Amy and Rick have officially survived the Pacific Northwest for one year.
Back in 2007, the newlyweds were ignorant as what to expect from the Rose City (or at least a suburb of the Rose City). Now, in 2008, the still-newly married couple are just as ignorant but are at least getting a handle on how to get from Point A to Point B without a Thomas Guide (sometimes).
The Portland area has become less foreign as favorite resturants are discovered (Arawan, Portland City Grill, Bay 13), and the quickest routes are deteremined by trial-and-error.
While they are not seasoned veterans of Portland just yet, Rick and Amy are excited about exploring as much as they can.
And there is a standing offer to anyone who wants to visit - we love to have guests!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Call me 'Don'
On the last day of January in the year of our Lord 2008, at 2:14 in the afternoon, Julia Grace was born to my sister and brother-in-law.
This bundle of joy entered the world at 19 1/2 inches long and 7 pounds 11 1/2 ounces with dark hair and healthy lungs.
I am honored to say Amy and I have been asked to be Godparents, the first Godchild for either of us. Julia will also be the first niece or nephew to know my wife only as Aunt Amy.
The mother and child are both doing extremely well and recovering at home in Long Beach.
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Couple Who Works Out Together...
Big news at Chateau Devereux! To burn off all those prom snacks and holiday calories both Rick and Amy have signed up for some big challenges coming up this April, and have jumped on the workout bandwagon!
First up, Rick is training for his first triathlon! Set April 5th, Rick has already started getting into fantastic shape to swim, bike, run and crush his way right through the event!
Next up, Amy and Kerry have pledged to up the challenge of their annual 'Race in a Different State' this year and have signed on to run the Nashville Country Music 1/2 Marathon on April 26th. Tennessee here we come!
We'll be sure to keep you updated on how our training is coming along, but feel free to pass along words of encouragement or your favorite training tips!
First up, Rick is training for his first triathlon! Set April 5th, Rick has already started getting into fantastic shape to swim, bike, run and crush his way right through the event!
Next up, Amy and Kerry have pledged to up the challenge of their annual 'Race in a Different State' this year and have signed on to run the Nashville Country Music 1/2 Marathon on April 26th. Tennessee here we come!
We'll be sure to keep you updated on how our training is coming along, but feel free to pass along words of encouragement or your favorite training tips!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Are you ready for some football?
Ahhh, the first week of the New Year.
A time when football is on television every night for approximately 10 straight days (Ha! Two nights better than the Beatles 'Eight Days a Week!')
Well, needless to say, Rick is one happy camper.
New Years day was spent mostly on the couch watching the Michigan-Florida game, followed by the USC-Illinois game, followed by the Hawai'i-Georgia game. The allegiance to watching each game varied, as Rick likes the Florida colors (reminds him of Cal State Fullerton) but also has an affinity for the Wolverine fight song (Hail to the victors!).
Cheering for USC was easy as Rick is a homer for the Pac-10, he has been to Trojan games with his sister Nicole and brother-in-law John, and he is deeply offended by Illinois mascot (must the Illini always be 'fighting?').
He was split on the Hawai'i-Georgia game, though. Rick's family has ties to Hawai'i, his good friend Rob Chai is Hawaiian, and his grandfather got blown off a toilet when the Pearl Harbor attack happened. But Rick thinks bulldogs are cool. It was a tough game to root against any one team. Luckily, Hawai'i's (that's a lot of apostrophes) lack of an offensive or defensive line made the game a lopsided affair.
And then, over the weekend, the San Diego 'Super' Chargers generously let the Tennessee Titans have an entire half to try to score as many points as possible. The Chargers even told the Titans they would spot them the first half in order to make it a fair fight. Tennessee could only muster 6 points. It was an easy speed bump for the mighty Charger offense to overcome in the second half (even without Superman, I mean tight end Antonio Gates). Now the Chargers must travel to Indianapolis, uh, Indy, and face the Colts this upcoming Sunday.
Also, Sunday morning Rick played flag football in the near-freezing rain (it was snowing at one point) and he re-broke a finger that got jammed two months earlier. At least this time he has set an appointment to see a doctor.
Monday night, Rick was back to watching college football as LSU and Ohio State faced off in the BCS National Championship. Again, Rick was torn. He likes LSU because he likes the color purple and he likes Shaq. But he likes the Buckeyes because his mom is from the state of Ohio (not to be confused with The Ohio State). But the tipping point in his cheering decision comes from the fact the purple and yellow remind him of SAE, so Rick obviously yelled himself hoarse for Ohio State.
Oh well. You can't win them all.
Till next time...
A time when football is on television every night for approximately 10 straight days (Ha! Two nights better than the Beatles 'Eight Days a Week!')
Well, needless to say, Rick is one happy camper.
New Years day was spent mostly on the couch watching the Michigan-Florida game, followed by the USC-Illinois game, followed by the Hawai'i-Georgia game. The allegiance to watching each game varied, as Rick likes the Florida colors (reminds him of Cal State Fullerton) but also has an affinity for the Wolverine fight song (Hail to the victors!).
Cheering for USC was easy as Rick is a homer for the Pac-10, he has been to Trojan games with his sister Nicole and brother-in-law John, and he is deeply offended by Illinois mascot (must the Illini always be 'fighting?').
He was split on the Hawai'i-Georgia game, though. Rick's family has ties to Hawai'i, his good friend Rob Chai is Hawaiian, and his grandfather got blown off a toilet when the Pearl Harbor attack happened. But Rick thinks bulldogs are cool. It was a tough game to root against any one team. Luckily, Hawai'i's (that's a lot of apostrophes) lack of an offensive or defensive line made the game a lopsided affair.
And then, over the weekend, the San Diego 'Super' Chargers generously let the Tennessee Titans have an entire half to try to score as many points as possible. The Chargers even told the Titans they would spot them the first half in order to make it a fair fight. Tennessee could only muster 6 points. It was an easy speed bump for the mighty Charger offense to overcome in the second half (even without Superman, I mean tight end Antonio Gates). Now the Chargers must travel to Indianapolis, uh, Indy, and face the Colts this upcoming Sunday.
Also, Sunday morning Rick played flag football in the near-freezing rain (it was snowing at one point) and he re-broke a finger that got jammed two months earlier. At least this time he has set an appointment to see a doctor.
Monday night, Rick was back to watching college football as LSU and Ohio State faced off in the BCS National Championship. Again, Rick was torn. He likes LSU because he likes the color purple and he likes Shaq. But he likes the Buckeyes because his mom is from the state of Ohio (not to be confused with The Ohio State). But the tipping point in his cheering decision comes from the fact the purple and yellow remind him of SAE, so Rick obviously yelled himself hoarse for Ohio State.
Oh well. You can't win them all.
Till next time...
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy 2008!
Chateau Devereux was the sight of one of the most entertaining New Year's Eve parties ever as guests were encouraged to relive their youth and attend donning prom attire.The costumes were - as Jem and the Holograms would say - truly, truly, truly outrageous. There was even a 'pregnant' Prom Queen and King (from Washougal)!
It was a blast from the past as ladies wore side ponytails and the gents sported skinny ties, pink polo shirts and ruffled tuxedos.
There was some debate during the night, however, on which dance rendition was more entertaining - the Running Man, the Roger Rabbit, the Robot or the Worm. In a surprising turn of events, the best was probably Kevin and Tara's Rhythmic Gymnastics routine, a la Frank the Tank in 'Old School.'
After a go at Trivial Pursuit was abandoned, a spirited round of Taboo ended the evening with many laughs!
Hope your 2008 is as 'totally tubular' as our party was!
If you'd like to see more fun photos, click on the link below, or over in our 'Links' area. Happy New Year everyone!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=18x6hh3p.caefbqd9&x=0&y=mwk1zx
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
I'm Dreaming of a...
White Christmas! Rick's first in fact! And only the sixth time in 67 years that it has snowed on Christmas day in the Portland Metro Area! Don't we feel special...
Yes, it was just like the ones I used to know. But the best part was, we didn't have to go anywhere, had a few friends travel to us, and filled our bellies with good food, good wine and good laughs!
Speaking of laughs - Rick, with his inexperience in the snow, became one with the snow. He had gone outside to turn on the Christmas lights and had to walk across our snowy front lawn. While he was gingerly traversing the downward slope of the yard (in flip flops no less!) his footing gave way and he ended up, as they say, a** over tea kettle! Luckily he was okay, other than his bruised ego as he exclaimed Merry Christmas to the neighbors watching across the street.
We've attached a slide show of some pictures of the day. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=18x6hh3p.3mht44z1&Uy=-k2zj0c&Ux=0
Sunday, December 23, 2007
The Nutcracker?
This weekend Rick and I immersed ourselves in all that is Christmas tradition, got dressed up and headed out to the Nutcracker. After alleviating his concerns on the 'story' of the ballet, we settled in at the Keller auditorium in Portland and watched the spectacle with big eyes and a sore head (Rick, that was).
See, the evening before we had some friends over for some early Christmas cheer, and Rick decided he had to really make a go of it. Well, he paid dearly yesterday, but persevered and we rewarded ourselves with an amazing dinner at El Gaucho, a steakhouse downtown where Nike likes to take all their athletes they're trying to wine and dine.
Well, wined and dined we were - rounded out with the most amazing espresso martini I've yet to come across, and a Mississippi Mud Pie for the ages! Unfortunately, we were so stuffed and tired we ended up foregoing our planned party hopping and headed home.
Right now is like Rick's Friday night as he has both tomorrow AND Christmas day off, so it only makes sense that he'd be dancing around the room wearing a Santa hat with Ripken to the Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Extravaganza. Looks like that head might be sore again tomorrow!
I'm looking forward to a shortened day tomorrow (markets close at 10am PST) and a fun, quiet Christmas with my two favorite boys. We hope our Christmas cards have gotten to you in time for Christmas Eve. Until next time...
See, the evening before we had some friends over for some early Christmas cheer, and Rick decided he had to really make a go of it. Well, he paid dearly yesterday, but persevered and we rewarded ourselves with an amazing dinner at El Gaucho, a steakhouse downtown where Nike likes to take all their athletes they're trying to wine and dine.
Well, wined and dined we were - rounded out with the most amazing espresso martini I've yet to come across, and a Mississippi Mud Pie for the ages! Unfortunately, we were so stuffed and tired we ended up foregoing our planned party hopping and headed home.
Right now is like Rick's Friday night as he has both tomorrow AND Christmas day off, so it only makes sense that he'd be dancing around the room wearing a Santa hat with Ripken to the Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Extravaganza. Looks like that head might be sore again tomorrow!
I'm looking forward to a shortened day tomorrow (markets close at 10am PST) and a fun, quiet Christmas with my two favorite boys. We hope our Christmas cards have gotten to you in time for Christmas Eve. Until next time...
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