Saturdays in Portland

For the last two weeks, I've spent my Saturday mornings in Portland. Last week was to hang out with my lovely college roommate, Kelly.

Today was to see a long lost face. Bethany has been in San Diego working for Invisible Children and has now relocated up to Seattle (for the time being) and since I hadn't seen her beautiful face in over 5 months, another trip up north was necessary since she was only down for a couple of days.

We talked for hours over french toast, focaccia bread, and granola. Smiles were had and recaps were given. Although it was too short, any time I spend with her just brightens my day.

And we FINALLY got to meet Bethany's Wallis that she's been talking about since they were roadies together last fall. Wallis was just as magical as Bethany had described her and I loved spending time with someone who's been through what Bethany's been through. Good times!

Wednesday Wish List

Is it Wednesday already? It feels like I just did my last Wednesday Wish List and now it's time for another. I suppose the long weekend + short work week has something to do with it. Today's wish list item is something Sam & I have been thinking about saving up for, since we downgraded our cable package.

The Roku Digital Video Player is made to play movie from Netflix & Amazon through your internet to your TV. What an ingenious idea! Now you no longer need to go to your local movie store, rent a movie (sometimes costing over $4) , watch the movie, and then remember to take it back the next day. With this box (and a Netflix subscription) , all you have to do is find the movie using the box and push play. Viola, you've got your own movie store at your fingertips!

Weekend Recap: Memorial Day

Boy, was this weekend great or what? I certianly wish every weekend was 3 days long -- I'd fit so much more in & still feel rested. Here's our Memorial Day weekend recap!

Friday: Sam & I love our long weekends, so Friday night couldn't have come sooner! We came home from work, made our grocery list, then headed to Costco. After Costco, we came home and picked up our gym clothes & headed out for a evening workout. As soon as we pulled in, we realized that Friday nights were the nights to go to the gym because there was almost no one there! Following our workout, we stopped to fill up on propane so we could go home and grill up some steak. I love having someone who knows his way around the grill!

Saturday: I woke up early with plans to meet up with my best friend Kelly in Portland. Since arriving back from Thailand and moving to Portland, we've had a heck of a time trying to make our schedules work & find a time to get together. Luckily, this weekend worked for the both of us! I arrived at her house around 9am and we walked down to a local coffee shop to drink tea & catch up. After a few hours, we picked ourselves up & walked around the neighborhoods to a couple yard sales. Then, we walked back to her house, picked up my car, tracked down a few estate sales & were on our way again. Although we didn't find anything spectacular, we did have fun and enjoyed the time together. We ended the day with some lunch and then I headed home.

When I got home, Sam was waiting for me. It's so nice to come home & feel loved! We hung around & grilled burgers for dinner (yum!) . Since we had no plans for Saturday night & nothing was on TV, we took the pups on a walk around the neighborhood, dropped them back at home, headed back out for a walk to pick up a Redbox movie & McFlurries. The walk ended up feeling longer (and a little cooler, since the sun was setting) , but a good way to spend our time. We picked The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as our movie choice and were on our way home. Good movie, a little on the long side.

Sunday: Sunday seemed pretty typical. We got up, got ready, and headed to church. After church, we went home & ate some lunch, then went to the gym. Like Friday nights, Sunday afternoons are another great time to go to the gym! Sunday afternoon was lazy (the way we like it) , with some cake baking thrown in (for the following day) .

Monday: Sam & I had high hopes for an early start on our day off. Since it was Memorial Day, the gym was on limited hours. We thought it'd be nice to get in a morning workout, but when the alarm clock went off, we opted for more sleep. We ended up getting out of bed & getting ready for our day around 8:30am. By 9:30am, we were on our way to Sandy to hang out with the family for the day. After a quick stop at the outlet malls, we made it to Sandy and spent a couple hours just with Sam's parents. Then we headed out to Sam's grandparent's house and set up for lunch. The cake I baked yesterday was my contribution for the day. I hadn't made a cake from scratch before, so I picked an easy white cake for my first. It was good, but when I went to make red frosting, I could only get it pink. That was my only disappointment. After 4+ hours of sitting in the sun & catching up with family, we were tired (& oh so burnt!) . We cleaned up a little and headed back to Sam's parent's house. We played a game of "Fact or Crap", which Sam won! and then packed up to head home. We arrived home around 8:30pm and scooted up to bed. Unfortunately, I burned a little more than I would have liked. My poor knee caps are the worst and will hopefully tan out soon. Overall, a good day was had by all & it was a nice end to the long weekend!

8

(this has been traveling around blogs i read)

8 sites i visit daily:

• G-mail
• Google Reader
• Facebook
• Twitter
• First Tech Credit Union
• Hotmail
• Flickr
• Blogger

8 things i look forward to:

• memorial day weekend
• spending the day with my bestie, kelly, in portland
• skirt/dress weather
• our 1st! anniversary!
• using some vacation time (starting in july)
• going to a wedding for one of my very first friends
• spending time with both our familes

8 foods i can't live with out:

• pizza
• sour patch kids
• macaroni & cheese
• french bread
• hot tamales
• lasagna
• funfetti cupcakes
• cheese

8 things i did yesterday:

• woke up to a kiss from sam
• went to work
• drove with my windows down
• went to the gym
• took 2 showers
• played with the pups
• used my camera
• thanked god for everything i have

8 shows i watch:

• grey's anatomy
• private practice
• lost
• house
• 24
• brothers & sisters
• the bachelorette
• the office

8 memories that i can't forget:

• parent's divorce
• graduating high school
• my first year in college
• my car accident
• going to new orleans
• sam proposing!
• going to india
• our! wedding! day!

8 things i wish i could do:

• be debt free
• send sam back to school so he'll really love what he's doing
• be a stay at home mom (someday)
• own a sewing machine
• travel with sam
• win a shopping spree
• be an aunt
• have no regrets

8 people who have changed my life:

• sam
• my mom
• kelly
• phil & donna
• bethany
• michelle
• my dad
• all of my siblings (dan, tommy, brian, josh, laura, & matt)

Wednesday Wish List

I'm not really a jewelry person. Never really have been. I definitely admire it, but don't put it on too much. For my high school graduation, I recieved multiple necklaces, pairs of earings, & bracelets galore and I loved all of them, but haven't worn any of them much. Sadly, they just sit in my jewelry box, collecting dust. But for this week's Wish List, a necklace has made the cut!

Introducing Anthropologie's Bobbin Bunch Necklace.

This necklace would go great with a tee shirt & jeans or could easily go with a dress for a night out. That's what I love about it - it's got great colors & is so versitle. If only this wasn't sold out online... I'd probably snatch it up immediately!

Got It Done!

As mentioned in here, we had big plans for our Saturday and fortunately, we got it all done! We woke up early and headed out front to take care of finishing removing some of our grass and putting in bark chips.

Here is the before & after:

Before - taken before we moved in (January 2008). Of course the lawn looks wonderful & manicured, but didn't stay that way.

After - taken today.

Upon completing our front yard, we moved to the back deck. We had spent our Friday night scrubbing the deck clean and heading to Home Depot to pick up our necessary supplies. Sam took care of the big areas with the roller & I took care of the smaller areas with the brush. After a couple hours, we were finished with the first coat and were already loving it! A few hours later, we put the second coat on & let it all dry.

Here is the before & after:

Before - taken when we were looking to buy the house (February 2008). Notice there is no fence, no grass, and TOO many rocks to count.

After - taken today.

Our day also included: a great walk with our pups (they usually bark at everything in site & today were completely happy to be outside) ; a Starbucks break; a shopping trip to Old Navy for Sam; a late lunch/early dinner at Olive Garden; and a full cleaning (vacuum of the living/front room & scrub of the kitchen) of our downstairs. We are so happy to be done with those projects, but we're two tired kids tonight. Hopefully we'll sleep great tonight!

And as an added bonus, here is what my arm looks like after our day in the sun. Oops!

(Hopefully) Getting Dirty...

Today is suppose to be the last rainy day until sometime next week (or maybe next fall) , so Sam & I have planned a project weekend for both our front and back yards.

Sam started working on the front yard last Friday by taking out the grass that was practically running into our street. This weekend will bring the removal of the grass that is making it's way onto our driveway. Essentially, the plan is to make an oval lawn, surrounded by bark chips & plants. Yes, pictures to come once completed.

Our second project will require some paint brushes, rollers, and stain. Since we bought our house last year, our poor deck has felt all the weather elements (sun, rain, snow, more rain) because we didn't stain and protect it when it was built. With a sunny weekend ahead, our plan is to take care of our deck this weekend, so we can enjoy it all summer long! Again, pictures to come.

We may be optimistic, but our hopes are to finish both projects (and plant a few things in between) on Saturday, so we can rest & enjoy part of our weekend on Sunday. Cross your fingers all goes as planned...

Wednesday Wish List

Remember when I mentioned my interest in Fleur de Lis' here? Well, it should be no surprise that the Fleur de Lis has made my Wish List once again.

image: J.Crew

Exibit A: Today's Wish List Item -- J.Crew's Skinny Flip-Fops with Critters. Now, I love my flip-flops, but put a Fleur de Lis on it and I love it just a little bit more! Although the price is a little more spendy than your typical Old Navy flip-flop, but I do have several of the wedge (taller) J.Crew flip-flops and can honestly say these flip flops last! So for $20, I'd love to have these in my shoe rotation.

Weekend Recap

We've been a busy couple the last few days. It seriously feels like we've been going, going, going since Thursday night, but in a fun way!

Since Sam's birthday fell on a weekday, we couldn't have the family over to celebrate until the weekend, so I asked Charles & Kristi if they wanted to join us for a Birthday dinner for him. We went to Red Robin to enjoy bottomless fries & burgers, then made our way over to Coldstone, followed by an evening of laughs brought to us by NBC. The Weather's got Sam 27 scratch-its, in which he won $15 from. Not too bad of odds. I sure hope Sam had a good actual birthday.

Friday was not really a typical work day for either of us. Sam had worked extra hours during the week so he could have the day off to work on our front lawn. So far, it looks great and I know it will only get better throughout the summer. I, on the other hand, did go to work, but only for half a day, since we had our monthly all-staff meeting in the afternoon. I felt like I was busy from the time I got in until the time I left (which was a good thing) and then the meeting got out early and I could spend some of the afternoon with Sam, always a plus! Friday night brought sandwiches & Happy Feet, the movie.

On Saturday, Sam & I had a list of things to get done before we had a house full of family. We vacuumed, dusted, cleaned up the kitchen, cleared out the garage, and make the guest beds. We also fit in a trip to the gym somehow. When we got home, I made a blackberry pie (as requested by Sam & my mom) and set out some food to munch on. Sam's brother, brother-in-law, & dad were the first to arrive, bringing supplies to build shelves in our garage. Sam's sister & mom came a little later, after a stop at the outlet malls (so jealous!) . My mom & brother arrived a little later. Everyone made it for our, what I called, "late Birthday/early Mother's Day" celebration. We ate, talked, ate, played Frisbee, ate, and sat around. Josh & Laura had to get back to Sandy that night to prepare for church the next morning. And Matt left soon after. The rest of us (my mom, brother, Sam's mom & dad, and us) slowly retreated for bed after an eventful day.

Sunday brought early risers. We decided to go with Sam's parents down to Eugene to attend Matt's church and have lunch with him. My mom needed to get my brother home, so they left earlier in the day too. After church, we made a stop for $5 foot longs & ate them at a pretty park over looking the Willamette River. Matt had plans in the afternoon, so we all made the trip back up to Salem and helped load up the Grables. Sam & I spent the afternoon vegging on the couch. Before we knew it, it was time to bed and we didn't know where the time had gone.

In other news, you might have seen my post to get your votes for Buster, but I'm sad to report that he didn't win Pugapalooza 2009. He did come in 3rd and we couldn't be more proud of him! He'd definitely the cutest in our book! Thank you to all who took the time to vote for him!

To The Best Moms Out There (in our opinon)...

Today, We have the chance to wish both our moms a Happy Mother's Day in person. Both of these women are self-less, compassionate people and I could not be more proud & thankful to have them in my life.

Happy Mother's Day Cyndi & Donna. We love you!

VOTING ENDS SUNDAY!

I hope you've all placed your vote for Pugapalooza 2009 over at Leaving & Loving on a Jet Plane. If not, please click the Pugapalooza 2009 link on the right and VOTE VOTE VOTE! Voting ends THIS Sunday, May 10, and sadly, we're pretty far behind.

Go now & place your vote for the cutest pug!

Happy Birthday Sam!

Today is Sam's 27th birthday and as sappy as it sounds, I couldn't be more thankful that he was born all those years ago. (Thanks Phil & Donna!)

Happy Birthday Sammy!

I love you so much it hurts! love, shortcake.

Wednesday Wish List

For some reason, I've recently had the urge to be creative. My family & friends might say I've always been that way, but lately it seems like I've got a handful of ideas that are constantly circling my head in hopes to be created. Some are as simple as card making, while others require more tools and are a little more complicated.

With my birthday just a few months away, this little item currently holds the top spot. I grew up with my mom using her's all the time -- she made vests for us, hair ties, blankets, and more. And in middle school, sewing was my favorite part of our elective rotation and I ended up being an class aid the following year. Unfortunately, I didn't continue much past middle school, but now I have the urge to create! By owning my own sewing machine, I would hopefully not spend as much money on items & projects that I could learn to make myself (although the cost of fabric might be more than I hope) .

I've planted the idea in Sam's head, so I suppose we'll see come July.

Feliz Cumplianos!

My mom pictured above (on the right) with her best friend as they partied at our wedding last June.

Not only is today Cinco de Mayo, but it's also my mom's birthday.

Feliz Cumplianos mom! We love you!

Bridal Luncheons & Babies

My family moved to Bend when I was 2 years old and I was quickly introduced to a new daycare to attend while they worked. I met 3 girls my own age almost instantly and from then on, we were practically inseperable. Shelby, Kristine, Karlee, and myself attended daycare, elementary school, and middle school side-by-side. When high school came, I went to one high school and they went to the others. Sadly, as we grew up, we slowly grew apart. But whenever we got back together, it was like no time had passed at all.

This weekend we all got together in Bend to celebrate Shelby, our bride-to-be. She's getting married this summer and we thought it fitting to get the girls & our mom's together for a catch up/bridal luncheon. Two and half hours later and we were full of good food and sore from laughing so much!

Left to right: Shelby, Kristine, myself, and Karlee.

Another reason for my trip to Bend was to finally meet Baby Heater! Levi Makai Heater was born the morning of May 2nd and he is SO cute! Both of his parents have been awaiting his arrival for months now and they looked like they were on cloud 9 when I saw them. I can't wait to watch this little guy grow up!

This weekend was also a time to be with my mom. I'm always thankful for her and her selflessness, but this time was special. Her birthday is coming up on Tuesday, but unfortunately I can't be there to celebrate with her. Instead, I took this weekend as an opportunity to take her out to eat at McMenamins for dinner and some presents. It's always nice to spoil my mom since she always spoils us so much!