Bear with me...

Life is sucking a little bit right now and writing just insnt on the forefront of my mind at the moment. I should be back in a day or so. 

4 days until 2009!

Well, Christmas came and went without incident...well, here in Vancouver anyways. Back home, I get a call from my sister who tells me that mom snapped her ankle in half. Yes, you heard right... in half... as in her foot is dangling to the right, while her ankle is on the left, and her leg is still somewhere actually attached to her body. Ofcourse it was the first Christmas that I am away. Why not? Anywho, she is doing just fine, on pain meds. She had surgery Christmas eve and received one plate and 4 screws (yuck.) .  She is on a walker right now, and after about 6 weeks she will get a boot and a crutch. Every year it is tradition to have a big yummy seafood dinner Xmas eve... dad and Shannon got treated to green beans at the hospital cafeteria. 

We, on the other hand finally got a digital camera! However as of right now I dont have any photos that dont involve suprise shots of me in my bathrobe and morning hair groping for the lights first thing in the morning, so no photos today. 

It has started to rain in the past couple of days, so after 2 weeks of being cancelled, we finally get to go to church!! It does get old when it is snowing and automatically schools shut down and church is cancelled and everyone completely freaks out. I just dont get it. Although now that we actually get to go to church, do I feel like going anywhere? Do I feel like taking a shower? Ahem. No. I feel like a cup of tea and sitting with scripture perhaps. Actually, make that a couple cups of tea to wake up, and then maybe breakfast so that I might comprehend what I would be reading. 

Oh well. I am looking forward to 2009 and the events that will take place. I am looking forward to starting the year again and be just a little better than I was in 2008. I dont do resolutions, but changes for the better. I just pray the Lord helps me remember them. Hope you all had a great and wonderful Christmas!

Its too early to think of a title for this post.

It is 6:30 am. In the morning. In the early freakin morning. And Im not sleepy. Why? I ask aloud. I was dreaming the most awesome dream, it was an encore presentation to the book I was reading last night. In my dream the castle actually got stormed by the bad guys and the entire land was thrown into darkness... I, nearly escaping death a few times, got in close with the enemy ranks as an undercover being, leading on as if I truly were subverted by the Dark Lord to his followers, and yet always going back to my band of good guys with the knowledge I gained to try to break things apart from the inside and restore happiness and sunshine to all the land. The detail was so good and the dialogue was awesome, and then Zacs alarm jarred me awake. So I sent him off to work, fully intending to go back to bed to finish off saving the world, and now I cant sleep. I know if I forced myself to, I would wind up with a huge ol' headache and then be sleeping until 11:30. I know this because every other time I go back to bed that happens. I just cant get up at 8am. Ever. Here is the kicker.... IM YAWNING LIKE CRAZY but Im not sleepy.

Anywho, today, somehow, is Christmas Eve. (already?!) It is definitely not as eventful as years past. Christmas will be opening gifts, breakfast, going to a movie and then slugging out the rest of the day. And then its over. And then a whole new year is upon us, the one where I will turn 24. The one where starting a family will come into play. The one where hopefully God will grant us a home of our own. It will definetly be a year of firsts. I am excited, albeit a little apprehensive.

I really do wish that we were home for Christmas. I miss my family. And my kitty. And my best friend. It really is amazing how much we take for granted and then realize just how much everyone means to you when you leave. 8 hours away isnt bad, its not like I'm in France or anything, but winter time here is ridiculous. (Oh and the best part about the weather? This year we move up here is the worst winter they have had since 1968.) The interstate is closed throughout Oregon, to even get on the I-205, chains are required, to drive even into Portland, chains are required. And yet nary a snow plow to be seen. None. Nobody even shovels the walk. It is a bit ludicreous. But I am enjoying the snow, however it does remind me of plopping Stinky in the snow last Christmas and watching him zoom around in it. He would put his front paws out straight and then just snow plow down the driveway. He'd chase snowballs too, and then get confused when they dissapeared into the snow, then I'd toss a little snow ball onto his butt and the poor thing would get so confused, so he'd plow through the snow again looking for it. Thanks for permitting me a small memory. 

Zac might only have a half day today, so that means that if I go to bed, he would come home at 10:30 and I'd be asleep. Maybe I will force myself to get up at 8. (I say that every time) If anything, the house is chilly and my bed is warm, and if logic serves me right, then theoretically.... I should go back to bed. Good night.

Its a good day.

I had a dream last night that I went to visit my best bud Cecelia and actually got to sit down with her and talk, and to visit my kitty Stinky while there. She had a gazillion baby kittens too... like 4 week old little fuzzballs. It was such a relaxing and deep dream it felt like I was actually there. I woke up so refreshed and happy that I was able to hug my kitty again and to just hang out and talk with my friend I hardly ever see. I love it when dreams are that good. It was better than the dream I had before that, I think I was in Las Vegas or something and the people I was with kept shifting and somewhere was scenario where I lost my purse, and the only person helping me was a girl named Jess from A Path Less Followed blog...(Ive never ever met her let alone talked to her), but then she got whisked away by a flood... I think I prefer the simplicity of the first dream. It is indeed something I have been wanting to do anyways.

It stopped snowing. I am stuck at home again, Zac had to take the car. So I am making jam thumbprint cookies. (oh darn.) I do have to go to the store however, before they all close Christmas eve. I am getting excited about Christmas coming up... I hope all your holidays are coming together nicely. I have to go try to not burn some cookies..

Snow Beanies

It hasnt stopped snowing. Yesterday we went out side, 5 inches of snow, with 1/2 inch solid ice on top of it. Every where. Even on the other side of town. (We had to go buy more sand bags for the truck. Yes I know it was Sunday. Church was cancelled by the way, 2nd week in a row.) Look at the distance between my fingers. It took 45 minutes to chip the ice off my car. It looked like someone dumped water on my car just as it was freezing. My lock had 1/2 inch of ice on it. So a bathtub of hot water later....

So then this morning, I wake up to this: Those are steps by the way. It snowed about another 3 inches last night, and we have snow drifts in a few spots.

So Zac took the car today, has better snow abilities and the sand bags 

never got out of my car and into the truck...hehe... so I am stuck at home today. There is no way I am driving that truck, even with sandbags in the snow again. So I woke up with Zac like usual, made him Breakfast and his lunch and set to work on my first time crocheting a beanie. I am so pleased!! It worked!

Its 8am now... got a disaster calling my name. Seriously, if ya didnt know any better, you'd think 5 people lived here on the weekends. I've gotta stop taking weekends off. Mondays are just a disaster!

Ponderings of the Christmas Sort.

Thanks to my dear parents, our little tree doesnt look so lonely anymore!! I am not sure who the Crate & Barrel package is from, there was no return address, but I am assuming it is from an aunt and uncle that go for the pre-packaged gifts every year.

I am finally getting into the Christmas mood...now that my packages will be mailed out today and mom sent dads Christmas cookies. Zac is even getting into the spirit a bit now that we have gifts under..well.. next to our tree. This season has been a hard one, with everything I have ever associated Christmas with so far behind me... it is really making me start to think really what this whole Christmas schtick is all about. 

Here in Vancouver, I dont have a roaring fireplace. I dont have the laughter and warmth of parents and in-laws. I dont have the dinners dad makes us. I dont have the stockings that are normally hung. I dont have the comfort of being 10 minutes away from either set of parents. Among other things....

So sitting here with my baby Christmas tree, with the thoughtful gifts my parents sent, I am beginning to wonder why we even bother celebrating Christmas anyways. Yes, I am a church going person, yes I believe in Jesus and the virgin birth. But why then, now that all I hold familiar is stripped away, why o why does it just feel like another day? Have I really not focused on the fact that Christmas is really the celebration of the good news that Heavenly Father sent us? I was pondering this thought yesterday. I suppose up until yesterday, the only way I ever really felt the Christmas spirit was through all those material things that kinda helped it along. It never once was really about Jesus. Until Yesterday.

And the thing is, is now that I contemplate it more, it is such a different feeling to have the Christmas Spirit in Christ than the former feeling I was looking for. It is more quiet, complacent, reverent. It is warming from the inside. It definetly isnt as hectic, as chaotic as the other kind of Christmas spirit... Having the spirit in Christ is, gosh I dont even know the words. I guess what I am trying to say is that finally realizing that Christmas stripped from its wrapping paper is pure love, well.. that is a miracle. That Our Lord sent his only son to save mankind, even thousands of years after His mortal death, from the mortal sins we create and posess, that we may progress to be as He was.  That through Him we are saved from Satan and his wiles, that we are offered eternal life in His house, that we do have the chance to repent and be forgiven. What a loving God we have.

It sure makes Christmas seem alot more peaceful. Christmas in Vancouver may just be the best one I've had yet. 

Lord I am so thankful for thy presence on this Earth. I am thankful that thou hast chosen us to share thy good news and that we might be saved. I ask Lord, this season to please bless those who need thy word, and also those of us who know it, to please impress it upon us once again and I say these things in the name of our dear savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

I finally have a tree.

Its almost a 12 incher. I couldnt stand not having a tree for the third year in a row, so I went to Craft Warehouse and got me one. 

I feel a little more Christmas spirit-y. Tomorrow the gifts will be mailed.. yes I know there are 8 days until Christmas. 

It feels like I can relax a little bit now. It stopped snowing for a bit, but man its cold. And myself, being the genius that I am, caught my lunch on fire this afternoon, set the fire alarm off, and had to open the patio door, the window and the front door. I froze.  I am starting miss being 10 minutes away from my moms house this time of year. I know she has her fire place roaring, their tree with all our ornaments are up, Dad has baked cookies and mom has put up the decorations. Its becoming really hard to realize that I am 8 hours away. 

Oh well, I am enjoying the snow at the very least.

Snow

It snowed. It hasnt gotten over 28 degrees all week, and we are supposed to get hammered by another Alaskan storm all week. Freakin brrrr.

So far we havent gotten that much, but it has been a steady snow all morning. That means because Vancouverites are weenies, I have to go to the store now before they close on account of snow.

Just in time for Xmas... maybe this will get my head on straight.

 

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. Gift bags make it look like you got more than you actually did.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. The woodstove wont dry that sucker out!
3. When do you put up the tree? Well, in the days when I had trees, 3 weeks before Xmas. I dont have a tree this year. Or last.
4.When do you take the tree down? 3 days after Xmas. No point in having a tree in the house otherwise.
5. Do you like eggnog? You mean to ask if I like sludge scraped from the drainpipe? Uh, no.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I was spoiled rotten, so I dont really remember any favorites. Fave adult gift: hubby gave me a gorgeous pearl necklace with diamonds last year.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Grampa chuck or hubs.
8. Easiest person to buy for? Me.  
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Never had one. my life is bleak.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I try to mail them every year. They are still sitting on the desk in front of me.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Used bath lotions and sprays from my dead grandmas house. 
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Its a show really: Claymation Christmas.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? LoL. Im just starting that, thank you.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Maybe I did, maybe i didnt.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Christmas eve seafood buffet, Christmas breakfast, everything else that goes with it.
16. Lights on the tree? I prefer all white. But our tree growing up was a mess of blinking lights and aluminum foil. We could have landed a few UFO's.
17. Favourite Christmas song? O come O come Emmanuel
18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? HOME!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes. I can even recite the night before Christmas by heart.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I prefer stars, but once again.... there is no tree.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning Christmas? Immediate family gifts Xmas eve + 1 random gift.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? How not into it I feel. 
23. What theme or color are you using? I have a figurine of an xmas bunny. That is the only decoration I have put up. I'd put up more, but there is no place for them. Boo.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? As always, Mexican food.  
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I dont know. Fisrt Xmas without the family. So far, I think I am going to get a tiny little tree from the craft store.

Ok, well that didnt help. Oh well. Tomorrow I will git 'er dun!

Quick update cuz I feel like poo.

We got our first snow yesterday. *Ahem. Did I say snow? I meant skiff of white stuff that flew over the road. Minute amounts of white flurry that didnt stick. They cancelled church. Because of the snow. Because Washington doesnt even OWN snow plows. When it snows here, and these are the words of a Vancouver-ite that has lived here all his life: "the city just shuts down and waits it out."

Anywho, today was sunny, this week though we are supposed to get slammed with some nice snow storms straight in from Alaska. Ok I feel like crapola so I am going now. 

I. LOVE. MY. BED.

No that is not code for anything... today I slept in until 10:30 because I was so gosh darn comfy!!! 

My sleep number is 35. I woke up this morning so late, half because hubs went to bed at 9pm, so ofcourse after we read, I was a little tired... I was awake in bed for 3 and a half hours. But I just couldnt get up... oh no... I was snug as a bug in a rug. Normally when I wake up, it is at 8 or 8:30 and I have no problem doing so because I hurt like h-e double hockey sticks and the need to move around and pop all the joints in my body trumps staying in bed and sleeping. But now... oh now! The second love of my life has arrived! (Yes I realize that 2nd position will be replaced by baby #1 eventually) but for now, ahhhhhhhh.

Its raining out, finally a full blown rain. Latley we've either had sun or mist. That means that I am certainly not going anywhere. So far my big plan today was to go check out the ENORMOUS Cost Plus down the street, because ofcourse, Cost Plus just isnt the same anywhere you go. Not to mention it is 11:30 and I am still in my robe trying suck down a cup of tea. 

Man I love having a camera on this phone. I still want a camera though. So todays plan of attack is a good thorough cleaning, and to finish up Christmas cards. Zac still hasnt gotten paid yet, so I cant do Christmas shopping yet. Boo.

Oh we went to see the Twilight movie, I absolutley refuse to read the books. So gathering what I could from the movie, I still dont want to read the books. Apparently the movie is a ton cleaner than the books, but the main girl Bella is made to be a complete stuttering idiot that is confused by everything and just cant comprehend anything either. Complete blithering idoit. Not to mention, she always has a look on her face like she will vomit at any given time...it goes back and forth between that and having dog poop under her nose. And also not to mention, she is supposed to fall in love with Edward...to my understanding like head over heels I-would-kill-for-him in love.... the most she gives him is half of an awkward smile and some more stuttering. Edward, the main vampire, is as equally as retarded, just in a different way, the way Bella stutters when she cant get something out is about the equivalent of Edward being silent and opening and closing his mouth like a fish when he cant get something out. There are scenes in the movie that you would just looove to punch either of them a few times. T-t-t-t-today, Bella!!

It wasnt a bad movie though, just frusterating at times. Im still undecided if I will watch it again. Probably not. So there you have it folks, an unofficial guide to the latest vampire hype. I honestly still dont understand why the movie was such a big deal. Wasnt that good. Perhaps its because I havent read the books. I still refuse. Oh well. 

Alright, I am off to go make another cup of tea and catch up on some blogs. 

Ow. Owww. (Oh..and my phone camera is working!)

YYEEEOOOWWW!! Yes folks, that was the lovely sound I made in my head this morning upon rising to make hubs breakfast at o'dark freakin thirty am. It may have felt better to scream it out loud, but I felt my hamstrings were doing for me already.

So Monday, worked out as normal. Added in arm weights and then did some quad and hamstring lifts. Now dont get me wrong, I dont do the gung-ho approach to weightlifting. I did a set of 12. As in I bent my legs 12 times. Thats it. Felt fine afterwords. 

Tuesday hit, and ok, I was a little sore, no biggie. So I decided to forgo the workout and just do yoga. The program I found was to open up you hips, which was amazing feeling! And also just general stretching yoga too. I felt great and lengthened.

And then comes this morning. My hamstrings feel like, well, lets just say it took me about an hour this morning to be able to walk on them without bending my knees. Ow. It has been awhile since I did leg weights, and somehow, now, after the fact that my legs hate me, I am remembering that it was always the 2nd day after doing weightlifting that always killed me and I had vowed to never ever do it again. (I was 15? 16? at the time.)

So nothing a bath and some Ibuprofen cant help. Geez. I hate it when body parts rebel. So on the good news side of things: Our bed comes tomorrow between 1-5pm. I am thankful that it is not like the Idaho cable guys who say to expect them between 8-5pm Monday Through Friday- Sharp. I always hated that. You were prisoner for a dang week in your home, making sure you didnt miss them.  

Along with our bed, we also got 2 free bathrobes,

 combined total value of $190! (people would actually pay that much for a bathrobe??) Although they are VERY nice. They quilted, with that soft fleecy stuff inside. And they are heavy. It feels like you are wearing an old fashioned drap with a sash. Oh and they are monogrammed HIS and HERS. And I see why now, because I accidently threw on Zacs and it is HUGE. It may as well be a blanket. But holy crap they are warm,  which is nice, I can keep the heat to a minimum. 

Oh, and I finally figured out how to get the photos off of my phone, so here are the pics Zac took on our trip to Lucia Falls.

Oh, and I've officially admitted Im a complete nerd.

So there is a lady in our church named Ginny Potter, right? They announced her name in church on Sunday, and Zac didnt hear it very well, so he asked me to repeat it. Went something like this:

Him: Did they say Germy Potter?

Me: No, they said Ginny Potter.

Him: Oh.

Me: Which is funny because ya know in those Harry Potter books? Ginny Weasly ends up marrying Harry Potter, thus becoming Ginny Potter! So she's Harry Potters wife! 

(ive got a big grin on my face at this point, marvelling at how clever I am.)

(insert huge eye roll from hubs..)

Him: WOW. You are such a nerd. 

Then he said something about me bringing up Star Wars... but I dont remember what he said. Fine. I admit it. Im a Nerd and proud of it. At least we nerds can put two and two together.

Monday morning

Good morning all. This morning was especially hard to wake up, I kept thinking I heard Stinky meowing every so often, then I'd move to go get him, but then remembered he is back in Idaho. So I didnt get much sleep. We didnt do much this weekend. Saturday Zac didnt have to work so we bummed around the house, no cleaning happened...hehe... (yes I am paying for it today!) I made sketti, and thats about it. Sunday was about the same, just insert church some where in the middle of it. 

There is an awesome website that has waaay cute long skirts, denim, khaki, you name it. I couldnt remember the name of it to save my life! So I searched. And searched. And then finally decided to look through all the comments on this girls blog I read, where I had thus clicked on another blog and found the website link. And I found the blog! And she had made it private. With no means of contacting her. So I gave up and found one for $20 on ebay. That is way more that I would prefer to pay, but I do realize that you cant really find anything like that for any cheaper. Not to mention NO stores sell them. Hardley any do even on the internet!! Apparently we are anti long skirt nation!! 

Im not really ready to tackle the day today. Sunday was such a nice relazing day. It was pouring, so we took our umbrellas with us on our 15 second walk across the street to the building. I havent used an umbrella since I was like, 8. One of the neighboring churches was holding that nativity all last week and als Sunday so thier congregation was invited to join our congregation... it was a full chapel!!! But I have never heard such beautiful singing! The voices were so loud and joyous that the organist had to play a little extra loud, as in we could hear the re-verb of the speakers. It was nice. 

Ofcourse being the christmas season, all the talks were centered around Christ(which is normal anyways) but also around making the holidays stress free. Huh? Whats that? I just only realized that we have19 days until Christmas, Zacs first check doesnt come until the end of the week, I have to get stocking stuffers out ASAP, which then means I have to figure out what to get who... I dont think we will be able to fly back home, it will be about $500 round trip for both of us. Airlines dont do Christmas specials apparently. I havent even thought about a tree. I do have a small xmas village, but I have no furniture at the moment so there really is no where to put it. I will figure it out. 

Good morning

Zac drove me down the street last night to finally see mount hood. It is seriously this big in front of you, and yet it is a loooong ways away.

Oh I cant wait for our bed to get here!! I am so dang achy and migrainy. Our last place wasnt to awful, it had wood floors underneath the carpet, underneath our foam pads. Here we have some lovely concrete under that carpet. Owwwie. Our bed comes next Thursday. Perhaps it will help my dreams too, lately they have sucked. My alarm woke me up this morning in the middle of getting screamed at by my husbands female boss. (I havent even met Zacs boss. And I know he isnt a woman.)

I am not working out today. Last night was night 3 in a series of days that have given me perhaps 4 hours of sleep a night. My brain just wont shut off! And no, I dont drink caffeine or eat before bed. Not to mention every prominent bone in my body juts out onto the floor... oh yea, I think I finally lost a few pounds. i dont have a scale anymore/yet, maybe I will go and try one out at Target. 

Since we got Verizon, I cant talk to the one person I yak at everyday anymore - my mother. But she got me onto Yahoo Messenger, and apparently if you have a microphone and speakers, you can call PC-to-PC and talk like a normal phone conversation for free! Who needs a phone? Whichever party wants to talk, presses call, then the other partys computer rings! You pick it up and yak away. I really like Verizon, but their service is so gosh-darn expensive. O well. The phone is cool.

I am excited for Sunday night too.. every Chistmas up here apparently all the different churches in the Gorge get together and make a HUGE recreation of ancient Bethlehem. Apparently they have camels, and lepers and whatnot and so forth. I think that it is really cool that all the different denominations can come together and put such a loving effort into bringing the community together. 

So todays plan of attack... uh... yeah. Well... I woke up at 9:30... and here I am still at 10:18. I think I will go take a bath and try to loosen up my aching muscles. Then take a nap. Who am I kidding, I'll probably get ready and then go take my rent check down, then clean the house and then go on a scouting mission for a broom. I think mine got left behind in my parents garage. I only discovered that I didnt have one after a pail of black eyed peas dumped its contents on top of me and all over the kitchen. I love picking up beans by hand. 

Now that I got paid, perhaps I will actually go get some food items. Hehe... I also discovered Zac hates eating vegetarian. Now we are not Veggies by anymeans, we were just strapped for cash for the past week, so I made bean soup because, well.. thats what I had. And the first thing out of his mouth? There's no meat in it? So my main mission today is to get ahold of a hamsteak. I will do my regular food shopping when he gets paid. I keep telling him we should just become ranchers, then we would have no shortage of red meat. 

Ok, I've got to hit the shower, well, bath to be more exact. Have a great day!

A long update.

Well,we made it. Today starts day 3 of housewifing, and I am thoroughly loving every second of it. It is so fulfilling to be able to get what needs to be done, done! Here is an account of what has taken place since last wednesday:

Wednesday, November 26th: We scrambled to finish cleaning our apartment, had the property manager nose through it. He even checked for dust on the top of the cabinets. Really?? Zac cant even reach those. Oh well, dont have to put up with him any longer. So while this was taking place, I had stuffed my poor kitty in my car so he would be out of the way, and boy was he unhappy. (poor schmoo) So Zac had everything loaded into the pickup and he left for my moms. I had Stinky and left for Cecelias, albiet late, but she was awesome and stayed for me. Then I left for moms bawling my eyes out all the way there. Got to moms, and ate a wonderful early Thanksgiving dinner. Needless to say we were stuffed to the gills, ( surprise?) and then Zac went to go hang out one last time with his family and I stayed at mine... all 4 of us just slugged out on the couch and watched TV. Good times. Then it was bed and 6am came mighty early.

Thursday, November 27th, Thanksgiving: 6am we were up dangit. I actually got to sleep in a bed that night so I was sleeping very well. I decided to be a bit selfish and I took my time to get ready and shower while Zac went to help my dad pack the vehicles. I went out there to help them, but anyone who knows my dad and packing, well... you just dont get in the way of his "art". He is the master packer if I ever saw one. So I went in to help mom with breakfast. Which was fine, because it was freezing outside and I had to snitch a few sausages anyways. (tee hee) We left the driveway at 9am, and went to Grandma and Grampa Young's house (Zacs g-parents), then to his parents. Then finally, we left for the freeway about 10-ish. My grandparents are in Ontario, Oregon which was on the way so we stopped in to see them as well. Then we were really off. Granpa gave us his 3-mile walkie talkies, which made the drive sooooo much better. Since we were driving separate cars, we had no one to talk to and only country as radio stations. So having those little gadgets were very nice. Especially when we hit fog. Well, I should say cloud. Going up the blues was fine until we hit the summit and there was a cloud on top of it. Couldn't see a darn thing. But right ast we hit back to ground level, it was clear. Was a little scary though. We just got behind a semi and stayed put.  

The trip up I-84 through Oregon is so freakin ugly and desolate. It looks like a freezing version of nevada with sparse, and I mean sparse trees. We stopped in a tiny town called Arlington to gas up. This place was kinda cool, was built into a hillside and looked like a Christmas Card. And then through more desolation. We were by the river the entire time, but it just was sage brush. Then, we hit the Columbia River Gorge.... BREATHTAKING!! It was so beautiful, and we got there right when the sunset hit... oh the photos don't even do it justice. It got dark as soon as we got towards our exit, and ofcourse started to rain. Nothing is better than fining your way in the dark and rain on a HUGE freeway where exits turn into exits. But we made it. 

We unloaded our stuff, and then decided to drive the main drag, Mill Plain Blvd, which is a block or two away from us. There is so much stuff here!! We discovered we are in the upper-crust section of town, and there is everything you could ever want here in our little bubble. The little "quadrant" we are in is called Fishers Landing and Cascade Park area. So being Thanksgiving, nothing is open and we were starving so we went to Sharis. (yeah, I know) But get this... Shari's up here is a far, far cry from the ones in Nampa. The food was actually AWESOME!! and it wasnt just cuz we were hungry. 

Friday, November 28th: Slept in until the late ol' time of 8am. We got ready and hit the town again. This was also Black Friday. Well, we figured out that our Tmobile phone does not get service up here at all. So we went to the Verizon store and got an awesome Black Friday deal on a Venus LG. I love this phone. Mostly because you can hear out of it. We were so excited to go check out the town, we had forgotten breakfast. But every wonderful place has a Pita Pit, right?? Oh yeah baby! Right across from Verizon. Nothing makes you feel at home like a Wal-mart and a Pita Pit. :)  I had a gift card to burn at Target, so we went down a block and got Zac some new work pants and myself a new purse, and a hot water maker. We drink a lot of tea in this house, so hot water needs to be always on demand and a tea kettle is just too slow. (we're not americans, are we? lol) Our new phone has unlimited GPS, so used it. All day long. We found Walmart, and plenty of other things. It was a fun day.We GPS'd our way to down town, which kinda looks like downtown Payette. Kinda dumpy, just old. Went to this Irish Pub and Grill O'Shanahans and got there in time for Happy Hour. We had AMAZING fish tacos, a HUGE plate of cheesy fries, and marinated steak bites and probably between the both of us the equivalent of two 2 liters of coke. Pop refills are free at bars, I didnt know that. Then home it was.

Saturday, November 29th: Woke up and unpacked a bit. Went to meet the LandLady to sign paperwork and get aquainted with the fitness room and laundry center. Went back to the house and GPS'd our way to the mall. It is called Shoppingtown. And I thought Boise Town Square Mall was kinda dumb.. So we wandered around, there are a few stores we dont have in Boise, but for the most part everything was familiar. Except the Sleep Comfort store. Oooohhh.....heaven on Earth. So most of you know that we got rid of our bed about a year ago because it was causing Zac to have back trouble and migraines right?? Well we have been sleeping on foam camping pads for the past year. Not exactly comfortable to someone (me) who likes sleeping on cloud-like objects. So the second we laid down on the sleep number beds, it was like a chorus of angels were above us singing the cliched "Halleluyah!".  I felt nothing on my hips, my spine, my shoulder blades, nothing! Zac loved it just as much as I did! So we decided that this was going to be an in-the-near-future purchase, just not right now. But then we went back to bed on our foam. Both of us after feeling the bed and then waking up from the floor, decided in an instant that we needed a bed. (YAY!) So it comes in a week or so. My sleep number is 35, his is 55. Im excited, I've already picked out a bed set. (Im such a woman)

Sunday, November 30th: Slept in and ate breakfast. Called Cecelia to see how she was, give her my new number and see how schmoo-bug was doing. Apparently he is liking Cecelia and was ready to go outsided, so that makes me feel at peace. Went to church at 1pm, got home at 3pm...Oh thats the other awesome thing! We timed walking to the church and it took :37 seconds! We can see it from our house. Then we just slugged out and unpacked and I made dinner. 

Monday, Tuesday: Zac went to work. I stayed here on Monday... Went and talked to management about our mailbox key, then worked out for an hour, then came home and finnished unpacking. Zac came home at 3, which I wasnt prepared for, but I didnt mind. We went to Wal mart. Tuesday I worked out, then ran errands and then discovered that Zac is supposed to come home at 3, not 5.  

I love having the time to slowly wake up and have my tea, make breakfast, fit in a workout before getting the errands done. I love having the house clean and myself put together. And I can wear jeans!!! In Boise, every day I had to wear office attire except weekends when it was church clothes for a few hours and then I was so worn out it was just sweats and no shower.  Oh! And it smells like pine trees, there are so many trees!!! It is cloudy 99% of the time and misty/rainy. It is absolutly gorgeous up here. I really like this relaxing thing. I got a late start today, usually I am up at 8:30, but today I slept in an extra hour. Just couldnt get to sleep last night, rather couldnt get comfy.  So that has been my week in a nutshell... I am happy to finally have the internet again. Oh and another great thing, Washington doesnt tax food. I bought lunch stuff for $15.26 and it was $15.26. Amazing.

WE MADE IT!!

I am back to the land of the living!! I have internet finally!!! I am fairly busy this afternoon, but tonight I will get on and get you the whole schmear.