ice cream making and 

a beautiful, artistic layout and, most importantly, many

fabulous recipes for not just ice creams, but also sauces,

meringues, macaroons and cones -- all the necessary accessories!

I can't wait to try them out.

latest reading

My husband recently asked me to read a book for pleasure.
Not a book-for-pleasure-learning-how-to-make-something-new,
but simply something to fall into and enjoy with no other end product
in mind. I wasn't sure where to start -- the last time I read a piece
of fiction was over five years ago, when I was in the hospital with a
freshly born Elliott. I happily finished out the final Harry Potter book
while he slept and people waited on me hand and foot.

Fortunately, Ashton's been deep into the world of Percy Jackson,

having read several of them multiple times. So I decided to pick up 

book one and have quite enjoyed the read. While the tone

of the book is decidedly middle school angst, the ideas unfold

in surprising ways and the story is engaging and fun to follow.

I had a hard time putting it down sometimes, and I'm on to book two!

I've been a big N.T. Wright fan for some time now.

I used to listen to his lectures while I painted (follow this link

and scroll down to "Wright Audio/Video" for a selection of 

audio links to peruse), resonating with his ideas about the 

kingdom of God and subsequently speaking to myself in 

what I pretended was a superb British accent. 

I've never read his books, however, as they seem 

generally enormous and specifically academic in nature.

They are often written at least in part as a response to 

some other scholar with whom I am completely unfamiliar.

This book, while it references the work of other scholars,

is very straightforward and is a storehouse of Wright's 

intense studies about the Bible, Jewish thought at the time

it was written, and the historical context in general.

Further, I'm considering memorizing the book of Romans,

since Ephesians is starting to solidify. But I have spent 

much of my life avoiding this particular book of the Bible, 

and I thought I would like to become acquainted with it first.

In this particular tome, I started with the Introduction to 

Epistolary Literature, which was very informative, and 

I'm heading into the section on Romans now. Here goes!