New jobs

Dave and Jamie both started new jobs on Monday! Dave is continuing to work with Benton County Parks and Recreation, leading a new youth crew in conservation efforts in the county parks. Jamie accepted a position as a Health Educator in Emergency Preparedness for Marion County Health Department.

Graduating!

Jamie just passed her final oral exam for her MPH on Wednesday!

Summer Fun

We had lots of fun activities this summer before Jamie left for Ethiopia. Here is our photo dump! (Better late than never, right?)

Included in the first set is visiting the Portland Rose Garden with Rick and Lori. The second set includes part two of the Nelson's visit after Jessica arrived (Multnomah Falls, Hiking at Bald Hill and Mary's Peak, a barbeque and slack-lining for Dave and Jamie's 2nd wedding anniversary, visiting a local lavender farm, and camping and climbing at Smith Rock), as well as Oregon's berry season, Glacier National Park, hiking Mount Hood, and sail boating on the Columbia River.

Enjoy!

Rose Garden

Summer Fun

Jamie in Africa

The women's cooperative just outside of Gondar where they train single mothers who have lost their husbands for various reasons how to make a living by training them in pottery making, weaving, etc.


Jamie in Axum, under the biggest collapsed Stelae


The Stelae in Axum that was just recently returned to Ethiopia from Italy


Prickly pears!


A view from the bus on the long, winding, beautiful drive to Axum

Jamie in Africa

Here are two photos from the Blue Nile Falls

Jamie in Africa

The view on the bus ride from Gondar to Bahir Dar


Jamie having some delicious fresh juice in Bahir Dar


The gorgeous, enormous pelicans on Lake Tana


One of many paintings in the Monasteries


A monk at the first monastery we visited (Entos Eyesu)

Jamie in Africa

Eating Injera


Drinking tea out of bowls in Jamie's house with her new English friend, Hannah


Catching a ride with the local horse and buggy "taxi" service


A visit to Gondar's Castles in the city center

Jamie in Africa

Jamie's house


A road project sponsored by the World Bank


Locals making Injera (the traditional food of Ethiopia)

Jamie in Africa

Jamie is currently in Gondar, Ethiopia. She had a layover in Cairo, Egypt and got to take a quick tour of the city. Here are some pictures.


The Pyramids


Jamie at the Nile River

Playground

We went for a walk one night with Matt and Rachel and Chike while Jamie's parents were here and got sidetracked at the elementary school playground...


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Peacocks!

Our new town has peacocks! Here's proof:

The Oregon Coast

Jamie's parents came to visit us for a week. They decided to spend the first three days meandering along the beautiful Oregon coast, so they headed west with Jamie - first to Newport, and then north (Dave had job training for his new job that he couldn't miss). The first night was spent at Beverly Beach in a yurt, the second night in Manzanita in a hotel with a deck that overlooked the beach, and they also visited the tallest falls in the Coast Range on the way home. They saw beautiful sunsets both nights, enjoyed gorgeous vistas, took long walks on the beach, saw the rugged rocks that Oregon is known for, spotted a few whales, massaged their feet in the warm sand of some sand dunes, and of course, indulged in delicious seafood!

The coast - day 1

The coast - day 2

The coast - day 3 (and waterfall)

Iowa Visit

We headed home to Iowa over Memorial Day weekend for a quick visit. Over the course of three days we saw Jamie's family in Des Moines, Dave's family at the lakehouse in Montezuma, and were able to attend Zac and Hollie's wedding in Iowa City and see old friends. A fun, whirlwind weekend!

Iowa Visit

Natalie's Visit

Natalie took time out of her vacation from the Peace Corps in Morocco to come and visit us in Oregon in May! Although it was an incredibly busy time of the year (right before finals and us moving), we still had a great time with her and were able to squeeze in a hike up to Dimple Hill and a short visit to the coast in between the chaos of everyday life as students. We also got really lucky and had the same flights to Iowa with Natalie because we were headed home for Zac and Hollie's wedding. Natalie and Jamie even got to sit next to each other on the plane!

Natalie's Visit

Fellowship

Jamie received a Fellowship for next year - so we went to the Celebration of Excellence to receive her award.

Celebration of Excellence

"Era" Costume Party

We went to a costume party!

Bouldering in Bishop, CA

Over spring break we drove down to Bishop, CA with our friend Nate to boulder for the week. Other than getting stuck in a snow storm (in CA) on our way there, we had beautiful weather, spectacular climbing, and serendipitously meet friends there that we knew from Iowa City! It was a wonderful, rejuvenating week.

Click on the photo of the snowy car to link to the rest of our photos from the week.

Bishop Bouldering

Time for change

With flowers popping up all over and spring fever in the air, we decided it might be fun to change the template of our blog!

Visit from Iowa City

During the third week of March Jessica, Jon, Sam, Boston, and Tim came to Oregon over their spring break to visit us! We had a lot of fun hanging out at the coast, camping on the coast in a yurt, visiting Eugene, hanging out in Corvallis, and climbing/camping at Smith Rock. We had a great time and were so glad that they could come out and visit us for the week! We miss them!

Visit from Iowa

Jamie's Birthday

Dave made Indie a hilarious birthday hat for Jamie's birthday. She wasn't sure if she like it or hated it, but it was incredibly funny watching her scamper around the house with it!

Jamie's Birthday

The Coast in January

For the long MLK weekend we headed to the coast with our friends Lauren and Nick. We tent camped one night and then enjoyed the new experience of "yurting" the second night. (If you don't know what a yurt is you'll have to check out our photos). It was an incredibly beautiful weekend, and as you can see by a few of the photos, we were actually overdressed and ended up stripping off some layers as we walked along the beach, soaking up our vitamin D! We just couldn't get over the pure beauty of it all!

The Coast in January

Indie

Sometimes there's just nothing you can do but laugh and grab the camera...

We're often not sure how Indie finds these comfortable places - it's almost like she arranges them herself.

Lauren's cookie creations

Lauren came over for dinner - and brought us a delicious surprise: Kashi cookies and ice cream! The end result was fantastic...and huge!

Puzzles and Packing

Puzzles and Packing

Climbing

A day of indoor climbing in Iowa with family and friends!

A Day of Climbing in Iowa

Another Christmas Morning

Another Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning