Every Weather Pattern & the Vaccine

Hello friends!

It's been a minute. Happy April!! Hope things are feeling a bit brighter wherever you are. They definitely are for me. Spring is in full swing in Portland and summer will be here before we know it. I'm SO ready for call things summer in Oregon. A lot's happened in the last few months but before we dive in I do want to share an exciting development and that is that I got my first COVID vaccine dose at the end of March! I actually teared up a bit during the whole process since I'd been waiting for this day for a long ass time. I went to the mass-vaccination clinic at PDX, did the whole thing without ever getting out of my car, and was in and out in about an hour. They're running a hella-tight ship up there and it was really impressive. I've felt totally fine since getting it and my next dose is April 24th. They say more folks "feel" that one. Time will tell for me!

I do hope you all choose to get vaccinated. If you aren't doing it for your own protection, consider doing it for communities' protection. It's the strongest tool at our disposal against COVID and the more folks who chose to be vaccinated the better. Plus I want to make out with everybody I know ASAP (including you, dear reader)!

Snowpocalypse

Remember in my last post when I said "I hope it snows 10 inches. It won't."?

I lose.

It snowed close to 12 inches right at the end of February and it was the worst winter storm Portland has seen in about 60 years. For the first two days, it was so lovely and glorious and happy. Although after it stopped snowing it was trash and I was over it. We had some good times those few days and even walked through the snow all the way downtown to our friend's apartment to just get out and see Portland covered in snow.

Hawaii

I went to Hawaii for a long weekend a few weeks ago. My friend Cody was telling me that he was going to Hawaii for his birthday. I told him "that sounds amazing. I'm jealous!" which he responded with "then come!" I jumped on the offer because it sounded wonderful and I'd never been to Hawaii. I was worried about people judging me for taking a trip (especially getting on an airplane) so I didn't tell too many folks initially.

After thinking about it for a few weeks, I've decided to let it be public information. Partially because I wanted to post photos on my blog for my own nostalgia when I come back to read this post later, but also because I just really hate hiding shit (I think it comes from hiding my sexuality for as long as I did). So yeah, I went to Hawaii. For me it was worth it.

My friend Adam also went on the trip so there were three of us at the Airbnb. We stayed in Honolulu in the Waikiki area and had an ocean view. It was SO WARM there and it was all around a super fun and refreshing time. We hung out with some of Adam & Cody's friends who were there as well.

Camping in the Desert (Spring Edition)

Camping is great since it's a relatively COVID safe activity and with the weather heating up we'd been itching to go again. We wound up going out to some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land out near Maupin, Oregon about 2 hours east of Portland with our friends Kaya and Daphne. It was SO pretty but SO windy. We had a good time, though. I had just bought a fancy new camping stove so it was fun to make real food and not live on bananas and pre-packaged sandwiches like I usually do. We also went on a little hike at White River Falls State Park which was hella cool.

Onward and Upward

Hawaii was a turning point for me mental health-wise. It was the first time where it felt like the end of the COVID lifestyle was in sight. Because of this life feels pretty good these days. The weather is heating up and Charlie and I just bought a dresser together. Our first piece of furniture we'll co-own! I've mentioned in earlier posts that we were planning on moving but in a turn of events, we've decided we're going to stay in our current place for at least another year which feels just as good honestly. We've got a good living situation. Come visit!

I really can't wait for the summer. There's so much I'm looking forward to. See you out there, friends! ♥️🍃☀️