Mikey in PDX

Family Quality Time

2010-01-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

Brett and Andrea flew in last wknd and it was so great for Scott and I to spend time with them.

We started off friday night at the Dublin Pub - dinner, drinks and live music.

Saturday morning I had to get up early to make my 8:00 am Statistics class (ugh). After class we chowed down on cucumber tuna special sushi rolls and then headed home to watch my Eagles lose to the Cowboys... Good thing we were having fun at the Dublin Down, where Scott tends bar when the game ended :)

Sunday we slept in and then Scott came over for brunch - pancakes, eggs and real BACON!! We then proceeded to play Banana grams for several hours. This fabulous, addicting game was a christmas gift from Jenny and Anth (thanks guys!) We can now add 3 more people to Banana gram fan club :)

Andrea headed out early Monday morning for her interviews at the hospital in Vancouver. So, Brett and I met up with Scott for lunch at Pho Van and then...more Banana grams. Brett flew out that afternoon, so he could get back for his classes. Andrea and I had a girl's night chilling out in front of the TV. It was nice to relax after a busy wknd and for her a long day of interviews, which she rocked :) Sure would be great if she ended up completing her residency here.

Glee

2010-01-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

What a cute show...so glad Jenny recommended I watch it.

Eagles will prevail

2010-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

The Eagles lost to the Cowboys on Sunday 24-0. It has taken me a few days to recover to the point that I could even write out that information. Horrible, horrible game. Worst part was that the Eagles were in first place and that game decided who won the NFC East. Why did it have to be Dallas...the Eagles most hated opponent.

Fast forward to this Saturday...the Eagles play the Cowboys again. This one is the real deal - lose the game and you are out of the playoffs. History has proven that the Eagles recover well and should destroy the Cowboys. This Eagle's fan is a believer. McNabb you can do it!!!

Happy New Year 2010!!

2010-01-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!! So far it has been the perfect morning...have the day off from work, so I slept in, followed by a long hot shower and then breakfast and coffee snuggled up in a blanket with Murphy on my sofa. I intend to take full advantage of my 3 days off and get a bunch of projects done from my to-do list. But for now...I'm going to sip my coffee and enjoy my first morning of 2010.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful Christmas in Vegas with my brother Anthony, best friend and sister in law Jenny and my three nephews - Cord, Gus and Homer. We got to spend the week together, including Christmas day. Jenny and I did a whole lot of wrapping, while Anthony was working. We all saw a couple of movies - Avatar and Sherlock Holmes - loved both of them. Lots of yummy restaurants that I tried for the first time. Jenny and I played bingo one night - neither of us won the big money though (bummer!). Anthony and I played Wheel of Fortune $1 machines and both doubled our money. The best thing is that I actually went home from Vegas without losing a bunch of money :)

Jenny's sister Erin and her two girls came over for Christmas eve. We had a mass feast - honeybaked ham, meatballs, sushi, mashed potatoes, stuffing...and lots of desserts. Then we had a Trivial Pursuit family play off Morgans (Jenny and Erin) vs Esplins (Anth and I). Sadly Anth and I got our butts kicked by the Morgan girls :)

Christmas day started with all of us opening our stockings, which was an experience because Santa Jenny wraps everything in the stocking so there was lots to unwrap. We each took turn opening gifts under the tree and then we had Jenny and Anthony's tradition of egg muffin sandwiches for breakfast which were SOO good!! We played Rock Band - each of us taking turns on guitar, drums and vocals - too much fun. Later that evening we all went to see the movie Sherlock Holmes, staring my boyfriend Robert Downey Jr.

Every night we played my new favorite game - Banana Grams and stayed up way to late trying to spend as much time together as possible. It was such a good visit. I really enjoyed myself and appreciate Jenny and Anthony hosting me for a week :) Just wish I lived closer so I could hug on my nephews all the time.

October - such a good month

2009-10-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

I Love this time of year. Cooler weather, the leaves are changing colors and....I have both the NFL and Blazer games. Total bliss:)

My friends Renee and Stephanie went with me to one of the Blazer preseason games. We sat 2nd row from the court...great seats! Thanks Scott!

Blazer Games

2009-02-06T12:22:00.000-08:00

It has been an absolute blast going to the Portland Trailblazer basketball games with my brother Scott. He works for the Blazers but also has season tickets. As his lucky sister, he invites me to games all the time. Such a great brother...:)

2009 Opener

2009-02-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in awhile - been a little distracted with Facebook :)

So far 2009 has been all about physical recovery.

I dislocated my shoulder on Dec. 13th - slipped and fell walking back to my car after dinner downtown. Thank god my friend Jeremy was with me, because I could not move my right side, let alone drive. He drove me to the hospital and I spent the next 3 hours in absolute agony. It was awful... My friend Javier and his wife Bobbie were with me the whole time. Don't think I would have survived without them. The doctor set my shoulder - not fun and I got to go home. I spent the next two weeks snowed in and dosed up on pain pills - thanks to the horrible snow storm in Portland. The good thing was that I was able to still work, logging in from home, so I didn't take anytime off for my injury.

Because Portland was basically shut down due to all the snow and ice, I did not get into see the specialist for two weeks. My brother's girlfriend, Andi, works in physical therapy so she told me what exercises I could do and to start using my arm and to not keep it in the sling all day. According to the specialist this turned out to be great advice and had helped to heal my shoulder correctly. All the x-rays showed that the bones were still set correctly and the doc referred me to a physical therapist.

So...current day... I have been in physical therapy for 4 weeks and am amazed at the progress we have made in my shoulder mobility. I do exercises every night and they are getting easier every time I do them. I am so happy that I am healing...this has really been a challenge to go through.

Having my shoulder injury has given me the motivation to get back into an exercise program and get the rest of my body back into good health. If I would not have been so heavy, I would not have dislocated my shoulder when I fell. Nothing like a little misery to give you a good wake up call...:) So, I started going to a step aerobics class at Ballys. It felt amazing to work out at that level again and to survive it. The guy who teaches the class is David and I found out that he has lost over 100 lbs. Talk about a source of inspiration!! Guy is a machine...looks like an olympic athlete - would never have guessed he had a weight problem at one time. Think this class is going to be the secret to my success!! Very exciting!

I had sushi lunch with my friend Denise this week and she somehow convinced me to sign up to do the half-marathon in Porltand with her in October. She is helping to keep my motivated by giving me this goal and calls me her GIT - Girl In Training. LOL!

So far 2009 is off to a good start :)

Turkey Day

2008-11-27T21:55:00.000-08:00

I spent Thanksgiving in Portland with Scott and his girlfriend Andi. It was her first turkey and it turned out perfect!! We had a wonderful meal and a relaxing day together.

My 41st Birthday

2008-11-14T21:42:00.000-08:00

I was not ready to turn 41 - had not even gotten used to be 40 yet! This year was a low key celebration. Scott came over and we got a pizza, beer and watched the Blazers game and a couple of movies. It was great!! Then the next day I got up and pretended like it never happened and I was still 40...:)

Thanks youAngie for the beautiful flowers and gift certificate!!!

Judene and Dad, I love my new pink NFL Eagles watch!!

Scott thank you for the Nike jacket and Blazers shopping bag and for spending time with me on my birthday. You're the best!

Eagles game - Christmas early this year

2008-11-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

What a great wknd! Brett flew in thursday night around 10 pm. We started off Friday with a trip to one of my favorite sushi spots and pigged out on sushi - yummy! Then we stopped by the hospital, so I could see my friends Renee and Kevin's new baby boy - Jack. He is a beautiful baby! Renee went through absolute hell...but that is a whole other story. Poor girl!!

Next up we headed downtown to Rockbottom Brewery and met up with Scott when he finished up work for the day. We grabbed a couple happy drinks an appetizers amongst all the halloween crazies and then hopped on the max train to go to the Blazer's game. The game was amazing! So much fun...stadium was sold out and the crowd was totally into the game the whole time. We yelled so much that I could hardly talk the next day. Blazers beat San Antonio 100-99!!! It was a great first home game for the season.

Saturday - Scott, Brett and I drove up to Marysville to spend time with Dad and Judene. When we got to their house we had a bunch of snacks and soda. I also got a chance to look through Judene's Avon and Scentsy candle stuff - ended up getting myself a couple things (of course!)

Scott's girlfriend, Andi, met up with us at Dad's. She had to drive seperately because she had to go back to Portland the next day for practice.

Dad took us all on a tour around town and down by the water. Really pretty place. For dinner, we had dad's famous fried rice - so good! Afterwards, we all hung out, talked and watched college football. Good, quality family time...:)

Sunday - GAME DAY!!!! Dad and Judene fixed a big waffle breakfast for us - yum! Then we headed out to Seattle for the big game!!!! I was so excited I could hardly stand it. We had a fabulous day! It was even sunny off and on. We got to our seats, which were great, about an hour before kickoff. Gave us a chance to relax, talk and check everything out, including McNabb during warmups.

Game kickoff was at 1:00 pm and when McNabb and my Eagles walked out on the field - I wanted to cry I was so happy!! McNabb played the whole game, so the Esplin curse if officially over. For those who don't know what the Esplin curse is about - first Eagles game I went to in Indianapolis with Brett - McNabb got injured the week before and was unable to play. 2nd game in Philadelphia over my sabbatical - he got hurt first quarter and didn't play the rest of the game. 3rd game was the charm!! Got to see him play the whole game!!!!

Eagles beat the Seahawks 26-7!! It was amazing and so great to see my team play with my family...:)

Celine Dion

2008-10-17T22:37:00.000-07:00

Scott scored me three tickets to the Celine Dion concert, because he is an awesome brother...:)
I took my friends Nicole and Brenda and we had a fabulous time!! Celine was AMAZING!!!!
So glad we got to see her concert.

Guys and Dolls

2008-10-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

Last wknd my friend Stephanie and I went to the Armory Theatre to see "Guys and Dolls" put on by the Portland Center Stage. Loved it!!!

No matter how terrible a fellow seems, you can never be sure that some girl won’t go for them.” - Miss Adelaide

How could a bunch of rough and tumble gangsters end up singing about “the boat to heaven” in a Times Square mission? Anything’s possible when love is on the line, and never more so than in Guys & Dolls, one of the greatest American musicals of all time. Based on Damon Runyon’s gritty tales of the 1930s NYC underworld, bursting with colorful characters, and with a score that features iconic hits like “Luck Be a Lady” and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” Guys & Dolls promises to light up the night.

Renee's Baby Shower

2008-10-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

Nicole and I hosted a baby shower for Renee and baby Jack. This is her first baby, so she needed everything. Her friends and family were most generous, so she is set up great for Jack's arrival the first of November. We're all really excited for Renee and Kevin!!

Gotta love it!!! Go Obama!!!! Renee you look fabulous!

The Biggest "Non" Loser

2008-09-25T22:30:00.000-07:00

That would be me...:) It's interesting that someone could have so much motivation in other areas of her life but cannot find the motivation to get the weight off. Honestly...it overwhelms me and I shut down - push it out of my thoughts and think of something else. I am a happy person and love my life, so focusing on the one area where I am a complete failure is not fun for me.

I am of course watching "The Biggest Loser" and cry tears of joy when the people do the walk of shame to the scales and lose weight every week. It is so incredible to watch their dramatic transformations. Maybe I need a trainer like Jilian....somebody to yell at me...get my butt back in the gym.

Everytime I see a story of someone who is waiting for a heart transplant or little kids who can't run, I think "What is wrong with you that you can't enjoy this healthy body that God gave you?"

The crazy thing is I've been the skinny girl and I love to work out, exercise and play sports. I used to thrive on getting a good sweat in every day. But, I was also obsessed with my looks and keeping me weight way down. Don't remember being all that happy back then either.

Somewhere along the way, I found great joy in my intelligence and like being the smart girl much more than being the pretty one. But, I do miss being able to buy smaller sized clothing and really miss the active lifestyle I used to enjoy.

So...following Oprah's advice, I am sending this thing, this failure in my life out to the universe in hopes that it will somehow give me that push that I so desperately need.

And I joined Weight Watchers AGAIN!!! :)

OR maybe the answer is Laughtercise - there is a new fitness craze that incorporates laughter into an exercise DVD. http://www.comcast.net/data/fan/html/popup.html?v=866293919

Back to School

2008-09-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

Work has been crazy the past month - in fact I completely forgot that the quarter at PCC started yesterday. I remembered right about the 3rd quarter of Monday Night Football watching they NY Jets get their rear ends kicked by the Chargers. So, I rushed upstairs and logged on to my online class with PCC "Mangement Fundamentals" and introduced myself to my classmates.

For those of you who have not been privileged to learn in this environment - the first thing the instructors do is ask all their students to post an introduction. This is a sneaky way to make sure you are logging in right away and are doing your course work. One of the many benefits of taking online courses...WOW! That was a close call...:)

I also taking a class from OIT (dual enrolled in PCC and OIT) that will start next monday night. Actually have to attend class in a live classroom every monday night. The class at OIT is "Organizational Behavior".

Be Careful What You Ask For...

2008-09-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

I have been on the interviewing panel the past three weeks and boy am I ready for it to be over with.
Yes, I did ask to be a part of deciding who makes the cut into our group but this takes so much time during the week to interview all these candidates.

Hearing myself repeat the same behavioral questions is also getting quite boring...:) For example, "Having a good solution for a problem often entails more than just being intelligent. Often, exercise of good judgment is needed to complement logic in choosing a practical solution. Describe when you used good judgment in solving a problem."

Maybe if I wasn't already so busy - I could enjoy it more. We did have a couple very good interviews last week - scary smart individuals that I would love to work with.

So...next time, I am going to think about how much my opinion really matters to me before I decide to open my big mouth and volunteer for an additional time sink to my crazy schedule.

We got tickets!!!!

2008-09-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

I am going to see my beloved Eagles play on Nov. 2nd!! Was feeling very depressed that I was going to miss out this year after traveling to Indianapolis and Philadelphia the past two years. Well...they are coming to me this year. Proof that dreams really do come true...:)

They are actually playing the Seahawks in Seattle. For those who don't realize how cool this really is - west coast teams who want to play the Eagles - travel to Philadelphia. Looked back 5 years and they haven't been out here - so who knows how long it has been - if ever. Need to do some more sport trivia research on that... But it looks like the Seahawks are finally good enough to make it worth the trip for the Eagles.

So...my baby brother Brett (also known as my Eagle game going sidekick)along with Dad and Judene (awesome parents who support my McNabb/NFL addiction) will be joining me for a memorable afternoon watching the Seahawks get their butts kicked by my Eagles.

Let's just say Christmas is coming a little early for Michelle this year!!!

Jury Duty

2008-09-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Every two years like clockwork, the "random" selection process picks me for jury duty. I have decided that there is actually some sort of "secret list" that they keep, so they can select their favorite jurors and make sure they get jury duty every single time. Seriously...I have friends who are registered voters who have NEVER been selected. Is it really random if I get picked every two years?!!

Here is my story...I showed up at the courthouse last Friday morning and went into the jury room, along with ~60 other people who had also been selected. Once they were ready to get the show on the road, they directed us into the court room and we were introduced to the Judge, the two attorneys and the defendent.

Next up - another random selection of 12 people - I was selected (of course). The attorney for the prosecution and the defense attorney asked us questions and picked 6 people to be the trial jury. Once again...I was selected. Too bad this was not the lottery or something...:)

Quick summary of the trial - defendent was being accused of disorderly conduct and refusing a direct order from a Peace Officer (in this case the policeman). The defense attorney was an absolute wreck. I felt very sorry for the defendent. In criminal cases such as this - the burden lies with the prosecution to prove their case beyond a resonable doubt. But...the defense attorney needs to help establish that doubt, otherwise what is the point of him being in court? Each side had one witness that testified. So it was one story vs another - we simply had to decide who was more credible.

The story goes that the officer received a phone call from someone about a strange car driving around in their neighborhood. He went to investigate. Found the suspicious car and followed him for a bit. The driver decides to run a stop sign, so the officer pulls him over. Turns out he has a suspended drivers license and no insurance. The officer tells him that he is going to impound his vehicle - normal protocol for driving with a suspended license. The driver gets really angry about this and decides to use his freedom of speech to yell at the top of his lungs that his rights are being violated. So, the officer charges him with disorderly conduct because he will not shut up. Then the driver will not move away from the car when the tow truck gets there and the officer has to grab his arm and move him to the sidewalk. Thus the arrest for refusing a direct order from a Peace officer, which is a felony.

We, (the jury) deliberated for almost 4 hours. What would seem like an open and shut case based on the officer's testimony turned into quite the debate. We all took good notes and had issues with both sets of stories. Finally came to the conclusion that we had reasonable doubt on the refusing the order situation. So, we found him guilty for disorderly conduct and not guilty for refusing a direct order from a Peace Officer. When you are deciding whether or not someone is going to be convicted for a felony...you want to make darn sure the prosecution has proved their case and we felt like they had not done that. For one thing...the officer said the defendent had never physically resisted or acted physically at all against the officer, even when being pulled away from the car. I feel good about our decision.

Anyways, once again....I have served on another trial and feel good for doing my civic duty. A part of me enjoys the whole "Law & Order" thing and being involved with the judicial system.
But...it was just the busiest week I have had at work so far this year and one of the worst days possible for me to miss a day of work. It was the friday before the Labor Day wknd and we ended up working most of the wknd.

Smart Remarks Book Club

2008-08-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

I did not follow the assignment correctly - did not realize we were suppossed to post our comments to the book club on our own blog sites. Now that I have figured that out...:)

Here is my review of Breaking Dawn:

I love the way Stephenie Meyer develops her characters and their relationships. I could feel the characters thoughts, how they were going to react to each other, what they were thinking, feeling. She has the ability to bring you right into the story, like you are part of the script. I felt like I was right there with them in the meadow fighting the Volturi and I could see the island that Bella and Edward were on and feel the explosion of emtions they were feeling. I missed Edward when he was away from Bella, because she did.

Jacob is my favorite. He would be the hands down winner of my heart, if I was the one he and Edward were fighting over. But then Jacob would have imprinted on me and not Renesmee. It would just seem wrong to snuggle up to a cold vampire no matter how beautiful he was. I just never got over Edward leaving Bella the first time and how Jacob was the one who tried to put Bella back together (early books). Jacob is so loyal...my heart was breaking for him at Bella's wedding, when he danced with her.

I wrote a bit about Bella on Jenny's blog - but I finally enjoyed her character in this book - she is much better as a vampire - cool, strong charcter who has finally decided to love only Edward. I mean really...if she almost stopped breathing over her love for Edward - how on earth could she love someone else? Her indecision was a little irritating.

Renesmee, Renesmee - don't even like typing the name out. She's just a really creepy (best word) character. Vampire/human baby just doesn't make sense. And, I wanted Bella and Edward to have some time alone together before starting a family - not that the thought really entered my mind, because I missed the memo that this could ever happen. Not in any other vampire books or movies have I heard of this. And the name Renesmee is just awful - really that is the best they could come up with??!!

Final comments - I get so caught up in these books that I cannot put them down. Feel like I am a kid again, reading in bed late at night with the covers pulled over my head and flashlight. I re-read the first three books in a week before starting Breaking Dawn and that took me a couple of days to finish. I'm left wanting more.

NFL TIME of YEAR!!!

2008-08-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

It is officially my favorite time of the year....FOOTBALL season!!!

Eagles have their first game 9/7 against the Rams. GO EAGLES!!!

Accepted into OIT

2008-08-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

I'm officially admitted into OIT (Oregon Institute of Technology). Classes start 9/29. But I am dual enrolled at PCC as well - taking one on-line class that starts 9/22. FUN! FUN!!

Every one will be expected to attend my graduation ~2011. So just reserve that date now...:)

Esplin Quality Time

2008-08-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a trip to Vegas to see my family - Anthony, Jenny, Cord, Gus and Homer. We had a wonderful time and it was so good to see them. Wish we lived closer to each other!!

Anthony and Homer having breakfast...what is not pictured here is Homer's breakfast - a cold hotdog, doughnut holes, potato chips, cereal and milk, some juice and a little bit of diet coke.
Kid sure knows how to start his day out right...:) Too funny!!

Cord, Gus and their friend Michael playing poker. Check out those cool shades on Gus! Don't let their cute faces fool you...they can play a mean game of poker and will take all your money while flashing those million dollar grins your way...:)

The boys having fun on the new tramp. They sure have a lot of energy!! Aunt Michelle was content to watch and provide the "OOH's" and "AH's" for the awesome tricks.

Whole family got new shoes at the "Crocs" outlet. That was a lot of fun picking out the right style and colors for everyone. Nice way to spend the evening together.

And of course...I had to get a new pair...:)

Thanks guys for letting me stay at your house and for showing me such a great time.

LOVE YA LOTS!!!

Crosgrove Family in Town

2008-08-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

My BFF Kim and her family stopped by Portland to spend the day with me. They were on their way to Victoria BC for a family reunion. I could not believe how tall Zach was!! Holy cow he has grown up!! So has Josh...man I remember when they were just babies...:)

We spent the afternoon at the Portland Zoo - Morgan and Blake had a great time looking at all the animals. It was REALLY HOT! Over 100 and I thought I was going to melt...don't get too many of those days in PDX.

Kim and I got to chat all afternoon and get caught up on all the happenings with our friends and families...it was so nice to spend time with her!! Doesn't she look amazing??!!!

Stopping for a much needed snowcone break to cool off...:) What a wonderful family!!

OIT

2008-07-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

Oregon Institute of Technology is currently reviewing my application for admissions. Hmmm....wonder if I will get in...:) Working at Intel (the place people want to work after they graduate from OIT) might help me out.
Anyways, very excited to pursue my Bachelor's degree in Operations Management. Have an appointment with my advisor on Thursday to review my transcripts from BSU and PCC. Think I have close to 130 total credits. LOL!! I know they will transfer my Associates of Science degree from PCC...but will they dust off the old BSU credits and let me use some of them - that is the question.
So, to all my faithful readers (Jenny) cross your fingers that they accept me and all my BSU credits.
http://www.oit.edu/home

Taco and Game Night

2008-07-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

Kevin and Renee had us all over dinner on Sunday - all the fixings for Beef and Chicken Tacos. It was some kind of a WONDERFUL meal!!! After gettting our grub on...Renee made us play her new game called Rummikub and she is really good at it...:) Renee is really good at ALL games. LOL! Poor Kevin gets tired of getting his butt kicked and really appreciates it when we all take a turn playing against his wife. Only joking!! Renee is my best girl and always lots of fun to hang out with!!

Here is team Renee, with Bobbie (Javier's wife) as her partner.

It was also my good friend Karen's last night in Portland. She is moving back to Boise, which is sad, sad, sad... Very proud of her though - she got yet another promotion with Kraft Nabisco. Wish her all the best!

Karen was on team Kevin.

Here is team Ella and her parents - Jeremy and Nicole

And I was on team Javier

And the winners were...Team Kevin (Game 1), Team Renee (Game 2) and Team Kevin (Game 3). Javier and I should have won both Game 1 & 2 - only one tile left both times!!! Dang it!!

Wade & Jenny in PDX

2008-07-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

Wade and Jenny flew into Portland last thursday for Jenny's hand surgery and we had a great time hanging out together! I picked them up at the airport around 2:30 pm and we walked around downtown - hit Pioneer Square Mall, where they got great gifts for the kids at the Fossil store. We did a little shopping at Nordstrom Rack and then met up with Scott, Andie and Javier for dinner at "Rock Bottom". Food and conversation were fabulous!!

After dinner, we went to "The District" to hang out with my friend Peter, who is also the owner. We also got to go up and see his new downtown condo but I didn't take any pictures. Let's just say you can buy an awfully nice home for a million bucks. It is beautiful!

Portland Family Picture

2008-07-08T23:39:00.000-07:00

We took a picture at our family BBQ last wknd. Nicole and baby Ella are to my left, her husband Jeremy is behind her, then John, Kevin and his wife Renee are to my right, than Javier and his wife Bobbie and then Julie and her boyfriend Marc. The BBQ was at Julie's cute new house in Oregon City.

John is moving to Texas

2008-07-07T20:30:00.001-07:00

My BFF John is moving to Austin Texas. He received a great job offer from On-Semiconductors and decided to leave Intel. I am really going to miss him...

Pictures from one of the Blazers games this past season.

Kevin, Javier and John at my 40th Birthday celebration.

Angie in town - final post

2008-06-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

Well the sister vacation would not have been complete without a visit to my nail salon for pedicures. They have very nice massage chairs and they pamper you like crazy. It was heaven!!

After our pedicures, we picked up pizza at Papa Murphy's and headed to my house to meet up with Scott. He had just gotten home from his second trip to Mexico in one month!! Spoiled brat...:) We watched a movie and spent some quality time together.

The next day was Angie's last night in town, so I got us tickets to see "Doubt" at the Armory Theatre, presented by Portland Center Stage. It was really good. Definately thought provoking and left it up to you to decide how the story should end. I did not realize the same guy wrote "Moonstruck".

The picture below is of Angie and I in front of the theatre. We both have short haircuts!! When I picked her up at the airport we both said "Cute Hair"...LOL!! Great minds think a like. What a fun week!!!!!

Angie in town cont'd

2008-06-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

After Danielle's baby shower - we went to Ceramic Cafe by my house and painted platters. We really had a lot of fun!! Now we have momentos of our week together...:)

Sunday morning we drove up to Marysville to see Dad and Judene. Brenda and her two kids were in town and we all had a really nice visit. Dad took Brenda, Angie and I on his driving tour around town, (this was my third time) but he really does a great job as the tour guide. It is fun to see the countryside and drive down to the pier where the Ferry's come in and out. Then we went back for Dad's famous ham fried rice. SOOO GOOOD! Dad had to go to bed early since he had to drive to Seattle at 3:00 am the next morning. The girls stayed up and looked through boxes of Avon stuff. Judene gave us a great deal...so of course I had to buy myself a few things...:) It was really fun hanging out together.

The next morning, Angie and I met Dad for the Boeing tour after Judene made us waffles for breakfast. Yummy!!! It was my second time on the Boeing tour but I still really enjoyed it. They were processing the very first 787 that will be their first customer shipment. That was cool to see!! I didn't get a chance to take any pictures - they don't let you bring cameras in, so I'm posting one that I took the previous trip.

We stopped at Pike's market on our drive home and got mini doughnuts. Which if you have not had the mini doughnuts by the famous fish throwers....you are missing out!!

Part 2 Angie in Town

2008-06-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday - we went to an afternoon brunch for my friend Danielle's baby shower. It was really nice. The host was a family friend and she had a beautiful home!! We were treated to a fabulous meal - spinach quiche, fruit salad, veggies, dip etc. She had the cutest cake - decorated like children's blocks and it was banana with raspberry cream. Yummy! Danielle got all kinds of new cute outfits for baby Natalie.

Doesn't Danielle look fabulous with baby only a month away???!!

Sisters Vacation - Angie in town!!

2008-06-08T20:52:00.001-07:00

Angie flew into Portland last Friday morning. We started off with a trip to my allery doctor for my shots...:) Then we had lunch at the Pita Pit that had yummy Giros and then walked over to Powell's Bookstore - which is a huge place that sells both new and used books. It is the biggest bookstore I have ever been to and we really enjoyed looking around. Next stop was a walk about 12 blocks to the Chinese Gardens, which I had never been to before. Really neat to have something like this right downtown in the city. It was a beautiful day - almost 70 degrees out and it's a good thing we took advantage of it because the weather was cold and rainy the rest of the time.

After walking through the gardens we headed towards my neck of the woods and had an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was sure nice to rest our feet and have a diet coke after walking all afternoon. Next on the agenda was meeting my girlfriends for opening night of the Sex & The City movie. It did not dissapoint. We LOVED it!!!

My American Idol

2008-05-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

SOOOOOOO EXCITED that David Cook is the new American Idol!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love, love, love him!!!

Ironman

2008-05-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

Went with my buddies John and Javier to see Ironman. Best movie of the year!!! Robert Downey Jr. did an amazing job...what a great career comeback for him. I'm recommending that everyone see it. In fact, think I just might need to see it on the big screen a second time.

Children's Crisis Center

2008-05-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share an experience I had last week while I was in Folsom CA for a work trip. There are ~30 people in my group and we took a few hours one afternoon to volunteer at the Sacramento Children’s Crisis Center. It was heart wrenching…it was all I could do to keep the tears inside. The kids were so cute and I wanted to take them all home with me.

The center is a place where they can immediately place kids in bad situations while they figure out foster care or their parent’s can work out their issues – biggest problem right now is Methamphetamines. The average stay at the center is only 22 days. The counselor took us on a tour and it was a really nice campus – they had a separate house for each age group – starting at infants through late teens. When we walked into the house for the infants and toddlers, this little girl who had just started to walk came right up to me and started clapping her little hands. I started clapping my hands with her and her whole face lit up and she started laughing. They told us that we could not touch the kids, so I could not scoop her up like I wanted to. That was tough… I am getting teared up just thinking about it.

We had all brought different craft activities to do with the kids. They set us up in the gym and we were all assigned different age groups. I had 10-13 year old girls and we had brought in bags of beads and stuff to make bracelets. Several of the girls asked if they could make more than one bracelet because they wanted to give one to their Mom when she came to visit them (heart breaking). I had one girl tell me that she was supposed to “Get Out” that day but her Dad had not shown up at court, so she was hoping he would be there the next day (again heart breaking). The girls just soaked up the praise when I told them how beautiful the bracelets were that they had made and how I loved their choice of colors. They were just starved for attention.

One of the guys brought a bunch of old hard drives and had put together an instruction list of how to take them apart and put them back together. It was a perfect thing for his group of teenage boys. They loved it and what a great way to get them interested in electronics. Then there was an activity to make pillows out of T-shirts and several of the kids were excited about that because they only had plastic pillows. I’m sure that was for sanitation reasons but…how sad. There were several other activities and the kids really had a good time.

It was so overwhelming to me that all these beautiful kids were not a priority for their parents. I just kept thinking…how could someone not love them and want to take care of them?

Overall experience was incredible…best two hours I have put in all year.

Rose City Romance Reader's Luncheon

2008-04-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

I attended the yearly Romance Reader's Luncheon held at the Governor's Hotel in downtown Portland this year. The luncheon was catered by Jake's, which is a very nice seafood restaurtant. There were ~200 people there, so it was set up in one of the larger conference rooms. The guest speaker was Suzanne Macpherson and there were at least 30 other authors there. It was really fun!! The author at my table was Ann Roth (for real!!) and I got to sit right next to her and talk to her the whole time. She was the nicest lady and I so enjoyed our chat. Love her books, so it was a real honor for me. I got an autographed book from her and also autographed books from Stephanie Rowe and Christina Dodd - two other authors that I like that were in attendance.
This convention is a fund raiser, so they raffle off tickets for door prizes and gift baskets. I won the first door prize!!! It was a gift bag that had six new books, along with book marks, lip gloss and chocolates. They also give you a goodie bag when you walk in that had another 5 books in it. Very fun!
The last time I attended the luncheon, I won a door prize and a gift basket - made a killing!
The cool thing is this luncheon raised over $2,000 for Oregon Literacy.
Can't wait for next year!!

Victoria Canada

2008-04-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

My friend Karen and I took a trip up to Victoria Canada to celebrate her birthday. It started off with me driving up to Seattle Friday afternoon. Judene and I met up at the Lynnwood Mall and got caught in a snow storm. Long story but the snow only hit that one area - 10 miles away it was totally dry. Crazy!! Judene and I did some shopping, then we walked across the street in the blizzard, both of us were covered in snow, to MacGrath's and had a nice WARM dinner. After dinner, we headed back out into the snow storm and walked to the movie theatre and saw the Al Paccino movie - "88 Minutes". It was good. We really had a nice time!! I drove over to Karen's after the movie.

Saturday morning - Karen and I caught the 7:30 am high speed catamaran, The Victoria Clipper, out of Seattle up to Victoria. It was really cool...only took just over 2 hours to cover 180 miles. First thing on the agenda was to check into our hotel called Hotel Grand Pacific. We were on the 8th floor and had an amazing view of the harbor. One of the tour guides said it was their only 5 star hotel on the island. It was really nice. Once we checked in we set out to do our sight seeing and shopping. Weather was cold but clear, both of us were bundled up pretty good. Victoria is a beautiful place - the Legislator, the Empress Hotel - so much to see. We had lunch at a pub on the water front - the fish and chips were great. We walked around until amost 8 pm and called it a night.

Sunday - we took the tour bus to the Buchart Gardens. It was breath taking!! I have never seen anything like it and not all of the flowers had bloomed. I cannot even imagine what it looks like in full bloom. We walked around for a couple of hours and then took the tour bus back to town and grabbed some lunch. Then it was off to do some more shopping before we caught the Clipper back to Seattle at 5 pm. What a great trip!!! Would highly recommend visiting Victoria if you have not been there before.

Esplin's Springbreak in Portland

2008-03-31T11:41:00.000-07:00

Wade and his family drove to Portland on Friday March 21st and stayed with Murphy and I in our condo. We ordered pizza when the arrived friday night and had wall to wall sleeping bags, but we fit everyone in!!!
Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the Portland Zoo, which is amazing and took the entire day to walk through. Uncle Scott met up with us at the Petting zoo. It was a gorgeous day - first sunny day after months of rain and we had a blast!!!! We took a break from the sight seeing to go out to the car and eat a picnic lunch we had packed. It was also a chance to warm up a bit, even with the sun it was just over 60 degrees out.
After a day at the zoo, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather (good chance of rain the next day) and we went downtown to the Saturday market. Lots of fun stuff and crazy people to look at. We all got Elephant Ears and jumped back on the train to go back to the car. Very fun day but boy were we worn out from a very full day!!
Easter Sunday - we all slept in a bit and were glad we fit in the Saturday market the day before because it was a gloomy rainy day. We packed up everybody in the Suburban and drove around to do some sight seeing from the car and avoid being out in the rain. Then we stopped at the Washington Square mall and Sears was open - all the other stores were closed because it was Easter. Sear's was having a crazy sale and everyone got some great deals on new clothes - super cheap and you gotta love not paying sales tax!! After our shopping trip, we headed back to my place to start cooking Easter dinner. I cooked a ham and we had scalloped potatoes, salads and yellow cake with strawberries for dessert. Not half bad if I do say so myself...:) Scott came over for dinner and we all watched a couple movies on HBO.
Monday - Everybody (except me, I had to work) packed up and headed out to have lunch with Scott at the Rose Quarter. They got to go down on the gym floor where the Blazer's play - think that was a pretty amazing visit!
Next stop for Wade and Family was the Oregon Coast and then up to Seattle to visit with Grandpa and Grandma.

Trip to Boise

2008-02-26T20:13:00.001-08:00

Jenny is going to kill me if I don't post something on my blog site. So here is my first entry in her honor.

My best pal John and I flew into Boise for President's Day wknd - Monday was our floating holiday this year, so we had a long wknd. We met up with Wade and Jenny at the hockey stadium friday night and watched the Steelheads get beat by one point in overtime. Great game other than the loss and we had a good time. Afterwards John and I hit a couple hot spots - had to show him a bit of the home town.

Saturday - John drove to Sun Valley for the wknd and I got to hang out with my family. It all started with Joy bursting into Lyta's house at 9 am telling me to get up so we could go to Macy's. I was sleeping on the couch, so there was no avoiding her...:) Lyta told me later that Joy was just dieing to get a look at John before he left for Sun Valley - even though I have told them over and over that he is like my brother. Once again for anyone who is hoping - we're just friends...
Cousin Mike called to tell us Kelly and Don were in town and they all wanted to go to lunch. So, Lyta, Joy, Kelly, Don and 3 of his kids, Mike, his wife and one of their daughters, Wade and his family and myself all went to the Chuck a Rama for buffet lunch. It was fabulous!! Took two large tables to hold us all but it was a blast to see everybody. Can't remember the last time I saw Kelly and Don.
After lunch, Lyta and I went to watch Wade and Jenny's soccer game. They won (of course) and then headed to their house for dinner. Jenny made some awesome pizzas with the dough from her bread maker and we pigged out. Terrific pizza! Then I got to play Wii for the first time with Madison and Mikayla. We had a lot of fun, even though Mikayla won every time. Lyta really liked the bowling game and she got pretty good at it!! Did I mention how cute all the kids are??? Can't believe how much they have all changed since I saw them last. Preston and Brendon built a pretty cool fort in the family room, equipped with Preston's dinasour collection.

Sunday - Joy, Jim, Lyta, the two dogs and myself all piled into Joy and Jim's van and headed to Nyssa to visit with Jerry and Cleo. Joy almost killed us trying to pass somebody and of course I was in the front seat! But that is another story. We had a really nice visit with everyone - sure felt good to give everybody a hug. Cleo was in good spirits and seemed to enjoy the company.
Afterwards we piled back in the party bus and headed back to Joy and Jim's for dinner. (Sure was nice of everyone to feed me whenever I stopped by.) Jim had put a pork pot roast in the oven before we left and it was delicious!! Not sure about the organic beer he gave me though...never seen one of those before.

Monday - Lyta, Joy and I went to Mikayla's soccer game. She is quite the little soccer player - scored two of the four goals to win the game. We got to meet her Dad, who seemed like a really nice guy. Then we headed over to Jenny and Wade's for lunch. Once again, so nice of them to feed me...:) Then we took all the kids to see the Spiderwick chronicles. Brendon was my little buddy and didn't let me too far from his reach most of the wknd. He sat in my lap during the movie and kept pointing out all "the monsters"...sure the man in front of us appreciated it. It was pretty cute. He also decided he was going with me to Portland. Think he kinda liked the idea of being an only child living with aunt michelle. Who could blame him? :)
John got back in town around 5 pm and we headed to the airport.