I'm here

Thursday I arrived safely in Honolulu.  Some of you already know my story.  For those of you who might still be wondering what I'm doing in Hawaii I'll try to explain it the short way.  Some friends of ours from a former church are stationed here right now.  I volunteered to come and be extra hands, help with the kids, etc. while their dad is deployed.  I'll be staying for about a month.  It's been fun and good to have a change of pace.       

Here's me with the kids in front of the house right after I got there.  They gave me a lei--it was so sweet!

I have already told people that I would try to blog more often while I'm here, and I will.  So stay tuned.

Cape Lookout

I know I kind of disappeared again, but I have something to talk about now! This might as well be a travel blog since I'm most likely to post soon after I've gone somewhere. (And sometimes I haven't really gone anywhere for a while...hence the silence.)

Last weekend we went back down to Cape Lookout where we had the church campout last August. We stayed in one of the three cabins they have there in addition to the yurts and normal camping spots. The cabins are kind of off by themselves, which is nice. They're set back in the woods a bit but you can still see the ocean from the windows. They're very small, but they each have a full bath and a little kitchen area. There's no stove or oven, though, so our cooking options were the microwave and the gas grill. We decided to take advantage of the grill and have steak dinner.

We were hoping we would get to experience a big storm while we were there, but the first day actually ended up being fairly nice. It started to rain overnight, but overall the weather was pretty mild. It was great trip.

That's Cape Lookout proper in the background of this picture.

A winter ocean.

Our little cabin.

I thought the bench on the porch was a nice touch.

I think the inside is so cozy looking. They're real log cabins and I love the natural wood walls and ceiling.

Happy New Year!

It's been a long Christmas break, but I'm finally back into school this week. Those weeks off were eventful in their own ways. Christmas itself was quiet, though, and it was good just to spend time as a family. The day after Christmas we went on a drive down the gorge. We stopped by Multnomah Falls on the way home, which is where the shot below is from (with a little desaturating in Photoshop). The wind chill that day made it feel incredibly cold, and you can see the frost around the falls. I love the gorge, and it's always nice to get back out there.

It's hard to get back into a more structured schedule after quite a few weeks off, but it's also a good feeling to know that the day was full of mind-stretching work. Sometimes I struggle with wondering what my motivation to do college classes is--after all, I don't consider myself the "scholarly type." I can do it, but it's not my passion. I know, though, that God wants me to keep expanding my mind and gaining skills, and this is one of the ways I can accomplish that. So I will press on! I have yet to decide on a particular track, so right now I'm still taking this and that. This quarter I'm taking another online class from Clark: Introduction to Database Design Using Access. It's another computer class; enough said (I really do find it interesting, though). I'm also taking two Whitefield classes: New Testament Survey and Ethics. Altogether, I think these are going to keep me quite busy for the next few months!

Water and Light

Rain and light--what a beautiful combination designed by the perfect Artist.

This little leaf was on our deck, and it caught my eye.  I used Photoshop to make the background black and white.

The rest of these photos were taken around sunset last Saturday, which some of you may remember was really stormy. 

In addition to this lovely rainbow on the east side of the house, there was this incredible golden glow towards the west.  It didn't look quite like the pictures do, but it was pretty amazing! 

Reformation Celebration

Our church Reformation Celebration was last Friday. It was a great evening, we really enjoyed the music, lectures, and play that made up the program for the evening. The play was on John Calvin, who was born 500 years ago this year. Christina had the opportunity to direct the play this year, and she asked me to take pictures at the dress rehearsal. So here are some of my favorites.

This was probably my favorite scene. Calvin and Farel are having a heated argument about whether Calvin will stay in Geneva to help Farel in his ministry.

Farel makes a point for why Calvin should stay. But Calvin says he's not staying...

"CALVIN!!"

"NO!!"

The curse upon Calvin's rest and labors, since he has refused to help Farel. But Calvin changes his mind a few moments later.

The "mob scene"--angry Genevans threaten Calvin and Farel

Farel and Calvin

Calvin sees the new edition of his Institutes