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mumblings of a humble servant

25
May 13Sarah
Home is where the heart is….

Howdy Y’all!!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. We just got the interwebs at our house today so I really want to start blogging more. In fact, as I was driving home it was all I could do to occupy myself and make time pass quicker. I was so excited to come home and post something! But what?

Well, after much thinking, I decided to blog about my home. My house. My apartment. My place of dwelling. Where I share life with my new husband . Some of you may have seen some of it in the pictures of B’s proposal but much has changed and we don’t still have lights and such hanging everywhere.

When B and I first got home from our honeymoon I could NOT WAIT to get settled in. I have spent a lot of time at ~~his~~ our apartment and I was excited to settle in….hang pictures (or empty picture frames in our case), re-organize space, decorate and ~~explode~~ gently ease into B’s space. In his defense, his apartment looked great BEFORE moving in and he was also excited for me to blend in with his surroundings. SO! Without further ado, here is our home Some of you may never get to see it in real life for various reasons (I think of my grandparents and some family members, among others) so I hope you enjoy getting to see it through my lens. You’ll also get to know a bit more about me and B as I’ll give some descriptions about some of the details.

OH! A couple of disclaimers. Don’t judge our empty picture frames and empty walls. We still have some artwork pieces that we haven’t given a permanent home to and we are waiting to get wedding pictures back so we can fill picture frames. We hope to get a canvas or two and to fill our home with faces of the ones we love. Also: my lens isn’t quite wide enuff to capture some of the spaces so bare with me .

Our entrance:

That’s right. Jesus greets you at the door. This is one of my favorite depictions of Him:

To the right of the door is our awesome bulletin board! This is where we keep upcoming events (weddings/showers etc), our calendar, some recent cards and other odds and ends:

Next up is the kitchen! I love this space. It’s so open and you can see the dining and living room. So I can work on dishes while we watch a movie….er. I mean. I’d never do that:

Here’s our fridge. WE LOVE PICTURES! I love love love getting updated fambily pictures from people and this is where they end up. FACT: B and I have taken after his parents and we collect magnets! It’s a great way to remember all the places you visited together while not taking up a lot of space. They also generally aren’t too expensive so it’s a cheap souvenir but packs a lot of meaning. I can’t even pick a favorite. There are more pictures and magnets around the side:

This space is our “mail/paperwork” area. I am IN LOVE with this bill organizer *cough* nerd *cough*. Seriously though. You put the bill in the numbered slot for the date it’s due. It keeps my life organized. Behind that in the corner is our tea holder. All kinds of yummy teas in there….mmmmmmm now I want tea:

Here’s Dexter’s world. He gets to stare at jelly beans and Wychell aka Maple Bar cop…and the other candy dish. He’s a pretty cool fish. He pretty much sleeps all the time and then goes crazy in his bowl when we feed him and play with him. B likes to pet him. Also, Wynchell protectively watches B’s ring for him while he’s at work. I love handing B’s ring to him when he gets home. I get to propose everyday. It’s an honor:

And here is the main part of the kitchen. Nothing special though I do love the top of the cabinets! I just haven’t figured out how to make it look cool. It’s a little scattered right now. I’m thinking it needs a climbing vine or something. Right now we have our ice cream maker, a set of super antique silverware that was passed down to us on B’s side, some glassware that was also passed down to us from my dad’s side, a wedding decoration and some pepsi and coke products that look cool. LOL. Also. Don’t judge us for loving carbs. Anywho, B and I love to make dinners together. We have great counters for sitting so sometimes I cook while he sits on the counter and talks to me about his day. Sometimes its the other way around. And other times we cook together. I love the simple “normal” times of day with him:

Are ya bored yet?

Here is our “dining” area. I think it’s so cute! I love this area a lot. Right now we use it to stretch after runs and such. That trunk has all our extra blankets in it. The cabinets are our DVD’s, Blue-rays and a few video games. B gave up gaming when he got real serious about his walk with the Lord but has kept a few. I’m so proud of where he has come and where he is going. Of course, I begged him to keep the old school nintendo stuff Eventually we want to get a counter-height table with tall chairs but, since it’s just the two of us, we aren’t super pressed for getting a table just yet:

If you know me very well you know that I am cold…pretty much all the time. So I was stoked about getting a fireplace! I enjoyed it during the winter of our engagement and look forward to using it next winter. Don’t look closely at my guitar….it’s dusty. Actually. Don’t look close at anything. It’s all dusty LOL. MAJOR PET PEEVE! I hate dusting. I will do all kinds of tidying and straightening. To the point of obsession. I can’t go to bed with dishes in the sink. But I hate dusting. And deep cleaning in general actually. It’s just so tedious. Luckily B doesn’t mind it and it doesn’t need to happen too often. So bless his heart for doing that for me:

The living room. Colors are probably going to be red and mint. It just kinda worked out that way. Will probably get a canvas for one of the main walls….still working on that. I love our couch! It’s super deep and soft and can fit lots of friends! So we need to have friends and fambily over:

I just had to give a shout out for this gift! This picture does NOT do it justice. They hand made the whole thing. Included our announcement picture. It is a chalkboard. So we can serve each other meals in bed and write each other love notes. And…she didn’t know our wedding or living room colors and just HAPPENED to paint it mint. Sheesh. Could it be any more perfect?:

And yes…the unicorn bank has found a home in our living room. What? It’s mint okay:

The hallway that leads to the bedroom/bathroom. Down on the right is our washer and dryer but, contrary to popular belief, I DO have standards and decided not to put a picture up of it:

Some picture frames we can’t wait to fill:

Some more frames….we were pretty proud of our set-up here:

Our ridiculously spacious bathroom. I LOVE getting ready in here. Just wait until you see the tub:

Soaker tub, anyone?:

Our bathroom counter. Why yes, that is an old lady pill box. People gotta take vitamins okay! Also. The bathroom leads to the closet which leads to the bedroom :

*shameless selfie*

~~Where the magic happens~~ Our bedroom. Lets face it. We all knew this part might have a hint of awkwardness so lets just embrace it. I love this space. We were incredibly blessed by gift cards and cash and we were able to get this beautiful bedding (there will be a color version later). This room also has our overflow bookshelf, cabinet and my jewelry armoire. I. love. my. armoire. It’s pretty much any girls dream for getting ready. I’ll show you the top part later. And yes, that is James Dean:

I LOVE BOOKS! ’Nuff said. There were more books out on the coffee table but here are some more favorites:

Men across ‘Merica are all hooping and hollering right now at the fact that there is a car picture above our bed. Sorry to burst your bubble men but that will be leaving someday soon. We have a print we bought while in Seattle last year that we want to put in this frame but we need to get a special sized matte for it. Anyway, isn’t that bedding lovely?

And ladies across ‘Merica are hooping and hollering right now at the size of our closet! This is B’s side:

And here is mine:). It wouldn’t be complete without beautiful paintings from my lovely ~~cousin~~ sister Nicole. Notice all of B’s shoes fit on the ground and mine need their own three-tiered rack?:

And last but not lease: the armoire. This is just the top section. There are several more drawers that are sectioned off. I love it.

Welp. If you made it this far it means ~~you have no life~~ you love me greatly and were genuinely interested in my homestead . Thanks for reading! Hopefully my next post won’t be nearly as long. RIIIIGGGHHHTTTTT.

Random Musings of a Beautiful Letdown

17
Apr 13Amanda
Sentimental Notes on My Blessings in Life

I know there won’t be a lot of people who read this, but I felt the need to put it down in “writing,” lest I be overwhelmed with sentimentality

I have been SO blessed in my life. I often take that for granted.

Right now, we’re living in a time of disconnect. At work, everyone is struggling to stay afloat. We don’t chit chat like we used to. We don’t help each other out as much. We don’t go out every Friday like we used to. We walk through our own world, with barely an occasional “Hi” and a hand wave. We snap at each other, then act like nothing happened.

In home life, we are busier than ever. I don’t see my family often enough. The time I get to spend with Sean’s family is shallow and too short. I don’t see dear friends for sometimes months at a time. All this is a precursor to what God has shown me the last few days…the backdrop for the overwhelming outpouring of love I have experienced this last three days.

We all know of the horrible tragedy that occurred in Boston on Monday. It boggles my mind to think of the senseless violence (isn’t most violence senseless?) that tainted and marred such a celebrated event. People have worked their entire lives to run, arguably, the most elite race in the world alongside Olympians and the world’s greatest runners. Family, friends, and even completely random strangers gather to cheer on these people who have worked so hard to achieve such a difficult task. Spirits are high. People are crying (both from high emotions and the physical beating your body takes in running a marathon). They’re cheering and screaming. Such a celebration. 500,000+ people united in a spirit of joy and excitement and pride.

Ended in seconds. I won’t recap what occurred or the devastation people felt. But I will say this:

Through this tragedy, God has showed me how many people I have in my life that love me and care for me. People I would never even expect. People I may have felt a slow disconnect with over the past year with economic crisis eating at everyone’s lives and schedules. I am amazed and overwhelmed. So many people have come up to me and hugged me…messaged me in the middle of the night…texted and called…expressing their gratitude that one of my deepest desires at this time had not been fulfilled. I was amazed that some even put it together. That they were aware enough, and cared enough, to realize that I have been trying to qualify for Boston since October. Now…I will preface all this by saying that, even HAD I qualified in October (I missed by 3 seconds!), I would not have run until 2014. But still. The outpouring of love overwhelmed me all the same.

A text from my nephew stating how glad he was that I wasn’t there and that he loved and missed me. A facebook message from a friend – simple and wise – pointing out that there was a reason I didn’t qualify. The words were short, but knowing her, one of the most impacting sentiments I had gotten. What got me even more was my coworkers. I often don’t feel like I contribute a lot to our school. I sometimes feel overworked and under-appreciated. But the amount of people who hugged me, sought me out to say they’d thought about me all that day and night, told me simply how glad they were that I was here…I canNOT express how this made me feel.

I also have to take a minute to sing the praises of my running partner, Shelley Frey. She has pushed me farther than I ever thought I could go. She is the one who has given me dreams and convinced me I could achieve them. And besides that, she has done the hard work right along side of me…teaching me and encouraging me all the way. I can’t express enough gratitude that SHE wasn’t in Boston this last Monday. She’s run all her life, and could have easily been there, had she made the commitment to train for it just 6 months sooner than she did. God was truly watching over her, and I’m so thankful.

In the wake of all of this, I am undeterred. I’m running my second marathon just 11 short days from now (Eugene Marathon). I’ve trained hard…like every one of those participants in Monday’s Boston Marathon. With any luck, and good conditions, I’ll show that course who’s boss And Shelley – she’s a beast, and barring unforeseen catastrophes, will SMASH the course in Eugene! But every step of the way, I will be thinking about all the innocent spectators and all the runners who were injured this week. The three that were killed. I’ll be thinking about their families and about the fears and emotions people may have about running a huge event like that again. But as a wise student (and a 6th grader, at that!) told me, “You could die just walking out your door! You can’t NOT do things because you’re afraid of what might happen!”

And my favorite quote I’ve seen so far: “If you’re trying to defeat the human spirit, marathon runners are the wrong group to target.” – David and Kelvin Bright

Thank you to all those who have encouraged and uplifted me with their thoughts and sentiments during this time. It means more than you know, and will be a huge motivation over the next 11 days! Again, I am truly blessed to have you all in my life – family, friends, and coworkers alike!

Little Heart

31
Mar 13Nixie Pixie
blop biggle bump blurp

i’m hoping to make this a quick little blurb. it is 11:48pm, march 31, 2013. i am just going to dump out a confession.

when you are pregnant, you fear for the baby in your belly. you don’t want a miscarriage, you don’t want a car wreck. you don’t want to get mugged or raped or attacked in any way, because you want your baby safe. the feeling is primal and intense. for me, it was vicious. i was very protective of jack.

i was ready to lay down my life for jack. i was ready to die for him before he was anything more than a slightly swollen bump in my belly. but my greatest fear was that, if something happened to me, the paramedics and doctors might not care so much for my baby. i know that life can’t be supported outside of a human body from, say, 18 weeks. but, i know that there are instances where a baby 22 weeks can be saved and kept alive. no matter what phase of my pregnancy, the same emergency thought was always running through my head, “save my baby.” i tried to think it enough so that no matter my condition, i could repeat those words if they were needed – that they would be as natural as blinking or breathing. i am not lying; this is a true statement.

new life is so valuable. children are incredibly precious, irreplaceable, and desirable. i have such an intense desire to see innocent, fresh life to be protected and saved from harm…it is not hard for me to imagine how the Lord must feel about us. humans.

if i can weep over the face of a 7 month old baby struggling to live every day, and i don’t even know him…i know that the Master, who knows him, is weeping, too.

i have difficulty these days with suffering. particularly with children – both born and unborn. i don’t know why we are so anxious to be rid of them. i don’t understand how we are so quick to strip them of their right to live, when we are standing over them, ourselves very much alive. i don’t get it. even a little life here on earth can make a huge difference – can make a beautiful impact.

i am a better wife. a good mother. a more deeply devoted follower of Christ. a more sensitive woman. a more loving daughter.

only because jack has been influencing me for the last 20 months of his life.

he has only been living outside of my body for 10 months. that’s as long as i’ve had him to nurse, to kiss, to hold, to comfort, to swaddle, to change his diaper, to rub lotion on his knees, to smooth his hair, to give him baths, to make him laugh, to simply lay my eyes on him.

but he was always jack. he was jack the moment he was conceived. that was him. and he had a safe place in me to grow. it was not his “fault” that he was conceived; children are a natural part of sex – they would never come to be without it, in fact. children don’t just happen by some weird chance event. the only way they occur is through a human sperm and human egg meeting, and they only grow inside a human woman’s womb. there is no better environment. it’s a good thing. it was meant to be good. in a way, they are at our mercy from beginning to end – from conception to birth.

anyway, having a baby…it’s frightening. i’ll talk all about that some other time! but this is what i had to say:

blastocysts, embryos, fetuses, babies, children, and everything that follows (adolescents, teenagers, young adults, adults, middle-aged adults, seniors, really seniors) are supremely valuable.

we are beloved from our first sign of life to our last.

sean’s musings

16
Aug 11sean
Kenya Africa – Arrival in Kenya

We finally arrived in Kenya, after a stop in Ethiopia. After sorting through our visa paperwork (turns out we didn’t HAVE to have our yellow fever shots to get in), we all got photographed and fingerprinted with a shiny new Kenyan visa in our passports.

We then proceeded to find all our luggage in baggage claim, which luckily had all made it. Our “caretaker” Constantino met us right outside the baggage claim and rolled the bus up to meet us. The bus itself was quite large, luckily large enough to fit all of the stuff we brought. We brought all sorts of medical supplies, toys, candy, school supplies, etc to bring to various places within Kenya.

The ride from the Airport was supposed to take about 30 min, but took more like an hour and a half due to the intense traffic. It was utter chaos. Vans were actually driving off the side of the road up into the dirt and making their own roads. Within all the traffic, vendors were walking up to cars and trying to sell goods. It reminded me in some ways of crossing the border from Mexico back into the United States. Along the way you would see nice buildings along side people living in the streets. Shanti towns were scattered along the route, which is the first time I’ve really experienced seeing something like that other than on TV. The ride in general was quite enjoyable other than the fact that we’d been pretty much up for 30+ hours with little sleep and I think most were ready to get to our destination. We finally arrived to our destination, the Africa Nazarene University, which is set on a beautiful campus. There is a housing building especially for work and witness teams which we are staying in. It’s a 3 story building with many bunk rooms. Because we were behind schedule due to the traffic, we unloaded everything, got our rooms, and then headed up to the cafeteria for a late lunch/early dinner.

We met Freddie who is our chef for the time we are going to be here. He is a very nice, enthusiastic and friendly guy. After dinner we all came back to the house and pretty much crashed.

We did meet another team that is staying in the top floor of this building, and oddly enough they are from Calvary Church in Hillsboro, just down the road from where we live. One of the party was a Duck fan, so I even got a little ridicule in Kenya of all places. It’s quite funny that we can travel half way around the world and end up with people who go to church right down the street from us.

Mischief Managed

09
Sep 10kate
Oh my.

I’m still alive! During my time sipping my tea and perusing the internet this morning I decided to check out good ol’ Haseldens.com and came across this little treasure again.

Where to begin? I am living in this beautiful house with my lovely roommate in Woodburn, Oregon. The Lord has really provided me with the desires of my heart! Though my recent heartache has brought me a sense of desolation at times, I will never deny the fact that God is here and He’s creating a new heart in me. Growth ensues and the Lord prevails I’m trying to soak up Romans 8:28. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

I’m now a barista at Starbucks in Salem. It’s quite the challenging job, oddly enough. Even so, it’s been a rewarding experience. I’ve developed a few great relationships with coworkers and customers. I’m thankful for this season of my life to settle in and discover what it’s like to have a full-time job. It’s definitely a new adventure!

I’m loving my church/family here. Serving in a church is such a new thing to me. I’m thankful to have the secretary as a sister to make it an easier transition! It feels like home to me and it’s been a very long time since I’ve been somewhere I feel like I fit in. There’s a purpose for me here and I’m excited to see what it really is and discover these gifts. I’m learning to love people in such a different way than I did before! Thank you, Lord. It’s been a long time coming. All of this has!

I’ve been looking back on the progress made on all accounts. Work, attitude, relationships, time management, paying bills, serving, etc. Everything that comes with being an adult (and a human). I feel like I’m fully immersed. It’s terrifying! I can’t believe I finally left the nest (or rather fell out of the nest?) and am pursuing life instead of being still.

I know you all thought “Finally!” when you heard I was moving out on my own. Don’t deny it My point in writing this was to speedily catch you up and thank you for praying and loving me through everything!

On another note, I’d like to leave you with these lyrics:

And after the storm I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up
On my knees and out of luck, I look up

Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won’t rot, I won’t rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won’t rot

And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall
And remembered our own land, what we lived for

And there will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears
Get over your hill and see what you find there
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh, no more
That’s why I hold
That’s why I hold with all I have
That’s why I hold

I won’t die alone and be left there
Well I guess I’ll just go home,
Oh God knows where
Because death is just so full and man so small
Well I’m scared of what’s behind and what’s before

And there will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears
Get over your hill and see what you find there
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

“After the Storm” – Mumford and Sons

Gompers Growing Up

15
Jun 10dan
Easter Eggs and Ear Aches

Sorry for the delay in posting. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to sit down and do this. First I was working nights and babysitting days, so any break in the action and I was sleeping. Then I got laid off, so more regular rest. But all my spare time has gone into getting the house ready to sell. Most of that’s done, so I hope to post more regularly.

So, you may have heard there was a wedding last month. We decided to grace the event with our presence, no matter the hardships we would endure and overcome. The following is the saga of our epic journey.

We flew out of Indianapolis early Thursday morning. We were quite the sight going through the airport. Two big suitcases, a car seat in a carrier, a carry-on bag, a back pack, the laptop case, the inevitable diaper bag, and a baby in a stroller. Even after we checked the big bags and car seat, we still had a lot of stuff! On the first flight to Denver, Beth was great , she slept most of the way.

O.k., I started this blog a month and a half ago. I’m gonna finish it real quick like. The second half of the flight Beth got cranky. We thought she was just tired and upset. Turns out she had an ear infection. Imagine the pain when we changed altitudes. Anyway, we went to the wedding, had a great time. If you were there, you know what I’m talking about. If you weren’t, you should have been. Had a wonderful time the rest of the trip, it was too short. Here are some pics of Beth from the trip. Sarah’s mom made her dress for the wedding and my mom made her Easter dress. Coming soon, POTTY TRAINING!