Wrapping Up December: 2016

Ok, so I know it's 4 days into the New Year but......

December was way too busy and waaaaay too much fun to not wrap up 😁 This post is long and picture-heavy, and I have so much to discuss that I'm not even going to waste time on an introduction. Let's go!

That first picture is the garden on December 1st. The marigolds had finally had it, and so had pretty much everything else. I've still got some rosemary and some thyme alive, but that's it. The cold weather we had in Kentucky while the hubby and I were in Oregon even got my parsley. Darn it. 

2015: By the Numbers

Oregon Trip 2015

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a healthy, happy, and safe holiday season. Let's wrap up 2015 by summing up last year in numbers, shall we? Here we go!

1- Oregon finally has a Heisman Trophy!
59- amount of points the Ducks scored in the Rose Bowl (new record!) against Florida St. on January 1st

Oregon 2015

Oh my goodness. I took quite the break!

It's been more than a month since my last post. And let me tell you, time off did me good. I definitely feel invigorated and refreshed. The hubby and I got back from our Oregon trip on Thursday night, but it's taken me a while to find my bearings. It always feels like that coming back from vacation. However, the house is back in order, the laundry is all done, the fridge is stocked with veggies- which means it's time to get back to writing. 

Track Town USA

Last week, the hubby and I headed down to Eugene, OR aka Track Town USA. Eugene is where I spent 4 very important years of my life, attending the University of Oregon. People always say youth is wasted on the young. I'm finally starting to understand this. The hubby and I decided to start our morning off running the Pre Trail (named after Steve Prefontaine), which I'd never even walked before. How could I have lived there for 4 years and never even stepped foot on the trail? It's just sad, I tell you, sad.

Running by Autzen, where the University of Oregon football team plays. We picked a perfect morning for a run, sunny and cool. The trail is just about 4 miles, along the millrace that winds through Eugene and past gorgeous scenery.

I heart this view of Autzen Stadium.

A Blue Heron.

The bark is Pre's Trail. The Mackenzie River flows through the background. At this point in the run, I was seriously kicking myself for not knowing any of this beauty was here when I was.

We finished! I'll admit, we got passed by what appeared to be dozens of student athletes. It did cross my mind at this point that I'll probably never run that fast in my life :)

After we finished the run, I (of course) had to go see the ducks. I love the ducks at Alton Baker Park. Alton Baker Park is where the trail starts and ends after looping around.

 Margarita time! Sometimes there's nothing better than an early afternoon margarita.

Oh, El Torito. My favorite Mexican restaurant of all time! I'm not sure why this picture came out kind of blurry, but you get the gist of the deliciousness that was devoured after that run.

I apologize for the sporadic blogging, but I'm having too much fun to care :)

Throwback Thursday!

Happy Thursday everyone! It's almost the weekend, I hope everyone's had a great week.

Technology is amazing. Today's post is brought to you by my college computer. I started school (college, that is) in 2001. That's 13 years ago. Do you remember what computers looked like 13 years? I do. This is basically what my college computer looked like:

That's right youngin's, whoop it up. I owned one of these. Needless to say, this computer went belly up, um, 7 years ago. My dad kept the hard drive from my old computer, and right before the hubby and I moved to Kentucky, he gave the hard drive to the hubs to pull my pictures off of eventually. Eventually came last night. I was amazed that the hubby was able to pull pictures from that old hard drive, and transfer them to our Mac. First of all, I can't believe Windows from that long ago was able to talk to our Mac. I thought the pictures from that computer were gone forever, which I was kind of sad about, because almost all of my college pictures, and some of my high school pictures, were on that drive. I'm sad no longer, the hubby recovered about 200 pictures last night. Let's take a look at the life of a college student in 2001:

Goofing around.

I remember this was a sorority function, but I have no idea why some people are wearing camo and some are wearing Hawaiian.

This was either graduation night, or close to it.

Graduation shots!

I think everyone worries they are never going to do shots again when they leave college...

I don't know... But I love this picture! :)

My favorite Mexican restaurant in Eugene, El Torito.

What else do college kids do? Party.

Another sorority function.

My sorority class, senior year. I have a picture from freshman year, you won't believe there's only 10 of us left after 4 years!

Here's my freshman sorority pledge class. Big difference!

I think this may have been Molly's (the girl in the middle) birthday.

Local bar, down the street from our house.

The next couple of pictures are from my high school best friend's wedding. She got married on Dec 31, 2004. This was taken on Dec 30 (my 22nd birthday), and the night of her rehearsal dinner. This is from my birthday lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, though.

I got a sombrero for my birthday!

This is at the rehearsal dinner. Pretty sure Liz is holding me up, I had a lot to drink that day. Hey, it was my birthday!

Anna, me, and Liz. We all played volleyball with Erin for 4 years in high school. Volleyball is actually how I met these girls.

Goofing off at the rehearsal dinner.

Erin and her bridesmaids.

Liz, Anna, and I goofing off at the reception.

High school friends. Lauren (on the left) played volleyball with us all through high school as well.

The whole fam! Looking quite young, I must say :)

Back at that local bar in college.

Another college pic.

Again, a sorority function. I cannot tell from this picture what the theme is. I do know I must have really liked camo in college :)

This picture is actually from high school.

Another high school picture. This group of girls travelled to Hawaii together after graduation, this picture is from our last night there.

Prom night, high school.

Halloween and my millionth time dressing up like Britney Spears. LOL.

One last college picture. This was from my sophomore year of college, 2002. Wow, I'm feeling really old after this trip down memory lane :)

Trip Update: 10/10/12

We've been on vacation almost 2 weeks now. It's been heaven! We've gone to a majority of our favorite restaurants, been to a Duck's football game, and seen a lot of people we've missed. Oh, and just so you know. I totally started this post yesterday, literally got yanked away from the computer, and never made it back. It's hard to blog when you never have time!

Last Saturday was the hubby's birthday, and also a home football game for the Oregon Duck's. My mom, being a season ticket holder, gave the hubby and I her tickets for Saturday's game against the Washington Huskies for his birthday. I drove up to Eugene on Friday night to spend some time with one of my oldest friends. The night that ensued only brings to mind the time we spent together when we were younger. I haven't had a night like that, oh, probably since my bachelorette party. And now I know why.  I'm not that young anymore, as evidenced by the 2-day hangover I was bestowed with after our night out. I made it to the game with the hubby, and I will only say he was less than sympathetic about my hangover. He did warn me not to have too much fun. Too much fun? Does that even exist?

Yes, yes it does.

I've been having a fabulous time in the kitchen. Tuesday night, I made a Bourbon Glazed Chicken, Spinach and Parmesan Basmati Rice, and Sauteed Grape Tomatoes. Delish! We called this a "freezer meal". I grabbed a bunch of things from my parents freezer to make this, I didn't have to get a single thing at the store. I think my parent's are well stocked for the apocalypse. I'm planning on doing some baking today, I found a recipe for Banana Cinnamon Swirl Bread that I'm going to try.

Also made yummy, yummy Snickerdoodles. They're all gone now :)

I always have an audience when I'm cooking, one of my observers usually being my dog. He likes to think he is a person, and sit at the bar when people are in the kitchen.

Gizmo adores sleeping on my parent's end tables in the living room. I know, not the best manners, but my parent's don't seem to mind.

On Sunday after the hubby's birthday, we had a brunch at my parents house. My brother and his fiance were there, as well as some close family friends and their parents. Two giant bottles of champagne were drank in mimosas, and we ate a ton of food :)

The hubby just had to take a patio heater to the next level yesterday. It hasn't been working for awhile, so the hubby took it upon himself to take it apart and figure out why. He battled a nest of bees with an air compressor, and in short, had a fabulous time killing insects with high-powered air.

We've also made a small trip to Portland to stay with some friends. It was a short, one-nighter which means we will have to make it back at some point to see more friends. Whilst we were in Portland though, we had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants (Salvador Molly's) and lunch the next day at Mio Sushi. I've missed sushi so much. It's not nearly as... fresh in Kentucky.

We are halfway through our trip, I'm sooooo sad. Especially when the hubby and I hear that nothing has happened at our house. The hubby and I leave for a month, and the project falls apart. It figures. Anyhoo, I'm heading to the Oregon Coast tomorrow, and will be spending Friday night there. I love the coast :)