Love is Sweet

This is just one more thing for that digital resume. Wayne and I were the amature photographers for my favorite aunties wedding, and I think we pulled it off! I have actually never seen a couple kiss more than they did on their wedding day. Everyone could tell how in love they are. If I had a penny for how many times I saw them kiss... I would be $3.00 richer. It was a fabulous occasion, and I am so excited to show off all of our hard work. Both in photography, and with the decorations. My aunt was the bees knees putting this whole thing together. She could do this for a living, and we can document it! There we go! A business plan in the works. :) The theme was "Love is Sweet". There was a sweets bar full of sweet treats. The decorations included tons of burlap, lace, wood rounds and mason jars. A huge portion of the reception was focused around all of the heart shaped rocks that they have been collecting over the past 3 years. They had written love messages on them and placed them on the tables. Yellow and blue were the theme colors, and my aunt wanted to get married in the 'golden sun'- Just before sunset. There was candlelight, and twinkly lights glowing throughout the evening creating a romantic ambiance. All of the really little kids collected all of the bubbles from all of the tables, and said that they were going to blow the bubbles for everyone to dance in the moonlight. It sounded so romantic, nobody bothered to interfere with their ideas and take them away. I thought it was sweet. The whole occasion was sweet. "Love is Sweet".

♥I wish the happy newlyweds all of the best (Love you!)♥

♥

Fort Rock Adventures

Yesterday was one of the best days ever! We woke up nice and early, coffee in hand, and a Bon Iver playlist. We drove out of the morning fog, and into the hot dry desert. We could have spent the whole day looking at the surrounding area, but had a mission to get to Fort Rock. I can't believe how beautiful this state is. On the drive Wayne actually said in a sarcastic voice, "Wow, this state sucks". While looking around I laughed, because we were driving along a river, and past many lakes and resorts. Even a ski resort with year round gondola rides! My mind was blown, and we hadn't even met our destination..
First stop: Homestead Village Museum. The homestead era peaked in 1912, most of the 'new' inhabitants had never farmed in the high desert before, and were forced to leave. Some managed well. All of the buildings were moved from their original locations to the museum to be restored, and preserved. The church is still used for weddings, and memorials! You can see Fort Rock in the background. It is part of an ancient dried lake, and an extinct volcano. In 1938 a archaeologist discovered prehistoric artifacts in the caves dating back 8,000 years ago.

If you are ever in Oregon, or if you live in Oregon I highly recommend going there! The museum is open Fri, Sat & Sun 10am-4pm May 18-Sep 16. ♥

This crater is called the "Hole in the Ground". It is 4 miles down a very bumpy dirt road, about 6-8 miles from Fort Rock. It is a volcanic crater formed by steam explosions. 1 mile wide, and 300 feet deep. Quite an impressive sight..

This is Bear Country

I have shown interest in foraging, but never considered that things would be so abundant on our property. So adundant that I would be excited enough to gather the WHOLE PLANT! I want to bring all of them closer to the house. We have a hazelnut tree, wild raspberries, blackberries, thimbleberries, and huckleberries. Spearmint is growing everywhere like weeds, and the wild flowers.. So far I have only seen bleeding hearts, and trilliums. We have been doing quite a bit of yard work lately to prepare for my parents, and brother coming over for a very very late fathers day. My mom has been to the house(before we moved in), but yesterday was my dad/brother's first time out here. Everything around the property that we have been trying to find a home for such as our grass clippings (we do not have a yard debris pickup), branches, leaves, bark. I have been collecting all of it, and laying down layers and layers of the debris on my hiking trails. The hiking trail is called "snotty fir" trail head. Usually we say "snotty pine" (where we come up with these things- I do not know), but we have mostly only doug fir trees on the property. I was considering "snotty maple fir" trail head. haha Oh the joys of making silly hiking trail names. I am also considering a My Way <== or the Highway ==> arrows. :)

I am so happy that mi Padre came over. It gave us a chance to finally take advantage of our big firepit. We cooked lunch over the fire, and went for a drive. We saw 3 lakes, 1 creek and 1 river. Checked out a park, a campground, a marina, and local hiking trail. Now that we know where to go, we need to find our swimming holes for those 100 degree days.

I would also like to share the 15 second instagram video my brother made during our adventures. See HERE. On instagram? Follow him!

Oh but look at this scenery! We are so close to hiking trails, camp grounds, lakes, streams, rivers. We have everything but the ocean in our backyard. Hah! Even bear... We found that out only yesterday! I'll be more careful in my backyard now! I always have my machete on my back like a real ninja. Forest ninja!