I miss holding his tiny little body and dancing with him to Coldplay. He will definitely be spoiled rotten by his Aunt Binny! His little hands have quite a firm grip on my heart. :)
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
I Left My Heart in Seattle
Last week I had the opportunity to make a quick trip up to Seattle to meet my new nephew. Well, it was quick, as in, last minute pack my bags and leave the next day. Boy am I glad I could make it up there! Big E is such a cutie! I think I might have gone overboard on taking pictures of him, but how am I supposed to stop with just 1 picture? I'll let you take a peek for yourself.
I miss holding his tiny little body and dancing with him to Coldplay. He will definitely be spoiled rotten by his Aunt Binny! His little hands have quite a firm grip on my heart. :)
Oh, and while I was up there Nicole took me to the Oroweat Outlet store where I scored this sweet stash for $11! When the lady saw I was from Oregon, she told me that their bread comes from the bakery in Beaverton and there is an outlet store there too! I never knew it existed, but now when I need a good bread fix I can go get fresh good stuff for $1! Very happy to get my own cheap Oroweat bread so close to home. :)
I miss holding his tiny little body and dancing with him to Coldplay. He will definitely be spoiled rotten by his Aunt Binny! His little hands have quite a firm grip on my heart. :)
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Why I Hate Valentine's Day
I've never liked the color pink. Or hearts. Or doilies. And I'm diabetic so the extra sugar on Valentine's doesn't do much for me. That's strike 1 against Valentine's Day.
Strike 2 occurred in 5th grade. Think back to when you were in elementary school and Valentine's Day meant a class party with red punch, sugar cookies, and mailboxes to receive all of your valentines from classmates. That was when Valentine's Day was fun and awesome: it was an excuse for a party during school. I looked forward to these parties every year and 5th grade was to be the ultimate party because it's your last year in elementary school and lets face it, there aren't any Valentine parties in middle school. Unfortunately for me, I have only missed 1 day of school in my entire K-12 years. And that one day occurred on Valentine's Day in 5th grade. Yes, I was puking my guts out on the day that was to be the party of all parties. I couldn't hand out the Valentines I had so tediously worked on, wouldn't get to eat heart shaped cookies and instead sipped on ginger ale. I missed out on the last awesome party in elementary school. Thus began my disdain for Valentines Day.
As I grew older I nicknamed Valentine's Day "Singles Awareness Day" because lets face it, this holiday really sucks when you're single. Enter feelings of loneliness, self consciousness for not being pretty enough, and what's-wrong-with-me-why-can't-I-get-a-guy feelings. And all over facebook, school, and blogs, everyone brags about that special someone they are with on this day. It seems like mylar balloons, chocolates, and roses are slammed in your face, reminding you how incredibly lonely and pathetic you are on this day. Strike 3.
Now that I'm married, I still loathe this day, despite having someone to share it with. Why? I think it's because the world has decided this to be the one day a year we declare love for each other. And Tyler and I do a pretty decent job sharing our love for one another everyday, not just Valentine's Day. We say "I love you" multiple times a day, surprise each other with little gifts randomly, not just on this one day of obligated gifts. We perform acts of service for each other that show our love. Why do we need a silly holiday to remind us we love each other?! We already know that and show our love daily!
The whole concept of Valentine's Day is so superficial to me, and true love is so much more than that. Sure, you can post a picture of the flowers your love gave you, but does that really mean anything? If he truly loves you, he'd empty the dishwasher for you, or take out the garbage showing you how much he loves you. I think a husband who sits down and helps me fold laundry is so much more romantic that one who brings home a box of chocolates.
And lucky me, my husband does that with me weekly.
Who needs Valentine's Day?!
Strike 2 occurred in 5th grade. Think back to when you were in elementary school and Valentine's Day meant a class party with red punch, sugar cookies, and mailboxes to receive all of your valentines from classmates. That was when Valentine's Day was fun and awesome: it was an excuse for a party during school. I looked forward to these parties every year and 5th grade was to be the ultimate party because it's your last year in elementary school and lets face it, there aren't any Valentine parties in middle school. Unfortunately for me, I have only missed 1 day of school in my entire K-12 years. And that one day occurred on Valentine's Day in 5th grade. Yes, I was puking my guts out on the day that was to be the party of all parties. I couldn't hand out the Valentines I had so tediously worked on, wouldn't get to eat heart shaped cookies and instead sipped on ginger ale. I missed out on the last awesome party in elementary school. Thus began my disdain for Valentines Day.
As I grew older I nicknamed Valentine's Day "Singles Awareness Day" because lets face it, this holiday really sucks when you're single. Enter feelings of loneliness, self consciousness for not being pretty enough, and what's-wrong-with-me-why-can't-I-get-a-guy feelings. And all over facebook, school, and blogs, everyone brags about that special someone they are with on this day. It seems like mylar balloons, chocolates, and roses are slammed in your face, reminding you how incredibly lonely and pathetic you are on this day. Strike 3.
Now that I'm married, I still loathe this day, despite having someone to share it with. Why? I think it's because the world has decided this to be the one day a year we declare love for each other. And Tyler and I do a pretty decent job sharing our love for one another everyday, not just Valentine's Day. We say "I love you" multiple times a day, surprise each other with little gifts randomly, not just on this one day of obligated gifts. We perform acts of service for each other that show our love. Why do we need a silly holiday to remind us we love each other?! We already know that and show our love daily!
The whole concept of Valentine's Day is so superficial to me, and true love is so much more than that. Sure, you can post a picture of the flowers your love gave you, but does that really mean anything? If he truly loves you, he'd empty the dishwasher for you, or take out the garbage showing you how much he loves you. I think a husband who sits down and helps me fold laundry is so much more romantic that one who brings home a box of chocolates.
And lucky me, my husband does that with me weekly.
Who needs Valentine's Day?!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Holy Mole-y
It would appear that we have a mole living in our front yard. Yes, a mole. The creatures that inspired the Whack-A-Mole game at Chuck E Cheese. I honestly have no idea what to do with a mole. I never thought those would be a problem in my front yard. I thought it would be something that people who live in the country, not suburban housing subdivisions, worry about.
But alas, I have such luck. You see, here is the evidence that led Tyler to conclude we have mole(s) living in our yard.
Now, for months we've had the upturned soil along the curb. We always just figured that because our yard is on a slope, the soil eroded down there with the help of gravity. Our house is on a corner, it makes sense that none of the other houses in our neighborhood had this problem since ours was the highest and had more soil that the others.
Then last week these little beauties popped up: holes. Right smack dab in the middle of the yard. After quickly verifying that the other spouse didn't create said holes, we realized something was not right. Tyler investigated and feels like the ground isn't completely stable; he thinks there are tunnels below the grass from some sort of critter. Enter: moles.
So yeah, we have a mole problem. Who knows how long they've been living here, since we've been assuming wrong the past few months. And the HOA mows our front yard, so we rarely tend to it. What do you do to get rid of moles? We are open to any/all suggestions!
But alas, I have such luck. You see, here is the evidence that led Tyler to conclude we have mole(s) living in our yard.
Now, for months we've had the upturned soil along the curb. We always just figured that because our yard is on a slope, the soil eroded down there with the help of gravity. Our house is on a corner, it makes sense that none of the other houses in our neighborhood had this problem since ours was the highest and had more soil that the others.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Seaside
This past weekend we had a wonderful trip to the Oregon coast! Tyler and I have made many day trips there, but never spent an entire weekend truly soaking up the fun. We decided to stay in Seaside this time since we typically visit Cannon Beach and wanted to see what else the coast has to offer.
We saw this awesome sting ray washed up on the beach. Gross, yet fascinating.
Oh, we brought Chloe with us. Yep, we're those kind of people. How could we leave her home while we go out and have fun?! She had a blast and loved the other dogs on the beach, the seagulls, and stopping to smell the seashells.
I had only 2 requirements for this trip: to eat Mo's clam chowder, and to buy earrings. I neglected to take a picture of my delicious chowder, but trust me, it was amazing. By far the best clam chowder I've ever had in my life!
The second requirement is my self-imposed attempt at creating traditions. Hear me out now. Whenever we go somewhere together, I want to buy earrings to remember the trip by. It all started with our first trip to Seattle where I picked up some earrings at Pike's. I now have a tiny little collection of earrings that bring fond memories of our travels whenever I wear them. It also helps when friends bring me back earrings from their cool trips (Hawaii, London) to reinforce my new tradition. :)
I guess I also had the requirement to watch the sunset at least one night we were there. We truly lucked out with gorgeous weather with clear blue skies and only a light wind. This is not the Oregon coast I know!
Some would call the trip uneventful. Boring even. But we loved the laidback nature of it. We weren't rushing to go do this or that or try something out. Our style of travel is to make a huge list of all we want to do, knowing full well we won't be able to do it all, and pick and choose which items we want to cross off when we feel like it. This trip, we were content to walk the Promenade in Seaside, and drive to Cannon Beach for Mo's and wave watching. We really just walked up and down and up and down the coast with Chloe, enjoying the salty wind and sunshine. It was a much needed break from life, just spending time together in a beautiful location. Can't wait to go back again!
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