Highlights from Oregon

Some pictures from our two week trip to Oregon. Bella had a great time. She grew and grew and grew. I think the family enjoyed seeing her, too!



Her first hike.

Meeting all the Oregon folks.


Celebrating two birthdays.

Thirty Years Later

Yep. Yesterday was the big day: my big 3-0! Hard to believe that I'm entering the fourth decade of my life, but harder to believe that I feel so young. When my brother and sister turned thirty (16 and 15 years ago, respectively), it seemed like thirty was OLD. Now that I'm here, I feel like it's so YOUNG. 30 is a good round number, and I know it's going to be a fantastic year.


M came into town 2 weeks ago for a long weekend... a kickoff to my birthday celebrations. It felt good to spend time with my BFF... talking about everything, solving none of the world's problems, laughing the entire time. She also got some much needed time with Bella.


We celebrated again while visiting the in-laws in Oregon. Grandpa spoiled me with one of Grandma's amethyst rings -- talk about speechless. And, Mom and Dad gave me some spendin' cash. Along with good food and good conversation, it was a great way to celebrate.


Zach, on the other hand outdid himself this year. Last night he cooked me dinner (something he never does) and then brought me to Costco to pick up this baby:

Hooray! So excited to play with my new toy. We're also planning a trip to Florida sometime this fall or early winter. Cannot wait!


On Monday I'm getting together with the Clan at the Compound for celebration of my birthday, the twins' 7th birthday, and PopPop Normy's birthday. Just a good old Labor Day cookout with the whole famdamily.


Yep. Thirty years old feels pretty good.

Waving from the Great Northwest

My inner LifeArtist was tugging at me today as I spent some time in Ali's hometown of Eugene, OR. We're out West visiting Bella's Grandpa, Grandma, and Great-Grandpa. It seems that we brought the heat and humidity of Atlanta with us. While it cools down at night, it is blistering in the sun during the day. Yes, I'm melting! However, Bella is having a great time. We're able to hang out on the lawn watching the wild turkeys and deer stroll by. It's quite exciting.

Today we visited the Saturday Market in Eugene. It is one of my most favorite things to do while we're here. Eugene is a college town, as well as a hippie town. Put those two kinds of folks together and you get one amazing Market. I think it covers 4 city blocks. We got some amazing photographs from a local photographer (I'll have to link to him later... I don't have his card right in front of me...) as well as some tie-dye for the little girl. When in Rome...

After graduation, M and her girlfriend, along with Z and I spent 2 weeks out here. Of course, we visited the Saturday market. We were impressed by many things: the great art, the digeridoo (sp?) guy, M's allergic reaction to the fresh produce and flowers... and the open breastfeeding that occurred on the green. OY! I mean, I'm all for breastfeeding, but is it necessary to pop your boob out for the world to see and feed your child as though no one is watching? Yeah. No. Well, I got to do some feeding of my own today on that green --- quite covered up thankyouverymuch. But I remembered that fun Saturday we had eight years ago... one of those "you have to laugh or you'll cry" memories. And smile I did.

No fun pictures in this post, or others over the next two weeks, either, I'm afraid. We're rocking the world of dial-up out here. No cable. No DSL. Only the phone line to keep me connected to the Wide Wide World of Web. So... you'll have to have my thousand words to paint the pictures for you. Can you see the sweat dripping off my forehead as I type this???

Tomorrow Bella meets the West Coast peeps. Being as Z is an only child, we don't have aunts and uncles and cousins to meet out here... only the best kind of family instead: the family his parents chose as close friends. I can't wait to show her off and have her wow the masses with her amazing smile. Until then, I'm going to pour a HUGE glass of ice water, find the fan, and attempt to do some reading. Here's hoping I don't melt into the furniture never to return.

Send rain!

Two months!!!




We can no longer, officially, call her a newborn. She's two months old now and growing, growing, growing! Here are some highlights from her 2 month photo shoot. And a shout out to Aunt M who suggested the monthly pictures to begin with: Word!

My Nephew, the Rockstar

When M&M adopted Andy, our cousin sent him a guitar. Music kind of runs in the family, you see. In his room, Andy has a hook on which he hangs his guitar. M tunes it to a chord for him so he can play and not sound totally awful.

Enter Eddie. At 3, he became Andy's little brother. For years they've shared a room and Eddie has learned how not to destroy Andy's stuff. Except when he gets mad. Which happens from time to time. Well, one of those times, Eddie decided to throw something. This something hit Andy's guitar. The bridge broke off. Alas, no more guitar playing for Andy.

M did the best he could to repair Andy's guitar. But it was no use. For his 9th birthday, Andy got an electric guitar... and M decided to throw the broken acoustic away. So sad. Here's what transpired:

"Dad? Are you getting rid of my guitar?"
"Yep. It's going in the trash, buddy."
"Can I smash it?"

Ahh, my nephew. He's a rockstar.




Cyrano de Bergerac meets Bella

Bella loves a good snuggle, especially from her PopPop (aka my Dad). Poor dude has been through a LOT this year... he turned 71, and aside from the regular family insanity, his baby daughter (that'd be me) had a baby, he had quadruple bypass surgery in April, and just last week, he had skin cancer removed from his nose. When we arrived, he was asleep in the recliner. Bella decided that he looked like a good place to continue her nap, so here they are. Cyrano is definitely a suitable name because Miss Piggy just didn't do him justice!
Hi, I'm Tess! I'm a wife, a mommy, a friend, a teacher, a singer, a scrapper, a writer, a laugher, and a "wannabe" dancer. These are my ramblings... enjoy!
 
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