where i've been sleeping

after reading a scathing post on duderus about small-time bloggers' lazy posting, i have decided to update my site. due to the severe lack of comments, i had all but given up on my blogging project, but i've been assured that i have at least two people still coming to check occasionally. so, nate and sam, here you go.
i've been all over the country of late, spending a lot of time away from home. i'm going to tell you about it by explaining where i've spent my nights, sleeping in strange beds. over labor day weekend, i moved into my new house. i spent the first night on the hardwood floor, because i needed a new bed. but then the next morning, my parents bought me a new mattress for graduation! (oh, i graduated too. that was a little over a month ago.) so then i slept in my new bed, which is so amazing that i actually think about during the day. (it might sound pathetic, but if you sat on it, you'd understand.) then, after only three nights in my new place, i went to GR and spent a week at my parents' house in caledonia, listening to a chorus of bullfrogs singing from the pond behind the house. in the daytimes i enjoyed my own private resort, lounging by the pool doing crosswords and reading books, thoroughly enjoying the backyard while the rest of family was at work. i also attended my cousin's wedding and had a lovely luau party for my supporters. the next week i slept in a stateroom in the bottom of a houseboat, floating around dale hollow lake somewhere between kentucky and tennessee, getting rocked to sleep by the waves. oh, sweet bliss. while we were there, my family and i went swimming, boating, jetskiing, hot-tubbing, and star-gazing, and it was wonderful. then i drove back to the real and not imaginary place where i live, and stayed home for five nights. i started my new job and hung out with full-time. then i went to the o.c. in new jersey for four nights and visited my students at the beach project. i got to sleep in my old hammock-shaped bed in my old room with the sea breeze wafting in the through the window. it was glorious. it rained most of the time i was there, but i hung out with my students, met some new ones, visited two supporters, hung out with my staff friends, and went to the beach. on the way home, we got 83% lost in south central PA, somewhere around shippensburg. it was a good time, and a funny story. then i came home for one day, and then i went to grove city college for four days. i slept in the nicest dorm i've ever been in. every student has their own room, it has wireless internet, common lobby space, front-loading washers and dryers in EVERY APARTMENT, dishwashers, and a classroom in the basement. it was super nice. then i came home again, and i think i'm going to stay home for a bit. all that traveling was fun, but i've had about enough. so that's why i haven't been blogging.
right now i'm at the union project right by my house, which has a great little cafe with wireless internet and pretty stained glass windows. and my friend morgan works here, which is an added bonus. i'm going to finish my iced coffee now and go home.
the end.

the o.c.!

i'm in new jersey! i'm spending the weekend visiting my students at the beach project in ocean city, where i spent all last summer. i love it here. i love the students, the staff, the project, the island, the ocean... it's wonderful. i still think this is (one of) the best thing(s) we do at the cco. please pray for these students. this is a big summer. and go check out the beach project website too: http://www.ccojubilee.org/ocbp/
meanwhile, i'm in my sixth state in a week and a half, which is one reason for the lack of posting. i spent a week in grand rapids, visiting friends, family, and supporters, then a week on a houseboat on a lake between kentucky and tennessee. i was home for a minute, and now i'm here. it's been a lot of travelling, but i get to see lots of people i love. hoo-ray. well, i gotta get back to the students. peace out.

i heart pittsburgh

so i moved. fuller and i got ourselves a new apartment, and it's fabulous. i'm unpacking as we speak. well, not RIGHT now; it's getting boring, so i'm taking a break. i think i'm done in my bedroom, and so i'm about to tackle the kitchen, which is probably the biggest hassle of them all. but i want to get done before i head to g-rap to see my family, so i have motivation to keep at it. if you want my new address, email me. i'll be sending it out soon via email, if i remember, but just to be safe, if you want it, ask for it. all right. peace out.

a fond farewell

this is my last week at the church. today was my last day of my after-school program, and it was bittersweet. the kids were terrible today, but they're still great. it's weird to think it was the last one... i was so busy putting out little fires the whole time that i didn't have time to get sentimental until now. afterwards, a bunch of people from my church took me out to the japanese steakhouse and said nice things and ate good food and sang "you are my sunshine" to me and made me cry. i've been so busy i've barely had time to think about the sadness of this time. of course it's exciting to start a new life, but old things have to come to an end for new ones to start. i'll really miss these people who have been like a family to me out here. it's a good thing i didn't move to baltimore. that's too far away.
well, it's ten o'clock, and i'm still at the office. i think i better head home. but here's a picture of my kids last week, running down the hill to go to the after-school program. it's one of my favorites.

home sweet home

last week, a report came out that listed the top ten "most livable places" in the country, based on nine categories: housing affordability (cost of living), transportation, jobs, education, climate, crime, health care, recreation, and ambience (museums, performing arts, restaurants and historical districts). they surveyed 379 places, and came out with the top ten. and the winner is.....

(drumroll.....)













(photo by Darrell Sapp, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
PITTSBURGH!!

just in case you think it's a fluke (or you've never been here to visit), let me just say that over the last 25 years, pittsburgh is the only city to have finished in the top 20 every time. so that settles it. it's awesome here. you should probably move here.

just in case you're curious, the other finalists (after pittsburgh, of course) are:

2. San Francisco, California
   
3. Seattle, Washington
4. Portland, Oregone
5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
   
6. Rochester, New York
   
7. Washington, D.C.
8. San Jose-Sunnyvale, California
9. Boston, Massachusetts
   
10. Madison, Wisconsin

so come on out and see. it's awesome. i told you.

the end of an era

today i spent the whole afternoon with stephanie, one of my students from rmu. we've been meeting together every week for the last three years, and today was our last campus minister-student outing. we went out for lunch at the spice island tea house (otherwise known as the isle of pleasure café), and then we went to the mattress factory, which is a really cool art museum on the north side. (you should come visit. we'll go.)
i drove steph back to campus, and realized that that was the last time i'll ever have occasion to go there. i may drive through whenever i want, but as all my students are gone now, with graduation this saturday, my time there is done. it was quite strange to drive through campus and back out under the cast iron gate for the last time. it's over. weird.
i'm not sure that it has hit me yet. i still have two and a half weeks left at the church, so maybe that's part of the delay. the next few weeks are going to be quite strange though. i'll try to keep you posted. that's it for now. adios.

international justice mission

did you know there are 27 million slaves in the world today? that's more than there ever were during the transatlantic slave trade. and yet most people don't even know about it. well, now you know. and you should tell somebody else.
tonight at rmu, we're having an end of the year event with a band that raises awareness for the international justice mission, an organization committed to bringing justice to people who are being oppressed in the world. i'm in my office right now, making a few copies of the speech given by the president of ijm, gary haugen, at jubilee this year, so we can give them away at the show. some of my students are starting a chapter of ijm on campus, and they're using this event as a kick-off. please pray for them as they try to raise awareness for change at rmu.

"never doubt that a group of committed citizens can change the world. indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
--margaret mead