Romantic Oregon/Washington Coast

I am in love with the Oregon/Washington coast line. I would recommend the trip to any couple that needs time alone. It is a farely cheap vaction too.

We started our trip in Seattle. It was a crazy beginning, with delayed flights, emergency landings, pile up on the freeway and missed flights. At 11 pm I finally caught up with JD at the Seattle airport. From there we drove about 30 minutes straight into the woods and stayed with some friends at a relatives house. I heard the house was on a lake with beautiful views. Unfortunately, it was 12:30 by the time we got there and we left 5 short hours later in the dark and pouring rain.

We then drove down to Eugene, in the pouring rain, to watch the Utah vs Oregon football game, in the rain. The Utes lost, in the rain. Did I mention it was raining? It was so wet it felt like you were swimming and breathing in water. It rained all the way up until 4 mintues left in the game. No wonder they're the Ducks.


From there we head straight out to the coast line. That drive was a quick 45 minute drive. We headed straight north and started driving. We didn't have any hotel reservations, so we decided to stop at a few places until the sun went down and then find a place to stay. We stopped at this historic bridge and lighthouse. The mile treck to the lighthouse didn't impress me with the dimming sunlight, but we got some great shots of it from the beach. I thought the clam things were so cool. They made popping noises. I didn't figure out what they were for a few minutes, but was extatic to find out this is what clam digging is all about. Even though clams are an aphrodisiac, I could't get J to eat one. All though the pictures don't look like it.





We finally stopped in Newport and a brand new Holiday Inn Express and the next morning charter a vessel and sailed to Alaska. Those hotels ARE great. J/K We started down the coast.

Then on to Tillamok and the great cheese factory. Worth seeing once, but wouldn't do it again.
Next stopped was Cannon Beach. Great beach, fun little town. Reminded me of Jackson Hole.


We headed straight on up to Washington. This huge bridge seperates the two states.

We found Long Beach, WA. It was a fun little town, but JD said as we drove through the town, "Way cute town, but I can't see myself ever coming back." We drove 15 miles onward and stopped and this deserted beach which was rightly named "long beach" After crossing through a forest we came to the white sand beach, where no one was to be seen for miles. We had a quick cuddle and headed back to the highway. After 5 minutes we realized we missed a turn. We were 35 mintues the wrong way. So, 1 hour after touring Long Beach and vowing never to return, we drove through again.

We had wanted to drive the Olympic pennisula, but because we took an hour detour, the sunlight was running out and we missed the most beautiful part of the trip. We ended in Seatle for the night, and drove to Portland in the morning to fly home. Despite the let down missing the pennisula, it was a great time. 1300 miles in a car with the man you love, with no kids. Eating when you want, peeing when you want, touring what you want, seeing some of Gods most beautiful scenerey was close to the perfect getaway for me. I would recommend it to everyone

Fall Boutique

I am hosting a small boutique this weekend. There will be some great vendors.

It's Sew Cute - Children's clothing
Layers Clothing- Women's clothing
Facial waxing on Friday
great deals on hair products
Lil' Miss Lovey- children's hair bows and beanies
Close to My Heart- Scrapbooking
Meche Bags- women's handbags
Cookie Lee- Jewelery
My Tulip Garden- Twilight merchandise and vinyl

Recieve a raffle ticket for coming and an additional one for every $10 you spend. One prize will be given each day and a grand prize given at the end of the show.

Hope to see you there!

I've lost a 2 year old!

I have put off blogging about this for 7 months. I'm not exactly sure why either. In my real life it's all I have thought about, but putting it out there for all to see, seemed to be setting myself up for failure. But now that I have lost a toddler and haven't refound him for almost 2 months, I feel safe it sharing.

Now I want to share not to brag (well, ok to brag a little, cuz WOW it's really is amazing), but to inspire. If I, the biggest lover of food, can loose weight, any one can. I did and still do love to celebrate everything with food. B-day = food, holiday = food, girls night = food, Tuesday = food. I LOVE food. I can go with out many things, food is not one of them.

So, last Novemeber when I turned 30 years old and hit my highest weight ever, only 8lbs lighter than when I gave birth, I knew I had to do something. I have some friends that did Weight Watchers and had lost lots of weight, and I desperately wanted to join. My husband hated the idea. His thoughts, which made sense, were why bother dieting if I wasn't going to work out. So, I didn't do anything. I just stayed chubby and hid in pictures and ate everything in site.

But, by February I was getting depressed and hating myself. I made the choice to join Weight Watchers online. They gave me a free week and I only did the online program......and I figured it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Forgiveness was never needed when the results started rolling in. I had planned to work out, but on week 2 I fell and broke my toe. I could only wear flip flops for 8 weeks and even that hurt. But I followed WW's plan and slowly the pounds come off.
Here I am right before my 30th birthday. Weight 141
February 2009. This picture doesn't really show the chub, but notice the 3 chins. I'm hot I know. I started the program by mostly tracking what I ate, but not adjusting anything. I learned a lot about the foods I was eating. Weight 139
March 2009. By the first week of March my weight actually went up to 143. I was upset, but not deterred. I cut butter out of my diet all together and limited my Coke intake to 1 a day. (which was harder than the butter) By the end of the month....Weight 137.8
April 2009. I kept at it during April. For Easter we got the wii fit. I couldn't put shoes on, but I could do yoga and fit games on the wii. I also started drinking diet sodas. They were hard to drink, so I drank less. At first I would mix regular with diet. Trust me, it helped. Weight 131.8
May 2009. May was a little bit tough. We went out of town a couple of times and that made it hard to eat well. But on the plus side, it was the first time I really notice the weight loss. Down 11 lbs, clothes fit and I even put on a bikini. Weight 130.6
June 2009. WOW! Who's is this?!? I was so surprised that I could ever get this thin. I had promised myself if I got below 130 I would put this bikini on. I did, so I did. (I got so sunburnt I could sit for a week) Weight 127.8
July 2009. By this time, I didn't feel like I was dieting at all. All the changes WW had taught me were just part of my daily life. And the weight kept coming off. Weight 124.0
August 2009. August started off rough with a 2 lb weight gain after a vacation, but I worked hard all month and lost it plus more. I can't begin to explain the difference in energy I have. 21 lbs down and I am a different person. Weight 122.2

First day of school.....4 for 4!

I sent my babies to preschool. MY baby boy is old enough for school. He couldn't have been more excited. Halle has been giving him pointers for weeks. Explaining that he has to learn to pull up his pants, because at preschool the teachers don't go to the bathroom with you, or he will make lots of friends even though they don't always share very well.



Now after I left the building ALONE, I went home to an empty house ALONE. I thought to my self, "what does one do with 2 1/2 hours ALONE?" I put on my running shoes and ran. I ran without a stroller or bike. I listen to my ipod, with my music. Then I came home to an EMPTY house. I was hot so I took off my shirt and walked around in my sports bra (gasp!), but there was NO ONE here to see me. I took a shower BY MYSELF. Made a grocery list, and went shopping ALONE.

All this in 2 1/2 hours. Now, I get to do this 3 times a week. 7 and 1/2 hours every blessed week.......Think of the things I can get done. Life is good.

The 'Natti and the Becks

For Easton's birthday, as has become a tradition, took a trip with his dad. This year they traveled to Ohio to visit their good friends Travis and Jordan. Travis had tickets to the Red vs Dodger's game. They were able to be on the field during batting practice. Easton was so excited because he was within arms reach of Manny Ramirez. They had great for the seats.
Jordan and Easton
Here's Travis and the kids. Sure wish we got to see them more often.
Can you see Manny over his shoulder? There are about 15 of these pictures.

They ate way too many Cheese Conney hot dogs and UDF shakes. But had a lot of fun during their male bonding.
This is a Cheese Conney. It's a famous Cincinatti Chilli Cheese dog. They are about 6" long, smothered in the Chilli, then top with tons of cheddar cheese. I hate to admit it but they are grossly yummy.

UDF stands for United Dairy Farmers. They have unbelievably good milk shakes. JD has 5 extra pounds to prove it.