A Perpetual State of Discovery

Moving On

2008-01-02T20:59:00.001-08:00

In case you still come by this page once in a while, you may have noticed a sudden decrease in posts. John and I have figured out that we both want our own little space on the internet. I mean, we may be married, but we both have our own ideas. You can find us both on Myspace expressing our own ideas and still managing to joke around from time to time. You can link to our pages from the list on the right, or you can just click on our links below.

Annie http://www.myspace.com/geofreak2050
John http://www.myspace.com/thejohn22

A Day on the Farm

2007-04-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we finally visited Soil Born Farm Urban Agriculture Project in Sacramento. It was their "A Day on the Farm" event, and although it was quite warm, we really had fun. Check out the photos on Flickr. We walked the grounds, said hello to the chickens, listened to a talk about herbs, and bought some heirloom tomatoes as well as organic cilantro, parsley, and thai basil. We met some passionate people and talked about issues of great importance. But, mostly we just marveled at the sheer audacity of these urban farmers. They insist on building and supporting a local food system amidst the urban jungle of asphalt, parking lots, traffic, and chain restaurants.

Some Big News!

2007-04-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Some things have come to light that we would like to share with everyone. As I wrote here before, John has completed his Bachelor's degree in Political Science. Many of you know about what happened at BevMo... the robbery... Since then, John has been searching quite a bit for his next "adventure." Somehow he keeps returning to his need to serve and protect. Ahaaaa!! The CHP has found him. After a lot of discussion and figuring out how this might affect our lives, we both agree.... "Wow, I think this is it!" At least for a while. John will begin a long testing phase in late April. After they find him to be "psychologically sound," he goes off to the CHP Academy for 6 months of military-style training (too cool, Brewster!). But, it could take a year before he gets accepted. In the mean time, John has all kinds of ideas for how to prepare for this kind of thing. Neighborhood watch, ride alongs, community service, etc. I'm so proud of my man so eager to protect everyone as he protects me.

Wish him luck!!

Love, Annie

Annie's Birthday Weekend

2007-03-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for sending me so much love on my birthday weekend. I awoke Saturday morning with my annual birthday serenade from my dad; an unforgettable tradition that never fails to make me feel special. John took me out to dinner to my most favorite restaurant, Latitudes. I enjoyed Shrimp and Lobster and finished with Tiramisu and coffee. Shantell brought over a book to help me write all about myself...how wonderfully indulgent!! Shirley sent me a new exercise balance ball that I love!! I cannot keep off this thing. It sits in my living room where I can arch my back over it every chance I get. It has already improved my back and neck pain along with helping my posture. I can’t wait to get in the groove with the exercise DVD she sent with it. I should be in shape in no time.

Sunday, Aaron joined John and me for a leisurely hike along the Cosumnes River Preserve. This was a fantastic way to begin spring. You can see all the pictures on Flickr and read about how a sprig of Stinging Nettle flung itself in the middle of the path then lurched forward to grasp my thumb and forefinger only to deliver a powerful stinging OUCH!! Well...something like that. At least I will never forget what this plant looks like. I have been painfully reminded to be cautious around unidentified flora.

All and all, I feel thoroughly welcomed to my 36th year. I look forward to what’s in store for me.

Love, Annie

Community

2007-03-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

For many reasons, Annie and I have really been itching to get more involved in our community and to more fully align our actions with our values. We have so many plans for our house and our yard. To name a few: ripping out the toxic carpet and polishing and/or staining the concrete; removing the wasteful, pointless lawn and planting an edible landscape in its place. But, we know that to truly feel whole, we need to connect with our community and to share our ideas and learn from others.

With that in mind, we went to a "volunteer orientation" meeting last night for Soil Born Farm Urban Agriculture Project. Please check out their website. It's difficult for either of us to imagine a single group that is doing a more important variety of work in our community. And with all they do, it's no surprise that they have plenty of need for volunteers!

We are pleased that the word "sustainability" seems to be on everyone's lips these days, and that the City of Sacramento's "Sustainability Agenda" has begun to take shape. The problem is, not enough people are talking about food and sustainable communities in the same breath. Health, or the lack thereof (and really, what is more important?), is intimately tied to where we get our food. Are we the only ones absolutely aghast at the speed and the intensity at which our obesity epidemic has already begun to devastate our population (especially our kids)?

The point for us is that we are going to jump into this opportunity with both feet. We look forward to it being a mutually-beneficial relationship!

Love, John

Our Valentine's Day 2007

2007-02-15T17:49:00.000-08:00

Annie is currently taking another class in her admirable quest to earn a Green Building & Sustainable Design Certficate from the UC Davis Extension. She had to work on a paper on Valentine's Day, so we kept it simple. John prepared a quick, healthy dinner of Grilled Dover Sole with Grapefruit-Banana Salsa and Green Beans. (The recipe called for Halibut, but it wasn't available). Anyway, it turned out pretty good! See the photos. Then we exchanged gifts, enjoyed a little TV (Medium was great!), and it was a nice, relaxing Valentine's Day! We miss you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

We're Still Alive!

2007-02-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already well into the second month of 2007! We've been so busy with other things, and our blog has been badly neglected. As you can see, it's a little more colorful around here. I think our old design was getting a bit stale and lifeless.

The holidays were pretty normal almost all the way to the end. Click for the photos. Then, on the night before New Year's Eve, the store I work at (BevMo in Stockton) was robbed at gunpoint. No one was hurt, but I decided (with help from Annie) that it just wasn't worth it for me to stay in a situation like that. They will be robbed again. It's only a matter of time. So, long story short, I quit the retail scene, and I am currently looking for a new job!

I'm looking for just about anything that gives me weekends and holidays off so that I can spend that time with Annie. We have enjoyed that for the last couple of weekends. We worked in the garage, we went to the Home & Landscape Expo, and we cooked meals together. Also, my mom came down from Oregon for a nice visit. We really missed her! I have also been spending quite a bit of time with our niece and nephew Alexys and Aaron. Shantell has taken a part-time job, and we love helping out with watching the kids. They are growing up so fast and getting so smart! They really are a miracle in our lives.

That's all I can think of right now. We promise to blog more... Stay tuned!

Love, John

Giving Thanks

2006-11-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

On thursday, Annie and I will get together with family and friends at Shantell's house for a day of feasting and of giving thanks. We had originally planned to make the entire feast from organic and local ingredients, but as the guest list grew, we knew we had to let other people help by bringing anything they could. It is our first time cooking a holiday feast for anyone, and it was becoming a bit overwhelming!

One thing hasn't changed. I will be in charge of preparing the turkey. I just picked her up from our local co-op, and she is pretty big! (I had to clean out a bunch of beer from the fridge to make room). She is one of "Heidi's Hens," and she came from Diestel Turkey Ranch in Sonora, California. I included the link because I thought you might like to meet the family who raised our bird, and maybe learn a bit about what makes her special. Now for the hard part: not screwing it up! Wish me luck!!!

Love, John

Our First Wedding Anniversary

2006-10-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

For our first wedding anniversary, we decided to do something a bit different. We planned a trip to Taos, New Mexico for an Earthship building seminar. What's an Earthship?? Well, I think we tried to explain it once before, but let us refresh your memory. In a time where energy and water are fast becoming expensive resources, we need to find a way to conserve and try our best to live with the graces nature gives us and not use it all up. So, an Earthship helps us do that and we can still live comfortably. To put it more bluntly; we want to build an Earthship and live in it so that when -blank- hits the fan, we don't find ourselves in deep -blank- ;-) And it's good for the environment too.

visit: http://www.earthship.co.uk/video/index.htm For an 11 minute video of how an Earthship works.

Our trip was exactly what we needed. above is a picture of John learning how to plaster a wall with adobe. Way cool!! (why don't more of us know how to do this?) We both came back to the "real" world (what's real and what's not are questionable) with ideas of how we can start putting this plan into action. It's really not that far fetched for those of you rolling your eyes right about now.

We also had time to visit the adorable town of Taos along with the Rio Grande Gorge. We spent some much needed quality time together and talked about our future plans together. We make a great team! It's been a fantastic first year together.

Community Garage Sale

2006-09-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

The task of getting organized can be overwhelming when you have so much stuff, so little space, and no focus. We've decided that we can't organize anything else in the house utill we clean out the garage. So, last weekend, we filled up my little RAV4 and Johns Pick-up with a bunch of stuff that's just been sitting in the garage for...hhhmmmrrrr...years. we took it to our annual community garage sale. We arrived at the location at 6:30am. Before we could even finish unloading, our stuff was already selling. We haggled a little for this and that, but mostly just enjoyed the people from our community. We sold everything except a box of odds and ends by 10:00am. Feeling a bit hungry, we decided to pack up and head out to breakfast. The result, We spent $30 for the spot and made $130 on the sale. Not bad for clearing out the garage. The best deal of the day: I sold my favorite rattlesnake sculpture (looks like a real baby rattlesnake) to a 7 year old boy for 50 cents. He was so excited and assured me that this rattlesnake was in good hands. Getting rid of things can be hard, but it's nice to know when it goes to someone who will appreciate it.

-Annie

Syncronicity

2006-08-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

I am so happy John is finished with school. Now he gets to enjoy reading all those books he's been meaning to get to. It's so fun to share together what we learn. Yesterday was a great example of the syncronicity of our lives together and our shared interests.

For breakfast, I read to John a paragraph from the book I am reading: "Cadillac Dessert, The American West and It's Disappearing Water" By: Marc Reisner
“When archaeologists from some other planet sift through the bleached bones of our civilization, they may well conclude that our temples were dams. Imponderably massive, constructed with exquisite care, our dams will outlast anything else we have built –skyscrapers, cathedrals, bridges, even nuclear power plants. When forests push through the rotting streets of New York and the Empire State Building is a crumbling hulk, Hoover Dam will sit astride the Colorado River much as it does today - intact, formidable, serene.”

At bedtime, John read to me a caption from his book: "Fast Food Nation" By: Eric Schlosser
“…And should Armageddon come, should a foreign enemy someday shower the United States with nuclear warheads, laying waste to the whole continent, entombed within Cheyenne Mountain, along with the high-tech marvels, the pale blue jumpsuits, comic books, and Bibles, future archeologists may find other clues to the nature of our civilization – Big King wrappers, hardened crusts of Cheesy Bread, Barbeque Wing bones, and the red, white, and blue of a Domino’s pizza box.”

Interesting that we would come across a reflection of the possible remnants of our society in the same day.

Changes

2006-08-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I just wanted to update you on some goings on in our lives. I finally completed my degree (yay!), and I wanted to say "thank you" again to all of you for sending me good thoughts this past Spring. In addition to my regular job, this Summer I have been interning at a legislative research firm for a few hours in the mornings. It's pretty boring so far, but I am at least meeting people.

Recently, Annie and I have discussed our dreams and plans, and that has lead us to look inward. We had been concentrating so much on moving somewhere else that it became the focus, instead of the focus being our daily lives together and our life's purpose. Although they are not perfect, we like our city, and we love our home. We are looking forward to making our home more livable, more efficient, and more comfortable (starting with the garage!!!) And we are also looking forward to helping to make our community a better, more sustainable place to live.

Bye for now,
-John

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-06-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

Everyone should see this movie! I was very moved and motivated to make a change. I hope you will be too.

Dream Big

2006-05-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

Now that we've been married for several months, we're beginning to plan our dreams. Step 1: our dream home. Take a look at an investigation into what could be our dream.

Photo courtesy of "Curious Totem's" visit to Blue Rock Station, Ohio

This is called an Earthship. They are an amazing structure that:
• Heat and cool themselves naturally via solar/thermal dynamics.
• Collect their own power from the sun and wind.
• Harvest their own water from rain and snow melt.
• Contain and treat their own sewage on site.
• Produce a significant amount of food.
• And are constructed using largely the byproducts of modern society; like cans, bottles and tires.

John and I are Flying to Taos New Mexico for our anniversary this year to attend a Seminar. This seminar is a hands on introduction on how to build these homes. We have much research to do before the seminar including reading 4 books written by the architect/visionary, Michael Reynolds who invented the buildings. We are so excited and I think this is by far the coolest thing we've ever thought about doing.

Photos Posted

2006-05-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

We reviewed all 900 photos. It took forever, but we think we have the best posted. If you haven't found them yet, they're on our flickr photo site. We broke them out into 3 sets to make them easier to look through: Our Wedding day, Our Wedding Formals, and Our Wedding Reception. Remember, if you want to download any of the pictures for printing. View the picture, then find the link to view all sizes. Choose the largest size for the best resolution.

Enjoy!!

Official Wedding Photos! (Finally)

2006-04-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally got our official wedding photo CDs, after various delays (you don't want to hear about it). It will take a while for us to review all 900 (!) of them before we post any on flickr. But here's one we like.

Our Oregon Road Trip

2006-04-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well, many of you probably don't even know it, but Annie and I drove to Oregon for her Birthday and for my Spring Break. We were there the last week in March, and I am just now getting around to uploading the photos to Flickr and blogging about it. (And Tom is beating himself up about not being able to upload their Florida trip photos WHILE they are there!)

Anyway, we had a lot of fun! We visited my mom and stepdad (Shirley and Dave) in Waldport, joining in on a statewide beach clean-up day while we were there. We also visited the cities of Newport, Lincoln City, Pacific City, Salem, and Portland. View our trip. Annie and I had never been to Salem or Portland before, and we really enjoyed our short time there. We were very lucky with the weather (in Oregon), as it pretty much just sprinkled/showered off and on, and the sun even came out occasionally. And spectacularly, the Spring blossoms exploded all over the place right before we got there! View the photos.

The ride home got a little more "interesting" than we would have preferred, with a friendly little snow storm welcoming us back to the Golden State. Annie did a fantastic job of driving, though, and obviously we made it home safe and sound.

Almost There!

2006-04-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much, everyone, for your kind words of encouragement (even you, Shantell). I didn't get the A's I was trying for, but I did pretty well. It just means that I will be going to school for a couple more months. It will pass in a flash.

I want to give a special "Thank you" to my wife Annie. You have always stood by my side and given me the support I needed. Thank you so much for believing in me and in our dreams...

Love, John

You CAN Do It JOHN!!

2006-03-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a long time since our last post. We have both been busier than ever. John especially deserves many kudos for his hard work over the past few months. He is currently enrolled in 2 classes at UC Davis and working 40 hours a week! He has not had a single day off since January. He is now down to the last 2 weeks at UC Davis. If he gets A's in both of his classes, he gets to graduate. Not only that, he will earn the degree he has been fighting for.

Unfortunately everyone, John is getting discouraged. Can we blame him? He's not sure he'll make those 2 A's....Poor John. It really is no big deal if he doesn't make the grade, but that means 12 more weeks of this gruelling and unforgiving schedule. I say this man needs a break...besides, I miss him...don't you?

Let's get together family and friends and give John the encouragement he needs. Post here, send him e-mail, visit his yahoo 360. Whatever you can do, he needs our support. Let's all say loudly now, "YOU CAN DO IT JOHN!!"

Breakfast Philosophy

2006-01-31T12:00:00.000-08:00

"What people do not understand, they do not value; what they do not value, they will not protect; and what they do not protect, they will lose."
- Charles Jordan

John and I try to have breakfast together every day. This has become a ritual and, it's very important for the both of us. For me, it's soul food and helps inspire me throughout the day. During our breakfast we talk about the many things that are important to us. John and I mostly agree on philosophies of life, but that does not change the need to discuss these philosophies and share ideas so that we fully understand them.

This morning our topic of discussion was the concept of "They." The concept of "They" is no trivial thing and definitely worthy of discussion. Consider how complex our activities are and how little we understand them. We plug in our microwave and "They" supply the power to cook our food. We turn on the tap and "They" supply clean water. How lucky we are that we can rely on "Them" to supply us with this magic. While our everyday lives become ever filled with trivial things, our society becomes ever complex. We must swim through a sea of details to fully understand what it is that "They" do. In the midst of this dizzying display of things to understand, it's easier to choose from a vast array of escapist activities, and that's what most of us do. And when something goes wrong with our water supply or power, it's "Them" we have to blame. It's no wonder there are so many fingers pointing in infinite directions. Who's "They?" What are "They" doing? We must ask the question: Who's responsible?

There is so much more to this conversation than I can write in this one entry, but John and I both would love to hear your thoughts. We think this to be a worthy dialog of discovering responsibility in a whole new light. For now, John and I are doing small things to fulfill our role in the sea of "They." Our talk this morning solidified our position that any conception of "Them" must include us. There is no real distinction. We are attempting to swim that sea of complexity and understand where the magic comes from. We watch less TV. We try to get to the bottom of issues in sometimes very tiring discussions. Every day we try to learn what we can do to become more involved in our community. Right now, our community is our family and friends. So, today we share with you our discussion over breakfast.

HELP!!!

2006-01-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

Forget the War on Terrorism for a moment... We're under attack!... from ANTS!!! They're in the kitchen, the bathrooms, the shower, the sinks, the tubs, the closets, the cat food, the cat box (ugh), from the ceiling to the carpet, they're everywhere! AHHHHH!!!

We're Still Alive!

2006-01-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

If we don't start writing in this space more often we'll have to find a tumbleweed motif for it. We've just been busy with stuff: John's promotion moved him to the Stockton store, so his commute is 40 minutes instead of 5 minutes. He doesn't like having to commute so far, but things are going well at work. He is also in school again, trying to get that degree finished, once and for all. Also, please visit his new page on Yahoo 360.

Annie is working hard as well, but is comforted in knowing that she has figured out what she ultimately wants to do with her life. Things are progressing for us, we are trying to be more involved in our community, and we are talking more and more about starting a family. We hope you all are well.

Christmas 2005 is in the Bag

2005-12-29T10:57:00.000-08:00

We had a nice, low-key Christmas this year. We had a Christmas party at Mom and Ed's on the 17th. I think everyone had a great time despite the rain, and the kids made out like bandits as usual. Annie went to Shantell's on Christmas Eve (I had to work), but she forgot the camera, so no photos of that. On Christmas Day it was just the two of us. We didn't get to spend any time with my side of the family, and I guess that's okay for our first Christmas as a married couple, but I sure miss them. Here's to new beginnings in the New Year. Love, John

Honeymoon In Fiji

2005-12-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

It's been nearly two weeks since we returned from our honeymoon in Fiji. Many of you have already checked out the photos, but there are so many, it has taken a while to title them. We know there are so many to look at, but we wanted to capture our adventure as best we could to share with you when we came back. Unfortunately we could not capture the most spectacular views of our honeymoon under water. The Snorkeling in Fiji is like no other place in the world. Most soft coral reefs have been permanently destroyed. However, in Fiji thay exist largely like no one has ever set foot there. To put it simply, Fiji is the place you imagine when you say "I wish I were stranded on a deserted island."

We can't even begin to thank everyone who helped make this adventure possible for us. The very least we can do is share our journey. Enjoy the photos!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt

2005-12-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

AS mentioned, we have created a new blog. Annie has been going through the long process of changing her name to Schmidt, so it didn't make sense to have a blogspot with "annlowe" in the address any longer. We also wanted to have a blog together so we could keep everyone updated as we begin our new family.