winter times

Hi lovely friends!

I just started a new term of classes today, so I thought I'd give ya'll a little update before I got too busy.

In general Portland's been good, but times have been a little tough for us, as Mike hasn't been able to find a job yet. And our cat Ramona died. And Mike's grandma died. But all in all, we've been happy, seeing lots of beautiful sights, hanging out with good friends, and getting by just fine.

I don't know how many of you knew our cat Ramona. She was a super awesome cat. Even cat-haters like her. We had her for about 7 years. She's actually from Portland - we got her from the humane society when we lived here in 2001. So it's kind of special that she returned to her home to die. She wasn't old or (visibly) sick; now in retrospect, I wonder if she'd had cancer for awhile, or at least some underlying/chronic illness. Joey (our dog) could tell she was sick and he would lay with her on the couch before she died. It was so sweet.




He also liked to lie in the box we made for her when she was sick.



We miss her, but we're comforted knowing she lived a full, adventure-filled life.


holiday photos:

Mike's sister Megan came down from Olympia for Thanksgiving. We made a fairly traditional dinner here, including a small turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, salad, and scalloped corn (mike's great grandma's recipe). I've been eating meat occasionally. I look mad here but I'm not.



Here's a squash pie I made. It was good, but I would definitely use a regular crust next time, because the graham cracker crust was WAY TOO sweet.



We stayed here for Christmas too. I don't know if Angela told you, but we got a serious snowstorm, and everyone was basically stuck home. Portland does NOT plow the streets AT ALL. It was pretty intense. My mom, dad, and brother came from Michigan, and my sister and her girlfriend came from San Francisco. We got around the city a bit for some dinners and a comedy holiday slideshow, but we had to carry shovels and dig the car out at least 4 times. Folks were helpful though - we got stuck once on our street and within seconds, two guys had appeared from different houses with shovels to help us. Then we helped people later on. It was very cheerful. It made my dad cry a little.

On Christmas day, we stayed at our house, made breakfast and dinner, decorated cookies, and most people got drunk and played charades/pictionary. Here are my brother and Kim-An (my sis' gf) decorating gingerbread shapes. My brother made a nipple/boob and Kim-An made a portrait of Joey (our dog).





And finally, here are some photos from a walk at the coast. It is SO beautiful at the coast. I love it so much. So wild and rugged and serene.






I miss you gals so much. I wish we could be together always. Hope that you are having a peaceful winter and enjoying 2009. I also just joined facebook tonight, so I will see you on the flipside!

Love, Michelle