More Views from Hwy. 101.

I've always loved this view of Florence, Oregon. I have a thing for buildings lined up on the water and marinas. They always make me feel like home. 

I love the vines growing on the tree trunk. 

If you're driving south on the coast, on your right will be the ocean, and on your left you will pass many many lakes. This particular lake is home to a few houseboats.

When I was a kid I always dreamed about living on a houseboat. I thought it would be really fun and awesome. Then I would imagine floating down a river and off a waterfall, not so awesome. I suppose that is why houseboats reside in lakes and not rivers.

This is one of my very favorite views. The forest looks like it could go on forever. When we lived in Utah I always complained about how ugly it was. Then we lived in Southern Idaho and anytime we drove out of Weiser, I always complained about how ugly it was. It feels so good to be home and not have to miss the trees and water anymore.

Wood Carving.

There are two really popular things along the Oregon coast, wood carving and glass blowing. I've always thought the giant woodcarvings were really cool. Someday I'd like to own one of a peg legged pirate for my porch. How cool would that be? He has to have a parrot on his shoulder too, can't forget that.

These are just a couple examples that I found at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. I've never been to one but they have competitions where the carvers will carve with only a chainsaw and the best design wins. Obviously these weren't done with just a chainsaw, I mean, look at those details.

The Beautiful Oregon Coast.

To get to the Aquarium, it's a two hour drive up the coast. Oh darn. There's absolutely nothing to look at. I think the people behind me probably thought I was a crazy tourist as my car still has Idaho plates and I made frequent stops to take photos of the coast. I couldn't help myself, I just wanted to share how pretty it was with you guys.

This place is called Devil's Churn. When the ocean is rough, waves come crashing in, hit the rocks, and spray really high. Unfortunately the ocean was pretty calm while I was there and the viewpoint was covered in some big church group so I didn't stick around to see if any big waves were coming in.

Do you see the tiny Heceta Head lighthouse way out there? 

I zoomed in, you can see it now. 

I love how the ocean is simultaneously beautiful and angry looking. 

Beautiful sandy beach as far as the eye can see.

This isn't a very good photo of it but when the sunlight hits the water, the whole ocean shimmers like silver glass. 

Okay, now imagine all of these pictures on a sunny day instead of a somewhat overcast day. Ready to come visit Oregon yet?

Debris & Garbage.

I spy with my little eye, a bunch of people who have no regard for nature or the planet. This is just some of the garbage found on a local beach. Every year thousands of volunteers participate in beach cleanups on the coast. I have done many of them myself thanks to my mom's relentless volunteering. I can't begin to tell you of the nasty things I've found on the beach. I hate litterers. I find littering to be rude. It's rude to the earth, it's rude to the organisms that call that place home, and it's rude to the person who has to go behind you picking up your mess.

Now that you've had a chance to play I spy with the photos, this stuff was collected in only 2 hours. That's it, just 2. I've seen hundreds of people attack a beach for the good part of a day and fill up giant construction sized dumpsters with trash only to have to repeat the process every 6 months. I know we have fines for litterers but I think they should also have to do community service where they pick up trash off of the side of the road or the beach. Littering is not cool, guys.

Oregon Coast Aquarium!

Remember last week how I had to drive 2 hours up the coast to drop some stuff off at my dad's job site? Since we were so close, I decided to drive the 12 extra miles to Newport, Oregon and take Jake to the aquarium. I hadn't been there since I was a kid and we had so much fun. We got there just in time to watch them feed the seals and sea lions. Although Keiko the whale is no longer housed there (RIP Free Willy), it's still a super awesome aquarium to visit. I don't know why I always referred to the whale as Free Willy when it was actually just Willy in the movie.

Jake loved this little guy. He sure put on a show for us.

That fish looks really cool. The shipwrecked ship reminds me of those little ships you can get for your at home fish tank. 

Rawr! Nevermind, I don't think sharks rawr. Gnash! 

Men with flat noses are so handsome. 

I had to hold myself up on the ladder. That's what I get for being short. 

The sea otter was so cute but was a little too into cleaning himself. It got awkward. 

Hitchhiker or dinner?

All I can think of when I look at that is the 6 fingered man, but that thing has 11 fingers. Unnatural. 

They had an underwater petting zoo. I'm almost certain that isn't what it was called though. Anemones are really fun to play with, they cling to your fingers. 

I thought these were so pretty. 

How does one go about getting a giant pink anemone pet?

Giant Japanese crab. Jake wanted to eat him. Rude. He was my friend.

Cupcakes!

One of my dearest friends is in town visiting and he stopped by last night for a moment bearing cupcakes. They weren't just any old cupcakes, they were amazingly delicious homemade red velvet cupcakes bigger than my fist. Thanks, Buzzy, I'm looking forward to the diabetes. Yum!

Happy Weekend!

Wall Color.

Do you like our fancy curtain? The paint was still wet so I couldn't rehang the curtain but I wanted to go to bed and I can't sleep if there is any light at all so Jake made me this fancy schmancy window covering.

Our lovely paint color is Adagio by Benjamin Moore. We're pretty in love with it. It's not too dark or too light and actually feels like a color instead of a poor excuse for grey (I dislike pastels and washed out colors).

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just found it on my mom's camera the other day and thought I'd share with you what I gave everyone in my family for Christmas. This was right before people were coming over so Jake & I were scrambling to add tags and twine to all of the jars. 

My dad's secretary is on vacation this week so I've been helping out in the office. He has a construction company and mini storage units so it's not a super busy office like a doctor's would be or anything but there is plenty to do because I'm only there for a few hours a day.

While his secretary is enjoying sunny Florida, it's been raining non-stop here. The rivers are all at flood level and the roads are covered in water, it's pretty typical for the Oregon Coast. My favorite part is how the power keeps going out. I can't wait for Spring. 

Most of our apartment is new construction that my dad added on but the two bedrooms were pre-existing. One of them is my old room that I used to live in a few years ago. For some reason, I had painted one of the walls blue. I really can't remember why, and it wasn't a pretty shade of blue. It was like an ugly little boy's room blue. I had had enough of looking at it so yesterday I painted it grey using the paint we're going to use in the rest of the apartment. It turns out that I really love our paint color, which is good since we already bought 10 gal of it. Sometimes it's just hard to tell when you only paint little swatches on the wall. 

Other than that we haven't made much progress on the apartment. All of our belongings have been carried up the stairs though and I have begun the long unpacking process. Most of our stuff will have to remain in boxes until the construction is complete. 

Today I have to drive 2 hours to take some sort of cleaner made of acid to my dad's job site. It's a beautiful drive if it's not pouring down rain so I don't mind too much. Jake is going to come with me and hopefully we'll be able to make a few stops on the way back down to explore. 

Happy day, everyone!

Our Apartment In Progress: Vol. Two

There has been some progress so I thought I'd share a little update on the apartment. As I've mentioned, we have cabinets. At first I really hated them but they're growing on me. They were salvaged from some apartments my dad and brother remodeled a few years ago. I am still going to paint them eventually but it's not my top priority.

We also have tile, the darker color is the actual color of the tile, the rest still needed to have the grout wiped off.

There are also cupboards in the laundry room to store my soap or whatever other junk I manage to stuff in there. I love having cupboards hidden away to store things like extra light bulbs and tools.

That's my dad, standing by the breakfast bar. We're waiting for our tile to come in at Home Depot for the counter tops. I hope the color looks alright, it's hard to tell when you're choosing from a magazine and not actually holding the tile in your hand.

The place is a mess already! In this photo you can kind of tell that the ceiling has been textured.

A closer look at all of our belongings. The washer and dryer have yet to be extracted from the depths of the trailer, along with about 1/4 of our possessions.

The tile extends all the way down the hall and into the bathroom on the right. For now we're just going to leave the rest of the floor as is and cover it with area rugs. It's such a large space to purchase flooring for and we don't want to spend that kind of money right now.

That's my dad's bum in the bathroom. Where his head is, is where the toilet will be. If you see that crooked piece of wood on the left, that is where the linen closet is. There will be a two sink vanity to the right, directly behind my dad. He was working on some plumbing. The ladder is in the shower, which hasn't been tiled yet. This is the only room where the walls still need some attention and I believe that will be happening later today.

A lot has been accomplished already but it seems like there is still so much to do. I love how it's all coming together.