What do you get when you take a yearbook, two babies, and Frodo and mix them all together?

How quickly time flies! After 3 weeks of time off at home, I am heading back to work at Walsworth tomorrow. I will still technically be part of the Art Department, but for the time being will do only Creative Services work. (Creative Services is the department Jason is in, the department I have wanted to be in, but there hasn't been a position open.) A position has opened up in Creative Services, and as soon as they get to all the formalities - paperwork, interviews, etc - I expect to be promoted to that department! The work I will be doing for now is kind of a temporary position, to 1) get me back to work sooner, and 2) help Creative Services get a jump on the 2007 covers. I'm excited to be moving forward in my career, and get into a more consistently creative position! We are still looking for jobs in the Twin Cities, and sticking to the plan to leave when one of us finds a position, but this will be a great change until that time comes. (And no more getting up at 5:30!)

Job searching has been slow, at times frustrating. We seem to be waiting on a lot of companies to look at our stuff. We know that the right job will come along at the right time, and are trusting that God knows exactly where we need to be, and when. But it's definitely not easy! We are so anxious and excited to get to the Cities and enjoy the art, culture, and expanded shopping opportunities (i.e. not just Walmart) that are there. Prayers for contentment during the rest of our time here would be great.

There is exciting stuff going on in our families lately! Natalie (Jason's sister) is having twins tomorrow! Yay! I am SOOO excited to be an aunt, and Jason is excited to be an uncle! We are both happy that we're here to be a part of that, and will enjoy playing with our new nephews! Emily (my sister) just left for college this past week, and seems to be enjoying it so far. Wahoo for college!

In other news, Lord of the Rings has overtaken our house. Jason is now the proud owner of the entire super-extended, multi-disc, hours-and-hours-and-hours of stuff to watch, all-the-Elijah-Wood-you-can-handle LOTR trilogy. Each of the three movies (which are extended from their 3-hour theater version into about 4 hours each) comes with several discs of "extras." He has made it through ALL of the 1st movie stuff, and we are currently digging into the second. I expect him to start dressing in a green cape and calling me his "Precious" any time now.

That's the latest on us, we'd love to hear from you!

-Becky

Life with the Daums

It stormed here late last night... the power at our house kept going on and off, on and off, over and over. It was driving us nuts because every time the power came back on our answering machine would talk to us. Finally Jason got up and unplugged the phone - and the power went out for good - so we got some sleep. Until it got so hot that he couldn't stand it, and he got up again to open all the windows and try to cool down the house. So it was kind of an interrupted night, but it will be worth it if the weather actually cools off for a while.

Jason is on his way to sunny Orange County for the largest yearbook workshop in the country! It's his last big trip for a while, thank goodness. And tomorrow I am on my way to Milwaukee to visit Theresa - 8 hours in the car, and then fun times in Wisconsin! Please pray for safety for both of us - I get nervous when he travels, and I know he gets nervous about me driving for that long.

In other news, I am officially laid off as of tomorrow! I am very ready for a break from work, and I'm excited to have time to relax, really dig into the job search, and get some things done around the house.

Also, we just decided 2 days ago that we will be going camping next weekend, and we are SOOOO excited about it! We have most of the camping stuff we need and have been itching to use it since we've been married - this is the first weekend we actually have time to do it. We will be going down to Lake of the Ozarks, and staying at the state park, where we can go spelunking, fishing, swimming, boating, horseback riding, hiking, and more! Here is a picture of our campsite!



Things are busy around here, but exciting!

Ernest Hemingway

In celebration of Hemingway's birthday:

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."
Ernest Hemingway

A Random Entry (with a little help from Google)

Today is Friday for me! It's even better because it's a surprise Friday - my boss just told me that I have a "lack of work" day tomorrow. I will be sleeping in and eating cereal while I watch TLC. Awesome. Today is also my half birthday, so if you're looking for an excuse to celebrate, that's a good one.

Congratulations to Greg and Kelsey who are now engaged! Wahoo!

The job search continues... We've only been officially applying for about a week and a half, but it FEELS like it's been forever. We are definitely getting antsy already - we need to work on being patient, so we don't go crazy. We've both started following up on a few applications and gotten some responses, so that's exciting. Any response whatsoever = progress, which is good.

Have an excellent weekend. I will try to get Jason to write on here soon - it really is a joint blog, I promise!

JOY

Wow. I am a NERD. So, apparently, I had some setting turned on for our blog that made it necessary for ME to publish the comments everyone left, before they would show up on the site. Well, since I didn't know about that feature, I never checked for comments. So here I am looking like some kind of comment-starved fiend, when actually there are lovely comments just waiting for my "approval." I apologize to anyone who thought I was being a tease.

I think I fixed it. Your comments may now flourish in peace.

Earlier this week we found the BEST surprise - we went to a conservation area only about 5 miles away from our house, and upon exploring it a bit we found a HUGE field of sunflowers. It was amazing - I'd never seen so many sunflowers all together like that. Such a beautiful moment. I can't put into words the joy and excitement of seeing them, I felt like a little kid. It was a completely unexpected sight. We walked into the middle of the field and just marveled at all the flowers - some taller than us! Each one so intricate and gorgeous. Plans to go back and have a sunflower photo shoot are in the works. We also picked about 13 cups of blackberries in the same area. One great thing about where we live: getting out into the middle of "nowhere" to enjoy creation is only minutes away!

July Already?!?

Happy (belated) 4th of July!
We had a great, LONG weekend over the 4th - after Jason got back from Detroit, we packed up and headed up to Minnesota for the weekend. We had a very relaxing visit, which was nice. And it was the longest vacation we've had since our honeymoon! Our trip to MN included: going to a church in Apple Valley to check it out (we like it - great Hispanic ministry, worship, etc), seeing "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Superman," fun lake time at my aunt and uncle's house, badminton, fireworks with Mom, and sleeping on our screen porch. It was great. We came back on Wednesday, which means a two-day work week for me! Jason is currently in Sonoma, CA working his magic with the yearbook kids out there.

In other news, we have been working on our resumes/portfolios/website etc. like crazy, and I am pleased to announce that the job search has officially begun! In fact, it began at about 10:00 pm on Wednesday night when Jason ceremoniously applied to his first job. I hope to follow shortly. Prayers for a job or two for us would be very appreciated!

I think that's all that's new here - have a great weekend!

b

A Lovely Weekend in June

As promised... here are a few pictures from Emily's graduation weekend!

This one goes out to Theresa in the office of a Milwaukee river tour company...

Hello, friends. It's been a while - we promise to make an effort to update more often (especially if you promise to comment more often - it's a two-way street, folks).

This weekend we were up in Minnesota for Emily's graduation from Saint Paul Academy! We thought it would be rainy and cold for the outdoor ceremony, but the sun came out just in time. Good thing for all the girls in white summer dresses. Emily looked beautiful, of course, and the ceremony went well. I can't believe my little sister is done with high school - I'm so proud of her! I wish I had a picture to post here - maybe Theresa can help me out (hint, hint)?

We also got to see a lot of extended family this weekend, which was great. I have really missed everyone up there, especially since we hadn't had the opportunity to visit in such a long time. But no worries, we'll be up at least 3 more times this summer. Maybe more if our job search goes well and we are there to interview! Speaking of which, I want to thank everyone who has been praying for our future plans and guidance regarding where/when we are to go. We have felt a lot of clarity in the past few weeks, a welcome change from being overwhelmed by all the possibilities. Anxiousness is being replaced by excitement as we gain more confidence and direction about our life after Meadville. So thank you, and please continue to think of us as we continue to figure things out!

Hmmm.... that's about all that's new here. We have a busy couple of weeks ahead, and Jason starts traveling soon. The summer is going by so quickly!

Freelance is Awesome

Hey everyone! I'm about to go home for the day, but I just wanted to post quickly and say that I now have an online portfolio with a bunch of my work on it, as well as an updated resume, etc. Check it out! I'm excited. If anyone out there needs a freelancer, I'm your gal. Have a great weekend! Oh yeah, we're having a yard sale tomorrow, so if anyone is in the area and wants to buy some of my (or Jason's) old clothes, stop by! ;-)

A New Week

This past weekend was so nice and relaxing! It was nice just to have Jason back, after his trip to South Carolina. He got to come home a day early, which was a wonderful surprise. On Saturday we celebrated our 6-month anniversary! We had breakfast (Alton Brown's French Toast is excellent, FYI) and spent the day hanging out together, before heading to Kirksville for dinner and Chris's bachelor party. (I hung out with the girls during the bachelor festivities.) It was so great to see everyone - we miss our friends in the (other) ville!

Happy Birthday to Joe Belzer!

Happy Easter!

A Few Easter quotes...


"Forgiving the unforgivable is hard. So was the cross: hard words, hard wood, hard nails."
William S. Stoddard, quoted in Wisdom from a Pastor's Heart, edited by Douglas Connelly


"Whoever heard of a suffering God? The idea is plain daft. God is up in heaven, and there he will stay. But wouldn't it be wonderful if it were true? If God came to visit us, like a great king visiting his subjects? Or, even better, if he came among us as one of us, sharing our way of life, with all its tragedy, sorrows and grief?"
Alister E. McGrath, What Was God Doing on the Cross?


"If we consider how utterly undeserved [the crucifixion] was, we call it grace; if we consider the cost, we call it atonement; if we consider the effect, we call it new life, redemption, sanctification."
Austin Farrer, A Faith of Our Own

Read the Easter Story

Bienvenidos!

Welcome to our new, improved, prettier blog! We used to have a Xanga site, but, frankly, Xanga is ugly. AND it doesn't let you control the look of you site nearly as much as Blogger, or Blogspot, or wherever we are now. We hope to use this site to keep you, our friends and family updated on our lives. (That's another cool thing: ANYONE can comment on this site, unlike other blog sites - so everyone can be included) This site is completely under construction right now, so expect it to look much more polished in the near future. To our Xanga friends: thanks for following us here, come back often! To our new visitors: I hope you enjoy the site!