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Did I mention we had an awesome trip? Wow. Fantastic. One of the best overall Montana trips I’ve ever had. We always had something to do, someone to see, and somewhere to go, and good things happened to us the entire time. Good things like:

• Craig’s camera was sitting at our table when we returned to the wedding reception praying it wasn’t long gone.
• We sat and watched a fantastic thunder/lightning storm race across the Montana sky one night for at least 45 minutes.
• We got 2 of 3 items (a disc golf disc and a baseball bat) out of the tree we got them stuck in in Pioneer Park in Billings.
• We ran into the friend we forgot to get ahold of before we left.
• We saw Old Faithful erupt at sunset.
• We set off about $350 worth of fireworks after an awesome Rumble in the Vally 100th Anniversary display without incident.
• We saw the moon rise over Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone Park.
• George’s surgery went well, and he has recovered quicker and better than anyone expected.
• We got the last campsite at Mammoth Hot Springs.
• We saw either 2 wolves, 2 coyotes, or one of each.
• I saw a bighorn sheep ram in the Columbia Gorge.
• Yellowstone National Park was absolutely beautiful – lush and green and full of wildflowers – because it has been so rainy this year.
• We pulled into Jiffy Lube just before 4 other cars, so we were done in 25 minutes instead of 45.

There’s so much more…but I’ll leave it for another post.

Happy Birthday, Handsome! He is 28 today.

This last weekend was nonstop…Saturday Handsome and I worked a tiny bit in the garden and then went food shopping. When we got home we did a bunch of house preparation (read cleaning) for Handsome’s birthday party that night.

The party started around 5pm when the first attendees arrived. We made a big pot of homemade chili while things were kicking off – it was delicious. I can’t wait until the scallion and peppers are fresh grown from our garden! All told, 8 people and 1 dog (plus the roommates and our dog) came and enjoyed the fun, of which there was a lot. We also had brownies with candles in them and sung “Happy Birthday” and also crumb cake. Both were devoured eagerly.

Yesterday, then, ChickenSox and I worked in the garden for 4-5 hours. We planted the rest of the lettuce (in a shadier area) and started to hand till the garden area. We quickly realized we weren’t denting the clay much, so we rented a mid-size tiller from Home Depot. Even it had a hard time cutting through the compacted clay! I ran the tiller while ChickenSox removed rocks from the tilled earth. I went over the area multiple times. We found a tree buried near one edge of the garden. We also found a sprinkler head that wasn’t attached to the system. And a Spiderman cup. And rope. Luckily, however, we had no incidents. It was a lot of work, though, to wrangle the tiller, and my shoulders and arms are quite sore today.

Today: Handsome’s birthday. We are going to spend the day together doing whatever it is we feel like. Yay!

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Finally I post about Valentine’s Day, which was awesome.

Handsome and I (and George) went to the beach. We stopped in Depoe Bay and shopped for a painting – our gift to one another – and ended up finding something really cool – a waterfall/mountain scene that we’re excited to hang…and it was on sale. Then we also saw a gigantic Chinese fan with a painting on it and just loved it, so we bought it too and it’s going above the cabinets in the kitchen, but is also not hung yet. Pictures when they are placed. Both are fabulous.

After that, we went to the Lincoln City outlet mall and got some clothes. We weren’t terribly impressed by it (Woodburn’s is definitely better) but we went to Quiksilver and found two zip-up hoodies for $5 and $7 (75% off the clearance sticker) that we just love. I also got a couple of shirts at Old Navy for pretty cheap.

We ate at a random pizza place/pool hall and were the only ones there with a fairly disinterested woman working the place; and no free refills on fountain pop – booo! Cheapskates. But, the food was good and we enjoyed ourselves so that’s all that matters. We even had leftovers. Note: Pizza sounds totally un-romantic, I know, but last year we ate at Pizza Hut in Woodburn, if you remember correctly, or reread this post.

When we returned home, we watched a movie – I don’t remember which one sadly – and just dinked around the house some.

I mentioned a post was in order for this Valentine’s Day.

Our first Valentine’s Day was in 1999 as juniors in high school. If our calculations serve us correct, then, this is number 10. Ten years…it seems both so long ago and just yesterday.

Eric and I have racked our brains for something cheap and entertaining for the two of us to do. Something special that won’t break the bank. Obviously we gotta eat, but we are limited to just that day (Friday we are helping a friend move and Sunday I’ve got dog walking and our good friend’s birthday party). Any ideas?

Happy New Year and best wishes for a wonderful 2009!

Merry Christmas friends, family, and world at large! Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noel! Happy Hanukah! etc. etc.

I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday with whomever you choose to spend it with, and I hope all of your travels are safe. May you be blessed with good gifts and a fabulous feast, but mostly a happy heart.

Not to steal your line, Lilymane, but Peace. Peace on Earth, everyone. Everywhere!

I am now 26 years old. I can remember thinking about being 21, about being 30, 50, and even 80, but never 26. I wonder what this year will bring.

Friday we held my birthday party – we had 11 strong at the height of the night, and the morning showed several casualties: two half bottles of Whaler’s rum, one half-gallon of Jack Daniels, one half-gallon of vodka, about five bottles of beer, ALL the pop, and an entire Baskin Robbins Almond Jamocha log cake. We played drinking Sorry and drinking Trivial Pursuit. Jen vomited politely in the front yard; Fidiot managed to puke all over his bed and floor and then proceeded to sleep in it. Epic, I know. The party died about 4:30am, but it was awfully entertaining until then.

This morning I opened my gifts: among them I got season one of Life (starring Capt. Winters from Band of Brothers), seasons six, seven, and eight of That 70’s Show, Scrabble, a pirate ship for my aquarium, gift cards and money, travel ping-pong, Wii Fit, and new socks!

Later today we will eat my ice-cream birthday cake that has been patiently sitting out back (it doesn’t fit in our freezer) since Friday night. It is almost buried in snow/ice, but I imagine it has kept nicely. We had planned to go out to eat at the restaurant of my choice, but Fidiot’s car is covered in 1/2 inch of ice with 3-4 inches of snow underneath, so we may wait until the path down to lower Salem is less treacherous.

Thank you everyone (including the weather)!

The snow has been falling all day long here! We have a few inches, and my ice cream birthday cake that didn’t fit in the freezer is almost buried out back – see the photos on flickr! I know it’s too much to hope for a white Christmas, but my heart is holding out anyway.

Ok, almost broke; almost done with Christmas shopping. Funny how those two things go hand-in-hand.