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Sunday, January 9, 2011
We are delighted to introduce...
Baby Vera, the latest addition to the Armstrong family.
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Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thinking about Inheritance
What will I work for that I would like the future generation to inherit?
What is an inheritance?
What have I inherited?
A love of the outdoors. Not just an appreciation of nature; the kind of love that puts it on a pedestal in a museum. No, the kind of love that makes me want to drink it in, spend my life in it, and roll around in the grass. My father’s final days were spent in the woods feeding animals, watching the leaves fall, and feeling each season come and go.
I inherited a fascination with information and learning. I want to read everything, listen to every lecture, and work with smart people.
I'm afraid I won't be able to pass this on. That my children will dismiss the wealth of data in the world and not go exploring in corners covered in dust and cobwebs to learn facts of which they never conceived.
I want to leave an inheritance for my children. Not just an inheritance of money, but one of knowledge, joy, and hope. I want them to be lost in the wonder of a faith that drives their life even when they don't know where they are going. A faith that will carry them even when I can't.
Posted by Andrew
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
An eventful season
It's been a long time since we updated our blog. Overall, we are happy and doing well. We're in the midst of searching for jobs and starting new jobs, praying that everything will work together to bring us closer to our church community, which we love.
It hasn't begun to snow again yet, but the sky is overcast and it is due to start in the next hour or two. I have never seen 24 inches of snow before, let alone 10-20 inches on top of that! Unfortunately, with this much snow I'm a little bit at a loss as to how to play in it. Snow that deep doesn't make good snow angels, unless you count the weird, shapeless holes that you make when you accidentally fall on your face because you can't lift your feet high enough to walk through it. It doesn't pack well into snowballs, either, and we don't own a sled. But we did find a way-- yesterday Andrew and I found a 15-foot wide, 10-foot tall pile of snow and dug a tunnel all the way through it, just for fun. It took a few hours, but finally breaking through and seeing the daylight on the other side was thrilling. (As though 4 hours of digging out our car & parking space over the weekend hadn't been enough.)
Maybe something of greater substance to write about will come to me soon!
Posted by Irene
It hasn't begun to snow again yet, but the sky is overcast and it is due to start in the next hour or two. I have never seen 24 inches of snow before, let alone 10-20 inches on top of that! Unfortunately, with this much snow I'm a little bit at a loss as to how to play in it. Snow that deep doesn't make good snow angels, unless you count the weird, shapeless holes that you make when you accidentally fall on your face because you can't lift your feet high enough to walk through it. It doesn't pack well into snowballs, either, and we don't own a sled. But we did find a way-- yesterday Andrew and I found a 15-foot wide, 10-foot tall pile of snow and dug a tunnel all the way through it, just for fun. It took a few hours, but finally breaking through and seeing the daylight on the other side was thrilling. (As though 4 hours of digging out our car & parking space over the weekend hadn't been enough.)
Maybe something of greater substance to write about will come to me soon!
Posted by Irene
Monday, October 5, 2009
Missing
The month of September was full of flowers, cards, e-mails, phone calls, and visitors. We are so grateful for all of them, especially in retrospect. I want to particularly express my appreciation to those who reached out to us in spite of the awkwardness of not knowing what to say. Thank you for doing your best; that you reached out to us at all means more than you know.
A month later, life has taken on a regular rhythm again. Andrew is working a lot of overtime these days, going to work early and staying late, on Saturdays too. We have found a church in the city, and we are looking forward to becoming part of this new community.
We still feel the sadness. Someone is missing, whether I think about it or not-- and most of the time I don't. It is as though my grief follows me like a shadow, as I run along my path. Sometimes I'm ahead, sometimes it runs parallel to me, and sometimes it unexpectedly overtakes me. Then I cry like my heart is broken. (It is.) Then it falls behind me again and I'm running along as usual. But it's still following me.
A month later, the phone calls and visits have mostly subsided, which is as it should be. A few thoughtful people continue to follow up with us. It's not so much the phone calls that we need. Maybe, above all, we just want to live life with people. I want to talk and laugh with people, be silly and serious, spend hours and days and weeks together, and become true and trusted friends.
(Posted by Irene)
A month later, life has taken on a regular rhythm again. Andrew is working a lot of overtime these days, going to work early and staying late, on Saturdays too. We have found a church in the city, and we are looking forward to becoming part of this new community.
We still feel the sadness. Someone is missing, whether I think about it or not-- and most of the time I don't. It is as though my grief follows me like a shadow, as I run along my path. Sometimes I'm ahead, sometimes it runs parallel to me, and sometimes it unexpectedly overtakes me. Then I cry like my heart is broken. (It is.) Then it falls behind me again and I'm running along as usual. But it's still following me.
A month later, the phone calls and visits have mostly subsided, which is as it should be. A few thoughtful people continue to follow up with us. It's not so much the phone calls that we need. Maybe, above all, we just want to live life with people. I want to talk and laugh with people, be silly and serious, spend hours and days and weeks together, and become true and trusted friends.
(Posted by Irene)
Friday, September 11, 2009
The one we lost
His presence was so fleeting, and so seemingly insignificant. We hardly know how to mourn for someone whose very existence was sometimes hard for us to believe. We go about our daily life as though he had only been a dream. Then the overwhelming reality of his loss impacts us almost physically, and we cling to each other in a flood of tears.
The truth is that he changed us forever. I will never be the same person, and neither will Andrew. When Andrew's father died around this time last year, we felt suddenly older. Once again we are thrust further into adulthood, and the water is so much deeper than we expected.
We love, and love and love our dear one, and cannot stop loving him, although in many ways we hardly knew him, and we never will. I feel as though our capacity to love has expanded into a space that we never knew existed, and we are groping our way through it. And in some way, I think we are gaining a different kind of strength than we ever had. Yet we feel so fragile and helpless.
The strange, elusive boundary between death and life confounds us. We don't know where life begins or ends, so we can only trust. We trust in the author of life.
O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
-Psalm 131:1-2
Posted by Irene
The truth is that he changed us forever. I will never be the same person, and neither will Andrew. When Andrew's father died around this time last year, we felt suddenly older. Once again we are thrust further into adulthood, and the water is so much deeper than we expected.
We love, and love and love our dear one, and cannot stop loving him, although in many ways we hardly knew him, and we never will. I feel as though our capacity to love has expanded into a space that we never knew existed, and we are groping our way through it. And in some way, I think we are gaining a different kind of strength than we ever had. Yet we feel so fragile and helpless.
The strange, elusive boundary between death and life confounds us. We don't know where life begins or ends, so we can only trust. We trust in the author of life.
O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
-Psalm 131:1-2
Posted by Irene
Friday, June 12, 2009
Where are they now?
"So where are they now?" you may be thinking to yourself right about now. Well, for those of you who are asking that question, we are sitting on a huge pile of boxes at our new apartment in Northern Virginia. For those of you who didn't know we were moving, sorry! It all happened kind of quickly.
We had professional movers for the first time. And, aside from a few bumps and dings, it was really nice to not pack or load our embarrassing number of possessions ourselves.
Andrew had been having dreams ("nightmares") about having to leave our HUGE LEATHER COUCH on the lawn draped in a tarp with a For Sale sign on it all night long. After all, we barely got it out of our old place. We knew it was going to be a challenge so we saved it for last, and didn't even try and go through the door. Have you seen those video bloopers of why men die early? The ones where they have a ladder on top of a car balanced on a board? Well two of the movers got the couch balanced on one end between the bushes under the second floor balcony, while Andrew and another mover caught the top. Then one of the movers on the bottom ran up to meet us on the balcony, and we heaved it over the railing. There was a tremendous creaking sound, but we got it inside without any damage to the couch, the railing, or ourselves. Whew... what a job.
Our plan for tomorrow: Sleep! and maybe a shopping trip to Trader Joe's.
We love and miss you all.
-Andrew and Irene
We had professional movers for the first time. And, aside from a few bumps and dings, it was really nice to not pack or load our embarrassing number of possessions ourselves.
Andrew had been having dreams ("nightmares") about having to leave our HUGE LEATHER COUCH on the lawn draped in a tarp with a For Sale sign on it all night long. After all, we barely got it out of our old place. We knew it was going to be a challenge so we saved it for last, and didn't even try and go through the door. Have you seen those video bloopers of why men die early? The ones where they have a ladder on top of a car balanced on a board? Well two of the movers got the couch balanced on one end between the bushes under the second floor balcony, while Andrew and another mover caught the top. Then one of the movers on the bottom ran up to meet us on the balcony, and we heaved it over the railing. There was a tremendous creaking sound, but we got it inside without any damage to the couch, the railing, or ourselves. Whew... what a job.
Our plan for tomorrow: Sleep! and maybe a shopping trip to Trader Joe's.
We love and miss you all.
-Andrew and Irene
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
One blissful year
Andrew and I just celebrated our first anniversary. It's as though we blinked and a year went by. I've been reminiscing fondly about our wedding, especially as this year's wedding season kicks off and many of our friends and acquaintances are tying the knot.
One year after our wedding, and two and a half years after we first met, I think we are just as giddy and infatuated as ever. True, the past year has made me realize that I can get mad at Andrew far more easily than I'd like to admit (as you may notice from the previous post). It's almost always due to a misunderstanding, though, rather than some truly egregious offense. I still think Andrew is the most wonderful man I could ever find, and he is wonderfully patient and understanding toward me!
We celebrated our first anniversary by revisiting some places we saw during our first honeymoon. We brought our wedding videos, a bottle of champagne, and a thawed, one-year-old wedding cake to the hotel room and relived the exhilaration and romance of that day. (The cake was remarkably good.) Andrew also surprised me by having a bouquet of flowers delivered to our room!
There's more news to come... our second year is starting with a bang!
(Posted by Irene)
One year after our wedding, and two and a half years after we first met, I think we are just as giddy and infatuated as ever. True, the past year has made me realize that I can get mad at Andrew far more easily than I'd like to admit (as you may notice from the previous post). It's almost always due to a misunderstanding, though, rather than some truly egregious offense. I still think Andrew is the most wonderful man I could ever find, and he is wonderfully patient and understanding toward me!
We celebrated our first anniversary by revisiting some places we saw during our first honeymoon. We brought our wedding videos, a bottle of champagne, and a thawed, one-year-old wedding cake to the hotel room and relived the exhilaration and romance of that day. (The cake was remarkably good.) Andrew also surprised me by having a bouquet of flowers delivered to our room!
There's more news to come... our second year is starting with a bang!
(Posted by Irene)
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