Well friends, it has been quite a while. My bad. I'm hoping to pick it up here in the new year! I should have a lot more time and freedom with some of the life changes that have been occurring, but more on that in a minute. For now, I'm going to inundate you all with a slew of photos, hooray!!!
It's no mystery by now that I love books. It's gone beyond an obsession now, I might as well open my own bookstore or take up a job as a librarian. Of these books, I have read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore which I must say is one of my favorite books of the year. The other books have been packed away and are just waiting to get onto my shelf!
As I have shown before, our little house in Astoria was set amongst the trees where all fall we got to enjoy this deer herd. I loved being able to look out and see the momma's and the babies roaming around our backyard. In this picture, if you look closely, there are SEVEN(!!) deer. That's the most I saw in our time at that house which was just astounding to me!
It's a good thing that Ryan doesn't look at my Blog much because he would probably kill me for posting this picture. He's getting vain on me, telling me to take pictures down because he looks "fat". But I love this picture because it depicts what we would do every Sunday this fall- overdose on football! We would wake up early and head to Pig and Pancake to gorge on breakfast to be comatose through the rest of Sunday! It was amazing. Even better is when we get the kitten cats to come snuggle up with us.
In the last few months while working at KLEAN, my productivity level took a major dive. I don't know if it was a combination of not yet being on Zoloft, or whether I just stopped caring, but I found so very creative ways to pass the time including this! Yes, that is a book rested on my computer, and yes, it did look like I was being productive if you walked by my office and happened to look in. I'm sure glad that my college degree went to good use- learning how to be sneaky as hell!
Okay, holy hell, I'm so excited to talk about this amazing weekend. Sometimes in life you have to stop and take a look back at where you have been. I have been blessed with having some truly amazing experiences this last year. For Ryan's three year sobriety birthday, his best buddy Dru and I decided to treat Ryan to an all football weekend. First on Saturday, we went to see the Ducks whomp on the Huskies for the 10th (yes that's right,
TENTH) straight year and then we wrapped up our Seattle weekend by going to the Seahawks game. I can't even begin to express how awesome it was! More pictures next!
This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole weekend. The x is for the roman numeral 10 because the Ducks have won TEN STRAIGHT games against those dirty dogs!!! I'm not bragging or anything. But on a real note, it was such a magical new stadium, and I truly believe that Husky stadium is one of the prettiest in the entire nation. You'd be hard pressed to convince me otherwise. We had seats in the 300 level all the way pushed up against the rail facing the water. It was AMAZING! Not only did I get to watch an amazing game, but I got to look at all the
sail-gaters, yachts and boats floating in and out! Glorious.
The Seahawks game was the first ever NFL game Ryan and I had ever been to. It was pretty exciting. We stayed the night in Olympia to save some skrilla, then we rode the Sounder up to the game from Puyallup. That turned out to be a lot of fun riding a train full of Seahawks fans for an hour. Ryan and I obviously had to document the experience.
Obligatory CenturyLink Field photo.
Upon arriving in Seattle, we made a bee line for the Hawks store. I've been a Seahawks fan my entire life having grown up in Olympia, but never deemed the team worthy of wearing their logo on my body. Call me a fair weather fan, but I had to get myself some Seahawks garb including this delightful hat and a wonderfully flattering hooded shirt. I had to contain Ryan to not purchase one of everything, as we were headed up to the register, he had a Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman and Walter Thurmond III jersey in his hands as well as like three sweatshirts and two hats. We were able to narrow it down to a sweatshirt and a hat, thank god.
The next set of photos that should be in here are those from San Francisco, but I want to do an entirely separate post for those, so for now we're skipping those!
When I took this picture, I said that all I got from my shopping in SF was this cat, but that was totally not the truth, my wallet was crying after San Fran. But it's always amusing to me that cats love boxes, bags and basically anything they are not supposed to get into/ things they don't fit into. Marley is not special, he's one of
those typical cats, and I love him for it!
Our San Francisco trip was when we were given the offer to come up to the Apple Cup. On the flight back from SF, we decided it was what we wanted to do with our future. While we were wheeling our bags back to the Camry in the Economy Lot at PDX, I told Ryan I thought we should start looking at getting a four wheel drive vehicle for the snow. At midnight when we got back to Astoria, I went to bed. The next morning I got up, Ryan had told me he had already found
THE CAR and he was on his way down to Salem to get it. For those that are following along, that's about 12 hours before he had picked a new car and had purchased it. It was love at first sight and it has been love ever since. We ended up getting a 2006 Toyota 4Runner, and we are absolutely pleased with it. It has leather and HEATED seats as well as a massive moon roof and roll down back window. It's the nicest car either of us have ever owned and we are still so thrilled about it!
November marked my father's 70th birthday. For a while now I knew I wanted to do something big, whether that be a cruise to Alaska or a nice weekend where friends and family could come celebrate my father! With the way everything worked out (being that Alaska in November would have been terrifying), we ended up doing a party and these were the invites!
Yeah, yeah, more books. I know. But oh my God, Allegiant?? Soooo good. I know what everyone else says, that they thought it was slow and not the ending they wanted, but damn, I surely wasn't expecting that. Totally one of my favorite series which I have passed on to many friends now.
Since Ryan and I were season ticket holders for the Ducks, I told him that one of the times I needed to take him to my favorite pizza place/hangover cure of all time (for those that KNOW Eugene, I might be misspeaking in saying it's my only favorite, Pegasus is a total tie). Sy's New York style pizza is exactly that, HUGE slices that absolutely save your life. I mean I can't talk highly enough about this place. As I'm typing, I'm actually craving it. I need it. I love it.
Eugene has to be one of the prettiest places in the fall. I mean it's pretty year round, but all the trees on campus and the leaves, it's an Instagramers dream. On the walk through campus on the way to the game, I had to snap this picture of the leaves/my fall outfit/my duck gear. I love my ducks!!
As a sober person at Autzen, you have to find different things to do. Tailgating is hard when you aren't on the same level as everyone else. On this particular game, we arrived about two hours early to the stadium so we had to get really creative! Apparently there is a thing such as the "Duck Truck"? I don't know, I got a picture in front of it because it's just that damn awesome. Also, we were able to see the players come off the field from pre-game warm ups and a lot of people were snapping pics and getting autographs, that was definitely a first for me. It's surprising what I missed as a drunk college student! Amen to being older and wiser.
Puddles. So badass.
This was the first night game we had been to in our seats, and it was awesome. I forgot how much I love Autzen under the lights.
Okay, first, sorry mom and grandma for this picture. Second, holy shit I still fit into my high school cheerleading outfit, third, I almost wore this to work for Halloween, fourth, I didn't because my toosh is literally seconds away from world exposure. This is a Halloween-y I got this year, when you're sober, this holiday no longer holds as much meaning. I don't think I even got to watch Hocus Pocus this year! Tragedy.
As a Duck fan, this was one of the worst days of the year. This was the day of the Stanford/Oregon game. I was so excited when I got up in the morning, I even yelled, "TIMBER!!!!!" at Ryan at like 5:30 AM. Something just didn't feel right about the entire day though. While we were watching the game (which I only was able to stomach the first quarter) everything just seemed... off. I don't want to ever play Stanford again.
I will say this to anyone who asks. Ryan and Dru are both the biggest idiots I have ever met. Even though my boyfriend came out on top of this dumbass bet (pun intended), I was not a fan. If you all remember back to the pictures I posted of the Ducks/Husky game, there was an infamous bet that took place around this time. Dru and Ryan thought it would be fabulous to place a tattoo on the outcome of this game since Ryan is a crazy Duck fan and Dru is a loyal Husky supporter. Not just any tattoo, an ass tattoo. Of the opposite team. Obviously since the Ducks won, Dru was the one in the hot seat, and I will give him absolute props for following through with this. Here's the picture proof.
For my father's birthday, we decided to throw a party at the Alderbrook Inn. We arrived there Friday night and had a delightful dinner at the Robin Hood Pub across the street from the inn. We woke up to a non-rainy day on the canal and we were able to catch some breathtaking views! Though it was cloudy, the Olympic Mountains were out in their full glory. I absolutely love this place and can't wait to come back again!
For those of you who have not been to the Alderbrook Inn, I highly recommend you get yourselves there soon. At just over 100 years old, this piece of property has it all, water, mountains, luxury dining, family fun, and one of the most gorgeous lodges I have seen. They have two lodge cats (which will be featured in a picture in just a moment) which you know I loved, and an ENORMOUS fireplace that you can basically sit inside which you see pictured at the left. There's just something about this place that is beyond relaxing and you feel so pampered if you're staying in the lodge or in the guest houses like we were. It was an amazing weekend.
Sometimes the thought of family gatherings can be really overwhelming, especially if you're in my family. None of us are necessarily close, my father had me at the age of 42, making me closer in age to my second cousins than my first. Also, us Briggs's tend to be slightly antisocial and anxiety ridden at the thought of large events. My dad's birthday went amazingly well though, for all that being said. There were a total of about 25 people that showed up to wish my father well upon embarking into the golden years of his 70s. It was rather impressive actually. We had people from all eras of his life, from family to high school friends to AA friends and work companions. It was amazing to see the outpouring of love for him!
Okay so this little odd-eyed gem is named Brook. She and her brother Alder are the most adorable, tolerant kitties you will ever behold. I can't imagine the life of a lodge cat. Yes, it would be luxurious longing around in that lodge all day, but at the same time, think of all the people touching you! Everyday! Without a moments rest! ...I still think the good outweighs the bad. I have to say that these cats caused a (momentary) rift in my relationship with Ryan. Alder and Brook have inspired me to look into getting a unique cat, whether it be a Manx (which these were), a Persian or a Scottish Fold, I really don't care. I know some people out there would scoff that I would pay for a designer cat when there are millions of kitties to be taken home from the pound, but every cat I have ever had has been a rescue, and I really want something awesome like
Maru (who is a Fold). Watch that video and tell me you don't think the same! Anyway, Ryan said that over his dead body would I bring a third cat into our house. I told him that was very unfair considering they are technically his cats (should we break up I will be stealing at least one of them, fair warning), but he's set on two being enough. Who knows, I might employ the help of one of my readers to pick up a kitty from the airport and bring it from Seattle to Chelan for me one of these days.... Soon.
Around the second week of November, my sober life partner Alison ventured up from LA to do a speaker meeting at KLEAN. Ryan and I missed her speaking, but we were able to go to dinner with her before she left. Seriously, this is one of my favorite girls in the world, it was amazing to be able to catch up since it had been about a year since we had last seen her.
November is a celebration rich month in my family. Not only did my father turn 70, but my grandmother turned 80! For those of you who can do simple math, yes my grandma is ten years older than my dad. Oh family! Anyway, my mom brought my grandma down to the Oregon coast for a nice relaxing get away and Ryan and I were able to treat the two of them to a delightful dinner in Seaside.
Later that month, my wonderful friend Hannah invited me over to stay with her in Portland while her fiancee was away on a boys weekend (LAN party). On that trip, I was blessed with being able to see her try on and pick out her wedding dress (I do have pictures of the winner, but obviously I can't post them yet). I have never been to a bridal shop before, but I have seen many a episode of Say Yes to the Dress. I'll tell you the reality isn't so far off of what you see on the show. Brides came (by appointment only) with a whole entourage of other women to watch them try on everything in the store. I couldn't help but think about how beautiful everything was. I wanted to try on one of everything even though there's nothing pretty on my finger :)
Someday...
Sometimes there is nothing more that I love than sitting at home on a rainy day with the kitties all by myself. In the last few weeks of working at KLEAN, I definitely took some "sick" days where I just couldn't muster the energy to fake being happy about being there (I had already mentally checked out). I love this picture so much because Marley really looks like he's pondering life (I promise you there's nothing going on in his head at this point, he's a simple boy).
Okay, so there are going to be a lot of pictures of kitties from this point on. In December, while trying to move, leave our job, etc., I didn't take a whole lot of pictures. Except of my cats obviously. So this here is a picture of our lovelies enjoying the fireplace. Ryan and I were just talking about this fireplace last night and how much we actually do miss it. It was like instaheat! You turned that sucker on and BAM! You're sweating. That's why the cats loved it so much, they're heat mongers.
So for any of you that have not traveled to Astoria, if you do, the 14th Street Coffee House is a must. From their funky, industrial diner decor to their amazing coffee and snacks to the hotel they are attached to, there is nothing not to love about this place. It's situated on two of the busier streets in downtown Astoria so there is people watching galore!
Surprisingly this time around moving, the kitties didn't freak out as much as they have in the past. And unsurprisingly, they loved the hell out of all of the moving boxes that were laying around the house. What's the deal with cats and boxes? It's a very funny thing.
This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me or Ryan. We are both very impulsive people that when an idea strikes us, it's hard to stop that train from rolling. That being said, we have never given each other our Christmas gifts on the actual day of Christmas. It's always like a month before. So bad. Last year we had the realization that we were adults, dammit, and that we could give each other gifts whenever we wanted! So we've been keeping up with that tradition and on the night of the Civil War after Josh Huff had the game of his life and basically won it for us, I gave Ryan his jersey. He's loving it, I can tell you that much. He wore it just recently while watching the bowl game and he can't wait to hang it on the wall!
And because I gave Ryan a gift, naturally he had to return the favor. Since I knew we were moving to Chelan in the dead of winter, it was time for me to ask for some warm attire and footwear. There was no reason for me to have UGGs in Astoria, with as much rain as we got I would never be able to wear them, so I guess I will look at that as a perk of moving to the coldest region on earth. I kid. I was very pleased to add these to my closet, I have been wearing them literally every day while we've been in subzero temperatures. And the bows! I die.
Thankfully Chelan has some amazing sunrises and sunsets, because I think it would be something that I would miss the most. We had the most delightful view from our kitchen and living room onto Young's Bay in Astoria, sometimes it was just absolutely breathtaking. When it wasn't gray and cloudy, you could see the most amazing colors. This was one of those mornings. It also marked only 12 days left in Astoria for us.
As of late, we have been having some pretty scary issues with Marley. Without getting into too much detail, the boy hasn't been able to make the boom boom on his own, without the help of an enema (too much detail I think...). The vet we had been taking him to in Seaview, WA was helping with the issue, but then sending him home to us... unkempt is the word I'll go with. The boy couldn't even stand the smell of himself, he was in constant embarrassment mode. The first time we thought we had the problem cleared up, we took him to a groomer who did a WONDERFUL job with him! He'd never smelled better. When the problem persisted and we had to take him for round two at the vet, enough was enough time to take matters into my own hands. I watched a YouTube video on how to wash a cat and this is the end result. Granted I used Ryan's body wash and did it in the kitchen sink, but he smelled like a dream and I didn't even get scratched! Now, almost $1500 later, boy thankfully is being able to make the dookie on his own, praise the lord.
So about a week before we were set to leave Astoria, Ryan's presence was requested in West Hollywood. That gave me an entire week to myself, which was surprisingly nice. By the end of the week though, I wanted my man home! He arrived back in Astoria with roses in hand, and Peanut was instantly jealous. She stole my roses! Look at this!
And last but not least, the deer herd I spoke of earlier came to give us a send off on our last day in Oregon! I like to think of it as a National Geographic meet and greet between Marley and the rest of the animal kingdom.
To wrap up, I will give an apology for being so absent. I love writing this blog as much as some people (hopefully) love reading it. If we ever get internet at our new place (which at this point is looking doubtful) I hope to update a lot more regularly with general life updates, picture updates, book updates and so much more. To anyone out there that does still see if I'm updating, thanks for bearing with me, I promise it'll be worth the wait!!
