The Oregon Coast: Revisited...

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Oh, and don't miss this video!

As a result of Spring Break's poor weather during our trip to the Oregon coast, we thought we'd try it again in August. Regrettably, the weather was still not on our side. It was cold and mostly cloudy.

So, we made the most of it.

This trip was Connor's first time to bring a friend along. Their constant giggling was great to hear! When we weren't at the beach, we were in town going through the tourist attractions. When we were back at camp, we enjoyed the fire and the kids playing tag and other games with the other camping kids.

The boys had their own tent to stay in with the dog, Jake. They were sandy and hairy by the end of the trip but we all had fun nonetheless. We will likely not return to Oregon for a very long time. We've been burned too many times with the weather and this was our last try. Next Spring we'll go to Arizona and who knows where 2011's summer will take us — I invite the opportunity for something new!

Birthdays this month

Happy Birthday, Jerry! -- August 21

Happy Birthday, Mom! -- August 28

♥♥ I love you! ♥♥

The launch of www.jodimorganphotos.com...

:: Visit the site ::

Well, I finally did it. Created my own website to showcase my work as an individual. Take a moment to view it, and if you're so inclined, provide your critique to help me improve on it. Thanks in advance!

An update on what we've been up to...

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It's been a while since I've posted to the blog and with that, I've become a little rusty... I actually managed to forget some of my steps — hopefully, you can't tell the difference!

A little announcement

Before I dive in to our Spring break adventure, I thought I should announce how proud we are that Connor will be taking his science fair project to district! What this means is the school was impressed enough with his presentation of his project that they have moved him to compete in the district. We'll find out the results of this later this month. His project was on which fruits produce the most volts of electricity and tested it against a grapefruit, lemon, lime and orange.

Our Spring break

Like the past couple of years, we headed to the Oregon coast. Despite the lousy weather, we did manage to get out on a few hikes. The days we weren't able to really get out, we were lucky enough to have internet access, which saved us. We had sleet, rain, hail and lots of wind... to the degree that we did lose internet access for a day.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

We dedicated one day to a picturesque drive to Heceta, and visited their lighthouse. It was a gorgeous day and it's funny how easily our spirits were lifted by just some sunshine being out. Complete mood change, it was great! The ocean waters was like watching fireworks. Waves crashing in, making these huge displays of spray in the air; thick sea foam barreled into the shallower areas... looked just a consistency of thick, soapy lather. We hung out for quite a while just watching it. Mesmerizing!

:: Some video segments ::

I think next year's Spring break will take us to a warmer, sunnier place. We'll plan to visit the Oregon coast in the summertime instead, so we'll have more cooperative weather.

We hope you've been enjoying your Spring! (c:

Happy Birthday to Patty!

Patty's birthday is here (February 21) and so I've gone through our photo archives and made this short video I hope you enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Mom (and Grandma) — We love you!
Brett, Jodi & Connor

♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥♥

:: ♥♥ View the short slideshow ♥♥ ::

It's a long weekend for us with President's Day being on Monday, so we've decided to remain home given the lousy weather we're experiencing. But today, it's Valentine's Day and my sweetheart bought me a lovely flower arrangement that is an art piece in of itself. While these pictures don't do it justice, I can't help but share them with you! I am such a lucky girl to be married to such a wonderful person and ♥♥ I love him ♥♥ dearly! To many more years together and for you as well!

The cute files... from the Morgan Chronicles archive

Over holiday break with the time off I had, I ported all of our old videos to DVD so I could digitize and tweak them. It was so fun for me to reflect back on the earlier years when Connor was little. Here's one I put together today. Brett and I had a hard time understanding what he was saying back then — it was so funny!

A ladylike affair...

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Today, I met up with some work friends at this great tea house called, The Secret Garden Tea Room & Gift Shop. It's set in a Victorian mansion in Sumner and it sort of felt fancy to be having tea in teacups and be in such a quaint place and setting.

Note: Don't be too judgmental about their poor website. I did at first, but realize they're not in the website business, and they focus on what they're good at—Tea and good food!

I had never been to a place like this before. As you could imagine, they have every kind of tea you can think of. Great sandwiches and soups and salads too. For lunch, I had a vegetarian quiche with Gorgonzola cheese (a recent favorite of mine) and Orzo Pea Salad with a delicious scone, accompanied by caramel toffee tea. It was all delicious. They have a "Frosty Cranberry Salad," which is slightly frozen and is a sweet and tart concoction some of the ladies who ordered it seemed to enjoy. I might have to try it the next time I go. (c:

Dessert (which I didn't need but couldn't resist). I had their Chocolate Tea Cup. As the name implies it's a chocolate teacup filled with coffee mousse—it was decadent.

Good conversation and good company; it was nice to regroup to catch up. The venue was spot-on and I will definitely have to revisit it again!

Northwest outdoors in the winter...

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It's 2010 and before we venture back into the corporate world again, we've been out and about despite the cool temperatures, and taking in some of the sights around the northwest outdoors. Above is a photo from our visit today to Flaming Geyser State Park which runs along the Green River. As the name would imply, we didn't see any "flaming" geysers, but we did see some bubbling ones. I think in the summertime you see the flaming ones, but it's wetter here so this is understandable. We've also taken in some great views of our grand Mount Rainier for you to enjoy from a trip we made just after Christmas.

Wishing you all a prosperous and successful new year!

Good times... circa 2000

We were at the Puyallup Fair back in 2000. Dave and I decided to ride this ride called the "Ejector Seat." I did the favor of screaming for the two of us while Dave tried to collect himself. Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas is just a couple days from now, can you believe it? We certainly can't! Please tell me where this year went?

Well, I just finished wrapping the last gift today, and we have one work day remaining—a half day at that—and then we're off until the new year!

We have so many things to be grateful for that we should acknowledge; and at a time when others do not.

1. A job
2. Loved ones to share the holidays with
3. A roof over our heads
4. Clothes on our backs
5. Food in our pantry

This year has certainly had its trials and tribulations, and I'd like to wish they never happened in many, many instances. But it's never good to focus on the negative. And for that, we must move forward because it's good for us to do.

So, what does the year ahead have in store for us Morgans?
We'll strive to get out and about more than we did in 2009; I can promise you that! Perhaps sell our home? (We're not sure... we're thinking about it though). We have some camping trips planned for 2010 and I'd love to go in search of waterfalls. I want to expand my photography experience to start working with shutter speed and see where that takes me. I also want to get more into the video parts as well and serve them up here on the blog. But it's about content and it has to be entertaining, so I'll try to make sure to produce something that has substance. (c:

What's the deal with this RedBubble site?
Well, if you can tell, I've started working with a website called RedBubble. I've done this because I have heard comments from friends that I should sell my work. I was so flattered to hear their feedback and thought, well others do it, why not give it a try?

So, I set out to find a way to do this in an electronic format, so my relationship with RedBubble began. Here, I have some of my more "prouder" shots that I can showcase and the site provides the opportunity for people to buy my work in a variety of prints to choose from—from cards to canvas, to framed prints, to posters, etc. It has been fun getting familiar with the online community, as well as inspirational to view others works. It has taught me a few things and I'm looking forward to experimenting further!

My gallery is located at this web address: http://photogyrl.redbubble.com

Feel free to post a comment here to share your well-wishes to those who view this blog, or if you have a comment regarding this post; we'd love to hear from you!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each of you!
We hope for a peaceful and brighter year ahead!

« Jodi, Brett & Connor