Five Things I Loved in November

Note: I feel slightly ridiculous posting this since we are now a third of the way through December...but oh well.

Portland

What can I say? After reading several books earlier this year that were either set in Portland and/or written by authors who live in the Portland area (as well as seeing a movie based on one of those books, which was filmed in Portland), I decided I'd like to visit the city some day. The opportunity arose to do so this fall, and I went and was not disappointed. I have good friends who used to live in Portland whose love for the city has made me feel as though it was an old friend, a fascinating character that I wanted to get to know myself. We had two days there and I loved it. Portland somehow has a "thinking" vibe to it, which suits my near inability to ever turn my brain off. I nearly cried the morning we left as we drove through the city on our way out of town, because I felt like there was so much about the city that I hadn't gotten to know yet. I don't know when, but I will return some day.

Rainy Days

I honestly didn't know how I was going to feel about Portland's abundance of rain, but I actually loved it. Somehow the gray, rainy weather just seems to fit Portland, and I actually came back to usually-sunny Reno missing it. Incredibly, we have had an unusual number of rainy days in Reno since I came home from Portland, and I must say, I have loved every single one of them. The rain makes me want to read. And think. And I love that.

Searching for God Knows What

I bought a used copy of this book at Powell's while I was in Portland, and it might be my new favorite piece of Don Miller's work. I won't bother reviewing it here since I already did so on Goodreads. Suffice it to say, I loved this book and think it is absolutely worth reading. I also love that it came from Powell's, in Portland, on a trip I probably never would have taken were it not for Miller's book Blue Like Jazz; and I loved reading about several places we saw during our trip in the book in the days immediately following the trip.

"Argo"

Oddly enough, I got to enjoy this and the previous two items on my list all in one day a few weekends ago. I spent a couple of hours at one of my favorite local coffee shops on a Saturday afternoon, reading my book and enjoying the rain, before meeting up with Judy to see "Argo" for her birthday. I'd read a great article about the movie prior to seeing it that gave it extra meaning for me, and I loved the movie so much I've been to see it two more times since I saw it with Judy. (I also bought the soundtrack. It never ceases to amaze me how much a good soundtrack enriches a good film. Such is the case here.) This is an excellent story.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Our young adults group hosted the first annual "Turkey Bowl" for our church. Several families and individuals got together at the church for a flag football game followed by a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. After our meal, several of us went to see "Lincoln" (which is another great movie, by the way). Then I spent the night at Cassidy and Erin's so they could go Black Friday shopping while I stayed home with Caleb. Throughout the remainder of the weekend I also got to enjoy a lazy movie day at Cassidy and Erin's, the first of three Friday evening "Lord of the Rings" viewing parties with some friends, a productive day at home, an encouraging morning at church, and my second viewing of "Argo" (this time with my parents, who also loved it). It was a great combination of activities that made for a really ideal long weekend.

November was a good month.