Trader Joey

In Reno, I shopped at Walmart.  And Winco.  But mostly Walmart.

After moving to Portland, I had a hard time adjusting to the lack of Walmarts-on-every-corner.

Instead, there's a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's on every corner (at least where we live).  We tried Fred Meyer, but lordy that place is pricey... and under construction.



Source

So boyfriend and I typically shop at Trader Joe's for some things, and Winco for the rest.  I never shopped at Trader Joe's before because it was too pricey, but boyfriend and I have been discovering some little gems that are decently priced and super yummy!

1.  Pomegranate and Blueberry Cereal - this stuff is AMAZING.  If you don't know, I can't eat mushy foods.  Call me picky, I'll take it.  But I don't do mushy.  Mashed Potatoes, Yogurt, Pudding, gag me.  Can't do it.  So one thing I HATE is when your cereal gets soggy.

This cereal never gets soggy/mushy.  The blueberries are real.  The clusters add a touch of sweet.  I can't get enough of this cereal! 

2.  Hummus Salad Dressing - I found this little gem when I was at my mom's house in July.  Which also means it's  GLUTEN FREE.  So unique - I've never seen anything like this anywhere else! 

3.  Trader Joe's Black Beans - Boyfriend and I eat black beans with everything.  The Trader Joe's brand black beans are supepr firm (NOT MUSHY).  The best part is they don't come in that thick-gunky-black-bean-residue stuff, which means you don't have to rinse them first!  Lovelove!

4.  Carne Asada - THIS IS SO YUM YUM!  It took 25-ish minutes to cook.  Threw it on some corn tortillas with chopped onion and cilantro.  Added some lime and INSTANT YUM YUM!  This is a keeper and well worth the $7-$8. 



I could go on and on about the little gems we get from TJs (don't even get me STARTED on the Rosemary cheese!) - but these are some of the hidden hotties that I'm unable to find at other stores.  Lovelovelove!

Anyone have any other Trader Joe's hot items?!

Sunday Social: The Internet!

1. What is the first website you log on to each day?

 

Gmail #1, then Gmail #2 :-)

2.  Give us some funny websites that you visit that we need to know about.

Hands down, Jenna Marbles.  Makes me laugh every time.

 

3.  Pinterest or Facebook?  Why?

I'm too indecisive.  During the week, Facebook.  On the weekends, Pinterest.  But I love them both equally! 

4.  Twitter or Instagram?  Why?

Definitely Instagram - not too many of my friends are on Twitter!

 

5.  Favorite youtube video:

I think this is my all time favorite video: 

 

Sweet Home Reno

In July, boyfriend and I made a journey back home to RENO! 

My friend Robin (Theta Big Sister) was getting hitched, so it was a great excuse to go home and see the family.

Boyfriend and I drove two cars down so he could return his Corolla to his mom (he recently bought a new car).  We brought the pups though so I had my Polly with me and we rocked out to country music the entire drive down!  I'm certain Polly loves country music as much as me :-)

... and boyfriend had Ibo with him.

It was nice seeing family and friends.  Boyfriend visited his family on Saturday while I spent the day with my Grandma, Aunt Julie, and Mom.

We got to see my dad up at Donner!

We attended an AMAZING wedding!

Funny story:  Boyfriend was among some of the single men to catch the garter.  I'm not sure why, but Melissa randomly started chanting "Aaron, Aaron, Aaron.." and got a few more people to chant.  My friends are only looking out for me :-)  So Aaron is in the front row and I was standing off to the side with my glass of champagne.  Bryan (the groom) flings the garter which soars through the air and bee-lines is straight toward ME.  I reach up and grab the garter.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, I caught the garter.  Since Alex caught the bouquet, we decided that she and I would make a lovely couple.  Sorry boyfriend - you're off the hook for now.

 

I saw Lina briefly (she cried, we cried, it was a good reunion).

We ate Port of Subs.  Doughboy Donuts.  And Sushi Pier.
I have yet to find donuts in Portland that are as good as Doughboy!  So good! 
And Sushi Pier 2.  Where do I begin?  Portland only has the conveyer belt type of sushi, or $15/roll type of sushi.  I die.

... it was heavenly.

It was a nice visit back home!  But far too short.  The drive home was nice since we got to drive together.  We used to always road trip during the summers, so it was like old times.  It felt good to finally have a weekend together.  Boyfriend's days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, and I have Saturday/Sunday off, so it's rare we get to spend a "weekend" together. 

If you can't tell, we can't get enough of little Polly

 Boyfriend caught me sleeping

 

 And since I'm a light sleeper, the camera click woke me up.  Busted!

 

 Then I caught him sleeping with Polly perched on his shoulders.  What the...?!

 

The Weeeeeeebo

 

It Happened Again

The last time I passed a kidney stone was in January.  It was only 2 (or 1?!) weeks before I moved to Portland, and my body was clearly feeling the stress/anxiety.

I was in and out of the hospital a couple of times, however my body quickly healed and a short two weeks later I was in the hospital AGAIN to have my darned appendix removed.

....I'm no stranger to ER.

So yesterday, boyfriend and I were on our way to meet with a Realtor to go house shopping.  We were stuck in horrible traffic when I twisted and felt an instant cramp in my side/back.

Oh crap.

Right then the realtor called me to ask if we may be late from the traffic. 

"Yes?  But I may also be passing a kidney stone?  I call you back in 10."

Luckily the realtor is super nice, because I called her back again in 10 to tell her we wouldn't be able to make it.

.... and off to the hospital we went.

I'm stuck in the house today since I'm not quite 100%, so I'm hoping I'll start feeling better soon and I can stop taking pain killers.

LOVELY!  Hope everyone is having a much better Saturday than me :-) 

21 Followers!

Since 2010 I've had 6 followers (two of which were my mom).

I know this is still small compared to most bloggers, but in the past week I've gotten 15 new followers!!!!!  This excites me like you would not believe! 



My happy face!!

So thank you to my followers!  I've attached links to their bloggies below:
25 in my 25th
The Birds The Bees & The Barras
Two Smuppies
Anything But a Boring Life
The Heights Life
Eat, Play, LOVE That Top!
Snowy Mountains & Starry Skies
The Daily Tay
This Is The Sweeet Life
My Cliffnotes
Simply Sarah Style
THIS HIVE
Through My Looking Glass
Bud Reeder
The Law School Noob
Anne Recommends


If I forgot someone, please let me know and I'll add you :-)  I've also been updating my blogroll so if you'd like to be added please let me know!

Have I acclimated?

If you've never been to Reno, it's hot. But because it's a desert, it's a "dry heat" with cool nights.

When I came to Portland, I was a baby.

"It's so cold here!"

"Where's the sun?"

"In Reno we have sun."

"When does it get hot? Never?"

Well friends. It's August, and it's fucking  hot as tits.

And now I'm begging for the cloud cover.

Have I acclimated?  It's breaking 100 degrees (BIG DEAL IN PORTLAND) and apartments here don't come with AC (BECAUSE YOU NEVER NEED IT!).

I found myself hoping that there would be cloud cover after work today.  Who was I kidding?  Clealy, I was kidding myself.

Excuse me while I go draw myself a cold bath and turn my fan on full blast.

1:30am Rendezvous

Do you ever wake up randomly throughout the night?

Troubles getting back to sleep?

That was me last night.  I woke up at 1:30am and my body apparently decided it was time to get up.  Then my mind starts to wander

"What if I'm getting sick?" 

"What if I have to call in?" 

"Did I leave everything at work in good shape to be handed off?" 

"I FORGOT TO IMPLEMENT CHANGES!"

Thanks to my wandering mind, I remembered I had not finished something that needed to be completed by 4:30am today.  So I ran to my work laptop, threw it open, and immediately started working.
..... at 1:30am in the morning.
Who does that??!

All I know was I am thankful for my wandering mind, even though the boyfriend probably could care less for my "mind like a steel trap."  Although I'm sure the client was happy today for my 1:30am work ethic.   ...goodness gracious. 

And on a lighter note, look at the picture boyfriend sent me while I was at work of my precious Polly!  In the words of my mom, she's a computer geek like me!

P.S.  Does anyone else feel like tomorrow should be Friday?  I keep thinking it was Thursday today.

Best Friend Day! (I think)

Via

Melissa at 53Blonde (my Twitter Twin!) mentioned that today is National Best Friend Day. 

I didn't get this memo until just now.

She asked the question: What constitutes a best friend?

I tried my hardest to use my big kid words and come up with a definition, and all I could say was "it's just a feeling."

It's just a feeling?  Really?!

But it is.  So here is what I love about my best friends (and yes - I have more than one and they know who they are!):

1.  Nicknames (note: these are not in any particular order) - I'm starting off with something a little-less-than-heavy-mushy-icky here.  I LOVE NICKNAMES. 
A lot of my friends call me ACray because who wants to respond to "Ashley" ?? 

I'll tell you who

Fifteen other girls in the room. 

That's who. 

Likewise, I tend to have nicknames for my lovely little friendlies.  Whether it's Lou (short for lucifer, of course) or Kimothy, I love nicknames.

2.  No Small Talk - So, how's the weather?  How's life?  Those are all great questions, but there's something about being around your best friend where those aren't the things you talk about.  It's usually:
"Remember that one time I told you about .... well you're not going to BELIEVE what just happened!!!"
"I don't care that it's 6am - I'll come pick you up.  Who's the guy?"
Or just a simple, "I miss you." 

3.  Secrets Be Gone - Simple as that.  You know they'll never judge you.  You know she has told you all of her secrets as well, and you don't judge back.  If someone says something that rubs you the wrong way, she knows instantly that it:

• Hurt your feelings
• Knows why
• Difuses the situation

4.  I've Got Your Back - I get my feelings hurt easily.  Call me sensitive/emotional, whatever.  But my feelings are fragile and I'll be the first to admit it.  My best friends are the people who stick up for me when I need it.  I don't always stick up for myself, so it helps to have a 2nd backbone to help me with it. 

Via

You can bet your little booty that your best friend doesn't care if she's in the COBA Computer Labs - she is going to defend you till the end when questionable rumors arise regarding ex boyfriends.  So whether it's defending me, or crying in my sorority room together with the door shut because we feel too pathetic that both of our little hearts just got broken (that was a long one), my best friends are there through everything.
Oh!  And this goes both ways too...

5.  Memories - I have so many with these ladies.  From the time we got fake nose piercings when we were 8 to the time we spent the entire summer of 2007 glued to each others hip, my best friends and I have had some amazing experiences that ties together our bond.  Here are some examples:

• Camping and "pranking" the adults with our dinky water guns.  We were outstaged, to say the least.
• Night in the Country - need I say more?
• "I'M IN BALLS!!"  - I still laugh about the naked little Bolivian running around the room trying to translate "I'm Naked" to English
• COBA Labs for-what-seemed-like-eternity
• TV Room talks
• Pina Coladas
• "Pranking" the frat houses at 9am (I'm officially giving up becoming a professional pranker)
• Going to the Breakaway in sweats/PJs to celebrate something? - I have the pictures to prove this, but now I can't remember why we went?  Jog my memory, lady.

... and so many more I could go on for days.


So I'll repeat Melissa's question - What constitutes a best friend to you?

Theta Grand Convention 2012

I have been meaning to write this post for a while now (since the end of June, at least) however I've had some difficulty putting everything into words.
So here is my attempt at Theta-Grand-Convention-Story-Vomit.

Factoid about Ashley:  I was a sorority girl!

Yup:

Craft making

Picture Posing

Costume wearing

Sorority girl

Hard to believe, right? ;-) 

If you've ever read my blog, it's no surprise.  I was a Kappa Alpha Theta at the Beta Mu chapter in Reno. 

I lived in the house. 
I attended the socials. 
The dances. 
I made friends. 
I lived Kappa Alpha Theta for 3 years of my life (the first year I wasn't very active, so I only count 3 years of full-active-ness).

At the end of June, I got to re-live my Kappa Alpha Theta love at Nationals Grand Convention in Tucson, AZ.

Kappa Alpha Theta's National Philanthropy is CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates.  Not only is this organization close to my heart because of Theta, however it's an integral part of my life because when I was a child I had a CASA Advocate.

Sign for the Workshop I got to help Kimi Martin with

Because of this, Kappa Alpha Theta asked me to be a key note speaker at Grand Convention.  Without realizing what I had signed up for, I eagerly said "YES I'D LOVE TO!"  It wasn't until before I walked on stage and asked Elise, "How many people are in this room?" that I realized exactly what I signed up for.

"Do you really want to know?"  Was Elise's response.  Too many.  That's all you need to know.

**Grand Convention Blogger, Casey Martinez, posts about CASA and my speech!!

What is a CASA?  GREAT QUESTION

A CASA is an amazing person who volunteers their time for abused and neglected children.  They're similar to social workers except CASAs only have 1 case at a time (Social workers have several), and they're volunteers.  Ultimately, they provide an extra set of eyes for abused and neglected children in order to give children a voice in the courtroom.  A CASA is often times the only consistency a child has in his/her life.

How is this coming together?  I'D LOVE TO TELL YOU!

When I was an itty bitty little munchkin, I went through the foster care system.  My CASA helped me along my journey to finding a permanent home.  When I was 3 years old I entered my final foster home.  Three long years and a name change later, I was officially adopted into a new home.  I was 6 years old.  Without my CASA, I'm not sure where I would be today.  I could possibly have graduated out of the foster care system.  I could possibly be back home with my biological family.  I could be with an entirely new family.  However, I feel blessed to be with the family that chose me and I know that without my CASA I may not have been quite as lucky.

You may remember a post I made quite some time ago about the difference between a Biological Mama and an Adoptive Mama (read the post here).  It is important to me for people to know I have no "real" mom.  In fact, I have 2 moms.  I have one who gave birth to me, and one who raised me.

So to sum this up and stop blabbering, I spoke about my experience at Grand Convention to  over 650 Theta Sisters. 

I got to meet Michael Piraino, CEO of Court Appointed Special Advocates. 
I got to sit next to Amy Kate, Fraternity President. 
And I got to tell my story to hundreds of people. 

The entire thing was a blur, really.  I remember wondering if I could sneak out of the room and have no one notice, then I remember having my name called indicating it was my turn to talk, then I remember hundreds of people standing and clapping and crying. 

Right before my speech, I remember being thankful it was breakfast because people would probably be more occupied with breakfast than listening to me talk.  At one point during the speech, I looked out and saw every. single. eyeball. staring at me.  I'm positive if a pin dropped, I'd hear it. 

It wasn't until after the speech that I realize the gravity of what I had just shared with everyone.  There was a line of crying sisters to give me a hug because I too, of course, was crying at this point. 

Afterward, I was coordinating schedules for the day with Kimi Martin, and one of the wait staff walked up to me to give me a hug.  He had listened to my story and made an effort to reach out to me to thank me for sharing my story.  He hugged me, thanked me, and left.  It was wonderful to know I had not only impacted the Thetas, but also a complete stranger who had no affiliation to neither Theta nor CASA.

If you'd like to know more about CASA - please ask me!  I love talking about it and spreading awareness of this amazing organization.

Michael Piraino!!

Bailey!!

Kimi Martin - my amazing workshop partner.  She was my mama-bear for the weekend!

Always Sometimes Never

I'm not sure why I'm on such a blog-posting-spree lately.  But I saw this link up and loved it! 

I always show up to work at least 45 minutes early
I sometimes sit in my car and Pinterest for at least 15 minutes
I never ever ever show up less than 30 minutes early.  Paranoid I am I am.

I always crave sweets - cupcakes, chocolate, cake.  I crave it all.
I sometimes bring cupcakes/oreo balls to work.
I never pass up sweets when they're offered.

I always hit my snooze alarm clock in the morning at least 3 times.
I sometimes skip the morning shower so I can continue sleeping.
I never prioritize shower over sleep.  I hate showering.  I love sleep.

I always talk to myself - especially when I'm alone.
I sometimes catch myself doing this in public.
I never judge others who do this as well!!

Blog hop!

Finally Friday! Five Things...

Happy Friday!

Here are five things I'm loving right now:

1.  My Polly Puppy - I can't get enough of her.  She's cuddling on my stomach right now as I type (which makes it slightly difficult).


2.  Fiji Essie Nailpolish - Love love love love!  That's all I need to say.

3.  The Jake Owen Pandora Radio Station - For those of you who know me, you know I love me some Jake Owen.  He'll be in Oregon for the Oregon State Fair on September 3rd so I've been trying desperately to win tickets on the radio with no luck :-(  Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

4.  The Pacific Northwest Summer - Just wow.  It's beautiful up here.  The weather is perfect and the nights are wonderful.  I understand why people rave about the summers in the Pacific Northwest!  I just jumped on that bandwagon...

5.  My New "Budget" - I take out $100 cash each week for food/entertainment.  It has been going great so far!

Along Came Polly(Anna)

It's time I introduce my beautiful little girl!!

Meet my little girl

Pollyanna

She's the sweetest little girl ever!!  When I got her, she had fleas and tapeworms.  We didn't find out about the tapeworms until later which is possibly why she is so teeny.  She's currently 4.5 months and 5.2 pounds.

Full grown, I was expected her to be about 20 pounds, however it looks like she'll be around 10 (if that).

I adore her - she's sleeping on my tummy as I type :-)




Sleeping in Ibo's Blast Zone - good luck young pup

XBox Controller - How I Fixed It

Boyfriend and I don't buy cable.  It's expensive and we don't spend much time at home.  So instead we use my Hulu and Netflix subscription to watch any TV we might want to watch.  In order to do this, we use the XBox to watch it directly on the TV.

However when the XBox failed, I died.  I was determined to fix that damn little box to give me back my TV!

So below I will describe what the issue was, what I tried, and what worked.

The issue:

Our wireless controllers wouldn’t sync to the console. When we tried to turn on the controller, the lights continued to blink sporadically indicating it wasn’t syncing.

Attempted Solutions:

1. Re-synced the controller with the console through the re-sync buttons (the 3 squiggly lines)
2. Turned off the TV and console, then turned on the console first and TV second
3. Replaced the batteries
4. Removed/replaced the hard drive
5. Got super close to the console
6. Eliminated all possible distractions (router, DVD player, etc)
7. Unplugged all cords from the TV and Xbox for 10.20398 seconds
8. Did a hand stand
9. Sang the ABC’s with one foot in the air
10. Wore a metal helmet with a spatula in one hand and my finger on my nose
11. Took a nap
12. Consulted Best Buy

Thank you Google for failing me. Best Buy’s solution was to pay $90 to send the Xbox into Microsoft and have them “fix” whatever the problem was. Our darling TWO MONTH OLD Xbox already needed to be fixed? You’re shitting joking me.

What Worked

So while complaining at work one day about my ill two month old Xbox, a brainstorm session started where the ultimate solution was introduced:

Wired Controller

AND THIS WORKED! Boyfriend bought a wired/corded (excuse my lack of gaming jargon) controller for cheaper than it would cost to send the Xbox in for repairs, and not only were we able to stop the blinking-lights-of-death, but miraculously THE OTHER CONTROLLERS WORK NOW TOO!

What the…??

But really – this worked for us when we thought our Xbox took a dump sleepy nap. If anyone else is having the same issue, perhaps they’ll stumble across my bloggy and I’ll save their day (and $90 too).

Jet Plane Fever

I love traveling.  I feel like my family has had opportunities to have fun vacations in the past, so what little girl wouldn't quickly fall in love with traveling? 

Since January, I feel like I have traveled everywhere!  I have had some lucky opportunities to board a plane and experience something new.


Limo ride to the airport!



March - St. Charles, IL

In March, I flew to St. Charles, IL twice.  One week each.  My new job is with a consulting firm, so I don't travel as much as the consultants do, but this was still my first exposure to airport-madness! 

For two Mondays, I booked a 4:00am taxi to take me to the airport. 

And for two Fridays (actually, one Friday and one Thursday), I booked my boyfriend for an airport pick up.

April - Boston, MA

In April I went to Boston, again for work.  I was there Monday - Thursday and had my first experience with taking a train to work!!  It was a crazy week, and we were in our business suits for the entire time, but I learned a lot and had a great time.

June - Tucson, AZ

I have recently returned from Tucson, AZ.  Kappa Alpha Theta Nationals recently contacted me to speak during their CASA Breakfast as a former CASA youth.  During the CASA breakfast, I told my story.  I talked about where I was.  Where I am now.  And how my CASA impacted my life.  WHAT AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE.  I had the best time.  The JW Marriott Starr Pass was AH-MAY-ZING.  I was so happy they asked me to speak at the event and that I was able to attend.  I met so many wonderful ladies and a wonderful time!!

The amazing JW Marriott at Starr Pass

4 Things I Love Right Now

1. Swiffer Sweeper Mop Pads

I hate mopping. There's something about filling up a bucket full of soapy water that just screams, "TIME WASTER!" I've used the solution that you squirt on the ground and mop away which is my favorite! However I was also recently introduced to the Swiffer Sweeper Mop Pads. My aunt got me a little Swiffer Sweeper Vacuum thinger for Christmas, and these fit perfectly on my Swiffer! We have a little kitchen and bathroom, so it's just enough to fully mop everything with as little effort as possible. LOVE!

2. Pirate's Booty

White Cheddar-y Cheesy Goodness. I can't get enough of this little treat right now.

3. Grapefruit

I've never been a grapefruit fan. Ever. My mom would always have our fruit bowl constantly stocked with ruby-red grapefruits, and while they look delicious, I hated the taste. After traveling to Chicago for training for work, I began eating a grapefruit for breakfast every morning. Ever since, I LOVE grapefruit. Since my appendix surgery, I've had an extremely sensitive stomach. Eating grapefruit has never been a problem for my picky/sensitive tummy and my body loves it.

4. Reef shoes

Background: When I was in high school, I had surgery on my right foot. I was blessed with Bunions, Bunionettes, and wide feet. I had a bunionectomy to remove my bunion. While my bone structure apparently looks good in x-rays, I now have permanent feet "issues." ... and still have wide feet.

Because of this, I can't wear flip flops. Ever. I know any podiatrist will tell you flip flops are horrible, but when you're in high school/college/your-20's, flip flops are a necessity. I can no longer wear flip flops without excruciating pain in both feet. I can only wear old-lady sandals (lovely), sandals with back-straps(THANK GOODNESS THESE ARE IN RIGHT NOW!), tennis shoes (because who doesn't look cool on the beach in socks and tennies), or flats (another podiatrist nightmare). Flats have become a staple in my closet.

I found these gems at REI, and while they were a tad pricey I had an REI dividend that made them uber affordable. They have a slight arch in them (mom would be proud) and they're padded on the inside (it's a foot-massage with every step). I love putting these on, and don't need to kick them off as soon as I walk through the door. LOVE!

Me me me me me

Some of you may remember my professional blog where I often made posts regarding Gen Y'ers; the good and the bad.

For those of you that don't know, Generation Y is my generation.  The generation born in the 1980's and later.  The generation also known as "The Me Generation."

Generation Y in the workforce is a completely different topic that I won't touch today.  Instead, I wanted to talk about general Gen Y activities that drive. me. nuts.

To preface my mini-rant, I can't say I'm not guilty of being a Generation Me-er Y-er:  I have a blog about ME for crying out loud.  I apologize if this offends anyone, but regardless, here are some things I've noticed about my generation:


Buy Me Something
Have you ever seen this one on facebook? 
"Who wants to buy me lunch and bring it to me at work??!" 
OH PICK ME!  I've been dying all day to know if you wanted lunch so that I can buy you some. 

What about this one? 
"I really want tickets to Coachella!  Someone should buy me some!" 
ABSOLUTELY.  It's my job to make sure you have those tickets. 

If you're hungry and need lunch, whatever happened to calling your best friend and saying "I'm starving - if I give you $5 can you please bring me Port-of-Subs?"  Heck, if this works then my next Facebook status will be, "Who wants to clean my house, do my laundry, give me all of their money, and follow me around telling me I'm pretty?"  I'm sure there are people out there whose only existence is all about making my day be a good one.



Parties Galore
The one specifically I'm talking about is the "What's the sex of the baby" party. REALLY??! And we all know that after this "What's the sex of the baby" party, the happy couple will also have a baby shower. I've tried to think of my friends who would tell me, "Ashley, we want to throw a party for you to tell you what the sex of your baby is. Because having us tell you is far more exciting than having the doctor tell you." I don't have a single friend who would do that. I understand possibly ME throwing a get-together to reveal to my closest friends, but to have friends throw a party for me? I'm done here.



My Wedding Should Stress You Out
Recently-ish, I had a friend who was part of a wedding party for a wedding that stressed her out.  She was "required" to take multiple days off work, spend more money for the bride than she typically even spends on herself, and attend party-on-top-of-party-on-top-of-party.  At a certain point, it was only about getting through the wedding without manipulation from the bride about not cherishing her special day.

And why?

Because it was absolutely necessary to have multiple bridal showers, an elaborate bachelorette party, rehearsal dinners during the work-day, etc. etc. 


When did we start acting like everyone's purpose is about me me me me me? 

New Apartment! .... again

Boyfriend and I moved again. Some stupid stipulation about making too much money to live in low income housing forced us to find a new apartment. Conveniently, we moved across the street :-) Even more conveniently, we didn’t have to pay to break the lease since it was their oversight. WIN!


We love the location – it’s the #1 thing keeping us out of a house (which would most likely be more affordable and would definitely be roomier). Our new apartment is exceptionally awesome. Our massive living room window overlooks a soccer/football/lacrosse field. It’s beautiful – boyfriend calls it our stadium view and “box seats.” It’s totally true. In the morning I sit by the window and watch the early morning runners jogging the track. Healthy bastards Good for them.

In the evening, we can watch soccer games/lacrosse games/flag football games/everything! We also have a beautiful view of downtown. Who needs a TV with this view?! It’s definitely motivational to see people running and being active in the gloom. The only bad part is that there is constant activity in the park-area, so boyfriend’s precocious puppy feels that he needs to protect us by random bark-spurts throughout the night. We’ll work on that.

So it’s perfect for right now. We are able to walk downtown and be fully immersed in Portland life (except for the whole hairy-no-shaving-and-super-smelly-hippy thing), however it’s just a matter of time before we start looking at houses. Between both of our jobs, we could easily afford a decent home but for now we are still learning Portland.  Not to mention the price we are paying to live close to downtown could get us a lovely 3 bedroom house with leftovers... just sayin....

Aunt Peggy would be proud of my contact-papering skills

It's April already?

I love my life.

Even though I can't seem to catch a break these days, I still love my life.

After traveling to Chicago, I managed to catch a "bug."  And by bug, I mean ultra-head-cold-no-voice-and-epic-cough bug. Poor boyfriend is frustrated with my constant health battles, but I promise I will be better soon and as soon as I get rid of this cold I will be a HEALTH MANIAC! 

...except I refuse to give up cupcakes. 

Boyfriend and I move again very soon to a place across the street.  CAN'T WAIT!  I'll be happy to finally be settled in and not have to move again for a while.

Boyfriend and I also recently watched The Hunger Games.  SO HAPPY.  Boyfriend knew that I enjoyed the books and offered to accompany me to the movie :-)  I enjoyed the movie, however I feel like it could have been split into a Part 1 and Part 2 - so much story, so little time!

Boyfriend and I also rented The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Great movie!  I had watched the Swedish version with my parents before, but I liked this version better.  Made me wish I had read the book before watching the movie. 

Lastly, my computer's hard drive crashed.  And I am embarrassed to say I never backed anything up.  I am that girl who preaches to the choir.  All I really had were pictures, and I've always saved my memory cards (since this happened with my last Apple computer).  So now I'm in the market for a new computer, but in the meantime boyfriend has volunteered to let me use his computer. 

The Portland weather has been brutal lately, but luckily I have been too busy to notice.  I am excited for the warm weather!  I am ready for summer to be here - but it's already April so summer is right around the corner!

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Work Travel Bug

I've been MIA.

These past two weeks I have:

• Started my new job
• Flown to Chicago twice
• Stayed in a hotel room 8 times (so far)
• Received limo transportation to the airport
• Met new colleagues
• Done homework and taken assessments
• Given presentations
• Gone skiing at Mt. Hood
• Gone Rock Climbing at Portland Rock Gym (it was just "eh")

Aaaaand scene. 

It's always exciting starting a new job!  It's even more exciting to travel to a new city in order to attend the "first day of work."  I am blessed to have a position I'm proud of, new opportunities, endless supply of frozen yogurt, and an amazing boyfriend to pick me up from the airport at the end of the week. 

Does it get any better?  Negative, ghostrider. 

IDK, my BFF Lou?

Before I left Reno, my friend Lina (aka Lou) would text me things like "You can't leave!"  "I'm going to be so sad!"  "I'm going to miss you!"

So I made her a little present to remember "us" by before I left.

Enjoy!

Grimm

Boyfriend and I are addicted to the TV show Grimm.

We had watched one random episode... and it was freaky.  I was LOST and not expecting what we saw.  Because of this, if you decide to watch this TV show, watch it from the very first episode!

Luckily, due to my super-mega-awesome Hulu+ account, boyfriend and I have the ability to watch every episode starting at #1.

Wooppeee!

So what's so cool about this show?  It's Law and Order-esque, but with a more interesting plot line.  I'm not familiar with Brothers Grimm, but apparently everyone else is, which is what this show encompasses. 

Also, the show is based in Portland, OR.  Awesome!  So for boyfriend and I who are newly transplanted into Portland, it's fun to watch the various filming locations and see the different neighborhoods.  Sometimes I get excited and squeal "I know where that is!!"  Darn straight - I'm learning this city, even if I have to watch TV to do it :-)

Hello Portland

Living in Oregon is... different.  It's wet.  It's green.  There are colorful people.  Everyone bikes everywhere.  There's public transportation (like.. real public transportation.  Not just the piddly buses in Reno).

Now that have permanently moved to Portland, I thought I would share some interesting factoids!

• Did you know that it's legal to be naked in public?  Yup.  In fact, it is celebrated by a naked Bike Ride.  Nothing screams FREEDOM to me like plopping your bare naked booty on a cold hard bike seat to glorify why we cherish underwear and pants.  Hello Burning Man???
• Oregon and New Jersey are the only two states without self-serve gas stations.  
• The state fish is the Chinook Salmon
• Portland is known as the City of Roses
• The Columbia River Gorge is considered to be the best place in the world for wind surfing
• Oregon has more ghost towns than any other state
• Portland was almost named "Boston, Oregon."  It was named by the flip of a coin by its two original settlers, Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove.  Lovejoy wanted to name the new settlement after his hometown of Boston and Pettygrove wanted to name it after his hometown of Portland, Maine.
• There is no sales tax
•  The Portland metro area is the largest craft brewing market in the US
• On the East side of the river, 20 blocks is almost always one (1) mile
• Oregon hosts FIVE beer festivals throughout the year, including the largest craft beer festival in North America (The Oregon Brewer's Festival).

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Rain Rain Go Away

Yesterday when I woke up, the sky in Portland was clear and there was SUN!  Hello holy sun!

**Note to self:  Bring umbrella or rain jacket, regardless.

Sure enough by the afternoon, the skies were cloudy and the streets were wet.  Of course.  Portland rain is misty.  It's not like 2-inches-per-year rain in Reno (when it rains, it pours).  Either way, I'm still anxious for the sun to be permanent, so I researched Portland weather trends.

Temperature

 

Precipitation

 

Needless to say, I'm anxious for May! 

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Best Birthday Ever

As Ashley Turney put it, "Welcome to the next 'box' on the age survey!"

It's a big birthday, but I didn't have a big celebration.  I'm in Portland with new people, new places, and a broken appendix! 

That didn't stop boyfriend from making sure we celebrated my birthday together.  While he wasn't supposed to get me a birthday gift (due to my super awesome Thule roof rack Valentines Day gift!!), he started off the morning with a bag full of goodies.

And let me tell you about this bag full of goodies.

• First of all, the bag was adorable.  My Aunt Peggy would be proud.  And it would match my bathroom PERFECTLY.  Too stinkin' cute.
• Second - MYTHOS Climbing Shoes!  My current climbing shoes suck.  They hurt.  Granted I have janky feet, but these shoes don't help.  When I slipped my ultra-wide foot into a pair of Mythos for the first time, it felt like butter.  (I'm sure if you put butter on your feet, this is what it would feel like)
• I also got 2 books - Hot Springs in the Pacific Northwest and Wow Guides - North Cascades.  I lovelove hot springs, and I can pick out hikes in the cascades that aren't "I want to die and never hike again" hikes :-)
• And he got me a cute little green butterfly bookmark from Powell's books. 

We then went to a doctor appointment for my appendix, and got a TB test for my new jobby.  After, we went to Ready, Paint, Fire! to paint pottery which was super fun!  We were supposed to go to dinner afterward, but I was so pooped from walking everywhere and such a long day (thank you, appendicitis) that we came home and crashed.

But it was a great day!  I wouldn't have had it any other way :-)

Thank you EVERYONE for all of the birthday wishes!!  I am so luck to have such good friends and family!

Quiche

One thing I consistently make is quiche.  My mom always brought quiches to family Christmas, so when our family dynamics changed a bit and I became old enough to cook, I was dubbed the new quiche-bringer.  My mom taught me her recipe, in which I imitated, however throughout my years as the quiche-bringer I have developed my own sort of "recipe" that consistently turns out AMAZINGLY yummy!

One thing my mom did was put the cheese on top of the quiche and bake it to a goldeny crisp on top.  The baked cheese was amazing, however I found that it left sort of a "mush" consistency right between the cheese and the egg mixture.  Now anyone who knows me knows that I don't do "mush."  I don't eat mashed potatoes (mushy), yogurt (mushy), oatmeal (mushy), anything mushy.  Another thing about putting the cheese on top was sometimes the cheese would cook perfectly to it's goldeny crispy color, however the egg below it was still complete liquid!  We can't have a slimy/uncooked quiche.

So I had to think of a new alternative, which was mix the cheese in the egg mixture as most recipes call for.

So below is my adapted quiche recipe that I have developed throughout years of trial and error:

Ashley's Quiche

• 6 Eggs
• 1 Pie Crust (I use the Pillsbury pie crust that can be found in the refrigerated section.  You could also make your own pie crust easily as well if you have the extra time.)
• 1/3 cup milk (I just eyeball it, but if I had to guess, I'd say about 1/4 to 1/3 cup milk.  Just enough to avoid having to use a 7th egg but not make it slimy)
• Half Package Frozen Spinach - thawed and drained
• Half Package Turkey Bacon (or normal bacon)
• 1 Cup Chopped Mushrooms (again - I eyeball it, use as much or little as you like)
• Handful of shredded pepper jack cheese 
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

 **Additional ideas:  sauteed onions, sausage, Canadian bacon/Ham, asparagus, bell peppers, etc)

As you'll notice, everything is a "half" of a package - it's a lot more convenient to make 2 quiches at once unless you want left over ingredients.  

The above ingredients I use to taste.  If I'm making it for someone who LOVES bacon and hates spinach, I omit the spinach and use a lot of bacon.  You can really play with the ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350.  While a pan on the stove is warming up (medium heat), begin chopping the bacon.  I like using turkey bacon, but that's a "me" thing.  After bacon is chopped, cook bacon.  While bacon is cooking, chop the mushrooms (if the mushrooms are small, no chopping is needed).  Remove the cooked bacon from the pan.  Add olive oil (and let it heat up).  After it is heated, add chopped mushrooms and saute.  When mushrooms are almost done, add the spinach (this helps to remove any excess water to avoid slimy quiche).  While olive oil is heating, whisk the eggs into a medium-large bowl.  Add milk.  Add bacon, mushrooms, spinach, and cheese to the eggs.  Mold the pie crust into a pie dish.  Add egg mixture to the pie dish.  Bake for 40-50 minutes.  I usually tell when it is done by inserting a fork and slightly pulling apart - if there's no liquid then VOILA!  Quiche!

Quiche with a lot of spinach (1/2 package)

Quiche with a lot of bacon and handful of fresh spinach

Home Made Chicken Noodle Soup

With my recent hospital visit, my current diet is vanilla.  No seeds/nuts/skins.  Also, nothing heavy since my stomach might not be able to handle the grease.

So Aaron and I decided to make some home made chicken noodle soup!

I found the recipe from AllRecipes called Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup, so we tried it out.

Here was our version:

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 boxes of broth (2 chicken, 1 vegetable)
1 package of chopped chicken tenders (roughly 8 tenders) - uncooked
1/2 chopped onion
1 "bunch" of carrots (about 2 cups)
1 cup of celery (celery isn't Aaron's favorite, so we cut back)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil (next time I will increase to 1 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (next time I will increase to 1 teaspoon)
2 cups of cooked whole grain pasta shells
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Cook onion, celery, and carrots in butter until just tender, 5 minutes. Pour in chicken and vegetable broths and stir in raw chopped chicken, carrots, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes before serving.  Cook pasta on the side.  Add cooked pasta to a bowl, and pour soup over pasta (I like this because I don't like mushy noodles). 

Hospital, Cobra, Appendix

When I quit my job to move to Portland, one thing my family members kept pressing was health insurance.  My new job starts March 12, so from the end of February until I begin my new job, I would not have health insurance.  Regardless of the EXTREMELY steep monthly premium, I elected to utilize Cobra health insurance to continue having the coverage.

And thank goodness I did.

This past week was not expected.  I began having a weird stomach pain, in which everyone told me it was probably "gas."  But then the next day the same sharp gas pain was in the same spot.  And the next day.  And the next day. 

I finally decided to go to ER.  What better way to get to know a new city than to visit their hospital, right?

Appendicitis

While most appendectomies can have you in-and-out of the hospital within 1-2 days, I remained for 5 days.  I have 4 battle wounds (incisions)!  And although this was just 7 days ago, I am still recovering and my battle wounds are still healing.

I received flowers from several people - and THANK YOU ALL! 

The staff at Providence Medical Center was amazing, and really ensured that I was never in any pain.   What a way to start living in a new city.  For now, I just can't wait to be 100% again.