notes to self...

So I keep being told by locals how much were going to hate the winter, blah, blah, blah...with that said, I'm trying to be pretty good about taking pictures so I can remind myself in the months to come just how wonderful it is here.

activity journal

Friday: The best pizza EVER at Apizza Scholls (http://www1.apizzascholls.com/index.htm). This wasn't my discovery, but thank you Anthony Bourdain! He went to this place on his Portland show and it was so fantastic. Too bad everyone seems to know about it, because we got there at opening and there was a line out the door. After dinner went to a wonderful show put on by the Portland Cello Project. They're a group of about 16 cellos that collaborate with other local groups (mostly indie) and they make beautiful music. We will be sure to catch a few more of their shows. Thanks to them I learned about a great singer by the name of Laura Gibson (best song: Hand in Pockets...check it on myspace).

Saturday: Fell into a deep depression after finishing Breaking Dawn. I loved the book, but I am just sad that I don't have another one to look forward to. Hooray for the movie coming out in December. By the way, we rented the movie Penelope the other day and there was a great trailer for Twilight on it that I hadn't seen anywhere. Oh, and we unpacked a little more...Ella helped.

Sunday: Farmers market goodness! Bought some of the best strawberries ever and got a couple bunches of fresh lavender from a local farmer for the house. I love, love, love lavender and I think I might just need to fill my entire house with it. Later we drove to Cannon Beach and had lunch and walked along the beach. The water wasn't as cold as I was thinking it was going to be, but it definitely wasn't warm either. The drive to the beach took about an hour and 15 minutes...a little longer than I was thinking, but still not too bad. Ah, I almost forgot that we stopped at a roadside stand and bought fresh cherries!

Monday: Drove up north to Washington and visited the Hoh (pronounced HO just in case you were wondering) Rainforest and then traveled on to Forks and Port Angeles. Ah, to be in vampire country! Edward my love! I think Forks feels the same way-can you see the window on Sully's? (yummy burgers by the way) Check out the cool pictures of Bella's truck now on display at the Forks Chamber of Commerce.

Wow, Blake was such a good sport...he even listened to the Twilight book on tape for the entire car ride! I think he gets enjoyment out of my schoolgirl attitude regarding the subject. From Port Angles we took the ferry to Seattle, had a yummy dinner and stayed the night with our friends Alexis and Edi. Yeah for having a couple of familiar faces up here!
Tuesday: Drove home from Seattle and the rest is still TBD.

Does it sound enjoyable to anyone? If so, get your butts here for a stinkin' visit!

HELP!

The movers just brought all of our stuff, but just where do I start? I know I've unpacked several times before, but I'm freakin' out man! Not to mention the space in the kitchen is about half so I have no idea where all my cooking stuff is going to go.

Here are some before pictures and I have no idea when the after pictures will arrive....

Pure Berry Bliss

We found the coolest gem! There is farm about five miles down the road that has rows and rows of different kinds of berries (some I have never heard of e.g. Jostaberry)that you can taste and pick and they only cost $1.25/lb! That is dang cheap when you consider the price berries cost in the grocery store. As most everyone knows, I am a fruitoholic and berries are some of my favs! We still don't have any of our household goods, but so far I'm digging our new home.

Clark's

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!The Clark's have become a second family to me and they had a wonderful going away dinner for us couldn't have been better. Rita (Beth's mom) made such yummy food and she stuffed Blake until he couldn't eat anymore. They're all such a fun bunch to be around (too bad I didn't get a picture with everyone) and we will miss them so very much.

These pictures are just too funny to not post...

Kitty Kitty

(in the car asleep somewhere between Cavecreek and Hillsboro)
One of the biggest things I was stressed about regarding out move was our kitty Ella. To our surprise she was fantastic and didn't cause us any problems at all. I won't gush over the cat too much so that's all. The below pictures are just for fun and for my enjoyment-this her playing with Blake in our empty place before leaving.

L-Dawg

L-Dawg (aka Laura)My dear friend Laura was such a help with all of our moving stuff I just don't know what I would have done without her. She helped me sell some stuff on ebay, helped me pack all the wall hangings (totally time consuming), ran errands with me, brought us lunch when the movers were there, gave me moral support and some many other things I'm not thinking of at the moment, but I just want to say thanks! Laura and I met at NAU music came in the summer of 1997 and we have been the best of buds since and I just think she is one of the coolest people I know. As a thank you to Laura I got us tickets to see Joshua Radin and Vanessa Carlton. The show was in a total dive with no a/c, but it was worth it! I liked Vanessa Carlton before, but I think she is so much better after seeing her live. Oh, and Joshua Radin is so freakin' awesome (i know jen, you aren't the biggest fan, but I think you need to give him another chance)! He played a wonderful set with his full band, cello and all, and then came down in the audience and saying a couple songs in the middle of us all completely unmicrophoned and it was sooooo amazing. We were lucky to have in right in front of us! I mean I could have just reached out and ran my fingers in his beautiful brown locks. I know, I sound a little like a teen going crazy over the Backstreet Boys (wow, that reference is dated), but I just love his voice so much! He has also been added to the same list as David Duchovny and John Corbett just in case any of you were wondering.

June

Since I have been terrible about posting the past few months and I have nothing to do in our empty apartment I thought this might be a good time to look over the pictures on my camera.

In the beginning of June I was lucky enough to see Jen and Ju (at the same time even). I know this doesn't sound like much of a big deal, but it is always difficult trying to figure our schedules so I really appreciate the time when I get to see them. We went to dinner (pictures below) and had a very strange server that talked to us for a very long time about his child, bird and dog (weird mix) and he was just one of those that wouldn't stop talking. Wait, come to think of it his wife was a nurse...why would we need to know this information and why is my brain wasting space remembering it? After dinner we went and saw What Happens in Vegas and I must admit that I found it to be better than I was expecting. I'm not a lover of Cameron Diaz, but I do love Ashton Kutcher (not as much as my Mulder or John Corbett I might add) and it was a good laugh. Anyways, it was an all around good night and that is the one of the few parts me that are sad about leaving AZ-when will we get to do this next?

Then later in the month I was able to go to an awesome concert with Sarah Laidlaw and her boyfriend Keith. I love concerts, but whoever decided to have outdoor concerts in Arizona in June must be missing a few screws or has never been to Arizona. We saw Death Cab For Cutie at the Mesa Amphitheatre and they put on such a good show. The played for very long time and they played most of my favs so it was worth the swamp butt we got from sitting on the itchy grass for a couple of hours.

I know the picture of the Death Cab is absolutely terrible, but I still wanted to get one on here. I original took it with little Ame in mind, as she couldn't be here to attend the concert with me and I was going to send it to her. Ame, maybe next time...there is always next time.