Deschutes trip

I finally convinced Eric to take a quick camping trip to the Deschutes. It was a bit of work to drag him away from work, and haunting the permit office, but it was worth it.

wildflowers, in September?

I went to California in September, to work on some leftover PhD stuff in Davis, and to spend some time with my Grandma in Arnold.

We went for a hike up on the pacific crest trail (not a long one, but still!)

The weather was sketchy, but there were wildflowers everywhere. Tons of them.

I haven't seen so many, in wildflower season, but the end of september at 8000 feet? crazy things

We eventually got chased out by the thunder storms. Beautiful, but a little unnerving

Framing the footing

Well, it's almost October, and still no building permit. The permit office folk are getting to know Eric real well at this point. I love the comment from one secretary: 'we wish you were a jerk, because then we wouldn't feel so guilty'

But, the framing is up for the footing and they are ready to go, the moment they get the signal

Vancouver BC

Eric and I went up to Vancouver to meet with some of his friends, and get away for a while. The camera didn't come out much, so this is basically the only picture I got, but it's pretty...

The birth of a hole

Now that the house is down, the hole is being dug for the basement. It is one big hole.

The well

The foreman, or so he thought.

Eric's place: the beginning

This is the beginning (as far as I saw it, poor Eric had a year into this already) of the process to build Eric's dream home. The house on the lot was, according to the inspector, asbestos and mold held together by lead paint. yippie

The walls were black inside.

But, 2 acres

with the most amazing (admittedly overgrown) berries including raspberries, boysenberries, and cascade blackberries. yummmm

And a view that can't be beat

Summer Classes

With the whole buying of a house thing, working in the summer became rather important.

I taught 2 classes, one at PCC and one at the University of Portland.

This is my PCC 101 class. This was a condensed version, 6 hours a day of biology. these guys did amazingly well.

This is my Env Sci 182 at UP.

These poor guys had 3.5 hours of lecture, in a dark, basement room. They made it though

And now Im free! until fall quarter starts again

Katie's Wedding

My cousin Katie got married this summer, to a lovely man named Justin.

The wedding was in the Santa Cruz mountains, in a lovely garden setting.

My cousin in law Luke married them, how sweet.

I snuck some pictures as the photographer lined everyone up

The Nelsen clan

Eric and I

Polly and Luke

Awwww, first dance

wowza!

Katie and her poppa

Isn't my primita lovely?

The getaway vehicle

It was a wonderful wedding, and I am so happy for my primita!

Southern California

Eric had a business trip in Pasadena. I needed a vacation so I went with him. Not that I think southern California is an ideal vacation spot, but hey...

One day we went for a hike up one of his favorite canyons.

Humbolt Lilies

This monster sat in the path for ages. We had to go around eventually, through the creek. Isn't it beautiful?

Spring classes

Well, I forgot to take pictures of most of my spring classes. and I had a lot of them. oh well.

I did remember to take this one,.

my night 102 class

I babysat one of these kids when he was little. 2 of the boys were serious trouble. I had to confiscate cell phones many times. After they were stolen back from my desk time after time, I started putting them in my pocket. That was not the greatest idea. when both my back pockets had phones and they went off, vibrating away, I think my red cheeked squeal lost me a serious bit of respect. whoo boy