Wedding Pictures

I haven't forgotten!  I promise to post some photos and thoughts about our wedding and all the wonderful pre-wedding events we enjoyed with family and close friends.  But until then...here is a link to a Wedding Slide show prepared by our photographer.  George did a fantastic job!  We love his work and he did exactly what we had hoped he would do...really capture the emotion and spirit of the day. 

The slide show is just a sampling of the photos from Friday evening "stukjes" in the barn and the events on the wedding day.

FYI - be patient when the show loads.  It loads in groupings and will default back to the very first picture while loading the next group.

Enjoy!!

Qualifying Exam - Passed!!

 

I have received official notification!  My qualifying exam met the standards and received a passing mark.  I am now ABD - otherwise known as "All But Dissertation". 

Now it is fully up to me and my self-discipline to finish (or perhaps I should say "start"!) the work I must do in order to complete my dissertation. 

And our First American Visitor is...

The first family visitor from my side of the family arrived in Jerusalem this past weekend.  Nate, my youngest cousin in the 33-member Nolt cousin network, is in Israel for two months this summer.  He is earning his keep by working for an inn in Nazareth and helping to mark and write a guide for a backpacking trail called Jesus Trail that traces the steps of Jesus through the Galilee region.  He visited us for 2 days in Jerusalem to discover this city in a relaxed way.  We look forward to welcoming him back again to do and see more later in the summer when some college friends will have joined him. 

And yes...as my sister pointed out, there is a strong family resemblance...the Nolt genes are quite strong!  PS - our mothers also look alike  and have been known to be mistaken for each other :)  

Stocking a Kitchen

...item by item.

To ease my transition into cooking "real food" with regularity, I am slowly stockpiling the necessary pantry items to make this happen with relative ease.  Today's grocery shopping goal...baking supplies.  It required a patient hunt through the store.  Flour is not by the sugar; brown sugar is not by the white sugar; baking powder comes in small packets, and Arm & Hammer is not the supplier of baking soda.  But I succeeded...as proven by the picture below.  And thanks to Lynette, I already had measuring cups and spoons...which have already proved quite useful. 

And I have to comment about the size difference between here and the US.  No 5 pound bags of flour or sugar to be found!  I put the coffee mug beside the sugar bag to give perspective.  Honestly, most kitchens in Israel would not have space for the massive bags we can buy in the US. 

Things my former housemates will appreciate

I was excited to find popcorn...not microwave popcorn...but REAL popcorn just waiting to be popped in oil on the stovetop and sprinkled with melted butter and salt.  YUM!!!!  I have been looking for popcorn like this in stores without success.  Needless to say...I was very excited to find it this afternoon!  Laura...you were wise in suggesting that I probably didn't need to include a bag of popcorn in my limited luggage space when I was packing up my stuff in Boston :) 

 

I know you all loved and deeply appreciated my little HotShot water heater.  I am telling you today that there is something far surpassing the HotShot in usefulness and greatness!
European cultures are wonderful for many reasons...an important reason being their embracing of water kettles.  In just a few minutes, you can have an entire pot of boiling water for tea...for cooking...for just the sheer joy of experiencing the speed with which you can boil water!  I am sure you can find such kettles in America.  Trust my advice...they are worth the hunt to locate one! 

Pictures of Home

My 6-year old nephew asked me to send a picture of our apartment building.  So Austin...here it is!  All buildings in Jerusalem are required to be built with "Jerusalem Stone".  Our building is older, so the stone looks a lot more worn.  Sidewalks in Old City and many of the streets in the New City are also built with Jerusalem stone.  Beware...it is quite slippery when wet!

And here is a picture of the little garden directly inside the gate of our building.  The old man who tends this garden gives me a true gift each day.  The garden is a green oasis on hot, sunny days ,and it always makes me smile when I walk by it.  There are always blooming flowers, growing vegetables...and last summer he even grew sweet corn!

In front of our apartment (directly to the right of the picture) a new building is currently being constructed.  The building process here takes much longer than in the US!  Last summer when I visited, they were working on this project.  This summer...the work continues.  I'm looking forward to its completion (hopefully by summer's end) as the work creates a lot of dust.  It is interesting to observe how buildings are constructed.  Not a piece of wood is used...only concrete, metal poles, and then Jerusalem stone on the surface. 

The other interesting dynamic is that construction workers tend to be Palestinian or Israeli Arabs.  Seems to be a world-wide societal tendency...to depend on those who are less fortunate to do the needed tasks...but far less appealing tasks.  I am reminded of migrant workers in the US, the predominance of immigrants as nursing assistants in nursing homes, etc. etc. etc.  I don't think America could survive without its immigrant population...nor do I think Israel could survive without the Arab population.  But yet both countries want to solve their "problem".  I certainly don't have an answer...just some simple observations.

Welcome Home

Despite J's assertion that Dutch men are not romantic...his actions cause me to believe otherwise! 

Before leaving for our wedding, he took the time to unpack the very large suitcases filled to the brim with my stuff that I had sent along with him in April.  It felt so nice and welcoming to walk into our apartment and see familiar pictures on the wall , familiar books on the shelf, and familiar things scattered throughout the place. 

He also asked a friend to prepare our apartment for our arrival.  We walked into a sparkling clean apartment filled with the aroma of flower bouquets, scattered rose petals, chocolates, and a chilled bottle of wine in the fridge. 

And yes...he did carry me across the threshold as all good newlywed husbands should do!