d a r k s a y i n g s

In memory of Whitney Houston (and what it means to love yourself)

2012-02-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

(I don't think I've ever written a blog post about pop music before. Oh, well. Here goes.)

Maybe you had to grow up in the 80's or 90's. Or maybe you had to like R&B more than rock. Or maybe it was just limited to North Cedar Street in McMinnville, Oregon.

Whatever it was, in 1993, Whitney Houston wasn't just a great singer: she was the ONLY singer. I think my sister put the soundtrack in the CD player and then threw away the remote so we could never turn it off.

For at least six months you could turn on the radio to nearly any station and you would hear this:

...And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII--EEEEE--IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII will always...love yoo-ooh-OOH-ooh-OOH-ooh-oohIIIIII will always uhloveuh YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

Mind you, this is my own interpretation, but it seemed so universal that year. I think part of the whole Whitney hysteria was because--after a decade of new wave and hair rock--vocal music was back. And no one could deliver it so naturally and effortlessly as Whitney Houston.

Eventually, other singers followed her lead (no need to name names, because I'm sure you know), but at the time singers who could sing was a rather new concept, at least in my lifetime. Kinda reminded me of the gospel music both Whitney and I were raised with.

I'm sure I could reminisce until all of you eventually stopped reading, but there is one specific thing that kept coming back to my mind as I was thinking about Whitney Houston. That's the song she sang in the mid 1980's "The Greatest Love of All".

I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

Everybody's searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me

[Chorus:]
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I'll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

I started pondering the lyrics to this song and how true they're not, especially in dear Whitney's life here on Earth. It's true she really didn't walk in the shadow of anyone, but I don't know if that was for the best. It must be really hard to be your own hero and, in a way, I admire anyone who tries.

If her life story is anything like the song, she went from lonely to unfulfilled and from there to self-dependent. To me, the idea of "loving yourself" is a little strange. I think we've had self-esteem shoveled on us by the ton for so many years that we've actually started to believe that people can blow everyone else off and do it on their own. I've tried it. It doesn't work. We were made for relationships.

I wish it were true that "no matter what they take from me, they can't take away my dignity". In life it seemed--no matter how classy the PR people tried to present her on an album cover--her dignity was taken away (anyone remember that unfortunate Diane Sawyer interview?). It sure make me wish that there wasn't so much media coverage of every detail of her life, because I want to believe in the woman I saw on the album cover.

So that's how I'll choose to remember her. I'll remember the voice...and 1993. Because even if there's no dignity for some in this life, I hope Whitney found it in death.

(check out my next post on Whitney Houston songs for Valentine's Day)

I don't believe children are innocent

2012-01-15T06:50:00.000-08:00

Oh, this pains me. It pains me to the core because I want it to be true. The idea of childhood innocence is everything I want: sentimental, romantic, whimsical, dreamy. But mostly untrue.

---

When I walk in the room, my two-year-old is standing in the middle of a thousand shards of glass with his hand on a tablecloth we told him not to touch ten seconds earlier. "Did you pull the tablecloth?" I demand (while trying to use mental telepathy to keep his bare feet from deciding to run across the glass-covered tile).

"Sissy did it."

My son started talking in full sentences five weeks ago and learned to bear false witness about two minutes later. How did I mess this up? I've tried to model honesty and integrity to him since the day we met. He knows his sister's been downstairs for half an hour and couldn't have had anything to do with the broken glass. He sticks to his guns.

"Bud, did you pull the tablecloth and break the glass?"
"Sissy did it."
"Don't lie to me!"
"Sissy did it. No-no, Sissy."

---

This type of scenario plays out a dozen times a day at our house and often stirs up these deep emotions. I feel like I want to believe that my kids are better than what I see on a daily basis. I want to believe when the clerk at the store says my daughter is a "sweet little angel". Then I read the words of King David.

"Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me."

Now some people will probably say this is a reference to some scandalous relationship between David's mother and father. I honestly have no idea. But just taking it at face value complies with the Pentateuchal* concept of a fall from innocence. In other words: nobody's innocent. This is what I don't wish to believe.

My kids are perfect. Not like those brats at the store, or airport or Sunday School, or wherever else. They're tired. They're just exploring their surroundings. They're overstimulated. They're just being a KID.

Yes, they are. And they're standing there repeating a bald-faced lie over and over again.

*sigh* Et tu, Brute?

I want this to be like all those cards said at the baby shower. Or maybe like those Precious Moments figurines that blew up in the 80's. You know, where the kid is standing all red-faced next to a broken glass holding a handful of flowers up toward his mom 'cause he feels so bad and the figurine is called "The Smallest Apology...the Largest Love" or something of similar sentiment.

Are my kids very trusting, wide-eyed and inquisitive? Certainly they are, but that's about the extent of the dreamy perfection. The fact is--oh and how it pains me to type it--my kids have taught me at least as much about selfishness as they have the (so-called) innocence of youth.

Now that I'm a parent, every time I want to ball up my fists and demand to have things my way, I think a second time. How about considering Anne-Marie's opinion every now and again? And am I really going to lose my patience over things so trivial as waiting for someone else to have a turn, how "she looked at me", or what the ones who love me most ask of me?

Our hearts are like gardens. My job is to plant the good stuff. But weeds keep popping up everywhere without even trying.

* Pentateuchal just means "found in the first five books of the Bible". I kinda like "Genesisian" better.

We're not rich (and a guy's thoughts on interior decorating)

2012-01-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

Quite the contrary, really. We live pretty frugally. (Though not as frugally as some of our friends. I won't mention names 'cause I know they don't wanna be outed here.)

But it never fails: when people come to our house people assume, imply or come right out and say that we must be rich. Nothing could be further from the truth. At least, as far as American standard of living goes. We are richly blessed. We have more than the vast majority of humanity throughout history. But this is not the sense in which people mean it.

Let me explain how and why this is:

#1
We are both college graduates that waited to have kids
For our first eight years of marriage, we both had very good jobs. The pay was decent and our expenses were reasonably low. We lived within our means and paid off all our outstanding debts (with the help and advice of Dave Ramsey and my SIL Kara) in 2004. From there we had enough financial stability to survive cancer and an adoption. Incidentally, these circumstances made us wait to have kids, which helped us financially. It wasn't how we planned it.

#2
We've been given a lot
And I mean a LOT. Much of the money that paid all those cancer and adoption expenses was provided through miraculous means. We intended to earn every penny, but the kindness of God and good people provided in what could've been a time of financial devastation.

#3
We've been given a lot
Wasn't this the last point? Yes, but I mean it in a different sense now. A lot of people see the nice things in our house and wonder how we got the money for THAT?!? Most of it was given to us or inherited. Really.

#4
Planning ahead...way ahead
Along with this, Anne-Marie was preparing for her future home ten years before we were married. What did you want for your 13th birthday? A Nintendo? Anne-Marie was collecting formal dishes and envisioning Victorian-era paintings in a place she would someday call home. Is that crazy? Maybe. But it sure got us a head start when we got married.

#5
Anne-Marie knows how to decorate
OK. This one might sound arrogant or tactless (I did warn you that it was time for strong opinions). The fact of the matter is, a lot of people may have nice things or at least the means to buy them. They may even have some of Grandma's stuff in the attic just waiting to come out into the open. The missing factor is the ability to take what you have and place it in the proper setting. Anne-Marie is very good at that.

Along with this, both of us are pretty skilled at looking at a free or near-free item on Craigslist and envisioning how we can make it into something that will look natural and complimentary in our home. My background in the design industry--which required a lot of creative thinking--combined with Anne-Marie's extraordinary talent to make something beautiful out of next to nothing has allowed us to do this. It's something that's unique to us and can be a blessing or cursed obsession.

---

If you ever come by our house, look around. Look a little closer. You'll see a slipcovered couch that we got for free, an ugly picture frame that was spray-painted to make it look nice and maybe some of those old books from the garage sale down the road.

Really, how our house looks may somewhat reflect who we are (which I guess means kinda comfy, kinda salvage and just plain old worn out), but that's really not the most important thing. Even if IKEA came and vandalized our house, we would still want to maintain the same atmosphere. We want people to be comfortable. We want them to feel loved. We want there to be peace.

And if we have that, we really are rich.

Strong Opinions in 2012

2011-12-31T19:40:00.000-08:00

This is the place where I'm supposed to write something inspirational to start the new year, but it doesn't seem to be hitting me quite like that this time.

In 2012, I want to start doing something that I haven't done a lot in the past: offer strong opinions. If you've read the blog for a while, or you're friends with me on Facebook, you know that what I have to say is usually informational or satirical, or probably both. This isn't exactly how I am in real life. So in order to keep it real, I thought I would make an attempt to tackle one or two strong opinions a month.

Time for STRONG opinions!

I know it's possible that the internet doesn't need another opinion. There's actually a couple of (million) guys who already do that. That's why it won't be all the time and why I'll try to handle it with class, not with brass. (I just made that last one up. You like it?)

I will try to make it clear at the top that it is an opinion post and what topic it concerns. Even if most people skip it, I think it will be a good exercise for me to get it on paper. Or on screen. Or whatever blogs are made of. This exercise of my mind and ability to communicate is one main reason why this blog was started in the first place.

Happy new year to all of you that read. I appreciate you taking the time.

To 2012!

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Twenty-Five

2011-12-25T06:57:00.000-08:00

"Crying for a Christmas" by Scott Krippayne

No, I don't know what happened to days 21-24. I truly believe in the message of this song (see lyrics below the video). This Christmas I want to catch a glimpse of Him.

These are the lives of the rearranged
Scattered souls who've been displaced
Nowhere else to turn
Like Bethlehem we have packed the place
Human need fills every space
No room at the inn

Still God found a corner,
Made a bed down in the hay
Could he reappear, make his advent here
Will he still draw near today?

My world is crying,
Crying for a Christmas
Some way to know for sure
That our God is with us
We could all use a sign
A little glimpse of divine
For a world that still cries for Christmas

Feeding trough on a dirty floor
Unimpressive welcome for
God's Almighty Son
Are we as blind to incarnation
Daily proof of our salvation
Love's already come

We are not abandoned,
All alone in our despair
He who once came down, he can still be found
Every when and everywhere

My world is crying,
Crying for a Christmas
Some way to know for sure
That our God is with us
Once a baby so small
Grew to die for us all
For a world that still cries for Christmas.

Jesus you are here, Jesus you are now
Jesus you are here, Jesus you are now

My world is crying,
Crying for a Christmas
Some way to know for sure
That our God is with us
We can all be the sign
That his love is alive
For a world that still cries for Christmas

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Twenty

2011-12-24T18:37:00.000-08:00

"The Christmas Song" by Nat "King" Cole

My favorite Christmas song of all time.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Nineteen

2011-12-23T15:40:00.000-08:00

"Come and Worship" by Bebo Norman

This is an updated version of "Angels from the Realms of Glory". It looks did a pretty good job pairing it with selected scenes from the movie The Nativity Story for this video.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Eighteen

2011-12-23T10:47:00.001-08:00

"White Christmas" by Bing Crosby

Irving Berlin wrote it, but Tacoma native Bing Crosby sang it.

It's the second-most popular song in American history and a favorite of mine.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Seventeen

2011-12-22T05:49:00.000-08:00

"Merry Christmas, Darling" by The Carpenters

What can I say? The 70's were the best.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Sixteen

2011-12-19T18:55:00.000-08:00

(Trying to catch up, but I've been busy with my early Christmas gift. A cold. Happens every year.)

"Merry Christmas" by Third Day

I've posted this at least once on the blog, but it fits on this list, too. This story of Brad Avery waiting for his daughter to come home from China brings back memories of our Christmas in 2008 as we were waiting for news from Ethiopia.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Fifteen

2011-12-17T18:40:00.001-08:00

"We Wish You the Merriest" by Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby

I feel like I need to include this song, if only because it features a rare duet of two of the greatest voices in American history.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Fourteen

2011-12-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

"Zat You, Santa Claus?" by Louis Armstrong

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Thirteen

2011-12-15T22:35:00.000-08:00

"We Three Kings" by Harry Connick, Jr.

Where do I even start with Mr. Connick? Tons of great music for Christmastime. Check out "Winter Wonderland", too.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Twelve

2011-12-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

"Children, Go Where I Send Thee" by Michael McDonald featuring Twinkie Clark

(Hey, look! It's a link with AUDIO ONLY!)

This is totally awesome. If you don't have the six minutes to listen, either loosen up your schedule or fast forward to 3:45 to hear Twinkie do her jam on the organ.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Eleven

2011-12-13T22:28:00.001-08:00

"The Christmas Waltz" by Frank Sinatra

Do you know this song? You should.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Ten

2011-12-13T22:06:00.000-08:00

"A Baby Changes Everything" by Faith Hill

Faith Hill - A Baby Changes Everything (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Faith Hill

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Nine

2011-12-10T23:55:00.001-08:00

"All I Really Want" by Steven Curtis Chapman

Obviously, this song is one of my favorites for personal reasons. But the video is really good, too!

"All I Really Want" Music Video from Show Hope on Vimeo.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Eight

2011-12-09T18:13:00.001-08:00

"Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season" by Andy Williams

This must be one of the cheesiest Christmas songs from the King of Schmaltz himself. But at Christmas time, rules change and my love for the sentimental comes out.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Seven

2011-12-08T17:16:00.001-08:00

"Little Saint Nick" by The Beach Boys

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Six

2011-12-07T14:29:00.001-08:00

Day #6
(I didn't forget yesterday, I just usually keep myself off the web on Tuesdays.)

"Hark" by Israel & New Breed

This must be the most musically complex version of any Christmas song. Even if you know next to nothing about timing and chord progressions (like me), it's still captivating. And yes, the video image is completely black all the way through. It only contains the audio of the song. Kinda nice, really.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Five

2011-12-05T08:57:00.001-08:00

"Celebrate Me Home" by Kenny Loggins

This isn't even a Christmas song, but radio stations have included it in their Christmas music for years. If you've moved away from your hometown or have family across the country, you probably enjoy and relate more.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Four

2011-12-04T19:07:00.001-08:00

"Jesus, Born On This Day" by Mariah Carey

Say watcha want about Mariah Carey...myohmemymy how that woman can sayng!

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Three

2011-12-03T10:10:00.001-08:00

"Run, Rudolph, Run" by Chuck Berry

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day Two

2011-12-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

"A Cradle In Bethlehem" by Nat "King" Cole

This must be one of the most beautiful Christmas songs ever written, and it's sung by one of the greatest voices.

My Favorite Christmas Songs: Day One

2011-12-01T13:46:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd try an experiment. You know those Advent calendars where you open up a door every day in December until Christmas (only to find a piece of really nasty chocolate)? This is kinda like that.

Instead of the chalkolate, I'm going to give you a new Christmas song every day until Christmas.

And the first song is.............

"Toy Packaging" by Sara Groves
(and you can watch the awesome synchronized light display if you want)

Christmas Lights PBL - Sara Groves ~ Toy Packaging from robogeek on Vimeo.

If you aren't feeling this song, it's probably because you don't have kids.

The cousins

2011-11-25T12:46:00.001-08:00

"Let's all go around the table and everyone name three things you're thankful for."

2011-11-23T18:29:00.001-08:00

Thankfulness is a funny thing because we all know what we're supposed to be thankful for. Have you ever done one of those things where everyone at the Thanksgiving dinner table takes a turn telling what they're thankful for? Everyone always says the same thing.

I'm thankful for my wife. She's been the love of my life these past ** years...

I'm grateful for a house to live in...

I really love the Lord...

We all know what we're supposed to say. Maybe it's just me (maybe), but I think if we were a little more honest with ourselves, the obligatory "top of the list" items are probably the ones we underestimate when people aren't asking. I'm not trying to find fault with all of humanity, but I know human nature.

It's the client at the business meeting who gets the compliment, not your wife. It's the mailman who gets the smile, not your son or daughter. "You need a helping hand? No problem!" for your buddy at work or church. But for your aging parents (that you don't quite see as often as you know you should)? "Let me check my schedule to see if I'm free that day."

You see, there's the Thanksgiving Day list of thankfulness:

1. My Family
2. My Health
3. (if you're religious) God
4. My Job
5. Whatever else in whatever order...

Then there's the real list. I'm not even gonna begin to try and make a list for you ('cause I don't know) or me ('cause I'd probably be to embarrassed to let you see). The real list is the list of our actual priorities.

The guy who said that familiarity breeds contempt was only kind of right. Familiarity so easily breeds apathy. And our complacent attitude toward the people "closest" to us eventually can lead to contempt. Unfortunately it's usually not our contempt, it's the contempt of the one we've been neglecting so long.

God have mercy. What's wrong with us? Wouldn't it be so much better if we took time to be thankful every day? (Yes, it would.)

But everyone knows I'm thankful for that stuff! I mean my family, my job, food to eat, health, God. That should be a given. Besides, I told everyone last year at Thanksgiving!

And when our football team wins next weekend, a feeling of gratitude will well up in us for how good life really is. Will that be the first time we've felt that way all day?

I don't want to be that way. I want to adjust my thinking--and my priorities--to be thankful for the things that really matter. For the things I say mean so much on Thanksgiving Day.

Phil Huffman update

2011-11-15T21:36:00.001-08:00

My father-in-law will be going in for bypass surgery on Friday. Even though this is a very serious situation, the doctors are positive they can fix the problem through this routine operation.

Right now, Phil is in Alaska and will probably be recovering there for several weeks. Obviously, this changes holiday plans for the whole family. This is disappointing, but we all agree with the doctors that the urgency of the situation demands our flexibility.

Our family would appreciate your prayers for Phil. We desire God's peace through this season and that--regardless of the miles that separate us--we would draw closer to each other.

I'm Gonna Love You Through It (who is the 1 in your life?)

2011-10-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

By the time you read this, I may be too late. You may have already been sucked into the holiday vortex. Everyone knows that once November 1st hits that life speeds up, especially if you have kids.

Before that happens--or even in the middle of the insanity--take some time to remember the people who are fighting cancer. It's the end of NBCAM, but tonight my heart goes out everyone who is in this battle, not just those with breast cancer. There are over 1.5 million that were diagnosed this year in America. There are over a half million who died from cancer in the last year. Over 20,000 in the Pacific Northwest.

I know you don't even know 20,000 people, but is there anyone reading this who doesn't know 1 person that's struggling with this disease? They're tired. They're fearful. They're out of money. Out of insurance benefits. Out of time. Some are hopeful. Some are almost there. Some will never look back.

Whoever it is that you know--that 1--do what you can to be a support. Take the time. Figure out how you can help them in the time of their specific need. You will never know how much it means to that person.

Below is a song by Martina McBride. It was written by Sonya Isaacs whose mother is a breast cancer survivor. More than just telling a sad story, it tells about the people who surround a cancer victim and carry them through their fear and grief. I hope it inspires you.

Happy 3rd!

2011-10-30T17:53:00.001-07:00

One year in Washington

2011-10-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a short video I slapped together with memories of our (seemingly) year-long transition from Oregonian to Washingtonian. Who knows? Maybe you'll see yourself in one of the pictures!

Agape

2011-10-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by all the love-and-romance-themed posts over the past year and typed about 70% of this out. I tried to publish this a week ago, but it kinda grew out of control (at least, for a blog post). Here's my description of agape at its most concise.

Agape is a Greek word that was more or less invented by the men who wrote the New Testament. It is a derivative of a Hebrew word that the ancients used to describe the love of a family, the love of a husband or wife and the love of God.

Probably the best way to describe it in everyday language is love "regardless of...". Or "in spite of...". "...even though...".

I love you in spite of your neurotic perfectionism.

I love you regardless of the fact that you forget to fill the car up with gas.

I love you despite your tendency to get distracted while I'm talking.

Notwithstanding our mismatched personalities.

Even though I know you may never change.

I love you anyway.

One dictionary describes it as "true even though there are obstacles and opposing conditions". When we say "in spite of" the literal meaning is that we're going to do something in disregard and defiance to the obstacle at hand. The culture says, "Let's see what we have in common." Agape says, "I'm going to defy your fault in order to love you." The attitude of today's world is at arm's length; the attitude of love is an arm around.

Trust
Sincerity
Transparency
Vulnerability
Openness

These are the things that make us most uncomfortable. These are the things that carry the most risk. And these are the things that keep the walls from going up.

It's not just unconditional love. It's more nuanced than that. This is not about abusive relationships, addictions, desertion and estrangement. It seems like a lot of people are trying to forgive and love their way into a healthy relationship where no real relationship exists. Agape is about real relational love where people know they're supposed to love each other but still sometimes struggle to make it happen. (Though the other subject is definitely worth more thought and study.)

Paul the Apostle wrote that agape was the "more excellent way". "Excellent" comes from the ancient Greek word hyperbole. I probably don't have to tell you this, but that means "beyond measure". In other words, excellent love is a thing that reaches beyond what's deserved.

It's over the top. It's beyond. It's more than just a bond formed by a common cause. That kind of love just happens. Agape is on purpose, it's active and you have to work for it.

I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get to work.

Apps on the home screen of my iPhone

2011-09-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

(This post was inspired by KJ)

Here it is. My home screen. I know I need to update my apps (but I have 70 of them so give me a break). And I need to clear those 47 spam messages out of my inbox. Beside this, my home screen is flawless.

1. Yelp
Yelp helps you find good restaurants. It can pinpoint your current location, then list for you all the restaurants near you in order of cuisine, rating, cost, whatever. You can read reviews of the restaurants from other Yelp users, see their hours and call an order in right from the free Yelp app. As an alternate it can show you a map with all the restaurants on it like this:

Trust me: It's cool. And you can use it for shopping, too.

2. Facebook

What does this free app do? I have no idea since they keep changing it.

3. Flickr

Anne-Marie uses free app this for our very extensive Flickr account. If you have a Flickr account, you can browse through photos or upload more. It's pretty helpful since I use the iPhone's camera and photo editing tools all the time, but I'll talk about that in a second.

4. Rhapsody

I moved iTunes off my home screen because of this app. For a small monthly fee (5 or 10 bucks, depending), Rhapsody allows you to stream music from their catalog of 11 million songs. (That's just about anything you can think of.) You can make playlists, browse through newly released albums or listen to custom commercial-free radio stations, similar to Pandora. As a bonus, you can also download any of the tracks in their catalog if you're taking a cross-country flight or going to a place with bad reception for a while. Is the app buggy? Sometimes. But I haven't come across anything better yet.

5. Twitter

In case you don't know: Twitter is a free microblogging service. It lets you post stuff to your personal Twitter page that is 140 characters or less. Think of it as sending a text message to the entire world. For an example, see the right sidebar of this blog. That's my Twitter.

There must be a hundred 3rd-party apps that you can use on your iPhone to post to Twitter. I'm the only guy I know that actually uses the regular, official Twitter app (though I do use Echofon for certain tweets). It's only 140 characters. How fancy do you need to get?

6. App Store

I already told you about the App Store. Even though this was already pre-loaded on my phone when I got it, its usefulness kept it right where it was. (By the way, I know it's called App "Store", but as I said earlier, thousands of the apps are free.)

7. Settings

I adjust my screen brightness and notifications a LOT, so I keep this right in front.

8. TuneIn Radio

This is the app that supplanted Pandora (and I like Pandora). TuneIn ($1) lets you stream 50,000 radio stations from across the world. These are not web stations. They're real, terrestrial radio stations. So if you, like me, have a station back in your old hometown that you miss, look it up on TuneIn and press play. That simple. They don't have every station, but probably 80% of them. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I kinda just like listening to the regular old radio sometimes, commercials and all. Having this app that allows me to search by music genre, talk format or by location fits me like my favorite cardigan sweater and pair of penny loafers.

9. The Weather Channel

The iPhone has a pre-loaded weather app, but it's not as good as the official The Weather Channel app (free), which will find your current location, show you hour-by-hour weather, give you severe weather warnings and a 10-day forecast.

10. Camera+

This might be my favorite app. With Camera+ you can make the photos you take with your iPhone:

And make them into this:

The editing tools include all kinds of crazy color filters, cropping, aging effects and custom "lenses". The tools are very easy to use and it only costs a dollar. Love it.

11. Camera
This is the regular old camera that is standard on the iPhone. It's a little faster than using Camera+.

12a. YouVersion: the Bible App (in the "Bible" folder)
OK. This is actually my favorite app. If you are a Bible reader (and you should be), this app has everything. What started out as a very simple, but popular, Bible reading app a couple of years ago is now a fully-featured Bible study system. Now it features almost 30 translations, the ability to download many of them for offline use and audio versions as well, which I use all the time. YouVersion also has a note-taking tool and reading plans. Plus, it's free. No commentaries, though. That's why I have...

12b. PocketSword (in the "Bible" folder)
This is the truly beefy Bible app. I really wanted a free study app that would compare to e-sword (my favorite study app from my days as a PC user). This is the closest I've found. With PocketSword you can read commentaries and dictionaries along with a lot of Bible versions. My favorite part is the Strong's edition of the King James Version. (I know I just lost a lot of you with my geekness.) The Strong's number is shown after each word in the Bible text. If you click on the Strong's number a little window rises up from the bottom of the screen and shows you the word in the original Hebrew or Greek. Sweetness!

13. Evernote
Evernote is a free app that lets you write text notes and save them to a central server located somewhere in Old Hebrides. You can then access your note from not only your phone, but from the PC or Mac version of Evernote on your home computer, making your precious notes ever-present. It also will store photos and audio memos for you.

14. CraigsPro+
This app lets you search through Craigslist in amazing ways. Photo previews, listings divided by neighborhood and ability to save searches along with direct e-mail and direct phone links make this better than craigslist on your home computer. Also for a little more money, they'll send you a notification every time something that matches your searches is posted on Craigslist (great for job hunters like me). My version cost $1. I think there's a more basic free version as well.

15. MusicTutor
I am probably the only guy who has this app on his home screen. This $2 app is pretty new to the app store and is a perfect fit for me (and maybe only me). This app quizzes you on your music theory skills. Mine are next to none, so--as a wannabe guitar player--I'm using this to learn. The quizzes include: see the note and press the corresponding key/fret, see the note and press the corresponding letter, see the key signature and press the corresponding letter, etc. The pic may explain it better:

16. Blogger
This free app lets me publish to this blog straight from my phone. It took Blogger four years to make an app for the iPhone, but it's very welcome indeed.

This post is already way too long, so I'll do an honorable mention/games post later.

See some examples of very intelligent people's home screens on First & 20.

Smartphones

2011-09-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

Even though it seems like everyone has a smartphone, the fact is only 40% of wireless phone users have them. The other 60% use regular phones like bar-style, flip phones and sliders by Nokia, Samsung and LG. Doesn't that make you feel better?

Six months ago, I joined the minority when I got an Apple iPhone through Verizon. We qualified for a pretty sizable monthly discount on our family plan (after switching from AT&T), so we decided to sign up.

Here's my advice: never buy a smartphone. Why? Because they're totally awesome.

I can check my e-mail, tune my guitar, stream my favorite radio station in Truckee, California, and find the nearest three Chinese restaurants to my present location, all while driving 85---no, 65 miles per hour down the interstate freeway. It's amazing. Don't get one.

The great thing about the newest generation of smartphones is that they're highly customizable. You download to your phone little programs called "apps" from some magic fairy person located in the sky and you can have the exact games, utilities, news feeds and shopping tools that you want. There's over a half million apps available for the iPhone and 37% of them are free. I only have 68 on my phone.

Next post I'll talk about my favorite apps.

Everything happens in September

2011-09-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

September is just about done and summer has gone the way of the buffalo. I love the fall, but--as it likely is with most of you--the season is anything but carefree, as is summer. Every year we celebrate this transition in September, because along with September seems to come every possible significant date. It doesn't matter what it is: everything happens in September at our house.

Here's the off-the-top-of-my-head list:

2008 - 2nd: Elisha's legal birthday (according to the government)
1979 - 4th: My birthday (according to everyone but the young man inside me that's obviously in denial)
2006 - 4th: Anne-Marie admitted to hospital due to complications with blood count
2008 - 6th: We turn in our adoption paperwork to Dove
2001 - 8th: Our anniversary
2001 - 11th: Patriot Day, also known in our house as "The Day We Got Stuck In Mexico While On Our Honeymoon in 2001"
2008 - 11th: Mariah's legal birthday
2009 - 14th: Gotcha Day (the day our kids were placed in our arms)
2009 - 23rd: The day we returned to America with our kids
2010 - 24th: My last day at my long time employer, Western Wood Structures, Inc.
2004 - 25th: The day we lost Mary Jean
2010 - 26th: Our last Sunday at our longtime "home church", OCUPC

Thank you to our former landlord for evicting us as soon as possible (late in August). It allowed us to have a rather quiet September in 2011.

The greatest car wreck ever (summarized)

2011-09-16T15:17:00.001-07:00

My friend, Matt, just posted this on Facebook. It was so good, I decided to share.

Power Lines Fall on Crashed Vehicle, Driver Trapped: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

2nd anniversary of Gotcha Day

2011-09-14T18:23:00.001-07:00

We've had the kids for 2 years now. It's been a challenging journey for us, but our struggles probably have nothing on the kids. I'm so proud of how they've grown up to this point and can't wait to see the NEXT two years.

(I'm riding in the car right now so I'm keeping it short.)

10th Anniversary: The Open Love Letter

2011-09-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

My one and only love,

How could it have already been 10 years? I guess I may look old enough for that, but it still seems hard for me to conceive in my mind. I wonder if it's because I feel like my life didn't really begin until the day I met you. (That would make me maybe 15 or 16.)

And if I really was 15 or 16 again, I would find you, make you fall in love with me and marry you right away so we could have as many years together as possible. Then when our kids grow up and ask why it was okay for us to do that, we'll give the sorry excuse that "times were different back then". Who cares? As long as we're together.

But all this is truly silly. I can't go back and change what's been. And I wouldn't. Because to go back would mean to change who you are and that's not the lady I was born to love.

So instead, let's go forward. How about we spend about the next 100 years together, give or take? Judging from the last 10, I'll bet we can find ways to make it interesting.

Your teenage lover

10th Anniversary: 9/11

2011-09-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

"...They were at war against us. We were not yet at war against them."
(Condoleezza Rice in a PBS interview)

The events of September 11, 2001 shocked the world, but the most heartbreaking stories tell how they shocked people's individual worlds. We weren't there in New York City, as some couples were, celebrating a honeymoon. We weren't near home either. We were out of the country in Mexico.

When we were married on the 8th, we raced to the Hotel from the reception. It was carefree, wonderful and everything a new marriage should be. We had no idea.

When we got up early the next morning, we had one of the craziest cab rides to Portland International Airport. Speeding and swerving through town I thought, "I'd hate to die the day after getting married." We were off to Cabo San Lucas. We were clueless.

And when they stopped the 737 in the middle of the tarmac, pulled up a set of stairs to the side of the plane and had us march single file 500 yards to the terminal. And when we had to have our shoes checked for hoof-and-mouth disease it couldn't have been farther from our minds.

Two days later, we were on a roadtrip and on the streets of the little town of San Jose Del Cabo, we heard people talking about it. We couldn't believe what we were hearing. We walked down the street to a gift shop where they were showing the footage on TV from everything that happened earlier that morning in our home country. We silently walked away from what we'd seen and walked across the street to a church, sat down in an empty pew and began to pray.

We were married September 8, 2001, at 1:30 in the afternoon. We had less than three days until the world changed forever. We were completely ignorant about what was going to happen in the days ahead.

10 years later we still are.

But at least we know it.

10th Anniversary: Unplanned, Uncharted

2011-09-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

Please note: this post, maybe even more so than my last one, is open and honest. If you can't handle that, you should probably stop reading now. I do realize the internet "is in ink" and that it's possible that people may think less of me for saying certain things. That's OK. I'm saying them because other people either can't or won't and because it may help someone believe they're not alone. There will be a happy ending at some point. I promise.

I'm sure it's not hard to figure out that we didn't plan on this. I mean none of it. We didn't plan on struggling through illness. We didn't plan on building a family through means of adoption. We didn't plan on leaving our home state of Oregon. Those are the big things. The big griefs, if you will.

When you look back over a span of 10 years, there's no way you can remember all of it, but you can look behind and see the peaks and the valleys. Those are the things that stick with you. Not that all the in-between stuff isn't important. It's very important. But the one-page biography--my perpetual obituary, if you will--always covers the highs and the lows.

The fact is, I don't know why things happened the way they did. I believe they were right and that God had his hand on us, guiding us through it all. But it still hurts sometimes. Especially two of those big three. The one is not as difficult, because as hard as the adoption process was, the daily presence of our kids has been a daily reminder of God's goodness through that.

Those other two though. Wow.

Months of unemployment and months of uncertainty have been hard on us all. Moving four times in 14 months is more than exciting, it's downright unsettling. The learning curve has been pretty steep. But we are learning and that--along with all the great relationships we are forming--helps.

Sickness? Man, I really hate talking about this one. You know that I've had a lot of struggles in the last four years, but Anne-Marie's difficulties have been way beyond anything I've experienced. And we've had people ask if things have "gotten back to normal yet?". (Which I'm not bashing. It's just that people don't know.) It would be like asking an amputee if things have gotten back to normal. Normal died some time back and we don't think it's coming back.

Though the major treatment ended after seven months, a 5-year-long procedure of starving out the cancer has continued. This is not a precise or flawless process by any stretch. Do you know what happens to someone when they take chemicals that are purposely trying to shut down things in their body so it can save itself from itself? Yeah, neither did I.

Suffice it to say, my level of compassion has multiplied. Please make the time to take a second glance at those around you. It just may be that the "normal" folks you think you know spend a lot of nights fighting things you can't even imagine.

---

Many mornings I wake up and think to myself, "How did we get here?" It seems impossible that we would end up where we are considering where we were just 10 short years ago. The greatest memories, joys and inspirations are found when life is spontaneous and dynamic. And this has been like hitchhiking on the interstate with a sign that says "anywhere", then finding out our ride is going to Mars.

10th Anniversary: A Decade of Pain

2011-09-05T23:52:00.000-07:00

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
is a revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy?
(Laura Story, "Blessings")

This Thursday will mark 10 years that we've been married. 10 years. Yes, 10. As in I don't even have to type out the word any more I can use the actual numbers on my keyboard.

If you would ask me to describe this last 10 years in one word, you may be surprised at the one I choose, at least today. The word I would pick would be pain.

(Thanks for instantly prejudging what I'm about to say.)

I hate to admit it, but pain seems to be the most common theme that we've faced together. The fact is, you have no idea the depth and details of everything that's happened in the last decade. There have been things far to excruciating or personal to tell on this blog. That's saying a lot: read the archives, they get pretty heavy.

And I can't know the details of your last decade either. In a way, I wish I could because then I would know if we're a "normal" couple or not. But what is a normal couple? And who is that person that's actually lived an "ordinary" life? I'm still looking for that guy that the world's been fair to. I can see him in my mind, but every time I try to identify a particular person that's walked that road, I can't seem to find anyone.

I would say that I'm happy and that life is good, but when I look back at the last ten years--the very years that I believe have made me what I am--the thing that stands out most is tears. How can it be that I am happy or that I could say, "Life is good. I can't complain."?

The answer comes in looking forward. Hope will bring you through the longest and darkest days and we have a hope that cannot be quenched.

We believe that all that has happened will be the things that prepare us for what's ahead, and what's ahead is always more important than what's behind.

I hope this post will be part of a series of posts about our 10 years together. I would hate to leave the subject with only this to say.

32

2011-09-04T08:19:00.001-07:00

10 things I'll miss about living in Puyallup

2011-08-31T23:32:00.000-07:00

Maybe you missed this post from the beginning of the year about the 77 things I'll miss about Oregon. Well, before I give you an update about life in Tacoma (which has been our status for the past 9 days), I want to give a little mini-list of the things I'll miss about living in Puyallup. We lived there for 10 months, so here's 10 things:

10. Comfort Food
This may be my favorite restaurant ever. Not only because they serve meatloaf sandwiches and no-bake cookies, but they have made it their mission to use the profits from their restaurants to care for orphans and foster children. Read more about the restaurant in this blog post.

9. Living close to the church
The church our ministry is based out of is downtown Puyallup. We were pretty surprised when a place to live opened up that was seven blocks away. That made things pretty convenient for events that were held at the church building. Thankfully, the church isn't really set up as a geographically centralized thing...

8. Walking to 7-11

I did this all the time. It was only six short blocks to get to a Big Bite and a Slurpee. (I never actually got a Big Bite, but I thought about it once.)

7. Don's Drive-In
Wow. This is a great little hamburger place across from the fairgrounds. I almost always got the BLT. The soup and pie is amazing, too. I think we've found a replacement here in Tacoma in Goofy Goose on 6th Avenue.

6. The house on 5th

Man, I loved this house. When we moved in I was hoping that we could just make it through the summer without it selling out from under us. We were there two days and my wife's amazing home makeover sold the house. But the sale fell through and then fell through again and then foreclosure on the property got us thrown out. But the big old 1928 craftsman was beautiful while it lasted.

5. The WinCo in Sumner
Greatest grocery store in the history of mankind. This must have been the biggest, cleanest, quietest, cheapest store I've ever been to. No one ever shopped there. We would drive up and there would be 20 cars total in the lot, leading us to worry that maybe it would go out of business. But every week it be there for us with plenty of food and 30% savings.

4. Crockett's

Crockett's came to town just a few weeks after us. It quickly established itself at the most popular place in Puyallup. I don't know if it was the BLT, or the Chicken and Waffles, but either way this place had me hooked from the first time.

3. All those little things I never got to do
Like walking the East end of the Puyallup Riverwalk, eating at Herfy's, going to the pond with the kids at DeCoursey Park, going to a Pacific Lutheran Lutes game at Sparks Stadium, going to Meeker Mansion...

2. Nick and Kaylee
Nick and Kaylee have been good friends for a long time, even before we moved to this area. The house on 5th was about a dozen blocks away from their house. It was really great living just up the street from people you know, especially when you live somewhere where you don't know hardly anyone. It was always nice knowing they were just a phone call away (though I guess now they're still just a phone call away, just a longer one...that doesn't make any sense...aaaanywaaays...)

1. Not getting the chance to live through The Puyallup Fair

About 1/2 of the fair. Pic by TinaLouise

The reason this is not included in the list of little things is because "The Puyallup" is huge. And the fairgrounds were just down the street from our house. But we moved to the area three weeks after the fair ended and moved out about five weeks before the fair is set to start. With over a million people showing up, this fair is one of the biggest in America, so of course the city of Puyallup goes crazy. Too bad we won't be there to see it. We will drive in for at least one visit, though.

The new house conundrum, Part 2

2011-08-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

When we arrived at the house just off 21st in North Tacoma, we knew it had potential, but I was pretty much sick of potential. After all, as a renter, a house usually never lives up to its potential because the landlord is not about to put any money or work into it.

But after I looked through the windows, I immediately waved for Anne-Marie to get out of the car where she was waiting and come take a look.

1916 craftsman in North Slope neighborhood of Tacoma

The inside looked a little rough, but that added a little to its charm. Plus, the house had a full front porch, a huge yard on the one side and trees covering the entire road growing out of the heavily-forested gully* across the street.

I called to schedule an appointment with the owner, and they agreed to meet us out there that evening. Bernie and Sandra are an older couple that really have better things to do than drive from their home in Renton and show a house in North Tacoma. But they were excited that someone else was excited about their house. (And to be honest, if it wasn't for their kind demeanor, hands-off approach and understanding of the situation we're in, we may have walked away from this beautiful house.)

When we walked in, we found out what was so exciting. 9' high coffered ceilings, fireplace, picture molding, clawfoot tub. It also has original woodwork and trim throughout the interior, including wainscoting and a built-in china cabinet in the dining room. All this may not mean a lot to someone who didn't study in a design field. You'll just have to trust me.

Plus, there are some practical things to go along with the aesthetic features. A small garage in the back alley. A fully fenced back yard. A gas furnace. A shower stall (so you don't always have to scrub down in the clawfoot tub). A full basement. Three bedrooms, plus a bonus room in the attic. And lots of other stuff that there's no need to list. Really we got what we were hoping for: a decent house in a decent neighborhood.

It's not identical to our house in Puyallup and it's only got one bathroom. The hardwood floors are looking kinda rough and the kitchen is a work in progress. But we love it still and plan on making it home.

Bernie was very kind in agreeing to reimburse us for some of the improvements we want to make (including painting, cleaning and maybe even replacing the flooring). He just wants someone who will take care of the place. We plan on doing just that.

So we didn't get the airy, dreamy European-style house of Anne-Marie's dreams, but it feels good and right to be landing here in our new place.

*I don't know if it's officially a gully or a draw. It may be both.

The new house conundrum, Part 1

2011-08-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

So we were praying that God would help us find a place before we were thrown out in the street. I'm glad to tell you that He did. But there were a lot of ups and downs in the process.

If there was anything we wanted, it was two-fold:
1. A decent house
2. A decent neighborhood

As has been made plenty clear in previous posts, I am unemployed. That puts most rental houses managed by a big rental corporation out of our reach, due to their income requirements. Coupled with this, unemployment has--let's just say--limited our budget a little. Housing in the Puyallup/Sumner area is rather expensive, so we were having a hard time finding anything. When we did find something it looked kinda like this.

Are you kidding me?

Out of 20 properties we found near the area where we live, we found ONE that was decent. Not that we were trying to be picky, but it just wasn't working out. The place we found more than 70 houses was Tacoma (20 minutes west and 3rd-largest city in Washington, for my out-of-state readers). So we started doing a lot of drive-bys, which I hear are pretty common in Tacoma.

In Tacoma, we had the other problem. Awesome house; regrettable neighborhood. And did we really want to move to Tacoma, anyhow? We prayed about it and felt like it may be a good thing. The ministry work we do is not really church building centered, so the only long drive would be to the big Sunday celebration service.

But even still, a lot of our ministry is home-centered. But since ministry and home really should be wherever God's people are, we decided to go with it.

The first place we decided to apply for was in the North Slope area (quiet area in our price range) of Tacoma, but already had an application pending when we called about it. It was too bad, 'cause we really liked it when we looked at it. Guess other people did, too. So we applied for our second-favorite house with mixed feelings because, well, it was our second-favorite. But we really weren't in the position to be picky and really, isn't it just a house. But we had reservations and told the landlord that we would still be looking while the application was in process.

2nd choice

Over the next few days, we kept looking and on Sunday we got to take a look at a fabulous house near the University of Puget Sound. It was everything we thought we wanted with a bright interior and immaculate hardwoods and molding. It was a little out of our price range, so we asked if we could have it for a little less. The owner agreed and after seeing our credit report and bank statements, felt comfortable renting to us. We were elated and told her that we need to be assured that she would work with us because we needed to cancel our application process with the other house as soon as possible. She assured us that everything was OK.

Wasn't meant to be

We called the guy at the other house to cancel. And began preparations to move into the new place. An hour and a half later, the landlord from our "dream house" called and told us she had other plans for the house, effectively leaving us with no options.

A week of work, hope, elation and now crushing disappointment ended without any possibilities. And we had two weeks to be out of our house.

The next day, we hit the road early, checking the internet for new houses being posted in the North Slope area as we were driving. We ended up on the far side of Tacoma looking at random houses when we got hungry. So we stopped for lunch and by the time we left the restaurant a house had been posted back on the north side of town, so we drove back to North Slope.

To be continued...

We stand by our evictions*

2011-07-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

OK. Here's the deal. This week we were given four weeks to vacate the house we've been renting.

We're getting evicted.

This doesn't actually have much to do with us. We've been paying the rent, but the guy who owned the house got foreclosed on. So the house went to auction a week ago and the new owner wants to remodel it and "flip" it.

So, by law, he has the right to ask us to leave in 30 days. 8 of those days are gone. So we need to find a place pretty awful quick.

I'm unemployed, so we need to find a landlord who is willing to work with someone who doesn't have a big paycheck coming in every week, but who will (and we will) faithfully pay the rent.

This whole thing makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. We've never been homeless before--at least not really--and we believe God has something for us in the next three weeks. At the same time, not knowing what's going to happen to you and your family is a challenging and somewhat bewildering place to be in.

I dread having to pack and rent a U-Haul again, but there's nothing I can do about it. It's completely out of my control. We're glad to be here in Puyallup and to have never gone hungry or been on the street so far. We hope to keep that streak going.

*I guess it's not really an eviction until they're physically throwing you from the house out into the street. But you know what I mean. They're telling us to leave, not asking.

Here's the ad for our gargantuan sale!

2011-07-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

Routing out your garage sales for this weekend? Don't miss our behemoth 7-family sale downtown Puyallup!

Near Del's in Downtown Puyallup
Call or e-mail if you need help getting here: 253-

Sale is 9-4(ish) Friday and Saturday, July 22-23. Earlies that come after 8 AM may be asked to help set up. If they want anything before 9, there is a 20% buyer's premium. (And earlies who show up BEFORE 8 AM are really only trespassers. I may shoot you with one of our very reasonably priced Nerf guns!)

The pictures just reflect the stuff I could get to quickly (and how much these ads don't get along with my MacBook). Don't worry: There is stuff for guys, too. E-mail me with any questions.

RECENTLY ADDED: Some of our friends who are vintage toy collectors brought us a bunch of stuff that they didn't want to hassle with...and let us price it. Scroll down to the toy section for the list.

We have:

-Collectibles-
China (several teapots, teacups, plates, some vintage)
Pfaltzgraff (Cape May pattern...lots of it)
Glassware (Fenton, etc.)
Candles
Pottery (large glazed pitchers and bowls)

-Home & Garden-
Linens
Christmas decor
Teakwood corner what-not shelf (see picture)
Mechanic's creeper
Much more...

-Tech/Media-
Creative MP3 player bundle (ZEN Micro and MicroPhoto)
Wireless-G router
Creative Webcam
Gospel CDs
VHS (Disney, Western, etc.)
DVD (City Slickers, The Aviator, etc.)
Audiobooks (several incl. Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Band of Brothers)
Several special editions of Monopoly
Beka homeschool material

-Clothing-
Men's
Women's (S/M/L; many designer items from A&F, BR, Nordstrom, etc.)
Baby/Toddler

-Baby items/toys-
Legos
Bottle sterilizer
Sesame Street infant swing (used for two weeks; like new)
Bumbo chairs - part of the craigslist pre-sale
Vintage Care Bears figurines
Hot Wheels
Cabbage Patch Kids collectibles
Vintage Teddy Bear Story figures (very rare)
Campbell's kids dolls
McDonald's toys (several Madame Alexander)
My Little Pony (LOTS...all newer generation...many special edition)

-Loads of Christmas stuff that we like a lot but must get rid of!-

-Books-
25 cent bin
75 cent bin
Kids, history, inspirational, fiction, relationships

-Computer desk-

-Kenmore sewing machine-

-GIANT free box-

-So much more, I couldn't list it-

--Hope to see you in Puyallup this weekend!--

Lee Martinez Farm, Fort Collins, Colorado

2011-07-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

Back to PDX

2011-07-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend we're all going to my brother's wedding in Fort Collins, Colorado. This is the first time the kids have been to the airport since we brought them home 22 months ago.

Final: The Space Frontier

2011-07-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

A few hours ago, four astronauts embarked on mission STS-135 on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. This will be the last mission for the United States' Space Shuttle Program. The program started in 1981.

When I grew up, space was cool. Science fiction was cool. Robots were cool. And even though E.T., Star Wars, Transformers and Tron made millions with their cleverly-crafted fiction, the astronauts that rode the shuttles up into space made a generation of fanatical kids believe they could achieve their dreams.

Of course, a lot of these dreams were probably totally unrealistic, but it's nice--perhaps even good and healthy--to dream crazy dreams when you're a kid.

**sigh** That's all I have to say. Otherwise, I might go into an 80's inspired spaceramble...

The story of our referral (for new readers)

2011-07-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

It's been two years since we first saw our kids faces. For some of our new friends, here's a couple of links describing what it was like:

http://darksayings.blogspot.com/2010/07/one-year-anniversary-of-our-referral.html

http://darksayings.blogspot.com/2009/07/copy-of-our-referral-announcement-e.html

http://darksayings.blogspot.com/2009/06/story-of-referral-day.html

Would you believe that in our town last night they had a big fireworks display in honor of our kids' special day? Yeah, I know that seems like a lot of jollification and all, but they really are worth celebrating.

Ethiopian adoption update 6/2011

2011-06-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

Seems like the last couple of weeks has been all adoption news. First, our friends the Youngs--after more than eight months waiting--received their referral for not one, not two, but THREE kids from Ethiopia. I can't post any of the info here, but I got the e-mail with all the pictures and names and they are the cutest group of kids (a girl and a girl and a boy). For those of you who know them, the Youngs already have four girls and a boy. Congratulations to the Youngs. You now take your place in the parenting hall of fame between the Bradys and the Duggars.

The next bit of news also has to do with Ethiopian adoption. In March, the government said things would slow down by about 90%. We aren't sure that this ever happened, but official words has come this week on a new policy:

As of June 15, 2011 the number of files will increase from five(5) files per day to ten (10) files per day. During the next two to three months the Ministry plans to increase the number of files reviewed to fifteen (15) files per day...

This is a ways from the 50-per-day rate they were going at when we adopted, but it is a significant improvement. Again, this is only the official policy change. We've never had any indication that they purposely slowed down the process if they were able to get more cases through court on any given day.

Lastly, we were at Meeker Days yesterday and we met two Ethiopian adoptive families! Anne-Marie has seen the Sanchez family around town before, but for the first time I was with the family when we saw them near the food booths. They adopted their daughter a few months ago.

The real shock came when we met ANOTHER family 30 minutes later in the children's play area. The Lemanski family has already been to their court date and will be returning to Ethiopia to bring hre home for good in just a few weeks. Both families are adopting through Youth With a Mission (which I guess is here in Puyalllup). How totally awesome to meet new families that have a heart for the beautiful children of Ethiopia.

Portfolio test video

2011-06-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks, I've been working on a video of the different projects I've worked on throughout my career. This video is for a new website I'm building for prospective employers. So it's really important that it looks good and I make a good impression so I can GET A JOB!

I need your help. Here's the final version. I would appreciate if you could voice your opinion on the polls (just to your right) after you watch.

5 years cancer free!

2011-06-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

According to the doctors, June 8, 2006, is the official day that all cancer cells were removed from Anne-Marie's body. That means Anne-Marie has been cancer free for five years. The five-year mark is considered the biggest milestone in recovery because all the statistics say that your chance of recurrence after five years is next to nothing. This is good. This is very good.

Anne-Marie still has a few prescriptions to take and two more doctor's appointments to keep before the official end of treatment, but all that stuff is pretty much formality. Thank God for keeping us from then until now.

You can take a look at the archived posts from June 2006 to read the story of our time in the hospital five years ago.

Tending to the flowers not long after surgery

Unemployed

2011-06-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my employer and I decided to part ways. It just wasn't working out. Utility locating seemed like a good way to make some money, even though it wasn't really my field.

Even though I'm sorry that it turned out the way it did, I'm glad to say that I parted ways with the company on good terms. Both the manager and I were man enough to say that my expectations and theirs were probably not being fulfilled--and that's just the way things go sometimes.

I appreciate the opportunity and will consider this a learning experience.

I'm in the process of looking for another job right now. In fact, I might need all of you to give me some opinions in the near future on a new website I'm building that showcases my work. Thanks to everyone who still thinks, hopes and prays for us in this time of transition.

I have no idea

A tribute to Grandma Nina

2011-05-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

These are the remarks I made at Nina's funeral on May 26, 2011:

Nina was always one for a complete, well-rounded meal, especially breakfast. She always talked about "a decent breakfast" and "something to stick to your ribs".

It was a Huffman family vacation trip with Gene & Nina and their three kids: Phil, Elaine and Edie. They were taking a walking tour underground in a deep cavern in the Southwest.

About 45 minutes into the tour, while deep inside of the cavern, all the electric lights went out and the family and everyone else on the tour was in complete darkness. Couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The tour guide asked us to remain calm and not move around to avoid falling, or getting lost or injured.

The guide estimated that in approximately an hour--when the group didn't return to the station above--a search party would be organized and come down with lanterns and flashlights to rescue them. The tour guide assured them that in no more than three hours they would be back above ground.

While absorbing the thought of being stuck in a cave--and not realizing that the tour guide was just having his fun with another group of unsuspecting tourists--Nina announced to no one in particular: "I'm glad I had an egg for breakfast!"

You see, it was important for Nina to keep that strength up, because if there's anything I learned from my years of getting to know Grandma Nina, it was that she didn't have a lot but she had two hands. And she was going to make use of what she had.

That's how Nina was so generous. She was always making things for people. It reminds me of the New Testament story of Dorcas. The Bible says Dorcas was "full of good works and acts of charity" and that when she died they stood "weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them". Nina touched a lot of people through her generosity.

And at Christmas, Grandma Nina would give everyone a gift. She didn't have hardly any money, so she would give you something that she got at a thrift store or something she made herself. A favorite of a lot of people were her hand-knit ponchos. She made them custom so they fit perfectly. On a bottle of Tabasco sauce.

All the guys knew what they would get: a calendar from the dollar store. She always came to Christmas Day with a Dollar Tree bag full of calendars for the next year. First-come, first-served.

That meant sometimes you got a good one and sometimes you didn't. It was a great year when I brought my Hot European Sports Cars calendar to work. All the guys in the office would check out the new picture each month as I flipped it to a shiny Lotus or Lamborghini. The next year I got flowers. The guys didn't walk over to my desk to check out the peonies, but I still brought it to work.

I remember walking right by my "horses" calendar as I answered the phone call from my father-in-law telling my Grandma Nina was very, very sick. It's right by the kids' toybox. They love it and always want me to show them the pictures. It was May 20 and things didn't look good.

Nina left us the next day at three in the afternoon on Saturday, May 21, 2011 on the calendar. That day, some people told us God was coming. Of course most didn't believe them and laughed at the prediction. But they were actually correct: God did come. But only for Nina.

As He will for all of us one day. And when He comes for me, I want them to say I had that same strength, generosity and humor that Nina freely gave to all of us.

Happy 32nd Birthday!

2011-05-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

Nina Huffman: 1917 - 2011

2011-05-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

darksayings is 5 years old!

2011-05-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, the blog has been redesigned again. (Can you tell I love design work?) For those of you who are reading this right now on RSS or a reader, you might take the time to visit the actual blog page and take a look to see what I'm talking about.

The blog is now five years old and I think it has served its purpose more than I could ever imagine. The purpose, of course, was to tell the story of Anne-Marie's battle with cancer and the adoption process that followed. In the last year and a half since that all wound down, I haven't been blogging as much. That's due to many reasons:

The kids keep me pretty busy
A mild but three-year-long case of writer's block
The explosion of Facebook and Twitter and the smartphones that support them
Not sitting at a computer all day long for my job anymore

Reason #3 is bigger than we all realize. I subscribe to a lot of blogs. Some of those people post multiple things on Facebook every day and haven't blogged in six months. (And I haven't been much better at times.) I would say the number of blog posts that pop up on my reader as compared to two years ago is about half. But maybe I just need to subscribe to a fresh set of bloggers.

I know this is starting to sound like a farewell post. It's not. Just a statement of the reality of my world. I hope the more occasional version of this blog will be worthwhile and enjoyable.

Find me on Facebook if you want to see more of the daily stuff.

Diagnosis Day: five years later

2011-05-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

They said five years would be here before we knew it. I disagree. Every one of those years has hit hard. The impact from then until now has created ripples that will last generations.

I've said it a million times: I wouldn't go back and change it if I could, but I wouldn't want to go through it again.

I don't think I can speak for Anne-Marie on this, but I feel like I've grown up since then. I've learned a new meaning of joy. One that still lasts even though the things you thought made you happy have been taken away.

I now feel a lot more comfortable around hurting people. I had to since I encountered them every day the year we spent in hospitals and chemo rooms. That's given me a compassion that runs deeper than momentary pity.

In the small stuff category, I found out what it means to be broke, how to call someone for help and why saying "I love you" every single day matters a lot. In fact, a lot of little things like this had their meaning changed forever sometime in the last five years.

I now believe in the power of redemption more than ever. I've always been highly skilled at seeing the bad in the good, but now I can see the good in the bad.

Maybe you're just at the beginning of your five years. I'm sorry for what you are facing. If I could say anything without sounding flippant, I would say to ask God to help you see a means of redemption in this. And don't be afraid or feel guilty if you feel sad or angry sometimes. That's natural. You can make it through those things if you don't let them consume you.

These things will pass. It may not be quick and it may involve quite a process, but there is hope on the other side of your five years.

What happened to April?

2011-05-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

April is a month I always make fun of. That's because NOTHING happens in April. So how do I explain the fact that I've been too busy to post on my blog?

As it turns out, a lot of stuff DOES happen in April, it's just the sneaky stuff. Like taxes.

After wrestling for three weeks with the Adoption Tax Credit, I finally--with the help of Sue from H & R Block--got our Federal Taxes sent out last month. Having that done was nice, but for one last time, I had to do my Oregon state taxes. They wanted money, so I waited until the last minute.

All that stuff takes time and time spent on taxes takes away from time for blogging.

We also went back home to Oregon for the weekend a few weekends ago. The time passed very quickly, but it was wonderful to see everyone again. We miss everyone so so much.

I also was interviewed twice for a job downtown Seattle. It looked good, the interview went well, I was excited about the opportunity and then--they offered the position to someone else.

Combine this with ministry training and the spring adoption event on the two "free" weekends and we were purty busy. Now that it's May, I hope I have time to reflect and remember the last five years of writing this blog and watch cancer disappear in the rear view mirror.

The First Easter

2011-04-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

On the first Easter, there weren't crowds of people driving up in their cars wearing their nicest clothes. There wasn't overflow parking or grandstands set up to witness the event. No reporters were there. No flashbulbs, no special bulletins, no rush to press.

From what I see in the Bible, there was only a small group of women that were at the tomb that morning. The group probably consisted of three or four. Mary Magdalene, Salome, Joanna, Mary the mother of James. They simply went to the tomb to anoint the body of their friend, very similar to the way we leave flowers at the graves of the ones we love.

When they found that the tomb was open and empty, they rushed back into town to tell the eleven apostles the news. I don't know how many they found right away, but apparently only Peter and John ran out to the tomb to check. That brings us to a half-dozen people.

Paul tells us, later on in the New Testament, that Jesus was seen by "500 brethren" after rising from the dead. That's enough to make an argument in court, but that's still nothing for the front page.

Jesus lived his life telling about future rejection, betrayal and execution. Along with this, He told of His resurrection. His followers misunderstood Him, ignored Him and spent a bunch of time trying to change His mind. And after He died, they definitely weren't looking for a miracle comeback.

After He rose from the dead, and told them about His plans for them to continue His work, they still misunderstood His intentions. They wanted him to lead a political overthrow.

This was the result of Jesus' time on Earth and His three years of effort in ministry. I don't know if they had a word for this in the Ancient Greek language, but in English we call it failure.

The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame". How much shame, hurt and frustration there must have been in going through this process, but Christ had the ability to see beyond that to something in the future.

That's why we celebrate now. That's why we work to understand today.

I smile on Easter Sunday when I see people on their way to worship. Working to understand. Not allowing His work to go unheralded. I know that it would never happen if He didn't--while standing among the six--see the millions of us so many years ago.

And it's for more than just this Sunday.

my 2011 Easter post

2011-04-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

I sat down to write a post on my thoughts about Easter this morning. The internet was down. So, my window of time has passed and now I may wait until later today or tomorrow. The thought is still in my head. Just need to type it out.

Seeya soon, my blog friends.

The end of ba-bas

2011-04-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

So, potty training isn't really working around here. The kids don't mind sitting on those nice blue and pink chairs Grandma got for them, but they really aren't interested in much else than sitting. We've had a few victories in the last couple of months--and that's good--but it's not really clicking.

We reached a different milestone a couple of weeks ago, this one by accident. Our dishwasher decided to destroy three out of the five bottles we had, causing us to have only one bottle for Elisha and one for Mariah. That was fine because we have the Playtex kind with the inserts, which makes it pretty easy to maintain. So at nap time and bed time we washed their bottle and filled it. Then one of them lost their bottle.

We decided that it just wouldn't be fair to give a bottle to only one of them that night, so right then and there, we decided that there would be no more ba-bas for the kids. After a week of the kids throwing fits twice a day, they don't even care anymore. That means no more liners to buy and no more whole milk (soy fans don't hate). Kinda miss using that whole milk in the mac & cheese, though...

If I Could Have Known

2011-03-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

If I could have known what it would be like to be married to you, I wouldn't have been so afraid that day. If I only could have realized how much joy you would bring into my life.

If I could have heard the conversations we would share, I would be amazed to hear the words that you gave me.

If I could have seen the perilous times we would face, I would see your courage as we went through them.

If I could have felt the gentle touch of my wife, I would have reveled in the peace and fulfillment my heart would feel each night.

If I could have known how much your friendship would mean to me through the years, I would have been afraid not to spend the rest of my life with you.

If I could have known.

Love Letters

2011-03-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

Writing love letters is going out of style. Too many fast (sometimes sloppy) ways to communicate have allowed us to lose sight of writing things that artfully express the feelings of the heart.

Since I've been focusing the blog on romance this year, I thought I would share at least one of the love letters I've written to Anne-Marie over the last 15 years. I not only want to talk about my love for Anne-Marie publicly, but I want to help bring true romance and committed love back into the forefront of people's thinking.

The words you say count. And just like the hurtful things you say will echo in the minds of the ones you love, the kind and loving things will be pondered, cherished and replayed over and over again in their hearts.

Elisha grinning 3/27/11

2011-03-29T20:25:00.001-07:00

Big smile, a photo by eg2006 on Flickr.

Elisha Hums while he eats.

2011-03-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have commented on Elisha humming while he eats. They always say, "You've gotta get a video of that!" Well, here it is.

He caught me in the middle of recording. "Go away, Daddy! Down the stairs!"

Update on Ethiopia adoption

2011-03-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

This is probably coming soon, since I want to wait until all the facts come in over the next week or so. It does look like the change--though it is radical as far as policy goes--will not effect reality all that much. I will post more as I get more info.

Is Ethiopian adoption coming to an end?

2011-03-09T07:33:00.000-08:00

Many of you who read this blog are aware of things that are going on in the world of orphan care. For those of you who are not, please read this and join us in prayer for the thousands of children--children just like Mariah and Elisha--who will be effected by the decisions the Ethiopian government will make in the next few days.

The agency that oversees international adoptions in Ethiopia has decided (or at least, nearly decided) that since child trafficking and corruption among those who care for orphans has become too serious a problem AND because the government's resources would be more effectively used serving all the other orphans who are not adoptable, they will reduce the amount of international adoptions in Ethiopia by 90%. This will, of course, effectively end adoption in Ethiopia.

This is very distressing news, but we are praying that God will work in and through this situation.

For more on how you can pray for this situation, Tom Davis wrote a very good blog post here (and also a very good explanation/opinion on the situation here).

For all of you Ethiopian adoptive parents reading who haven't read it yet, here's AGCI's post about what you can do to help.

I got a job!

2011-02-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

After 20 consecutive weeks of unemployment, I have a job. It's not in the same (design) field that I've been working in for the past 10 years. Instead of drawing plans, I'll be reading them. Instead of instructing the guys in the field, I'll be one of them. Instead of making marks on paper, I'll be making marks on the ground. Instead of...

anyways, I think you get it.

I am just about to finish up my training to be a utility locator for Stake Center Locating. What is the job of a utility locator? My boss would say "to protect our customer's infrastructure." Since that means nothing to you, my job is to spray paint lines on the ground where there's underground phone cables.

A lot of you may have put up a fence or dug a well on your property and had to call 811 before digging in the ground. After a few days all the utilities sent someone to mark your lawn to show exactly where the underground gas/sewer/water/phone/electrical lines are, that way you didn't break through a water main and flood your neighbor's basement. Yeah, I'm one of those guys.

We work with Qwest, who does the phone and internet for a lot of the Seattle area. In case you need to know, my spray paint is orange.

So, please call before you dig. I would hate for you to be digging up a shrub and hit a fiber optic conduit that services up to 2,000,000 customers in your local area. It would inconvenience a whole lot of people and the telecom company would probably sue you $3.50 for each customer that lost service and is your misplaced shrub really worth all that? Also as an added benefit, if you call 811, it will give me some more work.

Thanks, Ron, for telling me about the job.

Celebrating Mariah's 2nd birthday

2011-02-23T10:34:00.001-08:00

Happy 2nd Bithday, Mariah!

2011-02-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

This Valentine's Day post isn't actually late

2011-02-15T22:54:00.000-08:00

For our upcoming 10th anniversary, I've been focusing a lot of blog posts on love and romance, so one would figure that a Valentine's Day post would be inevitable. If you waited with baited breath for a post yesterday, I apologize. But I do have a good justification that I found in the lyric of an old American pop standard that Anne-Marie really likes.

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak,
are you smart?
But don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me.
Stay, little valentine
Stay.
Each day is Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day, all you lovers, today, tomorrow and...

Winnie and the Bird: Mariah Sings

2011-02-13T07:54:00.000-08:00

For the past six months Mariah has only known ONE song:

Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. Oh...
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Willy nilly silly old bear

In the event some other song would need to be sung, Mariah would just begin singing this song in its place.

Then for Christmas, Mariah got a Big Bird DVD. This gave birth to Mariah's second song:

A few weeks ago both children began singing another song:

Don't your kids sing songs from the radio or Sunday School? I guess not.

Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday

2011-02-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

Today, February 6, 2011, marks 100 years since Ronald Reagan was born. Ronald Reagan was President of the United States of America from 1981 to 1989, which was when I was a kid. Former president Reagan died seven years ago in 2004 after a decade-long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

I admire Ronald Reagan for a number of reasons, but if I had to pick one, it wouldn't be for that famous speech at the Berlin Wall. It wouldn't be about tax cuts and it wouldn't be about air traffic controllers. The one reason would be Reagan's undeniable love for his wife, Nancy.

Dear Mrs. Reagan,
And you are Mrs. Reagan because Mr. Reagan loves you with all his heart. Every time Mr. Reagan sees the evening star or blows out the birthday candles or gets the big end of the wishbone he thinks the same wish—a prayer really—that so much happiness will go on and somehow be deserved by him.
It is true sometimes that Mr. Reagan loses his temper and slams a door but that’s because he can’t cry or stamp his foot—(he isn’t really the type.) But mad or glad Mr. Reagan is head over heels in love with Mrs. Reagan and can’t even imagine a world without her—
He loves her
Mr. Reagan
- Ronald Reagan in an undated love letter to Nancy from the 1960's

So many times the negatives of celebrities and politicians personal lives are criticized, while the positives are disregarded as a facade. But now that this is history (albeit recent history), many people have opened up about the close relationship this couple shared. You can call it sentimental or sappy or mis-matched or whatever, but you can't call it fake.

AP/Peter Jones

The genuine emotion Nancy Reagan showed after the loss of her husband reminded me that all the things I accomplish in this life are not nearly as important as the love I leave behind with those closest to me. And the warm affection of one woman after I'm gone will mean more than thousands at a state funeral.

Comfort Food

2011-01-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

Have you ever disliked a restaurant that serves comfort food? Yeah, neither have I. So when I saw info online about a restaurant not a mile from our house named "Comfort Food"--more properly "organic Comfort Food cafe"--I was all over it.

Comfort Food is in a little storefront next door to the Puyallup Public Library and is only open for lunch Monday through Saturday. The menu states the cafe's mission very plainly:

First to serve wholesome and flavorful food in a heartwarming atmosphere.
Second, to facilitate a shift of focus and heighten awareness of local and world needs.
And third to raise funds to help local foster youth and international orphans.

I've seen point #1 a million times. #2 is fairly unique and commendable. But #3 is totally unheard of. So we have a restaurant within walking distance of our house that is dedicated to helping orphans? We may never cook again.

So we took our time in the cafe and looked at all the info about orphans and foster care. But we also needed to eat while we were there at the cafe, so I ordered a grilled meatloaf sandwich. It was very tasty and I wasn't hungry for the rest of the day, which flies in the face of the assumption that organic can't also be hearty. Anne-Marie had a turkey sandwich and was equally satisfied. Served in a timely manner with chips and capped off with a dessert of the house-made no-bake cookies made for a very adequate meal.

Photo by Taste of Home

After a decade of taking trips to places around the Portland Metro area, it was hard to imagine that we would stumble on something so unique and exceptional in just a few months, but we did. I highly recommend making a trip to Comfort Food.

Anne-Marie and I decided to make the trip into a lunch date, so along with lunch, we strolled through antique shops downtown. There's a lot of neat stuff down there for a window shopping adventure on a rainy day. Maybe that deserves its own post.

And, yes. The no-bake cookies were the kind made with peanut butter.

The Challenger disaster after 25 years

2011-01-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of 1986, my childhood was one that many would consider typical. This included seeing my brother off to school in the morning and playing in the babysitter's backyard in the afternoon. Life was pretty innocent. On January 28, 1986, I realized the world could be a very painful place.

I don't really remember where I was when we lost the Challenger. I do remember the emotional reactions of all the grown-ups around me and the continuous news coverage. Newspapers ran cover stories about the shuttle disaster for months. Diagrams and experts tried to explain it to the public. All I knew was that something could happen that was so bad that it made everyone in the country sad.

Chernobyl followed soon after, then a lot of family difficulty and then I started school. Life's difficulties and unexplainable complications continue still, 25 years later.

Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short. But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain.
Ronald Reagan

Christmas 2010

2011-01-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

Since it's been a month, I thought I would post a little about what happened at Christmas.

We decided that we would stay home this year. So after all the parties and church events were over, we settled down in the house to enjoy a quiet Christmas together. I guess it really wasn't that quiet.

Gifts were really low-key this year, but the kids had fun with it anyhow. I think they're starting to understand that Christmas is a special day and that we are all going to have a lot of fun. I don't think they understand anything about Jesus' birth yet. We'll work on that over the next couple of years.

After a quiet couple of days leading up to Christmas, my brother Mike arrived in town with my mom and soon-to-be sister-in-law, Marie. After eating several pounds of Chex Mix that night, we woke up early to take a trip downtown to the Seattle Children's Museum (resulting in what you see below).

Taking two toddlers on a road trip is exhausting, so we headed back to Pierce County for some good ol' Eye-talyan food. It was great being together as a family. Next stop: Fort Collins, Colorado for a summer wedding.

Let the romance begin.

2011-01-21T12:01:00.000-08:00

Way back in September, I wrote this post. Of course, since then, we've had a lot of things change in our lives and I never got to the romantic stuff. But since this 10th anniversary year comes only once, I guess I should get started.

Love Song Mash-Up #1

The city's aflood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
Now if you feel that you can't go on
Because all of your hope is gone
And your life is filled with much confusion
Until happiness is just an illusion
Let me be the one you come running to
I'll never be untrue
Just as time knew to move on since the beginning
And the seasons know exactly when to change
Just as kindness knows no shame
Know through all your joy and pain
That I'll be loving you always
Like an eagle protects his nest, for you I'll do my best
Stand by you like a tree, dare anybody to try and move me
Darling, in you I found
Strength where I was torn down
Don't know what's in store but together we can open any door
Sharin' horizons that are new to us
Watchin' the signs along the way
Talkin' it over just the two of us
Workin' together day to day
You'll keep me standing tall
You'll help me through it all
I'm always strong when you're beside me
Needed a friend
And the way I feel now I guess I'll be with you 'til the end
It’s so incredible, the way things work themselves out
And all emotional, once you know what it’s all about
And undesirable, for us to be apart
I never would’ve made it very far
’cause you know you got the keys to my heart
I hope you do believe me:
I've given you my heart.

Your love,
Eli

---

Can you identify any of these songs? (The person with the most correct gets some of those chalk candy hearts sent to them by mail, as long as they pay for the shipping...and the candy.)

Daddy and Sissie

2011-01-20T08:43:00.001-08:00

P1163127
Originally uploaded by eg2006

Growth blur

2011-01-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

and welcome to 2011! After a rare two-week layoff, I'm starting up at least a little more frequent blogging with these thoughts on my little girl.

Mariah will be two next month. The kids are so close in age their growth seems to be in a constant game of leapfrog. Sometimes the milestones they pass happen within days of each other. Last summer, the kids started connecting two words, at least in a very simple, childlike way (i.e., bye-bye car, kitty ouchies). Since then, the kids have grown into using three word phrases occasionally.

Earlier this week, as another train chugged past the crossing half a block away, Mariah was running around upstairs and said, "There's a train out there." Don't know where that came from. She followed it up with her normal two or three word ramblings: "Down the stairs." "Buddy wake up!" "Eat food."

Yesterday, I walked into the kitchen and Mariah walked up and said, "Daddy, did you take a shower?" I had, in fact, just finished up with my (near) daily shower. So I informed her she was correct.

Elisha is slightly behind his sister, but he's gotten to the point that he wants to take on any word. And he wants to know! I'm really loving the iPhone app that has the slideshow of a combination of animal names, sounds and pictures. They want to flip through the pictures over and over and practice saying "alligator".

The huge leap forward was yesterday morning. After two weeks of introducing the kids to their potty chairs, Mariah successfully used hers! If you are or were the parents of small children, you'll know the significance of this.

In another two weeks, Elisha just might be shaving. I guess this kind of underscores the reason I should blog more regularly.

77 for 2011

2010-12-31T18:17:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling a little homesick as we come to the end of 2010. With some help from Anne-Marie, here's a list of 77 things I'll miss about living in Oregon:

Places

1. The St. John's Bridge

I think there's 10 or 11 bridges in Portland, but this is the most beautiful.

Photo - H Dragon (thks!)

2. Crown Point

I asked Anne-Marie to marry me here!

3. The viewpoint in OC off Brighton

Not as cool as Crown Point, but still a neat place for OC.

4. Willamette Falls

The most amazing natural wonder in the Portland Metro area, too bad it's surrounded by gigantic paper mills.

5. The White Stag sign

Why do they keep changing this thing? White Stag, Made In Oregon, now Portland Oregon

Photo by Steve Morgan

6. Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Also known as "Luis Palau Kills Our Grass Every Summer" Park

7. Portland Children's Museum

Went to the Seattle Children's Museum. Nah! Gimme back the PCM.

8. Historic Highway

If you haven't been on this to see the waterfalls, make plans NOW!

9. Pioneer Courthouse Square

It's Portland's living room and they have a lot of crazy friends.

10. Highway 43

I always loved driving under the trees on this state highway through West Linn and Lake Oswego.

Eats
11. Nicholas's Restaurant (Eastside)
Most affordable local restaurant and best Lebanese food in town (sorry Ya Hala)

12. Trufflehunter (Gresham)
Hooj sanwhiches

13. Super Torta (OC)
This place is a dive. And--as you would expect--it's very good

Thanks Tom A. at Yelp for the pic

14. Francis (Alberta) and Downtown Greek Cusina (uhhhh...Downtown?)
A newcomer and a Portland landmark both disappeared off the scene before we could even move.

15. Amadeus (Milwaukie)
This oooold house in Milwaukie is almost creepy, but the Austrian restaurant and atmosphere it creates is downright magical.

16. La Carreta (Ross Island Bridge)
'Nother Mexican place. Get the fajitas for two.

17. His Bakery (OC)
Ohhhh the scones! And ham and cheese croissants! I mean Puyallup's Pioneer Bakery is good, but...

18. Five Guys Burgers & Fries (everywhere but here)
OK. This is a national chain, but the closest one is 30 minutes away from Puyallup. No fair.

19. Camp 18 (Highway 26, near the coast)

20. Enjoni Cafe (NE)
Best East African restaurant in Portland. Order anything.

Oregonizations, etc.

21. Clackamas Community College

Got my degree here. (Associates of Science, Drafting Technology [Architectural Option], in case you were wondering. Too bad the drafting program folded in 2009.)

22. Al's Garden Center

...has the greatest floral hanging baskets.

23. The Dig

Most of my wardrobe is from here. It's kind of a re-sale shop, but everything's 5 bucks.

24. Clackamas Town Center

We went on our first date here. I'll miss driving by all those places we went.

25. Portland Community College

A-M's AM.

26. Dove Adoptions

After eliminating 99 other adoption agencies, we chose this one in Banks, Oregon and are glad we did.

27. Portland Trail Blazers

Just thinking about the local team makes my knees hurt.

28. Cutsforth Thriftway

I actually worked here for 6 months. Best grocery store in Canby and perhaps the world!

29. University of Oregon Ducks

It took us moving out of state for them to get to the National Championship.

30. Oregon State University Beavers

The Cougs crimson and gray will never compare to the orange and black of OSU.

Cities/Districts/Neighborhoods

31. Aurora

...for the antique shops

32. Tualatin

...for the memories

OC!///Photo: MarkPritchard

33. McMinnville

...for my childhood

34. Oregon City

...for young life

35. Canby

...for the fields

36. Downtown Gresham

...for being one of a kind

37. Silverton

...for being from another era

38. NE Portland/NoPo

...for her people

39. The Pearl

...for the shops

40. Clackamas

...for a hundred romantic evenings

41. West Linn/Lake Oswego

...for never letting me live in your borders (else we'd have never left Oregon)

42. Montavilla

...for being funky

Ladd's Addition by Greg_E

43. Lloyd/Hollywood/Sullivan's Gulch District

44. Ladd's Addition and

45. Laurelhurst

...for the architecture

46. Downtown

...for being an urban area where I never thought I was going to get shot

47. 23rd

...for being there before The Pearl

48. Washington Park/West Hills

...for the trees

49. Bend/Sunriver

...for all the high desert vacations (we'll try to resist the call of Suncadia and come back to you)

50. Sellwood

...for being the smallest part of Portland

Local Yokels

51. 1190 KEX

52. KXL 750

1190 and 750 are the standby news stations that everyone listens to on the way to work.

53. Bob Miller in the Morning

He's been on the radio in Portland since I was an infant.

54. Now-defunct local celebrities that form something of a mini pop culture

Scott Thomason, Tom Peterson and this guy:

55. The Portland Tribune
"What about The Oregonian?" you ask. Yeah, What about it?

56. John Canzano

A local sports columnist that constantly makes news for his no-nonsense style.

57. Stumptown Coffee

Don't really sell this just any place. And not here in WA.

58. Mr. Statue
OK. So there's this guy that stands outside Pioneer Place and he's painted silver. It's cool. Really.

59. Bill Schonely

The former Blazers play-by-play guy is still a big name in PDX, but not here (and I just missed the Dave Niehaus era in Seattle).

OregonLive file photo

60. OMSI

Maybe this should have been put in the "Oregonizations" section. Of course, the Pacific Science Center is very cool, but no dome-screen IMAX. Bummer.

Random, etc.

61. Flying out of PDX

SeaTac just won't be the same

62. Watching the Pioneer Courthouse Square Christmas Tree Lighting

Without getting blown up.

63. Driving to Canby whenever we wanted to see Phil

I guess this would have changed anyhow.

64. Going to the Clackamas County Fair and Rodeo with Ben and Jen

And all those years we were too cheap to get reserved seating...

65. Driving over Santiam Pass to get to Central Oregon

Pic by J. Stephen Conn

66. Having someone else pump my gas!

67. Getting pumpkins and apple cider donuts each fall at Fir Point Farms in Canby

68. Living four blocks away from Mike and Kara

69. Scoping out the craziness that is Sleighbells of Sherwood

70. Our annual tradition of going to the Oregon Symphony's Gospel Christmas

Near & Dear

71. Oregon District Senior Bible Quizzing

Bible Quizzing is a program that encourages teams of young people from different cities to memorize a specific book of the Bible. The teams face each other one weekend a month in a tournament. With Anne-Marie assisting, I was the head of the 15-18 year old division for five years and I miss all those guys a lot.

72. Apostolic Worship Center

I never attended this church (down the road from us in Gresham), but I made so many friends in their congregation. It's obvious that kindness and character run rampant at Ted Graves church.

73. Ross Hoevet Family Dentistry

Anne-Marie worked 10 years here. The Dr. and staff became like friends and neighbors that you wouldn't mind hanging out with just because.

74. Western Wood Structures, Inc.

I worked here for almost 10 years. Paul, Jim, Steve and co. nearly made work like a vacation. Nearly. It's amazing how many times in a day I mention Western Wood.

75. The house on Boynton

I lived here for 15 years. I brought my new wife home to this house. My kids, too. Never really cared for the floor plan, but sentiment overrides all that.

Driving away for the last time

76. All the folks

You know who you are. Friends and family were by far the hardest thing to leave.

77. Oregon City United Pentecostal Church

Pastor Gary Gleason and too many folks to name impacted our lives forever. Thank you so much for your investment in our family.

I guess that about does it. There are probably a bunch of things we forgot. Oregon will always be in our heart. Here's to 2011 and an amazing year in Washington!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T10:18:00.000-08:00

From our family to yours.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T19:24:00.000-08:00

People all around the world waited for the child's arrival. Prayers went up, longing for the day to come. And when that day came, life changed forever.

It's the story of something God did one amazing night in December.

---

A year ago, I told the story of Brad and Steph. Actually, it wasn't THE story, only part of it. In my part of the story, Brad and Steph's two sons just wanted to help. Their parents heard that there were kids that didn't have a home and wanted to help bring one of them to be part of their family. It costs a lot of money that their family didn't have to do this, so the boys came up with a plan.

I remember talking to Steph last summer as they were starting this process. She knew their family was supposed to adopt a girl from Ethiopia, but they didn't have any money. (When I say they had no money, I mean no money. As in $0.00.)

I remember telling Steph, "If you believe God has called you to do this, nothing can stop you." Then Anne-Marie and I told her how God had blessed us with the money to adopt our two kids and how He changed the plans of the Ethiopian government to assure their arrival at the end of the summer.

Turn the clock forward 16 months, God DID supply the money for Brad and Steph. And He helped them find a little girl that needed a family, Eve. Just before they left the US to get Eve in Ethiopia, things started to go wrong with the legal paperwork.

The court process was not working and they weren't able to legally grant custody of Eve to her family. Brad and Steph and the boys left for Ethiopia anyway, having the faith it would be straightened out when they got there.

But it didn't get straightened out. One court session turned into two court sessions. And then three. And then another and another.

The legal process went into a complete tailspin. Family and friends around the world were praying that God would work a miracle and allow Eve to go home with her family. Then Brad and Steph's lawyer called and told them, "Your case will not be resolved for a month or two. I recommend you go home." As the family rescheduled their return trip on Christmas Day, the adoption agency told them that--due to the legal system and government--Eve may become ineligible for adoption.

The family wondered as they packed for home if they would ever see this precious little girl again. We all watched as what we had prayed, waited and hoped for began to slip away.

Then, sometime between December 22nd and the morning of December 23rd, Eve's first birthday, something changed. The legal system straightened out and the court battles ended. Eve went from being another forgotten child in an unfair world to being the daughter of a loving family. Brad and Steph received the surprise call from the same lawyer that had told them to go home a few days earlier. It was over. Eve was theirs forever.

Of course the family canceled their Christmas Day return flight. Instead they plan to spend Christmas in Ethiopia as a family of five.

And somewhere in the midst of all the darkness and doubt, God provided an answer just like He did 2000 years ago. Just like He did for us last summer. Just like He'll do for you if you'll let Him. The night isn't as dark as you may think and He's not so far away that He doesn't hear. His light can break through the shadow and shine down with hope for just one more little girl.

Merry Christmas, Eve.

Christmas in Portland

2010-12-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a short video of us celebrating the season back in our hometown.

I should go to bed

2010-12-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

Finally got the blog off the fall theme and on to the Christmas one.

I'm sitting here in a very quiet house looking out at the rain and thinking about orphans. Three years ago, we were so passionate about helping children without families. Now our children have a family and we don't even think about it being any other way. But what about the other 146,999,998?

Our children keep me so busy that I don't think about those other kids near as much, except on nights like tonight.

Switching from telephoto

2010-12-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, my mom had one of those Eastman Kodak 110 cameras with the telephoto lens. You guys remember the telephoto lens. It was the little switch you flipped on top that manually moved a different lens in front of the shutter. The telephoto lens made stuff in the distance look like it filled the viewfinder. I have no idea how that all worked, but I guess it was a primitive version of zoom.

I think my life has been stuck on telephoto for the past few weeks. The fact of the matter is, I can't get a job. I really want to get a job, but--no matter how hard I try--I can't. I've applied and been turned down at Macy*s (gotta love the *), Starbucks, Wal*Mart (there it is again), Target, Domino's and about 40 design firms. Really.

There's nothing like sitting in an interview for a job that pays $8.35 an hour and thinking, "I could DESIGN the building we're sitting in and you're saying I'm not qualified to stock the shelves inside of it?" That's a new level of frustration. It puts you on the dividing line of being humbled and being humiliated. Every day I get to decide which side of the line to jump off on. Some days it's one side; some days the other.

I can't say that I'm above any of the jobs I've applied for. Far better men than I have happily worked a lifetime doing more menial tasks. I guess maybe I've been a little (more than a little) spoiled.

That's where telephoto comes in. Telephoto cuts the big picture out so all you see is one area. If I switch out of that mode and look at real life, everything seems so much better. My wife and kids are healthy and here with me. We have a house to live in. The bills are still being paid on time. We've been blessed by God to be starting a new life and ministry here in Puyallup. We have all kinds of old friends back home and all kinds of new friends here. Food is still being put on the table at our house. Even cookies sometimes.

It's been said that whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I hope this is another one of those things. Even if it's not, God is still good to ask me to live a little weaker.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

2010-11-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

Continuing my not-so-annual tradition of bad .gif's:

Animations provided by MySpaceAnimations.com

We are in Oregon, awaiting the arrival of family. Dinner is at 2:00 PM. Christmas may be the best holiday, but Thanksgiving is the best-tasting holiday.

I am so, so, so thankful I can't even express it. Everything in my life is a gift. I just want to be responsible with all the things I've been given. Thank God for His grace to me and my family.

The House on 5th

2010-11-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures of the main floor of the house, along with a few of the exterior. (Yes, Western Washington is in the middle of a series of snow storms.)

Here's a few more of Anne-Marie's decor:

Life in a motel: breaking free

2010-11-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

We busted out. Yep, that's right! Last week we left the Motel Puyallup and got into our not-so-nice-and-shiny house.

A few days before we were supposed to move in, the landlord talked to me and let me know that the recently-departed former tenants had left the place in a sorry state. He had been to the house a few hours after they left and found the crayon and pen marks all over the walls, a broken door and a lot of just plain ol' nasty dirtiness.

Here's a walkthrough of the house when it was still dirty:

So we made a deal. Since we needed out of the motel very badly--and we need to pay less money, not more--we agreed to the first month's rent half off in exchange for us doing all the needed cleaning work. It was quite the undertaking for the first two days, but we got it all done.

We moved out of the hotel and into the house for good last Thursday. The kids are thrilled. They have so much more room to jump, play and scream. As an added bonus (not for us), the house is about half a block from the train tracks. Yes, it wakes us up at least twice a night, but when the train crossing bells go off at the end of the road the kids run to the front door and watch the train fly by. We've been saved many times from fit-throwing, shrieking, flailing kids by the sound of a train whistle.

Hope to post pictures of the finished product in the near future. Anne-Marie has worked her decorating magic splendidly, so once it's finished it will be broadcast to the masses.

Life in a motel, Part III: Cabin fever

2010-11-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

So, the kids are sick of this now. At the beginning of the week, their moods turned ugly and they don't seem to be getting any better. They both throw fits over the slightest annoyance and will not do anything we ask them to do.

Elisha's "bedroom" is in the corner behind that blanket.

We were counting on the "On-Site Laundry Facilities" here to get us through these three weeks, but after putting the first load of laundry in the dryer for three hours (and $3), we found out that it would take us way too long to finish our laundry, so we brought it to the laundromat. As soon as people at the church here found out about that they insisted that we used their washer and dryer. So we've been involved in laundry visitation ministry ever since. I kinda liked the laundromat, though. It has those BIG dryers in rows that are so very fast. Plus, laundromats have wi-fi and usually a very cool vending machine.

I could come here just because.

My mom came and visited us last weekend. She came Friday and stayed through Sunday. Friday was the church's Western Roundup, so we all dressed like cowboys and watched the kids play games. Elisha and Mariah thought the swimming pool they were using for the rubber duck pond was..well... a swimming pool, so they were completely soaked by night's end.

Yeeehaw! Sorry for the blurry photo.

We took advantage of my mom being in town and for the first time in several weeks, Anne-Marie went on a date! We visited SouthCenter Mall and ate dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. Funny how all the shopping we did was for kid's clothes. Life does change.

H&M is Ikea, except with clothes.

Aside from the job hunt and meeting a lot of new people, we have been preparing for the move into the house! This next Wednesday is supposed to be the day. We are still working out the details, but this week for sure. I can hardly wait.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2010-10-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

Life in a motel, Part II: Growing

2010-10-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

It's an amazing thing, the human ability to adapt to any given circumstance. We've lived in the motel for a week and a half and have developed somewhat of a system. Anne-Marie cooks dinner, I look for jobs on the internet and the kids go berserk. It's all very systematic.

In the morning, I try to narrow down the best job prospects that have been newly posted on the web. By the time I finish that, everyone else is up. So the kids have to be changed, fed and dressed. They usually last an hour or two in the room before we need to take a drive. Wal*Mart, Target, Best Buy. Goodwill, Jack In the Box, Pioneer Park. Wherever. We just need to get them out. And we need to get out ourselves.

We've spent the last two weeks teaching in home groups here in the Puyallup area, along with going to ministerial training and getting to know more people. Teaching in a home group (here they call them Life Groups) is completely different than sermonizing on Sunday. Usually if you preach at a church you are on a platform and people look straight ahead to about the level of your knees. Teaching at someone's dining room table puts you face to face with people. It demands things of you that are very easily held captive in the traditional space between podium and pew.

The kids are still growing. This is the smallest place they've ever lived, but they still find time to learn new tricks (like Elisha somersaulting) and new words (like Mariah trying to form full sentences..."I didn't quite catch that."). The kids are also starting to become self-aware. Every now and then, they ask for something for themselves. For "Shi-shah" or "Rye-uhh".

Today, we have our first visitor from home. My mom is coming up to see her grandkids for the first time in the new place. (And we're under no illusions: she's coming to see them.) The church is having a family night at a local elementary school and we're gonna try to find some cowboy clothes at a thrift store so we can fit the theme. Should be quite the night.

Only 12 more days until we move into the house!

Jumping on the bed with shoes on. Major no-no.

Are you serious? Life in a motel, Part I

2010-10-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a motel in Puyallup. Such a lovely place, such a lovely face.

(OK. That was horrible, but the lyrics are probably only as senseless as the original.)

Yes, we live in a Motel! We were trying to find a place to live somewhere in Pierce County by the end of September, but that didn't happen. Around the beginning of the month, we found a place, but it isn't available until November. Since we were eager to get moved into the area, we decided to move here immediately and stay somewhere temporarily until the house is ready. Thus the motel.

Originally, we intended to move into Crossland Economy Studios, but when I went down to look at one of their rooms, I found out the largest room they have to offer is only 280 square feet. I knew we had to fit ourselves, a kid, another kid, cribs, toys, all of our clothes, a box of books, food and my guitar in the room, so I started scrambling for other solutions. After a bunch of stuff didn't work out, we decided to drive to Puyallup with all our stuff and just look at available rooms in person, that way there were no surprises.

Desperation makes the decision process easier, so we decided to stay the first place we looked, one of the suites at a place in the center of town.

The place is at a former Nendels Inn (remember those?) gone independent, that took the Conference Room and--since the business crowd isn't coming 'round much anymore--converted it into a suite. Does that mean it's large? Yes, it does. Probably about 700 square feet large.

It's one huge studio that sleeps six, so we hang up blankets to wall off the kids cribs at naptime. (I'm not kidding.) It has a kitchenette and a dining room behind the little half wall that also serves as Mariah's bedroom. It's almost like living in an apartment, except you get maid service and free croissants. But would you expect any less from a 1-and-a-half star establishment?

This saga is to be continued. Time to get on the job hunt.

On the move

2010-10-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Today we wake up as Oregonians; tomorrow Washingtonians. We still have 3 weeks until we officially move into our rental, but until then we will be staying somewhere temporarily. Where exactly? I don't know, but we'll find out in the next couple of hours. Wow, this is pretty crazy!

Seeking and finding

2010-10-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks we've spent most of our time searching for a place to live in Pierce County, Washington. We thought we found a place in the Lakewood area, but we were too late for that. Then we thought for sure we had a lock on a house in the Spanaway area, but we were just barely too late for the house there (one guy who must have been very fast with his application and deposits beat us to it).

On Thursday, we came to an agreement on a rental on a house Downtown Puyallup. It's a bit of a unique situation, especially for the Seattle market. The standard deal up in Greater Seattle is to have a potential renter agree to a 12-month lease, that way they don't have to re-paint the place and do all the other turnover maintenance for a new tenant. After you've been there a year, they allow you to do a month-to-month rental until you choose to move out.

This house is only available for month-to-month rental because it's currently on the market. A local military family has been renting it, but--since he is just about to be honorably discharged--they are moving out in November to move back to their home state. The owner wants to keep the house occupied until he's sure it's sold, so he made an agreement with us to rent the place for a decent price and take care of it while it's on the market. Great deal, unless it sells quickly. Then we have 30 days to get out. It's been on the market for two years, so we might have a shot at being there for at least a little bit while we get the other details of our new life in WA worked out.

What will we do until November? We're putting together some "stopgap measures" to get in town sooner. What happens if the house sells? For our landlord's sake, we hope it does. For our sake, we really wish it wouldn't. But either way, we'll get it figured out. God knows where we're at.

Here's a picture of the house:

Neat, huh? So glad our lives are never boring.

Swinging

2010-10-05T17:11:00.001-07:00

Elisha & Mariah: Home Forever

2010-09-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

The short film about our adoption is FINALLY COMPLETE! Hope you enjoy.

Elisha & Mariah: Home Forever from Elijah Garcia on Vimeo.

Farewell to WWSI and thank you

2010-09-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Here is the letter that I wrote to my employer, Western Wood Structures, this morning:

Dear WWSI,

As you know, today is my last day of employment at Western Wood. It has been 9 ½ years since I detailed my first job (Bi-Mart in Medford, in case you were wondering), and I’ve probably done a couple of hundred since. Today that all comes to a close in preparation for our family’s move to the Tacoma, Washington area next week.

I’ve been involved in all kinds of projects during my time at WWSI and along with them came good experiences and bad experiences. I’m sure some days I inspired fist pumping and other days fist shaking. But now that it’s pretty much in the history books, I can say the good experiences have far outweighed the bad.

Along with all of the bridges, trusses and beams, our family has had many ups and downs during my time here. Personal tragedy, loss of family members and illness are on the downside. Getting married, buying our first house, adopting two kids from across the globe and, now, preparing for ministry opportunities are among the things on the upside. Looking back today and knowing all we learned from it, we probably wouldn’t change a thing.

I want to thank all of the salesmen for every disappointing walk down the hall to get some badly-needed help on a behind-schedule job, only to find that Eli wasn’t at work yet again because he was in the hospital with his sick wife. I’m sure this happened numerous times, but you didn’t complain. I hope I made it up to you in some other way.

To the field and shop guys: Yes, I probably did mess it up, but I can tell you how to fix it.

Lisa, Zendra and Arlen have managed my safety, wellness, salary, projects and mistakes for years. You may now officially relinquish those responsibilities. Except you, Zendra, in case I decide to go with that COBRA thing.

I also want to thank Steve Turner for his kindness and for guiding the company through tough times. I hope to see great things in the future.

Thanks to Paul, Jim and everyone in Engineering. Josh will get my desk so he can have room to prepare for that big test. (I guess that’s more than fair, seeing that Brent has left us for whatever that thing is he does.) Working with everyone in the department has been an awesome experience that’s taught me so much. Now if I could just find the seat cut of a sloped/tipped rafter like Jim, or draw a dome like Gary, or find that one Simpson hanger at the skylight like Yumiko…

I guess I’ve said enough. If you need to reach me in the future, you can reach me by e-mail at my personal e-mail address or talk to Zendra. Once again, thank you all and blessings on the days to come.

Eli

P.S. Once I get to the South Sound, Jamie, I’ll go down the street every now and then to make sure Lower Burnett Bridge is still standing.

---

Eli Garcia, No-Longer Engineering Technician
Western Wood Structures, Inc.

Working Wonders With Wood BLOG

www.westernwoodstructures.com