wednesday i bought my plane ticket to go to d.c. in june. hurrah! i have a group of friends from my hometown who have kept in touch over the years - they are the kind of friends you can be yourself with, and be so comfortable that even if you're just sitting on a couch together, it is good. so, we call ourselves the "couch lovefest." anyway, last year we started trying to have a yearly reunion since we're spread around the country now. i missed last year in chicago, but i'm ready for d.c.! nathalie and her husband, rod, just bought a house there, and i can't wait to sleep on their floor, see an amazing city and just be on the couch with my oldest friends. in addition to the friend side of the weekend, i'm also super-excited to be in d.c. ever since my senior year of college, i've had a little love affair with the city. alice, my college friend, grew up there, and we used to take road trips for the weekend to hang out in dupont circle. then, i made a friend who did medical volunteer work with the mennonites, and the road trips expanded to include the glorious neighborhoods of adams-morgan and columbia heights. after that friend left, nathalie took over their volunteer position, and now she's back, doing her medical residency. i love that i have a friend there again, and an excellent reason to make the trip. also, flying is one of my favorite things to do, and i can't wait to use my new luggage with wheels for the first time, and to figure out how to use public transit to get from baltimore to downtown washington. God bless southwest airlines for cheap flights! and, God bless my dear husband, who encourages me to go places and explore and reconnect with good people.

even though it's not quite spring in d.c., i am really enjoying the surprises that pop up in our front yard - who knew we had tulips? sadly, my favorite tree (dogwood) started losing its blossoms before i got out the camera. the cool thing, though, is that they are still blooming all down main street, which is a road that needs a lot of beauty here on the "near east side." happy saturday, dear ones!

i try not to blog about television, but i have to say that i'm super-excited that "alias" is returning tonight with the big "two-hour alias event"...i'm a pacifist, but wow - that show makes me want to be an uber-cool spy girl who can take out ten bad guys without a weapon, and who gets to travel around the world in a private jet at a moment's notice, and who can speak the most obscure languages fluently, all while wearing great disguises. that is all about television. in real life, i am tired of blogging about myself and my activities all the time. i think (hope) i used to be less self-centered. of course, i know that a lot of my family reads this specifically for the purpose of hearing about daniel and i and our activities, so i won't stop that, but i would like to have a bit more discussion of justice issues, spiritual issues, etc. hmm...maybe a "current event wednesday"? yes, i like it! please be aware that i know most of you have differing political opinions than i do. that is wonderful. if i give my opinion about something, i certainly don't think i have the ultimate answer (a lot of you are smarter than me), but it'd be great if we could have a little dialogue... so, today's issue is...... immigration reform! i've been listening to all of the news of demonstrations, etc., regarding immigration in the past few weeks, and i've been a little uncertain of what to think. it's in my nature to want to allow anyone who wants to come to the u.s. come, and be welcomed. i love going to the store and hearing different languages, and seeing different types of garb. i want our children to be part of a community where they are not necessarily in the cultural or ethnic majority. but i had to wonder if immigration really does negatively impact the economy and make things more difficult for the poor who are already here. in fact, it seems that economics is the most referenced issue i've heard given for curbing immigration. but, did you know that immigrants actually add ten billion dollars to the u.s. economy annually? and that our own international economic policies have actually caused more immigration? tell me what you think.

as promised, here's a shot of the most incredible easter basket ever. and then there's erica, one of my several sister-friends. she's moving to seattle in a few weeks, and came to spend the weekend with us first. when i lived in cincinnati, i spent most easters with her family. this time, it was her turn. on saturday afternoon, erica and i took the dogs and the girls to the park. best. weather. ever.

yesterday morning daniel woke me up like it was christmas - and for good reason, since he had created the most incredible, deatailed easter basket i've ever seen! i have a picture, but that will need to wait until our home internet connection gets strong. it was a huge, flatish brown basket (sitting on our new dining room table) filled with moss, ceramic dishes, ceramic fish, candles, two matching wooden boxes, yellow roses and lots of every variety you can imagine of hershey kisses. this is definitely an easter tradition i want to keep! after starting on the chocolate, erica (our amazing friend who was in town for the holiday) and i had some hot cross buns from sharon, then we went to church and afterwards had a nice, relaxed afternoon with the otterbein side of the family. my mother-in-law and her husband know how to make the best holiday comfort food ever, and never pressure us to do anything but relax. overall, it was a great easter. more coming soon, including pictures of the wonderful abby and nora bell, the tulips in our front yard, and - of course - the incredible, edible easter basket. happy monday!

yesterday was anne lamott's birthday. there are a very few authors who teach me something beautiful and truthful in the most subtle of ways every time i read them, all the while giving me belly laughs, and she's one of them. read her. in other news, my brilliant husband is building a dining room table for us out of solid pine. you have to understand that i've always had a dream of a big dining room table for lots of dinner guests and board games and homework...they (whoever "they" are) that a dining room is the heart of the home. and now we're getting one - made by daniel's own hands. he's also building a very cool round couch. maybe we'll actually have a real, grown-up house soon... i'm very tired tonight. the emotional wear of the past weeks seems to be resting, but my body is ready for bed. g'night.

our internet is down, so i'm at the library sending in an assignment for school. it's hard to believe that there are only 2 1/2 weeks left in the semester. soon i'll be starting my summer classes - abnormal psychology and diagnosis of mental disorders. yay for learning how to label people! actually, i'm very excited about these classes - they're kind of the meat of the mental health field, and it should be pretty intriguing. this has been a fantastic weekend after a very long and draining week. last night we went to see invisible children, which is a must-see if you at all want to care about what is happening in the world. afterwards, we had indian food with some new friends from church, and had a great service this morning. yesterday i got two major pieces of news: 1. my brother is moving back to indiana. 2. my uncle was found dead in his house this week after several days. if you're the praying type, please pray for my cousin, greg. he lost his mother to leukemia as a teenager, his brother (my cousin michael) a couple of months ago to a weak heart, and now his father. he's not married, and has no other immediate family. we're not very close, but this has to be a really difficult time for him. i'm ready for the dying and sickness to stop. thank God for resurrection. i have a feeling easter is going to take on an even deeper meaning this year. it's also going to take on a spirit of surprise and treats for my household members and guests (that should motivate any of you who are thinking of making the trip here next weekend...). there is a new bus system in columbus, which a friend of mine referred me to after hearing an npr story. apparently a british bus line is trying out the midwest market, and columbus is one of the cities - with fares starting as low as $1.50, and seeming to average $8-11 each way, we can travel to indianapolis, chicago, st. louis, minneapolis and other cities. it looks pretty cool - anyone up for a super-cheap trip to chi-town? time to check out the movie section and head home. it's too beautiful to be outside today.

"faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen..." these are the words that have been repeating themselves in my head since mark's death last week. i've been wanting to write, and keep composing blog posts in my head, but except for that verse, the words have been few. but here a few things that keep coming back... ...mark believed in the hope of the resurrection. i don't understand everything that entails, and i don't understand everything about healing and death and life, but i do desperately want the hope that he is whole and restored and that we will all be resurrected some day. most of the time, that hope is loud and clear. the rest of the time, well, i guess that's what faith is all about. ...mark believed in community. i've been so proud of the landing place and larger community in the past weeks and months. they are strong, and they will survive, and i love them. somehow, any minute differences and disagreements don't seem to really matter anymore. this is a community that knows the meaning of hope and endurance. ...mark believed in jesus. i need more of jesus.