yo yo yo from africa

hey all
holla from guinea africa!
im having an amazing time here turning into a dancing machine
w are staying in a house about 2times the size of my parents house which is rediculous and the africans who hang out with us think we are all millionaires
the electricity and water supply are very spradic so we get pretty pumped when we gety it ive also learned to take a shower using just a bucket but it helps that its really hot here
i am also attempand learning french and susu (loocal language
last week the president of guinea died so its been a little intense; but there was a peacful coup and everyone seems to be happy with the sitiuation at the time
i was going to try to post some photos but the internet is slower than back in the day when we all used juno and read a book while waiting for the page to load
late merry christmas and early happy new year
trish

Christmas with the StrengerMolens

So, seeing as we are now on the very western of coasts, and fuel costs being what they are, me (Dan), Steph, Bob, and Megan chose not to return home for Christmas this year, but instead decided to plan and execute our own. Now, when I was younger, I thought that the planning of such festivities was an exhaustive endeavor, worthy of countless hours of preparation...yet, after completing the first such shin-dig without the help of any such parental type parents, I was astounded by how it easy it is!

Here, in no uncertain terms, our the ingrediants for a succesful Christmas Eve party:

1. Gather Supplies - 2. Gather Friends -

3. Get food and Have Bob Put It In the Oven -

4. Have Megan Put It In Bob -


6. Have Bob Take Food Out of the Oven -


7. Serve Food In An Aesthetically Pleasing Manner -


8. Enjoy! -



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

(Copyright) StrengerMolens - 2008

the joys of the christmas holidays while my husband has to work...

kyle and i got most of our christmas visiting done already (we just got back from michigan), so now we can relax and enjoy the holiday together, well sort of. kyle has to work the following:
christmas eve
christmas day
day after christmas
day after the day after christmas

new year's eve
new year's day
day after new year's day
day after the day after new year's day

of all of those days, i only have to work new year's eve (day). needless to say, I have decided to come up with things to do so that I don't end up just sitting around on my ass.
here's what I did today (day 1):
watched the price is right
called to refinance my mortgage
took the dingo to the frisbee park
drove kyle to work
went grocery shopping
made yummy broccoli slaw salad
baked cookies (I left them in a taaaad too long...a bit crispy)
baked muffins

here's what I still plan to do today:
watch the movie 'saved' - thank you steph for all of the wonderful movies you have bestowed on me:)
start a new book
paint a picture frame
research making a slip cover for my couch (dingo's claws keep snagging the fabric)
wash the dishes
take a bath
fold the laundry
feed our friend's cat
pick up kyle from work
(note, some of the previously mentioned tasks may take place while I watch the movie)

might as well make the most of my vacation days :)

hope you all are looking fine and feeling good!

signing off for now~
Constance the Badger

We Moved to Portland for THIS??

So, it is no secret that I hate snow. In fact, hate might not be a strong enough word. I despise snow. Loath snow. Hope snow gets audited by the IRS and brought up on tax evasion charges. So, it was with excitement that I entered into my first full winter as a resident of Oregon (the land of, on average, TWO inches of snow per year). Piece of cake! No big deal (N.B.D.)! "I can handle that," I said to my self...

Well, little did I know that an entire area of the country (in this case the Mid-West) was capable of literally picking itself up and following me somewhere. In the past week and a half I have witnessed the greatest single snowfall in 40-plus years for the region, only gone to work ONCE, and have had to shovel out my car from under heads of ice-leaden snow piles not just once, but TWICE! Merry fricken Christmas.

For those of you that don't believe me, here is a photo we took of Bob attempting to leave the house to go buy groceries:
At least he looks cute in his new had and wizards beard.

All I want for Christmas is a job...

Hey All! Megan here. I am so glad that this blog is working! I have been having a great time reading up on what everyone is up to. Bob and I moved out to Portland about a month ago, and we are having a great time. Dan and Steph have been showing us the ropes and we heard today that Liz and Ty are coming to Portland on January 12! (If you didn't have reason to visit before, now you do.) We have been hiking, exploring, drinking, eating, christmas tree shopping and most of all looking for jobs.


Unfortunately, no luck yet. Before we left, everyone said, "Oh, you'll find jobs, you are such great people!" But you know what? You cannot write that on a resume/application. Luckily we have some leads on jobs and are not getting discouraged. It is more like a month-long vacation.

Other than that I hope that everyone is having a great holiday season! And let me know if you have more email addresses for me to add to this blog. We want to get everyone involved in this.

Taking this blogging thing and running

Hi guys
For your viewing pleasure.
Here is my Christmas tree.
It was wild, we cut it down from the state forest. I paid $10 to the state and tromped through the woods for her.
At least I have a legit tree stand, my dad would be proud.

I'm leaving for Africa on Friday and I didn't want to hog this blog for my updates, so I made my own travel blog http://triciaselin.blogspot.com
I promise to post on this blog too if I have time.
See you later!

I feel lame because I'm still in GR

Yes, I have not moved. Does that make me lame? This is also my first blog post too. Double Lame.

Not much is new with me, I'm still working at Planned Parenthood in fundraising. And was recently surrounded by 5600 pieces of paper because of our end of the year appeal, it was very nice to send those off in the mail! We recently got a new VP of development which is very exciting because we have needed more help for many months now.

Nick and I are doing well. Nick is working at Veenstra's Auto which is in walking distance from the apt. He really likes the place even tho he is not making any money at all.

The two dogs are still as crazy as ever. We tried to put socks on them and watch them run around on our wood floors. It was not as funny as we thought. They love the snow and are constantly whining to go outside.

I'm trying to get in the Christmas spirit amongst the craziness and I'm really looking forward to all those who moved away to come back for a couple of days. The G-Rap all stars back again!