2012 Christmas Letter

Another year, another long list of stories to tell. Fortunately for you we are only going to bore you with four of them. We feel like those four are pretty much the highlights of the year, so hopefully you will find them entertaining.

Story number one involves our anniversary trip this year. We previously had spent our anniversaries somewhere in Oregon and decided it was time to see new territory. What better direction to travel than Yellowstone country? That meant we got to stop along the way to Traci's parents house and convince them to joining us for some tent camping. They were a bit reluctant, but after some persistent begging they agreed to join us on our second night in the park. As always the park was full of sightseeing opportunities. We stopped at Isa Lake, from which water flows to both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Two bull elk in the heat of the rut decided to duke it out right through our campsite. We drove on the old wagon road that was the original north entrance to the park. We spared no expense at the Yellowstone park store when it came to buying Wilcoxson's huckleberry ice cream sandwiches. We made an attempt to visit the Tetons, but the smoke from nearby wildfires pretty much obliterated the view. On our way home from the adventure Traci got to spend time at the Phillipsburg Candy Palace and had to be dragged kicking and screaming back to the car when it was time to go.

OK, enough of that. Our second story involves homeownership. In 1947 Traci's great grandparents and great aunt and uncle moved into a house in College Place. Sixty-five years later, we moved into that same house. It's a good little home with a big backyard just waiting for a puppy to run around in it. We decided to make a few updates before moving in along the lines of refinishing the hardwood floors upstairs, painting some of the rooms, and installing some new windows. Being unskilled laborers at best, this took longer than we imagined, but we decided that we had to be in by Christmas so we could put up some lights. If you are ever in the neighborhood you should stop by and we'll give you the tour... we are serious.

Since the day we got married, we have been told on random occasions by other couples that we should have a kid. Josue's immediate response has been to ask the certain individual if they plan on helping raise the child. This has generally brought an awkward silence to the conversation . . . Speaking of children, a wise man once said, "Parents are SUPPOSE to be lame so their kids have something to rebel against by becoming cool just long enough to get married and have kids, for whom THEY are lame. It's nature way." We believe his name was Homer Simpson. So apparently it's our turn to be lame. The doctor gave us an exact date but whom are we kidding? It's not our choice. We will just say to expect a bundle of hilarious good times around the end of June (give or take).

We don't know if you have noticed that this year none of ours cars made it into our Holiday photo. But we did make sure to include some wheels. This year with the help of Traci's uncle Jeff, we finished rebuilding the engine on our 1948 Plymouth and with the help of Traci's folks we installed the engine. Now we just need someone to check the points on the distributor before firing it up the engine; if you know what we are talking about, we will pay you top dollar for your assistance. Our 1979 Cherokee Chief got a new of set of tires, rebuilt carburetor and water pump. In conclusion we love working on cars.

This year has been a great year that has literally flown by. Some dreams came true others, were forgotten as soon as we woke up the following morning. If you are ever curious to see what we are up to, visit www.jgalan.com

Ok, don't forget to keep in touch!

(Thanks Damaris for taking the picture.)

12.12.12

Today is the last time that we can write the same three numbers in a row to specify a date for this century. Since I don't have much to say about today, I will just jot down what I accomplished during the day.

I began by replacing the drivers' headlight on the civic, then washed a set of wheels for my Jeep. Once my hands were frozen open from being outside, I proceeded to paint the intake manifold for the Plymouth while listening to the Christmas music station on 101.1 FM. In the afternoon I made my way to the storage unit were the Plymouth patiently awaits for it's debut day and connected the drive shaft to the transmission. Since there is no other way to this life but to work, I had to make my way to Super 1 and clean the bread machine. I came across a Christmas reef and zipped tied it to the front of the Chief. To wrap the day, Traci's work had a Christmas meal at the Marcus Whitman so I had to get dressed up in order to have a feast. Oh yeah, when we got home, Traci spoke on the phone with her parents for an hour and twenty-two minutes. "Which is not long enough!" in the words of Traci.

Today was just another day in history.

It's not much, but it's home.

Two months ago Traci and I purchased a house. It sits on a 50ft x 150ft lot in College Place and was built in 1947. The house was built as two separate homes, the downstairs is basically a one bedroom with a living room, kitchen and bathroom and the upstairs is two bedrooms with living room, bathroom, dining room and kitchen. The past several decades the house has been a rental and despite the many tenants that have called this house their home, it is in great condition.

Traci's Great Grandparent, (Paul & Ruby Starkebaum) were the first tenants to call this house their home. They had just moved from Nebraska in search of work but despite their great efforts they were faced with moving back east for more work opportunities. It wasn't more than a few years later that Paul was able to find work at Harris Pine Mills in Pendleton. They lived in Pendleton for several years before finding a job as janitors at the Village Church. At that time the Village Church met in the Village Hall at Walla Walla College. Once again they resided at this little house.

In the early 1970's Traci's dad lived downstairs during his time as a college student and has many stories from his younger days with his grandparents. A few things remain from the days when Paul & Ruby lived in the house; the grape vines have taken over the backyard and the apricot tree planted by grandpa Paul is beginning to show it's age.

The house is small, needs attention and we don't have a garage, yet living in a house with pages of family history is exciting, it brings happiness.

The Chief's Upgrade.

We have postponed purchasing tires for the Chief too long. The previous owner recommended buying a new set soon but that was four years ago. Our original plan was to drive the Chief to Banff, Alberta for our 4th anniversary but with the water pump failing and losing my job early this past summer... our plans ended up shifting.

Although I saw my dad work on the 57 Chevy many times while I was growing up, he never really explained how an engine really worked. To be honest, having to rebuild Traci's 48 Plymouth engine was a headache and a blessing as well because the way an engine work now makes sense. So it was with the confidence from working on a 64 year old car that I began replacing the water pump on the Chief. To my surprise, the Chief has 3 belts and fortunately for me, they all had to come out just to remove the water pump. The project would probably take a mechanic an afternoon but after a month of sitting in my mom's driveway, the Chief was back on the road. (My mom is too good to me.) Yes, I am pretty proud to have replace the water pump on my own.

I originally wanted to lower the Chief to stock height because it takes Traci quite a jump to get in the Chief sometimes and it would ride smoother down the road. However, with neither having the money or the space to make a suspension swap, I resorted to other alternatives. Personally, I enjoy the look of stock wheels on cars and since I had access to set in Montana, I decided it would be great to use them. We ordered a set of 33x10.5r15 BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A KO tires and had the rims sand blasted then powder coated at Electra Coat. With the tall skinny tires and stock rims, the Chief looks like it might have come from the factory the way it sits. In my humble opinion, the Chief look pretty nice.

Maybe one day

It's hard to decipher what career path to take just out of high school. For one, I wasn't aware that graphic design was even an option until visiting Walla Walla College. When I enrolled in the program I enjoyed it but as my final year approached, I began to wondered if designing was truly the career I wanted to choose. I enjoyed it but wasn't passionate on the idea of sitting all day and constantly coming up with ideas. There isn't much repetition in that field of study and it involves sitting alot.

It was until I took research writing that I realize I wasn't passionate on any subject. Honestly, I wasn't. My excitement for Jeeps, American Automobiles or National Parks has unfolded in the recent years. Although I have enjoyed nature photography for sometime now, it sure is an expensive competitive field to enter. So I was still undecided by the time I finished school.

Currently I am working for Wilkinson Baking Company at Super 1 foods. It isn't a fancy job, but I'm happy and proud of the work I do. Yet I do feel that someone with a bachelor degree should be elsewhere making more money, however, what happens when you have a degree and you're still undecided? Fortunately, Paul (my brother in law), gave me the idea of being Classic Car photographer since I like taking photographs and I'm passionate about antique cars. It's an idea. In fact, it's a great idea.

So for right now I'll continue working where I'm at. Maybe in the future I can attend college once again.

4th Anniversary: Colter's Hell

Four year ago Traci and I got married in Joseph, Oregon and later enjoyed a great time at the Oregon Coast for our honeymoon. The following two anniversaries were spent enjoying the Oregon Coast and last year we made the mad dash trek to Wallowa Lake.... which is in Oregon. Since we discovered that we were getting stuck in a rut in the great state of Oregon, we decided it was time to see new sites.

Recently Traci and I have been in the middle of getting into debt, (more on that later) so the financial situation greatly narrowed down our get-a-away options. Due to the fact that a full week in Milton-Freewater was no longer an option, we resorted to spending less money and visit Yellowstone National Park. Excited to begin our adventures, we wasted no time in leaving Walla Walla just as the sun rose behind the the Blue Mountains. We ended up adding another hour to our trip by heading east and catching Highway 95 at Lewiston towards Couer d'Alene. The trip to Montana is highly scenic with plenty to see along the way but with time it begins to get redundant, so it was nice to see new trees and passing lanes. Once we got to Bozeman, we ate at Johnny Carino's with Traci's parents and drove around for some tire kicking with a little bit of shopping after supper. We spent the first night in Bozeman and had a great time talking with the folks.

To kick off our our anniversary we enjoyed the most amazing cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Traci's Dad had recently hauled the Chevy to Bozeman, so we took the car out for a short drive to a local antique shop where a I bought a much needed pipe wrench. When we got back, we loaded up the the Yukon and prepared everything for our camping trip. Since this was our actual anniversary day, we wanted to do something special right at 4:00pm to celebrate; we couldn't figure out what to do but simply head straight to Grant's Village and enjoy ice cream. It turns out that we were right at Isa Lake on top of the continental divide when the clock striked 4:00pm. Isa Lake is believed to be the only lake that drains to the Pacific and Atlantic. Which is pretty cool if you ask me. So after taking a few pictures, we drove to Grant Village, stamped our National Park book and celebrated our 4 year anniversary by enjoying a huckleberry ice cream sandwich.

We froze the first night at the park. We thought we had enough blankets on top but I guess that wasn't the case, so around 6am we got in the car and headed towards the Tetons. Due to the fact that it's fire season, we weren't able to see much of the mountain peaks. Perhaps Yellowstone sits higher than the Tetons because we had clear sky's during our stay there. After having hotdogs for lunch at a park near Colter Bay Village we began our trip back to Yellowstone. Once we got back, we walked around West Thumb Geyser Basin, took pictures and pondered on the natural phenomenon of geysers. To end the day, Traci's parents met up with us and we took a walk along the lake.

Saturday was pretty much just a long drive back to Bozeman. Right after we had packed up our tent, we saw two male elk battling for mating rights just about 80 feet from our campsite. Unfortunately, the cold night practically drained what was left of my camera battery. Those bulls are huge. Their shoulders sat at about as tall as I am, so I definitely gave them all the space they wanted. We ended up seeing more wildlife as we headed north; we saw bison, pronghorn and a grizzly bear. One of the neatest things we did was driving on the old Yellowstone Trail out of Mammoth Hot Springs. This road has been closed in the past so it was exciting to have travel on the same road that Teddy Roosevelt once did.

Our final day was pretty much a long drive. I had been wanting to explore Homestake Pass since the railroad tracks have been decommission since the early 80's. Unfortunately we didn't have much time to explore the pass but I hear there is an old train tunnel. We drove through Anaconda where  the houses are literally built a foot from each other. It began as mining town so it was simply a matter of building homes as fast as possible. Definitely, the highlight of the day for Traci was a candy store in Philipsburg, MT. This store is filled with candy, it's a dream come true for those with a sweet tooth. Finally, no trip to Montana would be complete without making a quick stop in Kellogg, Id. Dave Smith always has those rare cars that we only see on car brochures... plus, the car sales people never hassle you.

To be honest, I had second thoughts about whether this trip was going to be fun or simply try to survive fire season in Montana. The last night in Montana I was barely able to breathe, which was not much fun. Nevertheless, it was exciting to hear the coyotes and Elk all through the night when we would briefly wake up. I discover my favorite ice cream, Huckleberry ice cream sandwich, I got to see two bulls go at it. It truly was a fun trip and the best part was that Traci is still beside me after four years.

Love the Camera ... now, Hate the Camera.

Wheat Oregon

Last summer we acquired wheat from the Schultz farm just outside of Milton-Freewater. Our hopes have been to make chili from it but the final cleaning process was a simple task that I kept ignoring. I finally sat down on Friday morning and cleaned the wheat for some good chili that evening. I was eager to know if the final result was as good as Wheat Montana Chili, and I was not let down. Good thing I have plenty left to get through to the next harvest. I'll make sure to take a picture of the chili next time.

Sledding

Last Christmas I received an envelope from Traci with 12 envelopes inside. Each envelope has a different month written on it and I can only open it until the beginning of each month.

The instructions for the month of January was to go sledding. Yay!!! We picked the last weekend of the month to make the journey to Andies Prairie near Tolgate. We had so much fun that we forgot to take more pictures. The snow wasn't too hard and there weren't many people up there. Although we were exhausted and had acquired a few brand-new bruises, we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset on our drive back.

Seattle 2011

Ever since I moved out of the King County (the Seattle region), I have made an effort to return each Christmas to see old friends and take in the holiday spirit. This year we were only able to stay for two nights yet it was (as always) packed with plenty of stuff to do. We stayed with Ben Blood and I must mention that he took a few of the picture on this post.

Anyway... As we arrived into Bellevue, our first destination was to go visit Molly and Murphy. They are two golden retrievers that I took for walks, trained and played with when I was in high school. They are two well trained friends that even Cesar Millan would be impressed with them. We visit with their owners and updated one another with our latest family news. I'm not sure if a dog can remember someone after 8 years but when I first arrived to the house, Murphy just simply sat down on his hind legs with a look on his face almost trying to tell me something.

On Saturday we attended the Christmas service at Volunteer Park Church and I was able to play with the praise band; which was fun to play music with a new group. After a good meal for lunch we headed to Pikes Place market for a short stroll before catching a ferry to visit Ron and Rachel at Bremerton. We talked, laughed and got to play with the new family member, Reed. He's a great little kid who began to cry every time we looked at each other but eventually grew accustom to my face.

Sunday was full of driving and running around. We met Ronnie with his lady friend and together drove to Redmond to pick up a spare tire for my Jeep that I found on craigslist. We later went to Bellevue where we visited Trophy cupcakes and then ate some veggie burgers at Kidd Valley in Kirkland. It was around noon by the time we were done eating which meant we had to get back on the road and start heading back east. We wanted to drive through Leavenworth, so we had to plan on the extra hours to make it home in a decent time. The scenery on Highway 2 is quite pretty especially on the western part of the Stevens Pass. We were fortunate not to encounter much snow on the roads and made it to Leavenworth right before sunset. We were pretty cold at Leavenworth and decided to visit Starbucks for some coffee. As it turns out, it took us 40 minutes to get our drinks due to the multitude of people loyal to that caffeinated liquid. By the time we got our drinks we were pretty worn down and decided simply take a picture and continue our journey home.

I had just purchased a new set of KC lights and was excited to try them out. Unfortunately, the fog was thick after leaving Wenatchee and they didn't due me any good... oh well, there's always another trip. However, I was impressed with my 'newly acquired' Dynomax muffler and catalytic converter as I was able to notice the extra power going up the mountain.

This year Janelle didn't join us... We missed you.