Modern day miracle

Well today was going to be the day that I finally gave in and went to the laundromat as we had more clothes dirty than clean. It was got to the point that I even hand washed some items of clothing, so that we would have something clean to wear. I was just dreading the whole loading up the laundry in baskets, gathering quarters, making sure I have the detergent and then sitting in a room full of washers and dryers for a few hours on a perfectly beautiful day. (Can you tell I have been spoiled with always having a washer and dryer everywhere I have lived in my life? Right there in the convenience of my own home.) So I put it off. And off again. Until today. I was actually going to go for it and get it over with.

Laying in bed thinking of how to accomplish this without grumbling and complaining I decided just to get out of bed and make the best of what lied ahead. When I came down to the den where Becks works we said our good mornings and then he told me the drain was clear. I was in shock. In shock because this had to be the most persistent clog known to man! It survived an auger, three different types of Drano and Becks disassembling the sink and taking off the P trap. This clog was stubborn!!

Becks proceeded to tell me that he had looked and the Drano finally went down after a week of just sitting in the drain. (Normally it should go down the drain and in 30 minutes for a tough clog you should be able to pour hot water down and it should be all fixed.) He tested it by pouring two buckets of water into the drain and down they went! A miracle! We were going to call a plumber, but put it off for whatever reason. Glad we did and saved ourselves a hundred or so bucks.

Well, needless to say I have been doing laundry ever since Becks got our new sink and trap installed. Thanking God for this modern day miracle. No matter how small it is compared to what He is capable of!

Labored Days

Hello from Portland!! Anybody out there? Sometimes it is odd to be typing a blog wondering if it will be read by someone. I'm not the first to mention that feeling of inadequacy. Some of you have read Gary Underwood's approach to that phenomena. But who cares, right? Blogging is therapeutic.

Lee & I have these moments where we can't believe that we moved to the far side of the country. How does one just get up and move 2500 miles away from everything they know and are comfortable with? Perhaps that's why we did it. Even we are not totally sure of all the reasons that we did move. Sure we had some quite specific motivations for leaving Akron (as some of you may know) but we face that question here often with only a vague answer that we can give. Everyone wants to know - why Portland? Our token answer is that we thought that it was cool. At which point the natives give us a quizzical look and ask if we have been here through the winter yet. I guess that is there way of saying that they don't see Portland as somewhere they would move if they had the choice. Of course, everyone probably thinks there is somewhere better. The typical 'grass is always greener somewhere else' mentality.

On to the less thought provoking .... the last few days have been quite busy with work & house projects. We have been painting again. BIG SURPISE!! This time it has been the hallway. It is now "clay pebble" which is a greenish-gray tone. Again a big improvement upon white. We have also added a new project to our growing list of must-do's. Our utility room sink has a stopped drain which is more stubborn than any chemical known to man. It has also fought and defeated an auger. Not sure what the deal is but we are running out of clean underwear as we haven't been able to do laundry because the washer drains into this sink. I may be breaking out the big guns and replacing the whole sink and drain piping this weekend. Wish me luck. I welcome any encouragement or words of advice you may have on the skills of plumbing and home improvement. I know some of you who may actually read this are gifted with those sorts of things.

Love to hear from you. Please email us (becks@oregopia.com) or call anytime. Don't forget - it is still a local call for our Akron friends. Hint! Hint!

Visitor from the South

Lee here! Just an update to fill those of you in who keep in contact with us through our very sparse blogger. We have been kept quite busy, Becks with work the past several weeks and myself with various preparations for our first house guest. Yes, our first overnight guest to our new home! More on that later. We have been continuing to make our house more like our own space. Just finished last week painting the walls in the bathroom and now need to paint the mouldings, ceiling and add some photos to the room before it can be considered officially finished. For any who remember our lavender room in our last house it is sort of that color, but maybe a shade or so off. I didn't expect it to turn out so purple...we were thinking it would be more of a gray. Oh, well it is what it is and is looking a lot better than the boring white that it was. Now with the cheap wooden medicine cabinet down and a new mirror from Ikea it is more in line with our style. We also have finished the painting that was going on in our living room. So that room is now more warm and inviting. Many more projects on our list, but those are a few that are complete or in the process of completion.

We have also been attending a new church as some are already aware. We checked it out with our friends Jason and Allison about a month and a half ago. It is awesome to see how God has guided us in this part of our life.

Okei (Finnish for OK) onto why I am really blogging ... to brag about what an awesome guest we had the pleasure of hosting for a few nights. My best friend, Beth Warrick, came for a visit this past weekend. She told me in May that she would come out at the end of August to stay with us for an extended weekend! And she did!! Amazing, huh?! That is a true best friend for you. And it couldn't have worked out better as my employers took the past week off for a work trip / vacation, so I was totally free from work while she was here. We tried to get her to blog on here and give you a play by play of her time out here, but we didn't have much down time to have her actually do that. So now you get to hear from me what we actually did.

Friday we went downtown after Becks finished up work and went to trendy-3rd Street (23rd) for some shopping. It amounted to no more than window shopping, but it was fun to check out all the different styles and laugh at the boutiques that wanted $225 for a tank top! No joke! We had dinner in the Pearl District downtown and walked along the waterfront. On Saturday we went out mid-morning to Mount Hood. What wonderful weather! The sky was extremely clear which gave us awesome views from the mountain. We took a two mile roundtrip hike from Timberline Lodge at 6000 ft to Silcox Hut at 7000 ft. After our time at the mountain we drove to see the waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge. We will post pics of the falls and Mt Hood on our website one of these days (we promise) which will give you an idea of the beautiful nature that surrounds us here. Saturday night we went out to a little cafe on the East side called The Pied Cow and had some yummy desserts in a trendy, eclectic environment. On Sunday, it was off to church and our church picnic! Fun times at a couples house that resembles the Swiss Family Robinson's digs. After some more sightseeing downtown (the Pittock mansion and the Rose Garden) it was off to Jason and Allison's for some delicious dinner. They had Allison's parents in for the weekend, so it was fun to all hang out with our guests and enjoy terrific food prepared by Jason. On Monday morning Beth and I headed out to do some real shopping. She played my fashion consultant as we went in search of some new clothes for me. We were quite successful in our venture out. And I am well on my way to having a more updated wardrobe thanks to her. Then it was time to say our goodbyes as I had to take her to the airport so that she could fly back to Dallas :( Sad, but also hopeful that it won't be long before we get to see each other again. Maybe for my first ever trip to Texas! It is great to have friends living in different states. That way we have many interesting places to visit. Lori and Bob Siffert you are still on the list as well! Can hardly wait to see your new place in sunny FL some day :)

Well I feel as though I have written a novel. And there is so much more going on in our lives out here. But I will leave you with this for now. Hope all of you are doing well! Let us hear from you! Especially if you are thinking of coming out this way!