Out

Tonight kicked off my solo weekend "retreat" with driving to the mall for the first time (by myself), and exploring all things girly. (anthro, kate spade, papyrus, JCrew, ect,). There is nothing like going into these kinds of stores to let your consumerist creative juices flow.

After some quality time browsing, I moseyed over to Boudin for a dinner date....with my capstone books. It was really nice to just sit alone and feel the freedom to read at leisure. Right now, I'm reading a great book about the economic, social, and technological revolution the web has brought. This somewhat ties into my project (although, I need to be careful not to get sidetracked with all the tech talk!) and I especially love how the author compares the web explosion, with the electronic revolution in the 20th Century. I love reading books that give some history and perspective to seemingly "new" phenomena in our culture. Thanks Nikki for letting me borrow it. : )

After a while, the restaurant got busy and I felt guilty for using a whole big booth to myself. So, I left, got a tad lost, (my Garmin was not functioning correctly), but made it to the store to grab some well deserved black licorice and milk.

The rest of the evening will be spent watching what will no doubt be hours of Hero episodes or anything else I can find on my Instaplay Netflix.

love,
e

P.S. I wish I had the patience to document my blog posting with photos! I am so jealous of everyone's!

Ducks

I forget how soothing it is to be still and watch the ducks.



Today we sat on a park bench during sunset, and watched in silence as the little ducks took their baths in the pond and little children tried to feed them old bread.

It's just what our souls needed.

quiet and still,
j&e

The beginning of the end.

Last(ish) semester.

Last(ish) project assigned.

In 30-35 pages, I have to prove what I've learned, explore my passion, and explain it to others who don't share it with me. I have to synthesize, criticize, and analyze. I have to have 40 sources.

From a glance it doesn't seem that bad; I've written tons of 30 pagers in my time!

But for some reason this one feels different.

This one is THE one.

Everyone's waiting to hear it, and everyone has an opinion about it.

This project reflects so much about myself. It reveals who I have become in this program, and what I aim to do after it. It shows my research abilities, as well as my aim to bring intercultural awareness to the forefront of people's minds. It's my chance to put into action what I have learned and to educate others on an issues I have been mediating on for years. It forces me to stop theorizing, and start doing. It's my chance to excel.

Here we go!

anticipating,
e harper

Run

I mentioned it earlier, but Jody and I started this running routine where you build up to running 12 miles a week.

For Jody, that's not really a big deal. Piece of cake for him. But for me it is a big deal. I have NEVER been a runner, or really an athlete in general. (see Bike blog in May 2008). But being in Marin, you see these 70 year old ladies doing marathons and running up and down the hills and trails. And I guess I finally said, "I can do that."

So, Jody teamed up with me to start running.

The build up is supposed to take you 10 weeks.

We did it in 4.

Me...Mrs. Ihaveneverrunamileatonetimeinmylife, ran 3.2 miles.

Non-stop.

Three times.

This week.

(and for those of you chuckling because you are one of "those" people that can run half-marathons in your sleep...bear with my joy.)

Seems like most goals take much longer to accomplish than you want. It's nice to have one that didn't.

running (and a tad sore),
e harper

Our blog sucks.

I know it's not a competition.

But really...our blog sucks.

We started this to keep a "running commentary" of our lives in California and the insights we learn.

But after re-reading all my archived blog posts, and comparing them with others I read, I realize how incredibly lame ours is. (not to mention its void of any visual aesthetics or multi-media appeal).

And I think I know why.

We aren't being us.

(Well that, and we are really busy).

Some blogs are fun, some are informative, some are guilty pleasures. and a few are brilliant displays of whit mixed with social commentary. Some have a purpose, some don't. Some tell the future, some reflect on a meaningful past. Some post 3 times a day, some post 3 times a year. Some update, some inspire.

But every blog I enjoy reading, is an honest expression and reflection of the bloggers themselves...however quirky or deep they are.

Our blog...is NOT that.

Jody and I, aren't being us. We aren't expressing HALF the insights, experiences, memories, and stories in our lives. And we aren't doing it our way.

And maybe the convenient truth is that we are really busy.

We really are.

We are trying desperately to balance working on four Masters' degrees at one time, while both working A LOT just to survive in expensive CA. We are trying to develop new friendships here, while maintaining our old ones. We are trying to discover, refine, and apply our passions to a missional context. Plus, continusouly working on our young two-year-old marriage.

But we don't share much of this through our blog. We don't share the struggle this life has been for us. And we rarely share the equal joy that comes with it.

We don't tell the hilarious stories we have; nor do we share the inspiring ones we see almost daily.

I know a stupid blog doesn't define you....

But honesty defines a good writer. And THAT is something I want to be.

We'll work on that.


Stay tuned- whoever is out there!

love-j&e

Accepted

We just found out our Zacatecas research was accepted to be presented at the HERA conference, Humanities Education and Research Organization. Myself and a few members of our cohort will travel to El Paso, TX mid-march for their annual academic conference and present our findings. It's a big deal. : )

I am so proud of our hard work, and am SO excited to share our findings with the audience of HERA. This is a HUGE opportunity for our cohort (we are the first MAIS cohort to ever have their research presented outside of the University.) It's a huge honor to present our findings to an academic audience, and it will be great to participate in a conference that encourages interdisciplinary work.

Today is Christmas at the Harper house....I can't wait to give everyone their gifts! : )

love,
e

Complete.

Third semester of grad school complete. We never really got a summer vacation since our research work carried on after our trip, so we have a lot of rest to catch up on. It's been an especially exhausting semester for some reason...Made it home yesterday for the annual "Christmas tour" where we will spend a week in Louisiana, a week in Texas, and then a week recruiting in St. Louis.

Feels so good to be here. I think we slept 12 hours last night. While we are hoping to rest while we are visiting, we have a few projects we are also hoping to work on as well. Capstone research is on our minds primary....but we also want to spend some quality time reflecting on and preparing for whatever God has in store the next year at our church/ministry. Plus...I want to kick back up this running thing I have been trying to do. (over 10 weeks, build up to running 12 miles/week.) And there are about 12 movies I am dying to see and even more books I want to read. We will stay busy enough.

Also, during the break, Jody and I are going to St. Louis to recruit at Urbana, kick off our third year of marriage, and visit some dear Missouri friends of ours.

Finally, check out photos from our presentation last month. (Thanks Jill and mom!)

Don't we look sharp!

















































































much love,
j and e