July 31st, 2011 Morning

We woke up to a beautiful sunday morning on the day of our anniversary. For our stay in Portland, we had been staying at Conner & Sarah's house [Bryan's cousin and his wife, who have the love of organic farming in their blood too]. Their house on two acres had a multitude of food growing in the backyard and the first night Bryan and I walked into their house, we both saw so much love there. You know when you walk into a house and you can tell there was a lot of beautiful memories had there? Well, this is the kinda place that Sarah and Conner have. Probably because this is the kind of people they are--so full of love and passion.

This is why it was such a blessing for Bryan and I to spend the first part of morning picking blueberries in their back yard and sitting down to a wonderful pancake breakfast with them. Talking about the love and struggles that come with wanting to be farmers.

Our day then turned to the Homestead Store in their downtown, where we bought a pasta maker and admired the bicycle powered grain grinder. Then had lunch at this bakery with a garden.

After, Bryan and I biked to a park overlooking the city and reflected on the past year. Before we got married we wrote down what we thought our needs and expectations were for marriage. Bryan happened to bring them along for us to look at [what a thoughtful man I married]. It was beautiful to see the foundation that we've made in the past year. Both of us working towards our dreams, finding a community of people who we love, and growing in our faith with God and each other. We prayed over the next year, sharing how excited we are that we've been given another year with so much ahead.

Powell's Book Store

When we first walked into Powell's, I was so overwhelmed that I just needed to sit in the cafe with a store map. This place is a whole city block with multiple stories and sells used books as well as new all in the same place. I heard that Powell's actually buys 3,000 used books a day. Crazy! You really do need a map to get around that place.

Bryan and I spent a large amount of time in the Sustainable Ag section. Ogling over books such as the Beekeeper's Bible.

Before leaving for this road trip, I was camping on church property with some of the high school kids. We sat in the tent telling weird stories about our childhood. Sarah, my friend, who is also one of the coolest high schoolers you'll ever meet, was saying when she was younger, she would check out this book on Gnomes to become an expert on them. She memorized the whole book and made an anthem to them. Childhood stories are the best!

Anyways, somehow between meditation and religion, I found the Gnome book. What are the chances?! I texted Sarah the picture asking, "Is this the book?!" And she was like, "Yes! How did you find it?!" Haha, it seemed like a pretty crazy coincidence considering I was in the biggest bookstore I've ever seen. Powell's has everything, people--even the Gnome Book.

Portland, OR

Portland was just too good to us. Perfect weather and wonderful to bike around with our tandem.

Here is a list of some of the things we did:

-Get lost in Powell's Book store [it's a whole city block]

-Swoon and droll over the Saturday's Farmer's Market

-Have dinner with our dear friend Nick and get to see where he's living

-Eat at way too many great places [great food, but we were starting to miss a good home cooked meal]

-An unnecessary purchase of a 5 gallon bucket of doughnuts at VooDoo Donuts

-Hang out in their beautiful parks

-Lust after some items in the Homestead store in Milwaukie and come out with a Pasta Maker!

Part of us wants to live there. The land is so cheap. It makes the dream of owning a farm so much more tangible. But, who knows how far we can stray from our families without being homesick. We would miss them too much. Plus, we know Portland was deceptively beautiful. The other half of the year is a cold rainy weather. Not sure this California girl can handle that weather. Ha!

Sometime car rides are just too long.

We like to nap on the lawns of rest stops

[and sometimes do cartwheels or yoga].

Valley of the Rogue State Park

It has been so long since Bryan and I have been camping [unless living in a tent for the first 3 months of marriage count] =)

We stayed the night at Valley of the Rogue State Park, which is right along the beautiful river. Then we spent the next morning in antique shops, a cute diner in an old cottage, and then back on the road to get to Portland.

How cute is this diner? It had such good food!

Ashland, OR

Our First stop on our anniversary road trip was Ashland, home of the Shakespeare Festival. It's cute, quaint, and has so much greenery around. Bryan and I strolled along the park and river to stretch our legs after the drive. Then we ate at this place called Grilla Bites and it was so delicious! Everything there was locally grown and organic. They had the best juices and smoothies. Bryan had the Jungle Juice, which has ginger, carrot, apple, pineapple, and lime! Their spicy hummus was pretty darn good as well.

Our 1st anniversary

It's hard to believe that one year has passed us by already. What a blessing it has been. Bryan found a job working on an organic farm and we moved into our first place together. I am continually amazed at the man I married. Always full of joy and always full of grace.

People are right when they say that the first year is the hardest. It is hard. You put a lot of work in, but you also receive so much in return. Our skills in communication, forgiveness, celebration, and patience have been fine tuned with the grace of God.

This year has been a year of laying the foundation for the years to come.

It is worth the work.

My dearest husband,

You amaze me. I can't believe that after knowing you for six years, I am still learning more and more about the depth of your heart. You have protected me and given me a safe place to lay my head each night because of the hard work you do out on the farm. I have so much pride in telling people that you are a farmer because to steward the land, to work hard, and to give to the community is something to be praised. You have a servants heart: continually loving on me, our friends, our family, and our community. You are always the first to volunteer your time, your heart, and your skills. These things I knew before I married you, but what I didn't know was the depth to which these stand. They are all constants. Something I cannot say about myself, but I am truly grateful of the example you have been to me.

Love,

Sam