Good things often come in envelopes

Benny Bee

The other day my roommate, Nicole, came back from a visit with her family. I was pleasantly surprised when she came home since I had missed her being around. But, I was even more joyously surprised when I realized what she had brought with her.

Yes, she had purchased a half-off bumblebee costume for her little dog, Benny. $5.00 for joy to fill everyone in the household, except for Benny, of course. Look at the serious unhappiness in that dog's eyes.

Just wanted to give you a quick update on one of the cute animals that lives in our house and his costume wearing antics.

Sunny days.

It's been beautiful here in Portland OR ever since I returned home from Augusta, GA. It's almost as if the city is welcoming me back. The weather has made the neighborhood and surrounding area ripe for our picking. Here are the last few of my days in pictures.

My friend Jonathan and I went Hiking to Mirror Lake.

learning to be outdoorsy

Mt Hood behind Mirror Lake. Beautiful.

A tree we saw on our hike.

A sunflower I saw whilst I was walking around the neighborhood

note how clear and blue the sky is in the background

A tree with some beautiful leaves in my neighborhood

Moss growing on a wall down the street

Return to Portland

I'm back in Portland. It turns out that it takes forever to fly to and from Portland, OR.

Thankfully, however, my day of travel was broken up by a really great lunch with my parents!! I found out at about 8:00 am that I had layover in Philadelphia on my way back west from Augusta, GA. Upon notifying my dad about my flight itinerary we decided to meet in Philadelphia. Luckily that was my longest layover and I had a few solid hours to spend with them. I'd like to say now. Thanks Mom & Dad for lunch, snacks, and my birthday gift! All are/were greatly appreciated. And seeing you made my day (maybe even my week).

Other than that sweet moment of happiness, most of my travel experience involved me falling asleep with my mouth open on planes and waking up very, very thirsty. Still, eventually, I returned to what is now my home town of Portland, OR and what I found surprised me. The weather was beautiful. I caught the MAX train back into town and from there rode a bus home. All in all, I got the the airport in Augusta, GA at just past 9 in the morning EST and arrived home from the airport in Portland, OR at around 2am EST. It was a long day.

AGS Augusta Georgia

In the southeast preparing for A WEDDING!! Get excited people. The weather will be sunny. The temperatures moderate. The day joyous. Things are almost in order. Nails have been done, cakes are being made, and centerpieces have been assembled.

Although, I forgot to bring my digital camera (Grrr...) I recently purchased a double pack of disposable film camera. Documentation of the event may be slower appearing but it will exist. Trust me. I wouldn't want you to miss out on these nails of mine, which are a luscious coppery hue or the awesome decorations that we've been working on. I also wouldn't want you to miss out on the main event with all it's fall colors and warm weather (to any who are reading from the Northwest).

Never fear. Pictures will be here. Stay tuned for more from the wedding front!

Visit time

This week is different from the last and will be different from the future.

This is because I am A: taking a whole week off of applying for jobs/interviews/work to: in the beginning of the week hang out with my awesome sister, Stephanie, who is visiting me on her move to Colorado and for the 2nd half of the week I'll be in the beautiful Augusta, GA helping one of my aforementioned favorite couples get ready to get married and then getting to witness the beautiful union AKA the wedding. I'll be back in Portland on Halloween Evening and we'll see what happens then.

And, lets not forget reason B: It's raining. It has been beautiful in Portland up until this point of the year and now begins the long dreaded, rainy, winter season. It's probably going to rain until the end of Spring is what they tell me. At least I came prepared with rain boots and a rain jacket. But, this is going to take some getting used to. I have been walking most places, as well as enjoying the parks, and bike routes. What's going to happen now? Will I just start hiding inside? Will I be forced to drink copious amounts of hot tea, and eat unreasonably large quantities of warm soup? I better get stocked up on some good teas now. I hear you can get them cheap from Trader Joe's.

I'm about to head out with My visiting sister, Stephanie, to Trader Joe's to stock up on teas and camping foods!

untethered

Recently, I've been feeling a little un-moored not having my usual friends and family around. It's strange to start over, have to make new friends, find new jobs, make connections with people you're not sure about making connections with.

It seems like this feeling comes and goes but that it is stronger now than usual. I wonder what it is in me that needs to adventure and to test if I can make it on my own. It seems like it would be safer, I'd keep more relationships in tact, and put down roots if I just stayed in the same place. At the same time, the idea of putting down roots is, in itself, terrifying because it seems crazy to root yourself somewhere when you don't know anything about anywhere else and you don't know what you're doing there in the first place.

Do people deal with these issues their whole lives? I sometimes want things to be simple and to know what is a good decision but I guess that wouldn't be very exciting.

Here's hoping that all of you are figuring out the answers to your questions and continuing on your own adventures as best you can.