Oregon: Nov 14th-17th 2008

This was my first trip to the "beaver state" where the state road kill is possum. Seriously within a 10 mile stretch you see 5+ dead possums. So why Oregon? Well my friend, Lynell, grew up there and wanted to surprise a friend at her wedding so I tagged along to provide company and assistance (which I will get to later).

So the trip began at 8pm Thursday night when we left straight from class to Mesa. Woke up at 5:30ish, left for the airport 20 minutes late, checked in our baggage with 2 minutes to spare before the cutoff, got hairspray and facewash confiscated at security (but they didn't take my scissors-something wrong there eh?) and then our names where announced throughout the terminal because we were late. You kind of feel goofy as all eyes on the plane are watching as you walk down the aisle to your seat right before takeoff. I don't recommend it.

When we arrived in Portland, we went to get our rental car. All is good, get in the elevator to go to the car and what do I notice? Lynell's arms are free. I ask her "where is your suitcase?" Poor girl left it at the rental counter. Luckily security was not called on her 'unattended bag'. So she gets her bag and we go out to the car lot. May I add here that we were on a girl's trip and wanted to have fun and part of that fun was the rental car. Long story short Lynell sweet talked the guy into renting a mustang! (Way better than the Dodge neon we were going to drive). Lynell had lots of fun gunnin' it on the freeway and through the streets of Portland. Too bad the blocks were really small so once you gun it and enjoyed the thrill of the horsepower, you have to brake.

Friday we walked the streets of Portland. It was beautiful to see the colorful leaves everywhere. I still kick myself in the pants for not taking any pics because 'I didn't want to look like a tourist'. Stupidest reason ever. Anyways we rode the streetcar, ate a delicious pumpkin bagel w/pumpkin cream cheese (which I have craved since), and shopped Powell's Books, the 2nd biggest book store I have ever seen in my life (the 1st being Barnes and Noble near Rockefeller center in NY). We also survived a brisk walk down Burnside St, which is the equivalent to VanBuren in Phoenix, right as the sun was setting. Little did we know that we would be stared at by the creepiest people, walk around homeless people who we hope were just sleeping and not dead. Lynell decided to walk in the street so we would be farther away from the 'not giving off the best vibe' people down Burnside as I walked with keys between my fingers so I could stab anyone who got in my bubble uninvited. - That's Day 1.

Day 2 - The wedding was in Jefferson, about an hour and a half from Portland. On the way there we got into heavy traffic. Another thing that we did not know was the two BIG football games for OSU Beavers and UofO Ducks in Corvallis and Eugene. Every other car had flags in the windows, pom-poms hanging out the trunk, and duck or beaver footprints on the doors, as thousands of cars headed to the two games. The cute thing of the drive was a little kid holding up his shirts in the window saying "go beavers" and practically jumping out of his seatbelt. We made it to the wedding with minutes to spare because of the traffic. After that we headed to Lincoln City on the Oregon coast (another hour and a half drive) where we had delicious pizza. Then another 30 minute drive to Newport where our hotel was. The hotel was beautiful, right on a cliff overlooking the ocean and we fell asleep listening to the rolling waves.

Day 3 - I love the ocean! It is an amazing thing. Of course it was too cold to play in the water but nothing like a nice morning walk along the beach to start the day off right. It was so peaceful!

The rest of the day we hung out at the harbor and checked out little shops. We also watched a bunch of sea lions. It was funny to watch them yell back and forth at each other. One cranky sea lion kept yelping at a younger one. The young one would put its tail (foot, fins or whatever it is on a sea lion) on the cranky one's face. I think the kidster was just trying to get a rise out of the ol'fogee. When we had inhaled enough fish smell we headed back to Portland. It was quite the trip because half of the way you could only see about 40 feet in front of you because of the fog. After getting lost we got a hotel at 10:30ish. Since we had to be at the airport at 5:30 in the morning we headed to bed.

Day 4 - you would think I would tell you that we woke up, flew home, and unpacked. Well, you are wrong. This time we got to the airport with time to spare though. We got on the plane and we were ready to take a 3 hour nap UNTIL..."Sorry we are not able to take off right now. We are having trouble with the latch on the door. We should be in the air in 10 minutes...30 minutes...1 hour..." Finally 2 hours later they realized that the door and 'other mechanical problems' would not be fixed in order for us to take flight so we had to get off our plane and board another. It was great that everyone on the plane remained calm and didn't complain. I had good company. I sat by a guy from Alaska and he happened to be LDS so we visited the whole time. Anyways, once we were in the air and on the ground again we hopped in the car, drove 3 hours to Pinetop to our class, sat in class another 3 hours, and went to bed. May I say it was one of the longest days of my life... but in all it was an interesting and fun adventure.

More than I thought...

I have been busy with school, subbing, and traveling that I have not updated my blog for over a month. In a way I thought nothing really exciting happened but now I look back and smile at all the fun I have had. I'll do a few posts but here's the first one. So lets travel back to October 16th, 2008. My Grandma Solomon celebrated her 89th birthday. She is such a trooper and I love the spirit she has always had with her. Grandma Solomon has been tried and tested throughout her whole life. She is a great example to me that there is nothing in this life that you cannot handle. She has also continued to have a strong testimony and live the gospel, her faith has been her guide. I LOVE ya Grandma! (Pic of me with her on her birthday)

So next was my birthday-my "Golden" birthday. It was a simple birthday but I really enjoyed having the family over and spending time with them. The best gift I got was this fabulous video on my phone from my beloved neice and nephews. (Hope it works-this is my first vid to post).

I must say I bawled hardcore when I received it because I really miss them! I couldn't even talk to them on the phone I was so teary-eyed. They are my heroes!

The last thing I will post for today (so it isn't long because I have more to share) is this cute picture of my nephew, Kyler, and my mom. This kid LOVES his Grandma! He won't even come to me if Grandma is within 100 feet of him. Anyways, this is a picture of him right after he woke up, threw a fit, got the diap' changed and got a snack. He sat there cuddling my mom for 5 or so minutes. It was precious!