Honeymooning

The Eclipse

Living out of a Picnic Basket We are ticking-down to our last moments in Portland, and the preparations are reaching a fever pitch. We’ve spent the past few weeks sleeping on the floor, eating fast food, and pulling all-nighters in order to wrap up Andy’s work obligations. Oh, and it[…]

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Indian Beach, Ecola State Park

Escape From Packing It’s been a whirlwind year, marrying and combining our households… then deciding to relocate back to Southern California. All the cleaning, packing, and selling most of what we own is starting to wear us to a frazzle. We’re still both working, but our house is just about[…]

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Spirit Falls: The Big Announcement

Setting the Scene Now that the whirlwind of our daughter’s high school graduation has passed, our recent impromptu announcement that “we have an announcement” has us thinking about an appropriate backdrop to drop our news. The obvious choice: Spirit Falls on the Little White Salmon River in Skamania County, Washington.[…]

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Angel’s Rest… and So Do We

Announcing: We Have Something To Announce Big changes are happening in our home. We had a secret five-year plan, but Andy caught a podcast where the guest recommended turning your five year dream into a six month reality. My reaction is that there is absolutely no way we could do[…]

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Storm Watching On The Oregon Coast

What Lurks Over the Horizon Storm-watching on the Pacific Northwest Coast is almost a sport. The systems form up in the Gulf of Alaska, and can really pound the PNW with serious surf! In my 20 years of living in Oregon, I have not had a chance storm watch at[…]

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A Three-fer Saturday Up The Gorge

Gorge of Wonders The Columbia Gorge is stupefying in its beauty! The mouth of the Gorge is defined by Mount Hood on the Oregon side, with a breathtaking array of waterfalls walkable in flipflops just off I-84. Sadly, this is as adventurous as many Portlanders get. It’s a beautiful sunny[…]

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Beacon Rock

Striking Out… to Almost Strike Out It’s an early spring day in the Pacific Northwest, and we have a break in the weather. When you’re cooped-up for a season, getting out in the sunshine to re-up on Vitamin D is necessary! We pack the picnic basket and head to Spirit[…]

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Sunset in Pacific City

Waves of Weather The drizzle quit on our wedding day just before we said our vows. Then we were treated to amazing weather during our honeymoon! But the weekend of our wedding party, an icy wind storm threatened to freeze out the festivities. From that point on, a parade of[…]

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The Honeymoon Thing in Newport

Tie That Knot It’s official: we are now Mr. and Mrs.! The past few weeks have been a wild ride. The moments leading up to taking our vows were nail-biting in a silly way. First, we wrap up the final details at Andy’s townhome. Next, we arrive at at my[…]

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Tying the Knot at A Blooming Hill Vineyard

Wet Flashback On a rainy, muddy, November Saturday, I wandered in to A Blooming Hill Vineyard with a group of friends. Sipping wine in their cozy tasting room sheltered from the cold drizzle outside, I decided to sign up for a membership, adding A Blooming Hill to my club collection.[…]

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