We made it!!

we are alive and safe and loving oz. still working out housing details, but so far we are loving being here. we got justin enrolled in his classes, found a place we really like (hopefully we can get it), and got a phone. justin starts school next week so hopefully we can get everything settled before then. its proved to be quite the adventure and we are loving it. oh and did i mention its the dead of winter and so nice outside? why do i live inoregon again?!?

oh and im starting a new blog for our adventure here. hopefully it will be ready soon...

another big one

ok. so i know i just did one of these and i should really be totally up to date, but what can i say? when the sun is shining and the pool is right there, i would much rather be out there. so sorry for slacking, but not really. anyways. so we have been up to quite a bit.

cincy

ok, so in june we went to cincinnati for a class reunion and another rush concert. justin spent like 2-10th grade in ohio and it turned out that the class he would have graduated with was having their 10 yr reunion on that saturday. so after re-living all his childhood memories, like old schools, skyline chili, rallys, and the udf, and even a bike ride through sharon woods. (if he ever talks about cincy, its usually about football or sharon woods. it was fun to see what he was talking about.) that night at we had so much fun seeing all his old friends and we were both pretty shocked at how many people he remembered, and remembered him too. it totally made his week seeing all his old friends. the next day we went out to justins old ward and he recognized no one. too funny. however, his old ym president, who also works for p&g, just happened to get back from 3 years in germany recetly. we went to their house sunday night and had a wondeful time getting to catch up with them. the next day we went to kings island, think a smaller six flags magic mountain theme park. it was fun to go on the rides and play like a kid again. that night was the rush concert with my dad and his bf bill. lots of fun and we finally caught a t-shirt (the ones we have been trying to get every show for over 10 years now). it was tons of fun.

run for justice weekend

friday we went to a party for a client at justins firm who happens to live on this beautiful property over looking west portland and is starting a recording studio. it was so beautiful and lots of fun.

on saturday, justins law firm had a 5k "run for justice" event. it was such a blast to run along side him since he didnt do the tri with me. he kept running up ahead of me and snapping pictures so there aren't any of him, but trust me he was there.

after the run and breakfast with some of the people at the firm,we headed out to the coast for one last surf trip in oregon before we leave. it was a bit cold but not windy. i hadnt seen that part of the coast before so i was loving it. we stopped by cannon beach overlook to see the rock from the goonies.

then we contiued down to the cool surf spot that you have to walk through the wods to get to. also, you can camp right there for free and is something we want to do when we get back.

ont the way back home, we stopped by the tillamook cheese factory because they also happen to make some amazing ice cream. my favorte is the chocolate peanut butter, it is by far the best.

triathlon

so i did it! i finished my first triathlon since i was like 7. i did good in everything except the transitions (something to work on). the whole thing was a .5 mile swim, 12 mi. bike and 5k. i came out of the water third in my division, had the longest transition, was so frustrated at the 40+ group wizzing by me on the bike, and finished the run thinking i should have gone faster. oh well. it was way fun though and i think im hooked!

my wonderful husband came with me to be my super support! he was so great, cheering me on and taking some awesome pictures. every time i saw him it made me want to go faster, push harder and make him proud. next time, i hope we can get do it together.

justins new toy

a few weekends ago we went to newport so justin could have a surf day and play with his new toy, his 3 meter kite. it was a gorgeous day at the coast, sun shinning and very little wind. great for me sitting in the beach watching him surf, but not so good for trying to fly the kite. we were having little luck getting it to stay in the air because the wind kept changing directions. what we did do with it was really fun, and even i gave it a try.

we went down to the harbour to get some lunch and loved having the whole fam together.

weekend with pops

so at the beginning of the month, my dad and his friend came up to visit justin and i for a weekend of rush concert and sight seeing. we headed up the columbia gorge (this is such a beautiful drive! highly recommended) and stopped off at the multnomah fall, which is right off the freeway. we then continued up to george, washington (yeah! seriously) for the rush concert. this amiptheatre is called the gorge, and it is stunning. it sits right on the bluff overlooking the columbia river. it is so pretty. it was a bit windy, but watching the show with the sun setting in the background was awesome.
the next day we had it all planned out to go check out mt st helens, since its just over the border from us. it had been sunny and clear the whole drive until we got to the point where we should have been able to see the mountain. yea, thats right, should have! in true northwest fashion, it will be clear and nice until you get to where you are going, and thats when the clouds roll in. we got into the park and could barely see 20 ft in front of us. just a big white cloud where this massive volcano missing its top should have been. such a disappointment. i doubt i will be able to get justin back in a car for a few hours to go see it again any time soon. so when you look at these pictures, imagine a huge mountain behind us and that this is just like a green screen or something.

crazy weekend

this weekend we got a ton done. on saturday, justin and i got everything boxed up and moved out of our house. thats right, our house is empty. we had originally planned to leave some stuff like an air mattress, bike and stuff for me to use while i lived there for these last few days, but changed our minds while we were packing to just take everything out at once while we had the big truck. this way i wouldnt have to make multiple trips this week to finish hauling up our stuff. so after 12 hours of packing and loading, we finally finished our house at 11pm. we drove back up to my aunts house, again not in the original plans, to go sleep in a real bed.

we unloaded everything sunday, with the help of my fam, into my grandmas garage. i must say, it drove me crazy that after 12 hours of work the day before, we had the entire thing unloaded and ready to go in like an hour and a half. not that i wanted it to take all day again, but it seems like all our hard work was undone in seconds. but, its all unpacked and on to the cleaning!

our memorial day bald eagle we sawthen we got to go fishing with my family on the columbia gorge, which is absolutely beautiful, for shad. this is a fun fish to go for because we only go when there is tons of them heading up the river, and we use them as bait for other fish like halibut and tuna. so when we go, it is almost guaranteed to catch stuff. i think we finished the day wit like 16 total fish. so fun.

and we have also taken up playing doubles in tennis with my aunt and uncle. it has turned into boys vs. girls, but since the first time we played, us girls have been on a losing streak. despite our killer 4 game come back last night, we still lost all three games. i think we need to continue our lessons and maybe get some practice time with out the boys there to help hone our skills!

a surprise for mothers day

wednesday evening

*ring ring*

dad: would you like to come to CA this weekend to surprise your mother on mothers day and a rush concert?

kelly: YES! let me check with justin to see if he can miss work on monday

few hours later...

dad: and..

kelly: he said sure. we will see you this weekend.

so we packed a bag, dropped off koda at grandma's and hopped on the earliest saturday morning flight to southern california. we had such an awesome weekend. we surprised my mom on saturday, then headed to legends for lunch. headed down to huntington so justin could take a kite boarding lesson (his newest extreme hobby) and so mom, courtney and i could shop on main street. headed back home for a delicious dinner at panera. played rock band with the fam. went to church sunday, soaked up some sun in dads backyard. had a wonderful 2pm roast for dinner. had a 5pm sushi dinner. headed to a rush concert and sat in the second row. had alex lifeson smile for MY camera, danced and sang until my throat hurt. got home at 1230am and was up at 430am for our flight back home on monday.this is my totally awesome mom. she is the most kind, funny, amazing, spiritual, forgiving and loving woman i know. i have learned so much from her example and she has taught me so much about life, love and happiness. I love her more each day and am so appreciative for support and advice. she is my rock. the awesome sis who is growing up so fastjustins new hobbyhe totally bent down to be in my picture smiling. my guys were going crazyNeil Peart, best drummer everthe guys watching the show

this is totoally my kind of weekend. I wish it could have been there longer to see all our friends and loved ones while we were there, but it was a jammed packed two days with lots of family time. so im sorry for not even calling anyone, but we will be back in july and i promise i will visit everyone.

long lost pics

my ever so dear, funny, not-so-computer-savvy mother finally sent me the pics from when she journeyed up to Oregon in the beginning of February. bless her heart, after failed attempts of emailing, making cd's, sending the cd's, and uploading all to no avail. she finally sent a jump-drive containing them. that arrived yesterday, and i was so excited to finally see how they turned out. while she was here we hiked to the top of the local spencers butte. its only a quick 45 min hike to the top, although it was through snow. we had a fun photo shoot at the top.

our family photo

thanks mom, and remind me to give you a computer lesson next time im down there.