Summer Catch Up

Above is a blurry shot of a recent sunset form our new balcony! My mom has requested I write something in here. I haven’t really thought about this blog much lately as we have mostly been working and not living in Paris ha. But on the bright side, we totally lucked out and have found a wonderful apartment!

Mostly, because of this incredible balcony!

We also went to Bend last weekend to spend the 4th with my aunt and uncle who are incredible people! As per usual, it was totally gorgeous there and we spent all our time, biking, swimming in the Deschutes, and having a great time! How blessed are we to say that our family is some of our closest friends as well?

We also got to see some superhero action. My uncle flies airlife, which means he brings medical care to people far out in the countryside. 

We brought him dinner on the lawn in front of their garage and then watched their plane take off into the sunset on a recent call.

When we got back, we got to celebrate the birthdays of two very loved family members with an incredible picnic in Sellwood park. Portland is back to its perfect summer self, where you suddenly forget that you cursed it for 9 months of rain, because you are in total aw that such a city exists. Below is our cake for Patty and Amelia. 

Today, we are off to the Mississippi Ave Street Fair and then the Bastille Day Festival in the Pearl. Bon weekend mes amis! On a last note, come the 13th, Paul and I will have been married two years! So cheers to that!

<3

Haircuts and Tunisian Day Dreams

First of all, I finally got a hair cut. Helen, below is the promised picture.

Also, the Semester is finally over. It’s some what a relief and some what sad to see friends leave. 

Its going to be a long summer of road trips (hopefully) and Middle Eastern history books in preparation for my thesis. But my brain is lost in a dream.. one I have had for a long time. One that I hope will lead to a reality of me in an archeologist shirt with a bad tan working against a Saharan sunset.. Someday SOON I hope to be walking these streets at night:

To be perusing the magical, foreign scents and sights of shops like these:

Spending my days working in the hot sun at a sight like this: 

And enjoying my weekends at a paradise like below:

Summer Fairy Land

In the late Spring and Summer Oregon becomes, hands down, the most beautiful place on Earth. Despite all the months of rain, this time of year the state is transformed into a total fairy land. Here are some pictures to prove my point:

See the mountain in the background? I had to try hard with my zoom-less hand held camera. 

Bye Mr Duck. 

Paul and I try very hard to celebrate every moment of it.  

                                

Blessed are Those Whose Hope is in the Lord

Today was another bright, sunny day, which (i’m not sure whether to put fortunately or unfortunately here) was completely unproductive, but very relaxing.

However, a very special package arrived in the mail and made the whole day 100% more fabulous than it already was. Below, is my “ooooh a package” face.

Wonderful cards, mind blowing handmade quilt, and pipe cleaner crown (which I have been wearing since) all in one, score!

You guys are so fantastic and I love my gift so much! I immediately put it on the bed, snuggled up (man is that thing cosy), and took a nap. Not only is it gorgeous and so well made, but I love thinking of the boys’ little toes running across it to the sound of Jude’s artistic guidance. 

Look at that masterpiece! What a bodie of a cherry on top of a perfect week. God is good. I love you all and THANK YOU SO MUCH! This has been the best birthday ever! I can’t wait to see all of you that weren’t here to give you big hugs!!

Why My Friends Are Awesome

As if Tuesday hadn’t been great enough, Friday was full of birthday surprises. After having spent a good four straight hours working on a Power Point about Prague history in the library, I was pretty glad to go meet Inga at Mio for dinner. However, little did I know that when we went to meet Paul at Deschutes, I would have a crowd of some of my favourite people waiting for me!

It was pretty great to see them all at once and hang out, trying all the ridiculous special beers at Deschutes. 

Christina even got me this tiara card and a flower. 

Afterwards, I had to keep my eyes closed until we got to spot two. When I opened my eyes, we were at home with like 10 more friends from Lewis and Clark waiting with decorations and wii for some wii bowling ha. 

Check out this drawing Helen did of me as an 18th Century French woman, ha:

I have awesome friends and it was a great birthday!

My 21st Birthday!

Yesterday was a bright sunny day and so much fun! I hadn’t been downtown for a long time (or really out of the library at all), so it was nice to walk around the Pearl. 

I also had some new digs I got with the gift certificate to American Eagle mom sent me. 

I met Paul at Jake’s where we had a delicious dinner and got to sit at the bar! Of course, my first drink as officially 21 was a mojito made perfect à la Gene-O. 

And topped it off with this ridonkulus cake.

Afterwards, we met two of our favourite people, Robin and Lucas, at Rogue Brewery. 

Under 21 until 4-14-2009 no longer!!

Rogue gives you this big obnoxious beer for free on your birthday and they made me finish the whole thing (thank goodness its very easy to spend a couple of hours hanging out and talking with Robin and Lucas).

Afterwards, we of course made our way to the new Deschutes Brewery downtown. 

We had such a good night, thanks to everyone who made my birthday so much fun. I loved hanging out with you all and getting your calls!

The best part of the night was when Robin and Lucas gave me the most incredible cake of all time. It was so perfectly geeky in my honor. It actually had an action figure French medieval soldier defeating a viking, complete with red frosting painted fallen soldiers. That’s right, you heard me correctly, it was that awesome. 

Obviously the Frenchman won. This was the best birthday, thanks everyone!

Easter

Easter Sunday was a ton of fun. We got to see a bunch of people we love so very much and eat some incredibly delicious food. 

Below are hot cross buns, I didn’t even think that kind of magic stuff really existed!

Although, I missed all of you across the country and wish you could have been there for the Easter Egg Hunt.

And have tried Uncle Gene’s mind blowing Egg’s Benedict.

Happy Easter!

Saturday Beer Activities

So in hopes of being completely stereotypically Oregonian, we decided to help our friends brew their own beer this weekend. It was actually pretty fun. First we had to stop by the brewing shop to by grains and hops. 

Then we did all the grain brewing, straining, and hops-ing (can you tell I just barely helped) during the afternoon.

It smelled kind of like grape nuts, but our very own Amber Ale looked very promising.

Trying to not waste the grains, we made our own “beer cookies” with the strained grains, they were DELICIOUS!

Now before I start selling hand-made soap and change my name to Wind, I better get back to studying.

Springtime in Portland

I should be reading right now, but this whole week has been a culmination of that end of the semester in the air feeling where you just are sick of doing nothing, but reading. So, instead, I’ll write about our wonderful spring day. Spring is everywhere in Portland.

So this morning we packed a picnic and went to Waterfront park.

It was still a bit brisk, but still nice to be surrounded by people out enjoying the sunshine and the first promises of summer ahead. 

We walked along the waterfront and Paul got ice cream. I am convinced Oregon ice cream is the best in the world, but North Carolina and Tennessee have us beat when it comes to popsicles. 

The weather was so spectacular. 

But I think Paul was more focused on his cookie dough ice cream.

When we got home, we didn’t want to go in doors so we spent a couple hours out gardening. 

Now it’s off to meet two of our favourite people for Lebanese food, yum!

Les Vacances!

This past week has been jam packed with every site to see in Oregon with our favourite French people! We took them into moss covered forests all around Portland. 

We spent summer-like early spring evenings canoeing on the lake, making dinner, playing cards, and playing frisbee in the backyard.

We introduced them to family, visited farmer’s markets, ate sushi, had a delicious dinner at Jake’s, and even made it onto the big screen while supporting our favourite French Blazer!

We risked the pouring rain to climb up and peer out over the Gorge and look up at Multnomah Falls. 

We made our way to the coast for a surprise afternoon of Beach fun and sunshine.

We picnicked admits high desert rocks while other international visitors braved the treck to the top and inner tubed all linked together during a snow storm afternoon in Bend. 

We topped it all off with a day trip to see one of the most outstanding sights in all of Oregon, the pristine Crater Lake (the cleanest large body of water in the world!). 

All in all, however, even though the sites were great and the adventure endless, it was the family who made the special effort to welcome us all, the laughter over cards, the first warm springtime nights, and the unforgettable memories we made created that made this spring break so wonderful.