It's been a whole year!

Mike and I really need to get this baby back in working order.
We still take cheesy pics, though!

kitty, this one's for you

see that very top?? THAT'S where we ate lunch.

he was my pace-setter today. i would've died if he hadn't made me slow down.

my handsome guy, mike.

Dog Mountain

this was so hard! but it really was worth it. these wildflowers were worth the 3.5 hour hike to the summit. i'm going to be in a world of hurt tomorrow, let me tell you.

For MOM Leblanc

I just wanted to tell you that I found your french puff recicpe this morning, so I "whipped them up" as you would say. It was so easy!! And so delicious.

my little herb garden

the leaves are coming in nicely. i can't wait until the weather gets nicer, so we can spend lots and lots of time out there.

i planted some basil, cilantro, and thyme yesterday. i also have some rosemary and mint going. the rosemary will grow year-round, so i've got it in it's own pot.

this morning's farmer's market

fresh oregon hazelnuts!

baby bok choy and sarah.

mike's at work, so my friend sarah and i went to the market. the forecast was rain and low 50s, but it was actually really nice! we were much, much drier than last week. we got there pretty early, too, so it wasn't as crazy. we met our other friend sarah (she's the one with the red and white bag). we shopped and sampled and sampled some more. yum!

last week's farmer's market & grillout

this is about $3 worth of shittake mushrooms from the market. they were scrumptious!

sirloins before the grill.

lee and mike prepping the grill for dinner.

it was raining buckets at the market, so we didn't snap too many pictures. we (lee, megan, mike and i) then went back to our place and had a lovely day of watching baseball, drinking voddka/lemonades, and grilling gigantic steaks. it was sooo fun!

this was the deal-maker

there's a door that leads to the deck--from the BEDROOM. i know. i'm never leaving this place. ever.

my kitchen--it's a REAL KITCHEN!!!

it's got an ice maker, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and microwave--built in. i can't believe how lucky we are.

you asked for it!

this stereo system came with the condo. it also plays music out in the garden area. very handy.

here's what happens when you rent from a gay couple. male facilities everywhere! you are correct in assuming that mike was estatic.

my craft room. it's in the basement. tons of storage.

pictures of our new place!!!

my beautiful bathroom. unfortunately, the neighbors got an eyeful last weekend before we realized that we needed a more opaque shower curtain on the window. it's still a work in progress.

this is where we'll be spending most of our free time. it's a tranquil little garden with a great little water feature (that's the big yellow piece of pottery). it's still in it's spring stage, so the trees aren't fully "in bloom" yet.

our cozy living room. i keep the blinds half-drawn because we live in a condo community and gladys kravitz lives across the street. not that we are up to no good, mind you--she's just verrrrry nosy.

bear with us...

we're in the middle of a move. i promise there'll be posts aplenty after saturday.

love, anne

p.s. i got my official acceptance letter for grad school! woohoo bring on the debt!

And More Rally....

Nudes on bikes and dance troupes with catchy cheers happened around every corner. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday, me and my bike with camera in tow. Viva Portland and long live Peace!

More Rally...

Parents, teachers, elders, children. Nobody was exempt from this march, clothed or not. It was an impressive sight to see that many people all marching for a similiar cause. I rode my bike downtown since I had a feeling things could get ugly, and they did.

Sunday's Anti-War Rally

Nothing says spring in Portland more than 70 degrees and an anti-war rally. Around 15,000 people showed up for this march which was mostly peaceful until the end when the anarchist crowd wanted to shut down the Max/Bus lines and the bridges.

more pictures (sorry this is out of order)

we're baaaaaack!

okay, the camera debaucle is over. we can now upload pics to the bloggy blog. and up until now, we haven't had anything blog-worthy to show.

first off the news:

we're moving to a new, fabulous apartment at the end of the month. yes yes, pictures of said apartment will come as soon as we get the keys.

the weather:

oh my goodness, it's lovely. sunny and low 70s this weekend. kinda makes me wonder what the heck i was thinking living in the midwest all those years!?

and sports:

mike and i are going to attempt a climb of mount saint helens in september. in order to do this, ahem, we need to uh, get in better shape. to prove how out of shape we are, and that doing yoga every other day and calling it exercise is just kidding myself, mike and i went on a 4-mile grueling (albeit gorgeous) hike today. i feel awesome, but man, it was tough. luckily, i only hyperventilated once. after that it was smooth(er) sailing. but who cares about the details...it's the pictures you all demand.

oh, and the gnome has been named...

...gulliver.

mike's dad christened him thus.

thanks bob!

and thanks for the delicious la casa. it was so great seeing you and mary. we promise to be back soon to visit.

love, anne

shots from palmyra

more shots from the middle of nowhere

I've got some crazy pictures from last night, but they're still on my camera. Until I get home, these will have to do.

The Good Life

As many of you know, I am in Nebraska. My brother, Eric, passed away Friday from a long, painful bout with cancer. His funeral was yesterday, and it was beautiful (if a little heavy on the Jesus). His kids are so amazingly strong, and each gave an incredible eulogy. My brother, Rob made a video about Eric's life which got everyone weeping. It was so sad and beautiful at the same time.

Anyway, I am still here for a couple of days. I am at my mom's house "the farm", and Kirsten is driving me into Omaha this afternoon. Anyway. I've brought a little friend with me, and he'll show you all the wonderous sights we've been taking in.

I haven't named him, but he almost fell off the bridge over the Little Nemaha (must be the Portlander in him). Anyway, he's fine and so far no dogs have gnawed his face off.

merry christmas everyone!

mike and i are heading over to my friend lee's house for dinner and drinks. i gotta say: not being home for christmas is really a bummer. i told my boss last night (at work, bleh) to "consider this my last xmas at borders". mike and i are going to make it a goal to go home for xmas next year. anyway, we're still going to have a good time today. last night we opened all our gifts. mike got me some really great things, as always. i'm sort of rambling here, and we're heading out the door in a minute.

my mom told me this morning that my brother, eric, is dying. he's in a hospice right now, and it's only a matter of days before he's gone. i'm really sad about this and i honestly don't want to think about it right now, but basically i'm really angry that i can't be home right now to say goodbye. but my thoughts are with my family right now, and i hope they know how much i love them, and wish i could be there.

we love you all! merry christmas.

--anne

Happy Holidays!!

on the road up to timberline

mount hood is bursting at the seams. notice the green moss growing like crazy in 5 feet of snow. 

LET IT SNOW!!!

on saturday, we headed east for a little road trip. an hour later we were here. mount hood. you see, portland is rainy. it's definitely not cold, and it looks nothing to me like christmas. so we went to the snow! next time, we'll actually attempt to ski.


 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

we hope this holiday finds all our friends and family happy and healthy. we are doing great and still loving almost every minute of life here. the only drawback being that we can't be with our friends and families tonight. eat a turkey leg for us!

love and best wishes,

anne and mike

My Thursday night commute.....hit by car!

I never thought my first accident on my bike would be this severe. Most of my worries have been if/when is my tire going to slide out from under me? Since it has rained almost everyday in the last 15 or so, you could understand my concern. Well, this Thursday after work I'm heading north on 2nd Steet for the Burnside Bridge which will take me to the eastside. I'm moving at a good pace and just getting to the Ash Street intersection on 2nd, ming you it's twilight but I do already have my front light on just in case. That's when a Lexus pulls out right in front of me as it is trying to bisect 2nd while on Ash. I had what seemed like 3 - 4 options go through my mind in what could have only been maybe 1.5 seconds. It seemed like it was in slow motion, but in fact happened all rather fast like. I turned my bike just slightly in the direction that his car was going and them SLAM! My bike and myself impact his passenger side door at about 15mph, his pace was about the same or a bit faster. The left side of my body must have gotten the majority of the initial impact, because it hurts like hell with some muscle loss and lack of movement in my left arm. From the point of impact I proceeded to roll up onto the top of his car, this causes me to spin head over back in a spirraling motion due to the momentum of his car. I fall to the street landing on my back. I must have used my elbows to brace myself beacause there swollen and have some roadburn. Thankfully I ride with a helmet, because my head smacked the ground pretty hard as well as my hips. Almost instantly there were about 20 people running up to see if I was alright, thankfully there was a firetruck driving down 2nd street just a moment after it happened. So as I laid in the street the firemen checked all my vitals and then had me move over to the sidewalk. Nothing was broken, and for the most part I felt fine so we filed a quick report, I exchanged my information with the guy who hit me, and it was all over. I'm standing on the corner with a bike that had the rear wheel blown off, and the front steering turned at 90 degrees, no brakes and one tire that wobbles really bad, so I walked it back to work. I then walked instead of driving to Borders (which is a few blocks from my work) to get Anne from work. We had a nice bus ride home that evening, and she has taken care of me every since the accident. I think she's pretty damn awesome to say the very least. Anyway, I feel pretty good for getting hot by a frigging car. I hope Mondays bike ride into work on Monday goes better. If I get home Monday night and I havent been hit, we will call it a success. Ciao

my very first earthuake

well sunday evening, mike and i were sitting in the living room (i had gotten home from work recently) watching television. suddenly my chair was vibrating and sort of shifting back and forth on the wood floor. there was a low rumbling and some rattling from dishes and lamps nearby. it was over in a couple of seconds, and afterwards i sat there, shocked. "was that an earthquake, mike!?" seeing as he'd lived in california, i was sure he'd know if he felt one. well he wasn't fully convinced. the experience was very similar to having a bus drive right by your house, except much much more powerful--the house and everything in it was moving. thank GOD for the internet, and the united stated geological survey website, because in 10 minutes we had our answer: a 2.7 magnitude earthquake hit portland at 9:35 pm pst!! it was amazing. all my life i'd heard accounts of quakes, but had no real idea what they felt like. the closest frame of reference was the "bus driving by" analogy. anyway, earthquakes here are relatively common, according to the usgs website. one thing for sure: anything stronger would be terrifying. my heart was beating fast for about 15 minutes after the event. i can't imagine how shocking a bigger earthquake would be!

love, annie
http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/

mr. great blue heron

this guy lives in laurelhurst park. he's as frequent a resident there as the homeless people (yes, that's really frequent).

ms. hepburn, mr. bratty...we're ready for your close-up!

i didn't think anything could top the late summer here. but autumn has got it beat by a landslide. so far we're 7 months into living here and they've ALL been great. gah, it looks like a freakin glamour shots background!

a walk in the park. yeah, thomas kinkade called, he wants his idyllic landscape portrait back!

me right before the decemberists show (and t-minus 1.5 hours before some stupid sorority chick puked all over the floor in front of us--classy, i know). it was a pretty fun show, but we'd been at work all day and standing in the back row (on tip-toe) for two hours isn't my idea of fin anymore. it was too dark to snap pictures inside, so this is the only one from the night. chris and heather, we're sending you a cd with a video clip from the show. if i could, i'd post it on here. unfortunately, blogger doesn't let you post videos. lame.

things are great here. life is just so peachy. miss you all! anne 

THANKS MOM!!

seriously, the best gift we could ask for: jars of nebraska food! you know how much we love getting mail? well this was the epitome. thanks so much mom, this will totally get us through the winter.
love, anne and mike
 

Portland seems to be famous for these types of benches. They seem to be on about any side street, in any area you go to. I like them as they are all different and I'm not really sure who is responsible for them. Just another touch of Portland thats enjoyable.
A great tree forming a canapy of the same bench. 

bees...
and even bananas! 

the never ending cavelcade of amazing colors
and wonderful species... 

more flora...
more berries... 

berries of numerous colors abound
notice the purple stock on this one 

we loved the gnomes and the halloween stuff this place had
annie always looking beautiful 

October in Portland...

Saturday was a great day to enjoy a walk around the side streets of our hood. It was a beautiful fall day, and one of the first to showcase a new set of amazing colors the flora has to offer in Oregon. It's amazing at how much things are in bloom in the town, it seemed as if there was always something amazing and colorful in bloom since we have moved here. And know with the addition of tree foliage changing colors, it just always seems to take it to another level.
 

my finally stop before home, Foti's on Burnside. Only the best gyros in the land.
luckily got there right at closing time
and a little Ms Pacman action while I wait for my to go order 

almost there, the last of three flights of steps....
just happy to be at the top! 

carrying my bike up some steps to the burnside bridge 

the train running alonside the pedestrian part of the bridge. a damn strong bridge this is 

crossing the bottom of the steel bridge, designed for pedestrians and the amtrak/up rail line. the above part of the bridge is for cars and the max line 

over the steel bridge 

the finished product, a limited edition poster signed and numbered by the artist and the band members. should look real nice somewhere on the wall. 

chris kink, said he loved the mexican food in omaha 

Jenny Conlee, Loni and child

Colin Meloy signing my poster 

my place at the start line, as I waited for about an hour and a half 

the end of the line, about person number 650 I heard. 

My Evening with the Decemberists

Well, it was 4:30 on a Friday afternoon when my watch sounded with it's quitting time beep. I promptly waterproofed myself for my bike commute to a date with the Decemberists. A quick 30 block bike ride from my work to NW Portland's Music Millenium would be my destination. The band was there promoting there new album, The Crane Wife and signing autographs for the 100's of fans (I was something like 20th in line :) The following will be a display of pictures with brief descriptions if any, of what transpired. 

keep scrolling down for more rose garden pics.

"secret" was my favorite of all the roses i smelled. there's literally thousands of species, so i didn't even see a fraction of them, but this was the best (in my opinion). we had a great time--i can't believe that this sanctuary is right in the middle of town! we had to drive just past downtown and there we were--you can even take the bus there! i'd never been before, so we figured that we'd drive up there today. we were going to check out the japanese gardens, but it cost like $8 to get in, and i've heard that it's much more spectacular when it's raining. we'll just have to save that for a rainy weekend. the zoo and the forestry museum are also up here, but both were packed today, so again...save it for a rainy day.

 

roses roses roses...and anne.


 

these were taken on the hike up through washington park. well, the third picture is of the tennis courts up by the rose gardens. mom and paul: i bet you'd love to play some tennis up here surrounded by beautiful roses and fresh mountain air!


 

holy roses!

mike and i went to the rose gardens today. it's hard to believe that it's october and everything is still in bloom! some of the most fragrant roses i've ever seen in my life are here. it's a truly magical place.


 

today we went to the farmers market as usual, and then to trader joe's. at both places i ran into people i know. i finally ran into my brother grant's ex-girlfriend, amy. she works at trader joe's. anyway, i knew it would happen eventually, but in a town of almost 2 million people, you'd think it would've taken a bit longer.

the weather is still awesome. if i were to suggest any time to come visit portland, september/october is definitely my favotire time of year so far. it's just perfect. anyway, i've got weeknends off for now. mike and i are heading up to hawthorne for sushi tonight. it's so great to have TWO days off together. i wonder what we'll come up with for tomorrow...?

more later!

--anne

the barrenness i am talking about in hte next post. 

we just got back from a daytrip to mount hood. it's really big. and it's so beautiful up there. i was suprised at how barren it is beyond the treeline. not sure if the treelessness is from the year-round snow, or the fact that it's a volcano. anyway, the snow-capped mountain behind mike in the seond picture is mount adams. the last picture is of us once we got as far as we were gonna get on mount hood. we couldn't find timberline lodge (the lodge where the interior shots for the shining was filmed), but it's probably for the better, as i don't want and nightmares tonight.


 

mount hood: the shadowy mountain.

mount tabor

today was glorious. mike was at work, so i drove up to mount tabor park and went for a walk. it's absolutely clear and lovely outside, and the temps are in the mid-70s. this may be one of the last times we can see mount hood until the springtime, so i took advantage. the leaves haven't really changed yet, but you can see they're just about to.


 

weekend!

well i managed to get myself a three-day weekend. mike has to work tomorrow morning, but i'm going to "the bins" tomorrow with my friend beth. "the bins" are some sort of wacky thrift store where you buy crap by the pound. i don't know what i'm in the market for, but i have to check this place out--apparently it's a portland phenomenon.

after the thrift store, i think i'm headed to the farmer's market because we're having kim and kevin over for dinner tomorrow evening. mike is making some sort of apple butter-marinated fish, and i'll be making dutch apple pie for dessert. yum! kevin finally got a job (they've been here like 3 months and he had no luck finding anything). he's the new wine specialist at wild oats in tigard (suburb). i'm so excited because--we'll get DEEP DISCOUNTS on WINE! woohoo!

okay, anyway, the weather is glorious: crisp (upper 60s-mid70s) and sunny and, well, just gorgeous. the leaves haven't quite changed color yet, but i can tell that it's going to be spectacular once they do. i can't wait.

work-wise, i've volunteered to take over our gift department at borders (stationary, journals, assorted crap). while i'm sure it'll mean no extra money for me, my 6-month review is coming up and it'll probably get me a raise then. i've been working closing shifts for the past month and a half or so, and i hate it. i'm really hoping that with this new responsibility, they'll switch me back to days.

that's all for now. i'll snap some pics tomorrow so you can all see what i'm seeing!

love, anne

My Rainy Bike Commute...

Well today was my first day of pretty heavy rain while riding my bike to work. Luckily some things have come along in the world of technofibers, so that I dont have to ride with an umbrella in one hand. My bike has a set of full fenders on both the front and back wheels, so it keeps my feet dry from the wheels at least. I was a bit skiddish today, since i have never really ridden a bike in the rain on city streets during rush hours. My bike is a hybrid, so it has features of both a road bike and a mountain bike. It has road bike tires (really skinny and slick) which I like because of the speed you can get going on dry pavement. But in the rain it's an entirely different feeling. I must say I really loved it though, riding in the rain that is. There was just a fraction of the amount of bike riders there are on nice days, it really kinda felt like the rode was yours. And well about 2000 cars also. Anyway, I just needed to right that. I show up to work soaking wet, and I get home from work soaking wet, and I dont think I could be smiling any wider. Ciao

runzas in paradise

 
 

i decided to bring runzas to oregon. people might think i'm strange for loving them, but i think everyone knows what a runza is; it's just under another name. my friend sarah calls them pasties, and beth calls them kolaches. i call them runzas because that's what nebraskans call them. they are a meat-filled sweet dough. i think every culture on earth has a version. and they are DELICIOUS!

bon appetit!