Best. Week. Ever.

Last week in Oregon was literally, physically and undoubtedly the sole greatest nine days of my 24-year-old life. Oh, sure, I hung out with my best friends (Ben & Heidi), saw my Mother and sisters, as well as my old co-workers at Sherman Bros.

Oh, yeah, and that whole engagement thing!

You know, asking the greatest woman I’ve ever known (second only to my mother and grandmother) to spend the rest of our lives together! (She said yes, obviously: See the updated video, with actual song, here).

What’s more, not am I only bringing Holly Beth Spillman into the Donahue/Matchett families, I’m becoming a member of the Spillman family (well, after Holly’s mom’s divorce a few years back, I think “Spillman” is on the way out. Once Holly becomes a Donahue, half the Spillman clan has ditched the surname. If Darci (younger sister) gets wed off, and Cathy (Holly’s mom) marries again (or switches back to her maiden name: Spears – more on THAT last name later!!), the Spillman name is gone (at least concerning Cathy’s half of the family!).

Needless to say, our engagement was not only the highlight of my vacation – more importantly, my young life!! – but spending time with my upcoming mother-in-law was nearly the best part of my whole Spring Break. Getting to know the mother of my entire world, one-on-one (even more than before), was an opportunity I took advantage of tremendously: Not just by digging deep into the history of my betrothed woman and her family, but also by capitalizing on a friendship I hope to only build as time goes on. Cathy is not just a mother-in-law to-be, but rather a friend I will consider one of my best, as well as another mother in general.

Saturday, we hit the Saturday Market in downtown Portland. What an awesome day for that endeavor, as the temperature crept toward 70-degrees all morning and early afternoon. We saw hippies selling anything you dare imagine. Most importantly, we learned a great deal (more) about each other throughout the morning.

However, the highlight went through this business:

Oh, God, yes! Voodoo Doughnuts is not just a staple breakfast food of the Pacific Northwest (see Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations”), but a Spillman/Donahue tradition-in-the-making. Every time we are near the area on a weekend morn, a creepy doughnut is in the horizon.

This trip, for me, it was the peanut butter-covered Oreo doughnut:

Holy Mother of God, it was amazing! Normally I stick with the classic: a good ol’ Voodoo (where you poke the doll-shaped pastry with a pretzel stick, oozing out raspberry filling in a blood-like maner), which is what Cathy ordered this time.

But, seeing as how my soon-to-be wife was at work, we ordered Holly one to-go. It was a masterpiece we witnessed on the Anthony Bourdain show, a doughnut that perplexed even the meekest of pasty pursuers. Think iHop in one bite, and not just the pancakes. This beautiful creation combined a maple bar and bacon, and it didn’t get much simpler than that!

According to Holly: Pure amazingness.

Here is what that puppy looked like: