Kerry's Birthday: The Super Husband Strikes again

Joe was very quiet about my birthday this year. I knew he had plans, but he wasn't letting anything slip. As I was getting ready for the day on the morning of the sixth, familiar birthday smells (unfamiliar the rest of the weekdays of the year) began wafting upstairs. I do love the smell of bacon! For breakfast Joe served me bacon and Noah's bagels with my choice of a variety of toppings. I think there may have been a fruit as well, but I hate to admit that that wasn't as memorable.

I went to work, which was kind of amazing. I only recently started working for housing and for the most part people don't know me well. Before I knew it though, one of my new coworkers was standing in the door with a cake! After that the birthday wishes just kept coming. The same coworker had used her cri-cut to make me a fabulous card and had passed it around to most of the office. My supervisor brought me a soy chai, which he had asked me about every so stealthily before. Pretty much everyone who walked by my door that day wished me happy birthday.

At lunch Joe stole me away to a thai fusion restaurant where we had a delicious lunch of a variety of small things. A bit of pad thai here, some pork rolls there...delicious.

I met my dad for coffee in the afternoon and we had a nice chat and he delivered my birthday present. A kindle! Yea!

After work we had dinner at the local Hungarian restaurant with my Mom and Grandma. My mom and I have the same birthday, so we try to celebrate together. The dinner was fabulous, as usual. All day I'd been trying to decide which option to choose. I was relieved to find they had a buffet featuring all the favorites, so I just ate everything!

We went back to my mom's to open presents and have dessert and let me tell you, I struck gold in both areas. My heart's two greatest desires were fulfilled. My mom got me a cowboy hat and it is absolutely beautiful. I was a bit puzzled at how light Joe's package was, but when I opened it I realized that while it was light, it packed a punch. It was a Moose's Tooth pizza box, with a Moose's Tooth menu inside along with pictures of our amazing friend Kyle and Abbey. We were leaving for Alaska in 8 hours! Joe had already packed my bags, arranged for time off work for me, and had a cat sitter all lined up. Oh and the cake was dark chocolate with coconut ganache and ginger coconut milk ice cream (all made by Joe). Yum!

So all we had to do when we got home was go to sleep, or, in typical crazy-we fashion, put all the furniture in the garage so the cats didn't have to stay in our room while we were gone. At 11pm we trying to figure out how to get the couch into the garage and ended up going out the front door in our socks and pjs to get to the garage.

The travel part is never exciting, so let's skip that. Kyle and Abbey had to work Thursday, which worked out fine. We hadn't slept much so we just took a cab to their house, said hello to Kenzie, their dog who remembered us and was bursting with excitement, did some yoga, and went to bed. When they got home, we went to my friend birthday dinner at the Moose's Tooth! So, the Moose's Tooth is pretty much my favorite restaurant ever and has the best pizza I've ever had and possibly the best pizza ever. I think about how much I want their pizza pretty much once a week, so this was a most excellent choice on Joe's part. We went home to a delicious cake that Abbey had selected, raspberry glaze with chocolate and a butter cream frosting. Mmmm...



The rest of the weekend we just hung out. Alaska is a draw, but since we lived there, it's not so much a destination place for us. It's a place where our dear friends live. Joe and I ran, all of us played cards, cooked, got pedicures, shoe shopped, watched Kyle play hockey, played fetch, watched football, and ate and ate and ate. We ate halibut and salmon. We went to Snow city Cafe for salmon cakes and the BOB (best of the benedicts). We had appetizers at Simon and Seafort's happy hour. It was delicious.

This series is taken from an area downtown after breakfast at Snow City.

The Sleeping Lady

Appetizers at a very small table

Two things happened on Saturday. First I got a scratchy and slightly sore throat (foreshadowing great suffering to come) and we decided that we needed to get out. We decided to float the upper Kenai in Kyle and Abbey's raft.

The next day I was notably sick, but who would choose bed over floating the Kenai? So we got up bright and early, packed many many layers, and grabbed bagels, and decongestant at Fred Meyer on our way out of town.

Rafting was fabulous. Kyle was a trooper and shuttled the truck by himself with his bike. When he returned to the launch, we suited up (9 layers for me on top--couldn't move) and headed out for the most beautiful rafting trip ever. Now, it's important to note that Alaska is not always beautiful. The pictures are, but the truth is not. It rains, it's grey, it's dark, it's dirty when the snow melts, and sometimes it's just plain no fun. We were fortunate to have an almost cloudless day (clouds only added for beautifying effect), gorgeous fall colors, and bountiful sun. I couldn't stop taking pictures. Kyle, Joe, and Abbey stopped to fish a few times and I sat like Cleopatra on her thrown. They didn't catch anything, but I think they enjoyed it. Abbey made warm drinks in the jet boil and snacks halfway through the trip. Joe and Kyle got to take a surprise mini hike through the brush to go back and get Kyle's fishing bag that he left on the bank. We didn't see any bears, which was surprising, but fortunate given the mini hike. Don't worry, they had bear spray and left Abbey and me with the gun. Not that I could do anything with a gun; that's Abbey's department.

Joe and Kyle fly fishing

Abbey celebrating being taller than Joe for the moment

We got off the river, grabbed some tea, and headed home. I was exhausted, but thrilled. When we got home I showered to try to get a grip on myself again, but only managed to inflate marginally. While I showered Abbey heated up the bear chili I'd made on Saturday for dinner after rafting. I had planned to make dinner that night, but was in no shape to do it. She generously went the extra mile and made the cornbread I had planned to make because my heart was still set on it. Before dinner I had wilted to the point that I had to actively avoid work not to cry (for no reason other than exhaustion), but dinner helped a whole lot.

The sunset on our way home

The next morning, Monday, we got up to send Kyle and Abbey off to work and say goodbye. Later we packed up and I played the saddest game of fetch with Kenzie ever. She knows when people are packing and is always quite discouraged by the process. We got in our cab and headed to the airport. The trip home was grueling for this sicky, and at Salem I finally lost it and only managed to pull it together again at Jefferson. You'll hear more about the sick stuff in my next post, but the main message here is that I would be that sick any day to get to go to Alaska and have a husband as amazing and attentive as Joe. I just wish I hadn't made all my friends sick too. It was a fabulous birthday and I felt absolutely spoiled and loved.

Summer Happenings

Kerry and I kept relatively busy this summer without forgetting about the ever-important plan-less weekends. It'd been a great mix of spending time with family and friends, going on adventures, and taking advantage of lazy Saturdays--none of which are necessarily mutually exclusive of any other.

Our Fourth of July weekend was spent camping on the coast with Kerry's mom. Beachside State Park, while close to HWY 101, also sits on one of Oregon's best beaches. The sun was out most of the time and the wind perfect for kite flying. Stunt kites are fun though it took us a while to realize that they need to be balanced just so to avoid a quick return to the ground. On the Fourth we drove into Yachats (Yaw-hawts) for the annual La Dee Da Parade. This was a bit different from the Fourth of July parades we grew up with: no marching bands, no VFW, no National Guard, no tractors. There were however cardboard seagulls (strategically loaded with cans of whipped cream), children walking dogs, jelly fish made out of umbrellas, a geriatric walking club, and a local Tai Chi group. It was fun to watch and definitely a good representation of the good folks of Yachats.

The evening of the Fourth was spent on the beach for the big fireworks show. While the organized portion of the event was great, we would argue that the local contribution to the professional display was more entertaining and provided a different representation of good folks of Yachats: parents laughing at their children who are shooting roman candles at each other; filthy two-year-olds with bags of Cheetoes as tall as they are; and presumably intoxicated folks who believe that no Fourth of July is complete without a flare gun.

We also managed a trip up north for some "camping" with the Evans side of the family. This trip was also fraught with shenanigans that included launching baby carrots from a pneumatic cannon--Dad's belated Fathers' Day present. Originally it was intended to be a rocket launcher, but paper rockets are time consuming to make and baby carrots are somewhat expendable. We also spent time trying out the Relaxation Station, the most recent addition to the fleet of water toys and the Evans Cabin. It was great to see people and to be able to camp with things like electricity, inflatable mattresses, a kitchen...okay it didn't really resemble camping at all, but to quote Shelley Long in Troop Beverly Hills: "Roughing it? One bathroom for 9 people..?"

And of course we enjoyed the annual August McLaughlin trip to the coast. This is the one of the few times of year that the whole McLaughlin family is able to get together. Kerry and I had a great time visiting with folks, walking on the beach, and spending some time with Kerry’s cousins who we rarely get to see. The food was fabulous and the company mighty fine. It was also during this trip that Kerry and I learned that running on the sand, in the fog, can be a miserable proposition.

On the job front we just moved in 3000 new students, most of the campus is under construction and I have been giving safety trainings to various staff groups within our department. I have a clip that I like to use from "The Office." Check it out, it’s pretty good.

Kerry has also been hired by Housing & Dining to part time and temporarily do some marketing work. For the next little bit she will be working on the launch of a dining rewards program and editing the department's annual report. She works with a great group of people and has made some amazing contributions already--I'm convinced that there isn't anything she can't do. She's still on the hunt though, both for a job and for the perfect job and she's gotten some good insight into her career preferences as well.

At the P-FAR

Anniversary lunch!

Learning to fly a stunt kite.

Joe Graduated: Disneyland!

This summer also saw to the end of my formal education! Yes, that’s right, I now have a M.Ed. in College Student Services Administration with a minor in Business Administration. Because I was a part time student (working full time) it took me a solid three years to complete my degree. While I wouldn’t have done it any other way (full time being the other option) I was definitely happy to be done with it! We celebrated the day with a ceremony with my cohort and a gathering back at our house. It was great to celebrate the day with family and friends. Perhaps the greatest part of being done with school was my graduation present from Kerry.

A few days before my actual graduation, Kerry let me know what was happening by giving me a pair of mouse ears, pre-embroidered with my name! (That’s right we were going to Disneyland) It is important to note that several weeks beforehand she had come to the conclusion that because we had been working so hard that we needed a break and that we should take a week off of work just to relax around the house. Of course I bought it hook, line, and sinker. So with my week off of work already scheduled, we were off to the happiest place on earth.

While the shuttle ride from LAX to the hotel was a little harrying (I’ve never seen somebody stand up as they drove…) We made it safely and were surprised to find that our hotel rooms had been upgraded to the executive level (with a great view of the park) and just for kicks they threw in a $100 gift card to use at the hotel restaurants (breakfast was taken care of!)

With the necessities taken care of, it was off to the park. There is a certain uplifting feeling that you get as soon as you walk out on to Main Street--the music, the people, the shops, and the general suggestion that everything is going to be just fine! Disneyland can get a bit overwhelming and we found that Main Street was a nice place to cool our heels and stroll along to the show tunes.

For both Kerry and me, it was our first time eating meals at the restaurants in the park. One meal in particular was quite thrilling—We got to eat IN Pirate’s of the Carribean! I still can’t believe it as I type it. There is a restaurant, The Blue Bayou that has its seating on a veranda in the middle of the ride. If you ever happen to find yourself on the ride, there is a point when the boat passes through a bayou, to your right is a terrace—that’s where we ate! While the trip was for my graduation, the dinner was also a pre-celebration of our fifth anniversary. We had a great time, saw some incredible shows, and relived the same magic that we felt when we went to Disneyland when we were younger. Thanks Kerry!

This was our very last night in the park. We were about to leave and then decided that it would be too much to leave without getting our picture with Mickey.

Yep! This is us eating in 'Pirates.'

I really thought I would be the one to lift it--never happened.

I think that Kerry probably got closer.

This was awesome to watch. It was the Jedi Training Academy. This is right as Darth Vader crashes the light saber lesson. One kid actually pulled out a Force push on him.

Mickey's marching band.

This is still one of my favorite rides--and I even fit! The rocket ships were a different story though.

We are some fine looking Mousketeers!

When we went to Disneyland we wore buttons that said "I'm celebrating my graduation / anniversary." This amazing cream filled doughnut was the result of said buttons. New Orleans Square: a good and filling place to eat.

This is me crouching down for my hood. The squat is because the hooder was quite a lot shorter than the hoodee.

We're going to Disneyland!

North Olympic Discovery Half Marathon

Joe and I did not start out as runners. I was quite an athlete most of my life, but let that go by the wayside in college. Joe did some sports, football and track, but ultimately opted for the drama path. After we were married and moved to Alaska we made sure to be more active to combat the effects of the dark dark winter, but whenever either of us mentioned running, the other would smash the idea without mercy. Neither of us wanted to start to run with the other. We were embarrassed.

I'm not quite sure how the transition happened, but finally, walking and the other things we were doing weren't cutting it for either of us, and we started running. It took awhile for it to be enjoyable, but we finally got there. Even then we thought people who ran long distances were crazy and never pictured ourselves training for a race. But, just like the idea that we would never run, that one was conquered as well.

Somehow we decided that we wanted to run a marathon. No, not a 5k, not a 10k, not a Turkey trot...a marathon...as our first race. So we set about to train for one. I can't even remember which one now. We went along our merry way doing that training and on a Monday after running 12 miles that weekend, we were out on a "short" run, which had now climbed to six miles and we looked at each other and realized that neither one of us was having fun any more. And what time would we have to get up on weekdays when our short runs climbed to 9 miles? We didn't even want to think about that. So we threw in the towel and declared ourselves the Mighty Masters of Moderation. Joe mentioned that a half marathon might be fun, but I poo-pooed the idea because I don't really want to run a half anything. I like to do wholes.

I can't remember how that declaration also became a notion of the past, but awhile ago we decided to run a half marathon. We trained a couple times and ended up injured, but this spring we trained again and selected a half marathon in the San Juan Islands on June 6th that was sure to be beautiful. As the day approached, we both felt a bit odd about the half we had chosen. We hadn't realized that with the ferry time it would be an 8 hour drive both ways. The race organization also seemed to be a bit on the not so stellar side. We had a fair amount of cash invested in the race though, but in a moment of rebellion I looked for other half marathons that weekend and found the North Olympic Discovery Marathon in Port Angeles. I was peeved that we had missed this before, but still sent it to Joe, thinking we would not be irresponsible enough to switch. However, there was another factor...our nephew Cameron was having a birthday in Shelton, which is on the way to Port Angeles, and the whole family was gathering there. So with that fact, our good luck in our hotel in Anacortes letting us off the hook, and a moment of self-indulgence, we were off to the races!

We traveled all the way to Port Angeles to pick up our packets on Saturday and back to hang out and spend the night in Shelton. The next morning we were up bright and early and headed back to Port Angeles.

The beginning of the race was well organized. We took a bus to the start and while we were waiting for the start and stretching, I ran into an old friend from college, Mary. I noticed her immediately and thought she looked a whole lot like my friend Mary, but since Mary's on the east coast I thought she was just a look alike. But all of a sudden I heard, "Kerry" and Mary was launching herself at me with her usual enthusiasm. It was so nice to see her. She was visiting to run the race with her sister. I was not smart enough to get a picture, but here are Joe and I pre-race.

Eventually we lined up at the start and off we went! The first few miles were through fields and were relatively flat and beautiful. Miles four through nine were more woodsy and passed through narrow creek beds that had huge down hill slopes followed with sharp inclines. Even in the most difficult areas, the scenery was so beautiful that it hardly mattered. It also helped that a friend had loaned me her watch and I was able to keep track of our time for the first time ever, and we were keeping a solid clip! We were much more motivated to run quickly when we could see the pay off on the watch. The aid stations were excellent and the volunteers were very enthusiastic. At the top of the biggest hill there was a drumming group and their constant beat made it much easier to climb the hill.

As we transitioned from the woods to the trail along the water, we crossed a few roads and at one a marimba band was playing! It was great! Just after the marimba band we hoped on a wood bridge with a corner. At the corner a spectator was letting runners know that the wood was slick. We were both very appreciative because we were pretty sure we'd be on our butts. At 9 miles we hit the water and it was gorgeous! At 7 miles we'd observed that we felt really strong and were quite pleased with that. At 9 miles we were still feeling excellent and even discussed how a marathon couldn't be that hard (remember those earlier notions that we later crushed? Yeah, this is one of those). At 10 miles we hit our "ouch" point. We had a few ouches. First, our thighs were dead. Second, despite the beauty of the water, the flat trail and constant scenery got a bit monotonous. Third, at mile 10 we could see the finish line. Usually that's a good thing, if you've got only a few hundred yards left. It is not so delightful when you have 3.1 miles left. But we pushed on, checked in with each other and generally had a good time despite the pain. At mile 12 I realized we weren't going to make our goal time of under 2 hours, but we both wanted to get close. I asked Joe if he had anything left to offer and he said no. I didn't have anything left either, but somehow we still managed to step it up enough to make our last mile our fastest. We crossed the finish line at 2:01:11 and felt amazing and victorious!

Volunteers handed us our medals and a FRS and told us something, but I don't know what it was. I was a bit out of it. We were incredibly grateful that there were volunteers to take our timing chips off. There was no way we could make the dive to our shoes. Our next stop was bag pick up where they had pulled our bags when we crossed the finish line and had them ready for us. After walking a bit to get our senses back, we lined up for the goodies! The pretzels, orange slices, and muffins were wonderful, but nothing was quite so wonderful as the warm chicken soup. Two sweatshirts, a few photos, a hug for Mary and we were on our way back to Shelton to celebrate with Cameron.

It was an excellent experience and we really enjoyed training together. It was just the right challenge without taking over our entire lives and we felt incredibly accomplished. We're running another one soon and have our sights set on a few more nearby and a few exciting ones further away.

Spring

It has certainly been a busy Spring and I only wish we had more pictures of our happenings. As we’ve found that we need to get better about blogging we’ve also found that we need to step up our photo documentation. We’ll get there!

For me I suppose that one of the highlights of this spring was my birthday. I felt well-celebrated with multiple days and multiple people! A few days before my actual day, Kerry arranged a trip to OMSI After Dark. For those of you who love going to museums that traditionally attract children and are always annoyed that they’re constantly in your way, this is the event for you! Basically the last Wednesday of each month, OMSI opens up to the 21+ crowd. With a decent selection of wine and beer all of us kids at heart get to generate electricity, launch rockets, learn about sewer systems, and find out just how color blind we really are.

It was a great evening that started out with a trip to the Rock Bottom Brewery in Portland. It was a fantastic meal--the company was superb--and with the purchase of a new pub glass, I think that I have officially started a collection of some sort. The other thing that came out of this birthday, was a new project! I do love projects. This one brought new landscape lighting to our backyard and some very comfy hammock chairs that Kerry saw me pining after at the State Fair--that is the place to pine!

Other celebrations included a trip to the coast with the Weeks crew for their birthday; a trip to the beautiful King Estate’s Winery for Kerry’s dad’s birthday; a trip to Puyallup for birthday celebrations for my dad, brother-in-law, and me; a baby shower for our friends Megan & Steve; a weekend in Portland for my sister’s graduation; and sending some flowers up to our dear friend Abbey to celebrate her graduation. Whew!

On a less-than-celebratory note, our friend Neil (from Alaska), was deployed to Bagram AFB in Afghanistan where he will be for the next few months flying MC-12s. It definitely brings our presence over there closer to home and are excited for his return.

On to the work world! Kerry’s 19-week healthy challenge program, PowerUp has finally come to a close. It was an event that took a ton of coordination, time, and effort, but really made a huge difference for the participants. Kerry has also finished up a TON of other things this spring. You may have read in our previous post that she finished her ombuds training in Baltimore. As of this last week she has also finished her Health Coach training through Well Coaches.

In my sphere, my work with the construction of our new residence hall on campus is winding down somewhat now that we are pretty much done designing it. For those construction nerds out there, we have a live webcam setup at the construction site.

From here on out Kerry and I are stoked about the upcoming summer and the mixture of rest and adventure it will bring. Kerry’s started quite the garden on the balcony outside of our bedroom. While the tomatoes have been hating our recent weather, the climbing-peas have been going absolutely crazy! It’s a pretty complete garden with tomatoes, spinach, melons, eggplants, peas, a pumpkin, mint, basil, oregano, and peppers. If the weather cooperates we should have quite the salad!

Fall & Winter

Happy Pumpkin Patching!

It has certainly been an eventful past few months. I have seriously neglected my duties as co-blogger and am just now getting to my posts--a trip to the pumpkin patch, yes for Halloween, and our recent trip to Willamette Pass for some Nordic skiing.

This was our third trip to the pumpkin patch. As you'll see in previous posts, what makes this particular place so great is that they tow all of the pumpkin-patch goers out to the fields on a hay cart, using a tractor that the owners have proudly kept running since 1965. What made this particular trip even more fantastic is that this year the tractor driver recruited 20-something-year-olds to drive the tractor with him and not just the 12-and-unders. Here is Kerry on the John Deere.

Each pumpkin that auditions for the role of Kerry's jack-o-lantern must be carefully evaluated on carving potential. Watching the deliberation is perhaps one of my favorite things about walking the patch. Not just any pumpkin will do and indeed what seems like the entire patch must be searched before the finalists are chosen.

The perfect pumpkin may lurking right under your feet...

Yes! We have a possibility!

Usually Kerry doesn't go for the big pumpkins, but you never know which one will call to you.

Or which four pumpkins will call to you...

Now, each one must be carefully evaluated on the basis of personality, carvability, color, and that certain, je ne sais quoi.

Joe on the other hand takes the approach of deprecating each potential candidate to weed out the weak and unworthy.

In the end it was the big one that won...or lost...depending on your point of view I suppose.

We had some great carving fun on the kitchen floor with some hot cider and aebelskivers--there may have been a slight grease fire involved, but I'm not sure. We also came home with a sugar pumpkin which we turned into the same stuff you get out of the can. It was pretty darn good.

We've made this such a great tradition that I look forward to it every year. It's fun to be the 20-something-year-olds who enjoy hunting pumpkins as much as the 5-year-olds.

Our other fun adventure was a trip up to Willamette Pass for some Nordic skiing with our friends Ben and Gail. While the conditions were not great--thanks to The Nino--it was still a great time and made us realize how much we miss this part of living in Alaska.

Here we are in the parking lot getting ready to ski--or at least to walk to the ski shop to get our skis.

Here's Kerry busting some mean Nordic moves on the trails. All right in all honesty, the conditions were such that nobody was busting moves of any kind. Here's Kerry posing in her snazzy new snow pants that are actually long enough--it's been a long, long journey.

There seemed to be a lot of "uphilling" both ways. When it came time to reap the reward of a long hill climb with an exhilarating downhill run, the snow seemed to get sticky.

Despite the less-than-ideal conditions we had a great time getting a great workout, grubbing on some PB&J at the top of the trails, and sharing something that Kerry and I love with our friends. Of all the adventures and new things that we've tried together, I think that this is by far one of my favorites. Hopefully we'll get to do this more next year!