Rockclimbing - Kelowna Crag

We went rockclimbing today.

Lonely boy crag is about 20 minutes from where we are. Its a nice way to spend a couple hours. Those hours go so fast.

on the way

on route. It's a good route. Pumpy. Not hard. Just Pumpy. It's called "Lonely Boy" (10.d)

Heidi on route.

Time to be done. My fingers are a bit thrashed....my sissy hands are failing me

After lowering, we're pressed for time. We need to get home to Oma and Opa..they are expecting us for dinner. Its time to go.

Walking back to the car, after a nice afternoon adventure.

You know, some people would frown upon me using the word adventure to describe our afternoon. And, in a certain way, I can understand why. I have had many grander feats, taller mountains, unbolted walls, wilderness, far from home. But actually, for me, adventure can be found in big and small things. Adventure is a state of mind.

Today, Heidi and I had adventure.

Relationship - Excersise - Bonding

We're sitting here....watching the sun set. It's been a good day.

As many of you know, Heidi has been feeling sick. Bummer. Not fun. No one likes 24 hour nausea. No one likes having to excuse ones self from life 20 times a day to throw up. She is LONGING for the day, she stops being sick.

But, if you know Heidi, Heidi is a force to be reckoned with. She is tenacious, goal oriented, tough, and somehow still manages to be charming and humble. She is, as some have described, the "velvet hammer."

She is on of my inspirations.

Take today for example:

I went on a ride earlier today. A good ride. I had to stand up for over a mile. It was a 6-9% grade in the road...standing up, for me, was necessary....not necessary for the Olympian who passed me, who was sitting and spinning casually. It was as good workout.

After getting home, I did a bit of stretching...Heidi said, "My turn". "Ok. How and where?" She has some options here in Kelowna: rock climbing, running, cycling, or swimming. Its 30 degrees Celsius here, so swimming was the name of the game. I joined her, doing laps for an hour. I got passed a couple of times. She's strong and fast.

After finishing, we dried off and left the rec center. On the way home Heidi said..."Shall we go climbing tomorrow?...Could be fun!" 24 hour nausia and climbing is not a combo I enjoy...but for Heidi, it's taking life in stride.

Why all this excercise, some may ask? Good question. When we excerise, we are being nice to our bodies and nice to our minds. Its a way we decompress our daily anxieties. Its a way we spend time together. Its a way we keep our bodies healthy and strong. I often remind myself, it was the year we did the full marathon that we never got sick, in a year when all of our friends here in Vancouver were sick, as well as every other person on the bus we road each day.

Excercise is one of the ways we enjoy being alive.

In Kelowna

We are currently in Kelowna.

Good times.

For a couple reasons, making the 4.5 our drive to visit Oma and Opa is an important pilgrimage for us. We wish we could make it more regularly.

When we come to Kelowna, its a chance to visit our grandparents (in their 80's). They are an inspiring couple. Deeply in love with Jesus, they take every chance they can to serve those around them. We are also inspired by their wit, love for their children, and their "go getter" attitude.

We also love coming here because it is a chance for us to truly rest. There is rockclimbing near by (we will do that asap), beaches, and walking trails. We are never bored.

We exercise, eat, talk, pray, read, chill, and decompress.

Although, this trip we will be working (Tuesday and Wednesday) here from Kelowna, it still feels like rest. Most importantly it is a chance to visit with some inspiring people.

Here are a couple pics I took in the car while driving to ward off extreme boredom.

This is Yak Peak. We are driving past it. There is some great 5.8 to 5.10 climbing which follows some crack lines up to the summit. Yak Crack and Reality Check are the names I believe. This is on our to-do list for this summer.


Still in transit. Heidi, operating our Ipod Touch....making the tunes super loud...Audioslave baby...pump it.


4Runner - Taco Bell - Mac - Ipod Touch - Attentive Driver

Good combo for a good road-trip

Tomorrow's Objective

One of my joys at the moment is a long ride. Getting fit, getting strong, feeling my heart want to rip out of my chest. Feeling my muscles BURN...simply wonderful.

We shall see how this one goes. New town...new objective.

It's our Anniversary!

4 Years

Yay! We have been together for 6 and married for 4.

There is so much to say as we reflect on the past 4 years.

Our relationship has seen many adventures. Adventures defined by disappointments, joys, surprises, pain, chemistry, ministry, regrets, commitment, confusion, clarity, passion, friendship, perseverance, faith, hope, and love.

We remember how it began:

A proposal after a hike in San Simeon, California.
This picture was taken right after I proposed.

The sunset we enjoyed as a newly engaged couple.
We were 21 then....we turn 27 soon.

One year later...we were married


It was an awesome event. 500 of our friends and family came out to support us.
There was mega energy in that room.
We are so blessed to have such a wonderful community of support.

Then it was our honeymoon.
One week in beautiful San Simeon.
One week backpacking in Yosemite National Park.



Shortly thereafter we moved to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Our entire marriage has been lived here.

It's here that we deepend our relationship through discovering shared passions: mountains, rock climbing, swimming, cycling, hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, reading, hanging out with friends, ministry, conversation, silence.

So today we celebrated. We went on a bike ride. Casual. Long. Fun.





This afternoon and tonight we serve people we are committed to growing as disciples of Jesus.

If you want to see some of our adventures in the past 4 years, many are represented in the pictures of our Picasa page. Click on the logo to see more!

Thank you friends for being an encouragement to us as we grow as individuals as as a married couple.

Thank you family for your support, patience, perspective, and prayer. You probably can't understand how much this means to us.

We love you!

Squamish Monday

It's our Sabbath today!

Today we went to Squamish for a little R&R



After arriving around mid day, our first objective was a multi-pitch route called "Jungle Warfare" on the Squaw. We never ended up finding it. We ended up hiking...rather, bushwhacking, for 1 hour trying to find the start. errr. frustrating. Oh well.

So, after eating a quick lunch...we went to Murrin to do a couple of old classics we had never done before. First, we tried "World's Toughest Milkman"


Jugs galore...and all over hanging...a trad master's delight.

We then went and did "The Reacharound"

The description of the climb simply says..."don't worry about and finding it...it will find you". Alrighty then. Let's do it.



It was really good. Pumpy. Cruxy. Varied climbing with tips, fingers, hands, and off-width. Very cool climb. Here is another parties photos of the climb...click "next" to scroll through the photos.

After that, we were hungry so we went to dinner at the forever nasty T-Bell, and we loved it.

Then, as the Squamish sun was setting, we spent some time, in front of the Chief watching the golden sun illuminate some of our favorite climbs.




Heidi was dreaming of doing the Grand Wall Route...




All in all, not a huge amount of climbing today, but good climbing with a great partner.

Hanging out at the Beach

One of the great things about living in Vancouver is the beach. We have an awesome beach...5 minutes from out house

Tonight, light most nights this past week, we spent on the beach for a bbq

It's da life!




Tomorrow's objective?

Go to church

Serve

Go climbing...if its not raining....or at least something highly athletic...I feel like a tub of mixed up beer/doritos/smokies/popcorn/mcflurry combination

Workin' hard on Thursday...

Planning a missions trip...

Planning a week of youth camp...

Planning a bible study for Thursday...

Planning a youth event on Friday...

Planning a fundraiser on Saturday...

Preaching on Sunday....

We definitely need some exercise...busyness is no excuse to get flabby...

If our minds are highly engaged...our bodies need to be highly engaged....

So this morning...before work, we went to the gym

pushed it pretty hard...did laps for an our than trained on the hangboard

Heidi is sick today, and she threw up twice and still managed to climb for half an hour on pretty hard stuff...doing laps on mid-ten's

Tonight, we (possibly Heidi, but for sure, Joe) are going to go on a ride with our buddy Steve...

The goal = 1.5 hours of hard riding with lots of big juicy hills to eat


Thursday's rock

(yo...photo's are not mine...ripped them off the web...cause our camera broke)

Regent Graduation

Recently, Heidi and I graduated from Regent College. Regent is a theological graduate school. In the fall of 2005 Joe started his studies in hopes of working towards a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree. Soon thereafter, Heidi caught the bug and desired to work towards a Diploma of Christian Studies (DipCS).

To date, our education has been...

Joe:
B.A. in Biblical and Religious Studies with an emphasis in Theology and Ethics (Fresno Pacific)
Diploma in Urban Studies (FIFUL)
Diploma of Christian Studies (Regent College)
Master of Divinity (Regent College)

Heidi:
B.A. in Liberal Studies (CSU, Long Beach)
K-8 Teaching Credential (CSU, Long Beach)
Diploma of Christian Studies (Regent College)

We feel so entirely fortunate to have an education. Our prayer is that God uses our effort to serve him and others.

Here are a couple of photos from our recent graduation....

This is me...gettin' hooded by the prez, Rod Wilson.

MDiv = Completed


This is the guy who received his DipCS right before Heidi...


...and, this is the girl that was after Heidi...

...TOO BAD THAT THE PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS DIDN'T GET A PICTURE OF HEIDI!!

but...there was a consolation for the goof-up on the DipCS pictures. Regent is giving us a free DVD of the entire graduation ceremony as well as a free download of all the speeches and music during the ceremony. Not a bad deal at all, especially since we enjoyed the evening. Plus, Heidi will continue working towards a Masters degree at Regent...so this picture isn't the end of the world.

Squamish

Went to Squamish today

I am so close to completing a climb I've tried a couple times before

It's called Jeff and the Giant Reach

It's really not that hard, just hyper technical, with precise beta, and you need to have your endurance in check.

Next week...I'll send it I think.

-Joe

Feeling Tired

We are feeling tired

It is really really sunny outside...warm...blue sky....and right now, the only thing we feel like doing is laying in bed, reading, and napping.

In a way, I feel guilty, laying here. I should be doing something.

But then I remember, we are doing something...we are being nice to our bodies by resting. God gives rest...and rest is a holy activity.

So, maybe if we feel a bit better later this evening, we will go do something....but for now, resting is what this afternoon is all about.

Hiking - Dilly Dally Peak

This was a really nice afternoon.

I have been feeling the strain of ministry lately and needed a chance to clear my head. Working hard takes care of that. Heidi needed to do some work and was very generous to want me and a buddy go into the mountains. So Steve and I decided to go for a casual hike. Dilly Dally Peak was in order...all hiking, straightforward route finding, good adventure.

23.5 kilometers (14.6 miles)
3745 feet elevation gain
6 hours round trip

On the Summit

Great weather

Not the best summit pic of Steve...he is actually full of life and has a great smile :)

Now its time for me to nap before I preach tomorrow.

A new pastime

We have always been into many different activities. In elementary school I played soccer and baseball. Then in junior high and high school I played basketball, baseball, and golf. Heidi played soccer her entire school education, softball in elementary school and volleyball in high school with a two year career as a cheer leader.

During college basketball became less important for me and outdoor sports became of prime importance.

5 years since college, the activities Heidi and I do together are: running, hiking, swimming, rock climbing, snowshoeing, and skiing. While our primary passion is rock climbing...lately...we have discovered road biking.

...and its starting to get exciting...

at first, it was hard...now we are beginning to appreciate things about it: the wind in the face, the speed, the scenery, the workout.

Good times to come

Our Trip to Yosemite

During our vacation (back in the first two weeks of May)...we had the opportunity to go to Yosemite to climb.

Unfortunately, Heidi was sick the day we could go....but she is a real trooper and was still able to get out.


It was an absolutely beautiful day. Amazing.

Here is a look at Yosemite falls


Yosemite valley is a special place to both of us. For our honeymoon, we took a week backpacking through Yosemite. It was great....Now we are coming up on our 4 year anniversary.


We were still able to climb a bit. We did this really cool crack called Conductor Crack. Very cool...1/3 is hard and sustained 10d then it eases up to probably 5.8 for the last 2/3rds. It was a great way to end the day.

Rockclimbing - Kloochmen Park

Here are some pics from this evening...

Great weather, great friend (steve v.), great rock

I'ts an awesome traverse. No rope, no gear...just you and the prospect of a very cold dip into the ocean. It goes at about 5.9 and has great cruxes and rests

If Joe falls, its gonna be a cold dip

Steve is in the lead....that's a typical position for Steve...a true leader

After the traverse, Heidi wanted to get on a 11a/b toprope

She styled it...as usual

This was a great Sabbath rest

It's been too long...

We are sorry.

We need to apologize.

We offer a heartfelt "we are blogger loosers" to all our avid readers.

To the one person who visits this blog...hi oma...we are sorry.

Now onto what's been going on.

Instead of just updating you on the last 3 weeks, lets just get onto today.

Its Monday. And Monday is a SPECIAL DAY.

Monday is our Sabbath day.

Sabbath is a day of rest. Its a day for us to cease from work and do things which our outside of the normal weekly routine. For us...this means being outside.

As you may well know, Heidi has been feeling really sick. But she figured she could feel sick inside or go do something. So we went on a 15km bike ride. Here are a couple of pics:



Plan for tonight....

Rockclimbing.

Peace.

This is tiiiight...

Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.

take a look at the drummer....