Fun in San Francisco

Every year around this time thousands of people migrate to San Francisco for Oracle OpenWorld, an amazing week that features tech giant Oracle. It's quite a sight and Oracle will stop at nothing to impress! As for those who work for George P. Johnson Company it's another story! This year was C's 5th time on this event and second time being the head of the onsite technology team. Needless to say, the months, weeks and days leading up to the event were....stressful. Yet, despite a few minor (okay, maybe a little more than minor) glitches, they pulled off yet another successful event!! HOORAY! I LOVE this show! I love living in the city for a short period of time and delight in watching the event take place. It is really quite fascinating to watch them put up giant banners, build stages and tents and then in just a few days tear it down to get ready for the next event. It is mindboggeling to think of all that goes into making something like this happen! So, even though we no longer live just 20 minutes south of San Francisco, I still HAD to be there! Luckily, I was able to fly down on Friday and sneak in a jam-packed weekend before having to go back to work first thing Monday. Janet had planned to spend the weekend with us, which was wonderful and worked out so nicely. She picked me up at the airport Friday night and we drove into the city to stay at the Parc 55. Saturday morning while she was getting a tooth fixed, I went on a run down to the Ferry Building and back. I love going there on Saturday mornings. It is alive and buzzing with people from all over looking for fresh produce at the weekly Farmer's Market. There are many sidewalk vendors that are selling anything from jewelry to photo art. It's wonderful! We spent the majority of the day walking around and sightseeing and even got to meet up with C's cousins and aunt who were there for the night. We enjoyed some hot drinks while sitting in the middle of Union Square. What a delight!! Saturday evening we got to have dinner with three of my favorite girls and my previous rock-star team; Tracy, Stacy and Sonja. We ate at a delicious vegetarian restaurant called Golden Era. I HIGHLY recommend it! What a great night! Sunday was spent shopping, visiting C and taking the tour at Moscone. The day was topped off by meeting up with Candy and Dean and heading to the 49er game!!! They were playing the Lions at home and they actually WON!! YIPPEE! I had to head back after that, but I did so with a big smile on my face!!

C 'n T Road Trip

After dropping mom and dad off at the airport C and I decided to go on a little road trip! Since C didn't get to go to the falls on Thursday, T wanted to head there to hike up to the top again. We decided to cross over into Washington and travel along the Gorge on the Washington side. Along the way we stopped at a place called Beacon Rock. It is a rock that is 848 feet tall and sits right alongside the Colombia River. There is a mile long hike and 52 switchbacks that take you to the top and we loved it! Once you get to the top the view is absolutely breathtaking! You get a 360 degree view of your surroundings. We sat up there for quite a while just taking it all in. After hiking back down with an interesting group of people who had been out sailing, we continued on to Multnomah Falls. We stopped for brunch at Cascade Lockes just over the bridge on the Oregon side of the Colombia River. The drive to the falls was once again beautiful and once we got there we headed straight for the top. C was very glad he made the trek, as was I. We'll take you there when you come for a visit!

A visit from Mom and Dad Russell

A week after moving in we were excited to welcome mom and dad Russell from Illinois. Mom had been planning to come for a couple months, dad was a surprise (and a VERY welcomed one)! C had to begin working at the Portland office the day they arrived, so T got to spend each day with them cleaning, unpacking, patching, drilling, painting, and even a little sightseeing! They were incredibly helpful in accomplishing tasks around the house and helping to make us get more moved in and settled. We decided to take Thursday off and go on a day trip. We started at the falls, of which there are many! The first one we stopped at was called Horse Tail Falls. It is beautiful and right off the beaten path just down from the second tallest falls in the states, Multnomah Falls, which is where we went next. Multnomah Falls is absolutely beautiful! Dad and I decided to take the mile hike up to the top. It was quite a hike, but on a paved trail up through the woods and well worth it. After our hike and a yummy picnic lunch by the crick, we packed up and headed up to Mount Hood. The drive was breathtaking! Unfortunately we couldn't go into the park area because they were working on the lodge. We had a wonderful day together! I wish our time had not passed so quickly, but I look forward to having them visit again soon.

A Tour of Our Home

T takes you on a tour of our new home. Enjoy!

We've moved!!

August 7th we embarked on a road trip up Hwy 5 from Galt, CA to Portland, OR. Janet and Gary came with us and were wonderful to help with driving two cars and the move-in. It was the farthest north I had ever traveled by car so it was a very fun and scenic drive. It was beautiful as we passed through Shasta and further north. We made a couple stops; one in Weed, CA where we got lunch. We arrived at our new home at just passed 6:00 p.m. and were happily surprised as we had not seen it in person until now! For as nervous as we had been, we are very happy and we love our new home! We have been very busy cleaning and unpacking and getting it ready for visitors. Come and see us, we'd love to have you!

Moving Day

As many of you know, C and I have been planning to move to Portland for several months. At one point it seemed far in the distance, but on Monday, August 4th we were awakened quite early with a phone call from the truck driver letting us know he was on his way to load up our things. We had spent the weekend in a packing frenzy in attempts to get ready for his arrival (although we did take a couple hours to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary!!). With the help of Janet and Andrea and a couple all-nighters we were able to get everything packed. It's amazing to realize how much STUFF you have when it comes time to pack it up. This is precisely why I enjoy moving every 1-2 years, it really cuts down on all the stuff! However, even with all the sorting out and selling off our furniture we still ended up with a total weight of 6000 lbs!! It's all those school books! When the truck arrived it was quite a sight to see a 60 foot semi pull up and park out in front of our tiny little apartment complex. The neighbors came out of the woodwork to stare at this huge truck and to wonder if we really had that much stuff! The loading team didn't show up so C and I ended up helping with the loading. It took four of us about three hours to get it loaded up. We both thoroughly enjoyed watching the driver put all of our things in like a puzzle. It was really quite fascinating. We spent the night in our empty apartment with a sleeping bag, pillow and suitcase. C actually stayed the following night since he had to be in the office, but I headed over to Galt on Tuesday to spend the next couple of days with Janet and Gary. Bye-bye, Redwood City!!

C 'n T celebrate 5 years of wedded bliss

We can't help but pause and think of our wedding five years ago. It could not have been more perfect and continues to be remembered as the best day of our lives. Here are a few photo favorites. If you want to reminisce through photos visit our wedding website.