A Tale of Two States

It was the year of firsts, it was the year of lasts, it was the age of decision-making, it was the age of indecision, it was the epoch of arriving, it was the epoch of leaving, it was the season of sunshine, it was the season of overcast skies, it was the Spring of ending, it was the Fall of beginning, we had everything before us, we had everything behind us, we were all going direct to New York, we were all going direct from Montana--in short, the period was so full of change that a report on it must be received in the superlative degree of extremes only.

There was a green house with a front porch on the valley floor in Montana; there was a blue house with a back deck on the Allegany Plateau in New York. In both states it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the Yates household that things in general were about to change forever.

It was the year of our Lord two thousand and nine. Here we abandon Dickens since we are not detailing the bloody battle of two nations but merely the great changes in the Yates household over the past year (and because literary juices have been exhausted).

Lasts:
Last job interview for Rebekah (the interviews started in November 2008)
Last Easter picnic in Missoula
Last semester as a TA for Rebekah
Last semester as a student for Rebekah
Last six months in our first house
Last ride up Going to the Sun Road as Montana residents
Last degree completed for Rebekah
Last bike commute to school

Firsts:
First climb up to the M with the Johnson family plus the Yates parents
First time selling a house
First moving trip across the country
First time buying a house before seeing it
First semester as a full-time professor for Rebekah
First time living in a ski-in, ski-out house
First time living less than four hours from her sister for Rebekah since 1996
First walking commute to school
First anniversary divisible by five
First cross-country moving trip for Möbius (the cat)

In this year of many lasts and many firsts, we are grateful for the love and help of friends and family and the constancy of our God. While this is clearly not our first time celebrating the miracle of the Incarnation, we pray that we and you will again be awed by the wonder of God become human, dwelling among us, that we may see His Glory.

Merry Christmas!

Note: This post is still subject to editing and picture additions, but we're publishing it now so we can still call it a Christmas blog.

Möbius says "Merry Christmas!"

 

Anticipation

Though we were too lazy to incorporate a theme into the following pictures, anticipation was something we've experienced quite a bit this past year and will continue to experience in the coming year. We anticipate Rebekah finishing her degree in May 2009, so she spent a lot of time applying for jobs and interviewing this Fall (a process which will continue into January and February at least). We anticipate moving next summer when she does finish, and we anticipate God's guidance in the entire process.

During this season of Advent, as we anticipate the celebration of the birth of our Savior, we rest in God's great promise that He knows the plans He has for us as we seek Him in our lives. As we anticipate the challenges of the coming year, we glory in the mystery of the incarnation, of God come into our messy world as a human to draw us into relationship with Himself.

"The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned....
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." --Isaiah 9:2, 6

2008 in Pictures, Part 1

We started the year in Grass Valley at Ryan's parents house and then traveled to San Diego for the Joint Meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. We didn't just do math there, however.




Möbius was not impressed that we were gone from home for so long.


We celebrated Ryan's 27th birthday in late January. Until Rebekah's birthday in August, Ryan was a perfect cube and she was a perfect square.


In the late winter, Ryan was diagnosed with mononucleosis. Lovely swollen glands, aren't they?


We both played Ultimate in the Missoula Spring League and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, though Ryan's stamina was definitely affected by mono.


In late May, we drove to Grass Valley to be there for Ryan's grandparents (who moved there earlier this year) while Ryan's parents went to Phoenix for surgery on Ryan's dad's pancreas. Möbius usually hates the car, but she did quite well for three days.


We stopped at Multanomah Falls on the way,


camped at a state park on the coast,


walked on the beach,


toured the Tillamook cheese factory,


and stopped to take many, many pictures of the Pacific.


Möbius was very happy to have a break from the car the second night when we stayed with Jim Farrington, a Yates family friend, in the tiny town of Alsea, Oregon. We were glad for the break, too!




When we got to Grass Valley, Möbius thoroughly enjoyed the luxurious accomodations.



While there, we hiked part of the Pioneer Trail with Carol Douglas and Sam the dog.



On the way home, we had great views of the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho.

2008 in Pictures, Part 2

Rebekah's family came to visit in early July, so we went on a scouting trip to Glacier the week before they came since Glacier had significantly more snow than normal. You can see why Ryan usually doesn't give his wife the camera.


We didn't see any baby mountain goats due to the snow, so Ryan had to resort to taking pictures of people instead.



This is Rebekah's family's plane arriving--taken from our front porch. We're going to miss living three minutes from the airport when we leave Missoula!


And here are the obligatory animals in Glacier photos from our trip with Rebekah's family.





We had lived in Montana for four years and had never seen a grizzly (other than the stuffed one in the airport); Rachel and Doug saw three on their first time visiting us!


This old mountain goat seemed to have been quite hot in the previous week as he had shed his entire coat.


We ate,


hiked,


ate some more,


and posed for pictures.



In late July/early August, our friend and Ryan's coworker Michael came to visit the northern office of Autometrix. Of course, we took him to Glacier as well.


In August we celebrated Rebekah's birthday and her sister Rachel's birthday with her family and celebrated her grandmother's life with her dad's family at Grandmother's funeral.


We attended our 5-year reunion at Wheaton in October and even have an iconic Wheaton photo to prove it.


We stayed with our Wheaton friend Sarah and her husband Kyle and got to hang out with their daughter Elsa.


This Fall was really busy, so we didn't get around to taking many pictures. However, here's one final picture of Glacier from our trip Thanksgiving weekend during which we found out that we're winter camping wimps (it wasn't even freezing!).

In the Year 2007

As we finished 2006, we celebrated the Incarnation of our Savior, the wonder of God become man in order that we might be reconciled to Him. We delight in the truth of John's words: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, 'This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.') And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." (John 1:14-18) In the new year, we look forward to the new ways in which Christ will make God known to us as we seek Him!

In the first month of 2006

Ryan turned a quarter-century old.
We celebrated with a Coldstone ice cream cake.