When Jordan Married Kristin...

The Constant Traveller

2009-03-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

Jordan is finally today on his way home!! We chatted for a while last night and, while he did tell me a few things about his last full day in Burundi, I couldn't get too much out of him. All he wanted to talk about was coming home. It was great to see all the houses under construction, and I guess where they are being built is right across the river from Congo, so he said Dave and he took a picture themselves with Congo in the background. If they had actually stepped foot in Congo, they would have literally been in seven countries in two weeks! And actually, I think Dave is stopping in Rwanda, so he would have been in eight countries in two weeks! That's madness!!

He said he took tons of photos of all the houses under construction, but after seeing so many, it became overwhelming and kind of boring. It was great, he said, but eventually tired of it and said he needed a nap. I think by that time, a nap would be very justifiable - especially after everything they have been through these past two weeks. The constant travellers.

But now he is on his way home! Finally!! I will see him tomorrow (as long as he makes all his flights), and I can't wait! So, I guess that's it for now. I'll try to get him to post some more stories of his trip, and for sure some pictures when he gets them edited. Thanks again for the prayers - keep em comin' until he gets home on time and not too exhausted! He does have to go back to work on Thursday...no longer a constant traveller...

Finally in Burundi

2009-03-30T13:30:00.001-07:00

Apparently, the boys made it to Burundi Saturday afternoon around 3:30pm. I finally got to talk to Jordan for more than a minute last night and he filled me in on a few details of their time thus far in Burundi. They had a low-key evening Saturday night, and actually that was really good because Dave was starting to feel really sick that night. He threw up while they were at dinner and a few times after that before going to bed.

The next morning, Dave was scheduled to speak at the Church in Burundi and I guess he did it, but certianly was not feeling up to par at all. I think Jordan said he had to leave the service a few times to throw up some more (I know, gross...sorry), but made it through his sermon and did an amazing job considering how he felt, Jordan said. After church, Jordan said they had another low-key day. They went to the site where the first 40 homes had been built with the help of The Hope Project. Jordan said it was really neat to see how they are built and what they are made of. And they actually brought 40 matresses to the people on Sunday. He said it was really amazing because some of them actually rode their bike to the spot where the matresses were and had to haul them on their bikes back to their houses. Can you imagine that? I can't, but Jordan said he got pictures of it!!

Other than that, there isn't much to report. I've barely been able to talk to him since he has been in Burundi. I was actually in Idaho this past weekend and went to Steve and Stephanie's house on Sunday morning (Sunday evening for Jordan). We called Jordan together and I let them do most of the talking. It was really great for them to be able to talk to their son in Africa, and hear some of his amazing stories first-hand!! Then, I got back to LA late last night and chatted with him for a few minutes, but he was getting ready for his Monday, and said they had a big day planned. Their plan was to go to the site where 60 more homes are in the process of being built. He'll get to see them under construction and probably help out with some of the construction himself. I'm sure it was a tiring day, but he's probably heading to bed right now and tomorrow when he wakes up, he will have a few hours to spend in Burundi before he starts the long journey home to LA.

Thank you all for your prayers these past two weeks, and thanks for reading the blog! I will hopefully talk to Jordan tomorrow and post one more update before he heads home, but in case I don't get a hold of him, know that I will post pictures as soon as he has a chance to edit them! Love to you all!!

On the way to Burundi

2009-03-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

Jordan and Dave are now officially on their way to Burundi. They may have arrived there already, but maybe not. I talked to Jordan last night (Saturday morning at 5:30am his time) and they were at the airport for their 6am flight to Nairobi, and then had an hour layover before heading on to Burundi. Unfortunately, when I was talking to him, Dave got word that their flight to Nairobi was delayed by an hour which meant they would not make their connection to get to Burundi. And there wasn't another flight from Nairobi to Bujumbura, Burundi until later that night (this morning for us). I tried calling again this morning to see if they were in Burundi or at least on their way, but I think because they are in another country now, their phones don't work.

Other than updating me on the status of their flights, Jordan didn't have a whole lot to fill me in on. Their drive from Southern Tanzania to Northern Tanzania ended up taking them 19 hours! They were in the car for 19 hours straight and barely made it to Moshi before they had to head to the airport to go to Burundi. I guess they had planned for the trip to take 16 hours, because they were in a very remote village and they had to get out to a main road and then make the long drive home. The reason it took three hours longer than expected was because they had some car trouble. Jordan said the van they drove was somewhat of an off-roading vehicle - not a wimpy van by any means, but after going over so many bumps and potholes, I guess the radiator was knocked loose and then one of the hoses was cut by a moving part of the engine. Don't ask me deatils, I don't know a whole lot about cars, but Jordan said the engine was under the passenger seat, so they had to take that out to get to the engine to fix the hose. That wouldn't have taken them three hours, but they didn't realize a hose was cut for quite a while. They kept stopping and refilling the cooling liquid, but then 15 minutes later they would have to refill it again. Finally, they realized what the problem was and by the time they got everything fixed they had lost three hours of driving time!

So, after all that, they got into Moshi around 2:30am!! That left just enough time to gather all their belongings, re-pack for the plane ride, shower, and shave. Then, it was off to the airport to catch their plane (that was apparently delayed). What a CRAZY couple days it has been for those boys! And once they get to Burundi there is no time to rest...Jordan and Dave only planned to have three days there, but now with the delays, it's looking like it will only be two full days there - which means there will be lots to do and see in a very short amount of time. Well, at least Jordan can sleep once he gets on the plane to Ethiopia and then hopefully get a full night's sleep on the plane from there to Washington D.C.!! He's going to be one tired guy!

A Little Village

2009-03-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

It has been two days since I talked to Jordan - I called last night to find out how their first day with Village Schools International went, but the phones weren't connecting, and when I finally was able to connect to one of their cell phones, it was 11pm here (9am there) and Dave answered. He said they were inside one of the schools, introducing themselves and he had just ran out to answer the phone. I told him not to bother Jordan, but that I would call back around 6pm their time. Then, when I called back, again, I was unable to connect the first few times I tried, but when I did get through, it was Dave again. This time he wasn't even with Jordan. Dave was out walking around a remote village with some of the people from Village Schools, and Jordan was with the woman who, with her husband, started Village Schools International on a walk around the village to visit and convince people to get tested for AIDS. I guess Susan (the woman Jordan spent the afternoon with) is a big advocate in her village for AIDS prevention and intervention.

So, finally at 11pm their time (around 1pm here) I called again trying to get a hold of Jordan. I actually started calling around 10pm their time, but again after a few times of not being connected, I gave up for a while. Then, once I do get connected, it's right at the moment Jordan gets in the shower. Again, I talked to Dave, and again he told me to call back. So I waited 15 minutes and finally got to talk to my wonderful husband!

He said they are in a very small village in Southern Tanzania and are staying at Steve and Susan's house (the founders of Village School International). They have two boys, and Jordan, Dave, and Musa are staying in one of the boys' rooms. He said his shower was from a bucket, but it was actually warm, so that was great! I guess they heat up the water on coals and then (because it's almost boiling at that point) they mix it with cold water in a bucket, and there's your shower!! He said it was different, but he liked it and it felt good to just get to take a shower after the day he had in the village!

Other than that, he told me more about the village where they are and about how different life is there from here and even from life in Moshi (Northern Tanzania). He said Steve and Susan grow all their own food - vegetables, fruits, etc. and they go into town every once and a while to stock up on everything they cannot grow there. But, he said it is an amazing place because it is SUPER lush and green! They can grow almost anything, I guess, and he compared it to Western Washington - just very green and beautiful. People in the village mostly work as farmers and grow everyrhing from corn, to coffee, to fruit, to tea. He said there are miles and miles of tea fields and it was so amazing to be standing in the middle of all that. I asked him about farming and if it's a lot of corporate farms in that village or if it's family-run, African farms. He said the corn is mostly family-run farms, but the tea is pretty much all owned by Europeans who pay the African's nothing and take all the profits for themselves. So sad.

Of course, he also had to mention the size of the spiders he's seen in the village where they are now. If you don't know, I am terrified of spiders. Not sure why, I'm not exactly the girly-girl, but for some reason they really freak me out and I hate them. I freak out over ones the size of a nickel and say they're "huge." Well, apparently, Jordan has seen numorous spiders that are in their webs (so not tarantulas) that are three or so inches long!!!!! Seriously. When I heard that I asked if he had seen any spiders like that in Moshi and he said no. So I said, ok, I can live in Moshi, but not in some remote, lush, beautiful village. Sorry.

No, just kidding. I asked him if he would kill all the spiders for me (only if they were in our house or something - not if they were minding their business outside in their webs) and he said yes. So I could do it. And in case you don't know Jordan that well, he absolutely loves it where he is right now! He's in his element - in a lush, rainforest where they grow all their own fruits and vegetables and he even got to go swimming because he said they have a pretty sweet water system going on with a dam that backs up water to form a small pond (about 15 feet deep he said). I think they went swimming yesterday with some of the kids from the high school in the village and I asked him if any of them knew how to swim. He said most of them didn't, but that a few had taught themselves. Pretty crazy, huh?

Well, I guess that's all to report. I didn't want to chat for too long because I could tell he was SUPER tired and it was almost midnight there. But he's doing well. I think he's really learning a lot about himself and what he wants for our family. His eyes are being opened to the way people in other parts of the world live, and I think he likes it. Please keep praying for him (and Dave and Musa) - they have to drive 14+ hours tomorrow from the village back to Moshi, and then on Saturday morning get up and drive about an hour to the airport to fly out to Burundi. It's going to be a crazy couple days for them!!

Love to you all! Thank you for reading and thank you even more for your prayers! I'll keep you posted on their time in Burundi as well...

Jordan is in Southern Tanzania

2009-03-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

Yep. They made it to Southern Tanzania after driving for nearly 12 hours on crazy ridiculous dirt roads through one of Tanzania's most beautiful National Parks!! I talked to Jordan again last night and they were just beginning their Wednesday. He said that when they were in Moshi, Tanzania (in Northern Tanzania) they stayed at a more Western-style hostel, but now they are definitely in an African-style hostel. One of the first things he told me was that he pooped in a hole for the first time! Real exciting, huh? Also, he said that somehow the shower is right next to the hole you use to go to the bathroom, so if you're not careful, you might fall in while you're showering! That doesn't sound so sanitary, now does it? And he said unlike the first hostel, this one has brown, muddy water, so it's kind of weird to bathe in it.

Apart from telling me about their new living quarters, he didn't have too much to say. They had been driving all day the day before, and got in just before night-fall. Basically, they got settled and ate and went to bed. Not too much news to report, but today, they were planning on going to visit some of the high schools built and run by Village Schools International (www.villageschools.org). Oh, and I almost forgot: he met a girl who was a year behind me at Whitworth. He said her name is Ashley and that she lived in Warren her first year and Boppell her second year. I'm almost sure I know who she is, and I think she knows who I am, but Jordan didn't know her last name, so I can't be positive. But how crazy is that!?!? Jordan goes to Tanzania with The Hope Project, ends up driving 12 hours to visit Village Schools International and meets a girl who went to Whitworth at the same time we did! That's INSANE!! What are the chances??

So, other than that, like I said, there isn't much news to report. Jordan's doing well. Hasn't gotten sick yet - let's pray he doesn't get sick at all...and he seems happy and like he's having a great time. After all, he is on quite the adventure!

A Tanzanian Adventure

2009-03-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today, Jordan is having quite the Tanzanian adventure! He's with Dave and Musa and they have been driving all day from Northern Tanzania to Southern Tanzania. They're in a van. And Jordan said they have been stopped four times at checkpoints that the Tanzanian police set up along the roads there (kind of like they do in Mexico). I talked to him last night, which was around 8:30am Tuesday morning for him, but the service was spotty because they were already on the road. So I talked to him again this morning, which was around 6pm his time, and they were still on the road! They literally have been driving ALL day!!

This just popped into my head - it's pretty funny: I forgot to mention that when Jordan and Musa went to the orphanage on Sunday all the kids were yelling "Muzungu, Muzungu!" at Jordan. That mean's "white person" and I guess they all were yelling it while they were running toward the car! Isn't that hilarious!? I think so...

Ok, so back to the adventure - Jordan said they overheated their engine once after they got to the top of a very steep and long hill, so they had to stop for about 15 minutes and let it cool down. He also said that they drove through one of the National Parks in Tanania, and he got to see giraffes, impalas, zebras, elephants, and more!! How cool is that?? He said the giraffes were right next to the road, so I'm sure he got some amazing pictures of that! He's hoping (and I am too) that he will see a lion on the way back to Moshi in two days (yep, they have to make the same drive back in two days).

Another funny thing he said is that he LOVES the bananas over there! Seriously. He said he has eater three already today, and was planning on having his fourth when we got off the phone! Isn't that silly? He wasn't sure what it was, probably just that they are completely organic and tree-ripened. Whatever it is, he's obsessed with them!

I think that's about it...we didn't chat for too long because he was still on the road. But he thought they were only about 30 minutes from their destination, so they should be arriving soon. I didn't get to talk to him about what it was like at the orphanage where we support the kids, but I'm sure it was amazing and I know he'll have amazing photos to share.

More updates to come...love you all and thanks for reading!

Update from Jordan

2009-03-23T20:40:00.001-07:00

I talked to Jordan again last night! He is still in Tanzania and is having a great time there! He got all dressed up and went to church on Sunday morning. He said everyone was dancing and there was a really cute little boy who was trying to follow all the other people's dance moves. I think Jordan was trying to follow him! What a sight that would be!!

After church, Dave had to go to the Internet Cafe for a couple meetings with Zachariah (the pastor of the church) and the other people who work at the orphanage and Internet Cafe, so Jordan went with another young guy named Musa and - get this - went shooting with a bunch of people! That's right! Jordan went shooting in Africa! Why not, right? Only Jordan....yeah, so they went to an open area and shot a shotgun at one of those giant trees with the giant trunks. He said a bunch of young guys went (guys in their 20's) and one girl, but (just like me) she was bored and kept asking why they were shooting, what was the point of it? We may live half a world apart, but we're really the same at heart, aren't we?

On their way back from shooting they passed a stand where a guy was selling real sugar cane. Jordan, of course, didn't know what the man was selling, so he asked, and Musa told him what it was and said he had to try it. Jordan said he LOVED it! He said it was SO good and when I was talking to him last night (it was 8am Monday morning for him) he was craving more! I guess they cut it up into little pieces, and it has lots of fibers and is kind of like a corn husk, so you just suck on it to get the juice out. Yummy.

After that, Jordan went with Musa to an orphanage (not the one with the kids we support through the Hope Project) because Musa needed to get his computer charger that he had left there the night before when he played The Lion King for the kids on his computer. Isn't that SO cute?!?! Imagine this young, single 26-year-old guy going to the orphanage on a Saturday night to show the kids The Lion King on his computer. I asked Jordan if it was in Swahili or English, but he didn't know. Either way, that's a pretty great picture to have in your head!

Then, Jordan and Musa met up with Dave and Zachariah at Zachariah's house for dinner. I can't remember what they had for dinner, or if Jordan said, but he did say that they while they were hanging out, the power went out a few times, but that happens all the time I guess. And he said that today (Monday) they will be going to the orphanage where we support the kids through the Hope Project. And after that (on Tuesday morning) they will be heading down to Southern Tanzania to meet up with Village Schools International. I believe Musa will be driving them in his van, and there may be another person going too. Not sure, but hopefully I will talk to him again tonight (which is Tuesday morning for him), so we'll see and I'll keep you posted.

Love to you all - please keep praying for Jordan and Dave. They are doing great so far, no sickness or anything like that, but they need all the prayers they can get!

I talked to Jordan last night!!

2009-03-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Yep...I actually got to talk to him for about 45 minutes last night around 10pm! He was just waking up for his Sunday morning (it's 10 hours ahead there, so it was 8am there). I got to hear lots of stories - they did so much their first day in Tanzania. Zachariah, the pastor of the church The Hope Project works with in Moshi, Tanzania and another guy picked them up from the airport, and from there it sounds like they went all over. They went to a school, and one of the funniest stories Jordan told me was that while they were at the school they were outside most of the time, and he was taking pictures of all the kids, but he realized that his bald head was in direct African sunlight, and that probably wasn't good. So, he went back out to the car to get the sunscreen out of his bag. There was a group of tribes-men outside the school and when he started putting the sunscreen on his head they all just busted up laughing at him!! They knew exactly what it was, and Jordan said that even though none of them spoke english, they were able to communicate enough for one of the guys to ask for some sunscreen, obviously as a joke. He put it all over his arms and face and they all had another laugh!

Let's see, other than going to the school to take pictures of the kids in class, they went to Zachariah's house and met his wife and three kids. Jordan said they had some very interesting food there; a cornstarch mixture (kind of like cream of wheat) with greens (think southern collard greens) and something else (sorry, I can't remember)...but he said it was actually not bad. He also said he had a glass of mango juice yesterday and it was SO good! We both LOVE mango's, so I was super jealous!!

Jordan and Dave are staying in a hostel in Moshi, Tanzania. And today, they were planning on going to church - Dave was going to speak, so I bet that will be quite the experience for Jordan! He had to bring nice clothes - dress pants, a button up and a tie - because they all get very fancy for church there. I know Jordan was super excited about wearing all that stuff - he just loves it - ha! Other than that, I don't think they had much planned for their Sunday. Jordan still hasn't been to the orphanage where we sponsor kids through The Hope Project, but I think they might do that on Monday, and then on Monday night or Tuesday they will head to Southern Tanzania to meet up with an organization called Village Schools International. I believe Dave is looking to possibly partner with them for the next big Hope Project Initiative. And Jordan and I may possibly look at working with them if we move over there someday. They have opportunities to teach english and possibly even teach high school for a year or two! How cool would that be??

Ok, so that's the best I can do for now. I'm going to try to call again tonight, which will be Monday morning for Jordan, so if I get to talk to him, I'll post another update tomorrow. Love to you all, and thanks for all the prayers - please keep it up!!

Jordan is in Africa!!

2009-03-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to update everyone on Jordan's trip to Africa. He is on his way from Ethiopia to Tanzania right now, after he and Dave missed their flight yesterday. Of course, there's only one flight from Ethiopia to Tanzania each day, so they had to catch the flight out today. I've emailed back and forth with him quite a bit in the past day and a half. Their hotel in Ethiopia had free internet access in their rooms, so we even gmail chatted today before he left for the airport. He's doing well, and has already taken video and photos of life in Ethiopia. I'll try to keep everyone updated on his status over the next two weeks, but prayers are always appreciated.

On another note, Jordan and I are going through some major changes right now. We are finally focusing on living life by faith. We've switched churches and are so much happier where we are at now - Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA. The pastor is so transparent and real, and we have learned SO much from him already. It's kind of funny, because for the last couple months we haven't known what to do in regards to churches. We knew we didn't want to continue going to the church we had been going to, but we didn't know where to go from there. We have seriously tried SO many churches in LA, and after settling on one and attending for about four months straight, we just decided it really wasn't challenging us and wasn't helping us grow in our faith. So, we actually started watching podcasts of church services from Cornerstone. We did that for about two months and finally last week attended our first service since we visited over a year ago with Jordan's sister and her husband.

If you are curious about what we are learning and how we are growing in our faith, please check out some of the podcasts:

www.cornerstonesimi.com

Also, Francis Chan (head pastor at Cornerstone) recently wrote a book that I'm reading while Jordan's gone. It's called Crazy Love and so far it's amazing. If you're looking for a new book to challenge you in your faith, you should check it out. Francis, more than anyone I know, truly lives his life by faith and doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. He knows he will have to suffer for the gospel and he's one of the most compelling people I've ever met. Even if you're not a Christian, I would encourage you to check out some of what this man has to say. He'll make you want to be a better person, I guarantee it.

Ok, love to you all...pics from the past few months soon to come. And when Jordan gets home I'll convince him to convert some of the best photos from his trip to Africa to jpegs so I can post them here. :)

PICTURES!! From the past few months...

2008-11-23T11:52:00.001-08:00

Jordan and I outside the Pantages Theater getting ready for WICKED!!

My super cute parents outside the Pantages Theater

Jordan and I inside the Pantages before the show

My parents inside the Pantages before the show

Jordan and I waiting for TINA TURNER!

Clearly, we are very excited!!

My parents were very excited too!

We all simply CAN'T wait!

Jordan and I went to opening night for the Lakers -

I know, I know, you're jealous of our seats...

We got free tshirts!

It was pretty sweet - our first Lakers game!

Jordan playing Photographer at a John Tesh concert -

isn't he so professional?

A UCLA football game at the Rose Bowl...they are really bad,

but we were going for Oregon anyway, so it was a fun game for us.

Jordan was having so much fun...

Blake and Carissa came to visit - this is us at a Minus the Bear concert!

Jordan and I went to a Kings game at the Staples Center a few nights ago...

he got cold and had to wear my scarf.

We had great seats - VIP!

Life as we know it...

2008-11-18T11:09:00.001-08:00

So it's been a real long time since I've updated this thing and I'm sorry. It's hard for me. But here's a quick update on us. We have had quite the fall...my parents visited and we went to see Wicked and Tina Turner! That was amazing! Also, we went to Vegas for an Oktoberfest party at Carissa's house! And we got a new bike for me, which I ride to work everyday! Then, last weekend, Carissa and Blake came to visit and took us to a Minus the Bear concert! Oh, and our city is on fire. That's not so good. And it's like 90 degrees in the middle of November - what have we done to our Planet?!?!

Here are a few pics from the past few months...more to come, I promise:

My brothers and us....all in gray and black...not sure why.

Jordan and I holding up the wall "painting" at the Getty.

One of my favorites...us at Oktoberfest!

Us at Minus the Bear (or as Jordan calls it - Without the Bear).

Disneyland and the Happiest Place on Earth

2008-09-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok...so I'm really bad at updating this thing. I'm working on it. The last few weekends have been very exciting for Jordan and I. We went to Disneyland and to the Happiest Place on Earth - HOME!! Here are some pics:

Us by the Teacups!

I actually get sick riding them...so I just sat in this one - it doesn't move...

Jordan and his giant pickle

Big Thunder Canyon Railroad

Getting ready for the Tower of Terror - I am very proud of myself for conquering it...again!!

The Castle at night - so pretty...

I just thought this was cute...Jordan at the beach: what a tough life, huh?

This is actually the only pic I have from home...Eric came home too, and I was combing all the tangles out of his super long hair! So silly...

UPDATE...finally.

2008-07-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

Wow...it's been a while. I haven't been very good at keeping this thing up-to-date this summer, but I'm going to try to be better about that. Let's see...what has happened since the beginning of June? Well, I started my new job. I'm working for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Monica, and I'm the Volunteer and Community Resource Coordinator. Basically, I get to take care of everything dealing with volunteers - interviewing them, screening them, scheduling them, loving them, etc. And I also get to create and maintain all the club's partnerships with outside organizations and individuals. Basically, it's the greatest! And I get to hang out with kids - kids who are around ALL day during the summer! It's so fun!

I think I might have mentioned it, but if you didn't know...the Lakers and the NBA completely re-modeled our Reading and Learning Center. They came in and tore everything out and replaced it with all new stuff (and by they, I mean I...and some of my co-workers along with a few NBA PR people). Both the Celtics and the Lakers chose one organization to do this for, and we were it for the Lakers. Tey had a press conference and a ribbon-cutting ceremony with David Stern (President of the NBA) the day between Games 3 and 4. The kids absolutely loved it!!

Here are some pics:

All the kids got shirts for the big event

That is the brightest purple carpet ever!

Pretty fancy...

Laker Madness!

That's $10,000 worth of books baby!

Just hangin with some of the girls before the players arived

These kids were on National Television during Game 4

Coby Karl (a rookie player for the Lakers) played Laker Monopoly with the girls

Derek Fisher played too!

Ok, so you can tell I love my job when I post about a thousand pics of what's happening there...wow. I think that's enough...

What else? Oh...Jordan went to Idaho for Andrew and Megan Pelsma's wedding. I couldn't go, because it would have been too much time off work. But it just so happened that Nicole came down here that very same weekend for a wedding...so I got to see her, and she even stayed with me one night. We took one picture, but it's pretty bad of both of us, so I'm not sure I'm going to post it...

Then, I went to KT and Peter's wedding in Portland a few weeks after the Pelsma wedding in Idaho. Jordan didn't go with me for the same reason i didn't go with him - he had to work. Boo work. But their wedding was sooooo fun!! All the good pictures I took are on facebook, but I may post some here later...

After I got back from P-town, I worked for three days and then took six days off and went to Mexico with Jordan's mom's side of the family. There were 40 of us, and we went for his grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary and 70th birthdays which are all this year. I don't have any pics of that yet either, because Jordan took all our pics with his camera and he has to change them into jpegs before I can put them on here. Soon, though.

Since getting back from that crazy trip (around the 4th of July) we have pretty much just been working. Our weekends have actually been really busy, but we've just been having fun. We went to San Diego to see Patrick and Taylor when they were there for a few hours on their way back from a mission trip to Mexico. We also saw my brother (who lives there) and I FINALLY got to meet his Lauren....she used to be his girlfriend like two years ago for two years, and then they broke up, but now they're sort of seeing each other again - it's complicated. But I never met her the entire time they were dating (seriously, they dated for like two years and I never met her...what's the deal with that?)...Anyway, she's great and it was really fun hanging out with Eric and crashing at his place in San Diego.

The following weekend, we helped Janee and Gib move from their place in Hollywood to their new place in Venice. They now live about seven blocks from the beach - those jerks! Jk...their new place is really cute and in a really great neighborhood with a good mix of people. We know we'll love having them much closer: it's about 8-10 minutes between our houses, as opposed to 30-60 minutes between our old places. Also, this past week, Jordan's aunt Nancy came to visit and we had the best time! She stayed with us a few nights and it was so great to catch up and just chat with her! She's such a great person with a great perspective on life - very well traveled, with many stories...we had a blast!

Ok, finally...this weekend we went to Solvang, CA for our 1st anniversary! It is a tiny little Danish town about 35 miles north of Santa Barbara, and we stayed in the cutest little hotel. It's also right in the middle of Santa Barbara wine country, so we spent the weekend wine tasting (which we have never done before, but really enjoy). It's litereally a town that's 5 blocks by 5 blocks, so we walked everywhere and tasted wine in many tasting rooms. We also drove out to the actual wineries and tasted there too! It was fabulous. Tomorrow is our actual anniversary, and we're planning on a nice dinner somewhere...I dunno exactly...

At one of the tasting rooms

Thats all I got.

New Job is AMAZING.

2008-06-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

That's all I got for now...it really is soooo great! I'll give some detail soon...

The Weekend Update

2008-05-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

Can I just say I love 3-day weekends? Well, I do. We had the most amazing 3-day weekend this weekend! On Saturday we ran some errands, did some shopping, worked out, and went to Manhattan Beach - which was pretty sweet, I have to say. We'd definitely like to explore that area more in the future. Then on Sunday we did absolutely nothing (yep, we were heathens who didn't go to church). Instead, we slept in, went to blockbuster to rent a movie (and ended up purchasing three...), stopped by the store to get some snacks and then literally lounged around the house all day watching movies and napping. It was seriously the laziest day ever, but we LOVED it! And it wasn't all a waste...around 7pm we went for a walk around our neighborhood - so at least we got some exercise, right? Right.

Well, even if we were super lazy on Sunday, we made up for it yesterday. We got up at a decent hour, went to run more errands (and by that I mean did more shopping - I've been on the hunt for a pair of shoes all weekend, and finally yesterday - success!). They're super cute, though, right??

Then later in the afternoon we drove up to Calabasas Peak and went for a good hike. It was so great to get out into nature and away from the city. Jordan also got to take some pictures - nature pictures - not product shots!! So that was great for him! And we had a really great time just the two of us...

There she is - Calabasas Peak. And I'd just like to say, yep...I climbed that! I was a little girl about it at times (only the times when it was really steep uphill), but I did it nonetheless. And lucky for me, I have a husband who is a great encourager. He's amazing. And we did it together. And now I want to do more. We even made a deal that we would try to do one hike every weekend that we didn't have something going on. We actually have a book of about 80 hikes around Los Angeles, and our goal is to do them all. Calabasas Peak, check.

Jobs, etc.

2008-05-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. I start my new job on June 2nd! I'm going to work for the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica. I know this may come as a shock...since I never mentioned I was looking for a new job...but I wasn't, really. You see, I had an interview back in January when they had no open positions, but the lady I met with really liked me so she said she'd keep me posted if anything came up. Well, still nothing came up, but they decided to create a new position for me! How sweet is that? I don't have a job title yet, but I'll be the volunteer coordinator, I'll work with alumni, and I'll be working to create/maintain partnerships with other agencies and non-profit organizations in the community who serve kids. That sounds pretty amazing to me!
I've been trying to break into the field of social services since we moved to LA (I never thought it would be so hard or take this long...), and now it's finally happened! I'm FINALLY going to be able to use my degree and get some REAL experience in the field I want to work it. And if there's one thing I've learned from this 8-month long search for a job I really want, it's that it's all about experience! Really.
But don't get me wrong, I've loved working at Los Angeles Center Studios - the people there are amazing and I will definitely be sad to leave. I also will miss seeing movie stars at work - probably not too many of them wandering around the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica...but oh well. This is such a great move for me, and I'm really excited to start!
In other job news, Jordan got a raise on the exact same day I found out about my new job! How great is that? He wasn't expecting it at all, and he certainly didn't ask for it, so it was such a great and unexpected surprise. We were really excited and I think the fact that his bosses got together and decided to give him a raise when he's only been there 8 months really validated him and helped him to know that he is appreciated at work. I'm so proud of my man!! Wow, that sounds really stupid, but I am...
So that's our exciting news for now! Lots of changes in this past year, but they've all been exciting and fun! Also, my dad just bought Tina Turner tickets for the Staples Center in October, so I pretty much can't wait for that!! Tina Turner = AMAZING! It's going to be so great!

Too Long.

2008-05-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's been WAY too long since I've posted anything. Here goes:
Life has been CRAZY these past couple weeks...We had Jordan's little brother in town three weeks ago - that was super fun. We went to the beach, to Hollywood, and to a Ziggy Marley concert. Yep - we were surrounded (literally surrounded) by teenagers smoking bowls. It was interesting, to say the least! That next week was our birthdays - Jordan's on the 21st and mine on the 23rd. We spent them alone, together...since we both had to work during the days. On Jordan's birthday we made a delicious steak dinner, with sauteed mushrooms, mashed potatoes, blanched green beans and cheesecake for dessert! Yum! For my birthday, we went to a new restaurant/pub down on Main Street called the Library Ale House. It was delicious! It was a cool atmosphere - sitting out on their back patio and enjoying a date-night together.
The weekend after our birthdays, we went to San Diego and had SOOOO much fun! My parents flew down there and met up with my brother Eric on Thursday (the day after my birthday). Then we met them on Friday night after work. We stayed in this amazing little trendy hotel called The Pearl in Point Loma - I would definitely recommend the hotel to anyone looking for a fun, less-expensive place to stay! It was seriously, so cute and so fun! And the food was amazing too! We went to the zoo, to a street fair in Encinitas, and to the amazing little Italian restaurant where my brother works - I would also DEFINITELY RECOMMEND this place! It is SOOOO good! Seriously, it's right by Balboa Park and it's called Alexander's. Look it up if you're ever in town!
On Sunday, after a few nights and one full day in San Diego, the whole family (minus my brother Ben who lives in Post Falls and couldn't make it down for the birthday trip) came back up here to Santa Monica and went to the beach and to dinner at The Lobster, which overlooks the ocean and the pier, and allowed us a beautiful sunset! On Monday (I was allowed the day off), my parents, Eric, and I went to breakfast before he headed back down to San Diego and then my parents and I went to my work for a Studio tour. They LOVED it. They watch Numb3rs, which is one of the shows they film at the studio, and so going on their stages and seeing their sets was really cool for my parents. After that we had lunch with Jordan in the Valley and went to the 3rd Street Promenade. Then it was dinner at The Counter - our favorate local burger joint, and they left the next morning.

This is the SUPER CUTE Kaola at the zoo!

Two days later (last Thursday) Patrick arrived. Talk about non-stop company. It was really fun though! We went to the beach and the Promenade and to Hollywood on Saturday night. The Woods and Big Wangs - Patrick loved it! And we got to see Tiffany Seefeldt, whom we haven't seen since college, but who lives and works here now! It was super fun...but let me tell you, I was drained on Sunday night and pretty much all day Monday. I'm finally feeling back to normal, but it's been crazy around here.
In more exciting news - Jordan and I got BEACH CRUISERS for our birthdays from my brother! They are super sweet and we plan to ride them all the time! Summer is coming, and a new bike gang just might be forming...but I need KT to form a true bike gang...
What? Anyways...life has been good. We've had so much fun these past three weeks - we've just been crazy busy! Now we will go back to normal and settle down a bit. That will seem kinda nice...for a while.

Holy Hotness.

2008-04-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Yep...it was 92 degrees here this weekend. Yikes! That is seriously soooo hot when you're not used to it. We were a little overwhelmed, I'm not gonna lie...but it was nice to go to the beach and be out in the beautiful sunshine. We even played some frisbee in the hot hot sand! It hurt our feet a little, but was still fun - and the ocean definitely cooled them off. It's still very cold, so even on a hot hot day, you can cool yourself down in about 2 seconds.
So, Saturday we spent the morning/early afternoon at the beach, and then had some friends over for a BBQ in the later afternoon/evening. And our place got HOT! Living near the beach, most places don't have A/C...because you typically don't need it...but we could have used it this weekend! Oh well - we managed to survive, and we're working on our system of fans throughout the house, throughout the day to keep the place as cool as possible. Oh what fun.
In other news, my parents are coming so soon! I can't wait. And even before that - Luke is coming tomorrow!! Yay! We're gonna take him all over this town - and definitely to the beach, because there's no ocean in Idaho. Also, last night we watched The Breakup...not so sure yet what I thought of it. I like Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, but I didn't enjoy all the yelling - especially from Vince Vaughn. It's just not natural to see him being so serious and angry. The movie definitely did make me appreciate Jordan, though. I love my husband, and I'm glad I'll never have to go through a breakup like that. No fun...
You know what else is no fun - TRAFFIC! I hate it with a passion! Yep, I said it. I HATE it! Today I was 15 minutes late for work (and I left at the same time I do everyday, which usually puts me to work about 10-15 minutes early). It was soooo annoying. Imagine creeping along at an average of 5-10 miles an hour, just watching the clock tick by, knowing that if you don't speed up (even just a little bit) soon, you're going to be really late! Talk about stressful morning. I HATE TRAFFIC. Nuf said.

I Just Won $200!!

2008-04-08T10:37:00.001-07:00

Yep. That's right. I just won my office pool for the NCAA tournament bracket. I picked Memphis going all the way, and it's funny, because living down here in LA, nearly everyone picked UCLA to either win it all or to at least make it to the championship. And, as we all know, neither of those things happened, so I won!! Well, it wasn't quite that easy, but you get the picture...
In other news, Jordan just found out that he will be able to have the time off for Andrew's wedding and for the HUGE family reunion trip to Mexico!!!!!! That is actually more exciting than winning $200! WE'RE GOING TO MEXICO FOR 9 DAYS THIS SUMMER!! I absolutely can't wait - and - we're going with Jordan's ENTIRE extended family on his mom's side! It's going to be SOOOOOO fun!! Just imagine all of us at one hotel eating and drinking all we can eat and drink and laying by the beach all day - AND SCUBA DIVING!! Oh man - it's going to be so great! Can you tell that I'm excited? Well, you would be too if you had a free all-inclusive vacation awaiting you in June after KT's wedding!! What a great summer this is going to be!
That's all...that's really all I got. What else is there? I won $200 bucks and I'm going to Mexico for 9 days in June. Oh, and my parent's are coming down in two weeks and I REALLY can't wait! They're flying into San Diego (where Eric, my brother, lives) on a Thursday night and then Jordan and I are going down there on Friday after work to stay for two nights. And then we're going to bring them back to our place for two nights and I get to have that Monday off - so it's going to be so great. I'm going to bring them to my work and take them to the stages for Numb3rs - they love that show. Maybe they'll get to see Rob Morrow or David Krumholtz - that would probably make their day!! My cutie little parents...I can't wait to see them!
And - guess what else? Luke, Jordan's little brother, is coming in a little over a week! That will be super fun too - he's 15 and Jordan's little clone. Well, I guess I shouldn't say little - if you know him or have ever met him you know what I'm talking about - he's definitely not little. I can't wait to see him! Ok, so that's probably enough excitement for now. I've got to calm down...

Super Fun Weekend

2008-03-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend was packed full of fun! Carissa and Blake came to visit from Vegas and we had SO much fun...we hung out in Hollywood on Friday night, went to the beach and to the Santa Anita (horse) Race Track on Saturday, and BBQed on Saturday night before they left. Then Jordan and I went to our new church on Sunday morning - for Easter, and then to the beach and laid out in the 85 degree weather all afternoon. We even went in the ocean - I'm talking bathing suits and sun burns, people! It was the most amazing way to spend Easter. I've never had an Easter so nice - especially in March! My family back in Idaho had to endure an inside Easter egg hunt due to the 40 degree weather and rain. But not us! We were loving it here. It was amazing to just be out in the beautiful weather, admiring God's creation. So relaxing...
I've come to realize something about living down here...I may not love it all the time - especially when I sit in ridiculous traffic all the way to work, like this morning - but this place is amazing! We have everything we could ever need or want within about an hour of us. We can go to the beach, the horse race track, hollywood, and anything else all in one day. It's so different from Idaho, and sometimes I hate it, but there's still something to be said for its beauty. Even now, I've been looking into going camping somewhere around here and I'm finding out about all these great places to go - all within a few hours of here. And, as I was telling my mom a few weeks ago, no matter how long we live here, we will never be able to explore all this metropolis has to offer - there's just no way...but we're having fun trying.
I have to say this, now that we live so close to the beach, my whole outlook on living here has changed. I like it so much more! It makes all the difference in the world. And this amazing weather we're having right now definitely doesn't hurt - who knew you could get sunburned in March? That's all but impossible in Idaho at this time of year. Life is good...
I'll post pics soon - I promise.

What a Crazy Week...

2008-03-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

This week has been so crazy. Last Wednesday night my mom told me that my dog Maddie (who has been in our family for almost 9 years) was probably going to have to be put down soon. Maddie (the dog on the right) has been going downhill for a few months now, and was definitely suffering from some sort of cancer in her bladder region. I wont go into details here (it's still really hard), but my parents decided this weekend that she had suffered enough and put her down on Saturday. I cried and cried - from Wednesday on, I would just cry at random times throughout the day. Maddie was a part of my family and it really feels like I lost someone very close to me. The good thing is, though, that she's not suffering anymore. She can run now and be herself once more - and for those of you that know her, you know that she had quite the personality (which she seemed to lose when she was so sick).

In other crazy sad news, one of Jordan's little brother, Zachary's best friends from middle school and early high school passed away on Sunday. We're not sure yet exactly what happened, but it was either suicide or an accidental overdose, and it happened while his family was at Church. I mentored him when he was a freshman in high school and I was a senior, so I can't help but have those thoughts that if I had been a better mentor that year maybe none of this would have happened. Honestly, though, it's been hard to even let this tragedy in, with the week I had crying over Maddie. It's almost too much for one person to handle.

On a positive note, I saw Lars Ulrich yesterday at work (he's the drummer for Metallica, for those of you who don't know). I think he's filming a TV show pilot, and his kids were with him and they're really cute! So that was fun. Also, Jordan has been amazing throughout this entire ordeal, and that's been what's kept me going. I really don't know what I would do without him. He's so good to me and I really don't deserve him. And we live by the beach now, so our plan for this weekend is, first of all, to not have anything bad happen (like we have control over that, but we're thinking positively here), and also to explore our new area more and maybe ride our bikes to the beach, walk on the pier or the promenade and hope that Carissa and Blake come next weekend. Anyone else want to come down?

We Moved Successfully...

2008-03-04T12:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks to many friends. We now have a new place to call home, and we're having a great time setting up all our stuff and figuring out how to arrange our things in our new home. It's just so great to finally be out of the craziness that was our life in the city - we were literally surrounded by traffic lights and concrete and pavement and buildings for miles around - not exactly our style. Now, we are surrounded by grass and houses and yards and cool little restaurants and cafes and beaches!! So much better for us. And we're hoping Jordan's sister and her husband (Janee and Gib) will move out our way soon...they live in Hollywood right now, but we'd love for them to be closer to us! Then we could all go to the beach and ride our bikes together. Sounds like fun, huh?
In other news, Jordan's dad, Steve, came to visit this weekend...a little stressful since we were moving, but well worth that tiny bit of stress to have the extra help with moving. He was so great. He helped us pack and organize us all for the big move (we had four cars that took one load each and we borrowed my brother's tiny Mazda truck that took three loads over). It was pretty insane, and Steve was such a huge help! Also insane - moving in TRAFFIC! Bleck. I hate it. But oh well, it's done. And we have all our stuff inside our new home, so that's pretty amazing. Also, some of our stuff is even organized and our entire bookshelf is decorated with an artists touch thanks to our friend Kat, who is simply amazing. She went crazy and just started unpacking boxes the moment we got them all in the door. The rest of us were so tired and lazy by the time it was all done, but not her - she was like the energizer bunny...literally, she kept going and going until we physically took her out of the apartment to go to dinner. It was the greatest thing, though...really...amazing.
So all in all, I feel like I need a weekend to recover from the weekend, but life is good. We are so happy in Santa Monica and speding time with Steve was so fun. We went to the beach and walked on the pier, and had a great dinner the night before he left. It was really fun to hang out with him without the rest of the family - that never happens...Not that we don't love the rest of the family, it was just a unique time for us to spend with him. I wish it could have lasted for longer...

Welcome to Our Blog!!

2008-02-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

If you're reading this you must be interested in what Jordan and I are up to...so, I'll give you a quick update on our lives since the wedding. We got married on July 29th, 2007 - over six months ago!! It was such a fun day, to say the least. Since then, we have moved to Los Angeles and are actually in the process of moving yet again - this time to Santa Monica. We moved down to SoCal for a couple of reasons: Jordan was offered a job working with the Tesh Media Group doing photography and media design-type stuff, I wanted to work with inner-city kids, and we figured it would be a good time for us to get away from the Northwest for a while and learn to live completely on our own - relying on each other and God for everything. Needless to say, it's been quite the adventure!

I haven't yet been able to find a job working with inner-city kids, but I do have a few leads on jobs in the field, so that could change in the near future. In the meantime, I've had a few different office jobs working through a temp agency. In September I started working for Farmer's Insurance, doing all kinds of administrative work. That job ended in December, which was perfect because I was able to take two weeks off between jobs to go to Idaho for Christmas and to Tucson for my cousin's wedding! It was so fun, and since getting back to LA, I've been working at Los Angeles Center Studios as their receptionist. It's a pretty great job, and now that the writer's strike is over, things are really picking up for me. Also, a bonus of the job is that I get to see movie stars...not too many have walked past my desk as of yet (due to the fact that the writers weren't writing and therefore the actors couldn't act), but I expect in the very near future I'll be seeing lots of them. Who woulda thought I'd ever be truly affected by the writer's strike? Who woulda thought I'd work in the movie business. It's craziness!!

So, other than work, we like to go to the beach on the weekends, hang out with Gib and Janee (Jordan's sister and brother-in-law) who live in Hollywood, and generally just relax. It's definitely weird working a standart Monday thru Friday job - we find ourselves being extremely boring/tired during the week, and because of that we dont do much of anything. It's not quite the college life, but we're adjusting to it.

Also, like I said, we're moving to Santa Monica next weekend, which is just about the most exciting thing ever! We will still be living in a tiny one bedroom apartment, but we'll be so close to the beach that it really doesn't matter. Plus, we really don't have that much stuff, so a small apartment is just right for us. I'll put pics up once we get settled...