Life is Full

The past two weeks have been hectic, busy, and wonderful. A few weeks ago Brandon and I took a long weekend to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed just hanging out with each other. There was no TV, no agenda, no other family members or friends, no real cooking, nothing much but us. It was great. We left on a Thursday and didn't return home until the following Monday afternoon.

The following week Brandon started his 'in water work' season and was busy working long hours while I worked around the house and other projects. That weekend we celebrated the fourth of July and spent Saturday evening once again celebrating our anniversary. We watched a movie, ate the top tier of our wedding cake (yep, we had it in our freezer this entire time!) and just lived.

Sunday morning Brandon went to work and I left for Eastern Oregon. I was headed for my parents house, and arrived early that afternoon. I spent the evening visiting with my folks, and walking with my mom out on one of our usual routes. We walked four miles. I spent the rest of my week at 'home' visiting dear friends in Hermiston. I was with Kelly for a night, and then spent two nights with Lindsay and her family. It was so great to have time to just 'be' with these two girls. They both have young boys, and it was great to sit, visit, hold baby's, grocery shop, nap, and live with such good friends. I miss them both SO much. I also met with Kelly and Francie for lunch one day. Lunch was wonderful, and I felt right at home again with these two beautiful women. I really miss them-

My last days in EO were spent in Morrow County. Thursday I met my mother in law {there really should be a friendlier thing to call her} and my {brother} in town and had the opportunity to sit with Luke when he came out of knee surgery. I felt strangely privileged that I got to be there with him at this time. We then Eastern Oregon carpooled to Heppner and I spent the next day helping Debbie clean out one of the work pickups.

Saturday was my best friends first bridal shower, and I had the chance to help host this event. It was fun to be with the ladies of Heppner and to sit with Jill as she opened gifts and thought about her new life as Mrs. Miller. That night we stayed out at the ranch in her new home and I soaked up the scenery. It was so magnificent. I can't imagine having that view everyday.

and now I am back at home with my family and I am so lucky to be here. Thank you Brandon for sharing your time, and thank you friends for having me! It was awesome!

Hayward Field

As many of you know, the start of July was also the start of my summer life of having no husband. =) "In water work" starts July 1st, and if you are working around water, you work like crazy starting July 1st until early fall when the permit ends. It is a crazy time of year, and the wives all suddenly become pretend widows. So, we wives find things to do to occupy our time. My friend Sarah and I usually hang out quite a bit, as our husbands are on the same job. Thursday night we loaded up her two darling kiddos and went down to Hayward Field, where the Olympic Trials are taking place. It was so much fun to wander around and take in all of the excitement of Track Town, USA. We saw athletes running through campus (Hayward Field is the University of Oregon's' track) and were able to watch the trails on a big screen from outside the arena. It was so much fun!
Here is the main entrance to the arena where you can watch the trials on a big screen for free. There are also tons of things to see and do inside this area.


Here is the big screen I keep talking about. There were lots of people sitting down and seriously watching, while still many more were standing and casually watching. We watched for a short while, but kids don't have the long of an attention span, and there was TONS going on.


We wandered around the field and peeked inside. We originally thought we wouldn't have wanted tickets to the actual event, but after looking inside, we both thought it would have been fun. Such an intimate arena, you can see all of the events at once.


Another view of the same thing.


I am really glad we went down and saw this. I would have regretted not experiencing this exciting time. To remember my trip down to the trails, I took these pictures (not edited yet) and also bought a cool hat. =)

I found it!

The allergy medicine that is working for me right now is Zyrtec! Yippee! I am using the cheaper Wal-mart version, but I am so happy to have a good nights sleep, and get through the day.

On to more exciting things...

Our camping trip was wonderful. It was exactly what Brandon needed, time to just rest and be in the mountains (with Pine trees, not fir trees). We hiked a bit up the Metolious River where we camped at Camp Sherman the first two nights. Brandon fished a bit and I read some of my book. Duke LOVED rolling in the dirt and the over all experience of camping. He is a mountain dog for sure!

Friday we just hung out and took naps. Saturday we got up early (6:15) and took our trailer to the spot where we would camp that night. After we dropped our trailer off we drove to Hermiston for the 2pm service for Ty Hansell. It was a really nice service and it was nice to see familiar faces again. I got to sit with my Rocky girlfriends and although we didn't visit, it was nice to be with them again. The service was longer than I expected, taking two full hours. After that was over we were feeling a bit stressed to get back to camp before dark. Also, we had Duke in the back of the pickup and it was over 100 degrees that day. So we didn't go to the reception to hug the family. We did meet Brandon's family for a quick bite to eat before we left town. It was nice to have a quick visit and I feel good about that because Brandon won't see his family for quite some time now.

Sunday was another day of relaxing, fly fishing and then off to town to go window shopping. We had a nice dinner in town and then spent the evening driving around the west side of Bend looking at houses - just for fun. =)

Monday we headed home and I got caught up on things around the house and Brandon enjoyed his last hours of relaxation.

Tuesday started the 'in water work permit' time and so they are working long hours and long weeks now for a while. I have spent my time at home job hunting, painting, scrap booking, cleaning, and enjoying summer. I love it!

The view from our camping spot Thurs. and Fri. on the Metolious River.

Our humble little 'home away from home'.

Who is that strange looking person???

Allergy season

OK, it's here. I didn't want to admit it, but it's true. The grass seed is in the air, and with it came my sneezes, red itchy eyes, itchy skin, drippy nose, and cough.
The last three or four nights I have woken up in the middle of the night to a drippy nose. This in turn wakes my husband up, and that is NO good. So, the past three or four nights I have moved myself to the couch to blow, sneeze, squirm, and suffer.
Tonight was no different... I found myself on the couch at a decent hour this time, and was able to catch the last half hour of CSI: New York. nice.
However, I am still awake. I tried the air conditioner, meds, TV, the couch, and now laundry and blogging. Still awake. It's 11:45. nice.
So, to all of your allergy suffers out there, I'm feelin' ya. Hang in there, this too shall pass.
To all of you who don't know or understand what in the world I'm talking about, I hate you. =)

Catching up

Some pictures of what we have been up to this year.
Tubing in January at HooDoo.


Salmon fishing on the Columbia in March (?)


Wives club celebration in June.


Memorial Day camping with the CEM crew.

The Shack

I just finished reading The Shack. This is a book I could have read in one day. It grabbed my attention, and kept me curious through out the entire book. This doesn't happen too often for me. I struggle when reading books like this.
This book made me stop and think about things in a different way. My religion, Christianity, spirituality, my God, everything.
It makes you think about God and religion in a new way. If you don't believe, you might after this book. If you do believe, you might believe something different by the time you finish this book. It is amazing. I recommend that you go to Wal-Mart, to Amazon, or to your local book seller and read this book. I'm glad I did, and I think you'll be glad you did too.