Collin's Present

The following is what I gave Collin:

His present to me:

The one's with the green hashes are overlaps, and the purple are one's I ALMOST added but then didn't because I was worried it would make the playlist too long...

I love him so much.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sing Like You Think No One's Listening

I do that. Everyday. In the car. I figure I don't look anymore embarrassing than the people picking their noses! Muaha!

I am so looking forward to tomorrow evening and my hair appointment. It is thankfully not to the "I am just going to shave it" length yet, but I have over an inch of grow out since my last color. I love it when I have fresh color! 

I just need to survive tomorrow and Friday at work and then I get a four day weekend. I plan to run some errands while Collin works on Monday (yea, he has to work until two that day), and Saturday is looking to be pretty freaking awesome.

I also hope to be 100% recovered from this cold so I can go for a run or two over the long weekend. I am about 90% better. I just have some mild congestion left over. I would like to thank the following for a fairly speedy recovery:

- Zinc
- Vitamin C
- Good food
- Green Tea
- Korean Honey Lemon Tea
- Water
- Sleep

Without those items I would probably still be one miserable bitch, well, more of one than normal! I also have to thank my dear patient husband for putting up with me through the worst part. I know I get super cranky when I get sick because it takes all my energy and I feel like I get nothing done!

This next bit will drive Collin mad.

I am super excited about the present I got him. Every bit of it means so much to me, and I think it will all mean the same to him. Heck, the awesomeness might bring him to tears. Part of it did that to me. After Christmas I will post EXACTLY what I got for him. This will keep him guessing... ;-) (Love you, babe)

Time to chill and watch our most hated protagonist! (Breaking Bad; seriously, if you haven't watched it, do it. You will understand why we hate the main "good" guy.)

Sleep well and may Raptor Jesus be with you!

End of The World Volcano

I seriously want to make one... I would have to start tomorrow to get the actual volcano formed and stuff... It would be fun. I am talking about the age old elementary science project. I think it would be fun to set on off on the 21st.

I am trying to kill time while awaiting the rice cooker. It should be done soon, which is good because I am freaking starving.

I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Christmas is in a week. Then, Hello 2013! I hope that it is an amazing year full of growth, change, and happiness for everyone (whether I know you or not!). This past year has had many ups and downs all the way around.

Ah, my back itched! The great thing is that now I can reach almost every spot on my back. I have always been fairly flexible, but it's even easier with less "me" in the way. Ha!

Pandora seems to be gracing me with a stream of songs I love. Kind of nice.

Oh, something I failed to mention last night... Um. So, after years of peer pressure I finally caved and began playing World of Warcraft. I must say that I am finding myself enjoying it. It is one of the many things I am finding I can balance with in my life.

Seriously, I am hungry... What the heck is taking the rice cooker so long....

Phew! Only seven minutes left. So I am going to leave you here while I go nom some dinner with the husband before we play some WoW.

Peace out, home skillets.

At Least One More Than 2011

This post; it makes my total for the year more than 2011. That's sort of an accomplishment right?

I'm getting better at finding my balance with all the things I love. And continuing to do so will be a big part of 2013 for me. This is assuming that the world doesn't end in three days. HAHAHA!

Quite a few things have transpired during my most recent radio silence.

I completed my first 10k race on Thanksgiving morning. It was a great way to cancel out the calories from the excellent dinner I had.

I have my oral surgery scheduled for the 9th of January. The closeness of the completion/realization of this dream to have my teeth fixed is amazing and slightly terrifying.

Two of my very dear friends are engaged, and I am so happy for them. They balance each other and complement one another so well. I wish for them a happy and joyous future!

Right now (literally, as I type this) I am fighting off this damn cold that ripped its way through my work. I would like to believe I am coming out of it, but you know how colds can be.

This year we are abstaining from Christmas mostly. We plan to do a quiet little thing for us and maybe a friend or two at home, but other than that we are just enjoying the extra day(s) off. Haven't really been feeling the family thing lately, which sucks because I know our time on this planet can be so finite. In the same breath, I shouldn't need a holiday to dictate when I can have a family gathering. Okay, I am not wanting to go off on this rant right now.

Here's some uplifting and inspirational information that I have yet to disclose. I promised myself once I hit a certain goal I would be ready to share this, and as of a week ago this past Saturday I had surpassed my goal. To date, I have lost more than 125 pounds (that's more than a good friend of mine weighs and she is three months preggers!!). At my heaviest in 2008 (there are pictures from this time on my facebook page if you have access) I was over 420 pounds. It has been an immense struggle and an entire lifestyle change to get to where I am now. There have been so many ups and downs and stalls/plateaus that seemed insurmountable. As of December 8th I weigh 297 pounds. The last time I weighed this little was when I met my husband over eight years ago. Before that? When I was fourteen/fifteen I weighed about the same. I still have about 100 pounds to lose to be at MY goal weight, and I know I can do it. I hope this information can help someone, anyone realize that they can achieve their own health goals. I have lost this weight without surgery, pills, or crazy dieting. I have monitored what I put into my body and how much. I have cut out some unhealthy habits such as soda all the time, sweets/junky snacks, smoking, and being a lazy bastard. I still enjoy soda and other sugary things, but very rarely and in extreme moderation. Oh, and I do not eat any fast food except in "emergency" situations (so once every six months!), and when I do I go for the healthiest option I can.

That is the biggest news of the last couple months really. At least it is for me. Now I am going to drug myself up with some Nyquil so I can have some more disturbingly odd dreams. Here's a quick recap from the past couple nights:

Woke up (in the dream) to find I was bald in a strip straight down the middle of my scalp... Not shaved, but truly bald.

At the doctor's for routine exam and the doctor then tells me in four to six months they intend to remove my appendix. I argue that there is nothing wrong with my appendix. They say it is an unnecessary organ. I argue that I have other superfluous anatomy like my tonsils. They respond that they will just remove those when they take my appendix. (Freaky, right? My fear of doctors my have played a role in that one.)

Every room I entered, the lights didn't work. Like they would flicker out immediately after I turned them on...

Yay, for sickness and drug induced dreams! Good night, yo.

Vacation Statistics

Miles driven: roughly 3,500

Number of States Driven Through: 9

States traveled through (in order): Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming (again), Montana, Idaho (again), Washington, and of course Oregon (to get home).

Total monies spent on fuel: $390.70 (I love my car!)

Pictures taken: roughly 1,000 (822 after deleting and editing)

Furthest driven in one day: 740 miles (It was brutal as it was through Iowa and South Dakota mostly. Pretty, but extremely flat....)

State with best rest areas: South Dakota; they had some super nice ladies there that handed out info guides and told you about interesting places to visit. Plus, the bathrooms were clean and nice.

State with worst/scariest rest areas: Montana; beautiful state, but I seriously thought one of the rest areas we stopped at was going to be the start of some horror movie... Plus the bathrooms were CAH-reepy!

There will be more... For now I need to go make dinner. Tomorrow it will be back to the grindstone... 

Numb The Bejeezus Out of Me and Let's Do This

Not exactly what I said to my dentist this afternoon, but a close approximation. Crap. I am numb up into my right nasal passage. Just got what I hope will be my last round of fillings done. Yay! Now on to the super fun stuff. Root canal, extractions, and implants, oh my! Hahaha. But seriously, that's what is next at this point. I will be going in for the root canal after our much needed vacation and shortly there after get the permanent crown in place. Then it's all down hill until January, when (barring any unforeseen circumstances) I will begin the implant process for my two missing teeth.

Have I mentioned how much I love my new dentist? Yea, he rocks.

Having part of my nasal passage numb feels weird.

I am so freaking hungry... I still have about an hour until the numbness will be worn off enough for me to eat. That's part of the reason I am on here; trying to kill time while not drooling on the keyboard.

Now would be a good time to get any sort of lip piercing on the right side of my mouth...

The past two days have been so draining... The rest of the week should be better. Key word being should.

Saturday we are going to the Tacoma Zombie Festerval and Preparedness Expo. I am super stoked about it. It should be fun. And then we are immediately turning around and heading to the coast for the normal bi-weekly trip...

I really want my soup. It's hard to focus on this.

We went to the weekly group run this past weekend only to find that almost all of the group was at various races in the Pacific Northwest this past weekend... Our fearless leader did show, so we went running with him. And this is where we made the fatal error...

We recently changed our 15 seconds running / 60 seconds walking intervals to 15/45. Well whilst running at that pace we were able to keep up a full conversation... Fearless leader decided that we can probably switch the ratio up even more. He suggested 20/40 until after we complete a 10k (we are looking forward to a potential Thanksgiving 10k) and then we may make adjustments from there as we ramp up towards the half marathon.

Yep, that's right. We are aiming to do our first half again. This one will be in April (in about seven months). We are looking to run in the Eugene Half Marathon. I know we can do it. We have done the distance so I know it won't kill me. We just have to work ourselves back up to that kind of distance. Since we were so sick in May we haven't done much more than four to five miles on a run.

But back to the more immediate future. The 10k. What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than burning a thousand calories running a 10k before scarfing down all the nommy foods associated with said holiday? I am truly stoked about it. Heck, even if we don't actually settle on a race for that day I will probably want to run that distance in the morning just to do it! Yes, I know, I have a sickness. I can't help it. I really truly enjoy running.

Speaking of, as I mentioned above regarding the fearless leader's suggested new intervals for us, we tried out the 20/40 pace last night for our run. At first my legs were like, "Woah! This is not how we do this! We should have stopped back there... What gives?!" But after the initial half mile to a mile it became fairly comfortable. Well, at least it wasn't painful. It was more physically demanding but in a good way. And conversation was limited to us focusing on how we breathe out. More sage words of wisdom from leader dude on Saturday. He told us to focus more on breathing out since our body will make sure we breathe in, but we can control how quickly we breathe out. It helped quite a bit.

My nose is no longer numb! Woo hoo!

I am seriously jonesing for my chicken tortilla soup from Costco that is sitting in my fridge... I have been waiting for this stuff to come back out! Now it's Fall (my favorite season) and all the awesome things associated with it are resurfacing, like pumpkin and maple and apple and spice scented stuff, fall coffee flavors (I know they can be had year round but they taste better in the Fall for some reason), still warmish days and cool crisp nights, and Grey's Anatomy comes back on!!! I really love the Autumn months.

I am hoping they love me too, and that the weather is mostly agreeable for our trip. I would love to catch a thunderstorm or two while we are out on the Great Plains. It would be amazing. I can't wait to see what kind of pictures we manage to capture on this adventure. I will be sure to post my favorites on here.

That reminded me. Earlier this month we went on an awesome train ride on the coast thanks to my new addiction: Groupon. It was such a fun and awesome day. By the time we got home we were exhausted and wired like kids! As we were getting ready for bed that night I checked on a deal we had been seesawing about and realized it only had two hours left. Being drunk on fun, we did it. We bought two hours each for custom tattoo work at 50% off. We are stoked. We have until March to use it. We will probably use it in the next couple months. I told Collin that we can use the vouchers after he does his CCNA certification test. Motivation never hurt anyone.

Well, I am going to go wash my face and then start heating up my soup, and find something stupid to watch on Netflix...

Ramble again soon.

Busy... Me?

Nah... What would ever give that impression? Oh, has it really been a month (almost) since my last post? Well, crap.

We completed our first 5k with flying colors! LOL. See my profile picture and it might make more sense. It was a blast! Definitely chose the right sort of event for our first 5k.

In the last couple weeks we have begun to switch up our workout regime. We added Zumba on the Wii, and let me tell you, I have never had that much fun flailing around like an uncoordinated buffoon. We are starting to get the moves down and are really enjoying it in addition to our running.

Ah, yes. The running. We have made some changes to that too. The 15 seconds of running to 60 seconds (one minute for those of you on drugs) of walking ratio was getting EXTREMELY stagnant and beyond being easy. We cut down the walking/"resting" period to forty five seconds and have been loving it. It's just right; not too little rest but not too much at the same time.

As for the busy part of life...

The weekend of our first 5k was insanity at it's finest. The race/fun run action was Sunday morning. The day before (aka Saturday) was non-stop! We had to go downtown to get our packets for the race. As soon as we got back out here we zipped over to the coast to take my dad groceries and run him into town. I felt kind of bad because we were prodding him along in town. After safely returning him home we flew back here (all I can say is I didn't get caught and that is what matters...), hopped back on the MAX, and went back downtown. We met K and G at Kells Irish Pub for an awesome dinner for G's birthday. I had the curry chicken and chips (fries). It was CRA-mazing! For dessert Collin and I split the Bailey's Cheesecake. Freaking orgasmic! Afterwards we MAXed our happy asses home and crashed before getting up to go to the race.

The weekend after that we did our normal Saturday morning run action before heading to IKEA.We found an awesome new clock for the living room! We snagged a quick lunch at Panda Express and then made a bee line for West Linn and the 2012 Street of Dreams. We ran into our neighbors/one of my co-workers there and saw five of the seven houses with them. All of the houses were truly amazing, but some of the things just seemed ridiculous to me. I loved the outdoor kitchens! Some day... Some day. After drooling over the insanely expensive homes we headed back to our abode and chilled. The following day we booked all of our hotel rooms for our upcoming and much anticipated vacation! It's a relief to know that they are all reserved and ready (and paid for!). Since we didn't feel like we had spent enough money ( < dripping with sarcasm) we decided we might as well go get a new camera so we have time to familiarize ourselves with it before our trip. We did find an amazing camera that is loaded for the price point and I am sure will last us quite some time.

Now we are to this past weekend. It was another coastal Saturday! I got to spend some much needed time with K before she had to head to work. I truly do not know what I would do without her! As always we got some fantastic noms from Deli 101. This time we tried the Roasted Chicken Panini; it was marvelous! We are working our way through the deli's menu and have loved it all! I'm not big on spicy but one of my favorites was the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, and don't get me started on the grown up grilled cheese! Oh, yum! And the sides and other goodies... Sheesh, I could right an entire blog just about the awesomeness of this place. Anyways, back to the weekend. We went to the lake to eat our sammies, and managed to see an amazingly awesome sight: two gorgeous bald eagles! I even got some great photos of them with the new camera:

It was just plain wicked. Then we went out to my dad's before heading home for the evening. Sunday was spent running errands and doing chores.

The weekends are when most of the real living happens, and are punctuated by the weekdays of working, working out, and going to appointments. This is part of why the posts have been so infrequent.

Plus, lately, with the whole wanting to have a tiny human in the next few (sweet jeebus I first wrote couple!) years, I have been finding myself trying to focus on what I want to do for my grown-up career. In the perfect world I would be doing something I love, and doing it from home with the freedom to be a mommy. This is my goal and I am going to try for it. With Collin's career path I am sure I could just as easily do just the mommy thing in the future (like, when we decide it is time to pop out a little parasite) without it being a financial burden on us, but I think I would like to have something that is mine that I contribute. I guess we will see when we get there, but I still need to figure out what I want out of my career. I know additional schooling is a definite, but for what?! I have played around with so many options I can't keep them straight! But this will be another post.

One step at a time. The big goal of the moment? Find a dentist that I like out of the three that I deemed potentially acceptable... I really need to get on this so that I can hit my birthday goal of getting my front teeth fixed FINALLY...

Now I am going to watch an episode of Drop Dead Diva on Netflix, because that's just how I roll!

Changes

You swear up and down that this is it. This is how it is going to be.

Then one day, something in you changes.

It's funny how broad the above can be interpreted.

My perception of my future has changed so drastically in the last few days, but it seems more like waking up and acknowledging what was already known to some part of me.

Peace and happiness. That's what these realizations have done for me. And Collin. Hell, he is the one who started it all.

Dammit.

Someday, we are going to make a go of this whole tiny human thing called parenthood... Someday. There are a couple things to deal with first. But more on all of this later.

:-)

And She Was Never Heard From Again...

Okay, if that were true then I wouldn't be posting this.

We are going to try something fun with the help of Google Images. A picture is worth a thousand words and we have a lot of catching up since it has been two some odd months...

So we left off with me getting a new computer and training for the half marathon...




Collin brought home the plague...



For almost a month, which meant no race... There will be others.

We traded the truck in for a new 2012 Ford Fiesta (ours is this color).
 
 We saw them at the Roseland! Great show! Dead Sara and Stars in Stereo opened for them.

My brother graduated from OSU!

And moved to New Meadows, ID for six months... AKA Purgatory (according to him).

We are getting back into the swing of running again. With all the weekend obligations it has been difficult to make it to our group runs... :-(

Horribly addicted to this game, but still finding time for other activities!

Like this piece I did.

And when we aren't other wise engaged going on adventures!

Like our trip around (literally) Mount Hood this weekend. Saw some amazing scenery!

I think that's about all the high points I can recall right now. So, ten pictures... That's like ten thousand words. Not bad! ;-)

Meatloaf!

Please, Don't Bleed In The Cheese

Things are calming back into a state of erratic normalcy. That is to say that things are going back to normal for us. Collin is halfway through his final term, the move went fantastically, and we are two weeks away from the half marathon (which I am feeling pretty awesome about).

Last weekend we got everything moved in and mostly unpacked. The craziest part is that this place feels more like "home" than our other place did. Not sure why.... We have most everything unpacked; just a few odds and ends still in the garage that need to find their homes. Some of them will stay in the garage, we just need to invest in some shelving racks for them.

I have finally decided to upgrade from my laptop (it's only about six years old...), but instead of replacing it with another laptop I will be getting a new desktop. I will keep the laptop for its portability but truly a desktop makes more sense for the type of user I am. More often than not I use my laptop at a table or desk; I'm really not to keen on balancing it on my lap. The following is the specs for my new machine (she is yet to be named) for all the wonderful nerds in my life:
CPU: AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6100WMGUSBX
GPU: XFX HD-657X-CNF2 Radeon HD 6570 2GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-880GM-D2H (REV. 3.1) AM3+ AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard 
She may not be the best or fastest ship in the universe but she is (will be) mine. There will most certainly be pictures once she is completed, and hopefully by that time I will have a name for her. And yes, she must be named... If I name my stapler at work I best name my machine at home.

Yesterday we completed thirteen miles only skipping a couple running intervals up the last hill or two (our calves were starting to cramp) and we did it within the time frame we needed to. This has me feeling very confident about my ability to complete our first half. It wasn't necessarily "easy" but it was doable. The only thing that really made me suffer at all was the idiotic compulsion to chug a half a glass of frigid, ice cold water right after arriving home. This made every muscle in my abdomen cramp to the point I almost vomited. I ended up having to lay down for about an hour for my muscles to relax and the nausea to go away. Today I am still a little sore; muscles tearing themselves apart and rebuilding themselves will do that I guess, but that's why I am taking in a ton of protein and water.

During our run yesterday we had a couple of awesome moments. One, I came up with an awesome t-shirt idea that I want to get made after we complete our first half marathon (sorry, but I am going to leave you hanging until after the race and the t-shirt is made). Two, we saw a family of ducks with the super cute, adorable, snuggly little ducklings. And three, Collin had that philosophical epiphany moment in our run that the last x distance beyond the furthest you've gone before is the hardest. I must say he is fairly correct in that.

If you asked me a year ago to complete a half marathon I probably would have laughed in your face. My, how things change in such a short amount of time. If it weren't for a couple of amazing people we are lucky enough to have as friends there is no way we would have come this far. They know who they are; they are the ones who invited us to "tag along" to their group and see what it was like. I think back to a year ago when walking five miles was insane, and then flash forward to the present and I am truly amazed and humbled by the experience and the change. I also have to give praise to the insane trainer/coach who thought we could do a half this soon... Still not sure how I let him talk us into this, but I am forever grateful that he saw this potential in us. I know we can do this.

In other adventurous news, Collin and I are planning a road trip for the first part of October. I can't wait! We are taking a week off from work and driving out to Nebraska, where we hope to spend a couple days visiting Collin's family. It is sure to be an emotional and exciting trip, but we are really looking forward to it. I plan to be posting like crazy from my phone. It is still a few months away, but me being me I am already planning the routes and figuring where we will stay. Due to Ricky's age and his tendency to chug versus sip his fuel we are looking into renting a more fuel economic car, possibly a hybrid. The cost of the rental would work out to be about what we would spend on gas in Ricky for one leg of the trip. Our goal is to leave here on a Friday right after work and be in Nebraska by Sunday afternoon; sleeping in Ontario, Oregon Friday night for a few hours and then spending Saturday night in Laramie, Wyoming. It should be quite an adventure (especially for someone who has never been outside of Oregon and Washington)!!

Phew, I am glad I finally took the time to post on here. My brain was beginning to overload with gunk that I wanted to post. Now that I have most of the big stuff out the other interesting stuff can start seeping out of my pores like awesome glowing ooze.

Hummus. 

Spectacular Saturday and Super-Productive Sunday

This whole weekend has been pretty darn amazing. As I type I have rice cooking and sauce simmering; working to get a head start on what is slated to be a busy, busy week. But before diving into the forecast ahead let's back track to this past weekend, beginning with Friday.

I moved almost everything (except the desks, chairs, file cabinet and empty boxes) out of the nerd domicile and into the garage. I also moved everything that was up in the guest room (except the futon). I am trying to consolidate everything as much as possible.

Saturday we climbed out of bed (a little unwillingly but...) bright and early, had breakfast, and loaded groceries for dad into the truck. We picked up spice drops for dad, got gas, and the ever important coffee, and made our way to the coast. We took dad into town and visited with him for a bit. And then played tourist in town. It's always kind of fun to play tourist and just meander around the mall and the shops "downtown."

At the mall we popped into Old Navy where I scored a couple of adorable tops uber cheap. Then we made our way over to downtown Lincoln City. We moseyed around the cutesy tourist traps and happened upon a little body jewelry shop called SpeakEasy. I spied some fantastic oven mitts (I need some new ones) so we went in and perused their wares. We found an awesome shower curtain and I jumped on it. We need one for the master bath at the new place and this one was totally us! There will eventually be a picture of it... Somewhere... Like after we are moved. From here we meandered with a touristy shuffle to the corner of 15th and Hwy 101. Here we found mecca.

Deli 101. One word to describe it? Awesomedeliciousyummyspectacularcra-mazinglywonderful! Great atmosphere and totally one of a kind. I had the Taby sandwich; bacon (super awesome thick cut perfectly crisp!!), turkey (no skimping on the meat), lettuce, tomato, onions, avocado, and this amazing spicy grainy mustard on the perfect crusty baguette. DELICIOUS! Next time I am totally trying a panini. Collin got the Sissy panini and LOVED it. Next time we are going to get each get something different and share... I was a little greedy yesterday and didn't think to do this. LOL. I also got to visit with my K while we were there, AND we tried this fabulous delight called an Oregon Joy. Imagine a soft chewy fluffy cookie that is basically a de-constructed Almond Joy bar and that's what we had. IT. WAS. AWESOME. I am thinking I will become a bi-weekly regular when we go to Lincoln City to check on dad. Okay, screw thinking, I KNOW I will...

After eating and visiting for a few we decided it was time to cruise on home. On the ride home I was feeling antsy (we had skipped our Saturday morning run in order to get to the coast early and planned to do it today instead) and just wanted to go for a run. So, when we got home at six thirty we swapped outfits and went for a nice three point six mile run. I am so glad we did. I felt fantastic afterwards. We then had a nom-ilicious dinner of sourdough grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Today has been an extremely productive day. I packed two more boxes, and moved seven more boxes into the garage. All that's left to pack are the dishes, the basic kitchen necessities, our bathroom stuff and our clothing. We have managed to find ANOTHER load worth of stuff for Goodwill. We took Collin's used and abused dresser, my two winter coats (I have accepted the fact I would be swimming in them by the time I need to wear a winter coat again), one of Collin's winter coats, and a bunch of old shoes that are two big and we can't wear them anymore. Oh, and the over the toilet shelf thingy we had. We really won't need it with all the storage at the new place. As I said at the top of the post, I cooked rice for Wednesday and made sauce for tomorrow.

This next week is pretty stacked:
Monday: work, run, dinner and school work for Collin.
Tuesday: work, grocery shopping, dinner, hockey game on TV, and school work for Collin.
Wednesday: work, run, dinner, and (you guessed it!) school work for Collin.
Thursday: work, get deposit/rent cashier's checks, bowling with work gang/hockey game on TV, dinner, and school work for Collin (are you seeing the theme here??).
Friday: work, lease signing!!!!!, dinner, and school work for Collin (hopefully he will almost be done for the week...).
Saturday (aka torture-day!!): TWELVE AND A HALF MILE RUN, and curl up and die.

Okay, so we know we will be fine on the run. It will be great, as long as I don't fall.... Halfway through... Like on the eleven mile run. The rest of next weekend will be taking boxes to the new place and packing the rest of this house. Should be a blast!

Lasagne!

Falafel and Falling Outs

I wanted to post this last night, but there just weren't enough hours in the day. I almost didn't post again tonight. I wasn't quite there after cleaning the bathroom and taking the garbage out. Then I decided I needed to do this more than I needed to watch HGTV (Yea, it's been a horrible guilty pleasure of late). This is like my pensieve (a place to put all the thoughts that fill my head for my muggle minions!). It's been such a whirlwind the last two weeks, I am not sure what I have and haven't posted about. I know I posted about our awesome new place.

Another awesome thing is that I have dropped another pant size (I did post this on Facebook, but not here... I think...).

How does one explain to their parents why they want to help them when they can? Especially when the parents are stubborn and prideful (I know, the apple in relation to the distance from the tree, but that's not the point...). For all their faults in the past, I love both of my parents dearly, and if I had things my way neither of them would ever have to worry about anything. Ever. But as I am not independently wealthy, nor did I win the Mega Millions I can only do what is within my means. How to get them to let me is the issue. In the past few years I have seen too many people who are a part of my life lose a parent, and I cannot begin to imagine the pain of that loss. Just letting that thought enter my mind sends a frozen spike of fear and sadness straight through the core of my being. So without being so blunt, how do you convince stubborn prideful parents to shut up and let you do what you have the means to do to improve their lives? You just do it. That's what I spent Saturday doing. I took my mom shoe shopping and then went to run my dad around so he could take care of business. I know both of my siblings would be doing the same thing I am if everything in their lives permitted it.

So after parenting the parents for the day we made our way back home. On our way back we were trying to figure out what to pick up for dinner (we had plans but they fell through because we weren't able to make it back to town early enough). In an effort to finally start broadening our horizons I suggested Gyro House. A friend (and soon to be neighbor!!) has told me nothing but awesome things, so we thought why the heck not. OH-a-MY-a-GOD! It was sooo freaking good! I know I will be going back again and again! Since it was new to us we each got something different so we could split and share. We got a chicken gyro, a falafel  gyro, and a hummus plate. It was all amazing! I am now ruined for all store bought hummus. The hummus they serve is so incredibly smooth and creamy.... Drooool.... I am thinking we will try new stuff each time we go there. Plus, the place is super close to us!

Sunday we got up and went for a great two mile run, and then came home for an awesome breakfast of french toast, eggs, and coffee. We watched some TV, and then decided to try our luck at shoe shopping again.

I have been trying to find a new pair of casual black shoes for everyday wearing. My only shoes other than my heels and running shoes are messed up because of the way my foot fell when I was heavier, and now they cause discomfort for my feet, legs and hips. I had been looking but no luck finding anything that I REALLY liked. We opted to go to Freddie's first, but nothing there was worth spending the money on. Then we went to Dutch Bros, and decided to try the Payless Shoes nearby, and we struck GOLD! I found exactly what I wanted. They are nice slip on black casual "sport" shoes, and are very minimalist in the sole (which I love!). I call them my ninja shoes because I feel like I could kick some ass in them, but be very quiet and sneaky about it!

We went to get gas after that and came home to nom on salads and the rest of our hummus with some pita chips. I spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning the kitchen, like every cabinet door, and every square inch of the counter. Better to space out the hardcore cleaning now and then I just need to wipe stuff down after we move out.

The only sad spot on the weekend is I had a falling out with someone. I hope that they are okay and know that they are loved. I hate not being able to trust people, and that's what it all boiled down to for me. Time and time again I have felt used and seen other people used by someone, so it makes it hard to believe their intentions are truthful and not malicious. I don't trust the person and probably got overly protective about stuff, but that's just who I am. Many times I seem to get likened to a Mama Bear. That's the person my life experiences has shaped me into. I trust my gut and my instinct. If something doesn't make sense; logically, realistically, or otherwise, I'm not buying. Someday I hope things will be better. The person knows how to contact me, but I don't think I want that until they are ready to be 100% honest with me. Right now I don't think that will happen, and I understand it.

Collin is in class tonight. He took the day off today for his mental health... I wish I could do the same. I feel like I am teetering on a precipice. One way and everything will work out; the other, it will all crumble. Mostly I guess it's me that will crumble... Maybe I will be able to squeeze an easy day out of the long weekend when we move...  Maybe...

Okay, I think this has rambled on long enough, and I am beginning to internalize the conversation (as in I am not typing out the thoughts because they are unprocessed and would probably get messier than I am comfortable with). I think I deserve some HGTV now.

Pumpkin Pie.

No More Looking

We found an awesome place about two weeks ago. We made a move on it, saw it this past Monday, put in our applications, and were informed today it was ours! We start the move on the twenty first of April.

So the details...

I know we were looking for smaller, but we settled for bigger and more well planned space instead. It is also cheaper than what we pay now; not insanely cheaper but worth every penny of rent.

We found another three story, two bedroom two bathroom townhouse, but there are some amazing differences. With this place we will have a two car tandem garage with tons of room for storage and for Collin to have a little techie nerd work bench. At the back of the garage there is a door out onto an okay sized porch with a little fenced in "yard." The yard is pretty much NO maintenance which is cool, I am not sure what we would really do with it.

On the second floor is the kitchen, dining room, and living room. I LOVE the way the rooms are laid out. The living room has a gas fireplace and some built in shelves. The kitchen has a PANTRY!! So I can actually use my huge bookcase for books! Off the living room (which is in the back part of the townhouse) is a GINORMOUS deck. I can totally see a couple chairs and a table out there with our grill.

On the third floor is the washer and dryer and two huge bedrooms. The master has an attached bath and then the second is out in the hall right next to the second bedroom. There is a walk in closet in the master; which I am not sure what I will do with it having donated most of my clothes to Goodwill....

There is a ton of storage through out the place and it is only .7 miles from where we currently live, and that is .7 closer to my work and the Max. I am so glad we were able to find something in the area we have fallen in love with. Also, one of my really good friends from work lives like four houses away! So, we lose the nerd domicile/man cave (that really didn't get used), and all of our toilets are still on the third floor, but we gain roughly two hundred square feet for LESS than we pay NOW, and we stay in the area we love (and is convenient for our life right now). Oh, and did I mention we yet again managed to find something that backs to a park/green space. Yes, our views consist of gorgeous trees!

I am beyond happy and relieved. Lord willing, this will be the last time we move until we are ready to buy! I don't want to have to look at rentals again, next time I want it to be for something much more permanent.

I feel like I am missing some details but there will be pictures after the move. Distracted by dinner. We are celebrating.

Pizza!

I Know...

Stress. It’s a known fact of life. Everyone has to deal with it. 

It hollows you out and fills the empty husk with toxic sludge. It cracks a door for its cousins; guilt and fear. Stress opens a window to let in the chill air of depression. It cuts you down to nothing and makes you feel useless.

You do what you can to beat it back and hold it at bay, but it wears you out and robs you of sleep. And when it allows you to sleep it brings you visions of despair and hideous nightmares.

It feeds on your spirit and makes you feel weak. More often than not, by the time you realize what it has done to you, the recovery appears like Everest. You know it can be done and others before you have reached the peak. Stress whispers in your ear doubts and what-ifs. Finally something inside snaps and you break through.

A spark. A tiny hungry flame inside you ignites. You realize that the voice telling you this is an insurmountable task is the stress. It’s afraid. All its hard work has turned on it. A warm breeze blows, bringing the scent warm sun, grass, and that earthy smell of spring.

It’s not easy, but you find the strength. You struggle. Somehow, that flame is now an inferno. You burn your way out of the rut. With a fiery desire you turn the stress into action and planning. You are the stronger of the two.

Let go.

You can achieve it all if you just let go.

Remind me to read this next time. There is always a next time. I am sure some times will be bigger and harder than others, but this will always be a constant.

Bridges Are Looking Tempting...

Want to know what I hate more than moving?

Bitching about looking for a new place.

It's true. I hate it. But I am going to do it anyways.

This shit is getting old. It just kills me seeing THREE ideal properties, and having to wait it out. I know I would be wasting my time even contacting them at this point since all of them are available NOW. Patience is slipping away from me.

The alternative of course is to not look until we get closer... Lesson learned, that doesn't work either. There was this other townhouse we had eyeballed the listing for but it was above what we originally were looking for price-wise when I still had the miser goggles on. It was in a perfect location and good size, cheaper than what we pay now, and it wasn't going to be available until mid- April... Yea, it's not listed anymore...

I need to cut up the brownies for work tomorrow... Probably should taste test them with Collin... Don't want to take mediocre goodies to work. LOL.

*~*~*~*~*~* (you know this == intermission music at this point, right?)*~*~*~*~*~*~

Done. And I did the dishes!

This last weekend we skipped out on the running group. It was Magic Mile. We spent Saturday sleeping in, and then sleeping more. Seriously, we took a two odd hour nap after being up for about four or five hours. I think we needed it. With his schooling, and everything else we desperately needed a break from it. We did accomplish some stuff though. We spent a couple hours going through more stuff that needed to go to Goodwill. Which is where we went Sunday. Twice. A Ricky was loaded to the gills both times. It was kind of nice to get rid of more stuff. Our bikes have also found new homes. Mine to a good friend at work and Collin's went to Goodwill.

Monday I did something to tweak or pinch my sciatic nerve so about a quarter mile into our run I couldn't run anymore. We walked for a bit more and then cut it short and made our way home. It was actually quite frustrating. I wish I knew what I did to it. Today it is mostly feeling better, but as to not further derail any training we are only walking after work this week.

I am trying to save myself for when it counts at this point, which in this case the distance run on Saturday is when I really want to be able to run. We are slated for eight miles this weekend. This run will be tied with the furthest we have walked since starting the program last year.

I am excited, which sounds a little sick, I know. Especially when you consider that it is ALL uphill from here. Not literally, but distance wise.

I am getting sleepy and distracted so I should go before I start babbling nonsense that is more nonsensical than what I normally babble about... LOL... So before you say anything about glaring grammatical errors or misspellings, know that I am half asleep and this is taking me forever to type so I have no intentions of proofing it. Bite me.

Cornbread.

Changing The Game

Or maybe it's the plan...

As much as I want to be a miser and hole away money and pay shit off fast so we can hole away money, I am thinking I will have to be a little more flexible to find a place like what we want...

We were supposed to go see two communities today after work, but after I told Collin how rude one had been on the phone he didn't even want to give them the time of day. I don't blame him. The chick was a bitch about it like we were taking time away from her by coming in for a quick chat and maybe a partial tour of the community. If that's how they treat potential residents how nice do you think they are to the people who already live there?

We did see the other one though. I wish it was more of what I had imagined it to be because the price was dead on for what the stingy bitch inside of me was looking for. Key word being was. It was poorly laid out and everything was beyond dated... Plus there was very little natural light. Also, the pack of kids running around and screaming like little psychopaths was a big turn-off for me.  Yea, I was saddened by this tour, but not too much. It gave me much needed perspective on what I want out of our next place. If this means we pay closer to what we are paying now (but still less!!!) to get better quality so be it.

After I post this I intend to resume the hunt, but with new, less miserly eyes. Wish me luck... It's March first and that scares the crap out of me...

Another thing that pissed me off at the place we did see: the dude who gave us the tour kept calling Collin, Carl. AND we had to keep telling him over and over when we were hoping to move in! And I mean like at least four or five times... At one point he even tried to correct me when I said our current lease ended April 30th, he's like, "You mean March 31st." And I said, "No, our lease ends at the end of April which is why we would like to start moving in the weekend before the last weekend of April so we can take our time."

Yea, after the shit day I had at work I was not in the mood. Plus I don't think I would like coming home to that place after a shitty day at work. I'm sure it's a nice place, and it is totally affordable, but it's not the right place for us.

So here I go again (on my own! Going down the only road I've ever known! Like a drifter I was born to walk alone....). Please tell me you see the funny in this... If not then I know my parents messed me up more than I thought... Google it.

Crimini Mushrooms.

Heads One Minute...

Tails the next...

I feel wishy washy, and flip floppery.

One minute it's like, "House only! Absolutely no apartments!" But, the more and more I look the more and more I am realizing that an apartment would be the best bet for the time being.

I must admit (even though I have seen some really nice apartments) I am utterly terrified that we will get into a lease and have these super wretched neighbors. I have hope that in the communities we would be interested in the possibility of truly nasty neighbors is far more limited than, say, where we lived in Salem...

I guess there will always be sacrifices until we are able / ready to buy.

I will be extremely picky about apartments though. It's not just about the money we would be saving, I still want to have some of the amenities we have here. Okay, most of the amenities. Like a washer and dryer in the unit. One thing I could totally do without? A freaking fireplace. Sadly, they appear to be pretty standard in the "nicer" complexes. We have not used ours at all... Oh, and did I mention we are fairly certain there is a wasps nest in the chimney? The floo is tightly closed. I am hoping they don't wake up until AFTER we move.

We are on the precipice of no return. I am dropping the sixty day notices off tomorrow; one in the mail and one in the "Manager's Box."

That freaking balloon is still all floaty and shit... The balloon Collin got me with the arrangement from Edible Arrangements is still at full "power." Two freaking weeks later! Cah-razy... Mylar.

Last night was one of those bastard nights where I just could not switch off my brain. I didn't fall asleep until sometime around midnight. I honestly don't know when exactly it was; I just know that it was a fitful four-odd hours of sleep (if you can call it that) that was mostly made up of flashes of "dreams" and tossing and turning. My plan is to go to bed here in the next hour or so. I might read for a little bit. I just know that I must get a full night's sleep, or I am going to be even more worthless tomorrow than I was today.

I need to start the dishwasher, and then I am going to look at some places until I am sick of it for tonight...

Brownies!

Like The Weather In Oregon...

Give me a few minutes and I will change.

This morning was fantastic! Over six and a half miles; that's half of a half marathon! I felt wonderful after the run (legs are still a little tired almost six hours later...). New shoes totally made the difference; my legs weren't nearly as fatigued as they have been and my feet didn't hurt! Even though they were wet due to a slight misjudge and wrong turn I was still comfortable. What made the run even better?

The freaky, jacked up Oregon weather! It was raining when we got to Lake O, drizzling when we left the truck, rain some more, then about mile two it was starting to get a lot of chunk factor (that's to say there were some flakes involved... In fact as I type this there is some chunky precipitation falling from the clouds), and then between miles three and four the freaking sun came out! The sun was with us up until about the last half mile or so.

All in all, we had a great run!

Last night I ordered some compression sleeves for my calves. Combined with the new shoes I should be invincible! Okay, not so much. Ideally, though, the two things combined should make my post run recovery even faster, and the running itself better.

Since we were already in the area, after the run we drove by the place we were lusting after... Note the past tense... Yea, it's a no Jim. We might as well rent an apartment. The hill to get up to the place was insane. If there was any, and I mean ANY ice we wouldn't be able to go out. The parking area was meh, and it just was not what I expected based on the photos. It is a most certainly no to that place. Which is kind of nice. Now I won't be sad when it's gone... After driving up there I don't think I would want to live in that area at all honestly.

We have come to the understanding that if it gets close to the wire and we are not finding houses within the price range we are looking for we will consider apartments. But, dammit, if we are going to live in an apartment I will not pay over eight to nine hundred dollars per month, and I want it to include water, sewer, garbage, and the inevitable pet rent... If it comes down to an apartment, so be it. All the faster we can pay off our debt and do the stuff we want to. I am not giving up on the hopes of an affordable house / townhouse /  duplex, but I am trying to keep an open mind to the other option.

I have a almost a full load of stuff to go to Goodwill. Four bags of clothes (along with some accessories), a box of random kitchen crap, a box of old work out gear (I should throw in the DVDs, running is my thing now!), a box of random crap, and a couple of space heaters. I need Collin to go through his clothes, and all of his shit in the nerd domicile... I swear, I have no idea where all that stuff comes from...

Now it's sunny again. Collin thought I was having a Liz Lemon moment... There is a plastic bag in the tree outside our neighbors place... He couldn't see it at first and thought I was imagining it... Ass.

Hot Chocolate.

This Is An Illusion

My mind is a dangerous thing right now. One moment it is calming and reassuring and the next it is screaming and slathering with frustration and fear.

I think I am holding up pretty well... I am not good at not having a plan. It just creates this overwhelming loop of scenarios. Every time I am on here looking at places I feel extremely bi-polar. One moment I am excited and hopeful of all the prospects and then I am suddenly angry or depressed because of the whole time thing.

I know, this probably sounds like a repeat of some post... Like my last one... LOL. That's just the way it will probably be for the next few weeks at least. I use this more as a vent / method of processing my thoughts / outlet for otherwise abnormal thoughts and/or feelings. It is also for the entertainment of the reader, but at my discretion. In layman's term: if Alicia suffers so does the audience! Yea, think about that for a while with the knowledge that I am also getting ever closer to the half marathon....

Just imagine the posts that will bring... Actually, I think they will be positive messages of awesomeness and excitement... Just this one little hurdle of where the hell will I be living when I get to that half marathon. Just a minor detail.

We discussed it and if the place we really are lusting after is available still at the end of March (or if by mid-March we can convince the rental company to do it) I know I can budget for us to be able to pay rent on that place while we finish out the lease here. Basically, we would be paying a rent for both places in April... It would make the moving in process nice and leisurely. Whatever... I think I need to just let that place go... But I don't think I can until it is seriously taken, and gone...

Dammit. I hate moving. Especially with the deadline to give our sixty day notice is fast approaching. In fact it is Leap Day. I am hoping that this will be a thing of luck... Lucky Leap Day, right? (Just lie and agree with me, okay?)

Once we have a place on lock down it won't be an issue... And I will stop rambling on like a broken record about the mental and emotional instability it is causing me.

Crap, I need to go print the map for the run tomorrow. Part of the route is unfamiliar to us. Six and a half miles, and it is NOT around the lake!!! Score.

I just ordered a pair of compression calf sleeves to hopefully help with the shin splints / leg fatigue / post run recovery. That is what they are meant to do.

Avocado.

What If It's Recreational?

Collin gave me strict orders to not look at places tonight... I am finding hard to resist, but I know a break will be good for me.

Crap! That was the book I meant to grab! I just spent ten minutes standing in front of my bookshelf downstairs, tottering from side to side, trying to think what book I wanted to dive into next, and I ended up grabbing two different books that I wouldn't mind re-reading the series they are in. I also grabbed a small stack of books for my fellow book worm at work (Okay, it's only like three books, but that is still kind of a stack...). As I am sitting here typing the first paragraph of this post it hit me; I meant to grab another of the books my friend had lent me! (Whilst thinking of this I should also grab her friend's book and put it with the stack I am taking to work tomorrow... I'm gonna go do that real quick....)

~*~*~*~ imagine this as hold music ~*~*~*~

Back to the story at hand. Now, where were we....

A long time ago in a town far, far away lived a girl. The end.

I want to look at places some more, but I know it is not doing me any good. Most of the current listings are available now or will be in a couple weeks and there is no way to put a hold on them with out essentially renting them. Lame. I know, I know. Practice what I preach to everyone. Be patient and trust in the fact that it will all work out as it should. It's always so much harder when you are the one who wants something done now, NOW, NOW!! I know that, and I try damn hard to remember that when I am spouting off my sage wisdom about this shit to others in stressful situations. I feel like I am rambling in circles tonight.

I went to Safeway, and the scale at the self-checkout I was at wasn't calibrated properly so I got over a pound of zucchini for two cents.... TWO FREAKING CENTS!! Pretty awesome. Kind of made me feel better about how much I paid for the tomatoes and bell peppers.

Tonight we did an awesome new out and back along Evergreen Parkway. 2.6 miles. It felt fantastic. I needed it. Every now and again when shit is getting mildly complicated I get down, and part of me starts talking me out of going on our runs. It's just stupid. I need to remember how awesome I feel afterwards and how it is primo time for me to work stuff out in my head.

I know Saturday's run this week will be a beast. I am fairly confident our fearless leader is making us do one of the loops I hate with a passion. We are scheduled to do a six and a half mile run in Lake O, and I think he means to make us go around the lake. I hate that loop. There is seriously over a mile and a half of just up hill (going the direction he made us go last time), straight up hill. Well, not even straight, winding intensely steep up hill. Followed by a mile of intensely steep down hill before a half mile back up to the end... Yeah, he saves the real evil stuff for the end. Mind you, this last couple miles is after four miles of up and down, up and down..... If this is the loop he is planning on us doing, I intend to do it backwards. Tackle the nasty, NASTY hill first and then smile for the next four mile, even if my legs are dead.

Looking over the routes of similar distance there is a possibility that we won't have to do the lake loop... This is what I am praying for, but I am going to plan for the worst and be prepared to go early so I don't spend ALL day Saturday running around Lake O...

Either way, as the runs get longer on Saturdays, Collin and I are going earlier, especially now that we will be moving in a couple months. We need all the time we can get on the weekends for taking care of shit. As I have said before, the end of April seems like ages from now, but at the same time it is a finite deadline that will approach faster than I want it to. And for those of you not quite up on it, our half marathon? It's three weeks after our expected move... Yea. It'll be awesome. We are dead set on the half which is why we will probably be shelling out the dough to get some movers for the loading and unloading. The last thing Collin or I need is to get injured in any way right before the race. I would be crushed if either one of us was unable to do it.

Tomorrow is bound to be epic! Not only will I be making my super awesome yummy brownie bottomed cheesecake treats for work, but the game of the century (not really but I am totally playing it up in my head because of the previously reported wager I have going) is going to be on. I don't care what I have to do... I will find a way to watch it. Work should be interesting tomorrow (typed while making super serious squinty eyes like one would if they were staring someone down).

Kielbasa. 

Voices I Play Within My Head

Argh!

The hardest part about looking for a new place is seeing ideal places now that are more than likely not going to be available to me in eight freaking weeks... *sigh* But then again what might be wrong with them if they aren't wanted by others...

We found a PERFECTLY sized place; two bedroom and one and a half bathrooms; with all the ideal amenities and the perfect price for rent! Sadly, it's available March 7th and we won't be able to move until last weekend in April... I am not getting my hopes up about it. And I am trying to convince myself that we will find something better. Maybe closer to my work... This place would triple my commute distance and is WAY too far from the MAX. This isn't too much of an issue because we have been discussing the idea of getting a second car after we move... One thing at time. We may have to do a drive by...

You know me. I am one of those people who hates loose ends. I remember how relieved I was last year when we got this place. Then I was able to stop looking.

The scariest thing is always going to be the passage of time. The end of April seems like forever from now, but I know I could blink and it be the third week of March...

SWEET JEEBUS! The freaking cat just sneezed and I almost peed my pants! Crikeys.

In other news...

Do you ever imagine you and the goings on around you are moving like a stop-motion film made of paper cut outs? .... Oh, you don't... Uh, me neither...

Okay, so sometimes I do. I will eventually make some such photo slide show to express what I am thinking... Because I have buttloads of time on my hands and nothing more pressing to do...

What's worse is when I imagine the sounds effects I would want going if I were a paper cut out figure in a stop motion film...

I need to go watch an SNL thingy if I can find it. It's totally work related...

Peas.

Once Everything Is Where It Belongs

We end up moving.

No, seriously. We are moving when our lease is up at the end of April.

In the last month or so Collin and I have been discussing possibly moving into something smaller. We realized (as nice as it is to have all this space) we really truly don't use more than 60% of the living space available. We rarely if ever hang out in the nerd domicile, and the second bedroom is just there. With Collin still in school for a few more months and the prospect of him switching jobs we figured moving could wait until next year. We were anticipating the new lease terms to arrive any day now, and they did on Friday. Like a wet fish to the side of the head (and a big fish at that!) we got the wake up call. They are raising the rent an additional one hundred and twenty dollars per month. As it is we are wasting money on square footage we don't use, but to be paying even more is ridiculous. So, we decided to bite the bullet and at the end of the month we will submit our required sixty day notice.

We are already looking around to get an idea of what's out there. Ideally, we want a two bedroom, one and a half bath (or more of either) house. We would settle for a duplex and possibly another townhouse, but I think we have agreed; absolutely no apartments. There are some other items on our wish list, but those are the basics.

As we did with the last move we will be getting rid of some stuff; mainly stuff we haven't used since we moved the last time. I went through the kitchen yesterday and came up with an entire box of crap we don't need... In just the effing kitchen. As it stands, with the list I have going we have a good two to three Rickys full of stuff. Almost definitely three.

The difficult part will be finding a house in the area we want the size we want. This is the epitome of suburbia so finding a eight hundred to one thousand square foot home is more difficult than one would think. Most of the homes out here are three bedroom, two bath and fifteen hundred square feet. Not really what one would call down sizing.

I am confident we will find the right house when we are supposed to. I just wish we were in the position to buy right now... We could try and get one hundred percent financing but two months is a VERY small window of time to find the right house. I know people who have been looking for a lot longer than that... Oh well, I am sure it will all work out.

We are pretty open on where we will live as long as the neighborhood doesn't scream crackheads and it isn't right next a main thoroughfare.

We have found a fantastic website for the hunt though (above and beyond craigslist), it's called hotpads.com and it is a map based rental property search site. It is awesome!

Dinner is about done. A spin on chicken bruschetta  bake; turkey stuffing bake. I am thinking it will be pretty effing awesome; just like me! :-)

I'm Not A Betting Man

But that's because I am not a man...

I'm really not one for wagers most days, but this forthcoming hockey game is one of epic proportions.

On Thursday, February 23rd, my boys (the Detroit Red Wings) will play their final regular season game against a coworker's team, the Canucks. Ick... Many of the people at work keep asking if we have a wager going for the game and we haven't really made one; I figure we could save the wagers for the post-season. I may regret this decision, but on my way home today I thought of the perfect wager! Only mildly humiliating for the loser... I messaged the genius idea to my evil coworker and he agreed to the terms.

What is the wager, you ask?

Here are the terms:
Losing team's fan has to pose for a picture with a sign proclaiming the winner's team the best in the NHL and post the photo on their Facebook page as their profile pic for a week, AND for that Friday after the game anytime the loser is asked who the best team is they have to proclaim that the winning team is the best team in the NHL. I think these are fairly good terms, but then again I am fairly confident I will be the winner... 

I copied and pasted the terms from the message I sent him. So, now it is on like Donkey Kong!

I'm going to make dinner now. Chicken  stir-fry with peanut sauce. Mmmmm Yum.

Salsa!

The Lopsided Onion and I

There was this lopsided onion in the big bag o' onions I got from Costco. I kept putting it aside and putting it aside not wanting to use it because its ends were off center of the bulb itself, and they were at opposing angles from one another. I should have taken a picture... You will have to imagine it yourself. Back to the point, I used it tonight to make some super yummy meatball soup. Even the lopsided onions will serve their purpose.

Yea, there is another gem of wisdom and wit you can take from reading this.

Random observation: Cat tripping on the nip is equal to a human tripping on a Jeffrey (look it up on the urban dictionary) or ecstasy. Spaz got a snooter full of nip from one of her toys and then proceeded to "make out" with the leg of one of the dining chairs... It reminded me of someone on E rubbing fabric, or carpet, or anything really, and being like, "Woah.... This feels crazy." That's right my cat has a nip problem. It's not like this is new behavior or anything. It was one of those days where I took note of it and thought of a funny correlation and opted to share that bit of joy with you.

Today was one of those days. Which of "those" days am I talking about? The kind where there was a high probability that my filter wasn't going to stop a smart ass remark that, in some circles, might be a tad inappropriate. For example... There was a "Get Well" card going around for our IT guy; desperately, I wanted to write in the card "I hope they fixed your brain while they worked on your knee!" Instead, I jotted a healthy and kind "Feel Better! :-)" Yea, it was none too satisfying.

On top of the high probability of filter failure, I also found myself to be more fidgety and unfocused than normal. And I have no freaking  idea where the energy came from. I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. Every night since Sunday (stayed up way past norm for Walking Dead) I have sworn up and down that we were going to bed early... Yea, total fail. We have tried... But yea... Um. So I am tired. I swear we are going to bed early tonight.

Luckily the two mile run tonight helped to settle the jittery fidgety-ness.

Every now and again I find a song that totally captivates my heart. The kind of song that just seems to be coming from some recess deep inside my mind. Some of the songs that have done this to me in the past include Fade Into You by Mazzy Star; The Priest and The Matador by Senses Fail; Let It Enfold You by Senses Fail; How I Go by Yellowcard; Breathe by Anna Nalick, and lord knows how many others by various artists from AFI to The Used. Yesterday a new (to me) song came up and bitch slapped me. Lights by Ellie Goulding. It's just one of those songs that I could listen to a million times and probably never tire of. Hell, they played it on the radio just as I pulled into my driveway after work. I jumped out of my truck and ran up two flights of stairs to turn on the one radio in the house so I could rock out without the neighbors thinking I was completely bat shit crazy... Yea, it has that kind of power over me... I will probably just have to buy the single... Maybe I will check out her whole album and get it. It would totally be a great song for the running playlist that I never actually get to listen to... That will be changing in the coming months...

Collin just freaked me out. I know my head phones are not turned up that loud... He was bobbing along in time with the music... He is good at mimicking... Music makes me move. What can I say? I have to curb it at work and on days like today that is nearly impossible. I think if I was constantly bobbing and swaying with music it would make it difficult to get my work down...

I have been crazy productive lately and the creativity bug keeps biting me... Bastard. I keep coming up with all these crazy outlandish and overly imaginative stories. I will try to share them. They mostly seem to float through when I am literally in the middle of something that I can't just drop to write up a quick story... I will have to try and start making notes. As long as I remember the bold points the rest normally fills in easy enough.

I found the new running shoes I want. Obviously first I need to find them in a store and try them on. I also have to convince myself that a hundred and thirty five dollars is not too much to pay for a pair of running shoes. I want the new Nike LunarEclipse+ 2s. Total drool fest. Funny, I never saw myself being the type to drool over running shoes... Life takes us to some of the weirdest places.

I can thankfully say that I had a zombie free V-day. I was a little afraid after last year's episode (this will take you to that posting)....
~*~*~*~*~Side note: just opened Pandora and it played The Priest and The Matador!~*~*~*~*~
Collin sent me a teddy bear, balloon and box of noms from Edible Arrangements. Said box contained granny smith apples and MONSTROUSLY HUGE strawberries covered in the most perfectly bittersweet chocolate. I got him what every nerd wants: a gift certificate to NewEgg.com (total nerd/tech fest). We had a great evening. I made us "Greek" chicken salads. I don't know that they are really considered Greek but this is what it consisted of: a bed of baby spinach topped with red grapes, feta cheese crumbles, herb chicken, and balsamic vinaigrette. So nom-ilicious. We just chillaxed together. It was really nice.

Collin is paying for the night off though. Turns out he has not one but two chapters to do for school this week. This means seventy plus pages to read, four labs (plus one for extra credit), and two tests. Yea, I know what my weekend will consist of. But I suppose this will be a good opportunity to work on my programming stuff. ~*~*~*~*~Pandora is playing Silver and Cold by AFI, another of those songs!!~*~*~*~*~

Speaking of, I should go work on that now... But I think I would rather do some "window" shopping... Well I guess it would be "tab" shopping on here... LOL!

Taco Salad.

When All Else Fails...

Screw it all and do it yourself!

Collin and I are coming to the end of our fabulous long weekend. And what a weekend we have had!! Let's back track to the beginning...

We both got off early on Thursday; Collin at 10:26am and I left work shortly after noon. We had lunch, picked up coffee and then went to see Melody; a friend from high school turned AMAZINGLY AWESOME hair stylist (check the link, it will take you to her StyleSeat page). I got a fresh color scheme and a cleaned up hair cut, and Collin tamed his unruly hair so it's more able to be styled. We made a pit stop at Wally World on the way back home and decided to go to Ikea after we got a quick dinner at home.

Since the weekend before this one we have been looking for a headboard for our bed, or a bed with a headboard that isn't a million dollars and has a low probability of us barking our shins on the side rails. We saw some really cool ones, but all of them were either super low quality and inexpensive or amazing and super expensive. Last weekend we went to JR furniture and MOR, saw some stuff we liked but nothing worth buying. Friday, before we went to the movies (we saw One For The Money, and I must say I wasnt' too disappointed in the book to screen translation) we went to Dania and saw some really amazing furniture. We even found a couple of beds we really liked; one I honestly thought we might end up buying.

After the movie we got coffee and were going to go to some more furniture stores but I was tired of looking at stuff that wasn't what we wanted. We tried one more place that was a total bust and disgustingly overpriced. We drove around a little and then picked up some lunch at Safeway and went home. While we were eating the wave hit me. Inspiration. Screw it; no one had exactly what I wanted so why not make it ourselves. We truly just wanted a simple headboard we could attach to the frame; preferably fabric covered and slightly padded. We took some measurements, jotted down any supplies we might need and headed to Home Depot and Joann's Crafts and Fabrics. After we got the supplies it was time to book it to Costco for our much needed eye exams. We both are getting new glasses (that should be in within the week)! We came home, had dinner and began the headboard project. (Pictures showing the whole transformation are on FB but I will post a handful at the end of this post) The headboard was mostly completed Friday night.

Saturday we got up before the sun and made our way to Sellwood for a lovely five and a half mile run. Felt great at the end... Great and extremely sweaty... Came home, took a quick shower, nommed on breakfast and then made our way back to Ikea. Oooo, I guess I should back track a little. Friday morning before anything, we went to Fred Meyer and found some awesome wall art and a gorgeous bedding set. The art itself was sixty dollars per painting and it was a two piece ensemble we liked. The bedding set was on sale for one hundred and forty. The thought was with the money we were saving building the headboard we could afford the bedding and new art. Saturday morning brought the clarity that we don't need a whole bedding set and we could pick up wall art for MUCH cheaper at Ikea. So Ikea-bound were we. We got a new duvet cover and pillowcases, and wall art, and curtains, AND a throw blanket, AND curtain hanging system, AND a couple of storage boxes for less than the cost of the bedding set and half of one of the paintings at Freddy's.

After Ikea we got a quick tex-mex lunch at Chevy's. I had the lunch sized BBQ Chicken salad which was the PERFECT amount of food and it was so good. Had a little more kick to it than I expected but the strawberry raspberry lemonade put the fire out. We then decided to walk off some of our lunch at Clackamas Town Center and for the first time ever I did not find anything at Torrid that screamed to be bought... And I even have a couple of ten dollar off coupons! Sad face... I was more anxious to go home and work on the bedroom, so we did. We got the curtains hung, the new bedding washed, and the paintings mostly ready to be hung. We called it a day at this point and cooked dinner and watched a movie.

Sunday morning came with a sense of completion. We had breakfast and went back upstairs to finish the project. We attached the headboard, relocated the bed, attached the new lamps to the nightstands, moved the dresser, hung the paintings, vacuumed, and (once the sheets were washed and dried) made the bed. It turned out AMAZING. Better than I could have envisioned. I haven't been watching HGTV since I was thirteen for nothing!

It has been a fantastic weekend and we accomplished so much! As I mentioned above, there was one bed we found at Dania that was the closest to what we wanted (just wood though, no padding). The price? $500. Grand total for the entire room redo (and I mean ALL of it; bedding, curtains, art, headboard materials, etc.)?? $280. So for just over half the cost of the bed we mostly liked we redid the entire bedroom. Yea.

Here's some pictures:

What a great weekend! I plan to end it with dinner and a new episode of The Walking Dead! Heck yes!