Life, As of Late (More Inlife and Less Online)

Hello, Anne here. By now you may know I am the main contributor, writer and editor of this blog; and Mike is my favorite prop/subject. We both contribute to our Instagram account, and yes, it is can be confusing, but if you knew us at all—it would seem quite normal.

You may have noticed the blog posts are fewer than years before, with many more images than descriptions. In the last 5 years the intention of this blog has changed so much, and sometimes I'm not quite sure what this blog is about. We attempted a blog re-vamp, but life, school and work got in the way, and now it looks as if that has been put on the back burner indefinitely. However, at the end of the day we still love our little blog here—the ultimate definition of a web-log. We have used the blog to go back and piece together small events that led to bigger things. It has given us reason to get out and enjoy, what seem like insignificant, tiny moments in life. We understand this blog doesn't always represent reality, just the parts we want to share. One thing we can say is we will continue to enjoy the life we have created, capture and share when we can and only if we want to. Life is to be lived, and we want to make the most of it, so we may disappear from here from time to time because of life. 

Over the last month, we celebrated Mike's birthday with three terrific dinners. The first one—a family dinner at one of our favorite restaurants—was celebrated without a single photograph taken. We found that we wanted to be present and enjoy every one's company that night. We had nice cozy pizza Halloween dinner and a sushi dinner with the most spectacular view. Life remains happy and content as the weather changes daily—maybe, dare we even say—partly because the weather changes daily. We've learned a key to our happiness is being able to appreciate each and every day because tomorrow will be different. 

Life, As of Late

There's a eastern belief that autumn is a time of disruption - the wind comes in, stirs everything up and creates a bit of chaos. The past month we've experienced a bit of that disruption, but we're trying to stay positive and forge on. After seeing the terrific murals of Phoenix's Calle 16, we were happy to discovered a mural project right here in Portland. We're celebrating some hard work that led to some good news and new opportunities. We're taking every chance we can to roam around and admire the terrific architecture found all over the City - currently we're in love with all Art Deco buildings in the downtown area. As the weather changes, we're staying home more, being thankful for the beautiful life and home we have together. We're trying to strike a balance between family, friends, school, each other, work and play. It's a constant juggling act, but something that is important to us.

Arizona Vacation Round-Up

We made a quick trip to Arizona to visit family, celebrate some birthdays and get our desert heat on!

Before visiting we searched high and low for some uniquely Arizonian food and we hit the jack pot with The Mission Restaurant in Scottsdale. Their tacos were teeny tiny, but filling as hell. Topped with pickled cactus and spicy red peppers, these were some of the best tacos we've ever had.



Not authentic Arizonian, we did find a gem in the suburb area of Mesa at Gelato Dolce Vita and Grocery. We read they had stellar pastas, charcuterie and gelato. Unfortunately, even though we went straight there from the airport, we weren't able to try their homemade pastas, but their sandwiches, charcuterie board, and gelato was fantastic!



This trip was all about family and we were fortunate enough to be there for special birthdays, which included a yummy lunch at famous Barrio Cafe. We arrived early to check out some of the murals in the area, and found the most interesting cluster of murals were right around the cafe itself. The food was amazing.



It was a terrific visit, and we even got to enjoy a summer monsoon and the beautiful sunsets they create. Until next time Arizona, we love you!