December 31: New Years Eve

CJ had to work New Years Eve, so my dad and I ventured around in Portland without her.  We had brunch at a cute little place called Jam.  They had snowflakes decorating the restaurant (I wish I had a picture of that).  Anyway, we made our own as we waited to be seated.  It was fun, and kept us occupied while we waited.  We then went to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  So good!

After we picked up CJ from work, we headed to the airport to drop dad off.  Then it was back to moms for games and wine until midnight.  

At 4:53pm, I got a call from United that my flight from Chicago to Atlanta on the 1st had been canceled.  They rebooked me on the 2nd.  This was problematic.  First, I didn't want to hang out in the Chicago airport for an entire day.  Second, I needed to be back to work for orientation on Thursday.  After calling United, they rerouted me through Houston leaving January 1st, at 5:30am.  Yikes.  But at least I wasn't going to be stranded in Chicago and I'd make it back for orientation.

Look at my cute sister and her dog.

P.s. if you notice, none of my time in Oregon was spent in snow.  There was only 4 inches on the mountains.  Sad day.

December 26: New Games!

We spent most of the day playing new games I got for Christmas.  Quelf is a very funny game where you must 'obey the card'.  The cards tell you to do things like, sit on your hands the rest of the game, wear a chin strap, or get everyone to evaluate.  After a few rounds of quelf, we played Puerto Rico a strategy game.

Later that evening when my mom was out at a Christmas party, the power went out.  CJ and I spent the time huddled under blankets playing phase 10 and making smores in the fireplace.  It was fun, although I was very grateful when the power (read: heat) came back on! 

 

November 9: Game Night

Ginny and I hung out Saturday night.  After a day of cleaning and trying to be productive, it was nice to grab dinner, ice cream, and play games with a dear friend.  We played two rounds of Ticket to Ride, or what I often refer to as, trains.  I won the first game!  And the second...take a good look, we tied at 110pts.  I'm not sure that's ever happened to me in this game...maybe it just means I need to play more often.

Bruce Munro's Light Display

Last weekend, I met up with Lee in Nashville, TN.  It was a nice opportunity to hang out, do some hiking, and see some fun and unusual things.

Percy Warner Park is apparently well known for it's trails.  The loop is supposed to be 4.5 miles, but after starting my gps a mile or so into the hike, it still said 4.2 by the time we were done hiking.  Strange.  Despite the mud, the trails were wonderful, the conversation was good, and the weather was perfect!

Saturday evening the Botanical Gardens were having a light show display by artist Bruce Munro.  His collection included nine displays of light in various forms and fashions.  The picture below was my attempt at capturing some of the 20,000 bulbs that lit up the grassy areas.  It was actually pretty amazing, but I'm amazed by simple things (especially if they involve light).

The bamboo garden

This was a rain display inside the museum in the gardens.  It was by far my favorite inside display.

This was entitled blue moon.  The 'moon' was centered on top of a zen garden, although you can barely see that in the picture.  The moon also changed colors periodically.

Some of the light displays were interesting and some more captivating than others.  All in all, it was a nice weekend; we had some great conversations and I even got introduced to a new game.

The drive home was absolutely beautiful.  The weather was perfect and I drove with the windows down, my radio up, and my hair blowing in every direction...and I didn't get stuck in traffic unlike on the drive to Nashville.  It's the little things!