Whether you like him or not... (and other stories of law enforcement).

Almost exactly a week ago, that traffic stopped out front of our house. over 30 motorcycle cops blocking roads and the entrance to our condo complex. What was the big deal? B.O. No, not body odor, but Barack Obama. Below you can see the short video of the presidential candidate driving within 50 feet of our house. Pretty cool to have a possible president drive right by your house. It was only 8 years ago that Heidi had a bigger encounter with a candidate from the opposite party. She got the autograph and handshake from none other than George W. Bush.



In other stories of law enforcement, we were headed to birthing class last Sunday and ran into a traffic crunch. Several cars in front of us turned off to get out of the jam, so assuming they knew something we didn't know, we followed suit. Now I know you've heard "If your friends jump of a bridge would you do it too?" and you could legitimately ask that of us in this situation since we followed suit like lost sheep. So, we turned the corner onto the "on-ramp" and headed down the hill to follow the wiser-than-us. As we turned, they were nowhere in sight, but an Oregon State Trooper was headed straight for us. Obviously we knew immediately we were stupid. He pulled up with an easy question:

Officer - "What are you doing?"
Tim - "Heading to the hospital since my wife is pregnant and the freeway is jammed."
Officer - "get outa here!"


How we managed to squeak by on that is beyond me, and no, we won't be doing any more of those stunts, at least not until she really in labor.

Now, unrelated to any sort of law enforcement, here are some photos and stuff from our Memorial weekend to the coast.

Beach Excitement!

Off to the beach we go!! Tim and I have been anticipating this "last baby-moon" with our friends, Joel and Lani and Ben and Heidi for quite some time now. It almost didn't happen, as I wound up horribly ill with the stomach flu on Wednesday. After spending the night in the ER (in a small psych eval room, as it was the ONLY room they had left) Wed. PM-Thurs. AM, getting re-hydrated intravenously, along with other preventative measures, I'm feeling much better today. SO....we're off and can hardly wait to start our vacation!
-H

Tim's Survey

After Heidi was "tagged" by Kristi, and then by Lani. and Heidi did hers, I figure I should do mine. Tomorrow I will write about Sunday's run-in with law enforcement...


5 things I couldn't live without for under $5:
1. a Pen
2. Water
3. Toilet paper
4. soap
5. toothpaste/brush

5 favorite movies:
1. The Bourne Idenity/Supremacy/Ultimatum series
2. Good Will Hunting
3. The Fugative
4. Shawshank Redemption
5. The Mission

5 baby names I love, but won't use: (we've had our share of baby name ideas lately, but have finally come to one we both LOVE)
1. I dunno, I believe this section was designed to "coerce" our baby name out that we haven't decided to share just yet.

5 songs I could listen to over and over:
1. Everything (Apron full of stains) - Normals
2. Glory - Tim Bach Band
3. Awakening - Switchfoot
4. Signature of Divine (Yahweh) - Needtobreathe
5. Unbelievable - Downhere
And MANY MANY more!


5 people that have influenced my life in a positive way: (note that these are not in order of importance nor are all included.)
1. Jesus - my savior and friend
2. Heidi - my beautiful wife
3. Dave - my adventurous college friend who challenged my small town thinking
4. Jesse - my regular Thursday AM-kick-you-in-the-head-not-afraid-to-be-genuine (or get up super early) friend
5. Lane - a counselor who has revolutionized my marriage.

5 things that stay in my purse at all times: (well, I don't have a purse, but I do carry these few things in my pockets
1. Driver's license/wallet
2. Cell Phone
3. Keys
4. List of things I need to do
5. loose change (that I picked up off the street and am transporting to my savings account)

5 moments that have changed my life forever:
1. deciding Jesus is more than just who I want to follow, but that being like him in some way is actually somewhat attainable
2. getting married to my beautiful wife
3. counseling both individually and maritally
4. School. all realms have given me perspective
5. Strengthsfinder (Grace's "Wired" class) and my personality test.

5 obsessions that I have right now:
1. saving $$ for my daughter
2. personal growth
3. playing music/writing music
4. spending quality time with Heidi
5. Homework

5 Places I would like to go:
1. Switzerland
2. Wales/England
3. out on a date with Heidi
4. to the summit of a mountian
5. on a cruise!

People who's top 5 I would like to see:
1. Jesus
2. My daughter (when she gets here...)
3. Karen running in her marathon
4. Alex and Leah at their wedding
5. Dave

Some of you got to see at least a few select photos from this Fall's photo shoot with Josh McKenney, Here is the photo gallery he has posted of the best we got to choose from. I don't want this to look completely like a "blog advertisement", but I will say that he does an awesome job and if you are looking to do any photos for anything, shoot him and e-mail. We'll be posting baby pictures soon!... (well, after she gets here, but you know what I mean).



Photos by Josh McKenney, an Oregon
Family Photographer

Baby Confusions explained.

Go to any modern mom and she can give you definitions and maybe even personal stories on her experience with these items, but go to any new dad to be, and you have nothing but confusion. Terms like "peanut shell sling", "Hooter Hider", "Fuzzi Bunz", and "Woozit".

Now I am not a dumb dad so I can figure a few things out:


"Sling" refers to a toy I used to play with. The sling-shot, so therefore, a "peanut shell sling" must be some sort of device moms use to shoot things with (obviously peanuts) and to what? well, probably baby. Maybe it's a game moms play. "Hit the baby with peanuts". Sounds silly, bur if mom is staying at home, maybe this keeps her from getting bored.

"Fuzzi Bunz" had to have been created in the early 90's (since they replaced the S's with Z's and the Y with an I). My guess is that this is a form of treatment cream. "If your baby has a rash that gets so bad it's growing fuzz, you need Fuzzi Bunz!"

"Hooter Hider", ok so most guys know that hooter references more than vocal noises of owls. It's kind of a no-brainer. It must be a way to cover a particular part of the body, so simple reasoning would say that this is nothing more than a bra.

Finally the "woozit". Otherwise known as a "What-cha-ma-call-it", "Thing-a-ma-jig" and "Doo-Hickey" which goes to show that it has many purposes because they cannot decide on a name that tells us what it really does. Therfore, it slices, dices, fries, blends, cleans, buzzes, shakes, twists, bounces, makes dinner, cleans the garage, takes out the trash and helps us sleep. Everyone needs one even though nobody has a clue what to do with it.





Fuzzi Bunz.














a Woozit.





Research shows that my assumptions are 100% inaccurate and 90% funny.



-T

It Says What?!?!

We have been tagged. Not our building but the one right across the parking lot in our Condo complex. I got up Thursday morning and meet Jessie for breakfast. When he left, (about 6:30am) I drove off to work. I turned out of our parking lot and headed up the hill to work when I noticed a 6ft tall by 15ft wide rattle-can masterpiece. For a limited time, this logo put a little fear in us about "how safe is our neighborhood?" It was there until this afternoon when the Treehill Board rollered and brushed it away with a fresh coat of ugly tan paint.
The location was street-side, but between the building and street is a grove of blackberry bushes. No car driving by would have noticed the vandal, nor would anyone in their homes have been able to see it. Eric, our neighbor to the left, could be the only window to see that plot of dirt where the artist stood to spray his passion.
I notified the Board about this, and showed it to Heidi. A couple hours after I spoke with the Maintenance guy about it, a Gang/Graffiti Specialist Officer came to the door and spoke with Heidi. Being an expert in the field and studying these images all over Portland, He could actually translate what it said and what it meant, even pinpointing styles to what race and gender creating it! Turns out, it wasn't a gang sign at all, but a declaration of love. Just as we used to carve "T+H" on a tree in the center of a heart, this suposed High/Middle Schooler found a new way to express his love. According to the specialist, our "tag" turned out to be "I love Jennifer".
So Jennifer, I don't know who you are, but maybe you should convince your significant other to start buying boxes of chocolates or sappy romance cards. (Although I guess it's better than "Billy Bob loves Charlene...in John Deere green).

shaven, that naked feeling.

As some of you know, I was planning to cut my hair a little shorter except for the upper lip section for a "look like our researched person" for class. If you read my earlier post, I chose Alfred Adler, and if you know anything about him, you know he wore a mustachio, and was less than gifted with hair o' top his hill. So to be like him I had to lose some hair.

Now some of you guys I know wear this style of baldness and I unfortunately don't plan on letting it stay as I styled it for last night's class. Without further ado, here is the one and only photo of my impression of Alfred Adler.





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Ok, so some of you thought I was going to shave my head, but I couldn't follow through with it just yet. I did manage to create augliness I had not known before and a naked feeling to my poor chin. Can you believe it is practically summer and my chin feels like it's winter? (thank God also that I am not keeping this nasty look!)

I did sport the cup duster, and probably would have looked better if it were like these guys.








but then again, don't give me any ideas...






-T

Survey

Okay, I'm giving in....I usually don't do survey's like this, but after being "tagged" by Kristi, and then by Lani...I thought I'd post this. Sorry, Lani, these q's aren't the same as on your blog; hope this satisfies :)

5 things I couldn't live without for under $5:
1. toothpaste/brush
2. deoderant
3. shampoo/soap
4. chapstick
5. toilet paper

5 favorite movies:
1. Dan In Real Life
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. You've Got Mail
4. Runaway Bride
5. Mrs. Doubtfire

5 baby names I love, but won't use: (we've had our share of baby name ideas lately, but have finally come to one we both LOVE)
1. Ryan. Tim doesn't like the name
2. Mackenzie. Tim doesn't like the name, because it reminds him of our guy friend, and I like this for a girl name :)
3. Kennady. Again, Tim doesn't like the name...reminds him of the president. Only spelled differently!
4. Julia Anne. Again, Tim is so picky! :)
5. Riley. Once again...we don't agree...I like this for a girl name

5 songs I could listen to over and over:
1. Anything by Enya
2. Umm...I enjoy music, but am forgetful of artists and song titles. I am known for listening to the same cd over and over and over again though...drives Tim crazy!
3. Runaway Bride soundtrack
4. Jim Brickman music
5. Anything relaxing/classical is nice too



5 people that have influenced my life in a positive way:
1. Jesus
2. Tim
3. Jamie
4. Laura
5. Lane

5 things that stay in my purse at all times:
1. Driver's license
2. cash/debit cards
3. lipgloss
4. pregi pops; ya never know when you might have the urge to throw up!
5. lots of writing utensils

5 moments that have changed my life forever:
1. deciding Jesus is the one I want to follow
2. getting hitched with Tim
3. my moment on the beach when God told me "I am all you need"
4. several "ah-hah" counseling appts.
5. returning to school, after realizing what I was meant to do...or at least a different direction than I'd realized before

5 obsessions that I have right now:
1. making money, saving $$
2. baby stuff-getting things prepared, feeling "organized" ha! still wondering if cloth diapering is what I want to do/need to do
3. praying for God's peace, direction, and protection as we move into a new role soon
4. spending quality time with Tim
5. sleep. I need my sleep!

5 Places I would like to go:
1. Bahamas
2. Italy
3. Africa
4. Hawaii, Maui or Kawai
5. on a cruise!

People who's top 5 I would like to see:
1. Tim
2. Lani
3. Angel
4. President Bush (just for kicks)
5. Mary

For one night, and one night only!

Some of you know I am taking night classes to pursue my MAT soon. Tonight is my final presentation and the class, Psychology. In only a few short hours, I will be standing in front of a class of 16 to present psychologist and physician Alfred Adler. He was one of the first to break from Freud and thinking he was "too obsessed with sex and death". He developed individual psychology, pioneered the inferiority complex, started a school in Vienna, constructed the Birth-order theory and... wore a mustache. So, yes, you guessed it. Tonight as I portray a founder of modern psychology, I too will be sporting the "stache". but have no fear, come friday morning, before I leave for work, the crumb-catcher (otherwise known in Liverpool as a "muzzy") will be cut away.
Stay tuned, for in my next posting, I might just reveal the only photograph (that has not been photo-shopped) of my nose neighbor.

-T