ABOUT ME
I'm gearing up for a short Europe trip with my mom after a six-year hiatus to write a book. I traveled extensively (41 total countries in 18 months) to research that work, which looks at singleness in the global church. I've now spent about 5 years in Anchorage, and enjoy helping people learn about the unique part of the world I've come to call home.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Looking for a more human/relational way to travel.

Interests

knitting, photography, travel, good conversation, cooking, cooking for my roommates, fishing recyclables from the trash, music, dancing, making guacamole, baking bread, running, biking, fixing stuff

• writing
• photography
• dancing
• cooking
• baking
• running
• traveling
• knitting
• music
• cycling
• backpacking
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC | Wow, not sure there's space for it all, and I never remember everything. By genre (what I own, anyway): Blues, jazz, crooners, classical, swing/big band, some musical soundtracks, some movie soundtracks, rock, classic rock, alternative, indie, Christian, Strauss waltzes, some electronica, some world, oldies, folk ... || BOOKS | Detective novels, especially Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter books, Tintin comics (Herge), Inside Out (Larry Crabb), Yearning (Barnes), much by Dan Allender but especially Cry of the Soul and Bold Love, my vegetarian cookbooks, knitting stitch encyclopedias, a good dictionary, Dictionary of Symbolism, a good atlas ... Well, you get the picture. || MOVIES | College (w/Buster Keaton), High Fidelity, Amélie, Much Ado About Nothing, anything w/Astaire & Rogers, White Christmas (family fave for the holidays ... and the guilty pleasures: Sleepless in Seattle, Bridget Jones Diary and Boyfriend School (who knew a mullet could actually look, um, semi-hot? Must be the crappy accent). || TV | Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Frasier, The Office, Letterman, sometimes Conan ||

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Discussed Django Reinhardt with Les Paul. Hiked into the (flatter) west end of the Grand Canyon, in the part run by an Indian nation, for an overnight backpacking trip.

Teach, Learn, Share

Fabulous guacamole: Halve 2-3 avocados (slightly mushy to the touch) into a bowl, scraping the fruit from the skin with a spoon. Skin can be composted, pit generally can't (similar to stone fruits). Squeeze juice of about 2 limes over the avocado and sprinkle liberally with salt. Coarsely chop 1-2 plum tomatoes and about 1/4 c. onion (I like to mince mine fairly small, so you don't bite into the chunks much. Mine 1 medium-sized jalapeno (more or less depending on your taste and preference for heat). Chop 1/4 to 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro. Combine everything in the bowl, using a fork to mash the avocado and pull it all together. Taste, adjust seasonings, let sit 5-10 minutes, adjust seasonings again and enjoy. Great with sangria, salty chips and even on a BLT (if, by some miracle, you have leftovers the following day). Recipe based on my recollection of the New Joy of Cooking's directions, and many successful occasions of preparing it just as described above.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Cooking, cleaning or other help. I could even leave you some sourdough starter. Anyone who's eaten my food can vouch for my cooking. :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States