A Tribute to Jasmine

Yesterday was a sad day in our house as our beloved cat, Jasmine, passed away right before our eyes. She has been with us for over 7 years. She lived with us in two different apartments in Chicago, made the road trip out west, and welcomed us at our apartment in downtown Portland. When we bought our house last summer, she was very happy to finally have more space and a backyard to roam freely whenever she pleased. While Emily was working from home for her father's company, Jas was there to keep her company while I worked long hours in the lab during grad school.
We adopted Jas from the animal shelter in Chicago. After returning from our honeymoon, we noticed that she had lost considerable weight so we took her to my brother for a vet checkup. She was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder and FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus). Because the potential thyroid treatments contain immunosuppressants, the treatment would only exacerbate her FIV condition. She was given 1 year to live; that was 3 years ago. We took the best care of her as we could and fed her as much as she would eat, however she was slowing losing weight due to her thyroid condition. During the last few months, we could see a decline in her activity, and she could no longer jump up on the couch. Despite her ailing health, she retained her lovable charm and warm compassion.
When we returned from our recent trip to Chicago (we'll post about it later), Jas had taken a turn for the worse and stopped eating. We immediately scheduled a vet appointment, but could not get her in until 5:30PM. As we waited in the exam room for the vet, we opened her carrier such that she could walk around. Her strength was dropping exponentially, and she could not fully stand without falling back down. It was very sad to see her struggle. As she laid in the carrier, I could see her fading away....but I had to continually try to convince Em that everything would be OK and the vet could give her some IVs or something to make her better. Then I saw a tuft of her fur land on her eyeball and she did not even blink to get it off of her eye. I knew at this point that the situation was dire. I kept petting her and trying to stimulate her to keep her alive. The vet was still not in the exam room. I told a teary eyed Em to run to the receptionist and tell them to get a vet into the room immediately. I looked at Jas and saw her breathing becoming shallow with more time elapsing between each breath. And then I could no longer see her breathing. The vet walked into the room and searched for a heartbeat, but none was to be found. It was too late. Based on her declining health and the low probability of success, we agreed that it would not be appropriate to try to resuscitate. We took her home and gave her a proper burial in her favorite sleeping spot in the backyard amongst the flowerbed. We laid a few of her favorite toys with her.

We have both lost loved ones in the past, but this is our first time experiencing loss together. I have always struggled with loss, but this time it hits even harder as she died right before my eyes and I felt helpless to change the situation. It makes me even sadder to see how much this hurts Em. She has a bigger heart than I, and she always has a soft spot for cute furry animals.

We definitely miss her company around the house, and we will never forget her lovable attitude. We sign off today with a few of our favorite pics through the years.......

when we first brought her home from the shelter, she was shy and would hide under furniture

she soon warmed up to us and started exploring our first Chicago apartment...this time getting caught in between the glass and screen door to the balcony. :)

she liked hanging out in the loft at our Clybourn apartment in Chicago (our second place together) as it gave her a birds-eye view of the entire place

During countless visits from the Kern's in Portland, Zoe and Jas would jockey for control of the coveted spot to snuggle on Em's lap. Even though Jas never got along with Zoe (despite Zoe's innocent attempts to play), they would tolerate each other in close proximity only when snuggling with Em.

so vain when she stared at herself in the mirror ;)

....looking comfy in her little bed

The perks of traveling for work

If you keep up with me on Facebook, you probably have already realized that I travel a lot for work. I enjoy traveling to our clients' offices and being able to observe their day to day activities to ultimately create a 200 page analysis on their entire business (it's what I do!). September has been hectic with a lot of travel - I started off by going to Las Vegas for our annual Fall Summit that we host for our clients and their staff. We host workshops that are geared for every staff member within each Audiology practice. This year, we had 650 attendees at this event, which has now ranked it the 2nd largest event in the Audiology field behind AAA (American Academy of Audiology). After Las Vegas, I headed over to Carlsbad, California for an onsite visit. This week, Brad and I are headed to Chicago for a Northwestern alumni Leadership Symposium (pics to come after the trip).

There are definitely some perks associated with traveling including having gold status with Delta airlines (soon!), virtually unlimited Starbucks, and some expensive and delicious meals. And then there are extra-cool perks associated with my travel, which are shown in the pictures below. Audiologists (and their staff) sure know how to have fun!
We start with my trip to San Diego for AAA's AudiologyNOW! convention back in March (THE largest event in the Audiology space). We stayed in the Gaslamp District, which is the hip area of San Diego. One night, one of our partner manufacturers (Oticon) hosted a party at Stingaree Nightclub with food, open bar, and Cheap Trick playing live! I was wowed by this event...until I attended our other partner manufacturer's (Starkey) party the following evening. They rented out the entire USS Midway ship and had the Beach Boys (or Boy...since I believe only one original member is left in the band) play a live show for us. They ended the show with a large fireworks display!
It was a large crowd in attendance that night, but a coworker and I pushed our way to the front to get a close up of Mike Love, the only original Beach Boy member still in the band. I think I ended up only being a few feet away from him! And of course...no Audiology concert is complete without providing its attendees with ear plugs so as not to hurt our hearing ;)
Now on to more recent travel...here's a pic of the strip in Vegas.
One of the perks of the Vegas trip was staying at the Palazzo, which is part of the Venetian hotel but with all suites. And man were the suites nice! See below pic.
A pic of my suite...I decided not to include a pic of my marble bathroom in the blog, but it was gorgeous and huge!
We were so busy running the Fall Summit that I pretty much had 14-16 hour days the days I was in Vegas. I did squeeze in some free time to walk around the Venetian, and I loved the canal they have in the hotel for gondola rides.
We had a special speaker come speak to our clients and their staff to open the Summit named Michael Gerber. Some of you might recognize the name because he wrote the infamous E-Myth series that has been recognized by INC. He came to visit our corporate office a few months ago because he has recognized my company to follow exactly what the E-Myth states. He believes in my company and its purpose that he actually agreed to do this speaking engagement completely free.
Of course the Fall Summit wasn't all work. We got to see the show Le Reve at the Wynn...it's similar to Cirque du Soleil but with water. Our closing reception consisted of Cirque performers (as pictured above) as well as a live band, seated dinner, and dancing! And man do those Audiologists sure love to dance.
Last week, I traveled to Carlsbad, CA. I had never been to this part of California and everyone kept telling me how pretty it was. It really was gorgeous there...perfect temps in the 70's and sunny. I got a run in along the beach and we had dinner with our clients at a really nice seafood restaurant on the beach. I'm now looking forward to our visit to Chicago in a few days to catch up with some close friends and Kristy, Pat, and Elliot!

Alvin and Susan's Wedding

On Labor Day weekend, we attended the wedding of Alvin and Susan Chow, part of our NU family in Portland. They had their wedding in the Chinese Garden in downtown Portland. It was an amazing place to have a wedding; so beautiful in its own right.

cocktails with friends between the ceremony and the reception

they had a traditional lion dance after the ceremony

Alvin and Susan

Alvin works at Nike, so it is appropriate that the cake was a shoe :)

Charlie, Courtney, Susan, Alvin, Kristina, Matt, Em, and I

goofin' around after the wedding

we took a short walk down to VooDoo doughnut for photos after the wedding

Congrats to the Chows :)

Another Trip to the Coast

As the end of summer is quickly approaching, we decided to squeeze in another trip to the coast (yes, two weekends in a row). This time, we chose a little closer destination: Sandbeach near Tillamook....just under 1.5 hour drive from home. Along for the trip were me, Em, Kristina, our friend Javier, and of course, Zoe (Matt was in New York for the weekend for work). We headed out Saturday morning and happened to hit the Tillamook Farmer's Market as we rolled into town. This was a great stop to fuel up on kettle corn and candied pecans before heading to Cape Lookout. Once at the Cape, we parked the truck and took a 1.5 mile hike down to a secluded beach. The trailhead had this sign posted:

OK, we were lucky to not encounter any bears during our hike. The trail spilled out onto a beach enclosed by high cliffs:

There were only a handful of other people out at this beach. We watched a few surfers (yes, they had to carry their boards down the 1.5 mile technical hike as well!) then had a packed lunch on the beach. After lunch, we laid in the sand and let the sound of crashing waves and the warmth of the sun lull us into a deep slumber. After our nap, we decided we had better make our way back up the trail before daylight expired.

The Beach Less Traveled:
miles of remote beach with only a few souls to share it with....THIS is living!!

We headed to our campsite at the dunes near Sandlake. We setup our tents and managed to squeeze in another walk on the beach before dusk.

large pebbles and sand constitute the beach near Sandlake

Kristina's dinner had us so full that we didn't even have room for smores. She made a yellow pound cake which we wrapped in foil with fresh Oregon blueberries. We placed it on the fire until the blueberries got so hot that they popped, leaving the pound cake to soak up their flavorful juice like a sponge. Yum. Thanks Kristina for the gourmet cooking!

On Sunday, we arose to a traditional breakfast (eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, coffee) cooked by yours truly. After packing up our tents and gear, we headed back home. After we got home, we decided to go pick some blackberries at the park near our house. Between the four of us, we harvested 7 quarts and only suffered minor scratches from the thorns. We probably picked much more than 7 quarts, but it seemed Javier's container kept emptying into his mouth faster than it was filling. :)

a portion of our blackberry harvest...we'll eat some and make the rest into jam

Celebrating Our 3 Year Wedding Anniversary

Well I cannot believe it has been three years since we got married. I guess time flies when you're having fun. We have traveled far and wide together and continue to try to squeeze in as much fun as our busy careers will allow. I surprised Em with a weekend getaway trip to the Oregon coast to commemorate our 3 years of bliss. Due to our work schedules, we had to celebrate a little early....Em didn't seem to mind. :)

Our accommodations were the Edwin K B&B in Florence (about 3.5 hr drive from home):

our lovely room for the weekend

our room included a jacuzzi

the living room showcased the beautiful Craftsman style

our day started each morning with an amazing 5 course breakfast

the elaborate gardens in front of the B&B

After getting settled in, we walked the small town and ended up at an Italian seafood restaurant for dinner.

the crab-filled mushrooms were a great way to start the meal!

After dinner, we were surprised to learn that a nearby casino was hosting a free fireworks show so we drove over to check it out:

The next morning, we headed south about 40 miles to the Oregon Sand Dunes. There were a few good stops along the way.

The Siuslaw River has many sandy beaches along its shores. This picture pretty much sums up why Oregon is one of the most beautiful states.

an old lighthouse still in operation by the U.S. Coastguard

We finally reached the dunes, and I was in awe with how expansive they were:

the wind shapes the sand in ways that would make an artist jealous

We rented some ATVs to ride on the dunes and then took a trail down to the beach.

Em riding on the beach

Our next adventure on the dunes was to try sandboarding (kinda like snowboarding...which we love, but on the sand). I vowed to myself a few years back that I would try a new sport every year. 2010 new sport, check.

Me prior to my initial summit and descent

I think it took me about 2 runs to get the hang of it

Em took a couple spills on her first trip down...

...but made it to the bottom in good spirits. :)

The only bad part about sandboarding is that there are no ski lifts so you have to walk up each time. :( After about 6 runs, I was exhausted and thoroughly covered in sand.

We went back to the B&B to get cleaned up for dinner. With a few hours to kill until a table was available at our desired restaurant, we took another walk around town. Some boats had just come in from a 5 day tuna excursion. We admired their 120 fish catch, but were even more impressed by their ability to fillet an entire fish in under 1 minute! It's too bad we didn't have a cooler, because it was only $2 a pound to buy an entire tuna fresh off the boat.

fishermen weighing each tuna on the boat

bridge over the Siuslaw River in Florence

Our long awaited candlelight dinner, complete with moonlight glistening off of the water through the window. The food was great, the ambiance was perfect, and the service was impeccable: worthy of being called our 3 year anniversary dinner.

The next day, we enjoyed another phenomenal breakfast at the B&B, then made our way back home with a stop for each of us: one to admire elk grazing and one to hit the Outlet Shopping Malls. Can you guess who chose which? :)

Elk

I gotta admit, I was a little nervous about proposing the idea of riding ATVs on sand dunes to Emily as an idea for our anniversary trip. Fortunately, she was very excited about the prospect......and this confirms why I married her. She is always up for new adventures and willing to try new things to broaden our horizons. We have fun every chance we get. Who knows where the future years will take us or what crazy trips we'll take. I can only say that I am excited for the future, and I cannot think of anyone else that I would more enjoy spending my days with. Thanks Em! I love you. Let's have many more years of fun together. :) -Brad