Make new friends, but keep the old...

This weekend was super encouraging. Stefi, Lyndsy and I drove north to Dallas (where we dropped off Lyndsy at her aunt's) Stefi and I hung out at Mark and Alexis Isbell's house (friends of mine from high school). Mark is a youth minister at Baptist church, and he was preaching in the big service, so I told him we would spend the nite and go to church with them the next day.

That nite, an old college friend (Jon Blair) came and hung out. Spending time with old friends who know and love me reminded me that my new friends could love me even after they get to know me. It was just an affirmation of what I already know.
We all went to church and it was lovely. Very Baptist, but insightful nonetheless. There is a possibilty for me to minister to one of Mark's youth girls, because she is experiencing some of the pain that I have been through in the past. I'm open to that if that is what the Lord wants.

We dropped Stefi off at the airport and said goodbye to her through tears. She was such a blessing to have. I hope that I have to opportunity to do for someone else what she did for me.
Even so, it is time to see Lyndsy and I do what we do. I'm excited about that.

Email me or see Pookie for my address.

In the photos: Jon Blair and Stefi, Lyndsy and I in Dallas in front of my new car.

status 2

To Do:
*walk Finn
*train with Finn
*mend Finn’s toys
*clean and organize the garage
*clean the house for houseguests this weekend
*quilting and scrapbooking
*laundry & ironing
*hang stuff on the walls

Currently:
*reading…The Handmaids Tale
*eating…veggie whenever possible
*crafting…emily’s quilt, jana’s quilt, another baby quilt (all equally pressing, and all getting equally dusty), about 3,000,000 baby craft ideas for emily…is it a boy or a girl???

Activities on deck:
*CK & Ray coming to visit in September
*then we go to Baltimore later on in September
*arrange for puppy-sitting for said trip to Baltimore
*brewing

finn's new friend

We took Finn to Marymoor Park in Redmond yesterday, where he had a play date with Atreides, the dog of a co-worker of mine. Finn had a blast, and I think it really helped him to be around one dog for such a long period of time. He actually played and chased tennis balls with Atreides, and even other dogs. I think he’s turning a corner in his dog socialization skills.

We had a little picnic lunch before the park – our hidden camera caught Eric feeding Finn from the table!


Finn loved the tall grass at Marymoor -- the white tip of his tail makes the perfect locator system for when he’s bounding through it.


There was a great dane play "convention" there that Finn got immersed in (he had to jump to sniff them!). [Tangent: we get asked quite a lot if Finn is a dane puppy. But then, we get just as many people asking if he’s a beagle. Once a guy told me that Finn looked like a pit bull-lab mix. I told him no, he’s a boxer-border collie mix. The guy acted like no, I was wrong, he’s definitely a pit bull-lab. Whatever.]


My dog and me....

Conversations with the Postman

This is Erik?
Eric?
Air-Rick?
Air-Ick? The postman for our apartment complex. We had a great conversation today (sparked by my hair, actually). Through talk with him I found that only three of the 15-20 apartments in my complex have residents, so basically the place, while nicer than most Waco Apts, is a ghosttown.

Eric was telling me of all the crazy hair things he had when he was an undergrad in the 90s. I told him to put some pictures in our mailbox and I would comment on them with some post-its.

The boys in apartment 9 are HUGE soccer fans w/ a 56in TV. I told them that it was too bad I wasn't moved in for the World Cup. I'd take watching a game w/ Hannah and Ross anytime over a 56in television.

Texas is nothing like home, and I am not sure it ever will feel like it is home, but I do feel a bit of affirmation about being here.

Final note: I have to read "Courage and Calling" for my assistantship retreat, so if anyone has read it and has some thoughts or authority for me, let me know.

The stars at night are big and brite...

I am officially in Waco, Texas...crazy. I live in Texas.

It has been a huge blessing to have Stefi here with me. The Lord has used her so much to minister to me and my roomie, Lyndsy (who is amazing, by the way). Lyndsy is the calm in the storm. I think if I was going through this transition alone, or with a native Texan, I would cry myself to sleep at nite. I have only cried once since rolling into town, because I miss the community and it hit me all at once that I won't be sitting at someone's house next week having dinner and sharing all about this experience.

Lyndsy and I have already decided that every Friday nite will be pizza nite at Apartment 4, and I'll be making the pies at our first event. Our friend Jonathan promised to show up, so it should be a good time.

Lyndsy and I had the key to Jonathan's apartment (for use of internet while he was at work) and we put George W in his bathroom by the toilet. A sign of many more good times in Waco.

One last note: My boss LOVES my hair, except they wish it was green and gold... too much spirit here in Texas.

Disgruntled Parishioner (alt. title: Kids at Church Throw My Shoes)

This is me at my church on my last Sunday before the big move to Texas.
No, there is nothing wrong with my face, and it won't get stuck like that no matter how long I hold it there.
Hopefully I will be faithful to update my life with this blog, so anyone who cares can keep up (and anyone who doesn't care for that matter).

biscuits and gravity*

WORK: I had a great work visit to southern Oregon last week. Public scoping meetings and site tour took me from Portland to Roseburg to Coos Bay to Medford to Klamath Falls. And I got to go on my very first helicopter ride! I think we should all travel by helicopter more often.

DOG/HUSBAND: We took Finn to Carkeek Park over the weekend for his first real trail hike, complete with streams and trees and a dirt trail. We also went back to Magnuson Dog Park and he ran ahead of us to the water, and went right in! He even fetched his tennis ball a few times in the waves.

He learns entirely too quickly. We’ve added hand motions to “sit” and “lie down,” which he picked up in about ten minutes flat. We’re also working on “[go] inside” and “off” as in, get off the kitchen counter. He seems to have rather selective hearing on these latter cues.

GARDEN: I took some artsy photos of the veggies – I’m addicted to the macro setting on the camera and love to take very close photos of everything.

* I saw a sign at a convenience store outside of Merill, OR that at first I thought said “Biscuits and Gravity $3.99”. Of course, I was mistaken.

smart dog

Finn's first obedience training class was today. His classmates are a big bloodhound named Reba, a Carin Terrier (think Toto from the Wizard of Oz) named Barkley and a 'Teacup' Yorkshire Terrier named Pixel. Finn is the most unruly of the bunch, and it took us some extra time and attention from the instructor to get him to calm down.

I'm writing from the road this evening. I'm in Portland for a meeting tomorrow, then on to a whole host of towns in southern Oregon. My room at the Downtown Waterfront Marriott overlooks the Willamette River (as one might expect), as well as Mt Hood and Mt St Helens peaking it's southern face over the hills to the north. Our flight weather was spectacular, we had crystal clear views of Mt Rainier (up close and personal), Mt Adams, Mt St Helens (the blown-out north face), and Mt Hood. I had forgotten how pointy Mt Hood is in comparison to the other peaks, which all have more rounded-off tops (save for St Helens, of course).

I had a lovely dinner with our dear friend Gail. She tells me that the garden that Eric and I planted at her house last year has self-sowed about 50 tomato plants, as well as some sunflowers.

swimming dog

Finn went for his first swim on the 4th at Magnussen Park off-leash area (the dog park to beat all dog parks). Eric and I both waded in and called to him until his feet were paddling and he was swimming! He took to it quickly, but is still clearly unsure about the whole thing. I should mention that just about every dog in Seattle was trying to share the same 30 yards of beach, so it may have been the overwhelming number of dogs (and their owners calling them) that made him nervous, and not just the water itself. There were so many dogs, it’s amazing that the dogs seem to know which tennis ball is theirs.

Finn handled the fireworks just fine, except for the morons in our neighborhood who were setting them off from 12:30 to 1:00 this morning. None of us got a great night of sleep last night.
I remember celebrating the 4th of July as a kid with block parties and dressing up in redwhiteandblue, having water balloon tosses and putting on patriotic skits and songs with the neighborhood kids. As an adult, I celebrated by dressing up my my cowgirl hat, having a picnic with my best beloved and our pup, then having a backyard barbecue of steak (Eric) and salmon burger (me) and grilled corn.
We start obedience training this Sunday, and he has a puppy socialization “play date” on Saturday. Ugh, when did I turn into this yuppie-mother-person? Next thing, I’ll have a bumper sticker on the car that reads “My puppy is an Honor Roll Student at…”
And to give you an idea of what a “long dog” he is….

He also seems to be conditioning to the car... he hasn't been car sick for about three trips now, and seems to like having his head out a little.