May 9, 2013
With all the business of spring, Nick and I decided to get away from home for a weekend of being together. We headed up to Breckenridge, CO and enjoyed eating out and cooking in, movies and walks. We borrowed snow shoes from a friend since it has been snowing so late this spring. We found a trail in National Forest area right off of Boreas Pass. Since it was such a beautiful day Nick hiked in shorts. What fun.
May 3, 2013
Every year that Nick can remember he has attended and volunteered at the Kansas MCC sale. It is held at the Kansas State fair grounds in Hutchinson, KS for the weekend. This year, Kara drove to KS by herself and picked up Nick from the Wichita airport. He flew in from Las Vegas from the MMS conference where he spoke on Config Manager.
The sale is always a fun time of seeing family and reconnecting with others, whom we only see at the sale: Nick’s college friends, Grandparents friends or relatives, and sale volunteers. We enjoy the traditional Mennonite food, beautiful hand made quilts, and conversations with strangers around the same mission. This 45th year raised a little under 500K.
April 23, 2013
When we find that life gets so busy We must take time to stop
To hear the whisper of a kiss
and feel the gentle touch.
So it is times like these that we escape outside of the house and away from distractions
Art museum, coffee, beer, lunch and friends old and new.
Free day at the Denver Art Museum
a pint at Wynkoop Brewery
April 2, 2013
As a part of simple church we have always enjoyed Easter a little differently. Nick and I typically watch The Passion either Friday or Saturday night then Easter Sunday we meet up with our church for a sunrise service. The past two years we have hiked part of a close mt at our favorite park: Mt. Falcon open space park. This year was very successful in getting a good sized group for the hike including one of our pregnant mommas of the group. Nick carried her baby so she could just hike. It was nice weather and everything. Then we went back to the Curry home for brunch and more reflection. Perfect way to remember.
April 1, 2013
Kara’s birthday this year was celebrated by dinner with some family in town for dinner and neighbor friends, cheap movie and a new dinner theater, and sushi on a snowy day!!
Hapa Sushi. . . Yum
February 16, 2013
Enjoying family time together at Celestial Seasonings.
My parents (Kent and Jan Reimer) almost every winter come and stay with us for a week while they attend the Renewal Conference with World Venture . . . It is almost always over Dad’s birthday too, so this year they flew in and the first weekend we spent relaxing and hanging out and finishing a few projects around the house . . . still kitchen remodel continued saga. Then we all had a very busy work week which was settled by a nice weekend exploring Boulder. And Sunday enjoyed brunch with long time friends the Sellars. Such fun.
February 13, 2013
So almost a year ago Nick and I decided that it was time for me to get out of the public school arena and . . . I didn’t know what, I’d do. I knew I needed to be able to relax and heal after a few very stress filled years in public special education but that is what I had been working on doing for the past 14 years.
The big question came, “what do I want to do when I grow up?” I spent three months in the garden, sunshine, poolside, hanging with friends, kitchen remodel etc and when that was done; I still this question.
Well, we are involved in a larger house/simple church network in Denver and one of the men is a fantastic coach and trains coaches worldwide for simple church growth. He announced that he would be offering an 8 week class on coaching. It sounded interesting, and “at least I’ll acquire better relationship skills. It can’t hurt,” plus included was 3 coaching sessions with Walt. “Awesome, he can help me figure out my next career path.”
When the class started I was also approached by a friend, begging me to work her maternity leave in the spring with a trial week in October. “Sure, why not, I still do not know what I’m doing.” I started the coaching class right before the trial week and as I expected there were great techniques for active listening so I kept seeking God and asking what I needed to be pursuing. As I went in to school each day that next week, there was no peace. It was the sense of, “yea, I could do this and find a ‘better school’ but is this still my passion?” I started to question how I could use some of my background/experience and Master’s Degree in Special Education in different ways. As I met with my coach and each week coached and was coached by others in the class, things seemed to click. It felt natural, conversations flowed and most often ended in a positive manner. I got the encouragement from many fronts to move forward in pursuing coaching.
My core belief in coaching Christians, in particular, is that the Holy Spirit lives inside each of us, and as we learn to listen to His voice He will change us. My role as a coach is to help people find and listen to that voice and then intentionally facilitate their movement forward in what they hear God speaking to them. It may be in all sorts of areas: career, life, family, children, spiritual or personal growth. I am still formulating what this means to me and how to share in a brief sentence. You know for those dreaded holiday parties at Nick’s office where I haven’t seen his coworkers or their spouses in a year yet am expected to make small talk . . . yet the more I explain, the more I see other aspects of myself coming alive in this.
For instance, around the same time this coaching class was ending and I was working on practicum hours I also became involved in a company called Catalyzed Minds, which is by name an Academic Coaching company. How ironic, as I read and researched and practiced I realized the overlaps into teaching that I never had experienced in my 6 years in SSN (Significant Support Needs), but also began to wonder how this might look with parents of students with special needs as well. Coaching them through discovery of their students in a way that facilitates self initiated change, not just me as the expert telling them what to do when they are already overwhelmed.
So now my days are spent with women, primarily, coaching them through life, as well as young women, coaching them through school: grades, academics, social, life skills and executive functioning skills. I coach in person, over the phone or skype. I pray that this will expand and that I will be able to help others. . . for now, I’m still learning and growing and will probably occasionally post thoughts here. . . and of course if you are interested in a session to see what it looks like give me a call.
