Just Another Week

It has been a long and exhausting week. Nothing new by way of a job so I hopefully will be doing some temp work starting next week. Got to pay the bills right? I have to admit that it will be nice when I can finally tell all of you that I have a job again. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite things since last week.
1. We celebrated my sister-in-laws birthday this last Sunday so that of course meant we had to have a  bonfire in the backyard.
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2. I made Black & White Cookies for everyone. IMG_4795

3. We have another round of adorable pictures of Zeke gumming his first rib bone.

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4. I have decided that living by the ocean would be a beneficial thing for me. It will keep my stress down. IMG_4567
5. I would still really love to go back to Ireland and live for a short time. If not there, then I would like to go back to the Northwest. I just need some company to want me. *:) happy IMG_4435
If you have any questions about the pictures attach, let me know. Enjoy your weekend and we’ll catch up next week.

Slow Driving

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Don’t think I am weird but when it is lightly drizzling rain outside I somehow feel the need to take a slow drive somewhere. There is something about the quietness that the rain brings to me that calms me and a drive by myself gives me the opportunity to just think.
With that being said, it is also summer and I don’t know about any of you but my whole life has been filled with summer road trips. I have some great memories that come from car trips and it never involved speaking on the phone or watching a movie to pass the time. I always loved the conversations I had with the people in the car and I loved the scenery as it passed by. I would stare out the window and imagine what the lives were like of the people that I passed by.
So today, I decided to share some of my favorite drives. As I thought about this, I realized that I have WAY more than 5 to share. I am not necessarily sharing my top 5 but I am sharing the first 5 that came to mind.
What is your favorite drive? Please share with everyone! Who knows, we might all end up on it some day. 🙂
1.This first drive is between my current house and Portland, OR. I love this drive for two reasons: first, it reminds me of serving a mission for my church. This was the area tha t served in and as I drive through it, I think about all of the people that I met. I think about the lives I was able to help change and I think about my own changed life. The second reason is watching the changing landscape. I love the desert and grew up in it. It can be so beautiful watching the dusty landscape share some flowers every now and then. I love watching that change as I get closer to the coast and see water renew the ground and bring a different kind of life to it with the ferns and evergreens that dot the landscape. I sit and wonder about how beautiful our earth is and what a blessing it is to share in it.
2. I spent my formative years always near a portion of this drive and many times we found ourselves vacationing along it as well. I love PCH or for those of you who don’t know, Pacific Coast Highway. This drive is where I really developed my love of being close to the ocean.
3. I spent my whole life making this drive two different ways then was shown a new one once my brother and sister-in-law were married and it now ranks high on my list. I love the drive from Idaho Falls, ID to Jackson Hole, WY via Victor, ID. I get the opportunity to pass through a couple of valleys, up and down a couple of mountains and follow the Snake River for a time. It is beautiful and full of wildlife. Just be very careful not to hit a moose when travelling around 10pm on Christmas Eve. 🙂
4. This drive was more of a meandering through upstate New York and it was well worth the meander. I highly suggest that everyone spend time in upstate NY.
5. My last drive is through the backside of highway 5 in Oregon through the Willamette Valley. It goes through a lot of vineyards but mostly, it is just quiet and it feels slightly off the grid.

Two for One

I hope everyone had a wonderful week and that everyone has an even better weekend planned ahead! I will be working in the yard, planning for next week and of course, still hunting for a job. I am ready to get back in the swing of things (mostly because the health insurance things sucks without a job–why does it have to be so expensive?).
I looked at the calendar and realized that we are on the 24th . . . wait, what? I could have sworn we were still stuck on the 17th? Leave it to me to have no real direction right now and to get lost in the maze of life. I am going to need to start filling up my time with projects. Hey Mom? can we start cleaning again but in smaller doses?! 🙂
So I have decided to share with you the music from last week based on all of the concerts I have seen this week and will see by the end of next week. You might want to start with number 4, 5 and then round back to number 1.It depends on how you want to end your music excursion.
5. Orgy  
For my next round of places that I have been; I have decided to share with you places that I have been going in my dreams lately. I obviously have a theme here. 🙂
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Have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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It is a beautiful day here in Salem, OR. In fact it has been pretty near perfect the whole time that I have been here. We have had only one day where it has rained and for that I am happy. Not because it was sunny most of the time but because I did have one day of drizzly rain to calm me down.

What have I been doing you may ask? Well . . . not much of anything really. I have applied for jobs. I have been working on the blog to get it up to par so we can transition over to it. I have made dinner a couple of times for the family. I have visited with an old friend. I have been working out every morning. I have been participating in normal family life and it has been great.

My problem now is . . . How much emphasis do I want to put on what I know to obtain the job I know I should have or how much do I want to build my relationships with the people I love and sacrifice income? I am actually a little irritated this morning that I am even having this turmoil inside of me. Thank you America for teaching us how to not appropriately balance work with the rest of our lives. I really want this time to be a moment of change for me but all the while I am feeling sucked back into the great hole of capitalism.

Luckily today and tomorrow are going to be two days of “off”. I am going to “vacation” by heading out to the beach one day and up to Portland the next. I get to visit all of my old haunts, reminisce and hopefully start figuring things out in the best balanced way that I can. I am also going to figure out what to do for St. Patrick’ Day on Tuesday. My friend is going to make her traditional Irish dinner that night so I told her that I would make a traditional Irish breakfast. This is what it looks like give or take a few courses. 2014-08-13 08.52.11
We can’t forget the First course of juice and cereal and the final course of scones/toast and tea. The kids are going to be so full and it almost makes me chuckle. 🙂

So in honor of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day; I am sharing with you the top 5 things I loved seeing, doing or eating while on the Emerald Isle.

  1. This was hands down the most fun. We laughed a lot about it because we had to do it so quickly. No fear kissing the blarney stone. 🙂 2014 1486 2014 1471
  2. I enjoyed the night we walked along the beach just before sunset. 2014 16022014 1591
  3. I loved this dinner we had in Galway. 2014-08-16 20.13.22
  4. I loved driving on the wrong side of the road next to a huge cliff and having to navigate around grazing sheep. 2014-08-14 19.36.49
  5. Lastly, I loved hanging out with the Irish Wolfhounds. I know, got to throw the animals in somehow. 🙂 2014 1807

I hope each and every one of you enjoy the upcoming holiday and do something “green” this week!!