Coffee and a baguette

Two drip coffees and two baguettes with jam please!

For the past two months or so, Wes and I have been walking to this amazing little french patisserie in our neighborhood every Wednesday morning to plan our Europe trip. It has been such a special time of intentionally meeting, plotting and planning. Today we enjoy our last wednesday morning with delicious baguettes and coffee. Tonight my parents arrive, tomorrow Wes' parents arrive, and Sunday my brothers arrive! We are so excited for all of the celebrating that is going to ensue in this next week. Until next time.... cheers!

Closure: Part III- It's here.

The next chapter has arrived! Friday marked my last day of school and my last day of work. So you could say that today essentially marks the first day of the longest vacation I have ever had. Wes will be joining me in this *total bliss* on Monday, when he completes work as well. It's a crazy time we have entered. I cannot explain to you just how manic the end of school was for me. When I wasn't at the computer lab working on a recipe book, I was at home sewing a quilt (on a machine that is so not made for such a large project), or I was at work with kiddos. I had so many late nights and early mornings and all I could allow for was energy put towards school. And now that school is over I'm faced with the reality that our move is here. It is upon us. It is no longer out there in the future, it is here!!! Because of how one-track minded I was to finish school, friday after my last final wasn't filled with celebratory emotions it was almost more like... sad for me. I honestly feel like I know we are doing the right things and that I wouldn't trade this time for anything but it feels so weird. It feels like I'm just going through the motions of how I know they are suppose to go... I'm sure I will do much digesting and reflecting once sitting by some canal in some europian country.

Until then, there is no time like the present! Our place is in a state of clutter from art projects and clutter from starting to pack up. We had our *last* date night just the two of us lastnight. It felt good to sit and have a moment together. All processing, reflecting, analyzing aside- this next week is going to be plain and simple: FUN.

We have quite the line up of lovely restaurants to take our parents to, our four year anniversary is on thursday, Graduation and Father's day is on Sunday, Monday night we have our final dinner at Avignon bar (the very first place we ate at on the day we moved up here) and Tuesday we start our caravan back to Sacramento quite early.

I apologize for all of the wordy posts these days. With the computer problems I faced and just the stage we are in we haven't taken many pictures worthy of sharing. Though that will all be changing even starting tomorrow. I will be better about documenting our packing and finally days here. Can't wait to share it with you all. Thank you for your constant support!

Two Week Countdown...

It's been busy around here! As you probably guessed, there has been little time to write. In a (very fast) nutshell, I said goodbye to my nanny job on friday which was a very emotional day; and now I'm scrambling to complete projects for finals week! The reality of only two weeks left is hitting us both, yesterday we both admitted we are starting to feel sad. It will be hard to leave, but oh how we can't wait for the adventures that are ahead. I will be finishing up my "closure" installments after finals week. So, tune in again soon for our final days here in Portland! Pictures and much better posts to come... until then, I have some sewing to do.

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...