Phew! The longer I wait to update my blog, the harder it is to find the time to sit down and post everything! It's been a busy December with Dani's visit and the 2-week trip to Michigan. Here are the highlights in probably more detail than you could ever want:
Since my last post, I only had 1 1/2 more weeks of work before Christmas break and Dani's visit. My students are all making good progress except the one who is MIA about half the time. We had an EA2 Christmas party on Friday, Dec 11- it was held at an Irish pub restaurant with good Irish food and an open bar. It was funny to meet a couple from Michigan that also met in advanced math classes, played trumpet, and even knew someone Kayle knows from Caledonia High School band. The wife also works for EA2 and the husband works for Microsoft. All in all, talking to them was kind of eerie and, despite all the similarities, I maintain that we are a bit less geeky than they were...
Saturday the 12th was super busy. I went to a girl's brunch at Brenda's house in the morning. Brenda made a delicious breakfast spread and we sat around and talked for a few hours. After, I rushed off to practice Christmas carols and go caroling with my youth group girls at a senior center. I was very nervous that we might not have enough singers, but, with 10-12 of us, everything went smoothly and the seniors were rocking it out with us by the end. Finally, I finished out the day by meeting Kayle at Jeff and Paula's house for a cookie baking/Christmas party. Kayle went with some other friends earlier in the day. I was exhausted by the time I arrived, but I still enjoyed some chili and yummy Christmas cookies.
On Sunday, I was the primary (1st-5th grade) Sunday school teacher with Kayle helping out in the room too. Then, we came home, made two meals for new moms in our CG, and delivered the meals to their homes in Bellevue. Both said afterward that they enjoyed the chicken picatta with pasta and veggies. At night, I went to a youth group leader's meeting. (Now, can you see why I didn't post earlier?)
On Tuesday and Wednesday, I had CG and youth group respectively. We celebrated Christmas with a big meal together for CG and we saw many faces that have been busy attending to babies lately. We also surprised Kim and Jay, our hosts, with a gift card to a fancy restaurant so they could go on a nice date. In youth group, we studied advent by talking about Christ's second coming and how we anticipate both Christmas and Christ's eternal kingdom at this time of year. We had a good conversation with lots of questions and things to wonder about.
On Thursday Dec. 17, Dani arrived in Seattle! I picked her up from the airport in the late-morning and let her settle in a bit. Then, we went grocery shopping together and made pasties as a surprise for Kayle. On Friday, Dani and I went into Seattle while Kayle was at work. Dani got a massage for her Christmas present (I was supposed to get one at the same time, but one of the massage therapists was sick that day). Meanwhile, I walked to a nearby bookstore and enjoyed a gingerbread latte in the Starbucks next door. Afterward, we headed to Pike's Place market and downtown Seattle where we shopped a little and ate at a lovely Chinese restaurant. We finished by touring the Seattle aquarium, touching the urchins and anemones, staring at the cute seals and otters, and enjoying an octopus presentation. Of course, there were lots of colorful and odd-looking fish too! We took the bus back to Redmond and picked up Kayle from work.
On Saturday, we enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner in downtown Bellevue and went to "Snowflake Lane," an outdoor Christmas celebration at the mall with fake snow and drummers dressed as toy soldiers. On Sunday, we went to church in the morning. While Kayle served in the tech booth, Dani and I went out to breakfast at Denny's. We spent the rest of the day making cookies for our neighbors. We made many, many gingerbread cookies and decorated them all! We also made almond bars, chocolate chip cookies, and cranberry walnut cookies. We delivered them on Monday morning before our flight, and they were much appreciated by our neighbors. Several said that we made their whole day!
On Monday, we began the Michigan chapter of the month by flying home with Dani. We finally made it, after a short delay in Detroit, around midnight Michigan time. In Detroit, we laughed when they announced over the intercom that we would need to take another plane from a different gate because (and I quote) "this plane is broke!". My mom and a bunch of Hinkles met us at the airport. It is so nice to see family again!
I couldn't possibly tell all the adventures of being home in Michigan, because it seems like we saw so many people! We enjoyed several family days with a Maxey celebration and prime rib lunch on Christmas morning, a Hoksbergen family gathering also on Christmas day, and a Hinkle Christmas bash on the 26th. We enjoyed seeing all the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins as well as opening gifts, having a white-elephant exchange, eating many cookies, and playing some board games. I also enjoyed going with my dad to serve food to the homeless one morning and eating lunch at Sam's Joint with my brother, Aaron. The Hinkle household was also quite busy with 3 Burmese foster sisters now (there are now two Esthers and Siang), bringing the total Hinkle family count to 10 if you include the two of us.
Of course, we also saw some high school friends over break. One evening, I went to a girl's night at Bridget's new house. I reminisced with the other 7-8 girls for 7 full hours of non-stop talking. I also visited with Emily J that day by going to see the Princess and the Frog Disney movie in the theater and sleeping over at her house at night. On New Year's Eve, we had a co-ed high school party with about 10 friends at PJ and Lisa's house with board games, Euchre, more Christmas cookies, talking, and watching the ball drop. Our friend, Conall, also stopped by the Hinkle house to visit with us one afternoon. All in all, it was refreshing to catch up on the lives of our friends.
We returned to Seattle on Saturday, Jan 2. With the time change, coming back is physically much easier than heading to Michigan. We left Michigan around 1:30 and arrived at home in Seattle by 6:30. After some quick partial unpacking, we relaxed and went to bed early.
Today we went to church in the morning, including helping out in the booth and in children's ministry. We spent most of the day just catching up on e-mails, doing laundry, and relaxing. It's hard to believe that we need to go back to work tomorrow!
We love you all dearly and can't wait for our next trip to visit!
Angie and Kayle
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
Two weeks ago, we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend. With only 3 workdays and a few teachers out, I had a full 7-hour schedule at EA2 on Wednesday and was glad for the break when it came. On Thursday, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Caleb and Laura's house with loads of side dishes. We brought grilled asparagus, corn, sweet potato casserole, and dinner rolls. There was also turkey, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, coffee cake, jello dessert, and green bean casserole. And all for only 6 of us! (Two other Microsoft guys we knew, Henry and Alex, also came to the dinner.) Of course, baby Grace was there too, but I didn't count her in the total because she didn't eat much. We were all sent home with a large plate of leftovers.
On Friday, we mostly rested around the house for the day. At night, Kayle was called over to Caleb's house for a guy's movie night. I was content to watch one of my television shows and start the book, "Pride and Prejudice" (I'd never read it before.). The guys watched "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," a Western film. On Saturday, we babysat for Caleb and Laura so they could have a date night. We had fun playing with 1-year-old Grace, who is running around and just learning to talk. She had a stuffed nativity scene that could be played with and, after I told her the baby was sleeping, she kept making a snoring sound. She thought it was fun to have everyone crammed in the little barn so they could go to bed. Kayle was very cute playing with the baby too.
On Sunday, I started my three-week turn at being the primary teacher for Sunday school. We learned about baptism and the story of Paul and Silas in (and out of) prison. It was hard to explain what a sacrament is to 1st-5th graders and when I wrote the word on the board one girl triumphantly read it "Sacramento!" They are so sweet. I am looking forward to teaching about communion tomorrow.
This past week, we have been mostly busy with the usual work schedule and activities. We are eagerly anticipating Christmas break and I am especially hoping for some snow. I heard that it snowed quite a lot in Michigan and I hope to see snow here before we head for the Midwest. The temperature has recently dipped below freezing for part of the day, but of course those had to be our only sunny days for a couple months. It just doesn't feel like December without snow! However, I have been belting random Christmas carols in anticipation of our youth group going caroling next weekend.
Lately, I have been teaching about 15-18 hour/week at EA2 and tutoring at Eastside Academy about 10 hours in the afternoon. Since I have EA2 students scheduled for 10:30 or so each morning and until 6pm in the evening, we have grown accustomed lately to sleeping in a few weekdays. It is a nice schedule, especially on days when we have activities at night. This week, we had CG on Tuesday (as usual) and enjoyed a breakfast dinner together. This theme is such a hit for our potluck dinners that we have it about once/month. Both of the pregnant women also had their babies, both healthy boys (Bolder and Tommy Jr.). On Wednesday, I had my regular youth group Bible study. We talked about the role of the tabernacle and temple in Jewish worship and how Jesus fulfills and surpasses those roles, rendering the old temple system no longer necessary. It is exciting to see Jesus as the new temple (literally God's presence with us), Christians as a holy priesthood of believers and temple of the Holy Spirit, and eternity when the whole earth will be a temple to God's glory with His holy presence enjoyed by all His people.
We can hardly believe that Dani arrives in less than two weeks! We have a busy weekend next week with an EA2 Christmas party, caroling with youth group, a Christmas cookie party, Sunday school teaching, youth group leader meeting, and making meals for the two new mommies. We spent today cleaning the extra room of science camp supplies (so Dani would have somewhere to sleep) and running errands. Hopefully, the house will finish getting cleaned tomorrow!
We love and miss you so much!
Angie and Kayle
On Friday, we mostly rested around the house for the day. At night, Kayle was called over to Caleb's house for a guy's movie night. I was content to watch one of my television shows and start the book, "Pride and Prejudice" (I'd never read it before.). The guys watched "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," a Western film. On Saturday, we babysat for Caleb and Laura so they could have a date night. We had fun playing with 1-year-old Grace, who is running around and just learning to talk. She had a stuffed nativity scene that could be played with and, after I told her the baby was sleeping, she kept making a snoring sound. She thought it was fun to have everyone crammed in the little barn so they could go to bed. Kayle was very cute playing with the baby too.
On Sunday, I started my three-week turn at being the primary teacher for Sunday school. We learned about baptism and the story of Paul and Silas in (and out of) prison. It was hard to explain what a sacrament is to 1st-5th graders and when I wrote the word on the board one girl triumphantly read it "Sacramento!" They are so sweet. I am looking forward to teaching about communion tomorrow.
This past week, we have been mostly busy with the usual work schedule and activities. We are eagerly anticipating Christmas break and I am especially hoping for some snow. I heard that it snowed quite a lot in Michigan and I hope to see snow here before we head for the Midwest. The temperature has recently dipped below freezing for part of the day, but of course those had to be our only sunny days for a couple months. It just doesn't feel like December without snow! However, I have been belting random Christmas carols in anticipation of our youth group going caroling next weekend.
Lately, I have been teaching about 15-18 hour/week at EA2 and tutoring at Eastside Academy about 10 hours in the afternoon. Since I have EA2 students scheduled for 10:30 or so each morning and until 6pm in the evening, we have grown accustomed lately to sleeping in a few weekdays. It is a nice schedule, especially on days when we have activities at night. This week, we had CG on Tuesday (as usual) and enjoyed a breakfast dinner together. This theme is such a hit for our potluck dinners that we have it about once/month. Both of the pregnant women also had their babies, both healthy boys (Bolder and Tommy Jr.). On Wednesday, I had my regular youth group Bible study. We talked about the role of the tabernacle and temple in Jewish worship and how Jesus fulfills and surpasses those roles, rendering the old temple system no longer necessary. It is exciting to see Jesus as the new temple (literally God's presence with us), Christians as a holy priesthood of believers and temple of the Holy Spirit, and eternity when the whole earth will be a temple to God's glory with His holy presence enjoyed by all His people.
We can hardly believe that Dani arrives in less than two weeks! We have a busy weekend next week with an EA2 Christmas party, caroling with youth group, a Christmas cookie party, Sunday school teaching, youth group leader meeting, and making meals for the two new mommies. We spent today cleaning the extra room of science camp supplies (so Dani would have somewhere to sleep) and running errands. Hopefully, the house will finish getting cleaned tomorrow!
We love and miss you so much!
Angie and Kayle
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Only 1 Month Before Christmas...
I didn't even realize that I forgot to post for two weeks until I received my weekly letter from grandma. It said: "Angie: Checked your blog, but nothing was added." How's that for a reminder! :) It made both of us laugh, and, apparently, it worked.
The last two weeks, work went very well for both of us. Kayle's job has been interesting lately and it seems like he is being productive. I have been transitioning to working more hours at EA2 and volunteering fewer hours at Eastside Academy. This is mostly because I have two students that now meet in the morning, breaking my day into smaller sections and making it harder to go back and forth. I still manage to volunteer in person at the school about 10 hours/week, but I've been doing more behind-the-scenes work like making food for the Thanksgiving meal, getting books donated, arranging a talk on science/faith, and writing letters to students on leave. The most exciting news is that one of the students at Eastside Academy became a Christian this month. It's amazing to see how much his life and attitude have changed in such a short time! Another cool moment was when the health class focused on what kind of legacy they wanted to leave and presented about their imagined future life in a mock obituary. It's always special to see students dream about their future and share what is most important to them.
Last Saturday, I went to a meeting about doing graduate school for teaching at Northwest University (a smaller Christian college nearby). I am looking into doing their year-long Masters in Teaching program. There are still a lot of variables affecting whether this is a good option, not the least of which are questions about whether my certification would transfer to Michigan should we move back. We are also saving for a home right now and should probably wait until after we make a down payment so that I would be eligible for some financial aid. Right now, I have an excellent job and am content to continue there while we figure things out.
This past week was also a pretty normal week. On Tuesday, we had community group as usual and made pinwheels for appetizer night. They were a big hit and both pans were completely eaten. (Pinwheels are ham and cheese in crescent roll dough.) We also had a new couple visit our group. Two of the women (Marilee and Rachel) are past their due date, so we should have a couple more babies in our CG soon. We were all saddened too by the news that two other women in our church recently lost their babies when they were nearly 9 months pregnant. Many are praying for them in their heart-breaking loss.
On Wednesday, we had the monthly regional vision meeting instead of regular youth group. We discussed how we can better represent Christ in the places God has already put us. Instead of worrying about adding more events and projects to our busy lives, we focused on how we can best love people in the relationships and opportunities to connect that we already have. It was cool to hear how God is working in and through the daily lives of other church members who live near us.
This weekend, we are mostly resting. Kayle and I watched a Netflix movie together last night. We were planning to babysit for some friends, but, since the baby now has a cold, her parents opted to go out next weekend instead. So, I guess we'll do our regular chores (grocery shopping, laundry, etc.) and maybe go out for dinner tonight. Tomorrow, we have church and a training meeting for children's ministry teachers and room leads. I'll also be cooking a lot for Thanksgiving at Eastside Academy and at Caleb and Laura's house.
We miss you all...only one month until Christmas!
Angie and Kayle
The last two weeks, work went very well for both of us. Kayle's job has been interesting lately and it seems like he is being productive. I have been transitioning to working more hours at EA2 and volunteering fewer hours at Eastside Academy. This is mostly because I have two students that now meet in the morning, breaking my day into smaller sections and making it harder to go back and forth. I still manage to volunteer in person at the school about 10 hours/week, but I've been doing more behind-the-scenes work like making food for the Thanksgiving meal, getting books donated, arranging a talk on science/faith, and writing letters to students on leave. The most exciting news is that one of the students at Eastside Academy became a Christian this month. It's amazing to see how much his life and attitude have changed in such a short time! Another cool moment was when the health class focused on what kind of legacy they wanted to leave and presented about their imagined future life in a mock obituary. It's always special to see students dream about their future and share what is most important to them.
Last Saturday, I went to a meeting about doing graduate school for teaching at Northwest University (a smaller Christian college nearby). I am looking into doing their year-long Masters in Teaching program. There are still a lot of variables affecting whether this is a good option, not the least of which are questions about whether my certification would transfer to Michigan should we move back. We are also saving for a home right now and should probably wait until after we make a down payment so that I would be eligible for some financial aid. Right now, I have an excellent job and am content to continue there while we figure things out.
This past week was also a pretty normal week. On Tuesday, we had community group as usual and made pinwheels for appetizer night. They were a big hit and both pans were completely eaten. (Pinwheels are ham and cheese in crescent roll dough.) We also had a new couple visit our group. Two of the women (Marilee and Rachel) are past their due date, so we should have a couple more babies in our CG soon. We were all saddened too by the news that two other women in our church recently lost their babies when they were nearly 9 months pregnant. Many are praying for them in their heart-breaking loss.
On Wednesday, we had the monthly regional vision meeting instead of regular youth group. We discussed how we can better represent Christ in the places God has already put us. Instead of worrying about adding more events and projects to our busy lives, we focused on how we can best love people in the relationships and opportunities to connect that we already have. It was cool to hear how God is working in and through the daily lives of other church members who live near us.
This weekend, we are mostly resting. Kayle and I watched a Netflix movie together last night. We were planning to babysit for some friends, but, since the baby now has a cold, her parents opted to go out next weekend instead. So, I guess we'll do our regular chores (grocery shopping, laundry, etc.) and maybe go out for dinner tonight. Tomorrow, we have church and a training meeting for children's ministry teachers and room leads. I'll also be cooking a lot for Thanksgiving at Eastside Academy and at Caleb and Laura's house.
We miss you all...only one month until Christmas!
Angie and Kayle
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Social Butterflies!?!?
Last week was a pretty busy social week for us, with something going on almost every night. On Tuesday, we went to CG and had a Mediterranean food potluck. In practice, although we intended to get some yummy Greek food or at least something out of the ordinary, we ended up eating Papa John's pizza, salad, pitas with hummus, and Milano cookies. The Papa John's and Milano cookies were our last-minute, no time to cook this week contribution. We held group at Thad and Marilee's house this week, since Kim and Jay (our usual hosts) were sick. It was a smaller crowd but a good discussion on what it means to be "Spirit-filled" (like John the Baptist, his parents, and Jesus among others). Group is going well, but it's sometimes difficult to pray with a toddler or two running around, attracting attention by being cute. The last few weeks, I've lost my train of thought while praying aloud because something was either thrust into or taken out of my hands. We love the kids, but they sure don't let you forget they're around! In particular, 1 1/2 year old Silas managed to get hold of quite a few Milano cookies when the adults weren't looking...
On Wednesday, I went to youth group bible study. Lately, it's been quite a rush to get from work, which ends at 6pm, to Microsoft to pick up Kayle, to home to drop him off, and back out the door to someone's house by 6:45-7pm. Last week I bought some fast food on the way. This week I grabbed an apple and granola bar and ate them in the car for dinner. We've been discussing lately how we want to serve together as a girl's bible study. We hope to do one or two service projects before Christmas.
On Thursday, Kayle and I came home for dinner before going to Caleb and Laura Bell's house for dessert and games. We went to their house last year for Thanksgiving but haven't seen them much lately. It was nice to catch up and talk to them for a while, since we usually only see them in passing at church or an event. We ate brownie sundaes and played a casual board game called Imaginiff (Imagine if...). It sounds like they're planning to move back to Texas with their 1-year-old so they can live by both of their families. We should enjoy their company while we still can!
On Friday night, I went to Kat's house to make a pumpkin pie and watch "Back to the Future". Last year, Kayle and I bought a store pumpkin pie and it tasted so bland that we ended up throwing most of it away and shunning pie for the rest of the season. My pumpkin pie with Kat turned out great, so I will probably make another by myself for Thanksgiving. Kat and I have been trying to get together every two weeks or so and she is becoming a great girlfriend to talk to. Meanwhile, Kayle enjoyed a night at home playing computer games and not missing pumpkin pie (which apparently he doesn't like...).
On Saturday, we went with some other members of our CG to volunteer at a new thrift store. It was a cold, rainy day (it rained much harder than usual for Seattle) and we ended up waiting in our cars and at the grocery store coffee shop for over an hour before the staff showed up. Apparently, the lines of communication were crossed and they forgot we were coming to volunteer. So, when the store finally opened, we ended up doing some odd jobs for two hours. Altogether, it wasn't the most productive, but I guess that is what can be expected from a brand new program that isn't super organized yet. After volunteering, we came home for bit before venturing out again on another social call, this time a fondue open house at the home of someone in our old CG. We saw a lot of people from CG and church that we haven't talked to in a while, so it was a fun time to sit, chat, and eat chocolate. We stayed for a few hours and then decided a dinner date night sounded pretty good. We ate at our favorite restaurant, CoHo cafe, and enjoyed prime rib and a bacon cheeseburger. Then, we came home and relaxed watching a tv show together. All in all, a busy but good day!
Today, we had the week off for children's ministry so we relished the opportunity to sleep in until 9am! Deciding to go to the 5pm service, we spent the morning making waffles and pasties and doing laundry. After lunch, we went to Joe's house to listen to Focus on the Family's radio rendition of C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters." It was done well and pretty entertaining and funny. Next, we rushed off to church and heard a sermon on the birth of Jesus (and it's not even Christmastime...Pastor Mark pointed out that we don't know which day Jesus was actually born anyway!).
Phew! If hearing about our social calendar isn't enough to make you tired, we also had a pretty busy workweek. I really enjoyed being able to go to the end-of-quarter awards ceremony at Eastside Academy. One of the girls, who is married with two young kids, finished up her credits to be able to graduate and is planning to go into nursing next fall. She offered the advice to her fellow students: "if I can graduate with two kids, you all have no excuse!" Good for her! She worked really hard and ended up with excellent grades. Many of the other kids were also touched by the awards they received as the teachers brainstormed to ensure every student there got two awards and a personal Bible verse. We also shared some yummy food. I clapped so hard my hands turned bright red!
The biggest victory at EA2 was from a student who had previously failed 4 quizzes in his algebra/trig math class. He came only a few sessions before the 4th quiz, and, despite studying really hard, still failed. It seemed pretty hopeless as we went into the unit exam, which would cover the material from all 4 previous quizzes with only a few tutoring sessions in between. My boss called to tell me that the boy got his unit test back this week and passed it with a C! He said that both mom and son were crying and laughing when they received the grade. They were so relieved to have seen some progress after so much hard work and disappointment. I'm so happy for him too! Another student at EA2, this one in Calculus, also did well on his 2nd test with me. We are cruising through the course faster than a college class since he is assigned 6 hours/week with me, and he is doing very well so far. I also received one new student this week and will have another new student next week too.
We can hardly believe it is already November. This past week, it has finally turned to the perpetual cold rain and gray skies of a Seattle winter. The temperature dropped quite a bit and I don't think we'll see much of the sun until the spring. Time seems to being going by so much faster lately, so it feels like Christmas is just around the corner! We miss you and love you all so much!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Happy Birthday to my siblings, Dani and Aaron! I can't believe how old the two of you are now. My baby brother and sister are growing up so fast!
On Wednesday, I went to youth group bible study. Lately, it's been quite a rush to get from work, which ends at 6pm, to Microsoft to pick up Kayle, to home to drop him off, and back out the door to someone's house by 6:45-7pm. Last week I bought some fast food on the way. This week I grabbed an apple and granola bar and ate them in the car for dinner. We've been discussing lately how we want to serve together as a girl's bible study. We hope to do one or two service projects before Christmas.
On Thursday, Kayle and I came home for dinner before going to Caleb and Laura Bell's house for dessert and games. We went to their house last year for Thanksgiving but haven't seen them much lately. It was nice to catch up and talk to them for a while, since we usually only see them in passing at church or an event. We ate brownie sundaes and played a casual board game called Imaginiff (Imagine if...). It sounds like they're planning to move back to Texas with their 1-year-old so they can live by both of their families. We should enjoy their company while we still can!
On Friday night, I went to Kat's house to make a pumpkin pie and watch "Back to the Future". Last year, Kayle and I bought a store pumpkin pie and it tasted so bland that we ended up throwing most of it away and shunning pie for the rest of the season. My pumpkin pie with Kat turned out great, so I will probably make another by myself for Thanksgiving. Kat and I have been trying to get together every two weeks or so and she is becoming a great girlfriend to talk to. Meanwhile, Kayle enjoyed a night at home playing computer games and not missing pumpkin pie (which apparently he doesn't like...).
On Saturday, we went with some other members of our CG to volunteer at a new thrift store. It was a cold, rainy day (it rained much harder than usual for Seattle) and we ended up waiting in our cars and at the grocery store coffee shop for over an hour before the staff showed up. Apparently, the lines of communication were crossed and they forgot we were coming to volunteer. So, when the store finally opened, we ended up doing some odd jobs for two hours. Altogether, it wasn't the most productive, but I guess that is what can be expected from a brand new program that isn't super organized yet. After volunteering, we came home for bit before venturing out again on another social call, this time a fondue open house at the home of someone in our old CG. We saw a lot of people from CG and church that we haven't talked to in a while, so it was a fun time to sit, chat, and eat chocolate. We stayed for a few hours and then decided a dinner date night sounded pretty good. We ate at our favorite restaurant, CoHo cafe, and enjoyed prime rib and a bacon cheeseburger. Then, we came home and relaxed watching a tv show together. All in all, a busy but good day!
Today, we had the week off for children's ministry so we relished the opportunity to sleep in until 9am! Deciding to go to the 5pm service, we spent the morning making waffles and pasties and doing laundry. After lunch, we went to Joe's house to listen to Focus on the Family's radio rendition of C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters." It was done well and pretty entertaining and funny. Next, we rushed off to church and heard a sermon on the birth of Jesus (and it's not even Christmastime...Pastor Mark pointed out that we don't know which day Jesus was actually born anyway!).
Phew! If hearing about our social calendar isn't enough to make you tired, we also had a pretty busy workweek. I really enjoyed being able to go to the end-of-quarter awards ceremony at Eastside Academy. One of the girls, who is married with two young kids, finished up her credits to be able to graduate and is planning to go into nursing next fall. She offered the advice to her fellow students: "if I can graduate with two kids, you all have no excuse!" Good for her! She worked really hard and ended up with excellent grades. Many of the other kids were also touched by the awards they received as the teachers brainstormed to ensure every student there got two awards and a personal Bible verse. We also shared some yummy food. I clapped so hard my hands turned bright red!
The biggest victory at EA2 was from a student who had previously failed 4 quizzes in his algebra/trig math class. He came only a few sessions before the 4th quiz, and, despite studying really hard, still failed. It seemed pretty hopeless as we went into the unit exam, which would cover the material from all 4 previous quizzes with only a few tutoring sessions in between. My boss called to tell me that the boy got his unit test back this week and passed it with a C! He said that both mom and son were crying and laughing when they received the grade. They were so relieved to have seen some progress after so much hard work and disappointment. I'm so happy for him too! Another student at EA2, this one in Calculus, also did well on his 2nd test with me. We are cruising through the course faster than a college class since he is assigned 6 hours/week with me, and he is doing very well so far. I also received one new student this week and will have another new student next week too.
We can hardly believe it is already November. This past week, it has finally turned to the perpetual cold rain and gray skies of a Seattle winter. The temperature dropped quite a bit and I don't think we'll see much of the sun until the spring. Time seems to being going by so much faster lately, so it feels like Christmas is just around the corner! We miss you and love you all so much!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Happy Birthday to my siblings, Dani and Aaron! I can't believe how old the two of you are now. My baby brother and sister are growing up so fast!
Monday, November 2, 2009
A Happy Halloween
This past week, we didn't have many plans that were out of the ordinary. Now that I have a job, it seems like the weeks have taken on much more of a routine. We still enjoy our church community group on Tuesday nights (only two more babies on the way...) and I still go to youth group on Wednesday nights. Now, the weekdays are more regular too, with school all day (at EA or EA2 or both) and picking up Kayle from work afterward.
On Friday, Eastside Academy cooked a meal (pasta, bread, fruit, cookies) and brought it to two different homeless shelters in Seattle. The girls went to one place and the guys to another. The girls also got lost for two hours, since no one specified the exact location where we'd be serving among the many programs under the same organization. When we finally made it there, the high-schoolers were complaining of hunger and very cranky. They stopped whining immediately upon seeing the more difficult position of the people they would be serving that day. It seems they suddenly realized that a late lunch and warm car ride is still much better than not knowing when your next meal would be and spending all day out in the cold. It was a learning experience for them to meet and serve the homeless of Seattle, many for the first time.
After returning from Seattle, I tutored a teen at EA2 before picking up Kayle and going to a Halloween party. Michelle and Tony Martin from Eastside Academy hosted it at their home in Issaquah, and Kayle came along to meet them and some more of the students I work with. About 10-12 students came with some of their kids and cousins in tow, and we enjoyed pizza, popcorn, and candy while playing some games and watching a scary movie. It was a pretty relaxed time, and we enjoyed it a lot.
On Sunday, Kayle and I served in Children's ministry in the toddler 1 room. With the time change and a long sermon, the kids just were not happy campers and we had a few more "criers" than usual. In particular, I had two one-year-old boys that kept alternating between playing and crying and would come sit on my lap during the crying phase, usually both at the same time! We also had a full room with over 20 toddlers, so, even with 6-7 volunteers, we were kept really busy. I'm glad nap time doesn't usually fall right in the middle of the morning service! The sermon was also very good, especially the last part about the recent creation of a stage called adolescence. Pastor Mark had the women laughing so hard about boys who refuse to grow up! Well, you should just watch for yourself and be entertained:
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/the-birth-of-john-the-baptizer
(Skip forward to the 38 min. mark)
After church, I was very excited to be productive around the house. We cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, did several loads of laundry, cooked a new meal, cleaned/vacuumed out the car, and prepared lessons for EA2. Kayle also finished getting the new computer hooked up with remote desktop connections to our laptops and a wireless connection to the printer. We even read 10-12 chapters in Isaiah together! Yippee!
This week, I'm looking forward to a game night with Caleb and Laura on Thursday as well as a dessert night with the girls on Friday. It's a busy social week for us, but a pretty slow week for school, since the quarter is ending at Eastside Academy and we have no school on Friday.
We love and miss you and are ever more excited for December...
Angie and Kayle
On Friday, Eastside Academy cooked a meal (pasta, bread, fruit, cookies) and brought it to two different homeless shelters in Seattle. The girls went to one place and the guys to another. The girls also got lost for two hours, since no one specified the exact location where we'd be serving among the many programs under the same organization. When we finally made it there, the high-schoolers were complaining of hunger and very cranky. They stopped whining immediately upon seeing the more difficult position of the people they would be serving that day. It seems they suddenly realized that a late lunch and warm car ride is still much better than not knowing when your next meal would be and spending all day out in the cold. It was a learning experience for them to meet and serve the homeless of Seattle, many for the first time.
After returning from Seattle, I tutored a teen at EA2 before picking up Kayle and going to a Halloween party. Michelle and Tony Martin from Eastside Academy hosted it at their home in Issaquah, and Kayle came along to meet them and some more of the students I work with. About 10-12 students came with some of their kids and cousins in tow, and we enjoyed pizza, popcorn, and candy while playing some games and watching a scary movie. It was a pretty relaxed time, and we enjoyed it a lot.
On Sunday, Kayle and I served in Children's ministry in the toddler 1 room. With the time change and a long sermon, the kids just were not happy campers and we had a few more "criers" than usual. In particular, I had two one-year-old boys that kept alternating between playing and crying and would come sit on my lap during the crying phase, usually both at the same time! We also had a full room with over 20 toddlers, so, even with 6-7 volunteers, we were kept really busy. I'm glad nap time doesn't usually fall right in the middle of the morning service! The sermon was also very good, especially the last part about the recent creation of a stage called adolescence. Pastor Mark had the women laughing so hard about boys who refuse to grow up! Well, you should just watch for yourself and be entertained:
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/the-birth-of-john-the-baptizer
(Skip forward to the 38 min. mark)
After church, I was very excited to be productive around the house. We cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, did several loads of laundry, cooked a new meal, cleaned/vacuumed out the car, and prepared lessons for EA2. Kayle also finished getting the new computer hooked up with remote desktop connections to our laptops and a wireless connection to the printer. We even read 10-12 chapters in Isaiah together! Yippee!
This week, I'm looking forward to a game night with Caleb and Laura on Thursday as well as a dessert night with the girls on Friday. It's a busy social week for us, but a pretty slow week for school, since the quarter is ending at Eastside Academy and we have no school on Friday.
We love and miss you and are ever more excited for December...
Angie and Kayle
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Eastside Academy Charity Auction
I guess it's been a while since I posted last. Mostly I have been getting used to my new job at EA2 and continuing to volunteer at Eastside Academy. I now have 5 students at EA2, two of which are taking classes with me for credit and three which come for homework support. I'm up to 16 hours/week there though I could still be assigned another student or two in the coming weeks. I'm enjoying my job very much!
I've also been pretty involved in Eastside Academy although I've understandably had to cut back my volunteer hours there from 20-30 hours/week to about 15 hours. Last Friday was a movie and smoothie night featuring Shrek and multiple blenders, fruit, ice cream, and whipped cream. I made a delicious strawberry/pineapple/mango smoothie and got brain freeze trying to eat it so fast! I especially enjoyed hanging out with the students outside of school and meeting one of the girl's two kids and husband. She is currently working really hard to finish her senior year and be a mom at the same time!
On Tuesdays, community group has been going really well. I'm starting to really connect with the other women and our prayer time has been especially meaningful lately. We've been talking about the sermon series on Luke and had some good discussion. Our potluck meals (which I'm in charge of planning: eek!) have also been delicious lately. On Wednesday, I visited Kim (who hosts our CG) during the day to hang out and talk before work. It was nice to get to know her outside of CG too.
On Wednesday, we went to the regional vision event. The Eastside of Seattle, which is served by our Mars Hill Bellevue campus, has been divided into 4 regions each aiming to improve at serving our communities where we live. Eventually, the goal is to have a new campus church plant in each region after the idea of "being the church in our region" has been more internalized by the members. Right now, the meetings are intended to brainstorm ideas and equip the church to better serve and meet the needs of our neighbors, so the community feels well-loved by Mars Hill before a new church starts there. The last meeting involved breaking the 200 or so attendees into groups of 8-10 to share how we are already loving our areas and what needs we are aware of. It was pretty cool and I'm interested to see how these ideas are put into action.
On Saturday, Kayle and I attended our big event of the week: the Eastside Academy charity auction. With a sliding scale tuition schedule, EA only makes about 6% of its budget from student tuition. The auction and dinner is the biggest fund-raising event of the year. Kayle and I went together and met Charles (from church- a guy who "loves" charity auctions :) ) and his guest. We got all dressed up and went to the Bellevue Hilton, ate a wonderful salmon and beef dinner, participated in the silent auction, listened to some student testimony, and sat in awe at the craziness of the live auction. Another cool part was a "dessert frenzy" in which each table bid money and the pick of dessert depends on how your table's total ranks compared to other tables. Our table came in 4th from last (out of about 30) but we still got a wonderful cherry chocolate cake to share since our runner actually sprinted to stick our flag in the cake when we were called (a few other runners took their time to get to the table). We ended up coming home with a gift certificate for a weekend at the Bellevue Hilton and a large basket of organic, fair-trade chocolate bars. We both had a lot of fun, and it was nice to be able to introduce Kayle to some of the staff and students I work with. In particular, we sat right next to the math teacher in whose room I spend most of my time at EA. I should also say that I am still so impressed with the work and mission of EA, particularly the way the students are so loved, encouraged, disciplined, and cheered for. Coming from all sorts of tough situations, I can honestly say that the staff never gives up on any student and is really changing the direction of many lives. I feel so happy to be able to support their work by volunteering and cheering on the students myself as I get to know them.
Today, Sunday, we were pretty tired from having arrived home late the previous night. We made it to church at 8am to serve in tech and children's ministry. I greatly enjoyed teaching the primary class (1st-5th grade) for the first time this morning. They are learning about the Lord's Prayer and their comments and eagerness to read the Bible and discuss it are so touching. We spoke about forgiveness this week and read the story of Stephen from Acts. I found myself smiling often as they wrestled with the meaning of different words (like debts, debtor, and forgive) and I challenged them with many questions. I might be filling in as a primary teacher for a few months (every other month rotation). Things are still up in the air as our campus might start a new service time, since almost all the seats at the morning services are full. They urged members this week to start coming to the evening service at 5pm to make room for guests.
Well, that's about all for this week. Next week is more of the same with no plans for Halloween yet. We will probably end up hanging out at a friend's house. We love you and miss you all!
Angie and Kayle
I've also been pretty involved in Eastside Academy although I've understandably had to cut back my volunteer hours there from 20-30 hours/week to about 15 hours. Last Friday was a movie and smoothie night featuring Shrek and multiple blenders, fruit, ice cream, and whipped cream. I made a delicious strawberry/pineapple/mango smoothie and got brain freeze trying to eat it so fast! I especially enjoyed hanging out with the students outside of school and meeting one of the girl's two kids and husband. She is currently working really hard to finish her senior year and be a mom at the same time!
On Tuesdays, community group has been going really well. I'm starting to really connect with the other women and our prayer time has been especially meaningful lately. We've been talking about the sermon series on Luke and had some good discussion. Our potluck meals (which I'm in charge of planning: eek!) have also been delicious lately. On Wednesday, I visited Kim (who hosts our CG) during the day to hang out and talk before work. It was nice to get to know her outside of CG too.
On Wednesday, we went to the regional vision event. The Eastside of Seattle, which is served by our Mars Hill Bellevue campus, has been divided into 4 regions each aiming to improve at serving our communities where we live. Eventually, the goal is to have a new campus church plant in each region after the idea of "being the church in our region" has been more internalized by the members. Right now, the meetings are intended to brainstorm ideas and equip the church to better serve and meet the needs of our neighbors, so the community feels well-loved by Mars Hill before a new church starts there. The last meeting involved breaking the 200 or so attendees into groups of 8-10 to share how we are already loving our areas and what needs we are aware of. It was pretty cool and I'm interested to see how these ideas are put into action.
On Saturday, Kayle and I attended our big event of the week: the Eastside Academy charity auction. With a sliding scale tuition schedule, EA only makes about 6% of its budget from student tuition. The auction and dinner is the biggest fund-raising event of the year. Kayle and I went together and met Charles (from church- a guy who "loves" charity auctions :) ) and his guest. We got all dressed up and went to the Bellevue Hilton, ate a wonderful salmon and beef dinner, participated in the silent auction, listened to some student testimony, and sat in awe at the craziness of the live auction. Another cool part was a "dessert frenzy" in which each table bid money and the pick of dessert depends on how your table's total ranks compared to other tables. Our table came in 4th from last (out of about 30) but we still got a wonderful cherry chocolate cake to share since our runner actually sprinted to stick our flag in the cake when we were called (a few other runners took their time to get to the table). We ended up coming home with a gift certificate for a weekend at the Bellevue Hilton and a large basket of organic, fair-trade chocolate bars. We both had a lot of fun, and it was nice to be able to introduce Kayle to some of the staff and students I work with. In particular, we sat right next to the math teacher in whose room I spend most of my time at EA. I should also say that I am still so impressed with the work and mission of EA, particularly the way the students are so loved, encouraged, disciplined, and cheered for. Coming from all sorts of tough situations, I can honestly say that the staff never gives up on any student and is really changing the direction of many lives. I feel so happy to be able to support their work by volunteering and cheering on the students myself as I get to know them.
Today, Sunday, we were pretty tired from having arrived home late the previous night. We made it to church at 8am to serve in tech and children's ministry. I greatly enjoyed teaching the primary class (1st-5th grade) for the first time this morning. They are learning about the Lord's Prayer and their comments and eagerness to read the Bible and discuss it are so touching. We spoke about forgiveness this week and read the story of Stephen from Acts. I found myself smiling often as they wrestled with the meaning of different words (like debts, debtor, and forgive) and I challenged them with many questions. I might be filling in as a primary teacher for a few months (every other month rotation). Things are still up in the air as our campus might start a new service time, since almost all the seats at the morning services are full. They urged members this week to start coming to the evening service at 5pm to make room for guests.
Well, that's about all for this week. Next week is more of the same with no plans for Halloween yet. We will probably end up hanging out at a friend's house. We love you and miss you all!
Angie and Kayle
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
New Job Going Well...
This week was an exciting one for me, because I started getting acclimated to my new job. On Thursday, I was originally scheduled to go to EA2 to start my job training. However, I got a call earlier in the day, and my director asked me to sub for 3 students in math on my first day instead. I was nervous to have to prove my teaching skills so early and without much notice, but the sessions all went fine. On Friday, I came in again to fill out paperwork, go through the training manual, and get fingerprinted. As I was about to leave, the sub for that afternoon hadn't shown up yet (he was in a car accident earlier that week and then got sick), so I ended up subbing again for two more math students. The director and other staff are very supportive, so I'm looking forward to getting to know them more and growing as a teacher at EA2.
On Saturday, Kayle and I helped our friends, Jeff and Paula, move to a new house. Along with a whole contingent of friends, we loaded the U-Haul at their apartment with a seemingly never-ending stream of boxes coming down the stairs. We had to adjust the piles in the driveway a few times to let other residents get their cars out, but we eventually fit everything in one trip with only a few items in various cars. We took a break from unloading to enjoy some pizza together and finally finished the job in only about 2-3 hours. Many hands really do make light work (unless you consider those deceptively heavy boxes of books).
On Sunday, we slept in and rested before going to the evening service at church. I had a youth group leader meeting afterward, so Kayle sat in the car and read "The Last Battle." (He's been reading all the Narnia books lately.) The meeting went well, but our youth director is leaving soon to plant a church so we'll be phasing into having a new leader of youth programs. It's sad to see Dustin go, but the new leader is the current head of the community group ministry, so I'm sure he'll do a great job too.
On Monday, I had the first students of my own at EA2. I'm going to be teaching a calculus course for credit for one boy and tutoring another in algebra II. Both sessions went really well. Soon, I'll start teaching an algebra/trig course for another student and possibly an AP statistics course. This job will certainly force me to re-polish my various math skills! I've already brought one problem home to Kayle and we've been enjoying figuring out how to do some of the proofs so I can show my students in class. It's pretty geeky how a challenging math question can bring us together.
I've also been continuing to volunteer at Eastside Academy (or EA1- ironic that my two schools are EA and EA2). I was there for most of the schoolday Monday and Tuesday, since my EA2 students are coming after-school so far. I've been helping out mostly in math lately although I still go next door to English or sit in on the film class sometimes. I enjoyed helping a new student in trigonometry catch up to her classmates by teaching her one-on-one. Yesterday, I taught at the board how to graph each of the main 6 trig functions by hand. I'm also excited for a fancy dinner/auction that is coming up as a fund-raiser for Eastside Academy. It is next Saturday at the Hilton hotel in Bellevue.
Well, that's all for now. I'm going to my second calculus session this afternoon, picking up Kayle from work, and then proceeding to the monthly 4th week feed for youth group (pizza and discussion with all the families). I didn't go to EA1 today, because Wednesdays are always half days.
I love and miss you!
Angie and Kayle
On Saturday, Kayle and I helped our friends, Jeff and Paula, move to a new house. Along with a whole contingent of friends, we loaded the U-Haul at their apartment with a seemingly never-ending stream of boxes coming down the stairs. We had to adjust the piles in the driveway a few times to let other residents get their cars out, but we eventually fit everything in one trip with only a few items in various cars. We took a break from unloading to enjoy some pizza together and finally finished the job in only about 2-3 hours. Many hands really do make light work (unless you consider those deceptively heavy boxes of books).
On Sunday, we slept in and rested before going to the evening service at church. I had a youth group leader meeting afterward, so Kayle sat in the car and read "The Last Battle." (He's been reading all the Narnia books lately.) The meeting went well, but our youth director is leaving soon to plant a church so we'll be phasing into having a new leader of youth programs. It's sad to see Dustin go, but the new leader is the current head of the community group ministry, so I'm sure he'll do a great job too.
On Monday, I had the first students of my own at EA2. I'm going to be teaching a calculus course for credit for one boy and tutoring another in algebra II. Both sessions went really well. Soon, I'll start teaching an algebra/trig course for another student and possibly an AP statistics course. This job will certainly force me to re-polish my various math skills! I've already brought one problem home to Kayle and we've been enjoying figuring out how to do some of the proofs so I can show my students in class. It's pretty geeky how a challenging math question can bring us together.
I've also been continuing to volunteer at Eastside Academy (or EA1- ironic that my two schools are EA and EA2). I was there for most of the schoolday Monday and Tuesday, since my EA2 students are coming after-school so far. I've been helping out mostly in math lately although I still go next door to English or sit in on the film class sometimes. I enjoyed helping a new student in trigonometry catch up to her classmates by teaching her one-on-one. Yesterday, I taught at the board how to graph each of the main 6 trig functions by hand. I'm also excited for a fancy dinner/auction that is coming up as a fund-raiser for Eastside Academy. It is next Saturday at the Hilton hotel in Bellevue.
Well, that's all for now. I'm going to my second calculus session this afternoon, picking up Kayle from work, and then proceeding to the monthly 4th week feed for youth group (pizza and discussion with all the families). I didn't go to EA1 today, because Wednesdays are always half days.
I love and miss you!
Angie and Kayle
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Angie Got a Job!
I just wanted to post quickly that I secured a job! The small private school that interviewed me last week called this morning to give me the news. It is a small private school with about 30-40 students that teaches in an exclusively 1-on-1 setting. Some of the students come to take classes for credit in just one or two subjects and then transfer their credit to their regular high school. Others go there full-time as their primary high school. Still other students just go for tutoring in particular subjects that they are taking somewhere else. I will be teaching and tutoring math, science, and possibly English with my own set of students coming in regularly for hour-long intervals. I go in tomorrow for training and paperwork and start officially on Monday. I'm very excited to be paid again for what I love to do!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Kayle's Retreat and My Interview
Kayle came back from his retreat last Sunday with more than wisdom. He really enjoyed getting to talk with other guys from our church and play ultimate frisbee. About 200 guys flooded the camp and listened to some talks as a large group and some divided between single/married. I loved watching Kayle light up and tell me all about what he learned and did. One funny moment involved an open mic night and several guys who "testified" how hard their wives worked to get them on the retreat; apparently there were wives sick at home and moving single-handedly all the while insisting that their husbands could NOT miss the retreat. I suppose I did my share of "reminding" so that Kayle could grow and be influenced by some other godly men. Now, I say he brought home more than wisdom, because he developed a nasty cold that kept him home two days from work. He's still sniffling today but is almost better.
My weekend was fun as well. During the Science Adventures training, I missed a call from someone asking to set up an interview for a paid tutoring position I applied for. I called back afterward but had to leave a message. That night, I went to the Casting Crowns concert with a high schooler in youth group. We really enjoyed ourselves and I find it amazing how much I like every one of their songs. Even the new ones that I couldn't yet sing were so meaningful, and I eventually started losing my voice long before the concert's end.
There was no school on Monday for a teacher inservice day, and I still hadn't heard back from the potential interviewer. I was disappointed when I called again that morning, because, in the span between Saturday morning and Monday morning, they already filled the position without calling me back. However, that same day, another teaching/tutoring position was posted online for a private school very near to the one where I'm volunteering. I had a phone interview with the president/founder of the small network of private schools on Thursday morning (he called from the beach in Puerto Rico) and an in-person interview on Friday with the directors of the school in Bellevue. EA2 specializes in tutoring and teaching for middle/high school credit in an exclusively 1-on-1 setting. I think both interviews went well, so I'm waiting to hear back on whether I secured the job.
On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, I went to volunteer at Eastside Academy. I help out in the math (several), English, physics, and public speaking classes. I still love the staff and kids there and one of the most rewarding days was watching some of the students I coached in public speaking finally give their speeches about themselves for the class. Despite being nervous, they all gave touching insights into their hobbies, heroes, and dreams, and the two girls I coached gave their best rendition yet.
Last night, we went to a board game night at Joe's house. My new favorite game is called Wits n' Wagers in which you estimate numeric answers to random trivia questions and then bet with chips on which of the estimates is closest to the real answer. With disparate questions like "how many pounds does an empty Boeing 747 weigh?" and "what year did Shakespeare compose Romeo and Juliet?," there is a lot of room for hilarious error and the real answer is usually quite surprising. It's even funnier to hear how others reasoned to their answers. With the Boeing question, my reasoning involved elephants weighing about 2 tons (4000 lbs) and trying to guess how many elephants would equal a plane (the answer is about 100 elephants or 406,000 lbs). Sometimes you estimate based on as much semi-related information as you can think of and other times you just flat-out guess and hope you're not out too far in left field. Add Tiramisu, apple crisp, and sweet rice to the mix and, yes, board game night was very fun!
Today, Saturday, ended up being a laid-back day. I finished up the last Harry Potter book, and Kayle finished book 6 and is working on book 7. (I think he likes them more than he will admit.) We planned to go to Kohl's and maybe dinner out, but Kayle didn't really feel up for it today. We'll probably reschedule both for Sunday or Monday night.
Anyway, I think that's all for this week! We miss you all and can't wait for December...
With love,
Angie and Kayle
My weekend was fun as well. During the Science Adventures training, I missed a call from someone asking to set up an interview for a paid tutoring position I applied for. I called back afterward but had to leave a message. That night, I went to the Casting Crowns concert with a high schooler in youth group. We really enjoyed ourselves and I find it amazing how much I like every one of their songs. Even the new ones that I couldn't yet sing were so meaningful, and I eventually started losing my voice long before the concert's end.
There was no school on Monday for a teacher inservice day, and I still hadn't heard back from the potential interviewer. I was disappointed when I called again that morning, because, in the span between Saturday morning and Monday morning, they already filled the position without calling me back. However, that same day, another teaching/tutoring position was posted online for a private school very near to the one where I'm volunteering. I had a phone interview with the president/founder of the small network of private schools on Thursday morning (he called from the beach in Puerto Rico) and an in-person interview on Friday with the directors of the school in Bellevue. EA2 specializes in tutoring and teaching for middle/high school credit in an exclusively 1-on-1 setting. I think both interviews went well, so I'm waiting to hear back on whether I secured the job.
On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, I went to volunteer at Eastside Academy. I help out in the math (several), English, physics, and public speaking classes. I still love the staff and kids there and one of the most rewarding days was watching some of the students I coached in public speaking finally give their speeches about themselves for the class. Despite being nervous, they all gave touching insights into their hobbies, heroes, and dreams, and the two girls I coached gave their best rendition yet.
Last night, we went to a board game night at Joe's house. My new favorite game is called Wits n' Wagers in which you estimate numeric answers to random trivia questions and then bet with chips on which of the estimates is closest to the real answer. With disparate questions like "how many pounds does an empty Boeing 747 weigh?" and "what year did Shakespeare compose Romeo and Juliet?," there is a lot of room for hilarious error and the real answer is usually quite surprising. It's even funnier to hear how others reasoned to their answers. With the Boeing question, my reasoning involved elephants weighing about 2 tons (4000 lbs) and trying to guess how many elephants would equal a plane (the answer is about 100 elephants or 406,000 lbs). Sometimes you estimate based on as much semi-related information as you can think of and other times you just flat-out guess and hope you're not out too far in left field. Add Tiramisu, apple crisp, and sweet rice to the mix and, yes, board game night was very fun!
Today, Saturday, ended up being a laid-back day. I finished up the last Harry Potter book, and Kayle finished book 6 and is working on book 7. (I think he likes them more than he will admit.) We planned to go to Kohl's and maybe dinner out, but Kayle didn't really feel up for it today. We'll probably reschedule both for Sunday or Monday night.
Anyway, I think that's all for this week! We miss you all and can't wait for December...
With love,
Angie and Kayle
Saturday, September 26, 2009
More Pictures of Leanna's Wedding Reception
Hi Everyone. Leanna's DJ just posted a bunch of pictures online of the reception. Since there's quite a few with us and other ND folk, I made a separate album on Picasa for you to see. The pictures are quite small, and I couldn't figure out how to save them any bigger off of the shutterfly site. Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/LeannaAndPaulSReception#
You can also look through all the DJ's pictures here (bigger and better quality):
http://cmsmile.shutterfly.com/mcdonaldreception
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/LeannaAndPaulSReception#
You can also look through all the DJ's pictures here (bigger and better quality):
http://cmsmile.shutterfly.com/mcdonaldreception
Friday, September 25, 2009
Eastside Academy
It's been 2 weeks or so since I posted last, so I'll try to catch you all up on the details of our lives out here.
The biggest news is that I started volunteering as a tutor at a small Christian school called Eastside Academy. It's an alternative high school with about 40 students and a wonderful staff. I've been going to school about 20 hours/week for the last two weeks and absolutely love getting to know the kids and helping out. Many of the students come from tough life situations which require some counseling alongside the smaller class sizes the school offers. Many of the teens are working hard to turn their lives around and are comfortable talking with the staff because it's obvious that the teachers really care for them. Though most of the students are not Christians, all of the staff are devoted followers of Jesus and encourage their volunteers to be open about their faith as well. The school is also very well-run in terms of discipline and structure, so I enjoy a more calm and focused environment than at my previous school.
Yesterday, the whole school packed up to go to a camp as a retreat. I was invited to go along, since I've gotten to know the kids pretty well and will probably be spending significant time there for a while. I had a blast hanging out with the students, tipping over in a canoe (by accident), horseback riding, rock-climbing, and getting into an intense frisbee golf faceoff. We also played team badminton and, despite playing with family as a kid, I was by far the worst player on my team in terms of missing the birdie and losing points. Oops! We still won one game and tied the other, and what I lacked in skill, I made up for with enthusiasm. Even the students most determined to NOT have fun ended up enjoying themselves immensely.
Unfortunately, we had to pack up and leave the camp early, because one of the teachers who missed the retreat due to being sick went to the hospital and was diagnosed with swine flu. He had not been around the school for two days, but we were all considered exposed and had to cancel the evening and next day's activities. I am a little bummed that we had to end the retreat early, mostly because some of those kids really needed a good retreat from their lives. Camp is such a great place to try new things and push yourself to succeed at something out of your normal comfort zone. At least it was a fun time while it lasted!
In other news, I got to hang out with some friends last Friday night. I went over to Kat's house (she lives with Brenda and 3 other girls I know from church) and we made molten lava cakes and homemade whipped cream. I'm excited to know how to make them now, and they turned out all right. They were a little salty, and we found out that Kat added salted butter instead of unsalted and forgot to tell me! I sat around and talked for several hours and enjoyed my time with the girls. Meanwhile, Kayle sat at home and read a book. He's been reading Harry Potter and C.S. Lewis' space trilogy lately. I just got Harry Potter books 5-7 from the library so he could finish off the series.
In other news, our church just started a new series going through the book of Luke. We'll be studying Luke for the next 3 years. This summer, Pastor Mark went to Israel with a film crew and shot awesome footage of all the places described including very rare views of Golgotha (which is apparently now all but blocked by a mosque and bank- he and the crew got exclusive access to the roof of the Muslim bank!). After hearing the introduction to the series last Sunday, I am VERY EXCITED for what is to come! Pastor Mark had an archeologist serve as his tour guide and the first sermon shared a detail that he learned about the crucifixion that I will never forget. Here is the clip: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/eyewitness-to-jesus (the part I'm talking about starts at 1:08, toward the end of the sermon, though the whole thing was good). Another cool thing going on at church is that Pastor Mark will be on Nightline news soon. Nightline is featuring a series of debates about each of the 10 Commandments and Pastor Mark will debating in the one about idolatry. It hasn't aired yet, so check the listings if you want to watch it.
This weekend, Kayle is gone on a men's retreat for church. He left today (Friday) after work and will come back on Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow, I'm going to a training for Science Adventures for club instructors. I'm not sure how much I'll be working with that, but I volunteered to be trained so I could at least sub in the after-school program. I'm also super excited for the Casting Crowns concert tomorrow night. A church in Redmond is hosting the band and, since Kayle is gone on the retreat, I'm going instead with a high schooler from youth group (who will sing along with me the whole time- yay!).
Well, that's about all for this week. I'll try to post soon to let you know how Kayle's retreat went. We miss you and can't wait to see you all for Christmas. Our plane tickets are for December 21st-January 2nd. My sister, Dani, is also coming for a few days to Seattle after her finals to visit and fly back to Michigan with us. We can hardly wait to see everybody!
Much love,
Angie and Kayle
The biggest news is that I started volunteering as a tutor at a small Christian school called Eastside Academy. It's an alternative high school with about 40 students and a wonderful staff. I've been going to school about 20 hours/week for the last two weeks and absolutely love getting to know the kids and helping out. Many of the students come from tough life situations which require some counseling alongside the smaller class sizes the school offers. Many of the teens are working hard to turn their lives around and are comfortable talking with the staff because it's obvious that the teachers really care for them. Though most of the students are not Christians, all of the staff are devoted followers of Jesus and encourage their volunteers to be open about their faith as well. The school is also very well-run in terms of discipline and structure, so I enjoy a more calm and focused environment than at my previous school.
Yesterday, the whole school packed up to go to a camp as a retreat. I was invited to go along, since I've gotten to know the kids pretty well and will probably be spending significant time there for a while. I had a blast hanging out with the students, tipping over in a canoe (by accident), horseback riding, rock-climbing, and getting into an intense frisbee golf faceoff. We also played team badminton and, despite playing with family as a kid, I was by far the worst player on my team in terms of missing the birdie and losing points. Oops! We still won one game and tied the other, and what I lacked in skill, I made up for with enthusiasm. Even the students most determined to NOT have fun ended up enjoying themselves immensely.
Unfortunately, we had to pack up and leave the camp early, because one of the teachers who missed the retreat due to being sick went to the hospital and was diagnosed with swine flu. He had not been around the school for two days, but we were all considered exposed and had to cancel the evening and next day's activities. I am a little bummed that we had to end the retreat early, mostly because some of those kids really needed a good retreat from their lives. Camp is such a great place to try new things and push yourself to succeed at something out of your normal comfort zone. At least it was a fun time while it lasted!
In other news, I got to hang out with some friends last Friday night. I went over to Kat's house (she lives with Brenda and 3 other girls I know from church) and we made molten lava cakes and homemade whipped cream. I'm excited to know how to make them now, and they turned out all right. They were a little salty, and we found out that Kat added salted butter instead of unsalted and forgot to tell me! I sat around and talked for several hours and enjoyed my time with the girls. Meanwhile, Kayle sat at home and read a book. He's been reading Harry Potter and C.S. Lewis' space trilogy lately. I just got Harry Potter books 5-7 from the library so he could finish off the series.
In other news, our church just started a new series going through the book of Luke. We'll be studying Luke for the next 3 years. This summer, Pastor Mark went to Israel with a film crew and shot awesome footage of all the places described including very rare views of Golgotha (which is apparently now all but blocked by a mosque and bank- he and the crew got exclusive access to the roof of the Muslim bank!). After hearing the introduction to the series last Sunday, I am VERY EXCITED for what is to come! Pastor Mark had an archeologist serve as his tour guide and the first sermon shared a detail that he learned about the crucifixion that I will never forget. Here is the clip: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/eyewitness-to-jesus (the part I'm talking about starts at 1:08, toward the end of the sermon, though the whole thing was good). Another cool thing going on at church is that Pastor Mark will be on Nightline news soon. Nightline is featuring a series of debates about each of the 10 Commandments and Pastor Mark will debating in the one about idolatry. It hasn't aired yet, so check the listings if you want to watch it.
This weekend, Kayle is gone on a men's retreat for church. He left today (Friday) after work and will come back on Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow, I'm going to a training for Science Adventures for club instructors. I'm not sure how much I'll be working with that, but I volunteered to be trained so I could at least sub in the after-school program. I'm also super excited for the Casting Crowns concert tomorrow night. A church in Redmond is hosting the band and, since Kayle is gone on the retreat, I'm going instead with a high schooler from youth group (who will sing along with me the whole time- yay!).
Well, that's about all for this week. I'll try to post soon to let you know how Kayle's retreat went. We miss you and can't wait to see you all for Christmas. Our plane tickets are for December 21st-January 2nd. My sister, Dani, is also coming for a few days to Seattle after her finals to visit and fly back to Michigan with us. We can hardly wait to see everybody!
Much love,
Angie and Kayle
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Labor Day Weekend
Hmm...not too much is new in the Hinkle household. We've both been helping out at church the past few Sundays (with tech and children's ministry). I was in the PreK room again, once as a teacher and once as a helper. Our community group has been rather slow lately, with Kayle and I the only ones to show up last week and one of 3 couples yesterday. We're moving back inside next week, because it's getting dark by 8:30 and that dampens the fun you can have at the park. I'm really looking forward to our weekly potluck meals and sermon discussions again! Also for church, we had our "regional vision event" to hear from the new pastor how we will "be the church" in our spread-out communities. Since then, I decided to help get people serving in their neighborhoods by compiling a list of local social service agencies and what kind of volunteer help they need. A few people have already responded by signing up for an event or asking for help getting connected with an agency, so maybe it will be a useful several hours spent.
In football news, I couldn't be more excited about Notre Dame being ranked #18 and shutting out our first opponent (Nevada) 35-0. (Michigan did all right in their first game too...cough, cough.) Kayle and I are looking forward to the ND-Michigan game this weekend. Cheer for the Irish or the next post may be more sad in tone...
While we did enjoy having a long weekend for Labor Day, Kayle and I were a bit disappointed by the fact it rained the entire time. We were hoping to ride our bikes to dinner and maybe play some tennis, but alas! Instead, we broke out the "Ungame" and Scrabble and bonded over game night. I bought several $25 gift certificates on Restaurant.com for $2 each (super awesome deal!), so we should be eating at a few new places soon (including an Italian/Greek place- YUM!!). Yay for date night!
Also this weekend, I was pleased to be able to hang out with Kat (from church) and go to the Pro Club for dinner and back to her house to watch a movie. The Pro Club was a little fancy for my taste and they were very keen to get us to come on a tour (I think we were asked about 8 times by 4-5 different people). We ended up watching "17 Again" too, which was pretty full of awkwardness for a full 2 hours. Overall, we had a fun time laughing together and getting to know each other more...
Well, that's it for this week. We love and miss you all, as always!
Angie and Kayle
In football news, I couldn't be more excited about Notre Dame being ranked #18 and shutting out our first opponent (Nevada) 35-0. (Michigan did all right in their first game too...cough, cough.) Kayle and I are looking forward to the ND-Michigan game this weekend. Cheer for the Irish or the next post may be more sad in tone...
While we did enjoy having a long weekend for Labor Day, Kayle and I were a bit disappointed by the fact it rained the entire time. We were hoping to ride our bikes to dinner and maybe play some tennis, but alas! Instead, we broke out the "Ungame" and Scrabble and bonded over game night. I bought several $25 gift certificates on Restaurant.com for $2 each (super awesome deal!), so we should be eating at a few new places soon (including an Italian/Greek place- YUM!!). Yay for date night!
Also this weekend, I was pleased to be able to hang out with Kat (from church) and go to the Pro Club for dinner and back to her house to watch a movie. The Pro Club was a little fancy for my taste and they were very keen to get us to come on a tour (I think we were asked about 8 times by 4-5 different people). We ended up watching "17 Again" too, which was pretty full of awkwardness for a full 2 hours. Overall, we had a fun time laughing together and getting to know each other more...
Well, that's it for this week. We love and miss you all, as always!
Angie and Kayle
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Unemployment and a Promotion
This week, I am celebrating Kayle's hard work in getting a promotion. He finally had his annual review this week. (I get much more nervous than Kayle when his mid-year and annual reviews are coming and bug him about when it will be and by asking if he's nervous; he's not). On Thursday, we went out to a late dinner after work at CoHo Cafe (our favorite restaurant here) and he told me the good news. Apparently, the actual meeting with his boss was quite short (only about 10 minutes) compared to the mid-year review which was an hour. But Kayle got a nice, long letter about his progress so far and it sounds like he is right on track. This promotion does not mean Kayle changes job titles, just that more will be expected of him in his current position. At Microsoft, there are two career tracks: "individual contributor" and management. Kayle is on the first track, so the promotion means he moved up a "level" in his experience/expertise rating. Kayle has been working hard at his job, and I am so proud of him!
Meanwhile, I was unemployed this whole week, having finished my job as a Science Adventures camp instructor last Friday. I spent the days during the week combing for job openings, reading Harry Potter (books 3 and 4), running errands, and cleaning the house. I still haven't heard back from any of the jobs I already applied for, so I'll probably be broadening my search soon. On Thursday, I went to a new home-buyer class and sales presentation to learn more about the process and earn $100. Kayle and I are just starting to look into purchasing a home and think we might be able to act in about a year when we can save up a down payment. We only have about 8 months or so left in our current condo before the owners move back in, so we've been thinking about where we want to live next.
In the evenings, we had our normal pattern. Tuesday was community group at Emily and Bryan's new home. Our leaders, Tim and Cameron, were waiting anxiously for their baby which was almost a week overdue. We found out last night that, after 2 full days of labor, they had a baby girl at 7:30pm. She was 21 inches long and 8 lbs 15 oz. She doesn't have a name yet, partially because Tim and Cameron wanted to make the gender of the baby a surprise at birth. On Wednesday, I went to my small group with the youth, which is going really well lately. Thursday was our date night when we went out for dinner.
Not too much else is going on now, just a lot of waiting to hear back from job openings and trying to enjoy my time off while getting things done around the house. We miss you and love you all!
Angie and Kayle
Meanwhile, I was unemployed this whole week, having finished my job as a Science Adventures camp instructor last Friday. I spent the days during the week combing for job openings, reading Harry Potter (books 3 and 4), running errands, and cleaning the house. I still haven't heard back from any of the jobs I already applied for, so I'll probably be broadening my search soon. On Thursday, I went to a new home-buyer class and sales presentation to learn more about the process and earn $100. Kayle and I are just starting to look into purchasing a home and think we might be able to act in about a year when we can save up a down payment. We only have about 8 months or so left in our current condo before the owners move back in, so we've been thinking about where we want to live next.
In the evenings, we had our normal pattern. Tuesday was community group at Emily and Bryan's new home. Our leaders, Tim and Cameron, were waiting anxiously for their baby which was almost a week overdue. We found out last night that, after 2 full days of labor, they had a baby girl at 7:30pm. She was 21 inches long and 8 lbs 15 oz. She doesn't have a name yet, partially because Tim and Cameron wanted to make the gender of the baby a surprise at birth. On Wednesday, I went to my small group with the youth, which is going really well lately. Thursday was our date night when we went out for dinner.
Not too much else is going on now, just a lot of waiting to hear back from job openings and trying to enjoy my time off while getting things done around the house. We miss you and love you all!
Angie and Kayle
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Last Week of Summer Camp
I'm trying to get back to posting every week...we'll see how long that lasts! At least I usually post every 2 weeks or so; I have friends that post only once every 6 months. Family members start calling me and asking me why I haven't posted after about a week and half, so I have a built-in reminder system!
Last Sunday, Kayle and I heard that they needed some extra help in Children's Ministry, since some of the scheduled volunteers were sick. So, we went to the early service and served at the 11:15. Surprise! The teacher for Pre-K class didn't realize she was on the schedule and didn't come, so I received the lesson notes and was sent off to sink or swim as the substitute teacher. I haven't even been a helper in that class, so I had no idea of the usual format, and my other helper (besides Kayle, who was also clueless) had her first week in Pre-K the week before. It was a short sermon, and I managed to teach a lesson on being the "image of God" without too much trouble. I guess God wants me to learn something about being willing and flexible!
This past week was my last week as a Science Adventures camp instructor. I was in charge for the Powerful Planet theme again, this time with 21 kids in mostly 1st-4th grade. Powerful Planet is a fun theme to teach with a sea turtle mystery (culminating in a frog slime lesson) and building a cool electric car (complete with wiring a few circuits inside- eek!). My co-teachers were a lot of fun, but a couple kids kept me on my toes and made it a pretty exhausting final week. On Friday, my afternoon instructor had car trouble and had to be 2 hours late plus my boss was there in the middle of the afternoon. Everything worked out fine, but it was more stressful than usual. The best part of the week was hearing some parent comments on the final day. One said she was impressed that her daughter heard a science word from camp on the radio and knew exactly what it meant. Another said that her two girls had been in various summer camps all summer and this one was their favorite. I guess that means we were doing a good job! I was also happy to receive 100% on both of my site evaluations during the summer. I handed in possible availability for science clubs which run after-school during the school year at a few near-by elementary schools, so I might be doing that as a part-time job in addition to whatever else I find. I also need to find some older kids to babysit, because I came home with 3 full boxes of leftover experiments to use as I please. How fun!
Kayle's work has been going really well lately with his annual review coming up soon. His group has been so busy, so they've had to postpone the review process for everyone a bit. Kayle says they're making a lot of progress on the next release and he feels that he's doing a good job contributing to his team.
In other news, our community group is still meeting in the park, so I gave one of the moms a break for a while by playing with her cute toddler in the field. We have another toddler at group too who's about 20 months old- he was so funny, because he literally ran around and grinned for the full two hours we were there. He seemed pretty tireless, so I could see why his mom said he was busy (she said he never stops running!). On Wednesday, I went to youth group and we talked about a chapter in "Crazy Love" about not being a lukewarm Christian. It gave a pretty convicting profile of lukewarm living and it was a good conversation afterward. On Thursday and Friday, I just rested at night, since I was so tired from work. However, Kayle went to a video game night with a bunch of guys on Friday after work. He had a lot of fun playing Halo and got back after midnight.
I'm really excited, because the band Casting Crowns is coming to play a concert with Matt Redman at a nearby church in about a month. Casting Crowns became one of my favorite Christian bands when I realized all my new favorite songs on the radio were sung by them. I really like "Praise You in This Storm," "East to West," "Does Anybody Hear Her?," and "Voice of Truth" among others- you can listen to them on YouTube (that's where I learned the words to all of them in college). Kayle and I just bought tickets to go together and I can hardly wait!
Finally, a job update: I'm applying for several education-related positions right now with a private school, YMCA, and a home-school family. I also might teach for science club 3-8 hours/week and volunteer tutor for a private alternative high school near-by in addition to a part-time job. I've also started looking into getting my teacher certification, possibly through the University of Washington- Bothell campus which hosts a solid year-long program only 15 minutes away. There's an information session for next year coming up in about a two months. The certification decision is still up in the air depending on logistics, but a lot of education-related positions (including and besides teaching itself) look highly on being certified and having had classes in the education field.
We miss everyone and can't believe we still have 4 months to go until Christmas. We're hoping to come home for 1-1.5 weeks but haven't bought the plane tickets yet. I should know the dates pretty soon though.
With love,
Angie and Kayle
Last Sunday, Kayle and I heard that they needed some extra help in Children's Ministry, since some of the scheduled volunteers were sick. So, we went to the early service and served at the 11:15. Surprise! The teacher for Pre-K class didn't realize she was on the schedule and didn't come, so I received the lesson notes and was sent off to sink or swim as the substitute teacher. I haven't even been a helper in that class, so I had no idea of the usual format, and my other helper (besides Kayle, who was also clueless) had her first week in Pre-K the week before. It was a short sermon, and I managed to teach a lesson on being the "image of God" without too much trouble. I guess God wants me to learn something about being willing and flexible!
This past week was my last week as a Science Adventures camp instructor. I was in charge for the Powerful Planet theme again, this time with 21 kids in mostly 1st-4th grade. Powerful Planet is a fun theme to teach with a sea turtle mystery (culminating in a frog slime lesson) and building a cool electric car (complete with wiring a few circuits inside- eek!). My co-teachers were a lot of fun, but a couple kids kept me on my toes and made it a pretty exhausting final week. On Friday, my afternoon instructor had car trouble and had to be 2 hours late plus my boss was there in the middle of the afternoon. Everything worked out fine, but it was more stressful than usual. The best part of the week was hearing some parent comments on the final day. One said she was impressed that her daughter heard a science word from camp on the radio and knew exactly what it meant. Another said that her two girls had been in various summer camps all summer and this one was their favorite. I guess that means we were doing a good job! I was also happy to receive 100% on both of my site evaluations during the summer. I handed in possible availability for science clubs which run after-school during the school year at a few near-by elementary schools, so I might be doing that as a part-time job in addition to whatever else I find. I also need to find some older kids to babysit, because I came home with 3 full boxes of leftover experiments to use as I please. How fun!
Kayle's work has been going really well lately with his annual review coming up soon. His group has been so busy, so they've had to postpone the review process for everyone a bit. Kayle says they're making a lot of progress on the next release and he feels that he's doing a good job contributing to his team.
In other news, our community group is still meeting in the park, so I gave one of the moms a break for a while by playing with her cute toddler in the field. We have another toddler at group too who's about 20 months old- he was so funny, because he literally ran around and grinned for the full two hours we were there. He seemed pretty tireless, so I could see why his mom said he was busy (she said he never stops running!). On Wednesday, I went to youth group and we talked about a chapter in "Crazy Love" about not being a lukewarm Christian. It gave a pretty convicting profile of lukewarm living and it was a good conversation afterward. On Thursday and Friday, I just rested at night, since I was so tired from work. However, Kayle went to a video game night with a bunch of guys on Friday after work. He had a lot of fun playing Halo and got back after midnight.
I'm really excited, because the band Casting Crowns is coming to play a concert with Matt Redman at a nearby church in about a month. Casting Crowns became one of my favorite Christian bands when I realized all my new favorite songs on the radio were sung by them. I really like "Praise You in This Storm," "East to West," "Does Anybody Hear Her?," and "Voice of Truth" among others- you can listen to them on YouTube (that's where I learned the words to all of them in college). Kayle and I just bought tickets to go together and I can hardly wait!
Finally, a job update: I'm applying for several education-related positions right now with a private school, YMCA, and a home-school family. I also might teach for science club 3-8 hours/week and volunteer tutor for a private alternative high school near-by in addition to a part-time job. I've also started looking into getting my teacher certification, possibly through the University of Washington- Bothell campus which hosts a solid year-long program only 15 minutes away. There's an information session for next year coming up in about a two months. The certification decision is still up in the air depending on logistics, but a lot of education-related positions (including and besides teaching itself) look highly on being certified and having had classes in the education field.
We miss everyone and can't believe we still have 4 months to go until Christmas. We're hoping to come home for 1-1.5 weeks but haven't bought the plane tickets yet. I should know the dates pretty soon though.
With love,
Angie and Kayle
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Great Sermon
Hey all. We were listening to the sermon from two weeks ago, which we missed while we were in Michigan. Pastor Mark is concluding his series on 1 and 2 Peter and passionately describing salvation and what being a Christian is all about. We really enjoyed it and thought we'd pass it along to you too!
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/perseverance-until-god-is-finished-with-you
AMEN!!
Angie and Kayle
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/perseverance-until-god-is-finished-with-you
AMEN!!
Angie and Kayle
The Big Trip
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...
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...
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!
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