new used car

we're very excited to have found our new used car today. I'll be driving around in it for work and trips to PDX and such. Its a '98 gold Camry- practically new with only 47K miles on it. I'll be looking for a nice car scent and probably an iPod with an iTrip to expand it's stereo equipment. My buddy says I could just slide a pound of markout under the seat for a great coffee scent. I'll use Verona if I do. But then again, I get a little tired of smelling coffee all day at work and will want a break once I escape the Bux.

our mountain

our mountain
Originally uploaded by spigs.

Mt Rainier gets a sun shower just before sunset. Zack is burning through some 8mm film that Grandpa gave him. I shot using Z's camera.

As life moves along, we still are hunting for a car for me. I'll work tomorrow at the Bux and will have a few days off starting midday the 1st to take a short trip to PDX.

Christmas was a nice time featuring a small gag gift from my dad to Grandmother: a rear-view mirror. Grandma apparently slipped and fell a few days back and when asked if she was alright, she replied that she didn't have eyes in the back of her head to see if she was really hurt... So we wrapped up a "rear-view mirror" for her... and she took the joke like a champion, even holding it behind her so she could see her "rear". I don't know, but it might have been the first time we ever dared to pull a stunt like that.

Merry Christmas

family
Originally uploaded by spigs.

The Spigers celebrated Christmas a little early this year. Here we all are, Happy included. You can get a feel for the farm and trees that we grow here.

schedule

3:55am- my alarm wakes up
0 dark 30- I drive to Starbucks and work til whenever
Whenever- I try to function for the rest of the day.

Just returned from Minneapolis Minnesota. We helped Andrea and her family pack up their house to move to Portland. Now Andrea and the kids are here at "Frampa's" house. Its been hectic and joyful at the same time. I'm so glad to be spending some time with them all. It will be nice to have them so close, whether I stay in Pierce/King County or move to PDX.

I just got the David Crowder's "Lime CD" and am takin' it for a spin. I think I'll get miles out of this one! I'm hearing for the first time "I Need You" the way it was written. I was pretty darn close but need to bring my guitar skills up so I can transfer it from the piano to the guitar. Ciao.

csi memory

Dorte 'n i
Originally uploaded by spigs.

Thanks to Laurent who posted all his photos (you'll need the word 'laurent') from the CSI conference in Hossegor France. Check out the Aussi kangaroo that came all the way to France! This trophy was to be awarded to the Rubgy Champion- I never heard if the Northern or Southern Hemisphere won.

jobjob

So I just completed a french work week as an administrative assistant and really enjoyed it. I also just got off the phone with the nearest Starbucks wherein I accepted a job to start on the 15th. So was that a grande or venti, nonfat, mocha with whip??

I'm going to keep working part-time as admin assistant because it's a creative outlet for me, but the Bucks will give me the benefits any normal person wants and needs. Now I just need a car.

2200

It is 10:27. For those of you who know me well, you know that my biggest pet-peeve is flies in my room after 10pm. I usually go after them with a magazine for a torturous penalty.

Currently there is a fly beating its dopey head around on my walls and ceiling. Things are about to get gnarly.

worldview

what do I believe about God?
-powerful creator
-complete love and justice
-insane grace
-ultimate peace
-intimate salvation

here at home home

each day is long and I am good 'n tired at the end.
moving from one room to another can take a real long time.
c'etait chouette, le coup de fil de Brigitte.
will we ever find a car?
how do you comfort a boy whose father just died tragically?

Friends

Friends
Originally uploaded by spigs.

Happy Birthday Bethany! I love you love you love you!

Ben and Andy

Ben and Andy
Originally uploaded by lspiger.

here are a couple crazy dudes.

Smith

Smith
Originally uploaded by lspiger.

here is the marriage of a couple that I introduced

I'm sittin' here in the Intern House in PDX; gotta love the place- 'babe' the cat who no one wants to touch, and bloggin' from the wireless connection in the living room. Andy won't say hi but he's sitting in the room too, Kel is gonna make virtual tour2004 of the house and Mike is wearing his burnt orange sweatsuit. The schedule for the afternoon: hair cut at 1730, dinner at Acapulco's to celebrate Beth's bday at 1900. See ya dude.

they are rebuilding her home

DSCF4932.JPG
Originally uploaded by lspiger.

girl who's home was destroyed in a devastating earthquake.

the news

So after 10 amazing days in Morocco I have safely landed elsewhere. I have parked my suitcases at "home home" and am tucking into bed.

lance le !

I couldn't believe it. Yesterday after days of email work, 'photoshopping', and multiple visits to the printer, I said: Do it! We started the printing part of the Christian Surfers International conference in Hossegor France. I've been sweating over this for weeks now and to have finally said 'go for it' felt so wonderful. We waited down to the very last minute available, needing one confirmation from one dude in Seignosse. We have posters and flyers and tracts.

So the hustle of meeting people and trips to Bilbao and all over town has begun. The waves come and go. They expect a nice swell Sunday which could produce waves of 3 meters. They are beautiful to look at but powerful and out of my level for swimming or surfing. I'll take my camera out here soon and catch a photo of the break against the dig... you gotta see it!!

My time here in Biarritz is passing way to quickly. I have really grown fond of hearing the ocean not far from the house, the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, the varying weather, walking into the beautiful town, meeting people and chatting. Tonight I had dinner with Juliette in a pizzeria downtown. We chatted it was such a great time for me. I wish I could hang out longer with the youth around this town. Who knows... ?

hullo mudder, hullo fadder...here i am at...

After spending a week in the washing machine, which I actually enjoyed, I am back working frantically on the final details of the Christian Surfer's Conference. I'm not anyone important but I'm busy gutting up the courage to make phone calls for them, talking in French to a ton of people who I don't know and twisting arms of friends who are much stronger in the area of translation than I.

I'm tired.
I cry.
I sleep.
I eat (or ate mussels today which I don't really like because of their funny texture).
I pray.
I pray.
and pray.

...and pick the surfing scab on my knee wishing I could surf as well as the guys I saw tearing up the waves today.

"hang-10" or "washing machine"

Tomorrow I jump a TGV (fast train) for Bayonne. I'll be wisked off to a camp where I look forward to meeting some young french people. I am joining in at a Youth for Christ surf camp directed by friends Lorenzo and Marie-Alice Monge. I'll let you know if I truly achieve "hang-10" which I highly doubt since it will be my first experience paddling the great Basque coast. Pray for fearless investment on my part in the lives of those around me; that I will compassionately put others before myself.

Bonne nuit de l'Espagne Euskadi de Hendaye. A sunset from Hendaye looking in the direction of Euskadi in Spain.