Settling In

Finally, summer is upon us!

The end of the school year for was CRAZY busy. The musical was AMAZING. The kids did an awesome job--so awesome that Hairspray ended up being nominated for several awards with 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. So in early June I took the kids up there for the awards ceremony, not expecting much. We actually WON for Best Supporting Actress. I was thrilled. The girl who won definitely deserved it.

Then of course there was the "What/where will Steph be teaching/working next year?" This only lasted a few weeks when I was informed I will be at Union for four periods per day and Shahala for one period.

We have mostly spent the summer settling in to our condo. We are on a painting mission this summer. We did the bathroom in late June and will do the rest of it soon... painting is a HUGE pain I learned during this day long project. Although as you can see from the pictures below, it looks pretty good. No before shots, but it was white and way too bright.

A nice taupe for a calming spa effect!

 A picture of Stella because she followed me into the bathroom...

... and another because she is so darn cute!

For our 2nd anniversary we just went out on the town--no Hawaii this year! We went to a tasty little French restaurant a half block from our house, Le Bouchon. Then for an after dinner drink and dessert we went to Paragon, another favorite, and had the BEST bread pudding I have ever eaten.

On the night before the fourth of July, I had a girl's night with our friend Emily (who marrying our high school friend Mitch at the end of August), Mitch's sister Jen, and one of Jen's friends. We went and saw Magic Mike (I'm guilty--and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE). Mitch and Emily just moved to Vancouver from Bellingham, and we are so glad they are here with us! And that they are getting married this summer.

Our fourth of July was pretty great in retrospect. The morning started out a little rough because Patti's dog Abbie went missing (she was found the next day) so we put up posters and hung out in Vancouver for a little while. Then we went out to Ridgefield and had a lunchtime barbeque with my aunt and family, and my grandparents. After that, we went over to Chelsea's parents' house where we had a fabulous night watching homemade fireworks, eating tasty food and pie, and of course, drinking wine. The visiting with one of our best friends who is finally back from a way too long stint in China wasn't so bad either.

That's all for now!

Another Blog Bites the Dust...

Who has the time to keep up with blogging? But since I am procrastinating on grading, I might as well add this to the list of things that is going to keep me from doing my job.

So, to keep it "short," I am going to limit updating to just a few of the more important/fun/life-changing things that have happened over the last 15 months.

1. Hawaii, June 2011

In June of 2011, Eric and I took a 1st anniversary trip to Hawaii! It was the best vacation we have ever had. Relaxing in the condo we rented though Vacation rentals by Owner, swimming in the oh-so-blue ocean, snorkeling at Honolua Bay, eating delicious Hawaiian food--seriously, BEST VACATION EVER. Here are some pics and highlights:

Here is Maui Kai, where we stayed. 

View from our room. Right out onto the beautiful Pacific Ocean!

The Maui Banyan Tree in Lahaina, Maui. 

Black Sand Beach. 

Sunburned after lots of swimming in the ocean and laying out on the beach!

Our anniversary dinner.

View from our seat at Kimo's restaurant. 

1st Anniversary down, many more to come!

Oh those Hawaiian Sunsets! Gotta love 'em. 

2. Steph Getting a Full-time Job at Union and Shahala 

In July 2011, I did not officially have a job. My contract at Shahala was a one-year-only and it was not apparent I would be coming back. I mean, I was pretty sure I would be, but you never know how things are going to pan out with jobs, especially in the teaching world!

So, I was shocked when a 0.6 FTE job popped up at the neighboring high school to the middle school I would probably be teaching at. I applied, got an interview, and was called with this message: "Until today we've been thinking we were going to go with the person who had this job last year." Huh. Okay. So I am competing against the person who should probably get the job even if they did like my interview better.

I waited over the weekend. A little less than a tortuously slow week later, I was called with the good news that the job was mine. I immediately began preparing for my new job at Union High School. A week-long AP French course and looking over the new textbook from which I would be teaching filled my time. A few weeks later I got the news that I would be receiving the job I'd had the year before at Shahala Middle School. I would be at Union in the morning for periods 1-3 and at Shahala in the afternoons.

When my job(s) began in September, it was amazing! I loved being serious in the morning with the high school students, and going to the middle school in the afternoon to have a lighter lesson. I am obviously still in the midst of this split-schedule school year--the two schools things does grow tiring, but I am glad to have a full-time job!

3. Trip to San Diego

In late September, Eric and I went to San Diego to visit our friends Shawna and Rebekah who moved down there for grad school and a new job, respectively. We had great fun visiting them in their new home! We saw a Padres game, visited Sea World, went to Balboa Park, had some great Mexican food--a nice retreat after the stressful start of the new school year.

Shawna, Rebekah, Steph, and Eric after a Padres victory over LA!

4. Stella Noëlle 

In December 2011, we decided to make an addition to our family. Stella Noëlle was our early Christmas gift! She is much like Jacques, but with blue eyes and dapple tri-color fur.

About three weeks after we got her we came upon the fact that she is deaf. After doing a lot of research, it actually is pretty common that dapple, blue-eyed, white as a dominant fur color dachshunds are deaf. Although it has been a challenge with training, she is one of the sweetest dogs we have ever known. Because of her deafness, she is much more astute to movement and she follows people and things around with her eyes. She barks like a normal dog and LOVES her big brother Jacques.

We are both really glad we got her, especially with the next event to follow...

5. Julie

On January 11th, 2012, we both got one of the worst phone calls of our lives. Eric, because he thought he would have to break the news to Steph, and Stephanie because she was in the middle of a class at Union.

Julie, Stephanie's cousin (some of you might have seen her at our wedding as the flower girl) had passed away in the night. No reason, no warning. Even now, we don't have a conclusive cause of death. I (Stephanie) suspect that Julie was done and was ready to leave us.

She had been suffering from seizures for about seven years, and she could never speak nor was she potty trained or fully mobile. But aside from her physical restrictions, Julie was one of the most important people in my life. I was devastated (and still am). Even though I know she is in a better place, it still doesn't make me not miss her. Not wish she could have had a miraculous recovery in her life on earth. Not hope that I am dreaming and can give her a hug and get a smile.

That smile. I will miss it forever. Its been a slow road of recovery, but luckily, I've had a blessed distraction for the last three months.

6. Hairspray and Knowledge Bowl

Two days before Julie passed, I (Steph) was asked if I wanted to be the Assistant Director for the Spring Musical at Union. Now, I also coach Knowledge Bowl for Shahala, and the two would be overlapping for about six weeks. And thus, the most busy three months of my life began!

Our Knowledge Bowl season did not start out great. In fact, we lost about half our meets. Last year we only lost one. But still, that doesn't mean a thing when you win the district tournament, and, for the second year in a row, are crowned district CHAMPS!

I LOVE directing the musical. Although it has been a time-consuming (I'm talking 12-hour days and six-hour Saturday work parties), it had been so rewarding. I got to take a bunch of kids to Olympia and Ellensburg for Thespian competitions, I have gotten to know a group of students I might not otherwise interact with, I got to DIRECT, which I'll be honest, I am pretty good at. I have also gained a really good friend in the Theatre Director I am working with. She has been an awesome mentor and friend, and believes in me and my ability. This is her last year directing, and is encouraging me to apply for and request her job, which I would gladly take and accept. Although I would still teach French, I would have a class or two in Drama. We'll have to wait and see how it all pans out...

7. Buying a Condo in the Pearl District

In December 2011, we put an offer on a condo in Portland. After a month of waiting, our offer was accepted! Then it was another two month of paperwork, waiting on the most evil bank in the world, Bank of America (who owned the condo since it was a repo) and about a thousand things that went wrong (even our real estate agent said "I have never worked with a client who has dealt with as many issues and hold-backs as you two!") we FINALLY moved in on March 5th, 2012.

The View from Our Condo

We are living in the heart of the Pearl District--a few blocks from pretty much everything. So far, we haven't had much time to enjoy it because of the musical, new job (more about that later!), and life in general, but we have so enjoyed being able to leave our home and have a thousand different things around us. We have become besties with the Rogue Brewery two blocks down, have tried about every bakery in a 10-block radius, and barely drive on the weekend! We are both so glad we finally decided what would be right for US--living downtown was what we always wanted, even if we have to pay that pesky Oregon income tax!

8. San Francisco Trip

In March 2012, we took a road trip to San Fran to meet up with some of our besties: Shawna and Rebekah (of San Diego, remember?) and Rachel (of Seattle). We rented a house about a block away from the Painted Ladies (vrbo.com really is an awesome way to do a vacation).

Our home while in San Fran

We spent the three days eating our way through San Francisco, visting all of the tourist spots, and shopping. There is a huge French influence there because of the embassy, so we got to eat out at a French restaurant one night and at a patisserie for breakfast. We saw Golden Gate, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard Street, Downtown. But most of all, we just had fun hanging out with some good friends, and drinking wine of course!

At Golden Gate Bridge

Reunited and it feels so good!

Shawna, Rebekah, and Eric eating oysters at the Ferry Building

Seriously, the "Full House" houses were on the same block as where we stayed!

Conveniently these three Norwegian babes found the Norwegian Church of San Francisco...

Last day in San Fran...

Then, on our way back to Portland, we stopped at a couple places, including Sonoma for a wine tasting and a Giant Drive-Thru Redwood. 

Le vin est l'essence de vie. 

Obviously this one is not the drive-thru tree, but massive (and Eric looks so cute!)

It was a great way to spend spring break, and our last vacation for awhile because...

9. Eric Getting a New Job at Coca-Cola

In April 2012, Eric accepted a job as a Market Development Manager with Coca-Cola. Finally, a job where his brain can be put to use! It is still pretty new and he is still training, but he is enjoying it so far. Basically he is in charge of current accounts and attempts to get new accounts/getting places to switch from Pepsi to Coke. It is better hours (9 to 5, no crazy early mornings, no weekends, NO HOLIDAYS!) and better pay. Wait, what? Better hours AND better pay? Yes, seriously. No more leaving the house at 3:30am and no more working on Christmas. When Hairspray is over, we will be pretty much on the same schedule. Thank the Good Lord! It is a job that will keep him busy, and put that college degree to good use!


And there you have it folks. The lives of Eric and Steph for the last 15 months in a (somewhat) short and concise blog. Now you know what were up to. We'll see if we can keep this thing updated from here on out...

Birthdays and Holidays

Yesterday was Eric's 23rd birthday! We celebrated by having a leg of lamb, spanikopita, and a delicious cake all made by yours truely. Well, it did not turn out quite as plan because I over-grilled the lamb, and put too much milk in the cake filling so the cake layers were sliding around like Washington drivers in the snow. Oh well. We had fun with family and friends, as Molly is home from UW for Christmas break, and Mitch and Emily are down from Bellingham for their Christmas break too. Eric's celebration continues on Friday (we are spending the night in downtown Portland and going out for a nice dinner), and Saturday, when all of us 21-and overs are going out! Sorry Mols.

Eric is at his new Starbucks, out of training and officially an Assistant Store Manager. He is enjoying his job there, and working hours that pretty much line up with mine (lots of morning shifts) so we see each other a lot! He obviously will be working around Christmas, but he does have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off of work. That is where I have him beat--Christmas break for us starts tomorrow when school gets out! Yay! I am going to Goldendale Sunday to visit my aunt and her family for a few days, then I will be back next Wednesday to prepare for Christmas. Luckily we have finished most of our Christmas shopping for the season.

The newest news is that we are renting a house at the end of December! We have been living with Patti, Eric's mom, since the end of October (me since September!) saving money and trying to find the perfect place! So after seeing many apartments and different places (and even applying for one and it not working out), we found the PERFECT house. It is in the Lincoln neighborhood in Vancouver, close to downtown. It has a small backyard, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, cute colors on the inside. We are so excited to move our stuff in! We move in the 28th or 29th of December, so we should be in for New Year's Eve.

Most Needed Update: Part Two

Before I begin, I would like to wish our puppy Jacques a very happy birthday! He turns one today. I realize how very blessed we are to have gotten him--not only did we get a glimpse of Gary as a grandpa (and let me tell you, that dog was spoiled!), but we have also found great comfort in him over the last four months. Funny how you can feel sad, look down at a cute little puppy, and feel so much better! So, happy birthday little Jacques--we love you so much!

As I left off, our lives after Gary and Tony died became almost unrecognizable. We went back to Bellingham a few days after the memorials. The weekend of Gary and Pete's memorials I would have graduated from WWU with my Master in Teaching. While I still received my diploma, I couldn't attend graduation. However, my awesome friend Chelsea made sure I could attend in spirit!

Yes, that is me... or a doll with my picture glued onto its face! So I still "attended" graduation. The most important part, I was able to finish my Masters paper and get my degree!

But, by late August, I was still without a job, and Eric was working the same job he had last year, a retail supervisor for Sodexo at Western. We had anticipated staying in Bellingham for the year. We wrestled with that decision, wanting to be in Vancouver for Eric's family, but at the same time loving Bellingham and our new apartment. We again put it in God's hands, and on August 30th, everything changed, again. My English teacher from high school and friend, Mrs. Riley, called me with news of an opening at Shahala Middle School in Vancouver. It was a perfect situation: part-time, French teacher at a middle school--pretty much exactly what I wanted in a teaching job! I was not too happy with sitting around waiting for sub jobs. It left me alone with my thoughts all day while Eric was at work.

So I applied. Then, through a crazy string of events, I got an interview. They had tried to contact me but were unable to reach me. And I had no idea they were calling me. Luckily, again, Mrs. Riley met with someone who worked at Shahala, who knew they were trying to get in touch with me! See, I said it was a crazy string of events. Finally, I was able to get a hold of them and went down for an interview. At this point, school at Shahala had begun already.  A sub was teaching until they could find a permanent replacement--and that permanent replacement was me!

I was excited for teaching my own class and own materials. This meant, however, Eric and I would need to be apart for a while. We decided that Eric would work through the end of fall quarter. So, from September to December we would be driving back and forth on weekends, living apart during the week. Not what a couple is expecting in their first year of marriage, especially after what had happened over the summer. So on Monday, September 13th, I packed up my car and left for Vancouver. I was going to be living with Eric's mom, Patti, and Eric's brother, Mark.

I love teaching. With all of the frustration with finding a job, I began to question if it was the career for me. I began to think about going to back to school--law school in particular--and thought that maybe I had been following the wrong path. A week after I had this conversation with a friend of mine, God provided me with direction, and a job! I am so glad that I gave Him the opportunity to speak to me. I love every part of teaching--the students, the lesson planning, the scorekeeping at volleyball games... my students make my day, every day. In the words of Ted Mosby: "All that stupid crap they tell you about how fulfilling teaching is, it's all true."


In another sudden turn of events, the day after I started my job, Eric received an e-mail from Starbucks. He had applied for a manager position back in May. CRAZY they would be contacting him almost four months later! A few weeks later he had an interview and the next day they offered him a position as an Assistant Store Manager at a store in Vancouver. Yet again, God brought us to where we needed to be! We had been praying about living apart, and He provided us with being together again. Eric left his job in late October and started at Starbucks November 2nd. He does a fraction of the work for more pay! And best of all, he isn't constantly stressed out.

So that brings us up to now. We are still living with Eric's mom, but saving money, helping her out (or at least we think so!), and searching for our perfect apartment/condo/house. It's out there, somewhere!

Most Needed Update: Part One

What an insane 4 months it has been since we last updated! Our life is so different now than what we wrote about in our first blog post. In order to even begin, we need to go back to the weekend of July 16th and 17th.

After being back in Bellingham for about a week, we decided to go back to Vancouver to visit everyone. It was the Portland International Beerfest on Saturday, and my aunt and uncle, Janet and John, came over to enjoy the beerfest with me and Eric, Mark, Gary and Patti, and some of our friends. Me, Eric, and Gary went to the driving range (my first time ever) and hit a bucket of balls before we went to the beerfest. Patti didn't feel up to going once we got back, so Eric, Mark, Gary, and I left for my grandparent's house to pile into my aunt and uncle's Yukon.

We had an awesome time at the beerfest. Lots of beer and hanging out with family and friends made Eric and I extremely happy with our new life that weekend. I was so happy that my family and Eric's family got along so well, and that our friends fit right in too. We ended the night at Deschutes Brewery in the Pearl District and finished the night drinking more beer and eating hot wings.

The next day Gary and Patti took us golfing at a golf course by their house. We played scramble style--Patti and I were on a team, and Eric and Gary were on a team. I can't even remember who won--it was a perfect day, and I felt like such a part of the Evans family. Eric and I ended up staying late Sunday night to have dinner with Uncle Tony--we didn't leave until 7:30, which, with a four-hour drive ahead of us, was highly unusual. We said our goodbyes, and drove away. My heart was filled with love for the family I had entered just three short weeks before, and excitement for the future years to come with them.

During July I was ferociously trying to find a job--somewhere, ANYWHERE. I applied from Bellingham to Salem, OR, all up and down the I-5 corridor. By the end of July, I was to have a job interview of August 4th at the school I did my student teaching at in Mount Vernon. Eric and I decided to stay in Bellingham, so we found an amazing apartment overlooking the bay. It was right in downtown Bellingham on Railroad Ave, two seconds away from the Farmer's Market, Boundary Bay Brewery, and all the other Bellinghamster things we love. Mark came up on July 30th to help up move into our new, amazing apartment. We went bar-hopping, hung out, and spent some quality time with our dear brother.

August began and we spent two days in our new apartment before our lives began unrecognizable. On August 3rd, Eric came storming in after his dentist appointment and said these words I will never forget:

"My dad's boat is missing."

Gary and Tony, as well as a family friend named Pete, left for a fishing trip on Sunday, July 31st, in British Columbia, Canada. They were fishing off the coast of Vancouver Island when their boat never came back on Monday, August 1st. We didn't know for two whole days that they were missing. Imagine our shock that we hadn't heard anything on the news, living less than an hour away from the Canadian border. Through a complicated path, Patti was finally informed, and thus informed Eric of what was happening. Eric and I were preparing dinner for Mitch, Emily, and Chelsea that night, and we dropped everything, packing in a panic, for the unknown amount of time we would be spending in Vancouver. I called my bestie and bridesmaid Rachel, who I asked to drop off my homework for me, dropped off my homework at her house, and we left for the longest 4-hour trip we'd ever had home.

I can't tell you if there was traffic, what the weather was like--my emotions flipped from hopeful to worst case scenario at least a dozen times. Because there was so little information we knew, Eric and I talked the situation to death. We arrived home, and there was no new news. Thus began the longest three days of our lives, waiting, Waiting for anything new, and each day that passed there wasn't anything. I never imagined being contacted by the media for anything, but we were. Canadian newspapers, The Oregonian, The Columbian--we tried to keep their names out of papers for as long as we could, but it didn't last long. We had to call Gary's work and inform his co-workers and boss that he wouldn't be back to work on Monday because his whereabouts were unknown.

On Thursday, August 4th, Gary's best friend Jar showed up on our doorstep. He took charge of everything--making sure we were fed, had something to do, etc. I was trying to finish my research paper for my Master's, but I could never get too into it. I of course informed the college of what was happening, and got an extension for the second time. Nothing came about until August 7th, the day before Gary's 55th birthday. Jar received a phone call and went outside. He was out there for what seemed like an hour--and he came in, asking us to gather round.

"They found the boat, upside down, but they didn't find them."

The facts unraveled over the next 24 hours--all the lifejackets were found on board, the divers didn't find anything, the coastline was searched over by the Mounties. All signs pointed to the four men--Gary, Tony, Pete, and the guide of the boat, Kevin--perishing at sea. On the 8th, all of the Evans came up to Vancouver to celebrate Gary's birthday. It was the first time seeing Tony and Gary's mom, Granny, and their brothers, as well as all of their nieces and nephews. It was a bittersweet celebration, knowing what lay ahead for our family.

One thing Eric and I learned during this time was that we have amazing friends. Mitch and Emily came down to Vancouver and stayed with us many days and nights, Derek came up from Eugene and stayed with us for a week, I was in constant phone contact with Rachel and Chelsea, and Eric and I both received many texts and messages offering prayers and thoughts. Eric's work sent food to the house from one of their partners in the Portland area. He was allowed to have two and a half weeks off of work, with pay. We wouldn't have survived this without our friends.

It was a long two weeks getting all of the affairs in order. We had a celebration of life for Gary on August 20th, 2010. I don't know how many times I heard about what a good guy he was, which I knew. I just didn't realize how many lives he had smiled in. His friends and neighbors helped us out with everything--we had enough food to last for weeks afterward. On August 22nd, we attended the celebration of life for Pete. Eric and I didn't know him, but our hearts were all broken from the same situation--it felt as if we'd known them always.

By the time September 18th rolled around, the final celebration of life for both Gary and Tony, our lives were not only changed in familial structure--we were on a different life path than we had ever planned for ourselves. We could only have faith that God knew best for us, and that what was happening had been in His plan all along.

Lazy Sunday

First blog, first sunday back from the honeymoon, first day we haven't wanted to blow up our apartment...

We got back from Curaçao on Wednesday morning, and arrived in Bellingham Thursday night. We thought, "Hey, we can get everything set up tonight. Box up our old things, replace them with our awesome new things that we got from the wedding, easy as pie."

Yeah, right.

10pm rolled around and we were pooped! So, we hit the hay with a living room full of opened and unopened boxes.

Now, we are finally finished! My desk is moved back into the office/Mark's room in which he is not living anymore. The carpet has been cleaned (thanks Patti and Gary for letting us borrow the carpet cleaner!). All of our new, beautiful, and generous wedding gifts have replaced the chipping/broken things we had before. Our apartment looks fabulous. I will take some pics and post them soon.

We went for a long walk today to downtown Bellingham. The Pride Parade was going on, so it was pretty jam-packed. After we got back, we drove down to one of our favorite places, Boulevard Park, and had ourselves a little picnic. Between Jacques trying effortlessly to eat our sandwiches and me (Stephanie) knocking over my blackberry soda, it was short-lived. 30 minutes later, we were back in the car heading back.

Tomorrow is day one of a full work-week (for Eric) and a full thesis-writing/ENG 350 (Creative Writing, for my English endorsement)/job searching week. The library will be my home from 10am to 2pm every weekday. Jacques might be a little lonely at the humble abode, but I know that On Demand and scrapbooking will be too hard to resist when faced with a decision between that and schoolwork. Graduation is only six short weeks away, and I will be Stephanie Evans, MIT. And hopefully employed by some wonderful school district who fell for my charms.