Ben Folds / Birthday-Anniversary Road Trip / Oktoberfest / Braces Off?
Big entry! September has been a big month so far!
Nicole surprised me for my birthday with tickets to see Ben Folds live in concert last week. I've been a fan of his going back to high school and to be within ten feet of him performing was truly a bucket list item checked off. He played a great deal of new material I'd never heard before mixed in with a couple older tracks. There was a lot of jazz improv and wild audience participation. It was a fantastic show!
The 16th was Nicole and my three-year anniversary (Still going strong!) and the 17th was my birthday while the 20th was Nicole's. So many holidays bunched up together! To celebrate, we took a three-day, 700-mile road trip around Oregon last week. On the first day, we traveled the Oregon Coast and went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport as well as Ripley's Believe It or Not. The Aquarium was surprisingly actually pretty dull but Ripley's was unexpectedly awesome. So much to see and the little details made it phenominal. Definately worth the entry fee. By contrast, I got into the Aquarium free since it was my birthday and even that feels a little steep.
On the second day, we made it to Crater Lake, Oregon, of which neither of us had ever been. Guys, it was spectacular. The absolute highlight of the trip for me. The weather was perfection and the view was tremendous. That place is a unique gift from nature and its origins as a monster volcano which caved in on itself are fascinating. We busted out our new DSLR camera and got a bunch of amazing photos. Here's one!
On the third and final day, we made it to Bend, Oregon, where we did a bunch of thrifting and visited the Lava River Cave. It's actually the same cave that I visited six years ago with my previous girlfriend, Leann. To get to the end of the cave is quite a hike but we had a couple awe-inspiring moments. At several points when other hikers were far out of sight and ear-shot, we doused our flashlights and stood alone and silent in the quiet darkness and contemplated the scene. It was humbling. The scenic nature of the trip continued as we drove over Mount Hood and down into the valley towards home. Truly an awesome road trip and a fantastic way to spend my birthday and anniversary. Hopefully more trips to come soon! I'm 34 now! Yikes!
The day after we got home was Nicole's birthday as well as Octoberfest in Mount Angel with Nicole's friends and Bryan. Thanks to Bryan owning a plot of land close to the festival, we all got free parking. I'm not really a beer drinker, but being around so many other beer drinkers is fun. And the whole event was entertaining: An entire town drinking its fill! What a riot! Bryan was saying they were expecting half a million people this year. It's such a cute tiny town, too! Whew! The next morning bright and early, I had to be back at work, so my incredible five-day weekend which began with Ben Folds had finally come to an end. Simply an incredible time.
This morning, I went in for what I thought was going to be a routine adjustment to my braces. I go in every four-to-six weeks and they tinker around in there and put everything back together. One wire might get bent this way or a rubber band switched; it's been going on now for a little more than three whole years. Well today, I was shocked to hear that it's almost over. In five weeks, I go in to get fitted for a retainer and then a few weeks after that, the braces are coming off! My long struggle is finally over! It was such a sudden and unexpected thing to hear that I'm still processing it. I've had these braces so long that they've become a part of me and I barely notice them anymore. It's going to be wild to suddenly be without them forever. Wow.
Nicole surprised me for my birthday with tickets to see Ben Folds live in concert last week. I've been a fan of his going back to high school and to be within ten feet of him performing was truly a bucket list item checked off. He played a great deal of new material I'd never heard before mixed in with a couple older tracks. There was a lot of jazz improv and wild audience participation. It was a fantastic show!
The 16th was Nicole and my three-year anniversary (Still going strong!) and the 17th was my birthday while the 20th was Nicole's. So many holidays bunched up together! To celebrate, we took a three-day, 700-mile road trip around Oregon last week. On the first day, we traveled the Oregon Coast and went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport as well as Ripley's Believe It or Not. The Aquarium was surprisingly actually pretty dull but Ripley's was unexpectedly awesome. So much to see and the little details made it phenominal. Definately worth the entry fee. By contrast, I got into the Aquarium free since it was my birthday and even that feels a little steep.
On the second day, we made it to Crater Lake, Oregon, of which neither of us had ever been. Guys, it was spectacular. The absolute highlight of the trip for me. The weather was perfection and the view was tremendous. That place is a unique gift from nature and its origins as a monster volcano which caved in on itself are fascinating. We busted out our new DSLR camera and got a bunch of amazing photos. Here's one!
On the third and final day, we made it to Bend, Oregon, where we did a bunch of thrifting and visited the Lava River Cave. It's actually the same cave that I visited six years ago with my previous girlfriend, Leann. To get to the end of the cave is quite a hike but we had a couple awe-inspiring moments. At several points when other hikers were far out of sight and ear-shot, we doused our flashlights and stood alone and silent in the quiet darkness and contemplated the scene. It was humbling. The scenic nature of the trip continued as we drove over Mount Hood and down into the valley towards home. Truly an awesome road trip and a fantastic way to spend my birthday and anniversary. Hopefully more trips to come soon! I'm 34 now! Yikes!
The day after we got home was Nicole's birthday as well as Octoberfest in Mount Angel with Nicole's friends and Bryan. Thanks to Bryan owning a plot of land close to the festival, we all got free parking. I'm not really a beer drinker, but being around so many other beer drinkers is fun. And the whole event was entertaining: An entire town drinking its fill! What a riot! Bryan was saying they were expecting half a million people this year. It's such a cute tiny town, too! Whew! The next morning bright and early, I had to be back at work, so my incredible five-day weekend which began with Ben Folds had finally come to an end. Simply an incredible time.
This morning, I went in for what I thought was going to be a routine adjustment to my braces. I go in every four-to-six weeks and they tinker around in there and put everything back together. One wire might get bent this way or a rubber band switched; it's been going on now for a little more than three whole years. Well today, I was shocked to hear that it's almost over. In five weeks, I go in to get fitted for a retainer and then a few weeks after that, the braces are coming off! My long struggle is finally over! It was such a sudden and unexpected thing to hear that I'm still processing it. I've had these braces so long that they've become a part of me and I barely notice them anymore. It's going to be wild to suddenly be without them forever. Wow.