Rolling

Life over here is rolling on by (fast, down hill, and gaining momentum) much the way we anticipated it to. Though... I'm scared! I have a thousand things to do you guys! I'll break it down for you: 250 things that have to be done for school, 250 things that have to be done for Europe/moving, 500 things I want to do on top of those things. :)

Though I want to ensure you that even in the midst of my stress I am aware of how lucky I am to even have such problems. I'm graduating college, moving closer to family in California, and going to Europe for an abnormally long vacation. I am extremely grateful to be fussing over such major opportunities that so many people would give anything to experience. So I'm trying to rest in appreciation.

As far as Europe goes we are doing the "fine-tuning," establishing some places/people with whom we can stay. With that said, if anybody knows anybody in western Europe, Scotland or Ireland, would you please let us know?

I can't wait for this blog to turn into a European adventure blog. I can't wait to see art that I've been learning so much about over the past four years. I can't wait to see the history, feel the European sun, and meet new people. I am most excited to have so much time with Wes, and to have the same schedule for the first time in four years (Wes works graveyard shifts for any of you who don't know that). Until then, I hope you all are enjoying this almost- summer sun like we are.

My Last Month of College

As of tomorrow, I will have one month left until I turn in my last art project, write my last paper, and take my last final. It is a weird reality to wrap my mind around. I am very very excited to say the least! I wanted to share with you all something I've been taking part in both this quarter and last quarter and that is: Friendtorship. Say what?? Friendship + Mentor = Friendtorship. This quarter and last quarter I was lucky enough to fall into an art class where we actually get to work with at risk highschool students on PSU campus. And well.. I'll let the video tell you the rest. But if you are interested in seeing a class I've been taking (or just interested in seeing me eat my lunch in the background) check it out. :)
 For this class I will be completing two projects on my own. One: a quilt and two: an illustrated recipe book. *phew* you heard me correctly. They are hefty projects but special to me and I am thrilled to be making work I enjoy for my very last quarter of school.

The quilt will be comprised of one square of fabric from each of the students' homes. It will be really beautiful to see the different fabrics come together, representing each person's life.

The recipe book will be comprised of each student's favorite food and represented in a sort of "info graphics" style. I can't wait to share with you my last art projects. Until next time...

I hope you all are having a fabulous weekend.

Closure: Part II - The Weather.

News flash- I've been sick this weekend. It came on quite suddenly without warning and just in time to miss out on the most beautiful weekend this year. Which leads me to my next installment of my "Closure" series: Portland Weather. You see, as much as this blog really is for friends and family to see a glimpse of our lives from miles away; it's also about recording my feelings so that someday, long from now, when we forget the details of our Portland lives we can look back and hopefully, remember. So, to future Katie, and anyone else who is curious:

Portland Sun smells like all things good. Spring in Portland is like discovering the color green, and participating in the ultimate community activity in which every human being steps outside their closed up homes to just revel in the warmth. Wes and I went on a little walk outside today, since I've been sick on the couch all weekend, and we couldn't help but reminisce. I think the Portland sun is significant to us because it reminds us of all of those new feelings we felt when we moved here. Anyway, these were our thoughts today as we walked through our neighborhood admiring people's gardens, the tulips and the green trees. Summer is right around the corner, which means our move is right around the corner. June, we're ready for you! Until then, we'll enjoy every last drop of you, Portland.


{PS: The blog got a face lift! If you never go to the site and only read these in your emails, you're missing out on half of the experience! :) Click here to see the new fun look. As always thanks for your support.}

Closure: Part I - It Starts.

I have sat down to write this blog a number of times and then I well up with so many different feelings that I can't spit out one sentence. The truth is that we have two months left in Portland, a thousand things to do, and three and a half years of living here behind us. Naturally, our conversations are now primarily filled with thoughts of reflection and processing all that has surpassed. I have days where I feel sad, excited, and frustrated, but mostly we are both anxious now. We have reached that point where we are ready to move and get to where we are going. So, because I have so many areas of my life that I'm trying to process I decided I would break these reflective ramblings down into parts. I have no idea how many will come of this, maybe three...  or maybe ten; but as this blog has accompanied our journey here in Portland from the beginning, I figure it deserves adequate closure. And lets face it, I need the closure. We came to Portland freshly married with a set of expectations for what this chapter would be; and we are leaving now, completely surprised by what God did with this time. So as always, thanks for listening and here's to the next two months of working it all out...

We have Friends!

And oh how we love them...

We had a really great time with Justin and Ashley this past week. Justin came last Monday, and Ashley came on Friday. It was so awesome to have some of our best friends here to do some random Portland things with before we pack our bags and leave this place. We tried to mix it up a bit and do some different things (like a Widmer Brewery tour) and some classic things (like Voodoo donuts). It was also so awesome having them here for Easter. We went out to breakfast at this crazy place called Pinestate Biscuits (can you say: biscuits and gravy. biscuits, gravy, and eggs. biscuits, gravy, bacon, fried chicken, and cheddar. blllleck.) Thank you to our dear friends for coming up here. We had such a great time. And a special thanks to Justin for being our very own personal photographer all week long. He did such a great job of bringing the camera along all week. He even put together a short video of our time together, and it is such a great gift to have! We can't thank Justin enough. Not only did it capture the fun that we had together this week, it captured so much of our neighborhood, our apartment, and our hang out spots. So great to have for always. Anyway, if you haven't watched it yet, here it is for you:

If you give a Mom a Muffin...

I wish I knew who to give credit to for this. I didn't write it but found it in a friend's status on facebook: Brilliant! I'm not a mama yet but this is certainly how it goes even in nannying world:

If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

 

Us lately...

 This image is a little blurry but I wanted to include it so you could actually see what I was doing: rolling fruits and vegetables with ink on them over a 7 foot piece of butcher paper...crazy art projects. {Please ignore our messy laundry needing folding!}

 That's a tomato with ink on it.

 A morning at Stumptown Coffee...

 Oh hello Clyde common!

 

Oh and hello there Powell's Books... 

 

That Tomato poster I told you about a few posts back... This was my final project for my Drawing Concepts One class. 

Off to bed to get some sleep for school tomorrow. Here's to my last quarter in college.... wish me luck!