hurry up and wait

doesn't it always seem to go that way? you rush, rush, rush only to wait around.

mom, matt, and alex came up to visit us for a couple of days and we made some wonderful memories and ate LOTS of tasty food. they left this morning and we were sad to say goodbye. i think that is the most time i have spent with alex in five years. hopefully trips like that will be more frequent!

on friday, we hurriedly did a quick shopping adventure and quickly ate lunch with an old family friend so we could spend the afternoon in bayview with aunt kris, uncle john, carol and tony. we called, we waited, we walked the docks, we each had a drink, we called again, we overcame into the "secure" lock area, and then we waited some more. two and a half hours in total of waiting. but it was some of the most enjoyable waiting i have done in a long time!

trying to suprise your family while they are enjoying their day out on the lake doesn't yield the desired results, but we had a great day anyhow!

here are some photos of structures that were probably built quickly so they could meet a need and now they get to sit around and wait:

kayaking the kiwi

we ran up to north for a wedding (which we missed entirely) and met up with a bliss-stick dealer. brandon has wanted to check out the kiwi boat company so he took the "RAD" out for a spin. meanwhile, i took photos. these are just a few, as there were over 100 in total. you can see more on our flickr.com site (click the link on the left sidebar.)

so this is us being, well...us.

(i think i am looking a little maori here, just need some face tattoos.)

the beautiful country we found ourselves in.

brandon showing off some sweet moves.

two of my talents: taking silly photos and balancing things on my head.

we even found a little love on the beach shore--we left the unique rock there to make someone else smile. my favorite picture of the day. i just like the lines and the contrast in black and white.
our little outback served us well this weekend, as a dining room, a sleeping pad, an off-road machine, and occasionally as a changing station. a colorful carload.here we are, the blissfully happy couple!unfortunately i was unable to catch a single photo of the 15 trains that blew by our make-shift campsight last night (in a parking lot). who knew trains were so busy these days? we are pretty tired tonight and looking forward to sleeping in a bed (with sheets, and without nearby train tracks or nosy parking lot guests).

imac in abu dhabi

i have been anxiously tracking the status of our ipod and imac. both have shipped now!
however, the shipping log for the ipod shows it going from shanghia to anchorage to indianapolis to portland. a real direct route. hmmm... what are these mac folks doing to me?
as for the computer, it went shanghia to anchorage to memphis. what on earth is my computer doing in memphis? hopefully picking up some music! it seems absurd to me that it wouldn't just be shipped south from anchorage to portland. it may as well go to abu dhabi for a well-rounded trip!
its no wonder we have a fuel crisis. among many causes, arbitarily shipping people's orders all over the world doesn't seem like the best use of our dwendeling supply of oil.
i'm not really angry (although the above rant would lead one to think so) i am just at a loss. hopefully the box arrives with fun stickers from all of the places our computer and ipod have been to lately!

icicles in august?!?

brandon awoke this morning at 2:30 to unusual august weather conditions: below 32 degrees! freezing temperatures make it hard to understand how the fire danger could be so great that they have to work these crazy hours.

this photo is of the drill rig (and the brat)

this is the meadow near their current drill site, awakening from a foggy slumber
and yes, those are icicles in august!

needless to say, brandon was grumpy at four in the morning. what a way to start your day!

in other news..

the most exciting thing for our week is the purchase of our new computer (see previous post), but that is not to say that nothing else has been going on around here.

this weekend, papa and rodney came for a quick visit. they made me see two shoot-em-up movies, so brandon owes me a few "lindsey's picks". living with three men for a weekend was a bit much for me. i was, however, very sad to see them go.

brandon has had an interesting turn of events with his work schedule. due to fire danger, his drilling team has been forced to go to a hoot owl schedule: 1am-1pm. i get home at 4:30, we eat dinner, he goes to bed. as you can imagine, lots of good quality time! i just hope he adjusts quickly.

as for me, i have been gluten-free for about 1 month now. mom motivated me to cut out gluten (wheat) and dairy, as she and i are both allergic to them. they call a gluten intolerance celiacs disease (think: silly yak)

eating this way is expensive, requires major self-control and meal planning, but is well worth it. i feel worlds better and have more energy for each day. just don't put a basket of warm sourdough down in front of me!

so, if you know any good non-shoot-em-up movies, please share. also, sans-gluten recipes will be gladly accepted. other than that, come visit us!

mac-addicts-r-us

look out world, the overstreets are becoming mac addicts!

we did it...we bought an iMac tonight. the new version was released today and we bought our very own just this evening. we might actually be at the crest of the technology wave for about two weeks.

we sent it to oregon to avoid $99.00 in sales tax, so it will come when mom comes to visit. mmm, we can't wait!

anyhow, here are some photos of our new prized possession...

oh, so thin!

nice and sleek!

we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our new machine, and the icing on the cake is that as students, we got a free iPod! so now i can be cool like brandon and rock out to my own iTunes. if i could just get my brothers over here to help me program it!

staples of our life on the palouse

our lives seem really full, but when i sit down to post a blog, i can't come up with much. so i thought i would show you a couple of cool things we see every day:

this is our tomato plant, tommy. we got him as a wee little plant and he has grown quite tall in the fertile palouse soil. until this weekend though, he (she?) was barren. but alas, the sun and the rain have coalesced into two beautiful tomatoes-to-be.

we are so proud of tommy! mmm, i can't wait to eat those yummy fruits.

this is folk. he is our friendly wood-carved man who adorns the bookshelf.

so, as you can see, our lives are very interesting...

new blog feature

i just wanted to point out the newest addition to our blog: the photos link. on the top left of the screen you should see a link that says "live in the current : photos". it will redirect you to our flickr site which i will try to update with photos. right now there are lots of canada photos and some kayaking ones.

so there is another thing to occupy your time on the internet!

changing currents

the desire in both brandon's and my own heart is to live in the current (as our blog address states). this of course is literal: to be on the water that we love. but it is also figurative: to be in the present - the here and now. the difficult thing is that the here and now is ever-changing. "the current" is a fluid concept and we want to go with that.

since making the choice to change my direction away from a career in marriage and family therapy i feel like i am fighting to keep my feet on the ground. i decided on a ph.d. in sociology so i could study cults, which i find so fascinating. the unfortunate thing is this advanced degree limits me to essentially one profession: to be a professor. while it sounded interesting, it felt forced. it didn't flow with who i am or the life we want to lead.

over the past couple of weeks i have slowly released my grasp on this concept of a career. so now i am flowing with the current again, instead of fighting it. i had an insightful conversation with one of my coworkers and explained the career i think i want to have. she helped me see the paths to getting there.

as of now i am exploring options for a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling. the title made me think drug rehab, but that isn't the complete picture. my hope is to work with people who are recovering from brain injuries, whether that be due to a car accident or the poisons of chemotherapy. ideally, to work in a hospital setting as a collaborative team with neurologists and occupational therapists.

for now, i am enjoying the peace of being present and the joy that comes with riding the tide.

mom's (not so) little ones

we actually got all of mom's kids together for lunch while we were home! what a joy! thanks for being a wonderful mom. we love you!