Minnewaska

Hello all!

This go 'round we thought we would show you a little of the nearest state park to Wallkill.  Minnewaska State Park.  It is in the Shawangunk Mountains which is the beautiful backdrop of Bethel.  See:

Two other couples (who are also on 6 month assignments here) and we have been planning a Sunday afternoon excursion for about a month.  So last Sunday we snuck over to the park and enjoyed nature.

 You may recognized Ryan and Abbi -on the right- who have been with us on the tile crew.  Abbi got switched over to laminate with me too.  The other couple are Brian and Keri. Keri and I share a locker area.  But they work in carpentry and Brian also works in the Handyman dept. {yes, seriously, there is a handyman dept. They are the dept to replace lightbulbs, install bike racks stuff like that}. 

So we hiked down the mountain to Awosting Falls and four of us braved the insanely frigid water to swim right up to the waterfall.  It took a good 20 minutes to work our way neck deep because, I mean, IT WAS COLD! Anyway, here is the documentation to prove it:

 
In the bottom shot we are standing on a huge boulder under the water.  Can you see us waving?

As soon as we got back on the trail  we happened to notice a small, brown, discreet sign that says you are not supposed to go swimming. [sigh]. We didn't intend to break any rules and there were a dozen people in the water when we went in so we aren't really feeling too guilty about it all.  But we were glad we were out of the water when the ranger people came down the trail to yell at everyone to get out of the water!


We then hiked back up the mountain and walked all around the lake at the top.  It was a perfect 80 degree day with soft clouds and bright sun and the lake was so restful.

 

 

Except for the swimming area.  That didn't put us at ease AT ALL!  (wasn't it good we didn't wait to swim until we came to the lake!) 

This overlook may look a little familiar if you have seen our new full length video released at the convention.  We believe this is the exact spot where the family are all together videoing the sunset to share with their friends who had moved where the need was great.  What do you think?  {P.S. Bethel is just a little to the right of this photo down in the valley.}

 After the rigors of the hike we were quite happy to grill some brats and chow down while we chilled out.  Yes, it was just what we needed. :)  Hope you all are finding little spaces of time to enjoy the summer too.

Construction & work progress

Hello everyone!

To start things off it is important to give you a realistic view of construction here in Wallkill.

Yes, it is chock full of concentrated effort and sweat and stinky work-boots and  focused skill and  safety overseers making sure your hard hat and safety glasses are on and friends in high visibility vests and shirts walking among rackety equipment just outside all the open windows.

But let's not forget the warm camraderie that develops between crews standing in the lines for cafeteria style lunches served at 12 and 12:30. That looks like this:

Or the fun of getting your whole crew together at a lunch table or meeting new people when you sit solo in construction dining (which looks like a sea of high visibility shirts!).

 

There are occasional requests to attend a class to perform your work safely. Like our Ergonomics class last Tues taught by a Bethelite physical therapist.



And reminder boards to discuss at the 8am safety huddle.

 There are opportunities to develop Bible principles and show respect for other person's PERSONAL belongings.

Out of the blue a window of time may open up for a break with your team....  And that happens with whatever crew you may be on!  {Tile on the top and laminate crew on the bottom}  Coffee breaks are taken quite seriously here and most crews have a  "coffee cart" to roll where ever the crew goes.

 

 

THEN you spot an old friend, one that has moved from Maryland to North Carolina and now shows up for two weeks in electrical at Wallkill!  (anybody in Williamsburg remember Angie?)

 

 

 

 

 All the while you are working on and it progressess all around you... 

Here is the E Res personal laundry area with a drain in the center. After you can see Elvis working with the tile guys to spread self-leveling cement to make tiling easier.

 Followed by an industrial coating to minimize movement and joint cracking

Tile begins and before you know it ...

The room is fully tiled and grouted and electrical, plumbing and ceilings are right behind you.

 

 

Elsewhere in the basement the new location for the commisary is in progress.  A ribbon design was a part of the floor decoration and WOW did it catch everybody's attention!

 

So it's really a joy to be a part of construction here. So many willing hands makes it easier for the publishing and advancement of kingdom interests to grow. And that's productive work!

Things Have Changed

Before we go into the unsettling talk of change, lets talk about tile work! :)

 This past week was a blur of tile!  And here are some photos to show off Jeremy's work:



 He found another locker room in the basement of E Residence to tile! (I was on grouting duty on the 3rd floor)  So Jeremy and some of the crew knocked out the laundry department's mens and womens locker/shower rooms.  These showers were super tall. About 8 feet high.

 As most of you know, we returned to work immediately after our flight from Knoxville. This was Monday after lunch. That is when we learned Jeremy had overtime along with the tile guys all week. So after lunch, they returned to work until 7pm. Tile overseer, Chad, ordered up a baggie dinner for the guys to be delivered  so they could eat while working. We wives wanted to be supportive so we supplemented dinners with Mt. Dew, Little Debbie snack cakes and Goldfish (pizza flavor). There was also a mandatory Saturday workday too. Happily Jeremy didn't have to work on our Thurs meeting night.  

As you would expect, Jeremy was a tired little fellow Saturday night.  But we pushed for a good service morning before our Sunday 1pm meeting and were rewarded by finding all our return visits home and spotting these (we didn't personally spot up the fawns, they showed up that way):

This is a bit gross, but how strange we happened to see it! In case you want to know, the frog made a herculean effort and escaped the snake and the snake was finished off.





So that was LAST week.  This week I was told to report to our overseer's overseer, Saul.  He told me (along with the other two sisters on the tile crew) we have been permanently reassigned to another crew!  Oversight feels tile work will be winding down in the next two months and the crew we have been transferred over to has a little time to train us before their next deadline.  So Monday morning we met with our new overseer, Dan and began training.  Training for what?!  Installing laminate wood flooring.

So, I gave up my tile tools and have a much simpler tool bag.  It's sad not to work with Jeremy anymore but nice to learn a new trade. 

 

 So here is my first day installing laminate.  All the residence rooms have either carpet or laminate or both and the crew is really small so they seem happy to have help.  Even inexperienced help like us.  But it is easy to learn and certainly cleaner and NO MESSY BUCKETS TO WASH OUT! 

 Now I'm not sure if the overseers thought this one through because I am using table saws and miter saws and pneumatic air guns.... and someone is probably gonna get hurt somewhere down the line.....

But this is something new and exciting and likely the tile clan will be splintering off as the tile work for the E Res finishes off.  It will pick up again when other projects are getting off the ground but that could be several weeks.  Apparently it is common for crews to swap out to support other crews at times.  So it's possible Jeremy will be farmed out somewhere too. 

Time will tell.   :)    And the blog will too!

Good Times with Fresh & Familiar Faces

Last week was our circuit overseers visit in Milford, hence lots of extra activities in the congregation and no time for blogging.  Technically speaking he is a sub CO and he and his wife are commuter Bethelites too!  We thoroughly enjoyed the talks and were happy to be included in the pio meeting too.

We are very happy to report (about that visit) that for a congregation of about 120 publishers, 84 joined in for the ministry that Saturday morning!  Three were'nt there for the meeting because they had flat tires, but once it wasn't flat they were with the group!  HOW ENCOURAGING IS THAT?!

Following the ministry that Saturday morning we joined quite a few of the congregation and Bethelites for a stroll about the town of Milford.  The Milford Music Festival was that weekend and all sorts of bands were on the sidewalks and near restaurants playing their little hearts out.  We did find it tragic on one street that a mellow, acoustic, bluegrass band was playing directly across the street from a classic rock band featuring Greatful Dead songs. (sigh) This is the mellow band.

   We found the youth in our group were not all about the music. This is the entertainment they preferred once we landed in a park.  This certainly destroys the concept that Bethelites are all business. By the way,  no one threw up. Yay. 

And  all you pet lovers out there you will surely appreciate this!  More than one communal water dish was out for the general need along the streets of Milford.  What a nice town. :)

 We actually stayed the weekend in Milford thanks to this hospitable couple: Richard and Kristine.  Here is Jeremy making friends with their dogs Ferrari and Mercedes.












Following THAT eventful week was the rush to fly down to Knoxville, TN for our Regional Convention!  Even though there were over 13,000 people there, how glad we got to see most of our Williamsburg friends!  It was especially encouraging to see the Decker family, Margie, Missy, Robert and Brooklyn attend their first convention!

Plus it was really

 wonderful having Barbara (Erin's mom) fly down for the program.  She is so glad she doesn't have to remind me to sit still during the program anymore!  I've finally grown out of that!  Apparently I was the worst when I got the chickenpox halfway through one convention. (she won't ever let me forget it either.) It is important to note the photo on the left is Barbara's first selfie. Before this shot she didn't know what that was. :)














So now we are back to work in Wallkill.  And Jeremy and I are doing NOTHING but working!  Believe us! :)

Well, maybe there is a moment or two for a quick laugh.  Two of the sisters (Roberta and Abby) are in tile and the other (Keri) is in carpentry. This was made for International delegates to "get involved" in the work scene here at Bethel.    And clearly Jeremy is up to the same foolishness.

 

More on some actual work next time!