To Do: Remember My Password!

Just when I thought I was going to be on top of blogging I go and take another month off...so sorry! I'll be a little honest with you and confess that part of the reason was I forgot my password for blogger...oops :) Anyway, the other reason is that life got a little hectic these past few weeks with things like finishing up an academic year, getting ready for an awesome vacation, and buying a home! Yes, in a matter of a 7 day time-frame I decided to see what it would take to stop renting and next thing I know I am submitting an offer on a condo and getting it accepted...crazy! That week of learning the in's-and-out's of being a first time homebuyer was A LOT of extra stress but luckily it was followed by a great week and a half of vacation with my momma to Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina! We had such a great time and now that I am faced with packing up my apartment I can only wish we were still on vacation!

Here are some pictures of the past month :) Updates on One Local Summer and my garden will be coming soon, I promise! I made sure to write down my password :)
My friend Wendy and I spent a lovely Saturday morning taking pictures of wildflowers in the Columbia River Gorge...they were so beautiful!
Here is one of my best friends Emily getting married :) Her wedding was in TN and it was so cool to be able to be there to see her marry the man of her dreams! Emily, you are a BEAUTIFUL bride and I swear I have never seen you smile so much before!
While in TN we stayed with my friend Mandi and as always time with Mandi is time well spent :)
After Emily's wedding my Mom and I drove to Savannah...what an AMAZING CITY!!! The humidity was not so amazing but we still had a great time wandering all around it's gorgeous historic district! Our camera's needed a break at the end of each day with how many pictures we were taking!
Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah is really cool, sooooo much history there and the Spanish Moss is just gorgeous! They say Bonaventure is one of the nation's most haunted places and we could totally picture the spirits partying it up when night falls. Think of the fun they must have frolicking through all the moss!
Spanish Moss and my pretty momma! Avenue of Oaks at Boone Hall Plantation outside of Charleston South Carolina. Cannot help but think "Run Forest Run" when I see this picture :)Charleston was BEAUTIFUL! The houses are to die for and I cannot imagine what it must be like to live in them! This was a little house for the historic neighborhood we were wandering around in but doesn't it have great windows!! Just how I pictured beaches in South Carolina to look like :)
Sunset on the dock...what a perfect way to end vacation! Thanks for taking a look at my month in pictures!

It could only happen to me...

I posted some pics from Palm Springs on my flickr page...take a look if you have time :)

THANK YOU to my Mom and Aunt Cathy for letting me join them for a few days on their annual Fun In The Sun trip to Palm Springs...It was another trip full of adventures and crazy memories made around the pool :) Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

And now to a funny story of my mom and I's adventure at Indian Canyon!

We decided to beat the heat and take a morning hike in the canyons to see all the beautiful Palm Trees. On our hike out of the first canyon we stopped to take some pictures on this cool rock slab that overhangs the stream. Pictures are taken but then somehow my sunglasses and a piece of my camera lens fall out of my hands and in slow motion make their way down the rock and into the water. I set my camera down but gravity takes a hold and I too go down the rock and into the water, all the non-too-graceful I might add! Well, my mom starts laughing and she then slips and slides down the rock too! At the edge of the rock she is holding on for dear life (while laughing of course!) and I am holding her from below but realize that there is no way she can get up the rock without first getting in the water...so down she goes! We were laughing soooooo hard and luckily with getting just a little bit more wet I was able to grab my items out of the water. Here we are after the event, still laughing of course!
Seriously, it was a good thing nobody saw this event because if they had, I think they might have turned us in here...

What Are The Chances?

On Friday night we went and saw the pretty flamingos at a swanky resort in Palm Springs. They are fun to watch and when we got back to the hotel and started looking through my pictures I couldn't believe what I captured...a flamingo going to the bathroom! How crazy (and gross!) is that!

On my way home from 4 great days in Palm Springs!

Ready or not it's back to work tomorrow, I don't know how I will handle it after nearly two weeks of too much fun! Sigh...

Multnomah Falls

About 30 miles outside of Oregon is the AMAZING Multnomah Falls! We drove up for the afternoon and really enjoyed taking the Historic Columbia River Hwy, following the beautiful tree-lined road to numerous waterfalls! It truly was a perfect afternoon in the Columbia George!

Multnomah Falls...isn't it beautiful!

We took the path up to the bridge and here is the view looking down...yes, I had a deathgrip on my camera as I leaned over for this picture :)

Flying High Over Saint Helens

Our original plan was to go to Victoria BC today but we switched it up and spent the day at Mount Saint Helens. Once Rodney saw the helicopter rides he was sold on going so there was no turning back :) I was a little skeptical as I had never been in a helicopter (and it seemed quite cloudy and windy...don't worry mom, my life insurance policy is up to date!) but it turned out awesome...I loved it! We were up on the mountain for about 30 minutes and it was pretty amazing to have a birds-eye view of the beautiful regrowth of nature but still see so much destruction that will forever leave it's lasting mark. Just like our lives, we should always be regrowing and making our life more beautiful despite the hardness that scars us and reshapes us. Enjoy the pictures...Ready or not, here we go!

Now here is a happy Rodney!

Flying towards the crater, the mounds you see here are clumps of the mountain from 27 years ago! Pretty amazing how nature is reclaiming her with new trees!

Getting closer...there are too many chemical deposits still in the ground for much to survive here.

The crater! We are looking into where the mountain blew. Too bad there were clouds covering the rim as this does not do justice to how big the crater is!

Flying down the mountain. This sediment goes on forever and is still 80-100 feet deep (if not more in some places) and will probably be here for many more lifetimes!

Seattle Fun

Rodney and I hit the road early for a great day in Seattle. We had an amazing time there with the first stop being Kerry Park for the breathtaking view of the city. Then it was down to Pikes Place Market where you won't believe what I was able to do...go behind the counter of the fish mongers and CATCH A FISH!!! I was sooooo nervous as there was a huge crowd of tourists and many many cameras facing me. But, with a little coaching I was able to catch the bad boy that was thrown my way! Thank God it was not a baby shark, I would have screamed if I saw that flying towards me! In all my years of visiting the market I had never seen them allow people to do this, totally one of my favorite Seattle memories ever! And the guys that work there are amazing! They all took time out of work to sign the book that Rodney bought and to talk to us and get some pics...pretty amazing!

After spending the afternoon downtown we joined the masses at Safeco Field for Game 1 of Seattle Mariners and the Red Sox! Safeco is such a fun ballpark and we had a great time even with our seats being 3rd row from the top! Mariners won so I allowed Rodney to cry in his beer for a few minutes :) Sorry buddy! But, Red Sox went on the win the rest of the weekend so I probably shouldn't tease him too much :)

Anyway, here are some pics for you to enjoy! And thanks to Joey for letting us crash at her place on a busy weekend for her...you are such a great friend!!

View from Kerry Park

Pikes Place Market

I love all the flowers down at the market!

Fish Catching!!!
One of my all time favorite places to visit!!
Packed house at Safeco Field

Go Ichiro!!

Today we decided to stay close to home for the day and started the morning out at Dain (a college friend of ours) and Sarah's house. What a beautiful farm they have and one of the coolest things on it is this swing...look at Dain go!

Soon their farm will be host to outdoor weddings, concerts, and more...pretty amazing vision they have of using the space to serve others!

APU'ers!!

Then this evening we met my good friend Julie downtown for a movie and were lucky enough to see opening night of Red Bull's Illume Photo Exhibit where we were able to vote for our favorite photo...all of the photo's were vibrant against the twilight sky which made for a pretty spectacular downtown event!

This photo had my vote! I can only imagine what is going through these kayaker's mind...I would type what I think they are saying but I want to keep this a family friendly blog :)

Perfect Day At The Beach

We spent a PERFECT day at the beach!!
Too bad we cannot see the view from Cape Meares Lighthouse. The fog literally looked like it was dancing at the cape, I have never seen it come in off the ocean and put on such a show as it did today!

Wildflowers at Cape Meares

Oceanside Oregon, my favorite beach community!!

My Red Crocs love the sand!!

Hidden beach through a rock tunnel at Oceanside, isn't it gorgeous!

Aww, I just love the Oregon Coast!

Driving along Pacific Coast Hwy...does life get better than this??

Rodney and I at Haystack Rock, also known as The Goonies Rock! I'm totally in the mood to watch the movie again :)

Yep, staying for the sunset was totally worth it!!

Watch out Portland, Rodney is in town!

So what does one do when a friend's flight time is changed...why head to IKEA of course! IKEA has been open for less than a week and this already has been my second trip. Please don't hate me for being an IKEA-aholic :)

Rodney and I had a few hours to kill before meeting some APU friends for Happy Hour and strolled along NW23rd. Vespa, anyone? Yes please, I'll take one in Red!

Passing time until Happy Hour, the best hour of the day!

Gorgeous Hydrangea's, my absolute favorite flower, lining the path leading to Meriwethers Restaurant in NW Portland.

I remember when I was leaving for college my dad told me that I should be excited to leave home because the friends I would make in college would be friends for life...tonight that pearl of wisdom rang oh so true! What a fun time we had reconnecting with college friends over a great Happy Hour...the only flaw in the night was that we forgot to take a picture, grrr!!!

Vacation Time!!!

7 more hours until vacation time...yippee!!! I love vacation days, especially when they are taken during the summer when I can enjoy the great weather here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest! I have an east coast friend coming out for a week so we are going to grab our cameras and hop in my car to explore amazing places throughout Oregon, Washington, and Victoria BC...Yay!

If you have never been to the NW, stay tuned as I will post our adventures so you can see the lovely sights with us and get a feel for how truly amazing this corner of the world is!

And after the great NW adventures, it is off to Palm Springs for me where I will join my crazy and fun loving mom and aunt under the palm trees on their annual pilgrimage to the pool! It will be divine!!