Springtime and a pleasant surprise

It has been a couple of weeks since I have updated, mostly because life has been relatively mundane since Bryan's visit. Last weekend I went out with some friends for St. Patrick's Day. Regretfully I forgot my camera, but we had a great time. Our bartender was completely wasted, so probably a $300 bar tab between the 5 of us ended up only being $20 each. Not bad! I also went over to Sherri's and hung out with the kids, which was fun. We went out to eat at Red Robin, which was very yummy.

This weekend was nice and relaxing. I went to see 51 Birch Street at the local artsy theater. It was a good, thought-provoking movie. It is a documentary about a couple married for 54 years. She dies, and 3 months later the husband moves to Florida to be with his secretary from 35 years before. The movie is filmed by the son, who finds 35 years of his mom's journals when he is cleaning out his dad's house. It was an interesting movie, but the cool thing was that his sister (who was interviewed throughout the movie) was in the audience, and she did a Q&A after the movie! It was really cool.

I bought some new shoes this weekend. As Bryan says, I have to wear my "grown-up" clothes to work, and I was feeling the pressure to buy some heels. These are SO comfy (for heels!). I think they are pretty cute.


I found this cute skirt too that match so perfectly with the shoes. It looks grey here, but it is black.


This is my new swing for the sun porch! It's too heavy for me to bring in it, so until Bryan gets here it will live in a box in the garage :) It is a 3 person swing that folds down into a bed. How fun to sleep out there in the summer.


And then I made banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I had some bananas to use up, and people at work love it when anyone brings in treats. They turned out to be super yummy and very moist.

Grass, what's that?

So I'll start with most recent events and work backwards.

Today was a REMARKABLE 66 degrees and absolutely beautiful. I quickly decided heck no to the gym and went for a run outside. It was lovely! As you can see, that kind of heat melted almost all of the snow today.

From Bryan's 30th

From Bryan's 30th

Never fear though, the weatherman says it will snow again over the weekend!

Last week Bryan was here to visit. He attempted to come on his birthday, but suffice to say JetBlue is absolutely the worst airline and I would encourage everyone to avoid them at all costs. Here is a quick rundown:
-Flight #1 is supposed to leave PDX March 3rd at 11:59pm
-Flight is delayed 2.5 hours, which misses the connection at JFK. The option? Wait at JFK for TEN hours on his birthday. He decides to just move the trip back a day.
-Flight #2 is supposed to leave PDX March 4th at 11:59pm.
-Flight #2 delayed 2 hours, so he'll miss the connection again.
-Smart Tia realizes JetBlue goes to Buffalo, so he gets re-routed there.
-Insert TERRIBLE snowstorm that makes a treacherous drive to Buffalo. On the way, there is a jacknifed semi on the thruway with about 5 semis and 10 cars involved. This SHUTS DOWN the thruway. I sit for 2.5 hours PARKED. Bryan gets in and is stuck there for 2 hours waiting for me.
-Bryan finally gets in 1 day and 6 hours late.
-March 11th flight out of ROC at 5:10pm.
-Online says delayed until 5:30pm (no biggie)
-Flight actually leaves at 7:30pm. Connection to PDX leaving at 7:15pm. Luckily, that connection was delayed as well, so he did get back to PDX, an hour late.
YIKES!

Onto better things :) We had a wonderful time together! We spent 3 days at Niagara-on-the-Lake. Unfortunately we both aren't big picture takers, so I don't have a ton to share. We went wine tasting and got to try Icewine which was good but very sweet. We did end up buying 2 bottles of other wines that we really liked. Only one made it home to drink later :) Wednesday was spent at the spa. It was amazing! We each got a facial, then sat in the hot springs together, then had a yummy lunch, then got a couples massage, then used the gym, then sat in the hot springs again. The entire day was spent in robes and slippers. Ahhh! I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was so relaxing.

In the evening we went into Niagara Falls. It was really cold (about 10 degrees), so we didn't walk around too much, but Bryan got to see the falls, so he was happy.

From Bryan's 30th

From Bryan's 30th

We got some dinner at a sports restaurant and had some drinks.

From Bryan's 30th

We discussed going to the casino, but instead were wooed by our childhood and decided to spend the evening in the really cool midway attached to the restaurant. $20 and we got 3+ hours of fun...way more then we would have gotten at the casino! AND, we came home with a sheep that grows fur (we didn't add the water before he left, so you'll have to remain in suspense for pictures of that) and a Niagara Falls shotglass. Score! The bummer of the evening was this crappy parking ticket because we stayed too long at our meter. Luckily it was only $13.

From Bryan's 30th

Thursday we went to IKEA and bought a bunch of stuff, and Friday we lazied around and then had a fun dinner/games party at night. I should also mention the amazing food that we had at the B&B. Nikki made us the most scrumptious breakfasts. The first day was coffee, OJ, fresh fruit, bran/pineapple muffins, yogurt with syrup and poached pears, and these tart-type things with egg, bacon, and cheese. It makes my mouth water thinking about it! Day 2 was coffee, OJ, homemade croissants, fruit platters, and french toast with real apples baked in. Nikki and her husband Ben were both very sweet and fun to talk to. Ben used to run a hotel in Dubai which is the wealthiest country in the world, and Nikki is from Sri Lanka. They both were very smart and very cultured.

Overall it was a fabulous week and it was very sad to see Bryan go. But I'll be back in Portland May 5th and we'll be driving out here shortly thereafter. For now it's back to the grind at work. Thankfully work keeps me very busy, so the days fly by. The company did get restructured in the week I was away, but I don't think it is going to impact me immensely, and it won't fully take place for 8-12 months.

Another weekend flies by

Sorry I never got a chance to add some text to the last posting! I'll sum it up in a few quick sentences. The flowers are the dead ones I got from ProFlowers from my mom for V-Day. The snow is just that...lots of snow! From the side door there are usually 2 steps, and from the front door there are 3. As you can see they are both level with the ground.

Onto this weekend, which has been pretty mellow. Housecleaning and movie watching (Shut Up and Sing was a great documentary). Here are the replacement flowers from ProFlowers. They screwed up, so I got two bouquets. Beautiful!


From February 2007

A good chunk of Saturday was spent unburying my desk in the office. There is also now a nice sitting area for when Bryan needs some space while he's studying (or during football season he can come watch up here). For those of you who came to my condo, you know I loved the lights in the kitchen. I found some at Target last week and had to buy them!

From February 2007

From February 2007

From February 2007


From February 2007

What a difference a week makes. While there is still snow, the steps are visible again and so is the driveway!

From February 2007

I also spent part of today with Lani and Cassie. I wanted to take them to the mall to get a snack and ride the carousel, but they wanted nothing to do with that idea and wanted to just play pretend instead. I'm no good at that, but I played along for a few hours. Now I'm off to dinner with Kim and Anthony, who are the sweetest people I know here because they always invite me to go places with them.

Not sure when the next update will be. Bryan comes next weekend (YAY!), so I'll be busy getting ready for that, then we're off to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a few days, and we're having a party that Friday. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures and updates after all of that fun.

S-nooooooo-w

From February 2007
From February 2007
From February 2007
From February 2007
From February 2007

Ahh, the taste of freedom

My first weekend without worrying about homework was fantastic. I had free time to go get a haircut, go out to dinner with Kim and Anthony, and go see a movie. The haircut was great and cheap (see below, ignoring the fact that I look terrible!), and dinner at Bugaboo was so yummy with possibly one of the best drinks I have ever had: Raspberry Lemonade Rush (A refreshing mixture of Dekuyper® Razzmatazz® raspberry liqueur, Minute Maid Lemonade and Bugaboo's own Moose Juice made with Grey Goose® vodka. Garnished with a fresh lemon wedge). They give it to you in this huge shaker which is 2+ drinks. Sadly, I was the driver, so I had to stop drinking after a little bit into glass #2. It was so good though! The movie (The Queen) stunk, but it was still refreshing to have time to go see a movie. I thought the woman who played the Queen did a great job, but the movie was really boring.

Sunday night found me taking Snowflake to the ER vet for anaphylactic shock. Who knows what she got into, but she was really sick...lethargic, dilated pupils, quick shallow breathing. I swear she did it all out of spite. I didn't get home until midnight and had to leave her there. Monday I had to get up early, go get her (right next to my work), take her to the day vet in Greece, then come back to work. She is fine now though, and will be going to her new foster home on Wednesday.

Monday night marked the one year for Bryan and I. Fairly uneventful since we both had to work and are 2,700 miles apart, but I did get fun new PJ's and a bunch of new bath stuff which I used last night. I am loving the jetted jacuzzi tub! I just need to master the art of patience with bubbles. I put in a bit and it doesn't froth quickly enough for my liking, so I keep adding more. It's fine then, but once you turn on the jets it makes the bubbles multiply 1000x. I frequently end up buried in bubbles!

The new job is still going well and I really enjoy it. I'm working long hours, but it doesn't bother me when there is actually work to do. Speaking of work, that is what I should be doing now :)

New haircut

For only $11! What a deal!

A weekend of thankful

This past weekend showed me that I have so much to be thankful for. So in random order, here we go:

1) I am thankful for neighbors who randomly snowblow my driveway anonymously, not looking for any sort of thanks. I finally figured out who it was, thanked him (promising him banana bread as a thank you) and I come home tonight to see that he had done it again. Bless him, especially since this has been the temperature here lately! Coupled with me being sick, I did not want to be out shoveling.
From February 2007


When I finally did shovel some of the ice on Sunday, these are just a few of the chunks I chipped away at and had to pick up with both hands because they were SO heavy!
From February 2007

2. I am thankful for heat, since it has been so cold here lately. As you can see, Snowflake likes it too.
From February 2007

3. I am thankful (my biggest thankfulness of the weekend) for friends who come and bail me out of a crappy situation. I somehow managed to lock my keys in my car while I was looking at laptops at the mall. Anthony and Kim went to my house, got the spare car key, and came and brought it to me. Of course, I had to sheepishly show up at their house an hour later for the superbowl party. I definitely owe them dinner for their help! The superbowl party was fun though, with lots of yummy food! I gave homemade guacamole a try for the first time, and it was a huge hit.
From February 2007

From February 2007

4. I am thankful for sun, even if it is followed by the scariest, snowiest driving that night that I have ever been in. It's hard to see from the picture, but the road wasn't visible at all, and the lights you see are right in front of me, even though you can barely see them.
From February 2007
From February 2007

5. I am thankful for some free time and some extra money for a nice manicure :)

From February 2007

6. I am thankful for cookie making fun with some of my favorite people in the entire world! Lani and Cassie keep me constantly laughing and I have such a great time with them. They helped me make these cookies for Bryan (sorry to ruin the surprise!), all the while threating that they were going to "tell him Tia made the messy ones." I think you can judge by yourself that they all came out really well. We had so much fun. I was also hilariously informed by Elena (who said it in total seriousness) that "Unicorns are from Russia." When asked how she know this, I was told, "I just do. Knights are from Russia too." Keep in mind that she is 6. I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe!
From February 2007
From February 2007
From February 2007
From February 2007

7. Last, but certainly not least, I am thankful for a fabulous new job. I absolutely love it! The people are great, the work is interesting, I'm learning new things, and I am busy! I think I am really going to be happy at Harris, and I fit in well with the team. I am already working on projects, so it is clear that the boss has high expectations for me.

In the final piece of news, I made the decision today to quit school for now. It turns out that education is just something that I am not interested in at all. My program is 95% teachers and administrators, so the things that are taught in class just aren't relevant to me. I am completely bored and disinterested, and I was dreading going to class. After much thought, I decided to quit and just focus on the new job for now. I'll pay down my debts and think about school in the not-so-distant future. I really need to do a health focused program, as that is where my interests continue to lie. UR has one at the medical center, but it is a day program...totally incompatible with work. I'm going to keep my eyes open though and see what programs around the country might interest me. For now, I'm just happy to have some "me" time back. I was thrilled tonight to be able to clean without guilt that I should have been studying.

Hugs to everyone at home. I miss you all!