Deck the Halls

Today was a super fantastic day! As soon as we finished breakfast, we headed out to do some holiday shopping and we are nearly finished. Just one more small gift and the finishing touches for another. I LOVE shopping this time of year.

Rusty got into the spirit with a peppermint brownie and a mocha from Starbucks.


After shopping, we decorated our house. Here is Rusty putting up our tree.


A star for the top.


What would this blog be without a self-portrait by the tree?


Our decorated living room, including our newly purchased couch pillows, garland and berries.


We finished the night off with a mug of sugar-free hot cocoa, which tastes just a great as regular (thank you Costco for selling it in bulk).


On a side note, Rusty tried on a sparkly hat (for New Year's Eve I presume) at Target this afternoon. He has been walking around with glitter on his face ever since and does not seem to mind one bit.

Random Camera Photos

Two blogs in one day? Yes, I am playing catch-up.

The day after we returned to Portland from our honeymoon, Rusty left for 2 weeks for work. Boo! I used one of our free tickets and headed to Chicago to spend some time with Mom, Jimmy, Adam, Terese, Grandma, Lindsay, Seana, Jami and others.

Here is the only photo I have from my trip - Seana's baby Kamryn. We had a girls shopping day.


Here are a few photos I copied from Lindsay's Facebook. Lindsay and I at her Griffin Party:


Seana and Jami karaoke:


The day after we returned to Portland, we attended the Northwest Food and Wine Festival with our friends Nathan and Beija. One word - DELICIOUS!



Bill Simmons aka as The Sports Guy aka as Rusty's idol and man-crush is on a book tour that made it's way through Portland, so of course we had to go. I
do not despise him though, since he encourages shows like The Ruins and Jersey Shore on MTV to be watched in my house. I have an addiction to crap-TV that usually doesn't get fulfilled in my house, so I will take my fix any way I can.


Next, we were off to Utah for Thanksgiving. We stayed with Randy and Annie this time, which was nice because I feel like I got a chance to know Hank and Max. They are probably the people on the Griffin side that I have spent the least amount of time with, until now. Although the drive is awful, 12 hours in a car is 4 hours too many for my liking, it sure is fun to be with the whole bunch!

Once again, I do not have many pictures. Most of the pictures I took include photos of Max, since he likes to have his picture taken, look at it on the camera, and then repeat, over and over.

Rusty and the Griffin kids:


Me and Max:


Pie and games and Grandma and Grandpa Griffins on Thanksgiving Eve:


Rusty and his brothers:


Sorry there were not more pictures, I guess after the hundreds taken on the honeymoon I have been slacking.

Honeymooners

We went on our honeymoon, which was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S, minus the fact Rusty was slightly sick. Here are the highlights:

Spent a few days on a pre-honeymoon in Long Beach with our friends Kevin and Kelly. We rode beach cruisers, stand-up paddle boarded, surfed (Rusty), went to a comedy show and a dueling piano bar, and ate. We really miss having them as neighbors!


Next off was our Mexican Riviera cruise - Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. We read out by the pool, ate, attended an ice show, ate, snorkeled, ate, kayaked, ate, hiked through the jungle, ate, attended an audience participation game show, ate, listened to some sweet entertainers, tasted tequilas, ate and then we ate more.

The biggest highlights of the cruise we being on the Love & Marriage Game Show similar to the Newlywed Game, minus it being newlyweds only) and I won $2,000 on my first pull at a slot machine! The game show made us cruise celebrities and the money paid for most of our vacation! Here are a few photos of the trip:

Formal night 1:


Cabo San Lucas:


Mazatlan:


Love & Marriage Game Show Night:


Puerto Vallarta:


Formal night 2:


$2,000 Jackpot:


Sorry for all of the self-portraits, but it is easy. Also, the one photo I have taken by a random guy has Rusty's head chopped off. Oh well.

#8 - Avocado Pulp

Tonight, Rusty was preparing chicken fajitas for dinner and I decided to run to the store to get guacamole and corn tortillas to complete the meal. Usually we have avocado slices to go with fajitas, but guacamole sounded good. Since Rusty had already started cooking, I decided to look for some pre-made guacamole dip. I picked up a package of Dean's and decided to check the ingredients before purchasing. I was appalled and disgusted! Avocado pulp was the eighth ingredient listed. The other things that came before it were:

1. Skim Milk
2. Soybean Oil
3. Tomatoes
4. Water
5. Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Coconut Oil, Safflower and/or Corn Oil)
6. Eggs
7. Distilled Vinegar

Something about this seemed very wrong, so I put down the dip and headed up to grab an avocado. We ended up mashing up the avocado (like guacamole minus the kick) and once it was mixed with the fajita seasoning and chicken you could not even tell.

12.2%

Oregon's August Unemployment Rate: 12.2%*
U.S. August Unemployment Rate: 9.6%

As of Monday, I am part of economic statistic. I cannot say that I am sad that I had to leave that job. I was not very happy when I was working there and I did not love the people. To me it was always just some job and never a career. Most days, I was bored to tears.

It gives me some time to figure out what direction I would like to take next. The job market is pretty poor here, fourth highest in the country. There is not a lot to choose from, but I will keep looking. Until then, it will give me more time to focus on creating a happier home. For the last two months, I have been volunteering, so that keeps me somewhat busy.



*Actual unemployment rate is estimated at 14.8%, but 2.6% of the workforce have stopped looking for jobs, which excludes them from the statistic.

Two Month Anniversary

It has been 2 short months since our wedding and my husband is truly the best. The weather was in the 90's on Friday and Saturday, so we decided to take full advantage of it. Saturday morning, after breakfast, we walked down to the waterfront. We rented a surrey and took it on a 3-mile loop around the waterfront.

Rusty taking careful direction about the operation of the surrey.


Photo op along the Willamette River.


Our token self-portrait picture.


There were dragon boat races going on all morning, so we stopped to watch them for a few minutes.


After our fun morning, we were heading back home and decided to grab lunch at the farmer's market. Yucatan chicken tamales and watermelon ginger limeade. Yum!


Thanks for the best 2 months (and a pretty great 4 years before that too). Love you!

Ode to Lindsay

"People let me tell you 'bout my best friend,
She's a warm hearted person who'll love me till the end.
People let me tell you 'bout my best friend"



After weeks of anticipation, Lindsay arrived in Portland for Labor Day Weekend. It was a short, fun-filled weekend full of a million laughs and memories to last a lifetime. Before I get to the pictures, let me tell you some of the reasons Lindsay is so super-fantastic.

-She is one of the most thoughtful people I have ever met. She is always giving me small gifts and letters that I truly cherish.
-Her laugh is infectious. Seriously, it is impossible to be mad, sad, angry, or upset when she laughs.
-She gets along with everyone and if she doesn't it is probably their own fault.
-She is ambitious and driven, although she does not always give herself enough credit.
-If you look up the word fun in the dictionary, you will likely find her photo there.

Immediately after picking her up at the airport, we headed to Kennedy School. This is one of our must visit spots in Portland, but since Lindsay is an elementary school teacher, we knew she would love it. We enjoyed lunch and some local spirits.

Honors Bar - It's where we belong.


Lunch - Setting up this picture was entertaining for the people at the surrounding tables.


A teacher from September - May and a poolside lounger from June - August.


We headed back to our house for the big BYU - Oklahoma football game. I think we transformed Lindsay into a BYU fan.


After all of that, we headed down to the local PSU bar for some karaoke.


What would karaoke be without a "Summer Lovin" duet?


Sunday, we had brunch at the Leaky Roof. Oddly enough they happen to be Lindsay's initials on the window.


We decided to go on a lovely drive through Oregon wine country. The tasting rooms were packed due to the holiday weekend, but we still had fun.


Here are a few highlights from the rest of the day:

Although this particular pair was for sale, we did see someone wearing these babies.


Who exactly buys wine bottles this size? Giants?


Two of my favorite people.


The bull with the giant neck tumor or just a standard bump - depends who you ask about this one.


That night, Rick came over and we played Cranium. Unfortunately, Rick and I lost by one question.


Monday, we headed to the coast. We got a late start due to the addiction to Bubble Bobble that was rekindled this weekend.


Shipwreck in Astoria.


Rusty and Rick walking towards Haystack Rock aka Goonies Rock.


Cannon Beach


Tuesday came and it was sadly time for Lindsay to head home. I guess the first graders at Grand Prairie need her too! Before we took her to the airport we stopped at Multnomah Falls.


This may be the exact moment when Lindsay realized she loved nature and was an environmentalist.


Rusty and his best-friend-in-law, Lindsay. This phrase was coined by Susie Miner, who is my second-best-friend-in-law.


All weekend the weather was manic. We never got to show Lindsay the view of Mt. Hood from our balcony, but we did get to see a rainbow and a full moon.




One last thought...Lindsay brought her Snuggie in an attempt to convince Rusty to let me get one. Here is Rusty testing it out.


If anyone needs to buy me a gift, please get me a micro-plush Snuggie from Costco. If you do, I will dedicate a blog to you.