Fun in the Army

It's a wonderful thing to be in a city that appreciates the wonderful game of soccer. It's also nice to support a team that has some of the craziest fans and followers...the Timber Army! So for the Memorial Day weekend, Alli and I were able to catch a couple of games. We also got to introduce some of our friends (Craig and Nicki) to Portland's very own USL soccer team. The downer was that we lost both games. :( But the saving grace is that we got to have a great time.

New Addition to the Family

Well, it's been a long time since I added any new instruments to my collection. As time went on I began to really miss playing on a Telecaster. Don't get me wrong, I love my SG, but I have such fond memories of my old, black Tele that I knew I needed to replace it. Thus began the long search for a replacement...and a way to afford it. So after selling a few other guitars and gear that I rarely used, I finally bought a new guitar this last week. So here it is. It's a blueburst G&L ASAT Classic.

Alli's New Vice

Ever since Alli and I started dating, I have been trying to get her into video gaming. Needless to say, it wasn't her cup of tea. She didn't like playing soccer, didn't enjoy hacking and slashing her way through dungeons, and definitely didn't enjoy any game that involved me becoming too competitive. She did enjoy beating me up on some fighting games, but nothing ever really stuck...until last night. With the creation of the Wii, many people have been introduced to video games because of the motion controls. With the release of MARIOKART Wii, Nintendo has released the WiiWheel, a device that allows you to literally drive on a game using a wheel. Here is the proof that wonders never cease.

And the winner is...

Chris Langton! After the judges scores were tallied, the night ended with the representative of Norway taking the gold. Following the leader in second place was Derek Weber, the representative of Germany. Thanks to all the boys for coming out and making the first Wiilympics a blast.

Who doesn't love Bruce?

We love Bruce.

What do you think?

The Stanley Cup...
The Wii Cup...

In honor of the Beijing Olympics this summer, Ben is holding the Wiilympics tonight with some guy friends. We thought that every good sporting event has some sort of a medal or cup, so we made our own gold medal or 'cup' if you will.

Oregon Tulip Fest 2008

Our favorite shot of the day!


Well, we braved the crowds and saw the flowers. Luckily we did this a couple of weekends ago instead of last weekend...when it was SNOWING! (It's April for crying out loud.) Although there were quite a few people out there at the Woodburn Tulip Festival, we did happen to see some beautiful flowers and enjoy the beauty. Here are some pics so that you can enjoy them too.

Ben and his Stash!

Many of the guys at work decided that the month of March should be beard month. But after the month ended, I personally declared the month of April as Stash month. So Alli and I went to the Stash Tea Factory Outlet store and bought some tea. And on top of that I thought I would follow my father's example and wear a mustache since he had one for years when we were growing up. So here's to you dad! Alli hates it and I like it for all the cheesy reasons. Enjoy! So cheers to all of you men who proudly display your upper lip hair on a regular basis. Whether it be a Magnum PI stache or a thin Frenchman stache, stand tall and proud.....because this month is yours!

Happy Easter!

Life @ 20/10

Honestly, turning 30 was never a big deal for me...but boy has everyone let me know that I'm getting older. My own father called me an 'old man,' my students think it really old, and all the gifts and cards I received made me feel ancient (Thanks for the pill box and Prunelax). You could have even used my cake to start a house fire since Alli put all 30 candles on it. Chris even asked me if I was starting to collect my social security. Hardy-har-har. So from now on, we'll refer to the age of 30 as the 20/10. Here's to making it to 20/20.

Spring Break Part 1

Last week my (Alli) mom, dad, sister, and her boyfriend (Chris) drove all the way up to Hillsboro to visit us. Unfortunately, Ben had to work that week so I played tour guide and took them all over the place to give them a taste of Portland and Oregon. What a week! We walked around downtown Portland, saw Pioneer Courthouse square, spent lots of time in Powell's Books, ate at Henry's 12th Street Tavern, ate giant cinnamon rolls at Camp 18, strolled through Cannon Beach, explored all of Beaverton and Hillsboro, went shopping at Bridgeport Village in Tigard, got some tea at the Stash Tea factory store, celebrated Ben's birthday (again), and just hung out together. It was a great week. We spent lots great time together all smooshed in our 2 bed/1 bath apartment.

Hanging out with mom, Uncle John, Aunt Alexis, and Joanna for Ben's birthday.

Crazy kids.

Playing Blokus with mom, Ben, and Chris.

Mom and Dad boxing on the Wii.

I got a job!

Many of you know that my (Alli) first job that I had when we moved up here was not really the right place for me. So for the past few months I have been sitting at home with Autumn looking for a new job. This last Thursday I interviewed and was offered a position at OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University). I am the new Administrative Coordinator for the Dermatology department. I am very excited about this new position and working for OHSU. I have heard great things about working there and am looking forward to riding the MAX every day to the waterfront where the new building is located.

Oh, and the Dermatology department is on the top floor of the Center for Health and Healing, so they have a Mt. Hood webcam - you have to check it out!

Men's Retreat

The boys in our small group and I went to Wildhorse Canyon for our church's Iron Man Retreat. It was really good to meet a few new guys and get to strengthen the relationships with the guys that I already knew. The interesting thing that I didn't know was that Wildhorse Canyon used to be owned by this guy called the Rajneesh. Now it's the largest Young Life owned establishment in the nation. There was tons of stuff to do there as well, including hiking to the top of a hill to see the canyon and it's surrounding area. All in all, it was a great weekend!

Dear Dad...

I just wanted to let you know that I have taken over your guitar case. I thought it was time I had a new place to rest my weary paws. As you will see I have left some of my fur so you don't forget this now belongs to me. Love, Autumn


Little does she know, this is her new cat carrier. Ha ha.

Keepin' it weird

Flash mob freezes in place outside Powell's books, then melts away

Ben's Birthday in Goonie-ville (Astoria, OR)

For Ben's birthday I told him I would take him on a weekend get-away anywhere he wanted to go. My soon-to-be 30-year-old husband chose Astoria, or Goonie-ville as some people call it (Astoria is where the movie The Goonies was filmed). Well, I said anywhere, right? So off to Astoria, I mean Goonie-ville, we went. We had a great weekend with amazing weather. There were too many pictures to post, so I decided to try a slide show. We went through Astoria, Fort Stevens State Park (the Northern-most point in Oregon), and crossed the Columbia River to visit Washington's Cape Disappointment State Park. So here's our weekend in Astoria, oops, I mean Goonie-ville.

You can roll over the images to read the captions (I'm new to this slide show thing).

Happy Birthday, Ben! The big 3-0!

Sunset Women's Retreat

Friday morning I decided to go on the Women's Retreat with Sunset Presbyterian Church - quite the spontaneous decision since the retreat started that evening in Cannon Beach. It turned out that all the girls from our Care Group were going on the retreat, and what better way to get to know those women than spend the weekend with them at a retreat? We had a fabulous time together and the retreat was wonderful. Thanks, ladies, for a great weekend!


Here we are at lunch on Saturday at Bill's Tavern and Brewhouse. From left to right: Suzi, Stephanie, Kristy, Nicki, me, and Tege and Katavia.


The beautiful coast right outside the Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center.

Me and My Monkeys

Even though I didn't know what to think about teaching fourth graders, I have to say that I am actually really enjoying it. Sure the kids are way more whiny than 6th graders, but they are all coming into their own as individuals which is a ton of fun to watch. I am usually cracking the whip in the classroom preparing them for the 4th grade writing test, but we recently took some time off to have a Because of Winn-Dixie party. After eating egg salad sandwiches (which Alli and I stayed up till 12:30 the night before to prepare), pickles, punch, and lozenges, we were all able to spend some quality time together. But after talking with them and learning more about my students, I discovered one minor detail...They're all a bunch of weirdos! But you know what? That's OK. It just makes it a little easier to fly my "weirdo" flag out in the open...not that I was ever trying to hide it in the first place.

The last couple of weeks

Not too much has been going on these last couple of weeks. We have just been trying to keep warm and enjoying the changing weather...rainy days, bright and sunny days, and snow flurries! What a change for us!

Last weeken we wanted to drive out west of Beaverton and Hillsboro to check out Hagg Lake. Ben was under the impression that there was some sort of wonderful disc golf course at Hagg lake. Even though most of the lake was closed, we were able to drive all the way around it and find out where this so-called disc golf course was. The sad thing was that all Ben could find was holes 1 and 18. I guess Oregon disc golf players don't need directions to move from hole to hole. Maybe we will have to visit again when it is a little warmer.



I also wanted to post some pictures of my latest project. When we moved to Oregon I decided to really work on learning how to knit and I ended up making a scarf for Ben. I also wanted to learn how to crochet, so here is my latest project. It is a clutch-style purse made out of a dark red yarn with some sparkles in it. Super cute!

Snow Day (and Autumn)!

Ok, so I should be in the Blogger Hall of Shame for not posting about Christmas and New Year's... However, until then some pictures of our first snow day and Autumn will have to suffice.

Yesterday we woke up to snow! Actually is was sort of snow-ice and put the schools on a two-hour delay. What a first! Here's a picture of the snow from our bedroom window. Yes, I did jump out of bed and grab the camera.


Well, some of you (you know who you are, Aunt Alexis!) have been asking for some pictures of Autumn. Since I am a stay-at-home mom for now with Autumn, I had plenty of opportunity to get some super-cute pictures.

How to make it through the holidays.

Although it was a flurry of hellos and goodbyes, I think Alli and I managed to see most of our friends, family, and relatives all in one fell swoop. It was very nice to actually pick up a guitar and play (with the boys and my dad) and not have to do things solo. All the joy and excitement helped us keep going, but the one thing I found that kept me going through this holiday season was a large cup of coffee. I had to use up all of my Christmas Starbuck's gift cards to purchase it, but I discovered the SUPER VENTI!

Our Christmas 'tree'

We opted not to get a tree this year since we will be in Fresno/Visalia the week of Christmas (plus, we weren't sure if Autumn would tear it to shreds). So to get some holiday cheer in our apartment, I found this beautiful wreath at the New Seasons Market (Oregon's very organic version of Whole Foods and 'the friendliest store in town') and we wanted to share it with you. Merry Christmas!

Our adventures east of Portland

Well, we finally made it east of downtown Portland (excluding the airport). After a crazy storm with lots of flooding and some snow, last Saturday turned out bright and beautiful. We took that as a sign to get out of the apartment and do some more exploring.

After a quick stop at Panera for yummy cinnamon bagels, we headed east to the Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls - the second tallest year-round waterfall in the U.S. By the way, how lucky are we to have now seen the first (Yosemite Falls) and second tallest year-round waterfalls in the U.S.? I think that's pretty cool. Anyway, a 45-minute drive and we were at the falls. Now, once you are at the falls you can walk up to a cool bridge (see pics below) for a great view of the falls. You can also climb to the tippy-top of the waterfall if you are so inclined. Ben was so inclined. Did I mention that the waterfall is 620 feet high - which means 1 mile of switchbacks up the side of a cliff? And did I tell you that you actually climb higher than the waterfall and then go down some more switchbacks to get to it? Well, now you know. So after some complaining and really crummy hiking shoes, we got to the top. Ok, so it was pretty cool. There is a viewing deck at the top that actually hangs over the top of the falls so you can watch the water go over the edge and drop about 620 feet. Makes one a little dizzy.

Here are some pictures of the falls. I know I told you it was bright and beautiful that day, but the sun had already gone to the other side of the cliff by the time we got there so the pictures are a little dark.

Spontaneous waterfall on our way to the top - very pretty.

Ok, so here's the view from the top. We are literally standing over the top of the waterfall and watching the water fall. You can see the bridge and all the tiny people at the bottom!

A view of the gorge as we hiked up the side of a cliff.