The Why

      When were first met, Austin and I were linked on one thing: We wanted to do youth ministry together. We both cared deeply about kids and youth who were under privileged, marginalized, unloved or tossed away. I have always dreamed of opening my own community center, Austin has goals of bringing mental health awareness to the church.

      We have both had Social Work as a degree in our line of focus at some point and are both passionate about social justice. I have spent the last five years working at a community center and with children who have behavioral and developmental needs. Austin got his youth ministry degree and has spent the last year and a half working for a non-profit with youth who have behavioral needs. We know that this population can be challenging. We have been cursed out, spit at, bit, had objects thrown at us, publicly humiliated and felt extremely defeated; yet when we come home from our daily jobs, we still find stories to tell each other that make us laugh until our ribs hurt. We know that we have been gifted and strengthened to do this sort of work well.

     During our initial interview, we were asked "Why Florida? Why do you want to move all the way here?" Our response? "Why not?"

     We have nothing holding us back, we have no mortgage, no pets, no plans in cement. As we have begun to share with people what is next, the most common thing we hear is "This is the perfect time in your life to do this!" And we agree.

The How

It started with a look into the world of international teaching jobs. But seeing as teaching is the last profession I wish to enter, we continued to click our way through the maze that google offered. We cam across this website:

http://www.workingcouples.com

We considered Bed and Breakfast managers, but put that into our queue for retirement. Next we considered "Domestic Couple Jobs," but found that these were really modern day volunteer slave positions.

When we found a category called House Parent, we felt the fit almost immediately. That very night we sent out inquiry emails to a handful of locations. One particular location (which for the protection of the children who live there we will leave unidentified) responded to us very quickly.

The process from first email, through two interviews and us accepting a position took exactly one month, and exactly a month after accepting the position, we will be on the road traveling 3023 miles!

We are packing up our belongings now. We took half of them to store at his parents house in Spokane. Of what is left, we will get rid of all the furniture, and pack up everything else. We will pull out of our first apartment with what will fit in our new Subaru and a 5 x 7 trailer.

My Guy

See this Guy? My Guy. That is what I like to call him. This is the man I have chosen to spend my life with. The one who draws passion out of me and makes me laugh and helps me learn about birds. This is the man who savors amazing food and has taught me to appreciate a great cup of coffee. This is the man who drives in the snow when I am too scared too, who watches "my" movies and genuinely likes them. He introduced me to zombies and indie music and tartar sauce (which I still don't understand...) 

This is the guy I am moving 3023 miles with.

Rails

The wheels hit the rails
at least were on track
but headed the wrong direction
cant stop now, no good looking back

Talk to my face

no need to disgrace

The wheels hit the rails

now its a race

Racing for your life

Running from this fight

You've had about enough

but you cant stop now, cause I'm up in your stuff.

Your stuff is scary
your stuff stinks
but our lives are meshed now
and were skating outside the rinks

There is hurt in your eyes

people telling you lies

trying to survive

I know why you hide

Come on man,

lets fight

fighting together to win

fighting against sin

Wish this sh** would end

The wheels hit the rails
your sliding downhill
I know you don't like me
don't want my goodwill

But don't push me me away

not now, not yet

don't disapear

don't do something you'll regret

 

You've got it inside:

passsion - water boiling

rocket chaged - lion roaring

wheels hit the rails

come on man, lets ride

 

Julia Child

If Betty Crocker and Martha Stewart are the hero's of the kitchen, than Julia Child is a saint.

For Valentines Day, I made Austin Beef Bourguingnonne. Julia Childs Beef Bourguingnonne. I also checked #8 off my bucket list. 

I went to two different grocery stores, and a local market with a butcher to get my supplies. I spent 6 hours and 12 minutes in the kitchen, and as I finished the sauce, I watched Julia herself on the first episide of French Chef, make the same dish in 27 minutes. 

Bon Appite!

Saving my Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuheuIDqo6c


I was living with my parents, in a crowded house. Sharing space with my brother, his wife, and my niece.

I was in an in between season. I had just returned from Eastern Europe where I lived my dream and returned broke. I had a pierced eyebrow. A two door Dodge that was my very own. And nothing to do with my life.

Sharell was still in high school, working at a diner to pay her way through her senior year. Heather was at University, getting smart and playing dodge ball.

Those days were rather dull. It was hard to wake up. It was hard to be motivated. It was humiliating to work at a pizza chain.

There were a lot of evening walks, and even more night time drives. There was a lot of list making and rule following, and even more bribing to get  myself to accomplish every day tasks such as showering and getting out of bed before 10:00 am.

College group was there, but what I remember more than that, was Denny's that followed. I spent a lot of time with Nathan and Aimee. And when she was off work, Sharell and I would meet up. And we would talk. And we would plan our lives over a pot of coffee at Sharis.

Sharell and I sat up more nights than we slept. We sat at Sharis. We sat in the car. We sat at the beach. We sat in front of the TV at her parents. We sat in the back yard at my parents. We sat and looked at the stars. We sat and looked at our toes. We sat.

Sharell and I determined that together we were going to take over the world. We determined to stay sisters all the way through the next ice age. I promised to never let her work at Costco, and she promised that I would get married. We talked a lot about the future. About how life sucked. And about how good Jesus was.

When everything else was going wrong, we always came back to Jesus. And how he saved us. And how we sure didn't understand very much, but we understood that he had a plan for our lives. We clung to him during that time as if he was our very last hope. Because he is our hope. And I can say that those nights, sitting, saved my life.

Dream

I have this fantasy. A fantasy that some day all of my favorite people will live together.

We will all move somewhere, a small town perhaps. Or even better, we will start our own small town, you know, like when the wagon trains stopped and just started something there. And each of us will share what we have and depend upon each other. Eventually, we will have little stores and shops to support the people who pass through. But all the while, it is the same group. And we will be like Walnut Grove on Little House on the Prairie. And we will start our own church.
          Our kids will be each others best friends. And our grand babies will all be related. We will leave pies our our windowsills, and grow carrots, and have bon fires. We will all be each others best friends, and worst enemies, and take care of each other the way small communities do.


Last night I had a dream, that this happened. Well, we were not on the Prairie, we were in a large house in Pendleton. And we had a big bon fire. And it was a small town and we all started over together. And we were all best friends. 

But like I said, this is all a fantasy. 

Yesterday in my Literature class, we were talking about ways to critique writings. And one of the theories stuck out to me. We talked for a long time of the Psyho-analytic critiquing of Jane Eyre. And basically the theory is that of Frued, and that Jane Eyre had all these sexual desires for Rochester, and that the book is a subconsciousness outcome of Brontes mind. And that really, all our dreams and writings are out of our subconscious fantasy's. 

And so I thought this morning, about Frued. And how I think it is wrong for someone to use his theory to ruin Jane Eyre. And about how its true that my dream was out of the subconscious of my mind, my desire for something I can not have, but it was not disturbingly sexual in nature. It was this fantasy of Heaven really. I mean that's the base of our deepest dreams usually right? We desire perfection and happiness and harmony. 

The reoccurring dream I have of all my favorite people living together is I believe out of the desire of my subconsciousness to just be with our Lord. And I know that it will not happen, the way that I want it to, until we are in Heaven rejoicing with our King. 

So, today as I sit here in my dining room, I think about the life I have, and how really, it is pretty close to that of my dream. I may not live in a giant house with 20 people, the girls upstairs, and the boys downstairs. We may not live out in the middle of no where. But, our life and our community is really good. The reason I dreamed my dream was that all of the people in it, are so often in our home, that it is as if we do life together. And this neighborhood we live in, only blocks from each other, IS small. And I do sometimes leave pies to cool on the porch. And we are living and sharing and depending on one another. We just do this in a big city, in an imperfect world.