why i hate microsoft...

apparently that cool thing that i never would have gotten anyway is canceled. they're just giving mac a chance to do it better anyway...

gagety

so if you know me (kirsten) you probably know i'm fiercely loyal to mac. everything about macs is amazing and i want nothing to do with microsoft. the last time i really spent anytime on a pc was in high school, and then in computer labs in college when i was forced to, and now when i want to get online on daniel's laptop. and i'm so far removed by now and i can barely find the internet on his computer.

and secretly...i think the ipad is really cool. i know it's basically pointless, especially for someone like me, because my main reasons for it would be to be able to read in bed without the traditional annoyances (how...to...hold...the...book...), or watch movies on planes (for the twice a year that i'm on a plane).

but then. have you seen this thing? this thing is cool. amazing. i would use this all. the. time. but i can't. it's microsoft. eek. butlookhowcoolitis...



(good thing both these items are/will be wayyyyyy out of my price range...)

almost summer...

When you live in Oregon you don't have to be in school to get excited about summer. With 8 solid months of pretty dreary weather the approach of summer is making us nearly giddy! There is hiking, camping, golfing (played for the first time in 7 months yesterday!), eating outside, trips to the park and SO much more to look forward to. Last weekend was nice so we decided to get a head start and drove out into the gorge to hike the meadows of Catherine Creek.






We were on the Washington side of the river, pretty high up with an amazing view of the water, and home sweet Oregon across the river.


you can only kind of see it, but that's Mt Hood...

like father like...dog

I was just going through some pictures and came across these. Thought I would share.

I'll set the scene. It's Thursday March 18, otherwise known as the first day of March Madness! The greatest day of the sports year!! It is 8:30 in the morning (the games start early out here). I am camped on the couch preparing myself physically and mentally for what will turn out to be one of the best tournament days ever. And nickel, who is normally oblivious to everything except people she can annoy or anything she can eat walks over, sits down, and just starts watching TV.







She sat there for literally 20 or 25 minutes before she went back upstairs to check on Kirsten. It was pretty hilarious. 3 years of living with me has rubbed off clearly!

Three

Today is our third anniversary...

Crazy. Time seriously flies, and yet it feels like we've been married forever (in a good way...)

We've spent the day walking around downtown, shopping, eating and the like. We're home for a siesta, and have dinner reservations for a nice place we've never been to tonight...

and then the real celebration will be the first week of June—a trip to the San Juan Islands.


We would both say that marriage, and then obviously especially marriage to one another is the single most amazing thing ever. And then also that it is completely unlike anything we could have expected. Which is how it's supposed to be, right? I think so. I don't think we'd have it any other way.

The weather is beautiful today, and we've decided that for our entire lives, every April 15th, we'll judge whether the weather is nicer that day than the day of our wedding...and we're pretty sure it will always be :)

But that's alright—our wedding was perfect nonetheless, and the weather in Belize was wonderful.

well...

my mom emailed me today to let me know that it's been one month since we've posted. hmmmmm.......well, no fear. i have lots of amazing things planned for this blog. mostly, blogging more often. but for now, I'll leave you with this link as a summary of our life: click here for awesomeness.

(i should warn you, all our faithful work-readers, it's loud.)

Mt Hood

So a few weeks ago I (Daniel) went snowboarding for the first time this year on Mt Hood. Kirsten couldn't come but I went with Reed (our pastor) and Jackson (his son) and my friend Tyson. Tyson went to teach Jackson how to snowboard. Reed went for moral support for his son. And I went to make an even number. We actually had a great day. Jackson was better than me after a grand total of 15 minutes. But other than that the day was perfect!

The weather was unbelievable. It was sunny, clear skies, a perfect day to be on the mountain.


Jackson...


Jackson and Tyson...



Makes me wish we had gone more this season... Oh well. It's almost summer!!

3.1 miles.

So a post every day this week—promise. At least until Thursday, when the Monroes arrive... I know, it's bold. But it's gotten out of control, so something has to be done.

So, we did it. We both ran for 30 minutes on Friday.

If you do the math, that's exactly the close of nine weeks from our start date of the 9-week Couch to 5k program.

Actually, we were in some ways both behind and ahead—I (kirsten) got sick during our 8th week, and the start of our 9th week meant I was not running nearly the 28 minutes I was supposed to week eight. BUT, by the end of week nine, I surpassed it all and ran all 30 minutes!!!

I wish there were words for how much I never ever, ever thought I'd be able to call myself a "runner." Daniel asked the other day why I would ever start something that I legitimately thought I couldn't do...and I guess it's because I'm an idealist...I really wanted to be a runner, but in reality, I thought I would cut corners and make excuses and hate every second of it.

But I really, really like running. We both do. And I think this might be the first goal we've actually followed through to completion. Honestly. And that's pretty impressive.

So, friends. We're runners.



A few weeks ago we even took advantage of our sister-in-laws awesome discount at the Nike factory store and got some new running shoes. And shorts. And socks.



And then to celebrate after our huge success Friday, we got some super yummy 5 guys and went to see Avatar in 3D...I know, I know, we're a little behind the times—it was even the night Alice in Wonderland in 3D came out. But we wanted to see it in 3D before it left the theaters.



We look so cool!

Bend

Well a couple of weekends ago (oops) we went to Bend for a few days—and it was awesome.

We stayed in this wonderful bed and breakfast that gave us all sorts of free stuff, left cookies and hot chocolate outside our door every night, and brought us breakfast in bed each morning. it was by far the most attentive and thought-out bed and breakfast we've ever stayed at (it was also just our second time staying at a b&b...at least together...so...)



(i look like i have a fire extinguisher coming out of my head...)

we had never been to the bend/sister area before—there are several awesome mountains and a big river there and it's gorgeous. bend is super outdoorsy but it was surprisingly small. we had heard about it, i feel like even before we moved out here, in the same way you hear about boulder, co maybe, but the city itself is actually really small. and the area is so interesting to me—it's in central oregon- south and a bit west of us, about 3 hours away, and while there are like 7 or 8 peaks, and the cascades running through the area, the rest of the land is very much desert. just "high desert," i guess, because it snows there a lot. but it's completely flat—just like texas—except for all of these mountains. weird. and really neat.





we ended up walking around bend a good bit, checking out the downtown area and eating yummy dinners and the like. the main day we were there, we went out to mt. bachelor and went snowboarding and i got off the lift without falling for the first time! woohoo! getting off the lift in skis is SO much easier!









everything was really pretty and we had a ton of fun. and best of all it was SUPER relaxing. so, so nice to get away. and just to sit and enjoy. plus, now after living here for almost two years, we've seen our third major oregon city!

Haiti

Our church has a partnership with a community in Swaziland through World Vision—we sponsor children there and help the area with things like wells, gardens, hospitals, schools and community centers and over the past year and a half, Daniel and I have really come to trust and respect World Vision for what they do.

Several weeks ago we collected a special donation for Haiti, right after the earthquake, and recently World Vision made this video showing some of the stuff they're able to do for the people there because of the donations. Anyway, it's just neat to see.



And while we're on the topic of plugs for Haiti relief, my mom's cousin Dave Vanderpool is a doctor in Tennessee and has a nonprofit called Mobile Medical Disaster Relief. He and his team went to Haiti right after the earthquake, and while he's back in the states now, he plans to return with more medicine and medical supplies. His website is here, with an article he wrote and a little news spot about him.

I'm not sure anyone who reads our blog would be lacking in places to give for Haiti relief, but just in case you are, know you can do a lot through both of these organizations. plug over.

winter blues

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you probably know that for a third of the year it looks like this in portland. i must admit, it wears on me. it's really hard to get up in the morning (it doesn't get light until like 8:30), it feels like 11pm at 7pm, and it can just be depressing. but i'm usually fine until about half way through january, and then i'm just ready for it to be over.

but for the past week or two, we've actually been having some sunlight...



it's amazing, our house fills with light and it feels like spring. i know it's just a teaser, but it's SO nice all the same. ahhhhhh...

during some of the rainy days, we've been getting a bit done, though. for instance, we organized the garage:







and in what is probably (very sadly) the most exciting news of our life right now, we've taken up running. i think we were probably inspired by my cousins over thanksgiving who did a triathlon, coupled with the fact that daniel kept saying he was in the worst shape of his life...so we're doing the "couch to 5k" an interval running program that takes 9 weeks to get you up to 3 miles of running, or 5k.

and let me tell you, i have never wanted to promote something so much. it's working! if you have ever had a conversation with me about running, i've probably told you that i hate it. hate it and always will. not a runner. can do step classes and cycling classes and anything else, but running toward or from nothing gives me no hope and i can run for literally probably 30 seconds and then have to stop.

not anymore! we're 4.5 weeks (half way through it), we run mondays wednesdays and fridays, and this week we've been running 3 minutes, walking 90 seconds, running 5 minutes, walking 2 minutes—twice. and...i don't want to jinx myself...but it's okay. it's hard, but it's okay. and we're kind of having fun. i mean, we're not having fun at all during it, but afterward we feel good and we feel accomplished (bear in mind that daniel could run a mile fairly easily before this)...anyway, we're getting somewhere. and i have no idea how in 4.5 weeks i'll be able to run straight for 30 minutes (approx. 3 miles) but last week i had no idea how in the world i was going to run for 5 minutes and i do pretty easily.

plus, there's an elementary school at the back of our neighborhood that has some trails, so it's super close, and nickel gets to run off the leash with us and loves it.

so if you're looking to get into running i strongly suggest it: couch to 5k, but i also STRONGLY suggest these podcasts, where this guy tells you when to run and when to walk and "good job" and "you can do it" all to funky, new agey music. awesome.

but the best part is that we've been doing all this in sometimes pouring rain, sometimes freezing temperatures, sometimes fierce winds, and sometimes all three. actually, we quit one day after uncontrollably running sideways and getting pelted with hail in our faces. it was miserable.

so here we are, looking pretty hot. no. wet.



and nickel, too. i don't know if you can tell that she's wet, but she is.



yep, folks. that's about as exciting as it gets around here. but hey, our sweet, amazing, wonderful church is sending us on a getaway to bend this weekend, so we'll have plenty of pictures from that!!

what we laugh at

a glimpse into our daily life...

last night we had youth group, and both of these comments were from one ninth grader:



(when trying to decide what time he would come over today)

daniel: "what about noon?"

ninth grader: "wait, what time is that?"

daniel: "?"

ninth grader: "i've never been sure. i've never known if that's 12 or one."






(while playing catchphrase)

ninth grader: "the opposite of fraternity!"

everyone: "sorority!"

ninth grader: "no, for moms"

everyone: ...

(the word was maternity)

We've got weapons...

Sorry for the second consecutive NCAA Basketball post, but I saw this video and couldn't resist.



This is Tennessee's coach Bruce Pearl talking about his upcoming game with Charlotte and how his team will compete given the fact that 4 of his players are out because of arrests on weapons charges. It's so fun to laugh at Tennessee. Enjoy!

It feels good...

For a team that wasn't supposed to even be able to compete in scrimmages, our second quality win for the season already feels pretty good. Not to mention who we beat...

Christmas recap

So we haven't even gotten to Thanksgiving yet, so this was going to be a "holiday recap" and include thanksgiving, but see, some of the pictures are missing (between a camera, two iphones, and two users on the same computer, we oftentimes get confused...) so i'm just making it easy on myself so that you all get a post already, and constraining it just to christmas. but trust me, thanksgiving will be coming soon.

it probably goes without saying, but christmas was fantastic. hurried and crazy and all, but fantastic.

one of the first events was a "formal" dinner with a small group of high schoolers we have over every wednesday night for a bible study.

here they are, in picture one with daniel looking incredibly awkward and i love it:



and in picture two with myself



...interesting how braden (on the right) never stopped closing his mouth. weird.

but the main event for christmas before returning to georgia was the annual monroe family christmas.

for three years now, daniel and i have had our christmas day before we return home. even though it's not in georgia, it has still become one of our favorite things about christmas.



we treat it exactly like we would any christmas day. we creep downstairs in to find that santa has come, quickly fill each other's stockings, take pictures of nickel and ourselves in front of the tree and then start opening gifts!





...we're really ridiculous.



...and here we are in our christmas eve onesies. like i said. ridiculous.

we gave nickel a bone to open, just like we did last year, but honestly it's not worth showing. apparently she's getting old and boring, because she kind of tried to open it, then just looked up at us.



after we open gifts, we make an incredible breakfast, complete with mimosas and this year homemade mochas (thanks to a stove-top espresso maker that was a gift to me!)



we spend the rest of the day like most people spend christmas day, sitting around lazily playing with our gifts :) it's amazing. around 5 we dropped nickel off at the boarding place and then started packing!

being home was fabulous. we hadn't been to georgia in a year, and so it was crazy seeing all the ga license plates, hearing all the accents, and such...plus, of course, seeing SO MANY people. going to Daniel's childhood church is always wonderful, just spending time with our parents, being with extended family, and seeing a few precious friends. sadly, it's always a bit bittersweet because we know it's soon to come to an end, but regardless, we treasure that time SO MUCH.

and this christmas we stole a day to go to athens, where we went to college and met and thus share SO MANY memories. best we can figure we hadn't been there in at least two years...

we had two meals there and if you know athens at all you know that that means we had a really hard time deciding where to eat.

there's last resort grill (yummmm),


farm (of course, ugh),


5 star day,

clocked,


and doc cheys,


just to name a few. but honestly, those last two don't even make the list. even though they're SO GOOD.

we ended up lunching at the grit







a smelt. gosh.

had cheese dip at mexicalli (best white cheese dip in the world...the one on the west side is closed!!!!),





and ate dinner at taco stand (can you tell the last two were daniel's choices. and the first one—the vegetarian hippie restaurant—was mine?)







and we spent the day walking around downtown, shopping and seeing north campus and the new student center (huge and amazing).

















(the burned georgia theatre :( and the 40 watt...)

and we took a picture in front of the building where we first met :)



and that night we were some of the few people at the georgia basketball game. one of daniel's favorite things ever.






and my favorite thing about athens christmas— the lights in the trees



(although, portland does this, too :) )

the only pictures we took of actual Christmas were at grandmother monroes—where, probably because of all the small children, cameras and videocameras are the norm.







but even though we only have pictures from that "event," all of christmas was so amazing, and while we missed our house and were glad to be coming home, it's always so hard to leave.

we flew all day on the 29th, leaving that morning, two layovers both with delays, and getting into portland at 12:30 at night. but we came into a snowy portland! apparently, snow completely surprised everyone, including the weathermen who didn't see it coming at all. about 3-4 inches, and it was beautiful! unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of our house in it's first snow :(

and we took a video of nickel coming home just like we did last year, expecting great entertainment, but like i said earlier, she's getting old and boring, and barely noticed us when we came to pick her up. once she got home, she just passed out, exhausted. i suppose she had a good christmas, too.