a visit from a friend and two other things

This is Jeff Lacine. He, his wife Chelsi, and their kids were in Portland with us. They were some of our best friends. They still are despite the distance. Jeff and his family currently live in Minnesota where he is in seminary. Our visit was sweet and brief. We talked about each of our lives and where we are headed. I miss them so much.

This is my incredibly handsome husband. 

We moved here from Portland when Piper was only four weeks old. The Lacines, Cunninghams, and other families that we were close to haven't been able to see her grow and change... to see her little personality emerge. It was good for Jeff to meet her again. It is hard to not be with these friends anymore... but we are growing into new friendships. We'll always have these old friend in our lives. It is fascinating to see how we have grown and changed since we parted last. As much as we miss Portland, we were so affirmed in our decision to leave... not in a bad way, just in that we are really pleased with what God has given us here. It is right for us.

I cried when Trevor left to take him to the airport. But at church this morning... I saw our community of friends here, saw the faces of these people that we are growing with, the kids that Piper is growing with, heard the beautiful music and the sermon. I am happy here. God is faithful. He has planted us.

Trappeze. Check it out.

And... two things you might not know about me.

I have four tattoos. I got all of them around the age of 18, before I really had developed my aesthetic or could afford to get a good tattoo. In some ways, I really want to get another one, just because I would like to have at least one that I really love. You can see the one on my foot below. I actually got this to cover what was there originally, which was really really bad. I am not totally in love with the end result, to be honest. But it may have been the best option given the original. I am learning to like it a bit more. I have my reservations though. You can only see a bit of it here.

The next thing you don't know about me (because I haven't shared it on here) is that Trevor and I have a dream of owning a farm one day. We want to have a place that people with addictions can come to and work through their struggles... a place to study God's book, be surrounded by beauty and hard work, a place to be healed and to learn about God's love. This is the real goal of our life. This is why Trevor is going to Law school... so we can earn and save money for this dream. We want it to be free for the people who come. We are really city people; we don't know the first thing about farming. But the cool thing is that God has brought some people into our life here that know alot about it. We want to learn as much as we can. We don't know when this will become a reality. But I believe it will. I hope it will be soon.

xo

paige