Faithfulness and Time

I've discovered that I am not a very faithful person. I guess I should restate that: I am faithful to people almost to a fault, but I am almost never faithful to projects.

Take this blog, for instance. When I began it, I though, "Great! I have always loved to write and, especially, journal, so this should be great!" And then I post 3 items and ditch it for months.

Now, I do have some excuse. Edward and I, after waiting and waiting (as the last post made quite plain), have moved almost all the way across the country for a one year post at Gonzaga University. We found out about it shortly after the last post. It was a whirlwind, really.

Here's how it went: on Tuesday, I got a letter under my door from the real estate agent who helped our downstairs condo neighbors sell their place which said, essentially, "Hey, heard you might move and I have a few people interested if you want to call me." Wednesday, Ed had a phone interview at GU at the end of which he was told he would hear from them in a week or so. Thursday of the same week, they called him back and wanted him. He had a week to decide, and, of course, he took the entire week and gave a yes that next Thursday. We met with the real estate agent on Wednesday and she posted our place right away- calling us back that night with a request for a showing on Friday. The offer was made Saturday, as we were staying at Ed's folks, ready to leave for Traverse City after Church the next day. During Sunday school, we met the Realtor at the Buck to sign some papers and counter offer. She called us Monday in TC and said the offer was accepted. Whirlwind!

We spend a beautiful week in TC- kayaking and having lots of family (especially Baby) time. Then we began packing. I kept working until the weekend before we moved. There was a lot to do- find a place to live, find a store to transfer to, debate over how to move our stuff, chat with GU about the reimbursement offer, train my replacement at work, spend time with everyone I could in my small amount of spare time. It was exhausting, but good.

We started on our adventure on July 28- Ed's 35th birthday. We drove from Grand Rapids, MI to Madison, WI to spend the first night with out friends there. We went to a wonderful outdoor concert by the Madison symphony on the capital lawn and ate peach pie (Ed's favorite and a tradition of ours) afterward. The next morning we were off to the Badlands- amazing! We camped on the plain and drove through deep fog the next morning on our way to the Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Custer St. Park. We hiked a 5 1/2 hour hike to the top of Harney Peak and then camped, exhausted again. Next morning we were off to Yellowstone where we were caught in a traffic jam caused by buffalo. I think they knew I had eaten one of their buddies for breakfast! We set up camp in the pitch black- not fun. Next morning it was through the Grand Tetons (yes, I know that is south and GU is north, stay with me), turned in Jackson and drove through Idaho, some of Montana and back into Idaho to spend the night in a hotel in Coeur D'Alene. Then we actually got showers! Let me tell you the surprising beauty of north Idaho! Next day we drove to our new home in Spokane, WA.

So, my summer was a little crazy- but I really have little excuse for neglecting this for so long. But then again, knowing me, I can't really promise to write on a regular basis now, either. First of all, you never know what will happen next. Even though the position here is a year, even that is not a guarantee of tomorrow. The future is totally unknown to everyone... and sometimes that is a really good thing.

I am currently reading "Choosing to SEE" by Mary Beth Chapman. It is written very honestly by a woman who lost her 5 year old daughter in 2008. I have been a fan of her husband's work since 1989 but haven't paid much attention to what is going on in Christian music or much of pop culture for the past few years. When I read the summary of her book on an ad, I was shocked and had to Google the event immediately. I cried over the story and began praying for their family. My husband prayed for them that night (we have a ritual of praying in bed just before we go to sleep- actually, just before he rolls over and I demand, "Where's my kiss?" and then we go to sleep). He is such a wonderful man and knew that even though we heard about the situation over 2 years after the fact, the family still needed prayer- would for a long time. But the point is, this book reminds me how much we don't know about our own future, and how that can be a blessing. Even not knowing about good things is a blessing- that way they are a pleasant surprise.

Coming to Spokane has been a little heartbreaking. Hm, I feel almost foolish using that term when I have just been talking about a truly heartbreaking event in another family's life. But heartbreak comes in different forms. Our heartbreak is that of lost community. Not that we have lost the love and prayers of our family and friends, but that we are isolated by distance. I know that the world is a lot "smaller" now than it was in pioneer days (and I can't imagine how homesick they felt), but building a new community takes time and effort at a time when we feel lonely and weak. I write a lot of letters and, so far, my most faithful correspondent has been my youngest sister. Granted, of all my friends, she has the most time on her hands, but it is so wonderful that she spends some of it on me. I miss everyone back home and, while we have joined a church and keep pretty busy, we wish for visits and more communication from those who are closest to us.

But that only reminds me of my own unfaithfulness to projects. One of my projects was to join a book club and a crafting club and to go to small group at church- none of which I have done. People constantly praise me for being so good at making friends, but it is feeling harder this time. Not that the people here aren't nice! Let me tell you all that Spokane is one of the friendliest places I have ever been! But the fact that we will most likely only be here a year and the fact that I am now supporting a husband emotionally, makes it a little harder (not that I am blaming him at all! This is one of the best jobs I have ever had, being his wife and support, and I would not trade it for the world!). I know we will get through and that God has been holding us the whole time- and He made the move the smoothest I have ever had! I would pray that he would make me more faithful- of course, if I had to choose between people and projects, I choose people every time.

Waiting, Waiting and more Waiting

18 months ago, I was waiting for something. While I waited, I distracted myself from the wait by learning to make and preserve jam! From the time I bought the equipment (which was not expensive) to Christmas (3 months), I had canned over 100 jars of jam! I gave some of is away as gifts and stored the rest for the future.

A year ago, I was waiting for my wedding. I distracted myself with a very elaborate cross stitch project. It was 2 ft by 9 inches and portrayed a sorceress in a flowing gown. I gave it to my sister last Christmas. I also canned some more and packed up 13 years of collected junk to move from IL to MI.

Now, I am waiting again. My husband is a physics professor and has been applying for tenure track positions for the past 6 months. He has had some interviews, but we have not gotten a positive response from anyone yet. We are waiting on just one more school to decide for or against us. He also has some applications out for non-tenure positions. We wait and wait and wait for responses so that we can start to plan our future a little. We want a house and a hobby farm, but we can't even think of getting them until we know where we are going to be living in a year. While we wait, I have been distracting myself again. This time I have several little projects: experimenting with recipes for different breads, desserts and even butter! Crocheting and sewing; reading 5 or 6 books at a time as well as listening to audio books; working almost full time as a barista; and my new addiction, Farm Town!

But, in spite of all the distracting, I would really like to stop waiting. I would like to stop making plans and start experiencing them. Not that I have been idle, as you see, but I feel like I am filling time rather than fulfilling it.

The good news is that responses will come and plans will eventually move forward. The better news is that, while our whole life is really a type of waiting, something ultimately fulfilling is coming after all the waiting here. For some, anyway. *sigh* . For some.

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I recently listened to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on CD, just after I finished listening to Pride and Prejudice. I mean, I had to do a comparative study! Here are my thoughts, in no particular order.

The reader was good...

At first, the book annoyed me. Being a fan of Austen, although not obsessively so, I had a little trouble with the add ins. But I kept telling myself to give it a try. As I began to relax a bit, I found some entertainment value and even considered getting Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. As an aside, this title bothers me because sea monsters seem to belong more to Persuasion that Sense and Sensibility.

I would not call this literature (who would?) but I wouldn't call it a complete waste of paper, either. The author doesn't try too hard to develop the characters much differently than they have been made by Austen, other than putting them in a completely different world and expecting them to have a different set of priorities.

Don't buy it, but if your library has it and you feel like a laugh, go ahead and waste some time on it. Still better than most b-flick horror movies.

I'm New At This

So, for my first blog, I will just say that I am very new at this. I have great intentions of posting weekly. Let's see how that goes!

I was hoping to come up with something exceptionally witty and meaningful for my first post, but found that I didn't have anything especially worth while to say.

Not that my life is boring! I am an avid crafter and have been taking sewing lessons lately. I have made a baby hat for my niece and aprons for all the in-law women. I am currently working on a civil war period dress and some vests for my husband. I have also been commissioned to discover the knitting pattern for a lovely ear warmer that someone at work discovered in a craft shop. Well, I cheated and found the pattern online. It saved me a couple hours of work, so I will call it "being efficient" rather than "cheating."

Yesterday, my husband and I entertained some friends with a turkey dinner and Ticket to Ride (the game with which I am currently obsessed). Unfortunately, my husband was sick all night and thinks it was food poisoning! I'm fine but am a little nervous about calling up our guests to see how they fared.

Tonight is the VanderZand/VanTil/Rosendall/Hamilton Christmas dinner. I know you are looking at the date of this post and wondering if I mistyped. The Rosendalls were in Phoenix over the holidays and this is the first time we can all get together for a family celebratory dinner. I'm OK with that! More MEAT!

I am now going to try to make this blog more interesting by linking it to other blogs. How is that for self-deprecation?