Third Time Is A Charm!

Three years ago something truly significant took place in my life. It was a beautiful blessing. It was a day like none other, filled with anticipation, pure joy, laughter, creativity, the gift of friendship, the deep connection and support of family, and the overwhelming love and devotion of the man that on that day became my husband. December 27, 2006 was the day I was joined in marriage with Michael Gregory, my beloved best friend.

Since that day I have had the unspeakable joy of living life as a married woman. I never would have imagined how much fun it would be to grow into an adult with someone you love so much at your side. It brings such peace to know that Michael loves me tremendously, wants to see me happy, and has worked so hard to become the man he is today. Marriage is a joyful journey, full of shortcomings that you can work on together through the love of God. It's hard work, yes, but it's definitely worth every bit of effort.

Since our anniversary is so close to Christmas, Michael and I have basically come to the understanding that we will most likely be with family every year to celebrate. I can honestly say that we are both quite alright with the notion. After all, don't people say that it's not just your spouse that you marry? It's the whole family! It's a good thing we love our families so much.

December 27 of this year marked our third wedding anniversary. To celebrate, Michael and I packed ourselves in the back seat of my parents' car with Jared and Jodi and we all drove to San Fransisco for the day. Our first stop: Home

Home was a quiet little restaurant that we decided to eat breakfast at. Someone special to me must have dropped a line to our server that it was our anniversary because with our meal came an extra platter piled high with some delicious looking french toast and "Happy Anniversary" written in decorative chocolate on the plate. How fun! I love Michael so much!

Next on the list of the day was the California Academy of Sciences. The museum covered a wealth of subjects from tropical fish and African animals to stars and a garden of thousands upon thousands of native CA plants growing on the roof. Though we had to battle the holiday crowds there, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the variety of natural wonder with my family.



Since Jodi had never seen the San Fransisco sights, we made sure to get across town a ways to visit Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square, and eventually the Golden Gate Bridge. I don't have much to say about all that so I will let Jared's stunning photography do the talking.

We ended our day in San Fransisco by going out for dinner at a restaurant I have been wanting to visit ever since I heard of it. If you enjoy eating garlic as much as we do then you need to go there too. It's called the Stinking Rose and it is pure delight for the savor-loving taste buds! Everything they serve has very generous amounts of garlic in it. And I do mean everything. From the dipping oil for your bread at the beginning all the way to garlic ice cream at the end, it's all garlic and it's all wonderfully tasty!


Though our breath was packed with garlic, Michael and I still enjoyed a peaceful, snuggly night up in a tree house on his Grandpa's property that night. The weather was perfect for a night out and after a beautiful night of rest we were greeted the next morning with the gleeful gobble of wild turkeys. It's so much fun to wake up with a smile on your face and laughter in your heart.

I can't get over how many things I have to be thankful for. I am deeply in love with Michael and am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with my sweet husband.

R & R

For me as a Seventh-Day Adventist Christian the Sabbath is my day of rest. That doesn't imply that I should sleep all day (though I do quite enjoy sleeping in on Saturdays). Rather it means more that I take a break from the things that bring stress to my typical work week and focus on the goodness of our loving God. To me this means taking time to fellowship with my family and friends in a wholesome and uplifting way, to spend time in nature, and to dwell with the Lord the best I know how through thought and worship.

This past Saturday announced the close of Christmas day. It was actually really neat having a day of rest after that day of joyous holiday ruckus. I was immensely blessed in church through the loving attention of a very sweet and energetic little boy who wanted to play with me the whole time. I must confess I might not have been the most attentive to the sermon that was being preached, but somehow the joy of a child is it's own precious message from God that always leaves me feeling blessed.

That afternoon we filled our bellies with tasty goodness and then took a short jaunt over to Elmshaven, the former home of Adventist author Ellen White. Being just a few houses away, it only took about five minutes to meander over and take a quick look. We didn't bother taking the tour because we also wanted to take Jared and Jodi up to see Pacific Union College.

We made it up to PUC in plenty of time to drive around campus and see what the place
was made of. And since we still had a bit of daylight left after that we pulled off the road on our way out of the quiet town of Angwin to hike to a gorgeous place called Linda Falls. I am so proud of my parents for being such adventurous people. It was really fun having them along!

We hiked along a gentle path and then dropped down a steep, slippery trail that lead us down, down, down to the rocky banks of the cascading river. Once to the water, we spent time playing, exploring, and enjoying our surroundings to the fullest!



Saturday night was spent in happy commotion as Michael's family joined mine at his Grandparent's house for game night. Though we only squeezed in a couple games, most of the time was spent talking. Isn't that the way it should be? I loved it! We all shared a variety of stories and memories as the hours flew by. Before we knew it the late, late night was upon us. We were reluctant to say goodnight, but finally succumbed to the need for sleep before the rush of another busy day.

The More The Merrier

Burton Hillis once suggested that "the best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." I would tend to agree with all my heart. That's why the decision to drive down to California for the holiday was incredibly easy to make. Not only would we get to enjoy the warmth and fellowship of Michael's whole family during our stay in the Napa Valley, but we would have the added blessing of visiting with my family as well.

Jared and Jodi tagged along with my parents as they all braved the holiday traffic and drove up from Redlands to be with us. I can't tell you how happy I was to have them there. I only wish we could have had Cedric there as well. Don't worry, now he owes me a personal trip, and soon!

The ten hours it took us to reach St. Helena breezed by as well as ten hours can. I was grateful to have wonderful company, amazing scenery, and delightful weather to help the time pass a bit faster. It was unfortunate that we had to wait until Christmas Eve to travel, but the traffic was extraordinarily light, so perhaps it was a blessing after all. Before we knew it we were in the warm embrace of family, all preparing ourselves for a beautiful Christmas day.

I know I already used a quote, but I can't help repeating Carrie Latet when she describes her holiday induced insomnia. She says this: "Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve. Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age."
I found myself in this same kind of predicament as I excitedly awaited Christmas morning. It was a long night, but I was finally rewarded with the dawning of the new day.

Christmas morning has always held an indescribable magic for me. There is a certain joy that only comes from the simplistic thrill of opening your stocking full of goodies first thing in the morning. Even thought we didn't have stocking in the traditional sense of the word, I loved every minute of it!

From start to finish, Christmas day was spent in the loving company of family. I can't think of a way I would rather spend it. The presents we opened were awfully fun, but the pure joy of the chatter and laughter of family were what made the day wonderfully unforgettable.






I will have to wait another whole year before I get to celebrate Christmas again. But thanks to the joy and love I experienced this year perhaps the wait will not seem so long in coming. Love is one of those amazing parts of living that can fill you up and spill over into an abundance of fulfilling joy. It gives life purpose. It drives people forward. It is the most beautiful motivator! I'm so glad that there is no question as to how much our families care for us. It is evident every day. What a blessing to have family and to share in that kind of love!

Beasts, Lights, and Friends

This afternoon we decided it would be fun to jaunt over to the zoo to check out the critters and a special Christmas time display they do called zoolights. We were to make a a double date, taking Ed and Erin along with us. Unfortunately, Ed wasn't feeling up to doing much of anything due to a rather uncomfortable ailment that attacked him yesterday and lingered. Though she would be leaving her love behind for a while, Erin still wanted to come.

We piled into the car and explored the major highways a bit as we searched for the zoo. We found it in soon enough and had plenty of daylight left to poke around and see the animals before the sun set.

As we stepped foot into the zoo, we were warned from the start that most of the African animals would be in hiding from the bitter cold. Who could blame them? It was in the 20's after all! Nonetheless, we bundled ourselves up like awkwardly packaged gifts, and lumbered happily all over that zoo.

The Oregon Zoo is one of the smaller zoos I've been to. However, the variety of animals they house is fairly impressive. I never tire of viewing exotic animals from around the world as well as admiring the creatures we can find around here.


The weather got increasingly cold as the evening fell upon us. Though I was wearing thermals, snow pants, gloves, toque, sweatshirt, and an incredibly delightful puffy down jacket, I was still quite cold. It didn't stop me from enjoying my surroundings, but it did have me empathizing with all the animals that perhaps are not so use to this kind of weather. I was astonished to see three beautiful lions sitting out in the open. I was struck by the fact that I could see the steamy breath of one lioness as she let out a sleepy yawn. It didn't seem right to have them living through a northwest winter. Somehow they didn't seem to mind too much though. And we were certainly able to see the beauty that the cold brought as we beheld scene after scene of frozen water. We were impressed by the glory of the frozen columns that formed under little waterfalls here and there. Yes, you can be happy even when cold.

The zoolights were super fun. Of course my blurry pictures aren't that great, but you'll just have to take my word for it. There were lights in the shapes of animals all over the whole zoo, some seemingly alive with movement. Trees were alight, fences glowed, sidewalks were illuminated.... The feeling of festivity took over as the sun slipped completely out of sight, leaving us to bask in the glow of Christmas celebration.

The Holly And The Ivy

This past Saturday, in addition to a pleasant church service and a filling potluck lunch, I got to enjoy a couple other little things in my day. The first was a much needed walk in the woods with some of my favorite people.

Michael and I joined Erin and Ed for a short hike up Mt. Talbert, the largest undeveloped butte in northern Clackamas County. The "mountain" was beautifully forested with an interesting variety of white oak and fir trees. The ground was carpeted in ferns. We were never at a loss for beauty, and coupled with good conversation it was a pretty neat way to spend the afternoon.


Though we really weren't that far from the busy streets of the city, I still felt a sense of calm solitude. Something about nature does that. It's pretty amazing!

All that peace and calm changed as we later drove over to a little place called Rose Bowl (bowling alley) for my staff Christmas party. There we enjoyed a couple rounds of bowling, pizza, root beer, free prizes, and more! It was fun, even if I am really bad at bowling!