Funny sign

This is Mira. I just wanted to say thank-you to all those who have shared encouraging words about the job-search. Before I left for my interview this morning, I checked my e-mail and had received four messages that were all so encouraging--they really made a difference! My interview went great and I'm sure my confidence had something to do with being reminded that I am not alone in this sometimes-challenging process and that many others have been or are in the same situation right now. So...I'll be hearing back with two weeks (that feels like forever!) about second interviews for that position and will have three more interviews this week. So thanks for the thoughts and prayers and encouraging words--they mean a lot! And I'll keep you updated.

I also wanted to share with you a strage hand-written variation of a common sign that Eric and I noticed on the door of a convenient store near our apartment. It makes me laugh every time I walk by:

"NO T-SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO DOGS, NO SMOKING, NO SERVICE"

Tennis and tapas and great friends

Mira here. While Eric slaves away, whipping up those Blueberry Banana Boogie smoothies and serving vegan cornbread, I'm just home relaxing, eating some spicy tofu enchiladas and looking at old photo albums. Before Eric went to work, we rode our bikes to a bike sale at The Recyclery--a non-profit collective that takes old bikes and fixes them up, then sells them inexpensively or gives them to youth through their "earn-a-bike" program. I was really excited to find out that they are working to establish a chapter of Trips for Kids, a program that leads youth in underserved communitites on bike trips--the same program I participated in as part of Project Transformation in Dallas, TX! So, we may soon be trading our mountain bikes in for something more urbanesque, and possibly helping to get Trips for Kids Chicago/Evanston off the ground. Eric found a great 3-speed...reminiscent of the "Free Spirit" he had while at Garrett.

We've really enjoyed having lots of friends nearby. I've especially appreciated it, since I'm still in the midst of a slow-moving job search process. It's going pretty well, I think--I've got four interviews next week--but there is so...much....waiting.... In this past week, we've seen Albion friends Lewis and Andy a lot. Lewis moved onto our street just a few weeks before we arrived, and Andy, who just came home after 3 years of teaching English in Japan, came this week to stay with Lewis while he looks for a job and a place to live. They kindly shared their love of the original "The Office" with us (we are huge fans of the U.S. version--but had never seen the British one!)--and Lewis has every imaginable Spanish-language channel on his ginormous TV. Because our camera has recently died (I think for good this time), we have not been able to document our latest exploits, so I will include here an old-school picture of me and our new neighbors. Here is Andy, Rusty, Mira, and Lewis in Honduras...waiting for the bus:


Last night, Andy, Lewis, Eric and I played doubles at some nearby tennis courts (we are all somewhere between mediocre and terrible--with flashes of brilliance--so we laughed and laughed and laughed) and then had some amazing tapas and sangria at Tapas Barcelona. I am so glad that we decided to give ourselves a "free day" in our otherwise vegan diet--cause goat cheese is so darn good. We picked up our friend, Joseph, on the way home and the three of us had deep conversations (like, why does the word "judgment" NOT have an "e" in it???) until the wee hours.

We also had a great time at the Slugger's Bar (right by Wrigley Field) batting cages with friends Josh and Deborah on an afternoon last week. We had to laugh when we ended up at a book store cafe, four people with graduate degrees, all reading books about how to write a good resume or interview well or break into some kind of artistic industry. Josh and Deborah are both finishing up doctoral programs in immunology, but Josh is looking to work in a brewery (he wants to someday own his own) while Deborah wants to get a job at a gallery (she would like to eventually do her art full-time--she is really amazing). So...all of us over-educated and underemployed, but having a great time.

AND we got to have lunch last week with Jen (Willard) Furchak and Dave while they were in town--how great! I'm not sure if I had seen Jen since SHE graduated from Albion. AND I've gotten to talk in the past couple of days with 3 of my favorite Oregon people: Sarah, Adan, and Eliser--los extrano mucho mucho.

Well, I've been dinking around for a while now and should get to "work"--unpacking those last pesky boxes! I've been using the excuse that I'm too tired from picking up groceries on my bike (that was like three hours ago). It really wasn't that difficult--though next time I go on my bike, I will buy fewer cartons of soymilk!

Welcome to Lisa and Brad and another church visit

Just wanted to welcome our new neighbors Lisa and Brad to the Evanston/Northern Chicago area. Eric and Lisa worked together at the Outdoor and Retreat Ministries for the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church 2002-2003. Brad is going to graduate school at Northwestern University to study physical therapy (the Chicago campus.)

On Sunday we visited Living Water Community Church. It is part of the Mennonite fellowship. It is also an amazing place to visit. They used to rent worship space at United Church of Rogers Park, where Mira interned and where we got married. They have since moved completely to their new home, just a few blocks south of UCRP. Prior to our visit, one thing that we had heard about the Mennonites is that they don't hold back anything from their community. During our visit, we found the whole worship experience to be extremely honest, earnest, and self-revelatory. The service was simple and prayer-filled and not for the faint of heart. Just hearing people share made both of us very emotional. Pastor Sally, who also attends the potlucks up in Evanston, did not lead the service, but was present--the lay leadership was comptetent and enthusiastic. We noticed that it was quite diverse in just about every way. However, while we will probably maintain contact with many of the folks from that community through the potlucks, we found ourselves wanting the familiarity of Methodist worship and language.

Weekend pics

Just so y'all know, we think we've changed the set-up so that you don't have to have a "blogger" account in order to leave us a comment--so try it out!

While KrisMom was here, she came up with a master-plan for the kitchen and efficiently executed a complete re-arrangement while we put together our new shelves in the living room.

Here "we" are, working hard.

This is one end of the living space, pre-shelving unit (it's now to the right of the love seat), and a lounging mom. We've still got some work to do, but it's getting there!

Miric and Krim hanging out in Naperville.

We love being so close to the Lake! This is just right across the street from our apartment!

Some cheesy jinxing

We've had a great past week! On Wednesday, we went to the world's best pizza place, Giordano's, with 5 of our seminary friends--Joey, Maiko, Jeff, Heather, and Holly--and that cheesy delectible goodness was better than we had remembered! Afterward, we attempted to walk off the goodness by exploring Millenium Park, home of the giant reflective jelly bean and some fountains that spit on children. It was so great to see everyone and to be downtown Chicago again.

We also got to know some new friends! Karen, a great retired-clergy friend from Oregon, hooked us up with Steve, one of her high schools friends from Nebraska, and he happens to work for a place called the Instituto del Progreso Latino (Institute of Latino Progress)--so we have some interests in common. Since Eric had told Steve that he'd like to become more involved in the labor world, Steve wanted us to meet another young guy, Matt, who does workforce development. SO...Steve and his wife, Daryl, had Matt and his wife, Olga, and us over for dinner at their fabulous condo on Belmont and Lakeshore Dr--on the 14th floor! We had an amazing view of the full moon reflecting over Lake Michigan after the sun went down. We also had a great time getting to know them--they are so interesting and fun!--as well as Matt and Olga. She is from Italy and they met there when he, who was living there for a while, bought some pants at the store where she was working and then set off the alarm. Such a great story. Hopefully we'll be seeing them all again soon!

Mira's mom came to town for a few days, and we took advantage of her car by driving to Ikea on Friday. It's a long drive, but it's worth it just for the 99 cent Swedish pancakes with lingonberries and whipped cream! We bought some great shelves, too! It was so great to see KrisMom, although she did stay out late both nights partying with her Science of Spirituality buds at Navy Pier and Naperville.

For those who are curious about our church-shopping, we have visited two churches--United Church of Rogers Park (where we got married), and Holy Covenant United Methodist Church. At UCRP, we experienced a good many reunions with old friends and are continually amazed at the racial and economic diversity and very participatory musical aspects of the service. Neither one of us had ever been to Holy Covenant before and we were both surprised at how at home we felt there. The preaching, the energy, sense of community, and both a reverence toward and a challenge of tradition all made this quite a unique place. While we are committed to still visiting other churches, we could see ourselves being very happy joining the HCUMC family.

While Eric continues to work at Blind Faith, Mira is in the interview process at two nonprofit organizations working with immigrant communities. She is excited about both possibilities, but doesn't want to be jinxed by talking too much about them! By the way, "jinxed" is not only a funny-looking word when you type it out, but would be a fantastic point-getter in a high-stakes game of Scrabble!

Got a job!

Eric here. Okay, so there's this other place I had applied to in Evanston called the Blind Faith Cafe that is completely vegetarian. I went in last night to talk to the GM and he told me to come in for training today! It's exciting to be working at a place where I can eat all the food on the menu... Anyway, I am sweaty and smelly from my run and I have to go there, but I thought you might be interested.

Justin and Me

Mira here. My nephew, Justin, and I spent this past week together at my parents' while Rose and Robert were in Puerto Rico for their honeymoon. He just turned six this summer and is a sweet little boy. Because Justin is quite behind developmentally, he can be a handful, but the week, though challenging at times, was such a blessing--it was so great to get to know each other better! Here are a few pictures from our time together.

Here he is being cute:

My step-dad, Jim, had his opening for a photography show on Friday. I love his new "Chicago streets" series! While we were at the furniture store where the gallery is, Justin walked by himself for a good 50 feet--longer than we had ever seen him walk!

He loves playing my parents' organ.

One thing we did almost every day was swim! My parents have an above-ground pool, but on Friday, we visited our family friends, the Klemps, who have a beautiful in-ground fancy thing. Justin loves anything concerning water--swimming, taking a bath, splashing his hands in the sink or the dog's water dish, flushing the toilet over and over again....

One thing that made him laugh uncontrollably was hearing me sing the ABCs along with this gadget. It's one of his favorite toys, but I'm pretty sure my mom dispises it.

It was so good to see family and high school friends and be in Holland for a while, and it was also really nice to come home to our Chicago apartment. I was so wiped out when I got here late this morning that I slept for three hours! Eric's new job is exciting--not only is it a 5-minute bike ride along the lake, but he gets to bring home lots of goodies from the bakery. Some of them are vegan, so they've got to be good for you, right?

The job hunt continues

This is Eric. Mira has been in Michigan watching little Justin this week while Rose and Robert go on their honeymoon. For those of you who are wondering, like we are, "just what the heck are those guys going to be doing to pay for rent, etc?" we are in the process of job hunting, and while Mira has been away, I have been pounding the pavement. I sent in my resume to several area vegetarian restaurants/organic markets, and even a few to some that serve meat (gasp!), so the waiting and "should I call now?" game begins. One thing that is pretty cool is that after I talked to Josie at Karyn's (a vegetarian restaurant and market / generally all around holistically healthy place), he called me back to invite me to come to a workshop later today, where Karyn said she wanted to talk to me. It seems like a cool place to work. I am also glad to go back today when the temperature has dropped something like 30 degrees so I am not a big sweaty monster when I meet Karyn: "Oh yeah, you're the guy who had to ring his shirt out before the job interview--The position has been filled, and here's a towel for the love of God."

On other fronts, Mira and I were invited by our friend Joseph Marshak to a Mennonite potluck at one of the Reba place fellowship houses, which was fun in itself--lots of young, earthy people and excellent food. But we also met the chair of the Acoustics dept at Columbia College, (in the Reba place website, he's the guy in the green overalls with a beard) who said that he could put me in touch with the chair of the film department. He reintroduced me to the quite familiar debate between spending a ton of money, going to film school for accreditation and prestige versus spending a ton of money, getting equipment and just doing it. Beyond that, he said, I should talk to someone who is actually doing documentary film, which is what he will help me to do.

R & R Get Married!

Yay!!

Hi! This is Mira. My younger sister, Rose, married Robert on Saturday here in Holland, Michigan and it was a fabulous occasion! The ceremony was at a park and the day was hot hot hot, but it was a beautiful service and there was a bit of a breeze, so I hardly even noticed the heat (I don't think the guys who wore tuxes would say the same). It was so wonderful to see lots of family members and Rose's friends and of course to celebrate Rose's and Robert's marriage! Eric and I came into town on Wednesday (after only 5 days in our new apartment!) and visited with my parents for about 5 minutes before my mom whipped out the to-do list. We were certainly busy for the next few days helping with last-minute tasks. It was fun to be a part of my mom's wedding dream-team--she and her friends from her investment club planned and executed so much of the event, from the food to the decorations to the flowers to the ceremony music to the punch. Wow! The night before, I helped with the flowers by wrapping special tape and ribbons around the stems of the bouquets and the boutonnieres. I also enjoyed making signs and a donation jar for an organization that Rose and Robert made a gift to in honor of each guest. The organization is called G.L.A.D.--Great Lakes Assistance Dogs--and they train seizure alert dogs like Brewski, my nephew Justin's dog. Brewski is still in the obedience training stage, but if all goes well, he will learn to identify the chemical changes that happens when Justin is about to have a seizure and alert his parents. This will greatly help the whole family manage his epilepsy.

Well, here are a few more pics from the big day:

Some of us got ready at Angie's (Angie, on the right, was Rose's maid of honor).

My dad walked Rose down the grassy aisle.

Ok, I have more pictures but they don't want to be uploaded right now. Stay tuned!