Thursday, June 25, 2009

Bathroom's done


I thought, while I am at it, I'd show you the bathroom I painted too. It's amazing what a little paint can do to liven things up.

I think this is a cute little bathroom.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The room completed



I finished painting this room a while ago, but I forgot to put the picture on here. I also had to put a picture up of my dad opening presents on Father's Day. He reverts back to being a three year old sometimes, and every once in a while you get to capture it on camera.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Rattlesnake


My mom stumbled upon this picture in Danny's Flickr account. She freaked out. I guess this guy was pretty big. I thought you might like to see him.

*BTW-This is the rattlesnake we saw, that I wrote about when Danny and I hiked the Tom McCall Preserve, near Hood River. The entry was May 13th. This is not a zoom lens, Danny was that close when he took the picture, now you might no why I felt so stupid about the way we handled the situation.

still haven't finished up the trip summary :)


I love how long this trip summary is taking me. I still won't finish today, but I am making progress. Maybe I'll try to make them shorter, so it goes quicker, we'll see.

Day 3: We drove from the old growth redwood forest to China Town in San Fransisco. Those trees are spectacular, by the way. They seem to hold wisdom. That may sound funny, but when I look at them, I think of their wisdom. I tend to personify inanimate objects, because that's the way I am, I can't help but feel that way.

San Fran was fun. I always enjoy driving over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a foggy day, which was a nice relief from the heat we drove through. Neither Danny or I have air conditioning in our cars, and that can get to you after a hours of sweating. I looked up in the sky as we crossed the bridge and it looked as if it was never ending because you could see the top of the bridge. I told Danny it looked like it was going up to Heaven.

SF (I am abbreviating more and more) was a little chaotic for the mood I was in at the time. I couldn't help, but think, 'what's the point?' When I looked up at all the huge designer store buildings. 'When all these people are struggling is it really that important to have a louis vuitton handbag?'

I'm not without my flaws, but these thoughts do come to mind.

I enjoyed looking in the shops in China town, and noticing most carried the same merchandise. We headed on, looking for a place to eat, and were very strongly urged by several Chinese women to eat at their restaurant. Heads up: I don't tend to respond well to being pressured into something, in fact, it makes me want to steer clear of the source of whatever is trying to pressure me.

So, again, we headed on to find a more gentle Chinese women who encouraged us to eat at her restaurant. We looked at the menu, and chose to eat there. We had been eating camping food minus the steak, so this was a huge treat for us. We ate pork buns, Chinese broccoli and beef, and string beans with prawns and steamed rice. I thought it was wonderful, and Danny thought it was good. We differed on what we liked best. He really enjoyed the pork buns, which don't really do it for me. They're a little to much bun and not enough pork. I loved the prawns with string beans. I don't get prawns that much because they're expensive, but boy do I love them!

After SF, we drove to Santa Cruz, where my parents were staying, and arrived at 10pm. We took a shower and slept on the ground of the motel. That shower sure felt nice. We were thankful to have a place to shower in the middle of our trip.

Every year my parents stay at Terrace Court in Santa Cruz. It's right on the board walk, and it's cheap, so they keep going back. My mom loves that you can fall asleep listening to the ocean. It really is in a great location, but I would not tend to revisit year after year. Who knows, maybe I'll feel that way about a place someday.

Day 4: We drove to Big Sur with my parents, and took a short little hike there. The main hiking spot was closed off due to a fire. There was a beach cove that was blocked off to people going down, to preserve it, but you could look at it from above (pictured). Danny and I thought it looked like a fun spot to live, we could use the waterfall as our shower. We would just have to get rid of all the tourists :)

We went to Los Palmos for dinner, a small Mexican joint right by Terrace Court. The food is good at a good price. We ate outside, and enjoyed everything, including the questionable behavior of local Santa Cruzer's. By questionable behavior I mean, people walking slowly in the middle of the street yelling about this and that. Ummm...I'll actually stop there because I am not sure who all reads this, and some things would probably not be appropriate to say.

Danny hadn't been downtown Santa Cruz since he was younger, so we drove there. It's within walking distance, but we have had encounters with people at night, so we chose to drive at night from now on.

By the way, the "Keep Portland weird," bumper stickers started in Santa Cruz. Except theirs said, "Keep Santa Cruz weird." And they have.

We got out of the car and a tall white guy with a glazed over look came up to us, and asked if we had a cigarette. We said, "no." And he replied, "Is it because I'm Asian?" and walked on. His dog followed behind him with a leash tied to his neck dragging the man's luggage on the ground. We all couldn't help but laugh. One he's white, not Asian, and two, there was just an oddness of watching a dog dragging the mans belongings on the ground.

We perused the Santa Cruz bookstore, which has to be one of my favorite bookstores, if not my favorite. It's titled Bookshop Santa Cruz. They lay the books out in a way that invites you to read them. There are recommended books by the staff that give little summaries from a real person's perspective. What I mean by real person, is that you know they're standing right behind the counter and if you want to clarify something you can ask.

They actually have places to sit. Fun places to sit. Being from Portland, we have our beloved Powell's, but there is almost a discouragement from sitting and reading for an extended period of time. Which is understandable because they're trying to SELL the books, but I am thankful for the bookshops encouragement to read.

I think that will be it for today.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

It's official


Part of me wanted to erase my last entry, but this is me, and I am not all good, and not always in a good mood, so I am letting it stay.

Something great that did happen was my graduation! I LOVED IT! I had so so so much fun. I sat by a big Samoan guy and one of my really fun art friends, and all the people around us were fun too. We kind of brought other people into our silliness.

I brought a pink umbrella in case it rained, which it did (lightly), and it ended up being so helpful. My parents, Danny, and my friend Renee came and they spotted me right away. I loved having them there. They were so fun to have in the stands because I could tell they were so excited too. So we just threw up our arms together and made dancing movements back and worth, it was really entertaining.

The energy in the place was more than I expected. It was a great crowd of people. That's why I love going to sporting events, because it's a group of people being brought together for one common purpose. The majority of the time people seem to set aside their differences and become a community.

One of my favorite parts was the ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) standing up and getting sworn in. ROTC produces officers in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces except the U.S. Coast Guard. Everyone gave them a standing ovation. Those men and women are amazing. I am so glad they got a little chunk of appreciation about their future service to our country.

The speakers were pretty concise, and some were even a little funny. all around, I just loved it. I received my diploma, shook every persons hand that was willing to shake my hand, and did a little dance because I was so excited about it. It was such a great day. I am so thankful for the people I sat next to, and the folks who supported me, that's what really made it.

We went to my grandma's for a party afterward. I made/bought some yummy food, we talked, played games, and hung out. We had a lot of fun. Kira, Ben, My aunt and uncle, and my grandma were there, along with the others who came to the ceremony. My brother stayed up until 5am the night before, finishing up a paper, so he didn't come to the ceremony.

We sat outside and ate. It is so peaceful there. It's just a bunch of big open space, and fields with our own special little enclosed yard with flowers and a garden. There are certain places where time slows down, and that is definitely one of them. It's one of those places where I can go and take in the beauty around me.

We went inside and it started raining shortly after. We left the door open and played board games while it rained outside. It was so great. It was one of those tropical rains, where it's still really warm outside. I was just a contented cow all day. The one silly thing is that I never got a picture taken of me that day. Everyone assumed Danny would have his camera, which he did, but he forgot it in the car, and then we got to my grandma's we just sort of forgot about that part of things.

So, I am going to dress up in the cap and gown and get pictures with people this week, and pretend like I did it on the official day. I got a digital camera for my graduation present from my parents, so now I can be sure to take my camera with me. I took a couple pictures of Danny and I today with it. That's the picture you see. Goodnight.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Totally MAD!

I drove to Corvallis today with a friend after watching an art therapy presentation at Marylhurst University. We have 2 opportunities to pick up our art work (for the senior show) one of them being today at 6pm. There was traffic between Portland and Corvallis and I got there at 6:15 and the guy was gone. There is no one to open the gallery besides him, and he is gone. I am so angry!!!! My work is in a room right next to where I am sitting and I have to make a special trip and spend 3 hours driving just to pick up my work on Monday. This is SO maddening and there's nothing I can do about it.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Been Busy



Hello. I have had a little anxiety about not writing for a while but I have been busy. I will write some more about our trip.

Day 2: We woke up to the beautiful sunrise and explored around the rim. We weren't wearing snowshoes, and I was running up a snowy hill between a tree and a boulder, and my hole leg fell through. I grabbed onto the boulder, so I didn't fall all the way through the hole. My knee smashed against the rock, and Danny came and helped me out. I was so freaked out. I started crying, partially from the pain of hitting my knee, but I was scared of falling through a big snow hole.

I didn't really feel like exploring after that because my knee was hurting and I was a little shaken up, so we snowshoed back to our car, and headed down hwy 101 toward the Redwoods. We stopped at The Oregon Vortex. "The Oregon Vortex is a spherical field of force, half above the ground and half below the ground. The word "vortex" simply means a whirpool of force... It is an area of naturally occurring visual and perceptual phenomena, which can be captured on film." I am not going to go into detail about it, but it's worth visiting if you near the area. The quote and more information can be had at their website: http://www.oregonvortex.com/

After that we drove to the Redwoods and camped at Del Norte Campground. We grilled steak and corn on the BBQ there. It was delicious. When you're out camping food tastes immensely better than normal, but this still was an amazing steak...To be continued again. It's my brother's birthday, so I am going to go spend some time with him.

:) Danny looks so little next to that Redwood.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Car troubles

My car broke down on the freeway today. The clutch crapped out, and the car lost power completely. I had to wait for an hour to get it towed. I think today I have had serenity because I did not get mad at all (which is abnormal in that situation). In fact it was almost an exciting experience. I got to practice my Spanish with the tow truck driver, and I got to ride in a tow truck for the first time and see how it works.

As I told you before, I have my art reception tonight, so I am just thankful that it didn't happen later in the day. Danny came and picked me up from Isa's Auto Service in West Linn. My car is still there. The repair cost is more than my car is worth. My car is blue book valued at a whopping $500.00. They estimated it would be $650.00. We figure I can't get a car as good as mine for $650.00, so I think we'll just look around for estimates elsewhere and see if we can get it lower. I know that Isa's is usually reasonably priced, but I have nothing to lose by looking around elsewhere.

I better get to work, and earn me some car repair money :)

I thought I would have time to write about the trip today, but considering the circumstances, it will have to wait.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Crater Lake





I probably won't be able to get through the whole trip recap, but I will get started on it.

Disclaimer: My brain is a little iffy right now because I busted my butt painting all day, and didn't really take any breaks. Then I came home and made dinner, so I am pretty tired. Danny and I made cherry chicken lettuce wraps for the first time, and they were delicious.

Day 1 (Saturday): Danny and I drove a little over 6 hours to get to Crater Lake. It was so beautiful. A little Crater Lake background: It was once Mt. Mazama, which erupted, imploded on itself, and is now Crater Lake. It's the deepest lake in the US, and the 7th deepest in the world.

In the beginning of the day we were at the rim village at Crater Lake (where there's a lot of people), and not a single person spoke English. This was a common theme throughout our trip (to a lesser extent elsewhere). It was odd, we were the minority. The majority were composed of Indians (people from India, not Native Americans), and Asians.

We snowshoed along the rim of Crater Lake, and set up our tent overlooking Wizard Island. We ate dinner on a fallen tree branch (as pictured). It was really peaceful. We had the whole place to ourselves. We did not see a single other person once we passed the road barrier.

K, that's about as much as I can handle right now. I have my art reception tomorrow in Corvallis. I am pretty excited about it. It will be nice closure. I will add more tomorrow.

To check out more of Danny's Crater Lake pictures visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvarner/