Some Time in Portland, Oregon

 

After my time in Rockaway Beach for Tony's family reunion, everyone headed to Boise and I had decided I was going to stay, go to Portland to visit friends from the mission and take a few days just to soak in the areas I served in from 2003-2005. 

After taking my time to look at a few shops on the main street and get some Tillamook ice cream and sit and watch the ocean again, contact people and make a plan for my week, I headed to Milwaukee where my friend Lindsay lives. She had invited me over for a Labor Day BBQ and I was so excited to see her, her family & her parents again. Plus I met a really nice lady (I think her name was Marilyn) from her ward that they had also invited over and Lindsay's father in law was there as well. Sadly I did not take a picture of my food because there was no corn medley. Wink. Hehe. That is my favorite dish that Lindsay's dad makes. We did have some delicious hamburgers with sides and dessert was a cream pie of sorts, why did I take no pictures?!

 After hanging out with Lindsay and her family for a couple hours, I went to meet up with my friend Autumn in Clackamas and her kids. Gosh. I love these people so very much! I can't believe we all met in 2004 and still keep in contact such a long time later. I appreciate their love, kindness and friendship so very much. We didn't have too long to hang out and catch up but I am so glad it worked out.

Next up, I went to my friend Cindy Angle's house to catch up on all the things she's been up to! We talked until dark outside on her back deck. Great weather and a beautiful sunset. Sadly we did not take a photo together so...next time!

Next up I drove to East Portland to stay at the house of a girl, Stacey, who was in the first singles ward I served in - in my very first area which was Gresham. I have not seen her since I left Gresham but we have been Facebook friends for quite awhile. It was so very nice to see her face to face again, stay in her cute house, meet her dogs Jack and Jill and her husband and one of her boys. I had such a comfortable stay in their home for a couple nights.

Tuesday!

Tuesday morning the first friends I got to see were Katie and her mom Kim who I met when I served in the Sunset Hills ward in Cedar Mill. Now they live in Clackamas! We had such a nice visit sitting outside in the shade and it was wonderful to catch up on their lives and hear the good things but also trials that they have experienced. I wish I could live in Portland and spend my time helping the good people there again like I got to do when I was a missionary.

 After visiting Kim and one of her two daughters, I headed to Gresham to meet up with another friend!

Oh how I love this lady! Renah was the wife of our ward mission leader who we saw on a weekly and sometimes more often basis. She was also so patient and kind with us sister missionaries. They didn't live far from the apartments we lived in. I have not seen Renah since I left Gresham as well and she is still in the same house! Sadly her husband passed away a few years ago, I sure missed being able to see him and I know she misses him every day. She's a strong lady with a lot of interests and talents. I'm so glad to be able to still keep in touch with her.

I actually met Holly when I lived in Utah! She moved just a couple weeks ago to Oregon with her family. We met up at a group of "food pods" - food trucks that don't travel anywhere.  She brought one of her boys and we checked out all the trucks for awhile before finally settling on what food we wanted to get. It was a hard decision but fun to eat and catch up with each other again.



I got this dish of vermicelli noodles, rice, cabbage, carrots and chicken. A little spicy and I didn't like it as much as I thought, but it was okay.

Next up, a trip to Target - one of the worst Target's I have been to in Oregon. They were a 2-story Target but had so many empty shelves. I thin they were remodeling. I could not find windshield washer fluid which was my main reason for going.

I was supposed to meet up with a friend at 430 for dinner but was still full from my late lunch + I wasn't far from Craft Warehouse but there wasn't enough time to get there and to dinner on time so I contacted my friend and we decided to meet up another time since she was still at work and had had a long day. I did get to see her in 2020 when I visited Portland but it will be great to visit with her again next time I can come to Oregon.

 After I went to Craft Warehouse, I realized Big Town Hero was very very close by and holy moly, it's my favorite sandwich in all of Oregon! The first time I got turkey cucumber and then before I drove to Idaho, I got the turkey cranberry. Drooling just thinking about these sandwiches and wishing I had one in the fridge to eat today. Haha.

After getting my sandwich, I drove to Forest Grove, about an hour or so away from Gresham to visit my friend Sera who I met in my first area (Gresham!) and we've kept in touch for all these years. It was really great to see her again as I haven't gotten to meet up with her for a few years. Sigh. So good discussing all kinds of topics including some fun stuff to see in Washington next time I can make it up there. 

Wednesday!

 

 A quick snapshot of the Evergreen and Aviation Air Museum on my way in to McMinnville. Someday I will stop and go have a tour!

First up for Wednesday was going to visit a dear lady I spent quite a bit of time with when I was a missionary. McMinnville was my last area. I have not seen Debbie since I left in 2005! Holy moly. But it's been so fun to keep in touch with her on Facebook. We had a great visit, and I did manage to get a photo with her but she made me promise (actually I promised her on my own) to not post the photo anywhere. But she loves her cats and her coloring pages on the iPad which she does a really fantastic job with. I loved hearing about her life lately and some fun memories.

 

Next visit was heading all the way back towards Gresham for lunch with his awesome lady, Sara. Wow. Just wow. She has been through so much in her life, especially since I met her back in 2003. She ordered lunch for us and we spent the next hour or so talking and having some great face to face time. On Facebook is one thing but I enjoy visiting friends and family in real life so much more. Sara is so cool and I am glad she made the time to let me come by for lunch. Woot!

Ready for more food? I was not totally but food brings me to any activity or event. Lol. I also have not eaten at Applebees for YEARS! But it was suggested by my friend PK and then I invited Stacey who I had stayed a couple nights with, because all of us were in the singles ward together while I was there. I haven't seen PK since early 2004 at least. Hot diggity. She has the funnest stories, laugh and personality. Stacey, PK and I spent the next couple hours munching on our happy hour foods (the queso and chips were so yummy!) and it felt so good just to connect in person again even though so much has changed. I'm no longer a set apart mission for the LDS church. None of us are in the singles ward anymore. 2 of us are married. All 3 of us have moved to different places. 

PK, Stacey and I! Love these girls!

Next..more food..are you surprised? Lol. I drove out to Hillsboro to have dinner with my friend Rusty, his wife Cory & their 2 kids and my friend Casey who also served in the Oregon Portland Mission but sadly we were never companions.  I didnt get any photos of that evening unfortunatley but we had pizza and brownies with frosting for dinner. Super fun to hang out and see Rusty & his family again and meet their new daughter born a little while ago. Then I followed Casey to her house just a couple blocks away, to spend the night. But before bed we spent awhile reminiscing about former missionaries, messaging some of them and remembering the good days as LDS missionaries in Portland. I loved this time so very much.

Thursday!!

My final day in Portland. Not even a full day because I started driving to Boise in the early afternoon. Tried to contact a couple friends I still really wanted to see but when I didn't hear back, I replaced my windshield wipers, filled up my tank with gas and stopped at Big Town Hero one last time. Also! I stopped at Lindsay's again to do a Cricut craft with her. So very fun! She made me a yummy sausage and egg sandwich as well. 

What a wonderful wonderful time I had in Portland. I feel incredibly blessed that it worked out to stay, visit amazing people and for those who opened up their homes to me, especially to stay the night. 

So grateful! 

 

Goodbye until next time Oregon!