Airing Out in Southern Oregon

A couple weeks ago I went to visit my parents in Medford, Oregon. Both Scott's and my parents are so excited for us to be back on the West Coast. When Scott and I finally settled into our new place for this fellowship year, my parents made sure to schedule a trip for me to come visit, and it was all planned around the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. When my dad told me about this upcoming season of shows, there were a few plays that I mentioned an interest in, but with timing in mind, I decided on a weekday evening show of Sense and Sensibility. You may be thinking, "Um, that's Jane Austen, not Shakespeare." You'd be right, but that's OSF variety for you.

Little did I know that West Coast fires would end up interfering with our plans.

I flew on Alaska Airlines/Horizon to Medford instead of driving. The air quality at the Portland airport was a little hazy from the fires in British Columbia, but it was nothing compared to the tarmac in Medford. I couldn't even see the ground until we were landing on it. That picture above may look like a typical overcast day in Oregon, but that's straight up smoke from California and Oregon fires. YUCK!

That same hazardous air quality continued through to the next day, and I was worried about the scheduled Sense and Sensibility performance. I knew that there is a beautiful outdoor amphitheater as part of the Shakespeare Festival, and my dad said that most of the amphitheater performances had been canceled since the fires started, but he reassured me that our play was indoors.

When we arrived at the theater, many of the patrons were walking in with their face masks on and the theater smelled a bit like camp fire. Ushers taking tickets encouraged us to come inside quickly, limiting how much smoke would come inside. My dad and I sat down in incredible seats to watch Elinor and Marianne lose their father, move to a smaller home, and meet Willoughby. OSF spiced up this Austen story by having backstage cast members throwing out commentary from the side when they weren't part of the evolving plot.

At intermission, I got up to use the bathroom, and when I returned, the Managing Director of OSF was standing center stage telling the crowd that the smoke had gotten too thick back stage. He cancelled the remainder of the performance out of concern for actors, and patrons... but mostly the cast. We were disappointed, but I consoled myself, and my dad, by saying that I know exactly what happens to the Dashwoods.

The smoke didn't let up much at all during my week trip. In fact, my parents remained semi-housebound until just a couple days ago. I'm sure I'll get another opportunity soon to see Medford without the hazardous air and face masks.

Snow Days in Oregon

We returned from our warm weather travels just in time for a snow and cold front in Oregon. In our three years in the Willamette Valley, we can only remember one other significant snow in March 2011. The weather this weekend has definitely topped that.

This was the first time that roads were closed due to poor conditions and accidents. This was the first time Western University cancelled classes due to weather in the Willamette Valley. This weekend was the first time that church was cancelled due to poor road conditions. This was the first time that the OSU Foundation has closed, while I've worked there, due to poor weather. That may be the most unusual event of the weekend!

Scott and I enjoyed a nice, safe, lazy weekend inside our warm apartment. We ate soup and warm, homemade applesauce. We studied for exams, and we looked a pictures from our cruise. I'm starting to wonder if I scheduled our cruise a week or two too early.

2013 Strawberry Festival Parade



Lebanon, Oregon has a few things going for it, including the Strawberry Festival which takes place the first full weekend in June. Each year the Strawberry Festival is centered around a theme. I remember our first summer in Lebanon the theme was Strawberries in Paradise, which featured more than one float with a gambling theme (pair of dice...). You are going to smile at this year's festival theme - it was "Strawberries of the Round Table." I'm not sure who was inspired with the knowledge that strawberries were a favorite treat of King Arthur, but the participants in the parade should be rewarded for their creativity with the theme!

In fact, it's hard to choose a favorite. There was the knight riding a bike, trailing his captured dragon friend. I was pleased that the Boys and Girls Club won first place for their float featuring animated strawberries... as knights... battling a realistic animated dragon. Seriously impressive! There was also some parade features with no aparent relation to the round table, such as an electric guitar weilding viking, square dancers, and pirates.

I only stayed for the first half of the parade (it is a LONG LONG parade, and was a hot day!), but I was thoroughly entertained. Another successful celebration of strawberries, Lebanon!

To the Pro Bowl

Scene: Western University COMP NW campus

Just looking at the picture you would think Scott was teaching a study group, right?

You would be wrong. This is a meeting of "The Second Years" flag football team of the Lebanon Flag Football League. (Yes, that was their official team name. They clearly did not consult a woman before they chose it). The above meeting occured before the semi-final game, where members of the second year class battled against members of the first year class for a chance to compete in the league championship. My husband takes his sports seriously.

So seriously that when he twisted his ankle on the day of the championship game, you would have thought he had broken it. He immediately called his players to prepare a backup game plan. It was also one of the three times in our marriage that I've seen him take pain medication. When he walked on that ankle it was painful, so he prepared to not be quarterback or even play in the game at all.

How long do you think that lasted? I love this picture of him standing on the sidelines that night. You can tell from his posture that he is so frustrated not being in the game.

The Second Years were battling under the lights against a team of local athletes. Since The Second Years were two seed in the tournament, playing against the first seed team, they were listed as Guest on the scoreboard and our cheering section was on the uncovered bleachers. Though Scott and his team were welcomed competitors, you could feel that this championship was more than just a game. The local teams did not want to be beaten in the Lebanon flag football tournament on the Lebanon High School football field by this group of nomadic students. The home cheering section included not only the wives and friends of the home team, but also team members from some of the other local teams.


And it was a great game! Home would make a touchdown, followed closely by a guest touchdown. There was a lot of movement and tension. It wasn't even the end of the first half that Scott was playing again, saying he could barely feel any pain in his ankle (it really did heal up by the next day).

Second half, the game was tied, 42 to 42, with about a minute left on the clock. The Second Years had taken the ball all the way down the field. With their last chance on the drive, they attempted a field goal kick and made it! This certainly motivated the home team, who turned around and made a touchdown with only five seconds left on the clock.

With a team full of (extremely) competitive medical students, this loss was tough. Heads were down. I believe I even heard some loud barking. But I was really impressed with Scott (may have been a side effect of the drugs). He took a leadership role and congratulated all his team members pointing out their best plays. And while the winning team took pyramid pictures in front of their scoreboard, Scott rallied the team for their one and only team picture of the season.

The story doesn't end there, because of course the Lebanon Flag Football League is having a pro bowl game. Team coaches were asked to nominate four players from their team to play. Of course, as coach, Scott nominated himself... as quarterback. This time he vows he wont be playing ankle twisting basketball on game day.

Bob's Red Mill - Portland

I've wanted to visit Bob's Red Mill since we moved to Oregon. Bob has a plethora of whole grain and gluten free products. Though their product line is admirable, the main reason I wanted to visit Bob's Red Mill was their cafe (Breakfast from scratch served until late afternoon, need I say more?).

As it so happened, the perfect time to visit Bob's was during my parents long lay over in Portland before our travel. It was a Saturday, around noon, and a long line had formed inside to eat at the cafe.

Our group was torn between the amazing Red Mill breakfast and lunch options. I ended up choosing the vegetable omlet with Bob's Red Mill biscuits. The omlet was tasty, but the star of the meal was Bob's biscuits! I could have eaten four more and taken a dozen with me on the plane! They were not much to look at, but clearly whole grain flour, flakey, soft, and addicting.

Scott enjoyed the French dip.

I would love to return to the Red Mill for another meal the next time I'm in Portland, but whether or not that happens, I will definetly be finding Bob's biscuit mix in my grocery store.

Jaspers - Medford

We decided to kick off Spring Break this past weekend by visiting Medford. Our friends, the Burrs, will be doing their rotations in Medford come June. We volunteered my parents and their house for the weekend to help give them a tour. Of course we went along, even though it wasn't quite pool weather yet.

On Saturday, I visited my brother Sam at Guitar Center to get the skinny on buying an electric keyboard. While we were there, Sam recommended Jasper's Cafe for us to try, saying he thought it was the best burger in Medford. Coming from Sam, I didn't even have to question the validity of that statement. We went straight to Jasper's!

To prove Sam's point, Jasper's sign read "Gourmet Burgers with Attitude" with a banner citing how they were voted Best Burger for the last three years in the Medford area. Jasper's is a little white shack on the side of a main road, with a very small indoor dining area. Luckily for us it was a beautiful, spring day in Medford and eating outside was a pleasure!

My dad, Scott and I walked into this shack to place our order and were greated by a full house and chalkboards displaying all the menu options. March Madness was the burger of the month. While we were waiting in line, a waiter (I'm assuming manager?) came through to take orders from those in line to help guests get through a  little faster. He asked if we were ready, and my dad mentioned that we needed some time since it was our first visit to Jaspers. "Oh! Wow. Well, don't worry," the waiter said, "I wont tell anyone." Then he turned around and yelled, "Hey everyone!" You should have seen the look on my dad's face. No real announcement was made, but we now had the attention and laughter of all the patrons.

We each ordered a different burger and a side of sweet potato fries. Another confirmation that we were in for a great lunch - the girl at the register asked if we wanted ranch or fry sauce with our order. She didn't even blink when I said both! Burgers eaten that day - Avocado burger, Western Burger, Pittsburger. All declisioso!

If you are in the Medford, Oregon area and haven't eaten at Jaspers, then you haven't lived a full life.

Our New Neighbors

My parents came to visit a couple weekends ago. Just for fun. Have I mentioned that I love that my parents live in the lower 48?!

After we returned from a Lebanon adventure my dad looked out our window, "Look at your new neighbors! When did they move in?"

My dad's only real hobby before moving out of Alaska was whale watching from the comfort of the living room couch. It doesn't surprise me then that he was the first to spot our sheep friends. Actually, Scott had seen them two days prior but failed to mention them to me, and I guess I was too busy keeping a schedule to look out the window and smell the sheep.

That's changed! We are tracking the sheep now. They wander in pattern around our vast backyard pasture each day - starting each morning in view from our back porch, moving then toward the tree parimeter, grazing over near the Lowes distribution center in the afternoon, and settling back behind our building at night.

I was telling some kids at church that we were tracking the sheep and they asked me if I had name them. NAME THEM? It looks like there are more than 50 out there. I can't even tell the difference! The only thing I know about these sheep is that they look much dirtier than the cartoon ones you see in Easter marketing. I may have enough time in the day to figure out which one is the smallest though!

Grass Roots Books and Music - Corvallis

I won a gift certificate to Grass Roots Books and Music at a campus event this Fall. I will admit that despite the conversations I've had in my MBA classes about the future of books and the fall of local brick-and-mortar book stores, I continue to shop online and hadn't bothered to investigate of Grass Roots previously. I wasn't sure if I would even be able to find anything in this small Corvallis shop inventory that I wanted.

Boy was I wrong! While this downtown bookstore had little space, they filled it to the max with a fantastic selection. I was searching for children's books for my nieces Christmas gifts. They had many lovely books that I was considering, but in-store did not have the exact books I had in mind. I checked out their online inventory access and found so many options and at decent prices! AND my book purchases were shipped for free to the store for pick-up in only a couple of days! Marvelous!

I'm all about supporting local, and I would be especially sad to see brick-and-mortar bookstores extinct! So take this as my official seal of approval for Grass Roots Books and Music. Fantastic service, excellent inventory, quick shipping if needed, and lovely atmosphere!

Christmas With Love, From Oregon

We drove (carefully, mind you) behind your future Christmas tree the other day. I hadn't realized it before I saw this truck filled to the brim with bound pine tree umbrellas, but Oregon is the nation's largest producer of Christmas trees.

Now you can think of Scott and I when you are setting up your Christmas tree, wherever you may be around the United States. Happy Holidays from Oregon!

Pumpkin Carving

It's November. I know! Most of us would like to move on to Thanksgiving. I didn't really get a Halloween this year, though, because I was in my MBA class that night. So humor me as I show you pictures of our pre-Halloween celebrations.

Early in October Groupon offered a promotion for a local family farm with a corn maze and mini disk golf course. Knowing that I would have a class on Halloween night, but still wanting to have a special Halloween date with my hubby, I bought four passes to this corn maze on Groupon and excitedly awaited a time closer to Halloween when we would frolic through the maze while the autumn leaves of gold and red fell upon our heads.

Know this - you should NEVER pre-pay for Fall outdoor activities in Oregon. The rains came down and the mud came up, and that corn maze was a sloppy disaster. Okay, that's harsh.  We finally found a day where there wasn't any rain and hoped that would be enough for a maze outing. The maze wasn't a disaster, but it was an extreme pile of sloppy mud.

This picture doesn't quite do the stickiness of the mud justice. Our shoes succumbed to mud many times, and I had to  hang on to corn stalks to keep from falling. So many kids left that maze with mud up their backs or on their faces from a good slip!

We survived the maze, and bought two pumpkins at their patch for carving. Go local!

Here is Scott scraping the piles of mud off our shoes.

In an effort to stay warm and dry, but still festive, we invited Brian and Tabetha to carve the pumpkins. Scott actually carved ours, while I worked on toasting the pumpkin seeds.

It was fun to chat with them while we searched for pumpkin styles, ate pumpkin shaped pizza, and gutted our squash. A much better plan for Halloween weather in Oregon!

Brew BQ - Corvallis

It's not very often that I can say I have tried a new restaurant in the Corvallis area. Most restaurants have been around much longer than I have and keep a stream of foodie clientel coming through the doors. However, just the other day we heard that a southern-like BBQ shack with Pacific Northwest flare opened in Corvallis. Of course, Morgan being from Texas was anxious to try, and I being an avid blogger was anxious to document.

Brew BQ is located in downtown Corvallis where I recall a french restaurant once resided.  Meats are smoked daily and can be ordered on the side, in combos, or on sandwiches with 6 sauces to choose from. Sauces like "Blackberry Bourbon BBQ" or "Sweet and Sticky." The sauces are available for every table and are numbered, with numbering system outline on their napkin dispensers.

Morgan ordered a quarter pound of brisket. I ordered a brisket sandwich and we split some piggy tails (curly fries). There was plenty of food between the two of us, and enough fries and meat to try out all of the sauces.

Our conclusion was that this was an extremely tasty BBQ place, and we definitely had to bring the hubbies back someday soon! We also concluded that 1/4 lb of meat looked really small on their massive plates, and that the sauces were a bit on the runny side. We imagined that was for getting in all the nooks and crannies of sandwiches and the like.

Now that we've tried and verified the brisket, we may need to try the specials, because house-made smoked chicken and bacon macaroni and cheese sounded lovely.

Ground Breaking Changes

The field next to Western University's Lebanon campus has seen better days. Maybe I should just say more peaceful days, because hopefully the tearing-up occurring now in the field will bring about great things for this community.

The field is now home to a Central Willamette Credit Union and construction site for a 16-bed dialysis center.

The construction doesn't end there. In our neck of the field, there's construction on additional Cascade Ridge office buildings with "luxury" apartments above those offices.

And across the street from the bank, next to the elementary school where there used to be another peaceful field, there are a multitude (really too many to be practical) of dump trucks and digger machines ready to create the foundation for the new veteran's home.

Lebanon is growing in leaps and bounds. Now we just need a franchise sit-down restaurant. Any takers?

High School Football

Would you believe it if I said I went to my first ever high school football game last weekend?

It's true. Sitka High School didn't even have a football team until I was a senior, and even then, who wants to sit out in the rain to watch our new team get crushed by the long standing Juneau team. Not I!

Scott and I have talked about going to a Lebanon High School football game since we moved here last year. The stadium always is crowded on game nights because I'm pretty sure most if not all of the town is out to support the team. The stadium also is host to a new turf field, which caught Scott's eye early on. We decided since this is maybe the nicest weather of the season in Oregon and possibly the last year we'll for sure be in Lebanon, to carpe diem and go to a game.

We were joined by two other med school families and had a ball! Tickets to watch the game were $6 for adults or $8 for reserved seats. Being frugal and five minutes late, that meant we were sitting right between the student section and the band.

I'm really into headbands right now. They push back awkward hair days and show off that my broken nose doesn't look too abnormal. Scott clearly is excited to be at a football game.

Scott and the band. Winston in the back is demonstrating what a nail biter this game was!

This football game might have been the biggest media story of the week... Maybe. 

The younger boys found their favorite attraction.

LHS beat South Albany by who knows how many points. We actually left the game right before the end of fourth quarter... so I really don't know how many points. Lebanon was quite a ways ahead when we left, and we were worried that since the whole town was at the stadium it might be difficult to leave. We were able to witness the many, many, many, many two point conversations that Lebanon achieved without fail over South Albany. ALSO, we watched an amazing attempt at a come back where South Albany successfully completed a hail mary! I wish I had that on video.

 Instead, here is one of the MANY two point conversions:

Lebanon Dance Walk

I'm driving home from work yesterday, going through downtown Lebanon, and I see two teenage boys shaking arrow signs next to the hospital. Teenage boys shaking signs is not unusual anywhere, especially for thrift stores in Lebanon.

But the hospital?! I'm thinking... blood drive? ... hospital gift store clearance? As I get closer I see the words on their sign read "Dance Walk." Say what?!

Source: Western University - COMP NW

As soon as I walk into the apartment, I say to my studying husband, "Did you hear that there was a DANCE walk today starting at the hospital?"

"Oh... yeah. I guess I did."

"AND you didn't TELL me?!" I was flabergasted! I'm thinking that since we've never really danced since our wedding day that my husband may have forgotten who I am.

Or maybe he didn't want to walk next to me, when I was dancing like this...

  I might need to get my pink leg warmers back from the young woman who borrowed them so I can make a video, and STAT.

Also, please tell me that we can do this in SLC when I come to visit!

Springbank Farm - Lebanon

When my parents so graciously brought Scott back from Medford, I took advantage of their trip and knees by having them come out with me to pick blueberries. Both of my parents are expert berry pickers, harvesting berries from coast to coast. We decided to try a new berry picking spot this year and went to Springbank Farm in Lebanon, Oregon.

The farm is family-owned and employs local teens to help with the picking and sorting of the many varieties of blueberries on their farm. Something I noticed that was interesting about the farm was that they didn't have any nets covering their blueberries, even though I'm sure there are many birds. Instead, they have a speaker system throughout the 12-acres of blueberries that periodically plays a tune of raptor bird songs, I'm assuming to keep the berries on the bush.

When we arrived at the farm there was a sign showing which varieties and rows were available for u-pick that day. My husband turned to me and said, "Did you call ahead to let them know we were coming?"

There must have been an influencial Chandler in the agriculture industry because there are chandler varieties of so many fruits: chandler strawberries, chandler walnuts, chandler pomelos, and chandler blueberries.

We chose to pick in a lane that had Legacy blueberries on one side and Chandler blueberries on the other. After eating and picking and eating and picking, I'm not sure that I can say with certainty what the difference between the two varieties is, but I can say that I very much enjoyed the Chandler blueberries. My mom even said she "really liked the Chandlers." We obviously took that as a compliment.

U-pick at Springbank Farm was $1.75/lb this summer (or at least on the day we picked). There were so many blueberries to pick and many of the blueberries were very large. I prefer picking small to medium size berries as they are  sweet, tart, and almost candy-like. With my parents help, and even with their cut of the berries, we were able to fill our freezer with bags and bags of fresh blueberries for pancakes, and blueberry compote, and muffins all winter long!

Many, many thanks for your manual labor coming, Mom and Dad!

Gathering Together Farm - Philomath

I've wanted to visit Gathering Together Farm since a colleague recommended it last summer. I LOVE the concept of farm to table, and that is exactly what Gathering Together is - a farm and restaurant. In fact, they even have their fresh produce for sale inside.

The Gathering Together Farm Restaurant is only open for lunch on week days. So I pulled Morgan along with me for a summer lunch. The restaurant was really busy, as evident by the fact that they asked us if we had a reservation when we arrived. We had planned to take our lunch to go anyway, which I think is a bit unorthodox to ask for from a farm to fork establishment. They obliged, nonetheless.

Morgan and I decided to share a margherita pizza. At the counter where we order our pizza, we noticed a case of their fresh baked pastries, including these potato donuts. Of course we chose chocolate glaze and it was so lovely! The perfect finish too after our pizza lunch.

While we waited, we decided to take a seat inside. It was refreshing to sit next to the produce area and take in the smells of freshly picked herbs and veggies. We were hoping that they would have berries we could purchase, since Oregon is berry country. Gathering Together did have some strawberries for purchase, but the only other fruit we saw for sale that day was pears. According to their blog, Gathering Together grows berries. So we'll just have to keep an eye on their weekly menu or farmstand reports to see if we can grab some before they fly off the shelves.

The pizza was a bit small for sharing, but it actually turned out to be the perfect size lunch for us (including our dessert, of course). I really enjoyed my lunch and am anxious to take my family to Gathering Together Farm, as I know they would really enjoy the gourmet farm atmosphere and eats.