The Basics

Andrew

Age: 29
Height: 6’5”

Eyes: blue

Hair: brown
Hobbies & Interests: canoeing, singing, fishing, telling jokes, working with tools and fixing things, and watching movies in fast forward

Education: Bachelor of Science—Recreation Management and Youth Leadership

Brianna

Age: 29
Height: 5’10”

Eyes: brown

Hair: brown
Hobbies & Interests: baking (especially breads and desserts), walking, gardening, playing with Jessica, and reading 

Education: Bachelor of Science—Marriage, Family, and Human Development

Jessica

Age: 20 months (and counting!)
Height: tall for her age
Eyes: hazel
Hair: brown
Hobbies & Interests: running all over the place, playing with mom and dad, washing dishes, playing with play dough, reading, dancing, and singing

Story of Andrew and Brianna

My Garden

I love having a garden. Growing up, my parents always had a large garden, and during the summers, we had to weed the vegetables, pick and snap beans, and kill as many of the bad bugs that we could find. The bug part was the only fun part because we got paid a penny for everyone we got. Actually, I don’t even remember getting the money…just adding it up. Anyway, we all dreaded going out to the garden to weed, even if we only had to do two or three rows. So, now that I am an adult, what do I do? Grow a garden…when I am the only one to weed it. But I love it!

Last year we planted our first real garden. Andrew built a box so I could do a square-foot garden, although we really just followed the box idea, not the soil. It was fun…but only 5 feet by 2 feet, although we did have some other plots that I filled with wildflowers. This year, we have a lot more room…and we filled it up! And here are some of my favorite things about it:

Pumpkins. This is our first year ever growing pumpkins, and I love them because they grow! Cucumbers don't seem to like me although I love them. I just can’t get them to grow…I bought plants this year. But the pumpkins are already getting huge…I can’t wait until October!

Chives. Don't they look great? I hope they keep doing well. I love having them! I planted them in the pot, because they will keep growing back, and I never want to be without them.

Marigolds. Okay, these aren’t vegetables, but I needed another color besides green. But, I love these flowers; the bugs do too, which is great…because they are attracted to them instead of my vegetables. Also, I love them because last year, I bought some seeds, and planted them. And you can harvest seeds from every flower, and save them for the next year. I had a lot of marigolds last year, and was very diligent in my seed collecting, so now, I planted even more, and I still think I have a ½ cup of seeds!
Broccoli. This is also a first and we are growing cauliflower too, but it isn't as big yet, and it is covered by leaves, so it is harder to get a picture of. But, the broccoli looks great…and in fact, I cut some today, and we steamed it for dinner…and it was so good. And so green!

Tomatoes! I love tomatoes. Andrew doesn't, which really is too bad, because I think I planted 6 plants. Four of the plants are Beefsteak and two are Cherry. Last year none of my tomatoes did very well...which is why I had to have 6 plants this year, right? Just in case.

Lettuce. The best for last. Really. I love growing lettuce. It is my favorite, because, like pumpkins, it always grows. At least for me. When the bugs attack everything else, they stay away from the lettuce. Unfortunately, you can't really stock up on lettuce or can it, dry it, or freeze it; but it grows fast. And you can plant more for a fall crop. I love lettuce.

Our New Old Place

In November of 2008 we had to move to a new town for my work and there are some nice things about our new place. Well first I should mention when I say new…it is not a new house/apartment by any means, but it is new to us. This place was built in the 50’s and has plaster walls, nine foot ceilings (which I really like because I’m 6’5”) and a crawlspace underneath that I wouldn’t even want to go in if there was a tornado! The problem with plaster walls is that when you want to hang up a picture you have to really work to get the nail through the wall. Then once the nail makes it through you can hear the crackling of plaster chips falling on the inside of the wall…it was real interesting the first time that happened. Our place is small and cozy, but we like it and we are happy.

There is a small fenced backyard with a clothesline and some kind of tree in the corner; we think it might be an apple tree. We have some raspberry bushes, strawberries and rhubarb that were growing here already and that has been nice. I always thought that I didn’t like rhubarb…it just didn’t sound good or look good. Brianna was really excited about the rhubarb however and said she was going to make a pie or something out of it. I told her she could, but I wasn’t going to eat any of it. A funny thing happened. When she started baking this stuff it smelled really good and I thought, “how could rhubarb smell that good?” Then when it came out of the oven it even looked kind of good. Well to make a short story a little bit longer, I tried it and liked it! Now I like rhubarb. It is crazy. I never thought it would taste good. The only thing that is not good about rhubarb is if you try to eat it raw. I felt so brave after eating rhubarb crisp that I decided to try some raw rhubarb…not a good idea. I don’t recommend it.

One of my favorite things about our new place is that it has a garage! Not a garage for a car, but a garage for my tools and a little storage space! Gone are the days that I have to use the drill press in the kitchen! Although anytime I did work on a project in our old place I would always clean up with our Shop-Vac…Brianna is glad too that I can set up my wood shop in the garage. I really enjoy working on projects and building things. When I was a kid I use to go in my dad’s workshop and tighten random pieces of scrap wood in a vice and cut them in half with a small handsaw. When things break I like to find ways of fixing them. I suppose I got this from my dad. Well Brianna and I are happy in our new old place and now we call it home.

Most Amazing and Fun Vacation

I love the ocean. There is something about the sound of waves crashing or rippling water lapping at your feet as you walk across a beach barefoot that I just love. I didn’t grow up anywhere near the ocean. I grew up in Utah and was nowhere near real beach (the Great Salt Lake doesn’t count). Now we live in Colorado and are even further away from the seashore! I served a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Canada, Vancouver Mission and spent some time on Vancouver Island. While I was there I got to see the ocean just about ever day as we were out and about contacting people on the streets and such. I think it was from the time I spent on Vancouver Island that I really learned to love being by the ocean. Watching tugboats pull huge barges from Pulp Mills across the Straight of Georgia or just being able to see the ocean. Anyways I love the ocean.

One of my favorite vacations I took with Brianna we went to Seaside Beach in Oregon. We rented a car and drove from the Portland Airport out to a little motel a couple of blocks from the beach. We stayed there for about three days and it was great. We were about one mile from the main part of the town because it cost a lot less to stay there than at the huge hotels right on the beach front. It was so nice! Every night we would walk along the boardwalk to the main part of town and then walk back on the beach. In Seaside there is a shop that sold real saltwater taffy and we got a bunch of different flavors, it was amazing how many different flavors they had! When you walk in, there are all of these tubes full of saltwater taffy that pour into wooden bins. It was fun in that shop!

Each morning we took little day trips to different beaches in the area. We went to this place called Hug Point (it was called that because the water hugs the beach and nearby cliffs) and explored around the shallows. We also spent a day at Cannon Beach and walked probably three or four miles down the coastline towards Haystack Rock. It is strange how when you’re walking on a beach time slips by and you don’t realize how far you have gone until you look behind you and see where you started way in the distance.

A funny thing that happened at Cannon Beach: When we finally got around to eating lunch that day we were starving. Luckily we had packed a lunch in our backpack. We found this nice big log on the beach and sat down and started pulling out sandwiches and crackers. No sooner had we done this then a whole flock of curious, persistent and crazy seagulls had us surrounded. Nothing we could do would get them away from us. We didn’t know what to do. If we had our backs turned for just a second they would fly up just a little closer and then perch next to us on the log. We found quickly that we would not have an enjoyable lunch unless something was done. Then inspiration struck! Just in front of us there was this huge family eating lunch with huge ice chests and a few blankets full of people and food. If we could only introduce our seagull friends to this great family! By this time the seagulls had gone into relentless mode and nothing we could do would keep them away from us and our lunch…it was time to carry out our plan. All we did was causally gather up our stuff and walk nonchalantly towards the family in front of us.

Things worked out perfectly. No sooner had we started walking, and then all the seagulls in perfect unison started following us in the air and on the ground by the dozens. Then the critical moment came as we passed by the huge family party on the beach. As if by magic or a stroke of luck, one of the little boys in the group tossed a piece of bread to a seagull. This gesture was done in all sincerity, but none of the other members in his family appreciated it. As the bread was flying through the air they all cried out “NO!” But it was too late…all of the seagulls shifted their interest from our meager meal, toward the great smorgasbord that was strewn out in front of them. It was really funny to watch as we munched on our sandwiches and crackers a safe distance off. All of a sudden the people were waving their hands trying to get rid of the pesky birds. There were a few younger kids there that got assigned the task of chasing the birds away, which they did with a smile. Anyways, that was a fun lunch and much more enjoyable when we relocated!

One of my favorite memories I have of that trip was our last night there. We walked into town (Seaside) and got some really good ice cream and ate it on a bench over looking the beach at sunset. Then we walked back to our motel along the beach. I think I'm ready to go back to Seaside Beach again!