My going away poem

(Poems are a large part of our way of life. I know Adam would laugh at my atempt to honor his life. Please don't take offense. He wouldn't.)

Adam, you've been around the block
You've done fun things
You've climbed some rocks
You've skied, and hiked
You've fished and camped
You've made some goals and been the champ

You've had some jobs
Some fun, some not
You've had lots of roomates
some ugly, some hot
You've told some good stories
some bombed, some were great
You've stayed outside hangin'
with Ben until late

You played games with kids
like Emma, A, and Izzy
making them laugh and
making them dizzy
You bought Rail Baron and should us some fun
And taught us to play
Too bad I won

Sometimes you watched Survivor
with the Vartanians,Ben and I
We watched lots of West Wings
some even made us cry
We had lots of parties
with lots of our friends
Don't foget E.G.G.N.O.G.
The delight of all men

I could go on forever
about life in the NorthWest
but as we all know
some things are best
We couldn't stay around
to share with the rent
We had to move to Texas
so away we went

You couldn't survive without the Ries' close by
and so to Uganda you decided to fly
"I think I'll share Jesus with folks who don't know"
We thought, "He's trying to one up us."
"Adam, you ho!"

We were proud of your choice to go spread the Word
Your decision to leave was not too absurd
You worked in The Source Cafe and you served
a lot of Ugandans who neededto surf

You got to spend time with your brother and Kym
and sweet little Eli
who had all four limbs
You gained some more teammates
but not some more light
You had refrigeration for one day and one night

Then on a Tuesday some time after five
You had some car problems and your truck took a dive
Then Moses and you and one other guy
took a bad spill and you had to die

I know that you did all that you could
We just figured it'd be on the top of Mt Hood
Or maybe when you were old and gray
It's hard 'cause we didn't know this was the way

It sucks that you left
and we're all pretty pissed
We're also real sad
You'll definately be missed
But I will look forward
to that special day
that we'll meet again
Some other way...

Peace out, dude!

Your friend, Jen

Adam Langford

I know most of you have recieved the news of Adam's death but I must honor him by sharing about how great he was. First, of all, we have heard many accounts of how he died so please take that into consideration when hearing this account. He was in a delivery truck picking up coffee beans for their internet cafe and lost control of the vehicle while traveling down a steep, winding road. The truck headed down a cliff and Adam was found dead at the scene. The other men who were in the truck with him had to be taken to the hospital and suffered internal injuries. One man made it and the other died at the hospital. It is amazing how many different stories we have heard but this is the truest information that Ben and Kym have been given.

We are in Oklahoma City now and saw Ben and Kym and Eli at the airport last night. We will go and spend time with them today as well as with the rest of the family. We are thankful for the Portland friends that will be able to come for Adam's funeral this next week.

Adam was a great, great guy. He was one of the funniest people I have ever met. He was genuine and thoughtful. He gave of himself in every area of his life. I have so many great memories of Adam and I'll try to do him justice...

Adam lived at our house for just under a year before we moved out to Texas. We shut him up in our garage and let him come in for food and the bathroom (every twenty minutes) and we let him watch an occasional t.v. show since he was paying for cable... We got to listen to his record collection together and we played with the children together right before bedtime... I will always remember the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I ever had, made by Adam Langford. I will remember playing outside as a family, throwing a baseball or a football or a frisbee... I will remember the laughter and entertainment that Adam and Ben brought me daily. I will remember playing Rail Baron together and a rum and coke every once in a while... I'll remember trying to find him girls to date which was very ineffective! What I remember about my buddy, Adam, is living life together. Even when it was via e-mail or a phone call, life was better with his stories and his laughter. It's hard to imagine life without Adam in it. Maybe I just won't.

Adam, thank you for every smile and every thoughtful word. Thank you for how you gave of yourself and how you sacrificed on behalf of others. You were the same person no matter who you were surrounded by and you lived the life of Jesus. You rock and I will miss you dearly!

"Would you like a sample?"

 

"Would you like a sample?" is what I say over and over and over again. Here I am in action, or shall I say, not in action. Friday was horrible! No one ate my samples and now I'm goona have to beat sombody up...

I look real good, don't I? (Texans say "real" instead of "really") 

Want a sample?

It is probably way too late for me to be writing anything but I'm going to give it a shot.

Some random thoughts on Supermarkets, samples, and food. My friends, the Sherks, are the only friends I know that call the grocery store the "Market". I thought about that this weekend while I was handing out samples at Walmart. I get to think about a lot of things while I'm at Walmart. I actually wasn't even bored these last three days. I realize (many times, actually) that I need to eat healthier. Sometimes I give samples of things that are fairly nutritous and have some sort of redeeming quality about them. Then there are times when I give out samples of Hamburger Helper Microwave Singles. I bet you're wondering if they have meat in them already. You bet they do. Yummy, freeze dried meat. Now, that's nutrition! Don't forget the yummy powdered cheese. Did I mention that there are two grams Trans Fat? I always want people to stock up on whatever I'm giving samples of but I'll have to admit it was a little sad today. Now Americans have one more shortcut for there fast paced life and one more thing that makes them less and less healthy. Parents were constantly picking up a couple boxes saying, " My kid will love this!" "Get 'em some carrots or something instead, dude", I want to say. Then there's another part of me that wants everyone to try my samples no matter what. I start getting pissed when people tell me "no". I'm like,"Would you like to try a sample?" And they're like,"No thank you." And I want to say,"Try the sample, damn it!" I was really proud the other day when kids were picking the broccoli and cheese sauce over the yogurt. I make no claims on which was truly healthier but the thought does count. Anyways, while I was at work I also decided that I need to exersize more. I'm not going to watch t.v. unless I have excersized for that day. I guess that's a good note to end on. I'm glad I give out samples. It's easy money, good money and it's fun!

Woah, Frisky! Bad dog!

This is a picture of my recovering daughter after a ferocious dog bit her face off.

It looks bad, huh? It seemed worse at the time. There was blood everywhere!

Here's the culprit. He looks ferocious, doesn't he? Don't worry. We ate him for dinner the next night. Everybody is safe now!

Meerie krismus!

If you don't get one of these for christmas you were jipped! Hope ya'll have a happy day and thank the Lord that Jesus was born so we all have an excuse to spend more money than we have and get lots of things we don't need.



On a sweeter note, Jesus was actually a little sweet baby. That's pleasant to think about. Do you think he would have taken a pasifier if they were available?

Word to the baby! Peace!

Ahh, Buzzards!

That's what I encountered as I turned the corner onto our road... Why would there be buzzards? The answer is inevitable. Something has died... Sure enough, one of our precious sweet kitties lay there, dead as a doornail. It was shocking and wretched all at the same time. I had left just a half hour before to pick up Aiden from school and said good bye to our three kitties as they sat in there spots next to the driveway. Who knew in that short amount of time I would loose a precious catty (which is what Izzy calls them). What a horrible feeling to see buzzards picking apart your freshly killed catty. I bawled as I called Ben to ask him what I should do with it. Then I had to walk up the road to it and use a stick to push it's broken little body off the road. I really didn't want to see it's guts so I genuinely hoped the buzzards would come back for dinner but they haven't. Now I'm just waiting for a friend to bring their shovel and toss it over the fence so my kids don't keep asking to see it again. Sad and gross and sad again. My first death in the old country. We did make a little cross in rembrance of Suzie, God rest her soul.

Chezam

Celebrate, one and all, in the birth of our dear friend Chelan. Today she turns 28 (just like me) and is one year closer to being older. "When are you older?" one might ask. That is something I, too, have been pondering. Is it when there's more silver in your mouth than white? Some could debate that. Is it when you have more skin than fat to fill it up? Some, too, could debate that problem. Maybe it's when you have a fair amount of grey hair. I'm afraid even that is debatable. Remember that one dude on American Idol that was totally grey? He definetely was not "older". What about losing memory? Then again, you could just be pregnant or it could be a coping mechanism to save you from horrible childhood memories. In that case, you might not be "older" at all! You know you're getting older when dinner time moves from 6pm all the way up to 3pm, and sleeping in means you wake up at 5:30am. You're probably getting "older" when you look at everyone around you and think "Why does everyone look so young?" If you thought to yourself just now, "I think that all the time," then face it, you might be "older" now!

Happy Birthday, Chezam!

MerryThanksgiving

I am reminded today about how great life really is. I have a wonderful husband who is thougtful, selfless and such a good reminder for me of what it means to serve and love others. I have three adorable children who are my delight and who remind me how to live genuinely and how to have fun. I have a warm home and food to feed my family. I have a church home with warm, loving people. I have friends and family who care about me. And I have three cute cats that live outside my warm home...

Isn't it sad that even though I have it all, I am continually reminded that I actually don't have it all. I don't have that shirt or that really expensive camera. I don't have lattes or a burger from Sonic. My kids don't have that paricular toy or those pair of cute pants. My children watch all the commercials on t.v. that tell them all the things they're missing in life.

Wouldn't it be great if television actually told you that you already have the most important things in life? What if commercials were to remind you to stay focused on serving others instead of serving self? Those Hallmark commercials always send me warm fuzzies... You know, it's not Christmas without big brother and then, low and behold, he shows up and life is complete... That's kind of headed in the right direction... Maybe...

My goal through the end of the month, especially, is to focus on how God has blessed me and to show to my children where my identity lies. I am content not because of what I have but because I have been given life. I am thankful that I am alive and I have been given such precious people to surround me and love me. Will you remain thankful amid christmas lists and amazing sales? Will you coninue to praise God for how he has blessed you when Thansgiving is over and the turkey is gone? Merry Thanksgiving to you.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I am twenty-freakin'-eight years old! Praise the Lord! The closer I get to thirty, the more confident I get that I really have earned the name adult. It truly is a pain having averyone and their mom think that you're eighteen...

Here is my birthday gift from my friend Aaron Metcalf. Try to get through it. It's my birthday and I'm worth it!

A Short Story by Aaron Metcalf

Jen slowly takes her seat by the large bay window overlooking the Salmon River and picks up the most recent picture of her third grandchild. She looks lovingly at the photo and places it perfectly on a page of her latest scrapbook. This picture completes her scrapbook, which makes 157,543 scrapbooks to date; some of which have won Jen some prestigious awards in the elite craft world. Jen smiles inwardly as she polishes her, “Scrapbooker of the Year” award given in 2020 from, “Scrapbooking Today” magazine. She chuckles softly to herself as she carefully and artfully glues the picture of Aiden’s firstborn son, Bubbles, to the blue page. “Oh Aiden,” Jen thinks, “Who would have thought you would one day be a father?”
Just then the phone rings. It is Emma. Emma has just finished her law degree and is currently living in Boston with her husband, Reade, and their two boys, Paul (14) and Simon (9). Emma entered Law School when Simon was 4 and is currently using her degree to write a much anticipated law thriller titled, “The Eldest Daughter” –it is a book about inheritance. Emma’s charming voice rings through the handheld phone.
“Hi Mom, I hope you are doing well. I just called because I was wondering…uh…how much are Grandma Brenda’s earrings worth?”
Jen, who has received dozens of calls similar to this from Emma in the past week
answers, “Emma, I just don’t know.” Jen gives a deep sigh, “Listen honey, please paint me in a positive light in this book.” There is silence on the other end of the phone, which is broken only by the sound of a loud toilet flush.
“Oh sorry mom,” says Emma, “I was, ummm, busy. How are you feeling today?”
“I am feeling pretty well,” Jen begins, “Ever since I have begun teaching Yoga I have noticed more flexibility. You know, when I was making those Yoga instructional videos I found that I had to start and stop a lot for the cameras. It’s different when you’re in front of several thousand people showing them new techniques. I’m so glad I made that pilgrimage to Asia to learn more about the ancient undiscovered art of…” Jen’s voice is stopped by Emma’s shouting,
“Paul, do NOT throw that football in the house. I don’t care if you’re the best athlete in your school or if you just won the best award a fourteen-year old can win! Do not throw the ball in the house!”
“Is everything ok dear?” asks Jen.
“Oh sure mom,” Answers Emma. “Paul has just really been acting up ever since his dad won the super bowl.” Emma’s husband, Reade Barber, plays for the football team closest to where they live (Ben, insert some football team or whatever you want, just try to be funny). Reade is a well adjusted, and certainly well built, man who is compassionate and treats Emma like the princess she is.
Jen smiles as she hangs up the phone and glances at the clock on the wall. It is almost 1pm. Ben and Aaron should be home soon. They have been camping again right down the road at Green Canyon Campground. Jen can’t understand why they go camping every single night, but it is frankly nice to have them out of the house. Adam and Aris go with them, obviously, which is nice because otherwise Adam tends to just stay in the Ries’ home and eat their potato chips.
Just then Bubbles runs into the room and hops up on Jen’s lap. Aiden is right behind him and is carrying a fresh diaper. “I just don’t understand it mom,” Aiden says in his high pitch voice, “I just can’t seem to potty train Bubbles. Just when it seems like he is potty trained he goes in his paints again…”
Jen nods her head slowly and pretends to really listen while insight she is dancing and knows that there is, indeed, justice in the world. “Tell me more,” Jen says trying to hide her glee. It is really nice to have Aiden and family visit. Since he has been dancing on Broadway it is really hard to get him to vacation. Furthermore, his duties as a firefighter, preacher and ice skater keep him really busy. Good thing his wife, Ella, is so understanding. Ella has recently won a Pulitzer for her fiction writing and is as patient and as perfect as a person has ever been. Some say that she can walk on water.
“Oh, I’ll tell you about it later mom,” Aiden says. “I have to go watch cartoons.”
Jen holds Bubbles close to her and shows him the scrapbook she has just completed. He squeals in delight at the pictures they took of him in Greece when he was running naked on the beach. The vacation they took with the Metcalf’s in Hawaii years before, likewise, makes him laugh out loud. There is one photo of a dolphin splashing his Grandpa, Ben, who is shouting obscenities because the water nearly splashed in his, “cough medicine.”
“That’s me!” shouts Bubbles at one photo in which Bubbles is riding on Aaron’s shoulders through the current mega-church in which Aaron is serving. Aaron’s line of self-help books and instructional videos has won him international acclaim and regular spot on Oprah as a guest, “self-help artist” (as he calls himself). “Deny Your Cross and Follow Yourself” is his most recent work of “art.”
Chelan has joined him in these efforts by putting Aaron’s work to rhythmic words using African beats and synthesized noises. Her work has earned her two Grammy’s and her own line of perfume. Chelan, in fact, is in the other room watching Tevo’d Oprah and sipping on “cough medicine” waiting for Jen to finish so they can go fishing like they do every afternoon.
The whole family—minus Emma and family who will fly in later today—have gathered for the wedding of Miles and Isabel. The two have been making hit pop songs together for some time and have finally decided to tie the knot. With Izzy’s raspy voice and Mile’s screams they have broken through that fine line that once existed between soft jazz and heavy metal. “It’s Norah Jones meets Metallica” Rolling Stone magazine raved. Some have even said that their union, musically, is the leading cause of the world peace that the world now enjoys. Jen looks at the picture of Izzy and Miles receiving the Nobel Peace prize for their humanitarian efforts and is glad that they have finally decided to hitch up.
Jen turns from her window and releases Bubbles to go watch cartoons with his dad. She looks at her shelves stuffed full of the scrapbooks she has made over the years and feels her heart swell. So many memories. So many stories. She feels blest to be a part of such a beautiful world and thanks God she has received so much. Not just awards and family achievements, she has received love and fullness. Ben comes in the room and Jen walks over to him slowly and places her head on his shoulder (Ben has shrunk over the years from working in the circus—that’s another story) and feels her eyes well. Her life is full. Her heart is jammed pack with memories and fulfillments.
Jen notices a card fallen to the ground out of one of her scrapbooks. She received the card years and years, ago from Aaron and the message inside reads,




Dear Jen,
Words cannot express how much you and your family have meant to us over the past few years. You have given advice, support, comfort and most of all laughter to our family in our times of need. Thank you. Your life is a blessing to so many and I cannot wait to see what God has imagined for your future. Though our families are separated now by many miles we still feel close to you and we anticipate a day in which we can once again meet daily for TV shows (minus the sound during commercials, please), games (sometimes…agh), laughter, fellowship, and most of all we can meet daily for life. Enjoy your night.
Love,
Aaron

Bad Blog

Folks, I truly didn’t mean to have all my work displayed for an entire week so that you could compliment me and tell me about how great I am and about how many people I’m going to bring to the Lord through my ministry of photography. So because of that I’m going to take some time to share with you all the things I’m not good at…

I’m pretty bad at keeping up with the dishes. Are you surprised? Don’t get me wrong. I do them. But not before there is a large pile and it bleeds onto the countertops… I’m also not too good at keeping animals alive. They don’t all die… I. am. horrible. at. sending. thank. you. notes. Even my mom can vouch for me on that one. What’s the point, though? 90% of the time I’ve already thanked them in person! …One time I even woke my husband up from the nap I gave him permission to take to ask him what I was bad at because I couldn’t remember anything… I am bad at taking bad pictures. That’s for sure… I’m bad at calling people. I don’t like picking up the phone when I have a million other things I should be doing… I’m not good at keeping a schedule for my children. I know it’s the best environment for them but I figure, what’s the fun in that? Let’s mix it up and be crazy!

…I have a long list but I don’t want you to know all of them! And just so you know, this is not a ploy to obtain more compliments. Just take it all in and allow this information to balance out the great things you’ve learned about me thus far. For aren’t we all really the same? A little salt, a little pepper… A little sugar… Some just have more than others…


whew! I did it! I thought that was going to be a hard one!

I've got mad picture skills!

Take a look at these suckers. They're of my friend Krista, her husband, and their new baby Miriam. I took them yesterday and here's just a few of them.










Unfortunaetly, for me, I borrowed their camera to take their pictures... Don't despair. I'm starting a camera fund, like, yesterday!

How good are you really?

Alright,everybody. Let's see who's brushed up on their children's movies...

1. "You're afraid you're going to get sucked out!"
2. "Beware of the groove..."
3. "Die... die...die.."
4. "What's a motto with you?"
5. "Let's name the zones, the zones, the zones..."
6. "You're makin' him lose his focus!"
7. "I can't push the fire button and jump at the same time!"
8. "We found fifth avenue! Number one fifth avenue!"
9. "Shame on you! Scaring things weaker than you are!"
10. "But what would I wear?"

Movie Trivia Time

Isn’t it the perfect time of year to cuddle up by a fire, put on some slippers and watch a good movie? Let’s test your movie line skills…

1. “Bees. Frank was always allergic to bees.”
2. “This is a well oiled machine, my friend.”
3. “Do you have anything besides Mexican food?”
4. “I’m signin’! You’re signin’! We’re all signin’!”
5. “Listen. Do you smell something?”
6. “Sell crazy some place else. We’re all stocked up here.”
7. “He lacks the physical strength and the opposable thumbs.”
8. “Skin that smoke wagon, see what happens.’
9. “Oh wait. Wasn’t she that real big fat person?”
10. “You came back to tell me that I’m odd?”

Some are easier than others. Good Luck!

Campout the Bird

A Poem

This was my bird but now he's gone.
His life fell short...just before dawn.
Ben awoke and out of a deep, deep sleep
when fluttering and flapping but not a peep
did come from our bird so quiet and still.
What have we done? A bird, did we kill?
His normal habits were hissing and pooping
So such disturbance led Ben to some snooping
He searched around for some other source
but what he found led him to deep remorse
The noises had quieted because... it was dead.
Poor Campy was jammed in the corner on it's head.
What did we do? Or what did we not?
All we know now is an empty cage, we got!

Amen. And Amen.

God rest his soul...

Ding, dittly, ding, dittly, ding, dang, blog!

I tried to post earlier this week and I lost it! Then I became a ticking time bomb or maybe a ball of fury as my dad took his laptop away from me to continue working... Then, I think my children were screaming and crying or something like that! This is the first time I've been able to calm down and write something new. I think I'm doing okay.

Well, on my last post I said something like,"We are having a great time here on the west coast and it's been a real blessing to be here. We've had busy times and quiet times and times with family and times with friends. It has been a perfect blend."

Thursday was Survivor which is always good. We also got to watch it with Aaron and Chelan and Aris and Christy who have always been our Survivor buddies. It was a little different this time, though. Instead of there being three or four children, there was six. We could have been man-to-man but Ben wasn't around... It wasn't as quiet but we actually managed to watch the whole thing!

So, as Survivor began, so did a toothache. I slept horrible and by the next afternoon I was calling my dentist in Abilene for a drug prescription. I've been drugged ever since and I'm gonna be real pissed if it doesn't let up. I can't drive, obviously, so that puts some kinks in my plans. Wish me luck! I'm sure it will be fine...

Bear with me. It's worth it!

So Thursday morning I woke up at 6am and rushed to get ready. I hurried out the door at 6:40 and headed off to Abilene. I pulled up to the Hospital and went to the appropriate waiting room. I was suppose to be there at 8am and wasn’t able to be taken to my own personal suite until well after 9am. Normally my sweet and thoughtful husband would be by my side as my support and witness but unfortunately the combination of school-aged children and a weekend course of his own prohibited him from fulfilling his husbandly duties aside from a ten minute, heart felt, drop in on his way to school. So my good friend Shelley was more than willing to be my temporary companion. A nurse came in and poked and prodded around my left hand to get a needle into my particularly minute veins and failed. She then went for my right elbow pit which went much smoother but prevented me from moving my arm much. Shelley and I talked and talked until the nurse got the phone call saying the doctor was ready for me and then I was given some valium and some pain killer. I waited… Was it working? Maybe, maybe not… I hopped into a wheel chair and my valet took me through a maze of hallways to an ultrasound room. After waiting some more along with three other nurses and my companion, the doctor arrived and the fun began. The yellow soapy cleany stuff was smeared all over my neck and the needles were taken out of there packages. There were sterile things all over the place and it smelled like vinegar. “Here comes a poke.” Sure enough, my neck went numb quick enough but unfortunately I was still awake! Shelley remained by my side and watched what I would never be brave enough to watch. I prepared myself by closing my eyes as a scalpel moved toward me. Then came needles and pressure and more needles trying to get the best sample of tissue from the cyst on my thyroid. The doctor used an ultrasound machine to help guide his freakishly long needles past the liquid filled cavities of the cyst and into the really hard crap. Yah, that was painful…I was freakin’ out ‘cause he was totally going to puncture my esophagus! Meanwhile, Shelley is rather intrigued with the whole procedure which you might not have known had you seen her faint half way through! Good times! Once the doc finally had the best sample ever, the nurses bandaged me all up, making it nearly impossible to move my neck. Well, I’m trying not to make this heck-a-long but I’ve failed miserably… Anyway, I had to have a volunteer drive me home a freakin’ hour away ‘cause I wasn’t allowed to. Then I continued to care for my children and be the Superwoman I am!

A day in the life of me...

These are pictures of the hotel I just got back from. I got to go to a MOPS convention for four days and it was the bomb. This is the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. It is beautiful, amazing, and gargantuan, to say the least! It covers 300 acres and all that you see in these pictures is inside the hotel. We heard Nicole Nordeman, Mark Schultz, and a children's group called Go Fish who were fantastic! Kim Hill led our worship throughout the convention, too. I am very thankful for all I received during that time. It's always good when you've been equipped with tools that make you ready to walk back into your living room and be the best mom you can be... It was a getaway, yes, but I was excited to return to life. These pictures only give you a glimpse of the whole place!

The Price is Right!

All right all you bloggers... Chelan's baby is coming any time and she has her own game showwhere all of you need to guess the date and time she will have Miles. Let's all bless her with lots of comments and participation. I'm probably going to beat everyone because I'm really smart, I KNOW how to play, and God blesses me more than any of you! But good luck anyway!

Hope

Hope. Hope is a powerful thing. I shall try to share a bit about hope today. My mother is a woman of hope. She put her hope into action these last four weeks and searched and prayed and searched some more for a way to fly me and the kids to Portland. She tried to think of ways to make money (Don't we all?) and she looked and looked at plane tickets without money to pay for them... But... we have come a step closer...We are coming to Portland. The tickets have been bought, the blood has been shed, and the bags will get packed. Prepare your hearts and your minds for the Ries' for hope has prevailed once again!

Hope. Hope can keep you alive, can't it? I hope so. We got some new kittens two days ago and they are adorable but I hope they make it...

The kids are having a blast...

It's so hard to not squeeze their guts out...

They've already recieved an unwanted bath in the drinking water...

...and been put in scary places...

...but hopefully love will keep them alive... I hope...

(Their names are Stripers, Sara, Suzie, and Sally and they live outside. They are very good kitties!)