Friday, September 25, 2009
Not Quite Sure...
I dont know what happened but my awesome cherry background decided to stop working yesterday so I had to grab this one. Not sure that I'm totally loving it - plus my header is not lined up correctly so I'll see what I can do about fixing it. If anyone has any suggestions for a new background - cherry or not - please leave me a comment. Thanks!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
One Place I Love the Most...
....is Portland, Oregon! I had never been there before, (previous to 2003) despite living about 10 hours away when I lived in California. It wasnt until I got my mission call to serve there for 18 months that I realized how cool of a place it was. I seriously had no idea!
Had some time in-between and thought I'd better go to Deseret Book in Lake Oswego to get something. Well, they didnt have what I want, but I ended up getting a DVD and a great cd by David Tolk...the cd was playing while I was walking around and seriously gave me chills so I wound up buying it.
Stopped across the street at the Portland temple - one of my favorites!
Took this pic and got it right dead on the first time! Mad skillz....
Grabbed some food here - Clackamas Town Center mall HAS one! Arizona does not. Utah does. So I was wayyy excited to pick up some dinner here. You can get it to go or eat in the restaurant. I got chicken curry and it was VERY good!
Took my food over to my good friend Autumn's house and hung out with her and her kids for a couple hours. LOVE THEM! Autumn is GREAT to talk to and her kids are so amazing. CJ showed me some of his dance moves and Ari was acting cute all over the place. Miss them but soo fun to visit when I'm in town.
Next I met up with my friend Rachel who was a girl I taught in Milwaukie and we went to Cold Stone for some ice cream - unfortunately they were out of marshmallows so I did not have a mix in to my chocolate mint. Extremely disappointing. I bought some later at WINCO! YAY!
Dropped Rachel back off at her apartment and pretty much crashed ((aka "sleep"))
Sunday morning ! Up again to visit people & go to church.
As I drove to visit the first family of the day, I did not take for granted the beautiful changes happening to the trees since fall is coming!
It had been awhile since I had seen the Wing family so it was great to visit Rachelle, plus see how big her kids Kaylee, Jayden and Jayce have gotten too!
Went to sacrament meeting in Gladstone at the Aldercreek YSA ward with Jeremy and Libby. Saw Tyler Foster and Garry Zink and saw a few familiar faces still left from when I had served in that ward , the summer of 2004!!
Took off to Cedar Mill - Beaverton area after I left church to see...
Ahhh this family treated me and my companions that I had while served in their ward, so so well! One time they left us a TON of food on their doorstep. Seriously amazing. They have since moved and switched wards but I was able to track them down in time for my visit prior to coming to Portland. We had a great time talking about all sorts of things and my time with them was too short! But it was great to have a little time , they are a wonderful family.
Had to hurry to Damascus for dinner with the Wilsons. Another family who I have not seen for a very long time! They have SIX boys now and so dinner was very entertaining. Bro Wilson is now the bishop and gave me some good marriage/dating type counsel & words of wisdom. We had spaghetti for dinner and I tied with one of their sons in a contest! I felt SO full afterwards and a little sick but it was worth it. I'd rather tie than lose! When I was serving in Gresham they had me and my companion over for dinner once and apparently I beat the same son eating spaghetti so he wanted a rematch.
Me with some of the boys before I left...
I havent seen this family (above) since early 2004 at least! Sooo crazy huh. I was able to visit them Sunday evening and it brought back such good memories of serving in their Hartley Park ward and sometimes they would feed us dinner too. It was a great visit & they knew a lot about what had happened to other people I was wondering about from the ward so it was great to get updated! I hope to keep in touch more often with them!
Headed back to Clackamas after not too long and visited the Yates family. Watched some History Channel (so wasnt allowed when I was a missionary!) talked to Rob & Christina and said goodnight to Brynn. The girls were in bed. Sweet family & I am glad I had a moment to stop and see them.
Went to bed around midnight or probably a little later. Had to be up extra early on Monday to get to Dr. Egan's office in McMinnville by 9am. Got my teeth cleaned by him and had good news - NO CAVITIES! Woohooo!! Finally! Guess that earned me a goody bag or something because the hygienist filled it up with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, flossing materials & a pencil! Sweet.
Met up with Tausha and her son after that. I havent seen her since..2007 maybe? It was great to meet up & talk with her. I cant believe we are both 27 now!
Visited Ruby at work next, did not take a picture with her. Tried to find Billie Cymbala and happened to drive by her scrapbook store. Thank goodness because I know it had moved but I had no idea where. She doesnt work there anymore apparently and the lady working told me she was about to have her baby! WOW I had no idea! Again! I was clueless. Lol. I ended up getting a phone # for Billie after I got back to Arizona so hopefully I get to see her on my next visit.
Drove out to the Egans and had lunch with Dr. Egan and his wife Barbara and their son Doug and his friend who was visiting from Oklahoma, Raegan. She was very nice & it was great to sit and each together and talk. Even though I saw them a few months ago when I had been in town. But!! It's all good, I love love visiting them and the warm welcome they give me every time I am visiting.
Drove to Cedar Mill and had a few families left to see but only had time to see Bro Bigelow who was the ward mission leader when I had served in the Sunset Hills ward. His wife was feeling under the weather so him and I talked outside for about 30 min or so. It was great to hear what he has been up to and get updates on the ward.
I badly wanted to see Jeremy and Libby again one more time before my plane left but was advised that due to traffic, I'd better leave and not make any more stops!
Bye bye Portland....I hope to see you again in 6 months! Thank you for not raining on me too much, the lovely fall colors, expensive gas ($2.80's mostly when it is only $2.49 in AZ!) , no sales tax and not letting me getting carried away in my shopping!
(flying over Mt Hood)
I was able to visit many people during a short 3 day visit there this last weekend. Special thanks to Southwest Airlines for providing me with a cheap round trip ticket!! The point of my trip was to see people that I had not gotten to see on my last trip. For the most part I was successful.
I arrived Friday night at 10pm and picked up my rental car and headed to my friend Jeremy's where I was "camping" out at in his pop-up trailer! It was really fun & awesome to be able to come and go as I pleased. The arrangement worked out well and I am extremely grateful to him for offering it to me. I got to meet his brother who is living with him right now and also his gf Libby who made us dinner and we all stayed up talking until 2 or 3 in the morning. I was soo tired because I hadnt been able to sleep on the flight thanks to the guy who sat next to me.
I arrived Friday night at 10pm and picked up my rental car and headed to my friend Jeremy's where I was "camping" out at in his pop-up trailer! It was really fun & awesome to be able to come and go as I pleased. The arrangement worked out well and I am extremely grateful to him for offering it to me. I got to meet his brother who is living with him right now and also his gf Libby who made us dinner and we all stayed up talking until 2 or 3 in the morning. I was soo tired because I hadnt been able to sleep on the flight thanks to the guy who sat next to me.
Woke up in the night to the sound of rain and it was still raining a little bit when I got up - close to 10am! An hour later than I had planned on. Quickly headed out to Gresham, the first area I had served in as a missionary , from October 2003 to February 2004. I was able to see some families there that I had not seen for a few years!
Visited people on Saturday afternoon and ate at Big Town Hero - SUCCESSFULLY! Because you might remember from past blog posts of mine that I tried to eat here last time in Oregon & also once in Vegas and they were both closed!! Major party foul on their part. My friend Mirna who was in the Mt. Hood YSA ward when I was there , met up with me and we caught up big time!
Had some time in-between and thought I'd better go to Deseret Book in Lake Oswego to get something. Well, they didnt have what I want, but I ended up getting a DVD and a great cd by David Tolk...the cd was playing while I was walking around and seriously gave me chills so I wound up buying it.
Stopped across the street at the Portland temple - one of my favorites!
Took this pic and got it right dead on the first time! Mad skillz....
Grabbed some food here - Clackamas Town Center mall HAS one! Arizona does not. Utah does. So I was wayyy excited to pick up some dinner here. You can get it to go or eat in the restaurant. I got chicken curry and it was VERY good!
Took my food over to my good friend Autumn's house and hung out with her and her kids for a couple hours. LOVE THEM! Autumn is GREAT to talk to and her kids are so amazing. CJ showed me some of his dance moves and Ari was acting cute all over the place. Miss them but soo fun to visit when I'm in town.
Next I met up with my friend Rachel who was a girl I taught in Milwaukie and we went to Cold Stone for some ice cream - unfortunately they were out of marshmallows so I did not have a mix in to my chocolate mint. Extremely disappointing. I bought some later at WINCO! YAY!
Dropped Rachel back off at her apartment and pretty much crashed ((aka "sleep"))
Sunday morning ! Up again to visit people & go to church.
As I drove to visit the first family of the day, I did not take for granted the beautiful changes happening to the trees since fall is coming!
It had been awhile since I had seen the Wing family so it was great to visit Rachelle, plus see how big her kids Kaylee, Jayden and Jayce have gotten too!
Went to sacrament meeting in Gladstone at the Aldercreek YSA ward with Jeremy and Libby. Saw Tyler Foster and Garry Zink and saw a few familiar faces still left from when I had served in that ward , the summer of 2004!!
Took off to Cedar Mill - Beaverton area after I left church to see...
Ahhh this family treated me and my companions that I had while served in their ward, so so well! One time they left us a TON of food on their doorstep. Seriously amazing. They have since moved and switched wards but I was able to track them down in time for my visit prior to coming to Portland. We had a great time talking about all sorts of things and my time with them was too short! But it was great to have a little time , they are a wonderful family.
Had to hurry to Damascus for dinner with the Wilsons. Another family who I have not seen for a very long time! They have SIX boys now and so dinner was very entertaining. Bro Wilson is now the bishop and gave me some good marriage/dating type counsel & words of wisdom. We had spaghetti for dinner and I tied with one of their sons in a contest! I felt SO full afterwards and a little sick but it was worth it. I'd rather tie than lose! When I was serving in Gresham they had me and my companion over for dinner once and apparently I beat the same son eating spaghetti so he wanted a rematch.
Me with some of the boys before I left...
I havent seen this family (above) since early 2004 at least! Sooo crazy huh. I was able to visit them Sunday evening and it brought back such good memories of serving in their Hartley Park ward and sometimes they would feed us dinner too. It was a great visit & they knew a lot about what had happened to other people I was wondering about from the ward so it was great to get updated! I hope to keep in touch more often with them!
Headed back to Clackamas after not too long and visited the Yates family. Watched some History Channel (so wasnt allowed when I was a missionary!) talked to Rob & Christina and said goodnight to Brynn. The girls were in bed. Sweet family & I am glad I had a moment to stop and see them.
Went to bed around midnight or probably a little later. Had to be up extra early on Monday to get to Dr. Egan's office in McMinnville by 9am. Got my teeth cleaned by him and had good news - NO CAVITIES! Woohooo!! Finally! Guess that earned me a goody bag or something because the hygienist filled it up with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, flossing materials & a pencil! Sweet.
Met up with Tausha and her son after that. I havent seen her since..2007 maybe? It was great to meet up & talk with her. I cant believe we are both 27 now!
Visited Ruby at work next, did not take a picture with her. Tried to find Billie Cymbala and happened to drive by her scrapbook store. Thank goodness because I know it had moved but I had no idea where. She doesnt work there anymore apparently and the lady working told me she was about to have her baby! WOW I had no idea! Again! I was clueless. Lol. I ended up getting a phone # for Billie after I got back to Arizona so hopefully I get to see her on my next visit.
Drove out to the Egans and had lunch with Dr. Egan and his wife Barbara and their son Doug and his friend who was visiting from Oklahoma, Raegan. She was very nice & it was great to sit and each together and talk. Even though I saw them a few months ago when I had been in town. But!! It's all good, I love love visiting them and the warm welcome they give me every time I am visiting.
Drove to Cedar Mill and had a few families left to see but only had time to see Bro Bigelow who was the ward mission leader when I had served in the Sunset Hills ward. His wife was feeling under the weather so him and I talked outside for about 30 min or so. It was great to hear what he has been up to and get updates on the ward.
I badly wanted to see Jeremy and Libby again one more time before my plane left but was advised that due to traffic, I'd better leave and not make any more stops!
Bye bye Portland....I hope to see you again in 6 months! Thank you for not raining on me too much, the lovely fall colors, expensive gas ($2.80's mostly when it is only $2.49 in AZ!) , no sales tax and not letting me getting carried away in my shopping!
(flying over Mt Hood)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tony Time
Tony & I packed a TON into our weekend together! I picked him up Thursday night at the airport and we pretty much just chilled at my place and watched Jericho online.
mmm their muffins are so good!
Then we went to the Mesa Arts Center where my friend Morgan took pics of us. The intent and purpose was to get some of us together since usually it is us standing with an arm extended trying to take a pic but the ones Morgan took turned out tons better!
(this was just taken with my digital camera up against an old school bus that looked like homeless people lived in!)
Next we went to Phoenix to pick up a sweet bike rack I found on craigslist. YAY ! Finally I found a good one for a decent price so I can take my bike with me when I travel. Right now I just want to take it to Chandler to ride with Paul, Rene & Joey or meet them wherever they are biking. For now I need to practice though because it has been awhile since I have ridden for an extended amount of time
Next we dropped off our roll of film at Walgreen & went to Superstition Springs mall and walked around before our dollar-theater movie started. We watched "Imagine That", cute G rated film and hung out outside the theater for a bit. It was SO nice outside and we even got a few drops of rain. Love the atmosphere at SS Mall.
We hadnt eaten dinner yet so we at at Cheesecake Factory, right next to the theater. Tony had never eaten there before and it was super delish. Their bread is so good, we tried their triangle cheese crisp appetizers and shared a dish of rice with veggies and meat with a piece of
cheesecake - chocolate mousse - to go
Saturday we could not decide what to do! Ended up not going to CA for my friend Kevin's wedding reception. I was very sad to miss it. Ended up not going on a hike to Water Wheel due to fires up there that had not been cleaned up yet :( Missed Joey's first soccer game because we didnt really wake up until 745 or so and by the time we got out there it would have been almost over. Didnt go to my friend Tausha's baby shower out in Peoria. She is having twins but I dont get to have Tony time too often so I decided just to spend the day with him.
So instead we did so many other things starting with picking up our pictures from Walgreens...here are a few that I will share:
(this one is one of my favorites!)
Then we did an "errand" which I am not going to disclose right now....went shopping at Goodwill and I got a shirt & Tony got a couple shirts and a pair of PJ pants. it was half-off everything day which happens every other Saturday & pretty much the only time I go to Goodwill now! Stopped by Costco and got free samples of so many different kinds of food! Then we drove and met up at ChickFila with Paul, Rene & Joey for a late lunch. That was really fun & the food was good too. Plus the company! It is always so fun to see my cousin and his family!
Headed over to Fry's Electronics to walk around and check out cool things there. AND to Ikea! It was really fun to walk around and pick out different bedroom set ups and kitchens that we liked.
So much walking around was wearing us out!
But the day was not over yet! We drove out to another undisclosed business in Scottsdale only to find out they were closed! So we went to Scottsdale Fashion Mall and found a Build-A-Bear! And this is where Hoote was born. A sister for Pandy! We are expanding our little family. Hehe
Getting an air bath..
Got Tony to the airport this morning at 630 and his flight left at 650am so he missed his flight but was able to catch one at 830 so that is good. He ended up leaving all his stuff with me though so he didnt have to check it in and so now I have to figure out how to get it to Utah! Good thing I am going for conference in a few weeks...
Friday morning I had to work so while I was at work Tony fixed my bike!! He put on my new bike seat and pumped up my tires with air. After work I picked him up and we went to Sweet Tomatoes because I had a coupon that expired that day + it is one of our favorite places to eat.
mmm their muffins are so good!
Then we went to the Mesa Arts Center where my friend Morgan took pics of us. The intent and purpose was to get some of us together since usually it is us standing with an arm extended trying to take a pic but the ones Morgan took turned out tons better!
(this was just taken with my digital camera up against an old school bus that looked like homeless people lived in!)
Next we went to Phoenix to pick up a sweet bike rack I found on craigslist. YAY ! Finally I found a good one for a decent price so I can take my bike with me when I travel. Right now I just want to take it to Chandler to ride with Paul, Rene & Joey or meet them wherever they are biking. For now I need to practice though because it has been awhile since I have ridden for an extended amount of time
Next we dropped off our roll of film at Walgreen & went to Superstition Springs mall and walked around before our dollar-theater movie started. We watched "Imagine That", cute G rated film and hung out outside the theater for a bit. It was SO nice outside and we even got a few drops of rain. Love the atmosphere at SS Mall.
We hadnt eaten dinner yet so we at at Cheesecake Factory, right next to the theater. Tony had never eaten there before and it was super delish. Their bread is so good, we tried their triangle cheese crisp appetizers and shared a dish of rice with veggies and meat with a piece of
cheesecake - chocolate mousse - to go
Saturday we could not decide what to do! Ended up not going to CA for my friend Kevin's wedding reception. I was very sad to miss it. Ended up not going on a hike to Water Wheel due to fires up there that had not been cleaned up yet :( Missed Joey's first soccer game because we didnt really wake up until 745 or so and by the time we got out there it would have been almost over. Didnt go to my friend Tausha's baby shower out in Peoria. She is having twins but I dont get to have Tony time too often so I decided just to spend the day with him.
So instead we did so many other things starting with picking up our pictures from Walgreens...here are a few that I will share:
(this one is one of my favorites!)
Then we did an "errand" which I am not going to disclose right now....went shopping at Goodwill and I got a shirt & Tony got a couple shirts and a pair of PJ pants. it was half-off everything day which happens every other Saturday & pretty much the only time I go to Goodwill now! Stopped by Costco and got free samples of so many different kinds of food! Then we drove and met up at ChickFila with Paul, Rene & Joey for a late lunch. That was really fun & the food was good too. Plus the company! It is always so fun to see my cousin and his family!
Headed over to Fry's Electronics to walk around and check out cool things there. AND to Ikea! It was really fun to walk around and pick out different bedroom set ups and kitchens that we liked.
So much walking around was wearing us out!
But the day was not over yet! We drove out to another undisclosed business in Scottsdale only to find out they were closed! So we went to Scottsdale Fashion Mall and found a Build-A-Bear! And this is where Hoote was born. A sister for Pandy! We are expanding our little family. Hehe
Getting an air bath..
Is our Saturday over yet? Nope! Not so much. We stopped by a YSA back-to-school activity and ate hamburgers and watched the dance off. It was pretty fun & I saw a few friends there. Went to Golden Spoon before it closed at 1030 and got frozen yogurt. I got coconut and chocolate mouse and Tony got strawberry. Mmm Mmm delicious! Hooray for coupons again!
Sunday we watched more episodes of our show & went to the Gable ward for church at 1:45. The primary kids from the family ward came and performed their program which was about families and they did such a good job! Talked to Rusty & Ben afterwards and then we went back to my place. We made dinner (stir fry) and cookies (molasses/ginger snaps) and went to my friend Dallin & Julie's for a movie on their projector screen! We watched WallE which neither of us had seen before.
Got Tony to the airport this morning at 630 and his flight left at 650am so he missed his flight but was able to catch one at 830 so that is good. He ended up leaving all his stuff with me though so he didnt have to check it in and so now I have to figure out how to get it to Utah! Good thing I am going for conference in a few weeks...
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Not my baby!
My friend Nicole had a baby boy on August 8th and they named him Asher. I got to go visit in the hospital and out at their house in Maricopa which is an hour or so away from me to visit and hold him!
He is really cute and so well behaved!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Sister Visit!
I have been soo excited for Laura to come visit me in Arizona as soon as I bought her ticket and knew she was coming for reals. When Laura got off the plane on Thursday afternoon, I found her pretty easily waiting for me at the Phoenix Airport. We went to Yogurtland to try out what they had to offer. Thought it was a 1/2 off day but you had to have some card and even the employees there didnt know where you could get the card but we enjoyed our frozen yogurt immensely. I'm a huge fan now...tasted so good you really didn't need to add any toppings!
Came to Mesa, unloaded Laura's stuff from my car and headed to my institute class because it was the opening social and I didnt want to miss it. Enjoyed food afterwards and she met some of my friends. Then we just went back to my place and hung out and I showed her around my place.
Friday I worked in the morning but at 1215 Laura picked me up and we met up with Rene @ Benihana's for lunch! MMMmmm it was so so good
Then we shopped shopped shopped all afternoon! Laura & I went to Arizona Mills mall and it is a huge oval like a track,with stores on both sides. Plus its a outlet mall so things are a bit cheaper there. Found this cute cute cherry dress at Burlington Coat Factory. Of course I bought it! It was nice to be in a cool mall rather than outside in the hot hot heat which I usually miss M-F because I am inside working at my desk!
Friday evening we were so tired that we just rented a couple movies and chilled. For dinner we went to Pita Jungle in Mesa and it was kind of a fast dinner because we were still full from lunch.
Saturday morning we went to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Scottsdale. Mmmm so worth $3.25 a cupcake. Definitely the kind that takes a little time to eat and not just gobble down. Our friend Tim came with us because he wanted a morning adventure I think.
Right next door to Sprinkles was...another Yogurtland!
This time I didn't put any toppings on my yogurt. I tried 3 or 4 different flavors. Mmm Mmm
After dropping Tim off to his car, we hit up a couple Goodwill stores for their 1/2 off sales!
I'm a sucker for bird shirts but I didnt buy this one...
Door on the left is Laura trying on 5 items, no wait, HOW many hangers are in there with her? Trying on ELEVEN items of clothing! Haha we found sooo much good stuff. It was such a successful shopping trip! Laura found the cool cherry plate but I will paint one myself someday.
Enjoyed a late lunch here and I was stoked to take Laura who has heard all about it but never eaten here before. She loved it!
Came home and met up with Brennen a little later in the evening and went over to my friend Alex's who was having a low-key party at his mom's house because she was out of town. Then we went to another party where there were a bunch of bands playing in someone's backyard. Hung out there, went to Fry's Grocery Store because I really wanted Laura to see how cool this grocery store is...and I think she liked it a lot!
Sunday morning we slept in and then got up and made food. Laura made me rice-a-roni, chicken and brownies. I made angel food cake to take to Nicole and Benson's for dinner in Maricopa that evening.
We went to the Gable YSA ward for sacrament mtg. and talked to Rusty afterwards. He is so nice! Went home and changed and drove out to Maricopa where we were having dinner. We got some really good pics with Joshua, Hannah and Asher but they are on Laura's camera and she still hasnt sent me the pix a week later!! so I will be adding them to this blog as soon as I get them. We had a very fun time visiting with everyone and Nicole made a delish dinner of spaghetti, salad and french bread. The angel food cake with whipped cream for dessert was super yum.
Stopped by Paul & Rene's afterwards for an hour or so then headed back to Mesa where we wrapped up the evening by finishing a movie, downloading some songs for Laura's i-river and I fell asleep long before she did!
Us @ the airport Monday morning early. Thanks Laura for coming out to see me before you head up to BYU-Idaho! I had a blast and hope you did too & I also hope you can come visit me again sometime soon!
Also..many many MANY thanks to my friend Mary in Woodland, CA for sending a little something in the mail to help Laura & I party it up (or down) on our special weekend together!
Also..many many MANY thanks to my friend Mary in Woodland, CA for sending a little something in the mail to help Laura & I party it up (or down) on our special weekend together!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)