Puppy Love

We went to the coast, had a friend visit from Michigan, Renee had an opening and we MOVED. Yet all we can seem to post are pictures of this darned puppy.

We promise more pictures soon...

Poco Replacement

SURPRISE! Someone new has moved in. Olive (Olivia) is a Minpin mix, quiet as a doodle and was housetrained after the first day.




She's also a fan of relax and comfort. Sorry for the long absence in posting. More to come...

First week of school....DONE

For those of you who don't know I got an art teaching position in Hillsboro, OR. YAY! The name of the school is J.B. Thomas and it was originally a high school when it was built.....in 1928!

Sadly this is the last year for the school as it is currently taking up nearly 25% of the district's maintenance budget (there's something like 25 schools including two HUGE high schools). It may not be cost effective, it may not have air conditioning, it may leak when it rains and it may be WAY too big for a middle school but it is a pretty darned cool building. Let's take a tour!



I made good friends with the janitor and he took me down into "the catacombs" underneath the school. Apparently when they built the school they thought it would be a good idea to have this gun range. I'm not kidding, it's directly underneath the auditorium.

People swear that this area of the school is haunted by a student who committed suicide in the auditorium.



This is the place to hang out when you weren't practicing your shooting skills. The principal told me there are rooms down here that even he doesn't have keys for (like the one on the left). I thought the old benches were pretty sweet.

Also there is this crazy turbine looking thing that apparently produces steam heat for the entire building - I didn't get a picture this time but I will try to next time I'm down there.



The art room is in it's own separate building next to the shop. There were no signs, so I made one on an old door I found lying around.



Here is the front of the classroom (after extrensive cleaning was done).



Here is the back.



Renee came to help me clean and setup - this clay staton was her idea.

The New Roomate

For those of you wondering about the new addition to our small apartment, wonder no more. Watch this video to see the new guy in action! Pictures later....if he'll stay still long enough.

The REAL west coast

Last weekend we finally used a free car rental (which Brian won) to travel out to the coast. It was the first time since we moved to Portland that we got to see the ocean. We spent all day at beautiful Cannon Beach....which is apparently only 1:45 away from our apartment.



Here is Haystack rock up close and personal. It's huge.



We got to the beach early and here Brian is looking hard for sand dollars.



After the long search, Renee guards the treasure. Renee found 6, Brian.........2. But Brian found the first one.



We met some crazy kids who started pulling live crabs straight out of the ocean.



Renee, making sure they don't get wet.



The kids also found a pair of these little guys. They kinda looked like spiders.



Here's papa crab.

Wedding!

The trip back to Michigan for Renee's sister's wedding went swimmingly. Here are some random photos to commemorate the excellent time that was had by all.



Here are the boys practicing for their impressive dance number. Hopefully video will surface soon! (Renee's brothers Paul and Tony are the two on the right)



Carla getting her hair done, something Renee didn't have to do for some reason.



Here are the two sisters and mom. If only there were some way to tell which is the bride.....



Here is the devilishly handsome groom just minutes before the ceremony. Nerves of steel.



Awww......what a perfect picture.



Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought so.