Burnt out

I feel completely and utterly pooped today- for lack of a better or more fitting word. It's nearly the end of my 2nd year, and the end of a string of hard rotations w/o a real vacation. I found that much is expected of me at work, and today, I felt that I cannot and could not live up to those expectations. There is only one little Chau and I cannot please everyone.
"Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart feel lonely and long for heaven & home, when Jesus is my portion. A constant friend is he. His eye is on the sparrow. And I know, He watches me."
I need to focus on what's important. One more year. Lord give me strength.

Back to normalcy

Over the Memorial Day weekend, our friend Chris and Kim visited from Chandler, AZ. We did some hiking, biking and eating, as usual, around Portland. We brought our camera but managed to forget the memory card, so no pictures until they send us some (Send us some guys!!!). I was on nightfloat again as well. Anyway, seems like things are finally back to normal. I'm baking and cooking again. Today, it's a monstrous pot of multipurpose marinara sauce. I can make spaghetti, pizzas, seafood stews, etc with this sauce and dinner is set for 1.5 weeks or so. Also, when my mom was here, she left a bunch of basic Vietnamese recipes (like nuoc nam-fish sauce and thit kho- pork stew) that I've always had a hard time mastering. May be because Mom measures in Asian spoons and rice bowls portions. But she calibrated to my spoons and bowls here so I'm set :)

Lots of people are pregnant right now. It's got me thinking... but nah....My sister-in-law had a scare of preterm labor last week. She's on bedrest now for the duration of the pregnancy :-/ Makes me think, geez... should we? Nah... :) I don't know what it is that makes people ready to be parents. But I don't think I'm ready. I don't want to get pregnant just because my eggs may be getting old and there may be complications with advanced maternal age. Or because my dad is ready to be a grandpa and mom is asking with each phone call if I'm pregnant. Shouldn't there be a feeling? or a sign from God? In any case, my schedule right now doesn't allow for morning sickness, hyperemesis gravidum, and back pain. And for goodness' sake, we've only been married for 2 years! Ha, sounds like the conversation I have with my parents quite frequently lately. One day... but not now.

The rest

We brought out our AC today because it hit 95 degrees in Portland. We tried to escape to the coast for the majority of the day- crabbing and visiting the infamous Tillamook Cheese Factory (again- but new for my parents!). Here are some pictures from what we did the past few days- quite a whirl-wind tour of Portland.

Fishing for trouts at Benson Lake- no bite that day :(

Multnomah Falls

Bonneville Dam

Bonneville Fish Hatchery

Crabbing at Netarts Bay- 4 rock crabs! No dungeness :(

Ice cream at Tillamook Cheese Factory

They're leaving tomorrow. Yes!!! j/k. Then I go back on night float for 2 weeks. One more month after that, my 2nd year of residency will be over. Yay!! Hard to believe- so fast.

My parents' visit so far in pictures

In Seattle
On 1st and Main

Underground Tour

Outside Pike's Market Place
The Original Starbucks Coffee Shop

Washington Square Mall- Portland
Portland Rose Garden
Unfortunately, the roses are not in bloom yet. But they were impressed with the layout of the garden. "Next time, we'll come a bit later in the summer."
At Waterfront Park, looking over the Willamette River. The Burnside bridge is visible in most pictures below.

Tomorrow we're heading to the Gorge when it gets a bit more sunny. I'll try to convince them to hike to some of the falls. We'll see. More pictures for the rest of the week!

Happy Anniversary

2 years... Here's to many more.

The sun came out

Last weekend, the sun came out so we decided to bike the Mosier Twin Tunnel on the Old Columbia Highway along the Columbia River. It was a long drive there but a short 10 mile ride. The view was gorgeous, and we had a good time. Realizing it's been a while since we worked out, we both decide that we should get that elliptical after all. Please excuse the unattractive biking "outfit". We're not serious bikers, really.



Eww.. Those shorts are not very "becoming" . Thanks Linh (brother-in-law's gift), but I don't think I'll be wearing them again. They didn't have much padding either. My bums are sore.

Below are some pictures of our flowers in the garden. We started planting some vegetables also. We'll have peppers, lettuce and tomatoes in a month. And the mint came back! Very exciting.

Back From San Diego

So we're back from our trip to San Diego. Some how, we managed to not take a single picture during the whole trip, so my post is again boring and plain. We did take back with us some raccoons from the trip. And I found out that I'm allergic to the sun. Apparently, we get no sun living in Portland. So the first hint of sunlight, I break out in a rash.
The food was good. The wedding was nice. The sun was bright and I'm not longer white.