Winter in the rain...

Not that I'm complaining, but lack of snow is a little odd for this small town girl.  I'm used to having to start my car 30 minutes early, so that it can get a head start on the frost.  I'm used to checking outside so I know if I have to leave the house early to accommodate for the blizzard craziness.  I was told yesterday that temperatures in the 40s and showers off and on all day, is pretty typical of December.  Awesome.
So, it has been a fun filled and exciting fall/early winter.  Where to begin?  My co-workers and I have what we call 'Supper Club.'  Pretty much we go to different restaurants and all get something different, then pass it around the table.
 It's a lot of fun, and a chance to try local restaurants.  We went to a southern/cajun style restaurant for a co-workers birthday in September.  Oh my!  Yummy food. This is how excited Richard was for the Mac'n'Cheese.

 We met a fellow nerd couple at a comic book store event.  They are a lot of fun.  Seeing our awesomeness, they invited us to their Halloween party.  We karaoke-ed  smashed pumpkins and met even more great people.  It was more fun, since everyone else was drunk.  Drunk people and karaoke?  Good entertainment.

 This is the whole group.  As you can see, we went as Vampire Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.  It was the scariest thing we could think of.  Richard has been slightly obsessed with how creepy Kenny Rogers is.

 This year, we had the opportunity to host Thanksgiving in our tiny apartment.  My mother and brother-in-law flew in for the long weekend and we stuffed our faces.  My mother-in-law, who is just wonderful, eased my anxiety and helped out tremendously.  It was a success.   We just recently got rid of all the leftovers.  There are just the two of us, and we really don't eat that much.  It was my first turkey, and it turned out so tasty and perfect. Even after eating it all week, it still made a ridiculous amount of turkey noodle(yes, homemade noodles) soup.  Now we have frozen soup.  Hopefully we don't forget about it...

It was a lot of fun to have them here, but it made me pretty homesick for my own family.  While they were here, we took them sight-seeing.  Well, more like Troy took us sight-seeing.  We went to a couple places that we hadn't gone to yet since we moved here.
We went to Astoria, home of the Goonies.  We didn't take pictures, because it was raining sideways and it didn't seem like a good idea.  My mother-in-law has some more pictures of their trip, but she is in the process of moving and we may not see those until she settles in.  Not to worry. =)  The day they left, we drove out to Multnomah Lodge and Falls.

Richard loves road trips!

As you can see, it was absolutely gorgeous.  It was so huge.  They have a bridge that you can hike up to.  We all hiked up, but it was cold and wet.  Totally worth it, for the view.

Since moving out here, I feel more and more amazed with all that the Lord can do.  What an incredible place.  We have beauty all around us, all we have to do is open our eyes.  I've heard that so many times before, yet until now, I don't think I ever truly opened my eyes to take in the scenery.  In life, we have to take the scenic route.  It takes our minds off of the overwhelming force of it all.  I have felt so blessed.  I know that moving here was the right thing to do.  The Lord hasn't stopped blessing us since we got here.  I am so grateful to have a husband that listens to the Spirit, and willingly(if not hesitantly), follows.  I'm eternally grateful that I was blessed with the faith to follow along.  What a fantastic journey we have embarked on.  I know that this is where we are meant to end up.  The people are incredible, the culture is wonderful.  I can't imagine a more perfect place to raise my family and build a home.

On another note, we had been having some car troubles.  So, we got rid of Richard's Sunfire, after the tree crashed into it. It was a sad day.  That car was his first and only car.  They went through a lot together.  The City of Portland paid us to not sue them, which was nice.  It was also a blessing, since I am the only one working at the moment.  It was an answer to our prayers.  We took the money and put it into our savings account. Well, not long after that, we were hit by an uninsured motorist.  We only had liability insurance, so there was no way it was going to get fixed.  It was just a fender bender.  The roads were wet, he slammed on his brakes and slid into us.  We were at a stop light, so all it did was dent our passenger side door.  Luckily we have a friend who was able to pull the dent out, so that we could open the door. Well, that is where it all began to go downhill.  After that, the security system started draining the battery at an excessive rate.  We would go out to go somewhere, and the car would be dead.  A couple in our ward let us borrow there portable battery charger.  We used it quite a few times.  Finally, we took it in to get it checked out.  The mechanic told us to stop wasting our money fixing the car over and over.  Well, as mentioned before, I am the only one working, so a car payment wasn't super feasible.  We did have some money in savings, thanks to the City of Portland and the move not being as expensive a predicted.  So, we set out to buy a car.

 Meet our new 2007 Pontiac Vibe.  We haven't named her yet.  But I think we're in love.  And the best part is-we traded in my car as part of the down payment, so we don't have to worry about her either!  Yay!!
This makes me a little less worried to make the drive home for Christmas....