Keltricity

#99: Inspire someone else to start their own "99 in 999" list.
Monday afternoon, I got a Facebook message from my cousin Mary, saying that she's starting her own 99 list! Good luck, Mary!

#63: Go to 5 concerts.

This weekend, Tom and I went to see a show at The Bard's Town. It's a pub on Bardstown Rd. (a.k.a. the hip and trendy part of town), and all the menu items have Shakesperean names. For example, Tom got To Bean or Not to Bean, which was the black bean burger. Anyway, we went there to see Keltricity, a local band that plays Celtic music from all over the world. (Apparently it's not just old Irish music...I have so much to learn.) They were great! Tom and I were definitely the youngest people there by about 30 years, but we didn't mind. I guess our generation just doesn't know what's good. :-p

Calling all 90s CCM fans!

#63: Go to 5 concerts.

Well, put on your fat pants; the fair is in town! The KY State Fair has a free concert every night, and last night's was the Newsboys (with Sanctus Real). My sister Beulah got me hooked on the Newsboys years ago, and even though they've changed band members like high-school girls change BFFs, my love for them remains. I saw them once before; they came to Charleston back in 2008 as part of a Franklin Graham festival. Funny story with that, actually...

It was a Saturday afternoon. Tom and I had just finished up one of our many "phone dates" (we lived in separate states for the first several months of our courtship, so we had to get creative), and this one was at Starbucks. I was at the one right across the street from the coliseum where the festival was going to be, so I told Mom, Beulah, and Phil that I would just meet them there. Well, I was just enjoying my beverage and probably reading or journaling, when this guy walked in and went right past my table. He was dressed in black from head to toe; he had these big clunky-looking combat boots, and a jacket that had all kinds of buckles and straps all over it. I immediately thought, "He looks like he could be one of the guys playing tonight; I wonder if I should ask him." Then I thought, "Esther, don't be stupid; imagine how humiliated you would be if he turned out to be some regular guy who just dressed like that all the time? Besides, you know what the Newsboys look like, and he doesn't look like one of them." Well...later that same evening, Beulah, Phil, and I were right in front of the stage, jumping around and singing along with the Newsboys; and the lead singer at the time, Peter Furler, started introducing all of the other band members. When he pointed to Jeff Frankenstein (yes, that is his real name) on bass guitar, I looked over and saw the guy from Starbucks. Talk about a missed opportunity!

Anyway, a few changes since then...just to name a few, Jeff now plays keyboards, and Peter left the group a few years ago. Their current lead singer is Michael Tait. As someone who grew up listening to nothing but CCM (contemporary Christian music), this was a really big deal to me. Huge. Michael Tait used to be a part of the group dcTalk, who I absolutely loved, and I was so sad when they split up to pursue their own individual musical endeavors because I never got to see them live. So when my friend Heather invited me to the concert last night, I jumped on it. I mean, seeing Michael Tait singing with dcTalk would have been amazing, but Michael Tait singing with the Newsboys is pretty awesome in its own right.

It was a great show! I can't remember the last time I went to a Christian rock concert that was so clearly all about Jesus. I know that sounds weird, but I think it's easy to get caught up in the loud music and the flashing lights and lose sight of what it's all about. Not the case here. Michael's not only a great showman, but he's clearly passionate about Jesus and the Gospel. Of course, they still had loud music and flashing lights; I think I'd be more than a little disappointed if they didn't. :) Obviously, I wasn't as close to the stage as last time, but the view was still pretty good. The highlight of the evening was what I call the "fake closer"...you know, when a band plays what they say is going to be their last song, and then they leave for like, two minutes and come back and play something else. They were talking about "reaching back into the archives," which of course made everyone think they were going to play "Shine" which was released in 1994 or 1995 (?) and is still the Newsboys' biggest single ever. Instead, they played dcTalk's biggest single, "Jesus Freak." What a fun surprise!

That song also included another surprise, featuring drummer Duncan Phillips (who I always refer to as "Dunny" because that's how he's listed on the first album he did with the group). This video isn't from last night's show, but it was basically the exact same thing. Enjoy!

DUNNY!!! That was so crazy!!!

Thank Goodness for Weekends

#28: Watch every Best Picture Oscar winner from 1961-2013.
About two weeks ago, I got an interesting email from Netflix. Apparently it was going to take longer than expected for our next ER disc to get here (Season 7: Disc 1, in case you were curious...making good progress on that goal!), so they sent the next available DVD in our queue, which was A Beautiful Mind. Well, Tom and I finally sat down and watched it the following Sunday evening. And can I just say...wow. It's so good. Heartbreaking at times but so, so good. This one might be a contender for a spot in the Top 5. Then last Friday we watched A Man for All Seasons, which was excellent as well. It reminded me of something I might've watched in a high school history class or something, but totally in a good way. That Thomas More was a pretty cool dude.

#1: 100 new recipes.
The weekend before last was another bad one, as far as what we ate. So we had another veggie night last week, and one of the things we had was a pot of stewed tomatoes (sorry no pictures...leftovers were gone too quickly!), courtesy of Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible.

#63: Go to 5 concerts.
Last weekend was a pretty crazy one. I got to go back to St. Louis on Saturday, this time to hear Ravi Zacharias, world-famous Christian apologist and one of my all-time favorite speakers. The next morning, I drove back to Louisville, and almost immediately after I got home, Tom and I jumped back in the car and drove to Indianapolis, where we saw...

SNOW PATROL!!! (Sorry the picture is so blurry, but that's definitely them.)

These guys are one of Tom's favorite bands, and they put on a GREAT show! The way we acquired these tickets was kinda funny. Shelli, one of the managers at my office, bought tickets to this show several months in advance, but back in December she hurt her knee pretty badly and ended up needing surgery. She's still got a long way to go in the recovery process, so she sold me her tickets. So I wish it had been under more pleasant circumstances, but the timing was actually kind of perfect for Tom and me, because Sunday was the 4-year anniversary of the day we started courting. Not a bad way to celebrate, I thought. :)

Much to Celebrate!

A LOT has happened in the last few weeks!

#58: Order fish 5 times.
So...I turned 25 two weeks ago! For my birthday dinner this year, I chose to go to Ramsi's, this great multicultural restaurant in the Highlands. And when I say multicultural...whoo, boy. It's the perfect place to go when you're with a group of people who all want different types of food. There was Italian, Greek, Moroccan, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican...you name it! Personally, I was in the mood for Italian that night, and I ordered the Salmon Sonesta, which was salmon (duh) served over mashed potatoes, with a sun-dried tomato cream sauce (and Asian stir-fry vegetables on the side...random). So, so good! And it was fish dish #5, so consider this goal complete!

#63: Go to 5 concerts.
This is on the list because I looooove going to hear live music, but the last year or so has been pretty dry in the live music department. Well, we try to do something fun and musical every year at Christmastime. Last year we went to hear the Louisville Chorus, and they were fantastic. We're not exactly music critics or anything, but we were both in choirs all through college...speaking of which, the LC actually performed a piece that Tom and I did in college: Rachmaninoff's Ave Maria, which was always one of my favorite pieces that we did. We sang it in Russian, and the LC sang it in Latin. Just beautiful.

#14: Host a themed party.
Last Saturday was the Duttweilers' First Annual Christmas Extravaganza Party! (Tom shot down my original title.) We were talking maybe a month ago about how it would be nice to get together with all our friends here in Louisville before we all part ways for Christmas. Well, I honestly didn't think that idea would become a reality, but sure enough, there we were on Saturday afternoon, chatting with our friends, exchanging gifts White-Elephant style, and snacking on a whole lot of food...! (And wouldn't you know, I brought my camera to the party, but forgot to make sure the memory card was in it...doh.) I think a good time was had by all...and Tom and I are already coming up with ideas for next year!

#1: 100 new recipes.

Our party gave me a reason to try five new recipes! In Tom's family, it's not Christmas without buckeyes. This was the first year that he wasn't going to be with his family during "buckeye season," so I got the recipe from his mom and made a HUGE batch of them for the party! For the next treat, I found a P-Dub recipe for these little chocolate cookies, halfway dipped in white chocolate and crushed peppermints (we used candy canes). I made the cookies, and Tom took care of the dipping. Cute and delicious! Next came this cranberry chutney that we served over cream cheese, to spread on crackers. It was probably the easiest thing to make, but I think it was my favorite! And what's a Christmas party without Christmas cookies? I made them waaaaay too big, so we only ended up with 19 instead of 36 like the recipe said...but they sure were tasty! In keeping with the finger-food/bite-size theme, I got a recipe for tomato tarts from my Christmas with Paula Deen cookbook (found it online too though, so the link is posted!).

#28: Watch every Best Picture winner from 1961-2013.
I had Tom's laptop with me in the kitchen this week, mainly so we could listen to Christmas music while cooking. While I was dipping the buckeyes on Wednesday night, I thought I'd put on a movie instead. So I wandered over to Netflix to see what BPWs were available for instant viewing. Well, to my surprise and delight, one of them was Rocky! Not exactly a Christmas movie, but a great one nonetheless.

Didn't get a chance to send cards this year, but definitely next year! I recently started a Pinterest account, so I'm already getting some good ideas...! Merry Christmas, everyone!