picking up trash, eating yummy crab and watching the tide

this past weekend, we headed to cannon beach for the twice annual beach clean up. the weather was a little chilly, but nothing three tough chicas (elizabeth accompanied us on our journey) couldn't handle. we walked for miles along the beach picking up cigarette butts, (penance for all the butts we absent-mindedly tossed years ago) small pieces of paper, a couple of aluminum lawn chairs and random pieces of refuse people rudely tossed on the sand. pass the message along - litterbugs are NOT cool. we also watched some surfers, scowled at hooligans hitting golf balls into the ocean (even un-cooler than litterbugs) and enjoyed the sound of the ocean's waves.

after putting in a few hours of hard labor, we celebrated with lunch at our favorite oregon coast restaurant, the wayfarer. we went halfsies on the hot crab sandwich (a hot sandwich of house-made garlic bread spread with Boursin-scented cream cheese, sweet Dungeness crab and Tillamook Cheddar cheese) and a caesar salad topped with shrimp and crab. YUM-MY!

here are some photos of our beach time...







upon our return to portland, we headed to the gym in our apartment building for a marathon workout while we watched the arkansas vs. alabama football game. after nearly four hours, the game still wasn't over, but we became frustrated when the tide blew a 21-point lead, so we finally threw in the towel after arkansas scored to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. we're certainly no fair-weather fans, but we'd had our fill of watching the stupid mistakes and missed opportunities. of course we were thrilled to see what unfolded after we left. in not so classic alabama style, alabama came back in the final minutes and won the game. i bet tuscaloosa was rockin' til the wee hours. nice job, boys. ROLL TIDE ROLL!

things with us have been going well. this weekend, we're going to a taiko performance with stan and alan. Taiko means simply "drum" in Japanese (etymologically "great" or "wide drum"). Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming. we're also attending in a university of portland womens' soccer game on sunday with elizabeth.

we're taking care of each other and getting ready for the fall season. it's hard to believe it's almost time to break out the rain gear.

be sure to check back for updates on all of our adventures. we love and miss y'all very much!