Speaking of work... I'll fill you in on my thoughts so far. The word that comes to mind to describe my first six weeks is "interesting". I have experienced a wide range of emotions everything from sadness to anger. Sadness due to the disbelief of what some of these kids have to deal with - their lives are so complicated. Anger due to the kids who just don't seem to care about anything - they don't realize that they really should take advantage of the extra assistance they are being offered. But one thing my job has done for me is that it has opened my eyes to the many injustices that exists in our country. While I've always been aware that these issues surround us, I seem to have become immune to them - thinking that they are not close to me, so I don't have to worry about them. NOT!! I've been reminded that the stuff you hear about (and wished you wouldn't have) happens right in my back yard and I have to admit it's disturbing and unsettling. In general though, I am enjoying my job, but it is definitely an adjustment on many levels.
Besides working, the rest of the month has been very busy, but fun. Here's the hodge podge of things that have been going on!
The first weekend of May, I had the opportunity to participate in a part of Spokane culture. My friend Lori and I walked in the 33rd Bloomsday - a 7.4 mile race through our city. I have heard about Bloomsday since we've moved here and I've always wanted to do it. It is a huge community event that becomes a really big deal the first weekend of every May. This year, there was something like 50,000 participants!! It was a sight to see. I think that it's just one of those things that you have to do at least once if you live here. We finished in 2 hours and 23 minutes. Considering we both thought that it would take us somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.5 to 4 hours, we were pleasantly surprised with our time. It was a lot of fun! Thanks for your company, Lori! Now if only I could get myself in shape enough to run it!
The second weekend in May, we continued "Operation: Winter Storm Recovery". Now that our basement is complete and back in order, it was time to move on to the outside. We ordered a DIY kit for a shed and we spent the weekend putting it together. We had a good chuckle when the directions told us we could assemble the entire structure in 2.5 hours....2 full days later, we finished!! Working with my husband on these types of projects is always interesting. It's these times, when you have to pray for what my small group calls good ol' m.p. (aka - marriage protection). Lord knows there will always be some type of disagreement when undertaking any kind of construction and/or remodeling project. Ours always seem to revolve around my muscles (or lack thereof)! This project's heated discussion was about me not being able to hold the plywood roof in place long enough for my husband to tack it down. Somehow, I survived again and we have a completed project!
On the 15th, Ben and I celebrated a very special day... our 5 year anniversary! WAHOOO!! Can't believe it's been 5 years already! It was kind of low key, but enjoyable. The weather was beautiful and reminded us both so much of our actual wedding day - mid 60's and bright blue skies. We sat out in our backyard in the morning, enjoying the sunshine and admiring the one lone white tulip that had bloomed a few days earlier. The tulip was one of the actual tulips that was in our wedding, and it's such a fun memory to watch it open and to think that it was on the altar with us! It is conveniently located next to the garden arch that was also used as a decoration at our reception. We celebrated by riding our bicycles to & from the Rockwood Bakery, a favorite local hangout, for lunch. We then came home and gave our stinky dog a bath! We ended our day with a walk through Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane and a yummy dinner at Milford's, a seafood house.
The next day, we packed our truck and started making our way to the west side of the state in preparation to meet up with my family. We left our house at about 7pm and knew we would only make it to the middle of the state before stopping to sleep. Rest areas have become our new campgrounds, thanks to our transformer-like truck. After 6 hours or so of a restless, pacing, panting dog, and therefore minimal amounts of shut-eye, we continued on our journey to Anacortes where we met up with my dad and stepmom before boarding an hour long ferry ride to beautiful Orcas Island. We spent 3 nights there in a very nice house that we rented. I could write a whole separate post on our trip, but the short of it is that we had a great time. It is a beautiful place and it was a really fun visit. I will post pictures in another blog.
We spent Memorial weekend doing things around here. We painted our shed to match our house - it's very cute! And Ben once again proved that he is much more handy then he thinks by building us a firewood holder. Ben finished splitting a bunch of wood he brought home a few months ago, and I stacked it all. I love that part - it's like a big puzzle. I'll post pictures of this stuff too.
And just this past weekend I got to do something that I've come to look forward to... attend the Women of Faith conference. Last year, my friend Kari invited me to go along with her. I did and had a wonderful time. I knew then that I would have to try to go every year if possible. This year was awesome too. Worship with an arena full of women is very powerful and how can you go wrong with faith based inspiration, encouragement, and just good times? I laughed, I cried, I laughed so hard that I was crying... I am rejuvenated and ready to take on another month!
In addition to all this stuff, May is a month full of birthdays. Happy Birthday to my Grandma Ardeen, my mom, and my brother Mike.
Here's to hoping that June won't go by as fast as May did and I won't have to cram everything into one blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment