Christmas has come and gone

I can't believe that we have already been in Oregon for over a week. Dan's wedding has passed, Christmas has passed and we have now traveled to Bend for the other half of our break. Christmas was great. We spent Christmas morning with Derek's mom and fam in P-town and then headed out to Hilsboro to see Derek's dad and fam. It was an eventful day full of food, family, love and presents of course! It was a great day. Christmas night was the first bit of down time that Derek and I had since the start of our trip. We got some movies, curled up on the couch and actually got to relax for more than 10 minutes. It was glorious! The next morning (yesterday) we headed over to Bend and here we are, fully soaking up the true meaning of "vacation".

Holiday at last!

I am on Holiday at last! Finally after waiting and waiting and waiting for a break, we have arrived to Portland, Oregon and we have nothing to do! The nothing to do part might last but a few hours, but the fact of the matter is that I don't have to be at work right now. Oh the bliss!! What lies ahead for our splendid vaca you ask? Well...friends, shopping, a wedding, traveling, Christmas, coffee, family, family and more family. It should be good, but I am sure I will be ready to come "home" to Vancouver by the end of it all. Derek's best buddy, Dan, is getting married on Friday and Derek is the best man. It's going to be a great event and this week leading up to it is going to be full and exciting. Okay, well the day has just begun and I think it is time to walk down the block and get some coffee (yes, we are staying at my sisters place in NW Portland surrounded by coffee shops! Couldn't be better) then it will be off to Target and such places to finish our Christmas shopping.

J.I. and I

Eventhough J.I. Packer is a professor at Regent and I often see him wondering the halls. I have never had the honor of serving him coffee. Until last Friday... He came to The Well with a friend to get some coffee. He said he wanted a really strong cup of coffee (thata boy J.I.!!). So I asked him if he wanted a stronger flavour or if he wanted stronger caffiene. I told him that the dark roast has more flavour and the medium roast has more caffiene. He chose the dark. He was curious about why the medium roast has more caffiene. I went on to explain to him that the longer a coffee bean is roasted the more caffiene escapes from it. Despite the stronger taste, the darker it is the less caffiene it has. He was intrigued and said in his cute little old man voice "you learn something new every day". I can forever hold onto the fact that I, just a little barista in Vancouver taught something to J.I. Packer!!!!

Once again, life is busy as can be. At the beginning of the week, I look at my week and think, "oh, yay, it's going to be a nice restful week", then one by one, the days begin to fill with meetings, babysitting, work, friends, etc. It's all good stuff, but man I am feeling like I need a break. Just a week and a half to go until I get my Christmas Break!! Yes, yes, I know we just got back from a mini break to Oregon for Thanksgiving. But trust me, it was not relaxing or restful at all. It consisted of Derek and I driving all over Oregon to see all of our family (and some friends) and trying to get in a good amount of time with them so we didn't feel guilty, eventhough we were only in Oregon for a total of 4 days or whatever. It was craziness! So in a week and a half, Derek will be completely done with this school term, I will be done with work (for 2.5 weeks) and we can actually spend some time together. We will be heading to Oregon again, but we are going to be sure that we lay low for a couple days before we hit the road. Plus, this trip will be a lot longer and chances are it will be a bit more relaxing. AND....Dan's getting married!!!!!