20 Years and Counting...

I'm not sure if it was fate or not, but we ended up being home visiting during our 20th wedding anniversary.  This beautiful LDS temple was where we were married in Oakland, CA. 

This is the view of the Bay from terrace on top of the Temple

This temple has always been my favorite.  It's the temple I grew up going to for baptisms, and it's the temple I vowed I would be married in.  I was lucky that Eric was also from the Bay Area, so there was no debate about our wedding location when the time came!

Pictures like this make me Sooooo homesick for my Bay Area.... 

There is a beautiful christmas light display at the Oakland Temple.  We were lucky that the night we picked to go was pretty quiet.  We really did have the place to ourselves.  (Maybe because it was COLD and windy....)

Every year the temple has been closed during Christmas vacation for one of it's bi-annual cleanings.  They will open up one day during that time to accomodate live sealings.  So, we've never been able to go back to the temple and do any work there for our anniversary.  Since I knew we'd be there for our 20th anniversary, I decided to check the schedule again, just in case, and guess what... they were open! We were able to take some family names and go do proxy sealings for some of Eric's ancestors.  It's been too long since we've been in the sealing room, and I was super grateful to be able to go back and be reminded of the special blessings that come with a temple marriage.

This was the only picture I managed to get of Eric and I in front of Our Temple.  I'm so thankful to have him in my life.  Best decision I ever made!

My Own Version of Paradise

I have a secret love affair with the Pacific Northwest.  I always have... it started when I was a kid and we would road trip up to Canada... I loved driving through Portland and Seattle.  I love greenery.  I love seasons.  I love cool temperatures.  I love rain!

March marked a big milestone for our family.  We have officially lived in Arizona longer than we've lived anywhere else.  Quite honestly, I thought by now, I'd like here more than I do.  I still loathe summer.  I still dislike winter.  It's too hot in the summer, and not cold enough in the winter.  I can't even wear a turtleneck sweater without having to peel it off after lunch because it's pushing 80 degrees outside.  I love winter clothing, but it sits and collects dust in my closet.  I refuse to get rid of my faves though, because someday I'll live somewhere better.  Someday....

Eric and I are approaching a big anniversary.  This December will be 20 years for us.  Getting married over Christmas break has it's drawbacks.  Not being able to sneak away on your anniversary without kids is one of them.  The holidays make it really tough to get babysitters, etc.  We found ourselves with some Southwest Airlines tickets to use up before mid July, so we planned a short 3 day trip to Portland.  Eric goes to Portland all the time for work, so he didn't see the adventure in this, but I've never actually stayed in Portland and I've been dying to hike the Columbia River Gorge, and I pushed him until he caved.  I wanted to pick out just 10 of my favorite pictures from our trip, but I couldn't narrow it down... so if greenery, waterfalls and nature, aren't your thing, you might want to stop reading now.  :)

Day One

After we flew in,we had about six hours to kill before we could check into the hotel.  We decided to drive out to the coast.  Thank goodness for a rental car that got good gas mileage!  We drove to Tillamook, the legendary home of the delicious cheese factory and had lunch at a Rodeo themed cafe.  Then we followed the coastal road up towards Astoria.  (Remember that city from Goonies?)  En route, we stopped at this State Beach.  The parking lot was next to the highway, and you walked along this path to get to the beach.  I was pretty sure I'd died and gone to heaven.  The only thing missing were my kids.  

Oswald West State Beach:  Did you know Oregonians LOVE to surf?  Oh yeah, they were out in full force on the waves!

Confession:  I love to photograph fences.  Don't ask me why.  

 We drove all the way up the coast to Astoria and then cut east again back to Portland.  It was a lot of driving, but gorgeous all the way.  I still can't understand why you aren't allowed to pump your own gas in Oregon.  Weirdos...

Day Two

We had breakfast next to David Robinson in the hotel.  Only one person in the room approached him while he ate.  I don't know if that's good or bad.  I'm sure celeb's love it when no one recognizes them, and they can eat a meal in peace, but this hotel was full of teenagers in town for basketball camp.  Sad that none of them even knew they were in the presence of one of the greatest basketball players ever! 

We spent the whole day exploring the Columbia River Gorge.  We started off going to Bonneville Dam where we knew we could buy a parking pass for the various parking lots along our route.  The dam was impressive, as was the fish hatchery next door.  Look at these gorgeous hydrangeas!  You can't find these in the desert! 

 I spoke to an older lady who sold me the parking pass and asked her what she thought the best waterfall hike was, and she gave us excellent advice.  She recommended Wahclella Falls.  It's a two mile loop of gorgeous scenery with a beautiful waterfall at the end.  She was right... and it wasn't nearly as crowded as some of the other waterfalls we visited.

Confession:  I hope this is where I get to live in heaven.

This is Horsetail Falls.  Not the most picturesque waterfall we saw, but I absolutely loved this photo.  I'm super thankful I was even able to get some decent shots of any of the waterfalls... because who flew to Portland without her tripod?  Yep, I did.  :(  I substituted all kinds of rocks and ledges for my lack of equipment.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

Who wears jeans in Portland on a gorgeous July day?  People visiting from Phoenix!

The last waterfall we visited was Multnomah Falls.  This has got to be the biggest tourist trap EVER!  We decided to do the one mile hike to the top of the falls to escape some of the crazy crowds, but it was crowded up there too.  It was an awesome and challenging hike.  Eric made me promise not to post the picture a stranger took of us at the top.  There's a lot of unsightly sweat stains involved.  

 Looking down over 600 feet to the bottom... the people look very small down there!

One more fence photo!  :)

The next day we slept late and wandered around the area a bit in the car before we headed to the airport.  If it wasn't 1350 miles each way, we would be making a Portland area camping trip every summer from here on out.  That's how badly I want to go back.  After seeing the pictures, the kids are on board with that plan.  Hmmm... summer of 2013... I need to start scheming now!

Sedona Rocks!

Imagine having THIS right in your backyard....

After living in Phoenix for almost 4 years, we finally made a trip to Sedona. Eric and I celebrated our 16th anniversary on Tuesday with a much needed adult only getaway Monday night. We used Eric's Hilton Points he collects when travelling and sprung for an upgraded King size suite with a balcony, a gas fireplace and a giant whirlpool tub. It was heaven on earth!

The view from the road as you approach Sedona and Oak Creek...

Highlights included 2 days and one night without kids... gorgeous scenery... dinner at a fabulous Mexican Restaurant... going to see Seven Pounds... hiking in the Sedona Wilderness... Geocaching... Shopping (the only things we brought home were some "lucky bamboo" and 2 bottles of different flavored Hot Sauce)... a stop at the Outlet Mall in Anthem on the way home... and two whole days kid free! (I love my children dearly, but everyone needs a break now and then!)

This was my favorite rock in Sedona... Bell Rock

We drove to a Trailhead that was supposed to be a "moderate" two mile loop, but we parked at the wrong trailhead and 45 minutes later, we got this georgeous vista! We had no idea what trail we were on, didn't bring the map with us, left the GPS in the car (low batteries), and only had one bottle of water between the two of us, so we decided to play it safe and not get stranded in the middle of nowhere. We headed back to the car after I snapped a picture of this dead tree... not sure why I liked it so much! I just thought it looked cool!

After we got back to the car, we stopped at a convience store and paid $17 for 4 AA batteries, 2 ice cream bars, a diet coke and a bottle of water. We decided to count the ice cream for lunch because you can do that when you don't have children with you, right???

With fresh batteries in the GPS, we decided to do a little off-roading and Geocaching in the "Loveable Mutt". That's one of our many nicknames for this car... also known as the "Mighty Montero". How this car has gotten so many interesting nicknames is the subject of another post altogether!

Our Cache took us on a dirt road that the famous Pink Jeeps use. Thank goodness they didn't make fun of our ride as they drove by!

We found our cache in a an area very close to this... hard to believe this is Arizona, huh?

This is the happy dance that he did after finding the cache... or was it after he realized he's successfully survived 16 years with me? Only the two of us will ever know....

Happy Anniversary Eric - I LOVE YOU!