Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival

Friday we headed to the 25th Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn. All day it was overcast but by the time we headed south after work it just cleared up. We had gorgeous blue skies most of the time we were there and warm weather. We couldn't have asked for a better day weather wise. I unfortunately hadn't been home a lot earlier and forgot to fully charge my camera battery... I took almost 200 photos before it died. I missed a couple of the traditional shots, with the tractors and windmill, but I got pleanty of the tulips. I tried to use my old camera that I always have with me for those last few but since it's been so long since I've used it, its battery was dead too! I took one with my phone of the windmill, just to get it, so that's on here as well.

After downloading the above photos, I decided to play a bit with the color enhancement featuers on my editing software... below is where I had some fun with one of the photos I uploaded from above, obviously making them not look real anymore, but it was fun.

Small Pleasures

Alright, this is an article I found online a little while ago and thought it was fun. I shared it with a co-worker and thought I would share it here. This list is 101 small pleasures you can enjoy every day. I hope you enjoy!

1. coloring (yes, grown-ups can do it, too)
2. crisp cotton sheets
3. soft skin
4. old family recipes
5. the first daffodils of spring
6. sleeping in
7. an exercise endorphin high
8. window boxes
9. a perfect cup of coffee
10. a genuine compliment (giving or receiving)
11. the way babies smell
12. a handwritten letter
13. waking up in a good mood...for no real reason
14. singing in the shower
15. finding a couple forgotten dollars in your pocket
16. doing something nice for your neighbor
17. a home cooked meal
18. laughing
19. movie theater popcorn
20. playing hookey
21. a bubble bath
22. swimming
23. an afternoon nap
24. street musicians
25. your favorite song
26. saying thank you
27. helping someone in need
28. old fashioned photo booths
29. fresh whipped cream
30. inspiring blogs
31. a glass of wine
32. rainy afternoons
33. the funny things kids say
34. a novel you can get lost in
35. finding the perfect piece of clothing...on sale
36. clean laundry
37. the wind in your hair
38. treating the person behind you at the drive-thru
39. sharing an umbrella
40. the smell of lavender
41. a long walk that clears your head
42. a bear hug
43. The Beatles
44. smiling at a stranger
45. eating with chopsticks (Chinese food optional)
46. butterflies
47. staying in your pj's all day
48. singing along to the radio and knowing all the words
49. fresh herbs
50. ordering in pizza
51. happy endings...even if they're fictional
52. flying a kite
53. puppies
54. root beer floats
55. holding open the door...
56....or having someone hold the door for you
57. fountain soda
58. white, fluffy towels
59. sunshine
60. spending an afternoon at a museum
61. really great advice
62. green lights all the way home
63. the sound of rain hitting the windows
64. sitting in a booth
65. holding hands
66. a great hair day with no effort
67. building a fort with your kids
68. when someone falls asleep with their head on your shoulder
69. fireflies
70. the perfect taco
71. geraniums on a windowsill
72. slow dancing
73. the smell of fresh-baked bread
74. cheesy, uplifting musicals
75. great stories
76. the smell of gasoline
77. the cold side of the pillow
78. love letters
79. old friends...
80. ...new friends
81. a pull-through parking space
82. a baguette -- crisp on the outside, airy on the inside
83. when a dog licks your hand
84. sitting at the counter at an old-fashioned diner
85. using your favorite dishes
86. reading your child a bedtime story
87. Girl Scout Cookies
88. flossing
89. kissing someone you love
90. the smell of onions and garlic cooking
91. hot chocolate
92. jumping in puddles
93. old photographs
94. birds hopping on the sidewalk
95. Ella Fitzgerald
96. a spoonful of peanut butter straight from the jar
97. your softest t-shirt
98. a new magazine in the mail
99. fireplaces
100. having exact change
101. bacon and pancakes cooking on Saturday morning

What a beautiful Spring day!

I can’t believe yesterday was the first day of spring already! I was determined to get outside and take advantage of what was forecasted to be a beautiful 68 degree day. We headed into Portland for our first visit to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. We will definitely be going back often! There were a few other people who seemed to have the idea to go there yesterday but I never felt like we were in a group of people. I want to go back and just relax on a bench reading and have lunch sometime, there were so many little cut always where you could do that. We walked along all the paths stopping every few feet to snap some photos.


After we left the gardens we met up with Corey and her sister Kayla who was in town visiting. We walked around the Portland Saturday Market before ending up at the Deschutes Brewery for dinner. After dinner we just happened to be a block away from Cupcake Jones, which Corey introduced us to last summer, so we headed over for a take home treat.

I’m hoping these nice days are starting to come more often since Josh and I seem to be finding places in Portland we’ve never been too before!

"Good" News last week

Last Friday Josh and I got a phone call with what would be considered good news if you were to ever have to get this phone call. 6 weeks after sending the tissue sample from my D&C to pathology we heard back that there was nothing found to be a problem with either mine or Josh’s DNA that caused us to lose the baby. This is of course good news for us, even if it doesn’t give us any answers. We now just fall into that category of unknown reason that “just happened.” Because of the results we were told that this would have no impact on any future pregnancies, which was the best news of all. So we may not have any answers, but we can erase some of the questions that may have been in the backs/or fronts of our minds for some time now.

We want to thank everyone again for all their support and understanding during this time. We are back to living our lives as normal as before, although I still don’t drink… It’s just weird and I don’t have the desire, especially if we try again and succeed I’d just have to stop all over again.

Thank you for understanding that we didn’t want to talk, and thank you for being there when we eventually did.

It's been a year!

I can't believe it, but I've been working for the school district now for just over a year. I showed up to work last Tuesday on my one year anniversary to find a balloon and gift bag on my desk. My boss and the business manager bought me a couple little things. It was a nice surprise to the morning.

Work is definitely busy and will continue to be but I have never been happier at work I love caring about what I do and the organization in which I do it. It really is something to see the improvements at the schools I attended when I was younger. The only annoying thing and will always be annoying are people thinking that because I work in a school district that I work school hours... I do not! I work normal hours. 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday. I do not get spring break, Christmas break, or summers off. According to one of my co-workers this will always happen, she's been in the district 20 years and people still think she gets summers off. Oh well, the small price to pay!

I also have made a great friend at work. I never would have thought that my closest friend would be a 51 year old mom of a 12 year old. Our pasts are very similar and her daughter is very similar to how I was in elementary/middle school so I help her out with advice. She's really like a big sister to me and I don't know how I could survive some days w/out her there. Catherine you're the best!

The Zoo!

I don't remember the last time I went to the zoo... it had been several years for Josh so we decided to spend the day making up for that. Corey came with us and we enjoyed the sun Saturday. Again, another opportunity to use the new camera. Below are my favorite pics from the day...

So much fun, who knows what next weekend will bring... well probably rain so who knows what the next day with sun will bring. Hope everyone had a good weekend and got to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having.

Time for an update

Alright, so after 3 weeks or so Josh and I have been MIA... we are back. We took some time to ourselves and did what we needed to do, but we are back to civilization now.

Last weekend we spent Saturday at the Oregon Coast. We headed straight to Seaside to hit up the Nike outlet store like we always do. Then we headed for the Seaside strip with all the little shops that head down to the beach. We only really stopped in a couple stores, one a new store, The Man Store. We bought a couple amusing birthday gifts and headed on our way.

After Seaside we headed into Cannon Beach for lunch at Mo's... of course. Right when we sat down for lunch the winds really picked up and the tide came right up to the rocks outside the restaurant. We were quite amused watching the people playing with their dogs go running around to avoid the waves. Next we went to the stores along the main strip of Cannon Beach hitting up our usual stops, the toy store, and some galleries. Along the way we found a new store, a hat store. A fun hat store! We had a hard time limiting our purchases to just 2 but were able to settle on a couple... I see us buying another one the next time we're down that way.

We also headed to Ecola State Park and found a great surprise when we pulled into the parking lot...

After our surprise guests left (due to stupid girls trying to get too close and chasing them away) we headed out to the various viewpoints and tried to stay upright in the 50+ mile an hour winds. We had to test out the new camera and all the settings... although there are only so many ways to make a gray cloudy day at the coast look.

Before we left we headed down the beach and walked up to Haystack, as close as they would let us get, snapped a few more photos and headed home.

We really wanted to head to the coast to just get away from it all for a day, be with each other, and say a little farewell to our lost little one. We found a spot we'll always remember and had a moment, wrote something, and tossed it into the ocean. I really feel like this has helped me get some closure. All in all it was a great day at the coast, we got away, said goodbye, and got to goof around and act like kids at Cannon playing with fun hats and eating ice cream.

We want to thank all of you for your love and support over the past few weeks as well as your understanding while we basically went into hiding during that time.