Look Down

My sister has a good eye for flowers, especially the bulb variety. She was naming plant after plant as we walked around downtown--"Oh, look! Daffodils! Oh, and here are some crocus..." She definitely has the family trait of knowing the names of all plants down pat. I'm still learning. 

She noticed these as we were on our way back to the car:  a cluster of darling crocus blooming at the base of a fence. Lovely.

Hoyt Arboretum

On Sunday, we went on a walk on one of the trails at Hoyt Arboretum. What a beautiful day! At one point, we looked down and saw the Japanese Gardens far below us. We passed toddlers (with their parents), dads pushing strollers, and lone walkers taking in the beautiful morning. We still can't get over the tufts of moss everywhere, even on the asphalt in the parking lot spaces.

Going Downtown

We took my middle sister downtown last Saturday. And the weather complied and it wasn't too cold and the sun peeked out and the mist cleared. We ate sandwiches at Lovejoy bakery at a long table and spent the afternoon looking through stationary and home decorating shops. Bought four tiny birds--one for each of us girls and our mom--and drank coffee at Ken's Artisan Bakery (and ate a huge piece of carrot cake, goodness). We came home tired and happy and I made my favorite grilled red pepper fajitas. Every time I make those I have the impulse to ask, "Aren't these amazing?" every five seconds. Avocados were on sale so we felt very happy about being add those on top. What a beautiful day.

Kitty Cards for the Girls

This is such a bad picture but we don't have the scanner set up yet and these cards had to go with my sister to their proper homes, namely her daughter, Emily, and our niece, Emma. I had fun making these for the girls--simple pen drawings colored in with watercolors.

A Whole New World

the view outside a bedroom window at our place

This morning as I drove into work I prayed that I would not grow callous over the beauty here. The lichen-loaded branches and pine trees everywhere blew us away a couple of weeks ago but they're now part of our every day. When I moved to L.A. several years ago, I was overwhelmed by the blooming flowers in the middle of winter--roses and birds of paradise and billowing bougainvillea.  I just couldn't get over it. If I remember correctly, I prayed a similar prayer back then to not forget to notice the beauty all around. It's there if you look for it, even in the big city. :)

We've had a busy week and are so ready for the weekend. I'm home and making snickerdoodle cookies from a mix that my mom made for us at Christmas. They smell (and taste) sooo good. I originally thought that I would be on leave of absence from my company and would help my husband out here and there with freelance projects but the first week we were here, I received a call from my company asking me to come in for a couple weeks of work. It was not something that I would have even considered since it was receptionist work (been there, done that), but looking back, it was what I needed. I was able to meet most of the office and help out our visitors and honestly, lead a pretty stress-free day. Starting next week and for the next month, I'll be on assignment on what sounds like a very stressful project. But I'll trust that that is where I'm supposed to be for now and be grateful for the work. Edith Schaeffer used to talk about encouraging her children to look at every new experience as an opportunity to learn, so that's what I'm going to do. 

In the coming days, I'm going to post a few photos from my sister's (wonderful) visit. We had such a great time. Love her.

Smiling on a Friday

I'm sitting in a Starbucks getting my internet duties done for the day (I never realized how much I use this resource and goodness, can I say again that I cannot wait until we have it at home again?)...Anyway, I digress. Today my sweetie middle sister is coming to visit and we're going to show her the town. Or what we know of the town so far. We've already discovered several yummy places to eat and of course, want to take her downtown and on a hike somewhere (there is no end of places to go--we just need to choose where to go?!)

....this has been a bit of a wild week. My job unexpectedly called me up and asked that I come in for training yesterday and I'll be back at the office for the next 2 weeks starting Monday. And here I thought I was going to be off of work for a while. So amidst the unpacking and getting ready for my sis to come, there's also been work and adjusting to corporate life again. Goodness. That said, it is nice to sit here drinking an Americano and looking out the window to this pretty misty day. I love the range of people huddled in here--three old men talking about their days in the science industry, a lady talking (quite loudly) about teaching Sunday School and her experiences in that, mid-20s people huddled over i-phones and pads, mid-30s folks chatting over coffee and their laptops, and little old ladies sipping coffee and eating treats. There's hardly an empty seat and this is a big Starbucks. I like it here.

The Second Day up the 5

I wish to heavens I had taken more pictures on this second day but I'll admit that during the first part I was nervous--would the roads be bad? (they weren't.) We twisted and turned through the mountain road and my heart sang as the sun rose over the lake. I wish I had better pictures, but what can you do? We were on a mission! As we left Weed (CA), I noticed a cow made entirely of bits of metal parts in a field. It was amazing. Within a couple of minutes, we were enveloped in a cloud of fog as we made our way up to Yreka. As we were leaving that town, I looked to my right and out of the mist stood a huge metal dragon. I am not kidding. It was the most wonderful thing ever.

You'll notice that we went from mountains to high desert to farmland to FOREST. We finally arrived here at our new home in the late afternoon, wearily filled out the paperwork, did a walk-through and crashed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving California

On January 29, we woke up at 2:30 in the morning and packed up the last bits into the truck and cars. We drove away in the dark and started the trek up the 5. I have to say thank you to everyone who prayed for us--the week before the passes through Northern CA and Southern OR had been closed due to all of the snow. Merely a week later, we were driving through on clear roads with absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking views. What a beautiful drive it was!

So much of that first day was literally driving through memory lane for me. I've driven that freeway so many times through my life--many good memories there. I nearly shouted when I saw Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta in the distance. I'll show you Shasta tomorrow.

 

 

We Made It

view off of our new porch

It's hard to believe that one week ago, one week ago, we were carrying boxes up to our new apartment and I was thinking that maybe the combination of a love for books and a second story apartment was a bad idea. The day was crisp and cool (for us) but the sky was blue with lovely clouds. It felt surreal and that has been the word of the week over here. We're so blessed and happy to be (nearly) settled. The first week's weather was kind to us and we've had blue sky every single day. I have to remind myself that this is not a week of a cold snap but that it is going to be like this until spring. Of course, comparatively, 40 degree weather is very doable. We look out onto a ridge off our back porch. If we walk down the street, we're in a forest. We keep on pinching ourselves--we live in a forest, we live in a forest! Chickadees and blue jays find bugs in the lichen-dressed trees outside our windows. We still don't have internet (I'm at a coffee shop as I type this) but once we do reconnect, I'll be on here more often, I promise. I'm going to post a couple days worth of driving up the 5 pictures--mostly for me, for memory's sake--apologies in advance for the blurriness but hopefully you can see some of the beauty we were able to experience.

Bye Bye LaLaLand

I wanted to take some pictures of the glowing city on our way home from the beach. The sun was hitting the downtown skyline and making it so lovely! Being that we were driving at a decent pace instead of rolling along in traffic, I was unable to get a clear shot, but I really like how these turned out. The dancing squiggly lights make me smile.

♥♥♥♥

Bye to Manhattan - Part 2

we finally arrived at the beach and what a glorious site we saw! ::love::

I'm so grateful for the time we had at this place and for all the memories made here.

I admit that I can't wait to hit the road for the Oregon coast--oh, how I love the Northern California/Oregon coastline. There's nothing like it.

p.s. we returned the live sand dollar to the ocean in hopes that it would have a second chance! hope, hope...