Holiday fun!

In honor of the holiday season that is upon us, we decided to throw a "Ugly Holiday Sweater Pizza Party"! It was a blast! Most everyone had success in finding an ugly sweater - Diana even found matching ones for the two of us! There was plenty of pizza and lots of people! After all the eating and visiting, we piled into the living room and watched Bourne Ultimatum!



Mike and Matt (I think Mike won for 'Ugliest Sweater'!)
Me, Diana, Christina and Ariel
Me and Jon (yes, I'm totally cheezing it!!)
Most of the girls

...it's beginning to look alot like Christmas!!

Wow! It's been over a month since I have posted anything! November was a busy month! And now it's Christmas time and I can't wait to spend my first Christmas in Portland! My roommate and I went out and bought a real Christmas Tree - it's only 3 1/2 feet tall, so we just stuck it in the trunk of my car and brought it home to decorate with a variety of random ornaments that both Hilary and I have collected over the years. And the best part - my family is coming up to Portland for Christmas!!! This year, it's going to be a 'wet' Christmas instead of the normal 'white' Christmas!

Is it already November?! Where has this year gone! After being away from Utah for almost six months, I decided to take a little vacation to go home and see family and friends! I landed on Thursday night, my parents picked me up and we went to dinner at Wingers – one of my favorites! Friday I headed up to Logan, where I met up with Emma! We went up to campus and walked around a little and met up with my little brother – Dave. Friday night Emma, Scott, Matt and I went to dinner and a movie. Saturday I stopped by the Cache Valley Mall to visit friends who I use to work with! Lunch with Dave, then headed down to Salt Lake City with Matt to go to Thriller! We met up with his brother and sister-in-law and went to dinner at this cute little restaurant called “Em’s” before heading off to the show!

Sunday, I went to church, and just hung out at home! My mom made manicotti for dinner – which is one of my favorite meals! She even bought me my favorite kind of ice creme - Ben and Jerry's Half Baked! Monday, I went out to breakfast with my mom and her friend, then shopping! We mainly went to scrapbook stores because there are not any good scrapbook stores in Portland, but I also got a new sweater and some new shoes! Later that night, I met up with some friends from Utah State who live in Salt Lake, and we went rollerskating – and it was a blast! The top picture is me and Ben, and then me and Adam. Tuesday I spent at home packing, and just hanging out with my parents before heading to the airport. I met up with my friend, Kevin, who works near the airport, and we went out to dinner before I headed off to the airport and back to Portland! It was a great trip and a nice break from the stresses of work and life here in Portland, although I’m glad to be back!

I'm not a huge fan of the Halloween holiday..... but carving pumpkins is only a once-a-year thing, so it's kinna a must! Besides, it will be a cute scrapbook page! And even though I didn't 'gut' my own pumpkin, it was lots of fun! Diana wanted to roast the seeds, but we didn't really know how, so we experimented and just added cinnamon and butter..... and they turned out pretty good!! Saturday is the multi-ward YSA Halloween party - it should be fun, but I still have to figure out what to dress up as! In the pictures - Me and Cameron with our pumpkin; Diana and the seeds; Rob, Me and Diana with some of the pumpkins; and some of the finished pumpkins!

All Growed Up....

Well, I guess it was bound to happen sometime, I think I'm starting to grow up! I have been living in Portland for 4 1/2 months now, and I'm still loving it here! The rainy season has started, and so far, it's not too bad. We'll see how I'm doing in January when I'll be missing the Utah snow.

It's weird to think that I'll probably never go to school again, instead, I go to work everyday. I am now an official employee at Promopeddler.com - with a salary, full benefits, and best of all, I get 2 weeks of paid vacation!! It's a pretty good job, and for the most part I like working here. I'm planning on staying for at least a year, then possibly moving on to bigger and better things - like a job and a studio apartment in downtown!

I finally bought myself bedroom furniture! After 3 months on a blow-up mattress, it was about time! I got a queen size bed, a new mattress (that's not full of air!), all new queen sized bedding, a dresser, a desk (with red legs!), and 2 chairs for our patio! I feel very grown up spending my hard earned money on things like furniture and rent, and not new clothing or shoes! (not to say that doesn't still happen ;)









Life is good! :)

I've been tagged!!

What I was doing ten years ago:
I had just started 7th Grade at Mountain Ridge Junior High. I'm pretty sure I had a perm and big 'ol sausage bangs! Oh, and I met Emma :)

Five years ago:
Just started my Senior year at Lone Peak High School, my best friend was Emma, and we were starting the LP Scrapbook Club!

One Year Ago:
Finishing my last semester at Utah State, trying to decide what to do with my life!

Yesterday:
Woke up to a rainy Sunday in Portland! Went to church, took a nap.... just the usual Sunday stuff

5 snacks I enjoy:
Wheat Thins, fruit snacks, OJ, peanuts, apples

5 things we would do if we had $100 Million:
Quit my job! And then go on vacations to Antarctica, Tokyo, Greece and Egypt. By then, I'm sure my money would be long gone! If not, I would save the rest of it

5 places I would love to run away to:
I love it here in Portland, but I would love to go on a trip anywhere really! Top of the list: see answer to above question. And, I would love to go back to Thailand

5 TV shows I like:
I don't ever watch TV, but I like The OC, Friends, and Fresh Prince of Bel Air!

5 things I hate doing:
Doing roommate dishes, sitting in traffic, dealing with annoying co-workers, making my bed

5 biggest joys of the moment:
the Gospel, my family, my friends (new and old), and living in Portland!

I now have to tag five (or so) people:
um..........

Weekend Visitor!!!

This past weekend, my best friend Emma came to visit me! Emma got married in May, a week before I moved to Portland, and I haven't seen her since!









She flew in on Thursday night, and we played until she left Sunday morning! After picking her up from the airport, we went out to dinner, then back to my place and stayed up late chatting and looking at pictures. Friday morning we slept in, which was super nice for a change! After breakfast at Starbucks, we drove by my work, then went to the temple. It was a beautiful day, and we had fun walking around the temple grounds - especially watching the people on the steeples who were painting (notice the little guy sitting up there in the picture!). We spent the afternoon at the mall, then back to my house for a pizza party. Emma probably felt a little out of place with all the my 'single' friends, but she was a good sport about it!

Saturday morning, we rode the max into downtown Portland to go to the Saturday Market! It was quite exciting - it reminded me of the markets my mom and I went to in Thailand, only more expensive! Emma and I had fun trying on Red Hats at one of the stalls, and Emma got an elephant ear - a giant scone covered with cinnamon sugar. It was huge, so we ended up sharing it! We walked around downtown for a little, did some window shopping at Tiffany & Co, and then headed back to my place for a nap! Dinner at Costa Vida, then watched a few more episodes of The OC, season 4 - which Emma brought up for me to finish watching while I scrapbook!

Sunday morning, before taking Emma to the airport, we enjoyed a delicious brunch with her Aunt and Uncle who live about 15 minutes from my house. It was a short visit, but we had tons of fun! Now I just have to work on getting her and her hubby to move up here so we can play all the time!

Labor Day Weekend

Three-day weekends are great!! I wish they were all 3 days long! I hung out with Bri pretty much the whole time - we went to bbq's, had sleepovers, and got her moved into her new place - which is much closer to me! Saturday, was filled with errands all day, a short nap, and a date in the evening. Sunday, after church, we had a Break The Fast, then back to my place and just hung out with some friends. Monday, we got to sleep in, which was nice! We walked down the street to Starbucks - I love their iced mint chocolate milk! So yummy! Went over to Bri's new place and did a little unpacking, then spent the afternoon in my 'project' room - I scrapboked while Bri painted! It was so nice to finally scrapbook, since I haven't in forever! Monday night we went to a BBQ and bonfire! It was lots of fun and a great way to end the long weekend! Below is a picture of Bri and I at the BBQ/Bonfire

Go Timbers!!!

I didn't realize that I was a soccer fan, but we have gone to a few of the Portland Timber's games and they are so much fun! This was the third game that I have been to, but the first time there was a goal scored..... and it was really exciting! The crowd went crazy and the entire team dog-piled the guy that made goal! The final score was 1-0, but the win qualified us for the play-offs!! At the last game, we (Bri, Mario, Nic and I) all bought 'Portland Timbers' shirts, so now we look like true fans! Too bad that there are no more home games this year! Atleast I'll have some time before next year to learn a little more about soccer!

Me and Bri (top); The gang - Mario, Bri, Nic, Brian, Matt and Rich (top right); Me, Mario, Nic and Bri
(bottom right)

Ward Campout!!!

August 9-11 was our Ward Campout and it was so much fun! I haven't been camping in years, so it was nice to finally be able to go again! It was just so nice to relax and hang out with friends and just chill for a few days - and it was especially nice to not have a cell phone for a few days! We had good weather, and even though it wasn't hot enough to lay out and work on our tans, it was still perfect weather. Friday, I don't think I knew what time it was all day long!! We went camping along the Clackmas River, which was about a 40 minute drive east-ish. We had campfires both nights, played by the river, played baseball and volleyball and frisbee, ate way too much, and my favorite part was laying in the middle of a field and watching the stars! We saw tons and tons of shooting starts - it was amazing! It was a great little get away and it was nice to finally have some time to start reading Harry Potter #7!!

The pictures... (left to right, top to bottom)
- Bri, Mario and I playing at the river
- The girls!! Me, Bri, Sheri and Diana
- Mario and I at the campfire waiting for our tin foil dinners to cook
- Mario and Nic playing guitars - they are amazing!
- Me and Bri!! (Saturday)
- Me and Bri again - on Thursday
- Friday morning at the Polar Bear swim - Bri, Sheri and Skyler were the only ones brave enough to go in - too cold for me! :)
- Laying in the field looking at stars - Mario, Daniel and Bri

Pizza and the Beach!!

This past weekend (August 3-5) was tons of fun! I started off the weekend with a pizza every few weeks, and it was my turn to be the host! We made 5 party at my house! There is a group of us that have pizza parties different kinds of pizza, and a dessert pizza! After pizza, we played games and watched Dumb and Dumber!! It was toms of fun - each time we have a pizza party, the group gets bigger and bigger, so that's exciting! Also, as you can tell by the pictures, I'm a brunette again! Everyone was quite shocked to see me with dark hair! I forgot that I moved here as a blonde, so no one has seen my with dark hair! The first picture is part of the Pizza Gang - Shari, Me, Evelyn, John, Diana and Mario; Me, Mario and some dough; Me and Bri

Saturday, we took a trip to the coast! It's about an hour and a half drive to Portland, and you can't say 'the beach' here.... it's 'the coast'!! The water is freezing cold, so we only got our feet wet, although right before we left, Bri and Clayton jumped in with all their clothes on! Crazy! It was way too cold for me!! There was 8 of us who went: Me, Bri, Mario, Nic, Clayton, Billy, Darcy and Mike! Clayton was a friend of Bri's who was in town for the weekend, and Billy is a friend of mine from work! We had a great time, even though it wasn't the sunniest of days! In the pictures ..... Mario, Nic and I running to the water; Me (in the green sweater); Bri, Clayton and Billy by the water.

Taking Back Sunday!!!!

Thursday, July 26th was the Taking Back Sunday concert! It was awesome! The only way you could get tickets to the concert was by volunteering, so there were only about 250 people there, which means we were really close to the band! Bri and I were going to try and dress up 'punk' style for the occasion, but realized that we didn't have any clothing with skulls on it, no pink or orange hair color, and the fact that we had showered in the past week meant that there was no way we could pass as 'punk'!! Overall, it was an excellent concert - there was only a few songs that I didn't know. The lead singer was very entertaining and was always swinging the microphone around and stuff. Bri and I were trying to decide how often he hit his band mates! As they were leaving the stage, I shook hands with the main guitarist (the one in red)! I've never touched a famous person before! So it was pretty exciting! Overall.... great night!!

Weekend Fun

Bri and I had a pretty fun weekend! Friday night, we started it off by feeding the Sister Missionaries. They are fun and the 4 of us had a good dinner! After taking met up with Alex and his brother Chris. Alex is in our ward here, and his brother was visiting before moving to DC to start school. We went downtown to VooDoo Doughnut's.... a famous Portland stop, open 24 hours a day! They have everything you can think of! You can get bacon donuts, ones with cereal on them.... whatever you want! I got one with oreo crumbs on it and chocolate and a peanut butter on it! So yummy! After our doughnuts, we rode around on a 'Pedi-Cab' - it was a guy on a bike with 2 rows of seats - it was way fun and a nice way to see Portland at night! We saw everyone who was out clubbing or at bars, and tons of people everywhere waiting for their copy of Harry Potter! There was a light mist all night, which just added to our 'Portland experience' for the night! :)

Saturday, we didn't get to sleep in much cause we went to a pancake breakfast hosted by the Stake in honor of Pioneer Day. After breakfast, we did a little shopping, then went to see Hairspray! It was excellent! The lead girl was amazing - the rest of the cast did an excellent job too! Saturday night, I got invited again to go out to dinner with the Sister Missionaries! Twice in one weekend! There was a group of 6 of us total, and we went to Sweet Tomato! Back to my place and watched some movies and just hung out (minus the Sister's :) )!

Sunday was Church, then we went to a Pioneer Broadcast fireside, which ended up being just a concert by the MoTab, but still very good! They sang a fairly random assortment of songs - my favorite number of the night was 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'.

Good weekend! Now it's back to another week of working!

Pictures: Me and Bri inside VooDoo Doughnuts (top left), Bri and Alex enjoying! (top right), Alex, me and Chris waiting in line for donuts (bottom left), Bri and Alex on our 'bike ride' (bottom right)