A New Year

Tonight we stay up ridiculously late to celebrate the coming of the New Year.  I don't know why New Year's Eve always seems so late, I stayed up 'til one last night and it didn't phase me...
With the coming of the new year is the chance for everyone to start over.  To begin again on projects that they gave up as a lost cause the year before. To finally give up that favorite, yet sugary food.  To forgive and forget.  On New Year's Day, we all generally resolve to be a better person.  And like most humans we all generally fail.  Which is OK; as long as we keep trying!

Christmas is...

What is Christmas to you?  

Every family has their own traditions and values, and every child leaves their family with those traditions and values held firmly in their grasp.  When a couple are married they begin the monumental task of combining these traditions into a conceivable whole.  I warn you, don't take this lightly!!

A Working Girl!

taken on a recent photo shoot with nathan.

Well folks, there it is! I have now joined the working front! Last week I started my new job at Safeway as a Starbucks Clerk. Translation: I work in the Starbucks in Safeway!! :)  This is a very exciting moment for me and is the answer to many demands on God, tempered with lots of 'pleases.' (not necessarily for Starbucks but any job. By the way, I don't recommend demanding anything from God. Not a very smart decision to demand things from GOD.)

Thankfulness

Well it's Thanksgiving again. Happens every year. But why? Why do we spend all of November thanking God for what we have, and then the next month spend the whole time praying for what we want?

Peace

As is often the case, last night I had trouble getting to sleep.  My mind waltzed from one idea to the next, two-stepping through subjects; blissfully unaware of the growing headache its metaphorical pounding feet were sketching across my tired brain.  I eventually decided, now might be a good time to pray.  And so, in my muddled sleep-deprived mind, I said these words: "Lord, please grant me Your peace . . ."  Yes, my prayer kind of trailed off like that, as the Lord and I both paused to stare at each other.  And then I burst into tears.  Quiet tears of course, one doesn't want to wake one's sleeping husband.

Knitting Season

Fall is in full swing here and as the low temperatures roll in, I begin to roll out the yarn.  Yes it's knitting season here in the Gerhardt household!  I learned to knit relatively late in life (as in; teenager) and I can honestly say, I'm not very good.  I envy those that go beyond the average scarf to knit sweaters and socks.  Part of me despises those talented hooligans...  Once it's warm again I can't really justify sitting indoors most of the day.  So the only time I have to practice my knitting is in the fall and winter, which is actually most of year here in Central Oregon.

Creativity

I married into a very creative family.  Everyone in the Gerhardt family is always making something.  Choreographing dances, crocheting blankets, sewing clothes, making short films, taking photos, carving birds; you name it, they do it. (Well, pretty much anyway) Creativity is a very good thing.  I believe that everyone is a little creative, and has the potential to be creative.  We were made in the image of a very creative God, doesn't it make sense that we too are creative. 

Tough Times

I am going through one of the hardest times in my life.  It has gotten to the point where I often find myself curled up in a ball, in tears, with no idea how I got there or what sparked the sadness... Suffice it to say, things are tough.

End of an Era

From the time that I was 4 til I turned 18, I lived in the same house.  That house has been through a lot; what with 7 children, (4 of them boys), and many, many guests; and only one mother to wrangle them all in.  There were fun times and sad times, joyful times and devastating times; but all those times are now at an end.

Beach Get-away

Nathan and I were able to visit the beach this week for a late anniversary get-away, and it was fabulous.  We were able to relax and just enjoy being together again after a long separation.  We slept in, combed the beach for interesting things, and reveled in the beauty of God's creation.

For the Love of Sports

Last night, I stole a base for the Boston Red Sox during the American League Championship, while I slept.  Had you told me I would soon be dreaming of baseball 5 years ago, I would have fallen on the floor laughing at the absurdity of that prophesy.  Me, dream of baseball? I didn't know the first thing about baseball, had never even seen a  high school game, let alone a Major League game; not even on television.
Before my life collided with Nathan's, I could care less about sports. Honestly, I really could care less.  I grew up in a soccer home, we all played at one point or another, with varying degrees of success.  My father was apparently pretty good at it, so it was in our genetic make up to love the game.  I'll give you an example of how little we cared about American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and golf: our family paid for cable once every four years in June, to watch the FIFA World Cup.  Once the World Cup concluded, off went the TV and it was on with summer activities.  For me, this all changed once I became engaged to Nathan.

Fall Happenings with Friends

Sorry, this was posted a bit late. Nathan is back! Which of course must excuse my lack of posts. :)

Photos taken by Naveen - the amazing screen tapper!

With Nathan gone I have spent every Saturday, and some days during the week, with my friends in Bend.  Partly it has been because Nathan is gone, but also one of my friends changed her job so she has more free time.  We have had 2 game nights and one adventure outing.  I really enjoy game nights.  Jen arranges them at her apartment because of the 3 of us (Jen, Lizzie, and Me), she's the only one with a place in Bend at the moment.  She and Lizzie invite gabs of people and we eat cookies and play games.

One Week

Nathan and B.R.

In one week Nathan will be home! It has been a pretty long 3 weeks and I will be so glad to have him home safe.  I know that we are none of us truly safe, a person could get hurt in their garden, but it eases my heart to see him every day.

Fruit Fly Invasion

My hostility towards fruit flies began my junior year of high school.  In AP Biology, there is a lab that every class does, every year, as they study genomes.  To properly study the dominant and receive genes in a population, you need generations of that population.  You need a creature that reproduces quickly and prodigiously.  You need insects.  In this case, fruit flies.  I despised this lab.  Not only did we have to breed fruit flies, a pest at the best of times; we had to stare at them through microscopes.  Really study this nasty little creatures.  And invariably, every year some would escape the biology lab and we'd have a fruit fly infestation at school.  Which is just annoying.  So began my war with this bug.

Nathan Update

It's slow going over in Iraqi-Kurdistan.  So far, Nathan and M.B. are capturing footage for their first "webisode" to show perspective governmental entities.

Apparently, WiFi is all over the place; so I have been blessed with messages every day, as well as pictures.  On Monday, Nathan was able to call me!  He downloaded some sort of app that allows him to call for free. (At least I hope it's for free).  Unfortunately, this had the added side effect of making me more worried than ever.  They were unable to go paragliding, which has they guys pretty frustrated, but hopefully things will start picking up there.  They are still in country for 16 days.  A lot could happen.  My prayer is that it is all good.  They have started traveling around the country now, instead of staying in Erbil.

Nathan has been getting time-lapses from rooftops.

Moving Back Home

Living with the in-laws can be difficult, especially if you are used to living on your own.  It's a different dynamic; you aren't a child, to be told what to do and you also aren't a guest, to be catered to.  Not that I want to be catered to, but I'm not.  I am also no longer in charge of my own home, don't even technically have my own space anymore.  It is hard.  I grew up in a big family, and all I ever wanted was to be able to have my own area that no one could infiltrate.  I'm sure most everyone feels this way.  I love my family, but I need somewhere that is just for me, you know?  It is hard to have that in big families.

A Lonely Celebration

Today marks our first year anniversary.  A year ago today I was joined in marriage to the most remarkable man I have ever met.  It should be a time of joy and celebration.  But what lonely celebration.  On a day like today, a day in celebration of 'us', not 'I'; it is very difficult to feel joyful.  At 2am this morning, I contemplated the ever rising sun; how it would soon bring the morning and with it, the need to get up and attend church.  But as I woke again, (this time at an appropriate-ish hour), I decided against it.  Nathan and I spent almost our entire first year intimately connected to Antioch Church.  It was a place where we were always together; always their at the same time, always working side by side... Now I'm not trying to be dramatic, I just kind of am.  Born that way.  In the blood.  Must be the Indian side.  But I know, if I go to that church today, on our anniversary, I'll just be all sorts of annoyed and, dare I say, pissed off.  In a bad mood anyway.  It is better for all involved if I just sit at home and read romance novels.  (Not the icky ones, the ones actually about love.  We're not talking Danielle Steele here).  And maybe here, God will be able to sidle over and slap me upside the head.  Who knows?  All I want is to hold the man who shares this day with me.  But he is, quite literally, beyond my grasp.  Even so, I am so blessed to call Nathan my own, and I am forever thankful that the Lord brought him into my life.  Though we spend this first anniversary apart, I am confident that we will spend many more together. Many more. :)

Oh and P.S.

Nathan's parents' anniversary is tomorrow.  24 years!  It is such a blessing to get to see their love lived out every day.  As far as role models go, they're pretty good. ;)

Friends Indeed.

One of the hardest things about moving back home was leaving all of my friends.  I was a pretty introverted teenager, with a very extroverted twin brother.   Most of my friends were only friends with me because they were friends with my 'super-cool' brother.  I didn't really mind, but after high school we all went our separate ways and lost touch, as is the way of things.  Since then, it has been hard for me to make, and keep, friends.  In college my only friends were my roommates and their friends, and I was too busy missing Nathan to really try at those relationships.  Plus, we didn't really have much in common.  That's what happens when you feel like the only sane Christian at a very secular school.  It wasn't until moving to Bend, and living there for a couple months; that I really started to form friendships with people that were all my own.  And it wasn't until I had formed those relationships that I finally understood what it meant to be a friend, in the original sense of the word.

Aaaaand He's Off!

Today, shortly after the sun rose behind low, gray clouds; I said good bye to my best friend.  (This sentence actually brings forth giggles because it sounds so much worse than it actually is.)  He is off to Northern Iraq.  His mission: secure our future for the next half year.  I won't get to see his remarkably handsome face for 29 days (a leap year month).  I can already tell that this month will be harder than his last month-long trip last summer.  As I buried my face in his pillow, I realized just how much I'll worry about him.  There's just no getting over the fact that Iraq is no South Africa.  He could encounter any number of dangers over there...

Our "Practice" Child

Miss Marley Mae

There are those who joke about dogs as "practice children", but those who joke obviously have never owned a dog.

Onward Ho!

The ball finally seems to be rolling with the Middle East trip.  My husband and I have the chance to work over in Northern Iraq for a year, doing video work. (That's what my husband does, and he's dang good at it!)  This would be an amazing chance for us, giving us valuable experience as well as helping out the economy over there.  We would be working on bringing tourism from around the world into Iraq.  Contrary to popular opinion, Iraq is not all desert.  This is the Fertile Crescent, contested land for centuries and probably where the Garden of Eden was.  Somewhere in the area anyway.  The mountains and river valleys are beautiful.  I have not been there myself, (yet), but the photos are amazing!

First Year in Recap

In just a few weeks, Nathan and I will celebrate our 1 year anniversary.  What a year it has been. God asks many things from His children, but in particular He has asked us to walk by faith, not sight.  We do not know what our future holds, nor what direction it will take; but we continue to follow His calling on our lives and trust in Him, not ourselves.  This year has been a year full of following Him and waiting on the Lord.

Shortly before our marriage, we started a year-long residency program (internship) with Antioch Church in Bend, OR; which has deepened our knowledge of both Scripture and ourselves.  Along the way we have had some adventures, made new friends, and discovered hidden gifts.  I believe the most significant gift the Lord has been endeavoring to instill in me is patience.  It is still a daily struggle; forcing myself to not worry about finances and the future, but God continually presses me to trust Him, to have patience and wait on His call.