Monday, June 25, 2012

Sunshine and Summertime

Summertime is here!  Although Oregon may be lacking the sunshine that I'm used to, there are still lots of fun summer adventures to embark on here.  My favorite so far...berry picking.  The Arizona heat proves to be too hot for strawberry fields, but here in Oregon there are lots of fields and berries for the picking.  A couple of Fridays ago my sister, Christy, invited me to go pick strawberries with her and her kids.  It was a perfect day to be outside and I happily agreed.  





We had lots of fun and bought LOTS of berries.  I'm so grateful to be close to my sister and share fun summer memories with her and her kids. 

Friday, June 8, 2012

Becoming Oregonians

Yes "Oregonian" is a real word.  There is even a credit union here named after the endearing term!  For the month that we've been here, we've been trying to learn the ins and outs of our new home and transition from tourists to locals. 

One thing we've been loving here is the FOOD!  We've gone to some interesting and quirky places that have delivered happy news to our tastebuds.

(Please excuse their french)

This was a food cart in downtown Portland that we read great things about online.  They sell BIG sandwiches stuffed with fresh cut fries and local ingredients.  We really liked the sandwiches we got and definitely plan on returning.  




VooDoo Doughnuts was a must!  It's a big touristy spot here and we had to try it!  They have all sorts of crazy doughnuts with different toppings and frosting.  My favorite was the Memphis Mafia which was a banana fritter with peanut butter and chocolate frosting plus chocolate chips on top.  SO GOOD! I hate to admit it but the first week we were here we went to VooDoo twice!



Last Saturday we went to a farmers market for lunch.  DJ had an elk burger and I had a bison burger.  They were the best burgers we've had here so far.  Then we indulged in a treat of mini doughnuts.(It's taking us a while to get back on our healthy eating plan as you can tell)

We've also enjoyed that there are so many fun things to do here (beside just eating good food).

We decided to take our bikes on the MAX train to the Rose Garden, and then explore the area on two wheels.  The garden was beautiful and the weather couldn't have been better.








Later that night we went on a hike with some of DJ's friends from school. We hiked to a mansion that overlooked Portland.  Again the scenery along the way, and the view of the city were so beautiful.  Everything is so green here and so different from Arizona.



A couple of other things we've explored have been...

the Portland Temple...so lovely!



the OHSU sky tram



and the artwork around town...


Needless to say we're having fun here in our new home!