The Start of Summer

Well, here we are. The start of summer. Erik has already been on the river with Orange Torpedo for one trip. One down, 3 more to go. If you haven't checked out the company that Erik works for, click on the link above. You'll get a very brief glimpse of what they do. It's a great company with a cool concept, and I actually prefer what OTT does compared to other rafting companies.

Anyway, Erik will be gone for a huge chunk of July. 'Tis the life of a river widow, I guess. The sacrifices we make for our husbands, I tell you. ;)

While Erik is gone, I plan to paint the entire downstairs of my house. I have yet to post inside pictures of our casa, because the entire interior is painted battleship grey. Yes, seriously. It will look SO much better once it's painted. I'll take some pictures so you can all see the before and after... but you'll have to wait to see the inside until I'm done.

But for those of you who haven't seen our house at ALL, here's the outside. You can click on them to see them larger...

Pretty nice, huh? Yeah, we like it, too. It's proven to be the perfect house for us. We recently got a fire pit for our back patio. I can guarantee it will get a ton of use this summer. If you ever want to come over, the door is always open & there's (almost) always beer in the fridge.

In unrelated news, I'm on a reading frenzy. I have a list of books that I'm trying to plow through this summer. Some titles include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. "The Reason for God" by Tim Keller
2. "The Jesus of Suburbia" by Mike Erre
3. "The Weight of Glory" by C.S. Lewis
4. "The Great Awakening" by Jim Wallis

I have my work cut out for me. That is just a very short piece of my list. I'm always a little too ambitious when it comes to summer reading, and I never get through my lists... hiking and playing in the sunshine always seems to outweigh my option of reading. However, I am making it a goal to actually relax this summer, instead of run around all the time. We'll see how that works out.

It's going to be a fun summer here in Portland. Between having 2 roommates (Jenny, who we met through church, and Matt, my brother-in-law), having great weather, and Evan having a normal job, I can guarantee I'll have fun, even if Erik has to leave for a substantial amount of time. I'll be going to Colorado for a weekend to visit Nancy, going to Sandpoint, Idaho for Timm and Amie's wedding, Chewy will come to visit I'm sure, and heading to Elk Lake for Labor Day. And let's not forget all of the painting I'll be doing.

So, here's to summer in Portland (this is where you lift your pint of beer). May the clouds never threaten our sunshine.