Fire on the Mountain, Run Boys, Run

Last weekend Katy came into town to explore the Northwest ski scene with us. My bunion has finally healed well enough for me to shove it into a tele boot again too. Yahoo! So, we were off to Mt Adams in south western Washington (just a few hours from Portland). Chip's PA pal, Josh, joined our troupe for the adventure as well.

We have always worried a certain mom with our backcountry skiing and Chip's fire fighting. Well, last weekend fate figured we needed a big dose of risk as we combined both. I included a bunch of pictures here so you can see what we saw. A seemingly small patch of smoldering trees in the morning exploded into a six thousand acre fire with 200 ft. flames, visible from the summit by mid afternoon. I actually worried too at this point. I worried that our car, parked only a few hundred yards from where the fire came through, would be torched. It wasn't... but man, it was close.

We skiied 5,500 vertical feet AND got to do about 500 vertical feet of glisading. We all agreed that the glisading was probably more fun than the skiing, but since we dragged the big sticks up with us, we may as well use them. :)
Mt. Hood is the mountain in the background of a few of these pictures. The sunrise mountain here is St Helens, and we had an incredible view of Mt. Rainier from the top.

Oh, and, as if a twelve hour, six thousand foot, day wasn't enough, Katy got me out for an incredible 11 mile hike to Eagle Creek Falls on Monday. Katy left on Tuesday morning, but I am still feeling the effects of her visit today. We miss our SLC, curly haired, gamer. Thanks for visiting Katy!


"If you ever catch on fire, try to avoid seeing yourself in a mirror, cause I bet that is what really throws you into a panic." - Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

Snow Globe DuRoss

Sometimes, I think our life is like a snow globe... and moving to Portland was comparable to someone giving the globe a good shake. All the little facets of our life, like the little pieces of glitter in the snow globe, although beautiful, have been floating. Well, I am happy to report, that most of these pieces and details are settled again on the floor of the DuRoss globe. I know it is only a matter of time before the hand of the great spirit shakes it/us up again...but for now, I will fill you in on what the results of this shake-up have been.

Kessler- She is doing great, but the poor thing really misses her dog door and back yard. She has to spend 9 hours, four days a week, inside by herself. So, our little perfectness has taken to chewing things....like my sunglasses today- awesome. I don't need sunglasses in this town anyway.

Chip- I think Chip was born to be a student. I know this may come as a surprise to his parents (and anyone else who knew him in high school), but it is true. He takes on a work hard/play hard mode of operation that many students talk about, but that I have never actually seen pulled off. So far, so good.

Audrey- My new job is going well. I am a Child and Family Therapist at a day and residential treatment facility. Biggest downer- paperwork (most of it is on the computer- why do we still call it paperwork?). Biggest upper- I love the variety of kids and families I get to work with, I am learning a ton, and I work 4-10s. I love three day weekends!

So what are we doing on our weekends anyway?- Well, Chip has been surfing and kayaking mostly. I have been waiting for my bunion to finish healing up before hitting the trails running, and have primarily been road biking on my new Bianchi beauty and hiking with Kness. To celebrate the summer solstice, we participated in the craziest bike ride all over Portland (part of a festival called Peddalpalooza) with karaoke fixins in tote, stopped off for a doughnut break at midnight with 150 other bikers(many in costume), and finished on top of a peak at the edge of town with a view of the city lights.

The old house- We finally closed on our Iowa St. house. I have to take this opportunity to plug Joilyn Anderson, our real estate agent. She is a total gem. It took great perseverance, cooperation, and patience to get this one done, but we did it...even after the roof leaked two days before closing. At any rate, if you are ever buying or selling a home in SLC, we highly recommend Joilyn.


So, there is where the glitter has fallen for now. The pictures are totally random- more just something to keep your eye happy while reading my proliferations.

"The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order."
-Alfred North Whithead

Yo Mama

My mom turned 65 this year. What an awesome accomplishment. She is so full of wisdom, experience, perspective, and laughter. So, for her birthday, Chip and I treated her to a weekend with us! (I think we are the ones who made out in this deal) :)



We pretty much didn't stop talking from the moment she arrived. We drank coffee at our local coffee house, walked the dog on several of our favorite trails and around town, and spent a day on the coast.


Kessler demolished her new favorite toy from "Oma" in less than 24 hours. She says thanks, it was fun, and come back soon! Thanks for traveling all the way across the country to hang out with us, mom. We love you so much!

This quote reminded me of one of those reoccuring conversations that kept coming up all weekend about how to live a peaceful life. Lucille sums it up nicely. :)


“The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.” - Lucille Ball

Surf's Up

Water, water, everywhere! Chip and I have been enjoying getting to know the lay of the land, or water rather, around here. Within the first three days of living in Portland, Chip outfitted himself through Craigslist with a surf board and wetsuit (Priorities, right? Never mind that our boxes weren't unpacked yet). Therefore, our first venture was out to the Oregon coast- Pacific City specifically. The maiden voyage was successful. Chip reports sore arms and adrenaline as the seldom used skills came back to him.


Chip, Kessler, and I enjoyed a beautiful sunset, an incredible hike through the cloud forest, and a bottle of "Two Buck Chuck". With less than 24 hours to come home, unpack, repack, and get back on the road, we were off on to the next leg of our Oregon Adventure '08!


This round of surfing took place on the Deshutes River, just a few hours southeast of Portland. We kicked it with Jon, Sarah, and two new friends, Tanda and Justin. J& S have a beautiful 14ft oar-rigged raft that I hung out on most of the weekend. Chip surfed the current in his kayak with Jon. Despite the innumerable number of tics we are still pulling off the dog, it was the smoothest first-time-out-for-the-season trip I have ever been a part of. We ate like kings and queens, laughed often, and even got a few glamor shots in with our resident photographer (more photos or a link to follow soon). Good times.

School and work are on the rapidly approaching horizon. And actually, we are pretty excited to stop moving for a minute and settle in.




"Life sure is easy on a raft, ain't it Huck?"
-Mark Twain

Ohio

Ahhh...home. In some ways, our visits home have changed a lot. And still, there is this deep and familiar comfort that overcomes me every time the plane lands in Cleveland. The lush grass and trees, quaint Chagrin Falls, quiet starry nights, and nostalgic memories around every corner.








This relaxed long weekend in Ohio was filled with a trip to the zoo, lots of great food, a house hunt for Derek and Hope (and Chip and Audrey in the future??), lots of great food, games of memory and coloring with the kiddos, lots of great food, picture and story sharing, and of course, lots of great food (especially Yours Truly).
Thanks for a great visit, Eastern Clan!


Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~Jane Howard

SLC-PDX

Where do I begin? It has been a whirlwind of a month and somehow, at the end of it all, here I it sit in our tiny and adorable Portland apartment looking out the window at scenery that is beautiful , yet unfamiliar. We feel so hopeful and...satisfied about this move. And still, there is a lonely pit in my stomach nagging. Chip and I joke that in a way we still feel like we are visiting. I wonder when the reality that we are not returning to all the people and things we loved in SLC will set in.

So far, things are great here. We look forward to exploring our new surroundings and forging new relationships around us. Chip and I are fortunate to have some great friends here in Portland already and, in addition to that, strangers on the street share such genuine smiles generously- I love it! It has been gray here since our arrival, but I am glad to see that it does not have to cause an outbreak of gloomy moods. I am sure I will miss the consistent sunshine doled out by Utah days, but for now, the cool coastal air feels good on my skin and, for someone so connected to my sunglasses that some thought they grew out of my head, it feels good to remove the plastic lens between my eye and the world around me. I mean seriously, who can complain about an environment that promotes growth so well that I sometimes worry that moss will start to grow on my car parked in the street , or at least that a blossom will sprout out of the headlight- they seem to sprouting out of everything else- it is truly incredible. Come check it out for yourself and see us!

Chip and I want to make sure that we give a big shout out of gratitude to so many of you for helping us with this transition. Thanks to Chris and Erika for organizing an awesome send off party a few days before our departure. Thanks to Pam and Justin for not only watching, but loving, our dog in all our times of need. Thanks to Ann and Andy for helping us pack in SLC. Huge thanks to mom DuRoss for driving one of our cars and helping us stay motivated to unpack when we just wanted to walk away. Thanks to both moms (Chip's and Jon's) as well as Jon himself, for helping us unpack. And, thanks to those who supported us with your good energy and phone calls to let us know that you are thinking about us.

We have some plans to get out and about before Chip starts school and I start work. And, of course, more details to come on those topics later. So, bookmark or "RSS feed" this page if you want to stay updated on our dealings.

(The new 650 sq.ft. flat)

This is a quote we found and had posted on our fridge for the last few months. I rediscovered it in our unpacking...

"The warrior knows that he is free to choose his desires, and he makes these decisions with courage, detachment, and-sometimes- with just a touch of madness."
-Paulo Coelho from Warrior of the Light

Elk Mountain Grand Traverse

(Chip and Audrey catching a few more moments horizontally before the start)

The Elk Mountain Grand Traverse is becoming a widespread event in the Mulliken/DuRoss clan. The weather this year was a bit more forgiving, but not much. The 30mph winds, zero visibility on the passes, and snow the ENTIRE time presented enough challenge. Almost fourteen hours after our midnight start, all four of us finished and swore we would never do the race again. We questioned why we paid to do such a thing. However, only a few beers and hours later we were already making plans for next year. The human memory is so "resilient".




The "Sisters of Soul" took their second stab at the race. While it was tough to beat our first place finish from last year, it felt gratifying to finish at all, and inspiring to see so many tough women in the field this year. We overcame quite a few obstacles, both small and large, to finish with a similar time to last year, but a fourth place finish(13hours and 45 minutes). How lucky am I to be able to experience something like this with my sister!

Team "Psychrophile" (Definition: a bacteria that thrives in very cold temperatures) showed an awesome performance. They also overcame a demoralizing obstacle that you will have to call about to get more details. Nonetheless, they kept their attitudes up and finished well within their projected goal. Chad ran a tight ship, and Chip found a new source of motivation in keeping up and pushing himself for the team(12hours and 12 minutes).





































(The haggard bunch on Sunday, about to part ways in Colorado)
"Winning isn't always finishing first. Sometimes winning is just finishing."---Manuel Diotte