Like....
Podcasts
Our love for Podcasts really began prior to our new beginnings in Iowa, but it's definitely been a way to help pass by the time! We have longer commutes in any direction - whether it be to work, church, or out to dinner.
We love to use the app Podcast Addict to download our favorite shows and listen to them in our car through the Bluetooth. An episode of "Ear Biscuits," "Dear Hank and John," or "Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!" is the perfect length of time to get us from our hotel to our church building. I'm partial to "99% Invisible" when running to the store or over to West Liberty to meet Bill for lunch. When driving to the temple, we often listen to "TED Radio Hour" or "Radio Lab." On our most recent drive home from cleaning the Nauvoo temple, "How To Do Everything" taught me how to cure the hiccups - and it legit worked when I tried it this week... (LISTEN HERE)
Movies
I have a lot of friends (and a husband) who really like Studio Ghibli films - and it's taken me a long time to come around to the idea of wanting to watch any of them. But I asked Bill to put them on Plex, our media server, so that I could start to understand why so many people like them. Most of them have been really good so far! And the detail in these animated cartoons really blows me away. They are strange...clever...beautiful...whimsical...Disney does a lot of the English voice dubbing, so there are a lot of big acting names in these films that are fun to recognize!
I don't know if I could say I had a favorite just yet...but we need to talk about "Grave of the Fireflies." Bill and I blitzed through three or four of these movies in one Sunday afternoon. Neither of us had any idea what the premise of this show was when it started, we just turned it on because it was next in line. 90 minutes later: Tears. Horrible, ugly, sobby tears with ruddy faces and tear-stained cheeks. Bill finally got up and grabbed the tissue box from the bathroom and put it on the coffee table. So many wet and crumpled tissues surrounded us! I don't think I've ever watched a movie with Bill that made him cry...and I can count on one hand how many times I've seen Bill cry like that in our five years of knowing one another. It tugs on your heart strings. Would I recommend watching it? Absolutely. It's beautiful.
TV Series
We just got caught up on a new TV series called Limitless. It's based off a movie that Bill really liked (with Bradley Cooper) and it is not what I was expecting at all. It's a crime show with a lot of humor and wit. Thumbs up!
And...we admittedly like Adventure Time...a lot. I can't explain what it is about that show. Maybe its the short episodes or the completely out-of-this-world nonsense and plot lines that are likely melting our brains - I'm always so stoked to find a new episode has aired.
Books
I've read a couple of things while bumming around the hotel. If you have an e-reader, my saving grace has been signing up for BookBub - it's a site were you get notified of free and bargain bestseller books of the day. I've found a couple of gems!
"The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin and "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski were lovely reads. I'm pretty sure as time passes on, Edgar Sawtelle will become a book that students will be forced to read and analyze in AP Literature...it was long and symbolic, but beautifully told (and may have convinced me that it would be okay to have a dog after all). I haven't read a book like that for years.
I also recently picked up the "The Kitchen House" by Kathleen Grissom, which has multiplicitous positive reviews...I hope it doesn't disappoint.
Bands
Walk Off The Earth is a Canadian alternative rock, ska, and reggae rock band (as per their description) that has been around for a few years. I finally found them on YouTube after someone shared one of their videos on Facebook (An amazing cover of Adele's "Hello" - LINK HERE). "Hold On (The Break)" (LINK HERE) really makes my heart happy.
Musicals
And like most other obsessions that I'm walking into late...Hamilton. It's a new Broadway musical that came out in August of 2015 and I can't get enough of it right now! It's constantly on replay and I sing it in my dreams. Hip-hop, rap, and the sound of Destiny's Child telling the story of Alexander Hamilton's life amidst the birth of our nation. The rhymes and beats that Lin-Manuel Miranda has compiled and composed make my brain tingle. By the time I had listened to the full playlist on YouTube, I was moved to tears. That totally caught me off guard. (LINK HERE - if you feel inclined to listen.)
Food
It's been trendy to "go out for sushi" for a few years now - and we've intentionally avoided getting on that train because neither of us really care for seafood. But finally Bill and I can understand why it's a thing! The Scadlock's and the Gray's from our ward invited us out to Takanami in Iowa City on Friday night. I wanted to go out and get to know these new ward members, but was so unsure about doing it over sushi...something I knew Bill would have a hard time wanting to try. But Bill surprised me and said he was game to go out and try it!
Takanami had a couple of "safe" sushi rolls that were made up of beef or sweet potato, rather than a fish of some kind - so we knew we could fall back on those if we found sushi wasn't our thing after all. The Scadlock's had each couple order three sushi rolls and we shared them all with one another - that way we could try a lot of different rolls. It was so fun! And beyond delicious! It helped that you didn't know what you were eating when you popped a piece of sushi in your mouth because there were so many rolls to keep track of...but everything was so flavorful and yummy! We even tried barbecued eel...that one was a bit "fishy" - especially for Bill. Haha. But we learned that we really like sushi and would do it again in a heartbeat!
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| Sushi at Takanami |
