Per Tradition

 Not the prettiest picture(s) of me, but Momma dictates a picture of me on the first day of school.  Always.  Who am I to say no to Momma?

Also, I've been listening to Garth Brooks today.

DeDe and I went today to put in our application for the apartment at Kateri Park I wrote about yesterday, and someone applied before us, and they wouldn't have another unit available for another month.  Awesome.  So tomorrow, we are getting up at the "butt-crack of dawn... like, 11:00" (DeDe's words) to go to apartments all day.  Also awesome.  By the way, when I'm saying "awesome" I really mean "not awesome".

I'm clearly not going to get through all my mountains of paperwork to get a CNA 1 Endorsement in Oregon before, I dunno, my money runs out, so I've decided that tomorrow will also be a day for me to apply for jobs as well as apartments.  For some reason Target keeps on popping into my head.  I don't know why, but what the heck, why not?  It may just come down to picking a street and going door-to-door asking for applications.  I'll take almost anything at this point.

Spent the evening with an old friend.  We read, talked, shared stories, and made delicious tuna sandwiches.

That's about all for now.

A Quick Update

I'm sick.  Cold, probably.

This morning I got up at 5:30 to go to the bathroom and blacked out, waking up with my face on the bathroom floor.

I'm not yet registered for class at PCC, even though the quarter began yesterday.  This is because I only want to take Spanish 102, but PCC has not yet received my Green River transcript, indicating I have taken the prerequisite Spanish 101.  I'm going to go to class tomorrow anyway and explain the situation to the teacher, and tell him that I'll register as soon as I'm able.  It probably doesn't help that I didn't go to the class on Monday (it's a Monday Wednesday class) because I was sick.  Okay, so I'll be a little behind.

I'm unemployed.  This needs to change.

Dede and I went to look at some apartments today.  We found one that we're going to apply for tomorrow.  Funny enough, it's right next to Kateri Park.  Kateri Park is an apartment complex that serves as a refugee resettlement program through Catholic Charities.  This is where I volunteered for a semester back in freshman year for a student ministry requirement.  The funny thing is, I had been praying and asking the Lord if I should go back there and do more work there.  If I were to move into this apartment, it would be impossible to not be a part of the Kateri Park community!

Other than that, nothing too new.

Sick.  Unemployed.  Unschooled.  These things need to change.

Bookshelf = Window

I've made it to Portland!  I'm in my basement bedroom, or Bat Cave, as Rachel calls it.  My furniture consists of the dresser I brought down, a desk that I'm borrowing from the house, a borrowed lamp, and a borrowed mattress.  (The borrowed elements will not follow me to the new apartment... Craigslist much?)

I don't have a digital camera to give you an instant view of my place.  But I will describe to you the books on my desk.  I was not able to bring all of my books, as I desired, so I grabbed the ones I knew I'd want that would fit into a large canvas tote.

Hymnal

The American People (history text from Spring quarter at Green River)

Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren (DON'T you dare prejudge and think that since she's from a megachurch and that her husband is Rick Warren that it's just a fluff book. I heard her speak at Urbana '06 on this topic and it was powerful.)

The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey

Hebrew Grammar by Weingreen (I want to brush up on it before I retake it in the Fall... I really do not want to fail!)

The Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History (yes I am that nerdy)

Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community by Wendell Berry

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Shack by William P. Young

The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne (which reminds me, I need to get books by Jim Wallace)

The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland by Gerald Clarke (Christmas gift from Ian... I'm enjoying it, though it is depressing at times)

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (sister is making me, plus I felt the movie, though strong in plot, lacked in character development, which I have heard will be present in the book)

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudhem

On top of the books is propped a Scripture I collaged a year ago: 2 Corinthians 10:3-6  Beside the books is my photo album from my trip to Washington, D.C. in March, and next to that is a small stack of magazines.  I feel naked without magazines!  But score, I got new issues of my three favorite (Relevant, Smithsonian, and Real Simple) right before I left.

On the wall in front of my desk are two calendars.  One is a Grey's Anatomy calendar from my sister.  The other is in Spanish and is from a Catholic cemetery.  I love it because it's all in Spanish and every day list which saint's day it is, plus there is Scripture thrown in all over.  It's awesome.

I took a picture of me on my computer this morning before I left for a wedding.  Again, I can't figure out how to position the photo.  Agh.

Only Crazy People Fall In Love With Me

Bank robbers and killers, drunks and drug dealers.  Only crazy people fall in love with me.

Ah, The Wreckers.  Good song.

I don't really remember where I left off with updating y'alls.  I know I haven't written in two months.  Yikes.  Well, the latest news is that I'm moving back to Portland on Friday.  Yeay!  I'm very excited about it, but also a little bit freaked out.  Part of me still feels like this is just a visit; it has not yet sunk in that I'm moving.  It will sink in soon enough, though.  I've still got a lot to pack, plus I need to figure out how I'm going to get it all down.  Also, it should be noted that I'm not even moving into my own place right away.  I'll be living in my friends' basement for a couple weeks, then DeDe (another friend) and I will move into an apartment on about the 15th.  It should also be noted that DeDe and I do not have said apartment even picked out yet.  We will be on the hunt the next week.

Furthermore, I want you all to know, I will be moving down to Portland... unemployed.  That's right: I don't yet have a job lined up.  Whew, I've got a lot to do!

But on the bright side, my friends Desiree and Kyle are getting married on Saturday.  And on Sunday I will be back at The Well.

Thats all for now.  More soon.

Saints Stephen

It has been quite the week.  Last weekend Laura and I went to see anberlin play at El Corazon in Seattle.  I would have to say it's my first real rock show.  It wasn't my first show at a small venue (I saw Matt Kearny at the Crystal Ballroom two years ago), but it was my first rock show at a small venue.  I've decided I love it.  So much, in fact, that I'm going to go see The Classic Crime next month at the Showbox.  I'm really excited.  Anyways, for the anberlin show the Dial girls came up from Portland, so it was really good to see them again.  As I have returned to facebook, I have found that it is just as easy to estrange yourself from those close to you as it is to be closer to those far away... that being said, it was nice to talk about anberlin over facebook with an acquaintance from Multnomah.  It's nice to like something, such as anberlin, and to have someone to talk about it with.  Anyways, this guy I was talking to asked if I knew that Stephen Christian has a blog, which I did.  Then he shared with me this entry that explains why Christian wrote Dismantle Repair... sorta.  Read it, it's a good entry.  Then read the lyrics to Dismantle Repair.  I'm still trying to wrap my head--and heart--around the meaning, but I think it will unfold slowly.

Fast forward a couple days, I'm at work one night and I'm reading my Bible.  A rarity, I know, but I have been trying to get through the book of Acts.  It's basically a history of the Church from its birth.  So when I was reading a few nights ago I got to chapter 7.  What's gone on so far is the Church growing and growing in Jerusalem under the leadership of the apostles.  They kinda piss some people off, but are still seen as kinda harmless-ish.  When we get to chapter 7, Stephen, one of the apostles (and the one whom Christ named Stephen, which means rock, proclaiming "on you I will build my church"), has been brought before the Sanhedrin to be accused of blasphemy.  Well, the Sanhedrin (the leadership of the Jews) was full of crap.  They couldn't catch him in anything so they had to produce false witnesses.  And even when they were slinging all this mud at him, his face was still like that of an angel.  The chapter begins with Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin.  It's pretty long, but that's because he gives the entire history of their people.  After fifty verses, he then calls them out of their hypocrisy: "You stiff-necked people!  Your hearts and your ears are still uncircumcised.  You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!"  He ends up having a theophany right before they stone him, overseen by Saul, making him the protomartyr of Christianity and later making him Saint Stephen the Martyr.

What does one Stephen have to do with the other?  I want to be both of them.

Stephen the Martyr was a leader, "a man full of God's grace and power".  He was rock solid.  He knew who Jesus was and found his identity in Him.  He was intelligent; when speaking to the religious authority, he proved that he knew just as much as they did, and yet he understood Jesus' message while it fell on their deaf ears.  So badass.

Stephen the Artist is transparent.  Painfully transparent.  Vulnerable, honest, aware of his humanity.  Can I speak like that?  Can I write like that?  Can I tell the whole world that which is only mine to know?  Can I put myself out there so far, knowing full well that I will be hurt, but know that I will life the most beautiful life?

I don't know if one Stephen has very much to do at all with the other.  But I want to be both.