Reasons I Haven't Been Writing

Excuses, excuses, blah, blah, more excuses, etc. etc.

Remember me?

Figured I would do an end of Summer/beginning of Fall round up that might explain my absense. Or not. But here it is anyways.

Since moving out, I had been seeing my sister's kids less and less. This experiment has determined that the amount of time I see those children is directly proportionate to my level of happiness. Add to the distance the fact that Ashley and Andrew spent most of July away from home and my heart was crying out for some kiddo/aunty QT.

Andrew went to Summer camp the first week in August, and to help out my sister, I kept the girls. We had a girls day as per Ashley's request--make-overs, manicures, dress-up--the whole shabang.

We spent the rest of the evening telling secrets, braiding each others hair, and kissing Justin Beiber on the cover of the Rolling Stone.



The very next week Brynnie and I jetted off for our Summer vacay to visit my cousin in Corvallis, OR and finish out the week in Portland. My cousin Kathie was a FABULOUS host and our days were full of great coffee, great wine, dipping my toes in the Pacific for the first time, farmers marketing and river rafting. It was the perfect kind of vacation... not too many specific plans but going with the daily flow and soaking it up along the way. I fell in love a little bit with Oregon and will definitely be back some day.

Vineyards, vineyards everywhere! Straight from the airport to two wineries on the way to Corvallis.



le sigh

We bought tie-dye from a man in tie-dye spandex pants--who just may be the hairiest/nicest guy I've ever met.



                                             To start off our Oregon experience we attended the Bite of Oregon festival--heaping with craft beer and local wine tastings and incredible food from Portland's top chefs. The trip tends to have a bit of a theme--FOOD. We ate and we ate and we ate.
We ate some amazing sandwiches with equally amazing names:



Exhibit A: The Reggie; fried chicken, bacon & cheddar cheese on a homemade biscuit
smothered in the best sausage gravy I've ever had... <3 Pine State Biscuit



Exhibit B: This monstrousity is known simply as DUDE, and comes from the famed "Bro-Dogs"
food cart; A sausage hotdog, heaped with onions, bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce and cream cheese.
Yes cream cheese. Go somewhere else if you want to judge.

We also had our selves a bite at the famous VooDoo Doughnut:

The magic is in the hole.

We also had a lovely dinner at Portland's best steak house, Portland Prime, where we started the evening with this divine piece of hazelnut encrusted brie with apple chutney.

Cheesy goodness. No one loves cheese more than Bryn and I.

And ended the meal in gluttonous filet mignon indulgence.
I should have just done an entire post on our food journey through the Pacific Northwest.

We literally ate (and often drank) ourselves to the bursting point everyday.

We also shopped and walked, and took a bus trip to Seattle--that we almost didn't catch the return leg for (we sprinted  1.5 miles through downtown Seattle, after chugging our brews, in flip-flops and sun dresses, arms loaded with bags to board the bus seconds before the driver!).

Brynnie and I at the top of the Space Needle after a beautiful day in Seattle.

So much more happened on our trip, and I think we both had the best time. I will never

forget our trip to Oregon and what a gorgeous place it is, with friendly people, kick-ass coffee, and young unique people with aflair and spirit all their own. I love Oregon...and now I have a T-Shirt to prove it.

After returning home from Oregon, I was in serious need of time with my nephew and nieces! So for my Jill and Jon's anniversary, I agreed to keep all three for a sleepover. We went to dinner at a local pizza place, and followed that up with some energy exertion at the park by my house. Earlier in the day I had bought foam stickers, pipe cleaners, and silly string. So when we got to the park, I set them all loose with stickered-faces, pipe cleaner crowns and their own can of silly string (Amber hated the string).



The aftermath... Amber looks like a cartoon.



They had a blast, and Ashley sweetly told me that this was the best day of her life and that she would remember it for always. We were a mess. So then we finger painted! After we were even messier, and Andrew's back was covered with bug bites because I let him go shirtless on the playground (Best Aunt Ever Award..hah) we headed home for the night. We rounded of the sleepover with the Muppets Movie and pancakes for breakfast.

So then I worked another half week and then made the 8 hour drive to the Outer Banks BY MYSELF! for the first time. My family had been there since Saturday and I got there late Tuesday night to join in the rest of the lazy-bum-beach-vacay.

This is me with my parents- Mama and Papa D. This trip for me was all about rest, relaxation and family, and I spent a lot of my time throughout the week with my parents. This night we went out to dinner, walked the dock, and drank fancy dranks.

Since returning from the beach I've been working and.... stuff.

I don't know what happened to September and I can only list about 5 noteable things that happened.

1. Playing BINGO with my mom, aunts and Grandma at a local fire hall.

2. Meeting a piglet named daisy.

3.Starting to sell Tastefully Simple products.

4. Attending a beautiful wedding.

5. Festivus-ing the day away at the Adam's family annual Fall Festivus.

And on to October!