pack it up, pack it in...let me begin

When it comes to packing, i'm crazy.  Like off my rocker, crazy.  But that means I'm getting the job done.  I lose track of time and my sanity in the end.  

About every summer for the past six or seven summers, this is what I've done.  Packed. Moved. Unpacked.  One more time is do-able.  I've made that drive to and fro Denver to SB seven times and once drove Kayla back to Denver from Seattle.  With all these credentials for cross-country moves, I'm going to suggest that this be the last.  To stay in a place for more than a year will be a record at this point.  Let's make it a goal.

Once our belongings find a final resting point at our to-be-determined permanent address I think we'll keep them there.  I'll even invest in some home decorations and wall paint to make it official.  I promise.

So, here's to a bit of packing to go.  And some sort of permanence in the future.

california adventure

Our initial adventure started in San Jose then a drive to SB for a wedding, than a visit to LA and then a few days in the sleepy town of Twain Harte.  Our trip wrapped up with a two-week stay at the Tahoe Cabin.  Kalin and I were the first to arrive in Tahoe.  We found the cabin in it's winter hibernation form.  The shutters were on the windows, a massive amount of twigs crunched underneath our feet all over the deck.  The pollen also settled a layer on top of it all.  After turning on the water and electricity and doing our best to sweep up all the debris we opened the cabin.  A few days later, the Lundquist crew came up and the days started to fill with lots of sun, boating and delicious food.  

Keith, Kalin's Dad, Taylor, Kalin and I drove down south to Emerald Bay for a mile hike down to the Vikingsholm cabin that is part of the California State Park system.  It is this funny scandanavian designed "castle" that looks into the bay and directly to the one island in Lake Tahoe.  The lady that originally lived in the place built a tea house on the island.  Today, all that remains is the foundation as it was burned and vandalized.

The view from the trail head:
some amazing gnarled trees along the hike:We made it to the bottom (sis-in-law taylor) and Vikingsholm in the background:The falls just beyond Vikingsholm (it has that christmas card potential...)
Taylor, her friends Anna and Lu and myself woke ourselves up early for a hike to above the cabin for a view that looked out over Agate Bay and Carnelian Bay.  The scrapes and scratches from the shrub was definitely worth this peaceful view.  Although, because we forged our own trail, we ended up a bit far away from the cabin on our way back down.

This is looking toward Nevada in North Lake Tahoe.
Each year, everyone carves their name into the rock, this is the new addition, next to Kyle (bro-in-law) who's in Africa right now.

The community of Agate Bay goes ALL OUT for the Fourth of July.  We decked ourselves out in garb and walked about.  The parade ended at the pool with a tasty barbeque.

A Peep and Grampy in this one:

This trip was truly a blessing that we will remember forever.  It's the last real summer vacation of our lives.  Now, it's time to focus on the next phase in our life.  But it's going to be good.  It will mean living closer to family and also in the near future celebrating our one-year anniversary.

dear seattle, don't take the sun away

We've made it back home today to the comforts of our own place.  Soon, we'll start to call Colorado "home".  But today Seattle welcomed us with some cloudy skies, then some raindrops, and then finally some sun (thank you!).  Above is a picture from two years ago on our first trip together to Seattle.  It's when we both decided we should call it home for awhile.  

I'll write more about the rest of our trip in a day or so, but I'll get some pictures on here first to provide a more visual representation of our trip (and to divert attention away from my poor grammar).  

But we're back, safe.  Kalin's bike has been mysteriously stolen.  Sad.  We were planning a few bike adventures in these last few days here.  If the route can be flat, we'll try to get the beach cruiser up and running so we can venture together.  And we wish the person well who stole it--that they ride it daily and are burning multiple calories as well as increasing their daily exercise routine because they have a new bike. 

music takes me there.

I've been spending much of this evening poking around, but to the tune of the shuffle function of my itunes.

I love music.  I really love it.   But in this recent shuffle I am taken back to a certain moment, certain memory and all of the sudden, I'm lost in that time.  It's kind of a nice way to just think about things, about life, etc.  

Crystal Village by Pete Yorn.  During our sophomore year at Westmont, Darcy and I found the beauty of the internet (as we were discussing about a week ago).  We found that you could watch music videos online and this is when we discovered the most beautiful "Crystal Village" by Pete Yorn.  Google it...find it...watch it.  Such a cute story of a boy and a girl and then there is this amazing shot of their feet and shoes in the field.  Oh, how it made out hearts sigh--wishing that we could be in that field.  Whenever Darcy and I were having a not-so-good day that year, it would be this video that would fill our little dorm room in Armington with so much joy.   I also played way too many games of spider solitaire this year.

Make it Big by The Beach Boys.  My first musical love is and will always be the Beach Boys.  There are home movies of myself singing into the recorder KoKoMo.  I didn't quite understand what "chemistry" meant in this song, but I always thought of lab beakers and love potions.  I have since realized the exact meaning.  There was also the California Girls song that made me desperately want to live in California (perhaps leading me to go to school there?)  I guess I ended up with my California boy (which I think is the better end of the deal).  But, back to the song that played tonight.  It is a lesser known song on their "Still Cruisin" album (of which, my mom finally asked for the CD back after more than a decade in my possession...we both can't get enough of their surf-rock sound).  Again, I digress..."Make it Big" inspired my sister and I during our early years in the basement of our house, where we made dances to the song, imagining that the Beach Boys were telling us that we can go places (mainly Hollywood and LA in the song).  But it's encouraging and full of hope.  I still feel like I can "make it big" whenever I hear this song.

The Space Between by Dave Matthews Band.  This particular version I heard tonight was from the Live at Folsom Field album....umm, which I attended.  I was there.  I remember it was the July between my Junior and Senior year of high school.   We piled into my good friend Karen's little two door Geo Metro, grabbed a quick bite from McDonalds as we drove to Boulder.  Karen mentioned the scenery looking like the hills of France.  None of us had ever been to France, but for some reason this became some sort of inside joke between us and Karen.  We laughed so hard.  We arrived at the stadium and then the rain came.  We were wet.  But thanks to our newly-purchase Dave gear, we had something dry to wear.  Wyclef Jean was the opener and it was awesome.  Then Dave took the stage--it was still raining and soon the skies opened to one of those beautiful sunsets over the FlatIrons.  I think there was some article in the paper the next day saying that God was on Dave's side that day.  He played on.  When it came to this song, The Space Between, which was off of their recent album, Everyday (not everyone's favorite), but this song has the line: "these fickle, fuddled words confuse me, like will it rain today?"  The crowd went crazy.  Dave mentioned the rain...and it was raining today...bizarre!!  It was wonderful...one of my greatest memories from High School.

Hold my Hand by Hootie and the Blowfish.  In 6th grade, my family headed to Lubbock, TX to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins.  They had quite the CD collection and one of their CD's was none other than Hootie and Blowfish's "Cracked Rear View".  I listened to that CD as much as possible and listened most often to the radio-favorite, "Hold my Hand".  I remember someone asking me if we could listen to something else.  I didn't want to listen to anything else. 

These days, I don't like to just listen to a song or an album on repeat--I love the shuffle function.  Mainly...it brings me so many memories, so random...it's perfect.

craftopia.

As soon as Kalin and I arrived in Twain Harte, Julie, Taylor and I went directly to the funny little Pharmacy that houses a quite impressive selection of fabric at a very reasonable price. Taylor and I decided that we were going to make the Amy Butler Nigella quilt that I have been hoping to make for quite awhile. But, I don't really have the qualifications to produce a quilt. Luckily, I have my mother-in-law who is always working on a quilt to supervise Tay's and mine first attempt. We selected a few fabrics from the bargain section to complement our "bulb" pieces. Here are a few pics of the process:

the set-up of our craft space.  strips of fabric everywhere

48 squares to start this project.  sew. iron. sew. iron. etc. cut.

12 pieces just like this.  all that's missing are the bulbs.

Quilting is pretty time-intense, but as we are nearing the end, it is pretty rewarding and I am excited to have it finished and put it to good use.  although, we can't use it now.  its 100ish degrees here.

Also, I recently was looking through some embroidery blogs and came across this Japanese technique of Sashiko, which I am pretty sure means something like pull-through or something similar.  I was so excited to find the supplies in San Jose and am almost finished with two patterns.  It is definitely some sort of art form because the fabric bunches if you aren't careful.  I have a bit more to learn, but I like the results so far:

So far this trip has been quite successful in crafting.  I am truly enjoying it as I typically don't have a whole lot of patience for large projects.  But this is good.  SO good.  I highly recommend being unemployed and doing what you love with the one you love.  

Next stop: Lake Tahoe.

Oh, and here is a squirrel that was awkwardly perched on the deck (just for Darcy...)

rest and relaxation

greetings from twain harte, california.  we're here.  being lazy.

kalin's reading.

i'm sewing a quilt.

this is delightful.

we're still unemployed, but right now, this is perfect.

job-less

With much enthusiasm and joy--it is my last day at work! So long SPU! And today is Kalin's last day as well!

We now will start this new (and hopefully brief) unemployed phase in our life. We've been there in the past, but things are different when you are relatively newly married and you're moving cross-country. And, not to mention, you don't have another job lined up. We'll see. We'll see. But, on the other, more important side of this situation, we'll be closer to family, I get to see my dog and there will be SUNSHINE! I believe that at this point, these outweigh the negatives.

Also, I am finding that there are more spectacular things in Colorado. Grandparents, Noodles & Co., Red Rocks, Randi's Pizza, familiarity, home. I'm excited to share these things with Kalin and to also discover new places that I've never been before. My cousin Ashly will be in town as well as a good friend from Westmont, Caley will be starting Med School there in the Fall. I can't wait to be near these beautiful people. I love them dearly and I am so thankful that they'll be near.

So this new adventure is starting today. Lest we forget the One that has gotten us to this point; the Lord will guide us further down this road as we'll pray for his continued guidance. He's so faithful. We're so lucky.