Some not-terribly-exciting stuff

Once again, I've been a total blog slacker. But really, once again, we haven't done a whole lot of interesting stuff (either that or stuff you've already seen on here). But, spring is just about here so we should be getting out more! Lots of trees and flowers are blooming, which is really nice to see. I will take some pictures of that soon.

We celebrated our first St. Patrick's Day in PDX last week, which was actually not quite the spectacle I was expecting. I am used to SPD in East Lansing... lining up at bars at 7am, everyone's mouths green from the cheap dyed beer, and most of the city either passed out or arrested by 3pm. I must say, I enjoyed this much more! We spent most of the day at (where else) Rogue. Good beer and good people, can't beat that.

Mmmm, Imperial IPA

Um, this may be after a few Imperial IPAs...

We ran into my buddy Annapurna, a server at VQ... and the creepy
dude on the left wouldn't stop hitting on her

And of course, March Madness is here! I'm not a huge sports fan, except for MSU games, but something about March Madness is just so FUN. Last Friday we met up with our new friends (yay!) Kelly and Eric, who also moved here from Michigan last year, to watch MSU play. Kelly's mom is friends with Paul's mom, so the moms set us up on a blind double date. :) And they are totally awesome.

So, at the next table there were a group of crazy Canadians that decided to be our friends. I don't even know where to begin... it started with drunkenly singing college fight songs and the Canadian national anthem, and somehow ended up with this guy philosophizing with us while spraying french fries in our faces. Ah, the people you meet in Portland.

Guy #1, Guy #2, Eric and Kelly

Guy #1 with the Mayos

Guy #1 with the Fischers

So this guy's friends were telling us that he is a Canadian TV star, and whaddayaknow, he wasn't full of it: http://www.randallmark.com/. Haha! In his merriment, he also invited us all to stay at his house in Vancouver (his 4-bedroom house on 10 acres to be exact) whenever we want. I bet he thinks we won't take him up on it. :)

As of yesterday, I am officially car-less! I turned in my beloved Ford Escape, and we're gonna see how it goes without a car. Between our bikes, our feet, and all the transit here, I don't think we'll miss it very much. It will be cheaper to rent a car for any excursions than to worry about a car payment every month, for sure. Now I'm just waiting for someone to tell me I'm ruining the economy by not driving a car...

I think that's it for now! We'll try and do some fun stuff soon to liven up this blog. Promise!

Love,
Jenny

The Mayos emerge

After hibernating for most of February, we finally got out yesterday! It was our first day off together in a while, so we decided to take a drive while the weather was decent. We decided on Three Capes Scenic Loop, which took us out to the coast.

First stop was Cape Meares. We stopped off at a beach just before the cape to let Buckley run around a little bit. It was Buckley's first trip to a beach, and to an ocean.

Cape Meares is off to the left.

Buckley running away from an incoming wave... he was such a scaredy cat. :)

This is the view at the actual cape. It was just breathtaking.


Also at Cape Meares is the Octopus Tree, which grew to this shape due to high coastal winds. Pretty cool.



Another view from Cape Meares.


After Cape Meares was Cape Lookout, however the park required a day-use pass which we opted not to purchase. We'll probably go back when we have a full day to hang out and explore - it's a very popular beachcombing spot. Next was Cape Kiwanda, situated conveniently near Pelican Brewery. :) Of course we stopped for a beer, and after that I just forgot to take photos of the view. Oops. Well, here's the brewery!


On the way to our next stop, Tillamook, we stopped off at Munson Falls. Not quite as large as Multnomah Falls, and you can't get as close as some of the other falls on the Oneonta trail, but still very pretty.

Danger? "Danger" is Buckley's middle name.

We finally ended up in Tillamook, with only two things on our minds: cheese and ice cream. We headed to the cheese factory for a riveting free self-guided tour.

The cheese-packers.

My ridiculously delicious ice cream, Lemon Blueberry Pie.

And that was it! We didn't get to spend a ton of time in any one place, but it was nice to just get out of the city (after less than an hour of driving - oh how I love that). I look forward to spending more time in these places during the warmer months.

I can't believe it's March! Nice weather is right around the corner, and we'll definitely get out more then. Especially now that Paul is done with the bar exam! He took the exam last Tuesday and Wednesday, after months and months of studying and prep. He does not get the results until April, but I know he did great. I am so proud of him!!

And now, only two hours left until the new espisode of Lost. Can't wait (no spoilers, East Coast)!

Love,
Jenny

Just a hello...

I just realized that it's been almost two weeks without a new post! Time has been flying by...

We haven't been up to a whole lot of exciting stuff lately, as we are now under a week away from Paul taking the bar exam! As you can imagine, most spare time has been devoted to studying.

We did have a great winemaker's dinner on Feb. 14th... for Paul's birthday, NOT for Valentine's Day! :) It was a birthday surprise for Paul. We headed out to the Brookside Inn in Carlton to have a multi-course dinner paired with the wines of Archery Summit. It was so amazing. I will post the menu a little bit later or tomorrow.

Nothing else new, just wanted to assure everyone we are alive and well! Exciting stuff coming soon... hopefully... :)

Love,
Jenny

Rubber to the Road

Well, yesterday was not quite as beautiful as Wednesday, but we didn't let that stop us!

We hit the road on our bikes for a 20-mile ride, including some serious uphill climbs. We rode down the Springwater Corridor and over the Sellwood Bridge (complete with a suicide counseling phone number perched on the bridge railing - nice) to the River View Cemetery. This cemetery is well over a hundred years old, and extremely beautiful and peaceful. I hope I didn't disrupt the peace with my huffing and puffing... this was not an easy ride. But well worth it.





After River View, we hopped on the trail over to Tryon Creek State Natural Area. There is a large series of trails through this area, but we decided to walk the short loop of the Trillium Trail. They are featuring an art exhibit on this trail right now, focused around the natural cycles one would find in this area.


This is "The Invader," representing invasive species.


Rar!


I really don't remember what this one was called or really what it represents... but I think it's pretty cool nonetheless. I love the giant knitting needles.


And here's a little peek into fungi-town. These little 'hoods were built onto a good six or seven trees.



After Tryon Creek, we rode downhill the whole way home. :)

I was writing a really long catching-up type email to an old friend today, and trying to describe life in Portland. For brevity's sake, I boiled it down to a pretty broad top-five reasons I love it here. After I wrote it, I thought it might be something worth posting here.

I'm not even really sure how to describe life in Portland. "It's awesome" doesn't do it justice. Portland is kind of a place that needs to be absorbed, rather than just explained or described. Does that make sense? Every single day, there's another reason why I feel lucky to be here. Here are a few that come to the top of my head:

1. The people. This has got to be the friendliest city on the planet. On any given day, you may find yourself in a lengthy conversation with the grocery store cashier, or the couple sitting next to you at the bar, or another dog owner at the dog park, or somebody who accidentally dialed the wrong number and you picked up. Maybe it's the quality of life here that makes everyone happy, I dunno. But it's fun.

2. The food. I mean, duh. Paul and I have always been big foodies, and this is like the foodie mecca. There is SO MUCH to choose from. You would love it. Most everyone here really focuses on fresh, local, usually organic ingredients. There are big slow-food and farm-to-table movements here. Not to mention the abundance of beer and wine here to accompany the food. There are more breweries in Portland per capita than anywhere else in the world. And of course, we are only a 30-minute drive from the Willamette Valley, wine country of the NW.

3. The city itself. It's kind of like a miniature big city. Everything is in close proximity, and super easy to get to by foot, bike, bus, light rail, etc. I have my car here, but we have really only used it a handful of times in the last 6 months. We just don't need it. Actually, my lease on my car is up next month, and I'm going car-less after that. I can't wait... it's going to be liberating. And, there is this fantastic urban growth boundary in Portland. So no matter what, if you just drive 20 or 30 minutes out from the heart of the city, you are out of the city, and into a different world. You're just in... nature. There's the Columbia Gorge, Mt. Hood, Willamette Valley, the Pacific Ocean... just to name a few. And it's all so close.

4. The bicycle culture. It's huge here. Portland is regarded by many as the most bike-friendly city in the country. We've really gotten into the whole culture of it, since we've both gotten bikes. I ride my bike to work every day and I love it. Plus, there are tons and tons of trails and routes for just-for-fun bike rides with gorgeous views and interesting scenery.

5. The weather. We had an outdoor BBQ just two days ago. How awesome is that?? We had two really rough weeks of snow and ice in December, which was actually the worst winter here in the last 150 years, but it's been great other than that. Sure it's overcast most days, but I couldn't care less. Since November, the temps have been pretty much in the 40s or higher, with a little rain here and there. This week we enjoyed temps almost in the 60s. People here whine about the gray skies and rain the winter, but I think they have no idea how much worse it could be.

Have I mentioned I love it here?

Love,
Jenny

I love winter

I never thought I'd say that. Winter here effing rocks. Today we enjoyed a sunny 60 degree day... this is like late Spring back in MI! We didn't stray too far from home today though. We took Buckley out to the dog park in our neighborhood, called The Fields. Right now it's just a big field, but by the end of 2009 it's supposed to be a really nice park with an off-leash area, baseball diamonds, playground, etc.

This dog would fetch a tennis ball over and over until he collapsed, I'm sure.

Buckley made a new friend named Sparky, a pitbull-miniature poodle mix (strange mix, I know). Sparky was even faster than Buckley! Here's a little video of them playing fetch:

And a few more photos:




Since it was so nice out, we decided to take advantage of the grills and terrace in our building. I still can't believe we were having a cookout in the first week of February. Burgers, beer and chips... mmmmm.






After a few of these 9.5% ABV beers, we found ourselves in our apartment YouTubing 90s videos of Kris Kross, Bell Biv Devoe, Snoop and Dre, Boyz II Men, Color Me Badd... I even busted out some old dance moves! Roger Rabbits and MC Hammers and Funky Chickens and more. I'm sure the neighbors were loving it.

It was a fantastic day. We're looking forward to topping it off with a new episode of LOST, only 45 minutes away! Can't wait to see what's up with Widmore being an other...

The blog has been a little boring lately, for which I apologize. Up until yesterday, the weather has been tolerable but not fantastic, so we haven't been doing much. Not to mention the upcoming bar exam for Paul! In addition to working three days a week, he has been taking his barbri review course six days a week, 3-4 hours per day. Does not leave a ton of time for fun stuff. The exam is at the end of this month, so there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel! We are planning on some bike rides and hikes in the near future though, so I'll have some new material soon.

So, who's coming to visit in the spring??

Love,
Jenny

Doggie in a hoodie

Love,

Jenny

Sex and lies

Ooh, scandalous!

In case you haven't seen any of the numerous headlines (even on CNN), the brand spankin' new mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, had gotten himself into a bit of trouble. Here is the nutshell version: Back in 2005, 45-year-old Adams (who is openly gay) allegedly had a brief sexual relationship with an 18-year-old legislative aide named Beau Breedlove. As Adams began his mayoral campaign in 2007, some speculations were raised as to the nature of his relationship to Breedlove. At the time, Adams denied such speculations - and convinced Breedlove to deny it as well. There is also some speculation to whether Breedlove was 17 or 18 when the relationship began (although both insist he was 18).

Earlier this week, the Willamette Week newspaper dug up some new information that all but confirmed the sexual nature of the relationship. Once this information came out, Adams immediately came clean, as did Breedlove. They admitted they in fact had been sleeping together in 2005, and flat-out lied about it in 2007 for fear that the public wouldn't believe that they waited until he was 18 (and, presumably, to protect his campaign). Whoa! This has now officially reached sex scandal status.

This is pretty big deal, considering Portland is the largest city to elect an openly gay mayor. A scandal like this erupting 20 days into his term does not. look. good.

Perhaps an even bigger story is how this news has absolutely divided this community. Many city officials, publications (including Just Out magazing, who recently named Adams their Man of the Year), and citizens have called for his immediate resignation; however an equal amount are urging him to stay in office. On one hand, this is the mayor's personal sex life we're talking about, not his politics; on the other hand, he lied to his public about it. Did he breach the trust this city has given him? Does his sex life have anything to do with his ability to do great things for Portland?

Since Breedlove was allegedly 18 when this all went down, the bottom line is, Adams didn't do anything "wrong" and certainly not anything illegal. Controvertial? Yes. Inappropriate? Mildly. Should he have lied about it? Definitely not. But, he's a human who made a mistake. I don't think the fact that he tried to cover up a past sexual escapade (Who hasn't?? Um, just kidding.) has anything to do with his politics. He has publicly and sincerely apologized - can we please move on? I personally cannot bring myself to give a crap about who the mayor denied sleeping with four years ago. It would be one thing if he was caught embezzeling city funds, or aiding terrorists, or running an underground prostitution ring... but he wasn't! So WHO CARES.

Anyway, I rode my bike by City Hall today and caught the beginning of a planned rally in support of Adams, organized by lots of bicyclists. I thought the signs were great, and it was good to see the large outpouring of support.





The mayor is supposed to be making his decision whether or not to resign within the next few days. I hope he doesn't let the haters get him down.

In happier news, here are some pics of a beautiful sunrise we had on Tuesday! Taken from our balcony.



And in other exciting (well, exciting to me) news, The Knot has chosen our wedding cake to be in their "Best Of" issue of their magazine! Anyone who has recently gotten married or engaged knows that The Knot has made itself the pinnacle of all things wedding. This is big, folks. :)

Have a look at this beauty:



I am so excited!! I feel a little silly for being so excited, but... oh well. I'm silly.

Love,
Jenny