To the seaside!

Eric and I are headed to the coast tomorrow for a few days of rest and play and as we prepare, I am reminded of my last trip to the beach, just a few weeks back. I participated in two different events that overlapped at Camp Magruder: the yearly Deacon's retreat and Immerse, a wonderful time of renewal for camp and church leaders.

The Deacons reflected on our role as bridge-builders, connecting the church and the world, and spent some time getting crafty and creating bridges out of recycled materials.

The Bridge of God, or "Bridge of Goo" as it became affectionately known.

Jeff wanted to find an actual bridge that he helped build at Magruder several years ago, so we braved the rain and growing puddles in the wetlands (no kidding) to find it.

We didn't quite reach it because the water level on the trail kept growing higher, but we did spy it from across the way.

Some of my beach buddies:

It was so windy!

The coast is wonderful, no matter what the weather, but I do hope that this week, any rain we do have will be falling softly down, not pelting us horizontally. We'll be in Seaside, which is a town we haven't yet visited--yay!

So thankful...

I called brother Justin on Tuesday to wish him a happy 34th birthday and he surprised me by saying that he was thinking of flying up from Chico, CA to stay with us for a few days for Thanksgiving. And by 2p.m. Wednesday, he was here!

Not surprisingly, our days were filled with lots of food! Eric's special blueberry pancakes on Thanksgiving morning--mmmm. I was still in bed when this picture was taken.

We had planned to make biscuits for our community Thanksgiving meal, but decided at the last minute to make two of our favorites from last year: vegetarian meatloaf and sage onion gravy. So, it was off to the store (which was surprisingly quiet), then back to the kitchen.

The tender of the stove:

"Meat"loaf in process:

Gravy in process:

The spread:

It was more than enough for the 30-some folks who came, but you've got to plan for leftovers, no?

Our table. I had a great time teaching some of these guys to play UNO after dinner while others lounged below the football game that was projected on the wall. Who was playing again? I can't remember.

Four of the guys we dined with are from different parts of the world--Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala--and they all have partners or children who are far away and some have gone years without seeing them. It was a blessing to be together on this day when we feel thankful and, at the same time, a little less than complete as we think about our loved ones who we can't see in person.

I am thankful for my family--the ones who are close and the ones who are spread out over this country. And I am thankful for the abundance of food and friends that sustain us, and the patchwork families that we knit together wherever we are. Thanks to God that blood is not the only thing that binds.

Walk There: Mt. Tabor

After a day of gorging and guzzling and lounging, it seemed only right to do something a bit more active. So on Friday, Justin, Eric and I, once we finally got going (long after many crazy folks are already home from shopping) pulled out our trust Walk There book and chose a route we hadn't yet attempted: Mt. Tabor in Portland.

It was warmer than the previous days had been, but still chilly and wet. And lush! It was a wonderful walk that ended at a great food cart lot where we enjoyed Korean food and a veggie Rueben--delicious!

From here we stopped at Next Adventure, then it was off to the airport so Justin could get home in time to play a concert the next day, then welcome Lil home from her 10-day backpacking trip!

Oregon, you are funny

Here's what we woke up to this morning:

With the sun peeking through, this would be a pretty, somewhat pleasant, if cold, winter day in the midwest. But here, because of the ice on the roads and the lack of salt, everything shut down. No school, no morning appointments, no nothin'. Oh, well. Guess we will do the work we can from the coziness of our little home and enjoy the extra dose of lazy in our day. And not feel a bit guilty about an afternoon nap.

Una visita

Not so long ago, my lovely Albion friend, Carrie, was passing through town on her way from the Bay Area to Eugene to visit one of her littlest nieces (and her sister, of course) and we just had to get together. I wish we could have had a longer visit, but in a couple of good hours over tea and a breakfast sandwich (yum!!) we were able to catch up on everything that has happened since Carrie and Mike's wedding two years ago! Hard to believe that it's been that long! So so great to see you, friend.

We have got to get down to CA more often!!

Rainy days in the Emerald City

A few weeks back, Eric and I got to stay in a fancy-shmancy downtown Seattle hotel while participating in the New Church Leadership Insitute and we found it hard to believe that in all our time living in Oregon, we'd never been to Seattle together! The only other time I've been to downtown Seattle was for the service-learning conference I attended with my mentoring class while at Albion! For Pete's sake, it's only 3.5 hours away!

The event was excellent and we had a great time reconnecting with friends, getting to know some great folks from the Oregon-Idaho Conference better, and meeting up with family!

Eric's cousins, Heather and Mark, live in Seattle and they, along with Mark's girlfriend, Jen, met up with us for Happy Hour one night. I've only met them a few times but really enjoying hanging out with them. And Mark and Jen shared their excitement about having just found out that the baby they are expecting is a girl!

Unfortunately, I had the camera on nighttime snapshot mode, so we all look a little fuzzy.

We also went out to the incredible Dillettante chococate cafe where I had the richest dark hot chocolate ever made and split chocolate cake with a friend. Also at the table were a milkshake, ice cream sundae, chocolate martini, more hot chocolate, and chocolate mousse cake. You have to go to this place if you're ever in Seattle!!

The ginormous bed in our room and Eric, participating in one of the luxurious activities that come with staying in a hotel--TV! I'm a little sheepish to admit it because I am very happy that we don't have a TV at home, but it's nice to just flip through the channels now and again. And just to be really indulgent, I was even on Facebook while I watched TV--something I'd never done before.

The view from our room:

On our drive home through the rain, we celebrated reaching a landmark on the ole odometer of our dear Kia Spectra, Silvie:

The happy driver:

Our traveling companions, Jeremy and Paul on our stop a a little local sammy shop.

We'll just have to find a reason to get back to Seattle again soon!

Hello, fall

I like you.