independence day

the cries of the people have been heard. "give us an update!" they call from the mountaintops... and an update they shall have!

happy late forth of july everyone! our first holiday on the west coast came and went. sorry for a week without postings, we are still getting used to this whole blogging thing. That and nothing really happened this week. really. nothing. like when you come home from school and get asked what happened that day and nothing really happened so you say nothing but obviously something had to have happened so your mom says no really, what happened and you say nothing again because really, there was nothing. that kind of nothing happened this week. we don't have amazing job news to pass along yet but are feeling comforted daily by the Lord during the process. i'm sure we will have news to pass along soon. keep praying!

this weekend was great. our friend laura belle came into town (from seattle) and spend the weekend. it was great to have our first visitor and fun to explore some new parts of the city with her. 

friday afternoon when laura belle arrived, she and kirsten went to the same u-pick farm that we visited the week before. this time however, i wasn't present to stifle the quantities that kirsten could bring home so needless to say...we ended up with a lot of fruit.

after that drove downtown for dinner and to find the fireworks. little did we know that almost everywhere in portland is closed on the forth of july.

so we finally found a place to eat and then went to the waterfront park blues festival to watch the fireworks which is apparently twice as big as any other display in Oregon and it didn't disappoint. we didn't actually go into the festival (because we're cheap but we did stand outside, listen to the music and watch the fireworks. We were standing right on the bank of the Willamette River near the Hawthorne bridge and watched the show over the water. 

 

it really was amazing. the cell phone quality pictures don't do it justice but believe me, it was awesome. i will say that i had to sing Lee Greenwood to myself, but that was the only drawback. there's only one Stone Mountain after all. 

on saturday we had a delicious breakfast of handpicked raspberry syrup covered french toast and headed out to Forest Park, a giant (aptly named) tree filled park literally minutes outside of downtown. that has really been one of our favorite things about this area is the face that there are so many great parks and natural sites so close to the city. 

after a scenic stroll through the woods we headed south (toward the city) to the International Rose Test Garden which boasts over 10,000 rose bushes and contributes to the "rose city" getting its name.

you might notice the jacket, we finally had our first couple overcast/rainy days in Portland, which actually were a nice change of pace. it had been really hot (close to 100) for several days last week and has cooled off substantially thanks to the rainy weekend. the high yesterday was 75 and it was wonderful. i'm not saying i want it to feel that way all summer, but it sure was is nice for a few days.

saturday night we went to dinner and a movie (at the same time) at one of portland's many such theaters. this one was called the Laurelhurst theater. there are at least a half dozen of these places in the city and we are making it a goal to check them all out. they all play second run movies (dollar movies) and serve food and drinks at tables in the theater. i'll let you know which one is the best once we've been to them all.

sunday we went to church at Imago Dei (rick mckinley's church aka the church donald miller goes to). first of all it was a really nice change of pace to be able to choose and go to a church not as a staff person. not that i don't love working for churches (please someone hire me) but it is nice to just go to church. we really loved the service at Imago Dei. it had a genuine, authentic feel that can be conspicuously absent at a lot of churches today. they proclaimed truth loud and clear (albeit in very unconventional settings). all in all it was a great sunday and i was glad to see what i consider to be a trendy, hip church actually live up to the hype.

sunday afternoon we went to the Portland Saturday Market (not so aptly named). this, people, is where the real portlanders come out to play. hippies doesn't really do it justice. i saw a kid skateboarding through a crowd of people with a live snake around his neck. HIS NECK. on purpose. i felt cultured to say the least.

but i've saved the best for last. sunday for lunch we went to Pine State Biscuits (aka my new favorite portland eatery). i had the "Reggie Deluxe", a biscuit sandwich with fried chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, a fried egg, and sausage gravy. if you aren't jealous you aren't my friend. and an mason jar full of really good sweet tea to drink. i told kirsten there are just some things that are true, no matter what you personally believe. God exists. Barry Bonds is a cheater. and southern food is the best food in the world. that's all there is to it. even people way out here can recognize this (there was a line out the door of people waiting for a biscuit).

it was a great second weekend of exploring and hanging out with a friendly face from home.