Dear Library and MES Office

I can't remember if I ever officially thanked you for the fabulous baby shower you threw for Jason and I last summer. It's always incredibly exciting to welcome the first baby into a family, and we were thrilled you were happy to welcome our Little Miss with us.

I've been to a few baby showers and several bridal showers and I must say that never have I seen such an amazing spread of delicious food as what was available at our baby shower.

You were all so kind, and the "guess the name" game was so much fun! Thanks for everything; we felt really loved and enjoyed sharing our excitement with you.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I don't think we could have chosen a better village to help us parent our daughter. Thanks for your support and encouragement and advice.

Grateful,
Becky

Dear Jodi

Yes, yes, I know it seems like I'm brown-nosing. But I really do need to say "thank you" to you for the many opportunities you've given me since taking over your current job. Don't worry, I'll make this quick.

Rosa was a gem to hire me nearly fresh out of college, with absolutely NO experience in public relations. I didn't even have a degree in communications or journalism. What I did have, though, was a passion for writing and a desire to learn all I could about doing it as a career. The amount of knowledge I have now has at least quadrupled since April 12, 2007 - my first day as a PR professional.

You have taken what Rosa started and built on it, and I'm loving every minute of it. I've had more opportunities to learn what PR is all about than I ever really dreamed of, and I look forward to many more. You've helped me discover a dream - I became an English major with the goal of becoming a publishing house editor. (Though, admittedly, I really had - and still have - no idea what that actually entails.) You gave me the chance to edit a publication and see it through from beginning to end. Thank you.

One thing I do love doing is writing magazine articles. You have certainly not put a stop to that; I really appreciate that you ask what I want to do, what I enjoy doing and what I feel I'm good at, and then help me explore more of those things, while still opening my eyes to new and different options as well.

I said I'd keep this short, so I will. But know that I feel that God has blessed me with such a wonderful office to work in and a fabulous professional to work for, and I am eternally grateful to you for the experiences you've allowed me to have. Thank you.

Becky

50 Years

This is the Class of 1960 from Walla Walla U. They are getting ready to have their picture taken on front campus. All those ladies (I believe) in the front standing row were nursing majors - can you believe that? This is BY FAR the largest class we had this year; all of the other classes could ALMOST be added together and make a group this large. (I'm only slightly exaggerating.) For some reason the turnout didn't seem as big this year as in the past. But perhaps someone who is more in the know of these things and works in the alumni office could confirm or correct that observation. My job during Alumni Homecoming Weekend is to a) organize photography and b) be there during the Honor Class photos to make sure we get the names of all those in the photo written down in the order in which they are standing. So this afternoon I spent 3 1/2 hours (and got sunburned somehow) on front campus. The class of 1985 was the class in which I knew the most people; several university staff and faculty were present in that class. My photographers weren't the only ones with cameras this afternoon; here's the group of additional photographers for the Class of 1960. And this is only part of them!

Called

Today I got to see the finished product of the last several months worth of work. This is the book I edited. It's a 32-page, full colour, commemorative art book celebrating the university's 50 years of student missions. In 1959, the first student missionary left Walla Walla U. and went into the wilds of Alaska; the first student missionary to leave Walla Walla U. and leave North America went to Peru in 1964. Since then, over 2,200 student missionaries, including my littlest sister who is in Poland right now, have trekked across the globe or across the country to heed the call they heard from God to serve Him and give to others. This book documents a small portion of those experiences, including stories and pictures from places like Ethiopia, Finland, Thailand, Vietnam, Pohnpei, India, England, Hawai'i, Chad, Bangladesh, Korea, Malawi, Poland, Nepal and many more. It is appropriately titled, "Called: Our journey into faith and discovery." This project taught me a lot about student missionaries and a lot about publications...I've discovered a new respect for the first and a new love for the second. I hope I get to do some more projects like this in the future.

The Trip of a Lifetime

This morning I was given the opportunity to go down to Color Press and watch my big work project being rolled off the press. It was incredible! Not only did I get to see my project in the works, I got a full tour of the press itself. So much fun! If you want to read about my experience, I wrote about it on my writing blog. Special thanks to my boss, Jodi, for giving me the opportunity to have this experience.

Adventures

Though this afternoon and evening Kayla started showing signs of being quite sick, this morning she was a happy girl. We were home together because our sitter and her son got sick over the weekend and our backup babysitter is out of town this week. So it was Mommy and Daddy on duty, and we tag-teamed quite well. At lunch Kayla and I went in to see Daddy, brought him lunch, and then Daddy took Kayla home while Mommy got some things done at the office and went to a meeting. She thought it was a blast to sit on the table and move the books around. Then, this evening we went for a walk and she was just starting to feel sick. She talked herself to sleep in the stroller.

Inside & Out

This was my office today. It was a ton more comfortable than my regular office, I have to admit. Our primary sitter was sick (as was her son) and our backup sitter is out of town for the week. So I worked from home today, and got a surprising amount done. Kayla entertained herself VERY well; she sat on the blanket there and played alone for an hour at a time. She has discovered a new game: Pull everything out of the toy basket, play with it, and then roll/crawl around for a while until it gets boring, then crawl over to Mom and be picked up. We played this game several times today, and I'll admit I found it to be a fun game.

In other news...remember the bulbs I planted after my parents ripped out my mostly dead rose bushes for me? Well, they're almost all in full bloom now and I'm loving the vibrant colours around my front porch.

Heeellllp Meeeee!!!

Today was pretty much hell. It wasn't anyone's fault, it just worked out that way. As I was walking out the door this morning, my sitter called and said she was sick and couldn't watch Kayla. It being last-minute, I had no options but to take her to work with me. At first I figured this was a good thing; it would save us some money and also some milk, since we wouldn't be using bottles and I could pump during the day, too. To spare you the details, it was a really bad day during which I felt like screaming and napping, alternatively. It is nearly impossible to get ANYTHING done with a baby around, and she was sick to boot, so she didn't want to play by herself; she wanted Mommy to hold her. So with two flailing hands and arms in front of me, I attempted to type with one hand and get emails sent, stories written and tasks completed. Needless to say I will NOT be doing that again. I've definitely learned the benefits to have a babysitter. The fun part of the day came when Daddy came to eat lunch with us. He held Kayla and played with her so Mommy could have a break. It was lovely. And at that point during the day, I was able to laugh and enjoy my daughter. Here she is reaching for the camera after Daddy put her hood up. She was trying to get it off her head and it was hilarious, but I couldn't get that part on camera.

Take-Your-Kid-to-Work Day

This afternoon Kayla ended up spending a couple of hours in the office with me. I had her on my lap for a while, during which time she attempted to help me get some things done. She even typed a letter to Daddy while I did other things at my desk. (It was complete with formatting, including underlining, indentation and bold. Don't ask me how...) Finally, I had to put her down in order to finish some things. She did very well entertaining herself with the random items I found for her to play with. Mostly she just rolled around on the floor, as you can see below.

A Change in Perspective

For the past month all I've seen out my office window has been fog, fog and more fog. There was one day I couldn't even see the church, which is half a block away. Today, though, the sun came out and it surprised us all...unfortunately it came out just before sundown and was therefore only around for a few minutes before sinking below the horizon. This was the view out my office window before that happened.

Exciting Prospect

This week and next I'm spending all my work time focusing on the student missions project I ended up being project manager of. At first I panicked, thinking, "I have no idea what I'm doing." Then I realized that I can do this, and it will be a lot of fun. Then I got my deadline: Feb. 22. That's what my boss told me on Friday. So as of yesterday morning I'm excused from almost all other work in order to get this HUGE project done. What is it? Well...I'm putting together a book filled with stories, memories, thoughts and photos from student missionaries over the last 50 years. It's a commemorative book and will be more of an art piece than anything. I'm excited about it, and am so thankful to my bosses for giving me the opportunity to tackle something like this. They've been overwhelmingly supportive and I am so appreciative of that. The book will be 32 pages. I'm authorized to get overtime to get this done, as we need it printed by the end of April in time for our student missions reunion during alumni weekend. It's been fun reading through the stories, now to tighten up the text and select photos to get the first draft to the designer by the 22nd...

"What'cha Doin', Mommy?"

Jason and Kayla came to hang out with me at work today. The power went out at home and he couldn't heat her bottle, and no one else was at the office, so they came and had lunch, talked, and hung out for a couple of hours while I worked. During lunch we put Kayla on her tummy and I couldn't help but take a picture, because it reminded me of a picture of my mom when she was 3 months old. (See below.)

Progress

They are making pretty good time expanding the shell station near my office. It's known as the "DX" to the WWU community, since it used to be called the Dairy Express. WWU used to own a dairy and they sold ice cream, milk, butter, cheese, etc. It's now a gas station and convenience store, and it sees hundreds of people every day. (The average number of sandwiches they make in a week is over 600.) They're nearly doubling its size, adding more indoor and outdoor seating, additional menu items (including smoothies - YAY!), and more. I'm excited to see it finished, and have had fun watching it grow. Today was a decent day to work outside, I'd say. Not many of those days left I'm afraid.

Sleeping on the Job

Today Jason went to get a final load of wood. We should be pretty well stocked for the winter, which is nice, because that means we won't freeze! I was supposed to call Ruth (who is in Poland, if you recall) at 10 a.m., but...my phone broke. We don't have a land line, just our cell phones, and my BlackBerry Storm's screen completely broke. I couldn't use it at all unless someone called me. I discovered this at 9:45 a.m. So I grabbed Kayla, threw on some clothes (I hadn't even showered yet!), and rushed to my office. I got in around 10:05, dialed the phone card number, and...it didn't work. After three tries, I finally got online to see if Ruth was there. She was. After a few more tries, we finally figured out the problem (there was an extra zero where there shouldn't have been one), I got to talk to her. After confusing the Polish lady who speaks no English and answered the phone. Meanwhile, Kayla fell asleep on my office floor, so when I was done talking to Ruth, I clocked in and did some work. It was a pretty nice morning!

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho...

I went back to work today. It wasn't too bad...I'm only working mornings this week, and next Monday I start full time again. Mostly what I did this morning was start going through my email, emailed a few people to let them know I was back and to ask them how projects were going, and meet with a couple of coworkers to reclaim some responsibilities I'd shuffled around for my leave time. Oh, and I added a few new pictures to my office door:

Yardwork

Today we worked outside. Well, my parents did. I spent most of my time carrying a baby around, feeding her, changing her diaper, and then starting all over again. She was in a pretty good mood for most of the day, but she's still pretty high maintenance. Weird. So now our patio has no half-dead, dirty, creeping ivy on the little mini-fence the previous owners put up. The fence is still there, but it's completely empty. Jason wants to put berry bushes there...I'm not sure yet and am contemplating flowering climbing plants. All of the ivy that was torn out filled our garbage can, which was emptied just this morning. My dad did a pretty good job of getting it all in there, though! He tried several different techniques...

Progress

Today was a busy day. And instead of shopping and eating out, it was full of helpful, productive things. Jason was at work, which is beneficial because that means a paycheck. While he worked on that, Mom and I got fabric for curtains for the living room (something I've been thinking about doing for a while now), took Kayla to the hospital and had her weighed, and stopped by my office for a quick surprise birthday celebration for my boss. Meanwhile, Dad went to Home Depot, figured out what options we had for shelving for our living room closet, and presented the options to me when I arrived at the store. He then had the wood cut, loaded it into the van, and took it home and started on the shelving. He got one half of the closet done, and will finish the other half tomorrow morning. We can check that off of our list of things to accomplish this week! Next: Ripping out ivy? Spraying for spiders and cleaning the webs off the house? Putting the living room back together? Who knows...there are lots of options!

The Last Day?

Well, supposedly today was my last day of work until the end of October. Okay, okay...my last day of being in the OFFICE. I do realize that having a baby is not work-free. (That's to parry any comments to that effect.) Here I am, attempting to finish up last-minute tasks just prior to getting off work. Note my constant companion: milk. It's been my best friend since fruit juice and pop were stricken from the menu. Those peaches are for Sabbath breakfast, courtesy of my student worker, Sarah. They smell heavenly!

When we got done with work, Jason and I took Ruth with us to run some errands, and then headed home to do chores. Ruth volunteered to take the cardboard to the recycling place (just because she wanted to drive) and she somehow got lost at Safeway and the Dollar Store on the way. Which ended up working out because we needed wasp spray anyway. While out, she also bought Jason and I a "Happy Baby" gift:


So after we put those in water, Ruth and I set about making cupcakes - yes, from scratch - for small group tonight. Unfortunately they didn't turn out well...I'm sure they turned out "right" it's just a gross recipe. The frosting was nasty, too - cream cheese and white chocolate. Sad waste of chocolate, really. Fortunately there wasn't a whole lot in the recipe - just some unsweetened cocoa powder and a few chocolate chips. And...we were entertained by making the frosting. When we were done mixing the cream cheese and melted white chocolate, I saw a hippopotamus, and Ruth saw a frog. What do YOU see in this completely accidental "frosting blot"?

It Marred My Day

Today while stuffing envelopes in my office, my student worker and I heard a loud buzzing and engine roaring. Looking out our windows, this is what we saw. That's the back of the only gas station in College Place (Shell Station), and they are starting work to expand the convenience store and deli part of the place. Apparently this means cutting down a tree that was quite obviously there LONG before the station was, and if you look closely at its location, it's not actually in the way, and it wouldn't take a ton more thinking to figure out how to arrange the expansion plans to incorporate the beautiful tree. Many people enjoyed eating under this gorgeous giant, and I was extremely saddened and upset to see them destroying it in less than a day. And destroy it they did.


My student worker, Sarah, decided she wanted to know how old the tree was. I mentioned that the only way she could know is to count the rings. So...she went and asked for a piece of the trunk so she could do just that. When she asked, shouting over the noise of the cherry-picker and other machinery, the guy looked at her like she was crazy. "Why do you want it?" he asked. She said, "To have...and to count the rings." He shrugged, grabbed his chainsaw, and went back up to the top of the trunk to cut her a slice. In spite of its thin-ness, it was quite a heavy piece of wood! It needs to dry out, but we do intend to find out how old this tree was. For now, its one spared section is sitting in our office.

Creativity

Tonight Jason and I went to his office's annual staff dinner. Though in the past it's been at a local restaurant voted on by the library staff, this year we saved money by having a picnic in the park. The library provided enchiladas and paella (a Spanish rice dish with veggies and soy non-meat products, pronounced pie-EH-uh), and everyone else brought either dessert or a salad. This adorable cake was on the table when we arrived, and I loved it so much I had to get a picture of it. The cake was delicious, too, but we almost hated to cut into the poor little owl. It was so cute! Thanks to Christy for the adorable, yummy cake and for getting me a picture of it.