The Bemilie Blog

What an adventure Ben and I have had these past few days. Portland is experiencing record levels of snow fall – and it just keeps coming, plugging up all major forms of transportation because no one is prepared for it. Typically, we get snow once a year. It’s usually fairly light and melts off in a few days. This series of storms, which started last Sunday 12/14 and the news channels have appropriately dubbed “Arctic Blast”, have dumped the most snow on the city that we’ve seen in 40 years, and to top it off temperatures are not going above freezing so it isn’t melting off. Consequently, buses aren’t going any where, the MAX is having trouble keeping at regular intervals, and 300 people are sleeping at the airport because flights aren’t leaving. For Ben and me, that means our flight on Saturday evening to Los Angeles was canceled and rebooked for Monday. The rebooked flight was canceled and we were scheduled on another flight to leave 12/24. Hopefully our flight on the 24^th will leave like it is supposed to. Honestly I’m too tired at this point to think of any alternatives.

In the mean time here are some lovely pictures of the snow.

Ben & Cleo in the snow 12/14

Our yard gnome in the snow 12/17

We didn’t find out that our original flight out was canceled until after we had trudged through the few inches of snow that had already accumulated taking the bus and the MAX to get to the air port hoping that they were equipped to deal with the snow. After we checked through security we went to find the gate we were supposed to fly out of and saw that all of Southwest‘s flights had been canceled for the day (and every day until today).

After rebooking our flight and finding out that they just didn’t have enough de-icing equipment to deal with the weather we sat down to have lunch in the airport before attempting to head back home. When we got down to the MAX line that runs from the airport we found that it wasn’t running because a switch was frozen at a transit center three stops up the line and they were attempting to remedy it with blow torches. After the MAX got up and running we got to the stop we need and waited in blowing snow neither of us dressed appropriately for the weather we were encountering.

Finally when we got on the bus trying to get closer to home we encountered several more problems including the bus we were on ending up in a snow drift and unable to get out forcing all of the passengers to sit and wait for another bus to come along and rescue us. Another bus came along shortly after and we all climbed on and silently prayed that it would get us that much closer to our destinations. Finally Ben and I got to the stop and began to trudge the half mile from the stop to our home in blowing snow, no where near appropriately dressed. After a three hour journey we finally arrive home, still intact, and luggage in tow. We’re thankful for being able to get home, but are sad that our trip to visit Los Angeles is so delayed.

Here are some more pictures we too on our trip to the grocery store yesterday during a lull in the storm.

Our home covered in snow 12/22

Emilie on the street in front of the house 12/22

Dearest Family & Friends,

Warmest wishes for the holiday season! In January we finally closed on our house in a Portland suburb and have been diligently working to make it feel more like home. We planted two rose bushes in the front yard the first week of April with the hope of adding more in the years to come. We painted the dining room and one of the bedrooms, and are still trying to decide on a color scheme for the other rooms of the house. We have a list of other things we would like to change – big and small – but still enjoy it as it is.

Painted Dining Room

In March we adopted a dog from a local rescue group. Miss Cleo is a six year old corgi and Tibetan terrier mix. She’s a relaxed and affectionate dog and we’ve enjoyed adapting our lives to include her.

Cleo (Click the image to see more)

In June we traveled down to Sacramento to spend time with Emilie’s parents, sister and her family who had traveled from Kansas for the visit. In August we got to join Ben’s extended family in Cambria, CA for a week long vacation at the beach.

For our two year wedding anniversary we adopted a kitten from a shelter. Elwood will be a year old in March and is a spunky little tuxedo cat. He has brought a quite a bit of excitement to our lives.

Elwood and Ben (Click the image to see more)

Also in September we had the great opportunity to participate in the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure at the waterfront park in downtown Portland. We hope to be able to do this event annually.

In November Emilie participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and is proud to declare that she was able to meet the 50,000 word requirement before the close of the month.

Ben is still working for the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon Ministries as their main Web Developer and assisting in tech support. Recently he helped launch new web sites for each of the organizations contained within the Sisters’ ministries. Emilie is still enjoying her job working for Insight Schools, Inc. as the Receptionist and Administrative Assistant. She had the opportunity to travel to South Carolina and Nevada to help with information sessions for the schools Insight was starting there; she also gets to write for the monthly company newsletter.

December has been a fairly low key month for us, aside from the excitement of the snow storm we’ve had this past week – unusual for our area. We look forward to the New Year and the joys it will bring.

With Love,

Ben & Emilie

Now that Christmas is over, I can’t help but feel a little nostalgic. I was thinking the other night as I gazed at out sparkling little tree, all of five foot three in it’s splendor – which has quite a bit more in the way of “dressings” than when we first put it up a month ago – and remembering back to all of those Christmases that I’ve spent with my various family members. Honestly this is something I’ve done every year since moving out of my parents home, the big difference this year is that it would be just me and Ben enjoying the holiday at home this year. This was a difficult but necessary choice for us to make considering the cost of travel and a myriad of other reasons.

Ben’s dad gave us a call not too far in to December with news that he had a free ticket for Southwest that he had to use by the end of the year and what a better way to use it that to come up to Portland for a brief visit. What a nice little treat. During his visit the three of us took a trip to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) to catch the Star Wars exhibit before it left. Afterwards we enjoyed a nice dinner in down town Portland, all the while enjoying the extra little sparkle the city gets around the holidays. When we got back home, Ben and his dad lit candles for the third night of Hanukkah – a new but exciting experience for me.

On the 23rd Ben and I attended a fun little holiday gathering across the river in Vancouver and got to meet some new people as well as reconnect with some friends we hadn’t seen in a little while.

Christmas Eve and Day were both relatively uneventful. We spent them both at home, enjoying each other’s company and a little time off together. We exchanged presents Christmas morning and ate a nice ham dinner that evening. We watched on of my holiday favorites, “A Christmas Story”, and Ben worked feverishly on his new Knex roller coaster set which had been a gift from his family. Hopefully we will build family traditions over the coming years to enjoy.

That’s it from the newlywed home for now. Until next time,

Emilie