The Morgan's

Wedding anniversary

2009-07-07T14:49:00.000-07:00

June 28th was mine and Jason's wedding anniversary. He planned our day which was awesome! He took me out to breakfast, then we went to his folk's in Hood River to pick up their Harley Davidson trike and go for a ride. It was great. We went on the old highway which is so beautiful! It takes you right by the water falls and then on up to the Vista House/Crown Point.

June post Draft on 6/13

2009-06-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy, busy June.

My sister Amy moved to Kodiak, Alaska August of last year and made the trip back to the lower 48 for summer break. She flew in to Seattle and stayed with my sister Sarah and her husband Bob for a week. Then my mom flew in to Seattle Thursday June 4th. On Saturday June 6th, Sarah drove mom and Amy down to Portland and I drove to Portland to meet them and pick up Amy. We had such a busy day! We started off with breakfast out. Then we were going to make our way to the outlet mall and stop at all the yardsales on the way. We struck gold! Got lots of good stuff for WAY cheap and even some stuff free. We had such a fun time. Each time that mom and me saw a yard sale sign...we would go "choo choo we're on the yard sale train!" So funny! We get to the outlets and first go to the bra store. You can get bra's over 50% off! I tried this one bra and all of you know that my voice carries and quite frankly I'm just loud! lol Well I was really happy with the bra and was telling my sister, through her dressing room door that she had to try this bra since it transforms the two hunks of fat and puts them where they should be and there is no option to fall droopy! lol I know TMI TMI! Anyhow, so this lady and her sister were in this other dressing room and the sister comes out and says that her sister over heard me and wants to try what I have! lol It was hilarious. Then another lady heard me as I was taking this lady to where the bras were and she wanted one too. After we were done and were going to check out, the lady that worked there said that I should receive commission for the amount of those bras that were sold that day because of me! lol We went around to other stores and I got two pairs of Liz Clairborne jeans for $14,99 each! I can't get that deal for walmart jeans and these are way better quality. I'm happy. Then Amy and I left Portland and went to my friend James' birthday party. Super fun BBQ with good people.

Our good friend James' birthday party was Saturday June 6th. .........(that's as far as I got...lol)

Crazy busy!!!

2009-04-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

Have you looked at the date lately? It's the end of April which means the 5th month of this year is about to start. I cannot believe how this year is flying by. The weather is starting to really be beautiful, the grass is super green and the dogwood trees are in bloom.

Being from Arizona, by almost May it's well on into summer. Here in Oregon, some days I'm sure that Spring is here and it great, and then the next day the highs drop and it's cold again.

I love the confusion and the changes...You never know what shoes to wear and don't dare put away winter clothes and jackets just yet.

It'sbeen a LONG time since I posted so I will try to update on how things in our little world have been.

February was a busy month.

February 2nd was our 7th year anniversary from when Jason and I got together. Wow, 7 years. It feels like we have been through a lifetime of experiences together and I look forward to many more! I'm continuously in awe of how lucky I am and how good I have it.

February 11th marked our first year in our home. We were so fortunate to get the home we did for the price and had a good lender who didn't try to sway us to an ARM loan (not that we would have been sway-able, but it's nice not to have that pressure).

February 14th was Valentines Day and we went to Portland with two other couples to the Cheesecake Factory. That might not seem like that big of a deal, but it was considering we had to wait 2 and a half hours and everyone knew it before hand and we all went anyway. It was well worth it and we had a great time.

February was also tax time for us. I like to get it done as soon as I get our W-2s. It was great! Filing married, homeowners, and had a move to deduct. We are still trying to figure out how to top it for next year. We are so blessed.

March

March is birthday month in my family. My dad, mom, aunt, both grandpas (on the same day), and mine. My birthday turned out to be like a birth weekend since it was on a Monday. I thought that as you get older, birthdays celebrations aren't as big and special but having the best husband in the world and great family and friends....I was happily surprised.

Jason and I have this strange, wonderful way of stumbling into really great deals; something like being in the right place at the right time or knowing great people who are always looking out for you. One such example...Jason went over to a friend of ours - Todd - to get a shovel or something he needed for some work he was doing on our 1914 garage (ha! We'll go into that later) and as he was leaving Todd's house he saw another friend - Jeff - at Jeff's dad's house taking up the lawn. He was putting into his dump bed trailer and he was going to haul it off to the dump and go with a low maintanence landscaping for his dad. Jason asked if Jeff could deliver it to our back yard instead of taking it to the dump and Jeff was thrilled to. Our back yard used to have a super big jungle gym so it has alot of sand in the back yard thus making the lawn not very hearty. Then when we had our unexpected litter of 8 puppies the dog population on our property rose to 12 and that reaked havoc on our back yard which already was not set up for heavy traffic. Anyhow, this lawn that was given to us had about 3 1/2 inches of soil with it which is wonderful and exactly what we needed! So I became a sod layer! Yay...until the day after. I completely had a terrible pinch in my back that would not go away. It was not fun at all, but I'm pleased with how things are progressing in the yard.

I signed up to sell Mary Kay to bring in supplement income in order to finish the basement. We have a basement that is entirely unfinished and has HUGE potential!

Every weekend we have stuff going on and we are really lucky with the friends we have that we are having great times...although my house is definately lacking in attention. I need a weekend to focus on JUST it!

April has been good. Todd's 50th birthday, Easter, and Baby Jaxon all on the same day!

Incredible! Leanne and Casey are doing great with this new baby boy which sounds so exciting! I hosted a Partylite party which was fun and got lots of free stuff!

We met with the surgeon for Jason's shoulder and the surgeon is pretty confident that surgery will fix him. YEAH!!! Work comp approved it and it was scheduled. Jason was also scheduled for ongoing training for his job starting last Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in Portland. That's tough for me, I used to be so independent and I still am, but I am more happy with him. He came home for the weekend, and I was off to Seattle to see Sarah and hold a Mary Kay party there with friends of hers from the law firm. It was fun but I was so ready to get back home Saturday night and see Jason since I hadn't seen him since Tuesday morning. Sunday we went to church and spent the day together. Monday was his surgery in Hood River. It went great! He's having pain but he is an incredible trooper! He missed training on Monday, but went back up to Portland today to finish the week out. He is unbelievable. His shoulder is wrapped up and he's in a sling with a pressurized medicine pump OnQ ball delivering medicine right into his shoulder. So Jason is gone until thursday night for training. I am praying that he is able to learn while being in pain from his shoulder and the surgery. I'm constantly amazed by how he continually is pushing on through pain and struggles to better our life.

This weekend there is a free childrens fair in our town and I will be volunteering and helping out there, then hopefully Sunday will be relaxing.

All in all life is busy, good, and we are so blessed!

Mary Kay Makeover

2009-04-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

Before---this is almost unbearable to post!!! I don't leave the house without some makeup...terrible!!!

And the after...I forgot to do blush..this was mainly an eye makeover. Much better I think.

I am doing Mary Kay now!!

2009-03-18T23:21:00.000-07:00

So Jason and I are wanting to finish our basement. We plan to do the work ourselves, but it will still cost some bucks. We have 1160 sq ft that is completely unfinished. This would almost double our square footage and should change our home into a 5 bedroom 2 bath plus a great room/ media room. So I wanted to help by providing supplemental income since Jason will be doing the same with doing Motorcycle repair on the side.

So I've signed up and am now an Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay. I went over to my friends house tonight with my thoughts which is that I am not going to do this if it is the same ol same ol. I plan to be different, and hold events instead of tuperware style parties. Themed, tips and tricks parties. We brainstormed and have come up with some amazing ideas!!!! I'm so thrilled to get started. Should be a week until I get my kit, but I can start ordering at any time for those who know what they want and need and don't have a consultant at this time. Yeah!!! I'm thrilled!!! I plan to post pics of my parties to keep everyone up to date. Wish me luck!!!

After Christmas Sales

2009-03-17T22:11:00.001-07:00

So I don't have pictures of my plunder, but what a good time and good deals we got!!! Me and mom went to Portland without Jason since he was so tired from the two days of driving back and forth to Portland and Hood River and all over. Mom wasn't expecting to see Sarah while she was in town. Sarah lives in Seattle with her husband and had planned to be in California.
We got up early and we were in Portland by 7:30. Mom wanted to go to Target first thing so we made it there and got inside. Then Sarah showed up right behind her and mom freaked! It was fun. We got some really great deals. I bought King and Queen flannel sheet sets for $9.99!!! It was great! We live in an old house so our room is often a bit chilly (we don't like to run the electric heater, we like the wood stove) so flannel sheets provide just the right amount of warmth and I love that they are not as cold as regular sheets to climb into at night. So I bought 5 sets and one for my mother in law. I LOVE bedding!!! We went to Olive Garden with Sarah and Bob and then they headed back to Seattle. Mom and I continued shopping. We went to JC Penneys and bought some great things. It was funny, the lady in line ahead of us was so excited. She was buying flannel sheets for 19.99! I didn't have the heart to tell her 9.99 at target! :) We shopped until dark, going to Costco, and all over. The entire crew cab of my truck was packed full!!! I even had to rearrange it a couple times. Full to the top, I couldn't see out of the back glass!!! It was so fun unloading the truck the next morning to show Jason all our great purchases! I love traditions and can't help but continue them.

Christmas Day

2009-03-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

After a late night Christmas Eve, or should I really say early since we didn't get home until about 4:00am on Christmas Day, we had to be in Portland which is about an hour and a half drive by 10:00 am to pick my mom up. This was how our drive looked going to Portland. Don't let it fool you, it looks nasty, but in fact, the snow was a very nice snow and provided great traction.

After we picked up my mom at the airport, we drove back home and was able to get a small nap before heading to John and Hazel's (Jason's Parents) for 3:00 Christmas dinner. It was so good!!! What a great Christmas day we had!!!

Wedding Picture Collage

2009-03-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

So I found this website called picnik.com For free you can do alot of things and for a small fee you can do even more. totally loved it!!!

Christmas 2008...Ya so I'm a bit behind!!! :)

2009-03-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

This was my first year in Oregon for Christmas. We had so much snow it was great!!! Jason's sister was flying in Christmas Eve and his family does Christmas on Christmas Eve. After many delays in Jeana's flight, she finally got to Hood River about 10:00 or 11:00pm.
We had such a nice Christmas and were so fortunate to receive the gifts we got. I got an incredible new camera from my favorite mother in law *wink wink*. Jason got me a beautiful Black Hills Gold ring and some really nice earings. It was so sweet. We had gone Christmas shopping earlier in the month and I saw these earings and I really liked them. They weren't expensive, but I chose not to buy them because we were buying presents for others and I passed them up. I didn't even notice that Jason paid any attention to me admiring them and somehow he bought them without me seeing it and gave them to me for Christmas. I thought that was great. The subtle things he remembers. So sweet!
John Happy to get new riding gloves from Jeana

Jason Happy about his Southern Style Pork Chopper shirt!

Jason Happy about his Harley Davidson shirt

Jason giving a silly face posing with his mom. Love the hats!!!

I'm going to catch up...

2009-01-25T22:22:00.000-08:00

I promise. I have the tree, Christmas, New Years, and we just got more snow!!! Life is crazy busy andI have been sick, but it's all going to get better and I will get back on track!!

I just don't want to talk right now...

2009-01-23T20:08:00.000-08:00

...

And the Tree is up!!!

2008-12-22T00:17:00.000-08:00

Sunday, December 21st we finally have the tree up!!!

This Christmas season has really been like the rest of the year to me....fast! What is it about growing older and time flying faster? I remember when I was in grade school, the days were long, and summer longer. Now it seems like I turn around and I'm heading into another weekend then another work week. In October, I decided I was going to really get things all put away and officially unpacked in my house. Well it's now December 22nd at midnight-thirty and the front spare bedroom is a catch all with gifts still stacked on the hide-a-bed couch from my bridal shower and our wedding. The 2nd bedroom, where mom will stay, isn't too bad, other than the bed is loaded down with laundry to fold. Also, I need to get pictures on the wall in that room, the walls are so bare. My baseboards need to be cleaned still, the picture rails need to be dusted, I wanted to reorganize where I put things in the kitchen and I started planning for this in October!!! It just seems like it's here and I'm not as ready as I'd like. Do I wish I could put another week in between now and Christmas, No way! I love Christmas and the season and I'm so looking forward to my mom being in town! Christmas isn't about how sparkly clean my baseboards or picture rails are, it's about the birth of Christ. I think he will feel welcome in my home, with my family, regardless of the chorse on my checklist that didn't get done. Can you imagine if all those people in Bethlehem, knew what was really happening....and I mean really knew the calibur of who was about to be born in their town? Think, if they knew and understood ahead of time, how many of the women would be scrubbing and cleaning their homes, and making room. Thats similar to what I've been trying to do I guess. I'm happier with a very clean home, and I'm not the best housekeeper and my wonderful husband Jason....well....he does take out the trash and I'm grateful, but that is about the extent of his housekeeping skills. (Oh he does like to vacuum too, which is wonderful!) As I'm sitting here, I have the front entry way completely done, it tends to get bogged down with shoes, coats, keys, tools, and all sorts of misc stuff that we have set down when we first walk in the door. The living room is done, complete with Christmas tree and the tree is decorated. I started decorating the living room as well. I've turned off all the lights except the entry light and the Christmas tree lights. I love it! I can smell the tree and it makes me really feel the season! My bedroom is clean, Bathroom needs to be swept and mopped and clean the bathtub and sink, but that is pretty quick. Oh yes, and my beloved, beautiful baseboards needs to be washed. The Kitchen, I just need to sweep, mop, and finish up the dishes (I don't have a dishwasher and I HATE to do dishes.) But I have learned that my dislike for them, doesn't make them clean. Then the dining room needs to get done. I had to rearrange the furninture in the living room for the tree so the dining room has lots-o-stuff in there that does not belong there. Just a process of getting things put away. Laundry room is good, just needs to be swept and mopped. I don't know for sure if I will have work tomorrow. We have TONS of snow, so if not, I hope to get alot done. If I do work tomorrow, I'll just start on the house when I get home. I want to be completely done by Tuesday night. I will report back and all those who read this will make me feel accountable! I think I will do that with my new years resolution too! Put all the gorey details on here of the before and hopefully, once I reach the after, I wont be so ashamed of it! I'll try it out with the getting ready for Christmas and mom coming in and we'll see.
Oh I have new pics of town in the snow, but batteries are dead on my phone so I will have to post that in another one. And the picture of the tree too!! Bed time for me. Nighty Night, I hope I dream of something nicer than cleaning baseboards! lol Merry Christmas!!!!

Late November to December in The Gorge

2008-12-20T10:58:00.001-08:00

And I woke up to....

2008-12-14T22:09:00.001-08:00

I went to sleep to this...It looks WAY better in person, my flash went off and ruined the whole thing. We also have more to put up.

And this is what we woke up to. Just a light powdering in the yard, we have HUGE trees that caught alot of the snow, but you can see the road is snow covered. It is the dryest powder, I used a regular broom and swept the snow off the steps and the sidewalk. This is Down town. You can see the swirlies in the road since it was SO cold! The road was frozen and the snow is dry dry so it make ghost swirls on the road. Kinda cool really. On the way to Hood River, this is I-84...more ghost whispies.Chicken Charlie's Island looked SO pretty out there all on it's own. Below is a picture of the island about two weeks ago.Going up Hwy 35 to Odell where Jason's folks live. We were going up there to pick them up to go get a Christmas tree. Those trees looked so pretty, I had to get a drive by shot of them! Overlooking Odell. It's SO pretty, and this photo does not give it justice!!!

We had little luck with the Christmas tree task. We had planned to go to the Christmas tree farm and pick the tree out and cut it down. We went and no one was there. The trees had not been groomed and shaped at all. They were very inexpensive, but I'm no arborist and definately need to have one already shaped....who knows what it would end up as if I were left to do it! lol So we went on to Walmart to get a tree stand and a couple other things. After that we went to eat dinner with John and Hazel and looked around at the Christmas tree lots. I have become my mother and Hazel in so many ways....I say what I think!!!

So we went to Herman's Christmas tree lot. This guy apparently is known as a crook and not a very nice man.

Me: (Rushing over to a nice big tree) OOOHHHH look at this one!!!

Scroogy man: (Annoyed)Why is it that every woman goes directly to that one?

Me: (Happily)Because it's very nice!

Scroogy tree sales man: Or because it's the most expensive!

Me: How much is it?

Scroogy tree sales man: Well it's a 9foot noble fir

Me: And how much is it?

Scroogy tree sales man: (shakes his head like I should know) 9 foot noble fir would make it $90

Me: Oh, it is nice, how much is this tree? (pointing at a considerably shorter tree, but nice and fluffy)

Scroogy tree sales man: That's a noble fir too!

Me: OK, are all noble fir trees $90? How much is it?

Scroogy tree sales man: It is $45.

Me: Well I'm looking to spend about $25 and don't need a 9 footer, or Noble Fir, I just don't want a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.

Scroogy tree sales man: (Scoffing) They're all gone, you're too late! This is what a $25 tree would look like (Picking up a 3 1/2 foot tree)

Me: Well we don't have a tree yet, and I'm not putting stilts under that shrimp! How much is this tree? ( Pointing to a 5 footer)
Scroogy tree sales man: (Shaking his head at me again) This is (some sort of) Pine. It's $35.

Me: Well that's not too bad, can you stand it up?

Scroogy tree sales man: (Stands it up and it has a huge gaping hole and wasn't pretty) Do you want this one?

Me: Nope....We are going to keep looking for our $25 tree since we can go cut it ourselves from the woods for $5 and the Christmas tree farms around are $10 for up to 6foot and $15 for over 6foot.

Scroogy tree sales man: Do you understand how long it takes to grow a Christmas tree from a 2 year old yearling?

Jason: Maybe 3-4 years?

Scroogy tree sales man: More! It takes 18 years before I can harvest.

Me: 18 years from a two year old yearling? You need to start using miracle grow!!!

Jason: Laughs!!!

Scroogy tree sales man didn't think I was funny, but oh well, he can keep his trees and we will find our $25 pretty, no holes, no Charlie Browner tree. The area we live in, we can get great prices on beautiful trees and there is just no reason or benefit in settling!

Jason and I are going tomorrow to Ellett farms...they have trees and they don't have Mr Scroogy Tree Sales Man. I'll post up what we end up with! Yeah!!! I've already cleared the spot in our living room for it!!! Wish us luck!

And hopfully we will have more snow tomorrow...I'll keep ya posted!

I'm Dreaming of a White....

2008-12-13T23:10:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Morning!!!

We are having a cold wave and it looks like we will have a White Christmas!!! I love it! It is now starting to snow tonight, and I hope to wake up with a beautiful white blanket of snow over everything.

Jason and I worked all day today getting things ready outside. We winterized the outside faucets, and wrapped the pipes outside and also the ones in the basement. Our home has an 1100 sq ft unfinished basement that is accessed by the outside, not the inside, and it generally stays quite warm, even without any heater down there, but we wanted to be extra cautious, rather than fix broken pipes. Cleaned off the front porch, bought a rug for the porch to catch icky stuff off of our feet and puppy paws. Raked all the leaves in the front yard and burned them. And last, we worked on Christmas lights. We hopefully will finish them tomorrow, but we got a good start on them. Our neighborhood only has a few lights up on houses and Jason thinks by far ours are the best on the block!!!

It's past bedtime, and I need to get to sleep. I'll take a picture of what I wake up too tomorrow and hopefully it's not disappointing!!!

Inexpensive Gift Ideas!!!

2008-11-30T21:18:00.001-08:00

My sister Amy is a Mary Kay Rep and is gearing up for the Holidays. She has these really nice stocking stuffer gifts and can custom make gift treat cups with any Mary Kay products. To get more info, ask or email Amy m.amy.brown@gmail.com Santa's Foot Treat Cup
Mint Bliss™ Energizing Lotion for Feet & Legs
2 Candy Canes
2 Packs of Hot Chocolate
1 Pair of Fuzzy Socks
1 Deluxe Foot File
1 Santa Ornament (coming out of the chimney)
1 Large Christmas Mug
Price $15.00 with free shipping and no sales tax

Frosty's Hand Treat Cup
Satin Hands® Hand Cream
2 Candy Canes
2 Packs of Hot Chocolate
1 Deluxe Multi-Textured Nail File
1 Snowman Ornament
1 Christmas Mug
Price $10.00 with free shipping and no sales tax

Black Friday....A Success...but we went into the red!!!

2008-11-28T22:22:00.000-08:00

I am going to try to make this a bit short and sweet. It is currently 10:30pm on Black Friday when I am starting this and I have been up since 2:30am....yes we were die hards this year!!! This has always been a tradition in my family and Jason has started to participate in the fun....at least that's what I call it. Jason's mom Hazel has never done Black Friday being there right as they open with the huge lines and crowds so I figured it was time.
This morning Jason and I got up at 2:30 and got the dogs all taken care of to leave for the day and headed to Hood River to get John and Hazel. We got to their house and by the time we left their house in Odell and got to Wal-Mart in Hood River right as they were opening at 5:00am. The line was HUGE. We just went right up to the front doors, waited until about the end of the line and was allowed in. Once in, we were still in so quick that there was still all the good stuff. Once I got in, I forgot everything that were in the adds! lol All I remembered was $2 movies. It was more for the fun and experience of being there. Hazel said she got some good stuff, but I didn't see it....maybe it's for me!!! lol We got out of there without much complication, Jason and I ditched the few items we wanted since we didn't want to wait in the lines and we figured they would still be there tomorrow.
Next we were off to Portland. We went to Fred Meyer's and that was a great place! I got one person on our Christmas list completed, one person started, got me a couple of 99 cent pairs of gloves, and some nice earrings for myself that were super cheap!!!
Then we went to breakfast....then to Oregon City to talk to a man about a truck....then to Kay's Jewelers to get a super deal...then to Coastal. Coastal was awesome. For Jason I got him some really nice flannels that were padded and not heavy. I thought on sale they would end up being about $20 a piece so I bought two of them. I get up to the register, they rung up at $10.81!!! SO CHEAP!!! Unfortunately they only had two in his size. I love a deal, and we really got some good ones.
Picture of my bags of plunder....not too bad I don't think.These are the earrings I got....they look better in personSo this is what we went to Oregon City for!!!! We are elated!!! Jason's 4Runner puked a motor a little bit ago and if it were a 4 cylinder, it would have been worth rebuilding. It's a 6 cylinder and it's not so we are scrapping it and we had been looking hard for another vehicle...no SUV though, Jason needed his truck back. We were so lucky to find this one. The gentleman was selling it because the wife hated to park it....so she wouldn't drive it anymore! Wow! His loss, definately our gain. It's a 1996 Ford F250 Powerstroke Diesel CrewCab with a 50hp chip and 4 inch downpipe and all sorts of other gingerbread on it!

My only question....how to you top a Black Friday like this?!?!?!?!?!

Jason is thankful...

2008-11-28T22:03:00.000-08:00

So I was reading Jason my I am thankful post and as he is starting up the fire tonight, he says that he is happy for a family that stands with him, right beside him, not behind him. I get what he means....we are so lucky!

Thanks giving....Minus the Turkey

2008-11-27T20:54:00.001-08:00

So the bird caught a break for sure at our Thanksgiving dinner....the pig, not so lucky!

Jason and I left The Dalles for his folks' in Hood River at about noon today. I was driving and I gave him the camera to take some pics on the way.

There are very few trees left with their leaves on, yet the evergreens are standing tall and pretty. This is the Columbia River. Across the river is Washington.

Double Bridge on the Washington side...kinda cool in person.

Bob is John's cousin and Pennie is his wife. We went to their house in Parkdale again this year. They had some really nice property with nice trees.

This is looking North towards their neighbor's place.

I can't help but imagine how the tree above would look with LOTS of Christmas lights !!! Hazel and John after dinner. I took 5 pictures of Hazel and every one but this one her eyes are closed! I don't know why this always happens, so In this picture she was holding her eyes open and I told her to put her hands down right as I took it....that's why she looks so wide eyed. lolJason and I getting ready to leave. I never get pictures of the two of us together, so I'm going to make a great effort to get more pics together. It was a good day!

Gotta get off to bed, Black Friday is coming early!!!

I am Thankful

2008-11-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for...how sweet my husband is in getting up earlier than me and stoking the fire up so it's nice and warm when I wake up....for how he talks to me extra gentle when I first get up...for how warm our house is, and it's because Jason worked so hard getting all the wood we need...I'm thankful for my cellphone beep that keeps going off with new text messages from friends wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving....I'm so thankful for good friends...for most days when I get home from work, I get beeped at by someone I know going by, or they stop and chit chat a bit before they go on home...I'm thankful for my mom...and her emails and how she always refers to herself as "Mother" when we never call her that unless she is being silly....she's mom, the most endearing word there is...I love how she is the very first to call me on holidays, birthdays, etc....I love how when we are watching something funny, or at a restaraunt and start laughing so hard, she gets this laugh that you know she's a goner and it will take her a while to get back under control...I'm thankful for Jason's folks John and Hazel...they are not far from us and love having us over for dinner or just being together...they are so thoughtful and helpful and just fun...I get to have more of those really great laugh times with Hazel...I'm thankful for siblings...Each one add to my life in different ways....ways that if they didn't, I wouldn't be who I am....I'm thankful fo Amy and her new adventure to Alaska.....and another secret one that I am having SO much fun with her on....I'm thankful for Sarah in Seattle....and her phone call yesterday telling me we should do Black Friday together....I said sure, In Portland? Since it's 1 1/2 hours for me and 2 hours for her....well no she wants to go in Seattle....4 hours for me, that would make me leave my house at midnight...she was fine with that!!!! I'm thankful for the offer and might actually take her up on it....I'm thankful for her always helping and being able to email, call, and messge her....she is quite fun to be with....I'm thankful for Bob, her husband for unearthing the loving side of her....that's fun to see...I'm thankful for Katy....I think she has the biggest heart humanly possible...she is a fixer...I'm thankful for her calls to tell me when mom isn't having a great day and I should call mom, or reminding me of anniversaries, etc....our calls are ususally short, but meaningful none the less...I'm thankful how when we hang up she always says "Love you Bethy"....I'm thankful for Jason's sister Jeana....she hasa great laugh too and even though she lives in Oklahoma, she is out often and we get to hear that laugh alot....I'm thankful for the kind messages she sends me and the text I just got wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving....I'm thankful for this area of the country we moved to....how beautiful it is...even when it's getting cold like it is....it's worth it all for the people...I'm thankful for James and Lauren...how when you don't answer James' call the first time he leaves a LONG laborous message that you're screening his call....he goes on and on it's so funny....I'm thankful that he is always ready and willing to help us and knows we are always ready and willing to help him...I'm thankful for Lauren and the place that she has filled in James' life...Incredible...I'm thankful that now we both work for the County and get to go to lunch together when I'm not at a meeting and she is not in court....I'm thankful for Monday grocery shopping...it's so fun...we shop and look and talk and see people we know...it usually takes at least two hours....we have to remember to get ice cream and milk last!!! I'm thankful for my new job....I miss my co'worker and friend Courtney tremendously but I am really happy with my job change....I work for Wasco County Commission on Children and Families....mouthful I know, but I'm thankful to say it....I'm thankful for Jason's joh on the Wind Turbines....it's right up his alley with extreme heights, climbing, etc....it's like being on top of the jumgle gym at school....ok so he probably wouldn't agree with me on that but secretly and actually alot of times not so secretly he is still a little boy in his spirit....Love that...I'm thankful for the dogs, even as crazy as I sometimes am, they do some sweet things and we're quite lucky....I'm thankful for the new church we are going to...the people are so kind, and each time I feel like the message the pastor is preaching on was intended just for me...I'm thankful for health and pray that it continues and that others become well....I'm thankful that Jason has fallen asleep while I was doing this...oops...I gotta get ready for Thanksgiving, just wanted to get started with reminding myself on some of the things I am thankful for! I'm thankful....are you?

Didn't get to church today

2008-11-23T14:10:00.000-08:00

Oops....

I set up my friend Wendy to meet this guy Jeff who is so nice. So we all went to the Vault to watch a Guns and Roses tribute band. They were very good! I invited my old co-worker Courtney to come along and she brought her friend Jenny. We had a great time and the band was really good. Look just like them! We didn't get home until 1am, so needless to say we didn't get up to early this morning. People started calling my phone at 7:30 this morning. First it was Wendy, I missed that call. Then James called wanting to do breakfast before we helped him pour concrete for his shop. Then Courtney called. Then Wendy called again. I am so thankful though for good friends. We have been so lucky to meet and spend time with a select few that have great hearts, are good people, and so fun to be with! Wendy and Jeff really hit it off, so I'm excited to see a good man in Wendy's life...stay tuned on that one. Jason and I are up at James' and Laurens' now to help with concrete. It's getting cold. I'll take some pics and post them up! Happy Sunday....maybe just being out in nature today will be my sermon!

It's feeling more and more like Christmas!!!

2008-11-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas is probably my favorite time of year! In Arizona, when the weather started to get cold, and you felt that crispness in the air, you knew it was Christmas. So I'm a bit thrown off...I feel the crispness, the cold, but it's only the beginning of November?! It's ok, because my senses are telling my brain it's Christmas time, and that makes me happy. This year we will be here in Oregon for Christmas and mom is coming in to town to spend it with us and Jason's family. I can't wait! I put pictures of last winter in this post, I just love all the pretty white snow! Thank heaven for four wheel drive and snow tires!

Church message today

2008-11-16T21:54:00.000-08:00

We had a great day at church today! The pastor is great, I really like him!

Today's message was Getting Organized for a Miracle. What a great day for this message... This morning was a bit rough getting ready for church. Seems like odds were really against us to get to church and I know that is because we are really making an effort in getting back to church and satan really doesn't like that a whole lot. I was trying to vacuum, sweep the floor, and do the dishes before I got ready. Earlier in the morning, Jason was putting wood in the stove and tweeked his back out of place. He had a nerve pinched BAD! So he was able to get himself ready, but I felt this crazy overwelming stress, but kept thinking of what my mom always says; Usually when you go to do something right, forces of evil try to conspire against you to prevent you from doing what is right and what you should be doing. I felt that today. I know it will get easier and easier and it was just about a miracle that after everything this morning, we made it to church and on time!
...so back to the message. It was quite fitting for today. We were more organized this Sunday than we were last Sunday and so we both got to church today! The pastor is so funny, well he adds in his moments anyways! In the beginning of his sermon, he was speaking to the congregation and was telling the story Matthew 14:13-18 of the 5 Loaves of bread and 2 Fish and Jesus feeding 5000 men, besides women and children. The Pastor pointed out that it would take alot of organization for that to happen, looking from a logistical standpoint. He then said, loud and clear, "Men, it is your job to organize your family for a miracle." The room was silent. He says again, "Men, it is your job to organize your family for a miracle." There were a few amens. Then he said AGAIN, "Men, it is YOUR job to Organize your family for a miracle!!!" Everyone clapped and acknowledged the message. If we ask for a miracle, we need to be prepared for what we are asking for! Makes sense. If we want the Lord to believe that we are worthy to receive miracles, we need to believe ourselves that we are worthy to receive miracles. So often, we ask for blessings and we've not convinced even ourselves that we have enough worth and/or value to receive what it is that we are asking for. In order for someone else to believe it, we have to believe it, live it, speak it, and practice it.
I look forward to next week, and hearing what the sermon is on. It's seems that so far, each sermon is directed right at me and Jason. Life is good, and would you believe it feels as if it's getting better daily? Incredible!

Fall is Here!

2008-11-16T21:39:00.000-08:00

Being from Arizona, I've never seen all the colors of fall like I have here in Oregon. We live right along the Columbia River in Oregon, that separates Oregon from Washington state. When we drive to Hood River, or Portland, we have trees and mountains on one side and the Columbia River on the other side. It's called the Gorge. It's so beautiful! In the summer everything is green. Now that it is fall, the most beautiful yellows, oranges, reds, and greens. Above is a picture of my neighbor's trees

This is a picture from our porch looking out in the east front yard and part of or neighbor's yard. You can see the leaves from our big trees out front are falling. You can still see some grass through the leaves.

Here is the yard now, just a few days later! I am so happy that I had not raked yet!!!

Layers and Layers of leaves!!! Beautiful leaves and make noise everytime you walk though them. You cannot see the grass through the leaves!!! Guess what we are doing after work tomorrow? :) The leaves aren't all off yet, but you just wade through them, so it's time. This is so cool! I'm just crazy, last year I got to shovel snow, and I loved it!!! I totally like all the leaves too so I'm happy to get them up too!

Feels good to go to church

2008-11-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

With all that has been going on, I've been finding myself missing some sort of organized relegion. Although I was never crazy about church for about 10 years, I'm finally ready to have it be a Yesterday I told Jason that I wanted to find a church. We had discussed this alot before this and are both on the same page of what we are looking for. We had gone a couple times to Jason's folks church and it's very nice, but it's in Hood River so we were hoping to find something a little closer to us. Before this, we hadn't been to church since last Christmas when we were at moms and went with her. I got online to find a church close to us and this morning I went, and it was really nice. Jason will come with me next time, but I ventured out by myself to a new church for the first Sunday.

I attended the Life in Christ Center. The people were very nice, and I was very comfortable. I didn't know all the words to the songs, but I'm learning them. The pastor was great and reminded me of my grandpa Jay. A couple funny points, yet the importance of his message rang clear!

The program had this thought and scripture in it.

--The battle is the Lord's. Still, God wants us to show up with our armor on.--

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass Psalm 37:4-5

After some singing, the associate Pastor recognized all the veterans and service men and women and their families.

The pastor spoke on the Parable of the Patient Farmer Mark 4:26-29

(Matthew, Luke, and John do not touch on this parable, only Mark)

Seed= The word of God, the Bible; within honest and good hearts

Farmer= Each of us, Christians

Harvest= winning souls/ Patience, time

There is a limit to what we can do.

Only the Holy Spirit can produce Harvest.

Know what is our part, and what is God's part

We cannot make the seed grow, but we can hinder it's growth with improper care.

God's not going to sow, water, or reep - that is our job.

Depend on God and the power of his word

Necessity of Patience, James 5:7

Hope, Psalm 126:5-6; 1Cor 15:58

Harvest comes suddenly, John 4:35-38

Living Water, Matthew 8:37-38; Lots of Harvest, few laborers. 20% of Christians do 80% of the work.

GOD IS GOING TO DO SOMETHING -- Be Ready for Harvest

Saddest words in the Bible

Jeremiah 8:20

Harvest has past, summer has ended, and we are not saved!

I feel like a bad dog mom

2008-11-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

So Jason and I don't have kids yet, but we have dogs. Each of them have their little quirks and personalities. This post is about Diesel. Diesel was born Christmas day in 2005. He is an over achiever!! He championed out in UKC in two weekends, and it was his only two weekends we every showed him. All before he turned one. Pretty Impressive. He's pictured below for his Champion photo.

So after the UKC confirmation championship, we decided on a Friday night to take him to try a weight pull competition the following morning. He'd never had a harness on him, we bought the harness Friday night. He pulled 1740 lbs (he weighs 60lbs) and won a trophy for ultimate pull for his weightclass and a medal I can't remember what for. He totally loved it!Then we went to wieght pull championships in Snowflake. Mom came too, it was so fun! Diesel almost struts when it's his turn to go. This is him pulling,Here he's pulling a little more. That is railroad iron in 105lb bars.
Jason is hooking him up to the cart. Look at that big smile!!! These dogs LOVE this sport! Well in Snowflake he bettered his weight by 400lbs!!! He pulled 2130. Diesel weighed in at 61lbs himself.
Why do I feel like I'm a bad dog mom? Well we have been quite busy lately getting ready for winter and trying to get all the wood we need and splitting and stacking it. We've been back and forth to Portland the last few weekends getting all our vehicles new tires for winter. Also, I recently started a new job with the County and Jason's still recooping with his shoulder. So our poor dogs have not as much attention as we like to give them. Last week, Jason went down to the basement, which is accessed by outside and 1100 sq ft unfinished. We have our deep freeze down there, some boxes, and Diesel's weight pull harnesses are hung down there too. It was rainy and kinda cold so he left the door open so Diesel could be in the back yard or in the basement if he got cold. We get home from work and Jason goes outside to get something out of the basement and he hollers up to me. I got outside and Jason asked if I had taken Diesel's harnesses down; he has three. I said that I hadn't. Well Diesel ran down to Jason in the basement and was trying to put his head through the harness. He pulled down the harnesses and wanted them on! Jason put one on him and let him walk around the backyard with it, he just strut around like he was really something. He misses pulling! So we are going to have to get back into that, we've never done it in Oregon. Poor little thing, just wants to work. He's such a good boy!

Well America...You asked for it!!!

2008-11-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

SCARY!!!

Borrowed from Amber...

2008-10-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE YOU VOTE !!!
Sorry to bother you Mr. Obama, SirExcuse me Mr. Obama, I mean Senator Obama, sir.
Um . . know you are busy and important and stuff.
I mean running for president is very important and . . . ah . . I hate to bother you.
I will only take a minute ok, sir?See, I have these missing pieces that are holding me up, and I was wondering sir, if you couldtake time out of your busy schedule and help me out.
You know, no big deal, just some looseends and things.
I can't seem to get some information I need to wrap this up.
These things seem to either be'locked' or 'not available'.
I'm sure it's just some oversight or glitch or something, so if youcould you tell me where these things are?
Could you help me please find these things, sir?
1. Occidental College records -- Not released
2. Columbia College records -- Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper -- not available, locked down by faculty
4. Harvard College records -- Not released, locked down by faculty
5. Selective Service Registration -- Not released
6. Medical records -- Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule -- 'not available'
8. Law practice client list -- Not released
9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate - - Not released
10. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth -- Not released
11. Harvard Law Review articles published -- None
12. University of Chicago scholarly articles -- None
13. Your Record of baptism-- Not released or 'not available'
14. Your Illinois State Senate records--'not available'

You couldn't get a job at McDonalds and become district manager after 143 days of experience.
You couldn't become chief of surgery after 143 days of experience of being a surgeon.
You couldn't get a job as a teacher and be the superintendent after 143 days of experience.
You couldn't join the military and become a colonel after 143 days of experience.
You couldn't get a job as a reporter and become the nightly news anchor after 143 days of experience.
BUT....'From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working. After143 days of work experience, Obama believed hew as ready to be Commander In Chief,Leader of the Free World .... 143 days.We all have to start somewhere. The senate is a good start, but after 143 days, that's all it is - a start.AND, strangely, a large sector of the American public is okay with this and campaigning for him. We wouldn't accept this in our own line of work, yet some are okay with this for the President of the United States of America ?

Come on folks, we are not voting for the next American Idol!

It's a Potato Soup Day

2008-10-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

This week so far has been cold and windy, and yesterday real rainy. It's been Hot Cocoa and Potato Soup week. We just finished with dinner, I forgot to take out meat to cook up tonight so Jason had a Hungry Man that I get him for when he gets the 11:00pm hunger pangs. Jason is finally up to 197-200lbs!!! That is great! He's 6'4" and cannot put on fat. He puts on muscle and with his climbing he definitely is putting on more muscle, but I'm trying to pump the calories to him to keep up energy and weight. I just made homemade potato soup and he will be eating that like crazy! The bread is almost done too. What is homemade soup without homemade bread? I can smell it, I love that smell. Someone should make it into a glade plug in or scented candle. Do you think it would sell?

Speaking of candles, I am so excited for the Christmas season. I LOVE the Christmas scented candles. I will watch for the after Christmas sales this year to stock up on them for the year. I know that almost every post is reverting to Christmas, I just love Christmas and this weather already is like it is in Arizona right at Christmas. This year we will be having Christmas here in Oregon. Since we don't have kids, we trade off, Arizona and Oregon every other year. Last year was in Arizona with my mom, this year will be Oregon with Jason's folks and my mom is coming up too! I'm so excited! Jason's sister will be in town from Oklahoma, so it will be nice to have more family around. It's about time to put up the lights. I don't know how I will be able to wait for after Thanksgiving!!!

Update on Jason- He is back at work, on light duty after his scapula fracture. He goes to the Orthopedic Dr on Monday. His shoulder has really been hurting him tonight, I was getting pretty worried since he has such a high pain tolerance, but now I look over and he has fallen asleep on the couch. His work has been letting him do his Internet training classes in the office and run parts. He was so sweet today. The company sent him to The Dalles Auto Parts store which is just in the next block after where I work. He came strolling in my office out of no where. I hadn't seen him cross the street and didn't know he was even in town right then. It was so nice, he just wanted to come over, say hi, and give me a kiss. I thought that was so thoughtful. I'm so lucky! I'm going to put away the potato soup, get the dogs all around for bed, put the bread away when it is done, and get Jason to bed. Night Night!

Best Baby Laughs n more

2008-10-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is WILD!!! Scary really!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG5rQ3D_Zrw

What a great laugh!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wIEihDAcpU

This ones way cute too!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6UU6m3cqk

Kick his Ask
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6UU6m3cqk

Buhlud
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9yAkBSrMk0

Scared of Shadow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtpoOdcYCYU

I don't like you mommy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8aprCNnecU

Charlie Bit my finger...again

2008-10-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite youtube video to date!!! I love it! The Little England boys voice is so cute!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

You have to watch it more than once! Watch his little brow scrunch up!!!

Will you go with me?

2008-10-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

When mom and Michael were talking, they were discussing their taste in music. Michael was HUGE on Jimmy Buffett, and mom was talking about a new cd she got of Josh Turner.

Mom was trying to remember the name of his new song out and Michael said he liked Josh Turner. Mom then remembered the name of the song,

"Will you go with me"

Michael's response -- "yes".

Josh Turner Will you go with me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktsHHNS07Wc

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Josh Groban Awake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5RXwhlCLOE

"Awake"

A beautiful and blinding morning

The world outside begins to breathe

See clouds arriving without warning

I need you here to shelter me

And I know that only time will tell us how

To carry on without each other

So keep me awake to memorize you

Give me more time to feel this way

We can't stay like this forever

But I can have you next to me today

If I could make these moments endless

If I could stop the winds of change

If we just keep our eyes wide open

Then everything would stay the same

And I know that only time will tell me how

We'll carry on without each other

So keep me awake for every moment

Give us more time to be this way

We can't stay like this forever

But I can have you next to me today

We'll let tomorrow wait, you're here, right now, with me

All my fears just fall away, when you are all I see

We can't stay like this forever

But I have you here today

And I will remember

Oh I will remember

Remember all the love we shared today

I love my mom! I think she is impatiently awaiting her reunion wih her sweetheart. Can ya blame her? How would you feel if you just got a tiny taste of pure bliss, and then it was moved far far away?

You Raise Me Up

What I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;

When troubles come and my heart burdened be;

Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,

Until you come and sit awile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up...To more than I can be.

You raise me up...To more than I can be

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Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton When I get where I'm going

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Zfx5qra_g.

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Brad Paisley Waitin' on a Woman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glYTXMMQ1Xk

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Josh Groban To where you are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baWBHZ7Fo6c

Dont forget to preheat the oven!

Breath in, Breath out, Move on

Home is where the heart is

2008-10-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

Do you remember dreaming of your first home and what it would be like?

Do you wanna see what I imagined mine to be?

An Old home, Craftsman style, with bay windows (which is perfect for a beautiful Christmas tree), 10ft ceilings, Large mop boards and molding around door frames and windows, and all the old style charm that only comes in these old homes.

When Jason and I moved here from Arizona in November of 2007, I drove by this house. It had been for sale when I was looking online prior to our move and in October, it was pulled off the market. We had had Jason's folks drive by it and they peeked through the windows and liked it, except, from what they could see, it had a tiny tiny kitchen! Kitchens, in my mind, are probably the most expensive remodel and it sounded as if we would have to knock out walls, etc and that just wasn't in our budget. But somehow, we were never as hopeful with any other property in our price range. So when we drove by in November, there was no sign of occupancy or that it was still for sale. I contacted the county and found out the owners names and luckily, they were in the phone book and lived just a few streets over. I called the woman and she said that her husband was reflooring the house, and doing a few repairs so it was for sale, but not right now.
I was so bummed. So we looked at other properties, and were pretty unhappy with what we were coming up with. It seemed that, for the amount of money we were able to afford in a mortgage, we were going to be purchasing a home that needed TLC, yet we wouldn't have the money to do the repairs while paying a mortgage that high. Then in Mid December we get a call from the owner of the property. YEAH!!! Her husband was finished with the new flooring and paint and we could come and see it. We went right over, Jason and I and his mom and dad. These are some pictures from that day.

This is from the dining room looking out to the living room and front entryway. It was hard to capture the sizes of the rooms. From here, if you go to the entry way on the left, there is another door that goes to the first guest bedroom. It's a nice sized room and we have a hide-a-bed couch in there and will be setting up our computer desk in there too.
This is the living room still, looking at the North and East walls. I love the bay window and all the dutch windows (that's what the inspector called them). I wouldn't trade these original windows even though they are single paned, for any new vinyl window period! I love it!
So then from where I took that picture in the living room, turn around and you are in the dining room. There is a large open archway that separates the rooms, but still leaving with the feeling of openness. In the dining room on the outer wall facing east, is another bay window. The prior owners put in this Engineered Hardwood floor. Underneath it is old vinyl, but underneath that is the original wood flooring! We are thrilled to be able to restore back to original at a later time.
This is in the dining room looking along the east wall at the bay window and also on the left you can see into the living room. Behind me, on the west wall there is a doorway that leads into a hallway where you have entry to the 2nd guest bedroom, the bathroom, and the master bedroom.
This is in the dining room looking South. There is this great original built in that is accessible on the dining room side and the kitchen side. It's great! On the kitchen is nice sized!!! It wasn't what they had seen through the window. This house was PERFECT for us! It also has a full unfinished basement that we will finish which will double our square footage!

We were able to buy the house directly from the seller, without realtors and their fees. We were so excited to get such a nice house, within our budget. This is our first home! We had the inspection done and the inspector loved this house and said how well made it is. This house is in The Dalles, Oregon and we were really wanting to buy in Hood River which is about 20 minutes away, but the prices in Hood River were just out of this world! This same house in Hood River, would have been almost double what we paid for it here in The Dalles. We have a plan though. We hope to be able to live in this home, do some improvements with the down stairs, maybe finish some square footage in the attic, and then when the housing market comes back up after a few years, sell it (or rent it out) and hopefully we can find a great place in the Hood River Valley somewhere with some land.

We have been so blessed and I've heard that it takes only two things to know when looking for a house, that it is the one for you. You feel the heartbeat of the house when you come in. This house definitely is home-y feeling and had a heartbeat when you walk in. The 2nd is you know immediately where you are going to put your Christmas tree!!! I love Christmas and even though it's not even Halloween yet, I've suggested to Jason we get the lights up on the house so while the weather is good! lol

What's life without dreams?

It's 5 to Midnight

2008-10-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

And I'm glad this day is almost over. I got a call today from Jason at 3:30 while I was at work. First words out of his mouth... Now don't worry, I'm ok. That is never good! He's trying to calm me before telling me something. He said he was on his way to the hospital to just get checked out. At work, up 300 feet in the Nacell of the Wind Turbine, he was on the ground torquing a bolt down, when a 60-70lb tool 3 feet above him, fell off where it was resting and hit him in the back!!! Instantly my stomach started hurting as if that tool had just hit me in the stomach! I met him at the ER and they took Xrays.

The Dr comes out says that the Xrays look good, ribs look good, chest looks good, but there's something "funky" with how his Scapula or shoulder blade looks. "Funky"? How much money did that Dr spend in medical schooling to be able to use funky as a med term?!?! So the Dr orders a CT scan. Jason gets back in the room and we are waiting, and then the Dr comes in and says that he looked at the films and it looks like his Scapula is cracked. He said it's a very abnormal crack in that a person doesn't generally crack a shoulder blade since it's a fairly large bone. However, the 60-70lbs of falling tool 3ft above him would persuade a large bone to crack. So we look for a Orthopedic doc tomorrow.

Jason is sleeping, comfortably I think since he is snoring like crazy, and I'm in bed typing on the laptop. I am going to try to get some sleep myself, no sense worrying, like everything we've already been through with his back, it is all somehow for our learning and growth....

Excitement in the air

2008-10-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

So we have some changes that are upon us and it feels like we are really being moved in good directions, it's so funny how things work themselves out. How when we put our concerns and discouragements out to God, he give us back a solution and moves us right along to where we need to be. So I'm getting ready for a "moving along", and all the while it is exciting and interesting, I'm a creature of habit, and really fight change. I find comfort in the same ol same ol and that is getting ready to be disturbed and changed into something brand new, out of my comfort zone, and where I will really be in a learning position. Jason has been so supportive, loving, and encouraging in really helping me make the decisions required. The opportunity is wonderful, and I welcome it, even while I'm bummed to be moving from some things that I will miss. Change is good, God is great, and I'm not going to get much sleep tonight.

We drive a hard bargain

2008-10-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

I am becoming more and more my mother's child and my spouse's spouse! Oh how I used to want to shrivel up and slide under a rock with embarrassment whenever we would be at a garage sale and mom would dicker on the price of things. Or when we were at a restaurant, and if the food wasn't cooked right or there was an error between what she ordered and what they brought out, she would send it back. I never did, at all.......that is until I started paying for the bill! :) Then with Jason, never paying full price when there was any room for dickering. When we were in Oklahoma, he taught me that you can even negotiate prices at the meat service case!?!?!?! Are you kidding me? That was the strangest thing! He also taught me that at restaurants, when you get free refills, you can ask for a to go cup and even take a refill to go!! Crazy, I would have never guessed.

So this weekend Jason went out to Schwabs to check out used tires for his Toyota. They had a really nice set with alot of tread left for almost $400 after mounting and balancing. Ya they were really good tires, and ya Jason really needs new tires, but we both really have a hard time paying that price for USED tires!!! We hate to put brand new tires and pay the price for them since we will be getting the Toyota ready to sell so we can buy a Diesel. So he came on home and we got on the computer and checked craigslist and we found a really great deal for a set of 4 with 50% tread on them for $60. That is a really good deal, even having to drive to Portland to get them. So we went down to Portland to meed the old boy that was selling them. We get there, and the guy had left and left his mom to show us the tires. She opened the garage and the tires were worn out!!! They were already in the wear bars! They were worse than what we were taking off of the toyota! That ol boy was pretty lucky he wasn't there, Jason was not pleased! So we left and luckily we brought the laptop so we got online and called around to some tire companies with no luck, then found another listing on craigslist. A set of 4 with 40% tread on them and mounted on stock Toyota wheels for $80. So we called the gal, and she wasn't sure how much tread is left, she was just told about 40% tread. Well it was on the way, so we stopped by to check them out. They were nice, a little less than 40% but still definitely wearable! Then she mentioned that she had a brand new set that have been worn one week that she forgot she had. We looked at them, and they were the stock size that came on the 4Runner, with stock wheels and she said she got them at cost from the tire company for $260. What a great deal! She said she'd have to get $200 out of them. Well we hummed and hawed and Jason said he just couldn't do $200 for them. She asked what we could do for them. I knew Jason was going to say $150, and just before he did, he stopped and asked her what her absolute bottom dollar was. She said $100. $100!!! Jason said we could do $100! I asked Jason if he was sure we could. See we pulled out $100 in cash to come to town to get $60 tires. Well on the way I had to go to the bathroom so I have this thing where I have to buy something at the convenient store if I stop to use their restroom. So I bought us a water and Snapple which broke one of the $20s. So I had $15 left, Jason had $80 and a crinkled $1 in his pocket. The lady said not to worry, $95 was fine. The deal got even better!!! Saved another $5! We really are blessed. Out of no where, God just gives us a break on things! The day was good, then was not great, then really great!!!

We finished the day off stopping by Jason's folks house and getting to spend some much needed time with them. It was a great day and I had such a nice time on the ride to Portland and back just getting to be with Jason and talk about random stuff. No where to be but with each other. Life is great!

Blast from the....

2008-10-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

This is the epitome of me!!! Big, wide, open mouth and just looking at the picture you can HEAR me (regardless of what state you live in) laughing or squealing about the graduation gift I was just given! lol Hey I can admit I'm loud. My voice just carries....or something like that right?

2008-10-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

With the new blogging thing, I've been going through some old pictures. This has been so great for me. I feel that I am getting a refresher course, so to speak, on the past. I am so grateful for the past since each road traveled-- good, bad, or indifferent-- truly has made our present and road the the future what it is. I couldn't ask for more...

The diversity of this riding area was incredible! We started off in dirt and rock, went over the desert, and through the woods, to the beach of a lake and over to the dunes. There were great jumps and we had a great time. We really look forward to saving up play money to get 4 wheelers and can go out and play as hard as we work.
Here we are stopped on the side of the road in 4/02 on our way from Phoenix to Payson. We stopped to put our coats on. I have a big picture with all 4 bikes showing. This was a trip when everyone was down for Country Thunder. Jason and I on one bike, Ben and Lindsay on one bike, and Jodie and Nevada were cruisin' solo. Oh how the temperature changed from Phoenix to Payson! The ride was great! Jason picked me up from work on the bike with a change of clothes and a rose. He even brought me appropriate shoes for the ride. The only thing he forgot was socks. lol We were off for Payson. We got to Payson, went to Walmart for warmer clothes still yet, and then went and got a hotel room. All 6 of us in one room, we had cramped quarters but it was great. Then up and at 'em first thing in the morning since it was a work day and I had to be at work at 8am. Oh the freedom! We hustled back to Phoenix via the Beeline Highway, and as we got closer, we all started going faster, towards the warmth!!! The turn off to Mesa from the Beeline has an area you have to stop and wait to cross the lane of oncoming traffic. Well we got to that point, we stopped and Jason insists that I hold on at ALL times. Well we stopped to wait for a break in traffic to get across so I took the liberty to put my hair back up in my pony tail and before I knew it, Jason was taking off and popping a wheelie!! A WHEELIE?!?!?! While I'm not holding on? If I could meet the man that made the sissy bar, I would kiss them, and let me tell you it would be one heck of a kiss!!! lol Oh my reflexes were quick and I was able to regain my grip on Jason before he let down the front tire and then put quite the GRIP on the inside of his leg! Jason HATES to be pinched. It reminds him of being in church when he was a kid and when he would be acting up, his mom would reach over and pinch the inside of his leg where the skin is so tender. OWWWEEEE! He did not like me pinching him, but never again has he popped a wheelie with me on the back so I taught him. But then again, I never again have let go of him while the bike is running....so maybe he taught me....or maybe I learned myself! lol And in Jason's defense, his intention was not to pop a wheelie. We had been on the Beeline Highway for quite a while at a good speed so the tires were nice and warm and stuck a bit when he nailed the throttle to cross the freeway. We made it back into town, I was able to quickly get ready for work and Jason gave me a ride on the bike to work. We had such a great time!
I met Jason's folks for the first time Christmas of 2003. I had been with Jason since 2/02 and had many conversations with them, but just hadn't had the chance to meet them since they lived in Oregon and in 2002 I was in Arizona and in 2003 I was with Jason in Oklahoma. This Christmas I went to my mom's house for Christmas and flew out from Phoenix to Oregon to meet up with Jason and his family right after Christmas . I was immediately welcomed into their family and treated so well. When Jason came to pick me at the airport, he met me at the security clearance (that's as far as you can go anymore without a ticket) and down to baggage claim we went. We get down to baggage claim and Jason leaves to go check on the pickup that he left running outfront. While I was waiting, up walks Ben and Jodie! They came from Idaho to surprise me. Lindsay came along too! That was so great!
Some of Jason's folk's friends came over to meet me as soon as we got home from the airport. We were so tired we kept falling asleep on eachother. Then they would chatter and say how sweet we were, etc. That was a great Christmas. I love Christmas and the temperature lets me know it's coming on quick! I need to get out my Christmas boxes and get Christmas lights up. Oh I LOVE this season!!! Merry Christmas to all...I know it's only 10/10 but this weather just gets me in the spirit!!!

Chainsaw vs. knee --- And the winner is....

2008-10-09T19:53:00.001-07:00

CHAINSAW!!!

----CAUTION----

The following may not be suitable for children of all ages, for women who are pregnant and queasy, or the squeamish!

Before Jason got hired on with Vestas, he did some logging work over in Dufur. The guy he was working for bought him a new saw, and Jason was very happy to be working with saws again. He always enjoyed going wood cutting growing up and was happy to get back to falling trees.

Jason's first day of work, I was sick with the flu, and in spite of my tremendous dislike for doctors, I had made myself an appointment to get in ASAP in hopes of getting an antiflu medicine to reduce the time and effects. That's how Jason and those who know me really knew I was VERY sick! The day was uneventful and entirely unpleasant for me. I took myself to the doctor at about 4pm then came home. Not long after Jason comes home...with a bit of a limp. A limp?!?! He didn't leave here this morning with one? Where did it come from? What happened? He came home smiling and very nonchalantly explained that there was a slight malfunction with the chainsaw and the chain shouldn't have been still cutting with the lock on, but it was and it kicked across his kneecap and his employer took him to the ER to get stitched up and then he went back to work and fell a few more trees to finish the day off. WHAT?!?!?!

My first thoughts....

Are you ok?(Yes) Why didn't you call me? (Because if I had, you would have forgone your drs appointment and gone to the ER and you were in no health to do that) Does it hurt? (not yet...) Oh my goodness!!! How deep? (pretty deep, just missed the bone, but did get to some cartilage)

Pain definitely set in the next day and for a while after that. Have you ever tried to heal your skin and meat over your kneecap? It bends!!! Reopening the wound, more likelihood for infection, and just downright not fun! He's all healed up now, I told him I think he should get a tattoo over the scar in the design of a zipper! I'll take some pics of it after to show how good it healed. A definite scar and proof still yet that if Jason could ever meet Murphy, he would show him that his law is alive and in effect and Jason is the proof!!!

Picture below is of the wound open. When Jason was at the ER, before the Drs could sew it up, he whipped out his camera phone and said he had to get a picture of it....

Yes I know, only Jason!!!

Explicit Picture

7 to 7 and closer to Heaven

2008-10-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

The Monday after our wedding, Jason started a brand new job and brand new career. He is a Service Technician working in Wind Turbines. The company he works for is Vestas America. He is able to use his mechanical skills from his Diesel/Automotive, hydraulics, and electrical skills just almost 300 feet up. Below is a picture from the bottom of the Turbine looking up. The picture below is a picture that Jason took climbing the ladder inside of the Turbine. He is taking a picture looking down at what he has already climbed. 284 feet via ladder with rungs that are appx 14inches wide. The company purchased all his climbing gear and strapping and riggings and seems to be of good quality which is assuring.
This next picture is a picture Jason took from on top of the Turbine looking out towards the others. He has such a view out on top! Worth the climb?
This is Jason on top of the hub. Anyone who knows Jason, knows he has always been quite the extremist and loves a challenge.
Jason pulled his 4Runner up along side of a blade of a turbine. It looks like a toy vehicle! Like a mini! HUGE!
Jason just got back tonight from his second trip for training. His 2nd week of work, the company sent him to Portland, which is only about 1 1/2 hours from us and where Vestas' Corporate training center is. He went through two weeks of training and got a huge duffel bag full of climbing and safety equipment. So many of Jason's past jobs just threw him right into work without any sort of training as to the way that particular company liked things. It's just nice to have a company formally train and invest in their employees like this. Last week Jason went back to Portland for his 2nd training trip. I was able to go up to Portland the first week, on Wednesday night, and stay until Friday morning. That was so fun to just hang out in the hotel room and not do anything. We had a buddy stay at our house with the dogs so I didn't have a care in the world. Thursday while I was up there, Jason came and picked me up for lunch and i was able to hear about how his day was going so far and have lunch with him. Then that night we went to dinner. We had a good time. Jason finished up his training today with a test that he passed with flying colors!!! One step close to a raise!! Yippee! Life is good!

If a Woodchuck could chuck wood...

2008-10-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

As fall is right on top of us and winter is FAST approaching, we have been out cutting wood for winter. The woods have been closed due to fire hazards and there was quite the fire up on the mountain burning down towards Cooper Spur so I guess they had good reason, no one wants to see Mt Hood or it's surroundings on fire!!! But now they opened up some permits so we were good to go. We went up to Dee flat and off the beaten path towards Lost Lake we found some nice down logs, even some Red Fir!!! Would have made BEAUTIFUL lumber! Above is the view looking back from where we parked to get the logs out.

This tree is bigger around in person, not sure why it looks so thin in the picture. This was where we hooked the snatch block too (terrible name, but I guess that's what it's called). This nylon strap just squished the dickens out of the bark, and the wood underneath is just pale and wet and pretty. The bark was so pliable. This tree stood tall and made it possible to get out the down logs from in the woods and to the roadside where Jason and James could cut them up and Lauren and I moved the cut up chunks to the trailers. At least the ones we could carry or roll. Even at 16-18 inch lengths, some of those rounds were too big for us to handle and we got in BIG trouble by the guys for even trying!

Here are a couple of the logs we got. They look skinny, but they are pretty substantial and LONG!!! So you know any time you go into the woods for woodcutting, you have to bring a picnic right? We had the BEST picnic! This day was rainy and cold and Lauren and I knew that we needed more than bologna sandwiches!!! Jason and I just bought 1/4 beef and so I brought sirloin steak and a little BBQ. We had the whole fixings complete with Baked Potatoes and soup. Before we left to go wood cutting, I asked Jason to go to the basement and grab 3 steaks, one each for Jason and James and one for Lauren and I to share. He comes back with two packages of sirloin steak and we were assuming there were two steaks in each package since it was HUGE!!! Come to find out, no just one steak in each package so we had two steaks but it was plenty! They were the biggest, best looking sirloin steaks I have EVER seen! We are definitely reordering from the people we bought this beef from next year!
Between the rain, chain saw breakdowns (all three of them), and just random chit chatting since we were all just happy to be with each other, we didn't get as much wood as we would have liked, but we had a good time regardless. We loaded what we cut then put some logs on top that were 16ft long or so.
We got through loading, and night was upon us! It was cold, and still rainy but it was the first cutting in the woods for the season and it was great to be up there in the stillness away from everything. I think time moves a bit slower in the woods. We came out of the woods and went to Jason's folks' house in Hood River to pick up Boomer. We dropped him off that morning to so they could spend some time with their favorite "granddog". They don't have any grand kids mind you so they make the best of what they have! lol Boomer hopped in the 72 Ford with Jason hauling the trailer and I followed behind in my Dodge since the trailer taillights weren't working. It was about 9:30pm when we left Hood River and got on the freeway to travel the 19 miles east along the Columbia River to our home in The Dalles. I was following Jason closely almost the whole way. We were cruising along at probably 70-75mph and were about 5 miles out of The Dalles when I let out of it a bit and all of a sudden I saw Jason in the Ford and trailer in front of me start swirling "S"s across both lanes on the freeway. Sparks were flying, logs were flying everywhere, and I just knew he was going to go straight into the concrete barrier median!!! His driving skills were incredible and he finally got it safely over to the right shoulder, I stopped my truck when the first log went flying and ran as fast as I could up to his truck. He had blown a passenger front tire! Jason was so bummed! He loves this old truck, his grandpa loved this old truck and Jason has got to be one of the most sentimental man I know.
So we couldn't find a spare for the truck due to the wheel being inset or something like that so I called a tow truck. It just so happened that one of our clients just started a tow company and has two brand new rollbacks. I gave him a call and he gave us a HUGE break on the cost and towed us in truck on the rollback and trailer being pulled by the rollback for $100! That is an unheard of deal! We were so lucky! We were so lucky that the damage wasn't greater! We were so lucky that Jason and Boomer weren't hurt and that there weren't any cars in the lane next to Jason! We were so lucky that I had backed off of following so closely right before the tire blew and was able to get stopped myself! We were so lucky that the wood didn't fly into oncoming traffic and injure someone that way! Not the best day, but we were SO lucky! Needless to say, the following day - Sunday, we rested!

I am So thankful for that wood! We have been building fires for a little while now and outside it's quite chilly, but it's nice and cozy in our wonderful home! Life is good...time for some cocoa!

All the cool kids are doing it....

2008-10-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

I am officially entering the world of Blogging! Wow! After reading blogs of my friends and families, I think I am the only one who doesn't have a blog. All that is history now.

For a recap on where we've been to bring us to today...

Jason and I met in Arizona when I was 16 and he was 20. He was a small town country boy from Hood River, Oregon....

...and I was a small town country girl from Thatcher, Arizona.

I had just started dating a friend of his and that is how we came to meet. The boys were going to school in Phoenix at the time and every weekend four of them would come down to visit me and my friends and we would cruise main street, go on dates, and go to our friends house who had a mechanical bull and the boys would practice their skills. Then some weekends we would go to Benson where they would let the guys pay an entry fee and put them on a real bull to try their luck with the sport. The guys would come to my house and of course since my mom never had boys, she just loved them all!!! She would stock up on food for when they came to town, since after all, they were starving college students who spent alot of money in their old Chevy and Ford big block pickups coming to our little town every weekend. Often the guys would campout on the living room floor with sleeping bags and it was always quite the sight to come down stairs in the morning and see all of them sprawled out. I wish I had pictures!!! Jodie was 6'3" Jason was 6'4" Nevada was 6'5" and Ben was 6'6". Sleeping bags are not one height fits all!!! I had so much fun with that group and was lucky enough to have a great connection with them all and stayed in pretty good contact with them all. Graduation for them came around in '99 so Jason was off to Oregon, then to Tulsa, and Ben and Jodie did the whole Helicopter logging in Virginia and all over for a while. Every year, we would all get back together in Arizona for the 4 day country music festival called Country Thunder USA. We had such fun! We did that from 98-02, and really need to get that going again!

So Jason was in Tulsa working for Tulsa Freightliner and I was in Phoenix. I remember many long night phone calls with Jason and he would frequently tell me that he needed a "Beth". Of course, I just thought he wanted a girl that had similar characteristics to me, country girl, laid back, just normal without all the crazy tendencies, etc. lol What he meant, and had meant for quite a while is that he wanted me. Totally didn't catch on!

Our group got together for a trip out to Tulsa in February of 2002. Ben and Jodie were both working for Williams Gas Pipeline at that time and Ben was being sent to Tulsa for snowcat training. So Jodie took off work, flew down to Phoenix, and I took of work and Jodie and I drove from Phoenix to Tulsa. Ben flew from Boise to Tulsa, and Jason and Nevada were already in Tulsa. Something just clicked in this trip with Jason and I and we've been together non stop since. I'll find pictures of that trip and post them up!

Jason and I got married June 28th, 2008 and married life is great! I totally dig it You would think after being together for almost 6 1/2 years that it wouldn't change that much after we were married, but boy howdy, I totally like being married. I love Jason. He is definately "IT" for me. We were so lucky that we both were in a position in life that we didn't want games and drama in a relationship. We went together for 6 1/2 years solid. No breaking up and getting back together, we are solid, rock solid. He just completes me. We are so fortunate that we can't stay mad for long. It's incredible! I can be just mad as the dickens at him, and decide I'm definately going to be giving him the silent treatment. He's going to wish he hadn't disagreed with me!!! Ya right. After 5 agonizing minutes, I find myself saying something to him, at random, it could be something about whats on television or asking him a question about the dogs.....and there I've ruined it!!! I broke my silence! We both have this problem. We cannot hold a grudge. In the heat of the moment, I get mad at myself and think "I was NOT supposed to talk to HIM!", but at this point, damage is done, I've said one thing, I guess we've made up and moved on! It's great actually, I totally love that!!! Tons of people say how lucky we are to have that and I believe them entirely. I've know people whose spouses have not talked to them for a week over a silly argument! A WEEK? I don't think I've gone a DAY not talking to Jason since 2/2/02, and I don't think I would like it very much so I don't intend to start now! Talking to him and loving him is a habit now, and I'm no quitter!!!

So here we are now, living in The Dalles, Oregon----Just bought our first house---Jason's working for Vestas working on the Wind Turbines---I'm working again for Farmers Insurance---We have 6 dogs---two trucks---a 4 runner---and a Harley Davidson motorcycle---and most importantly each other. Life is good.

I think what I will do is find some older pictures and post them up so there is some history here. Happy reading and we'll see how this goes!

Luvs to all!

Beth Morgan