Ok, I am not going to lie to you, it has been BUSY!  Once the 9 was out of school I shipped her and Tyfanie to Utah to visit their extended family, while Ryan came down to Oregon so we could go on a road trip to Canada.  Needless to say Canada was AMAZING!!  We went sea kayaking, which I love, I was mesmerized by the waves going over the bow of the yak, and the view reminded you of why we are alive.  We also stayed with an old friend from the U of U, and Ryan’s current boss, they have a beautiful place in Salt Springs which has a fantastic view of the bay, and lots of land.  We chopped wood and I even was able to cut down my first tree.   I drank coffee in the morning while watching deer walk along the property and ate the most delicious vegetarian food that his wife made daily, and before you ask, NO I still love tasty meat, but I can appreciate any style of good food.

I saw Oraca pods and even saw them jump out of the water as well as hunt salmon right next to our boat.  We also visited a couple islands and took numerous ferry’s.  By the time 5 days had went by we were exhausted and ready to go back.

When Ryan went home and Star returned we did things that we have been wanting to do but couldn’t.  Which included a 4 mile hike to see a very pretty body of water, watched a lot of horror movies as well as played numerous horror games, spent a lot of time with Bob and Angie, went horseback riding on the beach, visited the coast a fair amount and took a midnight stroll on the river walkway.

The 9 will be home in a little over a week, and we are out almost every night looking at houses and hoping that our house closes the first week of august in Utah so that we can purchase and close on a house in Eugene by the end of August.

*sigh*  So I think I missed a lot of what we did, but I have tons of pictures, have updated all my little social networks and randomly speak to most of you.  What an awesome month this has been.

So Lunchb0x came to visit me last week. I love that he takes the time to do so, it shows true friendship and that he puts friends and family above all else.

His visit did a few things, and let me go over the least important thing first. I did not go to work or the gym most of the time he was here, we went to the coast, played a lot of WoW and went Kayaking. We also ate like once or twice a day. Now the week before lunchie was here I was sick and did not go to the gym, but I ate accordingly still, meaning 3-4 times a day. I was losing inches off my waist, it was real progress and showed that even though my weight was going up, my waist was shrinking. The one week lunchie was here I gained 2 inches to my waist. 2 inches people!!!!! I went to the gym today and told the story about how I was sick and didnt make it to the gym because of this and his visit, she said “I bet you didn’t gain a pound because you work out so hard normaly” and then I dropped the bomb on her that I gained 2 inches in my waist and she looked shocked and asked how I was eating. I explained that I really didn’t eat and when I did it was large meals. She laughed and said lesson learned then, you need to graze, feed it to get rid of it. I find this highly amusing that after all these years of working out it comes to the fact I just don’t ever eat enough.

Now the more important subject, Lunchies visit reminds me what I left back in Utah, all my close friends who I miss dearly. it use to be I was upset that I left an awesome career, but that seems fairly silly. Leaving my friends behind was the worst of it by far. Now some of them have left Utah on their own as well, so it seems it is the natural order for us to leave, but none the less I miss everyone, and even though he was here for a week I miss him already, it was nice having one of the guys around and I dearly miss the man nights.

But we did go kayaking and lunchie almost died, he fell in and got Hypothermia, stubborn bastard dried off for a few and went right back out, I was worried and called it off after about an hour, but it was still an adventure neither of us will forget anytime soon. I hope one day to lure him to move out here, maybe when the economy is better.

So for the record, I miss you all, those who moved to the east coast and those still in Utah, and I praise the internet gods daily that it is so easy to keep in touch with so many miles between us.

This month I had thought of all these things to blog, and I tell myself I will do it later and then I forget.  Today I have lots of thoughts running through my head, but its bad form to post them all in one convoluted post, right?  Well if I don’t post them now I won’t do it at all, so forgive me if this offends your senses.

This entire month so far has been full of exploring Oregon.  Since I got a new SLR camera I have been taking pictures every time we leave, and even the wife has taken to enjoying photography, our main focus being the coast line, since it’s impossible to be bored there!  Sure sure, you can’t really hop in and go snorkling, not unless you have a dry suit and someone out in a boat ready to get you when the currents take you out, but you can still explore the miles and miles of beautiful sandy coast lines, full of birds, sea lions, seals, jelly fish, octopuses etc.  It’s seriously endless!  And let no one tell you it’s not beautiful here, just look at this sunset!!!  The wife took this near newport, it’s stunning!

If you still aren’t convinved take a look at my flickr account or our photo page at http://photo.wineriter.org

On top of photography being high on my hobby list, I am buying plants again, which I am way excited for, both normal house plants and carnivorous and even some Orchids.

What else? Ohh not much, I am just planning on buying a boat!   Ok don’t get to excited like I was, the wife has denied my request for a real boat, I am only allowed to get an inflatable, but the options in that range are still pretty nice and it will still have a 15hp engine so I can troll a bit and enjoy the ocean bays when I want.

ok, changing subjects, I often feel bad because everyone is talking about how bad the economy is and how so many people are struggling, yet we are doing so well, our bills are low despite still owning a house in Utah and just buying a car, and as far as we can see both our jobs are stable.  *crosses fingers*

Why are we having so much fun and everyone else is suffering? It doesn’t seem right.  Sure sure we suffered a lot in the past, I filed bankruptcy and had to to work 2 jobs and the wife had a job and we still had to have a roomate to affored anything, but we learned to manage our money, it took time but we did.  Ohh who am I kidding, the wife taught me how to manage our money

But still, it seems this is some of the best parts of our life and it’s happening while so many people are struggling, I can’t help but feel bad.  No not for everyone, I feel no sympathy for people who bought those huge houses and didn’t question how they could afford it making as little as they did, they can blame the banks and anyone else the want to but it was their fault.  No I feel bad for the people who lose their jobs because the companies are all going under, and this is felt through out the nation, making it difficult to find new work. I don’t know, I just don’t know what to do or how to feel about that…….

Changing subjects again, and yes I know this is now going into 600 words   During our drives to the coast we have been coming together as a family, playing games, talking and exploring (we found a glass blowing place that is awesome!) and just really enjoying being a family, something we lacked in our stable life in Utah, I had NO idea this was going to happen but I am so very happy with the way life is….I know, I am waiting for it to all come crashing down myself, but until then I am going to enjoy everything and everyone.

So it was time for the yearly camping trip with the boys, and since Star’s mom had a birthday that week I was informed to stay for the whole week in Utah.  Truth be told I was worried I would be very bored about the 3rd day, but I did as I was told.

Camping with the boys was as usual an awesome time, we seem to be getting better and better at it, this year we all slept in tents and despite it being cold it was a good time, lots of beer and coyotes as usual, for breakfast we decided to go to an old diner that was shipped from some other state back east, I am not sure the back story but it was suppose to be some big deal, and I co-worker from the University of Utah setup their network and music selection system, and thus had a dish named after him, the “Turner Taco”  and so  recommended the place to us.  It was good food for sure and was fun in general.

After that I stayed with Ryan (aka lunchie, Lunchb0x) for the week and to be honest had a great time, his condo was comfortable and cozy, he took time off most of the week to keep me company and we played games, drank a lot and watched lots of Netflix on demand, think I made it through most of “coupling”  Also played lots of games with friends who would come over his house or we would go over there.  I really wasn’t bored at all! I also introduced and got lunchie addicted to Munchkin the card games.  *sigh*  good times.

With all that said, I was happy to leave on Sunday, I don’t like Utah, it’s very hot and very dry there, the people all seem so angry and closed off, not the normal smiles and greetings found in Eugene, and my god their is a lot of people in Utah!  And when you have nothing to do there isn’t an ocean to run to just to watch the waves and sea-lions.  I don’t ever want to move back, but I will keep encouraging lunchie and other friends to move to Oregon, I love this state and even more so now.

Thanks again to all my friends who made a real effort to come out and play, it was nice seeing you all!  I will be back in Nov and Dec!

Ok, so I have been so busy the past month I didn’t even have time to post!  So without further a due,

4 Weeks ago we went to Long Beach Washington to meet with Shaun and Carmen, Tyfanies aunt and uncle, they are moving to Tucoma, WA, we are so excited, so we drove down to greet them and spend a few days helping them adjust.  On our drive down we got to cross the coolest bridge! In the middle of the bridge you cross over from Oregon into Washington and I swear this thing is 10 miles long.

The picture was taken in Astera, OR  which is a cool little town, where people were fishing for Sturgeon, I was beyond jealous.  We stayed in Long Beach, WA and had some fresh Oysters and walked the beach and flew kites, it was a good time to be honest.  On our way back we took the 101 and pass through some really nice areas I want to visit, including this beach

The very next weekend we went to the Gold Coast to relax and enjoy the much calmer oceans, we stayed in a very nice hotel on the beach and just relexed most of the time, however we did take a Mail Boat ride, which is really a jet boat that cruises up the Rogue River showing you wild life and of course doing 360 degree turns getting everyone wet, it was a really fun ride, then we went to the beach and watched a seal looking for things near the shore to eat, we also got to see a flock of Peliguns eating, that was awesome.  Gold Coast has some of the most beautiful ocean fronts.

The third weekend Star had to work so Ely and I went to Portland with two local friends to see FlugTug!  I was so excited to see this event, but alas, it was SO crowded and people being asses that it turned out to be pretty dissapointing, maybe next year we will get a boat and watch it from the water.

The next weekend Star and Ely went to the fairy festival, I didn’t get to see any pictures but I hear it was a lot of hippies naked and dressed up, I think next year I should go!

and last weekend we went to portland with Stars family to celebrate her birthday, we took an awesome cruise on the willemette having brunch and looking at the portland river side houses, it was so nice and relaxing, we then also went to the Japanese garden, which was beautiful, I will have to get pictures and upload them.

This weekend we are headed to humberg campground, which is right next to the Gold Coast to go camping with Star’s parents while they are still in town, so more pictures from there!

Remember as always most of our pictures can be found at http://photo.wineriter.org

*breath*  ok, I know that is a pretty long and incoherent ramble, but it was to catch you all up!

Until next time!