Summer!

Now that it’s September, it feels like summer is over.  (I know, it’s not official yet, but our tomato plants beg to differ!)

So, to catch you up, here’s an overview of my summer:

Ordination

I got ordained!  Audio and the service reflections might be following soon (if I find the time), but it really did feel like a second wedding.  The invitations to send out, the thank-you notes to write (with a couple still in-process), and a whole worship service to plan — it was a wedding!  I lucked out in not having the weekend too-focused on me because my family also celebrated my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary that Sunday.

Vacation

Heidi and I left the celebrations to join friends around the midwest for some catching-up.  Eight nights in eight different beds; lots of meal fellowship; lots of laughs — a great vacation!

Mel and Heidi playing with Great Pyrenees puppies with sheep in the middle of a rain storm at Mel’s organic farm in Minnetrista, MN.

Heidi with her aunt Ann (I think laughing about Merlin, the family bunny).

A great dinner with Tom and Shuli after an exhausting bike ride.

Shuli’s brother Gabe with a baby guinea hen – one of the ugliest breeds of birds I’ve ever seen (~ prehistoric dinosaur chickens).

Hiking in greater La Crosse, WI with Libby Howe, Heidi and Sage – the super springer spaniel.

Following a dinner with Jonathan, Emily and Sam Seitz before they left for Taiwan as missionaries/educator(s).

General Assembly

This was the second General Assembly for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) where I took photographs for DisciplesWorld magazine.

DisciplesWorld writers/editors/photographer(s) from left: Adam Frieberg (me), Verity Jones, Nathan Wilson, Sherri Emmons, Kevin Phipps, Rebecca Woods, Charlie Cochran, Ted Parks.  Absent: Tanya Tyler, Neil Topliffe.

Short story: I’m no longer a bachelor! Heidi came down to Indianapolis for a brief 18-hour span and I saw my own General-Assembly-existence in a new light.  I’ve been proud that, since 2001, I haven’t paid for a room at General Assembly.  This has been because of generous friends loaning their rooms or houses, as well as my own willingness to sleep on couches and floors.  This Assembly was no different.  Until one night.  Heidi and I had talked about this before I left for Assembly, but I was spending the conference on Beau Underwood’s sister’s living room floor with Beau and Michael Swartzentruber, another friend from DDH.  I had a twin air mattress that I was using throughout the week.  Heidi and I have shared a twin mattress before, quite comfortably.  I thought this would be the same.  Until we got there and Heidi said out loud: “what was I thinking?!  I can’t do this!”  We arrived at the house at 11:30 at night and most of the other people staying at the house weren’t going to return until 2:00am.  I had a major headache and knew I didn’t want the rest of the night to suck – especially since we were leaving for downtown at 6:30am.  So we got in the car.  And turned on the GPS.  And typed in Housing/Lodging.  And found a place called the “Good Dog Hotel.”  We were right beside Butler University and it seemed like a nice, bed-and-breakfast place.  So we drove there.  And turned into the parking lot, and saw that it was, indeed, a hotel for dogs!  All of the tension of that night was lost — Heidi and I couldn’t stop laughing.  I found a Homewood Suites by Hilton and we were golden.  King sized bed, free internet for uploads, and a happy marriage.  Gotta love the adventure!  Thank God we can still laugh about this!

Vacation (Grapevine)

Heidi’s family has a cabin they rent along the Michigan side of Lake Michigan just south of South Haven, MI.  We spent the better part of a week there, enjoying the beach, the rustic cabin, and some great reading.  Seriously — I didn’t realize how jaded UChicago had made me on reading.  I inhaled Ken Follett’s World Without End in three days.  It was incredible to read something for fun!

Jobs

At the end of the school year, before my ordination and before my summer adventures, I applied for a non-profit job that focused on social media, web re-design, church and travel and networking.  I would have loved the job, but lived with the travel.  It would have been a nice mix of creativity, ministry and me!  But at the end of summer, I got an e-mail saying they had selected the candidate they wanted.  It wasn’t my first time being turned down for a merit-based opportunity, nor my first time being turned down for a church job.  While I wish I could have interviewed with the organization, I’m thrilled that some great technology/ministry job positions have opened up since being turned down.

More on that to come … 😉