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Thursday, August 27th, 2009

My friend Summer tagged me so here goes:

8 things I’m looking forward to (at this moment):
*Going to a wedding this weekend
*A little fun run on Labor Day
*Going to the Puyallup Fair with Jonathan
*Running with Carrie tonight and maybe having some ice cream
*Girls weekend in September
*Spending time outdoors with Jonathan (hiking, camping, whatever)
*Seeing “Julie and Julia” next week
*Making and eating tomorrow night’s dinner

8 things I did yesterday:
*Went to work
*Completed some database updates
*Finalized documents
*Had Bible Study
*Ate a moon pie
*Saw my brother
*Took the bus
*Enjoyed some pistachio pudding

8 things I wish I could do:
*Speak more than one language
*Hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail (I know I can do this, but not right now because I have to do grown up things like work)
*Pay off our mortgage with one little check and then give away all the rest of our money for the rest of our lives!
*Make time to bake bread consistently so we don’t have to buy it at the store anymore
*Make the perfect meringue
*Run a full marathon
*Take my Grandpa to New Zealand and Australia
*Eat a whole bunch of junk food and never get a stomach ache

8 Television shows I like (um, this one is kind of tough)
*The Office
*30 Rock
*That show about the Duggar family. I’ve only seen it a few times, but they are FASCINATING
*What Not To Wear
*The Today Show
*I’m kind of running out of ideas. I sometimes watch Wipeout! It’s hilarious. And I’ve been known to enjoy an episode or two of The Bachelor or Bachelorette.

Thanks for tagging me Summer! Sorry it took me a month to participate!

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Another first: bus commute together

Friday, July 24th, 2009

This morning Jonathan and I commuted by bus TOGETHER! It was great. There is a bus that goes from nearby our house to the transit center by Jonathan’s office then continues on it’s merry way to the transit center closest to my office. Tonight we’ll have a date here in Bellevue and take the bus home. It’s going to be a new adventure in commuting. It does take a little longer for me to get to my office, but it’s a nice relaxing ride and I’ve honestly missed riding the bus in the mornings. It’s such a relaxing way to start the day because you can relax, read or even take a nap and also talk with the folks around you. When I go on my own, I feel like I miss out on the commute with Jonathan (he often drives me to work in the mornings then I take the bus out to his office in the afternoons where he picks me up and we head home).

Hooray for public transportation! Here’s hoping we make it home tonight.

In our area, it’s fairly easy to figure out bus tables and timing of transportation. King County has a great website that has a Trip Planner that we find very user friendly. Do you take the bus or train or other public transport regularly? What’s your favorite thing about it?

Posted in fun, marriage, things we like | 2 Responses »

Halvsies

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Not sure what you call someone who finishes a half marathon. Not a marathoner, but halfer? Would the plural then be halvsies? I guess you could call us halvsies or marathoners-between the two of us we did run 26.2 miles. We just shared it.

In dreaming of my plans for my 30th birthday celebration, I somehow got the great idea to run a half marathon. Jonathan planned to run with me, but during one of our training runs in January, it was quite evident his knees would not permit him to participate as planned. I pressed on with training, running toward my goal of completing that half marathon without stopping. My only intention was to run the whole thing. My brother Erik decided he’d join me for the fun! Sadly, his desire to train wasn’t as great as mine. His longest run before race day was four miles. FOUR MILES. I was concerned that he would sustain an injury or hate me by the end…

I also called this the traffic jam marathon. While heading to Qwest Field Thursday afternoon, we were stuck on I-90, waiting to get off the freeway and to the events center where I could get my bib number. Here’s the view we enjoyed for 50 minutes before I realized I could in fact walk along the off ramp with the other desperate marathoners. I’m SO GLAD Carrie drove so I could hop out of the car without having to deal with my vehicle being towed! Thanks Carrie!

Time to make a run for it! Traffic isn't moving!

After running toward the Qwest events center, we arrived inside in time to get our numbers and goody bags and yay! we were ready for the race! This picture is a bit blurry, but it’s the best we got:

It's official!

I spent most of Thursday and Friday monitoring my water intake to ensure hydration for Saturday and Erik, well, he ate a bunch of peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

We got up early Saturday morning and hoped for the best! And then, another hour of jammed up traffic!

Not again!

And there were, of course, more people running on the side of the road:

He's ready to run! He's already running!

We were finally able to exit the freeway, then about ten minutes later, we decided to just get out and walk-that was around 7:20 and we’d been in the car for an hour and a half. We walked/skipped/ran to the start and just jumped the fence into the nearest starting group. We crossed the start line at around 7:40 though the event officially began at 7:00. The first five miles went by very quickly and were very enjoyable. It was a great day to be out running! The weather was beautiful, the bands were great, there were cheer groups from area high schools cheering us on and the general atmosphere was up beat and fun! We even saw a bald eagle in a tree right along Lake Washington!

Here are some photos of us finishing the race (from the race photographers, you can see more photos here):

Really happy to cross the finish line!

We planned to cross the finish line together, holding hands:

and we did it together!

As we were crossing the finish line, we could see Mom and Jonathan and Katherine and then Carrie, Brenda, Christi and Holly with their signs cheering for us as we finished! It was so wonderful. I was just really really happy that we did it and made it without injury. I think Erik was mostly happy to be finished and rather tired. We got some water and a banana, bagel, bag of chips (seriously! Sunchips were SO GOOD at that moment), a bottle of cytomax and then we stretched out and I got chilly so I wrapped up in a mylar blanket. It was fairly easy for us to find everyone at the family reunion area.

And Erik is displaying his granola bar

Christi, Katherine, Brenda, Jonathan, Holly and Mom and I'm guessing Carrie is taking the photo.Thanks for being there to cheer us on! It was great to have such a crowd there for us! We love you!

He's a winner!

We were also able to miraculously find some of our friends! Here’s our friend Christi, who finished much faster than we did, but will still be my friend! Great job Olsons!

Christi and I get a photo together before we head out!

Thanks for being excited for us and for your encouragement!

After all the photo nonsense and some talking excitedly, we had brunch at the Portage Bay Cafe where I topped my french toast with every type of fruit I wanted at their toppings bar. Please excuse Jonathan’s elbow in this photo. He didn’t know how excited I was to take a photograph of my food.

Yummy french toast

We were all delightfully full after brunch and headed home where we cleaned up, skyped with Rachel and I took a nap in the yard then moved inside to take another nap in my bed. We had some Freshway Pizza for dinner and watched “Run Fatboy Run”. All in all, a very enjoyable day indeed.

That was such a fun time, I think we’re going to do another one! Anybody want to join me for the Super Jock n’ Jill half marathon on Labor Day? Looks like this one starts at Redhook in Woodinville, heads up to beautiful Bothell and then back down to Woodinville on the Sammamish River Trail. It’s going to be fun!

Big thanks to Jonathan who encouraged me to train and helped me find time in our schedule and did things like take me out to buy running gear and didn’t complain when we ate sandwiches for dinner on long run nights and is generally encouraging and wonderfully wonderful. Kelly and Erin, thanks for listening to all my random questions about running and for giving me a training plan and for offering to run with me even though we never found each other on race day! Carrie, thanks for being my friend and for being excited for me! And Mom, thanks for taking the bus early on a Saturday to see us cross the finish line! Wendy, thanks for your tips from afar-move back to Washington so I can have a running buddy (oh and the schools here are better and it’s not so hot and all that too).

Erik, I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t think you’d make it-but you did it! I’m impressed with your determination and your fierce love for me that made you brave the pain I know you were feeling on race day. Thank you for being such a great brother and good friend to me. I promise for my 40th birthday we’ll do something less intense, like maybe we’ll hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon or go fishing in Alaska or something easy like that, okay? Love you!

Posted in family, friends, fun, running | 8 Responses »

Because you asked

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

For those of you who have mentioned it, my brother’s Pale is the New Tan shirt is from a website called noisebot. Here is the link: http://noisebot.com/pale_is_the_new_tan_t-shirt.htm

It seems you can also order a hooded sweatshirt (sometimes referred to as a ‘hoodie’) OR a tote bag! WOW!

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England: Leeds and Kirkstall Abbey followed by dinner with Rachel’s friends

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

We awoke to a beautiful day in Oulton (the village outside of Leeds in which we stayed) and I enjoyed trying to keep up with Bara on a short run in the morning. Then Rachel, Jonathan and I went to the nearby Cottage Bakery to pick up some delicious bread for breakfast:

Inside the Cottage Bakery, photo by Jonathan

One of the funniest things about the bakery is that everything had a label, just not what you could expect, and the labels were not readable from the distance at which we were standing. We just asked for a loaf of bread, yeah that one with the hatch marks on the top and some delicious ham to make this for breakfast:

Photo by Jonathan

Then we decided to head into town. One of the difficulties in traveling and staying in a place where one has only been taken by car is that the public transport is maybe not like a big city. In fact, it is more like Seattle in its frequency. So we waited for the bus we thought would take us into town, but the bus never did seem to show up. Dad bravely ran up to another bus and asked the driver which route we needed and where it stopped so we moved across the street and around the corner. After awhile of waiting, Rachel was able to send a text message and receive info from the transit authority that the next bus would not be for another thirty minutes. At this point, Grandpa decided he’d rather hang out in the garden for the day and the rest of us hoofed it to the train station.

Photo by Jonathan

The train station was called Woodlesford! It was really fun to say! We were on our way to Leeds for some fun in town! Once we arrived in Leeds, we headed to get some lunch (and a new mobile for Rachel as hers was busted). After lunch, we took the number 33a bus out to Kirkstall Abbey and toured the grounds a bit. It was kind of rainy and chilly by this point, so we didn’t stay long. We arrived back to Bara’s and had an adventure at the grocery store followed by dinner with Rachel’s Uni friends so we could all meet them and hang out. It was a delight! In addition to the beautiful house, there is a newer barn in the garden and we were able to dine outside for the evening:

Fiona, Tim, Rachel, Maddie and Terry just before we dive into dinner

Grandpa, Erik, Bara and Dad before dinner (Jim joined us later)

The food was delicious and the company very enjoyable. It was good to meet Rachel’s friends and know that she’s in good company while she’s away from us!

Posted in England, family, fun, photo, travel | No Responses »

England: Chester to Leeds

Monday, June 15th, 2009

We arose Tuesday morning to fairly sunny skies and had a rather unfortunate breakfast at Wetherspoon’s (hey, it was the closest restaurant to our hotel). Following breakfast, we packed up and checked out of the hotel. We met Rachel at Euston Station and checked out the offerings at the shops in and around the station before boarding our train to Leeds.

One of my favorite things about newsstands in the U.K. is the offering of a free item with your magazine. Mom picked nail polish!

I got a really cute Cath Kidston bag which now houses my pens and pencils and assorted relevant Bible study materials.

Here are the McPhersons on the train from London to Chester:

We had a transfer in Chester and enough time that we were able to get out (meet Tim!), stretch our legs and walk around a bit. Chester is a beautiful little city, surrounded by Roman walls. The Eastgate Clock in Chester is the second most photographed clock in the world (after Big Ben, which is really the bell, not the clock but I can’t remember the name of the clock in the tower in which Big Ben is housed). I digress, here are Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Erik with the Eastgate Clock in all it’s Chester beauty:

We walked around a bit and took in the sights of Chester. Saw the cathedral, had tea at Hattie’s tea shop, walked along the walls and visited Chester’s oldest pub (or one of them).

tea at Hattie's

outside the Chester cathedral

Ready for pints at Chester's oldest pub

Cheers!

We then boarded the train to Leeds and met Jim and Bara who were kind enough to drive us to Bara’s house where we stayed for the next four nights.

Posted in England, family, fun, marriage, travel | 5 Responses »

England: London Part One

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Okay, here’s the follow up to Eskepherson Family Funtimes 2009 England!

Monday morning we awoke and took the tube to Bethnal Green to meet Rachel, who was staying with some friends in that area. The cafe her friends recommended for breakfast was closed for the bank holiday, but we did see a sign that said “Cafe Open” so we went to Cafe Open, which was really called something else and run by a delightful Turkish couple. We had delicious coffee (not Nescafe!) and our first taste of traditional English breakfast.

Mom and Dad and Grandpa with their breakfast plates (please notice the beans, black pudding, fried tomatoes and the bubble and squeak-mashed potatoes, peas, carrot and cabbage all mixed together then fried up):

Jonathan won the prize for most beans consumed at breakfast (please also note Erik and Rachel in the background enjoying their breakfast):

Then we headed to Piccadilly Circus to buy our tickets for the hop on hop off bus tour. We were also able to purchase our tickets for the Tower of London from the guide, which saved us one line!

We took the original tour route, which gave us a pretty good idea of our bearings in the city and we were able to see Hyde Park, St. James Park, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Victoria, the London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Marble Arch, Shakespeare’s Globe, the back of Buckingham Palace and hear quite a bit of history. Since it’s hard to take photos from a moving bus, we don’t have much from this. But here are photos of us on the bus!

We hopped off the bus tour at the Tower of London and toured around there a bit. Here are some photos:

(Just as we’re going into the Tower of London. This is one of my favorites from the trip)

Mom and me with Tower Bridge behind us. Mom caught on with British smiling!

Jonathan and a Yeoman right after we saw the crown jewels.

After the Tower of London, we got onto a boat to Greenwich (it was included in our bus tour) and went to the Prime Meridian Line. Erik and Grandpa stayed closer to the pier where they didn’t have to hike up a steep hill and bought some figs and probably picked up girls.

Mom, Dad and Rachel at the Royal Observatory at the Prime Meridian Line.

Then we hopped the boat back toward Westminster Pier.

Mom had tea on The Thames.

Then everyone took naps. I’d forgotten we saw so much stuff our first day. No wonder we all wanted to nap!

Grandpa yawning, Mom and Rachel resting. Hilarious.

Posted in family, fun, photo, travel | No Responses »

Reunited

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

Remember this gem from last summer?

Eskephersons livin' it up

Well, more good times are soon to be had with this crew. Needless to say, one of us who happens to lean more to the type A side of the spectrum has been busy planning, packing and communicating. No specifics until we can show you photos later, but rest assured I’m ending my 20’s with a bang my friends. More later!

Posted in family, fun, marriage, photo, travel | 1 Response »

For posterity

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Part of the reason we’ve got the blog is to document our lives and look back later and realize what sweet times we’ve had. As many of you know, Carrie and I were roommates before we’d ever heard the names Jonathan McPherson or Dan Potter and she found some real photographic gems from our roommate time together that I would like to share with you here.

The time we found a baby carrot shaped like a witch’s finger:

And the time I convinced Christi to come with me to Starbucks and spy on Carrie and her blind date. Then we tried to take photos like we were real spies. Here is Carrie’s date. Not Dan Potter:

And here we are playing in a wheat field near Walla Walla.

We’ve had some great times as roommates and I’m continually thankful that the Lord brought you into my life Carrie. Thanks for being a wonderful friend to me always!

Posted in friends, fun, photo | 2 Responses »

Baconopolis

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

What is Baconopolis?

Baconopolis is a dream within a dream, and it is also where we went for Date Night several weeks ago. It was an event run by Mr. Tom Douglas, a Seattle-area food mogul who owns a pile of restaurants in the space of a few city blocks near the heart of downtown Seattle, all well-reviewed if not slightly unaffordable. He also owns an event space called the Palace Ballroom, where he holds events like Baconopolis.

Kelly learned of the event through Mr. Douglas’s web site. Here I have extracted the four basic principles of Baconopolis for the interested reader:

Everyone loves bacon
There are lots of different kinds of bacon
There are lots of different things you can make with bacon
Everything is better with bacon

For a mere twenty bucks a head, Baconopolis afforded the average man on the street the opportunity to sample 10 kinds of gourmet bacon and dishes prepared with that bacon. Absolutely irresistable. We snapped up a pair of tickets, and on the appointed Friday night, we took the bus into Seattle.

Our first stop was at the Palace Kitchen for happy hour while we waited for Baconopolis to start. Here we are!

Now, here is something you should try if you happen to eat at this fine establishment during happy hour: ham and cheese sandwiches. They may sound pedestrian, but they are made with Beecher’s cheese and they will knock your socks off.

When 6pm rolled around, we entered the ballroom.

Before us, there were 10 Bacon Stations. Here is one example of a Bacon Station:

Do you know what that man is doing? He is making deep tempura fried bacon. So, then, these are the primary components of the Bacon Station: you’ve got the bacon itself in sample strips under those two lamps, and he’s making sample dishes out of that bacon–in this case, deep-fried bacon. Sound amazing? It is. But I’m sure you’re wondering what else you can do with bacon besides deep-fry it. Well, here is the lovely Kelly trying some butterscotch pudding with bacon:

And here she is with another favorite–butterscotch syrup drizzled on a cube of bacon.

This went on, and on, for 10 stations. We had bacon with beans, bacon and peanut butter on banana bread, bacon with pea salad, bacon salt, and … well, by the time we had finished the rounds, we were in what you might accurately call a bacon-induced coma.

Then, like any other responsible adults who had just eaten bacon for dinner, we went out for tiramisu.

You can see the whole adventure documented with McPherson-level detail here.

Posted in fun, marriage, photo | 3 Responses »

Oatmeal for Breakfast

Or: The New Adventures of the McPhersons

fun