Lawn Chairs and Djembes

If you've never been to 10,000 villages you should probably go sometime. Growing up I used to love going there with my mom to look at all the neat handmade things from all over the world. I was especially fond of their jewelry and I think at one point all of the necklaces I owned were from there. This store has an interesting history, with the founder being a mennonite woman who decided to help the artisans that she met in other countries make a bigger profit from their crafts. Anyways, this weekend Jake had the opportunity to play djembe with some friends at a small concert in the cafe at 10,000 villages. It was fun to mingle with people, listen to good music, and watch my husband do something he loves.

making a ruckus in the musical instrument section

In other news, we had some more sunny weather this weekend. Sometimes it can be frustrating living in an apartment where there's no real yard or area to call your own. Well, we decided, after my parents so kindly gave us two of my Grandpa's old lawn chairs, to make our parking spot an outdoor retreat.

We set up in our quaint little nook, Jake with his sketch book, and me reading the Hobbit out loud to him. We even had music and snacks on our 'table' (skateboard). Tolkien books have been a big part of our relationship, all the way back to our first month of dating. I had read the Hobbit the summer Jake asked me out and loved it. I was determined to read all of the Lord of the Rings books after that. During one of our visits while we were dating, Jake and I read quite a bit of the first LOTR out loud while enjoying the beach. We read all 3 separately and enjoyed talking about how Tolkien was a genius and how his writing made the story come alive. After seeing the trailer for the Hobbit movie coming out in December, I knew that Jake needed to read the book first. So, now we have another fun and free way to spend quality time together. Letting our imaginations roam all over middle earth with a crazy band of dwarves and a buried treasure to discover. Now, if only I could get Jake to pronounce all the names the way I picture they should be said instead of his way. :)