Tag Archives: home

Bendy

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Downtown Bend, Oregon

Downtown Bend, Oregon

 

Springfield is my home, but I love Bend, Oregon. Two hours’ drive from our house lies the city of Bend, which we visit annually. Usually, this visit falls in the lovely month of October (only the best month), but this time it was in December. We are staying (as usual) in the Seventh Mountain Resort, which features an ice skating rink, multiple pools and hot tubs, a basketball court, a spider web, and wi-fi– saving the best for last.

While these are certainly perks, one of my favorite parts of Bend is Zydeco, a restaurant in downtown that serves amazing food- probably my favorite anywhere (except maybe Taco Bell). It is to die for. I usually get the steelhead, which comes with mashed potatoes, green beans, pearl onions, and plenty of capers. Delicious. So I ordered the steelhead tonight– but it came with red quinoa, asparagus, and more than plenty of capers. The pearl onions were definitely missed, but the dessert more than made up for that: chocolate pot de crème, which is basically a very rich chocolate mousse. Mom and I shared a serving, while somehow Dad and Ethan managed to polish off a jar (that’s how the dessert was served) each. It was rather incredible, really, watching them put away that much food.

We got back to the hotel too late to go swimming, so we retired to our room, which is roomy enough to have separate bedrooms for Ethan and me.

It’s snowy/slushy/icy here, but not more than Springfield: for those of you who may not have noticed, the Willamette Valley was blasted by an Arctic cold front for two weeks, giving us lovely temperatures, ranging, on the average day, from -2 to 22. And yes, that is Fahrenheit. Since it was so dry for most of the time, school wasn’t delayed because there were no icy roads– it was just super cold. Tuesday, December 3, was very exciting because it snowed. At school. Like, in the middle of the day. It snowed about half an inch at our house and stuck until Friday, which had snow predicted.

All my teachers were banking on a snow day, and my friends put spoons under their pillows and wore their pajamas inside-out.

And it must have worked, because on Friday there was no school. When I woke up at 6 am, we had two inches of snow at our house. By four o’clock there were eight inches and counting, and somehow Dad had driven home from the Eugene airport. (Actually, it’s not somehow– it’s four-wheel-drive.)

Saturday, we were four of the very few who braved the roads to church. On Sunday, we ventured into town for a piano recital at Barnes & Noble (featuring, due to weather, ONLY Ethan and me) and necessary shopping. Monday, the schools were once again closed. I went over to a friend’s house, and we walked to my school to pick up band music. There’s hardly any ice, I thought.

Tuesday was another snow day. Friday and Monday were the two snow days for which my school had allowed– Tuesday started filling up our two furlough days. When Wednesday proved hopeless, all I could do was hope that Thursday would be a school day. Also on Wednesday, there was a voluntary band rehearsal to which about twenty of the ninety-nine involved in the concert come this Tuesday showed up.

Thursday there was no school.

I cried.

And then, lo and behold–

There was school today! (Which was a really good thing, because how would they be able to explain keeping school closed in 40-degree (Fahrenheit) weather when their only excuse for school closure was ice on the roads?)

It may have been a Friday schedule, with all of our eight classes meeting forty-four minutes each, but it was school!

And yes, there is a good chance I was the only one of sixteen hundred students who was absolutely thrilled to have school.

Ciao!

Happy Campers

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Well, it’s been a considerable time since any of us have written posts. I may as well do the first for August 2013.

Since returning to the US, we have seen no fewer than seven family members, a dozen deer (including five new fawns), and a black bear. The black bear was up in the mountains, and it ran across the road right in front of our car shortly after we found several bear bones on the side of the road. Last week, my parents saw a bobcat and have photographic evidence.

Right now, my cousin and aunt from Texas are visiting. Yesterday we made two types of cupcakes for a grand total of 22: nine apple-almond with cinnamon ganache and thirteen (surprisingly bland) dark chocolate with peppermint frosting and dark chocolate-mint M&Ms. I’ve also made lemon-blueberry cupcakes, chocolate-orange, and chocolate-zucchini (with a to-die-for cinnamon buttercream), and a few days ago we made lavender cupcakes with a whipped cream frosting.

Ethan and I spent last week at camp and had a very good time. It only rained once and then for only ten minutes on Friday morning. Ethan managed to get a very bad sunburn while wakeboarding, but for all my playing basketball in the sun I came away tan as ever. The only bad thing about camp was that, the day after we left, One Direction’s new single came out and the third in line for the throne was born in the UK. Those Brits. Couldn’t wait for us to get back.

We haven’t gotten poison oak yet, which is rather surprising considering our rather cross-country hike three days ago and the little rainy excursion we went on yesterday.

But I’m okay with that.

Poison oak isn’t necessary.

Ciao!

Back to Normal?

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I’m not sure if we’re technically ‘back to normal’ yet. It is a normal Oregon summer, though: rainy in June, with hope for sun in July and August. Naturally, it was quite warm until school got out.

We’ve unpacked and unpacked and unpacked some more. As a result, we have piles of things to take to Goodwill and to sell at a used bookstore. Also, my room is completely unpacked, and only a few items remain in my suitcase.

Mom is just outside my room, in the hall, putting away boxes and boxes of Christmas lights, ornaments, and decorations. And she calls–

Ciao!

What Shall We Do Today?

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What shall we do today?

Oh, let’s unpack!

And unpack.

And unpack.

And unpack some more.

 

Last night it was too late to post, as we had done a lot of unpacking to make the house livable, but right now it’s a bright, sunny, Friday afternoon in Oregon. Dishes, linens, and clothes have been completely brought down from upstairs (I think). We came home yesterday afternoon after stopping by Costco, our grandparents’ house, and Safeway to piles of mail, Amazon boxes, and our own belongings. Everything’s still totally disorganized, but I think that everything will start to settle down by next week.

Ciao!

Five Days in the Future: Home

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With only five days (!!!!) left on our trip (hopefully), we are suddenly looking at a massive pile-up of things to do when we get home (and even before then). To dump some of the load off our (*ahem*… my parents’) shoulders, here are five:

  1. For Dad: Finish our Shutterfly picture book. With Mom, Ethan, and I choosing pictures from each place, he only has Crete and the back cover to complete. I really like this picture book because (a) it has a lot of pictures of me and (b) there is a lot of pink and (c) almost all the pictures I chose passed Dad’s inspection and made it into this draft.
  2. For Dad: Buy a car. This has been very stressful, but it seems to be winding down and hopefully we’ll be able to drive our very own car up our very own driveway in five loooooong days.
  3. For all of us: I’m really excited about this one, because I made a huge, 101-item shopping list that is pink. Seriously. I’m a list-maker. But this list is very important: we need to eat, of course, so it will be used and I am pretty sure that 91, if not 101, items on this list will be crossed off. We will be stopping at Target, Costco, and Safeway on the way home. Items on this list include PopTarts, yogurt, Red Baron frozen pizza, Moose Tracks ice cream, apples, pasta, pistachios, yeast, maple syrup, and cucumbers, as well as seven non-food items including paper towels and postage stamps.
  4. For all of us: Unpack, unpack, unpack. Dad is the self-appointed box carrier, meaning he will bring down the boxes from upstairs and Mom, Ethan, and I will unpack and organize (yippee!). We all hope he won’t fall, but I think Mom will make sure he’s not wearing socks.
  5. For Mom and me: On Friday, June 21, Mom and I have an appointment with a counselor at one of the nearby public high schools to learn more about it. My High School Dilemma has not yet been solved, unfortunately, but I don’t think it has a lot of importance during this next week, barring this one-hour meeting.

Ciao!

Nine Days, Nine Things

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In honor of only nine days until we get home, here are nine things (in no particular order) that I’ve loved about Crete:

1. Good food. From tzatziki and chicken to stuffed vine leaves and delicious fro-yo, eating food on Crete has never been a boring, unappetizing experience. I do believe in enjoying eating, and Crete is certainly a place to do that.

2. Frozen yogurt. While it’s already been mentioned above, Yum…me needs a slot of its own. With its multi-colored beanbags and trashcan lids (seriously, I looked. They come in pink, blue, and green), the seating was what drew us in. It’s the delicious strawberry cheesecake fro-yo that kept us as customers.

3. Acqua Park. Although yesterday had a few stressful and scary moments, most of the scariness was a good thing. Who doesn’t love the thrill they get going down a steep waterslide? And everyone knows that the only thing more fun than having fun is having fun while getting wet.

4. Our villa. I love our house. I really do. There’s a view of Crete’s north shore, nearby kids to play soccer (ahem… football) with, and a pool in our own backyard. Plus, there’s three bedrooms– meaning Ethan and I don’t have to share!

5. The southern beaches. The beaches on the northern side are avoided, but almost every-other-day we are on the south side, dipping our deeply-tanned toes in the salty waters.

6. The sun. No, not the son. The sun. With our 20SPF sunscreen that claims to tan and protect in hand, we lounge on the beach for hours. Although it does get uncomfortably hot sometimes, I think we all enjoy heat more than cold.

7. The wi-fi. Cape Town is in my Top 3 Places on This Trip (we spent have of our time in South Africa there), but it didn’t have wi-fi. The biggest blessing of our house is the wi-fi, making it easier to do our posts, upload pictures, and all sorts of mundane tasks that would be even worse using Dad’s phone’s megabytes via a hotspot.

8. The animals. Some would raise their eyebrows at this subject, since Crete isn’t exactly known for its animals. However, there are friendly cats and dogs and, the best part, we saw a snake!!! We saw it about a week ago, but I think I forgot to mention it. I don’t think it was venomous, since the venomous snakes in Crete supposedly lurk in the mountains. Whatever this snake was, it certainly wasn’t shy!

9. The other desserts. Although fro-yo has already been mentioned (as has food in general), nothing can beat a chocolate-dipped piece of gooey baklava. It is absolutely divine. Also, our cake from our favorite bakery was perfect (it was chocolate, of course), and we’re currently enjoying a dozen twist cookies from the same. At many restaurants, dessert for supper is fruit served with raki– namely, referigerated cherries. The cherries on this island are excellent.

Ciao!

__sick

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You could say I’m homesick. Maybe Paris-sick. Most certainly Cape Town-sick. I miss Cape Town a lot, but I think that’s because Crete is so similar (yet different): good food, nice people, plenty of things to do, and– most significantly, I think– we’re in each place for about a month.

Although the joys and trials of Cape Town, South Africa’s prettiest city, are long past us, we’re still on Crete. Tonight we’re taking a vacation from our vacation (Crete) from our vacation (this year-long trip): we’re spending the night on the south side of the island. After lounging on the beach, we entered our oceanfront two-bedroom apartment. Supper was fish, chicken, tzatziki, French fries (chips), and Greek salad while being splashed by the waves and meowed at by the petulant cat.

It’s only nine days until we get home (eight until the U.S.). Tonight we looked at Google Earth and zoomed in on our home. To my surprise, I’d forgotten how to get there from an all-too-familiar landmark: my school. On school, by the way, Ethan finished today and Mom says she will finish grading our US history essay questions, which will officially make Ethan an eighth grader and me a high-schooler.

Ciao!

Gorgeous Gardens

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Today we went to the Rhodes Memorial and the Kirstenbosch Gardens. At the memorial, we found a four-fingered handprint, which Ethan and I tried to figure out.

At the gardens, we walked around smelling, touching, and looking at the plants. Dad pointed out the Skeleton Gorge. At one point, Dad and Ethan saw a black mamba or a mole snake—they’re not sure which. After walking around for a while, we rested under a tree. Ethan played with a bug, Dad napped, and Mom did Sudoku on her phone. We eventually moved on, and the two people who had been watching us immediately moved in.

We walked down a path for a little bit and stopped by a bench. “I’m tired already,” Dad said. He and Ethan finally got up though, and Dad randomly hugged me. “Cool!” Ethan exclaimed. “Can I hug Eryn too?” I gave him a death glare, and Mom burst out laughing.

We would’ve had ice cream at the tea room, but Dad has personal issues with places that don’t let you bring computers in. So we drove back home and walked down the street to Gelato’s at Newport. Then we returned to clean off the fast-melting chocolate ice cream. Ethan and I did schoolwork before we headed out to dinner at Newport, the restaurant right next to Gelato’s. Dad had pasta, Mom and Ethan had salads, and I had the sweet and sour chicken with rice. The stuff in Thailand was better.

Now Dad’s eating the Turkish Delight Tim-Tams (Mom and I hate Turkish Delight), Mom’s once again doing Sudoku, Ethan’s reading Artemis Fowl: Lost Colony, and I’m writing and anxiously waiting for our renters to Skype us.

Ciao!

Eryn’s Note #1

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Eryn’s first note– in pink! 🙂

It’s April 27th, and we’re stressing.

About what?
Everything.
Why?
We leave in fifty-ish days. (June twenty.)

So? You’re all ready, right?
Wrong. We’ve hardly packed our belongings.

In what?
In the suitcases and in the tower in boxes.

Suitcases? How many?
One per person. There are to be no checked bags.
How will you fit everything?
Magic.
Magic doesn’t exist, silly.
Or the power of sitting on it…
Yeah. Like that’s gonna happen.
Well, we’re buying super-thin-lightweight-waterproof stuff, so it can’t be heavy, but it seems like there’s no way I’m gonna be able to fit all the stuff I’ll need for a year in a suitcase and a backpack.
Wow. I couldn’t do that– pack up my life and take off for a year, trusting my ah-mazing house to people I don’t even know.
Well, we do know the Hernandezes, brilliant.
So?
Melia was in my class in Kindergarten.
One grade? Please.
Look, she and I are friends, and I trust her and Marissa to take care of my room.
Whatever. Look, I have better things to be doing… bye!