This is me chilling with my mate at a hot spring after kayaking the waterfalls upstream, closely based on a section of river we've paddled together quite a bit, a set of 4 waterfalls stacked up pretty close together. Individually none of them are all that hard but the fact that they are so close makes them intimidating, and it's a fun rush to run laps on them in the summertime. Definitely one of the hidden wonders of the Columbia Gorge.

She's not really a fur, but she's pretty open minded and I can definitely be myself around her. I discussed creating a character for her and this is sort of the first draft, She's basically a bernese/portuguese water dog. So far she seems to really like it so that's good. I was a little nervous about it as it's the first time I've tried drawing her, and the first time she's ever had a character drawn for her and I wasn't sure how she would feel about it, but so far so good.

I'm planning on writing her a letter on the back of it, framing it, and mailing it to her.

I drew this as a goodbye present because she's left to work in Alaska for the next month and a half. When she returns we won't have much time before she leaves again to pursue a double masters at a good school in California for the next 3 years. She had made this plan before we began dating, and though I wish she could stay here with me, I want to support her dream of a solid career where she could make a real difference out in the world. It's difficult to let her go, but I feel like it's the right thing to do. I'm not sure what this means for us. I don't have very much experience with maintaining a long distance relationship, but we've done great communicating during a few longer separations before this so I'm hoping for the best.

I'm pretty sure that the last 6 months I've spent with her have been the best of my entire life, so regardless of how things turn out, I'm extremely grateful for the time we've shared, all the incredible adventures we've had. I've never felt more happy with anyone before and I know she feels the same, so it really hurts to see her go. I know that I'm going to do my best, and I will make the best of whatever happens.