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!

Merry Christmas

There are lots of things I love about Christmastime -- the lights, the music, the treats, the gift-giving and receiving. But with all that Christmas brings, I can't help but occasionally come back to the simplicity of what it really is all supposed to be about -- remembering the miracle that our Savior came to earth.

Merry Christmas!

Let it Snow!

It's cold and rainy here in California today, so I can't say it doesn't feel at all like winter. But, really, with Christmas coming I must say I'm missing a good, old-fashioned Rocky Mountain snowstorm. So, I've been digging up some tricks to make it feel a little more "snowy" around these parts, including this great snow-falling-on-the-blog trick, and a couple of fun winter pictures from days gone by. So, for anyone else missing snow right now, I hope you enjoy.

Happy happy turkey weekend

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend with my family in town! Here's a recap:
We saw Stanford campus.
We went shopping in Chinatown. Christian was in heaven . . . Kaitlyn was not.

We hung out at the Bay.

And met a long lost "cousin" on the Trolley car.

We went to Monterey.

Christian was in heaven again (a crab and a sand dollar, what could be better!)
That's about it! Oh yeah, we had turkey too.

Things I'm Thankful For

One thing I've been working on lately is being more positive with myself and with others. I truly believe that gratitude is a major antidote for all sorts of problems (real and imagined), and so I've been trying to put that into practice in my life. And, with Thanksgiving coming up this week, I think it is especially apt to make a brief list of things that I am grateful for:

• I'm thankful for having an internship/job where I get to work at something that is both challenging and fulfilling. I'm also thankful that I can go play in kindergarten pretty much whenever I want.


• I'm thankful to live on the fifth floor of our apartment building, and the lovely view from our living room windows -- particularly of the sunrise each morning.


• I'm thankful that we upgraded from the crappy Stanford issue mattress that we started with, to a newer, more comfy mattress.


• I'm thankful for the Stanford campus -- there's lots of open space to go walking and running.


• I'm thankful that our gas bills have gone down since my commute is only 10 minutes every morning.


• I'm thankful that my family is coming to visit for Thanksgiving this year!


• I'm thankful for the Milk Pail and the Dish.


• I'm very, very, very, very, very thankful for an amazingly patient and loving husband who works so hard at whatever he does (including making me happy!)


• I'm thankful for God's love, and the perspective that His love gives me on life and its challenges.

That's the short list, maybe I'll add more this week. I will add that I'm also thankful for you, because if you are reading this that means you are someone who cares about me and who likely has had an influence for good in my life. So, thanks!