I thought I would start posting a few pictures at my other blog. See them at www.poolhouseblack.com if you want to.

So after our fabulous dinner of frozen pizza last night, Ben comes to sit next to me on the couch. Wearing his nice dress clothes. And he says, “You have to get dressed like me, only be ready to walk around for a little bit.”

I didn’t really believe him at first. I thought he was just being silly. But he wasn’t! He was being serious.

So I got dressed up, and we started walking. We eventually ended up at the Performing Arts Center downtown. And saw these guys.

What a fun surprise! (That he came up with about two hours before…just because he knows how much I love going to shows like this.)

It’s 10:30 on Friday morning. And so far today, I…

1. cleaned the kitchen

2. made blueberry muffins just like my momma makes ‘em. (reduce the liquid & use the juice from the blueberries…more blueberry flavor & they come out purple!)

3. answered a few emails & worked on my newest endeavor through the Green Country Event Center-a wedding show!  Check out www.beforeidoweddingshow.com to see some of what I’ve been working on lately. (And let me know if you’re interested in reserving some booth space!)

Up next…

1. more working from home. (I really, really love working from home.)

2. learning how to use a hair straightener

3. a visit to NLR to see our peeps out there

4. Cass‘ concert tonight

5. our annual Valentine’s fondue celebration (a bit more low-key this year than in year’s past-but the tradition continues!)

I made this video recently, its sort of my first finished story for my story telling project at church. It was a lot of fun to make. Overall I think it came out well. For my next one im going to be doing something a bit bigger involving a lot more people. This next one is actually a bit intimidating because I am hoping to go out and get interviews with lots of people who i don’t really know and don’t necessarily have an existing relationship with the church. I’m not very good at that so it’s a bit scary right now!

Food Pantry and Clothing Closet from Ben West on Vimeo.

Some things that have been running through my head lately.

Lots of people have been posting lately about being more REAL. Less of the “this is how I want you to see me.” And more of “this is how I really am.” With the pictures we show of ourselves, the things we blog about, everything.  www.thereignofellen.blogspot.com & People of the Second Chance are the things that have inspired me to show this:

This is me running. In pain. And ready to collapse. After 3.1 miles. Not 26.2. After 3.1 and I had trained for this. I feel like I SHOULD like running. Like I SHOULD enjoy it & be good at it. But I don’t. It’s painful & frustrating.

and this:

Now even though I’m smiling, I’m trying to mask my utter frustration. This is me “skiing.” I spent most of my 1 run down the mountain like this. Without the smile. I don’t really like skiing. At all. It’s hard & scary & bring me to say things like “I hate this!” As we were trekking over to the actual ski lift. BEFORE we even got to the ski lift. But I feel like I SHOULD like skiing. But in all honesty, I don’t.

Now, I don’t want to live a truly comfortable life. I want to stretch myself & learn new things. And I’m not completely opposed to learning to ski or learning to run. But if we’re being REAL, then my motivation to do them right now is because for whatever reason I feel like I SHOULD want to do them.

This is Ben & I at the top of Mt. Huron. A 14er we summited last year when we were in Colorado. And I’m not sure that there is a way to convey to you just how much this picture means to me. Because from this picture, you can’t see the serious mental/emotional breakdown I went through on the way up. The tears and seriously negative self-thinking that was going on in my head. And I didn’t make it to the top b/c of anything I actually had in me. But I wanted to do it for me. Not for anyone else. I needed to make it to the top for ME. But I did NOT make it to the top alone.

That’s REAL.

How can you be more REAL today?

We are both excited about our projects. They are unique and each of them have aspects that are challenging to us. They both involve meeting with lots of people and getting to know lots of people, and that can be intimidating for us. Maybe we sound a little crazy for continuing to say that we are excited by being challenged. But the truth is that while being stretched and challenged in these ways is not always easy for us, we know that they will help us experience more of this life that we’ve been called to: to love all.

I’ve never talked or thought about coffee more than I have in the past few months. (I’m not complaining though.)

My project for this year will be to help develop a cafe in the lobby of Garnett.

The vision for this is not an original idea of mine, but something that the staff of Garnett & the Green Country Event Center has been talking about for awhile now. Out of all the ideas and dreams they have for what their ministry could look like, this is the one that I have latched onto.

The idea is to create an environment that allows people from all walks of life to come and inhabit the same space for a little while. To physically see that there are others out there may or may not be like us. (This can be seen by having members of the church come and meet for coffee there, where they may run into folks that are there taking ESL classes.) The space is already there, and in fact, is one of the most under-utilized spaces inside the building. It is in a central location-right in the middle of the building, and easily accessible from all the different hallways.

In our initial talks with those who rent space in the Event Center, we have heard from several different organizations that they think having a café would be beneficial. They can see their students, parents, guests staying after their class or event to grab a bite to eat and continue to spend time together. I envision students from the GED/ESL classes being able to find an inexpensive dinner before/during classes, and maybe their family members can even come up there and see them before or after classes. By making this café open when the building is currently in use (until 10pm each weekday) and providing inexpensive food and beverage options, this space could be quite attractive to people in the community. (Not just those who currently come to the Event Center already.)

Some specifics are to provide coffee, sandwiches, snacks, juice, internet and a comfortable environment. It is an ideal addition because the Event Center is already paying for most of the overhead costs (utilities, etc.) when the building is being used. This makes it so the space is better-utilized. Also, the main purpose underlying the whole idea of the Event Center in the first place is to open up the building and interact with the community. By creating a space that is inviting and accessible, then they can foster more interactions. And by making it a destination spot (instead of going to Starbucks) they can help enable more relationships between church members and guests that are there for a class, or event. We’re also talking about using this as an avenue for raising local and global awareness. With everything from the coffee we serve to eventually being able to help provide some job training to people in the community, we want this café to have an outward focus.

This is a great project for me, specifically, because it allows me to think systemically as we develop this business. I can use my administrative skills as we develop these dreams into something real and tangible (and sustainable). Plus, it stretches me out of my comfort zone as well. I’ve been having (and initiating) many conversations with tenants at the Event Center, as well as others involved in the coffee shop business in this area. I am also being stretched by having a big project to develop into something real. I really function well when given tasks, and often get overwhelmed by the idea of a project of this magnitude. And I want to be sure to keep a relational aspect of this for myself and for the café in general as we get into this. To keep me in touch with the needs and wants of the community, not just to develop this into something that fits what I want.

So if you have any advice on anything related to coffee, or starting a business, send it my way! I’m all ears.

So we traditionally spend New Year’s Eve with some dear friends.  In ugly sweaters.  This year was no exception.

I tied for “Best Gitup” with that outfit thankyouverymuch. I didn’t win, but I’m fine with that.

At midnight was have a “Burning of the Greens” where we burn our Christmas trees.

And try to sing “Auld Lang Syne.” It doesn’t usually turn out so well since no one really knows the words.

(It’s sort of like stopping to smell the roses.)

I was walking back from the store today (where I went to replace my stolen cell phone-more on that later.)

I was walking down Cherry St. back to our house (about a mile). There is a bookstore that always has boxes of books out front on the sidewalk. Maybe it was because I just watched “You’ve Got Mail”…maybe it was because it was a beautiful day & I was enjoying my walk back home. But I decided to stop & peruse the books outside today.

There were several titles…mostly new-agey titles that I wasn’t very interested in. But one particular little book caught my eye & it was cheap ($1.00) so I decided to purchase it.

And as I walked inside a few things stood out to me.

(beware: complete honesty forthcoming)

I was wearing a small silver & diamond cross today.  It’s a very pretty cross. But I don’t wear it very often (mostly because I don’t wear jewelery hardly at all.) But for whatever reason I put it on today.

And as I was walking around inside this quite eclectic store, I found myself feeling self-conscious about that cross.

“What if the people in here think I’m just like every other Christian they know?”
“What if they have negative feelings about me being in here wearing that cross?”
“What if they’re offended by me wearing this ’symbol of conservatissm?’ ”

(I realize that these thoughts are not even very sensical, but they’re just the things that came into my head. I warned you about the honesty, remember?)

And as I paid for my book (that ended up only costing 50 cents…which was great, but made me feel even worse about having to use my debit card to pay for it. It was bad when I had to use my debit card to pay for a $1 book….but something about having to use it to pay for a 50 cent book felt even dumber.)  Anyway….as I paid for this, the clerk asked the other gentleman in the store if he had found the bumper sticker he was looking for.

One of those “Coexist” bumper stickers. You know, like this.

And as I walked past the other customer (who was looking for the bumper sticker) I wondered what he saw when he saw that pretty silver cross around my neck.

Because hopefully he saw me through the eyes of the message in that bumper sticker.  I know my view before going in was a little foggy & clouded with my own judgments & pre-conceived notions about the store & the people in it. But the pleasant exchange I had with the people behind the counter left me wanting to stop by there again some time.
And now I have an interesting new book. And some things to think about.

If you happen to live in Tulsa, and happen to be looking for a place to live we might have a place for you (actually, our landlords might have a place for you). The apartment next to us is open, How about a tour:

There is a bedroom:

A dinning room:

A living room:

And a cool little sunroom thing:

Oh, there is a bathroom also. Where is the kitchen you ask? Well, that is the unique part. There is one kitchen for the two apartments. So, you would get to share a kitchen with us. That’s not to bad is it?

One of the best parts is the location right on Cherry Street. We can walk to Chimi’s, Jason’s Deli, Coffee Shop on Cherry Stree, Kilkinnys, Full Moon…the list goes on…in 5 minutes. We can walk downtown in 15, the bike trail goes right by our house, easy acess to the BA, Brookside is only a couple miles away.

If your interested let us know and we can get you in touch with our landlord. Rent is inexpensive, utilities are not bad, and it’s flexible, there is not a lease agreement as far as how long we will stay.

Let us know if your interested.