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Oh 4th of July, I always have mixed feelings... but maybe that will be another post at another time.

It was a busy weekend, so I didn't have to think about it too much.  (I did miss yelling "America, F*ck  YEAH!").  Lots of movement happened: a friend moved in down the street (yay!), two friends left the Valley (sad), and a new volunteer moved in with us (so far, so good...).  This meant for lots of community meals!  Oh, I ate soooo much, but a lot of it was from our garden- so fun!  We served a Taco Salad as a main dish for 10 people with lettuce and spinach from the garden.  I made a great Chard Cheese Bake with a lb of rainbow chard and some onions from the garden.  We spent one evening out at a friend's house in Alamosa Canyon, AKA middle of nowhere, it was great!  Of course, no small town celebration of America is complete without a holiday parade.  This one has nothing on Bainbridge, but this also pretty much the same one for the many parades in town.

Ok, I do need to say a few, just a few, things about patriotism...  Another thing I love about the Mennonites?  They don't say the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the National Anthem, because they can't "pledge allegiance" to anything but God and our nation isn't just the US, it's the world.  I love it.  And really what does it mean to be patriotic anyway?

I was all weird again

Ok, there's been way too many pictures here...

It is interesting to not have alcohol a part of my life, really at all, down here. I would say my biggest reason for not drinking much here is finances- it's just not that important to me to spend what little money I have on it (which is a good sign). There is also the fact that my housemates don't drink (and are a bit more anti than I think I would care for), but I could if I wanted to.

I think it's been a good change. Not that alcohol has ever been a focal point in my life, but it has held a certain place along the way. It's funny to look back at views and fears of it over the years. In high school and some college, I was scared of it really. It was this pretty unknown thing to me. Not that I didn't know what it was- good and bad- but I didn't have any personal connection to it (besides seeing some it's more unfortunate effects). One thing I didn't like was that it kept me from seeing bands who played at bars- even though I didn't even want to drink! I had always steered clear of it because I didn't like the idea of not being control over my own emotions or alcohol's potential hold over me. Another thing was that I honestly just didn't like the taste.

The church's stance on alcohol also made me a bit confused. There are some fairly vague verses about not letting yourself be under an influence and that your body is a temple (if there are others, please let me know). Then there many cultural things that make the church weary of alcohol- it's not what you're "supposed to do" and, yes, it does come with some consequences. I started getting pretty confused when I saw people I looked up to not only drinking, but making it. This did open me up to the art of beer.. and alcohol in general.

Then something changed when I turned 21. I found a beer that I liked- Hoegarden. Oh man, I was excited. I was also scared and nervous. I started slowly, enjoying this new thing in my life. I spent nights out enjoying myself and friends. I never drank something I didn't like the taste of just to drink, I've always appreciated what I'm drinking. Honestly, I'm happy with my decisions regarding alcohol, even if some of them weren't the best (including not drinking and being a little judgmental, I know where you're coming from if you're there). A few times through the years, I have made a point of going out and not drinking just to be in control of my relationship with alcohol. It wasn't that I felt there was a problem, just didn't want a problem to begin.

Now that things are toned way down for me, it's interesting to think about what I like and don't like about drinking. Honestly, I miss being tipsy and letting loose. I think this can be and has been a really good thing. I love seeing the effects of just one drink on people at dinner and really start talking. I miss buying and trying different kinds of beer. I don't miss a hangover (although now my body does let me know when I've had even 1 or 2). I don't miss that feeling of “Oops, maybe I shouldn't have had that last one.” 

What does it mean for a Christian to drink and even enjoy being tipsy? I'm not sure, but I'm also not sure there is anything wrong with it by itself. It doesn't control me, I don't NEED it. I don't mean to downplay the darker side of drinking, that it can be a problem. There is a thin line between enjoying and having a problem... and when to say something. It's hard to judge alcohol from the outside as when people when people don't understand ENJOYING alcohol, not abusing. I really relate it to having a problem with food, because you can have too much, become addicted, and it can have serious health and psychological effects, but that doesn't mean food in and of itself is bad.

Objections?  Concerns?  I'd love to hear it, because if we don't talk about it, nothing gets done.  We will continue to be "those people" to each other.

Open the gate pt 2

A little garden update, with some older pictures...

Found the official before picture... we hadn't touched it all

This was a couple of weeks after we planted!

Here it is today in all it's glory!!

Onions galore!

Beautiful greens!

Peas and carrots are coming!

And, I've finally figured out how to compost... basically

Our broccoli and chard are so big, I could really capture them on my camera.  This week I'm going to make a chard cheese bake!  Let me know if you have any good chard recipes.

I'm in the waiting room

Ah, a few (semi) sunny days in Seattle... it was lovely!

I miss Seattle.  I miss my friends and family out there.  I really do.  This trip made me excited about moving back to this city.

If you've been bored with desert scenes on this blog, you'll be happy to see some water and trees... but still enjoy the sun!

It's weird to have my parents living in a town that I don't really know or have connections to.  It is a nice place, but I wasn't there that much as we had been spending enough time together...

Rocking out to Led Zepplin!

Where all the parties happen!

Playing with my new camera

I enjoyed a lovely ferry ride to the ever changing Bainbridge Island

My cousin Audrey and I realized our thing is going kayaking in Eagle Harbor, it's so fun!

On top of that, I got to see a lot of family

Geochaching! Sooo cool!

2 generations of cousins!

Here's a good picture of my favorite things in Seattle: old friends and good coffee!  'The Stranger' is on that table as well, just FYI.

I was able to spend a few days with my good friend Brenna and her little family!  OMG, her baby girl Flannery is so special.  She's super cute, smiley, and sweet!  We had a lovely time...

A walk around Greenlake on an overcast day... classic.

Uncle Jesse's band
(literally, Flannery's uncle is Jesse and he's in a band!)
Baby's first concert!

Oh, miss you already, little miss Flannery!

All in all, it was a good, busy but not crazy, trip to the hometown.  Can't wait to go back... wait, when's my next trip??

Big City Train

I was blessed to have my parents coming in and out of the valley for a few months.  Not only was it good to show them around this place I love, but it was great to have a few weekends here and there where I didn't have to spend much of my own money!  Hehe...

First, we met in Denver for the Nightingale Gala.  This was a wonderful night, at times a little times a little overwhelming.

Watch out for my medallions, my diamonds are reckless,
feels like a midget is hanging from my necklace
- Ludacris 'Stand Up' 

After this, they travelled around New Mexico for a bit.  For a few weekends, they came up to Alamosa to spend time here.  We did a few hikes, went some small town festivals, making family dinners, camping, and eating out!  I'm glad I enjoy my parents!

Being a volunteer makes it difficult to get home.  I don't know if you know, but I'm pretty good at working with what I've got.  Since my parents were coming down, I asked kindly if they could give me a ride home and they said yes!  While it sounded fine at the beginning, we were starting to get nervous about how much time we've been spending together.  Luckily, all went well and we actually had a nice time!

A fun part was that we were able to stop in Moab to visit my friends Sarah and Silas.  And, we stayed a night in the Willamette Valley with my friend Mari.  It was sooooo wonderful to see such special people in my life!  We also stayed a night in Durango and Boise.  These were two pretty cool places- I think Boise is going to be the next Portland!  

Not only am I thankful for the help in getting home, but thankful for the actual getting there along the way!

Casper... International Dog of Mystery!

You're different from the former

Honestly, I'm pretty speechless, I've never seen anything like what I saw on Tuesday (something so terrible be quite beautiful), but I'll do my best to put into words how I feel and what happened...

Mennonites and other people talk a lot about peace and justice (or, more appropriately, restorative justice) and you hear about it from time to time in the news, but it is something totally different to see people living it out in difficult circumstances.

Well, this restorative justice was on display at the Alamosa courthouse today by Chloe Weaver's family.  It was the sentencing hearing for the 16 year old boy that hit Chloe while she was biking and then drove off because he's a 16 year old boy and scared.  Chloe's mom, dad, and sister all said a few things at the beginning.  I wish I had these written down so you could experience the power of the combination of forgiveness and justice.  Some things I remember are Hope talking about how Chloe's spirit will always be with him and support him, Herm (Chloe's dad) saying that Chloe would want him to help others and improve the world.  The District Attorney spoke about a meeting with Herm, Hope, the kid and his mom.  He said, "You would not believe the.... the only word for it is love.... in that room.  It was one of the most incredible things I have seen in 20 years of being in the DA."

As for the actual sentencing (I hope I get this right), the Weaver's didn't really want him to serve time in detention because they want him to do more with his time than just sit there.  They wanted him to do more public service and contribute.  That's what Chloe would have wanted.  However, the judge said he couldn't let someone who killed someone not serve time, so he will be serving 45 days with community service for 2 years.  I spoke with Cindy, Chloe's mom, afterward and she said that they were asked about what they wanted for a sentencing and they said something to the effect of "We don't know who he is, what does he need?"  And that is the question that should be asked of everyone- what do you need to learn in order to be a productive member of society?  After living with my cousin who is a cop this last summer, I just realized how much this system isn't working.  I'm sorry, but it's broken.  I'm not sure what to do about it, but it needs to fundamentally change.

Through all this, I thank God.  I'm thankful for the strength and mercy of the Weaver family.  I'm thankful for the example and inspiration and encouragement they were to everyone in that room and will be to all they meet through this.  I'm thankful for the gift of eternal life, that Chloe's life is not over, she is still affecting people, God is still using her- you can feel it.  God works in mysterious ways, let's thank Him for that.

As the worst part about death is the people it leaves behind, I'm thankful Chloe is still with us in one way or another....

Trapped in a Box

Community living.  Yes, this is what I signed up for.  Yes, I knew it would be hard for me.  Yes, this is what I wanted.  Or, so I thought.
I'll be honest, I don't love it.  It's not the people (I like them), it's me.  I'm realizing I love control.  I'm know I can't (and don't want to) control my housemates.  My philosophy on living with people is: you affect me, good or bad, you affect me; and I affect you, good or bad.  Sometimes we affect each other too much.
However, that being said, I do like WHY I'm living in community.  For me, I'm doing this so that I can relieve a bit of financial pressure from the public health department of this rural county (have you heard?  there's no money in public health) and only receive a small stipend each month for full time work.  Then, that money goes into the house fund and we all pool our stipends together and live simply to support each other to volunteer in the community.  I think this is a great way to do it.  I like that I'm not getting money from other people, so I have more freedom- don't get me wrong, I think that can be a beautiful thing and I've supported people... I would just have to be 100% sure about the work and the organization (which I wasn't going into this).
With that, it does make me feel weird to think about living by myself again.  I loooooove living by myself and I am sure that I will do it again.  I miss the ownership and independence of it all.  However, it will be different for me to spend that much money on just housing when (in all honesty) I could be sharing with someone and using that money for more worthwhile purposes.  I'll have to see how I can justify to myself... I'm sure I'll figure out something!

But I do enjoy this...

...although hopefully people will come over for dinner, right?!?