Coleman Hop Farm

For those of you don't know, my dad's sister, my aunt, married a Coleman. For those of you don't know, the Coleman family is huge in St. Paul, Oregon. Why? Because they grow hops that make beer of course! Last weekend Matt and I were able to get a tour of the farm and had such a wonderful time hearing the process of harvesting hops. This weekend we are brewing beer with Willamete hops from the Coleman farm! Here are some photos...

On the hop picking truck.

View of the rows that have already been picked and the rows that had yet to be picked.

Once we collect the vines, we take them to here to get the hops taken off the vine (what a process!)

Inspecting the hops - John (my uncle: The farmer) shows us various damage from wind and mites. That is my aunt Liz in the photo with me.

Once the hops are clean, they are taken here to dry for possibly 7 hours. They dry from underneath. The hops cannot be dried too much or too little. It is a precise timing when to stop drying the hops - thus it is left up to John to decide when the process is done. For him, he can just feel the hop and know when it is ready. Neat, huh?

Thousands of pounds of drying hops. In Matt's words, "This is just beautiful"

A video of the truck picking the hops (it is all done by machine with a little guided help from the workers).

Who wants some beer?

We Can Breathe!

Wow! What a busy couple of months. Since we moved into the new house, we have been unpacking, Matt and Jordan leaving for Michgan for a week, Matt starting a new job, doing some finishing touches to the house (and it is still going), going to Sunriver for a week, having an open house party, going to a concert, and now we have a chance to catch our breath and update our blog. Well there you go. Two months of our lives in one run-on sentence. Man life goes quickly!

Here are a few photos of the house with everything moved in. Granted, since the photos were taken we've put up some curtains and a few new plants (I can't resist). That reminds me...I need to water my plants.

Anywho...here are the photos. We had an open house party...that's why there is a beverage cart in the middle of our kitchen and many flowers and food.

The Mud Room

The Kitchen/Buffet for the Open House

Jordan's Bedroom. Andrea and I painted it when Matt and Jordan were in MI

Sliding Glass Doors to the Backyard

The Bedroom (Bow-chic-a-bow-wow)

The Main Room (sorry its blurry)

The Kitchen (duh)

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Next week (acutally, in just a few days - Saturday specifically) Matt and Jordan will get on a plane without me and head to Michigan. Sad day.

They will visit Matt's grandparents on his Dad's side. This will be a trip of many firsts. Jordan's first plane ride. Jordan's first time Michigan. Jordan's first time meeting her great grandparents/great aunt and uncle/2nd cousins. All of which I will not be there to see with her.

I am going to miss them and what I'd love is to have some wonderful distractions while their away. Of course work will help, but would like to spend a great deal of time catching up with people, seeing a movie, or whatever you might have in mind. So, if you're free...give me a call! Tues/Wed off.

Hopefully I'll see some of you next week!

Gabel Vacation

This past weekend we took a vacation to the Wallowa Mountains with Matt's family. It was relaxing and beautiful and we had a great visit with everyone.

We went hiking and get this...I took a nap everyday! I wonder how many more months it will be until I get another nap.

Here are some photos...

A walk by the lake

Views of the mountain.

Matt and Alan - trying to be cool, I guess =)

Alan and Angela

Playing in the pool

View of the mountains from Joseph

We're Buying a House!

Okay, I'll try not to make this long, but God is so good! We found a house over a month ago and thought it was perfect. We put in an offer, they countered. We put in another one, and they countered. With that offer, we walked away. Three weeks later they call us up and say they'll take our last offer. Right before we make the offer, the call up and say, "Never mind, increase it $1,500 and we've got a deal". We were shocked at the bait and switch. We did not raise our offer and lost the house.

As you can imagine, we were upset to say the least. For the last month, we've been frustrated and discouraged since we haven't seen anything close to the other house.

On Sunday I noticed a house that looked to good to be ture, so we were able to see it on Monday and put an offer on it that day. As of today, Tuesday, the seller accepted our offer!!!

Here are some photos of our new home. All are invited to an open house party - give us a while to settle in of course.

Living room/kitchen entrance

Wood burning fireplace in living room

Double sink in bathroom

Hallway to the bedrooms

Shed in the backyard

Great News!

God is so good! Today, Matt went to play basketball and his knee didn't hurt!!! Of course I was a little jealous, but thought, "My knee will get better, I just need to be patient". Later this evening I went for a run and I couldn't feel a thing! Even my lungs didn't bother me and I haven't run in 2 weeks!!!

Thank you to all of you who prayed for us. This injury was greatly affecting (or is it effecting?) our lives and now we were able to get out and do what we love!

Last night, for the first time at the Sunday night group, we all prayed together. It was incredible. Maybe mostly because I was nervous praying with others, but last night felt natural. I'd been praying all week for God to prepare my heart to pray as a community, and during our discussion before prayer He helped me realize that so many of us pray in different ways, about different things and people, and when we all come together, we...how do I say this...we are complete. The group fills gaps that I lack in my prayer life and vice versa.

My point being, that I have been praying for Matt's and my knee for over a month now, and today we felt NOTHING! God is fabulous! Prayer is fabulous! And all of you are fabulous! Thanks again for all of those praying for us. I can't speak for Matt, but I assume that basketball to him is like running for me...it clears my head, helps me to unwind, keeps me in shape, gives me fresh air, and I am just so damn addicted to it!

We're Getting Old

I know many of you reading this are shaking your heads, assuming that we know nothing about getting older, but I have to say...I'm feelin' it.

For three, going on four weeks now, Matt and I have both been experiencing knee problems. Problems that has effected what we love to do - running and basketball. I have run maybe three times in three weeks (very rare - I usually run about 4-6 days a week). Matt hasn't played in three weeks (usually at least plays about twice a week). We are getting grouchy. Adjustments in our lifestyle have changed, for instance, when we lift weights, we have avoided leg excersizes or anything that involves us bending our knees. We have tried to make sure not to lock our legs and other various things that may help alleviate the pain. Nothing has worked. It doesn't help that our jobs require us to be on our feet for 8 hours at a time.

It isn't just the knees, although it is probably the most frustrating of the whole "getting old" aspect. I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. We both wake up sore. And we can no longer workout without getting in a good stretch afterwards. I remember back in the day when I was young when I could finish a cross-country race and not even stretch and still feel good the next morning.

This year, we both turned 25. What did I do with my birthday money this year? Well, I decided to invest in anti-aging cream! That's right - I am trying to prevent wrinkles. All those year of sitting in the sun with no sunscreen has caught up to me. Speaking of which, when I went to Mexico in March, I put on sunscreen everyday (except for the first because it was cloudy - and yes...I still got burnt), not the point. I put it on sometimes even twice a day! That is unheard of for me!

Does anyone have any good remedies for a bad knee(s)? I am sick of this. It is a great time of year to be running and I've got nothing to offer. I was hoping to start competing again. If you are the praying type, please pray for us that our knees will be healed so that we can get back to what we love.

Thanks!