adventures in hood river

we had a great time during our weekend excursion in hood river, oregon. highlights included: exploring a few of the many local fruit orchards and fruit stands (a.k.a. the "fruit loop"), a drive through the cascades, tasting yummy ice cream, toy store adventures, watching hundreds of windsurfers and a few kiteboarders glide effortlessly across the water (hood river is the windsurfing capitol of the world), visits to wineries and enjoying southern food at dixie's southern grub. below are some pictures.




spending time on the swing at draper girl's farm with mount hood in the background




my girl with her favorite beverage, sweet tea, on the porch at dixie's



as always, we're sending lots of love and hugs across the miles...the girlz

birthday reflections

monday was my birthday. as always, lucky did a wonderful job of making me feel special and loved. this coming weekend, we plan to spend a couple of days in hood river, oregon, which is located in the beautiful columbia river gorge. we'll be doing some hiking and exploring as well as visiting orchards ripe with numerous different fruits. we'll share pictures after our return.

birthdays tend to be a time of reflection, and mine was no exception.... i now have 34 years of life experience, knowledge, and wisdom, and i'm so grateful for those years. i look forward to the next 34 years to experience all life has to offer. thank you, lucky, for being my soul mate and my partner in this journey called life. i love you more than ever. thank you, family and friends, for believing in me and for your love, support and guidance. i love you very much.

as always, we're sending lots of love and hugs across the miles to each and every one of you.

a long lost friend

last night, we experienced something we haven't experienced in more than a year. off in the distance, we could see the familiar big puffy white clouds; the ones that look like piles of ice cream dancing on the wind. soon the sky began to darken and we could vaguely make out short glimpses of heat lightning. as it moved closer and closer, the lightning got more defined and the glorious rumble of thunder clamored in our ears. it was a real live thunderstorm, right here in Portland.

it may seem ludicrous for us to get so excited about a thunderstorm, but they're a rarity here and we miss them a great deal. we sat by our living room windows and basked in the glory of exploding thunder and flashy lightning. it was a truly magical experience and definitely made it feel like summer had truly arrived.

going through life, it's so easy to overlook the simple things that make life worth living. the thunderstorm last night was symbolic for us: pay more attention to the open shot, the easy points. reeling in happiness from a thunderstorm is much more plausible than trying to change the fact that you have a completely incompetent boss who makes your life more difficult than necessary.

which leads me to what's been going on with us.

the biggest excitement of the week came on tuesday when our little baby kitty had surgery to remove her anal glands (sorry if you're reading this during dinner). the surgery went well and she seems to be healing quickly. she does, however, have to wear the e-collar/lampshade for a week and she is not very happy about that. poor thing runs into walls and has trouble situating her head to eat from her dish, but she's a trooper so we know she's going to be fine. here's a photo of her.



mn had a phone interview this morning with an organizing company and expects to hear back within a week or so to see if they want her to come in for an interview. it's so difficult to tell how things went because there was no personal interaction to gauge. we're knowing what's supposed to happen is exactly what will happen.

work at the museum is ok, but i'm still searching for what makes me tick and what makes my heart soar (aside from mn, of course). on a walk to work this week, i was thinking about things i enjoy doing so much i don't notice the passing of time as i'm doing them and that thought process led me to writing and painting (paint by number, specifically). now i'm working on a solution to how i can incorporate those things into a career opportunity.

we're also excited for a week long visit from mn's parents in august. tentative plans include a day trip to seattle, an overnight in crescent city, ca, to see the redwood trees, and touring as much of portland as possible.

we're sending kudos to my mom and li'l bro for their recent new employment ventures. congratulations!

we love and miss y'all very much...the girlz