Um.... oops???

Apparently, it has been about two months since my last post... yikes. (Thanks to the Wilsons for calling me out on my blogging neglect, good friends tell you like it is.) I am not really a fan of excuses, so let's just chalk it up to my bad and I won't let it happen again. Now, for what has been keeping me from my beloved blog...

(The Short List)
I could probably list about 100 things that have been taking up our time. But when it comes down to it, anything worth mentioning falls into one of the following categories. So here is the rundown...

3. The house
We moved into our house in November, officially closed in January, and are just now getting around to "The List" of projects we want to do. At the top of the list: planting a garden and installing hardwood floors. We started Operation Deliciousness last weekend and still have work to do. Yesterday, we drove up to Eugene for a huge sale and got a great deal 709 sq. ft. of hardwood floors. We are super pumped to make our "canned" house a little more "us", and what better way to start with than yummy food and wood floors? More on these projects (with pics of course) to follow as they progress.

2. Work, work, work, all day long...
If I were prioritizing this list by time spent, this category would hands down be #1. While we are grateful to have good jobs, we also wish we had a little more balance. However, you won't find too many complaints here, because Joe is loving his new job and I am happy to have enough work to help us make ends meet.

When I say Joe loves his "new job" I am referring to his promotion. Joe was finally promoted to his forester position after 5 months of working on the crew. In short, he is now using his brain and his degree, instead of just using his body for physical labor. He is the Reforestation Forester at Lone Rock Timber Co. and enjoying every day. His days are long, usually 7am-5am and sometimes longer, but he is learning a lot, gets to be outside every day, and sometimes even gets to take little Jackie Poo with him. He is helping trees grow big and strong :)

As for me, I have a random mix of work taking up most of my time. Subbing has picked up A TON. I typically sub 4-5 days a week, and honestly get more calls than I really want. In addition, the PE Curriculum I am creating is in full-swing and starting to become a little overwhelming. Any day that I don't sub (and a lot of my weekends) are dedicated to this project. Lastly, I am also coaching track at Roseburg High School. Yes, I am making my return to the track after a 9 year hiatus. While I am enjoying my time as a coach, I forgot how time consuming track can be. We have practice every day from 3-5pm, one dual meet per week that usually goes until 8pm, and the killer- invitationals EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND in April/May. I really enjoy the athletes and other coaches I work with, but it definitely consumes a little more of my time than I had originally anticipated.

1. Family and friends
Ok, now for the good stuff. The last couple of months have been JAM PACKED with family and friend time, and it has been awesome. One of my bestests from Missouri came home to her beloved Oregon over Spring Break. It was SO good to hang out with her in Portland and actually give her a hug in person. Some of our other best friends, Blair, Mo, Caleb, Jessie, and Colton have all been down to visit/hang out with us in the Burg. (Makes me feel like we almost have friends here... almost.) We have been to Portland several times to see my family and various friends, including Brandon and Merissa who are expecting! I should also mention our first return trip to Newcastle since we moved back to Oregon. The main reason we went up was to attend a friend's wedding, but we squeezed in as many visits as we could! We stayed with the Wilson's on Friday and had ton of fun with their fam, before seeing all of our old Seahawk friends at the wedding on Saturday. The wedding was beautiful and A TON of fun. It was so great to see all of our friends up there, especially John and Dani Carlson, who we stayed with on Saturday and are also expecting! (Noticing a pattern here?) Click here for more pics of our return to Newcastle.

Ok. That was a lot of info. Hopefully I will stay more on top of things so I don't need to try and squeeze 2 months of our lives into one measly post. Below is a random smattering of pics to document the aforementioned events. In a valiant effort to limit the # of pics posted here, (which is REALLY difficult for me to do), check my facebook albums if you care to see the rest....

Subbing isn't always so bad... here are some cards a 3rd grade class made me. In our short time together, they learned that I love dogs, pie, sports, and OSU. See how they incorporate them all? So freaking cute and thoughtful, it made my day :)

Hiking with Jessie and Jack near Roseburg

Running with Jack on the North Umqua Trail

 Beautiful day on the North Umqua River

All of the doggies, ready to go

Love this lady!

Doggies aren't the only ones who get to play in water...

Hiking with some of my favorites :)

Loving the view at the Newcastle Golf Club

So good to see all of these girls!

Joe with some of his buddies

I heart Seattle skylines

Mustache mayhem, so awesome

Joe has made me more conservative. I have made him a dancer :)

Joe and some of his old teammates

Sneak peak at the garden... separate post and pics to come!

Rule #32...

I love it when my low expectations for something are unexpectedly exceeded. It could be anything... a day of work, a new recipe, the weather, etc. Most recently, I was pleasantly surprised by a movie that Jonas had been bugging me to watch for awhile now: Zombieland. I mean, let's think about it. I hate scary movies, and apparently this one was about zombies. It could be scary, it could be stupid, or even worse, it could be both. In addition, I am not a huge fan of spoofs, and I vaguely remembered hearing that this was a satirical spin on zombie movies. In short, horror spoofs are probably at the top of my list for movie genres I aspire to avoid.


That being said, I really liked Zombieland. Aside from the first 10 minutes, which was ridiculous and gory, I found there was a lot to appreciate in this movie. Yes, it is about zombies. And yes, it is ludicrous 99% of the time. But it was also surprisingly funny, and it even made me think a little bit. Aside from all sorts of symbolism and parallels that one could dwell on, the main character has a list of "rules" in order to survive. Some are funny, such as Rule #3: Beware of Bathrooms, while others are quite insightful. My favorite of them all though, is Rule #32: Enjoy the little things.


How unexpectedly awesome that a movie such as Zombieland can remind us to appreciate the little things in life. It is such a simple idea, yet so hard for many of us to apply in our lives. Since watching this movie a couple of weeks ago, I've made a conscious effort to notice and revel in the little pleasures life brings us. Here are some of the things at the top of my list... 

1. Being silly. It's funny... we adults think we have it all figured out. But there are few things more fun than throwing all of our inhibitions aside and acting like a crazy kid again.

 

2. A child’s laughter. Lately, I have gotten the privilege to spend a lot of time with my nephew Wyatt. When he laughs, it is simply contagious. There is something about a baby/child laughing that makes you smile along with them, even if you have no idea what they are laughing at.  

3. Sibling love. While many of us grow up thinking we just despise our brothers/sisters, deep down we really love 'em. Besides, who else would you have gnawed on without your siblings around?

  

4. Motherly love. Simply put, there is no love sweeter or more true than that between a mother and her child(ren).

 

5. Someone (good) to love. It is so simple in theory, but hard to actually find. I am lucky that I have found mine :)

  

 

 

6. A (nice) day at the beach. On the surface, last year's Valentines Day, which we spent in Kauai, seems hard to beat. But in all honesty, this year was just as great as last year. A nice day at the Oregon Coast spent with my two loves was I needed to have a happy heart :)

 

  

  

7. Living in Oregon. For the last couple of weeks, the weather around here has been AWESOME. Last weekend, we even got to go hiking on the Rogue River with Jessie and Luke.

 

   

  

  

  

8. A beautiful sunrise/sunset. There is no better way to start your day or end your night with sights like these...

 

Ok. That is my list for now... Don't forget to make yours! 

Good times in the Burg

I've come to the conclusion that as long as the weather is nice, I have no qualms with spending our weekends in the Burg. Despite the fact that it is (or more accurately, was) January, we've spent our last 2 weekends exploring nearby forests, hiking on the North Umqua Trail, playing tennis, playing board/card games, and feasting. In fact, the weather was so nice on Sunday we even ate lunch outside. It definitely helped that some family and friends were in town (my parents, Jessie/Luke/Wyatt, and Caleb), but the last 2 weeks have been fun and affordable by staying in the Burg. Apparently, all I need to be happy down here is sunshine, hiking or other exercise, good food, family/friends who visit us, and of course, QT with Jonas/Jack. That's not asking too much, is it? I don't think so either :) So the only question now is, when are you coming to visit us?

***Warning: Picture overload... sorry, sometimes I just can't help myself! 

 

Walking with the parents and Jack on a nature trail by our house 

  

I don't know why, but I love this little bridge near our house

Jack + my Dad = Buddies

Joe showing my parents and I his "office"...sure beats a cubical 

(FYI, Roseburg is under the clouds in the background)

The circle of life: clear cut, replant, grow big trees, harvest :)

  

Jack will love going to work with Jonas soon

FYI- when timber companies clearcut, they not only replant, but they replant more trees than they harvest. Here is the evidence: some of Joe's babies :) 

  

Some of Joe's favorite things: trees, Jack, and mountains 

Hike to Susan Creek Falls

  

Jack, Me, Mom, Jonas :)

My favorite shot of the falls

So Oregon

Love them

Texture. 

(Anyone know what kind of tree this is?)

Go ahead and judge us: the other night we ate KFC and let our dog lick the bucket... he was sooo grateful. (Hey, at least we got the grilled chicken. Seriously, so good you don't even know)

  Jonas sharing the goodies with Jack... awww, love :)

  

The view while walking at Dan and Kathy's ranch

So peaceful and pretty

My two favorites :)

BDE: Best Dog Ever :)