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Musings

BabyOregonian, Oregon, Short and Sweet and Scattershot

Oregonians: If You Haven’t Got Your Health…

November 26, 2013

I’ve been mothering a little sick baby this week. Two month old Lucie came down with her first cold, and the past string of days has been a blur of steam baths, nasal saline drops, delightful Swedish inventions (ha!), cuddles, nighttime rocking sessions, and daytime board books for temporary distraction from the snuffles (maybe more for me than her?).

Speaking of healthcare and temporary distractions from the snuffles (or snafus?)…

Oregonians: even though as of last week we haven’t enrolled a single applicant through our state’s insurance exchange website (oh, and we hired 400 temps to process paper applications in the meantime), just remember, we still have two killer music videos to remind us of healthy days. Continue Reading…

Favorite Finds, Inspirations, Musings, Short and Sweet and Scattershot

Notebooks and Scotch Tape, Now on the Blog

November 22, 2013

I bought so many notebooks as a university student studying landscape architecture (see lesson #86 on this comical list). Each bound set of blank pages served as a general catch-all for sketching quick ideas, taking inventory of possibilities, and capturing inspiring bits of life that otherwise tended to flutter away.

In the same spirit of gathering tidbits, I feel like sharing a few of the inspirations I’ve run across while browsing the web. A little hat-tip to the people and projects I’m enjoying these days.

And so, without further ado (*ahem. seems I can do Scattershot, but the I’m not so good at this Short & Sweet thing*), this new edition of Favorite Finds:

Seven Steps to Becoming a Spontaneous Traveler of the World – Maptia (“…a beautiful way to tell stories about places…on a mission to build the most inspirational map in the world.”) What can I say? The watercolor/notebook/map themes had me at hello. And #1 “Spin the Globe” takes me far, far back to childhood memories of watching Rex Harrison as Dr. Dolittle. Continue Reading…

Destinations, Photography, Short and Sweet and Scattershot, Thailand

Memories of Hua Hin

November 12, 2013


So, Hua Hin.

The vacation city overlooking the Gulf of Thailand was our final stop in Southeast Asia. A spot where we dropped our bags, dropped our go-go-go, and took time to indulge in slow days, fast motorbikes, fresh fish, old gardens, hot coffees, and torch-lit dinners along the sandy shore.

Prior to arrival, we’d explored Wats in Bangkok, taken the overnight train to Chiang Mai, relaxed among the dragonfruits growing in the northern Thai countryside, dabbled in the kitchen, crossed into Laos and floated two days down the Mekong River, bused into Cambodia in time to join nationwide mourning for the death of a king, and eventually ended up full circle back in Bangkok, prepared for one final Asian adventure before departure to New Zealand. Continue Reading…

BabyOregonian, Musings, Poems, The Little Peach, Tidbits About Us

Welcome to the World, Little Peach!

September 28, 2013

Nine months after our adventures around the globe, on the morning of September 17th, 2013, we welcomed little Lucie Anne Rydmark into our world. Our little Peach came the day before her due date – or, right on time, if you calculate by New Zealand clocks…

I can remember one year ago, strolling the beaches at sunrise, watching women gather seaweed on the shores of Zanzibar. Meeting Salama (leading to one of my favorite memories of the entire trip – learning to make octopus curry from scratch). My, how the sands of time change the landscape of life… Continue Reading…

Musings, Oregon, Tidbits About Us

Seven Years and Six(ish) Continents Later

July 1, 2013

We met when we were seven and nine and married at 22 and 24. Such babies, I know.

When I have a thing for something, I have a thing. Ted. Travel. Oregon. The Pacific Northwest… Seven years ago, on July 1st (Canada Day, hey-oh!), we stitched our life-passports together, celebrated with family and friends, and set out to make our way, together, in the world.

This morning, what started as an effort to dig up wedding pictures for a Facebook profile picture turned into a nostalgic walk down memory lane…

Happy Anniversary, sweet Ted!
xo, Bethany


Grandpa’s old Model-A out on the family farm…


Josiah, Ross, Wayne, AJ, Darian {Ted & Bethany} Jenna, Heather, Sarah, Erin & Melanie

Continue Reading…

Musings, Tidbits About Us, Travel Plans

On Slipping into June: “When Wanderers Cease to Roam”

June 8, 2013

It’s a warm Saturday afternoon here in Portland, Oregon.

Earlier today, Rose Festival traffic slowed my drive south to my sister-in-law’s baby shower, and now that I’m home, I’m slowly sinking farther into couch cushions and this post-RTW reality…

“I’m worried that I broke my iPad,” my mom tells me at last night’s family get together. “I keep visiting your blog, but the newest post I see is the one about Baby Peach.”

Sigh. I know.

The pace of travel and writing and writing and travel suited me so well. Camera in hand, or at least on shoulder strap, keyboard daily beneath my dancing fingers. Post after post of people and places, of meals and memories and life-altering lessons.

Time, endless time…

Here I am now, searching for new equilibrium while this growing belly sways my backbone and calls for re-prioritizing nearly every single aspect of existence.

A rug. New shoes. A hardcover book. Wood floors in a home with a mailbox…yes, that’s right, a permanent mailing address for these two RTW wanderers. Continue Reading…

Destinations, Meditations, Musings, Spain

Semana Santa: Observing Good Friday in Barcelona, Spain

March 28, 2013

On a dreary Friday afternoon near the end of Holy Week, Semana Santa as it’s known in Spain, the weathered streets of Barcelona pulsed with pilgrims and onlookers mesmerized by the beats and passions of the traditional Viernes Santo procession commemorating the sorrow of Christ’s sacrificial crucifixion.

Ted and I found ourselves standing in the Spanish city’s Good Friday throng mere hours after disembarking from our transatlantic ship crossing. Leapt we from lavish cruise ship surroundings and memories of blissful blue ocean waters into the brooding atmosphere of a seaside city in mourning. Easter on the horizon, but death and darkness first. Continue Reading…