Sunday, April 22, 2012
Summer time is finally here... maybe
This Weekend has been absolutely beautiful! It was in the high 70's on Saturday and 80's on Sunday! It was such a welcomed change from the rainy cloudy weather that is Portland. So in light of the new warm weather, Mack and I decided to go on a hike! One of my friends had told me about some great hikes around all the awesome waterfalls so we drove over to Multnomah Falls (about 30 minutes out of Portland) and found that everyone else in Oregon had the same idea... The parking lot was completely full! We had to drive around about 3 times before someone left and we got a spot. Then we walked up to the falls, and started our hike. I knew right off that the entire hike would total about 6 miles, but I didn't realize that it would mostly be UP HILL!! By the first quarter mile I was beat. There were tons of people and I was not a happy camper. But after about the 6th pregnant woman passed me on the trial, I decided I better pick up the pace. So after the first 2 miles it evened out a bit and we were able to spend some time in a less crowded area with beautiful falls. After a little break it was back to up-hill hiking. The views were absolutely beautiful and it was really nice to be out of the city and in nature for a while. The down hill part-- which seemed much less than the up-hill-- was much quicker, but by the end of it Mack and I were both beat. We went straight to Wendy's for cheeseburgers to regain our strength.
Sunday was another beautiful day, and though I had to work for some of it, we were able to bring a blanket outside and soak up some much needed vitamin D. Cooper was able to come outside with us, and he had a lot of fun chasing flies and assorted bugs. At one point a squirrel even came within a foot of him, and Cooper got to chase him around the yard. Overall it was a great weekend. Monday is supposed to be nice weather as well, but then rain is supposed to be back this week. Oh Portland...
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Our not-so-bright-idea to go camping... on the Oregon Coast... in March
So I know that this trip happened a while ago-- the second week of March to be exact-- but it took a lot of contemplating the adventure before I knew how to write about it, or even if I wanted to write about it at all. After thinking things through, I decided it was best to look at the experience not as dreadful, or a disaster, but to look at it as a tragic comedy; and only then, was I able to come to terms with what happened.
So to lay out the trip a little for you, It was Mack's spring break from school, and he, along with all his guy friends decided there was not better of an idea than to go camping on the beach. They ran the idea past me, and I, loving the beach, was all for it.
Now there are a few red flags that pop up even before we left for this trip that should have made us stop and think, but being the beach-loving college kids that we are, we ignored them. My first red flag was when I asked the boys what I needed to do to plan, they replied "Katie, you do some much for us, with the Thanksgiving dinner and treats every Friday, that this one is on us. All you need to do is relax and show up, we will do the rest." Now all of you who know me, know that when someone tells me to 'relax' I get more stressed than if I was doing all the work on my own. But, nonetheless, I appreciated the thought and decided to stay out of it. I mean how bad could it be, right?
Our plan was to leave Saturday morning at 7 AM-- way to early for college students, but we were excited to get to the beach. So Mack and I wake up early, get ready, pack the car, say goodbye to Cooper (tearfully on my part), and head over to the dorms to meet the rest of the crew. We get there at 7:05, knowing they would be running late, and see half of our 15 total in the lobby, which was more than I expected. Then we find out that the other 7 are just getting out of bed, because at 3 in the morning, the dorm fire alarm went off, and they had to stand outside for an hour before being let back in. *Red flag #2
After stopping for coffee and a snack, we got on the road and headed for the coast, driving in pouring rain the whole way. *Red flag #3. Fighting my urge, and losing, I called Jordan, the head of the dorm gang, and asked what he thought about the weather, "We're an hour away from the Coast, Kate! It will clear up, relax and enjoy the drive." Ugh, relax... ok... right...
But turns out, Jordan was right, once we got to our destination, South Beach State Park, in Newport, Oregon it wasn't raining, and the sun was trying to peak out of the grey overcast. So, we started unloading the cars, 5 tents, food, beer, and clothes. Then I hear an "uh-oh". I was scared to ask, but I knew someone would, turns out, they forgot the tarps, hotdog buns, and s'more stuff back at the dorms, but remembered the beer, of course. So, half the group packs back up and heads out to a near by walmart to buy our missing materials while the rest of us set up tents and flip them upside down so they don't get damp from the wet grass.
Once the other half of the group got back, we finished setting up the tents, with tarps underneath and headed for the beach. We had a good hour on the beach walking on the sand and basking in the sun that would peak out of the clouds every so often. A couple of the boys were even brave enough to go swimming, no thank you. As we started getting hungry, we decided to head back to the site and build our fire for dinner. "uh-oh". We forgot firewood and sticks for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows... This time I volunteer to go to the store to get out of the wind that was starting to pick up.
After another run to the store, and the boys' hour argument about how to start the fire-- teepee style, cabin style and how much lighter fluid to use, we finally got a nice fire going. Just in time for the rain. And when I say rain, I mean might-as-well-jump-in-a-pool-you'd-probably-stay-drier, rain. It was a mess. We cooked our hotdogs, and by then we were all soaked. So the boys, being engineering students, climbed the trees around the fire and tied our extra tarp above us to try to keep us dry. And by try, it failed, we were soaked.
Finally, we were all sick enough of getting soaked, that we decided to put our jammies on and climb into the big tent to pay cards. When Mack and I went into our tent to change, we stepped into a lake. About an inch and a half of water covering the floor of our tent, seeping into our sleeping bags, clothes, pillows, everything! Upon announcing this to the group, we discovered three of our four tents had turned into lakes because of the downpour. Taking another 6 sleeping bags, pillows and more clothes.
So, we were left with one tent for 15 people, about 12 sleeping bags, and a bunch of wet clothes. After making plans for some people to sleep in cars to stay dry, someone checked the time and realized it was only 9:00 PM. 9:00 and we were all going to bed! I wasn't having that, and the last thing I wanted to do was sleep in a wet sleeping bag, on the cold hard ground, so Mack and I packed up, and drove home that night! We got home around midnight, I took a hot shower and climbed into my warm comfy bed.
Needless to say, I never want to go camping on the beach again, unless it's July.
So to lay out the trip a little for you, It was Mack's spring break from school, and he, along with all his guy friends decided there was not better of an idea than to go camping on the beach. They ran the idea past me, and I, loving the beach, was all for it.
Now there are a few red flags that pop up even before we left for this trip that should have made us stop and think, but being the beach-loving college kids that we are, we ignored them. My first red flag was when I asked the boys what I needed to do to plan, they replied "Katie, you do some much for us, with the Thanksgiving dinner and treats every Friday, that this one is on us. All you need to do is relax and show up, we will do the rest." Now all of you who know me, know that when someone tells me to 'relax' I get more stressed than if I was doing all the work on my own. But, nonetheless, I appreciated the thought and decided to stay out of it. I mean how bad could it be, right?
Our plan was to leave Saturday morning at 7 AM-- way to early for college students, but we were excited to get to the beach. So Mack and I wake up early, get ready, pack the car, say goodbye to Cooper (tearfully on my part), and head over to the dorms to meet the rest of the crew. We get there at 7:05, knowing they would be running late, and see half of our 15 total in the lobby, which was more than I expected. Then we find out that the other 7 are just getting out of bed, because at 3 in the morning, the dorm fire alarm went off, and they had to stand outside for an hour before being let back in. *Red flag #2
After stopping for coffee and a snack, we got on the road and headed for the coast, driving in pouring rain the whole way. *Red flag #3. Fighting my urge, and losing, I called Jordan, the head of the dorm gang, and asked what he thought about the weather, "We're an hour away from the Coast, Kate! It will clear up, relax and enjoy the drive." Ugh, relax... ok... right...
But turns out, Jordan was right, once we got to our destination, South Beach State Park, in Newport, Oregon it wasn't raining, and the sun was trying to peak out of the grey overcast. So, we started unloading the cars, 5 tents, food, beer, and clothes. Then I hear an "uh-oh". I was scared to ask, but I knew someone would, turns out, they forgot the tarps, hotdog buns, and s'more stuff back at the dorms, but remembered the beer, of course. So, half the group packs back up and heads out to a near by walmart to buy our missing materials while the rest of us set up tents and flip them upside down so they don't get damp from the wet grass.
Once the other half of the group got back, we finished setting up the tents, with tarps underneath and headed for the beach. We had a good hour on the beach walking on the sand and basking in the sun that would peak out of the clouds every so often. A couple of the boys were even brave enough to go swimming, no thank you. As we started getting hungry, we decided to head back to the site and build our fire for dinner. "uh-oh". We forgot firewood and sticks for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows... This time I volunteer to go to the store to get out of the wind that was starting to pick up.
After another run to the store, and the boys' hour argument about how to start the fire-- teepee style, cabin style and how much lighter fluid to use, we finally got a nice fire going. Just in time for the rain. And when I say rain, I mean might-as-well-jump-in-a-pool-you'd-probably-stay-drier, rain. It was a mess. We cooked our hotdogs, and by then we were all soaked. So the boys, being engineering students, climbed the trees around the fire and tied our extra tarp above us to try to keep us dry. And by try, it failed, we were soaked.
Finally, we were all sick enough of getting soaked, that we decided to put our jammies on and climb into the big tent to pay cards. When Mack and I went into our tent to change, we stepped into a lake. About an inch and a half of water covering the floor of our tent, seeping into our sleeping bags, clothes, pillows, everything! Upon announcing this to the group, we discovered three of our four tents had turned into lakes because of the downpour. Taking another 6 sleeping bags, pillows and more clothes.
So, we were left with one tent for 15 people, about 12 sleeping bags, and a bunch of wet clothes. After making plans for some people to sleep in cars to stay dry, someone checked the time and realized it was only 9:00 PM. 9:00 and we were all going to bed! I wasn't having that, and the last thing I wanted to do was sleep in a wet sleeping bag, on the cold hard ground, so Mack and I packed up, and drove home that night! We got home around midnight, I took a hot shower and climbed into my warm comfy bed.
Needless to say, I never want to go camping on the beach again, unless it's July.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Recent Happenings
It's been a while since I last posted, and things around here have been BUSY! Mack's birthday was the 4th, we got a bunch of people together and went to his favorite place, Buffalo Wild Wings, then back here for cake and games. I got him a deep fryer which he has been wanting for a long time, and which turned out to be not such a good thing for him to open in front of all the guys. They then spent about 15 minutes naming off things to deep fry "Donuts!" "Cinnamon Rolls" "Cheeseburgers!" Oh boy... The next day was Super Bowl, and we had a big party for the second night in a row. We made a huge spread of dips, turkey sandwiches and deviled eggs. It was a super fun weekend, but it took me a long time to recover.
Classes are going well for the both of us. I had an interview at Pacific University for the graduate program. I will hear back from all of the schools I applied to by the end of March. Mom and Dad came last weekend, and we had fun, but time sure goes by fast. Our Spring breaks and Easter are both coming up quickly, which will be some nice breaks from school. Cooper is still getting into trouble as usual, no change there. It's beginning to look like spring around here, but Spokane has had a snow storm, so they are stuck in the winter feelings. Hope everything is going well for everyone. Love you
all.
Classes are going well for the both of us. I had an interview at Pacific University for the graduate program. I will hear back from all of the schools I applied to by the end of March. Mom and Dad came last weekend, and we had fun, but time sure goes by fast. Our Spring breaks and Easter are both coming up quickly, which will be some nice breaks from school. Cooper is still getting into trouble as usual, no change there. It's beginning to look like spring around here, but Spokane has had a snow storm, so they are stuck in the winter feelings. Hope everything is going well for everyone. Love you
all.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Wedding Plans, School, and Cooper
Well, nothing too exciting has happened since Christmas, Mack and I had a great time at home, but were happy to get back to Portland and settled back into our routine. I started school a week before Mack, so he had time to lounge around and do nothing, and when I say 'nothing' I mean it! But he is now starting his second week of school and seems to be enjoying his new classes. I took the GRE (Graduate something Exam) for the second time, and got a much better score (in the 69th percentile). That makes me feel a lot better about my grad school applications, but now I have to just sit and wait to hear from the schools. My classes aren't so fun this semester, they are more the necessities rather than what is actually strongly connected with Speech Language Pathology. I'm taking Advanced Audiology, Neurology, Statistics, and Language Disorders. I'll just be happy to get this term over with and have my responses from the schools I applied to!
Cooper is doing well. He has surgery to get fixed and de-clawed a few days after we got home. We thought the surgery might slow him down a bit but he was still as wild as ever and hardly sat down, which lead to some problems with his paws and he had to go in for a second surgery. But now he is doing really well. He is still trying to figure out why he falls when he leaps onto the window curtains and tries to climb them. But it's kinda funny to watch. It snowed in Portland a few nights ago and we took Cooper out to see his first snowfall. He was absolutely ecstatic. We put him in his sweatshirt he got from Bobbie and Frank for Christmas, and he had lots of fun trying to catch the flakes in his mouth. He has also gotten into some trouble climbing on the shelves above the washer and dryer. He jumps up and then climbs around in the rafters... I got him down and blocked that off... Pictures below.
The wedding is starting to feel real! We booked the venue when we were home for Christmas, the original date we wanted (July, 20) was taken, so we decided to go for July 5th! That's a Friday, and as the date says, the day after the fourth, so I'm having fun with ideas for the the 4th with everyone. There was a bridal fair in Spokane the weekend after we left, so Mom took a friend and booked a DJ and found our (most likely) caterer! As for the big news... I got my dress! Over Christmas Mom, Dad, and his Fiance Roz went to the one bridal store in Spokane that I hadn't been to yet. I had no idea I was going to find THE ONE and really wasn't planning on it at all, but I tried it on, Marcella (the owner and expert seamstress) Made numerous changes-- adding rhinestones, changing the straps, adding an awesome bow-- and that was it! I look like a total movie star and I didn't even want to look at anything else so that's done too! Wow crazy how things work out!
Cooper is doing well. He has surgery to get fixed and de-clawed a few days after we got home. We thought the surgery might slow him down a bit but he was still as wild as ever and hardly sat down, which lead to some problems with his paws and he had to go in for a second surgery. But now he is doing really well. He is still trying to figure out why he falls when he leaps onto the window curtains and tries to climb them. But it's kinda funny to watch. It snowed in Portland a few nights ago and we took Cooper out to see his first snowfall. He was absolutely ecstatic. We put him in his sweatshirt he got from Bobbie and Frank for Christmas, and he had lots of fun trying to catch the flakes in his mouth. He has also gotten into some trouble climbing on the shelves above the washer and dryer. He jumps up and then climbs around in the rafters... I got him down and blocked that off... Pictures below.
The wedding is starting to feel real! We booked the venue when we were home for Christmas, the original date we wanted (July, 20) was taken, so we decided to go for July 5th! That's a Friday, and as the date says, the day after the fourth, so I'm having fun with ideas for the the 4th with everyone. There was a bridal fair in Spokane the weekend after we left, so Mom took a friend and booked a DJ and found our (most likely) caterer! As for the big news... I got my dress! Over Christmas Mom, Dad, and his Fiance Roz went to the one bridal store in Spokane that I hadn't been to yet. I had no idea I was going to find THE ONE and really wasn't planning on it at all, but I tried it on, Marcella (the owner and expert seamstress) Made numerous changes-- adding rhinestones, changing the straps, adding an awesome bow-- and that was it! I look like a total movie star and I didn't even want to look at anything else so that's done too! Wow crazy how things work out!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Home for Christmas
Coming back to Spokane after being away for so long was nice, but different. It was weird seeing Spokane, not as home, but where I grew up. Mack and I have gotten so used to the mild Portland weather, that Spokane seems terribly cold! We have been mostly lounging; I worked at my summer job at the school district for one day and got to see all the kidos I taught this summer, which was nice. We have been doing a lot of shopping and seeing families. Mom's birthday is tomorrow and Christmas the next day. Buddy is very excited about Santa coming. We made a gingerbread house tonight, I think Bud had a lot of fun, but it was hard for me to not try to make everything look perfect. Hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season! Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Christmas Break
To get in the Holiday spirit, Mack and I, along with our friends, decided to go up to Zoo Lights. The Oregon Zoo sets up this wild show of Christmas lights in the shapes of animals, and you ride a train through it. Clearly, since this seems perfect for a 5 year old, I was stoked. But, alas, after a beautiful clear day, it starts pouring down rain ten minutes before we were set to leave. The troubles of living in Portland. So instead, we had everyone over to our house to make gingerbread cookies! We had a total blast and made quite a mess.
After a week of finals for both Mack and I, we are finally on winter break. I finished the semester with a 3.75 GPA which should help my chances of getting into a graduate program for next fall. We are getting packed up and ready to leave for Spokane on the 16th. Christian, one of Mack's friends from the dorm will be staying at our house to watch over Cooper while we are at home. Mack and I are both sad about leaving him here, but we feel it's best to not tote him around when he hates the car so much. We will be back in Portland by the 9th when I start winter quarter. We are both very excited to go back to Spokane after so long away. I'm sure we will have lots of fun adventures. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the Christmas decorations everywhere! My favorite album as of late has been Michael Buble's Christmas album. Check it out if you haven't heard it.
After a week of finals for both Mack and I, we are finally on winter break. I finished the semester with a 3.75 GPA which should help my chances of getting into a graduate program for next fall. We are getting packed up and ready to leave for Spokane on the 16th. Christian, one of Mack's friends from the dorm will be staying at our house to watch over Cooper while we are at home. Mack and I are both sad about leaving him here, but we feel it's best to not tote him around when he hates the car so much. We will be back in Portland by the 9th when I start winter quarter. We are both very excited to go back to Spokane after so long away. I'm sure we will have lots of fun adventures. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the Christmas decorations everywhere! My favorite album as of late has been Michael Buble's Christmas album. Check it out if you haven't heard it.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thanksgiving dinner
Well, my first Thanksgiving dinner went well. Of course I was very stressed about making everything perfect, but it all turned out well. I got a specific kind of turkey so that it had a pop up timer, but then found out it didn't have a popper! I was so nervous I was going to cook it too long, or not long enough. But it all worked out in the end as things usually do. Once we all sat down to est, we had 9 people: Momma, Papa, Mark (Mack's uncle), Starla (Mack's Aunt), Cuinn (Cousin, Scout (Cousin), Ryan (Mack's friend from school) and Mack and I. Dinner went well and we had my homemade pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. After dinner we relaxed a bit, and then Mack, Cuinn and I headed out to Walmart and Best Buy for a little shopping. Though it was busy and a bit crazy it was worth it after getting a blu-ray player for Mack for $70 less and Cuinn got a new xbox game for half price. We have a few more days of everyone in two and we have a few things planned. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
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