Pigs, Cheese, and Candles in Cannon Beach, Oregon

Happy Birthday to me ...

This morning I treated myself to a hot shower at 7 AM before we left Coos Bay at 8 AM. I guess some presents to yourself are a little more practical than others.

Wow has this week flown, and taken forever! I can’t believe how much we’ve done since the last time I had an adequate connection. Today, day 11, is the first time I’ve had REAL internet, fully functioning with access to everything. It is great. Although I have to admit, not having regular internet connection has also been a beautiful experience. Life is so much BETTER without a continuous connection to the digital world. Says the graphic design major.

Where do I even start?

After Reno we drove to a little rainy town in Orick, California. Our motel was the flashiest building in the city, with murals all over the back of the building. Oh man. Little towns have a whole new meaning for me.

During our stay in Orick we visited a beach, the Redwoods, Fern Canyon, and a city called Trinidad. I think. Things are starting to blur together, but I’m doing my best.

After Orick, we drove to Coos Bay, Oregon, and stayed in this cute camp ground with yurts. Yurts are like the happy medium for people who like to be in nature, but not in tents. And they like their electricity and heater, and bed. We had bunk beds and a futon in our yurts. :) Happy campers, indeed.

In Coos Bay we spent time at various beaches, dunes, gardens, and little fishing towns. I had fish and chips for the first time in my recollection, and it wasn’t too shabby. I’m still not a fish person, but to my credit, I’ve eaten a lot more stuff than I normally allow myself to eat. ( I, Carrie Carlson, ORDERED tomatoes on my subway sandwich outside Eureka, California. I’m a changed person.)

Today I got a lovely rendition of “Happy Birthday” and we drove to Cannon Beach, northern Oregon. We’re staying in this MASSIVE house. It is awesome. There are 18 beds, even though we have 28 people. But there’s plenty of room for all of us. I love it!

So this is just the dining table. (Obviously.) You get the point about the size of the house, yes?

On the art respect, we had our first nature photography critique, which turned out to be an informative experience. I really like that class, I feel like I learned a lot, and I’m really excited to learn more. Here’s some of the photos I’ve taken:

(Keep in mind ... I am just under 2000 pictures taken thus far. And it takes a million years for me to upload them because I haven't changed their format yet. Once I get around to doing that, a lot more pictures will be going up. I admire your patience. ;)

And for my 480 class, Joe Ostraff helped me redirect my ideas and now I’m really pumped to getting ready for the BFA application next August. So those updates will come as I get them.

Interesting things of note:

Tillamook Cheese Factory has much more interesting ice cream than actual factory. Just go straight to the ice cream, is my recommendation.

I saw a pig today. In a stroller. Similar to how we like to walk with our babies, except, it was a pig.

Rain happens. Just deal with it.

I haven't blow-dried my hair all week long. And I think I lost my brush in Reno. So I'm getting more and more pocahontaseque every day.

Man I feel like my literary abilities are FRIED, for whatever reason. Probably because I’m trying to summarize an entire week of intense, visual, aesthetic, and mind-probing experiences into one post. That’s a difficult thing to accomplish.

Let’s be honest. You were all dying to see the pictures rather than read the words anyway. :) So I don’t feel as bad not talking as much.

But!

My "Vancouver Family", as they've been dubbed, threw me an excellent, spur of the moment, 30 minute party. I loved it. Somehow they figured out that my favorite cake is red velvet cake and my favorite ice cream is the alaskan moose tracks chocolate whatever the delicious that is. (You know you're an adult when you have ice cream THREE SEPARATE TIMES in one day ... and you're fully aware of those decisions. :)

They forced me to go to the store so that I could get my own groceries and help gather the groceries for our dinner group, and they made a red cake out of a white cake mix, box of chocolate pudding mix, and some other few things. When we drove back up, they lit the candles. But the candles were stuck into a very hot cake, and the wax melted, leaving just the wicks, and so the candles burned up really fast and started to burn the cake before I could get inside and be surprised, so they were hurrying me inside and it was obvious what was going on, and I laughed my head off. It was all very hilarious, and I loved it. My lovely friend Dawn made me a beautiful paper crown to wear, and they sang a brilliant Happy Birthday, and I just felt a lot of love. And I got my red cake! I can only remember one birthday where I didn't have a red cake.

Look carefully and notice the different-colored wax holes ... that's all the wax that melted into the cake. Oh man. What a way to celebrate.

And they made me this card. Truly, it has been a great birthday with people that I might not have known all my life, but I can call very special in my heart.

Word of my birthday: adumbrate \a-DUHM-breyt\, verb; 1. To foreshadow; prefigure. 2. To produce a faint image or resemblance of; to outline or sketch. 3. To darken or conceal partially; overshadow.

Word of the day I post: shivaree \SHIV-uh-ree\, noun; 2. an elaborate, noisy celebration.

(P.S. did I mention how WEIRD it is to be officially out of the teens? I’m thrilled. :)

P.P.S. I will upload a lot more pictures this week, when I get a chance. Just FYI.