Chinese Gardens

Our public library has this amazing cultural pass program where you can sign up and receive two free adult passes to various places around Portland. Several Saturdays ago Josh signed us up for the Chinese Gardens. We took a picnic lunch and had a great day!

Some of the beautiful greenery.

There is great texture and beauty throughout the gardens.

So if you are in the area sign up for a Washington County libray card and go somewhere!

Honeymoon - Part II

Ok here is part two! A picture of us on the beach one evening.

Here we are at this amazing lagoon. Where we spend time snorkeling. While there we saw some amazing fish and a sting ray!

This is part of Tulum, some Mayan ruins.

We saw iguanas! They were awesome.

How much more touristy do you get?

Honeymoon - Part I

I know this is long overdue, but here are some pictures from our honeymoon. We had an amazing time in Cancun.

Here is the view from our room:

It also overlooked the pool

Our all-inclusive resort had several different pools and restaurants. It was awesome.

We saw Lenny Kravitz . . .

. . . and Kiss . . .

. . . at Coco Bongo, a club that does impersonations

Josh wrestled an angry Gypsy . .

and we took pictures with Spiderman.

Spiderman tried to steal me away and Josh almost had to beat him up!

Josh was leery of the native alligator

Stay tuned for some more pictures!

Lessons In Marriage

In one month of being married I have learned a few lessons:

1. How to share the bed covers . . . . well I'm still working on this.
2. Not to expect left overs or my half eaten candy bar to still be there when I come back for them.
3. How much fun married life is.
4. Asking for what you want is more likely to happen if you ask nicely
5. Not to shut the bedroom door completely when I leave otherwise the hubby will be locked in (our apartment is old and the door is warped, so you can imagine his surprise when he woke up and could not get out of the bedroom!)
6. How to be patient and loving.

I'm am looking forward to all our years to come. To continued growing, learning and bonding. I love you Josh - Happy one month anniversary!

* More pictures and stories to come!

Good Weekend

As summer nears we have started doing more outside activities. I love it. This last weekend we saw the fireworks that were apart of the rose festival. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. We were standing on the Morrison Bridge - front and center of where the fireworks were going off. Saturday we went hiking at Saddle Mountain with some good friends (Noah and Jessica) Who sadly are moving back to Alaska at the end of the month. Here are some pictures:

I was really pleased with the way this picture turned out. Can you see the forest through tress?

It was foggy, which made for some cool pictures

Josh and I on a bridge.

Can you count the rings?

Yea! Noah, Jessica, Josh and I made it to the top! There is supposed to be a beautiful view, but we couldn't see it.

Nothing to say?

How can I have nothing to say in such a busy and overwhelming time in my life? Have you ever had so much going on that you have no time to process, digest and dish it out?

Engagement: such a strange, wonderful whirlwind. It has gone so fast! There is just over two months left. Which means we have been engaged for almost 6 months. We still have a lot to do/plan. I've realized that wedding planning is not my calling. It has been a lot of fun working to make our day special and unique, but I will be glad once the day is here. I cant wait to celebrate the day with family and friends, but most of all I can't wait to be married to Joshua Akers.

Internship: such a strange, wonderful whirlwind. Being in a high school setting is somewhat surreal. Being there brings me new perspective on myself and has caused me to relive memories and moments that seem like yesterday. I look forward to working with the students and their families. The challenges are many; drugs, gangs, depression, peer-pressure. The rewards/blessing vast; an amazing high school/counseling staff, amazing learning opportunities, closer to having a masters degree!

Classes: not bad right now. Which is good because I am paying a lot of money for them! All in all I am mostly done with classes. I have several left, but mostly I'll be able to just focus on internship.

Work: paying the bills. As I get closer to being done with school I get more antsy to stop serving people food and start providing therapy.

Life: is that what is flying by?

God: is teaching me so much. I am learning to trust, rely and depend on Him. It is a continually process that takes work every single day.

By the way - what's up with my sidebar? How do I fix it?