christmas cheer.

in case you cant read it...it says "husband and dog missing...reward for dog" thank you grandma pat!

our tree kept trying to steal the presents...

thank you for all the gifts, pictures and cards! we hope you all had a great christmas!

pop culture!

 on a very very rainy afternoon mike and i ventured over to vancouver washington for a date. we had heard about soda shops in the portland area that sold specialty flavors...we just had to check it out for ourselves! we arrived at pop culture and were amazing by all the different and exciting soda flavors they had (BANANA!).

i ended up with a mango lemonade...with real lemon bits in it! mike had black cherry cream soda that was sooo smooth and yummy.

if you ever get the chance and are in the vancouver area, take the time to go up the pop culture and have a soda. it was definatly worth the trip!

pop culture.

its the best time of the year!

have a holly jolly christmas...

from mike,

ellen

and the animals.

give thanks.

the target two-day ad. a must read :)



larissa, my master pastry chef sister, and me!



this is larissa's boyfriend, scott. if he really wanted to, he could crush that kitty with one hand. dont worry, he's a lover not a crusher :)



would any gathering with any family be complete without a funny face picture? no. it would not.

this thanksgiving was such a treat. with me working at gap and prepping for the busiest day of the year and mike actually working on thanksgiving we thought we would have to be on our own for the holiday. lucky us, there was a very mueller thanksgiving happening just 100 miles away in springfield :) we drove down when mike got off work and drove back up a few hours later...but it was soooo worth the drive. Here are a few of my favorite things from Thanksgiving this year.

• larissa's pies and her bread that was supposed to be some rolls. she is currently enrolled in a culinary program on the oregon coast and she is an amazing baker. oh my goodness.  
• all the hugs. i stinking love how many hugs this family gives. it really makes me feel like i fit right in!
• gary and chubbs. they are cats. i don't like cats. but i might change my mind after these two!
• catchphrase. boy that game gets loud!
• when larissa and i found winston. he ran away for the first time EVER. but we found him. it was a happy occasion.
• realizing how much chelsie and i have in common. i think that she and i have the same heart. cant wait to see her really grow up over the next few years!
• the fact that we were with family. the time went by so fast but i'm so thankful that we were able the make that drive.
• confirming that just because your a brunette doesn't mean your not blonde. even more than me. but i'm sure nicole will grown into her common sense soon :)
• did i already mention the pie?
• seeing how happy erik + beth were to have all the kids under the same roof for the holiday for the first time in YEARS.

i hope you were all stuffed with good food and good company. we love everyone and wish we could have been to all our family thanksgivings. maybe next year :)

thankful for...

this week, i am very thankful for pippin. i can always count on him to keep my lap warm, eat my leftovers, give me kisses, steal my covers and pose perfectly for heart warming pictures like this one.

"animals are such agreeable friends. they ask no quetions, they pass no criticisms."

halloween with the robinsons!

our amazing friends megan + kent robinson joined us in portland from spokane on halloween weekend. and what do friends do for halloween? went out for mexican food then carved pumkpins! can you guess which one is mine? :)
[silly, silly boys.]
[ewwww look at that goop! at least we used the goop for something good...baked pumkin seeds!]

[ the finished products and the awesome artists behind them.]

best eyebrows: megan's

best eyes: kent's

best gunshot wound to the head: mike's

we had so much fun...this might just have to become a halloween tradition!

together again.

it wasn't even three days after moving that we made our way over to cannon beach. the beach in october has always meant drizzling rain and hot cocoa...i'm not sure what was going on but it was 70 degrees, breezy and clear. amazing fall day on the coast.

pippin and winston love, and i mean L-O-V-E, the beach! pippin fetched tennis balls from the water and winston chased the waves.

we are super happy that we are just an hour or so away from one of the most amazing places we've ever been. and i'm super excited that, after 6 weeks, mike was there to share it with me!

two challenging, rewarding, stressful and incredibly happy years.

i never thought that i would be self-less enough to share my life, my dreams & my ambitions with someone else. i am very glad that i have because mike has not only supported me, but he has pushed me to do those things when i become discouraged. even when things come up or emotions arise that he doesn't quite understand, he still stands by with whatever it is i may need.

when mike and i got married, we were both so young, immature & thought we could just live on love and nothing else...we had no idea what what it was going to take to make our marriage strong and to survive in the real world. the last two years we have really started to understand just what needs to happen to make it in this crazy world. we still have a ways to go, but i take comfort knowing that we will be learning it together.

thank you for growing up with me, mike :)

i love you and cannot wait to see what else will come our way!

finally.

"here...all the troubles and pains of this world exist only in thought, as a cruel nightmare never to come true."

[cannon beach is a place where i find peace. i always have. but last year when i shared this town with mike, it became our place. as much as i love this beach, it was not fully complete without him.]

[i sat on my blanket sprawled across the sand and read for hours. it was truly beautiful.]

[since my first visit to the oregon coast, i knew i would end up here someday. there has always been a pull, a connection, a need bringing me back. i don't think i will ever be able to put into words how i feel about cannon beach, no matter how hard i try. this place is a home to me. always calling me back and welcoming me with open arms.]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[black and white pictures are my favorite. but this day was so amazing and the sky was so blue...i had to share the colors!]

best wishes.

in eleven days i will start my new job in hillsboro. but when i think about work, only one thing comes to mind. i will miss this store so much. i can't even begin to describe how much my co-workers have affected me in some of the most positive ways.

in the same week, the gap in old mill is losing myself and two other (amazing) girls. yesterday we were graced with the presence of a wonderfully tasty raspberry vanilla cake and haggen daaz ice cream, as a thank from our team.

i just had to get a picture of me cutting the cake. had to.

the employees (and customers!) at this store have made the last year absolutely fabulous. i know that my next store will be great as well, but i don't think anything can compare to store #2822 in good old bend, oregon!

Sunday afternoon picnic.

it's amazing that only 4.5 miles from our house, you can find this. it's basically our backyard. now, i'm not one who enjoys the outdoors,but the deschutes river is just plain beautiful. it was a warm one sunday so we packed up a lunch and the dogs and went on a picnic.

[muscle man]

[i just love him]

winston enjoyed the water. he also enjoyed playing around in it and then jumping in my lap. river water is very, very cold by the way.

[he never stopped running]

how can you have a picnic without henry?

90 degrees, a slight breeze, our dogs and pb&j made for an amazing sunday afternoon picnic.

you should try it!

bon anniversaire!

[squishy noses]

all i really wanted for my birthday was to spend time with my family and friends. that's exactly what i did from july 2nd-july 7th. i was even lucky enough to have one of my best friends come back to bend with us and spend a few days here. that's all i really wanted. but of course my wonderful husband had to make sure that i had presents to open, food to eat and an incredibly awesome day.

we started the night with dinner at boston's with some friends. then we got dessert at the local dairy queen. a cherry dipped cone in place of a birthday cake? i'll take it!

[creamy, cold cherry goodness]

we then made our way to sun mountain fun center...which was super fun. and high tech. since when do you put your tickets on a credit-like card with a magnetic strip? mike had fun shooting innocent cartoon animals...

[he was hunting deer in the cartoon version of riggins, id]

...while lyndsay and i tried our feet at dance, dance revolution.

[the quality isn't the greatest, and mike isn't exactly martin scorsese but it was a must to get a video of my first time ever on ddr.]

[old-time wagon = super cute picture]

[fun center fun.]

we had such a blast and i was so ready to relax...but there were still presents to open! mike took a lot of great pictures and i did get a lot of great gifts.

[drumroll please...]

[let's travel back in time, yes?]

thank you to mike and lyndsay for making yet another one of my birthdays unforgettable. and thank you to my family and friends in boise for making my birthday trip absolutely amazing. and thank you again to everyone for the birthday wishes, texts, phone calls and letters. the best brithday present of all is knowing that i have amazing people in my life who care about me! merci.

keeping up.

i would really love for life to slow down just for a few minutes (wouldn't we all?). mike and i have been so busy. i think both of us have officially become workaholics. which isn't a terrible thing, we both absolutely love our jobs. i think we're just super excited for a week long vacation in boise, idaho! woo hoo! we are so lucky my dad is such an amazing and understanding person...we now have no dog sitters and can't afford to board them for 6 days so...PIPPIN & WINSTON ARE COMING TO BOISE, TOO! they both miss gimli and dobby so much...they need their friends! we thank you SO much dad! without your dog-lover attitude we wouldn't be able to make it next month. besides...look at pippin's face. you just can't say no. nothing else has been going on, really. i recently chopped off a good 3 or so inches of my hair and am starting to work my way back blonde...again. as silly as it sounds, i feel like me again. we love you all and hope your days and weeks are spent with the ones you love, enjoying their company. in closing, i would like to share with you all a letter i recently wrote to someone of great importance.

Dear Mother Nature,
Thank you for your beautiful aromatic rain and your gentle humming winds. Your giant fluffy clouds have effectively reduced any dream of me bronzing up for the summer. As much as I enjoy your use of hail, snow and 45 degree weather...just stop it. I mean really? Today is June 3rd, Mama N, and we Central Oregonians have yet to see 80 degrees! We haven't even had a full day of sunshine! Give me a break! My dogs are driving me crazy because they have so much energy from sitting inside all day. I would take them to the park but IT'S ALWAYS RAINING! My poor husband and I have been forced to spend our date nights indoors cuddled under a blanket watching old episodes of Chuck and Bones because its only 40 degrees outside! I want to have a picnic! I want to take a walk through Drake Park with our dogs! I never ever thought that in June I would be wishing for 70 or even 65 degree temperatures. But I am! We have had 16+ days in a row of seriously below average temps. In three days we have already exceeded our average rainfall for the June. Mother Nature I beg you, PLEASE, bring back the sunshine! This has been a very funny joke but it's time to knock it off! Please?

A day at the dog park!

its been a month, i know. but we have been super busy! we don't get as much time together as we would like and it's been so cold recently that being couped up indoors is the only thing to do. but all that changed on thursday evening. luckily i was able to take a night off work so mike and i could spend some time together. and it was a beautiful day outside. so what did we do? packed pippin and winston in the car and went to the dog park! we have so many great dog parks, one of which is located along the deschutes river. theres a nice little area for the dogs to play and swim in. now, our dogs have never liked the water. there was one time in cannon beach that pippin let loose, but that was it. however we recently found out that pippin will jump into the water if you throw his beloved tennis ball out into the river. and he brings it back! winston, on the other hand, still just soaks up the sunlight...away from the water. we had a wonderful time with the boys and got to take a video to share!