Bye Bye Neon Sign

Apparently not everyone is a fan of our neon sign out front for our house numbers. Last night during the night someone decided to remove a portion of our sign with a broom!! Not that its a huge deal except for the fact that someone would actually do something like that but I guess the "hood" we live in its not that out of the ordinary. We got upset at Puma last night because around 2:30 in the morning he went nuts barking....which he rarely does. I didn't get up since I thought it was just someone walking outside, which I heard but didn't think anything of it. Maybe a nice flood light will go in its place.

Our Cruise to Alaska

Our recent trip to Alaska on our Cruise was really amazing. The weather could not have been better and it was so nice to relax and just hang out. We ate too much but I suppose thats what most people do on a cruise where food is always being served!

And more pictures here of course.

Destination Alaska!!!!

We are off to our Honeymoon!!! Have been waiting a long time to go but its finally here! A real vacation with lots of relaxing!!! I will update with pictures and stories when we return!!

Lincoln City Beach House

This past weekend Emma and I were invited by Pete, Jen, Ben and John to go stay at a beach house in Lincoln City. We had a great time and relaxed as much as possible.

Our trip started out a bit crazy! We were told the house was located at 1812 N Mast St. We were the first to arrive since both of us get done with work earlier then most. So we printed out directions and went on our way. We were also given the key so we could start dinner and have it ready by the time everyone arrived. So we drove around looking and looking for this address. After a while we started to realize that this address was just about the hardest place to find!! The street it was located on stopped short of each street that ran east and west. So we kept driving up and down and never saw any address that came close to it. We gave Pete and Jen a call and they tried to look it up with GPS but could not find it. After an hour and a half they arrived and started with the search. They had been there before so were mainly going off of landmarks. They of course found it right away!! Turns out the address was 3018!!! Not even close to 1812. So if it were 1812 it would be close to 18th street...but no it was near 30th. Turns out the owner has some memory issues and has a good reason for it so I couldn't be mad.

Oh well it was still a great trip!
Here are some more pictures....mostly of the dogs...Puma, Hope and little Capone

Donut Sunday!!!

So we went on over to Paul and Kristin's for the Sunday Donut fest! Was sooooo good! They made all sorts of goodies to eat and eat we did!! We made sure we had a small dinner that evening!

IKEA OPENS!!!

So today is the big day for Ikea to finally open in Portland. Of course we will probably not be heading out to the store for a while until the madness calms down. They showed some people that started to line up on Monday morning for todays opening. They had tents and blow up mattresses and portable TVs. I guess they were giving away some chairs and other prizes to the first 100 or so people in the store. It's so nuts that they are warning people to stay away if they are not going to the store because the airport and the highway near by will be a mess. It's close to home which will be nice since we will not have to drive to Seattle to shop. I can't imagine how many people from Washington will drive down and shop since Oregon doesn't have a sales tax.

I still think it's interesting how people in Oregon hate big stores but Ikea had no push back at all. And the place is 280,000 sq ft. I suppose its just specific stores they like to hassle.

Rain

This pretty much sums it up!

Diamond and Crater Lake

This past weekend we decided to head on down to Diamond Lake and Crater lake in southern Oregon. We both took Friday off so we could have more time to explore.

We ended up finding a nice spot to camp near Diamond Lake. The main campsite near the water was full but we had plenty of other places to choose from a little further south. It was called Broken Arrow Campground. It was a really nice location. The sites were large and had lots of room in between locations which is always nice. They also had showers that were close and I believe they were fairly new.

The mosquito's were a little on the annoying side and then at night it got down below freezing but the rest of the time the weather was amazing. On Saturday we headed out early to Crater Lake near by. We got there early enough before the park had even opened which was nice. We ended up being the only people for a while at the viewpoints. It was extremely quiet and really beautiful. We drove to a few other places along the rim road and then ended up at the lodge. Its a really old building with wonderful woodwork inside and out.

After we left the lodge we wanted to keep going around the rim but ended up driving down the other side of Crater Lake to Mazama Campground. We didn't realize that the other side of the rim was closed still for the season. It actually turned out to work out going down to Mazama because we were close to being out of gas and they had a self-serve gas station....which you never see in Oregon!

Diamond lake was really a great spot to hang out and enjoy the surroundings. There was a nice bike path the went all the way around the lake which we rode part of one day and walked it on another. We found a really great meadow and creek for Puma to swim in.

On the way home we took the long way through Bend and Sisters and many small towns east of us. I was very happy we took this way since neither of us had been to Bend or through those mountains.

Here are a few pictures of our trip. You can also see more pictures here and see where we drove and stopped along the way here.

Opal Creek

Opal Creek
Originally uploaded by ryan_nowell

This past weekend we decided that since we chose not to go camping because the weather was not going to be too much fun, we decided on a hike. Emma found an article in a magazine about this place called Opal Creek. It's about 40 miles east of Salem Oregon. We didn't really look at the details of getting there and ended up being longer then we expected but the drive was really nice.

When we finally arrived we parked at the end of the trail head. The hike was about 4 miles up to Opal Creek and an old mining town. The old town was really great. Lots of old buildings and equipment from when it was a busy little town. The old buildings have been converted to cottages for people to rent out. They are very rustic but have everything that you would need.

The views along the way were really amazing. The creek was as clear as you can get and all the huge Doug Firs were really wonderful. Here are a few pictures of the trip and of course you can see more here.

One Step Closer

So the medicine cabinet is finally done! Took a little longer then I wanted but I also didn't work on it full time. I think it turned out pretty well for never doing anything like that before. Here are a few pictures and I have some more on Flickr




I still have the other cabinet to build above the toilet as well. Not sure when I will be starting that since we plan on going camping again this weekend.

Busy Busy Bee!!

Ok so it's been a little while since I updated this. We have been super busy and I suppose a little lazy. Last weekend we ended up going on a great trip to Green Peter Lake which is just south of Salem and a little bit east. We ended up meeting up with friends on Saturday and were able to stay until Monday because of the holiday. The weather was great! A bit chilly at times but made the campfire feel wonderful. The lake water was a bit chilly as well but once you got in it wasn't too bad. I will post some pictures as soon as I get a chance.

Last week I ended up working with the folks from my old job. Made some extra money but sometimes it doesn't feel like it's worth it. On Thursday we ended up working from 7 am until 11:45 pm. Made for a very long day. Emma is working nights until August which means we only really see each other on the weekend. I ended up working most of the day on Saturday so that wasn't too fun.

We also had a nice visit from Kari and her boyfriend Gibbs. They came down on Saturday and stayed for the night. Kari was down in Albany checking out a fund raiser for the Boys and Girls club. We went out for dinner at one of our favorite places to eat Fire on the Mountain! Love that place. Best chicken wings I have ever had. Then of course we went out to breakfast the next morning to the Tin Shed. Another favorite of ours. We ended up being lazy all day yesterday which was nice for once. The weather has been warm....in the mid 80's. I know that doesn't sound like much especially since I grew up in AZ but I am really used the cooler weather.

Today I hope to continue on the medicine cabinet for the bathroom. I am still interested to see how cutting the mirror goes.

Organic!!

So this past weekend we decided to add on to our growing collection of plants growing in the backyard. We went on down to the Farmers Market Saturday morning and picked up a good amount of veggies to plant. Mainly lots of different types of tomatoes and lettuces and other yum stuff. We managed to get all the wood that we needed at the Rebuilding Center near us for $16 which was nice. Was easy and quick to build.



Saving money on the planter boxes of course gave us a nice excuse to go out to eat that night. We headed to one of our favorite places off of 23rd for some Chinese at August Moon. Love the fried rice they have.

I have also been working on the medicine cabinet some. Haven't finished as much as I had wanted. I spend most of my afternoons playing with the pup when I get home.



Plus he gets into trouble if I am working in the garage and he is in the back unattended. Yesterday I looked out the door from the garage and he was rolling in the grass. Not because he had a scratch or was being silly. He was rolling in either a chunk of compost or something dead! He sure smelled like it when I asked him to come over to me. Needless to say he got cleaned up some but Emma could still smell it on him when she got home last night.

Happy Birthday Puma!!!

So today is Puma's second birthday! It's been a year and a half since we adopted him from the "troubled" dog shelter. Ok so he was troubled and was an exception at that adoption place but we didn't have any idea either way. It's really been wonderful having him in our life. He is such a big part of everything that we do. In a couple of weeks we will be going camping with him for the first time which should be fun. We of course didn't get to do ANY camping last summer since we spent the entire time working on the front yard.


Yesterday we went on a wonderful bike ride. It was actually our first ride since we moved into our new house. Sad I know but we just haven't taken the time and ever since we adopted Puma we always chose activities that involved him. This time we took him to his favorite park and got him nice and tired so we could leave while he took a nap. Turns out some really nice paths are set up near us and go for a long distance. We will for sure have to take more trips. We plan on taking a ride each weekend.

The medicine cabinet building has begun. This will be my first cabinet of any kind. I suppose it would be easy to buy one to fit in the space where we took out the old one but I just wanted to try my hand at it. Here are a few pictures of the section that will go inside the wall.

Still Closer

So last night I finally installed the bathroom sink. Was a bit of a pain but its in. Over the weekend we installed the shower door and the rest of the molding around the shower and crown molding above. The shower door was the hardest because we had to drill 6 holes through the tile to mount it. It was slow to drill through even though we had new bits to use. Emma had to spray water as I drilled because it would get really hot. I am glad I read about that before we started. Now I have to learn how to build cabinets!!!

So close!

So its been a month since we started on our bathroom. Obviously it's taken quit a bit longer then we thought but its gone pretty well. Strange to think we thought it would take a couple of weeks but then again we are both working a lot and only have a little time in the afternoon after work to get things done. Also didn't take into account the time to wait for things to set or dry or whatever.

We were able to finally take a shower at home yesterday!! Man what a feeling. Like Emma said, "It's like going from a cheap hotel to a nice Spa". So wonderful to have everything new and clean and not have two shower curtains on each side of you(one was covering the huge window in the shower). Of course we are not done with everything. Still have a good amount to complete but hopefully we can get a lot of it done this weekend. We still have to install the shower door, new sink, finish molding around the shower, install the crown molding, make and install the medicine cabinet and cabinet above the toilet and take out the old fan and light and install a new Fan\Light combo. Ok maybe a few more weeks! Go HERE for some updated photos.

Respect your Toilet!!!

Yes thats what I meant to say. Respect your toilet and cherish the simple act of being able to use it when you need it. Why am I saying this? Well of course because we don't have one at the moment!

Saturday morning we decided to install the tile floor in the bathroom. So of course this meant the porcelain god had to go! We unbolted it from the floor and tilted it to get it loose. Luckily it wasn't so bad to remove or was too icky to deal with.

Emma did a wonderful job on the tile and it is all finished and grouted and looks great! Hopefully later today when we get home from work we can connect the toilet up again and enjoy the freedom that we all take for granted.

The shower is almost ready as well. Still have to get some drywall repair and the trim for the shower installed and we are good to go!! W also bought a new shower door on Saturday but that won't be installed for a little while until we get the rest of the stuff installed in or around the shower.

Tile and bathtub are finished!

So here are some pictures of the tile in the bathroom. It turned out really well. Emma did such a great job and even though it was a bit harder then we planned it was still worth it.







Last night when I got home I decided to finally tackle the water damage near the tub. It's not a big place which is nice but its still something we have to address. I managed to cut out the bad wood and figure out a way to patch it up. Of course once I started ripping out the floor I decided to keep going and get rid of the top layer of plywood. Found out that the bathroom had 3 layers of linoleum and some tar paper. Some of that is staying and the new tile floor will go over the top. We will see how that goes this weekend!!!

For the rest of the pictures from the new tile go HERE.