We love Cambria! (Cambria, CA, that is)

We've returned from our spring break adventure - had a lovely time and many adventures. Not everything went exactly according to plan (a family of raccoons is currently gloating over that fact), but, upon some reflection, that is as it should be and we had lots of fun (take that, thieving raccoons!) Here are some pics to enjoy:

Happy Birthday, Jon!

My own Mr. Lincoln turns 27 today (which means I'm only 27, since I've decided I'm only as old as my husband!) We're turning it into a week-long celebration, starting with a BBQ yesterday with friends and tomorrow heading off on a spring break adventure down the California coast. We'll be seeing Carmel, Big Sur, scenic Hwy 1, and my own home town of Cambria, CA. I'm very excited, and not to worry, I finally decided on and purchased a fantastic new camera which we will be debuting for the trip (pictures will follow!)

Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln!

For those of you who don't know, this year marks the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth! Since Jon is such a fan of Lincoln, we've been making extra efforts this past week to remember our 16th president. There is a special website set up to the Lincoln Bicentennial, with trivia, news, Lincoln's speeches, and other random stuff. We also found this crazy mosaic of Lincoln done all with pennies (link the picture and you can see the video making of it).

The other thing we did to celebrate Lincoln this year was to have a Lincoln meal with some of Lincoln's favorite foods, Fricaseed Chicken and Mary Todd Lincoln's White Almond Cake. This is actually our second annual Lincoln meal, and we're thinking we'll make it a family tradition.

I love my husband

Last night Jon and I went and played racquetball together for FHE. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am horrific when it comes to any sort of sport, and that includes racquetball. Because I am really bad, I really don't typically like sports all that much and avoid them at nearly all costs. However, one of the only exceptions to that is racquetball. I think it's the peow of the ball against the wall (come on, if you've ever been on a racquetball court you know exactly what I'm talking about!) that gives me a certain thrill. So, yes, I enjoy racquetball even though I am not good at it.
Even though I like playing it, though, I still do not like being bad at it. Therefore, in order to keep enjoying it, I play a modified version of the game that basically consists of throwing out any sort of structure or rules, and just hitting the ball against the wall to the best of my ability (1 bounce, 2 bounces, even 5 bounces on the floor, as long as I hit the back wall it's all the same to me). There are no points, there is no competition, it's purely for the chance to move around and hear the ball hit the back wall as often as I can get it there.
This brings me to my point of why I love my husband so much. Now, most men are not motivated to play sports for the entertainment of knowing that they have gotten their workout in for the day, nor even for the chance to hear some silly sound (though I'm sure they still get a secret thrill out of this also). We all know they play sports for that manly competitive feeling they get. It is just not as entertaining otherwise. Jon is no different -- he'll brag about his exploits on the basketball court just as quickly as the next guy. And I know that playing me at racquetball, with my total rejection of any points or rules, is at times totally and completely boring to him. But what I love is that he plays with me anyway. He plays with me, and he congratulates me on my good hits as if we were really playing for points, and he makes me feel like he's having a good time too. And so, as we played our racquetball game last night -- and laughed together about our bad hits, and congratulated each other for our good ones -- I just couldn't help but smile to myself and think again how much I love my husband!

Asian Art Museum

One of Jon and my new year's resolutions this year was to get out and visit more of the many sites we have around us here in California. So far this year, we've been doing pretty well, and yesterday we headed up to "the city" to visit the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Of course, Jon's been wanting to see this since we moved here, and there is a big exhibit on Afghanistan that is ending this month -- so we decided to get up there before it ended.

The museum is pretty amazing, with exhibits ranging from South Asia to East Asia as well as some of Persia and West Asia. Given the huge area and history which that encompasses, and in comparison to many other Asian museums, it's not a huge collection of Asian art. It is a very well-designed collection, though. Going through the museum feels like an introduction to and review of Asian culture and history through art. The size helps keep it from being overwhelming, and it is designed in a way that allows you to really take in the big picture of all that is Asia. For me, it was great to go through and learn more details about so many of the things that I have been introduced to by Jon and from our visit to China this summer.

We've started compiling a list of "things to do" around here for those who come to visit, and this will certainly be added to the list for those more culturally-minded visitors.

p.s. There's a great story (click on the picture for the link) about the piece pictured above (from the Afghan exhibit), for anyone interested.

I'm a cheerleader!

Okay, I have a confession - the previous post's "Happy New Year" was not actually done by me, it was just something I found on the internet. I had to admit that when someone asked me where we had been for New Year's, and I had to confess that it was spent in the snow, not on the beach. So, lest I mislead anyone, I took the chance this weekend to rectify my "plagiaristic" blogging and the new New Year's greeting was actually written by me.

Some friends of ours have been training for an 80-mile backpacking trip in Patagonia, and have invited us to tag along as their cheerleaders on a number of occasions. Prior to the holidays, I accompanied them on a 10-miler while Jon spent a Saturday writing final papers. This last weekend we did 16 miles with them on the Point Reyes National Seashore coastal trail north of the S.F. Bay.

I have to say, it was one of those days that make you love living in California! A gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky, and temperatures in the mid-60s.

Most of the trail had the ocean on one side and hills on the other, and the sky was so clear we had views of islands, lighthouses, rock arches, and other gorgeous scenery (we were hoping for some whale watching, but were disappointed there).

Part of the hike was right on the beach, followed by a climb up the side of a waterfall that flows onto the beach and into the ocean. Jon and I had it pretty easy, and I'm sure we looked plenty wimpy carrying our tiny little day-packs hiking alongside Katie and Lee, each lugging full 50 pound backpacks. I have to admit, though, that after 11 miles, it was still a relief to take off our shoes and soak our feet in the cold water.

At the base of the waterfall, there were a number of tide pools, where we got to see (and play with) starfishes of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. We even caught a glimpse of a mini octopus.

We came home with aching muscles and some pretty painful blisters -- but it was so worth it!

Happy New Year!

Happy new year everyone and welcome back from all your holiday festivities! We had a great holiday break -- visiting families, sleeping in, and eating way too much. It was so fun to have all of my family together in Ephraim for Christmas, including the soon-to-be new sister-in-law as well as the adorable baby grandchild/nephew. We also got to have all of Jon's family (minus Kate the missionary) together for a brief gathering, followed by a few of us spending the week at his parents' in Richfield. In addition, we got to see some beloved friends from high school, college, Upward Bound, and Colorado. All in all, I was reminded how blessed we are to have such wonderful family, and have a new year's resolution to appreciate them more.
Now, I'm trying to get back into the routine of things -- I always look forward to having a routine again when I'm on vacation, but then dread getting out of bed each day when I'm not! But it is nice to come back and have a fresh start, and I am looking forward to doing lots of new things in my internship as I continue to round out my experience and figure out how to really be a school psychologist. Jon's started back up into a new quarter, and has already begun the rigor of late nights translating Chinese texts (now, doesn't that sound like something that would keep you up at nights?!)
I hope that everyone is having a wonderful start to the new year, and that you are still keeping up with your new year's resolutions!