Hear, hear!

Seriously, Ohio's tax dollars paid for this. I love it. Chip and I decided this would be our mantra for 2010.

Happy New Year! To be honest, there were some highlights in 2009, and at the end of the day, Chip and I recognize all the amazing blessings in our lives. Still, at the risk of sounding ungrateful and pathetic, in summary, it was one of those years where I hope to leave more in the past than will be remembered fondly. You want it straight- Good riddens 2009! It happens. I am, by profession and practice, pretty solution-focused. However, Chip and I found it more therapeutic this New Years Eve to shamelessly make a list of all the things that sucked about 2009 and burn it five minutes before the clock struck midnight. No longer bogged down quite so much by those things, we also took the opportunity presented by the full and blue moon to put our positive intentions for ourselves and loved ones for the coming year out to the universe.


So, we are back in Portland. It snowed upon our return and created some beauty. Find it.


We have a boatful of smiles in our pockets from recent travels. Embrace them.



And, we remain hopelessly hopeful about our future and the futures of our loved ones despite past and inevitable pain. Just do it.

This is an action shot from the bottle rocket escapade in Philly- blast off 2010!



“Peace out- one love.” - Mortified author

National DuRoss' Christmas Vacation

I have to slip in a special Christmas entry. Our trip back east was epic. We flew into Cleveland to spend the first four days with Chip’s family. This was epic in that we had not seen Chip’s parents for a year- our longest separation since….I can remember….ever? I guess we knew that was a possibility when Chip started school, but it was other complications as well that contributed to the time between visits. AND, we got to meet Derek and Hope’s newest family addition, Mercy. She completes their adorable family perfectly. The pictures accurately depict the warmth and joy shared with family in Cleveland.




Then, we hopped in the car and headed further east to Philly to spend the holiday and four more days with the Mulliken/Voss family. This was epic in that it was the first time in SIX YEARS that my family has been together in entirety. Not only was this exciting, but then we also had a mini family reunion (for the second time this year) as extended family joined us for an evening of great food, company, and drinks at Tina and John’s. The collages from this part of the trip capture the laughter and energy of our time in Philly.




We are so grateful to the hosting homes and family members in both locations. Mindy put it well when she said, “ I feel like you guys put WAY more effort into making this happen then we did in getting here.” I couldn’t agree more.

Lookin’ forward to the next time.

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more."
-Theodor Seuss Geisel, "The Grinch"