Merry Christmas!

Just a little snowfall for you:

This Christmas has been different, but really nice. With a mix of rain and snow (on top of two weeks' worth of the junk) and worsening road conditions, church folks around here have been mostly home-bound. Because our town has zero snowplows and doesn't salt, it really hasn't been safe to drive. So, after much deliberation and talk with parishioners, Eric decided to cancel Christmas Eve services in Yamhill and Cornelius. It was hard to imagine Christmas without family or good friends OR church, but, as it turns out, Jesus shows up anyway.

We decided to walk to Fred Meyer again for some groceries and this time we borrowed a sled from a church member. It poured freezing rain on us, but we were amazed (and a little sad) to find a packed store--and parking lot! People don't want drive in bad conditions to get to church, yet will risk their lives to get those last-minute gifts under the tree! Sigh. Maybe I shouldn't say anything--we were at the store, too!

Here's the little contraption we came up with to keep our groceries dry in the rain:


On Christmas morning, we slept late, had a really nice breakfast, then walked to the gym. After making a delicious casserole, we headed across the street to Nancy and Jeff's place for a wonderful dinner. We are so thankful they invited us over even though they just met us--it was so great to get to know these neighbors better. Eric, Pat (Nancy's mom), Nancy, Jeff:


Later, we stopped by Concha and Feliciano's (our neighbors across the street the other way) for Guatemalan tamales and ate way too much (again). Eric left after a bit, but I ended up staying for this Bible study meeting at their house that was led by some guys from a nearby church. Afterward, more tamales were served (no more for me, thank you) and we talked at the table for quite a while. Concha and Feliciano have been such great neighbors! I love having folks I can just stop by and visit without making plans. Today, Concha came over with Giovanni and she and I started reading through her Spanish GED book. Though she only had three years of elementary school in Guatemala, she has studied English for some time and plans to take a GED class starting in January. I am impressed--that book is thick!

Goose and I have also enjoyed baking, watching lots of movies and old episodes of Friends while the snow falls outside. We hope things clear up so we can make it to Spokane on Sunday!

Amish friendship bread (anyone want some starter dough?):

You've got to admit that the snow is pretty:






There were about three days there where I was always either wearing my bathrobe or snow pants:

We hope this Christmas season is filled with joy and peace for you!

Neighbors

We did some baking last night and decided to get out of the house for a bit today and share some carrot cupcake goodness (with cream cheese frosting!)--plus the recipe--with some of our neighbors. A few people weren't home (how did they get of of their houses and off our snow-filled street?), but most were, and we even met a new family that happened to be out walking. And we made that new family take some of our cupcakes. One family said they want to have us over sometime, two families said they were going to share their tamales (a Christmas tradition in some Latino cultures) with us on Wednesday and one couple invited us to their Christmas day dinner! And just for showing up at their door with cupcakes! It's so nice to be getting to know people and to have such nice neighbors! And it makes it not seem so bad to be stuck at home.

No sign of stopping

Not only is it still snowing, but I think it has snowed more in the past 24 hours than it did all of last week! Church was canceled this morning, though one family did show up at our place with their two little girls and we had a really nice visit! With pantries growing bare, we decided to walk the mile to Fred Meyer, where we planned to buy a sled to drag home the groceries that we couldn't fit in our backpacks. The walk there was a bit tougher than we had expected, with a layer of peanut-brittle-like ice on top of soft snow. But it was the walk back that was exhausting. Freddie's was (surprisingly enough) sold-out of sleds, so we got a rolling box to carry our stuff back. But because of the ridiculous amount of wet snow that had fallen while we were in the store, it was basically had to be dragged. This picture is of a fairly clear street, but each block seemed to have seen less and less traffic and, by the end, we had to carry it!

I had not planned on needing to dig this hat out again for a long time!

Apparently, this weather is supposed to continue all week! At least we're stocked up. Tonight, we plan to do some baking, watch some Christmas movies, and drink some wine. Not bad.

Strange week

More snow has fallen this week than Cornelius has seen in years. There are moments when I've laughed at the locals for being so wimpy (and for being bad winter drivers), but we have really gotten a lot of snow (and I'm internally taking back my ridicule--sorry, Oregonians). Everything has been canceled, which has caused us to be a bit disoriented at times, and Eric is currently considering canceling one of his church services!

Because we've been cooped up so much, and due to Eric's excitement about his new laptop (that allows him to work anywhere), we've tried to get out whenever we can. Today, after lunch with Idaho friend Justin Horn and his girlfriend, Andra, we camped out at a cozy coffee shop in Northwest Portland. And now, as the snow continues to come down--with no slowing in sight--and we hear rumors of severe public transportation delays, we are starting to question the wisdom of straying so far from home. I'm sure we'll make it back, but it might take a little longer than normal! Well, it's an adventure, that's for sure!

Snow?

Just before leaving for church Sunday, the snow started coming down...


And it didn't stop! Just a few hours later:


I saw our neighbor, Dani, in his yard so I went over and threw some snowballs with him. It's funny that no kids here have snow pants--they normally don't need them.


I've still got a pretty good arm:


On Monday, our neighbors were out in this street playing soccer in the snow for hours! Unfortunately, I was sick and in bed for the entire day, so I just watched and listened to them screaming and laughing from indoors. Not the worst day to be stuck inside, though.


At the Forest Grove church Sunday morning, Leah and I ran the "Pottery Stall" for their Bethlehem Marketplace. It was pretty fun.


The local schools have been canceled for the past two days and more school is predicted for tonight. Things may continue to be pretty slow here for a while...

Preparing the way

For the first time ever, Eric and I got a Christmas tree! We're not too fond of the idea of chopping down a tree and then tossing it in the trash after a couple of weeks, and (sorry, Mom) a fake one just doesn't seem right, so we decided to go for a potted plant that could stay indoors with us year-round. This Norfolk Island Pine was pretty inexpensive and we're hoping that it will be around to decorate next Christmas! The (small) number of ornaments we have, plus one strand of lights, filled up the tree just perfectly. Under the tree are our first gifts--hand-made cards from our 3rd-grade friend, Raymond that say "Don't open me til Christmas" on the front. We promise that we won't.

Simplicity

I'm firmly in Advent mode but cookie-making and church-program-planning have pulled me into more Christmas-oriented thinking these past couple of days. Considering our global/national/personal financial reality, I am thankful that both sides of our family decided last year to draw names for this year's gift-giving. So, it's good not to have pressure to spend lots of money, but, more than that, I think that the movement toward simplicity is movement in the right direction. For so many reasons. I have enjoyed so far and am looking forward to time spent on personal, hand-made gifts. I am taking advantage of free moments (and trying to set aside previously-programmed moments!) to watch and wait in silence. To look into the darkness and hold hope that somewhere, sometime soon, a small light will break through. But to be okay with the darkness for now. So often, the focus on planning programs, gifts and events (even church gatherings!) distracts me from gazing into that dark. I might even force the light on sometimes, but the beams are so bright that I can't see what I'm looking at. So I'll try to stay in the dark for a bit. To try to really get it so that, when the light comes, I can get that. Receive it. Welcome it. Live in it.

Some of the places that remind me of ways to keep Christmas gift-giving simple and meaningful, so we can focus on being with people and preparing with hope for the arrival of this baby that will change everything: Advent Conspiracy, New American Dream and Buy Nothing Christmas.

An early gift for us--kids + cookies + joy of making stuff together.




Being with children as they laugh and create and learn and eat cookies? Nothing better. Except for the big hug afterward.

Advent Conspiracy

Consider this.

Consumerism does not equal happiness.

Spend less on gifts, spend more on relationships.

Faith and Facts

For all of you United Methodists out there (and for anyone else, really), I found a great resource on the General Board of Church and Society's website that I want to share. Faith and Facts Cards offer one-page documents that deal with important issues--like immigration, living wage, global warming, health care. They have brief sections like "What does the Bible say?" and "What does the Methodist Church say?" and also offer some suggested actions. They would be great bulletin inserts. I'm using the immigration one for a bulletin board I'm creating to help educate folks about Hispanic ministries and immigration.

Workers, people

It has been a huge gift to get to know some folks in our community who are day laborers and/or migrant workers. Twice in the past couple of weeks, I've walked down the two blocks from our house to the area where (mostly) men gather in the hopes that someone will drive up looking for a few hands to help with some physical labor. Our neighbor across the street is one of those who waits each morning, now in the cold, sometimes in the rain, hoping. It has been a gift to hear some of their stories--of their children (sometimes here, sometimes very far away), of their border-crossing (sometimes painful and dangerous, sometimes relatively easy), of their friends (or their isolation), of their past or present faith communities, of their plans and hopes, of the desperation that they confront as the economy gets worse and the trucks pulling in front of the building dwindle. On Wednesday, only one truck came by the whole morning and left with two workers. There were probably around 30 workers standing nearby.

It is good just to chat--to talk about daily life, to learn more about what they do with their days, what they enjoy. I look forward to getting to know some of them better.

Last Friday, OPB's Think Out Loud program (one of my favorite radio shows) featured migrant workers. I highly recommend it:

http://stream1.opb.org:9000/tol/episodes/2008/1121.mp3

Thanks

We are so thankful. For the love we share between the two of us and with our wonderful family, beautiful friends, those we continue to encounter in this new still-new place...for all those folks teach us...for the great and unending gift of grace, we are thankful. For work that sustains and challenges us, for a cozy home that allow us to extend hospitality, for the many opportunities to work for positive change in the world, we are thankful.

Our gratitude grows as we think about where we were at this time last year... in jobs that we knew were not long-term, struggling with the pain of an awful church situation, not sure where to go next, in a house with no heat. It was a difficult time for us. Thankfully, we shared some delicious meals with people we love in warm houses and were reminded of all the gifts we still enjoyed--and of all the ways we were still called to give of ourselves. When I think about that time, I am especially thankful that God walked with us and that we did not give up on the church.

This Thanksgiving, we shared a rainy walk, a meal and a movie with Cathy and Ron. They are also new to the Oregon-Idaho Conference and don't have family members nearby. They spent 15 years as missionaries with the Methodist Church in Argentina and it was so great to hear more stories about that time in their lives. We also ate some delicious, alternative T-day meal that included some favorites in Argentina--like gnocchi...mmm.... It really has been a wonderful day!


Gratitude often makes me sing and these are some of the songs I've been singing today:

A couple of Holy Cov favorites: Thank You and Thank You, Jesus.

A Gospel Choir favorite: I Don't Feel No Ways Tired

Company

We've been talking about having an open house for months and we finally just put it on the calendar! We invited church folks, neighbors, people we'd met at the gym... and people came!

Eric chatting with Evan, Jessica and Rhoda:

Concha and Giovanni (=cutest neighbor ever):

Dani and Eleuterio:


An intense game of Taboo: Dan, Alexis, Max, Kathy and Kenya:


Eleuterio, Dan and Mat:


It was so great to visit with folks! In the weeks before, we spent lots of time talking with neighbors on our invitation visits. Even though lots of folks couldn't come, it was great to make those connections. Now it will be easier to talk to folks or create times to get to know one another better.

Yesterday, we had youth group at our house. Here we are making thank-you cards for people in our lives we're thankful for:


It was a full weekend, but a great one!

Chicago!!!

It was SO great to be back in Chicago for a couple of days. I miss the lake and the neighborhoods and all that, but I mostly just miss the people! We drove down from Madison Sunday morning and made it in time to Holy Covenant's second service. Boy do we miss those folks and that community! It was wonderful to be there for worship and to catch up with so many people.

Here are some of our favorite HC ladies:


We continued the conversation at Wishbone, a favorite brunch place.


My mom drove in that afternoon and we just hung around and visited over coffee. I am so glad that she was able to come--it had been five months since we'd seen each other!


We all had dinner (Giordano's deep dish pizza!!!) at Megan and Barrett's new place, and the my mom headed to her friend's place. It was so nice to just lounge and talk until bedtime.


We met Joseph for breakfast the next morning at the Blind Faith Cafe (one of Eric's former places of employment) and then stopped by Robyn's office downtown that afternoon. Not long after we headed down to Pilsen (our old neighborhood), huge flakes started coming down--snow! It was kind-of exciting, but I am so glad that we don't have to deal with freezing weather for months and months like last year!


We met up with our community meal friends and Trent and Jeanne's and had a wonderful time visiting with them all!


We stayed up late hanging out with Trent and Jeanne until some of us started falling asleep on the couch. Just like old times. In the morning, they made us lattes with their fancy espresso machine and Trent took us to the airport.

It is so good to be home but we miss my family and our Chicago friends dearly. Please come see us soon, everyone. You've always got a place to stay at the Conklin B & B.

Madison with the Jersey Guyz

The Jersey Guys, in uniform, prepare for their first project at the youth convocation: the shout-out video. Jeff, Mark, and Goose:


Practicing for one of their hilarious skits:

Mark and company leading the youth in morning arobics (to "We Like to Party" by the Venga Boys).


Here's where Eric spent a lot of his time, editing videos to be shown in the large sessions:

We had lunch Friday with Bridget, Casey and Sam (Jeff's family) at Rocky Rococco Pizza. Casey (a big fan of Madagascar) entertained by singing (and dancing to) "I Like to Move It, Move It" ("back it up, back it up") and Sam was so smiley and charming. We were so happy to finally meet their littlest guy.


On Saturday, I went downtown to meet Anna V., a Holy Covenant friend who just moved to Madison about a month ago. We enjoyed visiting over coffee and walked through the cool area around the capitol building.


It was also nice to visit with Tina and Kris, a couple of other Garrett friends who are in the Wisconsin Conference of the UMC.

Back in the midwest

We're in Madison, WI for a couple of days where Eric is doing film work for a United Methodist youth conference with a couple of seminary friends. Mark and Jeff are the "comedians" for the program and are leading games and drama. Eric's going to do some "man on the street" (more like "youth in the hotel hallway") interviewing and creating of short clips that will be used in the program. Pretty fun. He's excited to be using a really fast digital camera and iMovie, which is super easy to navigate.

Our trip here yesterday was long, but it may have been the smoothest multi-leg trip we've ever had. It got off to a good start. We actually got out of the house on time (4:30 a.m.!) and made it to the bus stop. We happened to meet a new neighbor there (he and his wife just moved to Cornelius) and chatted quite a bit as we rode the bus. He was interested in knowing more about the Methodist church, so we talked about that. When he got off, another young guy sitting nearby had overheard our conversation and came to introduce himself. He and his wife just moved to the area from Ashland (southern Oregon) and were involved in the UMC there. It was so great to meet both of these guys and invited both of them to come to the open house we've having at our place next weekend. Imagine that--two great conversations with new friends who are interested in finding a church...all before 5:00 a.m.!

Mark W. picked us up and Midway and took us out for coffee and sammies before handing over the keys to his car. He was hoping to come up to Madison with us, but wasn't able to, so he let us drive his car here. He and Julie are so great and we are excited to hang out with them more on Monday when we're back in Chicago!

Fall Colors

Just thought I'd share a few pictures of the amazing colors we've seen around here these past weeks. I am just amazed every time I go outside.

From our front yard:


In the backyard:


Roses in October! View of Portland and Mt Hood:


Conklins checking things out:


In Portland:


Driving home from Jefferson, South of Salem. I actually pulled over to take this picture, which really does not do the scene justice.

I love fall.