Last Blog of 2011

Why hello again. 2011 is coming to an end so this update is going to a long one, as well as the last blog i will post in 2011. I'm going to start where i left off then see what kind of a wrap up my mind is in the mood for when i get to it.

I promise a complete photo overload.

Ok lets get this thing started.

Upon the ending of the last blog I was concerned if my cleaning skills could save our bed.

Well good news i did it and we now have a bed frame for it to sit upon to hopefully preventing that from happening again.

Brian also hung a picture that nan gave him over the bed so our room officially looks like a cheap motel.
But a cute one.

Brian refused to wake up for me to take this picture so i just covered him in blankets and took the picture anyway. Can you find Brian in the picture below?

In other news Brian's is fully healed up and feeling alot better in case you were wondering.

I'm so grateful that we have such amazing friends and family that helped us have a very merry Christmas.

Grandma sent me this very cute Ornament for our tree.

I may live in Oregon but i will always be a Jersey Girl.

Adrienne used her super craft skills to make us some snow flakes and she mailed them to us.

I am beyond tankful.

She also sent us the most delicious box of chocolate which was an adventure in its self to retrieve from UPS.

But so worth the giggles we shared in the process.

Grandma even mailed me a lil lady bug for luck.

The night before Xmas eve I received a call Saying Danielle and i needed to drive to Walmart in Vancouver WA to Pick up a gift from Santa. Vancouver WA is only about a 20 min drive if that from Portland.

It was cool cause Danielle mentioned that she needed to get out of the house, so off we went.

Lots of SUPER SALES and May i tell you "The People of Walmart" were out in full force.

I must say it was a great time to people watch the weirdest of people. So worth the drive for that and the amazing Gift Santa wanted me and Brian to have.

Christmas eve i put together a sweet lil dinner for the two of us.

Brian was in Heaven to have a real meal with meat and greens.

Brian was so kind to run to the store and surprise me with a tasty dessert.

Strawberry cheese cake ice cream with whipped cream and Chocolate Syrup.

That night we watched the Santa tracker online to see when Santa would be stopping by in hopes that he got the memo we left NJ.

I stayed up late and upon flipping thru the channels i found the Yule Log Christmas program.

                      You know its officially Christmas when you stumble upon that on TV.

Upon digging thru a suitcase i found this old old Santa Outfit I'm shocked it fit once again.

I figured we deserved a Good Christmas Breakfast so i whipped one up for the two of us.

To my surprise Santa found us and left us lots of Goodies under the tree.

Santa made a pit stop at Voodoo Donut for Brian and wrapped them and left them under the tree too.

Since we couldn't make it home for the holidays we Skyped Mom and Stan to open Gifts.

It wasn't the same as being there with them but it was nice to see their faces and let them share in the joy of watching us open our gifts.

Brian was like a lil kid playing with the boxes and bubble wrap inside

It was cute to see him to happy.

He was so excited that he got a new hoodie, A few DVD's on The PCT, a new bike seat and some gloves.  

Music on Christmas was Brought to us By Pandora Radio.

Mom sent me the cutest Panda 3 in one Hat with scarf attached and mittens that look like paws

I'm just a happy lil Panda

Shawn Hooked me up with the sweetest sneakers i think Ive ever owned.

I am in love with these NIKE's

I think these may actually replace my Harley Boots everyone besides me seemed to hate.

I'm beyond grateful for these Kicks

Please pardon the look on my face but Brian took forever to push the button for these pictures and i thought he was taking a pic of just the shirts and not my whole body head included. But these are the best of what he took.

A Huge thank you to my friend Nick for the sweet surprise off my Wishlist.

Have i told you how much i adore OBEY Clothing.

They are my beyond Favorite Since 555 Soul went out of business.

The next shirt i picked out for my self Off www.KARMALOOP.com

I love that website. and if you ever buy anything off there use the Rep Code JERSEYCHIL

and use coupon code 2K12 to get some sweet deals upon check out.

Dad and Fran sent us goodies. I got Panda snacks which are one of my favorite treats.

They also sent some amazing scented candles which i cant wait to burn to make the house smell good.

A Precious moments Ornament for the tree some other goodies and The box of Chocolate Pictured below.

Brian was so excited for the chocolate Santa's he didn't take the time to properly open the box.

It sort of looks like a dog tried eating the box open.

I had to include a picture from the aftermath of our first Christmas Morning in our new place on our own.

And yes The $29 Printer below was what Santa sent me to Vancouver for.

Its going to be nice to finally print Resumes, Coupons, And other things.

I'm sorry i cant list every awesome Gift everyone gave me but i truly feel blessed by all the cards and sweet little Christmas surprises that showed up at my door for the holiday. THANK YOU EVERYONE.

After Breakfast, Gifts, Dishes, Showers, And a lil cleaning up We decided Christmas was missing something.

#1 Christmas without our Family did quite feel like Christmas .

But with everyone back home telling me not to dwell on it and try to enjoy my holiday without tears.

Since not being able to go back east was far beyond out of our control.

We decided that #2 we were missing snow.

If i couldn't be with my family then Damn it i was going to have a white Christmas even if i had to go find it.

I pulled up Timberline Lodge's web cam Pictured Below.

And guess what To my surprise The top of Mount hood at Timberline Lodge Had snow and LOTS of it.

After Discovering Snow i decided to check the road conditions to avoid a replay of New Years Day 2009.

If You don't know that story go back and read Tuesday October 18th 2011 Blog post.  

All websites said roads were clear and we were good to go play in the snow. 

Picture below is from the beginning of our journey up Rt 26 near the town of Boring OR.  

Eh just a lil drizzle looking good.

A Little farther up the road it started raining harder and i saw a sheriff parked on the side of the road and cars putting chains on their tires. This confused me. We reached a part of the road that started curving like a snake and around the third curve To My surprise BAM!!! SNOW!! AND LOTS OF IT!!!!

We were still a few miles from government camp one of the 1st Ski resorts you pass before timberline.

Brian and i decided to pull over since the car didn't have chains for the tires.

We found this cute lil lot with a hiking trail.

Time to Play in the snow for a little. We attempted to wander up this trail which was a total FAIL

The trail was a sheet of ice, But so beautiful.

The snow gave us an excuse to wear out sweet Snowboarding jackets we got last year for Christmas.

They say if you want something bad enough MAKE IT HAPPEN!!

And that we did.

It was pretty cool to enjoy a little bit of a white Christmas.

And it was even nicer to enjoy it with my husband.

We spent a good 30 minutes playing in the snow while getting pelted with snow flakes the size of the ones Adrienne made us for our Christmas tree,

Well due to the blizzard the Sheriff wouldn't let us up the mountain without chains so there was only one thing to do turn around and go back to Portland.

Thank god my little matrix is a champ and she can handle just about anything.

This was what it looked like on the way back down doing 30 MPH to be safe.

Once back in Portland we hooked up with mom on SKYPE while she was at Uncle Toms and said our hellos and merry christmas' it was nice to see everyone.

We also Skyped Dad and Fran who were at Frans moms.

After that we headed over to see Danielle, Shawn, and Zay over at Adams house for dinner.

They had prepared us Steak, Mac n Cheese, Meatballs, Brussel Sprouts, and other yummy treats.

We all ate dinner and Watched a lil bit of a foot ball game.

It was a nice relaxing Evening with Friends.

Below pictured is Shawn , Danielle on the computer , and Zay.

Santa Even took care of Tiffany's Cats Since she was out of Town.

I'm not sure if i mentioned but I had also been Cat sitting for a week.

Santa brought the 3 Cats some cute little mice that i couldn't help but Photograph.

These 3 were a handful but super fun and way too cute.

I had to go by twice a day and feed the kids.

They were so confused of where their mommy went n why i was left in her place.

I guess the mice Santa brought were a enough cause the cats felt a need to go Zombie hunting

I discovered these lil guys scattered through out the place not where they belonged.

Some where even missing Hands. Why did Tiffany fail to tell me her cats were Zombie Hunters.

This is the I swear i didn't do anything wrong look.

Upon Hanging out for a lil keeping the cats company I heard some noise in the bathroom and got up to see what was going on and discovered her cat Kubrick showing me his Ninja skills.

I guess he figured out how to get into the bathroom cabinet and decided to start knocking things out of it.

So not only are they zombie hunters but they are now NINJA ZOMBIE HUNTERS.

At least i know I'm safe. LOL.

I must say these 3 are beyond adorable and i enjoyed their kitty snuggles and all the loving they shared with me during my time cat sitting.

While she was gone i even got to do my Laundry in her new Spaceship like Washer and dry.

I was even graced with her neighbor Pirate Bobs company. Boy is he a character.

I learned how to get Crafty in the Kitchen on a dollar store budget.

Below is Ramen Noodles with the water drained from them.

a handful of frozen veggies from the dollar store

a little peanut sauce and hot sauce

and WHAM! dinner with nutrition

Due to most of the bills being paid and us being broke i have been spending way too much time draining my Phone battery playing Words With Friends.

Look how smart we are.

Spelling such big words.

and Ive been Taking lots of Baths using the amazing bath bombs mom got me from Lush Cosmetics

That store is amazing. A little pricey but so worth it and all organic.

Below is a picture of my bath bomb dissolving into the bath water. that bath bomb had sea salt and seaweed in it.

We did however leave the house for a few to stop by Devils Point to help Adam celebrate his 33rd Birthday.

If i may say it looks like he had a great time.

The next night i decided i was going to stay home and get crafty with the Fun Paper pin hole camera kit Brian got me for Christmas.

I love making pinhole cameras and this was a challenge and so much fun.

The box says it takes one to two hours to build which i say is BULL SHIT.

I think it took me 6 hours total from start to Finnish.

Open the box and this is what i had to build the camera,

I realized i needed something to hold the pieces together other than my hands to make it go quicker.

So CHIP CLIPS to the rescue.

Some of the pieces like the dials were so tiny

But when all was said and done This was the final product that i built out of paper.

and yes i can use real 35mm film in it.

This is what the back of my new little toy looks like.

So much fun. I cant wait to try it out. Now to find my film.

Tiffany is finally back and she even brought me back a bag of my favorite Blue Chips that Jet blue gives you for free on your flights. Man do i miss traveling by plane. Jet blue was always my favorite.  

Tiffany's Job is amazing and gives her Free tickets to interesting events.

First Calavia Now a Hockey Game.

She called and asked if i wanted to go to a hockey game and my response was Ive never been to one.

So why the heck not.

I guess it was Portland vs Canada

I must say it was alot of fun and now i can say Ive been to a hockey game.

But then again anything i do with Tiffany is always fun.

It was pretty cool every time Portland scored They played ACDC's TNT

which is so our song cause we are TNT Dynamite Adventures.

To our surprise PORTLAND even WON which was pretty exciting

After the game we wandered around taking fun pictures.

Who in their right mind thought the ladies room sign should be marry Poppins like minus the umbrella.

Cause you know when i have to pee i put my hand up and use my umbrella to fly away to the bathroom.

and other times i raise my hand to tell everyone i have to pee just like in school. WTF.

PS Tiffany be careful holding onto her hand you may get whisped away to the toilet.

Ok so not only do they have flying ladies on their signs at the Rose Garden stadium but spread eagle babies on their signs too. OK so confused but needed pics to prove i saw this.

I guess they are keeping Portland WEIRD.

We considered getting a bit to eat then noticed the prices. EEEKKK .

Off to O'Briens or Wimpys it is for us where the prices don't hurt so bad and you get more than a bag of popcorn for $10

I must say 2011 was quite a year. But I'm not going to be sad to see it go.

I know great things are ahead of us in 2012.

The struggles of 2011 have taught us alot and have made us stronger.

We sadly lost great friends but gained amazing angels.

we took a leap of faith which brought us to where we are now.

Brian has stepped up to the plate and has been an amazing man/husband with doing his best to provide for his family. Its crazy to think he only has one more month left at the temp agency before Dave's killer bread offers him a small raise and a permante position with their company.

I knocked a few more states off my list and i turned the big 30. So much more has happened but it I'm sure you have better things to do then read another 30 minutes of me rambling.

The saying below is so true.

Its time to move forward to 2012 and discover what the future has in store for us.

I know we have been struggling but let me tell you i believe that

I'm still unsure of what we are doing to ring in the new year but I'm sure that Brian will be my side.

I hope that 2012 has a some good steady employment awaiting me.

As well as many more amazing things.

Thank you for following and reading my Rambles and Checking out my pictures.

This may be the last blog of 2011 but it will not be my last Blog Post.

Here is to wishing you and your Family all a

HAPPY SAFE NEW YEAR

wishing you all nothing but happiness, Wealth, and other great things in 2012.

See you all next year.