Honse Urban Farms

Chickens, etc.

2010-12-06T11:25:00.003-06:00

Well, I know we don't post much anymore. I guess we've gotten kind of bored with the blog these days... And of course we have a lot of other things on our plates too. After we spend most of the day on the computer at work and/or studying we just don't feel much like getting back on for blogging.

I have also joined the board of our neighborhood's Chamber of Commerce, and have been working on that website, which expends some more of my computer energy. I know a chamber of commerce might not seem like my cup of tea, but I have actually been enjoying it quite a bit. Since our neighborhood is so diverse, ethnically, racially, and socio-economically, it is a really cool organization, working on lots of issues for all of our neighborhood's residents and businesses, not just the "big ones."

The chickens have been in a lull lately, not laying much because of the changing weather and daylight hours. We got good eggs through the winter last year, and hopefully as they get settled into the cold, and get used to the light bulb in the coop (instead of sunlight), they'll start laying better. Yesterday I was in the kitchen making green tomato lasagna and I heard a brief flurry of squawking out there, so I popped outside to see what the racket was about. Well, when I opened the door there was an egg sitting there in the laying box. In the last month or so, we've really only gotten 2 or 3 eggs, so I was glad to see another one. Well, the water bowl was completely frozen since I had refilled it the day before, but the egg was still very warm, so all the squawking must have been from that egg popping out!

Our other recent chicken story happened a couple months ago. It was still nice fall weather at that point, and we had our windows open through the night. Trinity was awakened by a whole lot of chicken commotion outside about 2 or 3 am, and well, I am such a heavy sleeper I just rolled over and barely new anything was going on. After a while, the noise finally broke into my barrier (with a little help from Trinity's anxiety about the noise), so we grabbed a flashlight and went out to investigate. There in the corner of the coop was a medium sized possum that had squeezed through the door!

A couple of the locks had been sticking pretty bad, and I hadn't oiled them up yet, so we only had one out of three latches secured well, so he was able to squeeze through one corner I guess. I know possums can be pretty mean, but I don't think the chickens were in too much danger - they were holding there own pretty well in there in fact, and I think the possum was in over his head! He looked terrified of them! We held up one end of the coop and scooped the Ladies up to safety and then I chased the possum off with a broom.

About a week later, after I took the trash out one day, I left the lid off to air the can out. The next morning I went outside about 6:30 am with a fresh trash bag and when I looked in the can, there was the possum staring back up at me. He had climbed in looking for a treat (there was none to find) and he must not have been able to get out! Well, I was only half awake at that hour, and quite startled, so I slammed the lid down on top of him and locked him in. I didn't have time to deal with him then, so I just went to work and left him there! I wasn't sure what I would do, so I decided to call a pest company and they came and picked him up while I was at work a couple hours later. In hindsight, I don't think I would call them again (it wasn't free, that's for sure). They just "relocated" him... I have since spread the word to any lurking possums in the area that if I catch another one I don't think I will be so nice by paying for their relocation, or even chasing them off with a broom! Hopefully they have gotten my message, so I don't have to resort to more drastic measures. But I will if I have to!

Family photo

2010-07-14T16:07:00.004-05:00

I was cleaning out my inbox today and I found this picture from a recent trip to my parent's house, so I thought I would share. This includes the current roster of humans and dogs in the Jerry Honse branch of the family tree. Lots of fun getting this one!

Phone

2010-06-05T10:13:00.002-05:00

To help prepare for Trinity being a full-time student, and going on one paycheck for a year, we are cutting bills, and the phone/internet/cable TV bundle had to go. We have switched to just internet, which means no home phone number anymore. Hopefully anyone who needs to call us already has our mobile numbers, but if you don't, just drop us a note here, or email, or somewhere else in the cyberspace. There are still plenty of ways to track us down!

This also means we are going without TV, at all. Right now we don't have one of those digital converters either, and a pretty old TV, so it is just going to be DVDs for a while. Maybe we'll even keep it that way, who knows. Notice this news is coming AFTER the Lost finale. There was no way I was cutting the TV off during Lost!! Now, I am moving on.

Support Access to Local, Healthy Food in Kansas City

2010-05-10T16:01:00.001-05:00

Last week, the Planning and Zoning Committee held their second hearing on our proposed Urban Agriculture codes for the City of Kansas City, MO. They looked at two different proposed amendments, and heard testimony. The ordinance discussion and testimonies will continue:

Planning and Zoning Committee Hearing on Urban Ag

Wednesday, May 12, 1:30 pm

414 E. 12^th Street, either in the Council Chambers on the 10^th floor or in the Hearing Room on the 26^th floor (ask at the Info Desk when you get there)

We have heard and are recommending changes to the ordinance based on some very legitimate concerns, but what we see, on the ground, in Kansas City neighborhoods makes the option of on-site sales and green businesses/jobs a healthy, community building choice for the city.

Did you know that in Jackson County:

· There are nearly 37,000 low-income people who don’t have a car and for whom the nearest grocery store is more than a mile away?

· That more than 63% of adults in the metro area are overweight or obese?

· That 14% of preschoolers are already overweight?

There are too many neighborhoods in Kansas City where:

· Liquor stores and fast food joints are easier to find than a fresh carrot, head of lettuce, or home-grown tomato.

· The people who suffer disproportionately from diabetes, hypertension, and other diet-related diseases can’t easily follow the doctor’s orders to “eat more fruits and vegetables.”

In communities like these, the city ordinance that we have proposed which would allow a home gardener or someone running a garden micro-enterprise to sell fresh-grown produce to their neighbors could be an effective strategy to help people get access to healthy food.

If you think that Kansas City, MO needs to support this small step to increasing access to healthy foods, please:

1. Show up at the Planning & Zoning Committee Hearing on Wednesday, 1:30pm, at City Hall, 414. E 12^th Street. The hearing will be either on the 10^th floor in City Council Chambers, or on the 26^th floor, in the Hearing Room. (Stop in at the info desk in the lobby to ask.)

2. Email city_council@kcmo.org and tell them that you want them to support the ordinance because our city needs to support neighborhood-based access to healthy foods!

Kansas City needs to support healthy, lively communities where residents can grow food and feed their neighbors-

DHBC

2010-04-08T10:35:00.004-05:00

Our friends at DHBC have been in the national news lately. I just wanted to take some space and say good work and godspeed. Keep up the good and important work I read about weekly in the email updates - the real work of ministry - rather than getting caught up in denominational politics like those throwing stones at you. Thanks for remembering that God has given us more important things to do than "defellowshipping" and excluding. There is enough of that in the world without churches doing it too.

I am especially glad to hear that Mimi will be attending the meeting at which you all are defellowshipped, saying: "I don't think it will change their minds, but hopefully it might inspire some women who are struggling in Southern Baptist churches." Thanks for being a pioneer Mimi, and thanks to our DHBC family for always supporting your ministry staff so courageously, past and present. Trinity and I are with you in spirit.

For our other blog readers, if you want to know what I'm talking about here are some of the news links:

ABC News National
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/baptists-planning-disown-church-female-pastor/story?id=10252735

Atlanta Journal and Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/southern-baptists-may-cut-414925.html?cxtype=rss_news_81963

Fox 5 Atlanta
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/woman-pastor-causes-stir-with-convention-032910

WSBTV ABC local
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/22992013/detail.html

Associated Baptist Press
http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/4954/53/

Baptist Today
http://www.johndpierce.com/2010/03/fundamentalism-continues-and-continues.html

Harvest Hill Community Garden at WJC

2010-04-01T15:51:00.002-05:00

Announcing the Harvest Hill Community Garden at William Jewell College! Many folks here at Jewell along with some dedicated Liberty community partners have been working hard to organize the garden and applications are now being accepted. Find out more at http://harvesthill.ning.com/

Andy and I are planning our CJS plot - if your in the Liberty area, we hope you'll come to the Hill and join in the fun!

[Yes, I am in fact planning an additional plot up here at Jewell. I plan to make Andy do most of the work ;) ]

Quotes & Phrases

2010-03-05T16:12:00.000-06:00

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
-Mark Twain

Quotes & Phrases

2010-02-19T10:27:00.004-06:00

I have a little notebook in which I have been writing quotes and phrases that inspire, encourage, or challenge me that I have kept and added to since college. Sometimes I have added to it more than others. I was thinking I would begin putting such quotes on here instead of only writing them in my little notebook. I hope you appreciate them as I do.

Here's one that caught my attention for the first time this morning while listening to a Bob Dylan record that I've had since high school:

"Well, I try my best
To be just like I am,
But everybody wants you
To be just like them.
...
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more."

--1965, "Maggie's Farm" by Bob Dylan

Guilty pleasure

2010-02-10T10:11:00.002-06:00

I have a confession to make. Every once in a while on my way to work I stop and get "breakfast" from QuikTrip. Contrary to all of my food values, I don't know what it's really made of, or where it came from, or how it was "raised," "grown" or processed. But in my early morning stomach growling state sometimes on the commute to work, by the time I get to Liberty I have talked myself into stopping for my guilty pleasure of a reheated sausage & egg biscuit wrapped in paper. On a really bad day I add a chorizo burrito to my order.

And then I regret it for a couple hours after I scarf it down...

Two months later...

2010-02-04T10:03:00.003-06:00

Well, it's been 2 months since our last post. Another busy stretch... On the good side a lot of the busy-ness has been seeing friends and family that usually only get to "see" us on here!

Since Nov. and Trinity's birthday here's what we've been up to:

Thanksgiving celebrations with our families.
Our so-far-annual return trip to Atlanta (Congrats to the Smalls for your new small one by the way!!!).
We made some great progress in our never-ending bathroom project, and then put it back aside for more other busy-ness.
Finals & final papers (Trinity taking them, and Tim grading them; not each others though).
Christmas celebrations with families and friends.
A mystery dinner theater with friends to ring in the New Year - I was the murderer, and I almost got away with it too!
Trinity went to Phoenix for work, and then I left for 10 days in Honduras while she was gone (I don't think I'll be blogging much about that trip, but the whole team is adding photos and informative captions here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffbuscher58/HondurasJan10#).
Thanks to Kate, Chris & Steph for taking care of Trinity and the dogs while I was gone for so long!
Trinity had a clothing exchange at our house, and painted the kitchen cabinets.
I returned from Honduras on a Thursday night and woke up less than 12 hours later to kick off our first CJS Summit at Jewell. We got to meet and spend the weekend with two of the authors of a favorite book of ours, The Better World Handbook.
As soon as the Summit was over, we were both back to school again, and this semester is turning out to be our most intense yet, for both of us.
I had a flashback of 2 years ago with a major, days-long headache. It was actually almost 2 years ago to the day, and it was so eerily similar we were really freaking out. It was time for a follow up MRI anyway, so I went in for that and I am happy to say the report says there is no evidence of a return tumor. That just means my major, days-long headache was something else, like maybe stress related or something... I don't know what I have to be stressed about!? Oh wait, maybe one whole month of non-stop work...
I turned 29 years old and my friends all got me new vinyl records for our collection! Records are great headache prevention, so we have made sure to get our daily dose of the turntable ;) Sunday I listened to all the new ones at least once through, some more than once - which means I had a long and wonderful stretch of more than a few hours of prevention.
The final season of LOST has begun... (yes, this is significant enough to make it onto my "what we've been up to" list!)

See, I told you we'd been busy! I think this weekend is looking pretty calm; hopefully we can keep it that way.

A Special Song from Gavin

2009-11-27T08:47:00.003-06:00

I asked our almost 2 1/2 year old nephew, Gavin, to sing a song. This is what came out - priceless!

Birthday Gifts

2009-11-21T14:13:00.007-06:00

So I turn 27 on Sunday, which sounds much older than I feel. I have been so busy with work and school that it seemed to just sneak up on me a little.

I share a birthday week with our friend, Andrew, so his wife, Kristen, and Tim decided to throw a joint birthday party. We went to this wonderful place called Harry's Country Club which is nothing like a country club. It's just a laid back and fun place - perfect for the "Andrew/Trinity Birthday Celebration". This gift of time and fun that my friends gave me was the best. I am so thankful for good friends. It has been a great 27th birthday so far!

My wonderful husband also got me a new digital camera for my birthday. My digital camera broke about 6 months ago and I have been missing taking pictures. I love looking back at pictures of the past as a way to remember then and see the difference time has made. So now a gift for you - pictures on the blog!! We are headed to Atlanta in a couple of weeks and I will be ready with the new camera!

First picture on the new camera - thanks Tim!

Andrew - makes me laugh and reminds me there is reason to hope

Kristen - helps me feel less crazy, more creative and peaceful

Melissa - someone you can always count on to be there

Erin - full of energy and joy

Jayson and Eric - new friends that are very thoughtful and so much fun!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Just for fun

2009-10-16T14:56:00.006-05:00

We're still waiting on the video to get up, but here are some great photos from our recent gig. Have you ever seen NSync's video for Bye, Bye, Bye? Well, here's our version!

Can you tell who's in the lineup? When the curtain opened our fans were so loud we couldn't even hear the music! I'm not kidding. At this point we are all thinking "How are we going to do this with no music?!"

That's me singing to the fans.

One of the more dramatic moments.

Did you figure everyone out yet? For the Jewell folks out there, that's Dr. Calvin Permenter (Cal), me, Jeff Buscher (campus minister), Josh (a student), and Dr. Brad Chance (JBrad)

JBrad stole the show!

Festival of Shelters

2009-10-04T13:18:00.002-05:00

Tonight I will be participating in a Festival of Shelters at Cherith Brook. The Festival is based on the traditional Jewish festival of Sukkot.

From CB:

The Festival of Shelters comes to us from Leviticus 23:42 where the People of God are instructed to build simple shelters and to live in them for seven days remembering a lifetime of days spent homeless, wandering the wilderness, in search of food and water, hoping for a promised place. The Festival also became a harvest celebration where the people remembered what it was like to be hungry and thirsty and to show gratitude for God’s provision of food.

WHY DO WE DO IT?
Our Festival of Shelters is intended to be a challenge to resist and celebration of rejoicing:
· We who have plenty are reminded that we have all experienced need and, that it is God who provides our needs;
· We are challenged to move away from greed and pride of wealth and accumulation;
· And to remember and that the stranger, the wanderer, the homeless and the hungry are specially loved and cared for by God.

We'll start with a celebration and blessing of the homeless tonight, and then I will head out with a small group of people to spend the night on the streets with some of our homeless friends in the Old NE. I did NOT take off work on Monday, so I will also be seeing what it's like to go to work after a night on the streets. I am excited about this eye opening experience. I'll let you know how it goes.

Camera download

2009-10-03T16:55:00.010-05:00

I cleaned out the memory card on my camera today, so here are some photos of all kinds of things!

Allison, Wes & Lucy came to see us in May, and never made it onto the blog... We had a great time with them, especially Lucy! All the animals still miss her.

Twister doesn't get much blog love these days, so I thought I'd put him on here. See him sniffing around the tomatoes plants? He likes to sneak one off the vine when we're not looking for a quick snack!

The Ladies are doing well and giving us lots of eggs. We recently froze a bunch of pumpkin puree from the garden, and gave the Ladies one of their favorite treats - pumpkin scraps.

Benton is always looking for a new place to nap. Here you can see he is cozy in a paper grocery bag.

We attended the KC Ethnic Enrichment Festival again this fall. We learned that this is the biggest festival of this kind in the US. Of all the BIG cities out there with so many people represented, KC celebrates this with more energy than any other. Hope to see you there in the future!

This guy spent a few weeks gathering his dinner in the garden this summer. We've had lots of spiders, but this is by far the biggest. You can see how big it is by noticing the fly and the big bumble bee caught in the web next to it. I was extra careful when I inched in for this shot!

We threw a Baby Celebration for the new additions to our community. Here's Trinity with the two moms! Annen is already here, and Baby Sweeten is on the way soon.

Trinity and I went on a day trip to Weston, MO with Merci.

Here's a photo from Badseed Urban Farm that we took on the Urban Farms Tour this summer.

Some of the more colorful produce from the garden.

I dug these boulders out of one of the new garden beds this spring. You can see how big it is compared to the shovel. I about broke my back pulling it out of there. In fact, there is another one as big as this still in the ground that I gave up on.

Jim & Andrew & Christina also made the trek from ATL to visit us. Here we are at the Nelson.

Plagued

2009-09-30T13:02:00.003-05:00

I am disturbed by the level of paranoia surrounding the H1N1 virus. Some of the suggestions for how to avoid getting this flu might in fact make one successful at not getting it, but at what cost? Take a look at this exhaustive list of suggestions for example: http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-the-Flu-at-University

Of course washing our hands frequently and thoroughly, avoiding excessive amounts of alcohol, and getting enough rest, nutrition and exercise are important all the time, especially when the flu is going around, but there are also many suggestions in circulation that I believe to be problematic:

Avoid getting too close to others (you never know who might make you sick!).
Avoid using silverware in the cafeteria; use sealed, disposable plastic ware instead (you can't be sure those lazy folks behind the scenes cleaned it properly!).
Avoid salad bars, bread baskets, or other communal food sources (basically, don't eat anything unless you have washed and prepared it safely yourself!).
Order your meals "To Go" so that it is served on disposable and portable containers or bags and not reusable plates and trays (and additionally, you don't have to eat with all those sick people in the public space either!)
Wash your clothes after they have been near other people.
Change your clothes and shower after you go out and about.
Avoid parties and social events (become a recluse until this thing blows over!)
At all costs, avoid physical contact with any and everyone!

So, here's the problem. What kind of people would we be if we live like this, afraid of everyone and everything around us? What are we willing to sacrifice in order to stay "healthy?" Is this behavior actually "healthy behavior" anyway? If we all stay at a "safe" distance from each other, what is the point of staying healthy? I guess we can all stay home and watch TV shows in the clean comfort of our sterile living rooms. The actors can't make us sick through the air waves right. And let's stick to e-mail and phone calls to keep up with our friends and family too.

If you ask me, living like this sounds like a plague of another kind, and I do not plan on doing it. Maybe I'm living on the edge, but I would rather live fully in the present than hide in fear of the possible future. I will do so with freshly washed hands and a good night's rest, but I will not be hiding out at home with a can of Lysol in my hand for the rest of my life. I hope to see you out there!

Support urban farming in KC

2009-09-20T11:18:00.003-05:00

Support Urban Food Production in Kansas City!!

Whether you grow local food or buy local food, this information is very important to you. Come to BADSEED, Tuesday, October 20, 6:00-7:30 pm, to discuss proposing City Code changes that will benefit Urban Agriculture.

BADSEED has gotten a lot of flack and legal pressure lately about farming in the city, and I want to invite Kansas City friends and allies to support Kansas City urban farming by coming to this initial meeting.

Katherine Kelly of KCCUA says, "In our meetings with the Urban Planning and Development staff, and with various city council people, they expressed a willingness to work with us to develop codes that more accurately fit the ways that urban food production is developing in Kansas City, MO. They are in a review period looking at the revised codes, so the timing is good for refinements.

The Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture, Bad Seed Farm, and the Food Policy Coalition for Greater Kansas City are organizing a meeting of any interested community members who would like to have input into this process. You are invited to attend, Tuesday, October 20, 6:00-7:30 pm, at the Bad Seed Market at 1909 McGee, Kansas City, MO."

The goals of the meeting are:

· To look at existing codes that impact urban agriculture,

· To brainstorm about changes that might be useful and supportive of the benefits of urban agriculture, and

· To put together a volunteer committee of Kansas City, MO residents to lead the codes revisions process. This committee would work with KCCUA, the Food Policy Coalition, and city staff to research possibilities, prioritize, draft, and build political support for more urban ag applicable codes.

· Start a process that other municipalities in the metro area can use as inspiration and as a model for creating more urban ag friendly cities.

At the meeting, we will have KCMO Councilwoman Beth Gottstein, Patty Knoll from the Planning and Development Department of the city, and possibly other city representatives.

PLEASE RSVP! They want to have some idea of how many folks to expect. And, if you can, bring a folding chair, Bad Seed will have some on hand, but depending on the numbers, we may need more.

If you have any questions about this, you can contact:
Katherine Kelly, KC Center for Urban Agriculture, 913-831-2444, or katherine@kccua.org
Gretchen Kunkel, Food Policy Coalition of Greater Kansas City, ghkunkel@kc.rr.com
Dan Heryer & Brooke Salvaggio, badseedfarm@hotmail.com

Even if you can't make commitments to the long process ahead, I hope we can have lots of people show overwhelming support for this initial meeting. Hope to see you there!

2009-08-14T14:45:00.000-05:00

The next morning it was time to begin the journey back home. We woke up and packed, took down the tent and straightened up our campsite. We stopped at another overlook on the way back through the park, away from the campgrounds, to see one more view and say goodbye to Arches. We wanted to see Moab one more time, so we headed into town for breakfast at Eclectica Café, browsing the various flea market items for sale while we waited for our food to cook. Then, time to hit the road. We drove back through eastern Utah and into the mountains of Colorado, stopping for lunch at the Happy Cooker in Georgetown, and then a stroll around town to stretch our legs.

After lunch we were back to the road and on the final chapters of our book. Trinity was driving, and I was riding and reading slowly to savor the last chapters and pages of the story. The end of The Time Traveler’s Wife is so beautiful and sad and happy all at the same time, and we were rolling through the mountains of Colorado balling our eyes out as we finished the book. I stopped a few times to make sure it was safe for Trinity to be driving through her tears!

We contemplated driving through the evening to get back home late Saturday night, but we have both been miserable when we’ve tried to do that before, so we opted for another night in the tent. It was finally time to check out Bonny Lake, where we had originally planned to stop the first night. We got a few more groceries for dinner, and then figured out which of the many forms to fill out at the ranger station now empty for the night. Now that we had a few nights behind us and knew exactly what needed to be done and where everything was, we had the tent up, the fire blazing, and dinner started within ten minutes of pulling up to our spot. Another night of eating in the dark, but no mishaps this time!

Even though we still had more than a few hours across Kansas to go in the morning, we were back to the rolling plains of our part of the country, and the sights and sounds were a little more familiar to us. It was nice to hear the crickets and tree frogs chirping in the distance, though I certainly did not miss the mosquitoes in the desert. There were even a few little frogs hopping around the bathroom to welcome us back to (almost) home.

Then Sunday. A long day. I have an above average appreciation for the drive through Kansas, but wow this day seemed to drag on forever. Our book was finished, it was the last day of our wonderful vacation and back to work the next day (with many of the typical vacation reentry realizations), and I-70 on Kansas is long and flat.

Actually, that might be an appropriate way to describe how we were feeling during that part of the drive, and how I have felt many times for the last couple of years, in this confusing stage of my life – long and flat. We’re still trying to figure out how we can bring that calm and collected, optimistic, rejuvenated spirit with us through more than just vacation days. Some days are good, others not so much. Writing about our trip has helped, and I wonder in what ways I can perceive my daily experiences differently, see the bright side, the possibilities, the resourceful opportunities that I miss in the midst of a boring and stressful routine. How can I transform the boredom and stress; and into what? The desert of Utah was a time of renewal for us, because we chose to embrace it in that way. How can this time of desert in my life be renewal too? How and what do I need to embrace to make it so?

One of the themes of The Time Traveler’s Wife is embracing the present moment, because really, the present is all we have. When things are great, like vacation highs, this is easy for me, as it is for most of us, but other times it’s very hard because I am so adept and practiced at focusing on the negatives of any particular moment. After we got home and unloaded the car into the living room floor we decided we needed another hike, this time around the neighborhood. As we walked Trinity had the brilliant idea to just ask, “What is good about this moment?” and so we’ve been working on that question in many present moments since.

Even though we are practicing finding the positive in the present, we are also looking forward to our next big trip, and hopefully some smaller camping trips in the meantime. I am dreaming of a long crazy float trip down the Colorado River, through Canyonlands or the Grand Canyon, to see the same places from another perspective!

2009-08-13T10:29:00.003-05:00

I woke up the next morning a bit on the early side, so I quietly unzipped the sleeping bag and tent and stepped out into the cool smooth sand without disturbing Trinity. The sun was just beginning to creep over the rocks so I grabbed the camera for a few shots, and then I put it down so I could enjoy the present moment with my own unobstructed eyes. It was a drizzly morning with clouds floating by and showers coming and going. We were planning to take a day trip to the nearby Canyonlands National Park, an hour away from Arches, and from anything else, including food. Rather than pack a full lunch, we decided to have a large leisurely breakfast before heading out, so I started a fire and enjoyed the early campground quiet before most folks stirred from their tents, reading the Michael Jackson Special Commemorative Issue of Rolling Stone. I made a big skillet of fried potatoes, toast, and coffee and when it was about ready I went to wake Trinity for breakfast.

After cleanup and afternoon snack packing, we headed to Canyonlands over more Time Traveler’s Wife. Canyonlands National Park is huge, and there is actually no way to go all the way through the park, across the main canyon. Wait, let me rephrase that – there is no way in a car to go all the way through the park – backpacking through is certainly an option, but one we were not prepared for! In order to see the whole park by car, you have to drive hours and hours around it to three different entrances. This adventure would take days, unless your goal was literally just to drive around the whole thing and not really enjoy where you were going, so we picked the closest entrance, the Island in the Sky section, and headed for the visitors center. There was an exuberant young Park Ranger setting up for a brief presentation, so we started our visit learning about the Utah Juniper and Big Horn Sheep, from a very excited graduate student/Park Ranger!

We were pretty worn out and sore from yesterday’s hikes, so we picked a lesser trail, which luckily was also supposed to be one of the most beautiful in this park. We still hiked more than a couple of miles throughout the day. Canyonlands is where the Colorado River and the Green River meet, and there are some amazing views of these rivers curling through the canyon hundreds of feet below. We hiked this first trail, and then took it easy the rest of the day, driving to the “overlook” spots for the views. We heard another Park Ranger extolling the beauty of the nearby Dead Horse State Park, so we decided to drive there after we had seen the main spots in Canyonlands.

We rounded out the day with more leisure time by the fire and another early night to bed. This was a much slower day of good home cooking, sunrises, canyon vistas, and reading… that wonderful stuff that vacations are made of. Why can’t we take time to enjoy these kinds of things at home more often? I am simultaneously determined to find it in my daily life at home, and plagued by the fact that my youthful optimism seems to be seeping away with each day’s commute to the office… Well, I don’t want to end this installment on a sour note, so here’s a look on the brighter side:

Once when we were starting one of the trails, we saw a couple of boys, maybe 10-15 years old, waiting at the entrance by themselves, kicking and tearing at one of the old worn out fence posts. We were both annoyed and disgusted with these guys, and I tried my trusty old passive aggressive technique of saying, “Wow, I can’t believe they’re doing that,” loud enough for them to hear. But they did not hear and kept right on destroying. So, Trinity turned around and walked back over to them and scolded them with a little lecture! After the hike when we walked back by, the fence post was safe and sound thanks to Trinity and her laughable sidekick.

2009-08-12T14:38:00.010-05:00

One night while we were cooking dinner on the campfire it had gotten pretty late on us, and it was dark by the time it was ready to eat. Donning my oven mitts, I grabbed the cast iron pot off of the fire and set it down on the picnic table and we dug in. After we finished a delicious meal of our household favorite picadillo (a Costa Rican recipe for “green bean hash” from our Extending the Table cookbook) we began to clean up. When I went to grab the cast iron pot… It didn’t budge. Yes, the metal picnic table in fact had a plastic coating to prevent it from rusting, which I did not notice in the dark, which the hot cast iron pot had melted and was not quite stuck to. I pulled and pulled, but it was holding tight. I wish I could say that I held my cool, but for a few minutes I was quite upset and wondering if I had just ruined my favorite pot, and donated it to the park ranger!

After a few minutes I calmed down and got creative. I put some rocks into the fire to get hot and when they began to glow red I grabbed them with the tongs and put them into the pot so they could reheat the cast iron. In a matter of seconds the plastic softened back up and it popped right off of the table. The next morning in the light I could see that there was definitely some evidence left on the table, and on the bottom of my pot – and I could also see that I was not the first one to have done this! The good news is the next time we used the cast iron, all plastic melted away and the pot is now as good as new, and I got a great opportunity to be resourceful.

After our night of camping in Moab we got up bright and early to go grab ourselves a spot in the Arches National Park campground. We got their in plenty of time and had no problem getting a site for the next two nights. The park is so big that it is actually more than a thirty minute drive into the park to get to the campsites. We headed in to choose our site, ignoring our desire to stop and gawk at all the amazing scenery along the way. We were on a mission! The campsites at Arches are wonderful, clean, and far away from traffic, and we had plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the peace and quiet. Knowing that we’d be tired after the day of hiking and sunset watching we had planned, we put up the tent and then headed out for our first hike to see some arches.

Our first trek was the 4 mile hike to see Landscape and Double O Arches. The half a mile or so to Landscape is pretty easy, with a clear path, and then it switches to a “primitive trail” with nothing more than piles of rocks (cairns) showing you where to go. We made lots of stops in the hot, dry sun to drink water. There were many people making the trek with us, and in fact it began to feel like we were hiking in another country! We heard a handful of languages, but the one we heard the most was French. This remained the case throughout our two days in Utah – we must have been right in the middle of French (or Canadian) holiday season.

Landscape Arch

Double O Arch (Tim standing in the bottom O)

After a few hours of hiking with our French friends we made it back to the car just in time to avoid the heat of the afternoon and headed into Moab for lunch and air conditioning at Paradox Pizza. We lingered there and did a little window shopping in Moab. We did get some postcards to send out, a magnet for our souvenir magnet collection, a sun hat for Trinity, and a cup of coffee in some more AC. We wanted to make sure we rested up for the sunset hike, so we headed back to camp to chill with our book in the shade for the last hour or so.

Then we hiked up, up, up another 3 miles to see the iconic Delicate Arch at sunset. This was a beautiful site to see, and a lot of fun to do with the many other people (hundreds maybe?) with the same idea. As we were sitting there with all of these strangers enjoying the unique view of the arch and watching the sunset I felt a deep ancient connection to the throngs of people who came before us to see and experience the same wonder. It felt as though we were sitting there with more than just the people we could see today. We had light synthetic backpacks and aluminum water bottles, while other wore animal skins and carried water bottles made from bladders, but with our eyes and our spirits we were all beholding this same awesome vista of creation. The sense of reverence was amazing.

About half way up the climb.
You can see the cars way back there in the original photo.

Delicate Arch

As we hiked back down toward the cars, we made a stop to see some petroglyphs (rock engravings) carved about 500 years ago, another wondrous sight.

After a full day of hiking we made it back to the tent and crawled in for a very good night’s rest.

2009-08-06T12:50:00.001-05:00

I forgot some important details from the first leg:

Somewhere between Russell and Denver, in that long, long stretch through Kansas (which I must say gets a bad rap as far as I’m concerned) we were lost in the book and cruising along without paying any attention to the gas gauge. When we finally saw the warning light, which could have been on for 20 feet or 20 miles, we started searching for a gas station. The odds are that it just lit up and we had another 30 miles or so left in the tank, but when you’re in the middle of a log and unfamiliar drive, it is easy to jump to the worst case scenario. Gas stations always seem hardest to find when you need them the most, and this proved true yet again this time. We exited at a ramp that said there was gas, and then there was no help about which way to go, and no gas station in sight. We wandered around Grainfield, and finally asked for help finding it and made it there just in time. Well, it felt like it anyway.

Another thing Trinity and I had a friendly disagreement about was whether or not we could use the wood from the park for fire. I had just spent the last week reading about National Parks, in which you most certainly cannot use wood from the park, but she said we could at the Colorado park. Well, it turns out she was right, but how much free, dry wood do you really think there is laying around next to the frequently used and recently rained on campsites? Exactly, none. We had brought some lump charcoal with us, so we had that for cooking if needed, but it is certainly not enough for a people warming fire. Luckily, a neighbor felt pity on us and sold us a bundle of firewood, which I doled out conservatively so we would have enough to warm up again in the morning.

Wednesday we woke up and warmed up over (a lot of) bacon, toast and more Time Traveler’s Wife. We had a whole package of bacon, and not much ice left, so we just ate a huge, high protein breakfast. After all, we were planning to do a lot of hiking right?! We headed back down the mountain in a different direction than we came in last night, to see it from a different view, passing through the casino towns of Black Hawk and Central City. I think this area might be right behind Las Vegas and Atlantic City for number of casinos (totally ruining the beautiful landscape of the mountains if I do say so myself). The rest of the ride was quite beautiful though.

Then, back to the interstate for more reading and driving. Somewhere about this time we reached territory that Trinity had never been to, and I had only been through once many years ago on a great trip with Grandma & Grandpa Honse (Justin & I took a different route West).

After a while we needed to stretch our legs and found a cool looking mountain town to stop in, so we parked for lunch in Eagle, Colorado. We had a nice light lunch at Red Canyon Café in Eagle with lots of organic goods and fair trade coffees – our kind of place. As we walked back through town to the car, I could tell from a few blocks away that something didn’t look right. Sure enough, we had a flat tire, and of course we didn’t know this until after we had already spent an hour wandering around and eating lunch. Another opportunity to take a deep breath and be cool. We unloaded the camping gear on top of the spare, changed the tire, which I have mastered in recent months by the way, got directions to a too busy tire shop, and finally headed 10 miles down the road to Gypsum’s tire shop where hopefully the wait would be less than a couple of hours! Success! The wonderful guys at Carquest in Gypsum dropped what they were doing and had the hole patched in 20 minutes flat. Muchas Gracias Amigos!

A couple more hours and it was time to stop at the Utah sign for a picture in Granny & Grandpa Taff style. You can definitely see the landscape changing from mountain to desert around the Utah/Colorado line on I-70. A bit more, and we were turning off the interstate towards Moab, Utah and Arches National Park.

We knew we needed to restock groceries and ice, but more important was figuring out our camping arrangement, so we headed straight for the Park. I don’t remember what time we got there, but the campground in the Park was full. We didn’t plan our trip early enough to make reservations, not to mention the fact that we left a day early, and the first-come sites were quite taken by later afternoon. The Park Ranger told us you have to get there around 7:30am, when they open for the day, to get one of the no reservation sites. So, an important lesson for our National Park tour file: make reservations for the campgrounds, unless you are going to drive through the night and arrive at opening time!

So, into Moab for the night. There are plenty of commercial campgrounds there, so we picked the closest one to the park so we could try to get there early and grab an Arches campsite for the next two nights. It was a nice night, but a little close to the road for my camping taste. It was getting late by this point, so we decided on an easy night of dinner in Moab, and grocery shopping. We headed to the Moab Brewery for some local stout over dinner, and then next door to the less chain looking grocery store in town. Moab is a pretty cool, local feeling place overall. Tourist oriented, but in a very authentic way. There were a few of the big boy restaurants, but it was clear that the local places ruled the scene.

I’ll conclude this installment with a fun shot of Utah’s own Polygamy Porter taken at the grocery store. Check out the tag lines for a laugh!

2009-08-05T14:43:00.004-05:00

Our first major stop was in, drum roll please… Russell, Kansas. Trinity just had to stop in the town of her family name, so we wandered around town for a while in the car, looking for a good brunch spot. As we were driving through the square we kept hearing a weird noise coming and going through the cracked windows, so we slowed down to see what it was, and lo and behold it was Meat Loaf playing on the Russell, Kansas Square integrated surround sound system: “Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night/I can see paradise by the dashboard light.” We drove around a bit more and found Trinity United Methodist Church, so Trinity had to go take pictures of the church named Trinity in Russell, KS. As we swung back around to the square to ask somebody where the heck we could find breakfast, Meat Loaf was still singing, “Praying for the end of time, It’s all that I can do-oo-oo!” Not exactly what you expect to hear while you’re driving around the prominently proclaimed hometown of Bob Dole.

Finally, we found someone who directed us back towards the interstate to Meridy’s Restaurant and Lounge. I had seen it before, but for some unknown reason I have a subliminal aversion to the word “lounge,” especially after driving by the constant back and forth between billboards for strip clubs and porn shops, and those that warn of the danger and evil of such places with Bible verses attached. Missouri and Kansas seem to have more of this billboard debate than any other place I’ve driven through. “Sign, Sign, everywhere a sign, blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind.” Anyway, does anyone else think lounge sounds dirty? Trinity thinks I’m crazy. Turns out, Meridy’s is of course just the local diner, which was exactly what we were looking for. So we started off the trip with a low carb (not) breakfast of pancakes for Trinity, and biscuits and gravy for me. If you’re headed through Kansas, this place is worth a stop, but only if you make the short trek over to the square to see what's spinnin’.

After brunch at the lounge, back on the road. Our original thought was to stop for camping pretty soon after crossing into Colorado (at Bonny Lake) , but since we woke up and left hours ahead of schedule, plus time change of an hour, it was only 1:30 or so local time when we got there, so we decided to keep going. And if you do a little math, guess what time that puts us into Colorado… Yep, you guessed it, rush hour. There are two state parks in the Denver area, at least that seemed to make sense for our camping needs, so we had a hint of a disagreement about which way to go, but we were practicing our vacation attitudes so it wasn’t too bad.

We started creeping towards one, but traffic was really slow, and we needed to get a few more supplies, so we took a break to shop at a Target (our one and only national chain stop the whole trip… well, other than for gasoline). After gathering a few things we needed and heading back to the interstate, traffic in the direction we had been going had not changed a bit, but back toward the other camping option looked more promising, so Golden Gate Canyon State Park won our patronage for the night. And we were both glad it worked out that way. It was a beautiful drive, if not a little nerve racking in our four cylinder Scion xB, curving and climbing through the mountains to get there. Between Target, traffic, and twisting tardily through the turns, it was getting dark quickly, and raining a bit too, and it was our first night camping in a while, so we were rusty at getting things out and up.

We cooked and ate dinner in the dark, and shivered through the cold night (we were prepared for a cool night at Bonny Lake, but the rain and clouds up in the mountains put us about ten degrees cooler than expected), but it was a beautiful night and morning warming up by the fire before the second leg of the drive on Wednesday. And the best part was, it was all going shorter and sooner than expected. It’s amazing what having a leisurely attitude can do. Usually when we make trips I get all frantic about when we leave and annoyed about how much we have to stop, and we still end up later than expected, but tone that down a little, or a lot, and it turns into an enjoyable jaunt and we’re there before we know it.

2009-08-04T17:12:00.001-05:00

Earlier this summer we had decided, even though for the first time we both actually had paid vacations, we would spend that time here in KC, chipping away at our ever-growing list of open projects at the Honse homestead. While in many ways it would be nice to have had some more extended and focused time to work on some of these projects, I think deep down inside we both knew that we needed a break from those very same things! Our list is going to ebb and flow, but it is not going to ever be finished, so if we’re waiting until it is, we’ll never leave the house. So, we put that list aside and made a new one of places we could go and how we planned to pull it off.

I am serious about making a list. Trinity has been a list maker for as long as I’ve known her, and in fact it was probably the first thing she did when she learned to write! And now she’s got me doing it. Every time we start to talk about something I say, “Let’s make a list.” I do it mostly because I have a horrible memory for details, and I think we both think pretty visually, so if we don’t see it with our eyes it doesn’t really click in our brains. So, our camping road trip started with a list, specifically, a Google Doc list so we could both edit it and access it from our computers since most of our research was being done online, only during lunch break at work of course.

Years ago when Trinity and I were just dating, I went to the Grand Canyon on a long road trip with Justin Gross and, you know, I was so enamored and in love (talk about sappy!) that the whole time I was thinking that I wished Trinity was there to see this amazing place with me. (I am happy to report I still feel that way. It is rarer that I take a trip like that without her anymore, but in Honduras in January I wished many times that she was sharing the experience.) So while I was at the Grand Canyon, I bought Trinity a little map/log book about the National Parks and said I wanted us to go visit as many of them as we could together and fill out this log of our journey. Trinity’s AH intern Kari suggested that we check out Arches National Park, and I am so glad she did. It was the perfect place to begin our journey of visiting the National Parks, and it is close enough to Canyonlands National Park that we could start off by visiting too parks in one trip.

As we made our list, we decided that a big part of this getaway would be an exercise in patience, flexibility, and not having too much of a plan. We mapped out our driving route and researched a few different camping options along the way, but we didn’t make any reservations or plan to push our driving time too far. It’s about a 14 hour drive, which splits nicely into a two day drive at a pretty leisurely pace.

The original plan was to leave on Wednesday, but as we sat at work on Monday with half of the stuff packed already and the Wild West calling our names, we decided we couldn’t make it through another day at our desks, so we finished packing Monday night and went to bed excited about heading out early. We woke up and some ridiculous time like 4:30am and tossed and turned, trying to get back to sleep. Finally around 5:30 or 6 we gave up and decided we might as well just get going. Our first opportunity to be flexible and have fun doing it!

Renewal, Utah

2009-08-03T09:41:00.004-05:00

Monday, August 3, 2009 (Trinity is 26, Tim is 28)

You might not think of the desert as a place of great renewal – windy sandstorms; twisted gnarly juniper trees; prickly cacti; scorpions and rattlesnakes – but that is exactly what the canyons and mesas of the eastern Utah desert was for Trinity and I last week: Renewal.

We had no idea how much we needed this retreat when we began talking about a road trip just a week or two before leaving. Sure, vacations are nice, and we got excited planning where we would camp out and what sites we would see, but before long this quickly planned vacation became for us so much more than that. I am not sure how well either of us can describe the depth of our experience, we’ve already had a hard time telling others about it, but I need to write about this for myself, and so, since I am putting it on (digital) paper, I figure I will share it too.

Part of what made the experience so momentous for us was that we read The Time Traveler’s Wife together during the trip. We have enjoyed reading together, and/or listening to audiobooks, since our long drives back and forth from Georgia to Missouri to visit family when we lived in Atlanta, so as soon as we began planning the trip, one of our questions was, what will we read together? I’m sure I will say much more about this beautiful story later, but for now, an introduction:

I am a bit embarrassed to admit this, but the thing that got me interested in this wonderful book was seeing the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation. I had judgmentally (and wrongly) assumed negative things about the sappy romantic nature of the book when Trinity had picked up a copy of it at a rummage sale, but the movie trailer made me rethink the book. The book is certainly romantic, but not even remotely sappy. It is romantic in a genuine and profound way, at least to me as I have experienced life and love.

Another way I would describe the book, which is what got me interested, is subtle science fiction. Again, not hokey sci-fi, but natural, believable, lifelike, and extremely intelligent. The characters inhabit a world only slightly different from our own (in which one of the main characters is plagued with chrono-displacement, or uncontrollable time travel), but the book is actually a timeless story about the people who live in this world, their relationship, personal journeys and struggles, love and commitment. It is a deep and moving story that I have been thinking of since we read the last page in eastern Colorado on the way back on Saturday. Something about the combination of being on the open road, and then the spacious and awesome Utah desert, without a schedule, just the two of us, at this present moment in our relationship and individual lives, made this story reach inside of us and grip us in a way neither of us have experienced for a long, long time. We are so thankful, and almost speechless about it.

Reading this sweeping life story of these two best friends and lovers has reminded me how much I love to write and tell stories, and so I am inspired to record this incredibly meaningful and reviving road trip to Utah. This week as we get back to work and routines and slowly unpack the mound of campfire scented supplies, air out the tent and sleeping bags, and sweep the left over terracotta colored sand from the living room floor, I need to do the same kind of careful unpacking of our experience. This is it.

2009-07-23T10:57:00.002-05:00

I made it into a New York Times article today about going without air conditioning. Check it out!

Summer is flying by

2009-07-02T10:08:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's July already!

Most of my work ends up happening on the computer, so when I'm not at work I don't feel so much like computer stuff, so the blog is suffering. Especially with so much gardening to do!

There has been a lot going on in our lives though that is worth blogging about. June was a busy month. I went to Jefferson City for the Missouri Poverty Summit, for stimulating discussions and presentations about the issues surrounding poverty and ways we can continue working to end it. We drove out to Parker Farms for the annual CSA get t0gether, and then one more time to fulfill our delivery duties. (CSA means community supported agriculture.)

Last week (the week that was 10 or more degrees over the average for June) I got to get out of this office for the week and paint houses. Jewell and the Center for Justice & Sustainability sponsored the Matthew 25 Project for which we partnered local groups from different racial, economic, and religious backgrounds from throughout Kansas City to join together and paint houses for some folks who couldn't afford it, thus preventing them from getting ridiculous fines from the city. Yes, the city writes citations for having chipped or peeling paint. I know because we currently have an outstanding citation on our record! We'll let you know how that works out for us.

Last weekend Trinity and I headed to St. Louis for my 10 year high school reunion. It was great to see so many old friends from high school and catch up with what everyone's been doing.

The highlight of the last few weeks has been the KC Center for Urban Agriculture's Urban Farms Tour. We went to a couple of seminars about different aspects of urban gardening/farming, and visited a few city farms too. Our wheels are spinning with crazy ideas of turning our backyard garden into a working farm business, and we've even been looking at empty lots in our neighborhood for expansion! Just to whet our appetite a bit, we have planted way more sweet potato slips than we could ever eat on our own (if they do well), so we might have some sweet potatoes for you to buy this fall. We'll see!

I Need a Break!

2009-06-08T19:23:00.003-05:00

I am taking some vacation days this week and am very excited! This is the most days I have taken off in a row - I know I need help =)

What do I plan to do with my time? I have thought of a few things so far:

Blog
Make jam with our homegrown strawberries
Read "In Defense of Food"
Clean out our third floor room of crap
Take naps
Paint the outside tables and chairs (maybe if it doesn't rain)
Drink coffee on the front porch in the mornings
Go to the neighborhood meeting
Volunteer at Cherith Brook
Go to a farmer's market

I have a tendency of making lists beyond what is actually doable but this is fun list that doesn't need to get done. Those are the best kind!

2009-06-01T08:57:00.003-05:00

This weekend we took it a little easier than we do sometimes. Trinity went to a conference about medical missions Friday & Saturday and got a lot of inspiration for working toward her nursing degree. We had a great time celebrating Matthew's birthday over a bonfire Friday night, and then went to the Parker Farm's meat CSA picnic with the Sweetens on Saturday. I made some progress on the yard and garden Saturday & Sunday, but didn't push myself too hard. (I even made time to watch one of my childhood favorites Crocodile Dundee Saturday morning!) Sunday morning we went to the Quaker meeting and participated in our first Quaker wedding. Afterward we stocked up at the library, did some housework and then layed out on a blanket in the yard with our new books. We rounded out the weekend by watching a new favorite movie: The World's Fastest Indian, based on a true story about an old man from New Zealand who came to the US in the 50s to break the land speed record for motorcycles. The story is that for the small size of bike that he customized so well no one will ever beat his record!

Earthquake in Honduras

2009-05-28T09:07:00.001-05:00

We woke up this morning to news of a major earthquake in Honduras. The 7.1 earthquake had its epicenter about 80 miles off the coast of La Ceiba - one of the cities we have visited many times during our Jewell trips. Because of the severity of the quake, the effects were felt far and wide, killing one boy so far, and knocking down bridges. Many of the cities and places mentioned in this AP report are right where we were just a few months ago, and where a few folks from Jewell are scheduled to head tomorrow morning.

We do not have word yet how this has effected our friends at Proyecto Alcance or at the village of Embarcadero.

6 years!

2009-05-26T09:04:00.002-05:00

Yep, that's how long we've been married. So far so good! After reflecting upon it, Trinity and I are glad to report we're both still happily married and planning on many more years together.

And, that's also how old Twister is. He's getting up there... but still going strong. He's not as hyper as he used to be, Allison & Wes can probably attest to the difference (and I must say, thank goodness), but he still just loves having company over, especially when there's food to steal. And I think Agnes keeps him feeling young.

Inside Joke

2009-05-07T10:15:00.004-05:00

We just got a great forward from someone in our neighborhood that I thought I'd share with the blog.

Grilling tip

Spring is here, so it's time to get ready for that time honored cooking technique of outdoor grilling!

I have just found out there are many stores where you can get a FREE Bar-B-Q grill! In these tough economic times free useful items are very welcome. You can get a free BBQ grill from any of the following stores:

A&P
Albertsons
Costco
Dan's
Food Lion
Fry's
Home Depot
Big Lots
Brookshire's
Lowes
Publix
Safeway
Sam's Club
Tesco
Target
Vons
Trader Joe's
Wal-Mart
Winn-Dixie

I especially like the higher rack -- which can be used for keeping things warm!
Just make sure to get a metal one... The plastic ones don't do so well.

We're big fans of reusing things at our house, so you might see one of these next time you come over!

Rock Out Reach Out

2009-04-21T10:11:00.001-05:00

I've been spending a great deal of energy on planning an event for the Center for Justice & Sustainability at Jewell with Anthony & Andy. It finally went down Saturday night, and I could not be more pleased with it!

Rock Out Reach Out was a huge success! Many thanks to everyone who helped out and came out to support our hard work, and more importantly, the hard work of the justice & sustainability community of Kansas City.

Here are the results:

Five bands & artists performed to benefit the organizations present.
Seventeen bands donated songs for the album (which is still available for a limited time).
Fourteen organizations shared their messages of justice & sustainability.

Over 300 people came out to the event.
Over 100 people signed up with the organizations present.
Over $2000 was raised for these organizations.

We shared the vision of the Center for Justice & Sustainability with Kansas City.
Learn. Practice. Partner.

And we're not the only ones who feel this way either. Check out this glowing review at the Pitch's blog: http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2009/04/rock_out_reach_out_roundup.php

Yes, you read that right, it says RORO "could serve as a model for all benefit rock shows to come." I new we did a good job, but now I am in shock!

2009-04-14T21:39:00.002-05:00

We had a beautiful spring evening here in KC tonight, so after work we spent a couple hours catching up on some yard work & gardening. The neighborhood kids were out enjoying the weather too, so they came over to "help." Trinity did a good job of finding them some helpful things to do, and I showed them how to use the reel lawn mower. They helped Trinity clean out the winter mulch cover from the strawberry patch.

The chickens seemed to have a good night in their new home. Every time we looked in on them they looked like they just settled right in. We opened the trap door this morning so they could get down to the grass, but they never ventured down there on their own. So, when we got home, Trinity grabbed each of them and showed them the way down!

After showing them the way, they enjoyed dinner down there and then when it started to get dark made their way back upstairs for the night. Success! We built a coop and it works! As long as it keeps the predators out... We sent Benton (our three-legged cat) out to be the first predator - I watch him stalk birds out the back window often - and he definitely tried to get in there. So far, we still have three chickens and one hungry cat. Here are pictures:

Benton also basked in the sun for a while before he went back to hunting.

The Ladies

2009-04-13T20:35:00.001-05:00

The Ladies are spending their first night outside in the new coop tonight! I finally put the finishing touches on it after work today and we just put them out there. We'll let you know how it goes!

2009-04-10T18:10:00.004-05:00

I worked on the coop a bit more today. Here it is - the only thing left to do is figure out our roof. We were going to use some shingles that my Dad had left over, but our door is causing some confusion on my part as to how to roof it. I started to put them on, but the shingles need to overlap, and if they overlap at the hinges, then we can't open the door... Not to mention the fact that our moveable coop would be a lot heavier with the asphalt shingles. Today I slathered water-sealer everywhere I could reach.

I used some of the scraps to make a nesting box. The consensus online is that one nesting box should be enough for our three chickens. Speaking of the chickens, here they are, definitely getting bigger. They're starting to cluck a little bit instead of just chirping like chicks! I am eager to get the roof figured out so they can stretch they're legs outside.

We started the day with rain, so I spent a couple hours working on one of out other unfinished projects. We might regret this later, but we decided to take down the plaster walls in the bathroom. They were cracked and patched so many times that we decided they just needed a fresh start.

And, I'm also trying to start some seeds indoors. It's going okay, but our drafty house is definitely stunting their growth. It's been pretty slow going, but making some progress.

Chicken update

2009-04-05T11:27:00.005-05:00

We started building the chicken coop this weekend (finally). We were trying to get it finished before "winter returned again, but after an hour in the increasingly cold rain this morning, we decided the roof would have to wait - well, our numb dysfunctional fingers decided for us... The chicks are growing quickly - actually they are "pullets" now, which means adolescent chickens - but the farmer we got them from said they're still too small to go out in this cold spell, so we still have time to finish the coop. Here are some pictures from the building process. Not too bad considering it's the first thing Trinity or I have ever built from scratch, if I do say so myself!

We think we've decided to call the chickens the Ladies, like we used to call the goldfish the Guys. We can't really tell them apart enough to give them each names. We brought them outside for a few hours while we worked on their new home. It was a beautiful day, and they loved it. We could tell right away that they're ready to be outside instead of stuck inside. If only the weather would cooperate.

The chickens are already bringing people together. Neighbors saw us working on the coop and stopped by all day, including these girls. They stop by all the time anyway, but they were especially interested in the chickens.

I was determined to get as much done as possible this weekend, so we kept working until we could barely see anymore. I got up this morning pretty early and got a lot more done, but I haven't taken any more pictures since it started raining. All we have left to do is shingles and painting the few parts that won't be covered by shingles. We're almost done!

Our latest project!

2009-03-23T11:31:00.004-05:00

We have taken another step in our urban gardening project. Say hello to the new members of our family!

Spring Forward

2009-03-09T11:23:00.002-05:00

We had a blank calendar slate this weekend, so even though we "lost" an hour, we gained a lot of time to regroup. It feels like it's been forever since we've had this much energy, and it feels good to be back! Here's what we accomplished.

Fixed the downstairs shower and officially moved into the downstairs bathroom.
Got a gas leak fixed. (No telling how long this has been going on... We never noticed the gas smell in the basement before, so hopefully not long!)
Did a bunch of dishes.
Made a bunch of chicken broth.
Did prep work to make dinner for 30+ people at the Shalom House.
Made pumpkin muffins.
Did 2 weeks worth of laundry. (Since we were out of town last weekend)
CSA pickup & grocery shopping for the week.
Made progress on smoothing the bathroom walls...
Made progress on stripping the bathroom trim...
Made progress on clearing a decade of weeds in the back corner of the yard...
Got a HUGE roll of black landscaping plastic and started covering the garden to warm the soil.
Started some seeds (tomatoes, broccoli, various flowers & herbs) and ordered some others online.
Burned some brush. (Don't worry, it was all in the fire pit)
Hung out with some neighborhood kids. (Agnes' former family. The fire brought them over!)
Trinity studied some anatomy.
Tim gave himself a haircut.

And somehow we still had time to sleep and veg out in front of some HGTV for motivation. Seems like the motivation worked!

Bathroom Update

2009-02-23T22:49:00.009-06:00

When we went to bed Saturday night, Tim soaked the paint covered hinges in a water based paint stripper.

It worked pretty well on the part that was soaked.

Before we moved into our house, they textured the walls and did a horrible job. We have wanted to fix this but weren't sure how. Tim woke up Sunday morning on a mission to have smooth walls! He sanded the walls which worked really well. Then he primed and painted one part of the wall as a test. Thank you for the paint, Allison! Here is what it looks like:

The trim will go over the part on the right and cover up the holes you see. It looks much better without the texture but it was hard to get in a picture. I will take more pictures as we move onto more parts.

While Tim was working on the walls, I began the tedious process of stripping the trim. It is going to take a long time and lots of elbow grease but it will be so worth it. Here they are after 2-3 coats have been removed - only 2-3 more to go. Can you imagine our bathroom trim the pink color?

Here are some other projects we are also working on for the bathroom.

My mom gave us a cabinet she got from an antique store that has been cut for a vessel sink.

Today I bought this red sink on Ebay for 1/2 price!

This is a picture of the shower curtain that my mom got us for Christmas that we using as our color inspiration.

Now that we have started our first renovation/remodel in our house, we have been coming up with tons of other ideas - thanks largely to the This Old House magazines that Tim's dad has given us. We are interested in tiling the shower in place of the lovely plastic insert that we have currently. Since neither one of us know how to tile, it will be the last project of the bathroom. If anyone knows how to tile and wants to teach us how, please let me know.

We have really been enjoying working on the house! These projects are the reason that we bought this house and it is nice to actually get a project started. I guess I should be more excited when it is actually finished! If you anyone wants to come check it out in person (much better than pictures), you are always welcome. Don't worry we have another bathroom downstairs.

Honse Home Improvement, Inc.

2009-02-21T22:54:00.006-06:00

We woke up this morning and decided it was finally time to do some real work on our house. Our sister, Allison, gave us some paint a couple of months ago which matches the new shower curtain and rug that my mom gave us for Christmas. Since we had paint and the bathroom is pretty small, it seemed like the best place to start.

We got our supplies and were ready to prime and paint. Next thing you know we have started taking apart the bathroom!

This was our light and medicine cabinet that we took off. They had a wood frame behind the medicine cabinet.

This is what it looks like now

Then we decided that if we were going to do this then we were going to do it right! Tim took off all of the baseboards, molding and even the door.

Here is the "finished" product

We are going to work on it some more tomorrow and will post updated pictures soon. We had a lot of fun today and are excited to finally work on our house!

Tim's New Blog

2008-12-15T14:50:00.003-06:00

FYI - I have started another blog for my more reflective stuff, like I used to post on One's-Self I Sing. You can find it here if you're interested: http://www.volume2kc.blogspot.com/

Trinity will keep posting here at the Zoo.

Wood Minus Brown Paint = Beautiful

2008-11-25T10:46:00.005-06:00

This is what the stairs look like after we ripped the carpet off them. All of the wood on the 1st floor is painted this same brown color.

This is what it looked like after Tim used some Lift Off.

It will take a lot of time to remove all these years of paint but it will be well worth it! We'll keep you posted.

The Cold Has Brought Us Inside

2008-11-24T20:26:00.003-06:00

Don't worry this was done on purpose. We have never had access to our attic but it is kind of necessary for blowing insulation - so we made one! The finished product is below.

However, Tim had to make another one in the front room because the roof was so narrow in the back room. It was all worth it because thanks to Tim and Andrew our house is much more insulated. Well it will be once the holes to the attic are closed up...

We got a bed skirt for our bed this weekend which is the only one we've had in the 5 1/2 years we have been married.

Tim's dad has been graciously passing on his This Old House magazines to us and I love them! I found a "reader remodel" that we love. It inspired us to work on stripping the wood in our house. The wood on the first floor is all painted brown and the wood on the 2nd and 3rd floors is white (often sprayed with texture and then painted over). Tim bought some Lift Off and started on the stairs railing. The wood underneath is beautiful. I read that we can remove the paint with a washing soda paste overnight. We'll give it a try sometime and see what happens. We have also been reading about making stains with coffee and tea.

Watermelon Picture

2008-08-18T16:41:00.000-05:00

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Blogger Mobile

2008-08-18T14:19:00.000-05:00

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Watermelon

2008-08-17T20:56:00.000-05:00

We picked a watermelon last night but when we cut it open tonight it wasn't quite ripe. I took a picture of it on my new blackberry but I haven't figured out how to load it on here. Maybe I'll post on here more often now =)

News

2008-08-13T07:00:00.002-05:00

William Jewell College (my alma mater) is starting a Center for Justice and Sustainability, which Andy Pratt, the Vice President for Religious Ministries and Dean of the Chapel, will be directing for its first few years. I have accepted a position at the Center to help Dr. Pratt get it off the ground, as well as assist with many of his duties as Chaplain, including teaching a couple of college courses per semester. I am so excited! I will start off teaching 3 courses: Introduction to Ministry Skills, Meeting Human Needs & Alleviating Suffering, and supervising students in Ministry Internships. I will also be the sponsor of a ministry group on campus, as well as help out with Christian Student Ministries. And then, there's a whole other world of helping Dr. Pratt with the Center, which I am so excited about. Who knows what that will look like!

I will start Sept. 1, so I will get a whopping 2 whole weekend days off between jobs! Actually, that's orientation weekend for the first year students, so I'll probably be there to help out too. And it looks like I’ll be doing homework until then, preparing for the classes, which start that week. I suppose that’s the life of a professor (Just kidding!).

More pics

2008-07-27T10:06:00.006-05:00

Mom and Dad got tired of looking at the same post, so they sent some of their pictures of the garden to show you. Thank Mom & Dad! (From everyone who reads the blog).

Potatoes

Black walnuts (not quite ripe yet...)

Green bean

Green chilies

Brussels sprouts (these still have a long way to go)

Cabbage

Corn

And lastly, a picture from the recent Harder Reunion (Granny's family). This year was Granny's turn to host, so Mom & Aunt Pam, along with their husbands of course, did a wonderful job of pulling it off. Thanks for all your hard work! It was perfect and I know Granny would have been proud.

Roasted Beets with Feta

2008-06-24T18:51:00.002-05:00

Remember those beets you just read about? Well, I just tried the best beet recipe ever!

I've been making borscht (Easter European beet soup) for a while now, but since we have two rows of beets I figure I need to branch out and find some other ways to make them. Well, here's the next regular in Tim's recipe rotation:

Roasted Beets with Feta from allrecipes.com

I would have taken a picture to show you, but no sooner had I taken the first bite then I gobbled it all down. Even if you don't think you like beets, do yourself a favor and track some down and make this recipe. You will change your mind about beets! And if you already love them, then this will make you drool.

Grace

2008-06-22T21:32:00.004-05:00

Many years ago, I brought a kitten home (yes, I did it then too). I was on a retreat (8 or so years ago) and found a kitten who was orphaned. I brought it home and convinced my mom to let us keep it. At some point we had to get rid of her, so my sister/cousin agreed to take her. She has had her ever since but now she is going to college and unable to keep her. We agreed to try and add her to our family. She has been here since last Tuesday and has met everyone for a minute. We have kept her in our room to try and help her and everyone else adjust. She is very sweet and we hope it works out, especially with Agnes, because she like to chase cats. We'll let you know how it goes...

Harvest

2008-06-22T21:00:00.009-05:00

I have realized that if someone only read our blog, it would appear that we planted a lot of seeds but haven't gotten any food. It has been really neat to get vegetables from our backyard. Here are some pictures of our harvests so far:

Beets

Cabbage

Carrot - the rest of these are still growing

Collard greens - Tim's favorite garden treat

1 of the 3 strawberries we have grown - my favorite garden treat

Potatoes - most of these are still growing as well

Butterleaf lettuce - we have gotten SO much of this!

A Death in the Zoo

2008-06-13T09:53:00.003-05:00

After a long battle with fungus, one of the Guys died this week. We at the Zoo are sad for our own loss, and especially for the other Guy, but in reality he had been suffering from this chronic illness for about a year now, so I believe he is better off now.

We don't know much about his life before joining us at the Zoo, but we believe him to have been around 10 years old! All we know is that many years ago Mark & Ashley, some fellow animal loving friends from Atlanta, saved him and a few other Guys from a neglected pond in their apartment complex. When Mark and Ashley moved from Atlanta to Kansas, they were concerned about the long trip, so they moved the two remaining Guys into our apartment and we have cared for them ever since. After discussing it with the Guys, we all agreed that at such an old age it would be better for them to move to KC with us rather than to start over with another family, so they made the move with us and seemed no worse for the wear. The Guy is survived by his longtime friend and companion, the other Guy.

We have enjoyed many years of entertainment, companionship, and conversation. Guy, you will be missed.

Job possibility

2008-06-03T14:19:00.003-05:00

So, you all know that my current job is only a one year thing. I'm thinking of joining Octagon Global Recruiting after this. Looks interesting. I'm waiting to hear from a recruiter now.

Busy, Busy

2008-05-19T22:26:00.008-05:00

We have been doing lots of projects around and outside the house lately. I was excited to buy our house and have a yard but it has been so much better than I even imagined. I really enjoy fixing up our yard and our house. We are having a party on Saturday to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and housewarming. This is the first party we have thrown since we moved and y'all know how we get about parties. We have been working really hard (and having lot of fun) this week to get some projects off our list. Here are some we have been working on:

We built a fire pit in our side yard - now we just need firewood...

This is a farther away picture - we hung a hammock in the trees on the left side of the yard. I will get a better picture of it soon.

Tim got an electric trimmer and has been meticulously trimming the yard ever since - it looks awesome!

Tim also planted some tomato and pepper plants. We still have beans, watermelons, pumpkins, corn and other warm season vegetables to plant.

I hope to post more pictures soon of all of the other projects we have been working on.

Red Potatoes

2008-05-13T23:28:00.005-05:00

This is what they looked like when we planted them

One great thing about the cool season vegetables (everything we have planted so far) is that we can plant them once more in the fall. Hopefully we will have potatoes to eat all winter!

They are really pretty plants that will have flowers on them. The potatoes are ready when
all of the green dies. I really want to pull one up now and see what is growing but
I have resisted the urge. If something happens and we don't end up with
potatoes, it's nice to know that we can try again in the fall.

Garden Update

2008-05-06T20:13:00.018-05:00

I know it has been a long time since we posted (sorry!) but after you see the pictures below, I think you will see why.

We actually have vegetables growing! Here is the garden as of yesterday. I am going to post more posts with pictures of each vegetable.

We have also been planting some fruit trees and bushes. We have planted 2 apple trees (red and yellow), 6 raspberry plants, and 16 strawberry plants all in the front yard. Here are some pictures of those:

Strawberries in the front of the house

This is what the strawberry plants looked like when we got them

This is what they look like now. They will get flowers on them later but we have to pinch them off so the nutrients go the roots and fruit instead of the flowers. We should get some strawberries this year but it will be much less than next year. I will be pleased with just 1 strawberry - okay maybe 3 so that Tim, Susie and I can get our own.

This one of the apple trees. I should have taken a picture before Tim pruned. It looked much larger the other day. It has to be pruned once each year - looks kinda sad now.

These are the raspberry plants - yum! The tall cane on the left is all that there was when we got them. The green is all new!

Tim used old tires to build our compost pile. To turn the pile, we simply move each layer.

Free Water! Tim also set up a rain barrel to catch the rainwater. Thanks to Cherith Brook for giving us the barrels. Now we just have to wait for it to rain...

This is the last bed that we hand tilled - now we get to pull all of the weeds and roots out of it.

We have lots more beds to till to get the warm season seeds in the ground. We plan to go all the way across the yard with beds. It is hard work but we are REALLY enjoying it!

Another picture of the beds. I'll post pictures of the vegetables soon!

Parker Farms and Free Mulch

2008-04-06T22:28:00.005-05:00

Tim, Susan and I went with Stephanie and Madeline to the KC Food Circle's "Local Food Expo" on Saturday. There were lots of CSAs and other local farmers there. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture which generally means that you make a commitment to support a farmer throughout the year or growing season and they in turn give you a share of the harvest. We were part of one in Atlanta last summer and it was a really neat experience. I really enjoyed building a relationship with the people growing our food. It is also enables the farmers to maintain a more steady stream of income. They all work very differently - some you spend time at the farm and some you don't, some do only produce and others do more, some you pay by the week and others you pay all up front, etc, etc - find the one that works for you.

We hope to grow enough this year that we won't need to buy any or very little produce this summer - we'll see. We did however decide to join the CSA at Parker Farms that is solely meat (beef, chicken, lamb, hog and eggs). They are a family in Richmond, Missouri that raises everything organic and free-range themselves. We are splitting a share with Matthew, Stephanie and Madeline which should give us all a healthy amount of meat. I am really looking forward to knowing exactly where my meat came from and getting to go out to the farm a couple of times. We'll let you know how it goes!

While we were there, Tim sat in on a workshop by Food Not Lawns and learned a lot. One of the resources that they informed everyone about was free mulch offered by the city at the leaf and brush drop off site. We had been looking at mulch and weighing the impact that it has on the earth but finally a free, local, completely recycled option! We were still skeptical but sure enough when we showed up, this is what we found:

We put a tarp in the back of our car and loaded it up - we even came back a second time for more. I will post updated pictures of the garden this week.

The Honse Garden

2008-03-30T21:35:00.011-05:00

We have been spending lots of time in the garden lately - tilling, raking, weeding, de-rocking and finally planting. We have wanted to grow our own food for many years now and finally get to do it. I am really enjoying working in the dirt and am excited about fresh produce from the backyard. We also hope to can and freeze this summer - we'll let you know how it goes. I promise to post more often about the garden and other things we are up to!

Here is a picture of Tim using the tiller from Cherith Brook:

Here is what it looked like after we tilled it:

Here is what it looked like at the end of today - we have come a long way:

We joined the Kansas City Community Gardens and would recommend getting involved with them (if you live in KC). We also ordered 2 apple trees, strawberry and raspberry plants through them that will come in April.

Crops We Have Planted So Far:
Broccoli (2 kinds)
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Beets
Turnips
Romaine Lettuce
Spinach
Potatoes
Onions
Collard Greens

One of the Seed Potatoes We Planted

Broccoli and Cabbage Plants

Tim's Sister, Susan, (also our new roommate) has been a huge help in the garden

Can you believe those will become carrots!?!

I didn't want y'all to think that I just take pictures and don't do any actual work in the garden

Easter

2008-03-24T22:01:00.006-05:00

Tim & I hosted my family (about 16 people) for Easter at our house. This is the first time we have been with our families on Easter in 4 years. It was really great to be with them all and even better to have them at our house. Tim did almost all of the cooking (no surprise there) and we had tons of leftovers.

My sister, Merci and Luke spent the night the night before and we had a lot of fun. It is a tradition I hope to continue. Here are some pictures:

My sister, mom and me

My 8 month old nephew, Gavin

My sister made everyone their own "egg person." Isn't it cool!

How much does eyesight cost you might ask?

2008-02-26T09:03:00.003-06:00

I got the first, pre-insurance bill yesterday for $50,000!!!! That's for a 1 week stay at the hospital, a surgery, a bunch of drugs, and three brain scans. Considering that they literally saved my vision and alleviated what had become completely debilitating headaches, I guess that's a reasonable price!

Reba and Kelly

2008-02-19T22:38:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday, my friend Laura and I went to the Reba and Kelly concert at the Sprint Center. It was such a cool experience. They both sang the entire concert and took turns singing back up on each other's songs. Kelly Clarkson sounds even better live. We had a really good time and the show was awesome. Tim stayed home and watched a zombie movie so it worked out for us both.

Laura and I at the concert

The view from our seats

P.S. We have gotten a lot of unpacking done lately and are getting a lot more settled. I promise to post updated pictures soon!

My Sweet Valentine

2008-02-15T22:42:00.004-06:00

When I turned on the computer today, I found a very sweet Valentine's surprise. Tim had put the picture below as the background on my laptop. How sweet!

Therapy

2008-02-14T10:41:00.008-06:00

Blasting your stereo as loud as you can might not be the most usual therapy after brain surgery, but so far it has by far been the best (right behind sleeping in my own bed). And the best part is I don't have to worry about bothering any apartment neighbors because there are yards and yards between us and the neighbors now. I got this awesome stereo years ago, and I've never gotten to turn it up this loud! I can hear it in every room in the house. I have dreamed of this since I was a teenager. Here's hoping I don't blow out the speakers.

Here's what's blasting now:
the Foo Fighters' Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

Home Sweet Home

2008-02-12T21:45:00.006-06:00

We finally closed on our house on February 1st! We are really excited to get more settled and start planning the spring garden. Above is a picture of the mantle in our living room, which perfectly describes how we feel. It feels so nice to have some room to breathe and stretch out. Twister, Agnes, Frances and Grant love the new house. Agnes will run up the steps in the entryway and run down the steps in the back near the kitchen.

We had lots of help moving - thanks to Andrew, Ben, Chris, Katie, Matthew, Stephanie, Gerry, Karissa, Chris, Jill, Lily, Jason, Mom, Dad, Allison, and Susan. We could not have done without you.

The house didn't come with any appliances but thanks to the kindness of others, we didn't have to pay a dime. We found a working stove/oven on the side of the road for free in St. Louis which Tim's family brought to us. Then Papa and Ruth gave us a refrigerator, my mom and sister gave us their washer and dryer and we got a deep freezer off of CraigsList (which currently smells like death but we have hope).

We really don't want to just fill our house up with stuff (and you need to hold us to that) and are looking forward to sharing the space with others. We have plenty of space for visitors and welcome you anytime you are able to come!

Here are Tim and Merci cleaning up the kitchen for us to move in

Tim's mom took LOTS of pictures (THANK YOU) when they came to help us move which I will post soon.

No Wonder Tim's Nose Hurt After Surgery...

2008-02-12T21:36:00.005-06:00

he had one of those up each nostril! Dr. Hylton came by today and took Tim's splints out of his nose. Tim was a little nervous about them coming out but feels much better now. He is able to get out of bed and we even went to the cafeteria to get ice cream to celebrate. The doctor said that he can probably go home tomorrow afternoon - yeah! He has to stay home for 7-10 days but that is so much better than the hospital.

Lucky for me, Tim also gets to take a shower for the first time since Friday morning. Here he is pre-shower:

Even though you may not be able to tell from the picture, the doctor did not restrict ME from taking a shower. Just trying to be supportive (sounds good right!)

It All Started With a Headache...

2008-02-10T14:14:00.000-06:00

If you aren't aware yet of what is going on with Tim, I promise it is not as bad as it sounds. I apologize if you are finding out this way but I am out of energy - it is nothing personal. Last Friday, February 1st, we closed on our house - finally! We had been moving the week prior a little at a time but the final push was that weekend. Tim's family showed up Friday night and we woke up Saturday morning ready to move. Tim woke up with a headache but figured he just didn't get enough sleep. It continued getting progressively worse all day Saturday and Sunday and no medicine seemed to help. Sunday night it got even worse so we called the doctor first thing on Monday morning.

They couldn't get us in until Monday afternoon and it was still getting worse. We went Monday afternoon and since he didn't have a history of headaches, they ordered us for a CT scan immediately. They said they would call that night but we never heard anything. Finally, Tuesday morning they told us that there was an abnormality in his pituitary gland in his brain and ordered Tim for a MRI Tuesday night. However around noon, Tim could no longer stand the pain so we went to the emergency room. It was a good thing that we did because the pain got so bad that Tim fainted on his way to his room. They gave him some pain medication and got him in for the MRI.

They admitted us Tuesday night so that they could continue to manage his pain. That night was pretty rough as he was in a lot of pain and I didn't know what was wrong. They pretty much just doped him up on morphine throughout the night. Finally Wednesday morning a neurologist came to tell us that Tim had a tumor in his pituitary gland. They are almost always benign when they are in the pituitary so that was a huge relief. It is about 1 or 1.5cm in size compared to the pea sized pituitary. They were able to give Tim a steroid that helped with the swelling and took away his headache. They showed us the MRI scans of his brain with the tumor and showed that it was pressing on his optic chiasm (where his optic nerves cross). They were very surprised that he hadn't had any vision problems but wanted to do surgery so it didn't cause any problems in the future.

Wednesday and Thursday really were a blur - waiting for doctor after doctor - more MRIs - more doctors. Finally on Thursday a really great neurosurgeon who specializes in the pituitary gland, Dr. Hylton, came to talk to us about the surgery. He walked us through the surgery and even gave me a shopping list of things that would make Tim more comfortable after the surgery. If you put your fingers at your temple and in between your eyes and go straight back then your pituitary is right there in the center of your head. They are able to make an incision in the underneath of your top lip and go through your sinus cavity to his pituitary - no cool scars for Tim! They scheduled the surgery for 11:00am on Friday.

Thursday night we watched Lost with Chris and Kate and ate junk all night because Tim couldn't eat after midnight. He had a huge party following him down to the surgery area - me, Chris, my mom, my sister, my nephew and his parents. The surgery took 2 1/2 hours (as they expected) and then we were able to see him in the recovery area. It was a day of waiting and waiting. The surgery went well and Tim is doing well. They put him in the ICU as a precaution to watch him extra closely. He is doing well and will hopefully get out of the ICU and into a regular room tonight. He will likely be in the hospital 3-5 days and then at home for 1 week-10 days.

Thank you for all of you that have been praying and thinking of us! We really appreciate it! I will try to post an update later.

Here is a picture of Tim yesterday in the recovery area:

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T09:03:00.000-06:00

We celebrated the coming of the new year with Chris and Kate and a bunch of folks from their church last night. Chris had the great idea to have people share some of their picks for "bests" from 2007. Here are some of ours, what are yours?

Best Album (Tim): Magic by Bruce Springsteen

Best Book (Tim): Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Best Book (Trinity): The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Best TV (Trinity): Army Wives
Best TV discovery (Tim): The Office
Favorite New Hobby (Trinity): Knitting & Sewing
Favorite New Clothing Item (Tim): Knitted Scarves!
Best Movie (Trinity): Knocked Up
Favorite New Thing to Do: Spending the weekend with Merci, Luke, & Gavin (and then sending them home)
Least Favorite New Thing to Do (Tim): Taking out 2 dogs at once
Other Least Favorite Thing to Do: Living in an apartment that is too small for us!
New Year's Resolution: To post more on our blog

Tim's Cheddarvision

2008-01-01T09:02:00.000-06:00

Maybe you've heard of or seen cheddarvision? Well, here's my version:

Saturday I started with 2 gallons of Shatto whole milk and a cheesemaking kit from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company and after some water bathing, stirring, separating, draining, and pressing this is what I've come up with so far.

I have a few more days of drying and turning before I give it a couple of coats of wax, and then after 4 weeks (or 6 months) we'll be ready to taste the results.

I think I'll slice this one open after the 4 week mark to give it a taste since its the first try, and then we'll go from there. I'll update my cheddarvision pics every once in a while so you can see the progress.

Christmas Pics

2008-01-01T09:01:00.000-06:00

With Tim's side of the family

with Trinity's side

Good Times in Atlanta

2008-01-01T09:00:00.000-06:00

With Carey's help I figured out a new settings tweek on my camera for darker rooms like this (other than a tripod that is), AFTER I took these pictures. They'll look better from now on...

Thanks to everyone who helped me surprise Trinity with a graduation party at our old favorite haunt Manuel's Tavern. We had a blast, and it was so good to reconnect with all of you.

We also got to attend the Spencer's annual Christmas party, meet Baby Little, have breakfast with Jon & Say, sit in some good ol' Atlanta traffic, have Willie's & Felini's with Andrew & Christina & Jim, ride the MARTA, have breakfast with Trinity's favorite boss/coworker/friend Jennifer & Colin, and bum a ride from Kim & Carey. I'm sure that's not all we did, but I'm worn out just trying to remember it all! Oh yeah, and here's some pics from Trinity's graduation. (Isn't she so cute!)

Bonding with Twister

2007-12-10T14:54:00.001-06:00

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

2007-12-08T23:01:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-09T22:15:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-25T08:56:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-18T14:35:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-02T21:17:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-28T20:53:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-28T14:33:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-23T12:06:00.001-05:00

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!

2007-08-20T20:46:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-19T11:18:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-19T10:21:00.000-05:00

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!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Moving In

2007-08-04T11:53:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-04T11:21:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-31T20:20:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-07-26T12:04:00.001-05:00

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

2007-07-24T12:20:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-23T15:20:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-22T22:24:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-07-22T22:09:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-20T22:40:00.000-05:00

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.

Going Away Party - Part 1

2007-07-19T09:38:00.000-05:00

Our great friends, Andrew and Christina, hosted a Going Away Party for us last night with our small group. They made a delicious dinner of salad, green beans, rice, gravy, crispy chicken and homemade pound cake for dessert. It is sad for all of us to talk about us leaving, but we made sure to have lots of laughs as well. We are very lucky to have such wonderful friends. I'll post more pictures as soon as I get them.

Cindi and I taking one of our "do-it-yourself" photos

Yummy...homemade pound cake

Our New Apartment in KC

2007-07-17T11:51:00.001-05:00

Click this link to view a slideshow of pictures of our new apartment. It is in the Northeast Historic District of Kansas City. We are excited about living with Tim's cousin, Michael, having Chris and Katie as our upstairs neighbors, Cherith Brook around the corner and getting to know our other neighbors.

Here is a picture of our front yard. We are going to put a table and chairs out there to be more intentional about knowing our neighbors and spending time outside.

This is our backyard which we hope to add some color to.

Welcome Gavin Isaiah Russell!

2007-07-13T18:45:00.000-05:00

My sister, Jenna, finally had Gavin this morning (Friday) at 5:00am! He was 5lbs 13 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. My mom, my other sister Brittany, Merci, Luke and I were all in the room when he was born. It was such a neat experience for all of us. Even though I flew back to Atlanta just a few hours later and was very tired, it was definitely worth it. Here are some pictures of our new nephew, Gavin!

A Note from Tim & Trinity to DHBC

2007-07-09T06:59:00.000-05:00

I noticed many faces missing from church yesterday that I want to share something with. I read a version of the following at the end of the worship service yesterday morning. I've changed it a bit to suit reading on here rather than hearing us say it in person, but this is basically it:

July 8, 2007

In the last year or so Trinity and I have made multiple trips back and forth to Missouri for various reasons. In addition to the regular holiday trip or two, Trinity's grandma had a serious heart attack, I performed my first wedding for my cousin, my sister graduated from college, and you all remember that my grandma died just a little more than a month ago after a couple of years of slow deterioration. Trinity is also going back for a quick trip this week to be there for the birth of her sister's third baby. As you can see, a lot has been going on in the lives of our families. Thankfully we have been able to get back to Missouri for so much of that – we are so grateful to you our church for being so flexible and understanding as we have traveled, and for helping pick up the slack from my absences on some Sundays. But all of this traveling back and forth, and the long distance relationships with our families have been hard on all of us, and after much thought we have reached the difficult decision that it is time for us to move so that we can be there for our families in ways that we cannot be here, at so far a physical distance from them. So, this morning we wanted to let you all know that our last Sunday here with you will be July 29th. My dad is going to come down to help us finish packing Monday, July 30, and we will make the drive up to Missouri on Tuesday, July 31. We will move into our new apartment in Kansas City, MO on August 1st.

We have known for quite a few months now actually that this day was coming soon, we just weren't sure about the details yet, or really about the best way to let you all know about it. As a result of not knowing how to tell people, we have not tried to keep this decision a secret, but we obviously had not made an official announcement yet either, because we didn't want to do it too early. As with so many other milestones of my time of working for this church, neither Trinity or I have ever done this before, so some people have found out at different times and in different ways in the last few months, and others might just be finding out at this very moment. This kind of decision is a hard and messy one, and I hope that everyone understands how difficult it can be to navigate through the timing of letting you all know. I am sure we have not done it perfectly, and perhaps some have wished they had found out in a different way, but I hope that any shock of finding this out will not get in the way of saying goodbye in the coming weeks.

Now, some might think I should ignore this elephant in the room, but you all know I don't do that very well, so let's just get right to it. I know some people are bound to think that we are leaving because of the controversy and accusations some folks made about me. I am not going to tell you that that painful experience has not deeply affected Trinity and me in serious ways, but please believe me when I tell you that that is not why we are leaving. We are not running away because of what happened. We had actually already decided before any of that happened that sometime this summer would be when we moved. It was on our drives back and forth to Missouri last Thanksgiving and Christmas that Trinity and I began talking about moving back there, and I told Jonathan and Gerry about our decision to do so before any of that controversy unfolded. Whatever pain any of us still have as a hold over from that experience, I want this to be clear because I don't want anyone involved in that to get the blame for our leaving. We had already made our decision, and I am deeply saddened that our last six months here unfolded in the way that they did, but none of that changed the fact that this day was coming soon for us anyway. Regardless of what happened, no one deserves to be the scapegoat for the sadness that our moving brings with it.

When friends have grown as close as we have in the last four years, moving is a very hard and sad thing no matter the circumstances, and we must keep that in perspective as we move through the coming weeks together.

We have not reached this decision easily, and there is so much that we wish to say to you friends. This church has meant so much to us these last four years, and we cannot imagine our lives without you. While we are going to gain much by moving closer to our families, you will be greatly missed, and I hope you know that for me our relationship with you all has been one of a kind. I have dreamed of being a minister since I was a small boy, and it is here that you all allowed and encouraged me to dive in and see what that dream was really about. For that I am deeply grateful and I know that I will draw from the lessons learned here for the rest of my life as a minister. God and Trinity and I are still working out the details of what that ministry is going to look like in the coming years, but my relationships and experiences here at this church have been pivotal in that process.

So many of you have also been just plain wonderful friends to Trinity and me, and we hope that we can continue to be friends for years to come. Thank you so much for these years of friendship and support and encouragement through all the good, the bad, and the in-between that we have been through together. We love you very much, and I hope that we can all commit to being creative in the way that we proceed from here. For better or for worse, probably in reality there is a little of both mixed in there, we have approached our roles here in non-traditional ways, and so we are also in non-traditional territory as we say goodbye and as we depart this place. Your guess is as good as mine as to where our relationships will go from here, but we are committed to being as creative with that future as we have been up to this point.

We are not exactly sure what we are going to do when we get to Kansas City – we only know that right now we are following our hearts and the confusing but compelling still small voice of God, which is leading us back to Missouri. When I was at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship meetings a little over a week ago, a missionary couple told us about their sense of call to a new place in another part of the world – they didn't know exactly what God had for them to do there, but they knew they had to go. As they told their story I felt like they were telling our story. Along with my cousin and some old friends from college we are going to move into a poor urban neighborhood in historic northeast Kansas City and see what God has for us to do there as his hands and his feet. We will likely not get paid for that, but we have faith that we will find other ways to pay our bills. We both plan to find jobs within the community in which we will be living. Trinity plans to enter a Master of Social Work program after we have lived there for a year. I hope that we can keep you all up to date about things as we get settled and enter this new chapter in our lives. Who knows, maybe I'll even start another blog!

Sincerely,
Tim & Trinity Honse

Welcome!

2007-07-08T15:44:00.000-05:00

As you can see, we've had this blog for a couple of years now. The original plan had been to keep our families and friends back in Missouri posted on what was going on with us in Atlanta. We didn't do such a good job of updating it frequently, but we want that to change. Now we plan for this to be a place to share with our extended family from Druid Hills Baptist Church, the Atlanta Emergent Cohort, the schools Trinity and I went to, and whoever else wants to check in on us. We will miss you all as we head to Missouri, but we hope this blog will help you stay connected to what we are finding to do in Kansas City.

A Bittersweet Day

2006-09-19T10:41:00.000-05:00

I am feeling guilty sitting in our apartment this rainy fall Atlanta day because I am enjoying total peace and quiet for the first time in over a year. Our birds John and Yoko have been adopted by someone else and went to live at their new home last night.

We brought them home from the pet store a little over a year ago, and we had a wonderful honeymoon phase, and then a decent post-honeymoon phase, and then I graduated and began spending many of my days at home seeking some rest and peace and quiet and sabbatical... John and Yoko were not very cooperative with that... When I was at school so much I never realized how talkative John and Yoko are all day long, but now though my schedule had changed drastically, their's had not.

The three of us tried to work it out throughout this summer, we experimented with a variety of solutions, but nothing seemed to work, so after much painful deliberation and guilt-filled angst (I wish I was joking, but sadly I really am that feeling) John and Yoko and I decided it would be best to find them a new home. I put some signs up at a few places and yesterday a young man who lives nearby named Ivan called to see if they really were free. He was so excited and called me a few times yesterday with questions and to see if he could come over earlier than we had originally arranged. His enthusiasm helped me feel better about sending them to live with someone else, though I was still sad to see them go, and feeling like I was abandoning them.

A few minutes before Ivan was supposed to arrive I went into the bedroom to say goodbye to John and Yoko and as soon as I began talking to them there was a knock at the front door - Ivan was early! So, we had to rush our goodbyes, but again, it was because Ivan was so excited to meet them.

So today I am enjoying the bittersweet quiet of no constant bird-chirping. I do not regret our decision - I am sure Ivan heaped much deserved attention on them last night and will again today when he returns from school - but it has also been over a year since the apartment has been this quiet during the day, so it will take me some getting used to. On a much, much smaller scale I am sure, I feel like a parent who has just sent their kids off to school for the first day, or to college for the first year; but a difference is that John and Yoko will not be returning. I am glad for all of us, I think they will be better off too, but still I am mourning their departure.

So, goodbye John and Yoko - I hope the two of you will be happy with Ivan. He promised to take good care of you. Get all your chirping out while he's at school and be good to him. I hope Trinity and I's recent Spanish studying will do you some good with Ivan and his family.

Adios y vayan con Dios.

Graduation weekend

2006-05-26T15:53:00.000-05:00

After Graduation

2006-03-29T10:54:00.000-06:00

I know it's been a long time since we have posted, so maybe no one even reads this anymore, but I wanted to make an official update on what I'm doing after graduation.

For the last few months or so I have tired of the question of what I am going to do after graduation. I don't really hold it against anyone for asking it in small talk, or for being genuinely curious either, but it still gets old saying the same thing over and over again. I guess if I had more of an "answer to be proud of" then it wouldn't be so bad. Instead of meeting what I percieve to be others' expectations though, my answer is kind of a let down. Do I have big plans after graduation, to further my climb up the church-politic-corporate-ladder by getting a real church position? (Since what I am doing now is "part-time," I guess it doesn't really count...) This is what it feels like people are asking me, whether they really are or not, but maybe it is my own insecurity... I guess this post is kind of an attempt for me to work through that insecurity.

Of course, this is not what I am planning to do after graduation, or ever for that matter. (And I do not mean to imply that I think this is what my fellow graduates who are seeking more traditional positions are doing!! Well, at least not all of them...) Usually my answer goes something like this [with the subtext that I feel like the questioner is thinking in brackets]:

I am just not in a hurry to go anywhere. I love DHBC, and I just don't feel like I am finished there yet. I feel like we as a church are doing great things that I want to continue to be a part of, and I (for better and for worse) have never looked upon this job as a short-term job or a stepping-stone position. Also, Trinity still has a couple of years before she is finished with school, so we plan to be in Atlanta at least that long. I am just not a short-term kind of guy, and I do not want to go somewhere and make a short-term commitment for that two-year or so period. [So, what am I doing after graduation? NOTHING. Yes, I am just a slacker who doesn't want to grow up and get a real job, so I am going to keep working part-time at the church and sit on my butt and watch TV for the other part!]

I am coming to terms somewhat with the stuff in brackets. I think that to some extent it is true. I do not want a real job, because I want to have free time. I cannot remember the last time I felt like I had enough free time to engage my creative side. So, I am intentionally building this in. Maybe I'll take piano lessons or guitar lessons. Maybe I'll write a book! I've even thought about eventually starting some kind of mini-business of my own, helping small churches with technology (websites and projectors and stuff) for a little extra income. Whatever I do will not be "grown up" and "responsible," and maybe won't even help pay the bills, but I know too many people that have sold their souls to pay the bills and I am not going to end up like that!

Trinity is starting full-time at her job after this spring semester (which is why she is going to take a little longer to finish school) so that will (hopefully) make up the slack of paying student loans and paying off the other little bit of debt that we have worked up while in school. We have always talked about making it work in the future with one full-time and one part-time salary so that one of us (preferably me) could be the stay-at-home parent for our kids. Even though we are NOT going to add kids to the equation anytime soon, we have decided to make the next year or two as much of a practice run at that as we can without the kid part!

So, what am I doing after graduation? I am going to keep my wonderfully frustrating part-time job at the church and be a househusband for the rest of the time. Rather than us fighting over who's turn it was to do the dishes or the laundry, these will become my responsibilties. (Trinity will still clean the litter box though - I HATE that job!) Trinity will work full time and take a couple of classes, and come home to a clean house and dinner on the table! If it were the other way around, no one would think twice about the validity of this plan, so we will be doing our part to challenge our sexist cultural norms. Who knows if this will work for us, or how long it will last, but we're going to experiment with it for a little while and see what happens.

(Of course, this might all change tomorrow if I get offered that high-paying powerful church job I just applied for, but we'll cross that bridge if we get to it!)