Busy Fall in Portland, Oregon

Been Busy...Exploiting Life!

Even while working my day job!

Where Did the Time Go?

The past couple of weeks have flown by! We've had some exceptional weather here in Portland and we're trying to take complete advantage of it.

Last weekend we went hiking in Forest Park - part of a new mini-goal of walking (see more below).

The weekend before my wife and I did some life and financial planning.  Dreaming of what the next few years will bring (hint - lots of trips).  Afterwards we met some friends at a great oyster bar.

Another night we cooked homemade chili - enjoying the warmth on a cool Fall evening.

Speaking of Fall - we also went on a 'Fall Day'. We went to a pizzeria and had their pumpkin ale, then headed out to a pumpkin patch - picking out two pumpkins! Afterwards we drove around town taking pictures of the amazing, colorful leaves. (The leaves in Portland are unlike any I've ever seen - from burnt red and orange, to neon purple and pink!)

More recently we (my wife and I) gave ourselves two new mini-goals.

Another Round of Mini-Goals

For the next week (we're already almost four days in), we plan to walk AT LEAST 15 minutes a day and ALSO drink 96 ounces of water!

The walking just makes sense - we currently don't exercise enough, plus the other day we watched a documentary on the affects of walking - a-ma-zing! (Do it, go out right now and walk - it matters.)

The water goal is from a list of mini-goals that we thought up a few weeks ago.

We know we need more water - I'm definitely dehydrated on a daily basis - so we thought we'd challenge ourselves to drinking the recommended amount.

The recommended amount of H2O was a little hard to define. Every website we reviewed had different amounts or various calculators to determine the right amount of water to drink daily.

After a bit of discussion, we picked one in the middle and made it both of our goal.

We also found a fun, free phone app to track our daily progress...so far so good!! (Though this is a LOT of water! We're always full by the end of the day.)

Socialize! But not too much...

On top of all this we've also managed to meet friends for dinner during the week, coffee and lunch with friends/future friends, and spent a lot of time together (with dog) which is always cherished.

I hope everyone finds new ways to exploit life!

Yours in exploiting life!

Quinn