10 days and counting

i (minnesota) had a wonderful birthday weekend, which included an amazing seafood dinner at an oceanside restaurant, lots of wine, lounging on the beach, flying a kite (we named the kite "little miss fancy pants," by the way), eating cupcakes, sketching, people-watching and relaxing. who could ask for anything more???

we returned home on tuesday evening and have spent the remainder of the week job hunting, running at niketown, thrift store shopping, and counting down the days until we can move into our new apartment (10 days left!!!).

also, last night we attended an art event called "last thursday" (aptly named since it's held on the last thursday of every month) on the northeast side of portland. it's an opportunity for artists to sell their art on the street. and actually, anyone can sell anything - paintings, jewelry, duct tape wallets, cowboy hats made from recycled materials, monkeys (just kidding)...plus musicians play on almost every street corner. happily, i plan to join in the fun by selling my artwork there next month.

here are a few pictures from our weekend excursion. enjoy!!! and, as always, we're sending love and hugs across the miles...the girlz

lucky flying little miss fancy pants


a closer shot of little miss fancy pants


i'm praying for good pizza (unfortunately, my prayers went unanswered)


us on the beach


no explanation necessary

oh the joy of cupcakes

tomorrow is minnesota's 33rd birthday - she doesn't look a day over 23, does she?

with birthdays come sweet treats - usually a birthday cake. however, instead of a regular cake, she wanted cupcakes from a local cupcake shop. we've gone there quite a few times and their cupcakes are yum-MY!

my (lucky) gift to her is a trip to seaside, oregon for a couple of days. the coast seems like the perfect place to mark a day of birth. i'm sure we'll be making plenty of trips to the ocean during the time we spend here in portland. it's just too convenient not to take advantage of.

last night we talked to some of our posse from indy. it was fantastic to hear from them, to laugh with them, to imagine ourselves back there having vodka/cranberry cocktails with them. shout out to kiki, cookie and vi - we miss and love y'all!

here are some cake shots for your enjoyment...try not to drool, please.

fun in the sun (and the shade)

after a week of job hunting, we spent the weekend exploring our new hometown. on saturday, we experienced the beautiful weather while taking in a sand sculpture contest, the saturday market, and a walk by the riverfront. on sunday, we relaxed and enjoyed more beautiful weather: i (minnesota) read a book in the shade while lucky worked on her suntan.

it's pretty amazing we've been here two weeks already, and with each new day comes a new adventure. we continue to learn more about ourselves and each other, and our love continues to grow by leaps and bounds each second.

as always, thanks for your love and support. we're sending love and hugs across the miles...the girlz

cheese, sand and surf

on sunday morning, we packed the cooler with sandwiches and headed for the coast. portland is only about 60 miles from the pacific so we know we'll be taking full advantage of that short trek. (by the way, bri, i (lucky) would love to learn to surf but the water here is very chilly - 55 degrees, actually. so i'm gonna hold out on learning until we vacation in hawaii.)

our first stop was the tillamook cheese factory so my girlie could get her fill of cheese curds. we were saddened to find no production going on, but we livened up after sampling cheese and fighting the crowds for some ice cream. it wasn't as good as marble slab creamery, in our opinion, but it hit the spot.

afterwards, we set out to explore the pacific coast by traveling from bay city to lincoln city. along the way we stopped at sand lake which is exactly what the name implies: a lake of sand. while there, we witnessed several four-wheelers and a jeep out tearing up the sand and having a blast. we marvelled at the sand's softness and at seeing pine trees alongside native grasses growing out of the sand.

we stopped frequently along the way to photograph the immense beauty of the mountains and sea colliding - it's next to impossible to capture this spectacle, but we gave it our best shot. minnesota was quite the ansel adams, as she always is.

we stumbled upon chinook winds casino which was funny/lucky/odd because earlier we'd heard the wheel of fortune would be there recruiting future contestants. after venturing inside the casino to assess the situation, we decided there were too many crinkled smokers and gambling fanatics for us to hang around. plus we were looking forward to sitting on the sand and listening to the ocean. mn took my picture in front of the wheel rv so i could say i was "this close to being on the wheel." (for anyone who doesn't already know, i love the wheel.)

after searching, we found our perfect beach spot, sat on a log and lost ourselves in the trance of the ocean. it's such an energizing place to spend time. the constancy of the waves balanced with the sheer power of the water was very spiritual.

re-energized, we headed for home, ready to start another week of job-hunting.

below are some pictures for you to enjoy. and, as always, thanks for your love and support, the girlz.

CHEESE!


breathtaking




sand lake, or




wheel...of...FORTUNE!


mmm, crab leg


pure bliss

an update is forthcoming...for real

we promise to update the blog tomorrow, complete with pictures from our weekend trip to the ocean :)

thanks for the comments, the love and the support. sending lots of love and hugs across the miles...the girlz

movin' on up

we thought it appropriate to use a song to best express our feelings today.

theme from the jeffersons

lyrics by Jeff Barry and Ja'net DuBois
(the lyrics have been altered just a little bit - sorry jeff and ja'net)

Well we're movin on up,
To the west side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up
To the west side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin'
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues
Gettin' our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it's you and me baby
There ain't nothin wrong with that.

Well we're movin on up,
To the west side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up
To the west side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

we're absolutely THRILLED!!!!!!!!!!!!! can't wait to get into our new place (which won't happen until early august, unfortunately). we'll post pictures as soon as we're able to do so. for now, a description will have to do: imagine a bird's eye view of all of downtown portland, the river, mount hood, mount rainier and mount saint helens - that's what we'll get to see every single day. amazing, huh?????

all for now. sending love and hugs across the miles...the girlz

we just knew

today was a fantastic day of apartment hunting. in fact, we found our new home!!!!! yep, both of us just knew this was the perfect place for us. fantastic neighborhood, beautiful views...just an overall amazingly good vibe...so we're filling out the paperwork to move forward with the lease, etc.

we're so excited, thrilled, ecstatic, amazed - all those wonderful emotions :)

more soon. until then, sending lots of love and hugs across the miles....the girlz

apartment hunting, and hunting, and hunting

today we looked at a number of apartments, but none of them really felt like home to us. our search continues tomorrow so we'll see what happens........ it's been a long day, so we'll post more later.

sending love and hugs across the miles...the girlz

our first days

sorry for the delay in posting, but we had to catch up on some desperately needed sleep. we're both still kinda groggy, but for the most part we're thinking clearly.

our first couple of days in portland have mainly consisted of running errands - grocery store, hair cut, target and picking up our 22 boxes from the ups store. thankfully all the boxes arrived on time and without damage. my (lucky) supreme packing skills were crucial because fitting 22 boxes into a honda civic can be pretty tricky. i'm sure the portlanders on the streets of downtown were placing wagers as to whether we'd be able to get it all in, but we did. then it was back to the temporary digs out in the 'burbs.

our place is small but we're adjusting. we've stacked things just right allowing us to be able to maneuver throughout the place. again the packing skills come into use.

this evening we went exploring on foot - we haven't exercised in almost a week so we were both jonesin for some sweat time. the world campus of nike - which we've started referring to as "nikeland" - is close by so we took the opportunity to explore the outdoor walking paths on the grounds. as we walked, we heard and saw rustling in the bushes. we still aren't sure what kind of ghastly creature could've "gotten" us, but we're sure it was something fierce and scary. nah, it was probably just a bird, but where's the excitement in being afraid of a bird? as the paved path came to an end, we decided to do the run part of our walk/run along a path covered with wood chips. it made for a much more pleasing run. we were kickin some serious tail until we realized we weren't exactly sure where the path was leading us. just like in life, though, we pressed on and eventually ended up not too far from where we started.

we were having a hard time dragging kandinsky out from under the covers on the bed, but she's found a new resting place. she seems to enjoy being on top of the cabinets and continues her marathon slumber from high above the kitchen.

tonight we'll watch fireworks on television so we can get to sleep early. tomorrow we're off to discover our new apartment. our quest will lead us deep into downtown where we know we'll find the energy and excitement of the city to be exactly what we're looking for. please send lots of positive thoughts our way so our search will be swift.

be sure to keep checking the blog cuz we'll keep updating it. thanks for the love and the encouragement. we love y'all.

here are some photos of us along the road. (don't look, vivi.)

us on a tractor


us in a cornfield


us at the corn palace


us in the badlands


mn after shopping for essentials


no, i'm not peeing - i'm updating the blog by stealing internet service and power from ruby's inn. (no, we didn't stay there either.)


our first sunset in portland


and another view


kandinsky's new nap place


what an adorable face

looks like we made it

greetings and salutations from portland, oregon! we arrived in the city around 2:00 p.m. (pacific time) after driving about six hours from spokane, washington, where we ended up staying last night. yesterday was a long day for us as we logged about 14 hours on the road, so we're really, really, really exhausted - however not too exhausted to enjoy the beautiful washington scenery (which really amazed us...from dense forests to desert landscapes to deep caverns to rolling prairies) and the incredible columbia river gorge in oregon.

thanks, again, for your support, your love and your prayers. we love you!!! the girlz

here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure:

our comforter at the motel 6



kandinsky's "home" in the car



"welcome to oregon" sign



oregon tree farm



columbia river gorge



mt. hood

rocky mountain high

we've re-discovered the rule of supply and demand on this journey. you see, we spent nearly $100...yes, $100...on a room at the motel 6 last night. since cities are few and far between in these parts, business owners aren't afraid to jack up their prices, so we had to fork over the bucks. scarily enough, that was the cheapest place we could find. crazy, huh?!?!

speaking of crazy, today we witnessed a lot of craziness - from the "crazy woman river" to the "crazy mountain range"; from pink tractors to monkey head clouds. at one point today, mn asked lucky, "is that guy wearing a bra or is that a girl?"

we continue to be astounded by the absolute desolation and grandeur of this part of the country (feel free to hum "america the beautiful" as you continue reading this). from the flat plains of south dakota to the majestic rocky mountains, we've been amazed and wowed by the beauty surrounding us. and actually, we've developed a thirst to go rv-ing so we can explore more parts of the country and have no agenda or no timetable. (we're not sure how we will support ourselves financially on the rv excursions, but we'll work on it.).

throughout this adventure we've found much to laugh about - from lucky's obsessive compulsive disorder tendencies (like checking her wallet repeatedly for the credit card or checking her pockets repeatedly for the keys...short-term memory has never been her strong suit) to mn's outbursts of seventies disco tunes (not pretty).

oh, and about kandinsky - we're extremely thankful for the "no pee, no poo" trance she slips into after being in the car for awhile. she's been quiet as a mouse. because of this trip, we're certain it'll be even more difficult to catch her to take her to the vet in the future.....

so here's to keeping the caffeine levels high and your eyes open to the small things we all tend to overlook.

sending lots of love and hugs across the miles....the girlz

(uncle noley - thanks so much for the great advice - we'll definitely remember that. love you!)

more photos...

we found these flying ants trapped in the dew on the car this morning



the crazy mountain range



just funny signs...