Bend finally has a fall!

One memory I have missed most from California the last 3 years is the lack of a fall in Bend. The last 3 years it has snowed early in October (like the first weekend of October last year!) and ruins all the colorful leaves, leaving them brown on the ground by mid-October...However, this year, we have been blessed with a relatively warm, beautiful, snow-less fall and I'm loving it! We actually get to enjoy the trees in all their colorful glory and take walks with dogs frolicking in the leaves :)

Pictures tell it better

Well, I've made a pretty nice dent on my to-do list however updating once a week fell off the wagon. So, prepare for a barrage of pictures (since we all know I take pictures of everything) from pretty much last Spring til now...hopefully I can do better updating from here on out :)

 For our 3 year anniversary we stayed home, went on a fun hike with the puppies and went out to an amazing dinner at Ariana's!

 Evan made me a yummy homemade chocolate coconut cake for my 25th birthday!

make a wish

great friends

Our anniversary dinner :)

anniversary breakfast!

Ben and Katie came to visit in  their annual July trip, so we finally took them to Portland, one of our favorite cities!

We went to the Portland Rose Garden for the first time!

We HAD to try the famed VooDoo doughnuts! 6:00pm + 30 minute line out the door = yummy doughnuts worth the wait!

Ok, well that's a small glimpse of our fun summer! Fall pics to come :)

Wow It's been too long

The last time I updated my blog, the trees still didn't have leaves and the weather was still cold...and now the trees are changing colors and losing their leaves again...I didn't keep up with #9 on my new year's to do list but I did say I would try to blog more often. Well since April, we got our new puppy Molly who has been such a fun addition to our family, I ended my long term teaching job, traveled to CA to spend time with my family, had many friends come visit us, celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary and spent time with our small group playing games, eating delicious good and spending time in community. Now that I'm turning the fire on daily, wanting to make soups and anxiously awaiting holidays, I figured I should start writing in my blog again! Oh, most importantly, I'm officially an official teacher! It's not quite full time but I love my kids and I love having my own classroom, doing what I know God gifted me to do.

On another note, I looked back at my new years goal list, thinking that I hadn't touched more than one item, but after reacquainting myself with my goals I realized I achieved more than I thought! Here's the update:

1. Start learning how to play the guitar. 1a. Get a guitar.
2. Print off many of the digital pictures I have shot in the last 4 years.
3. Deep clean my car. (Done in the Spring)
4. Train for and run a half marathon. I just need a goal to achieve, it's part of my personality. (Completed with my dad and Evan in June!)
5. Read a book a month, since I have an entire bookshelf in my house with unread books.
6. Find my place in church ministry.
7. Go back to Seattle.
8. Make home made croissants.
9. Try to blog once a week
10. Go snowshoeing and/or cross country skiing before all the snow melts (in 6 months) :)
11. Go camping (finally) with Evan.
12. Try a new food.
13. Go to Picnic Day this year in Davis. (So happy we did this! Hopefully every year we can go!)
14. Go to the Portland Zoo.
15. Pay off my Loft credit card.
16. Try a new workout class, and dedicate at least a month to actually showing up to each class.
17. Visit a new city.

Pretty good for such a busy year and I still have time for the rest!

Next update with pictures, I promise :)

Does spelling count?

This very well could be the world's MOST ANNOYING PHRASE EVER!!! I hear it almost every day out of my high schoolers! Unreal! Some days in my Spanish 1 classes I really believe that I'm teaching very big kindergartners... no joke. Yes I understand that they are learning a new language, but please, when you learn new words, just learn how to spell them, or at least try to come close. Like I said, I'm teaching kindergartners.

Spring has sprung?

Well some days it seems like Spring here, sunny 65/70 degrees while others it still seems like Christmas with inches of snow falling. Here are some pictures from the first part of Spring so far!



At P.F. Chang's with the Jones' on the way to the coast for Spring Break!
At Chevy's in Terrebonne with the Jones' for the awesome happy hour!
Our cute baby!
Nap time!
Celebrating my job at Typhoon's!

Starbucks

I love Starbucks! Anyone who has met me for even just a few minutes knows how true this is. Nothing more symbolized this than this last Christmas, when unbeknown to each other, every member of my family gave me a $25 starbucks gift card! I'm still working on them, it's great! Evan never understands my passion for "underrated coffee" in his terms. And it's true. Starbucks is not the greatest coffee. If I wanted a truly great latte, I would go to Sparrow Bakery, or Thump or Petite Provence in Portland. However, Starbucks is reliable, will be there in any city I go to and I think more than anything, it reminds me of home.

I started drinking coffee in college, and it symbolized time spent with friends. Anytime friends wanted to hang out, we went out for "starbucks dates". I think this is one main reason for my deep-rooted passion for Starbucks. Not only is it a caffeine boost, but every time I ask for my "grande caramel sauce latte" or "grande skinny vanilla latte", I'm also remembering every time Sam, Katie, Katelyn, Amy, Amanda or Carie and I went on our Starbucks dates. Those green straws and white coffee cups remind me of friends, and home. I can order a latte here in Bend and remember my favorite U-Mall Starbucks back in Davis and pretend that I'm going to hang out with some of my closest friends.

So all in all, I love Starbucks for it's reliability, consistency and most of all for the memories it triggers. Even if it is "average" coffee :)

Tengo un trabajo!!!!

For those of you who don't speak Spanish, I said, "I have a job!" A real, teaching job! A high school Spanish teacher in town this last week, decided she was over teaching, got an offer to be an interpreter and up and quit! With the connections and relationships I've built in this town, I was offered the job on Wednesday morning because of the awesome recommendations from mentors of mine! I have 2 blocks of Spanish 1 and 1 block of Spanish 5. I basically had 2 days (this weekend) to organize my classroom and lesson plan since I had to wait to see where she ended up on Friday! I'm super nervous, excited and happy to finally have a classroom that is somewhat my own (she left most of her stuff which is great since I have hardly anything). I know it won't be easy, but I'm leaning on God's strength, my training and experience to get me through! I just hope the kids will like me! I'm going to have to get used ot be referred to as "Senora Hendrix"!