The month in review.

April has been busy. Robert visited for a week in the beginning of April so we could all celebrate Greg's birthday together. We all had a great time while he was here. We took in a Laker/Blazer game for Greg's birthday and then a couple of days later took in a Portland Beavers game (minor league ball). It was a sporting good time.

While Robert was here, Greg's work was filled with chaos with staffing changes and what was scheduled and supposed to be a 3 day vacation ended up just being 1 day off. In any case, despite Greg's 12-14 hour days we managed to fill the time by visiting a bunch of touristy sites around Portland.

After Robert departed, we were pretty much both slammed with work and OT. Not much excitement. Now that the month is over we are ready for May. Tomorrow is Belly's FIFTH birthday!!!! Greg's parents and family are headed up here on Saturday for a week so we are looking forward to that.

Oh and how bout this... it was officially spring in March but the weather here is nutty. We managed to have snow (at our house) through April 19th. This weather after the weekend Robert left when it was 82 degrees! Who knows what's in store for May....

Here are a few pics from April.

Belly and Robert in Washington Park

Belly and ma

Greg & Robert at the Laker/Portland game, 04/08/08

Belly: Superfan!

Enjoying the game

Belly bummed the Lakers lost in Portland..... again!

The fam, celebrating Greg's birthday at the game.

Bellasaurus (OMSI, 04/09/08)

Taking donations.

In memory of Donald G. Kevorkian 03.27.1945-04.01.1997

For every comment received to this posting, I will donate $5.00 towards the fight against cancer. Eleven years ago today, my dad lost his fight against colorectal cancer.

Cancer continues to be the 2nd leading cause of death in Americans. Colon cancer in itself is the fourth most diagnosed cancer behind prostate (1), breast (2), and lung (3). Sadly, most colon cancers are preventable and for those diagnosed, easily treatable if caught in the early stages with routine and preventive treatments.

Per the CDC, if everyone aged 50 and older were properly screened, up to 60% of deaths would be prevented. Since the risk of developing this form of cancer increases with age, it is even more critical to be sure that you and your loved ones seek preventive care on a routine basis.

At this point in time, studies have shown effective ways to reduce the risk of colorectal cancers are to maintain a healthy weight, get regular exercise, and eat a diet low in animal fats and high in fruits and vegetables.

Screening tests include any and all of the following, colonoscopy; sigmoidoscopy; double contrast barium enemas; and fecal occult blood tests. These tests are painless and while a little inconvenient, could safe your life. A study from the National Cancer Institute in 2007 showed that when colorectal cancer is found early and treated, the 5 year relative survival rate is 90%.

While my primary focus for this blog is related to colon cancers, lets not forget people affected by other forms of cancer. Please be diligent in your healthcare, be aware of warning signs, and take preventive measures. Every dollar raised towards the fight against cancer is a chance to work towards a cure preventing the needless death and infirmary of millions of people worldwide.

My dad missed many of the warning signs associated with colon cancer and at diagnosis, was already in the late stages. He lived exactly six months from the date of the initial surgery to remove an overgrown and malignant tumor in the large intestine. We miss him terribly, but his death inspired my love of all things public health and was the reason I chose to pursue an education in health sciences.

For more information regarding cancer, please visit the CDC.

"We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival" ~ Winston Churchill

"Hope is griefs best music" ~Author unknown

We are moving to the East Coast!!!!

So, just as we get settled into Portland and love it here, we decided to pack it all up and move East. The plan is to move by June and get settled in so that Belly is acclimated and ready to start kindergarten in the fall there. It's an exciting time, we have been looking at places in Virginia. Why Virginia you ask? Well, why the heck not?! We've heard it's really beautiful there.

Cost of living there is really reasonable and we will be close to all the fun and historical stuff to do in the colonial states. We have been looking at jobs there, nothing secured yet, but we have been able to store up several months of living expenses and so the plan is to save a little more before we go, sell all the stuff that we can, and live cheaply for at least a year, then we will buy a house.

Hope we will get lots of visitors out that way. :o)

Other stuff going on in the land of P-town?

March was a busy month for us. Work was hectic and filled with long overtime hours. Since I'm at work, I can't download any pictures that aren't on the camera phone so look for a post tomorrow or the next day. Anyway, we finally broke down and bought ourselves a new car. New to us anyway, an '04 Hyundai Santa Fe. No bells and whistles, but just a nice reliable bigger than the Saturn car. So far, we love it.

We had hoped to travel to CA for Easter but thanks to vacation scheduling issues, it was a no go. Instead we took a trip to the Oregon coast for a quick weekend and played in the sand. It was the 1st weekend of Oregon Whale Watching so we took a whale watching tour. It was so fun! We loved it and plan to do it again when we get a chance. I have several pics which I will add later on. Unfortunately, we didn't really get to see many whales. The tour guy said that during migration the whales tend to dive and stay under the water for a longer period of time than they do when they are in the area for feeding. Nevertheless, the ride was wonderful and the first time Belly or Annie have been out on a boat in the ocean. We are also happy to report that no one (including us) was seen contributing any stomach contents into the ocean.

Sunset on the coast, Newport OR 03.21.08

After getting back from our excursion to the coast we spent Easter day over at Bryan and Julie's house which was lovely. It was a nice, relaxing day and the kids had a chance to play together and do an indoor Easter egg hunt since the rainy and cold weather wasn't allowing for any outdoor fun.

After we left their house, we headed over to downtown Portland for our first Cirque du Soleil. They have a traveling circus that comes to Portland for a month every year, it's a huge set-up, and incredibly impressive to see. This year the show was Corteo which was themed around the death of a clown. It was beautiful, amazing, and incredible to watch. The sheer acrobatic feats are unbelievable. They didn't allow any pictures inside the tent so I don't have anything to post. If you haven't been to a performance before and the opportunity is there, go! We all loved it, it's a two hour show that flies by. Belly was at the edge of her seat the entire time.

The rest of March was mostly uneventful. The only excitement was the weather. Spring sprung, well at least on the calendar that is. We had 3 days of snow and ice last week! Snow at our house in the last week of March!!

Snow at our house! 03.30.08

April brings us the start of some visits which we are looking forward to. Robert is here the 1st week of April for Greg's big 3-1 birthday. We are going to a Laker-Blazer game on the 8th (go Lakers!) to celebrate his rapid descent into being elderly. Greg's family will be here for a week starting in May (which by the way, Belly mentions daily).

For those of you who don't know, Chris was finally deployed in mid March. He is currently in the giant sandbox of the world and will be there for at least 6 more months. Lets all pray for a safe trip there for him and his fellow troop members. If anyone is interested in sending Chris a goody box, email me and we will get you an address to send him some things.

That is pretty much it for right now. We will keep you all updated on our moving plans and so on and so forth. Look for another blog this week, it will have all the pictures from the coastal trip that I didn't get a chance to post today.

For the visitors headed up this way, we can't wait to see you!!

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oh, and yeah, APRIL FOOLS!! We aren't moving to the east coast. We had you going there for a minute, eh? ;o)