October 26th, 2006
If you’ve been tracking with us over the past year, you’ll know that 2006 has brought a lot of changes. Early in Janurary Jen and I quit our jobs, put all of our stuff in storage, moved out of our apartment in Berkeley, flew out to Massachusetts for the winter term at L’Abri Fellowship, went back a second time during the summer, driving across the country to the east coast and back over 7,000 miles and through thirty states. After that was all done, we thought we wanted to move to San Diego, then changed our minds and came back up to the San Francisco Bay Area. All of that you can read about in past blog entries.
When we got back up here to the Bay Area, a friend of ours hooked us up with a couple in Danville, CA who generously opened their home for us to stay while we both found jobs and a new apartment. We had a great time with Joe and Tanya. They were very hospitable and accommodating. I think they probably would have let us stay six months if we needed. Joe turned out to be quite the chef, I think due in large part to his Italian blood. At least a couple times a week he would grill or bake some great dinner for the four of us.
It took a couple weeks of hitting the pavement (online and in the real world) and Jen found a job at a small IT company in Oakland near Jack London Square on the waterfront. She went in for an interview and was offered the job on the spot because her boss said he recognized something in her character that he knew would be a great asset. She’s now working as an office manager / executive assistant / mother for two bachelor tech support guys and her boss. It’s not the most ideal job to suit her passions, but it pays decently well, her boss likes her, and it gave us a source of income again for the first time in the several months since leaving Crusade earlier this year. Some of you may wonder, “what about grad school? since that was her plan a few months ago. Well she’s still interested in doing it, but isn’t sure about commiting to two years of full-time schooling plus another 2-3 working to get established in the field. She’s still looking into grad schools, but right now is focussing on her job. It’s a big relief for her to be back working again, having a regular weekly schedule with evenings at home together.
About a week after Jen got hired, I landed a contract job doing QA work for Wells Fargo in downtown San Francisco. It’s related closely to computer programming, what I ideally want to end up in, only instead of writing new software I write software to test other software and find bugs so that other people can fix it. I just started there this week, and though I’m not sure yet if I’m going to love the work, I can tell already that I’m going to like my coworkers and the work environment which feels big-company corporate though fairly laid-back and casual. There is a strong possibility that my six-month contract will get extended to a year, and also a chance if it goes well and there is still more work to do that it could turn into a full-hire.
The timing of us getting our jobs worked out at the same time as this apartment that we found became available. It’s a unique sort of place unlike any that we’ve ever lived in before, but seems to suit us. The building was originally part of the California Cotton Mills factory built in Oakland in 1917. It’s all brick with big factory windows, and has recently been converted into loft apartments. Our suite sits on the top-the fourth floor, and affords an amazing view of downtown Oakland, and even the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges and downtown SF. Sometimes we just sit in our living room and stare out the windows. The interior is industrial with all hardwood factory flooring, exposed brick and concrete walls, and steel girder beams that reinforce the original external brick wall. It’s got a lot of space, and presumably because of the location in the industrial part of Oakland (at 23rd Ave and 880) across the Park St bridge from Alameda, the rent is affordable. We feel really fortunate that it became available at the same time that we were landing our jobs. You can check out some photos on my Flickr page of the place during the stages of moving in.
All in all, we are really happy to be back in the Bay Area, not in the least because of our church home at First Pres in Berkeley. We’ve come to admire our pastor Mark Labberton because of his preaching, the importance he places on seeking the welfare of the people in our city and around the world, and for his personal input in our lives post-Crusade. He was largely responsible for getting us connected with the Massachusetts L’Abri which played a vital role in helping us transition from a poor fit in Crusade campus ministry to beginning to discover what this next phase of our life would be like and re-instilling hope for the future.
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August 7th, 2006
Today we rolled through most of South Dakota. The state (at least most of what we saw from the scenic Interstate 90) was pretty blando, or as Jen and I call it, barren wasteland. We started the day in Mitchell, SD, home of the highly touted Corn Palace. It’s part auditorium, part basketball arena, and all tourist trap. To commerate the stop, we picked up a deck of Corn Palace playing cards (made in China) and the photo you see here.
We stopped along the way through the Badlands, and saw some scenic dirt and rocks. It actually was beautiful, and not just in comparison to I-90. We also saw some bison, bighorn sheep, a deer, prarie dogs, and some ancient pig fossils. And speaking of hogs, read on.
Our destination for today was supposed to be Mt. Rushmore, but when we planned our drive across South Dakota (two days ago) we didn’t know about this mega-huge Harley Davidson Rally in Sturgis, SD which is just north of Mt. Rushmore. Increasingly as we travelled west across the state we were surrounded by more and more bikers headed for Sturgis. At Wall Drug, in Wall, SD it looked like a Harley convention in and of itself. By the time we got to Rapid City, our intended stop for the night, the town was literally swarming with hogs. Every motel was booked solid, and we were starting to feel like Mary and Joseph with no room in the inn.
So we nixed the Mt. Rushmore plans and instead went to Chuckie Cheese in Rapid City and played skee-ball. That was big fun, and I should mention here that I made it 30K shy of 450,000 points in one game which would have awarded me 250 bonus tickets. But alas almost didn’t count. With our combined forces tickets we bought a ferrari huge plush toy little rubber frog with internal blinking blue and red LEDs which is now wrapped around our Sentra’s rear-view mirror.
We made it all the way into Wyoming before stopping in the town of Buffalo, which was the only place we could find a vacancy. It turned out to be lucky that Jen had called ahead an hour before we arrived, because we got into the last room available about 10 minutes prior to someone else getting turned away. And it’s from Buffalo, Wyoming that I’m writing now.
So tonight some rest, and tomorrow it’s on to Yellowstone.
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August 1st, 2006
We drove through Chicago today, and stopped by Wrigley Field to see if the Cubs had a home game. It turns out that not only were they playing at home tonight, but the visiting team was the Diamondbacks! So Jen took that as a sign from God that we were meant to go to the game.
So the D-backs sure brought the heat with them from Arizona, in more ways than one. First of all it was a sweltering 100 degrees (with wind chill) in Chicago. On top of that they decided to play a little home run derby with the Cubbies. When all was said and done I think four or five players each had a home run, including one grand slam.
Final score: D-backs 15, Cubs 4.
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July 31st, 2006
So I’m breaking the blog silence after nearly two months. We just finished the L’Abri term last Saturday, have said our goodbyes, and are heading west again in the ol’ Sentra.
Spending a second term at L’Abri was really worth it. As helpers, we had a lot less study time and a lot more work to do, which I was glad for actually. I think my brain appreciated the rest from absorbing new stuff, because it got more time for processing what what I’ve been learning and where I’ve landed post-L’Abri.
Going into the winter term last January, I was dealing with some significant doubts about the truth of the Christian faith, some frustrations with my own Christian experience, and just feeling fried in life.
My mentor at L’Abri, Dick Keyes, was really helpful in talking through my doubts. He was one of the first Christians in my life to encourage me to express my doubts openly in their most obnoxious form. Through conversations with Dick and the wealth of lectures and books he pointed me to in my study time, I’ve come to a a renewed belief that the Christian faith in the Bible is the truest source of meaning available. I’ve also learned that a lot of my doubts have come from a general attitude of cynicism I’ve slid into. The effect of identifying the cynicism has been to clear out room in my mind and my heart for belief.
So now we’re on the road headed back west. Since we were in New England and Canada was so close, Jen and I popped up to Montreal for a couple days. We enjoyed being surrounded by French (which makes it seem like farther away place), walking around the Old Town, and trying out the Montreal Casino. After putting a whopping $30 in the nickel slots, we walked away only ten in the whole thanks to my skills at the one-arm bandit.
We stopped to see some good friends in Ashland, Ohio for a few days and had a good time with them. Today we’re headed on to Iowa, then on to Minnesota after that. Inevitably Eventually we should find our way back to California. We’re planning on staying with my parents in Fallbrook, CA which is near San Diego. Jen’s looking into a graduate program at San Diego State University in Rhetoric. I’ll be looking for a job in computer programming or systems support. Hopefully we should be back into an apartment of our own by my birthday, September 11.
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December 19th, 2005
Jen and I just passed five years of marriage together. To celebrate, we got away to a bed and breakfast in Mendocino, CA called Mendocino Farmhouse. It was a delightful place tucked away in the trees a couple miles outside of the town. Our room occupied half of what used to be the barn, and despite what you’d think, the accomodations were quite plesant. In fact I dare say of all the B&B’s we’ve stayed at in four states and two countries, Mendocino Farmhouse was one of the best yet.
The weather was nice up until the day we left, when thunderstorms showed up. The accomodations were cozy, well kept and new looking. The breakfast was hearty, the highlight being the orange whole wheat pancakes. And the location was quiet and quite restful. If you’re ever in Mendocino, seemingly the B&B captial of Northern California, we would highly recommend checking into the Mendocino Farmhouse.
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July 16th, 2005
Jen and I are on the way to Fort Collins, CO for our bi-annual CCC conference. Last night we stopped in St. George, UT for a restbit on the journey. On recommendation from some friends, we checked into Seven Wives Inn. This B&B was so named for the polygamists it once housed. In fact each room is named for a different wife. Ours was Eliza’s room. We especially enjoyed its quiet neighborhood location in old town St. George, and swimming in the pool after the sunset and the desert began to cool off. I’d highly recommend Seven Wives if you’re ever going through St. George.
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June 27th, 2005
I love spontenaity. A few months ago, Jen and I watched the Sound of Music, a movie I remember watching as a kid and learning all of the songs, from “Do Re Mi” to “My Favorite Things.” On this most recent viewing, I was struck by the natural beauty of Salzburg, Austria where the film took place. I turned to Jen and said, “Let’s go there.” And so began our plans for our recent trip to Europe.
When Jen and I got married four and a half years ago, the thought of international travel seemed beyond us. Maybe it was the exotic aura surrounding travel, or maybe it was the perception that it was too expensive, but we just never imagined being able to do it ourselves. Then two years ago, we had the opportunity to take a trip to London, England. And what people say is true: Once you go, you’ll have the travel bug and always want to do it again.
So this time, the bug took us to France and Austria. Our French itinterary included Paris, the Loire Valley, and by mistake, Bordeaux. We both liked Paris, but the highlight of our stay in the France was definitely seeing chateauxs (castles) in the Loire Valley. My favorite was the river fortress of Cheneceau.
Our overnight train from to Austria included a stopover for a day in Zurich, Switzerland. The rain put a bit of a damper on our experience there, but we did get to spend time walking around the city, and we ate at a quirky place called “The Crazy Cow.”
Going on into Austria, our first stop was the gorgeous city of Innsbruck. The town sits in a valley the Inns river cut between snow capped peaks in the middle of the Austrian Alps. We couldn’t imagine a more picturesque location. Highlights included the castle, Olympic ski jump and views from the top of the mountains, and the red audio tour buses that whisked us around to all of the Innsbruck sights in under an hour.
After Innsbruck, we made it to Salzburg, which included the apartment Mozart lived in during his childhood, biking to Hellbrun Palace and up and down the river Salz, and a classic European car race through town.
The final stop was Vienna. Not much to say about it because by this time in the trip, Jen and I were so tired that we didn’t have much desire to go out sightseeing. We did take a train day trip southwest to Graz, traversing steep mountains on one of the oldest railways in Austria. That was cool, and I picked up a souveneir on the way, a replacement version of one of our favorite boardgames of all time, Settlers of Catan, only this one is all in German. Ooh, fun fun. Oh one other highlight from Vienna. We found a carnival the first night, rode the swings over fifty feet in the air, and an old time wooden ferris wheel. And I learned that Carnies, you know the seedy guys who work carnival games are the same everywhere you go.
So anyway, that’s a bit about our trip. Check out some pictures from our trip, and post comments if you’d like.
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