pizza!

for the last 2 years one of my [amanda's] primary roles has been working with graduate students at the royal university of agriculture. its been a pleasure working with the same group of 16 students [15 boys & only 1 brave girl] studying english academic & scientific writing.

last spring to celebrate the end of the classroom portion of their masters program [now they begin research + thesis writing] we celebrated with a pizza party [!]

it was a good time of spending time with the students outside of class. they surprised daniel & i by having the restaurant play "happy birthday" over the loudspeakers [it wasn't either of our birthdays...] & presented us with a special mango cake. then each student stood up & gave a small speech wishing us "successful, more beautiful, & a baby"

house stomach [baby]

[20 weeks & a little wave]

in cambodia the word for "pregnant" literally translates as "to have a house stomach", which seems pretty charming, indeed.

we are excited & nervous & thrilled & thankful that amanda's [rapidly expanding] belly has become a home for this little person & we would love your prayers for his/her safe arrival sometime around january 29!

mountains beyond mountains [visit to terrace]

the second half of our sabbatical this summer was spent on the west coast, most of it up in northern BC in daniel's hometown of terrace. we did a little hiking, biking, kayaking, ocean fishing, family reunioning, taco tuesdaying, celebrated jack & hilda's 35th wedding anniversary & several birthdays, explored prince rupert, had lots of evening fires & spent a lot of time catching up with old friends & family. it was lovely & a hard place to leave.

[the whole talstra clan with sunflowers! & umbrellas! - photo by sarah zimmerman]

[snapshots from a month in terrace - by christina, nathania & us]

[& yes, we do have the cutest nieces and nephews ever]

stitches of gold [sabbatical part II]

"Love is what carries you, for it is always there, even in the dark, or most in the dark, but shining out at times like gold stitches in a piece of embroidery. "

— Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

apart from visiting with family, we LOVED spending our sabbatical times catching up with old friends. it was a whirlwind of visits, guest beds, tea, lingering evenings, quick catch ups, friends, friends, friends & we loved every minute of it.

[a delightful night with our old menno house-mates dan & cindy in brooklyn]

[delicious ny style pizza with sylvia, friend & pastor of manhattan mennonite fellowship]

[picnic at the mark twain house in connecticut with chris, daniel's college housemate]

[mexican lunch with old chums mike & maren in philadelphia]

[seattle with dear, dear friends zack & amber (sadly not pictured!)]

[ottawa mark in rochester, ny]

[precious brockport high school pals]

[daniel's high school crew together again in vancouver]

[college roommates - katie & hannah & amanda celebrating in connecticut]

[vancouver visit with karla, baby drew, dave, liza & recent arrival baby vincent still in utero]

[levi & daniel as homeschool cool]

[visit in quesnel with the vanvught clan]

[settlers in terrace with high school friends - craig, anny & dave]

[picnic with kindred spirits cris, michelle, suj'n & shepherd in gasworks park, seattle (picture by suj'n photographer extraordinaire)]

[the boys - daniel, james & josh - in seattle (picture by suj'n)]

as the north wind [blaine & lindsay's wedding]

When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

[picture by emily giese - photographer extraordinaire]

the biggest reason we chose to go home in august was so that we could witness & celebrate my [amanda's] brother blaine's wedding. he & his bride, lindsay, got married on a warm summer day in the finger lakes region of ny state.

the wedding was at a quaint little chapel on the grounds of a beautiful old victorian home. the service & reception were simple, elegant & lots of fun - just like the newlywedded couple themselves!

[picture by kristen hamm]

it was a joyful celebration with the whole hastings family & the many, many friends who came to celebrate too.

[pictures by tim hack]

daniel played violin for the ceremony & i read a poem by Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese poet & philosopher, during the service.

On Love

When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams

as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.

Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height

and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots

and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

...

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart,

and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

-Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

c + a = cranny

[picture by infinity photography]

while we were home we also had the great fortune to witness craig & anny's wedding. from adventures in rural cambodia to dancing the night away in vancouver, we've made some really great memories with these dear friends & celebrating with them was a highlight of our time at home.

[wedding exuberance by infinity photography]

poetry collides [katie & nathan get married!]

another exciting part of our sabbatical this summer was the happy occasion to join with katie & nathan to celebrate their wedding.

[photo by the amazing Christopher Kuehl, Denver Wedding Photography. click on the link for the most beautiful wedding photos ever]

to my great, great fortune katie & i were matched as roommates during our freshman year at university. we spent the next several years taking lots of naps, avoiding social situations, hiding in our room (with hannah too!), listening to our evolving tastes in music, & generally working out who & what it was that we wanted to be. i can still remember how completely heartbroken i was the day we moved out of our little dorm room - katie bound for martha's vineyard & i bound for alaska.

[ok, we have a bit of a height difference, but she must have been wearing heels in this photo, right?]

it turns out that katie wanted to be a whimsical, creative & beauty-inspired artist + musician better suited to the east coast than our indiana cornfields. & in that endeavor she stumbled upon nathan, just the dear partner, muse, encourager, & dreamer for her.

[& yes, they are hipster super models - a perfect fit! photo also by Christopher Kuehl, Denver Wedding Photography]

& so they decided to get married. & it was a beautiful, whimsical, deeply inspired creative celebration.

you can check out their latest musical endeavor, Faux Fix, here. full length album coming early 2011!