Playing Tourist

As the previous post mentions we went out to the East Coast to attend Nate and Emily's wedding. After the wedding we decided to visit Grandma Libby and Pop-pop (the Richter Grandparents) in Annapolis, Maryland home of the Naval Academy.

*Quick Naval Academy fact- every person who is enrolled is required to partake in a varsity sport.

Annapolis is a quaint artistsan community which revolves around the state capital building as well as the academy. It has many local shops, bookstores, coffee shops, and restaurants none of which are corporately owned (AMAZING). For those of you in Southern California, Annapolis will remind you of Cardiff.

After a day in Annapolis we spent an entire day exploring our nations capital. We first took the metro into the city center where we started at the Library of Congress, then to the Supreme Court building, Congress, the U.S. botanical garden, Union Station, White House, Monument, Lincoln Monument, tidal basin with the cherry blossom blooms with the Jefferson monument and then finally the Smithsonian.
Alot for one day. We then spent the next day relaxing with the Grandparents. On Thursday we woke early to make a failed attempt at catching an East coast sunrise followed by a West coast sunset.

-Paul

The new Mr. and Mrs. Nichols

Two weeks ago I had the privilage of being a best man in a wedding. Congratulations to Nate and Emily Nichols!!! Check out the pictures below. It was in a beautiful botanical garden in Virginia and the weather cooperated just long enough.

-Paul

Click!!!

I remember when I was a kid I used to love doing puzzles. I would sit for hours consructing these scenic landscapes or pictures of my favorite sports stars. There was always a moment when I had been working in which I went looking for that perfect fit. That one piece that would help me complete the puzzle. In my attempt I would stuff any and every piece into the space that it was made for but it would never fit. It wasnt until that perfect piece came and I was able to place it into that slot that it went...CLICK!

That is how my life has felt lately. I have spent the last few months going through the 'grind' of life and it wasnt until this Thursday when things began to go...click! This Thursday (as the post below mentions) we were nominated for Peace Corps service. The call couldnt have come at a better time when we needed to hear and feel the 'click' in our lives.

Everything about the impending nomination fit. We will be serving in a spainish speaking country (click!) in Central or South America (click!) in a rural village with no running water and little to no electricity (click!). Alyssa with be teaching kids (CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!) and I will be doing health education.

It is not that Peace Corps service is something that we have to do, or even something we were made to do, it is just that it is something different then what we are doing now (Disclaimer: I do not dislike what we are doing now, actually I quite like the job I have) The Peace Corps however is something that will allow us to to move forward and express our selves in the world. Hopefully we can change one small corner of the world and maybe in the process find out what we are supposed to with the rest of our lives.

The recent click moments in our lives have given us hope for our future that we hope will sustain us for the next few months.

May your life experience a major click like ours has.

-Paul

Peace Corps

I just got a call from the Jacob at the Peace Corps office. WE ARE BEING NOMINATED FOR PEACE CORP SERVICE!!!

Here is what we know:

-Our service will start Febuary 2010 (11 months)
-It will be somewhere in Central or South America (see maps)

-Alyssa will be working in teaching educators and Paul will be doing health education

-It will be in a Spainish speaking country

-We will be living in a rural area (no running water, no electricity, etc.)
-It will be life changing

We will update you on more as it comes in.

Be praying for a smooth process

-Paul

School!!!

This post is most definately belated. Last week I sat down with my academic advisor for what I hope to be the last time. She officially gave me the green light, letting me know that my course load for this semester fulfills all of my major requirements. Pending one spainish class that I can take during the summer I will officially graduate college with a bachelors degree in Cultural Anthropology. FINALLY!

Im currently taking a massive load, no pun intended, of 18 units which includes the following courses: Ethics and the Environment (a philosophy class geared at answering environmental issues from an ethical perspective), Immigration and Health (looking at immigration and the health effects associated with drastically changing location), Coastal Environments (a basic marine biology course), Environment/ Populations/ Culture (one of the best anthropology classes I have taken looking a the worlds problems, specifically the environmental ones, from a holistic perspective with the mind to solve them), Medical Ethnography (where we learn about plants and the practical medical uses they have) and an online course on Religion and Rituals.

With that course load I say goodbye to the grind that is undergraduate work and say hello to the real world!

As graduation approaches the common question asked of seniors is what next. If you dont know us very well I suggest you read many of our previous posts that discuss this matter, but in short we are planning on joining the Peace Corps. It currently looks like our posting will happen sometime in the Spring or Summer of next year (2010) which leaves a significant amount of time between graduation and our assignment. The thought as of right now is to either stay at our current positions (junior high ministry assistant and dermotology office assistant) inorder to save some money or to find some sort of relief work (teaching english, working at an orfanage, etc.) until we leave for service. If anyone reading this knows of any sort of relief work (paid or unpaid) that we could participate in for that amount of time please let us know.

-Paul

Sally

Yes, Sally the cat is getting an entire blog to herself as she's been particularly funny/mischevious lately. Plus she keeps us well entertained and thought she might entertain you as well. Sleeping UNDER the chair cover.

Literally watching 'Planet Earth' with me. She particularly likes the small and skittish creatures such as the mice, lizards, and bugs.

Like I said...

Sally had a problem with her aim when it came to the litter box. Paul created a palace of sorts for her so we could at least solve the problem this loss of aim created for us. He calls it "Sally's Poop Palace". If you don't believe me, please see photo below.

In case you were going to call me a liar.

She keeps us well entertained with creating a toy out of anything, and often she becomes bored with one thing and moves onto another. Hence the recycling bin.
Now she may look quite innocent here, but this is the perpetrator about to enter the scene. When cleaning out the closet last weekend, I stumbled upon this little masterpiece of hers.

Those are definitely Paul's BLACK dress pants. They've been hanging in the back of the closet for seven month, collecting Sally fur. Yuck.

-Alyssa

Backpacking

In September, Paul and I went backpacking through part of the Sierra National Forest and never put up the pictures. We had grand plans of hiking each day and making a giant loop but a couple of persistent and painful blisters forced us to take it easy. Regardless, the trip was beautiful, so I thought I'd post a few.

-Alyssa

Alyssa's Dream Date

Paul and I went back and forth on whether or not we should exchange Christmas gifts this year. After some creative though, we came up with some ideas.

Paul and I have far too many books in our little apartment. With two bookcases nearly full and two tubs of children's books in the garage, we really should read everything we own before we adopt any more books. However, books are far too tempting and fun, so Paul suggested we give one another a book for Christmas. I gave him the new Rob Bell book, and he gave me The Life of Pi (I know book titles are supposed to be underlined but I can't figure out how to underline using this blog thing).

I came up with the idea of choosing our own dates. Paul and I go don't go out very often, but when we do we have to make sure we both really want to go on that date. My idea allows us to choose whatever date we want and the other person has to go. Paul would like to see a show sometime, and knowing him, probably go out for Italian or Pat & Oscars.

I chose to go down to Balboa Park for the Museum of Photographic Arts and the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. The photography museum had photos taken by children that they correlated with literature. The science museum had an exhibit titled "Animal Grossology" as well as the normal exhibits that you get to play with. These are some pics from my date.

Paul created concentric circles with sand on a potter's wheel.

This was part of the "Animal Grossology" exhibit, teaching how a cow digests its food.

The slime game was gross, and slightly inappropriate.

Also part of the exhibit, Paul dared to stick his hand into a dark box and guess what was inside. They were really just fake replicas of sea creatures skin.

By far the weirdes thing I saw in the exhbit. It actually had you try to move a "piece of food" and see how it is blocked by the hairball.

I took this for my own self satisfaction. I feel that too many people have been misinformed and do not believe me when I tell them their blood isn't blue. It's already oxygenized in your veins and is therefore red. Veins are blue. Blood is red.

-Alyssa