I know I don't get a chance to update the blog from my perspective, but here it goes. A ton has happened since I last updated. Kris does really well at keeping up the blog. We went hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail recently and I had a life changing experience. The hike was beautiful and ardous , but worth it. Kris posted pictures of the hike below. Half way through the hike there was a clearing of de-forested area and this made me really sad. I talked it over with Kris and I think I am going to try and start a campaign to re-seed the area with native plants, as well as other de-forested areas around our home. Living in Washington has made me more aware of the environment and the effects of human destruction on it. Along side the re-foresting effort Kris and I have decided that trying to get a community garden going here would be a fun thing. That will probably be more of a spring time project.
The weather here has taken some getting used to. I am glad we got to experience the tail end of fall when we came because 26 degrees is cold. It's easy to want to stay inside on my days off and bundle, but when you finally do go outside you realize it's not that bad. In fact, most of the time when we go hiking we end up taking some of our layers off. At work is another story. On the weekends the building managers cut the heat in the lobby of one of the buildings. It gets especially cold in that lobby because air comes in under the doors into the lobby. They have supplied us with personal heaters but I still end up wearing a jacket and scarf. The wet I can do without, but honestly you get used to that to. It doesn't rain all the time like I expected. . .about a couple days a week. Thanks to Debbie for the chapstick. I was never a chapstick person before we moved, but now it is my lifeline. I apply and re-apply like you do with sunscreen in Florida and my lips are still chapped. . .but I am getting used to that too.
I have experienced so many things since we moved here. If I am really tired on my drive to work I usually stop and get a soda from somewhere. I take a few sips and then leave it in my cupholder in the car while I am working all day. I usually start around 7am and end around 3pm. When I get back in my car I pick up my soda and it is always as cold if not colder than when I left it at 7am. I pararllel park alot. . .especially working downtown. I take this transit system called the MAX on the weekdays to work from the mall so that I don't have to pay for parking downtown. It's interesting. The MAX carries all kinds of people from business people to the homeless. I have obviously seen snow. Actually I have seen almost all the stages of water now. I have driven through clouds. I mean that literally, not metaphorically. In Florida, the world stops at the cloud line, but in the Pacific Northwest the cloud line is just the beginning. Often in the mountains you drive through cloud clusters. It's like driving through a heavy, floating mist. It kind-of greys out the structures all around you and when you look out your window it's almost like you are in an airplane or flying car. The hospital has an Airtram that employees take from the parking garage to the hospital on the other side of the water and it looks like a ride at Disney. Random people come up to me in grocery stores and start conversations with me. . .not at Walmart, and not in Gresham. . .but in other places: like Safeway. I went into the Fred Meyer the other day. They are like a gigantic, more expensive version of Walmart. They sell all sorts of stuff from expensive diamond rings to Kayaks and everything in between. It's almost like a small mall. On the weekends I take the elevator up to the 19th floor of our building and then take another elevator up to the helipad and watch the sunrise while I eat my breakfast. I think it's really awesome that my bosses encourage me to do as such and that I get paid for it. The view is one of the best in Portland. Our building fronts the water and on a clear day you can see Mount St. Helens and Mt. hood from our building. When it isn't clear, you can't even make out an outline of where they are supposed to be. Even if you know right where they are you can't spot them. Then, when it's clear they magically appear out of seemingly nowhere and they are so huge and right in your face. I still think they are an illusion. I have had mexican food from a place owned by asians. That was weird, but the food was really good. We have experienced so many things that it's hard to recall them all.
The new year is here already. . .I wasn't expecting it until next year. I know Kris said she didn't make a resolution, but I made the same resolution I make every year. Actually it's more of a non-resolution. I always resolve to be happy with who I am and that if I don't like something like my weight or my environment to use any of or all of the other 365 days a year to make the change rather than waiting for one day. Every minute is another chance to turn it all around. If you did make a resolution I wish you all good luck in pursuing it. Dream big and if your dreams fall through and make a hole in your heart where your ambition used to be. . .dream bigger.
-Ash
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