Mini Vacation

So since I had only taken 2-3 vacation days from work since I started (all of those which were not actual vacations, rather just days available to help with other projects) I decided to actually get away. I had been wanting to get to the beach forever and so I decided on Cannon Beach and headed out on my adventure. I had a good book, good food and NO agenda. I was expecting just a bit of good weather and the rest stormy beach rain, but instead (excluding a light rain Sunday night during the Oscars) it was BEAUTIFUL! I took some pictures to share with you all and since a photo is worth a thousand words, I'll stop typing and start showing you the pictures!


As soon as I arrived, I headed straight down to the beach while the weather was nice since I had expected it to disappear. I took a really long walk with just a gentle breeze coming off the ocean and the sun shining down. What a perfect day at the beach.











It was really bright and sunny. This makes it impossible to get a good picture since looking into the camera makes your eye water instantly due to the sun glare.











I am not a genius photographer, but I didn't think this turned out too bad. I was so excited to get this shot with NO people in it in the middle of the day on a Saturday.













Again, I am not a photographer, I wished I was this weekend. It was just so pretty I couldn't get over it. I walked all the way down to Haystack Rock and I imagine I looked something like this person climbing on the rocks looking for starfish and other cool tide pool creatures.












This is the coolest thing I found. I remember there being so many more creatures here when I was a wee one visiting Haystack Rock. Even still, I was still amazed with myself and my timing as I had arrived at low tide and hadn't even planned it.









Trying to master the art of photographing myself, here is a pic of me just after my mini adventure climbing on the rocks and being thrilled I didn't fall or twist an ankle or something in the process.











This is the view from the room I was in. This rainbow appeared Sunday afternoon as the sprinkles were just starting. This doesn't do it justice because in real life the colors were So vibrant. I wish I could have fit the whole arc into my picture, that would have been perfect.










This is a picture of the hotel I stayed at. My room was the one on the far right at the very end on the first floor. I was literally just steps from the beach and could lay in bed and see the ocean. My dream come true on this vacation. I spent a lot of time with the fire turned all the way up, the door wide open so I could see and hear the ocean as I was curled up in bed with my nose stuck in a good book. I needed this vacation.



This last one is of me on my little patio. The lighting is bad so my face is dark and the ocean isn't visible but I was relaxed having just spent 30min in the spa by myself which overlooked the ocean. I hope to visit my little room again soon.


It was a wonderful vacation!

Cocktail Party

Chrissy and I decided to have a cozy post-holiday season gathering. Our Christmas decorations got to be enjoyed by more than just us one last night before they all got torn down. It was a fun time seeing everyone and getting to play hostess. Many thanks to Jessica for being such a wonderful photographer so I actually have something to post!






Chrissy and I in our festive aprons pre-party trying to stay clean before the guests arrived.




























Here is everyone all dressed up and enjoying the delicious appetizers and beverages :)










Showing off our cheesecake pops that Sarah made... an AMAZING party idea and they tasted sooo yummy!












Nurse and future nurse posing for an over the shoulder pic. Clem lives such an exciting life all the way out in New York, NY and it was so fun to have her visit again :)










Best friends since I think somewhere around 6 months old. My memory is that great from that early on in life, but I bet even back then we had some good times.













Sisters picture!











The ladies all lined up on the couch










And on a very different note, here is proof of my hard work digging out my parents driveway during our recent snow storm. I made a lot of headway before dad came home from work to help me finish up. And for the record, I did not use the wimpy shovel the whole time, only when Dad got home did he make me switch the the girly sized shovel :)




















A job well done and some quality father daughter bonding time.

Winter Wonderland

This is going to be a photo blog. Just random pictures from my apartment building, my parents' house and my grandma's house. I think I was 8 the last time we had this much snow in Portland. It is pretty to look at and not holding me back! I have the chains on my car and I'm ready to drive at a moments notice (which is good since I'm on call until Tuesday morning.)

Anyhow, here's the photos of snow... and it continues to snow, so we now have more than what these pictures show.


View from the family room in the apartment.














The icy footprints I left after my trek to the grocery store.














Some accumulation on the ledge out front.











A snow drift built up against the back door, but now it's not so much a drift as the level of snow is only approx. 3in below this level.






Just a dusting on the trees at Grandma's house















A Japanese maple in Mom and Dad's front yard.













A lone rose plant looking very cold.














A cozy winter scene. It's too cold to sit out there on that bench, but in the summer it's a great shady spot to cool off!







Christmas cookies anyone? What else is a girl to do? I made some 7 layer bars and those little cookies with pecans in them that melt in your mouth and have powered sugar on top (that is what I call them anyhow). I got tired before I made it to the sugar cookies, but those are next on the list.







Look who came to visit! I got dressed up for the picture, I hope you can tell...










Me and Papa by the tree. This picture requires a special note about "The Sack." For those of you that don't know, it's a rectangle of fleece with sleeves and wholes in the bottom to pop your feet out. Hideous, and wonderfully warm and comfy when your apartment refuses to get warm. I cannot believe I'm posting this picture, it's self incriminating and embarrassing.



Anyhow, there you have it. The highlights from my part of the world during this Severe Weather and Arctic Blast of 2008!

Conquering Tire Chains!!!

So, Portland got an "Arctic Blast" (Thank you newschannel 8, that one is pretty good as far as corny headlines go). Our 2 inches of snow have successfully thrown the city into turmoil and sent folks like me scampering to Les Schwab to buy myself some chains for the car. I was hoping that just the act of buying them would mean I didn't have to actually use them. But alas, heart surgery must continue in the city despite the weather conditions, and so I must safely and bravely travel to work at 0'dark thiry Monday morning (normal time is 5:20, but I think I'll leave more like 4:50). Since the weather doesn't appear to be rising above freezing all week, I guess I need those tire chains I just bought.

I can honestly say I have NEVER put on chains before, but those ones you don't even have to drive on are quite spiffy to put on! Even me, with no prior experience in blizzard like conditions, managed to get them on in like 8 minutes. Steve was on hand for "advice" but I wanted to learn how to do them myself, so he just stood by and watched keeping his pants dry and his hands warm. In the end I am thankful I know I can put on my own chains and don't need to depend on anyone's help! YAY FOR ME!

Ok, so here's the good part. Here is the proof that I put on my own chains. I HIGHLY recommend these chains. They are SOOOO easy to put on! Thanks Les Schwab!

Here are just some pretty pictures from the morning when things were fairly calm.


































We look kinda pitiful here, but it was COLD with wind in your face!



It is always important to read the directions! The ones I got are printed on a sheet of plastic so you can kneel on it instead of the snow:) Fantastic! I love this, well thought out tire chain people.







I'm getting there.












My hands are getting numb and I can't feel my knees at this point.









I've gone on a test run and the chains loosened up a bit, like they are supposed to. Then you just have to hop out and tighten them up and you are ready to go! So easy even I can do it :) But given the option I'd still be happy to let someone else out in the cold to put them on for me:)






YAY! Success! I'm so proud of myself! Now we just have to see if I make it to work safely in the morning. Hopefully I won't have pictures of a damaged car in my next post ;)

Christmas Decoration Extravaganza!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Chrissy and I are SO excited for Christmas this year, and we took advantage of my day off to go on an adventure and decorate for the holidays. It turned into an all day affair, but the results (and mess we made to get the results) were well worth it! We had such a fun day and here are pictures of our hard work:)

We started out shopping for just a few more ornaments here and there, but didn't have much luck. It's a good thing our tree is kind of a mini so it doesn't look too bare. The first decision we had to make was should we just go to a lot? OR do we go on an adventure and cut the tree down ourselves!?! We decided on adventure. I had been out to Helvetia with my family to get a tree a few years prior and that isn't too far away, so we headed in that direction. Sadly, the lot I had been to before was CLOSED! But there was another one just down the street, with a sign up a rough (ok not really, it was paved but not really with loose gravel on top) road that was a dead end and the sign wasn't clear if they were open or not. But Chrissy made me drive, and good thing we did because it was GORGEOUS there and the people were SO nice to us:)


We got a little chuckle from the cute old man that was there to greet us when we said we were interested in cutting down our own tree. Needless to say, we continued on our mission and followed the sign that said "to trees". It was a great selection, really no ugly trees in sight, but this is the tree that won our hearts, and then we chopped it down.


















I will spare you all the details of how hard we worked to get all of our decorations up and looking marvelous. It is safe to say we were glad there were no engineering minds near by to critique the method of our ways! In the end, you will see our work paid off! Here are the highlights of the little Christmas scenes that are here and there in our apartment.




















Here we have the tree with a flash, the tree and garland trying to give you an idea of the warm glow in a photo but not quite getting it, and my new nativity from mom that is similar to the one I grew up with. I LOVE IT! And it fits perfect right on the center of the hearth over our fireplace.





All of this is lovely in our little family room
but it is so fun to have up! I couldn't help myself and the Christmas cheer extends into our dining room. It's really not hard to have a huge Christmas impact with decorations when you live in such a small space:) Sorry if these are too dark...
Well there you have it! Hope you all are having a Merry Christmas so far! Now that I'm decorated, I have to start shopping. I don't wanna! Christmas shoppers aren't happy people :( Well I hope to see some or most of you during Christmas time, but if it doesn't happen, I hope you are all doing well!