We be bowlin'

Today. 5 o'clock. Cowboys beware.

GO DUCKS!!!!

#4

Ok, so they weren't out by the 15th, but I did get Christmas cards out! Not everyone I intended to receive one did, but putting the picture up on the blog counts for something, right? Christmas wishes to the masses? I promise, next year I'll start earlier :)

Merry Christmas to all!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Love, Sean and Steph

Man o man.....

This.

Thing.

Is.

AWESOME

Christmas came a few days early at our house, due to many ridiculous attempts to purchase this wonder of technology and my amazing ability to tell secrets while complaining..... But boy o boy was it worth it!

Tagged by Erica

This is the 8th picture in my 8th photo folder.... you'll recognize it as a slightly blurry baby elephant and it's mama who live at the Portland Zoo :)

I would tag some people, but I'm bad at remembering who's already been tagged! So I tag everybody! Post your pic and tell us what's goin on!

Something's missing....

For the last few days, all we've been hearing is how we're getting this CRAZY storm this weekend. A snow, ice, stay in your homes kind of storm. You know what I've got? A really wet yard and some really cold air.... Rude.

I LOVE SNOW! I want it to come now! Stop saying you'll come, and just do it already!

8:57 update... Rumor has it what I see falling outside my window is in fact a whole mess of greatly wished for snowflakes... until it accumulates on the ground I will not be convinced.

11:41 update... currently sitting at 39 degrees with clear blue skies... I'm trying not to be sad

4:34 update... I have grey skies, green grass, and a bunch of pictures of Salem and Portland COVERED in snow... this is not fair... but forecasts still call for the white stuff... we'll see!

11:21 pm update...



HOORAY!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Christmas 2008

Now if only it would snow! It's supposed to, I can see it in the hills!

Portland never fails to entertain :)

Believe it or not, Zoo Lights was just one fabulous part of our weekend!

Saturday we headed up to Portland, got checked into the hotel, and made our way to the MAX station to head to the Zoo! At the train station, we saw this:


Now, you may think to yourself, "How fabulous is that? A group of festive men and women handing out candy to kids, really getting into the holiday spirit!"

Uh huh.

They had spirit alright. Liquid spirit! And how do I know this scandalous bit of information? Because as we were driving to the Park and Ride, I got lost. I ended up a few blocks away, where we first encounter these jolly men (and women). And we think "Wow, I wish we had taken a picture of that giant group of Santa's!" Then we turn around, figure out how to get across the freeway, and we see the origin of this giant group.

THEY WERE ALL LEAVING A STRIP CLUB!

Inappropriate! Santa would NOT approve! Then we see them at the train station, and while they ARE in fact handing out candy to kids, I don't think I trust that candy. At all. There were more Santa's on the MAX, we saw 40 or 50 in all, headed down to a Holiday Brew Fest downtown. I'm cool with group fun, and rock on you choice making adults, but you have just tarnished Santa forever!!!!!!

In the morning we headed to McMinnville to go to the Evergreen Air and Space Museum where Sean took some amazing pictures (more later!) and then found this super cool brewery for lunch/dinner.

We love breweries. Sean always has a sampler, so he can try all the different varieties:

We also always take home a pint glass, we have a display of glasses from almost every brewery we've been to, all over the country. We have a glass from all the local places here, our favorite breweries from when we lived in NY, one from our honeymoon, Boston, etc.... it's our own little glassware travel log! You can see them in this picture of Loki, I'm too tired to go take one now :)

All in all, a pretty good weekend! A new favorite restaurant, planes, Christmas lights, and some crazy Santas!

#8

Saturday night, Sean and I went to Zoo Lights! I love Christmas lights, they are one of my top 5 favorite things (1.husband (and Loki) 2.mashed potatoes 3.shoes 4.Christmas lights 5.lightning storms)!

The Zoo had most of the exhibits closed, so we didn't see a ton of animals, but we did get to see the baby elephant and some dirty sheep and goats.



The lights were amazing, especially the ones on the train and in "Africa"! We ended up not getting ride the train, it was at least an hour wait! If you're gonna be heading up, I recommend getting there at 5, when they open, and heading to the train right away!

For your viewing pleasure:

Addicting.....

For all you decorators out there, or anyone who loves black and white as much as I do, this will keep you occupied for hours:

http://www.blackandwhitedelight.com/

Oh man.... I'm hooked!

In case you were missing me....

This weekend I am off to Portland, where I will, in no particular order:

*Accomplish AT LEAST one thing on The List

*Love on my husband

*See planes, trains, AND automobiles

*Have important educational related meetings

*Giggle like a kid, and possibly embarrass Sean by dancing in public

*Enjoy myself IMMENSELY!

I'll be back Sunday night, with a mound of pictures and words to entertain you with. Have a lovely weekend!

I'll miss you too :)

This makes me happy

I love them!

A tour of the casa (a.k.a. For Grace)

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to our home!

When you walk into the door, this is what you will see:

Turn to your right, and you enter the living room:

The view from the couch:

We have a million books...

Now, continue past the fireplace....

Turn right from the hallway, and enter the guest bedroom (currently a work in progress!):

This room is also known as "the room that holds Stephanie's wardrobe." This is my closet for all of my shoes (husband is building me shelves!), the one next to it holds the clothes!


Leave this room, continue down the hall, and on the left you shall find:

The Really Old Retro Bathroom!


I promise, we have removed the plaid... but the counters are purple and the floors are blue. The walls are peach. It's LOVELY! Look for updates next summer!

Continue down the hall, and to the right you will find our bedroom:



We have a giant bedroom set, and it takes up pretty much the whole room! But it's still nice... note Sean's Batman Easter Basket. It holds spare change when it's on hiatus from it's springtime duty :)

Now, head back down the hall towards the living room, and on your left you will find the dining room (of Thanksgiving fame):


That leads the way into our small, but fantastic kitchen:

This was before we put our stuff away... it's cuter now :)

And now, to the back yard!

The patio and shed (aka future home of my hot tub):

The planter boxes where I will learn to garden:



And our (rather blurry) apple tree:



And THAT, friends, is our house!

Disclaimer: We also have an office, but it's full of half empty boxes, and no one wants to put pictures of their messy house on their blog. So you'll have to check it out on your next visit :)

Why my co-workers refuse to visit my snazzy new house....

So, we're haunted.

It's true. You may think "yeah right, that's crazy talk," but I tell you what. Things are happening.

I have decided that I'm gonna start documenting the "incidents," so that we can keep all of our events straight. Also so that you know what to tell the authorites if we ever go missing.

So far....

-On occasion, when I walk down our hallway, when I get to a certain spot near the bathroom door, I hear the door from the kitchen to the garage slam. That door is dead bolted. This has happened approx. 6 times.

-Sean was sitting on the couch one day, listening to music, and distinctly heard a voice say "Hey" but he was the only one home. He checked. With his handgun.

-Sean was in the shower and saw a shadow pass across the shower curtain, and then something tugged on the curtain. He called me at work to tell me we were officially haunted.

-That night, we were talking in the living room, and I saw someone walk behind my reflection in the window. Sean was standing in front of me, and was not in the reflection.

-I walked into our guest bedroom, and was overwhelmed by the smell of cigarette smoke. We don't smoke, and the room has never smelled like smoke, before or since, with the exception of that one time.

-Last week, I was getting ready for work, and Sean asked me if I was humming. Nope, I don't hum. But apparently someone who lives in our house does....

-The night before Thanksgiving, I painted our hallway and dining room (pictures to come!). I rinsed the paint roller in the bathroom sink and left it there to dry over night. The next morning we get up, make breakfast, walk past the bathroom many many times, no issues. 10 minutes later I go to take a shower, and the paint roller has been rolled up the side of the sink (leaving a distinct paint trail), there is no paint anywhere on the counter, but then the roller has gone across the bathroom floor and into our (hardwood) hallway. There is paint EVERYWHERE, and it was semi-dry. That was super awesome.

-Finally, last night. We are sitting in our living room, watching TV, when we both turn towards the Christmas tree because there is a black... cloud? Orb? floating towards, and then through, the middle of the tree. The ornaments were swaying, as though someone had bumped them, except it was only the ornaments in the spot the "cloud" went through. The rest of the ornaments were not moving at all.


So... here we are. Apparently we're sharing our home with someone else.... Awesome. They're not even paying rent.

Stay tuned for updates!