Twenty-eight is Great!

I’m only two months into 28 and I’m already accomplishing a lot of my goals for this age. In fact, I even completed one of my goals – getting genetic testing - a week before my birthday. Great News! I found out that I am negative for the BRCA1 gene (the breast cancer gene). As many of you know, with the bad news of my mom’s breast cancer came the compounded bad news that she has the breast cancer gene. This meant that I had a 50% chance of getting the gene as well. Thankfully I don’t have it and I cannot pass it to my progeny.

Side note of awesome news – my mom’s September bi-yearly scan came back clear yet again. Her oncologist said she responded to the chemo better than anyone he’s ever seen.

As such, my birthday this year was really a celebration of me and a lifetime of keeping my boobs. This cake, a gift from Colleen, really tied it all together.



This cake was just one of the many wonderful birthday surprises that awaited me. Paul planned the most amazing multiple stage birthday party with surprise guests and adventures: twilight prom photo opps, picnic by the gorge, hike around cool waterfalls, yummy Mexican food with 15 buddies, and then 90s dancing.

Goal: Dance Every Birthday

In addition to dancing to celebrate my birthday, a week later I got a surprise visit from Julie Sandoz just two days before she shipped off to Haiti for five months. It’s just like her to pack-in as much salsa as possible before re-locating. Her very candid and sweet blog about her experience can be found here. http://www.haitiengineer.blogspot.com/

Goal: Travel to More Exotic Locations ;)

Dallas: check



Las Vegas: check

Goal: Not Hurting Myself

Last time I went out 80s dancing my dress fell apart and stabbed me. This time my coworker, Heather, and I just broke hearts.



My first cyclo-cross race in two years. Bruises and scrapes are almost all healed.

Goal: Attract European Visitors

Five years after finishing my master’s program I finally got my first visitor – Bettina! I knew this would be my big chance to woo more friends across the Atlantic so we went for it. In just three days we saw Portland, Eugene, Crater Lake, Redding, and San Francisco. We also had some real cultural experiences.



Bettina’s first – and last – corn dog. Yum.



Our biking adventure ended in hitch hiking. Bettina experienced some real American hospitality – or pity depending how you look at it.





In the last year, David has not only become even more handsome, but also a certified sailor. I discovered that I’m actually pretty bad at it but man it’s fun and exciting.

Goal: Not Kidnapping the Children in my Life

This last goal is going to be tough.

Leah, a dear friend from Hungary, was back in California for a few weeks on furlough. Every time she visits she brings a new bundle of cuteness. It’s a good thing baby Ezstie lives in Hungary because otherwise she’d be too easy to snatch-up.



Oliver and Tyler came down for my birthday weekend. Oliver loves the Portland Street cars.

Funemployment: All good things must come to an end

Yes, it's true I'm no longer funemployed. I got a real job!!! Check me a out. I've been with COMPASS for two months now. The people I work with are really cool AND the mission of the organization is in line with my life goals. It feels so good to be back using my brain.

Before starting work I do what I always do when I'm broke: go on vacation. My Seattle besties, Kim, Cait, Kirsten, and I went to Sedona to get in touch with our vortexes. We're planning on doing this bonding trip once a year. We can't always wait for a bachelorette party to have fun.



First stop after proper caffination: climbing a mountain. Camelback was owned.


We came to Sedona for the sun. Note to self, wait for May.


Bunker cashed in her hotel points so we could stay in style.


Classy is really the theme running through this whole trip.


Devils Bridge: The most beautiful hike of my life to date.

I also head up to Seattle any chance I can.

The obsession continues. He's a biker like his auntie.

Getting into Portland Culture

Yup, the occasional Timbers game.


Themed Parties: Bunker visiting is just the excuse to go to my first 90s party. Yes, 90s parties exist now.


Yoga + Hiking: Bunker and I escape the hipsters for some fresh air.


Technically the half marathon was in Seattle. But, my training runs helped me get the lay of the land in Portland. I found training beforehand is a much better way to go.

My upcoming adventures will include but not be limited to: day of coordinating Karissa's wedding (got to use that Urban Light Studios training somehow), doing Dallas (visiting Colleen and watching the Ducks in the Cowboy Cup), going to my high school ten year reunion, and turning 28! My next post will also include a family photo shoot from my parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary. This shoot was even better than the pre-chemo photos - get ready.

Portland: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

I love being back in Oregon: no sales tax, flat commutes, awesome public transportation... the list goes on and on. Furthermore, moving to Portland was about the easiest move possible. As one of my new friends, Cincy, said 'the Portland womb has opened up to me'. I don't know what that means but it's definitely positive.

The Good

It's pretty amazing to move to a new city and already have a line-up of people who want to hang out. I have a preestablished network of salsa buddies, cycling friends, snow bunnies, hiking partners, Spanish speakers, Jesus lovers, themed partiers, foodies and other fun adventurers. Many in this group are childhood friends. There is something to be said for having friendships with people who know your family and who you were as a child. I also love that I run into people I know, mainly from high school, around town. Portland really is just a bigger Eugene...and the dream of the 90s.

My streak of most amazing roommates continues here in Portland. I knew we were off to a great start when Connor and I rolled up in a UHaul at 1:30 am to find Dustin had made two little beds for us, left a light on, and even had a pot of homemade soup for us in the fridge. He also leaves me love notes / sends me sweet text messages when we miss each other because of our wacky schedules. I am so lucky.

This move has also proved to be beneficial to my game. Examine, if you will, these two photos:


Who wears a snuggie to a going away party? Never mind there is the 'sexy dress' underneath on loan from the Kimberly Tracy collection.


I wasn't even trying to do a Blue Crush face. I'm just that hard core. Is it any wonder that I got a date out of this surfing weekend. ;)

The Bad

This is going to come as a big shock: I am an impatient person. Yes, it's true. While I shouldn't be restless for not having a permanent job after ten weeks of living here, I am. I'm looking for that job that is the perfect combination of making the world a better place and actually getting a pay check that can support my crazy adventures. For now I have a temp job that doesn't really accomplish either of those goals. However, I will say this job is the most ridiculous to date. I signed a non-disclosure agreement with my temp agency but let's just say part of the job involves women + sexual frustration and the other involves a male body part + a Spanish speaking country. Piqued your interest?

I am also trying a new form of shameless self promotion: being a guinea pig in a research study at OHSU. The study is on a new birth control patch. (No, I'm not testing it's efficacy.) The nice thing about doing this project is I'm meeting a lot of researchers, getting paid, and contributing to science. In the process I have learned a lot more about my body without getting fat or crazy. Everybody wins.

The Beautiful

The powder is EPIC this winter/spring. I am thankful to have a few buddies who are happy to play hookie from work when there is powder + sun. Night skiing is also a popular Portland activity that I fully support.


Luke spent most of the day applying sunscreen to make sure he didn't get incriminating goggle marks.


Hot onesie on loan from the Connie Beckley ski bunny collection. (formatting is weird because I'm doing this on the temp computer. ;))

The primary purpose of this move is to be closer to my parents. But, those world travelers are all over the crazy place. How can they look this happy when I'm over 7,000 miles away?



I'm joking; I'm happy my parents are buzzing around. Right now they are in Japan. They're coming back for a couple weeks before heading to Dubai and then Germany. I guess this confirms wanderlust is genetic.

When my parents aren't in Oregon, I take the opportunity to head to Seattle to see my favorite little person: Oliver Beckley. He is such a big boy (both literally and figuratively). He turned the big three last month. Bouncy house + Pizza + New Toys + Cake = best birthday ever.

I'm setting the precedent that anytime Auntie is in town we do something fun. (I mean other than the usual snuggling, pancake eating, book reading, fort building, and dancing business.) Last visit we went to the zoo. How many monkeys are in this photo?

Argentina: the best place ever?

By the grace of my employers, www.urbanlightstudios.com, and some majorly stored up frequent flier miles, I managed to leave the country during my first year on the job. My European readers are probably scratching their heads, but my American (including Latin American) readers know what I am talking about. An awesome vacation like this isn’t possible without some major job flexibility. I am so grateful. This trip was exactly what Esther, my travel buddy; my parents; and I needed. My 12 days south were a combination of relaxing, adventure, quality, and SUN. Oh, did I mention I managed to miss snow in Seattle…again?! Below are some of the highlights of our adventure. Enjoy.

Buenos Aires: the city that never sleeps unless your awesome dad puts you and your GF up in a Marriot

There were two distinct components to this trip: dirt bagging and glam. As you might imagine the glam part happened when Mom and Dad invited us to tango shows, multiple course dinners with wine pairings, tango classes, as well as many other civilized and fun activities. Esther and I when left to our devices ate a lot of sandwiches, shared liter beers out of plastic cups, took city buses, and stayed in hostels. Our hostel in Mendoza had a pool, for the record, I’m getting to that.



The famous obelisk in Buenos Aires.



Our family friend, Lauren, just happened to be doing study abroad in Buenos Aires while we were visiting. She was an excellent guide.

Over Night Bus Trips: The mobile city that never lets you sleep

Buses are our preferred mode of travel. They are cheap, it’s easy to cover a lot of ground, AND you don’t have to pay for a hostel for the night. Our first trip to Mendoza on the bus was a total dream: the bus was clean, the attendant was really witty and even lead us in bingo, and well the food was about on par with the other buses.







We were so inspired that a couple days later we took a night bus to Cordoba and then a night bus to Buenos Aires the very next day. Back to back night buses are not advisable as you can see from our sleep deprived photo shoot in Cordoba.












Somehow this Fernet (the Argentinian equivalent of Jagermeister) and Pepsi managed to restore me to some type of sanity, or perceived sanity. It was by taking these photos that we realized how tired we actually looked.

Upsallata: Best of BFE

After crazy nights of hosteling and urban adventure, Esther and I decided to cut out to a tiny little village called Upsallata on the foothills of the andes. We had a great warm day of horse bike riding and trekking. We also call this the day I couldn’t look more American and Esther couldn’t look more German.



We knew our guide would be cool, just look at that awesome hat.





We hitch-hiked back to Mendoza with this group of dudes staying at our hostel. Don’t worry, I only hitch hike in foreign countries. Safety first.

Esther demonstrates walking on the moon. Running through rocks is up there on the fun-o-meter with descending by butt in snow.

Ischigualasto: Let’s just call it Valle de la Luna for simplicity’s sake

This place is heaven for paleontologists, geologists, and people who’d like to go to the moon but don’t have the $150,000 to get there. The Ischigualasto formation contains Late Triassic deposits (230 million years before the present), with some of the oldest known dinosaur remains. It is the only place in the world where nearly all of the Triassic is represented in an undisturbed sequence of rock deposits.

This place was so cool that it helped us forget our worries of staying in a hostel in San Juan which was like living in the house from the movie Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead before the kids got their act together. Oh, and our driver was fighting sleep the majority of the trip. The experience made us thankful to be alive and scabies free.

Back to Nicaragua

Once back in Buenos Aires, through way of Córdoba, we met up with our friend Hernán. Hernán was one of our buddies in our student residence in León, Nicaragua. Since our time together studying in Nicaragua, Hernán has joined in the Argentinian equivalent of the foreign service. His new position worked out great for us because he had a little more flex schedule and was even more of an expert on Argentinean history.

Next Adventure: Portland, Oregon

It’s official, as of January 15 I will be returning to my Oregon roots. I’ve loved living in Seattle but I feel the pull to be closer to family and also to get back on the public health / international development career track. (Shameless plug for job leads.) Here are just some of the reasons I’ll miss Seattle:



Seigfried, Tiger that maimed Seigfried, and Carebear (with homemade costume)





Parties and photo shoots organized by Carrie http://www.explosion5000.com/blog



Steph and Audrey (cutest baby ever)



Snuggler!

And, of course, my core group. We’re heading to Victoria tomorrow so I’m sure I’ll get some good shots of us there.