Lando Broke Our Car!!!

I have no idea how he did it... he just didn't turn the wheel, backed right into a tree! Only broke our tail light cover-but geez! Our moving truck still isn't here... recent update is the truck is broke down somewhere east of Kansas? Hopfully next weekend we'll get it, but in the meantime we just hang out in the puppy crate when we aren't working!



Thought we would put up some pictures from my brothers wedding... it was so great and planned in two weeks.... My brother and sister-in-law (that's so wierd i have one of those!) are SUPER TROOPERS!!! The amount of stuff they had to go through to get to this event was out-of-control... nor did it slow down for them afterward... they moved to NYC the same day we put everything we own in the BLASTED MOVING TRUCK!



Breathe.... okay, so what else.... last week we went for a staff retreat at El Camino Pines, that is the other camp in our organization... we have the greatest team of people to work with! It was a great time to learn about stuff and get to know the other people at that camp. Their cook is amazing! His name is Fernando and he cooks the most amazing food ever! We are currently working on the food situation at our camp.

We saw our first wild fire on the drive up... they closed the highway soon after we passed... we were almost consumed by one last night as we slept.... it was about 10 miles away... but we had no way of knowing cuz we have no TV, or radio cuz they are all in that GIANT WASTE OF SPACE MOVING TRUCK!!! Oh well, at least we have Alpacas for neighbors!

Oh, BE ON GUARD.... there is a movement in the works that my be hitting a mailbox near you.... it's the YOLIJWA TREASURE EXPLOSION! ... as we clean through years and years of just "special" TREASURES that have accumulated over the years... we have to get rid of it.. so what better way to get rid of it than to send it to the people we care about most - YOU!!!! The first items will be hitting the mail system this week, so be on guard! If you want to request to be hit by this explosion, feel free to email either of us and we will get you on the list! This is something NOT TO BE MISSESD!

K, battery is going to die on the laptop that is being operated on wireless internet at the White Rabbit coffee shop on Yucaipa Blvd. Until next time, watch those mailboxes - the first attack may just be on YOU!!!!

Yolijwa-Livin'

Since we’ve had many requests from foreign dictators, former first ladies, and Insert Your Name Here to end the blogging holdout, once again we’ll hop on the blog-train. Enjoy the ride. (By the way, we're having technical diffuculties with picture posting--we'll try to do better next time!)

As the missus sits next to me cranking out a Sudoku puzzle, I’ll attempt to recall the highlights of our last month or so. From here on out, we should be frequent visitors to the blogging party.

We are in California and have been for about a week and a half now. It was tough to leave South Dakota after a summer that went by much too quickly. Of course, it’s always difficult to leave things you love—in our case, family, friends, and Taco Johns.

We stayed long enough to catch the annual Rosholt Threshing Bee. If you have a fascination with tractors and glimpses of yesteryear, the Bee is for you. I suggest you hop on a flight to Fargo next August to experience how the Bee can bring you a more full and happy life.

We then made a stop in Pierre (pronounced peer…not because it should be, but because South Dakotans are stubborn and want to pronounce words—including French names—the way they want to, says my friend and Lando-proclaimed South Dakota historian Nurse Ann Skoglund…who by the way, gave us the best state capitol tour on the planet earth). My brother was riding in the state rodeo. It’s the most interesting, fun, exciting, horrifying, and prayer-ful eight seconds I know of.

It was a good start to our journey, but from there we still had nearly thirty hours of driving before reaching our destination of Oak Glen, California. We broke it up by staying with my friend Todd in Cheyenne, WY. He got married on the same day as Jessica’s brother, so it was our first chance to meet his wife and new family—It was so great to connect with them.

Then came the highs and lows of our journey. The highs were seeing the beauty of states like Wyoming and Utah (especially Utah). The lows were realizing that once the beauty factor wears off, you still have six more hours of driving through the exact same landscape until you reach the next state. It’s a bit like listening to a James Taylor CD that has a skip for 360 minutes. It could be much worse; it could be Air Supply.

We arrived in Cali all safe and sound—surrounded by the beauty of the mountains, peacocks, and bear poop. The only thing missing was our stuff. We are of the nomadic tribe that acquires too much stuff to take with on every move, so must store said stuff at a parents’ dwelling. Since October of last year, ninety percent of our personal items have been stored in Syracuse with Jaca’s parents. (In case you weren’t a geography major or graduate of the fifth grade, NY and CA aren’t near each other.)

Our 600 cubic feet of items left New York safely, but by the time we arrived on the West Coast, was no where to be found. It was supposed to be here over a week ago and then later guaranteed to be here this week. At this point, I’d think about placing a bet that I’ll find Jimmy Hoffa before I find my television, but they are now guaranteeing we’ll have everything here at the end of next week.

Right now all we have are some things we brought from South Dakota and a bed we purchased at Ikea. It’s pretty cool. It’s round—a bit Austin Powers meets Martha Stewart. If you visit, we’ll be happy to show it off, as there really is nothing else to show you.

We’ve spent the last week painting with the help of Jaca’s mom who flew out to assist us in the unpacking of our nonexistent boxes. We’ve begun to explore the area around here a little bit when we aren’t mopping bathroom floors because of flooding toilets and looking for reasons our ceiling is leaking on us. Most of all, we are excited to be settled again and jump into the rushing current of camp life.

We’ve plenty of room—you’re welcome anytime (well, most of you anyway.)