Family photo shoot, a TV show and a Podcast all in a weeks' time...

With nearly 200 "reactions" on Facebook (thankfully all "loves" and "likes"), it is clear that pictures of our family taken by Howard Zehr are by far the most popular thing we put up there. It seems the monthly garden rotations don't quite reach to those heights!! As always, I can't imagine a more pleasant photo shoot experience! As we were getting ready to go, there was much excitement in the house - especially on the part of the two younger gals. We were trying to remember which years we had taken photos and Kali wasn't sure if we had done it last year. Alida quickly reminded her that we had and that that was the year that she hadn't cooperated very well. She aimed to do better this year! Here's a taste of our favorites! My parents joined us for the first few minutes, so we had the whole Tangly Woods' bunch for some!

Terah and Alida both had dresses they wanted to bring for a few photos. These are favorites in our home right now and I think it is sweet that they are both dresses that Kali made with Grandma years back. 

And then the silliness settled in towards the end!

What a fun bunch! Here's a quick family photo comparison of the last few years (skipped the year when Terah was 1). Some of us are growing and some of us are graying:

Now if pictures aren't your favorite media mechanism for hearing from us, you've got two other options this week. When it rains, it pours I guess! That said, catching up with people in person is still our favorite method!!

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Center for Justice & Peacebuilding, where I've now been employed for over 20 years. As part of the celebrations, one of my colleagues interviewed a handful of us who have been around for awhile about our lives, reflections on CJP and hopes for the future. This interview took place for me during one of the most challenging seasons of my time at EMU/CJP. I ended up finding it helpful to reflect on the broader picture of the two decades of my life spent being part of the CJP community. We ended up focusing a good part of time talking about Jason's and my time in Bolivia and Nora. Not only do I invite you to listen to it, but I welcome your reactions! I'm someone who really benefits from feedback, so it's a strange experience to have so much of my thoughts and reflections on some of the most precious parts of my life out there for whoever to listen in on. I'd love to engage with others around any of the stories and thoughts shared: https://emu.edu/now/peacebuilder/podcast/4-nora-lynne/

And, finally, Jason had his moment "in the spotlight" recently too! Our wonderful friend started Red Root & Company several years back and has been working so very hard and with such integrity! When asked if we would be part of a PBS show featuring Red Root, it was not something to turn down! I was (conveniently) not home the morning of the shoot so Jason got to be featured (the girls and I pulled up right as they were putting the cameras away)! Unlike my 1.5 hour podcast, this clocks in at under a half hour and includes wonderful footage of beautiful plants and good food! Enjoy: https://www.pbs.org/video/how-permaculture-makes-a-mighty-impact-for-small-farms-vs1vo7/

Stay tuned for the next blog update on the LAST of the deep cleans for this winter. We faced the shop shed starting on Tuesday of this week. It's not done yet! Maybe I'll see if Jason wants to write that post as a way of processing and healing from the experience. :)