King's Court

Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd....

 

This past Sunday our little family of three took a trip up to Seattle to go to a Mariner game; something I think every Bernard boy is destined to love. From the start of the National Anthem to the announcement, "Mariner's win!" Blake was AMAZING.  He was in awe of how many people there were, and how loud they could be when a hit or out was made. By the end of the game though he was a pro, and was clapping along with the crowd.

We have quite the silly little baby boy on our hands...he LOVES people...he will point, wave, smile and 'talk' with anyone until he can get them to give him his full attention. It doesn't matter what they look like, Blake will befriend them, and soon enough have them making silly faces back at him or waving like they were a little kid too. If only we were all still so open to being friendly with others, and letting our lights shine as bright as Blake's does.

It was a quick trip, but so worth it to watch Jason and his little boy get to experience this first together. Who knows if Blake will be a ball-player, but there is no doubt that we have another baseball lover in the Bernard family.

Bed-and-Breakfast

This spring break was a lot more low key than last year when we went to Hawaii, but it was still a great break.  It started out with a snow day...that's right, not winter break, but spring break.  We ended up with a little over 6" on snow to enjoy for the first few days of break, which was very unexpected.

Jason and I went and stayed in Pacific City on the Oregon Coast in a bed-and-breakfast (The Craftsman Bed & Breakfast).  Staying in one is something that I have wanted to do, and we thought it would be the perfect getaway before our little baby comes into the world.  It was such a cozy home, and our room and bathroom looked exactly like the pictures on their website.  We would diffidently recommend the stay to anyone wanting an escape for a night or two. http://www.craftsmanbb.com/

So cute when we pulled up :)

Our cozy room with robes waiting for us.

My favorite part of the room! I wish I could have taken the whole bathroom home with me.

While we were there, we were able to get out on the beach, and the sun did shine on us for part of the time.  But, you almost can't expect to go to the beach without getting some rain...our second night there there were weather warnings for high winds.  They were right. There were winds up to 80mph all through the night!

24 Weeks 3 Days

We also got out and did some sight-seeing.  We took a longer drive to get to our ultimate destination of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  It was a much needed break, and really relaxing...perhaps our last getaway before the baby comes? :)

Pacific City, OR

3,000 Miles

This last summer I got the opportunity to drive across the United States with one of my best friends, Lizzie Nobis, in order to get her back to graduate school in Philly with a car.  It was a trip to be remembered... 

Day 2: Dinner Stop

Below you will see the map that we roughly took.  The green line is our driving, and the other is my flight back home to Salem, Oregon.  It took us four days to complete the driving...and from what I am saying so far, it sounds like it all went smoothly.  The truth is, it was incredibly smooth the first three days.  In fact we averaged driving 12 hours on each of those days, and we were going strong.  Oh, how we later wished we had 'knocked on wood'...

After our second day of driving, we pulled into our motel stop for the night, and turned on the TV and were greeted with this:

"Irene"

We were over halfway to our intended destination, and a giant hurricane was coming straight toward the East Coast (later to be named Hurricane Irene).  At this point the meteorologists didn't know exactly when it was going to reach land, and if it would at all. So, the next morning we continued on our trek.

Big Bug :)

Day 3: Shopping break in Indiana

Lizzie.

Then came the fourth day.  The day we had intended to complete our driving part of the journey. The day that we were going to say we made it over 3,000 miles across the U.S.  Lizzie began driving that day, and drove for about three hours.  My turn started off with me driving along the Ohio State Tollgate Road.  After driving for about an hour, Lizzie realized if we stayed on the freeway the whole toll-road, we were going to end up having to pay over $60! So, we decided to make the first of many "good" decisions of the day.

We changed the GPS, named George, to send us on "non-toll" roads.  After hitting that button, our trip that day was extended two hours longer than expected...I continued to drive 55 mph for about 10 miles, then we would slow to 35 mph through small country towns.  We drove this way for over two hours...making little progress, and making each of us a little anxious to get back on the freeway.

We switched drivers, and made it back on the freeway when I received a call just as we were crossing into Pennsylvania.  United Airlines was calling to inform me that my flight, scheduled to leave on Sunday, was canceled due to the impending hurricane.  "Okay," we thought, we will change it to Saturday since it was Friday and we would be arriving in about five hours anyway.  So, the travel agent made the switch, and I was then flying out of Philly at 6:00pm on Saturday.

Tumbleweed :)

Less than one hour later, we received another call, that that flight was also canceled.  In fact, over 10,000 flights along the East Coast were canceled due to Irene!  Lizzie promptly got on the phone and attempted to get me another flight out, in order to get me back home before my new job started that Monday.  We were told by the travel agent to drive back to Cleveland, Ohio (2 hours west) to catch a 6pm flight to Portland on Saturday evening.  After some tears by us both, considering our long day, we turned the car around and began backtracking.

Thirty minutes outside of Cleveland, at around 12:30am we received a call from the manager of the agency, saying that we could not fly from Cleveland since our original ticket was from Philly.  We attempted to inform her that all flights on the East were canceled, and we had been told and placed on a flight by one of her employees, and were no longer in Pennsylvania, but in Ohio.  While Lizzie, argued and battled with the "helpful" woman on the phone, I descided to drive to the Cleveland Airport...we arrived at around  1:30am...

At 2:00am our "helpful" agent canceled my flight from Cleveland to Portland...in fact she canceled all my flights, and would not take my call...I called my parents and Jason and just cried...I was exhausted, frustrated and just wanted to come home.  Lizzie and I descided to drive to a hotel parking lot, sleep for two hours and come back to the airport at 4:30am when it opened...I didn't sleep.

We got to the airport, and after being yelled at by a ticket agent, and asked if I ever 'really' had a flight, I was given a flight from Cleveland to Houston, and then Houston to Portland leaving at 6:10am...it was now 5:36am...I ran out to Lizzie who was waiting in the car and we said a hurried goodbye after being with each other for four days...I ran to security...which the lady made me wait because I didn't go through the empty "maze" line they had set up.

Thankfully I made it to my gate with time to spare...only to have an old lady lean over to her husband and say, "I sure hate it when people just come running up to the gate at the last minute." Really?!  We boarded the plane, and after not sleeping for over 24 hours, I was excited to find out I had three seats all to myself.  Then we waited...and waited...and then the pilot came over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen it appears we are having some problems with the computers across Continental/United flights.  Don't worry your connections will all be made."  At this point nothing else would surprise me.  An hour later we took off, and I fell asleep knowing I would miss my connection in Houston.

We landed in Houston right when my original flight was scheduled to leave for Portland. So, after running across the biggest airport, I slowly made my way to customer service and got on standby for a 2:30pm flight.  I was slowly walking through the airport with an 'angel' from a random ticket counter asked me if I was doing okay.  I recalled briefly my tale, and let her know I missed my flight due to airplane error.  Her response was amazing, "So, it was our fault huh? Well then you would probably like to ride first class.  Okay, you are on the first class 2:30pm flight to Portland.  And I bet you are hungry (wink)?  Here is a meal ticket, get what you want."

Amen!

Amazing view from the plane coming into Portland.

So, after over a day of crazy traveling, flying on my own for the first time and going on little more than a couple hours of sleep, I landed in Portland safely at 5:00pm.  It is so good to be home. What a trip, great memories and something hopefully I won't have to experience again. :)

Final speedometer reading...WOW!

Beach Trip

A couple of weeks ago Jason and I got to spend a couple of nights at the beach as our last trip just the two of us for this summer.  The best part, was that the three days that we were there it was beautiful weather the whole time; like no clouds in the sky type of weather. :)  In fact it was nice enough that Jason and I went kayaking out on Devil's Lake.  It was so much fun to "zoom" around and imagine what it must be like to live in the beautiful homes that overlook the water. 

It was fun the first day, because my family was there, so we spent the day hanging out with them.  Of course we went shopping...something the guys were really excited about.  I enjoyed myself because I got three "teacher" tops and a pair of dress capris for $27!  It was at the Ann Taylor Loft Outlet...now one of my favorite places to go.  Since the weather was so amazing, after lunch at Mo's we spent some time on the beach.

It was a lot of fun getting to spend time with Kinsey too, since she is back up in Portland, and not right down the road to spend time with whenever I wanted to.  I am so thankful to have a sister that I love, but also that I love spending time with, and think of as a best friend....so proud of that girl.

After coming back from the beach, we had a couple of down days, and then my friend Lizzie asked me a question that I wasn't expecting..."Will you drive with me from Salem to Philly?"  For those who don't know that is over 3,000 miles of driving...my answer was yes...more to come about that trip soon :)

Family Vacation

This summer we have gotten to spend more time with friends and family; something that we are very thankful for.  Recently we went to Sisters with Jason's side of the family.  We got to stay in a beautiful cozy home for the week. We enjoyed sleeping in, Sister's Coffee Company, floating down the river and simply just spending time with family. 

Every time we drive over the pass to Central Oregon we are reminded of where we met almost ten years ago.  We met at Big Lake on a church winter retreat.  That was a life changing trip for both of us.

The girls along the Melolius River

beautiful.

Riding the chair lift up Mt. Bachelor

Playing disc golf on top of Mt. Bachelor!

Look at that form ;)

SNOW in the summer!

Maui 2011

Over spring break Jason and I got the pleasure of getting away to a little island...MAUI! :)

Needless to say, we had a wonderful week of 80 plus weather and spending time with friends that it was VERY hard to want to come back to reality.

Relaxing on the beach.

"Be a pepper Jason!"

We got there and had two days where we explored the island on our own before our great friends from Alaska, Jordan and Katrina Weber came to spend the rest of the week with us.  We went snorkeling out to Molokini...a crater out in the middle of the ocean.  That was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip!  (I am just waiting for the underwater photos to get developed)  It is amazing how many colorful and strange looking fish there are right under the surface of the water.

Katrina and Me

Jason, Me, Katrina and Jordan in Maui! :)

Boogie-Boarding!

Surfer Chicks ;)

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Our friends showed up, and then we stayed busy going to a different beach each day.  We went snorkeling, boogie-boarding, sun bathing and enjoyed time relaxing.  They live in Alaska, so we enjoyed every moment getting to make new memories with them.  We went shopping and ate out at some yummy restaurants. :)  It is so nice having friends that even after not seeing each other in months it was right back to old times.

Silly boys.

Me surfing...I know little wave ;)

We had a wonderful week in Maui...spring break 2011.