Archive - 2009

Just a note that the Borneo videos are now posted. I made a 30-minute compilation movie that I've split into less-than-ninety-second chunks, highlighting the most interesting stuff.

You can check them out here: Borneo videos

I've also grouped the photos and these videos together, available here: Borneo 2009

If you have a Flickr Pro (i.e., paid) account, you can watch in full HD, too!

So as you probably have noticed, we haven't posted here in a coon's age. It's a combination of two things -- one, we haven't traveled quite as much since landing in Portland (at least not on holiday) and two, we spent less than a year actually looking for a home before falling in love with Portland and putting down some roots.

That said, we are still doing a ton of stuff on weekends up and down the Willamette Valley, plus I've probably been on 30+ individual airplanes this year for business travel, so I want to start posting here again.

Also, we just got back from BORNEO. Yes, Southeast Asia. We finally managed a real vacation and had a ton of fun in northern Borneo, i.e., Malaysia. You can check out the pictures at the link below.

I've also made a 30-minute video that's quite good (if I do say so myself) that I hope to dice up and put online soon. It covers 90% of the actual wildlife that we saw as well as a lot of the culture that we took in. As a teaser, we saw orangutans, crocodiles, macaques, hornbills, probiscus monkeys, otters, and so much more -- in the wild, no less.

So, feel free to give a shout out if you're still reading here. I'm curious if we've actually retained an audience.

• Borneo pictures

The snow descended on Oregon and the holidays happened. This year we spent the season in Connecticut with my family and was able to persuade Russ and Jaci to join us. We flew out on Christmas day, with amazingly no problems considering what had been happening at the airport because of snow. We had already planned on moving the holidays around a little to make it work with the flights.

Christmas Day:
Russ and Jaci were kidnapped and whisked away to New Hampshire, but don't worry too much, they join us again later. My family finally got a chance to get together, when Marc, KC and brood came over for dinner. Lots of fun was had playing with playdough and watching Leena walk all over the place. They are growing so fast, I could barely recognize my niece she has grown so much.

Christmas Eve:
The main event of my family's holiday meals. And this year we had a lot of help. Russ, Jaci, Gwen, Nicole, Justin and I were set with the mission of preparing and serving Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone did an excellent job. Justin made a menu. Russ, Jaci and Justin cleaned and cut the squid. Nicole made fantastic salads and soups. Gwen and I rolled a lot of pork products, and set the longest table ever in my parents dining room. Everyone helped to cook, fry and serve the many courses. And as it happened my parents were both working so that they only had to show up later and be served dinner, I get the funny feeling that they may have planned it that way. Also at dinner was Grandma, who gave the nod of approval to the fried fish, Nicole's parents and brother and dogs! Even if I don't eat most of the meal, it was exactly how I feel holiday dinner should be: lots of food, friends and family at the table.

New Years:
Following the gorging of Christmas Eve, we then were off to MA to the Home for New Years. We stayed for 3 nights in the Berkshires and had a great time. More good times with friends and tasty food and games, just what a vacation is supposed to be. New Years Eve was a full house with the Wallace clan, Gwen, Nicole, Kareene, Russ, Jaci, Brian, Nate, Justin and I. We partook in the traditional yankee swap, Celebrity (of course) and toasted in the New Year. It even snowed on New Years Eve, so the place was very pretty blanketed in white. Later on we tried some letterboxing, and we were successful in finding 1 of 2 boxes. I know we would have gotten them all, if it wasn't for the cold, but we will find Cleopatra Watkins next time.

The week went by way too quickly. And soon we were back in CT to get our flight back home. No major issues getting home (we got home at least) but it did take a lot longer than expected due to a 2 hour delay in Chicago. On the other hand, we did fly back in first class, so it wasn't too bad.

I hope everyone else had a lovely holiday. I was bummed that we didn't get a chance to see everyone while we were home. Just means we are going to have to go back again really soon.

• Michelle's pictures
• Justin's pictures