On the Oregon Trail: February 2017

Hello~!

We had a very cold Oregon December this year! There was freezing rain that coated absolutely everything in a sheet of ice for almost a week. Branches from trees all over got so heavy they broke off and were falling on the ground, in parking lots, even blocking some roads!

We spent the month cleaning, packing, and preparing for the holidays. On the weekends, we tried a few new restaurants including Pita Pit, and hung out at the Eugene Downtown Public Library. We had a funny moment when we mailed gifts to California and picked up a package of slippers from Mom in California--a package swap!

We drove to Portland on Christmas day to see and exchange gifts with Tara and family around noon. I was able to see Tara's little sister Erika for the first time since we worked together in 2013. Tara's little boys were very excited to show Derek their new Hot Wheels cars and tracks. Tara and Erika dropped us off at the airport at 1:30 pm and we had a nice flight to Las Vegas and then Columbus. We didn't get in until 12:50 am and stayed up laughing and opening presents with my mom and sisters until 5 am--so a very loooong day for us. But very fun and silly.

We spent a fun and relaxing few weeks shopping, watching movies, and playing board games. A lot of board games--5 Seconds, the Logo Game, and Pass the Popcorn. Also, Derek wins so often it is almost (almost! but not quite) un-fun to play with him. All told, we went to four different locations of our favorite used bookstore, Half-Price Books (thanks mom for those gift cards!). We went to the three most popular malls in Columbus (Polaris, Easton, and Tuttle). We ate at Olive Garden twice.

We went to the famous Columbus Zoo for their Wild Lights event with my family, my best friend Joy, and her boyfriend Dylan. This zoo is huge--over 588 acres. The Wild Lights has over 4 billion LED lights all over the pathways and buildings--some even blink and change to music piped all over the park. Lots of Mannheim Steamroller and other classics.

For New Years we went to Hocking Hills (a popular Ohio destination for honeymooning) with my family and two other families. The cabin we stayed in was very large--it slept 16 people. Including Cambrie, there were six teenagers that took over the pool table and basement. My mom drank wine and caught up with the other moms, Carrie and Brenda. And Derek, Kelsea, and I just kinda floated between the groups eating a lot of chips and goodies. Unfortunately, it rained so we weren't able to sit around the nice fire pit and make s'mores.

We went out with Cambrie and her friend Hannah to pick up her school books downtown and ate at Katzinger's resterant in German Village. The Ruben sandwich, homemade pickles, and matzo ball soup was delicious and warm on such a cold and snowy afternoon.

Our flight home was cancelled due to weather. Ohio was without snow, and Portland had only an inch, but our layover in St Louis was completely shut down. So we went with Cambrie to movies and sat in fancy leather seats to see Moana, Arrival, and Hidden Figures. Hidden Figures was so good! My favorite movie of the year by far.

Once we were back in Oregon, we again hung out with Tara--celebrating her birthday at Buffalo Wild Wings and catching up.

In pet news, when we came home, we found our cat Dinah had a serious sore between two of her toes. We were told by the vet that she has an eosinophilic granuloma complex, which is actually similar to the condition Derek has, weirdly enough. We've been giving her steroid medication and she's had to wear a cone to keep her from licking at the sore area. She hates it! But at least she gets to be treated like a princess and gets yummy wet cat food.

Towards the end of January, our apartment complex started a siding upgrade construction project. It's been very noisy and inconvenient, but hopefully it'll make the buildings look nicer. Unfortunately, there is no end date in sight so we just have to be patient for it to all be over.

I think that about does it for December and January. And now, pictures!

Frozen trees!

In Ohio I grew up with bare trees in winter so it was so strange for me to see colorful frozen foliage!

Pretty!

My guilty pleasure: baklava! I love it sooo much :)

Joy, Dylan, and I at the Wildlights

Pictured above: Cambrie and Derek in Aug 2014 making serious faces at the donation center in the Asian tiger exhibit

Pictured right: These two stretching to save the tigers this year! So cold but very cute!