Our weekend in FresYES

We had a good time in Fresno with my parents, timing the trip to coincide with my mom's 60th birthday.  We saw a chick flick with her and she puggy-sat while we went to the FSU game the next day.
It was our first tailgate together, Los joining a long-standing tradition in my fam.  Dad made famous tri-tip and there was lots of other good stuff.  Thousands of people tailgate and the band of the week was ( the terrible, one-hit wonder) Smashmouth.
The guys were downing a huge bottle of tequila, I stayed away from that!
At some point my dad had to literally grab the bottle away from my husband, which I captured on film to shame him later (j/k)
It was great to catch up with cousins Jon-Michael and Jo Ann!
Of course the game was fun too, though it got super cold (strange for fall in CA)
We all ended up bundled up


The next day we went to church as a fam and hung out at my dad's with lots of family, as though it was a holiday.  Monday morning we made a pitstop at Jamba Juice and Whole Foods and then hit the road for Arizona.  We'll miss my familia, since we are likely staying in TX (first time away from fam for a holiday) this winter.

Back back to Cali Cali

So my anal need to be chronologically accurate fights with my laziness in blogging amidst all kinds of life change. We are NOW IN TX! I feel crazy about it (highs/lows/disbelief/sadness/hope, crazy) But I'll write about that soon. First, I'd like to highlight some of the fun parts of our week and a half journey that spanned about 3,500 miles.





Our first stop in the homestate was with the beloved Flory's.  They took us wine tasting in the relaxed, beautiful Russian River Valley.  I had zero concept of how huge the wine regions in CA are, and I was really glad we went to some peaceful places like Lynmar, as opposed to the more pretentious and commercial places I've been in Napa in year's past. Leave it to the Flory's to always find the best places:) They also took us to a great restaurant and Burly loved playing with Peet, though you might not believe that from these 3 pictures.



We admire and respect the Flory's for multiple reasons, and always enjoy conversation with them as they are responsible stewards of the lives and gifts God has given them. Plus they are fun, smart, interesting, we hadn't been at their house 5 minutes when we started talking about politics and religion. Gotta love people who cut the crap and wrestle with the hard stuff! Joel wants Los to run for President of the US. What do ya'll think?

They also told us about this great, private first-growth Redwood tree grove that we visited near the ocean.
It was near sunset and majestic, all of those trees hundreds of years old.
I made my husband be a giant tree-hugger, his wingspan is 6'1" and it would've taken 5 of him to go around this tree.
Los trying to toss Burly to the top of the trees...
We heart California, and miss it like crazy. Coming up next, time with my fam.

Our Cross Country Trip Begins!

Saying goodbye to Los' parents- we'll miss you!
Seize the Day!  At the Grand Canyon today we saw the CA license plate with the same thing!
It had to rain on us in WA one last time for good measure:)
We'll miss the verdant Northwest
This almost naked (diaper only) girl in Portland cracked us up... 

The Pearl District in PDX is so cool!

We had a fab dinner (such good wine) at Piazza Italia, we highly recommend it!

Los was stoked to go to the Garden for the Blazers game, it was super exciting, I admit!
Wouldn't life be better if we all had people like this to stretch us out every day?!

We stayed at the Bishop's lovely home on a canal to Lake Oswego, very cool! 
Burly Evans v. Bear Bishop with the supervision of Tony Bishop
Los subbing in for Ian (who was in Alaska on business) with cutie Julian
We love you guys!  Grateful for you!
Sorry Puggy, back in the crate you go, for 9 days of good old-fashioned road-trippin...

The Space I'll Miss Most- our garden

I feel great that our buyer loves the garden and will steward it well, but I will certainly miss it. Here are a couple of pics from our last days in the garden, marveling at what we've created in the past 3 years.

Can you imagine that we moved in NOTHING was in this backyard! Not even grass:) Just dirt and a lot of hope.


I grew at least 30 pumpkins and have been giving many away (I'm taking 2 all the way to TX!)

Los' parents got 16 for their porch:)

Going Away Party

We took one last ferry on a gorgeous morning.

At our going away party we got to be with our wedding party all together (except for those of you out of state that we saw elsewhere this summer!) That was a special night as we marveled how amazing/sweet/fast the past 3 years have been.




We'll miss such good friends.

Last Seattle Photos

Our last weeks in Seattle we got a lot of good time with loved ones, I'll attempt posting some of those photos from the road and as we arrive in our new home.
Here Burly and Sophie the Beagle are taking one last nap together:)

Sophie's family has been like a family to me the past decade and we are so grateful for their presence in our lives.

We'll miss the Burke-Gilman trail and water all over WA!

Even more so, we'll really miss watching our friends' kids grow up. Riese will be so much bigger the next time we see his sweet face.

Puggy would like one of these for his own:) Some day, Lord-willing.

Road Trippin'- Portland-style

I have yet to upload all our pics, but we're having an amazing time thus far on our trip. We love Portland, OR! Such a cool downtown area, and urban yuppie, good restaurants, shops, active people and dogs everywhere... Awesome. We had a great dinner at Piazza Italia (where we went for Annie/Ian's wedding rehearsal). Then we went to the best NBA game we've ever seen, TrailBlazers/Kings. We have a crush on Rudy Fernandez, the new Spaniard, he's unbelievable.

We stayed the night at the Bishop's house and got to read lots of books to two year old Julian who couldn't be cuter. Yesterday we drove down to the Bay Area (good to be back in the home state!) and are going to Wine Country today with the Flory's; stay tuned for pics. And Annie, thanks for the road trip cd's, love them!

Greater Things are Still to Come!

Well, our time in the Northwest has come to a close, we are about to pack up our car and head south, beginning our 10 day road trip to our new home in TX. We went out with a bang, attending the World Tour of Passion in Vancouver last night.

I came up with JJ and Lisa Sunday. It was special to hear how their transition to life in Canada has been. Change is always hard (I know, I am facing it imminently) but it can be life-giving and fruitful and surprising in its goodness. I stayed at their charming apartments and borrowed their car (thanks guys!) for yesterday. When I got downtown to GM Place I met lots of other volunteers, who'd flown up from California, Nashville, Texas, Minnesota and elsewhere to give back to a group that has given so much to them. It was cool to hear other people's stories that aren't too dissimilar from my own. God impacted us hugely through Passion in some way, so here we are to bless the next generation of students...

The two gals I got to know best were both divorced moms. I got to pray over them that greater things are still to come in the unfolding of God's grace in their lives, even if their stories have looked quite different than they would've imagined. There can not be a resurrection without a cross. The cross is painful, but it leads to hope and true life.
I also prayed over these unassuming students, who would fill this empty arena, that God might impact them in a powerful way, as he has us over the past decade.

It was special to see the line of students forming 3 hours prior to doors opening! An arena security guard was baffled by this, "uh, they know they can't get in yet, right?" Yep, yep they do. It was so great to have a concentrated time of prayer for Vancouver and the northwest with people from all over the place.

Staff prayer time, I love the hearts of all the people in this room who have blessed me the past decade. It was fun to serve them the last night of my decade in the northwest.

The view from our volunteer lounge, pretty special. I will carry this night with me for a long time.

Woah...

So I have a little good story. Last night I attended a princess... Of course I didn't know it at first. She was in my "special guest" section at the Passion World Tour in Vancouver. I asked her how she knew Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin, and she said she'd flown to Manilla, Philippines for another tour stop with her mom, and that Louie had wanted to meet her mom. Great, I said, why did he want to meet your mom? Oh, she's very special... Cool, what does she do? Oh, she stays at home. Hmm, not getting anywhere, I changed the subject.
Later I found out that her dad is the richest man in the world and where she grew up is the largest home in the world. Intense. And really awesome to know that all the earthly riches in the world (literally) do NOT COMPARE to the riches of Christ. Amen. The princess and her delightful posse of 10 were all about worshipping the God of grace- and the anthem of Tomlin continues to ring through my ears, as the only thing capable of bringing ultimate satisfaction, "Your grace is enough for me."

Wedding Vows

Last night we went to a very sweet wedding of Kendall and Andy. We planned our move to TX around this event, and they have been dating 6.5 years (the same amount of time I've known Los), so we have been anticipating this union for a long time. I love Kendall; she adds the spark of life and joy wherever she goes, a unique trait. She is a graphic designer, and the best taste ever, so everything was done stylishly.

But as we drove home, it was the vows that I was thinking a lot about. There is something so beautiful about traditional wedding vows.
"I _____, take you ______, to be my wedded wife/husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness."

We have no idea what we're promising when we say them, usually. The proverbial rubber has yet to meet the road. But when it does, those vows have power to shape how we respond to our spouses. I was thinking about this because the pastor who married them said something like, "Do you accept this person, with all that they are and all that they bring to you?" Of course the proper response is yes; but the cynic in me was sitting there thinking how often is that not true! Most people I know (myself included) wish their spouse was a little more this way, or did a little less of that, or would be perfect "if only..." and what we want to shape them into, is more of our own likeness. This thought was humbling, because the vows say I will embrace our differences, celebrate and encourage them... fostering growth for our partner's best, whatever that might look like; and HOWEVER different that may look than bending to my agenda or my desires. Can any of you relate, or is this just me?

So I was grateful for the call to remember my vows last night, and that is my prayer for you who are married as well. To stand in solidarity with Kendall and Andy as they continue the journey they've been on a long time, yet enter a new commitment to one another was really special. As we journey along our own paths, I hope we all might have that kind of community to walk with, so that our intention to uphold our vows can be supported and lived out, even and especially when the rubber meets the road.

Israel and Palestine

My friend Kate has had some posts about Palestine (last winter, and this week) that were illuminating about Christians and oppression in Palestine. This week she shared how Christians even boycott sponsoring World Vision children in Palestine, click here to read that sad story. Then another friend, Heidi, posted this on her Facebook status update: Heidi is saddened that the unwavering support of Israel is considered more “patriotic” than the primacy of basic human rights. Check out this link she offered, called If Americans Knew. Eye-opening to say the least.

Don't pack the dental floss!

Well, after 6 hours today, all our stuff is packed! I thought I was a complete minimalist, but it turns out we had more than we thought in this 1700 square feet of ours... We have less than most people, but will still purge some more when we see our belongings in a month... Who knew I could collect like 50 soaps (we don't even use bar soap!) from hotels everywhere in the world. I'll find a shelter in Texas, or somewhere that people need to take baths. Lots and lots of baths. It's amazing how sneaky little bath products can be as we tuck them under the counter, out of sight. They multiply faster than rabbits!

I realized what we prize, as things were put away. For example, I LOVE dental floss, and had a minor crisis when I realized it might be taken away from me. "STOP!" I cried, to the mullet-adorned packer, who promptly froze in his tracks. Phew, crisis averted... But for the most part, I'm pretty okay with living out of a suitcase/Prius for a month.

So what are the things you can't live without? I'm expecting some creative answers...

Git Er Done… (our last week in WA!)

Well, it is finally down to the wire! T minus 6 days until the epic drive across our fair country begins. We have been conquering the longest TO-DO list in the history of my life (save for the pre-wedding TO-DO list, but that was full of inconsequential things like: borrow flower vase for gladiolas).

Can I just say AMEN for awesome customer service at Patagonia, REI, Super Jock n’ Jill, Williams-Sonoma and Nordstrom. We have made about $700 returning things we didn’t want/like/use without a hitch! Love that. We even MADE money returning 12 mugs we never use to Williams-Sonoma, and this is WITHOUT a receipt. They’ve gone up in price since our wedding 3 years ago, to $21/mug, pricy! So that’s awesome that we were able to continue paring down. We also sold the kitchen table and 6 chairs we got for free for $175, which is fun. On top of that, I brought back Saucony running shoes that are hurting my left arch (but have been used for a year!) and they exchanged them out for brand new shoes at no cost. YES!

So we are feeling good about what we have remaining. I’ve blogged before about Rob Bell’s challenge to his church during the God is Green sermon series. He said, “If you were to move tomorrow, what would you sell, donate, give away, recycle, throw away. Well why not do that today?” That mantra has been something we’ve tried to live by the past year and a half, simplify, simplify!!!

And so our day has actually come, we ARE moving tomorrow, and we no longer have piles of stuff we don’t want or need. Movers come tomorrow morning at 8:15, giddy up! We’ll be living out of suitcases for the next month, as we galavant around the country, taking our time to enjoy different people and places en route to our new home.

Though our TO-DO list is long enough to make any sane person dizzy, we have also been taking time to enjoy our last week in WA. We’ve been getting quality time with everyone we love, and are looking forward to having dinner at Canlis (Seattle’s best restaurant) with Erik and Monica on Friday night, after seeing Erika and Jodi for a last time. I also get to see JJ and Lisa, since I’m going up to the Couv on Sunday night, which will be fun.

We used our last free movie tickets (thank you Boeing!) and saw EagleEye, which was a fun action flick with Shia LeBeouf (I love saying his name) and Michelle Monaghan (I may have a girl crush on her). Yesterday we took our last ferry ride, on a beautiful morning. Then we had lunch in downtown Seattle with Erik at Palomino and shopped for grooming necessities at Aveda/Nordstrom, and visited the newest H+M. We went to Green Lake one last time, for our and Burly’s sakes. He goes crazy at that place, with all the other dogs/stimulation. Last night we had dinner at the fabulous local/organic Tilth restaurant, that I think every Seattleite should try, it is so amazing.

On Kiesha’s recommendation to “EAT AS MUCH FISH AS POSSIBLE BEFORE LEAVING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST!!!!” I had a pistachio-encrusted Cod for lunch that was fantastic. Then at dinner with Jonathan and Lynnea (love them, will miss them, we’re trying to talk them into coming to S. Africa with us for World Cup 2010), we had all kinds of awesomeness. The world’s best Halibut, pork belly, chicken, faro, quinoa, a cheese plate straight from heaven, and heirloom melon with mint, feta and anise hyssop, unbelievable. So creative, who thinks of that kind of stuff! Three hours and two bottles of Northwest wine later, we were quite happy campers.

I’ll miss that place, and everywhere that we have fabulous memories in Seattle, which will remain in my heart as one of the most awesome cities in our country, even if we never live close by it again. So if you’re wondering where I am this next week, it’s either checking off our gargantuan TO-DO list or being sentimental about this place I love so much and am sad to leave.

Autumn Equals... Pumpkins and Soup. Why not both together?

That's what I'm talkin about!!! What does fall equal to you?

Recipe: Curry Pumpkin Soup

Makes 8 servings

Orange-Cranberry Topper

½ cup dried cranberries

1 tablespoon finely shredded orange peel

2 tablespoons snipped fresh Italian parsley

Soup

2 tablespoons butter

2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)

1 medium carrot, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice

2 cans (15 ounces) each pumpkin

2 cans (14 ounces) each reduced-sodium chicken broth

2/3 cup water

1 cup half-and-half or light cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. In small bowl combine 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1 tablespoon finely shredded orange peel and 2 tablespoons snipped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley. Set aside.

2. In 4-quart Dutch oven melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrot and celery. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add curry powder and pumpkin-pie spice. Cook and stir 1 minute. Add pumpkin, broth and water. Increase heat to medium-high; bring to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

3. In food processor or blender, add one-third of the pumpkin mixture at a time, cover, and process or blend until smooth. Return mixture to the Dutch oven after each batch is processed.

4. Stir half-and-half, salt and pepper into pumpkin mixture; heat through. Sprinkle each serving with Orange-Cranberry Topper.

From Better Homes and Gardens, October 2008