Few Campin' Pictures!

For our 5th Anniversary, Tobin and I decided to go camping. We've also been trying to go camping with the DeBackers, so we did it all in one weekend! We decided to head south for some sure sun and warm weather! And we found it!!! Camped at Squaw Lake, near Applegate Lake. It was somewhat secluded, and nice camping...not quick car camping as we had to pack all our stuff about 1/4 mile, but was very fun and more quite than other campgrounds or lakes!

There were several rope swings!

I don't think I've ever gone off a rope swing into a lake before....I know pathetic, but now I have and loved it!

One...

Two..

Three!

Porter's Fish...well Uncle T caught it, but Tobin was quite the fisherman as well, catching about 5 fish the evening before...nothing to eat but still better than his Aunt Christy!

Off for a Bike Ride! First Ride!

Maryanne out in the Kayak!

Tobin swimmin' in the lake!

We saw turtles!

Love the warm weather and sun!

Lilypads!

Camping Princess!

Taking Porter out swimming.

And Tobin going off the rope swing!

CLIMB!

We were blessed this past week to enjoy two of the same days off together, and in the middle of the week! So we decided to take advantage of that and go outdoors! Two other girls that work with Tobin as fellows at school were able to join, so we went off together to Joshua Tree. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We arrived mid morning on Wednesday, set up camp where there also happened to be a great area to set up a climb. I don't think I've ever had it so good climbing. Drive in, set up camp, climb, stop, tear down, eat dinner, sleep, then repeat (if you want) ;) Here's the photos of our adventure:

A Small Joshua Tree, crazy things they are! A cross between a cactus and a palm tree

Our Fearless first climber...Nici (this was her first climb ever).

She did great...with a bit of coaching and cheering!

Then Sara, who did an excellent job as well!

Tobin...if you look close he's wearing his new "fivefingers" on his right foot.

He loves them! Nearly went to church in them today!

Here I am at the top of a great climb!

Dinner was a bit of an adventure. Our camping stove decided to go on the fritz. But since my husband has amazing Macgyver Skills, dinner was hot, hot, hot! So we enjoyed good Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup with Garlic Bread! YUMMMMM!!

Here we are cleaning up the mess, over our well crafted sump hole,

utilizing our water preservation skills. With our trusty head lamps!

Now you can see the action!

Then...not to be missed a good game of cards! Hand and Foot!

Sara and I gave Tobin and Nici a run for their money, but in the end, I had to

let Tobin's team win so I'd be allowed to sleep in our tent.

The next day we enjoyed some more climbing! In a new spot.

This time Tobin led trad (using all the cool cams, tri-cams, nuts, etc), rather than being top-roped. And we did a two pitch climb to get to the top of the rock you see behind us in the following photo. It was a great climb, beautiful at the top, but the down climb on the back side was a bit interesting. But thanks to my amazing husband he found a safe way for both of us to get down!

The Geared-up Rummels!

Great Week in the NW

Here's a few more photos to recap the week in the NW. It was wonderful. I got to see Tobin again, after spending 2 1/2 months apart! I spent time with family, and got to reunite with some friends. Cori Campbell, Maggie Holmes (friends from Fox), and I got together for coffee (I unfortunately forgot to take a photo). But it was fun to catch up and hear about Maggie's adventures in India! And see Cori's pregnant belly! Andrea Neufeldt (a good friend from high school) got together for shopping (we each got wedding presents for different weddings) and coffee. She is moving to Oklahoma, so it was nice to see her before she left!

Andrea and I!

Then we had Bean's wedding festivities. Tobin and I got to the rehearsal over an hour early...communicate glitch, but ok, we hung out in the car. You can see Tobin is thrilled....he did this on purpose because I told him to smile. Punk... =)

The groomsmen at rehearsal.

and the bridesmaids....all pretty much had associations with George Fox

Bean and Alyssa (Bean-to-be)

The wedding reception site...beautiful!

Alyssa and her girls (friends on the right of Alyssa and sisters on her left)

I dressed exactly like the Mother of the groom for rehearsal!

I guess great minds think alike. We even had black heels on too!

With my hubby!

Then we had a mini Barclay house reunion (where I lived senior year at Fox).

We sadly were missing two (Kaycee and Corrine)

But it was fun to get a few of us together.

Pictured L-R: Vickie Shaver (just moved from Pennsylvania to Oregon)

Christina Cournia (working as an RN and doing Hood to Coast in a couple weeks!)

Melissa Nigro (married, has one daughter Addison who is just over 1 year old)

Me (yeah you know what I'm up to)

Anyways, I think I captured most of the week. It was a fun and full week seeing friends and family (you can see them in another post).

Nashvegas Reunion!

Nashville welcomed me with...well, no bags at first. Well, I guess it wasn't Nashville's fault, it was actually Pittsburgh's airport that didn't want me to leave. I arrived at 5:50 am on a Monday for a flight that left at 7:05am. No big deal, right? Just check my bag in (I had already printed out my ticket). But nope, I entered the airport to see 100s (literally) of people lined up waiting at the Northwest Airlines/Delta counter. All I heard an attendant say was the bag belts were down. I found out in Nashville once I arrived that there was a FIRE on the bag belts!! Anyways, I arrived and didn't have the one bag I had checked, but thankfully Meg and I were about the same shirt size so she let me borrow something for the first day I was at the conference.

Another great addition to my vacation was Shannon (my sister-in-law) calls me and tells me that to drive from Atlanta to Nashville isn't that big of a deal, and she'd love to come see me. So Shannon and her friend Sara came to visit! It was fun meeting up and having lunch together my first day in Nashville.

This is inside the Opryland Hotel. Beautiful huh? No not the landscape the hot babes in the photo! =)

Old Sharondale Apartment reunion. Amy and Meg...such great friends during nursing school.

It was so fun to even spend a short time catching up.

It was like there had been no gap of 2 years time!

What's Nashville without Country! I got these cowboy hats at the conference from a little contest we did. I had to get an extra one for Meg, because I knew she'd love it.

I need to photoshop Tobin into this photo because I really felt like a 5th/6th wheel (if you count baby Isaac).

Tonight was the night that Luke (on the far right) who has never met Tobin make an astute and funny comment. He said, "Tobin is like Jesus, I've seen picture of him, but I just have to believe he exists." Hopefully next time my husband can actually accompany me!

Here I am relaxing at the Shifrin's, where I stayed for a couple days.

This is one of their dogs Parker and he was so cute. I only got a photo of Argus in the video (below)

but he was cute too. He loved having me pet him, but before I knew it I had this huge Golden Retriever basically on my lap and I couldn't do anything about it!

I should have taken more photos. Michelle and I had a wonderful visit, had fun taking a walk together with Isaac (in the 90 degree 90% humidity weather)! Such good friendship and such good fellowship. I also went back to Grace Community Church the church I had attended while living in Nashville. Wow! Can I just say that I was blessed. That Sunday the sermon was on Hebrews 12:1-2 :

" Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

I feel like I'm in this marathon race right now with work, Tobin being gone, the future, etc, etc. And all I need to do is FIX my eyes on JESUS! That sermon with the worship, I was so blessed and encouraged. We also sang one of my favorite worship songs (that I never seem to sing anywhere else). Here's the first verse:

In Christ Alone, my hope is founds;

He is my light, my strength, my song,

This Cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.

My Comforter, my All in all.

Here in the love of Christ, I stand.

May this be my LIFE-SONG!

Pittsburgh with the Shavers!!!

It was so fun because I got to add an extra part on to the trip and visit some good friends from Fox - Vickie and Grady Shaver. Grady just graduated from dental school and Vickie just got her masters. So they were in the process of finishing up their house, to get it ready to sell, so they can move across the United States back to Oregon! I should have taken more photos, but was having too much fun to do so! We just hung out a BBQ'd the first night, then the next morning Vickie and I went for this long walk in a huge park that's right inside Pittsburgh!! It was wonderful to enjoy fresh air and catch up with a very good friend. Then we came home to Grady tearing apart the bathroom, which basically took more than a day so Vickie and I were having fun using the neighbors bathroom, going in Home Depot, and down to the grocery store. Like any project in an old house, you start tearing down and you realize that the transition to new stuff is going to be more difficult than you anticipated. Vickie and Grady have done an amazing job though on a house that was built in the early 1900s!

Vickie and I actually at the Pittsburgh airport right before I left. I had to get at least one photo together!

We look a bit tired, and rightfully so, we stayed up late visiting, watching movies, and playing Guitar Hero...

First time I'd played that game and really enjoyed it!

So Grady is brilliant! He purchased this amazing car so that the two of them will be able to ride in style on their vacation/move back to Oregon! I have always been drawn to Porsche Boxster. I'd get a red one though if I had a choice. Anyways, it was SOOOO fun to ride in and I think it fits me well. ;)

Here I am in the Porsche and Vickie and Grady's house you can see directly in the background. They have a beautiful nice backyard too. If you're looking to move to the east coast this house is For Sale! It is a great house located in a nice part of Pittsburgh. You don't even feel like you are in the city at their house! (My little selling plug for my friends....I do what I can to help out!)

Then I was off to Nashvegas Baby!

Nanny Aunt Christy

So these photos are in reverse order, but I don't feel like changing them now...and it really doesn't matter anyways.  But these are photos from my week with the Kirkseys, mainly Campbell.  It was lots of fun to take care of her while Sarah was at class.  And then Sarah and I had some time together in the evenings to chat and just catch up on our lives and have best friend time.  The Kirkseys are moving the Houghton, NY, so Jeff was gone all week working at his new job.  He came down over the weekend, so it was great to see him as well.  Lots of fun in Beaver Falls, PA.  I got to go running, take Campbell on lots of walks, visit the local and only coffee shop, hang with residence life staff (I felt like I should be back in my own RA shoes again).  It was lots of fun!

So here's some photos of some of the things we did!

My best friend Sarah and I

Having fun with Campbell

You'll always get smiles from me when ice cream is in the picture.

Campbell's first taste of ice cream!  She loved it!

Enjoying a smoothie...yummm!!!

It was fun to use the Baby Bjorn and crazy that Campbell still fits it at 10 1/2 months. 

On one of our walks...it was fun to take a long walk while Campbell took her afternoon nap.

Aunt Christy and Campbell...lots of fun and trouble with two redheads!

Our trip to Walmart, where Campbell makes everyone happy.

Here she was excited to check out if this watermelon was a good one.

She made an excellent selection!

So that's it.  So much fun to be a special Aunt for a week, spend time with one of my best friends, and see a new part of the country!!!!  Makes me want to do it all again, very soon!