Testing our wine

A sweet looking ebulliometer, to test alcohol level...we're @ 15.4%
awwww yeah.

Testing our wine

Free Sulfur test here:

multnomah falls

man, beautiful day today. hiked up and around the falls. great to have my folks in town getting a taste of pdx!!

an amazing run last weekend

here's how i describe it:

today I had one of the most exhilarating runs I've ever
had...

I set off into Portland's Forest Park, just as the rain began to come
down. Excited, I had to restrain myself and run a bit slower than I
wanted to, because there were still a couple of hours separating me
from the end of this run. The rain came down harder and harder, the
trail became slippery, roots twisting out of the ground, the trail
looking more and more like a stream, a river in places. The path
snaked upward, and in just moments, I was running in the clouds; they
had descended into the forest, continuing to mercifully cool me off
with large, pristine raindrops. Steam was now rising from my
shoulders and head, crimson, brown and orange leaves rained down
around me, and I felt alive. 19 miles later, my feet hurt, but the
smile on my face had grown only larger.

On a technical note, I'm thrilled with my KSO Treks (worn with Injinji
socks). Great protection against the various obstacles on the trail,
but not so much that one could neglect the choice of foot placement.
Although soaked, they still performed perfectly, not shifting at all
on my feet. They were great on the slick sections. No blisters or
spots of discomfort. Feet communicating with the ground has truly
changed the way I'll run from here on out.

All in all a magical experience

I welcome the fall

Holly named these my Dandals. Been doing a lot of my running in these
guys. Interesting and really fun!!

Good Morning

settling in

Things are starting to come together for us here in Portland. I feel very fortunate and thankful for the job that I am about to dive into, the days have been beautiful, we love our apartment and we are fortunate to have some friends close by (upstairs in the house, that is:). Some friends are coming into town, but I thought I'd share a couple of good vibes and random photos of our apartment, the new kitchen table, and the sunflowers which were waiting for us when we arrived. C'est une bonne vie.

Camping;)

Interview day!!

Two days ago I had my 9 hour interview day with Concordia University for a clinical faculty position in their Nursing school. Holly was kind enough to cut my hair, and I wore the first suit I have ever owned for the first time. Here's the evidence:)











Oh, still waiting to hear on the job....man, I hope this pays off.

Ready for the 1065.6 mile journey

Hillbilly style

Impeccable packing job

some changes

what a great summer it has been so far...looking forward to what the future has to hold:

this week i'll be fulfilling a decade-old dream of doing a music project with my long time friend tim....i'm very excited about it.

at the beginning of July, we're moving to Portland, OR to live in the basement apartment of our dear friends ryan and holly sharp.

i'll be doing my next triathlon in August in p-land.

some fun camping in mammoth and shasta planned for the month of july.

hopefully i'll land my job as a college professor in about 2 weeks.

this has been a refreshing season of rest, exercise and exploring my inner landscape....fun stuff.

here's a really sweet picture of me and my niece Violet that bethany took as we waited for Carrie to finish her recent marathon in San Diego. carrie just gave me a framed print of it yesterday. i love it.

5 years today

Breakfast at the same spot we came to immediately after getting
engaged in July '03

Rest.

Betty and I are so thankful to have amazing friends like Tim and Meggan, who have welcomed us into their home and allowed us to stay here for the last few weeks. The days here have been incredibly restorative, with much time spent in the kitchen making meals together, playing with sweet little Biruk, and drinking wine in the evenings together. I think for the first time in a couple years I am beginning to move toward feeling balanced and content internally.

As a side note, the other day, out of the blue this ridiculously sized hail came down like crazy for about two minutes. Weird. But cool:

Del Mar sunset.

I like this picture.

an old church in Pittsburgh PA

As I Lay Dying show in Pittsburgh, PA

From the top of the Rock

Tim & I went to the top of the Rock yesterday before their show.
Beautiful afternoon, good time to catch up.

metal.

Morocco

These are some of my favorite photos from our 1 day, 15 hour, interesting, but humorously disappointing day in Morocco. Decided we're definitely going back for a longer stay, probably to Marrakesh. The pics are from Tangier, just across the strait from Spain:

Morocco 2.

The crew. Frigiliana for wine tasting. The crew.

Beautiful town on a perfect day.

Notice Pax here. Great.

Pax

It is impossible to get enough of Pax. Bethany and I in particular had a great time shooting photos of the little guy. He was a great traveler...and we loved having him along.