Cascade Lakes Relay - Brent thought I was Crazy, and I Agree!

Top: our first middle-of-the-night runner, Kelly, who kicked some butt on her leg and other teammates Larry and Eric

Bottom: Me finishing up my first leg

In attempt to make some friends and not spend every day wallowing in my loneliness, I joined a running group called the Red Lizards (http://www.redlizardrunning.com/). I joined this particular group because, in addition to training and running races, they go out, eat, drink and do volunteer events. I love running, but if I only met hard-core runners in a group - like the kind of group that's made up primarily of runners that weigh 100 pounds that I could eat for breakfast if it weren't for the fact they have no meat - I'm not sure I'd enjoy it. The Red Lizards are awesome. I've met so many wonderful and fantastic individuals of all ages and running abilities.

So, anyhoo, I was asked to join a group of 11 other runners to partake in the Cascade Lakes Relay (http://www.cascadelakesrelay.com/) because the 12th runner had to drop out. Now, having just discovered this, the Cascade Lakes Relay is the longest relay in the country at 216.6 miles stretching from Crater Lake to Bend, Oregon. Each runner runs three different legs - I ran leg 12, 24 and 34. The baton is passed off just like any other relay, from runner 1 to runner 2 to runner 3 and so on. In total, our 12 runners took about 33 hours to cover the 216.6 miles. My team was fantastic in every sense of the word: supportive, funny, laid-back, and didn't take the race too seriously.

I'll tell you why I do agree that engaging in these sorts of activities is crazy. First off, my second leg was at 4 in the morning after 1.5 hours of sleep. Secondly, you get to know your five other van mates really well and only a runner would be able to take the stench of the van. Third, you're running... and A LOT. But, I loved every minute of it. I loved the challenge, I loved the running, I loved getting to know these five practical strangers. I loved the fact that I tried to go out after the race on Saturday and fell asleep in the chair at 10:30pm.

Here were my three legs. I ran a lot faster than I thought I was capable of. The weather was atrocious (90-100+ during the day) and the elevation of most of the runs was at 4000-5000ft.

Leg 12: 5.3 miles, 5pm, 4300-4500ft elevation: 42:55
Leg 24: 6.6 miles, 4am, 4300ft elevation: 55:02
Leg 34: 6.0 miles, ~noon,all downhill starting at 5800ft and ending at 4500ft, but in blazing heat: 45:45

If you move to a new place and don't know anyone, join some sort of athletic group. It's worth it.

Wedding Pictures

Soooo, it's about time I organized my wedding pictures. Going through 2000 is no easy feat. Now that I've picked what I think are the 250-300 best ones, how do I organize them?! I'm thinking about putting them in one of those photo books. What do you all think? That way, I don't have to painstakingly put them into the plastic covered slots in a photo album. Doing that for 300 photos would make me want to drink an arsenic shake.

For those of you who (or like the 3 people that read this blog) want to see the pictures, I organized them into two albums:

1: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ViewSlideshow.action?&collidparam=28345398805.507485360805.1249450066468

2: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ViewSlideshow.action?&collidparam=28345398805.507485360805.1249450066468

Hopefully those should work. Moms and relatives: I intend to also get you a photo book album, but I want to order them first to make sure I like them before I get them for everyone else.

Beer Fests

(Above: Crowd at Oregon Brewers Fest on Saturday,
Below: Brent and Marianne enjoying tasty microbrew)

(Above: Marianne at Bones and Brew)

If you like beer, you'd like Portland. Even if you're a non-beer fan, you'd still like Portland, but this post is dedicated to the wonderful world of beer. Portland is the microbrewery capital of the world. THE WORLD. Cool, huh? I can't even begin to name all the different big and small breweries out there. What I do know is that every weekend we've been here we've been able to find some sort of festival dedicated (or partially dedicated) to tasting beer.

Oregon Brewers Festival 2009 - July 23 - 26 - http://www.oregonbrewfest.com/
Depending on when you go to this festival (it's a four day affair), the event is either really enjoyable or you feel like you're trapped in sauna with drunk frat boys surrounding you while the smell of porta potty drifts down in your direction. We decided to go two nights. Thursday night was more the the former. Brent and I decided to bike to the festival instead of drive. Since it was the opening day and a Thursday, it was a little slower, easy to get a beer, and no one falling over drunk. I can't tell you how many people we met from Wisconsin!!! Oregonians and Wisconsinites share a love of beer. A few of Brent's fellow residents came out (they are a great bunch). After a few beers, we biked home (don't worry Moms we weren't in danger of getting a Bike DUI).

Saturday, on the other hand was... interesting. We went late afternoon while the sun was blazing and the temperatures were in the 90s. The place was packed (see picture), we had to wait in line for 5 minutes to get a sample, and half naked drunk-off-their-ass frat boys had taken over the place. So... next year, we'll try to avoid Saturday late-afternoon/night.


Bones and Brew - August 1+2 - http://www.rogue.com/events/bones-and-brew.php

Bring together really delicious Rogue Beer and BBQ and you've got this small, but fun festival. Having just finished the Cascade Lakes Relay the day before (I will post about this later, but I ran 18 miles in 24 hours), I thought I deserved food and beer - and a lot of it.

We became Rogue Nation members and were sworn in before the rib contest. I have a Rogue Nation tattoo that, given my luck, will never come off. There was a kobe beef stuffed with blue cheese eating contest that I totally wanted to enter, but Brent wanted to leave because it was too hot. Booo, I am such a good eater, I bet I would've won! One of these days, I'll enter an eating contest and win. I seriously think I could part of the IFOCE - International Federation of Competitive Eating - http://www.ifoce.com/.

We left earlier than we probably would've because it was so darn hot out. There is a new record in Portland as we've had 10 consecutive days of 90+ degrees. Ugh. It's supposed to cool later this week though.

Just a side note, there was totally a Stuart look-a-like and the picture we took at the festival was REALLY trying to get him in it. It was kind of awkward and starting to get really obvious so we gave up. But, Stu, you have a look-a-like in Portland!

The rest of New England Trip.... finally!

Alright, this time, I'm going to stay on top of my Blog. I was going to write more about my trip to New England, but I'll sum it up in a few sentences. We went to a fabulous wedding in Booth Bay Harbor Maine. Brent's med school classmates, Noah Hoffman (who was also one of Brent's groomsmen), and Sarah Goodrich got married. The wedding (July 18th) was absolutely beautiful and the weather cleared up by Sunday to enjoy some of Maine. The only thing was that my hangover did not clear up until noon on Sunday (eventually the main desk called us and told us we had to get out of there so I had no other choice) so there was only limited Maine enjoyment. We got to see quite a few friends (Kelly Murphy, my L-town girls: Kara, Bridget and Amy, Marius and Brittany, Ben, Gabe and Jen and their new baby) and I saw all of my immediate family!

Stuart, thanks for your post about Trivia. You HAVE to go again. You guys rocked it.

Trip to New England - Flight Over

Okay, I have completely sucked when it comes to updating my blog. No real excuse... I was in New England for a week, but what was I doing the other two or so weeks... I don't know, maybe drinking too much, watching too much Michael Jackson coverage, sleeping in too late. But, I'm back on track.

Trip back home was fabulous. It started off with a few freebees on the flight over. First off, on our charter from Portland to Seattle on Horizon Air (yes, remember this wonderful airline) we got a free drink. When was the last time you got a free drink of a flight? Like, I'm not talking the standard soda, tea and coffee. I'm talking about 9 ozs of red wine in a plastic cup. Then, in Seattle, instead of reporting when the last call for our flight to Boston, I HAD to get my food... they were taking forever, but I am so grumpy when not fed. I'd be better off missing my flight. Brent told me to forget about it, only paid for our drink (which I didn't realize) and I took off with my pizza bagel. I still feel bad. Sorry, pizza bagel place.

Arriving in Boston, we were totally wiped. The flight from Seattle to Boston was a red-eye that was only 4.5 hours. We arrived with little sleep on Thursday. But, after a short rest at my super brother Stuart's condo, we were able to take a walk around Boston and pump ourselves up for Trivia. For those of you who aren't familiar with my sketchy past, I used to be a trivia jockey. I went to bars and... well... uh... just kidding, I just read trivia questions in bars over a microphone and kept score. We went to one of my old stomping grounds, Newtowne Grill. Man, I totally missed that place. The bartender, Carol, the $10 pizza and pitcher special, the locals... it has it all. Stuart and Maria joined up with us about half way through and good thing they did. They kicked ass that night. We ended up in a three-way tie for second against like 25 teams. After a tie-breaker (what was American gross for the movie The Wedding Planner), we came in third and got a $10 gift cert. Pretty good...

On Friday, we headed up to Maine for Noah and Sarah's wedding (Noah is a med school classmate of Brent's and was also one of Brent's groomsmen). I am going to write about it next post.

Sunday on the Bikes.

So, Brent and I seem to be reliving our pre-marriage/engagement days when we would sleep until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Although Sunday morning wasn't THAT bad, we didn't get up until 11. Sometimes the bed is just so comfy, it's virtually impossible to leave it. Today was dedicated to exploring Portland on our bikes. Our first stop: The Blues Festival. Now, Brent and I are not huge Blues fans, but it was entertaining nonetheless. This was due mostly to the $1 meat-on-a-stick and interesting collection of individuals attending. See picture and movie for a better grasp of what I'm talking about.

(1st: Brent and his meat sticks. 2nd: Video of Blue Festival, check out random dude dancing)

After the Blues festival, we decided to trek out bikes around downtown and look at future neighborhoods to live. Along the way, we stopped at the Rose Gardens in Washington Park (an item on the Residents "must do" list, see other blog). It was pretty. Brent's ferrocious appetite made him nearly eat the rare types of rose. Silly Brent. I was getting tired and hungry (I am seriously dead to the world when I'm hungry), so we biked home. All-in-all, a good day.

Happy Birthday, America! We love Silver Falls.

Okay, since we were... umm... sluggish in our start on Friday, we said early rise on Saturday. We did fairly well, getting packed and ready for our trip to Silver Falls in Oregon by 10:30am (that is good for us). It might have been closer to 10am if Brent didn't have to visit the bathroom 10 times. Thank goodness for Immodium or else we'd never get anywhere. I digress. Silver Falls is home to Canyon Trail, a trail that "is a nationally recognized trail system that leads hikers along the banks of the north and south forks of Silver Creek. It takes you to 10 majestic waterfalls, ranging from the grand South Falls (177 feet), to the delicate Drake Falls (27 feet)."

This place was gorgeous. We ended up hiking about 8 miles. The hiking was moderate at it's worst, which was fine with us. I don't have much to say other than if I had visitors, I'll be sure to take them there. I don't even think the pictures do Silver Falls justice. I love Oregon (New Hampshire, don't get jealous, you'll always be the #1 state in my heart. Live Free or Die, baby!)!

We went out on the 4th to one of Brent's fellow resident's (and his very nice doctor girlfriend) house who so kindly invited us to their party. Their home was immaculate and enviable and they've only been in for two weeks. My friend (yay, again, I have a friend) Emily came out to the party sans medical boyfriend (he was working), she rocks! The party provided good times, great food, and absolutely gorgeous views. We could see like ten different firework displays across Oregon from their roof deck. Alas, I forgot my camera and have no photos to prove that we actually were invited to a party. You'll have to trust me. :-)

We came home, passed out on the couch. Unfortunately, I don't have any wild crazy stories from the 4th. Send me yours so I can live vicariously through them.

July 4th Weekend - Friday!!!

First, I'm sorry it's been a bit since I last posted. You know, I am just so busy. Okay, that's not so much the case as weekly activities are quite boring to write about. Anyhoo, White Cloud Brent strikes again - he was given a 3-day weekend! And, well, we took advantage of it. The hospital administration have put on a contest challenging Residents to visit a list of ~90 sites in and around Portland by May 2010 and we killed 7 of those this weekend. Go us! We are totally going to win the sweet prize awarded next summer. (On a side note, when I don't have much to do, my competitiveness increases to a level even more overwhelming to the average person than it already is. I seriously want to win this thing. Don't play Scrabble, Bocce, or other generally non-competitive events with me on vacation.)

(Above, Apollini Winery. Below, outside Tilamook Cheese Factor)



(Below Two Pictures - Fun Times at Blue Heron Cheese Factory, family friendly!)

Friday, we wake up late. Lazy on both parts. Since it stays warm and light out until about 9/9:30 we said, "Lets go to the coast!" Our destination: Cannon Beach! Did we make it?! No! But, only because we were sitting in practically stand still traffic for about an hour and decided to take instead to take a road leading to wineries and cheese factories! Wine and cheese are probably like my favorite things... rivaling Brent on some occassions, mostly in times of severe hunger and thirst for alcohol (just kidding, sugar pie, honey bunch, delicious mc-rib... wait, what was a I talking about?). We visited two wineries: Apollini and Purple Cow. These were OK. We ended up buying a bottle of Pinot Grigio from the first winery because we wanted some sort of momento. We chose the P.G. because Pinot Noirs were like $30+ and we can not tell the difference between $10, $20, $100 bottles of wine so why spend more than $10? Our palates are not that refined. Maybe you winos out there can come visit and give us some lessons.

After our visit to the wineries, we head into Tilamook to visit the famed Tilamook Cheese Factory. For those of you that don't know me, I will probably die of cheese intoxication. I LOVE cheese. I am deathly afraid after each yearly check-up that I will get back cholesterol readings that doctors will gossip about post-appointment. I have been lucky thus far. Anyways, we first visited the Blue Heron cheese factor. That place was pretty kick ass. Loads of tastings: brie cheese, dips, mustards, ice cream, wines, etc. Seeing how great this place was made me think that Tilamook C.F. was going to be the place I dream about, the place I will retire to, the place to send postcards to Ireland about. I don't believe in much, but I do believe in Cheese Heaven. I thought this might be it. Well, not so much the case. Not that this place was awful, I just expected way more. I expected endless amounts of cheese, Tilamook workers trolling around with serving trays of cheese, endless cheese. Ugh, dream crushed. We got a measly 5 samples of decent cheese. AND, we had to wait in line for it. What the hell. The one redeeming part was watching the cheese being manufactured. It was kind of mesmorizing. What do they do with the excess shaved cheese? Why does that block of cheese go into that reject line? Why why why? Although, for the workers themselves, I imagine this is absolutely and utterly boring. We finished the factory off with some ice cream which always makes things better. Brent had to figure out a way to stop me from crying.

Enough about cheese. Post-factory, we visited the coast, about 9 miles away. Despite it reaching boiling temperatures of 90+ in Portland, it was only like 50/60 on the coast. We went on a short walk where I had to wear a towel over my shoulders. We were not prepared for these temps. Although we had bathings suits, there was no way you could get me into that water. I like cold water, but you'd have to pay me obscene amounts of money to get in the Pacific on Friday.

After our trip out west to the coast, we came home, had dinner and went out for drinks with some of Brent's classmates in Multnomah village. One of Brent's classmates is on medicine wards at the university, which is notoriously one of the most difficult rotations. Try to guess which one he is in the picture below. Ha.

(1st: Brent reminds me why I married him. 2nd: Brent and classmates)

Friday was good. Saturday was great. See next post!

Our First Weekend on the Oregon Trail

So, lucky for us, Brent had the weekend off. His first day of internship on the nephrology service proved he truly is a white cloud. While the service is normally busy (~25 patients), there were no one new consults, Brent was able send me an extensive list via email of homes to search and he was home by 5 with a long list of suggested restaurants in Portland to go to. Lets hope this continues. I'm not holding my breath.

Friday was pretty unexciting from a reader's standpoint. We explored a bunch of neighborhoods in Portland to see if we'd want to live there. We came to the conclusion that Brent's intense hatred of all things hippie might limit our neighborhood choices.

Saturday we went to the North American Organic Brewer's Festival in Portland. Brent was able to put aside his hippie-hater status in the name of beer. Most of the beer was delicious and the whole time there was a band playing with the coolest looking singer and a didgeridoo player. See picture. Saturday night we met up with some former Dartmouth alums and one of Brent's internal medicine people and his girlfriend. I think I've made my first non-medical friend in Portland. Yay, I am no longer a friendless, jobless, housewife... I'm just a jobless housewife. Thanks, Emily. Night was a lot of fun... so much fun we had to resort to using the services of a taxicab and walking to get our car on Sunday. Well, I walked the 2.5 miles, while Brent napped. Lazy.

Sunday we drove along Columbia River Scenic Highway and stopped at Crown Point and Multnomah Falls. Gorgeous. Day was awesome despite feeling a little groggy from Saturday night.

Day Four - Day Off, Errands

Today was productive. Brent had the day off... he starts doing real doctor stuff tomorrow and I suppose he needs to rest up before he starts potentially killing people. We really did have a nice little Thursday. Brent got Oregon plates and license, we shopped around for a new computer, went to the bank and we went food shopping. We had our first home cooked meal together in like a month. We made taco salad in case you're interested and/or hungry.

On another note, we ran into some teachers dining at the Baja Fresh for lunch (delicious burritos). We struck up conversation with them because one of said teachers had a Wisconsin T-shirt on... thank goodness for "America's Dailyland." Brent is from this great state of cheap beer/women/cheese in case you didn't know. The two teachers informed me that teaching jobs are awfully hard to come by (awesome), even for a math/science teacher. Since I haven't started my licensure paperwork, I am even more screwed. Go me. Tomorrow is dedicated to resume updating and job searching. Ugh, by the way, I was thinking if all else fails, I'd enter the fullfilling barista career since there are about 10,000 coffee shops per square mile in Portland. Apparently those are highly coveted jobs and you'd having better luck running for president. I still love Portland though... even if I may have to spend my nights on the street for income (just kidding, Mom, Brent told me I'd have better luck during the days).

Tomorrow's plan:

1) Update resume/search for jobs

2) Find ways to meet friends

3) Attend local rummage sale to look for coffee table

4) Sign up for a local run (which I may or may not get Brent to run)

Day Three

Okay, so I'm a little late getting this started. I will add so much more later, but currently, here are some day three events:

1) Marianne finishes unpacking boxes while Brent learns boring computer system.
2) Marianne and Brent (and recruited trivia-ers/fellow internist residents Mike and Chris) finish in 2nd place in local trivia event!!! Well, of three teams :-( BUT, we got a $20 gift cert.
3) Brent goes out partying while Marianne chills at home. I have a feeling these tides may turn as Brent actually starts engaging in doctor stuff.
4) Marianne starts watching the newest Real World while drinking wine and eating chips & salsa. Marianne wonders how much dumber these people can get.... or is it just me? Public education has failed these people.
5) Marianne is ashamed of watching the new Real World, but probably will continue.
6) Marianne, in attempt to redeam herself, created Blog, something at least more constructive.

That is it for now. I am tired and am writing in 3rd person... how annoying am I? I mean Marianne? I mean I. Good night,

Marianne and Brent