Tree #2

I hated tree #1 so we got tree #2 (still need to take a picture of it all decorated). Our new tree is by far the best tree we've had. It stands at about 8.5 ft and with the star on top it almost touches the ceiling. The tree farm had so many large trees that they let us cut ours off of about a 13 ft tree :)

This tree farm was in such a pretty location and this will be our new tree farm for years now.

Of course Gypsy had to help Blake and now Ella has made it her full-time job to try to eat the string of lights, ornaments and ribbons...sigh.

I'M ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE

and so it begins

We went and cut our tree down this past weekend...our eyes were WAY bigger than our space in the apartment. Last year we got a pretty small tree that fit nicely in our space, but this year we thought we need a slightly larger one. Well, when we got home we found that slightly larger was several feet higher and much wider. I didn't get any pictures of the tree cutting experience this year since it was raining while we roamed the tree farm, but I do love that we get to go cut the tree down and know it is ultra fresh!

Thanksgiving

COOKED.

ATE.

PLAYED.

SLEPT.

Snow!

We got our first snow last week and I sure loved every little flake. I must say though, Oregon is so nutty about snow...really, we didn't get much more than you can see in the below picture, but almost the entire state found it necessary to close schools the next day due to the ice. Wow. Needless to say, it has been unusually cold, but I'm loving the cooler weather!

And just because I think she's cute and I can't take her out in the snow, here is Ella in her new "hiding" space. She thinks because I put her bed in this basket she is invisible to Gypsy. She is cute, she pops her head in and out like a jack in the box.

FALL COLORS

One of my most favorite things about living here is that we actually have changing seasons. The fall is the absolute best; the colors are so pretty! We went on one of the rails to trails paths this past weekend and had a wonderful time.

WE'RE FAMOUS...OOOOO-prah

Janelle & Allison on Oprah

Not that I'm a big fan of Oprah, but it was still exciting to go. The episode was of Oprah and her best friend Gail camping in Yosemite and we mostly watched video of them on their trip so kind of lame episode to be a guest on, but still way fun. The show was centered around friendship so it was neat to go with Janelle and be goofballs about the whole thing together. You know ,we were those really cool people dancing in the audience before the show started. I can't tell you why, but my feet and arms just couldn't stay still while singing along to Usher's OMG to the tune of O-O-O-OPRAH in place of his lyrics.

Mustache Madness

(the 8th grade boy, the bandito, the villain)

I love having Sarah here! So far we've hit two great shows; The Weepies and Ingrid Michaelson. This past Saturday was the Ingrid show and her fun friend Amanda was also in town to join us. In light of it being Halloween weekend Sarah bought us some finger mustaches to use as our costumes. AWESOME. EASY. FUN. We had a lot of fun being silly with them and I must say a great night was had.

AWESOME PACKAGE

So I came home from my trip to find an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G package from dear Ame. THANK YOU AMY!!! It contained some Halloween goodies, but the best part of it was the wing sauce! Amy learned of my love for wing sauce when she was here this past month and just knew my cabinets needed some. I can't wait to have something to eat it on. In fact, maybe I'll order a pizza tonight so I can taste some of the goodness. Packages are so fun to get!

MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME

I made another trek to the Midwest to visit with great friends and had a blast. I was pretty lousyabout taking pictures which bums me out since there were such fun things to document.

Highlights of trip

-A barn dance where I learned the term "Peel the Banana" and dressed in western wear. I know, I need a picture of me doing this, but the others will have to suffice.

(Kate, my dancing partner for the night)

-Amazingly fun concert with Janelle and her sister. This was my about my fourth time seeing Joshua Radin and unfortunately I found him to be so-so, but The Script was seriously awesome and I really can't wait to see them again. Best song of night was Rusty Halo.

-Eating at a terrible middle eastern restaurant on campus...you'd think since the food was crappy this wouldn't be a highlight, but we were served by the cutest little boy who was about 10 years old and he kept telling us the food was "delicious" adorable, but incorrect.

-Playing with darling little swissy puppies (Awesome hair, right?).

-Driving in Gary, IN; a heck of a scary place, and seeing a man just walking down the street with a machine gun. Not really a highlight, but still worth mentioning.

-Chicago with Janelle which include city sights, yummy and buttery popcorn and one visit to the Oprah show. The show topic was a dud and we didn't win anything, but the whole experience was still really fun.

-Tornado warnings, sirens, skies...odd.

-Walking on Janelle & Michael's beautiful property and seeing trees full of fall colors and finally getting to see Mr. Bow's creek. What a lovely and peaceful place....it was tick-filled which gave me the willies, but I still loved it.

Too bad the Midwest seems like worlds apart sometimes because I sure love being there.

Leg One

Gypsy and Blake are working towards a pack dog title and this weekend they successfully completed their first of four legs. They have to hike 10 miles with Gypsy carrying 20% of her body weight (17#). I can't imagine carrying 20% of my body weight....ugh, but she was a trooper and they both seemed to have a fun time with the others who joined in the event.

I joined them with my friends dog Razz for the first 4 miles and then called it quits; I quit just in time, because is rained for the remainder of the hike. Yuck! The pack dog hike started in a small town named Cle Elum and then continued to Roslyn (the town Northern Exposure was filmed aka Cicily, AK) so in honor of one of my all time favorite shows I tried to recreate the opening credits of the show where they have moose crossing the Roslyn Cafe sign.

Outback & Up North

On Friday we drove up north to spend the night in a small town named Cle Elum, WA before Blake & Gypsy's pack hike on Saturday. We saw this pretty sight (Mt. Adams)

and we stopped in Leavenworth; a little Bavarian-themed town. Several hours were spent in the Outback, but it was a beautiful drive full of fall colors...yeah, my favorite time of year has fully arrived! Oh, and there was a cafe named after our very own Gypsy girl!

Backin' Up

Amy this one is just for you.

Additions not to be missed

Just to illustrate how close my car was to near disaster I have to include this picture (thanks Amy for sending it over). Seriously, how lucky was I??

Oh, and the one and only picture of the two of together from Ame's visit...thanks old symphony usher for taking a snap shot of us in front of nude lady covering her most private of parts.

A+ Student

Sadly Blake's car is working today so I had to go pick him during his lunch to run the car to the shop. I took Gypsy with me while I went to his classroom; needless to say she went totally nuts in there from excitement and I could see the fear in Blake's eyes as she got close to all the instruments. She sure is a cute pup-pup!

Visitor Take 23: AME!!

This girl came for a visit!

We went down this trail to a waterfall where we met a strange man who took a terrible picture (not posted for obvious reasons).

We then continued to Hood River where we got lunch with views of the Columbia River, drove around the fruit loop (yes, that's what it's called) where we saw these things.

After the fruit loop we went to Timberline Lodge (the exterior of hotel was used in the movie the Shining) where we enjoyed these yummy Iceberg hot chocolates. Poor Ame got sick and then

threw up on the side of the road and exclaimed "GROSS!" then of course I had to take a look at said vomit. I think this was the first time I wasn't the one doing the chucking. Sorry Amy!

Then we returned to my house to eat a delicious sandwich (Amy's food of choice) to watch our first of many episodes of How I Met Your Mother (we actually finished the entire 1st season and part of the 2nd) before heading off to our late night ghost tour in downtown Portland. There were some real characters in our group and I'm not talking about ghost; just very odd people. We saw the church of Elvis as pictured below. I've lived here for two years and I didn't know this was here!

The next day we slept in late and then ventured to an area of Portland called Nobb Hill where we treated our tummies to some tarts and purchased some of the most amazing bath products ever. We got soap bombs! We drove up to the Rose Garden and Pittock Mansion (Amy's fav Portland spot) and hit a movie before attending the Opera; this was my first real Opera (Pagliacci & Carmina Burana) and I thought it was pretty fun. O'FORTUNA!

On Saturday we hit the farmers market and Saturday Art Market and during this outing I did the worst parking job of my life and my car was almost in some serious trouble. We had a homeless guy and cop walk past us and pretty much laugh and the situation I was in, b/c my car was near destruction!. Onward and outward we went out to Sauvie Island where we ate some roasted corn and where Amy fed a chicken her scraps (right out of her hand...chickens are disgusting) and then later that night we went to the Symphony and saw a very so-so performance of Mozart's Grand Mass.

On Sunday my heart filled with sadness to know my dear friend was leaving, but we enjoyed a lazy morning at home and I made some yummy steel cut oatmeal that we enjoyed while watching more How I Met Your Mother before taking off tour Portland's different neighborhoods and view pretty houses (I'm glad Amy likes doing that as well, b/c Blake sure as heck doesn't).

Gypsy of course loved Amy and even tried to get her hump on the first night Amy was here and Amy had vast progress with Ella and cuddled with her (this is a huge thing!). Come back soon so I can have someone to do random things with.