Adventures of the Beard

So we lost our camera charger which explains the recent lack of blogging.
I think we're going to order a new one very soon, and then you all can
see all the wonderful pictures of our remodel which is coming along quite nicely!

In the meantime, I discovered how to email pictures I've taken with my
camera phone to myself so you all can see what we've been up to....well kind of.

For the past month or so, Eric's been growing out his beard.
It was fitting, since we felt like, because of all the crazy weather,
we were living in the snowy alps.
And everyone knows, only bearded, grizzly men live in the snowy alps.

Then, the morning came. He looked at me with a sense of sadness
in his eyes and said, "Lindsay, I think I'm going to shave my beard."
"Yes, dear husband. It is time."

Goodbye grizzly beard. We shall miss you.
The following is what ensued that fateful morn:

"Grizzly Adams"

"The Frenchie" "The Biker Cop"


"The Mullet of all Facial Hair" aka "Mustachio"Eric "Baby Face" Parnell

While we mourn the loss of our grizzly friend, we celebrate new life and welcome the sight of Eric's whole face once again.

The Day My Husband was Born

Eric is officially in his mid-twenties. That's right folks, as of Tuesday January 29th
he is a quarter of a century.
To celebrate I planned a spectacular weekend away at Belknap Hot Springs.
I had it all planned out. We would leave Thursday after we got off work, drive the hour and a half to our final destination where we would forget the rest of the world, soak in the hot springs, and have a great weekend. However, my plans turned upside down when we heard that
Santiam Pass was closed due to an avalanche. An avalache!!?!!?
I'm from New Mexico...those don't happen.
Either we couldn't go, or we had to go 5 hours out of the way to get there.
Terrible.
We decided to head out anyway, drive to Sisters and see if by
the time we got there the pass would be open, clearly we didn't know what an avalanche entailed:

av·a·lanche (āv'ə-lānch') Pronunciation Key
n. A fall or slide of a large mass, as of snow or rock, down a mountainside.
A massive or overwhelming amount; a flood: received an avalanche of mail.
v. av·a·lanched, av·a·lanch·ing, av·a·lanch·es
v. intr.
To fall or slide in a massive or overwhelming amount.
v. tr.
To overwhelm; inundate.

So we drove the nine miles down the pass only to be met with flashing lights and lots of cops. So we turned around.

(On the plus side we did discover that Eric's favorite sweet tart is green)

We decided we'll get dinner in Sisters then see if the pass is open. It turns out that the place we had our first date is in Sisters.

We had so much fun! We talked about the anxieties of our first date
(even though ours happened well after we'd started dating),
where he was going to take me before he decided on the delicious Bronco Billy's, he remembered how I ordered a salad, and the now infamous red dress that I wore.
Things were definitely starting to look up.

We payed the bill and called 511 for the billionth time that night to find out that, yes, the pass was still closed. So we made the best of it. We were already all packed so we decided we would stay the night in Sisters, and pray Belknap would give us a refund for the night. (they did).
We start calling around and find Five Pine Lodge.
It's fairly new and we had always talked about checking it out.
We arrive and they end up giving us a discount on our very own cabin.
Eric dropped me and the luggage off.
I take a peak inside...
I couldn't believe my eyes! The cabin was amazing.

This is my super excited face.
We couldn't believe the blessing of the Lord.

As silly as this may sound, I was reminded of the scripture in Genesis chapter 50 where Joseph is speaking to his brothers who are afraid Joseph will
kill them after now that their father has died,
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."
God took the seemingly bad and turned it around for our good.

I honestly thought that our entire weekend was ruined. Seriously. But it turns out that it was even better than if it had happened the way I had planned. The Lord continues to amaze us with His goodness, and continues to prove the scripture in Proverbs,
"Man makes his plans but the Lord directs his steps."

The next morning we awoke to find that the pass was still closed. Honestly I was
a little bummed. Everything, however was ok. I was still amazed what
God did for us the night before and so trusted that
the five hour drive for whatever reason would be the best thing.
It was.
Because we drove that way, we got to make a stop in Eugene at
Eric's favorite place to eat.
Yummy.
Across the street a store we like to go to whenever we're in Eugene was going out of business.
It just so happened, that that day was the last day and everything was 75% off.
It also just so happened that it was February 1st, which meant that our budget
was new and Eric and I had spending money.
We mosied on over to find a pair of earrings and three CD's for 12 bucks.
Again, the blessing of the Lord.

The drive was beautiful. We took our time, I read a very funny book out loud, and we both enjoyed the scenery.


We arrived at Belknap around 6 o'clock that night.
Checked in to our room with no TV or phone. Glory.
We ordered a pizza and then got ready to go for a dip in the hot springs.

Stylish. We know.

This was the pool that the hot springs flow into.

It was snowing but the water was so warm.
I felt like jello after a few minutes.

This was the view from our room
After we went for a morning dip and got all checked out of our room,
we went exploring in the snow!


View of Belknap from afar

It's amazing to me that the Lord loves us so much,
that He would go out of His way to make two of His kids so happy. To surprise us in such an unexpected way. To teach us to have joy in all circumstances.

To show Himself to us through an avalanche.

Happy Birthday Husband.