Wandering the west coast

Wow, long time gone

2011-05-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone. I promise I will be better about this.....someday.
First of all, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!! And Grandmothers day, and Auntie's day, and sisters day, and everyone else who I forgot!

Lots has been going on out here, and I will try and catch you up!
I (Nikki) switched school districts this past summer, and am SO happy I did. I am also teaching zero period Jazz band at Ridgefield High School, a local, smaller community school here in SW Washington. I started a blog to share my running stories as well. I have been running off and on all last year (lots of off) and this year picked it up a bit. Check out www.walkjogrunrace.wordpress.com if you would like to read about a slow runner!

Ryan has been continuing with Jiu jitsu and is getting really good! He is progressing as a white belt, and feels like he will be ready to advance to blue belt here soon. He is now working 2 jobs, which means we gt to see each other about 2 times a week. Boo. But hopefully we will have debts paid off here soon so he can go back down to a sane person's schedule.

For now, please see some pictures below of our escapades the past year or so!

Ryan got in to a fender bender with a company van. The van won, and Ryan got a new truck out of the deal. Win for him!

We had a bridal shower for Mrs. Gibbs ;)

We went on a relaxing family vacation to Estes Park, Colorado.

Linda and Steve enjoying their hike!

Alicia and Erich enjoying the hike as well!

Keller came to Portland, so we showed them a good time at Jimmy Maks!

We fostered an awesome Golden named Chet. What a ball of fun!

Nikki's Mom came to visit! And loved Mt. Hood :)

We went on a motorcycle trip after Nikki got her very own bike! What a great way to end an awesome summer!

We got to see our Huskers play in Seattle with There, Sean and Amber!

Miss Glover became Mrs. Gibbs in October!

Ryan got in to Halloween with an AWESOME creative spark!

We got to go to Virginia for Christmas! And of course, went in to DC. :)

We got to go to the National Zoo,and see a cute baby elephant playing with a stick. :) Kinda like kids, it seems the most entertaining things are the least expected.

Pretty sunset from the Zoo :)

I got my first medal! No, I didn't win, but it's still bling!

I crossed the finish line at the Shamrock 15k! (9.3 miles)

Ryan took 2nd at the Sub League tournament!

And was very excited about it!

And just this morning I ran my 3rd 10k! (6.2 miles)

The only pictures I don't have is of when Linda and Steve came out to visit this spring. It was an amazing visit full of running, hiking, lots of great food, and maybe some shopping thrown in there. ;)

I hope that catches you all up on our hijinks for the past year or so. I will try and be better about updating this!

Back to school, back to school....

2010-01-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

Welp, so much for Winter break. It was amazing while it lasted!

Ryan surprised me and took me to "A Christmas Carol" at Portland's Center stage theater. I was a great night, and the play was VERY well done! The actor who played Ebeneezer was hilarious!

The two of us ready for a night out!

Ryan's co-worker gave us a puzzle, and I finished it in about a day. I felt very accomplished until I talked to my mom and realized they regularly complete 2000+ piece puzzles. Shot to the ego.

Still looks pretty when it's finished though.

Wednesday night Ryan had to work, then we had the traditional Lewis Christmas Eve dinner of hors d'oeuvres. We woke up the next morning and did Christmas via Skype with the Lewis clan. I GOT A SEWING MACHINE!!!! Woot woot! Mom and Dad were very generous, and it was nice to have something to open on Christmas! Ryan and I are saving our money for each other to buy a new digital camera. We also get to have 2 christmases this year, since Linda and Steve are coming out here in a week! Who's lucky? US!

We had our Christmas dinner on Saturday, and it was yummy! I think we might be getting hooked on Prime Rib though. :)

The rest of break went by too fast, with visiting downtown Portland, finding new places to eat, and SNOW!! Yes, the second week of break we got a totally random day of snow. We ended up with at least 2 inches on the ground, and it was the really fun wet, heavy stuff. Perfect for snowballs!

Our backyard after the snow.

The one thing we did not enjoy during break was having to find a new home for Jeanie. We know it's what's best for her, especially since she wouldn't eat well, but it was still hard. We took her up past Seattle to a group called Greyhound Pets Inc. I loved the facility, they are the only greyhound group I know of to have their own shelter, just for greyhounds. We miss her, but know that she will be placed in a home that works better for her.

Jeanie is not so sure of the other greyhound from the shelter. His name is Bill, and he was sniffing her just a little too much.

Which brings us to this week. Ryan started school, and I started teaching again. I think so far his math class is going well. He has gotten all of his homework done, so that is good! We have been focusing a lot on going to the gym and just being more active in general this week, so hopefully it pays off here soon.

Chugging along

2009-12-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

Well, we have been trying to get back to life as close to normal.

School is over for both of us for now. Ryan passed his EMT course with a B+!! The final was last Wednesday, then the mulage final (The one where they dress people up with fake blood and have to simulate a real emergency) was the following Saturday, the 12th.

He got the highest score in the class on the written final, and only missed that because of a small brain fart on the physical final. Still something to be VERY proud of!

I made it through the holiday season at the elementary school level. For those of you with kids, or who teach kids, you know that this in itself is a feat. We had 2 sing-a-longs, 2 choir performances and LOTS of too-yummy food. New years resolution? I think so.......

Me with my choir of 47 members.

This past week has been full of school stuff for me, but a nice break for Ryan. He has been able to get back in the gym and lift, and is loving it. He keeps telling me how good he is feeling. We are really starting to buckle down and talk about the tough things we are going to face in the upcoming years, with him going to Nursing school and me finding a new career. It has been nice to be home together a little bit more.

This past weekend, Ryan made a cake! It was a mocha torte, and it was a great idea!

The delicious looking cake, and the handsome chef :)

We also had a delicious dinner on Friday (Cheese zombies anyone?) and watched some Christmas movies. Ryan had never seen "It's a wonderful life" so we watched it, and he loved it. I forgot how much I like Clarence. :)

Saturday we got up and were able to make it to the gym, together for the first time in months. I actually kept a lot of the strength and muscle I used to have, so I was pretty happy. I think Ryan was excited we got to go together. His strength is coming back too, and he can't stop admiring his traps in the mirror. :)

Then Saturday night we tried a new recipe - Swedish Meatballs!

Look good? Not really, but boy were they tasty!

Then Saturday night, we visited a place called Peacock Lane. It is in Portland, and the whole 2 block lane is done up in beautiful Christmas lights. The houses were lovely, and some were very VERY creative. (note: done up looking like a present with bow and everything) Unfortunately, as Ryan put it, "It was like standing in a two block disney world line". We went down the lane one way, then escaped at the end instead of going back up the other side. There were some very nice houses though!

These were neat, but my favorite is below! And the reason it is my favorite has NOTHING to do with think pink/purple lights........

We got to get dressed up to go out Saturday night too!

Take 1 - Happy, no? Take 2 - All I can say is wow

Take 3 - gave up on the timer YAY!!

After Peacock lane, we went to McMennamin's Kennedy School. IT WAS AMAZING! I love the fact that it still looks like an old school building. There are 3 or 4 bars, a soaking pool, a movie theater, hotel rooms, 2(?) restaurants, and way too much to take in in just one visit. We saw a "Where the wild things are" for just 3 dollars/person. We sat on a couch, (the theater is full of them) had beer and pizza delivered to us at our seat, and all around enjoyed the atmosphere. For those of you coming out for the game next year, We are SO going here!

This morning, Ryan let me sleep in, then made me soft boiled eggs for breakfast. Yum! We were debating on going to the gym, but then decided to take a walk, then go. We ended up taking a little bit longer walk than we anticipated, and 2 and a half hours later we made it back home. After not working out for a few months, an 8 mile walk was NOT on the agenda, but lovely all the same.

Which brings us to tonight. Ryan is at work, looking forward to his dinner of Swedish meatball leftovers, and I am about to go heat mine up. Hopefully we will get another update up here with Christmas pictures soon.

Miss and love you all, especially this time of year. We hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Chasing Goats in Dog heaven

2009-12-10T16:40:00.000-08:00

Well, this morning we let Rudee go to dog heaven. We came home to a flooded kitchen. Fun day. :( We love you Rudee, your were an awesome dog and an amazing friend, even if you did drool a little. :)

Giving Thanks for the time we have

2009-11-29T14:09:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been rough for us.

We learned on Friday, November 20th that Rudee is dying. It all started the day before when I noticed how distended and uncomfortable his stomach looked. I thought bloat (maybe he ate Jeanie's AND his food?) so I took him to the emergency vet right away. (Bloat is like colic in horses, the stomach fills with gas and then twists, and can be fatal if not caught early) BTW - if you live in Vancouver, stay away from a certain vet named after a certain patron saint of animals. Just fair warning. After being told that it was NOT bloat, and the vet trying to tell me that he knew it all along, that it is just gas, and he (the vet) was amazing because once he diagnosed bloat without the stomach even having turned yet......(Yes, seriously, he was bragging to me about his diagnosing skills.....somewhat ironic) I was charged $155 bucks and told to give him Mylanta.

Friday morning rolled around, and after 3 rounds of Mylanta, Rudee's tummy was just as big and uncomfortable. He couldn't lay comfortably. By this point, I knew that if it was bloat, we were going to have to go in to surgery to get it fixed. So thankfully I have a wonderful staff at school who saw how worried I was and told me to go home and get him to a vet. Ryan was able to leave work and we drove Rudee bear out to OUR vet in Washougal. After spending MORE than 5 seconds with Rudee (I love our vet) the vet was able to hear some problems in the area of his lungs and heart. The whole time this as been going on, Rudee has been showing various kinds of twitching. We told her about that, but I'm not sure it registered until they tried to get him up on the xray table and he started loosing muscle control in his legs and face. Scary stuff.

After the xray machine fiasco, they let us hang out in the room until they processed the film of his stomach and lungs. The vet walked back in the room and sighed. That is NEVER a good sign. She showed us the xray of his stomach area. She showed us the grey part, and said that it was fluid, NOT gaseous and that it was hard to get the two mixed up. The reason there was so much fluid was revealed by the next xray. She put up the xray of his lungs and all we could see was black. She then explained that the entire mass was cancer. The fluid making his stomach distended was from the cancer cells. There were several more minutes of questions, but it all boiled down to the fact that we only had weeks left with our bear dog.

After a somber ride home and some (a lot of) tears, we decided to make however much time Rudee had left amazing. And that is what we have been doing the last few weeks. He has been getting treats every day, car rides, walks, scraps from the table, and pretty much anything a puppy could want. That first weekend we were able to have some friends over to take pictures of us with him, and some of those are below. We also were able to take him to the beach on the Oregon Coast. Both he and Jeanie LOVE the beach, so it seemed like something nice we could do. The good news so far is that the meds we were given to help him really have helped. His stomach area is no longer distended, he seems happy to see us again, and is eating just fine. Lets hope this keeps up for as long as possible.

As far as Thanksgiving goes, we spent a quiet day at home, cleaning and watching movies while the Prime rib cooked.

Our Thanksgiving dinner. And yes mom, that bowl of olives started the evening full. I know now why you always waited as long as we would let you before putting out the relish dish.

I think we have been giving thanks for every day we have with Rudee this past week, and will continue to do so for as long as possible. This is one year when I hope Thanksgiving will last long after Christmas!! A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all of you reading this, and wishing you a very Merry Christmas Season! We love you!

The above pictures were taken by our wonderful friend Amanda. Thank you!

These are some I took. Rudee does this thing we call "frog dog" and he hadn't been doing it very much, we think because his stomach felt uncomfortable, but then he did it for us! And I had to take a picture. :)

Rudee and Ryan on the beach. :)

It was a beautiful evening to be at the beach, and all of us were grateful for it!

Celebrate good times

2009-11-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

This was a fun week!

It started out with a day off, which always makes for a good week. Wednesday I got to sleep in, and then lounge around all day! Happy Veteran's Day! Poor Ryan had one rough week though. 5 days in a row of night shifts. Ugh! At least that means he has Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off this week.

Thursday I roped Ryan in to coming to help out with Basketball practice after school, because my fellow coach was out sick. I think his exact words were "How do you do it?". As a treat, we went out to Old Chicago for dinner to use one of our birthday free pizzas. Black olive and massive amounts of cheese? YES PLEASE!!!

Friday brought with it the normal amount of panic in the morning (I am running a students-read-the-announcements-on-friday thing at school, and forgot to find students the day before. Whoops!) but then turned out to be an ok day. Ryan got off work early and had the house picked up when I got home, so all I had to do was unload groceries and cook! Thanks hun!

We had friends over for diner, a couple that we met when Brighid and I worked together for summer camp. It was a fun filled evening, and they were nice enough to bring over some pictures they had taken of us on our honeymoon! We owe them BIG time! Here are a few examples:

The last one is probably my favorite, but I also love the one of Rudee :)
Thank you so much Brighid and Travis, you two are awesome!

Saturday when Ryan got home from school, we headed out to the Restaurant at the Historic Reserve for dinner. Everything was delicious, and we even got desert on them for it being our birthdays! Yum! Thanks to Mom and Dad for helping us go out for a lovely evening!

After dinner we decided to go see a movie, but the movie didn't start for about an hour and a half, so we parked it at a Barnes and Noble and got some coffee to read with. It was lovely to just sit and relax and sip coffee. We saw "The Hangover" and I almost walked out in the first 5 minutes. Anyone who has seen it will know why. Anyone who hasn't, you might want to get there a little late.....

Overall, we have had a great weekend and wonderful birthdays. Thank you to everyone for the kind words, cards and gifts! We are looking in to plane tickets for July, so hopefully we will see everyone then! Lots of love and hugs to everyone!

Creatures in the night

2009-11-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

We got to go to a sporting event!
For as long as we have been out here, we have not been to a sporting event out here. Finally, this week we were able to! One of my 4th grade students had the honor of singing the Star Spangled Banner and the Canadian National Anthem at the Portland Winterhawks game, so we went to cheer her on. The Winterhawks are Portland's Hockey team. I have never been to a hockey game before, so it was an interesting experience. And here I thought football was violent. The whole point of the game seemed to be throwing each other in to the walls. Ouch!

After the game we went to Deshutes Brewery. They have a brew called "The Abyss" that they only brew once a year. Last time they brewed it, they sold out in less than 2 weeks. This batch came out on Tuesday, so we decided to go in and try it out. We had a ginger/berry cobler and the beer, and it was delicious. The beer was an imperial stout, so we could only drink one each, but seeing as it is 11% abv, that is probably a good thing.

On our way home, we were about to pull in to our driveway when Ryan stopped short and turned his brights on. There was a full grown DEER in our neighbor's front yard! (We can only hope it stomped the cat, but thats another story.) After following it as stealthily as we could (ha) we discovered that there were actually 2 deer! We think they got lost and just wandered up the hill. Seeing as we're pretty far away from any big stretch of forrest, we were a little worried, so we
stayed with them for a little bit. It was dark and rainy, so we didn't get any good pictures, but the best ones we got are below.

The rest of our week passed by quickly and uneventfully. Thursday Ryan had the day off work, but spent the day mostly studying. We got tamales from a wonderful mom at school and enjoyed those friday night after Ryan got off of work, then Saturday consisted of class and work for Ryan, and me sitting in a chair working on importing cds while listening to a Pacific NW "Thunderstorm". I say "Thunderstorm" because there was one or two claps of thunder, and no lightning. Oh the northwest. :)

Today we are both home together for a while (YAY!) and we will be doing much of the same, studying and importing CDs. This week should bring some fun though, with a day off on Wednesday for Veterans day, then our joint birthdays at the end of the week. We will update asap, but as we both have ALL next weekend off from work, it may not be until Monday. Enjoy your week everyone, and hug a veteran if you see one.

Love and miss you all!

On Weddings, the flu and Halloween

2009-11-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

And fortunately, these things (so far) happen separately.

Thankfully, Ryan had a blast at home for Adam and Kendras wedding. I hear they even got some early snow! Congratulations to the lovely Newlyweds, and we both wish you many many years of happiness! There are a bunch of pictures up on facebook if you look at Adam, Kendra, Ryan or Laura's profile pages. What a gorgeous wedding.

After Ryan got back everything seemed to be getting back to normal, when WHAM Ryan caught a cold and Nikki got slapped with the flu. Both of us were laid up for most of the weekend. Then when Nikki was finally on the mend, Ryan came down with the same flu. Poor guy. It wasn't looking like he was going to be able to go to work so we got to make a trip to the free clinic. It was an interesting experience, and we left feeling very humbled by all that we have access to. We have been worrying about how to pay for dinners out while people there didn't have a roof over their heads or a way to keep warm at night. Makes you very grateful for what you have.

After both of us got to feeling better, it has pretty much been life as usual for the past week. Class is still going well for Ryan. He seems to be enjoying learning about emergency medicine, and is looking forward to continuing his education through becoming a Paramedic.

Nikki enjoyed teaching her students some of the G rated moves to Thriller. It was amazing that even 6 year olds could recognize the opening sound effects. "This is Michael Jackson! He made a song called Beat it!" Oh, first graders, you do make me laugh.

For Halloween we got to spend some time with our friends the Rondstadts, and finally got to meet Amandas parents. Great night with great people. Here are some pictures of our Halloween costumes for ya!

Nikki was a mad scientist, and Ryan went as "A man who doesn't make a fool out of himself", therefore there is no picture of him. :) On the right is our lovely hostess Amanda, with her mother. Both amazing ladies.

Ok, so hopefully there will not be as much of a break between now and the next post. Good news for those financially minded people - We should have almost all our debt (and definitely all of our credit cards) gone before the end of the year! HOORAY!!!

We both love you all!!

Two weeks = 14 days

2009-10-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

14 days of fun and work.
We both have been learning a lot in school. Patience is high on that list for both of us.
Thankfully, we've both also been able to spend some time together in between schooling and working. Last weekend, we actually got to spend both days together! Ryan was just starting training, so there was no lab on Saturday yet. We instead spent Saturday working and baby-showering. Nikki's friend Sinead is having her first baby this month, and if the baby shower is any indication, this is going to be one very loved baby! We don't know boy or girl yet, but we're all just hoping for before Halloween so that baby Brooks can wear his/her new onsie "Baby's first Halloween".

The beautiful mommy-to-be and some of the delicious snacks made for the shower. People weren't kidding when they said Darcy (the shower-thrower) is amazing with food. Wow!

And of course, while Nikki was out having fun with gal pals, Ryan was home working on the garage. It got to the point where the dryer was walking around the garage and keeping us up at night with all the noise. But to be able to fix the dryer, you first have to be able to get to it, which was the point of putting up the cabinets. We now have garage storage, and an accessible dryer!

The left is the north side, where Ryan's workbench will be, then the right is the south side, which butts up against the house and is being used for kitchen overflow and cleaning supplies. Ryan worked so hard on these, and man does it make a difference to have those extra cabinets in there!

Project number 2 for the weekend was the dryer itself. When Ryan got to it and took the drum out (minimal bodily injuries sustained) he saw that the wheels were actually at a 45 degree angle. Apparently, that's bad. Very bad. Also, the belt was almost worn through. Also very bad. After about $40 on supplies, our dryer has not moved once and is quieter than our washer. Yay Ryan!!!

The naked dryer, and wheels before and after. Notice the lack of metal middle on the old wheels.

On Sunday, we got to help Amanda and Jose can their many, many vegetables from their garden. It was a great experience, and we got to wear aprons! We canned spaghetti sauce, salsa, and green beans. It was a surprisingly huge amount of work, but all well worth it!

Doesn't he look so cute??? Thanks Amanda and Jose for letting us help! This week was full of school and work, so nothing really exciting to report. Saturday Ryan had his first lab, which was how to move patients, and also had his first test. He got a 94%! He likes school, but he is also excited to get away for a few days this week. And early congratulations to Adam and Kendra!

Today we are spending the day studying and relaxing until Ryan has to go to work tonight. Speaking of which, we better head out and get some grocery shopping done for the week. Ryan will see you Nebraskans soon, and Nikki wishes she could. Have a great week! We love and miss you!

Busy busy bees!

2009-09-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, so school has started, and as any teacher knows, spare time is in short supply!

Ryan has been prepping to start class tomorrow, and Nikki started school last Wednesday. That doesn't excuse the lack of posting, but hopefully it will explain it. :)

The first 3 days of school for Nikki also coincided with work for Ryan. However, he was still nice enough to bring Nikki coffee and doughnuts whenever he could. We found a fun little shop that we love called Mugs, and they serve some amazing doughnuts from a place called Voodoo doughnuts. They make a Bavarian creme and bacon filled maple bar. Sounds great to Ryan, Nikki still isn't so sure......

Monday brought around the first full week of school for Nikki, and boy did it DRAAAAAAAAG. After not working at school most of the summer, it was hard to get back in the swing! This picture is for Mom - first day of school pic!

Ryan was able to go to Krav and Jitsu during the week, and was a huge help to Nikki when she got home anywhere between 5:30 and 7 every night. Nikki will be returning the favor this week however, as Ryan starts class and working nights on Monday.

If you're curious, He will be going to the Northwest Regional Training Center for classes 3 days a week. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday will be class days, and he will be working (at least this week) all nights on Monday through Thursday. So (fingers crossed) hopefully we will have Sundays and Saturday nights off together! Of course, they will probably be spent doing homework, but hey, its time together, right? :)

Yesterday (Saturday) and today went by very quickly, in a haze of botched football games, CPR classes, and then today, Race for the Cure in Portland. Nikki got to walk with some teacher friends, and we called our team "Teachers for Ta tas". Shirts are in the works for next year :)

On the left; Sarah McPartland, Melisa Woods, Nikki, MaryJane Campbell, Leslie Howard, Sinead Brooks, and Brigid Michaud
On the right, Sarah, her "Monkey arms" :) Nikki and Melis!

On the left: The lovely Mrs. Howard and Ellie-bell Michaud
On the right; WOW almost 50,000 people strong!

In all a very successful 2 weeks! Ryan starts class tomorrow, Nikki goes back for full week #2, and there will probably be a lot of tired people in the house for a few days! Thanks for all the good thoughts, commiserating calls and "support" for us husker fans (Zachary.....) out here in the Pacific Northwest! We miss and love you guys!!!

Last week of freedom

2009-09-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the late update, we've been busy! :)

We got to go to our first ever intermediate krav on Monday! We learned about how to throw hooks and uppercuts, but much more work will be needed! this week was really nice, a good mix of rain and sun, and gave us a good chance to play around outside a little. Jeanie is pretty hit and miss with wanting to play, but we were able to get a video of her and her "wubba. :)

It's not looking like it's going to work on here though, so check Nikki's facebook page! :)

The best part about the beginning of the week was a trip to the Oregon State Fair! As far as state fairs go, nothing can beat NE, but Oregon was nice! We got to see a log cabin built in 1952, BEAUTIFUL rose gardens, and a magician! AND they had wine!!!

As you can see, Nikki was excited to taste the gold medal winners from this year, and they did not disappoint! We got to ride in an air-tram thingie at the very beginning of the fair, and it was nice to see the whole fair from the air.

Well, there ended the "fun" part out of the week. While Ryan got to stay home for Wednesday and Thursday Nikki had to head back to school. It's rough after a summer off, but Ryan was enjoying having the house to himself! :) Open house at Eisenhower was Thursday, so Ryan was kind enough to come help put the classroom together Wednesday night. Yay for leaving school at 6:30pm. We'll put pictures up next week so everyone can see the rooms! Nikki had about 10 families visit her all the way down in the music room, and everyone seemed to be excited to start school again!

Friday brought more work for both Ryan and Nikki. Nikki is feeling much better about this school year, and actually feels halfway prepared this time around. We'll see how the year starts off though. Saturday we got to spend time with some friends we haven't seen in a while for a bbq celebrating their new grill. Our first experience bbq-ing and not eating meat went very well, but I think we ate enough mashed potatoes to kill a horse. Apparently red meat makes you less hungry - who knew?

Anyway, this all brings us to Sunday morning. Nikki woke up at 6:10 (it wasn't planned) and freaked out because Ryan is usually up and getting ready to go by then, and he was still asleep. When asked (more like shoved) he just grunted and went back to sleep. Well, Nikki did too, and before you knew it an alarm was going off at 7 and Ryan was telling Nikki to get out of bed. Seeing as Ryan tries to be out of the house by 7 on the days he works (which is usually Sunday) Nikki was very confused. It turned out that Ryan had switched shifts with someone so he could take Nikki out to brunch on Sunday!!! He had been planning this for weeks, and Nikki didn't know about it until then. What a surprise! We went to a place called Skamania Lodge which does an amazing job with their Champagne brunch. Not only was the food great, but the view was extraordinary!

We are hoping to go back sometime to stay for a little while. The Bonneville hot springs are very close, as well as a bunch of great hikes and Mt. Hood across the river. Something to look forward to! :)

And now it is Monday, and you know what kept us from updating yesterday! Sorry about that, but hopefully this week will run smoothly with the start of school and the killing of a few blackberry bushes. :)

We hope everyone has a great week! We miss and love everyone, and Ryan can't wait to see NE family in October! (Nikki wishes she could be there....:( )

LONG week

2009-08-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a week.

Sunday and Monday went by in a haze of Krav, work, and trying to watch "Das Boot", a supposedly amazing movie about German U-boaters in WWII. Unfortunately, the only redeeming quality of the movie is that it is a very good sedative. The fact that you had to get up and flip the disc over to finish it made it such that we did not want to put in the effort.........sad? yes, but also tells you more about the movie itself. Anyway, on to better things...

Ryan's old HP hard drive has begun to fail (we think) and at the very least, to flail. Since we were able to catch Nikki's Dad and Mom before they left for the beach (thanks for the reminders guys, we would hate to forget) Dad was able to help us find a suitable external hard drive to back up with. Now, this all seems very boring, but to get to Fryes to buy that hard drive, we had to go down to Wilsonville. And of course, Wilsonville is very close (ok 11 miles) to Woodburn, which has a premium outlet center. For those of you in NOVA, think Leesburg minus the shifty eyed people and with better parking. Nikki decided some new clothes were in order for the both of them, and a fun filled day of shopping ensued! :) Now, if you were to ask Ryan, he would probably have a different view, but we won't dwell on that.....

And now to the fun part of the week! The later half was a downhill slide in to Friday, where Ryan had to work all day, then come home only to turn around and head to a test for Krav Maga. This being our initial "Qualifier", we were not sure what to expect. Good news is - WE BOTH PASSED! Yay for two Krav Maga Yellow belts in one house! The bad news - it's Sunday night, and we're both still beat. 3 hours of fighting takes a toll on you.

They spelled our name wrong, but hey, that might be something Nikki should get used to, huh?

And now the real work began. We got home from the qualifier at about 11 pm (it started at 7:30) and went to bed after some much needed ice cream. At 4:40, Ryan's alarm went off telling him it was time to get up for the Chili Cook-off. BRUTAL. He had to be at work by 6, and was at work until 6 pm Saturday night. Below are some pictures Nikki took while attending the chili cook-off, and, of course, voting for Ryan's chili. (which was the best anyway)

Obviously, everyone knows Ryan, and to the right is his team-mate (co-chef? chili buddy?) Nathan, also from the Casino. They used 4 gallons of Fat Tire (that's beer) and 4 cups of chili powder. No wonder so many people liked it. Oh, and speaking of liking it.......

They got 2nd place!!! Woohoo! They placed 2nd our of 9 competitors and won 50 bucks each! Isn't their sign grand? And that's the medal Ryan got to bring home. :)

We have both agreed that from now on, after Krav qualifiers, the next day is REST. No work, no workout, just rest. Especially since as we go up the belts, more time is needed for the qualifier. Yikes! Although $50 and bragging rights for a year might be a good alternative......:)

Have a great week everyone! We both miss and love you!

Classes are over, now school can start!

2009-08-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
This week started off great! Monday we were driving around picking up supplies for a Fondue night, and we happened to drive past an apartment complex that was in the middle of remodeling. Long story short - WE FOUND FREE CABINETS!! Woot!!! Our day ended up a little more stressful than we thought (the cabinets were only free with the condition that we removed them before 4) but we owe a HUGE Thank You to the Howard family for letting us borrow Big Blue.

Monday night brought the promised fondue night and a lot of fun and cuteness. Of course, it is simply not possible to have Chooch and Lala in the same place and NOT be overwhelmed with how adorable they are! Oh, and their parents are kinda cool too..... :) Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

So for everyone not familiar with these beautiful faces, top left is Coltrane. The picture next to that cutie has Chooch (Coltrane - LOVE his nickname btw) with his Momma, Carly and a miss Jill, who for some reason is making a face like someone just asked her if Jesse could hang out in the library......
Below Coltrane is a certain little Olivia, who was actually VERY shy before that night. (No, seriously) And next to her is her Mom and Dad, Melisa and Jeffrey. (sorry, not sure on spelling)
In all, a very fun night with lots of laughter, stories and fighting talk (Thanks Nick and Jeff, sorry ladies.....)

That brings us to Tuesday, and our last day of Spanish classes for a few months. We ended up meeting our instructor, Clayton at a nice little Cuban restaurant, Panbiche for breakfast. We actually didn't end up speaking much Spanish, but did get quite a few tips on roads to try in the area. We both really like Clayton and can't wait to start classes up again in October.

And now for the pictures of the new house! I know they have been long-awaited, and since I cleaned for company (my momma didn't raise no fool) I took advantage of that opportunity to get some good pics.

Our new couch, off-center? yea.....Pretty? Oh yea!!
This view is directly to the right after you walk in the front door

A perfect place for Grandma Theo's painting! That is the view from the front door, with the couch to the right and the TV to the left.

Our dining room table, about 5 feet away from the couch on the same wall. Any suggestions for the blank, cream colored wall? We're thinking the giant Nebraska flag is a little juvenile - and we want to hang it up outside :)

Our Kitchen - directly across from the dining room table. Not quite enough storage yet - hooray for the new cabinets going up in the garage soon!

Rudee and Jeanie enjoying their new backyard.

Our free grill. It does what it's supposed to, and you can't beat the price.

Wednesday and Thursday passed in a haze of motorcycle maintenance, lesson planning and martial arts. Ryan and I finished the leftovers from fondue night, and decided that we really like vegan cheese fondue. Who knew? That goes along with our recent decision to become pescetarians, mostly for health reasons. We'll see how it goes!

Friday and Saturday Ryan has worked, and Nikki has planned. Goals for this week are to keep our sanity and health up moving in to Friday the 28th, which is our endurance test for Krav Maga. Ryan also has to work Sunday, Monday,Thursday,Friday and Saturday this week. For those of you keeping score at home, that means he only gets 2 days off this week, where he usually has 4. I'm sure texts of encouragement and love would be appreciated. :)

That's all for now folks, enjoy your week ahead, and check out a little blog called philliebee.handmade (you'll find it to the left) if you feel like you're lacking creativity, she's got TONS to spare!

Lots of love!

Proving our "Husker-ness" to the neighbors....

2009-08-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

This week was pretty uneventful. Monday found us at Eisenhower (Nikki's home school) to help re-arrange the schedule for this year. We had Jitsu during the day, and then Ryan worked all night. Monday nights are the hardest for him, he has to work from 5pm to 2am (more like 2:30 by the time he leaves) and then get up for Spanish at 8 the following day. Nikki tries to be nice on Tuesdays....

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent playing with the pups, picking Blackberries from the overgrown backyard, and resting. August has been a tight month for us financially, so instead of going out, our new favorite thing is grilling for dinner!! We are learning a lot about how to make things instead of buying them, which has actually been a lot of fun!!

On that note - Nikki has been trying washing her hair with Baking Soda instead of shampoo. Thanks to a Miss Jill for the tip! Next we will be making a homemade body scrub and Burts Bee Facial Cleanser!

And now we come to Thursday! Anyone who knows Ryan knows that he likes projects, and Thursday he found one!! Here are the supplies, I'll let you guess what he did.....

Anyone? Anyone? Bueler? That's right, he created a HUSKER MAILBOX! It's not quite done yet (The paint takes several days to fully dry)

Ryan was having a little too much fun with the spray paint! :) Here is the (thus-far) finished project!

Nikki's project for the week was to get Rudee smelling a little better. Perfume and Essential oils are apparently bad for dogs, so we had to go the old-fashioned "Bathing" route. The poor guy was NOT amused...

Have you EVER seen a face like that??? Pitiful.....I can just hear it now...."MOM, WHY ARE YOU TAKING PICTURES AND NOT STOPPING THEM????"

The rest of the weekend was spent baking 2 batches of cookies, 2 batches of brownies, and 2 kinds of foccacia bread. A bunch if teacher friends are coming over Monday night for a fondue night, and Nikki was getting ready for dessert. (THE most important course!) The only thing we need now is some berries.....oh wait, we just happen to have a weed in the backyard that produces some! I guess it's time to go pick, enjoy your week! We miss you all!!!

Jitsu and Hiking and Daring......oh my!!!

2009-08-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

Time for a real update!

This week started off pretty well! as many of you might know, Ryan and i are both taking classes in Krav Maga and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We have classes most nights of the week, and Monday, Wednesday and Thursday during the day. Krav is teaching us quite a bit about common sensical (if that's a word) defense, where as Jitsu is focused more on techniques of rolling on the ground and submitting opponents with choke holds, tweaking major joints and defending against the other person's offenses.

Here are some action shots of Ryan grappling with our classmate, Miles.

Our Jitsu instructor, Ray Stevens (above) is a lot of fun and often refers to Jitsu as a big game of chess. Beyond being tons of fun and a great workout, we get to wear the latest fashions in Gis!! Here are some examples....:)

Tuesday brought about Spanish class in the morning and relaxing in the afternoon. We had a "Christmas in Jul--August" because Linda was kind enough to send us a lot of our wedding gifts!! Ryan was SO excited to see his shop vac, and I couldn't wait to use our new coffee maker and glasses! THANK YOU LINDA!!!

Ryan checkin out the booty

Nikki was able to completely demolish a half wine barrel in the name of moving it closer to the house to use as an herb garden. So much for that idea. But at least we have some neat metal hoops and scrap wood now!

We got to go hiking this week, FINALLY!! We went up to Mount Hood, in Oregon. We found the hike in Ryan's Backpacker, and they pointed out that this specific hike was great for looking for Huckleberries. For anyone who has ever tried to pick huckleberries, you know how "fun" this can be. Suffice it to say, we gave up looking for ripe berries (of which you can find about 1 in every bush...) after about 15 minutes. We had some BEAUTIFUL views,

and after Umbrella Falls, we pretty much bug free. (Thank goodness)

We came back with only a handful of huckleberries, but 4 pints of raspberries we stopped to pick on the way home. Yum!!

The rest of our week has passed somewhat uneventfully with a lot of baking and grilling. Ryan made amazing hamburgers and Nikki made Zucchini bread and Foccacia bread. Our house was smelling REALLY good! :)

This week we have started on a dare given to us by the lovely and sweet Ruth
couple - Larry and Pat.

The book is called "The Love Dare" and so far it has challenged us to do things like eliminate all negative words towards each other, get each other an unexpected gift, and do unexpected acts of kindness. So far we are on day 4 of 40. We are being challenged to stay positive and really focus a lot of time and energy on our relationship. It has been refreshing and informative so far, and we are both excited to see what this dare will bring in the next 36 days.

To finish out the week, Ryan took the dare of doing something kind and unexpected for Nikki by going grocery shopping for her!!! Woohoo! He even went after work on Friday, which made him even more tired. What a nice guy! :) After work on Saturday, we met at the gym for a quick lifting session. Following a shower (boo sweat), we headed down to Portland, OR to watch the UFC 101 fights. Some interesting fighting ensued, and after much shaking of our heads and yelling out the names of Jitsu positions we recognized, it was time to go home and go to sleep. Whew.
All these events bring us to this morning, when we got up, made pancakes and talked about our dare for the day. Welcome to a week in our lives!! Look for an update next Sunday!

Keep track of us!

2009-08-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hi all! This is a new way for Ryan and I to try and include everyone in our lives out West! Check back here for all things big and small. We will try to update every weekend.

This past weekend, Nikki got to go on a Kayaking trip with some friends, and then Ryan met everyone for dinner after work. A fun evening of grilling, games and hilarity ensued!

We also recently moved in to a new house! Hooray for having room for the dogs to run, and us to spread out a little bit. Pictures will come next week, after we have cleaned a little....sorry mom.....