Jessica Nicole

Last post of 2011!

2011-12-31T21:05:00.000-08:00

2011 has definitely been quite a year! It seems like, in the last few months, at least, it has been a flurry of moving, catching up with old friends, making new friends, the divorce, and dating again. I have been having a complete blast with my family, and I am so looking forward to what the future holds.
Already in the next month I will have a new apartment and a new job, it seems like both have been such a long time coming! I know it has been forever since I added any pictures, I have been failing at blogging in general. Haha. I will *try* to be better in the new year. Hopefully it will be more exciting so I'll have more to blog about!
So, lets get to the pictures, since thats what you come here for, not my stunning(ly boring) commentary. :)
First, Christy and I took mom to My Fair Lady at Hale Center Theater. It was so much fun!

Then, my birthday

and cupcakes

and lunch at Zupas

happened.

And, of course, our 2nd annual family cookie party

complete with a melting snowman cookie

Anyways, thanks for reading! I'll try to get the Christmas pictures up as soon as I can, and hopefully an update on my super fabulous job is soon to come, too! :)

2011-11-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

This has been a very eventful week for us! My sister is in town with her kiddos from VA because my cute, cute brother got married on Friday! We are so happy for him and Jana, and they are so cute. Plus, we really missed annie and her kids. ;)
I didn't get a ton of pictures but here aree the ones I got.

Jana about to toss the bouquet

Jana's cute boots

Me with Jared and Savannah

Me and Scotty.

Basically, I have the cutest sisters ever.

After the wedding, we took the kiddos to McDonalds so all the cousins could play. They had so much fun and were so cute together. They all just played like they were lifelong friends.

Oh, I also had the most fab shoes for the wedding that I think should be documented:

some sisterly sparkle. Mine are the heels. Christy's are the flats.

We love our 'flamly' and are glad the Sanders clan could come celebrate Scott and Jana with us!

Dinosaur Museum and 'Flamie' Halloween Party

2011-10-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

We had a very eventful week! On Thursday, me and Christy took Cartsy to meet my dad at the Museum of Ancient Life @ Thanksgiving Point. It was a ton of fun. None of us had ever been there, so we were a little unsure what to expect but it was awesome. And the best part was that Dad paid AND took us to lunch after! ;) He's pretty good to have around. Haha. (Thanks, Dad!)

Me and my favorite boy with a Utah Raptor. *Rawr*

Carts by a Supersaurus foot. My arm is in the pic because he wouldn't let go of my hand.

How many grandpas do you know would go through tunnels?

Me and Carter with a witchy dino, decked out for Halloween

'Meow, meow' (I don't even know what this dinosaur is but he thinks it meows. Who am I to say if he's wrong?)

"Ma, why you be takin me to these scary, scary placessss?"

Cool fishy-style dino

Another cool one

Cutest. Paleontologist. EVAR.

Then Sat was our 'flamie' Halloween party. My adorable niece, Kelsey, says the word 'family' with the "l" sound in the wrong place. Flamie. So, when we miss our VA kidlets, we call our crazy brood our flamie, IHO sweet Kelso. (I'm SO super excited to see the VA flamie sooonnn! XOXO from Aunt J!)
Gramma with the babies

Someone forgot to tell this vamp that zombies do notn make good noms.

Scott teaches the kids a thing or two about the M&M Game

Making ghostie S'mores

Woody with the Potato Heads

Cute Pirate family! *Arrrrgh!*

I hopw you all have a fantastic, safe Halloween! I'll leave you with my most favorite Halloween song:

a few things.

2011-10-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have more to update than time to sit and write witty blog posts sooo heres some pictures.
My friend Malorie got married:
Me and Mal at her house getting ready

Some general Maid of Honor cuteness right here. ;)

Also, I went to an awesome Bayside concert with Charissa. I have missed concerting all the time and was so so happy to go with her. I love Bayside SO much. If you don't know them, go listen to Montauk and Devotion and Desire. And prolly Winter, too. OMG. Love.

Here we are before the madness:

I have a REALLY sexy after picture, but since I don't want all the internet to have blackmail on my gross self, I'm not posting it. Just imagine if someone dumped a bucket of water on our heads right after this was taken. That's what it looks like.
Also, some rando in the bathroom petted my feather after the set. PSA: Don't pet peoples hair feathers. Its weird, yo.

Lead singer, the adorable Anthony Raneri

I always said when I had a fab camera I'd get tons of concert pics. Well, as it turns out, its real hard to get pictures when you are squeezed into a tiny space and everyone spontaneously starts jumping. Or you are caught mid-mosh pit.
Basically anytime you are just trying to keep your clothes on and feet on the floor is not a good time for a picture. At a rock concert, this is 100% of the set.

Ok in this one it looks like hes flipping off the crowd but I swear hes not

And, most recently, me and Christy took Carter to Thanksgiving Point to the petting zoo thing they have there.
He rode a pony

Fed cows, mooing at them the whole time

And of course took pics with Aunt Jess

One more cause I'm vain. ;)

It's been so. much. fun being back home! I'm so glad I've been able to do all these fun things! More to come soon, hopefully!

Only a month late. Utah fairs>Oregon fairs

2011-10-09T20:29:00.001-07:00

Becauusseeee....

We have WAY fluffier bunnies

an emu
(Sorry he's sideways)

a kangaroo

Cow bridal party made of butter

cotton candy noms

Goosey bride and groom

Plus the cutest redhead around!

Sorry I'm an epic bloggy fail! I'll keep trying to catch up as fast as possible! :)

The Sisters (and Mom) Formerly Known as Ryan Do NY

2011-09-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! Long time, no see! I have been busy with Le Big Move and Sister/Mom trip of 2011 to NY! It was so, so fun and I just love my sisters and mommy. I also posted a bunch of pics to FB so I will try to not duplicate too much.

Pre airplane boarding

The view of Jess, Mom and Christy from the ceiling of the airplane.

I have at least 3 other pics just like this. We took the redeye Fri night and flew alll niiigghhttt loooonnnggggggg. We were a bit loopy and half dead when we arrived Sat morning but it was worth it!

We were staying the Bronx at an apartment my awesome sister found online, and when we arrived in JFK we were sooo tired and couldn't figure out how to escape. My sister calledLeon, the apartment owner, to find out what to do, and he was like "oh, I'm at JFK right now. I'll just come get you!" He was so awesome. If you ever go to NY and need a rec, I will gladly point you in his direction. So, he came and got us and drove us into Manhattan. We were so glad because we never would have made our way there!
On our way, we saw this girl pracicing her model walk on a rooftop:

In Leon's car. We love our mommmy!

Times Square! I've missed you!

Caffe Pollermo in Little Italy

9/11 Memorial on the last day. The pools were where the towers stood, and along the edges the names of those that died from that tower. It was emotional and amazing. I'm so glad for my awesome sister who got us tix for the first day.

This is a blog about nothing.

2011-08-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

So, my friend Preston at work looked at my blog and was whining that I have Ashley and Lupe in here and not him. So, when we hung out later that week, I took some pics so that I can blog about him ::eyeroll:: (JK pres you know I <3 ya)

Me, Preston, and our friend Gabe who is also on our team and also awesome

With Prestons hubby Jason. I borrowed Gabes glasses cause I felt left out. ;)

Also, I got a fab new purse. I was a little hesitant at first to get a purple purse for everyday but my lovely friend Ashley and both of the girls at Maurice's assured me it was perfect. Ha.

And here it is wih my new zebra clutch that I love x100000

Klamath, Crater Lake and goats. All 3 inthispost!

2011-08-10T23:35:00.000-07:00

Well hello, little blogworld! I have been away for a couple weeks, helping my mother in law in Klamath Falls, post hip surgery. :/
This means that I have not crafted or done anything around my little apartment in over two weeks. I may or may not still have my 4th of July wreath up. Oopsies.
Anyways, Chris and I had a lot of fun while we were out of town. We went to Crater Lake

Where there was snow. In July.

We also went to the Klamath County Fair,

Where we saw baby goats

And goats in cute shirts

and nommed cotton candy

(mmmmm nomnomnom- this is what that second chin is saying in that picture. Haha)

and played tiny guitars

(Yeah I know its a ukulele bit I like tiny guitar better.)

And thats all! Hopefully I'll do something fun again soon!

My newest obsession

2011-07-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was up at 4 am watching makeup tutorials on YouTube (don't judge me)and I came across a video about Konad nail stamps. The girls nails looked amazing, they had a super cute cheetah pattern, so I decided to try this mysterious 'Konading'. I'm obsessed. I stalk nail blogs to see what patterns/colors they use. I do my nails every two days or so. For now, I've just been doing one base color with black/white patterns but I'm going to try to get more adventurous.
Here are some pictures, they are a little hard to see some of the patterns:

Polish is Sinful Colors in Big Daddy with a small flower on my ring finger nail

Polish is Finger Paints in Coral Compliment and black zebra

Polish is Orly in Gumdrop with white swirlys that were awesome but are hard to see here. And also this polish chipped really easily. Sad.

These patters are Bundle Monster stencils that I got off Amazon. Same idea, cheaper, a little harder to work with for some reason. So I was just playing around with the stencils last night. The polish is FP Coral Compliment again

The polish on this one is China Glaze in Happy Go Lucky and a konad fishnet pattern.

So, I will keep practising, spending lost of money on more polish and will make sure I update you guys when I have more cool nail pics! :)

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July, my loverly readers! Here is my new wreath that I am leaving up all month. Cause I love it.

And also, my newest makeup purchase from Ulta:

Ooohhhh yeeeaahhhhh. It has:38 eyeshadows, 8 lip colors, lipgloss, 1 pressed powder, 1 cheek powder, 2 bronzer powders, an angled brush, lip brush, foam applicator, 2 eyeliner pencils. Oh and a mirror on the top. I love him.
Hope ypu all had a great holiday with yummy food and pretty fireworks!

Glitter toes, a tutorial for my sister.

2011-07-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

When I was in Utah a couple months ago (the fastest 2 months EVER.), my sister Christy introduced me to glitter toes. Apparently, there are several salons across the valley that do this and we were going to go get them done but never had time. So,when I got back to Oregon, I looked for places and couldn't find anywherethat did it.. but I DID find some DIY blogs that showed how.
So, I told my sister about it after I did them because I love love loved them and she said "That sounds hard." Lol. So, I'm making a blog to show its NOT hard (I mean... I can do it so it really cannot be THAT challenging.) So, here is my Glitter Toes Picture Tutorial.
Here's what you need:

Primer (optional)
Glitter
Topcoat/clear polish
You can also use polish the same color as the glitter, but it doesn't really matter.

Ok. So first step is to prime your nails. I use Orly Primetime for my hands and feet. This is totally optional, but for me it helps polish stay longer.
Then, apply the clear (Or colored) polish. While it is still wet, sprinkle your glitter on. I put my toes on a paper towel, dumped a little glitter out, and sprinkled it on my tootsies. You can kinda see that here:

Ok. So, now that your glitter is applies to your toes, wait for it to dry completely. Seriously, like just go sit down and watch an episode of Family Guy on Netflix or something before you touch them again. Because, the next step is to brush off the excess glitter. If you do this a second before its dry, it will all come off in clumps and you will cry. I used my E.L.F. eyeliner brush because 1- it was $1.00 and 2- I have never actually used it for eyeliner, and probably never will. (Ok, well now that its been all up in my toes' bidness, I will definitely never use it on my eyes. It just seems like a bad, bad idea.) You could also you a small, soft paintbrush.. whatever you have.

Once the excess glitter has been brushed off, apply a topcoat or another layer of clear polish. I use Orly High Gloss Topcoat.
Annddddd.............

They're GlItTeRiFfiC!

Now go do yours and send me pics!

Also- not toes related (or glitter), for Annie-

Ok, you only requested ONE heavy eyeliner picture, but I'm an overacheiver. Or vain. Or both. :)

She got long black wavy hair, I do declare

2011-06-27T23:09:00.000-07:00

Today I discovered that I REALLY enjoy walking into work to an audible gasp from my team and compliments from every single person I know. Haha. I was especially glad because....

I has new hairs! And I was seriously concerned last night after I did it because I was worried I looked like I was trying to be goth. I even sent a picture to my sister asking if I should keep it in ponytails and messy buns til it fades. Haha. Heres one where I look high:

another angle (cause I KNOW you wanna see 7 versions of the same picture!)You'll have to excuse my post work and grocery shopping grossness:

Ponytailed

And, of course, one with the kittenest kitten around:

Happy happy birthday, Christopher, dear!

2011-06-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

Today, Chris turned 27! (Holy oldness!;)) If you know me at all and what a dork I am, then you will probably see this post coming a mile away.

So, I took the day off, partly to hang out with him but mostly because, well, work has been kicking my butt lately and I was looking for any excuse to take a day off. Lo and behold, it actually got approved (Which is a miracle lately)so I've been looking forward to it.
I have always done some silly thing to decorate the house for when he gets home on his birthday. So, Monday night, I got to crafting and this is what I came up with. (Dont judge me)
This was on the front door:

Then, inside the house, this is what he found:

The sign says:
Hey, 27 year old!
I had some birthday suprises for you but Angelica got ahold of them and hid them!
Luckily, she left behind some paw prints everywhere she went, so follow the [picture of a paw print] to find them!
Remember, X marks the spot!
Love, Jessica and Angelica- Happy Hunting!!
(Angelica is our cat, if you hadn't grasped that)

So then he was taken through the living room...

Out the back door across the patio...

In through the sliding glass door through the computer room to the hallway...

Where he found his first X!

Boy loves him some brownies, sothat was his first present, hanging out in top of the washer (There are not a lot of hiding places in my apartment, OK?)

More Angelica prints took him down the hall a bit further..

To the bathroom and the most random shelves you'll ever see! (Although its like, the only storage space we have. Whoever built these apartments was on a little crack that day, I think.)

Yaaaayyy! Presents!

My main present was a new phone, because his Blackberry is, well, old and cheap. So I wanted to take him into the store to pick it out himself, but the thought of not having anything to open made me sad so I got him new jeans and a t- shirt from Old Navy. It looks good on him but he would. not. cooperate. for a picture. So I should post the one of him being dumb like I threatened to, but I am too nice.
Anyways, this is the phone we ordered for him today:

Its the HTC Sensation, T-Mobile's newest phone. I'm really excited for him. We ended up going to Target later and he got a couple movies as well. And tried to con me into buying a TV for his birthday as well but.. I'm just not THAT nice.
Anyways, it was a fun day overall, I hope he had fun, too.
Happy, happy birthday, Chris! <3

A is for Awesome

2011-05-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

Day 28 – Your favorite movie

Right now, my favorite movie is Easy A. I think I've watched it about 1,000 times. I love Emma Stone, who plays Olive, the main character. It also has Amanday Bynes and Penn Badgely, and Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive's amazingly hilarious parents.
Of course, this is always subject to change, but this one is my fave for the moment. :)

I am heaven sent, don't you dare forget.

2011-05-10T16:22:00.001-07:00

Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?

I don't really think I've changed much.. my hair is back to being darker and I'm in a different department at work than when this was taken (5/24/2010)but.. basically everything else is the same. I am boring. :)

Now you're in New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, these lights will inspire you...

2011-04-30T01:57:00.000-07:00

Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to
Let's hear it for New York!

Well, this very poorly worded question is... interesting. I've 'been to' a lot of places, but one ofm y most favorite-est is New York. I've been twice and will go as many times as I can find people to go with me!

Sissy and I @ The Empire State Building. Le sigh.

Ok well I don't know a song about purses...

2011-04-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

But here is Day 25
Day 25 – What’s in your purse?

I think the better question is, Whats NOT in my purse? My car keys and cell phone, and that's about it, go figure. My purse is pretty scary. Ok, Here's the inventory.
2 types of gum
Random receipts
March payment voucher for babysitting
Carebears wallet
CPR wallet skill guide
4 colors of nail polish. 3 of them are variations of pink
Nail plish base
Ultra gloss nail polish topcoat
Glittery headband
Work badge
2 tubes of Softlips lip balm
Chapstick
CO Bigelow cinnamon Mentha Lip Shine
Gloves
Change (mostly pennies and I think a nickel)
Bobby pins
3 pens, one of which is not mine and I have never seen it before
Debit card, and other business cards/crap that has fallen out of the wallet
And it smells like watermelon, thanks to the Trident. Mmmm.

Good thing its big! Heaven help me when I spawn and it becomes a carryall for their crap, too! Here is a picture of my trusty bag, so innocent looking from the outside...

Easter!

2011-04-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Easter, and by the power of some sort of Easter miracle, I managed to drag the husband out of his lair and into public for a fantastic Easter breakfast.

"oh, my goodness what are these large tree things? And all these motorized vehicles passing by? They don't have these in WoW!" (<----That is what Chris is thinking in this one)

'This air! It's like... it hasn't been recycled around the computer room or casino for hours! Its almost like its... FRESH! By George, I think I like it!'

After we got home from breakfast, I fould this little guy hopping around our living room, trying to escape the menacing Angelica Cat. Little did he know...

Going out in public made me verrry hungry. Very hungry for... chocolate bunny ears!

The little bunny has escaped realatively unscathed for now (considering, you know, he has no ears)But I will be back....
Muah hahahahahaha!

Ok, I'm weird. I know. It's one a.m. and I'm working off of relatively little sleep, but I can't. stop. watching. Army Wives. Blame Christy.
And I hope you all had a great Easter!

So leave yourself intact, 'cause I will be coming back

2011-04-24T00:25:00.000-07:00

Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Ok, I'm finally back to blogging. I've been avoiding this one for a while cause I couldn't really think of any material posessions that REALLY mean that much. I mean, like.... I enjoy my stuff, my car, my Kindle, my iPod... but none of them really MEAN anything to me. So, I decided that really, the best thing I own is my cell phone.

Yes, I know that I've talked about it on here before and yes, I've practically had a cell phone attached to my hand at all times since I was 16, and I do like my phone and fun things that it has, but the REAL reason it means so much to me is that it is my lifeline back home. Without it, I would never be able to receive pictures of Annie and Christy's kids practically on a whim. I love being able to see little slices of their lives every now and again. Like Carter looking at books, nest cupcakes, and Jules' freshly painted toesies. Since I don't get to be there for that, it makes my day to get pictures of it from my sisters. (So send more, jerkfaces! ;))
Without my phone, I wouldn't be able to talk to my family on a moments notice. It would be a lot harder to report back on recipes for my potlucks, tell them funny things that make me think of them throughout the day, or just tell my mom I love her and miss her without the wonderful world of text messaging.
I'm so glad for modern technology that lets me be connected with them all the time, its like they go everywhere with me.
**note so self, don't write sappy blog posts while listening to sappy music.**

You're the flame that burns me so I know that I'm still alive

2011-04-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

Dsy 23– 15 facts about you

1. I'm really not interesting enough to come up with 15 things about me
2. I paint my nails almost every day and I cannot STAND to have chips
3. I am addicted ti Diet Coke, and as of recently, Rockstar energy drinks. Especially the pink ones. Yummmm.
4. I don't like Mexican food, onions, mushrooms, most nuts, or anything spicier than Panda Express orange chicken. But anything else I'll eat in a hot minute.
5. My iTunes has everything from Bach (wedding music! That i didn't get to use!) to Coheed and Cambria to Etta James. With some Cranberries and Queen mixed in.
6. I love making crafts and spend a lot of money on them to display around my apartment. Most of them look like they were done by a 3 year old at pre-school craft time, but I digress. It's how I keep myself occupied.
7. I have discovered a new pet peeve since moving to Oregon. Extreme redundancy. Like saying 3 a.m. in the morning. WTF. What, in your mind, does a.m. mean, exactly? Or 'hence why'.
8. I kinda actually like cleaning my apartment and making it pretty.. the problem is just getting motivated to get up. As much as I like cleaning I like TV watching more.
9. I <3 reading. I used to get grounded from books when I was younger.
10.Umm. My favorite color is pink. And orange. And yellow. And purple. Ha.
11.I suck at math.
12.I love Facebook and my cell phone, so the day they were united to one was a good day. Or a bad day, I guess, depending on how you look at it.
13.I am way lame and never do anything fun. I know you are only 23 once and I'm sure one day I will regret my laziness at a young age,but I'm not sure what to do to remedy it. i mean, I can't just go out alone. That will not cure the lameness problem.
14.I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.
15. I'm glad this entry is over. I've been trying to come up with things to put here for like two days to prepare. See? I told you. Lame.

A phone call I'd rather not receive....Is this the way a toy feels when its batteries run dry?

2011-04-15T01:14:00.000-07:00

*Before we get started with my blog challeng post, I am going to title the rest with song lyrics. It may or may not be a lyric applicable to the post, depending on how late I write it and what kind of day it was. But Day ___! was getting too boring for me*
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Dear Customers,
You hurt my brain with your "logic" sometimes. Thanks for the laugh it also usually brings, but I'm sometimes not quite sure how you get through the day without like, poking your eye out.
Because I can barely get through 15 minutes of talking to you without wanting to poke mine out. Your head must be a VERY scary place to live.
Sincerely,
Every Customer Service Agent on the Planet.

I wish I could think of better titles for these...

2011-04-14T22:13:00.000-07:00

Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.

I chose this picture not because I have a strange affinity for sparkly pink rings (Ok, I kind of do. But that's not what this particular blog is about), but these rings are super special because they are... SISTER rings! and my sisters make me happy. And we are the type to all have matching pink rings that we wear when we are together 'because we're sisters'. We laugh and giggle at randomly stupid things, they are the type of sister that makes me burst into random laughter with a text message, or get off the phone with my face hurting from laughing about good Amish going bad (long story..)
They are the BEST sisters ever. When I was younger, they took me to Lagoon, brought me coloring books when I was sick, and let their lamesauce little sister tag along sometimes when they hung out with their friends. Even though they did force me to learn dances outside in the backyard, 'steal' my bounce on the trampoline, and make me sing the highschool fight song faster and faster so they could memorize the dance for cheer tryouts.
When I think of having kids, I hope I have at least two girls, because I want my kids to have someone who will play Barbies with them til they are in jr high, borrow clothes from, and that will wake up early on late start days to do their hair.
I am so lucky to have the sisters that I do, and I just do not know what I would do without them.

Oh, and we have a pretty spectacular brother, too. He doesn't have a pretty ring, but I wanted to mention him because I loooooooooveeeee him too! Even if he is also a dirty bounce stealer, which is really mean to do to someone 9 years younger than you. ;)

Day 20

2011-04-13T22:43:00.000-07:00

Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name
Its my name. I know, I know, super shocking. None of you knew that, I bet. ;)

Day 19

2011-04-11T00:40:00.000-07:00

Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.

I personally dig the jazzy background.

Day 18

2011-04-09T00:29:00.000-07:00

Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.

Any and all chocolate. In fact, I kinda wish that was me right now.
Or even this:

Yum.

Day 17

2011-04-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

Day 17 – A photo of you and your family

I don't really have one of all of my family, unless you count 'my family' as me and Chris. Actually, even then a good one is hard to come by. Haha. Here are me and the most amazing siblings a girl could ask for, though. They all make me laugh out loud on the regular, are there for me no matter what, and I am so lucky to have the family I do. We put the 'FUN' in dysfunctional! ;)

Day 16

2011-04-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

Day 16 – Your celebrity crush

Since I was just discussing him via text with my seesta, I'm gonna say Paul McDonald from Idol. We decided its his smile that does us in, and his perfectly straight, white teeth. Even though he kiiinda dances like he's on crack and dresses a bit like it as well. Those things can be fixed, but you cannot deny the sexiness.

Also, this one is for you, Charissa, Joey Westwood from Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.
I love me a bass player. ;)

Not a celebrity crush, but I logged onto my MySpace to see if I had a pic of me and Joey (nope), and found this freaking adorable pic of Kelseroo from when Matt and Annie lived in Tooele, pre-Ethan. We were buds. She is so stinking adorable and I miss her cute face. Look how little! (Sorry its such a craptastic picture. Cell phone pic. PLUS, a cell phone from like 4 years ago. Double picture crapiness whammy)

Day 15

2011-04-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.

I'm pretty sure you all saw this coming. My phone, of course! I'm addicted. I <3 my phone, and I got it free from work sooo... I'll use pretty much any thing they give me for free! Haha

Day 14 annndddddddd.... a craft!

2011-04-02T17:05:00.000-07:00

Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
So, I pretty much <3 tv. Of course, everyone knows I love Judge Judy, I have always loved COPS, and I also enjoy a good Oprah and Dr phil from time to time. Here are the shows that I regularly DVR.

Teen Mom is a spinoff from MTV's 16 and Pregnant. I love this show. Although it maes me baby hungry. I have "Teen Mom dates" withmy sister, where we both record it and watch at the same time and text each other at particularly unbelievable moment. If I can't be close to my sister, I will find a way around it! My friend Ashley (who you will see in a minute) also loves this show, so we text about it and talk about it at work.

Modern family is a sitcom that airs on Wednesdays with The middle. I also like The Middle, but I think I like Modern Family a little better. Very funny.

Last but not least, American Idol. This is another one I discuss at great length with my sis, but we do not watch it at the same time weekly like Teen mom. Sometimes we do, but its not a weekly ritual. I also talk about this with my supervisor at work. It can get a little boring, and actually frustrating when the people I dislike stay on more weeks than they should. (WHO is voting for Jacob? Come on, people!)

Ok, so on to my crafty craft. I had a craft day with my friend Haley a couple weeks ago but forgot my camera to document it, so since this one was at my house, I made SURE to get it!

Ashley with her crafties. She made an Easter basket for her son Gabe, and his name with letters like I do for... pretty much everything. They turned out great!
Note the awesome bow in the basket that she painstakingly made. She rocks.

Me and my Peep wreath. Ashley also made my bow because I am a bow-making FAIL. I'm glad I had her around to do it though, she saved me!

Day 13

2011-04-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Hmmm this is a hard one! I have many.
Here are a few.
Paramore

The Used

Carrie Underwood

Taylor Swift

I don't really have a reason. I just like them.

Day 12

2011-04-01T00:34:00.001-07:00

Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.

Welp, my town is pretty boring. I tried to find some good pics online, cause, well, I can't take a picture of a whole city. So, I figured since many of my amazing blog readers (All three of you!) haven't been here, I'd show you around a bit.

Ok, so this is Salem, but whatev. Its basically like someone in Magna showing a pic of West Valley. Same freaking difference.

This is the sign outside my apartments (please don't stalk me!)
Usually there is a little waterfall over the words.
Sometimes the water is even colored blue.
We be fancy.

A few things.

2011-03-28T23:44:00.000-07:00

First, lets start with the challenge.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?

Most of it right now is E.L.F. (Thanks, Lupe!), I'm trying to build up more good makeup. All of the brushes are E.L.F ($1!), as is the big pallette and the foundation powder. Almay Smart Shade liquid foundation, maybelline Lash Stilleto and Turbo Volume mascaras with CoverGirl eyeliner. The blue tube is Sephora's Too Faced Shadow Insurance (like a primer to hold your shadow so it stays longer! I never even knew stuff like that existed!) and the pink square thingie is the same brand eyeshadow.
Very exciting.

Ok, on to topic number 2.
I'm not blonde anymore. See?

Excuse my messy table.

And because she is running laps in my apartment right now like a crazy person, here is my non blonde self and my kitty/sidekick

(Yes, I said crazy person. What?? Cats are people, too!)
She loves me. Can't you tell?

And finally, I got a package from THE most amazing mommy in the universe, with plenty of Easter chocolate, a spiffy apron and Easter towel, and this cute stuffed bunnikins:

Love it! Thanks, Mama! <3

I am a blog challenge fail!

2011-03-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

My mother in law was here this week, so with that plus work and everything, I haven't had a moment to keep up with this challenge! well, here is day 10:
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.

Well, I basically like any and all food, especially eating out. I really like Panda Express and Subway as far as fast food, but here are my favorite local places:

All I could find was the logo, and I'm not gonna drive all over just to get specific pics of the outside. Haha. This is a BBQ place that is like 2 mins from my house that we went to because I had a Groupon. It was sooo gooooood.

This is John's Chinese, which is down the road a bit. Mad props to by bud Katie for convincing me to go there. :)

Ok well I can't find the logo pic of the third place but it's the Wilamette Noodle Co. in Salem. Yum-a-licios. Another Groupon experiment gone perfectly right! Chris took his mom there this week and I think she really liked it too!
I am sooo happy we moved to a bigger city so we don't have to drive 30 minutes to get to somewhere decent anymore!

UBC Day 9 and a craft

2011-03-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased

Yep, groceries. I'm super exciting like that.
Also, while we are here, here's my latest project:

Sorry, I don't knw what the 'i' is doing... Here's another angle so you can sorta see it:

Day 8

2011-03-19T15:53:00.000-07:00

Day 8 – A song to match your mood.

day 7

2011-03-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

** For the record, I did start this entry like two days ago. For some reason, I just couldn;t get into this question**
Day 7 – Your dream wedding
Hmm. I don't know that I have a 'dream wedding'- I could have 10 completely different weddings with all the ideas I'd like to try!Of course, I'm already married, so my wedding is over, whether it was my dream or not!
I guess if I could do it over (and had an unlimited budget)... I would go someplace cool, like a Hawaii with just my favorite people and get married on the beach. I would have dancing and low, romantic lighting with a fantastic plated dinner and huge cake. We would party it up til the sun came back up, then all head to the resort and sleep and have a relaxing trip together. there wouldn't be RSVP's to worry about, no crappy DJ anywhere in sight, and just a mellow, relaxed party. I would definitely still need a big dress with a pink crinoline, though. That was my favorite part of my wedding!

Day 6!

2011-03-13T00:31:00.001-08:00

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.

I am illogically excited to answer this question. I have a few pictures to showcase my dream pet.

a dingo! Seriously, don't you just want to hug this guy? I have wanted a dingo for like, 5 years. I have no idea how I came across the idea, I think I just saw a pic somewhere. I love them.
Dingoes are from Australia. They live in the wild. Some people say they are dangerous, but come on.

How dangerous could this little guy possibly be? Don't just just want to cuddle with him?
If wanting a pet dingo is wrong, frankly, I don't wanna be right.

Of course, there is always this small concern:

(This is what came up when I Google Imaged 'the dingo ate your baby')
This may be a concern for some, but since I am barren and childless, there is no baby to eat! And should we ever spawn, we will simply teach Daisy (the Dingo) that baby=/=food. People have babies and dogs all. the. time. and the babies survive. I think it can be done.
We'll just hang this in our house:

Be Dingo Safe, ya'll!

Day 5!

2011-03-12T00:19:00.000-08:00

Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago

Well, this is a little over 2 years ago, but close enough. Also, look how little these babies were:

Aww. They are soo sweet. I miss them!

Blog Challenge!

2011-03-10T22:53:00.001-08:00

Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.

This is maybe not my favorite picture ever ever ever, BUT it does make me smile. My best friend is my sister. And my mom. And my other sister. But I couldn't find a good picture with all of us. I am probably closest to Christy, because I text with her pretty much all day, most days, but I do try to make it a habit to call my mommy and Annie at least once a week. I can always count on them to be there for me when I need them, to love me unconditionally, and to make me laugh. When we are together, we stay up chatting all night, make up weird nicknames for each other, gossip, reminisce, talk about... anything.
I am so glad I have such an awesome mom and such awesome sisters. I would be lost without them!

Blog Challenge: Day 3

2011-03-09T23:03:00.000-08:00

Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Sorry I missed yesterday. My husband had the night off so I couldn't get close enough to the computer to write one. Haha. so todays is your idea of a perfect first date.
Fortunately, I don't have to date anymore, because I hate first dates! I don't really have an idea of a perfect one, except it being with someine that I feel comfortable enough around that its not first-date awkward.
I do, however, know what my ideal first date is NOT, which I learned on my first date with my husband. We went to see the move Cloverfield (his choice!)

It was awful. we mostly sat in the theater making fun of it the whole time.
Good thing he was cute, and tall, so he got a second date! ;)

Day 2!

2011-03-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

Day 2 – Tell us about your job.

Well, I have two, actually. Again, no pictures, so I'll have to figure out whats up with that. Sorry. :(

My first job is Customer Retention at T-Mobile. It is a stressful job, but I think anytime you wotk with the general public, that will happen. This is actually a good day for me to write this one, because I had a fabulous day at work for once. I will say that I *love* the people I work with. I don't know that I will ever meet an awesome-er group of people than our Customer Retention department. I love my supervisors and (most of) the other supervisors in our department. The last 6 months have been rough, so days like today are a huge sigh of releif and breath of fresh air.

My other job is nannying for miss Elise. I started there the same time I started at T-Mobile, mostly to help pay for my wedding. And then I never quit. Haha. I love this job too, it is very rewarding in other ways. I would do it full time in a heartbeat if it was closer and had benefits. I have posted pics of Elise for a limited time, but I feel weird posting pics of other peoples kids, so no pics of her. Haha.
Elise has a rare disorder that, from what I've read, effected her brain growth in utero. She is non verbal and non mobile. She is the sweetest thing ever. She is the same age as my niece, Kelsey, and it is so interesting to me to contrast these two little girls and how different their lives are.
Elise's mom is awesome. She is a single parent, and handles everything way more gracefullly than I ever could. She juggles a full time job as a 911 Dispatcher, 5-7 employees at a time, dr's appointments, surgeries... I honestly do not know how she does it.

Those are my jobs! They keep me busy, and I am lucky that during the last 3 years and economic struggle, I've had two jobs when some people had no job.

Lately...

2011-03-07T00:44:00.000-08:00

While perusing some random blogs lately, I have noticed a lot of people doing a 30 day challenge. At first, I brushed it off and thought "eh, I'm not that interesting". But, tonight, for some reason, I decided to do it. Maybe I've gone crazy. Maybe its delirium from too much work and the late hour. Who knows. But, I'm gonna give it a whirl! So, after much Googling, I finally found the list that everyone else seems to be using. So, here it is. The 30 Day Blog Challenge, and Blog Numero Uno.

Day 1 - A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 – Tell us about your job.
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago.
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 – Your dream wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.
Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.
Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.
Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – What’s in your purse?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Day 28 – Your favorite movie.
Day 29 - Your biggest Pet Peeve
Day 30 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
*********************************************************************

Day 1-
A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

Ok. well it wont let me upload a picture for some reason, but there is definitely not a shortage of them on the blog! I'm sure you all know what I look like.
As for my day, it was actually pretty good. I slept in, woke up when Chris got home from work (late, poor guy), talked to him a bit then we watched Office Space and he fell asleep. I did some laundry, went to Target and the grocery store, talked to my sister on the phone.. it was a pretty simple and relaxed day.
Oh, one weird thing. When I went out to my car, there was like... blood spatters or something on the hood. I think it must be from the stray cat that sits right there, but I don't know. It was so. freaking. gross. So, I had to go get my car washed. It was super embarrassing driving down the street looking like a homicide had occurred in my parking lot! But, not I have a happy, clean car. Yay.
I hope that cat's ok, though...

Promotion=Heart attack

2011-02-24T21:44:00.000-08:00

in my house apparently. Chris got a promotion!

Here is the story.

So, at the casino, the security supervisory staff is split into 3 levels. Each shift (Days, Swing, Graves) has 2 floor supervisors, who report to an assistant shift supervisor, who reports to the shift supervisor. So all 3 shift supervisors report to the manager and director and so on. So for the last year-ish, Chris has been a Swing shift floor supervisor. in January, the Gave shift supervisor left the casino, and Chris applied for the spot. They ended up giving it, I guess, to someone from outside the casino who didn't work out and never started. So, they reopened the position, and he applied again and he got it! So, he skipped a whole level and is the youngest shift supervisor at the casino. Aw. He found out on Tuesday and he starts Sunday.

I decided to do something little to celebrate, I was at work when he got the call and he texted me, so after work I went to the store and got a frozen pizza and stuff for brownies (you can only do so much on short notice when you work til 10:15 pm, and pizza and brownies are his favorite things.) and I made a dorky little sign (there is a lot of signs made at my house. I'm not sure why, but I blame my sister and mom. Seems like they made a lot of signs for pretty much every event growing up. In fact, once they made a huuuuge happy birthday sign for me and put it on the front of our house, below the window. it was awesome.)

Ok, enough rambling. Here are the pics:

Oohh yeeeah, feel those arteries clogging, yet?

Closeup of the signage (Golf- 1 is his new radio call sign, or G-1. Get it? Graveyard 1? Cause.. it took me like a year to get where they got their call signs from. Just sayin... )

Also, it should be noted that I dreamed on Monday night that he got the job and they gave him a little gold pin that looked like this guy:
and said 'Shift Supervisor" down the front. Yeah, I'm not sure where that came from, but the next night I dreamed I got fired for being too whiny, on top of not really being that fantastic of a rep as it is. So... lets hope that one doesn't come true too!

Congrats, Chris!

Valentines Day, and the Great Flower Debacle of 2011

2011-02-18T21:25:00.000-08:00

Since V-Day was on a Monday this year, and Chris and I both had to work, we weren't able to hang out. Valentines Day at a call center is always pretty hectic for the poor security guards, who are basically running all over the center all day long, delivering flowers and gifts to people. I'm sure they hate that day. I have always watched my friends and teammates receive their overpriced bouquets with glee, proudly displaying their bounties on their desks, for all to see just houw much their significant other cares.
I have never been one of those people.
As mentioned in a previous blog, getting flowers at work has been something I only dreamed about until my anniversary. So, I was cetainly not expecting anything, until Chris texted me later that day and asked if I has gotten anything yet. So, obviously, I knew that for once, I was going to be included, I watched with anticipation as the security guards continued their flurry of deliveries, wondering which one was mine, allllll mine.

Shortly after lunch, my frined and partner in crime at work, Lupe, got her flowers, along with the biggest Hello Kitty doll I have ever laid eyes on.

I didn't feel like this picture REALLY demonstrated how much she loves her Hello kitty, so I made a more appropriate one:

Anyways, so my flowers never came. :(

i was texting with Chris the whole time, so he knew that they didn't arrive. Partly because he texted me every half hour to see if they were there or not. I went home and made his Valentines day brownies and dinner. He loves brownies, so I make him heart shaped ones every year:

Yep, his card is signed in crayon. Don't judge. I couldn't find a pen. Haha.

So, finally, on Tuesday morining, my flowers were delivered.
Chris was none too pleased. Partly because they were late, and partly because they were just not very good quality flowers, like we are used to with this particular shop. Flowers are expensive, yo, especially on Valentines Day. Of course, I love them and would have been happy if a single carnation had shown up for me, just because that way, I know he was at least thinking of me, and that is what matters.

But, that is not what matters to my husband. He had called twice to make sure the flowers were going to be delivered on monday, and was told twice that they would be. So, he called the flower place on Tuesday to complain about the lateness and the quality. They apologized profusely, and said they wanted to re-deliver the flowers and credit back half of what we had paid.

Ok, great.

So, Tuesday, nothing else came to work.

Wednesday, nothing came to the house OR work (he called Tues night and left a message to send them to the house). Also, no credit. So, he called again, and was told the manager would call him back.

Thursday, no flowers. No credit. No call.

My husband, in case you have never met him and do not know this, is not a patient man. He called back on Thursday, madder than before. The manager he had talked to that offered to credit/redeliver basically had no idea what was going on, and said they would be the first order out in the morning, also that they would adjust the entire order for the mix-ups.

Lets just say around 2 pm today, I gave up hope.

Poor Chris. He tried so hard to make everything special on Monday, and then make it right. I don't think we will be using that flower shop again, and I definitely don't anticipate getting flowers again anytime soon! ;)

Makeups!

2011-02-09T01:14:00.001-08:00

This is for my friend Ashley, because she does not know just how obsessed I am with my own blog (Vanity!)

Also, I am really excited about this new makeup because I waited 2 weeks for it to come. I've never had so many colors all at once. Wheee!

Now, I just need to learn how to put it all on without looking like a scary clown.

There will possibly be a blog about it.

Valentines Day!

2011-02-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

I have very little to say on this one, its just some quick pics of the V-day decorations that I've made over the last couple weeks.

Crayon hearts in my window:

From the inside

From the outside. Since I'm on the second floor and this window is on a vaulted ceiling, its up pretty high. I was worried it wouldn't be noticeable but I like it. Excuse the tree reflection in the window
My LOVE letters. I think these are my favorite craft I've done lately:

Cupcake liner wreath! This took for-ev-er, but I like it. I might do another one in green if I can't find a cute St Patty's wreath to do next month:

Closeup of the wee flower:

And, my cookies! I have tossed many a sugar cookie batch lately, because all the recipes I've tried were gross. Not even my human garbage disposal would eat them. Remember, this is the man who I've actually had this conversation with: (more than once!)

Chris: "Yeah this (enter whatever he's eating) is really not that good. "

Me "Oh, ok. Well, you don't have to eat it, i won't make it/we won't order it/whatever again"

Chris: "oh, no, that's ok. I'll eat this one.... are you gonna eat yours?"

Finally, I got my momma's recipe, and, of course, they are delish.

"These are your best cookies yet!" is what my husband said last night.

Cookie success! Also my best royal icing to date. I mean, still not that good, but better than the other disasters.

Thanks to my mama for the recipe, and the cookie cutters, and the plate they are on in the pic above. I love you!

Hope you all have a great Valentines Day! Any gift suggestions for the hubs are welcome! ;)

More wedding pics...

2011-01-31T23:34:00.000-08:00

Just in case you haven't been smothered in enough wedding pictures over the last two years (What?? I'm vain! This should not be new information to anyone!), I finally have pictures of the reception, and some candid shots. Somehow, all the reception pics John Eric took didn't turn out, but luckily my sister-in-law had taken some (Thanks, Stef!) and my mother-in-law recently posted them on Facebook (Thanks, Sharon!), so I stole some!

So, here they be!

We are not normal. And so attractive. Haha

This one makes me lol. Umm, a little chicken dance while signing the marriage licence, anyone?

More marriage licence. No chicken dance.

The Sanders babies walking down the aisle, with a little help from Dad. :)

Aw.

My cake! mycakemycakemyyyyyycaaakkkeee!

I hadn't seen any pics of my cake, but omg. It was soo delish. And look at that perty topper. :)
Mmmmm.....cake.....

And now just a couple cute ones!

2 years!

2011-01-26T15:50:00.001-08:00

The hubs and I celebrated 2 years of being married on Sunday. I had to work (You would think October would be sufficient time for requesting a random Sunday in January off, but apparently not!), but I got the Monday and Tuesday after off.
Since I had to work and Chris did not, he sent me these at work:

Awww, tender. I love Stargazer lillies so much. I have never had anything delivered to me at work, and I felt so special, and got tons of comments/compliments on them!

I had a groupon for a night in Newport at the Shiloh Inn, $119 for one night, plus a $45 gift certificate to the restaurant, and you could book a second night for $99.99, so we did that and stayed over Monday and Tuesday nights. Yay Groupons! (Here's a linky if you are interested: http://www.groupon.com/r/uu3262902 )

We had a weird schedule and I didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are a few shots I did get:
This was our view from the hotel room.

Sorry it's so dark, but you can kinda see the sea lions! By far my favorite part of Newport. I didn't know if they would be out since it was so cold, but we could hear them barking as we walked by, so we had to go say hello! This was Tuesday night. We meant to stop by for better pictures in the morning before we left, but we both forgot til it was too late to turn back. Fail.

And, finally, our stop for breakfast at PigN'Pancake. Please ignore whatever psycho thing my hair is doing and the weird makeup smudge by my eye.
I had to document this, because this was the restaurant we ate at a long time ago on our first trip to the beach together! I think it was a few weeks after we met, so it was almost 3 years ago (I think a week before V-day was when we went the first time)
So, in the spirit of reminiscing, I give you:

Jess and Chris, young and impressionable:

(AWWW)

Annnndd...

Jess and Chris, old and boring married farts:

(Sorta aww but not really because my husband looks like he is stoned. He's not. Promise.)

Happy anniversary, Chris!

Ringin' in 2011 with Miss Elise!

2011-01-01T13:23:00.001-08:00

Since Chris had to work Friday night and I had Saturday off, I agreed to work all day Friday babysitting Elise (the girl I nanny part-time on my weekends.) so that her mama could get away for a bit to ring in the new year! We partied pretty hard, as you can see. The pic above is the one I Picnik'ed to print and give her her mom. She was soo tired, I was trying to keep her awake a little longer so she would sleep all night, and I couldn't get a smile out of her to save my life. Haha.

Please excuse my ugly, no-makeup face. I had been working for like 11 hours when I took this picture. Haha. Also, you can kiiinda see a smile peeking out!
Of course, riiight after I took these, I gave her a bath and she was all smiles after that. Haha.
I hope you all had a safe and happy new year!

A Very Thelin Christmas

2010-12-30T23:31:00.000-08:00

Ah, Christmas. It is a time for:

freaking amazing packages in the mail from your mommy and sister. I didn't know at the time, but this Box Of Awesome had:

The coziest snowflake blanket you ever did see

fuzzy, warm, blue slippers, which I am currently wearing

fuzzy, warm, blue& pink butter pants, also currently being worn

a cute new shirt

A chocolate orange (those are why we even HAVE Christmas. Right?)

Toblerones

Peppermint sticks

a new shirt for Chris

I think there was more, but I don't remember.

From my wonderfus sis I got some very yummy smelling melting wax and a melter thingie (that is, in fact, the technical term for it. Yep, it sure is)

Which is currently making my kitchen smell like warm Punkin pie. mmm.

Christmas is a time for:

disgusting sugar cookies that never get eaten! There is this recipe I just keep wanting to like. I don't think its gonna happen. I got my mom's recipe, but then was too lazy to do another batch of cookies.

Christmas is definately a time for
a new popcorn popper, made possible by the gift card from your dad

Oh yeah, I think you all know what is coming....
Because two awesome things (popcorn+caramel) can only equal the awesomest thing ever...

Caramel. Corn. That gets eaten in a day. And not by you. :(

Hey, you know whats awkward? When you are making the caramel, and riiiight when it starts to bubble, you have to pee like you have never had to pee in your life. And no amount of pee-dance that you perfected when you lived with 5 other people in a one-bathroom house for 15 years can prepare you. And you have to STIR CONSTANTLY OR ALL THE CARAMEL IN THE WORLD WILL DIE.

Its ok to leave for a second to pee. That is what I learned this Christmas. So, I guess its not that imperative to stir constantly.

Christmas is a time for presents from your hubby. (He even let me open one on Christmas Eve!)

So, from Chris:

My Judy's. I love her. Seasons 1 and 2

Kool Kindle Kover
It also has a light. But I couldn't get a pic to come out right. Its in the upper right Korner. Hahahaha.

And, last but not least, a kitten that is in love with my cheap velvet tree skirt:

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!

Lights! Cake! Art project!

2010-12-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a pretty busy one. I mean, busy in our own special way. We are pretty lazy. But, I did get a few things accomplished. I took off from work early on Tuesday, and Chris had it off too so we went to see Morning Glory. It was pretty cute, but there was no gunfire, blood, or aliens, so I don't think Chris liked it.

Wednesday was a lazy day and we didn't do much, but I managed to drag Chris out of the house Thursday for 15 minutes to go look at light. I tried to get some pics...

Through the window=FAIL

Oh, hey, a good one! Most of them were like this. My husband, adorable as he is, is not much of a 'stop and take a picture' kinda person. I think the blob on the right is a giant Santa. That is as big as the tree. Scary.
Also, I wasn't able to document it, but the houses on the street that does the lights (Christmas Car Lane, is what its called. I don't know who came up with that one, or what, if anything, a 'Christmas car' is. Google says its this:

but I can tell you without a doubt, that was nowhere to be seen. I would have remembered it.)has this weeeiiirrd obsession with lit palm trees. Like this:

all over their lawns. Dudes, you can put up all the tacky palm trees your yard can hold, and this will still be Oregon, not Hawaii. PALM TREES ARE NOT INDIGENOUS TO THIS AREA! THEY DO NOT LIKE THE COLD!

*sigh* Ok. Rant over. Oregon is weird.

Um, so anyway, today I made these:

and I stole the idea from this here blog. Obviously, nowhere near as good as hers are, but it worked out OK and entertained me for a few hours, when I wasn't dealing with The Cake Of Doom. The Cake of Doom is a direct product of The Cake Fiasco of 2010.

You see, I like cake. And I get bored on my day off. So, I have been thinking for quite some time, "what if I made a supercute cake, all fondant-y, and then by the time I spawn, I'll have honed my cake making and decorating skills and I'll be the coolest mom on the block who always makes really, really cool cakes! I should definitely start now, because, you know.. I want some cake! But, conundrum. I have eaten a bit TOO much cake on my time off, and now I am on a perpetual diet for the rest of time! So, the obvious solution is to make a super sticky WW diet soda cake, cause that'll be totes e-z to cover with crap. And I don't like fondant, so I won't eat that part and I can have my cake and eat it too!" (I sound a little like Barbie in my head.)

Sorry for the wall of text up there.

So, in my bad-decision-making little head, I also thought it would be an awesome idea to make a marshmallow fondant that I've heard a lot about on the Internet. Even though I don't have a stand mixer. This resulted in the death of my trusty little hand mixer. :*(

This heroic hand mixer gave its life for my overzealous, failed fondant attempt. Here he is, defeated, with marshmallow and powdered sugar still caked on the beaters.

So once i had my newer, awesomer hand mixer, I set out making the buttercream to go in between the layers, and for the crumb coat

I bought a can of Duff's (from Ace of Cakes) white fondant from Michael's. It was easy to work with, I just rolled it out, covered the cake, and colored the rest red and green for my polka dots

Taa-daaa!
Yummy.

And the leftover buttercream will most likely be used for cookies sometime this week:

So, it only took like 10 hours and three trips to the store, but I did my fondant cake! I still don't like fondant, but maybe one day I'll get a stand mixer and master the marshmallow fondant. Also, someday maybe there will be someone to eat my creations!

Finally a birthday post

2010-12-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

And my (sideways) tree! Sorry, I'm too lazy to fix it today.

Presents! All for Chris. None for little Jessica. :(

Also, I turned 23. Super exciting, right?? I love my birthday. Presents, fielding calls, texts, Facebook messages... all about *me*! ( Can you tell I'm the baby...?)

In the spirit of my birthweek, I set a special background on my phone:

I also love balloons.

I baked butterfly Funfetti cupcakes. They were way more time consuming than I have the attention span for, and kept falling over. Stupid butterflies.
They were yummy though! I felt like crap on my actual birthday, so luckily I got my presents the day before! My mom sent a whole box of awesome, with earrings, huuuge vanilla Tootsie Rolls, a pretty, pretty ring, awesome sweater, advent calendar, dishtowels...I love her. Best. Mom. Ever. I also got

CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!!! Cleaning apron from my funny, funny sister. I love her too. The joke is on this amazing blog

From... well, myself:

Annndddd, from my husband:

My Kindle! Her name is Estella and we are best friends. I am also wearingthe sweater from my mom. And looking extra fat since Chris wouldn't get up to take my picture. Lol. I also got 50.00 from my awesome mother in law, a Target gift card from my dad, and tons of cards. I love my family!

Our 'Skinny' Thanksgiving

2010-12-01T00:13:00.001-08:00

So. Thanksgiving. I was here. It was boring. We didn't even leave the house. But you know what we DID do? Eat. Oh yes. it was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. I had planned to do something super small and simple, but it got quite out of control quite easily. Ha.
Some of my recipes were experiments, and they were all lower-fat than a typicl Thanksgiving dinner. Anyways, here are the pics:

'Love to eat turkey..'

'Turkey for me, turkey for you, lets eat turkey from my big brown shoe...'

'gooble gobble goo and gobble gobble gickel....'

'I wish turkey only cost a nickel!"

(this one was actually F-R-E-E!)

*********************************

OK, now that we have the Thanksgiving song out of the way:

My pretty table, pre-noms:

Yumtastic

This would be after he tried to pull the leg off... and slid the bone clean out:

And, finally, for my mommy, proof that I made the apple caramel salad thing:
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

'Sexy Boots' and knitting

2010-11-24T01:18:00.000-08:00

I haven't really done anything exciting lately, hence the lack of bloggage, but I did but the most amazing slipper boots at Target the other day, and I'm basically in love, so I feel like their glory should be shared with the world. Christy was telling me about Carters 'sexy boots' (Don't ask. I have no idea. But I'm sure they are), and we decided these are much sexier. The reasons are threefold:

1. Pink

2. Furry

3. Sparkly sequins, which you can't see very well. But they are there. And the are fab.u.lous.

Also, I have been learning how to 'knit'. Yes, that would be the correct use of quotes, because I use the term 'knit' verrry loosely. A more accurate description would be: "I have been learning how to move my clump of yarn from one needle to the other".

Anyway, I bought this incredibly unhelpful kit:

... and then ended up Googling and Youtubing (they are words. Trust me) everything anyway. And still have not been very successful.

My Purple Yarn Clump! It aspires to one day be a scarf, it enjoys watching Dexter with me, pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain. We have spent many hours together, unraveling and re-knitting. Don't you judge me. Almost 3 years of near-solitary confinement with work-release would make you a little crazycakes, too! ;)

Happy Thanksgiving! (tomorrow)

Just call me Betty Crocker

2010-11-05T23:50:00.000-07:00

I have become a woman obsessed. I bake all.the.time lately. Weight watchers recipes. Experiments. Recipes stolen from blogs. Cookies, cakes, brownies. You name it, I've baked it in the last month. Chris won't touch half of it cause he's terrified of what is in it. (I don't care what anyone says, ain't no one don't like Diet Coke Cake). We have no friends or family on which to bum my baked goods. But I keep on keepin on.
Tonight, I had a few recipes to try. I had meant to space them out over the weekend, but the next thing I knew, it was Friday at 4 pm and I hadn't made a thing. So, I just made them all. I made two different kinds of muffins, both involving pumpkin:(Um, sorry about the small pictures. My trusty Sammie the Sanyo camera is on the fritz, so these are all from my phone)

My next endeavor was the yum-a-licious pomegranite scones from Gina's Skinny Recipes blog:

Pomegranites. They be a pain, yo

All clean and peeled, ready to be nommed. By me. Oh yes, I love them so.

Completely unrelated, pomegranites remind me of Mrs. Pierce, my 4th grade teacher. She brought one to class one day when we were learning about Greece and we all got to try some. I begged and begged and BEGGED my mom to buy me one after that every time we went to the store. She finally did. It was expensive. And messy. I think she hated Mrs. Pierce after that. Haha.

Anyhoo.

Back to my scones.

They are delicious. My favorite thing I made today, I think. maybe I'll tell Chris something weird is in them so he'll leave them alone. ;)

A visit from Malorie and Noah!

2010-10-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Right after I got home from Texas, my friend Malorie came from Utah to Oregon, so we had plans to play so I could meet her baby, Noah. Her boyfriend was supposed to be getting a promotion with his job and moving here, so that's why they actually came, but it didn't end up working out. :(
So instead I just pretended they came all the way just to see my shiny, happy face! We only had a couple days before I had to go back to prison, I mean work, but I'm so glad I got to see them! First, on wednesday afternoon, we went to The Olive Garden for their unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. Chris hates The Olive Garden, so I was glad to have someone to go with! Then we went for mani/pedis.

Waitin' to get beautified

Pretty toesies

Aunt Jess and Noah! Ths little man was born about 2 weeks after Jules. He is so stinkin adorable, and so funny. I'm glad I got to see them, even though they aren't moving here (and I was so excited to have a friend! lol). Love you guys!

Craftiness, yo

2010-10-21T00:58:00.001-07:00

My lovely sister, Annie recently clued me in on the How Does She Blog (please see link in my blogroll), and I must say, it is fantastic. I got not one, but two ideas for them to spend my day working on.
I have been wanting to make a wreath for my front door pretty much since we moved to Keizer, partly because I am Holly Homemaker in my delusional head, and partly because.. they are expensive, man! I can never find one I like for under $20.00. And, lets face it, I inherited my fathers cheapness. And his long, skinny fingers, but that is for another blog....
Anyways. Back to my crafts. I went to the blog today, made a list of the supplies I needed, and spent about 2 hours driving all over tarnation to find the stuff. Apparently I am the only person in the Wilamette Valley that wants to make a wreath, because the styrofoam wreaths were the hardest to find, and I only did find them in Craft Warehouse in Salem, in a little nook I never knew existed til the Wal Mart lady told me about. (It was pretty fantastic, and now that I know about it, I'm sure they'll be excited to have my paychecks pretty much just made out to them. Haha). Anyways. So, I finally got my crafting booty home with all my crafting booty (I crack myself up, I tell ya. Whatever. Its 1 am. I'm tired. Don't judge me.) and plans to photograph the various stages of my wreath-making, but I'm lazy and no one cares to read it that much. If you do, linky is that-a-way ------->

My first wreath, the Candy Corn wreath:

I made a smaller version, because I wanted a different one on my door,but this one was too cute and easy to pass up! A couple candles in candy corn filled hurricanes completes the look.

The next wreath was to replace the truly pathetic door decoration I had:

It was like $9.99 from Target, and it's cute and fall-y, I just.. I dunno. I like wreaths better. It looks out of place to me for some reason. Maybe i'll find some other use for it. So, I made this monster:

I'm seriously proud of this, It took forever and I had to take it apart like three times and put it back together to get the right look. But it was worth it. The flowers were my own random idea, I saw them at the Craft Warehouse and wanted to incorporate them somehow. Plus, I like flowery wreaths. Maybe more people would prefer the plain cornhusks, but I like this look. Plus it got the SSoA (Sister Stamp of Approval) so it stays.

Apparently, October is the month for long-winded blog posts. Now get out there and craft something so I can read it on YOUR blog! :)

Jessica Gets A Texas State of Mind

2010-10-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

This last week, I ventured to Texas with my mom and sister, Christy, to see my other sister, Annie, and meet Juliet, her new baby. Juliet Jill, (middle name is after my pretty mama, of course)was born July 1, 2010 in Texas, so we haven't even gotten a chance to meet her yet! Well, my mom did in Sept, but I hadn't. And this blog is really all about me. Ha.

Anyways, here is the baby of honor:

Miss Juliet! Or Jules. Or JJ, if you are me. Seriously, look at those cheeks and try to imagine getting anything done with those things just begging to be kissed.

With Grandma.

Carter looooved her. I'm pretty sure this means he's ready for a Carter 2.0. (*ahem, Greens* Hehe. J/k)

We had to make like we were there to do other things than cuddle miss J, so in between cheek smooches, we

swam in the hotel pool(AKA hot tub/'kiddie pool'):

Saw a nifty gift shop with a big sand castle thingie attached:

beached:

Buried Kelsey at the beach:

Met a few creepy Texas cockroaches with teal insides (I did not actually verify the claim of teal roach guts, I choose to take my sisters word for it. Not to say I didn't consider photographing it, but I didn't want to end up phtographing my vom):

We also saw a car flip a few times, but I have no pics of that. It was terrifying, because we were the car immediately behind him, I was driving and I thought for sure he was dead. I mean, he had a car on top of him. Luckily, he walked away with a few minor cuts and bruises, and I managed to stop before I hit him without causing another accident, which I thought for sure would happen. Texas drivers be crazy, yo.

And, of course, we ate. A ton.
Chik-Fil-A ice cream:

Wallbangers, the best burger of my life. Poor Christy was sick this day and missed out on BurgerHeaven. So I guess we'll have to go back!

I think that's all the important pics, I tried to not duplicate the Facebook ones too much and get them all up. We had a blast, and loved getting to see our sister and her kids! I love my family so much, and we have a blast together. I don't know if I know a group of people more destined to be a family, but I think our personalities mesh so well. It never ceases to amaze me that we can all just sit and do nothing but have a blast doing it.

PS-sorry for the novella. I had a lot of pictures, Ok?? :)

Things That Make Me Happy: Blog 3

2010-09-23T15:40:00.001-07:00

Packages from mama!

Yep, even though my mommy is the one with the birthday coming up, I got a package from her today :) It had two fabulous pairs of flips for our TX vacay coming up, Halloween dishtowels, earrings, gum, a pad of paper, and my fave powdered drink stuff.
I love her. She is the BEST mom a girl could ask for :)

Things That Make Me Happy: Blog 2

2010-09-17T00:33:00.000-07:00

HAAAALLLLOOOOWWWWWEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The decoration collecting has begun. Just two little things, a cheap plastic table cloth and ceramic candy dish from Target. Yeah, I know its only September. Whatever. Leave me alone. If its not too early to sell them, its not too early to purchase them!

Me and my logic are gonna go eat some candy corn alone now.

Things That Make Me Happy: Blog 1

2010-09-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

Those that know me know that I'm a bit of a... "Grass is greener" person. I always envision my life is going to be sooo much better after ______ event. In high school, it was graduating and getting a "big girl" job. Then I got one, and I wan't happy because I wasn't out on my own. Then I moved, and I wasn't happy because my job wasn't good enough, I didn't have enough friends. I didn't have a boyfriend. I didn't want to live in Utah anymore. I have always been in search of that elusive magical formula that would make me happy.
Sadly, I've wasted a lot of years in a cloud of sad because I have a hard time counting the blessings I DO have and being happy with the life I have. I do still hope to move home, start a family, etc., but I don't want to just be depressed until that haapens.
So, this month, I am dedicating my blog to the things I have that DO make me happy, and that I'm thankful for. In no particular order, BTW (in other words, this blog is about my shoes. They are not the happiest part of my life, I don't sit in my closet for hours petting them or anything, they just are one of the many things I enjoy).
Sooo... I bring you, the collection of shoes that live with me. They do NOT make my husband happy, because they tend to be scattered about quite often, But, this is not his blog :)

First up, the flips:

I. Adore. Flip. Flops. I wear them year round, rain or shine. They require my toes be painted year round, but they are perfect shoes for me. I do get mocked for wearing them in snow/rain, but us Utah girlies are tough. :)

Next, the tried-and-true chucks:

I wear these when I'm not in a flip flop mood (HA) or I know I'm going to be doing a lot of walking. Or sometimes they just look better with my outfit.

Last but not least, the "pretty shoes". Church, date night, you all know the occasions that call for some fabulous heels!

'The Zebra Heels"

So painful. So cute with jeans or black dress pants.

"The Fergie Peep-Toes"

Way more comfy than the Zebras. You can't really tell here, but they are a slick black alligatior print and the soles are purple. Love.

'The American Eagle Slingback Wedge"

Perfect for the business casual occasion. Not too tall that would would chop your feet if you had to wear them all day.

Of course, these are not all of my shoes, just my favorites.

Look for more installments in the Things That Make Me Happy category!

August

2010-09-02T00:42:00.000-07:00

Well, our computer decided to crap out on us (WHY do all computers hate us??!!) and was in the shop for most of August, so there was no way to blog. Good thing we have internet on our phones so we could at least check facebook! Haha. So, here is a quick pictoral update of, well, pretty much the whole month!

My friend from Utah, Becki, came to visit! I've known this chicka since elementary, and I was so happy to see her! Ignore my mannish looks and red... everything. This was the same day as The Great Sunburn of 2010 happened. Pre-blister.

These sex-ay things are a direct result of TGS '10 (Still in full swing, BTW). It was so fun to walk on these nast balloons for, oh, about 2 weeks.
Also resulting from TGS '10 were some VERY impressive blisters. Like, we're talking the size of my fist. I do have pics, but I won't post them here because, well, they are sick. But I will text you one if you REALLY wanna see.
(word to the wise, if you ever have really bad blisters, stay away form Google, and don't show people at work. Believe me, it will only freak you out and result in a totally useless trip to Urgent Care. The thing WAS huge though. the Dr. was impressed. Haha)

All I have to say about this part is: Mmmm. Bless you, Red Velvet Cake Mix and WW Yogurt cake recipe. (ok, ok, so I put Cream Cheese frosting on, which cancels out the low-fat recipe. Whatever. Look at those cankles! I NEEDED it. Stop judging me.)

And finally, I tried more seafood. Tilapia. It was meh. Boring. I just don't like seafood. I tried. It stinks. It's a weird texture. I will just stick to crab.

The Thelins Go Camping!

2010-08-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

Camping Log:
Day one.
Chris and Jessica head out to Beverly Beach.

They arrive at their destination and go to dinner. Chris can't resist breaking out a little dorkiness at the restauraunt photo op. Jessica is still in shock from eating clam chowder.

Back to the camp spot. Jessica dons tennies and photographs the proof.

Next, the Fire Battle. They attempt to build a fire for warmth. And s'mores.

They try some more.

Still failing, they get cold, but don't give up.

Finally, a voice, as though from the heavens from above, says "here, this will make it a lot easier". They look up to see the friendly hippie form next door holding out a wad of paper towels. Finally:

Thelins:1

Fire:0

Later, the hippie comes back. Conversation as follows:

Hippie:Hey, can you guys watch my laptop I'm charging over there? Just let me know if anyone messes with it?
Thelins: Sure! No preblemo.

Hippie: You guys havin a good night?

Thleins: We are! How about you?

Hippie: We are. *Turns to walk away* You guys smoke weed?

Thelins: We surely do not. Sorry.

Hippie: Haha, ok. Have a good night.

Hippie vacates the premises.

Battle Scar.

Thelins:1

Fire: 1

Finally, yumtastic s'more.

Day Two.

Wake up to hippies playing Bob Marley. Shocking.

Visit the beach. Get bored quickly, but not before some photos:

Everytime I see this thing on the beach, I think it would be a perfect wedding reception place. Just think, wedding on the beach, guess walk up the boardwalk to this, with twinkle lights on the deck. Cake cutting ceremony and dancing on the deck. Sigh.

Finally , a stop at Devils Punchbowl before heading home.

End Camping Log. Work tomorrow. Ew.

Jess and Dad's Weekend! Of! Fun!

2010-07-26T18:28:00.001-07:00

Here we are! I don't think we look anything alike. ;)

Anyways, Dad had a split vacay here, he came Tuesday, took me to dinner, and left. Then came back Friday and we hung out for realsies.

On Saturday when I got off work we went to see the college football teams' fields. The Ducks and Beavers are Oregon's equivalent of the Utes and Cougs, but bad colors.
So, our first stop in Corvallis:

Dad felt that the campus was not "up to BYU's standards". I don't think even a campus plated in gold could accomplish that, so don't feel bad, Beavers!

We snuck onto the field and got a couple pictures, nothing great. Then, we carried on to Eugene to visit the Ducks:

We snuck onto the field again, but only had time for one picture because we were discovered and kicked out. :)

Sunday, we went to Portland. Thanks to work and traffic, we didn't get there til about 4:30, so there wasn't a lot to do before the main attraction, Harvey's Comedy Club, so we just walked around the lame-o Rose District, AKA, convention centers with a picture of a rose on the street signs. Super. Exciting.

The Rose Garden.

Outside of Harveys.

Inside, it was prettynice, and huge! There were about... 15 audience members in a room that probably seated over 100. It was a very.. quiet show.

Dad onstage. He did pretty well. Portland is NOT funny. The guy who got up after him did not remember a single joke or punchline, so he made Dad look pretty good. Haha.

So that was our weekend! It was the most exciting two days I've had since I moved here, and I'm exhausted but I'm glad I got to see Dad. I hope I wasn't too boring!

Glasses!

2010-07-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

I have them, For the first time in like, 5 years. Here's a picture:
(Please ignore my ugly hair, haha. )

OMSI

2010-07-09T19:12:00.001-07:00

We went there.

Its a cool sciencey museum in Portland, I've been there one other time with Chris, and its Lots O'Fun.

Ok, I'm pretty sure its for kids, but whatever.

We were supposed to go to the zoo, but someone, who shall not be named (but shall be pictured) didn't wake up til, oh, 2:30 pm. Then that Nameless Someone sat on the computer for an hour. then took 45 minutes to get ready. So ,we finally cruised out of Keizer at 4:30. The zoo, unbeknownst to us, closes at 6. And we are an hour away. So, no zoo for the Thelins :(

Here we are in Regina, all excited for the Zoo-venture we are about to embark on. This was before our zoodreams were crushed.

(by the way, he is most definitely NOT asleep. He's just avoiding the dreaded smile. Dun DUN Duuunnnn)

So we went to OMSI instead. We still got to see animals!

(well, sorta. I never said we saw ALIVE animals!)

I learned that my bones are older than my skin (but younger than my brain!)

And Chris learned... something. How to think fast, I guess.

We learned the horrors of sewage water leaking into river water, and that an alligator lives in this toilet.

I tried to get Chris to sit on the toilet for a photo op, but no dice. Party. Pooper.

And, we learned about this guy:

I don't really remember what this was showing, something about the speed of light, maybe? Who knows. I didn't really read the thing. Haha.

Albert Einsteins wedding announcement, yo!

Thats it! Thats like the most exciting thing we've done all summer. Haha

Ok, see, this right here is what makes me mad.

2010-06-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

I recently came across this little tidbit whilst browsing an internet message board:

"thats alot coming from a 19yr old former party girl who in no way shape or form asked for this child."

( This was posted in a thread talking about moms missing out on their social life and how their life changed by spawning, BTW.)

We won't even touch on the several incredibly disturbing grammatical errors in one little sentence (fragment), which is supposed to be written by a 19 year old. (Umm, I don't even know what an 'alot' is, and ever hear of a comma, friend? I get typos but, man. What did the English language do to you? Why do you want to torture it?)

You didn't ASK for it? YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR IT? You didn't have unprotected sex with your 17 year old boyfriend? What did you think would happen when you had unprotected sex?

Well, gosh, I'm sorry that you were burdened with this demon baby that ruined your life. I try to 'live and let live', and I get that having a baby is hard. I don't know what its like to be a mom, but I do know the terrifying thrill of looking at the two pink lines of an unplanned pregnancy. I know the stomach dropping feeling of "Oh, crap. Oh. Crap. Ohcrapohcrapohhhhcrappp." I cannot, however, imagine thinking "Well I certainly didn't ask for this." I realize there are some situations that really might warrant this sentiment, but this girl states that she and Baby Daddy are "social butterflies" (well, isn't that nice?) and now she has to feed her son 3 times a day.

Maybe if you can't handle it, you should have looked into adoption for your son, so someone who IS asking for a baby can help you out. I get that adoption isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'd hate for you to have to give up your Friday night football games. I mean, you never asked for this, right?

*breathes deeply*

End rant. Sorry for the downer post. I'll post something happy again soon, promise.

Happy Happy Birthday Chris Dear!

2010-06-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

On Monday, my dear ole husband turned 26!

We both had to work that day, so we celebrated today with a movie (Knight and Day) and dinner (Red Lobster). However, I find that it is impossible to let a birthday pass unnoticed, so he did get some special decorations Monday morning before I went to work:

Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking. You've seen this trick before in this blog, for a birthday long ago:

Except, that was when I was eager to impress, wanting to make a statement and willing to spend an entire night cutting out hearts. This year, not so much. All 3 signs in one hour while watching TrueBlood. (YAY!)

So that was Monday. Tuesday night I gave him his present, a BlackBerry 8520. He needed a new phone and I'm tired of listening to him whine about not having a cool phone.

If it was in any way possible to get a good picture of him with a nice smile, it'd be on here. But, that would be way to easy. So you get the weirdo there.

And finally, Birthday Brownies! Chris likes brownies better than cake (crazy) so I made some this morning. Chris, you can steal my birthday cake thunder, but you can't take away my candles!

So, now my husband has rung in the 26th year of life, along with some moolah from his pops and the greatest mother-in-law anyone could ask for (AKA, my very own mommy. He's SO lucky!)

Oh, and this cat got jealous Sunday night when I was taking pictures of everything but her:

"What up, blogworld?"

She doesn't like when we focus on things not kitty related.

Now even blonder than before!

2010-05-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

As you may know, when I was with my sister and mom this weekend they talked me into dyeing my hair. Blonde. Well, I came back to Oregon and was again convinced to dye my hair even blonder. I don't do well with peer pressure, what can I say?

So, I went over to my good friend Katie's house this afternoon (Concert Katie, not Tulip Katie)

and she dyed it even blonder! YAY! So, here I am before:

Aaaannnnddddd (drumroll please!)

After!!

And, the classic Jessica shot:

The end!

I grew a little bit more!

2010-05-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

And also discovered the joys of Picnik.

Here's the normal picture if the plant I took this afternoon:

Ok, well, I'm going to fing more pictures to edit. Maybe I'll become a photographer and do this for a living. MUCH better than any customer service job! Haha.

"And if you want me back, you're gonna have to ask nicer than that!"

2010-05-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in nearly 2 and a half years, I attended a concert! It was sooo much fun!

Normally I attend my concerts with the likes of this lady:

But, of course, she is far far away from me :( Luckily, I had my bud Katie to go with me and navigate the scary streets of Portland.

Us after the concert, in my fabulous new shirt.

The set! Note the awesome Nintendo equipment

I'm pretty sure this activity has a name, and I'm pretty sure its "circle pit", basically they tell everyone to just run in a circle. Charissa and I dubbed it "Pit O' Death", its pretty not-fun to experience when you're on the floor and would like not to run in circles. I was VERY glad to be safe on the balcony when this business started. They do it at every concert of theirs I've ever attended.

Blue and Yellow. My favorite of theirs.

"Do you feel OK? You look pretty low, very handsome awkward" A newer one that I like a lot.

So, thats my recent concerting news. I loved it. I wanna do it again tonight!

YAY!

2010-04-30T20:03:00.001-07:00

I grew somethin'! Well, almost. I got this a few weeks ago an thought for SURE I was watering a pot of dirt in vain but I woke up to this little guy this morning. :)

Thats all. I'm just excited something actually worked, even if it is small and hard to see.

Woodburn Tulip Festival 2010!

2010-04-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

I have been hanging out with my bud Katie, my old roomie form WOU a lot more lately. (actually, the 2 friends I actually hang out with are both named Katie. Apparently I get along well with people with that name)
Anyhoo.
So she was kind enough to invite me to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn (lame city name) today, and it was a fabulous way to welcome spring!

There were sooo many types of tulips there, and so many colors. We didn't even see them all, and we saw a lot!

Cool color schemes

Apparently, some of the flower bulbs grew into girls instead of flowers. Oopsie!

I don't really know what this was, but it looked cool.

Us again! Ignore Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the corner there.

Anyways, I took a ton of pictures but of course none of them do the flowers justice. Also, the brochure thingie said there is "wooden shoe making." Which we discovered is a lie. There was no where to make wooden shoes at all. Very disappointing, WOODEN SHOE Tulip Farm. Very. Disappointing.

Jessica and the swordfish experiment dinner

2010-04-06T20:43:00.001-07:00

I have been very bored with my old, standby recipes lately, and have also been gaining weight, and feeling icky all around, so I decided that something has got to change.

So, along with more sleep and excersise, I am going to eat better. And if Chris wants to eat at home, he is too! Ha.

The first step in my Quest for Better Health was to get onto my beloved Google and let it point me in the right direction. A lot of the "healthy eating" recipes I saw involved...fish.

Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I do not fare well with our sea-dwelling friends. Those very close to me may remember the Aladdin Casino/Salmon Incident. Anyway, fish has always looked good to me, but trust me, all you need is one unfortunate fish run-in to know that its not gonna work out.

Well, I've decided I can't just ignore fish forever. And so, my dear friends, I bring you my dinner tonight, also known as The Swordfish Experiment!

I started my journey at Albertson's. I was skeptically eyeing the fishy side of the counter when the (rather attractive, actually. Not that I notice that anymore) guy behind the counter asked how he couldhelp me. Poor guy. Didn't know what he was getting into.

Right off the bat, I got some Mahi mahi. I know I'd had it once (Thanks, Christy!) and I had a recipe I wanted to try. Then came the hard part. I noticed swordfish was on sale, so even though I had intended to try tilapia, I cautiously asked

"ummm... how do you cook....swordfish....?"

Oh man, that made him excited. He practically jumped over the counter, and started showing me all sorts of recipe cards and seasonings and rubs and oh buddy. It was very informative.

Anyhoo. So this is what chaos insued:

the seasoning stuff I ended up with:

As you can see, it sorta resembles sand. So I was a little worried. Anyways. So here's all the stuff I needed:

Ummm, ignore the remote and keys. Not part of the recipe! So I dipped the fish into the butter and seasoned both sides and cooked it on the stovetop.

I ventillated the apartment very well because I was expecting mucho stinko but it wasn't bad smelling! Here's to hoping the cranky guy downstairs didn't smell it. He already hates us with the fire of 1000 suns.

The next experiment (oh yes! There's more!) was kale. Along with eating healthy things like fish, we need to consume more green. My favorite green veggie is probably asparagus. I could eat that stuff morning, noon and night. Mmmm.

But, we need to eat green things other than my beloved asparaugs. Hence, the kale. Soo... Here it is, freshly washed:

I had also read online that the stalks are bitter and yucky, so I ripped the leafy part away from the stalks and got this:

Bobby Flay told me to saute in a saucepan with EVOO and garlic

Cover, and steam for 5 mins

So, I did. And... Drumroll pleassssseeee:

My dinner!

Final Review:

It was pretty ok. The kale was..interesting. Not good enough to crave on a regular basis, but not gross enough to spit out. I would kinda like to try other ways of making it because I want to like ii. Look how dark green it is! It HAS to be good for you!

The fish was good, I ate it with a little lemon juice. I'm not sure how I felt about the seasoning, I mean it wasgood but I'm not sure if omitting it would have improved the fish, I tend to think yes. It was a very filling dinner, which is great because.. I likey many portions, and that needs to stop. So, I am calling my Great Dinner Experiment a success! We'll see what my husband thinks! :)

Vacation! (But no cute babies like Christy's post)

2010-03-13T23:20:00.000-08:00

(ok, ok, this one I couldn't help posting)
We have been meaning to get away to see Chris's dad for some time now, and we finally did it this last week! It was such a blast. We stayed with his dad and stepmom, they were so sweet and gracious. They have a lovely house near San Diego.

Friday, we went to the zoo!
First on display were a couple of Thelins! Juuust kidding! We are pretty cute though!

Elephant topiaries and pretty flamingoes!

The baby panda and this guy were two of my favorites. He's a hosezebragiraffe.

Ok, that's not his real name, but it sure it what he looks like to me!

"Llama Faaaace!!" (Guess the movie, anyone?)

Sloth Bear. He was too funny. He was dancin for us!

Saturday, we went hiking in Santa Rosa. It was cold and rainy that day, but the area we were in was so pretty.

Thelins again! In the wild!

The Tree of Life?

Pretty flowers.

Sunday we just hung out and Monday.... SeaWorld with the Greens!

These guys were definately the best part!

Shamu(s?)

lionfish. They were pretty fancy!

Waitin for Shamu, and me and the beautiful sisterness!

We had such a blast! It was hard to leave and come back to icky work, but I do love the feeling of being in my own space with my own things!

Lettin the creative juices flow.

2010-02-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

In December, my fabulous sister Christy E-mailed me a link to a blog with a craft idea she wanted to try. She knew I would like it because it satisfied both of my newly acquired obsessions:reading blogs, and trying to become a super crafty wife with a house littered with adorable, hand-crafted fares. (I'm still not good at crafty things. But it is a good way to occupy some time.)

Anyways.

She didn't end up doing it, but in January I thought I'd give it a whirl. So, I bought the supplies, started the project on my living room floor...and then realized why I don't do crafts. I suck. And so, until tonight, it has sat, lonely, with pieces of scrap booking paper haphazardly taped to it in the corner of my living room. Until tonight! Chris had to work and my house was already (basically) clean, so I decided to give it another go. And here are the results:

The beginning:

The middle! Ok, the middle-end. Drying before...

The End! Hangin on my living room wall. (Still not dry, actually.)

The second pic is sideways. I do not know or care how to flip it. Sorry. So... it looks ok if you don't look too close. Heh.

To see what this is actually supposed to look like, go here: http://treyandlucy@blogspot.com/2008/11/holy-moly-how-cute-is-this-star.html"

My kitchen.

2010-02-04T13:48:00.001-08:00

So, my kitchen is real small. I mean, real. small. There is no where to put anything, and I can stand in the middle of the floor and touch the stove and sink. Also, its the first thing you see when you come into the apartment, so if its messy at all the whole house looks trashy. But there's so little c.ounter space that it pretty much always looks cluttered/messy. Sigh. So you see my conundrum. Anyways. So I decided that I have to utilize it, I mean, its pretty imortant. So if I HAVE to spend time in there, I might as well make it as enjoyable as possible, so I've been decorating it. And I have nothing else to blog about, so here ya go!

Right when you come in the door. Another problem I have is the garbage can. The cupboards near the floor are too small to fit it. But there is not a single place to put it on the floor that does not result in me oushing it around the kitchen while I'm cooking, because I have to use every single inch of cupboard space. In this pic, its in fromt of the cupboard where I keep baking dishes and cookie sheets.

Tiny stove and cluttery counters.

My cute squishy mat! My favorite thing. It matches my oven mitt. My cat LOVES sleeping on this thing and it feels so good on your feets.

I also got new vinyl wall stickies for my living room:

kinda weird but I kinda like em.

Thats it! Maybe one day I'll have something more interesting to blog about than my house decor ;)

Aw, a whole year of married-ness!

2010-01-26T00:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right. Saturday was the one-year mark of the great wedding! I cannot believe how fast that first year flew by. And we have now been married too long to go on the Newlywed Game! Noooooooooo!!!!!

Anyhoo. We *both* took the day off to relive our wedding day and hang out together as old married farts! We had lunch on this awesome, if not slightly outdated boat, on the Wilamette River:

The outside, obvs.

We ate on the "upper deck", this is the view coming off the stairs(and my husband's shoulder):

I have wanted to experience the boat silliness ever since the first day I came to Oregon, when I saw it by the Salem Carousel (Yep. Just a big ole random Carousel in a park in Salem. I went on it with Alissa when we first got here. It was all we could find.)

Also, I got these awesome flowers from my awesome hubs:

Sorry its small. Cell phone pic. :) He had chocolates delivered with the flowers too. Does he know me, or what??

We came home and Chris took a much needed nap (he has had insomnia lately and hasn't been sleeping very well lately. Poor, poor baby!), and we went to dinner at Red Lobster (Not my choice, obviously. Ha. It was good, I had crab legs (mmmmm...crab legs.....)

And that was our day! It wasn't terribly extravagent but it was perfect for us. We had a lot of time to just be together, and remember the day. I'm excited for more anniversaries to come. I love you, Chris!

This is why I'll never be skinny:

2010-01-17T23:18:00.001-08:00

Mmmmm. Best. Pizza. Ever. Well, everyone has to have one fatty somewhere in the family. I am willing to make that sacrifice if it means more of this home-baked heaven.

The Great Housing Debacle, Conclusion

2010-01-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

Well I started this post with every intention of typing out the whole long, sad story of our moving fiasco. But the only important thing is that we now have a great 2 bedroom apartment that we are very excited about. Its closer to my work, which is great. So here's a few pics of the inside:

The living room:

This is the first view if it when you're standing at the front door. The couch slipcovers make me stabby. I am always fixing them. But they look good otherwise! that door leads out to the balcony

Obviously, a different angle. Yep, I was watching FRIENDS. If you're shocked, you obviously know nothing about me. Get out of my blog! Lol. Jk.

This one is standing with my back to the wall pictured above. Our kitchen table and front door are just off camera

Teeny tiny kitchen. Now you know why I never cook!

Bathroom 1. Duh. I on;ly took a picture of this one because the other one was too messy. Also my bedroom is messy so not pictured here

And finally, the computer in the Man Cave. The only other thing in here is a stereo and a bunch of boxes from the computer.

So thats our apartment! Also a hall and a washer and dryer, but they aren't exciting enough to bother with pictures of them. Just imagine a long stretch of carpet with the Man Cave at the end and thats pretty much it. Haha.

First Post of 2010! Woot!!

2010-01-01T00:20:00.001-08:00

Sooo... I realize it has been quite some time since I posted. This is for a few reasons, but mainly:

a) I am lame and have nothing cool to report

b) 2009 was NOT a good computer year for us. We are working on our 4th, yep, 4th computer since I moved here. Its a desktop this time, so I'm hoping it will be slightly more...durable? Resistant to the evils of WOW that have destroyed my other babies? Not sure, but if this one breaks I reject all technology forever and will be moving to an Amish farm.

Anyhoo.

We went to Utah in Septemeber. It was prety cool, since, you know, thats where all the people I know live.

First, of course, we met Baby Carter. We were SO excited to meet him! I feel like he is my own baby, because I talked to my sister every day during the whole IVF and Stewie Griffin-like pregnancy I am just so so glad to finally have him here!

Stewie says "What up, Blog?"

Christy even let me and Chris babysit for an hour or so one day (I don't remember why. Or why she would leave an innocent child alone with our weirdness, but she did)

this is pretty much what happened. Babies do NOT play the superman game right. He just sat there giggling. Sigh. One day, Cartsy, one day.

I realize that the baby looks pretty terrified in all of these. He liked us though, I swear.

Our next adventure was the alpine slide in Park City. So. Fun. If it wasn't 12 bucks a pop, I coulda done that thing all day long.

We rode the ski lift thingie up the mountain. Chris no likey heights.

But Jessica does!

These were the sled thingies we rode down on. Hubs was gracious enough to carry mine. After I pointed out the the girl that was part of the adorable couple behind us didn't have to carry hers.

He'll be comin' 'round the mountain when he comes...

And after all the moaning and groaning about the ride up and carrying the sled thingies... he loved it.

We went with Scotty's kids to the Hill AFB Museum. My mom's diabolical GPS led us astray, and we learned that the guys AT the actual base are not nice. People get LOST, ok? Geez.

Miss Savannah at the Museum

Poor Cartsy man got drug all over the Valley about seven times that week, but he was a trouper!

We went to This Is The Place, which was mostly closed. But we went anyways! Just to say we did!

The schoolhouse

And we rode this little train to go see all the buildings. That we couldn't go inside of. So we basically just looked in a bunch of windows. But it was fun, because I had my family there. Aw I love them.

Ok well I have to go so Chris can WOW. More tomorrow!

The Great Housing Debacle, Pt. 1

2009-10-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

I am proud to announce that the Thelins have officially moved to Keizer!

Not that kind of kaiser. Unfortunately. I would adore living in a roll! But this one is pretty cool too.. I don't have any pictures of the inside yet, since we just moved in today. But as soon as I get internet there, I will tell the whole story of the Great Housing Debacle of 2009 and post pics. Here is the outside, though.

Ok, I'm being rushed off.

To Be Continued...

Ah... to have the internet again...

2009-09-06T00:52:00.000-07:00

As you all know, I have recently ressurrected the blog, but was hesitant to do so at first, because my camera went missing while I was packing for the wedding trip, so I had no pictures of anything. Then, one glorious day, my husband found Sammie the Sanyo (Camera) hiding in the depths of the couch. YAY! There was much rejoicing.

And then the internet broke. *Sigh*

And now, I have reunited Sammie and the internet. So, while I don't have adorable baby pictures like the sisters, here is the sampling of the beginning of the year I do have:

From my first day of being 21, with my fab iPod:

We went bowling on New Years with a few of Chris's friends from work. I wish I had better pictures, but ya know..dark bowling alleys do not make the most excellent photo ops:

The first one could almost be a good one of the two of us, if Chris knew how to smile. Oh,well. Bowling feets! We were stylin, man! ;)

And with that, I'm off to bed. Hopefully the next month will bring more amazing pics of home and a new apartment!

Sooo... its been a while.

2009-08-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, I've had quite the stretch of bloggers block. Also, a very boring life. Absolutely nothing significant has happened to us since the wedding. So while the rest of you have been starting new jobs, moving to the southwest (ahem, Annie) and poppin out monster 11 pound babies, we have been here, quietly working out little brains out and trying to accrue some PTO to come home.

Chris did get promoted, which is pretty cool, I guess, if you never wana see your husband. Haha. Nah, he has worked really hard for it,and I am superduper proud of him.

Unfortunately, right before the wedding trip, my digital camera grew legs and ran away to seek a cleaner household to live in. And as a direct result, we have no pictures from 2009 thus far at all except wedding pics.

So here's a few of them, just in case you haven't been smothered in them enough quite yet... This one makes me giggle cause I picture Alissa sarenading me while Christy whistles harmony or something. Aw.

Here's a couple of afore mentioned baby and his perty mama :)

New wedding stuff!

2008-12-12T01:08:00.000-08:00

So, today was my first (read:only) fitting for my dress. Yay. So, we got a fab veil and slip to make the dress spiffy. Best part=everything is 40% off this month. Actually, I wasn't going to get a veil due to the money sitch, bit it ws 40% off! So, I got the alterations, veil, and slip for under $200. So, after we got the slip and stuff, we picked up some pink RIT dye and this is the havoc that ensued...

This would be the slip in the tub. I know, white on white, can't really see much. But getting it wet all over was a major PITA, and wet tulle smells like burning rubber.

Below, we have a lovely two cups of water and package of pink dye. Not much later, it was poured into a washer of hot water and...

The previously bathing crinnie was added. Three cycles, one more dye mix and a rinse cycle later, I was fighting it in the tub again to get all the dye out. I threw it over the shower curtain rod to dry andddd...

The top polyester part didn't turn terribly pink, but I expected that, and at least it's not blotchy. But the important part

(sorry it's sideways. too lazy to fix it.) did exactly what I wanted it to. The meshy part is all you'll really see, and it's perfect. I'm so excited for it! Oh, and here's my bad veil pic. The beading on the sides match the beading on my dress perfectly. One layer. Perfect.

The pictures don't even come close to doing it justice. But I thought I'd give ya'll a teaser to look forward to til next month!

The First Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T20:13:00.000-08:00

Today was my first attempt at making Thanksgiving. It was fun, a little adventurous. I didn't do my turkey day shopping til Wednesday (heh..), a mistake I will never repeat.

Just a little visual for all of you.. there is ONE grocery store in Dallas. Uno. A very small Wal Mart too, but it has like 4 food aisles. So, it was a disaster last night. We could barely barely get down the aisles.

Anyway, so we lived through that, my only disappointment was that there was no heavy whipping cream for pie and fruit salad, so we ended up getting CoolWhip. I was super sad because I have random memories of helping my mom make whipped cream every year, and I had been so excited to try it on my own.

So, this morning, I was talking to my mom on the phone, (actually, asking a yam question) and telling her of my sore disappointment for not having the heavy whipping cream. The next thing I know, Chris has his keys in his hand and stage-whispers to me that he is braving the cold weather to go to the store once more and wrangle in some whipping cream. Aww.

Chris got a turkey free from work, so that is what we ate. I did it in a bag the way my mom does it, and it turned out REALLY good. I think me and Chris were both pleasently suprised. :)

I=blogging FAIL...

2008-11-19T01:54:00.000-08:00

.... BUT, a Fiancee survey, cause my gorgeous sistahs did it tooooooo.

How long did you date before you were married?

Well.... technically we're NOT married, but it will be about a year annnnd 6 mo.

How long have you been married?

-however many months til Aug ha.

What does he do that suprises you?

Hmmm. Sometimes he cooks for me. Ok. That's happened like, twice.

But it was two very cute times nonetheless.

What is your favorite quality of his?

That he can always cheer me up and make me laugh.

Does he have a nickname for you?

Yeah. Toe. It's a long story. Sometimes Potato. I don't think there IS a story behind that one, it just happened one day.

What is his favorite color?

Green.

What is his favorite food?

Pizza, by a long shot. But he likes pretty much anything.

What is his favorite sport?

Ummm. Does bowling on the Wii count...?

When and where was your first kiss?

Second date, outside the Indy movie theatre. We were standing by my car talking for, like, ever, and he kinda just grabbed me and wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. Aww.

(whatever, I'm engaged, I'm allowed to be a little mushy!)

Favorite thing to do as a couple?

Shop. Or go to Chens, the little Chinese place we go to like every week. The waiters know our order. Haha. Boring are we.

Do you have any children?

Uh, no.

Does he have a hidden talent?

Not really... He's good at stuff like his job (and much better at life in general than I am). Anything he really tries for he can be good at.

Stupid overacheiver.

Who said I love you first?

He did, like two weeks after we officially became a couple. We were watching a movie in his apartment, and I KNEW he was gonna say it from the minute he opened the door that night.

What is his favorite type of music?

Country. And he also enjoys listening to the same Blink 182 and Green Day CD's incessantly to annoy me.

What do you admire most about him?

That he can do anything that he wants at all, and be good at it. I don't know if it's possible for him to fail at something, which, of course, I could teach him a thing or two about. Haha jk.

Do you think he will read this? I know he won't. If it was on myspace he would though.

Soo...

2008-08-20T00:53:00.000-07:00

For the whole two of you that read this (annie and christy), I thought I'd officially announce that I'm gettin hitched :)
We had dedcided April 09 at first, but changed it to August like, yesterday. Haha.
My ring is (going to be) a 3 stone, with little stones on the sides, and a blue diamond or sapphire as the center stone. The jewler is ordering the blue diamonds and saphs for us to come look at (this week most likely) before we decide which to do. I always just wanted a 3 stone, cause it's simple and classic. Plus the wedding will be trend-tastic, so at least one part should be elegant and never go out of style, Ha.
The wedding colors are pink and orange, with some yellow accents. My lovely sisters and best friend will be my bridesmaids,(other than the little people, I'LL be the youngest in the bridal party. Ha.) and my beautiful niece Kelsey will be flowergirl. My nephew Ethan will prolly be ringbearer. Jared and Savannah will be honorary flowergirl/ringbearer since they won't be able to come :(

Also, I have a dress already. I know. Weird, but I needed to pick one while Alissa was here in June so that I'd at least have one person to help me. I decided to buy it here for many resons. No sales tax is one, my dress was $580 flat. Also, alterations can be done 30 minutes away instead of 16 hours. So, next week I'm going to have the bustle put in. That's actually the only alteration it needs! It fits like a friggin glove. Whoo. Once my laptop decides to cooperate, I will post pictures. Promise.

That's about it for le weddin plannin.. I'll keep you updated though!

Happy Birthday, Chris!

2008-06-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

As many of you may or may not know, Chris turned 24 today :) We had a really nice day, I bought him a Nintendo Wii, two movies, two games, and an extra controller & nunchuck thingie. I was talking to his mom about it, and she said that she would give me $100 to get something for him from her, so I said the controller and the games were from her.

We had so much fun, we played for 8 hours stright! The Wii came with a couple games and the extra remote came wth 9 games. I also made him cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a chocolate cake. I cut out paper hearts and wrote reasons why I love him on them and put them up in the foyer and on the wall. Here are a few pics I took. This is what was hanging on the front door

The living room wall & foyer

He told me that if I was going to play vdeo games had to wear a hat. So here I am beng as gangsta as possible. Wth nail polish chewed off one nail. Haha

Not too excitin', but here's whats goin on......

2008-05-07T23:11:00.000-07:00

I got a new job today at T-Mobile, which is good cause it pays a lot a lot more than the current lame job, BUT... I have to cancel my trip to Utah/Wyoming for training, which I am really sad about. Plus, it will take me about 4 more months to earn the time off to come home, so by the time I get to come back, I will have been gone the better part of a year! I am excited to start, though, and start making more money! I got a very lovely tax return from the Feds, but am still waiting for Utah to send me my money. They are punishing me for moving away, I think :(
In other news...
Chris has been invited to test with Marion County (Salem area) for a Sherriff's Deputy at the jail and he is so excited. He was also invited to test with the state police at the end of June, but isn't sure if he will. He is pretty happy at the casino for now (unless he gets the Marion County job) and is doing great at the dispatching thing, his boss put him in charge of trainng a new back up dispatcher. He is also excited to start taking karate classes this week, his friend from SMC teaches it and Chris can take it for free. Thus the basis of it's appeal ;) plus, it will help him get in tip-top shape for the Marion County testing.
Ehh... I think that pretty much covers it, except that I have just decided that me and Chris need a life outside of Netflix (Speaking of which, I have raided his Netflix and replaced all the war movies at the top with PS I Love You and 27 Dresses. Greatest girlfriend EVER. ha)
When we finally do something cool, like check out the new (ok, only) Chinese place down the street from his house, you'll be the first to know :)

Oregon!

2008-04-28T02:16:00.000-07:00

So, living in Oregon is like a new adventure everyday! The weather (This week, at least) has been so nice, me and Chris went on a little walk this evening before he went to work and it was perfect. it has been like 70 all week and-gasp- NO RAIN! haha. But I would take rain over snow any. day. Chris has been nejoying the nice weather because it means he gets to ride his bike more, which is always a plus for him.
It has come to my attention that I will never be able to navigate Salem. Think: SLC, but smaller and with double the one-way streets. This can only be a recipe for disaster, if you ask me. (Fortunately, my boyfriend has no qualms about coming to my rescue when I'm lost).
The other bad thing about Oregon is the gas prices. $3.61 right now! I'm seriously saving most of my taxes-not for a rainy day, but to make ure I have gas for the next month or so. (But hey, no sales taxes, so thats pretty cool. )

I also feel that a blog about my lovely "Evergreen State" would be incomplete without a little gushing about the Coast. Ah, the Coast. It's lovely. I have many a summertime BBQ and camping trip planned for the lovely beaches of Oregon for me and Chris.
Now, I just gotta convince him that his paid time off is there to be taken, not looked at. Silly boys! ;)

Me and Chris on the coast, of course:

Jessica & Christopher

2008-04-13T00:45:00.000-07:00

So, I decided that for my first post, I would need to introduce the blogging world to Chris, the cutest boyfriend ever.

Since I know you all will ask anyways, he's 23, and he graduated from WOU in 2007. He currently works at Spirit Mountain Casino in Dallas as a Seurity Dispatcher {he's very important ;)}, but he has applied to a couple other positions with Marion County and Oregon State Police.

We mostly stay in and watch movies and hang out woth Fred and Angelica, his cats, but we also like to double date with his friends and take trips to the Oregon Coast, which is always amazing.