Birthday 23 Weekend

Things have been going well here the last two days. Thursday was my 23rd birthday and we celebrated it by going with Kevin, Kelley and Kendra to the river to go swimming. Joel and I were planning on a picnic and bike ride then Kelley texted me in the morning of my birthday and asked if we wanted to go swimming up at the river and as a fish I can hardly say no to such an offer. So we went to Sauvie Island where there are some beaches on the Willamette and enjoyed ourselves immensely.





It was fun because the water was cold but not so cold that you couldn't get in. And then after swimming for a while we'd hop out and sun bathe and get warm again then go back in the water and so on and so forth. It was really splendid. And we were at the mouth of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers so there was a fair amount of ship traffic that would make big waves with their wakes.




When we got home we were thoroughly exhausted but Kevin, Joel and I went to Lompoc Brewery for dinner and I must say, if you're ever in Portland, that is a really great place to go -- it's very unassuming but extremely delicious. Not to mention they have ample patio space and delicious brews. Yum! I highly recommend it.

Then yesterday (friday) we hosted a birthday barbecue at our house which turned out really well. I was a little nervous about everyone getting along and the whole thing going poorly but it was great. People missed the memo on bringing side dishes so I was afraid we wouldn't have enough food for everyone but we had enough. Yay! We had pollo asado, burgers, hot dogs, roasted corn and grilled pineapple. Kelley and Nick were the grill masters and did an excellent job at keeping the grill and smoker hot.





I don't have any pictures of the whole barbecue at full speed but we had somewhere around 20 people come. Five of our friends from trivia came and doubled our population at the party at one point. And people just kept showing up, it was great! I've never had such a successful party before.

This is the aftermath of an evening well spent and a testament to the amount of folks who were here.




And with some of my birthday money I bought plants! I got a pack of brussels sprouts and cabbage which I planted in the backyard.





I also got a rhubarb, a sweet pepper and a hot pepper, and a packet of basil seeds, and a lavender. And salal which is a native shrub that I find to be particularly lovely. I didn't photograph any of these so just imagine them and hopefully that'll be sufficient until I get around to photographing them.

This upcoming week I am heading down to California to see friends and family. Unfortunately Joel isn't able to come because of work which is a shame. This will be the longest amount of time we'll have been apart since we got married a year and a half ago. I'm nervous, but luckily I'll have family around so it won't be all bad. :0) I'm very much looking forward to this trip!