Mama's got a brand new blog

En route to Ireland last weekend:  My beautiful wife Kathy is a good sport.  She lets me drag her anywhere!  Wanna hear her point of view?

Pardon the funky James Brown sacrilege of my title. This is an oh, so important announcement about something that broke loose during last week's trip to Ireland (link):

Kathy started her own blog! 

She's calling it The Hamilton 4.


Click on the link directly above, or type in this URL: www.thehamilton4.blogspot.com.

Here are the Top 5 reasons to keep up with Kathy's new blog:

5. Quality-  This one's obviously not a concern for this main site, Garth's Blog. Anyone could maintain a better blog than this one, right? Seriously, though, Kathy's got what it takes to be an excellent writer.

4. Family emphasis-  There's a reason why I only sparingly upload photos of our beloved Lena and Levi to Facebook that lack any adult context:  Kathy does such a thorough job of posting those photos herself! I highlight the milestones here on "Garth's Blog" (and feature pics of Lena and Levi in almost every post) but my focus is often more on the adventure-type stories that I would personally want to read. For almost everyone else we know, Kathy is the one who is more likely to let readers in on our everyday family life.

3. Spirituality-  The mainstream channel of "Garth's Blog" shoots mainly for lighthearted adventure and entertainment value, though I contribute more spiritually oriented (and sometimes controversial) content to my other blogs and around the web. In contrast, Kathy's inspiring faith in Christ is front and center in all of her writings.

2. The personal touch-  Kathy doesn't censor or tone down her emotions and convictions like I typically do on my main site. She tells it just like it is, with her heart on her sleeve.


And the #1 reason to follow Kathy at www.thehamilton4.blogspot.com is...

1. The amazing author-  Two words: Kathy Hamilton. Need I say more?


My Ireland travelogue from last week will be coming soon to Garth's Blog.  But today is St. Patrick's Day, and live Irish music is calling our names tonight.

No matter how many Irish bands we barge in on around town tonight, we'll try our best to not let THIS happen:

The Onion: Irish-Americans Gear Up For 'The Reinforcin' O' The Stereotypes'

From The Onion

Happy Saint Paddy's Day!!

Update from Ireland

Dublin, Ireland:  St. Patrick's Day celebrations spill out into the streets every night, even the week before.  Watch your step!

The past few days here in Dublin have been refreshing and festive for Kathy and I, but it's time for us to move on.  Kathy just boarded her flight back to New York an hour or so ago.  As a reward for her braveness to fly standby, Kathy will be flying home to the U.S. with a very cushy seat in the front of the plane!


As for myself, I'll soon be right behind her.  Lena and Levi are tugging at my heart!  But I have a quick stop or two to make on this side of the pond before I head home.  I'm over here anyway, right?  Nobody get your hopes up-- those of you in Europe whom I've cancelled visits with this week (circumstances were completely out of our control) will have to hold out a while longer.  As always, it will be worth the wait to see each of you again in your home countries!

Visits were planned for Belgium, Germany, Croatia, Italy, and Switzerland.  We even had some non-refundable bookings.  Being forced to change plans mid-journey isn't always cheap, and we owe some of our overseas friends BIG TIME for their understanding.


So how did we end up here in the U.K. instead?  Not to worry, I've been blogging via my phone about this current trip as we move through it.  I hope to start uploading those Ireland travelogues here as soon as I sort out the pics.

Stay tuned... this adventure ain't over yet!

Huge Anniversary: Celebrating the Big 1-5!

A surfing weekend at Seaside, OR to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary

15 years of marriage. How is that even possible? How did I find someone who could put up with me for 15 years?

Some guys are fortunate enough to marry out of their league. Clearly, I married out of my species.  It's hard to imagine anyone else on Earth that could tolerate my hyperactive and sometimes immature antics for as long as Kathy has.  Seriously, she deserves a medal!

Case in point:  Would any other wife allow me to drag her all over town on St Patrick's day (multiple gigs on a work night AND finals week, no less) as part of a 15th anniversary weekend that should be celebrating BOTH of our interests? I won't kid myself into thinking that Kathy appreciates late nights, loud music, and dancing as much as I do.

Don't worry, I delivered some more "Kathy friendly" anniversary surprises earlier (and coming up!)... hopefully that should make up for St. Paddy's night.  And Kathy's characteristics that make her such a wonderful wife and mommy will be featured in next month's "Mother's Day" blog post!

Baby Lena got in on the anniversary festivities last month, too!

Before unstrapping the surfboard, Daddy and Lena snuggle in the back seat at Seaside.

The more family oriented moments of our 15th anniversary celebration included a fun weekend at the beach in Seaside. Kathy and Lena played on the sand while Daddy surfed the waves.

At night, we sought refuge from the chilly Oregon coast weather with a seafood dinner at Dooger's and a relaxing soak in our hotel room's jetted tub.

**********

Admittedly, the day of our actual anniversary ended up being a romantic disaster that then morphed into one long library study session for Kathy.  None of my ideas to spice things up could salvage it.  Lena and I barely even got to see Kathy that day.


To top things off, Kathy was stuck at PCC taking finals while Lena and I went hiking on some nearby trails.

But Kathy was eager to put that day in perspective.  After all, why limit the Big 1-5 celebration to a single day when the fun can last all month long?



Happy 15th anniversary to the best wife ever, Kathy!!  I thank God for you every day.  You just made my last 15 years fly by like a week!

Coming next week on BlogSpot...

We conclude last month's story (link) from Milan, Italy!

And then...

Photos from the journey of Lena learning to walk!!