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Sunday, November 7, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Amy is 14
We've been a bit busy but I didn't want too much time to pass without sharing some photos from Amy's birthday... She turned 14 on the 14th, which seems pretty special - but not quite as special as her Uncle Bob celebrating his 55th on 10/10/10! Happy Birthday, Bob!
Amy had a party with 8 of her friends at our neighborhood Clubhouse - we served them dinner - vegetarian lasagna - they decorated pumpkins - had feathers put into their hair (the latest fashion craze) - and had a fun game of outdoor hide & seek with glow sticks. She has a great group of friends - we're very thankful for that!
Halloween is coming and we are almost ready - bought our bags of candy for the trick or treaters today. Just have to finalize Amy's costume - Odile, the black swan ballerina from "Swan Lake". I'm sure we will have pictures to share!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Question:
What do the Bend Bulletin and the Albany Times Union have in common?
Answer:
They both featured articles on Dan Olson within the last 3 weeks!
It all started in mid-September when our local newspaper, The Bulletin, became aware of an announcement by InnoCentive of it's 2009 Top Solvers.
InnoCentive is where organizations—corporations, large and small, not-for-profits and governments—turn when they have important problems that need solving.
Dan was interviewed over the phone and also in person, then we had a staff photographer come to the house to take his picture. The article was in the next days paper and the reaction took us quite by surprise. He was recognized on the street, in downtown Bend, on our hikes, in church, just about wherever we would go. It was a bit overwhelming - mostly in a good way.
We did find that there is truth in the saying, "not everything you read is fact". In this case, the article leads you to believe that Dan holds the patent(s) for thin lenses in eyeglasses. It's a little more complicated than that...
Needless to say, it was a very nice article.
Last week, as Dan was reading the online version of our old paper in NY, the Times Union, he came across an article about NY's property tax nightmare - a subject near and dear to his heart! In this particular case, there was an opportunity to comment on the article and Dan did just that. His was comment #105, so it was clear that the article had touched a nerve. The next day, a reporter from the TU emailed Dan to ask if he could interview him for a story he was working on - following up on this previous article. They talked, by phone, for quite a while - the reporter asked for a picture of Dan & his family and a picture of our home here in Bend and told Dan that the article would be in the Sunday edition. We certainly did not expect to be on the front page!
What next??
What do the Bend Bulletin and the Albany Times Union have in common?
Answer:
They both featured articles on Dan Olson within the last 3 weeks!
It all started in mid-September when our local newspaper, The Bulletin, became aware of an announcement by InnoCentive of it's 2009 Top Solvers.
InnoCentive is where organizations—corporations, large and small, not-for-profits and governments—turn when they have important problems that need solving.
Dan was interviewed over the phone and also in person, then we had a staff photographer come to the house to take his picture. The article was in the next days paper and the reaction took us quite by surprise. He was recognized on the street, in downtown Bend, on our hikes, in church, just about wherever we would go. It was a bit overwhelming - mostly in a good way.
We did find that there is truth in the saying, "not everything you read is fact". In this case, the article leads you to believe that Dan holds the patent(s) for thin lenses in eyeglasses. It's a little more complicated than that...
Needless to say, it was a very nice article.
Last week, as Dan was reading the online version of our old paper in NY, the Times Union, he came across an article about NY's property tax nightmare - a subject near and dear to his heart! In this particular case, there was an opportunity to comment on the article and Dan did just that. His was comment #105, so it was clear that the article had touched a nerve. The next day, a reporter from the TU emailed Dan to ask if he could interview him for a story he was working on - following up on this previous article. They talked, by phone, for quite a while - the reporter asked for a picture of Dan & his family and a picture of our home here in Bend and told Dan that the article would be in the Sunday edition. We certainly did not expect to be on the front page!
What next??
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Hello, Fall
Tomorrow is the 1st day of Fall - or, more poetically named Autumn.
When living in NY, our home was a mere mile or so from Indian Ladder Farms. Indian Ladder holds many dear memories for our family. Baby Animal Week every April, Amy's 5th Birthday Party, Summer Rabbit Camp, the petting zoo, apple picking, blueberry picking, strawberry picking - you get the picture...
One of my favorite walking routes in spring and autumn was past Indian Ladder Farms. Spring brought apple blossoms and the promise of good things to come - autumn, apples and the colors of the Helderberg Escarpment were very inspiring. Fall was definitely my favorite season in NY.
It's a little different here in the high desert of Central Oregon. Last week when the tug of fresh apples, applesauce and apple crisp came on, Dan & I hopped in the car and drove north. Our destination was the Hood River Valley just east of Mt. Hood and south of the Columbia River Gorge. Instead of walking or biking a mile to get our apple fix we drove almost 3 hours. It was worth it! We ended up at the Draper Girls Country Farm which is one stop on the Hood River Fruit Loop. We picked Akane apples - a new and unknown apple to us - while taking in the spectacular views of Mt. Hood.
The best part of the trip was the cider. Until now, I thought no one could rival Indian Ladder's cider but I was happily wrong. We brought home a quart of the most delicious cider - alas, no cider donuts. :(
The Akane apples make superb applesauce, apple butter (YUM!), apple crisp and I was able to eek out a Jewish Apple Cake to take to our church home group Sunday night.
Rave reviews!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
a new school year begins...
Yesterday was the 1st day of school and that always gets me thinking about the summer that was...
The 2010 summer highlights that weren't the subject of a prior post include:
* A less than stellar garden - mainly because of our 2 week absence in June - although a miraculous cherry crop from our tiny tree makes up somewhat. One pie created & consumed - enough for 3 more in the freezer - mmmmm!
* We joined some friends for an all day rafting trip down the Deschutes River in late July. A few of our group brought along water canons - needless to say we got wet from more than just the waves breaking over the sides of the raft... COLD mountain water!
* A great weekend in July with our niece, Nancy, visiting from Portland. Nancy & Amy had a fabulous photo shoot - see previous post. Nan & I floated the river while Dan climbed South Sister. Then Amy performed in the ballet 'Coppelia'. We fit a lot into that day!
(make sure you click on this picture to see all the mountains in the distance)
* We celebrated our 21st Anniversary (actually June 24th) on 8/13 with a chair lift ride up to Scapolo's Restaurant on Mt. Bachelor for their Sunset Dinner. This is kind of a touristy thing to do but the food was excellent and the scenery couldn't be beat. We live in a spectacularly beautiful area and we don't want to miss out on experiencing all that we can.
* Dan was finally able to take me hiking along the Broken Top Trail. He had done this hike with friends our 1st summer here and had raved about the beautiful wildflowers and the views - but as we didn't own a vehicle that could handle the road to the trail head till this summer - my chance was finally here. It was worth the wait! 'Spring' flowers, crossing snow fields, cascading streams, No Name Lake that had floating icebergs, and views up into WA State. Really beautiful!
* Amy got a new bike - Craigslist came thru with a hot pink cruiser - nice!
* Last week - the final week of summer break - Amy spent 3 long days at school for WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) training. Last spring she had been selected to be a WEB leader - a program where 8th graders come along side the new 6th graders and are trained to be a source of information & guidance during the school year. She has a group of about 8 kids who can call on her for help. Her 1st day of school dilemma of WHAT TO WEAR!!! was.... the orange WEB Leader T-shirt. Problem solved!
Alanna, Gina, Amy & Miriam
Now we just need to get Amy's new dance class schedule down....10 classes in 3 different schools - should be a breeze!
The 2010 summer highlights that weren't the subject of a prior post include:
* A less than stellar garden - mainly because of our 2 week absence in June - although a miraculous cherry crop from our tiny tree makes up somewhat. One pie created & consumed - enough for 3 more in the freezer - mmmmm!
* We joined some friends for an all day rafting trip down the Deschutes River in late July. A few of our group brought along water canons - needless to say we got wet from more than just the waves breaking over the sides of the raft... COLD mountain water!
* A great weekend in July with our niece, Nancy, visiting from Portland. Nancy & Amy had a fabulous photo shoot - see previous post. Nan & I floated the river while Dan climbed South Sister. Then Amy performed in the ballet 'Coppelia'. We fit a lot into that day!
(make sure you click on this picture to see all the mountains in the distance)
* We celebrated our 21st Anniversary (actually June 24th) on 8/13 with a chair lift ride up to Scapolo's Restaurant on Mt. Bachelor for their Sunset Dinner. This is kind of a touristy thing to do but the food was excellent and the scenery couldn't be beat. We live in a spectacularly beautiful area and we don't want to miss out on experiencing all that we can.
* Dan was finally able to take me hiking along the Broken Top Trail. He had done this hike with friends our 1st summer here and had raved about the beautiful wildflowers and the views - but as we didn't own a vehicle that could handle the road to the trail head till this summer - my chance was finally here. It was worth the wait! 'Spring' flowers, crossing snow fields, cascading streams, No Name Lake that had floating icebergs, and views up into WA State. Really beautiful!
* Amy got a new bike - Craigslist came thru with a hot pink cruiser - nice!
* Last week - the final week of summer break - Amy spent 3 long days at school for WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) training. Last spring she had been selected to be a WEB leader - a program where 8th graders come along side the new 6th graders and are trained to be a source of information & guidance during the school year. She has a group of about 8 kids who can call on her for help. Her 1st day of school dilemma of WHAT TO WEAR!!! was.... the orange WEB Leader T-shirt. Problem solved!
Alanna, Gina, Amy & Miriam
Now we just need to get Amy's new dance class schedule down....10 classes in 3 different schools - should be a breeze!
Monday, August 16, 2010
A few weeks ago Amy had a photo shoot with her favorite photographer, Nancy.
Here are the results of their collaboration. Enjoy!
Here are the results of their collaboration. Enjoy!
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