What we've been up to

Well, it has been more than a month since we last posted and many things have happened since then. The seminary school year is finished so Dan finally has time to relax before CPE starts in a week and a half. I only have 3 days left so it's almost time for me to have my own break before summer work starts. The next major thing to do is packing for the summer...yes, that's right, we're packing up and leaving town for the summer. We will be in sunny Minneapolis, MN while does his CPE. We're looking forward to a change of scenery, time with friends, and the chance to see if chaplaincy is right for Dan. Oh, and I'll be working wherever will hire me. I have an interview with Dunwoody College of Technology right after we get to the Cities for a summer camp program...we're really hoping that it works out. The search for employment in the fall for Anne continues...there have been a few steps in the right direction but nothing definite. Otherwise, life has been pretty good. It's nice to finally be in a pace of life that is a little slower than it was all semester. It makes things a little easier and we like it.

when the hypothetical becomes your friend

so i (dan) have been reading a bit of fun on the side as this semester comes to a close. i am now on book 3 of fun stuff reading, although i havent completely finished one of the three. i'm still counting it, i mean it has allowed my brain to divert from demanded reading. anyways, in one of these books the author posits a list of 23 questions he asks of people he meets in order to determine if he really loves them. i will share #19

your best friend is taking a nap on the floor of your living room. suddenly, you are faced with a bizarre existential problem: this friend is going to die unless you kick the (as hard as you can) in the rib cage. if you don't kick them while they slumber, they will never wake up. however, you can never explain this to your friend; if you later inform them that you did this to save their life, they will also die from that. so you have to kick a sleeping friend in the ribs, and you can't tell them why. since you cannot tell your friend the truth, what excuse will you fabricate to explain this (seemingly inexplicable) attack?

i think i would go with sudden earthworm infestation. everyone knows that there is only one way to kill a hoard of those filthy buggers.

the pandas are coming

life continues to keep us busy. I successfully completed the Shamrock Shuffle on March 30th in 51:59. (Better than any of my training times!). Pictures will be posted soon. I am in the second week of a new job as a building substitute up in Gurnee. This means that I work set hours (8-4), show up each morning not knowing exactly what I will be doing for the day, and often find myself with extra time during the day. (and by extra time, I mostly mean time when we might be working on data entry with no particular time we need to be finished by or on a project where we can watch a movie or something while we work on it). There are 4 other people who do the same job as me and we share a tiny little office. It's not a bad job...just very different from what I was doing before. Dan is still in school and now we are spending more of our [limited] time together talking about what our future will look like post-seminary. It's actually pretty exciting to have so many possibilities in front of us. Our summer in Minnesota is also coming up. We are looking forward to the time we will have around friends we don't see very often and the chance for Dan to learn more about what the future holds through the CPE program. And finally, we're heading up to Carthage on Saturday to see Counting Crows. Woohoo! It should be a good time. :)

Update

Well, Dan is out of town this week which means that I have an abundance of "me time." I think it will be okay...probably even good for me. He is the trip advisor for a university ministries trip to Appalachia so he is off having fun in the mountains. ah yes, my very own mountain man. :) life has been a bit crazy for us lately. Dan is so busy with classes and u-min and I struggle with the fact that work just drains me every day. I'm not sure if that's just part of teaching or if it is my particular situation (not teaching history and in chicago public schools) that makes every day so difficult. I really am looking forward to my official spring break (next week). I'm also glad that I can use this week to work through some of what I've been learning before Dan comes back. That means more of my energy can be used to focus on us. I'm excited for that.

In other news, we're going to be in Minnesota this summer while Dan does his CPE rotation in Shakopee so if anyone knows of a place we can stay or has a job for me while I'm there, we would love to get all that in place as soon as we can. But, I should probably get back to doing lesson plans for next week. *fist pump* yes!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very happy valentine's day. I know not everyone enjoys this day but I personally have always loved it. We got Valentine's from my grandpa yesterday. They were Happy Feet valentines and they came with little tatoos. My grandpa is so cute. I also love my co-workers! One of them made vegan cherry chocolate chip cookies (YUM!)and brought me some. I'm wearing my red shoes and we're watching the Simpsons in class today. It's going to be a good day....I can tell. :)

Contemplations

Midwinter was this week. Technically it is still going on but neither Dan nor I are there anymore...our experience is finished. Overall, it was positive. I cannot speak for everything that Dan learned and thought but I can at least share my own. One thing that really has come to my mind as a result of the time spent here is how I view marginalized groups. It seems like it is rather easy for us to pick out certain groups of people who are marginalized...the poor, the hungry, people living with HIV/AIDS, etc but I feel that there are some people who we miss almost every time. This is not to say that we as christians should not be doing what we can to help these other groups--we are indeed called to help those in need--but what about our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? What about those people within our congregations who need help? What are we doing to help each other? Do we know the needs of the families within our own churches? Do we know if a family is having financial difficulty and needs assistance? What do we know about each other's spiritual growth? Do we sharpen each other? Do we overlook the needs in our smaller communities in order to focus on the needs of the larger community? This is a hard balance to strike. We run the risk of becoming too focused on ourselves and neglecting those around us. But we also run the risk of neglecting the health and needs of our local churches and assuming that everything is okay for everyone. Outreach is great and necessary but how are we caring for each other?

I don't have this entirely thought through and figured out yet but I feel like it has been laid on my heart and I at least wanted to share it.

Life has been continuing at a whirlwind pace around here. Well, sort of a whirlwind. Some of it has been really busy but there are other things moving a little more slowly. Dan is on his break right now so he will not be back in class until the first week of February. He is enjoying his time off, which allows him to do things at a slower pace, but is still trying to keep busy. I've been back at school for a week now and think I am finally readjusted to the whole getting up early for work thing. I didn't realize two weeks off would throw me so much. We've started the call process for the end of seminary which has been really great for us. We've had some deep, fantastic conversations and have gotten to know each other better through the process so far. The thing that is hard about it though is the fact that Dan isn't done with school until next December so even if positions come up now, there is no guarantee they will still be around in a year. It can be frustrating but I suppose that as long as we know this is a possibility, it will make it a little easier. Life is good right now. I like my job, Dan likes his break. We're having fun. :)