no commuting!!

travis will be based in portland right away!!!!! wahoooo!! (rumor had it that travis would be based in denver after training for at least a few months and then be based in portland after that.)

no commuting for travis! no "crash pad" in denver! no leaving a day before he has to work so he can get there. yipppppeeeeee!!!

we are so excited!

oh, and some interesting things about oregon:
no sales tax (that will come in really handy when we buy our couch!)
it is illegal to fill your own car up with gas

i love portland!

the more i see of portland, the more i fall in love with this city.

travis and i went and ate at bridgeport ale house in the hawthorne district this weekend. i love this area! walking down hawthorne made me want to come back and just hang out there and go in every shop.

yesterday i drove around se 20th and division and found some really cool neighborhoods. (my mission over the next few months is to find a house, or at least find areas that I want to buy a house in. we are hoping...fingers crossed...that we will be able to buy one in the next 6 months) and i just keep seeing neighborhoods that have so much character and charm, with cool shops on the corners. it reminds me a lot of south minneapolis.

last night i went to image dei. not sure that is where we'll be, but the pastor said something really cool...we were talking on romans 8 and the whole "God works everything for good." i have long been a huge advocate that "not everything works out." and he said it beautifully. God isn't saying that things will all work out and be fine and perfect in our life...but God is saying he uses those situations, those sufferings to "grow the life of Jesus inside you." you may call this working out, but i don't. because working out denies the pain and suffering that people go through, it simplifies things too much...unfortunately God doesn't just make things easy for us, but he will work in the situations. i think that is pretty cool and gives me far more hope than "it will work out."

and onto the other exploring...

today i went looking for a sofa (we donated our couch before we moved out here and we only have a chair in our living room.) so, there was another excuse to explore. i stopped at a coffee shop to work for a little while at the portland coffee house. driving to that area was great...once again, treasures on every corner.)

picked up my first set of books from the library. (i love the library system in every city. so far, i'm impressed with the variety of books they have. i picked up god's politics, the new anne lamont book, and a book about portland neighborhoods.)

and now i better get back to work...so much to do, but all i want to do is explore!!!

McMenamins

Last night we went to kennedy school, a McMenamins pub. (kennedy school was a boarding school built in 1915 which has been restored and turned into a hotel & pub.)

It was very strange walking in. I felt like I was going to a play or I was back in high school or something. But you walk into the different rooms and there are restaurants and pubs. We hung out in the "honors room" (i think), played cards, and I tried a beer from the brewery there...the ruby. once again, i was not disapointed. travis and i have started friday night spades with the couple in our apartment complex. (for 2 weeks now.) and it has been a lot of fun. I'm excited to go back to the Kennedy School in the summer. they have a great courtyard restaurant that will be a great place to hang out.




this artist displayed her work in the hallways. I'm not normally a fan of mosaics, but i thought hers were very interesting.

i'm not for sure of the story, but it seems like the artist took letters from students at the boarding school and put them in her collage/mosaics. this one is from 1935.

here is the poem that was in it:

there was a young fellow named hall
he fell in the spring in the fall
it would be a sad thing
if he died in the spring
but he didn't he died in the fall

(the poem made me laugh!)

well, i'm hoping that i can tear travis away from the books and we can go hike around mount tabor, a park in SE portland.

and my next area to explore: the hawthorne district. I've driven through and gazed at all the boutiques and cafes, but I'm hoping to walk around and explore the area.

I'm also hoping to get the public transportation down. they (i guess it is now we, i am part of this city now!) have a light rail that goes from the airport, close to our place to downtown and other areas of the city. there is also the street car you can take around downtown, the pearl district, and the northwest district.

stay tuned...

northwest district

i just got back from exploring the northwest district (it is northwest of downtown, clever name, huh?...i guess that is better than uptown in minneapolis which is actually "down" from downtown...)

i went with my new portland friend, (my friend who's husband is also in training with travis)...it is great to have someone to explore with. we had so much fun. we ate at a great restaurant and walked around to the cool boutiques...and then we had some gelato...my favorite! It has been really sunny here (we aren't getting a true taste of portland)

travis has been studying like mad this past week. he has a lot to memorize...all those regulations and whatever else. hopefully we'll have a little bit of time to go exploring this weekend.

thinking, thinking

evergreen blogs

thanks to bob at evergreen, i found this site that puts all the posts from the evergreen bloggers on one page. thought this was cool.

so, i keep thinking about this whole church thing...

i have to say the most important thing to me in a church is community, because that is how i will build relationships, see God, and be challenged. i loved so much about the porch and oneplace, but the community is what stays with me, that is what helped me see more of God and have new perspectives about the world around me. I want relationships in my life, not programs or ministries.

old nob hill pharmacy cafe'

right now i'm in the "uptown" of portland at a coffee shop that use to be an old pharmacy. it is cool, but not quite the place i want to be a regular at. i'm just beginning my search for some cool coffee shops to work in. (i've decided i'm going to start "going to work" and take my office different places...it is a good excuse to get to know the city.) work keeps coming in, which is good. i'm not overloaded like i was a few weeks ago, but things are coming in.

on another note, i heard that imago dei has 1300-1400 people in their 3 services on sunday. i'm beginning to wonder how a church that big could have true community. i guess i'm filled with doubt that God could work in such a big community. isn't that horrible? i know that is not logical, but i question motives and wonder if those 1300 people are involved and truly a part or are just coming on sunday to be a part of a cool church. if you can't tell, i kinda' have a bad attitude about big churches. maybe this will change my mind.

the church thing...

thank you for tuning into the my weekly church synopsis

yesterday i tried out two churches. yes, i know. it is ridiculous. i went to evergreen in the morning and imago dei in the evening. both are emerging communities, which i loved. they both were great.

i'm not big on church hopping. i'm of the conviction that you need to find a church you feel comfortable with and stop trying to find something that will meet your every need...because that is not what the church is there for.

but at the same time, i want to find a place that i can call home....which takes trying out different places to see what is a good fit.

both seemed to have community at their focus and both seemed to have a diverse age group...two things that are very important to me...i don't decide on a church based on the pastor or the worship. sure both are important, but they don't make up the entire community.

evergreen
met at lucky lab pub
was about a group of 60 or so
had great acoustic music....they played in-between parts of the sermon (the sermon seemed to last the whole 1:30 with music at different parts...hmmm)
the sermon was more of a discussion...i liked that there was so much audience participation throughout
the people i met were very welcoming

imago dei
met in an old church and are looking for another place
they have three services and each one has at least 200-300 people...if not more. that is a little big for me, but it seems like there are plenty of ways to find community in "connection groups" or "home communities"
i didn't get to meet too many people, but the people i met were great
had a violin with their band (wahoo!)
sang some old hymnes mixed in with their other songs, which was absolutely wonderful

the service isn't everything...so, i don't like to judge the church based on their weekly meeting...but i do think it is a window into what the church is about and what they care about.

i saw that imago dei, even though it is huge, allows things to rise up from people in the community. (if someone has a heart for something, they can start it.) things don't start by the pastor deciding what would be "best" for the church.

i saw at evergreen that they don't pressure their community to volunteer for things..."if people volunteer, then we have a children's ministry, if they don't, then we won't." it seems to allow the community to take ownership.

going to imago last night was really good for me.
my soul needed it. it was good to hear the violin as i sang a hymn that always brings tears to my eyes. it was good to hear from an artist. it was good to hear about being filled with God's love. it was good hearing the music unique to this community.

i think that imago dei is a good fit for us...but we'll see. i think i'll go to a few things and see what i think.

cable

we have cable. yep. i know, i can't believe it. the only reason we have it is because our internet was so freakin' expensive and it was only 10 bucks extra for cable (for the next three months)...so, here's to hgtv, the history and discovery channel, mtv, vh1, and multiple pbs stations! that is what i'll be watching....and i promise i won't sit in front of the tube all day.

a new chapter begins

We are in portland!!! Here's the view close to our apartment of mt. hood...skiing year round anyone? : ) this place is beautiful. we are so excited to be here. we are starting to get settled in...but there are boxes everywhere.

right now i feel like i have so much to write about, but here is what has been going on this week:

the drive was AMAZING. it was refreshing, entertaining, and literally a worship experience for me. it was so breathtaking. going through montana, idaho, washington and oregon was incredible. i had plenty of podcasts and music on my ipod to keep me entertained for the 28 hour drive...but it did not feel like that long with the amazing scenery. my favorite part was going along the columbia river in oregon...and that is just hours from us. i think we will be going there often to ski, camp, and who knows, i might even go fishing with travis. (he has decided that is something he wants to take up again.)

we made it into oregon about 2pm on monday and unpacked the truck, which took forever. (especially compared to all the help we had packing the truck on saturday...thanks to erik, jill, eric, phillip, heather, luke, taylor, bob, and titus!)

last night we went out with one of travis' flight buddies and his wife. we went to a micro-brewery in northwest portland. i love that whole area just north of downtown. it is very cool. there are so many boutiques and restaurants to explore. the microbrewery we went to was great...i've heard that portland is famous for their beer and i have to say what i got was pretty spectacular. i guess i'll have to become a beer connoisseur here! our friends live in the same apartment complex and it is so nice already having friends here.

tomorrow travis starts training...and i will try to work and unpack at the same time!

that's it for now...

and we're off

we're packed and the weather looks like it will be good for our journey. (the only reason i know this is because of "careful carolyn"--my mother. she's a little worried that we are going to be stranded in a horrible snow storm. hopefully that won't happen.)

All we have to do is pick up the truck tomorrow morning, get it loaded and we'll be off.

please pray for traveling mercies as we drive 28 hours the next few days!

enjoying the snow...from the window

it started snowing again yesterday!!! yippeee!! here is the view from my "office" window. (it is really just the corner of our living room. notice the boxes that surrond me.) it was great to be able to look at the snow and finish up my deadline.

and yes, with SECONDS to spare, i made my big deadline!! i was racing to finish up the 300 page workbook I have been working on for the last 3 months. It was due to the printer today and i had to overnight it last night. I barely made it to fedex by the 7pm dropoff time. whew! (i was burning the dvd in the car on my way there and the fedex man was already there collecting boxes when i walked in the door. i don't like cutting things that close...but that is just the nature of the industry i'm in.

and today...travis is still in detroit and i'm in charge of packing up the last of the stuff....my office stuff, the kitchen stuff we have been using...

and if there is time, i hope to go to the MOA and go to H&M one last time : )

the concise update...

here's an overall update of what we are up to, the abbreviated version, in case you don't want to read through my babble...

the move:
we start loading the truck at 10 am saturday. (it looks like we'll have a good group to help...all are invited, so if you are just dying to help us, please come) we hope to start the drive that afternoon or evening. we are aiming to arrive in portland and unload the truck on monday.

travis' training at horizon:
travis will be in training for a month in portland starting feb 16...which means i get to see him every night! after that, he'll have two weeks of training in the simulator in seattle...then off to denver to start work. (he'll be commuting there for a few months)

unpacking:
we found an apartment close to the airport and kobie gets to unpack all the boxes that travis packed up (and hopefully kobie won't be cursing under her breath at how travis packed them up!)

and working:
i'll continue to do graphic design, mainly for my clients in phoenix. (what a blessing to not have to look for a new job, but be able to start work right when i get there...i think that is a blessing, at least!)

and house hunting:
we will begin the search for a house in portland or surrounding area. we are very ready to settle in somewhere and are very excited about our first house!! we hope to find something in the next 6 months.

porch article

well, trav and i made the local paper just before we are leaving minneapolis.

there is an article in the star tribune about the porch. very cool. and because they gathered around us and prayed for us, we have a little pic in there....how sweet! : )

the in-between

i think i'm part introverted and part extroverted. i love people and that gives me energy, but i also like time by myself. travis is finishing his last trip in detroit and i'm finishing up my work here....and when i have the house to myself, i put on my mellow music and go into deep mode. and i really enjoy it. (don't get me wrong. i love it when travis is home, but i have learned to enjoy this weird schedule.) this time alone gives me time to be creative, time to sort through my thoughts...my mind never stops (and usually i'm thinking about 10 things at once)...i'll be working at my computer, listening to great music, and thinking deep thoughts. the combination of the three work great for me. right now my project is at the point of mere production. it doesn't need any creative thoughts, so that means my mind can be somewhere else.

and right now, today, i feel like i'm in a world between worlds...between the world of minneapolis where i have made my home and the world we will come to know in portland...brimming with possibility and hope. the possibility of new friendships, new things to learn, new places to explore, ways to grow and be stretched.

i think i'm pretty excited about this move. i am praying that God is going before us and making the rough places smooth. that he has couples for us to get to know, that he has a church community for us. that portland will be an inspiring place for the artist in me and an adventure for the orange in me. i pray that it will be a place that travis and i will call home.

it's not called adobe!!

in the midst of the packing and preparing for the move, i have been working nonstop on a big project. It has been such a fun project and I feel like it has been such a creative outlet for me. There are times I just love designing!

In my industry i use a lot of adobe products...adobe illustrator, indesign, photoshop, and acrobat...i think most people come in to contact with pdfs everyday day...made from acrobat, oh, but that is not what you hear it being called...nope. people like to calll it adobe...they ask me if i will give it to them in "adobe." or do you have adobe? ...and i want to say "do you have microsoft?" because that is what they are saying to me. adobe what? it just makes me laugh. so, for those of you who call it adobe, stop. call it acrobat, call the file a pdf, but don't call it adobe! : )

okay, back to working...

boxes and military haircuts

yesterday was a glorious day. I stayed up until 8 am monday morning working on a project that was due that morning, slept a few hours (this isn't the glorious part) and then lauren and i got to play for the afternoon...it was wonderful. I'll miss my dear friend. and then we went to her house for a going away party. good conversations, good pizza, and good wine. i left smiling and thankful for my time in minnapolis. i should have taken some pictures at the party...i always seem to forget.

well, we don't have too much left to do before the big move on saturday. travis has been hard at work packing. (and today he got a haircut...i guess they thought he would look good with a military haircut. i've been saluting him all day!)

energy restored

tonight I was filled with encouragement, blessings and given the energy i need to move on. i'm not talking about the physical energy it takes to pack up our stuff, drive the 1800 miles, and unpack in a new place. i'm talking about the meeting-new-people-energy, the-finding-my-way-in-a-new-place-energy, the-i-don't-know-anyone-but-i'm-determined-to-make-it-anyway-energy.

it took a lot of that kind of energy when i moved to minneapolis. it took everything i had to go to those community dinners at the porch and be the new person. but it was worth it. people at solomon's porch welcomed me with open arms. they became my family and they were what made the last 8 months such a great experience. I feel a part of them...even those i didn't get to know very well, i still feel connected to them.

and it is because of tonight, because of our community, that somehow i feel i have enough energy to move to a new place. it is because of them that i feel that once again i can pursue new relationships, i can be part of a new community.

tonight was the first night in our new space at the porch and my last night at the gatherings. the new place is beautiful. it feels like home...and tonight the community gathered around travis and i and prayed for us. and during the blessing and communion people encouraged us. and although it is very sad to leave such a great place. I feel like that energy, those blessings are going with us. i feel encouraged. i feel renewed.

thank you to all of you at the porch that have made travis and i feel so welcome. thank you for your love and support. i can't tell you how much i appreciate it and how much i will miss you guys!

preparing for the big move

I just got back from phoenix where it was 80 degrees and a little hot to winter (at least winter to me) here in minneapolis. I have loved the snow and am very glad I didn't have to experience the -14 degree weather I kept hearing about. I'm proud to say I was part of the second warmest winter since 1890! I'll miss this place.

It looks like we will be packing up and starting the drive next saturday, feb 11! I'm starting to get excited! Travis has almost everything packed up...he has quite a packing strategy...i'm impressed!! i'm trying to work and meet some deadlines before we move! I'm so thankful that I am able to take my work with me and that I won't have to look for a job when we get to portland.

I'm not looking forward to the drive. Travis will be driving the u-haul (although it is really a penske...there's marketing for you) and he'll be pulling my car. I'll be driving his truck behind him. I wish I was just riding. I ride much better than I drive! But we'll make it.

We are hoping to get a few hours behind us on the 11th, do most of the driving on the 12th, and then finish up the last leg on monday, the 13th and unload. whew!