Fashion Update - New hat and glasses

A few weeks ago our good friend Stephen ended up in Terrace. In addition to supporting my new hat and glasses he was also in the area to support the new conservative candidate for our riding. You may notice that he is doing a much better job of looking generally content with having his picture taken with more young conservative party supporters than I am of looking comfortable with the question of "does an eagerness to take my picture with this guy make me look like a conservative party supporter?"

We thought about using our 10 seconds of conversation to applaud him for his decision to apologize for Canada's legacy of residential schools, or to press him about Canadian divestment action in Darfur. In the end we said nothing but an awkward "it's a pleasure to meet you" and then "...it's been a pleasure to meet you". I hope the placement of our almost touching but not quite hands doesn't suggest otherwise.

[amanda's piping up..."do you think we should let our american friends know this guy is the george bush of canada?"]

life happens....while we're busy making other plans....

we're been busy laely trying to make some future plans, but we've also been trying to have some fun & adventure in the now.
here are some summer highlights.

hiking misty sleeping beauty...

...visiting rob & carol on whidbey island, off the coast of washington state...

rob & carol's house, in coupeville complete with an inspiring vegetable garden & movable chicken coop

...a summer day in gasworks park, seattle...





...overgrown sundae in william's lake...

...all dressed up for a kansas city society wedding...

...hastings family reunion...

...the end...

leap

this photograph, taken on our recent visit to whidbey island, seems analogous to our current stage of life.

we are pondering stepping into the unknown...

(an excerpt from a letter i wrote recently to a dear, far away, friend)

...we are continuing to process & plan for the next steps in our lives. terrace is so beautiful & there have been many, many positives to our life here. we've been active-hiking, biking, running & playing on a soccer team -we've had a lot of fun with daniel's parents - & we've continued to deepen our friendship with one another.

but its been a struggle in other ways & we've felt restless.

last week we interviewed with mennonite central committee (MCC) & were accepted for a three year service term. we're now at the stage of looking for a placement & are looking at southeast asia. we feel excited, but also quite nervous about the three year commitment.

we really want to rest in the Lord & trust Him if He opens the doors for us to serve with MCC, but terrace feels so safe & our life here so cozy & the idea of leaving our families & friends for such a long period of time is scary. i'm trying to remember that even if we don't choose the "right" next steps (if there is such a thing) that God will not abandon us, but will be with us, even in the midst of the struggles & challenges & our fears.

...I think He may be asking us for a leap of faith; please pray that we would have the courage to jump...

kayaking

last month we traveled to prince rupert & went on an overnight kayaking trip. we really enjoyed the opportunity to be on the open water & to explore the islands off the coast. we spent the night on pike island, an old first nations village site & spent the evening spotting petroglyphs & eating fresh crab & salmon.

International Rescue Committee

daniel & i are often amazed at the talent & creativity of our friends. we feel blessed to have our lives intertwined with so many artists-visual, painters, photographers, musicians, textile-who enrich our lives & inspire us to create.

one of these artists is our dear friend, mike. mike & i (amanda) were in the same kindergarten class in upstate new york & (even though my 5-year old self said mean things about a picture of his dad, which he has not yet forgotten) we have managed to remain friends ever since. it was a real treat for daniel & i to reconnect with mike & his wife, maren, while we lived in nyc.

recently, mike a.k.a. glass animal sent us his newly released album, patterns. the album was made during the month of February 2008 as part of the RPM challenge, an annual event based out of Portsmouth, NH that challenges people around the world to complete a full album - writing, recording, mixing, artwork - all in just one month.

i highly recommend you give it a listen (you can download it without guilt, because of the Creative Commons License). It can be found at glassanimalindex.com/patterns/

to tickle your listening fancy, i'll leave you with daniel's review of the album...


As far as quality music goes Patterns easily holds a place in my collection of strictly quality music. I think it does this, first, by clearing a couple of baseline hurtles. Here's the baseline test, on the first listen, nothing stood out as awkward and forgivable because I know the guy. It's clean all the way through. There are no little things that I think I would change but wouldn't tell Mike about because I don't want to hurt his feelings.

In addition to being something that is not unpleasant to listen to, it has a lot of of really good hooks. I know it's not a pop rock album and the thing is really more texture than melody. However, there is a dependable rhythm and feel to the texture of the album. This makes an excellent platform for the understated melodies. The beauty of which, in my opinion, is the suggestions they evoke, leaving the imagination free to interpret where the song is going rather than overstated melodies that patronizingly lead the listener by the hand. The sparse and simplistic lyrics have the same effect. This album really hits the nail on the head with the less is more approach.

This album really stands out as a piece of art. To the extent that I know Mike, he is an optimistic guy. One thing that I find quite rare in music, is optimism that can be taken seriously. Because our collective image of an artist is someone who is tortured and bears the weight of the misery of the universe all of which is being pushed through him like a meat grinder (his art being that tasty ground beef that makes up the radiohead and bright eyes burgers that we chow down alongside the sorrows we're drowning) nobody knows what to do with optimistic art.

In Patterns, I find an optimism that I don't need to blush at. It's a believable optimism, which perhaps is so believable because it is spoken through suggestion, not hyperbole.

twilight fades

as winter has slowly wound down & spring seems to have arrived (although with quite a temperamental attitude), here is a recap of our last few months.

our last weekend of skiing was absolutely beautiful, with full force sunshine & beautiful mountains abounding.


on days when the sun in shining & i can see clearly the mountains surrounding our little town, i am reminded of psalm 125:2...

as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

(our neice & i are at roughly the same skill level. this 3-year old rides up the chair lift!)

& in an attempt to harken back to the days of my youth....

...i got bangs....

....good friday river walk....

....i traveled to prince rupert, bc, on the coast, for some meetings for work & got to go whale watching on a zodiac, while wearing sweet full body survival suits!....

....the harbor was beautiful....


....we saw this barge that had tipped over!....

....we had the season's first wiener roast....

welcome, spring!