Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Mini Adventure

So, Jon and I locked our keyes in our car this afternoon. Perrrfect! He was pumping gas (I was driving). I told him I was going inside to get a drink. I left the keys in the ignition because he was still there, pumping gas. Well, he locks the car because he assumes I have the keys with me. . . and comes inside the gas station to join me. As we both walk out to the car. . . "uhhh, honey, where are the keys?" So funny. As we were standing there wondering what to do (total God thing) someone we knew pulls up. Thankfully, he was able to drive us home to get our second set of car keys and drive us back to the gas station. There were only 24 cars lined up behind ours for the pump :)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Oh how the City of Lansing sometimes stumps me..

So in somewhat of sheer stupidity see this link.  It seems to be more than counter intuitive. I would say that a license would be more along the lines than banning them all together and then going back to see what sense they can make of it.  On another note, we at the Ackerman household have started to compost.  I am not sure what my neighbors will think but at least they finished up their fence and so now the kids next door won't have direct access to our back yard.  Now to figure out how to keep the noise from drifting over...

-Jon-
Ohhh man. My good friend Trisha is in labor RIGHT NOW! I'm thinking of her and Justin and praying for a good, smooth delivery! I can't wait to see pictures of the little guy (Owen Philip).

We've got a lot going on in our lives right now, but not a whole lot I can blog about! Our small group is going through a lot (LOT!) right now, including my friend Mariam pulling a muscle and getting pnemonia. While she was on pain medicine and muscle relaxers, her 3 month old had an allergic reaction to the formula. . . poor girl! Jon and I ended up watching Caleb into the wee hours of the night one night as Mariam was spending her SECOND night in the ER trying to get this figured out. The cute little boy fell asleep in my arms though, and I'm glad we could help out a friend. It's cool to see our little body of believers surround each other and be there during times like this. But man, when it rains, it pours.

Ok, time to get back to work. Jon and I went to Woody's Oasis for lunch and man, I could take the longest nap right now!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

So sorry for the lack of posting. Really, truly.

Ok, moving on from (just did five hail mary's). Ok, here's a little weekend recap for ya: Friday night, our friends the Braams and the Bishops drove up from GR for a BBQ at our place. It was so good to see them and catch up.
Saturday was rainy and overcast and it was the perfect day to sleep in and laze around. I didn't shower until 3:30, it was awesome. I finished planning Meg's bachlorette shower (Ann Arbor, here we come!) and got a lot of reading done. After Church on Saturday night, we met up with the Luters for some Sushi at Sansu. I'm not a massive sushi fan (ok, not at all), but everyone else loves it so I did my best. I can handle the california rolls and salmon rolls, but that's about it, so I stuck with some teriyaki chicken :) Hopefully, I'll acquire the taste soon and can be a respectable cultured food chick.

Ok, well, there is LOTS more to write, but I need to go. My co-worker is currently complaining to me about how she's getting wrinkles on her face and I want to poke my eye out with a stick. adios.


it

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Another O'Neill On The Way!

No, no, not us- but John and Kym!!! Yep, I can finally share the news- they are expecting their second little one around the end of January!! Yayy!!! I am so beyond pumped for them, I really am! Congratulations you two!!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

this might be an addiction....

Hey all, I'm back again with a short post. Just check out this link. I was blown away by the people that are in the room, as it reads like a who's who of the past 10 years of worship music. It seems like more than ever there is an outpouring of hope for those in need. Maybe we would have been able to solve a few issues if we (the church) hadn't passed over them, and just now getting back on track. No I'm not passing the buck or judging, I haven't been involved like I should have been. I don't know about you'll, but things are starting to get uncomfortable in life, I kinda like it...

Jon

Monday, July 7, 2008

a few short things...

Just so I am upfront about this: this is Jon, not Chaeli (so please excuse my lack of proper blogger etiquette if I do something wrong, or at least forgive me in advance! :)

In my pursuit of trying to keep myself on the creative edge, I try to keep my daily intake of creative and moving websites constantly flowing around my office. And every day I am running across more and more amazing websites with moving stories, amazingly creative art and incredible music. Today I read a CNN story about a family that is from urban Atlanta. This story is incredible and is so inspiring I had to get this up here.

The quick and dirty of it is this: the daughter of the Salwer family saw a homeless man sitting next to a Mercedes and commented to her dad: "If that guy (with the Mercedes) didn't have such a nice car, then that guy (homeless man sitting next to car) could have a nice meal". This led to a brainstorming session with the rest of the family, and finally ended with the mom effectively saying that they should sell their house and give 50% away to a charity that is helping the people in some of the poorest places on earth.

All I can say is that it amazes me when any 15 year old says that to her dad, when most others are more concerned with texting their friends. I would encourage you to read the article on CNN.com, and post your thoughts here.

Personally it threw me for a loop and almost instantly I looked around our living room and though of 10 things that I could sell to make a little money to give to the LCRM. I don't think we are called to live in poverty so that other's can live in less poverty. The cycle of poverty, can always be lessend, but unfortunately will never end. As a Christ follower I know that I can always be doing more. This story really pushes me to rethink what we spend money on and what I use our money for.

I think it is our duty, through our love for others, to grasp everything that is in our possession, very loosly. If nothing more than to help our fellow man, maybe we should be filtering everything through a different lens. I am sure I will have more thoughts, but help me in this journey. Give me your thoughts and ideas, we want to know!



Jon

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Hola.
Sorry for the delay in posting- I'm really trying to post regularly on this blog! It's kind of been an insane week in more ways than one.  Mainly because I found out I have a bacterial skin infection (not on my face) that landed me on the couch with tylenol and an antibiotic.  Turns out, the doctor wants to CUT the infection open in order to relieve some of the pain today. It's been a PAINFUL week, to say the least but I think this should help. So, if you think of it today, you could throw up some prayers heavenward for me- I don't think it's going to be the best afternoon I've ever had.

But, were hanging in there! God is good- and His ways are best- I don't doubt that.  We've still been doing some house projects dispite the "issue"- mainly because it didn't really flare up until Sunday.  Here is Jon building our new fence:


And the new fence:

We truly have the shadiest neighbors on the whole block- they're backyard tends to be a mess- bikes, trampoline, pool, lawn mowers, basketball hoops and at one time THREE refrigerators (not if that isn't shady, I don't know what is).  Now we don't have to see it when we pull up in the driveway. SUHWEET! (Don't worry, we still love on them and hang out with their kids whenever were outside, it's just nice not to have to SEE their mess)

Were heading to my parents house tomorrow for the Fourth of July weekend and to celebrate my Dad's 50th Birthday!!  I think the weekend is going to include putt putting at Ella Sharp Park, ice cream at The parlour, fireworks and hanging with my old man :) HOPEFULLY I can still enjoy the weekend and I heal quickly. . . here's to hoping!
Meg and  Dave- we are going to MISSSS you guys!

Chaeli