Christmas Traditions

M and I had a great Christmas here in Portland. We enjoyed a few old traditions and made a few new ones. One really awesome thing that has come out of living 3,000 miles away from our family (and subsequently, our families' traditions) is that we had the opportunity to really look at our lil' twosome and decide which traditions we wanted to begin for ourselves and the children to come.

We started our Christmas before Christmas by celebrating the advent. We began this tradition last year. Here is our advent "wreath."

Several years ago our church here in Portland, Imago Dei, began a movement called Advent Conspiracy. Our Pastor Rick McKinley wrote a book on the subject. I would recommend that you all check it out - it's pretty amazing. This year, we tried to make all gifts that we gave fit into the model of being relational. I'll write another post that describes what we gave and how we went about it.

Christmas eve was filled with tradition. M decided that Christmas eve needed to begin with breakfast at 5am. So, we went to IHOP, ate breakfast, and just talked for hours. Granted, we talk everyday, but this was really amazing. We also made calls to M's family to participate in their tradition of "Christmas Eve gift." I spent the day making ginger cookies and finishing up some Christmas projects for my family. That evening, we read from Luke, prayed, and sang 12 days of Christmas...along with a ton of other Christmas carols. We then enjoyed coffee and cookies, as we opened our Christmas Eve gift from Uncle Lloyd and Aunt Sue.

Christmas morning we woke up, and proceeded to our pile of gifts. We then decided to open one gift, make our Christmas breakfast, and call the families. Christmas brunch has been a tradition for the past 4 years that we have been married. In Athens, we shared this time with our friends, Heather and Randy - we missed them a lot this year.

After Christmas breakfast we finished opening our pile of presents - we are continually humbled by the generosity of our families. We've tried to get them on board with Advent Conspiracy...we've succeeded with my sister and her family....but my momma's love language is gift-giving. For her, this is a relational act - and conservative compared to some past Christmases.

After breakfast we watched a few Christmas movies and enjoyed each others' company. We made a wonderful, vegetarian dinner (consisting of a lot of side dishes), watched more movies, had a wonderful time of prayer, and went to bed.

Merry Christmas {2009}

Dear Family & Friends,

A very merry Christmas to each and every one of you! As usual, we have gone back and forth for the last 11 months about whether or not to send out cards - until December 25th is upon us and it is too late. Thus, the e-letter.

M and I have had an awesome and eventful year, full of highs and lows. Thank God; He is constant. For those of you who don't know, we found out we were pregnant with our first child in late January. Our little one really served as a wake-up call spiritually - to not live "safely," but to live recklessly in Him. We listened to God's call and began planning to leave all we knew to be out West in Portland, OR.

We miscarried our little one in March, but stayed the course and continued to plan for what God had. M graduated in May and we soon left on our first real adventure. No jobs to speak of, no promise of a job soon coming. M began studying for the BAR and I began to look for a teaching job. Within a week of M taking the BAR, I was offered a job with the Portland Public School District, teaching at 2 different schools. It has been the most challenging job I have had yet - but rewarding and surely, a blessing.

The day after M took the BAR, we found out we were pregnant with a second child. God is so good. Early on in the 2nd pregnancy, we knew that we had been originally pregnant with twins, but one did not survive. Soon after, the second baby would follow. Again, shaken - but looking towards Him. God continues to teach us through these losses.

God placed us in a wonderful church family and community (Imago Dei) that has challenged us in many ways and continually reminds us of what it is to be Christlike. M continues to use his wonderful gifting to play bass for the worship team (and is loving it).

M and I are excited to be where we are. God is teaching us loads and bringing us closer to Him - something that I'm not sure would have happened had we chosen to be comfortable instead of faithful.

Grace and Peace be with you - We love you all very much,

L & M

For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. ~John 3:16

Past few weeks

So since the bar was over, we really fell down on updating this (not to mention uploading photos takes forever from our internet).

So a few weeks back we went and hiked at in the Columbia River Gorge. First stop was Beacon Rock - a monstrous rock that just juts out of the ground:

The hike up was over paths with railing - made for safe climbing up the ~800 foot cliff, which was good considering the number of families and small children running up and down the rock.

The top gave some pretty breathtaking views of the gorge - the kind that no picture will ever really do justice of (especially when there is a spec of dust on the lens - which you can see pretty clearly):

After going up and down Beacon Rock (which is in Washington State) we crossed the Columbia River at the "Bridge of the Gods" - a bridge built close to the site where there was a former land bridge that the two tribes on either side of the river met to trade goods. The land bridge was only temporary (they think it was caused by landslides off of nearby peaks), but the 'new' Bridge of the Gods is one of the few places you can cross the Columbia. We crossed there and then made our way to a trailhead to view a few of the nearly countless number of waterfalls in the gorge. The first was "Ponytail Falls" and the trail took us behind this waterspout-esque falls:

It was really quite beautiful, and the hike continued up the mountain till it crossed over the top of Horsetail Falls on a footbridge (no picture because Carter [who is an excellent hiking dog normally] hates footbridges over water). We had planned on following the trail up to Triple Falls, but a flood or mudslide had knocked out the footbridge that led farther up and due to the snowmelt the river was impassable at that point. Instead we followed it back down to the road and then walked back to our car, past the Oneonta Gorge and Oneonta Falls.

The Gorge is actually a tiny slot canyon with moss and small brush covering the walls of the slot canyon:

From the slot canyon, they cut a nice little path through the massive walls of rock that are everywhere in the gorge.

And then we were almost back to the car, but not before a stop at Oneonta Falls.

And the picture of us in front of the falls (with a genuinely disinterested Carter dog) - the one problem with hiking with one another is that we never have anyone to take pictures of us.

Since then, L has been working and is getting in the groove at school and I am at home going stir crazy almost every day. It got to the point that I was so bored I started running...but then running got boring. So this past week I tried to stifle my stir-crazy self by going hiking. First was a trip to the coast with a friend of mine from BarBri (the Bar review course), hiking along the cliffs overlooking the water:

The trail then wound back down onto the beach - it was a beautiful beach and there were probably 30-40 surfers arriving as we left (just getting off of work and heading down to the beach - they arrived in various states of professionalism, from cargo shorts and t-shirts to tie, slacks, and dress shoes).

Later on in the week, I hiked with a friend of mine from law school (who is out here in the LLM program at Lewis and Clarke University) on a trail near Mt. Hood that led past a glacial stream (that, during the spring, is actually a glacial river). You can really see the damage that the river does to the landscape during the runoff - its pretty incredible and the pictures don't quite capture the magnitude of the scar that is left:

And here is Mt. Hood - its one of those things that you forget you are anywhere near, then you turn a corner and think "Oh yeah, there is an 11,000 foot glaciated peak right next door" - it really sneaks up on you.

The trail followed along this stream for the majority of the time, past cliffs 2-3x as tall as the trees and through two or three different types of habitat.

The hike was really nice - the stream provided 'air conditioning' throughout the majority of it, but the culmination of it was Ramona Falls. It is wide, tall, and provides a beautiful lunch spot (but bring a jacket - the water spray off of the fall makes it pretty cool around there). To give you an idea of the size, that is my friend Karen in the bottom left hand corner of the photo.

So that has been the past few weeks. We found out on Friday (around the same time I was eating peanuts at Ramona Falls) that I passed the Bar exam, and the job search will really kick up a notch now. I have a few informational interviews lined up and will hopefully start getting my name out there.

More Surf

L tasked me with posting the pics from the rest of our trip to the coast. Here is a panorama of the beach we were surfing on (called Agate Beach). If you look closely you can see a bird that was flying from the right side of the panorama to the left side - as a result he appears 3 times in the series of pictures that make up the panorama.

And here is L getting pumped for the surfing:

So a little explanation of things in Oregon. I have been backpacking many times, so my definition of "camping" is a small backpacking tent in the middle of a trail in the foothills. In Oregon, since it isn't so oppressively hot all summer, camping is a common summertime activity, but not camping like I thought of camping. Oh no, they are going CAMPING. Huge RVs, Dish Network, Hot Showers and bathrooms nearby, and the guy next to us had a propane flamethrower to start his fire - wet wood isn't going to get that man down. Needless to say, we rolled into our campground at South Beach state park and set up our little tent and were immediately overshadowed by all the folks who were there in full "camp" gear - everyone has a camper/trailer/pop-up/tow-behind of some sort. And we had a tiny little backpacking tent. If I were that kind of person, I would have felt a bit of an assault on my manliness, especially after being unable to start a fire with the wood we had (L always wants a fire, we never take our own wood, campgrounds have no kindling/starter so there is no way we are going to have a fire, BUT she still insists and I still attempt). But I'm not that kind of person, so I just failed at making a fire. After seeing the other folks' calm in the middle of the storm (literally, it rained one day) while tucked neatly in their RVs or campers - we want one.

Moving on from our campground and surfing, we awoke every morning to the barking of thousands of sea lions and took it upon ourselves one day to go find out where they were. Here is a jetty in Newport (the closest city to where we camped & where we surfed) - if you look close, you can see the sea lions dotting it. There were a lot of them, and the sign said they weigh about 800-1000 pounds each. And yes, they are quite loud.

Here is a close-up of a couple of the sea lions, they really are a lot like dogs - these two are barking at each other because the one on the bottom started moving and woke up the one on top of the frame.

They are kinda cute though. Freaking enormous, but kinda cute.

This sea lion has some kind of net/line tied around his neck cutting into it. It isn't fatal or anything (the sea lion has been living with it for 2 years), but they can't remove it because he is to skiddish and they don't want to shoot him with a tranquilizer, because he might drown underwater from the tranq before they can get him up to remove it. It looks bad, but the sea lion was just as loud as the others and seemed to be fine.

Newport is a working fishery, though, and the sea lions are there just hanging out for excess fish (I assume). Here is one of the fish boats we had access enough to take pictures of:

We stopped in this little cafe one of the rainy days and had some coffee and played cards. Had a conversation with a guy from Australia who was taking 2 months of holiday in America to try and see the country. Started in San Francisco and was going to end up in New York City.

A final shot from Newport, the bridge that spans the mouth of the harbor - it was quite pretty.

A litte tardy

By now you know that M has taken and completed the Bar (the results will be available on Sept. 11, 2009). Thank you to everyone who prayed during the bar - God is good.


We celebrated our 4th anniversary on August 13th by heading to the Oregon Coast for camping and surf lessons. Leave it to us, to celebrate four years of wonderful life by risking our necks on thin pieces of foam in the freezing and ruthless waves of the Pacific. We were joined in our lessons by 11 YMCA camp youths, 4 other adults, and our instructor Ollie Richardson and his helper "Devon."

They don't waste time at surf camp...the first thing you do is get into your horribly tight wetsuit. I'm just saying...it leaves nothing to the imagination. I could now understood why Ollie and Devon looked like they spent several hours in the gym....they wanted to look good in their wetsuits. We grabbed our boards (which our heavier than expected) and trekked down to the beach. I know understood why Ollie and Devon looked like they spent several hours in the gym....they carried these boards around a lot. We then spent some time on the beach (like 5 minutes) practicing "paddling out" and then hopping up to our knees, then feet. We were then left to ourselves and the roaring 80 ft. swells of death (okay, they were 3 ft. swells). I immediately knew why Ollie and Devon looked like they spent several hours in the gym....they had man handled their boards with waves crashing towards them for a while know.

M paddled out farther than I did, but I got up to my feet first. M also did, briefly. At the end of our lesson he stated that I had better balance - but he is much stronger and bolder (which counts for a ton). We felt sore almost right away and were pretty useless for the rest of our 3 day camp. I immediately knew why Ollie and Devon looked like they spent several hours in the gym....they did this on a regular basis. We had fun and both got pretty comfortable on the boards - but, we're no pros. We need a little more time for that.

The highlight, of course, was M's encounter with a wild seal. He was pretty psyched. I, on the other hand, know that seals are a sure indication of sharks....right?

The beach was beautiful and certainly different from the coasts that we are used to. No sundresses and bikinis here, folks. We were donning jeans, jackets, sweatshirts, etc. But the wildlife was amazing we were able to see seals and sea lions (which are ginormous).

Okay....here are pics. We love you all. Hope you enjoy seeing us in our waterproof leotards.

Ollie, our instructor, laughing at us.

L - Paddling.

L - trying to get to feet.

L - having eaten it...and laughing.

M - Super awesome wave - L is watching.

No Guts, No Glory.
M's somewhere under water - his surf board is in the air.

Adult Group Shot. Last Day.

How to Pray

Thanks again to all of you who have agreed to pray with me for M has he takes the BAR over the next few days.

Here are some things you can lift up each day.

July 27 -
That he would be motivated to review and calm. That he will have a restful day and sleep well tonight. Prayer against distraction, apathy, and migraines.

July 28 -
Pray for clarity, wisdom, and RECALL! Pray that he will wake up feeling great, arrive at the testing center on time and safely, and that his computer will function properly during the exam. Pray that he has a restful and encouraging lunch break and that he will be just as ready for his second testing session in the afternoon. Pray against distraction and women wearing strong perfumes near him (as it will most certainly trigger a migraine). ;) Again pray for a peaceful night's rest.

July 19 -
Pray for energy, confidence, clarity, wisdom, and RECALL. Same issues as previous day - but that he will give his best efforts, even when his brain feels as though it's shutting down. Pray for a safe travel back to the apartment and a joyful celebration and feeling of accomplishment upon the completion of these 2 days (+ 3 years and 2 months).

Well, today I realized that we had not posted any pictures of our new city, so I thought we should get some when we went on our daily walk. Grabbed L., the pup, and the camera and off we went. So first, a shot of the city taken from just outside our door:

Next, a shot of Mt. Hood - looking to the left of the Photo above - It wasn't a super-clear day and this isn't the best vantage point, but you can see the mountain:

From here on out are some pictures of the park. About 2 streets down there is the little baseball field/horseshoe pit section. And then you head across a much larger street to get to the main portion of the park.

The baseball fields and horseshoe pit (as you can tell, Carter enjoys roaming around):

The park is nice and large, but the most impressive thing is how tall the trees are - I didn't get a great picture showing just how awesome they are, but here are some samples:

And, for my mother, here are some pictures of the flowers we pass along the way - roses grow like wildflowers around here and the hydrangeas are a nice reminder of home: