A Girls Weekend

As I mentioned before, I flew down to Orange County last month for a girls weekend with my mom and sisters. It was the first time I got to see them since Nick proposed, and we dedicated the weekend to (five!) dress appointments and wedding talk. It was a short yet very sweet weekend, albeit very tiring! I did not expect dress try-ons to be so draining-- by the end of each day I was in a daze! The adventure was well-worth it, though, as I found THE dress. Of course I can't describe it on here, nor can I post any pictures (boo!) but I will say that it is everything that I wanted in a dress.

 

 

 

We bought the dress and accessories that same weekend (thanks mom!! ;) and had them shipped up to my Eugene address. Free shipping and no sales tax (thanks Oregon!) -- Wahoo!!

I received my dress and accessories last week, and got to try everything on while Nick was at work. A few days later I also received my grandmother's wedding dress in the mail. She was married over 60 years ago and made the dress herself. Unfortunately she was teeny-tiny, so I don't fit into it very well-- I can't exactly zip it up! However, I think it would be very neat to incorporate at least a piece of her dress into our wedding somehow. Any thoughts or ideas would be much appreciated! I am thinking maybe around the bouquet? The thought of cutting up the dress makes me shudder a bit because of all the history behind it. For now, it is safe next to my wedding dress until I am absolutely sure of what to do with it.

Catching Up

We've been keeping pretty busy during these last few weeks, if you couldn't tell by our absence of posts ;)

We have lots to catch up on, so I suppose we'll start at the beginning! First up: snow! We woke up to a winter wonderland one day in mid-March. It was a pleasant surprise-- we received at least 4-5 inches overnight, and it kept coming down well into the morning. This was our first real "snow day" in Oregon. It has snowed several times before, but not the the point where we couldn't drive around due to dangerous icy roads.

The snow stuck for a couple days, too, which is also unusual. Normally it sticks for an hour or two and then disappears. Toby loved the snow. I'll put a video of him running around when I get to my computer.

Making Progress

It's been just about a month since Nick put a ring on my finger, and it has been a whirlwind ever since! Granted this whirlwind is a good one. The day after his proposal, Nick whisked me away to Seattle for the weekend. Our hotel was less than a mile away from all of the sights, and despite the freezing winds, we were able to hit everything on the list!

The week after that was the last week that I worked at Insidetrack. Those five days were filled with lots of emotion; while I was excited to be starting a new chapter with Nick, it was so difficult to say goodbye to my beloved students and coworkers. I have formed some strong bonds with some of my students and workmates, and I miss them dearly. Luckily Portland is just a 2 hour road trip away.
The following weekend was spent packing up everything in the Portland condo and fitting it into the truck. Luckily, everything fit perfectly--and we had no casualties in the process.
Over the last couple weeks, we have organized, cleaned, and rearranged the new place to make it our own. I know I speak for both of us when I say that our place is SO great. We have doubled our square footage (if you count our one-car garage), which means that we can spread out our big stuff--no more
wall-to-wall furniture!

I'm starting to plan out our backyard, too. It has been very rainy over the last couple weeks (with frost, snow and hail, too), so there's not a whole lot I can do just yet. I'm hoping to grow some herbs and veggies at the least. Toby LOVES the size of "his" yard. His favorite spot in the house is in front of our slider door that goes out back. He sits there and quietly growls at any cats that dare enter his territory.

Unfortunately the grass does not cover the whole yard, and the heavy rains have created lots of mud puddles for Toby to blast through. Thus, he gets a good wipe-down with a towel every single time he comes back inside. One more reason we can't wait for the sun to come out!
Tonight I am flying down to Orange County for a girls' weekend. Kim is down from Boulder and she, Courtney, my mom and I will be spending the weekend hunting for the perfect wedding dress! I think they are just as excited as I am (if not more ;) to get started with all the planning. My mom has booked five bridal shop appointments for the next couple days--we're gonna be busy!

The Last Several Weeks

73rd Floor Overlooking Seattle

This blog entry is long-overdue! So much has happened in the last month, but I'll try to cover it all.

First and foremost, we're engaged! A couple of days ago, I showed up at Katie's work and surprised her with a ring and a question. She was shocked (in a good way)! I couldn't have asked for it to play out better. Several of her coworkers were in on it, including her boss, which made for a great, memorable moment. After that, we spent some time in Seattle to celebrate.

The Proposal

Space Needle

Some Brewery Near Pike's Place Market

When Katie's ring arrived, I thought back to all of the trying events over the last six months that brought us to this point. Living apart was by far the most difficult. Weekly commutes and living alone tested our patience, independence, and our bank accounts. Second to that was being strung along by my first sale that just wouldn't close. The commission from this deal was earmarked from day one as ring money, which, in my mind, made it the most important sale of my career. What should've taken 45 days and about 10 hours' worth of time ended up taking 5 months. After incessant, full-time babysitting of incompetent lenders and appraisers, the deal finally closed.

The last six months have been an exercise in faith as we each made decisions and sacrifices that put us in vulnerable positions with the only consolation being in each others' ability to make everything work. Now that we've each passed the tests life has thrown at us, we're ready to make our home together again.

"In the end, the Universe tends to unfold exactly as it should." -Anonymous

We rented a duplex in the Santa Clara neighborhood of Eugene (Northwest) and will soon be moving the rest of our stuff into it in less than two weeks. It's 1400 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a yard, and a garage. It fits our criteria to a "T" (and then some), and costs less per month than our <500 square foot single-bedroom in San Anselmo! Oh! I just realized we haven't covered our winter vacation yet. Toward the end of December, Katie and I flew down to Concord for a few nights to visit my parents. There, we had our traditional White Elephant gift exchange and spent some time with my family. We also got to meet my parents' new dog, Lucy:



Later, we reconnected with our friends Todd and Caitlin and saw their new place. Todd bought his home earlier last year in Martinez, so we spent some time there and also did some outdoor recreation (hiking in the Martinez foothills). Shortly thereafter, Katie and I headed down to Southern California for a week with her family. It's great to go down to Garden Grove on Christmas break--the weather is always warm, and there's no agenda other than seeing family and having fun. We had our traditional late-December walk on the beach, got fish-n-chips on the pier, and did some local shopping. As an Oregonian, it is great to feel the sun in the winter!

We also spent some time at our friends Steven and Jodi's new house. They purchased a home last year as well, so we went over for a couple of days. We took a trip to Stone Brewery in Escondido and went on their free tour. Stone beers are incredibly hoppy, but no wise man ever complained about free beer!

At the Stone Brewery Tour - Serious Beer Afficionados

It was a lot of fun to see her group of college friends and to spend a couple of days with them. We did some hiking, played poker on New Year's Eve, and drank probably 2 gallons of Good Earth Tea together at their kitchen table.

New Years Eve

In just a couple of weeks, Katie will be making Eugene her home with me. I'm so excited for this next chapter and for being reunited under one roof. It is tough living out of boxes for six months, but it was worth the wait.

We're Ba-ack!

Well this post is obviously long over-due. With the extended holiday break and then a mad rush getting things back in order, we've been a bit busy.
Last weekend I drove down to Eugene to be with Nick and Toby. Nick hosted an open house for a new four-plex on Saturday and we spent the rest of the weekend running errands, doing a puzzle, and looking at guns (yes, Nick is trying to talk me into getting a 20 gauge. Didn't see that one coming, huh? ;)
This weekend started off with a fun-filled game night with three of my coworkers and their significant others. All of the girls work together and it was fun to meet each other's partners--and so great to find out how much we each have in common. Fun fact: all of us have lived up here in Oregon for less than a year and a half! How strange is that? One couple moved from Minnesota, another from Florida, and the third couple is from San Diego. We bonded over beer, wine, a group game called "Things" and a little backyard fire.
We haven't quite figured out what we are going to do for the rest of the weekend. Nick and I have a 3-day weekend because of MLK jr. Day. There's a possibility of snow in the next couple days, so I'm thinking it's going to be a cozy weekend spent indoors. I just received my "Joy of Cooking" cookbook in the mail that I ordered with some Christmas money. It has 4500 recipes! I don't think I'll ever need another cookbook. I'm eying the Chicken Cordon Bleu, while Nick (a very predictable fellow) is drooling over the pesto and Chinese Cuisine recipes!Perhaps we (I?) will do some cooking and baking today. Also, I am thinking lots of tea is in order.

Stay tuned for a recap of our winter vacation in California!

End of the Year!

It has been a long time since I've blogged, but I assure you it has been because I have been so busy! Well, now that we are approaching the holiday season, real estate has slowed to a crawling pace and I have some free time! A welcome change-of-pace and a nice way to conclude a crazy year.

Originally I was going to write a month-by-month summary of what we've done, but pictures and collages are so much more fun!




And, of course, a video of Katie being an absolute dead-eye 12-gauge handlin' skeet shooter! Good job!



Unfortunately I've had a major delay in closing my first deal. I should've been receiving a nice check tomorrow, but instead we're closing on 1/16/12, assuming there are no other delays. Although this would've been a great Christmas "bonus," these things occasionally happen, and we are fully dedicated to making the most of our winter break.

In two days, we head down to California for some fun in the December sun! I mean that, too. Each year, we go to Dog Beach in Southern California on or around Christmas day and enjoy the nice weather. If we were to try that up here we would nearly freeze as our weather has been hovering around 35° for the past couple of weeks.

We'll start our trip with 3-4 days in Northern California with my family. We'll do a White Elephant gift exchange on the 23rd and a small Christmas on the 24th. On Christmas day we fly out of Oakland to Long Beach for a week with Katie's family! The time frames work out well because her family is solidly in Southern California whereas mine is disbursed throughout Northern California, Eugene, and Portland. We'll be on-the-go down there pretty much every day. Can't wait!

Ok, I'm out of time for now. I'll update later.

What I Do

I have found it somewhat tricky to describe my job in just a few words. Because the idea of academic coaching is still relatively new, it takes some explaining for people to understand what it is that I really do. Below is a link to a little cartoon that my company put out about my role as a Coach.

Click here for a little tidbit about my job!

Sister Visit!

I know I'm a few weeks late on this, but later is better than never, right?
My sisters and my dad flew out to Portland on the 10th of November. We stopped at Rocky Butte on our way home from the airport for a gorgeous, clear-skied night view of the city and then spent the evening hanging out at home.
On Friday we woke up early and started out on our drive to Eugene--with a nice long pit stop at the Woodburn Outlets, of course! We more than got our fill of clearances, sales and specials going on for Veteran's Day weekend--including 40% off everything at the North Face and Bass Shoes.
When we got to Eugene, we went straight to the Super Walmart (which could easily be its own town) and stocked up on Thanksgiving foods for our feast later that night.

Auntie Linda and Uncle Mike graciously allowed us to stay in their home, as they were out of town for Nick's cousin's wedding. We also got to watch little Bessie all weekend long--and she got SO much attention!

Due to my dad's desire to get a giant turkey (for leftovers, needless to say), there was a slight miscalculation in our schedule and we ended up eating pretty late into the evening! Nevertheless it was delicious, as were the sides that we each prepared. To keep us busy while we were waiting for the turkey to cook, we went in the hot tub, listened to Christmas music and played with the pups.
On Saturday morning we all woke up early for some good ol' fashioned shootin'. We drove further into the boondocks of Eugene and into the little town of Crow. After driving down a pot-hole-ridden road for a bit, we arrived at a nice clearing. We shot Nick's two 9mm handguns, as well as his .22 and his grandpa's .380. We each took turns shooting at our own targets, and it was pretty cool to see how accurate we got (or, er, didn't get ;).

On our way out of Eugene we stopped at our favorite coffee shop and enjoyed fresh pastries for breakfast. Then we headed back to Portland and walked around downtown PDX for a bit. It was super cold and rainy-- I think they got a very authentic Portland experience. For dinner we got a growler (how could we not?) and pizza from Signal Pizza--Nick's all-time favorite place in St. John's (ok, maybe it's tied with Plew's Brews).

Sunday, the last day of their trip, we woke up early and drove to Multnomah Falls. There were no crowds because we got there so early, which made for a very pleasant morning. The Fall colors were at their brightest, making the scenery that much more amazing.

It was very hard trying to cram so many sights into a few short days, but I tried my best to show them a little of everything. There are so many places that we did not get to, such as the alphabet district, Hawthorne, and the other side of downtown. I guess they'll just have to come back again soon. :)