Resolutions

After a very long and eventful traveling day we made it home to Oregon last night. We got home just in time to watch the ball drop (eastern time). We were so exhausted that we didn't make it to midnight Pacific Time, but that was okay with us.

Victor and I started off the new year by spending the day at home, taking down the Christmas decorations and doing some much needed work at home. It was a great way to start off the New Year.

Speaking of the New Year, here are my 3 resolutions:

1. Be healthier in 2013. For me that means exercising more often (our rowing machine should get here tomorrow!), drinking more water, and trying to eat more fruits & vegetables. Also, getting more sleep (easier said than done).

2. Be more organized. Being clean and being organized are two very different things. There have been times where things seem clean, but I feel totally disorganized. And there are times that things seem to be a chaotic mess, but I feel totally organized. I have always been one to put my life into organized piles (which others perceive as a total mess). I would like to find a more happy medium where I still feel like I have a handle on what is going on.

When we moved into our house we moved from basically living with our parents to a however many thousand square foot house. It was easy to put things away as we have more than enough space. But it was hard to remember which closet has the batteries, the tool kits, the cleaning supplies, the extra toilet paper stash, etc. And with three stories I've gotten a little tired of running up and down trying to find said miscellaneous household items :). But now that we've been here 6 months, things have started to find a more natural place and it's gotten easier. I'd like to improve on that and really make sure everything has a PLACE. That's when I function the best, when I know exactly where everything is. And as long as it's not all sitting on my kitchen counter, Victor will be happier as well!

Organization is a continually evolving process for me but for 2013 I'd like to get back into a system that works for me and I finally feel ready to devote some time to getting that done.

3. And hand in hand with being better organized is finishing at least one of my "projects" per month (on average). I've got quite a few open projects at the moment, a few that I'd hoped would be done by Christmas, and as soon as I get my craft room organized I'd like to crank out a few of them. That would also be good for the lengthy to-do list in my brain.

I think those are pretty attainable resolutions for 2013 and I feel confident that they can be accomplished. Now some would say that the best goals to set are quantifiable, I would say that this super Type A personality could use a little fluidity in her life and will really benefit from it!

Victor is home for the next three weeks so we are really looking forward to settling back in to our routine and coming down from what has seemed like a whirlwind of birthday/tax season/Thanksgiving/Christmas craziness! I only have a few weeks left before Tax Season wraps up and I'm glad we'll spend three of those weeks together! I'm also hoping I'll get to see a little of my college roommate here in the next couple weeks... hint hint...

Hope you all had a great holiday season and wish you all the best in 2013!

tasha


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Happy Valley, Oregon

Christmas card blooper reel

I thought it would be fun to post some of the bloopers from our our efforts to shoot our Christmas card photo this year. Enjoy!  

Merry Christmas!

Christmas card blooper reel

I thought it would be fun to post some of the bloopers from our our efforts to shoot our Christmas card photo this year. Enjoy!  

Merry Christmas!

Next time I'll connect through Atlanta, thank you very much

I'm not sure why I titled this blog post that way because that's not what I plan on writing about. I guess it just sums up how I feel right now. We're on our way to Raleigh for the holidays and have a 4-ish hour layover at JFK. I know its a stressful time of year and the place is a zoo, but I am just shocked by how unpleasant people are here. And I don't want to generalize that New Yorkers are rude because I know a lot of these people are not New Yorkers. They are people passing through on their way to somewhere else. But sheesh.




Anyways..... its been a crazy few weeks for us. I'll start with a few weeks ago. Upon our return from Thanksgiving we were exhausted. Trying to cram seeing all our friends and fitting in all the family time we could into a little over a week we felt like we needed a vacation from our vacation! Unfortunately, we didn't have time to catch a breathe and plunged right back into our busy lives. Right away, Victor had to go out of town for work. I had our first Book Club meeting which was super fun, but I didn't even get to finish the book! The name of the book we read was "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" by Cheryl Strayed. I would not suggest it, but it was one of Amazon.com's best books of the month and was part of Oprah's book club. So you come to your own conclusions about it. But that week was full of meetings and other things and it just flew by! Over the weekend we went and bought our first live Christmas tree together and decided on lights and ornaments (which is actually a big deal when you are really starting to think about how you want to celebrate future holidays together). We've always had a small, apartment-sized, pre-lit fake tree. And even with my family, it had been a while since we had a real tree. I can't get over how good it smells!










The first week of December, thankfully, Victor was back home for the full week. I had a pretty big presentation at work and then jumped full in to year-end planning, so it was a busy week. But we tried to get back into a normal rhythm and catch up on some things. We got the lights on the tree and all the ornaments put up. I also got all the other Christmas decorations put up as well. It's always interesting to me when you move to take what you already have, and the way you've always set it up in your prior home and to allocate and figure out where to put everything in your new situation. Coming up with what needs to be added to what you already have. I don't know, it's almost therapeutic. That week was busy but definitely did not prepare me for the week ahead.


The next week, Victor was out of town again for work. This time he was in Raleigh. With him being out of town I expected to have a quiet week at home and to get a lot of things done around the house in addition to working. On Monday night Victor and I went to see a band called The Shins in Portland and then he left for Raleigh Tuesday morning.

As you probably know, there were some pretty tragic things that happened that week. It kicked off with a shooting at the mall right by our house. In fact, we can see it from our window, and we had been there two or three times over the weekend. Pretty scary stuff.

That week I also went to my first Trail Blazers game and my first event at the Rose Garden. The game was great, and they beat the San Antonio Spurs which was even better.. Unfortunately, they only scored 98 points instead of 100, so I didn't get my free Chalupa voucher, but obviously I'm surviving. Then on Friday was the Newtown shooting and that was about all the excitement I could handle for that week. Thankfully, Victor came home Friday night. Saturday was my work Christmas party, which was a great time! We had a great table for dinner and it was really fun. Plus, it was the first opportunity for Victor to meet a lot of my new co-workers since I started my new job in Oregon.

On Sunday we made our first Thanksgiving dinner. We wanted to try making a turkey and some sides before we had a house full of guests! We did all the shopping and a lot of the prep work on Saturday but Victor actually cooked on Sunday and it was awesome! We learned a lot and now have a few recipes we won't do next year and a few we will definitely repeat!!!









This past week Victor was home, which was great because I was super busy at work. On Tuesday we got our first real snow of the winter. We had about an inch by the time I left for work in the morning and by the end of the day it was a few inches.













On Wednesday I hosted our second Book Club meeting. Since I was too busy to cook, wee bought a bunch off things from New Seasons market (kind of like a Whole Foods or Central Market). The book we read was "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (I suggested it). I enjoyed it a lot, but didn't get the whole way through it until today. It is kind of a slow read but a great book. Book Club Night was really fun, but it was a long day.











I worked long days Thursday, Friday and Saturday to get all my estimates wrapped up and then Sunday morning at 4am we got up to head to the airport. Traveling today will be an all day affair. We had an early flight from Portland to JFK and planned to have a long layover just in case there was any weather issues or delays. So far we are running on time, so we have just been sitting in the Delta club enjoying the quiet and the free drinks and snacks. We both got upgraded to first class for both flights, which makes a huge difference. And believe me, I am thankful for that.

After the past few weeks I am just excited to spend some relaxing time with family... I really need to hit the reset button before tax season hits and it will be here before you know it. If the past two weeks have taught us anything its to reinforce the idea that our time with our family and friends is not infinite and we should cherish every moment and be thankful for what we have. I am a planner. I'm always thinking about the next thing ahead and crossing items off or adding to a grand to-do list. My goal this next week is to relish in the holiday, live in the moment, and enjoy every minute of it. Each day is blessing.

Happy holidays!

tasha


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:JFK Airport, New York City

It's fall in Oregon

Well a lot has happened since the last time I posted. We've been pretty busy! Victor turned 30 and we celebrated his birthday in Seattle.








We started visiting our local farmers markets and I started experimenting with pie making :)











We attended a fundraiser for a children's cancer charity and got to dress up and go to the Portland Art Museum. The theme was neon cocktail attire and we added some neon accessories.







Two weeks ago we flew to Denver, Colorado to go to my cousin Zoe's wedding. The wedding was in Estes Park, Colorado at the famous Stanley Hotel. We got to catch up with lots of family, some we haven't seen in a while, and also spend some time in a beautiful part of the country! It was such a quick trip; every time we visit Denver we can't wait to get back!

























I voted for the first time as an Oregonian. That was an experience!




And then last weekend Victor's parents and brother were in town to celebrate Victor's dad's 60th birthday. It was another really quick weekend, but we got to experience a few things we had been saving. We drove out to McMinnville, Oregon to see the air museum out there. The first picture below is actually a water park that has a full size real airplane on top of it. I look forward to going back there sometime and exploring the water park and the wineries in the area.
















On Saturday night we all got dressed up and went to Andina, a Peruvian restaurant in Portland. We had heard amazing things about it, and we were all pretty curious about how it would really be. The food was absolutely amazing and we loved everything we had. It was a great experience and a great weekend overall.







The weeks and weekends seem to be flying by lately and before we know it it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then TAX SEASON !

We're just trying to enjoy each day here and enjoy every bit of sunshine that we get and are looking forward to the holidays and spending more time with our friends and family. Hopefully I'll get more frequent in my postings and will update on some other projects we've been working on around the house and some projects I've been working on for weddings/babies/holiday gifts :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I know we will :)

tasha
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Portland, Oregon

Seattle, WA

For Labor Day Weekend we decided to get out of town and go up to Seattle, WA to celebrate Victor's birthday. It was only about a 2.5 hour drive and we had a great time!

We stayed at the Arctic Club Hotel. It was a really cool, historic hotel. The rooms were pretty small but it was really different and we loved it. The hotel was packed, there were two weddings there that weekend. Also in town was the University of Washington football game, a couple Mariner's games, a Sounders game, a comic convention and a music festival. So there was a lot going on!

After checking in to the hotel we went down the street to grab some lunch at a French Brasserie, yum!

so happy to be out of the car!

my salad - so good!

victor's sandwich

After fueling up, we walked down to the Space Needle. We passed this weird little park on the way where all the tree trunks were painted bright blue.

There were also a lot of sculptures that look like real people scattered around. 

I took the time to sit down and talk with one :)

After a good walk we made it to the Space Needle! It was smaller than I remembered. The line to get up took about half an hour but it wasn't too bad.

It was no surprise that the views from the Observation Deck were amazing! We didn't realize that it was the 50th anniversary of the Space Needle this year. We got to see some historic collectors items displayed and also got a commemorative Christmas ornament.

This is the view of the EMP Museum from the Space Needle O Deck. It is such an interesting building from both the inside and outside!

Here's a view of the Bumbershoot Music Festival from the O Deck. There were some pretty cool bands playing there that weekend, but we just didn't have enough time to go check it out. Maybe next year!

Next stop was the EMP Museum. This museum was unlike anything I had ever been to before. It was really interesting, but also a bit overwhelming. There was just so much for us to see, we could have spent another couple of hours in there. Everything was also really interactive, which was great. 

A sculpture of guitars at the EMP

In the EMP there was also this map of Seattle bands that I wish we would have gotten a picture of. It started with Nirvana and Pearl Jam and then branched out to other Pacific Northwest bands to show how far the musical influence of the area reaches. It was really neat to see. There were so many bands on the map we knew and even more that we didn't!

I would highly recommend visiting the EMP if you are ever in Seattle. However, don't make the same mistake we did. Hit the place with a lot of energy and spend at least a couple hours there. We were there later in the day and didn't have the energy to really give it the time and attention I think it deserved. But then again, we are big music people :)

Outside the EMP and the Space Needle there was a Chihuly exhibit. I really wanted to go inside, but we just didn't have enough time. Here are a couple sculptures we could see from the outside. This place is definitely on the list for the next time we go up there!

Saturday night we had dinner at The Georgian restaurant in the Fairmont Hotel. We didn't see the menu ahead of time, but it came highly recommended so we took a chance. It was very good, but VERY fancy and a little more old school that what we have gotten used to in Portland. But we had a great time and really enjoyed it.

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Then we headed over to the waterfront to check out Pike Place Market.

Kind of on accident we stumbled on the original Starbucks. The line to get in was around the block! Good thing in the Northwest there is a Starbucks literally on EVERY corner. So we just went over a block to get our caffeine fix!

The flowers at Pike Place were amazing. And most of the bouquets are only $5. I wish we could have taken some back with us.

These peppers also looked amazing.

And of course, we had to go in and see the fish vendors. We actually got to see them throw some fish!

After the markets, we grabbed some lunch and went to do the Underground Tour. This was one of the things we were the most excited about. I would say that it was pretty disappointing. We learned a lot of interesting things about the city. I would recommend it, but I don't think it was as entertaining as we thought it would be. But I think a lot of that had to do with our guide and some of the people in our group.

Once the tour was over we went up to Lynnwood, where my dad grew up. We stopped over at my grandparents' old house to see that they had painted it green! Agh!

We drove around Lynnwood for a little while, but there were a lot of cops out that looked like they were searching for someone, so we decided we should probably get out of there!

Then we went over to the funeral home to see where Nanny & Geege are now.

On the way back to the hotel we drove around the University of Washington for a little bit. We were both pretty amazed at how beautiful it looked. The campus is a really great mix of new, modern buildings and older, more traditional ones. And, of course, this time of year everything is really green and pretty!

Last thing on the list was to find the Troll under the bridge in the Fremont neighborhood. We got a little turned around, but we finally found it! I was sad to see it had so much spray paint on it!

Sunday night we had dinner at a restaurant called Anchovies & Olives. It was much more like what we find in Portland and it was great! On Monday, we went over to 13 Coins to have brunch and then hit the road back to Portland. It was funny because both ways we were driving the opposite of traffic on the highway. It looked like there were a lot of Washingtonians that left for Oregon for the weekend and not the other way around. Maybe a lot of people wanted to get out of town since there was so much going on. Who knows! But we didn't hit much traffic at all and it was a great drive back. We picked up the dogs, did some laundry and got ready to head back to work on Tuesday.

Overall, we had a great weekend and it was an awesome trip to start celebrating Victor's 30th birthday. He had always wanted to visit Seattle, and I think we got to cover all the must see's on his list, and even came up with a new list for next time!

Have a great week,

tasha