Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Nice News!
A local kids consignment store wants to carry the pants and hats that I am making! I will take a bunch in this week, and so I spent a lot of time making tags and getting
Set.
them ready to go. It will be fun to see how they sell. I am aware that the wool pants season is going to be over in a couple of months, so I have been trying to come up with some other ideas for the felt I have on hand (plus materials that end up being too scratchy to wear. I made a little cube chair and round table for Amelia as a test. I like the little chair, and it was easy to make. The table/ stool was a lot more involved, and so I'm not sure if it would be worth the effort.
Here is a pair of my favorite pants:
Some of the items I'm bringing in, all ready to go.
Tags. H. Shack is actually sketching a lamb for me, so these will look even nicer soon.
Cube chair.
Poof table.
Set.
It's fun to try something new, and to take a little risk. I felt very anxious about showing the shop owner what I'd been working on, since I've never done anything like this before. It was really rewarding to just go for it. Now we have to see if the shoppers agree... Thanks, everyone, for your encouraging comments that gave me the extra confidence I needed!
A local kids consignment store wants to carry the pants and hats that I am making! I will take a bunch in this week, and so I spent a lot of time making tags and getting
Set.
them ready to go. It will be fun to see how they sell. I am aware that the wool pants season is going to be over in a couple of months, so I have been trying to come up with some other ideas for the felt I have on hand (plus materials that end up being too scratchy to wear. I made a little cube chair and round table for Amelia as a test. I like the little chair, and it was easy to make. The table/ stool was a lot more involved, and so I'm not sure if it would be worth the effort.
Here is a pair of my favorite pants:
Some of the items I'm bringing in, all ready to go.
Tags. H. Shack is actually sketching a lamb for me, so these will look even nicer soon.
Cube chair.
Poof table.
Set.
It's fun to try something new, and to take a little risk. I felt very anxious about showing the shop owner what I'd been working on, since I've never done anything like this before. It was really rewarding to just go for it. Now we have to see if the shoppers agree... Thanks, everyone, for your encouraging comments that gave me the extra confidence I needed!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Looking for (Church) Love in All the Wrong Places...
Apart from sunshine and family, having a church community is what we are missing the most since we moved from California. I had been going to our church (New Heart) since it started ten years ago, and many people there were like family to me. Jeff and I had been fortunate to join our marriage group even before we got married, and really appreciated feeling known and supported by the families in that community. On the other hand, we were excited about the possibility of finding a new church, since there were other things we desired in a church that were missing at NH. Some of those things included being a community rather than commuter church, having a good range of ages and a wealth of "older and wiser" resources to draw from, and a more formal or liturgical setting. However, we also want a smaller church where we can feel like we know/ recognize most of the people each week.
When we first moved here, we found an Episcopalian church that was walking distance from our home. I really really want to go to a neighborhood church, because I want to see people from that community frequently, and to be able to participate in their lives frequently and outside of the church context. We visited this church right away, and really had a good feeling about it. I really appreciated that they have a healing touch spiritual ministry, and offer classes on the subject. They have a lot of other neat outreaches, and are a very warm, welcoming community. We dove right in and went to the "Journey of Faith" class about the Episcopal church. There we some things that we learned about the church that were really difficult for us to reconcile, and although we were willing to keep attending and building relationships in a church where we felt we didn't believe exactly the same things as most of the others there, if we felt that God wanted us to, what really made us decide to keep looking was the fact that there weren't any other families there with kids Amelia's age. We didn't feel there was a lot of potential for us to make practical friends and connections. However, I still felt pretty sad about leaving, since we'd been going there and trying to build relationships for a couple of months already.
Since then, looking for a church has been a surprising (albeit disappointing) adventure!
Week 1: We went to a Friends church that had been recommended by several people. The feeling there was very odd and kind of depressed. It felt really anemic and awkward. They also started the service by singing an advent hymn that described Jesus: "see how white his skin, how rosy his cheeks!" Everyone looked a little uneasy, which I guess was good. I hadn't had much sleep the night before, and was struggling to stay awake. The service seemed to go on forever, and toward the end they had their signature sharing time. Someone stood up and said they were offended by the hymn, but offered that we all experience Christ relative to our own personal backgrounds. Some other stood up to comment on this, then people offered a couple of praises/ prayer requests. Next, a woman in a fancy wheelchair a couple of feet away from me said that she had a prayer request-- did we know that Evil Knievil had passed away? The lady up front fumbled for a moment and then said that we should pray for Evil's family during this time. She started praying, and as she came to the end she prayed about Evil Knevil's recent death and for his family. There were many stifled snickers throughout the congregation, and at this point in the weird, tense service, I was feeling completely loopy. I got the giggles, BAD. I was laughing so hard that I was crying, and all I could do is hope that it really looked like I was crying. Jeff was patting my back saying "It's OK... It's OK" through the prayer time. After that there was another song and then it was over. We got out of there as fast as we could, and throughout the afternoon I kept breaking in to giggles every time I thought about Evil Knievel.
Week 2: We visited a Presbyterian Church that has a MOPS program. I've never been to MOPS, but thought this might be the right time, since I can't really figure out how else to meet anyone. This church was pretty, and was really basic. The sermon was read a little awkwardly, but wasn't bad. I don't think we met anyone, and didn't really feel any "chemistry" there.
Week 3: We decided we'd like to try a Lutheran church, and found one close- ish to us online. We should have known better, since the site hadn't been updated for seven years. We got there for the 9:30 service to find about three cars in the parking lot. We drove around looking for another church with a service time on their marquee, and ended up going home to eat breakfast and look up a 10:30 service. We found an old Methodist church in the same neighborhood, and high-tailed it over there for the service, only to read on their marquee that their service was actually at 10 a.m.! We went home, defeated.
Week 4: Sunday before Christmas. We went back to that old Methodist church we'd tried to go to the week before. We were excited about a Christmas service, and had a visitor (Luke) with us this time. We joined about five other people in the sanctuary, plus five people singing in the choir up front. They didn't have a program, really-- they just asked for requests for hymns and sang one verse of each for a little while. Most of the people were over fifty. After the singing, a young Korean pastor got up and spoke, preached a nice sermon. There was a fellowship time afterward, and we talked to just about everyone there. This church is on its last leg, so the Methodist leaders sent in a Korean couple to try to revive the church and make it a multicultural one. It turns out that the pastor is also assigned to another church across town, so he and his wife and baby go to both each week, and he preaches twice. There are no kids in the church, and it turns out that they had a really rough time with a premature baby and some health issues early on-- I can't imagine going through that in a new city, without a good community. I really felt for them, and they asked us to please attend their church. I think they knew this was asking a lot, as I am sure they're only there because they have been sent there!
Week 5: We found a very nice-looking Lutheran church in a neighborhood nearby. They also run a preschool there. Oddly enough, they didn't have a nursery, and didn't seem to appreciate having a toddler talking during the service! The church was beautiful and there were a lot of people there, but no one spoke to us. I was even in the cry room with A. with several other people and their kids, but no one was really interested in introducing themselves or anything of that friendly nature. Maybe if we kept showing up they'd want to know who we were, but we didn't really feel like going back.
At this point, we took a couple of weeks off!
Last Sunday was Week 6: We went to a Mennonite church that is still in our quadrant of Portland, but further away than all of the rest. We had heard some good things about this church, but had put off going, since in our "ideal world," we'd be able to walk to our neighborhood church! This church was upbeat, full but not large, and everyone seemed to want to be there. They have a lot of good programs, many of which relate to social justice and being good stewards of the environment, our resources, etc. We especially enjoyed the worship-- there is no choir, but one of the sunday school classes in the morning is "singing class" and I would guess that at least a third of the congregation had been attending! The singing was amazing, all of the hymns were sung in all of the parts and sounded beautiful. The nursery was busy, and although we didn't really talk to anyone there, they were at least friendly. The teaching was pretty good (I feel awkward somehow rating sermons, but I haven't been impressed by any, ever, since we left New Heart.) I think we'll give it another go.
We would sure like to make some friends and get plugged into a church community, but I feel strongly about not rushing the church finding process, since I have a really hard time uprooting and moving on. This feels a lot like starting to date again after being in a long-term relationship (10 years!) I actually really enjoyed dating before Jeff and I were together, and went on blind dates, set-ups, etc., in hopes for at least a good story, if not finding the right one. At this point, however, we're tiring of the church dating scene, especially with so few 2nd or 3rd dates, and would like to find and settle down with our true Church Love.
Apart from sunshine and family, having a church community is what we are missing the most since we moved from California. I had been going to our church (New Heart) since it started ten years ago, and many people there were like family to me. Jeff and I had been fortunate to join our marriage group even before we got married, and really appreciated feeling known and supported by the families in that community. On the other hand, we were excited about the possibility of finding a new church, since there were other things we desired in a church that were missing at NH. Some of those things included being a community rather than commuter church, having a good range of ages and a wealth of "older and wiser" resources to draw from, and a more formal or liturgical setting. However, we also want a smaller church where we can feel like we know/ recognize most of the people each week.
When we first moved here, we found an Episcopalian church that was walking distance from our home. I really really want to go to a neighborhood church, because I want to see people from that community frequently, and to be able to participate in their lives frequently and outside of the church context. We visited this church right away, and really had a good feeling about it. I really appreciated that they have a healing touch spiritual ministry, and offer classes on the subject. They have a lot of other neat outreaches, and are a very warm, welcoming community. We dove right in and went to the "Journey of Faith" class about the Episcopal church. There we some things that we learned about the church that were really difficult for us to reconcile, and although we were willing to keep attending and building relationships in a church where we felt we didn't believe exactly the same things as most of the others there, if we felt that God wanted us to, what really made us decide to keep looking was the fact that there weren't any other families there with kids Amelia's age. We didn't feel there was a lot of potential for us to make practical friends and connections. However, I still felt pretty sad about leaving, since we'd been going there and trying to build relationships for a couple of months already.
Since then, looking for a church has been a surprising (albeit disappointing) adventure!
Week 1: We went to a Friends church that had been recommended by several people. The feeling there was very odd and kind of depressed. It felt really anemic and awkward. They also started the service by singing an advent hymn that described Jesus: "see how white his skin, how rosy his cheeks!" Everyone looked a little uneasy, which I guess was good. I hadn't had much sleep the night before, and was struggling to stay awake. The service seemed to go on forever, and toward the end they had their signature sharing time. Someone stood up and said they were offended by the hymn, but offered that we all experience Christ relative to our own personal backgrounds. Some other stood up to comment on this, then people offered a couple of praises/ prayer requests. Next, a woman in a fancy wheelchair a couple of feet away from me said that she had a prayer request-- did we know that Evil Knievil had passed away? The lady up front fumbled for a moment and then said that we should pray for Evil's family during this time. She started praying, and as she came to the end she prayed about Evil Knevil's recent death and for his family. There were many stifled snickers throughout the congregation, and at this point in the weird, tense service, I was feeling completely loopy. I got the giggles, BAD. I was laughing so hard that I was crying, and all I could do is hope that it really looked like I was crying. Jeff was patting my back saying "It's OK... It's OK" through the prayer time. After that there was another song and then it was over. We got out of there as fast as we could, and throughout the afternoon I kept breaking in to giggles every time I thought about Evil Knievel.
Week 2: We visited a Presbyterian Church that has a MOPS program. I've never been to MOPS, but thought this might be the right time, since I can't really figure out how else to meet anyone. This church was pretty, and was really basic. The sermon was read a little awkwardly, but wasn't bad. I don't think we met anyone, and didn't really feel any "chemistry" there.
Week 3: We decided we'd like to try a Lutheran church, and found one close- ish to us online. We should have known better, since the site hadn't been updated for seven years. We got there for the 9:30 service to find about three cars in the parking lot. We drove around looking for another church with a service time on their marquee, and ended up going home to eat breakfast and look up a 10:30 service. We found an old Methodist church in the same neighborhood, and high-tailed it over there for the service, only to read on their marquee that their service was actually at 10 a.m.! We went home, defeated.
Week 4: Sunday before Christmas. We went back to that old Methodist church we'd tried to go to the week before. We were excited about a Christmas service, and had a visitor (Luke) with us this time. We joined about five other people in the sanctuary, plus five people singing in the choir up front. They didn't have a program, really-- they just asked for requests for hymns and sang one verse of each for a little while. Most of the people were over fifty. After the singing, a young Korean pastor got up and spoke, preached a nice sermon. There was a fellowship time afterward, and we talked to just about everyone there. This church is on its last leg, so the Methodist leaders sent in a Korean couple to try to revive the church and make it a multicultural one. It turns out that the pastor is also assigned to another church across town, so he and his wife and baby go to both each week, and he preaches twice. There are no kids in the church, and it turns out that they had a really rough time with a premature baby and some health issues early on-- I can't imagine going through that in a new city, without a good community. I really felt for them, and they asked us to please attend their church. I think they knew this was asking a lot, as I am sure they're only there because they have been sent there!
Week 5: We found a very nice-looking Lutheran church in a neighborhood nearby. They also run a preschool there. Oddly enough, they didn't have a nursery, and didn't seem to appreciate having a toddler talking during the service! The church was beautiful and there were a lot of people there, but no one spoke to us. I was even in the cry room with A. with several other people and their kids, but no one was really interested in introducing themselves or anything of that friendly nature. Maybe if we kept showing up they'd want to know who we were, but we didn't really feel like going back.
At this point, we took a couple of weeks off!
Last Sunday was Week 6: We went to a Mennonite church that is still in our quadrant of Portland, but further away than all of the rest. We had heard some good things about this church, but had put off going, since in our "ideal world," we'd be able to walk to our neighborhood church! This church was upbeat, full but not large, and everyone seemed to want to be there. They have a lot of good programs, many of which relate to social justice and being good stewards of the environment, our resources, etc. We especially enjoyed the worship-- there is no choir, but one of the sunday school classes in the morning is "singing class" and I would guess that at least a third of the congregation had been attending! The singing was amazing, all of the hymns were sung in all of the parts and sounded beautiful. The nursery was busy, and although we didn't really talk to anyone there, they were at least friendly. The teaching was pretty good (I feel awkward somehow rating sermons, but I haven't been impressed by any, ever, since we left New Heart.) I think we'll give it another go.
We would sure like to make some friends and get plugged into a church community, but I feel strongly about not rushing the church finding process, since I have a really hard time uprooting and moving on. This feels a lot like starting to date again after being in a long-term relationship (10 years!) I actually really enjoyed dating before Jeff and I were together, and went on blind dates, set-ups, etc., in hopes for at least a good story, if not finding the right one. At this point, however, we're tiring of the church dating scene, especially with so few 2nd or 3rd dates, and would like to find and settle down with our true Church Love.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Floored!
(Thanks, Annie, for the reminder to show the changes.)
The project, as most home improvement projects do, ended up costing at least twice as much in time and money than originally expected, but it was well worth it. We still have a few finishing touches to do, but it looks great, and I am very very happy. This was the one change that I felt like I needed to have taken care of NOW, and then I could be content with waiting indefinitely on all of the rest of the things we wanted to change in our house. We had these superfine white carpets in the living and dining room that were absolutely impossible to keep looking decent. Anyway, I'll just show you....
Before we bought the house:
During the process:
We were dismayed to find the linoleum glued to the floors, which multiplied the work exponentially. Amelia and I went to Olympia for a couple of days to stay out of the dust and fumes.
After:
Thank you Jeff!!! I love the color, and although you can't see it in the pictures, the wood has a very pretty pattern-- we think it might be tiger maple. I am still sometimes surprised to see these beautiful floors in place of those dirty carpets when I walk into a room. I haven't shown pictures of these rooms before, since I haven't gotten to the point that I felt like they were ready, but we're suddenly much closer!
(Thanks, Annie, for the reminder to show the changes.)
The project, as most home improvement projects do, ended up costing at least twice as much in time and money than originally expected, but it was well worth it. We still have a few finishing touches to do, but it looks great, and I am very very happy. This was the one change that I felt like I needed to have taken care of NOW, and then I could be content with waiting indefinitely on all of the rest of the things we wanted to change in our house. We had these superfine white carpets in the living and dining room that were absolutely impossible to keep looking decent. Anyway, I'll just show you....
Before we bought the house:
During the process:
We were dismayed to find the linoleum glued to the floors, which multiplied the work exponentially. Amelia and I went to Olympia for a couple of days to stay out of the dust and fumes.
After:
Thank you Jeff!!! I love the color, and although you can't see it in the pictures, the wood has a very pretty pattern-- we think it might be tiger maple. I am still sometimes surprised to see these beautiful floors in place of those dirty carpets when I walk into a room. I haven't shown pictures of these rooms before, since I haven't gotten to the point that I felt like they were ready, but we're suddenly much closer!
Friday, January 04, 2008
Amelia Update
Amelia is 18 months old now, my official favorite age in the baby/toddler category. She gets that very purposeful, busy look on her face as she gets into things or plays with her toys. I love it. She is only just now really trying to walk every day, and I expect her to be walking around pretty regularly in a week or so. Although I can't wait to see how cute she is marching around in that little body, I have also really appreciated the slower pace she provided with crawling and walking so late.
I recently took her to have her allergies tested, and found out that she has quite a few food sensitivities and allergies. We're still in the elimination phase, then in a few weeks we'll see which foods really give her a lot of trouble as we introduce them. The hardest ones are dairy -- even raw milk, cultured milk or goat milk!! We will save a considerable amount on raw milk from here on out-- eggs, tomatoes and corn. All of these include derivatives as well, so corn is tough to avoid. There are some others as well, but ones we don't eat much of anyway-- soy, banana, cantalope.... The good news is that she doesn't have an allergy to wheat, which was what I was most afraid of, and I also know now that she doesn't have allergies to common things like nuts, pollen, bees, etc. Since she has been off of the offending foods, she WON'T STOP EATING! Literally! She is constantly asking for food, and I need to have something to giver her at all times. This has been pretty tricky, and now that dairy is out, it's even harder. I would like her to at least give me a half hour break between snacks! I am thinking she'll probably have a big growth spurt soon...
Sleep has been MUCH BETTER lately. Many nights, she just wakes up once after we've gone to bed. Some nights, she sleeps for 6-8 hours at a stretch, occasionally more! It is strange to actually getting normal amounts of sleep now, although I have quite a bit of catching up to do. I am so thankful!
Amelia really has been enjoying her cousins. We have three different families of cousins relatively close by, and they all love her. She knows it, and it's fun to see her get more excited about seeing them and playing as the months go by.
What else? The baby obsession continues, but she is her own favorite baby, and is constantly asking me to show her the "loodaloo" movie from the last update. She has added the word "pretty" to her vocabulary, and uses it very accurately to describe jewelry, chandeliers and other sparkly things-- I always feel proud when I agree with her esthetic tastes.
She is no longer the "perfect child" in public, and I have had some pretty mortified moments lately, but that's OK. What really amazes me is not her behavior, but all those people who stare unabashedly! Oh, well. All in all, we think she is such a sweetheart, and honestly enjoy her more and more as she grows.
Amelia self-medicating her post holiday blues...
Amelia is 18 months old now, my official favorite age in the baby/toddler category. She gets that very purposeful, busy look on her face as she gets into things or plays with her toys. I love it. She is only just now really trying to walk every day, and I expect her to be walking around pretty regularly in a week or so. Although I can't wait to see how cute she is marching around in that little body, I have also really appreciated the slower pace she provided with crawling and walking so late.
I recently took her to have her allergies tested, and found out that she has quite a few food sensitivities and allergies. We're still in the elimination phase, then in a few weeks we'll see which foods really give her a lot of trouble as we introduce them. The hardest ones are dairy -- even raw milk, cultured milk or goat milk!! We will save a considerable amount on raw milk from here on out-- eggs, tomatoes and corn. All of these include derivatives as well, so corn is tough to avoid. There are some others as well, but ones we don't eat much of anyway-- soy, banana, cantalope.... The good news is that she doesn't have an allergy to wheat, which was what I was most afraid of, and I also know now that she doesn't have allergies to common things like nuts, pollen, bees, etc. Since she has been off of the offending foods, she WON'T STOP EATING! Literally! She is constantly asking for food, and I need to have something to giver her at all times. This has been pretty tricky, and now that dairy is out, it's even harder. I would like her to at least give me a half hour break between snacks! I am thinking she'll probably have a big growth spurt soon...
Sleep has been MUCH BETTER lately. Many nights, she just wakes up once after we've gone to bed. Some nights, she sleeps for 6-8 hours at a stretch, occasionally more! It is strange to actually getting normal amounts of sleep now, although I have quite a bit of catching up to do. I am so thankful!
Amelia really has been enjoying her cousins. We have three different families of cousins relatively close by, and they all love her. She knows it, and it's fun to see her get more excited about seeing them and playing as the months go by.
What else? The baby obsession continues, but she is her own favorite baby, and is constantly asking me to show her the "loodaloo" movie from the last update. She has added the word "pretty" to her vocabulary, and uses it very accurately to describe jewelry, chandeliers and other sparkly things-- I always feel proud when I agree with her esthetic tastes.
She is no longer the "perfect child" in public, and I have had some pretty mortified moments lately, but that's OK. What really amazes me is not her behavior, but all those people who stare unabashedly! Oh, well. All in all, we think she is such a sweetheart, and honestly enjoy her more and more as she grows.
Amelia self-medicating her post holiday blues...
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Ooh, we have a winner!
Thanks, everyone, for you all of your good, clever and humorous input! I like the idea of calling the pants "lambies"-- thanks, Melissa! These pants are soft (not itchy!) and snuggly, and I like that it sounds kind of like "jammies" without being too obvious about the wool part. Also, I was trying to think of a name for a line of clothes if I make other things out of recycled wool, and Brother David (and A. Gretchen too, actually!) came up with "Kids in Sheep's Clothing." I love it. So clever.
Amelia and I spent a couple of days in Olympia with the Shacks (including Luke) and on our way out today we stopped at a shop that sells Heather's handiwork and other recycled or repurposed types of gifts. I brought in a pair to show her, and she said she would like to see more, once I make them! That was encouraging!
Thanks again, everybody!
Thanks, everyone, for you all of your good, clever and humorous input! I like the idea of calling the pants "lambies"-- thanks, Melissa! These pants are soft (not itchy!) and snuggly, and I like that it sounds kind of like "jammies" without being too obvious about the wool part. Also, I was trying to think of a name for a line of clothes if I make other things out of recycled wool, and Brother David (and A. Gretchen too, actually!) came up with "Kids in Sheep's Clothing." I love it. So clever.
Amelia and I spent a couple of days in Olympia with the Shacks (including Luke) and on our way out today we stopped at a shop that sells Heather's handiwork and other recycled or repurposed types of gifts. I brought in a pair to show her, and she said she would like to see more, once I make them! That was encouraging!
Thanks again, everybody!
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