Another Memorial Day Hike

We decided to try and start a tradition of going for an early morning hike on Memorial Day so that we'll beat the crowds. Well, we got the hike part down this year, but we didn't get out of the house until 7:30 (the same time we arrived at the trail head last year). It wasn't bad though. We were headed to a little more remote location this time around. It took a couple of hours to get up there, but it was well worth the extra effort. Lewis River Falls is a series of three waterfalls up-stream from where it flows into the first of three reservoirs. They're almost equidistant from each other, and each offers a unique experience. We'd never been here before. I've driven up and down the Lewis River since I was little, and never known that these falls were there! I was always headed to Mt. St. Helens or something. So here's what we saw:







First stop was only a hundred feet from the trail head. Lower Falls, made for an exciting start to what was to come. If you want some perspective as to how big these falls really are, look in the right hand part of the picture and you'll see an entire tree resting up against the falls themselves.










In between Lower and Middle Falls, we came across some smaller falls. They're easy to spot, the trail goes right over them!































Middle Falls is fast moving and shoots across the face of a large sheet of stone. I like these kind of water slide falls. Just the way the water scoots along the surface as though friction doesn't apply here.







The last of Lewis River Falls is, of course, Upper Falls. These are the highest of them all. You get the most angles and clearest view of these falls. We stopped for a bite to eat here.






Kirby wants some too!!





































The trail even takes you right up to the lip of the falls. The noise was as spectacular as the view!


























Well, as you can see, we're back online! I'm blogging for two people now (I'm sure some of you are asking, "He wasn't blogging for two before?"), so this is going to take some getting used to. Come join the Wallaces for more all new adventures!

A new beginning

Our wedding went off as perfectly as one could expect (Except that Justin had to run into town to get coffee for Andrea, and we forgot that we were supposed to use the candles, not the candle lighters to light the unity candle. But everything else went just fine ;). Everyone involved did a fabulous job. First thank you's go to Gene Takalo, because he took the pictures you see here. Please don't go copying them. I don't mind advertising for him here cause he did a great job! The pictures are fantastic, and we never even noticed him during the ceremony, even though he got some great shots of it. I highly recommend him.



Thank you to Terry for coordinating the whole thing to perfection. Thank you to Pat for marrying us and doing such an eloquent job. Thanks to Bruce, Susanna, Mary, and Gail, for doing a great job with the music. Jim Chase did a great job with the sound. We got lots of compliments about you all. We also got lots of compliments on the food. Always Perfect Catering did the food, and it was goooood. :P
Thank you Grace, Barbara, Susanna, Laura, Murray, Karen, Dawn, Jimmie and Jamie, and everyone who worked so hard to help set everything up and take everything down.











Thank you to our party of six who have been there for us down the line. Thanks Rob, Kim, Sean, Carol, Murray, and Sarah. You guys have been great friends and brothers and sisters!






Thank you to our parents for being so supportive through the whole thing. We can't even begin to start thanking you for making everything happen the way it did.































A special thanks to our friend Inger, without whom we never would have met, and all this never would have happened. Thanks Inger for not giving up no matter how much we protested!!

More Wedding Stuff

Wedding plans continue to come together with great efficiency. Since my last post, we've secured a photographer (Gene Takalo). We got the wedding cake from Beaverton Bakery. Andrea and her mom went to Troutdale to talk to a caterer who sounds like they can come in on budget. Invitations have arrived, and we will begin addressing them tomorrow. Yes, we will be taking them to the Bridal Veil Post Office.

We've officially registered at Bed, Bath & Beyond; REI; Kitchen Kaboodle. Lots of things on the lists, but many will give us a good start toward moving into a new place. Others are just for fun. You would not believe how hard it is to register (oh, it's not hard to get started, but the whole walking around trying to think of what we need, that really takes a lot of patience and stamina). Of course, those of you who've done it will understand.

Still don't have a place to live, and we still don't have mentors, but a good friend of mine from my High Ground table has taken the training, and has offered to mentor us if we don't get assigned to one this week (I'll probably ask him sooner though).

The Saturn is on the fritz. It's starting hard, but fortunately it still starts. I'm going to take it in tomorrow and have it looked at, and hopefully fixed.

Wedding Update Part I

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with all the wedding stuff. My computer is still broken (it won't even turn on). So far, we've gotten a ton of stuff accomplished. Just yesterday, Andrea and I went and bought our wedding bands. Andrea has her dress, and all her bridesmaids dresses. I have my groomsmen and best man (thanks Rob, Murray and Sean!) We have a location (Good Shepherd). We have an officiant (Pat Thurman. Thanks Pat!!). We have a 'florist'(she's going to help us make the floral arrangements such as corsages and boutiners, etc. We need about 12 volunteers. If you're interested, give me a call). We unofficially have a photogragher (Gene Takalo. We haven't seen his pictures, but we know he's good, so we'll probably go with him). We haven't registered at any place yet, but we're going to register at REI, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kitchen Kaboodle, Macy's (maybe for gift cards) and maybe Target. We're looking for a checklist of everything it takes to set up a household.

We've ordered invitations, and they should arrive this week. We probably have a place for our real honeymoon this summer (San Fransisco, thanks Mom and Dad!). We don't yet have a place for us to get away for the weekend of the wedding. If you have any suggestions let me know (we'd like to go to the coast, but the Bend area would be cool too). And we still have to find a place to live. Correction, I'M still looking for a place for us to live. I'm trying to be creative, because we'll need a place that will allow Kirby, and I'd like to find someplace that will accomodate her quilting machine (Andrea says I'm dreaming, but hey, I found the place I live now, I'm sure there's a place that's perfect for the both of us).

Oh, yeah. I managed to fix the problem with the last post, so you can actually see the pictures from our snowhoe/proposal trip.

So We Went for this Hike

So Monday, Andrea and I went snowshoeing. Of course there were other reasons we were going, but Andrea didn't know that. And I couldn't let her know until just the right moment. Only one problem: when would the right moment be? I'd never been to this trail before. So here was my challenge: Find a perfect spot at a perfect time, and keep the whole thing a secret until then. Then I had to get pictures afterward. Keeping my mouth shut wasn't a problem, but how do I hide the bulge of the ring box? How do I get someone to take our picture? hmmm...

I got to her house, and we loaded the car. I had the ring in my tightly zipped coat pocket (how tightly can one get a zipper anyway?). We were headed to Government Camp to hike the Crosstown Trail. We stopped along the way in Sandy to get some snacks and some cash. On the way up, I felt for the ring, and realized that it was bulging out in a rather obvious fashion. I tried to push it behind the arm rest, but soon discovered that I had only made it worse! I thought for sure the gig was up, but Andrea never said a word about it. When we got up there, the fun began.

It was a tremendous day for a hike. Clear sky and no wind, and mild temperatures made for the perfect day, so at least that detail was taken care of. It was soon clear that the weather was too warm to wear my coat. So where do I put the ring now? And how do I transfer it without her seeing? She never seemed to turn away from the car long enough for me to get it into a pocket, so I decided to leave without it. Just as we got to the trail head, I realized I needed to use the restroom (this was no lie, I was determined not to lie in order to accomplish this mission). This provided the perfect excuse to go back to the car and transfer the ring into my sweater pocket. It still bulged out a little bit, but it was sort of hidden under the straps of my snowboard pants.


We finally set off. I was still wondering where I was going to do this, so I just prayed as I went. I knew it needed to be in a place we could find again in the future, so I at least had an idea of what I was looking for. Soon, we crossed a stream over a snow-covered bridge. That seemed like a perfect spot. However, we were both a little hungry and I figured it was too early to pick a spot, so we continued on. We eventually hiked down into town, and had lunch at the Huckleberry Inn. That is my recommendation for THE place to eat in Government Camp. I had some halibut and chips, and Andrea had a stack of huckleberry pancakes. We shared each other's meals and a huckleberry milkshake. We both felt pretty tired, and Andrea had been suggesting that we just walk through town to get to the car. After the meal however, I was able to convince her that it would be a good thing to hike back the way we came so we could walk off the rather substantial meal we had just eaten (again, no lie. We needed to work that lunch off).

Heading back, I had pretty much decided to propose at that first bridge. It would be easy to remember if we ever wanted to return to that spot. So we finaly got there, and stopped to rest, and I got down on a knee and pulled out the ring. I had barely finished my prerehearsed line when Andrea said, "Yes," and hugged me, nearly knocking me over in the process!



Not a moment later, some cross-country skiers came upon us. We asked them to take our picture. One of them happened to be a photography teacher! They were very excited to be taking our first engagement photos, and wished us well. After they left, I took the picture you see in the previous post with Andrea's cell phone. Then I sent it to her family. I will never complain about that sort of technology again. It allowed us to share that moment with a lot of people very soon after the event.

We got home very tired. But the day wasn't over. We had people to call! So we called friends and relatives, and soon the wedding planning was in full swing. Within hours of our engagement, we were already tasked with setting a date, arranging a place, and compiling a guest list! I'm wondering if an elopement isn't out of the question.

The Answer

to the question...
























































...is yes.

All the Difference

I just switched my blog to the Beta format, and was exploring it, when I ran across this post that I had saved, but never published. This was yet another step in my spiritual journey which is still ongoing. It's a good reminder, so I thought I'd post it, so I'll be reminded. I started writing this just after the One Point Three retreat in May of this year. I was pretty confused and frustrated back then. I am less so now, and reading this post motivates me even more to press forward. My goal is to begin some type of school in January.

So the Saturday of the retreat, I went for this hike. It started out that I found an easy trail in a hiking book that would take me down to a remote beach. Well, I tried to find the access road, and couldn't seem to figure out where it was. So I ended up stopping in this small little parking lot just outside Lincoln City at Cascade Head. I started up the trail only to find that it was quite overgrown with salmon berry bushes. They were really thick in places, and I'm glad I had my hat on, or my hair would have been full of brambles. This was truly the road less traveled by. The trail was 3.5 miles to the very road I had been trying to find. It turns out, that the road is closed until July, so I wouldn't have found it anyway.

Why a hike on an unknown trail by myself? Well, about a month before I became a believer, I went on a similar walk through a large park in Tacoma. At the time, I was trying to firgure out how to approach this whole Christianity thing. I knew I wanted to approach it by focussing on why I would follow Christ for myself, and not just to make certain people happy. Then, I asked God to show me the path I should follow, and it ultimately lead to my accepting Jesus as Savior.

So this time, the hike was meant to be a time of again asking God what path I should follow. I've been listening to some tapes of Howard Hendricks and he says that one of the questions he asks any prospective leader is, "Where are you going?" And that person needs to be able to answer without hesitation. He needs to have a clearly defined goal or objective. That was my first question to myself, and to God, "Where am I going?" Do I want to remain in my current career? Do I want to continue to pursue going to school? Why? The career question has been the hardest to answer, because the implications are bigger than I want to admit. In the end though, I needed to answer the question once and for all, so I could stop sitting back on my heels and start running my race. "Man makes his plans, but the Lord determines his step." The Lord may determine my steps, but I still need to make plans before He can do that. So I've determined to pursue learning how to teach. I'd like to teach Bible. The main reason, is that I've found teaching people something that I naturaly fall into whenever the need arrises.
Primary Objective: Teaching

I'm thinking that that really ought to be my primary focus. Should God tell me to head in a different direction, then so be it. It's a lot easier to stear a car when the wheels are moving then when it's standing still. I just want to be heading in some sort of direction. I'm thinking that I'll take a speech class since I'm not a very good speaker. That, or a math class to get my math skills back up to college level. God knows. That's why I'm asking Him. ;)