Moon & Sixpence British Pub

Yesterday Scott and I strolled down to Moon & Sixpence, a British Pub in our neighborhood, for some beer and a few games of darts.  They have a vast beer selection, seventeen on tap yesterday, and the menu is traditional British pub food.  We plan to go back to try the food out soon.  Maybe if we have a snow day this week?

Scott's winning bulls eye

Hey, three on the dart board and not on the wall!

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve photo op

My parents and Zezo

Our stockings hung by the fire

Pre-Christmas Day run to the mailbox and back (some of you know how far this is)

Post Christmas Day run

Just call me the Dog Whisperer - Seriously where one goes the other follows

The Newlyweds

The goof offs!

Tis the Season to Volunteer

Yesterday I joined some of my coworkers to volunteer at Medical Teams International in Tigard, Oregon.  This was my second time volunteering at their site and each visit has been very meaningful and rewarding to me.  We were fulfilling Santa wish lists for children from various non-profit organizations.  Of course I loved going through the lists for all ages of girls and picking out Barbies and all of their accessories to put in their stockings.  All of the toys were donated!  I am proud to say I completed my 16 hours of volunteering that is suggested by my company for 2010!

Peacock Lane, Colgate & Tasty n Sons

Another week has gone by and once again I didn't make a blog post.  Here is a recap of our week!

Date night for the week was trying a new Hawaiian food restaurant in Portland called Ate-Oh-Ate and a tour of Peacock Lane.  I finally found a Portland attraction that Scott had never attended!  The people that live on this street are so generous in decorating their homes, paying outrageous power bills and letting hundreds of people walk up and down it every single night.

I think this guy means to be at a rave instead of a Christmas attraction.

Guys night out on Saturday included Cory, Scott, Mark, Josh and Mark P.  Don't they look thrilled to have me taking their photo?  I won't go into the details of where their night took them.

Christmas came early with Mark P. staying with us!  He works for Colgate traveling the world auditing the company and always brings his "goody" suitcase full of products.  THANK YOU Mark for giving us enough toothpaste and tooth brushes to last us a year.

Before sending Mark P. and Cory off on Sunday morning, we went to breakfast at the new hot spot in Portland, Tasty n Sons.  We arrived twenty minutes early and we only had 20 or so people in front of us.

The rest of the day we hiked the Wildwood trail in Forest Park, grocery shopped at a favorite local spot for fresh pasta and started our 2011 goals list.  More on that later.  

Out with the Old and In with the "New"

Yesterday was a big day for me.  I finally found a hutch that I liked and was in my price range.  My go to website for furniture is the ever so popular Portland Craigslist.  If my memory serves me right, it is the second most used Craigslist website after San Francisco and I love selling and buying off of it.

When we purchased our home it came partially furnished and some pieces are wonderful and fit my taste and some not so much.  Case in point the buffet in the photo below.  Thankfully due to my bargain pricing, I sold it a few hours after posting it on Craigslist to a couple driving through Portland from Boise.

Now after renting a Uhaul cargo van, driving down to Sherwood in the pouring rain, having two wonderful friends help me unload it (thank you again Adam and Sybil), I can now store all of our dishes in the kitchen!

The buffet that was left by the previous owners

My "new" hutch

Our kitchen (the island on wheels, bar stools and rug also came with the house)

The eat in area

Where was Scott during all of this?  Golfing at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, it is his annual guys weekend and it appears there was a touch of wind yesterday.

The Balloon

Who knew a balloon could provide hours of entertainment with Uncle Scott?  I love Logan's giggles and shrieks of laughter.

Christmas Cactus Right on Time

Thank you again to Cory and Lindsay for our Christmas cactus!  It looks like it is going to be in full bloom right on schedule.

A Very Thankful Thanksgiving

On Thursday, Scott and I drove to Sisters, OR for Thanksgiving with the Bulloch family.  Our drive was quite slow going over Santiam Pass and very white.  Scott can't remember the last time there was this much snow on the ground in Sisters for Thanksgiving.  I was very thankful for our new all terrain tires during the drive and our safe arrival to see family.

Brad had a roaring fire going all weekend to keep the house nice and cozy.  My very first visit to their home years ago involved me being freezing cold one night in their house and ever since then, he makes sure the heat is at an "acceptable Heather temperature."  I was very thankful that we had a warm home to be at with loved ones.

Brad and Linda cooked a perfect Turkey.  I was very thankful that we were able to feast together this year during the holiday, my first with this inlaws.

The head of the table was occupied by our nephew Logan, the coolest two year old we know.  I was very thankful to spend time with this special dude who brings us more smiles and laughs each time we see him.

The day ended with watching football and some wrestling.  I was very thankful to be with my husband who continues to amaze me and I love a little more with each passing day.

Our Home

For those of you who have been asking for photos of our home.  There are still plenty of things I would like to change out or acquire, but it is starting to feel more like us with each passing day.

Our living room.  Unfortunately the fireplace is currently not in a working state, but we hope to install a gas fireplace next fall.

The TV room

Entry way

Our dining room

Cape Sebastian Trail

We ventured out for a scenic hike this past Saturday along the Cape Sebastian Trail. It is known for excellent whale watching.  Thankfully the weather cooperated with us and it didn't rain the entire time we were on the trail.

Camera's Timer

I thought this string of photos was pretty funny.  It usually takes us at least four times to get a photo right using our tripod and timer.  Either the camera slips, the timer goes off early or too fast or we simply look awful.  We finally got it right on the last one.

First attempt, he almost knocked me off that log, hence the expression on my face.

No clue what happened here.

Once again, totally tackled by Scott.

This one works!

Tu Tu Tun Lodge

This past Friday we left Portland early to drive down to Gold Beach, OR, also known as where the Rogue meets the Pacific, to have a weekend get away at the Tu Tu Tun Lodge.  It has been our tradition to celebrate birthdays with trips and even though we can't escape to Barcelona or Rome like we have in the past, Gold Beach was a wonderful choice made by Scott.  Neither of us have spent much time on the southern coast of Oregon and we left wanting to come back to see more.

Back to the lodge.  It was beyond perfect.  Scott might say the only flaw was not having a TV in our room to watch College Game Day and some football, but I would say that made it even more perfect.  As soon as we arrived on Friday we started a fire in our room, drank a glass of Pinot and sat in the gigantic California king bed.  The staff was so friendly and welcoming and the food, oh the food.  The chef makes everything from scratch and even has his own herb and vegetable garden on the grounds.  I just can't say enough good things about our time there, it was just what we needed.

Scott looking out onto the Rogue River from the lodge.  I know he is thinking, "to fish or not to fish?"

I loved the chairs on the lawn.  If it wasn't sprinkling rain, I would have enjoyed reading my book in one and of course curled up with a blanket.