they say it's your birthday...

april has FLOWN by, i don't even know where to start (is it bad that mostly that's because i'm not sure i remember? ha). but, seriously, i can't believe that we're heading into may shortly, that i've lived in portland for just about 7 months... it amazes me.

most recently we have had absolutely phenomenal weather, sunny and clear - we had a couple days of 80+ degree weather, and the city just came alive! lucky for tim, it was over his birthday so we managed to spend a bit of time in the outdoors and celebrate! we hung out in alberta, explored kelly point park, wandered around downtown and most notably kayaked on the willamette! it couldn't have been a more perfect day for kayaking, sunny and warm, not too much river traffic, a private tour with an awesome guide (thanks jeff!). i LOVE being on the water, and it was such a different perspective, seeing the city from the river instead of the river from the city. all those bridges i love, i got to see from underneath...it gave me flashbacks to crew and rowing under key bridge (and how i always wished i had my camera). anyway, see below for a few photos of birthday activities!




in addition we also went to see christopher guest, michael mckean, and harry shearer (of spinal tap, best in show, a mighty wind - fame) as they stopped in portland on their tour - and it was hilarious, lots of laughs, i would recommend going to see them if you can!

here comes the sun

as promised... photos from last week's adventure on the coast... we headed out to Astoria, it was a bit overcast, but still beautiful. Astoria, as any child of the 80's knows, is home to the Goonies. It was a trip being there and seeing it... and if you don't know, Astoria is the northernmost coastal town in OR. After Astoria we headed down to Warrenton, where there is an old British ship that is in ruins on the beach...and then out to clatsop spit where the Columbia river meets the Pacific ocean. beautiful!



and here, since i am clearly in withdrawl from cherry blossoms, it was a gorgeous day - so tim and i went out to the willamette and did some hanging out in the waterfront park

they were nothing more than people, by themselves...

Even paired, any pairing, they would have been nothing more that people by themselves. But all together, they become the heart and the muscles and mind of something perilous and new, something strange and growing and great. Together, all together, they are the instruments of change.
-Keri Hulme, "The Bone People"

Currently I am sitting at the OAAOM (Oregon Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) Conference. and it's interesting as this is Oregon's new professional organization - they have had some reorganization in the past year and combined to previously existing organizations into this one. So, their theme is unification with this whole phoenix rising imagery. and at the membership meeting yesterday we were talking about the history of Acupuncture in Oregon and how it has progressed - and lots of current legislative issues that affect the practice of medicine and acupuncture here in Oregon. and what was interesting to me (being a bit of an outsider at this point, having no history of being a practitioner nor being an Oregon resident) was just the re-iteration by many of the speakers of how as a profession we have to join together, to get ourselves to the table for discussion let alone to be heard. and i think it's promising. there's a lot going on in the world right now, in our country - in healthcare - and there's a lot of change. On the board this morning was a quote from Barack Obama "Change will not come if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we 've been waiting for, we are the change that we seek" which, of course is more than reminiscent of Ghandi's "be the change you wish to see in the world" but also reminded me very much of that quote above by Keri Hulme...

anyway, just my thought of the morning... back to treatment of Hep C. and later, photos from our trip to the coast last weekend...

that would be ecstasy/you and me...

*sigh*

i'm a happy girl. :) and how could i not be? i've had a lovely last few weeks; i had a chill but lovely birthday... tim so kindly made me delicious lamb chops, heard from lots of friends and family (thank you all, it's been busy and i apologize for not getting back to you), mama came to visit and we had a great time, work has been going well... and well, i *just* received my awesome birthday gift from tim...



she's so pretty... i think i'm in love <3!

thank you, tim (not that you haven't heard it already). but i *love* my mixer! as fate would have it - i started a detox the day the mixer arrived, but worry not - it has absolutely NOT stopped me from using it, just from eating the results! yay! mixer!

other than that - it's starting to be spring for real now, the weather is warming up, the flowers are coming out, and we went hiking (well, sort of)... today, at beacon rock on the washington side of the columbia river gorge...




this was a neat little walk, it was built by two people over a two year period in the early 1900s...crazy! but awesome views, even in the drizzle :)

And February was so long that it lasted into March...

...And found us walking a path alone together.
You stopped and pointed and you said, "Thats a crocus,"

i think it might *actually* be spring! walking around today, there ARE crocuses (croci?) and shoots that will soon become daffodils and irises! *contented sigh* i heart spring, it has been years since i've gotten to experience it. love it! and (i know i know i know i know) i've been a bad girl. february was... well, not spent at my computer. long stories short: moving, visiting SD, moving tim, stuck in snow, moving in, getting internet, working lots and here we are in march!

oh. you actually wanted details? hmmmm. well, i moved to a new place still in NE, but a little closer to town and walking distance to the Alberta arts area. I am absolutely loving both the house and location. here are a few pix of move-in, before the arrival of tim and furniture.



went down to SD for a couple of days, got to see lots of my very much missed friends. it was wonderful, thank you everyone for taking the time to see me and catch up! it was WAYYYYY too short, and i'm sorry i didn't have more time. but i miss and love you all heaps, and can't wait for you to visit pdx!

then tim and i drove (for the 2nd time in 6 months) from SD to PDX. however, this time we did not take the scenic tour, but headed straight up on 5N. we did have a bit of snow adventure, and were 'stuck' in Mt Shasta for a day with a bunch of snow. see following evidence:




and that's it for now, kids... more post-move-in, and mom visit after next week!

i teeter between tired/and really, really tired/ i'm wiped out and wired/ but i guess thats just as well

(thanks ani, couldn't say it any better.)

wiped out and wired. what i am dreaming of is a long HOT bath, a bottle of white wine, and a really comfortable bed. (ahhhh, sorry to disappoint any of you who might think my fantasies were anything but pedestrian.) i'm sitting here, on my thai mat on the floor (aka my bed) and thinking that sleep could possibly be the greatest drug in the world, if only i could get a fix.

lacking any of the above (bath, wine, bed or sleep) i figured i'd write. or type and see if it passes as writing. so, despite my previous promise to write more about things other than my own internal drama (as, i do in fact think about more global topics) tonight, you'll have to indulge me as re-process some thoughts and conversations i've had this past week.

had a really long talk with em the other day (thank you my love, you ARE my soul mate, i'd be lost without you in my life). as per usual we talk a lot about nothing, and somehow i got to talking about how i've been here just about 5 months now, and i have no friends here. sure, i have people i do things with occasionally (trivia, game night) but, i'd be hard-pressed to actually say any of them are really *my* friends. friends by proxy perhaps... and this is not to say i don't enjoy their company, i absolutely do. but, i would be hard pressed to say i felt comfortable calling any of them up to go for a hike or grab some tea and chat...etc. and i know, i know this stuff takes time, (way more than 5 months time), but it brought me to the question of HOW exactly does one make friends? no, really. it's a serious question (and i would appreciate any advice on the matter) - when you're not in school, and you live in a new place, how do you make friends? so, there's work. which is good, i LOVE the people i work with, but it's work, and while i wouldn't mind hanging with them in a non-work context, they have families and lives and yeah... i don't know. and then, well, that's really all i do. and i am hoping in a couple of months when work gets more stable, i will have time to commit to volunteering somewhere, taking yoga classes or cooking classes, etc... but, right now. notsomuch.

and as far as the work thing goes, had a short talk with brad (owner of tri-d) today - he was asking me how things were going and i said they were going well, slowly, but getting there. and that i really love working there and hope to make it worth their while, i hope it turns out to be a good thing for them too, and that's been my recent frustration - i feel kind of inadequate, that i'm not making good enough numbers, etc. he said that both he and michael (my supervisor) were really happy i was there, and they thought i was doing a great job, and just to keep it up and things would happen. (did i mention i love where i work?)

and, on another note... i'm moving tomorrow. (perhaps why i can't sleep). i'm all packed and totally ready to move. am meeting the landlord at 10 to trade lease +rent for keys, and then i am hoping i can get everything moved tomorrow and sorted as i work sunday morning and have been told by bjorn i am expected at anke and marcel's superbowl shindig. that being said, i will do my best to take photos (of the empty place) and post shortly but not sure when the internet will be connected, so i may be MIA for a few days...

and before signing off... a quick shoutout to some of the most wonderful aquarius ladies in my life: ems, nancy, barbara... happiest happy birthdays, i hope you are celebrating your fabulous selves, as i celebrate each of you in my life! MWAH!

the future's in the air/i can feel it everywhere/ blowing with the wind of change

i wish i had something to say about this historic moment in the history of this nation. but i'm finding my words, let alone my thoughts, to be inadequate. at the moment i'm content to be an observer, to be a witness, without explanation or discourse.

speaking of wind though. i went hiking on saturday as it's been beautiful and sunny up here in oregon. so, i decided to hit the columbia river gorge in the sunshine (as previous pictures can attest to it's often in cloud). this time i decided to mix it up and head over to the washington side of the gorge. found a great hike, but didn't make it far because much of the track was exposed and right on the river and the winds were CRAZY. i took a couple photos before i backtracked and found a different, slightly more sheltered hike nearby.

(i'm pretty sure i took these all with my eyes closed, because the wind was too strong)

the columbia river in the sunshine!
(apologies for blur, but closed eyes and unsteady hand in the wind...)

so after that, i retreated and found another nearby hike (which can actually join up with this one if on future occasions i am up to the wind tunnel that is the gorge). lots of winter (i.e. bare) tree action. but blue skies and some pretty views...

(oh and T- 13 days til i move...)

and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms...

i cannot believe it's the middle of january.

i'm not sure when that happened. also, it's been BEAUTIFUL here, sunny and clear. apparently this is one freak-show of a winter for portland. but, i'm not complaining!

so far the new year has been continuing on pretty well. work is going, slowly, but going. been trying to do a lot of this networking business, which is not really my style, but needs to be done. though, in regards to that - i got rejected from a networking group, HA! i am totally amused.

been doing a lot of thinking lately, and not nearly enough writing. there are some things i'd like to write about regarding health care and various paradigms, but i haven't managed to sit down and do it. i've been feeling like my brain has all these thoughts but i am somehow unable to put them together as a cohesive whole. but, writing more on broader topics than what i do in my day is a goal of mine for the coming months. however, for now, you're stuck with this.

the middle of january means i move in two weeks. and while i don't have that much stuff, and there's a lot still in boxes, somehow the thought is still overwhelming to me. i cannot wait to be in my new place and simultaneously am dreading the actual process of moving (didn't i just do this?). however, it will be nice to fully unpack and settle a bit. but, that probably doesn't happen for real til tim and i get back from SD.

am SO excited to visit san diego and see all my friends. (i'm living in serious friend xu right now!) am feeling slightly guilty that it is under the auspices of helping tim pack and move, but more than likely will end up being mostly a social event as i have many people to catch up with (sorry tim!). while excited, i am slightly exhausted from thinking about my social schedule already...hehehe.

got to catch up with with emily and sara in the past 24 hours, and talked lots. (i love you ladies more than words) a lot about how there are just so many questions we don't have the answers for. and don't know if anyone does. however, i think the asking of them is still important. but sometimes the preponderance of questions is disconcerting and ungrounding and the ability to let go into that space of being comfortable with uncertainty is extremely difficult. it is such a reflex to reach out and try and grab a hold of some bit of a notion that we convince ourselves of as being an answer. it's so easy to long for something finite and for reassurance and so hard to sit with the ever expanding body of not-knowing and not feel completely lost. during this discussion sara reminded me of one of my very favorite quotes with which i shall leave you:

"...have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer..."

- Ranier Maria Rilke

Year's End

...is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on,
with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
-Hal Borland

this time of year is meant for reflection, is it not? so... on my day off, some reflection you shall get. i don't promise deep or meaningful, or even particularly insightful for that matter - but here goes...

it's funny, i started this particular blog just about a year ago, last january and while i think i'd use some of the adjectives to describe my life currently, somehow they've taken on a slightly different flavor. i was in my last term of school 3 months away from completion of a four year degree. re-reading some of those earlier entries, i couldn't believe where i was - it was surreal, an ending of something that felt endless. and there was excitement and of course anxiety about what was to come. i couldn't wait to finish school, to start the next phase of life, but i was scared about boards, about my competance, about if i would have what it took to have a practice, about finances, about moving... but all these things were still abstract, intangible, and i was unable to hold them concretely and so felt a bit like i was falling.

and here i am, about a year later. i have since graduated. passed boards. moved to portland. became licensed. started a practice. so in some ways, much of what i was anticipating has come to pass, and all with remarkable fluidity. i've been here in portland for four months, and sometimes i can't believe it's been that long, but for the most part it makes me stop and think "really? that's it?" somehow in the short four months i've been here i feel so much more that i belong, more than i ever did my four years in san diego. and maybe some of that was self-fulfilling prophecy, that i thought moving out to san diego, it would never be for me. but honestly, there's such a different feeling here, a different qi - and i really like it. and while life looks entirely different than it did a year ago (i made it here! i have a practice! i love portland!) i think my 2 favorite adjectives to describe my life are still excited and slightly terrified.

i haven't for a second regretted my decision to move, on the contrary - most everyday there is something that makes me smile, and feel so glad i'm here. i think i was stuck in SD, somehow it was stagnant for me, and here there's free flow - there's a coursing energy that permeates everything, and the rain that continually washes the city clean, keeps everything flowing. and GREEN. *sigh* it makes me smile just writing that. i miss my friends terribly, and have certainly had hard days and weeks... before i found my current jobs. earlier this week... some days i acutely feel the loss of not having people i know locally. and i know, i KNOW this stuff takes time, and while i am aware of this - some days it just hits hard.

currently my excitement is over work - i LOVE what i do, everyday. i really and truly do! and absolutely adore all my colleagues at Tri-D, they are just awesome, and i can't be grateful enough to have a place like that to work. not to mention, work out... have been training with Mox, and it's been great! aside from that stuff, am super excited about moving to my own place next month... (i signed papers today!!!) it's in a great location, lots of space, my own kitchen! YAY! and i guess, really i should qualify that - it's not really my OWN place, as tim is moving up and it will be his place too (and clearly, actually, it's really Puma's) and i am very excited about that part of it too!

and then there's the terrified... about making work, "work". building a practice is HARD, and that's fine, but i worry about being good enough, about knowing what i am doing, about getting enough patients... i worry about making friends, finding community... i worry about living with tim - if he'll like the place i picked, if we'll live together well... i worry about paying off loans and making my finances work.

so, it's just funny to me, to be in such a different place, yet in some ways a wholly similar one. that being said, i do feel much more grounded and stable than i have in a long time, and think that upon moving next month, will feel even more so.

and hal borland is right, year's end is neither an ending nor a beginning, but a going on. new year's does not mark some distinct time segment, isolating one year from the last - it just marks the going on of time. and while that means there is no "starting over" (and i know this may come as a big disappointment to some people), the slate doesn't magically wipe clean, we're not all brand new people each year (thankfully!) but it is a going on, and what makes that special is that like mr. borland says - we have all the wisdom that the past year's experience has given us. and it is our choice how to use that. none of us are the same people we were 12 months ago, or for that matter a day ago (an interesting link here to TCM theory, but that's another post) but as we often use this time for reflection - let us look back at our experiences and figure out how to use that wisdom to our benefit in the coming year...to keep learning (especially about ourselves) and growing, and not starting over with nothing, but continuing to the shape the person we are into who we want to be.

and that, my friends, is a post that is more than long enough. my best wishes for the coming year to you all - may it be happy, healthy, prosperous and full of laughter and love!

..i'm going to pack my things and go...

in a month that is.

as of Feb 1, 2009, i will have yet ANOTHER new address! (that puts me at 3 in the past year, whoo hooo!)

5337 NE 33rd Ave
Portland, OR 97211

nothing is official yet, i sign papers on saturday, but YAY!

and, clearly, when i move in next month there will be many more photos, but as people are still living there, i'd like to not be considered a stalker :P


anyway, that's the big news of the day... i may make the effort to write some sort of introspective reflection on the past year later, we'll see...ha!

happy new year :*

when it snows, ain't it thrilling?

as the news likes to call it - we're in the middle of arctic blast '08... apparently portland hasn't had this much december snow in at least 40 years. awesome.

but, actually, i am enjoying it immensely, makes me smile... not having had winter in 5 years, this is a novel experience again. and also, quite pretty.

anyway, some more assorted snow photos!

and we'd drop to sleep exhausted/then we'd wake up and it's snowing

SNOW!


i know what you're thinking here: snow? in portland? alexis, we all know it rains there but snow? and you're excited? why?

ha. well, i haven't had winter in a good 5 years so i find the snow lovely! and we've had snow off and on for just about a week now and it's supposed to continue for another week... it started last sunday - pretty heavy snow and so called it a day indoors and decided to bake! i made some vanilla-cranberry coffee cake muffins from a recipe off smitten kitchen - and they were delish, and it was superfun to use my new cuisinart handheld blender small kitchen appliance! (thanks mama!)




and the rest of the week kind of went that way, snow again wed and thurs... didn't go into work on thursday because the morning snow was a little bit crazy here in NE. but it warmed up later in the day and was actually sunny out before the temps dropped again and everything got icy! woke up to more snow this morning, and while it's a pain in the ass to get stuff done in, i have to say i'm enjoying it immensely ... sooo pretty. though puma totally freaked out the first time she was watching the snow out the window - hilarious! ohhhhhh puma :)

so at the moment, am sitting in my favorite coffee shop having had a lovely breakfast here after going to look at a rental house nearby (am looking to move in feb, when tim gets up to pdx) - so, starting that whole process again!

and that's the update... minus all the stuff you missed since thanksgiving... lol, see the pictures below - some from tgiving and some from the Tri-D holiday party!

thanksgiving, the non-pie edition (still minus emily's photos):


Tri-D holiday party (these are the lovely people i work with... but don't be scared, there was a facial hair competition going on...)






love and *.*snow*.*

tastes so good makes a grown man cry/sweet cherry pie*

*disclaimer, there is no cherry pie*

ok.

wow.

thanksgiving was...

chaos.


good chaos. but chaos nonetheless (as per usual). it was a whirlwind several days - lots and lots of baking to do and people to see! it was great to be home and the new kitchen was beautiful AND functional! hooray! got to catch up with lots of friends and see family, it was good to be home. also wandered around DC a bit with tim. but more than that there was PIE. lots and lots of PIE.




now am back in portland, and this week is starting off kind of slow... lots of cancellations (don't know what is up with that) and i am exhausted. but, things are good - and i am happy to be back and hang with my puma (who yelled at me excessively upon my return).

mostly, i just want to say how great it was to see everyone - mike and sarah, emily, karen, grace, dida, clint, patric, meg, jen, eric and meryl, min and matt, ivone, laura, miori and of course the fam: mama, craig, amy, natalie, david and the kitties :)

more tgiving pix when emily gets around to sending me photos :P

*thanksgiving*

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

updates later, and this belated thanksgiving to all those people in my life who make it more than worthwhile. thank you for everything you do.

go now, and live

just came across this... and like it. a lot.

down by the river

had a great week last week! it's so much fun doing acupuncture - i love it! have met some really wonderful people at Awakening Lotus, the patients are great and there are some interesting cases. Signed papers over at Tri-D and am excited to get started there! Lots of the learning the ropes this coming week before I head east for tgiving!

it's been a beautiful last few days and bjorn and i got to hiking on saturday - we went up to washington to hike the Lewis river trail. it was so pretty! a pretty mild hike, but awesome river with some raging falls - it was so great to get out and enjoy the autumn!

today was a good catch-up day for me, tied up some loose ends and have just 2 patients to treat tonight!

i am getting SO excited for thanksgiving, mama has already started food shopping and i am sure the baking schedule will be published soon :P i am excited to bake, to see the new kitchen, to see my family, to see old friends and to show tim DC! so much to do!

i'm feeling supersonic/give me gin and tonic/you can have it all, but how much do you want it?

what a week.

what a fucking amazing week.

i am not even really sure where to start. (at the beginning?)

monday i went for an interview for an acupuncture position that ended in me treating 2 patients - it was so much fun! loved the center, and joey - the woman i would be sub-contracting for and covering her patients while she's away - is awesome.

then clearly election night, in my opinion went the way i had been hoping (minus that nasty prop 8 passing thing in CA, ugh) and bjorn and i went over to jake and jackie's to bite our nails in anticipation! thanks for the invite guys, it was super fun! :)

then friday is really where everything got exciting - went back to Tri-D fitness and therapy - where i had interviewed a couple of times, and met with the owner and they were great and really want me to have a position there as well. it's a neat place where i would be doing both bodywork and acupuncture - but treating mostly motor vehicle accident patients and athletes, so ideal for me and wanting to do orthopedics! so, i haven't officially accepted the position but will do so tomorrow. and then friday afternoon joey called me and asked me to cover her patients - so i treated 5 people, and rebooked for next week (to see me, as joey will be away).

ok, so i know i am all over the place, and maybe you can't hear the smile in my writing. i don't even really know how to explain how it feels to be doing what i've been thinking about for SO long... to be doing something I LOVE DOING and getting paid for it. i mean, really? you can do that? ha! it's just awesome! i am on such a high, i can't even tell you. at some point i will try to sit down and write something more coheseive...but right now, so pumped.

got to meet up with zach last night for tea (and beer) - we went to PCOM together and he graduated maybe a year before me, and is living here in portland with his wife, and has a practice - so it was cool to catch up and i think we're going to set up a trade!

oh, and i quit the stupid spa job as of today!

so for all of the above and more life is good right now, and only getting better...

i'm a happy girl this week.


oh, links to my 2 places of work: Awakening Lotus Healing Arts Center, and Tri-D Fitness and Therapy

VOTE!

this is going to be a crazy day for this country, one way or the other. i am not much one for politics and have never been particularly involved. however, i do believe that the right to vote is an extraordinarily precious freedom despite many of my objections to actual politicians. i think that the right to vote is part of what defines america and should be something we all do with pride. whether you love this country or hate it, if you are an american citizen, please use your VOTE to speak your mind - it is your voice.

while i don't think our system is perfect and there is potential for fraud and disenfranchizement, don't be disheartened, please VOTE. it's important. to quote rachel maddow:

"It's one thing to worry about the vote being stolen. About whether or not our votes really get counted right. It's one thing to worry about partisan Republican efforts to purge voters off the rolls who rightfully belong there. Those things are worth worrying about. But the lines at voting places. There's no wondering about that. If you are confronted with a long line on election day, your country needs you to commit to stand in it. If you are an employer and your employees are late to work on Tuesday or have to leave early in order to vote, your country needs you to cut them some slack. If you're an elections official, your country needs you to have contingency plans to your contingency plans, and frankly probably a stockpile of paper ballots under lock and key to turn to if the lines are so long as to be disenfranchising. And if you are a politician, your country needs you to abolish this poll tax, to make the right to vote equally available to every American regardless of our ability to pay whether that payment is in cash, or in time. No matter who gets elected it is time to fix this election season, this election system once and for all. Too many people bled for this right for us to see it squandered."

see her clip on 'the new poll tax' here

luckily, standing on line is not a worry of mine, as oregon does ALL of it's voting by mail. originally i had some issues with this, it just didn't feel right - no going to a polling center, standing in line with others all out to vote, no having my own election booth and filling out a vote, depositing my ballot and getting an "i voted" sticker... seems odd! but, the more i have thought about it and in line with rachel maddow's thought on the new poll tax (i.e. the time it costs to stand on line...etc) i think i like this voting by mail deal. oregon was the first state in the US to go to a vote by mail system in 1998 - this system has significantly reduced the cost of elections and truly allows all registered voters the chance to vote, despite their physical condition (if they are unable to stand on long lines or are in a hospital, etc), work requirements (maybe they can't afford to take the time off work to vote, despite going early - the lines might still be long) or any other unforeseen circumstances that may not allow a person to make it to the actual voting booth. no, voting by mail is NOT perfect - but it does allow for the greatest number of registered voters to actually vote. and while everyone may not agree that voting by mail is better, in the very least election day should be a national holiday - so we can all take the time to exercise our right to vote not at the expense of our jobs.

while i have my views on the candidates and certainly have a preference for who should win this election, i want EVERYONE who CAN to VOTE. no matter who you vote for. please, CARE - this is our country, and while it is not perfect, it is ours. apathy gets us nowhere. so please whomever you support, whatever your reasons for voting - JUST VOTE.

the falling leaves drift by the window/the autumn leaves of red and gold

can i just say that i ABSOLUTELY ADORE AUTUMN!

(it's true.)


autumn in portland is turning out to be just spectacular and i had a plan to walk around today and take pictures because right now because the trees are stunning and in full transition - the color palate is vibrant and varied, the deep deep red, the golden yellow, fiery oranges and just a few tinges of green ... and i did bring the camera when i left the house and the battery, but neglected to bring a memory card... so, perhaps tomorrow (if you're lucky).

right now i'm at this awesome little tea shop in NW, a beautiful part of town - lots of brick buildings and old victorians which somehow make me almost feel like i'm back in maine with the changing colors and leaves starting to fall... and the temperature is mild, and the sky is blue... we've been having such a lovely season. and maybe i am overly gushy as i haven't had an autumn in 4 years, and while i know i miss spring desperately when i don't get it, i don't think i realized how much i adore the transition from summer to winter. for another look at autumn from a chinese medicine perspective, please read this.

right, so i'm in this tea shop, and i am here because i went into work for 2 hours today (work? you say, alexis, i didn't know you got a job!) and this is true. it's not something i've shared, because mostly i try not to think about it - i'm living in denial that in fact i am working there part-time. i don't want to dwell on it - but it's a part-time job at a spa, and that's all i am willing to say. more on the job-front, i interviewed last week for a massage position with very possible expansion into acupuncture at a very interesting personal training facility that also does massage and movement therapy. they want to build their therapy department and treat a lot of motor vehicle accident patients. much more my style than the current gig, so i hope to hear back from them this week. additionally, i have an interview for an acupuncture position scheduled for tomorrow, so wish me luck and send good thoughts that we all like each other and that it works out!


so, that's the latest on this end. back to mama's visit - we had a lovely weekend, decent weather and got out to the gorge, the japanese gardens, and around town. it was a quick 3 days but so great to see mama and have her visit portland for the first time. below are some pictures of the gorge (again, but in sunshine this time!) and i am awaiting photos from mama's camera. thank you for everything mama, MWAH!





and, can you believe it's 4 weeks til i will be back east for thanksgiving? it's going so quickly! but i am excited for the new kitchen and for the days of baking that thanksgiving entails! though, the next 4 weeks might go a little more slowly as i have no more visitors scheduled :(. on the thanksgiving note, i also managed to coerce tim into coming back east with me - i feel like he should experience a true thanksgiving... miori can attest to it :) and also, perhaps, he wanted to see DC...

and now - i should go be productive!

represent

i've been a bit slack on posting, will catch up over the weekend re: mom's visit, etc.

but in the meantime, check out the bowdoin love on grey's anatomy



(hat-tip to court)