little steps

just wanted to let the world know that our little girl took her first step this afternoon. sophi requested that we not post any video from this historic day. she said, "the revolution will not be televised..."

all bundled up

this has been one of the coldest winters i can remember and the little sophster has taken it like a trooper. looks like we may have turned the corner on the cold stuff (40 degrees today). just a little vid of our girl prepared to brave the elements (listen closely and you'll hear amy mention the temperature).

sorry if you were looking for something deep/spiritual today, management opted for cute. but if you look hard enough, you could probably find some life lesson in this.

(insert catchy title here)

i began my new job a few weeks back and if it weren't for those darn confidentiality rules i could post some of the funniest stories of all time. almost makes me wish i had one more round at spencer lake camp this summer to tell some of these as world famous bed time stories. if you've ever heard one of my stories... these put those to shame (except for the one security story but that's a whole rabbit trail not worth going down).

for valentine's day i received a few small things from my ladies: a notebook (for deep thoughts - just in case) from sophi and from amy i got the world's most awesome hardest gummy bears (they rule) and sufjan stevens, greetings from michigan: the great lakes state. amazing. stop what you are doing and itunes it immediately. if for no other reason, to celebrate/mourn my great home state. thanks to brad for the recommendation.

currently listening to

in case you're dying to know...

norah jones - not too late
sufjan stevens - The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras From Illinios Album
u2 - actung baby
gomez - how we operate
amos lee - supply and demand
linkin park & jay z - collision course
new kentucky quarter - carry it around

since they haven't hooked up our cable yet, we're doing lots of deep catalog listening lately. no tv for the past week and a half... i don't know how brad does it. (no television tax. one more reason why the states are far superior)

on language and laziness

about a week ago i was leaving the local grocery store when one of those community bulletin signs caught my attention. you know the ones right by the exit door that are usually covered with middle school drama advertisements. this one flyer had bold print that read "learn english". a good thing to know if you are living in the midwest. later that day i had to run to that store again, and on the way out i saw that flyer again... only this time i took the time to read the rest of the details.

the entire advertisement was in... ENGLISH. (stop... think about it) now, i know the people giving the lessons were coming from a good place, but don't you think they missed an important fact.

the more i roll this one around in my head, the more i am convinced that we most often fail to see life from outside our bubbles. the givens to us are rarely givens to others. especially in faith circles. maybe it's just being lazy, maybe it's because we don't spend enough time with those who live day to day outside our circle. maybe it's because we still think in terms of circles and in and out. here's to living incarnationally... uh, real life with real people, not just those who know my language.

new places

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_WaZkTSwUk



i've decided that one of the unexpected hazards of a new home comes from above. that's right, hanging lights. having hit my head no less than ten times on this stupid light, one would think i would duck... one would be wrong.

just a few quick pics of our new basecamp here in oshkosh.

we're in

we're in. 25 below zero windchill? no problem...

just to worn out to come up with anything clever for the post...i do want to say thanks to everyone who came out and pitched in to help us move the past few days. we would still be packing if it weren't for you. thank you.

countdown is full on

we're loading the van tomorrow. are we ready?

one would think that with the amazing packing abilities demonstrated in the last post, we would be all done and packed up. not quite. back to the boxes... oh the fun.

vs. the dog carrier

after the conference at mars hill our brains were a bit overloaded, jammed full of bell-iness. which meant we needed to let things settle and to let the mental pressure bleed...

no one could have predicted it would have been like this. things started gently enough, as they usually do... with a dare. "i dare you to get in that big dog carrier over there." big carrier moved on to little carrier and one statement... "i think i can do it." the rest is youtube history.

amy (total time: >30 minutes)


shana (time: 15 minutes)


laura (time: >5 minutes)


note: carrier dimensions (26" L x 18" W x 21" H)

moral of the story: don't leave adults unsupervised?

sophi vs. the dogs

while at the "isn't she beautiful" conference in michigan we stayed with amy's good friends shana and kevin. their two little dogs kept things interesting the whole weekend. as you can see sophi can correctly identify at least one animal group now... we are so proud.

stay tuned for even more exciting video from our adventure...

new things

our friends, brad and georgie (molly too) are part of the startup team of a new church (greystones community church) outside of dublin. as if being new parents, or teaching, or working on a phd weren't enough...

i am excited to see how life/faith/community plays out in this setting. i know it will be good. we're pulling for you guys.

church and chili dogs

well, we recently returned from the "isn't she beautiful" conference at mars hill over in grand rapids. two full days of incredible teaching (narrative theology stuff, a journey through salvation using only the bible, study methods ala rob bell...).

i should really unpack a bit here, but i think i will let things "marinade" a bit longer. one thing i do know, is that it was very cool to able to go with amy's brother steve and our good friend laura who are helping us start water city it was quite refreshing to go to a big event and not have my hype meter go off even once. maybe there is hope for the western church...

on a different note, one highlight of the weekend was the discovery of yesterdog one word... fantastic. hotdogs as God meant them to be experienced. take my advice and put "eating at yesterdog" on your "list of things to do before i die"

six days until we move... i better get packing.

happy birthday (year 1)

first couple weeks

six months

one year

it seems fitting that it snowed last night here in central wisconsin... one year ago amy and i slowly made our way to the hospital, because of the snow, to have our first beautiful little girl...sophia mae.

this first year has been amazing, challenging, frightening, tiring and a myriad of other emotions. i am supposed to be writing all this sentimental stuff in her baby book, so i better not use it all up here. we sure love our little peanut.

oscar and time lost

its no secret that i would like to acquire a super power. not a first world country that can destroy it's enemies with a push of a button, a super power such as flight or super fast typing or something equally as cool. most of you did not know this but our dog has been secretly preparing a serum that would allow him to control others. hard to believe i know, especially for those of you who have spent any time with oscar...doesn't seem to be the smartest dog.

but my challenge to you is to stare deeply into his eyes and then try, just try to go about your day as if nothing were wrong. in the end he will get you to do what he wants you to do.


ever wonder where your day went? how you didn't accomplish everything you wanted to? well today you know... this has been three to four minutes you'll never get back (hope it at least made you smile)

oscar says, you will smile. now give me a treat

New Year!

let me be the first to wish you a Happy New Year...for 2008. seems i'm a bit late for '07. lot's going on, but for now just a new vid from sophi.



this was funny at first, now her food is all over the floor anytime we have that tray on the chair. live and learn.

soph vs soup

most of us would admit that we don't do well with change. at some point in life we shifted from trying new things to sticking with our favorites. favorite soda, burger joint, person, preacher, film genre... sure we step outside our favorite from time to time, but usually because of a nudge/push from someone else.

sophi's life is one great big change, at least up to this point. new foods, clothes, toys, family... as you can see she wasn't so sure about the soup at culvers. but not one to avoid change she plowed right in and found it to be quite delicious (and went on to paint her face with it). here's to not shying away from change.

although, she does have a favorite blankey already, so maybe i'm way off and we're born to be stuck in our ways. either way, there's no denying the cuteness of this child.

eleven months

oscar is proud to announce that sophi is 11 months old today. as you can see, he is very excited and says that his life has been nothing but extraordinary since january.

old photos, bad sweaters and lives together

I'm not usually one to get all mushy over anniversaries. although i do admit in public that i am a bit of a romantic. anyway on this date, ten years ago, at a certain university christmas party, some quite stylish guys went out on a limb to serenade some ladies they kind of knew. fortunately the soda had been flowing freely the entire evening and these fellas were quite hopped on sugar and caffeine.

this led to much laughter and the need to remember the moment in photographs...


one such photo captured the beginnings of something beautiful...




here's to fifty more years of group shots on funny couches... i wonder if i still have that sweater?

holiday cheer ramping up!

sophi demonstrating michigan's chance for the national title...


pics from our annual "get the christmas tree" outing. sophi sporting the very warm and necessary puffy coat. the aftermath of the trip and finally our fabulous tree...which is currently standing with lights on, but without ornaments (only so much time in week).


on other news, we spent the weekend over with the ullmers in appleton (amy's family). cookie baking extravaganza! family pics at the fox valley's best lit house and home hunting in oshkosh. marking my third drive to the fox valley in one week.


next year for christmas i'm going to ask santa for a non-complicated life. some assembly required i'm sure.

Movement

this should be the place where i insert some fantastic quote or an inspirational scripture or something. it is usually a way of validating or at least adding weight to what i have to say, but not this time...

this past year has been one filled with all types of ups and downs. some downs that actually played out as ups and vise versa. out of all the twists and turns, foggy mornings and bright sun at noon moments one dream has emerged. the idea of beginning a new community of faith, one centered on values that we may not even be able to write out clearly. but that we know are essential if Jesus-following-life is to mean anything to those disconnected from church (myself included). i heard someone once say that Christian life is more than believing properly (orthodoxy), it is right movement as well (orthopraxy). like riding a bike, balance is discovered in the going, doing, moving (except to my brother-in-law and his whole "fixed gear" bike subculture -don't ask).

amy and i, along with some friends and family are on a journey to discover what a faith community, centered on living the kingdom of heaven here (oshkosh) and now, could look like. as of this moment, we've got no mission statement, no meeting place or anything... but we very much feel like God is directing us to step out this way. so here we go, closer up... deeper in.