Traveling update

I set my alarm for the first time this Christmas break this morning.  Sarah and I are packing our bags and making the 12-hour drive from VA to MI!  We've been at the Gardners' house for a week, and this is the first time I've been in the same place as her brothers.  We played a lot of Wii and ate tons of food.  =)

We should get to Michigan tonight and spend the next several days there.  Our goal is to get back to Philly with an extra day of vacation so we don't have to start school/work the morning after we return.  More pictures and details to come, but we've gotta hit the road!

Christmas break!

Tonight, our school Christmas concert signaled the beginning of Christmas vacation!!!  It feels really, really good to be here.  As my friend Jeremy said, teachers always have a goal to look forward to.  Well, here's a big one! 

The concert went well tonight.  The kids sang well...and the ones that didn't looked adorable.  I took a few videos of the kindergartners in the front row.  Pretty cute.

Sarah should arrive home at 2AM tonight.  (she was visiting two hospital residency programs in Michigan).  Tomorrow we leave to meet up with Jim, Teresa, Walter, and Lydia in DC for lunch and hanging out.  Later that afternoon, we'll pick up Elizabeth and make the voyage to Blacksburg to spend a week with the Gardner family.  Around the 27th, we'll pack our bags and head to Michigan to spend a few days with my family.  New Year's will be filled with Hope friends, which I'm pretty excited about too.  So, let the whirlwind begin! 

Thanksgiving with the Gardners

Last week Wednesday, Sarah and I drove to Blacksbug, VA to be with the Gardner side of our family for Thanksgiving.  After picking up Elizabeth in DC, we plowed through the Thanksgiving Eve Traffic better than expected.


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Our trip included listening to Josh Schicker and Brian Reagan, which made for an amusing and relaxing drive.  I was reminded again at how grateful I am for our Garmin GPS device.  When I purchased it used on Craigslist last year, I had no idea how much time, headaches, and relational tensions it would save.  Driving to a new destination is much less stressful than it was before.  How did those pioneers do it?!?

The Gardner family does Thanksgiving right: tons of home made food passed down from generations (including a roll recipe that is from dad's grandmother.  I learned this weekend that the batch they make every year is 1/3 of the regular recipe...except for the butter--we eat triple what the recipe calls for!).  Like years previous, Thanksgiving Day was filled with cooking and consuming vast amount of food.  We collapsed and watched the highly entertaining Kung-Fu Panda movie on their new HDTV/Blu-Ray system (and yes, I got drool all over the couch). 

Saturday, we implimented Elizabeth's idea to have a family Clue night.  So, we dressed up as various characters, found the murder weapons--including a real revolver, watched the movie, and played the board game.  A very memorable evening!  Check out the incredible costumes and props:

Friendly neighborhood flower store

Tonight Sarah returned from a four-day extended stay with her parents in Virginia. She had interviews at two hospitals there (Blacksburg and Charlottsville), and it worked out well for her to continue her Thanksgiving break down there with them. Unfortunately, that left me home alone...

I made it safely through the week, as I picked her up tonight. The house wasn't in shambles (although our bedroom wasn't the cleanest its been). I told Sarah that was intentional so that she would feel like I live like a shoddy bachelor whilst she's away.

Tonight, I went for my first run in a long time. The temperature was 52 this afternoon, and I realized that it might be my last chance to do so for a long time. (lower temperatures also lower my running motivation) To celebrate Sarah's return, I also wanted to pick up some flowers for her. So, I jogged with my key in one hand and credit card in the other. Our local florist (Plants, Etc.) is only three blocks down Fairmount from us, so I stopped in there on the way home.

After selecting the flowers I wanted--more precisely, what I thought Sarah might like--I held out my credit card to pay. She informed me that they don't accept credit cards for transactions under $25. I felt downtrodden...now I'd have to trudge home and return with money for the flowers! With the benevolence of a understanding mother from Pella, IA, she told me to just take the flowers and drop off the money someday in the future when I got the chance. I couldn't believe it! I thanked her and walked out the door--determined to spread the good cheer I had received.

Thanksgiving voyage

We're already at Thanksgiving!  How quickly this year has flown.  I have a half day of school tomorrow, and after dismissal, Sarah and I are driving down 95 to Washington DC to pick up Elizabeth.  Then, our road trip takes us to Blacksburg, VA where we'll spend the Thanksgiving weekend with at the new Gardner plantation (parents just moved there this summer).  It'll be different to be in their new home, but I'm looking forward to being part of the new traditions that form in their new location.  Our plans for the weekend include a Clue Night, fondue, and the traditional stuffing that goes along with Thanksgiving Day eating. 

Elizabeth and I will waddle back to our homes on Sunday, while Sarah will spend another few days in VA visiting programs.  She'll return on Thursday.  Should be quite the trek!  We're very thankful for those gas prices right now.

I would like to do this someday.

http://improveverywhere.com/2008/11/17/welcome-back/

Appreciating students

Do you ever have days when you sigh and say to yourself, "Ah yes...this is exactly why I have this job."?  If you don't, allow me to be the first to suggest a career consultation.  Regardless of your answer, I had one of those days today.

Just last night at home group, I asked the two guys in my small group to pray that I would invest into my students on an individual level these last five days before Thanksgiving break.  I believe God gave me that today.  Many times today, I felt overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for the students I have in my class.  Sure, there are problems and needs for growth/adjustment...but I felt I was able to adore specific student's personalities.  I found myself laughing out loud at small, idiosyncratic things about them.  And I loved it. 

The Camp Geneva counselor in me even surfaced while we were outside at snack: students were playing their favorite tag game of cops and robbers (two cops try to tag all the robbers and put them into jail before other robbers come and release them from jail).  I ran around and played with them yesterday, but today I watched for a bit.  With sudden inspiration, I walked over to the robbers and picked one of them up.  I carried her over to the jail telling her how proud I was that she felt rependant and guilty for her crimes to society.  She loved it, and soon all the robbers wanted to repay their debt to society. 

This afternoon, students were reading their fiction narrative drafts for their small writing group.  My eyes swelled with tears as I listened to a few students share their fantastical narratives of characters like Kahlia, Max, and Skull-Monger.  At first I wondered why I felt emotional about this, and I suddenly remembered my prayer request last night!  In an instant, it all made sense.  I felt so joyful to hear my students sharing their original work--stories they were excited to share and read with great expression!  Oh, would I love to feel that joy next week when I grade their final drafts...

Talent Show/Housewarming Party

Saturday night, Jim, Teresa, Alaina, and Emily had their housewarming party.  If you had any preconception of a "housewarming party" when you read those words, forget about it!  This was a housewarming party unlike any before.  Jim built a stage, Alaina, Teresa, Emily, Joe, Sarah, and others slaved away in the kitchen creating delightful morsals, people prepared talents, and much fun was had by all. 

Some of the talents included tap dancing in wedding dresses, masterful piano performances, poetry, storytelling, paper cutting, puppetry, singing the books of the Bible, guitar, and much more.  Here's a video of the experience (minus my talent--I was too busy reciting the Jabberwocky, On Turning Ten, and The Panther to record myself). 

5th grade pollsters

Yesterday, my 5th graders took a poll of the whole K-8 school to see whom they would vote for on Election Day. As it turns out, our poll of Spruce Hill accurately predicted the results of Philadelphia!! The latest figures from today showed that Obama won 83% of the votes in Philly--exactly the number we had him winning! McCain won 17% of the Philadelphia vote, while he won 14% of our school ("other" got the remaining 3%). Maybe CNN will visit our school next time they want to predict an election winner...

Election results

My 5th graders went around the school with home made ballot booths and ballots, asking students from kindergarten to 8th grade who they would vote for in the election. Now given, I teach at an urban school in West Philadelphia where over 90% of the students are African American. Our results were that 83% voted for Obama, 14% for McCain, and 3% other.

Through the lens of my students, this is an incredible election. To grow up in a world where a black man is not automatically assumed to be a criminal...to have a role model in the oval office...to have a president who looks like them...is outstanding.

I find myself being so thankful for our country. Think about it: we just chose the next leader of our country without any bloodshed or anarchy. What a blessing!!! Obama will be our president, and we all have a duty to support and pray for him--no matter what our choice in the presidential ticket. 

Phinally!

After 25 years of never having a sports championship, the city of Philadelphia finally won a title!  The Philadelphia Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays in game 5 last night.  Our city was rocking!  People were in the streets everywhere, cars drove by honking and waving, fans flooded Broad street for miles...for one night, we truly were the city of brotherly love.  Everybody seemed happy and excited, and it was really cool.  Can the Phillies win it all every week??

Here's a video of our home group watching the final out:

Free Taco Bell

If anyone steals a base in the World Series, go visit a Taco Bell near you (between 2-6PM on Tues, October 28 or Mon, November 3!  Visit their website for the details.

How our presidential candidates should speak every day

They were both positive, funny, encouraging, genuine, and fresh.  Why don't they do this on their stump speeches???

Phillies Day at Spruce Hill

Today was Phillies Day at my school. Instead of wearing their uniform, students could wear Phillies or red shirts to support their home team. Since I don't own any Phillies shirts (yet), I called my friend Alan to see if I could borrow his. Not only did he let me borrow his jersey, but he had a whole uniform for me to wear! I felt so athletic and official as I strolled up to school this morning. The kids LOVED it, and I had a bunch of younger students even ask me if I played for the Phillies. All the teachers got into the action too. Almost everyone in the school had red on! I even had a big Chase Utley blanket that Sarah received when we went to a game on Mother's Day last year. Having a theme day like that was very fun...here are some pictures from the day's events:

Freebies

• Ben and Jerry's will give you free ice cream if you bring your "I voted" sticker in on Nov 4.
• Barnes and Noble will give you free coffee any day before November 1.

And Whole Foods will give you $5 off an order of $25 or more by 10/22.

Price of gasoline

Today, I filled up my tank at $2.91/gallon in New Jersey (would have only been $2.85 if I paid cash).  What is this...2006???

Obama in our neighborhood

This morning, Sarah, Alaina, and I woke up early and went to a Barak Obama rally in north Philadelphia.  It was probably four or five blocks from Alaina/Jim/Teresa/Emily's house (which is a mile from our apartment), so we couldn't really miss it!  He had four rallies in Philly today in various parts of the city.  We got up at 6, then arrived in line for the event at 6:45AM.  The rally started at 8:15, but there already was a line several blocks long to get into the parking lot.  Our timing was amazing--just as we got through security, Mayor Nutter and Governer Rendell were providing the intoductory remarks.  His speech was succinct, reminicent of past speeches, and had some folk flair (a la Palin??).  Still, we agreed that we were impressed with his ability to inspire and connect to his audience. 

All in all, even though it made for an early Saturday morning, we were pretty honored to go see the next possible president stop by our neighborhood!  The NYTimes had a short synapsis of his speech that we heard and here are some pictures I snapped:

I had a fun time watching the secret service on the roofs around us.  They must get so nervous at these open air/inner city events!!!

America laughs at Cubs fans

You know your team has struggled when two major networks poke fun at Cubs fans.  Here are two clips--one from Jon Stewart's Daily Show and one from Saturday Night Live--that joke about the intelligence of Cubs fans.  I see it as faith: belief in something I cannot see.  

Grandma Carter

Tuesday evening, I learned that my good friend's grandmother passed away. Normally, I feel sorrow for my friend and think a few thoughts along the lines of, "I wonder what her life was like? How my friend interacted with her? What her legacy will be?" This week, however, my friend Dan Carter's grandma Carter passed away. I had the unspeakable pleasure of getting to know Mimee Carter in the few times our paths crossed--most memorably in the Carter cabin in Interlochen, MI. She cooked food, gave hugs, laughed, and was a grandmother to everyone she met. Her savory food will be missed in many stomachs, and her ceaseless love will be missed in many hearts.

Breaking the silence

Anyone who knows a good deal about me knows how much I care about the Chicago Cubs.  Their last World Series victory came in 1908 (depressing fact?  Teddy Roosevelt was president.  Even more depressing about that?  He is on Mount Rushmore.).  This year, the Cubs had great pitching, very good defense, hitters who were dangerous in every part of the lineup, and a match-up with the worst team allowed into the playoffs.  What did that get them?  Swept in the first round for the second year in a row.  Despite coming in with the best record in the national league, the Cubs didn't win a game.  The only other time that has happened in 40 years was once to the Astros. 

After the first loss, I had a bad feeling in my stomach.  I held off posting a blog entry with all the dates and times of future playoff games in fear that the Cubs wouldn't make it.  Unfortunately, I was right. 

Sarah and I watched the games together.  After the second loss, I felt numb.  Not tearful or sad...a feeling even worse: apathy.  This feeling continued throughout the Cubs game three loss and into this current week.  I know it will go away as spring training comes up in March, but for now, the winter looks pretty bleak.  The one light in this darkness of a situation was that Sarah lived and died with the Cubs right next to me.  She now understands the pain and heartache required to cheer for the Cubs.  Sarah, welcome to the family.

Reading articles about it just makes the situation even more depressing:
Here
Here
or
Here

But hey--wait until next year!

Hotel De Boer

This weekend, Elizabeth came up from Washington DC to celebrate her birthday weekend with us!  She traveled via the Chinatown bus, which was quite successful (although we've recently heard of Megabus and BoltBus, which we're certainly going to consider in the future if traveling near NYC).  We had a wonderful time with Elizabeth.  Our fun-filled activities included a study day, watching MacGyver, bike ride to Franklin Fountain (rain poured on us returning home...much more memorable that way!), liberti, Anna's graduation party, and simply hanging around the house.  This is a picture of us on our roof deck after/during the downpour:

Then yesterday, Matthew Perryman Jones and two members of his band came to visit.  They played tonight with another one of our favorite artists, Katie Herzig, at the World Cafe Live!  We've seen Matthew a few times in the past two years, and we really enjoy his music.  Our friend Dave Braud sent out an e-mail Sunday asking if anyone had a place they could crash.  Since we're pretty excited to share our guest room with people (hint, hint!), we quickly agreed!  To have musicians stay in our home?  Pretty sweet.  The show was awesome!  We're already looking forward to their Christmas tour in December.  Here's a picture from tonight:

Decade of searching

Google turned 10 today! Their homepage has an interactive timeline to chronicle the past 10 years. Pretty interesting...if you're a Google fan like me. =)

In sickness and in health

This weekend, I caught a bug from one of my fifth graders. Welcome back to school! Fortunately, I only had a mild case--no fever...only headache from stuffy sinuses and sore throat. Well, Sarah and I have been doing a good job at sharing recently; too good in this case: she came down with my bug today. Her doctor friends did her a favor and sent her home at 4 instead of the usual 6. So, she and I enjoyed some grilled cheese sandwiches as some comfort food tonight.

School continues to go really well. I feel like God has been very present this year in my students and even in my attitude. I haven't let class situations bother me, I'm not taking things personally, my creativity is coming out more in lessons, I feel fresh and recharged most days (well, Monday mornings are still hard!) and the girl students in my class even come up and hug me! It's a huge answer to prayer.

The Cubs clinched the division title this weekend! It's their second title in two years. The last time this happened? When they last won the World Series in 1907 and 1908. Yup...exactly 100 years ago. Go Cubs Go!

Bomb threat polar bear

This took place a few blocks from my new sister Elizabeth's apartment in DC.  Watch the video or read the news story.  Either way, it's hilarious!!

Free night of theater

This organization is promoting theater in various places in the country (including Philadelphia).  See the website for more information, but it starts in October!

DTV

A few weeks ago, I wrote how I ordered some coupons to convert the analogue TV signal to digital. Well, two credit card-coupons came on Saturday. Sarah and I picked up a converter box at Target this afternoon, and I'm watching the Steelers/Browns game on digital television right now. It's really clear! We can pick up a few more channels that before, and the main stations (NBC, CBS, ABC, etc.) are much, much clearer than with just the bunny ears. The downside is that we've added another remote, and the channels take longer to load when you change them, but I think it's worth it (we aren't channel surfers anyway). I still have another coupon, so if you need one, I have $40 off you can use before the end of November!

My 5th graders

Here are some of my fifth graders from this year, posing with our class mascot Fluffy.  Everyone who visits our classroom will have their picture taken by our class photographer.  We'll put the pictures on the back bulletin board for all to see...it'll be a visual guestbook of our visitors!

Tribute to Jazz

This afternoon, Jazz went to be with his Maker. After six years of life with the De Boer family, Jazz was put to sleep after a sudden but painful bout with his intestines. Saturday, Jazz started yelping and jumping up on my dad while he was supposed to go to the bathroom. He couldn't pee, so my dad brought him into the vet. Several hundred dollars later, we learned that he had at least three kidney stones. His intestines were also messed up somehow since he hadn't pooped in three days. For reasons beyond me, dogs have to pee every day or they will die. They catheterized Jazz, but a day later, he still couldn't go on his own. Either Jazz would have to have expensive surgery, or he would have to be put to sleep to avoid this pain. Since the surgery costs were bound to bloat, and the chance of the stones returning was fairly high, my parents opted to put him out of his misery.

To those of you who were part of puppy-sitting Jazz while we were at Hope, thank you. His life may have ended, but his tail is only beginning.

He and Handel can now rest forever in peace.

First day of school

Today was my first day of school! I was pretty nervous ahead of time, but once school started, it got a lot better. I think most teachers get nervous before the first day. There are just so many variables! Even if you have taught for 20 years, the group of students coming in is different from all of them. But that's why I think teaching is so great!


I felt much more competent this time around. After being in three different schools in three years, it was wonderful to know the system and expectations for once. I left school with more energy than when I got there, which to me signals an excellent day.

In other news Google made two big announcements today: a new version of their software program Picasa and a web browser called Google Chrome! I downloaded both of them this evenin and love the new features. Picasa is more integrated with the web and tagging, while Google Chrome was built on simplicity. It's very streamlined and quite similar to Firefox (actually, it imports all your passwords and bookmarks from Firefox automatically for you!). The two companies are teaming up (their financial agreement is through 2011) to compete with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Looks like a good step towards that!

Shameless plug for Students Run Philly Style

Sarah and I were part of the Students Run Philly Style program last year. It was an amazing experience that culminated in running the marathon in November. The program is participating in an American Express non-profit organization competition. Take a minute and nominate Students Run Philly Style as a program they should support. There are 1190 programs, and right now, they are 47th on the list! Thanks!

Ultimate experiences

This summer, a bunch of Philly folk have been gathering at Temple's sports field for ultimate frisbee. It's a kind of hodge podge group of the Temple ultimate team, Liberti people, and even a few high schoolers from a suburban ultimate team. They've been playing every Tues, Thurs, and Sunday evening for a good part of the summer. Thankfully, Sarah and I got back from Portland/Seattle in time to join in the fun. We've been out several times and had a blast. Some of the memorable experiences:

-Playing as the lights turned out just before 11PM
-Preparing to play, but then aborting as lighting and thunder shook the field. Everyone's hair actually stood on end due to the static electricity!
-Eric developing a blister the size of a silver dollar on his foot, and Sarah peeling it off with great glee
-Last night playing with about 20 people--not including fans Jill and Kristen! We had to play 8-on-8 with some subs.

Unfortunately, this is the last week of scheduled pickup games as Temple begins classes next week. However, Jesse suggested that we continue meeting less frequently...on Sunday nights or so. School starts for me on Tuesday, which means that I'm not able to sacrifice two or three hours on a school night to play. But once a week? I can swing that.

Digital TV

Today I ordered a coupon for our TV. In 180 days, it will no longer receive an analogue signal! Thankfully, the government is spending $1.5 billion to subsidize the cost of a digital converter. On February 17 of this coming year, all broadcasts will be digital. I expect this to be a big news story as we get closer to the date. I also expect a rush on the converter boxes, so if you use bunny ears to get a signal now, I'd recommend applying for a $40 coupon before the stores run out!

Credit card fraud

Monday, I logged into my Chase Visa card to see what our monthly balance was so far. When I got to my account page, no cards were listed. Funny, right? I waited until evening before trying again. No luck. I called customer service, and they said that my account had been put on hold because there was "suspicious activity" on it. They asked me if I had purchased several items (including Napster--which I haven't used since high school--and Duane Reed--a drugstore in NY I had never heard of). They confirmed that I had an incident of fraud and needed to shut down the account immediately. Thankfully, Chase will not charge me for those items, and they will be sending us new cards in the next few days.

I'm not sure when someone nabbed our credit card numbers! I'm also impressed with how quickly Chase identified this activity. When I asked how they did it, they just said that they have a sophisticated system...aka, none of your business.

I leave this situation grateful for how well the credit card companies watch our accounts, even if they do charge businesses an arm and a leg to use them. Will this influence my online shopping? Nope: there's a greater chance that someone will write down your numbers at a restaurant than someone will get your data online.

Old married folk

Sarah and I passed a significant milestone this past weekend: we spent our last Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift cards! We both thought this event meant that our marriage has reached a new point. While we might argue that we're still newly weds, we also realize that we've been married for over four months! Amazing how quickly time flies--especially with summer vacation, spending July in the pacific northwest in there too.

Tonight we're looking to play ultimate frisbee with some great folks from Temple/Liberti. They faithfully play every Tues, Thurs, and Sunday night. Last Thursday, Thomas and I went out to join them. Unfortunately, we were followed by dark thunderheads. Lightning flashed all around, our hair started to stand on end from static electricity...and we decided to call it quits before the game actually ever began. Hopefully tonight will be more successful.

It was a dark (k)night

Fun times abounded yesterday: Alaina moved into Valley Sorge (the new term for Jim and Teresa Sorge's new home), and Thomas and I helped her get settled into her new home. It was a little strange, because the last time I helped move somebody was actually with Thomas when the Braud's moved OUT of that very same house. Same walls, same structure...just different people and different furniture.

I have a new dentist! Well, my appointment isn't until next week, but after a few phone calls with the insurance company, I figured out who is covered with my plan...and one of the options is just a few blocks away from our apartment. I am constantly reminded how much of a blessing it can be to live in a major city!

After a delicious Alaina/Sarah/Teresa-made dinner, Thomas, a new friend Kurt, John Barbieri, and I went to see the Dark Knight at the Imax. (side note: we had tried to see this movie on Imax in Seattle, but they were sold out for the next week) It was fantastic! Great story, great acting, great effects, great venue. Thankfully, I had brought my Batman mask that I picked up in Portland. I walked right by the ticket people without being asked for a ticket. (unfortunately, they tore the two that John was holding...or else we could have scalped it! the show was sold out) Wouldn't you let this guy go past without asking questions?

My pursuit of a Master of Science in Education degree

Most of you may know that I have been taking online classes for my masters degree from Walden University. I started taking these classes in January of 2007, and I am approaching the finish line! My last class ends next week Friday, after which I will have 30 days to submit my portfolio: a CD compiled with 20 of my papers from this course that meet various national outcomes for a masters degree. The postmark due date for this is September 15, or 13 days after school starts. I have finished almost all of my course work and have turned my focus onto this portfolio. Since there are 20 papers and rationales to complete (rationales are additional papers I write about the outcome and how I met the outcome in my included paper), I decided that if I average one paper a day, I could finish before Spruce Hill's first day of in-service on August 25. Here's hoping!

Seattle with the Gardners

While it may have been a week ago already, I wanted to share a few things about our week in Seattle with my new family! We arrived late, late (or is that early, early?) into Seattle on a Greyhound bus at 1:20AM PST. True to form, Dad Gardner volunteered to pick us up--even though it was 4:20AM according to his body clock. We all stayed in a room at the Holiday Inn. Ironically, the Holiday Inn Express next door offered a pool and hot tub, which were both unavailable to us. Elitists.

Sarah and I had a blast with our family. Mom Gardner had the foresight to purchase Go Seattle passes, which include admission to over 30 of the most popular attractions and museums in the Seattle area. Each day, Elizabeth crunched the numbers in a cost analysis that eventually determined that we broke even by the end of the week.

Some of our highlights were the Seafarers parade, Pike's Market, the original Starbucks, Boeing plant (including the largest building in the world measured by volume), Microsoft, Mount Rainier, the Seattle Monorail, Underground Seattle, Deception Pass, Riding the Ducks, visiting the Experience Music Project, and eating at a TON of delicious restaurants! Here are a few pictures, but you can see all our pictures here.

Enjoying candy from the parade

Us with the Pugent Sound behind.

A picture at Deception Pass.

A view of Seattle from our Ride the Ducks boat.

After a mini snowball fight on Mount Rainier.

This was my first time vacationing with the Gardners, but Sarah was rather surprised that we did so much! Since Elizabeth, Hannah, and parents had been working hard closing up their life in New Castle, PA as they moved to Blackburg, VA, she had forecasted a slow, laid-back week. Instead, they were up and at 'em! While we did spend time catching up on sleep, we explored a great deal of Seattle!

That week put a resounding exclamation point on our July trip to the pacific northwest. What a vacation!

Back to Philly

Sarah and I arrived back in Philadelphia safely on Thursday evening. When we planned the trip, we had originally wanted to stay out in Seattle/Portland as long as possible. However, by the time Thursday came around, we were both excited to return home. The pacific northwest was wonderful, but without significant roots/connections, it felt pretty temporary. This feeling reinforced the fact that the two of us are very relationally-motivated people. What can we say? We've been blessed with wonderful friends and family in our lives!!

I'll have more to say later on our week in Seattle with the Gardners and this past weekend with the Sorges and Nelsons. Until then, know that we're hanging around Philadelphia again. Good to be home!

Free Starbucks Smoothies today and Saturday!

Starbucks is promoting their new Vivanno smoothies today and tomorrow (Saturday) by offering a free smoothie to customers who register their Starbucks gift card on their website. The e-mail they sent me said that each person can only get one smoothie, but hey--it's free!

History?

I discovered something about myself this month: I like history. Maybe it started when I moved out to Philadelphia...maybe it came with my first glimpse of National Treasure...maybe it came when I got to teach 5th graders about all of Americas wars...I'm not really sure. For whatever reason, I've found myself getting really interested in how our country was founded, what the debates were among the Founding Fathers, what cautions they were taking when they created our Constitution. I admit that I haven't answered many of these questions, but I've been exposed to more recently. And I like it.

The Kornelis family has the HBO John Adams series, which features seven episodes of the oft-overlooked member of our country's heritage. I devoured them this past week--especially the first two. After watching an episode, I found myself looking up articles on people and events to learn more about them. It's fascinating to consider how far our country has come--for the good and bad!

The end of the Oregon Trail

Amazingly, our time here in Oregon is quickly departing. We leave Friday evening via Greyhound bus for Seattle where we will meet up with the Gardner family! We're both excited to hang out with them for several days before returning to Philly on July 31st.

Earlier this week, I realized that we're living about 15 minutes away from the end of the Oregon Trail--Oregon City! Do you remember playing the video game? (you can still play the original version online for free here!) I have fond memories of trekking past Soda Springs, fording the Kansas River, and most certainly gunning down buffalo in cold blood. Anyway, I went to visit the official "End of the Oregon Trail" tourist center:




While I didn't fork over the $9 to tour the exhibits that closed in 45 minutes from when I got there, I took the free trolley around the small town of Oregon City and heard several stories about the history of western Oregon. For example, did you know that Portland used to be called Stumptown? According to our trolley guide, they did a lot of logging up in Portland and shipped the wood down the rivers to California. Since about a mile of forest on both sides of the rivers were chopped down, they were left with a lot of stumps! As it turns out, they decided on the name Portland by a coin toss! A man from Portland, ME and a man from Boston, MA each wanted to name the city after their hometown. Obviously, the man from Maine won the toss!

Portland--30 stories in the air

Sunday night, Sarah and I had dinner on the 30th floor of the Portland City Grill. It was beautiful! Dusk was falling, a piano player was taking requests, we found a window seat immediately, and everything seemed to go be going as well as it could! Unfortunately, we didn't have Sarah's driver's license. We mistakenly just figured that we wouldn't be able to order any alcoholic beverages, but it turns out that they wouldn't let us stay in the restaurant!

So, we did what any sensible couple looking for a hot date would do: drove 15 minutes home, got her ID, and returned to the restaurant. It was well worth our time. The food was between $2 and $5 a plate (each of us ordered three items--my favorites were the white cheddar and chive burger and kung pao chicken). Each dish was delicious! The evening was a wonderful way to end our last weekend in Portland.

Silver Falls Park

Saturday, Sarah and I took our Zipcar an hour south to visit Silver Falls Park. The park has a 6.9 mile trail with 12 waterfalls on it! The lush, green trail followed Silver Creek. Since we didn't arrive until right before dusk, Sarah and I only made it about halfway on the trail. Such a beautiful place! Check out our pictures, and feel free to use a few as desktop backgrounds. I swear, this is where photo companies must come to take pictures for their galleries. So beautiful!

This waterfall was 136' and had a neat trail behind it!

Ents exist in western Oregon. Just ask Tolkien!

Sarah spotted these fields of wildflowers nearby.

The view from behind the waterfall.

Our Zipcar experience

Saturday afternoon, Sarah and I took the Zipcar plunge! We wanted to go to Silver Falls Park, which is about an hour away from where we're staying in the suburbs of Portland, and we had some credit in Zipcar that we wanted to use. The Zipcar we reserved cost $36 for 24 hours, which include up to 180 miles of free driving--gas and insurance included! Here's what you need to do in order to get into the car:

That's right--just hold your Zipcard above that little sensor. It checks that your card has the car reserved for that time, and if it does, the door unlocks! The key, incredibly, is always clearly displayed next to the ignition:


I think it's fun to drive a new car, and our Subaru Impresa was no exception. We had a blast! The car was extremely clean when we got into it, too. We tried to leave it clean when we left it, but we forgot to remove Sarah's sandals from the back. Whoops. We need to reserve it for an hour to unlock the car and get them back.

Overall, we had a great experience. I even called and changed our reservation time without a penalty! We left our Zipcar looking for reasons to use it again.

This makes me sad

For me, the heart-wrenching part comes about 3:20 into the film--the part with the kids.

Wedding announcement in paper

It's official: according to the Holland Sentinel, Sarah and I got hitched!

Fruity Portland

Sarah and I seem to have arrived in Portland just in time for the fruit season. The last two weekends have been filled with fruit picking: our first weekend here, we picked about nine pounds of strawberries. Last weekend, we picked about eight pounds of raspberries! Sarah made a delicious strawberry pie after the first batch, and we have enjoyed several bowls of ice cream with raspberries a la mode. I even put some raspberries on my Rice Krispies this morning! As a self-described fruit-nivor, I'm loving this! The Kornelis family's Vitamix provides excellent smoothies without any hesitation about putting too much in at once (Anna and Mike would be jealous!).

I'm working on my Walden mid-term reflection papers today. I also took a glance at my program portfolio, which is due September 15. My goal is to be done with the bulk of it before school starts the day after Labor Day. If not, the first few weeks of school shouldn't be too rough on the system (hopefully!).

Dog Mountain

Today has kind of turned into a catch up blog day for some of the experiences we've had so far. Last week Tuesday, I took a hike with Josh and Becky Schicker and Becky's sister Kathy. We hiked up a place called Dog Mountain, which is known for its view and fields of wildflowers from the top. Unfortunately, we were a week or two late for the wildflowers to be in full bloom, but we did have a gorgeous view from the trail: Mount Adams, Mount Hood, and Mount St. Helens were all in view! Click here for the rest of the pictures from the trip.

This is the beautiful Columbia River Gorge (short for GORGEOUS!!!). Oregon is on our left, with Washington on the right. The Columbia outdoor company is named after this river, so you know it must be something special!

Mount Hood peeking over the others. On a clear day in Portland, you can hear the locals say "the mountain's out."

That is Mount St. Helens. You can tell which mountain it is because the top blew off 28 years ago!

Celebration was, indeed, in order.

Portland's famous Rose Garden

Friday afternoon, Sarah and I went exploring Portland. Since she had the afternoon off (OHSU was celebrating the 120,000 patients they had served this year!), we hopped on a bus and headed northeast for our first experience on the Max (public transit train). After visiting the Rose Garden Arena (home of the Blazers), we headed west to find the "real" rose garden. Our bus driver let us out in an inauspicious place--certainly not looking like a critically acclaimed "International Rose Test Garden." As it turns out, we just came in the back way. We followed a trail up some hills and came upon rows and rows of roses. There was a bridal party getting pictures taken, a harpist playing beautiful music, and lots of couples soaking in the aura. We found some grass and laid down on the ground, letting the harp music and rose smell fill our souls. (okay, maybe that was a little dramatic, but Sarah did drift off into a short nap and I threw tiny pine cones at a metal sign for sport). The whole place made me think of my mom and how much she would love it! Here are some pictures:

You might notice that Sarah and I sometimes experience flowers in different ways...

Note the name of the rose!!!

Jamming with Troast

Monday night, Sarah, Jill, Anne Marie, and I went to our friends Josh and Becky's apartment for a house concert featuring Jon Troast. Lisa and Nate met up with us for the show too! After some delicious food/drink, we settled in for a delightful acoustic performance. This was our second house concert, and Sarah and I both agreed that we enjoy them quite a bit. It's just so much more personal and intimate. We were talking back and forth with Jon, asking questions, giving requests, and cheering. Jon is touring the country playing in people's living rooms, which he says he does because he plays for people who listen. Plus, the overhead costs are low since he usually stays at the person's house he plays at. His stuff is real good, and we bought two of his CDs. Another new artist to follow!

Hiking Multnomah Falls

Yesterday, Sarah and I woke up at 6:30AM to begin our day's adventures. Our friend Todd (who works at OHSU and has a wife who goes to Liberti) picked us up and proceeded to show us new parts of Portland. First, we went to a Cafe for a delicious breakfast burrito. We attended Imago Dei church, home of Don Miller who wrote Blue Like Jazz. Amazingly, we saw three different friends who live in Portland! It was like the only people we know here (besides the Kornelis family that we're staying with) were there. We felt pretty cool walking in with Todd, then having Josh, then Nate come up and say hello to us. Talk about feeling welcomed!

But I digress from our adventures. After church, we drove out to the famed Multnomah Falls, where we hiked the 6 mile trail in about 2.5 hours. The second largest falls in the US are pretty "touristy", but the surrounding trails were much less people-filled. Along the trail, we happened upon several other gorgeous scenes:





See the rest of our pictures here.

After our hiking, we needed some serious chow. We had lunch at about 3:30 at an Italian place whose name escapes me. For dessert, we went to Papa Haydens. Unbelieveable selection of desserts! Since I'm in the Pacific Northwest, I thought it would be an appropriate time to try my first Baked Alaska. It was decent, but I'll go for the angle food cake, ice cream, and berries next time around.

Todd dropped us back at our house, and we thought we'd take a quick nap. Three 1/2 hours later, we woke up! Obviously, our bodies were trying to tell us something. I finished my work for Walden and Sarah planned out her new route to the hospital. She finished her outpatient rotation on Friday, and started her inpatient family medicine rotation today. What a day!

Free slurpees!

Today is July 11, which means it's 7-11, which means that 7-11 is giving away free slurpees all day today!!!

This is Portland.

Portland is the bus driver thanking you for riding his bus.
Portland is passing a 4oz bag of teriyaki beef jerky on sale for $7.99 at Whole Foods.
Portland is 20 people waiting outside for Powells Books to open.
Portland is the cashier telling you to "stay cool" when the day's high is 80. Fahrenheit.
Portland is the woman riding a streetcar commenting on another woman's book.
Portland is looking around the full bus and realizing there are only two minorities on it.
Portland is feeling like a social misfit for not carrying around a cup of coffee before 10AM.
Portland is seeing six long bicycle racks outside the health clinic. All of them stuffed with bikes.
Portland is purchasing a book for $14.95...and only paying $14.95 for it.--tax included.
Portland is the man saying that he thinks the sun is good for two things: growing a garden and warming the earth. And since he doesn't have a garden and is hot, he'd rather it rain every day.

This is Portland.


(note: all of these occurred in the last 16 hours)

How to fake political interest

For those of you out there who are just fed up with the political process, this video has the answer for you:


Today Now!: How To Pretend You Care About The Election

Live from the west coast

We're in Portland! Sarah and I arrived safely on Sunday in a day that lasted 27 hours for us. Our new friend Jill picked us up from the airport, and we enjoyed a pizza with our housemates, the Kornelis'--Ken, Jill, and Anne Marie. Visiting Philadelphians will certainly notice how many trees are here! Given, we're living in Lake Oswego, a suburb of the city, but still--there is way more green here than Philadelphia. Using the power of Google Maps, I typed in Portland and Philadelphia, zoomed in, and captured a screen shot of the two cities. Here are the results:


The first two things I noticed? 1=green color. 2=how crowded Philly is!

I have only been in the city to drive Sarah her first day at OHSU. Tomorrow I'm planning on riding the bus with her into work, then hanging out for the day there. I'll be able to have a better feel for the city after that.
So far, my days have been filled with hanging around the house, taking bike rides around the area, exploring trails (as pictured below), working on my Walden courses, visiting the Kornelis Grandma (who reminds me a great deal of Grandma De Boer!) and, of course, eating. Stress has tried to sneak up on me several times...sneaky stress. Fortunately, I've been able to ignore it quickly.

We have a few friends in Portland that we're looking forward to hanging out with. Sarah has the 4th off, so we're checking out our options for Independence Day celebrations. One day at a time!!