Around this time for the past five years, Eric and I have been preparing to move or have recently moved in somewhere (this picture was taken last summer when we arrived in Oregon). As we look back over our time together, it is hard to believe that we have never lived in the same home for more than one year! Even more staggering than our move rate is the number of jobs we've had during that time. Since our graduation from seminary in 2004, we count 19 jobs between the two of us! Only two of those jobs were full-time, so we have often each had two or three at the same time...but still! And now we celebrate that we have jobs we love (four altogether--soon to be five) and are in a community that we love and we are not going anywhere!!! We are so thankful to be where we are and doing what we are doing.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Not moving
Around this time for the past five years, Eric and I have been preparing to move or have recently moved in somewhere (this picture was taken last summer when we arrived in Oregon). As we look back over our time together, it is hard to believe that we have never lived in the same home for more than one year! Even more staggering than our move rate is the number of jobs we've had during that time. Since our graduation from seminary in 2004, we count 19 jobs between the two of us! Only two of those jobs were full-time, so we have often each had two or three at the same time...but still! And now we celebrate that we have jobs we love (four altogether--soon to be five) and are in a community that we love and we are not going anywhere!!! We are so thankful to be where we are and doing what we are doing.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Perpetual Drifters
Brother Justin's band, Perpetual Drifters, was in Hood River yesterday for the final stop on their one-week tour and we are thankful that it was also our day off! We enjoyed the beautiful drive along the Columbia River and were surprised that it was even hotter there than here--in the mid-90s! Dick and Jane, a ukulele/guitar duo and Justin's good friends from Chico, CA, opened for them--they are so great!Here they are (actual names: Molly and Scott):
Besides at a basement house party show with mediocre sound, we hadn't seen the Perpetual Drifters in concert before. I was impressed! Justin is so fun to watch on the drums--his expressions and head movements make me laugh.
Goose and the hula hoop:
After the PDs was a jam band called Candybones, of which one member is a high school friend of Justin's. It was fun to hear such diverse music throughout the evening. By the time we got to our camp site, it was almost 2 a.m.!
Eric and I had to get up early this morning and drive back to Cornelius (about 2 hours) and now I am ready for a nap! It was not the most restful weekend, but it was worth it to see all the great folks we saw!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Visitantes
We had some wonderful guests come yesterday. Our good friend Adan, who I'd gotten to know very well during our time in Woodburn (our first stretch in Oregon), had moved back to Guerrero, Mexico not long after we moved back to Chicago. A year or so later, he returned with his wife and son and has been living in Fresno, California since then. About a month ago, he came north with some friends to work in the Woodburn area for a short bit and we were finally able to connect.
Adan (in the middle) drove the hour from Woodburn with another Adan, Juan Carlos, and Faustino and we had such a fun time hanging out!
We playd catch under the pine trees in the yard, walked through the labyrinth garden, ate lots of local berries, looked at pictures, and just sat around and talked and laughed. Adan shared that his wife is expecting their second child and they'll find out this week if it's a boy or a girl! He is working extra hard to prepare.
Eric made two amazing meals while they were here--vegetarian tacos with eggs and TVP (texturized vegetable protein) for dinner last night and blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning.
It was so great to see Adan and Juan Carlos (who had also lived in Woodburn while we were there) and to meet Adan and Faustino before they head back to California. Such great guys!
Adan (in the middle) drove the hour from Woodburn with another Adan, Juan Carlos, and Faustino and we had such a fun time hanging out!
We playd catch under the pine trees in the yard, walked through the labyrinth garden, ate lots of local berries, looked at pictures, and just sat around and talked and laughed. Adan shared that his wife is expecting their second child and they'll find out this week if it's a boy or a girl! He is working extra hard to prepare.
Eric made two amazing meals while they were here--vegetarian tacos with eggs and TVP (texturized vegetable protein) for dinner last night and blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning. 
It was so great to see Adan and Juan Carlos (who had also lived in Woodburn while we were there) and to meet Adan and Faustino before they head back to California. Such great guys!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Help Creation Vacation win a Nike grant!
Could you take a moment to help support a wonderful program? The OR-ID Camp and Retreat Ministries folks have applied for a Nike grant to support Creation Vacation, the amazing camp for low-income families that I just experienced this week (read the below post for more)! Popular vote is one way Nike will decide who gets the grant. Just click on the below link, enter in your e-mail address and VOTE. Then you have to confirm your vote through your e-mail. Thanks, friends!!
http://www.nikebackyourblock.com/ApplicantProfile.aspx?ApplicantId=e6e21a6d-153c-4464-bb52-2269d9f4a0fb
http://www.nikebackyourblock.com/ApplicantProfile.aspx?ApplicantId=e6e21a6d-153c-4464-bb52-2269d9f4a0fb
Busy, wonderful summer
We've been doing so much these past months and I haven't made time to blog. Here are some of the things we've been up to this summer:
Softball! Goose and I have been playing on a recreation team called the Circuit Rider (meaning behind the name here) with folks from the Forest Grove UMC. We are not the best (not even close!) but we always have fun! I love being on a team again! It's something I've talked about wanting to do since we got married and, five years later, it has finally happened!
Creation Vacation! Earlier this week, I was the dean for this family camp which offers a vacation at a UMC camp on the coast for very low-income families and provides an opportunity for relationship-building between church folks and community families. I recruited volunteer "family friends," planned the schedule, coordinated with the camp, worked with a local housing agency called Bienestar and helped families prepare for camp--and then walked with people while we were there. It was more than worth all the work! I had such a wonderful time being with families as they experienced new things (I got to teach an older woman how to row a rowboat and watched her make her first s'more and saw kids try archery and ride donkeys!) and it was so great to see new relationships forming and families having fun together! Here are some folks heading out to do some wave jumping:
Westside Compassion! Eric is a co-coordinator for this annual one-day health clinic for uninsured and underinsured people that will be at Hillsboro UMC this Saturday. He has been super busy confirming dentists and chiropractors and food and social services agencies and he's off this evening training volunteers. There was a point this spring when it seemed like things might not come together and he worried that the event would have to be canceled this year, but so many people have worked hard together to make it happen and I am so proud of Eric for his commitment to it being a success.
Landmark Education! Ok, this will be the topic of a more involved post later, but our participation in the Landmark Forum (which we did in April), the Landmark Advanced Course (which we did in June) and the Landmark Relationship Seminar (which I am in right now) has been completely transformational. It has transformed our relationships, our work and our enjoyment of daily life in so many positive ways. We have a new relationship to our word (doing what we say we'll do), which has had a huge impact. One thing we've been able to commit to fully for the first time ever:
Body for Life! We just completed four weeks of this twelve week eating and workout program and we have stuck to it every single day. We took before pictures and will maybe consider sharing our before and after pictures when get to the end of the twelve weeks. We are planning out all our meals ahead of time, eating great, and doing a combination of lifting and cardio. I feel wonderful!
PLAN. I have had a second birthmother client in my position as a birthparent counselor at PLAN Loving Adoptions Now and she is due to have her baby any day! Helping the birthfamily and adoptive family prepare for this day has kept me busy, but it has been very meaningful for me.
Hanging out! Thankfully, we've had a some time here and there to visit with people. We've had some meals with our friends Mat, Leah and baby Freya and here we are at a Forest Grove UMC picnic:
After Westside Compassion is over, we should have a little bit more time to relax--at least for a couple of weeks! Even with all the busyness, though, it has been a wonderful summer so far!
Softball! Goose and I have been playing on a recreation team called the Circuit Rider (meaning behind the name here) with folks from the Forest Grove UMC. We are not the best (not even close!) but we always have fun! I love being on a team again! It's something I've talked about wanting to do since we got married and, five years later, it has finally happened!
Creation Vacation! Earlier this week, I was the dean for this family camp which offers a vacation at a UMC camp on the coast for very low-income families and provides an opportunity for relationship-building between church folks and community families. I recruited volunteer "family friends," planned the schedule, coordinated with the camp, worked with a local housing agency called Bienestar and helped families prepare for camp--and then walked with people while we were there. It was more than worth all the work! I had such a wonderful time being with families as they experienced new things (I got to teach an older woman how to row a rowboat and watched her make her first s'more and saw kids try archery and ride donkeys!) and it was so great to see new relationships forming and families having fun together! Here are some folks heading out to do some wave jumping:
Westside Compassion! Eric is a co-coordinator for this annual one-day health clinic for uninsured and underinsured people that will be at Hillsboro UMC this Saturday. He has been super busy confirming dentists and chiropractors and food and social services agencies and he's off this evening training volunteers. There was a point this spring when it seemed like things might not come together and he worried that the event would have to be canceled this year, but so many people have worked hard together to make it happen and I am so proud of Eric for his commitment to it being a success.Landmark Education! Ok, this will be the topic of a more involved post later, but our participation in the Landmark Forum (which we did in April), the Landmark Advanced Course (which we did in June) and the Landmark Relationship Seminar (which I am in right now) has been completely transformational. It has transformed our relationships, our work and our enjoyment of daily life in so many positive ways. We have a new relationship to our word (doing what we say we'll do), which has had a huge impact. One thing we've been able to commit to fully for the first time ever:
Body for Life! We just completed four weeks of this twelve week eating and workout program and we have stuck to it every single day. We took before pictures and will maybe consider sharing our before and after pictures when get to the end of the twelve weeks. We are planning out all our meals ahead of time, eating great, and doing a combination of lifting and cardio. I feel wonderful!
PLAN. I have had a second birthmother client in my position as a birthparent counselor at PLAN Loving Adoptions Now and she is due to have her baby any day! Helping the birthfamily and adoptive family prepare for this day has kept me busy, but it has been very meaningful for me.
Hanging out! Thankfully, we've had a some time here and there to visit with people. We've had some meals with our friends Mat, Leah and baby Freya and here we are at a Forest Grove UMC picnic:
After Westside Compassion is over, we should have a little bit more time to relax--at least for a couple of weeks! Even with all the busyness, though, it has been a wonderful summer so far!
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