Because We are Just THAT Cool...

Every year, Lane Ferret Shelter and Rescue puts on the "Ferret Agility Trials" to raise money. Stu and I have known about it for years but we are always doing something on the weekend they are held and we end up reading about it in the paper days later. As ferret owners, we have always wondered how our ferrets would do in the competition so this year, we took Oliver and joined in on the fun.

Oliver was totally freaked out about the car drive and then the amount of people and ferrets at the trials but his number was 23 and, that being one of my lucky numbers, I was confident we would take home a ribbon!

Oliver didn't take home any ribbons though...he didn't pull any weights, even try to get out of the paper bag, and ended up turning around during the tube races but we still love him. We met some nice/interesting people, saw our vet and Oliver was attacked by a girl ferret owned by a really sweaty woman. We left after "Princess Pea" chomped on Oliver's neck and wouldn't let go. But we think Oliver enjoyed himself and plan on taking him to the park more often. It's nice to not have to hide the ferrets anymore now that we aren't renting...

Places from My Childhood

After my parent's left, seems I just couldn't handle being away from them. They left my house and drove down to visit my aunt in Cave Junction. I decided that my new car needed to go on its first road trip, so three days later, I was driving down to Cave Junction too!

The crazy thing is that my cousin has lived in Eugene longer than I have and we lost contact a really long time ago. We kept giving our numbers to our moms only to have them lose them or give us the wrong number so we haven't talked in years. While my mom was visiting, I was actually able to get in touch with Sarah and we decided to make the trip to Cave Junction together (since my parent's were staying with her mom.) The drive down was the best part of the trip because I was able to catch up with Sarah and get to know her son Domanick (almost 3!)

It was a perfect summer day in Cave Junction. I have spent most of my life growing up there (ages 0-4 and then 9-16) and have a lot of memories in that town. It was weird to drive through and see buildings torn down and new ones erected and it was really crazy to have the option to stop for lunch at Subway. When I was in high school, the only thing you could eat at that was "fast food" was Dairy Queen or Giant Burger!

Right before we left to come back to Eugene, we decided to go swimming at the gauging station up the river. This is quite literally the swimming hole that I learned how to swim in. It was beautiful and crystal clear and unchanged. What a great way to spend the evening.

Summa Time...

I have been putting off posting anything for a while because I was sure that I hadn't done anything this summer. But looking back on some of the pictures that I have taken and posted on Facebook, I realized that this has been one of the best summers I have had in a long time. I didn't really go anywhere or do anything unbelievable, but I still had an amazing summer!

One of the really special things that happened this summer, is that my parents came to visit me. Most of you know that my family lives in New Mexico and that I only get to see them and spend time with them for about six days right around Christmas. My mom and step dad George decided to make the trip to Oregon this summer and they spent a few days with Stu and me.

We have always been a "coast" family, spending a lot of time living near the ocean, so one of the days they were in Eugene, we made a trip to Oregon City (where George grew up.) It was quite the road trip with me missing the exit I intended to take and going a very long route which included the Tualatin/Sherwood Highway and later a really shady, random winding country road. But we made it!

The end result was us finding our way to the beach at Ocean City (and me discovering that was where the Pelican Brewery was.) George told us all kinds of stories about how he and his dad used to build Dory Boats and we found the little building his mom built where she used to can fish. After leaving Ocean City we ended up going to Lincoln City to get a late lunch of fresh clam chowder and saltwater taffy! Yum!

The next day was my mom's birthday! I haven't been around my mom on her birthday since I was in junior high so it was really nice to be able to help her have a special day. We ended up going to see the livestock at the fair (my family raises horses and other animals) and then coming home for a yummy bbq. We got my mom her favorite type of cake from Sweet Life and then headed out to the fair at dusk to go on some rides!

It was really nice to have someone who isn't a wienie (...Stu...) and who wants to go on rides with me.

It is always a little nerve racking and tiring to spend time with your family. Especially when they are staying in your home (and you wake up to old country music blaring from your tv speakers at 7 in the morning...every morning...); but I was really sad to see them go. You never realize how much you miss the people you can't be around until those first few quiet, boring hours after they leave your house.