Nick Vann, LEED A.P.

I am proud to announce that my amazingly talented, dashingly handsome, exceptionally intelligent, earth-loving, God-fearing husband, Nick Vann, is now an official LEED AP. What is a LEED AP? I'm so glad you asked. Well, lets start from the top:

"The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. It is a third party certification program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings...." (http://www.usgbc.org/)

So in other words, it takes a holistic approach to building buildings efficiently, healthfully and with low impact. Due to my little education in this area, I can't convey the multitudes of amazing things this means, but a few things are using passive solar, no VOC paints and renued resources during construction. Actually, the overall idea is super cool: LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

They focus on all types of building:

So...it makes me wonder why all buildings aren't built with those same performance goals? Ah well...that is a different blog...for now we shall stick with Nick.

For years Nick has been wanting to become an Accredited Professional (AP) in LEED. The test is a gnarly, in depth, tricky little bugger but after hours upon hours upon hours of studying, he finally committed and took the test yesterday. I mean you should see the manual...I kept on confusing it for the phone book. This accreditation will be tremendously useful for Nick's job now at David Evans and Associates (DEA) and for the years to come. As the "earth friendly" trend continues to grow, and will one day become a standard, it will hopefully prompt builders and developers to turn to DEA looking for the professionals in this area. As of now, Nick is the only LEED AP in the Bellingham office. A tremendous triumph and blessing, as sustainability and green buildings is one of Nick's deepest passion.

I wanted to thank you all who were praying for him throughout this process...it was beyond helpful to know that there was a band of prayer going out for him...and the Lord answered, as He always does. So thank you and congrats to Nick! I am so proud!

Leavenworth - Birthday Camping '08

Levi hanging with the ladies...Momma (Jess) and Kristen

A few weekends ago, Nick and I and a few friends headed east of the mountains to celebrate he and Art's birthday. Leavenworth brought great adventures and many hours of relaxing around the campground and town. We lucked out and got two sites next to each other; one site designated for the families with children, the other site for the families without children. Guess which site got more sleep??? We spent the morning chilling around the fire chatting...then the afternoon rock climbing, biking or sleeping by the river. It was wonderful fun to hang with a group of awesome people. I did find it rather ironic that we were celebrating Art's 25th birthday and Nick's 35th. I guess it just proves that you are as old as you make yourself to be!

Andi taking a shot at rock climbing:

Art and Ryan deep in focused consentration during an intense game of horseballs at the campsite:

Annabelle trying to understand why her daddy is blocking her shot:

Nick enjoying the scene and fueling up after a very intense and HOT 4 mile climb on his bike to get to Xanadu trailhead:

A Texan in B-Ham

This past week, Nick's brother, Matt, blessed us with his presence at our home in Bellingham. Matt was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and still resides there...working hard as a Department Manager at Office Depot and spending his free time in the "saddle," but not on a horse...on his road bike. After our visit down there in April, Matt decided it was finally time to pay us a visit.

Upon his arrival, it was great fun to watch Matt take in all the great North West has to offer (his first time to Washington, EVER). From tall evergreens lining the freeway to "there's snow on that mountain!"...I could tell this was going to be a whole new experience for him. We walked 100 miles around Seattle, and showed him life in a big, face paced city. From the Space Needle to Pike Place Market to the waterfront...we saw it all.

Then we helped him recover from all the cars, people and steep streets by heading back up to Bellingham to show him just why we live here. Since both Nick and I worked during the daytime, we encouraged Matt to hop on one of our bikes and explore the city Bellingham-style. In between his explorations we enjoyed fabulous lunches together and had some good laughs. One afternoon even got to take him raspberry picking with me...something new for him. He was quite the helper.

The evenings were much more packed. Nick and I, of course, had to show him our favorite thing about Bellingham: Galbrieth Mountain. We hit up both sides (Ridge and Galbrieth Lane) on two different occasions. Though the uphill was a bit challenging for him (remember - San Antonio is FLAT), he tore it up on the downhill...Bob's was nothin'!

We also had a chance to hit up Mt. Baker on his last full day here. Late in the day, we headed up to Yellow Aster Butte (same place Nick and I got engaged) for a hike. With night and heavy cloud cover creeping in fast, we weren't able to make it to the top....but close enough to once again show Matt the majesty of this land. He was astounded to see so much green, steep hills: "when does it end???", and snow in July! Matt hadn't been in snow since 1997.

And once again, in true Matt fashion, he did a fantastic job keeping up with his crazy hosts, who crammed as much activity into one day as humanly possible.

I am sure that Matt is enjoying his relaxing plane ride home, but we hope that he had a great time and now he has a better perspective of how the Vann's roll in Washington!

Just a little side note...one of my favorite moments of his visit was him texting his friend a picture of our thermometer. San Antonio ranges from 95 to 100 degrees everyday, by 10am. It was 60 degrees here, all day... funny how we can take what we have for granted.

Mossyrock Camping Trip

Last weekend was another Lopez Family Gathering (we try to do this once a month), and it was Ami and Matt's time to plan the trip. We headed to MossyRock, Washington (a few miles off of Highway 12E) for a weekend of camping in the great outdoors! It was wonderful to kick back and relax Lopez style...firepit going 24/7, competing games of horseballs and many hours laying in the sun by the lake. Mom provided the best dinner ever (as usual) as well a brand new camper trailer that sleeps 6, has a table, stove and sink. Yeah...that's how we roll - check it out in the background of photo above. The weather was moderate - cloudy in the AM, but burned off by 12 each day. We walked, biked, swam and ate smores...needless to say it was worth the drive down there. Family is always good for my soul.

Nick and his brother, Matt, from Texas, playing a highly competitive game of Horse Balls.

Mom...soaking up the rays.

Dad and Ami on the "floaties" getting in some good bonding time.

Matt (brother in law #1), making the plunge in the freezing cold, but beautiful lake.

"A Year Later" Housewarming Party

Last weekend we had a little house warming gathering. It was great fun! Sunny skies, kids running in and out of the house (a rare occurrence in the Vann household) and friendly faces that truly made our house "warm." My parents even made it up for the event. I was feeling a bit under the weather that day, but managed to take 2 photos...yep that's right; I am such a natural. Ah well...there will be times in the future.

Nick busted out his balloon artistry skills for the kiddos. Taylor Norris was very excited to show his mom the tiger with a head in his belly.

He even did a few for the big kids...friend Kevin and his side-kick, Parrot.

Father's Day Weekend

Ami and her sassy pinkness

Nick and I headed to Steilacoom for the weekend to celebrate Father's Day with the Lopez clan. I think I will start calling it a Bed and Breakfast/Retreat Center for the simple reason of that is exactly what it is. My parents provide a warm and comfortable home, with an agenda of recreation and play and more delicious food than I could possibly consume (although, I think I hold my own quite well).

This year, my amazingly giving father seemed to have gotten the Father's Day role switched, because instead of expecting to receive gifts, he gave them. He purchased kayaks for all 6 members of the family with the intent that this will be added to the Lopez recreation list of options. We were beyond thrilled by the newest mode of exportation and headed down to the Puget Sound (the launching pad is 2 blocks from my parents home) for a test run. We paddled to a small island about 2 miles away, worked on our tan on the beach, paddled around the island, and then headed home. It was a glorious 4 hour adventure (not to mention the sore arms), giving us all a new perspective of the town that is near and dear to our hearts. Kayaking is the true definition of "water view." We even got a little play time with some seals; water dogs.

I am so looking forward to the many more water trips to come...Lake Padden, Lake Whatcom and the bay of course!


Prepping for the venture down to the launch:


Matt and Dad (with the babe on board - Brea (yeah right...like she isn't going to come) floating round). Just as an FYI...my mother who prior to launching, fretted the paddling was soon 500 yards ahead of the group the whole time.

Enjoying the beach time...

...while dad is hard at work:

Local Produce

For the past 27 years of my life (aka, all of it) I have wanted a garden so badly. There is something so holistically beautiful about eating something that came out of the ground. This may sound so simple and common to you, but if you really think about it, it is amazing. From a tiny little seed growing to become a gigantic apple tree (I don't have an apple tree, but for the sake of an example, stay with me) that produces hundreds of apples a year...so fresh and crisp and straight from the earth! Something that you can watch grow and get excited about. Something that you know exactly where it came from and what is on it. Something that came out of DIRT...dirty, wormy, dark dirt. So cool. You still may not totally understand my awe, but that's ok, we all have our quarks.

Anyways, Nick and I have ventured into the garden to see what will grow. We aren't quite done planting yet, but I have already enjoyed and cooked with many of the herbs that we do have (except for the dill...the bugs/slugs apparently wanted it more badly that us). Keep in mind that neither of us have a green thumb, but we are excited to see what works and what doesn't. This year we plan to be feasting on:

Tomatoes

Raspberries, plus thyme, spicy and Italian oregano & sage

Mint and basil (the bugs like the basil, so we pulled them out of the ground and put them in pots)

Peas and Cumbers are coming soon...(oh and yes that is a toilet next to the shed. This will not be part of the garden, rather, it is making it's way to the restore.)

Squamish - The Land of Scrapes and Bruises

Over Memorial Weekend, Nick and I took a trip to Squamish, BC. For those of you unfamiliar with said recreational heaven...keep your eyes peeled during your next trip to Whistler. It is a beautiful little town filled with hundreds of miles of single track biking, various hiking trails and of course about a ba-zillion rock climbing routes. You know you are in Squamish when you see "Big Chief "...a HUGE wall of granite begging to be climbed upon (I leave that to the professionals and just sit in awe of the massiveness and scariness of such a big rock).
Our main goal was to explore the bike trails and enjoy each other's company. I am proud to say we accomplished both tasks! After 2 days of vigorous riding (not to mention pushing our bikes UP black diamond trails - dang those maps are hard to read) and total body exhaustion (ummmm, black diamond trials are meant to be ridden DOWN, not hiked up with bikes on shoulders) we were pleased with our new little recreation heaven. We plan on returning to further explore the trails and even get a little chalky, climbing on some rock.

Unfortunately, we sucked it up when it came to taking photos this time around, but I would like to share what we have:

We camped at Alice Lake...a pristine and quiet campground, perfect for us. But prepare yourselves; flushing toilets are not a commodity.

Every one in Squamish seemed to ride bikes...from people with HUGE rigs with 6 bikes in the back to oh so cute smart car.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Nick and I are part of a Monday night couple's group. Six of us couples gather together once a week at alternating homes and read through various books based on enriching our marriage and growing closer to God as a couple. It is an awesome time to gather in fellowship and learn. When we are in transition from finishing one book and choosing another, we usually use one Monday inbetween to play a little. In the past, board games have been busted out...dinners have taken place. But this time, in honor of Mindy and Brian's birthday, Cinco De Mayo and the sunny May weather...we took our gathering outside for a little healthy competion in a photo scavenger hunt. We invited a few close friends to gather with us, split up into three teams and attempted to finish the list in half an hour. I thought it would be fun to share a few of the creative (and rediculous) shots that came about from our little game.

Photo #1: Make yourselves appear really small

Team #1 Tiny, tiny people.


Team #2 Jason definatley takes the cake for being the smallest looking.

Team #3 Now, that is a creative shot!

A few honorable mention shots:


Photo: "Picture with someone in a uniform"

Photo: "Being public art"

Photo: "Reflection"

Photo: "Posing for a catalog"