Remember the Sabbath Day and Keep it Holy

Earlier this year, Don and I took on the responsibility of teaching Confirmation to a wonderful class of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at our church, Faith Lutheran, in Bellingham. We're both passionate about Confirmation and loving this opportunity to share with the youth of our church about our Lutheran faith and theology. For the last several weeks, we have been talking about the 10 commandments. My favorite class so far has been the class on Remembering the Sabbath Day and keeping it Holy. Mostly because it touched an exciting place of inspiration for Don and I.

Of all the commandments, this is the one commandment that is truly and purely for our benefit. God saw fit to build in for us, a day of rest and rememberance. So for the past few weeks, Don and I have actively been trying to build into our lives observance of the Sabbath. It's not initially an easy thing to do. We both lead fairly busy lives and with Don being self employed and me working from home, our work constantly threatens to invade our personal lives. So often our Sundays are filled with chores, errands, and anxiety and stress about the work week ahead. We've been slowly trying to transition away from this, focusing on getting our weekend obligations out of the way on Saturday, and truly treating Sunday as a day of rest and communion with God and each other.

Today was the first real successful Sabbath we've had I think. We started with a great Confirmation class, followed by church, our annual congregational meeting and brunch, on to an afternoon nap, then an outing to the pier with the dogs in the gorgeous cool crisp sunshiny air, a light trip to the mall for some exchanges including a new game for Don at Gamestop, then Happy Hour at Dos Padres, and now back home for evening entertainment of PS3, movie watching, homemade Chinese Food, and some fresh baked cookies later. The best part is that it was all on our own schedule, with no where to rush off to, with love and gratefulness in our hearts, with deep thanksgiving of all that God has blessed us with, and with no massive piles of laundry, dirty dishes, bookkeeping or a miriad of other obligations hanging over us.

It all reminds me of a saying Don used to quote from his Grandfather: "If you have to work, work five days. If you can't do it in five, work six days. But if you can't do it in six days, you're not going to be able to do it in seven, so you might as well take a break." There really is something to this Sabbath, Day of Rest thing and Don and I are so excited about building this into our lives. How many marriages, families, and individuals would be better off by practicing this simple day of rest and worship once a week. If I have any new years resolutions in 2011, it will be to observe the 3rd commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy.

127 Hours

I had a great evening out with friends which I have met through some meetup groups tonight. We met for a glass of wine and some lite bites and then went and saw an amazing movie called "127 Hours." The movie chornicles the real life experience of a guy who was out hiking by himself and got his arm pinned underneath a boulder and was stuck for five days before he ended up having to cut off his own arm to free himself. The actual scene was not as bad as I thought it was going to be in terms of gore, but it was pretty intense. More so, I found myself very much rooting for him. But it definitely is one of those movies that makes you think. An experience of being so close to death, and realizing all of the things that you take for granted and all of the things that you yet want to do but haven't done. It has me thinking and wondering, in the same situation, would I have been able to do the same thing? Or would I have given in to death (the permanent solution) for fear of pain (a temporary fleeting moment)? So the movie has me thinking about how we are capable of so much more than we really think we are, and how a little courage goes a long way.

And on that note, tonight's workout was 300 squats. It was tough but I'm glad I didn't give up on myself or I would have thought myself quite foolish that the burn of 300 squats tumbled me when I just watched a man have to cut off his own arm.

Worst Road Trip Ever

I can safely say that yesterday was the worst road trip we've ever had. Even before it started it was already going downhill. Don was sick the night before so not only did he go to bed early and leave me with the majority of the chores, packing, and car rearranging, but then he ended up being up most of the night with alternating chills and sweats, upset stomach, you name it, so we were already starting off a 10 hour road trip with almost no sleep for either of us. I couldn't get everything done by myself so the following morning we were still rearranging the car, getting dishes done, etc and left more than an hour after I would have liked to which only concerned me because snow was in the forecast and we wanted to maximize daylight hours.

But things mostly progressed well enough until we hit La Grande, OR and all of a sudden hit a road block out of nowhere that said road closed, use alternate routes. So we barely veered off the freeway in time and when faced with one sign that said West and another that said south, we opted for south. I quickly hopped on the internet and began investigating the closures and alternate routes. Oregon DOT website was completely useless as was their phone recording. The internet said that I84 was closed for a 70 mile stretch! But reports from the local Fedex driver led us to believe this was not the case. We found a route that took us through a little town called Union and led back to I84 about 15 miles south of La Grande. We figured it was worth checking out as we had nothing else to do. So we moved along and got back on to find a free flowing freeway. Victory! Or so we thought.

Things were looking optimistic and we moved a long for a good 15 miles before we hit a dead stop. Weather conditions were worsening and we figured there must have been accidents related to weather. So we pulled over and put on our chains. What an adventure! I'd recently gotten my car stuck on Chris Duppenthaler's hill in the snow and ice so we attempted to use Don's chains to get my car out, however they were too small for my car. But the 30 minute trial and error process before we figured that out, at least helped us figure out how they were supposed to work if they did fit my car. Thankful for this base knowledge, we at least started with some understanding and were out in the snow digging around the tires and using all our strength to get them on. The suckers are a tight fit so it took quite a bit of maneuvering to figure out how to get them all spaced perfectly enough to close the loop. Once the traffic started moving along we were able to tread forward confidently that these chains certainly weren't going to come off.

Sadly, the moving along was not to come for quite some time -- about 3 hours to be specific at a dead stop. Finally we started inching along at three miles an hour, stopped a few more times, and then eventually caught up to officials pulling all the trucks over and requiring them to put on chains, and another mile ahead of that an accident with a 3 Semi Truck pileup. After that the traffic opened up, but still we were only able to go 30 miles an hour with the snow and chains. Eventually the road and weather conditions thinned out enough for us to take the chains off and we gradually increased our speed as our elevation declined and the conditions improved.

I managed to keep a positive attitude during the majority of the traffic jam. It was a helpless condition and nothing we could do about it but wait it out. We were lucky that we had gassed up and used the restroom right before hand so were quite aware that it could have been worse. Poor Don though already not feeling well and with a headache too boot. It just plain sucked. Cordy and Seumas needless to say HATED the whole arrangement. Seumas kept letting out this totally frustrated and stressed out groan/moan/cry from the back seat, followed by heavy sighing. All Don and I could do was laugh and shake our heads because he was just verbalizing what every single one of us felt like in the car. The traffic jam was one thing, but the worst part of it was knowing that we were so close to our destination and yet once we got going it would still be several hours until we were there. So basically, we drove 8 hours to begin with only to have the last 100 miles take nearly 6 hours in and of itself. We are so glad to be here now and glad that we have a long week before we have to head back again. Bring on the Christmas Vacation.

Seumas has a new best friend

Amber's First Video

Take One


Take Two


Take Three




Apparently the process of capturing a picture frame while also conducting an interview is quite complex for a 5 year old. Not bad for Amber's first video.

Snow Videos

Weekend Road Trip

Don and I have a great three day weekend ahead of us. We're headed down to Portland today for a brief family reunion. Reunion is a bit formal of a term for the gathering. Basically we have extended relatives visiting from Sweden and anyone who can make it is meeting in Portland for lunch today so that Oregon and Washington family members can both make it. I'm actually not even sure how I'm related to the Swedish relatives but I'm looking forward to finding out. When I was a kid I used to pen-pall with some of our distant cousins. Sure will be neat if they are there and I get to meet them for the first time in person.

The timing couldn't have been better for a trip to Portland as it serendipitously happened to coincide with the arrival of Jeremy and Katy, our good friends from L.A. who we miss terribly. They have hopes on moving to Portland over the next year and are coming to check it out first hand. So we've booked rooms in the same hotel and will be hanging with them tonight and tomorrow morning, doing a few get to know Portland type things. We can't wait to catch up. We're being adventurous and staying in a 2 star hotel to save money. You certainly can't call us snobs!

Tomorrow night then it's out to Fort Worden in Port Townsend for a great annual event, Ben Dobyn's Murder Mystery Party. It's become a legendary annual event, for which this will be the first time Don and I have gotten to participate now that we are back in the northwest. We've seen the fantastic photos in the past, and we can't wait to finally experience it first hand. We are playing a wealthy Egyptian art collecting married couple. I get to wear a head covering which in this case is a pretty green scarf borrowed from Jessica. Thanks Jess!

The dogs are going on their own adventure this weekend too. We're driving them down to Portland and then handing them off to my sister who lives in Seattle but is headed to Eugene after the reunion. So they get to spend the weekend in Eugene with the whole family and then she'll bring them back up where we can pick them up on Sunday in Seattle and head back up to Bellingham. They're asleep in the back of the car right now as we are heading south on the I5 corridor. They don't know what's about to hit them. Kristy said she would watch them as long as Seumas doesn't cry the whole way. I sure hope he holds up his end of the bargain!

Lots 'n lots o' fun ahead! It's shaping up to be quite the exciting weekend.

Getting Back to My Roots

Here's a quick snapshot of the hairdo. Chopped the length, adopted a new style, and went from blonde to brunette. I love everything about it, not the least of which is the fact that it now takes me 1/3 the time to dry my hair as it did before. Time for a wardrobe color palette shift.

Oysters & Poker

Yesterday was Jessica's 30th Birthday and we decided to top off her celebration weekend with a BBQ and Poker Night. We have been itching to BBQ after the beautiful weekend and walk around the lake, and Jessica just happened into FIVE DOZEN OYSTERS! Talk about a winning combination. Don played Grill Master while Chris shucked and Jessica prepared delicious seasonings of melted butter, crushed garlic, freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, and habenero hot sauce. I'm not a big shelfish person so I reserved most of the delicacies for everyone else, but even I could tell this was some quality grade seafood. Again, we were so impressed by how delicious the food was that we were able to make at home, how much fun we had preparing it, and how friggin' much this would have cost if we had tried to order five dozen oysters at a restaurant. We served with Garlic Bread and a Mount Baker Vineyards Rosetta Wine. And Don went to bed smelling like a campfire. This is a good thing. Forget Old Spice and give me campfire smell any day.




One of the best things about Oysters, I have decided is the easy clean up! Aside from a few plates, these little guys come in natures own serving platters so clean up was a breeze.




And the winner is Ian! He beat my King/Jack Two Pair with a surprise Diamond Flush on the River. Way to go Chaotic Neutral!


Seumas getting into the Party Mode during the BBQ! Cordy on the other hand, little miss trouble maker, hid under some logs she had been obsessing over and didn't come out until after we had walked all over the neighborhood searching for her. Won't be letting her off the leash any time soon.

Lake Padden

Can you believe we live here? Lake Padden is only about a mile from our house. We headed out with the dogs on Sunday for some much needed sun and some much needed exercise. This is why we moved here. Be still my heart.

Bad News for the Environment

We just discovered that our washing machine got stuck on rinse and has been running for over 14 hours. Ouch! Can't wait to get our water bill. Sheesh.

DuppenBirthday

Since the television purchase (see previous post), Don and I have committed to cutting back on a few extraneous items to try to ease the budget a bit. That includes things like eating out, soda pop, alcohol, etc. Tonight we had our first real challenge, a.k.a opportunity to put ourselves to the test. It was Chris' birthday, and well within his birthday rights, last minute plans were forged and suddenly my weekly schedule which I had so meticulously planned out was thrown off. Now instead of gaming Tuesday night we were going Go Cart racing, followed by dinner and drinks. We've recently gone to a cooking rotation for gaming night and it was our turn to cook this week so we had a whole group meal planned for dinner, but this now was postponed until Thursday.

We could have given into the last minute chaos and used the "special occasion" excuse to side track our goals, but we didn't and I'm feeling quite proud. We took a quick stock of our kitchen, managed to come up with a tip top gourmet recipe of Chicken Marsala with Braised Greens (recipe to follow). It was a bit of a dine and dash getting dinner on the table and out the door by 6:00 p.m. but with a bit of teamwork in the kitchen we made it work and it was delicious! I also had the foresight to pack a couple of protein bars in my purse knowing that there would be restaurant festivities to follow in case we were hungry and tempted. Tempted we were but the protein bars helped. Instead of spending lots of money on food and alcohol at the restaurant, we simply ordered coffee (decaf) and still were able to enjoy a great evening with friends. I'm actually glad this opportunity came up as I now have a great feeling of accomplishment that we were thrown a curve ball and able to adapt to the situation without getting off track (no pun intended).

Here are a few fun pics from the Go Kart Racing. Happy Birthday Chris!

Easter Weekend 2010

We finally gave up on our TV today. The problems started off with spontaneous dimming and then shutting down of the screen. Then certain pixles burned out. And finally, some kind of static-y looking pixles were going around like little fireworks on the bottom right hand corner of the screen. We stuck it out as long as we could and finally today, when it was shutting down 4 or 5 times an episode, we gave in.

Off to Costco we went for a replacement. While we're pretty picky about how we consume and where we purchase these days, when it comes to electronic purchases, you just can't beat Costco in terms of Quality, Price, or Return Policy. Electronic products come with a 90 day return policy and two year extended warranty at no additional fee. Plus, unlike Walmart and other Corporate Mongrals, I've heard that they at least treat their employees well with reasonable wages and good benefits. (Although I haven't done the research myself, this seems to be the prevailing opinion among people I trust.)

So we arrived and browsed the selection. They had televisions ranging from a few hundred bucks on up to a couple grand. We decided pretty quickly that we wanted LCD, not Plasma, as Don declared the plasmas would burn out quicker. Then it came down to size, brand, and price. We narrowed the selection down to a 42" Sharp LCD HDTV and a 47" Phillips LCD HDTV. The quality of the picture was about the same but the difference in price was about $200. I was leaning toward the Sharp given that it was the same size as the one we were replacing which seemed plenty sufficient to me. Don was leaning towards the Phillips due to the larger size and he had stronger affinity toward the brand name. We decided to think on it while we dined on a Costco Hot Dog. I'd like to say that we chose the 42" Sharp because we were being responsible consumers and making a responsible economic choice, however, the deciding factor came down to the fact that we realized whatever we bought, we had to fit it in the Mini on the way home. So we are the proud new owners of a 42" TV.

Don just hooked up the television a few minutes ago but a few things I like about it already are better resolution and less glare than our prior model. With the LCD screen I also love that you can get a great image from several different angles in the room whereas before you had to sit directly in front of the screen to get the best picture quality. But I think my favorite thing is that we now have easy computer hookups so we can watch Hulu right from our huge beautiful television. Score!

I think we will enjoy our new toy quite a bit but we really were not wanting to drop a bunch of money on a television at the moment with our current financial arrangement. At least we got a good price at only $600. Still, we've decided to make a few sacrifices this month to help cool down our smoking wallet. For starters, no more eating out the rest of April. Period. That includes restaurants, fast food, bars and coffee stands. We've also decided to cut back on beverages such as alcohol and soda. And finally, I've decided to give up potato chips eternally. They're bad for me and have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. There's no reason to waste the money or the calories and when it comes to me and potato chips it has to be all or nothing. There just is no in between.

As we were standing in line at Costco considering the restrictions we were about to impose on our diets and budgets, it really was a phenomenal sight to look around at the huge lines of people with shopping carts overflowing with items. Every where we looked we were confronted with the pervasive image of CONSUMPTION. It was a pretty good wake up call. The image is burned in my brain and has more of an impact than the words I could try to use to describe it. But it reminded me that I'm happy about the decisions that we're making. I'm happy we eat real food, fresh food. That we know where it comes from and and in many cases these days have met the people that raised it. And more than anything, we cook and prepare it ourselves.

And there is one final thing I want to mention, because it amuses me, about our trip to Bellingham Costco. While we were waiting in line at the pump to fill up our car with Costco gas, we happened to notice that 9 out of 10 cars in line at the pump were Canadian! I guess gas must be real expensive up there. Well, gotta run. Time to play our new TV!

Eggs Over Easy with Sweet Zucchini and Carrot Saute

OK, I've been getting seriously behind in the food blogging. But there are a few choice creations I do want to get out there. This one I am quite proud of. This was a spur of the moment, what can I throw together based on what I have on hand late night dinner. Zucchini is sauteed in a bit of olive oil and garlic with a dash of nutmeg. Grated Carrots add an unusual touch of sweetness. Unlike your traditional omelet, this dish is served as a saute with eggs over easy. The creamy yolk ties all the flavors together with an extra boost of protein. Thiss makes a quick and easy breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack, whenever you are in the mood.

1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and then sliced into half mono discs
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Clove of garlic, minced
pinch of Nutmeg
2 Organic Free Range Eggs
Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper Pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add Garlic and saute 60 seconds, stirring constantly. Be careful not to burn. Add zucchini and a dash of nutmeg, tossing to incorporate. Saute a couple of minutes. Add graded carrot. Saute another one to two minutes. Scoot veggie saute to one side of the pan and add two eggs. One whites start to harden flip and cook to your desired degree of doneness. This tastes best when the eggs are still a bit yolky. Place eggs on plate and top with carrots and zucchini. Enjoy!

Risks and Rewards

All right. So I've been keeping you entertained with lots of fun new recipes to try but it's been a while since I've done a personal update on our lives kind of post. So what's going on with Don and Cindy?

I think this week a lot especially we've been learning to live with the ebbs and flows of the major life changes we took on when we moved to Bellingham. We made some major decisions that promised some pretty big rewards that required us to take a few risks and a leap of faith. We've had a few reminders this week of what those risks entailed as they pop up and loom out there in the lands of "What If" and "You Never Know." Of course most of it revolves around issues of financial security and stability. And while our faith has been tested here and there, at the end of the day I think we're still doing a good job of keeping things in perspective, living in the moment, and are really really confident that we made the right decisions for us and that we're on a path to something really wonderful. It's a very exciting stage in my life, as someone who craves control, security, and stability like any good Type A Woman, to have reached the point in my personal growth where I can identify when those factors are hindering me/us instead of aiding me/us and it's so cool to know that I'm ready and willing to step out of my comfort zone to get to where we want to go.

On that same path and along those lines of personal growth, another major shift that occurred in our household recently is that I transferred all of the financial duties and responsibilities (a.k.a Control, there's that word again) to Don. Given that his career now is going to be in financial management and that I was feeling over tasked and stressed from work and household duties, it seemed like the obvious thing to do. So now Don gets to balance the checkbook, track and categorize our spending, set budgets, decide what money goes in what account, which debts we pay off first, how much money we set aside for retirement, etc. I thought I would have a hard time letting go of it and not being fully aware of where of everything that's going on in our bank account. Boy was I stupid! It's the most liberating wonderful thing that has happened for me in a long time! I know and trust that he is doing a good job with it and I worry and think less about money than I ever have before. And it's also lightened my load to the point where I have more energy to put into meal planning and grocery shopping which I am much more interested in but had started to feel like a drain just from being stretched too thin. This whole shift has brought a lot more balance I think to our life together and relationship. We even managed to get through our first financial talk together as a couple the other night since our roles have been reversed. It started off a little rocky as we were anticipating what each other was going to be thinking and feeling off the bat but we got through that and ended up having an excellent conversation finding out that we're both actually feeling really similar about where we are and where we want to be.

Home Sweet BellingHome

It's official. We're all moved in. Unpacked. Everything has a place. With Don gone at Gottacon all weekend, it gave me the opportunity to give everything a good enough tidying up to finally post some pictures. From here on out, the place will always be this organized and spotless. NOT!

The office. My home "away" from home is now about 10 steps from my bed (to the right). Working from home certainly has it's perks. Being able to roll out of bed and jump start my day with 10 minutes notice has definitely played a bit of a shift on my sleeping patterns which has allowed me to spend more time with Don, the night owl. He's done a good job of keeping up with my morning routine as well. He usually gets up about the same time as I do in the mornings. We take turns making each other coffee and on days when I'm really lucky, he may even whip me up a breakfast sandwich.

The Master Suite still makes me feel like I'm staying at an expensive resort. Taking up nearly a third of the square footage of the house, it contains said office, master bath with dual sinks, soaking tub, and stand up shower, his and hers closets, and plenty of square footage for bedroom furniture without over crowding. There's even a place to put the laundry baskets and dog beds without them getting in the way.

The biggest selling point of this house, as you can see, is the wide open floor plan.

The living room is spacious with lots of comfortable seating and good light.

The gas fireplace in the corner is set to a thermostat and puts out enough heat to keep this entire well insulated house warm. The dogs love to lay in front of it and soak up the warmth as you can imagine.

The built in dining set was a huge bonus considering that we had to leave our former table and chairs behind in California due to limited space in the Uhaul. The dining area has also been a great "Gaming Nook" with minis cabinet to the left and plenty of storage for gaming books, etc., under the cupboards to the right. The bench seating even opens up opens up to additional storage which is where we keep our board games.

And the kitchen is a dream come true! For as much as we cook, it's nice to finally have an open, inviting, functional kitchen with plenty of storage and working space. We had so much space in fact, although you can't see it from the pictures, we decided to put in a second fridge to the right of where I'm standing that we picked up on Craigslist. It has become a personal mission of mine to keep the attached island that separates the dining area from the kitchen from becoming a catch all for books, papers, and junkmail as it seems to be a magnet for this sort of thing. But see how pretty it is in the rare moments when it's clean!!!

The kitchen island was our own addition. Purchased from Ikea and assembled, finished, and sealed by Don himself, it was one of the few items we decided to drop a bit of cash on figuring we would certainly get our value out of it. And we haven't regretted the decision a bit. It has been a great workspace that we use daily and it is especially functional to be able to work from all sides when you have more than one cook in the kitchen.

Finally, as if it weren't enough for Don and I each to have our own separate offices for the first time in our adult life, we still had one last bedroom to use up. We'd really missed having a spare bedroom for guests like we did from our first home in California. So it feels good to finally have a comfortable space again to host friends and family. My sister Kristy and her dog, Emmy, have already been to visit twice (although, I apologize the room wasn't quite this put together yet), and now also with the hideabed in the living room as well, perhaps it's our turn to host the next Thanksgiving? :) But even more exciting, on the days of the week when we're not having overnight guests, it is so awesome to have my very own exercise room where I can go and close the door and not have to worry about working out in a common room and working around other people's schedules. The dresser is the perfect height to set my laptop on and watch DVD's while I run. And our stacked aerobics steps double as a nice bedside table for the lamp and alarm clock for our guests.

At some point I will get around to taking pictures of the exterior. We have a great porch and BBQ area, and a nice open deck that will be a fun place for outdoor dining in the spring and summer. But wanted to at least get these up while I could. Hope you enjoyed a sneak peak of our lovely BellingHome and let us know when you all wanna come and visit!

Emmi & Cordy

Never underestimate the density of a wiener dog. Overweight she is not, and yet Cordy still weighs more than her friend Emmi.

Cordelia

The dogs are adjusting well to their new life in Bellingham. They're not crazy about having to go to the bathroom in the rain, but the little heat gluttons have found plenty of ways to keep warm inside. Here is Cordy making good use of my electric blue snuggie - a gift from one of my California Coworkers for my trip up north.

Home Sweet Home

It's official. After a five year hiatus of moving around and chasing our dreams, Don and I have finally migrated back to Bellingham, Washington. We have determined that without a doubt, this is the place we want to settle. This is the place that we call home. It's a fitting time too, as we turn the clock to a new calendar year, we start a new life. We have a lovely home. I have the opportunity to work remotely. And Don is pursuing some very exciting opportunities for his career.

So, those of you who know me by now, know that with new adventures comes a new blog. Our new blog, appropriately titled, "BellingHome," will be dedicated to the ideals and philosophies that called us back to this place which could pretty much be summed up in the phrase Local Organic Living. Environmental Stewardship is at the forefront of our thoughts these days. We've recently converted to organic produce and pasture raised, hormone free meats and dairy products by the extremely well done documentary movie called "Food, Inc." Watch it! You deserve to know the secrets corporate foodies are trying to keep hidden about our daily food supply.

We're also trying very hard to be conscious of our own waste and conservation of resources. And whenever possible, our aim is to buy local and support local businesses. We've signed up for weekly deliveries of organic produce from Dandelion Organic Produce and have decided to buy all of our meat and dairy products from the Community Coop. We've also started a wine tasting group on Meetup.com dedicated to the exploration of Northwest Washington wines and wineries. We are also planning to get out and explore this gorgeous habitat through it's numerous parks and nature trails and eagerly look forward to some spring and summer camping posts.

We hope you enjoy our new blog for our new life. While these adventures represent our life in Bellingham, these principals can be adopted wherever you live. Enjoy!