He got it!

Dane is now a physics and engineering teacher at MLK magnet high school in Nashville!!!!!

God worked this out and we're so, so thankful.

One fun fact is that he will be teaching at the same building where my mom went to high school.

The Journey Continues

I (Michelle) have decided to continue to blog. Maybe I can occasionally get Dane to post something on here since he's such a good writer. But I'd like to keep you updated on our lives, especially those of you that we don't get to talk to very much.

Probably the first and foremost news in our lives is another baby on the way. We've made it to almost 19 weeks and are very thankful! We are meeting with a team of two midwives who are going to be delivering our baby hopefully at home. It's been a fun adventure so far. First trimester brought a bit of queasiness, but if I ate food every three hours around the clock I was able to stave that off pretty well. The second trimester has been surprisingly uneventful besides the growing that I'm doing, and I think some movement is being felt, but this being the first pregnancy this far along, I'm not completely sure.

We're in Nashville, back in our old house. As Dane puts it, there is never a dull moment in our neighborhood. We have quite the eclectic mix of neighbors. I'm working at Siloam again and really loving being back. I work with some wonderful people who really love Jesus and who I'm learning from all the time. Dane has a job interview tomorrow which we are really praying about. We'd appreciate anyone and everyone's prayers for this job too. He's been keeping busy with some construction at the house (I'll include some pictures below) after we had a small fire in our garage (the day after we moved back in!), as well as studying for an architecture exam, working on his website, and starting to write another book. We'll let you know how the interview went.

Before

After

Our year long Journey of Jubilee has taken us to many places. Some have been familiar to us and some have been completely new. We visited 21 states and 5 countries (we're including the US in that number). We've visited scores of people; family, friends and some people that we may never see again.


We're grateful for this past year and all of the people that welcomed us into their homes and lives, even if it was only for a short time. We're grateful for the many conversations, meals, and adventures. We're grateful for The Church and the many ways we've seen her beauty and diversity. We're grateful that God was walking through this year with us and teaching us more about himself along the way.

We're back in Nashville on North 2nd again. If any of you find yourselves journeying through Nashville, our home is ready and waiting to welcome you in.

Close of Jubilee

Our Jubilee Year was officially over yesterday! We ended it with tears, prayers, and a canoe trip

Final thoughts on the Jubilee Year to follow...

Thanks for coming to visit! Larry, Andy, and Susan came for about a 24 hour visit this past weekend. We made the most of it.

After a hearty breakfast we took them on an exploration of Nashville. Dane especially had fun coming up with a walking tour for us. And we got plenty of exercise! Andy's pedometer registered more than 20,000 steps.

Thanks for frying the bacon Larry!

Gathered 'round the table for breakfast. Susan was taking the picture.

Of course we've been wearing out the shoe leather visiting folks around the country, so having other people visit us was a welcome respite. What's more - the visitors were some of our best friends from Memphis. Dane especially enjoyed having someone to discuss engineering and urban issues with whose eyelids didn't begin to droop after a few minutes.

Currently accepting more visitors ;)

Midwest

Out the top of our tent during our one great night of camping (including s'mores)

One of our goals this past year has been to see and try to spend quality time with our immediate and extended families. We are still lacking a few family members in our quest, but that number went down after last week and our trip to Indiana and Illinois.

We started with Indiana, making our way northward to Goshen, but stopping long enough to visit the Hummels (some long time Forlines' family friends) along the way where we were treated to a motorcycle ride!


In Goshen you will find Uncle Matt and his family. (Michelle's Mom's brother) Believe it or not, it was the first time to ever meet cousin Matthew, who is 13 years old! We enjoyed getting to see Uncle Matt "coach" a T-ball game, where the only rules are 1) you swing at the ball until you hit a fair ball, 2) When you field the ball, you must throw it to first base 3) you will never get out and 4) you will always make it to home base.

We also attended church with Uncle Matt, Aunt Melony, and Matthew, where they head up the children's ministry, The Son Shine Club!

Next we headed to East Moline, Illinois to visit Aunt Kathy (Dane's Mom's sister) .


Aunt Kathy leads a life that has many interesting facets. Notably she is a pool (billiards) champion and has the trophies to prove it. She is SUPER organized but not so much that she didn't make us feel at home while we stayed with her.


She took us to a Mexican Restaurant that happens to be called the Ice Cream Palace, but sadly doesn't serve a lick of ice cream.


Watch the video below at your own risk. Dane had fun reverting back to childhood at a park near Aunt Kathy's house.



Our last night of the trip was spent in Chicago, where we may one day call home....we'll see!

Yet again, we're so thankful for all the hospitality that has been extended to us by family and friends this year.

Strawberry Bliss

It is the season of strawberries. I love it. They are a reminder that spring has fully arrived. And such a sweet and delicious reminder they are.


Dane and I have gone strawberry picking a couple of times over the past couple of weeks at Circle S Farms in Lebanon, TN. The picking has been abundant and the strawberries beautiful.

The strawberries were either frozen, made in to jam or just enjoyed plain.

I discovered a wonderful new pectin for jam making. Pomona's Universal Pectin. You can make jam without sugar if you want! I opted for the low sugar version and it tastes so fresh without tons of sugar.

The process...

Clean 'em

Cook 'em

Can 'em