Photos today, but no stories. It’s been a busy week with visiting exchange students, sleep deprivation and work insanity so it’s hard for my brain to put words into sentences at the moment. I’m looking forward to a weekend of rest, relaxation and re-connecting the synapses.
Photographs captured during my Parents’ visit in December when we walked across the Tilikum Crossing Bridge and caught the aerial tram for a bird’s eye view of the city.
I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach today that won’t go away. Part of me wants to just go to my happy place…
But the rest of me feels more like a warrior, ready for a fight…
Tomorrow I’ll march with thousands of my fellow female warriors and remind myself not to look away.
#notmypresident
And, quite frankly, our backup plan. Postcard from Canberra, Australia.
OK, maybe not recently. This was back in January but apparently it’s been snowing on the mountain this week so let’s pretend.
6 months of silence. 6 months of too much working and not enough blogging. I miss this space where I shared adventures and recorded our family’s stories. I miss writing (and I NEVER though I’d say that).
So it’s time to start again. It’s time to take my camera out of the cupboard and re-ignite my love for photography. It’s time to get over the fact that I may have to share snowy photos in July and just share them. I’m proud of the photos and the stories behind them.
So I’m starting tonight. Welcoming 2016 just a few months later than expected. It’s been a busy six months with skiing and snow shoeing and a trip to Florida and last days of school. It’s time to start sharing again.
After 3 days of 90+ temperatures in June, Thomas said: “I wish we could go back to the old days of Portland…you know when it used to snow sometimes”.
Well my son, you got your wish.
More to come.
Happy birthday to my partner in crime, the love of my life, the father of my children….
… and (new just this year), my duet partner.
Proving you can still surprise me even after all these years.
Happy Birthday, honey. Cheers to many, many more.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. You can blame a new job that is sucking up a lot of my time, Christmas just around the corner and life. Just to give you a little sneak peek into the craziness, I have FOUR work (or old work) related holiday parties next week, one birthday party for a friend and one birthday dinner for my husband, a 50-60 hours work week and, of course, Christmas preparation which is something I won’t sacrifice. Bring on the weekend with the Christmas tree hunting/decorating.
Needless to say, it’s been quite a while since I’ve put my camera to good use – and the photos I did manage to take are still sitting on memory cards. That makes me incredibly nervous so I plan to rectify it over the next few days.
The upside to this schedule is that I will have two relatively party-free weeks before Christmas so I can focus on important things like food and gifts and hot chocolate and Christmas music on repeat. Thankfully, I also have two very excited boys who are well and truly in the spirit already. Happi the elf has finally made an appearance in our house (and moved positions on both nights!) and I even managed to hang my homemade advent calendar. (Day 1 was to read two Christmas books and tonight we drink Hot chocolate and listen to Christmas tunes). I need to keep reminding myself that these years of unbridled enthusiasm for the magic of Christmas are limited and we need to enjoy them while we can.
So, that was a very long-winded way of explaining why I have one photo to share today that’s a couple of months old, but that I hope to come back with something more festive soon. Capturing the season is an important contributor to my own Christmas Spirit.
Side note: Look at these guys. No personality at all. 🙂
Camp Westwind, 2015
A couple of weeks ago I celebrated a milestone birthday that some call the big 4-0. It’s at times like this when it’s easy to look back and think about everything that’s changed in the past decade. At 30, I was expecting my first child. We lived in Portland but were yet to move into our own home. I’d been at my job for about a year and was starting to feel comfortable living in Portland. I hadn’t yet discovered my love for photography.
Wow – a lot can change in 10 years. Now I find myself with two great kids, a house that I love in a city that has become my second home and rediscovering my love of photography and starting my own business after leaving a job I loved after 11 years (well, I loved about 10.5 of those years).
I also find myself married for 16 years to a man who can apparently still surprise me even though I thought I had him all figured out.
Surprise!
Note: most of the photos in this post – the most colorful ones – were taken by my good friend and very talented photographer, Jeff Hopper. Yes, my husband even thought to arrange a photographer and I am so thankful that Jeff was able to capture everything, even though I continue to feel extremely uncomfortable on the other side of the camera.
But let me back up a little. This moment was just the end of a couple of epic days of birthday celebrations all arranged by my wonderful husband who, I’m sure, will be cashing in on this for years to come.
Kei had planned to play golf on Sunday (my actual birthday) so I wasn’t feeling great about the prospect of a good birthday. Oh, don’t get me wrong, my parents were in town which was lovely, but I wasn’t expecting much after 16 years of low key birthdays. While I’d hinted – ok, told, Kei that I wouldn’t be opposed to a huge blowout, my expectations were low.
On Saturday we went out for brunch at Salty’s between soccer games. Samuel loved it so much that he asked to go back for his birthday and the chocolate fountain even made him forget that we’d forced him to wear jeans and a collared shirt. I think I may have to rent a chocolate fountain for his birthday next year…
On my birthday I was blindfolded and led downstairs to a breakfast of french toast and bacon cooked by two boys (with some help, I’m sure). I was then told to dress “nicely” for a secret lunch date. My dad was tasked with babysitting while I was blindfolded again and led out to a car for mystery drive with, I found out shortly, my wonderful friend Jennifer and her mother. Jen then took me on a London tour of Portland to make up a little bit for the fact that I wasn’t able to accompany her on her own 40th birthday trip the previous year. Our London tour included a drive across the Hawthorn (London) bridge which was closed so we made do with the Broadway bridge. Then we headed to the OSU tram (London Eye) – which was also closed… But, thankfully, The Heathman was open for business and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch after having the door opened for us by a Beefeater. Our adventure ended with a walk through Powells and a little window shopping. Jen really outdid herself and made my birthday more special than I could have imagined.
But, it wasn’t over yet. Mum, Dad, Kei and I dropped the boys with friends before heading to the Portland City Grill for dinner. After a wonderful meal I was blindfolded again for, what I thought, was going to be a special dessert date with the kids. Instead, I found myself stepping inside a karaoke room to shouts of “Surprise!” from a large group of friends who represented all corners of my life. From work, baby groups (nine years ago!), soccer, the neighborhood and just the most wonderful people that make up my life here in Portland.
After asking where my kids were (their babysitters were at the party) and confirming that they were ok, everyone sang Happy Birthday with the Beatles and my husband kicked things off by serenading me with one of the most romantic songs ever written.
I’m still trying to get my head around all the planning that went into making sure everything was such a surprise – and all the lies my friends told me in the lead up to the big event. I had coffee with one work friend and lunch with another just two days previously and neither of them mentioned a thing. And then I found out that they were all invited about a month before the party. The lies had been going on for quite some time. Well played, my friends.
And, of course, I am now a little frightened by the level of deception that my husband is capable of, while also impressed by the amount of organization and planning that went into such an epic weekend. It was a wonderful surprise and a truly memorable gift.
So, I leave you with some karaoke photos taken by my friend, Jeff Hopper. As you can see, we had a terrible time… Cheers!
Oh don’t get me wrong. Seven came way too quickly for me but, for Samuel, seven was an age that was just out of his reach for far too long. As his friends all had birthdays over the past few months, he felt left behind. Sometimes it’s tough being one of the youngest kids in the class.
The good news is that Samuel tells us he experienced a massive surge in strength and speed at around noon yesterday (the time of his birth), so being seven is already paying off. He also declared it the best birthday ever, even though it’s a non-party year (we only have parties on even numbered birthdays around here). We celebrated with cake while the grandparents visited a week or so ago, a friend sleepover and movie on Friday night (Penguins of Madagascar was his choice) and dinner at Tokio Table hibachi grill on his birthday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Samuel in a better mood than he was in yesterday.
At seven, Samuel:
Happy birthday, Samuel. We love you so much.
Nicole Ishida Photography 