mr. moore

i'm so anxious to meet mr. moore, to hold him for the first time, to look into his eyes, to name him. i just can't wait for him to be here...

but it has also hit me that in one month (give or take) life will change drastically...

no sleeping in (and no sleeping at all), no doing what i please. life as i know it will not be the same. i will constantly be putting this little guy ahead of my own interests...which will be an incredible and wonderful thing.

and even though i'm starting to not sleep quite as good and starting to be a little more cranky (sorry trav), i'm relishing in this last month of...freedom. of life with spontaneity and no schedule. (maybe this is just me finding a way to make this month be enjoyable and go fast...because i just can't wait for mr. moore to be here.)

mr. moore's shower

this weekend was my baby shower, (okay really it was a party with the women from our church community) i haven't had a shower in 8 years...since the wonderful wedding showers...and you forget how much that kind of stuff means, until a party is thrown in your honor. i was blown away by the generosity and being surrounded by such an amazing group of women celebrating with me. it was so great to hang out with everyone...and we had a late night, it was so fun.

i'm just so thankful that travis and i have this community around us as we enter this new chapter...i can't tell you how wonderful it is havinga community to help and support us, especially with family so far away.

and i'm so excited to be a mom. so excited...

here's to portland...

so, i'm a little late in posting about this, but last month marked 2 years in the beautiful northwest...a place where nature and culture collide...

we've experienced a lot of what portland has to offer...loving the hikes, ocean, skiing, restaurants, microbrews, the best coffee you could imagine...this really is an amazing place. it feels like we've just been here a year, though. i feel like we are starting to settle in, but i'm not sure i'm completely at home, just yet...maybe it is being so far away from family, maybe it is all the moving we have done since college, maybe it is just because it is so different from where we grew up, that it will never quite feel like home.

regardless, we absolutely love it here. i'm not sure i'm going to be able to leave this area of the country (sorry mom) it has stolen my heart. if only oregon and oklahoma lived next to each other, the world would be perfect.

i have a rare situation where i could live in the same town as both my parents and my in-laws and be completely happy. i think i'm so blessed to have such an amazing family, so it is very hard being so far away from them. and i'm sure the arrival of mr. moore will make it that much harder...but we will make it work, because we are not leaving this superb place anytime soon!

edna mae originals

so, during my void of blogging over the last 6 months, i have started a card company...edna mae originals. yea!! (named after my wonderful grandma) i'm starting with cards (bithday, everday and thank you packs) and imprintable invitations...and i'm also working on prints you can hang on the wall.

the cards are made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper...check out my website...

edna mae originals

and if you can put a link on your blog, it will help me be recognized by search engines.

I'm in one store in portland (hoping to be in more soon) and on etsy.com.

300 bucks or 15 cents, you pick

can i just tell you how much i love my husband?

our car was having a bit of trouble over the last few weeks and we took it to a mechanic b/c we thought it was related to some previous work that was covered under a warranty...unfortunately it wasn't covered under the warranty and they told us what they thought it was...and that it would be 300 bucks. we didn't really believe them...so we took the car back and travis, being the wonderfully mechanically minded man that he is, took a look at the problem himself...

come to find out...it was a 15 cent fix...it was just a nut that was missing on our starter and now our car works superb.

hooray for mr. fix-it-man! i love it!

and today was a beautiful day in portland. travis worked on the car and is finishing the bed he is making...and i hung outside, half working and half basking in the sun...wonderful, just wonderful.

week 32

trav took some pics of me this weekend with the wonderful camera he gave me for christmas!! i'm trying to learn as much as i can in the next 2 months...i have a long way to go to be able to use the camera manually, but i'm slowly getting there!

"how are you feeling?"...well, i'm feeling pregnant!! but i'm wonderful. feeling the weight of mr. moore...and my belly is starting to get in the way...but i'm still loving being pregnant. relishing in every ounce of sleep i get (and i'm getting A LOT) and taking it easy on myself. reading lots of baby books. (i can't help it, i'm one of those planners.) and we are just finishing up our birth class. (yep, i'm going the natural route and couldn't be more excited.)

travis and i went downtown this weekend to eat at a "live" vegan restaurant...we were definitely the outsiders, but it was so fun...looking around the room, you could tell the kind of lifestyle everyone was living...and it was inspiring. if i could just adapt just a little bit of them in my life, it would be great.

friends, ultrasounds, and driving tests...

this past week was superb...
first of all, travis and i are officially oregonians (finally!) we took our written driver's test to be able to get our oregon license...we still had our arizona license...but we passed with flying colors!

and we had an ultrasound this week and were able to get a good look at mr. moore's face...and his chubby cheeks! this makes me even more excited to meet this little guy!!


i also had a friend from minneapolis come visit! yea!! it was fun showing her my favorites hikes and coffee shop...and resting a lot!

life is good and i have to pee...a lot. it is the strangest feeling to be able to pee at any given moment in the day...annoying actually...but i guess that's pregnancy for you! i'm 6 1/2 months (29 weeks). so close! i just can't wait to meet the little guy. april 9th is the big day.

i've been taking a lot of trips since i've been pregnant...making the most of it being easy to travel while i can...





august (and morning sickness) was full of hikes and a vacation to banff national park where travis and i went on a 9 hour hike to in the canadian rockies...there were amazing little tea houses along the way that kept me going (and a nap)



my college reunion with my 8 close college friends, my high school reunion, a visit from my parents, a "last hoorah" vacation to san fransisco, a trip to orange county to see family and friends, to san jose to meet travis for christmas, to oklahoma for my grandpa's 90th birthday, and last but not least a trip to dallas to see christi, a college friend, and travis' brother and sister-in-law, and my brother and sister-in-law. (i just came back from that trip today...i've been up since 2:30 my time...maybe this isn't the best time to start my blog again.) i'm think i'm finished traveling for a while. it wears me out when i'm pregnant...now i'll get back to my 10 hours of sleep a night that i need, while it lasts!

camping and hiking on the coast

camping at the coast

a few weeks ago travis and i went camping on the coast. we stayed at oswald west, a place you wheel barrow your gear to your campstop. it was beautiful. we went a hike nearby, cape falcon. and then on the way home we hiked king's mountain...a 3200 summit in tillamook state park. there were beautiful wildflowers in bloom at the top. It was beautiful!

ahh...mexico

this time every year we go to mexico with a group of friends from phoenix. it is so relaxing. we had such a great time! the house we rent is right on the beach, there's just nothing better. and even though i had a bed to sleep in, i slept under the stars every night and woke up with the sun...marvelous!

the only time i left the beach was to go to the chicken stand in town...yummy! my favorite spot was on the balcony, enjoying the view. but i managed to enjoy the water, lay by the beach and go kayaking, too.

here are some pics!

my new summer office

so, we don't have a backyard...only a small balcony, but we are making the most of it...with our new table and umbrella. i worked outside today and it was complete bliss! you're going to find me in this spot often. the weather is so beautiful this week. summer is coming! I'm so excited!

liza jane

for the last week and a half i've been in atlanta helping one of my close friend, chrisit, with her high-risk pregnancy. she is doing really well and everything is stable...she'll be 34 weeks this weekend and she might even make it full term! yippee!
i went to help with day-to-day things. but i had so much fun just hanging out with her and her beautiful daughter liza jane. i went to help, but i think they blessed me far more than i ever imagined. God uses the people in our lives in such amazing ways. there's nothing better than some quality time with college friends. my heart is smiling.

the beer

travis bottled his first and (second batch of dustin, tom and travis' beer) a few weeks ago.


and the first batch was ready on friday night. we had a group of friends over that were in town on vacation...

so, here's to trav's delicious beer..



(and i'm trying out this google web photo album so you can see other images if you click on it....we'll see how i like it.)

goodbye junkmail

maybe this is old news to some of you, but if you hate junk mail and how wasteful it is, you can stop 95% of it.

if you don't mind calling the major adgencies yourself, go here;

obviously.com/junkmail

this site generates forms to mail in to the various places
www.newdream.org/junkmail/formsl

spring rain

i was out in the beautiful spring rain today. (yes, even though i'm ready for the sunny weather to return for good, i am finding the spring rain to be beautiful and refreshing!) and i thought of an old camp song from hosea 6:3 we sang...

"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth."

(illustration by panalope dullaghan)

parents for a visit

my parents came out for a visit this past week. we had a great time!! it is just so good to see them. they loved oregon...in fact. my dad said, "do you think God lives here, it's so perfect?!" i think it is true. this state is BEAUTIFUL!! here are some pics from our trip to the coast. we rented a beach house right on the water, enjoyed great seafood. it was supurb!

the weather was nice at the coast...not too much rain! and the beautiful fog that i love! i've decided i need to go to the coast once a month. it is just too close not to not go more often! there is just something about the rugged coast of oregon that makes my heart smile, makes God's voice speak louder, and refreshes my soul! i love it!

oh, and the best part of the trip...my dad forgot his luggage...yep! he left it on the driveway at home and didn't realize it until the curbside check guy didn't see anything in the car! ha! he handled it with ease. i think he liked traveling so light!






cannon beach


the seagull looking in our window


at the top of the hike we took my parents on. (in ecola park, north of indian beach) they didn't know what they were getting into...it isn't everyday they go hiking up a mountain!!


by oswald state park


oswald west...travis and i are hoping to camp here next month. they don't take reservations, so we'll have to go on thursday to get a spot!

our skiing adventures

travis and i met up with some friends from phoenix and went skiing at mt bachelor in bend...in central oregon. We had a great time and the snow was amazing!! I've never seen so much snow on the slopes! we bundled up good...the wind almost blew us over and it never stopped snowing...but we had fun in the powder! Bend is about 3 1/2 hours away. Travis and I are planning another ski trip to mount hood, which is just a little over an hour away. I love having skiing so close! (by the way, travis and i didn't plan on matching, but we were easy to spot in the snow!)


here's the winter wonderland that we were skiing in...a fresh layer of powder on every run!


friday night we enjoyed first fridays in downtown bend. bend is such a great little town. i can see why it is the hot spot to move! our friends from phoenix just moved there and are loving it!


we had a beautiful drive home through our wonderful mount hood.

beer's a brewin'

that's right...travis has been brewing beer in the moore household...and he's having a lot of fun with it. last weekend he made the beer and this weekend he "racked" it...it is in the fermentation process. soon he will bottle it. it's quite the process!

ash wednesday

i went to the ash wednesday service at our church tonight. and it was so good...good for me...good for me as i enter the beginning of lent. it gave me such great perspective and came at such a good time...in the middle of this hectic and rough week. it was solace for me and a way for me to let go of the things that I hold onto so tightly...i feel like i have so much to think through. so many things to let go. and i actually think i'll take these 40 days of lent and meditate over these things and really focus myself on God and try to hear his voice.

i've never really practiced lent. I grew up in a church where on easter they went on with the normal series and said "every sunday we celebrate easter"...they didn't do a special easter service for all those that came that one time a year. and i see their point...kinda'...but i've learned to appreciate the church calendar over the last several years...and would love to understand it even more...the last few years i've celebrated different aspects of the liturgical calendar...and now it is time to give lent a try...after many years of thinking about it...here i go...

my measley efforts to save the earth...

I'm sitting in a starbucks and i'm watching them take loads of trash out to the garbage. (mind you that the "garbage" is full of milk cartons that they could recycle.) i'm watching gobs of people receive throw away cups, when they are enjoying their beverage in the coffee shop and they could have gotten a "for here" cup, but no barista asked them "for here or to go?" they just gave them a paper cup to throw away...

and i'm thinking...it would take me a year to recycle as many milk cartons as what one starbucks throws away in one day. and i feel that my individual choices to conserve can't make a difference. it is almost like saving the environment can't just happen with my choice to consolidate my trips and use a porcelain cup when i go to a coffee shop. i feel like i need to write corporations like starbucks and beg them to do more than than have 10% post consumer recycled cups. i feel like i should write every corporate office and urge them to recycle, even if it is more work.

this has to happen on a grander scale. and i know that things are happening, things are getting better. but they aren't good enough. we have to do more.

and to top it off...i hear that people think this whole global warming thing is a political conspiracy theory! ha! yeh, right!

here are some of the things travis and i have started doing:

- unplugging appliances we aren't using
- energy saver lights
- refusing bags at stores when we only have a few items (and now we have clothe bags that we put our groceries in)
- ride MAX as much as we can.
- turn the shower off when we suds up (okay, just travis does this)
- make sure our soaps are phosphate free
- checking the labels of what we buy to see where it comes from and chose local as much as we can (thinklocalportland.org)
- ride our bikes to the store
- conservation in whatever form we can: turning off lights, turning down the heat at night
- not just recycle, but buy recycled things
- use a dry cleaner that is enviromentally friendly
- we're also looking into passive solar heating and cooling
- alternative energy from windpower from our energy company

supposedly 50% of the CO2s are from our house...so it isn't just our cars that are the issue.

it's a beginning and we hope to keep adding things to our list!