SardineInk

2010-09-06T23:31:00.000-07:00

1 to 30...

we're almost there...but not quite finished.

today I did accomplish a handful of things:

wrote a letter to my future self (as suggested by Terry DeBarger)

the coffee is poisoned (get it?!)

wrote a letter to the president (one we thought of earlier and was also suggested by beth jamison). i invited him to come over for dinner the next time he is in the bay area.

join us for dinner!

ate a new vegetable (as suggested by jenifer johnson)
dandelion greens and parsnips


why, yes, that does look like a giant weed!

once was probably enough. might eat parsnips again though.

AND! i finally registered to start taking counseling classes! this is something I've talked about for years...

back to class!

in the next few days i'll do a review of the process... i'm hoping to continue on in someway in the coming year.

does anyone read these posts?

2010-09-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

ONLY ONE DAY LEFT! 9 more things to go?!? (I didn't count the several random first time things like flying into OAK...with those, I'd be closer to 30)

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday. What should I attempt to accomplish on Labor Day, my last day in my 20s? I've got a few ideas but could use some suggestions.


Windy and Cold!

B Star Bar - Yum!

2010-09-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

3 to 30...
yoga.
a bridge.

today i attended my first real yoga class. you will be pleased to know that i put aside my souls and have restored my energy in myself....ah....not really. i did enjoy the stretching!

we also headed into the city to traverse the Golden Gate Bridge. We ended up only walking over half of it - it was cold and wind.y Actually, felt quite nice...but we had a dinner reservations. yummmm. the kozdons (see motorcycle ride), my cousin connor, and the three of us made the trek. more pictures to come (we got there without a battery in our camera!)

only 2 more days - and a lot to do!


Connor and Nealon - a picture for Nana

2010-09-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

4 to 30...

spanish.

i took nearly 9 years of spanish over the course of elementary, middle, high school, and college. you'd never guess it now.

today, we went to a taco cart that has been coming to a construction site near our place. i attempted to order in spanish.

i think that she was laughing at me

me: cuatro tacos carnitas
gal: how many?
me: four
gal: what kind of meat?
me: carnitas

it was good!

Let me know if you want to join me for lunch someday! We went with the REAL Coca-Cola too. (It has sugar, not corn syrup. oh, so yummy!) I wanted to drink it out of a bag with a straw... (that's how i got it in mexico)

Also, today I got my hair cut by a Mexican gent. His name is Paco. Much more spanish was spoken than english. By others, not me. I've got to brush up!

bangs!

2010-09-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

5 to 30...

business.

for quite a while, i've talked about having a stationery design business. it has never gone anywhere...just a lot of talk. my interest is perhaps not as great as it had once been...but there is still interest. i designed nealon's birth announcement and have done a few gifts here and there but nothing much.

tonight i printed 3 sets of notecards for friends! there is no money involved. no big surprises. nothing too special. but, it is the closest i have come to having "Sardine Ink" up and running!

I want to rotate this photo...

2010-08-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

Geared up!

7 to 30...

Ride a Motorcycle!
Against my better judgment, I did it! I rode on a motorcycle. Working in physical rehab and adaptive sports has me wary of this mode of transportation. I figured that I needed to do something "dare-devil-ish" and this totally beat sky-diving in my book!

Our friends, the Kozdons, brought one of their bikes over. Jen let me wear her helmet, jacket, and gloves and Jeremy took me for a quick ride around the block. It was fun! Jeremy is a good driver! Checked that one off...not sure that I need to do it again.

Jen and Luke gave me permission to put my arms around Jeremy so I wouldn't fall off.

2010-08-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

10 to 30...

Take a (half) day *off*...

Today I was on my own for nearly 5.5 hours!

Luke took Nealon (who slept the first and last 45 minutes of my time away)...they played, walked, shopped, ate, screamed, cried, bathed, and slept... Thank you, my love! (Nealon refuses a bottle these days and doesn't quite have the hang of a sippy cup yet.)

I had a massage (thank you Groupon and Mother's Day!), explored Los Gatos (lovely!), went to Target, and picked up dinner. I returned home a little more relaxed and had in my possession a box of diapers, some clothes for Nealon, thank you gifts, and one of Luke's favorite meals.

The afternoon was nice! I'll have to do it more often (yes, Luke?). It wasn't that easy to make it happen though. Got to be good about actually blocking the time off and saying no to things and arranging work responsibilities, etc, etc...

I tried to enjoy slowly...

We also (which gets to count as an addition to the 30 to 30 list) opened up a bottle of wine that we've had for a few years now. It actually moved here with us from South Carolina. It was a gift from the president of major league baseball... (Thanks, Bob!!) We opened the white, there's still a nice bottle of red waiting! Got you wondering, don't I?

Nealon is still sleeping now! This may be the longest "break" I've had from him since he came home in December. I'm actually wanting him to wake up!

2010-08-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

11 to 30...

Someone famous.

As you've possibly noticed, I haven't had a set list for my 30 to 30. Some of the items were already set out, other just happened, and then still others are in the works and/or being discovered. One of my "unspoken" desires was to meet someone famous. I suppose this could still happen. In some regards I have done this earlier in my life as well - been in the same room as several, worked with some, etc.

Fridays are often Luke's day off. We like to spend time doing some things together. Today we went for a walk to the library and stopped for some fro yo at our new local place on our way home. (Nealon likes the original tart!) As Luke was paying and Nealon and I were beginning to navigate out, guess who was walking in? Meg Whitman. She's the republican nominee for governor of CA, former CEO of eBay, etc. Now, we didn't meet her per se. But I did say hi and she said hi back! She's pretty tall. She walked out, eating her yogurt and waited for the gentleman that she was with to come out. She was wearing a white shirt and denim slacks. As soon as he came out, they ran across the street. Right, no picture.

We then walked home. I was kicking myself for not asking for a picture with her. What politician doesn't want people to talk to them?! We decided that we'd ask them if we ran into them again. Really, a picture with Meg Whitman now might not be a big deal...but who knows, someday it might be... Anyhow. We didn't run into them. Luke needed to get something done at home and I decided to take another loop with Nealon. We found them! They were in the Baskin Robbins across the street. Her back was to the door. They were having what seemed to be a fun conversation. No, I wasn't about to go in and interrupt. That would be stalkerish! (As if walking back around the neighborhood wasn't stalker-ish enough!)

So...anyone got some famous people you want to introduce me to?

In other news, we joined the YMCA today. They have free childcare. I plan on spending 2 hours there each day. Class, sauna, coffee...oh, Nealon!! :)

In my creative mode, I did this... Do you see it?

2010-08-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

12 to 30...

Read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Finished!

Yes, I've managed to never complete this book in my 29+ years! Now, I have. It was good!

Who wants to point out to me everything that I missed? I'll have to read it again.

2010-08-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

13 to 30...

Create a cocktail!

I'm definitely no bartender. Can hardly even open a bottle of wine...

Tonight I create the "Sardini" (get it...Sardine, Martini...Sardini!!!)

It was a concoction of berry juice, lemonade, mint simple syrup, and vodka.

Quotes from the consumers (my guinea pigs):

"It's better than sangria!" - Ed

"I'd seriously choose to drink it!" - Luke

"DE. LISH. US" - Erica

Anyone want to come over tomorrow night?

Sardine comes from SARah broDINE

2010-08-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

14 to 30...

Have groceries delivered!

They haven't been delivered yet, but the order has been placed! I've been wanting to do this for a couple of years now. Safeway delivers your first order (over $50) for free. We are having people over for dinner tomorrow night so it seemed like a great time to test it out. The groceries will be delivered between 11 and 1pm tomorrow.

2010-08-23T22:46:00.000-07:00

15 to 30...

See a movie by myself!

Tonight I went to a movie by myself. It was a nice evening out! After getting Nealon to bed, I ran out the door. What I was going to see was a bit up in the air until I got there. Not sure what I'd make it in time for. Eat, Pray, Love might have been nice choice but it was too long and too late. I ended up seeing "Dinner for Schmucks" - It was funny, cute, awkwardly uncomfortable, as well as unfortunately crass. Generally, I don't enjoy uncomfortable movies - this one managed to make the awkward, endearing.

Yes, I know that I've skipped another day. I'm keeping track and will double up eventually.

2010-08-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

17 to 30...
magazine meal!

i didn't go as all out as I had intended. my initial thought was to create an entire suggested meal from a magazine - drinks, appetizers, main dish, dessert, etc. tonight we just went for the main dish and wine.

i made a recipe from Sunset Magazine - stuffed chicken with rosemary polenta


Sunset's version

my version

the reason that this was a "challenge" for me is because I typically don't like recipes. i prefer to have an idea and go with it. i don't like to measure things. etc, etc...

unfortunately, they only had pre-cooked polenta at Trader Joe's. i did manage to measure the olive oil. (that was hard!) and we did enjoy the suggested pinot grigio with it.

we'd eat it again!

as a side note - yes, turns out I skipped 18. i'm sure that I did a thing or two that I hadn't done before but...i'll just have to double up on another day.

2010-08-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

19 to 30...

The Mountain Winery, Swell Season, and mixed emotions

Last night Luke and I went out to celebrate our birthdays and 6th anniversary. We went to the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. This is our third summer in CA, and we've talked about going every summer. Yesterday evening, our plans finally took us.

Mountain Winery and Swell Season

The Swell Season was in concert. 2 and a half years ago we had tickets to see them but were not able to go to the show. Last night we finally saw them.

It was a BEAUTIFUL evening. A warm day lead to a crisp night; cool but not too cold. For the first time since living in CA I looked up at the stars several times, even saw a shooting star once. It felt like a late October night in the Carolinas.

Wonderful show. Amazing venue.

Then, things ended abruptly. Something that I'd never wanted to witness or experience happened. During a light-hearted moment in the show, someone came crashing to the stage. From where we sat, it looked like someone had fallen off of the light rigging. Seems it was suicide. Read more here.

It was good to eventually return home.

2010-08-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

21 and 20 to 30...

So, spending time in KC took a bite out of my endeavors. They were full, full, full days!

Again, I accomplished some more random "firsts" but not necessarily long-dreamed-of happenings.

- Finished watching a movie on the iPad
- Completed a "solo" trip with Nealon
- Flew into OAK
- Ate at Gott's in SF with my cousin, Connor, a new SF resident

Yep, nothing too exciting! Back to the grind tomorrow!

Stay tuned!

Nealon, pretending that he wasn't jet-lagged and that he was enjoying time with Connor.

2010-08-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

22 to 30

Met my goddaughter, finally!!!

Today I met our goddaughter, Annabelle P. Johnson! She turns 3 next month and is precious! It took a lot of work for us not to meet...


Sweet Annabelle

Annabelle's mom, Jen, is expecting #2 this fall. She's an AMAZING mom!

yay!

Annabelle is going to be a wonderful big sister!

2010-08-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

23 to 30...

today didn't include any long talked about interests or desires...or something even very interesting. it did include a few firsts though...

- first time buying tickets on ticketmaster as soon as they went on sale - here we come mumford & sons!
- first time spending the day at my in-laws without luke.
- first time driving around kansas city by myself (with Nealon and Rebecca, of course! i was just the one doing the driving.

tomorrow...there will be an anticipated first! (and hopefully some pictures)

2010-08-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

24 to 30...

Visit Southern California!

Today, nealon and I flew to San Diego! We were on our way to Kansas city*... Still, I managed to step outside of the airport. Since we had to get to gate 1 which was on the other side of another security checkpoint (good-bye $2.50 bottle of barely enjoyed water) we stepped outside the front door for a moment. Tried to take a picture but it didn't work and I didn't want to somehow miss our connection. Alas, I'll provide you with this picture of nealon on the plane. We were still on the ground in SD.

On a more legitimate note, tonight, Luke is booking the details for a little family vacay to SD. (check out the deals on Virgin airlines!! And thank you Hilton points!) The trip will take place next month...yippee!!!

* nealon and I are aunt Rebecca sitting while luke's mom is having knee surgery out of town. School starts Monday!

Getting into daddy's Star Wars toys

2010-08-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

25 to 30

Go on a real, grown-up, double-date!

Yes, Luke and I have gone on several dates before but tonight seemed a little more grown up. A real babysitter, a real dinner reservation, real friends, real [good] food, a dress and a dry cleaned shirt. Luke even cleaned out the car! (Who cares if the babysitting was *free* as part of an exchange for services set up, and who cares if we used a generous gift card towards dinner. That just made it even more enjoyable, right?!)

Dinner was at Evvia in Palo Alto. The other couple was the Herrmann-Hollenbecks. Batman was dining there. He even had his motorcycle valet parked. Our waiter was excellent. The food was amazing!


Batman's motorcycle and me

Yes, those are real guns on front and yes, that dress had been in the bag of clothes I attempted to sell yesterday.

Grown-ups!

Laura and Jay

2010-08-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

26 to 30 - fail!
Failure wasn't the task for today. I fail all the time. Failure was however the result of what I attempted to do.

Today I had every intention of selling some of my clothes. Getting rid of things is often difficult for me and something that I'm often trying to do. So, selling some of my clothes seemed like the perfect solution, right? Well, not the way I went about it.

I selected about 12 of the nicest items* that I was thinking of getting rid of and proceed to go to Plato's Closet where they buy gently used clothing and then sell it again. I'd never been there before but thought I'd give it a try.

For Sale!

As they looked through my clothing to decide what they would take, I looked through the clothes on sale and overheard what they were telling other people - "we'll buy two of your items and give you $9." - "we'll buy three of your items and give you $6"... I felt like i was probably in pretty good shape to do better than these other gals! As I looked at the clothing for sale, I wished that I'd brought some of my target clothes with me. When my turn to talk with them came up i was told, "sorry, we won't be buying any of your items." Ouch!

The sign when I entered should perhaps have been an indicator to me. They were looking for teen and young adult clothing. Now that I'm almost thirty, perhaps I'm no longer a young adult.

Too bad I'm not a size 4 and don't shop at forever 21!

Here is the cash flow for my day:

Gas - $6 (spent about an hour in the car round trip. The store is in San Mateo)
Parking meter - $1
Payment for clothing - $0

I spent $7 today trying to make money....

Now do I try consignment or do I just go to Goodwill?

* Including lacoste, Ralph lauren, anthropologie, DKNY, etc. As a general operating rule, I don't like to spend more than $20 on any item of clothing. Under $10 is even better. All of the clothes I was attempting to sell either came from a sale rack, marshalls/tjmaxx/Ross, gifts, or were purchased with my clothing allowance at a former job.

2010-08-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

27 to 30...

Do something with your handwriting!

I've been wanting to for a while but never really have... I've been asked what font I've used before when it was my own penmanship. Somewhere during college I began to enjoy handwriting...mine is ever changing. I don't expect this entry to win and isn't my favorite. One of the things that this 30 to 30 project is helping me see it to "just do it!". There are so many things I never get done because I know I won't be able to do them perfectly. There are so many things that I'm missing out on because I never even get started...

The contest is for a band called "Sleeping at Last." Luke sent me the info on the contest.

Here's my entry for tonight. Again, not my best. Perhaps I'll enter more!


Handwriting Entry (#1)

2010-08-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

28 to 30...

Painting! Getting started at least. My goal is to eventually paint something to hang on the wall. Today I purchased several beginner/cheap supplies and played around a bit.

Luke wanted something with flowers and a meditation on the ten commandments...

Don't love it but the point of this is to get started, right?

Luke is making me decide tonight what I'm going to do tomorrow...because I'm finding myself getting to these tasks late in the evening...

2010-08-09T21:44:00.000-07:00


an urban eden

29 to 30...

the countdown is ON!

this evening i planted a vegetable garden. of sorts. we don't really have any space to truly plant a lush garden. i like my containers. there are many reasons that this should not be a success. we'll see. perhaps someday we'll have zucchini, broccoli, sugar snap peas, artichokes, lettuce, and jalepenos!

getting these 30 things accomplished is going to be difficult. if planting a veggie garden at 9pm was one of the easy tasks....

until tomorrow!

2010-08-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

30 days left in my 20s. 30 days left until 30. As such, I'm going to try to accomplish 30 things that I haven't done, have wanted to do, or feel need to be done for real before I turn 30. (Having a baby 10 weeks prematurely while 29 years old wasn't enough for me...!)

Tonight I started out easy. We watched Top Gun. Yes, I'd never seen it. It came out when I was 5 1/2 years old and somehow I've managed to survive all these years without it. It was pretty good....

More adventures to come - most more interesting than Top Gun! Let me know if you'd like to join me or have suggestions for things to add to my list... (plant a veggie garden, cook an entire meal from a magazine, ride a motorcycle, go to a movie by myself, walk across the golden gate bridge, go to SoCal, meet my goddaughter...)

2010-04-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

If you happen to be here, on this page, you likely received a birth announcement/thank you from us (or soon will). Thanks for checking this out!

The announcements took two forms; I couldn't decide which I liked better. The original idea was to not attach the picture and write thank you notes in the blank portion of the front of the card.

I also really liked how it looked with the picture attached. Unfortunately, that also meant cutting N's hand off! I then wrote notes on the backs of the cards.

Although a little cheesy, I thought I'd have a contest. Leave a comment on this post and you'll be "entered" into a contest to win a set of personalized note cards. April 30 will be the last day to enter. I'll randomly (names in a hat style) select a winner and notify you. Please leave an email address in your comment.

2009-11-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

An attempt to "dress-up" some baby gifts!

2009-10-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

This is going to become my "creative" blog... maybe? If you happen to be reading this, wow! Luke and I (and Baby Bro) have a family blog as well - http://brochateau.wordpress.com.

My friend Jesse has started a card club...and I get to be part of it...helping me achieve some of my "goals" in the last year of my 20s... There are 4 of us participating. Each month, we send at least one blank card that we have created to each of the others. I went with a Thanksgiving-ish theme for this month. Some months I assume that mine will look similar to each other. This month, they each took a slightly different direction. Each card has a front panel that slides off, leaving a blank panel for messages.

what we've been up to since moving to the west coast

2008-08-25T22:46:00.001-07:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

2008-07-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

2 Months!

So, we've lived in CA for almost 2 months! We still have our SC phone numbers but other than that, our "things" have been switched to CA. Here is a quick photo update which really only provides a small glimpse of things...we've been busy!

My friend Kari and I took advantage of a free train ride into the city. Our plan was to go for brunch...alas, the place we were planning on eating had been closed (just for a few days) for remodeling.... There weren't a lot of other options so...we ended up at Panera...
I met Kari at the beginning of our time here. She had just moved out from Tennessee. We enjoyed having extra time to hang out while not having jobs. (We are both now employed)

A highlight of our time here thus far has been "jam nights"! A wonderful family in our church has hosted us and several other musicians for dinner and music on a couple of Friday nights. This is something that we would love to do if we had the space - We're SO thankful for the opportunity and space provided. Luke has compiled/invited a different group both times and it is fun to watch (and listen to) the variety of talents!

A few weeks ago we made it to the coast (Montara Beach) with a couple of Luke's cousins and their kids! One family lives only about 20 minutes from us and the other was in from Reno for the weekend! We had a lot of fun! Neither of us have lived this close to any of our first cousins before.

We have a piano! I accidentally found a great free piano on craigslist...and it is now in our living room...determining where all of the other furniture goes! We're excited! It is a good piano that just needs a little touch up work. The guy giving it to us even loaded it up and delivered it. Some friends helped unload it...causing a tiny traffic jam on the first night of the summer concert series in the park just down the street from us.

4th of July! We did a little bit of everything that day...ended by fireworks! We had parked near a movie theater so, instead of braving the traffic to get out - we went and saw "Get Smart" - it was fun! (That sounds a little like an elementary school report "it was fun") So on that note - I'll finish with a poem that I wrote in elementary school...

I like the 4th of July
It's when the fireworks fly
It makes a big, big boom
When the fireworks zoom

2008-06-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

FIRE!!!

You may have heard that hundreds of wildfires are burning in Northern California. Beyond hearing about them, we're smelling them, feeling it in our breathing, and seeing the soot that has come in from our bathroom window being open. It smells sort of like a campfire...

Here's a short write-up on the situation: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gwSSrT7-LciDlr1tYmyE9e19oX9QD91GKFNO2

2008-06-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

A Photo Update!
Our weekend, minus a few activities, plus a few details, summed up in photos!

We've attended two MLB games since we've been out here. One A's game - versus Detroit - in a luxury box with Tyler Martin and friends (THANKS Tyler)! This past Friday evening we went to AT&T Park in San Francisco and watched the A's beat the Giants.

We were also in a luxury box at AT&T Park thanks to our friend Erin's employer! Erin's husband, Bob, works at Grace with Luke and we've enjoy spending time with them since we've been here. One added highlight of being in the luxury box was running into Kristi Yamaguchi in the hallway! I could have reached out and touched her. She was honored before the game with a Giant's jersey...for winning "Dancing with the Stars"...I think!

On Saturday, Luke and I headed back into the city. Before heading in, we met up with our friends Garth and Dan. We knew Garth from Seattle and he's now living in Los Angeles. Dan and his wife, Claire, live about 20 minutes from us. Once in San Fran, we enjoyed walking around Union Square. We had a yummy and affordable dinner at "King of Thai Noodle House" and then...

...we went to Border's to enjoy an in-store concert by Sam Philips.
This is what had taken us into SF in the first place.

On Sunday afternoon, we hiked "The Dish" with our friend Bonny. The weather was perfect! Once we got past the incredible uphill start, we really enjoyed our time. :) Bonny then treated us to Fraiche - frozen yogurt!

The Dish (it is very large!)

2008-06-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

Blogging?

I'm not sure why I'm so hesitant to "start" blogging. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to "get going"? (Other than having a baby...? :)) I think that pictures help blogs so...that will be my next step to being a better blogger

Other items for suggestion:

Good summer reading?
How to handle an upstairs neighbor who is a light sleeper? Closing the lid on our toilet or opening our closet doors and walking seem to wake her up...

Things here in California are going pretty well! We're feeling a bit more settled, although I still don't have my clothes unpacked...

In the past week I:

Ruined clothing at the laundromat - black pens and industrial dryers don't go well together!
Interviewed for a job - the guy interviewing me was younger than me! It would have been a lot of hours and little pay so, i passed.
Went to an A's game - in a luxury box! A new friend with season tickets had access and had a sort of "celebration" to welcome us. Fun stuff!
Had dinner with Luke's cousin - Scott and his family live in the area and have recently welcomed a new baby!
Connected with more people on facebook!
And a handful of other things like starting to have people over for dinner and games!

I'm enjoying exploring by foot! We live withing walking distance to a couple of grocery stores (including a Trader Joe's), and about a 20 minute walk from a mall! Not having a job can get expensive! I've been trying not to let it though...

So, selling a house is not for the faint of heart! At least not selling our house across the country :). I'll spare you the details but it has gotten a little bit hairy!

This week I'm looking forward to:

A Giants game - also in a luxury box!
Lunches and breakfasts - with new friends!
Hanging things on our walls!

Until next time....

2008-05-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

We're in California!

Hey all...I think that I'm going to try to start blogging...?! For the time being...here is a quick update -

Luke and I just moved to California! Luke is the new worship director at Grace Presbyterian Church in Silicon Valley (Palo Alto/Stanford University area). We're living in a little apartment in Menlo Park. We arrived here a little over a week ago and our things (POD #1) were delivered yesterday...a little later than expected! We also found a car yesterday - 1996 Volvo Wagon :). So, now it is time to get settled! Luke leads worship for the first "official" Sunday tomorrow morning...got to get some sleep!

Our new mailing address is: 932 University Drive, #1, Menlo Park, CA 94025

2008-01-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

Life in a small college town...
So, I often am amused by the "quirks" of living in a small town and figured I might as well share them...it is ok if no one reads them. (Jen, thanks for the push to update this more than once a year!) We love Clemson and Pendleton but also like to laugh about things that seem so simple but well, sometimes aren't so simple...like getting a cup of coffee at 7pm on a Wednesday evening...

Tonight, Luke and I went out to see "Bee Movie" at The Astro (more affectionately known at "The 'Stro") It is the fantastic $2 theater in Clemson. The internet said that the movie started at 7pm but when we arrived, it actually was scheduled to start at 7:30...so, what to do. Let's get coffee. Where? Jittery Joe's? OK. So, we drove to Jittery Joe's...closed!! Ah, yes - school is out so things shut down. Where now, well, after eliminating other options because they were either too far away, probably closed, or involved going to the grocery store for coffee, we ended up at Sonic (if you aren't familiar with this chain - www.sonicdrivein.com) which now that I think of it is a year old here in Clemson! We enjoyed our Carmel Mocha Lattes (the total cost for 2 was $4.77 - quite the value, don't you think!?). We enjoyed them while staring across the street at the Starbucks that is under construction...what is happening to our small town?!?! Starbucks!!! After sitting in the car for 20 minutes - listening to the new Alison Krauss and Robert Plant album - we headed back to the movie theater. And yes, the movie was cute...

2007-12-19T18:49:00.002-08:00

A Year In Haiku
Two years in a row... doesn't that make it a tradition? Continuing the spirit of last year, here is our Year End Letter in cryptic, Japanese poetry (with a little explanation for each below):

One bathroom, now two
Entertaining multitudes
Luke est Magister

One bathroom, now two
Finally settling into our house more, we got busy painting and painting and painting... but for the bigger jobs we needed someone with a little more knowhow! So we hired a contractor to add a second bathroom in a preexisting closet. Losing storage space, we had him add another closet as well as some shelves for a pantry. And if that wasn't enough, we had him install a new front door... whew! We are enjoying home ownership a great deal, and it's great to have things more and more how we want them to look. (more photos on the way)

Painting the bedroom

Painting the kitchen red

Entertaining multitudes
One goal of fixing up the house was to spruce it up for the many guests that we hosted. In July, 70 people joined us to celebrate Luke's 28th birthday with Kansas City style barbecued brisket. Thankfully the weather cooperated so everyone could play in the backyard; otherwise, where would we have put that many people! For Thanksgiving, we hosted 15 for dinner, and then a few more joined in for games and dessert. In addition to these larger gatherings, we welcomed many other guests, including a monthly Young Adult Bible Study, our "adopted" students from church, and Luke's Mom and sister, Rebecca. (One side note, Luke's Dad was unfortunately not able to make the trip to South Carolina this year due to an unexpected appearance of blood clots in his lungs. He has recovered well, and the doctors will monitor his progress over the next year to decide what the next step will be. Thank you for your continued prayers.)

Blowing out the candles

Luke est Magister (translation from Latin: Luke is a teacher)
In addition to his continued studies at Erskine Seminary, Luke took on a number of jobs this year, including teaching. He learned Latin over the summer in order to teach a class of 11 students for the local home school co-op. He also began teaching piano lessons to 7 year old twin brothers, Will and Sam. At church, he continued teaching the Young Adult Bible study, and added substitute teaching for Sunday School and preaching twice for the evening worship service. All of this in addition to his work in music at the church and at home, including transcribing music for the latest releases from Indelible Grace Music and Sandra McCracken. These added experiences help to confirm Luke's desire to work in music and teaching for the church, and help him narrow his focus as he begins to look for a job to take after graduation.

Other highlights of the year:

Sarah continued in the same position that she's had the last two years as an executive sales assistant at The Cliffs Communities. This job puts her in contact with many interesting people and . A highlight of the year for the company was to have Tiger Woods announce that he will be designing his first golf course in the US at one of The Cliffs Communities.
We didn't travel quite as much as last year, but we did make it to Kansas City for a DeBarger family reunion over Memorial Day weekend.
Not as many weddings this year, but the babies have begun! We became godparents to Annabelle Johnson, Nick and Jen's new arrival in Kansas City.
A highlight of the year was to have our friends' Amy and Michael Parks moved in next door in January, and then welcomed their new baby Will over the summer.

Wishing you Tidings of Joy this Christmas and in the New Year!

2006-12-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

A Year In Haiku
Instead of sending out a Year End letter, we decided to create a haiku that summarized our year in a glance. "What's a haiku" you ask? It is a Japanese poem that doesn't rhyme and has a syllable scheme of 5-7-5. Here's our haiku (with explanation of each below):

Rent is now mortgage
Busy with work, church, and school
Car mileage is high

Rent is now mortgage
Our biggest "news" for the year - We bought a house! After a process which began and ended with calls to our landlord, and exploring a handful of options in between, we were able to purchase the rental house we have been living in since moving to South Carolina. It is a fun, old mill house, one block off of the Pendleton Town Square. We've been learning more about the art of room painting, landscaping, and "getting rid" of mice. It would be fabulous to have you come test out our guest room!

Busy with work, church, and school.
Each week dictates which of these aspects takes up the most of our time and how much we get to see each other. Work, church, and school all overlap for Luke at times. He is now the "worship intern" at Clemson Presbyterian Church. This year he completed the church's first worship CD - for which he played, sang, recorded, and engineered. He's enjoying being part of discussion about worship, planning and leading music for the evening services, playing music in morning services or doing sound when he's not playing...the list goes on... Every once in a while we get to sit with each other for an entire service. Sarah is enjoying getting to know many people and has been blessed with the opportunity to co-lead a women's Bible study.

As for school, Luke has reached the half-way point in working toward his Masters of Divinity degree at Erskine Seminary. He is doing very well in classes (receiving an award in the spring for Hebrew) and is thoroughly enjoying all that he is learning. In the summer, he traveled to New York City to take a course on the Christian Use of Art. In the fall, he began learning Greek and preached his first sermon in class.

Just before the 2006 New Year came, Sarah took a new position within the Cliffs Communities, a group of seven "master-planned golf and wellness communities" in the mountains of the western Carolinas. She is working as a sales assistant to one of the sales executives–Ross Kester. Sarah now has her Real Estate License and is learning the art of selling. The job is fun and stretching and provides many opportunities to meet many interesting people (at least on the phone) and do interesting things (helicopter tours and a James Taylor concert were a couple of highlights.

Car mileage is high.

After driving from Seattle to South Carolina in 2005, we never thought we'd have another year like that one for putting miles on the car. Well, we were wrong! Work for Sarah and school for Luke put a steady amount of mileage on the cars. On top of that, we had a number of road trips for weddings, vacation, and family reunions, taking us to Florida, Mississippi, upstate New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Tennessee (and all the states in between).

That's our year in a nutshell! We hope that you and your family are doing well this Christmas season and we look forward to hearing from you soon! Leaving a comment is a great way to do it :)

2006-11-19T12:41:00.000-08:00

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