Links to the Past

When we moved we switched internet providers, so my ancient webpage with the list of photo albums and recipes is gone. I guess most everyone has seen my old photos (please skip this if you have) but I figured I'd post the links for the ones that haven't expired.

• Yoshida's Sand in the City - 9 July 2005 - This amazing sand sculpture event happens annually in Pioneer Courthouse Sqaure in Portland. There were 21 sculptures and hundreds of people. I'm not really sure why they need architects to make these things... but aparently they do.
  

• Festival of Flowers - Reframing Northwest Design - 30 June 2005 - This is another annual festival held in Pioneer Courthouse Square. According to the paper, this was a big event, but when I stopped by there wasn't anyone around to give me any information about the exhibits. The flowers were nice though.

• Our Bird Feeders - We have two very popular bird feeders and a birdbath outside our kitchen window.There are about 6-8 species of birds that visit regularly, and others that show up less often.

• Champoeg Wine Cellars & Pacific Hazelnut Candy Company - 21 Feb 2005 - There was a free wine and chocolate tasting at this winery in Aurora. The weather was beautiful, so we just enjoyed a drive around the country and also stopped by the Candy Company. Sorry for the boring photos.

• Victoria & Vancouver - 15 Feb 2005 - Sami and I went to Victoria and Vancouver for a long Valentine's Day weekend. We didn't know, but it happened to be the Chinese New Year as well.

• Sara's Planter box Project - 10 Feb 2005 - I'm determined to have a nice garden even though we only have a small patio. So I decided to make nice wooden planters to make the best use of the space.

• Sami's Stereo Installation - 21 Feb 2005 - A new car needs a fancy new stereo. So, Sami thought it would be fun for us to install it ourselves. It was kind of fun, but it's kind of hard to do without all the specialized equipment that the professional guys have.

• Seattle Aquarium - 29 Jan 2005 - The weekend after my birthday Sami and I went to Seattle. The aquarium is really nice, but unfortunately for Sami there weren't any penguins.

• Museum of Glass - Tacoma, WA - 29 Jan 2005 - One of the radio stations was sponsoring a free day at the Museum of Glass. We didn't really care for the current exhibition, Einar and Jamex de la Torre: Intersecting Time and Place, and there were no photos allowed in the exhibit hall. We did take photos of the people working in the Hot Shop and the Bridge of Glass.

• Silver Falls State Park - Updated 31 Dec 2004 - Silver Falls state Park is the largest state park in Oregon, (8,700) acres. The Trail of Ten Falls is a 7 mile hike with incredible views.

• FLW - Gordon House - 31 Dec 2004 - Frank Lloyd Wright designed this house for the Gordon Family in 1957. It was donated to the FLW Building Conservancy and moved to the new site at the Oregon Garden in Silverton in 2001.

• Mt. Angel Abbey Library - 28 Dec 2004 - I had to go to the Wal-mart in Woodburn, OR to get my glasses repaired. I decided to check out this library designed by the famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. His only other building in the US is the Baker House, a dorm at MIT.

• Oregon Coast - Updated 18 Dec 2004

• Vancouver & Seattle - 8 Dec 2004 - My friend Brett came to visit Sami and I here in Oregon. Since neither one of us had seen Canada, we decided to go up to Vancouver, BC for a couple of days we stopped by Seattle on the way back to see the famous Space Needle.

• Rocky Butte Fortress - Updated 1 Dec 2004 - Rocky Butte Fortress is not a fortress at all, just a stonework viewpoint on top of rocky butte. Only a couple minutes away from the airport, it's a nice place to wait if a plane is coming in late. The adjacent quarry also happens to be the best place within the city of Portland to practice climbing outdoors.

• Portland's Classical Chinese Garden - Updated 1 Dec 2004 - This garden is a traditional Suzhou-style garden in downtown Portland. It's one of my favorite places around here. Every visit I see something different

• Japanese Garden - Portland - The Japanese garden is another one of my favorite places. I especially like the different lanterns found throughout the garden.

• International Rose Test Garden - Updated 21 Nov 2004 - The rose garden is just below the Japanese garden. It also has a great view. And Portland is "The City of Roses", so it's a must-see place for all visitors.
  

• Anneli's Garden - Forssa, Finland - July 2004 - Sami and I spent a couple days at his mom's house. During that time we went over to her summer cabin where we enjoyed her garden and then went to sauna.

• Nao's Birthday - Canoeing & Chinese Food - 16 May 2004 - Sunday was Nao's 26th birthday. It was also the last weekend before I leave for the summer. Nao, Sami and I decided to go to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana to go canoeing. The weather was perfect. After the canoe trip, we went to Peking Garden in Champaign for dinner and to Jarling's Custard Cup for dessert.

• Boston Aquarium - Penguins - 3 April 2004 - We were in Boston, MA April 1-4 for Sami's interview. Unfortunately it rained the whole weekend so I don't have any photos of the city, but we did go to the Aquarium on Saturday.

• Spring is Here! - Updated 6 April 2004 - The grass is growing and the flowers have started coming up... I've taken a few photos of the flowers and stuff in our yard .

• Fish & Frog - 28 Jan 2004 - We have a 29 gallon (100L) freshwater aquarium in our kitchen. Currently we have 11 fish, but only one has a name. We also have a new Albino African Clawed Frog.

• Urbana in Snow - 28 Jan 2004 - Finally winter has come to Urbana. It's been cold for a while, but this is the first snow that's stuck around.

• Living Room - 28 Jan 2004 - We've been in this new apartment (608 E. Scovill St., Urbana, IL) since August, and I've finally gotten around to taking some pictures of the place.

• New Year's Casting - 21 Jan 2004 - Sami and I and our friend Nao tried the Finnish tradition of casting hot tin in water to predict our fortunes for the new year.