Homecoming 5K Fun Run

We ran in the USU Fun Run this morning! We did pretty well for not being habitual runners. Johnathan did a great job encouraging me through out the run and sharing his cross-country tips. We were slightly confused by the bright yellow shirts with picture of the bull chasing a matador. No stampeding bulls appeared at any point on the race. Our mascot is Big Blue the bull, but they could have a picked a better graphic. Fun fun fun!!

Awesome food blog

On was on our friend Karenpie's blog the other day - creative, intelligent, pee-in-your-pants funny gal - and I found a link to Dutch Girl Cooking. This is a great food blog with lots of cool pictures and detailed steps. Karenpie does her share of food blogging and I have always enjoyed her posts. I am inspired by these people! You can check out the blog by clicking on Cooking with Kay under places I go or go to Karenpie's blog.

We're going to our first USU School of Arts performance tonight. The theater group is performing the Glass Menagerie tonight. The Homecoming football game is tomorrow night.

Yep, we live in Utah...

Two weeks ago we became True Aggies. On Friday night at midnight under a full moon, Johnathan and I kissed on top of the Aggie "A" in front of several of our closet friends - including Johnathan's students. Weird :). This tradition occurs every full moon or homecoming at midnight. Then, the official True Aggie Patrol handed us a card that documented this occurrence.

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything in over a month. Well, actually I can giving my track record and feelings about the internet! We have completed our first month of school! Adjusting to going back to school has not been as difficult as anticipated, especially for Johnathan. He is loving teaching and his classes. I have too much time on my hands; which should lend itself to incredible opportunities, but usually turns into lazy hours. I am trying to be motivated and trying to be passionate about living each day to the fullness that God has intended. I am working part time in the Graduate School office on campus and taking 9 hrs of classes. I am enjoying my History of Islamic Civilization class. I had known only a surface amount about this culture, but I am being enlightened to Islam's many years of elaborate empire building and conquests combined with impressive artistic and scientific works. Johnathan, and me by extension, is learning German. He is being a little language sponge and is filled with all the excitement that goes along with learning a new language. We had so much fun studying for his first test together and I am ready to go to Germany!!! We have met great people that are graduate instructors like Johnathan. They are really interesting people from all backgrounds and we have enjoyed hanging out/discussing things with them.

So I am sure anyone who knows us and is reading this is curious about our evangelical Christian existence in Utah. Our first impressions of life in a strange land are just that: it is a strange land, almost like another country. What I mean by this is that there is a definite dominate majority culture that permeates everything here. I have found myself observing and editing myself to fit in, just like I would do when visiting a foreign country. We have found ourselves being out of the loop on a few occasions. We have observed that Utah is a rare location where religion is talked about freely, a bonus! We have chatted with LDS followers, atheists, other evangelicals, and agnostics. I am convinced that there are not many places like this in the world. It is apparent that the LDS followers are sharing there faith with you while you hope to share yours with them. I have been a little taken back by the "everyone is assumed LDS until proven not to be" mentality, especially because our outward appearance/actions usually mean that we are assumed to be LDS. The LDS culture in Utah, as best that I can describe it, is a closed group of controlled religious people who have not been very exposed to the religious/social diversity that exists in the world. Some have, usually from their mission, but other than that I am not sure about their exposures. What I hope for is interaction with other faiths in an open diaglogue based on gaining mutual understand, but I don't know how realistic this is. This culture has influenced people of other faiths or people of no religion to be either very vocal about their views or to become quiet and inner dependent. I can't think about anything else, but if anyone has any questions about our life here please ask!!!

We have visited several churches and made some great acquaintances. We have yet to find a church home, but are continuing to pray about where the Lord wants us to be. There are several christian groups on campus and several bible studies - maybe we should go to one sometime :). We've been meaning to go but haven't made it to any yet.

I have lots of other exciting things to share, like curtain fabric decisions, new furniture, new/fun internet sites, the farmer's market, beer and wine in Utah, our favorite restaurants, Salt Lake City, our parent's visits, the shops in town, the sunsets, the mountains...too many things!!! I will hopefully be a more interesting blogger!

Short and Overdue

Okay, there is a lot to share about our backyard camping trip with the Rowzees, the last trip to the coast with the Heyens, dinner and a movie with the Clarks, and the amazing blessing that was moving out with the help of our church family (major props to Jacob Warde).

We will give you a quick update. Tonight we are in Mountain Home, Idaho on a broken bed in the Best Western. After we turned in our keys on Friday (in one month we'll see how much energy we will need to spend to try and get some of our deposit money back), we headed up to The Couve to spend time with Glenn, Dawn, Kellen, and Noah. Pink Panther 2 put me to sleep. Glenn and Noah went golfing on Saturday; Dawn and Jennifer shopped for antiques (we are bringing a cast iron saguaro cornbread pan and some sweet Frankhoma pottery); and Kellen took me to Voodoo Doughnuts and the Saturday Market. Dinner was at the great Burgerville. I had a Walla Walla Onion Burger with Horseradish and a fresh raspberry shake...so good.

It was tough to say goodbye to all our friends and, especially, our family. They mean a lot to us, and  we wish the distance between us wasn't so far.

Today, Kellen came with us to help us drive and unload in Logan. It's nice to spend a little more time with him before he goes to college. Glenn was also able to retrieve my fourth grade basketball ball shirt (kelley green, 25, BONNER) from the Salvation Army for Noah. It's a pretty sweet story, but I'm kind of tired.

Peace.

To Utah and back

Hours and hours of driving, beautiful scenery, wind gusts, camping, hotel living, university tour, meetings with advisors, farm smells, twilight zone towns, and lots of laughs filled our week long trip to Utah. We found out just before we left that we got into on-campus housing (yipee). SO, our house/apt. hunting trip was transformed into a "lets relax and explore everything" trip - much more enjoyable and marriage bolstering than the original plan. On our way there we had to stop by Boise State Univ. so that I could be a good Oklahoma fan. I gave that Bronco a good one-two punch in the nose! We spent a day and a half on the USU campus, participated in Logan's Downtown Summertime Sidewalk Sale, drove down Logan Canyon to Bear Lake stopping at the Beaver Ski Area, and drove to Salt Lake City. We saw downtown SLC and visited the Univ. of Utah. The SLC day was ended by feasting at the Cracker Barrel (the real one, see picture below). Randi, our waitress, was so sweet and made our first CB experience in 3 yrs all the better!!! Drawn by the name and keeping with our university theme, we stopped by Pocattello, ID on our way back. We stopped by their Saturday Farmers Market and feasted on Colombian tamales and arepas. Yummy! We also packed in a whirlwind tour of Eastern Oregon. We took a six hour side trip on the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway. We went through the best little towns, Halfway and Joseph just to name a few. Weather was great and I didn't kill us or the car while learning to drive stick shift!!!

11 June 2009 = Four Years for the Bonners

Jennifer changed my life. I wasn't much to look at before, but now I'm almost a respectable adult...almost. We've grown a lot in these years together - I've grown out quite a bit, too.

On the side of a mountain, I asked her to marry me while in Ecuador, and on our anniversary weekend, we went to the top of a mountain in the Santiam Pass. We spent our first year's anniversary in Portland, looking for homes when we decided to move to Oregon. Now we are spending time packing and will take a trip after the 4th of July to Logan, UT to scope out a place to live. We are living in cycles right now. Jennifer has asked me not to let this become routine in our lives together.

It's hard, sometimes, for me to feel really grown-up...okay, almost all the time, but let's think about some of the "adult" things we've done in the last four years:

• transitioning successfully into the workforce from college
• loading up U-Hauls and moving across the country
• finding jobs again
• purchasing a brand new car
• deciding to buy quality furniture from now on
• taking a trip to Europe
• enjoying friends from our church small groups
• serving the Lord through multiple ministries at Salem Heights
• going home to help parents with illness
• reapplying to school to focus on career changes
• hoping that there is more that makes us "adults" like getting a reduced rate on our car insurance, but the best one to date is getting a brand new bed - it came today! Jen and I relaxed on it for a moment, and she said, "This feels better than it did in the store!" There was a time in college when we were dating that we traded blankets (that was hot, let me tell you) so we could "sleep with the other person's smell," but now we get to share a blanket - I'm not sure my smell is as alluring as it once was.
  

You see, we'll be turning 26 and 27 this year, and I never thought of myself as being anywhere near 30. My body sure can't do the things I did in high school or even college, but we've both decided that this move will be one that is kind of a restart, a restart to make sure that we don't live day to day, getting up, going to work, eating dinner, and going to sleep in order to do it again tomorrow.

Jen and I have talked about how we are capable people that could be doing just fine on our own, but any "inconvenience" from living with another person (only-children here) is quickly thrown out the window because of the joys that we give each other. Jen just said, laying on the new bed with new sheets, "It feels good to make good choices," and it's true. We chose each other, thank the Lord - I don't think anyone else would have me.
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Time for some pictures from our anniversary:
The new bed!
Fish Lake
Falls on our day hike
View from a cabin in Sweet Home, thank you Stocks and Thorpes
On our way to the top!

Sell me a mattress

Today the Bonners crossed another activity off our life lists: we went mattress shopping. There cannot be a more awkward shopping experience. You spend your time laying on different types of mattresses that who knows how many people have laid on before you all while being watched by the incessantly talkative salesperson. You shift, turn, look at your spouse, and think, "Now, what did the other one feel like?" We tried a Tempurpedic matress set up on an adjustable frame. The salesperson lifted our feet, then our heads. You already feel like you are possibly being manipulated by salespeople, then they take it to a new level by craddling you in the comfort of "speciality bedding."

Johnathan is almost done with school and his time at Sweet Home High School is coming to a close. Last week was full of end of the year events like senior awardsnight, baccalaureate, graduation, and the all night senior party. This week will be a quiet one filled with purging and packing his room. We are getting ready at home by purging and packing too. Our living room is a grand garage sale mess. If anyone wants to put our garage sale date on the calendar it's June 27th.

Four eyes

After months of being concerned that signs and license plates were blurry and Johnathan telling me HE could see them, my new eyes have arrived - straight from Tomorrowland circa 1959! Although I don't have to wear them all the time, the difference between my old eyes and my new ones makes me wonder why I wouldn't wear them. I have a slight headache from wearing them today. If you can't tell, they are brown with an aqua/turquoise background. I am excited to see my next movie wearing these babies. Johnathan says it adds a couple years to my face. As I am not to the age where this would be a blatant insult, I agree. With age comes authority, right? Guess I am ready to command something, the next mission to mars, a museum tour, or maybe just my own offspring. Oh the possibilities! Thank you new eyes, thank you!

Monday, Monday

It was a dreary NW day today, and it's still pouring outside. I'm sitting all cozy on the couch eating some hearty lentil/squash stew made for me by my lovely friend Christine. What a blessing to have food made for you. Last night at our small group we were all blessed by Ann's homemade pizza and Erin's cookies. We are wrapping up a school year of studying the book of Philippians.

It is so awesome that God has provided this study as we are getting ready to leave Oregon for Utah. So many thoughts about our time up here are swirling in my head. Thoughts of joy and contentment. I won't go into all my thoughts about surrendering and failing that hinder joy and contentment for me, but my time in Oregon has been a journey of learning more about these two states. In some ways I feel so content. I am content and confident in my salvation and in my Savior's constant provisions and love. I am comforted by Paul's statement that he learned to be content in all circumstances. My time in Oregon has presented many situations in which I felt discontent. I have cried, I have complained, I have been so frustrated. However, I have learned through these times that God provides different seasons, situations, opportunities, and closed doors to teach us to be content. Not that I didn't know this, but now I have experienced the love of discipline and I am all the more joyful. My favorite part of living here is our proximity to the Bonner family in Vancouver. It has been great to get to know them. I have felt nothing but welcome in their home. Dawn came along side me, praying for me, and listening to me while my mom was in the hospital. She has been so important to me as a female friend. She is sweet, smart, witty, and a good shopper. The Bonners have welcomed us into their home, fed us, have listened to my job concerns, shopped with me, and taken us to the airport more times than I remember. They have sacrificed for us and provided ministry opportunities for us. We have cherised celebrating holidays together. Their friends are wonderful too. I can't express fully what they have meant to us, but this is a start.

Bonner weekend - Dad's visit

The Eagle Scout

Bored at work?

Much like when I was younger, I spent a good part of the day rearranging things at work. This just reinforces the lack of work I actually have at my job and the true potential that is being forfeited. Anyway, my parents never really knew what to expect after leaving me to my own devices during summer vacations. A good day involved switching around my bedroom furniture, "thinning" my stuff (creating bags of things to give/throw away), and a trip to Metzger's to buy paint. Oh yes, I painted rooms in the house without asking. Thankfully I wasn't half bad at it, so they didn't get furious. Actually, they were much more upset when I spilled pink nail polish on the pink carpet in my bedroom. I attribute this to design shows such as the one with Lynette Jennings. Anyone remember that show? Trading Spaces and Candice Olsen were also favorites. So, today was just fine. After spending the first part of the day processing payments and orders, I set to rearranging and cleaning the lobby. I re-framed and repositioned pictures and posters, dusted off our pathetic silk plants (seriously dorky), and moved the furniture. I really wish that I could redo the whole office! We are about to have several rounds of interviews for multiple positions, so I felt that the time spent was justified.

Praise the Lord! He's Alive!

Today's the day You shook my unbelief.
It happened suddenly when You left behind the tree.
No words express the life You give
Or my thankfulness for the Son you sent.

The Word that writes my name on His heart
Breathed His last for my sake.
My worth was insignificant from where I stood,
But Your desire shows it great.

Today's the day You took my unbelief.
You opened my heart so I could truly see.
I sat, I begged, I hoped for Your coming,
And You sanctified me with Your loving.

The World seems not to understand who You are
Or what You do for lives like mine.
Standing, gaping, wondering at the change in me,
They watch me follow and leave it all behind.

Today's the day I live with full belief.
Doubts filled my days until I could see
You alive, full of love in front of me.
Today's the day You made me believe.

J. Gardner Bonner
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Jennifer and I worked late nights all week long to help our church put on a program that commemorates the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. We were continually reminded of the glory of Christ, His power to make the impossible happen, and how blessed we are to have a Savior who loves us. It is not by works that we are saved but by Grace that continues to shine, causing us to fall on our faces, desiring to be fully immersed and bathed in the Lord. Coming to Jesus, receiving Him, is like gaining the ability to see; I pray that the excitement and zeal that filled me the day I came to call Christ my own continues to exude so the World sees who reigns in my life. The Resurrection is real, and we want all to know of God's desire to have you at His side in the coming Kingdom. Do you believe? Glory to God in the Highest! Praise Him, all nations! Jesus is alive, and you are worth all of the pain He suffered in your place; please leave your sins at the foot of the cross and follow Jesus.

Weekend Fun

Last weekend was pretty eventful for us. Johnathan (Jack) was finishing up his spring break and I took Friday off. We had tickets to the Blazers v. Suns game and decided to spend the night in Portland. The game was an important playoff determining meeting and the atmosphere was crazy. Jack is a long time Suns fan and I share his like for the team. We've made sure to see them wherever we've lived. When the Hornets played in OKC we watched the Suns. We even traveled to see them when they played in Dallas. So, Jack was no too happy when I declared, "I am going to be a Blazers fan tonight." I have dutifully worn purple and orange to every game, before the Suns traded away the players I liked, switched coaches and 'hired' Shaq. We came to Oregon at a great time for the Blazers, a rebuilding time of forging a new positive image. Both of us have been thrilled to be close to a NBA team. The exciting, youthful Blazers are so fun to watch and I have really gotten to be familiar with the players. You can look up the outcome of the game. Let's just say that one of us was happy.


After the game we spent a wonderful night at the Governor Hotel. We woke up next morning an leisurely strolled downstairs to Jake's for breakfast. We had a window table that was perfect for people watching. We ate our fill (it was really good!) and spent some time reading the paper. We stopped in an visited Dawn at her building downtown. The rest of the day was filled with an alwasys pleasing Powell's trip, a streetcar ride, a jaunt down 23rd, and gelato. I bought a felt hat at the Dapper Cap. What do you think?

We finished off the day by watching Oklahoma beat Syracuse. What a grand day! Those of you who are following the NCAA tourney know that OU then lost on Sunday. The OU women are still going strong though!! Final Four bound!

Accountability

I'd like to use this blog as a form of public accountability for me. I hope each day to post my daily Bible readings, hopefully spuring myself to be consistantly in the Word. Today I read Deut. 11-12, Psalm 78: 1-20, Proverb 30, and Acts 9.

Why blog?

I have a tendancy to verbally process everything. Frankly, I think my husband's ear needs rest!Beginning this blog is somewhat of a feat for me (Jen), as I have mixed feelings about the world wide sprawl of the internet. Never the less, I am excited to write, create, and share. As a family, we are starting this blog to keep in touch with friends and family in a more interactive way. We live far, far away from most of our loved friends and family. We both love Jesus and hope that this forum will help us journal and share our faith. We love to travel and explore, take pictures, read poetry and literature, absorb music, and play!