Signs You Have Lost Your Mind....

#341 - It's um, 3:30 pm and I just realized I don't have any mascara on........and I am at work. Totally was supposed to do that BEFORE I entered the building... Do you think if I put it on now, no one will notice that I DIDN'T HAVE EYES for half the day?!

Most Definitely a NEED....

Queen size, espresso, from West Elm. In hopes that if I get this, and can swiftly tuck in the corners, -"hospital style" always - my house, and therefore my life, will blissfully return to a clean and orderly state. No more stray down feathers floating into the air, as if they too are trying to escape, when I unceremoniously plop myself into bed each night (and let's face it, sometimes to bed each afternoon...). I do believe this will solve all my problems.......

Pet Peeve: Correction Tape

What's up with correction tape? Why is it that we can send men to the moon, but we haven't been able to come up with any kind of white out tool that WORKS!?! Your first option is liquid white out, which looks like you've smeared cottage cheese all over your document. The second is that silly white out tape, that never ACTUALLY comes out nice and neat the way it does on tv. Most of the time you can cover up half of what you need to, while the tape bubbles up, or rips, making it necessary to continually go over it until you've got 10 different strips trying to cover 3 words. By this point you might as well reprint, or risk looking like you've outsourced all your "document cleaning" duties to a three year old.

High-Brow Fashion Statement

Upon arriving home from Utah, Cabe went and picked up our mutt (he would have me correct myself by saying that "mutt" is a "loving nickname" I have given him, and that he is, in fact, a pure bred Australian Shepherd. I would correct him and say that "loving nickname" is pushing it....) and found the dog beside himself with excitement...and limping. At first we figured he'd just strained something, he had acted this same way nearly a year ago, and within a day or so had returned to normal. We couldn't pick out if it was a limb, or even his back, until a few days later. He went from carefully placing each paw, to favoring his front right. He didn't do much during the day but sleep, more so than he normally does when he comes home from being boarded. The first night he was so completely out, I had to poke, prod, nudge, call his name and finally shake him to wake him up....this is all I got.

We came home from dinner Saturday night, and found his paw swollen - so much so, that it nearly looked fake. We decided he'd probably broken a toe or something, and we'd take him in on Monday. Albany isn't exactly a metropolis, the nearest emergency vet was in Corvallis, 30 minutes away. However, when we came home from church on Sunday we found he'd already performed surgery on himself - there was a quarter sized HOLE in between his toes, and his entire paw was wet from either him licking it, or....(shudder) pus. Caleb of course FREAKED out, neither of us had any idea what the hole was doing there, so we dragged him to the car and raced out to the vet, expecting the worst. Thankfully, nothing was broken, he apparently had a Foxtail burrowed in between his toes. Normally this requires surgery, so for once I was grateful (as was my wallet) that I have an OCD dog, who licks every inch of himself 100 times a day to make his coat shine. We were given an entire pharmacy of drugs to give him (twice daily might I add) and my personal favorite, an E-collar. Short for Elizabethan, which is so totally appropriate. He was utterly humiliated to have to wear such high fashion, and immediately began shoving his now hugely-inflated head into walls, floors, our legs etc. It was absolutely, positively, the most hilarious thing I have seen in a long time. It took him quite a while to figure out that his relatively puny head was now the length of a Greyhound's, and needed assistance climbing stairs and rounding corners.

After moping a bit

He decided the best way to deal with it, would be to act as if it wasn't there.

Would you mind? There's nothing to see here......

Yo-ho,Yo-ho a pirate's life for me......

Have you seen my boyfriend? I went and saw his movie this last weekend......

What is it about men and eyeliner? How do they manage to pull it off and still be so masculine.....and sexy?!? I've struggled to put into words why Johnny Depp is so attractive as a pirate. He's dirty, no doubt smelly, dishonest, has facial hair, which I've never preferred, (no offense to those sporting the mustaches, beards, and soul patch or whatever - just not my personal "thing"... too itchy) and seems to run around with as many women as possible. Not your typical "must-have" qualities in a man. There's something appealing though, and surprisingly a lot of women agree. Maybe his character appeals to the "bad-girl" in all of us - or maybe it's the adventure that always seems to follow him. Whatever it is, it's there, and is probably a large part of the reason that the movie is doing so well. I highly reccomend it, though not to all the kiddies out there, as it's a bit scarier than the first. Oh, and make sure and pee beforehand - it's nearly 3 hours long. You wouldn't want to miss any telling details, as the end of the movie leaves you hanging.........and so we wait to find out what happens, until next Memorial Day.

Fruit of my labors.......

Most people that know me are well aquainted with the fact that I am a little less than thrilled to be living in Oregon. However, during the summer time Oregon attempts to redeem itself for the months and MONTHS (did I mention months?!?!?) of rain we get by producing the largest, most delicious fruit known to man. My favorite thing is to go to a "U-Pick" which is exactly what it sounds like. A large farm where a family has planted enough blueberries, or strawberries, or raspberries, or marionberries, or cherries, or apples......I could go on.....or sometimes a combination of any of these, that they simply can't eat them all. They then put up a big sign, and the public is welcome to come pick their fruit for a miniscule fee. Last summer I spent an hour or so picking blueberries for the first time in my life. I absolutely LOVE blueberries, and probably could have continued to pick all day long. When I first arrived, several containers in tow, I was told that they had five different kinds of blueberries. FIVE!!! They let me taste them all, and then directed me to the areas that contained those varieties. I picked four pounds all by myself. Four POUNDS of blueberries cost me $4.00. I don't even want to think about how much this same amount would have cost me at Safeway. The thought makes me giddy though.......
We just picked raspberries last week, and it was $1.00 / lb. I believe we brought home 5 or 6 lbs of fruit between three of us, which somehow, has nearly disappeared. Partly because well, we eat them, and partly because I made jam for the first time. Easy "freezer" jam, but wonderful nonetheless. You see, I am a self - confessed jam snob. I only eat homemade. So here it is - my first jam product. First of many I believe....I enjoy jamming.........

Flaws in my fabric

I recently read a quote from a book on Oprah's Summer Reading list. I know what you're thinking, and yes, I am one of those people - I watch her show, I applaud her charitable deeds, however I do not believe that every word that falls from her mouth is scripture (scripted sometimes?). That said, she does have a wonderful list of books. The book is "Lost Hearts in Italy" by Andrea Lee. I haven't read it so I can't endorse it, but this quote rung true with me.

"...we always belong forever to people who have hurt us badly, or been badly hurt by us."

I know this may not be true for everyone, but I know it is for myself, and have discussed this idea with several friends who have all hurt, or been hurt by someone at one time. I think initially you might think of this "someone" as just being a past significant other, but I think it can also apply to friends and family as well. I think this is especially true if the hurt is something that ends up changing your thinking, or perhaps even your life's direction. Little misunderstandings and arguments are forgiven and forgotten, but when something happens that truly affects us, it may be forgiven but is not forgotten. I think that is why we "belong" to those people. Their actions or words become woven into the fabric of our past and as I have found, un-picking what has been sewn can be a long and difficult process. Sometimes leaving the "flaw" is easier than unraveling the entire fabric and we are left to learn to overlook it, and perhaps one day learn from it.

I started high school with a lot of excitement, fear, and hope. I had made it through junior high alive, despite the humiliating and oft times tumultuous years of early adolescence. The changes in my body, the braces, the pimples... I had mastered these and I was determined to prove to myself that I was worth something. I had made our high school's dance team, and was sure that this would give me an "in". It wasn't more than a few days into the first week when I developed a crush on a boy in my English class. He was a sophomore officer, funny, and seemed to be friends with everyone, the life of the party. Obviously way out of my league. Much to my surprise however, I found he liked me as well, and we started "going out" (ah, high school terms....). I had never had a boyfriend, never had a boy LIKE me before, so you can bet I was on cloud nine. He introduced me to the popular world - parties, dances, and (gasp!) my first kiss. It was all so new to me, and I was soaking it in. People would tell me that he bragged about dating me. It seemed things were perfect - he was kind, considerate, funny, and (here comes another high school term) HOT - until one day when we didn't see each other. He didn't call that day...or the next....or the next. I finally mustered up the courage to call him and ask him what was going on, and a giggling girl answered the phone. I immediately knew something was up, but when I talked to him he said things were fine, he was just really busy. Naively I believed him. A few days later however, my best friend told me in the girl's locker room, while applying her mascara, that he simply "didn't have time for a girlfriend right now". I was devastated. All that went through my mind was that obviously I wasn't good enough. He must have discovered I wasn't as popular as he had first thought. I think the worst part was that I hadn't seen it coming. Of course looking back, I realized that we really didn't have a relationship - more your average high school fling really. It lasted two months and I barely knew a thing about him. I can see and understand that now, but at the time it was all because of me. I dealt with it the only way I knew how, to put on a brave uncaring face, and let it fester inside. I went about reassuring myself that I was worth something by becoming a fabulous flirt. Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette became the soundtrack to my angry-girl look on life. To make matters worse, somewhere in the midst of starting high school and making the dance team, I began watching what I ate and soon just stopped eating altogether. Of course being dumped only added fuel to the fire, and I began a long journey down the road of deprivation, self hatred, and control.

I am now happily married, and in a much better state of mind. He and I eventually became friends, and wrote many letters to each other while he was on a mission for my church and I was in Australia. So while I have forgiven him, those events were a major turning point in my life, and cannot be erased. They are a flaw in my quilt, and therefore cannot be forgotten. I still care about him, he was a good friend, and will always hold a place in my heart, or "belong to me". I think that for some people this could be a weakness, but for me, it is not. I think because of this whole experience I am a stronger person. Someday I will have children of my own and it is my goal to empower them with the knowledge that their self worth isn't measured by who they are dating, or how popular they are.

Lucy Mae

Isn't she pretty? Again, there must be something in the water, because EVERYONE I KNOW is having a baby!! Congrats Rob and Lindsey!

My, your eggs smell lovely today!

It's been a while since I posted something regarding scientific studies. I came upon this one today, and felt it HAD to be blogged about....

So apparently some researchers have discovered that sperm can smell. They actually have "features that are similar to the human nose". I had always wondered how in the world sperm knew where to go, but the thought that they can smell had never crossed my mind. They actually have olfactory receptor proteins (like those in your nose, for the lay-person...) with little "sniffers" as they call them, on the outside that can smell "ovarian scents". My eggs have their own perfume?!?!? We should bottle the stuff! Sell it to all the single ladies out there. I'd call it "Heat"..... My favorite part of the article was the opening line - "Like a man who whips his head around to follow a whiff of perfume, sperm cells turn their heads when they detect even the faintest of sexy female scents". They suggested that they can smell these ovarian scents even when they are diluted 100,000 times! That's a pretty good sniffer I'd say. So basically these sperm are mindin' their own business, when they suddenly detect - GASP - "Is that FEMALE I smell!??!" and off they go, headed toward this lovely odor, an unsuspecting, completely oblivious egg. Little does she know she's the cause of such a stampede. Researchers also discovered that sperm virility declines as men get older, and they suggest that just as our sense of smell diminishes as we get older, that sperm's sensitivity to smell declines as well. The scientists haven't discovered exactly WHAT chemicals are producing these scents, but you can best believe they are trying (I'm sure all the men are REALLY interested...). What do you want to bet that some idiot out there starts marketing pills to change the scent? Plumeria, Freesia, White Tea and Ginger....Though I DO wonder if this could turn into some kind of new birth control. Just change the scent of the egg, and the sperm won't know where to go. I also wonder if these findings could help with certain types of male infertility. Maybe some men's sperm sniffers are broken! Similarly, if a woman's egg wasn't producing these chemicals, they could bottle the scent, inject it somehow in the woman's egg, and then the sperm could find it. OH THE POSSIBILITIES!!!!

Little Georgia Noel

I am a sucker for babies with binkies. The baby fever is RAGING...... Congrats Katie and Josh! She is beautiful!

Separation Anxiety

The second Caleb leaves the house this is where Bear is, keeping a silent vigil until he returns home again.



The wet nose marks turn the glass a sickly opaque color. Thank you Windex, for always keeping me sane.

3 weeks, 1 day....

Until I get to see THIS adorable little girl.........

It makes my heart hurt, and my birth control seem SO much less appealing........

My Own Wringer....

By about 10 pm last night I was thinking to myself, "This has been a pretty fabulous day" - work went by fairly quickly, (which is always a plus when you can hardly stand your job), Caleb had actually WANTED to go to the gym.... We have a goal to hit the gym at least 4 or 5 days a week, but Caleb isn't exactly a "gym rat". I usually have to bribe him with cookies or something to get him there, and then he realizes it's not so bad. He's now getting to the point that he likes it, which makes going a lot more fun. After we returned our sweat-drenched bodies home, Caleb surprised me by pulling out some salmon he'd already prepped with this fabulous rub he found - seriously, it's amazing, and this coming from someone who used to swear off all seafood. Add some lovely homemade potato wedges and carrots, and we had ourselves a wonderful healthy meal. I was getting ready for bed after a hot shower, when Caleb suggested we settle into bed and watch a movie we'd rented, "The Ringer". It's the one with Johnny Knoxville, where he pretends to be handicapped? He'd seen it, and thought it was hilarious, and I'd heard from a few others (Liz!) that it was as well, so I agreed - what a lovely way to end the day, cuddling up with Cabe to watch a funny movie. Little did I know that I would endure the most painful hour and a half of my life. I didn't say much during the movie, as I was desperately trying to fall asleep - but after the bloodshed was over, I had to know, why in the WORLD Caleb would put himself through something that horrendous not once, but TWICE?!?! I have a small list going of the worst movies ever made ("League of Extraordinary Gentleman" and "Mr. Deeds" anyone?!?!), and this one definitely lands near the top. I am sure the movie-making process is a lot more complicated than I can even imagine, but I often wonder how it is that something like this can get a stamp of approval from enough people that it actually makes it to the big screen. Not to mention all the money that some poor fool gave to make it possible. It was your typical B rated film - a horribly far-fetched plot, which moves along quickly without a whole lot of explanation, cheesy lines and predictability. I always wonder if the actors themselves know it's a "B" movie. I would hope that I would realize, but I guess one never knows. One lingering thought on my mind though, is whether this is supposed to be considered a step up, or step down for Johnny Knoxville....

Thankfully our trip to Blockbuster wasn't a total bust - we also rented "The Producers" which I enjoyed thoroughly. I laughed so hard I skipped my ab workout for the day.

If the world were perfect....

He would be mine.....

...and my bra would cease to squeak like an old woman's hips. It is REALLY time to part ways with the thing, as good as it has been to me. Victoria's Secret Sale anyone? I'm sure she's having one....

Mom's Day

Appropriately, I've been thinking a lot about my mother lately. For a lot of reasons, and yes, one of them being it was Mother's Day this last Sunday. I also had to give a talk in church about mothers, and in preparing for my talk I did a lot of researching and reading, and of course, thinking about how great my own mother is. I was thinking about how ironic it is that we don't fully appreciate our mothers until we get married and move out. Of course you love them, and are grateful for all the things they do for you on a daily basis, but you don't realize the incredible sacrifices they must have made for you, most likely without you even knowing. When I was little, I took for granted that dinner was always on the table, and my clothes magically reappeared in my closet, clean once again. I figured my mom had it easy - what'd she do all day while I was busy with IMPORTANT stuff, like school? I'd leave in the morning, dishes in the sink, scattered paper, toys, books lying around, and come home to a clean house, with my mom calmly preparing dinner. I probably figured she sat around most of the day enjoying the sun and reading magazines. Hopefully she DID do that, but I know that most of the time she was busy keeping the house from falling apart. When I got married and we moved up here, I couldn't find a job for several months. You'd think, and I definitely thought at FIRST, that I would have hours of time to relax, paint my toenails and get a tan. I quickly realized however, that keeping a house running smoothly took a lot a work! That no matter how well you cleaned it, it was always going to get dirty again, and no matter how well you kept up with the laundry, in a few short hours there'd be more. Perhaps I'm a little OCD, but I remember actually being UPSET when I'd look in the dirty clothes basket and find a sock or two - are you kidding me??!? I just spent 3 hours doing laundry!!!! And vacuum lines - haven't kicked that habit yet. I am OBSESSED about vacuum lines. If the world were perfect, no one would walk on the carpet for at LEAST 24 hours after it's been cleaned because dang it, I spent at least 10 minutes vacuuming and there's nothing to show for it if the dog tries to make his way to his water bowl from the corner I've put him in (the dog drinks more than humanly, or I guess I should say canine-ly possible). He knows I like vacuum lines, and he LOVES to mess them up - or so it seems. Anyway, I digress...mothers...right. I guess my point is, that I now realize why my mother would get upset when, after a full day of cleaning the house, her kids would come home from school and let their school bags fall to the floor, and create a pile of shoes and socks and papers and...even now I'm getting antsy. I used to wonder why she cared so much - and now I know. I wonder how things would be if I knew then what I know now. All I know is that I am grateful that she continued to put up with us, and that she's still sane after all these years. :) I don't know how she did it! She is a great mom, and a wonderful example. I have a lot to live up to. I see these new moms (Kjersti, that's you!) and soon-to-be's, and hope that they find comfort in the fact that in say, 20 years their children will finally understand a little about how much they did for them. :) I also think I've only scratched the surface - that the minute I hold my first child in my arms, I will again realize how much sacrifice was made for me, and again be overwhelmed with gratefulness. So Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there - it's the most important work you will ever do.
My mom's FAVORITE part of my wedding day - lacing up the dress....

Picture me rollin'......

All I have to say, is that THIS (see above) is MUCH BETTER than THIS (see below).

In more ways than one, but the biggest would have to be our bank account. Though we are insanely grateful for the series of events that led us to purchasing this $1 beast - because without it Caleb would have had to get up EARLY every morning to take me to work, or worse, I would have had to learn stick, and we would have been a one car family - we are even MORE grateful for this lovely new Corolla that we have. It is my favorite color - gun metal gray, and the gas mileage alone makes me want to shed tears of happiness. What?!?! You mean cars don't need to be filled up every other day?!?! You mean they actually TURN ON EVERY SINGLE TIME?! Our prayers have been answered, and a big thanks must go out to my Dad, who "accidentally" purchased it on Ebay. I love it! I don't even mind trekking out to Corvallis every single day of my life...(okay, I still do, but my mood has lifted since it's Friday). Now we just need to work on getting the hole in Caleb's dashboard filled in...preferably with some type of stereo.

Kiss My Tulips

On Saturday Caleb and I went with Mark and Bridgette to the Tulip Festival in Woodburn, OR. Apparently the farm is owned by a family in our stake, they also run a fun Corn Maze during Halloween. I don't think any of us were expecting much, but we were all pleasantly surprised. It was a lot bigger than I had thought it would be, and the flowers were absolutely gorgeous. I loved looking at the different varieties and reading their names. Not that I can remember any, but it was fun. :) We took lots of pictures, some pretty (I even tried to get a bit artistic...) and some silly. As always, there were many people there with their dogs in tow - Oregon is a very dog friendly environment, I've seen people bringing their dogs into several nice stores at the mall. Most of them are larger, although there is the occasional tiny-dog-that-goes-perfect-with-every-outfit. Bridge and I weren't prepared to see some girl carrying her cat though. A cat?!? Cats don't like to be hauled around, especially not when it was as windy as it was. I'm surprised the girl didn't have claw marks all over her face from the cat desperately trying to free itself. Cats (and yes, I am generalizing here) like to be in charge. They make the decision of where they feel like going at any given moment. I highly doubt that kitty (from the look on it's face) was very pleased by the pretty tulips. Later on we went to the outlet mall, and then up to a VERY nice new mall in Tigard. It was heavenly! The Container Store, Crate and Barrel, Urban Outfitters, Design Within Reach (who we are now boycotting because of their horrible rudeness)...and lots of tiny expensive shops. My favorite was a toy store / baby supply store we went in. We found this...THING....that's stretchy and squishy that you can make do different things. I quickly realized it's potential and told Caleb to hold very still.....it's a classic picture. His face (in case you couldn't tell) exactly depicts: "Please take the picture - I am dying of embaressment" - which he was. I don't know what his problem was......we were all laughing. :) He was definitely a good sport. We finished the evening by discovering our new favorite Italian restaurant, Pastini Pastaria. It was absolutely amazing food. The ambiance was that of a much more expensive place, but everything was under $9. We all got something different, and were all equally impressed. My favorite part was that the food portions weren't huge - just enough to fill you up without making you feel stuffed. We also split a dessert and wow....divine. Now if we could just get them to open one in Albany........

It's more like water hole talk......

You know what I can't stand? "Office Politics". Maybe it's because I've been sheltered my whole life, never really being in a large office. Maybe it's because the LAST office job I had was such a great one. Maybe it's because I was never a "popular" girl. I don't really know, all I know is that it is ridiculous. I've been working here (at this office that shall remain nameless - don't want to be dooced do I?!?!.....Or do I?) for over six months now, and I'm just realizing how insanely petty this whole place is. I think because I was new, people either didn't trust me with their gossip, or I was just too reluctant to join any circles of people. I've never really felt like I belonged in any of them, at office parties I usually talked to the people around me, and then ducked out. It's just been in the past few weeks really that I've become privy to all this office gossip - and I don't enjoy it. Not that I care when people vent to me, I welcome it really, keeps people sane. You just start to see a new side to people that you didn't think existed, not in them, and not in the "adult world". Honestly, it feels like I'm back in high school or junior high, except that these bullies can get me fired, which is a lot worse than the usual snub. There are actual clicks here. There are some high end people that pick on other employees that they don't like, and don't even get me STARTED on all the "alliances" here. We could make a show called "High School Survivor: Corvallis, OR". The sad part about all of this, is that people actually buy into it. Some people even THRIVE on it. Such a waste of their time and energy. I am so glad I have stayed out of it, and hope to continue to. I just can't understand why some offices, or maybe it's just a few people, care about when other people take their lunches, or if they decide to leave at 4:30 because they had a short lunch, or came in early or whatever. Honestly people! Mind your own business! Not that I've had any repercussions from it, but I've seen others who have, and it's totally unfair. All I have to say is that this office is going to be losing a lot of people if something doesn't change...

"Stead of treatin', we get tricks...

I read somewhere about some great ways to "torture" a dog. Slab some peanut butter on top of their nose and let them have at it - of course I had to try it. I wouldn't call it torture, the mutt just had to work extra hard to get his treat. He absolutely LIVES for peanut butter. I wish I could upload the video on here, it's so much better to hear the slapping of his tongue as he tries to reach his nose. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.......

Let Them Eat Stroganoff!

Despite his worthlessness as a guard dog, we decided to let him try some beef stroganoff I made the other night. Since it was after dinner was over, the stroganoff had set, and was pretty thick - without the aid of water, it was like trying to suck down a spoonful of peanut butter. I had no idea my dog was an anteater, and tried to take a picture of his ginormous tongue sticking out, trying to swallow it. Needless to say, he got a lot more stroganoff that we had intended, as I tried to capture it on camera. This is the best we got. I wish my camera took pictures when I asked it to....rather than thinking about it for 5 seconds before it grudgingly agreed. Please add at least 5 inches of tongue to get the real effect.......

Guard Dog - He is not

During our weekend trip to Seaside we went to see Cirque de Soleil in Portland. Earlier in the day we had driven up to Washington and Astoria, and had to take the mutt with us. He'd been pretty good, he usually is as long as he's with us. We've done several long car trips with him, and haven't had a problem. We were all excited to see the show, and parked "the bus" in a Cirque de Soleil "designated parking lot" and got ready. We couldn't take our cameras / Ipods / video cameras into the show, but we decided they'd be okay in the car with Bear. We put them underneath the seats in the van with a quick "Be a good boy Bear" and followed the funeral procession-like line into the tent. The show was absolutely amazing, and we all raved about it on the long drive back to Seaside. The next morning we discovered that Abby and Brian's camera had been stolen, along with Caleb's camera and our Ipod. Since the condo that we were staying at had a locked parking garage, we were left to conclude that our things had been stolen while we were watching Cirque de Soleil....WITH BEAR IN IT!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. For several hours I was in shock - not only that someone would think that there was something NICE inside the van, but that someone out there would have the balls to break into a van with a dog in it. That's guts, I don't care what you say. It sucks, the camera was a nice one, and our Ipod definitely wasn't cheap, but the thing that bugs me the most, besides the fact that we can't get the film that was in the camera back, was that our MUTT would let someone ELSE in the van. He'll try and take down that offensive kitty on our porch, but he obligingly lets an intruder into the van?! There were people at the entrance to the parking lot, if he had put up a fuss, someone would have heard. I don't know what I was thinking, assuming that our things would be safe with Bear. I have no doubt in my mind that the mutt LICKED the guy as he was leaving, our cameras in hand. He was probably thrilled to have someone come see him, I bet if he could, he would have held up the camera bag in exchange for a scratch behind the ears. The dog is worthless to me...I think it's time to get my Doberman........

Vying for Rookie of the Year...

Well, we did it. It's our first anniversary today. We are officially "not-newlyweds". At first I was kindof sad by that, "newlyweds" is such a fun title. A connotation of bubbly-happiness, laughter, and fun - oh yeah, and being sex-crazed. It means that we are now considered "adults". We're not single, not engaged, not newlyweds. We're just married. It's like the end of an era - a two year period of engagement rings, wedding plans, honeymoons, moving in together, and where everything that goes right or wrong can be attributed to it being "your first year".
I decided it's a good thing though. Before we got married, everyone either told us "The first year is the best" or "The first year is the hardest". What advice to the engaged! "You're either going to love it or hate it!" Yikes. I haven't asked Caleb what his opinion is - did we get heads or tails?! - but I personally think it was a difficult year. Our circumstance was a bit different though, not only did we get married, but Caleb bought a business and we moved away from our home, our friends and family, to left-wing, highly organic, can't-pump-our-own-gas Oregon. I think if I were to take those "stress tests" we used to do in high school, I'd be at the top of the richter scale. They'd give me my paper back with "Go See Your Therapist Immediately" in bright red letters. Not that we haven't had good times, we definitely have, but it's probably safe to say that I've had a harder time with it than Caleb has. Maybe he's just been busy with work, or maybe he's just more happy-go-lucky than I am. There were definitely times when I think I was certifiably depressed. Maybe it's all part of the game though - you're on such a high with all the fun wedding plans, and then in one day it's over and you have go back to living a "normal" life - a life that is now riddled with trying to get along with your new room mate, sort through your finances and learn to live on less. When I first got to Australia to study abroad, all the international students met for a meeting with the international counsellors. They told us that it was common for people who are in new situations like the one we were in, to experience a high at first. You're in a new place, new things to see and do. After a while you come off that high and plummet - become depressed, or homesick in this case - and finally your mood levels off. You get used to your new life and learn to enjoy the new opportunities. Of course at the time I thought there was no way I could NOT want to be in Australia, on my own, running around Sydney. But of course a month later I became their poster child. I believe I went through something similar to this after we got married. The first little bit there were definite highs. Newly married, new city, new apartment, new things to see....and then off I went on the rollercoaster ride. I think it took me a bit longer this time to get back to the "normal" phase, maybe because this is more permanent than 4 months in Australia? I've always been the kind of person that wants to know that there is an "out" to something I agree to. That I can quit the job, move out, or turn around. Marriage was the first thing that I couldn't get "out" of - not without severe consequences for someone other than myself at least. I think that scared me the most, I really had to come to terms with it - still do - and realize that I chose this for a reason. I saw that I wasn't the only newlywed to feel this way, that not everyone is blissfully, constantly in love at first, and started to feel less of a freak. So I am hoping that this second year is a more level year - a year where we start to work better together, learn from our mistakes. That the refiner's fire gets turned down a notch (please!), and I can go back to being ME. Which will be nice, as I've missed that.

Killer Bear

Last night Cabe and I went to Costco to fill up the bus (hopefully soon I will be filling up a wonderful nearly new Corolla....not as often....). Caleb of course, insisted we bring the mutt. Bear sits inside all day long with his "Daddy" and is absolutely positively GIDDY when he gets to go on car rides. Car rides for Bear typically end at the park, or the kennel, so either way he freaks out. Sadly for him though, this was just that - a ride. When we returned home there was a white cat on our porch. Bear, who usually is scared of anything new and wouldn't hurt a flea, FREAKED OUT. He barked so loud and with such force he sprayed my arm with slobber - I thought he was going to bark up his lung. He continued whining and barking until I (devil that I am, wishing for some excitement) let him out. Meanwhile, the cat was frozen with fear, until it saw the car door open, where it promptly hid in our little bushes. Bear, being the stupidly optimistic dog he is, ran right past the bushes and to the porch (I've always said the dog doesn't use his nose - case in point). Naturally the cat who was smart, fled as soon as Bear passed it, never to be seen again. Bear was sure it was still around, and for several minutes ran (okay, let's be honest here, more like frolicked) around the yard, to the fence, to the car, to the door, to the bushes, looking for the pesky intruder. He even insisted on checking the backyard when we finally got him to come inside. Though I had come to terms with the fact that I couldn't count on him to be a guard dog as he's too trusting of people, I think I can rest assured at night that I don't have to worry about any cats breaking and entering - unless of course, they hid under the couches....

Bear chewin' on his cud on the coast

And the color is..........

The transformation of my hair: Liz swore it was the color she used to make hers darker. Apparently it decided to change my hair to a nice flaming orange. At 10 pm we ran down to Smith's Marketplace (which will always and forever be known to me as Fred Meyer, no matter what they do) to get more dye. Lots of it. Two boxes of nearly black....even now, it still has a red tint to it, most likely from the florescent color before...... way to go Liz! :) Our first dying experience. :)

This week's stupid scientist: "Vanilla Extracted from Cow Dung". Yup, you read it right. Apparently some Chinese scientists had nothing better to do with their meager existances than figuring out how to make vanilla scented cow poop. Lignon is a chemical compound (which just happens to also be found in cow dung) that is used to produce the vanilla smell. Since cows produce poop for free, it's cheaper than actually buying vanilla beans. Apparently they get one big pooper-scooper and heat it up for an hour (can we say "Dirty Jobs" candidate?!?!) and then extract the vanilla. They've decided to only use it for things like shampoo or candles (which still makes me dry heave). According to their article, "compared with usual vanilla, this component is exactly the same but it would be difficult for people to accept it in food, given the recent rules of disclosing the origins of ingredients". Yeah, I think people would want to know that the wonderful vanilla flavor they are tasting comes courtesy of Bessie the Cow's bowels. What would they do with the poop after it was officially de-vanilla-ized? Put it back where they found it. I say they should skip the whole heating process and just sell poop smell. Lovely, earthy, organic cow dung. The hippies here in Oregon would dig it. That's even cheaper than making fake poop-vanilla................

That's refreshing....

You know when you read something over and over and over again, never thinking of it? Then one day you read it and go ".....YEAH!!!!" I had that moment a day or so ago at the gym, reading some celebrity magazine (lame, I know....). They were talking about how "40 is the new 20" and why women are more stable and ready for long term relationships. In your 20's they say, you're still trying to figure out who you are. How many times have I heard that kind of thinking? Lots, let's just say that. At that moment however, I felt like someone had taken all of the rambling thoughts that had been squirming in my brain and told them to sit down and shut up. Wow, is that why I feel like I have no direction? No real talents? Nothing that is ME? I feel like just in the past year my tastes, likes, and dislikes have taken a complete 180 degreen turn. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. No realistic jobs sound exciting. I've found myself having the same childish desires I had when I was in junior high wishing to be famous, an actress, a singer. Things that I neither have the talent for, or are workable in the life I have now. While I get depressed about this, I think I've finally decided it's a good thing. I haven't figured out what I want to do with it, but that only means I'm free to do most anything. And that's pretty cool.

Welcome to Oregon

So I'm driving to work right? Nearly there, I'm on a fairly busy road. One of the only one that goes into Philomath from Corvallis (not that most of you even care, as you don't "get" to live here. I needed it for effect okay?). Traffic is moderate, definitely lots of cars, but no major slowing. I see an old truck pulled over on the side of the road up ahead. Didn't think much of it until I saw an old guy walk out of the trees just a few yards away from the road. He was gruff, wearing one of those Cousin Eddie style hats with the little flaps over the ears (come on, think "Christmas Vacation"?) but of course those flaps weren't neatly down nor neatly up, but one down, one sticking straight out. Strangely, this wasn't what caught my attention. It was the body language we all know of a man just getting done pulling up his pants, and then buckling them. You know, the classic "shake shake" to make sure he wasn't about to zip his family jewels. Obviously the man had just relieved himself ("I just pissed in my pants....and there's not a thing anybody can do about it!"), and recently at that. He didn't even feel the need to cover up the fact that he'd done so, by completely doing up his pants BEFORE he walked out of the trees. Now, I can understand that when you gotta go, you gotta go. I myself have had to pull over to pee, but that was IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (if you drive to Lake Powell the Scio way there isn't a stop for about 3 hours, it's killer folks). Not two blocks from downtown Corvallis. His car was parked literally yards from an exit. There is no way on this green Earth that I would pull over on such a busy highway. I would like to think that I could wait to get to the gas station, which in this case, just happens to be two minutes down the road. I understand that I'm living in Oregon, and that this sort of thing isn't so ridiculous, but come on people. Have a little dignity!!!

Life Changing Moment

Last night Cabe and I bought something that could possibly change our entire lives! Okay, maybe that's a bit drastic. We succumbed to peer pressure and joined the ever-growing number of people with continuous music in their ears. We bought an Ipod. We were given a fair amount of money to Costco for Christmas from both of our parents, and have been trying to decide something fun to buy with it. Of course, while we were pondering we were slowly spending it on little (needed) items like food and house supplies....Until yesterday. They had Ipods for sale, and were much cheaper than the ones you could get online, even on Ebay. So we went in determined to buy the new nano, 4 gb. Black, Caleb insisted. We went up to the stand and were suddenly faced with a moral dilemma. For $50 more we could get a video Ipod. Now I've always seen these as kindof lame, why would you want to spend the money just to watch a video? Why isn't the music enough? The clincher was this: the 4 gb nano held 1,000 songs, the video Ipod held 7,500. Do I think that we could possibly come close to filling that up? No (well, Cabe might, he's a music slave). But more is always better right? So we did it. We gave in. I have never had an Ipod and have no idea how to work the thing. Cabe spent the entire night setting it up and downloading songs, and I'm sure I'm going to get a lesson today about the inner workings of the Ipod. Cabe thoroughly enjoys knowing something I don't, and will no doubt revel in it a while.
While we were checking out I said "I can't wait to take this to the gym tomorrow!" immediately Caleb said "No, I'm going to take it tomorrow, I have to drive all day!" For those of you who don't know Caleb and his history, I'll sum it up with the fact that he's had his car broken into and / or stolen at least 9 times. The last time it happened (a year ago!) they ripped his stereo out and tore up his dash. It's stayed that way because we haven't had the money to fix it. So not only does he not have his cd player, he doesn't even have a radio. He has a hole. It makes even the short ride to the grocery store seem hours.... It's a little sad that we've become so dependent on things like that, but I guess that's just how it goes. Needless to say, he has it today. :) But you can bet that it's mine tomorrow....

The sky is falling...

I think that some people have too much time on their hands....I also think that some people have their priorities really screwed up...

Today I read a headline on discoverychannel.com entitled "Mutated Chicken Grow Teeth". Naturally, I had to see what in the world that meant. Apparently some scientists had changed the genetics in some chicken embryos so that they would grow teeth. Why you ask? I don't really know. They just added that way back when, there were birds like pterodactyls who had teeth, and that birds in our time still have the gene for it. Fabulous. Wonderful work. You mean to tell me, that while thousands of people are dying every day from cancer, aids, heart disease and who knows what else, you were spending your time, energy, and someone else's' money on making chickens (who I believe would have been perfectly content growing normal beaks just like all the other chickens) develop teeth??!!?! Seriously people, something is wrong. Where in the world are you getting the money for this?!? And who in their right mind would actually consent to funding that!?!? It boggles the mind. 10 years down the road you KNOW they'll look back and think "What in the WORLD was wrong with me?!?!?" If they haven't already. I say leave the chicks alone. You're embarrassing them in front of their friends.

Never Forget!