Assisi

It's hard to put into words how I feel about Assisi. It was the most mystical and charming place I have ever visited. The burial place of Saint Francis of Assisi takes up the crypt of Saint Francis Basilica. I sat in Saint Francis tomb for several hours. I watched as 40+ nuns arrived and knelt, saying prayers. I also watched as 50+ Indians arrived and fought over candles to light in honor of Saint Francis. While I can't understand the Catholic side of his burial spot I can say his life and way of living challenged me. I didn't know much about Saint Francis other then his well known prayers. After visiting Assisi I can say that I am intrigued by his life and how he lived. I'd love to go back to Assisi again.

Assisi was literally sandwiched between the clouds.  High on top of a hill the views were breath taking.

We had an excellent guide that took us through the little town. Here is all of Jason's class in the birthplace of Saint Francis. 

Jason took me on a glorious date at the top of the city overlooking one of the castles. It is one of my favorite memories of Assisi.

In the morning we climbed to the other side of the city. Stunning views and the clouds were magical.

I could have taken a picture at every street and around every corner. Assisi was full of picture perfect moments. Some of the smallest cars I have ever seen were there. Literally go-karts.

Highlights of Rome

We have had pretty unreliable internet. Which left us unable to post much. We recently arrived in Florence where we will be staying for three weeks. The internet is much better and hopefully are blog posting will be as well. 

Rome was amazing. Full of tourists for sure, but with so much ancient history you had to appreciate it. I'll never forget seeing Vatican Square for the first time or walking into the Borghese Museum. It was a wonderful experience. 

The Pope was actually in town while were were there. We heard him speak from his apartment window! Even though it was all in Italian we still enjoyed being in a crowd of several thousand people listening. It was electric.

This is Jason's entire class in front of the Pantheon. The Pantheon was one of Jason's favorite places. Truly an incredible piece of architecture.

One of my highlights was watching my husband see the "School of Athens" in the Vatican museum. He has loved that painting for years and watching him see it in person was priceless.

Here is pictured my favorite piece of sculpture from Rome. Visiting the Borghese Museum was breath taking. She is absolutely beautiful and has quite the story. There was so much beauty in Rome you almost grew tired of it. 

We took a bus from Rome to Assisi and spent a night there. I'll post pictures of those marvelous two days soon!

Today we celebrate seven months of marriage! Feels like it's been longer, feels like a blink. I have to say, traveling internationally as a couple is awesome. You learn a lot about each other. Today we will celebrate seven months with a Cappuccino in Florence...maybe some gelato as well!

Poarch Happenings

With the task of getting out of debt I knew if we were ever going to have a piano it would have to be for free. I have been watching Craig's List since May for a good piano. You would be surprised the number of "free pianos" that get put on Craig's List. Literally, there is almost one every day. Most of the time though they are just bad, old, antique pianos that can't hold a tune. After months of watching I'm sure a screamed when I found a Baldwin listed FOR FREE. My sweet husband got a truck and four college students to help him. The scariest part was when they had to put it sidewise in the elevator to get it to our third floor apartment. It has been wonderful having a piano in our home. Jason has been picking it up and I am often serenaded while preparing dinner. I LOVE IT.

With the start of fall semester came the annual Staff vs Student ULTIMATE game. It is a very serious game and I am happy to say that the staff crushed the students. I'm sure retaliation next fall will be brutal. 

Faculty and stuff posing for a picture. They had a blast playing Ultimate against the students.

Rivendell hosted an economics conference and Jason and I had the privilege of meeting and hosting Dr. Jay Richards and Dr. Craig Mitchell. We were inspired by both of them and look forward to seeing them again in the future.

Life is full, crazy and beautiful!

Surgery and Recovery

When I saw the neurosurgeon on Tuesday September 16th, I was hoping he would agree with my primary care doctor, the orthopedic/sports medicine doctor and say that I needed surgery. I was not disappointed. Not only did he agree I needed surgery, he wanted to do it the next day! I left planning to return in less then 24 hours for a discectomy. The rest of that Tuesday is a bit of a blur as I went to work and got stuff settled so I could be off, cleaned the house and prepped it for my return home and let family/friends know the surgery was happening.  

It was totally convenient that the hospital was under construction and thus had free valet parking. :)

What a blessing to have my dear friend Laura here in Minnesota! She and Jason were AWESOME. They kept me laughing and calm during the whole process. 

 My beautiful purple outfit, complete with socks and a hair net! I've never been in a surgical gown before. They are terrible. I'll be happy to never wear one again.

Jason was my rock through the whole process. How blessed am I to have such a wonderful husband and best friend. Laura snapped this picture while they were waiting for me. Poor guy had to wait for over five hours. I would have gone crazy.

For several days after the surgery all I did was sleep, wake up and smile at flowers and cards from friends and then sleep some more. I was pretty pathetic. Not able to go to the bathroom or do anything for myself. 

I am so glad those initial days are over! I am feeling better and stronger every day. The surgeon said recovery could take up to six weeks. It's been two weeks and I am back at work and able to go to the bathroom alone. :) It has been amazing watching how fast my body has healed. Thank you for all the prayers, text messages, phone calls, cards and words of encouragement! I know my recovery went so quickly because of all the love and support I had. 

The Cabin on Black Lake

While recovery from surgery I thought it would be a good time to catch up on some blog posts that I have been meaning to do.

The last week of August some dear friends allowed us to use their lake cabin in Michigan. This was perfect because Jason had a week break from teaching and it was also our four month anniversary. What JOY to spend several days basking in the sun and each other.

While on vacation we started and our first 1000 piece puzzle. It was a blast and we are going to have it framed as memorabilia from our first vacation

The cabin was right on the water and we were awed by amazing sunrises and sunsets. Jason got really good at starting fires with wet wood.

While on vacation we changed my Oregon license plate to a Minnesota license plate. It was a somber yet unifying moment. It is no longer "my" car but "our" car. I will admit that since changing the license plate I have missed my car twice in parking lots because I didn't recognize the plates.

One of the best moments from the vacation was when Jason took me out in a motor boat for our four months anniversary. We went from one side of the lake to the other and stayed on the water until Sunset. It was bliss.

I learned something about Jason while on this trip. The cabin came with kayaks, a motor boat and a super fast jet ski. Jason and I both had so much fun cruising around the lake on the jet ski. Unfortunately, Jason clipped the wing of a seagull and injured it. I was't sure if I should be touched or horrified that he brought it all the way back home to care for it. I do love Jason's tender heart! I just...don't like dirty birds. 

At the time we didn't know that September was going to be so crazy with the surgery. Looking back, I am so grateful we had this time together. It helped us to rest up and be unified for medical chaos. 

Summit Day 12

The last sessions of Summit Tennessee were by the president  of Summit Ministries Dr Jeff Myers. He spoke to the students on Leadership and Wisdom. Great sessions that the students were raving about.  Jason and I both really respect Dr Myers and were thrilled to see him and catch up!

The last afternoon of Summit TN was obviously spent at Volleyball. It was staff vs students. Jason's team took 2nd place this time which left the students ecstatic.

Here's a picture of Jason with the two student speakers for graduation. Anna and Samuel did a great job addresses the 600+ students, parents, grandparents and sponsors that were at the Summit TN graduation. 

Josh Bales did a fantastic job leading worship for the last time at the graduation. Jason and I had a blast getting to know him better. It was sad to say goodbye. 

Jason did a FANTASTIC job emceeing the graduation and addressing the audience with an overview of all that the students had heard and done for the last two weeks. 

The evening was ended with cake and celebration. It was sad saying goodbye to all the students and staff. The sky was even crying as we left, it was pouring rain. 

We left right after graduation to drive back to Minnesota. It took us 19 hours. It feels wonderful to be back home! Now for a quick turn around, I leave Thursday for Portland! Cannot wait to celebrate the wedding of my brother Eric. Stay turned for pictures of the big day! 

Summit Day 11

The morning started early with dropping Laurie off at the airport. I was so sad to see her go. We are kindred spirits and she was such an encouragement. Hopefully she will be visiting us in Minnesota soon!

Jason was back in the classroom this morning. He kicked off the morning with Dr Terry Moffitt speaking on Christianity and the Public square.

The rest of the morning was spent with Dr Joy Riley. She is the Executive Director of The Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture. Her sessions on bioethics really challenged the students.

Jason had the awesome opportunity to go to coffee with one of his old professors Dr. Paul Boling. They had a wonderful time discussing life and what Jason should pursue.

Tonight was the last evening class. Jason decided it was a perfect opportunity for the students to show some gratitude. As the students and staff arrived for evening class Jason had the staff sit up front and had the students raise their hands to share what they were grateful for with different staffers. It was an incredible time of hearing how awesome the staff has cared for the students and how so many of the students lives have been affected by them. Here's another beautiful blog post from one of the students attending this week.

Last morning class tomorrow and then GRADUATION.

Summit Day 10

Jason started off the morning in the classroom hearing sessions by Dr Gary Phillips who spoke on the reliability of the Bible and Pluralism, followed by Sam Youngs who spoke on questions and history of Christology. Both sessions were excellent. 

It was Laurie's last day with us so we headed out to see some sights! The first stop was the Dayton TN courthouse where the Scope's trial took place. It was great to see some southern history that had a massive affect on our nation. 

We then headed to Chattanooga TN and randomly stepped into one of the most eccentric book stores I have ever seen. It was completely disorganized and the woman that owned it had two dogs that looked to be on death's door. We totally enjoyed perusing the books and finding some that were really old. 

We then headed to Jason's favorite coffee shop in Chattanooga that he spent many hours studying at. It smelled amazing because they were roasting the beans in house. It was wonderful to sip iced lattes, read and chat about life.

Laurie leaves early in the morning. Jason and I only have two days left at Summit Tennessee  Prayers appreciated that we would finish well and travel back home would be safe and happy!

Summit Day 9

We started out this Tuesday morning with Abdu Murray of Embrace the Truth International. He spoke on Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. The students were lining up to ask him questions. It was a great way to start the day! 

EJ was one of the students that ate lunch with us today. He was laughing until tears ran down his face because his "spicy chicken is AFRICA!". It gave us all a good laugh. 

We HATE and love Dr Mike Adams! It was wonderful to catch up with him and hear him speak to the students on abortion and the right to be offended. 

Jason and Laurie saved the day helping Debbie Brezina get her power point fixed! Mrs Brezina is an incredible speaker and spoke to the students on Winston Churchill and their American Heritage. 

Today was the basketball tournament. Jason's team took fourth place! Not as good as his volleyball team but you can't be good at everything. It was really nostalgic for Jason to walk into the gym that he played in six years ago for college. It was fun for me to hear some stories about it!