Japanese Gardens

A good place to get in touch with your inner chi! The Japanese Gardens are a wonderful place to go visit! This Saturday Adam and I, along with his parent Susie & Ken, and brother and his girlfriend Sam & Jessica, went to the beautiful Japaneses Gardens. I have lived in Portland for the last seven years and this was the first time I made it out. I should of done this years ago! According to the brochure this is the most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan.

Boys will be boys! Sam can't resist a little brotherly torture!

The Heavenly waterfall was my favorite!

Adam and I by the rock garden.

Motivational Moment

What activities enthrall you? What in life do you find irresistible, a source of inspiration, a reason to get our of bed?

What dreams do you Chase? What topics do you love to discuss and ponder?

Kevin Carroll - Motivational Speaker - Catalyst for change

The past few day I have been in training classes for work. It was nice to get away from the office for a few days and be around people who work in the same field as me. Some of the classes were interesting but mostly I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. The last speaker of the day was a man named Kevin Carroll. He was there as a motivational speaker, but ended up being so much more. As Kevin told the crowd how he overcame obstacles in his life and never gave up on his dreams, I thought about my own dreams. Then he said something that really hit home, he said "the only thing we need to realize is our dreams."


Check out his blog and see all of the awesome thing he is doing. http://www.kevincarrollkatalyst.com/index.html

Demeter Fragrance

I just came across the most yummy fragrances! Demeter Fragrance has taken the smells of some of the most random things and bottled them. I really love these three below, Grass, Dirt and Laundromat. They come in a three pack so I am putting them on my Christmas list :)! If you get a chance take a smell, your going to love it! There is a link to the Demeter Fragrance website on my favorites!

Swiss Village? Mt Angel, Oregon

As we were driving back from Silver falls, we noticed a beautiful church off the road so we went to investigate. As we drove closer we noticed how everything had a Swiss them. How cute is the little town!
I was told Mt Angel has a really cool Oktoberfest every year! It was in the beginning of September though. Maybe we will get our act together next year and check it out!


The restaurant below was amazing! At certain times of the day giant wooden statues come out and spin around while Swiss music plays.
This photo is for Adams brothers Chris and Sam! As we were stopping for gas we noticed this golf cart. They use it for lock outs, taking gas to people and to tow other golf carts! Adam got pretty excited about it! It's a pretty sweet ride! (Its street legal, this baby can go up to 45MPH)

3 years together!

Adam and I went to Silver Falls State park this weekend to celebrate our third year of being together.

Standing behind the waterfall where we got engaged 2 years ago!

On our first date together Adam and I went to Silver Falls and got hopelessly lost! There is a trail that takes you on a 6 mile loop where you see 10 waterfalls. We got so lost on our date that we ended up hiking 15 miles and only saw one waterfall. It was pitch dark by the time we made it back to Adams car 6 hour later! I guess we had to get lost to find each other! :)

Pretty trees along the trail to south falls!

The now famous waterfall where we got engaged! Lower south falls.

I made Adam take this picture! When we first got engaged, my digital camera erased most of our pictures we took that day. I asked Adam to recreate this moment for me, and he was sweet enough to do it!

This is the main attraction to Silver Falls State Park (South Falls).

Race for the Cure

Today officially kicked off my fall running program. Even though I really didn't have a summer or spring or winter for that matter, running program. I ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, in down town Portland. I really didn't have to high of expectations for my race time, just to run the whole 5K with out stopping (which I did). I was amazing to see so many people come out for the event (50,000 people to be exact). This is my second year running the race and I plan on making it out every year.

Kendra, Stephanie, Lauren and I all ran the race for the cure together.

And there off... the girl in the front (checking her watch) ended up winning the womans 5K in a little under 17 minutes. Crazy!!!

A sea of woman making there way down Broadway.

Below - Me crossing the finish line in a shade under 31 minutes! My face is supper red, Yikes!

Lauren and Stephanie, crossing the finish line! Yea!

This cute wiener dog ran the whole 5K.

My cute cheerleader! Adam is so supportive! After I was done with my race we ended up walking the 5K again so Adam could have his turn.

Portland loves the Race for the Cure! Even the boats were shooting off pink water in its honor.

Me, Kendra, Stephanie & Lauren after the race.

Congratulations Gabe!

My brother-in-law Gabriel Lipper is an amazing artist! My Mom told me today that he just sold about 10 paintings to a country band called Big and Rich. Gabe is really talented and deserves this amazing sell! Check out his web site and see for your self the beautiful work he does! www.artofgabriel.com or check out http://www.galleryelan.com/art_gallery/current_show.htmlto see some of his newest paintings! Congratulations Gabe!

Self portrait of Gabe!

Pirates Life!

I was just looking through some of my old pictures and I came across this one. This picture was taken on my first trip with the Cottams, after Adam and I had been dating for about six months. I should have known then what I was getting myself into. Notice how everyone has got a weapon pointed at me! Yikes! It's a little scary how happy Susie looks holding a knife to my throat. Lucky for me they welcomed me into there little Pirate family!

Cookie Monster

Adam just can't resist eating two of his Mom's O'Henry bars at a time!

My little cookie monster - I have never seen anyone eat more cookies then my husband Adam! He has the ultimate sweet tooth!