I'm coming home. I will leave around 5 pm tonight and hope to be in Big Rapids Sunday-ish. I am meeting Sam Shewan tomorrow night in Denver for dinner and hope to see the Beattie's on Saturday in Lansing, although it will be a stretch to make it to Michigan by then. We will see.
I get bored driving alone, so call me if you get some free time over the weekend.
248.990.6816
Miss you all and can't wait to see the Michigan folks when I get back!! I'll try to post some updates along the way.
4.27.2006
4.25.2006
Shout Out of the Day: Big Rapids Furniture
Today's Shout Out goes to my Uncle Eric, Aunt Lori and cousins Christopher and Logan. My uncle Eric and a man named Scott recently opened a furniture store in the old Downtown Denny's/Giant Way building. My aunt Lori and my cousin Logan have been checking out the blog and Lori is always leaving me encouraging messages. It has been such a great feeling to know that I have my entire family's support it makes being away so much easier, and now makes me even more excited to come home. Thank you Lori!
(The photo is Logan and Lori from Jason and Julie's wedding.)
4.24.2006
I Have Been Inspired...
by Bri-guy's post on his MySpace blog.
Brian Hoekstra is a fellow Grand Valley State University Laker. He's one of the guys who lived next door to us (in 15A) at Laker Village our sophomore year at GVSU. Bri's great...recently married, a journalist, currently working in Grand Rapids doing something (?) with digital jukeboxes. Bri-guy's latest post says the following about living in Michigan:
What a good-good time to live in the area. The Wings, The Pistons, Lake Michigan in the warmer months...solid gold! I know that I have friends who live out west that blah and blah about the mountains and the artistic undertones that their community supports, but really, West Michigan is still stayin pretty fly if I can say so....Regardless of the army of churches that keep a watchful conservative eye, we have natures beauty, event centers, small bars, and the wonderous cities of chicago, detroit, milwaukee etc within our curious reach.
(Western Michigan is full of Dutch-Christian Reformed folks whose influence tends to guide politics in the area, even in the public universities and newspapers. The culture and beliefs of the church are very much a piece of the character of the Greater Grand Rapids area.)
Reading that short little paragraph has made me so much more excited and relieved to be going back to the comforts of home. It really reminds me of all of the reasons that I loved to live in Michigan and how much fun we always have in the G-Rap. It's silly, but was exactly what I needed to remember.
I have been excited yet also strangely nervous about moving home. The problem is that the West has taken ahold of me. This whole thing is a sick and twisted Catch-22: being in the mountains feels like home, but there's a void where my family and good friends should be and when I'm home with those important people I've lost the spirit of the west and the barren skyline seems to be missing a few thousand feet of raised land.
There were a few factors that helped me to make the decision about coming home. The major ones are listed below: (I never knew I was so much of a list maker until this whole blog thing)
Callie Wallie registered over the weekend.
I think there are 7 people signed up now and at least 4 more who are seriously considering joining us for the marathon.
So many things are falling perfectly into place to prove that moving home is the right decision. I just wish I hadn't had to come all the way to Arizona to figure out that I should be in Michigan. But what can you do? The west will have to wait a few years for me.
Brian Hoekstra is a fellow Grand Valley State University Laker. He's one of the guys who lived next door to us (in 15A) at Laker Village our sophomore year at GVSU. Bri's great...recently married, a journalist, currently working in Grand Rapids doing something (?) with digital jukeboxes. Bri-guy's latest post says the following about living in Michigan:
What a good-good time to live in the area. The Wings, The Pistons, Lake Michigan in the warmer months...solid gold! I know that I have friends who live out west that blah and blah about the mountains and the artistic undertones that their community supports, but really, West Michigan is still stayin pretty fly if I can say so....Regardless of the army of churches that keep a watchful conservative eye, we have natures beauty, event centers, small bars, and the wonderous cities of chicago, detroit, milwaukee etc within our curious reach.
(Western Michigan is full of Dutch-Christian Reformed folks whose influence tends to guide politics in the area, even in the public universities and newspapers. The culture and beliefs of the church are very much a piece of the character of the Greater Grand Rapids area.)
Reading that short little paragraph has made me so much more excited and relieved to be going back to the comforts of home. It really reminds me of all of the reasons that I loved to live in Michigan and how much fun we always have in the G-Rap. It's silly, but was exactly what I needed to remember.
I have been excited yet also strangely nervous about moving home. The problem is that the West has taken ahold of me. This whole thing is a sick and twisted Catch-22: being in the mountains feels like home, but there's a void where my family and good friends should be and when I'm home with those important people I've lost the spirit of the west and the barren skyline seems to be missing a few thousand feet of raised land.
There were a few factors that helped me to make the decision about coming home. The major ones are listed below: (I never knew I was so much of a list maker until this whole blog thing)
- Right before I graduated from HSU my sister Sara called me, she sounded pretty upset and she said "Erin, now that you're done with school, you're coming home, right? Because you've been gone for too long."
- I miss my family - especially once a month on the Sunday they celebrate birthdays when I call home so they can pass the phone around to my grandparents, sisters, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins and I realize I'm the only one missing from the festivities.
- I want my nephew to know who I am and I miss seeing his face every day.
- After the parks commission called to offer me the job my sister Julie called me and said my dad was excited about the prospect of me coming home.
- My dad called me shortly after Julie's call and said Julie was excited about the possibility of being able to train for the marathon with me.
- Tesser is moving back to BR and her husband Russ is already living there.
- My mom kept emailing me after the offer to see what I thought, and then she gently continued to ask if I had made up my mind until I announced that I had.
- Corey Rogers is pregnant!!! It will be great to be able to spend some time with Cor and her husband Glen while they take this journey through a very important time in their lives.
- My cousin Chad is doing his optometry internship in Big Rapids this summer.
- Actually spending time with Katie Murray instead of just gossiping on the telephone.
- My sister Corinne called me and said how nice it was, after I got back from Yellowstone, to go home to Big Rapids for the weekend and have me there.
- Spending just an evening with Jesse and Jennifer and Heath and Heather laughing hysterically until tears were running down our faces at the Grape Stomp video (seriously one of the funniest, most awful things I have ever seen...if you haven't seen it, check it out here) made me realize how much I miss spending time with them.
Callie Wallie registered over the weekend.
I think there are 7 people signed up now and at least 4 more who are seriously considering joining us for the marathon.
So many things are falling perfectly into place to prove that moving home is the right decision. I just wish I hadn't had to come all the way to Arizona to figure out that I should be in Michigan. But what can you do? The west will have to wait a few years for me.
4.21.2006
I Got the Shout Out of the Day on Julie Woolie's Blog!!!
I'm moving home. Into a trailer at School Section Lake. For the entire story and to see my shout out, check out Julie's blog here.
I am leaving one week from today on Friday, April 28th unless I can leave on Thursday night. We will see. At any rate I'll be home sometime between Sunday night and Monday.
Michigan or Bust
Geek of the Week: Katie Reinke
Alexis suggested on Julie's blog that we begin to publish the geek of the week. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Julie and her friends are crazy. They enjoy making fun of each other for silly things. It is very rare to walk by the white board at the Bean house on 302 Division and not see a message declaring someone the geek of the week. Most of the time it will be a way to express frustration with someone for not doing something we wanted them to do. After the Christmas run this year Corey Reinke deemed his sister Katie and my sister Julie the geek of the week for not running (they walked around the neighborhood instead). And at the beginning of October, my cousin Logan gave Lucas the honor of becoming the geek of the week before he was even born. The message said:
Lucas is the geek of the week for being too stubborn to pop out!
So here is Erin's inaugural Geek of the Week blog post:
Katie Reinke is the geek of the week for pretending that she might run the Chicago Marathon and also for avoiding phone calls from people who would be interested in discussing this with her.
Lucas is the geek of the week for being too stubborn to pop out!
So here is Erin's inaugural Geek of the Week blog post:
Katie Reinke is the geek of the week for pretending that she might run the Chicago Marathon and also for avoiding phone calls from people who would be interested in discussing this with her.
4.17.2006
It's Getting Better All the Time
Shout Out of the Day: Julie Megan MorenoMy sister Julie has registered to run Chicago!
Katie Reinke and Callie Adamson, I believe you're next.
www.chicagomarathon.com
4.16.2006
Shout Out of the Day: JC
'Jesus Christ is the "YES!" to every promise God has made us.'
~Father Greg at St. Andrew's Catholic Church
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a savior.
~from Max Lucado's When God Whispers Your Name
Happy Easter Everyone!!!
~Father Greg at St. Andrew's Catholic Church
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a savior.
~from Max Lucado's When God Whispers Your Name
Happy Easter Everyone!!!
4.14.2006
Shout Out of the Day:
Lexi and Seth'll
Alexis Berke and Seth Hill Kennedy get the shout out of the day today because they both signed up to run the Chicago Marathon!!!! This is the first marathon for both of them and a huge commitment.
I am getting so excited! We are going to have the time of our lives.
Would anyone else like to join us?
www.chicagomarathon.com
Alexis Berke and Seth Hill Kennedy get the shout out of the day today because they both signed up to run the Chicago Marathon!!!! This is the first marathon for both of them and a huge commitment.
I am getting so excited! We are going to have the time of our lives.
Would anyone else like to join us?
www.chicagomarathon.com
The Plus Sign
In honor of Easter, a humorous story that Julie emailed me:
Little Zachary was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything. Tutors, mentors, flash cards, special learning centers. In short, everything they could think of to help his math.
Finally, in a last ditch effort, they took Zachary down and enrolled him in the local Catholic school. After the first day, little Zachary came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn't even kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Zachary was hard at work. His mother was amazed. She called him down to dinner.
To her shock, the minute he was done, he marched back to his room without a word, and in no time, he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day, while the mother tried to understand what made all the difference. Finally, little Zachary brought home his report card. He quietly laid it on the table, went up to his room and hit the books. With great trepidation, his mom looked at it and to her great surprise, Little Zachary got an "A" in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to his room and said, "Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?" Little Zachary looked at her and shook his head, no. "Well then," she replied, "was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms? WHAT WAS IT ALREADY?"
Little Zachary looked at her and said, "Well, on the first day of school when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren't fooling around."
Little Zachary was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything. Tutors, mentors, flash cards, special learning centers. In short, everything they could think of to help his math.
Finally, in a last ditch effort, they took Zachary down and enrolled him in the local Catholic school. After the first day, little Zachary came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn't even kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Zachary was hard at work. His mother was amazed. She called him down to dinner.
To her shock, the minute he was done, he marched back to his room without a word, and in no time, he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day, while the mother tried to understand what made all the difference. Finally, little Zachary brought home his report card. He quietly laid it on the table, went up to his room and hit the books. With great trepidation, his mom looked at it and to her great surprise, Little Zachary got an "A" in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to his room and said, "Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?" Little Zachary looked at her and shook his head, no. "Well then," she replied, "was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms? WHAT WAS IT ALREADY?"
Little Zachary looked at her and said, "Well, on the first day of school when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren't fooling around."
4.13.2006
Tragedy In Blog World
The tragedy of this blog is that I’m actually using it as a substitute for real conversation. I have found myself, over the past few weeks, skipping over information that people could find on the blog and continuing stories from where my writing left off. Yesterday I was talking to my dad and the conversation went something like this:
Me: “I’m trying to get Griff to come out here to go backpacking in May but I don’t think it’s going to happen because of that trip to China.”
Dad: “Oh, Griff’s going to China? For what?”
Me: silence
And then (admittedly a bit accusatorily): “You haven’t read my blog lately have you?”
Oh, the nerve of him!! Ha ha. I realized after I hung up the phone how horrible it was to just assume that he looks at it every day. (Sorry Dad!) I have become a victim of technology and the information age. It is a little sad to realize that the majority of my interactions with the people I love most in the world have been diminished to a few words that I type and publish on the internet – what Blake calls “the most un-intimate of places.”
Lately I have really been weighing the pros and cons of this type of communication. I mean, is a blog really any different than the letters that people print out and place in Christmas cards? While those types of correspondence are very informative and a much more efficient way to explain events of the previous year, the typed print really lacks the beauty and exclusivity of a handwritten letter. (Sorry this time to anyone who puts those letters in the cards.)
It also has become again apparent to me how much the time difference itself affects my ability to communicate with people. When I first moved here it was only two hours; I was on Mountain Time as I was in Yellowstone and the gap wasn’t too large. Now, since for some unknown reason Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, I am three hours behind Eastern Standard – technically once again on Pacific (California) Time. This makes life so much more difficult because when I get home at 6 it is 9 in Michigan and people are getting ready for bed or it just feels too late to call.
For me the blog seems to be useful mostly as a result of time management. I don’t have the time to write every person a letter to explain everything. And when they finally received the letter in the mail it would be outdated anyway. As we grow up we have such a small amount of time to spend sharing our lives with each other and I love the idea of catching up this way – people can read my blog when they get an extra moment and respond with a comment or email when they have the time.
And as much as I love to talk, it has been great to not have to explain the same stories over and over again. I enjoy calling a friend or my fam and having them already know what’s going on without needing to spend the time explaining it. The blog has allowed much more meaningful conversations to develop with the people who are important in my life. For the most part the quality of my conversations has not suffered and has in fact become better.
But there are times when the information someone reads on my blog might be a good filler. For instance sometimes my conversations with Griff end this way:
Me. “Do you have anything else to tell me?”
Griff: “I got nothing, Beans.”
Me: “Ok, well I guess I’ll let you go then.”
So sad.
What I’ve decided after all of this is that the blog has its good points and it’s bad ones. This is an easy way to communicate that isn’t hindered by time differences or conflicting schedules. But more personal forms of communication are definitely better. From now on I’m going to make an honest effort to take the time and hand write a few letters or cards every week. Just like the rest of life, this has to be a balance. While my blog can provide useful information and also serve as documentation of my new life here, I should supplement it with more personalized correspondence. So I’m going to work on that.
It is 88 degrees at 5:30 pm. Nuts.
Me: “I’m trying to get Griff to come out here to go backpacking in May but I don’t think it’s going to happen because of that trip to China.”
Dad: “Oh, Griff’s going to China? For what?”
Me: silence
And then (admittedly a bit accusatorily): “You haven’t read my blog lately have you?”
Oh, the nerve of him!! Ha ha. I realized after I hung up the phone how horrible it was to just assume that he looks at it every day. (Sorry Dad!) I have become a victim of technology and the information age. It is a little sad to realize that the majority of my interactions with the people I love most in the world have been diminished to a few words that I type and publish on the internet – what Blake calls “the most un-intimate of places.”
Lately I have really been weighing the pros and cons of this type of communication. I mean, is a blog really any different than the letters that people print out and place in Christmas cards? While those types of correspondence are very informative and a much more efficient way to explain events of the previous year, the typed print really lacks the beauty and exclusivity of a handwritten letter. (Sorry this time to anyone who puts those letters in the cards.)
It also has become again apparent to me how much the time difference itself affects my ability to communicate with people. When I first moved here it was only two hours; I was on Mountain Time as I was in Yellowstone and the gap wasn’t too large. Now, since for some unknown reason Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, I am three hours behind Eastern Standard – technically once again on Pacific (California) Time. This makes life so much more difficult because when I get home at 6 it is 9 in Michigan and people are getting ready for bed or it just feels too late to call.
For me the blog seems to be useful mostly as a result of time management. I don’t have the time to write every person a letter to explain everything. And when they finally received the letter in the mail it would be outdated anyway. As we grow up we have such a small amount of time to spend sharing our lives with each other and I love the idea of catching up this way – people can read my blog when they get an extra moment and respond with a comment or email when they have the time.
And as much as I love to talk, it has been great to not have to explain the same stories over and over again. I enjoy calling a friend or my fam and having them already know what’s going on without needing to spend the time explaining it. The blog has allowed much more meaningful conversations to develop with the people who are important in my life. For the most part the quality of my conversations has not suffered and has in fact become better.
But there are times when the information someone reads on my blog might be a good filler. For instance sometimes my conversations with Griff end this way:
Me. “Do you have anything else to tell me?”
Griff: “I got nothing, Beans.”
Me: “Ok, well I guess I’ll let you go then.”
So sad.
What I’ve decided after all of this is that the blog has its good points and it’s bad ones. This is an easy way to communicate that isn’t hindered by time differences or conflicting schedules. But more personal forms of communication are definitely better. From now on I’m going to make an honest effort to take the time and hand write a few letters or cards every week. Just like the rest of life, this has to be a balance. While my blog can provide useful information and also serve as documentation of my new life here, I should supplement it with more personalized correspondence. So I’m going to work on that.
It is 88 degrees at 5:30 pm. Nuts.
4.12.2006
More Chistmas Run Pics
There are more photos including the big group one further down a few posts on this page.
4.11.2006
My Weekend and Photos For My Country Bumpkin' Sisters: Sare Bare & Julie Woolie
I had another really busy weekend. Friday night I worked a country music concert. It was on post put on by the military but the city had volunteered to be in charge of the backstage food area. It was a very interesting experience seeing the way the artists treated us and also to see the items that each performer requested to be made available for them at each venue (for example 18 tea lights, 12 bottles of Michelob Ultra or other low carb beer, a 12 passenger van, every brand of soda imaginable, etc.)
This is the group of us with Jason Aldean. If you're a country fan he sings "Hick Town" and has a new single called "Why"
This is everyone and Miranda Lambert. She was kind of evil but she put on a good show. She sings "Me and Charlie Talking" and "Kerosene"
I also attended my first public hearing for the skate park on Saturday. There were a few very heated debates and I was fascinated by this public meeting and the participants who came with real concerns and frustrations. We have talked for so long about these types of meetings in my rec. classes at HSU and it was interesting to actually be a part of the process. After all of my complaining I am very thankful to have been appointed to the committee; I think the experience will be invaluable.
Sunday I had to take tickets and hand out programs for the Peking Acrobats. If you have never seen them, it's a group from China that does the most interesting things with their bodies. For example:
This is the group of us with Jason Aldean. If you're a country fan he sings "Hick Town" and has a new single called "Why"
This is everyone and Miranda Lambert. She was kind of evil but she put on a good show. She sings "Me and Charlie Talking" and "Kerosene"
I also attended my first public hearing for the skate park on Saturday. There were a few very heated debates and I was fascinated by this public meeting and the participants who came with real concerns and frustrations. We have talked for so long about these types of meetings in my rec. classes at HSU and it was interesting to actually be a part of the process. After all of my complaining I am very thankful to have been appointed to the committee; I think the experience will be invaluable.
Sunday I had to take tickets and hand out programs for the Peking Acrobats. If you have never seen them, it's a group from China that does the most interesting things with their bodies. For example:
If you look closely, you will see that each woman's face is between the legs of the woman below her, and then she bends her body almost in half to place her feet on the knees of the woman underneath so each set of legs actually belongs to the head between its feet. It was truly amazing. Odd, but very entertaining.
4.10.2006
Shout Out of the Day: Mr. Aaron Griffith
Griff is going to China. And I am jealous.
He's being sent overseas for work and will be in China for six days.
It's exciting for him and he is very happy to have a trip that "finally one ups Beans." It's true - I can't beat a trip to China Griff, no matter how hard I try. I can't wait to see the pictures!!
(The photo above is from the Christmas run this year. I felt guilty for not putting up a pic for Griff's b-day. Now that I have my puter back I thought I'd add one here.)
Christmas Run Photos
Here are some photos from the Christmas run, because everyone keeps asking me for them:
I will add more later today.
I will add more later today.
Chi-town, Here We Come!!!
Today I made a huge, scary commitment and registered to run the Chicago Marathon on October 22, 2006. Right now I'm a little stressed about the decision but very excited. It's going to require an insane amount of discipline, but with all the running I've been doing and the free time I have I think it's a perfect time to train for my second marathon.
Alicia Griffith and Catie Adamson are already signed up and we're hoping to get a few more people to spend the weekend with us. (Callie, quit being a slacker and register already!!)
4.05.2006
Shout Out of the Day: Susan Kaye BeanMy mom gets the shout out of the day today because she sent me a package in the mail full of goodies from home. The best thing in the package was a book called A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. It's a really funny book about hiking the Appalachian Trail. My parents learned about it at Home Builders, a group they are attending through church. My mom called me after the meeting where they talked about the book to ask if I had read it. I said I hadn't, and a few days later I got an email from my mom saying "Any mail lately?" I went to the post office and had a package with the book in it! I can't wait to read it.
Thanks, Mom!! You're the best.
4.04.2006
Shout Out of the Day: Corey Rogers
http://mrsrogers.net/
Corey (Marshall) Rogers is one of my bestest friends from GVSU/Houghton Lake. She is an Applied Technology teacher at Orchard Lake Middle School near Detroit. Cor gets the shout out because she had the best day of her life today when she met one of her heroes AND was invited by a very prestigious man to present at a national conference next year.
Corey received a grant last spring to create a podcast with her students starting this past fall. (Just in case this whole podcast thing is new to you, a podcast is an audio file, similar to a radio show, that is available for download from theInternet.) The segment ideas, interviews, and recordings were all done by the students. Corey has now presented at two conferences to teach other teachers about podcasting. You can find the podcasts at her website: http://mrsrogers.net
Corey presented today at the Power Up Conference for Oakland schools. One of the people who attended her presentation was David Warlick. David is a nationally known consultant on technology and education and is also listed on Corey's MySpace account as one of the three people she would love to meet. David completed a live blog during Corey's presentation. He loved her and wrote things like:
OK, the display is up, and she has changed her hard drive icon to the Starbucks emblem. My kind'a geek.
This woman is geekier than I am. I'm loving this. Her students do a classroom podcast
She's teaching me some stuff about Audacity that I didn't know. Very cool.
He even took pictures of Corey at her presentation. (Uh oh Glen, better watch out!)
See more on his blog at http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2006/04/04/podcasting-session/
Then to make things even better, the Executive Director of MACUL (The Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) saw Corey's presentation and invited her to present again next year at the MACUL Conference. He even told her when applying to say she was invited by the Executive Director!!!
What a great day Cor!! You're awesome and I'm very proud of you!
http://mrsrogers.net/
Corey (Marshall) Rogers is one of my bestest friends from GVSU/Houghton Lake. She is an Applied Technology teacher at Orchard Lake Middle School near Detroit. Cor gets the shout out because she had the best day of her life today when she met one of her heroes AND was invited by a very prestigious man to present at a national conference next year.
Corey received a grant last spring to create a podcast with her students starting this past fall. (Just in case this whole podcast thing is new to you, a podcast is an audio file, similar to a radio show, that is available for download from theInternet.) The segment ideas, interviews, and recordings were all done by the students. Corey has now presented at two conferences to teach other teachers about podcasting. You can find the podcasts at her website: http://mrsrogers.net
Corey presented today at the Power Up Conference for Oakland schools. One of the people who attended her presentation was David Warlick. David is a nationally known consultant on technology and education and is also listed on Corey's MySpace account as one of the three people she would love to meet. David completed a live blog during Corey's presentation. He loved her and wrote things like:
OK, the display is up, and she has changed her hard drive icon to the Starbucks emblem. My kind'a geek.
This woman is geekier than I am. I'm loving this. Her students do a classroom podcast
She's teaching me some stuff about Audacity that I didn't know. Very cool.
He even took pictures of Corey at her presentation. (Uh oh Glen, better watch out!)
See more on his blog at http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2006/04/04/podcasting-session/
Then to make things even better, the Executive Director of MACUL (The Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) saw Corey's presentation and invited her to present again next year at the MACUL Conference. He even told her when applying to say she was invited by the Executive Director!!!
What a great day Cor!! You're awesome and I'm very proud of you!
http://mrsrogers.net/
4.03.2006
Catholic Aerobics: Sit, Stand, Kneel, Stand, Kneel, Sit
I had a crazy busy weekend. My first big special event was on Friday and Saturday. It was a writing celebration that we sponsored for the local college. I don't want to bore you, but there were 100 people here on Friday for the event so I had to set everything up and serve lunch as well as deal with any problems that arose. It was very nuts and I didn't sit down all day, but it was exciting. And on Saturday I had to go to the college to bring the presenters lunch and clean up and wash dishes.
Saturday night I had an interesting experience. I ran on the trails behind my house up into the canyon. I had left pretty late in the evening, around 5:30 and it was just starting to get dark. I was almost up the trail to where I wanted to turn around and for the first time since I've been here I saw discarded clothing on the side of the trail. At first didn't really think about it, but then I looked more closely and noticed a couple tattered jackets and ski masks. (This is a common occurrence around here. The illegal immigrants bring backpacks and extra clothing for the journey over the border and then abandon them on the trails when they make it to the states. This way they have the protection for their trip and before they make it to the road and civilization they get rid of everything that will make them look like an illegal alien who just walked here from Mexico.)
It was so weird, because obviously the people who were wearing them were gone - they left the jackets for a reason, but I got so freaked out! I guess it's my dad always asking me about the pepper spray and also because a lady I work with and her husband were walking one day and some guys came out of the bush begging for help in Spanish. The Mexicans wouldn't leave them alone and followed them for quite a ways down the trail. I'm not saying that all illegal immigrants are always dangerous, but sometimes they are desperate and want food and water or shelter. I've also heard horror stories of people being hurt or attacked or whatever. (Maybe it's just urban legend, because it's always "I know someone who knows someone who got beat up by these illegals..." and never first hand information, but who knows really?) The bottom line is that I shouldn't be putting myself at risk.
After I saw the jackets all of the stories I have heard ran through my head and I thought to myself "What am I doing running on this trail alone?" At that point I was about 30 min. up the trail maybe 2 ½ miles from my house. I jumped off the trail, bushwhacked up to the road and ran back home that way. I definitely won't be running that far into the canyon alone ever again. Maybe from now on I have to pick a trail that is more well traveled or run on the road or whatever.
I know there's a fine line between being smart and protecting myself and being able to do what I want to do. But it's so hard. It's hard because I really am alone here. I live alone, I moved here alone and I don't have many friends yet. But as I get older I'm learning that while it's physically possible to do these things alone, it might not be very intelligent to do so. It stinks, but is true.
The good news about running is that I won't be doing it by myself much anymore. On Sunday I had Round 2 of my 2-hour trail run with Kelly. (Kelly is another recreation coordinator who works at the city pool.) I felt 100 times better than I did last week when we ran, I think mostly because I knew what to expect. I knew where all of the big hills were and how long they were. Last week I just felt like we were running straight up the side of a mountain. We also left at 7 am instead of 8 so it was much cooler and I didn't feel like I was dying of heat stroke.
Also, another lady I work with, Eileen, and I are going to run a few days a week in the morning before work. She invited me to come to her house and run from there. We started today and had a great run even though she's pretty fast. The only bad part is that I had to wake up at 5:45!!!! I honestly don't remember the last time I woke up before 6 am. Coach Kahrs always says the best way to start your day is to wake up with the sun. I can't say yet that I agree with him, but when my alarm went off the sun was just beginning to peak over the ridge and was very beautiful. What's even better is that my run is already done for the day. Maybe Coach is right after all.
On Sunday I went to church at 5 pm. I wasn't going to go because I ran in the morning and had missed the 9:00 service that I normally attend. I ended up going to a different church (because the church closer to my apt. doesn't have a Sun. evening service) and really enjoyed the mass. The gospel reading was John 12:20-33 which is a good one. (Check it out. Verse 27 was especially comforting to me) In the beginning of the passage some visiting Greeks want to meet Jesus. The priest said that St. Andrew's will be having experiences similar to this when they open the new church that they are currently building. He said we should make visitors feel at home and not like they are crashing a party. It's great advice isn't it? The process of finding a church can be very nerve racking and even a little scary. And the Catholic faith has such a structured mass that can be so confusing to outsiders. The priest told us to look around at the beginning of mass, introduce ourselves to newcomers and teach them about what he called the Catholic Aerobics: sit, stand, kneel, sit, etc... I thought it was a good lesson because Catholics can be so complacent: come to church, listen to the message, recite the proper responses - just go through the motions. Attending Mass can sometimes become a bit of a habit and seem monotonous. I loved that he gave us a challenge to pay more attention to our surroundings and to be welcoming to newcomers. "Make them feel at home and not like they're crashing a party." If all Christians could be more accomodating to people who don't understand I think we could seem more approachable and learn more too because the best way to fully understand something is to teach it to others.
This is a long post, but the last thing that I want to say is that I watched The Constant Gardener over the weekend and loved it. It made me want to do one of the following:
a) join the Peace Corps
b) buy a ticket and fly to Africa today and do something...anything to help
or
c) go back to school and become a nurse and then go to Africa.
It also made me so much more aware of the privilege of being American and made me ashamed that I'm not doing more to help. I'm still stewing over this, but let me know if you've seen the film and what you thought.
Saturday night I had an interesting experience. I ran on the trails behind my house up into the canyon. I had left pretty late in the evening, around 5:30 and it was just starting to get dark. I was almost up the trail to where I wanted to turn around and for the first time since I've been here I saw discarded clothing on the side of the trail. At first didn't really think about it, but then I looked more closely and noticed a couple tattered jackets and ski masks. (This is a common occurrence around here. The illegal immigrants bring backpacks and extra clothing for the journey over the border and then abandon them on the trails when they make it to the states. This way they have the protection for their trip and before they make it to the road and civilization they get rid of everything that will make them look like an illegal alien who just walked here from Mexico.)
It was so weird, because obviously the people who were wearing them were gone - they left the jackets for a reason, but I got so freaked out! I guess it's my dad always asking me about the pepper spray and also because a lady I work with and her husband were walking one day and some guys came out of the bush begging for help in Spanish. The Mexicans wouldn't leave them alone and followed them for quite a ways down the trail. I'm not saying that all illegal immigrants are always dangerous, but sometimes they are desperate and want food and water or shelter. I've also heard horror stories of people being hurt or attacked or whatever. (Maybe it's just urban legend, because it's always "I know someone who knows someone who got beat up by these illegals..." and never first hand information, but who knows really?) The bottom line is that I shouldn't be putting myself at risk.
After I saw the jackets all of the stories I have heard ran through my head and I thought to myself "What am I doing running on this trail alone?" At that point I was about 30 min. up the trail maybe 2 ½ miles from my house. I jumped off the trail, bushwhacked up to the road and ran back home that way. I definitely won't be running that far into the canyon alone ever again. Maybe from now on I have to pick a trail that is more well traveled or run on the road or whatever.
I know there's a fine line between being smart and protecting myself and being able to do what I want to do. But it's so hard. It's hard because I really am alone here. I live alone, I moved here alone and I don't have many friends yet. But as I get older I'm learning that while it's physically possible to do these things alone, it might not be very intelligent to do so. It stinks, but is true.
The good news about running is that I won't be doing it by myself much anymore. On Sunday I had Round 2 of my 2-hour trail run with Kelly. (Kelly is another recreation coordinator who works at the city pool.) I felt 100 times better than I did last week when we ran, I think mostly because I knew what to expect. I knew where all of the big hills were and how long they were. Last week I just felt like we were running straight up the side of a mountain. We also left at 7 am instead of 8 so it was much cooler and I didn't feel like I was dying of heat stroke.
Also, another lady I work with, Eileen, and I are going to run a few days a week in the morning before work. She invited me to come to her house and run from there. We started today and had a great run even though she's pretty fast. The only bad part is that I had to wake up at 5:45!!!! I honestly don't remember the last time I woke up before 6 am. Coach Kahrs always says the best way to start your day is to wake up with the sun. I can't say yet that I agree with him, but when my alarm went off the sun was just beginning to peak over the ridge and was very beautiful. What's even better is that my run is already done for the day. Maybe Coach is right after all.
On Sunday I went to church at 5 pm. I wasn't going to go because I ran in the morning and had missed the 9:00 service that I normally attend. I ended up going to a different church (because the church closer to my apt. doesn't have a Sun. evening service) and really enjoyed the mass. The gospel reading was John 12:20-33 which is a good one. (Check it out. Verse 27 was especially comforting to me) In the beginning of the passage some visiting Greeks want to meet Jesus. The priest said that St. Andrew's will be having experiences similar to this when they open the new church that they are currently building. He said we should make visitors feel at home and not like they are crashing a party. It's great advice isn't it? The process of finding a church can be very nerve racking and even a little scary. And the Catholic faith has such a structured mass that can be so confusing to outsiders. The priest told us to look around at the beginning of mass, introduce ourselves to newcomers and teach them about what he called the Catholic Aerobics: sit, stand, kneel, sit, etc... I thought it was a good lesson because Catholics can be so complacent: come to church, listen to the message, recite the proper responses - just go through the motions. Attending Mass can sometimes become a bit of a habit and seem monotonous. I loved that he gave us a challenge to pay more attention to our surroundings and to be welcoming to newcomers. "Make them feel at home and not like they're crashing a party." If all Christians could be more accomodating to people who don't understand I think we could seem more approachable and learn more too because the best way to fully understand something is to teach it to others.
This is a long post, but the last thing that I want to say is that I watched The Constant Gardener over the weekend and loved it. It made me want to do one of the following:
a) join the Peace Corps
b) buy a ticket and fly to Africa today and do something...anything to help
or
c) go back to school and become a nurse and then go to Africa.
It also made me so much more aware of the privilege of being American and made me ashamed that I'm not doing more to help. I'm still stewing over this, but let me know if you've seen the film and what you thought.
4.01.2006
Shout Out of the Weekend: Carman Bean
Happy 50th Birthday DAD!!!!
My dad's 50th birthday is tomorrow, April 2nd. He is currently in Orlando, Florida on a golfing vacation and will arrive in Michigan late tomorrow night. The fam celebrated his birthday last weekend and I missed the festivities so I thought I'd give him a shout out on the blog.
Sorry I missed your birthday dad! I hope you had a good time on vacation and that you enjoy the gift from Julie and Jason and Lucas and I. Thanks for being great every day and for being so supportive. I miss you and love you very much.
Happy 50th Birthday DAD!!!!
Happy 50th Birthday DAD!!!!
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