Victoria B.C.

Brook and I spent the weekend in Victoria B.C. to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. In some ways, it was also our "babymoon." Evidently it is the new fad for couples to go on one last wild adventure before having their first child. Well, we weren't very wild, but we did leave the country for the weekend.

We headed north late Thursday night and stayed at the Puckett Bed & Breakfast in Seabeck, WA. For those who don't follow along, that is my parent's house. We were able to sleep in a little Friday morning before heading off to catch the 12:00 pm ferry out of Port Angeles, WA.

The ferry is a passenger-only ferry and they advertise a 55 minute crossing, although Brook and I believe it is closer to a 70 minute crossing from our experience. We also discovered the weak link in our nations security. All in all, a great way to get to B.C..

Upon docking in Victoria, we made the three block walk to the Andersen Bed and Breakfast (see http://www.andersenhouse.com/). The owners of the house have been operating there for 21 years and they do a fabulous job. It is a small B&B with only three rooms. We stayed in the Casablanca room which was really nice. Besides being close to the ferry, it was extremely close to downtown (Parliament Building, the Empress, the Royal Museum, etc.).

On Friday, we explored the dowtown area. We toured the Parliament building, went to an IMAX showing, went into the Empress, walked the Boardwalk and all through the dowtown area. We ate at an Irish pub for dinner and then enjoyed our walk back to the B&B.

Saturday featured breakfast at 9:00 am. Afterwards we walked towards the Bus terminal to catch a bus to the Butchart Gardens. However, we saw the Budget Rental Car lot next door and decided to rent a car for the day. Turned out to be a great choice because we were able to explore every bit of the Pennisula. We drove the coastline to the Butchart Gardens (see post below) and then continued around the island stopping lots of places in between.

All in all, I think that Victoria became a favorite new place to travel for Brook and I. We both loved the feel of the town and all that it has to offfer. We would love to return and do some biking and kayaking.

Butchart Gardens

See post above for more information. Brook and I spent the weekend in Victoria B.C. celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary. On Saturday, we rented a vehicle and drove around the coastline of the pennisula, including a stop at the world-famous Butchart Gardens. Despite me emptying out my wallet in order to get in the gates of the garden, we had a wonderful time and were amazed by the amazing amount of acreage covered in flowers.

Enjoy the photos below.

Sunriver

A little late in posting, but wanted to share some photos from our weekend in Sunriver two weekends back. We were lucky enough to be able to rent a house from one of my bosses in Sunriver. Both the Morgans and the Sargents were able to join us and we had a great weekend. We visited the Lava Caves, Tumalo Falls, the Sunriver Nature Reserve and a little bit of downtown (including a stop at Goodies Ice Cream).

Stupid People

As many comedians and country music artist have lamented before, the world is full of stupid people. I think that I could probably start an entire blog full of random quotes heard straight from the mouth of the stupid population. But since that blog has not been started yet, I thought I would share with you a recent experience that deserves to be told. This experience took place at the Portland Timbers game a couple weeks back.

While eavesdropping into the conversation going on behind me, I overheard a guy (approximately my age) telling his buddy the different languages he studied while in school. He said, "I studied Spanish, a little french, a semester of German and even a semester of latin." His friend commented back to him that Latin wasn't a very useful language.

Expecting the guy to respond to his friend by telling him that Latin could be a useful language when studying for the SAT or in general usage since so many of our words derive from the latin language, I was dumbfounded when he responded in total seriousness this:

"Ya...Latin isn't very useful....unless you are going to visit Latin America."

The world is full of stupid people.

Is Summer Finally Here?

It feels like summer! It is amazing how a three day work week, ninety degree weather, and a couple trips to the beach can make it feel like summer time. Brook and I had a fairly quiet Memorial Day weekend. We spent most of the weekend working around the house and then had a barbeque at Tom and Bev's house.

The nice part about a Monday holiday is that it creates a three day week for me since I don't work Friday's during the summer. While golf is normally on the agenda on Friday's, this week I took a break from the normal pattern and joined up with John Smith (my track coach from college) to go surfing at Pacific City. Surfing is actually what John does...I have my own style where I tend to ride the board on my stomach to the beach. None the less, it is still active and it is still fun.

Saturday night was spent watching our beloved Portland Timbers putting up two goals to defeat the Vancouver Whitecaps at PGE Park. Since the games start at 7:00 pm, we typically find ourselves up past our bed time by time we get home. But Saturday we felt wild and crazy and decided to take in the sights of the starlight parade in downtown Portland. I don't typically enjoy parades, which is a bit of a problem since Brook loves them. I don't think it is so much the parade that I hate as much as it brings back awful memories of the Bend Christmas Parade and me in a big fuzzy band cap marching in freezing cold weather. Have you ever tried to walk in snow, and play a saxaphone in freezing cold weather? So, after taking in the sights of the parade for a little while, I decided that I could lure my wife away from all the fun by promising deserts. And deserts is what we did...we both enjoyed the newest desert creations that Applebees is serving up. I must say...two thumbs up!

Sunday - after Church, we packed up the Tucson and the dog (we lamented about how much more we will be packing in a couple months) and headed to the beach. Our typical beach trip is to Seaside or Lincoln City, but it seems the theme of the weekend was wild and crazy. Yes, we switched it up and checked out Netards Bay. Kenji enjoyed the Ocean as much as always and even left a little bit of herself on the beach. It seems that she might have taken in too much salt water and found herself squirting out the backside in Multomah Falls size portions. All in all, a successful day. After seeing the aftermath of two different large traffic accidents, we feel blessed to be home safely. And here comes another week!

Busy Weekend

We survived another busy Mother's Day Weekend. For most families, Mother's Day Weekend is busy. But for us, it is always super busy. We get to cram in my sister's birthday (Abbey - May 9), Mother's Day (May 10) and my father's birthday (May 11) all in one fun-filled, action-packed weekend.

So with the Tucson loaded down, we headed north to visit the wonderful world of Seabeck, WA.

Friday was quite uneventful. Brook and I got to visit my Grandpa in his new apartment. He has recently moved out of his assisted-care facility that he was living in with my Grandma before she passed away. He is now living in a regular apartment, saving over $1,000/month. Being that he is ex-military, he was able to take us on base to visit the military exchange. I discovered that the store (exchange) did not live up to they hype that I had created in my brain. But, my Grandpa did buy us our first "onesies" for our baby.

Speaking of baby, it was the first time that my parents got to see "pregnant Brook." And pregnant she is...We have officially just over 80 days to go!

Saturday was an eventful day. Started out with an early morning tee time for the guys and an afternoon filled with Badminton. Brook and I both decided that our George Fox Education (Badminton 101) finally payed off.


And then of course...there was a birthday celebration...

Building for Baby

This is for Sarah and Kalina...who believed that we were far behind schedule in preparing for baby.

First, it is important that you get a view of Brook with baby inside so that you can get a good feel for just how far along we are (or are not). As of today we are 24 weeks and five days...only15 weeks and two days to go!

Upon taking the advice of our friends, we headed to JC Penny's last Sunday to look at their baby furniture. Turns out that they don't actually have anything in the store, but have quite the collection online. After lots of looking, we settled on a crib, dresser and hutch and hit "buy." Here is where I must take a side step and mention that the baby industry is a joke. Turns out that no cribs come with mattresses...you have to buy that separately. Anyhow, our crib is on backorder until May, so hopefully we don't have a baby come by then (for many reasons really). But today...we picked up the dresser and hutch. Here is some before and after shots...

And one final thing......................RIP CITY.......GO BLAZERS!

MLS to Portland 2011

What an exciting day for Portland soccer fans! Yesterday (Friday), the commissioner of Major League Soccer announced that Portland has been awarded a franchise that will start play in 2011.

As season ticket holders to the Timbers, this is awesome news that we have been looking forward to for over a year!

It's a girl!

We had our ultrasound on Tuesday and we found out that it's a girl. Since both Brook and I were convinced that it was going to be a boy, we now have to go back to the drawing board, and start fresh with names. Of course, we could just follow suit with our dog...we had planned on getting a male dog and came up with the name "Kenji." However, the litter was 100% female and we kept the name. She doesn't seem to have too much of an identity crisis...so maybe our daughter could handle it as well.

Of course when it comes to names, I might should just stay out of it. I'm not sure, but I think I might be responsible for naming my parents cat (Spanky) and our cat is named Tigra.

In all seriousness though, Brook and I are both super excited to be having a daughter. I am already plotting ways to scare off future boyfriends and Brook is already figuring out how to avoid accumulating too much pink.

Everything appears to be good in terms of health. We are just over 20 weeks into this thing. Brook is starting to feel a lot better. August 3rd will be here before we know it.

Winter Wonderland

As most of our friends and family are, we too are buried in a layer of 6-8" of snow, 1/2" of ice, topped off with another 2-4" layer of snow. This is day nine of what local news media has termed "Artic Blast 2008." Kenji doesn't quite know what to think about the snow. She loves playing in it...but she finds it very incovenient to go to the bathroom in. The good news is that her igloo in the backyard is now truly an igloo (although the spoiled dog doesn't spend any time in it).

The good news is this: we finally have time to update everybody as to our undertakings over the past several months. Since our last post, we really haven't been up to much, so this should be fairly short.

In late September, we went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for a week on vacation. We stayed at a beautiful all-inclusive resort called the RIU Playa Car. It was a wonderful week filled with lots of time sipping margaritas by the pool and swimming in the ocean. I think the only thing we did active all week was take a tour to some Mayan Ruins near the town of Tulum. Overall, it was a much needed time of rest and relaxation.

Work has been uneventful for both Brook and me. The bad economy hasn't really affected either of our jobs. Brook works for a not-for-profit, so obviously times are getting tough as folks cut back on their donations. As for my job, there is always accounting work to be done, regardless if it is working on a merger or acquisition or even bankruptcy. I think that during these times, it is important to remember that we are called to be witnesses of Christ and that we can shine during these times because our faith and our hope is not dependent upon our 401(k)'s or our savings account. A verse that I have printed out and on my computer at work to remind me of this is Jeremiah 29:11 - "'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'"

Brook and I are so thankful this Christmas season for jobs, a roof over our heads, heat, our pets (at least the dog) and family. We wish everybody a Merry Christmas!