Bonding with Twister

Twister has been great with the addition of Agnes. He's been patient and sharing of his space and stuff. Agnes is not such a big fan of sharing her food though, which as many of you know from experience, Twister doesn't do so well. She has set him straight a couple of times about that. It has also taken them all of the last week to share the couch. If one of them was up there, the other got a little growl if they tried to join us. This is passing though, and they are becoming friends. Yesterday we took Agnes over to Trinity's mom's for much of the day, and they seemed happy to see each other when we got home.

Twister has seemed a little jealous over all though, and not so sure if he likes sharing the attention. We did find a new game to play though that Agnes doesn't like as much, so Twister gets lots of attention, and it might be the funnest thing I've done in a long time. You know how much Twister likes to play catch/fetch with a ball? Just imagine that - with SNOWBALLS!!! He opens his mouth to catch it and it smashes all over his face. And then he thinks he's lost the ball, so he goes searching and digging all around the snow to figure out where the ball went! I probably through fifty snowballs at him the other night because it was so funny to watch, and he loves the snow!

New Addition to the Honse Zoo

We have officially reached the limit for domestic animals in one household (4). Her name is Agnes after the street a couple of blocks away. She is really sweet and a little calmer than Twister.

She was outside of the neighbor's house so we knocked on the door to see if she belonged to them. They said that she had broken out of their fence but that it was too late to fix it and that we could have her because they had too many. We weren't sure what to do but decided that we would try to bring her back to our apartment. However, she was so scared that she wouldn't come in. We decided to let her go back home and try to ease her into it over the next couple of days. But after a couple of days they had fixed their fence so we gave up keeping her.

Then this past Monday, she showed up and we knew we weren't going to lose her again. We gave her some food and she came into our apartment. She has stayed with us ever since. Twister and she went through an adjustment period but now everyone is living peacefully. She wouldn't walk up the stairs to our apartment the first couple of days but now she goes out on the leash and comes right back in. She is the perfect addition to our family.

I hope y'all can meet her very soon!

Agnes is very sweet and...

a little mischievous too!

Camping With Our Family

We went camping this weekend at Blue Springs Lake with my mom, sister, niece, nephews, cousins, aunt, great aunt, uncle and grandparents. We had a really good time!

Twister got to play with my aunt's dog, Dog

Tim cooking dinner on the fire

We had a nice little set up with my aunt's horse trailer.

What a great family!

My nephew buried his toy in the sand so my sister and cousin tried to find it.

Gavin hanging out in the trailer.

Merci eating her marshmallow - it was a little hot.

Mom and Merci setting up their tent.

We all had a really good time - even Twister.

My cute nephew, Gavin

Luke making a smore for the first time.

My new shirt

I decided to wear my new white Americorps polo today because I am not cooking in class today. I didn't want to get food on my new white polo, so I thought a day with no cooking would be a perfect day to wear it. Well, it's 8:55 and I've already spilled tea on it! This is why I don't wear white!

Something to tide you over

Here's a link to an article about Americorps that you might like to read to learn a bit more about what I am doing this year (and what Trinity already did a couple of years ago when we first moved to Atlanta).

It's called "A Time to Serve: The Case for National Service" from Time Magazine.

New Phone Instructions

We canceled our Atlanta cell phones the other day, so if you have those numbers saved it's time to delete them. We have a home number now, which we haven't had in a while, and we decided to try out the super cheap cell company in KC called Cricket. For the sake of saving a few bucks, neither one of these have long distance minutes included, so all of you that do have "free" long distance will have to call us instead! We so have "unlimited" incoming calls and text messages, so be on the look out for this message on your cell phone: "Hey, you have free long distance and we don't. We'd love to talk to you, so please call us! Love ya, Tim & Trinity." We're not going to post our new phone numbers, because that might mean anybody might stumble upon them and call us, so if you're reading this and you already know our e-mails, then send us a note and we'll reply with our new numbers. Or make a comment here with some way to contact you and we'll call or send a message your way.

A Great Day at the Art Museum

One thing I love about Kansas City is that the art museum is FREE! A couple of Sundays ago Tim, my sister, Gavin and I went to the museum and had a really fun afternoon. We only got through the first floor - we plan to go back soon and see a little more. Why not, it's free!

Below is one of the pictures my sister took of one of the paintings. I was really impressed what she could do with my very basic digital camera.

We took turns holding Gavin. He slept most of the time so it was pretty easy.

Do you think we look alike? Some people confuse us and others don't realize we are sisters.

Mom always knows best!

Fall Garden

Since I don't start my new job at Harvesters until next Tuesday, I got inspired to take this week and work at the garden at Cherith Brook. They had a good garden throughout this summer with lots of okra, tomatoes, and peppers, both mild and HOT!!! The HOT ones are my favorite. Most of those plants are still producing, so I used the tiller yesterday to build some more beds.

Today I headed over to the Kansas City Community Garden and spent a whopping $3 on seeds and seedlings. Just wait until you hear all that I planted for that $3!

Collard Greens
Cabbage
Broccoli
Turnips
Radishes
Spinach
Tatsoi (an Asian green)

It's a week or two late for anything else, but all this stuff should make for a great fall crop. I'll post pictures soon.

The Wreckers

Last night we went to see The Wreckers in concert. The Wreckers are Michelle Branch & Jessica Harp. Jessica actually went to high school with Trinity here in Kansas City, so they did a free concert for the hometown crowd. It was a lot of fun, and it was even cool outside! Fall is almost here in Missouri, and it is wonderful. If any of you Southerners down there need some relief from the heat, our pull-out couch is ready for you!

More good news!

I had a job interview for an Americorps position at Harvesters, Kansas City's food bank. I was actually seriously considering another job working with refugees, but the Harvesters interview swayed me more that way. Just a few hours later they called me back and offered me the position, so I thought about it and talked with a few people last night and decided to accept it today.

I don't yet know everything I'll be doing, but I will be a Nutrition Education Specialist, going to after school programs, churches, community centers, retirement communities, etc. to teach cooking classes about nutrition! I think it will be a lot of fun as well as enable me to make lots of connections around KC for possible job opportunities in the future.

So, Trinity and I both have jobs now. I feel like we can finally relax and get settled in our new home. And that is a good feeling.

Good News!

While interviewing for different positions, I have been doing temporary work at a nonprofit called American Humanics. I have really enjoyed working there but knew going into it that they didn't have any openings. Today when I went to work, I was pulled into the President's office and told that the current Executive Assistant had gotten engaged and was moving to Chicago. Then the amazing happened - they offered me the position! After talking it over with Tim at lunch, I accepted the position this afternoon.

The main focus of American Humanics is to train nonprofit leaders. They work primarily with colleges and universities, students and nonprofit organizations. I will be the assistant to the President and the Board, responsible for the day to day financials and other general office management. It is a great opportunity getting to do similar things as I was at the League but on a much larger scale. The office environment is great and my co-workers are all really nice.

I start training tomorrow morning. So after three weeks, I am no longer unemployed. YEAH!

Some stories

Instead of trying to remember everything that's happened in the last 2-plus weeks, here's a few stories:

I had been having a particularly hard time with this whole transition - I spent three or four days out of our first week here pretty much out of commission from sadness and anxiety. But I got to feeling much better last week. I talked to Bob (our Atlanta counselor) the other day and he helped lift my spirits a lot, and I've found a wonderful community center nearby with friendly people and treadmills to give myself some good strong exercise to get the endorphins pumpin'. I even forgot my iPod there the other day and when I rushed back 2 hours later in panic mode to try to retrieve it they had saved it at the desk for me. And we supposedly live in a bad neighborhood!

We visited a great old church last Sunday morning that reminds us a lot of our dear DHBC. They are a small congregation with an old, huge building (and locked front doors!), but they are doing much for this community. The similarities were both comforting and saddening at the same time. And we went and helped with their homeless ministry Monday night. We also attended our first neighborhood association meeting last week and we are very excited about participating in that and serving this neighborhood.

It's been HOT here in KC, as I know it has been pretty much everywhere else we have friends and family. We've had highs over100 most of the time. And we're still holding strong with no air conditioner! We've actually gotten remarkably used to it and now we're cold pretty much anytime we go anywhere else now. I went to a conversation about church planting with CBF MO on Friday and I wore jeans and layers because I knew I'd be cold at the restaurant, and sure enough I still was even with my layers! It hasn't been too bad here though - our apartment is basically ALL windows, which helps so much. Our bathroom is another story though. Every time I go in there I leave soaking wet and it's not because I take a shower all those times either!

We'd love to hear what's going on with any of you - just random stuff like this. Andrew & Jim both e-mailed me last week about anything that was on their minds or that they had been up to, and Trinity and I both really appreciated that. We'll talk to Y'ALL soon. (I didn't like to say that when I lived in the South, but now that we're here I've been saying it in honor of y'all down there!) We miss you. Love, Tim & Trinity

Before & After

We've still got a few rough edges here or there that need some work, but we're making some great progress. Even if you can't tell from the pics, it sure does feel more like a home now than a storage shed!

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Moving In

We arrived in Kansas City around noon on Wednesday and immediately started unloading the truck. We had lots of help which made it go a lot faster. Thanks to everyone who came to help us unload and unpack.

Our new neighbors, Chris and Katie, made a Welcome Home sign for us


As you can see the truck was packed very FULL

Getting Settled In Kansas City

We are both pretty exhausted but are finally getting settled here in Kansas City. It has been a very busy week and I am excited to share with y'all about it. Wednesday was spent moving in and trying to make the apartment livable. My family and some of our friends came over that evening to help us unpack. Thursday morning we took Twister for a walk up to the local Ace Hardware store to get some keys made and other things for the apartment. We did some more unpacking We tried to get the car stuff switched over to Missouri but realized that would take awhile. That night we went to Community Dinner at Cherith Brook and afterwards Tim, Chris, Katie & I sat at the table in our front yard for a couple of hours. It was nice to sit down and take a break from unpacking. Friday morning we had breakfast outside and took another walk with Twister to explore a different direction of our neighborhood. We did some more unpacking to get our stuff out of Mike's room so we could go pick it up in the afternoon. Mike is all moved in and things are coming together.

I start a temporary job on Wednesday as a receptionist and Tim is going to start looking on Monday. I have one interview on Monday and hopefully another one with the State of Missouri Department of Social Services next week. I am glad to have the temp work to hold us over until jobs come through.

We have met some neighbors and lots of people wave and say hello. We are definitely starting to feel more at home. I better cut this short because Merci is coming over for our first slumber party and I need to move some more boxes out of the way - the unpacking never ends!

Safe Arrival in St.Louis

I just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived in St. Louis at 7pm tonight. We ate a home cooked meal (yum) and are going to bed soon. Thanks to everyone who came over yesterday to load and clean - we couldn't have done it without you. We are planning to leave in the morning for Kansas City and hope to arrive around noon.

A Fun Week With Good Friends!

Friday night Andrew, Christina, Jim, Tim & I went to the Starlight Six Drive-in to see "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry." We picked up Chinese food from the Rice Box and brought some chairs and a blanket. We had so much fun!


Friday was my last day of work at the League - I am officially unemployed. I have been so lucky to have a job that I love and work with one of my best friends. The League in Georgia is doing great things and I am so excited to hear about what they do next. If you still live in Georgia, you should join (it's not just for women) - click here.

Thursday night we went to the Brick Store Pub in Decatur with Kim and Carey and some of her friends from work. After that we went to see our friends John and Steve's new condo - it was beautiful! Then they graciously treated us to dinner at Cowtippers. Wow, have we had some good food this week.



Then on Wednesday night we went to dinner with Cindi & David at Pozole in the Virginia-Highlands. It was a delicious dinner and dessert! I would definitely recommend checking it out. It started raining really hard in the middle of dinner and we got pretty wet on the patio - it was really fun. We were sad to say goodbye but look forward to Cindi and David coming to visit.

Dessert - yummy!

Tuesday, we played trivia one last time with Allison & Wes at Trackside Tavern. Even though we were 1 point away from 3rd (with a bunch of other teams), we had fun as always. We got to see ultrasound pictures of the Little Baby - we can't wait until he or she is born!

Moving Schedule

We just wanted to update everyone on the moving schedule - feel free to stop by!

Monday, July 30th - Tim's dad flies to Atlanta, pick up U-Haul truck, packing and cleaning afternoon and evening

Tuesday, July 31st - Leave Atlanta and drive to St. Louis (8 hours)

Wednesday, August 1st - Drive from St. Louis to KC, unload truck and unpack (arrive around 12pm)

The Parable of the Pale Rider

I watched an old movie favorite today while I was doing some packing that is in some ways a parable of what Trinity and I are doing next. Since the first time I watched Pale Rider years ago I have always been fascinated by Clint Eastwood's character in it. Eastwood plays a preacher who comes to the aide of a community of gold miners who are being harassed by an industrial miner trying to run them off their land so he can mine it. But of course he is not your average preacher. Regrettably he does resort to responding to their violence with some violence of his own (which is one of the things that makes this a parable for me), but he does try other methods of sticking up for these underdogs too. I love the main confrontation the Preacher has with the industrial miner named LaHood after he has stood up to the thugs a couple of times and has revived the spirits of the miners.

LaHood: When I heard a Parson had come to town I had an image of a pale, scrawny, Bible-thumping Easterner with a linen handkerchief and bad lungs.
Preacher: That's me.
LaHood: (Chuckles) Hardly... You know, it occurred to me it must be difficult for a man of faith to carry the message on an empty stomach, so to speak. So, I thought why not invite this devout and humble man to preach in town? Why not let the town be his parish? In fact why not build him a brand new church?
Preacher: I can see where a preacher'd be mighty tempted by an offer like that.
LaHood: Oh, indeed.
Preacher: First thing you'd know he'd be thinking about getting himself a batch of new clothes.
LaHood: Why, we'd have them tailor-made.
Preacher: Then he'd start thinking about those Sunday collections.
LaHood: Hell, in a town as rich as LaHood that preacher'd be a wealthy man.
Preacher: That's why it wouldn't work. You can't serve God and Mammon both. Mammon being money.
LaHood: (Pause) I opened this country. I made this town what it is. I brought jobs and industry. I built an empire with my own two hands, and I've never asked help of anyone. Those squatters, Reverend, are standing in the way of progress.
Preacher: Theirs or yours?

The preacher goes on to try to negotiate with LaHood to pay a fair price for their land, but only if the miners agree. They end up not agreeing to this deal anyway because they have already put so much hard work into their land, and so they have to stand up to the industrial miner and his hired hands (which turn out to not only be his usual thugs, but even a Marshall and his deputies).

I do not condone the violence in this parable, but I do believe in the message of the preacher who stands up for those oppressed by the powerful and their illusion of "progress." I also by no means intend to imply that every preacher with a "town parish" and a building has sold his soul to Mammon, but there are certainly many who have.

We are not pale, or scrawny, or Bible-thumping, and we are going to do everything we can to flee from the temptations of Mammon and the illusion of progress, even if it means carrying the message on an empty stomach.

Going Away Party - Part 2 & 3

The Spencers were so sweet to throw us a going away party on Saturday night. We had a great time with friends and even got to see some good friends that we hadn't seen in awhile. Thank you to everyone who came! Great friends and a home cooked meal - what more could we ask for.

Tim with one of our gifts - a book with pictures of Atlanta

Then on Sunday there was a lovely reception after worship. We were presented with 7 woven boxes from Bangladesh that fit inside one another and a cookbook all from Ten Thousand Villages, which is a store that guarantees that the artisans receive a fair price for their goods. We also got some gift cards which will really help us as we look for jobs in KC. Thank you to everyone for your gifts and kind words! We will miss you all more than you know.

Brooke Works Miracles!

Brooke is the name of the stylist at Sweetgrass Salon in Little Five Points who fixed my hair on Saturday. Above is a picture of my hair after Brooke performed her miracle - quite a difference. If I ever ask any of you to dye my hair, please say no!

Creme Lightener Is NOT Another Way of Saying Hair Dye

So last night I decided to lighten my hair a little, but things didn't turn out so well. I had bought some Loreal Super Blonde Creme Lightener awhile ago thinking that it was just blonde hair dye. It turns out that Creme Lightener is another word for bleach. Needless to say my hair is not the color I planned but the biggest problem is that it is VERY uneven - there is basically no blonde underneath. I was pretty upset when it first happened, but since that was 24 hours ago I have had some time to get over it. I am going to get if fixed tomorrow, so hopefully it won't look like this much longer. Thought things might be better if y'all could get a laugh out of my last hair dye disaster.