Endeavor Rises Again

Steve has decided to restart Endeavor Plumbing up here in Portland. Check out his new website. www.endeavorplumbing.com and spread the word to people you know in Portland :)

Back to work tomorrow

It feels like I've been off work for a month. Oh wait, that's pretty much true. I head back tomorrow and I'm already tired, just thinking about it. Steve is sick (thanks a lot, Matt!) and so we've been taking it pretty easy today. We were both disappointed that we had to miss church again, this week, because Steve was just too ill to go - not only would his coughing and sniffling be distracting, we just couldn't subject the others to his illness. I hope he's better soon because he's miserable and I feel bad for him.

We had a good Christmas, although I could have done without the 4 episodes of Married With Children that my dad was so excited to share with the rest of us.

August is growing like a weed, and my sister was excited to learn that I had learned to knit so that I could make him fun things, even if I had to add onto the hat I made him. Twice. Because he has a huge noggin. OK... it's bed time.

Oh the weather outside is frightful

But, the company is delightful. As most of you have probably heard, Portland is snowed in... and that means that Matt & Brielle's flight (which was supposed to leave Sat. evening) was canceled and they are stuck here until at least Christmas Eve. Although that is a bummer for them, and they wish they could be with Matt's family in Michigan, it is fun with them here. We're having Age of Empires games together, and taking the dogs out into the snow for fun play time. I've been able to walk to work, and that is working well... Here is a photo to show you what is going on here:

Starting Saturday morning, through tonight:

I win! I win!

I just want you all to know that I won my fantasy football league tonight. Heck ya, I did. HOOOORAY.

The Vatican on a rainy day

This is the wall surrounding the Vatican














And inside the museum.














And St. Peter's Basilica, from the outside.













And finally, the purported tomb of St. Peter, on which the whole church was built. Apparently, Peter was the first pope, according to Catholic tradition.

A few more from Rome

Here we are at the Colosseum,



































and on our way to Pompei, on the coast
south of Rome and from the train.

Let's try the Rome pics again

Steve and I are currently baking cookies because work was slow for me today. While some bake, I thought I'd try to post the Rome pics again.


The first is the staircase that surrounded the elevator, pictured in the second photo. It was tiny - there was room for me and two bags... and I couldn't turn around so Steve pushed the buttons and then ran up 4 flights of stairs to meet me at the top and let me out again!











The third picture is me in front of a fancy hotel. Not ours. :)

Ugh - Technology

I've been trying to post more pictures this morning, but for some reason the computer isn't letting me do it. How irritating.

A few photos from Pompei

I'll add some more pictures of various parts of the trip, but I'll start with these, since they're the first ones on the particular memory card that I've got on the computer right now... so, here you go (the last one is a little bit morbid, but I also think it's incredibly fascinating, the futility of the struggle, and the timeless preservation... so I've included it):

Whirlwind Trip!

Wow - since last we wrote, we have traveled to Normandie, spent time in Paris, went south of Paris to Claire's house for supper, arrived in London, spent time with Michael and Bronwyn, then went to Rik's pirate party. We saw Les Mis on the West End, and this morning, we're getting ready to fly back to Frankfurt. We plan to go to a Christmas market tonight and then get ready to fly home tomorrow. We're having a good trip, but we're ready to get home and sleep in our own bed!

Barcelona and Paris

We traveled from Nice to Barcelona on Thursday and met a young couple from South Africa: Cameron and Johanna, who we ended up spending our time with in Barcelona. When we arrived, we went to the ocean and walked around, then took a taxi (at the advice of a Frenchman, who spoke English, and had moved to Spain to work in the hotel industry) to the Olympic stadiums. It was really beautiful and fun to see something that is a part of modern history. We took a cable car/gondola type thing up to the top of the hill and toured around an old castle with cannons and a moat and whatnot. It would have been great fun except that I had to go to the bathroom very badly so it was hard to concentrate on much else. We have not had the best of luck finding public toilets, and particularly ones that are useable... I am awestruck at how dirty things are, generally, when it comes to bathrooms here.

We tried to catch the overnight train immediately to Paris that night, but it did not work out and, so, we stayed at the same hotel as our new friends and then caught the morning train to Paris. When we arrived, we were able to meet up with Anne and her parents, who are wonderful! We just missed Claire and Fabrice and their children, which was disappointing, but it is how things go when you do last-minute plans.

Being back here reminds both Steve and I of how much we love Paris. We went to the Champs-Elysees tonight, where they're having a big Christmas market and had mulled hot wine and waffles with chocolate and this wonderful garlic cheese potato dish that was kind of sticky - it was delicious. It's great to be here and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, but must go to sleep now.

Yay for France

Well, we lost big at Montecarlo - I lost 20 in the slots (video poker) and 10 at the craps table. I went and changed my money into chips and then they told me the table had a 10 minimum! I only played one round. All the signs at the other tables had a 2 minimum so I assumed craps was the same, but it was not! I felt pretty stupid. Steve lost 20 also in the video poker - we were not at the big famous casino because it's only for fancy people, apparently and it cost 10/person just to go inside! And it had a dresscode, so we decided it was too rich for our blood.

We stayed in Nice last night at a pretty cool little hotel for less than we expected to pay here in Southern France - and today, we're doing a load of laundry and then going to head to Barcelona. From there, we may go to Paris or up to Normandie. We're not sure yet, exactly.

We're having a good time and we have decided that of all the places we've been so far, on both our trips, France is by far our favorite. It is clean and the people are friendly - I'm not sure why it gets such a bad rap for being rude - we haven't found that to be the case at all.

Our electrical converter was faulty and has fried our laptop power cord, so now we're stuck using internet cafes - i don't know how often we'll have time to get to one between now and when we come home, so i'm not sure when i will have the chance to write again.

Nice is Nice!

Well, we arrived in Nice today - we weren't going to stay here, but when we got off in Monte-Carlo, they told us that Monaco forbids luggage lockers (what the damn?!) so we had to go to Nice to drop our luggage - and we got here and decided it was BEAUTIFUL so we decided to stay. We're going to head back to Monte-Carlo tonight to rub elbows with the elite of our species, and then either tomorrow or the next day, we'll move on to Barcelona - depends on how much we like Nice tomorrow. It's sunny and brisk weather - my favorite - and right on the Mediteranean. Can it get better?

We are glad to be out of Italy. We were strangely surprised at how dirty it was there - it was not our favorite and we probably wouldn't choose to go back, at least not to Rome. We did go to the Vatican, though, and that was pretty cool. I'm keeping a travel journal and I think I will re-create my posts online when we get home so people can read more details about our trip, but our power converter is fritzy and I don't want to use too much of the battery at this point, so I'm going to sign off.

We'll check in again later.

All roads lead to Rome

Steve and I arrived in Rome last night and are wandering around today. I am trying to figure out why our capital one card is not working... ugh. the joys of traveling, eh?

Tomorrow, we are going to Pompeii and then, on Tuesday, will go to the Vatican and then we will be off to Nice, France.

Last night, we ate in a great little restaurant. Steve had pizza with sausage and spinach, and I had a calzone with several kinds of cheese and salami. it was all very good. I cannot write much, as I only paid for 30 min of computer time, so I need to email my parents and then be off...

Hope all is well state-side.

Coming Together to Depart

This weekend was a host of things. Friday, Steve and I made our way down to Eugene, via Monmouth, where we picked up my sister and nephew. She's staying at her in-laws' home there for the time being, because her father in law is very ill and not expected to live much longer. I didn't see him while we were there because he was sleeping but Kim says it's interesting to be around him because he's not afraid to die, at least not on a conscientious level. I admit that despite my faith in God, and the promise of glory in the hereafter, my mortality scares me.

Dinner was scheduled for 7. My grandpa didn't show up for my birthday dinner that night, and it had us all worried. Almost 6 hours later, and with the involvement of police, he finally arrived back home. He was confused and got lost and then couldn't find his way home. Although it's been something we've noticed for awhile (his mind slipping), this was the first real sign that things are changing. I guess I had fooled myself into believing that although he was slipping, that it was never going to get "bad." I guess I need to be prepared that it might get bad. And once again, my own mortality is thrown in my face.

The weekend got lighter at that point, though - Saturday, Brielle and I had facials (a long overdue birthday present from last year) and we had "Christmas dinner" since the family members are going in many directions this year. And this morning, Christmas stockings and church.

Steve and I are getting ready to depart - for Europe. We leave on Thursday morning. I am very excited - and I hope to have opportunity to make some postings while we're gone. I'm bummed that we're going to miss Jessica's reclamation of "craftiness" - as I am learning a new crafty skill at the moment, but I'm sure it will be fun for those who are going.

Parker is telling me that it's time for bed; he's giving me the stinkeye right now - so I'm off.

Crabby-pants

So, for the last couple of weeks, I have been crabby. I try to push through, but I'm just a crabby crab monster, and I can't, for the life of me, figure out why. I do have moments of joy and I'm sure that I'm a pleasure to be around during those times, but my overall mood is tired, sad, and crabby.

I don't really have much to be crabby about, really. Life is going pretty well - I still like my job, I like the church we're going to, Steve is doing well (albeit, he is about to be unemployed, which I'm sure doesn't help my mood much), Parker is as happy as ever... I really don't want to ruin our upcoming vacation, so if you're the praying type, please add my attitude to your prayer list. I need a jolt to my system, I think - or a 40 hour nap. Maybe that's it. Maybe I just need a self-imposed time out!

Oh yeah - and a moment of bragging

I'm No. 1 in my fantasy football league going into week 11... and I'm number one both in record and total points for the season. Hooray for the Fighting Badgers. Rah Rah.

Change in Mentality

It's all relative, right? Well, living in the great Pacific NW, that's what we learn from the time we're old enough to sneeze (I'm not sure if a fetus sneezes, but if it does, this time frame still applies). During various stages in my life, I have learned to love and hate relativism, but this month, I'm loving it. Not about things such as ultimate Truth (you know, the capital T- Truth), but I'm learning that when it comes to every day life, the ups, the downs, it really is all relative.

Up until this month, I thought that billing 6 hours at work constituted a "good day," and then I went to Dave Ramsey and remembered that the more I bill, the sooner I get to kick Sallie Mae out of my guest room. So now, billing 8 hours constitutes a "good day." And, going in with that mindframe helps me stay more productive at work, and makes me not loathe or feel anxious to get out of the 8+ hour (boring as you can imagine) depositions that I'm sitting through this week and deal with nothing but whether certain types of flashing and waterproofing materials were properly installed on some buildings here in town. Although excitement does not abound, the hours do, and that makes me happy. It's strange how changing my outlook on what constitutes a "good day" has really changed a lot in my life - 6 hours seems so easy now, and even 8 isn't bad.

Steve did something bold today and he will be separating from his current employer in two weeks. A year ago, even a few months ago, I think I would have really freaked out - and while I admit I feel anxious about this, I am not stressing out. Is that what it means to have maturity in faith? I don't know, but I guess I feel like there's no sense in worrying since who by worrying has added even an hour to his life? Another change in mentality - I sure hope this change is permanent. Of course, it could just be that he did the laundry and dishes today so I can't be too upset with him :)

I am now going on a ramble, so I will stop. Good night.

We're not dead

... just really busy. That's why we've not been posting. There's so much to say about what we've been up to but I"m too tired to talk about it much. So, imagine I'm speaking in the really fast voice like the guy in the old micro-machines commercials - the past two weeks in our lives:

* BB's bday party
* Dinner at Emily & Charlie's
* Dracula, the ballet
* Mark & Shelley came to visit
* Dave Ramsey Live
* Bought Eurail tickets for Italy, France & Spain
* Met a new young couple at church who is coming to dinner tomorrow
* Worked a lot. A LOT.

That about sums it up.

Crazy Bus People

So, today it was my turn.

I ride tri met to work and back home at the end of the day.  I've so enjoyed it with it's community feeling.  Granted, most of my fellow bus mates use the bus from necessity.  Haunting DUI's restricting their movement.  But I love the camaraderie.  The faintest smell of two days ago beer spilled in the frenzy of imbibing.  But I love the avoidance of traffic and parking.  The slightly deranged drug seeking bearded woman asking if she can borrow someone's cell phone to call in a prescription.  But I love the watching the other people on the bus try and find a response to the query.  I love the interaction between the commuters and what I have affectionately deemed the bus "lifers".  

Well, today was my turn.  A slightly deranged chinese man got onto the bus and sat right next to me on a half full bus.  He had three boxes of cigarettes and could not resist asking me over and over again to confirm how beautiful the yellow was on the boxes.  Even though I did emphatically answer "Oh yes, they ARE so beautiful" each time I was quarried.  I just thank God I was only two stops away from home. 

They did a great job!

Websites with testimonials are never to be trusted. Well, almost never. When you have testimonials like this, you know the person who put together the website is top notch.

http://www.blackcatplumbing.com/clients.htm

Separating Accounts

Holli and I have figured out how to separate our accounts so we can post individually to our blog and to make comments on other people's blogs. This is kind of a test post.

Weddings and Pirate Fests

This weekend, my friend Jessica married Joonas.  Well, they had their ceremony anyway.  It was a very nice event, and it was good to spend time with Jessica and her family.  It was also fun to meet Joonas' family who flew in from Finland, and Jessica's friends from other times in her life whom I've heard a lot about but never met.

Over the weekend, I also had a chance to go shopping for costume.  So, as I've mentioned, Steve and I are going to Europe - the instigation for that trip is our friend Rik is turning 40 and 1.5 years ago, he invited us to his birthday party and we said we would go - so we're going.  

We got our official invitation in the mail and it's awesome, so I wanted to show you all.

That's Rik's face on the parrot.  heh.  

Both Steve and I are very excited about this party.  hooray for pirate parties.

I got to see August this weekend.  It was fun.  I made a new game with him.  I had him laying on the couch next to me, and I would pretend to ignore him.  then, when he was sufficiently fooled, I would look at him and start poking his rib area with my pointer fingers and going up to his armpits - he would laugh and laugh and laugh - then, I would start with the ignoring again.  He liked it.  He's getting so big - 15.5 lbs now.  whew!

Parker had a close call this weekend as well.  He was outside playing with my dad and chewing on sticks.  He got a small one caught in his throat and he couldn't get it out.  Steve had to pin him down and reach in and grab it out.  I was freaked out and I almost started crying - but I'd already had my makeup done for the wedding so I held it in.  I thought he was choking on a ball and couldn't breathe at all. 

It was scary for all - but he is fine and to prove it, he wanted to show you what a good dancer he is.  So with that, feast your eyes on him and me dancing tonight and have a good day!

Top 10 new things Steve and/or I did this week

10.  We tied furniture that we bought at IKEA to the top of our car and drove home with Steve holding onto the furniture through the sunroof so it wouldn't slide off.

9.  We went to Winco, which is kind of like going to a different country because no one speaks English and everyone acts as though the beef is going to run out if they don't push you out of the way first.  It reminded me of standing in the ticket line at the train station in Paris - and the woman behind me felt like she was going to get her ticket faster if she crawled up my bum during the entire 45 minute wait.

8.  We stayed in Portland for the weekend.  Okay, that's not entirely new, but it's been a long time.

7.  I sang with the choir at the church we've been attending.

6.  I became mildly addicted to fantasy football message boards trying to figure out who to start on my roster this week.

5.  We made it to bed before midnight every single night this week.  This one's kind of boring, but I'm running out of new things that we did...

4.  We had lunch with Graham and Donnie from my work on Tuesday, and bid Donnie a fond farewell as he headed out to Egypt.  Yes.  Egypt.  As in the Nile.  and Cairo.  Egypt.

3. We finally got the last of our books put away on shelves, instead of being stacked behind the couch.  That's new, right?

2.  I gave Steve a haircut.  Really.  And it didn't suck too bad.

And the #1 new thing Steve and/or I did this week...

1.  I told a woman at church that Steve's sperm is bad when she asked when we were planning to have children.  In front of the pastor.

When you're hot, you're hot.

Yesterday, I scored several good things.  The first was a free pizza lunch at work.  Of course, to get it, I had to sit through a guy from our firm's 401k program yak at me about "staying the course" and not pulling my money out of my retirement program.  Of course, little did he know, I've thwarted the whole system and don't have a retirement account muhahahaha.

After scoring the free pizza, I also scored a pair of Trailblazers tickets for that night - my name was drawn out of a hat.  HOORAY.  So, Steve and I went.  It was not fabulous but it was definitely an interesting adventure and different.  And, our friends Emily and Charlie have season tickets so we were able to get in touch with them and meet up at half time.  Emily is my current hero because she just ran the Portland Marathon.  Several years ago, apparently I talked her into running a 10k after I had run the Butte to Butte.  Of course, after I ran my 10k, I stopped and haven't been able to get back into it.  She stuck to it and I'm super impressed.  Steve and I said something casual about doing it next year.  I don' t know if it will happen, but maybe we'll get back into 10k shape, eh?!  Anyway, SCORE for seeing friends.

We took the bus.  It was the first time Steve and I had taken public transportation together.  It was very good.  I got a ticket to the Rose Garden and got a transfer ticket.  That way, when we left (at half time), I was still able to use my transfer ticket and didn't have to pay a second fare.  SCORE again!  

Yesterday, I was pretty hot.

This morning, I went to court first thing and was pretty successful with my motion hearing.  I'll take it!  

Our road adventures.

Last weekend, after driving back to Portland and nearly dying when a car decided that it had taken the wrong fork of a Y and just decided to stop IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREEWAY, until traffic was clear so it could do a clever driving maneuver and get on the correct fork of the Y. Thankfully, Steve's adrenaline assists him in helpful ways and he was able to bring our car from 60 to 0 in no time flat. Really, I thought we were done for. But we made it. Barely. And we continued on to our apartment

Our apartment building is pretty darn swanky. It's got its ups and its downs... but we like it and we're happy to be here for a year. It's 10 blocks from where I work, close to downtown, right next to the street car, walking distance to the train station... you really can't get a whole lot better. Except the parking. It's outrageously expensive to get parking here. So we didn't.

After our near death experience on the freeway, we were pretty happy to get home, park on the street just outside of the side door to our building (our favorite spot) and went upstairs to go to bed. It was, after all, very late.

We got up the next morning to go to church and walked outside. When Steve looked at our car and said "what the ____?!" I knew something was terribly wrong. At first, I thought our car was gone because I couldn't see it from where I was standing. But no. It was not gone. Rather, it had a dent the size of a saucer-sled in the hood. I kid you not. It was HUGE. After using our keen skills at logical deduction and reasoning, we realized that someone had dropped a ginormous water balloon on our car. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself.

You can't see the details all that well, but those orange things that look like leaves... They're not leaves. They're pieces of orange rubber, with a big ol' knot tied in one end. Yes, they are pieces of a water balloon. Needless to say, I was none to pleased. We reported the incident to our apartment manager and she was mortified. She said she would investigate and in the meantime, she would pleased to provide us with a parking spot in the garage, free of charge, for the remainder of our lease. SCORE. So, off we went.

A few days later, she called me back and told me that someone had fessed up to the stunt and was offering to pay for the damage. And we still get our free parking spot. Can you say HALLELUJAH?! I sure can.

So, onward we go.

This weekend, we went to Sunriver with my parents, Kim, Fred, and August. It was a nice weekend, with some hiking, some football watching, hot tubbing, and good eating. On our way home, we drove through Government Camp, and just before reaching there, some fellows on bikes cut out directly in front of us. What is it with people doing really stupid things. Steve, again, with his cat-like reflexes slammed on the brakes and narrowly avoided the collision. The car behind us nearly slammed into us and there may or may not have been a lot of "I HATE YOU" honking going on.

I kind of wish the guy would have hit our car and then it would match in the front and the back and we'd have a good excuse to actually get a new (different) car. But alas, we were not so fortunate. We made it home uneventfully the rest of the journey.

I hope we have no more road adventures for a long long time.

Good night.

If Jessica can talk about it, so can I.

So, Jessica's blog has talked about poo this week, and tonight, I had a poo experience.  Parker has been very particular lately about where he will go... and today, he would not go when I took him out in the morning, or in the afternoon.  This evening, he didn't want to go either.  But, I was persistent and after about 10 minutes of walking him to a variety of poo-spots, I took him to an area that is quite suitable for pooing and just stood there.  After about 3 minutes of just standing, he finally went.  And went.  And went.  It was unbelievable - I almost could not get it all in the bag I had with me.  So, there you have it.  My poo story.

Will life ever slow down?

I think it's been 4 or 5 weekends in a row that we've gone to Eugene - and it looks like it may be several more before we can have some respite.  Although Idon't seem to mind the drive anymore, it does nothing for my ability to keep the apartment clean and laundry up to date (which is not my strongest suit anyway).

Steve is mega-stressed about getting the jobs done in Eugene that seem to be tightening a death grip around us.  In fact, he had to leave work at noon today to drive down to Eugene to try to fix some things - and he HAS to be back here at 11 tomorrow... then, he may drive down again tomorrow night and stay through the weekend, leaving me to come down on Saturday.  

Our car is in the shop so he had to rent one.  That kind of stinks, but we'll deal with it.

I feel like I am really fighting my pessimistic urges and really trying to trust God in this, but it's hard not to try to carry it all myself.  It seems that Steve and I have made such mistakes when it comes to his business, and that it might all be coming back to bite us in the bootie right now.  It's hard not to fixate and worry - but really, what will that do?  Perhaps I just feel totally helpless because I can't help Steve - when he calls, I don't even know what to tell him except that it will all work out in the end.  It will, right?

Sooo.. I'm trying to work hard at my job, and do what I can in that regard - and really, what's the worst that can happen?  The absolute worst is that the company would go bankrupt -and that we, somehow, would be drug into that... and well, there ARE worse things in life than bankruptcy, right?  Of course, I think this is a very very improbable outcome... I think it's more likely that we'll just have to eat some of the business losses... which is not great, but not the end of the world.  I'm such a spoiled brat that maybe it would do me some good.

Anyway, I best start doing a bit more work.

Later.

Idiots in their cars

Today, I was driving in Springfield and saw some woman who was a passenger in a minivan. in the front seat. She was holding and bouncing an infant on her lap. What is wrong with people?! I mean really. And of course, being the concerned citizen that I am, I called the police. Unfortunately, I'm sure there was no way the cops could find them, but I feel I did my civic duty.

I just don't get it.

On a happier note, my fantasy football team kicked bootie this week.

Keep on Keepin' On

Last weekend, we went down to Eugene for it seems the 80th time this summer. Steve did a bit of work and then we were off to the coast for Buck's wedding at Heceta Lighthouse. It was a perfect day for an outdoor evening wedding at the coast - not too windy, only slightly chilly. In Oregon, you can't ask for much more than that. I admit, I was crabby most of the weekend, but you know, we all have our moments and I can't be bright and bubbly all the time; I just can't.

The day after the wedding, we went back to Eugene where Steve did some more work and on Monday, which was labor day, we went back to Portland in the evening. The next day, Steve had to do the same trip over again - Portland to Eugene to Florence to Newport to Eugene to Portland... all in one day. holy moly. He took Parker with him and at the end of a day in the car, Parker was one unhappy camper, but it made him very happy to see me and to be home.

The work week passed fairly quickly, although both Steve and I started feeling under the weather. I had some depositions this week and as part of my illness, I sneezed during one which caused a bloody nose - that, my friend, may or may not have been the best moment of my life. On Friday, we were both feeling pretty run down so Steve took the day off from work to rest and try to get better. I had too much work to do so I pressed on.

Once again, we came down to Eugene - I'm currently sitting at my in-laws' computer typing this post. Steve is trying to wrap up some projects here and I brought work with me to do over the weekend. I've not been getting as much done as I had hoped, but that's pretty typical for me.

We just found out that we're not going to Africa this winter, afterall... which means we will have 2.5 weeks in Europe. We're not sure how we're going to spend all of that time, so I'm going to start doing some internet searching. Feel free to leave us some suggestions.

Until next time....

Fantasy Football and Goals

Last night, my office had the draft for our fantasy football league.  Steve came, with Parker, to the party and it was pretty fun.  I was lucky and got the #1 pick.  We'll see if it helps me at all this season.  I have a feeling I'm going to lose, big time, but what the heck - it's fun to talk trash and pretend I know what I'm talking about.

We paid off our discover card today - HOORAY!  One step closer to debt-freeness.  At this point, we now only have three credit cards with balances (two of which are pretty small) and I think we'll get one more paid off in September... and 7 without balances!!  YAY.  That means we are super close to paying off our wedding, honeymoon, trip to Europe, and the furniture we bought for our new apartment.  Steve and I have not, generally, been the best about money - day to day living, we do OK, but we tend to make some big purchases.  We're trying to curb those (although we are planning a Europe trip for Thanksgiving time) AND be better about the day to day.  It's pretty exciting to actually see a light at the end of the tunnel.  We almost have the Volvo paid off, too... so, in a few months, we should be down to no consumer debt!  All we'll have left is our house and my student loans.  That's pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

Dave Ramsey is kind of inspiring us lately... I want to be able to call his show and scream that we're debt free.

Steve is snoring on the couch - it's 10:15.  He's a tired boy.  I'm going to put him to bed.  

Our "New Church"

Another weekend come and gone. . .

On Saturday, Steve woke me up at 7:30 and after getting over being pissed at him, I rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth, and climbed into the car.  We were on our way to Eugene to help the Bandstras with their sewer problem... well, Steve was on his way to help.  I was on my way to visit Jessica, John Spencer, and of course, Kate.  

For being a work-day, it was actually pretty relaxing - I took a few cat naps throughout the day and got to see my parents for awhile - it was the first time I'd seen my dad since the beginning of July, so that was good.

We went out to dinner with my mom and grandparents and then watched the finals in men's platform diving before heading back to Portland.  It was a long night and I was, once again, not too thrilled when the alarm clock went off, reminding me that it was time to go to church.

We spent the balance of Sunday afternoon cleaning and cooking (after my 2 hour nap)... and Steve went to work for about 5 hours.

Today, I had to head down to Salem for a couple of hearings in one of my cases.  It was nice to be back in the courtroom - it reminded me of how much I like motion practice and being in court for non-evidentiary hearings - and it also struck me at how good my colleagues are, generally, at their jobs.  I like these kinds of days.

I think I had bad breath at the hearing though - ick... I need to carry gum or tic tacs for such occasions, really.

Now, I'm off to make corn bread to go with the beef stew we made for dinner tonight, which is simmering in the crock pot.  I admit it does not smell delicious, but corn bread makes everything better, right?  

Canonball

So, we went to the Brandi Carlile concert tonight (if you're unfamiliar with her, check out her webpage at http://www.brandicarlile.com/

About 2 months ago, Nat introduced me to her music and I was hooked... He said that she sounded just like her albums in concert and I didn't believe him.  I was right.  

She is *better* live, which is a pretty amazing thing to say.  I would describe her as kind of a cross between the melodic and quirkiness of Sarah McLaughlin, coupled with the incredible power and raw emotion of Janis Joplin.  Steve said it's the best concert he's ever been to, and I have to say, I might agree with him - which is saying quite a lot because I've been to a number of Alison Krauss concerts and well, she is very good in concert... but there's no rawness there.

Many people like her song The Story the best - it's a good one (and recently featured in a GM commercial, which she explains on her website) and displays her incredibly rich and crisp voice - but there are better ones... and she does a great rendition of Alleluia.

Before the concert, I made bbq pork sandwiches with the leftover pork from dinner the other night.  It was tasty and even Steve didn't mind eating left-overs.

I had to take Steve back to work after the concert - and we're headed to Eugene tomorrow.  I get to see John Spencer for the first time so that's pretty exciting.  I will also get to see KatieKateKateKate.  

I'm feeling lonely tonight - so perhaps I will go to bed now.

Emotional Rollercoaster v. Even keel

So - Steve and I joined a group of movie goers from Craigs List tonight - the group is called "movies and meaning."  We went to the Sensation of Sight.  Steve didn't like it; I found myself identifying with it quite a lot.  It was interesting in that it brought out some realizations for me - that my relationships are emotionally charged and my relationship with God is like the image of the woman kicking and screaming and finally succumbing into the embrace of the man waiting to comfort her, but only after intense emotional exhaustion.  Steve, on the other hand, is more even keeled.  Sure, he has his moments of emotional outburst - but they're never directed at God.  He just KNOWS and is at peace.  

On a lighter note, Steve and I had a very good parmesan encrusted sole for dinner. . . part of the new recipe/menu program we joined.  I can't believe that WE can make dinners that taste that good for pretty cheap!  Exciting stuff. 

We're going to a Brandi Carlile concert tomorrow.  That should be fun...

Steve wants everyone to know how much he wants a new Mac laptop - airbook or some nonsense like that.  I'm putting my foot down on this ridiculousness.

Steve didn't have to work late

Tonight, Steve went to work around 5:30 and said he'd be home around 10, he hoped.  At about 7:30, the apartment door opened and it may, or may not, have scared the peewaddlings out of me.  It was Steve.  hooray.  The only bad part is that instead of wanting to watch the Olympics tonight - he wanted to watch Family Guy.  The only funny part of that show is when Stewy laughs hard, it sounds just like Steve when he's laughing hard... which makes me laugh.  In case you didn't know, Steve is a guy who really really knows how to laugh.  Really.

Tonight, for supper, I made this apple/sage pork roast that was very tasty.  Very tasty.  I'm pretty stoked.  I'm not the most creative cook and I often find that recipes don't turn out as well as you hope - but this recipe did not disappoint.  Of course, I overcooked the veggies ... bummer.  

I read a good book last week - Steve read it this week... Rik had recommended it to me - called The Shack.  It was a unique book and is full of a lot of truth; I need to read it again, though, because when I was reading it, I was reading for the story and because I needed something... the book didn't really give me what I needed (of course it didn't) but it pointed me in the right direction.  After many angry outbursts and tears, I feel like maybe I'm back on the necessary path... the path of freedom - after all, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  I would recommend the book.  It was the first book I'd read in quite awhile - I think I need to read more - it's relaxing and edifying.  So... I'm off.

Oh yeah - and Shawn Johnson won the gold on balance beam last night.  I was happy.

And We're Back

It has been forever since either Steve or I have blogged.  There is not much point in trying to summarize the last 3 years, but here we go:

April 2006 - We got married and went to Costa Rica for a honeymoon

July 2006 - We adopted Parker, also known as "schmarks" and "parky-pants."  He is a very good yellow lab/australian shepherd mix.

January 2007 - Steve officially kicked off Endeavor Plumbing

April/May 2007 - We went to Europe.  This trip was full of ups and downs.

July 2007 - Steve turned 30 and we went to Disneyland to celebrate.

August 2007 - I started two new jobs, including a teaching job at the University of Oregon Law School.

May 2008 - We started our three-month process of moving to the Pearl District in Portland; I   started yet another new job.

June 2008 - We become aunt/uncle and godparents for the first time - to our nephew, August.

July 2008 - Steve started a new job, in Portland.

I guess those are the biggest events.  It is so difficult because although those are the most exciting, the day to day life is what makes us who we are, but there is no way to plug all those things in at this point.

This past weekend, Steve's whole family came to visit, as Jose Luis and Diana were in town.  It was a fun weekend but exhausting.

The Olympics are on tv now and Steve is working late.  The balance beam final.  I hope Shawn Johnson wins gold.  We'll see.

So the name of our blog... although we fail at this every day, we desire for our desire to be to know God and enjoy Him forever - to have relationship with the Father.  One day, it won't be so difficult.

I guess it's time for bed.  I will see how I can do about writing on daily basis.  We'll see how good I can be at that.