Jelly Booger

Cannon Beach, Oregon

August 2011

<3

Bye Bye Boyfriend

As all of my friends and family know, my life has been crazy-whacko-nutso.

Not only am I STILL homeless (and by homeless, I mean I'm paying a mortgage on a home I purchased but can't live in), but my boyfriend took a job up in OREGON.

And I swear - if I hear "When does he come back?" one more time I'm going ape shit.

He's NOT coming back.  He. Took. A. Job. In. Oregon.  What part of that screams "I'M COMING BACK!"  ????

So with that being said, at the beginning of July we got to move all of his stuff up to Oregon.  We packed up a UHaul, sent his dog to his moms, and began our epic 1-way road trip to Portland!  Thank goodness I wasn't moving up there - otherwise we may have needed 3 UHauls for all the CRAP I have apparently accumulated throughout my life.

His mom and Dommy Salami (aka:  One of the brothers) came up the night before to say their goodbyes.  I was the photographer.

 

Unfortunately, Aaron is unable to have his beloved mess-of-an-animal dog in Portland until next spring-ish, so he had to pack up his puppy and send him off with his mom.

 

We then started our road trip the next morning!  We stopped at Crater Lake one day.  Crater Lake is just as beautiful as all of the pictures.  It's a beautiful location - but a ZOO on the 4th of July weekend.  I was also extremely surprised to see that there was SNOW in JULY!  What a crazy year it has been.

 

Then the next day we stopped at Smith Rock.  And rock climbed.  Because it wouldn't be a trip with my boyfriend without rock climbing.

It was a great little trip!  I miss my boyfriend dearly and don't get to talk to him that often, but I am used to him being gone on climbing trips so it's a little easier than I thought it would be.

Favorite Commercial

I love this video!  I watched it for the first time in a class and ever since I just can't get enough of it!

Secret Obsession

I have a secret obsession with looking at RGJ.com (our local newspaper) Engagement and Wedding pictures.

Not because I'm secretly planning my wedding portfolio.

I just secretly love looking at the pictures!  Occasionally I will see people I went to high school with - it excites me!

The secret is out - it's my mini-obsession.

RIP My poor little Noki love

I loved him so so so much

Eastern Sierra Hot Springs?

One thing I have always always always wanted to do is visit one of the MANY hot springs in the Eastern Sierra.  I always hear about them, I always read about them in books, I JUST WANT TO GO!

So one day Aaron and I decided to seek out some of these hot springs.  We visited 1 just to find out we were lost and had no idea where to find it.

1 down.

We visited a second one just to find out it is only filled in the morning so by the evening time the water is cold.

2 down.

We visited the third one just to find out it was PERFECTLY WARM and big enough for several people.  This is great because I love making friends!

Except...

All of these "friends" were naked.  

I didn't make any friends needless to say.  Or take any pictures (is that appropriate to take pictures of yourself with naked people in the background?).  I guess I'm a little modest - but it was awkward looking up and HELLO FULL MOON!!  PUT THAT THING AWAY!!

My boyfriend loves mountains...

Vacation?

I want to go here

Image Source

Porter Potties

So many of you may know that my best little friend is a Bolivian bombshell (ok - I think she's a bombshell). 

Anyhow - because she's from Bolivia, occasionally she mixes up words or doesn't always get words right.  So the other day my little Lou (only I can call her Lou) posts on her facebook:

Emphasis on "Porter Potties."  Now when I see Lina make these little errors I laugh and tell her the correct way to spell or pronounce the word.  In this case, I told her via Facebook Chat why some people were making comments about the "Porter Potties" and here is her response:

 

Ok - so she actually looked it up online!  Well then shame on Google for not telling her.

Except when I googled "porter potties" something completely different popped up.  

Oh Lou

Enough said

Public Pool in Yerington, NV - Don't waste your time

I have never been so frustrated with a business establishment.  

Background:  Every year for A Night in the Country my friends and I go to the Public Swimming Pool on Saturday to escape the heat.  We discovered last year that it would be a good idea to also utilize the pool's facilities to shower, do our hair, and put on makeup in the women's locker room.  There were TONS of people doing the same thing last year (hence the brilliant idea).  We are a bunch of girls who basically put our feet in the water.  The pool is always packed with tons of people from A Night in the Country - this consists of rowdy hungover groups who could make the pool an unpleasant place for children and families.  Understandable.

This year - my friends and I arrive at the pool and are told that there is lap swimming until 1pm, only people swimming laps are allowed in the facilities.  So we wait at the park just to see two women wading in the pool with dry hair and no intentions of swimming laps.  When I asked the two women at the front desk, they explained "Well they're regulars."

Note to self #1:  rules only apply to non-regulars

When the doors finally opened to non-lap-swimmers, we found that they are charging an additional $5 if you plan on using the showers.  There was a sign on the outside of the door saying "Electricity not working."  CRAP CRAP CRAP for my hair dryer!  So when I considered paying the $5 I asked, "Well is the electricity still out, or is it working?"  The extremely-rude-girl at the front desk looks at me stupidly and says, "Yeah... the electricity is working."  So I pay the $5 for a shower under the assumption that I would be able to do my hair.

Note to self #2:  Test the electricity first - because extremely-rude-front-desk-girl is a liar.

We use the pool then decide it's time to start getting ready.  Are you ready for this - THERE'S NO HOT WATER.  There's no warm water.  There's only ice-cold-freezing-not-worth-$5 water!!

Note to self #3:  Never pay $5 ever again for a cold shower.  Not worth it.

So at this point we are dripping wet and freezing cold.  Oh well - just needed to get my hair done at this point.  I plug in my hair dryer to find that THERE'S NO ELECTRICITY.  Here's where this blog post gets fun.

I walked out and spoke with the lady at the counter.  I told her:

Me:  "There's no electricity in there - when I came in the other girl (see: extremely-rude-front-desk-girl) told me there was."  I described the girl and here was her response:
Girl #2:  "I know for a fact that isn't true, because she is my team lead and she knows that there's no electricity in the locker rooms."
Me:  I tell her that I have 3 friends who all heard the same thing.  She responds with:
Girl #2:  "Well there are a lot of girls who don't like her (see:  extremely-rude-front-desk-girl) so I can't take the chances that your friends have a vendetta against her"
Me:  "Well can you at least ask her - I'm sure she remembered telling me this."
Girl #2 gets Girl #1 (aka extremely-rude-front-desk-girl)
Me:  "You told me that there was electricity in the bathrooms when I asked you."
Girl #1:  "Well I thought there was."
Me:  "Well I was just told that you were well aware there was no electricity in the bathrooms."
Girl #1:  "Well you should have noticed there was no electricity when you walked in there - wasn't it obvious???"
NO IT WASN'T OBVIOUS!!  I don't walk into a bathroom and test out the outlets - dumbass.
Girl #2:  "I don't understand what you want."
I want a flipping apology.
Me:  "I bought the shower because I was told there was electricity - I wouldn't have showered if I knew there wasn't electricity."
Girl #1:  "You already took your shower - we can't take that water off your body and put it back.  You bought the shower, not the electricity."

I have no idea how an establishment can get away treating paying customers this way.  Absolutely no idea.

It was obvious that the pool turned off the power to the locker rooms to prevent people from using the pool to get ready (since last year was a zoo).  What a coincidence that the power worked EVERYWHERE ELSE except the women's locker room.  I have never been treated so poorly - ever.  These two women had no intentions of trying to apologize that they blatantly lied.

Happy Birthday Baby!!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday boyfriend!!  

I miss you very very much and can't wait until we can see each other next!!

1:30am...

Pretty sure I'm:

• Extremely hungry
• Sleep deprived
• Researching with a fried brain
• Delusional
• Probably smelly
• Still sleep deprived
• Horribly sad that my bloggy has been neglected.  I have storied to tell and pictures to post. 

My poor neglected bloggy

It saddens me that I have barely blogged this semester!!  It has been a busy semester, and with my professional blog for my MBA class, I didn't have too much time to dedicate to my personal bloggy.

So now I have one more week until my summer school classes start - hopefully I'll be able to get in a blog post or two!  I have pictures to post and stories to tell :-)

To start with:

• I have 1 more year left before I have earned my MBA
• Aaron may be moving to Oregon July 1st
• I have only gotten 1 B my entire MBA career (darn it) - THE REST ARE A'S! 
• I have cooked some yummy food - I'll post the recipes
• I've implemented a budget - kind of
• My house still isn't complete
• I'm addicted to cool ranch doritos
• I went to Yosemite with Kimmy, Dan, and Aaron - SO FUN!

I'll post new stuff soon!

Climbing in a dress

Aaron and I went to a beautiful wedding in YOSEMITE!  After the wedding, Aaron and I couldn't stay for the reception.  Reception at 6pm in Yosemite makes for a long drive home and work the next morning.  So after the wedding we drove home.

Or so I thought.

Leave it to Aaron to pull over on the side of the road and start putting on gear.

Me:  Aaron I'm in a DRESS!
Aaron:  So?  Put on your harness!
Me:  I CAN'T!  My lady-parts will show.
Aaron:  So?

So we went climbing

I threw on hiking shoes

And pants

And looked like a gem I'm sure

Baking - Cake Balls and Christmas Cookies

So for a while Aaron and I have been making cake balls because I'm addicted to all things sweet/cake/cookies etc.

I'm very anal about my cake balls.  I like them to be perfect.  And round.  And proportionate.

Aaron on the other hand likes to make squares, and gigantic balls (no dirty jokes please!) and "The Matterhorn."

Needless to say - I dominate the baking and cake balls.  I may or may not have ACCIDENTALLY used all of the chocolate.  And Aaron may or may not have been stuck with a bowl full of chocolate remains to finish his cake balls.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Sorry lubber.

Then Aaron and I (during Christmas - sorry these are old) decided we also needed to make Christmas cookies.  Actually - I wanted to make Christmas cookies and Aaron joined along. 

They look like a kindergarten school project.  But mine are perfect.  Aaron's are.... special.

My Butt is Big

My dad calls me A-Lo and Pumpkin Butt.

Birthday Weekend in Bend, OR!

So Aaron and I decided to go skiing in Oregon for my birthday weekend.  I really wanted to do something, and I haven't really gone anywhere since I started my new job back in September, so I was EXTREMELY excited to get out of town for the weekend!! 

We chose to go to Mt. Bachelor because we got a great deal on the tickets (2 for 1).  The day before we leave my dad decides to tell me,

"You should have told me sooner!  I can get free tickets to Mt. Bachelor.  Always check with Daddy first." 

BUMMER!!

Anyhow, I LOVELOVELOVED it!!  I've never been skiing outside of the Reno/Tahoe area, so it was really neat to go skiing in Oregon.  But it was COLD!  We took the summit lift a couple of times, and it was so cold I thought my skin was going to fall off.
Unfortunately, I sucked at taking pictures because it was so cold I could bring myself to take my gloves off. 
This are the pictures I was able to snap though!  Enjoy :-)

1st day was a bluebird day.  Beautiful!  Everyone was raving about how you could see the sky, etc. etc.  I thought, "Big deal."  But then the next day I realized why it was such a big deal.

Aaron taking a picture of the Sisters

 

The second day was soooo GLOOMY!  You could barely see your hand in front of your face.  I fell from making a turn on the BUNNY HILL because I couldn't really tell which way was up.  It was the craziest feeling ever - I have ever experienced that kind of weather before.  It was INSANE!!  

THAT'S HOW COLD IT WAS!!!!  The lift was growing ice!

Driving.  Was.  HELL.

Sooo cold.

... I just realized I didn't take any pictures of the two of us...

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes

The other morning, Aaron and I decided to make breakfast!  I love big breakfasts occasionally - I immediately thought pancakes would be yummy.

Aaron and I started brainstorming.  Here was our conversation:

Me:  What should we cook!!?
Aaron:  I think I want eggs.
Me:  Like... just eggs.
Aaron:  Yeah!  Sounds good.  (keep in mind, Aaron only eats egg whites - I think egg whites smell like fart)
Me:  Fine - I'm making pancakes

So much for making breakfast together!  Since I was making pancakes, I decided they would have to be EPIC pancakes.  Pancakes that would make Aaron's egg whites look piddly.

I love using AllRecipes.com, so I researched and found a recipe for Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes.  Below is the recipe for my EPIC pancakes:

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (**Note:  I didn't use the salt)
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (**Note:  I use the splenda brown sugar... mmm)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (**Note:  Next time, I'm going to substitute the oil with applesauce)
• 1 cup buttermilk (**Note:  Used fat free milk)
• Decided to add a pinch of cinnamon
• Decided to add a teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the oats, flours, baking soda, salt and sugar. In another small bowl, beat the egg, oil and buttermilk. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
2. Pour batter by 1/3 cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until the second side is golden brown. 

They were SOOOO YUMMY!  Aaron ended up eating half, and the leftovers that were in the fridge mysteriously disappeared.  Just sayin...

The Quarter-Life Crisis

My co-worker posted this, and I fell in love with it!!!  

By:  Author Unknown

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now. 

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you. 

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared. 

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all. 

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward. 

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person. 

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. 

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender! 

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

New Bloggy!

So like I mentioned earlier, I have to create a new blog for my Personal Branding class.

Here's my new bloggy!  I don't like my "theme" and background, so I'll be changing those as soon as I have the time to dedicate toward it.

AshleyCray.wordpress.com

Or

Click Here

Enjoyyyyyyy!