30 used to sound old...

We got to make it a whole birthweek that started with a visit from Ann and Brody. Ann and I share a birthday (makes it easier for Eric to remember) and it's always fun to celebrate it together. They enjoyed hearing Eric preach (twice!) and even joined us for a 3-hour district dinner and meeting Sunday afternoon at which I shared about the work the Cornelius church is doing with the Latino community. Good thing they love being at church!

Here they are with Annie's birthday flowers from the farmer's market:


We thoroughly enjoyed our free day Monday, with pancakes for breakfast, chocolate all day and pizza for dinner--plus a delicious Burgerville shake to end the evening.

Here we are at Pizzacato, a really great Portland pizza place that I can't believe we hadn't tried before now!




Brody with the giant chocolate bar we nibbled on as we headed to the theater (to see Amelia--pretty good movie).

On my actual birthday, I had an early-morning message on my phone from Eliser, who sang Las Mananitas (the birthday song in Mexico) and enjoyed lots of nice calls and little notes throughout the day. The pastors and school administrators at the Ministerial/School District breakfast sang happy birthday, my new "little" (with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program) gave me a deliciously rich coffee-chocolate mousse thing, and a couple of my ESL students surprised me with gifts, including a gorgeous bouquet of red roses!

After meetings Friday morning, Eric and I went into Portland to go thrift-store shopping (my birthday wish) and then had dinner at an amazing vegan cafe. Perhaps ironically, we stopped at Burgerville on a way home for a decidedly not-vegan strawberry shake!! It wasn't a free day, but it was my birthday!!!


It was a wonderful week and I feel so loved and thankful for all the good people in my life. Wonder what my 31st year will bring...

Damen Corridor Community Meal: Special West Coast Unit

A week ago Sunday after church, we headed down to Seal Rock to spend a mini-sabbatical on the coast with Jon and Megan, good friends from Chicago who are on a real (3-month-long) sabbatical. It was wonderful to relax and step into the rhythms of their sabbath and just be together for a day and a half. We fit in many of the elements of a normal week for them:

Hiking. We made our way up to the Cape Perpetua outlook, just a few miles south of Seal Rock and one of the highest points in the area. It was a gorgeous day and the views were incredible!

Hanging out by the water. We sat next to Devil's Churn and enjoyed our lunch (including Newman-Os for dessert). Devil's Churn is a narrow inlet where the water gets pretty rowdy when the tide is high. Watching the waves build up, then crash in against the rocks then back against themselves was pretty awesome and kept us captive for a long time.


Walking on the beach. We wandered by the tide pools with the sun setting and the tide low and saw lots of anemones, star fish and a beautiful bird that we think was a heron.

Cooking and eating good food. Megan and Jon had gotten some amazing veggies at the nearby farmers market and made some amazing African groundnut stew.

It was perfect timing. We got to know Megan and Jon through a long-standing Community Meal group in Chicago that meets at someone different's house every Monday. Folks live in several different neighborhoods in the city, but we realized last year that all the active participants lived within a couple of blocks from Damen (a north-south street running all the way through the city) even though the far-north and far-south folks were 15 miles apart. Anyway, it was fun that we just happened to be with these lovely CM friends, eating this amazing home-cooking meal on a Monday evening. If it hadn't been so late in Chicago, we would have called our Chicago CMers gathering that same evening!

And the next day, after we returned home, another Community Meal friend came to visit! Mark was out from Chicago for a conference in Seattle and drove down with his mom (who lives there) to stay a night with us. It was fun to show them around and, of course, enjoy delicious food together.

How great to have Community Meal here in Oregon! We miss you all!

Walk There: 4T

We recently got a pocket-sized book called Walk There (with a Powell's gift certificate from our friend, Carrie), which has lots of great walks in and around Portland, and we've decided pick a route each Monday (our day off). We started with the 4T loop, which starts at the zoo and includes hiking on a trail and taking a tram, trolley and train! It was a cool but gorgeous afternoon--the last day without rain and/or ridiculous wind that we may see for a while--and the trees are turning incredible colors right now.

Near the beginning of the Marquam Trail:

It's so amazing that this is within the Portland city limits!



The trail took us to Council Crest Park, the highest point in Portland. This is view to the west, where we live. Somewhere out there.

Pretty nice view of Mt. Hood to the east:

And Mt. St. Helens to the north:

We continued on through some amazing neighborhoods until we reached the OHSU hospital complex. More amazing views!

From there, we took the tram (for free) down down down down and got on a street car which took us downtown Portland, where we ate some tasty Mexican food.

Can you believe that some people commute on this thing every day? One guy was texting while we descended, like it was no big deal to be floating through the sky. I was amazed.

From there, we took the Max train back to the zoo. It was neat to be able to see Council Crest Park, where those towers are, from where our car was parked.

Can't wait to try the next walk!

Greens

We wanted to see Ryanhood, Abby's hubby's band, play this weekend during the Portland stop on their tour, but it would have been past our Saturday night bedtime, so we met them for coffee and hot cocoa that afternoon instead. So great to see these friends from Tucson and hear about life on the road and their soon-to-join-them traveling companion (it's a baby!).

Oregon says, "Come back soon!"

Mumsy in Oregon

The third and final installment from Mom's visit two weeks ago...

It was wonderful to have mom here to experience where we live and the rhythms of our day-to-day. And, of course, we had the chance to do some fun things that we don't do all the time.

After church Sunday, we checked out the Rock Creek Trail, which winds along the Rock Creek and through neighborhoods in Hillsboro, just down the road from Cornelius.



We stopped by Mat and Leah's that night and, as always, enjoyed Freya's cuteness.

Mondays are normally our "free day," the one day each week that we don't work out and we eat whatever we want. I mean, really--whatever we feel like eating. It has become a tradition for Eric to make his amazing sour cream blueberry pancakes, but I was hungry when I woke up Monday morning and wanted a snack (his pancakes take a while), so I ate some cake from church the day before. Mmmm...that's what free day is for.

Then, our neighbor, Concha came over for coffee--and she brought donuts!!

A bit later...the pancakes! Soooo good!


We picked up the free cultural passes that can be checked out from the library and headed to Washington Park in Portland. Our first stop was the Rose Gardens. Too much gorgeousness to capture.



Next door is the Japanese Garden. So peaceful.




We headed downtown for a stop at Stumptown, a great Portland coffee roasting place, and then Voodoo donuts where we shared the best apple fritter I have ever had. It was the size of my head.

We walked along the riverfront until it started to rain.

Then we went north to the Alberta neighborhood for dinner at the Vita Cafe, which has amazing vegetarian food! One happy boy.


Come back soon, Mumsy.

Hwy 101

After two nights in the redwoods, mom and I headed north. We drove from our campsite near the OR/CA border 300 miles to Tillamook on the coast highway, which was a first for both of us! Because we weren't in a hurry, we pulled off at every pretty overlook and scenic byway that caught our fancy and boy did we enjoy some grand views of the mighty Pacific!

Our first stop. Just cause we wanted to.

Near Bandon.

It was super windy and we watched a guy windsurfing out there by himself on the the waves the whole time we were there. He was just flying!

Mom trying to imitate the face in Face Rock.

We had sand in our teeth after this!


We stopped near Florence to check out the sunset at this inlet. This is mom after I beat her in a race down the beach.

Climbing the rocks.

We weren't back on the road for long before pulling off at this superhigh overlook.

We stayed that night in Seal Rock, in a cottage being rented for three months by Megan and Jon, friends from Chicago who are on sabbatical. Unfortunately, they were up in Washington at the time (though we'll be visiting them in a few weeks!), but we were thankful for the cozy place to stay and for hot showers! We watched a few episodes from their Seinfeld collection and enjoyed a great night's sleep!

The view from Seal Rock State Park, just down the road from the cottage.

Just north of Seal Rock is Newport, where we stopped for a cup of coffee and a walk along the old bayfront--and to watch the local seals, those curious creatures, as they sunbathed and snuggled and barked.

Our last beach stop of the day was at Cape Kiwanda. The last time I was at this place was a rainy May day four years ago while Eric and I were at the coast celebrating our first anniversary! Mom and I didn't climb the dune, but I highly recommend it--amazing views all around!

We meandered away from the coast and through the woods and into the Tillamook State Forest...

...which spit us out of the coastal range and into the valley again.

Back home. Can't believe I get to live in this gorgeous state.