Picture Project Post, November 22-December 4

i'm up tonight. for the first night in a long time. which is why i get to bring you the third post of the week. i'm not really sure why i'm awake, but it's with the same feeling i had pre-gall bladder removal. but i don't blame my digestive system...it's just learning how to work again. i haven't been very nice to it these past several months...and one day (hopefully) it will learn to function correctly...and if not, i get to keep bringing you late-night blogs for awhile!

this blog will be a picture post, for sure, but there are just a few things that i would like to say first.

1. tomorrow we're decorating for Christmas!
2. my friend abby got engaged, and that makes me happy.
3. it's supposed to snow tomorrow!

additionally, i would like to brag on my wonderful and humorous husband with two stories.

first the humorous one, in the form of a narrative:
the other day i walked back into the bedroom, and as i passed the bathroom luke yells out

"i've decided to call you 'my little cupcake'!"
"okay!" i said, enthusiastically, "but why?"
"well," he answered, "you're sweet, you're fun to lick*, and you don't have a gall bladder. cupcakes don't have gall bladders!"
"yes, but wasn't i sweet before i got my gall bladder out?"
"yes, but not having a gall bladder is integral."

i don't know if this is funny to anyone else, but it was funny to me. and yes, luke has taken to calling me his "little cupcake" for real, though the nickname was almost abandoned when he realized that cupcakes don't take showers and don't have hair, but i refuse to shave my head and be dirty.
*for some odd reason, luke likes to lick my face. it's disgusting. i don't think i have any more to say about that...

second story, to redeem him. we've been thinking a lot about our future and where God wants us to be in the next couple of years and whether or not i should be applying for jobs or if God is pushing us forward into the world. i've been struggling with this recently, trying to decide if i want to stay on as the spring intern at nlihc. today i was lamenting to luke in an email while at work about how i don't really know what God is trying to say to me. luke's reply was this: "Shoot wifey, God isn't TRYING to say anything. God's the best communicator ever, he's not trying to confuse you. Maybe you just need more time to listen before you know what it is that he's saying."

and that, my friends, is why i married my husband. my weird, disgusting, funny and wise husband, who both makes me giggle and who knows what to say to point me back towards God when i need it.

anyways, enough for the cheesy, long pre-picture ramblings. now on with the pictures.

________________________________

november 22, 2009: what can i say? i love cheesy, corny, holiday things. especially hallmark christmas movies. and they show them every day from noon on during the christmas season. so we watched them. the three "men" of the house (dad, luke and ted the dog...who is the reason men is in quotation marks) dozed on the couch and the floor during the movie "meet the clauses".

november 23, 2009: goodbye gall bladder. the last picture of me with my gall bladder and with my wonderful nurse, katie. she's so pretty and was amazingly kind to get up and be with me in the hospital at 6:45 in the morning.





november 24, 2009: katie and i went to watch christie teach her kindergartners on tuesday (i know, i know, i should have been resting...and i learned my lesson...but it was totally worth it). christie is a WONDERFUL, compassionate and loving teacher, and i want all the little kids in the world to get to have her. i think the world would be a better place if they did.

november 25, 2009: sister date at the cheesecake factory! which is always delicious--both in food and in fun (did that make any sense?). aren't my sisters beautiful? i love them. like woah.

november 26, 2009: happy thanksgiving! we got up early, cooked, watched the macy's thanksgiving day parade and the national dog show and ate dinner. lovely amber joined us, though unfortunately i couldn't really get everyone in the shot at a good angle, so she's peeking around the corner. yum, thanksgiving.


november 27, 2009: after dinner on thursday and after a stop in winston-salem for the tanglewood festival of lights (i told you i like corny christmas things...) we drove up to waynesville for a weekend with the teaters! we started the morning off right with choosing and cutting a christmas tree!


november 28, 2009: luke and i met brooke and daniel for lunch on saturday. we had glorious conversation and a splendid walk around waynesville, eating samples and delicious cake. it was wonderful. and this ridiculously big santa claus definitely added to the enjoyment (like we needed any extra...). luke looks mischievous because the sign said "please do not touch".

november 29, 2009: i got up early to spend some time journaling on the porch and looking at the beautiful blue ridge mountains. it was a good choice.

november 30, 2009: but all good vacations, beautiful mountain views and family fun must come to an end. luke and i came home, and after an exhausting monday at work (mainly because it was the first time i did not sleep in and had not had a nap since my surgery...), we stayed home and watched Star Trek while i sewed starts together for the nursery kids in the christmas pageant at church.

december 1, 2009: happy december! we put up the advent calendar from my mom--it's a manger scene and every day you add one more character until baby Jesus appears on the 25th! it's ridiculously cute.












december 2, 2009: i had to go home for a post-op appointment on wednesday. i drove to nc on tuesday night (just in time to see unc whoop up on michigan state) and back to dc on wednesday night (just in time to see wisconsin beat up dook). though the trip was bookended by wonderful events, the drive was pretty rough. but while i was there i got some quality time with my parents and my unc sisters. here are my parents at lunch. they're such a good-lookin' couple!

december 3, 2009: we had the farewell to interns lunch at a delicious restaurant called founding farmers. all of the items on their menu are from family owned farms throughout the east coast. it was really good. also, a waiter showed me how to balance seven (yes, SEVEN) plates on one arm! norabelle took a picture with her camera, but since i was busy holding seven (that's 7) plates on my right arm i was not able to get a picture with my camera. i'll post the picture when norabelle sends it to me. it was pretty crazy. and, if you couldn't tell, i'm pretty proud (mostly because none of them fell off my arm and broke...).













december 4, 2009: nothing says "merry christmas" like a guy spray painting fake snow on real trees in front of a resturaunt...oh, dc.

______________________________

the loud people next door just came in. maybe it's time for me to retire to the bedroom...

greater love...

so the thankful thing has not been quite as successful as i was hoping. yet. today leaving work i was complaining about going to the grocery store. how i hated watching how much money i spend there, and how it bothers me that sometimes i have to go to both shoppers and aldi in order to spend the least amount of money, but still make relatively healthy dinners. i was frustrated because luke was in class and not with me, and that i can't carry anything over 10 pounds so i would have to make multiple trips to bring the groceries up from the car, and have a cart in the grocery stores, when normally we just carry the bags because it gets too crowded in the stores to maneuver well with carts.

i was in a bad mood. and my headache was only getting worse as i pushed my cart into the only open check out lane and started loading my groceries behind a mother and her two daughters.

i could tell that this family was probably not the most well-off family, like most of the families that shop at aldi. as the woman finished scanning the groceries the mom took our her credit card to pay. she scanned the card, and was told to enter a pin, which she couldn't because it was a credit card. they don't take credit cards at aldi. the woman, slightly confused because she didn't speak english well, took out the cash she had in her wallet and began to take things out of her cart. her daughter looked at her mom and smiled and began to help her remove the juice drinks, the ice cream and finally a box of cereal in order to get the total low enough so that the woman could pay with cash. i awkwardly offered to help her pay, but she declined, and i think she took my offer as an offer out of frustration for the long wait rather than a gesture to help. she smiled her thanks, and continued on, her little girls talking and giggling like nothing happened. this was probably a regular occurrence for them.

i debated whether or not to write this story here. i do it not because it reminded me to be thankful for what i have, or to remind you to do the same (we should do that anyway, we should give thanks always, not only when we see the misfortune of others). i tell this story because i haven't been able to get the beautiful face of that little girl out of my head as she searched for something to give to her mom to take out of the cart. and while juice drinks and ice cream are not essential items, that is not a choice that most of us have to make. and it's not a choice that a child should have to help make or watch her mom make.

the thing is that numbers and studies that come out about poverty don't capture something very real that happens so many places. and whether or not that mother is working, or is an illegal immigrant, or any of the other excuses we come up with not to extend a helping hand to those who do not have the luxuries that we have, it isn't that little girl's fault.

i tell this story not so that we think of that family and decide we're happy that is not us. i tell it because it needs to be told, because we need to do something about it. we need to stop looking for excuses not to help and instead look for all possible ways that we can. and not just because it's christmas. and not because we feel guilty. but because we're human and they're human and we have a God who made Himself human so that He could show us how to love others perfectly and without boundaries.

and if anyone had any reason not to, He sure did.

oh, life.

back in dc. with one less gallbladder, lots of new memories and missing my family like crazy. here is one of the last pictures taken of me with my gallbladder at 6:45 on monday morning.


this morning i was journaling while looking out over the beautiful mountains and i was thinking about everything i have to be thankful for and also realizing how often i fail to remember and thank God for it all. my goal between now and Christmas is this: to praise and give thanks first and foremost. for everything i complain about, there is a flip side of thanks. i want to learn to meditate on the side of thanks. i want praise to flow from my lips, rather than complaints. i want it to go deeper than what i say as well...i want God to change my heart so that my first reaction is thanks and praise. but as we all know, God works in His own timing, and that may not be before Christmas. so for now, i'll work on what i say and pray for the rest to follow.



as seen on the way home to dc:

on an electronic billboard--scrolling: "The pilgrims will bring the *change to new screen* PAIN!!" (we are still not sure what this means...)

on an electronic hotel sign--scrolling: "ROOMS *change to new screen* Construction welcome." (does this mean they are wanting to redo the rooms, or construction workers are welcome to stay there?)

on a bumper sticker: "a child must die" (we later discovered that the bumper sticker said "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish". which is an interesting quote, however, it was written so that it looked something like this: it is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish", so that the most easliy read part was "a child must die". we actually didn't know the rest of the quote until we googled it when we got home...not for lack of trying though...)


that is little dog ted, anxiously awaiting his thanksgiving feast to cool down enough for us to feed it to him. he's so cute.

i miss my family and the quiet of north carolina

i am thankful that i am home safely with my husband and making memories by sitting on the couch and quoting the star wars that we can hear our neighbors watching through the walls...

see, i'm working on my goal already. i'm so lucky that God is a God of grace.

have a happy monday, everyone!

Picture Project Post, November 12-November 21

Luke said that I needed to blog before we went home since I haven't blogged in a long time. So here I am. I did have some pictures built up. It's been an uneventful, but long week...

But continuous Christmas music is playing in Washington, DC on WASH FM (doesn't that just sound like a soft-rock station?)! And I talked to wonderful Whitney today! And those two things always makes me happy.

_________________________________

November 12, 2009: It was FotoWeek in Washington, DC, which means several Photography Galleries had their opening all in the same week. Norabelle, Lydia and I went to three different free gallery openings and sipped wine, ate hours d'vours and discussed different elements of photography for three hours (like we knew what we were talking about). There were some pretty amazing pictures. My favorites were Paul Gallegos and Raimundo Rubio. Raimundo Rubio was especially fascinating--he took trash and coated it with salt and took pictures in order to signify the waste of American and the need of other worlds and how if they collide they could create beauty. Or something along those lines. Paul Gallegos just took incredibly beautiful pictures in the moment. He was there and we talked about how he always carries his camera so he can capture different moments of beauty. He took wonderful landscape pictures...the kind where you can stare at them for hours and get lost because it feels like you are there. I would like to take pictures like that...

November 13, 2009: I think I've mentioned that I love rain in November. It rained on Friday, and I put on my corduroys and green sweater and boots, went out and got my HIDA scan and rode the bus back to Fort Totten to watch the rain for the rest of the day. On the way back I had the most delightful bus driver and I enjoyed the back-and-forth chatter between the different riders and the driver. Additionally I saw this beautiful bright yellow tree, which was brilliant in the grey weather. It is the tree that is in this picture, out the front window.

November 14, 2009: The National Low Income Housing Coalition had their bi-annual board meeting on Saturday and Sunday, which lead into the State Partners meeting on Monday and Tuesday. I went for part of the meeting on Saturday to listen to brilliant people from all over the country talk about low income housing in their different areas and how we will achieve the national goal of housing for all. It was really cool.





November 15, 2009: My Sunday School kids sang during the church service on Sunday morning. They did a really good job. Aren't they so cute?


November 16, 2009: As I stated before, the State Partner's meeting was on Monday and Tuesday. The National Low Income Housing Coalition gets its name because it is a Coalition of all the different state organizations that work together to get low income housing. Many of them met on Monday to talk about different ways they were meeting needs in their states and to listen to the policy actions we're taking in Washington, DC. It was really amazing to hear, and there were definitely several times while I was listening that I felt like I belonged in the low-income housing circle.

November 17, 2009: We went to HUD to meet with Shaun Donovan (READ: The Secretary of HUD). He was pretty cool, but had to rush off to a meeting with Eric Holder (Attorney General) and Timothy Geithner (Secretary of the Treasury). Sometimes I sit back and say to myself "Where am I?!". Also in this picture are (left to right) Sheila Crowly in the pink scarf (the President of NLIHC, who hugged Shaun Donovan when he came in), George Moses (he's the head of the NLIHC Board), Sandra Henriquez (Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing), Shaun Donovan (of course), and Mercedes Marquez (Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development). Crazy!

November 18, 2009: I went home to get a surgical consult on Wednesday and decided that I will be having my gall bladder out on Monday (at 6:45 AM!). I also got my hair cut and went to see Julie and Julia with my mom and dad at the $3 theater in Graham. However, this picture of little Teddy made it in to the picture of the day because he's just so darn cute! Since Luke wasn't home with me, Teddy kept me company while I slept.

November 19, 2009: I spent the morning in Chapel Hill at Caribou with two of my beautiful sisters. Katie will not be thrilled that this was my picture of the day, but I think she's adorable. I also had lunch with Anthony before heading home and it was wonderful. I love getting together with people and picking up right where you left off and talking like you haven't missed a day.

November 20, 2009: I thought that I was going to go to work on Friday, but I was too sick. For the past two months the only things that I can count on to not hurt my stomach have been boiled potatoes, rice and avocado. So here is a picture of my rice and avocado. Have I mentioned that this should all be over in about 33 hours...

November 21, 2009: Packing to go to Mebane tomorrow! I also took a 4 hour nap today...so the picture of the bed is also significant.

_____________________________

That's about it for me for now. I probably won't be around much until after Thanksgiving. So Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy everything that you have to be thankful for!

Picture Project Post, November 4-November 11

So technically, this is the second post today. But it feels like a different day, so we'll let it slide...no more thoughts for now. Today was a frustrating day...but I don't have any thoughts on that for now. Maybe later.

_____________________________

November 4, 2009: I visited the most pleasant and cheerful classroom for an observation (which is not a common occurrence for me...). This was the classroom that I mentioned earlier, where the children traveled in one big group. Their curtains were simple pieces of cloth with the children's hand and foot prints all over. So cute!



November 5, 2009: There was a baby shower at work on Friday for one of the outreach team's wife. Apparently he is quite the cutie. I made truffles, which was so much fun! But I didn't get any because on of my friends who does not own a car needed to be taken to urgent care. However, I heard from several co-workers that they were good, so this is a recipe i will have to try once food no longer makes me sick.

November 6, 2009: While I did not get to meet the newest member of the Harig-Blaine family, I was not deprived of "cuteness" for the day. I followed this little daycare group to the metro on my way to pick up my friend. I love the little girl in the green jacket!





November 7, 2009: My first attempt at sweet potato fries. These turned out to be a bad idea for my stomach, but they sure were delicious (and super easy to make!).
November 8, 2009: I love my husband. We spent the weekend (and are still spending this week...) cleaning out our apartment. While cleaning out the closet, Luke decided to model my Christmas sweater. I really couldn't resist this picture...we also drive to Fairfax to see Kevin D'Auria, who was in town for a conference. It was good to see him, too, but this even trumped that one picture-wise.

November 9, 2009: Monday night we stayed home from small group. Partly because I wasn't feeling well, partly because we needed to do laundry and dishes. We also finished cleaning our our room. This is the finished project. Complete with the beautiful flowers Luke bought for me that day (he's so sweet).



November 10, 2009: I already posted this picture of our date to IKEA. It was absolutely wonderful. =)


November 11, 2009: I love cold rainy November days (cold, rainy January days are a different story...). After being up for almost all of last night, I stayed inside and worked from home, wrapped up in in a snowman blanket. Luke joined me when he got home from work. I love my snowman blanket. And Luke, too.

__________________________

joyful in hope.

i'm up again tonight. after 10 nights of sleep the stretch of what is so normal for most humans is over. back to my normal. i tucked luke into bed and i've come out here...it's quiet in our apartment, but outside is the buzz of people who don't need sleep. this is especially frustrating because i would gladly pass this pain off to them if i could...they are planning on being awake anyway. i would like to be asleep.

i've been continuing my thoughts on joy a lot. sometimes in order to battle frustration. other times God subtly reminds me that joy is not an emotion, it's not happiness and it's not other people, but rather it comes from a deeply rooted faith in Him who knows all things, even if it feels like He doesn't. after all, we are commanded in romans to be joyful in hope, not to hope in joy. unfortunately, i find myself confusing the two often...waiting for the morning when either a. i'll feel better or b. i'll at least have people around to make me feel better. but lately i've been waking up feeling sick as well...which is new for me (generally i've just been feeling sick at night...). i think it's God's subtle (or not so much...) reminder that joy is always, not just in the morning, and we are to be joyful always, because God is ever-present, even if that is hard to remember sometimes.

and God is good (i must always continue to remind myself of this, no matter what). He gave me 10 full nights of sleep in a row, and many, many more before that. He has given me a wonderful husband and a supportive family and beautiful friends. i can't even begin to name the things He has blessed me with. and most of all He has given me the opportunity to have joy in Him, which is the greatest gift of all. i must keep reminding myself of these blessings.

He has also given me moments of pure happiness over the past couple of weeks. and in order to remind myself of them, i want to share them with you:

a birthday card that i found while cleaning out our apartment. it was from my sister christie and it reads "our family is a lot like one of those circus families except for the skill and the travel and the seediness. we're very close is what i'm saying..." that card made me smile. because it's true.

the spiced pumpkin candle that luke sleepily lit tonight right before he went to bed so that i would feel better and "be less lonely."

the woman who made eye contact with me on my way home from work yesterday and got so excited that she turned around a couple seconds later and yelled "i hope you have a wonderful day!"

the little children i observed last friday who loved the presence of each other so much that all 11 of them would travel around the classroom together in a herd.

my co-workers who loved my chocolate truffles and told me so.

the 3 dollar date luke took me on to a nice swedish restaurant (also known as IKEA) and the way we dressed up like it was a fancy Christmas date.*

words of encouragement from all four of my wonderful parents.

yes, God gives me little moments of happiness. He knows what i can handle and what i can't. and while sometimes i think this is unbearable, He gives me moments where i forget that's what i think. and when i forget that He is good, He'll remind me that He is unchanging and give me grace and let me remember that He is good again.

_________________________

*here are some pictures from our $3 date!

Picture Project Post, October 26-November 3

So here I am again, for the 4th time in just under a week. And with a picture post, no less. Guess who is completely on top of things? Those of you who aren't as on top of things as me have a lot of catching up to do!

No, really. The reason why I'm here is because I'm considering staying up until 12:01 am in order to put my name into the drawing for tickets to the lighting of the National Christmas Tree. Awesome, I know. I figure as long as I'll be up for awhile, and since the dishes are already done, I might as well sit back and write a blog. And since I'm all caught up with my picture downloading, I might as well make it a picture one. So here it is.

_____________________________

October 26, 2009: I was walking home just as the sun was about to set and the leaves were a beautiful gold. Everything looked golden. But it definitely looked more golden in real life than it does on this picture. Probably because the windows are dirty...










October 27, 2009: The first appearance of the boots in the fall. I love boots in the fall. And boots stepping on fall leaves. It also happened to be raining. I also love walking in the rain with my boots in the fall. It was a good day. Except for the fact that this was the day I found out that my ultrasound results were inconclusive so I had to have an endoscopy. That made it a sad day. But rainy fall and boots almost made it better.

October 28, 2009: Luke and I took a walk in Ft. Totten Park in the afternoon to take a break from thinking about being sick and scary medical tests. I like this picture because it is fairly typical of our walks. I walk around and take pictures of leaves and Luke (who you can see in the background) throws rocks or seeds or acorns or whatever he can pick up at random targets. You can tell that he's throwing something here (especially if you click on the picture to make it bigger).

October 29, 2009: Today was the dreaded endoscopy day. It actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting (surprise, surprise...). And I got these cool pictures of the inside of my stomach.

October 30, 2009: Meet Harold the Pumpkin. Friday night we got our pumpkin and carved it. We actually had to search for him! When we got to Shoppers they were out. So we had to drive to Aldi for this little guy. I know he doesn't look to smart, but he sure is happy! And that's really what it's all about, right?











October 31, 2009: As previously mentioned, we spend our Halloween apple picking, hay riding, yummy making and movie watching with our friends Jordan and Valerie. It was a good time.

November 1, 2009: A woman in our church went to a refugee camp on a mission trip a couple of weeks ago, and our church is getting together a bunch of musical instruments to send over to them for Christmas. For Sunday School my little kids and the older kids made some rhythm instruments out of plastic eggs and rice and made cards for the children in the camp. I meant to take a picture of the instrument-making, but I got pretty distracted by all the commotion, so instead you get this less cute, but still relevant, photo.

November 2, 2009: I walked out of work at 5:15, turned the corner onto V Street and there was the moon! It was beautiful! While I definitely prefer a night sky where you can see the stars, a full moon over a city street can also be a spectacular site.

November 3, 2009: It was a chilly morning as I walked to work and I thought that it might be almost time to break out the Christmas music. Then I saw people with Christmas Starbucks cups and it made the decision final. I broke our the Pandora acoustic holiday music station today. You have to give me some credit...usually Christmas music starts in late August/early September for me. I've held off for so long! And I haven't even listened to Christmas music with words yet...so, really, it doesn't completely count! After work I splurged on my own joy in a cup--a peppermint skim hot chocolate with whipped cream. I tell myself whipped cream is okay, since I got skim milk...but it doesn't really matter, because hot chocolate is joy in a cup and if it's joy calories don't count. Especially if it's served in a holiday cup.

_____________________________