Summer is my favorite!

We hope summer has been treating you well! We love summer for many reasons. One of those reasons is because of all the awesome things we get to do outside. At the beginning of summer we ran relay style from Lake Oswego to Eugene Oregon. We had a blast, Paul doing about 20 miles total and Ashley doing 12 miles, and can't wait to do something like it again.

Another reason why we love summer is because of weddings! We have attended several weddings this summer and of course Paul had the pleasure of singing at a couple, too. We have a few more weddings to attend this year, including his brothers in San Diego, and couldn't be happier for everyone.

Ashley had the chance to travel to Australia to visit a teacher she teaches with who is doing an exchange for a year. She had a wonderful time seeing lots of amazing Australia things and visiting Diantha and her family! Being able to set her own schedule is another plus of summer! :)

We also love to be on the water during the hot summer months. Thanks for friends with pools and boats we have been able to enjoy lots of time in the water. Our garden is growing pretty well and we have been able to enjoy it's produce over the last couple of weeks.

That's a snap shot of our summer and all the fun things we get to do when it is so warm!

Up Early

Paul and I woke up super early for a training run this morning. We ran about 6 miles as the sun was coming up. We are training for legs in the Epic Oregon Relay, which runs from Lake Oswego to Eugene. One of our friends won an entry after completing the Eugene Marathon. I am excited for this race, I don't think it will be very grueling running wise as my longest leg is only about 5 miles, but for other reasons I am a bit nervous. For one I am not use to running by myself. I, except when running at the gym, always run with someone. I like running with others; I think it helps pass the time. Another difference is that I will be running one leg in the dark. I have never ran in the dark. I am always very aware of my surroundings when exercising on the road (just ask Paul, if I ride my bike on the road I always have my bright yellow biking vest on) and running when drivers aren't able to see you as well makes me a little nervous. I am sure it will be fun and that we will have some good stories. We will definitely let you know how it goes.

#2

I ran my 2nd half marathon this last Sunday down in Eugene. My brother-in-law and I ran it together (Paul trained with us but couldn't do the actual race because of church). It is such a beautiful course and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a race like that. Our time was 2:10.11, which is quite a bit faster than my time about a year ago. Now that my legs have rested for a few days I am excited to find my next challenge! :)

It has been a while since our last post, and many amazing things have happened. The first big thing was that Paul's sister, Mary, got married! On April 10th Mary and Tim said "I DO" in a beautiful ceremony in Salem. It was a weekend full of family, love and God! We were so blessed to witness and be apart of this union.





We had our first garage sale as a couple this Saturday and were pretty sucessful. Our neighborhood was doing it so we put a few of our things out and stayed pretty busy.

I am all registered for masters classes this summer. I am hoping to be done in about 2-3 years, which means I will probably take 1-2 classes per term. I was excited about going back to school until I realized just how expensive master programs are! It is about double what undergrad courses cost and the other bummer is that I don't have a choice if I want to keep teaching I have to get my masters within 10 years of initially getting my teaching license. Oh well...

The half marathon is one week away! We did a good training run last weekend and I think I am ready to go. Paul won't be doing it with me this time since the race is on a Sunday, but I am running it with my brother-in-law.

We can't wait for summer and the warm weather! We love being outside and doing activities outside and summer is so enjoyable here in Oregon. We are excited to take advantage of our backyard and the little things we added to it last fall.

We went up to Portland last weekend and rode some of the Hynes horses for a bit.



It is a busy time of the school year with programs, carnivals, and end of the year projects. I can't blieve we are almost done with this school year!

Cheers!

こんにちは

That title is suppose to read "hello" in japanese! We hosted two japanese girls for a few days as they were visiting Oregon and the school I work at. We hosted two boys last year and had a blast so we were really excited to do it again. The girls only stayed with us for 3 nights so we didn't get to do many amazing things, but we had fun.




Easter went great! Paul worked very hard getting his worship team together, a chorus and childrens choir. Praise the Lord that no one got sick and his efforts were appreciated!


Mary's wedding is tomorrow! Family has arrived and the pre-wedding activities have started, and we are looking forward to tomorrow.

Spring Break

Wow, it is hard to believe that spring and spring break are here! I spent the beginning of this week with some friends at the coast in the most beautiful weather! Paul and I got passes for the spring up at Meadows and took advantage of them this week. We stayed with some friends in Welches and skied 3 days in mix of conditions.



Besides spending about every weekend driving up to the mountain and then back down in time for church we have been spending some time working on our house. We painted and decorated one room to be like our guest room, and are in the process of redoing another room to be more of an office. Paul's sister, Mary, is getting married in just 2 weeks and we will have some family staying with us so it was good motivation to do some small projects. Next weekend we will be doing some work in the yard.

I can't believe that there is only 2 1/2 months left in this school year! Time has flown. I don't know yet what grade I will be teaching next year, but it has been so wonderful not going through the roller coaster of possibly not having a job like last year! Oh, and I am going back to school to get my masters! I am excited for this and I will get to complete the program while still working.

Well, I need to go and enjoy the beautiful weather up here at the mountain!

Good Life

Things have been going well for us. Last week Paul and I took Friday off from work and went skiing at Mt. Bachelor. Then we met up with my family at Black Butte and went skiing at Hoodoo on Saturday, and came back to reality on Sunday. :)





Our community group is going through a video set done by Focus on the Family and we have really been learning some great things about truth, who man is and sin. Two of our couples have babies on the way and we are looking forward to that new chapter for our group.

I am signed up for another half marathon happening the first of May and that beautiful weather we had was good for training!

Let us know if we can be praying for you in anyway!

Can't Wait

We are still working out the kinks, but this is where I hope to be in August! I better start practicing my Australian accent, mate!

Good News

No, we aren't pregnant, but my twin sister is! Congrats to the Fifhause family; baby #2 is on its way! Check out their blog at www.fifinator.blogspot.com

January 26th

I am not one who shares my opinions on things very freely as I do not want to offend others. However, I am feeling a bit more of a push in sharing some information about the upcoming Oregon election. I know it is easy for me to sit here and tell everyone that they should vote "yes" on Measure 66 & 67 as we do not make over $250,000 and a "yes" vote would secure my job for the next few years. But I am not going to tell you how to vote, all I am going to ask of you is that you really look at the facts of these measures before voting. Below is a link with more information on both measures and don't forget to get your ballots in on or before January 26th!

"The opposition's ad in yesterday's Oregonian claimed that Measure 66 is "a fairy tale" and Measure 67 the "wrong time, wrong tax."

But just last week, Education Week's study on education quality gave Oregon an F for college readiness, an F for teacher training and support, and a barely passing grade overall.

That's no fairy tale, and for our children, the time is now. We cannot afford to lose the $727 million Measures 66 and 67 will bring to protect Oregon schools."

http://www.stand.org/or/facts

A New Year

The last month flew by. With hosting the worship team from Willamette to an appreciation dinner, shopping for Christmas gifts, decorating the house for Christmas, baking, and getting crafts/activities/songs ready in the classroom I was ready for winter break. I was exhausted!

Paul and I wanted to have the worship team over for dinner to show our appreciation for how much time and energy they put into providing meaningful worship. We moved most of our furniture out of our living/dinning room and put in tables and chairs to fit 30 people! We ate a homemade meal, played games and chatted. It was a blast and I hope we can do it again next year!



Paul took the 23rd off so we decided to spend the day at the beach. It was a gorgeous day with no wind and lots of sun!


We were in Albany until after the Christmas Eve service, then headed up to spend Christmas with the Hynes'. All of Paul's siblings were there except for two of his brothers. We skyped with one from Germany on Christmas morning which was really nice. Paul enjoyed skiing with some friends Saturday night while I spent some time with friends before heading back for service Sunday morning.


Paul's youngest sisters, Rachel and Elizabeth, came down on Sunday and spent most of the next week with us. We watched lots of movies, painted, baked and babysat my nephew. It was a lot of fun to have them down!

For New Year's we went to Black Butte with the Hynes family and some friends. We enjoyed playing in the snow and relaxing in the hot tub! Paul got some new skies so we had to hit up the slopes too and had a great time!



We have had a roommate for almost a year now. Not the same one for a year, but a couple different people. Well, our most recent roommate has now moved out and we now have the house to ourselves. I think it is a bit too quiet!

Well off to the gym.