My City

Portland is definitely my city.  I absolutely love it.  It has everything.  Close to the beach, mountain, desert anything that you would ever want.  I took this picture on our way to my Grandparents house.  It was a beautiful day and it was a great picture opportunity.

Christmas 2011

 Austin got many presents and out of those many wonderful cool presents he chose the telephone as his favorite present.  He absolutely loved that telephone to the point that when we took it away to have him open more he started to cry.  It was wonderful watching his excitement and watch him drag it around the restaurant with him.

On our way out to Portland to spend Christmas with my family, I looked off the the right and up I saw a cloud.  I hope that you can see what I saw.  A heart.  It was such a wonderful moment on our trip like God had painted it for us just for this trip. 

Yes I had to include this picture because let's face it.  This is Bill.  Awkward, Funny, Clumsy, Hilarious, Goofy! 



Weekend of Complete Fun

Itinerary for December 17 -

10:00 am - Leave House
10:10 am - Coffe and Bagel
12:00 pm - Target
12:45 pm - Lloyd Center
1:00 pm - Ice Skating
1:30 pm - 4:00pm - Walk the shops in Lloyd Center
4:30 pm - Eat at Saylers Steakhouse
5:30 pm - Check in at The Marriott Hotel
5:30 - 9:30 - Hang out at Hotel and walk the streets of Downtown Portland
9:30ish pm - Bed Time

Itinerary for December 18 -

9:00 am - Check out of Hotel
9:15 am - Voodoo Donuts
10:30 am - Multnomah Falls
11:30 am - Subway
12:30 pm - Aunt Candy's House
3:30 pm - Drive around town
5:00 pm - Ballet "The Nutcracker"
7:30 pm - Home

Does it sound like a a full couple of days.  It sure was but oh it was so fantastic.  I loved every minute of the adventures with Bill.  Really we went to Portland for the Ice Skating and The Nutcracker but making a weekend of it was the best thing that we could have done.

Ballet TV Special

The ballet that I went to on Sunday was so amazingly different then any that I have ever seen.  The entire ballet was wonderful.  There was a women on the side with a pianist, drummer, and a bass (I think), this woman sang the entire time.  She has an amazing lungs being able to sing for a little over an hour.  The ballet was different as I said before.  It was a TV Christmas special.  It is all the traditions and songs that come with the holidays.  Many, many songs while the dancers went in between Ballet, the waltz, and the Charleston.  Baby It's Cold Outside, Have Yourself a Merry Merry Christmas, 8 Days Till Christmas (funny song), and many, many more.  The costumes were completely different then usual they weren't extremely tight at all.  The men were wearing nice dress clothes (not tight) and the women were wearing very fun, beautiful dresses.  The entire thing was amazing and so fun as well as funny to watch. 

Please don't laugh at my drawing.  Haha...yes I drew it but I drew it on my computer with a shaky hand.  *Wink, Wink*

I have been loving this experience of having season tickets to the ballet.  I feel like my horizons are slightly broadening as the weeks go by.  I'm happy that next week I have another one next weekend.  It however is very much a completely traditional ballet.  It's the Nutcraker.  I love this ballet and it will be exciting to watch after so many years of not seeing it.

Bill and I Ornament History

2005 (Our First Christmas)

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Can you tell which ones are Bill's and which ones are mine?

Apparently I stole one of Bill's turns.  Opps...don't worry he will have next year and the year after to compensate.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

My house is looking more and more like Christmas time.  Bill and I got our Christmas tree this morning after buying our Christmas Ornament.  The first thing I did was put up my tree and start the decorating process.  It's one of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season.  It really truely now feels like Christmas.

The History of the Fireplace

Cold?

Do you think that he's cold?  Yeah no.  I gave him about 10 coats to take to his truck across the yard and instead of carring the coats in his arms over there he decided to make it easier on him and wear them.  I just had to share the pictures.

Thanksgiving Flood Per Say

Yesterday I posted pictures of the river and slough slightly higher then usual.  Today since it is Thanksgiving and I am home I get to be home during high tide.  As you can see the middle between the slough and the river is filling up fast.  However you can still see grass and the bank in between the river and our lake so it isn't too high yet.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Ripping and Roaring

 It's not crazy amounts of destruction but the wind sure did some ripping through our yard.  The wind was ripping and roaring through our yard blowing everything around.  Our back porch is definitely getting clean because everything is more spread out and not really under the porch anymore.

 I missed the flood in the area this morning because I was at work.  The river rises and lowers with the tide which the peak of high tide was at 10 in the morning.  Town was flooded and our back was flooded but don't worry it wasn't even close to our house what so ever.  I figured this was a great time to explain the difference between this storm and the 2006 storm.  The picture above is in between low and high tide, the water is up but not to bad.  In 2006, you could not see the grass at all or the bank on the other side of the river.  It was one gigantic river.  It was phenomenal to watch and see.  The water was a half an inch from coming in the house where as this storm it was 4 or 5 feet to coming into the house.  Big difference right.  I love that my family freaks out for me because they have never experienced anything like it and of course I'm their daughter.  However, when I first moved down here I freaked out with every storm that blew through and the water getting closer and closer to the house.  After 2006, with the flood and 2007 with the massive wind storm I DO NOT FREAK OUT ANYMORE.  I love storms and I love seeing God's MASSIVE power and we don't even get to see all of it.

Fog

The fog the other morning was beautiful.  I don't like driving in it but it's mass the cloud form is amazing.  I'm just happy that it was light enough to take a couple pictures.

Fall Storm

Isn't it nice to have a high wind warning and a flood warning all at once right before Thanksgiving?  OH YEAH!!  It is just so exciting to listen to the wind and the rain.  I took my fall greetings and my wreath off the door and the side of the house because I wasn't sure if they were truely going to last all night with the wind.  Don't worry there is no chance of flooding at my house so you can breathe easy.  I love storms and to see what is going to happen.  Is the power going to go off?  Is a tree branch going to break off?  Is a tree going to break and fall down?  Is it going to flood?  So many questions but so far tonight nothing happened that I know of but then again it's still dark.  I can't wait to get out there and take some pictures of all the leaves and the small twigs. 

Lasagna al Forno

Dinner Tonight

From the Kitchen Bible



I realized tonight that I don't look at things closely enough or pay attention to what's actually out there.  I never knew that they made Oven-Ready Lasagna noodles.  I guess the other reason that I have never noticed them is that I have just recently started making lasagna.  They are AMAZING!!!  I love the fact that I don't have to cook them first!!!  It saves so much time.

Almost the end result.  I didn't take a picture of the very end out of the oven picture, I forgot.  But here is the picture before I slid it into the oven.  Lasagna al Forna is pretty much regular lasagna except it uses a red sauce as well as a white sauce.  It is yummy and delicious. 

Red Sauce (My version takes less time) - Hamburger, onion, green pepper, tomato sauce, celery flakes
White Sauce - Butter, Milk, Flour, Ricotta Cheese

It is red sauce, white sauce, noodle, red sauce, white sauce, noodle, red sauce, white sauce, noodle, white sauce, parmesan cheese

Our Table

I have my table set and ready to go for Thanksgiving.  Already, I know.  But I get tired of always dusting off my table all the time.  This year we are doing absolutely nothing for Thanksgiving, staying home and watching TV while making our very small Thanksgiving lunch.  My parents might come down but I'm not detracting from my plans of doing nothing on Thanksgiving.  I can't wait for Thanksgiving to be here.

Fall Leaves

Today's Sunrise

This mornings sunrise was absolutely beautiful.  God's love and beauty was completely displayed this morning in the form of the sunrise. 

Praise Be To The Lord.