A Belated Oregon Vacation.

Today I was going through the tedious process of salvaging some photos off my Facebook when I realized that I never blogged about our Oregon trip. Thankfully, I uploaded about 70 photos from our trip to Facebook, so I could save them to my computer. Phew! Flipping through those photos really made me happy. We had such a fun trip.

Mark and I decided to go to Oregon because, well, it's one of my favorite places in the whole wide world and he's never been there before. My family used to go there every year, but because of my parents' mission and my school I hadn't been there for about 5 years. It was high time to go back! This was also the time when Mark found out that the internship in Munich wasn't going to work and we didn't know if we were going anywhere for the summer. So needless to say, we needed a break. We packed up the car over spring break and headed for the coast!

Welcome to Oregon!

Blech. Nasty snow in the Blue Mountains. Exactly what my dad warned me about. This section of our trip was definitely white knuckles on the steering wheel. The scariest part was going down the summit because the road was so steep. Boy, was I relieved when we finally made it out and down into the valley where it was raining!

Headed towards the Columbia. A break in the clouds. After this, I took a few pictures of the turbines along the Columbia River, then it was took dark to take any more. We made it to our hotel in Portland around 9 p.m. and were so excited for the next day!

Mark down by the Columbia River in Portland. We went to investigate the Saturday market in the city center.

Gorgeous.

I was so excited to see green grass, blooming trees, and clear skies after being stuck in Logan for the winter. Logan has nasty inversions and black snow that won't melt in March.

The "Made in Oregon" sign is behind there somewhere.

One part of the market.

After that, we made our way to Sweetpea Baking Company (a vegan bakery) and had a delicious lunch. It was so overwhelming to eat somewhere were I actually could eat any item if I wanted to. It was so hard to pick, but I decided on a vegan chickpea melt (supposed to be like a tuna melt). It was so good. Mark got a double stacker grilled cheese. Then I picked up a carrot cake cupcake on the way out. Yum!

After that, we decided to go to Multnomah Falls because we didn't know if we would have time for it later in the trip.

We accidently came across the old highway that runs between the current freeway and the mountain. It was gorgeous and I'm so glad we found it.

We also found Wahkeenah Falls, something else I'd never seen!

We hiked up to see it closer.

Then we went to see Multnomah!

A bearded Mark! It's so weird to see him with a beard. I'm so used to him being clean shaven for his internship now.

The next day we drove to Astoria. What a cute town!

Looking out to where the Columbia almost meets the Pacific.

The Astoria Tower

The Columbia and the Pacific Ocean!

The views from up top are phenomenal.

Of course, I had to get in some shots of Astoria, too.

It sure was windy up there. The only reason there's just a picture of me is because Mark was scared of getting anywhere near the railing and basically clutched the building the whole time. haha! Oh Mark. Soon after, we walked back down the tower and were safely on the ground again. :)

Ocean ho!

Next stop was Seaside. We had fun walking around the shops and strolling the beach.

After several unsuccessful attempts at a taking our own picture by the ocean, a nice lady came by and offered to take our picture for us. Thanks, kind lady!

Seaside beach

Canon Beach!

Mark and the coast!

This is one of my favorite stops along the coast. You can see so much.

Oceanside!

Cape Meares lighthouse. Some morons decided it would be cool to shoot out the windows and even the lens inside. :(

Then we made our way to Pacific City. I love this place! Here is Cape Kiwanda.

Mark took off his shoes so he could venture out in the ocean. This was his first time, and I think he's a little skeptical!

So cold!

We walked to the other side of the sand dunes and watched the waves for awhile. This is where my shoe almost took a fateful dive off the cliff into the ocean, but Mark climbed under the fence and rescued it for me. We had this all on video because it happened while I was filming the ocean, but sadly, it is lost. :(

Tierra Del Mar, where we usually stay in our relative's beach house.

The next morning as the sun was rising, we stopped by Cape Kiwanda to say goodbye before we headed home.

We had such an amazing trip and I'm thankful that I could salvage these photos from Facebook. There is something so amazing about the Oregon Coast that I don't think I can ever get enough of. It's a combination of the relaxed attitude, the nice people, the cool air, the green forests and the ocean that just make it so magical.

Songs for a summer in Germany.

I've had absolutely no new ideas for a blog post for weeks, and the only thing that I've got going for me is some amazing music. Here's the music I've been listening to this summer. Some are new finds and some have been resurrected many times. (Pick and choose to listen at your whim and enjoy!)

1. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros--"Home"

2. "Erasure"--Oh l'amour

3. A-ha--"Take On Me"

4. The Knife--"This is Now"

5. Boys Noize--"Gax" (This guy's German!)

6. Crystal Castles--"Vanished"

7. Iron & Wine--"Innocent Bones"

8. Gorillaz--"Empire Ants"

9. Pet Shop Boys--"West End Girls"

10. Sade--"By Your Side"

11. Sade--"Smooth Operator"

12. Simple Minds--"Don't You Forget About Me"

13. PJ Harvey--"Grow Grow Grow" (skip to 0:35)

14. M83--"Kim & Jessie"

15. Gaudi--"Sufani"

16. The Smiths--"How Soon is Now?"

17. Eurythmics--"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

18. Toto--"Africa"

19. Enya--"Book of Days"

20. The Knife--"Neon"

:)

Heartbeats.

In a humble offering of how long I've been away from this blog, I'm posting one of my favorite songs ever.

"Heartbeats" by The Knife. Live. It's aaaamazing. You won't regret listening to it, trust me.

I plan to post more soon! In the meantime, enjoy. And enjoy your summer!

New blog!

Most of you probably already know, but I started a new blog for our journey in Europe. It's called Zwei Amerikaner in Deutschland.

Haha, Two Americans in Germany, get it?

Just kidding. I know you could figure it out, just wanted to be a little different with the name. You know how I am with naming blogs. Don't worry, next month it'll probably be something completely different. :)

But I hope you join us, because I'm sure going to have a lot of fun posting our stuff and keeping you all updated. I can't wait!

What I've learned from college.

The other day, I realized that I've been in college longer than I was in high school. Of course, this isn't unusual, because I think it takes on average 6 years to get a bachelor's degree.

It's weird to me, because it seems like high school took F O R E V E R. My journey through my university has certainly flown by. So what have I gained in the process? I'll attempt to put it down in a list. Here goes:

1. I've learned that one of my favorite movies of all time is The Road Home. Thanks, creative arts!

2. I've learned that GDP means gross domestic product. Thanks, Econ 1500! (that's probably the only thing I took away from that class)

3. I've learned that USU has a ton of weird, obscure, useless, money-making rules. Don't even get me started on the math placement test. And I didn't even have to take it, thank goodness!

4. I've learned that I really love the arts and music department.

5. I've learned that going to the free homecoming movie on campus is a good way to date your future husband.

6. I learned that you really don't learn anything in high school. Either that, or what you've learned just gets replaced with new stuff. In fact, the only thing I remember about my high school government class is that our teacher made us do a survey comparing education to political party preference and told us that the more educated someone is, the more of a chance it is that they are Republican. Obviously, this bothered me so much that I remembered it and I still do! (And I'm not a Democrat!) moving on...

7. I've learned that no matter how old someone is, there are still people who will pick their nose and eat it, pick scabs and eat it, and lift up a cheek and fart--all in class. No comment.

8. I've grasped a better understanding of how government agencies work thanks to my reporting classes.

9. I've learned just how lazy I could become--I really do love learning, but not necessarily going to my boring generals everyday.

10. I learned that it is so much fun to make new friends and the students on campus really do rock. When I managed to get out of my shell most days, I made new friends. And I love them!

Some memorable moments:

1. One day of a new semester, I lost my schedule of classes. I managed to faintly remember where my class was, and sat down. It was supposed to be an oceanography class. I sat down and listened to a 50-minute lecture of intense physics, and I was scared TO DEATH. The professor didn't mention anything about the ocean, but for some reason I thought it was the right class and I knew there was no way I could ever pass. Then I ran into a friend in the TSC immediately after, and he informed me that I was indeed in the wrong class because he was in my oceanography class too. Then he laughed for about ten minutes.

2. I'll always miss (but not really) the campus preacher who yelled in my ear several times on the way to class. Stirring up controversy, bashing my religion, and telling me that I didn't need to follow the Word of Wisdom, that's a good way to convert people! Interesting to have on campus, but I can live the rest of my life without seeing him and I think I'll be okay.

3. The various amounts of people I've seen smear themselves on the pavement in a serious of wipeouts. There was the girl who fell down Old Main stairs that almost pulled her pants down, the guy who almost drilled me on his long board then proceded to get launched off his board and into a huge bush, the girl who attempted to walk down the steepest sidewalk just off campus that was covered in a huge sheet of ice--and barely made it out alive, the girl who was walking down a steep sidewalk on Old Main in stilettos that rolled her ankle and launched herself down the hill, and who can forget the time I went marching into the fine arts building when it was wet and snowy, and slipped and yelped at the same time. Thankfully, I managed not to fall, but everyone certainly turned around and stared.

4. I had a class with a fellow Bear Laker, and it was always hard for me to attend. He was a perfect student and always made it to class. My teacher had an attendance rule where she would call out random names to answer questions every class, and if you were there, you got your attendance points for the whole semester. She would only call out our names once. I struggled to go to class, and luckily I was there on the day she called my name. My friend was 5 minutes late to class one day, and she called his name in that period of time so he didn't get his attendance points. It was a travesty! But I couldn't help but snicker at the irony of it all.

I'm going to have to keep thinking of more, but I know there are many. So I guess this will be an on-going post.

I'm going to miss USU.

P.S. Do you like my new banner? :)

Thanks, thanks, and many thanks.

I realized tonight, for about the millionth time, how lucky and blessed I truly am.

For a class, I had to make an outfit out of reused or recyclable materials to be modeled in a fashion show. Mark agreed to let me poke, prod, and strap the clothes that I made on him for the show. I told a few friends and family members, and they said they would come.

It's amazing to me that so many people would take time out of their lives to come support me, even if it was just for a trivial class. Two of my friends who are my age (one a busy college student and another a busy mom) took time to come, even in the middle of crappy, crappy weather. (You know who you are and it was so fun to have you there!)

My parents drove about 60 miles to come see, and my sister (also a busy mom) came too. All in the midst of horrible weather, and all to see this outfit I made out of scraps and candy wrappers.

It's just so overwhelming that I have that many amazing people in my life. And for some reason, it's really hitting me hard tonight.

In trying to figure out all of our plans for moving to Germany, we were at a loss at what we were going to do with our stuff from our apartment (renting a storage unit being the last option). My brother and sister-in-law are going to let us use their unfinished basement to house our stuff for six months. I can't even begin to tell you what a relief this was, because not only are storage units expensive, they seem untrustworthy to me. Yet again another example of how I have so many amazing people in my life.

Another thing I am very thankful for is the opportunity to go to Germany for Mark's internship. I've had so many people tell me that this is "an opportunity of a lifetime." And I know it is, we are so very lucky and thankful to have it. I never thought that at one point in my life, I would be living in Europe. It's always been a dream, and I can't believe it's coming true. I'm so excited for the Mark's new job and all the new things he's going to learn. He's going to be able to use his talents and skills to help many people--I'm so proud of him!

I'm so thankful for Mark, especially because he puts up with me so much. I've never met anyone so patient and kind! Sometimes, when Mark does something and I react in a certain way, I'll think to myself, Does Mark react this way when you do this to him? And most of the time, the answer is no. He really is a sweets, and he is so smart. I'm thankful he is getting the opportunity to grow and learn in his internship!

I'm so thankful for every one of you, and the role and place you have in my life. I don't know what I would do without my friends and family! Life wouldn't be worth living. I love you all!

The puzzle is solved.

We're going to Germany!

Mark got his internship with Bosch. A day after I wrote my last post, he received an email from "the man" in Waiblingen. He asked Mark if he could do a phone interview with him, so Mark said he would be available the next morning.

The phone rang at 8 a.m., just as I was on my way to class. I think I was more nervous than Mark! When I came home I asked Mark how the interview went and if he had any news. Then he told me that he was offered the internship!

Now for the details. It's a 6-month internship and we will probably be living in Waiblingen. If all goes well, we'll leave mid-May and come back the first of December. We found reasonably priced tickets around then...a few weeks after into June, and the prices skyrocket!

I can't believe our lives are going to change so much in five short weeks, but we're so excited for it. Mark, the lucky dog, gets to travel with the company, too. They said that he would be making some trips with the company, and I would be able to meet up with Mark and spend the weekend wherever he is!

I feel so lucky and so grateful. If anyone wants to come visit, you're more than welcome to!

(Waiblingen)