Monday, July 28, 2008

No More School

Almost done with School! Woo hoo! Last day is Thurday. I'm so excited.
On Tuesday, August 12th, Steve and I are going to the Portland Zoo with Jon & Kari & the kids. I've never been there yet so I'm excited to go and to bring the camera. Anyone else want to come??

Friday, July 25, 2008

Summer is Passing Too Fast!

When people ask me what I'm doing this summer, I feel at a loss for words. Basically what I've done this summer is homework, clean the house, cook, go to church, and wish for a vacation. :) So, I'm praying we get a break from this crazy pace of life SOON!! My summer semester will end on Monday, July 28th. I can't wait! Done or not, I'm not looking at another piece of homework for the rest of that week. Then school starts again for the fall. Ahh! I am very ready to be finished with my education. I've learned enough in the classroom, and I'm ready for a real job! Hope you're all doing well! Please comment and let me know how your summer has been!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Oh Happy Day!

Here are a few unedited pics of our wedding! Yay! :)
wedding


If the above album doesn't work, click the following link to be taken to the website:
http://picasaweb.google.com/guitarSteveO/Wedding

Fare ye well Ankeny Wildlife Refuge

Steve and I wanted to go hiking so we bought a book our friend Nate recommended.

"100 Hikes in Central Oregon Cascades" by William L. Sullivan














Steve decided we should go to the closest place that we had never been to before. *drumroll* ANKENY WILDLIFE REFUGE!! was the winner. I agreed since I hadn't read much about it other than that it had a really cool looking boardwalk.

What I didn't read was this line in the Fish & Wildlife Service website, "Ankeny NWR also provides habitat for a wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians." Emphasis my own. Yeah... reptiles... meaning snakes! Everywhere!! Granted they were only common garter snakes, but that was enough to send me over the edge screaming, crying, and making Steve carry me the last .5 mile to the gravel trail. I walk the last .12 miles to the car. :) That day, Steve learned what I really meant when I said I was "scared" of snakes.

Monday came and Steve told the women at his work about our adventure. Thankfully, I had a lot of sympathizers. Someone told Steve that the local newspaper had just written an article about the unusual amount of snakes in the Ankeny Wildlife Refuge. Why didn't they tell us on Friday instead of Sunday?!? I looked for the article, but couldn't find it. I guess we have red-striped and yellow-striped garter snakes. They would be pretty if I didn't have a deathly fear of even looking at snakes. So, I'm going to scratch Ankeny Wildlife Refuge off of my list as "Been there. Done that." with no desire to ever go back. :) I'll try to post a video and some pictures of the frogs we saw.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Looking Back




































The Day After Independence

Today is the day after the 4th of July. There are still fireworks randomly exploding in our neighborhood. Steve and I bought ourselves a Wii as an Independence Day present. It was a pretty good deal - thanks to Craigslist.org We got two nunchucks, one Wiimote, the Wii console, the original boxes, the wired sensor board, the console stand, and three or four games for $275.

We were home enjoying the games when an orange cat walked up on our back patio stairs and stared in at us through the glass sliding door. Following right after her were three orange kittens. So cute! They are from an apartment building about a block away and are definitely not domestic pets. I was cleaning up what was left of supper (Hamburgers, corn on the cob, and potato salad) and there was one small hamburger left so I broke off a piece and threw it out in smaller pieces to them. They growled at each other and swiped at the meat with their paws, wildly gnashing at what they were able to grab. That was a little scary, but they were such sweet babies! The momma didn't eat really anything except a little hamburger. I didn't take any pictures since the camera was upstairs and I just wanted to feed them. We also found some much expired cooked teriyaki chicken breasts in the back of the refrigerator. So, we threw that out to them too. When we decided they'd had enough, I took an old butter tub and filled it with a half-and-half mixture of milk and warm water. I put it out there and the momma cat came running and lapped up about half the bowl. I guess she was really thirsty. After she drank her fill, she began grooming her paws and legs. There was one little kitty who was really snuggly and kept rubbing up against its mom. Pretty adorable that even the hungriest feral animals still need love. They all took off a bit after the mom stopped drinking. That was fun. I felt useful in this community for the first time! haha

This morning we didn't wake up until 1:30pm. So, I guess it wasn't really this morning after all. I'm not sure what we're doing the rest of the weekend, but I'm hoping it will be relaxing an!d refreshing for both of us. Hope you all had a beautiful 4th! We went downtown to watch the fireworks. Not the best, but it was great to have a hand to hold on such a special day. I love you, Steve!