Summer Update Part II

In our last electronic one way conversation, I still had my trips to Seattle, LA/San Diego, and Austin ahead, and Michael had just started a new job. Picking up where we left off...

Seattle

Girls weekend! It was so refreshing spending time with good friends - catching up, eating delectable food here and here, exploring Ballard. I've been friends with those girls since my freshman year of college, and even though all of us have gone down very different roads, we remain close.

Los Angeles/San Diego

As settled in Texas as I am, I still breathe a sigh of contentedness and just feel "home" when I go back to Southern California. I treasure my time with family when I'm home. This time around I also got to enjoy my first bridesmaid experience for my dear friend Erin's wedding. It was such a fun few days, and her wedding was fun and beautiful.

Austin

Just a couple days after I returned from California, I was off again for a week to the Lake Travis/Austin area with Michael's mom, aunt, and three sisters. We stayed in a gorgeous house with an unobstructed lake view and negative edge pool. Ahhh I miss that pool. It was quite an exhausting week to be honest though. I get along great with Michael's family, but still as the only "in-law" present, I'm still getting to know everyone better and it's just tiring staying on your toes the whole week, trying to be intentional with every conversation, etc. I think I was also just missing Michael. So it was tiring, but I do feel like I got to know them better and it was still an enjoyable trip.

Michael's job endeavors

So Michael's job I told you about? He quit that one after about a month. It just wasn't working out. Michael has also wanted to start his own business for some time, and we figured if we're going to do something like that, now is the time. We have the time, money, and kidlessness to pull it off (with God's help). So, through a series of circumstances, Michael has now bought a big truck and 3-4 car hauling trailer, and he'll be hauling cars around the Houston area for dealers and auctions and such. It's been a lot of work for him - getting a business license, insurance stuff, registering with the city/county/state, etc., and spending all our money haha :) but it's exciting! I'm glad that he'll be able to choose his hours and do something he enjoys!

Busy Bees

This summer has been a whirlwind! We're normally pretty boring and hardly ever busy, but it seems like so much has happened in the past few months. Here's the rundown in a few chronological bullet points:

• Hawaii/LA trip & Michael news - At the end of May we headed off for a vacation to Hawaii then LA with my family. While on this trip, Michael found out he did not get into the physical therapy assistant program he was going for. I guess a Bachelor's degree, observation hours at a good hospital, and straight A's in all the pre-reqs just isn't enough. It was disappointing news after he had worked so hard the past two semesters, but we trusted that God had it all figured out - in His sovereignty, nothing is wasted.
• Bryan housebuilding trip & Cheryl news - A week after getting back from LA, we were off to Bryan/College Station for two weeks to help frame a house for a church who has a ministry to women in need. Michael and some guys from our church worked tirelessly for two weeks to get this house framed to perfection. It was a really fun and productive trip. We made some new friends and strengthened existing relationships. While on this trip I found out that my hours with CHF would most likely be cut back from full time to part time starting in August. We said, "Okay, Lord" and started praying for a job for Michael. It's actually all worked out though. Even though my hours are being reduced, I'm going to independent contractor status, giving me more freedom in when and how I work - a definite plus!
• Schlitterbahn! - A week after the Bryan trip we took a short overnight trip to Schlitterbahn, a giant waterpark near San Antonio, with a family from church. We hadn't spent a lot of time with them and enjoyed getting to know them. The husband is an astronaut and Navy pilot, so it was neat hearing about some of his experiences. Oh and we had SO much fun at the waterpark. Who doesn't love waterslides? Only crazy people.
• Family time - Michael's parents came in from Saudi Arabia around this time so we spent a couple weekends hanging out with family.
• Moving! - Throughout all this, we've been putting together plans to move onto Michael's grandma's property. She lives about 45 minutes south of us on about two acres with a house and a couple large storage spaces separate from the house. Through a long process, it was decided that we would clear everything out of one of the garages (which is about the same square footage as our current apartment) and build out living quarters so Michael and I could move in and be just 50 feet away from his Grandma if she needed anything. The whole deal will be a blessing for her and us! Michael got to draw up the plans and everything, and it's been fun to design the space. It's exciting because it'll be the first "house" Michael and I live in. We've been in apartments since we've been married, so I'm looking forward to having our own place, even though it's not "ours" and we'll have to move out in a few years when they sell the property. Anyway, the construction will be done in the next couple weeks and we'll be moved in by September 5.
• New job - God is gracious and has (relatively) quickly provided a job for Michael. It's a job with an oilfield services company and we'll see where it goes. For now though, we're just thankful that Michael has a job! We just returned from a three day trip to Victoria, Texas, (there's nothing to do there) where Michael got some preliminary safety training for work. Safety first!

To be continued...So that's been our summer so far, and we've got more adventures ahead! Over the next month or so, I'm helping out with a VBS kids club at my apartment complex, we're packing and moving, and I've got trips to Seattle, LA and San Diego, and Austin planned. With everything going on, I'm actually thankful for the reduction in my work hours. I'm looking forward to all my trips and also just having more time in general.

In all this we've been thankful to God for his faithfulness in providing so many things over the past few months and look forward to whatever lies ahead!

Hawaii/LA Vacation 2011

*For the two of you who read my blog, I know this is a monster entry. I wrote it more for my own personal record keeping than for you to waste time reading it. Therefore I'm not offended that you won't read the whole thing.

(Pictures are on fb. I'm too lazy to cull through my pictures and find a few to post here.)

Day 1 (Wednesday 5/25)

Looong day. On three hours of sleep we were up for 24 hours before our heads hit the pillow again. We stayed up until 12 watching Julie & Julia (mmm French food) and woke up at 3:30 to head to IAH. The next 12+ hours were spent on flights from IAH to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to LAX, and LAX to Kona. We met up with my family at the gate in LAX and all sat together for the flight to Kona. Little Seth hit was on my bro-in-law's lap behind us hitting Michael on the head for most of the flight, but once we were in Hawaii, he wanted little to do with either of us. Pshhhh those temperamental babies. :) We arrived in Kona, got the rental cars and headed to Hayashi's You Make the Roll (thanks for the suggestion, jwong!) with the intention of eating dinner there. Unfortunately it started raining and there's only outdoor seating, so we decided to go back another day. Even more unfortunately, the day we wanted to go back there, we found out they'd be closed for the rest of our trip for Memorial Day weekend, so we never made it. :*( Oh well, next time, right? We had dinner at Costco instead (can't beat that food for those prices) and did the bulk of our grocery shopping for the week. Exhausted, we all finally headed to the house that would be our home for the next 7 days. It is a GREAT property: lots of bedrooms to accomodate the 11 of us, backyard pool, and a beautiful lanai stretching around most of the house. We tried to stay up talking for a bit, but ended up going to bed pretty soon.

Day 2 (Thursday)

So Hawaii is 3 hours behind LA and 5 hours behind Houston. Thus the kids were up before 6am and in the pool by 7:30 haha. Woke up and headed to the closest snorkeling spot after breakfast, Kahalu'u Beach Park. It's probably less than a mile from our house. When we got there the tide was fairly high and the kids were able to play in a little tide pool area. The snorkeling was great fish-wise. Not a ton of pretty coral, but lots of colorful fish. It's a pretty rocky beach (like most of the beaches on the big island) but there is a small sandy corridor that most people used to get in and out. We also saw a few turtles there were coming right on shore which is always cool. After snorkeling we headed home, the kids hopped in the pool and some of us headed to Safeway to get some more groceries. I noticed lots of great Asian groceries, forgot where I was for a second, and exclaimed, "Wow! Great Asian food section." Then I remembered I'm in Hawaii, and not in Texas, where the Asian food section in the grocery store takes up like one shelf. We just ate dinner and chilled the rest of the evening, and watched part of Tron: Legacy. Michael and I had seen it already but my nephew hadn't. Love the effects and soundtrack on that movie, not a fan of the casting (with the exception of Jeff Bridges and Michael Sheen).

Day 3 (Friday)

Today was our adventure to Captain Cook's monument in the Kealakekua Bay. We left the three littlest ones with my mom and headed to pick up our kayaks at Aloha Kayak. We got a little lost on the way (GPS is NOT reliable 100% of the time) but eventually made it. The guy strapped three kayaks to the top of our rental van then gave us a great info session about where to go, what to expect, what to do, etc. We headed off down the mountain to the bay, unloaded our kayaks, and got going on the mile-long stretch from the launch to the monument. On the way we got to see some spinner dolphins. At first we could kinda see the tops of a few of them swimming along, then one of them decided to get crazy showy for all of us. He/she jumped in the air spinning and flipping just 10 feet or so from our kayak, and this happened several times. It was crazy - like being a Sea World watching dolphins perform, except this was in the wild. It was an amazing experience, and we were thankful we even got to see dolphins at all, because they're not always around. I wish I had my camera with me, but we had left most of our stuff in the van since we were kayaking. We never flipped over or anything, but it wasn't worth the risk. Anyway the dolphins were amazing, but my nephew was in our kayak and he gets really motion sick, so we had to book it to shore. Once there we just towed our kayaks around with us while we went snorkeling, since you now need a permit to dock on the shore where the monument is. The snorkeling was pretty amazing, coral-wise. The water was super clear with great visibility, and the coral was incredible. We didn't see too many fish, but the coral and underwater terrain were interesting enough. There was a reef close to shore, then a steep drop-off into the blue depths. It was a really great snorkeling spot and we had a great time. We were there for a few hours then kayaked back to the other side of the bay. On the way home we stopped at Kalama's, a little place off Napo'opo'o Road on the recommendation of the Aloha Kayak guy. We all got shaved ice and it was DELICIOUS! We got home and I spent some time with one of my nieces in the pool, then we just ate dinner and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Day 4 (Saturday)

I don't really remember what we did in the morning today, we probably spent it in the pool. In the afternoon we headed to Wawaloli Beach. The rocks there for a huge tide pool/lagoon that's great for kids since the water is only about knee deep and protected from the surf. The kids played in the water and we explored on and around the lava rock. It's crazy how much lava rock is on the big island. It makes for some pretty rough beaches, but it's really beautiful at the same time.

Day 5 (Sunday)

Today we headed to the City of Refuge/Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park‎. We walked around the grounds first, then headed to the neighboring beach. There's a beach on either side of the historical park. One of them is supposedly good for snorkeling, but it looked super busy with hardly any parking, so we went to the other one. It was nice, lots of picnic tables and some tide pools that the kids could play in. It was a relaxing afternoon, and overcast skies provided a much needed break from the sun. In the evening we went into town and had dinner at U-Top-It since Hayashi's was closed. :( The food was pretty good, although I wished I had ordered something different. Michael had a loco moco with white rice, eggs over medium, and a curry gravy and it was really good. Afterwards we walked down the main thoroughfare on Alii Drive and found Scandinavian Shaved Ice on recommendation from the checker at Safeway. The moment I took my first bite though I knew it wasn't as good as Kalama's, not even close. The syrup was heavier and the ice was not really shaved. I think Kalama's hand shaves their ice or something because it's really light and feathery, whereas Scandinavian uses one of those machines that basically makes a snow cone. Plus Kalama's has the option of drizzling sweet cream or coconut cream on their shaved ice which makes it that much better.

Day 6 (Monday)

More pool time in the morning. In the afternoon we headed to Kekaha Kai State Park because we had heard from multiple sources that it has uncrowded, beautiful, sandy beaches. After getting off the highway there's a 20 minute rough drive over lava rocks to the parking lot. We didn't have 4WD vehicles and were fine, but it would've helped and gone faster if we did. Once at the parking lot there's a five minute walk to the first beach, Mahaiula. This beach is great - sandy, lots of shade, uncrowded. The kids played here in the surf the whole time. There's another beach though which is a 20 minute walk from Mahaiula called Makalawena Beach. The 20 minute walk is pretty rough on your feet as it's over lava rocks the whole way, but it's so worth it. Makalawena is even more deserted that Mahaiula and the sand is finer and softer. Absolutely gorgeous!

Day 7 (Tuesday)

Michael and I struck out on our own today. We headed south along the coast toward the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We were hoping to see some active lava flow, but no luck throughout the day. The park was pretty neat though. Lots of beautiful scenery and various ecosystems. In one park we saw lava cliffs on the coast, rainforest, lava wasteland, and forest. We went on a few mini hikes and just tried to see as much of the park as we could in a few hours. Afterward we decided to just go on to Hilo (on the opposite side of the island from where we were staying in Kona) because it wasn't far from the park. We stopped at Cafe 100 for dinner. The book we had with us said it was a good local spot and for the most part, it didn't disappoint. Michael had another loco moco that he thought wasn't as good as U-Top-It, but I had the "Hapa Plate" consisting of fried salmon, teriyaki beef, brown rice, and macaroni salad. It was really good, plus we were starving since we hadn't eaten all day. We ran out of the house in the morning to get going and didn't grab any lunch stuff. We had planned to grab lunch before going to the park, but there was only one food option inside the park, and it was closed for renovation. So we were sooo hungry by the time we got to Cafe 100. After eating dinner we decided to drive the northern route around the island to get back home. Just after we pulled onto the highway, Michael found a scenic route which led us to this secluded beach area. The eastern side of the island is really lush, and the beach area was surrounded by rainforest and high cliffs. It was getting dark but we still walked around for a bit and enjoyed the scenery. On the drive back I read some of The Hunger Games to Michael to pass the time. That series is sooo addicting. I bought all three books in the trilogy for my Kindle just for this trip, and I was done with all three books in a matter of days. We also pulled off the road at one point just to look at the stars. We could see so many of them shining brightly in the sky. It reminded me of the crazy amounts of stars you can see in Fiji.

Day 8 (Wednesday)

Woke up, headed to Kahalu'u for one last bit of snorkeling. Again, shallow water at low tide with little coral but LOTS of beautiful fish. After lunch we visited this little painted church. After seeing paintings and frescoes in places like Israel and Turkey that are much older, I wasn't too impressed (I know, that sounds snobby and pretentious), but it was a nice little stop with some beautiful flora on the church grounds. We then headed to the Kona Pacific Farmers Co-Op, where we bought some Kona coffee gifts and walked around their grounds. It was a cute little place with some animals, fruit and coffee plants, and information about the co-op. Then we went back to Kalama's for shaved ice. Seriously the best. Then it was home to pack, eat dinner, and head to the airport for our red eye back to LAX.

Day 9 (Thursday)

We got into LAX a little after 5am and were in Simi by 7. We had breakfast at Yanni's Best Charbroiled Hamburgers and it was delicious. I had the french toast which was really good, but they have this great breakfast special for $2.99 that includes two eggs, bacon or sausage, homemade fresh potato hashbrowns, and toast. At home we just dropped our luggage and went to sleep. Michael and I fell asleep watching Spider Man 3. Ummm yep, still as bad as I remember it. After everyone woke up we just ate lunch and lazed around, then headed to Santa Clarita for my niece's play. She had a pretty big speaking role and the whole thing was really cute. They play was about the history of the Santa Clarita Valley complete with musical numbers and costume changes, all performed by 3rd graders. Like I said, cute haha.

Day 10 (Friday)

We woke up groggy and tired but headed to Newbury Park to meet my older brother, his wife, and their son at my brother's studio. We got to hear some bits of FoF's new record and it's going to be a GREAT album (as usual!). Then we headed to lunch at Olas Mex Grill for some surfer Mexican chow. I had the chile verde wet burrito and it was pretty good. Huge portions to suit my huge appetite. On the way back to the studio we stopped at Element Coffee. SUCH a great coffee spot! Michael and I rarely drink coffee, but even we could appreciate the mocha we had. Quality coffee, plus they make their own chocolate for their drinks and stuff. We agreed that if there was a place like Element near us in Houston we'd become coffee drinkers. Then we headed back home so Eric could go back to work and Taiko could nap. My mom suggested we go on a hike so we trekked up the Chumash Trail for a few hours with my parents. Michael and I definitely miss all the hiking opportunities that Simi, Santa Clarita, and SoCal in general have to offer. They're not joking when they say Texas is flat, and there's pretty much no where to hike in Houston or the surrounding areas. I guess the fact that we can kayak in Houston makes up for the lack of hiking...a little. The thing I do NOT miss about hiking in the SoCal summer is the rattlesnakes. I was paranoid about it pretty much the whole hike because I've encountered several rattlers on hikes before, aaand unfortunately my paranoia was justified because we saw one right off the trail sunning on a rock. It left us alone, and yeah it was our fault for hiking in the summer when they come out the most, but blech I despise those things. After the hike we rushed home to start getting dinner together. We had dinner together as a family (minus Jon :( ) and enjoyed some delicious ribs, yakitori, rice, and veggies. We also made an early birthday celebration out of it for me, and I got a candle stuck in a Magnum bar for the occasion.

Day 11 (Saturday)

Man it was hard to get out of bed today! We did though and headed to Santa Clarita to meet up with our friends, the Grandis. It was a fun morning eating Mexican food, walking around Hart Park, and catching up. After they headed home we dropped by my sister's house for a couple hours. My bro-in-law's brother and his wife were visiting too so we all hung out. Then Michael and I headed off to that sacred and untouchable burger place called In-N-Out. We picked up food and headed to the Lows' house to have a mini reunion with some of the guys Michael lived with in Sunland. It was a really fun evening. There's something so refreshing about spending time with good friends who have history with you and already know you. I feel like 90% of the conversations we have in Houston are get-to-know-you smalltalk fare. There's nothing wrong with that, but man was it nice to just hang out and be us.

Day 12 (Sunday)

Eric, Tam, and Taiko came over so we all ate breakfast with my parents, then had a little prayer time before we headed to the airport. Leaving LA is always bittersweet. It's nice to be heading back "home" but sad too. Our flights were fine and we got home around 11:30pm.

And life rolls on...

Racquetball

Now that the 10k is behind me, i'm looking forward to more sane levels of working out. i know, i know, a 10k isn't a lot compared to a half or full marathon, but it was a big deal for me. Enter racquetball. i think it may be my new favorite cardio workout, even though (in the words of Brian Regan) :

"Racquetball is the only sport where simultaneously you can be looking at the ball...aaand it'll hit you in the back of the head at 90 miles per hour."

Michael's been playing for a couple months now, but yesterday was my first time playing...ever. It consisted of me failing 95% of the time, even after Michael started playing with his non-dominant hand, and me whacking the ball square into his back at one point. (Bonus points!) It was still really fun. Toward the end, my hand-eye coordination brain connections started coming out of deep hibernation, and i was getting a better handle on reading the ball. i worked up a pretty good sweat too, and it's always great when you can merge "fun" and "working out."

Anyway, besides chronicling my un-prowess at racquetball, i have to say i am thankful to God for good health. i've thought about this more in the past few weeks as i was preparing for the 10k, but most of the time i take for granted the healthy body, mind, and activeness God has granted me. i know He can take it away in a heartbeat - through illness, a car accident, whatever, and even then i should still be joyful and grateful since His grace and goodness to me transcend any physical circumstances. But for now i should be more thankful that my current trials are not health related, and should also pray more diligently for those who are facing such issues.

Time again to look back...and forward

*Cue uninspired cliche...now* It's hard to believe another year has already flown by.

Really though, it's gone fast. The new year is always a good opportunity to reflect on the things God has done over the past year, and look forward to what He will do in the coming one. 2010 was certainly a big year. It held our move across two and a half states to Houston, a dream-come-true trip to Alaska, the passing of Michael's grandfather, a second anniversary for Michael and I, joining a new church, new jobs for both myself and Michael, and countless other new and exciting and trying experiences. In all the hubbub, I am increasingly grateful for God's unchanging faithfulness in the midst of all circumstances, good and bad. But really, trusting God in crazy circumstances should be nothing new by now, as God has given me at least one major lifechanging experience each year for the past eight years, since 2003. A brief look back at those game-changers, if only to fondly remember and savor all the ways God has grown me into who I am today...

2003 - graduated from high school, spent a life-changing summer in Poland, Hume Lake, and Fiji and started college at UC Irvine

2004 - experienced a major family heartache that changed my family and I forever but brought us closer with a deeper understanding of God's grace and sovereignty

2005 - studied abroad for a semester in Turkey and visited Israel for the first time with a unique view to the conflicts there that will forever color my perception of the issues

2006 - spent a summer of growth, rest, and crazy fun in Estes Park, CO with the Navigators Summer Training Program

2007 - graduated from UCI, traveled to Israel a second time, had my ideas of what I wanted to do with my life turned upside down, and started work at Children's Hunger Fund

2008 - starting dating, got engaged to, and married Michael

2009 - walked through the intense trials and joys of our first year of marriage and made the decision to move to Texas

And now we're up to the present. There's so much more God has done, so many more life-changing experiences I haven't mentioned, but looking back on all the twists God has put in my life only makes me more excited for what lies ahead. I have long ago given up on guessing what will happen next. Nothing has turned out how I thought it would, but ultimately I couldn't be more grateful for that!

Was 2010 all roses and fun? Was I exempt from trials and sorrows for the year? Of course not. There were some very hard things to deal with and am even still working through some of them. But God is always faithful. Do I always believe that perfectly, and trust Him always without wavering? No. Do I still need much more refining and humbling? (Insert the most vehement word for yes you can think of here.) Do I look forward to 2011 and the ways He will use my circumstances to accomplish that and glorify Himself? Absolutely!

2011, here it comes!

Slacktivism*

*i did not coin this term.

The "campaign" to change your Facebook profile picture to "raise awareness about child abuse" is incredibly flawed/pointless for the following reasons...

1. It's not actually connected to a real cause http://blogs.babble.com/famecrawler/2010/12/05/cartoon-characters-on-facebook-is-the-facebook-cartoon-campaign-a-hoax/ (via Wendy Chandler)

2. Raise your hand if you didn't already know child abuse existed - the one guy raising his hand was born and raised in a cave on a desert island isolated from civilization...and he doesn't have a Facebook account anyway.

3. If you want to change your profile picture, fine...just don't congratulate yourself on making the world a better place until you've actually done something tangible for abused kids. Those children don't care that you changed your profile picture until that act is accompanied with real action.

4. Social media is a fantastic tool for effecting some real change for a cause. This "campaign" does not qualify in the least for that category.

This isn't the first and won't be the last instance of slacktivism gone pointless. i'd just encourage everyone (myself included) to be discerning and intentional when it comes to real issues that need real action, before we jump on any bandwagons.

Kindle: Furthering My Literacy

With the help of my new Kindle (compliments of my dad) and some relaxing free time during Thanksgiving break, I recently read:

• The Twelfth Imam by Joel Rosenberg - The writing is weak in a few places, but his ability to weave an engrossing story is alive and well. He's definitely got another great series started.
• Sense and Sensibility - I like the Emma Thompson movie better.
• A Christmas Carol - For some reason and for all the film and theater versions I've seen, this story is always framed in my mind through the lens of the Muppet adaptation. As I read I kept converting all the characters to their Muppet versions.
• Heart of Darkness - Man, that Conrad guy can write! Like Lord of the Flies, I'll keep revisiting this book because of the depth of story and the worlds created in my mind through the writing.
• Dracula - I just started this one and so far it's pretty entertaining.

I've decided to make my way through classic literature included on all those "Books Everyone Should Read" lists. I had the opportunities to read such classics in high school and college, but let's be honest, I never actually read those books in their entirety. I also figure this can only help my vocabulary and writing, plus most of the older classics are FREE Kindle books. A sidenote, if you get a Kindle you might want to hold off on buying the ESV Study Bible Kindle version. It's only $10 and definitely better than nothing, but in its current state it's pretty tedious to use. You're probably better off waiting until they come out with a more user-friendly version.

I would definitely recommend the Kindle to anyone who enjoys reading even a little. It's such an efficient way to read and store books (3,500 of them!), it's very easy to figure out, the battery lasts forever (I've read all the above and the battery hasn't even gone down to 50% yet), and at this point they're not that expensive. Granted mine was a gift, but this new version with wireless is only $139. I love that it's much less cumbersome than a book to hold and turn pages. And those skeptics who think reading from a screen will hurt their heads and/or eyes probably just haven't seen a Kindle and held it in their hands. It truly is like reading pages in a book - no glare, no backlight. There are also a bunch of features I haven't even used yet, including highlighting and note taking capabilities within the text. All in all it's definitely worth the investment!

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." -Joseph Addison

Alaska Day 2 - Drive to Denali National Park

Okay Blogger is giving me drama, so i've only uploaded 4 pictures for this post. i've posted more pictures on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2524804&id=6007285&l=ece321ab45

In the morning we headed to church with the Sims. After an encouraging morning of worship and a message from Acts, Michael and I headed off toward Denali. On the way we stopped to get groceries at this store called Fred Meyer. It's such a great store! It's like a super Wal-Mart in that it has EVERYTHING (groceries, clothes, electronics, etc.), but the quality of all the stuff is a lot better, plus they have a really nice health/organic food section. Not like we eat that stuff all the time, but it was nice to have the option since Houston gets a D+ for grocery options that carry anything beyond the basics. Anyway we hit the road and made the 4 hour trek from Anchorage to our motel 13 miles south of the Denali National Park entrance. The drive was beautiful. The weather was amazing and we saw a pretty clear view of Mount McKinley along the way. Sadly we both were stupid and didn't stop to get better pictures. In the back of my mind I knew it was a really rare thing to see Mount McKinley (usually it's covered by clouds), but for some reason I thought, “We'll see it later.” Too bad we didn't see it the rest of the time. Anyway like I said the drive was amazing. Here are some pictures from along the way.

Mount Denali/Mount McKinley This was taken from the car and you can only barely see it. It looks like a cloud but you can see the peak.

i love this photo, it turned out really good. We pulled off the road for a bit to walk around. These tracks were near where we pulled off the main road.

Taken from the car.

We arrived at McKinley Creekside Cabins (13 miles south of the Denali National Park entrance) in the late afternoon. The accomodations were very spartan, but the place was clean. There was also a nice creek running next to our cabins. We took a walk along the creek and took some pictures.

At McKinley Creekside Cabins

The rest of the evening we just chilled and finished watching Syriana. Still a bit confused by some things, but I have a higher opinion of it then I did before.

Alaska Day 1 - Arriving in Anchorage

Well since i'm sitting here in the airport i thought i'd start my blog entries for the trip. i accidentally deleted the only picture i have from Day 1, so this will be all text. i'll have pictures up for the other entries though.

We were up early and left from Houston Interncontinental on Saturday morning. We had a layover in Seattle and started watching "Syriana". I'd seen it before but didn't really remember it. It was still a bit confusing the second time around. Moving on, we got into Anchorage in the afternoon. The rental car agency we used turned out to be a little ghetto, but we ended up getting a discount and free upgrade to a truck because they didn't have any economy cars. It worked out because the truck got really good gas mileage all things considered. After a quick stop at Wally World, we headed to meet the Sims. They are friends of friends who graciously offered to let us stay with them at their home in Anchorage. We had a lovely evening getting to know them. After dinner, part of the family took us on a driving tour around Anchorage. It's a really beautiful city, one of those rare ones with both ocean and mountains. We learned a lot about Alaska, Anchorage, and how they're different than “the lower 48.” We also searched for some “moosen” but only saw one real fast in the brush. We also experienced our first night of extra daylight. There's about 21 hours of daylight in Alaska right now, and it was so strange to be going to sleep around 11 with the sun out like it's early evening. All in all, a great first day!

Alaska Itinerary

Well i thought i'd revive this thing with posts about our Alaska trip. Some people have asked about what we'll be doing so here's our tentative itinerary.

Day 1
-Fly into Anchorage and explore a bit
-Stay the night with some friends of friends. Thanks to the wonderful Sims family who is graciously hosting us for the night!

Day 2
-Church with the Sims
-Leisurely drive up to Denali National Park

Day 3
-Explore Denali

Day 4
-Leisurely drive back down to Anchorage
-More Anchorage exploring and another stay at the Sims house

Day 5
-Leisurely drive to Valdez, AK

Days 6 & 7
-Spend time in Valdez with Michael's friend Leonard
-Glacier day cruise or kayaking

Day 8
-Leisurely drive back to Anchorage
-Depart on red eye back to Texas

i'm REALLY excited for this trip! Alaska has always looked so beautiful in pictures, and Michael and i would usually rather see gorgeous nature than city stuff for vacation.

Everything ended up happening really fast. i had mapped out and researched this trip weeks ago when we first thought of going to Alaska, but things were uncertain with Michael's job situation. We decided to wait until he got a job offer to take the trip. Then by God's grace, he was offered a driving job yesterday. We're unsure as to how the job will work out and whether the schedule will be decent (i.e. not taking him away from home and church stuff too often) but for now, we're grateful to God for His amazing provision!

More pictures and blog entries to come!*

*if i make an effort to not be lazy...

p.s. Any of you photographers out there have any last minute photography advice? Right about now i'm wishing i knew more about photography and my Rebel. Hopefully i'll get some good shots anyway...