Spring Break 2019

Back at my desk after over a week off. Every year I take time off while my wife is on Spring Break. This year, Spring break was the week leading up to Easter, and our one year wedding anniversary fell on Easter which was really special! We spent the first half of the week in Portland celebrating spring break and one year as wife and wife. We walked around, drank coffee, enjoyed delicious fare, and embraced the rain. We came back to sunny California on Wednesday, and enjoyed the warmth for a few days. I can’t believe it’s Monday, already, and here I am sitting at my desk, back in action. But enough rambling, I want to tell you about our Spring Break adventure and why it was so nice to take a bit of time off and celebrate with one another.

If you read my last post, you know I attended the Alt Summit conference at the end of March. I blogged all about it here if you want to catch a glimpse. 

The week after Alt Summit was spent processing photos and mentally processing all the experiences and events I attended and photographed. Once I got caught up on photos from Alt, I got right back into weddings and shot the first weekend of April, and then got right into editing that. I found myself mentally and physically exhausted, which quite frankly caught me off guard. Since taking my business full time in January, I’ve felt more energy than ever. I love my job, and I’m so grateful for the people I get to work with, so it was strange to feel less enthusiastic than I usually do. I am learning that being your own boss means higher highs and lower lows, so experiencing mental heaviness was something I had to adjust to. Thankfully I hadn’t scheduled much with the anticipation of being on break, so I was able to rest and take care of myself. I deep cleaned the house, got all packed, and caught up on a few tasks before flying into PDX.

There’s nothing quite like a change of scenery and rain to help you slow down and relax. Here’s a snapshot of what we did in Oregon:

Saturday in Portland started off with coffee and pastries from the most lovely French bakery just two blocks from our place. We met up with my lovely friend, Katee, and went and played ping pong at a place where you can rent ping pong tables by the hour. We stopped by the Portland Night Market and checked out local makers and artisans. Sunday was spent slowly getting out of bed. We got massages, walked around, and watched the first episode of the season finale of Game of Thrones. Monday we took Portland’s Street Car to Powell’s Books, the largest and most magical book store I’ve ever been to! It’s multiple stories tall and takes up an entire square block. We spent a few hours there, then walked to Portland’s food carts, and met up with my cousin for delicious tater tots from McMenamins. On Tuesday, Anna’s Uncle picked us up and we drove to Multnomah Falls. We were going to hike a mile up to the top of the falls, but it was closed due to weather. Jeff dropped us off back at the condo, and we decided to continue our adventure with a walk. Timing was serendipitous as we walked by the street car just as the doors opened, and we decided to hop on! The NS car took us all the way down towards the waterfront. We ended up at the aerial sky tram that carries both patients and commuters up to OHSU hospital. I’ve always wanted to ride this, and was thankful for the chance. The views from the tram were surreal, and even though the trip was short (just 4 minutes), I’m glad we got to experience it. Just as soon as we got up the tram, we went back down, and took the street car back to the Powell’s area where we got pizza and Anna got a pair of Dr. Marten’s. We went back to the condo and got ready for our anniversary dinner at the Portland City Grill. PCG is restaurant located 30 stories above the city in U.S. Bancorp Tower in downtown Portland. Anna made a reservation and requested window views AND told them it was our anniversary. We arrived a bit early to enjoy the view, and when they seated us at our table, there was little happy anniversary confetti on the table, which was super cute! Our food was delicious. We enjoyed a cheese board, the stunning city views, Yum!! The rest of our time was spent reading and relaxing.

We flew home on Wednesday and reunited with our home and cats.  We saw a friend from out of town on Thursday night, Anna finished up some tasks for school on Friday. Saturday we drove to the bay to celebrate Easter with family. Sunday was spent celebrating each other. We went to brunch, drove through Old Sac, reminisced our wedding and talked about one year together. And of course, watched Game of Thrones.

I’m so thankful for Anna and experiencing life with her. It’s really amazing to have another person to share all of life’s ups & downs and lessons with. Having a week off together was just what I needed. I definitely couldn’t do what I do with out her! 

I hardly picked up my camera on our break, but here’s some photos from the few times I did. 

Pictured: snack board made for Game of Thrones premier, Multnomah Falls, beautiful tulips we walked by every day in Portland, and a portrait of my sweet wife!