Mother's Day In Redmond

For Mother's Day this year we took my mom and grandma wine tasting. we paid my little bro to drive my parents new 12passenger van. it was a blast but sadly I forgot my camera...STUPID! The Eugene vineyards are gorgeous. My favorite was Sweet Cheeks...thanks Heather for the recommendation.

For Phil's mom we wanted to take her out to Cowboy dinner tree in eastern oregon where they were staying but unfortunately Nancy and the kids got sick so we didn't meet up with them. We did however spend some time with the Heidrick's and the Roes.

I had to post this photo because its so cute. Falling asleep together on the couch like little boys and sleeping on their food.... ha ha ha.

We spent a lot of time hanging out at the Heidrick's new place and of course the cafe. It was fun to be around for Heather's first weekend of work and witness the Cafe have a record busy day!


One night we went to Bend for a movie and some sweet video gaming...Don't ya just love Phil's outfit?!
We did get an afternoon hike in at Smith Rock. We hiked misery ridge and it was good/hard/nice/windy. While Bre and Phil ran down the entrance hill Jim and I did some sight seeing...

This series of photos make me laugh. Jim and I running to catchup with Phil and Bre....



The hike was very steep. I was huffin and puffin but so happy we did it.

It was a creepy looking down because the trail is so steep and narrow.

Bre was our MVP and pace setter.
Sweet view from the top. It started raining once we reached the top so we had to hurry down.

oh Jim...


Thanks for the great weekend. I wish I had more pictures!

April Happened

Back to blog catching up. Scrolling through my April photos there are a few things worth mentioning!

Delicious spring salads! Ruby has taught me you always need some kind of fresh fruit, some kind of dried fruit, a nut, a cheese, a few veggies and a meat/tofu/avocado. Perfect salad every time. We've been extra lucky to have fresh greens from the garden!Beka had a birthday it was fun girls night and I guess I forgot to take pictures of the guests when they arrived. :) Ruby and I got there early to decorate!
as always lots of slumber parties with Emma. She loves "yewis"
I'm so happy that Ruby works at purple moon. I visited her a lot in the mornings and the days I didnt she brought me coffee after her shift. (I always paid for it of course.)
We cannot forget about the spring chinook that Lewis caught and the fillets that Ruby's dad gave us. Oh my....definitely one of the best things about spring!!

Lots of fun things happened in April I of course was on a blogging hiatus which means I also didnt take pictures. Easter happened, Jaimie's Birthday happened (Heather I want more risotto!)Pete's 30th was awesome, Jeff H.'s graduation party was fun, Jim's welcome home from Iraq was even better!

Fifty and Fabulous

Before I can start blogging my "Summer in the City" I need to catch up on a few very important events.
P
March 16th my mommy turned 50! We had an amazing 3day celebration.

I kept each phase of the weekend a surprise. The weekend before her birthday we shopped for a "couple" birthday outfits,(turns out my mom and I have similar shopping habbits :)).

Phase 1 started with a detailed packing list and instructions for my mom to come directly to my house after work on Friday. Decorated my bedroom as a birthday guest suite including her favorite chocolate and wine and of course a few 50yrs-old gag gifts.

First event on Friday was to go get coffee and shop at Border's for books for top secret Phase 2.
After shopping we went home and got gussied up for a girls night on the town. First we went to Fireworks for cocktails and dinner.

Fireworks has the best firecooked pizza and I love their raspberry lemondrops.After dinner we went to Bar 101 for dessert.
Everyone needs their own giant cookie on their birthday.

After dessert we went home and had popcorn and watched Julie and Julia...perfect movie for my mom. Then to bed for a big day Saturday!

Save Now

Saturday morning we woke up early and went to Sam's Station for breakfast. I really needed my mom to taste their AMAZING shirred eggs. You need to try them if you havent.

After breakfast we went to yoga at my gym. It was my mom's first experience and she LOVED it. Too bad Lebanon, where she lives, doesnt have yoga. She was so energized and happy afterward.

After yoga I gave her a card to let her know that she is "Fifty and Fabulous so lets go get beautified!"

We had prepacked bags with our previously purchased books and went to Epic Day Spa(prev: 7 Stones)

First off we lounged in the steam room and relaxed in the viche showers.

After that we lounged some more in the sanctuary while we waited for our facials.

After that we had spa lunch and wine.
After lunch mom had a manicure.
We both got pedicures.
She'll kill me for posting this but its all apart of the transformation! ha ha ha. She got a cut, color and style. Coloring takes soooooooo long! We read our books and I napped in the sanctuary. We also drank more wine...
Final touch, a makeup application. Look at that hair!
7hrs at the spa... I seriously could do that everyday of the week!
After the spa we went home to put on our new dresses for dinner.
Isnt she beautiful. If you dont know my mom she is sweatshirt, jeans and nike's kinda gal.
I was so proud of my mom for buying these heals! I carried backup flats in my purse just in case :)
Speaking of hot....check out my Grandma!!!
My parents were so giggly and like teenagers all night. My mom was just glowing. My goal to make her feel special was exceeded.

We had reservations at Terzo. My Aunt and Uncle flew up from LA, she was SO surprised.

My brother Joel and his gorgeous girl, Ana,(not so sure how he tricked her into liking him?!)
Tonya, my brother Tracy's girlfriend. After dinner at Terzo we went to Cloud 9 for drinks and music.
Baby Kenny. He's so cute. Not sure how he got into the bar?!
The "adult table". Clockwise. My mom, Uncle Bob and his wife Aunt Angie, Uncle Ken's wife Aunt Heather, my weird Dad, and my Uncle Ken from LA.
My guy. I loved my hair. It took me a while to figure out how to make a curl pile on the side of my head....so spanish senorita!
Sunday we all headed to Lebanon for brunch at my Uncle Bob's.

Aunt Angie made an amazing spread!

Memosas


fruit scewers, sausage egg crustless quiche muffins, blueberry sourcream pancakes, pulled pork tacos.I ate it all and then some!
After brunch we walked around the Tyler Hill area. I love these guys!
So happy to spend time with the Californians. Tyler Hill area is so pretty.

Wrapping up the weekend.
I had an amazing weekend with my mama. I love you so much!! Happy 50th!

Phew...

I've been in Lebanon for the last week house sitting for my Uncle and I have had a CRAZY craving for American Dream Pizza. The main reason I want is obviously because it is soooooooo good. The 2nd reason is because I can't have it, its too far away. I know there will be lots of good, maybe even better pizza places in Portland but there is nothing quite like the flavors of home. I just remembered there is a Portland American Dream and I looked up the address and it will actually be closer to my Portland apartment (1.4mi) than Corvallis Dream was to my house(4.5mi)!
Turns out the original American Dream Pizza opened in NE Portland in 1985. Cool fact everyone!

The Countdown

It is my goal to update this blog before we move(June 4th-ish)!
Maybe I'll do it this week??


I've been so behind in blogging and for some reason I stopped taking pictures... we've done a lot a fun stuff March, April and May... darn.

Phil got assigned to Vancouver, Wa for his summer internship and I luckily convinced Phil it will be super fun to live in a busy, trendy Portland neighborhood instead of the Couv. I'm excited to explore the "big city"... this might be my only chance to be a "city girl". I've accepted the fact that I married a country lovin' man.
Out of all the exciting options, Hawaii, Alaska, San Diego, L.A, Seattle....Vancouver might seem like the "most boring". I still think Phil is a little disappointed but I couldn't be more thrilled.

Reasons:
-I kept crying when I would be reminded I was leaving my friends and family for 3-4mos. I'm such a baby. I LOVE our Dox Community! I think it is special and unique. Corvallis is where I want to start our family...when I'm 28yrs.....maybe.... So I'm happy to be driving distance to home.

-Hey, I love Portland. I've lived in Oregon my whole life and I don't know Portland very well. I know its the closest city out of all the options but its still a really cool city that has SO MUCH to do in the summer.

-It also makes sense to do your internship where you want to get hired. I would be pretty sad if Phil got sent to then hired out of Hawaii or Alaska(obviously we'd take any job he can get). Vancouver is the closest Kiewit location to home so I'm happy he can get to know the managers in this office and PRAY for open doors.

-Low stress moving. It was way less stressful to find a place to live. We got to go up to Portland, drive around neighborhoods, view different apartments and talk to different landlords before committing to a place. Phil and I are keeping our Corvallis home(Ru and Lew will still be there) and bringing minimal items. It will be nice to move gradually over 2 weeks. If we forget something we can just go home and get it. Moving is going to be soooooooo easy.

-I get to connect with old friends! 2 of my LIFE BEST FRIENDS, Angie and Tiff, live in Portland. Girls I love and miss and are super excited to spend more time with. Our place is only a few blocks from Tiff's, YAY! It is a HUGE bummer Randy, Kayla and the babe moved to San Fran a few months too soon. I'll have to go to our favorite Pho spot in memory of them.


OK. I've got some March posts to catch up on. Bye.

what!
its almost May
which means its almost June
which means I need to start spring cleaning and organizing to get ready for
our move!
I move in 8wks!
dont know where yet
but I'm moving away for the summer.
wow