Happy 1 year Anniversary to the Hunter- Hennen's living in Washington!

                    I really can not believe it has been a year already. I miss the friends that I made in South Dakota, the option to drive home for the weekend and the flexibility of the job I had. However, so much has gone on in the past 12 months that it amazes me. I have experienced new things that I never thought I would, or that my friends and family havn't had the chance to do/see either (not making you jealous, trying to make you come out here!) The area that we live in is full of weekend or day getaways and I can't wait to see what the next year of adventures brings for us. We've also had the opportunity to go on our first vacation together. Yes, we've done mini-vacations together, but never had gotten on a plane an went somewhere. Vegas and Arizona were a blast.- I never knew how much of a wrestling fan Matt was until then. And he is so lucky to have a great mom, step-dad, sister adn brother in law that we could vacation with. And we're lucky that we can go back to Arizona to escape the cold weather to visit Lori and BK. They were also able to come explore the coast and Seattle with us last fall and like usual, we had a good tieme. We also were able to have Matt's dad come out for a visit. Jeff is such a great guy. We explored the coast while he was out and that was fun! It was hard for Matt to be away from his dad while he was going through his cancer situation. Thankfully he is cancer free today. And he'll hopefully be coming out again this fall, and bringing Matt's sister with! -Hint hint Heather! I also was able to show Clara some of the Pacific NW and her time here was to short! And the Hawley boys + Katie also came out and it felt like we explored every piece of Seattle in 12 hours! AND my parents are coming in August! Woohoo! I can't wait. Maybe if you came out, we could add you to the list for next year ;) Enough about who came and visited.
              We did a mini "stay-cation day" in Portland for the one year celebration. My list of activites in Downtown Portland have been limited. I've been to the Oregon Duck store a handful of times and the farmers market a couple times, explored a small shopping area and I've driven Matt down to the area for a concert. I really hadn't "seen" much of the typical touristy spots so we decided it was the cheapest thing we could do that would also be fun. We parked and walked around Pioneer Square Courthouse and found ourselves in the middle of a real life protest. It was something about jobs and US Bank and there was a lot of yelling and people with signs. Matt wanted to scadaddle because he doesnt like large areas. He says it's a good spot for someone to pick pocket or even set off a bomb. So with that we headed the opposite direction of their March to the food carts. Mosta of the food carts were Mexican, Thai or BBQ. Unfortunately, I wanted something to snack on before we ate dinner so I didnt get to expereince food cart dining. There is always next time. To find a snack, we walked to the Porland Saturday Market where we got some kettle corn and soda to raise Matt's blood sugar so he would snap back into a good mood. He thinks he gets cranky because he gets low blood sugar.. He's a Doctor so I'll let him diagnose himself ahahah.
                From there, we headed to Powell's books. Powell's is a HUGE bookstore. It is seriously a whole building with 4 floors of every type of genre book you could want. It was so busy and intersteing to see what they had to offer. We also stopped at a consignment store called, "Buffalo Exchange". Which must be a very popular DT Portland attraction too based on the people in there. I found a dress for the upcoming wedding but Matt veto'd it. Oh well, saved me 20 buckaroos.
               Next, we walked to the Deschutes Brewery. I'm not an avid beer drinker, but I like the idea of supporting a local business and trying something new. While we were standing at the bar I overheard a conversation that made me giggle. The conclusion that I made was that they were dating or maybe a first date. Before they ordered their beer, I heard the guy say "If you don't mind, I kind of want to get my buzz on." Which was followed by a "Sure" And then they made small talk about how they would get from here to there etc.. I like eaves dropping. We ended up eating there also. Wings, burger and fries. I like that Matt and I can share. It helps me not gorge on a whole meal and feel better about myself later. 
              After Deschutes, we took a turn and headed to Rogue, another brewery. After stealing some coasters and "getting my buzz on" we decided to end our Portland adventure with going to Voodoo doughnuts. 

            Voodoo doughnuts became popular when Man VS Food came to the area. The line is always out the door and it was the last day before their closed for a remodel, so Matt said we had to go to the original. We waited in line for about an hour before we got to the door. We were also encountered by some homeless homies asking for money. I didnt feel bad, because the sign inside Voodoo said to not patronize those asking for money because on several occasions they had harmed customers and employees. -Back to inside Voodoo, the mood was very "goth" it was dark, there were 3 people working in there. The guy at the counter had long hair in a ponie and a leather type vest. They had some hard metal rock blaring in the background. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings about dead celeberties. The customers inside the store were all very quiet. It felt very similar to what I think the mood for the soup nazi from Seinfeld would have been. And when paying I was fumbling with my money and Matt was like "you're holding up the line, c'mon" Okay, I did feel a little rushed, but how were they going to know it was the blond girl with a blue jacket and a buzz holding up the line? And second we got 6 doughnuts. Seriously, there was no need for us to get that many, I think we got caught up in the Voodoo or something. We got a couple original cake and raised doughnuts, a "voodoo bubble gum" with a double bubble in the center with gum flavored glaze and a "Miami Vice", but I'm not sure what that tastes like yet.. 

                   Needless to say, it was an eventful day. To end our weekend, on Sunday, Matt and I took the dogs on a 5 mile walk / jog on the Dike and it was shorts and long-sleeved shirt weather! I can't wait for sunshine!!
Alright, that's that.


See you in 9 days!! NINE!! AYYAYA Single digits! :)