bird's eye view

travis gets to see some pretty amazing stuff out his window flying!




canadian rockies departing from Calgary, Alberta



on the right you can see the steam coming out of mount st. helens



Cascades coming into portland



mt shasta in northern california

hiking

mirror lake hike by mt hood. this place is beautiful!

laguna beach

a cuban cigar roller right there rolling our cigars.



a four course meal.




a painter painting the scene.






let's just say i went to a very extravagant wedding this past weekend in laguna beach...for one of our college friends. it was amazing. the bride use to be an event planner and she knew how to throw a party (and her dad's pocketbook helped, too!)we danced like we were back in college. the band was very good. they played everything from jazz to hip-hop...so much fun!

the cigars were my favorite.



(at the rehearsal dinner)

oh, and we flew on the "disneyland flight"....evidently this is the closest airport to disneyland, so there were kids surrounding us. when we took off, all of the kids cheered. it was the most exciting take off i've ever experienced!

training is over!

yippeeee! travis finished training today....wahoooo!!! he has a few days off before he starts flying next week.

training costs...

just got word of this article in minneapolis and i'm sooooo glad that it doesn't effect travis. (because the timing was perfect from his new hire date and his furlough date...whew!)

i didn't realize moss was so cool!

over the last week since i haven't been blogging...

i went on an amazing hike in nw portland...at national forest park
had a relaxing weekend
enjoyed evergreen for easter
met a new friend, liz, from the twin cities
tried out 2 new coffee shops

well, that's the short of it all...and here's the long...

i cannot believe that you can be in the middle of urban coolness and then within just a few blocks walk into an amazing dense forest complete with a beautiful stream and moss all over the trees (moss has become my new infatuation). it was breath-taking. i just couldn't believe my eyes. this is what oregon is all about. i can't wait to go camping and explore more trails! this picture doesn't begin to describe what it was like!

on easter, i went back to evergreen. i met more people this time and i think that travis and i could really feel at home here. it just seems like a great community. i really like the people. i also love that they have prayers stations and it seems like from the forum, that they are wanting to do even more with the art and stations...which i have really missed from oneplace. i would like to check out a home group and meet some people.

today, i hung out with liz...it was so much fun. we talked about tv shows and painting and taking art classes at PSU. it was inspiring. i love meeting other artists! and great to meet new people here. i've only been here a few months, haven't even been connected in a church, but i'm still meeting people that will be so fun to hang out with. yipppeee!

the weather has been beautiful lately. i've been taking little breaks from work to take a walk and enjoy the weather. work is still a little crazy, but good....really good.

waterdeep

i hit the first album on my ipod and my old water deep/enter the worship circle cd came up (and if this is the only waterdeep cd you have ever heard, you are missing out...their music has so much depth.) i haven't listened to this cd since college...but i'm playing it right now as i'm working and i forgot how good the lyrics are...


"...you have redeemed my soul, from the pit of empitness. you have redeemed my soul from death....

...tender mercy, you forgive me. slow to anger, quick to love....

...praise the lord, oh my soul, and my deepest parts...

and all the pain i am carrying inside. i will hand it to you. you will take it, set me free, i will fly...."

flying

i'm so happy for my husband. i'm so glad that he is so passionate about his job and that he loves to fly. (right now he is watching flight videos on the internet...where he watches landings and such...i have to admit i don't get it, but it makes me smile!) a few weeks ago we went to the hanger where they work on the airplanes and i was able to take a tour of the plane he will be flying. i even sat in the cockpit. as i sat there and looked out the window, i imagined being up in the clouds and having that front row seat...it must be amazing! i sat there for a while and asked "what's that...how does that work...what does that do..." the cockpit is much roomier than i expected...lumbar support and even a foot rest. (don't worry they won't get too comfortable.)

i'm so proud of travis.

love and living

"life consists in learning to live on one's own, spontaneous, freewheeling: to do this one must recognize what is one's own--be familiar and at home with oneself. this means basically learning who one is, and learning what one has to offer to the contemporary world, and then learning how to make that offering valid."

--thomas merton "love and living"

with ryan's comments on rachael's blog, i had to check out thomas merton. i've always loved the mystic writers.

and as i opened this book, the words penetrated my heart. his words are potent and they are beautiful.

stumptown coffee

well, ben was right. stumptown coffee is wonderful! i love the french press stuff!...and $1 bottomless cup? how can you beat that. i will be going back! the place was loud with white walls, which are two things i don't normally have on my list for coffee shops. but surprisingly, i liked it. art like this lined the walls. i liked the atmosphere, the music, the coffee, and the wifi. i have found a new friend. and it was in another cool area...33rd and belmont...how many cool streets can there be??? it is beautiful out today. so, i'm glad i was able to soak it up...working at stumptown and i squeezed in a quick walk by the river by our apartment.

i spoke a little too soon about work not being spastic...i'm drowning in design work...but this is just the nature of the beast. it all seems to come in at the same time...so this week i might be pulling a few late nights, but i'll welcome those late nights with open arms. in a weird twisted way, i'll enjoy it.

another update...

this past week i tried out 2 new coffee shops (i still haven't found the perfect one, yet.) and a fabulous french cafe in northwest 23rd. (with my new friend, leslie) i am so thankful for her friendship. it has been so fun having someone to explore and share this moving thing with. and also to have another person who's husband is a pilot. ahhh! it is a good feeling and it has made this abrupt move much easier.

things are good. and things are hard at the same time. i'm ready to be settled...and to find a church...and to know the city better...and to have a house. but those things take time and that's okay.

travis and i went driving around beaverton this weekend. we found a cool townhouse that we liked. i think i'm okay with beaverton. with the maxx line there,i can get to downtown portland very easy...and that makes me feel a little better about being a suburbian.

work has been busy. i'm starting to get in a routine and my work schedule isn't as crazy and spastic as it has been before. it feels good. i think i'm realizing as much as i love to be a free spirit, i need structure and a schedule to function. and i've given in...but hopefully i'm just creating a framework for that free spirit to thrive. : ) at least i hope...because i would love to make time for painting and jewelry making and just time be creative.

angeles

I was in a coffee shop yesterday working and was reminded of one of my favorite artist i haven't listened to in a while...Elliott Smith. of course, i was like everyone else who found him in the soundtrack of Good Will Hunting, one of my favorite movies.

so, i came home to get some songs from itunes...and he is from portland!! wahooo!! his whispering voice is great, his strumming is great...i will be listening to either/or constantly.

time for the sim

travis has finished ground school in portland and has 4 weeks in the simulator in seattle. (for most of the week i'll be travless. he'll have 4 days on, 3 days off...so he'll be home part of every week. it will feel a little more like our life in mlps. i'm glad that he doesn't have to be in seattle the full month!)

we're hoping after he finishes his last 4 weeks of training we can go hard core into house hunting mode. i'm ready!! i have to admit that i had my heart set on buying a house in SE mlps and i'm sad that didn't happen. suburbs of portland, here we come! (although i'm still holding onto my dream of living in a neighborhood in the heart of the city...we'll see what a realtor says!)

this week work will be a little crazy. i just have a lot of deadline, but i'm so thankful that projects keep coming!

i went to the bridge again this morning. great community. this morning all three of the pastors spoke. they were great. i loved what deborah had to say...about not being constipated with God's love...not being a wall, absorbing it, but a window, letting it shine through. it was good and she spoke with such a gentle, passionate spirit.

that is something i've been thinking about lately...being filled up with God's spirit, so that i can let it overflow to others...rather than needing to get from others, i can give. i can love and listen and help the people around me, rather than expecting them to meet my needs. i've been trying to allow more time for me to receive God's spirit...creatively, emotionally, spiritually. so that i am not empty, but full and alive.

portland downtown

community: the buzz word of the emerging

well, i've been to 5 churches so far (evergreen, imago dei, the bridge, vibrant, and ethnos) i'm amazed that there are so many great emerging churches in portland. and i feel like each one of these churches have their own personality, which i like. all the churches are under 150 on sunday, with the exception of imago dei.

all of them have an emphasis on community (and i'm curious how that plays out in the church...is it just one of their values or do they really have community?)

i would love to go other things at these churches to see what it is like. because sunday just doesn't tell me enough. is their service really a reflection of their community or just a reflection of the leaders?

i have to say that going to the bridge yesterday challenged me so much. i think the reason that i value community so much in churches is because i long for deep relationships and it seems that with each place travis and i move, our church becomes our family in some way. i also think that community is a huge way God speaks into my life and challenges me.

i've been a part of countless discussion on what community means, the challenges of it, why we need it, but i have to say i learned something about community yesterday at the bridge, simply by being there. i saw community in a different way than i have seen community before.

i say that i want diversity and want to be around people that think differently than i do. and i think i do, but how far am i really willing to go. i say that i want to be a part of church that truly embodies social justice...not just "reaching out" but being in relationship with the "needy". and that's what i saw at the bridge. they had free food to hand out, clothes to hand out...and people attending the service actually needed those things. (i'm use to those kinds of things taking place some other time, not during church, god forbid) ...do i really want to be friends with people i'm not sure how to connect with? would i rather go out and "serve" these people and then go back to my happy little community to have my friends? do i really want to live among the needy? (and can i see them for who they are and not just label them as needy) do i really want to be in community with people that aren't like me? it's given me a lot to think about. it makes me think about how God intended community and what my part is.

the bridge

this morning i checked out the bridge. all i have to say is wow. my heart was filled with joy. this is probably the most eclectic church that i've ever been to and i loved that. they have a heart for the people in portland and it is very evident. i'll just let you read this article that explains a little bit about who they are. they didn't say things that made me cringe. all of their music is written by the artists (and the music is so damn cool)

people were playing the drums in the front row and i just wanted to join them. people were standing up on the sides dancing and clapping to the beat...i wanted to join them, too.

i feel like it was a combination of the free spirit of bridgeway (trav & i's first church) the musical passion of oneplace, and the organicness of solomon's porch....all rolled up into one. i can't think of anything else that makes my heart smile.

they had a special dance this sunday where a couple of kids did this hip-hop routine....very, very cool.

i met a few people and had the chance to talk to them. i really like what i see. i would love to go to a couple other things here.

(okay i'm outside of a coffee shop right now and someone just walked by with headphones singing really loud...i love this town!)

i'm going to another church tonight and i would also like to check out evergreen again...the church hopping continues!

here are the lyrics to one of the songs we sang...the song was great...


EVEN WHEN ITS LIKE A SEVERED ANTENNA
A LOOSE CONNECTION
THIS WON'T FIT ANY DICTIONARY
TEXTBOOK DEFINITION

CAUSE WHAT I FIND IN YOU CAN'T BE DEFINED
WHAT I FIND IN YOU CAN'T BE DEFINED

YOU CAN CHANGE MY MIND
YOU CAN CHANGE MY MIND

SOMETHING SOMETHING TELLS ME
I'M GONNA LET YOU GET TO ME

beloved fight club

that's right, the author of fight club wrote a book about portland. it's a very interesting book (how could it not be from this author?!) it is vulgar, but that also comes with this author, too. (but don't say i didn't warn you.)

it is cool to think that the guy that dreamed up fight club lives right here in portland.

"every corner tells a story." there is so much history here. i guess it is the oldest city on the west coast.

the book covers it all, from the vocabulary of portland, to the haunted buildings, to the rumors. he lays it all out. the things in this book you won't find in an official history book on portland. he also gives you some great shops, museums, and restaurants to check out.

someone created a self-cleaning house that has tilted floors (so the water can be drained after the sprinklers clean it) and waterproof art on the walls. supposedly you can take a tour. i could go on and on with little tidbits from the book...but i'll let you take a look at your local bookseller!

(oh, and btw, blink was an excellent book and highly recommend it. it really makes you think!...no pun intended)

what i've been up to lately

once again, we had our "friday night spades" i guess we'll have to find another night for it when travis starts flying and his trips are over the weekend.

saturday night we went to the northwest 23rd and ate at typhoon and then stopped by alotto gelato....yummmieee! i don't think i could ever get tired of this area!

sunday i went to a new coffee shop on broadway and about NE 10th (i think). a great neighborhood coffee house. it was beautiful outside, so i sat outside and enjoyed the weather.

i also walked around in the pearl distrinct...it was great. here are some pictures. the area is a very cool. i only went to a few shops...so much more to explore in this area.



i finally stopped in the famous powell's city of books, the largest independent bookstore. wow! it was amazing. i think i'll be going there often. it is much better than a b&n or borders. there are sooo many books. it takes up a block and i think it is 4 floors. each room has its own color with a map...i only made it to the purple and orange room. i love bookstores!

i went to ethnos community sunday night. it was a great church (and it meets at night...after four years of church meeting at night, i'm finding it might be difficult to switch to morning!) i think i'll take another post to talk about all the things swimming in my head about church right now.

today i drove around with a friend of lauren's who might be moving to portland. we ate at noahs on nw 23rd. the place was an utter disgrace to nw portland. i guess i should try out a place before i take someone who is checking out the city to move here! we had fun talking, though. we drove around to the different areas of portland. i was able to explore a little more of the neighborhoods in ne and se that might be potential for us. we also drove around the west side.

here's a picture of the west side neighborhoods...they are beautiful.

snowin' n mowin'

well, today it snowed. it was a rather wet snow, but it was snow. and it made me happy. it would rain for a little while. stop. snow. then rain some more. i watched this out the window as i tried to work. and then this afternoon (during the raining and snowing i might add) the maintenance guys in our apartment were mowing and trimming the bushes. i guess nothing stops their weekly routine.

i don't really like to talk about the weather. it seems so surfacy...like there isn't anything else to talk about. but weather is exciting, especially after being in weatherless phoenix for 3 years. clouds are even exciting.

mount st helens

on a clear day. you can see mount st. helens. here it is from mount tabor park.