Oh Brothers'

I have to admit I was a little intimidated marrying into a family with so many boys. I had one brother and a handful of nephews, but for the most part was surrounded by sisters and lots of nieces. Marrying into the Berg Family I was quickly introduced to "boy" humor aka (farting), but I was also introduced to some great brothers. I feel so blessed to have such a great in-law family even if it is mostly boys, I mean men :)

The weekend before Thanksgiving Pat and Stacey came up to Portland because they were flying out of Portland to New York. Since they were coming up and there happened to be an Oregon game Scott decided to drive down from Seattle and Eric came up from California. The first night Kevin and I took Pat and Stacey to the school play and then hurried back home to meet Scott and go pick up Eric from the airport (in which we hit a raccoon on the freeway). 

The next day the boys headed down to Eugene (with the rest of Portland/ the traffic was awful for them), and Pat and I headed to the mall to do some shopping. We spent the day shopping, had a yummy dinner, and then enjoyed a good movie together. (Thanks Pat for a great weekend!)

The boys enjoyed hanging out together, but they did not enjoy the outcome of the game.  They did not get home until 2 in the morning ( 2 hour drive turned into 4 with traffic) and Eric had to fly out at 7.  In the end it was a short trip for them all, but we enjoyed the company! 

This picture can be found on the Oregon ducks website, very classy boys! 

Time out for women

Although Pat was probably sick of driving to Portland (2nd time in a month, and she would come back again 2 weeks later for Thanksgiving) we were excited to have her and two other wonderful ladies come to Portland so I could join them at Time out for women. I had originally been invited by some older ladies in my ward- I graciously declined, thinking I would love to go, but with someone I knew. So when a couple weeks later Pat mentioned that she was going and looking for another person to join I was happy to volunteer. I became especially excited when I heard Terri was going (a family friend of the berg, whom I loved from the first time I met her at our open house in Grants Pass).

Since I had to work before the event I just took the Max train downtown from work for Friday nights event. We enjoyed a little dinner and a great evening of good company, great music, and inspirational talks. Kevin met us at the end so he could see his Mom as well as ride home with me on the train since it was late. Upon meeting Kevin, Terri and I raced to the bathroom in which we both really needed to use. We happened to run past it though and end up way passed it. The rest of the group was a bit confused when we came straggling into the bathroom after them out of breath. The comment was made that Terri and I acted like long lost sisters. I was thinking more like teenage girls but either way I'll take it as a compliment.

The next day I drove downtown and met the other ladies at their hotel. Once again we enjoyed some great music, and great talks. You can't help but leave feeling very inspired to be a better thinker. Thank you Pat, Janet, and Terri for a wonderful weekend!

One year older, and wiser too

Yes you heard that correctly, Kevin is one year older and possibly wiser too (does dental school make you wiser or just smart? What is the difference between wise and smart? Okay i am off topic now... back to the party).

As I have probably already stated on the blog before birthdays are not a big thing for the Bergs (I think its just a boy thing) anyways each year I try and make it a big thing and then restrain myself from going overboard so that Kevin actually enjoys the day. So a sign, gifts, free dinner, a little party, and like a million happy birthdays was what Kevin got for his birthday. And yes the million happy birthdays were probably a little overboard.

On his birthday Kevin had to go to school and I had to work. Lame I know. We did however sneak in a yummy breakfast and he was able to open his presents before he left. Here he is showing off his new rain coat (we live in Oregon, it was a necessity) and his new Oregon shirt (and lets be honest here, when it comes to Kevin an Oregon Duck shirt is a necessity too).

When we got home from school we headed out to a local mongolian grill where Kevin got a free dinner.  The rest of the night was spent relaxing on my part while Kevin studied (poor kid). 

The next day (Friday) we had a little party for him with some of our friends from the ward and school. In honor of the Berg tradition we of course smashed his face in a cake (although it was more smashing the cake into his face). His friends were definitely excited to do it and some didn't actually believe me when I told them thats what we were doing. They sure got him good though. Nothing says happy birthday like frosting in your nose :) 

Okay so now for the mushy part you have all been waiting for...

Oh Kevin,

I could easily write a list of 26 things I love about you since you are now an old man at age 26, however I decided I just want to tell you how proud of you I am, and how I am completely in love with you. Sometimes I wonder if I really knew what love was when we got married.   You came into my life and swept me off my feet and had me head over heels over your smile in just a few short months.I was so in love with you or so I thought. I loved the way you hugged me, I loved the way you played with my nieces and nephews, I loved the way you made me feel so comfortable, I loved the way you listened intently to all my life plans, I loved the way you made me laugh everyday, and I loved the way you made me happier then I had ever been. And yes, I still love all those things about you, but times it by a thousand, or maybe even a million. I loved you then, but it was nothing compared to how much I love you now, and from the rate its going, I can only imagine how in love with you I am going to be when you turn 80. 

I will be the first to admit that our love has changed throughout the years. Life happens.  The fear in your eyes when you found me laying on the floor trying to crawl to the fridge to find food, because my blood sugar levels were very low. The way you made the biggest peanut butter and jelly sandwich ever, and the way you fed it to me. It changed things. I didn't love you the same after that because, I loved you even more.  Losing a wedding ring.. You remaining calm. You reminding me over and over that it was just a ring and it could be replaced. You never getting upset about it. You holding me for hours while I cried about it. The look on your face when I told you my mom found it. It changed things because I fell even more in love with your optimistic outlook on life.  Laying on the couch for days (or was it weeks). Eating a whole cake straight out of the cake pan. Never using a plate. Cuddling for hours upon hours.  Watching a whole season of 24 in a couple days. I could go on and on. But I guess what I am trying to say, is each of these experiences not only changed us but it also changed the depth of my love for you. Every memory I have of you reminds me of how lucky I am to have you in my life. 

You work so hard at everything you do. The endless hours of studying you do for our family. I know it's not always easy. But you understand sacrifice better then anyone I know. And I know you sacrifice having fun so that you can go to school and provide for our family. I am so proud of all the hard work you put in each and everyday and I am so proud to call you mine. I love you honey, more and more each day! Happy Birthday honey, I am excited to celebrate your birthday with you for eternity. 

Portlandia update

Warning this is just a long boring update post, you are welcome to read or just skip ahead to the few pictures.

When asked how we are doing in our new home of Portland, our answer usually is we are surviving :) haha and completely enjoying it.  Yes, it has been a huge change and has taken some adjustment for both Kevin and I. The hardest part is of course being away from family. It is hard for me to think about how big all the nieces and nephews are going to be when we see them next. Skype however is lessing the blow. But don't worry I still talk to my mom and sisters quite often (as in almost daily ha).  Another hard part about leaving Idaho was leaving behind a great job that I loved. The job search here has not been very friendly to say the least. For a very long frustrating month there was absolutely no news to report about the job searching. Nothing at all. Then all of a sudden there was a mad rush of job interviews and job offers within a week of each other. Kevin never could keep them straight so if in the mad rush you heard about the jobs but you got confused as to where and what I was doing, don't feel bad. In a nutshell I am now working at Sunset High School as an instructional assistant. I am also still working part time at an after school program until they find a replacement. So 10 hour days for another week or so. I am happy to have the job search over with and am really enjoying the job so far.

So now on to Kevin's short update. The good news is he is staying afloat. He stays really busy. He is in his second semester and it has thus far proved to be a lot more intense then the first. I would tell you all the classes he has, but I can't keep them straight, so the simple version is he has a lot of lecture classes and lab classes, and he also does some dental assisting in the clinic. He is enjoying school, just not all the studying and tests. He usually gets home a little bit before me and we are able to spend an hour or so eating dinner and relaxing before he locks himself up and studies for another couple hours. Besides going to school and studying he is also on a Volleyball and Basketball team with some of his classmates.  Lets just say we are both a little bit excited for Christmas break and the extra time we will have to spend together for a couple weeks.

Even though we have both been crazy busy though we try and make sure and explore Portland a little on the weekends with the many great friends we have made here. So far we have really liked what we have seen. This past weekend we hit up Voodoo Donuts with Jared and Nicole. It was a fun place for people watching, and the donuts were very yummy and uh... interesting.

Old vs. New

Kevin has always been a big Jazz fan. Which of course I didn't mind because I had always been one too. Since moving to Oregon Kevin has thrown around the idea of following the trail blazers a little bit more. So we thought it was a win win situation to go see the Jazz play the Trail Blazers preseason game. We invited some fellow Jazz fans Nicole and Jared, and headed down there on the max train, after work.  The game was a lot of fun. We had lower bowl seats so it was fun to see the players close up. You don't realize how big they are when you just see them on T.V. The Trail Blazers pretty much ruled the game though, and the fans were kind of obnoxious (especially the couple in front of us who were either making out or hitting people with the blow up noise makers). The Jazz came back at the end but did not quite pull it off.  We left happy though even though I was really starting to come down with a cold (so don't mind how deathly I look in the pictures).

Even though they lost we still left Jazz fans, and probably will remain so. But I guess as long as the Blazers aren't playing the Jazz we can cheer for them.

Deja Vu'

These pictures might look oddly familiar. Probably because I posted ones, from the same spot a week or so ago. This time however these pictures were taken with Kevin. I loved the hike so much, that Saturday when the rain broke for a couple hours I convinced Kevin to go on a hike with me to council crest. Once again it was beautiful, and cloudy.

Plumper Pumpkin Patch

In the two and half years Kevin and I have been married we have done a lot together, as in I could make a very long list of things we have accomplished off of my bucket list. We however had never been to a pumpkin patch together. Kevin said it had been years since he had gone to one, and I admitted that I had never been to one (unless you count my parents garden as one). So when some friends from the ward invited us to a pumpkin patch we were both really excited to go. The weather turned out great. We enjoyed walking around the pumpkin patch, going on a hay ride, and picking out our pumpkin (which still needs to be carved).

The view from the hay ride

Before the rain starts

Before winter and the rain decided to show up here in Portland we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery.  So Brianne and I went on an adventure and explored Portland. First was Marshall park which was a beautiful little park with little creeks and stone bridges and did I mention a giant "Warning, man hole sign" haha.  Overall a great little park.

Next we hiked from Marquam Hill to the zoo, in which we travelled through Counsel Crest. It was absolutely stunning up there, and although it was a cloudy day so we couldn't see the view of the city the fall colors, and sun shining through the trees.

Don't mind the lack of make up

View of city (so much fog)

Sun finally came out

Berg family+yummy food+football+seattle= Great weekend

The best part about being in Oregon is being closer to the Berg side of the family. This weekend Pat and Stacey began there road trip heading up to Portland. So Thursday night we spent the night visiting and planning our weekend. Friday I spent the day with Pat and Stacey shopping while Kevin went to School. We then picked him up and headed downtown to PF Changes for dinner. YUM!

We then all headed up to Seattle to go visit Scott and Adrienne (okay lets be honest, it was to go see Savannah). We got in that night and pretty much just visited and hit the sack. Saturday however was a busy fun day. We went down town Seattle and enjoyed the carousal (yes i am riding with Savannah because I am the only one who doesn't get sick riding in circles) and we then enjoyed new ferris wheel they built down town.

 We then walked around Pikes place, and had another yummy dinner at The Pink Door.  We then ended the meal with fresh donuts from the market for dessert.  Earlier that morning I was given the option of going to the Ducks game against Washington state at the Seattle Seahawks stadium, or the Relief Society broadcast. Ha, I didn't have to think to hard. So after dinner the righteous ladies Pat and Adrienne went to back home and to the relief society broadcast and I joined the men at the game. The game was lots of fun. We just bought nose bleed section tickets but it was still fun to see the stadium and get a different view of the game.

Sunday consisted of sacrament meeting and then everyone separating and going there own ways.  Thank you Pat and Stacey for all you do for us and for a great weekend. And Thank you Scott, Adrienne, and Savannah for once again being great hosts and for a great mini vacation.