Month: January 2017

4 Decades Later

/ jennced15 / 2 Comments

So it happened. I turned 40.

Don’t get me wrong; I am not sulking about it or trying to hide it. I am really okay with my age. My age has only ever been a number. Some birthdays I have wanted to be a certain number but most birthdays I just don’t care. The only thing that seems a little off settling is when I think about home much I have lived and what I have done in 40 years and it is surprising in certain aspects.

For some reason when I was younger, 40 seemed old. It seemed like something I never wanted to be but now that I am here . . . it really is no different than any other number.

So to celebrate my birthday and the 40 years that have passed by; I am listing 5 albums that have been apart of my life.

  1. Whitesnake: Whitesnake–This album was the first record I ever bought and it will forever hold a place in my heart.Enjoy this song from that album.
  2. Cocktail: The Movie Soundtrack–This album was the first cassette tape I ever owned and yes, I played it on my Walkman. Enjoy this song from the album.
  3. Tracy Chapman: New Beginning–This album was the first CD that I ever owned and of course, I played it over and over. Enjoy this song from that album.
  4. The Last of the Mohicans: The Movie Soundtrack–I just loved the soundtrack and would play it over and over while I was studying in college and even play it to fall asleep at night. Enjoy this song from that album.
  5. The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over–This was the first album that I ever bought after a concert and it holds a special place in my heart since their song was number one the year that I was born and is probably my most favorite song ever. Enjoy the song!

And the Day Started With a Train Ride

/ jennced15 / 3 Comments

How easy was it for this to be the places I’ve been post and I just took a trip yesterday; easy! Wednesday I had a friend fly into town, I then on Thursday I played hooky and the two of us caught the train from Portland to Seattle for the day.

Now I have been to Seattle many times before. I am actually getting pretty adept at knowing my freeways and when to not be on them, towns that surround the area and the neighborhoods that I like to frequent.

One thing that I have never done was take the train to Seattle. I have always wanted to but for some reason I just found it easier to drive. The funny thing about driving is the money you spend in gas and parking and that fact that you WILL end up in traffic. There is no way around that one so why do I always drive? I have no idea.

The train was great! It was three hours and they went by pretty fast. We were able to just sit back and relax. I didn’t have to worry about anything except getting to the train station on time (which we almost didn’t do).

So here are some pictures to share with you from my day. Enjoy!

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Snow day (or week)

/ jennced15 / 3 Comments

Just a reminder to everyone . . . I live in Portland. I don’t live in Utah. It does get cold in Portland and sometimes it decides to ice and on a rare occasion it will decide to snow. You know, the kind of snow that falls in the morning but gets washed away in the rain before dark. Apparently this year, old man winter is a bit confused. (Maybe he is really just too old to do the job anymore).

We are on our 4th (count them 1, 2, 3 . . . 4th) snow storm this winter. Most of them have come and gone and we get a lingering day of ice but the storm this week; can I just say that I was waiting for the snow plows to come through and clear the street. To my dismay, Portland has nothing to clear the streets with and the city has been dumping gravel by the truckloads to try and make the roads semi-movable (it’s not working).

So I have been stuck in my house for the whole week. I could have gone to the office on Monday and Tuesday but I slipped on the ice that had formed from the prior snow storm on Saturday night. Then Wednesday morning I wake up to about 8 inches all around me. Now I am barricaded in my house because that snow turned to ice and it isn’t melting with our temperatures hanging out in the 20’s. I am a little confused.

So that brings me to my top 5 things I like about being forced to stay home.

  1. I don’t have to wake up to an alarm since I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night.
  2. I can take a nap in bed on my lunch break.
  3. I can hang out in “comfy” clothes all day and I don’t have to put makeup on.
  4. I can watch nature outside of my windows instead of staring at a parking lot.
  5. I don’t have to make the commute.

So Here’s The Thing . . .

/ jennced15 / 6 Comments

I feel like I am your typical person. I get one or two colds a year and maybe one of those is actually a sinus infection (prone to them since I have allergies). I would say every 3-4 years I get a case of the flu (which I am very glad doesn’t come very often).

But now . . . I am starting to think that someone has it in for me. I started December off great. That was a good thing since I had so much on my plate. December and January are the busiest times for me at work during the year. I also had family coming to town for Christmas and to top it off I have new responsibilities at church that require more of my time.

So December started off great and then it quickly went south within the first week. I came home one night after work and while working on dinner I felt everything drain from me. Needless to say, I ended up with the dirtiest, meanest, no-good, rotten flu that I have ever experienced. Every part of my body hurt. I didn’t know I could hurt like that and I am here to tell you that I pretty much wanted to die.

So a week of recovery on that one and then family came to town. It was WONDERFUL and I loved every minute of it but it was filled with lots going on and little sleep. But I managed to make it through and I thought, “Hey, I’ve got this! I am free and clear now”. Little did I know what lurked around the corner.

So New Year’s came and I had my sister at the house. She just happened to have a head cold. I felt really bad for her and told her it would be okay. I then went to work the Tuesday after and ended putting in almost 36 straight hours. Somewhere in the midst of that, the next bomb broke.

So now I have the yucky head cold and can’t breathe worth a darn. I am pretty much cursing life right now ( in between taking shallow breaths since my nose is out of commission). All the while I get to still put in regular hours at the office. Universe? What did I do?!

That leaves me with the post this week. I can’t seem to get my head to wrap around much right now and I am pretty positive that I am missing something that I was supposed to do. Anyway, my list is very brief (since I really need to go to bed).

My top 5 things I want right now:

  1. My bed (and it needs to be warm)
  2. At least one nostril to clear so I can breathe like I should
  3. My mother (because she would at least tell me she loves me)
  4. Not to have to drive to and from work tomorrow (thanks heavens it is Friday)
  5. This to be the last cold for me for this season. Really, enough is enough!

I hope all of you have a great week and weekend. Stay warm, rested and away from anyone that is sick. 🙂