Japanese Gardens

A couple weeks ago, Derek surprised me with a trip to the Japanese Gardens in Portland. It was absolutely the perfect day to go! It was a beautiful day (surrounded by rainy days), and the leaves were turning all sorts of hues. I hadn’t been there since 4th grade, and was taken aback by the quiet peaceful beauty. It would be a wonderful place to read.

I found out that Derek was originally thinking of proposing to me at these gardens, and had taken my mom to scope it out. When he found what he thought would be the perfect nook, he knelt down and gracefully stuck his foot into the pond. I guess that was a sign. (For those of you who don’t know, Derek proposed to me in a rowboat at our church campout.)

If any of you haven’t been to the Japanese gardens, you should go. It only costs a few dollars to get in, and is a great place to relax and enjoy God’s creation.

We took the plunge!

As most of you know, Carrie and I are avid scrapbookers/stampers, and have been pretty loyal to Close To My Heart, the brand. So we decided to go into partnership and sell their product. So we are now offical consultants!!

We are going to hold our first gathering on Saturday, November 18th, and plan to do some Christmas Card workshops after that.

Somehow I don't think this venture will make us rich, but we'll have the best stamp collection on the block!

Random Food Thought of the Day

I recently discovered the Cinnamon Raisin Cereal Bars from South Beach Diet. I'm generally pretty leary of "diet" foods that often taste like cardboard, but decided to give these bars a try.

Yumm...I think they taste like a cream cheese cinnamon roll (of course in a granola bar form). Best thing...they only have 140 calories and are loaded with 10 grams of protein. Go protein!!

Breakfast just got a little eaiser.

Derek is 27!

Derek's birthday was on Friday, and I took the day off to spend with him. We drove over to Multnomah falls in the morning, and made the hike up to the top. I have never been all the way on the top, and it was quite a view of the gorge. After the falls, we stopped at the Vista House for more great views.

The weather was perfect, but both Derek and I had a cold, so we were pretty wiped out after our hike.

We ended the day at Rob's gathering...The day turned out really well.

Saturday morning we slept in super late (after taking NyQuil the night before). We didn't even leave the house at all; we just stayed in, got some house work done, and hung out. It was great!

The Way Back Machine (Internet Archive)

http://www.archive.org/index.php

Check out this website. You can put in any web address and see what it has looked like over history. Ha, look at www.yahoo.com in 1996...or www.ebay.com from 1997, or www.target.com from 1997.The net sure has come a long way!

Carrie's Birthday

We suprised Carrie on Tuesday at the Macaroni Grill for her birthday (which was actually on Monday). It was a slightly different crew than normal, which was a nice change. Sven, Jonanthan, and Eden Soller were there, along with two couples from the Bethany Baptist church: Tom & Katie, and Tyler & Lindsey. Reanna, Carrie's co-worker was also there, and of course I was there too!

The singers were all off that night, so Carrie escaping being serenaded in Italian, opera style, (much to her delight). She did get their signiture dark chocolate cake with drizzle, which we all helped her consume.

It turned out to be a great time, although it was too bad that so many people couldn't make it. Next time we will have to plan further ahead!

Ever wonder what you'll look like when you get older?




Believe me, you probably don't want to know! That is what I discovered at OMSI using the aging machine in one of the exhibits. I think I am only suppossed to be 40 in this photo! Derek aged much more gracefully than me.

Last August (2005)my long time friend, Malinda Christmas got married to Chris Dazey. I was one of her bridesmaids. She took both last names so now she is a Christmas-Dazey, ha!









My good friends, Carrie and Stephen were also married this year (Oct 05). I was the maid of honor.

Here is my favorite photo from our wedding. To see more wedding photos, go to www.winkflash.com member login:hansonpics npassword:wedding. Once you are in, click on friends to see a listing.

Ha! I bet you all thought that my blog was doomed to die the slow death of starvation. But here I am trying once again to recesitate it!

I don't think I have even updated this for over a year, so here are some updates:


Last June (2005) I finally graduated with a BS in Business, Marketing!! All my hard work finally paid off!

I got engaged last August at my church's family camp. Derek proposed to me on a rowboat in the middle of the lake.

Derek & I were married April 1st (yes April fools day), and spent our honeymoon in the Riveria Maya (Cancun, Mexico area).

In this May, I was promoted to produce the www.Solutions.com site, which is part of the Norm Thompson family (I have worked for Norm Thompson for about 6 years). I really do like my job, although sometimes I wouldn't admit it :)

So life for me is going great. I love being married and having my own place. I love my husband.

Looking forward:
Derek has about another year left to finish his Business degree, and we hope to buy a home around that time.


Recent updates:

I went to Seattle with some friends (Jen, Carrie, & Lindsey) this past weekend. We had a blast. It was a pretty low key weekend; no schedule or typical touristy activities. Just shopping and relaxing. IKEA was a blast!Check out Jen's blog for some photos of our trip (09-18 post date): www.seekjen.blogspot.com



Happy Birthday Carrie!! Carrie turned 23 today!!


Well, that's all for now. I'll do my best to try to revist my blog in less than a year this time!!