Where's Abby (+ Dylan and dogs)

Dylan has never been a big birthday celebration guy. This year when I asked him what he wanted to do, he said something like, "I don't know. Maybe get some nice dinner around town somewhere?" But I on the otherhand  must celebrate birthdays. Especially Dylan's. This guy deserves a memorable celebration.  So I insisted we go to Crater Lake and it was so worth it. What an incredible, jaw dropping, thought provoking place. The first night, we sat enjoying the bluest waters with the perfect lighting. We camped at Mazama where we were all set up with our new camping boiler thing to cook up our freeze dried camping meals, new headlamps, coffee plans... and then ate some hot chili and a meal at the campground lodge. haha We at least enjoyed out coffee at the tent the next morning.  The next day was filled with three fantastic hikes to see the Watchman Lookout for epic views of this like 2000' deep, 7700 year old crater. Then we got a lovely wildflower loop and waterfall ...

This Sunday Times got held up on the route to your screen. The carrier must've been some bandits on the road or something.  Monday, I'd never felt so scatterbrained in my life. There were so many steps I needed to take in wacky orders that weren't able to be done before these other steps and then you'd get new information that changed the whole process and needed to scrap it and start over. I felt a mess.  But then Tuesday I got to go into the schools and see my sweet kids and it was wonderful.  Wednesday and Thursday were remote days that were so productive, comfortable and fulfilling. Like a 35 minute dog walk + bringing coffee home to my hubby vs a 35 minute drive? Yes please. Eating a healthy lunch and doing laundry on my lunch break. Being immediately home at 4:00 and ready for bike rides/walks. Working from a cozy coffee shop with Dylan one day. It's all just glorious.  Wednesday after work, we went on a long bike ride to Woodstock to putter around, then to Se...

A weekly update has now begun! If not for anything but to keep more of journal for ourselves to recap and think about each week. So much happens so quick I don't want to forget all the fun details! This week was my first full week to work with all the crew at my new job. Lots of planning with caseloads and meetings, and such. Excited to get working with the kids more in the next weeks. Dylan started his clinical this week too for his last semester of grad school! Woohoo! He's been killin' it and so close to graduating.  Monday was Labor Day and was a very cozy rainy Oregon day. It's been quite toasty lately, so this actually felt good. So we had a long walk to Peninsula Park for some roses and then hung around the casa making bags and relaxin.  Back to work on Tuesday for a good day and a rocking Crossfit after. I made some chicken tzatziki, a new fav.  Wednesday night we tried a Burmese place nearby after another very hot bike ride.  Thursday we actually went to a c...

We've only been here for three weeks, but it has been one heck of a full, wonderful time. I am a powerhouse of a mover, so whenever I move the house is nearly done the day of.  It wound up being great getting in earlier than planned as we were able to spend the weekend just cruising around the city, getting to know our neighborhoo d and getting the apartment all cozy. So in the first week, we explored Alberta, Laurelhurt, Unthank, Overlook, Irving, Peninsula Park, ad Mt. Tabor parks. I had one of the best nights at the summer kick off ride with Pedalpalooza , a summer bike event where there's like hundreds of different bike rides around town-- groups organize different themes and routes to gather and just ride. We started at Laurelhurst park with a DJ and a great crowd and headed out with our 80s themed ride. A "cork" (a guy on skates with awesome moves) rode ahead to stop traffic so we could just ride freely on the roads of PDX as we followed a heart shaped speakers....

On the road again! Oregon Trail Round 2 from May 16-May 24, 2024 New Orleans was our first stop on this trip. On our first trip out in May 2020, we skipped NOLA as this weirdo new pandemis was wreaking havoc in that little Cajun town. But this time around, we had a great stay at the Creole Garden hotel with the most colorful patio. We had a lovely rainy walk to dinner and an entertaining walk down Bourbon with everyone's intuitions just thrown to the wind. What a place.  San Antonio was next, where it was certainly a pretty little riverwalk and we got some delicious street tacos, but was kind of one of those blooper kinda nights. It was a loong drive, we were starving, we made a rash decision for street tacos and realized we missed out on the tex mex we were so stoked on. No rice. No beans. No chips and salsa... Ugh. We couldn't get over it haha... the dogs got hot and we couldn't find water, our skin was wackily dry and uncomfortable, we thought we'd left our toiletry ...