Mmmmm, wood.

Fresh wood smells good, especially when it means your yard is no longer a dirt patch. A load of 3 yards of cedar chips was delivered to our house (actually the guy dumped it right in our parking spot, gee thanks), and for the next hour Erik and I shoveled it into garbage cans and wheeled them back to the yard. Raking only took about ten minutes and the end result is awesome. The dogs immediately frolicked and sniffed all over their new terrain.

the new yard, complete with dog toys

the deluxe outdoor seating
bird's eye view

Tonight I'm going to a surprise birthday party for my supervisor at work. My boss is hosting it at his house and I'm told that there will be lots of food, beer, hard alcohol, and some hot tubbing. Meanwhile, Erik will be at home drafting his fantasy football team. Hmmm, I wonder which one of us will have a exciting night?

The forecast for today was rain, but it has been beautiful. It was slightly muggy earlier today but now there are clear skies and a refreshing breeze. Portland is a nice place to be. Tomorrow we'll be meeting up with a friend of Erik's from high school, Shari (or is it Sherry?, Sheri?, whatever). We'll probably go to the dog park because she also has a furry mutt.

Speaking of dogs, Captain has developed another funny habit. Anytime one of us comes home we always take off our shoes and put them on the shoe rack right by the door. He is so excited that we are home, he rushes over to the rack and takes one of our shoes off and follows us around with it until we take it from him. He doesn't chew on the shoe at all, only wants to offer it as a gift of some sort (which seems a little silly considering we just took the shoe off). At any rate, its endearing. Kinda reminds me of when he used to sneak into the bathroom if someone was in the shower and take every piece of clothing off the floor and place it in the living room. What goes through his head?

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Another Weekend Come and Gone

We had a pretty good weekend. Yesterday we slept in, relaxed at home, Erik hung out with the boys and watched the baseball game. I did some housework, went to a few garage sales, and rearranged our bedroom.

Today we decided to ride the max downtown just for something to do. We went to the mall, checked out pioneer square, ate lunch, and walked down to the river.

there was an indian festival going on at Pioneer Square

the most beautiful hanging baskets I've ever seen cool building, bad picture
The Three Lions Cafe where we ate delicious deli sandwiches
kids breaking wood with their feet, kinda cool
down at the riverfront, sorry about the finger

I'm very dramatically modeling the llama hair scarf Kristin bought me in chile, cool color!

Portland Zoo

I can't believe the weekend is just about over. Yesterday we just hung around the house, took the dogs for a walk, played a little catch, and went over to Todd and Sobo's apartment to play trivial pursuit with everyone. Erik and I were about to catch up to the lead (Todd and Jen), but I was too tired to continue so we had to forfeit and head home. Trivial pursuit takes way to long to win anyways.

Today we went to the Portland Zoo. It was a little overcast but the perfect temperature for a zoo outing.

we're excited about seeing the monkeys

we're here!

This is some sort of an eagle,

it lost in eye when it got hit by a car

if he had hair, he would have been

flipping it back in this picture hippo!
and what's this?
a sleepy polar bear!
musk ox
an elusive chimp eating a big carrot
monkeys with funny hair-dos
I think this was a kind of gibbon
apparently all zoo animals like carrots
a little more tired, but satisfiedmmm blackberry muffins, Erik will get the funny looking one

As Requested....

Well I was going to say "by popular request", but in reality there was only one request to see pictures of our new stuff. Luckily, I'm a person-pleaser as well as a people-pleaser.

First up: the glorious couch, which I have

taken three peaceful naps on; oooh microfiber pillows!
Secondly: Kenmore high efficiency

front loading, super wonderful washer and dryer; need I say more?
yes, I love a household appliance that much

I was just talking to my mom on the phone and was telling her about the one plant I have ever kept alive. Its a split leaf philodendron that was a cutting my sister gave me years ago. It became a monster of a plant and is quite amazing, especially considering its my sole horticultural success. And since I'm so very proud of it, I'll show it off:

This plant, a "something I can't remember" pothos is my most recent purchase. I read that its hardy, so hopefully it'll stick around. And no, the yellowing is not chlorosis, its variegation.

Some backtracking: Mariners v Oakland Athletics

I am a little behind in the blog because of my stupid computer, which still might be broken, time will tell. However, I think its not out of blogger's code of conduct to go back in time to recover skipped-over events. Especially when said events are Mariners games!



Erik and I attended our first game a couple Sundays ago and had a great time. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Safeco field. The stadium was awesome, the food was over-priced, and the game was exciting. Mariners won and we left satisfied. It as also retro themed (the team started in '77), so we got free retro hats and the team wore their original uniforms. Oh, and Eric Estrada rode onto the field on a motorcyle.

yummy breakfast sandwich

hmmm, I can't seem to get a good view from here....

action shot
good stuff happening here, apparently


I didn't know you can make a victory fist

while catching a pop fly
go Mariners!

A day at the beach

We had a great time at the coast today. We got to Sea Side around 11:30 am after a quick stop to pick up Todd and breakfast at Jack in the Box (a very delicious roadtrip tradition). It was an overcast, but not cold, day.

The beach was popular but not too crowded because it was so big. We made some mistakes as we are not seasoned beach bum veterans, namely we forgot dogggy poop bags, set our stuff down too close to the incoming tide (wet beach towels are heavy), didn't bring enough water, forgot the dog brush and treats, and lastly let captain pee on Todd's back pack. However, through all this we still managed to have a great time.

Captain's favorite part....running in the surf. Miss Pup's favorite part....chasing seagulls and eating crab legs. My favorite part...coming home and taking a shower.

Some highlights:

Todd didn't want to get too wet

Captain was actually terrified of this crab leg
he's about to bolt
the one picture of me, gee thanks Erik
Its frisbee time!

Captain totally loved this new experience

Some more frolicking around
Uncle Todd and Captain having an introspective moment
Weee!

Poor Todd had to ride in the back
Out to sea
Its kind of silly to shake off when you're still
in the water, Miss Pup
Getting the stuff before it gets wet
Happy Pup!
Very tired on the way home