coffee

we draw names for christmas gifts on paul's side of the family.  i drew my brother-in-law, ryan.  ironically, he also drew my name!  what's sweet about my brother-in-law being a national barista is that i get to drink AMAZING coffee.

this is ryan with a mustache

a brief history:

i used to HATE coffee.  i couldn't even have coffee ice cream or anything that even remotely had a coffee ingredient. all of my friends at olivet (and basically all of paul's family) always talked about coffee... we hung out in a coffee shop all day and everyone drank. coffee.  i, of course, was an Earl Grey drinker.  i finally became jealous of the community and connection that coffee was bringing everyone around me.  so i told ryan about my desire to become, well, a coffee addict just a 'social drinker'.  ryan's response:  a 2 week challenge of drinking a cup of joe a day - BLACK!  me, being the competitive person i am, and really wanting to enjoy the communion that coffee brings, took on the challenge.  the first couple of days were torture pretty bad.  then slowly, i really started to enjoy the taste.  by the end of the 2nd week, i fell in LOVE.  it became more than just a social drink, but a yummy wonderful treat! 

so my barista brother-in-law got me the most AWESOME chrismas gift. ever.  ryan has a coffee shop up in grand rapids, MI called madcap coffee.  visit it here.  

they make all of their coffee on a brew bar.  here is a pic that i took over break, it's not as artsy as this one, but just so you get the idea:

so the 'paul dawson' family's new obsession is mastering the hario.  it just tastes soooo good!  it's definitely not as good as a cup straight from the madcap bar, but it's wayyy better than the plain coffee pot.  just appreciate the beauty with me...

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....