#274 Dee in the Morning
01 October 2014 // Springfield, Oregon
Deanna’s unusual work schedule means that sometimes we have to see each other at the beginning of our days instead of at the end of them. Sometimes that turns out even better. I had a really sweet morning getting breakfast at Dee’s.
#275 Yamada Language Center
02 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
And just like that, I’m gonna be learning Hindi and Urdu! UO has an awesome self-study language program that I can take for free, and I plan to take full advantage of it. At first I was hoping to learn some obscure languages, but after Zulu and Nepalese turned out to be too tricky to orchestrate, I settled for Hindi and Urdu. Apparently most people in Nepal can communicate in Hindi.
#276 Ninkasi Total Dominion IPA
03 October 2014 // Springfield, Oregon
Deanna and I decided to try Ninkasi’s signature product. Turns out we don’t like it as much as we like their Oatis, but it was still decent- a good IPA to pair with food. Speaking of food, Deanna made some awesome bratwurst and potatoes to go with this, and I brought the sauerkraut.
#277 Level Up
04 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
For a Saturday evening date, I ended up taking Deanna to a bar-cade. We ordered some drinks, and then tried our hand at some air hockey, pinball, Mario, Donkey Kong, Star Trek shooter games, Doodle Jump, Guitar Hero, Dig Dug, arcade basketball, Marvel vs. Capcom and a handful of others. Deanna sure plays a mean pinball.
#278 W. 5th Avenue
05 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
The Sunday afternoon was a quiet one, and I got to spend a good amount of time doing some work but also enjoying a short walk down my street. I’m still adjusting to moving my rest day to better fit Deanna’s schedule, but there can still be rest on work days. I’m cool with that.
#279 International Studies
06 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
If it wasn’t official before, it is now– my face is behind a glass display board! I like how quickly it took for my grad program to have a pretty personal feel. I’m convinced this was a big step in the right direction.
#280 The Graduate Awards Reception
07 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
I got an invite that U.O. was having for recipients of Graduate Awards. I didn’t know if I should go or not, but the prospect of free food was the deciding factor, and it turned out to pay off. I got to also meet a bunch of the other recipients, many of whom were Fulbright scholars.
#281 Eugene Library
08 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
I love the feel and the energy of this place, particularly the somewhat-indoor mega foyer in front that houses a coffee and baked goods stand and a used book nook. This is one of the neatest public libraries I’ve seen, hands down.
#282 Birthday Bee
09 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
We got to celebrate Deanna’s first birthday in Oregon! And by we, I mean the two of us and also her parents who were in town for the weekend. We went out for dinner and then went out to try our hand at a trivia night.
#283 The Arners at U.O.
10 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
Deanna’s parents were in town for the weekend, so we planned a slew of activities for them. We took them on a walk around campus for a little tour, and decided that Hayward Field was one of the things that was worth showing off.
#284 Talking Fishing
11 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
My future father-in-law will talk to anyone and everyone about fishing, including this guy we ran into while taking a walk around Alton-Baker.
#285 Trader Joe’s
12 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
Grocery store outings are one of my favorite Sunday rituals. That’s been the case from Santa Barbara to Bakersfield to Eugene. Something about the relaxed mood on a Sunday afternoon and the anticipation of all the fun things I’ll get to eat in the coming week.
#286 RIP MacBook Air
13 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
2012-2014. This was a disappointingly short life span from this computer, but then again, this thing has been on more plane rides and road trips across states and countries that I’m sure it’s taken on an unusual amount of wear and tear. The saddest part, though, will be having to restart a sticker collection.
#287 The Oregon Rain is Here
14 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
The legendary Oregon rain which we’ve always heard about has yet to live up to its reputation. Today was a start, though, and possibly a late start to what is supposed to be rainy season. It’s pretty beautiful, actually, and I hope we get some more after I pick up some better rain gear.
#288 UO Street Fair
15 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
A bunch of food carts and market vendors appeared in front of my department building for a street fair as part of UO’s Homecoming Week. Wouldn’t mind if a few of them became a permanent fixture. There was some good food.
#289 Deanna Makes Dinner
16 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
Today was a big day of change for Deanna, as she moved from the classic red flip phone she’s had since 2006 on to a used iPhone. We marked the event with a dinner at her place while I showed her how to do fun iPhone things.
#290 Oregon Wine Lab
17 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
Took Deanna out on a date to a really fun wine bar. It’s a good change of pace from all the breweries we’ve been frequenting since we’ve moved up to Oregon. Plus, there was a keyboard player doing funk covers of some of our favorites, and a pretty yummy Italian food truck right outside. Fun venue.
#291 Bose Farms Pumpkin Patch
18 October 2014 // Albany, Oregon
We went with some of our new friends on an outing to Albany to visit the pumpkin patch and find our way through a corn maze. Since we found all six scarecrows, we’re now entered in a raffle to possibly win half a hog. It seemed like the perfect pumpkin patch kind of weekend, though for Deanna, every weekend is a pumpkin weekend.
#292 Serbian Orthodox Church
19 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
Went for a walk around the neighborhood in the evening. Passed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, again. This is a great building. Surprisingly small, and nestled in between a fro-yo place and some food trucks, but still fantastically ornate.
#293 Facetime Time
20 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
What’s great about Deanna finally upgrading her phone? More FaceTime time. Had a good evening catching up with Caytlin and April in Sacramento.
#294 Night Housing
21 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
Went to a community dinner hosted by people from a church I’ve been attending lately. Lots of soup and homemade bread. A home cooked meal is always good.
#295 UOGCF
22 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
The UO Grad Student Christian Fellowship has been a big blessing and a help in allowing me to adjust to Oregon well. Love seeing these guys on Wednesday nights.
#296 Zulu Frames
23 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
Finally bought some proper frames so I could start decorating my walls. First things up were these pictures- possibly two of my favorite photos to have ever taken.
#297 Ben Visits Eugene
24 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
Ben came to town and we had a lot of fun. Among the first things we did was a little walk around Spencer’s Butte. Having visitors is our favorite.
#298 Ben at Voodoo
25 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
Made sure to give Ben the proper experience of going to Voodoo Doughnuts while he was up in Oregon. Another fun day of Farmers Markets and exploring the town.
#299 The Happiness of Pursuit
26 October 2014 // Portland, Oregon
Book signings can be a blast! I’ve had going to one on my list of 1001 Day Adventures for a while, and I finally got to go to one when Chris Guillebeau held one in Powell’s. Chris is one of my favorite bloggers. He’s gone to every country in the world and writes about pursuing improbable quests. Looking forward to reading The Happiness of Pursuit.
#300 Columbia Employee Store
27 October 2014 // Portland, Oregon
I was graciously comped with some guest passes to a couple employee stores in Portland where everything is massively discounted. I was most excited about getting to stock up on a bunch of rain and winter gear at the Columbia Store while in Portland.
#301 Pennants and Walls
28 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
I Love it when walls tell a story. That probably explains why sometimes when I just want to unwind, I start messing around with my walls, hanging stuff up in different places.
#302 Downtown Bike Lanes
29 October 2014 // Eugene, Oregon
I have a really fun daily commute, right through downtown Eugene, end-to-end, pretty much. I love how well designed this city is for bike commutes.
#303 Platypus Water
30 October 2013 // Eugene, Oregon
This was quite a valuable purchase, and by valuable I mean pretty cheap but I sure get a lot of use out of this flexible water bottle. I decided I need to stay better hydrated, and having to lug around the weight of a water bottle would’ve been the one big thing holding me back.
#304 Becky & Eric in Eugene
31 October 2013 // Eugene, Oregon
Have Deanna and I mentioned that we Love visitors? It’s true. After coming up to Oregon to do our engagement photo shoot at Alton Baker Park, Becky & Eric played a game of pool with us, among other games at one of our bar-cades. These two are one of our favorite couples.