pedro negro

May 26 2009

Lauren and I have been married for three years and it has been the best years of my life. 

Last night we had an amazing dinner at Belly Timber came home and watched a couple episodes of a DVD and went to bed.  If we never did anything else besides hung out at the house and watched television on DVD I would be happy.  Thank you Lauren for all the wonderful years together.  

In October we will have been together for seven years, this blows my mind.

Wonderful weather...

...and wonderful friends.  This last week I have busy hanging out with Nick Sass and Taylor Smith.  Some of my great friends from Redding.  We got out a can of red paint and hit the town, not really, but we sure had a great time.   Multnomah Falls, The Water trough Saloon, Baghdad Theater, downtown burrito carts, built a new bike, tour-de-portland, sunshine, and many a good memory.

  

I have been working at least five days a week since I got home from our Christmas vacation to visit family over the first week of the new year but I am not getting many hours.  It works out because I might have lined up a part time job at a bike shop around the corner from me.  And for the next two weeks I am working at a different store downtown while a girl is in Haiti.  Looking foreword to a much slower pace Starbucks store for a while.  

On a completely separate note.  It must have been right around the time we got back from our trip to Cali that I had a day off and I cleaned the house, made breakfast, read some C.S. Lewis and walked to the dentist.  As I was walking in the crisp northwest air with the sun shining that I realized that, "I am more content than I have been in years."  I walked the 2.5 miles downtown and smiled the entire way.  I am sure that the passer byes thought I was nuts, just another crazy homeless guy with a huge grin plastered from ear to ear, but it would not go away.  I was just thinking about my life, where I have been, where I am now and couldn't think of a single thing that I was not satisfied with.  Great wife, amazing friends up here, super awesome church community, we both have jobs, Lauren and I love each other more and more each day and have an amazing relationship.  We can pay bills, our apartment feels more like a home than any other place I have ever lived and I breath easy when I am home.  All and all I love my life.  I was so satisfied with everything and I don't in know how long, if ever, I had had so much joy in my life.  

Just some thoughts I have been thinking about.  I am going to post some new pictures and I am also on Facebook these days so feel free to say hello.  To all my friends come and visit I miss you all.  The pacific northwest seems to melt away so much and just a very peaceful and inviting place.  People are polite, content and it seems they are genuinely kind.  Thank you Nick and Taylor for making it such a great week.

Wednsedate

Well to start, my battery read 84% when I opened my computer and then I opened Safari loaded my blog page and it died.  Pretty Awesome.  So I guess my battery is done.

Wednesdays I think are my second favorite day of the week.  Sundays Lauren and I hang out all day after church and wednesday there is a group of us that meet at Albina Press for coffee and some fun hang out time.  I worked yesterday but I was able to join some friends later in that day that made up for missing the morning.   My usual morning involves making some sort of delicious breakfast sandwich for Lauren and myself and then a lazy rest of the day at Albina finished off with a lovely meal with friends.  If you get to Albina early Jason, Charley, and Nick work and Nicole closes.  Pretty much the best day.  

To finish off a great day we had Adam, Everett and Nate over from garlic chicken, rice, mixed veggies and pork potstickers.  Had a few beers and spent the night laughing about anything and everything.  

Way to go Wednesdate, you have done it again.

Recently....

...I turned 29, hung out with the whole black side of the family for the first time in 7-9 years, had a birthday bash at the watertrough saloon that rivaled any birthday in history, made some great new friends up here, got my iPhone (that I love), spent way to much time hanging out with friends not enough quiet alone time, ate a burger my wife made that blew my mind (her cooking has gone up a few notches since we got married), and hung out with said person.  

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch it was so good being all together.  I was so lucky to have not only all my family but some great friends also.  Thank you Nate, Joey, Ashley for being a part of it with us.

Tried to start reading That Hideous Strength but I just can't get into it, so instead I will be starting The Chronicles of Narnia.  Steve got me an amazing box set from the 50's for my birthday, I am excited about this set because it was the ones that I had when I was young.  

I am going to go make some breakfast for Goose and I.  Breakfast sandwiches are my speciality and I bought some Chicken Apple Sausage so I think they are going to be pretty good.

Side note I spend way to much time playing PapiJunp on my iPhone.

Settling In

Yesterday was Sunday and we would normally be heading to church in Lake Oswego, but Eric and AnnMarie went to see beck and cold war kids in Bend last night and that meant we didn't go to church.  Eric was hired at a church and we are planning on attending the Sunday evening service but with him gone and a church of strangers we spent some time relaxing just the two of us and later met up with some friends.  Most of the people we have meet go to Imago Dei and Lauren and I are not sure yet if we want to go there just because of the size of the place.  We love neighborhood church don't get me wrong but Lauren and I have our issues with it too.  We want to get back into smaller churches and i'm not sure that Imago is the right fit for that.  It is massive and almost all young adults.  This is an entire blog in itself.

Zach and Kelly took off yesterday, it was so wonderful that they came up here.  I think that everyone needs to visit Portland and spend some time here.  It has been raining off and on and so far no depression.  After this winter I will get back to you.  Well this has been a terrible post so I am off to do laundry with the Mrs. 

And hanging out with Joey everyday again is as wonderful as I remember.  He is one great friend and good guy.

We made it

We finally are here.  All this posting about getting here and visiting here and now we are residents.  Lauren and I are so thankful for all the help and support through all of this.  

We got here on Tuesday and signed the lease and got the Uhaul unloaded thanks to Joey, Nich, Tyler and Cousin Liz.  We were thankful that there were people here to help out and make the transition easy.  For Wednesday and Thursday we unpacked, IKEA, House of Vintage, Vintage Pink and Lots of Good Stuff (literally they were called Lots of Good Stuff and indeed they had lots of good stuff), took Joey to the airport, dinner with Zach, Kelly, Eric and AnnMarie at the DougFir, and a pint and Olympics at the Backstage.  Go USA!  Yesterday was the first day that we finally felt like we lived here.  We have been just laying low and unpacking and yesterday was when we finally just got to sit and feel like things were in order.  With the added bonus of going out for dinner and spending time with friends it was a great day.

It is so strange and new for me to be in such a wonderful and big city.  It feels small but is big in number.  Homey with lots of great local business and restaurants, but every major chain that you could imagine.  Lauren and I are excited to see what is in store and who will end up moving here (Holly and Justin...wink, wink) but whatever this city holds for me I am excited about a new adventure with my best friend.  Lauren is so easy going and we get along so well I couldn't ask for a better wife and friend.(I am not sure if you have realized this but I am super cheezy about everything.  so that was my cheezy little plug about how awesome she is)  Anyways check out our new place and the move.

To all our Redding friends we miss you.

Sunday Sick Day

Lauren and I stayed home from church today because she is not feeling well.  We had a BBQ at Holly's house yesterday, hung out poolside, cooked some dogs, and hung out with her brother and dad.  I am not sure if it was the hot links, or too much sun, or some other fluke but she did not have a great morning.  Holly's brother is moving to Portland, well Lake Oswego, because he got a job as the worship/young adult pastor at a church there.  Eric (Holly's brother) and her dad are on thee way there now.  I am excited that he is going to work at a church that Lauren and I can get involved with, plus some other great friends that we can have in that wonderful city.  

I'm off to spend the day with Lauren and make sure that she is comfortable and getting better.

Everyone have a great Sunday.

best weekend ever....

....I know that I think everything is the best all the time but this really was the best weekend we have ever had. Actually this was the best trip that either of us has ever taken.

Our anniversary isn't till the 26 but we were going to be out of town last weekend so we figured we we do something nice for the occasion. I thought "sure monterey will be nice and I can't wait to hang out just the two of us and explore" but I had no idea how much I was going to love the coast around there. I still can't believe how beautiful this trip was.

Brentwood for Girlfriends event
Santa Clara for Gramdma and Mom
Monterey
Camping at Big Sur
Dinner at Nepenthe
Drive the 1 to Carmel by the Sea
Drive all over Carmel
17 Mile Drive
Monterey
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Riding bikes along beach
Drive Hwy 1 to San Francisco (was awesome drive)
Get home tired
Go to work at 5:00am Monday morning exausted
Post pictures

We should get lots of friends together and camp and drive the 1. It would be great.

white noise

I haven't posted anything in a few days but I also don't have a lot to say. Here goes the quick list:

I was supposed to play bike polo last night but that fell through. So instead Lauren, Justin and I watched AVP-R and it ruled. I think that they crossed the line a number of times with who they killed, but that just made it all that more ridiculous.

Starbucks is good sometimes, other times it is worse than torture, dragging on for what seems like an eternity.

We are still poor but it is weird how when you give right off the top what is God's then it seems like you have more money than you should. I know things will work out but it is scary sometimes.

Supposed to rain today and I am looking forward to sitting on the couch snuggling up with a blanket and watching "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" I have heard that it is bad from the video store people but she also suggested "August Rush" what are you gonna do?

Went and saw Wesley Jensen and Friends Sunday night at a bar downtown. It was great seeing friends and Wes. We all really liked the opener Chris Koza and they were pretty nice guys.

Just a bunch of ramblings but I would love to know what you have been up to?

Date Night

I was out of town for this last week working for my father so when I got home on Friday Lauren and I wanted to go on a date. We ended up going to Maritime Seafood and Grill, I was a little uneasy because I do not like fish, but the wife was excited so we went. It was one of the best meals i've had in a long time. Here is the dinner:
Crab stuffed manicotti w/ zucchini for our appetizer Lauren had CousCous crusted Swordfish topped with caviar on a bed of fava bean paste and I had a New York Steak
on a bed of Yukon Mashed Patoes and a vegatable relish with a Chocolate fondant cake for desert.
I even tried the swordfish and it turns out that if you cook fish right is doesn't taste like fish. I thought that was a trick that fish people told you so you would try it.
I would recommend Maritime to anyone looking for a good meal or a fancy date. Wonderful interior design, clean and clutter free walls (great lines), great lighting, nice setup, and good service. It is however a bit pricey, we had a gift certificate for some of it but if your treating that lady to a nice date give it a shot.