CASCADIA

Ok, I finally downloaded the pictures of our camping trip last week. There weren't as many good ones as I originally thought, and the ones of BF and I together are a little ATROCIOUS since we hadn't showered and I was frizzy haired and make-up less.

And now, for your viewing pleasure:

This is our expertly put together tent... actually, it was super hot and muggy when we got there and I sort of gave up getting the tent fly on correctly because I wanted to sit and eat.

Our lovely camp kitchen, with my new canopy in case it rained... which it did not. But if I hadn't brought it, it would have rained fo sho.

BF reading one of the 39 Clues books... don't judge, those books are AWESOME. Nevermind that they are for elementary school aged kids. BF's a teacher so it's all in the name of classroom research. Notice that we have a camp loveseat, because we are in love. BF, You're Welcome.

This is a semi blurry photo of a friend we made... who brought some of his own friends. His name is Dale. There were chipmunks galore. At one point BF and I decided we needed to take a nap, so we went in the tent and totally forgot that we left a little tub of trail mix on the picnic table. I woke with a start when we heard a crash and a scattering sound. I peered out of the tent to see little chipmunks scurrying away with cashews and almonds, but they left the cranberries which I found strange. We learned the hard way, put your food in the car as soon as you are done eating!

All in all it was a great trip! I'm so glad BF likes to camp and that we had the time to leisurely enjoy the outdoors during such great weather!

A THANK YOU LETTER

Dear BF,



Thank you.



"For What?" you may ask. For many things.

For a wonderful week off camping and just hanging out. No worries, just fun and wandering and reading our books and eating and drinking until we were stuffed and silly.

For putting up with me when I get grumpy or hungry or argumentative. You always know how to handle me when I can't handle myself.

For generally being the sweetest person I know. You may not always know that you are making my day when you talk to me but you do.

For being ridiculous. You say and do the most random, off the wall things and I love them ALL. You are definitely the spice of my life.

For helping me reach my goals. You've taken the time and energy to write me workouts and then new workouts every few weeks since to help me reach my personal goals. The results of your work and thoughtfulness are positive and boundless. I am happier with myself and happier in general and I know it would have taken me far longer to see any results if I did this alone.


I love you so very much and am thankful that are a part of my life!

Love,

Heather

About A Million Things...

HOLY COW.





It's been busy, but also lazy. And I am back at work today. UGH. Vacation never seems long enough. Even when you start to get bored at home.



I guess I should start a list of what's been going on and what's happened so I don't lose track:





1. Went to Texas. I already told you that. But there it is. I went to Texas for a week with work and it was hot and smelly and my allergies were killing me and I was SO HAPPY to be back in Oregon, even though it's June and still raining.



2. When I got back from Texas I did NOTHING for like, 2 days. I slept until noon that Friday and then I lazily made my way to the office to drop stuff off so I didn't have to look at work stuff during my week of vacation. I LOVE SLEEP.



3. I came out of my coma and decided that BF and I needed to do fun stuff during my week off since neither of us had anything to do. We looked up places to camp and found a new place, Cascadia, that looked promising. So we packed up and headed that way on Wednesday and stayed until Friday. It was glorious. Nice and quiet and green. And guess what! We took pictures... so I'll have to actually download them and then upload them (if that makes sense) so you can see them.


4. Allergies suck. Since I've returned from Texas my allergies have been on turbo mode. Not fun. I think I've taken more Benadryl this past week than I have in two years. I called my doctor to see if I could come in and start getting allergy shots. We'll see what happens.


5. BF applied for a butt load (over twenty, I think) of teaching jobs this past week and today is the deadline for most of the positions so hopefully he will get a call (or twenty) and have some interviews soon. Keep your fingers crossed!!! On another related note, BF got the awesomest letter of recommendation from the principal of the school that he student taught at this past year. Like, if someone wrote a letter about me that was half as awesome I'd probably cry, it was THAT GOOD. Hopefully Beaverton School District thinks it's awesome as well, enough to offer BF a job.


6. BF puts up with me being a dumb girl really well. I was grumpy last night because I knew that I had to go to work today (even though I like my job and the people I work with) and I'm all PMS'y, but I won't admit to it most of the time so take it while you can. He was a champ and just joked around until I lightened up. And of course National Treasure: Book of Secrets was on so that totally helped. But mostly it was BF.

Then TODAY I was being a total idiot girl (PMS'ing again, but whatever) and I started wondering about this girl who is a family friend of BF's and then in my head I was like, "What is going on here? This is weird." And instead of letting it fester in my sub- and concious thoughts all day I asked him, "What up wit dat?" and he was very calm and gave the perfect answer so my idiot self can just take a chill. How did I get so lucky with this one? I'll never know, but it doesn't matter.


7. My car is falling apart. I need to get the windshield replaced because a few weeks ago I got a couple of chips in the windshield from road debris and then it froze over night and a HUGE CRACK spread across the lower part of my windshield. It doesn't interfere with my view, but it's annoying and looks tacky. I also need to get my breaks checked...even though they were replaced in February... they are squeaky and I just want some reassurance... also I have a hunch that it's the rotars. And then, worst of all, my air conditioning does not work. I am totally temperature sensitive and so this is almost the end of the world for me. Luckily BF has AC and drives us during the hot days if we have to go places, but he can't drive all of the time.

8. My work email BLEW UP because I didn't check it for almost two weeks. I had over 400 unread emails this morning. It took me two hours just to sort through them and get rid of the junk/ 'unrelated to me' ones.


So that's what new in the past two weeks. Back to the daily grind.

Neglected

So, um... SORRY to those of you who read this thing, but I've severely neglected my blog.

First, I was in TX again for work for a week (all last week). I heard I didn't miss much in OR since it got cold the day I left and hailed while I was gone... but believe me, San Antone wasn't much better. It was hotter than ass... and sort of smelled like it as well. Very glad to be back in the NW.


Now I have the week off from work so I've been lazy with everything because I DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING... really.


So BF and I decided we would go camping and I've spent today grocery shopping for the camping trip and getting my camping stuff out of storage... even though we used it a couple of weeks ago (I clean up quick!). We are headed to a brand new spot we've never even heard of before, so I'll be sure to take lots of pics and tell you all about it when we return.

Until then this blog will be a little quiet and lonely.

Subtract the Ursus Arctos*

Last night BF and I attended the FREE Minus the Bear show at The Woods in Sellwood, OR. And it rocked. Did you know that The Woods used to be a funeral home? And it has a huge elevator by the bathrooms that they used to use to haul the caskets between the two levels. Also awesome? Owl pictures and stuff EVERYWHERE. I feel like they kept some of the funeral home art that was originally there because everything was sort of old-50's, 60's, and 70's feeling to them. It was all pretty cool in a creepy sort of way, if that makes sense.

I like MTB, but really I have one favorite song from them that I could listen to over and over again... I guess I consider me and BF's song, really.

BF and I enjoyed the fact that the show started at 6pm, so we knew we didn't have to be out until all hours to enjoy the music. We had our fingers crossed that they would play "Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse"... and I was sad when they left the stage 45 minutes later and had not yet played it (although they did play some other favs). Alas, the crowd wasn't appeased yet, so MTB came back out for "one more song"... which happened to be the BEST SONG THEY PLAY, so I was happy.

After the show, BF and I were starving and headed over to Pastini and had ourselves some yummy dinner.

Pretty good night.

*(Get it? I thought it was pretty clever... google it if you are lost).

Weekend Recap...

BF graduated this weekend.


I am SO. HAPPY. He has worked so hard in school and has grown into a wonderful teacher this past year. Plus, he now has "more free time" so we can plan on doing more fun stuff... but really I know he'll replace homework and study time with job-hunting. I'm ok with that.


Friday- I don't remember what we did other than we went out with BF's school cohort for the final celebration. By final I really mean final official cohort gathering because now they aren't in a cohort together so it would just be a gathering of friends.

Saturday BF and I ran errands and went to Powell's... because we LOVE the Powell's. We kept it pretty low key because we knew that Sunday would be an early morning and a long day.

And Sunday was just that.


BF's commencement ceremony started at 10am, which meant that he had to be there at 9am, so I showed up at BF's family's house at 8:10am ready to go, but super sleepy. That also means that I had to wake up at 6:30am ON. A. SUNDAY. But then again, so did everyone else. We hopped in the family van and drove to Lewis & Clark, dropped BF off so he could get in line and we booked it to the closest Starbuck's. We returned at 9:30am to find our seats and thus began the longest amount of time I've sat in a seat in my life. The processional started at exactly 10am, which was nice, but I was quickly distracted when a little boy (between 3 and 5 years old) started puking EVERWHERE a few rows behind us.

I don't know if I've mentioned this but I have a huge puke problem. I have to get out of where ever it's happening quickly or else I get all panicky. Well, this was right in the middle of a commencement speech so I could just run out of the auditorium like I wanted to. I was itching to run for the doors and take a bath in hand sanitizer and bleach. Although none of the aforementioned body fluids were on me or close to me, they were in the same room as me, and that was enough.

I didn't pay attention to the rest of the ceremony, except when BF was being hooded and was a handed his diploma. I was counting the people until the end when I could run to the cleanliness of fresh outdoor air. I felt bad because apparently the speakers were great, but I didn't hear a word they were saying and I was covering my mouth and nose with my scarf so as to filter out some of the airborne germs that were now floating through the room and threatening to infect us all.

Plus, I went over 5 hours without food. I ate breakfast at 7:15am Sunday morning and we didn't get out of the ceremony and to the refreshments until after noon. I was done. I thought I was going to die from the vomit-induced anxiety and lack of solid food.

But then there was CHEESE. I love cheese, and these Lewis & Clark folks know how to serve refreshments. They had a table full of a variety of cheese and I became my normal self after a few nibbles of gouda, swiss, cheddar and brie. And then I ate some cookies. And then the world was right again.

We headed back home and I took a lovely 2 hour nap instead of working out or doing laundry (like I should have because I ate cheese and cookies and I have no clean clothes to wear to work this week). I woke up, watched some cartoons on tv, and then went to dinner with BF and his family. BF chose Kell's Irish downtown, which I adore. I had the meatballs and mashed potatoes and BF had the Halibut fish and chips. Mmm...

After dinner, we waddled back to the car, drove home and cut into a Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato Cake from Staccato Gelato. It was heavenly. BF looked through his graduation gifts and decided that we HAD to go buy a Wii, and so we did. And we played Wii into the wee hours... I'm sorry, I just had to do that. But really, we did play until well past bedtime. And thus ended my weekend.


Today Minus the Bear is playing a free show in Sellwood. Lucky for us, BF works at a school 4 blocks from the venue and will be jumping in line ASAP after work to save us space. I'm excited.

And It WAS Awesome

Like I mentioned yesterday, I got an email from Gustav at 94.7 fm to come and do my perfect playlist in person on the radio and of course I accepted the invitation. It was very exciting because I have this dream I've buried away inmy closet of a mind that one day I will be a witty, adored radio personality.

I headed down to the station in rush hour traffic- because that's how I roll- and made it there a bit early to my surprise, so I had to sit in the lobby and wait. That's when I started to think about being on the radio and got sort of nervous. EVERYONE from work would be listening (because, duh, I can't keep these things a secret!), BF would be listening because I dedicated the playlist to him... it was about him... and the greater Portland Metro area was listening. TO ME. Ugh.

But as soon as I stepped into the studio I forgot all about anyone listening to me or being nervous. Radio Station studios are sort of awesome. Gustav was very friendly and super easy to talk to (probably why he is on the radio) and I had a great time. He even mentioned that I was a natural on the radio. And we all know why... because I did the announcements at B&N, so I have experience...


Oh yeah... so my playlist was based on BF competing in bodybuilding competitions. The songs and reasoning behind them are below:

1. "Beer"- by Reel Big Fish, because BF couldn't drink leading up to the competition and he is definitely a beer lover/connoisseur. Actually, he didn't really eat or drink a lot of anything delicious.

2. “Tangerine Speedo”-Caviar- pretty self explanatory, they wear RIDICULOUS speedos, AKA "posing suits".

3. “ I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”- Arctic Monkeys- because he looks GOOD!

4. “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked”- Ida Maria- see above.

5. “Nice Guys Finish Last”- Green Day- because it’s hard to place very high in the untested competitions if you aren’t on steroids, which he is not.


I'm so glad my playlist was picked because I felt like BF needed a little extra recognition for the hard work he does.

Instant Karma

Today was an instant Karma sort of day... which was full of awesome for me, but not so much for other people.





I came into work this morning and my computer totally sucked... it was pretty much dying in front of me and I was awaiting the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) when a coworker came by with a nice little skinny latte for me. LOVELY.



After I jump started my computer the work day started in a full frenzy of harried emails, back and forth between business partners that DON'T READ or FOLLOW DIRECTIONS, I got a lovely little email:



"Dear Heather- Would you like to come down to the studio today and present your perfect playlist in person?"



And I responded, "Why yes, Gustav, I would love to".



So that made the barrage of emails melt into oblivion because, obviously... I WILL BE ON THE RADIO today... in like, an hour or so.





After lunch I came back and started getting supplies ready for an upcoming meeting when I found that someone had taken my supplies OUT of the LABELED and SEALED box and put their supplies in it instead. I threw a little hissy fit at my desk because there goes 2 hours of prep work I did... so after my fit I had one of my coworkers undo the mess that someone else did becuase I just COULDN'T HANDLE IT. I thought my head was going to explode (manners, people?) and then I was handed an agenda for a meeting with details BEFORE I EVEN ASKED FOR IT. I was shocked and delighted. I usually have to chase people down for this information and beat them over the head until I get a response, but not today! Before I could even think about it all the details were done. Details done = Happy Heather.


So we'll see what else the day brings!

Playing the Waiting Game

Sometimes in life one gets stuck, not because they've gotten themselves stuck, but they just happen to find themselves waiting. Waiting on people, on circumstance, on time before they can progress.

I forget that this happens until I find myself in the middle of it.

Lately I've found that I'm waiting a lot, and I don't bring it up to say that I mind it at all... it's just a part of life and I've noticed that I've hit a section of "waiting".

I'm waiting at work for people to turn stuff in to me so I can complete my end of projects.

I'm waiting for my next paycheck to buy needed housewares and appliances.

I'm waiting to move to a new place with BF,but for this one we are waiting on multiple things. BF is working his backside off trying to get a full time teaching position somewhere in the Portland Metro area for this coming fall. Keeping my fingers crossed! Waiting to see if we can rent a place our friends are moving out of because they got a house!

I'm waiting on the weather to warm up and dry out so I can commence with fun summer activities.

It keeps going.

But I don't mind. I don't feel anxious about it all, just hanging out and seeing when I will be able to move forward again.


And now on to my weekend review:

The plan was to be outside as much as possible for the holiday weekend, shop for some summery clothes, go to the Timbers game and be a soccer hooligan with BF. The weather didn't exactly cooperate so I didn't spend a ton of time outside until Monday afternoon... because that's about the only time we had sun sans showers.

Friday night BF and I rented Lego Indiana Jones and played for HOURS. Neither of us are big into video games, but now I can see how some people end up wasting whole weekends without leaving the house. Saturday I ran errands, worked out, and then BF and I went to Sellwood for dinner and some gelato goodness. After stuffing our faces to the point of restricted movement, we decided to head over to the Mission Theater and catch a $3 movie instead of going to the Timbers game... because we found out GA tickets were $23! Whilst searching for parking near the Mission, I suggested we go see Prince of Persia instead... so we did. And it was AWESOME. Sort of cheesy, but I liked it.

Sunday was nothing super extraordinary. Hung around the house, did some chores, went to my friend Soccer Rick's house to play Wii for a bit, and then BF, Soccer Rick and I watched a TV special about SNL in the 2000's.

Monday I went to Powell's with BF... and then we watched Always Sunny episodes intermittently switching to Hoarders. I like them both equally for different reasons.

It was a pretty great long weekend.

This coming weekend will be even greater because BF is graduating with his masters in teaching from Lewis and Clark! Oh the awesomeness! I have a gift all wrapped and ready to go and it's killing me to wait until Sunday.

Again... waiting for Sunday. :)