dad turned the big 5 9 today

He spent it loading all our stuff onto the moving truck and making sure we are ready for the big move. He is a good great dad.

Happy Birthday Daddy-o!

the awkward years: pictures #2 & #3

These pictures bring back a flood of memories. 

I remember dying a little bit inside as the hair stylist was sculpting my hair into this puff. My haircut was already bad enough, but they took it to a whole new level with an offensive amount of teasing and hair spray. This would be considered a mullet, right? I couldn't believe that my mom and the people doing this to me thought that this was cute. I'm surprised I didn't break down and cry during the photo shoot.

"You look like John Stamos." 

- Bu

judiciaryreport.com

few things excite me, part 2

We can still get our fry sauce fix.

"This ain't made in Salt Lake City."

While posting about special sauces, I might as well throw in that I had my first Big Mac.

According to Bu, I am officially an American now.

I wasn't impressed. Too much bread and not enough meat.

photo overload of cannon beach, or & ecola state park

We loved, loved, loved this place. We'll be coming here a lot in the future.

seaside, or

Our first encounter with Oregon's beaches.

astoria, or

Matt is a big Goonies fan, so going to the movie locations in Astoria wasn't as exciting for me as it was for him. I've only seen it once a few years ago and I remember liking it and specifically the unique setting, but I don't remember any of these places we went to see that are in the movie. Like the houses pictured below were used in the movie, as well as the jail downtown, and the museum that the main characters dad worked at.

The port town is beautiful. I'm glad Matt is a fan of the movie or I probably would never had the chance to experience it. It is a quaint, little port town with lots of colorful, historical Victorian homes on the hills overlooking the port. Driving by the ocean inlet, it is obvious how old this town is by all of the worn down pylons where piers once existed. I really like how the climate in Oregon keeps everything so green and moss seems to grow on anything.

more snow

  Not my best heart.

we were on the hunt last weekend

and it was successful. It took many hours in the car navigating to different suburbs of Portland and making drive-bys of our top picks for houses found on Craigslist. Love that GPS and mobile broadband! Would not have been as nearly as efficient without them. We saw so many places that it got to the point where I couldn't tell them apart anymore. The next challenge is the move.

"It's like a bridge into the unknown." -Matt. His comment made me laugh.

On the clear days, we could see Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens.

Everyone we told that we are moving to the area warned us about the rain and lack of sun in the winter. This could have an effect on me, but right now I am just happy to have the never-ending hills and mountains of green terrain, huge fir trees and easy access to rivers and lakes. The summers and falls will be beautiful. Even though the ocean is 1.5 hours away from us, I consider this close to the beach.