the view from Oregon Health and Science University Hospital

The weather has been beautiful and sunny this holiday week/end. Since Josh had to work on Christmas, we made plans to celebrate on Christmas Eve this year. When we woke up and saw how nice the weather was though, we talked about going on a little hike but since the in-laws didn’t pack their walking shoes, we decided instead to take the ariel tram up to OHSU so Josh could give them a tour of the hospital. I always joke that Josh works in the future because the hospital design looks like something that could be on Star Trek.

ariel tram exit platform at the hospital

If you look closely, you can actually see Mt. Hood in the background. It is amazing! The hospital has floor to ceiling windows with the most breath-taking views in the city.

Ariel tram platform from the outside

I can give you my close-up of Mt. Hood too:

mt. hood in full view

The hospital was built on a hill, so between canyons, these sky bridges connect the different hospitals:

more star trek material

We stayed until about 2pm, then went home to get ready for dinner. For everyone else that meant taking naps…for me, that meant setting the table:

setting the table for 9 guests

We were so appreciative of having Josh’s two sets of parents come together with us and some of our friends for the evening:

(from left to right): me, josh wells, ali rahimi, and jules reynolds

After dinner, we played charades for several hours (boys against girls). Josh (Wells) was quiet at first but then proved his knowledge of book titles from years of working at Borders.

Thanks everyone for making our holiday so very special! And, I hope all of your holidays were warm and cozy!

The answer to the title of this blog post is: WITH GREAT FRIENDS!

First, you send out an email invite telling people that you are going to be legally marrying your husband the following Sunday and despite the fact that it is the busy holiday season, you hope some people might show up. Then on Monday you pick up Prosecco, pomagranite juice, pom seeds, sparkling water. and tea so you have the drinks covered. (Drinks which Lucinda ended up pouring for the guests — a big thank you).

(photo by Jessica Collins)

Then, you start thinking about what you might wear on Tuesday (out loud to your super fancy fashionista friend Johnna Wells). In turn, your super fancy fashionista friend then happens to find the most perfect vintage 60’s shift dress that you always wanted to wear at your wedding but never knew it. (thank you for having such great style and for being so thoughtful). You then try on said dress right before getting ready for a Thursday night holiday party and realize that it might need some last minute adjustments to actually work out to wear on Sunday.

at the Wema studio...

Then, while attending the Thursday evening holiday party, you run into your dear fashion designer friend Wendi Martin of Wema Designs who asks what you are going to wear and when you explain she tells you to stop on by her lovely studio in the morning and she will see what she can do. On that same night, your friend Julie arrives from Tortola, BVI to stay with you for the week and you are so happy to have her that you stay out together laughing with friends until 2:30AM.

the dress fairies - Wendi on left, Johnna on right

The next morning, you stop by the studio after having slept for maybe four hours and Wendi takes in the extra 8″ on the dress so it fits like a glove, surges the straight stitch, cleans up the seams, then tells you there is no charge.  (thank you immensely!)

You’re feeling pretty sure of yourelf at this point now that it is Friday and you have a dress for Sunday AND have a pretty good idea of which heels you are going to wear with the dress. But then you start thinking more about the food menu on the way home from work that day and you know that is still the big task left over but you are too tired from lack of sleep the night before that you can’t bring yourself to stop by the store on the way home to pick up the fixings. Plus you need to save energy for the other holiday party at Kris’ house that evening. Another big breakthrough occurs when you get home and Brad and Tiffany show up to the house with a few dozen extra champagne glasses they loan you for the party! (Thank you – they were definitely used).

With a cat nap to recharge you, you head out again in cocktail attire and high heels to another fun-filled party. That night, Kris offers to come over early on Sunday and prep food. (How would I do all of these things without wonderful friends? Need I remind you that I never truly stressed out longer than a minute about anything!)

This time, you get home at a reasonable hour because you know that Saturday is going to be a very busy day…meanwhile you are still trying to wrap up a project in Santa’s sweatshop you are running in your basement so you can have Christmas gifts to hand out!

Tthe little elf in Santa's sweatshop!

As if Andy Paulson was not doing enough by marrying you and your husband on Sunday, he stops by the house to help us troubleshoot some screen printing questions  — (this is Josh’s frist project with his new printing equipment)!

Josh prepping the screen

Once you finish up the Christmas project, (which hopefully people don’t think is the lamest gift ever) Josh and Andy do a little Blazer’s secret handshaking.

andy and josh doing the blazer's handshake

When you wake up on Saturday morning, your lovely friend Julie proposes a plan: we will go to breakfast together, plan the menu, then head to the store and pick up everything we need. So we go for bagels and lox at Kenny and Zukes in NW where we happen to run into Henry Kibit, chef at DOC restaurant in Portland as we are planning the menu. He gives some really great suggestions on how to make your tea sandwiches pop! (Thank you for the tips!).

(photo by Jessica Collins)

So you leave from there and stop by Pearl Bakery, and New Seasons for the final items. At this point your friend Julie makes you smile when she spends time testing out the different salami and pate in the deli and says that now it really feels like a wedding because she is sampling the food for the menu.

On Saturday night, after bringing home the groceries and just before the next evening of parties, you are able to complete your white elephant gift just in time to be at your friend Anthony’s by 6pm. At which point, you feel as though you had accomplished enough and should celebrate by having a few glasses of wine (keep in mind that I am not really a drinker). As you are leaving that party to head over to Matt and Jessica’s annual holiday party, you decide it would be a great idea to talk to your husband while walking backwards out of the house and turn just in time to find yourself falling down 4-5 concrete stairs. During the frenzy of making sure the injured person is going to live, the world slows down and you watch how incredibly thoughtful and carefully your husband is in taking care of you and suddenly you remember once again (for your second wedding) that this is what this is all about. You and him. This is the man who is your rock in life. The person who lifts you up when you are down, or literally picks you up when you fall and dresses your leg with gauze:

pre-wedding mishap

The morning of the legal wedding ceremony arrives and you are so glad that you happened to buy those cute grey boots recently so you can wear them instead of heels to cover up the bandages. Julie starts cooking up the super amazing latkes she is so good at making. Kris Dyer and Ali Rahimi arrive to make the tea sandwhiches and salad (Alicia Paulson helps too once she arrives). Josh runs to Sweetness Bakery to pick up an order of pastries and then to Stumptown to get more coffee. Before you know it, your house is packed with about 30 wonderful friends and some family that are able to make it to your second wedding.

When the time comes, Andy reads a sincere speech with some good humor thrown into the mix. You and your now legal husband say “I will,” and you finally, after three years of already being married (without the paperwork), you become a Montgomery. And, you were able to look deeply into eachother’s eyes during the process (something you were both too nervous to do in the original ceremony) and know that you mean it and that your love truly has grown greatly over the years.

our neighbor told us we looked very "mad men"

THAT is how to plan a wedding in one week! With a group of wonderful and supportive friends to stand by your side without even needing to ask for their help! They just do it because they care.

…for crafts, weddings, and holiday gifts!

It’s been a while since my last post. Josh and I have been busy cutting fabric over the weekend for our little christmas project we are working on. It is super fun to get crafty with the husband. Speaking of “husband,” Josh and I are planning on an official wedding certificate signing in the upcoming weekend (three years past our Mexico wedding in 2006)! We were going back and forth on just heading down to the courthouse verses putting something together at home and hiring an officiant. Our answer came to us as Josh was passing by his buddy Andy Paulson in the halls at work and said in a joking manner, “You don’t happen to be ordained, are you?” To which he answered, “YES! I AM actually…I filled out a form I saw in the back of a Rolling Stones magazine and now…I’m ordained.” Apparently, Mr. Paulson has never married anyone. He just thought that something like this would come up one day…and it has! For those of you who do not know Andy, this story sort of sums up his personality in a nutshell. As some of you remember, the lovely Miss Johnna Wells performed our original ceremony, and although we thought it would be funny to have her auction us off (she is an auctioneer), we went with the more thoughtful, loving ceremony. For family out of town, I am going to try to learn by Sunday how to video stream the signing so you can witness it, but if that doesn’t work out, I hope a photo of us signing the certificate will suffice!

For those of you who do not know, we are, for all intents and purposes married.  We just never made it official with Big Brother when we returned from our out-of-the-country wedding. There are reasons why we waited this long…related to student loans and such things. But, next Sunday, on our 3-year anniversary, we are making it official AND I am changing my name to Keely Edmonson Montgomery. I look at it as if we are renewing our vows already!

Every couple has a different way of doing things. Although this was not what we had planned, in some cultures there is actually such a thing as “trial marriages,” where couples are married for one year, and on the day following the year mark, they revisit the minister and announce their decision of whether or not they will be staying married. I think it is brilliant actually! Do you know how much our divorce rate would go down if more people did this!? The term is called “handfasting.” To learn more about this seemingly odd custom that we accidentally fell into, click here. I didn’t know about this until someone recently told me it was as if we have had a trial marriage up until this point and gave me the history.

On to other topics…for Christmas this year, Josh and I finally make the expensive leap to purchase blinds for the kitchen (which is fully surrounded by windows as if it were a sunroom) after living in the house for almost five years! Recently, our neighbors built an apartment above their garage and the new tenants windows and deck look right into our kitchen. Furthermore, a delicious new philly cheese steak restaurant moved into our neighborhood and when they are open in the evening, we feel the full affect of living in a fish bowl.

I took this picture of Josh inside Steakadelphia from our kitchen window. I had to use my zoom but you can see the need for blinds! We ordered the honeycomb, top down/bottom up blinds so we can have the blinds open on the top section and still get privacy. They just arrived in the post this weekend. Hopefully the installer will be able to get them in this week! It should help to insulate the room as well.

And, on a final note, I am so excited because I went to the MAC store yesterday to get a new set of headphones since mine have been shocking me when it rains, and I walked out of their with a brand new iphone 3G, and new headset….and the best part…it was all FREE OF CHARGE due to issues that were more expensive to fix than to replace with my Apple Care Plan. It felt like Christmas came early this year!

Recently, an email went around to a group of my girlfriends that usually gets together every 3-4 months for brunch. This time though, Cinda made the suggestion that instead of meeting out at a restaurant as we usually did, we have a potluck at her house and have a ”Vision Board Brunch.”

The response to her email was quite positive. So, this past Sunday, with supplies in tow, we arrived ready to create visual aides for our future. We each threw our stacks of magazines into the center of the floor and began searching for any images or text that went along with the experiences or things we would like to bring into our lives in the coming year…

Then, we went to work and started cutting and pasting…

It was so magical to see what results and creations began to unfold…

Jessica wants to go to Paris!

Mine is still a work in progress…

We all have so many dreams in life and those dreams are constantly evolving as we grow and learn from our daily experiences. Years ago, my mom taught me my first basic lesson on the power of intention through the form of feng shui. It was 1997, and I had decided to apply to attend Semester at Sea (a floating campus that circumnavigates the world as you attend college classes in between visits to different countries). At that time in my life, my world was so small and I did not realize that sometimes what we think is impossible can become possible. Financially and acedemically, attending the program was a far reach for me. Knowing how much the experience meant to me, my mom told me to write a letter of acceptance to myself addressed from the university and hang it on the wall (in the feng shui appropriate area). I thought she was nuts, but she made me promise that if I was to be accepted into the program and was able to attend during the semester I was aiming for despite the odds, I would give some more validity to her woo-woo way of thinking.

I was accepted and despite a long waiting list to attend during the Spring 1998 semester, I ended up getting in at the very last minute. More than anything, it made me embrace the idea that good things could indeed come through for me in my life if I made my intentions and worked at achieving my goals.  I have tested the theory so many times now and really believe that if we create clear visuals of what we want for ourselves and in our lives, then those visions can become reality.

This was my first Thanksgiving not spent with any family and I have to admit that it felt a bit strange (Josh was working too and didn’t  join us until the end of the evening for about an hour), but being at Ali & Holly’s is like being with our family in its own right.  I had such a nice time with everyone. Thanks to Chef Ali for the delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and roasted veggies!

I spent the morning yesterday sleeping in for the first time in what I think has been months! It was so nice. With Josh being at work, it was just Belle and I hanging out together at home. I then proceeded with my very first attempt at making pie…mini pies at that! I found the link to the recipe on Alicia Paulson’s blog and was so inspired by the cuteness of these little pies in mason jars.

I would like to send huge, loving, thank you ’s to both Alicia (Paulson) and Karen (Vitt) for extending invitations to me to join their family dinners in case my existing plans fell through (since I was orphaned by Josh’s mandatory holiday work schedule).  I am sure both your dinners were incredibly warm and fuzzy!  I missed out on Karen’s “special” pie (the non-dairy, glueten- free delicious pumpkin pie).

We sat down to dinner last night and said our thank you’s in Farsi, German, Spanish and English. Josh got off work just in time as we were sitting down to have dessert: Gilberto’s most delicious mexican chocolate mouse with shortbread cookies, and the individual mason jar apple pies…and still to try because I had no more room after the mouse is Ali’s pumpkin pie. All was home-made, and wonderful just how I like it!

I am grateful for so many things in my life right now – friends, family, work, and this 4-day stetch of time off!

Relationships are filled with so many firsts. The first date, the first kiss, the first fight, the first time meeting the parents. After being together for seven+ years, the firsts are less frequent but just as special as the rest.

Today, to lift my spirits and relax my frazzled nerves, Josh agreed to learn a new recipe together – Creamy Potato Leek Soup, or as I later called it “Potato Soup for the Soul.” It’s not that he doesn’t cook or help me when I am cooking, but for some reason we have never collaborated on cooking something new. We went to New Seasons and picked out all of the ingredients, came home and went to work. It was incredibly cute to hear him saying things like “I can’t believe that I made this!” or “I could really see myself getting into this cooking thing.”

That was my special moment today. I am lucky to have such a caring and wonderful husband. It’s a good day to be in love.

Today was my rest and relaxation day at Carson Mineral Hot Springs Spa with my fellow relaxation-seeking friend, Jessica. It was my first time visiting this historical bathhouse in Carson, Washington. She gave me the perfect visual this morning on our drive there: “Its kind of like what you would picture a 1920’s hospital to look like.” This is exactly the feel of the bathhouse. Built in 1923, aside from some new plumbing, I am pretty certain that very few updates have been made ever since. There are cracking ceilings and floors with dramatic curvature from the many years of settling on a hilltop. The front room is filled with about a dozen clawfoot tubs surrounded by white privacy curtains and the other rooms have about the same amount of hospital style beds where you are wrapped up like a mummy after your soak in order to sweat out toxins. The men and women’s bathhouses are separated and each side has shower facilities, dressing rooms and a sauna.

Upon my entrance into  the dimly lit wooden hallway of the bathhouse today, I caught a glimpse of some kind of pink flash. I quickly turned around to see if I had missed something but nothing was there. I suddenly got the feeling that the bathhouse was haunted.

Jessica’s massage was scheduled before mine so I went straight to the soaking tub from my initial shower, where I soaked for about 45 minutes. The water was pin-prickling hot when I first got in and smelled strong of hard-boiled eggs or sulfur. It only took a few moments though before my sore muscles and crackling bones responded to the heat and minerals and started to relax. I layed there and thought about all of the women for so many years who had visited this same bathhouse in search of some relaxation and relief from pain as I was doing today. While trying to keep my mind from wondering, I kept repeating with each inhalation “be,” and each exhalation, “here.” It must have worked because for a brief moment there, I was able to escape to that blissful place of nothingness and then I started to see a lovely light purple aura (for lack of a better word) surrounding my body in the tub. Perhaps it was my own “aura.” Perhaps it was caused by the fumes of the minerals. Or, perhaps there is some other paranormal explanation. But the moment I started thinking about what it might be and not remaining in the moment, the images slipped away as quickly as they came. “Be…here..,” I started to repeat again. But I came to again from the sound of a nice lady asking if I was ready for my body wrap.

I’ll tell you, there is something so much more relaxing and fulfilling to have a soak and body wrap before or after a massage. It allows for your body to release more toxins and provides for even more time to relax. I came out of the experience feeling so much more grounded than I have been feeling lately.

Following our relaxing morning, we headed over to Skamania Lodge for a late lunch and warm tea with a view overlooking the Columbia Gorge River.

When I got home, I looked up a couple things that had been on my mind since leaving the bathhouse:

Q) What minerals are in the hot springs water and what do they do (because my achy bones and sore muscles were feeling great)?

A) Potassium, Sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfate (the smelly one), Ammonia, and Phosphate. Click here to find out more about what each mineral does for the body.

Q) What does a purple aura mean?

A) According to various google searches, a purple aura means that you are in a good place spiritually and that you are close to experiencing a state of equilibrium or open awareness (dang! I wish I could have kept with it longer!). Purple auras are also a sign of healing and cleansing and indicates the soothing of pain. (interesting and fitting!)

Q) Is Carson Mineral Hot Springs Spa known to be haunted?

A) According to several people online and the owners, yes.

While running around town picking up event supplies last week, I ended up crashing a man date between Josh and Andy Paulson downtown to have a doner. I think they refrained momentarily from talking about football for my sake.

This is Josh’s favorite restaurant, which I still had not tried, and let me just say that it doesn’t get Josh’s stamp of approval for nothing. It is good! Give it a shot! And if you are a first timer, simply order the Doner. Its like a yuro but better!

Doner Kebab | 515 SW 4th Avenue

Recently, I made a trek out to “The Couv.” That is what some Portlander’s call Vancouver, WA as if it is some kind of disease you catch. It is not a bad place, Portlander’s give nicknames like this to every suburb city just to prove that if you live there you are not a true Portlander.

The purpose of my Vancouver jaunt was to seek out some Moroccan lanterns someone had told me were there. Unfortunately, the lanterns were not what I had expected but because I had made the trip over I decided to order a pot of tea and ended up discovering a new favorite beverage! 

Mint Tea was the name of the place and Moroccan Mint Tea is what I had. I liked it so much that I bought part of the ingredients for it and picked the rest up at New Seasons today so I can enjoy it this week (it is steeping as I write this)! And because I think that good things need to be shared, I am going to give you all the ingredients too.

All I need now is a cute little Moroccan tea set. I think somehow it will make the experience more enjoyable!

Moroccan Mint Tea (serves 8-12 people one glass each)

1 full tablespoon loose Gunpowder Green Tea

3-5 Tablespoons Sugar

Handful fresh, washed mint (dried mint also works when fresh is not available)

Place loose tea in teapot, add sugar and fill with boiling water, approximately 5 cups and mix. At this point you can have your teapot on either a gas or electric stove and cook the tea for 1-2 minutes. Add mint after cooking and allow tea to steep for 5 minutes. Add water essence at this point if desired (rose or orange blossom water). To mix, pour 3 tea glasses full and return to top of pot.

Next Friday, my spa buddy, Jessica, and I will be heading out to the Columbia Gorge to enjoy a day at the spa. Unfortunately, I have learned the hard way one too many times that it is extremely important to take care of my body and mind by managing the stressors that come up in daily life. And, let me tell you — it is a daily practice. Even with retreats to the spa once in a while, if I don’t stay on top of stress when things get busy, it can quickly spiral out of control.

There is a certain level of stress that can actually be healthy in our lives, but we all know our thresholds and when we have met them, it is hugely important to take a break. I read today that many researchers and doctors believe that 99% of illness is caused by stress. So, lets take care of our minds and our bodies!

To read more about the affects of stress, read the information below pulled from the CDC website below:

“Stress sets off an alarm in the brain, which responds by preparing the body for defensive action. The nervous system is aroused and hormones are released to sharpen the senses, quicken the pulse, deepen respiration, and tense the muscles. This response (sometimes called the fight or flight response) is important because it helps us defend against threatening situations. The response is preprogrammed biologically. Everyone responds in much the same way, regardless of whether the stressful situation is at work or home.

Short-lived or infrequent episodes of stress pose little risk. But when stressful situations go unresolved, the body is kept in a constant state of activation, which increases the rate of wear and tear to biological systems. Ultimately, fatigue or damage results, and the ability of the body to repair and defend itself can become seriously compromised. As a result, the risk of injury or disease escalates.”