Pacific Northwest vs. the South

Our arrival to Mississippi is getting closer and closer! While I am excited about the move, I also have my trepidations, which the recent deadly storms in the South are not helping. I thought that for your entertainment (and so I have something to do since I really don’t want to do the dishes), I would make a list of goings-ons that I will miss about Portland. Believe it or not, while I still would prefer to live in the Seattle area, there are things that I will miss about Portland (or maybe just the Pacific Northwest in general. Here goes:

Things I will NOT miss about Portland:

-Weird People. Don’t get me wrong, there are weird people everywhere, but Portland is infested with them.

-Traffic. I cannot wait to move to a town of 10,000 people where rush hour traffic does not exist. It makes my stress level much lower while driving.

-Construction in the worst possible places at the worse possible times. I don’t know what it is about Portland, but they have the WORST roads ever, and they are ALWAYS under construction. Seattle at least has the sense to do major highway construction work at night and on the weekends. Portland does it in the middle of the day, and they close the road down to one lane right where two on ramps are merging onto the overpass. Not to mention just daily traffic getting from one side of the city to the other side.

-Our current married housing from the University. While I love the fact that the scholarship pays for rent, and I really have gotten used to this apartment, I look forward to having: laundry machines; a dishwasher; a house with a door big enough for our couch to fit through; a shower that is not underneath a staircase; not having an upstairs neighbor who constantly overflows something in her bathroom that starts dripping into our bedroom; counter space in the kitchen; windows that actually open; a circulation system that actually works; an electrical system that post-dates the Triassic and has a ground prong; a fume hood over the stove;… I’m sure there’s more I could add to this list, but I’ll end it here. At least they got rid of the orange shag carpet that was in here before we moved in.

-The weather. I love the cold, but I do not enjoy the cold and the rain. If it rained less, I would love it more.

Things I WILL miss about Portland:

-Family and friends. I have lived away from them for the last five years, but the majority of my cousins and family have always been a half a day’s drive, even from Moscow. Now they will be a long plane ride away. And that definitely sucks.

-No sales tax. Need I say more?

-No tornados. Again, need I say more?

-The Pacific Ocean. If you know me at all, you know I love the beach and everything about it.

-The mountains. Mississippi’s highest peak is Woodall Mountain at a jaw-dropping 806 feet. Sorry, people of Mississippi, that is not a mountain. Not even close. You don’t know what a mountain is.

-People watching. While weird people are annoying and creep me out, I must admit that you can spend an entire day in downtown Portland and not get bored looking at passersby. Although, I am sure the local Wal-Mart can provide this luxury, but then there’s the fact that involves going to a Wal-Mart.

-Proximity of malls. And shopping in general. Not at the Wal-Mart.

-The seemingly needless, but very necessary, number of coffee places. I love how, from my work, I can go around the corner to a Starbucks, go less than a ¼ mile from there to another Starbucks, go around the other corner at work to another Starbucks, or I can walk across the street to the Tully’s, and across the street from the Tully’s is an espresso stand. The nearest actual Starbucks from our town is MS will be about thirty miles away.

The weather. I know I said I wouldn’t miss this, but the South is extremely humid, and I hate humidity, so I will miss the “dryer” air from the Western Cascades. Also, it gets hot down there, and I do not like hot. Hotter than 75 is too hot.

Powell’s Books. I love that store. Cheap books. What could be better?

Feel free to add to my list!

Sipping Starbucks: An Exploratory Session featuring Rayla and Brittany: My Favorite Camping Trip

Topic: Rayla wants me to write about my favorite camping trip

Author’s Note: You must excuse our lack of columns the last two weeks, my sisters have been very busy with school.

Let me begin by dictating my definitions of camping, since this word means something different depending upon who you ask. “Real Camping” can be defined as the act of shoving everything that you desire to bring with you into backpack, preferably rainproof, and hiking to a location that looks great to pitch a tent, but ultimately also has some major flaw that goes unnoticed until the next morning when you wake up. Peeing in the forest is also included in this definition, as well as becoming one with the mosquitoes and chipmunks, the latter of which enjoy stealing food, which is extremely funny if they happen to carry away an entire sleeve of your dad’s favorite food, fig newtons. “Fake Camping” is any act of leisure that involves a trailer, a vacuum, a building within walking distance that contains a shower and toilet facilities, and something never, ever found in Real camping, a mom. “Semi-Fake camping” is camping with a tent in a campground. At least with Semi-Fake Camping one is sleeping on the ground and depends on the fire for warm food. Or a Coleman stove.

Needless to say, my favorite camping trips have both been Real Camping, even though I haven’t had many trips that would fall under that classification. My favorite Real Camping trip took place way back in the 90’s, when my brother was still healthy enough to hike. Actually, I believe this is the only time that we ever went Real Camping with Evan. Anyways, I was about 8 or 9 years old and we hiked about two or so miles into Dorothy Lake (I don’t quite remember where this is, somewhere in the Cascades). With me were my sister, brother, Dad, and Grandpa John. No moms or grandmas in sight J. I remember this trip for both the really fun times, and the fact that I was injured or sick the entire 3 days.

When we first arrived to the lake, I naturally had to walk into the water. Stepping onto a really slippery rock, my 8 year old klutzy self did not see the error of my ways, and I of course slipped and sliced a nice big hole on the inside of my right foot, right where my big toe rubs up against my hiking boots. Even mole skin couldn’t relieve that pain. This made the next day’s hike to a waterfall extremely painfully, not to mention the hike back to the car the day after that.

But that’s not all. That night, as I am unfortunately prone to do, I got a migraine. A migraine bad enough that I was throwing up all night. I don’t remember if my Dad had packed any Tylenol, but having the mother I do, I’m sure she put a few doses into the medical kit. That night was absolutely miserably, filled with barfing and a toe that was throbbing in pain. My brother and sister, however, did not feel my pain and rejoiced over the fact that they would get to sleep that night in Grandpa’s tent, with Grandpa, who was just about the coolest person ever in our little kid minds (and never fear, he still is).

Despite the bad omens I was experiencing, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I even remember that we had a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, and Malt-o-Meal the next morning and I can even picture where we all were sitting while we were breaking fast. I wish I could tell you many more trips like these followed, but they didn’t. Having a brother with cancer, not to mention a mom who does not enjoy being cold or sleeping on the ground, definitely makes it hard to plan trips such as these. We had a lot of good times on Fake Camping trips, though, trips I wouldn’t trade for anything, even if they aren’t Real Camping.

My second favorite camping trip would have to be the climb up to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainer that I did two summers ago with my sister and dad. That, however, will be a separate column. SUSPENSE!

Attack Catfish

As most of you know, on Wednesday at work I was attacked by a catfish. Sadly, though, this catfish was only about 3 inches long, so it's not nearly as cool as being attacked at a river by a 3 foot long catfish. Anyway, the Pictus catfish (Pimolodus pictus) has really long "whiskers" with barbels at the end. Also during my research, I have discovered they have a sharp dorsal spine on the frontal end of their dorsal fin. I have no idea if it was the spine or the barbels that got me, all I know is that one second I was scrubbing a tank and the next minute my finger was on fire and the stupid fish would not let go. I was shaking it off my finger for several seconds until it finally let go. Holy cow, it hurt. A LOT. I got stung around the middle joint of my index finger, it swelled up to the tip of my finger down to almost on my thumb. It was bright red and extremely warm to the touch. The puncture hole actually bled for a little bit and was white in the near vicinity. This was definitely the most painful sting I have ever experienced. I would have ignored it, but the incident nurse that my work called told me I should be seen by a doctor passed on the symptoms. So $300 worth of antibiotics later, my finger is doing much better. You can still see the puncture, and my finger might be a little bit swollen around the area, but it's doing much better. And let me assure you, I will never, ever stick my hand in that tank again. Ever. Someone else will have to get the fish if any one wants one.

On an extremely happy note, the next day, one of the catfish was lying on it's side at the bottom of the tank breathing hard and it later died. I laughed at it. Serves it right.

Sipping Starbucks: An Exploratory Session featuring Rayla and Brittany: Brittany's Challenge

Topic: Since Brittany is my unpaid stylist, I had her try and pick out an outfit that she thinks I would love and look good in, then I would see if she passed or failed.

First off, her are the pictures of the outfit that she thinks I will look good in:

A ring

A bracelet

The adorable sandals

A cute top

And to finish it off, the jeans

Here is her explanation:

I think this outfit would be perfect for you for spring/summer. I know you aren't too big of a fan of heels, but these wedges will be comfy and easy to walk in all day. I would looooooove to get you into a pair of Seven's or Joe's, but I have a strange feeling I never will =p Anyway, the cut of these jeans are perfect for your body type and will look great with the shoes. They're also the perfect wash for the tone of the top. The top is pretty and feminine, perfect for a young wife such as yourself and has just a touch of purple, purely for your sanity. The accessories add a rustic and classy touch and could be worn with pretty much anything. If you had long hair I would suggest big, beachy waves, but I think your short/straight hair would also look perfect, maybe pin some of the layers around your face back. Makeup: put a little blush on your cheeks, a touch of eyeliner, smudged a little bit, super light/peachy eye shadow and a soft pink/nude lip color and you're set!! ♥

Here is my reaction:

I love the jeans. We will ignore the fact that they are $165, since I'm not actually going to buy this outfit. We will just need to kind jeans that look exactly like that for cheaper because I love them.
The top is also cute, but I think Brittany would actually have to be shopping with me to make me try it on. (And Brittany? The top isn't purple, it says it's brown on the website, but it does look more mauve-ish). So I think I would wear a shirt like this, but not this particular one.
The sandals are adorable. However, I cannot walk in heels like that. My knees would be killing me. If they were about two inches shorter I would probably buy them right now, but they are just way too tall for me.
I also like the accessories, but I do prefer silver over brassy or gold colors. And I'm not a huge fan of bracelets, they just seem to get in the way all the time, so you might have to force me to wear it, but it's definitely my style. Love the ring, too, but wish it was more silver-y.

Anyways, you will be proud to know that Brittany definitely passed! This outfit is definitely my style, and while there are some things I would change, I love the idea of this outfit! Can't wait to have more money so I can buy new clothes like this :)

Inception

Last night, Matt and I watched Inception for the first time via Netflix DVD. We were both looking forward to watching it, since we had heard only good things about it. Well, Matt didn't even finish watching the movie. I did, but probably came out of it just as confused as Matt. We do not usually agree on movies, so I guess that's one positive out of this experience! Maybe both of our brains aren't tuned to understand science fiction, but I don't think a movie should be that confusing that you have to watch it twice. And the whole dream within a dream times five? I can't figure out if that's pure genius or just lazy writing or the writer just had no idea how to edit all the ideas in his head. On this movie, Matt and I are both giving it zero stars. Or maybe one star, for nice try. A for effort, right?

Sipping Starbucks: An Exploratory Session featuring Rayla and Brittany: Least Favorite Dog Breeds

Topic: Rayla wants me to explain to y'alls y'all (gotta practice my Southern speech, y'all is singular, y'alls y'all is when you are talking to multiple people) my 3 least favorite dog breeds.

On a random first side note, I would like to say that today I am not sipping Starbucks, but Peet's Coffee French Roast. It is actually more expensive than Starbucks, but since Matt gave up coffee for Lent, I thought I would spend the extra money and buy some awesome coffee since it will last longer with only one person drinking it. Peet's is a really good coffee and doesn't have the burnt taste that Starbucks can have, so I love it. With a little bit of half-n-half, it is quite delectable.

On a second not so random side note, I hope none of you actually own one of my least favorite dog breeds, and if you do, I apologize and will give your dog all the chance in the world. My decisions are based mostly on looks, and only partly on experience, having never owned a dog but seeing them daily at my job.

Ok. Onto the list. Least Favorite Dog Number 1: Komondor



Ok, I'm sorry, but if your dog looks like this and you like it, I think you're weird. I could never, EVER own a dog that would take this much effort to take care of. Besides, it just looks kind of ridiculous. And I understand that you can keep the coat shorter, but just knowing that my dog should look like this, how dumb. If I'm going to get a dog, it's not going to look like the item I clean my floor with.

Least Favorite Dog Number 2: Chinese Crested



Need I say more? I mean, really. This dog has a poof on it's head and it's ankles. It's almost as bad as a poodle, but at least the poodle has hair and it's the owners that take it away. This dog can't blame this on their owners. And I can't imagine cuddling a dog that doesn't have hair. A dog is just supposed to have hair. I know this kept them from getting fleas and stuff on the boats back in the olden days, but this is just bad. Poor hairless dog. And it's a small dog. Which is not something I can usually forgive unless it's a Shih Tzu. Those are good dogs.

Least Favorite Number 3: Chihuahuas (Mostly this goes to generic Little Dogs, but I especially dislike Chihuahuas)



So like I said earlier, I usually cannot stand little dogs. I'm sorry, but dogs that are smaller than my late rabbit Benji should just not be called dogs. My dad affectionately calls them "punter dogs," since you can totally practice your field goals with them. In my experience, the little dogs are the most annoying. People don't house break them and they bark at everything. EVERYTHING. And some women carry them around in their purses and think they can take them everywhere. No. I do not agree. The only little dogs I do consistently like are Shih Tzus. They are normally pretty calm and aren't annoying and fairly easy to housebreak.

But back to Chihuahuas. I have met only a handful of them that don't shake ALL THE TIME. Or bark. Or are being carried around and pampered more than something that annoying should be pampered. And their little buggy eyes are CREEPY. So creepy. That makes them not cute. Also, real dogs don't need sweaters to keep them warm. I am a cat person more so than a dog person and dogs should just never be smaller than any cat I shall own in the future. Oh, excuse me, cats that I take care of. Cats don't have owners.

Matt and I are currently getting ready to have a dog once we move to Mississippi, and we keep going back and forth on what kind of dog to get. I can tell you with 100% certainty, however, that we will never own a mop dog, a small hairless dog, or a small annoying shaking barking dog.

Sipping Starbucks: An Exploratory Session featuring Rayla and Brittany: Jogging

Topic: Do something Portland-y

Brittany asked me to do something that is “Portland-esque” and chronicle the experience. There are many unique, Portland-y things to do around here, including Multunomah Falls, visit Powell’s , or shop at a farmer’s market. I would have been more than happy to do any of these relatively low-impact activities, but since Matt is gone and I only feel comfortable driving to Fred Meyer, the laundry mat, and work by myself, this limited my possible activities. So what did I come up with? I decided to go for a jog. While this is not a Portland exclusive thing, Portland is known for its outdoorsy people. And hey, only Portland would think it’s a good idea to have a relay race starting halfway up Mt. Hood and continuing all the way to the Pacific Ocean. And, as it turns out, it was raining (WHOA!), so I ran in the rain, which I would say definitely qualifies being Portland-esque.

On to the experience. Let me be clear. I HATE running (well, in my case, jogging, but same thing, really). I HATE it. Everything about it. Especially if I am doing it outside on the concrete. There is no “runners high” for me. It’s more like a “Sara why the heck did you do this to yourself hate.” But because it was the only thing I could come up with, and let’s face it, I need to do more exercise, I found myself heading out into the rain for a jog.

Let me explain why I hate running so much. I have a lot going against me. I have patella femoral syndrome, which means my quad muscles don’t hold my patella in place and it can slide around grinding away at bone cartilage. Yay. I also have extremely high arches and run flat footed, which causes all kinds of shin and calf pain. I have tried adjusting my stride so I’m not running flat footed, but nothing has worked. Give an elliptical machine- or an inside track like UI’s rec center- any day of the week so my knees can forgive me.

I didn’t try to make any world records today, I just decided a nice mile or so would be good for my first run in, oh, five months. Unfortunately, I managed to find a road that took me down from the bluff to the river level. I had no idea at the time how long this road would be, but I thought it would be a nice workout to run both down and uphill. Yeah, bad decision. This road went about a quarter mile or so downhill. Shockingly, the only way to get back up a bluff is to run back uphill. Fun times.

As bad as the run was, while I was running a few errands this morning, I just so happened to buy a Starbucks. This is also a Portlandy thing do to that I enjoy eons more than running, so I at least got to do that! And while I write this, I am enjoying a Widmer Hefeweizen (with lemon, of course), which was brewed about five miles from my current position. I’m leading quite the Portland lifestyle today!