A Visit from our California Friends (Tour Guide, part 2)

I'm finally getting around to a post, but there's good reason for it! First and foremost, my good friends Todd and Caitlin came up from California to spend a few days with us recently. We had a great time hiking up to Multnomah Falls, visiting the Saturday Market, touring our favorite pubs and restaurants, and just catching up from a good six months' worth of distance.

Multnomah Falls always presents great photo opportunities and--despite its diminished water flow with the warm weather--it remains one of my favorite nature preserves.

At first, we didn't think we were going to hike to the top. I'm glad we did, as it provided Todd and Caitlin with a glimpse of what the Northwest has to offer in terms of natural beauty.

I can't get enough of slow-motion water photos, so I included several of them in the blog this time. This stream is located about 1/2 mile from the parking lot and is very peaceful. Last time we went, we saw someone meditating on a large, flat rock. Seems like the right place!

Although their stay was short, it was great to show Todd and Caitlin our neck of the woods. It can be difficult, at times, to be separated from friends via long distances, but I'd say we made the most of our couple of days together. Caitlin loves the North West and has been trying to convince Todd to move up here, but I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon.. Why? Because Todd is in the process of buying his first house!!! So happy for them...

The other reason I haven't posted lately is because I have begun my Real Estate Broker's coursework!!! I am currently 32% done with the prelicensing and am anxious to get started. The bank is going through a lot of changes right now--branch closures, layoffs, terminations, and really impossible schedule modifications--so that definitely fuels the desire to get out. However, I'm happy to say that I am finally running TO something more than from something--a promising career in commercial real estate. Lots of change.

This is a major transition for Katie as she has successfully obtained her first career-track job! I am so proud of her! Her efforts are really paying off. Now that a great job has materialized for her, she has been able to put some of her many skills to use. She is going to love it and I am confident she will have a positive impact on her students.

Toby is going through some transition, too, as he is home alone for several hours each day. Poor pup. I'm sure he'll find something to do with his abundance of alone-time:

Well, today is Danny's birthday celebration and I've been glued to the computer for the majority of the afternoon. I think it is time to step away and spend the early evening with Katie and Toby before we go out :)

Week 1

I apologize for the lack of pictures lately! Nick and I have been so busy that we've gotten far behind on blog posts.
Today marks my first official weekend as a working woman! It has been a very long week of training. Although it's interesting and our trainer makes it fun, it's still very draining. I am becoming an expert on coaching lingo and the specific framework I'll be using to keeping students motivated and goal-oriented. If you need some coaching, I'd be happy to practice on you. :P
Nick has also been busy lately with work (as usual) and his latest endeavor: studying for his Real Estate license. Uncle Mike and Cousin Matt have been big supporters of Nick taking this step, as they are both in that industry as well. So far he's really excited about it and spends every spare minute studying on the computer. Needless to say, I haven't seen much of his this week.
While Nick was at work today, Toby and I took a stroll to the local Farmer's market. This dog gets more attention than adorable children. Actually, he also gets a lot of attention from adorable children--and from many other people, too. I sat with him and watched a singer on stage and Toby got pets and massages and scratches and love galore from about 15 different people (and a few other pups, too). I suppose this makes up for his daily "abandonment" as I go back to work.
Tonight we are going to celebrate Cousin Danny's birthday with a drink or two (or maybe a pup crawl?). Nick's parents are coming up on Friday for Cousin Katie's wedding next Saturday. We are excited to finally show them our little nest and the surrounding area, as this will be their first visit to Portland!
Nick promised that he'd share a post sometime today, too--so stay tuned...

Want to read my thesis?

Several people have asked me for the link to my thesis and I've been trying to figure out the best way for others to access it... Finding it on the ERIC database is next to impossible for anyone who is not a student, so instead I have uploaded it to Google Documents. If you follow this link, it will bring you right to my thesis! Remember, it's a whopping 46 pages so there is no obligation to read it--let alone finish it!
READ KATIE'S THESIS! 

Working Woman

After a very lengthy interview process--a grand total of 3 phone interviews, 2 role-plays, 5 in-person interviews and one group interview (all for one job!)--I have finally been HIRED! I will be working as a "College Success Coach" with a company that provides mentoring and motivational support to college students.
The office where I'll be working is located in downtown Portland in the World Trade Center. Because parking is so pricey--$12 plus per day--I am going to attempt to commute via trimet bus. I've looked up the morning schedule and there is a direct bus route that drops me a few blocks away from work, and will save me major $!!
More is coming later, including pictures from our quick trip down to Concord, CA for the Memorial Service of Nick's grandfather. It was so nice to spend a few long days with family!

Tour Guide, Part I

A couple weeks ago my friend Nathan emailed me that his coworker is thinking about moving from San Jose, CA to Portland, and asked if she could get in contact with me. I'm always happy to talk about our new home and the greatness of the city, so I gladly obliged. Chandra flew up to Portland last Monday to get a feel for the area. Because I'm not working yet, I was able to show her around the city and share some of my favorite places. Our friends Todd and Caitlin came up a few days later, so I ended up visiting some of these spots twice in one week (more on their visit later)! I took Chandra to a McMenamin's pub and Multnomah Falls on Monday and over the next couple days we walked down 23rd St. (a long/fun shopping strip), walked through downtown PDX, got beers at the Portland City Grill, walked through Portland's biggest Rose Garden, took a hike through Forest Park, drove around Cathedral Park, and ate at Basta's Italian Restaurant.

I had been to all of the above places at least once before, except for the Rose Gardens. It's been on my "mental list of places to go and things to do" but I hadn't made it out there yet. Unfortunately I left my SLR camera's battery in the charger at home, so I was left with my little point-and-shoot for the day. Luckily the little guy has an awesome macro setting! 

The following pictures amount to about a quarter of my photo library from this day-- It was so tough to narrow it down for the blog. I hope you don't mind looking at a lot of flowers!

The array of colors throughout the garden was incredible...

As were the hundreds of varieties...These flowers were almost the size of my head!

These flowers were actually very small...

 Here are a couple of my favorite shots. I was lucky to snap these at the perfect moment, while the flowers had a little visitor on its petals. 

The picture above is one of my all-time favorites now. 

In this last picture you can see the city in the background. 

The garden was incredibly peaceful and of course very colorful, too. It turns out we went at the perfect time, as all of the bushes were in full bloom. I'll be going back soon with Nick with big fancy cameras in tow.

Garden Update

My plants have been making good progress outside lately. Last week I harvested our Broccoli and we enjoyed it with dinner. We've also tasted the first couple strawberries that have ripened-- and while they're tiny, the fruit is so sweet.

My zucchini plants are not so happy... I planted them in the ground a couple months ago but the sneaky slugs ate their way through most of the stems! At the suggestion of our friend Manny (a keeper of a garden himself), I put sandpaper around the plants to ward off the slugs. It has worked for the most part, however I'm not sure if the plants will ever bear fruit. They are starting to blossom flowers though, which adds some bright color to the garden.

Because of the slug issue, I decided to try growing squash from our vertical garden so that fewer pests would have access to it. So far so good!

In other news, it is finally Summer in Portland!! The week ahead has nothing but warm (even hot!) days between 75 and 85 degrees. We spent the sunny weekend with Todd and Caitlin, our friends that came up to visit from the Bay area. Nick was thrilled to have a rare 2-day weekend because of the holiday. I'm a little behind on our blog posts and pictures, so stay tuned. :)