Thankfuls 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

The tradition continues:

1. Emmanuel - God with us!
2. Ian - my best friend, protector, and provider
3. Family - we have been blessed with some awesome people in our families
4. Contentedness
5. workout friends
6. Colorado friends
7. college friends
8. Korea friends
9. friends that do not fit into any of the above but are still kindred spirits
10. Babies - James, Elijah, Miriam, Emersyn, Haddie, Raegan, Solomon, Ambrose,Hannah, Nehemiah, and I am sure I am forgetting some - each time I get on Facebook, I am greeted by some CUTIES - thankful for the miracle of new life and seeing friends become mamas and daddies.
11. Reliable cars that start when it is 5 below
12. A light at the end of the seminary tunnel
13. seeing Ian learn and transform throughout the Seminary Experience
14. amazing mentors!
15. CHRISTMAS MUSIC - don't ask Ian when I started listening to Christmas music this year...how can one genre of music bring so much joy!?!?!
16. Turkey, cranberry, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower casserole, fruit salad, green beans, carrots, beer bread, and pumpkin pie
17. American grocery stores to buy all above items/ingredient for items
18. American sized oven to prepare food from #16/ food we make daily in our huge oven
19. American washer and dryer
20. Skype 
21. social media
22. Christmas Wreaths
23. Hummus and Pita Chips
24. Moscato, Chardonnay, and Sam Adams
25. Friday nights (the best night of the week!)
26. sticking to our budget
27. Paper Snowflakes
28. Teaching Math - changing the world
29. Getting paid to teach math
30. Getting paid extra to cover classes
31. Health Insurance
32. Amy Grant's A Christmas Album and Michael W. Smith's Christmastime
33. Days off
34. Gorgeous sunsets
35. Half and half
36. Black gold a.k.a coffee
37. God's faithfulness
38. Ian's patience in watching ridiculously cheesy movies with me
39. Gracie and Lauren - they have changed my life and perspective many times
40. those who serve (and have served) in our military
41. Dual Control Electric Blanket
42. 1636 days of wedded bliss
43. GPS watches
44. warm running clothes for the winter
45. God has taken really good care of us
46. planning meetings
47. Costco
48. Email
49. Texting
50. the Bible app
51. those who are veterans of teaching Algebra IA and have empathy
52. sex
53. people who are crazy generous to us
54. cozy slippers
55. The Bible
56. fireplaces 
57. my students - they challenge me daily 
58. math teacher blogs
59. hot chocolate
60. the Biggest Loser
61. Space Heaters
62. pedicures
63. safety
64. Ian's ability to make me laugh nearly regardless of the situation
65. world vision/compassion international/other similar organizations
66. Eggs and Bacon - my daily breakfast
67. my husband waking up at 5:30 with me to show solidarity and making me breakfast
68. running 
69. lifting
70. push-ups
71. the ability to do chin-ups and pull-ups
72. planks
73. feeling strong and accomplishing the impossible in the gym
74. blue Colorado sky
75. cliff bars a.k.a the best on-the-go lunch
76. bananas, blackberries, apples, oranges, grapefruits, peaches, raspberries, plums, pears... I love fruit!
77. Korean children - the cutest children ever - I can't take the level of cuteness that Korean babies and small children present - I go crazy
78. In America crazy means crazy and not an insult
79. the Holy Spirit
80. good health
81. God's grace
82. knowing that the only difference between an ordeal and an adventure is my attitude
83. going on adventures with Ian
84. God's sovereignity
85. grapefruit seed extract
86. warm coats
87. rocking chairs
88. coupons
89. almond butter
90. library
91. Ian's servantheartedness
92. Cards for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving
93. 24 hour fitness - the choice of being a wimp and running on the dreadmill or braving the crazy Colorado weather
94. summer break
95. camping
96. double hammock
97. finding Korean ginger-honey sore throat tea in America
98. crockpot
99. God's compassion
100. Grandpa and Kathryn!

Quote

From Book of Common Prayer
Make their life together a sign of Christ's love to this sinful and broken world, that unity may overcome estrangement, forgiveness heal guilt, and joy conquer despair.

Grand Canyon

Ian and I wanted to recap our fun adventure to the Grand Canyon.  Here are our favorite memories from our relaxing vacation. (If you would like to see the 2:30 video, scroll to the bottom)

Day #1 - Traveling

• Packed the car and started towards Durango - the halfway point where we would camp for the night.
• Stopped in Saguache, Colorado for lunch - Ian will tell you that I talked about my turkey and swiss sandwich from Saguache 4th Street Diner all week.  Best bread I have ever eaten in my life (it was homemade and amazing!)
• Got to Durango in time to find a pub to watch the USA vs. Portgual game - the US fought well and it was fun to watch in a pub that was packed!
• Camped at the KOA in Durango - it was a great experience - super clean bathrooms, friendly staff, and nice campsites.
• Excited to have campfire that night.  The rest of our trip we were unable to have a nightly campfire due to dry conditions in the Grand Canyon (bummer!).

Scenic View on the Drive and our Campsite

Day #2 - Arriving

• Stopped at the 4 Corners on our way through
• Grateful to arrive safely at the Grand Canyon after hours of driving in Arizona.  Craziest drivers that I have ever experienced in my life in America

Warning: You will see my feet a lot in pictures of this trip

Day #3 - Exploring

• We made a goal of covering the entire 13 mile South Rim Trail during our time at the Grand Canyon.  On day 3 we ran 3 miles of the eastern side of it.  So fun to see different angles of the Canyon.
• We went for a 3 mile walk that evening through the campground and surrounding area.  We happened on elk several different times and got to see some baby elk (google told me that baby elk are also known as calves).  

We ended up seeing elk A LOT - don't worry Mommabomma, we kept our distance and used the zoom :)

Day #4 - Relaxing

• We had pancakes for breakfast!  So grateful for our Coleman 2 burner stove - we love to cook over gas.  Ian was awesome and made the pancakes and coffee while I went for a 5 mile run
• Spent a good amount of our day reading and relaxing in our hammock
• Watched the sunset over the Grand Canyon - so beautiful and breath-taking

Day #5 - Surprising

• Greeted the morning by running 3 more miles of the South Rim Trail.
• Completed the mundane task of laundry - as I was going to put our clean clothes in the tent, I screamed and jumped on the picnic table - there was something in our tent! It ended up being a squirrel. (#anticlimatic) We don't know how he got in, why he would have wanted to get in (we keep all food and scented items in the car), but glad he got out on his own (after my scream).  From that point on, I made Ian check the tent first
• Hiked part of the way down into the Canyon to OohAhh Point (and sang camp songs including the word OhAh).  Saw a ridiculously long snake.  The Canyon is so gorgeous from within.
• Attended the Grand Canyon Star Party - how fun!  Amateur astronomers bring their telescopes and set up in a designated parking lot and let you look through their telescopes.  We got to see so many cool things in the night sky - Saturn, Polaris, a double star, (it looks like one star to the naked eye, but is actually two stars) Mars, nebulae, and other interesting things that I did not quite understand what I was looking at

Hiking!

Day #6 - Hiking

• We hiked 5 miles of the western side of the Rim Trail - we saw mule deer, lizards, and a bajillon ravens.  Two surprisings things - 1.) there are times that you can not see the Grand Canyon at all - you are just hiking through desert forest.  The Canyon is nearby, just not visible and 2.) There are places were the unpaved rim trail gets really, really close to the edge of the Canyon
• We attended the Star Party again - the night before it was chilly, so we did not make it all they way around (sidenote: it would get into the mid to high 80s during the day and then drop into the upper 30s/low 40s at night - thanks to being at 7000 ft above sea water - I love high desert summers)

Day #7 - Flagstaff

• Ventured into Flagstaff to go on a date and ended up at Chiptole (it was what I was craving at the moment) 
• Organized and partially packed the car
• Hiked the last section of the Rim Trail while watching the sunset.  Saw someone get proposed to:)

My feet on the way back from Flagstaff

Day #8 - Homeward Bound

• Woke up before the sun, finished packing, and started on our 11.5 hour drive.  We got a PR while driving home - we drove from Tuba City, AZ to South Fork, CO without stopping - that is 5 hours and 45 minutes - wootwoot!

And now presenting: The Grand Canyon 2014 Video - all the good footage is Ian's and all the woobly, fast, weird footage was taken by yours truly:

Here is the link in case the video is weird

Perspective Changes

Hello friends, it has a been awhile.

I love this blog and the ability to record life so I can look back and remember the adventure we have been on.  This past year has been quite the adventure, but I have not chosen to take time to record it here.  I have spent my time writing lesson plans, grading papers, and trying to stay in shape.

Summer has been such a relief!  I love sleeping past 5am, sipping morning coffee with my love, and running at whatever time I want.  We recently camped at the Grand Canyon for a week (post to come).  A truth that has poking at me for the last few months convinced me of its reality this past week.

Perspective can change your attitude.

The guidebooks and websites I read before visiting the Grand Canyon claimed that the South Rim (where we were camping) was thronged with visitors and it was challenging to enjoy the majesty and beauty of the Canyon with so many.

We arrived and I laughed.  I highly doubt that the people who wrote these statements have ever tried to board a public bus in Korea half an hour before school starts.  If they had, they would have not used the word crowded. Yes, there are people looking at the Grand Canyon and trying to get pictures at the main visitor center.  But crowded?  I think it depends on your perspective.

This past winter, I had coworkers commenting nearly daily about the temperature of their classrooms.  I came home and told Ian about teachers complaining about being cold.  We remembered wearing multiple layers, mittens, and hats inside for the winter.  The pipes froze in the bathroom.  I did not feel the need to share with my coworkers that they did not know what cold is - but it reminded me again how perspective can change my attitude.

I was able to be thankful for functioning bathrooms with unfrozen pipes and classrooms that were warm enough to take my coat off in.

I was able to be thankful at the Grand Canyon that Ian and I only had to hike a few minutes from the "crowded" areas to have the Canyon to ourselves and enjoy grandeur in silence.

I am sure someday I will look back and think that I knew very little about perspective at 26.  I will probably look back and wonder how I could ever consider life to be "busy" or "stressful" when we have no kids, no house, and money in the bank.  I will ponder how I could ever be "tired" when I sleep every night without be woken by a little one.  Yet, I don't necessarily think I have to wait for my circumstances to change for my perspective to adjust.

I can choose joy today.  I can choose to see blessings in this season of life.  I can ask myself, "In 5 years will it matter that ____________ ?"  

Perspective can change your attitude.