Been a While...

Wow, it's been a while... quite a while. We need to take a fast forward 9 months from the last blog, and then we'd end up here --->

We're doing great! Next week... we'll have some news for all to celebrate in... but until then...

What's been going on with us you ask? Well, I'm (gil) working out in Rancho Cordova (just east of Sacramento, up 50 - for those who know the area) at a small architecture firm called PWC Architects (Perkins, Williams & Cotterill). It's been an interesting experience... a combination of remembering things I learned in High School (drafting and CAD classes) along with putting to use the design education of college, all the while learning new things about codes, products, how things are really built. Interesting, eh? I think so. Now if only I could magically shorten the commute by about 30 minutes, that'd be GREAT!

Ian on the other hand has somewhere between a 20 minute commute (walking to campus) to no commute (meaning he is at home working). Lucky guy! He's currently working on papers to submit to various conferences (one as far as Rutgers in NJ) and his dissertation proposal. Soon, he'll start his "timely" (as stated by the professor he's been working most closely with) dissertation topic... then he'll only have something like two years left. I find it slightly ironic and a bit amusing that once you start (which is a big accomplishment in itself), PhD students still have years to before they actually are "finished".

Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm also taking a class for graduate credit "Perspectives on World Missions".

(Note: this entry was started way back in March... but I guess I never posted it. Of course I only realized this AFTER my current update on 9-22-06. OOPS!! It's a good think that blogspot is smarter than I and remembers when this post was started and places it "correctly" in the timeline.)

Beginnings Without Endings

This week finishes the first page of a another new chapter for Ian and I. By the end of the weekend, we'll be in a new apartment across town. Days of sorting and packing and dumping things... all the while saying goodbye to our first "home" together. The reason I call this a beginning without an ending, is because moving is not an ending - none of the relationships are ending and we'll still be in Davis. Only thing we'll leave behind is a pool, an exercise room and a few memories (most of which we've captured on digital film). And so, Ian and I look at our new place (as we start to fill it with our stuff) and we're so excited. The extra room, the friendly neighbors (two of our neighbors have already introduced themselves to Ian as they've seen him moving our boxes in while I'm at work - rare in most neighborhoods today, but nice) and a new chapter of our life together with many more memories to come.

Along with this great change, earlier in July, I changed jobs and it was quite a transition too. From working at church to working out in an architectural firm, the differences are quite significant. And even though I'm still working out the balance of work, home, and ministry - the new place and people and work is great.

So, as we begin this new chapter... with memories to come, I hope that here (http://sillyspencers.blogspot.com) will be a place to see the lovely work of God in both of our lives.