Planning a wedding from afar

So as most of you may know, I'm getting married on March 14th of next year (hooray!).



That means I've been doing a lot of planning from Oregon.  The important details have been mostly taken care of (dress, date, ceremony and reception locations, theme), but I've been trying to get more stuff done from here. I made a wedding website (check it out!), and I've ordered some decorations off Amazon.com. We're doing a travel-themed wedding, so I also ordered some maps from AAA (for free!)


I ordered some globes for centerpieces:


As well as some other exciting details :)

I'm so thankful for the technology that's allowed me to communicate with Brian (and of course my MOH, Shyla, the MOB, and the SOB-sister of the bride, hahahh). I miss them all, but I'm excited to be able to plan everything from here!

Also, here's a cute shot of my ring in front of some Oregon scenery

Another week gone

How have I been here for 3 weeks now?? I can't believe how fast time is going by. This past week, I started doing work in the lab. The first thing I have to do for my project is remove DNA from ocean floor sediments that have been collected from around the world.  These sediments are kept in a -80C freezer, so to get a sample to use for the DNA extraction, we need to use forceful methods.

Aside from working all week, I got to do some pretty exciting things. We walked downtown and explored, and we found a rose garden.

That also happened to have some rather large trees. On Friday the 4th, we had a pot luck meal, which turned out really good. We also went downtown to check out the Riverfront Park festival (not much was happening there).  That evening we all decided we've seen fireworks enough times to skip walking downtown again, so we played charades and watched Disney's How to Train Your Dragon.



Saturday morning, we walked down to the farmer's market again. I didn't get anything, but I enjoy going.

I took my roommate to the wonderful bakery I discovered (New Morning Bakery), and I managed to snap a picture of my sandwich before I devoured it this time.

(Freshly baked croissant, fresh cheddar cheese, lettuce, and smoked turkey)

Today (Sunday), we went to the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail and hiked 4 miles along the McKenzie River.

Near the end of our hike, there was a gorgeous blue pool (which the natives naturally call Blue Pool).

The pool is filled by spring water from the mountains, so we knew it would be cold, but after the long hike in the grueling heat, of course I wanted to jump in. Of course I lasted 3 seconds before scrambling out of the water with no feeling in my skin.



After finishing our hike back to the car, we were all extremely dehydrated, so we searched forever to find a source of water.

Also, we found this cute little guy.

On the way back, we picked up a watermelon, which was probably the best watermelon I've ever eaten. But that could just be because I was starving.

Exploring Corvallis

Have I already been here 2 weeks?? It doesn't seem like I've seen enough of Oregon to have been here this long, but I'm definitely missing my family, friends, and fiancé back east.  This past week has been a lot of sitting in my room working on a practice grant proposal, and you know what I was thinking the entire time?


 But tomorrow I'll finally start on lab work (hooray!)



This past weekend I stayed in Corvallis, and explored downtown.  Wednesday, we went to Oregon State's surplus sale (basically a garage sale of things that student's have left), and I got a bike for $10!

Soon after getting our bikes, we rode them to Fred Meyer to buy locks. I waited outside with the bikes while my roommate went inside and bought a lock. When she came back out, she realized there were zip ties on it, preventing us from easily locking up our bikes.  We decide to ask a younger guy if he had a pocket knife we could use to cut the zip ties; he didn't have a pocket knife, but he did have a machete. Yeah. Like a jungle weapon. What's a guy in Corvallis doing with a machete in his car?? Trekking through the underbrush of the suburbs?



On Friday, I went with a group of REU students to a restaurant called Block 15 and got gelato afterwards.  Saturday morning, I met a Marshall alum who is currently working on her Ph.D. at Oregon State, and we went downtown to the farmer's market.  I was thrilled by all the samples the vendors were just begging me to try, so I had to oblige.  I ended up buying a loaf of sourdough bread and a bag of jerky.  We then walked around downtown through all the shops, and I found a set of pots and pans for $12.

We had a delightful lunch at New Breakfast Bakery.  In the afternoon, I walked downtown again with a couple REU students and got ice cream after visiting the rose garden.  Today (Sunday), my roommate and I took our new bikes for a ride on the town, venturing to Dollar Tree and Fred Meyer for food.

Still loving Oregon, and I can honestly see myself living here (I'm hoping Brian loves it as much as I do!)

When in Oregon

So after a hard couple days of work reading about microbes and oceanography, my first weekend finally arrived. Since Oregon is known for it's natural beauty, one of the REU students from Corvallis offered to show us around this summer. First stop: Silver Falls State Park

The park is located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, about an hour from Corvallis.



It is home to several large waterfalls, and is Oregon's largest state park. There is a 9 mile moderate hiking trail that accesses each of the waterfalls.

2014 Oregon State REU crew