2010 September | Hello from Portland

I GOT A JOB…I GOT A JOB…I GOT A JOB!!!

Whoooohooooo! This is the best day EVER!!!

So, I had applied and interviewed for this position back in June. The woman who interviewed me said she really liked me and I thought it went really well. Then I get the call…the dreaded call. They said they weren’t able to get in contact with one of my references and they needed someone for the position right away. Despite my best efforts, the reference didn’t get back to the administration in time so they had to hire someone else

Then, I get a call today from the people who interviewed me back in June. I guess they were really bummed that they couldn’t give me the position before so after getting more funding, THEY OFFERED ME THE SECOND POSITION!! It’s an evening position which is kind of stinky but…whatever!!!! —It’s a job and I’m SOO excited!!! Plus the people who I have met there so far have all been very nice AND they are totally excited I have my Art Therapy degree and hope to open up a position in the future with the help of more funding. The best part is, I can count these hours towards my Counseling and Art Therapy license.

I am officially a Therapist!

Now I can finally look in the shops on my street. I promised myself I wouldn’t even look in the stores until I had a job. I was afraid I would be tempted to buy something and I new I couldn’t. No, this doesn’t mean I’m going on a shopping spree But it DOES mean I can think about my options of possibly buying in the future

Posted by Sarah on Sep 23, 2010 | 4 comments

My New Smaller Camera

I‘ve found I’ve been using my camera less and less … every time Sarah and I go on a trip, I find myself thinking “should I bring my big camera?” My Canon 20D is an awesome camera, but it’s huge … If I bring it on a hiking trip, it often doesn’t even fit in my pack after all of the other essentials are in there, so it stays hanging around my neck for the whole trip or hiding under my raincoat when it’s wet outside. Not only that, but it’s hard not to bring more than one lens– if I went through the trouble to bring such a hulking camera, I might as well bring some extra lenses to make sure I can get the shot I want. In the end, I often just end up leaving the whole setup in the car or at home, and find myself taking less pictures overall.

So, last week I decided it was silly to have such an expensive piece of equipment spending most of its life in my closet. I took some of the more valuable Canon accessories I had and put them up on eBay:

With the money I made from their sale, I bought a small (yet high quality) new camera, the Panasonic GF1. So far I love it, although it will definitely take some getting used to using a screen instead of a viewfinder to take pictures. In the picture below, the new GF1 is on the left, and the big 20D is on the right (picture not to scale).

Here’s a picture that shows the real size difference:

Despite its small size, the GF1 actually is a selectable-lens camera— that little pancake lens comes off and you can get larger zoom or wide angle lenes. It’s nice to know I can upgrade the lens in the future if I want, but for now I’m going to stick with just this little lens– I love how small and portable it is!

Hopefully you’ll see the result on this blog of me having a camera with me more often than I used to! I haven’t quite gotten myself to the point where I’m willing to sell the 20D entirely– it’s been a great camera– but I will re-evaluate that possibility after having had the GF1 for a few months.

Doing this little gadget swap got me thinking about all the other electronic things I’ve collected over the years that I don’t use anymore … and what I could trade them for. I think the XBox 360 is next on the chopping block!

Posted by Justin on Sep 22, 2010 | 0 comments

Pics from the Dog Mt Hike

Justin just got a great little portable/high end camera that he took full advantage of throughout our camping weekend.
…see, he likes it so much he’s licking it

Justin was really able to capture the mossy forest.

We found just about the only wildflowers left on the mountain.

Enjoying the break in rain with some breakfast.

Posted by Sarah on Sep 22, 2010 | 0 comments

FruitLoop in Hood Vally area

On the second morning of our camping trip we went on the FruitLoop with a friend from Portland. The FruitLoop is a path of local fruit orchards, wineries and vineyards in the Mt. Hood area. There were so many GREAT little quaint places we visited. –Such wonderful samples were given out that Justin and I didn’t realize we had skipped lunch.

Pears were the main focus of the festival because it’s their season now on the West Coast. –Pear wines, pear pies, pear butter, pear and apple COLD cider, pear jam… Besides pears, we bought fresh ingredients to make salsa. Yumm! So, today I was a salsa making busy beaver

As a side note: I’m not sure the West Coast knows how to do the “Apple picking/Fall Season!!” Boats…maybe you can redeem this coast but Justin and I searched for hot cider and donuts and COULD NOT FIND ANY!! So sad That’s one of the great traditions of apple picking season!

Continued…
These are some of Justin’s pics:
…a field a beautiful “you pick” flowers. Which usually really means “beautiful but expensive” flowers. We looked rather than picked.

At one of the farms we visited on the FruitLoop there was a “Pumpkin Gallery” where someone had dressed pumpkins up into creepy funny characters.

Posted by Sarah on Sep 20, 2010 | 0 comments

Moss Creek and Dog Mountain Camping

Justin and I were itching to get outdoors this weekend so we decided to go camping in the Columbia Gorge area (on the WA side) this weekend. Before I tell you details I just have to say, I am SO glad we had prepared for Portland weather prior to coming here!!

We arrived at the Moss Creek Campground in Gifford Pinchot National Forest after dark on Friday evening in a downpour rain. I drove around the deserted (even of a ranger) campground stopping at each site so that Justin could jump out…in the pouring rain…and see which were NOT flooded. Site after soggy site were practically floating in a muddy mess. I was getting discouraged but finally we came upon the magical slanted site #12!

Because of this great slant, most of the water was running through our site (like a small creek) rather than pooling up in the center. We quickly, or as quickly as we could in the slippery muddy mess, set up our “rain”/sun shelter over the pic-nic table and then our tent in a somewhat padded spot off the site in the woods. I then cooked dinner under the shelter while Justin tied a tarp up over our tent to doubly protect us from getting wet. (I get cranky when I’m wet and cold…doesn’t everyone??)

This picture gives you an idea of what it looked like that night:
…After dinner Justin and I sad in our chairs on the pic-nic table under the shelter and read our books before bed. Having that shelter along with our rain jackets, rain pants and waterproof hiking boots made we so thankful!

The next sleepy morning we woke up to it only sprinkling We went on a day hike up Dog Mountain. It was about 6.9 miles with a 2,828 ft climb. There was a smaller mountain top that you get to just before Dog Mt that they call Puppy Mountain–isn’t that cute?! There were great views along the way of the gorge and the nearby mountains. The forest, as always, was a mossy jungle! –Really so amazing to see each time! Justin will have to post his moss pictures later, but here are some of mine.

If you ask me, Puppy Mountain had a much better view than Dog Mt did. Although the trail between Puppy and Dog Mt was outstanding. The side of the mountain that we were traveling on was windblown bear of trees so we could see the gorge the hole time. In the spring and summer that part of the path is covered in wild flowers! –We’ll have to go back to see that!

Puppy Mt view: ………………………. Path between Puppy and Dog Mt.:

The morning rain held off until just about the moment we reached the top of Dog Mountain. Luckily on the way back down we were mostly under trees so besides the fairly frequent slip, slide, or skid on the wet path, the rain didn’t bother us much. That night sweet Justin made a lovely fire that we watched from underneath the dry cover of our shelter. (The reason why we went to Moss Creek Campground rather than another one I originally made reservations for was because the other one didn’t allow us to have fires. I insisted that we stay in a campground that would allow fires. –and then it rained )

The next morning I was awake at 2am and up prepping breakfast and taking a “shower” under a cold faucet pump by 4am. –The rain was SO loud on the tarp above our tent that I couldn’t get much sleep. Needless to say, we had a great breakfast at 7:30am when I woke Justin up…by then I was VERY hungry…and set off for our next adventure.