There came a day when my writing took a turn. Not in any particular direction, but not in line with the general content of this particular blog.
Thus, a new blog has spawned from the tips of my fingers. After weeks of searching the recesses of my brain for a title, I settled on The Daily Heretic.
If you've been patiently waiting for a new story here at Oly Acts, I thank you kindly. The wait is over. Just head to the aforementioned blog and catch on up. New location, new focus. Same old me writing about the beautiful people in my life, and the beautiful God orchestrating us.
Blessings, friends.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Beautification. Oly Style.
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| Brittany and Mariah at The Yellow House selecting their herbs. |
My sisters, Brittany and Mariah, came to Olympia to hang out for the weekend. My parents drove them from their home in Kennewick on Saturday morning, they drove back Sunday afternoon. It was a short but sweet visit. I always feel refreshed after spending time with my family.
The girls and I spent Saturday creating shampoo. As an added bonus, we made some lip balm too. The actual creation process took less than an hour for both products (not including cool down time), but we made a day of hunting for the perfect supplies and devising the perfect recipes.
We started by perusing a customizable shampoo recipe we found at TheModernHerbal.com. The site offers a generic recipe as a base, and then lists herbs, essential oils, and other additives that can be used for specific hair types and colors.
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| Our Radiance loot. Everything needed for an evening of shampoo making. 3/31/12 |
Ok so, back to Radiance. I love going to Radiance because not only is it chock-full of natural, organic, planet conscious products, but of people seeking light in their lives as well. We spent at least an hour there, scooping bulk herbs into paper baggies, sniffing for essential oils, reading soap labels and otherwise enjoying the shop. "This is fun," Brittany said. "It's like a scavenger hunt." Without the friendly ladies on staff who helped us on our hunt, we could have been there at least another hour. Like I said, the place is chock-full. Of everything we were looking for, and plenty that was just intriguing.
My parents, who patiently chauffeured us throughout the day, breathed a sigh of relief when we were finally satisfied with our goods and made for the check out counter. After realizing we forgot a few things, and being guided to them by the woman at the register, we checked out and made our way to the Artesian Well to collect water for our shampoo. "It's the water" seems to be a slogan Olympia adheres to with reverence. From what I understand, it originated with Olympia Beer. I found this commercial for Olympia Beer made in 1979, which seems to confirm the slogan's roots.
Regardless, if Olympians believe it's the water, so do I. So we filled some bottles at the Artesian Well (which has received a "facelift," since I visited it last) to use in our shampoo instead of yucky, chlorine and fluoride contaminated city water. I've been to the well before, and there's been a line of folks every time. I wasn't surprised to see four or five people there waiting to fill several gallons of water to take home, or to work, or wherever. My family was a little surprised though, until they drank some of the water. "This is good," my Mom said enthusiastically.
The folks with large amounts of water to collect let us sneak into the queue to fill our bottles, which took a matter of seconds under the heavy, cool flowing well. From there we left downtown for Joann Fabrics, where we gathered craft supplies to decorate our jars and bottles. Due to indecision over glitter (Glitter or none? Glitter glue pens, or loose glitter and glue? And other important questions such as these...), our Joann trip took at least another hour.
Decorative supplies in hand (sans glitter), we returned to The Yellow House and got started. Following the recipe linked above, we poured our Artesian Well water into a tea kettle and brought it to a boil. In four separate jars, one for each of us, we added our chosen herbs. I used chamomile with yarrow, Brittany and Mariah used peppermint, raspberry leaves, and chamomile, and we used yarrow with sage for Mom.
While waiting for our hair tea to cool, we went to I.talia, a pizzeria on West Side Oly. Owned by the folks who also own Ramblin Jacks and Mercato, the restaurant definitely lives up to their "fresh, organic, fast" motto. We shared pepperoni pineapple on a gluten free crust (which Mom says was the best of the gluten free crusts she's sampled), and a pizza off the chef's special board which I forget the name of. Afterward, we all tried gelato from Olympic Mountain Creamery. I didn't hear a single complain.
When we got back home, we strained out our herbs and mixed in the rest of our ingredients. Everyone used lavender Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap, a dab of sweet almond oil, and Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA (for volume, of course). From there we added either bergamot, tea tree, eucalyptus, or rose germanium essential oils, white or apple cider vinegar, and/or honey, depending on hair type and color.
While we decorated our shampoo jars, we watched The Jungle Book on VHS, on Meghan's tiny TV with a built-in VCR. What a time warp. We also added some flair to the tiny jars that would contain our lip balm. Our decorating took most of the movie, since we were sharing supplies. Singing along to The Jungle Book definitely made time fly. Once finished, we started the lip balm.
We found the lip balm recipe we used at Radiance about mid checkout. After quickly deciding we needed to make it, we hastily snagged a two ounce baggie of beeswax and assumed we had the rest of the needed ingredients. The recipe yielded at least five times more product than we had the capacity to contain, which happened to be lucky for us because I had far less jojoba oil than I'd thought. We used 1/4 the ingredients called for and made just enough to fill our tiny jars and half a shot glass (for lack of a better container).
Overall, I enjoyed our scavenger
hunt downtown more than actually making our beauty products. There's a vibe downtown that makes me feel at home. People are either ultra friendly, or rather standoffish, but they seem genuine either way. Any time I feel like having a conversation with a stranger that goes beyond surface level pleasantries, I need only linger near a coffee shop for five minutes or so. Amazing food is always less than a block away. Unique supplies and ingredients you can't find at your average mega-chain-store can always be found at one shop or another. And the people watching. It never gets old. Showing my family around is always an adventure. There's a stark contrast between downtown Olympia and downtown Kennewick. They say Olympia has made me weird. They're probably right, but I think they enjoyed being weird with me while they were here.
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| Step 3: Strain herbs. |
While waiting for our hair tea to cool, we went to I.talia, a pizzeria on West Side Oly. Owned by the folks who also own Ramblin Jacks and Mercato, the restaurant definitely lives up to their "fresh, organic, fast" motto. We shared pepperoni pineapple on a gluten free crust (which Mom says was the best of the gluten free crusts she's sampled), and a pizza off the chef's special board which I forget the name of. Afterward, we all tried gelato from Olympic Mountain Creamery. I didn't hear a single complain.
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| Jars labeled with our personalized shampoo recipes. |
While we decorated our shampoo jars, we watched The Jungle Book on VHS, on Meghan's tiny TV with a built-in VCR. What a time warp. We also added some flair to the tiny jars that would contain our lip balm. Our decorating took most of the movie, since we were sharing supplies. Singing along to The Jungle Book definitely made time fly. Once finished, we started the lip balm.
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| Melting beeswax, soon to be combined with bergamot and rose germanium EOs, and jojoba oil |
Overall, I enjoyed our scavenger
hunt downtown more than actually making our beauty products. There's a vibe downtown that makes me feel at home. People are either ultra friendly, or rather standoffish, but they seem genuine either way. Any time I feel like having a conversation with a stranger that goes beyond surface level pleasantries, I need only linger near a coffee shop for five minutes or so. Amazing food is always less than a block away. Unique supplies and ingredients you can't find at your average mega-chain-store can always be found at one shop or another. And the people watching. It never gets old. Showing my family around is always an adventure. There's a stark contrast between downtown Olympia and downtown Kennewick. They say Olympia has made me weird. They're probably right, but I think they enjoyed being weird with me while they were here.
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| Customized shampoo in customized bottles. That's hair love. |
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| Our finished "Love Your Lips Balm". |
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Jeremiah Steele: Fire Crafter Extraordinaire
Since moving into The Yellow House, we've had our oil furnace in working order for a total of two weeks. Needless to say, our house has been cold. See-your-breath, huddle-over-food-on-the-stove, bust-out-gamer-mittens, hover-over-the-toilet-seat, cold.
In our rooms, though, we each have space heaters. Our rooms are warm and cozy, thanks to the heaters. It seems that when we aren't cooking, warming our fingers over the stove, or playing video games, bundled with mittens and a pile of blankets, we are cozied up in our rooms. Don't get me wrong, I love my room. I get a lot done in it. It's strange though, to live in a house of five people that feels empty.
The first fire Jeremiah built was in our fireplace. That's right, The Yellow House has a fireplace. It is wondrous. We started moving our stuff from Moon Base the day before the big snow storm in January. We had all our kitchen supplies in the house by the time power got killed, but our clothes and bed were still at Moon Base. So, we drove back and forth; sleeping at Moon Base, cooking at The Yellow House.
Two days before Moon Base powered back up, we had electricity at The Yellow House. Kaylin, Jeremiah, and I, going stir crazy, decided a heatless house was preferable to a powerless apartment. We bundled up, gathered some food and supplies, and prepared to spend some time around a fire. It took Jeremiah an hour or so, but our wood finally dried out enough to really light up. Kaylin and I kept the coals stoked while Jeremiah was at work. We taped a fork to a stick and roasted weenies, and otherwise enjoyed our time until his shift was over.
Since this first fire, Jeremiah has built several more. Each time, he hones his technique finer. His first couple efforts, the fire would grow and appear healthy but suddenly die. This occurred several times before the fire was established. This happens rarely if ever, now. He's become well practiced at using the ashes from previous fires to direct the airflow beneath the one he's building. He's gotten more efficient at drying damp wood near the fire then cycling through to keep it burning. I watch him do all this, and I can see that it makes sense to him. But if my description is poor, it's because it doesn't make sense to me. When I watch him at work, I can see that he's got a plan and ideas and he's learning. But I only scratch the surface. I just don't get it. It's awesome.
Last week, the sun showed up for a day. The sky was blue, the mountains were out, and we were finally rid of our winter coats. It was a happy dose of vitamin D before the six straight days of downpour we've experienced since.
The Yellow House crew took full advantage of that glorious day. We ate outside, took walks, played with Somewhere, and otherwise made excuses to be outside. On a whim, we decided to use the fire pit in our backyard for the first time. We used most of the wood stockpiled out back for fires inside, so Jeremiah and I went scavenging for pallets to break down. It took two trips to get four pallets home, but it was definitely worth the effort.
Jeremiah smashed up a pallet with the axe that came with the house. We piled the wood near the fire pit for easy access, then made a quick run to the grocery store for sweets to roast. We realized then, that we didn't have any roasting sticks. Procuring them was another excuse to remain outside, which we appreciated. From trees that had fallen during January's storm, we gathered six or seven branches. We sharpened them with scissors and a pocket knife. Once finished, we were ready to start the fire.
Before anyone else came home, we had the fire going strong. We wanted it started before it was dark. The pallets burned easy and incredibly hot. We spent about an hour together, keeping the fire alive and toasting marshmallows while we waited for our friends. We were worried that we'd run out of wood, but the pallet lasted even after everyone had come and left.
A little after dark, our friends and roomies started to arrive. There's something about sitting in a circle around a fire that makes conversation flow. From my experience, gatherings centered around conversation are rare. We didn't have TV, or even music, but I had an amazing time in the company of my pals.
Though technology wasn't present, we did have food - if you can call marshmallows food - which seems also contribute to the flow of conversation. In my opinion, only one thing beats a toasted marshmallow. Turns out, my husband is a pro mallow-roaster. He demonstrated this several times by forcing me to eat more marshmallows that anyone should ever eat in one sitting. Can't say I didn't enjoy it though. They were as brown as possible without turning black, evenly toasted on all sides, and hot to the center. Yum.
When Meghan (of the De La Rosa variety) got home, she opened our eyes to the one treat that beats toasted marshmallows: Banana Boats. She's described theses to me on several occasions, and I was beyond curious to try them. In our kitchen, she schooled me on their preparation. Once we'd made seven or eight and wrapped them all in foil, we gathered paper plates and plastic forks, and carted it all out to the fire. The foil-wrapped bananas, stuffed with bits of Milky Ways and marshmallows, were placed in the fire's coals and left for several minutes to cook. When Meghan deemed them ready, she removed them from the coals and set them aside to cool. Then we passed them around and dug in. We heard only sighs and chewing until they were devoured.
I'm fascinated by Jeremiah's proficiency at building fires. I almost feel bad that the task is mostly delegated to him. I try to help by gathering kindling and carrying wood, but I've learned the rest of the job is best left to him. He is officially the expert. Even more than I love the fires though, I love the people the fires bring together. When there's a fire in the living room, our roommates emerge from the cozy confines of their rooms. We get to hang out. Our big house feels full. When there's a fire in our yard, we get to ignore all the technology that distracts and entertains us, and focus instead on each other. My friends are really quite awesome. They're family, and more than worth my focus. As my husband has grown proficient at building fires, he's also grown proficient at gathering together people we love. How great is that?
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| Jeremiah stoking a small fire in our living room. |
The first fire Jeremiah built was in our fireplace. That's right, The Yellow House has a fireplace. It is wondrous. We started moving our stuff from Moon Base the day before the big snow storm in January. We had all our kitchen supplies in the house by the time power got killed, but our clothes and bed were still at Moon Base. So, we drove back and forth; sleeping at Moon Base, cooking at The Yellow House.
Two days before Moon Base powered back up, we had electricity at The Yellow House. Kaylin, Jeremiah, and I, going stir crazy, decided a heatless house was preferable to a powerless apartment. We bundled up, gathered some food and supplies, and prepared to spend some time around a fire. It took Jeremiah an hour or so, but our wood finally dried out enough to really light up. Kaylin and I kept the coals stoked while Jeremiah was at work. We taped a fork to a stick and roasted weenies, and otherwise enjoyed our time until his shift was over.
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| The fire pit in our back yard at The Yellow House. |
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| Michaela and Josiah sun soaking and jamming on our roof. |
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| Jeremiah carrying a pilfered pallet toward it's demise in our fire. |
Last week, the sun showed up for a day. The sky was blue, the mountains were out, and we were finally rid of our winter coats. It was a happy dose of vitamin D before the six straight days of downpour we've experienced since.
The Yellow House crew took full advantage of that glorious day. We ate outside, took walks, played with Somewhere, and otherwise made excuses to be outside. On a whim, we decided to use the fire pit in our backyard for the first time. We used most of the wood stockpiled out back for fires inside, so Jeremiah and I went scavenging for pallets to break down. It took two trips to get four pallets home, but it was definitely worth the effort.
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| Miah and I testing our mallow toasting skills. |
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| J and K's roasting sticks. Also useful for vampire slaying. |
A little after dark, our friends and roomies started to arrive. There's something about sitting in a circle around a fire that makes conversation flow. From my experience, gatherings centered around conversation are rare. We didn't have TV, or even music, but I had an amazing time in the company of my pals.
Though technology wasn't present, we did have food - if you can call marshmallows food - which seems also contribute to the flow of conversation. In my opinion, only one thing beats a toasted marshmallow. Turns out, my husband is a pro mallow-roaster. He demonstrated this several times by forcing me to eat more marshmallows that anyone should ever eat in one sitting. Can't say I didn't enjoy it though. They were as brown as possible without turning black, evenly toasted on all sides, and hot to the center. Yum.
When Meghan (of the De La Rosa variety) got home, she opened our eyes to the one treat that beats toasted marshmallows: Banana Boats. She's described theses to me on several occasions, and I was beyond curious to try them. In our kitchen, she schooled me on their preparation. Once we'd made seven or eight and wrapped them all in foil, we gathered paper plates and plastic forks, and carted it all out to the fire. The foil-wrapped bananas, stuffed with bits of Milky Ways and marshmallows, were placed in the fire's coals and left for several minutes to cook. When Meghan deemed them ready, she removed them from the coals and set them aside to cool. Then we passed them around and dug in. We heard only sighs and chewing until they were devoured.I'm fascinated by Jeremiah's proficiency at building fires. I almost feel bad that the task is mostly delegated to him. I try to help by gathering kindling and carrying wood, but I've learned the rest of the job is best left to him. He is officially the expert. Even more than I love the fires though, I love the people the fires bring together. When there's a fire in the living room, our roommates emerge from the cozy confines of their rooms. We get to hang out. Our big house feels full. When there's a fire in our yard, we get to ignore all the technology that distracts and entertains us, and focus instead on each other. My friends are really quite awesome. They're family, and more than worth my focus. As my husband has grown proficient at building fires, he's also grown proficient at gathering together people we love. How great is that?
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| Our friends, sitting around the first fire in our back yard. A sure sign of a successful fire is when it ends with "Let's do this again." |
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Acts, Healing, and a Good Cup Of 'Spro
Last Tuesday we had God Talk at Moon Base for the last time. I would be sadder if we weren't coagulating at The Yellow House for God Talk tonight. We'll be discussing Acts 16, and whatever else inspires us and generates conversation.
About a month-and-a-half ago, I could have sworn we were on Acts 16. I read it. I took notes. I had questions. Couldn't wait to get started. Turned out, we were still in the Acts 10 area. Needless to say, I am pretty excited to get tonight's conversation underway.
Of all my questions on chapter 16, one has really stuck with me all these weeks. In the first few verses, Paul meets up with Timothy and wants to bring him along on his travels. Verse three says "Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek (NASB)."
Now, last week we discussed chapter 15. Circumcision was a big deal in that story too. The issue, though, was that some guys from Judea were trying to convince the church that circumcision was a requirement for salvation. Paul, Barnabas, and some pals went to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem specifically to address this.
While Paul and crew are chatting with the church, some Pharisees cut in with their circumcision stipulation. Peter responds by reminding them that God gave the Holy Spirit upon Jews and Gentiles alike. "He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (9-10)"
Yeah Peter! Stick it to 'em!
And then I read 16:3. Why's Paul suddenly enforcing this circumcision rule that he and his fellows so adamantly rejected just one chapter before?
I have no doubt my understanding of this perceived conundrum will be expanded at tonight's God Talk. Quite possibly I'm miss-interpreting what I'm reading. Or some kind of cultural context I'm unaware of will shed some light. Regardless, I've no doubt my friends will be down to flesh out these verses with me, and that's why I appreciate them. We can argue for hours and walk away with a sense of growth instead of offense.
Back to last week... We ended with prayer requests as usual. I always see results in some way when I request prayer from our crew. This week has generated more thoughts and questions for tonight, though. My request was that I (via God) would heal someone this week.
My week is up and I've not laid hands on anyone. The one person I asked told me no, in fact.
While at work, I tend to pray over folks' drinks as I create them whenever I remember to do so. When someone happens to mention an ailment or struggle, I'm both reminded to pray and given a specific topic to lift to Papa.
This week, it seemed the topic of health problems worked its way into every other conversation I had. Often, this is the case when I work at our Group Health stand. Since I'm at a hospital and an obvious majority of folks I talk with are unwell, I try my best to avoid the conversation altogether (though it inevitably comes up and I pray over coffees after offering awkward condolences and encouragement). The health conversation comes up much more rarely when I work at our main shop. Until the past week, that is.
Though I didn't specifically heal anyone, God has given me more questions to discuss with my friends. Does praying over drinks benefit the drinker? Is the practice a substitute to laying hands? Is my discomfort at offering prayer while working justified?
Moral of the story, I'm looking forward to new God Talk at a new house. And it's about time I get myself to that house so I can eat some of Josiah's chili.
Blessings and growth,
Kaylani
About a month-and-a-half ago, I could have sworn we were on Acts 16. I read it. I took notes. I had questions. Couldn't wait to get started. Turned out, we were still in the Acts 10 area. Needless to say, I am pretty excited to get tonight's conversation underway.
Of all my questions on chapter 16, one has really stuck with me all these weeks. In the first few verses, Paul meets up with Timothy and wants to bring him along on his travels. Verse three says "Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek (NASB)."
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| God Talk = growth check |
While Paul and crew are chatting with the church, some Pharisees cut in with their circumcision stipulation. Peter responds by reminding them that God gave the Holy Spirit upon Jews and Gentiles alike. "He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (9-10)"
Yeah Peter! Stick it to 'em!
And then I read 16:3. Why's Paul suddenly enforcing this circumcision rule that he and his fellows so adamantly rejected just one chapter before?
I have no doubt my understanding of this perceived conundrum will be expanded at tonight's God Talk. Quite possibly I'm miss-interpreting what I'm reading. Or some kind of cultural context I'm unaware of will shed some light. Regardless, I've no doubt my friends will be down to flesh out these verses with me, and that's why I appreciate them. We can argue for hours and walk away with a sense of growth instead of offense.
Back to last week... We ended with prayer requests as usual. I always see results in some way when I request prayer from our crew. This week has generated more thoughts and questions for tonight, though. My request was that I (via God) would heal someone this week.
My week is up and I've not laid hands on anyone. The one person I asked told me no, in fact.
While at work, I tend to pray over folks' drinks as I create them whenever I remember to do so. When someone happens to mention an ailment or struggle, I'm both reminded to pray and given a specific topic to lift to Papa.
This week, it seemed the topic of health problems worked its way into every other conversation I had. Often, this is the case when I work at our Group Health stand. Since I'm at a hospital and an obvious majority of folks I talk with are unwell, I try my best to avoid the conversation altogether (though it inevitably comes up and I pray over coffees after offering awkward condolences and encouragement). The health conversation comes up much more rarely when I work at our main shop. Until the past week, that is.
Though I didn't specifically heal anyone, God has given me more questions to discuss with my friends. Does praying over drinks benefit the drinker? Is the practice a substitute to laying hands? Is my discomfort at offering prayer while working justified?
Moral of the story, I'm looking forward to new God Talk at a new house. And it's about time I get myself to that house so I can eat some of Josiah's chili.
Blessings and growth,
Kaylani
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Goodbye or Hello?
My friends and I are experiencing great change already this year. New jobs, new places to live, new friends to live with, new goals. I could go on. Stars wrote a song called "Changes." In it, they've perfectly described the my current emotional state: "Changes, I've never been good with change. I hate it when it all stays the same. Caught between the gold and the gain."
Jeremiah, Jared, Josiah, Meghan, and I are moving into what is tentatively being called "The Yellow House." It's huge, and opens up a wide scope of potential community building activities beyond just God talk and dinners. We've got space for yoga, a bonfire pit out back, an art room in the garage, and (hopefully) space for musicians to crash as they pass through.The moving process has been ongoing since the beginning of the month, and is expected to be completed this weekend. This means Kaylin is moving to Seattle.
Kaylin and I have been friends for almost 11 years (holy cow did that math just blow my mind). Time has proven to me that this won't be goodbye, but see ya later, which is by far more digestible. Once digested, we can move on to the exciting stuff: new roomies, houses, conversation, lessons, learning and who know what other possibilities lie ahead.
Jared moved here a couple months ago from Wenatchee and has been job hunting like mad. A week or so ago, he was feeling down. He'd had three interviews so far but none had progressed from there. He didn't have another interview lined up, and was running out of places to leave a resume."God would not bring you here, give you a place to live and a band to play with," Jeremiah told him, "if he wasn't going to provide you the means to stay here. You are going to get a job."
Jared received phone calls from both the Volcano Vapor Cafe and Great Harvest Bread the next day. He'd interviewed at both businesses and they were his best prospects for work. The calls, however, informed him they were no longer hiring. This meant he was back to square one. He wasn't there long though. Two days later the Volcano called him again. This time, with a work schedule. He started the next day.
Kendal has imagined building a distillery, which he would call Forest Child Distillery, for the past six months or so. His parents live deep in the forest out past Black Lake, and he imagined building his distillery there. He imagined bottles, labels, logos and recipes until, suddenly, things took a turn. Instead of imagining, he began planning. While sharing some of these plans with a friend at Mud Bay, a customer from Portland happened to overhear. That customer, who was sitting in the coffee shop for the first time, happens to build custom distilleries for a living. If the fellow keeps planning like this, Forest Child Distillery will be a full fledged operation within the year.
Rooms are being shifted, jobs are changing, hobbies are being dropped and picked up, goals are being discovered and reached. It's too much for me to recap here, these are just highlights. I'm compelled to share the changes happening in our personal lives, though, because they have/will effect change for Oly Acts, both as a blog and a community.
Once all the moving and re-situating slows down, we will be able to focus on getting the venue at Mud Bay rolling. This, I am very excited about. We've got ideas out the ears and money in the dirt jar to help get us jump started. Exactly where we will begin is a bit hazy, but I'll be keeping the blog here updated as things get more clear.
As a collective, the venue will be a shift in focus for us. We will continue gathering for God talk and sharing life together throughout the week. The venue will be an outlet to share love and build community with people we aren't yet blessed to spend time with.
As we focus on building this community space, the blog with likely reflect some change. A booking page will go up for for folks on the hunt for performance space. Some of the pages I haven't been able to keep up with (water, light, seeds) will come down or change. As I am spearheading the venue project, I'll likely be posting more and more about it. To help offer a more rounded view on how we conduct life and community, I'm hoping the blog will open up significantly for friends to post pictures, video, thoughts, etc., about all manner of time spent with folks.
We are in a period of progression, and we will grow immensely from it individually and communally. Sometimes, though, it's hard for me to let go of one experience and move into the next. Goodbyes are not my thing, they hurt my heart. I've realized that change has always given me that goodbye tinge. Though sometimes change does mean goodbye, to friends, city, house, school, etc., I'm starting to feel a different tinge - that exciting, curious, engaging feeling my heart gets from hellos.
Be blessed, friends!
Kaylani
Since I quoted them, and the song is fitting, I've posted "Changes" by Stars below. Now, I find the video artistically beautiful. Those offended by nudity, however, won't be pleased to see it. Consider yourselves warned. If you are worried about your eyes, click play and scroll up. The song is worth a listen.
Jeremiah, Jared, Josiah, Meghan, and I are moving into what is tentatively being called "The Yellow House." It's huge, and opens up a wide scope of potential community building activities beyond just God talk and dinners. We've got space for yoga, a bonfire pit out back, an art room in the garage, and (hopefully) space for musicians to crash as they pass through.The moving process has been ongoing since the beginning of the month, and is expected to be completed this weekend. This means Kaylin is moving to Seattle.
Kaylin and I have been friends for almost 11 years (holy cow did that math just blow my mind). Time has proven to me that this won't be goodbye, but see ya later, which is by far more digestible. Once digested, we can move on to the exciting stuff: new roomies, houses, conversation, lessons, learning and who know what other possibilities lie ahead.
Jared moved here a couple months ago from Wenatchee and has been job hunting like mad. A week or so ago, he was feeling down. He'd had three interviews so far but none had progressed from there. He didn't have another interview lined up, and was running out of places to leave a resume."God would not bring you here, give you a place to live and a band to play with," Jeremiah told him, "if he wasn't going to provide you the means to stay here. You are going to get a job."
Jared received phone calls from both the Volcano Vapor Cafe and Great Harvest Bread the next day. He'd interviewed at both businesses and they were his best prospects for work. The calls, however, informed him they were no longer hiring. This meant he was back to square one. He wasn't there long though. Two days later the Volcano called him again. This time, with a work schedule. He started the next day.
Kendal has imagined building a distillery, which he would call Forest Child Distillery, for the past six months or so. His parents live deep in the forest out past Black Lake, and he imagined building his distillery there. He imagined bottles, labels, logos and recipes until, suddenly, things took a turn. Instead of imagining, he began planning. While sharing some of these plans with a friend at Mud Bay, a customer from Portland happened to overhear. That customer, who was sitting in the coffee shop for the first time, happens to build custom distilleries for a living. If the fellow keeps planning like this, Forest Child Distillery will be a full fledged operation within the year.
Rooms are being shifted, jobs are changing, hobbies are being dropped and picked up, goals are being discovered and reached. It's too much for me to recap here, these are just highlights. I'm compelled to share the changes happening in our personal lives, though, because they have/will effect change for Oly Acts, both as a blog and a community.
Once all the moving and re-situating slows down, we will be able to focus on getting the venue at Mud Bay rolling. This, I am very excited about. We've got ideas out the ears and money in the dirt jar to help get us jump started. Exactly where we will begin is a bit hazy, but I'll be keeping the blog here updated as things get more clear.
As a collective, the venue will be a shift in focus for us. We will continue gathering for God talk and sharing life together throughout the week. The venue will be an outlet to share love and build community with people we aren't yet blessed to spend time with.
As we focus on building this community space, the blog with likely reflect some change. A booking page will go up for for folks on the hunt for performance space. Some of the pages I haven't been able to keep up with (water, light, seeds) will come down or change. As I am spearheading the venue project, I'll likely be posting more and more about it. To help offer a more rounded view on how we conduct life and community, I'm hoping the blog will open up significantly for friends to post pictures, video, thoughts, etc., about all manner of time spent with folks.
We are in a period of progression, and we will grow immensely from it individually and communally. Sometimes, though, it's hard for me to let go of one experience and move into the next. Goodbyes are not my thing, they hurt my heart. I've realized that change has always given me that goodbye tinge. Though sometimes change does mean goodbye, to friends, city, house, school, etc., I'm starting to feel a different tinge - that exciting, curious, engaging feeling my heart gets from hellos.
Be blessed, friends!
Kaylani
Since I quoted them, and the song is fitting, I've posted "Changes" by Stars below. Now, I find the video artistically beautiful. Those offended by nudity, however, won't be pleased to see it. Consider yourselves warned. If you are worried about your eyes, click play and scroll up. The song is worth a listen.
Friday, January 6, 2012
New Year's Eve: Community Dance Fest
I found myself sick and asleep by 10:30p.m. this New Year's Eve. But the rest of our friends made it down town for a "Snow Rave" on Fifth Street.The Downtown Neighborhood Association blocked off the street from Capitol to Washington, hired a DJ, and invited Olympians to dance their booties off to bring in the new year. At midnight, it was advertised (via Olympia Power and Light) a snow machine would provide snow. Instead, several dozen small white balls were tossed from the surrounding rooftops into the dance fest. I'm told this was just as, if not more, satisfying than actual snow.
For those of us who couldn't make it, here are some photos by Josiah that will make us wish we had.
For those of us who couldn't make it, here are some photos by Josiah that will make us wish we had.
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| Mandy (front) and Claire (behind) enjoying the community |
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| Meghan |
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| Mandy, Josh, Claire, and Kendal |
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| Mandy and Josh |
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| Josh and Claire. Shakin' it. |
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| Sorrel and Claire |
Monday, December 26, 2011
Update
Some things have happened. As a result, I've been entirely uninspired to write a thing since my last post. Nothing major, in the "Grand Scheme," but I'm nonetheless finding even this sentence extremely difficult to piece together. Anyway, I've experienced a shift in the past couple days. I've been struck by a faint glimmer of inspiration, and with that I give you the following updates. I'll start with the uninspiring, and finish with the inspiring.
1) The Story Tent: After visiting Occupy Olympia in the first week of its existence, the idea occurred to me to pitch a tent. I intended to set up my camera inside and give those involved in Occupy Oly time to tell their stories. The plan was to archive the stories on this blog. I posted an ad on craigslist listing my tent needs, and sure enough a tent to my exact specifications was donated. Long story short, the timing was wrong. The tent remained in the back of my car until I donated to Occupy Oly's supply tent where I hoped it would be put to good use.
2) Oly Acts @ Mud Bay: Since the first conversation from which Oly Acts was born, we envisioned a venue through which we could serve our community and spread some love. Of all the ideas we discussed, this one caused the most excitement. Recently, it's taken an abruptly plausible turn. We've got approval to use Mud Bay after close. Jeremiah and I bought a PA system. All that's left (figuratively speaking) is booking. To this end, I (along with everyone else involved in Oly Acts who takes interest) intend to begin show-going downtown and getting to know the local musicians. I'll also be creating a booking page for the blog, which will allow musicians to contact us to book shows.
That's all for now folks.
Kaylani
1) The Story Tent: After visiting Occupy Olympia in the first week of its existence, the idea occurred to me to pitch a tent. I intended to set up my camera inside and give those involved in Occupy Oly time to tell their stories. The plan was to archive the stories on this blog. I posted an ad on craigslist listing my tent needs, and sure enough a tent to my exact specifications was donated. Long story short, the timing was wrong. The tent remained in the back of my car until I donated to Occupy Oly's supply tent where I hoped it would be put to good use.
2) Oly Acts @ Mud Bay: Since the first conversation from which Oly Acts was born, we envisioned a venue through which we could serve our community and spread some love. Of all the ideas we discussed, this one caused the most excitement. Recently, it's taken an abruptly plausible turn. We've got approval to use Mud Bay after close. Jeremiah and I bought a PA system. All that's left (figuratively speaking) is booking. To this end, I (along with everyone else involved in Oly Acts who takes interest) intend to begin show-going downtown and getting to know the local musicians. I'll also be creating a booking page for the blog, which will allow musicians to contact us to book shows.
That's all for now folks.
Kaylani
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