Women's Retreat

Since I last posted, we have been go, go, going!

The women's retreat was awesome. Last weekend, about 240 women from our Bellevue Mars Hill campus convened at a summer camp for teaching, community, and worship. Kayle dropped me off at Costco for dinner (pizza) and to catch a ride with Marilee (from my CG), Marilee's sister, and Michelle Bates. Marilee was also one of about 8 nursing mothers on the trip, so little Bolder came too. We arrived just in time for the 1st session, relieved to be out of the car because the sweet bundle of joy cried for the last 1/2 hour or so of the drive. I stayed in a cabin with some of the Proxy girls, though the cabin assignments were pretty fluid and we gained a few and lost a few for the 2nd night.

The theme of the weekend was Freedom in Christ- "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Therefore, do not submit yourselves again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). The teaching was very insightful and authentic with several very vulnerable testimonies and some great group discussion. I came away with a deep admiration for the other women in my church who spoke and led. The teaching that stuck with me the most was how God delights in me as His daughter. I, perhaps not totally consciously, thought that God was always disappointed in me whenever I mess up and sin, because I can never live up to the perfection He calls us to strive for. However, I realize now that that is a lie I've been nurturing. Instead, God rejoices in me and sings over me, just like I love to tenderly hold a baby and sing her to sleep. "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Isn't it beautiful that God loves us in this way?

The talks focused on our identity in Christ and how freedom from sin and shame is found in the security of our salvation and ongoing help in Him. I thought a lot about what I allow to "define" me- my status as "married without kids", my job as a teacher, my university education, my geekiness... No, my identity is caught up with Christ, my worth secured by His work in choosing, rescuing, and sanctifying me. "I am" a work in progress for sure, but, above all, a precious child of God on mission to glorify Him. I could go on and on about the things I learned or re-learned on the retreat, and I even came home with a long list of things to tell Kayle about. Just ask if you want to know more!

A few other highlights: The ladies all participated in a regional rodeo competition involving several very funny events. We laughed so hard in the chicken herding event, when 7 other ladies and I chased a very fast hen with a mind of her own! I also took part in a relay that involved lasso-ing another person and running back and forth with the rope. One of the ladies in our CG looked so disgusted as she untied a ribbon from a goat's tail during a different relay- it was all too funny. The event culminated with a line dance to Cotton-Eyed Joe.

The other highlight for me was more personal. One night before dinner, I walked by myself to the arena where the rodeo was. With the stars sparkling above and in pleasant solitude, I sang praises to God for about an hour. It was such a heartfelt outpouring of worship that I desperately needed and enjoyed.

I arrived home on Sunday afternoon just before Kayle got home from serving in the booth at church. He spent his weekend at a video game night with the guys, playing piano, and programming. Kayle has been practicing a new Chopin song a lot lately. It sounds lovely to hear music in the house so often now. Even though it was only a weekend, it was nice to see Kayle again- I sure missed him! We finished the weekend with some serious laundry to do!

On Monday, I stayed home sick in the morning with a stomach bug. I missed my four morning students and slept until 11:00. My boss called to see if I felt better enough to come teach my two afternoon kids, since he had trouble finding a sub for them. Well-rested and feeling much less achy, I went in to work for a few hours. In the evening, Kayle went to help the Connolly's (new to our CG) move to their new home. While he was gone, I read and listened to the sermon from Sunday as well as watched a tv show. I was still a bit groggy, so I took it easy to recover.

By Tuesday, I felt fine again, so I probably had just underestimated the energy loss from the retreat or caught something random from one of the many women I talked to. Last week was the first week I was scheduled for over 30 hours, so I was busy, busy, busy. Tuesday night, I went to a Proxy (youth group) Reconnect event at another leader's house. To our surprise, over 40 students and 10 leaders showed up to reconnect with each other after a long period of small groups. We talked, played Wii, ate tons of junk food, and competed in an extended charades/Catch Phrase game. They hope to have these events about once/month, but with CG on Tuesdays, I'm not sure how often I can go. It's tricky to have only one car sometimes and I don't want to be missing CG quite so often. Kayle did childcare at CG this week and I picked him up and joined the women for prayer time after my event was over. Long day!

Wednesday, my youth group small group had a feedback session to re-orient our focus and make some adjustments. We're going to switch from studying Luke with the sermons to studying Ephesians. We're also planning some events, tweaking the leadership meetings, and changing our prayer time among a host of other suggestions. Now, you all know how great I am with change, so this whole process has been emotionally exhausting and very humbling as a leader. Overall, I am excited with the direction of our youth group and the ownership of it that my girls have recently shown. It's been quite a year of changes though!

On Friday was the 3rd youth group meeting of the week. A local church built a huge rec center with a pool and gym. They host weekly open swims and open gyms (alternating) on Fridays for only $2, so my girls were begging me to check it out. I met 3 other girls at the pool, with ice cream beforehand, and we enjoyed talking, floating, playing Marco Polo, hitting a blow-up volleyball, and hanging out. There were a lot of young kids, but they mostly stuck to the side of the pool where cartoons were playing on the wall. I think everyone had fun and we decided that open swim was a definite social event to repeat.

Saturday morning, Kayle and I helped another couple from our CG move. There was a whole army of guys lifting and hauling everything, so I mostly occupied myself with holding Bolder so Marilee could direct the whole process. At the house, we unloaded everything, ate some frozen pizza, and marveled at how fast the job got done. Kayle and I decided to let the rest of Saturday be a time to rest from the busy week reconnect with each other. We went out to dinner at night and devoured some baby back ribs and parmesan crusted halibut. Both were amazingly delicious!

On Sunday, we got to church at 8am to set up for teaching primary. It was my last week of teaching on the "month on, month off" system. I'll help out every other week for the next month before teaching again in April. Kayle stayed in primary with me, since he wasn't scheduled in the booth, and I loved watching him be "it" for class-wide freeze tag. The kids really enjoyed playing with him. I taught on the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector praying in the temple. I brought a scarf, towel, and headband as costumes and the kids acted it out "reader's theatre" style. I think the kids understood that we need to approach God with an awareness of our need for Him without thinking that we are so much better than everyone else because of what we can do. After all, God is the one who gave us all our talents and possessions. The sermon was also good, about Jesus healing the leper and paralytic. After church, I took a long nap, went to Kat's house to talk for a few hours, and finally ended the day with a youth group leader's meeting (yg event #4 for the week!).

This week, I was a bit nervous about work because I had a new student scheduled to take physical science every day with me and enough students for 35 hours total. However, on Monday, 3 of my students either stopped coming for good or changed their plans for my class. None of them were my fault, just a coincidence of varying life changes and parent decisions. So, a week that started with 35 hours was promptly reduced to 25 hours in one day. This was actually a bit of a relief, since I have been feeling pretty exhausted lately with all the additional hours and evening events. I should get more students soon and I am happily falling into a solid routine with the ones I have.

Today is Tuesday and our second weeknight at home in a row. There is no CG this week because of the regional meetings, so we are finally catching up on sleep! Spring seems to have arrived with pink flowers blooming on the trees and temperatures in the upper 50s all week. It is unusual for us to have so much sun at this time of year, so everyone seems especially chipper lately. We miss you and love you all!

Angie and Kayle

P.S. I will try to find and post pictures from the women's retreat soon!

Happy Valentines' Day!

I'm posting again a little sooner than usual, because I will be gone all weekend at a women's retreat for Mars Hill church. About 200 women are going to a local summer camp from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. I'm looking forward to bonding with some ladies, hearing some great speakers, and sharing a cabin with my youth group girls. While I'm gone, Kayle is planning to program and hang out with some guy friends, though I think his plans are still tentative.

Last weekend, Kayle and I babysat little Grace so her parents could go out for Valentines' day. It was sweet to see them all dressed up for a nice restaurant outing. Grace was pretty easy this time and growing cuter as she learns new words and games. Of course, bedtime was still an ordeal, but we are becoming old pros (or something like that).

On Saturday, I spent most of the day with youth group girls. We had a leadership meeting in a coffee shop in the morning followed by watching the movie, "Dear John". The girls have lots of ideas for our bible study and are eager to go in every direction at once, it seems. So, as the main leader, I'm a little overwhelmed but optimistic. The movie was a chic flick with some cute and funny scenes but mostly unrealistic and not very hopeful about love. A relationship loses a lot of depth without Christ at its center. Afterwards, we went to Courtney and Emily's house to make valentines for some girls in Brazil. The opportunity came through Hope Unlimited, the place where Cody visited last summer. We ended up making 25 beautifully ornate valentine cards with messages and Bible verses in Portuguese. Not bad for a couple hours work!

On Sunday, I taught in primary and Kayle worked in the tech booth. My lesson was on the parable of the wedding banquet, so I brought wedding pictures and cards and let the kids make their own wedding invitation. Even the boys had fun with that! I learned that that particular parable is hard to explain to kids, so I'm not sure if they understood the overall message or not. Or maybe, it was just confusing to them why people would choose to reject God's invitation to Heaven. We spent the rest of Valentines' Day relaxing, watching our romantic short films DVD, and eating chocolate truffles. Yum!

Monday was President's Day, so I had the day off from school. I had some laundry and cleaning to catch up on, so I enjoyed being able to do some backed-up chores at a leisurely pace. In the middle of the day, I picked up Kayle from work and we had lunch together at Applebee's. I felt well-rested going into the rest of the work week!

This week, I have only 4 days at work and a new student from Australia for 3 days/week. I told him all about Kristen studying abroad and he has been telling me some differences between math there and here. For example, they call the slope of a line the gradient and distinguish 5's and s's by making a mark called a "hat". Overall, my 11 students are doing well and I'm especially enjoying getting to teach through entire math courses.

Yesterday was community group. Another family joined our group, bringing the toddler/walker total to 5 and the baby total to around 4 or 5 any given week. It's a crazy full house every Tuesday night! Our women's prayer time was excellent and several of us are looking forward to going to the retreat together. Of course, I still need to find a ride there, because I forgot that Kayle would need the car! Oops!

I'll try to post about the retreat sometime next week, but we expect to be quite busy. We love and miss you all!

Angie and Kayle

Kristen in Town!

Last weekend, we greatly enjoyed having Kristen around. She motivated us to take some pictures of our home and where we work, so all of you in Michigan and beyond can have a better idea of our daily life. She seemed to indicate that everyone thought we have no furniture. You can see from our pictures that our home has indeed become more home-like in the last year or so (though not entirely clean).

Kristen arrived after our workday on Friday. Kayle and I both went to pick her up from the airport. At home, we spent the evening playing some of the new rules for Settlers that came with the "Traders and Barbarians" version we got for Christmas. On Saturday, we decided to use a coupon for an authentic Greek and Italian place in Bothell. Though farther than we have ever gone by bicycle, we decided to bike on the trail to enjoy what turned out to be a warm, sunny day. The trail was paved most of the way though we hit some spots north of the University of Washington campus where the path was under construction or gravel or dirt. We also had an adventure trying to find the place, since we had never been there before and needed to find some new trails. We took the tandem bike and Kayle's bike, and Kristen and Kayle alternated between the two. Finally, after about an hour and 12 miles of pedalling, we made it to Tona's restaurant...only to find it closed. We arrived at about 11:45 and they were scheduled to open at noon. Around 12:20, the owner showed up saying that traffic was all backed up. She was wonderful and cooked all the food herself. The restaurant is a family business and she is the primary chef. We shared warm pita bread with the only hummus I have ever considered delicious. Kayle had a flaky calzone. Kristen enjoyed some sort of chicken/teriyaki salad, and I had the Greek sampler platter. We are very glad we waited "just a little longer" and resisted the urge to cross the street to McDonald's. The way home was less eventful, but we were all definitely sore. We walked our bikes up the entire last hill to our condo and then promptly took a two-hour nap. In the evening, we lounged around and watched "Ever After" (one of my favorite movies and one that Kristen had never seen).

On Sunday, Kayle and Kristen dropped me off at church to teach Sunday school and proceeded to Snoqualmie Falls, about an hour away. They hiked about 1 mile down to the base of the falls before coming back for the 11:15 church service. We went home for about an hour before going to Jeff and Paula's for a Super Bowl party. There, we ate chips and salsa, veggies, and chili while cheering on the Colts/Saints. Jeff and Paula traditionally have everyone try to guess the winning team, spread, and final score to win a DVD as a prize. Almost everyone bet on the Colts to win, so I had the winning guess with the Saints up by 10. I was a little torn cheering for Reggie Bush's team after his role in the crushing defeat of Notre Dame vs. USC several years ago. However, our family has a long history of cheering for the "underdogs" or whichever team everyone else/Aaron doesn't pick.

On Monday, Kayle went to work as usual, but I took a day off to take Kristen into Seattle. We visited both of my schools and then went down to Tukwila to Seattle Chocolates. About two weeks ago, I bought a coupon for chocolate and a romantic short films DVD (selected as the best short films of hundreds of film festivals). Since we have busy weekends both before and after Valentines' Day, Kayle and I wanted to spend the holiday at home. Of course, the 1 lb of chocolate that came with the coupon just wasn't enough! They had a deal running where you could fill a bag with the slightly defective truffles for $7.50. So, we filled 1 bag with another 2-3 lbs of espresso, dark chocolate, raspberry, blackberry, and toffee truffles. Good deal money-wise but perhaps not health-wise. Afterwards, we drove back to Overlake Transit Center (near Kayle's work) to take a bus into Seattle. We walked around Pike's Place Market, bought some fresh produce at a stand, and hiked about 2 miles to Seattle Center and back. At Seattle Center, we saw the space needle, enjoyed a musical fountain, and shared an Orange Julius and coffee. All in all, I think Kristen got a good feel for Seattle life. Of course, the all-day conversation was a highlight as well. At night, we picked up Kayle from work and made a homemade rosemary chicken and bacon pizza for dinner.

On Tuesday morning, we said our goodbyes. Kristen had a few hours home alone to pack while Kayle and I were at work. In the middle of the day, Kayle took her to the airport for her plane to LA and, eventually, Australia. Meanwhile, after work, Kayle and I went to CG with a pineapple and some clementines. I recently started with a new student on Tuesdays until 6, so it will be quite a rush to make it to CG by 6:30. I think our menu contributions will be more pathetic for a while. Wednesday was a smaller group than normal too (only 4 couples), since 3 or 4 other famililes are all sick. We enjoyed the smaller group discussion and prayer time especially when we were interrupted at one point with a very loud and cheerful celebration over a lost tooth.

Yesterday was youth group after work. Two girls did a great job leading the discussion. I'm also excited about a brief service project this weekend. Hope Unlimited (where Cody went in Brazil) sent a letter asking people to make valentines for the girls in their orphanage. I called the office and got the names of all 81 girls they house. On Saturday, we're going to have a 2-hour valentine-making party to make as many as we can. My youth group girls are very artistic, so I hope they have fun with it!

Well, that's all for this week. We're planning to babysit for Grace tonight and then have a relatively quiet Valentines' Day weekend. I have off on Monday for President's Day too. We miss you and love you!

Angie and Kayle

Pictures from Kristen's Visit

Here is a link to some pictures from Kristen's visit to Seattle. I also included pictures of our house (with furniture!), both of my schools, and the building where Kayle works. I'll try to post a longer update soon!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/KristenSVisitToSeattle#

Girl's Night Out

What's new? Not too much. We're both working hard at our jobs and attending CG, youth group, and church every week. In February, I'm teaching the elementary kids in Sunday school and Kayle is now a leader for the lights and powerpoint crew at Mars Hill. Maybe I'll try bullet points this time:

- I'm officially up to 26 hours at EA2 this week with 3 new students and more expected.

- On Friday, I went on a girl's night out with the women in my CG. Seven of us went to a fancy wine bar in downtown Bellevue and enjoyed several hours of food and conversation. The guys will have a night out soon too...but, since they're in charge of planning it, who knows when it will be!?!

-This weekend, we toured two condo complexes to get an idea of what we might be looking to buy. We're still not sure that buying will pay off over renting, but we have been keeping an eye out.

-On Monday, I had a dentist appointment to pick up my "night guard" retainer thing. Apparently, I grind my teeth in my sleep and need to protect them. I've had it for one night so far. It's bulky and a bit awkward (feel like my lips are sticking out), but at least I was able to sleep! The dentist said that teeth-grinding can cause headaches and shoulder pain, so maybe this is part of my problem...

-There was no CG this week, but I have youth group tomorrow. One of my high school girls is leading discussion instead of me. In fact, different pairs of girls are leading for the next few weeks. I'm hoping to help them grow in confidence and leadership.

-Kristen arrives on Friday night and will be in town until Tuesday. We're busy cleaning and planning for her arrival and stay.

That's about it for the week! Sorry for the abridged version this time. I'm feeling pretty tired and need to rest up for the upcoming busy-ness.

We love and miss you, as always!
Angie and Kayle

Happy Birthday Kayle!

As I'm sure you know, Kayle turned 24 on January 12. We celebrated with dirt cake at CG, and I think Kayle even managed to go the whole day without anyone singing to him (as he prefers). The next day, I brought the leftover dirt cake to youth group and the girls liked it so much that they asked me to post the recipe. Not much else was new for that week.

On Martin Luther King Day, I had no school at both EA and EA2. I found out that we only get 3 days off for EA2 the whole semester: MLK, Memorial Day, and Presidents' Day. I knew that EA2 didn't take off for normal breaks like Christmas break and spring break, but I just learned that we don't take off for summer either! Apparently, we get quite a few students in the summer who want to make up credits or continue their coursework. Luckily, my boss has been very good at giving me all my requested days off for Kristen's visit, coming home, and various weddings. This also means I don't have to search for a summer job this year- hurrah! My day off was much appreciated. I ran a whole bunch of errands, including getting a haircut, Kohl's, Radioshack, grocery store, and chiropractor. I also cleaned and did laundry. Of course, I did my share of lounging around and taking a nap too. Unfortunately, Kayle had work that day (which never happens- he has many more federal holidays off than me!).

Last week, I also got a new full-time student for 5 hours/week. I should be getting 2 more new students soon as well. It's very possible that my ~20 hour/week job becomes more like 30 hours/week soon. This limits my time at Eastside Academy, but I love working with my EA2 students too. I still help out at EA when I can, scheduling speakers, writing letters, and grading online classes. Most of my students at both schools had final exams last week, so there was general frenzy everywhere. I even subbed for a Calculus student whose 1st session was an emergency study session the day before the test. Whoa!

Besides work, CG and youth group also went well. We enjoyed soup and sandwiches last week and had a new couple originally from the Philippines visit. They have a 16-year-old son in Proxy (who I haven't met yet) and a 4 year old. I hope they join our group- it was nice talking to them. In youth group, we've been studying along with the sermon series, so we talked about the temptation of Jesus and how to deal with our own temptation. We are also working on planning some social and service events for our group as well as helping the girls step up into leadership by leading discussion. My co-leader had to take some time off to look for a new job, so I'm leading by myself for a while. With the new Bible study meeting style, I went from having no planning responsibility to pretty much all of the responsibility. Eek! Pray for me! We had our first "event planning" meeting on Friday and only 2 girls (out of about 12 total) showed up. We have a lot of good ideas but a lot of work ahead.

On Saturday was our long-anticipated date in Seattle. We went grocery shopping in the morning (not part of the date) and ate a nice, big breakfast. In Seattle, I had my massage appointment from the coupon I bought a few months ago. It was 70 minutes of amazing-ness, but, unfortunately, my neck and shoulders were hurting again within a few hours. Alas...no quick solution. (Kayle has me on an exercise/stretching/strengthening regime that he hopes will reduce my chronic back pain. We also might get a Wii Fit. If it doesn't work soon, I might go see a back specialist to see if there's anything else we can do!) After the massage, we happened on a nice restaurant on Lake Union for lunch. We had planned to go somewhere else, but it was closed for some reason. We ended up right next to the harbor and the parmesan-crusted Dover sole and huge cheeseburger we ordered were much enjoyed. I think we found a new favorite restaurant to visit while in Seattle! Our meal over, we proceeded to Seattle Center (where the space needle is) for our movie. We were there before 3:00 for a 4:10 movie and the line was already very long to get in. Apparently, everyone wants a good seat for Avatar in 3D on IMAX. It was entertaining to be in line though, because there was some type of anime convention going on with all kinds of teenagers in strange Japanese cartoon costumes taking odd pictures of each other in the park. Kayle said that he wished he had brought a camera! The movie was worth the wait- very visually stunning even if the whole spirtuality aspect was off. It's exciting to think of all the cool movies they could produce with that technology.

On Sunday, we waited until the evening service to go to church, since Kayle needed to fill in for someone in the tech booth. It was a special Sunday. Pastor Mark, with a long list of miracles, ended up in Haiti last week to survey the needs of specifically the churches there. He told his experiences along with video and pictures of the wreckage left behind by the earthquake. Mars Hill is now co-founding an organization called Churches Helping Churches to assist local churches in rebuilding after disasters and empower them to serve their commmunities and provide aid in the name of Christ. In addition to great physical need, the people of Haiti and everywhere have great spiritual and emotional needs that come to the fore-front after a catastrophe.

Here is Sunday's touching sermon on Haiti:
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/special/32-hours-the-church-in-haiti

Here is one of the slide-shows Pastor Mark showed on Sunday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esUu2C6kLu8

Here is a link to the Churches Helping Churches site:
www.churcheshelpingchurches.org

The sermon was very touching and challenging and, for the first time since I initally heard of the earthquake, my heart is broken for the people of Haiti. Please be in prayer for the relief efforts there but also for the hearts of the Haitians who so desperately need the hope of Christ.

This week starts a new semester and should prove to be quite busy. I am looking forward to a CG girls night out (and guys night out) this weekend. All the ladies are going to dinner on Friday night, but I'm not sure what the guys are planning to do. I'm also hoping to see Kat and hang out with her.

As always, we miss our friends and family who are far away. Much love and prayers!
Angie and Kayle

Settling Back Into Routine...

Not too much is new since my last post. We've gotten back into the old work routine and are finally sleeping at our normal hours. It took us about 3-4 days before we were going to bed after 9:00 pm and waking up after 6:00 am! We kind of liked having so much time in the morning, but our evening activities require us to be up a little later than that.

Kayle has been busy at work, since their team has a lot to do before an upcoming deadline. Meanwhile, I'm still teaching at EA2 about 20 hours/week and Eastside Academy about 5-8 hours/week. One of my students is finishing up a calculus class this month and is excited about hearing back from colleges for next year. Several others are gearing up for big tests soon. Eastside Academy's quarter is over at the end of next week too.

There was no CG this week, because most of our group attended the West regional meeting for church. Kayle and I have been going to the North region because that's where we live and where my youth group CG meets. Youth group went really well this week as we looked at spiritual gifts and making a vision/legacy plan to set godly goals for intentionally living out the gospel in every area of our lives. It was nice to have a new middle school girl show up as well.

On Friday, we babysat for Caleb and Laura after work. It was Laura's birthday, so Caleb wanted to take her out to dinner. Watching Grace was fun...until bedtime. She's at the age where she knows what she wants and lets you know it too. We finally got her to bed and sleeping before her parents came home!

On Saturday, Kayle and I rented a movie, "The Soloist," and spent a restful day at home. Today, we went to church in the morning where Kayle did lights for both morning services. Meanwhile, I was planning to meet a student for some math tutoring and managed to do about 20 minutes of fractions and decimals before the 2nd service. Of course, if you linger in the back of the service, you might get asked to help out in children's ministry! Sure enough, the regular PreK teacher's car broke down and I stepped in with the 3-5 year olds. It was a fun lesson about the wise men with a follow-the-star game and a story with everyone crowding around to hear and see the pictures. We did have one major meltdown over not getting to be the line leader, but I think watching Supernanny episodes may have improved my handling of the situation. :) After church, we made meat sauce for CG later this week and drove into Seattle for dinner and to buy IMAX tickets for Avatar. We plan to have another Seattle trip in two weeks to finally get my massage, go to lunch, and see the movie. Sounds pretty great to me!

Kayle turns 24 this Tuesday, so wish him "Happy Birthday" if you get a chance. So far, our only plans are to make dirt cake for CG, which happens to fall on his birthday. I guess that's all for this week!

We miss you and love you!
Angie and Kayle

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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