Pink Martini

It's been a good weekend.  I got to hang out with my sisters in Portland.  It was great to catch up, and spend time with each other.  We all have similar senses of humor, so it's always a great time.

Nicole came back to Eugene with me, and we went with Chad to the Pink Martini concert.  AMAZING!  Holy moses, I was blown away.  They are probably my favorite group ever.  All the musicians were so skilled and talented.  They have over 12 musicians.  They sing songs in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, Portugese, and I'm sure more.  They have a trumpet player, pianist, violinists, harpist, trombonist, vocalist, bass player, guitarist, and percussionists.  I know this sounds dorky, but they are far from it.  They write their own songs, and perform songs from old movies and records.  Each song has a unique sound that ranges from Mexican mariachi, to french cabaret, to geisha-like asian, and all with great lyrics.  I turn on their music, and I just have to start dancing.  It's also fun to listen to the Spanish songs, cuz I'm learning Spanish.  And, as bad as it sounds, Spanish is a better language for poetry and lyrics, it's just smoother and more melodic than English.  Anyway, I can't explain them, just look them up on itunes, or limewire or something, they're better than any current pop singers.

Chad wasn't even sure if he really wanted to go to the concert, but once they started, he was completely won over.      

This guy was at the concert.  We couldn't help but laugh cuz his hair looks like Top Ramen, he is just so Eugene....lol.  Chad was pretending to take a pic of Nicole and I, when he was really photographing this interesting character...moohaha.

Here we are, off to the concert.  No, I'm not having a baby, the dress just looks funny cuz the seeming and how I'm standing.  Unfortunately, we didn't take any other pics.  But, that's my sista, isn't she adorable?

Pizza and stilettos!

I just got the cutest shoes!  I like metallic shoes because they can go with so many things.  But I have a problem with the shoes on the market.  There are either flat shoes, or really HIGH shoes....no inbetweens besides foam flip flops...which feel clunky.  So, I don't like flats, cuz I feel stumpy in them, and I don't like HIGH HIGH heels cuz I like moving around a lot and they're just not convenient on a daily basis unless you're sitting down a lot, which I'm not.  So, I've had these gold shoes for 2 years, and I loved them because they had a heel that wasn't TOO high, I could wear them on a daily basis cuz they were still comfy....but about after 6 months....they started looking gross....but I couldn't find anything to replace them with....so they just got uglier and uglier.  I even tried spray painting them to make them look new...that lasted a week.  So...finally a breaking point came.  I had made a cheesecake for a friend, and while I was delivering it, my worn out/crooked/completely uneven heel catches a little edge and I fall onto the ground, and the cheesecake smashes tasty side first.  I was so mad/sad!  So....that was the last straw and I got new shoes.  I got metallic flats for daytime (I'll get used to them....they were super cheap cuz it's the end of summer) and then I got my silver, oh-la-la shoes.  To die for!  But I'll only wear them after work, cuz I don't want the looking like my old ones any time soon. 

Since we've been married, Chad and I have gone through some weird eating stages.  First, neither of us could cook very well, but we knew how to make what we liked.  I cooked healthy food with LITTLE flavor, and Chad...typical guy food....burgers, eggs, and plenty of unhealthy stuff.  Naturally, I started doing the cooking and this meant that Chad got to start eating my stir fry and rice.  At the time I thought it was good, cuz I was used to it, but looking back....it was gross!  I did not know how to add flavor...it was basically a lot of cabbage, green pepper, and onion cut, cooked in a frying pan with PAM, and spinkled with random spices or sauces.  Ofcourse he was nice and grateful, and always thanked me for cooking.  Then I got really friendly with the cookbook and starting trying new things.  It's really hard finding good recipes that are healthy, that don't taste like what some people would call, diet food.  I thought I was doing great, and I was so proud of myself, but again, looking back, the food still wasn't that good and I was always trying to talk Chad out of getting fast food.

  

So...fast forward, and now i have found a wonderful compromise.  Healthy pizza.  I know you are probably rolling your eyes about how obvious this must have been, but I'm excited cuz it's cheap, tasty, easy, and healthy.....yah-hee!  So....the dough I got for .60, I roll it out, put some tomato sauce on and add my ingredients.  By making our own pizza, we can fore-go tons of cheese and fat, we can add tons of veggies, and chicken breast.  I like to make it somewhat Mediterranean and put spinach, tomato, red pepper, feta, chicken, and parmesan (if artichoke hearts were cheap I would add those too).  This is also a good recipe for the future cuz the wee-ones can help sprinkle the ingredients on the pizza.  Anyway....it's kinda silly, but I had to share my discovery.

Learning Spanish the UGLY WAY

So...I am going to learn Spanish.  I already took 2 years of Spanish classes at U of O, so I have a great foundation.  Chad went to Argentina on his mission, so he's already an expert, but I think it would be so awesome if we could speak it together.  We can have some conversations now, but I need to get better.  I always feel bad for missionaries who put so much effort into learning a language, and when they get home, they have no place to use their skills.  How frustrating would that be?  You know this great language, but you can rarely ever use it, and slowly it slips away from your memory.  Puedo hablar espanol, pero es necesario que aprendo mas.  So....now that I'm done with school for awhile, and my brain has had enough time to veg out, I'm back to learning.  I was so sick of reading and writing stupid junk for school, that I hadn't picked up a book for months....I didn't even read Harry Potter, and that's fun reading.  Now that I've had some time away from school, I'm ready to start exercising my brain again.  SO......I made the DORKIEST chart to help me learn body parts in Spanish.  When I was taking Spanish classes, I always wanted to make fun charts and flashcards, but I never had time.  So here she is....the ugliest lady to help me learn Los partes del cuerpo.

There is a reason she looks like a total hoochie.  So...I drew her first w/ only a skirt.  It had to be short so you could see her thighs...cuz I had to label them.  Then Chad said, she looks so manly!  She has the manliest shoulders....so to counterbalance that, I gave her huge bazoombas, so she would look like a girl, and then she needed a belly shirt so I could label her bellybutton.  Chad says her te-te's help distract from her stumpy man legs.  Anyway....I only drew her to help me learn...sorry she's skanky.

Good times

This was after the Duck game the other week, I forgot to post it.  I love the feeling after a Duck game when we win.....MMMMMmmmmm....AAAhhhh.  No more nervous, anxiousness, ya know?

We also got a dart board about a month ago.  It was only $10 and we have gotten so much entertainment out of it.  Yes...we are putting little holes in the walls....but we vowed that we would spackle, and repaint the area before we move...so it's all good (it's not an apt).  Chad ofcourse was an amazing player the second we hung it on the wall.  I wasn't bad, but now after some practice and honing my wicked skills, we can get a good competition going.  We figure, if we're ever starving and out of moo-lah, we can go to a bar, make bets on our dart game, and go home with enough money for groceries.....JK!  But Chad used to get free milk in college by challenging his friends to 1 on 1 basketball.  That was at BYU Idaho.  We're really not that good, so if anyone is up for a game, let us know.  And yes, that's a real bulls-eye, I didn't walk up to the dart board and push the dart in.

Chad and I went fishing this Saturday.  The lake was beautiful and all, but of all the 3 times we've gone (which have been the only times I've gone in my life) we have never caught anything.  At this point, I'm not a big fishing fan, but Chad tells me that will change once I catch my first one.  Right now, fishing for me is getting some good snacks and standing/sitting by some water, which is okay, but certainly not thrilling.  Still, it was a great way to get out of the house and enjoy the good weather that will be gone all too soon.  

Coast Trip

On Labor Day, Chad and I headed to the coast for some rollicking good fun.  We started at the Driftwood Shores beach (free parking!) and started to build our fortress.  I must admit I was inspired by the Arnold's blog, with Mike, Jeff and Clay's awesome pyramids.  We started by making a big mound of sand, and then carved a box for the base.  We had no idea what we wanted to build.  Once the box was carved we had a fabulous idea.  We would build the Mayan Pyramid of Chichen Itza.  This last winter we went to Mexico, and we saw the pyramid in person.  It was amazing!  Every time we looked at it, we were amazed....it was impossible to get tired of looking at it.  I would turn around, and then look at it again and say, Wow, then I would turn around to see something else, and then look again and say, wow.  With each look, the wonder of it just blew me away.  So...with only the memory of its appearance in our minds, we set out to build a mini replica.  Luckily, we finished just in time to avoid the tide whisking it away.  Hope you enjoy the play by play.  

 

HELLO EVERYONE

Well, I've officially jumped on the blogwagon. Chad and I went to the Duck's football season opener this last Saturday for his b-day. We also went with his dad and sisters, Lindsay and Hailey.