summer recap 2007

here's a summary of our summer. the last two summers seem to have been particularly full and hectic. but i wouldn't trade them for anything.

dedication


me, charles, constance (note her rhinestone paton leather shoes), jennifer and my mom

this was our highlight of our summer. in early june- we dedicated constance at church. my sister in law who lives in nyc came in and brought felicia (her best friend) and felicia's son c.j. we had nigerian friends here in town attend as well as other friends from different parts of west africa. then, of course were all our peeps at church. it was a very sweet and tender day and i get teary just thinking about how meaningful and special it was to me.

we hosted a party afterwards complete with nigerian food. we had jallaf rice, goat , stew, plantains and other things i forget. jennifer and felicia did all the cooking which was incredible and so helpful. i remember being awakened at 4am that morning to the sound of clevers on cutting boards as they prepared the meat for the stews. needless to say- it was quite a celebration.

dates:

more recently we've addressed our famine in our dating life. we have done a kid swap with a friend and charles and i have spent lots of good time over coffee talking and enjoying eachother. being home full time and having charles' work schedule has made for more time together than we're used to- but somehow we don't get away and chill together. i'm very grateful for the chance to be alone with charles and talk and chat and ask questions. charles is seriously one of the most interesting and intriguing people i've ever met! i love hearing his perspective and stories.

boston



we went to boston for a couple of days courtesy of skybus. we stayed with friends kyla and michael who were so helpful to us during our engagement. we had a great time at the beach and met up with friends nelson and nkem who live in revere. we did a lot of resting and talking and connecting. it was wonderful.

cousin visit

my brother's family came in early july. we don't get to see those guys enough- but they're a ton of fun and we love them. the kids are all growing and it's so great to see their personalities evolve. i really respect my sister-in-law and brother's parenting and this year- i saw it w/ new eyes being a new parent myself. aidan just started fourth grade, jack second, maggie kindgergaren and sweet sweet nora another year at preschool. LUV those guys!

vocation decisions

we have continued to pray and consider what i should do about a job. at this point the plan is for me to enroll in a licensure program to teach in january 2008. charles will continue to prep for his gre and apply for his phd program in educational psychology. in the meantime, we continue to pray that God would provide income for me that would allow me to work part time from home. this is all i know at this point. the unknown is un-nerving- but whatcha gonna do? it would be so nice if the Lord showed us the next fifteen steps of life... but alas- He only seems to show us the next thing to do. probably a good thing- i'd have an anxiety attack otherwise.

summer conference

we had a conference here in columbus for 2million prayers for nigeria. it was pretty great. it reminded me of how little faith i have. the Lord exceeded my meager and embarrassing expectations. our mostly anglo church represented well which made me feel so loved and like people 'get' my husband and how freagin awesome he is... which most women i know will tell you your love factor goes up in their book when you love and respect her husband. there were two nigerian pastors that spoke and our pastor as well. we met a number of other nigerians and our friendship with overcomers (a nigerian church here in town) grew. one very cool thing to note is the traditional ethnic strife between tribes has been taken head on. i love that from a ground level there is partnership between people groups who histrionically have suspicion as the norm and instead have cooperation and encouragement as the norm.

buckeye village:



i have spent an unusual amount of time at buckeye village this summer. this where many teaching assistants and gradute students live at ohio state. it is the refuge camp of residence life. the conditions are pretty meager. as a church, we have a heart to serve residents in practical ways. buckeye village is a stone's throw from our church and in our neighborhood. we've spent many a saturday doing prayer walks, weeding garden plots and handing out school supplies to the kids. our kinship will start hosting a potluck there each month. good stuff.

i think everyone needs opportunities to at least feel like a foreigner (but preferably be a foreigner) and feel stupid and pronounce mandarin incorrectly. i've been taught the word for basil, garlic, and lettuce and butchered them completely- but to the delight of my teachers who seem thrilled i even bothered.

trip prep

our big news this summer has been that we booked tickets to goto nigeria in october. we have been busily preparing and cannot wait to arrive and be with our family! this will be my first time there and constance is the first grandchild on charles' side of the family. so it will be quiet a big deal to be there. we will be doing a conference for 2MPFN similar to the one we held in early august here in columbus. we will be solely in lagos and don't plan to travel this trip to charles' father's village. i am both thrilled and terrified about the trip. more to come on the trip soon.

constance

constance is doing great! she's growing and started eating solids this summer right at the six month mark. she likes pretty much everything i've given her. i'm using that super baby food book and like most first time moms- i'm very by the book. i never thought i'd be one of 'those' moms that was semi neurotic and vigilent and makes home made baby food to boot. but it somehow happened. i'm basically martha stewart.

she's still a little peanut wieghing about 15lbs. she still loves nursing (as do i) and can sit up well. she isn't super wiggily or discontent not being able to move more but being on her stomach is more bearable.

her disposition is very easy. she's laid back and very pleasent pretty most of the time. she seems to like to sing- which is so funny. she needs time to warm up to most people and still seems to flirt with boys. literally, i've seen her tuck her chin into her little chest and bat her eye lashes. oye. give this fifteen years and we might have some problems. she particularly seems to like people that are darker complected.

we got a old school johnny jump up (i think that's what it is called) which provides hours of entertainment. constance loves it and it s a great way to have her with me in the kitchen and make her happy while expending energy. we've spent most of the summer watching her do this to date. constance stopped her passifier and doesn't want a bottle anymore. we've moved to a sippy and it's not going so well. but i figure she'll get the hang of it sometime. here's a shot of her:

her sleep has been a bit stressful. she's moved out of that super flexible stage of sleep and takes some time to rebound if she misses a nap. the big news in this arena is that we no longer swaddle her. it was a bit of a traumatic transistion and i'm glad we're past it. this was the first move i made where i knowingly caved due to motherpressure. while the close tight swaddle used to be comforting; now- we're pulling out all the stops. she's got beatrice the bear (who is the same size as constance). this was my mom's contribution (god love her). then there's blanky. i'm hoping that the blanky attachment isn't pattern dependent. if it is- i'm screwed. i've just been switching out these amy coe flannels. we'll see.

this is all in efforts to help her 'self soothe'. the most effective tool for that is not beatrice or the blanky. constance loves her hair. and just lays on her back in the crib with her hands just above her temples and rubs her hair. and who can blame the kid? she does have some pretty great hair. when she does it- i seriously get weak kneed with oochy gooshy love. i've actually began to stroke her hair to soothe myself. it works pretty well for me too.

speaking of oochy gooshy love- i still fight the urge daily to give her hickies or eat her. people can tell you, 'marriage is hard work' or 'being in love is wonderful' or 'the love for your kids is indescribable'- but i guess you can't know- until you know! what a wonderful surprise!

this was a long post... thanks for reading and here's to a wonderful autumn!

chewable vitamin

Lukewarm acceptance is more bewildering than outright rejection.” : dr. m.l. king

the jena six prayer vigil

i heard about the situation in jena lousiana some time ago. the story; which labeled the case as a hate crime- sticks out in my mind b/c it's not often you hear about hate crimes committed by black people. i have only recently become aware of the context in which this story has unfolded and escalated (thank you chelsea).

there will be a prayer vigil wednesday night september 19th from 6pm-7pm at clinton como park.

we're calling it the "i am only one, but i am one... vigil" this is a portion of a quote by edward hale. i feel responsible to do SOMETHING in light of the things i have learned and i won't (as the quote says) let what i cannot do stand in the way of what i can do.

i can pray. and the world can be changed when we ask God to do it. and man- does our world need changed! hope you can come so we can do something about jena lousinana together.

+++

here are some links to visit that outline the situation in jena:

• timeline of events
• wikipedia entry (describing the case)
• recent npr commentarytimeline
• color of change
• naacp petition
• petition to the u.s. justice department

chewable vitamin

"liberty means responsibility. that is why most men dread it." ~ george bernard shaw

soundbite wateland

it sobers me that the only coverage accessible to me on general petraeus' testimony is carried on a non american radio program. the whole thing is pretty effed up if you ask me. good thing they didn't cut into guiding light.

immigration advocacy

i have been following a story that the columbus dispatch covered about a family from liberia who may be split up b/c of deportation. i thought i would link to the articles.

article 1
article 2
article 3

if you're so inclined; write these congress people and ask that they intervene on behalf on sunny and bernice bryant:

senator sherrod brown
u.s. representative steve chabot

i don't know this family- but it sounds like they have been caught up into the worst of the immigration system's bureaucratic jaws. the immigration process for our family has been an eye opener of how involved, expensive and scary maintaining legal status and adhering to the law while being self sustaining can be... i really empathize with this family's situation. i am glad i can take some kind of action on their behalf.

a guest post from charles

our dear friend jess emailed charles to participate in this 'meme' phenomena. here is his response.
.......................................
RULES:

1. You can only say Yes or No!
2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages you and asks!
3. Tag 5 people to complete the survey!

Danced in front of your mirror naked? Yes

Ever told a lie? Yes

Had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back? Yes

Kissed someone of the same sex? No

Kissed a picture? Yes

Slept in until 5 PM? No

Had sex at work? No

Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes

Held a snake? Yes

Ran a red light? Yes

Been suspended from school? Yes

Totaled your car/motorbike in an accident? Yes

Been fired from a job? Yes

Sang karaoke? Yes

Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Yes

Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Yes

Caught a snowflake on your tongue? No

Kissed in the rain? Yes

Sang in the shower? Yes

Gave your private parts a nickname? Yes

Sat on a roof top? Yes

Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? Yes

Broken a bone? Yes

Shaved your head? Yes

Slept naked? Yes

Blacked out from drinking? No

Played a prank on someone? Yes

Had a gym membership? Yes

Felt like killing someone? Yes

Made your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse cry? Yes

Cried over someone you were in love with? Yes

Had sex more than 4 times in one day? Yes

Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? No

Been in a band? Yes

Subscribed to Maxim? No

Tripped on mushrooms? No

Donated Blood? No

Video taped yourself having sex? No

Eaten alligator meat? Yes

Eaten cheesecake? Yes

Still love someone you shouldn’t? No

Have a tattoo? No

Hey Jess thanks for encouraging to start a blog: I will think about it, I kind of feel it is a lot of work, but just may be, I will give it a try.