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I was telling my parents over the weekend how emotional I feel I am going to get once Courtney and Zach get married next year. Seriously, I’ll probably be crying when I see her walk down the aisle because I am just so happy for them. I could even feel it coming on when Courtney was showing her engagement video she made on iMovie...so I refused to watch it (seriously it’s probably gonna be bad). Honestly though, I couldn’t be happier for our two families to be joined by the union of Courtney and Zach (and to gain a brother in law like Zach).

A lot of people ask me if I ever have to go into protective mode for my sisters. The truth is I rarely, if ever, have to. My parents raised two brilliant daughters and taught them to demand the respect they deserve and to search for partners who can always show them love. From the moment Courty called me while I was in Japan to tell me that her and Zach were “official” I just sort of knew they would end up together...it was a weird feeling, but a good one. From there I got to meet Zach over skype and then finally met him on one of my trips home. Immediately I saw what an amazing guy her was and how he showered my sister with love. When he asked Sara and I if it was okay with us that he ask for Courtney’s hand in marriage way back in December, I was ecstatic. When he popped the question, I was happy I got to celebrate with them. In January, I will probably be ruining my outfit with tears of joy seeing my sister marry the man she loves.

As a big brother, I can say there are a lot of things you look for when analyzing a future partner for your younger siblings, but honestly the ability to consistently put smiles on their faces may be the thing that matters the most. Through all of this, Zach has showed how easy it is to put a smile on Courty, and as her big brother, that makes me unexplainably happy (and a little teary eyed)*.

Got to catch up with some of my favorite people to enjoy my most favorite ramen not in Japan. Maybe I need to expand my horizons, but Orenchi still brings back so many memories and got me thinking those 懐かしい vibes. 

It’s crazy how it’s been about a year since touching down back in the states. It’s even crazier how it was go, go, go from the start too. So a year later, having finally finished Santa Clara and having some time off, a vacation was in order. Part one of the vacation month of July involved a trip up to Portland to see a special someone for a few days before driving back down to California together. All I can say is as a teacher who loves his job, I will definitely be looking forward to finally getting paid and having summers off. The job is never about the money, but will be nice to have some coin in the pocket.

First things first was doing one of my favorite things...EATING! Got to go back to Division and try a new place while visiting an old one. Little Big Burger was not bad (cheeseburger with jack cheese and truffle fries), but across the street to Salt & Straw was amazing. Goat Cheese Marionberry Habanero ice cream might sound weird, but it was delicious. Speaking of ice cream, I think I ate Ice Cream every day in Portland trying the “essential places” according to those I trust. Funny thing is the day I skipped was actually national ice cream day haha. I had the following

Goat Cheese Marionberry Habanero at Salt & Straw

Apple Pie at Ruby Jewel

Salted Caramelized Honey at Fifty Licks.

Salt and Straw is still my favorite, but damn all the flavors were all delicious. 

Coffee was another highlight. Even though I’m on vacation I’m still on the grind for some units (teacher friends you know what I mean), so I needed a place to do some work. Good Coffee was a great little place that allowed me my first fancy cup of coffee/art and a way to plug along on some work. Not to sound too bougy, but I loved the logo of this place too. The “G” is on point. 

Even though my allergies were on fire like it was trying to drop the next hottest rap album, we both got to talk advantage of some great nature. First up Multnomah Falls

And then on the drive home we got to stop off at the Vista House that straight up reminded me of something out of GoT. 

What up Washington (across the gorge).

The rest of the trip consisted of shopping (no sales tax and some great sales is dangerous for me) and another visit to another great coffee shop, Heart Coffee Roaster West. I loved the open space of this place. 

Shopping was great though, Lots of practical pick ups from GAP and a visit to the adidas campus and the employee store was awesome. Still enjoyed the Nike store better, but three stripes had some cool stuff too. Also got to enjoy a nice happy hour at Portland City Grill that offered an amazing view of the city from the 30th floor. 

If any of you follow me on Instagram, you’ll also see I made the trek back to Blue Star Donuts. OMG Donuts never tasted so good. 

From top to bottom:

Raspberry Buttermilk

Blueberry Bourbon Basil

Lemon Poppy Buttermilk

Then after four wonderful days we started the drive back down to California. Got to see U of O for the first time and walk around. 

Stopped off to see the the grandparents and uncle and aunt in Sacramento though. Did Thunder Valley again and Batman served me well again. Also got to go back to Bogle for some wine tasting and had an amazing reserve cab (Allison we gotta share this!). 

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