Abby's sister comes for a visit

We've had the privilege of having Abby's older sister, Jenn, stay with us this week. She's been here a week and will be here at least a couple more days. It's a lot of fun having her around, especially because she's been serving God in Africa for the last three years. It's fun to hear her stories and see her pictures.

We took her out for sushi earlier this week.

Excited to announce newest member of our family

Please join Abby and I in welcoming the newest member of our family; a new-to-us 2002 Subaru Forester! What Bellingham family is complete without a Subaru? We're now true Bellinghamsters.

We got a great deal on the Subaru from one of my coworkers. The key feature that we've been looking for is the all-wheel drive, and this has it. No more being stuck on our hill when it snows!

We are now, temporarily, a four-car family. Four cars!!! What two-person family needs four cars? Not us. My goal is to be back to two cars by mid-February. Yes, that means getting rid of the truck and the Neon. The Neon is going to my father-in-law and I think I have a willing buyer for the truck.

Once we get rid of the truck, I plan to put a trailer hitch on the Subaru and then get a trailer. That will help compensate for the loss of the truck.

Friends visit for the weekend

Most of the guys I lived with in college came up this weekend for a visit.

We kicked Saturday morning off with a foggy walk at Boulevard Park on the water. We even took the football with us to toss around.


The park has two stretches of boardwalk over the water. Bet you can't guess what happened to the football?


Wait, is that the football in the water? Yes; yes it is.


Can you guess how it ended up there? Well, let me lay it out for you. Matt had the football and Peter went out for a pass on the boardwalk. Matt tossed a 20-yarder to Peter... it sailed over Peter's head and took once bounce off the boardwalk and plopped directly into the ocean. (Now, if you know Matt, then you know that this is the exact thing that would happen with him around.) Matt immediately said to Peter, "It was a perfect pass, how did you not catch it?" Peter responded, "just because it's a spiral doesn't mean it is a good pass." We howled with laughter at Peter's response.

We spent the next 20 minutes laughing as we watched the wind blow the football towards the shoreline. A whole bunch of people were walking by laughing as they saw us staring at the football in the water and trying to figure out how to get it back. Not to worry though, our fearless Corey ran along the shoreline tossing rocks at it trying to retrieve it. Eventually, and I might add, miraculously, he got it. Needless to say, we didn't throw the ball on the boardwalk again.

The rest of the weekend was a blast, but it wasn't nearly as funny as when Matt threw the ball in the water. Ah, memories!

Check out the goods

After an evening of cleaning and clearing several rooms in the house, I have a few things I'd like to part with, but before I do, I figured I'd put them up for grabs on the blog first. First to comment; first to receive.

- 14-inch TV/VCR

- 20-inch TV

- Computer chair

- Stack of VHS tapes

I'm betting that none of you want the TVs or VHS tapes because, well, they're outdated. The TVs aren't flat panel/screens and don't have digital tuners built in. They are color though.

I'm also getting rid of my first computer. Sad.

I can't tell you how good it feels, for me, to purge the house of unused/old stuff.

Getting amped

I'm hunting for at least a 200-watt car stereo amp. Anyone have one or know somebody who has one that wants to get rid of it? I'm trying to fulfill a silly high school dream of mine before I turn 30. : )

Dustin