St. Louis Mennonite Voluntary Service

Curry Genius resides in St Louis

2010-03-06T15:19:00.001-06:00

On this day, March 6, 2010, I have taken it upon myself to deem Steve, "Steve-O" Eigsti the "Curry-Making Genius of the Millennium". This title is not given lightly, for there is no written proof of this title bestowed on any St. Louis MVSer to date.

What makes Steve's genius so incredible, is that it is so unpracticed. Is he currently with the Oriya people, in Bangladesh, studying in the trade? No. Is he harvesting turmeric or fenugreek to perfect his curry in West India? No. He is at a basketball game, perhaps dreaming of the curry creation he will next assemble, or perhaps not. The complexities of Steve's mind, and his curry are not for us rice and bean making mortals to dwell upon.

Editor's note: There has been some quiet speculation that grandiose food titles are given out with too much frequency, due to the lavish praise given to the Lasagna prodigy member of the support committe, Dave Herholtz. I am here to assure you that this is ungrounded speculation. MUCH consideration is given to these titles and great work must be done to reach these daring levels of honor.

Lingo won't let go

2010-01-18T16:03:00.000-06:00

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bands which have connected them with a VOIP (internet phone) and to assume among the powers of the earth, the station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to cancel the service.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, Lingo, a VoIP (Voice over IP) provider in the United States owned by Primus Telecom a telecommunications provider which went bankrupt on March 16, 2009, has terrible company policies, and chooses to punish those who decide terminate their services.

We the People of the St. Louis Mennonite Voluntary Service unit, in order to reduce costs, to eliminate an underutilized service, and focus on a bold new future of using Google Voice (hey if they are going to take over the world at least they organized) establish that it was necessary to cancel our Lingo account.

Phone companies are instituted among Men and Women, deriving their just powers from the consent of their customers — That whenever any telecommunication company becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the St. Louis MVS Unit to alter or to abolish it.

The history of Lingo's customer service is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over customers. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. Lingo's tyrannical and oppressive customer service is egregious and well documented.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: we have tried to cancel our service but could not do so online, experienced long delays and disconnections while trying to cancel our service over the phone. When we reached the Billing Department they too have been deaf to the voice of justice and simply transfered us to the Cancellation Department where we were subjected to further delays and swing music. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of St. Louis Mennonite Voluntary Servic solemnly publish and declare, That this unit is, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent from Lingo, that we are Absolved from all Allegiance to Lingo, and that all telecommunication connections between us and Lingo, is and ought to be totally dissolved. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

-The St. Louis Mennonite Voluntary Service Unit

Okay so, perhaps we plagiarized a bit, so here's what we actually sent them. In our attempts to have our service canceled we forced to listen to swing music and we were hung up on several times but hey maybe it wasn't their fault. Maybe the phone company just had a connection problem. Oh wait they are the phone company. We did eventually get our service canceled but unfortunately, we had already made the decision to publicly badmouth this company.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I was not pleased with the Lingo cancellation process. I had significant delays while I was waiting to speak to Lingo representatives and I was hung up on two times. Furthermore, it was disappointing to not have the option of canceling online.

I would like to commend the people who were answering the phones as when I actually was able to speak with representatives, they were courteous and handled my misplaced anger professionally. My dissatisfaction is with the company policies that discourage helping customers that are leaving your service. I can assure you that I will never consider using your products again and I will do my best to ensure that I tell as many people as possible about my dissatisfaction with your company.

Sincerely,

Steve Eigsti

Let's go Blues!

2010-01-14T18:36:00.001-06:00

Tonight Mark and Steve have received the greatest gift of all. No not love. Tickets to see the Blue of the National Hockey League. They will be playing the Wild making it a match up between our very own St. Louis Blues and a team that I didn't know existed until I looked up who the Blues were playing several moments ago. Needless to say our whole lives have been leading up to this moment.

The Blues of course lead the NHL in home losses so we are optimistic that our presence will spur them on to a better performance. The Wild on the other hand are a team of hockey players who love to compete. They come from north of the equator and will give you their best every night. The team is famous for using hockey sticks and made headlines earlier in the year for using, the subsequently banned, flying W formation. I could look up actual information about the Wild but it seems easier to just make things up.

Well, we are off to the good old hockey game!

Roller Derby

2010-01-10T22:38:00.000-06:00

On Saturday night we ventured out into the cold winter night in search of excitement. We found the excitement we were looking for in the form of the Arch Rival Roller Girls. Though no one in our unit had much knowledges of the history or regulations of Roller Derby we were quite pleased to experience this fun, fast paced, and at times befuddling sport. We were a bit surprised to see the number of fans that turned out. There was a sell out crowd estimates topped 1,000 spectators (Mark thought 2500, so the jury's still out...speaking of jury, Steve has jury duty on Monday, fyi). The venue was nice, the presentation of the sport was quite polished and included jeer leaders, mascots, and a very well done and helpful play by play.

The bout was a rematch of last year's championship between the M-80's and the Stunt Devils. We ended up on the M-80's side of the rink and quickly adopted them as our Roller Derby team. Unfortunately, the M-80's needed more than our support as the Stunt Devil's asserted their dominance part way through the first half. The star of the game was Starry Starry Fight, a quick skater with exceptional balance, who scored 80 points. To put that in perspective that was over half of her team's total points (170) and eight points away from the 88 points the M-80's produced that evening.

All in all it was a fun evening which we capped off by heading to get some of St. Louis's best pizza.

Best Game you can name

2009-12-17T08:49:00.003-06:00

Brett Hull is St. Louis hockey legend who was honored with much clapping, cheering, and yelling of "lace them up Brett we need you," a phrase that becomes less humorous each time it is yelled from a distance where said retired hockey can't possibly hear you. Indeed on Tuesday, Blues fans united to celebrate the golden era of Brett Hull hockey. I don't remember a lot about Brett's Hockey career but I do remember that if he was at his best when he skated down the edge of the rink, made a sharp turn slightly before the red line, hit the turbo, held the shoot button as his momentum carried him across the front of the goal, then released before the goalie could recover. No one could do that like Brett.

It was fun to see a lot of former players stop by the Scottrade Center to honor Brett Hull's inclusion into the Hall of Fame. The current Blues played a good game themselves and snapped a four game home losing streak.

Still the real story of the night was Brett Hull a small lad from Belleville, Ontario who came from a humble background and went on to becoming the ambassador of fun.

Special thanks to Dan Worth for inviting me along to the good old hockey game.

JAM day

2009-12-11T19:46:00.000-06:00

Today we had a jam day which stand for Journaling and Meditation or something like that. While this once a frequent experience for residents of St. Louis MVS these events have become few and far between. Many people point to former MVS'er Amanda Maust as leading the opposition to this powerful chance for MVS'ers to reflect on their time in MVS, think about the direction they want the rest of the year to take, and generally enjoy the company of their fellow MVS'ers. We may never know why Amanda made it her personal vendetta to eliminate Jam days. However, we do know that we thoroughly enjoyed experiencing a JAM day and want to especially thank Pastor Samuel for leading our morning session.

Dave Herholtz: lasagna making prodigy

2009-12-09T15:24:00.001-06:00

Dave Herholtz, member of St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship and MVS Support Committee member, may be the world's greatest lasagna maker. He and his wife Quincy recently invited the MVS'ers over for supper last Saturday. As we (well the half of our unit who aren't vegetarians) were about to dig in Dave casually mentions that this is the first lasagna he's ever made. As we ate it became apparent that Dave had natural ability, some latent skill in the art of pasta creation that was just waiting to be tapped. Friends, I tell you the truth there is no way someone makes a lasagna that tasty on the first try unless they are a prodigy. I'm still at a loss for how he found the perfect blend of cheeses to accompany the ideally seasoned beef and still managed to have the pasta impeccably cooked. At a certain point though my head was spinning, I had to stop and accept that, though it defied logic, I was in the presence of a lasagna making legend who had yet to grasp his own genius. Will he continue to be a dominate creator of lasagna or will he like many other prodigies be unable to live up to the lofty expectations that his early work created? Only time will tell and we as MVS'ers only hope we will be invited back to their household to find out.

Where to even begin?

2009-05-13T22:23:00.002-05:00

Lots of exciting stuff is happening hear in St. Louis. At the St. Louis Mennonite Peace Center the community garden has benefited from some serious rain and is producing substantial yields. Quite a few classes have made it out to the garden to harvest their crops. Mustard Greens are the most recent crop to become mature. Delicious dishes of greens and spinach have been prepared by several teachers and members of the fifth and sixth grades at Columbia Elementary have consumed more hot sauce then one would believe was humanly possible. Soon, lettuce will be ready for students to make salads. Currently the garden is cursed with a delightful problem: an overabundance of food.

Restorative Talking Circles continue to be active at Long Middle School though the hectic end of the year schedule has proven to be a challenge. As part of a Restorative Justice curriculum which was implemented by Community Conflict Services at Long Middle school students experience a weekly talking circle in which students sit in a circle with a facilitator and have discussions using a talking piece to give all students a chance to contribute. Community Conflict Services, a group of organization committed to promoting restorative justice practices in St. Louis, continues to explore ways to strengthen and expand its current school peace programs. The St. Louis Mennonite Peace Center staff will continue to be an active member of Community Conflict Service in the coming year.

As always we as a unit remain thankful for all the special connections we have made throughout this year. It has been a truly wonderful year and we continue to be blessed by the support of friends and family both near and far. Thank you and may God continue to bless the United States.

Meal cooking

2009-01-28T10:57:00.000-06:00

With Wednesday night rapidly approaching our VS Unit is in desperate need of ideas for the Bible Study potluck that we will be hosting. Our Bible Study features a group of young adults who study the Good Word and its implications and relevancy to our modern lives.

Tonight’s topic will be ‘Spiritual Geography.’ We are incredibly fortunate to have a group of intelligent, biblically literate young adults to explore the Bible. These same young theologians are also great cooks and sometimes make our contributions to the potluck dinners seem inadequate.

That’s where we need your help loyal blog readers (the three of you are bond to come up with something). We need a vegetarian recipe that will win the respect and admiration of our peers. If you can work the theme of ‘Spiritual Geography’ into the cuisine it could help us earn bonus points. Help us! You are our only hope. We’ll be checking up for responses throughout the day.

Here are some of the ingredients we have on hand

2 peppers
Frozen broccoli, green beans, or peas
Bag of potatoes
Bag of onions
Rice
Butter
Milk
Peanut Butter
Flour
Sugar
Diced tomatoes
An assortment of beans
Pasta
Apple sauce
Garlic
Oil, Canola, and Vegetable Oil
The most common spices (garlic, onion, oregano, Italian, pepper, cilantro, ect…)

To encourage participation we will post a picture of a chicken skydiving when we get 3 responses. 5 will earn you a picture of a llama parachuting. 10 will get you something even more special. Time is of the essence we beg for your assistance.

How warm is it?

2009-01-16T07:17:00.002-06:00

Weather Report

The Midwest recently was the recipient of an arctic cold front bring season low temperatures to many regions. It's times like this the it is beneficial to remember how fortunate we are to have nice furnaces, blankets, coats, and hot coca. Furthermore, we recommend making a cup of coffee and mixing a pack of hot cocoa in with it. It's a sure cure for the blues!

MVS'ers steals local sports opinions and pass them off as their own

What isn't a sure cure for the Blues? More injuries. The team has had four of its six top players injured. This is devastating for a young team that already had questionable depth to begin with. Bottom line is the team has been forced to play players that simply should not be in the highest level of hockey at this point in their lives. Still the the team plays hard and viewing their NHL Hockey matches are generally an enjoyable utilization of time.

Interstate 64/4o closed

A large portion of St. Louis' interstate 64 is under construction and will be for the majority of the coming year. This has made navigating St. Louis slightly more cumbersome for the current MVS'ers. Several roads are much more crowded and much less enjoyable to drive our auto carriage along. The plus side is that it will encourage us to use public transportation more frequently and discover new exciting ways home (sometimes even intentionally).

And now the reason you all read our blog: pictures of dogs pulling decorative carts!

Blueberry Muffins

2009-01-12T18:13:00.002-06:00

According to a recent polling of Mennonite Voluntary Service workers in Metropolitan St. Louis blueberry muffins are one of the top muffin choices. Chocolate chip muffins also did well in the poll and garnered support from a variety of demographics. Lemon Poppy finished poorly on the heels after a series of ads linking the muffin to failed drug tests. Representatives of Lemon Poppy seed decried the ads saying that the attack ads were simply trying to distract voters from real issues such as taste and texture. Pumpkin muffins rounded out the top three, confirming what experts had been saying all along, that despite being a healthy and satisfying choice pumpkin too much of a seasonal pastry to win a general election. Despite a poor showing, Bran muffins vowed to be back in the future. In statement release to the press Bran's advisors said, "Sure, Bran might not be a sexy choice like Banana Nut or Cinnamon. It may not have the name recognition of Blueberry. However, we remain confident that a few years down the road people will come to a sudden realization of just how valuable, and ultimately essential, of a choice Bran can be."

Words

2009-01-03T12:05:00.004-06:00

As the St. Louis MVS unit boldly looks towards the future we stand united and poised for action. Anyway, it's been good times in St. Louis. Real good times. The writing below has a pattern. See if you can figure it out.

Steve
Saint Louis
Matt Chris Steve
Mennonite Voluntary Service Unit
Attending St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship
Eating Burek at a Bosnian Cafe
Watch the Balloon Glow in Forest Park
Cooking Holiday Feast with the help of friends
Digging a hole at Columbia Peace and Hope Garden
Mediating conflicts with Community Conflict Services of Metropolitan St. Louis
Observing the crew members of Serenity finding their way through space
Planning Restorative Justice Curriculum with Mary, Carrie, Pierre, Ebony, Clark, and Margaret
Seeing a burned Cathedral which was turned into a beautiful work of art
Exploring faith issues with Sam, Rachel, Amy, Jake, Adam, Dan, Heather, Amanda, and Chris
Being thankful for all the people I've meet and experiences I've had in St. Louis

That's all for now. Check back in a couple of months.

Steve

Update on our lives and Such...

2008-11-18T19:11:00.006-06:00

So, it's been three months since we moved to St Louis (two months for Chris), and we've made pretty good lives for ourselves in the process. We have been welcomed by our sponsoring church, St Louis Mennonite Fellowship, and it has become a vibrant faith community for the two of us. We have been blessed to be here in their move from the burbs to South City St Louis, just a few blocks from the MVS house. It's really been a formative time for the church and for the two of us as we participate in church life and discern what our role is in this new neighborhood. Chris gave a sermon a few weeks ago on the Greatest Commandment... We don't remember much of what he said, but he did say something about the foundation of faith resting on our capacity to give and receive love. Or something like that...

From tie-dying at the church retreat to carrying a piano and stove up a flight of stairs, we have been encouraged to become a part of what God is doing at SLMF. It has been inspiring to see how enthusiastic members are about sharing their gifts and contributing to the life of the church. There seems to be no spectators at SLMF.
There are a lot of people who know what service is all about. They've been there, and have contributed in their own unique ways to make us feel even more welcome in St Louis.
We have also shared some good times with MVS'ers Dan, Amanda, and Heather. We have grown closer over the past coupla months and they have done a good job of keeping us out of trouble.

We also have a lot of random silly stories...
About a month ago, Steve and Chris saw a poster for a rock show hanging at "The Diner", a 24-hour eating establishment just down the street. The band is called "Kentucky Knife Fight", and a few days later, Steve, Heather, and Chris headed down to the show in Granite City, Illinois. We were enticed by the possibility of appearing in an amateur music video and loads of free pizza. After driving around Middle of Nowhere, Illinois for over an hour, a two story barn and gloriously well lit country mansion surrounded by prodigious pumpkin patch. The barn was filled with black lights, old farming equipment, vintage signs, and other random freaky-deeky Americana nostalgia. The show left nothing to be desired, and after listening to good tunes and eating our fair of free pizza, Heather, Chris, and Steve decided to steal the largest pumpkin in the pumpkin patch (pumpkin picture included).

Oh, and we made an ice cream cake out of whip cream and loads of ice cream sandwiches for our Wednesday night Bible Study. It’s so easy we were able to make it in the car. One of these days, and you know how long it takes us to post anything on this blog… we’ll share this story, and the amazing automotive ice cream cake recipe. Stay tuned.

Chill out!

2008-11-18T08:15:00.004-06:00

In all seriousness, we will have a blog post tonight. Now you know we're for real this time...

--Things you might hear about.

--Making ice cream cake in the mvs car.

--Stealing a pumpkin from a rock show.

--Watching Fireflys in November.

--Preaching fire and brimstone at SLMF.

--Election day shindigs and good time merriment.

I know we kept our fans waiting but hold on to your britches cause you are about to experience some turbulence MVS style.

This Blog Has Been Hi-Jacked...

2008-09-30T17:57:00.002-05:00

So, it's like this... this blog is now property of the 2008 St Louis Mennonite Voluntary Service. We've taken this thing over with our own reflections, thoughts, and random things of interest we post throughout the year. Don't worry, you still hear about Amanda and Heather, who are just living a few blocks away. We're gonna have to find a new name to call ourselves other than the "Cunit," because even though we are indeed cute, it's just not our style. Not how we roll. But first things first, our bios.

Who are we?!

(Written by Chris Scott)...
Steve Eigsti: Steve is currently working at the Mennonite Peace Center. He grew up in the small town of Buda, Illinois, where nobody knew how to pronounce his last name. However, he felt right at home when he went to Goshen College ("Ike-Stee!"). Steve taught history for a year before coming to MVS. He is a super huge fan of the Chicago Cubs and social justice. It is out of his deep passion for equality and a sense of pity that he roots for such a pathetic baseball team.

(Written by Steve Eigsti)...
Chris Scott: Is from (West by God) Virginia and he will rock you. He likes to eat quesadillas. He is a person of deep religious convictions and an insatiable appetite for salsa. He works to ensure fair housing for all. He is currently co-chairing the Committee to Remove Fruit Flies from our House (or C.2.R.F.F.F.O.H.). Above all, he brings humor and relentless compassion to our Unit and his contributions are greatly valued.

All right, so that's all for now. Look for more posts in the next coupla days. You will not be disappointed.

2008-07-28T18:47:00.006-05:00

Well loyal blog readers, we have reached the end of the cyber road. This will be the final virtual word put out by Heather, Amanda and Tiffany. Living together for the past 12 months has been silly, fun, emotional, happy, sad, exciting, boring and, above all, memorable! Sprinkled throughout this blog you will see snapshots from our last full weekend together as we enjoyed the good eatin' of the Eat Rite Diner and our last evening at the Arch together.

Tiffany's Moment
Ah the infamous camping excursion. In late October, the three of us set out to rough it for a few days at a state park about an hour out of St. Louis. Of course, roughing it required two coolers overflowing with food and snacks, about a million blankets and a lot of borrowed camping gear that we had no idea how to use. The weekend is a fantastic memory for all of us. Getting lost on a 1.5 mile hiking trail, failing to ignite our camp fire (don't worry, our camping neighbors came over and doused our "fire" with lighter fluid), attempting to make campfire food (Mmm, burnt potato egg moosh!) and late nights around the smoldering logs we called our campfire talking about all our thoughts, hopes, ideas and adventures.

Amanda's Moment
Nothing says good times like a wild animal in the basement. Who could forget the pigeon in the basement episode. After a night of hearing strange noises coming from our basement, it was time to free whatever creature was bumping around down there. So the three of us plus our friend Clay (you better be reading this from Seattle buddy!) donned hats and gloves, grabbed the nearest weapon (brooms, sticks, tennis rackets) and descended to the basement. There we discovered an entrapped pigeon flying around in a panic. After several minutes of intense chasing, the frightened bird was captured in what could only be described as a miraculous grab by Clay. The bird was set free and the three of us gained a new respect for our bird wrangling friend. (Scroll down our blog to see the original entry of this event!)

Heather's Moment(s)
Always the rebel, Heather had to have two moments. First up, the Christmas letter photo shoot. We decided in early fall to send a Christmas letter and photo to our friends and family since we're probably the cutest VSers ever. So as the leaves were turning, the three of us set out to Tower Grove Park to have Dan (our former housemate) capture us at our most adorable. The photo shoot lasted quite awhile and produced over 200 pictures, 10 of which were mildly acceptable to us. In the end, we had a fantastic Christmas letter and a whole bunch of hilarious pictures to remind us of how photogenic we are.
and a half in that line before we were reunited. The four of us spent the rest of that morning bravely battling lines, traffic and more than a fewNext, black Friday. The three of us had decided to be adventurous and join the throngs of people in search of the best door-busting deals on black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). We left the house at 3:30 AM, determined to be the most hard-core Holiday shoppers you've ever seen. Like buffalo hunters armed with BB guns, we quickly found ourselves way out of our league. We walked into Kohls at 4:10 AM and found the lines already making their way around the circumference of the store. By the time we were ready to check-out, at about 4:50, the lines circled the outer limits of the building....twice. Our neighbor, Tina, bearing a considerably larger armload than the three of us, bravely volunteered to wait while the three of us explored the next stop on our list of conquests. Tina (bless her sales-driven heart) waited for an hour frightening female elbow-throwers. We went home that day at about 10:30 (do the math, that's 6.5 hours of shopping) with some great buys, great stories and great plans to sleep in next black Friday.

The End...And Beginning
So here we are, bidding you all adieu. VS has been a huge experience for all of us. We can happily set off on our next adventures...

2008-07-23T17:09:00.002-05:00

As is consistent with our summer thus far, our schedule this week kept us busy. This week in particular though, we were reminded of why we like St. Louis so much and what makes our community here so special.

The Move
On Thursday, Amanda's friend from home, Chelsea, flew in for a visit. No sooner had she arrived than an opportunity for Amanda and Heather to get free furniture also presented itself. Clay, a good friend of ours, recently moved to Seattle to do VS and before he left, he told Amanda and Heather that he had a plethora of free stuff for them. But since the items (a futon, coffee table, TV, etc.) weren't likely to fit into our little Honda Civic, Amanda and Heather's free stuff sat waiting. However, Thursday night, a truck was offered to them and they took it. And that's how Tiffany, Heather, Amanda and Chelsea ended up in a St. Louis suburb at 9:30 at night, feeling our manliest after hauling and loading furniture for an hour. It was more work than any of us anticipated (especially poor Chelsea who had anticipated a relaxing evening after traveling all day) but we did eventually get everything home. And now, though it looks like our house is an indoor garage sale, Amanda and Heather have a lovely little start for their apartment.

The Weekend
Our weekend was filled with St. Louis classics. We started on Friday with a Muny show which was fantastic and fun. We followed that treat with another: frozen custard from (where else?) Ted Drewes. On Saturday, we took Chelsea to our local farmers market, a great love of ours, and ended the day with a free concert at the Arch. On Sunday, of course, Chelsea got to meet some of St. Louis's finest: the St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship. Our church has been doing summer "Olympics" for the past few weeks and this Sunday the event was giant Dutch Blitz. It was an injury-laden good time. Though the Yellow team triumphed (the Green team however, is in the lead overall) everyone went away smiling...even if they were also limping. We spent Sunday afternoon with friends we invited over for a barbecue lunch and then a movie. We used some of our Ed/Rec money to see "Mamma Mia." Truthfully, our absolute and total elation over the greatness of this movie is just mildly embarrassing. But if you ask us about it, don't mock us for falling in love with this exuberant, flamboyant, brilliant, masterful, beautiful, bubbly movie.

Isn't It Nice?
Yes, our city is great. There are funky little places to eat and play like the City Museum or Blueberry Hill and old classics like the Muny that are always brilliant. But what we like even better than the fun we find in the city, is the family we find every Sunday. We might run into them (literally) during an "Olympic" event, or we might be invited over for dinner during the week. We might discuss church doctrine or social issues in Sunday School or talk about mundane VS financial issues. We might offer to babysit or be offered free furniture. Whether we're sharing their joy, pain, panic or possessions or they're sharing ours, it is the fact that we are together throughout that makes sharing seem natural. And that's what's so nice about St. Louis.

2008-07-14T20:45:00.002-05:00

Life Decisions
As we move through decision-making for our post-unit life, there have ups and downs, breakthroughs and breakdowns.

Heather and Amanda
Apartment hunting has taken up a large amount of time for 2/3 of our unit. Amanda and Heather scouted out innumerable apartments, all with differing pros and cons. But after months of hunting and hours of discussions, visits and phone calls, they reached a decision this week. They will be moving into a lovely 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment just a few blocks from the our unit house. (So for anyone considering MVS in St. Louis, you'll have some great neighbors!) They are very excited for little perks like planting a small garden and owning a pet.

Tiffany
Tiffany continues to be a craigslist junkie as she job hunts for employment in the Corvallis, OR area. She spends a lot of her time communicating with her future room-mates, discussing apartment arrangements and generally expressing her excitement (and fear) for departing from the mid-West.

Our Adventures
The last two weeks have been filled with summer treats (and not just the kind from Ted Drewes). For the Fourth of July, Heather and her friend, Allison, who was visiting from Goshen, headed downtown for the big St. Louis fireworks display. Of course, the fireworks were great, the crowds however, were not. Heather determined that watching the downtown fireworks is a once in a lifetime experience...as in, to be experienced ONCE in a lifetime.
Tiffany and Amanda enjoyed a more low-key celebration with a small gathering of friends from church followed by watching (from a distance) a suburban St. Louis fireworks display.
Other fun activities have been seeing free musicals at an outdoor amphitheater, taking walks through the park on sunny evenings and doing lots of grilling.

Summer is no time to hesitate. Have an adventure before it gets too cold to feel adventurous. Happy summer!

2008-07-01T21:11:00.001-05:00

I think it's safe to say that summer has rendered the three of us blog-slobs. Fun to say but bad for us as we try to recap the hectic events of the last couple of weeks.

Together:
We enjoyed Shakespeare in the Park about two weeks ago. This year it was The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. While Heather and Amanda struggled through the last long hours (yes, hours) of Shakespearian lingo, Tiffany admittedly was swept away by the magic of the outdoor theatre.
The Botanical Gardens (a few blocks from our house) hosts free outdoor music every Wednesday during the summer. So we packed ourselves a nice little hummus dinner and headed out to hear the jazzy sounds of local artist, Erin Bode. It was a beautiful evening and we would highly recommend catching a few of Erin's tunes.
Another highlight of the last few weeks was the Ladies Tea Party at church. All the women and girls at the church were invited for an evening of little sandwiches and fancy tea cups followed by a mystery wedding dress fashion show. Several women volunteered to model wedding dresses donated by women from the church. The goal, then, was to guess whose dress was whose. Tea, ruffles and friendly female faces. Good times.

On Our Own:
Tiffany spent June 16-20 speaking at a youth camp in Minnesota. The week was a bit stressful but overall a fantastic success. It was an absolutely beautiful week in the land of 10,000 lakes and it was a bit hard to return to the hustle and bustle of the big city after spending so much time on the edge of the lake.

Amanda spent June 20-29 at home in Virgina spending time with her entire family. The week included many exciting nights of games, connections with friends, quality time in conversation and other thrilling endeavors such as car shopping and buying.

This week, Heather is entertaining her friend Allison. On the horizon are St. Louis tours, trips to Ted Drewes and 4th of July fireworks downtown.

Today is July 1. The first day of our last full month as a unit. Tiffany and Amanda's terms end August 20th and 22nd. Naturally, a lot of our time has been spent making plans for life after 3522 Wyoming (our address for those of you not in the know). Tiffany is moving to Corvallis, OR with her sister and friends from college so she has been knee-deep in resumes, applications and apartment hunting (not easy from several hundred miles away). Heather and Amanda are busily gathering items for their future apartment together in St. Louis. After 10 months as a unit, life after seems like a strange, exotic world. And while an end is always hard, the three of us are ready and willing to reenter the world of paychecks and personal ownership.

2008-06-03T20:30:00.001-05:00

The things we did...

Our highlights this week begin with a 2 hour "Saved by the Bell" marathon. Being the ultra hip lady she is, Heather checked out a whole season of the show on Friday and we proceded with a hardcore 80's binge. Good times. Good stone-washed jeans.

Next up, the BIG one. The day we've been looking forward to for weeks, months. The Sex and City Movie premiere. What reason would Tiffany have to go out in public with a bear mid-driff and leopard print pants? Well, we decided that instead of just seeing the movie, we would become a part of the drama. So Tiffany (Samantha), Amanda (Carrie), Heather (Charlotte), along with our friend Rachel (Miranda) thoroughly enjoyed a night of drama, beauty and friendship.

Last was an evening of fun and friendship on Sunday. For young audlt Bible study, we had a game night in honor of our friend Joycelyn's last Bible study. Before she leaves St. Louis in search of wide open spaces, we decided to have a last evening of good times. Vigorous rounds of catch phrase were played and no small amount of food consumed. We like friends.

Though the last few weeks have felt stressful for some of us, there's always something to remind us that we often take ourselves too seriously. Our panic, our stress, our general need to organize and fit all things into a neat little life. It's exhausting and, if we're honest, never really effective. So when you feel that tinge of worry, that pinch of distress because life is not ordering itself according to plan, find yourself some leopard-print pants and note the people's faces as you pass by. Watch some "Saved by the Bell" and think back to when getting your bangs high enough was a major concern. Remember that if you've loved someone, laughed with someone and found a moment to appreciate something mundane, you've lived a good day. And even though your problems will still be around, they'll probably be a lot more fun to deal with the voice of Screech in the back of your head.

2008-05-26T21:39:00.006-05:00

Maybe spring just makes a person feel insightful or thoughtful or brighter but it seems to us that it's not just the weather that's sunny lately.

Amanda
After months of financial frustrations, La Clinica might be on it's way towards some much needed help. Though nothing is for sure yet, Amanda may have single-handedly kept La Clinica in operation. Not too shabby for someone who isn't even getting paid. Amanda also celebrated her 24th birthday on Friday. She found a few little gifts from her ever-so-affectionate roommates and was treated by a good friend to a beautiful evening at a local fondue restaurant called the Melting Pot .

Heather
For the first time since leaving VS, Heather has found herself at a job that feels good to her. She's enjoying her co-workers, the lovely pond outside her building and, oh yeah, the work too. And to ice the grown-up world cake, her parents delivered her newly purchased car last weekend. She now sits behind the wheel of her cute new (used) Alero, looking an awful lot like an adult. Arranging a little trip with another lady from church, Heather also got to spend this weekend at home with her parents.

Tiffany
The day we never thought would come came last Sunday. The performance of Godspell. After two months of weekly rehearsals, endless notes and constant planning, SLMF performed the abbreviated version of Godspell for a packed house (they filled up all 60 chairs anyway.) Although we might be biased, we would say it was maybe the most beautiful performance you've ever seen. It was a tye-dye dream and a musical masterpiece. Tiffany can only describe this directorial experience as tiring, humbling and very, very fun. Just two days after Godspell, Tiffany jumped a plane headed to Colorado for the annual MVS retreat. Shifting from the humid, crowded city to the dry, scenic mountains was a bit sudden but not unwelcome. After a few days of hiking, sports, sessions, games and a whole lot of really good food, Tiffany stumbled back to our little house, pleasantly exhausted.

Sunny Days to Come
So maybe it is just the weather but, to us, it seems like things are getting brighter and brighter. With summer around the corner, we have an extensive list of plans for our last three months as a unit. Expect to find reports of outdoor musicals, endless festivals and maybe even some camping adventures.

2008-05-12T16:31:00.006-05:00

In the last two weeks...
Tiffany

has been very busy planning for Godspell and camp. In June she will be speaking to campers age 10-13 at a Bible camp in Minnesota. She spends a lot of time buried in youth resource books and jotting endless notes. Godspell is going well and Tiffany is excited to see how the last rehearsals and the performance on Sunday May 18th will go.

visited Hesston, KS for her sister's graduation from Hesston college. It was great to be with old friends and get to spend time with the family.

had a friend visit from Goshen. Tiffany and her friend Kevin had loads of fun exploring her little part of the city, eating Thai food and being lazy.
has been preparing and looking forward to MVS retreat on May 20-23. Woo-hoo for Rocky Mountain Mennonite camp and getting a week off of work!

Amanda

continues to give her all to La Clinica as they struggle through some financial difficulties.
has also been working on her Godspell lines, solos and choreography. After some serious prodding from her directorial housemate, she's fully prepared to take the stage by storm while still looking dainty in her tiara and pearls.
had great girl time with Heather and Rachel (a friend from church) when they went out Friday night for "Made of Honor." Thai take-out and a chick-flick, guaranteed good times.

Heather

is very pleased with her new job! The new company she is working for has turned out to be a comfortable fit.
has been dealing with the frustration of buying a car. No fun. Especially when the car is out of state.
enjoyed Cinco de Mayo with Amanda and few other friends. They all visited St. Louis' little Mexico and headed back to the house for an evening of bean game-filled fun.
is a dynamite stage manager for Godspell!

We all

enjoyed Indian food this Sunday with Kevin and Clay.
love the warm weather and sun. We're ready to spend some more time with Jude (our football), Andie (our frisbee) and Donnie and Marie (our bat and ball).
are very excited for the season finale of The Office.
will try to be better bloggers!

2008-04-28T16:38:00.007-05:00

I know what you're thinking. "Those lazy VSers skipped a week!" And it's true. Except not the lazy part. Perhaps it was the flush of warmer, spring-like weather that kept us from being able to sit still long enough to compose a new post. Or maybe the recent rush of new work, new plans and more commitments prevented us from fulfilling our weekly blog duty. Whatever the cause,we're sorry and we'll try not to let it happen too often.

The Highs
Here are a few highlights from the last two weeks of our lives:

Our basement got a face lift! For those of you unfamiliar with the dungeon-like lower level of our house, our basement has been steadily building up dust and discarded relics of former VSers for...well probably forever. This is also where our washer and dryer is and this Saturday we decided it felt icky to clean our garments in a place that made us shudder and sneeze upon entering. So two hours and two overflowing dumpsters later, our basement is organized, clean and pretty gosh darn spiffy.
Our church's upcoming performance of Godspell has been keeping all of us busy the last few weeks. The show is beginning to come together (performance is May 18th) and we've all enjoyed pushing ourselves creatively and mentally to make it a top-notch show.
Young adult Bible study has been a bright spot for us as well. We've had the pleasure of welcoming a few new people to the group and our conversation continues to stimulate as well as comfort.
There have been four new additions made in our home in the past week. Last week, we purchased Jude (our football), Andie (our frisbee) and a very squishy bat and ball (Donnie and Marie). These new friends have provided us many evenings of fun at nearby Tower Grove Park. Join us anytime!

In the World of Work
This week, Heather is starting a new job once again. She is still in search of that one job that will fulfill all her hopes and dreams but until then she's settling into a new administrative assistant position through her temp agency.
La Clinica, Amanda's employer, had a Health Fair last Saturday. Heather and Tiffany both tagged along to help out and get our current physical health assessed. We are happy to report to all three of us appear to be quite healthy (maybe Ted Drewes IS good for you!) and the Health Fair was a great day of community outreach and involvement.
Tiffany's HeadStart classroom continues to be in a state of constant evolution. They welcomed two more new students to classroom in the last two weeks, successfully meeting their space capacity. The steady flow of new children has made for several challenging weeks but hopefully they are at the end of that trend and can now start settling in with one another.

As we face our last season together (Tiffany and Amanda will be done with VS at the end of the summer) there are so many plans and ideas yet to be accomplished. So even if we skip a week here and there, you'll want to keep up, because we'll have a lot to report.

2008-04-14T16:46:00.005-05:00

International Week
This week, the three of us decided to give ourselves a culinary challenge: make international food all week. This went very well on Monday when we prepared Pad Thai and spring rolls, both of which were quite fantastic and fun to make. And Tuesday's green Curry was also delicious. Wednesday, however, was a bad day in the world of international cooking. Amanda, brave soul that she is, took on the challenge of falafels. Things went well at first but when she tried to check the temperature of the oil that she would be frying the little falafels in, a sudden explosion of oil and glass indicated the end of a relaxing cooking experience. Bearing an oil burn on her cheek, Amanda disposed of the glass sprinkled oil and cleaned up as much of the former thermometer turned explosive as she could. She then managed to fry several falafels before tragedy again struck by way of too cold oil and destroyed falafel. Her rather clueless roommates came to the sparsely set dinner table to find a less than chipper Amanda. The ones that did turn out though were a hard-fought-for treat. The rest of international week went smoothly. Right up to the Chinese Buffet on Friday evening.

Must-See Thursday
This week, the VS house came to believe in the power of prayer: The Office returned. Thus, Thursdays are right again with Survivor, The Office, 30 Rock and Scrubs all coming together to make our lives laughable.

Relaxy Weekend
The three of us spent Friday and Saturday doing very little, which was very, very nice. We each had a few little errands and things to do before we settled in on Saturday night with a good movie and a bag of chips.
Sunday was busy, busy though with church in the morning, Godspell rehearsal in the afternoon and young adult Bible study in the evening. All of our Sunday activities brought smiles, surprises and challenges to last us all week.

2008-04-07T16:29:00.004-05:00

Spring
After months of seemingly unrelenting rain/snow, cold and cloudiness, it looks like spring might have actually sprung here in St. Louis. We had a beautiful weekend with 70-degree weather, lots of sun and plenty of time to enjoy all that spring-time goodness.

At Work
Tiffany's HeadStart classroom welcomed two new students to the room this past week. Both are barely three-years-old and each brings some new issues to the room. Little Uriel only speaks Spanish and burly Cameron has limited speech ability. So, as always, the challenges of working with low-income families abound. At least you she can honestly say that working at HeadStart is never dull.
Amanda had a very busy at work this past week. As La Clinica dives into a new season of much needed fund-raising, is seems that the hours in the day are becoming less and less adequate. Always the resilient Clinic Manager, Amanda continues to hold her little ministry together.
Heather is still adjusting to her position as an Administrative Assistant. She's getting used to the sometimes frantic but often slow pace of her days there. Being out in the "real world" as they say, has also exposed her to some different political points of view. Keeping a respectful attitude while disagreeing strongly is not an easy challenge.

Friday
To start off our weekend, the three of us plus Dae and Dan went out to a local bar and grill called Blueberry Hill. It's a little St. Louis landmark with walls covered with pictures of celebrities (Nelly, Indigo Girls, Bob Dylan, etc.) that have frequented this trendy little restaurant. We had a great meal and basked in the glow of feeling so ultra hip.

Saturday
The last few weekends have been pretty hectic here at the house so this Saturday was absolutely perfect because we had NOTHING to do. We slept in, ate cinnamon rolls and read our books. Ah, simple Saturday. That evening, we had Dan, Dae, Clay and a friend of Clay's (Dave) over for a pizza dinner and games. The pizza was good, the discussion lively and the games far too noisy. Good times.

Sunday
Sunday was the first meeting of the Godspell cast at church. Tiffany is directing a minimized version of the classic musical with Amanda contributing to music leadership and Heather playing a huge supporting role as stage manager. It was a really exciting meeting that gave us all something to look forward to in the coming weeks.

2008-03-31T16:40:00.005-05:00

It was another busy week here in St. Louis.

Work Week
All three of us here managed to settle back into our work routine. It all felt a bit ho hum after such an active Easter weekend but of course, there's always something to challenge and excite when you're starting a new job or pressing on in the world of non-profits.

Rachel--Aunt of the Year
On Thursday evening, Amanda's aunt Rachel settled into the VS house for the weekend. The
Mennonite Health Association was having its annual conference in St. Louis this year so we had the pleasure of hosting Rachel while she attended the convention.

On Friday evening Rachel bestowed upon the three of us two fantastic treats: Thai food and Ted Drew's frozen custard. For those non-St. Louisans, Ted Drew's is a local ice cream stand whose frozen goods are so amazing, you will immediately stop caring that you've gained 10 pounds since joining VS.
Saturday Rachel spent the day at conferences and the three of us enjoyed a quiet afternoon. When Rachel got home, we took her on a little driving tour of St. Louis before all of us headed out to witness Amanda's latest claim to fame. In fact, a few weeks ago, JD Martin and Jan Garrett asked Amanda to do backup vocals for them when they performed for the Health Assembly. JD Martin has is a singer/songwriter and has written several chart-topping county songs as well as having appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Yeah, how 'bout that for friends in high places? So with a little "We're with the band..." all four of us were welcomed into a lovely dinner followed by great music.
On Sunday, after church, we all enjoyed the famed Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour. St. Louis is the world headquarters of the Anheuser-Busch corporation and a free tour is offered to anyone interested in exploring the 100-acre (we kid you not) facility. Despite the irony of learning about the production of beer on the Lord's day, it was a fascinating tour and an interesting look at the history of St. Louis.
Following the tour, we quickly carted Rachel off the airport so that she could make her way home. We're sure she was happy to be going home but we would of have been ok with a few more days in her company.

Easter, Etc.

2008-03-24T19:48:00.005-05:00

Well this has been a busy, busy week at the VS House

Tiffany
Tiffany's entire family (Mom and Dad, 7 siblings, 3 in-laws, 2 nieces and a nephew) came to visit her this weekend. Anytime a person goes from planning life around two people to planning life with 15, there's bound to be symptoms that resemble culture shock. So while dealing with all the issues that come along with trying to plan a weekend with 16 people isn't always easy, it was definitely a fantastic weekend for Tiffany. Between visiting the City Museum, the St. Louis zoo and the HeadStart where Tiffany works, Tiffany squeezed in time for quality talks with the family she hasn't seen in several months. Have her family there for her 21st birthday (Easter day) was so much fun and saying goodbye to everyone was emotional and only bearable with lots of reminders of the next time everyone would be together again.

Heather and Amanda
While Heather and Amanda's Easter was a little less rambunctious than Tiffany's, they also had a fun, relaxing Easter weekend. Amanda's friend Karie from her EMU days was visiting for the weekend so Amanda had the fun of showing a friend around our city. They also visited the City Museum as well as the Farmer's Market we VSers often frequent and the three of them spent a fun evening at our friend Dae's house.

Wind down...
As there always is at the end of a looked-forward-to event, the three of us are now working on settling back into routine. Tiffany continues to work on Godspell and trying to educate three-year-olds, Heather resumes adjusting to a new place of employment and Amanda goes back to the always adventurous world of La Clinica. And as we go through the motions of familiar routine, we hold sweet moments, hugs and special times close to our hearts...right where our loved ones always are anyways.

Thoughts

2008-03-18T17:55:00.002-05:00

This week was fairly uneventful for the ladies of St. Louis MVS. So instead of our usual event updates, this week we're going to take our readers on a little tour of the inner workings of an MVSer.

Amanda
While it's usually revered as a very selfless, purposeful and positive place to be employed, working at a non-profit agency tends to come with more than its fair share of bumps and surprises. Amanda has been contemplating the trying world of non-profits this week. It seems strange that these agencies, so crucial to meeting the needs of everyday people, struggle just to survive the day to day. Money worries, space issues, meeting federal codes, staying on top of paper work, less than ideal working conditions and client needs are what non-profit workers walk into every morning. Why are those working for non-profits usually struggling to meet their own needs? Even more disturbing, why do the presidents, founders and board members of non-profits tend to be upper-class citizens who rarely encounter the populations which their agencies serve? Why does poor management and poor employee treatment seem so prevalent in the world of non-profits? There's no real answers to these questions nor is it the job of the MVSer to solve them. We know that our job is to be Christ's hands and feet where few toes dare to trod. But still, those thoughts go through our heads and we can't help wondering.

Heather
The real world. It ain't so pretty. Having recently taken that leap from the relatively secure environment of MVS to the "real world", Heather is finding out why that term is rarely said with anything but a sarcastic smile. Though a paycheck is no unwelcome sight to a former VSer, things like buying a car, paying rent and the always harrowing job hunt make the cushion of an expanding bank account feel more like the cold reality of a hardwood floor. It's been nice for all of us, though, that Heather is working through that transition while still living in our sweet, little community. It's nice to have the support of a church family and warm, familiar home to come home to. But even so, the real world will take some adjusting to.

Tiffany
Ah, the next step. No matter how many one takes, there's always that next one looming ahead of you. Usually right about the time you feel yourself confidently planted, there you are, dragging your feet up again. Lately Tiffany has been contemplating next years' plans. March is the 6 month mark in her year of service and has coincided neatly with the little flutters of excitement and fear for the future. She's planning to move to Oregon in September to live with her sister and some college friends. Seems pretty simple at face value. However, the myriad details involved are beginning to be revealed. While living on the west coast with some of the best folks in the world is going to be great for her, there's still always doubts. How does one confidently make a move? When do you get used to rooting and uprooting oneself? When do you become good at it? As a good friend of ours once said, time is a scarce thing; how does one choose where and with whom to spend it? We suppose however, that the true question is what you will do with that time, wherever you are.

Eloquence

2008-03-11T21:40:00.006-05:00

A Job Where You Make Money
Heather got a job a this week! After a week of being our stay-at-home housemate (which Tiffany and Amanda were really starting to get used to), Heather got a receptionist position at an up-and-coming organization. She's back to working long hours only now she gets this really neat thing that she calls "a paycheck." Amanda and Tiffany are fascinated by this strange concept but Heather seems to like it.

Work
The work week passed with a few ups and downs. Amanda and Heather continued to attend step classes at the YMCA and Tiffany worked towards her goal of eating her weight in icecream. St. Louis had a big snow storm on Tuesday (if you're paying attention to detail, yes it was 70 degrees just two days prior to the storm) so Tiffany enjoyed a snow day while Amanda, being the courageous clinical manger that she is, braved the snow and kept the clinic operating. Besides that, the three of us tried to capture the interesting, the humorous and even the ho-hum moments throughout the week to remind ourselves that our lives are uniquely ordinary.

Friday
We had an impromptu dinner party on Friday evening, complete with homemade pizza, games and good company. It was a fun night with lots of conversation and some less than sportsmanlike conduct during a high-intensity round of Cranium.

Saturday
We started the weekend right on Saturday by completing a lot of chronically ignored errands. We took out our recycling (no small task after about 3 months of neglect) and ran around the area returning various borrowed items to neighbors and friends. To reward ourselves for our extremely responsible behavior, we had a marathon shopping trip. Funny how coming home weighted down by heavy bags serves to lift the spirits.

Monday...Oops
As our loyal readers (an invisible group in whom we will continue to believe) may have noticed, we are a day late in our usual blogging routine. We do apologize but we do have a very good excuse. On Monday evening we attended an observable reading by Anne Lamott. While we've all been exposed to her writing in some way, the three of us really didn't know what to expect. That turned out to be okay though, because the thin, 54-year-old, dread-lock sporting woman who read moving excerpts from her own books would have far surpassed any expectations we might have had. It was in fact, a night of inspiration and insight. More than anything, the three of us walked away from the event feeling affirmed in the eloquence of the ordinary. Anne Lamott reveals her life in the most honest of terms, unwilling to omit that which might not seem pretty or appealing. She exposes her life as the raw, dirty, chaotic wonder that it is in order that her readers might understand the beauty in feeling ugly and the relevance of feeling unimportant. And so we feel that an evening which inspires us to embrace the messy world in which we exist was worth one late blog. If you, our readers, feel otherwise, we recommend you sit down with Anne's latest, "Faith (Eventually)."

A Smile

2008-03-03T16:51:00.001-06:00

The Mini-Musical
This week, Tiffany has been working on a her most recent creative endeavor. Amanda, Tiffany and some people from the church had discussed the idea of doing some kind of theatrical production at SLMF. The result of that brainstorm: Tiffany will be directing "Godspell: The Mini Musical" on May 11th at St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship. Thus, Tiffany spent the week researching, planning, emailing other creative sources and talking her housemates into contributing their own dramatic abilities.

Thai for Becca
On Wednesday, the three of us went out for dinner with Amanda's two co-workers, Lindsay and Becca for Becca's birthday. While it wasn't our original plan, we ended up a cute little Thai place. Becca, Lindsay and Amanda swapped work stories and Tiffany and Heather enjoyed hearing the latest about our favorite La Clinica characters.

Fundraising
Recently, Amanda and Tiffany found out that the leaders of MVS decided that each unit needs to raise $300 towards traveling expenses for MVS retreat. The two of them announced that they would be doing odd jobs for anyone in the church in order to raise the necessary funds. So on Saturday, they donned their painting clothes and headed out to their first of many random jobs. They painted a playroom for a family in the church while 5-year-old Abby entertained them with excerpts from her favorite "Rainbow Fairy" books.
That evening, La Clinica was also having a fundraising at a cool local venue. While Tiffany babysat for Tina and Kyle, Amanda and Heather went out to support La Clinica and listen to a local Brazilian band.

The Sun Shines For Us
Sunday was the most beautiful day St. Louis has seen in months. It was a perfectly sunny, 70 degree afternoon so we did what any young adult group would do on a such a lovely day; we went to the zoo. The three of us and several other spunky 20 somethings from the church battled the bad parking and stroller-pushing crowds at the zoo and were rewarded with sea lion feedings, crazy double-billed birds and some great photo ops. Amanda, Tiffany, Heather and Dan finished up the day at Pho Grand, our favorite Thia restaurant just a few yards from our house.

Lighten Up
The week, while not void of low points, was a welcome lift after last week's multitude of valleys.
We know that, even though we can't smile all the time, we can always find people ready and willing to give us reason to.

Far Away

2008-02-25T16:46:00.003-06:00

San Antonio Envy
Heather (now an Associate VSer) was on vacation this week with her family in San Antonio. She had, of course, a great time basking in the Texas warmth while Amanda and Tiffany battled a weekend snowstorm here in St. Louis. And while our jealousy was loudly voiced, we were happy to live vicariously as she related her vacation adventures.

Sometimes It's Not Easy...
This week was a rough one for Amanda and Tiffany. Tiffany found out on Wednesday that her family (back in Minnesota) are struggling through a very difficult situation. Right on cue, she woke up Thursday morning with a sore throat and coughing until she was pretty sure small pieces of lung would soon be appearing. She took Thursday and Friday off of work and Nurse Amanda stepped in to provide the necessary medication and direction ("Tiffany, go to bed!" Tiffany, take more vitamin C!" Tiffany, why aren't you sleeping yet?!"). On Saturday, Amanda had her own unhappy news from home. Her great Aunt had passed away on Friday night. Needless to say, VS really isn't all flowers and candy.

But It's Possible
Fortunately, there were spots of brightness that reminded us why we chose to do this year of service. We enjoyed housesitting for a couple from the church who, coincidently have one of the coolest video games you'll ever play. Tiffany had two friends from Goshen come through St. Louis. They stayed Saturday and Sunday and provided a needed boost for the still slightly ill Tiffany. And on Sunday, Amanda enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame (give or take 10 minutes) when La Clinica was featured on the evening news. The three of us also attended young adult Bible Study Sunday night and have spent a considerable amount of time lately watching "Anne of Green Gables," a movie that slices cleanly through any dark mood.

When Being Where You're Supposed To Be, Isn't
Amanda and Tiffany have both struggled this week with being so far from home and family. It's difficult to motivate oneself to keep going to work every day, holding back tears because you know they're meant to be shared with loved ones, ones who know. It's difficult to resist taking the next flight out when you are forced to express in phone conversation those things that can only be truly understood when they are read in the face of someone you love. It's difficult to work for change in a world that suddenly doesn't feel so full of potential. Who's hand do you hold when the only people you want to touch are hundreds of miles away? What do you tell yourself when the job that once felt powerful now keeps you from being there for the most important people in your life? These are the unanswerable questions that rush through the mind of a service worker as they bump into the first wall erected by this thing called personal sacrifice. But still, you keep going. Because even if it doesn't always feel to you that you are where you should be, the child at HeadStart would disagree, as would the uninsured mother desperately seeking medical help. So we have found, when you can't touch the ones you love, you hold the hand of a stranger who needs you. When you can't hug a family member, you wrap your arms around a scared child. And you might find these strangers feeling familiar, like the people you wish could be as close, suddenly are.

2008-02-18T17:58:00.004-06:00

House-sitting
Beginning last Tuesday, the three of us have been house-sitting for a couple who lives a few blocks away. We've also been dog-sitting for their cute little chihuahua mix, Milie. The beautiful, three-story house has been a nice little home away from home and Milie has found a little place in all of our hearts (even Tiffany's, despite her best efforts).

Thursday
The three of us decided that our neighbors, Tina and Kyle, deserved a relaxed night to themselves so we volunteered to do some free babysitting for them. So on Valentine's Day, instead of chocolates and flowers, the evening was filled with toys, baths and potty training routines. The truth is though, that the three of us are so enamored with Kyan and Mikayla that there was no shortage of affection on our Valentine's Day.
Thursday was also Heather's last day as an official VSer. Thankfully though, it was nearly a non-event because Heather is staying in the city and continuing to live with us in the house as an associate VSer.

Friday
Clay provided us with a fun-filled evening on Friday, providing the pizza and the movie. Tiffany, Amanda, Dan and Clay wasted the night away watching the hilariously quirky and sarcastic antics of "The Flight of the Conchords" (look them up on YouTube, you won't regret it).

Busy Busy Saturday
Mikayla's first birthday party and Trivia Night were both on Saturday which means between taking care of Milie, grocery shopping and those two events, we were pretty active all day. Heather and her parents flew out of St. Louis that afternoon as well, destined for San Antonio Texas where Heather's twin sister and brother-in-law are also doing VS. There was more than slight tinge of jealousy in the air as Amanda and Tiffany bid good-bye to their southern bound housemate.
However, Amanda and Tiffany enjoyed Mikayla's birthday party and "Team Young Blood" were a force to be reckoned with at trivia night (at least for the first few rounds).Sunday
Determined to have quiet, nap-filled day, Amanda and Tiffany skipped Sunday School on Sunday but as always, had our spirits lifted by Pastor Sam's sermon and by being the presence of our church family. Amanda attended Scott and Mary-Beth Neufeld-Wall's duel surprise birthday party which was fun, encouraging and had no shortage of fantastic food.

Basement Pigeons

2008-02-11T17:29:00.000-06:00

Same Old
We enjoyed a quiet week this week. Winter, it seems, can be easily associated with steady, mildly suffocating routine. While we all love our jobs very much, they are still our jobs. And having had little outdoor activity in the last few months, we do feel a bit restricted sometimes. However, the weekend brought some very unique spice to our lives. It's funny that just when you think you can predict your life, a long comes a basement pigeon.

Basement Pigeons
Saturday morning, Heather woke up and announced that there was something in our basement. And whatever the "something" was, its flapping had been loud enough to wake her up in the night. Uncertain of what we would be facing, the three of us and a friend, Clay, donned the best wildlife gear we could find: rubber gloves, a stick, paper bags and a flashlight. We gingerly descended the stairs, prepared for an epic battle. We discovered the "something" sitting nonchalantly on the floor of our basement: a pigeon. Two of his less vivacious friends lay beside him, having flapped their last. Clay, bound and determined to release this lovely creature (about which he first inquired, "What is that?! A pheasant?!) back into its urban
wilderness, pursued the animal with grace and gentility. And when that didn't work, he ran from one end of our basement to the other, trying to trap the now frantic bird. The three of us, wildlife experts that we are, contributed to the pigeon catch and release cause by crouching on the floor and emitting occasional screeches as it flew and darted around us. Miracle of miracles, Clay actually managed to catch the bird by its foot as it flew by, thus subduing the "pheasant." With the wonder and beauty of a wilderness calendar, Clay released the bird into the warm February air and watched as it flew off, probably taking with it a new found respect for freedom

Just When You Think
The rest of the weekend flew by in whirlwind of friends, church, a Science Center outing, and young adult Bible study. It was a good weekend but inevitably sprinkled with "basement pigeons." You don't see them coming, they seem kind of ridiculous and they offer a challenge. But that's the beauty. Just when it seems like life will just go on, one regular day after another, a pigeon gets in your basement. It's not exactly a welcome guest, something you want to deal with, but it brings excitement and keeps us on our toes. And if you're armed with the best kind of friends and the right sized stick, basement pigeons are easily taken care of.

~A Word From Heather~

My last days of MVS are wrapping up with only 3 days of work left at the Peace Center. This past year has been such a rewarding and fulfilling experience. I have loved every minute of working with the adorable kids at Columbia Elementary and watching their excitement towards working in the garden grow as the year progressed. I have learned a tremendous amount about peace building and community development during the past year and have appreciated all the different opportunities I have encountered. I will miss the Peace Center and the people I have met, but I will always remember the amazing experiences.

Falling Apart and Building Up

2008-02-04T18:02:00.000-06:00

Falling Apart
Sometimes it feels like Murphy's law is more like a sentence. Murphy, great guy that he was, went ahead and assured the world that if things start to go downhill, that hill probably be covered with jagged rocks and eventually end in a sheer cliff. Our VS house recently has been that rock covered, Murphy's law confirming downward slope.
Monday, Amanda came hope from work sick (less towards sniffles and more towards vomiting). This would not be a big deal...except she came home to a house that was only half heated, with no dryer and no long distance service. Needless to say, we've been struggling to keep up as our house seemed to slowly self-destruct. We were worried. Murphy may have been smart but we really didn't need his company this week.

Building Up
While we did spend a week with many house malfunctions, it all culminated in a fantastic weekend. Friday night, Scott (a member of our support committee) and MaryBeth Neufeld-Wall and their two daughters, Maya (7) and Sadie (4), came over for dinner. It was a fun evening, complete with a pink and purple cake (the girls' favorite colors) and some kid-adjusted games.
Saturday was the day of dreams for us, especially Tiffany. On Saturday afternoon, after much frustration involving a broken cell phone and some not-so-honest Ebay sellers, Tiffany finally had a working cell phone. Even more exciting though, we got our heat fixed! For the first time in over a month, our house was FINALLY back to normal and Tiffany could actually sleep in her room. The day of dreams continued when we went to see Barack Obama speak in downtown St. Louis. We stood in line for an hour, got in the building at 7 PM, stood in a crowd of 20,000 people for two hours and finally enjoyed an inspirational speech at 9 PM. Although the wait was long, the crowd pushy and the Metro overflowing with drunken Mardi Gras attenders, the evening was very entertaining, enlightening and empowering.
Sunday we didn't have any great Superbowl plans. The nice thing is, when you have cool/spontaneous friends, plans sometimes make themselves. So after a great Sunday School meeting that morning, Clay suggested we get some take-n-bake pizza. We ended up having a great Sunday lunch of pizza, hummus, pesto and rigorous discussion with Clay and Amy. Amy headed out to get some work done while the three of us and Clay spent an afternoon and evening talking, eating, sharing, watching a few snippets of the game, laughing and eating some more.

Stickin' to Murphy
All in all, we'd probably say that anything that could go wrong, will go wrong. Fortunately, we'd also say that when things go right, it makes all the wrongs seem a lot less important. Sorry for the ego blow Murphy.

Fondue Fun

2008-01-28T18:15:00.000-06:00

So our week this week revolved primarily around preparations for our Fondue party on Friday. Shopping, planning and organizing took up quite a bit of our week. On Friday evening we cleaned and decorated our humble home, chopped and prepared enough food for twice the number of people we were expecting and welcomed our lovely guests. The evening was spent around four fondue pots, representing four bags of chocolate chips and three pounds of cheese. It was absolute taste bud luxury and probably an extreme abuse of our arteries. Conversation flowed late into the night until it was only the three of us VSers and a few other girls. We continued to exchange valuable life experiences, sound advice and book recommendations until 1:30 AM. The evening was a success and we fell into our pillows, fully and pleasantly exhausted.

Job Update
We spend a lot of time discussing our lives outside of work so here is a little update on our professional lives.
Tiffany is beginning her third week at HeadStart and has already found it to be an extremely rewarding and challenging place to work. While her 3 and 4 year olds are at risk kids with a lot of behavior issues, she has come to adore them and looks forward to dedicating 6 more months to them.
Heather has only three short weeks left at the St. Louis Mennonite Peace Center. She is looking forward to the end of her term with both fear and excitement. She has enjoyed her time there whether working alongside elementary school children in the garden, observing mediations or tutoring 1st graders. She's ready to embark on a new adventure but sad to leave a very valuable job.
Amanda has faced many challenges since unexpectedly becoming Clinic Manager at La Clinica. She has honed her leadership and organizational skills and found herself capable of much bigger things than she would have ever expected. While being in management as a volunteer has its ups and downs, she finds great meaning in her job and is truly humbled by being able to provide medical service to a very vulnerable population.

Gettin' Out

2008-01-21T18:20:00.000-06:00

We've found lately, that our once quiet, TV-filled evenings are becoming fewer and fewer. We've been working on becoming more involved and spending less time in front of our TV. Amanda and Heather attend step classes at the gym a couple times a week and we've all signed up for a cultural dance class at the community center. It feels good to us to get out into our community as much as we can.

Hummus with Friends
On Wednesday evening the three of us went to a cute little Mediterranean cafe with two of Amanda's work friends, Becca and Lindsay. The hummus, baklava and good company was enjoyed by all.

Support Meeting
Friday night we had the monthly meeting of our VS Support Committee. We had a fantastic curry meal (compliments of Scott) accompanied the delicious side dishes supplied by our other committee members. How did we manage to get a committee with such good taste? The meeting went pretty late with lots of issues and information being shared and compared.

Sunday Special
Sunday was a busy day. We went to church in the morning, appreciating, as always, the closeness of our church family. That afternoon we had our monthly Ed-Rec activity. Ed-Rec stands for education and recreation and each month we VSers have $10 each to spend on an activity that we, as a unit, can enjoy together. This month we went to a see "27 Dresses." Yes, it was our second movie of the month but what can we say? There just happened be some great movies this month and, incredibly, we had the resources to see them. After the movie (which was fabulous) we had a planning meeting for the young adult Bible Study that's soon to be starting up. After a couple of hours of discussion we decided on material and format that we're all really excited about. We'll be studying the books of Judges and Ephesians in an effort to compare community building in the the Old Testament to that of the early church. Our other goals are to become more familiar with often overlooked Old Testament literature and to overhaul our often less than sparkling opinion of Paul's writings. We are very excited to get started!

Fit and Fun

2008-01-14T18:59:00.000-06:00

Our proud announcement this week is our new found affection for physical fitness. Amanda and Heather resolved that in 2008 they would go to the YMCA near our house regularly. Tiffany made no such resolution having a deep and long-running hatred for "the gym" (said with a grimace). However, her move towards healthy living comes in the form of Pilates videos. Sometimes all three of us do the fast paced video together, laughing at our "gracefulness." It's a good feeling though. Makes us feel much better for the cake, cookies and breads that are our constant counter top decoration.

Dinner Par-tay
On Friday night, we had Clay and Dave and Quinci over for a dinner party and game night. We had a fabulous curry meal and played some crazy rounds of Hoopla, Whoonu and Slapagories. It was a great evening and reminded us how fun our friends really are.

Saturday Movie
Courtesy of Heather's boss, Mary, the three of us went to see "Juno" in theaters on Saturday afternoon. The movie was hilarious and strangely touching and we couldn't have been happier to indulge in an MVS rarity.

Sunday School...it's Cool
Our Sunday School at St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship is, in our opinion, one of a kind. This fall we began a "potpourri" Sunday School in which different topics are discussed each week, each of them issues that all of us as Christians and human beings deal with on a regular basis. Some of the topics have been responsible consumerism, Mennonite history and racism. This Sunday, we talked about Sin, Salvation and The Church. Three huge topics that needed much more than a 45 minute class but the discussion was incredibly valuable. We truly love the way that our church gives respect and validity to many broad and varied opinions and that questioning even some of Christianity's most foundational doctrines is expected and appreciated.

Home Again

2008-01-07T18:01:00.000-06:00

Well hello there loyal blog readers. After three weeks of holiday induced blog neglect, we are back in our fair city and eager to report our post-Christmas events.

Home Sweet Bitterly Cold Home
Just before leaving for Christmas break, our decrepit little heater's motor decided to quit. Thus, one half of our house was left without heat during our absence. We hoped it would be fixed when we returned but tragically, Heather and Amanda arrived on Dec. 31 to a half frozen house. When Tiffany got back on the 1st, heat had still not been restored and the three of us effectively transitioned our lives to one half of the house. Since both Heather and Tiffany's rooms were on the cold half, we enjoyed a couple of impromptu slumber parties on the other half of the house. By Thursday though, Reyes (our heater guy) came bearing a new motor and made our house whole once again.

Mokabees
Amanda's friend from home, Greg, stayed with us for a few days after bringing Amanda back to St. Louis from Virginia. We tried to give him an enjoyable St. Louis experience (not easy since the guest room was also on the heater-less half of the house). So on Tuesday night the three of us and Greg went to Mokabees, a cute little coffee shop a few blocks from our house. We sat, drank hot chocolate and played hearts for a couple hours, basking in the sweet, coffee shop aura. It reminded us of why we like living here. Cute, hole in the wall places that only the locals know about.

The Debates
On Saturday night, we invited Clay and Dan over for the Republican and Democratic debates on TV. We couldn't describe all four hours as riveting but it did give us a feel for the candidates and incite some interesting discussion/critical commentary.

Something New
Today Tiffany began a new placement at a HeadStart program not far from the VS house. Edgewood was a very good and beneficial experience but she wasn't able to stay there. And so today, she was immersed into an entirely new environment. It's exciting for another VSer to be working close to the neighborhood and getting to know the community through her work. It's a different culture, one where whites are a minority and gang crime is commonplace, but it's a beautiful one. One that Tiffany would say has a whole lot of really cute kids.

Oh the weather outside is frightful

2007-12-18T21:49:00.000-06:00

but the VSers are so delightful...

This week has been filled with holiday preparation, mostly including expanding our stomachs to a nice Christmas size, ready for mom's home cooking. Our counters are filled with food, which we don't quite understand seeing as we all leave in two days...looks like we've got some over indulging to do...we guess more than usual.

The highlights of the week included, snow, a good five inches of it which sent St. Louis into a frenzy. Amanda in particular was not a fan of scraping ice or walking through drifts of snow the size of her flats. Heather was not a fan of sweeping the sidewalk so Amanda could make it to the car but Tiffany on the other hand mocked the lack of snow and her roommate inhibitions. The week also included a food filled Christmas party, the monthly VS support meeting, movies with friends, and a hysterical children's Christmas program at church.

Basically we are all geared up to head back to our respective states for some holiday fun with our families. See you in the New Year!!

SLMF

2007-12-10T21:09:00.001-06:00

St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship has a lot of perks. One of its big ones: variety. Variety of people , ages, ideas, perspectives and styles. On Sunday we had the pleasure of basking in the glow of our church family all day.

After church, Plowsharing (St. Louis' version of 10,000 Villages) opened exclusively to SLMFers. A portion of all sales that day would go to St. Louis Mennonite Peace Center (where Heather works). The store was full and we all enjoyed shopping for something of long-lasting value.

Us three VSers then, were invited to Dave and Pat Naffzigers home for an amazing pot roast meal. After some fabulous chocolate cheesecake and watching the last few minutes of the football game, we hurried home to get a quick nap before our next gathering.

Pastor Sam and Rachel were hosting a young adult Christmas party. The best and brightest of our church's self-defining young adults were present and the evening was packed with good food, trivial pursuit and some decidedly un-pacifistic rounds of mafia. As we drove home (around 11:30 PM), the three of us discussed the impressiveness of SLMF's young adult group. We're an admittedly small congregation but we do in fact boast a strong group of energetic, fun and (let's just come right out and say it) darn good lookin' young adults.

Even though being involved in a tight-knit church family isn't always flowers and candy, it's good to know you will never be far from wonderful friends, supportive arms and delicious pot roast.

People

2007-12-03T18:33:00.000-06:00

Our week this week was all about connections, soul sharing and generally discovering the beauty of people.

Candles
On Wednesday, the three of us attended a Party Lite (a little company that sells nifty candles) party at our neighbor Tina's house. It was a fun little gathering of women brought together by a common love of a wax, flame and pleasant smells. More importantly though, Tina made amazing Christmas goodies and one fantastic cheese ball.

When You Least Expect It
On Saturday afternoon, the three of us plus our friend Joyclyn decided to go visit the history museum together. On the way we stopped at a restaurant that we heard was having free pictures with Frosti the Snowman. One fabulously festive/mildly embarrassing picture later, we were off to the museum. There we discovered little known facts about American history and the 1904 World's Fair in St.Louis.
Saturday evening we went to our friend Melissa Roth's house for a ladies-only dinner party. Melissa is a brilliant and sensational 44-year-old who lives with a couple of poets and Rodney, a decorator. Melissa invited several of her friends over and the group of us had a grand old time eating amazing food, solving one another's problems and vigorously discussing the frustration and beauty of the "adult world." As the night became later, Melissa's housemate, Rodney, came home. As it turns out, Rodney had just closed his decor shop that day and had lots of stuff to get rid of. We VSers jumped at the opportunity and, in a flurry of activity, found ourselves at Rodney's store, waist-deep in free decorations. At about 1 AM, we loaded an entire car with everything from baskets, to plastic poinsettas , to unreasonably large bolts of fabric. And by 1:30 Rodney was gone, leaving in his wake a whole new decor in the VS house. Sometimes you're not sure why you end up somewhere, or what the point was. And sometimes it's as obvious as the giant gold bow now resting on your front porch. And while the new look was cool, it was the new shimmer and shine we all felt, the refreshed and refined outlook on the world, that made the evening a succulent surprise.

Curry and Caroling
Sunday we invited Clay, Katie, Natalie and Elizabeth over for lunch. Clay has been coming to St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship for several weeks and attends St. Louis Bible College. We invited Clay to come visit and bring some of his friends from college if he wanted. Those friends turned out to be Katie and Natalie. Elizabeth, of course , attends our church and is just plain cool. The seven of us had a great curry meal (compliments of Amanda) and some fabulously enthusiastic discussion.
At about 4 o'clock, the three of us went Christmas Caroling with the church to two retirement homes. There was a great turnout and we all had so much fun singing timeless songs and sharing smiles with the energetic residents.

It's so easy sometimes to get into a really cozy pattern: go to work, come home, eat, talk with your housemates and go to bed. It's very easy to stay with a few people that you know and like and are so comfortable with. It's easy to not make connections. But there's something electric, something essential, about those new connections. A person is a vastly complex thing, overflowing with absolutely individual views, thoughts, feelings. And as we connect to those great complexities, we have each become deeper, fuller. Shared experiences become bridges and differences, gifts as we are allowed to see the world through a different set of eyes. Maybe visiting Frosti and sharing some curry isn't as big as all of that, but we think that's what VS is all about.

'Tis the Season

2007-11-26T18:13:00.000-06:00

This week was spent diving head first into the beauty and brilliance that is the Holiday season.

Goin' Out
Wednesday night, the three of us enjoyed a VS rarity. We dug deep into our closets and found the coolest and classiest of our attire and went out for the evening to celebrate the beginning of the season. We went to a fun little Mexican restaurant and feasted on free chips and salsa and fried ice cream. It was a festive start to a lovely holiday weekend.

Turkey Day
Thanksgiving morning, we got up early to attend the St. Louis Thanksgiving Day parade. We braved the sub-30 degree temperature and were rewarded with marching bands, Shriners in little go-carts and many a waving beauty queen. After the parade, we went to our neighbors' (Tina and Kyle) house for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a great meal followed by a relaxing afternoon of conversation and card playing. Tiffany and Heather received a long over-due lesson in the art of Rook playing and some may say the student became the teacher when Tiffany pulled out a near-miraculous win.

It's Called BLACK Friday for a Reason
The three of us had decided to be adventurous and join the throngs of people in search of the best door-busting deals on black Friday. We left the house at 3:30 AM, determined to be the most hard-core Holiday shoppers you've ever seen. Like buffalo hunters armed with BB guns, we quickly found ourselves way out of our league. We walked into Kohls at 4:10 AM and found the lines already making their way around the circumference of the store. By the time we were ready to check-out, at about 4:50, the lines circled the outer limits of the building....twice. Our neighbor, Tina, bearing a considerably larger armload than the three of us, bravely volunteered to wait while the three of us explored the next stop on our list of conquests. Tina (bless her sales-driven heart) waited for an hour and a half in that line before we were reunited. The four of us spent the rest of that morning bravely battling lines, traffic and more than a few frightening female elbow-throwers. We went home that day at about 10:30 (do the math, that's 6.5 hours of shopping) with some great buys, great stories and great plans to sleep in next black Friday.

Looking Forward...
The rest of our weekend was spent taking naps, making pumpkin pie and pulling out a few sparse boxes of VS Christmas decorations. We cleaned, decorated, watched The Holiday and filled the house with Christmas tunes. Yeah, we like the Holidays.

2007-11-19T18:33:00.000-06:00

As is the tradition with VS, our Unit Administrator, Immanuel Sila arrived for his annual visit this past Thursday evening to spend the weekend with us and check out unit life and our placements here in St. Louis. Friday, Immanuel toured around the city visiting our various placements, meeting our co-workers, and learning St. Louis history with his handy dandy tour guide Chris (our VS support committee chair). Of course as is also tradition we were taken out to eat at a restaurant of our choosing. The lucky winner was Fitz's, a unique restaurant located in a trendy area called the Delmar Loop, where they make their own soda, which of course we also indulged in. Saturday morning was started non-VS style with an early morning excursion to the Laumier Sculpture Park and tour of surrounding areas following by a nice lunch.

The highlight and lowlight of the weekend was definitely a Trivia Night with friends from church. Trivia Nights are popular events here in St. Louis where there are teams that answer together 10 rounds of 10 questions each, pertaining to various topics of pop culture, geography, history, songs, etc. Typically Trivia Nights are not ALL night events but this one seemed to be an exception to the rule. We had fun answering questions together but as the night wore on, the interruptions, stallings and broken sound system seemed to turn a fun Trivia Night into a Trivia Nightmare. We came away though with quite a killing of prizes including a super nasty smelling rose body kit, and a used smoke smelling deck of cards. I say we were winners!!!!

If The Shoe Fits.....Your Whole Unit?!

2007-11-12T18:34:00.001-06:00

So what's cool about St.Louis? Well, we'll tell ya. The "shoe of shoes" that's what. On Saturday, we went to the Brown Shoe Company where, gracing the entrance, is the biggest high heel you've ever seen . The gigantic stiletto is actually made up of smaller shoes, about the number you might find at your local Payless Shoe Source. So naturally we figured, if a shoe is big enough to fit a whole VS unit, it would be poor stewardship to miss out on such an opportunity. Thus, the cu-nit climbed inside. VS is about looking at life in new ways and finding oneself in new situations. Well, how often does a person get to experience being a foot? Not so often, we would say.

In Other News:
We like it when our house smells and looks good. Even if our small monthly stipend doesn't always afford the same privileges for us, our house deserves to be pampered. This is our sentiment and as such, we spent much of our Saturday (when we weren't inside of a shoe) engaged in some seriously domestic business. The morning began with a marathon grocery shopping trip. After which, we split-up. The goal: a VS house face lift. Tiffany found herself scrubbing, dusting, vacuuming the heck out of the back portion of the house while Heather used similar tactics on the living rooms. Amanda, meanwhile, set to the task of creating the most perfect household perfume: fresh baked bread and granola. This task actually had double functionality. Our house smelled great AND as we rapidly consumed carbs, and we beefed up our winter insulation, saving valuable VS money that would have been spent on heating bills and blankets. At the end of the day, we had an amazing meal, the house looked great and we had fresh cookies, granola and bars on our counter. Not too shabby.

Supper Table Talk:
We like each other here in VS and we REALLY like eating. So dinner time is the perfect time to find out what each of us is dealing with and what concerns are at the forefronts of our mind. This week, we have been discussing issues of crime and poverty. All of us serve under-served populations through our placements, where poverty is often at the root of many issues. What does it mean then, for us to be involved in our work and our communities, while still keeping ourselves safe? Where is the line that divides healthy trust and ignorant behavior? As we grapple with these issues in our daily work, commute and home life we are thankful for the opportunity to experience first hand the struggles of so many in our community.

Woohoo we have a blog

2007-11-05T17:29:00.000-06:00

So we have decided to start a blog, thus what you are currently reading, to update you on the greatness that is... St. Louis MVS.

Individual update time:

Amanda hails from Virginia, the most beautiful state in the world. For her second term of VS in St. Louis Amanda is working at La Clinica, a small Latino Community Health Center that serves predominately the immigrant and refugee population, as a nurse and clinic manager. On any given day you might find Amanda working along side patients and doctors, training new volunteers and employees, or meeting with other community non-profit organizations on co-operation ideas.

Heather hails from Iowa, the most beautiful state in the world. Heather works at the Mennonite Peace Center. The Peace Center office is located in Columbia Elementary School, which is one of the public schools here in St. Louis. It offers 3 main programs in the school; peer mediation, tutoring, and a school garden bed. The garden is our biggest program, so Heather spends most of her time in the garden with the students, planting, watering, weeding, or harvesting.

Tiffany hails from Minnesota, the most beautiful state in the world. Tiffany is working at Edgewood Children's Center as a teacher's aide in a classroom for low-functioning autistic children. This field of work is an everyday challenge/adventure as she delves deeper into the secluded minds of autistic children. She spends much her strategizing new communication methods, coming up with educational play ideas and planning ways to improve the classroom environment.

Unit Life OR The Fun That We Are

So, surely you are now wondering, well, what do these cool sounding people do for fun? The answer, my friend, is no short list. But to save your time and ours, here are a few highlights:

Festivals:
St. Louis has some pretty amazing street festivals during the summer months. In August and September we explored the Festival of Nations (in a park just four blocks from our house), the hot air balloon festival, Octoberfest, and the Taste of St. Louis festival. These exciting gatherings of St. Louis' finest are a great way to experience a condensed version of all the Gateway City has to offer.

The Rams Game:
You can keep your comments on the home team's current stats to yourself because we are die-hard Ram's fans. So when a member of our church offered us free tickets to a home game, we were there and we were pumped. Though the outcome was not ideal for our beloved players, it really lessen the volume of our cheers nor the excitement of the game. The good times continued with a great Canadian Thanksgiving dinner with our North-of-the-Border native church members.

Camping:
The city is great but sometimes three adventurous women need to get some space. Thus, our camping excursion to Meramec State Park. Meramec is a gorgeous state park just an hour or so outside the city. We spent two nights there eating campfire food, hiking, relaxing, reading, and eating some more. It was a chilly November weekend but we came prepared and never suffered few icy moments. The campfire and close conversation kept us warm and happy.

Pumpkin Carving:
Ahh, the Autumn. As we watched the trees along our street transform into bright, colorful collections, and as we passed by the overstocked costume aisles in every store, we felt compelled to celebrate the season as well. So down to the nearby discount grocery store we went. Fifteen minutes later, out we filed, each carrying our hand selected soon-to-be Jack-O-Lantern. We spent an hour the night before Halloween carving THE perfect Jack-O-Lanterns. Though, we may be a bit biased, we're pretty sure they're the cutest scary things you've ever seen. The following night, we overloaded ourselves with Halloween candy and adorable trick-or-treaters when we celebrated the night at our neighbors house.

We sincerely hope we've provided an adequate introduction to the lives we lead here in the the city of the arch. We do avow, to you our blog readers, to keep our little update space current. You can write some nasty posts if we don't. So that's it from us. Until next Monday :)