I need more friends

Move over Facebook, the new, all-the-rage Web 2.0 site is Twitter.com. Abby and I are twitting http://twitter.com/theterps. It's my new favorite thing. I think Tim described it best when he twitted, "it's like blogging, but without the pressure to write an epic post." Essentially it's microblogging. It can easily be done from your phone too.

Can't wait to twit with you! If you're already a twitter, let me know.

I should warn you, it's a bit of a culture shock when you first start reading twitters. It's practically got it's own language. Don't be afraid to try it out.

Thankful for friends

The day after Christmas Abby and I got together with a bunch of friends to hang out and catch up. We started with brunch, did a white-elephant gift exchange, progressed to Starbucks, then on to Seattle for dinner, then we played Rockband, and finished the evening off with bowling. It was a lot of fun, and really great to see friends that we only see a couple times a year. We constantly thank God for the wonderful friends that He has blessed us with. They are truly amazing.


Brunch at Matt Metsker's new house. (Left to right: Taylor Swedberg, Tim Reeves, Brett Lumsden, me, Matt.)


Gift exchange at Matt's. (Left to right: Andy and Emily Hooper, Abby, Matt.)


At starbucks. (Left to right: Anne Marie Champoux, Jessica Rosenquist, Kara Pentz, Abby, Mindy Swedberg.)


Dinner in Seattle. (Left to right: Jessica, Tim, Anne Marie, Mindy.)


Dinner. (Left to right: Taylor, Peter Plantenberg, Abby, me.)


Rockband at Tim's. (Left to right: Brett, Taylor, Mindy, Tim, Jessica, Abby)


I've never bowled a better game than this. Look for the D on the left side of the screen and then follow across the right side for the score. I scored 192!!! I've never scored that high before. And I also bowled three strikes in a row (known as a Turkey) for the first time ever. It was crazy! Brett was so excited for me when I surpassed Tim with my score that he tackeled me in the middle of the bowling alley. And if you've never seen Tim bowl, you should know that he bowls like a professional. I can't believe I was only a few points away from breaking 200. Does anyone understand how to score points in bowling? If so, would I have broke 200 if I had thrown a strike instead of a 9 on my last throw?

Christmas with the Marions

This post is for Jenn Marion. For those of you who don't know her, she is Abby's older sister and is a missionary in Africa. She made the tough choice to not travel home for Christmas. I do believe this was the first time ever too. Christmas just wasn't the same this year without her.

Jenn, I made sure to take lots of pictures for you, that way you could experience Christmas with the fam, even though you weren't here. Hope you enjoy these.



Video of 'Oh bring us some figgy pudding'

The snow-cano erupts

The snow-cano finally erupted today. Would you believe that there were little tiny elves that spewed out? Fine, there weren't elves in there. Instead it erupted into a sledding mecca.



This video was shot while it was still semi-light out. Abby and I worked on it until we had the sled running all the way out into the street. It was quite the ride. By that time though it was dark and we couldn't video anymore. You'll just have to take my word for it, or come over and take a ride.

I invited the three-year old neighbor to come sled with us. After a few rides down the snow-cano, he decided that it was more fun to pretend to shovel the driveway with the over-sized snow shovel than risk running into the thorny rose bush with the sled. Can't blame him; the rose bush is bigger than him.

Here's Abby gearing up for a ride.


I put wood steps into the side of the snow-cano because the snow was so dry that it wouldn't pack.


Ready, set, go!


Look at that face. What an exhilarating ride.


I only shoveled the driveway four or five times to build this humdinger. It took a little work, but it was well worth it.

5-6 inches of more snow

I thought you might like to see the view from our bedroom window this morning. We got dumped on again last night. We easily got 5 to 6 inches of more snow. That's on top of what we already had. My snow-cano is growing on it's own.

The weather channel says we're supposed to get several more inches today and tonight. Plus the five-day outlook shows snow every day, right through Christmas, for Bellingham.

Bring on the storm, we're ready

We're super thankful that we're done with our Christmas shopping. We've been done for a quite a while now. It's a good thing too; we've had snow for a week now and more is supposed to come tonight. The weather and road conditions are going to make it tough for all those last minute shoppers to finish up.

So far the only wrinkle that the snow has put in our plans is that it is preventing us from going to a Christmas party in Tacoma tonight. We're bummed about it. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Snowman with a boof of hair

In my spare time at work, I built a snowman in front of the office.





Burlington got 1.5 times more snow than Bellingham did. There is probably more than a foot of snow at the office. Crazy. And more snow is in the forecast for Sunday.

Dancin' elves

I thought this video was hilarious. Our friend made it and sent it to us. Click on any of the pictures to watch it. The pictures are a taste of what you're about to see. Enjoy and Merry Christmas.

Built a snow-cano

Last night Abby and I shoveled the driveway and piled it in one spot. Then I shoveled the driveway again this morning. The result is what I'm calling a snow-cano. The three-year old neighbor boy loved it when he saw it last night. It's nearly 6 feet tall and twice as big as he is. This should ensure that we have snow for Christmas.

Getting hammered with snow

We've had snow at our house since Saturday. Then yesterday we got absolutely pummeled with snow. It snowed all day. By the time we went outside to play in it last night, we had 6-plus inches on the ground. It snowed through the night and is still snowing this morning. I'm "working" from home today. It's not worth risking an accident on the drive to work.

These are pictures from last night, when we went and played in the snow.







These are pictures from this morning of my shed and backyard, so you can see how much snow we've got.





It's supposed to stay cold and we may even get hit with another snow storm on Sunday. Christmas is a week away, but we could potentially have a white Christmas. Yippee!

Commuting to work in the snow

I can't complain about my commute to work when it looks like this.



It's amazing what a little snow will do to the trees. Aren't they spectacular looking?

Superfeet Christmas party

We are very fortunate that Abby has such a wonderful company to work for. Superfeet treats their employees amazingly well and they have a funtastic Christmas party every year. This year we triple-dated it to the party with our awesome friends Corey and Holly Bedient and Tim Reeves and Jessica Rosenquist (less formally known as the Reev-enquists).

Each year they raffle off items and donate the money to charity. The big prize is a dozen live lobster flown in fresh from the east coast at your request. We've won that prize before, but not this year. Instead we won a one-night stay at the Friday Harbor House in the San Juan Islands. How cool is that?! Abby was pretty excited.

Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Doesn't Abby look gorgeous? It is so fun going to parties with her at my side.




Corey and Holly Bedient


Tim and Jessica - MFEO

First snow of the season

It finally snowed! YAY!


Currently its 26 degrees outside, but with the wind it feels much colder!


We have about 2-3 inches on the ground.

Happy 97th Birthday

This last weekend Abby and I drove down to Tacoma to celebrate my Grandfather's 97th birthday with my family. 97!!! He was born Dec. 6, 1911; nearly 100 years ago. Think of all the things that he's witnessed and survived over the last century.

Probably the most remarkable thing about my Grandfather is the fact that he is 97 and still incredibly self-sufficient. Despite recently moving in with my parents, he's still quite capable. The man worked until age 95. I wouldn't be surprised if he lives past 100.


(Left to right: Abby, me, Grandpa, Dad, my sister Chandra)


(Me and Grandpa)


(I bet he's seen a few of these in his 97 years)




(My sister and her husband Garrett)

Seahawks game

We went to the Seahawks game today. They lost AGAIN! Enough said.

Drum roll please... lighting of the Christmas tree

I give you the 2008 Terpening-wald family Christmas tree.

Tree in the stand; no lights. All 17 feet of it.


Tadaaa, it's lit.


I had to borrow the neighbors super-extended ladder to wrap the lights around the top.


Do you believe in magic?


Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.


You're probably asking yourself, "Why aren't there any ornaments on the tree?". It's because the branches are so flimsy that they barely support the strands of lights. Now you know.

What you can't see in the pictures is the rope that I have tied to the tree and wall to keep the tree from tipping over. Six-foot tree stands aren't exactly designed for 17-foot tall trees. : )

I'd love to see pictures of everyone elses Christmas trees. Please share.