I'm a new mom....kinda :)

So, photographing babies is harder than it looks. Lets just say that the pictures that I took don't do this angel justice. Her name is Adeline Courtney Crowell and this is my new job:) She is quite possibly the most calm and happy 4 month old baby ever. I am so blessed to be working with this family. We take walks, play peek-a-boo, sing, read, and play fetch with the dogs---and I get paid for it! Crazy! oh, and tomorrow we are going to "baby and me" time at the library:)

they brought a smile to my face

I thought that I would share some mail that I got a couple of weeks ago. These may not look like much to you, but they are the single greatest letter/picture that I have ever gotten! The two girls that I used to nanny for have become my "pen pals":) Natalie (6 1/2 yrs.) wrote the great letter while Lydia (3 1/2 yrs) drew the lovely picture for me. They are both hanging up in my kitchen and whenever I need a smile, I'm able to look at them. Even though I miss them dearly, it makes me so happy to think about them and all the fun times that we had. I pray that they would continue to grow into all that God has for them.
Hi, Natalie and Lydia!!!

Beware of Sharks!

Finally Callie roped me into writing for this blog. Work has been fun so far but it's like "drinking from a fire hose." Lots of information to be swallowed yet only a little bit of it is actually being retained. I actually have given 3 tours now of the school and even walked one gal through the entire schooling process. The only thing I have on my side is that I just went through all of this so I lean on my own experience. I just hope I'm actually sharing accurate information.

With only working 20 hrs. a week and school not having started yet we try to take long weekends and hit all the touristy things so that way we can know where to take all of you guys when you visit. Plus, when else are we going to have all the time to do these things in the midst of busy work schedules, studying, papers to write, etc... You all can relate. This past weekend we went out to Tillamook. We visited the cheese/ice cream factory. It was almost too much to handle. Considering it was showing what they do with cattle, I sure felt like cattle in the midst of so many stinkin people. We stayed for a short while and decided to spend most of our time driving up the coast seeing the sites. We stopped twice to put our feet in the ocean which is suprisingly not as cold as you would think.

Our favorite place so far is Hug Point. It is somewhat off the beaten path and not connected to a city so it's nice. It's a bit more secluded and we almost felt all alone on the amazing beach surrounded by beautiful cliffs and caves. See pictures :) You need to come soon and see this amazing beauty. But, you must know, it is not a true expectation to think that sharks don't live in such cold waters. Because they do...the other beach we visited supposedly spotted sharks and people were advised not to swim. Good thing we only put our feet in :( That could have been scary. Well...there you go, here is my blog. Get your fill because I probably won't write again for another month ;)


(Hug Point)

I need to start work!

I have been running out of things to keep me busy until I start working full time, so yesterday I decided to bake some cookies! And thank you, Amy, for keeping me company while I baked. I love ya!!

oh...and if anyone wants some of these dozens of cookies, you'll just have to come up and visit us!

More Wedding Pictures

just because I like making people look at them! :)

What an awesome group.

I miss my girls!!

love you, mom:)

Oh, How Time Flies...

One year ago we were pledging our vows to each other and to God. Today, we look back and see His faithfulness to us in our marriage and in guiding our steps. It's good to take a step back sometime and look at your life. Are we living out our vows like we promised to? Are we dedicated to serving God like He calls us to? Are we running with all our might the race set before us? We had a great time this weekend, looking back on the past and evaluating--remembering God's faithfulness to us.

For our anniversary, we decided to go to Cannon Beach (about 1.5 hours west of Portland). It's a beautiful place...although "much more cloudy than usual" is what we kept hearing:) Supposedly it's been one of the most gloomy summers--as the locals said. Cloudy or not, we had a blast and were able to stay in a cute little cottage about a block from the ocean (a suprise from Brandon). What a good time to relax and recharge.

In front of the infamous "Haystack Rock".

Yes, our wedding cake made the trip with us to Portland. No, it was not soaked in green chile juice (long story). Yes, we did eat it. No, it was not very good...edible, but not good:)

Our cozy little cottage.

This was a cat that befriended us as we drank our coffee after dinner. I told Brandon that it was a sign that we should take him home. He didn't agree. Unfortunately, we are still pet-less.

Nothing New

well, sorry I haven't blogged in a couple of days but things are really calming down around here. there's not a whole lot going on (see, i told you after we posted our pictures that we wouldn't have anything to blog about!).
I have started babysitting here and there for a couple of families. It's good to get out of the house and have something to do:) Brandon is really loving his job as an Enrollment Counselor. He's "on his own" now (no trainer) and is going to be giving his first tour of the campus soon! it's such a perfect job for him.
we miss everyone at home so much. it's fun being out here and exploring a new city, but we wish we could share it with all of y'all.
stay tuned for more adventures in the northwest! (and I'll post pictures next time!)

Our Apartment

Alright, here it is. I just want to let you know, we're not done with it. But I'm not sure how long it will take me to be done putting things away and organizing, so I went ahead and took some pictures. :)
This is our kitchen (view from the front door). That door that you see on the back wall is a door to the "laundry room" (basically a big hallway with a washer and dryer in it). It also happens to be where we are discreetly storing our grill-- shhhhhhh. Oh, and there is a stove/oven behind that envelope box.

This is the front part of our living room (looking over from the dining nook). The front door is on your left. We went to IKEA this weekend and bought this much needed bookshelf. Our previous one didn't do so well in the move and the change is nice.

This is the other part of our living room. Not too exciting. I don't think you can tell, but I'm watching Rachel Ray this morning!

Our lovely bathroom. This was the best angle I could get. The toilet and sink are on the other side of the door...use your imagination.

Lastly, our bedroom. Yes, this is pretty much all that fits in our bedroom. We do have a dresser on the wall closest to the door, but that's about it. It's a little smaller than our last apartment, but we are so grateful. It is clean and pretty well kept up. What more could we ask for?!

OH, and for those of you who have never seen one of these: this is a dish strainer. Commonly used in the apartments built in the "pre-dishwasher era"...aka: every apartment in the city of Portland. This has been the hardest thing to get used to:) haha