Concert in the Park

Ten days in Portland was kinda rough.  The first week was a little boring but the second week made up for it!  One of the teachers needed to fly home for the week so I got to teach that entire week!  Teaching is always stressful and fun!

   I arrived in Vegas Friday night, and Brent already had plans for Saturday!  Turns out that a local radio station hosted a concert!  The first band was 100 Monkeys a local Vegas band.  They were pretty fun to listen to, and I even considered buying their C.D. Except I didn't know where to get it at!

Despite it Being mid-October it is still in the high 70's, so they only way I was going to enjoy myself was by staying the shade.  We went with our friends Erin and James (with daughter Jadie), who agreed that shade was the only way to go!

Erin, James, and Jadie!  Jadie is so adorable!

James bought a watermelon and lime lemonade and Jadie had to have some.  She ended up dumping the ice all over herself.  I think she was just trying to keep cool!

The main act that we went for was Colbie Ciallat.  I have her album and really enjoy the mellow sound.  She was pretty good but she wasn't much of a performer. We thought she would play her guitar the entire time but she only played it for the first song.

Justin Young, the guy playing with her, was super impressive.  He played the entire time as well as did harmony with her.  He can sing surprisingly high.  I would really like to hear more from him!

Brent enjoying the show!

Enjoying the show!

We tried to get a picture of us with Colbie and Justin in the background but there was a girl behind us who recorded her ENTIRE performance, so we didn't really get the a good angle.  I was impressed with the arm muscles on that girl, to hold her I-Phone the entire half hour!

It was amazing to get out for a couple hours on Saturday!  I am determined to find fun things to do every weekend.  Erin and James are great examples, they are so active and I am going to be as well!

Weekend Fun in the Rose City

My parents decided to go to Egypt instead of inviting me to come the decided to call in a favor and asked me to fly to Portland an hang out with Kalen while making sure that everything at the schools went smoothly.  Well 10 days in Portland isn't quite the same as 10 days in Egypt, but I was planning to make the best of it!  

On Friday Brent flew out to spend the weekend with me.  Usually when we are in Portland we are with family and busy, so we were excited to play!

With a city like this who couldn't be excited to do a little exploring!

First, we went to Saturday Market. I never think I am going to like anything there, but I ALWAYS find several things I would love to have!

I did find Hair Feathers that I really wanted to get but Brent told me I wasn't a bird and that he didn't really care for the feathers.  I guess I was meant to remain ground bound.  I am pretty sure I was meant to be in the water so I just hope that scales never become popular, because I might not be able to say no.

After Saturday Market, I took Brent to Powell's Book Store.  It is a Block of glorious books!  Brent wasn't sure he would be into it, but he turned out to really enjoy it!

Powell's is always an adventure!  And then we were off to the Chinese Gardens.  Seriously, this place is amazing.  It is a city block in the middle of downtown Portland, and it is seriously an Oasis!

It is designed as a Chinese Noble Man's Garden.  There a lot of different structures that the noble man and his family would use.   The Garden was meant to be incorporated into the life, not just looked at from time to time.

Through out the Garden there we stone (like the one to the right of Brent) whcih were formed by running water eroding them into unique forms.  Looking at one from bottom to top is suppose to be the mental equivalent to climbing a mountain.

Here we are enjoy the Garden.  These pictures are much harder to take with the big SLR camera, but the pictures turn out a lot better. 

Weeping willows were all over the place!

More cut out rock!  

I loved the large ponds because they had a ton of Koi fish in them.  We also had a pamphlet that shared with    us some of the philosphy used in the creation of the garden.  Yin and Yang are one example. Did you know that Yin is the moon and Yang is the water.  They are suppose to be opposite forces that end up complimenting each other and influencing nature.  

I like this picture because you can really see how this garden is in the middle of the city!  You see the Pagoda and the large brick building behind it!

After a fun day in  Portland I convinced Brent to go to Papa Haydn's for desert.  I got the Boccone Dolce.  It is an amazing melt in your mouth desert with chocolate, melt in your mouth layers, fruit and whip cream. It is my favorite but it is NOT for everyone.

(Side note: Seriously I have some major bags under my eyes.  I have been sleeping a ton lately but I continue to be exhausted! I may have to start wearing a little make up if this becomes a trend!)

Brent got a Hazelnut cream cake (not the technical name).  He has a hard time saying no to anything Hazel nut!  Both of our deserts were REALLY delicious but in the end they were too sweet to finish, luckily that is why they had to go boxes!

Brent was only able to stay through Sunday night (I mean someone has to make the big bucks!).  It was a short period to fly him out for but I am so glad he came.  It was a great way to break up the ten day sand get me out and exploring the city I love.  

Brent and I agreed that Portland is wonderful because it is small enough to explore but has all the character and charm of a larger city.  I am really grateful that he and I enjoy getting and out being active together!  I wouldn't mind if one of us hated eating out though.... I think that would help us in more than one way ;) 

Brent Passed the Bar!

After 4 years of being dirt poor, 1 Bachelors Degree, 1 LSAT, 4 Applications, 30+ Classes, 9 Re-locations, $25,000 in Tuition, 12 Foreign Countries, Numerous Essays, Countless hours of studying, 4 Days of the Bar Exam, and Over 2 Months of Waiting.... 

 Brent has Officially Been Sworn in as a Lawyer!

I am mostly sad to see this chapter of our life close.  It has been an amazing adventure and I could not be more proud of what Brent has accomplished!

There will be an official ceremony that we will attend, and I will blog about on October 21,2011!  

Mariners Game

Finally, the moment of truth! The whole reason we came to Seattle! Mariners!!!! Brent and I arrived early, so we got to walk around the stadium and look at all the little exhibits!

This structure has 1000 bats, which represent a perfect batting average!

Look at me making the catch at the wall.  Okay I couldn't look more fake, but still!

 Brent makes this look amazing! You can tell he is a natural!

This is guy was the voice of the Mariners, who recently passed away.  Brent looks like he would be right at home being a sports caster!

While we were looking out over in the outfield Root Radio started throwing out shirts.  The announce couldn't hear me but some persistent fan next to me made sure I got a shirt!  Thank you Strangers!

After the third inning they come out and sweep the dirt.  Well 5 of the sweepers did a dance!  It was TERRIBLE which made it MORE MORE amazing!

The whole group! Thanks Brent for taking this picture!

A famous shot at the game, we always have to take one!

The game was great!  We ended up winning 4-2!  There was a home run!  I don't think I had ever seen one, so the game turned out to be wonderful!

Pike Market and the Gum Wall

Finally, we worked our rainy way down to Pike's Place. It is a huge market place that is famous for fish throwing. This is just one little chunk of it.  It is actually a few stories high and has a couple different turns!

There were fun things to look at where ever we went but we were never tempted... mainly because we didn't have any room in our suitcases.  Brent told me that he really likes my hair in this picture, I guess fizzy is really a great look for me!

This is the shop that is famous for throwing fish.  I caught them throwing some but Brent was distracted and missed it.  Since it was past mid day we were really hungry.  Instead of having a meal we actually got little items from vendors and shared.   I love eating like that.  We probably spent about the same, but we got to try a lot more fun stuff!, like a chocolate hazelnut pastry and a delicious meat filled pastry with amazing mint sauce.  

We did have to walk back to the car because we forgot our pack of gum, and found this little statue.  The arm is mechanical and hammers up and down all day. 

 From there we went down to the harbor but there wasn't much to see but a few little things that were worth it!

After the harbor I called Audrey because Brent really wanted to visit the Gum wall.  Turned out it was back at Pikes Place Market. Look at this wall!  

Of course we contributed!  Brent said it started at a protest for waiting a long time for the theater.  

I guess a lot of people don't like to wait.

After we finished up we drove down to Auburn to visit with Toren and Audrey for an hour. It was really fun to be out of the rain and just catching up with the family.  I seriously want to live close to Audrey because she so so amazing!  I am pretty sure we could have a lot of fun together. Little Austin was asleep but woke up just as we were leaving.  He was super bashful when he came down but that little boy as to be one of the cutest three on the planet!  I could have stayed for a few more hours but it turns out Brent was pretty excited for the Mariners game, so we reluctantly left. 

Space Needle and Experience Music Project

Where is the most famous tourist spot in Seattle? THE SPACE NEEDLE! Before we actually got to the needle we went to Kerry Park, which is known for its amazing view of Seattle downtown! Imagine this on a beautiful clear day!

After the park we drove to the actual space needle.  I like this shot because you can actually see the water drops on the lense.  Brent was not happy about that, but we were in the rain so I guess it happens!

Next to the Space Needle there is the Experience Music Project. It is an amazing building but Brent and I really had no interest of actually going into the exhibits, so we just walked around inside and out.

I liked this outside structure.

The Music Experience building with the Space Needle in the background!

A front view of the Music Experience building!  Seriously how awesome is this building.  I have no idea how an architect can dream up and make something like this happen!

Final picture of the Space Needle.

On our way back to the car we ran into saw these duck vehicles.  They are amphibious so they go strait from street travel to water travel.

The Space Needle is cool but like most of the biggest tourist attractions I still kinda think it is overrated.  It was nice to get to check it off the tourist list!

Gas Works, Lenin and a Troll

In Seattle they have a couple different parks that are totally unique. One of them is the Gas Works park. It used to be an old gas refinery. They closed it down but left all the equiptment.

Signs were everywhere telling us to not climb on the material.  Apparently, we do not read very well.

I swear I am more tan that this picture is implying!

I liked all the bright colors.  The chose a very fun palate of colors. you can see some purple in the background of this picture.  I will they had little plaques explaining how everything worked at one point or another.

Gorgeous view of Seattle!

After that we went to visit a statue of Lenin.  I guess the story goes that someone purchased it and brought it back from Russia.  This statue is true to communist form.  We saw A LOT of communist art work while we were in Hungary and it look pretty similar to this.  

Some may ask "What does "this" mean?"  Well communist artwork  is suppose to inspire a sense of community, hard work, and equalization.  Since Lenin was the leader of the Soviet Communist Party, typical art would consider it odd that he is in a walking position with average work clothes on.  This suggest that he is a common man.  It is also very typical to see communist art work combined with some sort of rock structuring.  As you can see Lenin is coming out of stone, this suggest that his pathway and his will are unbreakable even when compared to the solidarity of rock.  These are things that we saw a lot in Eastern Europe so it was kinda nice seeing some familiar looking pieces.  

If you are wondering I did not google my analysis, it was all my own which is why it could be WAY off! Needless to say, it is pretty controversial to have in Seattle since the US has never supported communism or its propaganda. 

Once we were finished looking at Lenin we went to find the Troll that was featured in the movie 10 things I hate about you!  They were doing construction right next the the Troll but had it opened for people to climb on.  I was trying to see if they carved out his nostrils, and they did. 

This thing was GIANT!  In his hand he had a full VW bug!

Brent just relaxing.  you can see the VW bug, and the construction much better in this picture!

The troll was one of my favorite stops!  I am still not sure why the troll is there, but I will more people took advantage of unusual art spots!