I am so very thankful for

A job I really enjoy, and feel that I am able to do well, even though at times it brings great stress

Friends-those in town and those thousands of miles away

My amazingly supportive family

My adorable niece and nephew

My fantastic apartment and a roommate I get along with

The many visitors I’ve had this year and the plans being made for visitors next year

The grace of my God, forgiveness, and redemption through Jesus Christ

Hope Presbyterian Church

Unlimited texting and phones with full keypads

Paid holidays

My health, both physical and mental; If you disagree about the mental part, hold your tongue.

How wonderful this risk of moving across the country turned out to be

The ability to read, and the writers who put out great books

Great coffee

A Displaced Persons Thanksgiving, with great friends and food

Third Time's a Charm

When I moved here, the list of things I asked my mom to pray for were, in order,

1) Job
2) Place to live
3) Friends
4) Hairdresser

If you have curly hair, are 30ish (shh, I'm not quite ready to add the 1) and have a completely unnatural amount of gray hair, or have had the same hairdresser most of your life who you absolutely love, then you understand why finding a new one would be on the one of the top concerns when moving across the country.

The friends actually came first, and some of them will be discussed in further detail in the coming weeks. The job took a few months but finally happened, then rehappened, and now is insanely busy but going very well. The place to live fell into place at the same time as the job.

The hairdresser took 9 months and three tries, but today I found The One. Ahhhhh, it feels good. There is nothing like new hair day, especially when the last time was 5 months ago and the whole 30ish with a ridiculous amount of gray hair thing really requires hair appointments much closer together than 5 months. And even better when it's new hair day with someone that you know you can stick with! It's actually my coworkers cousin, and she's farther out than I would normally want to drive, but she's HALF the price of the last place I went and honestly, she's better! Plus, she wanted to straighten it for me today, which is tons of fun because I never do that on my own.

Yes, this is an entire post about my hair and new hairdresser, but I have a feeling most of the women reading this completely understand the necessity of talking about it.

Hey

I have an internet connection, most of the time, and I started a blog over the weekend, but I can't seem to get around to finishing it. So in place of the words I can't seem to form, here are some pictures:

Flowers that my roommate Lynn got me for my birthday:


Cake that my friend Amanda made for my birthday:


Friends who ate cake with me on my birthday (Left to right: Paul, me, Tricia, Kevin)

Internet

The girl in our house who had internet service is moving out. Until we get it all sorted out and reconnected somewhere in the house, you might not hear much from me. There are sometimes other networks I can pick up, but not always. So I'm giving you the heads up.

David's Visit

So David arrived shortly after I got off work last Tuesday. We came home, had chili that had been cooking all day, and then celebrated his arrival with dessert and conversation at Pix, my most favorite dessert place in the world. Wednesday I worked while David explored Portland. Wednesday evening we had dinner at Mother’s Bistro downtown and then enjoyed a fabulous David Gray concert. David Gray is one of my top 5 favorite musical artists (don’t ask me to name all 5, I just know he would make it in that list), and one that David enjoys…..though not as much as I do. But the concert was fun, even if we were in the nosebleed section and had to climb mountains to get to our seats. Thursday I went to work again and David spent most of his day with friends from college he hasn’t seen in a long time. I think he had a 4 hour lunch with one followed by happy hour with another. Thursday night we went to Tricia and Kevin’s for some Project Runway viewing. David really enjoyed meeting my friends, but I don’t think we have turned him into a Project Runway regular. Friday I once again went to work while David explored Portland. Friday night we went to watch 500 Days of Summer at my favorite second round theater. As you know, it’s in the running for my favorite movie of the year. It’s not in the running for David’s favorite movie of the year. After the movie we discussed our different opinions of the movie over Cuban food at Pambiche.







Saturday finally arrived and no one had to go to work! Our first stop was Voodoo Doughnuts for the $5 bucket of day-olds. David loves doughnuts. That sentence is a major understatement. The people behind us were mocking us as we slipped in line saying we were getting “just” the bucket. We then convinced them that it’s really the best deal, and they ended up getting a bucket as well.



Afterward we went to my neighborhood market where we bought a few food items and some beautiful lavender. My market has craft booths for November and the lavender was too much to pass up. I have been a bit disappointed though, as I put it on the table in our doorway area so that I would smell it every day when I get home, and so far I have yet to walk in and smell lavender. I think that somehow I was expecting my one bundle to smell like the entire pile of bundles at the market. Anyways. After the market we went to my favorite breakfast place, Little Red Bike. After that late breakfast we came home and rearranged the doughnuts into containers we could take on our trip. Once we were all packed up, definitely spending more time packing the doughnuts than our clothes, we sat around a bit trying to take some more good pictures of ourselves, and then got antsy and left for Seattle. We drove in the rain most of the way there but it wasn’t too bad.





The whole purpose of going to Seattle was not to see if my car could get broken into again (which thankfully it did not). David’s best friend from college, Scott, and Scott’s wife Tami and their children Asher and Bella, live in Vancouver, B.C. We drove up and they drove down. I have known Scott and Tami via the internet and through David’s stories for years now, and it was absolutely wonderful to finally meet them in person. They are a beautiful family and we had so much fun enjoying a rainy Seattle weekend with them. Asher is named, in part, after Asher Lev, from the book My Name is Asher Lev. Asher Lev is one of my most favorite literary characters ever, so I knew I was gonna love this kid. And I did. He’s adorably fantastic and going to be a rock star! And his little sister Bella is beautiful and a joy at all times. I told Asher all about my niece Caroline, as they are only a month apart in age, and how I will introduce them when they are older and they can get married. I think he liked the idea.
Back to the weekend. David booked us rooms in this sweet hotel that until very recently was a conference/retreat center for Washington Mutual. It was spacious and super comfy and we had an entire lounge area to ourselves complete with free snacks and a fireplace. We spent Saturday evening enjoying the lounge, eating pizza, and getting to know/catching up with each other. Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel, hung out until Bella had napped, and then drove up to the University District where we walked all around the University of Washington and the surrounding neighborhood. Later we found a park where Asher played on a hillside, and then we spent some time in a shopping center area, doing a bit of shopping, eating and playing on a playground until we had to go our separate ways. When I went to hug Asher as we were leaving, and he said, “Can I have a kiss?” My heart melted! David and I drove home in less rain than what we had on the drive there, and it was so nice to get home knowing I didn’t have to go to work on Monday (I took the day off; I’ll call it the David is here holiday).














Monday morning we got a slow start, sleeping in a bit and enjoying more doughnuts. We then ventured out into a rainy Portland day, doing some strolling around the NW 23rd shopping area and Powells. For lunch we had some Pho at one of the millions of Vietnamese noodle restaurants, and then we did what David and I do best: we sat in a tea shop for a really long time. We went to Townshend’s, my favorite tea shop, in the hopes of seeing the guy who works there that I have a huge crush on, but we did not. However we did have some excellent tea and some enjoyable quiet time sitting, reading, interneting, chatting. For dinner we walked further down Alberta to a place (I think it’s new?) called Branch, and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Definitely one of my new favorite places and one I highly, highly recommend, though maybe not to Caitlin and Chris as it’s not very vegetarian friendly. Sorry guys! But oh my it was superb. David had a steak and I had squash soup followed by pork roulette. The rest of our Monday evening was spent at home, with me trying to figure out how to keep the day from ending.

Tuesday morning I sadly went to work and David enjoyed the sunshine and my neighborhood for a while before heading to the airport to return to Chicago. I had hoped his plane would somehow be indefinitely delayed, but it seems it was not. And so it is, he is no longer here and I am once again in my normal routines. As we approach my birthday, I count it among the best of gifts to have spent this incredible week with my dear friend, and I cannot wait for the next time.

Soon

David left today and has made it safely back to Chicago. It was a wonderful week and now I'm quite bummed that he is gone:( I'll post about our week sometime in the next few days.

Week O' Fun

Just a quick note to tell you I'll see you in a week. David arrives tomorrow (Tuesday) evening and I'll be off having a week of fun with him :)