Busy, Busy, Busy

There haven't been many nature adventures these past couple of weeks to write about but that's not to say I haven't been busy.  Between work, furnishing my apartment and everything in between, there hasn't been much time for much of anything else, including sleep.  

The building I work in downtown hosted a blood drive the other week.  Seeing as I haven't been tattooed anywhere in the past year, I figured they would finally be able to take my blood so I signed up and am happy to report I was able to make a donation. 

I like to think people should be nice to me every day

The Portland Pug Meetup gathers the first Saturday of every month at a dog park in Tigard.  Not one to turn down the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of pugs and pug parents, Cole and I went once again.  Unfortunately, the park was more like a mud pit than a park but that didn't stop the pugs from having fun.  My car, on the other hand, was not quite as happy and is still in need of some cleaning. 

Cole looking pitiful after his teeth extractions...poor guy :(

Cole was due for a dental cleaning so I took him in to Banfield last week to have that done.  It turned out not to be a simple in and-out-cleaning.  They found nine teeth that needed to be extracted.  Cole was pretty pitiful looking the first couple of days (rightfully so) and restricted to a soft foot diet while taking a variety of medications including antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and pain medications. I'm happy to report after his recheck Thursday morning, he is confirmed to be doing much better and able to now resume a normal food diet. 

View of the Willamette River and Fremont Bridge near by apartment

Cole and I celebrated Valentine's Day by taking a long walk along Willamette River.  It was a beautiful day of blue skies and warm temperatures.  At one point on our walk we came upon some horses in a pasture that I later learned were the mounted police horses for the City of Portland.  I had no idea there were horses in the city let along just a couple blocks from my apartment.  I love that I am still learning new things all the time here.  After our walk, I spent the rest of the day assembling furniture.

Just one of many furniture assembly endeavors this past week

Since Saturday, I've been assembling new furniture just about every day.  So far I've put together ten pieces and am just about done.  I purchased a new couch on Sunday and it was delivered on Thursday.  A friend in Wisconsin shipped most of my boxes from Madison the other day and I received my first two today.  The next eight are coming tomorrow.  The remaining ones will be shipped withing the next week so I expect within the next two weeks, I will officially be 100% moved to Portland. It's amazing how much little changes in my apartment, like adding a few plants, has so drastically changed how it feels (for the better) in here.  I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

My new couch, in it's first home

My new couch, in it's new home

My next project, which I will begin tomorrow, is building my photography website.  I met with a new photographer friend this past weekend for brunch and was able to talk through my concerns about choosing a website.  I decided on Zenfolio and hope to be selling photos there soon.  I'm meeting up with a co-worker tomorrow to talk through my marketing plan.  Once it is ready, I'll be happy to share it with all of you here.   Stay tuned!!

To see a collection of my photography, visit my Flickr page here.