mission accomplished, i think

well, we have an apartment to move into! we just found a temporary place so we can start looking for a house. there were a lot of cool areas to live in, but we had a hard time finding the right fit. (i think we were being a little too picky...we just had to many things we were looking for...cool location, character, amentities, a 2-bedroom with a decent price, short-term lease, not too run down...and trying to find it in a weekend.) so we got something close to the airport, a two bedroom with a dishwasher and w/d. I have to admit i'm getting a little sick of doing the dishes. I've just been spoiled my whole life. But I have to say i'm a little disapointed not to be close to downtown. We are about a 15 minute drive. I'll just have to go there often. we are across the river in vancouver, washington. the area we are in has no character, but it is close to a trader joes (at least) and i'll have a second room for my office. I'll be riding the light rail into the city a lot, i think.

i really like portland and i felt like i was able to see a lot of the cool areas while i was here. and it won't be long until i'll be here exploring even more!

now i'm on my way to phoenix for a few business meetings and hoping to catch up with some friends. my head is spinning!

the search begins...

well, i'm in portland right now trying to find an apartment for our move in just a few short weeks. trav's meeting me here tomorrow and we hope to find something by the end of the weekend. I'm excited to have a place and make this whole move thing a bit more real. (although you would think reserving a truck, packing up boxes, and flying to portland would be real enough.)

this would be a good time to give my first impressions of portland. it is a great city and there are so many places that i am cna't wait to explore...but i'm too tired to think about descriptive words right now, so i'll just have to say more later.

minneapolis

It was almost this time last year that we thought we could be moving to minneapolis and i was so excited. I really prayed that this was the city we would end up in. and i have absolutely loved it. i love the city and i love the people. it has been incredible being a part of the porch community. i feel like i can learn so much from each person i get to know. i feel like my life is richer and deeper because of each friendship. and it makes me incredibly sad to be moving away. i felt like i was just beginning to settle here, just beginning to get to know people pretty well, just beginning to experience the city and now we will be moving. but i'm glad i was able to be here for the last 8 months. i wouldn't have changed it. i feel like i've grown as a person, i've been exposed to new ideas and thoughts, i've been shaped by the passions of others. it has been a good time for me to relax and hang out and feel inspired. and with travis being away a lot, it has been the community around me that has kept me sane.

so, although i'm very excited about a new place to settle in, i'm filled with sadness at what we are leaving here. i'm going to miss my friends, i'm going to miss my community.

travis has started packing up our stuff. he was able to sit reserve in minneapolis and hasn't been called yet (keep your fingers crossed) so, he is packing before he has to go back to work. and i'm trying to finish up the big design projects i'm working on. i was feeling a little stressed last night, but feeling a little better this morning. i have to take each day at a time. it looks like we might be packing up the truck to make the long drive on february 11 and we'll go look at apartments over the weekend of jan 28.

usually i'm pretty excited about moving. it is an adventure, it is a challenge, and you get to start with a fresh palette. but this time, it just seems like a hassle. it isn't a convenient time, and i don't really want to be the "new person" again. don't get me wrong, i really am excited. but i'm processing through a lot, as i had hoped that minneapolis would be our home for a while and now we will be making our home somewhere else.

once i get to portland it will be fun...finding the unique things that make the city what it is, shoping at trader joe's again, decorating a new apartment (although i would like to be painting the walls of a new house soon!! ; ) and i won't think about meeting new people just yet, that is a little overwhelming! but there are other things that i'm excited about...i'm excited about the rain, i'm excited about the weather, and i'm excited about a possible apartment with a dishwasher and washer and dryer!

a little more info

so, travis will be furloughed from mesaba feb 15 and starting at horizon on feb 16! What amazing timing! We are so thankful for this new job opportunity and that travis will continue his piloting, which he is absolutely loving. Sometimes I wonder where God is in things and then things like this happen and i wonder why i doubt!

It looks like we will be moving to portland! travis will actually be based in denver for about 9 months and then portland after that. So, we decided just to go ahead and move to portland so we don't have to move again this year! We are looking into moving before he starts his training...which means a quick move over the next month. crazy. we are hoping to visit portland soon to look for an apartment.

the moment we've all been waiting for...

we just found out that travis got a job at Horizon.....wahooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is the plane he will be flying, a CRJ 700.

we will be moving to denver or portland. (it will be exciting, but i'm very sad to leave minneapolis)

travis will start training on feb 16

i'll post more later...now we have to celebrate!

telling a story

i hung out with a few people over at bob and lauren's last night...and at one point we were talking about Bob's "previous" life as a DJ...and he said something that i really liked:

"a good artist knows how to tell a story so that others can understand it, so that others can relate to it."

and this is simple, but profound. taking whatever medium and telling a story with it. there are a lot of artists out there that tell a story that no one can relate with and they get upset because no one can identify with it. (i'm paraphrasing the great words of bob brown) And then there are artist who are still being genuine, still producing art that is real and raw, but they tell it in a way that people can find meaning in it, can understand it.

i think this is a great way to look at artist...instead of criticizing someone's painting on whether you think it is "good art" or even art at all, you look at it and ask what story they are trying to tell and look for meaning in that story. it makes you look at things in a different light. it makes you appreciate different styles and forms of art that you normally wouldn't stop and listen to.

a book i just picked up

here's a book i'm in the middle of and it is very powerful. i read the original ragamuffin gospel several years ago and loved it...now they have come out with a "visual edition"...very cool...i think art mixed with words has a way to move you far more than words alone.

dichotomy

is it possible to feel anxious and nervous, but deep down still maintain a sense of peace and hope? well, that is how i'm feeling right now. the dichotomy of anxiety and peace are filling within me...anxious about the current happenings, but filled with hope about life in general...

the waiting continues

no news on trav's job, yet. soon and very soon...this is testing my patience!!

and i have a cold. not just a little sniffle...one of the colds where you feel you are going to sneeze at any given moment...and when you do, you blow snot everywhere...yes, that kind. but i slept 12 hours last night and am feeling a little better...

i'm full of anxiety and feel like i can't get anything done, but i managed to have a glorious day yesterday. my new digital camera came in the mail, i got a new haircut (not that new, it was just a trim...i'm still trying to grow my hair out....this is the longest it has been in 8 years!!) and my new boots were delivered in the mail...and i spent most of the day IMing with my friend cate...what a day...it is the simple pleasures in life!

and then, all of sudden, i have a ton of work to do. It always comes in like a flood. i have a little break where I can go play and then i'm drowning in design work...so, i guess i'll have to go back to being my productive self...

lord of the rings

last monday, a group went to see the trilogy, Lord of the Rings...an 11 hour spectacular on the big screen. I was excited about it, a little nervous that I wouldn't make it through that much movie time...but oh, was i wrong. It was such an amazing experience. you may laugh, but it was absolutely wonderful. the crowd went wild at all the great parts. (it was better than any sporting event...but that doesn't say much with my distaste for sports) it was great to see all three movies together. I was smiling as I left the theatre at 10:30 that night.

a month of superbness

this past month has been absolutely wonderful. i feel inspired, full of joy, and full of hope. and although i have noooooo idea what 2006 will bring for travis and i, i am able to enjoy this moment. this month i decorated our apartment for christmas, played in the snow, learned to snow board (thanks to the pagitt kids), went iceskating, enjoyed a local hip-hop concert (which was very fun!) made christmas cards, went to oklahoma where it was 60 degrees, and worked way too much.

i have learned to have hope, not in things, but in God. and that sounds very cliche', but it is true. i think for so long i would hope in what God would give me or how he would bless me. but i have been learning over the last few months what hope looks like. the hope that is in the psalms...find rest, o my soul, in God alone, my hope comes from him.

and i have all of this creativity stirring inside me...i am about to burst.

walkin' in a winter wonderland

have yourself a merry little christmas

i have been listening to christmas music nonstop...i just love it...i like the old classics.
and here is one that makes me smile everytime i hear it

and here is the station that i have been listening to online...

wahooo! i love christmas!

...It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages boxes, or bags!
And he puzzled and puzzled, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more."
...And then the true meaning of Christmas came through,
And the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches… plus two.
...He brought everything back, all the food for the feast.
And he, he himself, the Grinch, carved the roast beast.

it will just get colder!

It's 7 degrees out! brrrr!!!

a walk to the walker

even though it was freezing out (actually 20 degrees) we decided to walk down to the walker's sculpture garden....isn't the snow amazing! i love it! (although the walk was a little cold!)

winter & planes

Here are some pictures of trav's plane before the de-icing in ottawa, canada. It took an hour to get it off!

welcome to minnesota

this week

Life is good.


No news on what is going to happen with trav’s job (other than he will still be furloughed in February…yep a 100% pay cut for good ol’ trav) so nothing new in that department…but somehow I am maintaining a positive outlook…here’s what I’ve been up to…

I spent this past week celebrating thanksgiving with trav’s family, which I always enjoy. And I managed to get everyone to take the enneagram test and discuss personality types for a while, along with countless other great topics…(I love my in-laws and I love having a job I can take with me wherever I go)

I’m on my way to see my family in Oklahoma for a last minute trip for the weekend. (why not, I say?) and I might be able to see my brother and sister-in-law, too!

I finally finished my logo and business cards for substance creative. (my design business, if you can call a one woman shop a business) and I’m in the process of working on my website and other “collateral”…hopefully I can finish soon.

I am VERY excited about the Christmas season in a climate that actually FEELS like Christmas…and I think I’ll be buying a tree for the first time…so it will be fun to decorate our apartment for Christmas!

church & buck the truck

i'm still in the middle of Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott and i just finished the chapter about taking her little boy to church. i started thinking about my childhood experiences at church...at least when i was around 4...here is what came to mind

i hated the song Jesus loves me because i thought it was childish!

my mom would roll my hair in the pink sponge rollers on saturday night so my hair would be curly in the morning and i loved it!

my dad would fix a big breakfast every sunday morning with eggs and bacon and biscuits, but i never ate the biscuits

i would get lifesavers to suck on during "big church" to keep me quiet and still

my mom wouldn't let me bring my doll into church because she thought i would play with it. but really i just wanted my doll to experience "big church"

i would always go by and say hi to my old sunday school teacher, Mrs. Tucker. wow, what an amazing lady.

and of course being 4 reminds me of my dear old friend Buck the Truck...I'm sure many of you who know me have heard this story...but for those who haven't, here it is.

My dad had an old green truck when i was little and we called him Buck the truck. my dad let me play in his truck bed and pretend drive him. so i used buck like my playhouse...and we were buds. but one day i thought that buck needed fuel. so, i looked around to find what i could use as "gas". I found a bunch of rocks. so, i put as many rocks as i could find in his tank...buck didn't drive as well after that. my dad took him to a mechanic to find out what was wrong with him...the mechanic finally figured out that there were rocks in his gas tank. my dad didn't have to wonder how they got there.

hope remains...and it is finally november!

well, it looks like travis will be furloughed, we just don't know when. should he wait it out or find another job? who knows. things are pretty uncertain and we have no idea what the future holds. we hope to stay in minneapolis, but we don't know at this point.

but somehow in the midst of all this uncertainty, hope remains. not hope that things will get better or hope that we will stay in minneapolis. but a hope that we will get through this. that circumstances aren't everything. but i have to say my attitude sucked for a while. and it took me a while to get to the point that i could say this.

i'm in the middle of reading anne lamott's traveling mercies. she talks about grief and even though i don't think this is really "grieve" that i'm dealing with, i feel like i can look at this situation in the same light...

"...don't get me wrong; grief sucks; it really does. Unfortunately, though, avoiding it robs us of life, of the now, of a sense of living spirit. Mostly i have tried to avoid it by staying very busy, working too hard, trying to achieve as much as possible...But the bad news is that whatever you use to keep the pain at bay robs you of the flecks and nuggets of gold that feeling grief will give you. A fixation can keep you nicely defined and give you the illustion that your life has not fallen apart. But since your life may indeed have fallen apart, the illustion won't holdd up forever, and if you are lucky and brave, you will be willing to bear disillusion..."

i guess i feel that i have embraced where travis and i are at. i'm not going to deny it and pretend that everything is just fine and that everything will be just peachy. but at the same time, I'm not going to let this situation rob me of the present. i have done that way too many times in my life.

right now, i'm surrounded by a great group of people. i'm in a great city. and i'm going to enjoy that as long as i can. i have to say that the people of solomon's porch have been life to me. i love that community. and when i walk into church on sunday, i feel peace and it soothes my soul. but it is so much more than that, it is the relationships, the unique people that i meet and am getting to know. and i'm very thankful!