Fitzgernal

2012-01-18T07:55:00.000-08:00

Take Only the Good

Was able to take a break and go to another country recently. Was able to spend some considering what's going on with my life and what I'd like to do, need to do in the near future, Lord willing.

Here's an adaptation of a quote from George B. Shaw and Miroslav Volf which inspires me.

Instead of being a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances complaining the world will not devote itself to making me happy, I choose to realize that the true joy of life is being used up for a purpose recognized by myself as a mighty one--namely, giving and receiving nuggets of Wisdom (demonstrating love of God, myself and neighbor) so that I and others may flourish.

Where on this planet?

2011-05-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Great weather, delicious food, fair amount of exercise, friendly folks, history, expresso machiato x a google and other things made for a relaxing diversion.

Gran Canary Island - Jan 2010

2010-02-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

Always

In honor of my how-to-vacation mentor Scott W

A great get-away weekend...80 degree weather, sun, etc.

Run-N-Dip

2009-11-22T05:11:00.000-08:00

Ahh, the refreshing feeling of ice-cold water after a short run through the woods.

Summer Blast '09

2009-08-28T11:14:00.001-07:00

Yummmy!

That's what I was thinking, maybe.

Sherlock Holmes museum on Baker Street.

Alpen Horns-Ride the Alps, Garmisch

Cliffs of Dover

cool

ahh, Breakfast at Cafe Eclectic

yepper, lookin' sharp

awesome Minotaur Lake

Summer '09 will go down as an ultimately cool and rockin summer because we were able to spend time w/ our original family and with our new family. It was very cool to meet and spend time w/ Orges's family. They are not in any particular order.

rehersal walk

ArmWrestling Official Results

2009-07-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

Memphis Tribune-Although it's been a couple of days for the results to get to our sports desk, the official results of the Dad vs. Tyler arm wrestling competition are in.

Dad almost bested the top seed of the competition. But StrongManTyler, DaMan, finally outlasted Dad in a match that went on for nearly 20 minutes. Spectators standing close by hearding loud popping and crunching sounds as Tyler squeezed his opponents hand to a fraction of its original size.
A surgeon who specializes in hand-bone maladies was on hand and told this reporter that it will take weeks for the older of the two contestents to recover. (In a private conversation w/ Dad, it was overheard that he told Dad to eat lots of brats, pommes and to get a massage twice a week.)

Both contestents have vowed to return to the table stronger and more mentally disciplined.

The date for the next match has not been set yet.

Good luck to both as they prepare for what is being billed as the "next big event of the century."

it's a girl!

2009-05-27T20:56:00.001-07:00

boy or girl?

2009-05-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

we find out the gender of our little one 2 weeks from tomorrow (yay!!) anybody want to guess whether its a boy or girl? then maybe the people who guess wrong have to buy ice cream for the people who guess right. and for me.

First Large Group Ride

2009-05-09T09:48:00.000-07:00

Yo Mates,

Here are a couple pictures from our little ride today in beautiful Bayern.

Thanks a ton, Kevin and Allison, for inviting me to the ride.

Snack time at the halfway point. Wuerstelsemmln mit Coke.

Eric's cool ride.

Allison's cool ride.

speaking English

2009-04-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

so, for a full photo tour of my whirlwind trip to england check facebook. i wanted to post here, however, the funny terms that i wrote down. the english and american versions:

face flannel - wash cloth
CV - cardiovascular [workout]
physio - PT [physical training]
knackered - tired, worn out
uni - university, college
chav - trailer trash
kit - gear, uniform
athletics - track and field

i have to stop writing this now and get back to work...

Serotonin is a Breakfast Food

2009-04-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

Scattergories can be a very enlightening game. It reveals the intra-workings of how others think. Some (women) in this picture believe serotonin could not be (S)cattergorized as a breakfast food. Many psych patients might disagree. Serotonin was my "S" word for a breakfast food...it was summarily defeated, so I did not get a point for it. Just wait til next time!

Beth and I were able to spend the last couple of days w/ some ol' buds from the PB days. The pictures on this post illustrate some of those great times. They have two totally awesome kids whom we were able to meet and fell in love w/...Go S and S! 3G HBLers!

It was great going out to eat w/ FH and getting to meet his great family!

We also made a new friend who taught us the dance that goes w/ the macarena.
More on another post. Thanks T!
Cool pics below.

baby pictures

2009-04-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

i've been meaning to post this photo forever. it's our 1st ultrasound picture at 10 weeks, complete with brad's labels. hopefully i will have another one to post in about 4 more weeks & we can compare.

2009-03-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Fatboy in garage today,

A warm dry spring is coming,

Visions of riding.

We shall rise again.

2009-03-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

Short order Grillman
Brings back memories of me
At Shenandoah

Haiku

2008-12-11T08:43:00.000-08:00

Death of Fitzgernal

Death of Fitzgernal,
All good things come to an end.
Facebook takeover.

brad & sarah's summer

2008-09-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

'my new jobby'

2008-08-20T21:53:00.001-07:00

I've been working for almost one week now and it's great. I had four clients on my first day and I have seven tomorrow(Thursday). Don't worry, we have slow days here too. For example, today I had two.

For the most part, I will work 1/2 hour sessions. Come to find out, massage therapy is covered on almost everyone's insurance because it is labeled Manual Therapy under the Chiropractic category. Insurance companies, I'm told, can see how someone might need 30 minutes, but 60 is just unfathomable.

We had a lunch meeting today and it was pretty productive. I asked for more sheet sets, lotion-instead of oil- and a muscle chart to hang on a wall.

I'm learning how to do clerical work including filing insurance claims, running the credit card machine and settling it at the end of the day. Also, answering phone calls, making appointments for the chiropractor(there's only one in the office) and 'getting people started' on the traction table. Traction is cool. You lie on a table and a rolling bar rolls up and down your spine.

This week, I am working on some marketing: coupon cards and a flyer to fax to businesses. Giving chair massages at health fairs is in the future.

And I have to wear scrubs.

If I'm not in a session, I'll usually stay there and do paperwork and odds/ends. My schedule is the same as the office hours. M, W, Th: 10-6, lunch from 1-2. Tues 3-7. Fri. 8-1.

Current music playing throughout the office: Sara Baraielles(?), John Mayer, Feist, Over the Rhine and Jewel.

Montenegro!

2008-08-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.picasaweb.google.com/jfitz71/Montenegro

2008-07-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Whoa! Only 2 weeks left!!!!!!!

Alaska Part 1

2008-07-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Well, Greetings from Alaska,

Here are a couple samples of what we've been doing here in Tyler's home state.

You can see the peak of Denali in the center of the picture.

And here is the little lady about to enjoy a scrumptous meal of Alaskan King Crab Legs.

Editorial Corrections

2008-07-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

I was wrong when i wrote about the mine explosion. It wasn't unauthorized nor were the people dismantling bombs. They were contracted by an American to repackage old Chinese bullets which he was selling as if they were newer than they really were to the Afghani government. He was contracted by the US government to supply ammunition to the Afghans. He's now in jail in the US and is under investigation.

Also, concerning the Greek land issue...the Greeks never occupied the land in the south I referred to, it's just that the priest wants to make it Greek. Greeks have occupied other land in the south, which they still do.

And, finally, in the post about some towns only speaking Greek...they speak both languages. The towns up on the mountain that speak Albanian, do not speak Greek.

Luke 9:23

2008-07-17T09:30:00.001-07:00

And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and pick up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

there have already been a lot of good memories and quotes associated with this tattoo, but this is one of my favorites from before i even got it.

mom: tyler, just keep in mind that's going to be on you for the rest of your life.
me: mom, this cross will be with me longer than the rest of my life.

Vacation

2008-07-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

Orges, his parents and I got back from a 7 day road trip vacation. We spent Wednesday through Sunday morning in Himare, a beautiful, beautiful beach. The town itself made headlines when the mayor had the street signs changed into Greek. Most of the residents speak both Greek and Albanian.

There is really only one highway to take to get to this incredible -and several others- vaction spot. Some spots haven't seen asphalt yet, in other places there's only enough room for one car to pass at a time. But it winds around the mountains, through little villages along the Ionian coast; it's pretty. And where each village is in relation to the shore determines if the people will speak Greek or Albanian. If they have any sort of harbor, more than likely they will only speak Greek because of Greek merchants passing through. Up on the side of the mountain, where they aren't exposed to anyone but their neighbor, only Albanian is spoken. And of course there are Greek emigrants that come back for the summer and bring their children that only speak Greek. Very, very interesting.

Sunday, we went over to Dhermi where Orges and I have been a couple times already this summer. We only stayed the night and didn't go to the beach. Monday morning, we got up and headed for Sarande. We stopped at a castle that was a little Alcatraz-like, though still connected to land. It was built in the 1800s by a pirate-warrior guy who just conquered land and claimed control of most of the south. I was really impressed with the design and surprised by the cleanliness.
For lunch, we ate a restaurant built over a rushing mountain spring. It was fun. We finally made it to Sarande late Sunday afternoon. It's a riviera city in which, a couple years ago, the mayor divided all of the municipality's land so that each citizen had a piece of land. He went to prison for three years, but hey, now everyone has land. It's also where 'everyone' from Tirana vacations starting July 15th. We were there July 14th. We ate dinner at a castle overlooking the city, the water, and looked at the lights of Greece, one of its islands being about one mile away.

The next morning we visited Butrinti for a couple of hours. It's a hill surrounded by water covered in history. And i mean, literally covered, underground b/c of natural disasters and infrastructure construction. It used to be a flourishing community in the Hellenistic period, then for the Romans who built a lengthy aquaduct. But it was of little use, only for the fishermen around the Middle Ages. They guess that only 15% has been uncovered. It'll be incredible when they finish. They found a baptistry floor, an intricate mosaic still intact. It was interesting to see the Medieval stone over Roman bricks over Hellenistic boulders.

We ate lunch way back in the mountains near a geyser/spring that is around 80 meters deep. The river in that area was gorgeously clear, and the river bottom was incredibly blue and green. The picture(s) describe it better than I can. It was soooooo coooool.

Finally, we discovered, wandered, and explored the castle of Gjirokaster. It was built in the 500s A.D. By far, the largest castle I've ever seen. The largest castle in the entire European continent. It is full of tunnels, rooms, hallways and enormous arches. Spectacular. Folk festivals used to held there. A small prison was built on the rooftop(no longer in use). It just went on and on and on. It took about 2 1/2 hours without a tour guide.

And that, in a nutshell, was our week to the South.

for pics, visit

History and Politics

2008-06-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, we went to Albania's national hero's hometown. It is up on a mountainside; looking one way you can see Tirana and the other way the Adriatic. Anyways, we walked through the tourist-trinket alley. We walked around the castle ruins, ate lunch: i had yummy tortellini and Orges had lamb's head. And that's about par for the course--carbs for me, protein for him(or the other day he was eating salami and i was trying to figure out what i could put nutella on.) We went through the museum and here's what I know. Gjon Gjerj Skenderbeu was the son of a prince in the 1400s taken hostage by the Turks. He was raised there and became a great general. The sultan recognized this and sent him to war. At one point, the sultan sent him to take care of the Hungarians and S-man finally put his foot down and said no. But he sent word the Hungarians ' hey i'm supposed to come and kill you but i'm going to go home.' So, he went home and rallied all the princes together. United they stood and fought off the great Ottoman Empire for 25 years. Then he died in 1468 and divided they fell apart. He also kept them away from Italy by not letting them pass through one of the seas to get to it. He is known for his unification ability obviously but also just for re-forming the character of the people.

Fast-forward 540 years and let's see...
In March, people were dismantling old Communist bombs in an unauthorized mine, a necessity to get into NATO, i think. There was an explosion and it was huge. Huge. There is a school nearby but it went off on a Saturday. The government didn't do anything, and still hasn't, except fire the minister of the army. The victims started a hunger strike 14 days ago demanding compensation. They just came down here to the capital yesterday and are camping out in front of the prime minister's office. 5 have been critically hospitalized. It's a big political/private business mess.

What else? The traffic police pulled over a brother of a prosecutor. Prosecutors, ministers and others in govt positions have immunity. The prosecutor and her husband, also a lawyer, went to the station saying that they pulled him over without reason. The police then held all of them in jail. Then the lawyers sued the police chief for arbitrary holding/jailing, whatever it's called. And besides, they're immune. The chief has been fired.

Now this is a good one. And don't try to think too much into it because it doesn't make sense. The Greeks possessed this land for a while, off and on in history i guess, so there is a substantial amount of Greek influence, particularly in the south. Heavily Greek Orthodox. The other day, a Greek Orthodox priest was on the news. He had ordered that new graves be dug and random bones from random places be dug up. He then had the random(farmers, women, children) bones buried in the new graves and claimed that they were the bones of Greek soldiers that had fought for the land, for Greece, and therefore, it is Greek land.
Then, he took over a cultural center claiming that a church building used to be there. The court ruled to give it back to the local government as its rightful cultural center. The policeman that was to execute the court order arrived to protesters, people that had been called in from all over, surrounding the building. He decided to postpone the date. The day came for him to actually carry through the court order. 15 minutes before he left to go back to the cultural center/church, he was removed from the case.

I have asked how people stand for a prime minister like this one. And in some ways, it's similar in the States..yeah, get riled up about it but it doesn't really affect your daily life. But when it does, what then?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

2008-06-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

my post doesn't really have anything to do with Father's Day, but have a happpy one anyway!

not much action happening here on the FitzGernal so I thought i'd throw out this small slideshow. nothing big or fancy, but enjoy!

The Bobble Head

2008-06-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

So it's the opposite around here: shaking your head means yes and a "tsk tsk"/clucking of tongue means no. I was offered more meat at dinner the other day and i shook my head vigorously, thinking that meant no, but instead received the meat on my plate.

The bobble head is my term for a yes/no response. They have this way of making a figure 8/shaking of head thing that means, "yes" or "ok, continue with your story."

Funny eh?

my 1st triathlon

2008-06-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

if you're my friend on facebook, check my picasa albums, and subscribe to my other blog, you're probably sick of hearing about this. but what can i say...it's one of my proudest moments in a long time....maybe ever! so i want to be sure to share it with everyone!
my time was 1:50:10.

Hospital Food

2008-06-03T00:54:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to post this blog entry by Mark/Dad. He wants you to be involved in his culinary delights!

The first day he was in the hospital he was asked to choose his menus for a week. He thought, "I'll never be here that long." Hmm... Of course, the menu was in German and so some choices he made not due to what it was but because he was sure he didn't want the other one. The food has been good ..... until Sat. evening. The big meal is at lunch. For supper, there is typically bread, meat and cheese and fruit or yogurt. When he uncovered the plate Sat. and saw this thick slice of gelatin with some kind of meat in it, he couldn't even think about trying to swallow it. We decided that even McDonalds couldn't be bad for you compated to that! So, I was out the door for burgers and frieds.

The lady who serves the meals is so very nice and friendly. She has brought him a fruit basket and when I am there they serve me a meal as well. She'll serve him in his room or in the eating room down the hall.

With all the bread he has been eating, he usually cuts the crust off the bottom and leaves it on his plate. The photo below shows how the other day he found that the lady had served his meal with the crust already cut off his bread for him! Now that's spoiling!!

Last night was a very special treat. A friend from chapel, Sunday school, PWOC fixed us a Mexican meal and brought it to the hospital and served it to us. It was complete with sweet iced tea, ice, plates, silverware, glasses, cloth napkins....and cotton candy. We loved it!!

Thus far

2008-06-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

It's been less than two weeks and I've eaten lamb, stomach, goat, shark, goat kidney, lots of french fries and grilled bread with olive oil. We've eaten out a lot and the thing to do(even at home) is to have a salad in the middle of the table that everyone dives into throughout the whole meal. We've eaten a lot of grilled veggies too. Bread always comes at the beg. of every meal and the other day I saw a lady had ordered honey. She ate spoonfuls of plain ol honey!
Usually we have coffee after lunch, which is the big meal of the day, but yesterday on the way back from the beach we had yogurt and honey. oh man! that was so good! I'm having it for breakfast this morning.

At any time of day, there are so many men in coffee bars, walking along the street, driving. Men men men! Where are the women, i asked. They're at home. Dating is frowned upon unless he/she is 'the one,' and mothers are at home too, i guess. And yes, the old men do sit around and solve the world's problems. Just like Spain, just like Italy, just like the guys at the little American diners.

The driving...ha! oh man. I'll say this, Johan, Orges's dad, is a superawesome driver. How do people drive standards so well? Classic example: Sunday evening, driving through a beach town and everyone is headed back to Tirana. Driving down a two lane and the traffic jams on our side. Cars pass passing cars, cars pass on the right side as well. There isn't a sidewalk to drive on, hardly a shoulder, in fact, there was a ditch! And then they all try to jump in front when there is oncoming traffic. It was incredible!

One of the hardest things to adjust to is the 'passionate speaking' because to me it sounds like people are yelling at each other. Conflict!! ahh! I think they're mad and actually they're joking around!

Politics is pretty big around here. Well, maybe it's just like everywhere else that people are fed up with such and such and so and so. It doesn't take much to get into a 'passionate' discussion about the prime minister and his buddies. They're on the news every day pretty much. The word for donkey and the PM's last name are interchangeable. It seems that the country could be a lot further away from Communism(ended in 1990) if it wasn't for the abhorrently corrupt government.

At restaurants, the waiters are male. I can't think of seeing any waitresses. And, you don't tip. If a meal is $4.50, we might leave a $5 and they get the 50 cents, but that's it.

The people are really caring and superrrr hospitable and everyone is surprised to hear that i'm American and not Albanian. Johan is bragging to everyone that I don't have a bit of an American accent. So that's cool. ;)

Here are pics from the past weekend. We drove through flat Northern Italy-like farmland and mountains by way of windy, narrow roads most of the time. Oh, and we drove around a very large cow that was chillin' in the middle of the road.

Work

2008-05-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Another hard day of work at my office. (Mocha is laying in the shade under the table.)

May

2008-05-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

so, obviously this slideshow is incomplete as it does not have any pictures of family in it, but the grandparents and others took pix. so bug them for 'em. i had a blast traveling around the lower 48 this month. now back to work ->

Germany!

2008-05-19T02:02:00.000-07:00

Wursts, pasta, shokocroissants, coffee, schnitzel, pommes frites, brotchen, ice cream, and one great glass of Merlot just about sums up the last seven days. Oh, and about 60000000 pictures. It has been a rich week of food, drink, vistas, and great conversations. Here's the first album of the summer.

Road Trip!

2008-05-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

What happened to my Frosted Flakes?

2008-05-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, remember the days of Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Golden Grahams, HoneyNut Cheerios, and your mom's favorite, Trix? It's a sure sign that the times are changing when the sweet cereal of youth is replaced w/ the high-fiber, rabbit-food cereal of middle-age.
I'm thinking the next stage in breakfast food will be the elimination of cereal altogether and then I'll be chomping on walnuts and yogurt.

On to other things...
I believe in potential. Potential in humans and machines. The picture of my jeep shows the stock rims and the rims I purchased via craig's list. Now for the tires. This jeep has potential. It's going to look great. They're American Racing, 15x8 Baja rims.

Adios!

2008-05-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

Here is my year-in-review-in-Wenatchee by way of four categories. I had thought about dividing into seasons, but thought this was more interesting. I hope so! Surely there are other things that I didn't mention in each group, ah well. I meant to put up a photo album of the year too, but didn't quite get that done.

Areas I've evolved in the past year
Since January, I practice yoga almost daily.
Crossing over from milk and sugar in my hot tea to honey only(and nightly!).
Rarely putting sugar in my morning cappuccino. I can even drink drip coffee black now!
More creative and dare I say a little more confident, in the kitchen.
Communicating what I am thinking rather than shutting down and closing up.(evolv-ing)

Memorable clients
(I had to come up with names or particular descriptions so I wouldn't violate HIPAA.)
My "favorite" client.
My "ideal" client. Because she always arrived early, did her homework, and believed in us as a team. And we saw results!
My motorcycle-riding, boating, quasi-hippie, intelligent Vietnam veteran whom I wish had come to see me a long time ago.
My 5 o clock Friday client whom I saw every week for nine months, who either asked me what I invested in that week or how my car was running.
The client I cried over as she told me about her 'night-crawler' aka, stalker.
The client who yelled and then hung up the phone on me. (I think she has since apologized, indirectly.)
"The UPS driver's wife." I think we would've been good friends if I were about 10 years older. We connected.
My client who reminds me so much of my dad by being adventuresome, trustworthy, a great dad, having a sensitive heart and carried intelligent conversations. His wife was one of my favorites too, but didn't remind me of my dad. That would be weird. They also are the ones that bought my bedroom furniture. They invited me over for BBQ the day we moved the furniture. They are a great, great family.

Memorable moments
Feeling a baby move around while in the womb.
Holding a 9 hour old baby.
Encountering a snake while I was trail-running alone.
Snowshoeing for the first time with Brad and Sarah.
Snowshoeing at Christmas break with Brad, Sarah, Ty, and Orges.
My first 'real' interview.
Swimming a mile.
Walking back and forth from work under the Anne of Green Gables trees.
Reading(a Pathology for Massage Therapists textbook!) with the windows open.
Getting apples and roses galore from Brad and Sarah's side of the river.
Guests(that came for more than a moment)- Elia, Orges, Sarah Ficks, Mom, Becca and Ty.
Social Program and Special Olympics.
While conducting a study on Cranial-Sacral Therapy with an autistic child, I received the largest, deepest bruise ever by being bitten.
Finding very, very green snot on the face rest cover and carpet.
Being farted in my face as I worked on a client's leg.

Things I've learned about myself
I like to be quiet in the morning.
I like to walk into a clean kitchen when I make breakfast in the morning.
I think well in the shower and sometimes while running.
Taking a couple of deep breaths either energizes or relaxes me.
I've relaxed about how much coffee I drink.
I work well under pressure but I'd much rather not.
I miss the intellectualism of college.
That I have more doctrine/legalism to deal with than I thought.
I splurge even though I think of myself as pretty thrifty. Buy just this one shirt, one cup of coffee, a red bell pepper.
That I hold my breath unintentionally. Sometimes while working, I caught myself and thought, "julie, you're not breathing."

Stay posted for posts from Albania!

From Mildred's Journal

2008-05-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

Some of you don't remember or never met my great aunt, Mildred Pennington. She was a cool lady. She died recently and in her memoriam was a poem to her family found in her journal.
I think it is so beautiful and meaningful that I wanted to share it here. It is truly the words of a loving mother and what I would say to my own children.

"When you were small,

And just a touch away,

I covered you with blankets

Against the cool night air.

But now that you are tall

And out of reach,

I fold my hands,

And cover you with prayers."

From Mildred's Journal

04-18-2005

Baby!!!!

2008-04-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

ha, bet that got your attention!

remember not so long ago when i wrote a post about feeling a baby kick for the first time?
well, that baby was born this morning at 9:34 am. And I JUST got back from holding her at the hospital!! I've never held a 9 hour old baby before! i am so honored that the mother(my table leader at life group since October) called me, of all the tons of people she knows.

that's all i can smell right now, there's baby scent stuck in my nose!
I held back from crying until after I had left; just watery-eyed really. But oh! How incredible!!!
She was 7 lbs 14 oz and just right.
LIFE!

My oh My!! Mallorca!!

2008-04-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Mallorca was just splendid!! We had lots of good times. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. It was absolutely gorgeous, too!!! Being there was like walking around and looking at beautiful picture post cards all day!!

We flew into Palma and our package deal included bus transportation to/from our hotel in Paguera, which is in the southwest part of the island, about 30 minutes drive. It is on the Bay of Paguera. We can highly recommend the Grupotel Nilo. Our room was a mini apartment so we were able to buy some food at a local grocery store. Fun to try their bakery goods, too!

To me the architecture and lay of the land was a mix between Phoenix and Tuscany. Sometimes I would see some house or building design that made me think of Phoenix; other times the geography seemed like Italy. Quite a confusing mix to my mind! The water was awesome….as far as the beauty of it, I mean. We didn’t swim in it. It wasn’t as cold as the Atlantic off the coast of NH but, still too cold this time of year to have fun in. The water had so many different shades of blue to it, depending on where you were viewing it.

Here are some of our favorite things about our Mallorca vacation:
Having crepes and nutella every morning for breakfast, as well as a huge buffet to choose from.
Having the ocean only about 100 meters from our hotel
A wonderful, helpful hotel staff
Having a balcony from our room that got lots of sun almost all day
The people were friendly and spoke English and German
Lots of great Italian food
Our favorite restaurant was an Italian restaurant (Isola) on the beach but up one level so that as we at we were eating we were looking at the ocean waves and the surfers
Just walking around some of the streets of the town
Hiking over to Cala Fornells
Hiking up to the watchtower (Tower of the Cap Andritxol, if you want to find it on Google Earth) and then hiking out another 30-40 minutes from there to the edge of the peninsula (it was quite a long way down to the water from there!)
Enjoying lots of coffee, all the sun we could soak up and plenty of good food
Mark thoroughly enjoyed his day on the motorcycle, taking me along to Sant Elm and Port D’Andratx and then going into the mountains by himself. It was a BMW GS650!!
And Beth enjoyed her relaxation massage.

It was a GREAT vacation!!!!!!
Hope you enjoy the photos (I know there are a lot. It was hard to narrow them down.)

AK boy

2008-04-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

You know you're an Alaskan when...

you walk into your cafeteria's giant cooler and suddenly feel more comfortable.

Lesson Learned

2008-04-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

I know you are all dying to hear about our trip to Mallorca......good things come to those who wait.

First, we have to tell you about the lesson learned (or reinforced) in getting to go on vacation.

So, we weren't able to make our flight to Athens on Sat. morning, due to illness. Thankfully we had insurance on those flights so we should be able to get our money back. By Monday evening, we were really wanting to try to go somewhere else. On Tuesday, we went to the travel agency at the local train station. We explained that we were wanting to go somewhere warm and sunny for the rest of the week. The girl there seemed to try but didn't find any good deals and said that package trips are usually for a full week.

A little later, we were near another travel agent so we thought we would check there. Within a few minutes she had several different package possibilities for us to Mallorca. She gave us a travel book to look over and consider the different hotels. We said we would look it over and come back.

At lunch we made our choice and after lunch went back. By then, that particular deal was gone. But, she found another....the room was in the same hotel but cheaper, the flight left very early in the morning rather than later and we flew out of Munich and back to Nurnberg. No problem, since the train ticket was included in the deal. She tried several hotels for us and booked one to spend the night near the Munich airport.

We left a few hours later on the train. Then we flew out of Munich at 6 am.

When we arrived at our hotel in Mallorca, we were taken to our room. We quickly realized that this room would not be getting sun on the balcony. Why not ask if we can switch? No problem they said and we were changed to a great room with lots of sun on the balcony all day.

Also, since we flew so early, we arrived at our hotel in Mallorca early and breakfast was still being served (which was part of our package). Can we eat at the breakfast buffet? Sure!

Wow!! So....lesson learned.....it never hurts to ask/seek/inquire and it may pay off really well to ask/seek/inquire again.

Stay tuned for photos and more details of our trip!

Bless-ed

2008-04-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

I'm so bless-ed to pass the good times/
with my family and the friends I've loved/
in my short life I have had so many people I deeply care for

- from Red Cave on Yeasayer's All Our Cymbals

oo! oo! mine too!

2008-04-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here are my new 'neakers too! I got them last week and i love them! I thought Asics were my brand, but i tried these Mizunos on and they're sweet! An unusual ample amount of room for the widest part of my feet, especially my right. They're a stability shoe + my orthotics = super extra support. yummy!!!!

I'm also baby-stepping into running on grass instead of asphalt, when the grass is flat and not sloped.

I won't race you, Ty, but i'll try running with you in our new shoes!

my new 'neakers!

2008-04-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

so, i've bought quite a bit of gear over the past couple weeks, but i haven't really advertised it too much because people can't relate. however, everyone in our family loves new running shoes! here they are:

you've probably seen ones like 'em before, but you've never seen them move so fast as you will when they're on me!

i tried on versus a pair of adidas and these salomons are waay better. more contoured and rounded around my heel. the others were like hard and flat. right around my price range and perfect size so i can get moving like this weekend.

walk and Jeep

2008-03-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

the sun came out and we went out to enjoy it and the forests of Deutschland.

PTL!

2008-03-27T09:27:00.001-07:00

I HAVE A JOB SET AND READY AND WAITING FOR ME IN MEMPHIS! To begin when we get back from Albania in August. There's a room with my name on it!(figuratively.)HALLELUJAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I almost forgot. At Massage Envy. A nationwide chain that is popping up like weeds across the country. It's another membership program but you can use it at any location in the US. You can buy a gift certificate in CT and the person can use it in CA.

The scheduling is super flexible. They're open all the time pretty much. 7 days/wk. They have way more clients than the current therapists can handle and most of them are part-time.

Can't write any more b/c i can't sit still any longer.
Thank you for your prayers and support!!!!!

Frohe Ostern

2008-03-23T00:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Weather schizophrenia

2008-03-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

OK, for four days now we have been going through this weather "state characterized by the coexistence of contradictory or incompatible elements" (which is one definition for schizophrenia) and it is about to drive me crazy. Each day we have gone from having more snow than we had had at anytime this winter to, within a few hours, sunny skies and dry pavement.
Wednesday it snowed, then cleared and was sunny, then snowed and then was sunny and dry, etc. etc. At one point I was thinking of e-mailing Mark to ask if they were going to get out of school. Before I did, I looked out and it was all clear!
I thought surely when spring arrived on Thursday it would be over with. But, noooooo! We woke up Friday morning and were shocked to think that there was still school, due to road conditions. After a couple of hours of school, they sent out a notice that school would be closed early due to road conditions. Just about the time they did that, it stopped snowing and the sun came out. By the time they got out of school, it was nice out!
This morning we woke up to more snow. I thought I would take this photo to show you the severity of seasonal confusion that our weather is going through and subjecting us to. Now, less than two hours later, as I write, almost all the snow has melted! The sun cannot decide whether it is to shine or not.
So, we are experiencing extremely acute seasonal affect disorder hour by hour!! If we seem a little wacky the next time you see us, now you will understand!
Anybody know where spring is?
Actually, I think this delusional meteorological activity is due to one of two things: (1) Easter arriving earlier than ever it will in this century; or, and highly more likely, (2) UR & AR forgot to take the snow with them when they left the country!

Birthday Bash!

2008-03-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

I had a great birthday celebration and it was topped off by a date with this good lookin' guy for a delicious German meal.

Proclamation

2008-03-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

I am joining the United States Army. I plan on commissioning. My first choice branch will be Infantry and Armor will be second.

I have never thought about a decision more in my entire life than this one, this is not an exaggeration. I have pondered it, talked about it with people, and prayed about it for 10 months now.

I do not feel any other job will provide the challenges, adventures, and opportunities to lead as an Army Officer will give me.
I came to APU for these three things and found that a job in the recreation field can provide a limited amount of these ideals. Also, recreation jobs do not hold a deep enough purpose for me to spend my entire God-blessed life on.
I climb rock and ice for the mental and physical challenges. It is a simple instinct and I believe it will be a direct carry over to becoming an officer.
If you need to know why I like adventures, look at my parents.
Since I have come to APU, I have sea kayaked, improved in rock and ice climbing more than you can understand, traveled on glaciers, paddled rivers, backpacked hundreds of miles, and traveled Alaska. Out of all the skills I have learned the one I have enjoyed the most is leadership. In September, during my 23 day backpacking expedition I was voted in as a co-leader to lead our group of students from Point A to Point B across the worst terrain of the trip, dozens of miles, and over 6 days without our instructors. This was the most impacting time of my educational career.

I do not feel that it is my patriotic duty to join, but this does play a role in the decision. As a nation, we do not always make the best foreign or domestic policies. They are better than most, though, and good can still be done along the road. For example, our ultimate goal in Iraq may have been for oil all along. In some respects this is irrelevant to me. What I know for sure is that we are building schools, protecting hospitals, mosques, and maybe churches, and doing our best to prevent people filled with Satan's hate from acting on it.
We are at war. God has given me freedom from sin's penalty and I serve him every day because of it. I am able and willing to sacrifice years of hard labor and my life if necessary for the United States for the freedoms it gives me and mine.

I know I will not enjoy every minute of this job. When Drill Instructors' spit is flying into my face because they are yelling at me so closely, when I am not allowed to disagree with my superiors on certain matters, when rights are taken away. This does not dissuade me, however, because as a whole I believe I will enjoy the job.

Finally and least importantly, I believe the income will be a benefit to me, my family, and to the Lord and his kingdom. I know that it is possible to pay back my student loans lots of different ways, even with a recreation career pay, but think that the Army will work well in this regard.

I have chosen the Army over another branch of the service because I am most comfortable and familiar with it. Just as my dad would never go to Michigan State because he is a Buckeye fan.

I will entertain questions at this time.

Thinking.

2008-03-18T11:45:00.001-07:00

Two things recently have caught my eye while driving.

A bumper sticker:
"We're creating enemies faster than we can kill them."

The name of a local business printed on the side of their truck:
"Flexible Roofing".

SPRING BREAK '08

2008-03-16T23:57:00.000-07:00

We're Through with you

2008-03-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

As I write this post I am on hold with what is easily the worst company I've ever done business with in my life. That company is the behemoth telecommunications giant, Verizon.

Now I know that a lot of people like Verizon, and I've heard lots of good things about their wireless department. But I'm talking about their household/DSL internet services.

And when I say bad, I mean bad. I'm not sure I've ever disliked a company so much as this. (Even Microsoft? Well, its close. But MS hasn't treated me so poorly personally.) Customer service is outrageous. In-store you get ignored, then treated worse than you would if you were there looking to sell you mother's soul. Many times their solution is to put you on the phone with their phone service.

And then things get really bad. I've waited for almost 2 hours before for to talk to someone (this was after our internet wasn't working for 2 weeks after they said it would), then was brusquely told to call back the next day and talk to someone else. I was fuming. And basically my experience with their phone support has been about that bad every time.

Next, their website is gawky, like some teenage kid trying to act cool. But worse than that its utterly terrifying to try and navigate. I've even had someone who works at Verizon say to me, "Yeah, our website is pretty bad." For someone used to getting most of their answers online, I don't even try and go near that ... place.

Lastly we have the lackluster product that Verizon supplies. Their DSL is shoddy at best. It oftentimes stops working for no apparent reason, and you have to go shut everything down and reboot (remind you of another company already mentioned?). In the week before I decided to cancel the internet dragged, doped, and completely fell apart multiple times.

Case in point, I have written this entire post while on hold with Verizon, trying to cancel my services. Think that would be easy? I'm on hold to talk to the third person because the first two apparently couldn't do what I'm asking. Stop...Your...Service. Incredible. I don't even have hold music or anything telling me I'm waiting, they could've hung up on me and I'd have no clue.

So, on to smaller and better. We're going with Clearwire, which pulls their internet signal from radio towers. This is something I'd never heard of, but it seems to be working ok so far. Really, I don't even care. Anything to get away from that hideous red checkmark.

Kanchee

2008-03-02T23:21:00.000-08:00

well, Ben and I had yet another exciting saturday. we had been panning this one since the summer though so it was extra sweet. we skied and hiked up and down the only peak you can see from campus that i haven't been on yet, Kanchee. it took us 9 hours, but was completely worth it. we were hoping to be able to see the tracks from town, but unfortunately we couldn't. i don't have time to edit together another video. so here is the only clip that i have of me skiing down. i didn't fall at all on the descent of the main peak, i would like to add.

Polar Bear Plunge

2008-02-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

hey, i have a video to share too!
this is what i was doing last weekend....maybe it's like a 2nd-cousin to ice climbing. or is it 1st cousin once removed? either way....there's some ice in the background if you look just past the boat.
anywayz...enjoy.

the Lost Chord, Hunter Creek, Alaska

2008-02-25T10:57:00.000-08:00

this video speaks for itself i think. the quality isn't great online, but you get the idea!

Catchin' Up

2008-02-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I was recently gently chastised by a more frequent and consistent contributor to this wonderful blog to post a blog. This young person (who shall remain anonymous, though perhaps percarious and bloody at times and maybe studious at others?) was courteously, correct that I have not blogged in quite a while. So, I am going to dig back into the archives of my activities a bit to share with you.

In November my two friends, Marianne and Nan, and I decided we 'needed' to go Polish pottery shopping. Marianne had been only once and Nan and I had not been at all. This was quite a deficit to be corrected. It's kind of crazy to decide at basically the last minute, "Let's take off for Poland." We left here on a Sunday afternoon, drove to Dresden, where we enjoyed their Christmas market (only over 500 yrs. old) and spent the night at a hostel. The next morning we drove into to Poland, shopped til we dropped (and our eyes were buggy from all the designs and pieces!) and then drove home.

Along the way we had lots of great conversation and plenty of laughs. I even snuck in a nap in the back seat (believe it or not).

Some of you were recipients of some of that shopping trip at Christmas..Here's a photo of a larger version of their pottery.

Roasting Coffee

2008-02-23T14:34:00.000-08:00

My friend Lars got a book and some coupons for green coffee beans for Christmas. Then he started roasting his own beans! The second time he ordered some I got a pound too, and since then have been trying my hand at roasting my own coffee.

(My green beans.)

The beans come not so much green, but straw-colored and small. While roasting them in an oven is not your best bet (and even worse an electric oven), I'm working with what I've got. So the oven goes to 500, you put the beans on a sheet that you think will most even conduct heat to all sides (I'm using a holey broiler pan) and you cook them up.

(I made this!)

There are two distint "cracks" that the beans go through in roasting, like popcorn popping. Different lengths of time roasting provide different tastes, but I am seeming to like mine not long after the first crack is done.

(But now, what to use to brew it?)

We now have a few friends trying out roasting coffee at home. Are we all very good at it? Probably not. Does it take more time and energy than just buying some good, possibly even fresh-roasted beans? Sure. Can I taste all of the subtle nuances of flavor that come out of fresh coffee like my friend Lars can? Not really, yet. But you have the satisfaction of knowing that you were part of the process, and the interest and intrigue of actually being part of the process. The coffee is more 'yours' when you drink it, and somehow that makes it better.

This seems to be an emerging trend across many industries for a generation that has grown up able to buy anything premade for them on a whim. We are wanting to be more involved with how things are made, or at least know more about the process. But perhaps that is for another blog, when I have more brainpower and the oven is not beeping at me telling me it is time to get back to roasting.

Family's "Best European Driver" Award

2008-02-14T11:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, your mom continues to add to her driving record...not only does she have the family record for the most number of speeding tickets (4), which is 400 times any other family member, but now she has just had 4 pts. added to her license. She is tearing Europe up.

She's a hoot and she rocks!

Balance

2008-02-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

As Apt Design has started getting busier here in the last few weeks I find myself keeping a watchful eye on my work/life balance. My job is great, and I love doing it, but there are more important things in life than work. Plus, one reason for working for yourself is to allow time to do things you enjoy more. So, here are some things that I enjoy while not working:

- Listening to music in the semi-darkness in surround sound
- Running
- Fixing supper with Sarah
- Reading
- Reading by the fire
- Thinking quietly in the hot tub
- Washing dishes
- Reading the Bible
- Drinking coffee
- Eating slowly
- Hanging out with friends
- Watching good movies
- Going to church
- Having Small Group
- Taking walks in the orchard
- Making foods
- Snowshoeing
- Surfing the internet
- Just thinking about life
- Looking at pictures we've taken
- Setting goals
- Praying
- Living in the now
- Pilates (for men!)

These are in no order, and there may be more to come. What about you? Leave a comment with what you enjoy doing in life when not working. Then go do one of those things.

La vida bellissima

2008-02-11T22:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight. Man, tonight was ridiculous. Ridiculously incredible. I have never felt a baby kick in a mother's womb until tonight. I know i know, no one can believe it but it's true. I shrieked twice, I flushed, I got teary-eyed. I was emotional to say the least. Especially after being trained to be so aware of what i feel underneath my hands. Even when it wasn't kicking, i could feel the...vitality.

I've been surrounded by new babies at church, pregnant women among friends and church, and baby conversations recently, it seems. Also, i worked on an 8 months pregnant friend the other day and will see her again this week. She described the movements, where she's sitting, and that she could put her fingers on the side of the baby's foot as it pushed on her impermeable, malleable wall(her stomach). !!!!!!!!!!!! it leaves me emotional and mostly speechless. And working on a pregnant woman is powerful and inspiring.

Tonight though, prompted me to expound on what has been sitting on the backburner in my head for close to a year: sanctity of life, particularly in America. We value life!
It's amazing the laws that we have to save human beings. Being fined for not wearing a seat belt. Pedestrian crossings(a big deal up here in the NW)- all traffic comes to a complete stop for someone to cross a major city street safely. Other things like adult homes that lovingly care for elders to their very last day. Homes for people that have minimal neural ability. Government programs to keep people fed and sheltered. Rescue medics work around the clock on the chance that someone's life is at risk. I think education is even indicative how much we value life. Etc.

That being said, it seems absurdly contradictory that we can have the option to end life at all. The very idea is honestly shocking. I imagine this on one side of a scale and then all those examples in the previous paragraph on the other. How can that one weigh as much as all of those? It seems to be a slap in the face to the rest of how our society works. Wow.

the day after yesterday

2008-02-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

photos on different internet mediums:

07-08 school year

http://alaskapacific.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001532&l=3d2ac&id=132400055

as you can see i've had a lot of fun on my big break.
highlights of washington time for me include: 10k run, Christmas, New Year's in Seattle, and snowshoeing.
highlights of germany time include: traveling (Vienna, Nurmberg, Prague, Munich, Neuschwanstein), Crossfit, HUMVEE ride.
i didn't include family members and quality time therin because that should be assumed.

class and work begin tomorrow. i am currently house-dog-truck-sitting for a friend who is getting married in costa rica. it is hard and a ton of fun at the same time.

enlightenment

2008-02-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

Light bulb moments, Holy Spirit promptings, thoughts...Call them what you may, i call them epiphanies. I had several over the last couple of days, all related to the long-distance, months-in-advance job search i have begun.

Pre-existing epiphanies: I am not concerned with the aesthetic, pampering side of massage. Everyone can benefit from massage.

Epi. #1: Tennessee insurance companies do no cover massage. Period.
Epi. #2: Directly related to #1, anyone that sees an MT pays out-of-pocket. Their own hard-earned money.
Epi. #3: Rich people are not evil.
Epi. #4: People that can afford to pay $60-90/hr can be in pain/have an injury too.
Epi. #5: So my mind is still opening to this and will be uncomfortable for a while. I imagine my clientele will be uptowners and retired, wealthy women.
Epi. #6: I thought that getting a decent(as in, enough to pay the bills) paycheck was evil too. I thought that the less I get paid, the more needy(for care and healing) the clients are.

I had the limited mindset that the working class, average American is the one that needs massage and should receive it because they can't afford it(generally). I failed to see that pain and auto accidents do not see socioeconomic borders. And even if a future TN client visits me without one of those conditions, maintenance care is beneficial. If I believe that massage is beneficial to everyone, that means everyone without regard to economic standing or reason for a session.

And then things tie in biblically like my smallgroup studying Naomi and what I learned from her and my group leader emphasizing Ephesians 3:20. etc, etc, etc.

(May He bless the supercool 79 year old woman i worked on today with serious bunions and serious scoliosis.)

My First "Tabata Something Else"

2008-02-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

It's a glorious feeling that is unlike any other. Arms and chest bursting w/ a dull heavy feeling. My first tabata was a thrill that I'm recovering from 3 hours later.

4 gravitron pullups at 90 and 100
4 pushups
5-10 crunches that i subbed for the situps
10 squats

multiply by 8 w/ a 10 second interval between

Other things...was the announcer at our wrestling match today. Went like this, "On deck, on mat #1 is Tom BigGuy from LittleTown and wrestling for the Patch Panthers is Bob Deadlock."
I enjoyed it.

Still Here

2008-01-31T08:45:00.001-08:00

According to my calculations it has been 3 years, 2 months, and 14 days since my last post on Fitzgernal. That's awhile.

But don't worry, I am still alive. Here are a few things that have been going on in the duration.

Mainly a lot of time working in my new full-time business, Apt Design. Actually, I'm not working a ton - I really don't have to work 40+ hour weeks (yet) - but a lot of time thinking about the business. Apt is going very well. 2007 was better than we could have even expected it to be, and 2008 is shaping up to be pretty great too.

Sarah is learning to deal with the fact that when she leaves to drive to her office I will be sitting in our comfy chair, watching the snow on the mountains, drinking coffee and reading industry blogs.

I have decided to focus the business on a niche that I have always wanted to work with - book and book cover design. So while I will still be doing everything for the time being, book design and creating small websites for authors is the target. I've already got a little bit of really exciting work in the field. (For my old boss who probably reads this blog to check in on his competition - "hello.")

Also, as you may have seen from our Xmas video Sarah got me a new pair of snowshoes for Xmas. Woohoo! They are fun and I have been using them quite a bit. I usually go up near our ski resort, but really with all the snow in Wenatchee you could almost go anywhere. Being able to hike back in the forests even in the winter is a great experience. It is silent and beautiful to be surrounded by snow-covered trees.

If you wonder what snowshoeing is like let me ask you this, "Have you ever been hiking?" If you said yes, well, snowshoeing is like hiking except in the snow. And except for the times when you get to run down giant steep hills in powder up to your waist. That's pretty great.

Lastly I want to mention a great movie, Juno. Since getting Netflix Sarah and I go to the movie theatre, um, almost never. But two of our favorite actors from Arrested Development (the greatest tv show ever) are in Juno, so we thought we'd splurge. It turned out to be a wonderful movie, a cross between my favorite tv show - the aforementioned Arrested Development - and one of my favorite movies, Junebug.

SPOILER ALERT! -- The only part I didn't like was at the very end. The young couple had gotten back together, and it shows them playing their guitars together while the track team runs by. The boy used to be on the track team, and the idea here is that he gave up running for the love of this girl. I think that this is a misconception of true love.

When you are truly in love with someone it is true that you would give up anything for them. However, in a healthly, mature relationship I don't believe that the other person would ask you to give up anything (that is not directly damaging that person or the relationship). So while I appreciate the fact that he would have given up running for his love, if their relationship was mature I don't think she would have asked him, or even wanted him, to.

Of course, they are just in high school.

Cindy

2008-01-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

in 20 min

5 rounds of -

5 pullups-subbed w/ gravitron at 90
10 pushups
15 squats

hint-never, ever, no matter how hungry you are eat before cindy.

so cool.

crossfit.com

I'll be brief

2008-01-22T10:27:00.000-08:00

I just registered for del.icio.us yesterday.
Clean your house/apartment's air filter(s). it's probably dirty. mine was. the cause of my stuffy/sinus head.
Yogatoday.com is awesome.
New church service times, I think i'm going to the 8:15 one now. A little different from 11 am. I'm doing the same lifegroup I did last quarter. It has tripled in size. It started last night.
I washed my car for $1.75 yesterday. you know it's dirty when I wash a car. having trouble seeing out the windows...
I'm enjoying the snow and sunshine, but I'm also excited about spring here in Wenatchee. I'm progressively thinking about things that I will miss.

When I first started talking seriously about moving to Memphis about five months ago, Orges told me about a lady he knows at church that knows everyone in the entire city, practically. Before he left two weeks ago, i gave him the green light to start networking(please). This past Sunday, he talked to her and she asked for my contact info. I was almost done creating my new resume, so i finished that up quickly, sent it to him and he sent it to her. In less than two hours, she wrote back and rattled off three people she knows and what they do. She seemed to be pretty confident that the first one would be helpful. When I read all this in the email(all her contacts and her dedication to finding me a job...a lady i've never met, i might add)i began to cry. Just a little. Just a little happy.

A couple weeks ago, I had a great session with a client in which she ministered to me. Prophesied over me, if you will, that the opportunities are already set for me, the path has already been laid. She came back seven days later for another appointment in which we prayed(while i worked on her legs and arms) and bound up the fear(s) in me, both specific and nonspecific, and released them. There is no room for fear in a child of God, the Spirit said to me.

And oh. love. It's the craziest thing, eh? If you haven't heard yet(please don't be offended), Orges and i are talking about a Memphis July 2009 wedding. Not "official" as in a proposal and ring yet, but we're serious. I'm already losing sleep. ha!

First to Blog About It...

2008-01-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

I barely made it through the workday...I'm not whining or complaining, I'm bragging. (something that I don't often do.) Because of the pain, I could hardly walk, talk or think clearly. Colleagues and students asked if I was feeling ok.
I gave my all yesterday and am paying for it today, but that's the way I want it. You see, sore muscles are becoming my friends.
A little history...we went out to eat a couple weeks ago w/ a group of folks from an OCF Bible study. I was sitting w/ a couple guys and the topic of conversation turned to sports and fitness. A couple of us told about what works/doesn't work for us at the gym, anerobically and aerobically speaking.
The next guy says, "Ever hear of crossfit.com?" I said, "Nope, what is it?" He then explained their philosphy of fitness.
Check it out...some cool things about it: free daily workout; total body workout; can be adapted to any individual; can be done at home (or at least the alternate exercises can be) ; it's tough; free wmv or mov to show how to properly do the exercises; no gimicks.
www.crossfit.com
They don't have an affiliate in Germany, yet.

Fitzgerald Christmas 2007

2008-01-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

here's a video of our christmas vacation. sorry, i know it's kinda long. but i hope you enjoy it anyway!

White Christmas

2007-12-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

We drove to Switzerland on Sunday. Entering Switzerland at Basel does not give one a great impression of the country to start. It is such a big industrialized city. Ugh! A little way down the road, we came to Bern. We got off the autobahn and drove into the center of town. Now that is a cool old town….and they just happened to have a Starbucks! The further we drove into the country, the more beautiful it became. By the time we drove up the Lauterbrunnen valley, there was snow on the ground. We had a white Christmas and God blessed us with three beautiful sunny days.

Christmas eve morning we went to our favorite Swiss army knife store and bought new knives which we had engraved. They served us gluhwein while we waited. It was even sunnier on Monday up on the mountain when we went up to Wengen by train. There we enjoyed the views, took lots of photos and sat in the lounge chairs at the end of a ski run catching the rays and watching the skiers. We ended up with sunburned cheeks and noses.

On Christmas day, Mark tried out his snowshoes that he got for Christmas. Later, we again went by train up to Wengen and hiked up from there. Wow!! What views; what beauty. God is an amazing designer of an awesome creation. Looking across the valley at the route up to Murren, we were amazed to remember the hike which we did as a family in 1999!! That was not easy!

We snacked on delicious fresh baked pastries from the backerei, enjoyed delicious hot chocolate, had breakfast of croissants and Nutella each morning. One night we walked along the river by the light of a full moon shining on the snow, listened to the waterfall outside our cozy lodge room. On Christmas night, we had typical Swiss meals at the restaurant near us. Mmm! And we got to skype with the kids from our room!

It was a fun, white, Swiss Christmas!!

A Good Day

2007-12-17T08:19:00.000-08:00

Dec 15- it was good day...good food and a great time building relationships.
Yes, that's a quarter of the pie that I ate in one sitting. Louis L'Amour says in one of his books that any cook wouldn't think of cutting a pie smaller than quarters for hungry cowboys. (Ty, the girl was purposely placed in the background for you.)

lessons learned recently

2007-12-13T10:56:00.000-08:00

I tried to take good notes on noteworthy tidbits as i clocked in extra hours at wenatchee's massage school last week, particularly pathology. Keyword: notes, not in-depth lectures.

Hyperthyroidism is an autoimmune disease where the body tells the thyroid to produce excessive amounts of the hormone named thyroxine. Thyroxine is one of the hormones that stimulates metabolism to turn fuel(nutrients and O2) into energy. Another name for it is Graves Disease.

Hypothyroidism is the decreased ability to turn fuel into energy. There are inadequate amounts of thyroxine. So the hormone is still produced but doesn't do the job that it should => fuel is stored/not used=> weight gain.
(this where i would like to insert a sidebar to women that are trying to lose weight by exercise and eating well and still not losing anything, please get your hormones levels checked out. Your estrogen, thyroxine or 50 gazillion others may not be working optimally causing confusion in your body and frustration in your psyche. find out more than fitting in the 'normal range.' find out what is best for you.)

Endocrine glands secret more than 50 chemicals into the blood while exocrine glands release into specific, localized areas.

The small intestine breaks food into sugars, fats, and proteins. Amino acids and glucose go into bloodstream and fats are drawn into lymph system(which is interesting, i want to find out why the lymph needs fat.)
The liver. whoa. the liver is cool. it has hundreds of functions. It has 2x more blood supply than most other organs. The hepatic artery brings in O2 and the portal vein brings nutrition in from the SI. It stores all the glucose, amino acids, and vitamins that the body doesn't need immediately. It also processes poisonous waste generated by protein digestion into uric acid which is then sent to the kidneys.

The liver helps recycle heme from red blood cells into bilirubin, a major factor of bile(the name for food after it's been through a lot of the digestive process), helps to digest fats. It can hold up to 3 cups of bile at a time. Then it is released into the gallbladder that concentrates it and can hold up to 1 cup at a time.

Celiac disease is when gluten cannot be broken down enough and the inflammatory response is triggered. This involves the villi to lie down. Villi are needed to move food along, push things through your systems. Repeated attacks/responses cause the villi to lie down permanently and/or disappear. Then the villi are not there to absorb other foods, particularly lactose. Symptoms: gas, bloating, diarrhea(gee that narrows it down.) Pale and foul stools because they contain fat that should've been absorbed.

A Tree!

2007-12-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

today we drove up near mission ridge to get a christmas tree from the forest. we took mocha, she loves the snow! good thing we had my 4wd truck to get up the ice-covered roads!

aaargh! i am having serious problems and wasting lots of time trying to get blogger to link to my picasa pictures one at a time. i'm going to go eat christmas cookies. if you want to see the pictures just check out the slideshow below.

(blogger - you are warned. i do this stuff for a living and am still having problems and getting frustrated. that's strike 2 against you.)

Compliments

2007-12-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

Compliments - usually easy to give but not so easy to accept. Receiving gifts fall under this category as well. (Disclaimer: obviously there are more than these 2 ways to be kind and loving to someone.)
Some thoughts...

Why? Why not accept them with a smile? Am I afraid I will be an egotistical snob? Do I think they are some sort of curse? Am I afraid I won't live up to it?

By trying to deflect the glory, I'm actually stealing it. From teachers, family, that cultivated the ability or skill. I still it from God who gave it to me. It's not something created in myself, so by default it's not my glory.

I make a liar out of the kind person. I say, "no, what you're saying isn't true." Also, I indicate that they have poor judgment. Insult to injury.

They were pouring love onto me and if i reject it, they'll be more hesitant the next time. And I might really need some lovin' the next time!
It isn't love to say, essentially, "let me love on you--say sweet things, give thoughtful gifts--, but please don't love on me."

Twin Peaks Hike

2007-11-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday my friend Ted and I went for a little hike. In one of my runs with Mocha I had seen an easy ridge that went from the top of Sage Hills (where I often run) to the top of Twin Peaks, the highest points in the area besides Mission Ridge. I decided to get another person so that we could drop a car off and do the whole thing as a loop.

I told Ted it would be about 4-6 hours. It ended up being 9. But it wasn't my fault, really, it was the fog.

We left at about 7.30 and started hiking on the well known Sage Hills trails. You should come to Wenatchee sometime just to see how close to town we have these awesome trails.

Anyways, we hiked up into the frost and fog. The frost was cool, it looked like snow except it covered even the bottoms of plants, so the whole world was white. It got as thick as 1.5 inches. The fog was also cool, but not as fun in that it seriously hindered our ability to see anything. So we didn't quite turn when we should have to start climbing the ridge. We eventually came back and found the right spot and then climbed and climbed. We thought we had finally reached the peak, but it didn't look anything like I remembered (I'd been there twice); suddenly the fog cleared and we saw even higher peaks towering above us in the distance. Whew. We weren't there yet, but at least we finally saw for sure where we were headed.

We finally made it and visited both peaks, then headed down a very obvious road. It got dark about 10 minutes before we got to the car, which we all piled in and headed home to pizza.

Two more things about the trip that you can see in the photos:
1. Once we got high enough we actually climbed up above the fog, and could look down on it blanketing the world. At the peak we had a 360 panaroma of the world covered in clouds with only distant mountains rising up. It was incredible.

2. You will also see awesome pictures of me in my new hat and running tights. I had just bought them the night before for running this winter (thanks Grandma A.!). I had spandex shorts on under the pants, but that was it - and though we were hiking in snow for 7+ hours I didn't get cold at all! I highly recommend these pants - Asics - a perfect blend between running tighty-tights and flappers.

Lately

2007-11-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

Let's see. I finished and throughly enjoyed One Hundred Years of Solitude. It's ridiculous. Just out of reach from reality, but not too crazy to be annoying. It's a very fun read as long as you let it take you on its ride and not be critical.

The word ridiculous has come up a couple of times recently at church. 1.) a guy spoke a few weeks ago recapping his group's trip to Tanzania. Long story short, God calls us to the ridiculous. To do, to be, to believe. the ridiculous.
And tonight, at my lifegroup, i thought of that being crazy thing and how it was ridiculous for a virgin to be pregnant. Lots of really good insights were shared additionally.

Tonight was our final meeting of this women's lifegroup. We studied 1 woman/week that exemplified leadership. It is a large group and therefore we are separated into tables. We would discuss our answers to the provided questions, share prayers, and then our group leader provided her insight and indepth study. Tonight, we went around the room and anyone that wanted to share something they've learned or "answered" prayers, could. It was INCREDIBLE how many ppl have been saved from things, including leukemia, back pain and car troubles.
I didn't realize until tonight how much I enjoyed going and talking to the women at my table. I forget how important it is to be with others - other people, other Christians, other women, and other Christian women.

Dealt with another unsatisfied client last week. The 2nd ever since i began working in...February. Speaking of ridicu...Just kidding. Just some serious misunderstanding.

I've done more baking in the last couple months than i probably ever have in my life. Brad and Sarah and friends usually reap the benefits of experiments. It's been fun. Lots of fun.

Orges and I are doing really well. Really well. The end of this week will be 6 months! praise the Lord!

recent activity

2007-11-25T18:26:00.000-08:00

so since my last rather melancholy entry i have been blessed with the opportunities to get out, at least a little bit. as the pictures will show.
we had a very homey, fun, and comfortable thanksgiving. a nice full meal as the pictures will show.
the weather here has been pretty bad: 40F and raining. this means the climbing is bad because the rock is wet and the ice doesn't exist. so i went climbing at the big rock gym in town twice this long weekend.

senior news

2007-11-12T20:15:00.000-08:00

i've always imagined seniors as these mythically glorious warriors who got stressed out sometimes, but knew how to run school, and teachers, and have their act together in general. well. i feel like i have my act together, but it is not a fun act to follow. i've been rather depressed these past couple of weeks. all of my classes are very sedentary and computer-research oriented. i have this particular class that is very hard to cope with and i'll just leave it at that. work is usually fun and i do it plenty, but it is inside too. you may have noticed this years blog a little low on pix of tyler sending sick pitches or skiing. saturdays are the only days i'm not doing something and all of my friends are in class.
sorry, for being a grump.

in other news i have been getting really good at brushing my teeth, flossing, swishing flouride wash, and doing push-ups. God has blessed our Campus Ministry Club I feel. We have a couple kids who come every Sunday for church. the one we went to last week had a video called I'm a Christ Follower. turns out there are 6 of them. so if you throw that into youtube.com you can watch these funny mac v. pc parodies.

if anyone doesn't know by now, i am thinking about joining the army when i graduate. when i catch up on my homework at some point i am going to write a whole essay on the reasons for such thoughts, so hold your questions until that is published please.

i am going to wa for xmas break and then g-money for january.

2007-11-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/12/technology/12google.php

sunday phenomena

2007-11-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

how is it preachers always have 3 points? not 1, not 8, not 16. 3.

Fruit / Running

2007-10-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

What happens if you live across the street from an orchard and they pick it, but then there are more apples left?
You get to go glean apples until they're all gone.

What happens if you have massive amounts of apples and other local fresh fruit, but fruit always goes bad in your house before you eat it?
You dry it!

What happens if you are dehydrating some fruit and then stay up late and crash into bed, forgetting about the fruit?
The next morning you get yummy fruit crisps!

Like the deliciously sweet, crunchy apples and pears we have now?
Yes! Yummy!

---

Getting into running this year has a been a wonderful rebirth of relaxation, physical fitness, and mental drive. I had a training plan for 12 weeks that led me up to a 1/2 marathon, with the wonderful 11-mile trail race in between. I was pushed to remain committed to my schedule and could track my training online.

After the 1/2 marathon I had to take a break to rest my foot, and that break continued for quite a while. I would run, but sporadically. I realized that I needed another goal to train for - another race. But in looking around I didn't see much that met my requirements:
a) Be in the next 2-3 months
b) Be more than a 5k
c) Be closer than 4 hours away

I gave up, dismayed at losing one of my favorite things over the winter due to my lack of drive without a goal. Then Sarah found a race! Its 3 hours away, there is a 10k & 5k, and its December 22nd! Perfect!

Julie and Tyler will both be here for Christmas and we hope that all 4 of us will get to go down there and run it together.

Monkey Origins

2007-10-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

Now that the monkey is saved and doing well, let's talk a little bit about Monkey history.

The Place-Plaistow, NH. A quaint little berg in S. NH. We lived out in the country in a house that was heated mostly by a wood-burning stove.

The Year 1988 (approx.)- ahh, good times, little munchkins running around, Brad drawing or shooting hoops on the homemade backboard that was custom made for his heighth so that it would be a challenge yet successful. Julie, whoa, what curls! and just a cute precious little lady who fainted at the mention or sight of blood, especially her brother's. Ty-full and overflowing w/ energy and mischief, often making the whole family laugh at his antics, seems like he was always building lincoln log houses or things w/ blocks and then knocking them over. The mom-doing a totally awesome job of teaching reading to her children, cooking, and helping dad out w/ school work.

Arrival of the Monkey-The Monkey was thoughtfully wrapped in a custom made box for Ty's 2nd birthday. Thanks Gramma and Grampa for sending the Monkey. You can see it made this boy extremely happy. And Julie, Grampy and Granny are happy for him too.

Thanks Gramma for finding and sending the pictures.

tidbit

2007-10-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

...return to that childlike place of trust and present-moment discovery, where we stop being human doings and become more truly human beings. - shapiro

'Bitter' and Sweet

2007-10-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

We made our first return trip to Italy a few weekends ago, bringing back bitter and sweet memories. Our first 'bitter' and sweet memory was at one of the first rest stops on the Autostrata after crossing the border.....some good bitter coffee (which I had to sweeten with sugar). It was a quick reintroduction into the culture of pushing to the head of the line, as well. This began a few days of "oh, yes, I had forgotten about that" statements.

Further on down the road we were reminded of what a coda (traffic jam) was, how very, very smogging the valley is east of Verona on the way to Vicenza and how it is very typical to not be able to see the mountains. Due to the high humidity that day, the smog seemed thick enough to cut. The next day, it rained and cleared that all a way....and we could see the mountains (we wished we could have called you kids)!

We were also very quickly reminded of how narrow the lanes are on the autostrata and the roads in general! From my point of view, another thing was also how crazy the driving was but Mark said it was how "cool" the driving was! That's definite difference in perspective!

Some of the sweeter memory enhancers were the bread sticks on the tables at restaurants, how delicious the food tastes, how good the wine is, and how relaxing and delightful the atmosphere is on the piazza with people sitting outside eating and talking for hours.

I had forgotten about: the cover charge for each person at a meal; how much the people dress up to go shopping; how much men dress to the hilt in a suit; about the emergency cord in the shower; and how hectic and confusing it can be to order your food at the Autogrill!

It was good to see Monte Berico, La Rotunda, the Piazza, Palladio, VHS (Julie's painted doors are still there and your park/picnic area still looks good, Tyler), and Grumolo (although you wouldn't believe how many apartments they are building there....whole new communities!). They have already built several new buildings on post and more are in the process. It is really crowded! We met the new Hospitality House directors. And, yes, we had a delicious meal at Giada's.

Some things change: like the owners, baristas and brand of coffee served at some of our favorite coffee bars.

Some things never change: like fireworks starting up just as I was going to sleep to signal the end of a local sagra (festival).

Some things change: like which side of the field we were on to cheer for the football team (it was fun for us to see Hohenfels playing Vicenza...and winning...go Tigers!)

Some things never change: like good friends with whom we got to visit and share stories over food and coffee! how wonderful the cappucco was at Non Solo Pane! and how sweet the owners!

Overall, it was a great trip to the south of the Alps. We drank our way through many coffee bars and tried lots of brioches!! Mmmmm!!!!!!!!! But, I have to admit, it was good to get home!

Saved!

2007-10-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

The rescuer pictured here enjoying a grateful and loving hug from the world's newest favorite monkey!

No SWAT teams were needed, no dumpster diving. Apparently our pleading changed the hearts of many would-be monkey persecutors. In addition, a number of grassroot monkey advocate cells popped up literally around the world from the hills of Ohio to Hohenfels.

So, I went ice climbing in the rain on Saturday. The waterfalls aren't frozen yet, we were climbing on a glacier, but they're gettin' close!

My classes are all pretty good. The 2 big ones are like real seminar, discussion classes when we meet with a mountain of embedded work for big projects due later.

Happy Birthday, yesterday, to a certain (only one I have) brother-in-law of mine!

2007-10-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

I recommend The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley. Also, Your Body Shapes Your Mind by Deb Shapiro.

SAVE THE MONKEY!

2007-10-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some recently saved monkeys!

Thanks to all those men who saved them for the good of the earth!

One day women will understand why monkeys are so important, but until then, men of the universe, it is our sworn duty to protect and save as many monkeys as possible.

One monkey we (staff members here at www.savethemonkeys.org) are particularly concerned about recently moved from Ajo, Arizona to Wenatchee, Washington. Looking for a change of scenery and a bit more rock climbing possibilities, this monkey instead found his very soul in danger!

A pic of the monkey being held up by the captor in a ransom video.
Picture courtesy of Pop-erazzi
If you know this monkey, please do everything in your power to keep him alive and safe. In an exclusive savethemonkeys.org interview he said that he would be willing to move across town to have a full family of a dad, mom, brother cat, and sister dog.

In other savethemonkey news:
www.monkeygoods.com is now donating 8% of their profits to our organization! This is great news because they are cool and generate a lot of money. I mean little Angela here loves her monkey T-shirt. So cute!

Parting words:

This monkey says, "Only you can save the monkeys!"

Well, that's this month's update. Tune in next time to hear a heart-warming story of monkey deliverance and T's Top Ten Tips on how you can be an active, and effective, monkey saver.

autumn leaves fall classes

2007-09-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

my experience in the Talkeetnas for my past 3 week absence is one of those things that is ideally told in a "this one time on expedition leadership..." type fashion. it was a intense, fun, long, painful, glorious, and experiential hike. part of the reason it is so hard to explain is that honestly, ya'll can't relate. when i say we hiked on tundra, through alders, in marsh, bogs, up passes etc your brain probably comes up with a weird image like a musk ox walking through the Fire Swamp.
some things are concrete and understandable. i learned more about how to deal with people and lead them than hard skills. although i learned a few hard skills like looking at a map and calculating my current latitude and longitude. we hiked for 20 out of the 23 days we were out there. it snowed on us a bunch. enough to force us to make a reroute and get to our second food drop a day late.

i super stoked that u.r./a.r. are coming up to visit in a couple weeks! my first AK visitors.

my new classes are:
wilderness first responder - the medical standard certification for outdoors
recreation research methods - 400 level how to do research
AK natural hist. interp. - 400 level tour guiding and panel creation
Search Methods - not enough kids to do a real class so i'm doing a directed study and set up the class with tons of my input. this is how all education should be i think!

there's always more to say, but this enough to get a blog out!

Berching Visit

2007-09-23T08:06:00.001-07:00

We biked around Berching and down the old canal. Your mom "happened" upon an Italian eis cafe. Good times. She is a really fun date.

Welcome Back Hombre

2007-09-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

Well, your mom and I are sitting here posting this blog together. It's our blog post to welcome you back from the backcountry. We're looking forward to hearing from you and about your trip.

We've been enjoying the sunshine today....washing the cars, vacuuming them, mowing, weeding, playing catch, sitting in the sun and feeding the fish.

Now it's time for an afternoon coffee. Tshuss! Ciao!

One Long Hike

2007-09-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday morning the alarm went off early again. This time it was 4.15am, grab some oatmeal and coffee, a previously packed backpack and out the door. The object of the day - hike the Enchantments.
The Enchantments are a beautiful set of mountains near Leavenworth. They are only hikable about 3-4 months out of the year, and because they are so beautiful they are very popular. Because they are so popular access into them is limited. To camp overnight you have to put in for a permit the year before - a lottery drawing decides who actually gets to go stay a few nights.
The other option - hike the entire system in one day. About 19 miles. So, getting up at 4.15 to be on the trail by daybreak is the only option. Which we did.
To make a long story short - we hiked for 15 hours straight, saw amazingly gorgeous country (check out the album), finished the last 3 hours in the dark, and were very tired at the end. And had an incredible sense of accomplishment. It was a great experience.
Needless to say, Sunday I did absolutely nothing but lie around different places of the house.

My summer recap

2007-09-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Where to begin with my first Washingtonian,out-of-school summer? The surrounding hills of Wenatchee turned from green to a golden khaki. The crazyawesome spring blooming trees calmed down into simple green. And out of school...I kept waiting for it to feel like summer break, kept asking, "what? kids are out of school already?!" I thought it would feel more wierd than it does--to be out of school.
I can't believe it's been a whole year since I was in Phoenix. This time last year we were in our 2nd semester learning some of my favorite techniques and modalities. I remember writing that blog post about the Psoas muscle and Shiatsu...can't believe 12 months have gone by.
I'm still working on new things, especially moves I've picked up from other therapists that I trade with here. I've met up with a couple of MTs and we've gotten together on occasion to learn from each other and just hang out.
The summer brought on a lot of clients, suprisingly. Right around Memorial Day I had my first full week. It was really exciting and steadily busy until the 1st of July. Then the "summer slump" hit. But the 2nd half of July was slammed! Praise the Lord! It's really amazing to hear people say, "wait, how long have you been out of school?!" "how come 40-60 year old therapists that i've seen have never done this?" or good ol' snoring, that's good to hear too. The real bummer of the business is never knowing what your own massage feels like.
Typically, summer kicks off with Memorial Day weekend. Mine was a bit significant. Orges came to visit. He came into Seattle on Friday. We hung out with one of my old suitemates who lives there until Monday when we came over here to Wenatchee. We'd been talking for months daily and decided we didn't have any intention of ceasing. So we stepped up the level of commitment to dating albeit long-distance, obviously.
June flew by in a flurry, working and praying for and visiting a family I've gotten to know at church. The dad, in his early 70s, had leukemia(has had it for a year or so) and was pretty much on his death bed. Although i don't know the family very well, I know them better than anyone at church. It was frustrating to visit them and hear the stories the doctors gave, the answers they didn't have, the results from tests and cultures that never appeared. But, after all, they are practicing medicine. How the Lord works. His count(platlet?) was at a soaring 80 and almost overnight dropped to 1.8 which was what it was when he was first diagnosed.
On the 18th of June, Sarah and I started swimming at the outdoor city pool during lap swim, conveniently also our lunch hour. It's a 50m pool. We started out doing 5-7 laps but by late Julyish we were swimming 16. That's one mile. Right around 50 minutes. It's such a rush!!!! My first mile I was on a high similar to that after a really, really long run. The funny thing is we are the only ones in the pool that don't swim freestyle. Everyone else is training for various triathalons. Sarah is willing to learn freestyle, but I am stubborn to stick to breaststroke and backstroke. Hearing their conversations, it's as if they were speaking a different language. Who knew trails and competitions could be so technical? We fully reaped the benefits, namely boosting our day's energy and fitness endurance. Oftentimes, we remarked that it didn't even feel like a workout. But there were definitely days when the water absolutely whipped us.
Late June and even into July my summer plans soldified and went like this: a trip to Seattle(over the mountains and through the woods for 2 1/2 hours each way) ever other weekend from the first of July until the last of August to go out of town or to pick up a visitor. And often twice in one weekend. Clients and employers alike thought I was crazy but it quickly got written off, "you're young, you can do that."
I visited Orges in Memphis for an extended July 4th weekend. Wonderful except for the wierd possible-food poisoning stomachache. One of my best friends/roommate lives there too. It was really good to see her, it'd been over one year! I satiated my Southern sweet tea tooth, for sure. Gwen and I reenacted some of our favorite activities, highlight being writing in our journals over coffee.
Two weeks later, I flew out to the family reunion for Granny's birthday. Definitely spent more time traveling than actually there(a mere 24 hours) but it was worth it. Being with family is very grounding and refreshing. This is what life is about, I thought. For me, that weekend 's pinnacle was Calvin helping Auntie Rachel explain what was so special about Granny's presents this year. For those of you that weren't there there's no way I can describe with written words. Right on cue: "they're all books."
Two weekends later, the first weekend in August, I flew to sunny AZ for an extended weekend with my parents. We did all the things you're supposed to do when you visit them there. Chill, strip Phoenix Starbucks of their coffee, have Mom spoil you with making more coffee at home(and margaritas!), go on motorcycle rides, listen to good songs at a deafening volume level. And walks in the desert, of course. Of course.
That's right, two weeks later, Orges came to visit for a whole week!! The only thing that would've made it totally perfect was if he didn't have to leave. Never fear, he's coming back in October for his fall break. Fall break? Yes, he just started his PhD in Engineering. And yes, I'm learning Albanian. It's great fun, especially making up sentences from the words I know. I think God is using him to teach me to let go of stigmas, assumptions and worldviews that were chaining me down. I don't really know how to explain it other than to say I thought I was free only to find out I am prisoner to my own limited perspectives.
Three days after he flew out, another one of my best friends/my running partner at Harding, Becca, came for Labor Day weekend. Which is typically where summer ends. We "girled it up." We shopped, drank coffee, talked and talked, ate lots of good stuff and capped it off with a double feature the night before she left of Last of the Mohicans and immediately following, Pride and Prejudice. I saw P&P 3 times in 4 weeks' time. Now I mean, really, does it get any better? And I dare say the movie is better than the book.
Somewhere in August, I applied, interviewed and was hired at Caffe Mela for Friday nights and Saturdays. It's a super cool coffee shop downtown with live music on the weekends. When asked what drew me there I said, "when you think coffeeshop, this is what comes to mind." The atmosphere and coffee pair perfectly. This is only my 2nd weekend, but so far it's fun. Last night I made my first shots. And even two drinks for customers under the helpful watch of 2 employees! Everyone is patient to teach and the customers, though I haven't dealt with too many yet, are patient too.
The fall looks like it'll include work, coffee work, reading, continuing ed/research and diving deeper into Albanian.

end of summer and beginning of fall

2007-08-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

i left you last time from a kayak in lake clark n.p. since then i have not stopped having fun. i did another car camping trip for REI. the only difference and truly exciting part was being able to sea kayak in Valdez. it was a gorgeous day and we saw some cool wildlife and geography. that was my last trip for AAA, but i went on a personal trip next. after a day of climbing with my school friend Ben, he decided to come with me for the first day and night of a traverse i did of the frontrange of the Chugach. i know all these terms and places may not make sense, one word piece of advice: google. so i went on this sweet solo of the frontrange for 5 days and 4 nights. i summited nine peaks most by the non-traditional, and harder routes. often up steep passes to ridgelines. the last three days of the trip, i did not see a single person. or bear. which was awesome because after a full summer of clients and coworkers, i needed some space.

i'm not getting any younger,
and before my dying day,
i need space,
not just air,
let them laugh in my face,
i don't care.
"santa fe", newsies

so far i've taken 360 views of every peak i've been on in alaska. my third peak was rather windy:

my guess is around 40 mph-ish.

after that i moved in to my new dorm/apartment. it is way better than i thought it would be. i get my own bedroom and share a bathroom with only one other guy. we have a good sized living room and a full kitchen, again a big size. the heat comes in thru the floors; its called radiant heating. the bathroom lights are motion activated and on a timer to go off. lots of windows.

the neighbors love us:

ben took this picture in our living room.

i leave tommorow (sat. sept. 1) for a 23 day backpacking trip with school. the class is called expedition leadership. component one, expedition, an extended trip. component two, leadership, we have three days where we are the group leader with one other person. the last six days the instructor team will be 24 hours behind us. needless to say, i'm excited. my pack will way an average of 50 or so pounds.

I look up to the mountains,
does my strength come from the mountains?
NO, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains!
Psalm 121:1 (Peterson)

may the God in heaven give you on earth more strength than the mountains!!

A Good Way to Start a New Life

2007-08-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning the alarm went off at 3:30am (Sarah was so happy to get up that early). We jumped in the car with a few good cds, some coffee, and a confused dog and headed off for a day of adventure. Our destination? The 11mile trail run in Winthrop Washington called the Cutthroat Classic.

As the sun rose we found ourselves in beautiful countryside, driving through quaint little towns. We got to Winthrop about 6am, and I checked in for the race. It was a overcast day, the cool morning taking shape around groups of arriving runners - all decked in new running gear on their greyhound-shaped bodies, guzzling their personal versions of pre-race drinks.

We were bussed up into the mountains for the start at Rainy Pass. There were 6 bathrooms at the start, all of them had long lines (I guess runners have to go a lot before races). The race started in 3 waves, the route quickly narrowing to a single-track trail. The first half of the race was along the Pacific Crest Trail, which is like a Western version of the Appalachian Trail - both run from Canada to Mexico.

You can see a course map here. If you think it looks like we ran up a mountain and then back down, that's because we did. The first 5 miles were a grueling, punishing uphill climb. I have been training on hills, but this was longer...and steeper. Once above the treeline you could look up and see the zigzag of runners going up the switchbacks. I was able to make it up and only had to walk for about 1 minute total (of the 70 it took me to make it to the top).

As I crested the peak however, I almost felt it all worth it for the view I saw.
(see a little here)
It was incredible. Many people stopped to take pictures. I stopped to wring the water out of my socks; it had been there since the first creek crossing about .75 miles in.

The way down was much easier, a controlled fall really. However, the whole trail was much more technical than I had imagined it would be. Tons of little rocks, big rocks, scree, and roots to trip you up. Indeed, Sarah said she saw a lot of bleeding people coming across the finish line. The last two miles flattened out quite a bit and were wonderful.

Sarah was waiting for me at the end. The race took me 2:00:13, getting me 110th place. The only pain I had later was deep in my left shoulder. Strange. But, what a blast, and what an adventure!

A New Life?

In case you didn't know, Friday was my last day at my old job. It was a great job and a very hard decision to leave. It involved a lot of prayer, asking for advice, and a conversation with Sarah that went something like this:

Sarah: I feel like this decision sets the precedent for how our family will decide on things like this from now on. It is the decision between what is easy and what is right.

So, I made the decision to leave and start my own company. Apt Design, LLC officially opens for business tommorrow. I will let you know as things happen with it (like, when my website goes live). You, in turn, can send me all the business you want.

Talk about an adventure...

Irritated by...

2007-08-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm often irritated by my lack of meeting my own expectations. I mean it's really frustrating to me not to be able to meet, not only smaller goals, but great expectations I have for myself.

I'm searching for a Biblical character who was, at least once, irritated with himself/herself by not meeting his/her self-imposed expectations. It should state in the text that he/she was irritated and then hopefully what he/she did to overcome the tendency to be irritated.

So, any ideas?

Cow Pie Revisited

2007-08-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

Greetings Cool, Free Americans.

Took a little walk up to Cow Pie Hill yesterday. It was a cool 105. Enjoyed the heat and bright blue sky. Barrel cacti were in bloom.

Faced my fears and climbed up and back down.

Swollen face is from a recent tooth extraction.

Have talked w/ a neighbor who has experience modifying vw beetles and am re-stoked about getting my vw running and turned into a street-legal dune buggy. Will do the work on it next summer.

2007-08-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

i have read a couple of books recently that are what i term "very stream of consciousness." Each one of them excuses some sort of English grammar necessity But they are great because they flow so smoothly, like floating down a calm river One of them would intertwine characters and settings by ending a chapter mid-sentence and picking it back up at the beg. of the next chapter. The other one failed to use quotation marks so it became irrelevant if they character actually said something aloud or only thought it. Which is redundant in the first place because thoughts and conversation were often one and the same. If you are looking for a delightful, easy read to soak up while lying in the last of summer's green grass, I recommend Tales of Protection and Measuring the World. The second is much lighter and comical, the first left me thinking, "yeah that was enjoyable but i don't get it." They are both by Europeans, both translated into English, maybe that is part of the magic.

One World

2007-08-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

I'm working on my Philosophy of Mankind. How we treat others, our neighbors-those who live on the same block, and our neighbors-those who live someplace other than our block. I'm hope for a little input from you guys.

I was riding Ty's bike in the desert this morning and came across this, about a one minute ride from our house... Hmm, so many ways to respond. Anger-look what this person has done to the desert. What have I done to the environment? Happy-He's made it across the border and on to a new life, possibly able to send money back to his family. Possibly a new citizen who will benefit from the education system and go on to help others.

In the top left-hand corner is a piece of paper. I turned the paper over to see what it said. Thinking it looked similar to my wife's grocery list or to-do list. Maybe this guy's wife gave him a to-do list, should he make it across.

So here's what it is...

So, at least he doesn't have HIV. He's probably just tired. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Any thoughts?

I will, in a little while, after my coffee and bagel go clean up this guy's mess.

Heated Desert Adventure

2007-07-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Runnning, jumping, hiking and playing in the desert yesterday was truly a great experience. It was great being where there wasn't another person w/in miles. The birds and lizards were great companions throughout the jaunt. It was only around 100, so it was very pleasant.

It has rained here in the great Southwest over the last couple of days, bringing out the leaves of the ocotillo plant. I thought of the lesson Jeremy presented which talked about the beauty of God. Thanks Jeremy.(Also, PG on your proposal being accepted!)

Ty, the picture of cow pie hill is especially for you. This is the southern face.

Visiting family in OH was really cool. Spending time looking through old vacation slides was a highlight. Another highlight was playing w/ the nephew and nieces.

2007-07-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

oh my Heart! my Heart!
oh my God! my God!

OH MY GOD, MY HEART!

-Cloud Cult, A Million Things

lake clark n.p. - twin lakes

2007-07-19T02:38:00.000-07:00