I did not die of dysentery

Ages ago, I promised an Oregon trip picspam, and I'm finally delivering! :) I had a really lovely time visiting Kathleen and Noah over Memorial Day weekend. I was there for four days, and while there, I made the following observations:

-The people there seem to be even friendlier than people in the Midwest (which I didn't realize was even possible), although it's possible they're only able to be that friendly because they get all their agression out on the road. It's nothing like New York or LA, but they use their horns a lot.

-I found it ironic that an area that's so infamously "green" has an economy that relies so heavily economically on the foresting industry. However, they are required by law to replant, which is pretty cool.


Also, while I was there, I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time, 17 classic volkswagen busses, at least a dozen elk, and a bald eagle.

Oregon, I learned, features every type of geography available in the US except tundra. The area Kathleen and Noah live in is rainforesty mountains, and it was beautiful! Observe:


Day 1 was hiking up Spencer Butte :)

Noah emerging from the treeline:



The view from the peak:



Day two, we decided to go to the ocean, and were lucky enough to get sun the entire time we were there. The shoreline where we were reminded me more of Lake Michigan than anywhere on the Atlantic I'd been, if we're being honest, but still. The Pacific Ocean!





Dunes! We had to hike through these to get to the water, although this is looking at them long-ways along the coast.



Kathleen et moi:



We rounded off the day at a seafood place, then went home to bake a pie. We were going to do a marionberry pie (a variety of blackberry developed by researchers at the local university, thus only available in the area where Kathleen and Noah live), but the grocery store was out, so we settled for making one out of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

Kathleen was pretty peeved it singed a little, and spend most of the evening muttering "what did I do differently" under her breath, but I was mostly like HEY OMG LOOK GUYS I MADE A PIE AND IT TASTES GOOD YAAAAYY!!!!



This is what we typically do with the extra pie crust dough, and it's almost tastier than the pie.



Day 3 we spent lounging about town, because I was worried about pulling something if we went hiking four days in a row. We went to a winery and a bookstore, got coffee, then went home to make Indian food. Oddly, this was the day I broke out in hives. (You know, the day I wasn't exposed to any new plant life or anything. Go figure.)

Day 4 we went hiking on McKenzie trail, which apparently some organization, I was informed, voted the most beautiful trail in the US, and I could see why. It was like being in a fairy-tale (although I think I'd DIE if I had to do it in long skirts).

The trail beckons:



Kathleen answers the call!



Waterfall #1...



I caught this shot candid. Are they not too cute for words?









Waterfall #2:



Prepping for a photo op:





Waterfall #1 again, from a different angle:



Kathleen is gleeful at having stolen her husband's hat:



The gnomes have been here.



Here, too.







The land time forgot.

Stuff!

-I just got back from visiting Kathleen and Noah in Oregon! It was glorious -- pics soon.

-I got hives while I was there. I have no idea what from. They appear to be gone now, although my wrist is still kind of sensitive and itchy.

-I just finished reading Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger. It's amazing! Beautifully written, but down to earth and engaging. Review soon... maybe? (Probably not; let's be real here.)

-Freelance illustration project going well -- I have to buckle down and get things done in the next month or so. Then in early July I take the MI Basic Skills Test which will allow me to go to Teacher Skool liek a big gurl. So I have my work cut out for me for a while.

-Festival's this weekend! I'm going with Jeffiner! Annual elephant ear, nimbu pani, & misc meat on a stick with a side of sunburn and heatstroke, here I come!

Maybe some candy, too.

I realize it's stupid, but a teeny little part of me legitimately believes Osama Bin Laden may have turned out differently if he'd been allowed a kitten as a child.

Made you look

I still don't have anything to say (same crap, different day), but I thought it was time for some less wintry colors around here.

You're welcome.

Right in the middle of some gratuitious snuggling

MY WEEK IN PICTURES

ahem...

Snowday!


Unchartered amounts of fanfic reading!


No more epic fanfic reading.

Thanks for nothing, Webroot.

"I do still love my blog, Monica -- my life is just really boring right now. What?? Ouch, stop hitting me!"

I try to go out to my parents' for dinner and a movie or something at least once a weekend. Last Sunday, however, my parents and I went to see True Grit (which was amazing - I'm getting it on dvd the minute it comes out), then they came over to my place for dinner, since I live five minutes from the theater and the movie got out too late for me to go all the way out to theirs. It was really lovely -- my mom brought homemade soup and bread, and I provided salad, drinks, and a little bit of dessert. It had been a few years since my dad had seen my apartment and I've made a lot of changes in that time, so it was fun to get a whole new batch of compliments on the place. I spent the whole weekend cleaning before they got here, so it's also been really nice having a clean, straight living space. It was such a resounding success, in fact, that we decided to do it again this weekend, although now that today has arrived and I am sitting in my bathrobe and blogging at quarter to three (New Years resolution to go to church every Sunday FAIL) and am facing the fact that I actually have to get up and clean now instead of settling in for a lazy afternoon viewing of a movie, I'm sort of having mixed feelings about the idea. Only sort of mixed, though -- I really enjoyed last weekend and I won't miss the drive out to my parents'.

As you may have gleaned from Twitter, I'm currently treating poor Gracie for a UTI. There was this whole drama over trying to get a urine sample out of her involving earplugs and a urine-covered bathroom, and I've been feeding her pills every day since. The nice thing is that it's only been a week, but I'm pretty sure she's getting better! She's suddenly more affectionate than she's been in, like, ever, which makes me wonder how long she was sick (sigh). But she actually approaches me for pets and cuddles more often than Garfunkel does now. She also seems more more energetic and playful than she had been in a little while. Accurate diagnosis and a cuddly, healthy kitty for the win. :)

Don't you know this life goes on

Well, I wasn't quite able to swing starting night-classes this semester, so I'll be starting in the summer. Although it'd be nice to feel like I'm finally moving on, I'm actually kind of happy. It'll be nice having nights free for a while without grad school research or a portfolio hanging over my head. I have delicious plans for finally getting back to weaving, reading a bunch of books, cleaning, redecorating, drawing, toying with photoshop, maybe reading a little fanfiction, plus I'm thinking about taking a 10 week pottery class at the UICA come spring. I've never successfully been able to throw a pot on a potter's wheel, which is something I'll have to be able to teach if I teach high school art. Even if I take a pottery class later at AQ, I have limited confidence in my ability to master the technique without a heck of a lot of practice. Plus, clay is fun. Nothing relieves stress like beating air bubbles out of clay; basically you take the hunk of clay and hurl it at a table with great force. Repeat. Very theraputic.

Kathleen and Courtney are both gone now -- Courtney to Spain to teach English; Kathleen and husband Noah to Oregon for a new publishing job and grad school. I'm legitimately happy that they got out and found interesting new lives to sink their teeth into; they were at least as dissatisfied in their publishing jobs as I was, if not moreso. But... meh. I miss them.

This summer will be my 5 yr anniversary at Workplace, which, while that particular thought fills me with ennui, panic, and despair, it does mean I get an extra week of PTO starting this year. This is something I'd totally forgotten about, and it immediately brightens my mood whenever the thought pops into my head. Chances are I'll be using a great deal of it for classroom visits, but my joy refuses to be quelled. More vacation time, guyz!!!!! Yaaayyyyyy!!!