Thursday, June 26, 2008

More Shower Pictures!

My friend Karen graciously took pictures at my shower on Saturday and posted them on her own blog. Take a look at her great post and pictures here! I met Karen this spring at church and have really enjoyed getting to know her!

Trial and ERROR

Things I've learned this week at work:

When things are done by trial and error, error is likely to occur

Errors are no fun, especially when the error has a large effect on others

Errors are especially no fun when they create problems you have no clue how to correct

Errors will make you more hesitant to try things in case the error happens again

But . . . if you are doing something new and there is no on who can tell you how to do it, the only possible way to do it is by trial and error.

Buttons that are available in a system and then create such errors should not be able to be accessed.

Trial does produce a lot of good results

Are the good results produced by the trial worth the catastrophes started by the error? That I have yet to learn.

There is not much time left for either trial or error in my last project here at work. I am doing a data conversion from one inventory system to another and have only two more days to finish this project before it goes live. From my perspective right now it seems very risky. However, the time frame is set since I soon will be done with work here and move to Ohio.

I pray that the errors I've accidentally created can be corrected and that my growing list of items that have to be done before the conversion is finished enough so that this conversion is a success.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Shower of Blessing!

Trisha threw a wonderful shower for me at her home on Saturday! I'm so thankful to her for
taking the time to make this a very special and fun time. I had a blast. I'm also thankful for her family for making this a wonderful time! Thanks also go to many who helped with the food and other countless details.

I was amazed at the number of people who took the time to make this a very special occasion. Friends from work, church and our camping group showed up in numbers that I didn't expect. I have been bountifully blessed with so many friends!

We enjoyed a great brunch and then had some fun with a "How well do you know John and Miriam" game that Trisha made up. I was a bit worried that even I wouldn't get all the questions right since my early memories are fuzzy and since I'm sure I don't know everything about John! Thankfully, I held on to my "honor" and got all the answers right. Lori was the winner, getting more questions right than any one else (excluding family members).

The ladies also made a special gift for John. Many filled out notecards filled with information on "How to take care of Miriam." These were put into a book for John's current and future reference. We both enjoyed reading all the suggestions which ranged from the humorous (like "don't buy half the fat stuff" from Jubilee or "Let Miriam run the mouse" from Rob) to the more serious.



I don't have time right now to write more about all the wonderful gifts that we received. They will be perfect for us as we set up for our new life together. I will be very prepared to make some great meals for John! Since a picture is worth innumerable words, enjoy the pictures!

Friday, June 20, 2008

VBS Fun!


This week has been full of VBS Science fun with the Pirates Who Don't Do anything VBS. Myron and I taught the three elementary classes in the Rock Monster Science lab. If you want to see more VBS Pictures, go to my church website here.
John's coming tonight for a couple days, and I also have a bridal shower tomorrow! It's going to be a great weekend!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

A Weekend in Alabama

The weekend in Ohio was a lot of fun, but went way too fast. Before you know it, the week is gone and so is another weekend! This weekend was spent at home and out with church activities. Friday evening I had a chance to do some sorting of some of my boxes which was great. Saturday morning brought a nice morning for a car wash in which we raised over $300 toward our Mission trips to Peru.


In the past when I've helped at a car wash, I have been one of those people scrubbing the cars. This time, I mostly held a car wash / truck wash sign at the road. Though standing at the road doesn't seem like real "work," it was still hot and tiring due to the sun. I was amazed to see the generosity of several people driving by who would roll down their windows and give a donation even though they didn't have time to have their car washed. I have never been that generous to those holding signs for car washes so it was a bit convicting.

After the car was was over, we had Peru drama practice for about an hour and then I was able to go home. When I arrived home, I found Anna busy at work sewing the flower girl dresses. Soon she took a break from that to work with me to cut out the pieces for my bridesmaid dresses. It was funny since I kept asking her questions about material and the patterns. The last time we sewed together many years ago, the roles had been reverse as I was teaching her to sew. Since then she has surpassed me and has learned to modify patterns and has sewn probably hundreds of items while I have let my machine sit idle.
Note the material is really plum colored not black as it appears in the pictures. After cutting out the pieces, I spent some time editing Sunday's virtual announcements while catching up with John on the phone.
Sunday after church I enjoyed our church potluck. We had a father's day back-off contest in which the dads entered deserts made by themselves or with the help of their children. It was fun to have the kids cheering for the awards given to each dad for his entry. The deserts were great! After eating, Anna and Jubilee helped me decorate my room for VBS.
We transformed the nursery into what is supposed to be a pirate's science lab. VBS is every evening this week from 6 to 8:30. We are doing the Veggie Tales "The Pirates who Don't Do Anything." This VBS is unique in that one of the activities is science experiments! That's the class that I will be co-teaching.


Many of the experiments use baking soda and vinegar and look as though they will be a lot of fun for the kids. It will be a very busy week, but I am looking forward to it! I actually only will be at church two more Sundays before I go to Peru and then Ohio so it's great to be spending extra time with my church family this week.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Off to Ohio!

In just a few minutes, I'm leaving to catch my plane. I get to spend the weekend in Ohio with John! Especially after an eventful week like this, I am looking forward to spending time with my fiance! We're planning to do a little wedding stuff - like go to Bed Bath and Beyond to register for some stuff and possibly look up some of the places around Seattle where we will spend our honeymoon :)

I have always enjoyed my trips to Ohio, and am looking forward even more to being there soon. I have only about a month of work here, a trip to Peru and then I plan to move up to Ohio on July 19th or 20th. Time is going quickly!

Yesterday with the help of my awesome neighbors, I was able to pack and move the rest of my stuff to my parents house. It's nice to have that task done. Now, I just have to go through it and get rid of the items I haven't used in the last couple years. I feel as though I have way too much stuff!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

In My Father's House. . .

John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you."

Last night as I drifted off to sleep in my parents house again, this verse came to mind. It was nice to be in the house of my earthly father. I appreciate the fact that he does have many rooms, and that they were more than happy to have their daughter come home again. Though I had not intended to move in with my parents for another month, some circumstances in the house I was living in made me think otherwise. I finally took John's advice and that of many of my friends and began moving out on Monday morning before work. There is still some packing to be done, and I'm planning to try to get the rest of my stuff moved out within a week (if possible). I have other plans each evening this week and am leaving for Ohio to see John this weekend, but I think I could make a lot of progress packing in the mornings before work.

It's been a tumultuous few days with changes in both work and home life. But in the midst of it all, it was very comfortable to fall asleep safe in my father's house last night.

In the midst of uncertainty, we had some fun this weekend with a Peru trip pancake breakfast Saturday morning, helping a family move after that and then Anna's graduation at the end of the day. On Sunday, we had a fun time eating and playing games after church. I didn't feel like taking pictures so one of the girls took pictures for me and did a great job. Enjoy!