spring break getaway.

Over Spring Break, Luke and I headed out of town one hour to Welches, OR, minutes from Mt. Hood, where we stayed at Mogli's family cabin, right on the Salmon River.  We were by ourselves on Thursday, and then our good friends Brandon, Victoria, and Craig joined us, as well as my brother Christian.  What a well needed rest after finishing up our term of after school classes, the play, and registering for our next term.  Phew!  

 

Luke may or may not have serenaded me...

We made a tasty dinner and enjoyed cooking together.

Brandon and I sunning on the deck.

We went hiking and hoped to get to Salmon Butte, but started at the wrong spot.  Still a wonderful time of camaraderie and delighting in God's creative nature. 

 

on the trail- still enjoying my ecuadorian hat!

Breakfast on the deck- what a treat.  70 degree weather in March!

besides the bonfires, sleeping in, bike rides, sitting by the river, reading, eating, and good conversation, the highlight might have been on Easter morning when we woke up before sunrise and headed up Lolo Pass Rd. as far as we could go before the road was blocked out.  We then got to watch the sun rising upon the mountain- what a great way to bring in the day we celebrated our Savior's resurrection.  

I am so grateful for moments of rest like these and truly do cherish them.

chicago on our mind

after a long skype today with our sister hannah, I realized that I never posted pictures of our trip to Chicago about a month ago to visit her. we went for a long weekend to meet her roommates (she lives with one other woman and two guys) and see the house she is hoping to buy and use to start a powerful example of living in community. hannah is one of the most inspirational people that i know. she isn't afraid to dream big and has faith that those dreams will come true, assured of the vision that God has given her.



currently, she is dreaming of extending hospitality to her neighbors and those she comes in contact with in her neighborhood of east garfield park. she imagines people living life together and also being outward focused on those around them, digging into relationships in an authentic way that seems rare these days. i could go on and on about hannah, but i'll leave you with some pics of our trip and you can see for yourself how much she cared for us on our trip to see her in january.


deep dish pizza at gino's east- aka cheese and gluten overload!


waiting for the L


some beautiful flowers in the conservatory a few blocks from their house


we even found a banana plant!


guerrila tile mosaiac work


the lights at a yummy gyro place we ate at!


hannah cutting our hair at the salon where she works


the finished product


a rousing game of mennonite madness! one of the many moments of uncontrollable laughter during the weekend.



hannah banana, we are so proud to have you as our sister!

if i had to describe relaxation in one word...

it would have to be breitenbush.

the name of a retreat center out in the middle of the cascades where luke and i spent the weekend. we went to welcome winter, to celebrate his birthday a week early, and to RELAX! mission accomplished.

it was raining hard all weekend, and there was even a dusting of snow when we woke this morning. the perfect weather to enjoy many long soaks in the outdoor, natural hot spring-fed soaking pools. that plus an incredible vegetarian buffet at each meal, lots of rest, games, reading (just finished under wildwood by portland local colin meloy and i couldn't put it down!), exploring in the woods, prayer, mate, and down time with the one i love.

my body, mind, soul, and spirit feel refreshed. thank you abba for the creation of a place like that and for all the people who care for it.

Post Wedding Plans...

As many of you know, Luke and I are getting married! The big day is only 2 short months away on September 5. We are excited to share our special day with many of our family and friends in God's great outdoors. After that, we are anxiously looking forward to beginning our life together, kicking it off with a big adventure. Where to? you might ask. Well, read on to find out!





Our journey will begin days after our wedding with a flight to Quito, Ecuador on September 8. Accompanied with our bicycles, we are excited to finally land in South America, a dream that has been stirring in both of our hearts for years. You may be thinking, wait a minute, did she just say BICYCLES? I did indeed! Through our lives in Portland, Oregon, Luke and I have both become quite the bike aficionados and lovers of bike touring, mostly in Oregon and Washington. Therefore, it only seemed logical to pack our bikes up and take them with us while going to explore some new places.



How long will we be gone and where will we go? We are both finishing up Americorps jobs this summer, putting our lives in Portland on hold and leaving to learn more about each other and Latin American culture. Hopefully, that will bring us back to Portland in spring of 2011. The route is flexible, but as you can see in the map above, we hope to visit Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. On the map above, the red route is the part that we hope to bike. Somewhere around Christmastime, we hope to trade our buckets and bungees for backpacks, following the blue route by bus. Paraguay will be our end destination, as Luke spent 4 of his growing up years there with his family, while his parents were missionaries.



We hope to find God's kingdom breaking through the people, the nature, and the experiences we encounter along the way. We plan on being flexible and joining in where we find opportunities. We encourage you to research a place, project, or story in any of the countries we may be passing through, and SHARE IT WITH US or encourage us to visit it (you can vicariously live through our adventure!). Also, if you happen to know of an available couch, let us know.