Well, it’s been a heck of a long time since I’ve posted on this thing. I’ve realized that without the ol’ blog, I have a really hard time remembering anything that we’ve done. On our anniversary last week, we had to scroll through our phone photos to even remember what we did to celebrate last year (we went to an amazing and sweaty Punch Brothers concert at the zoo, by the way).
So, mostly for my own sake, and for the five of you fine readers who still check on this thing, here’s a not-so-quick update on the past year:
August 2018
We joined a team to run the Cascades Lake Relay in Central Oregon. We spent a weekend living in a van with a group of hilarious and wonderful strangers, taking turns running segments along a 216 mile route from Diamond Lake to Bend. I expected this to be kind of torturous, but it turned out to be a total blast.
We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary with a zoo concert by the Punch Brothers. I assume we probably ate something delicious too, but I have zero photo evidence, so I truly have no idea.
September 2018
We hiked the Vista Ridge trail (and I even blogged about it!).
October 2018
We celebrated our 12th dating anniversary with Pip’s, of course.
Autumn was beautiful and dramatic.
We went on an amazing vacation to Montana, which was the last thing I blogged before falling off the face of the earth.
November 2018
We ran the Silver Falls trail half-marathon, which was a beautiful mudfest.
We spent Thanksgiving at Priest Lake, which never disappoints. Without our usual small town Thanksgiving race, we came up with our own multi-sport adventure, the “Priest Lake Majestic Storm Multi-Sport Family Fun Run for the Caribou.” It was a couples’ competition with a lake kayak, multiple fat tire bike loops (with the added complication of ice on the road), and a trail run. Undeterred by the weather, we also canoed/kayaked down the lake for some hot chocolate!
December 2018
We ventured into the snow for our annual Christmas tree hunt, finding a nice one on Mount Hood to bring home and decorate.
I ran the whole 30-mile Wildwood Trail through Forest Park, which had been on my bucket list since we moved to Portland. It was surprisingly enjoyable!
We spent Christmas in Ohio with the Ringers, where we got to spend the holiday with our niece and nephew for the first time ever! And since Ohio is just north of my family in Kentucky, we got to stop in a for a few days to celebrate with the Smith clan, as well. We even managed to stop at Locust Grove to take a photo on the porch where we got married a million years ago.
January 2019
Portland kicked off the new year with the most spectacular sunrise, and we headed out to the Gorge for a delightful trail run.
We enjoyed a winter afternoon with a snowshoe to Tamawanas Falls.
February 2019
I had jury duty! For six days! It was shockingly less dramatic than anything I’ve seen on TV, but a super interesting look into our justice system that made me hope I never have to place my fate in the hands of 12 strangers.
We ran the Buck Mountain Mudslinger, which turned into a very snowy trail run after the area got about 6 inches of snow the night before the race. Eric and I both won age group awards, which means we’ve probably reached our peak in athletics. It was ridiculously exciting.
March 2019
It finally snowed in Portland!
And dramatically rainbowed a week later.
And then suddenly it was spring.
April 2019
We made our return to triathlon with the Beaver Freezer sprint race. It POURED down rain, but we had a blast, despite getting covered in mud.
Two years after buying our condo, we finally started renovating! We basically ripped out the whole bottom floor (a very 1990s kitchen, living, dining, and half-bath), and moved all of our furniture upstairs, leaving our home completely uninhabitable. Luckily, our pals, Liz and Pat, invited us to move in with them during our renovation. So we packed a lot of bags (triathlon training, travel, and temperatures that ranged from below freezing to 100 degrees required a lot of stuff), and moved out to the suburbs for a couple of months.
For several weeks, all of our kitchen cabinets and appliances sat in our garage. You are welcome for this photo:
May 2019
The renovation continues! We hired pros to do all of the demolition, but we installed our kitchen cabinets ourselves. Surprise, it’s super hard! Especially when your floors, walls, and ceiling are all completely uneven.
Triathlon training continued with lots of long bike rides through wine country.
My parents came to visit, and we all headed up to Vancouver Island for my triathlon.
We put on the world’s largest coats and went on a whale watching tour. We did, in fact, see whales, but I will not bore you with horrible phone photos of them. Instead, enjoy these horrible phone photos of us in giant coats.
June 2019
Apparently this was a month I didn’t document well through photos, but I raced Ironman 70.3 Victoria (you may remember both of us racing this one back in 2015).
We had a crazy 100 degree heat wave, during which Eric’s sister came to visit. Sorry, Laura! We spent most of our short time eating (LeChon! Eb & Bean! Pip’s!) and wine tasting.
Continuing the month of family visits, we spend a weekend in San Diego for Eric’s mom’s birthday. It appears the only photo I took the entire weekend was from a very hot and humid run in “sunny” southern California.
July 2019
We finally moved back into our condo! (Have I mentioned that Liz and Pat are the best for hosting us for SO long?) As I’m writing this, we still have work to do before the renovation is actually “complete”, but all the huge tasks are done.
We went camping at Lake Billy Chinook with our pals, David and Amanda. It was maybe the most relaxing weekend of the summer, filled with boating, failed fishing attempts, and a nice scenic bike ride through the high desert.
Eric’s raced Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa, where his parents joined us for a few days in wine country.
August 2019
We celebrated our NINTH wedding anniversary with dinner on the rooftop deck at Departure. But the main anniversary event was a 40-mile hike on the Timberline Trail, completely circumnavigating Mount Hood. But that deserves a long post of its own (coming soon-ish)!
And that, my friends, was the fastest year of our lives.
-Ally
Steve says
You are both too much. Especially the condo redo. Come do ours. Run the Boulder/Boulder and the Spartan up Pikes Peak while your here. We miss you both. Thanks for the pics. Love, Steve and Judy
Robbi Devers says
Awesome adventures!!
Robbi Devers says
You two are living the dream!! Enjoy!
Kathryn Mullen says
What a beautiful year! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Shelly says
Y’all are the cutest.
JUDY GECKELER says
I love your writing. Your energy seems to find a spot in your words and I re-live those moments with you. Thanks again for such an entertaining blog.