Houston > Dallas > El Paso > Los Angeles > Redding > Portland

Tuesday, January 15, 2007 - I stayed with my roomies Greg and Melissa in Dallas for a couple days while I attended some meetings at work. While in Dallas, I had possibly the worst canine experience of my life. On Friday I was at Greg and Mel's putting my socks on. Their dogs, Rando and Tough Guy, thought it would be fun to chase around the socks as I put them on, so I humored them and teased them with the sock a little. I remember Greg telling me a few months back that Tough Guy isn't the most accurate dog when going for a toy, and that he can chomp down on your finger if you're not careful. I wish I would have remembered this. So at one point, the sock I guess was in front of my jeans. Tough Guy apparently had enough of this little game and was simply determined to take the sock from me. He flew across the room, he overshot and his mouth went right past the sock, and he chomped down on my finger. If only this were the worst part. As I said, the sock was, um, let's say, right in front of the zipper of my jeans. And let's just say that his momentum carried him forward and he didn't stop his bite on my finger. I felt like I was in Something About Mary. Tough Guy chomped down on a part of a me that no dog should ever be near, and he didn't let go for a couple seconds. He drew a little blood. I was not happy with Tough Guy on Friday.

I drive 10 hours to El Paso on Saturday and stayed with cuzzie and Monique; it just so happened to be Monique's birthday so we all went out and had a blast. I drove 10 hours Sunday to Los Angeles, then about 8 hours to Redding, CA on Monday. This drive turned out to be beautiful, as I was eventually surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides of me; yet there was lush, green grass everywhere. Monday night I went to Chipotle to get some betterish fast food, and ended up talking to a couple guys in line that are currently getting their Masters in Theology. They suggested a school in Portland that I need to check out (George Fox university). Tuesday, I passed through Mt. Shasta and Lake Shasta - this was completely unexpected land that was absolutely beautiful. The elevation of I-5 at this point was 3,000 feet, but the peak of Mt. Shasta is 14,000 feet.. This was a striking site while driving down the road.

And now, I am back in Portland.. Ana comes back tomorrow, and I can't wait to see her. I had no idea what to expect on my pacific trek, but it worked out quite well. I have no idea what to expect going forward here either, but I can't wait to find out.

The weenis monger on the left	Heaven shines on itself
Arriving in El Paso - the sun setting over Mexico	A heavy fog during my drive in Arizona
Redding	Lake Shasta
Lake Shasta	Driving up to Mt. Shasta
Driving up to Mt. Shasta	Mt. Shasta
Mt. Shasta	Mt. Shasta
Mt. Shasta

One chapter closed, another one opening...

Monday, January 7, 2007 - For those of you that don't know, I will be going back up to Portland. How long will I be there? Indefinitely. My car is just about packed right now, and I'll be leaving tomorrow night with a couple-day stop in Dallas for work and to see Greg and Mel.

As I prepare to leave, things seem to be falling into place.

Personally: I got a call from my lawyer today and was told that the divorce is now officially final!
Spiritually: I've been studying the Old Testament for about 2 years now, starting from the first book and reading until the last book. It's taken me a while, as I've been picking it apart by reading multiple commentaries for each book and doing plenty of research. I've also written about 130 pages of theological research. I can think of exactly where I was at different points in my life when I started reading certain books of the Old Testament over the last 2 years, but perhaps none will be as significant is this one.. I currently have 1 page left of the Old Testament before I begin researching the New Testament. Could it be any more symbolic? As I close the page on one chapter of my life, I start a new book.
Environmentally: Spoke with my cousin Jeff last night, and he and his wife Kira helped me for about an hour looking at different places to live. I thought I would have a somewhat financially hard time in Portland finding a place to live, but was shocked.. There are some killer places there that are cheaper than Dallas.

Right now it almost feels like I'm living a dream. I had certainly not expected all these blessings.

Before Ana and I left Portland in December, we came up with a list of things we wanted to do together. The list ranged from places in the world we wanted to travel, to teaching Ana how to snowboard, to teaching me how to dance some Brasilian dances .. Anyway the reason I re-iterate this is because I've created a new blog to chronicle some of these things we do. I'll still post a few things to this blog here and there, but once we are both back in Portland I'll probably mostly be posting to that new blog.

The new blogsite is: http://brentandbombshell.blogspot.com.

Thanks for following along with me in my travels.. It was definitely a help to know that there was, for reasons unknown to me, an audience with me the whole way. But I have a feeling there will be plenty more to come...