During our premarital counseling, Tim Bixby encouraged Amy and me to make a regular practice of reading together, particularly books that would encourage us to strengthen our marriage spiritually. We read a couple books and book portions together in preparation for marriage, and since we were married, we’ve worked to keep up the practice.

In addition, we like to do some fun reading together, often just before bed. (With the marriage and devotional books, we read back-and-forth out loud. For fiction, I read to Amy.)

Yesterday we were reviewing what we’ve read together since we got married. We were surprised by how much it was. Here are the books we’ve completed (together and aloud) since marriage:

• The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis)
• The Odyssey (Homer, translated by Fagles)
• Reforming Marriage (Douglas Wilson)
• Christian Living in the Home (Jay Adams)
• When Sinners Say “I Do” (Dave Harvey)
• Essential Virtues: Marks of the Christ-Centered Life (Jim Berg)

We’re currently in the process of reading these:

• Till We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis)
• Beyond Suffering (Layton Talbert)
• Seeing with New Eyes (David Powlison)

Starting books — and then actually finishing them — has always been a little overwhelming to me. But you may be surprised by how much you can read if you do just a little at a time. It’s certainly been a surprise to Amy and me. I don’t feel like we spend that much time reading — and reading aloud isn’t the fastest way to get through a book — but (like saving money, I guess), it adds up.

After reading the previous post, you might ask, What does popcorn have to do with music?

There are a couple answers. One, the promise of a Friday popcorn party can add a little motivation to good behavior in class throughout the week. Two, one of the songs (well, a text with rhythm — no melody) in Amy’s music curriculum is actually about making popcorn. Here’s a performance (yeah, that’s my wife way up there in the air!):

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(If you’re using a blog reader, you might want to go to our blog to see the video that’s included above.)

I didn’t mention this in the previous post — but I spent yesterday at Cochran Elementary School with Amy, participating in her classes and (during a couple classes) making some photos and videos. After a day with her at school, I wonder how in the world Amy does anything at the end of the day but come home and sleep. Lots of jumping, lots of energy, lots of talking and singing. When we came home, I wanted a nap (and took one).

As you would guess, Amy’s a great teacher, and her students like her very well. So do her colleagues. (So does her husband!)

What are these kids so captivated by? (Well, one of them appears to be interested in the camera, but I mean the rest.)

A hot oil popcorn maker, operated by a music teacher:

The popping process was “boring” for the first couple minutes (before the popping began), but after the first pop, there were lots of oo’s and ah’s and a few shh’s. They liked eating the popcorn, too. (No surprise there.) Some said it was the “most delicious popcorn” they’d ever had, and a few determined to buy a popcorn maker.

It’s said that air poppers are healthier than oil poppers, but Amy uses Canola, so it’s good fat. Here’s one more photo of the wonder of the popping popcorn:

The other ingredients of Good Times are cookies (we — mostly Amy — made 300 small chocolate chip cookies on Thursday evening), singing, a team competition to put notes in their proper places on a staff (you can see the staff on the floor behind Amy in one of the photos further up), and lots of jumping up and down (little kids like jumping up and down). The cookies were a big hit (“They’re so soft!” “They’re better than … Chips Ahoy!”)

Yesterday evening, Amy and I had over a classmate of mine, Fahad, along with his cousin, Rakan, an MBA student in Oklahoma. They’re from Saudi Arabia. (Fahad is the one on my right.) We had an enjoyably evening and a wonderful roast.

Did you notice that I got a haircut? We had decided to wait till the semester was over. So Amy took care of it Friday evening. (And she did a marvelous job!) If you’ve forgotten how long my hair had gotten, here’s a recent photo (taken after an event that required a tie — something unusual for me these days).

The semester ended well. I had two final papers (due Tuesday and Wednesday), and some final exams to grade (I finished those yesterday). So summer has begun. My plans are to study French, continue my work for Nightlight Christian Adoptions (formerly Carolina Hope), design a couple websites, and conduct research on Jarai for my dissertation — along with some other miscelaneous items.

By the way, Amy’s old computer (very graciously given to her a couple years ago by her brother Jon) is on the way out. If anyone is trying to dispose of a (still reliable) laptop that’s a couple years old (at a reasonable price), please let us know!

Last Saturday night we had my friend Ms.  Carter over for dinner.  I was excited for Josh to meet one of my coworkers.  Ms. Carter is a 4th grade math teacher at school and has made me feel a part of the Cochran faculty.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know her and visiting her classroom this year.