Erin's getting married! At the end of the summer, she and Paul got engaged. Time to start planning for some parties! I was living in their house after getting back from South America, and I had the pleasure of going shopping for wedding dresses. We didn't find one this day (she ended up buying online), but we had lots of fun. We're having a party for her in January, and then the two lovebirds are headed to Mexico to tie the knot. Good for them. Meanwhile, I've been trying to get out into the beautiful Northwest that I love from my homestead at my new college town of Corvallis--although grad school so far has kept me pretty darn occupied most of the time.
Leaving Erin and Paul's house to go away to school. It was sad to go. I really felt like I was at home there. Now, after a quarter of school at Oregon State University, I already feel like I'm warming up to Corvallis. But I love going back to visit her and my friends in the old Portland neighborhood.
Of course, I have had quite a bit of help from my friend Tyler (who I've known for a few years before moving to Corvallis) and the incredibly fun and exciting group of people that he introduced me to upon arrival there. I feel so lucky to already have a community around me that I want to be a connected part of. First stop: rafting on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon!
We packed it all up on a Friday in early October and slept next to the river, before waking up Saturday morning all riled up (party clothes and stick-pony included) and heading out on the river until Sunday night. Splish-splash!
As the fall went on, weekends began to become a much-anticipated refuge from the hard work to do writing research papers and tutoring others during the week. At a friend's family's time-share cabin at Cascasde Head on the coast, four of us captured a bit of quiet serenity at the beach--with a good helping of synchronized dancing to new age music sprinkled in with cooking in the evening, of course.
Hiking to the Head!
Cascade Head
Then it snowed in the mountains, and it was once again time for skiing! It has been a year and a half since I've been in "winter" (having spent last winter in South American summer) and I've been pretty excited about skiing this year. I had almost forgotten how beautiful the snow is as it glistens in the trees on the eastern edge of the Cascade Range. We spent Thanksgiving weekend at a forest service cabin (all 25 of us!) on beautiful Mt. Bailey, cross-country skiing the days and dancing the evenings away by the fire.
Dana and her pink cowboy hat.
My jungle-print dress was a big smash hit. Well, I enjoyed it, at least.
On our way back out on Sunday, Sam and Tyler helped tow the party supplies back out to the road. The kayaks were multi-purpose: tow-sleds and crazy luge-mobiles down the hill behind the cabin!
Group photo!
Before heading back to Corvallis, we made a stop at some hot springs near Ashland. The water was hot and comforting in the cold mountain air and misty rain. It was a great cap to the weekend.
Now I'm visiting home for the holidays, and planning a ski trip with Thomas and a beach trip with Michelle (friends from Portland) for New Year's. I have missed them, and it's going to be great to be able to spend some quality time before school gets started up again. It's a mixed bag with school starting up again and the busy rush of January, though, because, while I am enjoying a break, I am already beginning to miss all those fun-filled weekends and to prepare for more to come in the winter and spring.
It seems like my idea of what home is, instead of moving in focus from Argentina or Portland to Corvallis, just keeps on expanding. As it expands, I am homesick for each and every place, and it becomes harder to feel fully at home in any one of them, for lack of the others. On the other hand, it is great to feel comfortable where I am now, and, even if I miss my "other homes" incredibly, I know that it is only because I am a richer person now, more multi-faceted and experienced in the world. Each homecoming is a return to part of myself I am getting to know better, and a way for me to learn that I can be okay with all my many pieces scattered throughout the world because, after all, being so many reminds me that the most precious beauty within me is something far-reaching, that can never be contained.
Congrats to Erin and Paul! May the beauty of you both continue to exceed all boundaries, including the one into my heart!
