So, I'll attempt to give a (short) run-down of what we did on our trip. We jumped right back into our work schedule when we got home, so we haven't had a chance to talk to anyone yet!
We left our home in Seattle on Thursday, July 30 and traveled all day by plane with stops in Kansas City and Milwaukee before reaching Grand Rapids. We left during Seattle's hottest week in recorded history, so the entire plane cheered when we landed in Kansas City and the pilot announced a temperature of 75 degrees. I have to admit, without AC and only 1 small fan in 105 degree heat, I was incredibly relieved too! Our house reached 88 degrees inside before we left and some people we know (whose houses are not in the shade like ours) reached the nineties and even over 100 before the week was over. We finally arrived around midnight and were picked up by the Hinkle parents and (surprise!) Kristen. Kristen was supposed to be in Ann Arbor and meet us for lunch in Lansing, but she surprised us by coming home for a day or two to see us longer.
Friday was a Hinkle day. We stayed at Kayle's house the previous night and were delighted that all the siblings were able to come home. Esther and Casey came home from band camp, and Cody hitched a ride home from Chicago with Alden and Mary (cousin and his fiancee who are getting married next weekend- we're sorry we can't be there but happy to see them briefly~). It was also a treat that Grandma and Grandpa Hoksbergen stopped by for an hour or two to visit with us for a while. One of the highlights of the day was when Kayle and his dad played doubles tennis with Esther and Siang. I had a lot of fun watching and playing fetch with Cooper. Esther was on Kayle's team and kept encouraging him, because he was a little rusty. "Good try, Kayle" and "It's okay...you're still warming up" were heard at regular intervals. It was nice to hang out with the girls a little more, since we've seen them only twice now. At night, we stayed up pretty late just talking with mom and dad and Kristen and Cody. We never did get to play a board game with Casey, but we went to pick her up from school after band camp- maybe next time!
On Saturday, we moved our things to my parents' house, since the Hinkles were going up to Uncle Stan's cabin for a family reunion. We couldn't go to that, since we had a wedding that day instead. Busy, busy! Before we left for Holland, MI, we picked up Emily J and went to lunch together at Sam's Joint (Angie's favorite restaurant- BBQ chicken strips!). It was wonderful to catch up with Em, since I miss her so much. Still hoping she'll get an internship out in Seattle!~ :) Afterward, we went straight to Eric and Dana's wedding. Since Eric lived at the Dutch House with Kayle and Dana dated him throughout college, we both knew the couple and many of the wedding guests from the Dutch House. It was a beautiful wedding and reception. We sat at a table of Dutch House couples. There was another table or two of single guys from the Dutch House too- we thought that was funny.
On Sunday, we woke up at my house and went to Peace Church. After the service, we received many hugs and surprised looks since not many people knew we would be stopping home. I was amazed at how big my little brother has gotten now, almost 6'2" and towering over my head! I was happy to see my sister too, even though she had final exams to study for and papers to write for her second summer quarter. At night, my mom made a delicious meal of London Broil (ours in Seattle never tastes nearly so good) and hashbrowns (see note on London Broil). We also hung out and talked and played some Texas Hold'Em for fun. I was surprised to see how much stuff my dad is buying and selling out of the pole barn since being retired, and I also got to pet the baby horse running around in the field (now named Meela). So good to see everyone!
Early, early, early on Monday (around 4am), I groaned and crawled out of bed to leave for New Jersey by car with Kayle, Aaron, and mom. I think I woke up again somewhere in Ohio. I enjoyed traveling to New Jersey just like we always did growing up. We stopped a few times for food and breaks but mostly just read books and chatted for the 12-13 hour drive. (Kayle told me to buy James Herriot books at a garage sale- about a veterinarian in England around the time antibiotics were just being invented; good books for anyone who liked "Little Women".) Upon arrival at grandma and grandpa's house, we ate a great spread for dinner including our NJ favorite, Taylor Ham (Kayle and I ate Taylor Ham sandwiches for breakfast every day as well!). Since Kayle and I slept there, we talked to my grandparents for a few hours after mom and Aaron left for Aunt Judy's house. This was one of my favorite moments, since I haven't gotten to sit down and talk with grandma and grandpa for a long time, especially as an adult. We heard how they met and some about mom as she was growing up and meeting dad.
On Tuesday, we braved the heat and stopped at the Sussex Co. Farm and Horse show where Uncle Richie was photographing the horse events. He had a break while we were there and so we got to walk around with him a bit. Mom was happy to watch some horse jumping and see the little kids compete in the lead line events. I also liked treating myself to some of the fair food, a yummy gyro and a Dutch funnel cake. We also stopped at Aunt Judy's house to sit on the porch and visit for a while with Aunt Judy, Uncle Wayne, and cousin Rebekah (who is also getting much bigger than I remember her- 6th grade already!).
On Wednesday, Grandma took Kayle and I to High Point State Park and to the Holland American bakery. At High Point, Kayle and I walked several hundred stairs up to the top of the monument to see NJ and NY spread beneath us in all four directions. (We were both sore for several days afterward- it hurt quite a bit to climb up and down the stairs at Leanna's house two days later! I guess we're out of shape...) That day, we saw my older cousin Kelly at Aunt Judy's house and laughed a lot about Dad and Dani, who drove up two days later, getting lost in Pennsylvania. They arrived, safe and sound and in time for a half hour late dinner. At grandma's house, Uncle Kenny stopped by with my cousin Emily. So, we saw all the aunts and uncles and all the girl cousins. Kayle still has to meet Andrew and Josh, the boy cousins, but I guess it'll have to be on another trip! I wasn't expecting to see so many different family members, so I was pleasantly surprised to introduce Kayle to everyone.
On Thursday, mom and dad drove us to LaGuardia Airport. We left bright and early (around 6am this time) to beat the traffic into New York. It was a bit of an adventure, but we made it okay (though I heard mom and dad unwound over breakfast at a diner). We caught our flight to Omaha and Leanna met us (and her brother, Tony) at the airport. All of us went straight to a lake for some sailing (our first time!) and volleyball and snacks. A bunch of other friends and family of Leanna and Paul were there as well. At night, Kayle headed out to the bachelor party, which I hear involved shooting guns at clay pigeons, sitting by a campfire, and throwing a frisbee around (perfect for him!). I went back to Leanna's house (where we were staying) to help decorate for the bachelorette party that night. The ladies (including tons of Leanna's aunts and cousins as well as family and high school friends) ate make-your-own chef salads, played some fun games (guess Leanna's answers and toilet paper brides), and drank some homemade cocktails. I learned that a Mud Slide and a Creamsicle mixed drink are both quite delicious. After the younger girls left, we set out for a local karaoke bar with friends and parents. We had a good time and the highlight was Leanna singing Spice Girl's "Wannabe" with a group of girls. I also enjoyed meeting some of Leanna's high school friends and extended family in a relaxed setting.
On Friday, Kayle and I helped prepare for the wedding by tying ribbons on programs, framing some pictures, and making a box for cards. We were glad to be allowed to help out, since Leanna's family were treating us wonderfully like guests the entire visit. In the afternoon, we picked up Tamika from the airport (yay, roommate!) and she joined the growing ND crowd in Leanna's basement. That night, we went to the rehearsal and dinner. I was a little nervous, since I had never been to, let alone been in, a Catholic wedding before. But the priest was very nice and the rehearsal was informative and enjoyable too. Then, we had a lovely steak dinner (Omaha is rightly known for its steak) and got to hear the two dads talk before they opened up a mic for friends. The night was funny and heart-warming, and Leanna and Paul were fortunate to have over 250 years of marriage in their families between all the parents and grandparents. We also celebrated Leanna's birthday (which is also her wedding day) with two huge cakes. All in all, a good day.
On the Big Day (Saturday, August 8), the girls left early for a hair and nail appointment and breakfast at the salon. Finally, all the bridesmaids were together in one room, so I got to talk to all of them plus Claire (my roomie, who arrived at midnight the night before), Katie, and Jessica (both from ND too- roomed with Leanna during her semester in London). After, we rushed to the church and busied ourselves with getting ready. The ceremony was lovely and Leanna's sister, Tina, sang a beautiful "Ave Maria" toward the end. The cantor, a male music teacher, was also an incredible singer. Before the reception, we took some cool pictures at a nearby Omaha museum (we had to move them indoors, since it hit 100 degrees that day). Finally, we ate some wonderful food (chicken picatta, top sirloin, bacon/cheese mashed potatoes, etc) at the reception, had a signature "Pauleanna" drink (teal to match her colors), and danced the night away at the reception. I broke into tears for the first time all day when Leanna's dad got up at the reception and sang to her grandma, mom, and to her. For the last song, her whole family got up to join in on the chorus of "[We] Loved Her First". I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the whole place. What a great and memorable wedding for my close friend!
On Sunday, we left for Seattle by plane, exhausted after a long week and half of seeing family and friends. We were so satisfied with our vacation and both wished we had more time with everyone. We can hardly wait until we come home to Michigan for Christmas. We made it home around 2:30pm. I fell asleep on the couch pretty early that night and woke up naturally around 4:15 the next morning. (Time changes always throw me off for a long time- I was up at 3:15 the next day too and only adjusted after taking a nap before CG on Tuesday.)
Work this week went really well for both of us, though Kayle worked longer hours to help with debugging after being away for so long. With a deadline coming up, the team ordered pizza some nights to help entice them all to stay later (sadly, it worked). I kept busy being the lead instructor at my site with 28 campers for Space and Rocket camp. Everything ran smoothly and we successfully launched all the rockets on Friday at a local park (plus 60 more from the other two camp sites). Only one more week of the summer left, and then I have to find another job. Boo...Angie DOES NOT like applying for jobs...maybe this one will be more permanent! I have a few part-time and volunteer opportunities that I'm interested in already but none of them offer as many hours as I'd like to have. I'll probably find something else and do a combination of after-school science clubs and volunteer tutoring on the side.
Yesterday (Friday), we went to a movie night at Joe's house at 7:30. We watched the movie "Taken" which was mostly pretty good, though some of the "serious" dialogue was so lame we found it funny. Kayle and I had tried to go to dinner, but we found out the restaurant we had a coupon for just closed and we didn't leave enough time to travel somewhere else. We ended up eating McDonald's and deciding we would try again at a nice dinner date tomorrow.
Today, we slept in, relaxed, cleaned our condo, went to a garage sale, and went grocery shopping. A slow, relaxing day: just what we needed! We're headed out for dinner soon, so I should go... We love you and miss you all!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. You knew I would fail to make it a "short" synopsis, right?
P.P.S. See links to pictures from both weddings below...
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wedding Pictures!!
Here are a few albums of wedding pictures, from Dana and Eric's wedding on August 1st in Holland, MI (one of our groomsmen and Kayle's fraternity brother in college) and from Leanna and Paul's wedding on August 8th in Omaha, NE (one of my bridesmaids and one of my roommates in college).
Here is an isolated shot of the "Dutch House" table. Go to this website (the photographer's site). If you need a password, it's 6408. This is the ONLY picture I could find with Kayle and I in it:
http://devriesphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/9209334_GH4cf#614987143_eR5fy-A-LB
I also made Picasa albums for both weddings (Leanna/Paul and Eric/Dana). You can find them here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle
All of these pictures were taken from other people's albums on Facebook. There might be more to come, but I'll let you know. I'll try to update again soon!
Angie and Kayle
Here is an isolated shot of the "Dutch House" table. Go to this website (the photographer's site). If you need a password, it's 6408. This is the ONLY picture I could find with Kayle and I in it:
http://devriesphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/9209334_GH4cf#614987143_eR5fy-A-LB
I also made Picasa albums for both weddings (Leanna/Paul and Eric/Dana). You can find them here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle
All of these pictures were taken from other people's albums on Facebook. There might be more to come, but I'll let you know. I'll try to update again soon!
Angie and Kayle
Monday, August 10, 2009
Back Home...
Well, we made it back home yesterday afternoon after a long, satisfying trip. It was awesome to see so many family members and friends. Today, we're both back in action at work. I'll try to post some pictures (mostly of the two weddings) and more detail as soon as I have time!
We love you and miss everyone already!
Angie and Kayle
We love you and miss everyone already!
Angie and Kayle
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Eww...Worm Poop!
This was a great past two weeks or so! After a few bumps and staffing surprises during my first week of being Lead Instructor (in charge of my site at camp), things started flowing smoothly and I really enjoyed the entire past week. I got to know some of the kids pretty well, since they came back for a second or third week with me. Now that the site is over for the summer, I'll be off from work for two weeks for our trip and back at Lake Washington Tech College (about 5 minutes from our condo) for the last two weeks of summer. Some of the kids from the Bothell site might come to Space and Rocket camp too, so I could see familiar faces again! Last week we did a Powerful Planet theme, the highlights of which were a "composting with worms" tour on campus that had the other instructor and I laughing really hard (kids had some funny questions and one girl kept saying "eww...worm poop!"), sea turtle mystery (the kids had to find out why the sea turtles didn't arrive at their beach to lay eggs), an electric car that could do wheelies, and making s'mores in solar ovens. This week, we did a "Fabulous Physics Challenge" theme that looked at the physics behind various sports (bowling, cup stacking, polymers in shoes/helmets, skateboarding) and involved making soda pop rockets, paper airplanes, rubber band race-cars, and parachutes. There were no week-long cumulative projects this time, but the daily projects were a lot of fun and kept the kids pretty busy!
Kayle says there's nothing too new at work lately. He's still working hard on Visual Basic and feels like he's making good progress. He still likes going to work every day!~ Jeff Irwin (who hosts the movie nights with his wife, Paula) also works at Microsoft and just released the big mystery project called Microsoft Hohm. He was working round the clock for a few months and couldn't tell us anything about his job. Now, their website is up and running. It's a long questionnaire about your home and energy usage and gives advice for how to save money on energy costs along with how long the upgrades will take to pay off. We probably won't use the site while we're renting, but it seems like a cool tool for making a home more cost effective. Here's the site to check it out: http://www.microsoft-hohm.com/
We've had quite a few events going on in addition to our regular CG (which is still meeting in parks for the summer), youth group (we are starting a new book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan- so far, so good), and church services (sermons are still working on 2 Peter; will finish soon and do Luke for several years after that).
Last Thursday, we went to a baptism BBQ for our Bellevue campus at a near-by park. About 20 people were baptized in the lake, including one of the women from our CG. The Ballard campus also had a similar event at a different park and got a picture and caption in the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009479368_b1baptismlo16.html. Afterward, we went with three other couples to TCBY for ice cream and celebration of Kim's baptism. We ended up each telling the stories of how we met and married our spouses. We really enjoyed it!
Last Saturday, Joe (from the Dutch House) decided to bike from Redmond to Bothell for breakfast at a cafe there. We rode our tandem bike about 10 miles each way on the river trail and went right past UW-Bothell, where we were holding Science Camp. It was a yummy breakfast and it was nice to see Joe and meet some new friends. Though our trip went only about 2-3 miles beyond where we've ridden before, we were pretty tired when we got home! That night, we went with some other friends to see the 6th Harry Potter movie in theaters. I liked the movies a lot but I think Kayle doesn't enjoy them as much. We got him to read the 1st Harry Potter book last week, and he's "open" to (but not overly enthusiastic about) reading the rest of them. Just have to pick them up from the library...
On Sunday, we went to a farewell party for Jenny Razey, who is going to teach 5th grade in Sudan for a year or more. She has traveled (and taught?) in Jordan before and really felt a heart for reaching out to other cultures and learning Arabic. We're sad to see her go but excited for her passion to serve. She's got a lot of friends back home praying and supporting her in her mission!
Today, we're heading to a BBQ at the home of John and Kristan (from our CG). We baked Hinkle chocolate chip cookies this morning, since they were a big hit at our last BBQ. It should be a fun afternoon with a lot of familiar faces and children running around. Jenni and Jonathan (also in CG) just had their baby boy, Luke Elliot, this week. We've got a few more babies expected in the next couple months too.
This will probably be my last post until after our trip out east. We leave for Michigan on Thursday (7/30) where we plan to go to Eric and Dana's wedding, see both the Maxey and Hinkle families, and visit our high school friend, Emily J. On Monday, we'll probably start driving with some Maxeys (not sure who yet!) to NJ to visit my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins on my mom's side. On Thursday (8/6), we fly out to Nebraska for Leanna's bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, and wedding. It sounds like Claire, Tamika, and maybe a few other ND friends will also be staying at Leanna's house, so we'll have time to catch up with all the college roomies! On Sunday, we're back on a plane to Seattle and ready to start work on Monday. We'll probably be exhausted after so much travel and socializing, but I can hardly wait to leave and see everyone!
Well, that's it for today! We miss you and love you all!
Angie and Kayle
Kayle says there's nothing too new at work lately. He's still working hard on Visual Basic and feels like he's making good progress. He still likes going to work every day!~ Jeff Irwin (who hosts the movie nights with his wife, Paula) also works at Microsoft and just released the big mystery project called Microsoft Hohm. He was working round the clock for a few months and couldn't tell us anything about his job. Now, their website is up and running. It's a long questionnaire about your home and energy usage and gives advice for how to save money on energy costs along with how long the upgrades will take to pay off. We probably won't use the site while we're renting, but it seems like a cool tool for making a home more cost effective. Here's the site to check it out: http://www.microsoft-hohm.com/
We've had quite a few events going on in addition to our regular CG (which is still meeting in parks for the summer), youth group (we are starting a new book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan- so far, so good), and church services (sermons are still working on 2 Peter; will finish soon and do Luke for several years after that).
Last Thursday, we went to a baptism BBQ for our Bellevue campus at a near-by park. About 20 people were baptized in the lake, including one of the women from our CG. The Ballard campus also had a similar event at a different park and got a picture and caption in the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009479368_b1baptismlo16.html. Afterward, we went with three other couples to TCBY for ice cream and celebration of Kim's baptism. We ended up each telling the stories of how we met and married our spouses. We really enjoyed it!
Last Saturday, Joe (from the Dutch House) decided to bike from Redmond to Bothell for breakfast at a cafe there. We rode our tandem bike about 10 miles each way on the river trail and went right past UW-Bothell, where we were holding Science Camp. It was a yummy breakfast and it was nice to see Joe and meet some new friends. Though our trip went only about 2-3 miles beyond where we've ridden before, we were pretty tired when we got home! That night, we went with some other friends to see the 6th Harry Potter movie in theaters. I liked the movies a lot but I think Kayle doesn't enjoy them as much. We got him to read the 1st Harry Potter book last week, and he's "open" to (but not overly enthusiastic about) reading the rest of them. Just have to pick them up from the library...
On Sunday, we went to a farewell party for Jenny Razey, who is going to teach 5th grade in Sudan for a year or more. She has traveled (and taught?) in Jordan before and really felt a heart for reaching out to other cultures and learning Arabic. We're sad to see her go but excited for her passion to serve. She's got a lot of friends back home praying and supporting her in her mission!
Today, we're heading to a BBQ at the home of John and Kristan (from our CG). We baked Hinkle chocolate chip cookies this morning, since they were a big hit at our last BBQ. It should be a fun afternoon with a lot of familiar faces and children running around. Jenni and Jonathan (also in CG) just had their baby boy, Luke Elliot, this week. We've got a few more babies expected in the next couple months too.
This will probably be my last post until after our trip out east. We leave for Michigan on Thursday (7/30) where we plan to go to Eric and Dana's wedding, see both the Maxey and Hinkle families, and visit our high school friend, Emily J. On Monday, we'll probably start driving with some Maxeys (not sure who yet!) to NJ to visit my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins on my mom's side. On Thursday (8/6), we fly out to Nebraska for Leanna's bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, and wedding. It sounds like Claire, Tamika, and maybe a few other ND friends will also be staying at Leanna's house, so we'll have time to catch up with all the college roomies! On Sunday, we're back on a plane to Seattle and ready to start work on Monday. We'll probably be exhausted after so much travel and socializing, but I can hardly wait to leave and see everyone!
Well, that's it for today! We miss you and love you all!
Angie and Kayle
Monday, July 13, 2009
Michigan-New Jersey-Nebraska, Here We Come!
Wow. I guess I've been busy, because I completely forgot to post on the blog for two weeks! Let's see how much I can remember (with the help of my Google calendar, of course).
Two weeks ago, I had a week off from camp for 4th of July. So, I ran errands, did laundry, had appointments, went on a site visit for Science Adventures, got my hair cut, and went shopping. In addition to reading a book or two, Kayle and I also went to Community Group and Microsoft Bible study. On Friday, we baby-sat for the Martinez kids again (this time only 3 out of 4 were home) so they could have a "date night" out.
We had a fun 4th of July as well! In the morning, I went out with the girls to see the movie "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock. With some coffee in me, I laughed so hard through the whole movie and really enjoyed the time with friends. When I got home, Kayle and I went to another friend's house (Mike from the Dutch House) for a BBQ with a bunch of other (Microsoft) friends. We ate, talked, learned a card game called "Set", and Kayle went to the park to throw a frisbee. Afterward, we went to watch fireworks in Bellevue where they had an orchestra playing before and during the fireworks show. I really liked having the music playing. It was a really fun day, but I was ready to get home after it took over an hour to get out of the parking garage!
On Sunday, Kayle controlled the lighting at church and did a great job picking colors that blended well with the slides. I helped out in children's ministry and held babies in the nursery.
Last week, I worked full-time as an instructor for the Great Robot Factory theme (again). We had 27 kids, which is a pretty big group to teach all at once, especially hands-on projects. But, overall, it went well and we emerged with completed robots and (most) projects although I did fix about 10 electromagnets one morning. I think this was my last time doing robots, and I am kind of glad. The projects for the robot week require a lot of monotonous preparation like wire stripping and cutting string and counting KNEX pieces. This week, I am the lead instructor for a camp of only 15 kids. We're doing an environmental theme called "Powerful Planet". The projects are much easier to prepare and I wrote all my lessons on notecards already. So far, so good...but, then again, it's only Monday!
On Thursday, we babysat for Caleb and Laura's baby named Grace. She's less than a year old and teething. While they went to a CPR class for parents, we played with Gracie, fed her, and then spent about 1 1/2 hours trying to get her to stop screaming. After getting ready for bed, checking diapers, and rocking, we finally just put her in her crib and she fell asleep within about 5-10 minutes. It was stressful, but we think it was just her teeth bothering her since nothing else was wrong... Eek!
This past weekend, Jeff and Paula Irwin both had their birthdays. So, while I went shopping at Kohl's and Target, Kayle met them and some other friends at the park. I joined them later, and we all went out to dinner and watched Harry Potter 5 back at the Irwins' house (accompanied by "butterbeer"- cream soda with melted Werthers, butter, and sugar- yum!). They couldn't believe Kayle hasn't read any Harry Potter books yet, so they lent him the first one to get him started. I enjoyed the movie and am looking forward to the 6th one coming soon to theaters.
Finally, yesterday, we went to church and both helped out in the toddler 1 room (walkers but not talkers). After a long service, we were exhausted (especially Angie, who doesn't do well when we stay out late on Saturday). We helped set up for a youth group BBQ to get community kids signed up for VBS. Then, we went home and I took a nice nap. In the evening, Kayle bought some plane tickets and worked on his computer while I prepared lessons for science camp.
So, our big news is we're officially adding a Michigan stop to our NJ-Neb. trip, so we can see Kayle's family and go to Eric and Dana's wedding on August 1 (a Dutch house guy who was one of our groomsmen). We only have a few days in Michigan, but we're really looking forward to it! Then, it's off (by car) with my family to NJ to see my grandma and grandpa as well as my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom's side (many of whom have never met Kayle!). Finally, we'll end in Omaha for Leanna and Paul's wedding (Angie's roommate and bridesmaid) where I'll be a bridesmaid for the first time. And all this in just 1 1/2 weeks! Then, it's back to Seattle and back to work on Monday...
We miss you all! Sorry for taking so long to post!
Angie
Two weeks ago, I had a week off from camp for 4th of July. So, I ran errands, did laundry, had appointments, went on a site visit for Science Adventures, got my hair cut, and went shopping. In addition to reading a book or two, Kayle and I also went to Community Group and Microsoft Bible study. On Friday, we baby-sat for the Martinez kids again (this time only 3 out of 4 were home) so they could have a "date night" out.
We had a fun 4th of July as well! In the morning, I went out with the girls to see the movie "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock. With some coffee in me, I laughed so hard through the whole movie and really enjoyed the time with friends. When I got home, Kayle and I went to another friend's house (Mike from the Dutch House) for a BBQ with a bunch of other (Microsoft) friends. We ate, talked, learned a card game called "Set", and Kayle went to the park to throw a frisbee. Afterward, we went to watch fireworks in Bellevue where they had an orchestra playing before and during the fireworks show. I really liked having the music playing. It was a really fun day, but I was ready to get home after it took over an hour to get out of the parking garage!
On Sunday, Kayle controlled the lighting at church and did a great job picking colors that blended well with the slides. I helped out in children's ministry and held babies in the nursery.
Last week, I worked full-time as an instructor for the Great Robot Factory theme (again). We had 27 kids, which is a pretty big group to teach all at once, especially hands-on projects. But, overall, it went well and we emerged with completed robots and (most) projects although I did fix about 10 electromagnets one morning. I think this was my last time doing robots, and I am kind of glad. The projects for the robot week require a lot of monotonous preparation like wire stripping and cutting string and counting KNEX pieces. This week, I am the lead instructor for a camp of only 15 kids. We're doing an environmental theme called "Powerful Planet". The projects are much easier to prepare and I wrote all my lessons on notecards already. So far, so good...but, then again, it's only Monday!
On Thursday, we babysat for Caleb and Laura's baby named Grace. She's less than a year old and teething. While they went to a CPR class for parents, we played with Gracie, fed her, and then spent about 1 1/2 hours trying to get her to stop screaming. After getting ready for bed, checking diapers, and rocking, we finally just put her in her crib and she fell asleep within about 5-10 minutes. It was stressful, but we think it was just her teeth bothering her since nothing else was wrong... Eek!
This past weekend, Jeff and Paula Irwin both had their birthdays. So, while I went shopping at Kohl's and Target, Kayle met them and some other friends at the park. I joined them later, and we all went out to dinner and watched Harry Potter 5 back at the Irwins' house (accompanied by "butterbeer"- cream soda with melted Werthers, butter, and sugar- yum!). They couldn't believe Kayle hasn't read any Harry Potter books yet, so they lent him the first one to get him started. I enjoyed the movie and am looking forward to the 6th one coming soon to theaters.
Finally, yesterday, we went to church and both helped out in the toddler 1 room (walkers but not talkers). After a long service, we were exhausted (especially Angie, who doesn't do well when we stay out late on Saturday). We helped set up for a youth group BBQ to get community kids signed up for VBS. Then, we went home and I took a nice nap. In the evening, Kayle bought some plane tickets and worked on his computer while I prepared lessons for science camp.
So, our big news is we're officially adding a Michigan stop to our NJ-Neb. trip, so we can see Kayle's family and go to Eric and Dana's wedding on August 1 (a Dutch house guy who was one of our groomsmen). We only have a few days in Michigan, but we're really looking forward to it! Then, it's off (by car) with my family to NJ to see my grandma and grandpa as well as my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom's side (many of whom have never met Kayle!). Finally, we'll end in Omaha for Leanna and Paul's wedding (Angie's roommate and bridesmaid) where I'll be a bridesmaid for the first time. And all this in just 1 1/2 weeks! Then, it's back to Seattle and back to work on Monday...
We miss you all! Sorry for taking so long to post!
Angie
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Lots of Little "Robotics Experts"
This week was the first week of Science Adventure camp; our theme was "Great Robot Factory". I was in charge of teaching 29 kids how to build a 6-legged robot bug. By some miracle and the fact that most of the kids are surprisingly good at K'nex, we finished all 29 robots on time! Now, I may have made bodies and legs for the kids who were gone, but, for the most part, they did a good job of following directions and were excited enough to pay attention and work hard. That said, I was pretty tired every day by 12:15 or 1, when I left for the day. Turns out, elementary kids have enough energy and antics to keep even an amateur middle school tutor on her toes. One kid had me pretty frustrated, because he was dancing naked in the bathroom on one of our bathroom breaks! Try explaining that one to a mom!
All in all, I enjoyed working with Amanda, Tracey, and Andrew this week. Next week, there are no camps running for 4th of July. The following week, I start full-time at a new site with Tracey as the lead instructor. Luckily, we're doing the robot factory theme again, so I don't have to prepare for the morning lessons that I taught this past week. After that, I'm the lead instructor at the new site with a new theme! Wish me luck!
Kayle's job is going really well right now. He's been particularly productive fixing bugs and is enjoying the work. He's also been riding his bike in about half the time, since I need the car for my job now. Since we woke up early enough, I drove Kayle to Microsoft on the rainy or wet days. Not sure what he's gonna do when it rains and we're running late!
Last weekend, Erica Watson came to Washington to visit her boyfriend who is interning at Microsoft this summer. On Sunday, they came to church with us and we went out to lunch afterward. It was nice to meet Jim and catch up a little bit with a friend I haven't seen for a while. Erica was in my AG for bible study at Notre Dame. We got pretty close during my last year at ND, so I was very happy to see her. On Tuesday, Erica and I went to the zoo in Seattle. It was so much fun! I hadn't been there before, and it seemed like most of the animals were active and up-close. We saw gorillas, lions, bears, giraffes, penguins (cool new exhibit), monkeys, and more. They even had 3-5 walk-in aviaries where the birds fly all around you. I think I saw more new and unique birds than even before. Better yet, Erica and I got to talk in the car and zoo and bond more with "just the girls". It was a great day, and Kayle and I really should go back to the zoo together this summer.
One funny story at the zoo: there was a mom with a baby about 1 year old. We were standing outside the glass at the gorilla exhibit. There were several female gorillas lying around right near the glass in the shade when a big male gorilla comes strutting up (and it was strutting- he was making quite a show). The little boy points toward the gorilla and the mom says something like, "monkey, look at the big monkey". And the kids shakes his head and, still pointing, says, very distinctly, "BUG!". Apparently, he was pointing at the little flies that were buzzing around and didn't even see the giant gorilla walking right toward him!
On Tuesday night, our CG met in a near-by park to hang out, talk, and pray together. It was nice to see everyone, especially some new faces as two regular group members had a sister in town. It was a pretty laid-back evening and nice to just sit and chat while the guys played frisbee. On Wednesday morning, the guys came from CG came to our house as usual. So, I left home at 7 am and got to work early. That worked out well, since the room we hold camp in hosted a graduation ceremony the night before, so everything had to be set up again. Amanda showed up shortly after I did, even though we both were almost 45 minutes early!
On Wednesday night, we had our first house meeting for Proxy youth group. Instead of regular youth group at church, we're starting to meet as smaller all-girl or all-guy bible studies in student homes. We had about 16 students and leaders at our meeting where we mostly hung out, ate s'mores around a campfire, played games, and talked. The first time, we wanted to get to know each other, even though most of our group formerly met together on Monday nights for a girls bible study already. It looks like we're going to be studying a book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. It was a fun night, although it looks like our group might have to split soon if it gets any bigger!
Last night (Friday), Kayle and I went on a date to one of our favorite seafood/steak restaurants and to a movie. We had a good meal of wild salmon and a bacon cheeseburger. Afterward, we took a walk while we waited for our movie time and went to the grocery store. After buying a bag of Geneva (like Milano) cookies, we realized we had no way to sneak them into the theater. Kayle told me to empty out my little black purse, but I said there's no way we can fit the whole bag in there. Sure enough, after some squishing and pushing, score one Kayle. Then, we went and watched the movie "Up." I was sobbing the whole first part of the movie and, when I looked, Kayle was tearing up a little too. The cute couple growing old together was really touching, and we really want to grow old together like that. After many laughs and a few more tears, the movie ended and we went home. That night, we read the last page in our James and Shirley Dobson devotional book on marriage. It was about the same kind of thing, so I was sobbing again! Love is such a powerful thing! It was a good, memorable date night.
Today (Saturday), we slept in and made a batch of Belgian waffles. Right now, we're still messing around on our computers while Kayle's fresh bread rises in the oven. Kayle has a meeting at church for tech crew tonight and I think we'll try to run some errands today as well. We might even make pasties tonight. Tomorrow, we'll be up bright and early for children's ministry and tech ministry at church, so it'll probably be a pretty lazy day today.
We miss all of you! Try to call this week, since there is no camp and I'll be home. Much love!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Congratulations Nova on your new baby girl! My mom and sister are so proud to have a baby horse around...Dad says they're "in love."
All in all, I enjoyed working with Amanda, Tracey, and Andrew this week. Next week, there are no camps running for 4th of July. The following week, I start full-time at a new site with Tracey as the lead instructor. Luckily, we're doing the robot factory theme again, so I don't have to prepare for the morning lessons that I taught this past week. After that, I'm the lead instructor at the new site with a new theme! Wish me luck!
Kayle's job is going really well right now. He's been particularly productive fixing bugs and is enjoying the work. He's also been riding his bike in about half the time, since I need the car for my job now. Since we woke up early enough, I drove Kayle to Microsoft on the rainy or wet days. Not sure what he's gonna do when it rains and we're running late!
Last weekend, Erica Watson came to Washington to visit her boyfriend who is interning at Microsoft this summer. On Sunday, they came to church with us and we went out to lunch afterward. It was nice to meet Jim and catch up a little bit with a friend I haven't seen for a while. Erica was in my AG for bible study at Notre Dame. We got pretty close during my last year at ND, so I was very happy to see her. On Tuesday, Erica and I went to the zoo in Seattle. It was so much fun! I hadn't been there before, and it seemed like most of the animals were active and up-close. We saw gorillas, lions, bears, giraffes, penguins (cool new exhibit), monkeys, and more. They even had 3-5 walk-in aviaries where the birds fly all around you. I think I saw more new and unique birds than even before. Better yet, Erica and I got to talk in the car and zoo and bond more with "just the girls". It was a great day, and Kayle and I really should go back to the zoo together this summer.
One funny story at the zoo: there was a mom with a baby about 1 year old. We were standing outside the glass at the gorilla exhibit. There were several female gorillas lying around right near the glass in the shade when a big male gorilla comes strutting up (and it was strutting- he was making quite a show). The little boy points toward the gorilla and the mom says something like, "monkey, look at the big monkey". And the kids shakes his head and, still pointing, says, very distinctly, "BUG!". Apparently, he was pointing at the little flies that were buzzing around and didn't even see the giant gorilla walking right toward him!
On Tuesday night, our CG met in a near-by park to hang out, talk, and pray together. It was nice to see everyone, especially some new faces as two regular group members had a sister in town. It was a pretty laid-back evening and nice to just sit and chat while the guys played frisbee. On Wednesday morning, the guys came from CG came to our house as usual. So, I left home at 7 am and got to work early. That worked out well, since the room we hold camp in hosted a graduation ceremony the night before, so everything had to be set up again. Amanda showed up shortly after I did, even though we both were almost 45 minutes early!
On Wednesday night, we had our first house meeting for Proxy youth group. Instead of regular youth group at church, we're starting to meet as smaller all-girl or all-guy bible studies in student homes. We had about 16 students and leaders at our meeting where we mostly hung out, ate s'mores around a campfire, played games, and talked. The first time, we wanted to get to know each other, even though most of our group formerly met together on Monday nights for a girls bible study already. It looks like we're going to be studying a book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. It was a fun night, although it looks like our group might have to split soon if it gets any bigger!
Last night (Friday), Kayle and I went on a date to one of our favorite seafood/steak restaurants and to a movie. We had a good meal of wild salmon and a bacon cheeseburger. Afterward, we took a walk while we waited for our movie time and went to the grocery store. After buying a bag of Geneva (like Milano) cookies, we realized we had no way to sneak them into the theater. Kayle told me to empty out my little black purse, but I said there's no way we can fit the whole bag in there. Sure enough, after some squishing and pushing, score one Kayle. Then, we went and watched the movie "Up." I was sobbing the whole first part of the movie and, when I looked, Kayle was tearing up a little too. The cute couple growing old together was really touching, and we really want to grow old together like that. After many laughs and a few more tears, the movie ended and we went home. That night, we read the last page in our James and Shirley Dobson devotional book on marriage. It was about the same kind of thing, so I was sobbing again! Love is such a powerful thing! It was a good, memorable date night.
Today (Saturday), we slept in and made a batch of Belgian waffles. Right now, we're still messing around on our computers while Kayle's fresh bread rises in the oven. Kayle has a meeting at church for tech crew tonight and I think we'll try to run some errands today as well. We might even make pasties tonight. Tomorrow, we'll be up bright and early for children's ministry and tech ministry at church, so it'll probably be a pretty lazy day today.
We miss all of you! Try to call this week, since there is no camp and I'll be home. Much love!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Congratulations Nova on your new baby girl! My mom and sister are so proud to have a baby horse around...Dad says they're "in love."
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Last Week of School
This past week was the last week of school. As such, there was more craziness than usual with field trips/activities for each grade and not too much actual schoolwork being done.
On Tuesday, I was in Mr. Lofthus' class when he suddenly had to leave for a dentist appointment and I was the impromptu sub. He had another staff member come in to talk about making a summer reading plan and a person from the local library system showed some new books and how to use the library website. Then, I read to his 3rd period class out of a book I've been reading every Tuesday/Thursday called "Miracles Boys." Fourth period, the real sub came and I was relieved! The lesson plan he left was to sign yearbooks for the whole period and watch the end of a movie they started. For 5th period, I played Uno and cards with two students, since they had no homework. For 6th and 7th period, Ms. Mitchell's class watched a video of themselves performing their mini-play and did some other work. That night was the 8th grade graduation ceremony. I couldn't go to that or to CG this week because my allergies were acting up. I stayed home that night to sleep and write notes to my students for their yearbooks. Kayle enjoyed CG and brought chicken tacos for taco night.
On Wednesday, the 8th grade went on a boat cruise with a DJ, food, and dancing on a ship in Lake Washington. Casey, another tutor, chaperoned and said it was fun, especially since the driver allowed kids to steer the ship for about 80% of the time. At school, I helped see the 8th graders off in the morning, hung out with students during the day, and partially cleaned the Fishbowl. Not too much to do...
Thursday was my last day at school even though school officially ended on Friday. I brought almond bars and Rice Krispie treats, so I was pretty popular. I also handed out notes to all the students I know well and work with (about 35 total). After mailing the last few scholarship applications and helping in Ms. Mitchell's class, I went to the 6th grade movie at the end of the day. They watched "Hotel for Dogs" and got popcorn, juice, and ice cream sandwiches while the movie was playing. The 6th grade teachers also paused the movie several times for a raffle and had awards for outstanding students at the end. It was a good celebration but a more action-packed movie might have kept their attention better. There was a lot of squirming and talking at my table! After school, I said "goodbye" to all my students and packed up the last of my stuff to go home. Farewell Meany Middle School!
Yesterday, I was very productive on my "errand day". I went to the chiropractor and Verizon store (to delete the random ringback tone that appeared on our account, suggesting my other phone was actually stolen), got a haircut, picked up groceries, got gas, and went to the bank. I also inventoried the 3 huge boxes that arrived for Science Adventure Camp. Just when I got all the youth group books and board games for Meany out of our condo, I now have 4 large boxes of camp supplies and many, many little science gadgets, experiments, and models all over. I guess when you work with kids, there will also be random things to take home!
Today (Saturday), I went to an all-day Science Adventure camp training while Kayle stayed home to program and do some laundry. I made a rocket, a Mars Rover, a mini-rocket launcher, and a sea turtle model among other little take-home trinkets. Lucky for Kayle, all those "prototypes" are now in our living room. Now that I'm home, we're planning to make homemade pizza and rest for the evening.
Tomorrow, Erica Watson, a girl from Notre Dame, is in town to visit her boyfriend who got an internship at Microsoft this summer. We're meeting them at church for the 11:15 service after Kayle and I volunteer in children's ministry for the earlier service. Afterward, we'll all probably go out to lunch and hang out at our condo for a while.
I also have some lesson preparation to do for Monday. I start next week working part-time in the mornings. I am assigned to teach the feature project: the very complicated KNEX robot. We also found out that about 1/3 of our campers just finished kindergarten and we have only 1 5th grader, so it will be a young group. I am hoping that I'll be able to explain the instructions well! After the training today, I feel mostly ready to dive in and have some fun with kids. Of course, I don't have to be in charge of an entire site for another few weeks yet, so that's a relief...
Well, I think that's all for now. Kayle is so anxious for pizza that he's starting without me! Guess that means I have to go now...
With love,
Angie and Kayle
On Tuesday, I was in Mr. Lofthus' class when he suddenly had to leave for a dentist appointment and I was the impromptu sub. He had another staff member come in to talk about making a summer reading plan and a person from the local library system showed some new books and how to use the library website. Then, I read to his 3rd period class out of a book I've been reading every Tuesday/Thursday called "Miracles Boys." Fourth period, the real sub came and I was relieved! The lesson plan he left was to sign yearbooks for the whole period and watch the end of a movie they started. For 5th period, I played Uno and cards with two students, since they had no homework. For 6th and 7th period, Ms. Mitchell's class watched a video of themselves performing their mini-play and did some other work. That night was the 8th grade graduation ceremony. I couldn't go to that or to CG this week because my allergies were acting up. I stayed home that night to sleep and write notes to my students for their yearbooks. Kayle enjoyed CG and brought chicken tacos for taco night.
On Wednesday, the 8th grade went on a boat cruise with a DJ, food, and dancing on a ship in Lake Washington. Casey, another tutor, chaperoned and said it was fun, especially since the driver allowed kids to steer the ship for about 80% of the time. At school, I helped see the 8th graders off in the morning, hung out with students during the day, and partially cleaned the Fishbowl. Not too much to do...
Thursday was my last day at school even though school officially ended on Friday. I brought almond bars and Rice Krispie treats, so I was pretty popular. I also handed out notes to all the students I know well and work with (about 35 total). After mailing the last few scholarship applications and helping in Ms. Mitchell's class, I went to the 6th grade movie at the end of the day. They watched "Hotel for Dogs" and got popcorn, juice, and ice cream sandwiches while the movie was playing. The 6th grade teachers also paused the movie several times for a raffle and had awards for outstanding students at the end. It was a good celebration but a more action-packed movie might have kept their attention better. There was a lot of squirming and talking at my table! After school, I said "goodbye" to all my students and packed up the last of my stuff to go home. Farewell Meany Middle School!
Yesterday, I was very productive on my "errand day". I went to the chiropractor and Verizon store (to delete the random ringback tone that appeared on our account, suggesting my other phone was actually stolen), got a haircut, picked up groceries, got gas, and went to the bank. I also inventoried the 3 huge boxes that arrived for Science Adventure Camp. Just when I got all the youth group books and board games for Meany out of our condo, I now have 4 large boxes of camp supplies and many, many little science gadgets, experiments, and models all over. I guess when you work with kids, there will also be random things to take home!
Today (Saturday), I went to an all-day Science Adventure camp training while Kayle stayed home to program and do some laundry. I made a rocket, a Mars Rover, a mini-rocket launcher, and a sea turtle model among other little take-home trinkets. Lucky for Kayle, all those "prototypes" are now in our living room. Now that I'm home, we're planning to make homemade pizza and rest for the evening.
Tomorrow, Erica Watson, a girl from Notre Dame, is in town to visit her boyfriend who got an internship at Microsoft this summer. We're meeting them at church for the 11:15 service after Kayle and I volunteer in children's ministry for the earlier service. Afterward, we'll all probably go out to lunch and hang out at our condo for a while.
I also have some lesson preparation to do for Monday. I start next week working part-time in the mornings. I am assigned to teach the feature project: the very complicated KNEX robot. We also found out that about 1/3 of our campers just finished kindergarten and we have only 1 5th grader, so it will be a young group. I am hoping that I'll be able to explain the instructions well! After the training today, I feel mostly ready to dive in and have some fun with kids. Of course, I don't have to be in charge of an entire site for another few weeks yet, so that's a relief...
Well, I think that's all for now. Kayle is so anxious for pizza that he's starting without me! Guess that means I have to go now...
With love,
Angie and Kayle
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Photos from Cam and Tim's Baby Shower
Here are some pictures from the shower that Kayle and I went to last weekend. Cameron and Tim lead our CG right now and are having their first child in August. Let me know if you have trouble viewing the pictures and I can send a link from Picasa to your e-mail!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/CameronAndTimSBabyShower
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/CameronAndTimSBabyShower
Monday, June 15, 2009
"In Our Own Words"
Overall, this week went pretty well.
At CG on Tuesday, we discussed the sermon for the week and enjoyed a breakfast dinner. Kayle and I made biscuits, some plain (for Kayle) and some with cheese (for me). Kayle also helped out by doing childcare for the week with another guy in group. Starting soon, our group will be meeting in local parks for the summer instead of in Kim and Jay's home. I'm looking forward to kicking it outdoors for a change!
Recently, Kayle has also been hosting some guys from CG at our house in the morning once/week. They pray, keep each other accountable, share life, and drink coffee. For them, we broke out our coffee maker for the first time! However, now that they have met for a couple weeks already, we're out of the coffee we saved from the hotel rooms during our "trip out West". Might have to actually buy some coffee soon...
On Wednesday, we had a BBQ for Proxy to celebrate the year, say goodbye to some leaders who are moving on, and prepare for the small groups that will start meeting in homes next week. It was a bittersweet time. I also brought a bookshelf to church and completely filled it with the new Mars Hill youth group library. A few books have already been checked out, but I anticipate that it will get used more in the future and outgrow its first bookshelf soon.
Thursday was the big day for our last Washington Reading Corps event of the year. I spent about 11 hours at school that day. The YMCA at school donated all the board games from the Fishbowl (the room I work/tutor in), so I spent the day sorting and counting and organizing the games to be given away as prizes that night. In total, we had about 50-60 board games plus $100 in school supplies for raffle prizes. We also gave away books that were donated earlier in the year. That afternoon, Allison and I picked up the student anthologies from the printer. The books turned out fantastic! It was nice to see the fruit of all that time spent laying out the text with different sizes and fonts. We also had color artwork on the front and in the middle pages. We were happy to be able to feature the writing of about 75 students.
That night, we had a one-hour event with food, free books, a table of information on free/low-cost summer activities, and a raffle. We had about 60-70 parents and students come (which filled the library, where we hosted the event, rather nicely) and 10-12 students read their piece aloud to the group. Everyone came home with a few board games and books, in addition to the treasured copies of their first "published" work. On Monday (today), we gave copies of the anthology, which we titled "In Our Own Words", to the rest of the school.
On Friday, I spent my day off running some errands, including getting my bridesmaid dress altered. My dress came in the mail from Nebraska last week and is a pretty dark green color with a lighter green sash to tie at the waist. I also went to Verizon to get our plan switched to our old phone, since my newer phone was lost or stolen the day before at school. At least my old phone has most of my contacts in it!
On Saturday, Kayle and I went to a couples baby shower for Cameron and Tim, who now lead our CG. They are about 1-2 years older than us and having their first baby in August. The shower was fun! We ate Greek food (spinach pie, gyros, salad, and fruity drinks- yum!), since Tim's family is part-Greek. We also played pictionary (boys vs. girls-girls won...barely) and a memory-matching game with baby/pregnancy related clues. For pictionary, Kayle said he didn't even know about 10 of the words! He admitted that he learned the word "onesie" only about 2 days prior. Maybe that's why girls won that game. I certainly knew all the words at least...
Sunday was our 1 year anniversary. Happy Anniversary to us! We were supposed to go kayaking with some friends but decided that we really needed an afternoon/evening in after being busy the whole week. It was nice to have that quality time together when we weren't tired from work or rushing around. Among the wonderful cards and Facebook messages, my parents got us some bike gear, including matching silver helmets that also match our tandem bike. If we weren't a sight before, we certainly are now! I believe this is where my sister would say, "gag me." :)
Today, Monday, I went to school. As expected, practically no schoolwork is being done for the whole week. The 8th graders spent a few hours practicing for their graduation ceremony tomorrow night. I played Settlers of Catan with two of the students who won't be walking. The only tutoring I did all day was about 20 minutes of math homework and reading "Lion King" with Muftah for about 15 minutes. (After 15 minutes, Muftah was dying to go back to class, where they were watching "Karate Kid"- I just can't compete with "Karate Kid"!) The last hour and a half of school was field day. The school brought in an inflatable obstacle course, a dunk tank, a "human foosball" game (inflatable field with kids playing soccer attached to ropes by harnesses), and a sumo wrestling ring. They also gave out yearbooks, had a water balloon fight, and reserved a classroom for watching a movie. Many kids just enjoyed being out in the sun and signing yearbooks the whole time. Of course, many others got use out of all the big, inflatable toys!
After school, Kayle and I decided to do a kayaking make-up day. Since we missed the day out with friends, we made it a date instead. Just the two of us in a kayak built for two! It was really fun. We paddled all over for 2 hours and saw at least 3 different kinds of baby ducks in the arboretum. I see a pair of bald eagles almost every morning now during my commute, so I wanted to show them to Kayle. Too bad they are usually not out in the afternoon. I didn't think they would be, but it was worth a try. Of course, at the end, we splashed each other until we both were soaked. Afterward, we changed into the dry clothes we brought in the car and went to Pizza House for dinner. We got a large deep-dish pizza with canadian bacon and pineapple on half and chicken and artichoke hearts on the other half. Bet you can't guess which half was for me! ;) Then, we topped off the night with a brownie sundae. All in all, a good day to round off a good week and a good first year together...
It looks like I'll be starting the science camp next week, but I'm only scheduled for part-time in the morning (the scheduling varies by week- only two sites will be up and running then; later there will be about 10 sites). The following week, there is no camp for 4th of July, so Kayle and I might try to plan something fun to do together. After that, I start in full-time for the month of July at the University of Washington campus in Bothell.
Finally, the sermon this week was awesome (again). This time, it was about the authority and reliability of Scripture- you can find it here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/doctrine-from-true-teachers
Hopefully, I'll be able to post some pictures from the couples baby shower soon. I saw someone taking some at the party.
We MISS you all and love you dearly.
Angie and Kayle
P.S. We changed the settings so that anyone can now post a comment on our blog posts, even if they don't have a Google or blog account. We love to hear your notes, so leave us a thought if you can!
At CG on Tuesday, we discussed the sermon for the week and enjoyed a breakfast dinner. Kayle and I made biscuits, some plain (for Kayle) and some with cheese (for me). Kayle also helped out by doing childcare for the week with another guy in group. Starting soon, our group will be meeting in local parks for the summer instead of in Kim and Jay's home. I'm looking forward to kicking it outdoors for a change!
Recently, Kayle has also been hosting some guys from CG at our house in the morning once/week. They pray, keep each other accountable, share life, and drink coffee. For them, we broke out our coffee maker for the first time! However, now that they have met for a couple weeks already, we're out of the coffee we saved from the hotel rooms during our "trip out West". Might have to actually buy some coffee soon...
On Wednesday, we had a BBQ for Proxy to celebrate the year, say goodbye to some leaders who are moving on, and prepare for the small groups that will start meeting in homes next week. It was a bittersweet time. I also brought a bookshelf to church and completely filled it with the new Mars Hill youth group library. A few books have already been checked out, but I anticipate that it will get used more in the future and outgrow its first bookshelf soon.
Thursday was the big day for our last Washington Reading Corps event of the year. I spent about 11 hours at school that day. The YMCA at school donated all the board games from the Fishbowl (the room I work/tutor in), so I spent the day sorting and counting and organizing the games to be given away as prizes that night. In total, we had about 50-60 board games plus $100 in school supplies for raffle prizes. We also gave away books that were donated earlier in the year. That afternoon, Allison and I picked up the student anthologies from the printer. The books turned out fantastic! It was nice to see the fruit of all that time spent laying out the text with different sizes and fonts. We also had color artwork on the front and in the middle pages. We were happy to be able to feature the writing of about 75 students.
That night, we had a one-hour event with food, free books, a table of information on free/low-cost summer activities, and a raffle. We had about 60-70 parents and students come (which filled the library, where we hosted the event, rather nicely) and 10-12 students read their piece aloud to the group. Everyone came home with a few board games and books, in addition to the treasured copies of their first "published" work. On Monday (today), we gave copies of the anthology, which we titled "In Our Own Words", to the rest of the school.
On Friday, I spent my day off running some errands, including getting my bridesmaid dress altered. My dress came in the mail from Nebraska last week and is a pretty dark green color with a lighter green sash to tie at the waist. I also went to Verizon to get our plan switched to our old phone, since my newer phone was lost or stolen the day before at school. At least my old phone has most of my contacts in it!
On Saturday, Kayle and I went to a couples baby shower for Cameron and Tim, who now lead our CG. They are about 1-2 years older than us and having their first baby in August. The shower was fun! We ate Greek food (spinach pie, gyros, salad, and fruity drinks- yum!), since Tim's family is part-Greek. We also played pictionary (boys vs. girls-girls won...barely) and a memory-matching game with baby/pregnancy related clues. For pictionary, Kayle said he didn't even know about 10 of the words! He admitted that he learned the word "onesie" only about 2 days prior. Maybe that's why girls won that game. I certainly knew all the words at least...
Sunday was our 1 year anniversary. Happy Anniversary to us! We were supposed to go kayaking with some friends but decided that we really needed an afternoon/evening in after being busy the whole week. It was nice to have that quality time together when we weren't tired from work or rushing around. Among the wonderful cards and Facebook messages, my parents got us some bike gear, including matching silver helmets that also match our tandem bike. If we weren't a sight before, we certainly are now! I believe this is where my sister would say, "gag me." :)
Today, Monday, I went to school. As expected, practically no schoolwork is being done for the whole week. The 8th graders spent a few hours practicing for their graduation ceremony tomorrow night. I played Settlers of Catan with two of the students who won't be walking. The only tutoring I did all day was about 20 minutes of math homework and reading "Lion King" with Muftah for about 15 minutes. (After 15 minutes, Muftah was dying to go back to class, where they were watching "Karate Kid"- I just can't compete with "Karate Kid"!) The last hour and a half of school was field day. The school brought in an inflatable obstacle course, a dunk tank, a "human foosball" game (inflatable field with kids playing soccer attached to ropes by harnesses), and a sumo wrestling ring. They also gave out yearbooks, had a water balloon fight, and reserved a classroom for watching a movie. Many kids just enjoyed being out in the sun and signing yearbooks the whole time. Of course, many others got use out of all the big, inflatable toys!
After school, Kayle and I decided to do a kayaking make-up day. Since we missed the day out with friends, we made it a date instead. Just the two of us in a kayak built for two! It was really fun. We paddled all over for 2 hours and saw at least 3 different kinds of baby ducks in the arboretum. I see a pair of bald eagles almost every morning now during my commute, so I wanted to show them to Kayle. Too bad they are usually not out in the afternoon. I didn't think they would be, but it was worth a try. Of course, at the end, we splashed each other until we both were soaked. Afterward, we changed into the dry clothes we brought in the car and went to Pizza House for dinner. We got a large deep-dish pizza with canadian bacon and pineapple on half and chicken and artichoke hearts on the other half. Bet you can't guess which half was for me! ;) Then, we topped off the night with a brownie sundae. All in all, a good day to round off a good week and a good first year together...
It looks like I'll be starting the science camp next week, but I'm only scheduled for part-time in the morning (the scheduling varies by week- only two sites will be up and running then; later there will be about 10 sites). The following week, there is no camp for 4th of July, so Kayle and I might try to plan something fun to do together. After that, I start in full-time for the month of July at the University of Washington campus in Bothell.
Finally, the sermon this week was awesome (again). This time, it was about the authority and reliability of Scripture- you can find it here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/doctrine-from-true-teachers
Hopefully, I'll be able to post some pictures from the couples baby shower soon. I saw someone taking some at the party.
We MISS you all and love you dearly.
Angie and Kayle
P.S. We changed the settings so that anyone can now post a comment on our blog posts, even if they don't have a Google or blog account. We love to hear your notes, so leave us a thought if you can!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
New Job!
Wow!! I guess I've been busier than I thought the past few weeks, so I'll try to catch you up on our lives. Kayle said everyone was anxious for an update, and my family's been giving me a hard time as well! (I've got Google Calendar open, so I don't forget anything.)
Well, first of all, my actual birthday went really well. At school, some of my co-workers decorated my desk and two of my students made me a card. I also brought brownies for all the kids I tutor, so that, of course, was much appreciated. After school, I had an interview with Mathnasium, a math tutoring place in Redmond. The guy who interviewed me was really nice and the location couldn't be more convenient. He said I was at the top of his list of people to hire for the part-time position (only 16 hours/week), but he didn't know if he could until his current staff gave their summer plans and he had a better idea of summer enrollment.
The following Saturday (5/23), our social life kicked it up a notch with not one but two one-year-old birthday parties in the same day. One was for Cole, the son of the couple that hosts our current community group (robot theme, first cake, BBQ...too cute!). The other was for Clara, the daughter of a couple in our previous CG- this one was at a park with friends and relatives. Both were fun (we knew a lot of people) though we thought it was funny how different our friends are now from those in college. Well, different life stage anyway...
On 6/25 (Monday night), we had a dessert potluck at Brenda's house with all-you-can-eat of every sweet thing you can imagine. We made dirt cake for the second time in two weeks and enjoyed playing Pictionary on a white board with two teams. I should just say Kayle was hilarious with his drawing, since he seemed to have a limited number of shapes that all greatly resembled each other. He had everyone laughing so hard we couldn't even guess anymore.
The big news for youth group lately is that we're changing up the entire program. Instead of weekly meetings with games, teaching, hang out time, and small groups, we're switching to a community group model where teams will meet with each other once/week (still on Wednesday nights) in homes. There are many good reasons for this change but, mostly, it will enhance our ability to go deeper into Scripture and build better relationships for discipleship. Also, many of the kids come from pretty far away, and we can better use that time if they can stay in their communities and better invite friends from school. I guess a bunch of recent studies have shown that the old 90s youth group model is just not continuing to be effective, so we're changing it up to, hopefully, better minister to our youth. The new groups should be up and running sometime this summer, so I'll let you know how they go. We're still meeting 1/month with our family-style 4th week feeds as well. Overall, I think the change will be beneficial.
Last Saturday, Kayle and I babysat for the Martinez family from our CG, a family with 4 wonderful kids and a great marriage. They have two girls who are in about 4th and 6th grade (not quite sure) and a boy who's about 3 or 4 and another boy who's a toddler. We did everything including making paper airplanes from a book (very popular), helping the oldest with a story for school, teach round-offs to the younger daughter in the backyard, read stories, watch a movie, and play "Spiderman" with stuffed animals. It was so fun, and I'm glad that we could give Dawn and Frank a date night. We told them we're happy to babysit again in the future but we're also glad to bond with a solid older couple to go to for advice as well.
Last weekend, I also worked super hard on a book we're publishing, full of student poems, stories, and essays from their classes this year. Last year, the book was extremely successful, so we're happy to produce our own version featuring the work of about 75 students. Allison and Casey spent their week tracking down teachers and students for pieces to include and typing what they found. My job was to lay out the whole book with different fonts and designs. It seemed to turn out well, and the book is now at the printer as we await a proof before getting 500 copies made! The school is paying for everyone to get a copy and the PTSA gave us money for food for our Book Release Party and Summer Activities Fair that we're hosting on Thursday. The books should all be printed by then and it'll be our last, big fling. We only have 2 weeks left of school with the final week including field day, an 8th grade field trip and graduation, and a 6th grade movie among other celebration activities. We're in the final stretch, and it's kind of sad to think about saying goodbye soon to all my students...
On Tuesday, we had "ethnic heritage" as our potluck theme for CG. Kayle really wanted to make banket with the almond paste I ordered online, but we settled for the easier almond bars. They were a big hit and the entire pan was eaten by the end of the night. It's one of the first times we haven't come home with anything left over!
Also on Tuesday, I got a call from a women from Science Adventure Camps. She asked me some questions over the phone after school and wanted to do an interview on Friday. Long story short, the interview yesterday went really well and I was impressed by the program, which has been around for over 30 years. So, I attended an 8 hour paid training today, which made me even more excited about the summer. I'll be working with students in grades 1-6, teaching science concepts and doing about 20 science-related activities each week that pertain to 4 week-long rotating themes. At the very least, I won't be bored! At the training, we did just 10 of the activities and they were a lot of fun. I made a fizz tablet rocket, a really cool six-legged Knex bug robot, an electromagnet, a rubber-band-powered wooden race car, several polymer "goops," an experiment for testing helmet materials, and a hydraulic robot figure using plastic tubes and plastic syringes. Though the details aren't quite finalized, I should have a full-time position as an instructor and possibly a lead instructor (site supervisor). Tomorrow, I have a 7-hour lead instructor and CPR/First Aid training. I got hired right before all the trainings started, so I got suddenly busy this weekend. Poor Kayle...I've been gone all weekend! Since the camp will start the week after school ends, I have my last 8 hour training in two weeks. Even better, the site I'll be at most weeks is just 5-7 minutes away from home!
Finally, yesterday I went to a baby shower for two women in our CG. We all pitched in for keepsake boxes and wrote notes to both. We also shared desserts together, and I really enjoyed the time to just talk and get to know the other women better. I posted some pictures on Picasa from the shower that someone else posted online. Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/JenniAndEmilySBabyShower Kayle and I have another baby shower next weekend that we're going to together- it's for Cameron and Tim, the couple that now leads our CG.
I also wanted to post some updates from church. We're adding two new campuses this year, one in the Seattle area and one in Albuquerque, NM. We also launched Mars Hill Global to continue to plant churches around the world. Someone offered to match the first $1 million and they hope to raise $4 million in one year. A new theological missions training center will open this fall and they are launching a music distributor called Re:Sound in about 1 week. It's pretty thrilling to see God work in so many various ways and mostly in our own hearts as we grow in community and through the sermons. One of the most recent sermons is really good- mostly a passionate description of the gospel through explaining justification and regeneration. Highly, highly recommended. You can find it here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/faith-in-your-new-birth
On a more personal ministry note, Kayle and I also recently wrote a letter to each of the kids we sponsor in India (a task I've been meaning to do for a while). We have already received initial letters from 3 of the kids, and I look forward to getting their replies! The youth group library has also become quite a project- I've been getting packages filled with books every day for about a week, I bought a $10 bookshelf, and I received donations of books and DVDs from both Discovery Institute and Reasons to Believe. I should be setting up everything at our next YG meeting.
Well, I think that's all for these past few weeks. We miss you all a lot. Thanks for being patient as you waited for an update. I really try hard not to miss a week, but sometimes the weekends get away from me!
Much love,
Angie and Kayle
Well, first of all, my actual birthday went really well. At school, some of my co-workers decorated my desk and two of my students made me a card. I also brought brownies for all the kids I tutor, so that, of course, was much appreciated. After school, I had an interview with Mathnasium, a math tutoring place in Redmond. The guy who interviewed me was really nice and the location couldn't be more convenient. He said I was at the top of his list of people to hire for the part-time position (only 16 hours/week), but he didn't know if he could until his current staff gave their summer plans and he had a better idea of summer enrollment.
The following Saturday (5/23), our social life kicked it up a notch with not one but two one-year-old birthday parties in the same day. One was for Cole, the son of the couple that hosts our current community group (robot theme, first cake, BBQ...too cute!). The other was for Clara, the daughter of a couple in our previous CG- this one was at a park with friends and relatives. Both were fun (we knew a lot of people) though we thought it was funny how different our friends are now from those in college. Well, different life stage anyway...
On 6/25 (Monday night), we had a dessert potluck at Brenda's house with all-you-can-eat of every sweet thing you can imagine. We made dirt cake for the second time in two weeks and enjoyed playing Pictionary on a white board with two teams. I should just say Kayle was hilarious with his drawing, since he seemed to have a limited number of shapes that all greatly resembled each other. He had everyone laughing so hard we couldn't even guess anymore.
The big news for youth group lately is that we're changing up the entire program. Instead of weekly meetings with games, teaching, hang out time, and small groups, we're switching to a community group model where teams will meet with each other once/week (still on Wednesday nights) in homes. There are many good reasons for this change but, mostly, it will enhance our ability to go deeper into Scripture and build better relationships for discipleship. Also, many of the kids come from pretty far away, and we can better use that time if they can stay in their communities and better invite friends from school. I guess a bunch of recent studies have shown that the old 90s youth group model is just not continuing to be effective, so we're changing it up to, hopefully, better minister to our youth. The new groups should be up and running sometime this summer, so I'll let you know how they go. We're still meeting 1/month with our family-style 4th week feeds as well. Overall, I think the change will be beneficial.
Last Saturday, Kayle and I babysat for the Martinez family from our CG, a family with 4 wonderful kids and a great marriage. They have two girls who are in about 4th and 6th grade (not quite sure) and a boy who's about 3 or 4 and another boy who's a toddler. We did everything including making paper airplanes from a book (very popular), helping the oldest with a story for school, teach round-offs to the younger daughter in the backyard, read stories, watch a movie, and play "Spiderman" with stuffed animals. It was so fun, and I'm glad that we could give Dawn and Frank a date night. We told them we're happy to babysit again in the future but we're also glad to bond with a solid older couple to go to for advice as well.
Last weekend, I also worked super hard on a book we're publishing, full of student poems, stories, and essays from their classes this year. Last year, the book was extremely successful, so we're happy to produce our own version featuring the work of about 75 students. Allison and Casey spent their week tracking down teachers and students for pieces to include and typing what they found. My job was to lay out the whole book with different fonts and designs. It seemed to turn out well, and the book is now at the printer as we await a proof before getting 500 copies made! The school is paying for everyone to get a copy and the PTSA gave us money for food for our Book Release Party and Summer Activities Fair that we're hosting on Thursday. The books should all be printed by then and it'll be our last, big fling. We only have 2 weeks left of school with the final week including field day, an 8th grade field trip and graduation, and a 6th grade movie among other celebration activities. We're in the final stretch, and it's kind of sad to think about saying goodbye soon to all my students...
On Tuesday, we had "ethnic heritage" as our potluck theme for CG. Kayle really wanted to make banket with the almond paste I ordered online, but we settled for the easier almond bars. They were a big hit and the entire pan was eaten by the end of the night. It's one of the first times we haven't come home with anything left over!
Also on Tuesday, I got a call from a women from Science Adventure Camps. She asked me some questions over the phone after school and wanted to do an interview on Friday. Long story short, the interview yesterday went really well and I was impressed by the program, which has been around for over 30 years. So, I attended an 8 hour paid training today, which made me even more excited about the summer. I'll be working with students in grades 1-6, teaching science concepts and doing about 20 science-related activities each week that pertain to 4 week-long rotating themes. At the very least, I won't be bored! At the training, we did just 10 of the activities and they were a lot of fun. I made a fizz tablet rocket, a really cool six-legged Knex bug robot, an electromagnet, a rubber-band-powered wooden race car, several polymer "goops," an experiment for testing helmet materials, and a hydraulic robot figure using plastic tubes and plastic syringes. Though the details aren't quite finalized, I should have a full-time position as an instructor and possibly a lead instructor (site supervisor). Tomorrow, I have a 7-hour lead instructor and CPR/First Aid training. I got hired right before all the trainings started, so I got suddenly busy this weekend. Poor Kayle...I've been gone all weekend! Since the camp will start the week after school ends, I have my last 8 hour training in two weeks. Even better, the site I'll be at most weeks is just 5-7 minutes away from home!
Finally, yesterday I went to a baby shower for two women in our CG. We all pitched in for keepsake boxes and wrote notes to both. We also shared desserts together, and I really enjoyed the time to just talk and get to know the other women better. I posted some pictures on Picasa from the shower that someone else posted online. Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/JenniAndEmilySBabyShower Kayle and I have another baby shower next weekend that we're going to together- it's for Cameron and Tim, the couple that now leads our CG.
I also wanted to post some updates from church. We're adding two new campuses this year, one in the Seattle area and one in Albuquerque, NM. We also launched Mars Hill Global to continue to plant churches around the world. Someone offered to match the first $1 million and they hope to raise $4 million in one year. A new theological missions training center will open this fall and they are launching a music distributor called Re:Sound in about 1 week. It's pretty thrilling to see God work in so many various ways and mostly in our own hearts as we grow in community and through the sermons. One of the most recent sermons is really good- mostly a passionate description of the gospel through explaining justification and regeneration. Highly, highly recommended. You can find it here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/faith-in-your-new-birth
On a more personal ministry note, Kayle and I also recently wrote a letter to each of the kids we sponsor in India (a task I've been meaning to do for a while). We have already received initial letters from 3 of the kids, and I look forward to getting their replies! The youth group library has also become quite a project- I've been getting packages filled with books every day for about a week, I bought a $10 bookshelf, and I received donations of books and DVDs from both Discovery Institute and Reasons to Believe. I should be setting up everything at our next YG meeting.
Well, I think that's all for these past few weeks. We miss you all a lot. Thanks for being patient as you waited for an update. I really try hard not to miss a week, but sometimes the weekends get away from me!
Much love,
Angie and Kayle
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Happy Birthday to Me!
Okay, so my birthday isn't today or anything, but it sure feels like it! I got my presents, we made birthday cake, and I even sang "Happy Birthday" to myself a few times... Monday will be pretty anti-climactic!
This week seemed busy to me, especially toward the end of the week! Luckily, most of my students were behaving well, and one is even working hard to get all A's and B's for my birthday present (she's worked really hard this quarter and is getting close!). Even my more squirrelly kiddos toned it down this week, and I had a great talk with one of my stubborn ones.
On Tuesday, we went to community group and, once again, enjoyed sharing each others lives and talking about the sermon. It is still one of the highlights of our week. On Wednesday, I went to youth group. We had small groups to talk about how to be so radically loving that people take notice and "know you are Christian by your love". My small group was small: one girl! But we had a great conversation, so I'm glad.
On Thursday, Kayle came to school after work and attended the 2nd annual Jaguar Arts Festival. The parents and students transformed the school into an art museum with black paper all along the walls, decorated with student paintings, drawings, and even science diagrams. In one corner of the school, the orchestra played. In another hallway, the jazz band gave a performance. Throughout the night, there was also a talent show and fashion show in the auditorium. With free food, a photobooth, and a silent auction, it was quite a fun showcase of Meany talent. It also made for a long day for me: about 12 hours! On Thursday, we also decided to take on a new project for Washington Reading Corps. We're going to put together a booklet of student poetry, short stories, and art to commemorate the year. And we have one month to do it... Crazy? I hope not!
On Friday, I made dinner for Breanna's family, and we went to a Terminator movie night. It was supposed to be a double-header of T-2 and T-3, but we couldn't stay awake for a second movie and had to leave early. It had been kind of a rough day for both of us, and we needed the extra sleep!
Today, Saturday, we picked up my birthday present from Kayle: a tandem bike that he found on Craigslist. I am SO EXCITED! What a great and romantic idea that reminds me of our honeymoon on Mackinac Island! The bike was new and still in the box (never even opened), so we took it home to assemble it. Five hours later and Kayle is still tweaking the brakes and shifter! We rode it around the neighborhood for a while, but we still don't have it switching to all the gears smoothly yet. It should be ready soon for a full test drive. Today we also made dirt cake and I got my package from mom and dad, so it basically seems like my birthday came early this year! Of course, I'm still planning to bring brownies to school on Monday and use my birthday to its full tutoring advantage...
I'm writing a day or two earlier this week because tomorrow looks like it's going to be a very busy day! We're waking up early to do children's ministry and run video at the early service before attending the 11:15 service. Then, in the afternoon, I want to go to a ballet that one of my students is performing in. At night, I have a meeting for youth group that Dustin (our leader) says is "very important." I'm excited for tomorrow!~
Hopefully, we'll be able to send some pics of our living room and tandem bike soon! We keep intending to take some but then forget to charge the batteries. We love you and miss you!!
Angie and Kayle
This week seemed busy to me, especially toward the end of the week! Luckily, most of my students were behaving well, and one is even working hard to get all A's and B's for my birthday present (she's worked really hard this quarter and is getting close!). Even my more squirrelly kiddos toned it down this week, and I had a great talk with one of my stubborn ones.
On Tuesday, we went to community group and, once again, enjoyed sharing each others lives and talking about the sermon. It is still one of the highlights of our week. On Wednesday, I went to youth group. We had small groups to talk about how to be so radically loving that people take notice and "know you are Christian by your love". My small group was small: one girl! But we had a great conversation, so I'm glad.
On Thursday, Kayle came to school after work and attended the 2nd annual Jaguar Arts Festival. The parents and students transformed the school into an art museum with black paper all along the walls, decorated with student paintings, drawings, and even science diagrams. In one corner of the school, the orchestra played. In another hallway, the jazz band gave a performance. Throughout the night, there was also a talent show and fashion show in the auditorium. With free food, a photobooth, and a silent auction, it was quite a fun showcase of Meany talent. It also made for a long day for me: about 12 hours! On Thursday, we also decided to take on a new project for Washington Reading Corps. We're going to put together a booklet of student poetry, short stories, and art to commemorate the year. And we have one month to do it... Crazy? I hope not!
On Friday, I made dinner for Breanna's family, and we went to a Terminator movie night. It was supposed to be a double-header of T-2 and T-3, but we couldn't stay awake for a second movie and had to leave early. It had been kind of a rough day for both of us, and we needed the extra sleep!
Today, Saturday, we picked up my birthday present from Kayle: a tandem bike that he found on Craigslist. I am SO EXCITED! What a great and romantic idea that reminds me of our honeymoon on Mackinac Island! The bike was new and still in the box (never even opened), so we took it home to assemble it. Five hours later and Kayle is still tweaking the brakes and shifter! We rode it around the neighborhood for a while, but we still don't have it switching to all the gears smoothly yet. It should be ready soon for a full test drive. Today we also made dirt cake and I got my package from mom and dad, so it basically seems like my birthday came early this year! Of course, I'm still planning to bring brownies to school on Monday and use my birthday to its full tutoring advantage...
I'm writing a day or two earlier this week because tomorrow looks like it's going to be a very busy day! We're waking up early to do children's ministry and run video at the early service before attending the 11:15 service. Then, in the afternoon, I want to go to a ballet that one of my students is performing in. At night, I have a meeting for youth group that Dustin (our leader) says is "very important." I'm excited for tomorrow!~
Hopefully, we'll be able to send some pics of our living room and tandem bike soon! We keep intending to take some but then forget to charge the batteries. We love you and miss you!!
Angie and Kayle
Monday, May 11, 2009
Movie Nights!
This past week seemed really busy, especially since we had a social engagement every day of the weekend!
Work was fine for both of us. I'm still striving to keep the kids motivated to boost their grades in the final quarter of the year. We also had an after-school field trip to the local African American museum with the kids from Jaguar tutoring. It was fun, but a little hectic to keep track of 13 kids on a crowded Metro bus! I was mostly worried that we'd leave someone on the bus and they'd end up who knows where! Kayle's been busy at his job too and enjoying the debugging work. He said he's been pretty productive lately...
On Tuesday, we both felt tired and sick, so we missed community group. Kayle ended up with a sore throat for most of the week but I felt better the next day. On Wednesday, we had a 4th week feed with parents and siblings coming to join us for pizza and discussion about worship. I started a new mini-project to set up a small library for our youth group to give them greater access to solid Christian books. I posted a note on Facebook and now have a list of over 100 book recommendations from friends. Hmm...gonna have to narrow that down a bit, I think!
On Friday, I made another meal for Breanna and her family (who had a baby a few weeks ago). I also started applying for summer jobs, mostly in community centers and tutoring places right near our home. I also applied for United Way, which has an office in Bellevue (where Kayle works). We wanted to have me work closer for the summer, so I wouldn't spend so much time riding the bus in nice weather! It would be nice to get one of the positions in Redmond- then I could easily bike to work everyday... After finishing a spreadsheet for work (compiling fund-raising information for all the schools), my day off flew by pretty quickly for a change!
At night, Joe and his roommates were hosting a Pixar movie night. We didn't realize what a big deal it was! Kayle and I arrived early and helped cook an eggplant roll appetizer and more meat than I've ever seen at one house. Apparently, over 35 people responded that they were coming! The boys even took two couches and arranged them on cinder blocks to create stadium seating in their living room. I'm not sure any of them are truly out of "college mode" yet! It was fun to see so many people and even some young kids, and we enjoyed watching "The Incredibles". The idea for a Pixar night started when one of their roommates from Africa (Fabini) said, "cartoons are for kids." I guess they wanted to prove how funny and clever Pixar "cartoons" can be! Pictures to come?
On Saturday, we were invited to another movie night at Jeff and Paula Irwin's house. This one was a smaller affair, watching Terminator 1 in preparation for the upcoming release of the new Terminator movie in a few weeks. Jeff and Paula love hosting parties on the few weeks leading up to an anticipated movie release to watch all the movies in the series leading up to the new one. Next week will be Terminator 2 with, perhaps, some of the Sarah Conner Chronicle episodes...
On Sunday, we went to the earlier service. It was our campus pastor's last Sunday preaching before he plants his new church in California. It was sad for a lot of people who know Pastor Jesse better than we do, but, since he grew up in Cali, is well suited for church planting (this would be his 3rd), and loves surfing, everyone agrees that his family will be happy and effective in ministry there. The new pastor is also well-known and recommended by both Pastor Jesse and Pastor Mark (the primary preaching pastor at Mars Hill). The new pastor and his family seem nice, and next week will be his first week preaching...no pressure!
After the service, we ran home to eat lunch before Kayle dropped me off for Brenda's b-day outing with the girls. Nine of us went to a garden show/botanical garden festival, enjoyed an authentic Korean dinner, and finished off with ice cream from Dairy Queen. Here is a link to some pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/BrendaSBirthdayParty#
Anyway, today was another typical day at school, except each grade got to participate in an hour-long drum circle assembly with some local Brazilian drummers. It was fun but LOUD! You try controlling middle school kids with drums! I tutored all day like usual and came home early, because I wasn't needed after school. Then, Kayle and I biked to the grocery store and library to pick up some things and exercise a bit. Hopefully, tonight will be a relaxing night before another pretty busy week!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and grandmas!
We love you and miss you all!!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Our couch and loveseat also arrived this week on Thursday! With the floor lamps we bought last week, our living room finally feels complete. I'm sure we'll post pictures of the couches soon and hopefully be inviting people over soon...
Work was fine for both of us. I'm still striving to keep the kids motivated to boost their grades in the final quarter of the year. We also had an after-school field trip to the local African American museum with the kids from Jaguar tutoring. It was fun, but a little hectic to keep track of 13 kids on a crowded Metro bus! I was mostly worried that we'd leave someone on the bus and they'd end up who knows where! Kayle's been busy at his job too and enjoying the debugging work. He said he's been pretty productive lately...
On Tuesday, we both felt tired and sick, so we missed community group. Kayle ended up with a sore throat for most of the week but I felt better the next day. On Wednesday, we had a 4th week feed with parents and siblings coming to join us for pizza and discussion about worship. I started a new mini-project to set up a small library for our youth group to give them greater access to solid Christian books. I posted a note on Facebook and now have a list of over 100 book recommendations from friends. Hmm...gonna have to narrow that down a bit, I think!
On Friday, I made another meal for Breanna and her family (who had a baby a few weeks ago). I also started applying for summer jobs, mostly in community centers and tutoring places right near our home. I also applied for United Way, which has an office in Bellevue (where Kayle works). We wanted to have me work closer for the summer, so I wouldn't spend so much time riding the bus in nice weather! It would be nice to get one of the positions in Redmond- then I could easily bike to work everyday... After finishing a spreadsheet for work (compiling fund-raising information for all the schools), my day off flew by pretty quickly for a change!
At night, Joe and his roommates were hosting a Pixar movie night. We didn't realize what a big deal it was! Kayle and I arrived early and helped cook an eggplant roll appetizer and more meat than I've ever seen at one house. Apparently, over 35 people responded that they were coming! The boys even took two couches and arranged them on cinder blocks to create stadium seating in their living room. I'm not sure any of them are truly out of "college mode" yet! It was fun to see so many people and even some young kids, and we enjoyed watching "The Incredibles". The idea for a Pixar night started when one of their roommates from Africa (Fabini) said, "cartoons are for kids." I guess they wanted to prove how funny and clever Pixar "cartoons" can be! Pictures to come?
On Saturday, we were invited to another movie night at Jeff and Paula Irwin's house. This one was a smaller affair, watching Terminator 1 in preparation for the upcoming release of the new Terminator movie in a few weeks. Jeff and Paula love hosting parties on the few weeks leading up to an anticipated movie release to watch all the movies in the series leading up to the new one. Next week will be Terminator 2 with, perhaps, some of the Sarah Conner Chronicle episodes...
On Sunday, we went to the earlier service. It was our campus pastor's last Sunday preaching before he plants his new church in California. It was sad for a lot of people who know Pastor Jesse better than we do, but, since he grew up in Cali, is well suited for church planting (this would be his 3rd), and loves surfing, everyone agrees that his family will be happy and effective in ministry there. The new pastor is also well-known and recommended by both Pastor Jesse and Pastor Mark (the primary preaching pastor at Mars Hill). The new pastor and his family seem nice, and next week will be his first week preaching...no pressure!
After the service, we ran home to eat lunch before Kayle dropped me off for Brenda's b-day outing with the girls. Nine of us went to a garden show/botanical garden festival, enjoyed an authentic Korean dinner, and finished off with ice cream from Dairy Queen. Here is a link to some pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/BrendaSBirthdayParty#
Anyway, today was another typical day at school, except each grade got to participate in an hour-long drum circle assembly with some local Brazilian drummers. It was fun but LOUD! You try controlling middle school kids with drums! I tutored all day like usual and came home early, because I wasn't needed after school. Then, Kayle and I biked to the grocery store and library to pick up some things and exercise a bit. Hopefully, tonight will be a relaxing night before another pretty busy week!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and grandmas!
We love you and miss you all!!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Our couch and loveseat also arrived this week on Thursday! With the floor lamps we bought last week, our living room finally feels complete. I'm sure we'll post pictures of the couches soon and hopefully be inviting people over soon...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Bring on the Pig Flu!
So, maybe I shouldn't have titled my last post "Easy Week #2"... This past week was a tough one at school! It seems like tons of kids are suspended or in detention and a few were even expelled. Bummer for them and for all the staff trying to keep behavior under control! I gave out my first in-school suspensions this week...now you know I had to be beyond annoyed to resort to that!
On Thursday, the Seattle Public Schools announced the week-long closure of a nearby middle school for a suspected swine flu case. The next day, two more local schools were shut down for a week as well. Unfortunately, this means the kids at my school, many of whom have siblings/friends at the other schools, were FREAKING OUT all day Friday about getting sick. The school nurse was swamped with worried kids and had to send an e-mail about being discerning about student requests to go to the nurse. Also, one sixth-grader was going around school purposely sneezing on people and declaring he had swine flu- not helping!! Since none of the three possible flu cases were confirmed and the flu turned out to be milder than expected, the school system decided to reopen the 3 schools earlier than originally planned. And just like that, the temporary craziness/panic subsided...
Outside of school, most of the week went as usual with CG on Tuesday night (yum- breakfast dinner!) and youth group on Wednesday night. On Friday, we met some other Microsofties for frisbee in the sun. As more people showed up, the nice throw-it-to-each-other-in-a-circle turned into an intense ultimate frisbee match, so I sat out for that part and played with a baby instead. Kayle got his exercise though! At night, we watch "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" together. I bought it from a garage sale thinking I had seen it and liked it- turns out it was a strange musical that we enjoyed watching together for Kayle's second time and my first.
On Saturday, I went to a "recipe exchange" at a friend's house. It was at 10am, so most people brought breakfast foods/recipes. It was still fun to get some "girl talk" in and exchange funny stories about how we met our husbands among other things. I brought Belgian waffles to the brunch but had homemade chili cooking at home (our first try- Betty Crocker recipe). Both turned out well, but I discovered that Kayle really doesn't like chili much. Oh well!
On Sunday, both of us worked in the toddler room again. It was fun, except, due to swine flu precautions, we didn't have snack time. That just means we had to stall/play for even longer than usual, waiting for the parents to show up at the end of the 2-hour service. I blew bubbles indoors for a LONG TIME! We also had a BBQ on Sunday to meet the new campus pastor who will lead our church in Bellevue. Our current campus pastor is leaving for southern California to plant a new church in the region where he grew up. We'll miss him, but, at Mars Hill, we've grown pretty used to growth and change for Jesus' sake!
This week is shaping up to be pretty busy too! School has gone decently well so far and I'm deep in "looking for a summer job" mode. Wish me luck!
We miss you and love you!
Angie and Kayle
On Thursday, the Seattle Public Schools announced the week-long closure of a nearby middle school for a suspected swine flu case. The next day, two more local schools were shut down for a week as well. Unfortunately, this means the kids at my school, many of whom have siblings/friends at the other schools, were FREAKING OUT all day Friday about getting sick. The school nurse was swamped with worried kids and had to send an e-mail about being discerning about student requests to go to the nurse. Also, one sixth-grader was going around school purposely sneezing on people and declaring he had swine flu- not helping!! Since none of the three possible flu cases were confirmed and the flu turned out to be milder than expected, the school system decided to reopen the 3 schools earlier than originally planned. And just like that, the temporary craziness/panic subsided...
Outside of school, most of the week went as usual with CG on Tuesday night (yum- breakfast dinner!) and youth group on Wednesday night. On Friday, we met some other Microsofties for frisbee in the sun. As more people showed up, the nice throw-it-to-each-other-in-a-circle turned into an intense ultimate frisbee match, so I sat out for that part and played with a baby instead. Kayle got his exercise though! At night, we watch "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" together. I bought it from a garage sale thinking I had seen it and liked it- turns out it was a strange musical that we enjoyed watching together for Kayle's second time and my first.
On Saturday, I went to a "recipe exchange" at a friend's house. It was at 10am, so most people brought breakfast foods/recipes. It was still fun to get some "girl talk" in and exchange funny stories about how we met our husbands among other things. I brought Belgian waffles to the brunch but had homemade chili cooking at home (our first try- Betty Crocker recipe). Both turned out well, but I discovered that Kayle really doesn't like chili much. Oh well!
On Sunday, both of us worked in the toddler room again. It was fun, except, due to swine flu precautions, we didn't have snack time. That just means we had to stall/play for even longer than usual, waiting for the parents to show up at the end of the 2-hour service. I blew bubbles indoors for a LONG TIME! We also had a BBQ on Sunday to meet the new campus pastor who will lead our church in Bellevue. Our current campus pastor is leaving for southern California to plant a new church in the region where he grew up. We'll miss him, but, at Mars Hill, we've grown pretty used to growth and change for Jesus' sake!
This week is shaping up to be pretty busy too! School has gone decently well so far and I'm deep in "looking for a summer job" mode. Wish me luck!
We miss you and love you!
Angie and Kayle
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Easy Week #2
This week was the second WASL week, so I only had school on Monday and Wednesday. I am kind of glad WASL is now over so I can resume my regular tutoring schedule. I have been getting a lot of reading done at school when kids have no homework, though. We're nearing the final stretch as we enter the 4th quarter for grades and have only 2 months left! I hope we can end strong and make progress toward new habits for next year. The school also have some exciting year-end things coming up, particularly the Jaguar Arts Festival, which is a school-wide art and talent exhibition and the year's most well-attended event. The WRC tutors also have a bunch of donated prizes to give away, so I think we'll host one more literacy event for students and families to come to. Since our school is closing, everyone wants to go out with a bang!
On my days off this week, I cooked, cleaned, did laundry, ran errands, and caught up on some TV shows. I also talked to a bunch of people on the phone with my longest conversation topping off at about 4 hours! I tried a new chicken and artichoke recipe from Good Housekeeping that was good and made a meal to bring over to a family in our CG that just had a baby boy named Urijah. After telling her how much I rely on my GPS to get places, I punched in the wrong address on the way to their house and ended up taking an extra half hour to get there! Bummer!
My other major bummer this week was locking my keys in the car at a garage sale while Kayle was at work. I happened to also have locked my phone in the car, so I had to ask the family having the sale to use their phone. Since Kayle said we had a spare key under the car somewhere, I spent about 20 minutes trying to find it (still in front of the house with the garage sale). Finally, when I gave up, Kayle had to borrow a car from someone at work and "save the day" while I sat on the curb and waited for him. This is not the first time I've locked the keys in the car since moving to Seattle, and I'm sure it won't be the last. But it sure is annoying every single time I do it!!
On Friday night, we went to Mike Fischer's house (from UM- Dutch House too) for a movie night. They had seating in their living room for like 15 people, and we played Rock Band with a huge projected image on the wall. We also enjoyed some ice cream left over from the bachelor party last week and saw "Equilibrium," a modern version of Fahrenheit 451 in which all books and art were burned to prevent humans from engaging in any conflict by destroying emotion. It was interesting but violent, and, all in all, I think the puppy in it stole the show. Anyway, Kayle ended the night with a computer conversation while I fell asleep on the couch, so everyone was happy!
This weekend was mostly just relaxing with some garage sales and a bike ride on Saturday. On Sunday (today), we went to church early (8 am) so Kayle could work the video at the morning services while I played with some lil' ones. Kayle had a meeting to start helping with children's ministry too, so we didn't get home until after 2:30. We're feeling pretty tired, so we'll probably watch a movie and go to bed early tonight. How I love the weekends! :)
Anyway, not too much is new with us this week. We're still waiting for our couch and loveseat to be delivered, but it should come in the next week or so. We love you and miss you all!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. For those having trouble viewing the pictures I posted. Try highlighting the whole link and then pressing Ctrl and C together. Then, click in the website box on the top of the screen and press Ctrl and V together. When you hit Enter, you should get to the page with the photos. Let me know if you want more help!
On my days off this week, I cooked, cleaned, did laundry, ran errands, and caught up on some TV shows. I also talked to a bunch of people on the phone with my longest conversation topping off at about 4 hours! I tried a new chicken and artichoke recipe from Good Housekeeping that was good and made a meal to bring over to a family in our CG that just had a baby boy named Urijah. After telling her how much I rely on my GPS to get places, I punched in the wrong address on the way to their house and ended up taking an extra half hour to get there! Bummer!
My other major bummer this week was locking my keys in the car at a garage sale while Kayle was at work. I happened to also have locked my phone in the car, so I had to ask the family having the sale to use their phone. Since Kayle said we had a spare key under the car somewhere, I spent about 20 minutes trying to find it (still in front of the house with the garage sale). Finally, when I gave up, Kayle had to borrow a car from someone at work and "save the day" while I sat on the curb and waited for him. This is not the first time I've locked the keys in the car since moving to Seattle, and I'm sure it won't be the last. But it sure is annoying every single time I do it!!
On Friday night, we went to Mike Fischer's house (from UM- Dutch House too) for a movie night. They had seating in their living room for like 15 people, and we played Rock Band with a huge projected image on the wall. We also enjoyed some ice cream left over from the bachelor party last week and saw "Equilibrium," a modern version of Fahrenheit 451 in which all books and art were burned to prevent humans from engaging in any conflict by destroying emotion. It was interesting but violent, and, all in all, I think the puppy in it stole the show. Anyway, Kayle ended the night with a computer conversation while I fell asleep on the couch, so everyone was happy!
This weekend was mostly just relaxing with some garage sales and a bike ride on Saturday. On Sunday (today), we went to church early (8 am) so Kayle could work the video at the morning services while I played with some lil' ones. Kayle had a meeting to start helping with children's ministry too, so we didn't get home until after 2:30. We're feeling pretty tired, so we'll probably watch a movie and go to bed early tonight. How I love the weekends! :)
Anyway, not too much is new with us this week. We're still waiting for our couch and loveseat to be delivered, but it should come in the next week or so. We love you and miss you all!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. For those having trouble viewing the pictures I posted. Try highlighting the whole link and then pressing Ctrl and C together. Then, click in the website box on the top of the screen and press Ctrl and V together. When you hit Enter, you should get to the page with the photos. Let me know if you want more help!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Bike Ride or Shopping Trip?
This week was an unusual one for me, since I only had school on Monday and Tuesday. Even those days were slow, because most teachers don't assign homework (or even much classwork) during WASL. One 6th grade class had a visiting actress who will be working with them to write and put on a play later in the year. Another watched a movie during the time I usually read aloud to the class. Several of my students just didn't have homework when I pulled them out for tutoring so I ended up taking someone else. Even after-school programming was relaxed, with little homework being done and mostly board games and movies. I did get to teach some kids to play a new version of Life with an electronic banking system and credit cards to keep track of each person's balance. It was kind of cool to help them make some virtual financial decisions and watch which strategies (like going to college) help you win the game. This upcoming week should be laid-back too and I anticipate only being at school on Monday and Wednesday. Feel free to call me the other days if you want to chat for a while!
I spent most of the week doing odd jobs and errands that I had been putting off. For example, Kayle and I both went to the dentist and were shocked by how much it costs! Good thing insurance helped with some of it, but I think, in hindsight, we should have picked the other dental option. I guess we're lucky we both brush and floss well, since neither of us had any cavities or problems. They did convince me to buy a (cheap) electric sonic toothbrush though. I also got my wedding gown cleaned (finally), picked up some prescriptions, cleaned the house, did laundry, and sorted some board games for my school. I visited Kayle for lunch at work one day too.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we had CG (community group) and Proxy (youth group) respectively. On Thursday, Kayle got to go to a bachelor party for Brian Railing, a guy from the Microsoft bible study we used to go to. Kayle knew a bunch of the other guys as well. They went to a restaurant for a manly steak dinner, to an indoor go-cart track, and to someone's house to play video games. Kayle had a lot of fun, so I was glad to let him enjoy a night out. I stayed home to watch a new Disney movie (Bedtime Stories) that I rented and finish my book. I also made my own cookie dough bites dipped in melted dark chocolate. One of my better culinary ideas!
This weekend, we experienced some beautiful Seattle weather. It was a nice taste of the upcoming summer, we hope... Kayle and I went on a long bike ride on Saturday, stopping at a few furniture stores near Kayle's work. Then, a remarkable thing happened...we actually purchased a sofa and loveseat! It's a nice, comfy microfiber set in a tan color that seems to suit our general laid-back style pretty well. We're looking forward to it being delivered in 1-2 weeks so we can finally invite some friends over and practice our hospitality. I guess we finally got fed up with our procrastination and decided it was time to stop shopping around. Yay for us! At night, we watched the new Will Smith movie called "Seven Pounds." It was decently good but a bit disturbing- kind of along the lines of "Pay It Forward" but more predictable once you figure out what's going on.
Today (Sunday), we went to church early so that Kayle could complete his training to run the video at church solo next week. The sermon was about how to be a good, Christian friend to someone who is suffering. Very practical. We spent the afternoon riding bikes along the river in Redmond and watching some people fly remote control planes in the park. I got a new inhaler from the doctor that seems to be working well and makes exercising much more pleasant. Hopefully, we can keep our resolve to exercise more! There's a lot of nice places around Redmond to ride bikes and we see many, many people walking, riding, roller-blading, skate-boarding, and running when we go out on the paved trails. At night, I had a 2-hour meeting for youth group.
Since it's getting late, I should go to bed. School tomorrow! We love and miss you!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Don't forget to look at the pictures I posted earlier this week!
I spent most of the week doing odd jobs and errands that I had been putting off. For example, Kayle and I both went to the dentist and were shocked by how much it costs! Good thing insurance helped with some of it, but I think, in hindsight, we should have picked the other dental option. I guess we're lucky we both brush and floss well, since neither of us had any cavities or problems. They did convince me to buy a (cheap) electric sonic toothbrush though. I also got my wedding gown cleaned (finally), picked up some prescriptions, cleaned the house, did laundry, and sorted some board games for my school. I visited Kayle for lunch at work one day too.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we had CG (community group) and Proxy (youth group) respectively. On Thursday, Kayle got to go to a bachelor party for Brian Railing, a guy from the Microsoft bible study we used to go to. Kayle knew a bunch of the other guys as well. They went to a restaurant for a manly steak dinner, to an indoor go-cart track, and to someone's house to play video games. Kayle had a lot of fun, so I was glad to let him enjoy a night out. I stayed home to watch a new Disney movie (Bedtime Stories) that I rented and finish my book. I also made my own cookie dough bites dipped in melted dark chocolate. One of my better culinary ideas!
This weekend, we experienced some beautiful Seattle weather. It was a nice taste of the upcoming summer, we hope... Kayle and I went on a long bike ride on Saturday, stopping at a few furniture stores near Kayle's work. Then, a remarkable thing happened...we actually purchased a sofa and loveseat! It's a nice, comfy microfiber set in a tan color that seems to suit our general laid-back style pretty well. We're looking forward to it being delivered in 1-2 weeks so we can finally invite some friends over and practice our hospitality. I guess we finally got fed up with our procrastination and decided it was time to stop shopping around. Yay for us! At night, we watched the new Will Smith movie called "Seven Pounds." It was decently good but a bit disturbing- kind of along the lines of "Pay It Forward" but more predictable once you figure out what's going on.
Today (Sunday), we went to church early so that Kayle could complete his training to run the video at church solo next week. The sermon was about how to be a good, Christian friend to someone who is suffering. Very practical. We spent the afternoon riding bikes along the river in Redmond and watching some people fly remote control planes in the park. I got a new inhaler from the doctor that seems to be working well and makes exercising much more pleasant. Hopefully, we can keep our resolve to exercise more! There's a lot of nice places around Redmond to ride bikes and we see many, many people walking, riding, roller-blading, skate-boarding, and running when we go out on the paved trails. At night, I had a 2-hour meeting for youth group.
Since it's getting late, I should go to bed. School tomorrow! We love and miss you!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Don't forget to look at the pictures I posted earlier this week!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Pictures from Junior High Retreat
I just created a new album on Picasa for the junior high retreat. Most of these pictures are from the rodeo that we had on Saturday in which the kids got to do all sorts of silly relays. One of my middle-schoolers in youth group gave me a CD of pictures, so I thought I'd share them with you as well.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/JuniorHighYouthGroupRetreatAtMiracleRanch#
There is also one picture (the only one we took) from when Dani was visiting us. It's from Pike Place Market in front of where they throw the fish. Apparently, they used to have a pig run through the city, which is why there's a pig statue there!
Enjoy!
Angie
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/JuniorHighYouthGroupRetreatAtMiracleRanch#
There is also one picture (the only one we took) from when Dani was visiting us. It's from Pike Place Market in front of where they throw the fish. Apparently, they used to have a pig run through the city, which is why there's a pig statue there!
Enjoy!
Angie
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Snowshoeing Pictures Now Online!
I mentioned that Kayle went snowshoeing about 2 weeks ago. James Marshall, one of the guys on the trip, posted these pictures online. So, I thought I'd put the best ones in an album of my own and share them with you!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/MtRainierSnowshoeing#
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/MtRainierSnowshoeing#
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wow! What a Happy Easter!!
Can I just say that the God we serve is amazing? Today was a most wonderful Easter as I celebrated all day, singing at four services with the choir. I also witnessed over 50 baptisms and anticipate hearing about many more tomorrow as I read about what happened at the other Mars Hill campuses. I saw several kids from youth group being baptized today and professing their faith in Jesus Christ to save them from their sins by his death and resurrection. I'm not sure I've ever sung so joyfully in my life! My cheeks hurt from smiling so much and I had to fight back tears during some of the more touching moments. Wow! Happy Easter!!
We also got to eat over at Caleb and Laura Bell's house for an Easter lunch/dinner. Caleb was baptized today and invited us over after the morning services. We celebrated Thanksgiving at their house as well last year. It was a nice time to talk and rest up before singing in the final service at night. Kayle came to the first two services of the day and baked bread during the 11:30 service (so we'd have something to bring to the Bells'). He stayed home for the 5:00 service, but we watched the main campus' (Ballard) live 7:30 service after I got home. Just couldn't get enough of those baptisms. Some were planned but many were spontaneous as people felt convicted by the gospel and professed faith for the first time! God is certainly moving here in Seattle...
Overall, this was a really good week at school for me. My kids made a lot of progress, and I received a donation of board games for our next literacy event. For the next two weeks, the whole middle is taking the WASL standardized test in the mornings. So, I'll have a few extra days off (since the daily schedule is changed a lot) and a few days that I can come in later than usual.
At Proxy on Wednesday, we had our "4th week feed," a youth group meal that has recently evolved to include parents and siblings as well. We shared a meal of pizza and cookies and discussed prayer at our tables. Honestly, it was pretty cool to hear a variety of ages, from young kids to parents, speaking about their prayer lives and what prayer is and why we pray. The idea is that by having meals in youth group with the whole family and modeling some dinnertime Bible discussion, we can get more families comfortable about talking about God at home on a regular basis.
On Thursday, I had a 4-hour-long choir and technical practice for the Good Friday service. Then, on Friday, our choir sang two awesome songs in Latin at each of the two services at night. The whole evening focused on reading an account of Jesus' last supper, betrayal, trial, crucifixion, death, and burial compiled from the four Gospels. It was a raw, heart-breaking, and powerful time of remembering all that Jesus did in our place so our sins could be forgiven. The question of the night was "who killed God?" The answer: "God killed God". "Why? So that I don't have to take the penalty for my own sins!" Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself, in all its somber brutality, so that I can be reconciled to a holy, just God. Wow...
On Saturday, I had another 4 hour practice for Easter. We were supposed to sing two songs, one in Latin and another a gospel piece. However, the Latin one was nixed (didn't really fit in with the flow of the service) and 5 more praise songs were added! We ended up being recruited to sing with the praise band for the whole service. Alleluia! I get to sing literally ALL DAY on Easter...does it get any better?
I should be able to post some cool pictures soon from Kayle's snowshoeing last weekend. I saw them online at Joe's house but have to hunt them down at home still. We love you and miss you!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Comment every once in a while to say "hi". I'm sad I don't get any comments any more... I changed the settings so you shouldn't have to sign in to be able to post.
P.P.S. I woke up this morning (Monday) to see a new blog post that Pastor Mark had written last night about Easter: http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2009/04/12/enjoying-god%E2%80%99s-easter-grace/
We also got to eat over at Caleb and Laura Bell's house for an Easter lunch/dinner. Caleb was baptized today and invited us over after the morning services. We celebrated Thanksgiving at their house as well last year. It was a nice time to talk and rest up before singing in the final service at night. Kayle came to the first two services of the day and baked bread during the 11:30 service (so we'd have something to bring to the Bells'). He stayed home for the 5:00 service, but we watched the main campus' (Ballard) live 7:30 service after I got home. Just couldn't get enough of those baptisms. Some were planned but many were spontaneous as people felt convicted by the gospel and professed faith for the first time! God is certainly moving here in Seattle...
Overall, this was a really good week at school for me. My kids made a lot of progress, and I received a donation of board games for our next literacy event. For the next two weeks, the whole middle is taking the WASL standardized test in the mornings. So, I'll have a few extra days off (since the daily schedule is changed a lot) and a few days that I can come in later than usual.
At Proxy on Wednesday, we had our "4th week feed," a youth group meal that has recently evolved to include parents and siblings as well. We shared a meal of pizza and cookies and discussed prayer at our tables. Honestly, it was pretty cool to hear a variety of ages, from young kids to parents, speaking about their prayer lives and what prayer is and why we pray. The idea is that by having meals in youth group with the whole family and modeling some dinnertime Bible discussion, we can get more families comfortable about talking about God at home on a regular basis.
On Thursday, I had a 4-hour-long choir and technical practice for the Good Friday service. Then, on Friday, our choir sang two awesome songs in Latin at each of the two services at night. The whole evening focused on reading an account of Jesus' last supper, betrayal, trial, crucifixion, death, and burial compiled from the four Gospels. It was a raw, heart-breaking, and powerful time of remembering all that Jesus did in our place so our sins could be forgiven. The question of the night was "who killed God?" The answer: "God killed God". "Why? So that I don't have to take the penalty for my own sins!" Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself, in all its somber brutality, so that I can be reconciled to a holy, just God. Wow...
On Saturday, I had another 4 hour practice for Easter. We were supposed to sing two songs, one in Latin and another a gospel piece. However, the Latin one was nixed (didn't really fit in with the flow of the service) and 5 more praise songs were added! We ended up being recruited to sing with the praise band for the whole service. Alleluia! I get to sing literally ALL DAY on Easter...does it get any better?
I should be able to post some cool pictures soon from Kayle's snowshoeing last weekend. I saw them online at Joe's house but have to hunt them down at home still. We love you and miss you!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Comment every once in a while to say "hi". I'm sad I don't get any comments any more... I changed the settings so you shouldn't have to sign in to be able to post.
P.P.S. I woke up this morning (Monday) to see a new blog post that Pastor Mark had written last night about Easter: http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2009/04/12/enjoying-god%E2%80%99s-easter-grace/
Monday, April 6, 2009
Finally Spring...AFTER Spring Break!
This week was a relaxing one for me, since I had no school. Mostly I ran errands, visited some friends, and finished some chores at home. Kayle had a good, productive week at work, but I sure did miss him for the 8 hours he was gone every day!
On Tuesday, I visited Lexi and Josh Clayton from our community group, because they just had their baby. Selah Grace was so cute and little! Also, since I left my cell phone during the first visit, I got to visit them again on Wednesday. The second time, it was raining really hard on the drive over. So, instead of going south, I missed my connection to the other highway and went west into Seattle, south near the airport and back east to their house. Somewhere in there, the rain switched to snow. I was a bit frustrated, but I saw a bald eagle again (I always see them when I'm upset and crossing the 520 bridge). Community group and youth group both went well this week too.
On Friday, I made pasties while Kayle was at work. Not only am I messier when I cook by myself, but Kayle and I have discovered a knack for exploding things in the kitchen. Pasta sauce boils and pops all over and the frozen pot roast once sent hot oil flying. Then, there was the dishwasher incident and the time the sink head came off, leaving water squirting all over. But I think I've outdone myself this time! While cutting up the potatoes, rutabaga, and onions for the pasties, I put the peels and skins in the sink. Then, I flushed them down the garbage disposal, as I have done several times before. This time, I was surprised to see the cupboard under the sink fly open before I was sprayed with water and vegetable pieces. It took a few seconds for the shock to wear off and, by the time I thought to turn off the water and disposal, half the kitchen was littered with puddles and peels. Even worse, the whole inside of the cupboard under the sink was covered with partly shredded gunk. Apparently, the pipe coming out from the disposal became disconnected from the pressure of being clogged. So, what did I do? I called Kayle at work and said, "we have a problem." He told me I could "wait until he came home (in several hours) to clean it up." I informed him that that probably wasn't an option! It took me about an hour to clean up the mess and then I still had to finish the pasties. Definitely one of my more time-consuming meals... Kayle was thankful to have his favorite meal, so maybe it was all worth it!
On Saturday, Kayle went snowshoeing on Mt. Rainier with a couple friends. We learned that anyone can rent snowshoes at the local sporting goods store for only $20. We woke up bright and early to meet the guys at 6am and Kayle left with Joe (from the Dutch House), Joe's dad, Mike, James, and Jordan. Since it seemed like a "male-bonding" event and since I really don't like any form of hiking, I told Kayle to "have fun" and went to the church's spring cleaning event. I had fun talking to Brenda, cleaning the hinges of several doors, and going out to lunch. When Kayle returned in the afternoon, we were both very tired from a long day. He had fun snowshoeing about 3-4 miles until they got above the tree line and the wind blasted them continually. Since Kayle and Joe forgot sunglasses, they both were sunburned pretty badly on one side of their face from the added reflection on the snow. I guess they both wore sunscreen but underestimated the sun when it feels cold outside!
Kayle's one eye was all swollen the next day, so he could barely open it at church. He kind of looked like he caught a punch in a fight or something. I guess it was a good thing he was planning to serve in the tech booth- he said "hi" to a few friends and hid away for the rest of the two morning services. I worked in the toddler room as well and was amazed to have 23 kids in our room (with about 6 adults)! Our church is a young church and we certainly have a LOT of babies around... After church, I had choir practice for 2.5 hours. Both of us were tired and anticipating work the next day, so we retired early and slept soundly.
Today (Monday), I went back to school and was relieved that my students seemed generally well rested and happy after Spring Break. My tutoring sessions went pretty well all day. Next week and the following, our school is taking the WASL (the WA equivalent of the MEAP). While my students are dreading it, the WASL is kind of good for me. On test days, I am not needed until after 10 am and there may be some days I even have completely off! It's kind of nice to not need to keep track of my volunteer hours anymore! Today was also brilliantly sunny and warm, a welcome 70 degrees! I was reminded anew how beautiful Seattle can be in nice weather, especially since all the mountains were out and all the people were happier. I think the whole city feels a bit down with all the clouds and dreariness of winter, and today definitely felt more upbeat on the buses. People were talking and smiling more, and the parks were incredibly crowded when we passed by. We're all looking forward to summer, I guess!
Anyway, Kayle and I are both happy and looking forward to Easter weekend. I have a busy week with two 4 hour practices in addition to singing in two Good Friday and four Easter services. We're still not sure about who we'll spend Easter dinner with but we might try to work something out with friends. We also decided to put off our Spring Break plans until summertime. We found some fun websites about the San Juan islands (northwest corner of WA, near Canada) and think we might try to visit there for our 1st anniversary.
We love you and miss you, as always!
Angie and Kayle
On Tuesday, I visited Lexi and Josh Clayton from our community group, because they just had their baby. Selah Grace was so cute and little! Also, since I left my cell phone during the first visit, I got to visit them again on Wednesday. The second time, it was raining really hard on the drive over. So, instead of going south, I missed my connection to the other highway and went west into Seattle, south near the airport and back east to their house. Somewhere in there, the rain switched to snow. I was a bit frustrated, but I saw a bald eagle again (I always see them when I'm upset and crossing the 520 bridge). Community group and youth group both went well this week too.
On Friday, I made pasties while Kayle was at work. Not only am I messier when I cook by myself, but Kayle and I have discovered a knack for exploding things in the kitchen. Pasta sauce boils and pops all over and the frozen pot roast once sent hot oil flying. Then, there was the dishwasher incident and the time the sink head came off, leaving water squirting all over. But I think I've outdone myself this time! While cutting up the potatoes, rutabaga, and onions for the pasties, I put the peels and skins in the sink. Then, I flushed them down the garbage disposal, as I have done several times before. This time, I was surprised to see the cupboard under the sink fly open before I was sprayed with water and vegetable pieces. It took a few seconds for the shock to wear off and, by the time I thought to turn off the water and disposal, half the kitchen was littered with puddles and peels. Even worse, the whole inside of the cupboard under the sink was covered with partly shredded gunk. Apparently, the pipe coming out from the disposal became disconnected from the pressure of being clogged. So, what did I do? I called Kayle at work and said, "we have a problem." He told me I could "wait until he came home (in several hours) to clean it up." I informed him that that probably wasn't an option! It took me about an hour to clean up the mess and then I still had to finish the pasties. Definitely one of my more time-consuming meals... Kayle was thankful to have his favorite meal, so maybe it was all worth it!
On Saturday, Kayle went snowshoeing on Mt. Rainier with a couple friends. We learned that anyone can rent snowshoes at the local sporting goods store for only $20. We woke up bright and early to meet the guys at 6am and Kayle left with Joe (from the Dutch House), Joe's dad, Mike, James, and Jordan. Since it seemed like a "male-bonding" event and since I really don't like any form of hiking, I told Kayle to "have fun" and went to the church's spring cleaning event. I had fun talking to Brenda, cleaning the hinges of several doors, and going out to lunch. When Kayle returned in the afternoon, we were both very tired from a long day. He had fun snowshoeing about 3-4 miles until they got above the tree line and the wind blasted them continually. Since Kayle and Joe forgot sunglasses, they both were sunburned pretty badly on one side of their face from the added reflection on the snow. I guess they both wore sunscreen but underestimated the sun when it feels cold outside!
Kayle's one eye was all swollen the next day, so he could barely open it at church. He kind of looked like he caught a punch in a fight or something. I guess it was a good thing he was planning to serve in the tech booth- he said "hi" to a few friends and hid away for the rest of the two morning services. I worked in the toddler room as well and was amazed to have 23 kids in our room (with about 6 adults)! Our church is a young church and we certainly have a LOT of babies around... After church, I had choir practice for 2.5 hours. Both of us were tired and anticipating work the next day, so we retired early and slept soundly.
Today (Monday), I went back to school and was relieved that my students seemed generally well rested and happy after Spring Break. My tutoring sessions went pretty well all day. Next week and the following, our school is taking the WASL (the WA equivalent of the MEAP). While my students are dreading it, the WASL is kind of good for me. On test days, I am not needed until after 10 am and there may be some days I even have completely off! It's kind of nice to not need to keep track of my volunteer hours anymore! Today was also brilliantly sunny and warm, a welcome 70 degrees! I was reminded anew how beautiful Seattle can be in nice weather, especially since all the mountains were out and all the people were happier. I think the whole city feels a bit down with all the clouds and dreariness of winter, and today definitely felt more upbeat on the buses. People were talking and smiling more, and the parks were incredibly crowded when we passed by. We're all looking forward to summer, I guess!
Anyway, Kayle and I are both happy and looking forward to Easter weekend. I have a busy week with two 4 hour practices in addition to singing in two Good Friday and four Easter services. We're still not sure about who we'll spend Easter dinner with but we might try to work something out with friends. We also decided to put off our Spring Break plans until summertime. We found some fun websites about the San Juan islands (northwest corner of WA, near Canada) and think we might try to visit there for our 1st anniversary.
We love you and miss you, as always!
Angie and Kayle
Sunday, March 29, 2009
1st Annual Hinkle Puzzle Hunt
Hello everyone!
This week was a tiring but good week. Since this was the last week before Spring Break, I was extra busy during the school day but had no after school activities. Being done at 2:15 instead of 4:30 was nice, especially since I was pretty worn out by Thursday. It was also helpful to have the extra time to make last-minute preparations for the scholarship party on Wednesday.
School this week had its ups and downs. I am pretty proud that over 80 students are now signed up for the college scholarship I have been promoting for a month now. About 3/4 of them came to the half hour "party" during advisory class and we gave away a whole box of free books, a bunch of college materials, many boxes of doughnuts/cookies, 4 jugs of juice, and tons of little bags of chips. All of it was donated (our school has done pretty well with getting plenty of donations)! Every kid that came also got a newsletter from College Bound about preparing for college now and using career websites. I feel pretty good too, because the principal and school counselor personally congratulated me on my efforts. Since the scholarship is not actually due until the end of the school year, I'll probably have another, shorter push in May. But, for now, I get to rest from this project and move on to something new.
Some of the downs this week are that several of my students have been misbehaving more lately. Now that the big 5 paragraph essay is in and with SB coming up, some of my sixth graders chose this week to be rowdy and defiant. They got pretty mad when I started handing out lunch detentions and having stern talks in the hallway! I also have another student who, for unknown reasons, decided they no longer wanted to be tutored anymore despite the great progress that's been made so far. Despite my best investigative efforts (talking to other teachers), I still have no solid idea of what might have brought about this change of heart. After Spring Break, we'll have to figure something out... It isn't just my students who have been having a hard time focusing lately. The whole school is stressed, it seems, with the looming school closure, since teachers and students will all need to adjust to a new school next year. The principal called off all after-school meetings for the two weeks after Spring Break (to give the teachers a rest) and canceled the in-school dance on Friday due to unruly hallway behavior. Hopefully, Spring Break will do a lot of good for everyone!
In other news...on Tuesday, we went to community group and had a lovely breakfast dinner together. I got my wish to be able to contribute to the meal! Kayle and I brought Belgian waffles, whipped cream, and strawberries (our favorites!). We also had a new family join our group who has 1 son already and another baby coming in about 2 weeks. Two more women also announced pregnancies this week, bringing our total up to 7 (well, 6...see below)! There was talk of having a big baby shower for the 5 women whose babies are due in the fall. Sounds fun to me! Also, Lexi, whose husband leads our CG, had her baby on Saturday: an 8 lbs, 3 oz girl named Selah Grace Clayton. Kayle and I will probably visit sometime this week to hang out with Lexi, see the baby, and bring dinner for their family.
On Wednesday, I went to Proxy and hung out with some more kids. For the "game," we analyzed a popular song to identify what messages the song was portraying and see which of them were compatible with Christianity. I think it was a valuable exercise, since the various forms of media bombard us with all sorts of ideas and we need to be able to evaluate which are true and good and guard against (and understand) those that aren't. The junior high split off from the high school this week, and we had small groups about the feeding of the 5000 and what it means to be "lost sheep" and to "have compassion." The girls in the junior high group are so sweet (the small groups are usually divided by gender, so I know the girls much better)- two of them always find me in church and give me a big hug!
When I was home on Friday, I ran some quick errands after dropping Kayle off at work and before spending the whole day preparing a puzzle hunt for Kayle. This was a random endeavor modeled after an annual event put on by Microsoft that has teams solving difficult puzzles involving everything from Braille and Morse code to ciphers and logic grids. Kayle found the website with the old puzzles in an archive and he/we sometimes solve them for fun. Since I had an all-day choir retreat on Saturday, I wanted to leave something fun and loving for Kayle to do while I was gone. My makeshift puzzle hunt basically had envelopes hidden around the house and, when he solved one puzzle, the answer led him to the next puzzle. After preparing my surprise all day, it was really hard for me to wait until the next morning to tell Kayle. I managed to hold my tongue until we were in the car and driving to the choir retreat. When I got out of the car, I handed him the first envelope...
The choir retreat was essentially a 7.5 hour practice! We have 4 songs total for Good Friday and Easter, 3 of which are in Latin and 1 is a gospel choir piece (that I know from high school and REALLY like). We made a lot of progress during the day, and our choir director is very skilled at improving our sound and catering to our varied skill levels. Unfortunately, after today's (Sunday) practice, we only have one more rehearsal left! I think we'll be ready, but it will probably require some at-home practice listening to YouTube recordings online... After the Saturday singing marathon, Kayle and I went on a nice, romantic dinner date to Applebee's.
Today, we went to the 11:00 service at church, and I had my 2.5 hour choir rehearsal. The sermon was really good (again)- it spoke about how God can use suffering in our lives to improve our fellowship, to aid us in understanding the depth of God's love, and to demonstrate the gospel if we suffer well (like Christ) with hope in God. This week, Pastor Mark was also on Nightline for a full episode, since our church hosted a debate over the existence of Satan. The full debate and episode videos are on the Nightline website. It's really exciting to be a part of a church that is growing so much and yet so determined to glorify God in everything! Just recently, the services have been packed and they just decided to do 5 Easter services instead of 4 to be able to accommodate all the members and visitors. Sounds like we'll have a full house for our choir debut! I am happy that so many people are hearing the gospel and embracing it in a city that is one of the "least churched" in America.
Wow...what a whirlwind week! It will be nice to have a week to rest over Spring Break, but I am hoping to make myself useful to Lexi Clayton and maybe some others in my CG. I get so bored at home alone after a day or two! Kayle and I will probably go spend a day/night at one of the beautiful islands northwest of here. Plans are still in the works! We'll hopefully, finally, buy a couch this week too...
Finally, when we went to the grocery store this week, I was distracted by a book title as we were checking out. In the car, I asked Kayle how much the bill was. At first, he jokingly said, "$20," but I knew that was wrong. I pressed him further, and, when he didn't tell me right away, I said, "was it more or less than $80?" He smiled and said, "neither." I was annoyed, because I thought he was still messing with me to be funny. Then, he pulled the receipt out of his pocket and handed it to me. To my great surprise, it read $80.00 exactly!! I felt a bit sheepish after that...
Since I'm not at school all week, feel free to call me anytime. We both miss you and love you all!
Take care,
Angie and Kayle
This week was a tiring but good week. Since this was the last week before Spring Break, I was extra busy during the school day but had no after school activities. Being done at 2:15 instead of 4:30 was nice, especially since I was pretty worn out by Thursday. It was also helpful to have the extra time to make last-minute preparations for the scholarship party on Wednesday.
School this week had its ups and downs. I am pretty proud that over 80 students are now signed up for the college scholarship I have been promoting for a month now. About 3/4 of them came to the half hour "party" during advisory class and we gave away a whole box of free books, a bunch of college materials, many boxes of doughnuts/cookies, 4 jugs of juice, and tons of little bags of chips. All of it was donated (our school has done pretty well with getting plenty of donations)! Every kid that came also got a newsletter from College Bound about preparing for college now and using career websites. I feel pretty good too, because the principal and school counselor personally congratulated me on my efforts. Since the scholarship is not actually due until the end of the school year, I'll probably have another, shorter push in May. But, for now, I get to rest from this project and move on to something new.
Some of the downs this week are that several of my students have been misbehaving more lately. Now that the big 5 paragraph essay is in and with SB coming up, some of my sixth graders chose this week to be rowdy and defiant. They got pretty mad when I started handing out lunch detentions and having stern talks in the hallway! I also have another student who, for unknown reasons, decided they no longer wanted to be tutored anymore despite the great progress that's been made so far. Despite my best investigative efforts (talking to other teachers), I still have no solid idea of what might have brought about this change of heart. After Spring Break, we'll have to figure something out... It isn't just my students who have been having a hard time focusing lately. The whole school is stressed, it seems, with the looming school closure, since teachers and students will all need to adjust to a new school next year. The principal called off all after-school meetings for the two weeks after Spring Break (to give the teachers a rest) and canceled the in-school dance on Friday due to unruly hallway behavior. Hopefully, Spring Break will do a lot of good for everyone!
In other news...on Tuesday, we went to community group and had a lovely breakfast dinner together. I got my wish to be able to contribute to the meal! Kayle and I brought Belgian waffles, whipped cream, and strawberries (our favorites!). We also had a new family join our group who has 1 son already and another baby coming in about 2 weeks. Two more women also announced pregnancies this week, bringing our total up to 7 (well, 6...see below)! There was talk of having a big baby shower for the 5 women whose babies are due in the fall. Sounds fun to me! Also, Lexi, whose husband leads our CG, had her baby on Saturday: an 8 lbs, 3 oz girl named Selah Grace Clayton. Kayle and I will probably visit sometime this week to hang out with Lexi, see the baby, and bring dinner for their family.
On Wednesday, I went to Proxy and hung out with some more kids. For the "game," we analyzed a popular song to identify what messages the song was portraying and see which of them were compatible with Christianity. I think it was a valuable exercise, since the various forms of media bombard us with all sorts of ideas and we need to be able to evaluate which are true and good and guard against (and understand) those that aren't. The junior high split off from the high school this week, and we had small groups about the feeding of the 5000 and what it means to be "lost sheep" and to "have compassion." The girls in the junior high group are so sweet (the small groups are usually divided by gender, so I know the girls much better)- two of them always find me in church and give me a big hug!
When I was home on Friday, I ran some quick errands after dropping Kayle off at work and before spending the whole day preparing a puzzle hunt for Kayle. This was a random endeavor modeled after an annual event put on by Microsoft that has teams solving difficult puzzles involving everything from Braille and Morse code to ciphers and logic grids. Kayle found the website with the old puzzles in an archive and he/we sometimes solve them for fun. Since I had an all-day choir retreat on Saturday, I wanted to leave something fun and loving for Kayle to do while I was gone. My makeshift puzzle hunt basically had envelopes hidden around the house and, when he solved one puzzle, the answer led him to the next puzzle. After preparing my surprise all day, it was really hard for me to wait until the next morning to tell Kayle. I managed to hold my tongue until we were in the car and driving to the choir retreat. When I got out of the car, I handed him the first envelope...
The choir retreat was essentially a 7.5 hour practice! We have 4 songs total for Good Friday and Easter, 3 of which are in Latin and 1 is a gospel choir piece (that I know from high school and REALLY like). We made a lot of progress during the day, and our choir director is very skilled at improving our sound and catering to our varied skill levels. Unfortunately, after today's (Sunday) practice, we only have one more rehearsal left! I think we'll be ready, but it will probably require some at-home practice listening to YouTube recordings online... After the Saturday singing marathon, Kayle and I went on a nice, romantic dinner date to Applebee's.
Today, we went to the 11:00 service at church, and I had my 2.5 hour choir rehearsal. The sermon was really good (again)- it spoke about how God can use suffering in our lives to improve our fellowship, to aid us in understanding the depth of God's love, and to demonstrate the gospel if we suffer well (like Christ) with hope in God. This week, Pastor Mark was also on Nightline for a full episode, since our church hosted a debate over the existence of Satan. The full debate and episode videos are on the Nightline website. It's really exciting to be a part of a church that is growing so much and yet so determined to glorify God in everything! Just recently, the services have been packed and they just decided to do 5 Easter services instead of 4 to be able to accommodate all the members and visitors. Sounds like we'll have a full house for our choir debut! I am happy that so many people are hearing the gospel and embracing it in a city that is one of the "least churched" in America.
Wow...what a whirlwind week! It will be nice to have a week to rest over Spring Break, but I am hoping to make myself useful to Lexi Clayton and maybe some others in my CG. I get so bored at home alone after a day or two! Kayle and I will probably go spend a day/night at one of the beautiful islands northwest of here. Plans are still in the works! We'll hopefully, finally, buy a couch this week too...
Finally, when we went to the grocery store this week, I was distracted by a book title as we were checking out. In the car, I asked Kayle how much the bill was. At first, he jokingly said, "$20," but I knew that was wrong. I pressed him further, and, when he didn't tell me right away, I said, "was it more or less than $80?" He smiled and said, "neither." I was annoyed, because I thought he was still messing with me to be funny. Then, he pulled the receipt out of his pocket and handed it to me. To my great surprise, it read $80.00 exactly!! I felt a bit sheepish after that...
Since I'm not at school all week, feel free to call me anytime. We both miss you and love you all!
Take care,
Angie and Kayle
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Husbands and Wives
This week was another typical week for us. Not too much new is going on, but here goes:
At school, my two co-tutors were away at Serves training for 3 days, so my schedule was especially hectic Tuesday-Thursday. All week I had to stay after school for Jaguar tutoring and I barely got a break all day. I used my one planning period to prepare for the party, make some donation calls, and run copies. My 6th graders also had their big 5 paragraph essay due this week, so I was busy trying to keep everyone on task while I edited paper after paper. Amazingly, most of my kids got their paper in ON TIME!! Usually, we have multiple kids who lost different parts of their paper or even had to start over in the last few days before the due date. This time, I had a few students finish a day early!! The teacher remarked of one boy that this might be the first major assignment he's EVER turned in on time. It's pretty sad to rejoice over what seems like such a meager victory but there are many challenges with being a low income school. For example, most of the other middle schools in Seattle have school planners for their students, but our school can't afford them and thus a lot of students don't learn that organizational skill or have a systematic way of keeping track of homework assignments. A lot of students also come to school saying their backpack or binder was stolen. Whether it was really lost or stolen (and it may vary by case), this causes them to have to start over on assignments and lose their notes from class. How frustrating! But, overall, I'm happy with the work we've been doing so far, and it is especially rewarding to see the exceptional progress of a few students. We have one more week before Spring Break and then one more week before the big WASL (state) standardized tests. The WASL is highly stressful for many of our students, so tension is high as teachers strive to prepare them for it.
On Tuesday, we had our community group and talked about the role of a wife. We also ate a dinner of chili, salad, chips, and root beer floats (yum!). We eat dinner together every week with a different menu. Everyone brings a dish or topping. Our first contribution was...an onion and a bag of Tostitos. Lame! Everything else was also spoken for by the time we signed up!! Maybe I'll get a chance to share my culinary skills sometime soon...
On Wednesday, I went to Proxy youth group at night. One of the other leaders spoke about Barnabas and I learned a lot (along with the students) about this lesser known person in the New Testament. We prayed about which areas we need encouragement and who around us we can encourage, since Barnabas means "Son of Encouragement".
On Thursday, we made a highly successful pizza with homemade pizza dough courtesy of Kayle and our new cast iron pan. We were both surprised it turned out well the first time and we anticipate making another one soon! Yay for bacon and pineapple pizza! Now, we just need to find a good recipe for pizza sauce...
On Friday, Angie ran errands while Kayle was at work. You may have heard us rave about how much we love our mechanic, Don, at Harvey's Auto (like, I consider baking him cookies every time I go in). Now, I've found, by recommendation from the same couple, the Harvey's of eye doctors. I had my first appointment for an eye exam and to order contacts and he was just wonderful. He explained every eye test at length, provided ample encouragement of my consistency when deciding which lens was better, and talked and joked a lot. It was strange to actually enjoy an eye exam (except the air poof part- nobody likes that!). At night, we rented "Horton Hears a Who" and spent a nice romantic evening together at home.
On Saturday, we started our taxes and...got stuck somewhere in the middle. We called both sets of parents for missing numbers and still have to call Notre Dame for some tuition figures. Boo for financial forms, one of Angie's LEAST favorite things to do (alongside vacuuming, etc) and pretty low on Kayle's list as well. I like to fill out forms, but ONLY if I know all the answers when I get to them. I also hate to be unable to finish something right away! Oh well! That night, we went on a nice dinner date to a new Italian restaurant named Spazzo. I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce it, but the name reminds me of my late lovebird named Zazu (who had a similar nickname). The food was really good (fried artichoke hearts, salmon, and chicken picatta), so we added this to our growing list of favorite restaurants (most of which also feature a Microsoft discount).
Today, we went to the early service at church where the sermon was about the role and responsibilities of a husband. The sermon this week (and last week about wives) were excellent and seem to come from years of learning how to handle thoroughly a rather touchy subject in our culture. You can find them both here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial Both Kayle and I served in the toddler room during the second service this week and played with babies for two hours. Then, we caught a quick lunch at Subway before I stayed for long choir practice to prepare for Good Friday and Easter. We're singing some BEAUTIFUL pieces, two in Latin so far. We have an all-day choir retreat coming up on Saturday, so we should finally have all the music by then.
I guess the latest edition of Time magazine named "New Calvinism" number 3 in its list of top ten ideas that are changing the world right now. This new resurgence of Reformed thinking aims to be solid in Biblical theology while reaching out to contemporary culture and is led by John Piper, our pastor, and many others affiliated with them (like J.I. Packer, Don Carson, etc...). Our pastor will also be on Nightline again soon for a recent debate held at our church on the reality of Satan.
Anyway, we were thinking that summertime is the best season to come visit us if anyone is itching to see us and Seattle at its sunniest. It's in the 70s and sunny here every day in the summer. Just let us know if you have any dates in mind... So far, we're only planning to be gone the first week or so of August.
We love you and miss you all!
Angie
At school, my two co-tutors were away at Serves training for 3 days, so my schedule was especially hectic Tuesday-Thursday. All week I had to stay after school for Jaguar tutoring and I barely got a break all day. I used my one planning period to prepare for the party, make some donation calls, and run copies. My 6th graders also had their big 5 paragraph essay due this week, so I was busy trying to keep everyone on task while I edited paper after paper. Amazingly, most of my kids got their paper in ON TIME!! Usually, we have multiple kids who lost different parts of their paper or even had to start over in the last few days before the due date. This time, I had a few students finish a day early!! The teacher remarked of one boy that this might be the first major assignment he's EVER turned in on time. It's pretty sad to rejoice over what seems like such a meager victory but there are many challenges with being a low income school. For example, most of the other middle schools in Seattle have school planners for their students, but our school can't afford them and thus a lot of students don't learn that organizational skill or have a systematic way of keeping track of homework assignments. A lot of students also come to school saying their backpack or binder was stolen. Whether it was really lost or stolen (and it may vary by case), this causes them to have to start over on assignments and lose their notes from class. How frustrating! But, overall, I'm happy with the work we've been doing so far, and it is especially rewarding to see the exceptional progress of a few students. We have one more week before Spring Break and then one more week before the big WASL (state) standardized tests. The WASL is highly stressful for many of our students, so tension is high as teachers strive to prepare them for it.
On Tuesday, we had our community group and talked about the role of a wife. We also ate a dinner of chili, salad, chips, and root beer floats (yum!). We eat dinner together every week with a different menu. Everyone brings a dish or topping. Our first contribution was...an onion and a bag of Tostitos. Lame! Everything else was also spoken for by the time we signed up!! Maybe I'll get a chance to share my culinary skills sometime soon...
On Wednesday, I went to Proxy youth group at night. One of the other leaders spoke about Barnabas and I learned a lot (along with the students) about this lesser known person in the New Testament. We prayed about which areas we need encouragement and who around us we can encourage, since Barnabas means "Son of Encouragement".
On Thursday, we made a highly successful pizza with homemade pizza dough courtesy of Kayle and our new cast iron pan. We were both surprised it turned out well the first time and we anticipate making another one soon! Yay for bacon and pineapple pizza! Now, we just need to find a good recipe for pizza sauce...
On Friday, Angie ran errands while Kayle was at work. You may have heard us rave about how much we love our mechanic, Don, at Harvey's Auto (like, I consider baking him cookies every time I go in). Now, I've found, by recommendation from the same couple, the Harvey's of eye doctors. I had my first appointment for an eye exam and to order contacts and he was just wonderful. He explained every eye test at length, provided ample encouragement of my consistency when deciding which lens was better, and talked and joked a lot. It was strange to actually enjoy an eye exam (except the air poof part- nobody likes that!). At night, we rented "Horton Hears a Who" and spent a nice romantic evening together at home.
On Saturday, we started our taxes and...got stuck somewhere in the middle. We called both sets of parents for missing numbers and still have to call Notre Dame for some tuition figures. Boo for financial forms, one of Angie's LEAST favorite things to do (alongside vacuuming, etc) and pretty low on Kayle's list as well. I like to fill out forms, but ONLY if I know all the answers when I get to them. I also hate to be unable to finish something right away! Oh well! That night, we went on a nice dinner date to a new Italian restaurant named Spazzo. I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce it, but the name reminds me of my late lovebird named Zazu (who had a similar nickname). The food was really good (fried artichoke hearts, salmon, and chicken picatta), so we added this to our growing list of favorite restaurants (most of which also feature a Microsoft discount).
Today, we went to the early service at church where the sermon was about the role and responsibilities of a husband. The sermon this week (and last week about wives) were excellent and seem to come from years of learning how to handle thoroughly a rather touchy subject in our culture. You can find them both here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial Both Kayle and I served in the toddler room during the second service this week and played with babies for two hours. Then, we caught a quick lunch at Subway before I stayed for long choir practice to prepare for Good Friday and Easter. We're singing some BEAUTIFUL pieces, two in Latin so far. We have an all-day choir retreat coming up on Saturday, so we should finally have all the music by then.
I guess the latest edition of Time magazine named "New Calvinism" number 3 in its list of top ten ideas that are changing the world right now. This new resurgence of Reformed thinking aims to be solid in Biblical theology while reaching out to contemporary culture and is led by John Piper, our pastor, and many others affiliated with them (like J.I. Packer, Don Carson, etc...). Our pastor will also be on Nightline again soon for a recent debate held at our church on the reality of Satan.
Anyway, we were thinking that summertime is the best season to come visit us if anyone is itching to see us and Seattle at its sunniest. It's in the 70s and sunny here every day in the summer. Just let us know if you have any dates in mind... So far, we're only planning to be gone the first week or so of August.
We love you and miss you all!
Angie
Sunday, March 15, 2009
A Peek at "Real Life"
This week, school went well. I worked on contacting Washington public colleges for admissions brochures to give to the kids at the scholarship party next week. One box arrived so far with fun stickers, lanyards, and other small goodies. I think the middle schoolers will like that, though Univ. of Washington stuff will be a hot commodity! Every kid in school (pretty much) talks about going there for college- and it's only about 15 min. up the road from our middle school. Hopefully, some of the "party-goers" will be interested in looking through the information about colleges so they can plan ahead how to use their scholarship and get the grades they need now.
On Tuesday, our CG was canceled due to sickness and other factors. Kayle and I went through the questions on our own this weekend. Our leader, Josh, comes up with good, challenging questions to go along with the sermon and the Scripture passage of the week.
On Wednesday night, I helped out at youth group. We're practicing bible study skills in small groups and then sharing out our answers to the larger group. It's fun to be a leader of a small group, since that's my preferred setting to talk and teach. I like that the CG that Kayle and I are in is also a small group bible study setting.
Fridays are now my errand and chore days. I scheduled some dentist/eye doctor appointments, called a few college admissions offices, filled out paperwork, and did many loads of laundry. At night, Kayle and I went to the movies to see "Slumdog Millionaire." We really liked it, and that's coming from people who go out to see less than 5 movies/year. It was a touching story, and it was heartbreaking to think that some of the kids we sponsor in India might live in similar conditions.
On Saturday, Kayle and I volunteered in the morning at a YMCA event near my school. They were putting on a "Real Life Fair" in which the kids (mostly high schoolers) went around to booths with a pre-determined income and family size. At each booth, they had to make choices about housing, food, transportation, childcare, education, entertainment, and health care coverage and keep track of their money on a checkbook ledger. Each table also had "chance cards" in which a one-time expense or prize had to be accounted for as well. Kayle and I were "tour guides," leading our group of kids to the tables and helping them with their ledgers and choices. It was a valuable event for thinking ahead about budgeting and financial decisions. We enjoyed being able to help out too. Afterwards, we came home for a nice Saturday nap and enjoyed hanging out at nighth with a bowl of ice cream.
Today, we decided to go to the later 5pm service at church, since I have choir practice at 3 and a meeting for youth group at 7. That way, we'll save a few trips and Kayle can get in some reading time during my meeting.
We're "enjoying" the weather this week in Seattle. We had a few 50 degree sunny days, a few gray and rainy days, and two hour-long snowfalls. It makes me feel just like Michigan where you only have to wait about 5 minutes for the weather to change. Personally, I'm looking forward to warm and sunny...it makes the bus stops and short walks far more pleasant!
Finally, Kayle decided he really wanted to get serious about making homemade pizza. We started with Jiffy crust and canned pineapple. Now that we have a mixer, we began making homemade pizza dough and even cutting up a fresh pineapple sometimes. So, last week, Kayle wanted to get a pizza stone or cast iron pan to further improve his favorite dish. We ended up ordering a 17" cast-iron skillet on Amazon (it is just barely smaller than our oven's size). We also got two cast-iron bread pans for homemade bread and a pizza peel to get the pizza in the hot oven. Kayle has been anxiously waiting for the packages to arrive, and I'm sure we'll be making pizza that very night. According to my mom, homemade pizza might be our "specialty" dish for when people come visit. Hopefully, we'll get some practice in so it can live up to all the "hype". :)
That's all for this week! Happy Anniversary (Angie's) Mom and Dad! Hope to see you all soon- Christmas seems a long time ago now!
Much love,
Angie and Kayle
On Tuesday, our CG was canceled due to sickness and other factors. Kayle and I went through the questions on our own this weekend. Our leader, Josh, comes up with good, challenging questions to go along with the sermon and the Scripture passage of the week.
On Wednesday night, I helped out at youth group. We're practicing bible study skills in small groups and then sharing out our answers to the larger group. It's fun to be a leader of a small group, since that's my preferred setting to talk and teach. I like that the CG that Kayle and I are in is also a small group bible study setting.
Fridays are now my errand and chore days. I scheduled some dentist/eye doctor appointments, called a few college admissions offices, filled out paperwork, and did many loads of laundry. At night, Kayle and I went to the movies to see "Slumdog Millionaire." We really liked it, and that's coming from people who go out to see less than 5 movies/year. It was a touching story, and it was heartbreaking to think that some of the kids we sponsor in India might live in similar conditions.
On Saturday, Kayle and I volunteered in the morning at a YMCA event near my school. They were putting on a "Real Life Fair" in which the kids (mostly high schoolers) went around to booths with a pre-determined income and family size. At each booth, they had to make choices about housing, food, transportation, childcare, education, entertainment, and health care coverage and keep track of their money on a checkbook ledger. Each table also had "chance cards" in which a one-time expense or prize had to be accounted for as well. Kayle and I were "tour guides," leading our group of kids to the tables and helping them with their ledgers and choices. It was a valuable event for thinking ahead about budgeting and financial decisions. We enjoyed being able to help out too. Afterwards, we came home for a nice Saturday nap and enjoyed hanging out at nighth with a bowl of ice cream.
Today, we decided to go to the later 5pm service at church, since I have choir practice at 3 and a meeting for youth group at 7. That way, we'll save a few trips and Kayle can get in some reading time during my meeting.
We're "enjoying" the weather this week in Seattle. We had a few 50 degree sunny days, a few gray and rainy days, and two hour-long snowfalls. It makes me feel just like Michigan where you only have to wait about 5 minutes for the weather to change. Personally, I'm looking forward to warm and sunny...it makes the bus stops and short walks far more pleasant!
Finally, Kayle decided he really wanted to get serious about making homemade pizza. We started with Jiffy crust and canned pineapple. Now that we have a mixer, we began making homemade pizza dough and even cutting up a fresh pineapple sometimes. So, last week, Kayle wanted to get a pizza stone or cast iron pan to further improve his favorite dish. We ended up ordering a 17" cast-iron skillet on Amazon (it is just barely smaller than our oven's size). We also got two cast-iron bread pans for homemade bread and a pizza peel to get the pizza in the hot oven. Kayle has been anxiously waiting for the packages to arrive, and I'm sure we'll be making pizza that very night. According to my mom, homemade pizza might be our "specialty" dish for when people come visit. Hopefully, we'll get some practice in so it can live up to all the "hype". :)
That's all for this week! Happy Anniversary (Angie's) Mom and Dad! Hope to see you all soon- Christmas seems a long time ago now!
Much love,
Angie and Kayle
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