Day 3: Seaside Oregon

Norma's - the best Clam Chowder. Anywhere. We enjoyed the hat store, and of course, had to do the mandatory shopping- fudge, ice cream, and salt water taffy. Childhood memories. Can't beat them.

Only sad part of the day was that the Tilt A Whirl Owner had died, and they shut it down for the day. Talk about serious land mark... I used to love that thing, I also remember taking my cousins on it when THEY were little!

 

More of the Reception.

 

More of the Reception

By the way, this is my Mom's side of the family. Marmar is going to be 88 in December, and my cousins are Lindsey (the bride), Leslie (bridesmaid w/ hair up), and Erika (bridesmaid, hair down). My Aunt Pam is in the brown dress and Uncle Jiggs is wearing a pink shirt. We were thrilled Marmar was able to come, as it is about an hour drive from Portland where she is in assisted living. Mom was born in Oregon, grew up in Beaverton which is near Portland. Even though my cousins are younger than my sister and I, my uncle is a few years older than my Mom. My cousins grew up in Rainer, Oregon which is across the river from Longview, Washington.

Rainier Oregon- day two continued

Day Two: Lindsey's Wedding

 

Seattle Pictures

The first day of our trip Northwest was spent in Seattle. I had an awful cold, but otherwise it was awesome. So hilly and on the water. These are from Pike Place Market. We also went to the Boeing plant.

 

OFFICE PROJECT IN PROCESS....

Well, my office project is still in process, but getting there. I'm down to about 9 boxes instead of about 18.... and all the other projects are done. So today, it's a start to just be IN this room and updating my blog. Perhaps the last distraction, and first real relaxation, I've had for months! (-:

I think the only other around the house thing to do is plant my bulbs and pansies... and it's still a bit early for that in Georgia.

I'm even caught up on cleaning and laundry.... Well, guess I'll post my Oregon pictures and then get to this office project! (-:

PAINTING PROJECT COMPLETE!

Thanks for your help, Mom! She helped with painting the blue and with getting the pictures back on the walls... I think the rooms feel much more cozy and warm. Officially the colors are Behr: Egyptian Nile and Lost Atlantis. In other words, Olive Green and Wedgewood Blue. (-:

We ordered a gorgeous wing back "Ben" chair on Wednesday, and we're looking for a computer desk and an audio cabinet to complete the room..

SLEEPING, SPOONING KITTENS

I THINK LUCY AND BAXTER ARE GETTING ALONG WELL, DON'T YOU? Daddy Ben caught them sleeping together in our blue lazy boy....

 

Hi, y'all!

Last weekend my wonderful Mom came over and helped me paint our kitchen and dining room. They are now a beautiful blue. Mom called it Wedgewood Blue. It looks great!

I lost 5 lbs my first week on ns. Unfortunately, my original weight was 261.6 (not 255 as I expected!). Ben lost 15 lbs! Way to go honey!

Had a yucky day at work today, but that was the first one in weeks, so I'm trying to keep it in perspective!

Still enjoying Lucy. She and Baxter love to cuddle up and groom each other. It is just adorable!

I am planning a trip to Baltimore over my Columbus Day long weekend. Just me, no Ben. I have Monday and Tuesday off (my new schedule gives me Tuesday!) but Ben has neither.

Linda and Louie (my in-laws) are coming in a week and a half. I made Ben promise we could go to the Aquarium which we have not yet to see, and we both took Monday off, so it should be a fun visit! They just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

I'm feeling tired and overwhelmed the last couple of days. My house is a catastrophe from moving stuff when painting and because the office project is only about 1/3 complete. Hopefully I'll get motiviated to be proactive instead of just procrastinating as I am prone to do. This isn't a fun way to be!

I'm up too late because I forgot to order decaf when I stopped at Starbucks on my way home from allergy shots. Better get to bed!

Our Nutrisystem "BEFORE" pictures-- Day 1 is 09/05/2006

 

Here's more Lucy pictures! She's pretty cute....

 

We adopted Lucy on Saturday, August 26

 

COMING SOON.....

I had hoped to post lots to this blog this weekend! I didn't have time, and now it's bedtime.... here's a preview of what's up. It's been a busy couple of weeks!

Our new kitten is 10 months old, a girl, and her name is Lucy. She's a petite and dainty 8 lbs. She and Baxter really get along well!

Our west coast vacation was wonderful and we took lots of pictures.

I painted our living room the beautiful Olive green I used to have in my living room in Baltimore.

Beginning October 2nd, I'm going to work on a new schedule that allows me to have every other Monday off. 44 hours one week, 36 the next. Still works out to 80 hrs in a two week pay period, but will feel like free time off! BTW, work has been going well and I actually have good days on a regular basis. Bad days are down to about 1 out of 10 and not nearly as awful as they once were.

I'm getting really involved with the Midtown Church Children's ministry. I'm sort of the organizer and unoffical assistant leader. We're really excited and getting lots of new volunteers!

We would love to be parents, but so far haven't had luck with getting pregnant. We've just been trying about 4 months, though. I'd been charting and stuff, but I think I'll stop charting for awhile. That almost makes it more disappointing each month when my period comes. I'm sure God's timing and plan will be perfect. Just trying to trust Him with that!

Ben and I begin Nutrisystem tomorrow. I haven't done my official start weight, but expect it to be about 255. That's a BMI of 43.6. My goal weight is 144 which is a BMI of 24.6 and in the normal range. I think I weighed about 135 in the summer of 1999 which is only 7 years ago. I had at one time lost 70 lbs on Jenny Craig, but of course my current weight is all that plus about another 50. Not healthy.

Please say a prayer for us- no doubt this is a long term difficult (yet rewarding) commitment. We can do it, though!

I'm so very blessed. I LOVE my husband, my family, my lifegroup, my church, and my friends. Thanks for your friendship and lots of love to each of you!

We're going to Oregon!

This Thursday night through Tuesday night we're going to Oregon to visit my Mom's family. My cousin is getting married on Saturday. Ben and I are going to spend time in Seattle WA, Rainier OR, and Seaside OR. We might also go down to Beaverton (near Portland) if my Grandmother isn't up for going to the wedding on Saturday. I think it's been six years since I was last there, and Ben has never met the Burnetts, so I'm really excited. We visted at least every summer while I was growing up, and sometimes more often than that. Most of my favorite childhood memories are from there!

We have a new addition to our family. My Dad upgraded one of his flatscreen TVs, and since he already has flatscreens all over his house, we get the hand me down. It's here, but I begged Ben to wait until AFTER the trip to get everything set up. Very awesome! We'll be rearranging our living room (hooray!) and then we'll have to have a movie night or something!

We'll have pictures of our trip, so I'll try to get them posted when we get back!

Happy Fourth of July!

Wow. July. Amazing! Hard to believe, except that you can become drenched in sweat just walking from your front door to your hot car... Georgia is HOT and MUGGY! It's unbelievable! It's been upper 90s lately. That's miserable!

Work was pretty rough this week, but I perservered. Monday included three public relations issues on people I took cases for. And getting fused at about an email where my supervisor didn't like the "tone" my coworker and I used in a group of emails we sent. Well, hello, SHE gave me a deadline and then said, Now that I've answered your question, would you please answer mine. What about we're a team that works together and are all equal? She was hired the same day I was and I get paid more than her already anyway! AHH!

I'm thankful for Midtown and my friends at Midtown. Monday I didn't want to go to lifegroup after such an awful day at work that I had tears streaming down my face as I left... but Ben encouraged me to go, and I did. And it was wonderful. I love our lifegroup and the Johnson kids. (-: Today we had church chow. That's a covered dish lunch we do after the service once a month. And it's just great to feel welcome and loved, and be able to love people back at church. There are lots of great families at Midtown.

I also got to teach Sunday School for the kiddos. That's fun.

Well, I've procrastinated from my office project long enough. Here's two before pictures.... And one day soon I'll post the after pictures!