Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas…Happy New Year and any other festivities we might have missed out on during our period of silence. Although we have been somewhat quiet, we have tried to keep ourselves busy…mostly doing indoor stuff as it’s getting rainy and colder.

A few updates in the month of December are that, we finally got a dining table. Life has been tough without that piece of furniture. It was nice to have a homemade dinner at the table, with dim lights and fine wine. Also, I can now comfortably study for the GRE/MAT exam!

Some fun stuff we did was participate in a Santa Pub Crawl where people dress up as Santa and walk around downtown singing classic Christmas songs. On Christmas day we opened up our gifts! We were so thankful to receive gifts from folks in Springfield, Missouri. I won’t lie, it was a tough Christmas, our first away from family. Those gifts made it a lot easier to get through. We then had dinner with our friend Ezi in Salem, Oregon, and her family. She had an awesome spread of food from her home country, Cameroon. And with African music playing in the background, we couldn’t help but reminisce about the many Christmases spent with family. It was a fun night.

Of course before the year ended, we managed to watch the much awaited Stars Wars movie. It was everything we expected and more. Justin was taken back to a much more innocent time in his life. If you haven’t watched it yet, you must!

We got invited to a New Year’s Eve party. It was hosted by members of the African community here in Eugene. The food was amazing, the entertainment was pretty good and the music…let’s just say the Lwali family would have appreciated it. The New Year was ushered in at a loud venue with some friends from the party, but most importantly, we had each other…

Finally a new year has arrived. So many changes happened at the end of last year. It hasn’t been an easy ride, and we are still struggling to settle in, but we are a lot more optimistic about our future and can see ourselves being a part of the rain, fog, trees and mountains this part of the world has to offer. This year we hope to visit family and friends, make progress in our careers and be more adventurous.

We love you all and we are thankful for your support and prayers. Happy New Year!!!

The new eating spot

Santa Pub Crawl excitement!

My secret Santa was pretty cool this year

Rocking our Christmas gifts from Dad...Go Ducks!

More surprise gifts from Mom

I promise Justin was excited...

Such a thoughtful gift...so creative

Cookies and chocolate from our neighbor

No caption needed

New Year's Eve party folks

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wear PJ's to work day

snow day...no work day! 

Zammy is 6 yrs old. 40 in cat years!

Thank you Trader Joe's for Samosa's

Two Months In

Well it has been a little over two months since we moved to this beautiful state. It is a strange feeling, it feels like home as much as it doesn't. We have definitely made amazing memories already while we have lived here, and we see the potential of wonderful new experiences and professional growth. But at the same time, we both miss all our family and friends back home. It's truly bittersweet when you leave everything you know for something new. But I think we feel a lot better about our future here compared to where we were 8 weeks ago.

So what have we been up to? The most notable experience includes us visiting Samantha's uncle Paul and aunt Carol in Seattle for Thanksgiving. They were very gracious hosts. They took us ALL OVER Seattle. Some places we visited were the Space Needle and Pike's Place. It was a wonderful visit and the city was very beautiful, especially downtown. And the food we ate was amazing. Truly, Seattle really felt like a city we would like to raise a family one day.

Other noticeable things we did include visiting Silver Falls State Park, going to a 60s soul music themed dance party, and trying delicious new eateries in Eugene. To help us make it through the holidays, we set up a Christmas tree and Christmas lights within our home and started working out together to keep the weight down while we eat some good food in the upcoming weeks.

It has only been two months, but we have done so much already. We are looking forward to seeing what we experience in the next two months. Thank you for taking the time to keep up with us through our blog. If you are in Springfield reading this, we miss you! Please come visit soon. Cheers!

Fun photo we took at the Space Needle with Samantha's Aunt Carol

Yep, we found a Kenyan staple in Eugene, Tusker Beer

Samantha at Mt Pisgah

Enjoying the view with Kermit the Frog

Paul and I hanging out at Microsoft. Unfortunately, we couldn't find Bill Gates.

Just hanging out

Yeah, we love Seattle. I think it is our dream city.

Samantha standing in front of the original Star Bucks.

I think Zamora has taking a liking to Oregon.

We love our first fireplace.

Our Christmas tree

Us at Silver Falls State Park, a majestic place.

Samantha likes to live on the edge.

At the top of the waterfall.

Having too much fun.

Isn't Zamora so cute?

Weeks 5-6

Weeks 5-6 went by quickly. We spent most of the time working as usual but we made sure to have a little fun too. The most eventful thing we participated in was going to Comic Con in Eugene. There were so many cool costumes and wonderful people there. Other activities we participated in include attending group fitness at our gym, trying new restaurants, and visiting Skinner Butte which provides an excellent view of Eugene. It is crazy to think that we have lived in Eugene for over a month and Thanksgiving is around the corner. We miss Missouri like crazy, but with each passing day, Oregon is settling into our souls.

Some decorative toys at the Laughing Planet Cafe, an excellent eatery in Eugene. 

Standing in line at Comic Con in Eugene.  

Some awesome pixel bead artwork for sale. 

More awesome pixel bead art for sale.  

Us in our Transformer t-shirts

Me and Barrett from FF7. 

Samantha and Wonder Woman 

Samantha and Maleficent

Me and the gang

A city view of Eugene from Skinner Butte

Samantha and Boba Fett

Samantha and Magneto 

Hanging out with a storm trooper and his storm trooper daughter. 

Master Chief and the Oregon Ducks Mascot

Our 4th Week

Much of our 4th week was spent working, but we made sure to have fun during our free time. After work on Wednesday, we participated in Trivia Night at a video game bar. Although we lost soundly, it was still fun. Afterwards, we went to the famous VooDoo Donuts. These donuts remind me of Hurts Donuts back in Springfield, MO. 

Halloween was a very busy day for us. We started out by visiting the coastal town of Newport, OR. Exploring Newport was an enjoyable experience. We stopped by the beach and ate some fish and chips at a fantastic restaurant. We also visited the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum and watched a live dive at an under water theater. 

Later that night, we celebrated Halloween by meeting up with some new friends we made at a local venue called HiFi. Samantha was Crazy Eyes from the television show Orange is the New Black and I was a Rebel X-Wing Fighter. We didn't go trick-or-treating, but we got to dance and listen to some good live music. It was a fun night for sure!

I apologize for all of the photos pictured below. Our 4th week was full of activity and it was difficult to narrow down the best pictures.

Voodoo Donuts, Delicious 

Some very vocal sea lions in Newport

Selfie with the sea lions

Hanging out with Spock at the Wax Museum in Newport

Samantha and Johnny Depp

Poor Han Solo

How cool is this?

Yes, that is Elvis made from hair

Newport is a really cool coastal town

Deep thinking

Hanging out on the dock

Samantha on American Idol

Samantha nailed Crazy Eyes for Halloween

Going out for Halloween