Crisp Air and Busy Schedules

Alison and I had so much fun when I came to visit her in Arizona. You know you are meant to be friends with someone, when you don't see them for 4 years and it feels like it had been 4 days :)

We climbed a big rock in our flip flops and girly clothes and took lots of pictures.

We played real life Where's Waldo.

When I got home I made cupcakes, and gave them all away. It was hard to do :)

This weekend my sweetie and I went to our favorite local pumpkin patch.

And didn't feel like going home after, so we kept driving.

We explored the farmlands and mountains, went to an estate sale, and looked at houses we want to live in someday.

Yesterday morning when I was a bit early for work, I took a few pictures in the fog.

After the fog lifted, I enjoyed the amazing view. I am lucky to work in a place like this!

I am really loving my job. I am teaching Math 111c, Calc 1 and 2, and Stats I. I spend over 40 hours a week at work, and another 10 at home grading. Long hours, but I enjoy them. I won't mind seeing a paycheck soon, either!

News!

This is the update article for all the little news points that have popped up over the last month or so.

1. I got a full time job!!

Remember the full time 1-year job I interviewed for in July, but didn't get? Well about 2 weeks later, the dean of the math department at PCC called me and offered me a full time 1 term faculty position! This means I will have the pay and the responsibilities of a full time faculty member until January. In January, it is possible that I will get another term of it, but not guaranteed. Either way, by then I'll still have a part time job there, and this opportunity will allow me to show them what I have.

2. I can almost do a chin up!

Ok, so this isn't terribly exciting for everyone else, but at my gym, Nick my trainer has been pushing me really hard and among other things, training me to have the strength to do a chin up. On Thursday night, I could see over the top of the bar before my muscles gave out!

3. Betsy has fleas.

This is a not so pleasant update. The other evening while rolling around on the carpet, CJ noticed fleas on her white tummy. Since then I have given her a flea bath, and cleaned and sprayed the whole house, but I still find 1 or 2 fleas on her neck each time I check her. Advantage is in the mail, and I won't be happy until the fleas are gone! And neither will she, because she is kicked out of the house until then as well.

4. I'm going to Scottdale Arizona to visit Alison next weekend!

It started out as a "I wish you were here" and ended as "oh my, I just bought a plane ticket!"
Apparently Allegiant Air has tickets from Bend to Phoenix for 20 bucks each way! So I'm heading to Bend Friday morning to fly to visit my friend who I haven't seen in four years! Yay!

So I think thats about it for the updates. How about a picture of the mutant corn from my garden to finish this up?

Yum.

Summer Fun

We've had a few adventures since I last posted. I went with my friends from the math department- Brie, Wil, and others,- to Oneonta Gorge and Eagle Creek for some hiking and wading. Those pictures are on facebook, but I did not take them.

A week or two later I took CJ to Oneonta Gorge but we did not take a camera since I was worried about getting it wet. We went swimming and climbed the rocks up behind the waterfall.

The next week I took my sister, Anna, to Oneonta again, and for a hike around the area.

There were too many people and it was very dark, so pictures were hard for me. But it was quite amazing.

The hike up the hill was beautiful, and it was wonderful spending such quality time with my sister. I think she really enjoyed the hike too.

She's such an amazing woman!

This weekend, CJ's uncle Tim had us all up at his farm in Redmond. We were going up to help him pick his corn, but it wasn't ready. We might go back next weekend! His house was so comfy and has such a great view.

The horse's name is Shadow. He loves me <3.

Besides the corn, Tim has potatoes, carrots, all kinds of squash, cucumber, and more that I can't remember. We spent the whole weekend harvesting, weeding, mowing, cleaning, etc.

We all worked so hard that by sundown we were in bed, and up as soon as the sun came up. Tim's wife was out of town, so Marie and I took over all the cooking and cleaning, and fed the four hungry men 3 times a day! It was a role I enjoyed.

We made pickles from the garden's cucumbers.

I did not want to come home. I loved riding tractors, cooking for grateful hungry men, and spending time outside in the sunshine with family. I hope we can go back soon! Once we got home, I made some tasty food with tomatoes from my garden. Maybe my corn will be ready next week. For now, its store bought ;) But at least it was all from scratch!

Budgets are Fun

They really are, I'm not being sarcastic. Recently we decided that we need to go back to the old fashioned way of balancing the check book with envelopes of cash and the whole deal, like we did the first two years we were married. At first I was a little stressed. Dealing with arithmetic is NOT my strong suit, plus the idea of cutting back doesn't seem fun. But I sucked it up, and made one. I'm glad I did. It actually made our situation LESS stressful! I know how much we have and where its going and how much I can spend without wondering if its ok. Turns out its very little, but at least I know!! Hehe.

Ashley and I want to go to some farms and pick seasonal fruit and produce, and bring them home and bake pies and tasty meals together. So every week at the grocery store, I try to not spend all the alloted envelope money, and save the extras up for berry picking!

Yesterday CJ and I went to the county fair. CJ found some *extra* cash in his pants, so we got to spend it on parking! It sounds silly, but you have to be strict starting out, or we won't learn. It was so hard to be good and not buy the corn dogs and ice-cream and go on rides, but we did well. And I feel so proud of us.

Its empowering to have a budget, and it gives me a chance to improve myself.

Afterwards we went to the park and ate a picnic lunch. I didn't bring my camera unfortunately, so I don't have any pictures of this outing. But I do have updates of my home garden's progress, and a cute picture of my cat!

Hey there, Blue Eyes!

Almost every stalk has an ear.

My green onions are thick and flavorful. I put them in almost everything.

I have about 30 of these little tomatoes growing right now.

My strawberries are sour and tiny, but I trust they will be better next year!

What a day

I had my interview at PCC Rock Creek for the full time, 1 year temporary faculty teaching position in the math department a few hours ago. I don't think I am the right person for the job... I might be wrong but I don't feel like it went well at all.

I also found 1/3 of my corn field had been trampled in the night.

I hope the day starts looking up.

Summer is finally here!

It took forever to get here, but its summer! I've already gotten a pretty nasty burn by accident. Mostly though, I've spent alot of time in my yard doing my grading and lesson planning, and CJ and I have spent some fun times out of the house together.Last week we used our coupon that I found on LivingSocial for a buy-one-get-one cruise on the Portland Spirit. Neither of us had ever been although we've always wanted to. So I bought the tickets and didn't tell CJ, and quietly waited for him to have a slow day at work on a Friday and come home early. Lucky me, he found out Thursday that he didn't have to go to work, so we spent the whole day shopping together. Bought him new shoes and tools and such. Went to Dairy Queen. THEN... Surprise trip to Portland for a cruise!

It was so much fun. We both felt like we were on a real cruise ship like our Alaska cruise last year! Made us both really crave another cruise. Nothing like sitting around, being served drinks, nowhere to go, constant live entertainment, constant changing scenery... ahhhh. It made us both feel all cute and romantic.

We then went for tofu at SuperBowl. We used to eat there on his lunch breaks back when he worked at Saturn when we were dating. Brought back so many happy memories! To finish off a wonderful day, we went and saw Despicable Me. It was very cute and funny. Predictable and definitely for children, but I loved it. This will be one of those dates I'll remember when I'm old.

Today, CJ had another surprise day off. I love this! We went to Beaverton Farmer's Market and got some cherries, strawberries, apple butter, and fresh baked bread.

I know I would get sick of it eventually, but right now I wish it was summer all the time!

Quick Weekday Trip to Margaritaville

Yesterday after I made my last post, it did warm up considerably! So I went to the garden and took some pictures of my cute little plants' progress :) I felt inspired after a lovely blended tropical rum cocktail!

These are my green onions I planted from seeds. They are already quite tasty!

I have a mini corn field too!

I'm hoping these little yellow flowers turn into cherry tomatoes soon.

These are my peas. There are a few flowers which I think means the beginning of pods.

I have three strawberry plants. This plant has yielded two strawberries, and none from the others yet.

Now is where the margaritas come in. CJ came home from work (which is going great, by the way,) and I started on dinner. Shish kabobs!

I skewered the chicken after letting it soak in Sweet Maui Teriyaki Sauce, and skewered pearl onions that had already boiled for a few minutes, red orange and green peppers, and fresh cut pineapple. Yes, the one in Chilly Summer Day. I then grilled them outside in the sunshine.

I made the margaritas myself. I put about 4 shots of tequila in a shaker (with ice) about 1 shot each of limeade and lemonade, a dribble of cointreau, and a squeeze of real lime. I then strained it into salted rim glasses. They were so tasty that we went back for a few more...

Complete meal with a rice bed for the skewers and salad! The rice was Jasmine Basmati rice. It really added to the flavor of the skewers.

This morning CJ and I felt a bit of jet-lag from our quick return from Margaritaville. But it was worth it!