Chris

So from May 29 until June 3 our cousin Chris (Monroe—there's a Chris Byrd on my side of the family, too, so just to lessen any confusion) came and stayed with us for his first trip to Oregon. We stayed super, super busy and had a lot of fun...

The day he got here we went out to the gorge (which is the Columbia River Gorge, about 20-30 minutes East of our apartment. The Columbia is the river that separates Oregon from Washington.)

We did a really pretty hike that got us high up in some trees, close to "cliffs," seeing some pretty waterfalls, and back into a little watery cove.











That night we ate dinner with Matt and Kim, and the next day all five of us took a trip to Silver Falls State Park, which is essentially an area with a loop-trail of 10 waterfalls, including three that you walked all the way behind...


(see the people back there?)

Most of the 10 were super impressive, but I think the general consensus was that the second was the majority favorite.





Daniel and Chris also tried to go behind a waterfall that didn't have trail behind it...and got way too high up for comfort. That's us somewhere down there.



Pretty awesome.





Then the next day after church, Daniel, Chris, Nickel and I left to camp at the coast. It was Nickel's first time seeing the beach and I'm pretty sure she's in love. Plus, we even built a camp fire right on the beach (totally legal we came to find out, but I definitely had my doubts) and made s'mores. It was amazing.



















The next morning we headed out on a hike over a cape and saw a great view and sea lions, too. Pretty far off (we had to use binoculars), but still. Awesome.





We saw the gorge waterfalls, too, before Chris left, and had hamburgers with Matt and Kim. Super fun...hopefully all of our guests this summer are as easy as Chris :)

PS Any pictures left are on our newly updated Flickr page...that hopefully we can continually keep updated from now on...

Here we are

So summer has officially begun, and I'm officially calling off our "spring break" from blogging. Not that we had ever officially called on our spring break, we really just slipped into it. but it requires an official calling off.

So here are a few things from our life recently:

We went to two very different high school graduations...possibly the two main schools that (right now) attend the youth group—


Corbett High School, whose graduating class was just over 40


And Barlow High School, with a graduating class of somewhere around 500.

Nickel got a new bed.

She's still trying to figure it out.

And last night we had a Sunday night off again, which ended up meaning order-in Chinese and Taken, which was pretty good.


So that's what you get when you don't get birthday posts. Maybe we all know why we haven't been posting as much. But what would a blog be without this stuff, right?

Happy Birthday Natalie!!

Today is another Colorado birthday, our friend Natalie who lives in Denver!

Natalie also happens to be 32 weeks pregnant..which I actually don't think we've mentioned on our blog. So it seems this is also the official Monroe Doctrine announcement that our friends Drew and Natalie are soon to be parents! SUPER, super exciting.

So happy birthday, Natalie!!!

Oh! And Drew and Natalie have a blog if you'd like...here

Happy Birthday Wyatt!!

Today is our (Kirsten's) cousin, Wyatt's 8th birthday!

Wyatt lives in Steamboat Springs, CO and is a ball of energy. He's a blast, not at all shy, and wears a cowboy hat and boots really well.

This is a much older picture of him from our wedding, and he's grown up a ton since then. I have his school picture from this year, but we don't have a scanner and I'm trying to take pictures of the picture but they're not turning out. Alas.

Regardless, happiest of happy birthdays, Wyatt, hope it's the best 8th birthday ever!

Happy Retirement!

Ok, first of all...no complaining because this is NOT a birthday post!

Second, I acknowledge we are a few days late on this but we've had a guest (who we will blog about soon we promise)

Last week was my Grandmother Monroe's last day of work...



She has been working for the Fulton County Board of Education for more than 40 years! 40 years!

And now she is finally retired! So Congratulations to her! We are so proud to have such an accomplished Grandmother! And we are glad you have the time to come visit us later this month!!!

Here's a copy of what I'll call the official Fulton County Schools "Press Release" so you can read all about her for yourself!

Employee Spotlight

Full Name:

Kathleen M. Monroe

Position Title/ Location & time served:

Professional Assistant II.

Kathleen Monroe has been with the Fulton County Board of Education for 40 plus years. She was born and raised in Forsyth County and moved to Fulton County when she got married in 1947. Her first position with Fulton County Schools was as a secretary (clerk) at Hopewell Elementary in what is now the City of Milton. Kathleen was at Hopewell until it closed in 1985 and still enjoys keeping in touch with her fellow Hopewell staff and alumni. After the school closed she transferred to Mimosa Elementary for a few months and then transferred to North Maintenance.

When she began at North Maintenance in January of 1986, there were no computers to generate orders (ACT program) so Mrs. Monroe did everything by phone and by hand. Each and every work order had to be hand written for the schools. There were only 13 maintenance workers on staff at North Maintenance to attend to the North Fulton County Schools and Mrs. Monroe was only able to contact them via their radios that were attached to the county vehicles. The Fulton County Maintenance Department has come a long way since then, now being able to reach workers on their Motorola radios. Mrs. Monroe still receives frantic phone calls from custodians and food managers, but they are now able to send work orders over the computer for Mrs. Monroe to enter. Mrs. Monroe is proficient in SAP program and keeps up with the best.

After a normal day at North Maintenance, Kathleen returns home to her farm where she tends to the cows and her garden. She also never passes up an opportunity to prepare food for any of her friends who are ill or those who are in need. She still, at the age of 79, mows her own lawn and hauls hay with the best of them. And somehow she still finds the time to can vegetables from her garden, make homemade jelly, bake remarkably delicious cakes for everyone’s birthday, and babysit those great grandbabies she’s so proud of.

Mrs. Monroe has two sons, Ronald who works for the Southern Company and Stephen who worked for Fulton County Schools and caught lots of grief in 2004 when he retired before his mother! Kathleen also has 5 grandchildren, one of whom is the Media Specialist at Crabapple Crossing ES in Fulton County, and 4 great grandchildren.

What can we say?? The Monroe family is a real part of Fulton County Schools and an asset to us all. At the end of this school year, Mrs. Monroe will retire from Fulton County Schools. She will certainly be missed at North Maintenance each day, but plans on staying in touch by email and visits with all of the dear friends she has made in the Fulton County School System over her dedicated years as a Fulton County employee.

Happy Birthday Mark

Today is my (Daniel's) Uncle Mark's birthday!

Uncle Mark is father of three beautiful girls, husband to a wonderful wife...oh, and I guess he's ok too! Just kidding of course...Mark is great. He is funny, caring, and a lot of fun to be around.


Uncle Mark is famous (in my mind at least) for two things. First for the way he opens his Christmas gifts. He is more like a surgeon than anything else. When he is finished and has successfully extracted his gift the box is left exactly as he found it...wrapped, taped, and often complete with bow or ribbon. It really is a magical thing to watch. The second deals with Rook. (If you don't know what Rook is then I encourage you to stop reading this post altogether. Uncle Mark wouldn't want you wishing him a happy birthday.) If you are familiar with Rook then I'm sure you know about Uncle Mark and his...let's say aggressive...strategy. He is either very fun to play with or very frustrating...often depending of whether or not he's on your team.


So Happy Birthday Mark! Hope it is great and all the ladies in your life treat you right!

Happy Birthday Jenny!!!

Today is our (Kirsten's) cousin Jenny's birthday! Jenny lives in Midland, Michigan and her husband is Steve and children are Ben and Megan (all of whom have had birthday posts, which is fun).


Jenny is often touted as probably the smartest and most successful person on that (my mom's side of the family.) She got her bachelors and masters degrees together in something ridiculous like 3 years, and then graduated at like the top of her class and now has a pretty prominent, successful career.


But Jenny's also sweet, beautiful, a great mother, aaannnd one of the few other family members who doesn't currently live in Texas (others include my parents, ourselves, and my aunt and uncle Bo and Sue. Oh, and I guess my cousin Catie who goes to school in Oklahoma. But she really still lives in Texas, right?) The Frames are also known for having to evacuate New Orleans when hurricane Katrina came and they were living there. They very soon after moved and, I think, never looked back.

All of these pictures are from the Frame's blog, and I know I have pictures of (a pregnant) Jenny from our wedding, but our internet is down, so I'm posting from a coffee shop and don't have the pictures that are on our external hard drive.

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY! hope it's wonderful!

Happy Birthday Vanessa!!

Today is our (Daniel's) cousin Vanessa's birthday! She turns (math, math, math) 22 today! 22? Are you serious... Wow. I am old.

Vanessa is finishing up college (just a little student teaching left...) and works about 9 jobs. She also leads the student ministry at Rock Springs (my parents church/my old stomping grounds), and she is great at it!


Vanessa has a special place in our hearts for several reasons...She was a reader in our wedding (and did a great job - from what I hear, I was standing outside). And she is coming to see us this summer! (see it's easy to get on our good list...just come visit - special aside to Amanda: I'm sorry I left you out of yesterdays post. I feel like we somehow offend you all the time with this thing...you should totally come out this summer with Vanessa! It'll be awesome! - end of special aside).



Vanessa is super sweet, and caring, and fun! She loves Jesus and is a great cousin to us! Thanks for being awesome Vanessa, can't wait to see you soon! And Happy Birthday!!!

QUICK....

...Before there's another birthday (which brace yourself...there are several more coming up) blog about something...anything!

So that's what I'm doing. I have no idea what I know that is worth sharing with the 2 of you that still read this. I suppose I could just talk to each of you directly...

Grandmother Monroe: We're so excited you're coming out in June! Matt, Kim, Kirsten and I can't wait to show you around our wonderful city! I hear mom and dad have a little extra sightseeing planned as well, I wish I could come. But my cruel boss won't give me any time off. Which brings me to....

Reed: thanks for RSSing the blog even though you only get to read about random people's birthday's 98% of which you've never met. For being so faithful I'll reward you by telling our entire blog reading community (my Grandmother) to follow Reed on Twitter! Reed Mueller. Look him up and find out what he's doing!

So now that I've gotten that out of the way...what else is happening.

We are really excited for the summer! Lots of people are coming to visit which is great (we still have open weekends so book your stay now!!! Half off for people we like!) we love company, especially company with Southern accents (Allen...).

So that's all for now. Stay tuned to continue celebrating the miracle of life!

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Today is my (Daniel's) dad's birthday!

dad can actually keep his eyes open in pictures...sorry mom, but it's dad's birthday...

There is so much to say about dad. He is without a doubt the hardest working man I know. I say that both as a compliment and to get you all to help me get him to stop before he kills himself! Dad taught me how to play basketball and then how to love basketball. He taught me how to yell at the tv (a family tradition passed on for generations). He taught me how to play golf and then how to love golf and then how to hate golf and then how to like golf. He taught me how to read my textbook when I had a question about math.


He also taught me those lessons that only a great dad can teach his son. He taught me how to be committed to my wife, my family, and my church. He taught me how to study and teach the Bible. There is no way I could have had a better dad growing up and today. Kirsten and I love you and miss you and can't wait to see you in June!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Now You Know...

Hawks win...

So maybe it wasn't always pretty, but there are only 8 teams left playing basketball, and guess who is one of them. 

I'm not going to start saying I like our chances against The Cleveland Lebron's but don't be surprised to see game 5 at least...

A baby

Our friends Aaron and Amanda just had their first baby, a little girl—Hannah Grace, born May 1st, 8 lbs 20 inches. SO exciting!!! Just look at that little nose...

This is really the first pregnancy that we've been so close to...we've seen Amanda every week and literally watched her grow, I've talked to her about her options and decisions, and we got a text (you text people these days, you don't call) when she was born. It's definitely been weird seeing and hearing about so much of it, and it's absolutely crazy that our bodies are capable of all this...plus it seems like nine months flew by.

Aaron knew that the baby was a girl but Amanda didn't want to know so she didn't (which we think is just torture, how could he know and she not?!). We definitely thought it was a boy (as did many people at church) but then yesterday Daniel says he knew it was a girl...

Anyway, just some fun news about Oregon friends...

Happy (day-late) Birthday Steve!

Well, since Elizabeth's post was a day late (and on Steve's birthday), I figured it would only be fair for our (Kirsten's) cousin Steve's post to be a day late as well...

Steve is a wonderful father (stay at home daddy who does TONS with his kids—Ben and Megan are having awesome childhoods), a great listener, he loves movies, and is really talented. He makes movies and I happen to think his best work was our wedding video, but he's won awards for his other stuff, so maybe that's better.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE!!!

Happy (day-late) Birthday Elizabeth!!

I knew yesterday was my (Kirsten's) cousin Elizabeth's birthday...and I remembered all day. I wasn't ever at the external where we keep our pictures and I kept thinking "blog about Elizabeth's birthday, blog about Elizabeth's birthday..." And then I went to sleep, and woke up this morning and thought "shoot!"

SO, happy late birthday, Elizabeth! Elizabeth is beautiful, sweet, an avid reader, AND a high school senior finishing up her last semester. *so proud*

And so sorry we missed your actual day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIZABETH!!!

Happy Birthday Beth!!

Well, I don't have much time because we're in the middle of a big youth group event right now—and I should have done this earlier...

But today is our (kirsten's) cousin, Beth's, birthday.


Beth is beautiful and sweet and talented and smart and a wonderful mother of two precious boys.



She's also so refreshing to talk to and has very much a calming affect—which I love.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH!!! you deserve a much longer post

Happy Birthday Drew!

With the possible exception of our good friend Dan, no one loves and appreciates our now infamous Birthday posts as much as Drew Hill...

That's why it gives me great pleasure to announce that today is Drew Hill's big day!

So I thought as a favor to Drew, in lieu of a Birthday post I would just list off the complete roster of the National Champion North Carolina Tar Heels...

1	Marcus Ginyard	G-F	6-5	220	Senior	Alexandria, VA
2	Marc Campbell	G	5-11	175	Junior	Wilmington, NC
4	Bobby Frasor	G	6-3	210	Senior	Blue Island, IL
5	Ty Lawson	G	5-11	195	Junior	Clinton, MD
11	Larry Drew II	G	6-1	180	Freshman	Encino, CA
13	Will Graves	G-F	6-6	245	Sophomore	Greensboro, NC
14	Danny Green	G-F	6-6	210	Senior	North Babylon, NY
15	J.B. Tanner	G	6-0	185	Senior	Hendersonville, NC
21	Deon Thompson	F	6-8	245	Junior	Torrance, CA
22	Wayne Ellington	G	6-4	200	Junior	Wynnewood, PA
24	Justin Watts	G	6-4	205	Freshman	Durham, NC
30	Jack Wooten	G	6-2	190	Senior	Burlington, NC
32	Ed Davis	F	6-10	215	Freshman	Richmond, VA
35	Patrick Moody	F	6-4	195	Senior	Asheville, NC
40	Mike Copeland	F	6-7	235	Senior	Winston-Salem, NC
44	Tyler Zeller	F	7-0	220	Freshman	Washington, IN
50	Tyler Hansbrough	F	6-9	250	Senior	Poplar Bluff, MO

Happy Birthday Drew!



Ok, I do have to say that Drew is a great guy, and if you are one of the 4 people I know that have never met him, you are missing out. He a man that I admire in too many ways to list, and is soon to be a dad! Hope you have a great birthday friend.

Happy Birthday Uncle Steve!!

Today is our (Daniel's) Uncle Steve's birthday! That's an important distinction to make because since we got married we each have the pleasure of having two Uncle Steves! How lucky can one couple get! But this Steve in question is Daniel's dad's brother Steve Monroe...and TODAY is his birthday!!!

Uncle Steve has played a major role in my life. I have vivid memories of him driving a car backwards down the road (I can't even remember the circumstances...but Matt will back me up. It happened). He, along with my dad and their dad combined to show me how to properly yell at the television during sporting events. And probably most importantly, Uncle Steve was one of the people early in life that pointed me in the right direction. I strayed over the years from the straight and narrow path that he put me on, but eventually, I found my way back to the way he showed me at a young age. Of course I'm talking about the University of Georgia. I have many fond memories of Saturdays in Athens (the greatest time and place combination this world has to offer) with Uncle Steve.



In addition to being a great Uncle, Steve is also a great dad, and a pretty good granddad these days! Kirsten and I have always felt so loved and supported by him and his family!

So Happy Birthday Uncle Steve! Hope it is great!

day-late anniversary post

Well, yesterday was our anniversary...and my dad emailed me saying he expected to see "candlelight dinner" pictures on here—would pictures of middle schoolers suffice? because that's what we did last night :)

but we did have a fabulous brunch together and spent all day together (at daniel's office) and got to eat dinner at one of our new favorite restaurants (por que no) after youth group...and most of all we are going to the coast for a few days!! yay!! (i refuse to call it the beach since it would conjur up ideas in our Georgian readers' minds of destin and the such...and this is very, very different :) ....)

but in thinking about our past year yesterday (which is typically of our anniversaries or birthdays or new years or christmases—we sort of try not to, but we end up asking each other all sorts of silly questions. like daniel asked me while we were getting ready yesterday morning what clothes that we were wearing did we own when we got married. turned out all his clothes he owned when we got married...and none of mine...)

ANYWAY, so in thinking about our past year yesterday, here are some things we came up with that we did/that happened (no promises on the order)


we lived with the monroes (sr.)

nickel lived with my parents

i made a dress and a shirt that i wear pretty frequently

we went to shannon's graduation from college

we went to north gwinnett high school's graduation

matt and kim moved to oregon

daniel was unemployed

i went from working full time to part time for southcomm

i started designing websites

i cut bangs into my hair

we looked heavily at moving to north carolina



we moved to oregon...make that packed everything deemed necessary into our tiny corolla and drove across the country with no real prospect of a job, just a sense that it was what we were supposed to be doing

we started a blog

we lived with matt and kim

the monroes (sr) came to visit

laura belle visited from seattle for the first time

daniel got a job!

we (mostly i) picked fruit, went to the farmers market for our groceries, and watched movies in parks (okay, that was always both of us)...and so many more things that we had been dreaming about portland

we went camping with matt and kim and went on the longest hike we have to date

we (have) met/got(ten) to know (best we can tell) about 200 new people

we got an apartment in portland...on a street with a number nonetheless

we flew back to atlanta, packed up everything deemed unneccessary (but now neccessary), picked up our puppy, and drove a uhaul and the element back across the country
we started the fall with a new youth group

we (have) tried desperately to keep in touch with people in georgia

elizabeth moved to seattle

we walked to dinners, coffees, gelattos, parks, and the grocery store—all from our apartment

we fell (have fallen) in love with several, several, several middle and high schoolers in gresham, troutdale and corbett, oregon

we went to a lot of volleyball games


daniel turned 26

we bought kayaks

we went to a pumpkin patch, got a pumkin, and had our first oregon halloween (zero trick-or-treaters, but friends over for dinner and a movie)

kirsten turned 25

bulldog football grossly dissapointed



i designed leslie's wedding invitations

we flew to texas for thanksgiving

we flew to colorado and stood by as leslie and steve got married

we found out that drew and natalie are pregnant!!

we had a youth group christmas party snowed out

we flew home for christmas

we missed the greater portland area's "blizzard of '93" (except that it was the "snowstorm of 2008")

we had an awesome christamas with people we missed dearly (and ate our share of chick fil a)

we saw our stephanie and michael's new home

we met jessica's new boyfriend

we returned to oregon

we had a completely uneventful new years eve

we bought snowboards

we went snowboarding...and fell...alot

kim got a job with the blazers

the monroes came and visited and we went out to the mountain—we both got better at snowboarding (me a tiny bit, daniel a lot)

jessica got engaged

i went on a women's retreat

i (have) designed (/am in the process of designing) 28 websites through a freelance company (woah...)

we went to hawaii for a week

i started helping out with communications for the church

we met laura belle's new boyfriend

we went to (our second) play that involved youth group kids



what else? can you think of anything? small or significant—anything. just add it in the comments!!

Happy Birthday Jessica!!!

Today is our (Daniel's) cousin, Jessica's, birthday!

Jessica is wonderfully sweet, and gives so much of her time, energy and efforts to all those around her. She's beautiful, kind and caring, an awesome mom, and still newly engaged! Congrats again!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSICA!!! hope it's wonderful!