Our Weekend...

The JDRF Gala on Saturday night was as good as expected. The only hiccup was me looking up the completely wrong address....what a detour....and so we were fashionably late, arriving just when the doors opened for dinner. We had a blast! The food was delicious, everyone, including us, looked fabulous. The live auction was very entertaining. One of the auctioned items was a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona for golfing. funny.

Today I went horse back riding. It was fun. I'm going to go again. Greg is cooking me my birthday dinner right now. It smells incredible! French pot roast with smashed potatoes. Mmmmm. Here are pictures of the weekend to sum it all up. I'm tired now...

This Beautiful World

Well Hello! I can't believe my last post was last month, and this month only has a week left in it! Where does the time go anyway? I can tell you this month has been busy. Greg had a birthday. He is now 27. And I turn 26 on Monday. For our birthday's, Greg found us some cool cruiser bikes on Craigslist. We've been bike riding fools ever since. But that is for another post.

Now, I want to share a few photos. Greg's been organizing them and putting them into folders. He said we have like, over 33,000 photos. Ridiculous I know. And I'm sure you're wondering why I don't share. It really is as basic as this....once I get home from work, I DON'T want to be on the computer. I sit on a computer all day long and when I get home I like to give my eyes a rest, and not feel like I'm working. Anyway, so that leaves all of those photos just sitting there. Someday....I'll have the time to organize, edit, and throw all those gorgeous, funny, and documenting photos into a book. Just glancing through them, I pulled out a few that we've taken around here in Oregon. I just love this state for it's beauty.

Below: The first photo is from the nature and wild life reserve, Ankenny; the second is from our walks down by the river; the third is from a December mountain drive; and the fourth is pretty flowers from the farmer's market last April.

Whenever I look through all of my nature pictures, I am reminded of God's love for us. Because no matter what is going on in life, there is always beauty to look upon. And here's wishing you a beautiful day in this beautiful world!

Tonight- we are off to the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Gala, where we will be all fancy pants and pretty, and eat, drink, dance and have a splendid time! I will have to post some photos of us all decked out to the nines!

Because it just sounds so good..

Have I told you that we acquired a turn table this year? Or have I professed my love for vinyl? No? Well, here it is- I love records! Why? Because they sound so good. If you listened to a song on your turntable, and then played the same song on your computer- I bet you hands down that you would prefer the sound of the record. It sounds so much richer- you can really pick up on all the instruments. We've amassed quite the record collection too. Today, I picked up three more. Eurythmics, ZZ Top, and WAR. At only $1 each and in such good condition- how could I say no? I'm loving the WAR album- it seriously jams!

Above is our turntable spinning Kings of Leon. That's right, current (and selective) groups still record on LP's. I love that they chose red vinyl- this record is one of my favorites! What else do we have in our collection? That, my friends, is to be shared with you on another day.

Cloudy Spring Sunday

This is the kind of day we are having. Happy Spring!

Snacks Anyone?

You know how sometimes between meals, or when you get home from work, and you feel a little hungry, but all you have in your cupboards is stuff you have to cook? All you need is maybe some nuts, dried apricots, crackers, or M&M's. Behold the snack jars. We kind of stole this idea from Kaitlin and Justin, they had lots of these cool Ball jars from her mom that they started filling up with items from the bulk section. I can't tell you how much money it saves us!

We found all of our jars at thrift stores around the area. Each one cost less than $2. You can also find them at antique stores, but be ready to pay around $15 per jar there. Antique stores are just all around more expensive because people go out and find all the cool stuff at the thrift stores, mark it double or triple (or sometimes more), and put all the cool stuff together in one easy to find location - antique stores. We happen to enjoy the hunt- and the bargains of the thrift stores. I'll have to do more posts about the stuff we find. We sure are enjoying our snacks!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! And what a beautiful day it is! It's 65 degrees and sunny here in Corvallis, and with flowers and buds popping up everywhere- it couldn't be more gorgeous! I really wish I could just walk out of work right now....but then they might not let me come back, so I'll just stare out the window and dream. My co-worker, Melissa, forwarded me some random thoughts. I don't know where they came from, but I thought I'd share. There are so many that made me laugh and that I directly relate to (pay attention to # 2, 7, 10, 11, and 14). Here they are:
Random Thoughts for the Day:

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do I respond to that?

19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well..

20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Tequila than with Kay.

I have some things to share- updates on our lives and such. Stay tuned for that. HAVE A HAPPY WEEKEND!

A follow up to my rant last week...

So, after talking to my mom and sister, I now know all the reasons behind the crappy voting on American Idol. As my sister so lovingly commented/questioned- did I vote? NO! I didn't. Honestly, I don't even have cable. I only get to watch the show a couple of days later after all the damage has been done. But really, what adult has time to watch it on the night and vote? Not any that I know of. Including my sister. And so, the voting is left to those like my little bro Chad - who vote for girls that can't sing just because they are cute, and who aren't into Indie Rockers who actually have talent. To be fair to him, he does have pretty good taste in music most of the time- only he is more into pop than rock. My sister challenged me to complete the season, and so Jeni, I will. But you and I will have to talk about it since my boss just informed me that she won't be watching anymore because she was so dissapointed with the top 12. Hopefully, as my sister informed me it would, it will just keep getting better. Did anyone watch last night? Was it any better??? I'll find out soon enough......