New Year, With a Bang

January has kicked my ass.
Seriously.
And I wouldn't change a moment of it.
Well, maybe Natalia's hospitalization, but other than that it's been an adventure!

Early in the month my good friend, Emma, flew in from Australia! She has visited previously, but it has been 4 years! Her visit was amazing, a whirlwind of adventures and so much fun. Having her here was an excuse to go on all the adventures and explorations that I hadn't been able to yet. We did the Oregon Coast circle in day (Tillamook, to Cannon Beach, to Seaside, to Astoria, and home- total about 5 hours of driving) and spent a day playing in the snow on Mount Hood. We went to the zoo, and she got to spend some time in Portland with another local friend. We started and finished our time together in Seattle, where we went to the gum wall, ate lunch at Ivar's, and admired the views from the Space Needle.

Mount Hood, OR

Cheesey Space Needle souvenir picture!

Cannon Beach, OR

Overall it was an amazing 2 weeks! We did so much, and I'm still decompressing a little bit from it. I do have to say that I miss Emma like crazy- not only was it nice to have nearly constant companionship, but the apartment stayed clean!


Unfortunately, all the fun comes with the consequence of being exposed to illness. Poor Natalia managed to pick up Hand Foot & Mouth Disease (HFM) on the 18th, which only got worse until yesterday. We ended up taking her to the local ER for fluids due to a high fever and dehydration. They admitted her and we spent the night at Peace Health. She was a trooper and was hooked up the IV for nearly 15 hours. It's incredible what a few bags of saline can do for a sick child. She's not perfect now, but her fever is lower (nearly non existent) and she looks so so so much better. It was scary to see her so sick, but I do not regret making the call to take her in.

Tomorrow is February. Which in itself has its own list of events that are coming up... but that's another post.