July 2012 Recap. Instagram Style.

pancakes | brunch

voo doo donuts | running

fireworks | moving

settling | coffee

dates | nannying

niece time | wedding fun

reading | flowers

more pancakes | bacon

the goonies!

July was a great month,

Here's to many more!

My Personal Flower Haven

One of my favorite things about living in Portland (and especially my fun new apartment!) is all the foliage everywhere!  Each night I come home I'm blown away by how vibrant the colors are surrounding my front walk and each night I want to take my camera out and photograph them.  Most nights I don't have time, but yesterday I finally made the time.  I took 10 minutes to enjoy my front walk and capture some of its charm.

Here are the results.

What does your front yard look like?

If You Really Knew Me...

If you really knew me...

... you'd know that I love adventure, and the more spur of the moment the better.
... you'd know that I love life, and although I have tough days, I always look for the silver lining and end up happy in the end.
... you'd know that I've always wanted to live in PDX, and couldn't be prouder of myself for taking this latest leap of faith.
... you'd know that I suck at finances and hope to marry rich (or at least a guy who's good at budgeting what little money we do have).
... you'd know that I love kids, and my niece is the love of my life.
... you'd know that I fall hard, but stay guarded until I know you've fallen for me too.  This usually bites me in the ass and I end up falling into the dreaded "friend" role.
... you'd know that the beach (rocky, sunny, cold, hot, in-between) is my happy place and I immediately feel centered once my toes touch the sand.
... you'd know that I'm extremely driven and determined, but only if I truly believe in the goal and have made up my mind to accomplish it.  Otherwise my energy will fizzle and I'll follow the first shiny object that comes along.
... you'd know that my family means the world to me, and their opinion of me is everything (for better or for worse.)  I would do anything for my family.
... you'd know that I'm a giant dork, don't embarrass easily and genuinely love to be silly.
... and last, but not least, you'd have already known this post was going to start with a cup of coffee

A Few Pictures From the Wedding Weekend

This past weekend I traveled home to Buhl, Idaho to celebrate my little brother's wedding with my family.  It was a great weekend filled with love, dancing, drinking, catching up, BBQing and lots o' celebration.  I'll post more pics from the reception soon, but until then here's a couple with some of my favorite gals...

Me, my Grandma Cookie and Saleen.

My Mom and I.

And of course, my favorite munchkin, chillin' in the sunshine...

Sometimes You Just Need Some Coffee, and A Mustache...

Today I'm thinking about...

• Coffee.  What's new?
• Fresh flowers.  Where do you draw the line between 'pretty' and 'the headache is killing me'
• Texts.  There's a fine balance between communicating and being way too accessible.  I'm never balanced.
• Blessings.  My life is full of them, and there's a new one hiding around every corner.
• Butterflies.  My tummy is full of them, and I kinda like it.

Weekend Recap

I signed my lease, got my keys (and a house warming orchid)...

Packed my bags...

Packed my car and headed out...

Got this adorable text from my dad.  Joie visited them this week while Jed and Danielle visited Vegas and some much needed get away time.  She's enjoying the sun, pool and Papa attention...

Sunday morning was perfect.  Coffee, email and solitude all in my new apartment...

And then I received the best text ever...

The Slug

Yesterday it rained.  Yes, even in the "summer" in Portland, it rains.  A lot.  In fact, I've been told by many people that summer in Portland doesn't start until after the 4th of July.  So apparently I have a heat wave to look forward to starting on the 5th.  And by "heat wave" I mean it will sometimes be above 80.  Oy.

Anyhow, the rain brings many beautiful things for the Pac NW, including, but not limited to, green everywhere, moss everywhere, abundant flowers and gardens that grow well (without added irrigation!).

However, it also brings an something I've come to loathe.

See those holes in the lettuce?  Dead giveaway.

The slug.

Don't worry, I'll spare you a picture of one of these nasty creatures.  Instead I'll share a picture of one of the Koi that I have the pleasure of feeding.  Much prettier, yes?

Yes.  Each evening around 5:00 I gather the fish food, stand on the edge of the pond and toss in a couple of handfuls.  Then I stand back and smile as I enjoy the peacefulness of watching them glide around and eat their meal.  Last night was no different.  I grabbed the food, opened the sliding glass door (leading to the pond) and noticed that the deck was still wet from rain.  Rather than grab my shoes though, I decided to walk on the wet porch barefoot.  I don't like shoes and don't mind the feeling of rain on my feet.  So I tiptoed across the porch, threw in a few handfuls of food and watched the fish come to the surface.  I smiled, stepped back, and that's when IT happened.

My right bare foot stepped back and made contact with the porch.

My left bare foot stepped back and
made
contact
with
the
SLUG.

Of course, I didn't know I had made contact until my left foot shot out from underneath me like a rocket.  I'm not sure why the cartoons all make banana peels out to be the slipperiest subject you can place under someone's foot, because my friends, the slug beats it.  Hands down.

I learned a very valuable lesson last night.  Although I hate shoes, I hate slugs even more.  And while I promised myself that I would never ever wear a pair of these shoes, they beat having slug slime between my toes.