beer's a brewin'

that's right...travis has been brewing beer in the moore household...and he's having a lot of fun with it. last weekend he made the beer and this weekend he "racked" it...it is in the fermentation process. soon he will bottle it. it's quite the process!

ash wednesday

i went to the ash wednesday service at our church tonight. and it was so good...good for me...good for me as i enter the beginning of lent. it gave me such great perspective and came at such a good time...in the middle of this hectic and rough week. it was solace for me and a way for me to let go of the things that I hold onto so tightly...i feel like i have so much to think through. so many things to let go. and i actually think i'll take these 40 days of lent and meditate over these things and really focus myself on God and try to hear his voice.

i've never really practiced lent. I grew up in a church where on easter they went on with the normal series and said "every sunday we celebrate easter"...they didn't do a special easter service for all those that came that one time a year. and i see their point...kinda'...but i've learned to appreciate the church calendar over the last several years...and would love to understand it even more...the last few years i've celebrated different aspects of the liturgical calendar...and now it is time to give lent a try...after many years of thinking about it...here i go...

my measley efforts to save the earth...

I'm sitting in a starbucks and i'm watching them take loads of trash out to the garbage. (mind you that the "garbage" is full of milk cartons that they could recycle.) i'm watching gobs of people receive throw away cups, when they are enjoying their beverage in the coffee shop and they could have gotten a "for here" cup, but no barista asked them "for here or to go?" they just gave them a paper cup to throw away...

and i'm thinking...it would take me a year to recycle as many milk cartons as what one starbucks throws away in one day. and i feel that my individual choices to conserve can't make a difference. it is almost like saving the environment can't just happen with my choice to consolidate my trips and use a porcelain cup when i go to a coffee shop. i feel like i need to write corporations like starbucks and beg them to do more than than have 10% post consumer recycled cups. i feel like i should write every corporate office and urge them to recycle, even if it is more work.

this has to happen on a grander scale. and i know that things are happening, things are getting better. but they aren't good enough. we have to do more.

and to top it off...i hear that people think this whole global warming thing is a political conspiracy theory! ha! yeh, right!

here are some of the things travis and i have started doing:

- unplugging appliances we aren't using
- energy saver lights
- refusing bags at stores when we only have a few items (and now we have clothe bags that we put our groceries in)
- ride MAX as much as we can.
- turn the shower off when we suds up (okay, just travis does this)
- make sure our soaps are phosphate free
- checking the labels of what we buy to see where it comes from and chose local as much as we can (thinklocalportland.org)
- ride our bikes to the store
- conservation in whatever form we can: turning off lights, turning down the heat at night
- not just recycle, but buy recycled things
- use a dry cleaner that is enviromentally friendly
- we're also looking into passive solar heating and cooling
- alternative energy from windpower from our energy company

supposedly 50% of the CO2s are from our house...so it isn't just our cars that are the issue.

it's a beginning and we hope to keep adding things to our list!

1 year in the Northwest!!

yep, that's right. it was one year ago today that we finished the last leg of our journey and drove into the beautiful northwest. it's been a gradual settling process, but we are finally settling in...and it is starting to feel like home!!

This is just a great place to be...and i love the weather!! the winters aren't bad at all and i don't mind the rain and the summers are amazing...i just can't imagine a better climate...i think it was made for me. the people are wonderul...this place makes my heart smile!

and oregon is rubbing off on us!
no, we haven't bought a subaru outback, which seems to be the car of choice around here...but we are drooling over a jetta we can run on biodiesel. we are becoming very green and we love it! when you are in such a beautiful place, you can't help but want to save the environment!

so, here's to oregon. may we be here a long, long time!! (fingers crossed)

in the midst of a walkathon

this week was superb. it was a glorious week in the land of minneapolis...i brought my work with me and worked here for the week, with some creative brainstorming sessions at night with a good friend on some business adventures we are brewing...more on that later...

I was able to make it to the porch's gathering sunday night...it was so good to sit on the couch, see so many familiar faces and catch up with a community i miss so much. it snowed and was cold, but then i realized that i missed the FIRST BIG SNOW IN PORTLAND...i wish i could have been there. i bet it was beautiful with all the evergreens!!!

i got up early for my flight this morning, but didn't make it. whoops. i'll catch another one at 2 this afternoon. i guess i won't make it to the community dinner tonight!!

what to do with several hours before my next flight...so i decided i would come to MOA so i could go to my beloved H&M, i thought i could hang out in a coffee shop until the stores open up, i know, i'm whacked...so i take the light rail, enter the doors to a huge crowd of people. (mind you, it is 7:45 in the morning and the mall doesn't open until 10) and i can't get away from the mobs...they are everywhere...all wearing different walk for diabetes tshirts...

and now people are walking laps around all the levels of the mall (quite slowly, i might add.) i guess that's what you do to pass time in minnesota...you walk laps in the mall of america. so much for a quiet morning at the coffee shop. owell, it is entertaining!!

so hopefully i'll be home sweet home by midnight tonigt!

snow

what?!? is that snow i see outside. you can hardly call it snow, but i'll take it!!

talking to people from other parts of the country, they assume that portland, being north, must be cold. and they always hear of oregon getting snow, so they just assume that includes portland. nope! quite the contrary, my dear. it snows at mt hood and rains in portland. i'll take it! the winter hasn't been as dark and gloomy as people say...but it's not over yet!! and we'll have officially been here a year in february. what? i can't believe it. it was around this time last year we were finding out that we would moving to the great nw!!

voodoo donuts

of all my experiences in portland so far...this one takes the cake. how have i not heard of this place before?? last weekend we experienced voodoo donuts in old town...bizaar!! this is no ordinary donut shop by any means. this is definitely worth the experience, whether you get a donut or not! i'm not much of a donut eater...i've never joined the band wagon for krispy cremes...but this voodoo donuts in portland is amazing!! i felt like i saw a side of portland i have never seen before. maybe it was the oh-so-young nightlife that i am not part of...maybe the eclective crowd...whatever it was, it was quite a trip.

the donuts were displayed on an old turning jewelry case. donuts with coco puffs and captain cruntch on the top..very creative. and the people that are packed in this little place for their midnight muntchies were so eccentric. i think i could just stand there all night and observe. travis picked the donut called "old dirty bastard" with oreo cookes and peanut butter drizzle. he said it was amazing. he gobbled it so fast, i didn't get a bite...there's always next time.

skyline and forest park

rain or shine, travis and i went hiking in forest park yesterday. absolutely beautiful. and there is just something about hiking in the rain with the canapy of the trees over our heads...

and then we tried out the skyline restaurant...a 50s diner that we pass on our way to NW. they're known for their burgers and they were pretty tasty...my favorite was the woodpaneling walls.

i have the rest of this week off...a nice holiday break. and i'm LOVING it! I'm actually getting some stuff done around here...with plenty of time to play!

the true and the questions

happy 2007!!



here's a great book i just got. it isn't new, but i love sabrina's art and thoughts....

christmas in oklahoma

christmas was great in oklahoma, but nothing close to a white christmas. travis and i were able to see both of our familes while we were in oklahoma. he just had a few days off, so it was a mad dash around oklahoma, but it was fun. here's a pic of my fam.

oh, night divine

many thanks to sufjan stevens' christmas album...it has guided me into a wonderful christmas reflection. his songs are amazing. it was just what i needed today to focus on God this season. o holy night, come thou fount, holy holy holy, joy to the world, and o come o come emmanuel are the ones i found myself listening to continuously. superb

i'm in oklahoma!

i made it to oklahoma, with luggage. it's a miracle!! and with no broken glass in my luggage...wahoo!!

call me crazy, but i love the airport, i love flying. it's very relaxing for me. even with all the hectic people around me...i get in my own world, listen to my ipod and enjoy the day of waiting. i love sitting there with nothing to do, able to catch up on email, organize things on my computer...do things that i don't seem to find time to do otherwise. so, that said, i made the best of my day at the airport. i didn't see it as a wasted day.

the most wonderful time of the year...

over the last few weeks, i've had fun exploring all the wonderful neighborhood boutiques for our christmas presents. it has been so wonderful to support the local businesses instead of the big man this year.

and yesterday i finally road the bus...after becoming comfortable with MAX and the street car...i finally ventured out to the bus system. (i just had to get that one last gift in the hawthorne district...it was a strong motivation to figure out the bus lines.) and it was so easy...it will open up a whole new world for me.

but today, i pulled probably my most moron moment...

i carefullly packed all of my fragile presents in my carry on luggage...i didn't want the wine, jelly, and honey to spill out all over my checked luggage. I took my little zip-lock bag of liquids out of my backpack, went through security...and little did i know that EVERYTHING in my carry-on suitcase was LIQUID. so i had to go back to check my suitcase, missed my flight...and now i'm waiting on the next flight that won't leave for another 7 hours!! this day has started out superb. at least i can laugh about it.

there is nothing sentimental about him...

another beloved quote by nouwen:

...wherever he goes, whomever he meets.
he is able to see and hear something beautiful.
something for which to be grateful.

he doesn't deny the great sorrow that surrounds him
nor is he blind or deaf to the agonizing
sights & sounds of his fellow human beings,
but his spirit gravitates toward
the light in the darkness &
the prayers in the midst of the cries of despair.
his eyes are gentle.
his voice is soft.

there is nothing sentimental about him.
he is a realist, but his deep faith
allows him to know that

hope is more real than despair,
faith more real the distrust, &
love more real than fear.

it is this spiritual realism that makes him such a joyful man."

a visit from a friend

this past week one of my best buds from college came to visit me before she has her baby in february. it was so great to show her my world and just hang out like old times. we went to the coast on sunday. (my favorite, of course) i love the coast anytime of year! the sun even came out for us!

i had so many things to show her! it was a little rainy (rainy? portland?)while she was here, but we made the best of it...finding fun little boutiques to go to. and of course we went to stumptown. not only did i get to show her some of my favorite places, it was also fun to explore new places with an old friend. and it was just good to hang out.

here is a pic of us at the waterfront downtown.

the garage

trav decided to build cabinets in our garage. and oh, they look so nice!

skiing!

with skiing just an hour away, travis and i just had to buy ski gear! i had to work, but travis went out to test our equipment and enjoy a day at the slopes!! it is just beautiful!! we're planning a trip after christmas for us to go together. i can't wait!

our christmas tree

over the thanksgiving weekend, travis and i went to find our very first live christmas tree. we went to an oregon tree farm and picked it out! it was very exciting and i just love the smell in our house!

choosing joy

i'm a doubter. a pessimist. a realist. a "should've been" thinker. i question everything. i'm indecisive. a worrier. full of anxiety.
full of fear that leaves me idol and not moving forward. wallowing in my own self-pity. a perfectionist in a strange sort of way.

but deep down, there's a dreamer, a hopeless romantic. a cheesy lover of life. an idealist. a making the most of the opportunity, carpe diem kinda' person.

and i teeter toter between the two. the two seem to wrestle and fight for my thoughts.

but recently, more and more, i've wanted to be the "izzy" instead of the "christina" (in grey's anatomy terms, that is) i would rather see things as they should be, rather than how they are.

i would rather be easy pleased, easily entertained, easily satisfied. not picky,stoppnit-picking...and just enjoy. it seems like life is so much better that way. the perfectionist in me is sliding and the lover of life is taking over.

national corduroy day!

that's right! 11/11...the date that most resembles corduroy!! so wear it proud!

the corduroyclub
blog on corduroy appreciation