JAMIE AND JUSTIN

Long Time No Blog...

2011-09-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

I admit, I'm a horrible blogger. I know I've said this a million times, but I'll try to be better... promise!

Picture updates:

31 weeks

32 weeks

33 weeks

34 weeks

35 weeks

36 weeks

37 weeks

38 weeks

39 weeks

Baby Shower Gift!

Hand Painted Tree - Thank You Dana!

Block Letters & New Bookcase

Crib is ready to go!

Diaper Station

Stocked Closet!

I've made it to my last week and I'm not going to lie, it's been tough lately. My hips and feet are killing me and I'm hardly sleeping at all (still). Luckily I'm able to get a foot rub just about every night these days. I'm due this Sat, Oct 1st, but so far this little man is showing no sign of wanting to enter the world any time soon. I'm seeing my doctor weekly, and for the last two weeks I've been dilated to 1cm. Parker still hasn't "dropped" and my doctor said he was no where near my pelvis last week. *sigh* I didn't think he'd be early, but I'm a bit nervous he'll be super late since my doctor will be out of the office Oct 5th-10th. If nothing has changed, we're looking at an induction when she comes back. I don't want to force him out, I just want him to be ready to come out on his own in a timely fashion, and preferably at a time when my doctor is here. I'm trying not to stress about it because it isn't something I can control so we'll just have to wait and see what happens! For the last two weekends, Justin and I have been cooking away like crazy in the kitchen trying to get some meals in the freezer for after Parker is born. We really should spend one Saturday or Sunday a month cooking for the freezer to help out on those evenings where we're just too dang tired to cook anything. It doesn't take that much time if you plan the meals out and shop accordingly. So far in the freezer we've got: black bean & chicken soup, beer cheese soup, bbq pulled pork, citrus marinated pork chops, chicken & broccoli casserole, chicken pot pie, peanut chicken, oriental chicken, a cheesy pasta dish, chili, and spaghetti sauce. We finished up our childbirth preparation classes, the nursery is ready to roll, the car seat is in the car, and our hospital bag is packed... and now we wait!

COME ON OUT PARKER, WE WANT TO MEET YOU!

Two Hand Countdown!

2011-07-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

We're officially on the two hand countdown! Only 10 weeks to go until we meet our little man! (Update: It's now, it's less than 9 weeks - I started this post a week ago and never finished it!) We're so excited but as our due date gets closer, I'm beginning to get more and more nervous about childbirth, and quite frankly a little scared in general because the life of this tiny, innocent, precious little human growing inside me will be entirely dependent upon Justin and I once he arrives. Though I believe we're up for the challenge and will be great parents, I still can't help but to doubt myself sometimes. Do I really know what I'm doing? Can we really afford a child? Did we really think this through? Can we really handle this responsibility? I get so stressed out thinking about all the "what if" scenarios, sometimes even to tears (thank you pregnancy hormones...). It drives Justin totally nuts but having control is partly what keeps me sane. He always tells me everything will be fine and deep down I believe him, but until I am actually in the situation where everything is ok and I have a firm sense of what life will be like post delivery, I still have fears about the future. I think it's only natural, right? I can't be the only woman who has felt this way at some point during pregnancy. If I didn't feel this way, it would mean I didn't care about what's best for Parker, which is completely opposite of reality. We love this little man more than words can describe and will always put him first no matter what. I'm so caught up with trying to prepare, and make everything perfect, in place, and timed just right, when it really already is. My husband is a loving, kind, hardworking, genuine man, I have an amazing family, fabulous friends, two stable household incomes, a lovely home to make memories in, a couple of ridiculously cute pups, and I'm about to recieve the biggest blessing in my life with Parker. Life really is pretty darn good.

All of my doctors appointments have been going very well. Parker is growing right on track! Right now he probably weighs about 3-1/2 pounds and is about 16 inches long, according to the weekly updates I get via email. He will be gaining 1/2 pound per week from now on! I've been feeling pretty good (still tired due to lack of sleep) but I've only gained 20 pounds so far so I feel pretty positive about being able to lose it post delivery. I've been trying really hard to eat healthy with lots of salads, fruits, and veggies as sides with meals but a new frozen yogurt place opened up in Newberg and it is so good! I went in for my glucose test at 28 weeks which came back negative for gestastional diabetes, and I also recieved a Rhogam injection at that time. The Rhogam has to do with my blood type and Justin's blood type. One of us is - and one of us is + and if the baby has Justin's blood type, and our blood mixes for any reason, my body could start to reject the baby now, and it could very likely cause miscarriages in the future. Once Parker is born and they know what blood type he is, I may have to have another Rhogam injection at the hostpital. Let's hope not... it stung a little!! I'm going to the doctor every two weeks now, until week 36 when I start going once a week. My due date is coming up so quickly. Some days I can still hardly believe I'm pregnant, it's crazy!

We've been working a lot on the nursery lately and it's coming together quite nicely. No question it's now my favorite room in the house! We've got the walls painted, crib set up, bedding put on, curtains hung, glider and ottoman in place, some clothes in the dresser, and we now have a gorgeous tree mural on the wall thanks to a friend of my moms. We never really used this room in our house for anything other than a storage unit (for lack of a better term). Yes we had a bed set up for guests, but really it was the room that held anything we didn't know where to put or have room for elsewhere, so it's been really fun to see the transformation. Without further delay... here are some nursery pics!

And some belly photos too!

28 weeks

30 weeks

My best friend Nicki took some pictutes last weekend. What turned into a couple pictures for invites for my baby shower with my girlfriends, turned into a mini photo session all around Newberg! It was fun!

A Quick Picture Update

2011-06-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

24 weeks

26 weeks

Parker's nursery set! Yes, I'm indecisive by nature, but this is *the one* and it should be arriving next week so we can match paint colors and get to work!

Baby Update!

2011-05-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since my last post (ok, it's been a loonnnng while) but here are some photo updates of little baby Gabler.

14 weeks

16 weeks

18 weeks

20 weeks

At our 20 week appointment, we had our big ultrasound and we finally know what we're having! *Insert drum roll here* IT'S A BOY! We are so excited and happy to announce that he's healthy and developing right on track. We also decided on his name... Parker Allen Gabler. Here are the ultrasound photos.

Profile

Arrow pointing to the gender. He's definitely a boy!

Adorable little baby feet. I love this one!

Close up of the bottom of his right foot. It measured 1-1/4".

Our handome little man! We love you buddy!

Telling our parents was quite fun. After the initial pregnancy announcement, which I thought would be self explanatory for them with the fortune cookies, I decided we should make this one a bit more simple. I rushed home after our appointment and made funfetti cupcakes and decorated them with blue frosting and blue sprinkles, then hid the plate upstairs. It was so hard to still refer to Parker as "it" and "the baby" after finally knowing the sex, and not accidentally slip in a "he", 'him", "his", etc during dinner. We made it through the meal and I made everyone close their eyes as I brought the cupcakes downstairs and Justin and I stood in front of them with the plate and counted to three. Everyone was very excited to know they will soon have a grandson or a great grandson!

It's a boy!

Everyone always asks what foods I've been craving, really I think only to find out if it's anything weird because of the whole "pickles and ice cream" saying that's been around for years. For the record, I like both pickles (dill only) and ice cream, but the thought of them together is absolutely disgusting! My appetite and tastes haven't really changed that much since getting pregnant, but I do often find myself craving a Pomegranate Paradise fruit smoothie from Jamba Juice. Justin will confirm I can come up with some kind of errand to run next to a Jamba Juice any time we're out an about. At least it's healthy, right!

The pregnancy has basically been a breeze so far. I've been really lucky! My only complaint is the sleeplessness I've had for a couple months now. I wake up just about every night anytime between 12am-2am and can't go back to sleep. I've tried everything I can think of and it just doesn't seem to help. My doctor told me I could take an occasional Unisom, so occasionally I get a full nights sleep. Maybe this is just my bodys way of preparing me for a newborn? Either way, it leaves me pretty tired by the end of each day. A few people have told me their pregnancy body pillow saved them while they were pregnant, but they're fairly spendy and I'd rather not spend $50 or more on a pillow.

We've started to clean out our guest room which will become the nursery. I have always like the idea of a jungle/safari theme baby's room so I was thrilled when Justin liked it too! I can't wait to start decorating now that I've found bedding we both like! The problem with animal prints on baby bedding is that they often either don't look real at all, or they're so cartoon like they're not even cute. I think this bedding is the perfect combination, and best of all, it's from good old Target. Hello affordability! They also have some really cute accessories in this set that will help finish off the room. I would love to have a couple trees painted on the walls but since I am not artsy, I'll have to find someone to do it for us. I will be totally bummed if we either a) can't find anyone, or b) can't find anyone who won't charge us an arm and a leg to do it. We also have our crib on order from Segal's furniture for kids. It's beautiful, and the color matches the dresser set we already have which is just perfect. I can't wait for it to arrive! It's a convertible crib, so Parker will be able to use it as a toddler bed, as well as a full size bed when he grows up.

Tiddliwinks Safari Friends crib bedding. I love it!

I'd like some trees similar to these on the nursery walls.

Our crib!

Next up:
June 8th: 24 week checkup

Just when you think life is good...

2011-04-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

Just when you think life is good, it gets even better.

We have some exciting news to announce... we're having a baby! I am 14 weeks along, which makes our estimated due date Saturday Oct 1, 2011. We are so thrilled, and of course nervous too! These past several weeks have been quite fun as we've spilled the beans to our family and friends. Everyone has been so happy for us and we are very thankful for the love and support. I have a feeling this is going to be the most challenging, yet most rewarding year of our lives. I can't wait! I promise to be a better blogger, so check back often for updated posts and pictures!

Now, we have 14 weeks to catch up on so let's back up a bit...

You may be wondering when all this baby talk started. Well, if you know me at all, you know that I've always dreamed of being a mother and often talked about it, especially recently when a few friends all had babies. Justin was also open to the idea, now that we're a little older, more financially stable, we own our home, etc.When the possibility of that dream becoming a reality came to light in January, both Justin and I didn't really believe it at first. We both knew children were something we definitely wanted in our lives but we didn't get too crazy in the head when my period was a couple days late. We had just returned from our trip to Whistler and I had a stressful, busy week at work, which can all throw off a womans cycle. Three days went by, then four, and at that point I knew something was up but honestly didn't think I was pregnant. I felt so silly at the store buying a pregnancy test thinking to myself what a waste of money it was going to be and that good ole Aunt Flo would arrive before I even made it home to pee on the stick. That being said, I decided to skip the more expensive digital test and get the traditional pink line test. This only came back to haunt me as the 2nd line on both tests I took was a bit faint (though certainly visible) and not the dark solid line (or lack thereof) result I was looking for. Still in disbelief, (hindsight says it was shock and maybe a little denial!) I thought the tests were inconclusive and went to bed frustrated, all the while Justin believed they were positive. I guess I just didn't want to leave the truth up to my own discretion. Let's be real, who wants to go to the doctor or tell people they're pregnant if they aren't 100% sure?! The next day, I went back to the store, got the digital test, and the "Pregnant" result showed up in less than one minute! There are no words for the feelings of excitement, joy, anxiety, stress, and of course the "what did we get ourselves into?", "can we afford this?", "are we really ready for this", etc that instantly overwhelmed me. I would be lying if I said it didn't take a couple days to calm my fears, ease my mind and be confident that everything would work out ok, the way it's meant to be.

Tests #1 and #2

Test #3

Next up... Telling our parents.

This is a funny story. We told our parents about 2 weeks after we found out. We had invited them over for a Sunday night dinner and were planning on telling them after we ate. It took a while to come up with a creative way to tell them, and I had this thought of fortune cookies with personalized fortunes! Who doens't love fortune cookies, right?! It was genius! Saturday afternoon I went to a local chinese restaurant to pickup some fortune cookies. The guy helping me thought I was crazy when I told him why I needed cookies with somewhat open edges, but none the less, he was able to come up with some. I made up 4 fortunes, one for each of the future grandparents, which should have been pretty self explanatory when reading... more on that in a minute. Dinner plans were set, fortune cookies were ready, this was a piece of cake... or so I thought. That Saturday evening we had friends over to play poker. We had a great night just hanging out. People had been drinking and a couple people stayed the night, one being my brother. He was very curious as to why I wasn't drinking and why I went to bed so early with friends still over (I had said I was just really tired and used the excuse of getting up at 4am for work). We told him the news Sunday morning and he said "Oh, so that's why Mom and Dad are coming over for dinner tonight." I said, "Yes, we're going to tell them after dinner." The then informed me that they already knew. I said, "What, how do they know?" Apparently my mom and Justin's mom had already talked and wondered why we invited them over and thought we must be sharing news. It couldn't be that we wanted to simply return the favor of a home cooked family meal like they've done for us more times than we can count, Gosh! I was irritated and decided we needed to trick them somehow. I knew they would know right away if they walked in and I declined a glass of wine, so Justin and I took cranberry juice, added a drop of red and blue food coloring, and voila - looks exactly like wine! We poured this into an empty wine bottle from the recycling and Justin made it a point to pour it and hand it to me as soon as my parents arrived. (My mom also brought 3 bottles of wine with her - you know, because she thought I'd like to try them... yeah, nice try Mom! I know you were being sneaky!) My mom didn't think twice about me being pregnant when she saw me drinking the "wine". It was great, we had tricked them! Then Justin's parents arrived, and the charade played on. Unbenounced to me, the mothers shared a few whispers at the front door about the "wine" and completely dismissed the idea that I could be pregnant, and thankfully it wasn't a topic of discussion at all because I'm not sure I could have kept the secret until the fortune cookie reveal. Dinner came and went, and then it was time. I was so nervous. I knew they would be excited, but it is also a big milestone in their life too, not just ours. They were going to be grandparents. I handed out the fortune cookies and waited for everyone to open them. One by one they read the fortunes. "A pleasant surprise is waiting for you", "Ideas are like grandchildren, there are none so great as your own", "You will soon meet someone who will play a large role in your life" and last but not least, my estimated due date at the time "September 28, 2011". Unfortunately, in my nervousness, I accidentally gave the due date fortune to Justin which only sparked more conversation because my Mom had a real fortune in her cookie. I insisted she take Justin's instead, and that it was "hers" not "his". They were totally, completely, and insanely oblivious. I kept prodding them about their fortunes, "I wonder what this could mean", "Why is your fortune printed in red and these others in purple?", "Why don't all of them have lucky numbers on the back?" Nothing turned on the light bulbs... for any of them. Justin got up from the table and went to the kitchen, he looked back at me like I was to do something but I was at a loss. I mean, I thought we layed it out pretty plain and simple! A few more minutes went by and they still didn't catch on. I finally threw my hands in the air and over my face and was like "Ok, seriously you guys! Come on! Let's look at the fortunes again." By now everyone was laughing because it was clear they were all missing something. We read them all again and then my mom looked at me and said, "Jamie, are you pregnant?" After I screamed, "Yes!" and told them I was drinking cranberry juice (my mother in law tried it, just to check) tears flooded the dinner table and the celebrating began. They were so thrown off by the "wine" that possibility of me being pregnant never entered their mind, and they even said, that the "wine" was the only thing that threw them off because they were totally expecting the announcement once we had invited them over. Haha! Yeah, we done good! :)

Fortunes!

Choosing a doctor and our first ultrasound...

This is my first pregnancy and really I am the first of all my friends to get pregnant. My regular doctor is a NP not an OB so I had to find someone else. I didn't really know where to start, I didn't know of anyone and felt like I was pulling a name out of a hat. I was really un-easy about it because this person is going to play a huge role in not only my life for the next 9 months, but I have to trust them with the health and well being of my developing child. I went back and forth between choosing a Midwife or an OB so I got some referrals from my doctor and one of them my mom had worked with previously, so I gave her office a call. I figured if I didn't like her, I could call someone else for my next appointment. One thing I did know though, was that I preferred to have a female doctor. I'm not really sure why, but I've always felt that way at least for anything more than just being sick. Call me a one man woman I guess. Despite how awkward it was meeting her for the first time as I'm sitting undressed from the waist down under a paper cover sheet, our search stopped there. She is fantastic! Her name is Nan Macy and she's a Certified Nurse Midwife who works out of Newberg Hospital. She has one nurse who we see at each appointment, she's laid back, very personable, funny, and is just very calming each time we see her. Another selling point, she only missed one birth last year. One, that's it, and it was because one of her patients injured her back and decided to delivery early while Nan was with another patient. I was really nervous about possibly getting a random doctor on delivery day but I have full confidence that she'll be there, no matter what day or what time we call her. We had our first ultrasound mid February and it was amazing seeing our baby (who looked more like a gummy bear at the time) and seeing it's little heart beating on screen was completely indescribable. She pointed out everything to us, measured the baby, and gave us a estimated due date of Oct 1st. After our appointment, we went to dinner with our parents to show off our ultrasound photos. Once everyone had taken a look, I set the photos down on the table in front of me as I grabbed my purse. I put the photos away and not two minutes later the waitress comes back with our waters and accidentally spills an entire glass of water on the table in front of me and all over my lap! She immediately grabbed my blackberry off the table to dry it off (thank you Otter Box for your heavy duty cover) and all I could think of was my ultrasound photos that had just been on the table. She had seen them earlier as they were being passed around but didn't say anything. She felt so awful! I wasn't mad at all, I mean, it was just water, my blackberry is fine, the photos were fine, etc. I worked at a Ruby Tuesday for 3 years and I have never met a single server who hasn't spilled something on a customer by accident, myself included. It happens, but man, I'm pretty sure I would have busted out in tears if my ultrasound photos had still been on the table.

Our little gummy bear

My pregnancy so far...

For a long time, I felt like there was something wrong. I had little to no early pregnancy symptoms at all, and now, at 14 weeks, still haven't had many. I was quite concerned about the morning sickness I was sure to have (especially since I work at 5:30am) but I haven't once felt even the slightest bit nauseous. I sure lucked out there! The one thing that has been killing me though is the exhaustion. I'm insanely tired, all.the.time. It doesn't matter if I just slept for 8 straight hours, I'm still tired. It doesn't help that I'm a horrible sleeper normally, but the more frequent trips to the restroom are also partially to blame. I've tried to stop drinking liquids a couple hours before bed which seems to have helped a bit. Another symptom, a quite painful one, was the sciatica I had from about week 7 to 12. I couldn't walk, twist, get up from being seated, bend over to pick anything up, etc without wincing in pain. It was awful. Thankfully that went away about two weeks ago and I really hope it doesn't come back. During week 11, we had a little bit of a scare. Well, let me re-phrase. I was scared. It was Thursday afternoon, and around 1pm I suddenly had intense abdominal cramping. It was painful enough that it stopped me in my tracks at times when I was walking, and I just wanted to curl up in a little ball. It came out of nowhere. I went home from work early that day and slept for about 4 hours. The pain had subsided a little after I woke up, but was still there and I was still uncomfortable. I know full well there is some cramping to be expected, (I mean I do have to fit a baby in my belly!) but when it hadn't gone away by Friday morning, I called the doctor. She called me back right away and I told her I didn't want to be the "paranoid pregnant girl", but that the cramping was fairly painful, and I don't know at what point I needed to really be concerned. She said it was likely just normal crampingas my uterus is expandinig, especially since there was no bleeding to accompany it, but that if I came in she would check to make sure everything was ok. I cried to my mom in the hopsital parking lot before I walked in for my appointment. My hands were shaking the entire time we sat in the waiting room and I don't think I said more than a couple words to Justin the whole time. Our doctor was so great, very calm and comforting, and gave me the biggest hug after we heard the heartbeat on the Doppler. I think she knew the whole time everything was ok but knew I needed that extra bit of reassurance. It was breathtaking to hear the heartbeat of our tiny growing baby for the first time. It was truly music to our ears. I cried immediately and just felt so relieved. I was ordered to take it easy for the weekend and the cramping finally subsided Sunday afternoon. I guess it was just my uterus getting back at me for the lack of morning sickness.

6 weeks

12 weeks

Coming up...

April 14th - 16 week checkup
May 14th (approx) - 20 week ultrasound and the gender reveal!

And for those that are wondering... baby names are in the works. We've been talking about this for years, so we're pretty set on the girl and boy names we have in mind, but aren't quite ready to officially announce them as THE names. I promise you, (because I made my hubby promise me!), we will finalize our decision before the gender revaling ultrasound. I think it will be before then though!

Snow Day!

2011-02-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up to a few inches of snow. It was enough that all of the local schools were closed and I didn't have to go in to work so we had a lazy day at home. Unfortunately for me, a day off today means I have to work Saturday to make it up unless we get an insane amount of snow tonight cancelling work for tomorrow (I'm not holding my breath on that happening...). The dogs had a blast this morning outside! It was so fun watching them play. Here's a look at our winter wonderland before it all melted away.

Our house!

American flag

This tree always looks so pretty!

Anxiously waiting to be let outside

My Harley boy

Looking for Ruby

He ran around licking the snow all morning!

My Ruby girl bout to make a move

Favorite pic of the day!

Love her ears in this one!

Playing chase

Stare down

More chase

Weekend in Whistler

2011-01-22T15:32:00.000-08:00

This past week we were able to go to Whistler, B.C. for a ski trip with the Gabler side of the family! It was so much fun! We left for Whistler on Thursday and came home on Monday, traveling by plane and a greyhound bus. (Side note: 3 day work weeks with extended weekend getaways are awesome!). There was a ton of snow in Whistler and in most places (on the sides of the road and between homes, etc) it was piled taller than I stand, plus some! I'd never seen that much snow in one place before so it was pretty cool. In total, there were 18 of us and we were able to find a house to rent that slept 14 so with a couple of air mattresses, we were good to go! The house was about 10 minutes from the mountain so it worked out really well and the house gave us an opportunity to spend a lot of quality time together instead of being split into hotel rooms. We had family dinners each night, played games, played cards, had snowball fights, hot tubbed, etc and really just enjoyed eachothers company. Though it's expensive, Whistler Village was fun! Lots of eating, drinking, and shopping was done. The only unfortunate aspect of the trip was the weather. It rained every day (even on the mountain) and it was pretty foggy - two things that don't make for great skiing. A few people braved the mountain for two days, most only one, and I none, but I wasn't alone. I'm not a good skier, I've only been a few times over a span of 7 years so I have to re-learn each time I hit the slopes. I hate going fast, steep hills, and feeling like I'm out of control because that's when I panic. I know I need to take a lesson (or five) and I really want to be a good... errr let's go with ok - I can get down the mountain skiier since Justin enjoys it so much. Since the weather was borderline miserable, and a one day lift ticket was $106 after tax, I decided it wasn't the best time to try and ski and went to the spa instead! Suzie and I went together, she got a facial, and I got a deep tissue massage, which was wonderful! All in all it was a great trip. Whistler is beautiful and there is so much to do, hopefully we can go back some day! Here are some pictures from our trip! It was great to be able to use my new camera!

Idylwood Inn

Sledding

Snowball Fights

The Mountain! (Looks like a hill with all the fog)

Pic With The Bears

Hot Tubbing

Ski Central

Checking Out Village Nightlife

Cool Statue

Olympic Rings

The Whole Gabler Gang!

Puerto Vallarta in 2011

2010-12-31T17:12:00.000-08:00

Justin and I have been dreaming of a vacation for quite some time now, and it is definitely on our before baby "to do list". For the last year, we've constantly been looking online at the tropical resorts with beautiful, breathtaking views wishing we could be laying on the beach in that very moment, but always talk ourselves out of spending the money. Today, we said, "screw the budget, it's now or never" and booked a vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico at the all-inclusive Dreams Resort and Spa! I can't wait! T-minus 5 months to fulfill my new years resolution of a hot bikini bod by June 2nd! YAY!

Lady Antebellum Concert

2010-10-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I purchased tickets to see Lady Antebellum perform at the Schnitzer Concert Hall and had been just dying for the concert date to arrive! It finally did and I had a fabulous evening with three of my girlfriends last night! When I initally purchased the tickets, I paid $15 for fan club membership so that I could get presale tickets before they went on sale to the general public. I thought it was the best $15 I had ever spent when I saw 4th row ticket availability pop up on my screen! Also included in the fan club membership was a meet and greet request to meet the band the night of the show. Of course I put in my request, not thinking much of it at the time because only 20 fan club members were going to be selected. I knew my odds were slim, but none the less, I anxiously awaited the approval/denial email (for over a month) when I heard my lovely email indicator chime on my blackberry while I was driving home from work one day last week. I checked it (at a red light, of course) and literally started screaming when I read I had been selected! I had to read it a few times to make sure I was actually selected and had a legit reason for freaking out on the highway, while alone in my vehicle, haha! I would reccommend seeing Lady A perform to anyone, they put on an amazing show! My friends and I had a blast! I love their music and am so lucky to have had the chance to meet them, get their autographs, and have a photo taken with them. That two minute encounter was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me, and really, I still can't believe it. One thing I really love about them is they seem very grounded for all the success they've had the last couple years. They don't seem to take anything for granted or go over the top with their recently found fame. When they had the crowd singing verses of their songs for them, they were literally on cloud nine and loved every minute of it. It gave the audience a feeling of appreciation and you could tell they were like, wow, these people came to see us and are singing the words we've poured our hearts and souls into while writing. I can't say enough good things about the show and I can't wait for them to come back!

Opening Act - David Nail

Meet & Greet!

Autographs!

Tracy, Kristen, Jessica, Me

Lady Antebellum!

Charles Kelley

Dave Haywood

Hillary Scott

Fall Photo Shoot

2010-10-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

This past weekend our friend Holly was kind enough to take some photos of Justin and I, and the dogs. My main goal was simply to get a nice Christmas card photo, but I also have been wanting some new photos to hang in our house since everything we have up is at least 2 years old. Though I am a summer sunshine girl at heart, this really is a beautiful time of year as the trees are changing colors and the leaves are beginning to fall, so we decided to take advantage of it! Here's a look at a few of the many photos she took!

Race for the Cure

2010-09-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks, I've been organizing a friends and family team called "The Boobie Brigade" for the Race for the Cure event in Portland. I've always been a supporter of the Susan G. Komen foundation and have participated in past races. So many women these days are being diagnosed with breast cancer and this year was no exception. Unfortunately, it hit really close to home when both Justin's grandmother Myrna, and his mother Suzie, became innocent victims to the disease. Myrna had a lumpectomy surgery and completed radiation treatments earlier this spring, and Suzie had a double mastectomy earlier this summer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Both cases were thankfully caught early and they're both doing well, but cancer is never an easy situation to deal with whether you're the one fighting it, or supporting a loved one who is. I often wonder how such an awful thing could happen to such great people. Don't get me wrong, I would never wish cancer on anyone, but they didn't deserve this. Just like the thousands and thousands of other people in the world that get diagnosed everyday don't deserve it either. This has to stop and a cure must be found. Too many stories end sadly and too many families are torn apart far too soon. At times I'm angry this disease reared its ugly head in my family, other times I'm fearful for the unknowns of the future, and sometimes I feel just plain helpless because I can't make it go away. One thing I do know is that I'm lucky, and every day I am thankful both of these women, who mean the world to me and more, are still here. After the events of the past months, I think the Race for the Cure event meant a lot more to us as a whole because we have had to stand by watch loved ones fight the one of the hardest and most trying battle of their lives this year. Nobody wants to be one wearing a pink survivor shirt, but it was both amazing and inspiring to see the will and the fight in all the individuals wearing pink shirts at the race. I was pleased to have had a large turnout for the group (though not everyone could make the race), we met our fundraising goal, and we looked good doing it as I was able to have a friend design some really awesome t-shirts for our team! We got so many compliments and pictures taken of them on race day! Our team motto is "fight the good fight one boob at a time" and that's exactly what we'll continue to do!

The Boobie Brigade

Suzie, me, Myrna

My parents, the Caster ladies, and us

Jessica and I

A Perfect Day

2010-09-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

Today Justin and I went up to the Mariner game in Seattle with his grandparents, and I really could not have asked for a more perfect Sunday. I mean, what's better than sunshine, beer, hotdogs, the smell of a freshly cut baseball field, and your husband, right?! Not only did the M's win, but we also got a picture with the Mariner Moose!

Miranda Lambert Concert!

2010-08-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

Last night I made the drive up to Ridgefield, WA to see Miranda Lambert on her "Revolution" tour at the Clark County Amphitheater! It was a great, high energy show and of course she performed all her hits which were even better from the 10th row! I already was a big fan of hers before the concert, and now I just love her! I think the dedications to the "mean girls" and the "skinny biotches" sealed the deal for me, she's a country rocker chick who kicks ass, takes names, and doesn't put up with crap from anybody! Thanks Jessica and Megan for coming!

Lake Mayfield

2010-08-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

In mid July, we spent a week up at Mayfield Lake in Mossyrock, WA. We've rented the same house on the lake a few times now, Lake Mayfield Manor, and it's becoming a summer tradition! The house is a spacious 3 levels, fully furnished, pool table, games, etc, and has an awesome view! The trip was so much fun, and it was really great to spend some time with my aunt and uncle who flew in from Phoenix, as well as to see Kristen and Joey who came home from Boise for the weekend! The weather was nice so we spent a lot of time outside on the deck bbq-ing, drinking, chatting, and soaking up some sun out on the boat. Justin and I even went canoeing for a couple hours one afternoon! I'm a believer in having multiple "happy places", this is definitely one of mine! :)

Bryant-Paulson Wedding!

2010-08-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had the pleasure of taking part in the wedding festivities at the beach for some great friends of ours, Holly and Sever! We had the researsal dinner at Rogue Brewery and the wedding was at McMenamins Sandtrap. It was beautiful! We are so happy for the newlyweds and will miss them tremendously when they make the big move up to Alaska in the coming months. Congrats guys! We love you!

The Happy Couple!

Smoochin'

Cheers!

The Wedding Party!

The Paulson Family - Sever, Holly, and Moser!

He Struck First - She Got Even!

Quick Pic With The Bride and Groom!

With My Parents!

Trip To Vancouver, BC!

2010-06-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

A few blog posts back, I mentioned I had won an online contest for a trip to Vancouver, BC from my favorite local country station, 99.5 The Wolf. Well, we just returned home from Canada and can't wait to go back! The trip was awesome and it really couldn't have come at a better time since we hadn't been on a real vacation since our Honeymoon in Jamaica 2 and 1/2 years ago. Included in the trip were two roundtrip Amtrak tickets (trip was 8 hours each way, but a very pretty ride), 2 nights in a superior suite at The Westin Grand Vancouver (super nice hotel in the heart of downtown), and $200 in hotel cash to use at the restaurant. Vancouver is such a beautiful city, there are so many fun things to see and do, and the Canadian people were so friendly! We stayed an additional 3 nights at the hotel and were on the 21st floor so we had a great view of the city. It actually reminded me a lot of Portland, just with fewer homeless people begging for money, almost spotless city streets in terms of garbage, and the large buildings downtown were all apartments versus office buildings. The other thing that was really interesting while looking at all the buildings downtown is that most of them are all glass, which I suppose is the more modern/trendy look these days. We walked mostly everywhere but had taxis available at a moments notice if we needed them. I personally enjoyed the fact that there is a Starbucks on just about every block, and definitely took advantage of it :) We had so much fun and as much as I love being a beach bum on a tropical resort, it was nice to go on a trip and be busy doing all the touristy things... Now if only we'd been able to go during the Olympics! If you ever get an opportunity to visit Vancouver, BC I would definitely recommend it! Here is a little rundown of our trip:

Day 1:

We mostly walked around the city all day just to take it all in and get a feel as to where everything is and see if there were any places we definitely wanted to go, etc. We did go to the Telus World of Science which really was for children who like to play with things (it's like OMSI) but they did have a cool surfing movie in the omnimax theater.

Day 2:

We walked through Stanley Park and visited the Vancouver Aquarium, both of which were very cool. This was probably the nicest day we had weather-wise. At the aquarium, we spent a lot of time looking at the fish, sharks, dolphins, and beluga whales. They also had a really cool 4D movie, yes 4D. The seats and the theater were rigged with a water mister, an air blower, a bubble blower, and punching fist which hit the middle of your back as all of the water snakes were on screen. It was definitely surprising and it was then we realized why they didn't suggest the movie for young children, haha!

Day 3:

We went to Granville Island, which is a public market with restaurants in between. I think our favorite part was the Granville Island Brewery where we stopped to have a beer. I was expecting something more like Pike Place Market in Seattle with flowers and food and fish flying through the air but this market was mostly little clothing and gift type shops. This was also the day we got rained on and are so glad we packed an umbrella! After walking through the market, we went to the Vancouver Maritime Museum where the the St. Roch was set up for tours. Man those guys lived in some tight quarters while sailing! I was lame on this day and didn't take any pictures except this one of the English Bay outside the museum. For dinner, we ate at the Top of Vancouver revolving restaurant which is like the Space Needle in Seattle. Unfortunately, the revolving aspect of the restaurant was down and even though we spent $125 on dinner, they wouldn't let us go onto the observation deck (or 5 feet out of the elevator) without paying $15 per person for tickets. Are you kidding me? I was mad and said, "forget it" so, no pictures but at least I have someone else to blame this time.

Day 4:

On our last day in Vancouver, we went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. This bridge is 450 feet across, and 230 feet high above the Capilano River and is one of the largest tourist attractions in the city. Also in the park, were a bunch of other smaller bridges to complete the treetop adventure.

And this is us just being dorks in our hotel room

Tim McGraw, Lady A, and Love & Theft

2010-05-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

Last night, Justin and I went to a concert at the Rose Garden featuring Love & Theft , a new, up and coming trio, the ACM dominators Lady Antebellum, and the one and only Tim McGraw!! The show was AMAZING and Tim is so damn sexy! I've seen him a few times before so I didn't buy tickets for this show (even though I was dying to see Lady Antebellum) but a friend of mine won tickets and couldn't attend so she gave them to me! The seats were in the 300 level, but we had almost a straight on view to the stage and had a great time! I love concerts and love country music! Next up, Miranda Lambert from the 10th row in August! YAY!

New Job... Again.

2010-05-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of April, I was offered a new position at work, Assistant Drivers Supervisor, whose main responsibility is to oversee the drivers on route and to make sure every route is covered for the day while jumping hurdles like drivers being out sick, trucks being down, etc. It came as a total surprise for me since I had only been with the company for 9 months, but it couldn't have come at a better time! Being on the phones all day with customers was beginning to wear on me - people like to complain, a lot. I was beginning to feel like a "Debbie Downer" all the time and I think friends and family were starting to notice. My supervisor and I get along great, and I now have my own office which is nice. It's out in the shop though, away from all the girls in the office that I used to work and talk with so it can get lonely! I have new hours now... 5:30am - 2pm, which has been a little hard to get used to, though I'm loving having a few hours each afternoon to be productive and get some things done that would generally have been pushed off to Saturday. I feel much more connected to the daily operations of the entire company and much more valuable as an employee. Two months into it now, I know I still have things to learn but I'm glad I tried something new because this is turning into a great experience!

Happy 25th Justin!

2010-04-03T20:45:00.001-07:00

Justin is now officially old, like me. It's crazy to think we're a quarter century old already. For his birthday, I got tickets to the Blazer game last Wednesday against the Knicks. We sat 14 rows behind the hoop, to the left of the Blazer bench. What a view! We were so close we could hear the players talking on the court, it was awesome! We were super close to "Free Throw Guy" though he didn't have much to do on Wednesday since the Blazers won by almost 30 points and the Knicks didn't make it to the line often. We were on the jumbo tron a few times at the game and even made it on tv for a quick second according to a friend. I was disappointed though, because my favorite Blazer, Joel Przybilla, has been injured most of this season so I didn't get to see him. I'm sure Justin didn't mind that he didn't have to watch me drool over him all night long, haha. Here are a couple pics!

The Twilight Saga continues...

2010-03-11T20:39:00.000-08:00

The movie trailer for Eclipse has finally been released!! And of course, I've already watched it enough times I could probably recite it. June 30th can't come soon enough!! CLICK HERE to see it for yourself. I bet you can't watch it just once :)

Life Update

2010-03-02T19:53:00.001-08:00

I have severely neglected updating our blog the past couple months, but really, there isn't much new and exciting going on to share. As cliche as it sounds, we're just living, laughing, and loving as much as possible! Here are a few highlights:

* On February 3rd, Justin and I celebrated 2 years of lovely wedded bliss. It's crazy how fast time has gone, but then there are days where it seems like we've been married forever! We've been together for almost 7 years and I still love him more than anything :)

*Justin took on another coaching job at Sherwood High School with the Baseball program. He took this position with a weeks notice but does get the head coaches stipend at the end of the year so I can't really complain. He loves coaching and is really good with the kids. At some point, he's probably going to have to choose between coaching football and coaching baseball because of the work issues it creates, and I know he isn't looking forward to having to make that decision.

*I have a new responsibility at work which changed my hours from 8am-4:30pm to 8:30am-5pm. So far it going ok, a little to complicated to explain, but I'm now in charge of running all the routes through our software systems for our drivers. I'm still learning and have come to work a couple days with a few emails waiting for me, but I am really glad to have an opportunity to do more with my position within the company. I also can't complain about getting to sleep in a little bit more in the mornings. It's amazing what an extra 30 minutes of sleep/rest will do for your day! And since everyone leaves at 4:30pm on the dot, it's nice to have some quiet time in the office too. That being said, if I get stuck on something, or have an issue with running routes at all, I'm screwed because nobody is there to help which causes me to second guess myself all evening long.

*About two weeks ago, I got a call on my lunch break that literally made my entire week. It was one of the coolest things that has happened to me! I never win anything like this (or really ever try) and it came totally out of the blue as a lovely surprise! I usually don't answer the phone for numbers I don't recognize, but this one was a (503) so I was curious. I answered and it was a girl calling from 99.5 The Wolf, my favorite local country radio station. She was calling to inform me that I was named the GRAND PRIZE WINNER for a trip to Vancouver, BC! How crazy is that!? We have two round trip Amtrak tickets, 2 nights stay in a superior suite at The Westin Grand Vancouver, and $200 in hotel vouchers for the restaurant! The whole trip is valued at $800. I couldn't believe it after I got off the phone with the girl because I barely even remembered entering into the online contest. Back in mid January, I was downloading some new music and had gone to http://www.thewolfonline.com/ to see if they had a list of newly released songs, most requested, etc and came across the contest page. I skimmed through the posting and put my name in and somehow managed to be the big winner! My friend Kirstan said it was karma coming back to me for all the Whirlpool hell I'd been through. So we're planning a trip! We'll stay for longer than the 2 nights we get for free, but probably not that the same hotel because it's up over $200/night. There is so much to do in Vancouver and I really want to go to the Aquarium they have there. It would have been cool to see some of the Olympics, but hey, I'm not complaining one bit.

*Speaking of vacations, before the whole Vancouver thing came up, Justin and I decided to go on a trip this year, in December specifically. You know, one final vacation before the kiddos show up and your vacations turn into stressful sports tournaments, a lot of driving, cooler packing, and not seeing anything in the city/state you're in if it not on the way from the hotel to the ball field. (Side note: THANKS Mom and Dad for spending your vacations like this for me and Trav growing up. I'm sure I never showed enough appreciation for it at the time). Some friends of our parents who we've known forever have a timeshare they aren't going to use this year and have offered it to us. $900 for a 2 master suite for a week in paradise sounds pretty damn good to me. We're looking at going to Puerto Vallarta, but really, there are so many options we haven't even come close to deciding yet. Kristen and Joey have talked about coming with us since we have 2 full masters, but they haven't committed yet. Any other takers? Seriously, you can't pass up $450 per couple for a week when this suite goes for $650 per night without the timeshare.

*The last couple weekends we've been doing a little bit of yard work trying to get everything ready for spring. We neglected to winterize the yard and have had to clean out a bunch of dead crap but it's looking pretty good so far! We already have tons of flowers coming up in the front and you can see small buds coming in on the apple and pear tree in the back. Joey has offered to come help us do some landscaping and hopefully we can get the areas of patchy grass to fill in and get grass growing in the area of the yard where the old owners had gravel for a play structure. Our place will be the hot spot for summertime barbeques, margarita madness, and moonlight bonfires just you wait!

That's all I can think of for now!

Whirlpool, Shmirlpool

2010-03-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

For the record, I hate Whirlpool and will never, ever again in my life buy another Whirlpool appliance. You wouldn't want to either if you've heard even just a piece of my story. I have never been so angry at a company and treated so poorly as a consumer, and for a manufacturers defect for crying out loud. We went seven weeks without a washing machine, yes, SEVEN weeks and the damn machine was broken before it even left their warehouse. Each time I called I had to fight their automated voice answering system to finally speak to somebody and had to explain my situation again each time because you never get the same person twice. Each ended call was filled with lies and got me nowhere near a functional machine. We were sent five broken/cracked counterweights in the mail (over a course of six weeks, which by the way are STILL in my garage because Whirlpool says it's Sears' responsibility to come pick them up) and we were told each time there would be special packaging so the counterweight wouldn't be cracked when it arrived. Never once were the boxes packed any differently than previous shipments. We were promised two day air shipping on one package and overnight shipping on another, both of which never happened so I had to cancel two service appointments. The supervisor I spoke to only gave me three numbers of his four digit extension and I confirmed the phone number with him twice to make sure I had it correct. I requested to have a corporate supervisor call me and they said "sure, it will be within 24-48 hours" but surprise, surprise, it never happened. I called back and asked immediately to be transferred to a corporate supervisor and was told the only way to contact them was by mail only, yet after I screamed at her for 10 minutes, and waiting on hold for an additional 10 minutes, miraculously a corporate manager was on the line. I think not. I tried being nice the first few calls and I tried being a bitch. I called and Justin called. Nothing gets through to these people. They are totally completely incompetent. They refused to replace my machine until service technicians had been out and replaced something on the machine four times, but they put in well over machine and retail value for parts, labor for five service technicians, packagaing materials, and shipping costs. Really, really?! It's pretty hard to fix a machine when you can't manage to send me the parts in one piece. Not a single person I talked to had any sympathy for my situation being without a washer and we probably do at least ten loads of laundry per week between clothes, sheets, towels, etc and it's just two of us and the dogs! It's like I was back in college again. "Mom, if I bring over some laundry on my lunch break, will you switch it over tonight and I will pick it up on my way to work tomorrow?" Luckilly, our parents were kind enough and live close enough that we could do laundry at their houses because the laundry mat would have cost a fortune after seven weeks. That or I would have a whole new wardrobe because I would have gotten so sick of waiting there for my clothes to be ready and just bought new ones. Our only compensation was a $75 "inconvenience check" which I demaded they double, and surprisingly they did. Still, it doesn't cover the 3 days Justin had to take off work for the service techs to come to the house, all the extra driving costs to do laundry, and the wasted time we spent on hold and the phone and arguing with those assholes. Do yourself a favor, and stay away from Whirlpool because this little blog post is just a mini recap of the hell we've been through with this company.

Jazz a roo... Gone but not forgotten

2009-11-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

This past Monday, we had to say goodbye to our beloved family dog Jazz. He lived a wonderful life of 14 years, and though we knew the day would come, none of us were even close to being ready for it. I remember the first day we went to go pick out our new puppy. We weren't even there for two minutes before Jazz came up and untied my mom's shoe. I always told her he was meant to be with us. It was probably the easiest decision she's ever made. My brother was home sick at the time, so I was lucky enough to get to cuddle that little 8 week old pup the whole way home. He was such a good dog, so loyal and loving. He'd follow you around the house wherever you went and always kept your feet warm while watching tv. His presence is definitely missed at my parents house but he'll always be in our hearts. We love you buddy and miss you terribly!!

Swine Flu

2009-10-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm the most recent victim to the H1N1 swine flu. It was confirmed by the doctor this morning and let me tell you, I feel like crap! I was feeling more tired than usual for the last couple days, and then yesterday at work I started having chest pain and was having trouble breathing. I felt like my lungs were constricted and I couldn't catch my breath, and to make it worse I couldn't stop coughing. After work I went straight to the pharmacy to get some cough medicine and Airborne. Too late. By the time I got home, I had a fever of 101 degrees, my body was so cold and achy all over, and I literally felt like I'd been hit by a semi truck. This isn't new to me though, I felt the same way when I had mono 5-1/2 years ago. No bueno. I can deal with feeling like crap (head cold, stomach aches, etc) but I don't do well when my entire body is in pain and it hurts to move. I cried, and cried, and cried. Justin took such good care of me last night though, and went to the doctor with me this morning. He's the best! The doctor didn't prescribe me anything, just said the virus needed to run it's course, to take Tylenol every 4 hours for the fever (which hit 102.5 this morning) and for the body aches, and to stay home from work for a few days to re-cooperate. I've slept most of the day today and I still feel crappy, but the chills/body pain is now under control. They weren't kidding when they said swine flu would kick your ass if you're not careful... I just hope that I haven't infected anyone else with this crappy illness!

A day in the life of a Gabler dog...

2009-09-27T16:51:00.000-07:00

They lead a tough life... Eat, sleep, play, and snuggle!

A day in Corn Valley... GO BEAVS!

2009-09-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the OSU game with a couple of friends, Holly and her sister Heather. We had so much fun! Justin was slightly outnumbered all day hanging out with the three of us, but secretly I think he enjoyed it... he would never admit to that though, haha! The sun was shining, we had drinks in hand, and we laughed all day. Even though the Beavers couldn't pull out a win and I didn't get my photo with pocket Edward, the trip was worthwhile. We can't wait to do it again!

Updated Home Photos

2009-08-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to take some updated photos of our new home now that we're all moved in, settled, and decorated (at least a little!). There are pictures of most every room in the house, even disaster we call our garage. The guest room and guest bathroom are being occupied by Justin's sister who's living with us for awhile. And don't forget to look at our little garden in the works! The heat over the last few weeks has really gotten to it and the yard but with the price of water these days, geez, we might not be able to eat if we kept the yard green! We love our new home and are so lucky to have had the opportunity to buy in this market! Come visit us anytime! Enjoy the pictures :)

New Ride!

2009-08-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

I recently traded in my beloved '96 Honda Accord, aka the green machine. It was a fabulous little car and really never let me down... except for recently when the AC wasn't working and it was 80 degrees outside, and when it was pouring rain and the windows would get stuck in the down position at the Starbucks drive thru... It really was a great car, especially since I drove the heck out of it during college, but it was time for her to go before I couldn't get any money on a trade in. My new car, I mean our new car (hehe), is a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox, and it's a shiny, sassy red :) It couldn't be any more perfect for me! The AC works for the summer time and I'm pretty sure the leather heated seats will be my new BFF come winter! It will also be nice to be able to put a dog crate in the back cargo area and still have room for 5 people in the car (or maybe baby?... jk) to sit comfortably. I just got my plates in the mail yesterday and now all it needs now is a Linfield sticker in the back window and I'll be cruising in style!

Going back to SHS... what?

2009-08-18T19:28:00.001-07:00

Well, after six years of being away, it seems as though Justin and I will be going back to high school this fall. He definitely more so than I at this point, but either way we'll both be hanging around our old stomping grounds a bit. Justin accepted a coaching position in the Sherwood football program a few weeks ago, and camps and practices have officially begun! I know he's been wanting to get into coaching for awhile now so I'm really excited this opportunity presented itself for him. His main job will be working with the freshman linebackers and jv defensive line, but like the other coaches, he will be on the side lines for every varsity game. I enjoyed going to the football games when I was in high school... who didn't? It was the thing to do, but, I can count the number of games I've been to since then on one finger! And even then, I only went because our friend Joey was playing in I think the state championship game either four or five years ago? It will be a good experience for Justin and I made him promise I would at least get a new sweatshirt out of the deal seeing as how he's going to be gone every night and some weekends well into November. I'm actually kind of excited though... I hear the coaches wives club has a great time of their own :)

Adventures In Dog Sitting

2009-07-31T21:26:00.000-07:00

I think the photo says it all!

New Job

2009-07-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you know, I've been looking for a new job for a while now. After much looking, research, stress, etc, I have finally found a new job! I definitely have bittersweet feelings about leaving IP mainly because I actually enjoy the job itself and most of the people I work with, both co-workers and my customers. I have had enough though, of my poorly managed facility and the large corporate world. I put in my two weeks notice today, but my boss is on vacation so tomorrow should be interesting. I'm really going to miss some people and am a bit scared to leave the comfort of a job I know I am very successful at, but I have learned so much and am thankful for every experience I had there over the last 3 years and will be able to apply my knowledge and skills anywhere I go. It was weird, I didn't think I would be that upset, but I stood in the break room crying with a friend for an hour today after work. I have so many emotions running through me right now - relief, nervousness, sadness, excitement... I could go on but I'll stop there. I will soon be working as a residential customer service representative for a small family owned company in Sherwood called Pride Disposal. It is a garbage disposal and recycling center for parts of Washington County. I never thought I'd end up working for a company in this industry, but I must say I'm excited. It's a lot of the same skills that I use now, though in a different capacity, and everyone I met, (7 people were included in the interview) was so warm and welcoming. They each had nothing but good things to say about eachother and the company itself which was very nice to hear. Though I won't exactly be using my $120,000 degree, this new position has better, and much cheaper health insurance than what Justin and I have now, and it's in Sherwood, which will cut my drive time to approximately 20 minutes. Yay for sleeping in a little bit longer :) I also cannot complain about being able to wear flip flops and the 8am-4:30pm with rare overtime. At least I know I won't have to worry about missing daycare pickup or not being home for dinner with no notice in the years to come when we decide to expand our family. At one point, I didn't even think I would make it 6 months at my current job, and I did. Then I didn't think I would make it a year, and I did. I have found that I am much stronger than I thought I was, which is a good thing. I think this will be a good move for me personally, and for Justin and I, but I know it will be hard... I just hope that when this is all said and done, I will enjoy this position and overall be a bit happier with life in general.

Moving Day

2009-06-26T22:47:00.001-07:00

Well the day has come, we're finally moving! We picked up our keys to the new house on Wednesday evening and will be moving in this weekend! Once we got the keys, we took a small truck load of stuff to the new house and sat in the living room with both our parents and Justin's sister Kristen eating pizza and drinking champagne... classy right? Hey, it works :) I was so thankful to walk into the house and see that the sellers had cleaned it for us, re-keyed the locks, and left the hot tub chemicals/hoses we'll need for maintenance. Though we never met them, the sellers seem like very nice people and they left us such a nice note! I'm sure at some point we may run into them because they only moved a couple blocks away. We took the dogs with us to let them check the place out a bit. They loved the huge backard! It's like a dog park compared the the tiny yard we have now. We quickly found that our neighbors have dogs too - so far we've seen a german shepard, a husky, and some small yappy thing, maybe a chihuaua? For the most part, they other dogs don't seem to care one bit about our two, but Ruby and Harley barked continuously at them. I hope this isn't going to be a regular occurance otherwise the neighbors will hate us before we've even met them. The sellers also left a garden that has strawberries coming in and is full of herbs and beans so we don't have to start from scratch! I'm so excited to get moved in, unpacked, and have the house set up. We'll be a little behind since the shipment of our refrigerator and the washer & dryer is being delayed until Wednesday since the fridge was damaged in transit, and our new dining set has to be shipped from California... Comcast better show up tomorrow as scheduled since everything else has fallen through at the last minute. Once we're settled I'm sure they'll be pictures to come and a housewarming party too :)

Officially Homeowners!

2009-05-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

The day has finally come... no more waiting! We are officially homeowners! We found out this afternoon and have literally been bouncing off the walls since :) This is a huge event in our lives and to be honest I never thought we'd be homeowners this young! We should close by the end of June and I can't wait to move in and make the home ours. Here are the pictures again if you're interested. We'll be having a little get together once we get settled I'm sure so stay posted. Now it's time to start packing... :)

Sale Pending...

2009-05-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well... we bought a house... kind of...
Last week, we had our offer accepted on a wonderful home in Newberg. The catch is that the sale is contingent on the sellers having their offer accepted on a short sale home. So as soon as they have their offer accepted, then we are officially homeowners! It's hard not to get excited, and we definitely are, but the reality is this deal could fall through and we'd be right back where we started. The short sale process takes much longer than a normal sale as the bank is the determining factor on which offer is accepted and which offers aren't - it is not up to the seller. The house is much smaller than what I originally had wanted (around 1400 sq ft), but it's got a very open floor plan downstairs which makes it feel larger. There is also area upstairs to expand the master bedroom and bathroom which I am not at all disappointed about :) It's 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, has a fantastic yard with a built in hot tub in the deck, granite countertops in the kitchen, hardwood floors, etc. I definitely would like to do a few cosmetic updates, but overall it's super cute and a great starter home! Here are some pictures... Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Celebration for Mom!

2009-05-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day is always a great day in my family. I have a wonderful mom who truly is one of my best friends, and I am also lucky enough to have an awesome mother in law! It is so nice to have a family where everyone gets along and genuinely enjoys spending time together. On Sunday, we went and had brunch at Willamette Valley Vineyards, a beautiful winery outside of Salem. There were eight of us (myself, Justin, my parents, my grandmother, my brother, his girlfriend, and my cousin Cameron). The brunch was amazing and we definitely had our fair share of mimosa's while talking, laughing, and reminiscing about the past. Once we left there, we took a little detour over to South Salem and drove by my old house and the old elementary school my mom worked at and my brother and I attended until we were eight and nine years old. The house looked quite a bit different, mainly because it had been painted and the metal sidewalk railing up to the front door had finally been removed. It still had the same plum trees that covered our sidewalks every year and even the same green bushes under the front window. While at Schirle Elementary, we found the brick with the Bonser Family name plate which was kind of cool to see after all these years. I'm actually surprised it was still there because about half of them were missing. After we got back, we went over to Justin's parents house to cook a big salmon dinner for his mom who had to work all day at the hospital. Justin's sister and her boyfriend were there and we had a great time cooking and chatting! I am so lucky to have two amazing women to look up to and call Mom and can't wait to be a mother one day myself!

Update on the house hunt...

2009-05-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we've yet to become homeowners even though we've seen about 35 or so homes now. This whole process is so incredibly stressful and it doesn't help that I often get too excited too quickly when I find a house I like (I'm much more picky than Justin is). Week before last, we put in an offer on a home in Sherwood right down the road from the house we're renting right now. It was perfect - moderately sized starter home (1400 sq ft.), great floor plan, nice neighborhood, and an awesome back yard. We both loved it and thought our search was over when we found out we were bidding against two other offers :( Push came to shove and our counter offer (which was better than the people who got the house) became subject to circumstances out of our control. The owners of the home had already extended a counter offer to another family who ended up signing the deal and we didn't get a chance to put in a counter offer. I was pretty upset the rest of the day when we found out, but I guess it just means that our home is still out there waiting for us. Nothing new really has come on the market in the last few days, at least nothing I am really eager to go look at. I always thought buying a house in this economy would be fairly easy since it seemed every street I passed had tons of for sale signs lining the sidewalks, but now that I'm actually looking for a home, it's much more difficult than I thought. Our search continues...

Fun in the SUN!

2009-04-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

Let me first say that the weather this last weekend was incredibly beautiful and a wonderful contrast to the rain we've seen in the previous months! Justin and I spent the weekend in Bend for a friend of mine's wedding and we got to see Justin's uncle as well. We drove down Friday night without any real trouble over the pass but we did take the truck instead of my little car. I spent all day Saturday with the girls and participated in Bachelorette festivies and wedding set up while Justin went fishing with his uncle and his sisters boyfriend Joey who was in Bend visiting his siblings. Justin was dissappointed as they only caught one very small fish which didn't come close to the 23in trout he caught a couple weeks ago. Sunday was the day of the wedding and I couldn't be more excited for my friend Sandy! She looked so beautiful and happy and I'm sure she's having just an awful time in Puerto Vallarta on her honeymoon... yeah right! I'm not jealous at all though... :) On our way home Monday, we stopped at Mt. Hood to ski for the day. The weather was awesome! Sunshine, 65 degrees, no wind, nothing but clear blue sky. We didn't even need hats or gloves! This was only my second time skiing ever, and the first time in 5 years so I started out a bit rusty, but by the end of the day I was doing pretty well. I mostly stayed on the bunny slopes but I did wipe out a few times and almost took a lady out. If you saw Justin and I right now, you'd just laugh. The tops of our hands are sunburnt, and we both have some interesting red shapes on our faces and necks where we obviously didn't have enough sunscreen in place. Someone at work told me today that I look like a cancer patient? Gee, thanks Carly...
All in all, it was a fabulous weekend and it was so nice to get out of town for a bit. The only thing that could have made the weekend more perfect was if we could have brought the dogs with us because we missed them tremendously!

TWILIGHT!

2009-03-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a Twilight screening party hosted by my friend Kirstan from work. The DVD was released on Friday at midnight and after reading the book, I was really excited to go since I had yet to see the movie. It definitely met my expectations, but I tend to like the books better than the movie re-makes. Kirstan went all out and had the Twilight movie soundtrack playing while we ate and even had a movie poster slide show playing on her digital picture frame! I went out and bought the movie today, and will likely drive Justin nuts by watching it continuously because he has hates the Twilight craze. He will not let me forget that I went to a "vampire party" and was actually thrilled about it. At the party we had mushroom ravioli (what Bella orders at the restaurant in Port Angeles), vampire punch, Coke (Bella's drink of choice), and I made vampire cupcakes after I googled "vampire themed food" on the Internet and found the recipe. It was super easy, and the cupcakes definitely added a creative touch to our Twilight themed evening. I didn't exactly follow the recipe - I cheated and used pre-packaged box cake, filling, and frosting - but if you're interested, here's how I made them:

1 box of white cake

1 can of cherry pie filling (you will need to puree in a food processor)

1 container of white frosting

1 bottle of red food coloring
1 package of cupcake baking cups

After the cupcakes have baked and cooled, take a knife and cut out a cone shape from the top of the cupcakes (be sure not to cut all the way to the baking liner) and then cut the pointed edge off the cones leaving thin circles of cake. These will become the toppers. Spoon the pureed cherry pie filling into the cupcake and place the cake topper over the hole. Frost the cupcakes (try not to smear the cherry pie filling and turn the frosting pink) and then take a toothpick and dip into the bottle of red food coloring. Once the toothpick is dipped, make fang marks by poking the toothpick into the cupcake with holes side by side about 1/2 inch apart. Then, use the toothpick to drip food coloring from the holes to look like dripping blood.
This is a fun, easy, and delicious treat that would also be great for Halloween! Enjoy!

It's been awhile...

2009-03-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, I'm worse at keeping our blog updated than I thought I was going to be! Many apologies! Bear with me though, because Justin has already said he wants nothing to do with this.

Not too much has gone on really since my last posting... all of our big plans are coming up this summer, but here's the last month and half in a nutshell...
February: I co-hosted a bridal shower for a good friend of mine who is getting married in April. It was pretty fun and a great excuse to take a day off work to prepare! I wasn't sure I would be able to get 25 people in our house, but it really wasn't too bad. We all had a good time, eating, drinking, and congratulating the beautiful bride to be. We'll be traveling to Bend for the wedding in a couple weeks, during which we'll also get to see Justin's uncle who lives there as we're planning on staying at his house for the weekend.
For Christmas, Justin's parents got him and I, and Justin's sister Kristen and her boyfriend Joey tickets to the Brad Paisley concert so we attended that last month as well. It was an awesome show and we had a blast, as well as great seats! We took the MAX and started out at Rock Bottom for dinner and drinks, and then proceeded to the Rose Garden to watch Crystal Shawanda and Dierks Bentley perform before Brad Paisley came on stage! Though I've seen Brad Paisley perform before, his entertaining abilities still amazed me as it seemed everyone in the crowd was singing and dancing all night. There was also a surprise guest... Allison Krauss! She appeared in a spotlight during her part of "Whiskey Lullaby" which only excited the audience even more! I love concerts!

March: Sometimes I wonder how it's already March! This year has just flown by thus far for us! Last night, we had dinner and drinks at Applebees with Holly and Sever, and our friend Werner from college, then went to our friend Jessica's house for a St. Patrick's Day party. It was fun as always and Justin gets to catch up with some people he used to work with at GI Joes.
Coming up in a couple weeks is Justin's 24th birthday! He threw me a surprise birthday party in January so I really want to do something fun for him! Anyone have any ideas? Since it's on a Thursday, we'll likely have to celebrate on Friday the 27th, but either way, it will be fun I'm sure!
With the weather beginning to get better, we've been taking every opportunity to take our dogs to the dog park! They have so much fun running around with the other dogs and we constantly find ourselves laughing with other dog owners about the shenanigans we witness. We always go to the same dog park by Lakeridge high school in Lake Oswego, so we often run into the same people with their dogs. We haven't had any problems at this park and for the most part, everyone is really responsible for their pets in regards to rough play, doggie doo pick up, etc. Dog park = Bath time when we get home because our dogs come home looking like they've rolled in a mud bowl.

The biggest news we have to share is that we're looking to buy a house in the next couple months! YAY!! With the stimulus package that President Obama has passed and so many homes going into foreclosure there are some really great deals out there for first time home buyers. It really is sad what some people are going through right now financially, but this could be the opportunity of a lifetime for us and we're so excited! We've been working with a real estate agent (who also happens to be our landlord and the father of a friend of ours from high school) and looking at houses for the last two weeks. Let me tell you though, this is a stressful process. I can't image going through this in a time crunch - I'd go nuts! Ideally, we'd like to stay in Sherwood, but we've looked at a few homes in Newberg as well. We would have to get a really smoking deal on a great house to leave Sherwood. We love it here and the education system would be much better for our future children as well since we'll likely live in this house for 10 years (give or take). Justin and I are finding that we have very different ideas of what our future home will look like but there is one house in particular that we both love... we're just not sure if we've seen enough houses to put in an offer on one. We'll just have to see how it goes!

Oregon Zoo

2009-02-06T23:29:00.001-08:00

On our anniversary, Justin and I both took a much needed day off work. We weren't really sure what we wanted to do, but it was such a beautiful day out we knew we wanted to be outdoors. We thought about going on a short hike or just taking the dogs to the dog park and then Justin had this idea of going to the zoo. Neither of us had been to the zoo in at least 10 years so it was actually pretty fun. It was a little chilly, but the sun was shining and most of the animals were out and about. We toured the entire zoo and saw the baby elephant sleeping, the chimpanzee's running around hooting and hollering, causing all sorts of commotion and of course we spent a fair amount of time in the Pacific Shores exhibit with the polar bears. There is construction going on right now for two new exhibits, one opening this summer and one in the fall, so I'm sure we'll be going back to see what they've done. Check out some pictures of our visit!

Celebrating One Year!!

2009-02-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

As of tomorrow, Feb 3rd, Justin and I will have been married for an entire year! It is crazy to think how much time has gone by as it seems like just a few months ago we were planning for the big day and anticiapting our trip to Jamaica. The first year was wonderful, but it was definitely a learning experience! We are alike and different in many ways, but compliment each other so well - most of the time! Not much has changed in the last year... we still live in Sherwood with our two dogs, still work at the same jobs, and are very excited to see what the future holds for us!

First Blog Post!

2009-01-25T18:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like we've entered the world of blogging! This should be interesting...