Behind in Blogging!

Well I'm really behind on blogging! (If you can't tell) I guess I'm not cut out for this sort of thing. I've had this blog for almost a year and have only posted a few times.......I'm probably breaking all sorts of blog etiquette!

Well a few updates.......Johnny and I are now engaged and busy wedding planning...the big day is next summer! Exciting!!! We are thankful for each other, our jobs, and two crazy cats (well maybe just one now, Zuki hasn't been home for a 1.5 days and we are having an Arctic Freeze). I guess the only other update is Johnny is playing in a band called "Chris Margolin and the Dregs" it keeps him busy and I get to be a groupie! jk

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year........who knows when I'll be back on the blog wagon!

Mid-January Update

I'm already falling behind on my blog and its only 18 days into the new year, ahhhh!!!! So here are some updates. I celebrated my 25th birthday on Januay 9th with a big group of friends...........I am so blessed to have soooo many wonderful friends, it was an amazing birthday and I had a ton of fun. Michelle surprised me with a makeover at Blush Beauty Bar on NW 23rd, so I was able to look fab on my special day. Johnny took care of getting the cake, driving me around and making the dinner reservations. We ate at Voleur in downtown Portland, the food and service was kinda bad, but I had fun seeing all of my best friends. Here are a few pics from the party.

***** On January 13th, Johnny and I celebrated our 5 year 3 month *dating* anniversary, we had a nice dinner at home - yummy pasta and one of my famous salads! And we used the fancy plates of course! *****

Lastly, I finished off mid-January by getting to hold my new baby niece for the first time. She's already 3 months old, but this was the first time I got to see her since my brother lives in Ohio. She is sooo sweet and curious with big dark eyes and the cutest lips I've ever seen. She'll probably be crawling around the next time I get to see her.

Well that's about it, next weekend is my jewelry party, let me know if you want to come. I'm going to make some dinner and start getting ready for the week! Chao!

Resolution Time!

Its a new year, time for a fresh start, kick the bad habits, try to make improvements, everyone has the best of intentions. For 2009 my resolution is STOP USING PLASTIC BAGS.

How can I possibly do that you ask, our world revolves around plastic? Well I'm starting in my kitchen --- how many plastic trash bags do you use each year? month? week? Well sad news, they will never go away! This year I'm going to try to use as few (to none) if possible --- sounds pretty dirty, I know! So I have 1 plastic liner in there now, but I started putting ALL "wet" items in an old coffee tin, these are the things that stink up the garbage can and make the plastic sack messy and not reusable. So anything wet goes in the can (mostly food scraps), I take the can to the dumpster every couple of days to dump out the contents and bring the can back. I will do more composting in the spring when I can manage everything better. Then I'll rinse the tin can and dump the murky water into my flower pots outside. What goes in the "trash can" are mostly plastic (grrrr!) packaging/wrapping that aren't easy to recycle. Since these are all "dry items" I can dump the trash and reuse the liner bag, or won't even need a liner at all!!!

Also, I finally bought some biobags for myself - they are trash bags made out of corn, 100% compostable/biodegradable! Go biobags!!! They aren't cheap, so I'll use them wisely!

I'm also on an "green" cleaning product kick.........so I'm using up all of my old cleaners and replacing with earth-friendly versions. Who would of thought cleaning could be sooo fun!

Well stay GREEN this year and I hope you too are inspired to make a change this year!

First Ever!!

Thanks for reading my first blog post! I've been stuck inside for an entire week (Arctic Blast happening!) and decided that its time to make a blog! So here I go.........hope you enjoy.

Christmas is fast approaching and all of my shopping is done. I've attempted some holiday baking and spent time reflecting on the past year and what things I hope for in 2009. This year has had a few changes. First off I moved into my "own" apartment in February. Its been fun having my own space and being able to do whatever I want with the place, but everything isn't always peachy - my apartment is the wettest place on Earth! Probably wetter than the rain forest! There is a creek running directly underneath and the sub-pump attached to MY electricity was unplugged for some time, but even now I've still got crazy moisture issues........and what comes with moisture.........you got it - MOLD.....not fun! Besides the "wetness" issues, I've come to realize that a washer and dryer are treasures never to be taken for granted. Those who do have never lugged load after heavy load to the laundry room - these devices are a luxury, never forget that. And to make matters even worse you have to keep checking the machines and filling them with quarters, its the worst thing ever! Apartments also have a bunch of rules on noise and pets, very restricting, making me really uptight! I might have to steal a cat and keep it in secret. Someday I can only dream of having a real house!

This year I've lost 17 lbs through...... you guessed it.......diet and exercise (WOW what an amazing concept!) I've stuck to a Vegetarian diet since the end of January. Its been very hard - I practically grew up on Burgerville cheeseburgers (extra spread, extra pickle, yum!) and I really hate exercise and love sweet treats (especially cupcakes). There were times that I felt guilty after eating or not exercising, I even cried once after pigging out on fries with tons of ketchup! That was a rough time in my life, but now I'm at a comfortable, maintainable weight. As much as I hate exercise I've grown to appreciate (I can't commit to the word like or love yet, but appreciate!) jogging. On Halloween I jogged my first 5k.......I did it in 33 minutes, better than I expected, and didn't have to stop to rest once. Yeah me!

Lastly, this year have been full of travels. In January, John and I went to San Diego for one of my work conferences. It was a windy and rainy trip, John did some surfing and one of my friends living in the area took us out for a night on the town. In September we went to Vegas for his sister's wedding, the weather was sooooo hot and I beat the slots! My last trip was in October when I went to Chicago for another work conference. This was the best trip of them all. Even though I was kinda lonely, I got to do a bunch of touristy stuff and went on a dinner cruise on Lake Michigan........highly recommended!! Chicago is beautiful and there is a lot to do and see, would love to go back sometime!

Well this first EVER blog is getting mighty long, so I better wrap it up. Thanks for reading and have a good night!