Early bird

I've actually been here in the classroom for my first class since 8:05AM ... I thought class started at 8:15. It starts at 8:45. Ah well, I got to spend some quality online time with myself.

The green card saga continues ...

The Congressman's office that I contacted called me on Friday and let me know what's up with the green card situation. Bottom line: INS says they already mailed it to me ... in September! Ack!

So, as I have never received the thing, I had to fill out and mail an I-90 form today, a.k.a. Application to Replace Permanent Residence Card. The only bright sides I can see to this most recent development are that:

• I don't have to pay the $260 this application usually costs. Why? Because a card that I have never received doesn't count as lost, just as "not received". So, it doesn't cost me to replace it. Yay! Logic that works in my favor!
• I don't think I'll have to make an appointment at an INS office to have more photos/fingerprints done, at least not for the purposes of getting this green card thing finalized. One would assume that they have my photos and prints on file from the card they say they mailed in September, right?

I've finished all my "book" reading for class tomorrow. All I have left to do for tomorrow is read a bunch of Scripture segments, Paul-related stuff.

We're eating leftovers today. We still have taco soup, beef stew and pinto beans from Rob's cooking in the last few days. Nice to not to have to think about meals while I'm doing school stuff ... and working on the citizenship thing.

Please pray that they'll send my green card to me soon.

Gearing up for week 2

Rob has been having neck problems since we finished the trip out so we went to get our kinks worked out at a local massage therapy school on Friday. My session was pretty good but Rob didn't get as much mobility back as he was hoping for. We bought a clay hot-pack to use and that seems to be helping. He's gotten about 25% range of motion back since Friday.

Saturday was a light schoolwork day. I tried to rest as much as possible, except for about 1.5 hours in the library around noon. I'm almost done with my Bible translation for Greek readings (due Monday) and about halfway done with my Bible translation for Pauline studies. I spent a few hours in the closet recording vocals for the "Heather" vocal in Dark Waters, a module being planned for the new Neverwinter Nights coming out this summer. Rob was practicing his vernacular media skills. Me? I was just enjoying the idea of being somewhat famous in my little virtual world. I'll try not to let it go to my virtual head.

I've been translating all day today. I woke up with a mondo headache and Rob still can't move his neck enough to safely drive so we didn't leave the house until about 6:30PM today. I'd feel worse about that if we hadn't been in chapel, including one with Communion, 4 days last week. My favorite translation of the day:

Philippians 3:8 But rather even I am chalking-up all things to be a loss, because of the surpassing(ness) of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, the Lord of me, because of whom everything I lost and chalk-up as hoosifudge in order that Christ I may gain.

Yes, my friend, I said it. Hoosifudge. It's a new word that I didn't even make up.

Exegetical Form

This is my useful task for the day. Dr. Peterson (Pauline Studies professor) gave us an exegetical procedure outline and I needed a way to reorganize it in my head to make it Eshinee-systematic. I came up with a hyperlinked Word doc that I can actually use when doing exegetical work. It's made with a table (rather than text boxes) so the entry areas will expand as I fill in the form. Then, I published it online at the LBT site. Here it is: Exegetical Form

I'm very pleased with it. I may use it, or something based on it, the rest of my life, I'm so happy. Well, at least for a week or two.

In the flow

It's not actually that I'm so incredibly busy, now that I'm on campus. But the high-speed access in our apartment isn't actually working for us and we can't figure out why. So, we're still commuting for internet, even if it's only across campus, a 5 minute walk. Here are the highlights:

• Saturday - Arrived in Columbia late afternoon. Made it to Walmart to get household basics and food.
• Sunday - Went to the Lutheran church on our block (nice, eh?). Unpacked in the afternoon. Slept for a bit too ... zonked! Watched Star Wars in the evening.
• Monday - Greek readings class in the morning, finished outfitting the aprtament in the afternoon. It was a total surprise to me that the thrift stores here had such slim pickings. We ended up totally Walmarting the place. We are a living ad. Watched The Empire Strikes Back in the evening.
• Tuesday - Pauline studies in the morning, trying to fix the internet access problem in the afternoon. Also had to do some translating for Wednesday's Greek readings class. Watched Return of the Jedi in the evening. I think I'm movied out for a bit. :)
• Wednesday - Greek readings in the morning. I'm pleased to find that I can still translate on the fly. Well, sort of on the fly. I did translate the passage the day before.

It's dinner time so I need to get home. As soon as I get my readings from online for tomorrow, that is.

Long time, no see

the Waldals and me, originally uploaded by eshinee.

Todd and I were in YWAM's School of Evangelism together back in 1997, in Tyler, TX. This was my first time meeting his wife Jen and their children. We had a great visit. God is so good!

hanging out with friends in Texas

visiting Todd and Jen, originally uploaded by eshinee.

Louisiana!

Louisiana!, originally uploaded by eshinee.

Photos from the road

a New Mexico rest stop



in Ventura, CA at sunset ... the end of the day

On the road ... still

We're now at a hotel in Odessa, TX that has wireless internet access so ... let the blogging commence! Hopefully the audioblogs have been informative and entertaining.

Here's how it's been so far:

· Friday - Drove to Brookings, OR. Some may have seen the west coast flooding on the news. Yes, we were driving in that. Had 3 near accidents; nearly squished by a merging (not looking) truck in Portland, OR, nearly hydroplaned off the road on 266, nearly edged off the road by a veering car 1/3 into our lane on a curve (we were on the outside of the turn) on the OR coast. But we arrived safe and sound sometime around 7:30PM. Stayed with people from the church we'd speaking at on Sunday.
· Saturday - Slept in a bit. Spent a few hours in the afternoon with Pastor Gordon Myrah, of Trinity Lutheran where we were scheduled to speak. Went to church there in the evening.
· Sunday - Spoke in Sunday school and Eshinee did the children's message. Hung out for about an hour and a half afterwards, talking with people. Met a guy from the Gideon Bible group, "Sarge", who invited us to lunch. After lunch, took off for Redding, CA. The drive was long but dry. Took 299 across from 101 to I-5. We didn't count the switchback curves through the mountains but one of the Rosten's grandfathers did once. Jenny says he counted well over 400. I teased Rob that the iPod seemed to be playing quiet, sleepy tunes since Friday, particularly while we were driving at night. He commented that we hadn't heard any Jerry Garcia yet. What does the iPod play next? Jerry Garcia's Shendandoah/Lullaby medley from his children's album. If I didn't know better … Anyhow, we watched Serenity in the evening with Jenny.
· Monday - Had a lovely (i.e. uneventful) drive to Ventura, CA and spent the evening with friends, the Greenslates.
· Tuesday - Drove to Tucson, AZ and spent the night with the Batterhams, friends we know from a church that we used to attend in Redmond, WA who relocated to AZ in 2003. It was great to be able to hang out with them again; we hadn't seen them since they moved to AZ. Lots of catching up (and joking around) to do.
· Wednesday - Drove to Odessa, TX. Nearly missed noticing that we were in New Mexico altogether. I got the bright idea in the morning to call up a friend from YWAM Tyler that I haven't seen since I went to school with him in 1997. I talked to his wife and she said we could crash with them tomorrow night. Neither of us have met the other's spouse so that'll be fun, right there. It'll be great to see Todd and meet his wife, Jen. He was the first person I met who was actually into Greek study. I bet he'll be tickled when he hears where we're headed.

BTW, the hotel isn't even costing us tonight. We racked up frequent "stayer" points this fall at the Choice hotels chain during their "stay 2 nights, get one free" promotion so we're using one of our free nights tonight. We'll probably use another somewhere on the other side of Texas, maybe in Alabama. I've got my eye on a Quality Inn in Tuscaloosa.

Hecticity

We had a good weekend. Spoke at a church in Seattle on Sunday, doing the Bible study portion and part of the sermon.

If I'm not doing much in the way of posting this week, that's because we have scads of things to get done before we can jet. Here's the schedule:

• Today - Finish packing everything and make sure it fits in the car.
• Wednesday - Clean the apartment and mail anything that needs to be mailed.
• Thursday - Drive to Woodinville, WA.
• Friday - Drive to Brookings, OR.
• Saturday - Speak in church that evening and prepare for Sunday.
• Sunday - Speak in church that morning, drive to Redding, CA.
• Monday - Drive to Ventura, CA
• Tuesday - Drive to Tucson, AZ.
• Wednesday, Thursday - Drive to Dallas, TX.
• Friday, Saturday - Drive to Columbia, SC.
• Sunday - Get ready for class tomorrow ... this includes getting furniture, groceries and dishes.

The days in red are days that there may be blog-postings due to having spent the night in a place where we had high-speed internet access.

Application Confirmation

USPS - Track & Confirm: "Label/Receipt Number: 0305 2710 0002 6042 3966
Status: Delivered

Your item was delivered at 5:10 am on January 06, 2006 in LINCOLN, NE 68501. "

This means that USCIS/INS now has my citizenship application. So it begins ...

Christmas card 2005 from Carolina

Christmas card 2005 from Carolina, originally uploaded by eshinee.

Carolina is, to my knowledge, my youngest prayer supporter.

Dreams of God YWAM article; 1997

Dreams of God YWAM article; 1997, originally uploaded by eshinee.

I'm the person in the top left side of the picture who looks like she's doing the chicken dance. I wasn't.

Eshinee (blonde!) and Hope; 1996

Eshinee (blonde!) and Hope; 1996, originally uploaded by eshinee.

Eshinee as a little girl

Eshinee as a little girl, originally uploaded by eshinee.

Packing

I'm actually at Rob's folks right now, about to download the drivers for their scanner. We're packing like madpersons, trying to get ready for the big move next week. I have so many personal papers that I have to retain in some form in case INS/USCIS asks for it in the interview. I hate lugging that stuff around so I think I'm going to scan as much of it in as I can and print it out if they ask for it many moons down the road.

Rob has done a test pack and has informed me what I have room to take. Then, we went to Target yesterday and got some Rubbermaid storage bins that Rob realized we could put exactly 3 of in the back seat. So, he's rethinking his pack to include them.

Application done!

Mailed my N-400 to INS/USCIS yesterday ... done! Now, I just need to change addresses with them when we move and wait for the Oath ceremony.

Been looking at the study guide for my Civics test. Did you know that everybody living in the U.S., not just citizens, have the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Neato!

LTSS housing

Just called Jerry at LTSS housing. They normally don't allow part-time students in housing but he's going to see what he can work out, call me by tomorrow or Thursday. I can't imagine that there will be a problem. I know that they have empty apartments and, hey, rent is rent, right?

Here's the kitchen view in the apartment:

Holden Village home page

We had heard the name "Holden Village" batted around at various Cross of Christ events but weren't really sure what people were talking about. The Isensees explained to us over dinner last night. It sounds like something Rob and I should take advantage of before we leave the continent, probably next fall. Or we could do it on furlough. Either way, a cool place.

Here's the last week synopsis:

Thursday - Got photos done for the citizenship application. Bought the money orders for same. Had dinner with Rob's family (parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle) in Anacortes, WA.

Friday - Called INS to make sure I got the photo specs right. Was informed that the photos needed to be in a plastic bag stapled to the front of the application under the money orders. Needless to say, this was the first I had heard of this particular requirement and I was glad I had called. At least, part of me is glad I called. The other parts of me are tired of hidden requirements that a person would have no way of knowing about unless they make extra phonecalls and happen to ask the right question of the right person. Drove to Kate and Dave's for the New Year Weekend. Played D&D in the evening.

Saturday - Hung out with the Buerers and Zaffkes all day and partied with them in the evening. I managed to stay awake until just after midnight, at which point I had a glass of champagne and fell asleep in my chair. We spent the evening finishing up our D&D campaign that Rob was leading all this fall.

Sunday - Arrived at church this morning just in time for the service to end. Forgot that they were having a joint service an hour earlier than the usual time. Sigh. No matter; we still got to hang out with fellow churchers for nearly an hour afterward. We hung with the Buerers all afternoon. I watched Ever After again with Kate and her mom. Then, we all watched episodes of Firefly together before Rob and I took off to the Isensees for a yummy, fun dinner.

Today - We're getting ready to head back to Bellingham.

Tomorrow, the office at LTSS will be open so I can call and finalize the housing arrangements. Then, I need to get our new address so I can make all the address changes. On Wednesday, I mail the N-400 application (naturalized citizenship). We're coming back down next weekend for speaking at a church in Seattle so I want to get as much packing and sorting done this week as I can. We'll basically only have Monday to Wednesday next week for prep since we're hitting the road a week from this Thursday. Gak! Time flies.

Bellingham to Columbia

For those who would like to see what our upcoming trip will look like, here it is: