What a GREAT day

Hello friends. Though I don't have that many pretty pictures from yesterday to share with you, I would love to tell you about it!

After my bike incident, I haven't had the desire to hobble around the city. We also took my bike to a bike shop in downtown Portland on Sunday, so we've been less mobile than before. It's been relaxing and I've done lots of crafting :), but I could tell Heath was ready to get out and explore.... So yesterday, we did.
Our first stop was Washington Park in downtown. Heath packed us a lunch for a lovely picnic.



We love Honey BBQ flavored Fritos. Yum



Our walk took us through the Washington Park test rose garden. This was our third time to visit the roses... I must say, if you want to visit when all of the roses are in full bloom, come in June! They are still beautiful now though, and they smell great.



Our trail was shaded for most of the walk. I think I've been spoiled by the weather already. For our first month here, we've had highs in the mid-70's and lows in the 50's... Perfect, in my opinion, for summer. But, the last couple days have reached mid-80's and it feels like a heat wave!



Okay, let me explain. On most of our walks and hikes, I've brought the camera along. This means, if I see a pretty flower, tree, blade of grass :).... I stop. So, Heath has started walking ahead on the trails. I find him hiding behind things with this mischievous face. Luckily he hasn't jumped out at me, atleast not yet.



After our walk, we headed to some bowling lanes in Beaverton. We had a Groupon to these bowling lanes, so it was a cheap afternoon date; I'll post more about Groupon another day! I learned several things at the alley: 1) Bumpers are a must when I play... the majority of my shots ended up in the gutter. 2) Heath has an actual bowling stance. 3) Arcade games are a lot more fun than I remember.

Our final stop for the day was Southwest Church of Christ. We met a small group of ACU Alumni that are living the greater Portland area. Heath and I had fun making connections and learning more about what this beautiful area has to offer. By far, my favorite part of the day was eating HAROLD's BBQ!!!! (The group from Abilene had packed the BBQ in dry ice.) When they announced we would be eating Harold's bbq for dinner, I almost cried. It was a wonderful meal, shared with new friends.

Trip Down the Coast

Sorry I didn't post again several days ago. I didn't because life got a little stressful. To sum it up, our car broke down on Thursday, and I feel on the spikes of my bike (where it changes gears) and have been limping around since. Ouch. Good news: we picked the car up last night!

Remember that hike I talked about on Wednesday? Well, that was also another reason I didn't write back. Heath choose one of the more difficult hikes from our book, and we had no idea how advanced it would actually be. In the first mile of the hike, we climbed over 1700 feet, and we kept climbing. Once we reached the second trailhead, we choose the wrong one... this lead us down the other side of the mountain. By the time we realized it was the wrong trail, it was 5:30 and we didn't want to risk getting stuck in the dark trying to reach the top. So, we completely exhausted ourselves and didn't even reach the viewpoint. Whew. Just thinking about it makes me tired.

We almost have the house put together, but still have some final touches to do. So instead of posting pictures from our unfinished home, I thought I would post some pictures from our trip to Santa Cruz! We had such a wonderful time driving down the 101. We saw the Red Woods for the first time, saw the Oregon coast for the first time, visited San Francisco for the first time, spent much needed time with family, and finally got a little bit of a tan. :)





For the first two nights of our trip, we stayed with Heath's friend, Steven. We walked around the Stanford campus then went on a tour of San Francisco!



Pier 39... the sea lions were so cute. Can I mention how bitterly cold and windy this city was?!? If you ever go (and you should), you will need a jacket.



Lombard Street! We actually drove down it... I didn't get a very good picture, so I bought a postcard. :)



Thanks for hosting us Steven! We had a great time



Red Woods! We went on a walk through these giants with mom and dad and Aunt Tracy outside of Santa Cruz.



Before the reception, we drove south to Pebble Beach. This picture was taken on the 17 mile drive.



Had to take a picture by the Pebble Beach sign. Dad likes golf. They also treated us to a nice lunch at the golf course! I had a pulled pork bbq sandwich.... it wasn't brisket, but it was still wonderful! (I've been craving real Texas bbq since the day we left.)



Em looked beautiful! I'm a little jealous that she was able to wear her pretty dress twice! :) We all had a wonderful time. I even danced and enjoyed it, which is pretty rare for me. Thanks Em, for giving us a reason to travel down the coast. It was so great to see you and Nick!



Here's Janet with her new friend. This guy was a feisty one :) I love this picture.



Our second visit to San Francisco; this time with my parents.





We drove across the Golden Gate bridge and visited Salsalito. We ate lunch overlooking the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz before my parents had to catch their flight back to Nashville.



And finally, we drove by Mt. Shasta on our way back to Oregon. Beautiful. I love living in this part of the country!


I promise to post more within the next few days! Have a wonderful Tuesday

Hello there.

Sorry I've been absent from blogging lately, but we've been a little busy. This one will be short since Heath and I are about to go on a hike around Mt. Hood, but I'll try to post more tonight... MANY pictures to come. The past three weeks have been very surreal and I still feel like I'm on a great vacation. We finally started hanging up picture frames and things are starting to find their home, but it still doesn't feel like home... I have a feeling it will soon though. :)

Since Heath doesn't start school until the end of August, we mutually agreed that it would be great if I didn't find a job yet, assuming we will not have free-time like this for a while. So, I've been casually looking, but will hit the ground running in the job search area mid-August. Many of our new friends have been very helpful in connecting me with Social Work leads and organizations, and I start volunteering at a children's shelter tomorrow. I'm excited to start a routine and VERY anxious to start makin' the money.

In an attempt to catch you up very quickly, here is a brief recap of our adventures so far... again, I will be posting pictures soon!
-35 hours driving time cross country with my two favorite guys
-hiking Latourell Falls in the Columbia Gorge
-attended Timbers game... 17,000 crazy soccer fans chanting and setting off smoke bombs... can't wait to go back!
-watching the Bachelorette. I know... it's a guilty pleasure.
-first Sunday church experience: Southwest Church of Christ. Great people, excited to visit them again. The group went out for lunch at a BBQ place!
-vintage shopping in Hawthorne
-started a yoyo quilt! Met some very interesting ladies at the vintage fabric store... I'm excited about this project!
-grocery shopping at Winco and Trader Joe's
-dock party on the Willamette River
-farmer's market!
-visited the test Rose Garden... over 550 different types of roses! Smelled great :)
-second Sunday church experience: Westside Church of Christ. Felt welcomed and loved very quickly. It's a small church, so it seems like we know everyone already!
-spent the 4th with new friends and watched fireworks around a lake. It was wonderful and cold.
-Spent the past week in Santa Cruz for Emmy's reception. We drove the 101 down the Oregon and California coast... SO FUN! The Oregon coastline is beautiful, we drove through a herd of elk, and we walked through the red woods!!! We also visited San Francisco, twice.
-found a vintage dress and a bright yellow plant stand at the Santa Cruz flea market. more to come on this later
-working on moving cards... you should be receiving yours very soon!

All in all, Oregon has treated us very well. Mira's friends, our new friends :), have treated us so well! It's like we've known them for years and have just moved back from college or something. They are wonderful. I'll be posting regularly now! Expect lots of pictures, recipes, and updates. love you all