Somebody Loved

End of the Month Meanderings, Edition 4 (Better late than never?)

2011-05-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

How is April over, and we're a week into May?

We've had a lot going on... let's see...

I got sick.

Impromptu trip up to Grandma Pearl's.

Hawaii. AMAZING.

We're having mold issues in the condo.

Sick right? I know. Don't worry, we're as disgusted as you. We won't be offended if people don't want to come over anymore. We don't blame you, we might come move in with you.

Back from vacation and changes at work = sucky.

Celebrated the wonderful wedding of Mark & Emily with friends and, or course, Kyle's birthday weekend.

Some other things too, I suppose, some good and some NOT.SO.MUCH.

And it's with a heavy heart that I think about quiting my blog.

I may come back (probably, even), but for now I will take some time.

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me".Erma Bombeck

Goodbye Portland

2011-04-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Hawaii

Remember when I said we're going here in 203 days...

We'll it's been 203 days!

End of the Month Meanderings, Edition 3

2011-03-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

How is it already the end of March?

I'm not sure what to think of this... you should be noticing the bottom left hand corner, the pet registry. Really? REALLY!?!?!

Something you might now know about me - in another life I'm certain I was a superb hobby farmer. I know it's silly, but I just am sure about it. Just like I'm sure that Kyle, in another life, lived in Pittsburgh. The other night we were out to dinner and he ordered a beer... this is what came! Honest to goodness he didn't know that it was from there... just in case you cannot read the best part, it states: "OFFICIAL BEER OF THE PITTSBURGH NATION."

Finally we followed the advice of a friend of mine and got a steamer! I'm not convinced about it, as I have greatly improved my ironing skills. BUT KYLE! Let.me.tell.you - NOT good at ironing. But really good at steaming! So, he did my ironing pile one week. If for only that - it was a great purchase!

My new running shoes... you were much more exciting to think about getting than to break in.

We've thrown out the plastic. Hello glass. Snapware. It's the Glasslock line. The best part: BPA free, they stack, airtight, leak proof, dishwasher safe, mircrowave safe (without the staining!) and freezer safe. And Costco is selling it right now.

Spent the end of the month sick... boo. So I had a lot of opportunities to take cute pictures of my company while sick:

I don't only collect things that cost money...

2011-03-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how/why I first fell in love with the "Keep Calm and Carry On" slogan. I even have it on a necklace. Now whenever I see a variation I have to save it! Here are the most recent additions to my collection:

They are fun, but I'm not sure I'll ever come across one that will ever top my personal favorite... do you know what one that is? You can find it here... Original post.

Monday Morning Inspiration

2011-03-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

Found here. Beautiful jewelry too.

2011-03-19T21:54:00.001-07:00

Really loved this post here.

The reason - I read it the exact same morning I was wondering if I should do some spring cleaning. I know, I know - You're probably saying to yourself right now: "I thought they had cleaners." And yes we do... but I mean more along the lines of cleaning out the junk drawer, my closet (uggg), and maybe even under Kyle & my bed (where I store purses/handbags and shoes but rarely ever get anything out from because it's such a pain).

The Nester talked about Erma Bombeck's (a novelist and columnist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper column that, with humor, described suburban home life from the mid-1960s until the late 1990s) stance on housework:

"Housework, if you do it right, will kill you.

No one ever died from sleeping in an unmade bed. I have known mothers who remake the bed after their children do it because there is wrinkle in the spread or the blanket is on crooked. This is sick.

There is something wrong with a mother who washes out a measuring cup with soap and water after she's only measured water in in."

OH.MY.

The whole bed making thing - that could be me! And I totally agree with Erma - it is sick!

Sometimes I struggle with the need for perfection and I am thankful I read The Nester's blog, to remind myself that my goal in house keeping shouldn't be perfection but to create an environment that best serves my family.

And there is even a book about it...
A Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of a Misspent Life

So, the spring cleaning issue... I got to thinking... About a month ago (after the engagement party) I went through all my serving pieces. 2 weeks ago I cleaned out the pantry and the fridge, getting rid of anything expired and donating items that, despite my buying, I knew we'd never eat. Last weekend I went through my receipt drawer and all of our filing - purging and organizing. And then this weekend I've been working on cleaning out my closet. So what is really left?!?! THERE IS NOTHING. Who cares about the junk drawer.

Right now I'm reminding myself that:
doing more is not always better
and resting is not laziness.

Race Recap

2011-03-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Shamrock 15K Challenge

I talked about it a little earlier in the week. But to recap... the race went great. Met my time goal. But felt super sick afterwards. I mean super sick. Spent the rest of the day going between the couch and the bathroom. I know, I know... too much information, I'm done.

Route:

Our Weekend

2011-03-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

Golf & Running

This weekend started Kyle's stretch of vacation - 9 days off! Saturday Mikey & him drove up to Chambers Bay Golf Course, just south of Seattle.

Sunday I ran my second race of the year... the Shamrock Run. I ran the 15k challenge that went all the way up Terwilliger... talk about a mega hill that kicked my butt! But overall I was actually pleased with how the whole thing went. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours, which I did!!! But I don't know my exact time yet - the results website isn't working (I suspect because all the other 30,999 runners are trying to check their times too). My friend Kelsey ran the 5k and she waiting at the finish with Kyle to cheer me in!

I got really sick after the race. I'm hoping that if I continue to train that will not happen again, because LET.ME.TELL.YOU it was horrible. And if I have to go through that again I'm not sure the running is worth it.

Another Pug Wedding

2011-03-04T04:42:00.000-08:00

From here. And yes - I do follow a pug blog.

Race Recap

2011-03-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

I've decided to a fun run each month, for the rest of the year. This was in February... The Heartbreaker Half Marathon. I ran in the 10K (6.2 miles). My goal was to run the entire race without stopping. And I did it! Very slowly, but I ran the entire time.

So far I have plans for -

March: Shamrock Run 15K (I think?!?!, might do the 8K)

May: Hippie Chicks Half Marathon

End of the Month Meanderings, Edition 2

2011-03-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

Fairly certain everyone is pregnant.
Oh Yamhill County - how I have missed you. Went to visit WVMC and thoroughly enjoyed my ride out to Mac.
Weekend snuggles - Ferdie doesn't judge the cone, they just make it work.

Someday I'll have a beautiful kitchen that will display all of my wonderful dishes and serving pieces. Until then they are neatly packed away and labeled so I can find things in my MANY storage containers.

Kyle helped with the labeling...

in case you can't read that, it's a little blurry, it says: Holly the Pug

Kyle & Holly, their Saturday routine...

Holly's back side after her Saturday morning walk. It was followed by a bath. This picture doesn't even give justice to the amount of dirt she picked up.

Remember the owl I was lusting over last month... my Dad got it for me! :)

FINALLY! Mark & Emily's Engagement Party

2011-02-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago Kyle & I hosted an engagement party for some friends of ours. We had it at our condo's clubhouse. I think by the end of the night we had about 30 people. I went with a champagne theme... pinks, reds, creams. We had lots of appetizers, dinner was pasta, salad and bread, and then lots of cupcakes for dessert. I GROSSLY overestimated regarding what the food consumption would be, so we had (and still have in the freezer) more leftovers that we could give away.

drink table

appetizer table

dinner table

of course the glassybaby had to make some apperances

champagne punch

me :)

miller high life = the champagne of beers

clever - I know

Kyle & me with the engaged couple Mark & Emily

the after party, at our place

Holly - happy that people were finally home!

the end

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary

2011-02-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

To: Pam & Travis

Happy Anniversary!

How can 2 years have already passed?

I feel like it was just yesterday.

But what makes me most excited is

that we have so many more years, as a family, to

celebrate the wonderful couple that you two are.

I dream about the many more milestones that I'm so thankful

we will share together and look forward our future.

Are you as excited for this as I am!?!?

2011-02-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

Anthropogie is launching a new wedding line on February 14! I'm super excited to see what all they are going to have. Especially since I got this teaser email - the dress on the right I'm super interested in. One more week to wait.

Our Pottery Barn Eagan Multipanel Large Mirror

2011-02-05T08:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to {this blog} we had step by step guidance to make this mirror for Sandi.

It's from Pottery Barn, it's $699. WHO WOULD PAY THAT!?!?! Sandi LOVED it, and wanted it for her mantle but that's too much to pay. So Kyle & I made it for her and gave it to her for her birthday!

Driving home from Home Depot

Holly ~~helping~~ playing....

Kyle put the mirrors on when I was at work, so of course I have no pictures of that step.

The mirrors needed more time to dry, but when they do I'll do a mantel picture.

Posey Pins

2011-02-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

... my other project that I couldn't share until now because I finally gifted my last of the scarves & posey pins. I was inspired by many blogs that I read to jazz up my hats, scarves and jackets with these fun fabric pins. I also gave some as presents! I wanted to share the posey love.

Many scarves...

All wrapped up...

{my main inspiration}

End of the Month Meanderings

2011-02-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

This year I'm going to collect random thoughts from the month... then at the end I'll post them. So many times I have little things I want to post about but they don't seem worthy of their own post, so I just skip it. But now I'll just collect them and share. So here it is for January...

Go back to school or not!?!?! It's turning into a common conversation around the condo.
It's official - Kyle and I cannot buy any more clothes... we are out of hangers! Ok, ok... it may have been official months ago, but just now am I admitting it to myself. I am probably thinking enough shoes too... but won't admit that until after I buy this super cute pair that I want for our trip to Hawaii in April.
~~Training to run a half marathon in May sucks. Not sure what I was thinking signing up for it.~~ Mom & Richard think I need to have a more positive attitude about trying to reach my goal. I'm not sure why they think I don't! :)
Saw Guster in concert with Kyle. They were excellent as always. It made me start thinking of how many people I've seen in concert as opening bands and now they are the headliner! Guster is one of those, Kyle and I first saw them when they opened for O.A.R. in 2004.
In searching for engagement party ideas I found baby shower ideas for certain people in my life WHO NEED TO HAVE BABIES ALREADY!!! Ahem... Pam. And I only bring you up because I've already started planning your shower :). Don't worry, I'll just tuck away my inspiration file of pictures.
Kyle made me buy may favorite tea in the loose leaf form... and I don't like it. Tea bags are way easier.
Did you read about our trip to Seattle? One of Kyle & my favorite things to do is take long weekend trips away... we've taken many trips to the beach but more recently haven't been trying to branch out... which includes Crater Lake, Leavenworth Washington, and Seattle. During this trip we decided that it's time to move on from Seattle (we've been there a few times now)... next up - San Francisco (we're thinking in September for our anniversary)!
Do you have your Valentine's cards picked out? I do. So does Holly.
What's with my recent obsession with owls?!?! I made the mistake of wondering this aloud and Kyle informed me that I am sucker for marketing... but whatever.

I bought this...

and now I want this (as seen on Modern Family, from here - OF.COURSE.)...

Engagement party was a huge hit, now I'm exhausted. I was looking forward to going back to work on Monday for some REST!

WELCOME FEBRUARY, things I'm looking forward to: Sandi's (my MIL) birthday, a girls night, my Dad is coming to visit.

Engagement Party Part 1 - The Prep

2011-01-29T22:31:00.000-08:00

Did you know that I love hosting parties?!?! Well I do. It pretty much drives Kyle and my Mom crazy because the closer it gets the crazier I turn making sure that everything is perfect... but I just love it! And in the end everything turns out perfect so it's all worth it.

Wonder about my party hosting adventures? Here it goes...

The invitations first...

I usually decide the theme of the party with the invitations... and then I carry that throughout. I was thinking something with champagne and I found this stamp...

Then I found this paper...

So the colors I decided on where pinks, reds and creams. The paper above is a specialty paper, which I love to use because it adds texture to things. Because of the price I use mostly regular paper and then just one sheet of what I always refer to as "special paper."

And then I make the plans... for decor, food, drinks... etc. It's embarrassing how much I go into this... so we'll skip ahead...

Then I started on craft projects...

The napkins...

And then my party assistant (my Mom) helped me roll napkin sets (using the special paper again)...

Holly, I'm not sure that she actually helps so much as distracts my helper (my Mom)...

Then I set out all my serving pieces. I like to make sure I have something for everything I'm serving, so on scratch paper I write the names of everything I make them and then put them on their serving piece that I'm going to use. The party is in the condo club house and all the cooking is done in our condo, so I don't put the food in the serving pieces until right before the party, at the clubhouse... so making the assignments to the serving pieces ahead of time helps avoid extra trips back and forth.

And I set out decor pieces...

Cupcake supplies...

Party pictures to come!

**Late addition... have you ever made dinner for 40!?!? I've pretty much spent the last two days in the kitchen. It would have been more time but thank goodness my Mom was an amazing helper!!! After baking & frosting 175 cupcakes (5 different kinds), cooking 13 pounds of pasta, making 2 gallons of cream sauce for the pasta and dicing and chopping a million vegetables.... I can say that I have cooked for 40! I didn't think to take many pictures... only these:

Ice cubes for the punch bowl...

Huge (I really mean HUGE - they are industrial size) pans waiting for the pasta and sauce...

I.AM. EXHAUSTED.

GLASSYBABY BABY

2011-01-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

Never heard of GLASSYBABY? Let me share...

I first discovered glassybaby while indulging in wedding blog reading... I am not sure exactly how long ago, but it was before Kyle & my wedding, I'm certain of that. And as I do with things I love - I clinked the blog link that took me to the website... and I fell in love with the glassybaby collection and the story.

I've shared the story before but I almost feel it is more meaningful now that I've met Lee Rhodes - glassybaby creator and founder. What an amazing woman. I am in awe of her and meeting her made that even more so.

While fighting her 7-year battle with a rare form of lung cancer she gifted her husband glass blowing lessons... "Inspired by the beauty of these elegant vessels, Lee filled them with tea lights and scattered them throughout her home. She found great hope and healing in their color, light and love."

"Glassybaby serve as a metaphor to symbolize hope and are humble in spirit but not in beauty."

"[Glassybaby] gives warmth to a cold day, a calm token of peace in the busy world."

She started out gifting them to friends and family... and eventually glassbaby was born.

So my obsession, as mention, started out simply from seeing a blog. I loved the story and the glassybaby votive, vase, vessel. The first time I saw them in person was at my friend Kelsey's apartment. She had lived in Seattle before moving to Portland, and when I first saw them I knew exactly what they were and loved them even more! The following Christmas Kyle gave me four... 2 burnt sugar & 2 autumn. And they were beautiful... we enjoyed them every night. {my first glassybaby post}

I was shocked when Kyle agreed to make a weekend trip to Seattle for the seconds sale... but of course took him up on the offer right away. I'd been wanting to expand my glassybaby collection from the first night I sat on our couch and enjoyed the colorful light show that brightened our living room.

For me glassybaby represents classy beauty. It's simple, not overstated. And it represents potential... so many combinations and color possibilities. I love the light that it brings to my home and to my life.

Ok ok... so the glassybaby seconds sale... the line (spanned at least 2 block lengths, and that was as far as I could see), we got in line at 8:15am (doors opened at 10). Kyle asked the people toward the front of the line (about 10 people back he thought) and they arrived at 6am.

We were WAY TO BUSY finding our glassybaby to take pictures inside the sale... after the sale:

Before I share my collection, here are some of my favorite arrangements I've seen on the glassybaby website:

beauty.

My plan for the sale was to add to the color scheme I have (reds & browns) and then to add one additional color scheme. Of course I wanted pinks/purples/whites, which I could have added the reds into nicely... but Kyle wasn't into that plan and he did, after all, come with me so I had to indulge him.

My glassybaby collection, divided by color scheme...

Reds & Browns

Blues, Greens & Whites

love.

Seattle Weekend

2011-01-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

So this picture doesn't give our view any justice... but we just have the best luck with hotwire! For under $100 per night we got a corner king suite at a four star hotel... and believe it or not with a view of the Sound. The weather wasn't great Friday afternoon, when we got there, so clouds/fog covered the view but it was great waking up Saturday morning and gazing out the window. BUT the gazing didn't last for long because it was Glassybaby sale time! But more on that later...

Ali told me about this great store... and I'm SO glad she did! It's a great store, we met the owner and I wanted to spend ALL my money... but hello - GLASSYBABY TOMORROW!!! The store owner understood.

Walking around...

Have you seen the episode of Man Vs. Food in Seattle?!?! He goes to The Crab Pot, so of course Kyle wanted to go there too...

That's right - they dumped all the food on the table, gave us tools (a bib, cutting board, & mallet) and kept the Pirate Punch (my drink of choice) coming!

Room service in the hotel...

We weren't hungry for dessert at the restaurant but after walking all the way back to our hotel (up hill) my appetite was back. And, I don't think it should surprise you how much I love room service! Considering how much I love a drive-through Starbucks OF.COURSE.I.LOVE.ROOM. SERVICE! I mean, seriously, I will go out of my way for drive-through Starbucks - who on earth wants to get out of their car?!?! So naturally, once I am back in the hotel room I have no plans to leave.... so let the champagne and dessert come to me!

Did you know that we came to Seattle for the Glassybaby sale?!?! That deserves it's own post... stay tuned!

SO -- two (YES TWO) trips to Starbucks later (dear Seattle: please get more drive through Starbucks) we do some exploring...

Lake Washington

We wanted to see the city from across the Sound...

We went back to La Carta de Oaxaca, a highlight of Kyle's from our Leavenworth trip, for lunch. And later we had the most amazing dinner at The Pink Door (along with THE SALE, this will be the highlight of the trip).

We slept in Sunday morning, ate our free breakfast at the hotel (yes - all for under $100/night), and then came home... to a pug dog who was very happy to have us.

I spent all evening arranging, rearranging and photographing my new and wonderful glassybaby collection.

When I see pictures like this...

2011-01-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

it just makes me sad that Kyle wouldn't let Holly be a part of our wedding! So wonderful it would have been.

Inspirational Decor

2011-01-15T09:07:00.000-08:00

I was reading a blog the other day (I know, I know - big surprise, me reading blogs) and the author was talking about how she loves to surround herself with meaningful art. And I thought - what a great I idea. And then I realized --- I have meaningful art as well!

You've seen the PROCTOR letter art that Kyle and I (& Holly) photographed together. I put it on the lower floating shelf, along with my new vases that I got from Christmas (aren't they great!!!) and then another piece of art that Kyle made for me. It's a showcase of our wedding vows...

For those of you who are married - did you write your own vows? Or did you choose vows that are meaningful to you? Well Kyle and I found our vows online and they were almost perfect... then we changed some words around and added some personal touches... then they were perfect. Since our wedding I occasionally read though our vows and fall in love with them all over again. Kyle knows how much that I loved the vows we said to each other and so for Christmas he made our vows into art to display.

{anthropologie vases 1, 2 & 3}

My other piece of inspirational art is also a new Christmas item, from Kyle's sister Pam (from this great etsy seller). It says: Peace, like charity, begins at home. - Franklin D. Roosevelt. This etsy seller has so many pieces that are wonderful.... soon I'll have to share some of my favorites.

Remember my chalk board... isn't it great! For Christmas it was decorated with Kyle's rendition of the holiday pug dog. Now - a little of this:

It's in our entry way, what a nice thing to see coming and going...

Christmas Photos of 2010, Part 2

2011-01-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

One of the things that Kyle got in his stocking, from Santa, was a remote for our camera. Her also got an external flash. So between having fun with the remote and wanting to see the difference between using the new flash and not - we have a million pictures of Christmas this year. But, for the most part, all the pictures of similar yet with all different versions of lighting... regular camera flash, no flash, external flash = LOTS OF PICTURES.

The best ones - of course are of Holly.

Holly checking out what Santa put in her stocking...

Santa... I KNOW HIM!

We felt that it was only right for Kyle to take out his tooth for this picture...

What I missed on Christmas Day because I had to work...

Missed this too...

Sandi & her new necklace (I got to see her open this, since it was from us!)...

But I did miss my monkey bread...

After working for most of Christmas Day I rejoined the Christmas celebrations with my extended fam (didn't you LOVE our extended family picture! if you missed it look back a couple of posts). Here I am with Jack, wearing his Rudolf sweater.

Holly is determined to unwrap her own presents...

Please refer to the next two pictures when wondering how Uncle Craig & Kyle respond to me wanting to take pictures of what they get for Christmas... "YES! NEW JEANS"

Look at those two cute girls!

At Grandma & Granddad's house Holly got this bumblebee, she named him Barry, and despite not looking thrilled - don't be fooled! Barry was a huge hit.

Not sure when Kyle took this picture, but thought it was funny...

So, I was finally inspired to make my first attempt at French Macaroons... since this I've read "Demystifying the Macaroon" so I will continue with the adventure of mastering the French Macaroon.

Backtracking to Christmas Eve... me with baby Tyler, the newest addition to the Proctor extended family.

Can You See It?!?!

2011-01-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

This was one of the projects I mentioned awhile back that I couldn't talk about until after Christmas. It's letter art! A couple of months ago Kyle, Holly and I spent the day trekking all around Portland looking for letters that appeared in nature and architecture. Our goal was to spell our our last name. Can you see it?!?!

And we loved how it turned out so much that we gathered a couple extra letters and made one for Kyle's sister Pam and her husband. Their last name is Power. Can you see it?!?!

I think it's easier to see in person. But aren't they great! We had to order a custom frame for our Proctor art, it's impossible to find a frame with 7 5x7 openings. But it was so worth it, now we just have to find a place to hang it up.

Christmas Photos of 2010

2010-12-29T22:55:00.000-08:00

You know me and tradition!

Party Idea

2010-12-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

Did you hear? Another hockey guy is about to be taken off the bachelor list! Our good friends Mark & Emily got engaged on Christmas, which we're super excited about. Mark was a groomsman in Kyle & my wedding. They are planning a wedding for April 2011, when they'll be celebrating their dating anniversary of 10 years.

I saw this party idea and loved it...

Is there anything better than an entire party planned around champagne?!?! I think not.

Christmas Review

2010-12-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

Did I mention, when I posted Kyle & my picture from the Hockey Christmas Party, that each year we take at least 1 holiday picture of the two of us... here is a recap...

2008

(we also do a family picture with my family)

2009

2010

You know me and tradition... 2010 Family Picture to Come

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours!

THIS IS A BIG DEAL

2010-12-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

So... I FINALLY finished the book The Omnivore's Dilemma, it only took me 5 months and it's a big deal. My motivation - Kyle got me a Kindle and I had to finish this book, so I could start reading books on my new toy.

During the first very painful 100 pages I thought that there was no way I would be recommending this book to anyone... and can you believe that my mind started changing! And then I even started dog earing pages - there were things that I wanted to remember! The entire book was a slow read, but in the end I actually recommend it... it was worth all the time I put into the 411 pages.

(his website)

I'm still undecided as to how this will change our purchasing of food items, but it most definitely will. I'm really not good at presenting arguments and really the purpose of this blog is not to convince others to live as I choose to do... so I'm really not going to go that much into this book and it's arguments.

But if you'd like to hear the adventures of someone who is trying to follow his food from farm to table I would recommend this book... and yes I used the word TRY because it's actually not possible. He wasn't allow onto the kill floor to follow his cow to the steak form... and if you wonder why - then this book would interest you. If you want to learn more about where your food is coming from - this is the book for you. OR - if you'd rather not spend as much time, but still are curious - I would recommend you watch the documentary Food Inc.

Again, I'm not exactly sure what changes we'll make... as we actually already made changes after watching Food Inc. But I think we've adjusted to our prior changes (mostly organic and also humanely treated certified... mostly with our eggs, milk, and meats), so maybe we can introduce another change.

BUT --- the biggest point - is that I finally finished my book! And it's a big deal, we celebrated with Dairy Queen for dessert. Even Holly enjoyed a puppy cone.

Nativity Scene

2010-12-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

Here is my new nativity set that I got in Leavenworth... I'm so excited that each year when I set this out I'll get to remember our great weekend.

Eventually I want to add these pieces...

Shepard & Stable Animals

The Three Wisemen

Stars

The Weekend Before Christmas Weekend

2010-12-19T23:39:00.000-08:00

Hockey Christmas Party... It was Hawaiian themed. And it wouldn't be true to the hockey spirit if Kyle didn't go missing a tooth...

It's a really long story... the tooth issue started in July (well really, he was hit in the tooth years ago - but Kyle started having issues in July) and finally has ended up with the tooth being pulled. And that's as much as we really have time to get into it tonight! So he's toothless until he gets the post, and then the implant.

Sunday night I made Cheddar-Ale Soup, it's a Williams Sonoma recipe. The last couple recipes I've tried have been from Williams Sonoma, I've found them from their catalog or browsing their website. Every one that I've tried has been a keeper.

I'm getting very excited for Christmas!

I'm slightly bummed because I'm on day call all weekend (Fri. 1500-2300, Sat. 0600-1800, Sun. 0600-1800)... which is very lame, but I'm hoping for minimal work until Sunday, then I really don't mind.

So, there is only one last present I have to wrap, and it's a small one... thank goodness! Because room is becoming very limited under our tree. You remember that we had to have our Christmas tree in a different spot this year, well it turns out that there is less space around the bottom for the presents. But I LOVE how full it looks...

Some reasons I love the holiday season...

When I'm at work - I LOVE telling people "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year." It's just so much better than just saying "Have a Good Day." There is something very special about getting to wish people joy during the holidays.
Christmas movies! Kyle and I have been watching only Christmas movies for the last couple of weeks... Elf, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, Love Actually, Santa Claus 2, Deck the Halls and Fred Claus so far. We still have recorded on the TiVo: The Grinch, Santa Claus 3 and A Christmas Carol. And of course we're looking forward to the A Christmas Story marathon that they play on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Cards, I love reading the Christmas letters. It's fun for me to learn about what each family thinks are the most important things in their lives to highlight in their Christmas letter. And then to see the one or two pictures that were their favorite from the year.
The Giving... there are a few gifts this year especially that I am so excited to give. Every year it doesn't happen with every person that Kyle & I give to, it usually rotates around... but every year there are a few gifts that I am just SO excited to give. It's a gift that I know the recipient will be so happy to receive, something they will really love. Giving those gifts each year is so special and exciting.
And lastly... I love opening my presents from Kyle. Not because of the obvious - getting presents (which of course is great) but because I love finding out what things Kyle decided to get me. I know it sounds silly but I just love to see what Kyle thought I would love for Christmas.

Yay! It's almost Christmas!

Leavenworth Long Weekend

2010-12-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

Kyle & I just got back from a long weekend (Thursday - Sunday) in Leavenworth, WA.

We started our adventure in Seattle, at La Carta de Oaxaca, for lunch. This restaurant was featured in a recent issue of Sunset, one of my favorite magazines. They are known for having the best posole. What's the story behind posole? Well - they serve it for lunch occasionally at the Hawthorne Farms Intel and Kyle loves it. So about a year ago I started trying different posole recipes, in search for one similar to the beloved Intel posole. So far I've tried two very different recipes, but both very different to what Intel serves. I've even raced to have lunch with Kyle at Intel, when I heard it was posole day, only to have them run out 1 person before me!!! Seriously. Since then posole catches me eye... and so we found ourself in Seattle eating amazing posole (similar to what they make at Intel)... and! GUESS.WHAT!!! I have the recipe! Somehow I can't find the picture I took of it, super mad about that, but I suppose having the recipe makes up for it.

Salsa bar... we only got around to trying 4 of the 10 different offerings.

Halibut tacos...

From Seattle we traveled to Leavenworth... first German meal:

The town during the day...

And I discovered my new favorite drink... hot spiced wine!

A sleigh ride, with Clyde & Claude (our horses)...

Later that night... we wanted to go sledding and could only find this place, so we had to break the rules...

The weekend is suppose to be a super busy time for Leavenworth and since we explored the town the day before we spent Saturday cross country skiing...

And went into town much later in the evening...

So the most adventurous part of the trip... trying to leave Sunday morning! This picture was taken Saturday night, after Leavenworth got 18 inches of snow. Well the problem was by the morning the temperatures started to climb and snow was melting which made lots of very slick slush. Unfortunately the amazing B&B we stayed at had one bad quality - their driveway... impossible to get up!

We are so thankful to of course the B&B owners who were out there shoveling snow, but also 3 other guys staying there came out to help... it took the 6 guys 2 hours of shoveling and sliding around in the car to get us out. I stayed in the house, with the wives of the men helping... which I decided was a good idea in the end. Kyle was telling stories of the car sliding all over and almost getting pinned between the car and a snow bank. So I'm certain if I would have been out there I would have just been me freaking out.

We absolutely had the best weekend. The B&B served delicious breakfasts that kept us full past lunch time. The German food was also delicious. I got the best souvenir - a Nativity - and not just any one, but one that I've been wanting for several years... and what wonderful memories of this great trip I'll have each year that I set it out. We had so much fun exploring a new town, trying a new sport, and then at the end of the day relaxing watching the river our our window and watching fun Christmas movies.

These long weekend getaways Kyle & I go on are starting to be some of my favorite vacation memories.

Why last weekend was so great... but why next weekend will be even better!

2010-12-07T23:06:00.000-08:00

The weekend started off a little rocky for me... I worked an 18 hour day on Wednesday, ending at 5am Thursday morning. And then, not sure what I was thinking, but picked up extra hours on Thursday AND Friday evening. So I had just a regular 2 day weekend. I'm not sure how everyone does it because that's just not long enough to get things done and have relaxing time. REGARDLESS! It was a great weekend...

Saturday was the Civil War, and we had the hockey family over... here is the after party, celebrating the win and Mark's birthday...

Holly & Mikey, she is missing Dave in Alaska because Mikey just doesn't know how to hold her the right way, like Kyle's friend Dave.

And the after-after party...

Sunday was the Nordstrom Christmas private shopping event, with Kelsey - which was GREAT. But it's official, I need to STOP shopping. Ok - I probably could have stopped shopping before this event but who are we kidding... I love shopping. And I scored a sweet pair of True Religion jeans.

Sunday was also Sofie's birthday - her SWEET 16! Her parents hosted a big dinner at at Mexican restaurant in Longview...

I can't believe that Sofie turned 16... I wrote to Sofie in her birthday card...

I remember when I would go visit, when she was about 3, and I would spent long weekends... and I thought she was so annoying! I couldn't get away from her, she always wanted to follow me around. And my Mom always reminds me how I would call her from the bathroom just so I could have some privacy. She was probably 2 or 3. And on those visits I always wanted to dress Sofie in some of her cute outfits and she would never let me. She had her own ideas of what she wanted to wear and it wasn't what I wanted! It would drive me crazy!

But now - I can't get enough of Sofie! I love spending time with her. And one of the things that I love the most about her is that she has her own ideas. She is her own person.

We had a great time celebrating Sofie's birthday, a beautiful young woman.

SO - Are you wondering why next weekend will be even better? We're leaving Thursday morning for Leavenworth, Washington! They advertise it as "Your Bavarian Getaway." And doesn't this look dreamy...

We're going for the Christmas Tree Lighting Festival. Also, we're going to go cross country skiing, eat lots of German food and relax. We've been really looking forward to this trip!

{THANKS}GIVING

2010-11-28T22:03:00.000-08:00

There are so many things to be thankful for this year...

I am mostly thankful for:

Having a good job, and Kyle having a good job too.
Our friends & family
Good health

I feel like I haven't had much to post about lately because some of the fun projects that we've (yes - we - I've been making Kyle help) been working on are Christmas surprises for some people. So certain posts are waiting until after Christmas... but one thing I did this weekend was decorate for Christmas. Not too many new things this year, the garland is new. Also, I did something new with the candle holders...

Oh - and I am SO mad... we had to move the Christmas tree. Since we have the TV hanging on the wall the space next to the fireplace (in front of the window) is where we store all of the TV boxes. It was the PERFECT spot. But now it has to be on the other side of the couch. Bummer. The only decorating we have left is to hang the ornaments on the tree.

Do you put out Christmas themed pictures? I DO! And I LOVE IT! I love having framed Christmas pictures that we pull out just for Christmas.... here are my two favorite: Holly & I in the snow 2 years ago and a picture of Kyle & Denny from when Kyle was a little boy. I usually add a picture to the Christmas collection each year.

Kyle working on secret projects :). Can you see the garland on top of the fireplace? Looks super cute.

And the garland on the loft rail...

AND I'M SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST...
I have been wanting a chalk board for awhile now, and I found one on a super Black Friday deal! When I told Kyle my idea for the Christmas themed chalk board he told me that he actually had his own ideas... So I present to you Kyle's contribution to the Christmas decor (along with candle holders & Christmas ornaments, this is in the entry way)...

Did you catch my Black Friday deal (the chalkboard)? But that's not it, because LET.ME.TELL.YOU... I did a LOT of shopping, starting at midnight Friday. Kyle and I made a quick trip to the mall at midnight and shopped until 1:30AM. Then I was out shopping by 10AM until 2PM, took an hour nap and then was back out shopping with my Mom when she got off work. This was the first time in 6 years that my Mom and I didn't go shopping together on Black Friday, so it was nice to get a few stores in at the end of the day with her. My Mom & I are the perfect shopping partners, it was exhausting not going with her but I still got a lot done... in fact Kyle & I are nearly done with our Christmas shopping! Now I can focus on helping Nanny & Poppa with their Christmas shopping. I even have wrapped presents under the tree, which is one of my favorite things about the holidays. I love giving gifts and having wrapped presents under the tree (I'm super pumped about some of the Christmas gifts we're giving).

It's officially the holiday season. AND.I.LOVE.IT!

Busy Weekend

2010-11-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

Thursday Sandi & I want up to Auburn, Washington to visit her great nephew, Tyler. Kristen, Kyle's oldest cousin, & Dave's baby... he was born October 11th. And he is such a cutie and a good baby. I don't think I really heard him fussy the entire time we were there.

Saturday night was the 1st annual (of course I'm turning this into a tradition!!!) Hockey Family Fakesgiving (our Thanksgiving before the real one). Can you believe I didn't take any pictures of the party. But I did take a picture of the leeks I was cutting up. I've never cooked with leeks before and thought they were very pretty.

It was potluck style, but Kyle and I made:
Prime Rib, recipe here
Potato Leek Gratin, recipe here
Apple Bread w/ Carmel Sauce, a current favorite
Hot Apple Cider w/ Goldschlager
Hot Chocolate w/ Peppermint Schnapps

We had so much food & drinks! People brought appetizers, salad, rolls, vegetable dishes and of course lots of beer. It was the first time I had cooked a prime rib and I couldn't have asked for it to turn out any better! We didn't have a single morsel left, I'm fairly certain Kyle fed the last tiny piece to Holly.

Holly's favorite dog store (Hip Hound) moved... we were in the neighborhood on Sunday so stopped in and got Holly a new toy... so far she thinks it's a great chin rest.

Antique Finds

2010-11-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

Adding to my serving pieces and jadeite...

Bad pictures. Good finds!

I'm planning a dinner for our hockey friends and am sure that I'll be using at least one of these new pieces!

Happy 102nd Birthday Grandma Pearl

2010-11-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Thursday, November 4th - Grandma Pearl's 102nd Birthday

Can you believe it!?!?

I am so blessed to have my Grandma Pearl in my life now for 24 years. She is, in every way, the true definition of a Christian woman. I have always used the expression "she looks at the world with rose colored glasses" to describe her. Her optimism and love for everyone shines. She has a love for life but doesn't fear the future.

She nurtured my love for baking, I still remember my first baking lesson (creaming butter and sugar), She took me on my first garage sale adventures around Port Angeles, WA and shared with me the joys of entertaining family & friends with her famous Saturday breakfasts and New Year parties. These are just a few of the many things that she has given to me... so many memories that I will cherish always! But my favorite of all time is Grandma Pearl's reminder to me about loving people and especially family... "they can't help it and we love them anyways" is what she is quick to remind anyone who speaks ill of anyone else.

She is an inspiration. And if I can live half the life she has it will be worth-while.

SO - with Grandma's birthday coming up I wanted to do something fun for her, and I figured you still need party favors even when you're turning 102! With my mom's help we baked chocolate chip cookies and packaged them to give to the people at her party...

And we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day, it was warm and sunny! I was having some serious camera technical difficulties so these are just a few of the pictures...

Uncle Russ & Grandma Pearl

Me & Grandma Pearl

My Mom, Tracey, the Puggers, & Uncle Russ

Blowing out the candles...

Aunt Joni & Me

Enjoying birthday cake!

Fall Harvest Bread Recipes

2010-11-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

As promised...

Apple Quick Bread with Oatmeal-Walnut Crumble and Caramel Sauce

From, of course, Martha.

Then the Ginger Pumpkin Bread...

Martha again.

Lastly - Zucchini Bread

Paula Dean this time - see I do mix it up sometimes!

For my next baking adventures I'm thinking about making individual pies, I think it's also time I master the decorated sugar cookie and I want to try macaroons. Does anyone have a good macaroon recipe?

Another Weekend

2010-10-31T23:49:00.000-07:00

I've been using my family as taste testers for several new bread recipes. I was doing this because I had decided to share with family & friends some harvest baking... and I NEVER give away a new recipe. Same with when I have people over - I NEVER try a new recipe. That is not the time. You try new recipes when it's your close family, so if it's inedible you don't feel bad throwing it out and ordering a pizza (knock on wood - that hasn't happened to me yet). And if you give away a new recipe then how do you know how it was?!?! Because even if it's bad I'm not sure you'd get the honest truth! So anyways, over the past 2 weeks I have been trying out a new zucchini, apple and pumpkin bread. All 3 passed the test... and this weekend I baked 5 batches of bread which yielded 16 mini loaves.

I made them in the paper liners (from Sur La Table)...

Then put the bread in a cellophane polka-dot bag, closed it with a twist tie, and added an acorn shaped tag wishing everyone who received this treat a Happy Harvest! Because I made several different types of bread on the back of the tag I wrote what flavor it was, also if it contained nuts (to avoid allergy confusion).

Also this weekend - girls adventure with my Mom & Sandi! I am incredible lucky to call both my mom & mother-in-law a best friend, and it's the honest truth. There is close to nothing that I wouldn't confide to either one of them... to which I am very thankful. And it was such a fun day! We started with breakfast in West Moreland and then antiquing in Sellwood.

And who could have guessed that the one who thought she would NOT find anything would be the first one to make a purchase!

Halloween 2010: Ahna on the left and Kyle on the right :), we went as each other! I even rocked the roller skates with the hockey jersey & stick, which was an adventure... but since I didn't break anything I will consider it a success. Kyle is my hospital scrubs and of course my Ducks scrub hat (celebrating the defeat of USC earlier in the evening).

Recipes & my antique purchases to come.

THE BEST WEEKEND

2010-10-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

I had the best weekend...

Thursday I got my hair cut and discovered the most AMAZING tea, while at Dosha. It's Aveda, they just serve it at Dosha. SO GOOD! I'm obsessed and have pretty much been drinking it non-stop all weekend.

Then, I went to lunch with Mom & Richie, a quick shopping trip with Mom and dinner with Sandi (the guys - Scott & Kyle - were at the Duck game... they won!). And I'll admit, I bought my first baby thing while shopping Thursday with my Mom. I couldn't help myself. I didn't tell Kyle and am still undecided about posting a picture... I tucked it away, for some day. It's just a little onsie, but it's amazing and like I said I couldn't help myself. I was cracking myself up while making the purchase at Baby Gap and probably weirded out the guy ringing me up, but there I was buying something at Baby Gap and I don't have a baby!!! But it was worth it.

Friday Kyle and I had an amazing adventure (with the puggers of course), but I'll post most about that later.

I made zucchini bread. Last weekend we took Sofie & August up to Morton, WA to visit Grandma Pearl. She had been giving this huge zucchini and didn't have anything to do with it. So I made her bread and sent it to her.

I had a TON of shredded zucchini, so on Saturday when I went to Nanny & Poppa's house I made them some bread too! And - believe it or not - I STILL have shredded zucchini left. So I'm thinking I'll make more bread. Or maybe find a soup recipe that I can put it in, that'd be good. Mom & I went to Nappy & Poppa's on Saturday to visit and also do some cleaning. I also met up with a friend for coffee and then Kyle and I made a great dinner at home.

I finally took pictures of my fall decorating... it's all been up for a couple of weeks now, just hadn't gotten around to taking pictures.

I decorate for fall/harvest/Thanksgiving. Not so much Halloween (this is the only Halloween specific decor I have). I don't have time to redecorate for all the specifics during the pre-Christmas seasons. I want decorations that can stay up come Fall all the way until I decorate for Christmas (Thanksgiving weekend).

My one real pumpkin this year... this picture totally doesn't give it justice though. It's a vintage Cinderella pumpkin. And I'm not making that up - that's the species or whatever.

Kyle and I had to get new mugs this weekend for our new tea obsession (Kyle's into it too)... if your mug is too small it throws off the seeping of the tea bags and such (in my exprience, which I'm not a tea expert... so you may not want to listen to me - but I just find that it's better with a bigger mug).

Kyle's new mug:

My mug:

Yeah - that's right -- I have a giraffe mug. It's awesome.

PS - All this while on call for work this weekend. People have been wondering how work has been going... and it's going. Not bad, not great, hoping it will continue to get better. That's it. For now hopefully.

Are you thinking about Christmas yet?

2010-10-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

I AM!!!

So this weekend I spent an embarrassing number of hours searching for our 2010 Christmas card... I do this every year and I don't know why. You'd think this was the last year I'd ever get to send one out, it's just always an ordeal for me to find the perfect one. And the funny thing is - the picture, I don't even think is the best of me... but I ordered it because I had to move on with my life!!!

The next thing to do with them is the xmas letter... which I'm going to scale back this year. With out giving too much away I'll be just doing it on the back of our photo card. Maybe with some of the amazing holiday papers from Paper Source... my favorite is this:

I LOVE PEPPERMINT! But I'm not going to think about that part until the photo cards come... and then take them into Paper Source and go from there. Oh and yes - this does mean - I am NOT hand making each xmas card this year. But I haven't decided yet on the gift tags for the treats I always deliver, maybe I'll hand make something for that. I'm considering using this...

Then, the last thing I'm thinking about is holiday return address labels... I do always love going with the pug theme... although I just bought these... for gift tags:

So normally I make my own gift tags too, which is super great because then I can pre-print Kyle & my names in the from section. But I saw these and could NOT resist! I bought every packet that my Pier 1 Imports store had!!!

In fear of becoming the crazy pug lady I'm thinking I'll go a different direction for the return address labels for the holidays... I like these:

From here.

I love the holidays!

What has been going on?

2010-10-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

SO! I started my regular schedule at work. And that's pretty much the biggest news that I have... so far the verdict is still out in regards to the schedule. I love (and I mean LOVE) having 4 days off in a row, but 1100-2330 = eh, not so much.

What else have we been doing?

Routing on the Ducks... I went with Kyle to the Stanford game.

I have been decorating for fall/harvest/Halloween. Ferdie thinks he made a friend here with the decor. More pictures to come.

Holly being Holly. Today she's getting her teeth cleaned at the vet, poor girl. She had to be put under a general anesthetic for that (put to sleep - in non-medical lingo... even though it's really not going to sleep, but I won't get into that). I get to pick her up in a few hours and I cannot wait.

Last weekend we had a little dinner party, with Nathan, Jamie and Jack. After dinner we played Mario Party, pretty much a classic after dinner activity at our house when we have people over.

The game was getting a little intense for poor Jackers, so he was hiding...

And yesterday, day 1 of my 4 days, Mom and I (YES - she is finally home from Greece, it felt like forever but now my parents are home) went to the pumpkin patch. Oh and Holly came too!

We tried so hard to get Holly to show her face in the hole, but it scared her...

Holly was fascinated by the pigs... curly tail just like her!

My First Call Weekend @ Good Sam

2010-09-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

Today starts my first call weekend at Good Sam. Call works a little different than it did at WVMC, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. They have 2 different shifts that divide up the call, so you don't have the entire weekend (which I think is going to be super nice). The other difference is that Friday is included in the weekend. Normally I'll take night call but this weekend, since I'm orienting, I'll be taking day call.

So for this weekend:
Friday 1530 (so the end of my regular shift) - 2300
Saturday 0600 - 1900
Sunday 0600 - 1900

But my usual weekends will be night call:
Friday 2200 - 0700 (Sat.)
Saturday 1800 - 0700 (Sun.)
Sunday - 1800 - 0700 (Mon. - so the start of my shift)

Then weeknight call doesn't rotate, you just have a set day. So I will always be on call Wednesday nights. So that will start when my shift is finished (scheduled for 2300, but if I get off early my call will just start whenever I'm off) until 0730 Thursday morning.

I was putting all my weekends into the calendar (they work on the fiscal calendar, so I know my call through March 2011) and it seems like I am taking a lot of call... in the next 7 months I have 7 weekends of call, which doesn't sound great. But I think that once I start my regular schedule it will be worth it. Also, I am not sure how much I will actually be called in while on call - so that will make a huge difference.... since I can be at HOME while on call!!!

Just in case you didn't hear - the shift I decided on is Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday 1100 - 2330. This is starting October 11th.

Getting Through Friday, Some Things That Help

2010-09-17T06:29:00.000-07:00

1 It's a year from today, September 17 (2011), that my best friend Allegra will be getting married! She was one of my bridesmaids and I feel blessed to be Kevin and her wedding. We met in the 6th grade, sat by each other in band playing the clarinet through high school and went to OSU together. She's vacationed with my family and we've shared a few firsts together. We met when we were 11 and our friendship has grown along with each of us.

Our Guys (Kevin & Kyle)

2 I mean, right?

3 In 203 days I'll be laying by this pool in Kauai for an entire week. It's not too early to start counting down... right?

Happy 1 Year Anniversary

2010-09-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been a year since Kyle & my wedding. We both have the most wonderful memories of our wedding. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of our wedding and everything surrounding it... I loved the planning, the wedding work parties, soliciting Kyle's help with craft projects, the showers and parties, cake tasting, and spending guiltless hours reading wedding blogs! I especially loved spending so much time with my friends and family in preparation for the wedding and during all the celebrations. Everything was perfect.

We spent our first anniversary at one of our favorite places - the Oregon coast. We stayed in Cannon Beach. And it was the most beautiful weekend... sunny & warm. We spent a lot of time walking the beach. We also watched the Duck game (Go Ducks!) and did a lot of relaxing. We at lots of cupcakes, drank champagne and Holly ate lots of treats!

The view from our room...

Around town...

Holly waiting for Kyle to come back with our morning coffee and pastries...

At the beach...

Thank you to everyone for all of your support and love over this past year, and throughout Kyle & my relationship. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family.

Start of Week 3

2010-08-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the start of my third week at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital.

Things are defiantly still a work in progress but I'm learning and the most important thing is that I think things will be OK there.

The last two weeks has been a crazy busy whirlwind. Kyle was out of town for work for a few days. We had some friends stay with us while passing through Portland. And I haven't even caught up with the laundry from our Alaska trip! Well... that's almost not true - the last two loads are in the washer and dryer right now! And the ironing is ALL DONE, with exception for the last two loads... which is super exciting.

So the last two weeks my new job has been keeping me busy. It's a lot like I thought - similar to my old work just everything is busier and on a larger scale (15 ORs instead of 4). And the people are nice, I just need to get to know people and that takes time. They have residents and fellow, which I'm not used to working with. I'm sure I'll eventually find the slow pace that comes along with teaching and learning daunting but right now - since I'm learning - I LOVE it! The other difference is that I'm scrubbing into cases a lot more. So far I've done mostly scrubbing. It's really a good thing, because it's what I'm weaker at (in comparison to circulating) but it's forced me to buying 2 more text books and really hit them hard every night going over my cases for the next day.

Anyways, so far so good... and I hope it stays that way. I definitely miss my old work but this will be a good move, I just need to give it time.

Alaska Finale, Wedding Weekend

2010-08-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Pre-rehearsal mouse scouting...

VICTORY

Rehearsal dinner...

The Wedding Day... at the guys homebase...

Wedding Time

We had such a great time in Alaska and are so thankful to Dave & Nikki for including us in all our their wedding activities. If it weren't for them I am not sure what else would have got us up to Alaska. We're very happy for Dave & Nikki, they are wonderful together. It is so comforting to me knowing that Kyle and I have such great friends that will surround us throughout our lives. This trip was just one more reminder of that.

More Alaska

2010-08-24T05:14:00.000-07:00

Let's see... where did I leave off...

Seward, AK

Our first day we took an all day long boat cruise to see the glaciers...

And we also saw lots of great animals, seals...

Humpback Whale

Getting closer to the glacier, lots of ice in the water...

Glacier

Part of the glacier falling into the water...

Orcas

Lots of birds...

Sea Lions

Our Vessel

The next day we didn't have anything scheduled so we explored Seward.

Our first stop: Exit Glacier

Practicing "getting big" in case we had to fight off a bear...

Then we went to a Iditarod dog kennel. The owner of this kennel has won the race before, and it's an entire family operation. The most amazing thing about this entire place was the noise. Not to much noise - UNTIL they started bringing out the harnesses. Once the dogs saw the hardnesses they went crazy and it was so loud. But then as soon as they started pulling - silence!

Puppy!!!

Summer sled ride...

These carts weigh 1,000 alone, not to mention the 9 people riding along!

Seward Sea Life Center

And lastly: a great king crab dinner.

On our way back to Anchorage, the next day, we stopped by a wildlife refuge.

Alaska, Part 1

2010-08-22T22:15:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Alaska was great! And we have so many pictures, that it will have to be a several part series.

The main reason for going to Alaska was for Dave & Nikki's wedding. Dave, Kyle's college roommate and good friend, relocated to AK post-law school. Nikki is from AK. We flew, with Brent & Erin - our travel partners - into Alaska on Friday evening and it just happened to be Dave's birthday. We all went to the Moose's Tooth.

Dave, Kyle & Brent

The next day, on our way out of Anchorage, we drove up to Hatcher's Pass. We did some hiking and had lunch. This area was an old gold mine.

The guys pretending what they might do if they saw a bear and would have to use the bear spray...

The rest of Saturday we drove to Danali National Park. We stayed just outside of the park and EARLY Sunday morning we boarded a bus for our all day tour into the park. We saw all "the big 5," animals as they call it - bear, elk, caribou, doll sheep, and wolf. And we saw Mt. McKinley (or Denali), and so we had the "grand sweep."

Our first glimpse at Mt. McKinley

The horns were super heavy...

Only 10% of visitors to Denali actually get to see the mountain. Usually it is not clear enough and the mountain is hidden in the clouds.

On our way out of town the next day we stopped at the park sign...

We spent Monday driving to Seward, AK.

Here It Goes

2010-08-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

So - Kyle and I have been in Alaska for the past 10 days.

And it was a huge transition time for me, because if you hadn't heard - before we left for Alaska I had my last day of work at Willamette Valley Medical Center. And now we're back and I'm starting my new job with Legacy at Good Samaritan Hospital (LGSH). I'm still going to be in the operating room, now I'll just be close to home.

Many people at WVMC asked me why I left and I felt good telling them it was honestly only about the commute. I loved working at that hospital, I had learned so much and know that I could have continued to grow there. I loved the people I worked with there and will always remember the impact they had on growing my nursing and OR career. But I have had an hour commute for over 3 years and it was starting to take a toll on me. Unfortunately, since the commute was my only reason for leaving it made it more difficult. I left a very good thing and that is hard to do! I can only hope that I am going somewhere just as great.

So I used Alaska as my transition. I read books for fun and also some leadership/working in a group books. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I was going to make the best of my move to LGSH and I'm not going to lie - I also spent time with butterflies in my stomach.

And now we're home and I'm starting my new job! Really - we just got back... Monday morning at 5am. We got home, I showered and then turned around to drive to my first day. Thankfully it was only new employee orientation. I made it through the day with only 3 hours of airplane sleep, with the help of 2 trips to Starbucks.

But tomorrow is the real day of truth - it's my first day in the actual OR, where I'll be working. My butterflies seem to have flown away, although I haven't tried to go to sleep yet. I'm hoping that my lack of sleep over the past 2 days will erase any problems I have sleeping tonight.

So tomorrow it all starts. Pray for me.

Preview of Alaska:

Cousin Kristen's Baby Shower

2010-08-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Sandi and I threw a baby shower for Kyle's cousin Kristen. She is expecting a boy, Tyler Andrew, on October 14th. While planning the baby shower I thought it would be fun to use things that Kristen registered for as decorations. There were so many cute ideas that it was so hard to decide what exactly to do. But with the help of Sandi (my co-host) and my Mom we put on a great shower!

The theme: airplanes!

The Hosts

Diaper Cake, decorated with items from the registry

Personalized picture frame that Kristen registered for, then I filled the empty spaces with a fun message to see until they fill each space with pictures

The table, also with our baby shower game prizes

Garland on the mantel, with circle cut outs keeping with the theme of airplanes and also the new initials

The Food

Circle shaped BLT+Swiss+Avocado sandwiches

Prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe

Cucumber (made into cups to hold the salad) & Crab Salad

Fruit Tray

Dessert: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Brownie Bites with Peanut Butter Frosting

Banana Bites with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Drinks: Berry Punch Spritzer

The entire spread

The items for one of the games we played, our guests got to test how accurate their pricing was of common baby items... which is a super fun game with women who haven't purchased baby items in awhile.

The presents

Kristen & her mom Sue

Beach Adventure

2010-07-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

Sandi, Holly & I went to the beach on Saturday...

That's funny... in the last picture you can see the shadow of my hand holding the camera.

Anyways, it was really great to get away for the day. Kyle and Scott were away golfing for the day, so us girls went to the beach! We started in Pacific City and worked out way north for Cannon Beach, then we headed home. It was a great day, relaxing and great chatting. Not to mention entertaining with Holly... she has so much fun at the beach, she just LOVES it!

Jadite

2010-07-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

I first saw jadeite here.
I got my first two jadeite pieces here.

And now I add to my collection...

For my birthday Nanny & Poppa got me two beautiful pieces...
A candy dish:

And another bowl, this one is low and has a larger circumference... right now I am using it as a fruit bowl.

Then a couple of weeks ago I answered an add on Craigslist for jadeite. I bought a couple more pieces, for a GREAT deal from a lady who was selling her grandmother's collection (idiot lady I think, but good for me)...

A larger bowl...

Also, a platter and 4 more bowls that match my two original pieces (so now I have 6 matching)...

AND THEN...
I found this for a great deal on EBay. Ok, well maybe not such a great deal because I thought it was going to be much larger than it actually is. But I'd been wanting this milk pitcher since I originally saw the jadeite. I thought it would be more the size of a glass juice pitcher but it's much smaller than that, maybe it would hold enough milk for two bowls full of cereal? Anyways, it turns out fine because I think it will look super cute with some white flowers in it. And maybe a sauce? I'm sure I'll put it to great use.

The pieces that I'm interested in buying are saucers and egg cups, to do THIS project, which I'm super excited about but am trying to save money right now...so it will be awhile.

Jacksonville, Florida

2010-07-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

I had a great time in Jacksonville, visiting Grayson, Brad & Amanda...
Here are the pictures:

We went to visit a huge, old tree...

Visiting Brad's work...

Learning about helicopters...

Mom & Richie have a lot of pictures too, some of swimming and lots more of playing. They've posted a lot on their facebook pages, so be sure to check those out.

Would be fun to try this...

2010-07-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen this?

Painted or wallpaper the back of your book shelf. I saw it here. And I like it. I think I like the wallpaper best, with the right paper for the space it would be great! This idea is definitely going into my idea file.

On my way...

2010-07-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

All of Kyle's clothes are clean, ironed and put away.

Holly's vitamin days are circled on the calendar.

I picked up my presale items from Nordstrom.

Upgraded my seat to first class.

And now I'm ready to see my nephew!

Jacksonville Florida here I come.

I'm looking forward to these 5 days off!

Happy 53rd Anniversary

2010-07-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

to my Nanny & Poppa

Love seems the swiftest but it is the slowest of all growths...

No man really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century. (Mark Twain)

And you've passed that by many years...

And raised a beautiful family...

And been many places...

And been loved by so many...

And we've celebrated good times...

And have cried together through the tough times...

To your family, you've given so much...

And for that we are all so thankful...

Thankful that 53 years ago you promised to love each other...

Until the twelfth of never and that's a long, long time.

Your wedding was many years ago,

but the celebration continues today.

Enjoying the Weather

2010-07-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

When I'm On Call

2010-07-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

Some people have asked what I do while I'm on call... well it really depends on how much I'm working. This weekend, though, I didn't work too much.

Saturday - I get to Mac around 7am. I worked out (I have a punch card to a gym in town, but since it was nice weather outside I ran the track that we have behind the hospital around the parking lot). Then I showered and went to Starbucks to read. I was waiting for it to get a little nicer outside, then I'd move outside.

I finished: The Piano Teacher, which was super good and I highly recommend.

Once it became a little warmer outside I went back to the hospital. The back of the hospital has staff parking, which a track around it and it's also landscaped and has some grassy areas. It's fairly quiet. So I took a blanket out there and kept reading. I started Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Then Mom and Richard came for dinner. Afterward I watched the special Boston Med, on Hulu.

Saturday I didn't work.

Sunday we had a case in the morning, which we were told about Saturday night. That finished up around noon and I raced to the gym. Since it was the 4th of July they closed early, but I figured an hour was worth the trip. BUT I got paged after only being there for 40 minutes! So then I worked until around 5. After that Kyle, Mikey, and Kelsey came out for dinner! We went out for pizza and I showed them around the hospital. So that pretty much sums up the weekend... after they left I did some reading, watched tv, and then came home Monday morning.

It's funny, I didn't work that much but I still went home Monday morning and slept most of the day!

Oh yah... one other thing that I do while I'm on call is read new blogs... here are a few sites that I've recently found:

Great Jewelry

The Pleated Poppy Blog

Jones Design Company

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

I'm working this weekend, so I'm stuck in Mac.
Kyle's in a golf tourney.
Holly & Ferdie are holding down the fort at home.

The End of June

2010-06-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

Last week Sofie came to stay with Kyle and me. For the first couple of days her pug, Rhino, came too. She came to work for Scott & Sandi at Impact Sign Co. helping them move into their new location.

Going to pick up Sofie from work...

Holly & Rhino

Rhino watching TV with Kyle...

While Sofie was here we took her out for crepes, pizza on the east side and sushi.

One day after work we took Rhino and Holly over to Scott & Sandi's house to run in the back yard...

Then, the grand finale of the time Sofie spent with us was going to see the midnight premier showing of Eclipse. Mom, Ali, Sofie and I camped out starting at 8pm with what felt like every tween girl in the area... But it was worth it. Eclipse was super good!!!

It was really great to be able to spend so much time with Sofie.... it was a great week and a half.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T00:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day, to...

My Poppa

My Dad

My Richie

And Big Scott

You know your favorite pictures... the ones you use to mark the page in your book, the ones that remind you of such great memories. These are some of mine. It's not that I remember being a baby, and dancing with my Poppa - but when I look at that picture it reminds me of all the amazing memories I have of him. These pictures all do that for me. They remind me of all the best things about each my Poppa, Dad, Richie & Scott.

Happy Father's Day - to 4 very different men who have all touched my life in such special ways.

Thank you for being you.

Thank you for loving me.

My Birthday Weekend Recap

2010-06-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

I had a great 4 day weekend for my birthday!

Friday: Spa day with my Mom. Mani, pedi and massage! Later that day was an Intel celebration. His old group was throwing him a farewell since he's transitioning into his new position.

Saturday: Started with a trip to the Beaverton Farmer's Market (my favorite farmers market!) and we mostly just relaxed the rest of the day. But then in the evening went out...

Ready to party!

Dinner at Veritable Quandry

Presents... pretty much had a theme: Burberry & J Crew

Amazing Burberry shoes, that actually don't fit and they don't make in a bigger size... which I've decided is discrimination. It's not right and I'm still pouting about it because they are the most perfect shoe.

From Kyle... the most amazing crossbody Burberry bag!

This shirt represents the many I got from J Crew.

New workout shoes. I know what you may be thinking: why on earth did she want those? she just went to the Nike employee store. Well - Nike shoes are great, but I can't workout in them. Their toe box is too small or tight or something... but they just don't work for me. Asics are my love when it comes to working out.

Jamie & Nathan

Mom & Jamie

Happy Birthday!

Me & Kyle

Sunday was another day of relaxing. We took advantage of the nice weather this weekend and went on lots of walks. But we also did a lot of laying around the house!

On Monday Mom and I went to Nanny & Poppa's house. We worked on my birthday present to Nanny - spiffying up the front porch with new planter boxes and flowers. We also defrosted their frost freezer.... which - LET.ME.TELL.YOU - was a job. When Mom asked me to help I had know idea what I was getting myself into! But it's done now and it looks great! And we helped clean out a bunch of stuff, so it was a good day!

So far 24 hasn't felt too different from 23. I'll let you know if that feeling changes.

Celebrating is hard work...

2010-06-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

But somebody's got to do it.
Kyle's rotating.
Graduation parties.
And...
Oh yeah...
My birthday!

Before & After - Finally!

2010-06-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile now, but I changed the wall decor over the couch. I was getting tired of our wrought iron candle holder thing. Although I still like it, and am keeping it for another time and space - we just needed something new.

This is what we had up:

As seen in our house here... (and YES - the only picture I could find of the decor was when we were having Kyle's work party and everyone was playing rock band!)

The change started like this...

It took awhile for the decor to come together but I think now we've got it...

On the buffet:

Have you seen the new TV?

Organizing My Recipes

2010-06-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

Over the last few years I have been very indecisive about how to organize my recipes.

Things to consider:

I have a healthy collection of recipes that are favorites.
I subscribe to several magazines that I save promising recipes from. And I save a lot, the pile was growing to be unmanageable.
Not all recipes from the above mention collection are keepers. Kyle vetoes probably a third of them.
When I cook I usually make a mess of the recipe I'm reading from.
How on earth do people fit recipes on those little 3x5 cards - it doesn't work. My hand writing is too big and I'm skilled when it comes to double sided printing on odd shaped items.

I had tried the 3x5 recipe card thing - it doesn't work. But I do have 2 very cute storage boxes now, that are currently empty and have the sole purpose of looking cute on the bookshelf.

I also had tried a 3-ring binder, using sleeve protectors and slipping recipes into those that I had taken from magazines. Not a fan of this, no good reason really.

So THEN, I started a filing system. Lots of categories, so it is easy to find what I'm looking for. I have a small file area away from all of our household files dedicated to my recipes. My only problem with this was - how do I keep my favorite recipes (the ones that are guaranteed winners) from the new ones!?!? So for awhile I separated them with in the file. But this didn't solve the problem of me making a mess with the recipes that I use over and over again.

Final solution - keep the file system for the new recipes. Ones that I have yet to make, or that I've made but we're still not sure if it's a favorite and will probably need to make it once more to be certain if it's a keeper or not. Then, with my recipes that will be keeps forever... I've put them all onto the computer! This is the perfect solution to me spilling milk and lemon curd all over the recipe. My electronic recipe cards are 8 1/2 x 11, the size of a sheet of paper - for easy printing. I designed a letter head for the top, to add a little fancy. With some of my older recipes I typed them in. But then with some of my magazine favorites I made friends with my scanner. The other place I get my recipes, online, are the easiest ones to create - just copy and paste!

Now I have a permanent place to keep my recipes. I can access them when I want, print them off as needed and when I try a new recipe (from my easy to find, organized by main ingredient file system) that's a keeper I'll move it into the computer.

I'm really happy with this system so far. It did take me a LONG time to create all my favorites. But now that I'll just be adding a few recipes at a time it will be more manageable. Maybe someday I'll want to print off all of my recipes to have in an actual tangible book. But right now I like them being on the computer, there when I need them, out of sight all the other times. I have enough cookbooks, I don't need my collection of favorites on display too.

Recipe letter head...

Example of typed recipe...

Example of scanned magazine recipe...

Example of recipe from online...

One year ago today...

2010-06-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

One year ago today was my first day of work at Willamette Valley Medical Center.

I have talked a small amount on the blog about what I do in the operating room (OR), but I wonder if people really even get it?!?! If you want to refresh, on a very elementary level, about two of the roles I can take at work, look here. So, then I was thinking - maybe I should really take an in depth look into surgical nursing, really help give people an appreciation for the OR and why I love it.... AND.THEN.I.FOUND.THIS.

This may not exactly explain to you why I love the OR, but it does a GREAT job explaining my daily work. Really. This is all you need, not an in depth looking into my specialty choice within the nursing profession.

Personal high points of the year? There have been a few... in regards to scrubbing - I would have to say scrubbing a c-section independently. I remember being very proud of myself for that. As far as circulating goes, which is what I do most often... I am not sure that I can name anything in particular. I was named on 2 patient satisfaction surveys this past year - which - LET.ME.TELL.YOU - actually doesn't happen too often in the OR. By the time we see our patients they are super nervous for surgery, get great drugs, and then are too foggy when they wake up to know what's going on. So that was good. Other than that my high points are less tangible events that happen on a daily basis... things that show me I am progressing as an OR nurse. Lastly, I figured someone thinks I'm doing a good job since I've started helping train new employees and students.

Low points - having inaccurate sponge & needle counts always sucks. It's happened to me 2x (well, I guess 3 but I don't count the last one - which sounds BAD, right? but really). So - 2x. Then I found this...

And so I'm thinking - if we just blame the patient, then really it wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Biggest surprise...

Starting this job I considered it my first "real job." I've had plenty of other jobs before, but this was my first job in which I had to obtain special training and certification in order to do the job (RN, BSN), so it just felt more real than any of my other jobs. This was my adult job. So I thought about the adults I knew with so called real jobs... my parents... etc. And when I started working it was obvious to me that everything I had thought in the past was inaccurate and - GET THIS - not all people who work (what I now call) so called real jobs are like my parents!!!

It makes me laugh really. What was I thinking?

The things that people talk about at my work and the jokes they tell - I PRAY my parents did not partake in such discussions with their coworkers. And the financial decision, people blowing their money on this or that.

I suppose this only underlines the fact that I grew up very sheltered. But please, do not think I am saying this in a bad way. I thank my parents for that everyday. But really - what was I thinking? I honestly work with great people, but what did I think they'd be like my parents?

Let's see... I've covered my highs and lows of work, also my biggest surprise. I think that's all. Anything else that you want to know?

Looking back on where I've been in the past year I am most proud of how my confidence has improved as a nurse. I also know that despite learning so much, everyday I must challenge myself to seize the opportunity to learn more. If I do not take advantage of these opportunities I am not striving to become the best nurse I know I can be. I'm still uncertain if the OR will be the specialty where I spend my entire career, but that's another thing I've learned, and am still working to internalize - sometimes you need to work and see where your career takes you (instead of working to take your career where you think it should go). I'm not sure if my non-nursing readers will get that - or maybe you will, maybe it applies to your field too, or all fields of work. It just seems, in nursing, that new opportunities or career paths are presented not necessarily because they were sought out but because of a growing reputation of nursing greatness.

With that said, my goals for this coming year:

Take advantage of opportunities to scrub, not turning them down by choosing another assignment, but taking the challenge and pushing myself to feel comfortable scrubbing.
Be prepared to take the exam to become a certified OR nurse, which I am eligible for once I have worked 2 year in the OR.
Focus on working, not thoughts of going back to school or where my career might taking me but really lock into the goal of mastery in my current position.
Improve my skills as a trainer and teacher.

My First Jadeite

2010-05-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Remember my post awhile back about jadeite?

I had been looking for my first pieces of jadeite on ebay but hadn't found anything that I really loved. But then I was going through some cupboards in my Nanny & Poppa's garage... and look what I found!!!

My first fire king jadeite - 2 small bowls. It's hard to see the color, I took the pictures on my phone. But they are the perfect color of jadeite green and they are in great condition! I was so excited to find them. Also, Nanny is going to ask around to her friends to see if they have any in storage that they don't want anymore. What a find!

What's inside really IS what matters!

2010-05-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

Cute shoes, right?

Look inside...

One word - DREAMY!

Did you realize that UGG made shoes other than the typical boot and slipper that you see everyone wearing, both of which I already own and wear proudly. Yes - I wear my UGG boots and slippers with pride because I love them and they are dreamy. Trust me - if you tried it - you'd agree.

Anyways, what is something I hate about cute flats - not wearing socks with them --- automatically makes them uncomfortable. These shoes SOLVE that problem! Keeping with tradition - I wear these UGGs without socks too. And they ARE dreamy!

Crater Lake Weekend

2010-05-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

Our long weekend at Crater Lake...

We stayed at Steamboat Inn, in a room right on the river. Here I am on the deck...

The room was very small, but perfect for the two of us...

The bed did leave a little to be desired. I'm realizing the down side to having the most dreamy bed at home is that I'm less able to sleep anywhere (which I used to be great at). I'm blaming it on the dreamy bed at home because my other fear - Is that an old age thing? Yikes.

Driving to Crater Lake...

Diamond Lake... We had just seen a picture Mom posted on facebook of a snowman she built on her and Richie's trip. So Kyle build one too...

At Crater Lake, we're standing in the space between the rim and Wizard Island...

On the drive home we stopped to see some waterfalls...

Kyle playing around with the shutter speed...

The Umpqua River...

We both had such a great weekend. We did a lot of reading, relaxing and chatting. And believe.it.or.not Kyle did JUST FINE not having a TV!

FORGET THAT!

2010-05-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

So if you follow me on Facebook you have read about my ironing, or attempts to. With the help of my Mom I have transformed Kyle & my closets... they once where completely wrinkled - I would do the wash, hang up wrinkled clothes and if you wanted to wear something wrinkly you had to iron it first. What did that yield - never wearing anything that needed ironing. But now -- EVERYTHING in the closet is pressed, wrinkle free and ready to wear.

Now I'm in the maintenance mode. The only things that need ironing are the things that we wear.

WELL

Since Kyle has been wearing more dress shirts - I want to KILL myself. I hate ironing, I suck at it and his stupid dress shirts - 1. take me forever and 2. don't even look that great when I'm finished.

SO - FORGET THAT!

Starting this week I'll be taking his dress shirts to the cleaners.

It's worth the $1.65 (that's the price I seem to be finding around) and they even use starch for no extra charge. That would put the weekly cost at an average of $5.75 per week (Kyle doesn't always wear dress shirts, he also wears golf shirts). That's for 7 shirts every 2 weeks. So - so be more precise $11.55. So I timed myself. Right now, because of my amateur skills, it takes me an average of 15 minutes to iron one of his dress shirts. That's 105 minutes (1 hour and 45 minutes) - for 11.55! My time is worth more than that!

I will continue to iron our other clothes: my tops (which I don't have many of because I wear sweats to work), pants, shorts, Kyle's under shirts and the occasional Kyle golf shirt that I don't pull out of the dryer soon enough.

And now my dilemma - what cleaners?!?! Anyone in my area with suggestions? See - the thing is... I've ALWAYS gone to Norge's (the place my 7-11 on 185th) and I love that place. But I think that it's going to get old to drive there for the cleaners. Since my parents moved and both sets of parents are now at the Bethany exit I NEVER use the 185th exit off the freeway, well except to go to the cleaners. There is a cleaners across Cornell from us, but they haven't received very good reviews online. And I've thought about the cleaners that will pick up and delivery - my only concession with that is --- HAVE YOU EVER SEEN OUR FRONT DOOR? It's basically a swamp. So how on earth would our clothes stay clean once they've been pressed?

Holiday

2010-05-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

This morning Kyle and I are leaving for a holiday! We're spending 3 days on the Umpqua River. It's 40 minutes east of Roseburg and about 40 minutes north of Crater Lake. We're staying at Steamboat Inn.

We're looking forward to exploring Crater Lake, somewhere we both have never been. But we're also really looking forward to a few days of rest and relaxation. Kyle has been super busy at work and just took his GMAT (entrance exam for business graduate school). And I just finished a weekend of call, where I logged a massive amount of hours. Because of all the things we've had going on we also haven't seen much of each other, so it will be great to have the time together. It's nice to think of having the entire weekend together, with really no plans.

See you after the weekend.

Mother's Day, Part 2 of 3

2010-05-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of 3 because:

Part 1 of 3 - Kyle, Holly, & Ferdie surprising me with a card and a treat. No pictures.
Part 3 of 3 - We haven't celebrated with Sandi yet. That's to come.

So, here is Part 2 of 3 at Casa Del Matador celebrating Mother's Day with my Mom.

Keeping up the tradition of photo documentation for every gift received in my family.

Kyle and I got my Mom a panini press (not an electric kind, but the kind that goes on the stove) and also a measuring cup food scale (I know, right? It's cool. It's both things in one. I want one!). Did you know that a food scale is the only proper way to measure flour. It's true.

Of all Mother's Days in the past I'm certain that this was an important one. Technically my Mom isn't in the sandwich generation, because that would mean she is caring for her parents and her children at the same time. And since her children no longer live at home it takes her out of the running for that label, despite all the care she gives to my grandparents. But then I got to think of all the things that my Mom STILL does for me, all of which require care.

Growing up my Mom would make me promise her to not grow up, and I would always agree. In my pre-teen years I would promise to her (at her request) to never become one of those "icky teenagers who doesn't like their mom" (her words) and I would promise.

Finding a Church, Last Sunday

2010-05-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

Kyle and I have been going to church the past month, on Sundays. And after being to 3 very different services we were encouraged to keep looking, to find a Church that is best for the two of us.

Kyle and I each have our own criteria that we are looking for but also share some similar needs. One need that we share is that we want to feel a connection with the weekly message. We both enjoy a sermon that is applicable to our daily lives, one that teaches us scripture and how to apply it to todays circumstances. Kyle prefers only a little singing and it's a bonus if he can wear jeans. I don't mind the singing and considering I wear my PJs most days of the week, I don't mind actually getting dressed sometimes. What's important to me is a Church that has an acceptance of all kinds of people and life circumstances. I need a Church that strives to make everyone feel accepted, a Church whose emphasis is nurturing people's relationship with God. Also, I want a church that fits us demographically speaking, where we are now and where we plan to go.

Last Sunday Kyle and I went to Sonrise Church, which is right by our house (seriously - we should have walked but we were running late... story of my life). My first reaction: I'm not sure I can go to a church that has parking attendants! I'm not sure if it's because there is too little parking for the amount of people or what exactly, but you pull up and someone tells you where to park... official people with batons and orange vests. And then my second reaction: "Sweet, they have a Starbucks in Church!" Kyle as we walk into the Sanctuary: "Wow, this is impressive!" And then the topper on the cake, I elbow Kyle and whisper "Look! The Little People Big World people come here."

The sermon was entitled: Marriage: No Chickens Allowed. It was great.

I'd go back, Kyle would too.

Oh my...

2010-05-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

So all growing up I've known of my Mom's love for "green glass," as she has always called it. And I think it's pretty, but never really thought it was for me. Until I came across this, which isn't what my Mom has always like but it reminds me of her always talking about green glass. The green glass she likes in a deeper green that you can see through. This, which I am currently in love with, is opaque and a lighter color of green.

It's (I've seen it spelled two ways) - jadite or jadeite

Where I first saw it at Pioneer Woman, her post: My Favorite Things: Fire King Jadite

Want to learn more about jadeite? I did, so I read this article from Paula Deen here.

I've already started searching for the *perfect* piece to start my collection.

But I think I need to decide which spelling to go with - jadite or jadeite?

What I'm Currently Reading

2010-05-14T07:23:00.000-07:00

This is for Erin, who recently asked if I've found any great blogs lately...

I have an entire folder dedicated to blogs I enjoy in my bookmarks. Some could probably, by now, be put up on my blog roll because I do really love them. But some of the others I'm still not convinced that I like them so much I want them up on the side of my blog.

So, where is the list of what I've been reading (in addition, of course, to what's already on my blog):

Daily sayings that intrigue me... http://www.trufflegirls.com/

*Design... http://www.designspongeonline.com/

*Style, design, decor... http://hopelesschest.blogspot.com/

Obsessed... http://www.younghouselove.com/

Good recipes, but with trying to cook healthy - I'm not convinced... http://thepioneerwoman.com/

*Pugs (this may need to be switched to the "Shopping" folder in my bookmarks)...http://www.lydiaandpugs.blogspot.com/

*Life... http://makingitlovely.com/

A house blog... http://aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.com/

*Life... http://reverie-daydream.blogspot.com/

Her personal quote alone makes this blog a must read ("I do maintain that if your hair is wrong, your entire life is wrong."-Morrissey)... http://erineverafter.blogspot.com/

*Fellow Portland Bride... http://fromportlandtopeonies.blogspot.com/

Family & life (so, I just read her post to her dog and I'll admit - cried)... http://pancakesandfrenchfries.com/

Family & life... http://notsoidlehands.blogspot.com/

JCrew... http://jcrewaficionada.blogspot.com/

Design... http://www.theletteredcottage.net/

Home... http://www.thenester.com/

Design... http://www.sfgirlbybay.com/page/2/

Design (I'm not a huge fan, but sometimes he has something good)... http://www.eddieross.com/eddie_ross/

Family & design... http://windhula.blogspot.com/

Wedding tab: these wedding blogs I just cannot break myself away from, sometimes things featured for weddings can be great for non-wedding things.

Lady who once was getting married, is now with baby, and I probably should change her a different tab... http://alovelymorning.blogspot.com/

Wedding... http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com/blog/

Classic bride... http://classicbride.blogspot.com/

With this ring... http://with--this--ring.blogspot.com/

* = The blogs that I'm still undecided about. Sometimes they have something good, other times nothing that interests me. But I'm still giving them a chance.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

Looking for something to to this weekend?

2010-05-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

Have you seen Food, Inc.? Kyle and I have.

***

From the website: In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

***

And I know you're thinking that you don't want to watch another movie like Supersize Me. But please, give it a chance. Yes, it does talk about and show how gross food processing plants are (factory farming) - but really, that's not news. We all have known it's gross (Personally, I can barely stand to drive by a chicken truck on the freeway. Hasn't happened to you? You're lucky!) Please, watch this video for all of the other things it covers: diabetes and obesity, Kevin's Law: Foodborne Illness, pesticides, environmental impact, the global food crisis, cloning, farm worker protection and genetic engineering.

I don't agree with everything, their stance on genetic engineering for example. But I love their philosophies of sustainability, buying local and organic, and farm worker protection.

I think it's important for people to have an awareness outside of themselves and their small world, and watching this movie will contribute to that.

Since watching this movie Kyle and I have been talking a lot about the changes we plan to make in regards to food shopping and menu planning. I think the food you buy not only has a direct impact on your health but it also sends a message that you support however that food was grown and processed. We still haven't settled on anything but we're starting with baby sets - first - local and organic.

Birthdays - 26 & 13

2010-05-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we spent celebrating birthdays. Kyle's birthday was on Friday. I fixed dinner at Scott & Sandi's house for the family (and Brent).

Menu:
Drip beef sandwich
Sweet potato fries
Ice cream sundae bar

I even bought a deep fryer. It was a little intimidating to use for the first time, but it went really smooth. I researched a bunch about deep fryers and ended up with this one.

Scott & I collaborating over the fried potatoes...

Taylor, the neighbor of Scott & Sandi, loves to come over to visit...

Kyle eating his birthday dinner with all of his presents...

Scott eating dinner with an audience, Jack & Holly...

Opening presents... Blue Ray

New shoes!

And a snazzy cooler (the one Kyle drooled over every time we were at REI) FULL of clothes...

LOVE.this.picture!

And then on Sunday we went to Longview to celebrate August's birthday, which was actually the week before.

Rhino (the Shulda's pug dog)...

It only took...

2010-04-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

225 DAYS

To get our guest bedroom back in shape from all the wedding madness. Ok, well I suppose I should give myself a little more credit -- after the wedding we were in Hawaii for a week. So take a week off of that. And it has still taken me forever. Some people are probably thinking to themselves: "I've stayed there since the wedding and the guest room was fine!" But that's where I had you fooled - you never came upstairs into the master bedroom. Therefore you never saw the piles of stuff I temporarily relocated. It was pretty bad, but now it's better. Our guest bedroom will never be free of stuff because that's one of our main places for storage, but it's definitely ready to have company over - which is a huge improvement.

Games in the right hand corner, extra blankets stored in the nightstand drawers, under the bed = gift wrap...

Book shelf from living room (we changed things around, more on that later), with craft storage, cds, and pictures...

Dog food, cedar chest that I've been meaning to have refurbished (holding tons of glassware from the wedding - candy jars, vaces, etc.), some paint & cord covers from our living room project (more on that later), and Kyle's old golf clubs (anyone interested in buying these???)...

Inside the closet: extra kitchen/serving items to the left and to the right what I call "garage stuff"...

Remember when I put all my extra linens in those vacuum packs and we saw the magic of how much space they save (this post)?!?! WELL - let me tell you that those things are lame and do not work. I had them stored under the stairs and whenever I would go down there for some reason I would see that they had re-expanded. They would never stay compressed! And then everything was super wrinkled from the time it was compressed. And I just was not pleased. So instead everything is nicely in these containers, that are way easier to access and you don't have to use the vacuum to restore your stuff (Holly + vacuum = NOT good).

Misc. stuff: the vacuum, the air humidifier, a radio, light bulbs. Just random stuff that if we had a garage or more hall closet storage the stuff wouldn't be there, but this is the space I have to work with.

Did you notice how everything is labeled? I love my label maker.