Hiking Misery Ridge! 08

I went hiking with a few of my friends Katie and Maddison at Smith Rock, which in itself is stunning. We went UP misery ridge trail! Which is exactly what it sounds like, up for a long time and very steep! The veiw from the top is worth it though! Dewey did the whole hike too, he's a trouper! It was a gorgeous day and then we went to watch the Pole, Pedal, Paddle which I hope to maybe participate in next year (don't hold me to that though). The rock that is really tall and looks like a face is called Monkey Face.

John Day Fossil Beds

The John Day Fossil Beds were a really cool road trip Paul and I took on our way back from camping at Delentment Lake! It is an area rich in rock and fossils ;). The pictures are gorgeous! I can only find one right now... I don't know where the other ones are on the computer I will have to have Paul find them.

Balloons over Bend '08

Balloons Over Bend

One of our favorite things about living in Bend is there is always some kind of festival or market going on. Every weekend in the summer there is a Sat market and every Wed and Friday there is a farmers market. In addition, there is always something going on at the old mill or downtown. This was the weekend before my parents came out and it was really cool to watch. At 7am all of the balloons were blown up on the feild of the elementary school that I work at and we can now walk to. We were able as you can see to get really close to all of the balloons. There were about 15-18 balloons that all went up at the same time! What a sight! Then we went to the top of Pilot Butte (small hill in the middle of town) and watched the balloons flying across town it was absolutely breath taking! Then along with the balloon flight there was a festival down town of artist and food and vendors. One of the art displays was local folks who were doing chalk are on the foot bridge at the old mill! Such vivid colors and really interesting techniques were being used, the end results were awesome. At night at the Leshwab Theater they lit up 5 of the balloons and they were supose to go up but because of the wind couldn't, so they were just glowing on the ground. Along with the glow a local performance group of fire spinners took the stage and were spectacular! All in all it was a very fun free day of amazing activity.

Cross Country Skiing 07-08

Cross country skiing is something Paul and I just took up this year!! It is a great work out and an absolute BLAST! We have also been able to go out with friend too. In the friend pictures, Heather and Dave, and Jessica and Jill. One of our favorite things are all of the huts. they are in the middle of the woods and usually have a fire started in them to keep you warm and take a break. The hut that Paul and I are standing in is the one that we typically found a special treat. One man from the community would sled into the hut and have waffles going with all of the toppings for people to eat. He had blueberry tea and hot cocoa! It was a great treat during all that work, and you get to sit and meet lots of really great people. The snow on some of the trails made the trees and world seem like you were going into Narnia! Needless to say Paul and I really enjoy this new activity and now that we have bought our own equiptment besides for a 20$ season parking pass it is also a free activity.

Paul's Baby Face 07

So wiht these picture I almost guarentee that Paul will never shave his face again.... but the world should see... his cute baby face!! He rarely if ever does it and even more rare is it to catch it in a photo! Here they are though the two pictures you may ever see of Paul with out any facial hair!! Enjoy...

Our First RENTAL 07

This is our house on Merriewood Dr. We rented it with Paul's sister Kristi for a while. We had really crazy neighbors!!!! It was two stories with the bedrooms on the second floor. We moved out of this place as soon as we could this summer in late June! We had one weekend to do it because it was the weekend between when my parents came to visit and Michala came out to visit. We are very glad to be out of that house and into our new place on White Dove Ln! There is something to be said about distance from the highway and your neighbors!

Christmas 2007!! Bend OR

Christmas 2007! Kristi Paul and Jill have their fishing poles and with their powers combine they will get some fish :)! A cute family picture in front of the fire place! The family feasting on crab!YUMYUM!

I made a meat pie in honor of my family back home!

I also made this delicious Coffee roll like my mom does... with many phone calls to the momma to make sure each stage was occuring correctly.

We had a wonderful Christmas in Bend, OR with friends and family around. We went snowboarding the next day!

Hair Cut

So it seems kind of silly that I'm 25 and posting my hair cuts... but this one is kinda cool. I got this hair cut at the beginning of Summer '08. Paul's Aunt Anne asked me to donate my hair for "Sail for the Cure" which happened this September, so I did. My hair was driving me crazy so I chopped it. Anyway all who know me realize that a hair cut for me is a big deal... and these pictures are really for my mom.

First Trip to California... The Winchester House

The Winchester house is a house created by the late Mrs. Winchester who was the wife of Mr. Winchester the creator of the Winchester Riffle. Someone told Mrs. Winchester after her husband died that the only way to get rid of the spirits who died from the riffle away from her was to build a house to confuse them. So she hired people for 24 years who worked 24 hours a day on her house. It was so creapy to walk through at night a little tipsy... but so cool! Staircases to no where, doors to walls, and a totally incomplete house! The reason I was in CA was not for the house though I was at a really great conference for work. (But the house was really fun!!)

Easter

Easter was very fun. The Easter Bunny came! Kristi and I decorated eggs the night before.. we used dies and crayons and all sorts of interesting methods. They were "egg"ellent! After Rox and I went to church I came home to my eggs being hidden outside, and a scavenger hunt of plastic eggs with clues in them all over the house! It was so much fun to have everyone there! Rick and Rox came over and Kristi was still living with us at that point. It was a great Easter away from the east coast.

Alaskan Honeymoon!

This is going to be many more pictures than words because it was so beautiful! We were on our honeymoon for 12 days! We drove up to Seattle and stayed with Steve and Donna and saw a very prego Andrea and Ryan. On the way home we were able to catch up and go to lunch with Alex and Jessica! It was really nice to see family! The first night up in Alaska Britt's mom took us out to dinner.. which it was so nice to see a familiar (related) face from back home in NH!! The dinner was amazing and so was the fact that THE SUN DIDN'T GO AWAY! We had a close encounter with a moose and many romantic nights. We met 6 new friends on the bus ride up... we adopted them and they adopted us! It was great then seeing familiar faces the rest of the trip and exchanging buying drinks :)! The views couldn't be beat and we saw Mt Denali in all of it's grandness! The food was killer and the glaciers were epic. The bugs weren't bad and the wild flowers were EVERYWHERE! We went horse back riding, held sled dog puppies, went on a sled dog ride, took two cooking classes, went to a brewery, went hiking in Denali, got a pass to the on board spa and ate too much! It was an amazing honeymoon and perfect for Paul and I!

First Apartment in Bend

This is the first apartment that Paul and I stayed in when we moved to Bend. It was a very small loft over his new boss's garage. It was cute and cozy and worked for the three or four days that we had to use it before our honeymoon. A one bedroom studio was perfect. Paul's mom and I drove over from Medford (after flying across the country) to meet the guys who had just drove across the country in 3 days!
All of our stuff was in storage and bags were already packed for Alaska!