Waterfall, Fish Hatchery, and Dam Out West \\ PHOTOS + new stuff in life

Happy Saturday to you allll! I hope you are having a great weekend, enjoying the full comforts of your pillow and not having to set an alarm. ;P Yep. So I recently got a job, and getting up in the morning is the hardest part (it's a great job, see). A job, guyssss. Finally finally finally. No more having to tell people I don't have an official job yet. That is a nice thing, y'all. ;P I'm happy. The little introvert me managed. Actually, I didn't do all that much. I applied there awhile ago, and one day they called. And the day I went in for my interview (I didn't even really get interviewed), they hired me. I was freaking out on the way home. With excitement. xD 

I think it was just God or something. *smiles*

SOO. After that little update on the biggest new change in my life, I'm going to actually get to the feature presentation of this post. What the title says this post is supposed to be about. *winks and sticks out tongue*

Oh, and I guess you all might be curious where I'm working... which is at the YMCA, in child care. :) I just completed my first week, so hopefully they keep me for a long time. :P

OKAY, AS I WAS SAYING. This is the next picture post about my recent trip out West. My whole immediate family (besides my dad, bc he wasn't out there yet) went out "exploring" one day. We went to Multnomah Falls, a fish hatchery, and a dam. Also climbed a huge rock, but I'm saving those pictures for their own post. *winks*

We ate lunch and hung out by the creek for a while before going to look at the falls.

Beautiful

We climbed as far as the bridge, but, unfortunately, couldn't go all the way to the top. The rest was closed off because of the fires, I guess.

All the coins. I wonder what I could buy if I went down and collected it all? xP

Fish hatchery and huge sturgeon!

The dam.

So that's that! Hope you enjoyed the photos!

FAVORITE PICTURE? WATERFALLS YOU'VE VISITED? 

p.s. have you seen For King and Country's new song, "Burn the Ships"??? <33

Spring Photo Throwback \\ ANY SPRING PLANS?

Tuesday post... squeaking it in very late again. Maybe I should just call it a Wednesday post instead, hey? xP 

First of all, I have a little photo throwback...

I don't know if you all remember, but I posted this picture back in 2015 in this post. That was quite awhile ago {and I think my blogging skills have improved since then. lol}. But it's still one of my all-time favorites! I'd love it if I could find a bird egg to photograph again this spring. 


Secondly...

WHAT'S UP THIS SPRING

I have a few big things happening this spring... well, one is actually big. The others are just fun and exciting things I'm looking forward to. 

In April my sister and I will be going to a formal\semi-formal high school banquet that our homeschool group does each year. Well, last year was the first time. And this year will be my last...

Because I'm graduating, remember? So crazy. My graduation is in May. My fellow homeschool seniors and I will have a graduation ceremony together, which is kinda exciting. And a little scary, because we have to wear a cap and gown. xP 

BUT. I will live.

Okay, it probably won't be that bad if the other four are wearing them too. ;P

So yes, graduating is the big milestone I'll be hitting this spring. And I don't know what I'm going to do after that. Because, if I haven't said so yet, I'm not planning to go to college. I would like to continue on with my photography things, of course. I think the biggest thing keeping me from being ready to start my own little "business" right now {'cause you have to start somewhere} is my horrible people skills. If you think of it... how does a shy not confident person be a real photographer? *facepalm* That's sad. xP I'll just have to work on it!

Anyway... those are my thought on the future. Some of them. *winks*

Also, in April I should be getting my senior pictures done, which sounds fun! Anyone else think so? *winks*

And my slideshow pictures, etc., for my graduation, have to be send in by the end of this month {so four days}. And they aren't all ready just yet. Last-minute is my style, apparently. No surprise.

So, I want a random opinion from you. Does this song fit well enough to go with a slideshow for a graduation?

Whatever song I pick will be paired with pictures of me throughout the years... my slideshow. And picking a song can be hard. ;P 



SO DOES THE SONG FIT ?? WHAT'S UP FOR YOU THIS SPRING? WOULD YOU PHOTOGRAPH A BIRD EGG IF YOU FOUND ONE? *wink*

My Trip to the West Coast, part 5: THE OREGON COAST

     At last, I am to the end of my posts on My Trip to the West Coast! 

     So, we decided to go to the Oregon coast a few days before we'd leave. So we piled into... two vehicles? Probably. ;) It took a LONG time to get there, but it was worth it, obviously! It had been eight-ish years since I'd been to the beach! A couple years ago I saw the ocean from an airplane, but I didn't actually go to the beach. :P

     Anyhow, we got to one beach, but there was like, nowhere to park, so we went in search of a more secluded beach that someone had heard about a couple miles away. We found it, and my was it a great beach! =D Here's the pictures. 

    A few of us went down to the beach for a little while, then came back up to have chocolate cupcakes with mint chocolate frosting- it was my one older brother's 21st birthday. ;)

    Then we all went back down. We had to walk down a bank (there was steps) to get to the beach. 

I didn't take this picture, by the way. :)

   It was fun to walk out when the water from a wave receded, and then race back as another wave sent more water rushing at you! :D I LOVE THE OCEAN! 

  We didn't swim, of course- it was much too cold for swimming! But we were blessed with a sunny day! :) 

Awesome, crashing waves!

Little crab! :)

   Some of us crossed to the other side of this big rocky bank- you had to go when the water went out. ;)

It was so beautiful on that side! :D Loved it.

  You may notice that I used this picture for my photography website. ;)

   Panorama! Maybe I should've taken more.

  

   We had to go back to the other side after a little while, because the tide was coming in. Then me and my older sister went walking down the beach... looking at dead crabs...

Isn't the design and color pretty? :)

      And I had to take pictures of the birds. :) They can be fun to watch, especially when the tide comes in on them... ;D

     We found all kind of interesting things. :)

   Even a jellyfish! My sister brought it to the water with a stick or something to wash off the sand, I think. And a wave almost washed the dead creature into me! :P I'd rather not be stung!

     We found pieces of sand dollars too. I never found a whole one.

  Isn't it just gorgeous?

  

    After we spent a while on this beach, we went to a beach town and had some more fun. :)

   We rented these AWESOME bike-carts and drove around town! Me and three siblings and two cousins went on one- two people peddling in front, two in back- and a person squished in between each pair! ;) In this picture, I was in the middle. Taking pictures (and a video ;) ) while we "zoomed" down the road! ;D It was the greatest fun ever! I steered once, and in the more town part of town. ;) Was fun. I think I "daydreamed" a little too much, though, and had to break quickly a couple times! :P

   When our time with the bike-carts (just what I call them BTW ;P) was up, we walked around. 

   People took pedal boats out in this... what is it, anyhow? Is this a river or something, or just a skinny strip of the ocean cutting through the land? Whatever, anyhow, what if there's sharks in there? It's very possible! I might be kind of scared going out on those little boats in there! ;P

We checked out a couple candy stores too. 

     Just look at this amazing Hershey bar! <3 It was 50 percent off because it was ripped... a couple of my cousins bought it together! ;D

All the taffy!

And a giant chocolate quarter. ;)

   Then we went to another beach. It was getting late, and it was windy and SOOO cold! 

A wrecked ship washed up onto this beach once. Isn't it cool? :)

      It was a lovely beach, but also just really cold! We didn't stay too long.

     Well, there you have it! :) Doesn't it sound fun? 'Cause it was!

     Keep in mind, I haven't told you about everything we did... just the "big" events. Other than the things I've posted about, we did a lot of hanging out... me and my cousins walked to our grandparent's multiple times, eating blackberries from the ditches on the way. ;)   One time we just walked along the road for that sole purpose- and we got a lot! And thus had blackberry pie. ;) That was very fun. 

   The day after our reunion ended, me, cousin, and siblings went with our uncle and his girlfriend to some cool caves. :) I didn't bring my camera- just my mom's phone- so I didn't take much for pictures. 

   I also got together with a friend a few times, which was nice! :)

   We swam at my mom's aunt's house a couple times, too. 

   Yep! It was just the most amazing trip ever, and I want to go back soon! =D 
   I made memories with awesome cousins and family that I'll treasure for a LONG time! <3



WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE OREGON COAST? ..AND WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY AWESOME TRIP?!