Arriving in Juneau

Brian and I got back from Juneau Friday evening, and had a really great trip!  Here are a few snapshots from our first day:

This is a coffee shop near campus, and it was our first stop for lunch after we got into Juneau.  It was started up a couple years ago by some UAS students.  It was so good, we went there twice while we were there!

I took this picture because of the view & the sign that shows at least a little  bit of a liberal leaning for Juneau - "parents, families, and friends of lesbians and gays" - we thought that was a good sign (literally and figuratively)!

Driving to the Mendenhall Glacier, just a few minutes away.

There's the glacier from a distance

The visitor center was closed, but you could still walk out to the glacier and falls.

Two friendly ladies we met on our walk to Nugget Falls, there in the background.  They began our warm welcome into Juneau.  You can't see it in this picture, but they pointed out to us that there was a white mountain goat hanging out by the falls.  I guess after 30 years in Juneau, you have an eye for things like that, even at a distance.

How cool is this?!?

The VanderYost V8

This past week has been a whirlwind of vehicle stuff.  

Between a Friday and a Tuesday, we:

1. Decided to begin looking for a truck.

2. Test-drove and found a truck we liked.

3. Committed to buying said truck.

4. Put our car up for sale on craigslist.

5. Sold our car.

We're so thankful for how smoothly and how quickly everything unfolded.  A welcome blessing in this already busy time.  

Here is our new (to us) 2006 Toyota Tundra!

After Easter Sunday service in the church parking lot

doesn't he look like a natural??

It's roomy enough to comfortably sit 2-3 passengers in the back seat.

It has a moon roof!

...and big foldable mirrors!

...and a 6-foot bed!

...and a scuba-diving window sticker! (over Brian's left shoulder) :)

Alaska driving, here we come!

Super Cool Easter Eggs

Our friends Damon & Veronica invited us over to do some Easter egg-dying yesterday.  Brian was busy with school work, and I needed a break from mine, so I joined them.  So glad I did!  

This was unlike any egg-dying I ever remember doing.  They had gotten eight old silk neckties from Goodwill, and deconstructed them.  Then, we wrapped the raw eggs in the ties, then wrapped them again in another white fabric (we used an old pillowcase), and used twist-ties to hold them wrapped up.  (So they looked like little egg ornaments almost.)  Then, we boiled them in 1/4 cup vinegar and enough water to cover them for 20 minutes and then let them cool. 

And....voila.  The coolest Easter eggs ever!  (the vinegar makes the print from the silk tie stick to the eggshell)

paisley was my favorite

Happy Easter!

Holidays & Stuff...

Hi Everyone,

I know it's been a while since anything has been posted, and that's mostly because we have been busy doing things that aren't really worth taking pictures of! :)  Seriously, though, it's been a busy time leading up to Brian's interviews in Chicago (which went very well, by the way).  Here's a quick recap of the things we did manage to capture in photo...

2011 Thanksgiving = Anne's very first homemade pumpkin pie (including the crust!).  

We went to two different Thanksgiving dinners at two different friends' houses, including the Volds (Damon & Veronica).  I had to take a picture of this beautiful braided onion/cheese bread that Damon baked from scratch!

The pretty bread caught everyone's eye, including Juniper & Brian :)

We managed to put up a little Christmas cheer in our apartment, including this hand carved olive wood nativity, that was really made in the Holy Land!   

We got our Christmas tree this year with our friends, the Taylors (Matt & Evie & Riley) at a tree farm in Eugene.  It was just perfect!

The effects of Christmas morning on our living room :)

I just love this picture...

We babysat Juniper one afternoon, so Damon & Veronica could groom their dogs (they have two golden doodles that don't shed, so they require some intensive grooming periodically...it's a half-day event)

Here is Brian showing Juniper how to roll to her side!

As you can imagine, the job market process is a bit taxing...I swear this is a candid photo.

Thankfully, the cold that Brian did get was out of his system before Chicago.  Here he is using our new Neti pot for the first time.  He's a fan!

The Barefoot Professor :)

In preparation for the new term that starts soon, I like to spend a couple weekends cooking ahead and stocking our freezer with pre-cooked dinners.  Aren't these pretty quiche?? :)

So, there you go...a random mish-mash glimpse into our lives the past couple months.

We'll keep you posted on the second round of interviews for Brian, and where God is leading us!  Thank you for all your prayers!

Love,
Anne & Brian

Running in the Redwoods

A couple weekends ago, Brian and I headed south for my first time seeing the Redwoods, and his first time running a half-marathon in the Redwoods.  We drove down with two of his running buds, Chris & Tyler, and met up with a few other friends who were also running.  We stayed overnight at a KOA campground in Eureka, CA and hung out and watched the Duck football game, and slept 8 people + 1 dog in a cabin that was only meant to sleep 4 humans.  It was a quick trip, driving down Saturday morning and driving back Sunday afternoon.  We didn't have time for much sightseeing outside of the race, but we did get to do a little tour of Humboldt State University by running on some of the awesome trails they have!

The campus trails were pretty hilly, which is why I look like, "Ok, take the picture quick so I can hunch over to catch my breath!"  Check out how big that tree is!

Pre-race group photo: Sofie (the dog), Andrew, Scott, Tyler, Brian, Dirk & Chris.  As the only female in the bunch that weekend, I can attest to the fact that these are all very nice, very cool guys!

This is my attempt at being artsy with the trees :)

A little Redwood education for you...

Sofie and I cheered on all the runners with gusto!

Scott (in blue) was Sofie's favorite runner...he's her owner :)

There was no distracting Sofie after she saw Scott go by...after that, all she wanted to do was go in the direction he was running.

Tyler's so fast, we can barely see him!

Sofie really means it...she must get to Scott!

There's MY favorite runner!

Tyler & Chris, post-race...they both ran a great race!

Andrew, a Kiwi Brian & Andrew  met during the race, and Brian...all happy to be finished!  This was Andrew's first half-marathon and Brian ran with him the whole time, and had fun bonding rather than trying to kill himself for a certain finish time.  Even still, they finished around 1:54!

Post-race, tired legs and all smiles!

Back at the KOA for a shower before hitting the road...had to snap this shot.  Notice that Brian is the Mama Bear here :)

Brian is a Famous Runner!

Brian's photographed in the November issue of Runner's World!  On page 112, there is an article highlighting a run we both participated in last year (I did the 5K and he ran the half-marathon); it's a fundraising run for those who need assistance paying their utilities in Eugene.  Anyway, in the photo Brian is on the left and one of his running buddies, Tyler, is on the right.

He's had friends from all over the place continue to email him and call him to tell him he's famous.  How cool is that?!?! 

The next half-marathon for both Brian & Tyler (and another running buddy) is next weekend in the Redwoods!

Rocky Mountain High

Thanks to some handy flight points that were about to expire, we were able to fit in one last trip this summer before school got going full force for both of us.  We flew into Denver where Milt & Cheryl picked us up and took us on a whirlwhind tour of beautiful Colorado and Wyoming. (They live in Laramie, WY where they both work for University of Wyoming.)

Best friends since they were little boys on tricycles...now look at them!

This is in the Medicine Bow National Forest area.

Look, Brian's taller!

Their dog, Bella, had a blast running all around and fetching her toy out of the lake.  She's a good swimmer!

The men fixed us up some mighty yummy kebabs that we baked in their camper stove.

Bella was feeling the effects from all her exercise that day.

Milt turned 31 while we were there!

Milt got his upper body workout in from the well, while filling up our water bottles.

We got to see the Aspens turning, beautiful greens, yellows, and some reds too.

Cheryl and the Aspen trees glowing bright yellow!

Our last morning there, Milt & Brian went for a hike to summit Medicine Bow peak.  Meanwhile, Cheryl & I slept in and had the truck and camper all hooked up when the boys got back! (It only involved a little bit of pipe whacking and jumping on the back of the truck...but we got it!) :)

From the top of Medicine Bow

On the way to the airport, we stopped at Odell's Brewery in Fort Collins, CO and enjoyed some tasty sampler trays and trivial pursuit.  Good for the brain and our tastebuds!

We did so much more than what these pictures show, including a stop at Steamboat Hot Springs (one of my favorite stops), a tour of the CCO camp where Milt & Brian worked as camp counselors for a couple summers, a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park, a lot of good eating, wildlife sightings (we saw a bull moose chase after a female moose and her calf at full speed, lots of elk, antelope, random cattle on the side of the road, etc).  We got to see where Milt & Cheryl live in Laramie, and I got to meet Cheryl's horse, Johnny!

Milt & Cheryl were wonderful hosts and we got to see a ton in a short amount of time.  Such good friends and such a good trip!  Thanks you two!