1) By far the biggest thing that happened to me and Pat this year was the purchasing of our very first home together! I still find it hard to believe that this place is ours, we own it, and can customize it however we want. It feels great to put our time and money in to something for ourselves finally, and I look forward to really making it feel like our home over time. Of course, we could have never done this if we hadn't moved to Central Oregon, a place that we have both rapidly fallen in love with. Looking back, we just wonder why it took us so long to make the decision.
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| [[ our cute little home. ]] |
2) In regards to our jobs, things are going great. I have officially (as of today) been in my full time position for a year, and I couldn't be happier. I love getting to be creative every day, and I absolutely love the place that we live. Needless to say, all of the doubt I was feeling with making such a huge move a year ago went away quickly, and this ended up being a great leap for both of us.
3) We weren't running around all over California this summer, but we did attend four different weddings, one of which was my cousin Ashley's which we flew down to San Jose for (her and Jake have been together even longer than me and Pat!). We also attended Pats friend Hojum's wedding in Corvallis, I went to Gresham for my old friend from high school Amy Adam's wedding, and finally, in October we attended my coworker Amy's wedding, which was local.
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| [[ hojum & mariah's wedding in corvallis. ashley & jake's wedding in gillroy, ca. amy & garrett's wedding in gresham. amy & steven's wedding in bend. ]] |
4) While getting used to our new surroundings me and Pat did a tremendous amount of exploring the local area. We started hiking for the first time, checking out Tumalo State Park, Tumalo Falls, Smith Rock (parts: 1, 2, 3), the Obsidian Flow at Paulina Lake (I still need to do a real post about this hike), the Wayside Viewpoint in Terrebonne, and the Cline Butte Lakeside hike at Eagle Crest, which we did a bunch of times. I also took a special trip to some local farms for work, and went horseback riding for the first time (also for work), which I thought was super scary! Me and Pat even spent some time wandering around the Metolius River area (which I also still need to post about). I am really looking forward to getting back outside to explore more places this year!
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| [[ tumalo falls. cline butte lakeside viewpoint. horseback riding. exploring the metolius. the rock stacks at smith. at the top of smith rock. pat & rory jumping for joy at the top. wayside viewpoint. the river. terrebonne. tumalo state park. ]] |
5) Me and Pat celebrated our 8th anniversary a little early by taking a trip to Newport to do our yearly picture with Wally the Walrus, and spend an awesome day together. Then we celebrated in Bend on our actual anniversary by going out to dinner. The day itself was also the day that we had our second walk through on the house that we now own, which obviously ended up being pretty meaningful. I know I say this every year, but I still can't believe its been eight years already!! ♥
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| [[ our annual wally picture in newport. ]] |
6) We did go to a few concerts this year, although definitely not even close to the number that we got to see last year. We saw Steve Martin play his banjo, and Pepper, both here in Bend. Other than that, we watched a few local acts like Stairway Denied and Secondhand Soldiers, but that was about it for 2013. I am hoping to catch a few more in 2014.
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| [[ pepper. local acts. steve martin. ]] |
7) Aside from weddings, we did of course have a few parties in 2013, though not as many as last year since we were moving right before Halloween. We celebrated New Year's 2013 at The Nines with a ton of our friends, we of course had Colleen's dress-up birthday party in February, which was themed Historical Figures this time (we went as Bonnie & Clyde), and Pat had a guys weekend for his birthday which was over Bend Brewfest. We had to miss Halloween and some birthday parties unfortunately because we were way too busy, but we had a constant flow of house guests since most of our friends came over to visit us, so it evened out.
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| [[ new years eve 2013. historical figures party. amy's bday cyclepub. pat's bday guys weekend. ]] |
8) This year I finally got to take a road trip with Pat to Seattle, which is something I had been wanting to do for a long time. We had so much fun exploring the local restaurants, "speak easies", shops, the market, a few local landmarks, and the scenery, (even with the rain and constantly cloudy skies). It was an amazing trip, and I can't wait to go back sometime, or even better, to convince Pat to take a long weekend trip to San Francisco with me next. :) (I am just finishing up the Seattle posts, and will get them up for you next week, finally).
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| [[ the city behind us. public market. the needle. beautiful flowers. gasworks park. speakeasies. ]] |
9) For the first time I also got to go to Las Vegas this year (part 1, 2)! Pats family invited us for his little brother's 21st birthday, and it was insanity. The Vegas trip was only really one full day and two nights, so it was just a swirl of bright flashing lights, lots of walking, high heels, drinks, spectacle, cigarette smoke, and an overabundance of fake. It was definitely fun, and we had some great meals, but man was I tired (and ready for some fresh air) by the time we got on our plane. I will be back one day.
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| [[ the fountains. elevator self shot. chandelier. mirage. paris eiffel tower breakfast. view of the strip from the palms. ]] |
10) As I mentioned above, we were able to take a trip to San Jose for my cousin Ashley's wedding in September, and to spend some time with my Blechman family. I also got a chance to take Pat around to some of the places I frequented as a child, like the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which is something I have been wanting to revisit for years! Here are the posts from our San Jose trip (parts 1, 2, 3).
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| [[ rehearsal dinner. the bride & groom. part of the blechman fam. santa cruz. happy pat. countryside. ]] |
A few extras to note: Our trips to Seattle, Vegas, and specifically the Santa Cruz Boardwalk were all on my 30 Before 30 List, as well as buying our first home (though I didn't really expect that one to get checked off yet), so I have four new things to cross off all in one year! Not too shabby. Moving on, Pat finished up his Egyptian sleeve tattoo (which he started in December of 2012) and it looks amazing. His dad also got two lab puppies (Ricky & Lucy) that we get to spend lots of time playing with now.
Alright 2014, lets see what you have in store for us...
