DIRTY THIRTY

Bradley McNeil Johnson is now 30 years old. He's an OLD MAN. And a dang good-looking one, at that!
So, Brad has a birthday in February. February 3rd, to be exact. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of cool stuff you can do in February. So I was stuck, Stuck, STUCK on what to do for it. My friend Veronica had a birthday the 1st, and she thought it would be fun to have a joint party for them, and serve Italian sodas, cheese fondue, and a chocolate fountain. That was easy. She was going to plan a party for my husband and her? Shoot, I'll take it! But then I felt kind of bad that I wasn't doing anything, when Brad had planned a whole big surprise party for me. Plus, I wanted his family to be involved. So, I was planning a surprise family party for Saturday, until...
I GOT TWO NIGHTS IN BEND, OREGON FOR LESS THAN HALF THE COST. So, that was what we did instead. The plan was to go and check it out, find a house, and buy it. But, we didn't get to that. We decided we would rather go for a hike, go mountain biking, go to dinner, and then go to the hot tub at the resort. Which turned out better, since Bend would be quite the commute for us.
We drove home Sunday, and stopped in Sisters, OR which was a cute little touristy town. It could be a fun town if anything was open. Every single window had a "Closed for the Season" sign on it. How many towns do you know of that are actually seasonal??
Then we had a family birthday/Super Bowl party when we got back, complete with pinata (thanks Ned!).
Brad is really having a hard time with being 30. But he's like a fine wine or cheese. He just gets better with age. At least he doesn't have to have a pre-midlife crisis, because he already bought (and sold) his motorcycle, boat, and truck before we got married. He got his fix. It should last him at least a couple more years.

Brad has been craving 5 Guys Burgers and Fries the whole year (1 month). As an awesome wife, I decided he deserved the very best for his birthday. You're welcome, babe!

Smith Rock in the Bend area, a rock climber's heaven, apparently.This is where we went on our little "hike."

Birthday boy overlooking part of Smith Rock State Park.

We were so scared... Has anyone seen a rattlesnake in real life? I think I really would be scared if I did.

Brad just wanted to stare at the river for awhile. He loves fishing. I think the river was calling to him, or the fish were taunting him.

I took this picture, and really tried to capture the beauty of Smith Rock. I'm still struggling with composition. I don't know... I need to read more about it. I wish I had natural talent with photography and didn't have to actually try to learn about it.

Here he is, the thirty-year-old. With his young wife.

That little speck on top of the rock is ME. I climbed and climbed, and dodged a lot of bird puddles, but I made it. You can see on the picture below, that had a walked a few more yards, I would have found an easier pathway to the exact spot, just on the other side. But where is the adventure in that?

So pretty! And so is the background! (haha)

Don't worry. He doesn't act thirty. This is us on the drive back.

The mountain bike trip was really scary for me cuz I've only gone once before and it was terrifying. This time, was supposed to be much, much easier, but then it turns out, there were ice patches along the trail. It was still fun, and it got better as I gained confidence, but we weren't able to ride the whole loop due to ice. We went with some friends of ours who just moved to Bend. They are tons of fun, and I was glad we could meet up with them.
We ended up going to dinner at Anthony's, a seafood place that I've only ever been to once before in Gig Harbor. The one in Bend overlooks the river and it was right at sunset. I kind of like splurging for Brad's birthdays, cuz I get to enjoy it, too. The food, environment and company were all great.

This is at Anthony's after hiking and mountain biking all day.

Happy Birthday, to the love of my life.