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• Catching a Breath

  06Dec
  Categories: Just Having Fun Comments: 0

  It’s funny how the past few weeks have seemed too full to blog, but somehow we have managed to watch every episode of The Amazing Race, Glee, The Office, and Community to air in that time; get our Christmas tree and decorate the house for Christmas (of course, our two shoe boxes of decor doesn’t take too long to scatter around the living room); take in a Christmas concert at Newberg Friends Church;  start Christmas shopping and gift making; re-organize the garage and set up a mini-recording studio in our office; and share a really great Thanksgiving with friends and family in Yamhill. Somehow blogging didn’t end up on the to-do list =).

  We are trying to intentionally create space in this holiday season to not do. I do believe we have mostly made it through our full weeks and are happily looking ahead at a rather light December engagement calendar.

• Snow Zone

  15Nov
  Categories: Just Having Fun Comments: 3

  As our bodies and brains are still adjusting to the cold weather we have made a few resolutions: we will turn up the thermostat more than in years past, we will drink lots of tea, coffee, cocoa, and chai, and we will get outside and make the most of the weather. Two winters ago we discovered snowshoeing and were instant converts, setting aside our newly acquired (at an REI return sale, so minimal investment) cross country ski gear for the freedom of snowshoes. We love hiking so it was a natural, seasonal transition. Also, once you have the gear it’s pretty much free–always a good price.

  When John learned this week that there was already a decent snow base at Mt. Hood, he immediately suggested we make a quick run up to the mountain this weekend for a warm-up hike. We had the added fun bonus of dog-sitting for Darcy this weekend and thought she’d enjoy seeing snow for the first time and getting a good workout. She’s still a young dog and has tons of energy (is anyone looking into how to convert that into some form of clean energy?) so this was a good way for her to put some of that to good use–she even managed to pull John down, face-first, into the snow.

  We had a really fun morning hiking a classic Mt. Hood trail, Mirror Lake. As many times as we have driven by the trailhead, we have only stopped once and we didn’t make it past the parking lot due our lack of preparation and the piles of snow that were still blocking the trail. This time we came prepared and enjoyed the climb up to the lake, with Darcy setting the pace most of the way. The snow was beautiful and untouched in many areas, there were patches of blue sky, and the temperature was just right–a great way to kick off the snow season. By the time we got back to the car, Darcy was exhausted and we were quite pleased with our day in the snow.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Signin’

  10Nov
  Categories: Just Having Fun Comments: 2

  Our weekend kicked off Friday night with a long-awaited book signing at Chapters Books in Newberg. Erin set up this event for November 6th back in June when we first returned home and at the time it couldn’t have seemed further away. Always amazing how quickly the months pass and before we knew it, November 6th had arrived. Although minus co-author, Tiffany Wilding-White who lives on the opposite coast, she did have the pleasure of sharing a signing table with George Fox University colleague, Dirk Barram, who recently released a book (a novel) of his own, The College.

  It was a fun evening! In addition to talking about, signing and selling Golfing With Your Eyes Closed, we enjoyed a mini concert performed by the Young Friends Singers of Newberg Friends Church and accompanied by our very own, Pop.

  

  

  Thanks for the pics, Gregg!

• Hallo-what?

  06Nov
  Categories: Just Having Fun Comments: 6

  Halloween seems to look different every year. For several years we celebrated at a regular party hosted by our friends at the 709 house. We knew we’d always find the annual costume contest, karaoke, limbo, and more food than anyone should consume in one evening. Once a good handful of those attending started having little ones and there were only like seven us of at the party we realized a new plan was in order. Each year from there has been different–one year we got together and watched the the scariest movies we could handle–”The Goonies” and “Monster House”–while we took turns passing out candy. Another year we pushed our Halloween partying off a week and then got together for a killer (pun intended) Murder Mystery dinner. Last year John and I spent Halloween in Taupo, New Zealand indulging in New Zealand lollies. This year brought forward a new idea… cosmic bowling. Our costumes? We all went as ourselves at about the age of 75, thanks to a bag of wigs found by friends Jonathan and Rachel at a sale held by a local retirement home.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Fire Engine Red

  17Oct
  Categories: Home, Just Having Fun Comments: 2

  As autumn approached this year, we quickly realized we had spent the past 12 months in a perpetual season of summer. We left the country as summer was dying down here in late September and returned as it was beginning to get warm again. In that time our blood thinned and we became much more sensitive to cold weather. The flannel sheets and extra blanket came on at least a month earlier than usual, we turned the heat on sooner this fall, and we are both more apt to be wearing an extra layer at any given time than in years past. We were actually even a teensy bit nervous for the autumn/winter seasons to hit us considering what wimps we have become.

  However, we nearly forgot about the things we love about this time of year and that make autumn/winter completely worth living in the Pacific NW. To name a few… the Hood River Fruit Loop, great snowboarding at Mt. Hood, George Fox women’s basketball season, Cannon Beach’s Stormy Weather Arts Festival, the city of Portland all dressed up for the holidays, and the beauty of the changing leaves. We have one of the most gorgeous trees right in our very own backyard! And it’s fire engine red–we love it and each year we get to see the leaves change color we are always amazed at the beauty.

  Although we are still bemoaning–under our breaths, of course–the dark mornings and evenings and the damp cold, we are doing our best to keep perspective and appreciate what this season has to offer.

  Here are a few shots of our most gorgeous fire engine tree…

  

  

  

• Simple Gifts

  12Oct
  Categories: Just Having Fun, Thoughts Comments: 2

  Over the weekend we got together with “the fam” for what has become a favorite event–a slumber party. You may think we should have grown out of the slumber party stage after the age of 14 or 15, but we are bringing ‘em back for another round. We aren’t in the habit of playing pranks on one another or even staying up until 5am–guess we had enough of that in college (at least the latter). However, we have been known to sit around and eat pizza, talk, watch our favorite shows, and perhaps bust out some sweet dance moves.

  This was the fifth or sixth slumber party in the past two years and the first time, to my knowledge, that we did a group project. The project was to make up care packages for the homeless. How many times have you driven out of the grocery store or off the interstate and seen a man, woman, or child holding up a sign asking for help–food, money, beer… anything? The idea of these care packages was originally introduced to us by our friend Tami and we have intended to do this for quite awhile so we were glad to take advantage of our time together. We divided up the list and everyone brought their goods to the party. Saturday morning as we lazed around we sorted everything into ziplock bags and voila, in no time at all we had put together 24 bags, three per person, at a cost of approximately $5 per bag.

  This is a great and super easy way to join forces with friends and make a small difference. It’s also a great alternative to giving money. There are a ton of different things you could put into a gallon Ziplock bag. Here’s what we put in our bags to give you some ideas for your own:

  • gloves
  • hand warmers
  • raisins
  • granola bars
  • bottle of water (juice box is great too!)
  • tissues
  • hand sanitizer
  • warm socks
  • stamped envelope and a few sheets of paper

  So now, we leave the bags in the car and when we pull up to someone who is in need, we have a great care package that we can hand out the window (or even gently toss if you can’t stop completely). You could even go for a smaller version of these bags that are easier to carry in a purse or bag if you’re not in your car very often, but still have encounters with people who need a little help.

  

• Mississippi Studios

  03Oct
  Categories: Just Having Fun Comments: 1

  Last night I got the chance to see a great Portland band Crosstide play at Mississippi Studios in Portland.  If you haven’t seen a show at Mississippi Studios, it is a great venue to watch music. Its a classic building in North Portland with balcony seating up stairs and standing room down below.  Crosstide put on an energentic show, playing both some old and new material.  The lead singer Bret Vogel is playing another show tonight if you get chance it will be worth your time.

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Her name’s Jane Austen, but you can call her Mr. Darcy

  29Sep
  Categories: Just Having Fun Comments: 1

  Jane Austen is the given name of the Parents’ English Setter puppy but they really do call her Mr. Darcy (not going to even start to explain any further).  We had the privilege to dog-sit Darcy  while the Parents were out of town this weekend.    Like any good dog-sitters we tried to pack the weekend full of fun events. We took her to see the Vaux’s Swifts spiraling into the chimney at Champman Elementary School in Portland on Friday night.  Besides watching these cool birds it is an excellent people watching and community event. One of the most fun things is the hill covered with kids sliding down on pieces of cardboard. Although we joined in the fun for a few slides, we kept Darcy out of the kid-chaos. She did great in what we believe is her first Portland outing.

  We enjoyed playing with Darcy in the backyard, trying to teach her new skills, taking her on a walk, and introducing her to a very cool brown Labrador, Jasper. Darcy is full of energy and we loved getting to dog sit–it was hard to give her back at the end of the weekend, but we know we’ll see her again soon.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• One year ago…

  27Sep
  Categories: Around The World, On Our Way Out, Thoughts Comments: 2

  It dawned on us this morning that one year ago today–September 27, 2008–we set out from Portland International Airport for Fiji, the first international destination of our journey and kind of the official start to our travel. Our memories of that day include:

  • Family time at the airport with the Macy’s in person and Erin’s parents over the phone
  • A lunch of Panda Express Orange Chicken
  • Arriving in the wee hours of the morning into the rather small Nadi, Fiji airport
  • Airport ATMs that did not want to give us money (a bit stressful)
  • John nearly getting smacked by a bus within the first two hours of being in Fiji
  • A beautiful ride out to the Yasawa Islands on the bright yellow and purple Yasawa Flyer
  • ..and being greeted by singing Fijians as we embarked on Waya Lailai Island

  It’s fun to think back to those first few days of travel and consider how much we learned between the time we left PDX in September and when we returned in May. One of the “takeaways” John suggested from our Fiji time was to have a day at least once a year where we turn the heat in the house up to about 85 degrees, laze around in shorts and swim suits (preferably in hammocks), read an entire book in one day, greet each other and everyone we see with a big “BULA!”, summon each other to meals by hitting a drum, have a Farkel tournament, play some rugby, and perhaps give fire dancing a try. Once the winter weather hits this will surely be going on the calendar!

• Stop The Traffick

  19Sep
  Categories: Around The World, Thoughts Comments: 1

  No, we did not forget to run the spell-checker. Traffick here refers to the transfer of “goods” across borders. In this case the “goods” we are thinking about are specifically young women and children. This morning we took part in International Justice Mission’s Pacific NW Advocacy weekend and walked away motivated, moved, and impressed by this organization. The objectives of this training day were to receive information on the Child Protection Compact Act Bill (which is making its way through the House), prepare to meet with Representative Wu and Congressman Blumenauer, and learn more about international trafficking and child slavery. IJM was very well organized and we felt like every minute we were there was worthwhile.

  The bill itself asks Congress to provide an additional $50 million over three years to be used in focus countries to help them work against trafficking in children. This may seem like a big chunk of money to be going abroad in such economic times, but when you consider that less than 1% of the national budget goes to foreign aid, AND when you consider the incredible and nearly unbelievable crime of selling and purchasing children for slave labor and prostitution, it doesn’t seem like such a sacrifice. If you’re interested in learning more about this bill, HR 2737, or encouraging your Congressperson to take leadership in this bill, get connected with IJM.

  Our experience in Cambodia (a country that has a terrible record of child prostitution, but is taking steps slowly to bring justice to the offenders) working with girls who were at risk of being sold by family members into the sex industry clearly impacted us. It’s easy for us to quickly become overwhelmed with the complexity and depth of this problem. We are grateful to have the opportunity to be small voices that will hopefully join with other voices to make a huge impact in the world.