Life

NEW BLOG ADDRESS!!!!

2011-05-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all you faithful Felix followers!!! As some of you may know Brian is leaving for Russia today, and as we will be apart we thought it would be fun to start a new blog together. So, from here on our new address is http://bwfelix.blogspot.com Please change your links if you have one. Thanks and look soon for fun posts from the Felix's.

A season of challenges.

2011-05-16T23:57:00.000-07:00

Hey all, Brian and I are going to start up a new blog, as this one is from my "Owens" years and now I'm a Felix!! Plus this summer will be different because Brian is going to be in Russia for three months. So, hopefully the change will lead to some entertaining stories from both Brian and I, as we adventure through the summer apart from each other. I'll get to enjoy two weeks of Russia in June, but the rest of the time we'll be apart. So lets all encourage Brian to post some pictures and blogs so we can all enjoy his stories from Russia. And of course any fun things I get to do in Oregon. More to come...Brian and Wendy.

50 Miles to the Finish

2011-04-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

My husband, along with Brian Ewing, decided to run a 50 mile race, also known as an ultra-marathon. A very long way to run and not one I'd like to run myself. My longest run is maybe 35 minutes. So, a few weeks ago, down in Southern California, outside of Lake Elsinore, they ran a race called the Old Goat's 50 Mile.

Strangely enough it was a wet, cold and foggy morning for the start of the race. There were a few sun breaks throughout the day and the mountains they were running through did have some beauty in them.

Lisa and I were able to see the guys at two sites, the 10 mile and the 20 mile mark. Then they were on their own for the next 30 miles.
Below is a picture of them at the finish. Filling their stomachs with food. 11 hours and 30 minutes of running.

Feet shots: before and after.

Ouch...

2011-02-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

I tell you, this was a hard day at work. I come home looking like this???? What an adventure.
No, it really wasn't that bad. A normal day at work, but one of my patients just happens to be a make-up artist in Hollywood. :) So, in 3 minutes he gave me a black eye and some scratches on my face. Not bad, course then I had to walk out of the hospital like that. Just a little bit embarrassing. But I did make Brian a little nervous when he saw me. haha.

The Spruce Goose

2011-02-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

Today we headed to McMinnville, OR and the aviation museum with Brian's dad. The famous "Spruce Goose" is there, along with numerous other planes from every time period. I think the three of us were a bit in awe of the size of it. It really was quite a build!

Here it is, in the background, dwarfing all other planes. Below is a picture of a cool plane that can land in the water or land. There was also a very awesome plane (that I didn't take a picture of) that can fly 2197 miles per hour. YES, it can fly 36 miles per minute. WOW. Flown in the 70's I think, retired now. Nicknamed the Blackbird.

So, this picture kind of puts the size of the plane into perspective. Here is the tail of the plane, the tip is the height of an 8 story building!! Made of wood. Incredible. Watch "The Aviator" if you want to know some more about it.

Of course they have a kiddo section...We might have spent some time here, playing on the flight simulator computers...
Pretending to fly little planes...
Fighting the enemy...

It was fun to finally see the plane put together. Many years ago I saw one of the wings as it was on its way to the museum to be put together. My grandmother lived out in the area and we were on our way to her house. And there was this HUGE wing on a side road in the country. And now I got to see the whole thing. Fun day trip.

What, run 34 miles????

2011-01-23T21:16:00.000-08:00

So my wonderful husband has learned to run. And run very long distances. Last June was his first "ultra-marathon" which is basically anything more than a marathon. He did it with Brian Ewing from Juneau and they did great. A few months ago he signed up for this one in Olympia, WA. A 34 mile run. Last weekend, Brian and I drove up and he ran the race and I went from station to station cheering him on and getting him to eat and drink some tasty treats.

Here he is with only 8 miles left to run. He was pretty tuckered out, but finished the race in 7 hours and 17 minutes. A great time according to me!!

Just a description of the awesome weather we had during the race. Actually the first half was okay, but the second half was very, very WET. Next up: a 50 mile race in California in 9 weeks!!

December 2010

2011-01-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

A last post of pictures from 2010. The holidays were good for us, Brian had four weeks off from classes and I continued to work my three days a week. But we really enjoyed time with friends and family.
So after Thanksgiving, my mom still had two live turkeys to do away with. Christmas Day became their special day. :) Here are some pictures of Mom, Brian and Ben all plucking some feathers from the first turkey.

Christmas pj's, here are Isaac, Gwyn and Noah with their new pj's made by Mema. Jeremiah is below with his charming smile.

The Nutcracker is an awesome ballet. Brian and I went this year and took my mom, and my friend, Elia and her mom. It was great fun!

Christmas cookie making with friends, Sarah and Darla. We had fun and frosted soooo many Christmas tree cookies. Both Sarah and Darla are artistic and frosted some great cookies.

How long does it take to cook a 45 pound turkey?

2010-12-14T20:36:00.000-08:00

My mom decided to grow her own turkeys this year. She started with 6 poults (a baby turkey) in May and they grew and grew. Unfortunately 2 died somewhere along the way, maybe the sat on each other or drowned, so that left 4.
The day of Thanksgiving I had to work, so my family graciously agreed to celebrate on Saturday. Brian and my mom had fun with the turkeys. They had to slaughter two turkeys, pluck and prepare and get them all ready to cook. What a job. I'm sorry I missed it. :)

Here is the turkey, all cleaned and ready for stuffing. 45 pounds!! A bit large, I agree. But, it fit in the oven (see the picture below) and cooked for about 12 hours.

We had plenty of leftovers...

New Traditions!

2010-12-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

This year, Brian and I and my mom all decided to throw some money together and rent a house at Black Butte, a resort about 8 miles from Sisters, Oregon. So, instead of buying Christmas presents for my sister's kids, we are all staying up in the snow for a few nights!! It was a great idea and was a lot of fun! The first day we got there it was pretty nasty, rainy out. But then God brought the SNOW! We woke up to find a fresh coat of snow the next day. And of course we played most of the day.

Above is a picture of the great room in the house. A really comfortable room, complete with a big enough table for 8 (we had 9 in our group) and a fireplace. And televisions in every bedroom! Not that we needed that.
Below is the morning of snow. I love snow and really miss being in Juneau were it is a more common occurance than in Portland, OR.

A picture of the "Black Butte" a small hill that can be climbed. It was a pretty spectacular day! Complete with blue sky and everything. Who knew there was a tornado coming on in Aumsville, OR, only 10 miles from my mom's home.

Sledding fun! Of course we found a hill on the golf course that worked just perfectly for our needs. Brian and the boys all decided to pile on and go down the hill together.

There were a few houses and trees with Christmas lights and I thought they looked so pretty with the snow!

Vegas Fun!

2010-11-22T20:47:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Las Vegas, a trip with Brian's family. It was Sarah's 21st birthday and mine was a week prior. Thanks Karen for getting us all there!! To start it off was a jelly bean statue of liberty.

Wandering down the strip with Brian and who should we run into but Chrys and her new husband Terry from JUNEAU, Alaska!! Wow. On their honeymoon also. That was fun to see them and talk to them for a few minutes.

Into the Venetian!! Just like you are stepping into Italy. We were headed to dinner and then THe Blue Man Group!

Sarah and Rodd with a Blue Man.

Karen, me and Brian in front of the Sphinx, or the Luxor Hotel/Casino. Funny because the Sphinx is in Cairo and not Luxor, thanks Emily for living in Egypt so I could go there!

The Aquarium at Mandalay Bay Casino, pretty fun to watch sharks swim all around you.

You determine the look on Brian's face. I think he looks like he is confused, but some think he was bored. We didn't do too well on these machines, won a few dollars, lost a few dollars. Not successful.

The Price is Right!! The Las Vegas edition. Sadly, none of our group got to go up front.

From the left, Rodd (Sarah's boyfriend), Sarah, Karen, and Brian.

New York, New York, and yes we did go on the roller coaster. It was pretty awesome. Sarah screamed at the top of her lungs the whole ride. I wasn't quite sure if I should laugh at her or be frightened for her. :) But we all made it through.

The Excaliber Casino and Hotel. Amazing looking, like they all do!! Vegas is eye candy. Have I mentioned that before??

Inside Paris! casino, yes this in inside...Pretty cool looking.

Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage is also a fun place to visit. And the weather wasn't too hot, so all the big cats were moving around some. Except for the big tigers, they were lazy, lazy. Sleeping away.

Brian just loves llamas. I had to take this for him.

The lions were just huge! So amazing to see them up so close and have them be so active for once!!

Plus there were two new tiger cubs. We had a blast watching them play with a pumpkin and fight/play with each other. Even got to hear a few growls! Yikes! Not quite so cute when they sound so large and mean!!

The fountain at The Bellagio is by far my favorite thing in Vegas. It is free to watch, occurs every 30 minutes or so and lasts for abotu 2-3 minutes with a few select songs. The first song we say was The Pink Panther song and was awesome!!

Lions at the MGM casino, another FREE thing to do in Vegas!!

Red Rock Canyon, Thanks to our friend Chrys, she told us about this place, only 20 minutes from Vegas! Ahh, what a nice QUIET place to go after being on the strip.

Brian, trying his hand at rock climbing...

I always seem to catch Brian napping somewhere. And the moon just happened to be out and in the right spot.

Last night on the strip! One more picture of the craziness! Overall it was a fun trip, but probably not one we will duplicate again in the near future. Vegas is an overwhelming city of ways to serve yourself. It's all about YOU in Vegas.

Carving Pumpkins

2010-10-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

Carving pumpkins has been something I've done for as long as I can remember. Every year I get to carve at least one pumpkin. Usually it is more than one, and this year in particular we had a lot to carve!!

Here is Hailey getting her fill of pumpkin!

Everyone was able to carve their own, except for Gwynie; not quite old enough to wield a knife. Actually as you can tell by the bottom picture we each carved a couple. Below is a picture of Jeremiah with his cute skeleton sweatshirt.

All, lite up. My favorite part. It takes quite a bit of organization to get them all set up with the appropriate lighting. It was a fun night. Not quite like last year when Noah and Isaac ran into each other and ended up in the ER getting stitches. We decided not to play freeze tag in the dark this year. :)

Random

2010-10-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

There are spiders everywhere. We have about 5 webs right outside our kitchen windows right now. UGH. And it is the worst when I forget that one is there and run right through the web so it fits perfectly on my face. Did I say perfectly?? Yuck. Oh well, I suppose they eat the bugs.

Just some flower pictures. I thought this sunflower in the picture above was just huge!! Almost looked like a face.

The Snow in August

2010-10-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

This was our hike during our trip in August to the Wallawa's. We tried to hike up a mountain, but the snow came...So, next time...

Ice Lake

2010-10-18T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the rest of the pictures from our hike in August up to Ice Lake in the Wallawa Mountains. It was a great day to hike up, the following day wasn't so great. It snowed up at the lake on us and then was a steady rain as we hiked lower and lower. UGH. And somehow people were still hiking up to camp in the rain! Don't ask me why!! I'm a fair weather camper. :) I admit it.

Monty carried his own food and chain for once!! He didn't mind at all! Thanks Sarah for such a cool dog pack!

Hiking up to Ice Lake in the Eagle Caps.

2010-10-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

We hiked up to Ice Lake to enjoy a night out and about!! It was a great hike, pretty steep but we had a great day to hike and enjoy. The next day was another story...we got a little snowed on. :) In August. Weird. Anyway, I can't quite get my computer and internet to work, so I've got to wait until another night to finish my pictures. More will come...

2010-10-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

So, this was cool, we found a sweet man made log raft that someone must have spent hours on. And it floated! The problem we found was the lake got deep really quick and we had no oars, but it was fun and even Monty got on the raft with us while we drifted slowly back to shore.

It was a beautiful evening, warm fire, thousands of stars in the sky and excitement for the next day, plus a great sunset. :)

Camping at Wallawa Lake

2010-10-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

Our big camping trip of the season was the last weekend in August. We drove all the way over to Joseph, Oregon; about a 6-8 hour drive and it was well worth it. Went with my wonderful husband, my mom and my sis and her family.
I know, the picture below is a little strange. What is that animal doing in the teepee?? That is exactly what we thought. It was just sitting there, very comfortable. They were some very crazy deer, way too people friendly. They would come right into the campsites and just stand there. Very strange.

Swimming in the lake, me, Jeremiah and Monty! And here at the campsite, Noah, Brian and Jeremiah.

My mom cooking, and my sister and her youngest, Gwyn. Cute pics huh?

Brian napping, he unfortunately came down with a bug for a full day, ate some bad food I think; hard to imagine I know, but he does eat whatever he can get his hands on. Below we have Isaac and the fire, a much loved attraction to the boys.

Isaac and Monty.

And some pool time!

2010-10-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

Ahh, summertime is sooooo nice. But now it is fall and I'm working on getting through all these summer pictures so I can move on to the next season! Almost there!

Jeremiah is looking cute as ever in the pool.

A Day at the Beach

2010-10-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

Went to the beach and had an awesome day! Of course this is a month ago, I'm still putting pictures up late. Brian had a great day and got to surf for a few hours! And we had to eat at Mo's! Masha needed some good clam chowder.

Noah, Brian, my sister, Becky and Isaac. Enjoying the sun.

More fun from August!

2010-10-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

We had a fun week or so in August where a lot of these pictures are coming from. Our friend from Russia was here visiting us and we did more than normal in the great state of Oregon. This day was a day of wandering through downtown Portland with Masha.

We checked out the food carts for the first time! Very delicious!

MMM, a yummy meal of borshe. A Russian soup with beets! Masha made us some great soup, plus we got to hang out with Ben from Juneau! So much fun!

More pics from the summer

2010-09-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

I have so many pictures to add from this summer. We had a friend from Russia come stay with us for about 10 days and we did a lot in those 10 days. Plus, Masha (our Russian friend) really likes taking pictures, so I actually have some pictures of daily fun things to do. With me in them even!! So, here is just a beginning of them.

This is our sushi adventure with our good friends, Lyndsey and Stev. They just moved to Pittsburg, so sadly we don't get to see them anymore!!

Mmm, thanks to Bryan Hoshide we know how to make this wonderful dish!

And the baby squirrel who lived with them for a few days. So cute!

Our trip to Illinois

2010-09-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Brian and I adventured to Northern Illinois, far from Chicago and the city life to visit Brian's (and now mine) grandparents and other extended family. Of which there is a lot of! Brian's grandparents grew up out here, just outside of Stockton, Illinois and they still live in the area of the farm they had when they were younger. Now, Brian's Uncle Ronny works the dairy and farm that has been in the family for many years. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Here is Brian with a young dairy calf. They loved attention from us. Underneath is Aunt Kay and her daughter Anne with a great raspberry pie she baked for Brian. Of course, who doesn't like to cook for Brian???

A bike-a-thon with Aunt Kay's church!

Cousin Michelle, awesome person, Brian and I. Not quite sure what Brian's face is doing. :)Under this we have landed in Galena, Illinois. A really cute town that I just wanted to walk around it. Luckily I got my wish and took a few pictures. Northern Illinois actually has some hills, which makes it a little more pleasant to look at.

The Mississippi River! Right close to Galena.

Finally, our milking experience. It was fun, and not all that hard to milk my first cow. Can't believe I've never tried to milk before, but we've never had cows. Uncle Ronny milks about 120 cows a day, twice a day, EVERY DAY... Seems like a daunting task, but they seem to enjoy it and know they have to do it.

It was a good trip and we both really enjoyed visiting family and seeing the country side.

Creation Fest 2010!

2010-08-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

Our first Creation Fest was a success. Brian and I both enjoyed the concerts, even though we missed seeing Switchfoot! Here is a look at Mt. Rainier and our campsites. Thousands of tents packed into some fields.

There was an awesome petting zoo; here is Brian and Lisa with the cute little pony.

Nathaniel, Brian, and David up on the van...Good spot to hang out!

My good friend Allie came and brought Erika, thanks girls for coming!

Backpacking!

2010-08-10T22:04:00.001-07:00

Our first backpacking trip of the season! It was about a month ago and we took my oldest nephew and my mom. Just a short trip into a lake, but it was tons of fun. Ben enjoyed fishing the whole time and caught three or four fish in the lake.

Monty got to go too. He also enjoyed it.

more computer/camera problems

2010-07-25T21:14:00.001-07:00

It is very frustrating when my camera and computer don't like each other. Last time Brian ended up calling the Canon people for me because I was about to chuck the computer out the window.
Anyway, we just got back from Creation Fest!! It was a great time. More fun than I thought. Saw a lot of great bands; my favorites: Newsboys, NeedtoBreathe, Toby Mac and Audio Adrenaline with their new unplugged concert. Saw a whole crew from Juneau and will get to hang with the Ewing family a bit more this week. Things are going well.
So, I'll work on the computer/camera problem to get some pictures online!

2010-07-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

The napping bear. I found him in a tree napping, so I went to check out the glacier. After taking pictures of the glacier, I went back to the bear and it was perfect timing because he climbed down the tree and started eating grass right under the raised walkway. Plus, there weren't a bunch of tourists (unless I am considered a tourist), only four of us watching this little bear eat his dinner.

Pictures from Juneau!!

2010-07-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in Juneau in June and of course it was tons of fun! Saw many people, did some fun hikes, I was able to see a bear, a few porcupines, eagles, mountain goats, and whales at much more of a distance than I wanted.

The mountains continue to amaze me here. I'm blessed to have the eyes to see them and have had the chance to get to Juneau so many times.

Hiking up Mt Roberts! I finally made it all the way to the top. I've gone up many times to the cross or halfway up, but never to the top. Thanks Lisa and Brian for a great hike!

Thanks to Karen for some AMAZING king crab. Wow, it really filled me up!

Hamilton Mountain

2010-07-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago mom, Brian and I hiked Hamilton Mountain in the Gorge. It was a great day to hike. Hopefully many more hikes left to come this summer!

Spring time fun!

2010-06-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

The last few months has actually gone pretty quick. I finally started my job on March 29th! And now I see how valuable it was to have that time off to just be available for Brian as he was in school and working. I know I say it often, but God takes care of things for me and knows what he is doing. :)
The below pictures are pictures of my friends, Sarah and Darla and I on a beach day for Sarah's birthday. It was March and we actually had great weather!

And of course a few visits to Silver Creek Falls near Salem in April and May.

Tyler and Rolita's beautiful little daughter!! Sue and Loryn Mason came to Oregon for a few days. We had a good time

Updates for March

2010-03-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

My camera has been gone for almost two months now. The focusing motor was broken and needed to be fixed. Unfortunately it takes a long time for it to be fixed. Who knows why... and in the meantime, the blossoms are in full bloom here in Oregon. Daffodils and just finishing and the tulips are coming.
We are in the week of spring break and Brian is so glad to be done with the last term. It was a tough one. We have a beach trip planned for Thursday, and maybe one last snowboarding effort tomorrow.
I have to say a little blurb about my dog, Sophie. My chocolate lab I bought in 1995 just had to be put down a few weeks ago. At almost 15 years old, she was doing good until a few months ago when blindness hit her. I think a little canine cognitive dysfunction also crept into her brain: AKA: dementia/confusion/craziness.
She was a great dog, the best hiking companion who never complained. Here is a picture from 2007, probably one of the last long hikes she did with me. Monty is the golden and Sophie is on the bottom.
.

I finally get to start work at Emmanuel Childrens Hospital next Monday. Three almost four months off from work. Wow. It will be very different to have a full orientation to a hospital, I haven't had that since I worked for Salem in 2005.

Brian and I will probably be moving closer to downtown in a few months also. We need to be closer to PSU since Brian bikes all the time. I'm praying for the perfect little duplex or apt. Thats all for now!!

2010-02-11T20:30:00.000-08:00

80's party!! Brian and I dressed up for a great birthday party. Thanks Erica for a fun party.

Isaac and Jeremiah both came over for a night with us last week. It was a lot of fun and we made some great pancakes in the morning.

February continues to be an interesting month. So far I've had two months off from work. Three interviews in three weeks though and I'll have results next Friday. I'm hoping to get one of them at least. But I'll probably have another three weeks off at least. UGH. I know everyone reading this says, awesome, I want time off!! But, I'm a bit sick of it.
I decided not to go to Haiti, but my friend Sarah and her mom went on Sunday. Praying for their safety. They have already been put to work helping with babies where they're staying.
Brian also had an interview today. It is for a scholarship program at Portland State University. Praying he gets it. It would really provide some good funds for school.

That is the update for now!!

Life's challenges

2010-01-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

It has been an interesting last couple weeks. My unemployment has been rough. I am normally a pretty busy person, so having all this free time is too much! I know, some of you say, what? I could do so much with more free time. But, when one has too much, that is when it is a problem. Plus, I feel almost like I have no purpose to most of my days, other than looking for jobs...
Challenging? YES.
Yesterday I was reading in a great little daily devotional book called Streams in the Desert, and read something that was profound for my situation right now. Let me just share some of it with you.
January 18th, "God wins His greatest victories through apparent defeats. Very often the enemy seems to triumph for a season, and God allows it. But then He comes in and upsets the work of the enemy, overthrows the apparent victory, and as the Bible says, 'frustrates the ways of the wicked' (Ps. 146:9)...If there is a great trial in your life today, do not acknowledge it as a defeat. Instead, continue by faith to claim the victory through Him who is able to make you 'more than conquerors' (Romans 8:37), and a glorious victory will soon be apparent. May we learn that in all the difficult places God takes us, He is giving us opportunities to exercise our faith in Him that will bring about blessed results and greatly glorify His name."
A good reminder to me to continue to trust the Lord despite the challenges of unemployment.
Today, the opportunity to go to Haiti has been presented to me. As in, leave next week. This is all very sudden and a bit overwhelming. I've got some praying to do and more thoughts in my head need to be figured out. Brian is in support of me going; I'll have to keep you all updated!!

A few months later.

2010-01-13T19:52:00.000-08:00

The last few months have been a bit busy. I finished my job at Portland Providence on the 12th of December, enjoyed Christmas with my family, New Year's was in Juneau, was in a wedding, and have been looking for jobs the whole time. Here are some pictures to update you all to whats up with Brian and I.

My first friend while living in Juneau was Rachel Alderfer from Pennsylvania. She just got married to an awesome guy, Lee Phelps on the 1st of January. I felt very fortunate to get to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. It was a good day!

Yum, who can resist Russian dumplings in the Juneau way of eating them??

Walking on Mendenhall Lake with Kristin and Janelle. It was making a little too much noise for us though, so we didn't go all the way to the glacier...

An aerial shot of Juneau. The plane turned just right so I could see down and behind the wing. Plus the sun was just rising. It's a beautiful city.

Now we're back at home in Tigard. Brian is busy working two night shifts and going to school four days a week. I...am still looking for a job. But, I will trust the Lord in this matter.

Fall Fun!

2009-11-25T22:28:00.000-08:00

Brian and I have been pretty busy the last month. We've had our first visitors, all from Juneau. Paul came first for a weekend adventure, then Brian's dad and stepmom came down for a few days, then Lisa Ewing was here with us two weeks ago, and during that stay Karen, Brian's mom came for the last week and a half. (she just left on Monday). Whew, so it has been busy...My job is going well, just a quick 8 week rotation at this hospital in Portland. Then the job search continues. Brian is enjoying school, he just went to his biology class this evening even though it was not required and just "hung out" with the professor. :) Anyway, on with the pictures. Just a quick update through October and the fall.

These are the cutest, Jeremiah and Gwyndolyn, my sis says they just love each other and posed very well. Which made for picture taking easy.

Our annual pumpkin carving day! No Atlantic Giants to carve unfortunately, but a whole lot of small ones. Everyone did great and I think we ended up with only a small cut on Isaac's finger. He just calmly told us, "I cut myself", no tears, nothing. Too bad that didn't continue for the rest of the night...

Our serious accident for the evening. We were all playing freeze tag and I do admit it was in the dark...I was frozen, Brian was "it" and Isaac and Noah ran around me opposites ways and WHAM, ran right into each other. They were crying right away, Brian and I picked them up and wow did the blood run! As you can see, they both had to go to the ER and get stiched up. A 3 hour wait, 85 other patients waiting to be seen in the ED and a large $ bill. And the stiches came out two days later, what is up with that??

Halloween! Brian was a librarian. Gwyndolyn (see picture below) was a green fairy. It was a fun, rain free night!

Until next time everyone!! Thanks for reading!

Fun stuff in Oregon!

2009-10-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Brian and I headed to the beach today. And we really lucked out with the amazing sunshine and blue sky. Oct 20th and so warm out!! This is an awesome fall!

Brian just had to get in the water and swim. Of course he had his wetsuit on, that helped the water be a little warmer I suppose.

Our living room! We painted two walls blue!!! Thanks to Amanda, we got a good deal on paint!

Last week we went to OMSI, a big museum for kids (and adults). It was a lot of fun, here are some shots of us in the chemistry lab. My mom and I above and Benjamen below playing with the flubber they got to make.

Brian and Jeremiah.

Brian and I next to OMSI, outside in the sun!! Downtown Portland!

Road trip to Oregon

2009-10-07T21:44:00.001-07:00

On Sept 14th, Brian and I headed out of Juneau on the slow 7 hour ferry ride to Skagway. With a few hour stop in Haines along the way where we went on a walk along the road. The weather was just perfect that day!

Here we are driving through the Yukon, the fall colors were out in full steam.

Got to see a pretty amazing sunset from the car on our first evening, still driving, trying to get to the Liard Hot springs that night!

Had to stick my head out the sunroof for this one!

So, the first morning we got up and walked out to the hot springs which were pretty awesome. The closer you get to where it comes out of the ground, the hotter it gets, the more it burns!! Ouch!

This hot springs definitely looked cool. Not like a pool or spa, but very natural! It was a lot of fun.

Then off we went, more driving to do!

Somewhere in British Columbia...a huge beaver, so we got out of the car for a few minutes to take a picture.

Now entering Jasper National Park. The day was so sunny and awesome. Too bad we got to our campsite late, because unfortunately the next day would not be sunny...

But we enjoyed ourselves anyway, but we did drive right through in a day, through Jasper and Banff. Stopping every once in a while to see a water fall or lake. I was a bit disappointed in the rain.

This was a really cool lake, the colors are amazing! But we had to hurry because thunder and lightning and check out those clouds were coming right towards us!!

So after leaving Banff and Jasper we just kept driving, into the United States and Idaho, stopped to eat dinner in the parking lot of a Safeway and decided to just drive on to Oregon that night. I made a nice bed in the back for myself and slept for four house or so while Brian got us most of the way home. Then finished off the early morning to my mom's house.
So now we are in our apartment in Tigard which is right next to Portland. Brian has started school three weeks ago and I am still searching for a job. Well, waiting for a call back more like it. I'll post some pictures of our home soon enough.

Family camp in Juneau

2009-10-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

The largest platter of muffins I've ever seen. Wow were they good! Good work Lisa. We had a lot of fun cooking for our church camp out at the Methodist Camp.

Morgan and Loryn playing speed scrabble. Such a good game!

Boys. And silliness. Is that a word?

Well, this is a huge platter of apple crisp. Brian was demonstrating what would happen if he were to eat all of it at once. :)

More wedding pics

2009-10-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

It feels a little weird putting more wedding pics up on my blog 5 months after getting married, but I just got these from Tim, thanks Tim! and wanted to show them off. He and Dominique did a great job on them!

This is one of my favorites from the day. I had no idea these two went down the isle like this. Sarah is famed for jumping up in pictures. Thanks Adam and Sarah for really making my day when I saw this.

I love this man so much!

Another favorite even though two out of the five could hardly keep their eyes open due to the sunshine. Still a good group of ladies. Elia, Sarah, Me, my sis Becky, and Sarah.

Our pastor and his wife, Brian and Lisa Ewing. They both are awesome and I am so glad to have them in my life.

Looking through the veil, how fun.
Definitely a fun day. Goes down in the history books as the best wedding ever.

Moving...

2009-09-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

Moving after two years of Alaskan life in Juneau. Crazy, but Brian and I are leaving on the ferry to Skagway on Monday, Sept 14, 2009. Exactly two years, to the day that I arrived on the ferry from Skagway with my mother. Amazing huh? God works wonders. And I'm leaving with an awesome husband too!
Brian and I are off to Portland, probably be living in the Tigard area for those of you familiar with Oregon. Brian is going to be attending school at Portland Community College studying Russian and I will be working somewhere. Still to be determined, although I had my first call back today from an oncology floor at OHSU, DAY SHIFT! Thank the Lord, I've been praying for a day shift job, so hopefully it is where God wants me.
WE'LL see...no job yet and part of me does want to force myself to go to the ER to learn the frantic skills of emergency room nursing...
So, that is the story, out to family camp this weekend with our church, I don't really like goodbyes, so I'll avoid that as much as I can and then bright and early Monday we take off for a week long drive through beautiful Canada and the Rockies.
I'm looking forward to a colorful fall, I do miss those leafy trees that change colors, and maybe a little more sunshine??
But, Juneau will always be in my heart and soul now. Just look back at my pictures of the amazing place it is. Truly one of the more beautiful locations. I'll miss it!

David and Karla Nash!!

2009-08-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

David and Karla were married last Saturday, August 22nd here in Juneau. It was a wonderful wedding and celebration for the two. I am glad we were a part of it. Brian and I have enjoyed Dave and Karla over the last two years, they are/were our card game partners. They are up living in Anchorage now, both attending school.

Coming back down the aisle, married as MR. and MRS David Nash!!

Here are fun pictures of some of our friends in Juneau! Tim and Christine Phillips and their little one, Ezra.

Lauryn, Morgan and Ashley!

Larry and Kelly Dunivin

Jacob, Dan and Ryan!

Adam Weed in his beautiful pink suit.

Paul Suffern and Joe Jensen

Brian and I. He looks so good in his tux!!

And the beautiful new couple.

A trip to the interior

2009-08-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

Up to Anchorage to visit our friends, Karla and Dave for a few days, and then up to Denali National Park 5 hours north of Anchorage. Here is a view of Anchorage from a distance, from Tabletop Mountain.

We drove up to Denali and found our first campsite. Then the next day took a bus into the main part of the national park. Denali N.P. does not let private vehicles drive on the 85 mile road. So, visitors have to ride a bus in and out.

Here we are, at one of our first awesome views of the mountain, Denali also known as Mt.McKinley.

The second night inside the national park we camped at Wonder Lake, which is about 25 miles north of the mountain. Usually has an amazing view of Denali, but because of wildfires in the interior, it was so smoky you couldn't see more than a few football fields. But, luckily the smoke hung out in certain spots and as we drove back out the next day we were able to get another amazing view. Blue skies around Denali are not often seen in the park, so we really lucked out.

It was a lot of fun to go farther up north and see a bit more of Alaska. Along with the ground squirrels and caribou we saw a grizzly and two cubs, a coyote, and a few moose. Great weather and too many other people.

One of the best hikes ever!!

2009-08-06T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last week, on a gloriously sunny day, Brian and I headed up Mt. Juneau and hiked the ridge line back a few miles then came down another trail to complete a circle. It was a hot day (I actually got sunburnt), but the views were superb.

A well rounded 10+ mile hike in the sun and splendor of Juneau!

And just the day before the hike, Brian and I headed out to the glacier because we'd heard rumors there were some bears hanging out. And lucky for us, we were able to spot a few of them. This one in particular came right up to us while we were in our car!

Mom is here to visit again!

2009-07-12T22:42:00.001-07:00

I got mom to come up here and visit again! She has been here almost a week and takes off to Oregon tomorrow :( But it has been amazing weather and a lot of fun. We've gone up the Tram on Mt Roberts and hiked up more, kayaked, biked out to Herbert Glacier, went whale watching, went on walks around my neighborhood, made some great bread bowls with corn chowder, and ate some awesome king salmon that my friends Julie and Jesse gave us. Brian and his buddy, Joe on top!

Here is mom and I.

And our whale watching adventure was a ton of fun!! We saw a handful of Humpbacks, even got to watch them bubble net feeding.

Today we did a little kayaking. Here is mom and Brian in their kayaks. Another sunny day!

Here is Brian relaxing in our living room and below a pic of mom and the awesome bread bowls

Our trip on bikes out to Herbert Glacier. There were way too many mosquitoes out there so we didn't stand around too long to look at the glacier. It is a nice and flat 5 miles, one way.

Thanks for coming mom, we had a great time with you!

Our new home

2009-07-04T23:01:00.001-07:00

Brian and I really are blessed to live in this beautiful home. Owned by Bill and Diane Nash, we get the apartment on the bottom of the home. The first level windows are ours.

This is the main room as you walk into the home. Two bedrooms in the back and a nice living room/kitchen around the corner to the right.

And of course the highlight of the house is the view. Right on the water. I have been able to mow this lawn a few times. These pictures show a really nice day! We've been enjoying some really nice sunshine the last three days. Much needed in my opinion. Especially because a week ago it was in the 50's and rainy. UGH.

May 9, 2009

2009-06-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

Finally, pictures from our wedding are available to see. Thanks to my good friend, Amanda I have these to put on my blog. She did an awesome job taking them! I may put more on when I get them from the other/main photographer. So, here is our special day, almost two months ago now! May 9, 2009.

Groomsmen, Joe, Adam, Brian, Paul, Dan and Benjamen.

Three of my girls, Sarah, Sarah and Elia. You three rock!!

Cone Chapel on the Willamette University Campus in Salem, Oregon.

Our first kiss ever! I know it is hard to believe, but so very true. Brian and I waited for this special day to kiss.

Kyle, our awesome piano player! He was perfect!

My sister and her family.

My sister Becky and her oldest son, Benjamen.

Brian and his mom, Karen

Our awesome cake, thanks to Holly Rockwell. It was really good tasting too!

Beloved Mountain Tops!

2009-06-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Climbing to the top of a mountain where I get an awesome view is one of my favorite things to do in Juneau. So, Brian and I took advantage of a rainless, yet cloudy day to hike to the top of Thunder Mountain!

My wonderful husband and I in front of Mendenhall Glacier. The beauty here is amazing!

Yes..it has been a long time...

2009-06-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

But, I had to plan a wedding, move out of my apartment, fly to Oregon, get married, and have an awesome honeymoon!! So, that is what I have been doing. I promise to post some pictures of the wedding as soon as I get them. :) So, we'll do the honeymoon first...
We took a cruise out of Florida to Belize City, Belize and the Key West. It was awesome. Brian and I figured a cruise would be okay to do for our honeymoon and it ended up being perfect. Everything is done for you and you don't have to worry about anything. Food, entertainment, sun, laughter, and even making the bed are all done for you in one spot. Then we headed up the coast to Kissimmee near Orlando and visited some of Brian's family and Disney World!! For those on the West Coast, Disneyland is pretty awesome, but Disney World is about four times as big. HUGE and tons of fun, except we went during a huge storm and it poured on us all day! Yes, all day, not just for an hour in the afternoon, but all day. At least we still had warmth though huh?? Okay, here are some pics...

Just a small part of the top of our deck, the Enchantment of the Seas, Royal Caribbean.

In the Key West, we snorkeled and saw some great fish. I even saw a small shark! And we were swimming with barracudas!

Our fancy evening. :) Brian looked so nice. We had a ton of fun on the cruise!

Our one excursion off the ship in Belize was to this Mayan Ruin about an hour and a half drive away, right next to the Guatamalan border. Very cool to see some ruins! This particular ruin dates back to 200-900 AD. Xunantunich, meaning "Stone Woman".

This is the largest structure in this ruins, second tallest structure in Belize, known as "El Castillo" 130 feet tall.

And then to Disney World we went, which is made up of four parks (I had no idea). We had a great day, two days, four parks, very wet, rainy days. The first day wasn't too bad, wore these cute little ponchos just for a bit. The rides were awesome!

The second day, it poured all day on us. I had to struggle a bit with my attitude and all the wet, but we still were able to enjoy ourselves. We made it to all four parks, not something I'd suggest doing in just two days, and Epcot really needs better focus than we were prepared to give. We were pretty focused on the rides!!
All in all, the honeymoon was awesome. Afterwards, we headed back to Oregon for another week of fun and sun and some white water rafting!!

2009-02-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

A wonderful Valentines Day adventure out to the glacier. Last Saturday was a beautiful day here in Juneau. Brian and I got outside and hiked across the lake to Mendenhall Glacier. It was awesome!

Here is a close up of some ice!

Here is our 30 minute hike across the lake.

Northern Lights...Finally.

2009-02-14T00:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, 10 degrees out on the lake next to the glacier is not the warmest of places to stand and take pictures of the Northern Lights, but since it's only the second time I've seen them, I had to. They weren't quite as dramatic as they were last March when I saw them for the first time. They were a little fainter in the sky, but pretty fun to watch anyway. The pics actually turned out okay too. Enjoy! Maybe click on them to make each picture bigger to get the full effect!

Wedding websites

2009-01-23T13:18:00.000-08:00

Wow, there are so many wedding websites one can register on. It is phenomenal. And slightly overwhelming. I am having fun with it. Gives me things to do since work is slow and Brian is in class more now.
First up: check out (if you are bored) http://owensandfelix.weddings.com
That will take you to some times/locations of our wedding and a few places we have registered at so far.
Second: http://www.travelersjoy.com/members/owensandfelix/
This one is another website about our honeymoon and another type of registry.
ANyway, wedding plans are definitely going now. Ceremony and reception locations have been finalized, I just have to pay the bills so we can officially use them. The ceremony will be at Cone Chapel on the Willamette University and then a reception to follow at Mission Mill Museum, right across the road! So convenient. God is providing, I just needed to be patient. His timing always, not my own.

Oregon for Christmas

2009-01-08T23:31:00.001-08:00

How nice it was to be home for Christmas. Here is the first group shot of my sister and her family with my dad, his wife, and Brian and I. It took a lot to get us all smiling at the same time and still, Isaac (the one on my sister's lap) would not open his eyes. Stubborn, but cute!!

Monty on Christmas morning. My mom, Brian and I after opening our presents. Very fun!

Isaac at the Salem Carousel, we all went to see Santa and ride the carousel. Last, the picture below is my sister's youngest, Gwyndolyn Tallulah. She is definitely growing up too fast!! I haven't been around her at all!

Engagement Pictures!

2009-01-08T23:21:00.000-08:00

My good friend Amanda Slagle took some awesome pictures for Brian and I. It was a nasty, wet day out, but we braved the NW weather and did it outside. Thanks a ton Amanda, these pictures couldn't be better.

Ice Storm in Oregon

2009-01-08T23:10:00.001-08:00

While some parts of the Willamette Valley got snow, we at my mom's house near Turner, Oregon had some freezing rain on the Sunday before Christmas. It was amazing to wake up in the morning and find thick ice covering everything outside!!

It was truly an amazing sight that day. Even just standing outside listening was pretty cool. Every few minutes you could hear another tree limb or ice or whole tree falling in the area. My mom's property is a disaster.

This picture looks pretty bad for both vehicles, but luckily my mom's truck only had some damage to the canopy. But wow, what a mess to clean up. Thanks to our neighbor who came with his chain saw we could get the truck out later that evening.

Unfortunately for us...some tree limbs became way too heavy and decided to fall on my old car, the "silver bullet" as my friend Sarah and I used to call it. It served us well on many road trips. How sad to see it out of service now.

Tacky Christmas Party

2009-01-08T23:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it has been a busy month and this party was a long time ago. But, I've been busy with a proposal and Christmas and travelling!! Anyway, this was a fun party. We had some fun making graham cracker houses, definitely a wide variety of what people decided to make.

Here is Christine, Karla, Miriah and Michelle with their awesome mansion of a home.

2008-12-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

Wow!!! This is a nice looking fiance isn't it?? The beginnings of our future wedding have started!

2008-12-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

How fun it is to be proposed to! It sure was the talk in the hospital. Probably a good thing it happened there, because I might have been slower at telling my co-workers. Hope everyone has had fun watching the video. It is easy to find on YouTube now, just search "Brian's proposal to Wendy" and it comes right up. I'm glad everyone gets to see it!

I think we are aiming at getting married in Oregon during the first week or so in May. More details to come!!

Operation Proposal

2008-12-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

Here is the link to the website for an awesome video of what happened on December 6, 2008.
http://gallery.me.com/davidgnash
Once you get to the web page, go to the video named Brian's Proposal.
Or check out YouTube and search for this exactly: Brian's Proposal-Large.m4v
and you will find what you need to watch!!

My surprise for the YEAR!

2008-12-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

I am engaged to be married today!!! And I know many of you will want to hear the story! I was in a miserable mood this am while at work; I've got a cold, was sleepy and just plain irritable. Then at about noon, the unit secretary told that the UPS man had delivered a letter for me downstairs. Confused, I wandered down there to find my name hand written on a plain envelop. Not exactly UPS material. Opening it, I found a letter from the "Morrocan Nursing Travel Association" saying they had accepted my application to work in their country and would pay for all the moving costs and such for me to move to Morocco to live and work. Hmmm, curious I said to myself as I climbed the stairs back to my floor. I questioned the secretary and asked her to call downstairs to see who had delivered the envelope because it must be a joke. Then I continued working and gave one of my patients the coffee she had requested prior to the trip downstairs. I walked out of the room and saw three huge, almost waist height boxes wrapped in red wrapping paper with a note on one. I immediately recognized Brian's handwriting, "Hi Wendy you have a surprise under one of these boxes. Pick them up, choose which one."
I laughed at myself and at Brian, thinking he must have left a little note or something under one for me. Picked up the one in the middle, nothing, the one on the left, nothing. Then the last one and there was Brian!!! All a whirlwind, he was on a knee, asking me to marry him. I can't even remember what was said too much, because my brain forgets things. But I was very happy and had a hard time accepting that it was really happening! So, a good day, a lot of people were involved and I really had no clue what was going on. And for once I think my bad mood was a good thing, because I didn't pick up on anything that was said or even these huge boxes in the hallway...it was a complete surprise. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them. About 6 of our good friends came with Brian today and were taking pictures and recording the whole thing. For those of you in Oregon, see you in a few weeks and I'll have a few things to show off to you all!

Happy Halloween!!

2008-11-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

This Halloween, Rachel and I were able to find real pumpkins to carve. Last year was a squash year because we couldn't find any pumpkins. Stores were actually giving them away after Halloween this year because they had too many!

For our Halloween, a bunch of us got together for a medieval mystery dinner. It was a ton of fun. We had a full meal, someone was murdered and then revealed later. I was a simple Maid, and Brian was a serf that worked on my lands. A mystery dinner is where everyone has a role assigned to them and each person must follow their script as best they can.

Here is our group. We really had some great costumes!!! Below is Karla and her knight, Dave.

And here is our king for the evening, Larry and a faithful subject in his kingdom, Tim.

Ahh, snow so early!!!

2008-10-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

A nght for a wedding and the first snow of the season. Two inches last night!! Wow, it seems so early. And as it was snowing I was quite happy because snow is less wet than rain and much prettier. And I even took a picture of my car with the snow on it to put on my blog...Not knowing that minutes later I would have a squished front end...

Ahh, this is what happens when sliding into a guard rail. :) God took care of me, no one was hurt, wounded, no other cars involved and the guard rail kept us from going into some water. :) Ha, and I was able to drive my car home. Actually, I didn't drive after smashing into the rail, I made Brian drive. Another blessing today, just started dog-sitting and they graciously are letting me drive their cars for the next two weeks until they get back or mine is fixed. And getting things fixed in Juneau could take a long time...

Cabin camping...

2008-10-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Hiking in the rain isn't quite as bad when you get to camp in a dry cabin with a wood stove or propane heat as a back-up!! The Eagle Glacier Cabin is a great cabin with a nice view. Six of us all met at the cabin, due to work schedules Brian and I were the only ones to get to hike the five miles in the daylight. Everyone else came out in the dark. UGH.

Eagle Glacier up close, took extra effort to get there...and a story for later if anyone wants to hear it.

Here is the view from our porch! Really nice! And below, Morgan, Paul and Karla, just before breakfast.

Eagle Glacier Cabin

Finally, a sunny day...

2008-09-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

Such a nice day, probably the first blue skies Juneau has seen this whole month. And of course, guess what I did. I spent it hiking with a great group of people.

Brian and I took off up Mt. Roberts with the Ewing family, Brian, Lisa and Nathaniel. Such a nice day!!

Spaghetti Feed

2008-09-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from a week or so ago of some Juneau friends. We had a good meal and great hang out time!

Biking instead of hiking...

2008-09-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a "nice" day here in Juneau. It didn't rain the whole day and I even saw some blue skies and sunshine!! Hiking Mt Juneau had been the plan for the day, but things changed, I went to garage sales (and bought a practically new Kitchen Aid for only $75) and then Paul, Brian and I went biking.

If you look really hard you can see the Herbert Glacier in the background. The white in the middle of the picture. We biked out to Boyscout Beach and then did a good five mile or so to Herbert Glacier.

Yes, I took this while riding. :) Good balance practice.

Here is the glacier up close, although we are unable to get much closer due to a raging river in the way!

Can you all see the fall colors in Alaska?? Not much, but it does make me happy to see some yellow leaves. Makes me remember my fall in Vermont only two years ago.

Victoria, British Columbia

2008-09-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

While in the Pacific Northwest, I was also lucky to see my good friend Allison. I met her while in Vermont working as a travel nurse. I hadn't seen her for two years, so it was a really fun visit. We hung out in Seattle a bit and then took a ferry to Victoria.

Here is a bit of Victoria. A beautiful city and a beautiful day!!

The Craigdorroch Castle, built in 1889 by Robert Dunsmuir. He was the wealthiest man in British Columbia during that time period.

Allie and I in one of the many parks, surrounded by some great flowers.

Scenes from Oregon

2008-09-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

Home sweet home for the month of August. It was awesome!! I was able to see a lot of friends, some of whom I haven't seen for a few years even. First up was a visit with my friend, Michelle. My roommate from nursing school. She's on her way to being a wonderful doctor.

My mom and I were able to go hiking around Mt. Hood. It was awesome. Good weather, good hike and good company. Here was a spot we climbed right above the lake we camped at.

A beach day with the family! It was a nice hot day at the beach and we all enjoyed some hotdogs and smores. My nephews are so cute!! I even saw an eagle at the beach in OREGON. Amazing! I see them all the time in Alaska, what fun to see one in Oregon.

Hiking in the Pacific NW

2008-08-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

My best bud Sarah and I have always had a desire to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Not all at once, but a little at a time over a good amount of years. We attempted our first section four years ago and it down poured on us, so we didn't make it very far. This year, Sarah picked our location to backpack for three days and it was right near Mt. Adams in Washington State.

We got off to a late start and had to change our plans in the middle of the day, but hiked for a few hours to get to this great meadow right under the mountain. It was a great night.

Here is Sarah cooking one of her great dehydrated meals.

2008-08-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

We decided to day hike for most of the day on our second day. We started in the morning and started hiking around Mt. Adams for a few hours. It was a beautiful day, a little hazy off in the distance, but really nice!

Here is Sarah and I and Monty.

Our last day it did rain on us a bit. But we hiked the last six miles out and treated ourselves with a huckleberry milkshake.

Finally...Mt McGinnis

2008-08-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

Finally took the opportunity of a "nice" day in Juneau to hike a mountain that has been in my mind for a long time. And what better hiking companions than my two roomies, Rachel and Janelle.The view was pretty nice most of the hike. Here is a good view of Mendenhall Glacier.

Unfortunately when we got to the top, it was cloudy and we couldn't see a thing from the top. I was a little perterbed. It was a pretty steep hike and really wanted a view from the top. We came down from the top the easy way on this snow bank. So cloudy you can't even see the top of the mountain!

Here is my roomies and I!

Flowers do bloom here.

If you can see the little tiny tent and people, this is what some of the cruise ships offer for a few hundred dollars. A trip to walk on the glacier!

To the glacier with Mom

2008-08-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

My mom was wonderful enough to come and visit me for a week during July. It was a lot of fun and almost didn't rain the whole time! We did some fun hikes, a boat tour and had some good meals.

Brian and I took Mom to the glacier, a good day for a hike and another good opportunity to touch the glacier.

Here we are in the midst of the ice.

Tracy Arm Glacier Tour

2008-08-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

Mom and I took a trip to the Tracy Arm Glacier. It was a very long boat ride to and from the glacier, but well worth the adventure. Along the way we saw some whales, seals, a brown bear, and all sorts of ICE!

Happy Fourth of July!

2008-07-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July is a big day in Juneau. The whole population of 30,000 people or so come to downtown Juneau to watch the fireworks which are on the night of the 3rd/4th, unlike everywhere else in the USA. A big group of us gathered at Brian's mom's house to watch the fireworks from her porch. Only one small cruise ship in town that night.

It was a pretty decent show, lasted about 30 minutes.

The day of the fourth is also a big deal, the only traffic problem I'll ever see in Juneau is this day, it took us about ten minutes to pull out of a parking lot after the parade. This picture is the Filipino group dancing and representing. They had great outfits!

The loud and fun group I was with most of the day!

Hiking Heintzleman Ridge

2008-07-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

This awesome hike was about two weeks ago with another fun group, Christine and her husband Tim, Brian Ewing, my Brian, my roomie, Rachel and myself. Plus four border collies!

Yes, flowers are finally blooming in Juneau, it took until July, but they are here. The short month long summer is finally here!

More beauty to behold! A truly fantastic place to hike and live for this period of time.

Mt. Juneau

2008-07-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

I've had some great day hikes in the last few weeks, so I'm finally getting the pictures on my blog. This hike was three weeks ago I think, Mt. Juneau, quite a climb to the top. It was a beautiful day and I actually wore a tank top for a bit of the hike!! Here is me perched at an amazing viewpoint!
Next up: the picture below is looking at downtown Juneau from the top, or almost the top of the mountain. The cruise ships are so huge compared to the city!

Brian and I at the top!
And there were mountain goats up there!! A dozen at least and we were able to get pretty close. I did have a zoom lens which helped me aquire this picture.

A great group to hike with, Michelle, Christine and Brian.

Backpacking to Herbert Glacier

2008-06-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

Finally a backpacking trip!! I don't think I backpacked at all last summer and was supper excited to get out and do something here in Juneau. We gathered a large bunch of people, started with the six in this picture and another six came later in the evening. Here is Karla, Tim, Dave, Adam, Morgan and I all ready to hike.

Morgan, Tim, Adam, and Karla in front of the glacier on the sand flats.

Herbert Glacier right behind me, Karla and Morgan. We couldn't get right up to the glacier because of a raging river in the way.

Morning shot next to the camp fire. We had a nice tarp and everything, but God blessed us with cloudy skies and no rain!!

And of course guns had to be brought along for this trip. We shot at some plastic bottles and cans for targets.

Rafting the White Salmon

2008-06-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

Every Memorial Day weekend I am lucky enough to go rafting on the White Salmon River in Washington with some friends. This year, Brian was lucky enough to come along. We camp out at the same house every year and play games in between trips down the river. Here's a group of us playing Boci Ball.

My best bud, Sarah Stuart and I. Entirely not enough time spent with you, Sarah!!

Here is Brian, getting ready to raft!

Me, Sarah and Carrie!

Here is the group, waiting to be assigned to a raft for our most exciting trip down the river. We had a raft flip on this trip, no one was hurt thankfully, just a little scared and more than a few bruises and scratches.

2008-06-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

Gwyndolyn on the beach. Isn't she a cutie?

Brian was able to rent a surf board for a day, unfortunately the waves weren't all that great, but the kids had fun attempting to ride the surf board. Except when they fell off in the freezing cold water! Here is Benny riding the waves on his knees.

Becky and her beautiful kids!

I encouraged Isaac to make a sand angel, he seemed to enjoye it and made a great one, then promptly stepped into it to mess it up. Oh well, it was a beautiful piece of art at first.

Isaac, Becky and I. I do love my family!

More from Oregon...

2008-06-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

My family pretty much loved Brian, especially the kids. Before we had even seen the kids, Brian and I were hiding from them in my sister's house and the first thing out of my nephew Benjamen's mouth was, "where is Brian?" IT was tons of fun seeing them, here is a picture of Hailey, Noah, Brian and Ben.

Little Gwyndolyn!! Such a cutie, each time I see her she is a little bigger!

My mom and Benjamen.

Brian has this obsession with the llamas at our house. My family has had llamas for a really long time, so it's not a big deal to me, but Brian was very excited to be able to touch and hug this llama, named Strider. And yes, the llama is in the house.

Thanks to the 90 degree weather for a few days while I was home (which will probably be the best days of my summer) Brian was able to sleep outside in the pasture. This was one morning that Noah, Isaac and I went out to find him in the tall grass.

Wow, the month of May flew by!!

2008-06-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

Brian and I took a little vacation to Oregon last month. I had two weeks off and spent it all at home!! It was a really fun trip, and I've got a lot of pictures to post, but don't have enought time to do it all now. I'm putting these up for Emily! Here is some new pics Em!! More to come later. Anyway, here is Brian and I in front of Multnomah falls on our way white water rafting the White Salmon.

We also got to stay at the beach for a few nights thanks to Tammi and her sis!! What a great house, right on the beach. The weather was amazing and it was actually warm on the beach! CRazy for the month of May!

Here is little Jeremiah! Such a cutie. Okay, well I'm off to play in a slowpitch softball tournament, so more pictures to come later when I have time.

Back to Alaska

2008-05-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

I returned safe and sound from Hawaii. It was just rainy in Juneau when I arrived at the airport, almost two weeks ago. Then, the very next morning, I wake up to find this outside!!! I knew it was snowing, but I didn't expect this much snow to fall on April 17th! Absolutely crazy!! Lucky for us, it was short lived, because then we had over a week of sunny, warm weather. Just wanted to share some fun Juneau stories with those enjoying different weather than I am. That is my Chevy underneath almost a foot of snow.

The beauty of this place is quite staggering sometimes. God knew exactly what He was doing when He created the mountains.

A visit with sunshine...

2008-04-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Four girls living in Alaska, and one in Ohio decided to take a vacation to Kaua'i, Hawaii. Lucky for four of them, Erin works for Alaska Airlines and could get them all there for almost nothing! Thanks a bunch Erin, the trip to visit the sun and warmth was much appreciated!

The Waimea Canyon was the first location we visited while on the island. 10 miles long, 1 mile wide and more than 3,500 feet deep. It was equally as beautiful as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, just on a smaller scale. And much more green. It was a little cloudy the day we were there, so my pictures are hazy looking!

Erin and Denise at one of the overlooks to the canyon.

And here we are, all five thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

Another fun sight to see, Spouting Horn, where waves rush through a lava shelf and burst through a small opening. We even saw some sea turtles out in the ocean.

Na Pali Coastline

2008-04-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

There is a wonderful 11 mile hike along this amazing coastline on the north coast of Kaua'i. Rachel, Paul and I were able to hike 2 miles of it to a beach and then another two up a stream to a waterfall.

The views from the trail were pretty awesome. The trail was a little slick and muddy and steep in some parts, but a whole lot of fun. Next time I'm hiking all 11 miles.

Here are the three of us on the Hanakapiai Beach. Paul is a good friend of Brian's and is going to Bible college on the island right now.

Our end destination: this pretty amazing waterfall.

I especially enjoyed this timber bamboo that Rachel is so graciously poising in for me. I took this picture for you mom, I know you'll appreciate it!

Hawaian Luau

2008-04-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

What is with chickens on the island? They were everywhere! And not only were the roosters crowing in the early morning, but they seemed to do it throughout the day!!

Ahh, my first luau experience. This was probably the most touristy thing we did while in Kaua'i. Well worth it though. Started out the evening with a little practice in front of the crowd. I conveniently stood back to take pictures so I wouldn't have to be in front with the other gals. :) Smart me huh?

Amazing food, especially the meat. Shredded pork and some teriyaki beef!! Here is Erin, I and Bonnie with all the good fixings!

After the meal we had a show of many traditional dances from Hawaii and surrounding islands.

Last, but not least...remember how earlier in the evening I avoided being in front of the crowd? Well, unfortunately for me, I was the lucky winner this time and got chosen to go upstage and attempt to move my hips like the dancers did. How did I do? Good question, ask my travel companions.

2008-04-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

A view of Wailua River, one we kayaked later in the trip.

Here are three of the five beautiful girls on the trip. Bonnie, Erin and Rachel overlooking the river.

Just some beach pictures, the one above is an evening shot, this one is an early morning sunrise at the beach we camped out at.

So, we did camp the five nights we were in Kaua'i. It turned out being a blast, I loved being able to wake up and be right at the beach. It only rained on us one night, but we did stay dry.

Here is a picture of the hike Rachel and I did early one morning, "The Sleeping Giant"

2008-04-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

Here I am on top of the mountain! A great hike to start the day. Then Rachel and I rushed down so we could go kayaking with the other three girls.

The five of us went on a pretty cool kayak adventure down the Wailua River. Then a short 1 mile hike to a "secret" waterfall after leaving our kayaks on the side of a stream. It was a lot of fun!

Yes we did all swim out under the waterfall!

Here we are hiking back out to the kayaks!

I've been tagged...

2008-04-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

I usually use this a a picture blog, but for Sarah Kirksey, I'll follow in her footsteps and answer a few questions about myself!

Ten years ago I was:
Wow, I was a sophmore in high school, starting the softball season, playing flute in band and bass guitar in jazz band, involved in youth group and church...and sadly I can't remember what else. I drove an old green Ford pickup to school and back, and it got terrible gas mileage. And I think gas prices were somewhere around $1.00.

Things on my to do list today:
Complete my work day, (yes I am at work, and 99% of the time I don't have time to even sit down, but today I was the lucky winner and get to do a 1:1, which for those not in health care pretty much means I babysit an adult male for the whole day).
Go to the gym after work.
Finish packing for my trip to Kaua'i on Thursday!

What I would do if I was loaded with money:
Yes, paying off debt is the first smart thing to do. Luckily my debt is only a car and school. Then I'd help my family with theirs.
Next: build my dad and his wife that log house they have been wanting for years.
Send my sister and her WHOLE family on a trip to a location of their choosing, complete with a babysitter or two.
Donate money to Compassion Internation and Young Life.
Invest the rest I guess??
I'd probably spend some of random items for myself and others also.
I have to admit, I'm not sure I ever want to win a large amount of money. I'm pretty satisfied with my life at this point. I have a reason to work and develop a budget. Life isn't about having enough money to do whatever I want with.

Three of my bad habits:
1. Getting really annoyed and slightly rude when people try and tell me how to do my job. Unless it is a new task I have never done before. :)
2. Always feeling the need to clean up after others, rinsing dishes, fold clothes even if I am a guest at someone's house.
3. Trying to do too much while I'm driving! Talk on the phone, open mail...I won't even describe anything else. Of course I only do these things when I'm driving by myself.

Five jobs I've had:
1. Cleaning horse stalls
2. Janitorial at GFU
3. City of Salem employee, creek cleaner and other random jobs
4. Secretary work for an Audiology Clinic
5. Registered Nurse

Five things people don't know about me:
Ugh, I think I'm going to have a hard time with this one...
1. I haven't been to the beach since August of 2007.
2. I went surfing once in 2000, the board hit my head and I had to get some stitches.
3. My dad's wife has a son in his 30's, so I guess I have a step-brother, although I've only met him once.
4. I get nauseated when I fly and I can't handle rides at the fair anymore!
5. I've driving across the country twice.

Okay, whew, that was an interesting one. Okay, I'm tagging Elia next. :)

Oregon fun!

2008-04-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

My sister, dad and I out at my dad's place. Always good to be with my family. I do appreciate them more, now that I live so far away! I will be back to Oregon in May for two weeks and I'm really looking forward to that trip. Brian will be accompanying me this time to meet my side of the world!

My friend Elia and I out for lunch at the best breakfast restaurant in Salem, the Sassy Onion! I make it a point to go there every time I'm in Oregon.

To Oregon for a few days!

2008-04-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

My sister's family is quite the handful. Here they are, dinner time!

Isaac and Jeremiah dressing up as cowboys.

Gwyndolyn can't quite crawl yet on her hands and knees, but she wiggles a lot!

I went home just for three and a half days to see my family and to go to a baby shower. My good friend from fourth grade, high school and even college, Sarah Kirksey is going to have a baby in July. She flew all the way from Pennsylvania to have the shower with friends and family from Oregon. So I decided I could come all the way from Juneau to see her! In this picture: Brenna, Me, Sarah and Amber. 2000 Cascadian graduates.

Here is Jeremiah looking quite Alaskan in his outfit, complete with boots and Carhardts overalls. What a cutie!

Downtown Juneau

2008-04-01T20:08:00.001-07:00

Here is a view of downtown Juneau from Douglas Island. It was a super nice day and the mountains were all visible. Really a beautiful city!

An update on my love life...

2008-04-01T19:55:00.001-07:00

This post is for those of you who I just don't talk to often enough, or keep in touch with very well. And I won't get too indepth because I don't use this blog as a diary as others do. :) Brian Felix is my new boyfriend, well maybe not so new anymore, we've been dating for a little over two months. He was born and raised in Juneau and is a whole lot of fun! I have to admit that he and I are almost extreme opposites. All who know me well, know I'm pretty disciplined, clean, more introverted then extroverted, and orderly. Brian is much different! But out of the many things I absolutely love about him, here are my favorites: number one, he loves Christ and is striving to know Him better as I am; second, he makes me laugh and lightens/brightens me up every day; third, he is much more relaxed and PATIENT than I am. We all know I'm pretty impatient sometimes! Anyway, thats all I need to say for now, any questions? Just let me know because he is my new favorite topic!

Happy Leap Day!

2008-02-29T12:37:00.000-08:00

We went snowboarding at Eaglecrest on Monday, here is the view from the lift. It is a pretty nice place to ski/snowboard. A bit smaller than mountains down south, but much cheaper and I never have to wait in line for the lift! Brian has been snowboarding since he was 8, so he is quite a bit better than I am. But we have fun. I do tend to get a little frustrated at myself sometimes...especially when I'm trying to show off. :)

The last time I tried to take a camera up the lift it was 0 degrees out and the batteries were too cold to work! This day I was smart and kept the camera warmer!

Here are some pics from a day Brian went and it was gorgeous outside. The picture above is looking back towards Juneau, to the east. Looking down the mountain and the lift. The pictures below is looking west, to the other side of Douglas Island. Eaglecrest is on the island right off the main land. Pretty nice view huh?

A day in the sun...

2008-02-23T00:55:00.000-08:00

So today Brian and I hung out with some friends, Dave and Karla. Since the weather was so great we decided to take Dave's skiff out to one of the many islands to play around, take some pictures and shoot some guns. We took with us three dogs which was also a lot of fun. Khaz, Charlie and Boo. All great company!

Here we are from the left, me, Dave, Karla, Charlie a choc lab, and Brian.

Back to shore, Auke Bay with the mountains glowing behind. Auke Bay is where my home is. About 12 miles from downtown Juneau and 9 miles from the hospital where I work.

2008-02-23T00:49:00.000-08:00

This was a great day finally. The sun was shining, it was at least 40 degrees out and I didn't have to work!

Dave's dog, Khaz. He actually has a tennis ball in his mouth...just a little slobbery.

Karla and Dave

Brian

Back to the Glacier!

2008-01-31T16:17:00.000-08:00

On Sunday a bunch of us walked out on the frozen lake again to the glacier. It was a beautiful day, but way too cold!!! 8 degrees I think, with a wind chill easily below zero.

It was a lot of fun, with a good group of people. From the left, my roommate Erin, Gina, LeAnn, Crystal and I in front of Mendenhall Glacier.

My new home in Juneau

2008-01-18T23:49:00.001-08:00

Home sweet home in Juneau, Alaska. Finally made it back and with Internet I can finally connect with the world a little more. We've had a bunch of wonderful snowy days, but then the rain had to come and ruin it all. And let me tell you, the rain in Juneau, right after a snowfall? not very fun. The parking lots are sheets of ice with a few inches of slush right on top. So if you don't slip and fall, you're more than likely going to get your shoes very wet. Which is why rubber boots are so popular here. Here is a picture of my apartment, living with my good friends, Erin and Rachel. We are in the apartment on the end, with my Chevy out in front. More pictures to come later...it may even be clear tomorrow!

What cool kids!

2008-01-18T23:46:00.000-08:00

Here is Benjamen, hard to believe he is finally 8 years old! I'm so lucky to be an aunt of so many! The oldest and right below the youngest member of the Buck family; Gwyndolyn. She is a beauty!

My beautiful family!

2008-01-18T23:36:00.000-08:00

Me, Keara and Jeremiah

Noah at the Carousel in Salem.

Hailey and Jeremiah with their cool new pajamas on for Christmas

And here's Isaac!

My dad reading a book to Hailey and Noah

Finally, a nice day...

2007-12-22T10:41:00.001-08:00

One of my main goals while in Oregon is to ride my bike as much as possible. It has been a little difficult though due to the rainy NW weather. I think there have been two or three "nice" days since I've been home. And when I say nice, I mean not raining. It was a good ride although my hands got a little cold.

A Frozen Lake

2007-12-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

It was so cold when Sarah came to visit that Mendenhall Lake froze over the ice was strong enough we could walk on it. My friend Brian took us ice skating although we ended up using our shoes the majority of the time on the ice. Here Sarah and I are standing on a piece of the glacier that had been floating in the lake prior to it freezing. I guess it is still floating? Just in ice.

It took about 25 minutes to walk from the shore all the way to the glacier, but it was so beautiful and awesome to be close to it once again, but at a different angle, ON the lake!

Just another peice of the glacier.

Yes, I admit to being a little nervous while walking on the lake. Brian had to reassure me a few times that it was safe. :) All I could think of was those 911 calls you hear about or see on TV about a dog or person who has broken through the ice. But we were perfectly safe!

A beautiful ending to the day.

A trip to Whitehorse

2007-12-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

While Sarah was here, we took a little trip to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. A four hour ferry ride to Skagway, Alaska and then a few hour drive to Whitehorse. The temperature was in the negatives while we were there, Sarah's soda was too warm in the car, so this was an easy solution. Out the window, the cold air froze it very quickly.

Here is downtown Whitehorse. Smaller than Juneau, although I felt much more free, being able to drive anywhere!!

After spending the night in a hostel for $25/night we headed back to Juneau via the Haines Highway. We had great weather the whole drive and saw some beautiful mountains.