not much has been happening the past few weeks as tim and i settle into life in vancouver. just continuing the process of feeling more at home. our apartment is coming together and i hope to post pictures soon. faith is used to her new surroundings - enjoying early morning fetch and the sounds of little feet running above her. we are simply loving being housemates with the mosers. i love being greeted by ben and isa's sweet excited hellos. also times talking with drew and bekah have been wonderful. and my parents are coming up this weekend to visit!! how cool is that?! i can't wait to see them. i am also feeling more comfortable in my job. tim had his first big tests yesterday and they went fine.
the Lord has been good to us and we are so thankful to be living life in the northwest.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sari Bari
Word Made Flesh is pretty much amazing and they are doing incredible things around the world - building community and living amongst the poorest of the poor in urban settings. Tim and I had the chance to hang out with the staff in Nepal this summer and they are great! We also had the opportunity to meet the staff from Calcutta. Amazing women who have a huge heart for women who have been involved in sex trafficking. They began a business to empower women who have come out of the dark life of the streets. They call it Sari Bari.
Sari Bari's mission is amazing and the products are awesome. So if you need a gift for someone or a treat for yourself - support this amazing organization and buy stuff!! or at least check out the website and tell other people.
Here is the link: http://www.saribari.com/
Sari Bari's mission is amazing and the products are awesome. So if you need a gift for someone or a treat for yourself - support this amazing organization and buy stuff!! or at least check out the website and tell other people.
Here is the link: http://www.saribari.com/
ugly tile and the morning with faith
so i just have to laugh as i think about the new tile in our bathroom. we had to get one wall of tile ripped out because the wood behind it was rotten (yuck!). well the nice, but not super design oriented, repairman put in tile that he tried to match but totally doesn't. To make matter's worse the tile pattern doesn't even line up with the other two walls of tile. I also feel bad because it looks like not that long ago the tile was redone - and redone in a really nice way (with an attractive trim and everything). Well the tile job is no longer impressive. I will post a picture when he is done - should be today. (Oh and bekah and drew think the tile is just going to fall off because he didn't put any initial grout in... if anyone visits beware of falling tile). haha.
this morning faith and i had a moment outside. the poor dog has been stuck inside the past few days because tim has been busy with school and i have been at work. So this morning I had some extra time and decided to take faith out in the front yard to play fetch. Well she had the best time running down the grassy yards of all the neighbors chasing her ball with a huge smile on her face. And for me it was very enjoyable to be out in the morning air (it had just finished raining so the smell was incredible). As we were playing I was reflecting on my love for my sweet dog. She is just so precious. So thankful for faith today!
this morning faith and i had a moment outside. the poor dog has been stuck inside the past few days because tim has been busy with school and i have been at work. So this morning I had some extra time and decided to take faith out in the front yard to play fetch. Well she had the best time running down the grassy yards of all the neighbors chasing her ball with a huge smile on her face. And for me it was very enjoyable to be out in the morning air (it had just finished raining so the smell was incredible). As we were playing I was reflecting on my love for my sweet dog. She is just so precious. So thankful for faith today!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
disoriented
we have new carpet!! and it looks really nice. unfortunately it wasn't finished until 9 pm on monday. so we haven't had much time to get settled. and this morning i was feeling a bit anxious and i couldn't figure out why - well after thinking about it a bit i realized i was feeling disoriented because our home is totally unsettled. boxes are still everywhere - random stuff at every turn and now our bathroom is being torn-up by a repair man to fix some rotten wood. (i am thankful it is getting taken care of but just adds one more thing - so thankful for drew and bekah who let me use their shower this morning).
in many ways this feels like the longest transition ever. i am hoping by the end of this weekend life feels a bit more settled - because our home is more put together. when things are more in place i will post pictures. i am happy with the way it is coming together. and i am trying to remember to breathe and stand in the abundant peace of Christ.
one other thing - i don't know if anyone saw the biggest loser last night but i was pretty worked up by the end of it. i was only able to watch the last 45 minutes but... wow. after the show ended bekah and i processed the show for a few minutes(surprisingly tim didn't stay for the debriefing session) and even as i was trying to fall asleep tim asked, "are you still worked up about the biggest loser?" and i had to admit that i was. poor amy p. got kicked off. i wasn't surprised just frustrated by heba's decision. i know she made an alliance with brady and vickie - but this was her chance to eliminate brady - who does she think is going to go eventually... she is! i know, i know - it is just a show. but it gets under my skin how rude and bitter and unkind people can be. and i have to be honest - because of the things brady, vickie and heba say i don't like them very much. oh well. did anyone else get fired up about the biggest loser last night? let me know.
in many ways this feels like the longest transition ever. i am hoping by the end of this weekend life feels a bit more settled - because our home is more put together. when things are more in place i will post pictures. i am happy with the way it is coming together. and i am trying to remember to breathe and stand in the abundant peace of Christ.
one other thing - i don't know if anyone saw the biggest loser last night but i was pretty worked up by the end of it. i was only able to watch the last 45 minutes but... wow. after the show ended bekah and i processed the show for a few minutes(surprisingly tim didn't stay for the debriefing session) and even as i was trying to fall asleep tim asked, "are you still worked up about the biggest loser?" and i had to admit that i was. poor amy p. got kicked off. i wasn't surprised just frustrated by heba's decision. i know she made an alliance with brady and vickie - but this was her chance to eliminate brady - who does she think is going to go eventually... she is! i know, i know - it is just a show. but it gets under my skin how rude and bitter and unkind people can be. and i have to be honest - because of the things brady, vickie and heba say i don't like them very much. oh well. did anyone else get fired up about the biggest loser last night? let me know.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
welcome home orphan annie
after a very long day we bought a new car (well a used car but new to us) - and i am calling her annie. we went to a number of different dealerships and tim had researched a number of different private owners and at the end of the day we drove home a new car. because we will be crossing into canada today i felt much better about spending a bit more money and going through a dealership - as well as knowing the car had been looked over and had no immediate problems. all that to say here is a little bit about the car. it is a 2002 subaru forrester - 77,000 miles - immaculate on the inside. a rack on the top. and was previously owned by a couple in their 70's. we saw all of the maintenance records for the car and man-oh-man they had the car in every 3,000 miles for oil changes and every regular check-up you can imagine. they took great care of the car. we feel very fortunate to have found a car so well taken care of and at such a reasonable price. and let me say i will be totally fine if we don't step into a car dealership in the near future. ed - our sales guy - was great. but 8 hours total in dealerships in one day is a long time...why annie you may wonder? well annie was my absolute favorite movie as a little girl. and the car is red. (i never thought i would own a red car). and annie's dress in the movie (the one i had to match that my grandma made) was red. on the way home from the dealership her name came to me and i think it is appropriate. so annie - welcome home. i hope you treat us better than our last car (who didn't have a name... maybe that was part of the problem).
this afternoon we will pack annie up and head north. we have been spending the weekend in bellingham after a great week in colorado. but i am ready to be home. we are getting new carpet in tomorrow!!! and after that we will finally be able to settle in.
Monday, October 13, 2008
happy birthday gabellujah!
Happy Birthday Gabe! Today is your 27th birthday, just in case you forgot. You are a beautiful man Gabe, and of you it can truly be said...
Woman want him, and men want to be him.
(sorry ladies, he's taken). Gabe, on the other 364 days a year I prefer to hold my older brother rights over your head. No red lentil soup for me my friend. But today Gabe, you are the king! I hand over all honorary older sibling rights for a 24 hr period. Boss away! (don't get too comfy though.)
In honor of Gabe:
A man with the strength of Samson,
the looks of Adonis,
the body of Hercules,
for whom the riddles of this world are like a child's ABCs.
Who else holds together Francis' compassion
and Augustine's mind?
He could chase Odysseus across the ocean,
and wrestle Beowulf to the ground.
Gilgamesh would flee in his boat at your approach.
Could you best Maimonides, Aquinas, and Averroës,
with half you brain tied behind your back?
Certainly,
where's the challenge?
May you ever write with the Shakespeare's pen,
Hemingway's paper,
and the Dostoevsky's ink.
Would that Homer had a man such as this to write of.
Happy Birthday Gabe!
Woman want him, and men want to be him.
(sorry ladies, he's taken). Gabe, on the other 364 days a year I prefer to hold my older brother rights over your head. No red lentil soup for me my friend. But today Gabe, you are the king! I hand over all honorary older sibling rights for a 24 hr period. Boss away! (don't get too comfy though.)
In honor of Gabe:
A man with the strength of Samson,
the looks of Adonis,
the body of Hercules,
for whom the riddles of this world are like a child's ABCs.
Who else holds together Francis' compassion
and Augustine's mind?
He could chase Odysseus across the ocean,
and wrestle Beowulf to the ground.
Gilgamesh would flee in his boat at your approach.
Could you best Maimonides, Aquinas, and Averroës,
with half you brain tied behind your back?
Certainly,
where's the challenge?
May you ever write with the Shakespeare's pen,
Hemingway's paper,
and the Dostoevsky's ink.
Would that Homer had a man such as this to write of.
Happy Birthday Gabe!
a weekend in indiana
tim's grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this weekend. the whole family traveled to plymouth indiana to celebrate. we had a great weekend full of time as a family. tim and i were able to take a bit of time away to go to taylor's homecoming and see some friends. now we are in colorado springs for the week - enjoying time with tim's family.
our yellow car - very fun to drive.
on a walk with grandpa stockman. the man is a serious walker. i mistakenly wore my new shoes and suffered the blisters from the walk throughout the weekend.
grandpa stockman and tk. tim has many many good memories of adventures with grandpa stockman. bike trips across iowa, harvesting maple syrup, traveling to hawaii, etc... i have no doubt that tim's adventurous spirit is something he inherited from grandpa stockman.
we spent the night with my friend lauren in muncie. la and i have known each other since the summer of 2001 when we were both counselors at honey rock. my relationship with her is one of the greatest treasures that came from that difficult summer.
lauren's sweet boy judah
la and i - she is 3 weeks away from meeting baby number 2 - a girl.
nico! catching precious few moments together. i love, love my dear friend.
sisters hanging out after church in the youth building. the stockman's donated money from the sale of grandpa stockman's father's land for the youth building. so cool. and their desire is for the building to honor him and serve the youth of their church - to the glory of the Lord and the further advancement of his kingdom.
the gray team - being encouraged to smile as big as possible. gabe is awarded first place.
we spent a good deal of time at taylor with tk's good friends - unfortunately i didn't get any pictures of them - so i am hoping to get some from the other ladies who took lots of pictures. i am still using the broken camera. this weekend only increased the motivation to get a new camera.
our yellow car - very fun to drive.
on a walk with grandpa stockman. the man is a serious walker. i mistakenly wore my new shoes and suffered the blisters from the walk throughout the weekend. 
grandpa stockman and tk. tim has many many good memories of adventures with grandpa stockman. bike trips across iowa, harvesting maple syrup, traveling to hawaii, etc... i have no doubt that tim's adventurous spirit is something he inherited from grandpa stockman. 
we spent the night with my friend lauren in muncie. la and i have known each other since the summer of 2001 when we were both counselors at honey rock. my relationship with her is one of the greatest treasures that came from that difficult summer. lauren's sweet boy judah
la and i - she is 3 weeks away from meeting baby number 2 - a girl.
nico! catching precious few moments together. i love, love my dear friend. 
sisters hanging out after church in the youth building. the stockman's donated money from the sale of grandpa stockman's father's land for the youth building. so cool. and their desire is for the building to honor him and serve the youth of their church - to the glory of the Lord and the further advancement of his kingdom. 
the gray team - being encouraged to smile as big as possible. gabe is awarded first place. 
we spent a good deal of time at taylor with tk's good friends - unfortunately i didn't get any pictures of them - so i am hoping to get some from the other ladies who took lots of pictures. i am still using the broken camera. this weekend only increased the motivation to get a new camera.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
happy light
well it is 7 in the morning and i am blogging - why? you may ask - well...
tim had to leave at 6:40 this morning for school (poor guy) and as he is the one to make us yummy egg breakfast i got up to eat with him. when i slowly came out of our bedroom i heard all kinds of crashing coming from the kitchen. in typical tim surprising fashion he was in full effect. he had gone to the garage to get our new pan (thanks vickie for the bday gift!) and our happy light (again props to mama knipp who loaned us her light). the happy light is huge and was unpacked and on the kitchen table. tim was bustling around like a busy bee. all i had to do was make the coffee.
when asked what motivated him to go get the happy light, unpack it and plug it in tim simply said, "it sounded nice." another great idea for tim - as the weather here has been gloomy the past few days. everyone can use a little happy (full spectrum of light) now and again in the northwest.
tim is gone now and i am headed to get ready for the day but the happy light is still on. i think after sitting with it for 40 min i am good to go. but i wouldn't be surprised if i wake up on a regular basis to a little happy.
(shout-out to defense - writing happy over and over reminds me of 'happy soap' from the thrill of it all - good times with doris day - i watched it recently - surprisingly tim wasn't interested in watching it with me - some things do never change).
tim had to leave at 6:40 this morning for school (poor guy) and as he is the one to make us yummy egg breakfast i got up to eat with him. when i slowly came out of our bedroom i heard all kinds of crashing coming from the kitchen. in typical tim surprising fashion he was in full effect. he had gone to the garage to get our new pan (thanks vickie for the bday gift!) and our happy light (again props to mama knipp who loaned us her light). the happy light is huge and was unpacked and on the kitchen table. tim was bustling around like a busy bee. all i had to do was make the coffee.
when asked what motivated him to go get the happy light, unpack it and plug it in tim simply said, "it sounded nice." another great idea for tim - as the weather here has been gloomy the past few days. everyone can use a little happy (full spectrum of light) now and again in the northwest.
tim is gone now and i am headed to get ready for the day but the happy light is still on. i think after sitting with it for 40 min i am good to go. but i wouldn't be surprised if i wake up on a regular basis to a little happy.
(shout-out to defense - writing happy over and over reminds me of 'happy soap' from the thrill of it all - good times with doris day - i watched it recently - surprisingly tim wasn't interested in watching it with me - some things do never change).
Monday, October 6, 2008
choose life
In my life things come in waves - I get stuck on certain foods (currently stuck - ie: repeatedly having an appetite for the same food over and over again - olives, cheese-its, red wine, jalapenos...), one of my first favorite words was "again" - my poor mother had to read the same books over and over and have Annie constantly playing, and i learn things in themes. I am thankful for the perfect reality of having a Creator who knows me intimately and meets me in the unique ways in which He created me.
For those of you who have been with me on this blog journey for a while may remember my struckness in the area of falling this past spring - a perfect example of the Lord using a myriad of ways to teach me about myself and Himself. Well I have found myself smashed into another theme which I wanted to share with all of you - choose life.
This journey started over a year ago in a session with one of my clients. We were talking about the importance of being mindful of our thoughts during the day and being intentional to stop thoughts that are lies - replacing the thoughts with truth. She appropriately and extremely articulately said, "I have to tell myself to choose life - to recognize the areas where my thoughts are focused on things in the arena of death and stop those thoughts and to focus on things/thoughts that are true - i have to choose life." You have to love it when the Lord uses people in your life that you are serving to teach you incredible lessons. Well my clients words of choosing life have stayed with me.
Well, more recently in my reading of Deuteronomy I came across this passage in chapter 30:
(19) This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live (20) and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
What is choosing life: love the Lord, listen to His voice, hold fast to Him (just what i was struck by a week or so previous).
To hit the point out the park - I was at a meeting hearing about a friend's mission to the community of City Heights in San Diego and during her sharing she spoke the words, "I have to remind myself in my thoughts to choose life."
choose life, choose life, choose life. life and death are both out there in this world - fighting for our attention. i want to more fully, more completely, more regularly to choose life. choose life in my conversations, in my thoughts and in my behavior. i want to love the Lord in these things, listen to His voice in these things and hold fast to Him in these things - i want to choose life. and in this way i hope to honor Him who created me to be stuck, the One who gave me life.
For those of you who have been with me on this blog journey for a while may remember my struckness in the area of falling this past spring - a perfect example of the Lord using a myriad of ways to teach me about myself and Himself. Well I have found myself smashed into another theme which I wanted to share with all of you - choose life.
This journey started over a year ago in a session with one of my clients. We were talking about the importance of being mindful of our thoughts during the day and being intentional to stop thoughts that are lies - replacing the thoughts with truth. She appropriately and extremely articulately said, "I have to tell myself to choose life - to recognize the areas where my thoughts are focused on things in the arena of death and stop those thoughts and to focus on things/thoughts that are true - i have to choose life." You have to love it when the Lord uses people in your life that you are serving to teach you incredible lessons. Well my clients words of choosing life have stayed with me.
Well, more recently in my reading of Deuteronomy I came across this passage in chapter 30:
(19) This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live (20) and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
What is choosing life: love the Lord, listen to His voice, hold fast to Him (just what i was struck by a week or so previous).
To hit the point out the park - I was at a meeting hearing about a friend's mission to the community of City Heights in San Diego and during her sharing she spoke the words, "I have to remind myself in my thoughts to choose life."
choose life, choose life, choose life. life and death are both out there in this world - fighting for our attention. i want to more fully, more completely, more regularly to choose life. choose life in my conversations, in my thoughts and in my behavior. i want to love the Lord in these things, listen to His voice in these things and hold fast to Him in these things - i want to choose life. and in this way i hope to honor Him who created me to be stuck, the One who gave me life.
Friday, October 3, 2008
moving day
today is the day. tim and i will leave to pick up the moving truck in just a few minutes. then we (with the help of my fam) will load it up and head north. we have an itemized list of everything we own and hope that the border doesn't present too much of a problem. i imagine we will spend the night painting and getting this organized. and tomorrow morning we will do the majority of the unloading of the truck. we are for sure getting new carpet (yeah!) - and we hope that will happen the monday we return from colorado. i will post pictures soon.
whelp better get going.
ps - tim and i talked with gabe last night and gabe spoke of bobby beginning to show by brooke's growing tummy. how cool?! we can't wait to see!!
whelp better get going.
ps - tim and i talked with gabe last night and gabe spoke of bobby beginning to show by brooke's growing tummy. how cool?! we can't wait to see!!
one last thing - yesterday i had a great day at work. i continue to get a better feel for what i will be doing. and next week i will begin calling clients to set up times to meet them after we return from the midwest/colorado. please pray for smooth transitions - as all of them will be adjusting to me as i am adjusting to the new position.
and as tim and i have reflected over the multitude of change which is happening we are overwhelmed with thankfulness for the Lord's provision. He is so good! and i rejoice because my heart has truly been still these past few months - no anxiety or depressive moments. so maybe i am getting pretty good at this transition thing - who knows. i am, however, ready for more constancy in our life. ok really have to go now :)
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
first day of work
yesterday was my first day of work. it went well - a little boring to be honest. but i suppose that is to be expected given i was reading polices and procedures all day (important but not a thrilling experience). Today continues to be full of getting to know the rhythm of this place. I imagine that as i get into the work itself i will love it.
in other move news - i picked out colors for our apartment and hope to have the painting done before we leave for the midwest (a week from tomorrow we are headed to indiana for tim's grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary and then have a 5 day layover in denver - so exciting!!). i realized this was the first time i have chosen colors for a home since tim and i have been married - if you can imagine when tim's vote was cast for the color of our bedroom he voted for more of a brown than light lavender... oh well. :)
i will post pictures of the place once the painting is done. we would appreciate your prayers for a smooth move this weekend, especially that the border guard we have is kind and gracious.
in other move news - i picked out colors for our apartment and hope to have the painting done before we leave for the midwest (a week from tomorrow we are headed to indiana for tim's grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary and then have a 5 day layover in denver - so exciting!!). i realized this was the first time i have chosen colors for a home since tim and i have been married - if you can imagine when tim's vote was cast for the color of our bedroom he voted for more of a brown than light lavender... oh well. :)
i will post pictures of the place once the painting is done. we would appreciate your prayers for a smooth move this weekend, especially that the border guard we have is kind and gracious.
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