Just Peachy in Pittsburgh

 

Another week down in the Burgh. This week was filled with the regular school and work routine with some Netflix binging, burger eating, hanging out with friends and going to church thrown into the mix. School for Jaden has been picking up in speed but he does a really good job staying on top of his assignments and trying to do things in advance so he is on top of the game and still is able to carve out time to spend with me.

Netflix Binging
One of our favorite things to do after we make dinner is sit down and watch a show or movie together. I know we probably shouldn’t stare at computer screens studying and working all day and then just move over to another screen and watch a show but we enjoy spending the evening snuggling on the couch and unwinding after a long day. We have this strange habit where when a series blows up and everyone is watching it we never watch it during the hype but instead wait until it dies down and there are several seasons out and then we just binge it all at once. It’s not really intentional but it happens all the time and last week it was with Outer Banks. A bunch of our friends and family had told us we had to watch it but we never did until the Huntzingers (our friend Amanda’s parents) were ranting and raving about it so we started it and immediately got sucked in. Within an embarrassing three days we had watched both seasons. It’s not my favorite show I’ve ever seen but I was definitely impressed at how they kept you guessing and left you with no choice but to keep watching when every episode ended in a cliffhanger. The soundtrack was awesome and it made me want to hurry and book a trip to the Carolinas and go see those grassy beaches and Spanish moss trees in real life. After blazing through that series we’re now moving on to Stranger Things, another show we missed the hype on it but are starting it just in time for Halloween.

Burger Eating
Before he started school, Jaden made a list of best restaurants in Pittsburgh we had to try. Discover the Burgh is our favorite blog we’ve used as a resource as we’ve been exploring the city. A local couple has made a career out of exploring Pittsburgh and creating guides to the best restaurants, museums, hiking trails and other events and activities in the area. Using their recommendations Jaden compiled a list of over 50 restaurants and dessert shops we’re going to slowly make our way through so that when people come and visit we can take them to the best places in the city. We love trying new places and Pittsburgh definitely has a lot of unique food types we’d never experienced out West. On Friday we picked a local Caribbean restaurant called Kaya’s. Their Caribbean burger has all the fixings of a normal burger complete with an egg and their signature Caribbean sauce that is kind of like fry sauce but more exotic. It was delicious. Yelp reviewers claim its the best burger in Pittsburgh, we’ll keep making our way down Jade’s list and see if we agree. While we were walking around waiting for our table to be ready we found a building called the Pittsburgh Produce Terminal that was previously a market hub and is currently under renovations. Part of the building is still used for weekly farmers markets and there is  a hallway of sorts leading through the building to the next block over. In this walkway space there are these cute signs that look like product stickers. Of course I had to snap a picture of the one that said “Peachy in Pittsburgh.” It really is peachy in Pittsburgh. 

 

                 

 

 

        

 

 

                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanging Out with Friends
We hosted Sunday dinner at our house and made French dip sandwiches, ate dinner and played games. Sunday dinners with friends really help make Sundays feel more normal and we love spending with our Carnegie Crew. It’s been really awesome to see how we are able to create a family out of friends while we’re away from our families. Our friend Keile’s birthday was this past week so the rest of us girls went and decorated her porch while she and Taylor were out to dinner. Our plan was that she’d see it when they got home but we neglected the fact that they park behind their apartment and enter through the backdoor. So she didn’t see it until the next day but was still so appreciative. And we were happy to hear that nothing was stolen and/or raccoons didn’t tear apart our treats and presents we left!

This next week we are all going to upstate New York together to tour church history sites and see where Keile served her mission. I’m excited to spend time together and take advantage of this unique time we have to explore the surrounding states around us.

Going to Church
At church on Sunday during the opening prayer the woman praying asked that the congregation would receive answers to our questions. My immediate thought was I don’t have any questions. But as I sat during the meeting later on a question popped into my mind that I’ve always wondered about. I have always wondered why there are no pictures or depictions of Christ in our chapels at church. There are paintings throughout the rest of the Church building until you walk into the chapel. This is unique in comparison to other churches that often have very ornate depictions of Christ in stained glass windows, paintings, architecture etc. As I thought about this more the thought entered my mind “Is it possible that there are no depictions of Christ in the chapel because you are supposed to see Him and hear Him through the people that stand at the pulpit and speak and bear testimony??” Additionally I pondered about how the focus of the chapel and of sacrament meeting is on the sacrament. A literal depiction and symbol of our Savior’s sacrifice, Atonement and an ordinance that allows us to remember and renew our covenants with Him. This changed my view of the way I see and want to attend sacrament meeting. During those times when the meeting is almost painful when it’s hard to focus and glean anything from what is being said I want to remember this lesson and remember what is important: to listen better and see if I can see and hear Christ in the experiences and testimonies that are told. To ask myself what am I learning about Christ as I listen to others’ speak? I want to feel nearer to Him as I renew my covenants and that my focus can be on Christ in those meetings not on myself or on others. I think the walls in the chapel are a blank canvas to give us the opportunity to seek Christ personally through our as we listen and learn and seek to come closer to Him as we renew our covenants with Him. Because truly that’s all we can give Him is our will. Our will to listen, learn, remember and act. I hope I can remember this and also remember that we can receive answers to our questions whether they are big or small. I’m grateful for that woman’s prayer and the insight it gave me that I wasn’t anticipating. 


Peaches
Kaya Burgers

• Sunday Dinner at our place
• Playing Cover Your Assets
• Outer Banks
• Getting videos of nieces and nephews laughing and growing up way too fast!
  
• Peachy in Pittsburgh sign
• Going to a new farmers market
• Getting a package from mom and dad
  
• Hearing about my new coworker’s son who is a living breathing miracle
• We made a countdown chain for our nieces and nephews to tear off every Sunday at Sunday dinner until we come home for Christmas. Every chain has a challenge or activity to do this past week was build a puzzle and send us a picture and we’d do the same. It was so fun to get their pictures back, we miss their cutie faces 
• Making a yummy Saturday breakfast
• Pumpkin candles
• Walked to the grocery store to get some last minute things for Sunday dinner, so nice to live so close to the downtown Squirrel Hill neighborhood (Pittsburgh as a city is divided up into neighborhoods and we live in the one called Squirrel Hill)
• Saw one of those library boxes where you give a book and get a book in someone's front yard that had a book I remember reading as a kid: Five Little Ladybugs
  

 

 

 

Pits

• Thinking that Keile’s birthday gift got stolen or torn apart
• Being sleep deprived after watching Outer Banks
• Wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans to dinner thinking it was time for fall but it was still 82 degrees so I was roasting as we walked around and ate outside 
• Rough loss for the Utes again
• Thinking I dumped my phone in a load of laundry, luckily that wasn’t true
• Driving home from church and seeing a kid being chased out of the local CVS and dropping some items that appeared to be stolen, it made me sad to think about what was going on his life that made stealing the only option for him that day