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A Date To Celebrate 25 Years Of Dating!
It was May 4th, 2001 and I was a couple weeks away from moving from Minnesota to Oregon by way of Alaska. I was crashing on the couch of my long time friend (and secret crush) Michelle. She was taking vacation time off work to drive with me to Alaska on a farewell trip. Someday…
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Facebook Flashback: Bond And Martinis #1
Way back in 2015 Michelle and I did a series of posts on Facebook in which we watched James Bond movies in chronological order and wrote some silly comments. We also drank martinis and tried to perfect our favorite recipe as the series went on. Fast forward to 2026 and we thought, “Why not revisit…
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A Geeky Discussion About “Gateway Games”
Our board game club, Board Guimas, has a relatively active user group that talks about all things game related. A couple weeks ago one user commented about which gateway game was the most interesting (in their opinion) of the most popular five. This coincided with some similar discussions I’ve had with Michelle and another friend…
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Some High Stuff: Arouca 516
After moving from Minnesota to Oregon it was darn near impossible to avoid adding hiking as a hobby. The state is known for amazing trails and we could get to the Pacific Crest Trail in 30 minutes. Our normal routine was day hikes in the 5-10 mile range. Our longest hike was 39 miles which…
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Some Old Stuff: Citânia De Briteiros
My cousin John visited a few weeks ago and in planning his visit he said he was interested in seeing some Roman ruins or a similar attraction. Lucky for him we live less than ten miles from an amazing archaeological site. Citânia de Briteiros is an unearthed “urban” community which actually existed in pre-Roman times…
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My Tiny Oasis
When Andrew and I started house hunting back in 2024 one of the most important things we considered, other than geographical location, was how much space we needed and how best to utilize a given floor plan. Our house in Medford, Oregon had plenty of space, arguably too much, since several rooms were rarely used.…
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Farming (Game) In Portugal
My grandpa Finazzo was a farmer in Minnesota, he had a farm and a tractor and the whole shebang. Like most farmers he supplemented his income in a variety of ways but his core identity was related to tending to his crops. I imagine sometime around 1979 someone saw the new board game The Farming…
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Spring Has Arrived!
We have emerged from an especially long and wet winter season into the beginning of spring. The temperature has snuck up into the 60’s and plants are springing up everywhere. We can finally dry our laundry outside! I even snuck in a quick R&R session in our hammock out on the terrace this morning before…
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I Want To Be The Head Wizard In Charge!
Today I’m going to talk about one of our favorite board games, Argent: The Consortium, in which players battle to win the most votes and become the new chancellor at the magic university where you all work. Don’t run out and buy the game yet, I have a lot to say about Argent and depending…
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Love Is Blind: A Trainwreck I Can’t Stop Watching
We have watched Love Is Blind since its inception in 2020. The general concept is a group of people speed date each other while sitting in pods and don’t see each other until they are engaged. Once engaged (some) of the couples are whisked away for a grand vacation, then they move in together, and…