Fall Festival

Today we got to experience a really neat tradition in Bend- The Bend Fall Festival!  It is a really neat event that is put on every year downtown for really no other reason than to celebrate Fall.  Despite the rainy day we are having, there were tons of people downtown out enjoying themselves.  It is a 2 day event, which includes concerts, pumpkin pie contest, kids pumpkin painting contest, a hay bale maze, petting zoo, tons of food and drink vendors, and booths set up selling art and other knick knacks.  It is a really neat part of this town- but isn't unusual... there is some kind of festival, concert, or event going on every weekend it seems. It is so fun to see people out and about enjoying life!

A local blue grass band playing on a corner

The Festival!

Kids pumpkin painting contest

Baby piglet at the petting zoo- just for you Katy!

The Witch!

Booooo!

Hay bale maze

Horse drawn wagon rides

California Girl...

So the first week of work flew by, and here we are in week two.  Dave and I are both loving our new jobs!  Dave is getting a lot of experience working in various math classrooms with special education students, and is holding his first baseball team meeting this week.  I have been very busy with assessments, writing reports, and doing psych evals, but I am so happy to be here!  Friday after work was my middle schools first (of many!) happy hours... it was great to hang out with people outside of work- letting us meet more people as well.  We are still SO happy to here, we couldn't think of a better place to live!

On a funnier note, I thought I would share the story of my morning.  Last night we experienced a HUGE pacific northwest thunderstorm.  Lightning, thunder, pouring rain... the whole works!  So I was delighted to see the weather report for today as I was picking out what to wear to work- 80 degrees in Bend! wooo hoo!  So I happily picked out a skirt to wear... it has been kinda chilly so I haven't had the opportunity to wear my normal California wardrobe!  As I got myself off to work this morning at 6:45, my morning temperature reading in my car read 55.  Not bad, considering it was going to warm up to be a beautiful day.  I had to work in La Pine at my high school today, so I began my 30 minute drive. 

And then it happened....

The further I got from Bend, the more my temperature gauge dropped.  50, 45, 40, 35...32! Next thing I know I am driving through a snow covered forest.... in a skirt!  Our little rain storm we had in Bend last night was a SNOW storm in La Pine... only 30 minutes away!  I have graciously accepted the nickname California Girl from colleagues at work, and this didn't help the title one bit.  As I walked into the school this morning, my breathe visible in the cold air... needless to say I looked like an idiot amongst the other staff members bundled up.  It gave me a great laugh to start my day, and I think I have learned my lesson about living in Central Oregon.... weather is unpredictable, and La Pine can always be projected to be 25 degrees colder than Bend!

Small Town!

Another fun fact about Bend (and another reason to add to our list of reasons we love this place) are the summer concert series held at the Les Schwab Amphitheater on the Deschutes River.  We discovered last night that rather than spending $50 per ticket to get in the gates to see the likes of performers such as the Goo Goo Dolls, Steve Miller Band or Willie Nelson, you can sit on the bank of the Deschutes River, or even anchor down in a boat and get the show for free!  So last night was a highlight for me.... we sat on the river, sun setting, thousands of other people sitting around us, watching Johnny Cougar Mellencamp and Bob Dylan.  It was amazing! I have to say, hearing Johnny Cougar sing "Small Town" gave that song a whole new meaning to me... (and brought a little tear to my eye thinking about how amazing this place truly is!)

"No I cannot forget where it is that I come from

I cannot forget the people who love me

Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town

And people let me be just what I want to be

Got nothing against a big town

Still hayseed enough to say

Look who's in the big town

But my bed is in a small town

Oh, and that's good enough for me"

People sitting out on the grass of the Old Mill (restaurants, shops, etc.) across the river from the Amphitheater

Boaters starting to pull in to listen to the music.  To the right of this picture are all the people sitting in the picture above, to the left (the small black building figure in the picture) is the Amphitheater. 

In other news, Dave got another job!  He is now the official HEAD VARSITY baseball coach for Mountain View High School!  While he won't be really coaching until February, he is already being well received in the athletic department.

Munch 'n

We are finding things everyday that we love about this place!  Last night we went to Munch 'n Movies.... it was an amazing experience.   To see so many people out- representing all ages and stages of life, was incredible.  Young families with infants, older retired couples, groups of tweens (many of whom I realized would be at my middle school this year...), everyone was out to enjoy the night.  The evening starts while the sun is still up, with little kids selling 50 cent otter pops and a guy playing live music.  Once the sun goes down, the movie goes up!  The movie playing last night was Monsters vs. Aliens, a fun animated Pixar film, and other movies that have been shown this summer include Up!, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  We're gearing up for the final movie in September... the Wizard of Oz!

Another "Munch 'n" that we have experienced while in Bend is Munch 'n Music... another fun event the city holds 6 times a summer.  To make it even better, both events are free- with exception of the food vendors (but the food vendors are so fun to have- local restaurants are set up around the perimeters of the events with great deals on food)! Last night Dave and I splurged on kettle corn at the movie!

Munch 'n Movies

Reason #1 (among many) why we love Bend...

We both have jobs!  As mentioned earlier, the reason for this exciting move was because of my job as a school psychologist with the Bend- La Pine School District. Well, as of today.... Dave has a job too!  He will be an inclusion educational assistant at Mountain View High School where he will work with special education students (primarily those with learning disabilities, adhd, and other "mild" cases).  He will work under the special education classroom teacher, helping to implement IEP goals (long story short, an IEP or Individualized Education Plan is a document that is drafted when a child qualifies for special ed that has all the goals and objectives for that students learning plan.  For example, if they have a reading learning disability, a goal may read: "By April 2011, Johnny will answer who, what, where, why and when questions to 70% accuracy on a given  written passage."  It will be Dave's job to help Johnny reach that goal.  Interestingly, MY job is to be the person who assesses, diagnoses, and creates the goals for these students and their IEP's.  So essentially, our jobs work hand in hand- only we won't be at the same schools!  This job will be a great opportunity for Dave to get more classroom experience as he completes his teaching credential.


In this world of employment uncertainty that we live in, we are certainly counting our blessings to be employed in this lovely town.  We are both so excited to start work, and plan on enjoying our last few days of summer vacation.  Unfortunately, I have to go back to work a week before Dave, but once the school year starts we will be on the same work schedule! woo hoo!

Thanks, Mom and Dad!

My parents came back up this weekend, and we had such a great time.... they had only been back in California for 4 days before they decided to turn back around and come on back up! We hope this is a regular occurrence.  My dad helped Dave with some more projects around the house (I promise, pictures will be posted soon!) and my mom and I got some good visiting time in.  

We also ate at some fantastic restaurants, including:

900 Wall

 &

Jackson's Corner

We had a great time exploring more of the city, and getting a taste of the local (highly raved about) restaurants.... thanks mom and dad!!!

Bend, Oregon or Bust!

Hi family and friends!

Dave and I have made our way to Bend, Oregon to start a new chapter in our lives together.  As many of you know, baseball has taken us to various corners of the United States over the past five years.  However, it was actually my job that has taken us to Bend.  Dave has since retired from baseball (pretty lucky to be a 28 year old retiree, eh? :) ) and is pursuing his teaching credential.  I will be starting my job as a school psychologist on August 27th with the Bend- La Pine school district.  Our lives have taken many directions over the years, but we are excited to say we think we may have found the place where we can, as Tim McGraw sings "set this circus down".  We started our move out of Walnut Creek in July, and made our trek up to Bend on August 7th.... and are (almost) moved in!  A special thanks to both of our parents who made the drive up here with us to help with the move!  It has been a crazy summer of retirement, graduation, the birth of a new nephew (Ryan Alexander Sperry), and twin niece and nephew Liam Nathaniel & Olivia Lauren Moses), packing, saying our good byes, moving, and unpacking- but we are having the time of our lives.  As sad as it was to say goodbye to everything we know and love in California, we are so excited to be in a place as wonderful as Bend!  We will use this blog to keep you updated on our new life up here, as well as all the fun reasons we are learning to love Bend.

Here are a few pictures of our move, I will post more when we get our new home all put together!

Dave cleaning the oven in our Walnut Creek apartment

Me cleaning the old bathroom- gross!

Moving truck all packed up and ready to hit the road!
Bend, Oregon or Bust! (8/7/10)

Our nephew Tyler checking out the moving truck

We made it!

Dave carrying me over the "threshold"

The mess that will soon be our living room

View from our balcony