BLAKE AND ALLISON

Tree #2

2010-12-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

and so it begins

2010-11-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

COOKED.

ATE.

PLAYED.

SLEPT.

Snow!

2010-11-24T08:14:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-03T17:04:00.001-07:00

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

2010-11-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

(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

2010-11-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-01T01:16:00.000-07:00

Amy this one is just for you.

Additions not to be missed

2010-09-30T09:42:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-09-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

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.

"O"

2010-09-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

Guess who is going to be seeing this lady live on October 27th?

We are.....hopefully we'll get a great audience gift and not something like a free book or dvd.

Reunited and it Feels So Good...

2010-09-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

I think Gypsy had one of the best days last week, as she got to see her Danielle. Gypsy has loved her so much since she was a puppy and went googoogaga over her last week when she stopped over for a quick visit. Thanks coming over and for the birthday breakfast; it was a nice break in my normally boring workday! Gypsy would like to know when you plan on coming back and requested that it be sooner rather than later.

Groupon

2010-09-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Amy purchased some Groupons a few months back and we decided to use them the day they expired...apparently so did the rest of Portland. It left the shop owner cranky and out of supplies since everyone decided to go on the last valid day; this left us with slim pickings for our pottery creations. Blake painted a dreidel (he's says he'll use it at school, but I'm not sure how a ceramic dreidelwill work with elementary aged students) and I painted measuring spoons...you know, because I really needed a third set. Once we pick up our finished products I'll post more pictures. Thanks Amy & Matt for a fun day in the city and for showing a new sandwich place!

WORKING AT HOME WITH ELLA & GYPSY

2010-09-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Working out of the house can get a little boring at times, but these two keep me entertained for the most part. I think Ella has a love/hate relationship with Gypsy and Gypsy....well, she just has pure love for her kitty. Ella trumps me, food and any treat in Gypsy's mind.

(most of the day goes like this...ella plops over and then gypsy will just look at her...for hours!)

(hilarious moment! gypsy was just nicely chewing her toy while ella was asleep on the couch and then ella woke forgetting gypsy was up there too...she had to reestablish her control with a mean hiss and swat!)

(curled up together. i really can't believe this day arrived. ella was asleep on the couch and gypsy just jumped right up next to her kitty-ella looked up and then back to sleep)

Just because I think this is funny. She does this about once a night & is really finding her voice.

Gypsy Ate an Egg

2010-09-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

Gypsy eats a raw meat only diet which includes eggs. She got her first ever egg this past week and it was hilarious watching her try to figure out what to do with it; she knew because it was in her food bowl that it was going to be yummy so she was very excited. She had amazing balancing skills keeping that egg up! HAHA!

Canning Fools

2010-09-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

So my friend Amy & I had the bright idea of canning this summer. We went over board...145lbs without a pressure cooker in two days. Yikes! Peaches, pickles and tomatoes. I do love the look of mason jars and I'm sure I'll enjoy the canned goods later in the year, but all I can think of right now is that we were nuts!

Dani & Torbin

2010-09-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

Dani & Torbin got married! The wedding was so unique and beautiful in a meadow outside St. Helens, OR They both seemed so happy and I'm so glad I was able to be a part of their special day. I was lucky enough to spend some time with them before the ceremony and got some great shots. They are both wonderful people and will do amazing things together for sure. Love to you both!

101 Coast

2010-08-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

We decided we needed to check out some southern parts of the Oregon coast. The sand dunes next to the ocean were super cool. The cliffs with the fog were spooky. The covered bridges were a surprise. Lovely weekend.

Pack Hiking Doggy

2010-08-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

We're currently training Gypsy and getting her ready for her two upcoming pack hikes that are each 10 miles. I'm going to attempt to do the easier one with her and Blake, but Blake and Gypsy will be flying solo on the harder one for sure. Hopefully we'll all be successful and she'll eventually get her pack dog title. I know, go on and laugh. Mostly I just think she is so darn cute in pack. You know you do too!! Results to follow...

Flowers & Visitor Take 22

2010-08-20T22:47:00.000-07:00

The Rose Garden was absolutely gorgeous this past August and it smelled wonderful! We also went to the Dahlia festival again for more free weekend entertainment. We met a little squirrel in the Rose Garden who was just too funny! SQUIRREL!!!!!!

My friend Kelly was in town from MA and she stayed with us for the evening. It was her first visit to Portland and she was a really fun and easy visitor. We took Gypsy on a little hike, had lunch in downtown, saw Inception and just hung out. It nice how free the weekend felt without any schedule to follow and I hope she'll come back soon, because not only do I love her, Gypsy thinks she is the best "toy" ever! Too bad I was lame and didn't get any pictures!

Randomness of August & Visitor take 21

2010-08-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

Sarah came for one final visit to check our places to live, etc. and we have a fun day out on Sauvie Island eating roasted corn and picking berries.

And just some cute ones of the fur-kids.

Puget Sound

2010-07-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how much I love that we live so close to so much water? Blake, Gypsy, and I took a short weekend trip up in the Puget Sound and stayed over in Seattle. We went to Bainbridge Island for the first time and I loved it! We enjoyed blue skies in Seattle where we had views of Mt. Rainier and we had lots of yummy food. I think Gypsy's favorite part of the trip was being allowed on the hotel bed.

July at a Random Glance

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

-Gypsy met her aunt Bailey from Seattle. Jennifer came down to Portland for the day and we had great time getting know each other and walking around town with the pups. Gypsy looks so much like her aunt Bailey.

-Blake grew a beard.

-Blake shaved his beard into a mustache thus, resulting in a chester look.

-Ella & Gypsy showed their love for each other. They really do love each other...well, sometime.

July at the Coast

2010-07-10T22:27:00.000-07:00

Sure was a pretty day. I love living close to the ocean. The end.

Kaiser Fun...again

2010-07-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

So, I think my love for Indiana & Ohio and its residents keeps growing. After visiting New Mexico I left from there and ventured on to Indy. Janelle shows me such a great time each time I go and love spending time in midwest since this part of the country is still so new to me. My trips are starting to blend together and I can't really remember what we did this time, but I do know we went to Wilson's (the original Wendy's) in Ohio; it was a neat old place that had a lot of character. All the locals were so nice! Telling them I lived in Oregon made me seem so exotic. Liz and Lyric (Gypy's sister) were kind enough to let me stay with them in Indy on the 4th of July the night before my flight home. Thanks for showing the midwestern hospitality!

Northern New Mexico

2010-07-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

I went to New Mexico to visit my grandparents and uncle and it was so nice to spend some time with them. Normally I just got to my grandparents' house, but this time we met up in Northern New Mexico. We spent time in Santa Fe and on the Turquoise Trail from Santa Fe up to Toas where we saw a lot of old missions. I was impressed by the bright colors we saw everywhere and the beauty of the old structures.

Vancouver, BC with Kate

2010-06-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Kate was in town for the summer and we decided it would be fun to drive up to Vancouver, BC for the weekend. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to get away, but oh my goodness is Vancouver expensive!! I stayed one night at Kate parent's and it was surprisingly comforting to be in a home and have her mom make us yummy dinner. They are such a great family and I'm so glad I've found them here.

Memorial Day Road Trip with Amy

2010-05-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

Amy and I went up north and spent the day in Tacoma at the glass museum, walking around downtown Seattle and eating great food. We stayed over night in Seattle and the next day we ventured west to Roslyn where I got to see the town Northern Exposure (one of my favorite shows) was filmed and then we went on to Leavenworth (a very odd German themed town in Washington). It was nice to get out of town and spend time with Amy enjoying the pretty backdrop of drive. Oh yeah, and I got to watch Amy pump gas for the very first time in her life...she is from Oregon, but it is still weird/funny at the same time.

Male May Swissy Love

2010-05-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

In April I went to Indiana & picked up Felon to come to Washington. He stayed at our house a few days and of course Gypsy loved him. On another weekend we went up to Hood River where Gypsy met her new love Rock. Basically, Gypsy just loves boys. Silly girl.

Kaiser Fun

2010-04-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

I went and visited Janelle & Michael and all their pups in April. Janelle and had a great day in Chicago eating all day long and enjoying the beautiful weather. We spent some fun times with their friends and I just had an all around good time. Honestly, I really love Indiana...call me crazy.

Highlights of visit:

-Playing with all the Seneca dogs...I love them all. Cut-cut was especially cute. Kayak is a great bed buddy. Mr. Bow amazing. Well, I just think they're all great!

-Tripping in downtown Lafayette. Sounds dumb, but great memory.

-Wolf Park with Michael & Janelle

-Traderspoint Creamery with Liz & Janelle

-Taking tulip pictures with Janelle & Cut-Cut in Indy

Tulip Festival 2010

2010-04-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

Tulips are my favorite flower and we have a huge tulip festival here. We will go every year for sure!

March: Full of Day Trips & Spring has Sprung

2010-03-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

Fun with the hubby and the pooch. Still exploring and finding new favorite places.

Highlights:

-Fun in the snow at Mt. Hood

-Visiting the high desert of Oregon

-Stonehenge in Washington...yes, Stonehenge people!

-Gypsy "hunting" for Easter eggs

-Cherry blossoms. Beautiful.

Various Feb. 2010

2010-02-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

Bowling. Fun. What else is there to say? Wait, I'm horrible at bowling, but I still love it.

My friend Amy here is the best. She is up for doing random things which I love. We drove around in the farms for a view good hours and had a great adventure.

A just because she's cute!

Desert Bound

2010-02-14T21:14:00.000-08:00

In February I had to go to AZ for some work, but I made a trip out of it. I spent Valentines Day with Sarah and we went on a nice date to AZ88 & to the movies to see Wolfman.

I popped by Ju's house for a quick visit, had an nice lunch at Rosa's (I would love some Rosa's right now) with my Grandma and enjoyed spending time with Mary (AND I GOT PITA JUNGLE!!)

I also spent an extra week with Clark's and newly married Bethie. We had so much fun just hanging out and doing nothing. I love my family/friends in Arizona and wish I could see them more often.

Visitors Take 20

2010-02-01T21:11:00.000-08:00

Sarah loved Portland show much she decided to move here. She came for job fair, but we got to play a little bit too! A trip out in the gorge was a must since she missed last time she was here. Can't wait for Miss Laidlaw to be an Oregonian!! Can I get a Whoot?!

Ranney Love in Arizona

2010-01-26T21:03:00.000-08:00

My bestie bethie got married to Joe. I love them both and wish them much love. I'm lucky to have Bethie and her family in my life and I'm so proud of her and was so honored to stand up for her on their special day.

Visitors Take 18 & 19

2009-12-31T20:51:00.000-08:00

Kathy & Troy drove up from California to spend some holiday time with us. We enjoyed the cooler weather, ate lots of food, played with our pup-pup, and well....we all got sick. It was nice to have them come visit us at our new home over the holiday season. We made them Christmas stocking full of goodies and we got tickets to see Bill Cosby which was so fun. Gypsy loved their company and so did we.

My friend Sarah and her friend Amanda came to town for short visit on their way down the coast. I loved the randomness of their visit! We went to voodoo doughnuts, the velvet painting museum, and beer samplers were a must for them on their journey in the PNW. They were here for New Year's so we spent New Year's morning with for breakfast.

Gypsy's 1st Birthday: December 26th

2009-12-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

We have a cute puppy. She turned one. She got to run and play and she got one big yummy antler for her birthday enjoyment. We love her. She loves us. It is one big lovefest.

December 2009

2009-12-25T20:38:00.000-08:00

Highlights of the Christmas season:

-I made really awesome Christmas sweaters with my friend Amy for Christmas concert. They were amazing.

-We chopped down our Christmas tree

-We had a Christmas tree! The first time in 4 years!!

-"Ginger"bread houses were made

-Christmas dinner in downtown P-town with the great company of Dani & Torbin

-Dressing the animals up as Santa & Elf

-Playing in our "snow"...no snow this year, but the frost sure looked cool!

Gobble, Gobble: Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-25T20:34:00.000-08:00

We cooked, we ate, we slept we conquered. Oh yeah, we made clove balls. Two days before Thanksgiving I caught our wall on fire in the living and burned my hand. One day before Thanksgiving I had to get an emergency root canal...the week before Thanksgiving I chipped a bone in ankle. November was awesome, but I was still thankful for Thanksgiving, my truly favorite holiday of the year.

November Midwestern Love: Take One

2009-11-20T20:24:00.000-08:00

Went to Indianapolis and visited my friend Kate, then on to Janelle's in Lafayette, and then my dear friend Laura picked me up in Columbus, OH where I saw lots of Ohio, Pittsburg, PA and a wee part of WV.

Highlights of visit:

-Learning the song Party in the USA while drive w/ top down in Indy

-Fall down Janelle's stairs and busting my ankle...oh....

-Steak n' Shake baby!

-Amish country w/ Laura

-Arriving in WV and thinking "WHAT THE HECK?!"

-Big, old, historic cemeteries in OH & PA

-Delicious olives at market in Cleveland

(I'm a seahorse, she's a lobster. Got it!)

(Michael & Janelle's)

(Carefree in the fall)

(my beautiful foot)

(sandwich goodness)

PUMPKINS & MORE COLORS!

2009-10-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

FALL COLORS, PUMPKINS AND LIFE OF CUTE DOGGY!

Fall Fun: October in the Gorge

2009-10-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

A day in the Gorge with Dani...apple & pear orchards, lavender farm, winery, fall colors, waterfalls, cute cows...i love autumn and i especially love oregon this time of year.

Visitors Take 17

2009-09-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

My friends Janelle and Kelly came to the Pacific Northwest for doggy show and Gypsy and were lucky enough to go up and spend some time with them. We went on a pretty hike in the Puget Sound and much enjoyment was had by humans and dog alike.

Gypsy reunited with her puppy mom Janelle. Cute!

dearest meadow

2009-09-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

Meadow, just check out this slug we have to offer....seriously gross! This is one of the smaller ones, but they are all over the place and they leave slim trails. Gypsy tries to eat them and searches for them in the grass. I have seen one similar to the yellow banana looking slug you posted and that was also disgusting. Does anyone know if slugs have eyes?Also, another great thing we have to offer are really cool ferry rides. Oh. This has be the most ridiculous ferry crossing known to man! Yesterday we were driving to go see the Spruce Goose (pause for laughter) and while driving we had to deal with this ferry crossing. Tell me, why isn't there just a bridge to get over?!

Close of Summer

2009-09-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

Is it officially fall now that it is September? I'm not going to lie, I'm ready for the summer to be over and for the fall colors to start showing up. Last weekend we had our last summer outing and attended a dahlia festival just outside of Portland. I never realized how many different varieties of dahlias there were or even how much I liked them. The rows and rows of flowers were beautiful and I have added a new flower to my list of favorites. Yes, Gypsy (8 months now) goes everywhere with us.

A Year

2009-08-24T10:51:00.001-07:00

So we've now lived in Oregon for a full year and I still think it is great! I love this time of year since we get such wonderful produce. People, look at all this amazing fresh produce I got yesterday at the market. I also love my new market basket I recently purchased-way better than the bags, because nothing gets smashed. Also, just because I think she is so dang cute, here is a recent picture of our pup-pup who will only be eight month this week, but she is already pretty dang huge!

A trip down south

2009-08-24T10:35:00.001-07:00

Since Blake's summer break is wrapping up we decided we need to get in one fast trip out of Oregon. I was sitting in the house trying to figure out what we were going to do and then quickly decided we were going to drive to Half Moon Bay (just south of San Francisco) to visit Blake's mom and stepdad...next thing I know we have the Subaru loaded with Gypsy and we were off. Man, that was a LONG 12 hour drive each way and I'm not sure we'll be doing that again. Our visit with Kathy and Troy was very relaxing and it was very nice being close to the water. Highlights of visit:

-I milked a goat (oh yeah, Blake did too-just look at how VERY excited he was about that milk coming out!)

-I met Bart the llama (just look at those teeth!)

-Gypsy got to play with Jake

-Eating breakfast at our favorite breakfast place EVER in Sausalito (you might think I'm kidding, but we been to the bay area now on three different trips and we've now had breakfast there 5 times...man, I want some of their food right now).

-Seeing massive amounts of seals and pelicans diving in the water to eat loads of sardines.

-Mexican food! We had the first good mexican food we've had in over a year! Someone please move to Oregon and open a good mexican dive.

Visitor take 15

2009-08-24T10:31:00.001-07:00

While my grandparents were in town Blake's stepdad happened to be in Portland so he was able to come over for a quick hello. Troy got to meet miss Gypsy and Blake took him to one of the taverns out in the farms for some dinner. Too bad his visit was so short, but it was still nice seeing him either way.

Visitors take 16

2009-08-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Blake's dad and stepmom came the day after my grandparents left so needless to say it was a very busy couple of days (or maybe weeks or maybe even months!). I didn't have my camera with me while they were here so this is all there is in the way of pictures. We drove south one day and took them to one of the major wine areas in the state since they are both big winnos and it was a very clear day and I must admit it was funny to see hills of rolling vineyards all around in Oregon. For some reason most of their visit here is blurry in my mind, but I do recall us eating a lot. HA! Brent treated us to some very yummy meals while they were here-Thanks!

Vistors Take 14

2009-08-24T10:12:00.001-07:00

Hooray! My grammy & poppy were able to come for a nice long visit! This was not an easy task of getting them to agree to fly, stay for a whole week, leave their dog, etc. It was so nice having them here and I hope they come again in the near future. We did a repeat of many of the same sights around Portland, but it is a difference experience with each visitor that comes so it makes it worth doing some of the same things over and over again :)

Some highlights:
-We saw a couple of bald eagles in the gorge
-W saw a four-horned sheep
-My grammy made us beans and brought tortillas with her (seriously, OR doesn't know a thing about tortillas)
-It was so hot the day they arrived they purchased a second portable a/c unit so our house is now livable
-Blake and Poppy ate lots of cheese, I mean a lot of cheese!

There you have it, my random list of highlights....I sure have some neat grandparents!

Vistor take 13

2009-07-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

13...wow, and we haven't even lived her one full calendar year! People, keep coming, because it sure is fun to have all of these visitors. Yes, we are going to a lot of the same places more than once, but having all these visitors has really helped us learn are way around the area and has encouraged a lot of exploring and some creative hosting on our part.

This was Grant's second visit to see us so we were able to skip a lot of the "regular" outings and we spent almost 100% of his time here out in the sun. We had another week of above 90 weather and the three of us got pretty nice burns while enjoying our fun in the sun.

A few highlights from his visit: eating delicious roasted corn at Kruger Farms, Blake & Grant renting funcycles at Cannon Beach, watching the fog over the ocean, Grant trying to eat the mancakes at the Stepping Stone Cafe (if any of you watch Man vs. Food on the travel channel this was one of the places the guy did a food challenge at), eating the juiciest red pear I've ever had in my life purchased at farm in Hood River, beautiful dark sunflowers, and seeing Trillium Lake for the first time (soooo pretty)!

Visitor Take 12

2009-07-23T22:48:00.001-07:00

Blake's mom flew up for the 4th of July to spend the long weekend with us and to play doggy and kitty grandma. Since our neighbors complained about Gypsy we haven't been leaving her at home at all by herself and this has difficulty with our visitors.

I was totally lame while Kathy was here and didn't take any photos to document her trip, but we had a nice and relaxing visit. We went to Sauvie Island and picked berries, browsed the Saturday Market, took Gypsy to the dog wash, made a yummy dinner at home, drove to the coast and spent several hours sitting in traffic. Oh the traffic! Seriously, what should have only been about two hours in the car was about ten hours and when we'd get out to stop it was freezing! Mind you, it had been above 90 in Portland the whole time she was here, but the day we decided to go to the coast is was in the low 50's and we were all dressed in summer clothing. She was a good trooper about being stuck in the car all day and kind of having a bum day, but miss Gypsy got so bored she ate the car....when I say ate the car she ate all the way down to the actual metal frame of the car! That means she ate the carpet, fiberglass, & fluffy insulation. What a cheap fix-NOT! Try $226 for this "little" puppy mishap, but it was hard to be mad at her when she was stuck in the car for 10 hours with little exercise, but she still was sneaky, b/c she was able to destroy the car with none of us noticing.(I didn't actually take this picture, but was able to find one of the free we were stuck on-this is about two exits from our house. At least the freeways are kind of pretty to look at.)

What did we do for the 4th? I had these great plans to buy loads of fireworks since they are legal here and there were both set up on every corner of the street, but I just never got to it. Instead, we drove around the streets and watched all the families doing the firecrackers in the front of their homes, which actually was very fun. There were so many firecrackers done in Hillsboro that the entire air had a big cloud of sulphur-smelling smoke (is it weird that I like that smell?). Oh yeah, we made a stop at Albertson's where I got carded (really, I don't like 18?hahaha) and did buy some sparklers which we did on our balcony.

Jammin'

2009-07-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today I had my first go at jamming...what a mess it makes, but hopefully the jam will taste fantastic and will make the mess of my kitchen worth it. I went to Sauvie Island today with my friend Amy and we handpicked all those blueberries you see below and bought the raspberries from the farm all for $20! That price really just seems amazing, because we even have extra blueberries left after making the jam. With all those berries we were able to produce 12 jars of blueberry jam and 10 jars of raspberry jam. Assuming these turn out okay I will have to make peach jam when the peaches are finally ready.

Sauvie Island

2009-06-28T20:33:00.001-07:00

It is 8:30 PM and the sun is still bright and it is a nice 75 degrees...you'd think I'd like the extra light, but the sun staying out past 9:30 just doesn't sit well with me.

Anyhow, we are enjoying our summer weather and today we went to Sauvie Island to pick the season's first raspberries and to eat some dang good roasted corn on the cob. I love all the farms around here and I really enjoy getting to go pick our produce right from the grower. Two huge overflowing boxes of raspberries for only $2.90!

We also went to a beach on the Columbia River today that is on the island. The view was very nice, but I could do without some of the people that were there. If we would have walked down another 50 yards or so we would have been on the nude portion of the beach! Seriously, there is a clothing optional area just right out side Portland.I love that Sauvie Island is only a brief 15 min drive outside of town and that we can feel like we've gone on a little day trip.

Swissy BBQ

2009-06-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we drove north to Centralia to attend a BBQ put on by the Cascade Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club. It was a nice sunny day and the park the BBQ was at had huge trees and nice little pond. I was lame and didn't take many pictures, but we had a good time meeting other swissy people. It sure is a funny thing to see so many dogs that all look very similar and to have half of them related one way or another.

Even though we traveled to Indiana to get Gypsy, her mom, Kayak was originally from Washington and was bred by a breeder named Lisa Simonsen. Here is Gypsy with her "swissy grandma" Gypsy turned six month old this week and currently weighs 65 lbs...yikes, I can't believe she has more to grow still!

DEDICATED TO JENNY FRAME

2009-06-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

June/Visitors Take 11

2009-06-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

Mary Wagner came for visit this month. This was Mary's first time visiting the pacific northwest, but it is safe to say she'll be back. The weather was wonderful while she was here and she loved all the green everywhere. She was really great with Gypsy and didn't mind at all that we took her with us everywhere we went. Gypsy fell in love with Mary and has been looking for her since she left.

Blake started graduate school this past week and is already overwhelmed with the amount of school work he was assigned. We'll see how this goes....I have a feeling I'm going to be doing a lot of typing these next few months.

May

2009-06-24T11:29:00.001-07:00

We didn't have any plans for Memorial Day so we decided we'd finally take the loop drive around Mt. Hood. It was such a pretty drive! There is still a lot of snow up on Mt. Hood, but we the further we got on the loop the more farms, vineyards, and orchards we saw. The whole drive was really nice and it was a very relaxing day. We stopped in this cute little town called Hood River for lunch and then we hit a waterfall on the way back to town that we hadn't seen before. We'll have to do this drive again later in the summer, b/c the call the drive the "fruit loop" b/c all the local farmers put roadside stand out.Oh yeah, and we were also introduced to Sauvie Island and what a great find! It is only about a 15 min. drive from our house and it is a little island with boat houses and farmers. We went and picked some pretty flowers and bought the most amazing cherries. We will be going back there for sure once the blackberries hit peak season.

Hooray for the SHINS! They are my favorite of all favorites! They are finally back on tour and we got to see them. This was my second time seeing them and I love them even more if that is possible. There are very few groups I can listen to over and over, but I could probably listen to them daily. When we moved here I thought we'd get to see them play more frequently, b/c they are based in Portland, but NOOOOOOOOOO. I guess I'll just have to take what I can get.

April/Visitors take 10

2009-06-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

Ella Fitzgerald "Ella Kitty" turned 7. I can't believe we've already had our kitty for seven years!April was a pretty chill month, but we did go to this AMAZING tulip festival! This will be a new yearly tradition, because it was just soooo beautiful! Seriously, there were tulips as far as the eyes could see in every color and variety. It was also neat b/c it only cost us $5 and we were allowed to have the pup with us.The weather was really nice the whole month and we have been taking full advantage of going to the many parks around here. Here is Gypsy with her boyfriend Coletrane...they french kiss already. Gross. Oh yeah, the cherry trees bloomed all over! The air smelled fantastic and I loved all the white and pink blossoms all around town. Living in a place with seasons kicks butt! We have also been learning about all thing dog in the Portland area. Portland is such a HUGE dog place and everywhere you go there are people out with dogs. We found this one dog wash where you go and get to wash your dog, but they provide everything to you and it is half the cost of having the place groom them for you. Blake's Aunt Peggy & Uncle Pete own some property up in Washington so on their way back home to California they made a stop in Portland to see us. It was nice to have some family come even if for only a short moment and they treated to us to a yummy lunch!

March/Visitors Take 9

2009-06-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

Ella had to do some adjusting to having a new animal in the house and still isn't thrilled about the idea. They are okay with each other as long as they are both sleeping....We did puppy class for the first month and have now moved on to obedience were we go each Tuesday. I swear the class is more for me than for Gypsy :) Oh yeah, and Gypsy has a boyfriend named Coltrane (black lab in picture)-she is so in love. I think the picture of the three pups lined up is pretty darn cute. We try to take the dog with us whenever possible and it has been a good thing, b/c we are seeing new places we haven't' seen yet. One day we drove up to Mt. Hood so Gypsy could be a true mountain dog and she got to romp around in the snow.

We had the opportunity to go to several really amazing concerts, but I must say that the Chieftains (a Celtic group) were by far my favorite. Their show was so full of excitement and they had these amazing Irish jig dancers that I was really impressed with. We also went up to Seattle and saw this group called the Ancient Orchestra and they played all the Bach Brandenburg concertos on instruments that were made when the music was composed. It was really interesting and educational to hear how different the pieces sounded using the instruments they were meant for. Bach is on my top list of composers so this was a neat experience.

Our good friends Beau & Danielle came up for another visit from the land of Flagstaff. Danielle is dying to move to Portland, but Beau just isn't on board yet...he wants to stay in Flagstaff for the rest of his life and for the life of me I can't figure out why. Silly Beau. It was nice that they had already been here so we could be a little more go with the flow this time. We went to Blazers game, Cannon Beach, the markets, and we drove them up to Seattle for the weekend and did all the tourist stuff there. Oh yeah, and we went on another ghost tour. Ghost people sure are odd and I don't really think words would do the outing justice. Oh the gum! That is a picture the world famous gum wall in Seattle just outside of Pikes Place. Gross!

February

2009-06-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, so many months ago and a lot of stuff happened from what I can remember.

We added to new additions to our family:

1. A new 2009 Subaru Outback. We needed a new car for our dog...oh....at least that is what I kept telling Blake. So far we love it and it has been a fun car to take our road trips in and works out nicely with Gypsy in the back area. Oh, and it has butt warmers and think those are amazing. We are now true Oregonians, b/c I swear that half of the population drives Subarus here. Mead-you should come and bring yours!2. Gypsy Boots "Gypsy"! We flew to Chicago, drove to Lafayette, IN on a Saturday and then turned around the very next day and drove back to Chicago in a blizzard with our new puppy for our venture home. Our flight was so late getting in Seattle for our connecting flight that we had to rent a car and make the three hour drive south to Portland at 1am...needless to say it was a long journey for all, but I think we were all troopers. No peeing, barking or pooping on the plane, but Gypsy did vomit in Blake's hands :)

Christmas continued

2009-01-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

i know, i'm totally late in doing this, but i thought i better get it done anyways.

blake and i spent our first christmas in portland this year and i must admit it was kind of nice being on our own. we had super yummy dinner at hotel in downtown portland and while we were eating we got to look out the window at the snow falling! a white christmas! we also go to see a performance of the nutcracker on christmas eve and that is always fun.

we didn't get a tree this year so here is a picture of the little christmas decorating that we did. blake sure is a funny one, he honestly will stand in front of the fire and look at the decorations while sipping on a glass of eggnog. seriously, who likes eggnog? gross!!! i love christmas ornaments so much! we have made a point to buy an ornament when we go out of town somewhere and it is was so fun to look at all of them and talk about our trips together when we were taking them out. we got the little reindeer that is in the front for our 1st christmas in oregon and i just think it is so dang cute.

(just had to include this picture of this snowman i saw with amy this week...check out the nice contoured booty. people sure get creative with their snow people!)

visitor take 8

2009-01-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

want to know a great way to start out the new year? have a visit from ame! as most of you know i enjoy doing somewhat odd outings that most people might not find fun or enjoying, but my dear friend amy is also another one that likes the wacky, weird and unknown. we've had some pretty rotten weather here lately creating a bit of problem on the tourist front, but i sure had great time and i hope amy did too. thanks for coming ame! here is what we did on our weekend adventure (hope this helps you out amy). WARNING/DISCLAIMER: this is long list mostly for my own memory.

thursday

-picked ame up at the airport and went to Mcmenamin's for lunch where we got to watch glass blowing

-drove up to the View Point Inn and toured the rooms and looked out the very same windows that Victoria from the Twilight movie peered out of. Oh, this is also the play that the prom scene was filmed.

-got blasted by water at Wakeena Falls & Multnomah Falls (also in Twilight)

-ate dinner at Stanford's where amy feel in love with their bathroom, b/c it has a care kit containing lotion, mouthwash, etc.

-finally got to see Twilight the movie...i thought it was so silly, but at the same i LOVED it. we allowed blake, but he had to sit a couple seats away and laughing was not allowed by him and only us. for reals, i couldn't keep it in when edward sparkled or anytime Jasper came on screen.

-watched several enjoyable episodes of scrubs. oh for the love of scrubs!

friday

-had a marathon of a breakfast at the Tin Shed Cafe. when i say marathon i'm not kidding, it took us over two hours to get seated, order, eat and pay! it was good and all and the yummy rice poridge is always great, but i'm not sure if any breakfast is 2 hours plus worthy.

-toured Pittock Mansion (the place the Amazing Race ended at) and it was decorated for their Christmas season still as Twas the Night Before Christmas. Check out these totally creepy mannequins ....I seriously let out a pretty loud yelp when we walked in one of them. not to be forgotten, amy sweet talked the old tour guide man and he took us up on this really old elevator to view the top floor which is usually closed for most visitors.

-made a stop at the Velveteria to view wonderfully strange velvet paintings. um, as if there is a whole museum for such things, but very very funny!

-went to Trader Joe's to keep some dried bananas and fruit leather, filled up on gas where amy learned that in the state of Oregon we are not allowed to fill up our own gas. Funny enough, nobody has really been able to provide a firm answer as to way.

-grabbed some dinner at Bridgeport Brewing Co. before heading off to see the musical The Color Purple.

-drove out to farm are right next to Roloff Farms (aka Little People Big World) were we met a one hungry Blake for dessert at Rock Creek Tavern where we had to listen to a terribly loud cover band, but at least there was one weird dancer and someone playing air guitar!

Saturday

-woke up too early for our own good and had a gourmet breakfast at Casa De Allen consisting of grapefruit and Honeycombs

-took a beautiful drive to Tillamook in the snow and ice filled mountains where I had to get out and have amy drive, b/c i was just too dang nervous with her in the car with me. nobody will die or be injured on my watch while visiting us in Oregon!

-went on a self-guided tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory where we got learn about dairy's and cheese making. The factory was open so we got to watch the worker cut into 40lb blocks of cheese. We also ate a good helping of free cheese samples before enjoying some yummy Tillamook ice cream at 9:30a.-continued our journey to Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park (terrible name) were we got to feel like we were in the Twilight movie. the beach scenes from Twilight was filmed at Cannon Beach and come to find out this is also where the Goonie's beach scenes takes place!

-our road trip went on to Seaside where we got to see where Lewis & Clark finished their journey and amy got a good amount of salt water taffy from the Candy Man. in the taffy shop they play the Candy Man song from Willi Wonka on a continuous loop and the girl told us that on average she hears it over 41,000 times a year! i would go crazy people!

-drove onto Astoria where we went across a very large bridge to Washington and back that crosses the Columbia River at the mouth of the Pacific.

-took a tour of the Flavel Mansion (also in Goonie's) where we got to learn about a sea captain and see beautiful items from the Victoria era.

-viewed the Astoria Column, the Goonie's House, and the school where Kindergarten Cop was filmed, got sandwiches at Safeway (yes, i did say Safeway and they were really good), and visited the friendly sealions at the pier

-drove back to Portland and went across the St. John's bridge on our way to the Tea Zone where they have lots of yummy different drinks.

-saw the play A Tuna Christmas at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts

-i had amy drive again so she could do the parallel parking since i cannot (i really need to get on top of that) to go Voodoo Donuts at one of the most seedy places ever and we left smelling like grease, but it was worth the experience.

-drove home in some pretty thick fog which set the perfect tone for our viewing of a scary movie out our house which freaked us all out.

wow, now that sure was a detailed list, but there it is. hope you had a fun time ame and ella is sure missing you...now who is she to yell at?

visitors take 7/christmas concert continued/arctic blast

2008-12-16T12:55:00.000-08:00

this sunday the portland area had something the news keeps calling an arctic blast. well, it appeared to be pretty harmless, but after driving a few miles on the freeway we had to get off and buy chains. fun. putting on chains is fun....um, no. basically, the whole portland area is covered in one big sheet of ice with very little pretty snow to show for it. are you asking why we didn't just stay home? well, ben wright came to town on sunday night for an interview at OHSU for a pediatrics program and he stayed with us. a drive that usually only takes 30 minutes ended up taking 2 hours. oh, and chains make TONS of noise! seriously, i thought my car was falling apart when we first started driving with them, b/c they were so loud! anyhow, after we picked up ben we went to a concert by the trail band as part of our christmas concert series. they were so amazing and fun! they played a lot of celtic christmas tunes with a huge variety of instruments and we all really enjoyed the show. i think they will be a new tradition for us each december. i didn't get any pictures of visitor number 7 or the trail band...i'm lame.

concert series dec 2008

2008-12-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

since we're going to be flying solo for christmas this year up here in oregon we decided we needed to make sure we tried our hardest to do christmas things on our own. as part of this task we decided to go to as many holiday concerts as possible. great for me because i LOVE christmas music and so far blake is being a trooper. we're mixing it up with different genres of music and it is proving to be very fun.

the first in our concert series was seeing the Von Trapp Family Children with the Oregon Symphony. yes, they are the REAL Von Trapp's! Can you believe it? I didn't even know that the Von Trapp story was real. the children performed christmas songs and songs from the Sound of Music. they are the grandchildren of the youngest boy portrayed in the movie named Kurt. imagine that! i'll tell you this....they were not nearly as good as the singers in the movie, but it was still fun all the same.the second concert we got to enjoy was an amazing concert by the Portland Cello Project. so far they are one of my favorite finds since we have lived here. the are an indie cello group as funny as that may sound. at their concerts they do songs with different artist and collaborate with them for a really unique show. the concert was at my favorite venue the Aladdin and it had a fantastic theme...they asked everyone to wear very ugly holiday sweaters so a huge portion of the audience was walking around with santa, rudolph, snowflakes, etc across there chest.more to follow....

visitors take 6/thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-10T08:06:00.000-08:00

happy very belated thanksgiving...at least know i was thinking of everyone on turkeyday!

we got to spend our first thanksgiving in portland this year and it was nice just having a small dinner with some good company, but it was a little weird not being in arizona or new mexico. we were lucky enough to have alexi and edi come down for a couple of nights to spend the holiday with us. it was edi's first american thanksgiving so the pressure was on! at least he didn't really know what to expect, but think all and all it turned out okay. oh, alexis is a fan of the macy's day parade, and i think i watched more of it this year than i have my whole life....i still don't understand why it is cool. i did try making a few new items this year and my favorite were the popovers. seriously, they were so easy and were really yummy. thanks barefoot contessa for the simple recipe and thanks edi and alexis for slaving away in I-5 traffic on a very busy driving day!oh, and the picture of alexis and edi is at the Pittock Mansion where the amazing race DID end! Happy Holidays!

I/We've been there...Pittock Mansion that is!

2008-11-30T23:50:00.001-08:00

Did anyone else watch the tonight and see the preview for next week's season finale? If so, you were seeing Portland's Pittock Mansion as the final stop! That's right, Blake and I thought everything looked very Portlandish so we watched it on slow-motion and figured it out...we're detectives like that. CBS doesn't release the final stop prior to the finale so you can't google the information to confirm our statement yet, but just trust me. For all of you that have come to visit us, you have been there (Ju-this means you and I KNOW that you LOVE this show)! Remember the pretty views of the city and Mt. Hood (look for Mt. Hood in the background if you watch the show next week). Okay, that's all for now...just had to point this out, b/c it excited us that we recognized it. If you aren't a fan of the Amazing Race you should be and if you haven't made it to Portland yet get your booty here!

WHERE DID HE GO?

2008-11-26T08:31:00.001-08:00

We live in a Bob Ross painting! Seriously, we really do! Whatever happened to him? Last night when we went to bed we turned on PBS and there he was in all his painting glory making his sounds and telling his funny stories. Oh how I loved Bob Ross when I was younger and I watched his entire show last night and I found it quite soothing. Here's to Bob Ross! I know there are others of you out there who watched him so you should honor him too! But really, can you even imagine children coming home from school now tuning on PBS to watch a man just paint? It sure is amazing how he just gets those trees and mountains to appear so fast!

farmers market love

2008-11-16T21:13:00.000-08:00

this saturday i went to the big farmers' market in downtown portland i couldn't believe how much great stuff they had. in addition to people selling fresh produce and flowers there were awesome baked goods, hot cider and herbal tea, a bag pipe player and many other great items. basically, i just LOVE going. oh, and the prices are amazing! from market to my kitchen counter. look how huge the radishes are! oh the love of fresh, local, and organic produce!

visitors take 5

2008-11-16T20:56:00.000-08:00

(claire-wahkeena falls)

right after beau & danielle departed we had one day to get ready for claire & steve. we met claire and steve on our last european tour and they are great company. unfortunately, i was sick almost the entire they were here so i was a lame host! i got the chance to show claire around the city and to do some shopping and blake rented a killer mountain bike and went on a ride with steve. steve is a pretty skilled rider and he definitely gave blake a ride to remember....apparently blake flew off the bike once and is walking with a bit of a limp, but i think he'd go back in a heartbeat. even though i felt like crappy crap the bulk of the time they were here, it was so fun to see them and to get to know them better. we weren't able to grab a picture of the four of us together, but i did snap a few when i was out with claire. man, the fall here is so flippin' awesome and i can't stop taking pictures. sorry if they are beginning to seem like overkill.

(portland classic chinese garden)

(chrysanthemum display-picture doesn't do them justice at all)

visitors take 4

2008-11-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

our great friends from college (even high school for blake), beau and danielle, just came for visit and we had such a blast with them. if we could only convince beau to move here we'd be set-danielle keep working on him! it rained the entire time they were here, but we all made the best of it.
since i've become a local tour guide for the greater portland area i won't bother to post about all things we did and i'll just take point on the highlights.

kayaking on the willamette river in the cold rain and wind. have i mentioned how much i love kayaking? not! seriously, we were so close to talking the boys out of going, but they won and i lost big time! not only was i wet from the rain, but i fell on the dock right before taking off and i got TOTALLY soaked! even though the weather was nasty i must admit it was beautiful looking at the fall colors on our 5.5 mile journey (that's right, we were troopers in the cold).

we went on a ghost hunt in haunted areas of portland with a tour and it was so fun to see people freak out at silly nothings. i got my palm read and was told all about myself and it scared me big time only to find out later in the evening that the tour director had gathered information about me online and that is how he had all of his information. either way it made for entertaining evening of stories and ghost hunting.

(this hotel is rated as one of the top most haunted places in the US and rooms can still be rented for only $25.00/night...Amy-are you interested? LOL)

oh, and not to be forgotten we went to a drag queen show at the recommendation of my grammy. all i can say is wow. maybe i should go ask some of them for makeup tips?

(That Ain't No Lady!)

i almost forgot....we went to the zoo for the first time and it was only $2.00! what a great deal! we didn't know that before we went, but i guess they do $2.00 tuesdays. best $2.00 i've spent in a long time!

($2.00 folks! $2.00!)

i'm drawing a blank on everything else, but i know we ate a lot of great food and just had fun hanging out in portland.

visitor take 3

2008-11-01T23:30:00.001-07:00

after jeff's weekend in oregon i returned to arizona with him to go to some computer training for work. fun. when i returned home this time i brought blake's brother grant back with me. we had another full weekend in portland and we even managed to make it up to seattle for one day. i think i'm going to keep having arizona people come, b/c we didn't have a drop of rain while he was here. again, here are some highlights from our visit with grant. oh, by the time he left grant actually said he was almost sick of trees. i still can't get over that one and i'm sure he was just joking, but he really was in shock with the amount of trees we have here.

(Left: Pike's Place Market. this is the place they throw the fish. I wasn't fast enough to get a pictures, here is some seafood. Right: We went to the Science Center in Seattle and there was a butterfly room and they were EVERYWHERE and it was pretty cool to get so close to them. The eyes scare me a little on this picture though...)

(Here is Madame Maria (aka another local crazy). I told Grant I would pay for him to get his fortune read by Madame Maria and he humored me! Seriously, Blake and I were dying of laughter-she talked to him for over 10 minutes in the middle of the market and he was ready to be done after minute 1. Thanks for being a good sport Grant!)
(Pike's Place Market-one of the many flower vendors. It smelled fantastic one second from the flowers and then the next second I would get a scent of seafood and it just ruined it for me, but the flowers were still beautiful.)
(This picture is for those of you that watch Grey's Anatomy...they show this shot on almost every episode)
(The last of the hydrangeas for the year. Sadness. I LOVE hydrangeas and they were all over Portland when we arrived and now we must say goodbye until next spring.)
(Blake & Grant looking stylish in some hairnets. We went on a food walking tour in downtown Portland and this is in the back of a very yummy bakery. I fortunately had too much hair and the hairnet would not stay on so I got away with rubber band....sorry for anybody who finds hair in their baked goods!)(I have no idea.)
(Brothers)

I know that was a lot of pictures, but I just couldn't decide on which to pick. Hotel Allen already has visitors 4 (Beau & Daniell from Flagstaff), visitors 5 (Steve & Claire from California), visitors 6 (Alexis & Edi from Seattle)and visitor 7 (Amy from Utah) lined up and we're accepting reservations after November so if anybody is interested let me know!

visitor take two

2008-11-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

when returning home from AZ from ame's wedding i brought jeff back with me for weekend visit. we were busy the entire weekend and instead of posting a list of all the things we did i thought i would just point out some of the highlights. i'm sure blake was glad to get in some time with his bff and they acted just like teenage boys...

(cannon beach on a rain-free day at high tide)
(meeting jimmy hendrix (aka local crazy)...we did not ask for a photo. he appeared out of nowhere and jeff had his camera)

(getting ready for our 4 hour kayak adventure. 4 hours! i didn't enjoy this adventure at all...i SOOOO worried the entire time that i was going to fall in the muddy cold water. blake and jeff sure got a good laugh watching me freak!)

(blake and jeff being "dainty" at the tea house in the chinese garden)

(japanese garden-jeff ready for the shot, but i'm not sure where blake's mind was...maybe he was in zen state of mind. ha.)

(roloff farms once again. wait, i just realized we never bought the pumpkins! seriously, we drove there to get them to carve and we left without them.)

(not the best picture of multnomah falls, but i just had to include it.)

here's to limeade and cinnamon bears!

2008-11-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

hooray! amy and ryan are official (you all know this all ready...i'm late on my posting)! ame-you looked stunning and it was so nice to finally meet your ryan! also, thanks for having a wedding for all of us girls to get together! love ya and i couldn't be more happy for you!

i'z be tired

2008-10-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

I had the most difficult time getting up this morning for work when my alarm went off…seriously, I guess I can’t hack the adventures of a full weekend anymore and bounce right back to work Monday morning.

With that said, I had a wonderful time with Julie this weekend and she was such a trooper considering it rained a bulk of the time she was here…it’s Portland so what more could be expected?

Here is a rundown on what kept us so busy:

FRIDAY

Went to lunch at the Elephant Deli. This has to be one of my favorite finds so far, b/c they have a little bit of everything.

Toured the Pittock Mansion
Visited the Japanese Garden
Hopped over to the International Rost Test Garden
Went to lunch at Rock Creek Tavern out in the farm land and had the waiter squeeze both of our shoulders.

Stopped at Roloff farm and ate some apples that had dropped from a tree, got a wave from Amy Roloff, purchased a pumpkin, and met Amy Roloff. That's right, we met Amy Roloff and talked with her for a few minutes (the farm was dead when we were there probably due the rain) and even got a picture (ju will have to post this).

Took a stroll in a park in Hillsboro that pretty much cuts right in the forest. Ju slipped on a wet bridge and almost gave me a heartache.....I don't need a pregnant lady having issues like that while under my supervision

Went to a FANTASTIC concert at symphony hall in downtown Porltand where they played the music from Westside Story and had Lang Lang as a guest pianist play a Rachmaninoff concerto

Dined at Higgins for yummy northwest cuisine

SATURDAY

Ventured to the Alberta Arts district and had an amazing breakfast of rice porridge made with coconut milk and fresh mangos

Shopped at the Saturday Market in downtown and purchased homemade soaps, fudge, jams, and a few other items

Visited the world's largest bookstore

Walked, walked and did more walking

Went on a walking tour with a local guide where go to go underground and look at famous tunnel, visited the waterfront, and went to an authentic Chinese medicine doctor shop and blah, blah, blah...i don't really recall to much on this part of the day

Drove across the river to Apizza Scholls and waited in this line to have the most delicious Cesar salad and pizza. Total wait time approx 1 hr and 2o min-it's really that good

Went to the Aladdin to listen to a couple blues singers

Drove back to Hillsboro and met up with Blake to see Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist

SUNDAY

Woke up and enjoyed some of the yummy peach jam made by Kaylani

Drove to Cannon Beach and looked at it...really that is all we did-it was cold and rainy
Continued to Seaside where Louis & Clark ended their journey and bought salt water taffy

Went on to Astoria and drove across a very large bridge into Washington to turn around and come back, visited the farmers market and ate yummy fresh raspberries where Ju also purchased a marshmallow gun and got her hand massaged by a lotion salesman (she bought the lotion so it must have done the trick)

Visited the Asotria column, walked up to the Goonie's house and interacted with some very friendly sea lions
Drove to Wakeena Falls and Multnomah Falls to view their glory

Ate dinner at Quiznos and dropped Ju off at the airport...seriously, we finished with Quizno's after all that, but we were tired and hungry.

Wow, that was a long list, but now maybe Julie can just post fun photos. Thanks for such a fun visit JU!

you're it

2008-10-02T20:44:00.001-07:00

I got tagged and here are the rules. Go to your pictures and go to the 6th folder. Open up the 6th picture and post it. Jen and Ame-lovely. I tag Annie, Marie, and Priscilla

i give in

2008-09-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

i have been putting of blogging for a few weeks now, but i guess i just need to get it over with so then it won't be a lurking thing for me to take care of. funny, when did it become a chore?

i have been spending my days in front of the laptop telecommuting for work and so far i think i've decided it has more pros than cons-i'm no longer spending two plus hours in my car or dropping hundreds of dollars on gas. i must look at the bright side on this, b/c working for my bossman has always been a challenge.

last two weeks in a nutshell:
*turned the big 2-7 last week and did not enjoy it. seriously, how is it possible that we are almost 30? my birthday was pretty chill, but blake took me to a yummy dinner in downtown where i had plum and buttermilk ice cream...strange, but good.
*joined a movie watching club on meetup.com and got free passes to a prescreening of the duchess. i loved the scenery, music, costumes and at first i wasn't totally in love with the movie, but now that some time has passed i've decided i really enjoyed it.
*went a saw another movie named vicky christina barcelona by myself at the art theater last week and i loved it. i love woody allen, spain is beautiful and i want to visit there some day, and i totally love seeing a good movie by myself sometimes.
*blake and i went to the counting crows and maroon 5 and i still think adam duritz is one major hunk! the guy from maroon 5 sang a couple stevie wonder songs and now i love him too...both groups were fantastic!
*Campbell’s what? seriously, i have made over four pots of soup in the last few weeks and i don't plan on stopping anytime soon. i think homemade soup is delicious and its great b/c it makes hardly any dirty dishes!
*i had a chipmunk squeaking in my chimney on thursday and i was so worried the dang thing was going to get it in and that we'd have national lampoons in real life. my kitty has now been obsessed with fireplace since this incident in hope that her chipmunk friend will return
*thursday TV finally started! hooray! i can't believe survivor is taking place in the middle of africa with wild animals roaming, the office is amazing and i loved michael's facial hair (does anyone know why meredith's face was red), ugly betty is a breath of fresh air, i still love grey's anatomy, and after 15 years of watching ER i still love it and it made my cry my eyes out...why must they put all my favorite shows on the same night? thank goodness for the DVR!
*i got blake tickets to the portland jazz orchestra for his birthday earlier this summer and last night was the first concert in the series. the concert was in a beautiful building and the group was pretty good, but the concert went on for far too long! they did have a singer come and sing with them on one of my favorite songs and the man's voice was pure butter! if you have never listened to the john coltrane and johnny hartman CD i highly recommend it...it is one of my favorites in my music collection.
*tonight we’re off to the symphony to hear beethoven’s 9th and i can’t wait, i’ve never seen the full 9th preformed before and I think it should be an amazing experience
*tomorrow I’ll venture to the farmers market and i’ll get my last peaches and strawberries of the year. last week my peachman told it was the last time we’d see him for a several months….ha, i have a peach man! what am i going to do with no summer fruit? It has been so yummy and now the unexciting fruit of fall is here…maybe apples and pears will become my new favorites but i need to not get my hopes up.

next week ju is coming so i’m sure i’ll get some great posting material out of that trip and i can’t wait to see her!

no comment

2008-09-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

fun night and kind of a great deal...

2008-09-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

Phantom of the Opera, parking downtown, and raspberry Italian cream sodas for under a total of $50 for the both of us! That's right, we bought the cheapest seats in the house this morning and to our surprise the seats were actually great!

edward my love has finally arrived!

2008-09-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

the past couple days have been very exciting in terms of mail. look what arrived in the mail today! i just can't believe it! how great, i can look at EDWARD all day long now without having to look on the internet. too bad the movie producers didn't pick a better EDWARD though...the is not at all what i pictured, but i guess he'll do. just in case any of you are thinking that i ordered this let me put your mind at ease, i did not, it came as a fantastic surprise from my fellow edward-loving friend danielle. THANK YOU! (i quickly hung it up in the 2nd bedroom & took the above picture. just think, if you come visit you can gaze at this all night long!)

oh, and just in case you haven't heard the latest late breaking news from stephenie meyer you MUST go to http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html fun and sad news both at the same time. Thank you Jen Friend for showing me the way!

blast from the past

2008-09-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

i got a package in the mail today from mom that included the following: a book titled "How to Live with a Neurotic Cat" and the following letter:

Last Class of the Century

As our time here at Westwood comes close to it's final bell, we ant to make sure that our legacy never dies. In the past, it has been a tradition for the Senior girls in Student Council to organize a list of things they want to accomplish before the dreadful day is here. However, this year there are too many eligible girls capable of raging and frolicking in the halls to keep this an exclusive event. We need you. Here's how it works: the girls of '96 made a list of 96 things they wanted to do, '97 made a list of 97, etc. So now here we are, the class of '99 and we need all of our dedicated Warriors to help fulfill our goal of 99 deeds.

You have been chosen because of your great devotion to upholding the Warrior Pride and Spirit. our first meeting of the L.C.C. Tomahawks will be held on August 16, 1998 at 10:00 PM sharp at the Westwood press box (on the football field). This meeting is mandatory. if you wish to be a member, please meet us there. If for some crazy reason you can't make the meeting, but would still like to be a member, call Jennifer Ward at xxx-xxxx. We're looking forward to seeing you there!

REMEMBER......YOU'RE FROM WESTWOOD!

Sincerely,
Jennifer Ward, Kari Hancock, Allison Smith, Meadow Wright, Annie Martinsen, Mckenzie Davis

What a funny and random thing to get in the mail ten years later....we sure sounded serious. I don't remember much about that night other than being dropped off by Ben Wright, drinking spirit juice and screaming at the top of our lungs. The question is, did we ever have another meeting after this single event? My memory is fading on me...hope you enjoy!

2008-09-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

notice anything strange with these photos? (this one just doesn't seem right...as if there is a fire hydrant in the middle of this national park in the middle of nowhere...it just struck me as odd when we were walking by)

i heart the water

2008-08-31T23:36:00.000-07:00

in addition to hearting bridges i also heart the water. being from arizona it is truly weird that there is water all over the place here. i love all the nautical items i've been seeing all over town and i now have a small desire to learn how to salmon fish. laugh if you may, but i did learn how to throw a pretty mean line when i was younger from my poppy. oh, but if i have to touch or smell anything yucky count me out. also, have i mentioned that i live about a mile from a creek named Dawson's Creek? (forgive me, i've been a little camera crazy lately)

i heart bridges

2008-08-31T23:07:00.000-07:00

there is no reason for this post except to post a couple pictures of bridges that i've snapped since we've been here. i've decided that i love bridges....well, not so much the driving on them part, but i do love looking at them.

(st. johns bridge-Portland, OR this picture does not do it justice, i will have to get another one while not riding in the car)

(astoria bridge-Astoria, OR this bridges cross the columbia river for over 4 miles and connects to washington on the other side)

A STORY A....

2008-08-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

today we took a little day trip to a town called Astoria that is at the most northern part of the state right where the columbia river opens in to the pacific. the drive was filled with pretty green ferns and it only took about an 1.5 to get there. what is in astoria you might ask? well, it is apparently a little hollywood. for $2 you can get a movie guide of the local sites from the chamber of commerce to go visit movie locations for several movies (kindergarten cop, into the wild, the guardian, free willy one and two, ring two, short circuit, and GOONIES). we got to visit the goonie house, but i didn't get to her SLOTH yell out "HEY YOU GUYS" so that was a little disappointing, but all and all it was a fun time. in addition to the movie tour we had yummy crepes at the farmers market, purchased some dried lavendar for drawers, visited some gigantic column at the highest point of the town that tells story of lewis and clark, chatted with some very friendly sea lions, explored old hilly streets to look at really pretty queen anne vicotorian homes, and went to a fort where lewis and clark stayed for several months during their final discovery days. so basically what i'm trying to say here is the day was filled with the most random activities, but we had a nice time.

according to blake...

2008-08-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

we have tons of these massive mosquitoes outside our house and they are just down right nasty! each time i walk past them i let out "eeeeeeeeeee" and blake just laughs. what's with the title of this blog entry? so, blake thinks these mosquitoes are prehistoric and has named them mosquitosaurus. one time he said something along the lines, "yeah, i think those are the kind that were around with the dinosaurs...." um, are you kidding? my response, "what did you see that one? juarassic park?" i was correct and then he laughed at himself and continued on. that is all on this story, i just wanted to share these gross things with you and post about silly blake.

oompah-pah-pah man no more

2008-08-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

look what i found! just when i thought all hope was lost i remembered that jen had posted a picture of amy and ryan last fall on her blog....i searched and i conquered! thanks jen friend for the help!

here is the happy couple! ame, i can't wait to meet your ryan (hope you don't mind the posts about you on here...)

TO THE FUTURE MR. & MRS. OSTLER!!

2008-08-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, this isn't the happy couple pictured, but they do look like they'd make a wonderful match! I just wanted to take a moment to say congrats to my dear friend Amy Christine Theriot on her engagement to Mr. Ryan Ostler! I wish you many blissful years together and I couldn't be more happy for you! If I only had a picture of them together....

i just can't get enough...

2008-08-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

of josh radin that is! last night blake and i went to a concert at this very cool older venue in town called the aladdin and the show was great! this is now the 3rd time i've seen dear joshy and i will continue going to see him to hear his "whisper rock" (that is how he categorized himself last). anyhow, he had this girl named erin mccarley(http://www.myspace.com/erinmccarley)open for him and i was surprised that i liked her. go listen to her. by the way, if you're already a fan of josh radin (i don't know why you wouldn't be) he has a new cd coming out next month.

oh, and in case anyone was wondering it FINALLY rained here! Hooray! it has rained the last three days and we haven't seen anymore 100 plus temps...hopefully that last! if not, my a/c should be on my front door tomorrow.

selfish. for my enjoyment. sorry.

2008-08-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

this is purely a selfish blog for my own memories, but i guess you'll just have to deal. after doing my last post i started going over the wedding pictures and some of them really crack me up...hooray for having disposable cameras!

photo key:
*amy & tyler being at a very funny table with my family...ame looking a little freaked
*proof that we were cool enough to dance the Macarena (we also did the funky chicken, YMCA, and hokie pokie)
*jeff & dj fighting over a $4.00 bottle of champagne
*beau & jeff looking a little "special"
*dani & blake appearing child-like
*jamie, alexis, & danielle talking with candles (danielle is apparently not pleased with something)
*ben doing the ol' spoon and nose trick-he sure is talented
*beth getting make a run for it with those really pretty flowers
*sarah shaking her grove thang
*beau bringing sexy before it needed to be brought back
*blake's grandma elaine-do you think she is surprised?
*seth-member of michael flatley's lord of the dance
*bubble madness
*just married

just for fun

2008-08-18T23:31:00.000-07:00

a few months ago i took all our wedding negatives to costco and put them on discs and i found a few others in the mix that i had forgot about (too bad i lost all the negatives from Carson and Westwood Days). below are a few of my favorite finds.

(from the roll of our engagement photos...i just love how candid this picture is!)

(my aunt &uncle...they're so cool! really, they are! i think we were at an IMAX in Baltimore on the Titanic.)

(Both of us extremely burnt after a day of kayaking in Kona, HI Forrest or Blake? Oh, and why am I hugging the sailor and mermaid?)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORDON

2008-08-18T23:24:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORDON!

From one kitty cat to another (even though you are much stronger and bigger than me as a cool LION) HAPPY BIG BIRTHDAY!!!!

LoVe, AL's kitty CaT ElLa

a couple pics

2008-08-15T22:34:00.001-07:00

here are a few pictures of the new place (grammy-i'll post more later so you don't have to check your e-mail). they aren't the best, b/c its night and hence no sunlight, but now i can check this off of my to-do list.