Portland, OR

Hello again everyone! Apologies for being so out of touch lately, but as some of you know (or not) I recently moved again, this time to Portland, Oregon. My wonderful family here has agreed to take me in while I find my way, yet again, in a new city. I am happy to report that things in Portland are already going significantly smoother than in California, which is a definite relief. Since my relocation, I have taken on two part time internships at The Intercultural Communication Institute & Portlandia School of Languages. The internships are quite similar and mostly I'm in charge social media coordination/research, and although both are unpaid, they seem a good way to get involved in the local community. Aside from that I started a software development course at The Tech Academy, which is quite enjoyable and I am learning a lot! In between all that, I have managed a few social events such as seeing a play with my cousin and visiting the local Lan Su Gardens with Patrick while he was visiting last week. 

Speaking of Patrick! He was able to land himself a job as an abrorist here in Portland! It is quite exciting and he is in the process of moving himself from California to Oregon as I write this. SO it would seem, things are coming together. That being said I would like to announce I will be taking a break from blogging for awhile. I want to take my blog in different direction and need some time to figure out what that could be. So my dear friends and family, until then Patrick, Charlie and I can be found in the green and rainy city of Portland, Oregon busily trying to assemble our lives into what appear to that of functional adults. Cheers!

Christmas & New Year's Celebrations

Hello again and Happy New Year from California!! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and brought in 2017 with a smile and a bang! Christmas was quite eventful for Patrick, Charlie and I as we drove all the way back to McCall for the snow-pocalypse that was happening. It was a true Christmas Winter Wonderland if I have ever seen one! The drive was long (Like 13 hours in one day long! Ugh!), but of course it was worth it to see Mom & John for a few days a play in the freezing north.  Besides setting up our tiny tree and opening stockings, we went skate-skiing and snowshoeing both a first for Patrick! Although he says snowshoeing is more fun, he is also quite a natural on skis! In the evenings when the weather got too cold and too nasty (Which happened daily around 4:30pm!) we built a fire and had a Star Wars marathon. Charlie was pleased to be with his siblings again we all had a cozy time playing games baking holiday treats! It was quite a successful holiday in my book!

After Christmas we drove back to California to spend New Year’s Eve with some friends of ours in Palo Alto. Although none of us made it to midnight (Yes, we tried extra hard to see the ball drop, but alas! Sleep called too strongly!), we did play some board games and have some delicious crepes while catching up on the previous months! Thanks Franzi & Lalith for having us over to ring in the new year with some ZZZZZZZ’s!!!

 

AND speaking of the coming of a new year…yes, you all know what’s coming…It’s time to talk about our resolutions!!! I am (and always have been) a resolution nut. I can’t help it. It just happens. Not my fault. AND as you all know as much as I love making resolutions, I love sharing them just as much, so here is some of what is on the agenda in 2017:

1)   Read 5 LEAISURE books

2)   Try acupuncture

3)   Start learning Arabic (I actually already did, but I want to take a proper class this year.)

4)   Bike more & drive less

5)   Incorporate meditation (This is a roll-over from 2016…)

6)   Practice patience

7)   Make time for tea-time (and cookies… I also need cookies with my tea…)

So there you have it! I also want to mention that although “get a job” isn’t on the list, it is currently my top priority. Resolutions are reserved for passion and curiosity and cultivation. A job is a necessity and therefore didn’t quite make the cut, although the pursuit of employment is currently consuming my being, so wish me luck! Did anyone else make any 2017 resolutions/goals/desires/anti-resolutions?! If so I would love to hear! Shoot me an email and fill me in on your holiday and coming endeavors!  Love and miss you all and WELCOME 2017! :D xoxo

Davis, CA & Thanksgiving

Hello from Davis, California everyone! I realize I have already been here for over a month and not updated anyone about it, so my apologies for that! Honestly it’s been a bit chaotic around here trying to get settled and find a job! Both are a work in progress as neither of those points are to my expectation, but hey, life is a process right!? Well, anywhere where to begin… after our arrival to our lovely one bedroom apartment by the university we unloaded all Patrick’s stuff out of his storage unit so he could finally unpack  In between all that we oriented ourselves in our new town and I started taking some free language classes at a local organization, which I enjoy very much.

We only had about 4 weeks in Davis before we headed to San Francisco for Thanksgiving at my Uncles house. There turned out to be around 16 of us for dinner, including some distant relations I had never met, which was really fun! Also included in the group was this guy! Maybe you recognize him from an earlier blog, but this is my dear friend Matthew from Australia. He had planned a trip to the States awhile back, which conveniently coincided with Thanksgiving. I picked him up the Thursday morning and he joined us for turkey and pumpkin pie.

Matthew and I spent the next few days visiting San Francisco, where we  biked on the Golden Gate Bridge and had dim sum in China Town. After that we drove down CA-1 camping at Monterey and Morro Bay along the way and just checking out the lovely scenery after which we spent a day in LA before he returned back to Sydney and back to work. It was so awesome to have you here for a visit and I can’t wait until next time!!! Good luck!!

I realize this blog is much too short to cover so much time, but surprisingly I don’t have much more of interest to say about Davis. The weather is usually nice and I enjoy the diversity. I should have more photos..... but these will have to do for now! Anyway hugs to everyone and I hope that you are getting excited for the holiday season! Warm wishes!! xoxo

From Maine to Cali

So the big day came and went. Congratulations Hailey & Will Davis on getting hitched and being awesome! The festivities started in Kennebunk, Maine at my Aunt’s adorable new house (SO COOL!) with a big MacNichol/Orser family lunch and get together, after which we all carpooled into Portland to check into our hotel to do some more visiting. The following evening the wedding was lovely even though it rained constantly! We ate wonderful food (prepared by the grooms family) and chatted with far away cousins and danced to keep warm. Toasts were made and thank you’s said before we polished off the night with some of the best home made pie I’ve ever had in my life! You go guys! Thanks for inviting us to share your special day! Good luck for the coming lifetime and we hope to see you all again very soon!

After the family festivities were over, Patrick and I rented a car and drove north to Bangor, Maine where we met up with his friend Frank who lives there. We stayed one night there and then all continued up to Acadia National Park to get some out outdoor adventures in. We stayed at a hotel just outside the park and did a few short hikes in the area, including the famous Precipice Trail. The hike is only 1.3 miles round trip but requires rock scaling and ladder climbing almost every step of the way. It was a fabulous hike ending in a stellar view. Our timing proved excellent as the sun hid away behind some clouds soon after we reached the top!  The rest of the day was dreary and cold so we walked around adorable downtown Bar Harbor and ended the day with hot soup and a movie. What a life! Thanks Frank for showing us around and taking some time off to meet up! It was great! :D

Shockingly enough that was the end of our adventure here on the East Coast! After Acadia, we said goodbye to this side of the country, returned our rental car and hopped a plane to Davis, California where Patrick, Charlie and I will be spending the next chunk of our lives! We don’t have everything figured out yet but are excited to unpack and get started on everything! So stay tuned for how that all goes…

Also, as you all know, elections are coming up soon and I want to abuse my power as a blog writer and encourage you all to get out a vote on November 8th! So pray, cross your fingers, hope, wish, shout, cry or whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, but cast those ballots! This should prove to be an interesting ride…

That’s all for now! Sending more love and hugs as always! And in case anyone was wondering how Charlie Pants is doing, this about sums it up:

xoxoxo

East Coast Adventures

It has only been two weeks since I left McCall (which in itself seems crazy!) and I cannot believe all the traveling that has been packed into that short amount of time! I must say, although I dearly love to be on the road, typically I prefer to stay in each place for a longer period of time, but hey, lovely people and opportunities are just not to be passed up!

After a little Mother/Daughter time in Boise, Mom dropped me off at the airport where Charlie and I caught a plane to Roanoke, Virginia to visit my dear friend Jessica for a few days. Jess lives with her boyfriend in a charming southern style house close to the center of Roanoke, and although she was busy working a lot we managed squeeze in a few hikes, a sushi dinner date and a pumpkin carving session! Her boyfriend even made us his special pancakes for breakfast one morning, which were AMAZING! Turns our the secret ingreients are cocnut oil and cinnamon…shhhhhh! ;) Thanks Jason & Jess! It was awesome to see you again and I hope to do it again soon!

 

Ok now, here is where it gets a bit chaotic… In order to avoid making you read page after page of incoherent rambling about busses and trains and planes (oh my!), I will employ the master of organization: the bullet point, and do my best to be concise. SO here we go:

• After catching up with Jess, we (we=Charlie & I) took a train to Washington DC, where I met up with this guy again!  Patrick’s Mom and older sister live in DC and we exchanged our room and board with Partick’s Mom for painting her living room. We aren’t pro’s, but it turned out "not horrible". We also did a bit of rainy tourism, met up with my friends from the Netherlands for dinner (So awesome to see you guys again!!! Good luck in DC over the next year!) , and had a get together with Patrick’s sister Stephanie and her girlfriend Kim.

 

•  A short three days later we (this time we= Patrick, Charlie & I!) were off to Philadelphia! Patrick’s good friend and his wife live just outside Phili with their three kids and we stayed with them for two nights. It was a short but relaxing visit, which included a trip to the botanical gardens and watching the second presidential debate (mostly slack-jawed in amazement at the whole show). They are a super cool family and I was so happy to meet them. (Thanks Alex and Nichole! I hope to see you again soon!) ...And YES! We are having a coloring party in the photo below! Such fun! :D

• Post-Phili the three of us caught a bus to New York City where we stayed with my Aunt Sally for a few days while we basked in the spotlight of the city, went to the Museum of Natural History, Time Square, Central Park, The Statue of Liberty AND Ellis Island. In addition I was able to have a short visit with my dear friend Franzi, who just started her PhD at NYU. (I am so proud of you girl!! Keep up the good work! :D ) In between, we managed to chat with my aunt quite a bit about politics, religion and all those fun taboo topics which was super interesting and engaging. I felt a huge amount of appreciation to be related so such an excellent human! (Lots of love Sally! See you soon!)

  

 

•  Did I mention we were only in NYC for two days?! Well after that whirlwind, we arrived in Essex, Connecticut at my Grandparents house totally exhausted. Luckily grandparents houses are always the perfect places to relax. We had a bit a of down time, napped, washed clothes, took a hot tub and just recovered from the chaos that is New York City. Grammy and I got to catch up on everything and really chat which doesn’t happen often enough these days it seems. It was really great and I was so pleased to spend some extra time with them.

• The next morning, Patrick’s friend Carlos picked us up and drove us to his house in Providence, Rhode Island. We stopped at the National Submarine museum along the way where we go to walk around inside one and soak up an absolutely gorgeous day! After a much needed good nights sleep, we all took a day trip to Newport and hit up a seafood festival. Although it was quite windy, it was really lovely and there was live music and lots of shops to poke around in.  We appropriately, polished off our day with Chinese food and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (Thank you Carlos for letting us invade your home for a week! It is MUCH appreciated!)

  

Whew! Still with me?! Ok so, here were are still in Providence for a few days and our next stop is Portland, Maine for the big wedding! The excitement is growing…I cannot wait to see all of you I haven’t already seen yet! Travel safe, take care & lots of love to everone! xoxox

P.S. A big shout out to this little guy (maybe I should say bark out?!) who makes me so proud! He is really the best and most patient traveling companion there ever was. He is always happy and ready to adventure with his mama. You make my day with your awesomeness Mr. Charlie Pants!