Disneyland - Day 1

Friday, October 12 was our first day in the park. It was all decked out in yellow and orange with Disney pumpkins everywhere. Our first ride was Pirates of the Caribbean and from there I don't actually remember, but we did a lot of the Disneyland rides on the first day. Splash Mountain was a big hit and ended up being Jeremy's favorite ride. He liked sitting in the back seat. Davin was telling Mom and Dad that we've never gotten really wet (which is true) and don't understand the "dry is not an option" phrase they use for the ride. We've always walked away dry. He took the front seat and on the first little dip... splash! He got soaked... again and again, and finally the big plunge. He was dripping wet, and we all got a pretty good laugh. Mom and I got wet too. Figures, as soon as you say it's not that bad you're proven wrong. We stayed at Desert Inn and Suites right across the street from the east entrance to the park. What a difference it makes to stay within short walking distance! We had adjoining rooms which gave us plenty of space, and the place was clean and service was good. I'd like to stay here again.

Day 1,176

Melissa and I have a tradition. It started one night when we decided to go to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. Sometimes, we really want to go out to eat, but we don't have a good reason, so we'll make up one ... like "We're celebrating Tuesday." Anyway, that particular night at Sweet Tomatoes we were trying to decide what we were celebrating. We decided that we were celebrating day 400 something of being married. Well, that started our tradition. Everytime we go to Sweet Tomatoes we have to figure out how many days we have been married. Fortunately, we haven't had to deal with leap year yet ... next year though. Ack!! Well, today is day 1,176, and each day has been worth it. Oh yeah, it was a good meal too!

Alternative to Oil Heat

So Davin and I decided that we needed to look into other options for heat this winter. We moved into this house mid-winter last year and in 4 months we used 338 gallons of oil costing us $920. Ouch! I guess it wouldn't have been too bad if we were nice and toasty the whole time, but we basically only ran the furnace in the evenings between 5-10pm. I froze most of the time! So Dr. Kutz introduced us to the EdenPure heater that he uses. He got one we could borrow so we've been trying it out, and it heats our big living room pretty well. The best part is that it only uses 1.263 kilowatts per hour so we figured out if we had it on 14 hours a day, it would cost us about $0.70/day. Based on what we paid for our oil I estimate it costs almost $1.50/hour to run that thing! Let's see... one hour of heat vs. two days of heat. Even though the unit is kind of expensive, it would pay for itself in 2 months. I think we may need to get one of these things.

Agape Ropes Course

The Central Bible youth staff retreat was last weekend. We went to the Agape Ropes Course on Saturday and had fun playing around on the high and low ropes. Our favorite activity was the Catwalk where we tried to cross a wet, slippery, narrow log 20 feet up in the air. I was surprised at how freaked out I was once I actually got up there. If the log had been on the ground, my legs wouldn't have been shaking like that. I got to belay Davin who did great and even walked backwards with his eyes closed! Another fun activity was the flying carpet. It was a very wobbly platform where three teams pulled ropes to get you really high up in the air... I'd say maybe 50 feet up. I assumed what people were calling a Ninja stance to keep my balance, and the teams did awesome lifting me up and back down again without dumping me off. We didn't do as well keeping Davin on the platform, but I like this shot of him high up in the trees. I enjoyed getting to know the staff a bit better. I'm not around for every youth activity but they welcome me in when I can come. Davin's got a great team to work with.

A Princess Castle and a Nintendo Wii

Sounds like a great party! Yesterday, we celebrated Mom's 54th birthday. I had a lot of fun making her princess castle cake. It took me about 3 hours to build and decorate. Mom said she never had such a fancy cake before, but you're never too old for a princess cake. We're going to Disneyland in just over 2 weeks with my family and it will be Mom's first time! Needless to say, she is very excited... especially about seeing Cinderella. We also introduced my family to the Nintendo Wii. It was a big hit and even Grandpa got in on the action. He bowled 133 which beat Davin's best score so far. Then Dad got up to bowl. The Wii is so completely foreign to him, but he sure caught on fast and bowled an amazing 188, lefting us all in the dust. Watch him and Aunt Marcia in action below. (At one point you can briefly see Mom in the background. She just finished putting up her princesses for display above the door.) It was such a fun afternoon. I think I know what we'll be doing at the next family gathering.

Blue to Brown Belts

Davin and I tested for our brown belts on September 12. We have now left the intermediate and entered advanced ranks. Melissa going through her 6 forms - white through blue. We got to swing our staffs around for our weapons form. Stand back! Can I just say, Davin is amazing at his jump reverse chop kicks! He loves the jumping kicks, which will be helpful in the advanced ranks. We had 100% on our board breaks - front kick, side kick, ax kick, and spinning heel.

Being a Good Student Wife

One of my married tenants asked me if I was ready to not see Davin for awhile once school started. At the time I was thinking I may see him more since he's not an 8-5 person anymore and will be home at various times during the day. Well... I know what he meant now. Poor Davin's been busier than ever! He's in class 15 hours a week, working 10 hours in IT, doing Jr. High ministry at CB, and the homework is so insane that every spare minute is spent in the library until it's time to come home and go to bed. At least the library's in our backyard so he's not far away, but it's weird having him gone so much. We're going camping with the youth group this weekend so Davin's freaking out a bit about how he's going to get his paper and 80 pages of reading done for the first of next week. I wish I could do some of it for him. This is taking a bit of adjustment, but it's only for a season, and now is definitely the best time to do this. I'm trying to learn how to best support him. I think I'll try following "The Good Wife's Guide." That should do it! (I tried this one day, put on a dress and my apron, had dinner waiting and the table set, talked in calm, soothing tones when he arrived, and asked him about his day since it was more important than mine. We enjoyed a good laugh, but I think he liked it!)

Starting Cemetery ... I mean Seminary

I started Seminary this week. After one week I'm in syllabus shock. I'm enrolled in the MDiv in Theological Studies program at Multnomah. It's been interesting to be back in school. I think I'm going to enjoy my ethics and history class. The teacher seems to be well educated in the areas and seems like a fun person to learn from. I hope that seminary doesn't actually send me to the cemetery.

Wii had fun.

Melissa and I got a Nintendo Wii last Sunday. It's pretty cool. Melissa even likes it. Unfortunately, since I have started school I haven't had much time to play it, but what I have played has been pretty fun. Melissa has played it more than I have. Each person that plays the Wii can create their own character called a Mii. Melissa has been testing the fitness of her Mii the last few days. It has you play a few games and based on how well you play the games your Mii is given and age. Her Mii is 30 right now ... mine is like 45. I'll have to work on that. :) Anyway, it's lots of fun, and the great thing is that a lot of the games are family oriented and more than just sit on your duff games.

Street of Dreams 2007

Davin and I went to the Portland Street of Dreams to check out this year's mutli-million dollar home show. It's always such a treat to see these vast, beautiful houses. Our favorite was the Pinnacle, which you can see in these photos. It had a fairytale quality to it with it's stone turret and a moat-like lilly pond out front. Of course it was immaculately decorated and outfitted with all the latest technology. We loved the stunning dining/kitchen area as well as the downstairs theater room with the "wet bar" that's bigger than our condo kitchen. It's still for sale at $2,700,000, but we think we'll save our millions for something else. Still, you could have one amazing party here!