Christmas in July!

Since Rose and Lee were in Alaska for Christmas again this past year, our Girls Group celebrated Christmas in July once again. Rose hosted and made an wonderful spread of breakfast for dinner and the rest of us also brought yummy food to share. 

Rose got this cute tree out with ornaments!

We also had a kitty cat nativity!

Heart shaped, gluten-free waffles that were yummy!

Gift exchange outside! Such a fun and unusual place for a Christmas gift exchange-guess anything is possible at Christmas in July!

"The Hat" is back. Several years ago this was my contribution for the corny gift exchange. The dreaded baseball aht bird house. Everyone has now had it and it was only fitting that it return to me...Now I have a year to add something to it. Any ideas?...let me know!

Rachel and her corny gift for the year.

And Rose with hers...

Part of Jamie's...

Aren't we a nice looking group?! I think so! Such a fun evening filled with friends and laughter and good food! Here's to another year before our next Christmas in July!

“We should all have personal hot air balloons and drift serenely through the clouds.” ~Rhys Bowen

I'd always wanted to make it to the Festival of Balloons in Tigard, but never had. One year I'd gotten all the way there and then my mood changed and it was nearly 100 degrees out so I turned around and went home even before attempting to park. This year, I made it. After debating about sunrise lift off or going for the night glow, I decided on the night glow. It's a good thing I made this decision too because they didn't do the morning lift off today due to weather. 

When going to the festival you park like a billion miles away from where the balloons are actually "parked" and walk and walk. I was glad I wore good shoes. It was so worth it. Next time I go I really do want to see them lift off though...so I might just need to brave the early morning hours for that. Enjoy the pictures...

 I really liked the Humpty Dumpty balloon.

It started sprinking a bit and there was a guy running around telling all the balloon owners and before you knew it all the balloons were decending so they could be packed and stored. It amazed me how quickly they all came down and how quickly the teams manuvered them to pack and store them. I was impressed.

In addition to the balloons there was a carnival going on and a few bands that played. I listened to The Beatniks and they were a great group. I would definitely see/listen to them again. I was so glad I finally made it and will be back to visit again!

In My Next 30 Years

I've always liked the song "In My Next Thirty Years" by Tim McGraw. I wonder if we ever completely conquer all of our adolescent fears, and I feel slightly like I won't ever figure out exactly what I am doing here. But, I do know that I have lots of things I'd like to do in my next thirty years...here is a list of some of them. I was also talking to my brother and he encouraged me to make this list. Actually, he thought it would be a good idea to make a list of 35 things to do by the time I turned 35...let's see if I can do it.

1. Get a passport.
2. Use the passport.
3. Travel more. Internationalally and locally.
4. Go kayaking.
5. Take an art class.
6. Travel somewhere by train.

7. Buy a Lotto ticket.
8. Have some money saved.
9. Buy a house.
10. Spend more time with my loved ones-family and friends.

11. Pay off debt.

12. Go sailing.
13. Plant my own garden and harvest veggies and fruit from it.
14. Figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
15. Go back to school once that is figured out.
16. Fall in love.
17. Start a family.
18. See lightening bugs...for real.
19. Get a tattoo.
20. Surprise someone-a really good surprise.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.

20 things down...15 more to come up with...any ideas for things I should add?

Forget-Me-Not

One wonderful thing about my job is that we get to plan and implement wonderful experiences for our participants called Forget-Me-Not...it is sort of the senior version of Make a Wish...I've been able to participate in a handful at my new site and had done a BIG one at my previous site. For this event the participant wanted to go to the Grotto with her family and take a tour of the upper level and then have a prime rib dinner. We decided in the planning to coordinate it so it coincided with Mother's Day. We went on Saturday. It was a warm day and I started it downtown with the trains and then ended it in a beautiful, serene outdoor location and then at a local prime rib joint...here are a few pictures.

The Rhododendrons were in full bloom and beautiful!

 Tami and I were ready to be in air conditioning and the restaurant we were at also had a bar...I had to take these pictures...classic! 

When the day was done, I was exhausted, but what a lovely day...seeing a child excited about trains and then the wish of a dear participant fulfilled.

Choo-Choo....

May 11th is National Train Day! There are train stations all over the country that celebrate, including Portland's Train Station. Holly, Brian and their son, Isaiah and myself headed down to see the events. 

They had clowns...

 The train was impressive...and old...and we stood in line for a very long time to walk through it. But, that is what you do on train day.

 The sky was beautiful and it was actually very warm for the day.

 And there were lots of people that were there to see the train.

All-in-all it was a good thing and so nice to spend time with Holly, Brian and Isaiah.

Until the next adventure...

"Nature always wears the colors of the spirit." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of big perks of my job is that I get to take my "old folks" on outings in the community. One of my favorite destinations each spring is the Tulip Fields. We go to the one in Woodland, WA and this year they were gorgeous because we were there in the peak days for blooms. Here's some nature beauty!

All white tulips with the exception of this one pink stripe on this one tulip... 

I think these pink ones are my favorites!!

 One of my participants took this picture of me!

As always, nature impresses!

Feed them and they will come...

I have a lot of birds in the wooded area that my apartment backs up against and finally got a feeder to more thoroughly enjoy them...well, after it hanging for over two months, I finally have birds feeding there! I was so excited to see them when I got home one evening. The pictures aren't great, but I thought I'd still share.