Addison Joy

Addison Joy is now four months old and she's a doll! I love seeing how much she's grown every time we get together with the Lee's. She likes to "stand up" and play on her back and her favorite toys right now are water bottles and beach balls. She likes her new Harold the Horse (he's really a zebra) and when you pull the string to make him vibrate and rattle her eyes get so big! Nothing beats a baby smile... except for a baby laugh. Addison hasn't found her giggles quite yet.

Snow!

Earlier this month, we enjoyed the snowfall. Well... I enjoyed the snowfall. Davin's had his fill of snow from growing up in Spokane. We had 3-4 inches at our house and school was shut down for a couple days so we had free time to relax and play. Now that I live at work there were a couple things I had to follow up on each day even though the office was "closed." Still have people living here that I am responsible for, and when someone doesn't have heat in this cold weather, it's a big deal. We stayed snug and I helped shovel and de-ice the sidewalks in front of my house. One night while Davin was putting our new Oregon plates on the car, I built a snowman. It was perfect snowman snow. Too bad my brother didn't live closer. We would have had fun building forts, caves, and having a snowball fight. Davin prefers to stay inside, but he indulges me in my childish delight in the snow from time to time. :-)

Beautiful Condo for Rent

Our lovely condo is finally ready to rent. We were sad to move out, but with housing provided at my new job... it was a deal we couldn't pass up. So now we're looking for good, responsible renters. Send them our way if you know of anyone who's looking for a place. Here's the details: Two bedrooms 940 square feet 1.5 bathrooms Hardwood floors in kitchen/dining Vaulted ceilings All appliances provided: fridge, range, dishwasher, microwave, w/d Natural gas fireplace Skylight Patio w/ natural gas BBQ hookup Detatched garage Gated community New construction Great NE Vancouver location Rent: $890

Green Belt Test

Last Wednesday we passed the test for our green belts and entered the intermediate level. It was the hardest test we've had because there was a lot of material to cover. We had to do 4 basics, 2 kicking tests, 10 fighting techniques, all the forms we've learned so far, and our first weapons form which was the sahng jeol bong (nunchucks). We finished up by breaking boards with a front kick and a side kick. The board breaks are the most exciting part of the test. We got it on video along with our friend Dave's five board breaks. He's now a half black belt. After that we all went out to Olive Garden to celebrate. Stay tuned... the next belt is purple, but for now we're going to enjoy green! Davin's board breaks   Melissa's board breaks   Dave's board breaks  

Our encounter with the police.

The other night, at about 3:45 AM, Melissa and I woke to "You! Put your hands up! Do it now! You in the back put your hand up!! Do it now!". Needless to say I haven't been woken up like that in well ...... um ...... forever. So, we were kinda weirded out by it. We inched our way to the window and peeked out to see a car that was parked directly next to our driveway with some people in the car. We could also see the very front of a police car and its flashing lights. The voice on the other end of the loud speaker proceeded to tell the individuals to get out of the car one by one and walk backwards out of sight toward the police car. So, we decided to go downstairs to see if we could see what the police were going to do. We pulled the shades in the living room aside to see not one but nine police cars lined down the road, two police officers with their guns drawn and aimed at the car, a couple with shotguns slung over their shoulders, and other police standing about. It was really weird to have that happen directly in front of our house. They proceeded to put the individuals into the squad cars and drive off. The whole ordeal ended about 4:30 AM when the tow truck came to get the car. Melissa wanted to take a picture for this blog, but I was kinda leery that the flash would go off and the police would start shooting. So, you'll just have to take our word for it.

Hours of fun

A guy at work keyed me in to this website. It's a very creative application and it's pretty fun. Melissa even likes playing with it. Take a look at the movies while you are there. There are some pretty neat ones. Give it a go. Caution!! It's highly addictive. http://www.official-linerider.com/play.html

Comedy of Errors

In the IT department at Multnomah we have an ID card printer. It's a few years old, and it works decently. Before the beginning of each semester we take it in to have it serviced. This year our administrative assistant LaVonne took it in, and I got the privilege of picking it up. I say that very loosely. The place we take it to is 45 minutes south of Portland. So, I got in my car (the day before Christmas break) and traffic is well ... bad. So it took me about and hour to get there. When I finally got there it turns out they have moved and no one told me. So, the guy at the old office gave me a map printed from Google maps to the new location ... which is another half hour south. So, I got back in my car and drove south. I finally find the exit that I am suppose to take and I began my search for the new location. Unfortunately, the map that I was given was not that accurate. I drove up and down the same road multiple times looking for a certain road that was supposed to be there. I couldn't find it. So, I called Melissa on the cell phone to get directions. I got about two sentences in when I heard the phone beep ... oh no my battery is dying. A few more sentences later it went kaput. So, I resorted back to my faulty map. The road I was looking for was supposed to be 2.3 miles from this other road. So, I looked at the odometer and tried again. I got 2.3 miles down the road and turned left onto an unmarked street ... which happened to be the one I was looking for. I drove up and down that road a couple time but all I could see was residential houses. So, I broke down and decided to ask for directions. I stopped at a house with a big truck on the side of it. I went to the door and knocked a couple of time but no one answered. I heard a car door close around the side of the house so, I walked back to the front of the house in time to watch the truck back into the front of my car. After two and a half hours of trying to find the place I finally decided to go home.