Cool People

One of our favorite things to do:

Hang out with cool people.

After last Wednesday's New Sanctuary Meeting and Holy Covenant's Preaching event (for which Eric was the featured speaker), friends gathered at the Hidden Shamrock--Amy, me, Jenn, Stephanie, Jhonathan, Jenny, Mary, Lindsay, Kristin and David. What a great group of folks.


Goose's birthday was the 10th and we celebrated with Community Meal folks last week at Sonja's. Mmm...chocolate cream pie....


Mark, Goose, Megan and Jon, with the hands of Sonja.


This week, Community Meal was at our place again. Eric prepared an amazing spring meal: pasta "primavera" (= spring in Spanish), salad (with "spring mix" as a base), fresh garlic bread and fruity popsicles. We gathered around some brilliant flowers that church folks sent home with us on Sunday.


Yay for spring!

Do something!

I found this image on the Do Better Blog.

Mumsy comes to town

It was a nasty night, so Mom and I took shelter and drank warm beverages in a quaint little cafe.

Mom looking cool:


"How did I get to be so cool? I just don't know."


"I should be on an album cover."


"My daughter wishes she were as cool as me."


Goose opened some more birthday gifts that night. Ah...orange slices. Like little wedges of gelatinized heaven...


Enjoying two gifts at the same time--orange slices and ice cream scoop.


Happy birthday Gansito (that means "little goose" in Spanish)!

On the town with my favorite greengo

Thursday was Eric's birthday and we spent the evening in with a homemade pizza, some good beer--I drank a whole one myself--part of my gift to him :) -- and the Cubs game on the radio. Can't believe he's 30!!!


The next day we met Joseph for dinner at the Heartland, and old favorite. Goose sported one of his new gifts--his "greengo" t-shirt, which I found at this fabulous little shop in our neighborhood with lots of great Chicago-made stuff. Their t-shirts are the best.

Look at that big smile on Joseph's face!


Later, we met up with some Holy Covenanters and lots of Garrett folks at another old hangout--Nevin's--in Evanston for Kim's 40th b-day. Here we are with Darrius, Kim, Vince, Rochelle and Jen:


This is same place Eric and I hung out the night we started dating :)

Stuff and things

Post-church lunch at Mayan Palace--Kristin, Kim, Jen, me:


Community Meal at the Waldens'--Julie, Joseph, Lucy the skeleton, the Gooseman, Kristin, Sonja, Mark:


Kristin double-fisting the Tofutti Cuties.


Our hosts would have felt bad if we each did not try (at least) one vanilla and one chocolate. They pretty much made us eat them.

Yay for birthdays.

Julie had her birthday the other Sunday in the common area at the Chicago Cultural Center--such a beautiful space! It was great to eat cake and sammies and see good people. Julie and Mark have as friends some really neat folks.


We stopped by to visit with Lindsay, who I've gotten to know through the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition, on her birthday a few weeks back. I don't know why I always seem to be wearing my coat in group pictures!


We are so thankful for our friends!

Megan's party

Holy Cov friends Megan and Barrett are getting married this Saturday in Tulsa and I was honored to join Megan for her big party a week ago.

Hanging out before heading to dinner:


Cutting a carpet at the Funky Buddha Lounge with Atena:


With the happy bride-to-be:


It was a very fun night! Congratulations, friends!

Invitation to partnership and to my new blog!

La Travesia de Mira = Mira's Crossing

From May 18th to June 2nd, I will be traveling with a group through Oaxaca, in southern Mexico, and Altar, on the US-Mexico border, to explore the root causes of northward migration that so many Mexicans (and Central and South Americans) have undertaken. Through conversations with farmers, activists, families and sojourners, we hope to better understand why so many are leaving home and how these migrations impact families and communities.

We will also walk for six days through the desert in solidarity with the thousands who have lost their lives attempting to cross and the countless others who make the dangerous trek seeking a better life.

Please check out my new blog for more information about my trip and to find out how you can partner with me in this work. You can participate by offering prayer, providing financial support, further educating yourself about globalization and migration, or signing up to receive updates and reflections.

Blessings,
Mira

Beautiful Day

Happy Easter!

Just a few lovely moments from Easter weekend...

A third of the congregation joining the choir in front to close out the service with the Hallelujah Chorus:


Easter dinner with Susan, John, Peder, Steve, Jodi, Dorothy and the other Steve (who was off in the other room). Susan and Steve planned to have us at their place, but the Easter bunny must have broken their furnace while delivering eggs... so we ate at John and Dorothy's place.


We spent Saturday morning with Mom and Jim in Naperville. Here we are after a delicious lunch at Whole Foods (which has the best salad bar, ever).




Moving backward in time... It turns out that Mexican food is the perfect post-Good-Friday-service meal! Trey, Jen, Andrew, Kristin, Erin and I were having such a good time that they started mopping the floor before we got the message that it was time to leave!


Could it be that we've seen the last snow storm for a while? I am filled with the hope of newness.

Good Friday Walk for Justice

The 8th Day Center for Justice coordinates a yearly Good Friday walk that is modeled after the Catholic process of walking the "stations of the cross." In this walk, the stations, which traditionally commemorate particular steps or moments along Jesus' journey to crucifixion, are connected with modern-day injustices. For example, I participated with folks from the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition, who coordinated the readings and songs for the "weeping women" station. Our reflection focused on the immigrant women who weep for the separation from children, spouses and siblings as a result of economic migration and workplace raids.

It was a wild afternoon to be walking through the city... This first day of spring brought with it a fierce snow storm that still, several hours later, hasn't let up. The conditions have sure contributed to the dreary, hopeless nature of this day.


But hope is just around the corner....

5 years too long

Let us pray for peace.
Let us work for peace.

Always eating

A few weeks back, we had Community Meal at our place again. Vegan tofu enchiladas were followed by a very interesting dessert...fried (ahem, burnt) plantains with caramel sauce! Yay for community and for adventurous eaters!


Our Saturday visit to the Bleeding Heart Bakery. I only have eyes for you, vegan chocolate peanut butter cup cake!


On St. Patty's Day, we met Joseph at Kopi Cafe in Andersonville. We always enjoy their yummy guacamole and this time we ordered the dark sipping chocolate...divine. Oh, and it was good to see Joseph! Always is.


Palm Sunday was an early American folk music celebration at church. To give you an idea of the style, one of the songs we sang,"Angel Band" by the Stanley Brothers, is on the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. Wow do we have some talented folks in the congregation. Not only were those who led simply amazing, the whole church just sang out. I really thought to myself, "This is what church should be like!"

Juggling a lot

It has been a full weekend! Eric spent three days planning for camping programs at Reynoldswood Camp (west of the city) and I had both a Starbucks training and a fabulous Urban Ministry Convocation. We visited Humboldt Park UMC, a loving and hospitable spanish-speaking congregation on the northwest side, for Sunday a.m. service, and then spent the after noon at Union Ave UMC. Union, near the old Chicago stockyards, has hosted an urban day camp the past few summers and today was the reunion! It was great fun to visit and eat with the kids and the youth group from Edison Park UMC treated us with a juggling performance! They were really amazing and they shared their talents with the little ones when they finished. Nathan, a 7-yr-old, said he was going to tell his mom to buy him some bean bags so he can practice juggling at home! Very sweet.

Hello old friends!

Eric has taken on a few shifts a week at the Blind Faith Cafe, where he worked for our first year in Chicago, and I made the trip to Evanston with him yesterday. Andy came up from Rogers Park and we visited over a delicious Santa Fe Salad, a cappuccino brownie and some coffee. It had been ages since we saw this old neighbor of ours!


Later, Andy dropped me off at a nearby coffee shop where I met Maiko and Joey--it had been even longer since I had seen them! Here we are after walking back to the BFC to meet Eric:


Pretty amazing--during the time that Eric worked a whole shift, I did nothing but visit with people. How great! Too bad I can't get paid for that.

After a wonderful service at church, we spent this afternoon walking through the Wicker Park neighborhood, window shopping and people watching. It is so interesting how different parts of the city are filled with such different kinds of folks. The 55-degree weather was so refreshing, but we could have snow again as soon as tomorrow. Please, spring, come back soon.

Aqui Estoy

Kristin invited us to an amazing performance last night called Aqui Estoy. This phenomenal two part play is based on the stories of two undocumented immigrants, one from Honduras and one from Colombia, who live in the Albany Park neighborhood. Several years ago, a couple of young people involved in the Albany Park Theater Project spent time interviewing day laborers waiting for contractors on nearby corners in the early morning hours. The first half of the play, Amor de Lejos, is based on one of those day laborers, who left his wife and children at home and, after four attempts to cross Mexico, reached the US. The second half, Nine Digits, is based on a young member of the theater project who immigrated at the age of six and becomes trapped and haunted by his lack of a social security number. I am so sad that, after multiple extensions, last night was the last performance of the run, because I would like for everyone I know to see this play. The pieces use music and dance so beautifully and effectively, especially Amor de Lejos, in which the story unfolds in the midst of repetitive, dangerous, difficult work. Check out their website for more about the play, to access immigration resources, and to see a piece that PBS did on Aqui Estoy.

Hello there!

We finally saw the sun today. Oh what a difference that big ball of fire can make! Here's the lovely view of the skyline we saw while crossing the bridge to Whole Foods:


The past couple of weeks have been fuller than any we've had in a long time. Our job total between the two of us hit six this past week, so that keeps us busy. Eric continues to coordinate programs part-time for the United Methodist Outdoor Retreat Ministries and to serve as the communications person at Glenview UMC, and he recently decided to take on a few shifts at a week at the Blind Faith Cafe, where he worked for our first year back in Chicago. I spend my mornings at Starbucks and my afternoons with fourth graders at a neighborhood charter school and I have recently taken on a very part-time position with the United Methodist Hispanic/Latino Ministry Center. All these jobs have been going well, but we do a lot of running around the city.

Our final ski retreat last weekend went pretty well. Coordinating over 100 people can be a bit hectic at times, but we always enjoy getting to know the youth and adults over the three days and, of course, we love the snowboarding!

Here are some girls making snowflakes to go along with our theme, "When Lots of Flakes Get Together":


Trent and Jeanne helped out again, which was lots of fun. The 12-yr-old girls though Trent was the coolest--one even said in the end-of-event evaluation that he is her BFFL. Trent was *amped* about his popularity. Who wouldn't be?


Upon returning home Sunday, we all took looooong naps.

Just before the retreat, I had a lovely lunch with Abby, who was passing through town with her rock star hubby. We both remembered our cameras this time, but no one was willing to take a picture of us (people in the city always seem to be in such a hurry!), so we took one of ourselves!


It was so great to catch up!

KrisMom comes to town

Mom came for a short visit this weekend and we had a great time, despite the ridiculous cold (it is currently -1 and painfully windy).

Shortly after she arrived, we set out for Ikea. Sometimes I think that Ikea is the number one reason for my mother's Chicago visits, with my presence here coming in a close second. We wandered the endless displays of kitchens and offices, sometimes even defying the instructions of the giant arrows on the floor. After a few hours, we were pretty wiped out.


Thankfully, the cafe area provided some nourishment for our continued shopping and we were able to remain in the store until after dark. Amazingly, Eric and I escaped with buying only $33 worth of doodads. Coincidentally, my mom spent $33 herself on a completely different collection of thingamajigs. Of course, we all left with a big list of things we will buy when we figure out our lives and make lots of money.

Everything about being at church this morning was good. The service was so great and seeing people we love was energizing. Eric met with Chris afterward and made progress on plans for some short promotional videos for the church--very exciting.

Lunch was at a great vegetarian place called the Chicago Diner. One of Eric's and my Lenten disciplines is to follow a vegan diet (it's gone well so far, except for one donut incident), so we were excited to be in a place with so many options that weren't necessarily healthy! I had the Polenta Fiesta (ole!) and Goose ate a seitan Rueben sandwich--very tasty. Mom had a delicious and nutritious salad and some miso onion soup. We finished up with an amazing vegan choco-mouse cake. Why don't we go to that place more often???

Before heading back to Michigan, mom shared her favorite health drink--a think green juice mixed with some sort of mysteriously, healthy green powder. It was surprisingly good.


It was, over all, a very restful weekend!

Ski Retreat #2

Our second ski retreat at Wesley Woods was great--lots more folks (over 100 all together!) and quite a bit more chaos, but it was lots of fun and my snowboarding skills improved dramatically (no visible lumps or bruises!)!

Trent (a Starbucks co-worker) and Jeanne, who live around the corner from us, and Candie, a Garrett student and Holy Covenanter, joined us in the leadership for the weekend.

Here are Candie and Trent leading worship songs the first night:


Again, I was not daring enough to take my camera out on the slopes, but we had a great time! The weather was much warmer and the sun was out--yay! I took a snowboarding lesson with Trent, who was trying it for the first time. Jeanne and Eric, the experts, went off for a while and left us to tumble down the hill for most of the afternoon.

After the band, Rufus Tree, we joined in the ritual "give youth tons of sugar before bedtime" snack--ice cream! Sorry leaders.


Yeah...we didn't work all that hard.


Eric didn't take off his new Wesley Woods bag the whole weekend.


On the way home, we just had to stop at the "Promise Land" restaurant, a Paddock Lake fixture that we've been making fun of from afar for years. It was smoky and a bit of a dive and a bit too patriotic for my liking, but the greasy diner food was delicious.