Portland Trip Update

So we have been in Oregon three days and already gone into Portland two times (we did drive through part of Portland on the way in so I guess we have been to Portland everyday... sorta anyway). We have been to Powell's World of Books (could live there), Portland Art Museum, the Waterfront, The Saturday Market, Rock Bottom Brewery (good Belgium but only seasonal), Pizza Schmizza (the best pizza ever), and Washington Park. It has been so much fun and people are so nice. Plus they always answer your questions without you needing to ask (the sort of listen in to your conversations so be careful, though the advice and info is cool). The Max is great too!

There are tons of pictures and stories to come but I just wanted to try my new mobile blogger and give you a little teaser while I am away. More soon!

Vacay anybody?

So as I promised I am here again to tell you a little bit about our upcoming trip. I also promised to show you my hair but I am not happy with the color (all my fault) so you will just have to wait until our vacay pics.

So J and I decided to go visit my brother and sister-in-law in Oregon. We can't wait to see Portland as well as other parts of the state. We are even going to try out for the 150 year anniversary contest in Oregon (we need to do 5 different things listed on their site in at least two of the regions of Oregon). I think we should have no trouble with this but we will see. Also we will be spending time with some of J's friends so he is thrilled.

Then we get to see Seattle for a few days (I have always loved the city since I saw the movie Sleepless in Seattle). Then we take a cruise to Alaska!!! How cool is that? I almost moved there once and now I finally get to see it.

After that we don't know but maybe the Oregon coast or the California Redwoods. Either way there will be lots to report when I get back. I promise to try and blog while I am gone but I can't promise to actually blog... who knows about the Internet and computer access. So stay tuned and have a great rest of the month and Fourth of July!

Jason's new.....

Hair! OK so it is the same old hair but a new look for it. We decided before we went on our big vacation (more on this later) that we should get our hair trimmed... well trimmed came out a little differently for both of us (I will show you mine tomorrow).


OK so above is the old Jason... from about a week ago when we BBQed together for the first time on our tiny (but efficient) BBQ. And below is the new Jason. No it is not a great picture but it shows the hair. I think it looks great... except I don't always recognise him. I freaked out waking up to him since I didn't recognise the hair... oops!



So I will show you mine tomorrow and tell you all about our up coming trip... which means I will be gone and this blog will be on hiatus for about a month. I promise to come back with lots of cool pictures and tales so stick around. More tomorrow! What do you think of hubby's new hair?

Our Lake Tahoe Trip

So we just got back from our trip (OK a couple of days ago but still). We had a blast, everything except for the horrible beds... way too soft for us... was wonderful. I got two huge blisters on the first day and suffered the rest of the time (serves me right). But we did and saw a good deal. We won about $15 and only gambled $10 (so we came out ahead).

Above is the view from our room (part of it). I was really surprised that we got a partial lake view for our price. Mont Bleu was actually pretty nice and quiet... however, there was no one there. The clubs all seemed closed and the buffet wasn't open either. I am sure once season really starts in a week or so it will improve.

We also traveled to see Emerald Bay but did not hike down to it (the road was under construction and we didn't want to get trapped and have to circle the lake). Jason even found an interesting plant to investigate. We would have hiked more (like to the waterfall across 89 from the bay) but my blisters were killers and we didn't want to make them worse.

We also tried to eat at some interesting restaurants. We tried the Forest Buffet (at the top of Harrahs) which has an amazing view and not too bad of a price, and Fire + Ice, which is more of a sports bar but does have nice beer on tap and the Mongolian BBQ is fun (but very expensive). We also ate at my favorite breakfast place, Heidi's. This is us... the only picture we have of both of us from the trip. I guess we will have to try harder next time.

Now we need to prepare for our next adventure... the Pacific Northwest: Portland, Seattle, Canada, and Alaska (last two by cruise) and maybe even the California Redwoods. Any ideas for what we need to see?

We're going to lake Tahoe and we're gonna get mar-air-aired....

OK not really since we are already married but I did want to get married there... actually I wanted to elope but that didn't happen, and I am happen it didn't. So J has never been to Lake Tahoe (I used to go at least every other summer) and we found amazing prices at one of the casinos at South Lake (my favorite part of the lake). It really is an unbelievable deal and to top it off J is preparing a list and check sheet for packing and traveling... I usually do that but now I can just relax and enjoy the trip because someone else is being the planning guru!!!! I love J!!!

This is our first real trip (though we did go to Maine and to visit MIL when we lived on the East Coast but nothing huge). This is also the first trip since we got married, no honeymoon only a wedding night stay over, so this is like our mini-moon. Actually, this and Oregon will constitute our first family trip as a family... no the cat is not coming.

I hope the weather is nice enough to be outside. I will post pics and tell you all about it when we get back... and maybe I will even start my third and final blog... my book blog.

My Tube Sock Hair Curler Fail... sort of

Summer brings out the side of me that wants desperately to look pretty and feminine. I know this usually happens to most people in Spring but coming from a place where Spring and Winter are much the same it is the Summer heat that changes my mood. So I have begun working out (more about that another time) but I have also been reading lots of articles on how to take care of yourself and look better. Something I am always trying to better is my difficult hair. It is naturally blonde (formal English feminine) so it has been darkening ever since I hit adulthood (college) and I hate the color it is becoming but I don't want to dye it the rest of my life (more on that later too). It is also incredibly full (lots of hairs) but very thin and delicate hairs (fine) which means I have a ton of it but I can't do anything with it without a warehouse of styling products (which I hate) so I usually just give up. Below you can see what I usually look like... except it is almost in a pony tail or bun now-a-days since I have given up. But not pretty huh?
So, again I was reading articles and I came across one in Health Magazine (I think this month but don't quote me). Anyway, it had lots of advice on how to care for hair and one of the recommendations was to curl it wet while you sleep... but not with foam curlers... with tube socks!! So I dug into our sock drawer and I only had one pair of tube socks left from my college days (when I wore them to games all the time... really school spirited... don't mock me, not everyone can dress as the school mascot).

Well I put one sock on each side of my head and tied it up. Did I mention I have a ton of hair? Well I might have had too much for only two measly socks. I added texture gel hoping it would help. J did make fun of me because I was a very convincing Princess Leia.

Don't make fun of the pictures... this is me pre-make-up and I know it is not pretty... see the face... not pretty and I know it ;). Anyway it was incredibly comfortable... something foam curlers are not. However, my hair did not dry completely over night so I had to help it along with a little cold air blow dry. Which dried it but I don't think it helped it. Darn humidity... don't they know CA is not supposed to be humid?

So I took it out and well... it was wavy but also a tangled mess! So yes it has texture but there was nothing I could do with it. I ran out of the door a little late to meet J for lunch and yes it looked OK but by the time I got to lunch it was just a hot mess. I should have combed it out first... which will be fun to remedy tonight, not. So I will try this again but maybe I need a few more tube socks... like at least one more pair.

So what have we learned? Use more than one pair of tube socks, comb out your hair first and let it dry a little bit, and... my hair is destined to be a hot mess.... poor hair. It needs a trim and at least a wash out color. I will try again after I cut and color it and maybe it will work better. Try it out and let me know if anyone else has better results!

Off to try and fix this.... this rat's nest I call hair.. ::sigh::

Happy Hair Days... please!

Bathing The Cat

So I decided to start with some humor to kick off my return to blogging. I have two funny (at least to me) posts to share with you and I will start with my favorite one. A couple months back we discovered our beloved cat was covered in fleas. As she is a living thing and does not deserve to be infested with fleas we decided to take action: we bathed her.
As you can see she did not take it in stride but she also didn't fight. Just lots of mewing... I think she knows by now that the two of us will win and she will only have to endure it for longer if she fights. However....

When J tried to reconcile with her she was having none of it. She just stalked off and pretended not to know him. She is flea free but I don't think she has forgiven us yet. Oh well, her mewing as she was bathed will keep me in stitches for a while.

Tomorrow I will share something of my own hair fail. Oh, and maybe even a little post about my birthday! The festival of me is not over yet but it has been going strong and I do have some great pictures and stories to share.

More later....

So far behind.... but not dead!

So in the last couple (yes couple... I suck) DH and I have been through a bit. We found out it is pretty likely we will not be working in our old district next year, DH finished his credential, we both got serious about working out, I have been reading like a fiend, we saw a movie DH liked (that is few and far between), and I got a year older. I have some great book reviews to share with you and lots of info about what is going on in our world. I can't fit it all in here but I promise to add something tomorrow. As for now at least you know I am alive and still thinking about the blog. Ok, off to stretch and shower... I am trying something new tonight, I am going to roll my hair around tube socks to try and curl it as it dries. We will see if it works.

Thanks for not giving up on me! TTYS!