National Champions

Way to GEAUX Tigers!!!

Princess Birthday, finale

Naptime is over and it's time to play dress up! I even wore my wedding present- those beautiful pearls. We got all pretty and headed out the door. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse was our destination and it was several blocks away. We made it with just minutes to spare (sorry honey, I guess I slept a little too long!) They brought us to a table that was covered in "Happy Birthday" confetti. Everyone was very nice and as they walked by the table, they wished me a happy birthday. I ordered Caesar Salad (yes, again), a petite filet and sweet potato casserole. Ben ordered lobster bisque, a filet and asparagus. Oh, and the lemon drop was blended just right! It was such a great meal and so romantic as we shared conversation and enjoyed each other's company. We finished dinner with a most delicious bread pudding complete with a birthday candle.

After dropping off the leftovers at the hotel, we walked to the waterfront and along the river. The night was clear and warm and the river so calm. We watched the water and it reminded me of a time from our youth. We had gone on a date one night and we had time to spare before I had to be home. Ben asked me if I wanted to go watch submarine races at University Lake. Now my daddy had already told me about "submarine races" and I knew exactly what Ben meant so I said yes! That was a romantic night as my perfect gentleman held my hand as we walked by the lake. He kissed me once or twice as we looked at the stars that night. When we reunited years later, he told me there were many nights when we were apart that he looked at the stars and could see me looking back at him.

I love that man! What a perfect birthday!

A few pictures downtown

Princess Birthday, cont.

Friday afternoon brought a dozen beautiful red roses. (This picture doesn't do them justice but they really are beautiful!) The duck tea pot came from my friend Rebecca- on the top of the pot sat a little green frog- so adorable! So I floated through the day just waiting for the time to head downtown and meet Ben after work.

Yeah!!! Time to go!!! We met at Ben's building and walked around the corner to the new Marriott Hotel. We put the bags away and headed out the door walking to supper. We settled on Rock Bottom Brewery so that we could watch the rest of the Texas vs Arizona game. (LSU already secured their place in the College World Series finals. Geaux Tigers!) I had a really good Caesar Salad- it was yummy! After dinner, we walked some more, window shopping along the way to Ben & Jerry's. Alas, they were closed so we walked a few more blocks to Baskin Robbins. Good thing we are doing all this walking! (The meds seem to be working and my heart is beating a little more regularly. I have to go slow but it feels so great to be free again!) It's beginning to rain so it's time to go back to the hotel. Good night!

The next morning, the sun was shining brightly so I got to take these pictures from the hotel window. Here are two of the bridges that span the Williamette River. We have to start our day now as the forecast is for rain and we're determined to keep walking! Now remember, it's still my birthday so I get to pick where we go to lunch and what we do today. I wanted a picnic but I really don't want to risk getting caught in a downpour so we get to go to Chipotle, my favorite!! After lunch, we went to Pioneer Place where my darling Prince Charming let me choose The Proposal for an afternoon matinee. It was so romantic and funny and cute. Go see it. It's not as predictable as you would expect (or maybe it was) but it was worth it. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are a fun team! After the movie, we started walking again (the rain showers came through when we were cozy inside) and Ben & Jerry's called again. This time they were open so we got ice cream on the way back to the hotel. Time for me to take a nap!

Princess Birthday

Several weeks ago, we were grocery shopping at Winco (great store!) and they had a bunch of miniature roses for sale. I made a comment in passing how much I loved them and my Prince Charming listened and tucked that piece of information away. My birthday extravaganza started on Thursday, June 18th when the most beautiful miniature rose bush arrived at my office accompanying a text that said "You are my beautiful ROSE. I love you." Can you say awwhhhhh?!

Thursday evening after work, Ben gave me another present. I opened a wonderfully sweet card along with the brand new Pink Martini DVD. We watched it right then and it was fantastic as expected. Remember Pink Martini from earlier posts? Check out their music. It's the best!
On Friday, my alarm went off and a specially prepared play list began with Louie Armstrong singing Happy Birthday. It continued with several other versions of Happy Birthday. I opened another sweet and romantic card along with a beautiful Disney statue. It is Aurora and Prince Phillip kissing her with her True Love's Kiss.

Then, another beautiful card and gift- a new DVD of Somewhere in Time- my all time favorite movie. (I guess it really bothered him that I still had it on VHS!) Of course the DVD was started as Ben brought me breakfast and I watched and watched the beautiful love story until right before the part where he ...I'm not going to say anymore. If you haven't seen the movie, rent it now. It's the best movie ever!

Oh, BTW, we have to pack an overnight bag and I have 1/4 of a suitcase and Ben used the rest of it as well as a second bag and a garment bag. I love that he enjoys getting dressed up too! But time to go to work now.

My wonderful friends at work created a princess party for me. And they know me so well- fresh fruit and blueberry banana bread- yum, yum!

Two days

In two days, it's my birthday. I didn't used to be excited for that day. I used to focus on the Juneteenth significance of the day and ignore the birthday side. And it's a very important aspect of the day. Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in 1865. That's not to say that I dislike getting older or didn't celebrate. On one birthday, I got my first tattoo. On another, I went skydiving. But this year, I'm actually excited and I can hardly wait for my birthday. As you know, I haven't felt the greatest for months. (The medicine is beginning to work but adjusting doses and trying to get just the right mix is a juggling act.) But I need a break! Tomorrow night, I get to pack an overnight bag. To where? I don't know. That's the fun part. I've been given directions on the type of clothes to bring (casual, dressy, etc.). I'm to take the train downtown to meet Ben after work and we'll leave from there. I have no idea what we are doing but I know it will be the most perfect birthday. Do you know why? Because my husband listens to me. He hears things I don't even realize I have said out loud.

I can't wait to tell you all about it (well, parts of it because we are still newlyweds! It's only been 102 days you know!)

In the meantime, I didn't share last year's birthday extravaganza so you get to see those pictures! Ben conspired with my coworkers to sneak in the night before to decorate my office and staff room. I love you darling!

Tayler's Graduation

We had three High School Graduates in the family this year. Congrats to Jacob, Maureen and Tayler for successfully completing high school! While we would love to have attended all three parties, it requires a little more notice for us to attend events in which a plane ride is required!

Tayler's graduation party was in Vancouver so we headed out on a beautiful day to celebrate. While I understand that the day was to honor Tayler, this post will focus on the kids because they are so darn cute. My niece and nephews have been prolific at creating adorable little beings. Unfortunately, Hunter, the youngest at 2 months was very sick so he, Mom and Dad had to stay home. You'll get to meet him soon.
Thanks to my Sissy and her husband to opening their home. Steve just finished their upper deck with a really cool railing. They were relaxing for a moment before the rest of the guests arrive and it's time to start cooking.
Landon decided that he wanted Uncle Ben to help him climb the tree. So up they go climbing higher and higher. They settled into a group of branches to oversee the party when his father, who had been watching the activity said to all of us "he just got a cast off his arm!" WHAT??? "Yeah we aren't sure how he did it but it sure healed quickly! I didn't yell that little tidbit up to Ben as I really wanted he and Landon to safely descend to the ground.

The children decided they were the only ones who could be in "the tent" so they quickly set up shop and prepared sentries to guard their space. Korbin patrolled the perimeter as the others discussed strategies. Seconds later, the war cry sounded and all four children began circling. They ran around and around for about 5 minutes straight. Then they decided that everything was safe so the boys all piled on the swing, Korbin with the wide grin! It was so much fun hanging out with Tayler and family for a special occasion. Everyone had a great time but we need to head out. Ben has to stop at work for about an hour to do some kind of geek work- running wires, pulling cables, preparing laptops or monitors or projection screens or something. Me- I'll play video games on his laptop while I'm waiting and eat special ice. He's so lucky. He has an ice machine at work that makes ice just like you get at Sonic. He can have it all the time, all day long. Lucky man! But hopefully it won't take too long because after all his playing with the kids today, he'll sleep very well tonight!

Down Home Cookin'

Several months ago, we joined a Yahoo group for all things LSU in the Portland/Vancouver area. A couple of weeks ago, they sent us notice of an authentic crawfish boil so we marked the calendar (not that we would have forgotten- it's just that everything goes on the calendar. I love the fact that my darling husband is a fanatic when it comes to recording everything on there cuz I am too!)

After watching and celebrating as LSU's baseball team won twice against Rice, we donned our purple and gold and headed to Eat! An Oyster Bar for our share of 200 lbs of Louisiana crawfish waiting for us to savor and consume. Now some of you may be saying to yourselves "our family eats 200 pounds alone". Well, most people in Portland have not discovered the true bliss which comes with a stomach full of just boiled, steaming from the pot, Louisiana crawfish!

It was so cool to be in a restaurant in North Portland full of patrons that talk funny like Ben! We met people from all over Louisiana and Mississippi. It was fun to hear the stories of how everyone arrives in Portland. We filled our plates and then filled them again with empty shells. Before we know it, hours have passed and it's time to head to Tayler's graduation party!

I can't wait to come back to Eat! to try their oyster po'boy (my favorite)!

My first ambulance ride!

In December, I had some periods of my heart racing and getting dizzy. At the time, I had an EKG and cardiac stress test that both came back fine. But my potassium levels were dangerously low so once it returned to normal, everything seemed fine. Until about 6 weeks ago when I started getting dizzy again. When I passed out, I headed to the doctor. Another normal EKG later and I found myself wearing a heart monitor and restricted from driving.

Excuse me, take away a girl's ability to drive to the mall, severely limit her shopping therapy and make her wear electrodes that make her skin itch like crazy... How do they think that's going to help my heart?

After wearing the monitor for 2 1/2 weeks, they called and said they had enough to make a diagnosis but oh by the way, you get to wait 5 days for your doctor to get the report. OK, fine, I can handle that. It must not be that serious if they didn't say head to your cardiologist right now. If it was serious, they would rush the report, right? Oh, no, what if there really is nothing wrong and they say I just need a shrink? Do they need the 5 days to prepare a padded cell? Wait a minute...take a deep breath...calm down...you're stressing yourself out and your heart's not racing now. It's not all in your head. Just relax and wait.

So I go about my daily work, even though I'm having 10 or so episodes a day where I get dizzy, my heart races, I get white as a ghost and 6 people ask me if I'm alright. (BTW- I don't need any more newlywed jokes. Several people, the first of which was my father, have blamed Ben for the symptoms I am having.) I'm sitting in a meeting with 100 of my closest campus employees. It's a exciting meeting, good information, not boring at all when I turn to my friend Lynnettee and say "I think I'm in trouble." She says "I can see that" and we headed to the lobby as she dials 9-1-1. Now for weeks, I haven't been able to wear a dress to work because of the monitor and I was excited to wear one this day. But not once I realized that the very cute paramedics were going to have to take it off to attach a whole bunch of wires to me. Good thing the top was loose enough that I could slip one arm out at a time and then put it back on once they were attached!

So they give me oxygen and nitroglycerin, start an IV and ask me a million questions about what's going on. After receiving another "normal" EKG, they tell me to relax, that I'm not having a heart attack. Then, Justin, the Metro West ambulance paramedic arrives and I get to take my first ambulance ride!


I won't bore you with the details- the nurses were wonderful, I had a chest X-ray, all kinds of lab tests and plenty of drugs (did you know nitro gives you the worst headache? but headache/heart attack- not really a toss-up!!) and the ER doc thinks I had an anxiety attack and should go home and quit wasting his time. He wasn't quite that blunt but he made it very clear he didn't think I needed to be there. Very, very frustrating but I guess they see all kinds of stories and he has to be skeptical.

I slept for most of the next two days while Ben harassed my doctor for test results (she is entitled to a day off occasionally!). My husband was amazing. He took care of me, never leaving my side and holding my hand as we waited for results. Her first words were "you've had too much excitement the last 6 months." Her too??? Is this a conspiracy? As it turns out, I have a benign form of Supraventricular Tachycardia(SVT) which means my heart is misfiring but it is not because of heart disease (thus the normal EKGs). Also it seems, the blood pressure medication she prescribed to control the symptoms is one I took for many years as a migraine prevention. She said that I have probably had this problem for a long time but I controlled it without us knowing.

It's been one week since I started the medication and I'm finally starting to feel better. Thank you to everyone for your prayers. I can't wait to get back to riding our bikes and going for hikes! It won't be long!

Starlight Run and Parade

These Mimes are very special- my daughter Ashley and her fiance Brady. {I have to be a bragging mom for a minute... Ashley just completed her 2nd year of law school with a 3.73 gpa. Go girl!} We marked the road so there was no way they couldn't miss us!

Our friends Chuck and Lynnettee! Just waiting for the parade to start...

But the wait is so much easier with an iPhone!

After all the waiting, all the sidewalk chalk drawings, all the people watching, it's finally time for the real reason for heading downtown this beautiful summer evening...

Keep Portland Weird

I chose this title on purpose. It's a real slogan for the city (okay, so it's probably unofficial but it's fun!) On the left you'll see just an average girl walking by. Well, I thought she was average, Ben is still naive so he found her fascinating. But both of us agreed the guy on the right was weird. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to pluck his eyebrows and trim his bangs. Maybe the light wasn't very good in his apartment and he had to go outside to groom himself!

The lady in the pink hat was marking her spot for the parade. I guess she thought the traffic would see her because of the pinkness on the top of her head and avoid her. The people in the right picture just trusted they wouldn't get run over. And parade etiquette prevailed! Cars moved to the middle as they got closer to him.

Notice the cable attaching the chairs to the post? That is a no-no. That is not proper parade etiquette and that group got an earful when they finally arrived.
We packed a cooler with plenty of food and drinks but others around us weren't that resourceful and they certainly didn't plan ahead. Or did they?? They were smart at least! Have cell phone and know the address you are camped out in front of? Order pizza! They deliver!

Look at our little neighbor. Her name is Bella and she was so cute. She enjoyed a front row seat for the parade!

Do you recognize this man? He is a local celebrity and he marked the start of the Starlight Run. This fun run is known for runners who dress in costumes and don't take themselves too seriously. Here they come! (By the way, that's D.B. Cooper, alive and in the flesh.)

Downtown Portland

Have you ever been downtown Portland? It is such an amazingly diverse city. There is crazy art and beautifully designed sculpture, the architecture is grand and the views incredible. We headed downtown early in search of our perfect parade spot. Once it was found and secured, Ben headed out to take pictures. Since he works downtown, he knew exactly where he wanted to go.

This statue is called Portlandia. She is a beautiful lady overlooking the city. I remember when they brought her upriver. It was so cool so see her with her trident held high. To me it is the epitome of the strong frontier women who helped develop the land we now call home.

Surrounding all the skyscrapers and buildings are beautiful green spaces. There are at least 16 designated parks in the downtown area. It makes for a great balance of work and play!

This pioneer family overlooks Chapman Park. Chapman and another park- Lownsdale comprise the Courthouse Plaza where original settlers gathered to begin the government processes. Today, the plazas are surrounded by courthouses and the parks are relaxing, peaceful places in which to get away from the daily grind!



I'm not sure what this next sculpture portrays. It may have significance that I should absolutely know about or it may just be a beautiful piece of art. I happen to believe it's just a beautiful piece of art. If you know, please inform us all!






Even the transit mall is pretty! Planters and trees line the brick sidewalks. What a lovely walk! Stay tuned to the next excerpt to this blog. I'll show you the weird side of Portland!