Freckled. Girl. Talk...

2012-01-28T23:02:00.000-08:00

Amazing how this one little critter grabbed most of our attention today. We hiked south of where we live along the Willamette Greenway trail. Great day, well spent.

2012-01-27T10:14:00.000-08:00

Me back in 2006. This is how I feel today. Having a cold infuriates me to no end.

2012-01-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

I did not take this photo. I swiped it from Nuvrei's facebook page. Steven would approve of Nuvrei, a cafe & bakery in the Pearl district. I approve minus the eggs. Date anyone?

Dogs in motion

2012-01-26T09:33:00.000-08:00

Lisa and I, back when we were working for the Hilton Portland, would send these photos to one another via email whenever we needed a boost or a perk in our day! Our timing was impeccable at times. The dog in the smaller photo we called Poopzee.

Now a dog owner myself of not one but two little critters, I am reminded that perhaps I had a thing for dogs all along?

Natty's rambling thoughts...

2012-01-24T13:00:00.001-08:00

Photo: glimpse into my living room.

Noticed last night that as I was leaving work it was still light outside.

Got to love a two week supply of groceries. I still though can't get my refridgerator as full as the one at my parent's house.

I stayed up till 11.30pm last night. That is NOT going to bed early.

Would like to hit the slopes on a bluebird day sometime in the next few weeks.

Why is it so bloody difficult to let go of things that have caused me so much pain in the past. Especially when life couldn't be any better than its ever been before?!!!

My neck has been unusually sore as of late. Mom says I should put a warm, damp towel on it.

I can't figure out where to {insert} exercise into my daily routine?!!!

It's okay, I'm okay if you use the word brat sometimes on me! ;)

I don't like saying that I'm 38. Is this the face of one?
What the Sam crazy heck is going on here: January is almost over.

2012-01-23T10:01:00.000-08:00

This saving money bit is super boring to me. But it's something we are doing this year and all I can say is this is for the birds. In the end, the rewards will be worth it. A down payment on a townhouse, a used car, you know the things that we don't have right now but have everything else of. ;) Stay dry out there and be safe everyone!

Two nights ago.

2012-01-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

Out there, down below is where we take our dogs out for a poo (or poop). This photo exemplifies the extent of our one day of snow: Portland's winter storm 2012! Four - life flashing before my very own eyes - months have gone by and I still giggle softly under my breath at how wonderful it is not to see one single crazed out soul walking aimlessly outside our home (read here for right before we moved out of the ghetto). This type of silence is golden and certainly welcomed.

2012-01-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

It snowed the other day. Whoop-dee-do-dah you might say! Well it was our first day of snow and most likely last day as well. We watched it snow that evening and I took great comfort in the simplicity marked by it all. The next day was a completely different story. Misery fell upon us instantly. Turns out, even how hard I try to make slush sound inviting: it's not! I took some photos of the snow before the nightmare started and will post them on here tonight. On days like these I just want to stay at home curled under the covers snuggling up next to Steven.

Last year on this day I wrote, click here. Looking back...I'll take one day of slushyness over those first few months in 2011. My heart goes out to people that I hardly even know right now such as the woman behind http://www.dooce.com/ and to the free skier who just passed away, Sarah Burke.

I found another lovely blog. Maybe you'll share my enthusiasm. You can find her here.

P.S. I hit my brother up last night and it was so good talking to him, shooting the sh&t and acting all sister and brother like.

2012-01-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

I think I'm all movie'd out! - me on my day off.

It's been a long, lazy weekend with our pups. sigh

2012-01-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

Caught you red-handed my love. Go ahead and just try it, stick your tongue out. Every time I do it I secretly feel like I'm doing something wrong but then a few seconds later, I kinda feel happy as if ha, ha, you can't touch me. Don't even get me started about owning these two little ones. To top it off, when Steven playfully howls the entire house sounds like a howling fest! Never did I think I'd be a part of such a badass wolf pack.

I have tomorrow off! *sigh, again*

2012-01-14T17:20:00.000-08:00

Portlandia describes living in Portland to a tee. Makes me proud to call Portland my home. Here is a clip that reminds me of when Steven and I watched the X-files. I love how Carrie screams at 2.56 in the below clip. Something I would SO do.

and on this second weekend of 2012...

2012-01-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

Zipped a car over to the grocery store. Bought enough food for fourteen days.
Woke up on Saturday to some very happy dogs. Bruce even sat in my lap as I puddered around on the computer.
Snuggled.
Slept in (out, depends on who you hear it from ;).
Watched True Grit, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Dead End and episodes of Law & Order.
Took a bubble bath.
Biked about 78 blocks (one way) to church. On the way there in the fog, on the way back through sunshine.
Made a delicious cornish game hen dinner.

It was a lovely weekend.

My To Do list for 2012, first quarter.

2012-01-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

Go sledding.
Take a romantic trip with Steven. I'm thinking Cabo.
Save in order to buy a house.
A friend of ours asked for us to watch her chickens at the end of the month. Only in PDX would that happen to me.
Letting go of the past for once in my life.
Discover new music, for example I adore music by Kimbra.
Send birthday gifts in mail to Rami and Jasmine. They are coming up.
Explore Oregon more.
Spend money more wisely.
Lose at least twenty pounds.
Get a board, hang it up and write all of the above on it. Mark off once completed.

Make it Happen!

2012-01-04T16:43:00.000-08:00

Where did the New Year weekend go? It just took off and zoomed right on by, feels like. There was this beautiful beach house, the great Pacific Ocean and sand as far as the eye can see. I counted down the last minute of the year on the beach and received a kiss from Steven at the turn of the New Year! Happy New Year babe! I yelled out and just then fireworks went off everywhere along the shoreline. I quote two of my favorites:

"To finish the moment,
to find the journey's end in every step of the road,
to live the greatest number of good hours,
is wisdom." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Getting over a painful experience
is much like crossing monkey bars.
You have to let go at some point
in order to move forward.” C.S. Lewis.

We only have this one life to live so my take on it is, make it Happen!

Love this vimeo! Is true to my heart.

2012-01-03T16:29:00.000-08:00

No two snowflakes are alike...

2011-12-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

I can't recall the last time I made snowflakes out of paper. As I was folding my first one, Steven decided right off the bat to turn it into a competition. I think it was my fourth snowflake in where he blurted out "looks like a bunch of ants got a hold of that one!" Becoming a tad more competitive, I'm pretty certain I won after hearing him say "wow, that one is awesome, how'd you get the corners to look like medieval swords?" Well, maybe those weren't his exact words but I felt entitled to win after hearing him say that.I hung them up from the ceiling right above our dining room table. I'm very grateful for having a pretty amazing Christmas day and dinner. We leave on Friday for Rockaway Beach, Oregon. Some good friends of ours are letting us use their beach house over the New Year weekend!

And check this video out... speaking of snowflake making, no two are alike... go out and create!

2011-12-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

Hi, hi! Did you all survive the Christmas holidays? We did. Just barely though. Christmas should never, ever be celebrated on a Sunday. That should be written down somewhere in the rules book. Jot down next to it if Christmas falls on a day where you have to work the next day, change date asap. Steven and I hung out Friday and Saturday at home making a Yule log, creating a snowflake masterpiece and, and... well I'd love to list the other million things we worked on but I'm just completely knackered at the moment. Check this video out. Kimbra, I hope you make it super big in life! Won't you wine and dine with me?

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T20:43:00.000-08:00

First frost on winter solstice message reads:

2011-12-22T09:16:00.001-08:00

...and Bruno & Toddrick. Photo taken this morning as I'm walking to work after missing the streetcar: just missed it by a hair too! Hrumph. Makes me wonder about all the things I'm missing out on by taking the same route to work every morning? Break free from the daily routine, I say!

2011-12-20T14:50:00.001-08:00

Oh yes, the holidays are upon us. My work days feel longer than usual. Everyone is slowing down leaving me hard struck to keep up my productivity with everyone out of the office or rather - Gone Shopping. Things that have kept me busy. I had to go to the UPS store today and the guy there made me feel nutty because I think he had to tell someone how slammed he's been over the last couple of days. Lucky for me! I had to physically pry myself off of his voice box. Things like that make me want to just scream at the top of my lungs! Don't tell me how busy you are... especially when I'm not. Anyways, the holidays are supposed to be a fun and joyous occasion but as soon as I'm knee deep in it all I become a hurling ball of stress. And this too shall pass. Just like the UPS guy will have nothing to talk about once things slow down. I cut and pasted this from someone's blog, "that’s about all I can say right now. I’m really trying to keep my shit together. I’m doing an ok job, but I can’t help feeling that I could be helping more, that if I just lay back far enough, maybe that’s the best way to help. Shut my yapper and wait, despite the anguish, despite the fear and despite the feeling of impending doom." What in the world is this guy talking about? It can't be that bad, can it? As for me, I'm just trying to make it till 5 o clock without losing my cool. Happy Holidays and a bah, humbug to you too!

Got the tree up, now we wait.

2011-12-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

2011-12-17T17:54:00.000-08:00

Insert photo here. You know the one that I never took because I left the house without my camera this afternoon!!!!! I never do that. Now, I'm shooting myself in the foot because the view from the Rose Garden this evening was sparkling magnificent.

Freezing to death but completely enamored by the views Steven says to me "How did you leave the house without your camera? What were you thinking?"

Well obviously, I wasn't.

Christmas at our house!

2011-12-15T22:27:00.000-08:00

2011-12-13T15:34:00.001-08:00

OMG! I just finished reading Hula Girl's last blog entry and WOWZARDS!!!! I am soooooooooo inspired to produce amazingly, colorful photos as she does WOW me with hers!!!!! Next blog post of mine, PHOTOdazzling abouts to up on here! Cheers to December birthdays, being loved and doing away with my trying to understand the nature of others when I leave them completely baffled.

happy accidents happen all the time...

2011-12-12T21:45:00.001-08:00

So fast forward a few days we spent some time with an old high school friend, Antonio - thank you by the way for all the drinks & apps (mussels, my favorite) - to a night bbq'ing bison burgers to Steven and I zonking out on our sofa on a rainy, Sunday afternoon to now well, well, well it's going to be a merry Christmas after all. To my delightful surprise I actually filed my taxes wrong and received a nice, little check back. So it pays to sometimes not be right all the time. The discovery of our Christmas miracle went a little something like this:

I'm sitting in front of the computer clamoring on about not knowing what to blog about when Steven catches my attention and says to me "hey, looks like you got a check here from the IRS."

"No, that's not possible."

Looking down at check. "Well, well, well looks like we can get ourselves a Christmas tree after all."

Happy Holidays! The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. -Audrey Hepburn ... and to making a few mistakes, aka. happy accidents, along the way too!