Week in Photos: Weeks 28-31

Hello friends! It's been a while since I've done one of these! August is a special month for me, it's the month of the year that I got sober. My sobriety birthday is almost more exciting to me than my real birthday (my belly button birthday) is now. For that reason, I think I'm going to (try to) do a blog post a day for the month of August, starting with this one! I consider August a gratitude month, so in gratitude for you all I will be gifting you with lots of posts, I shall call it BEDA (Blog Every Day in August). Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 9th: These little things have been a long time coming. I swear I have been working on ordering these cards and our new KLEAN brochures for about two months now. From picking the right company to the card texture, colors and card weight, it has been crazy. It's finally a project I can put into the finished bin though. The end result is beautiful, and I have nothing but good things to say about the company we worked hand in hand with, Polk Riley based out of Astoria, OR. This was an entirely new experience for me, but next time I'll step right up to the plate when it comes to designing anything, it was great collaborating with another creative minded individual!

Wednesday, July 10th: In keeping up with the work themed pictures, I was really proud of myself when I cobbled these images together on my office wall (the reason you can only see this little bit of my office is because the rest of the place looks like it was hit by a tornado, serious). It all started with the wooden pelican picture that my dad gave the facility a while back, then I added the lighthouse pictures. I love the way it looks, all of the frames are old knotty weathered wood that give a very good texture to the room! Plus, I always smile when I look at it, and that's what counts, right?

Thursday, July 11th: Before work one day, Ryan and I had to go down to Pier 39 to meet with an internet guy to give him a check for the facility. I hadn't ever done much exploring down in that area other than going to the Rouge Ale House, so I had a few spare minutes to do some poking around while Ryan BS'ed with the dude. Little did I know, it was the old Bumble Bee Tuna factory! There is a museum there and everything, as well as some of the old machinery. They have turned the factory into office space that it filled with a bunch of fun funky businesses, including a coffee shop that sells Key Lime bread. Which I bought. And then devoured. In five minutes.

Friday, July 12th: I think I definitely took for granted before the fact that I had health insurance. After working at Enterprise I was able to get on my mom's policy until I turned 26, but after that I got the boot. I've been without insurance for about 9 months and even that short amount of time is scary. Thankfully, I got my own policy at the beginning of June, and I started taking advantage of it right away. My new dentist's office has the best view of any office out there, I swear it! I challenge anyone else to prove me wrong!!

Friday, July 12th: I swear one of the best things to come home to is a box from Amazon. Even better would be if I didn't know what was in it, but alas, I ordered all this myself. It all started when Ryan and I were having a conversation that he had never seen The Sopranos. No man of mine will not be a Sopranos fan, so of course I had to go out and purchase the first season. Well of course when you buy anything from Amazon, if you spend $25 or more, shipping is free. So since the season was only $13, that left plenty of money to spend on... BOOKS! Best day ever.

Monday, July 15th: On Saturday the 13th, my dad came down to Astoria to clean the carpets of our rental and to take our outdoor kitty up to Olympia for a brief period of time while we were moving. We have taken in a cat that was a neighborhood cat I think someone had left when they moved. I have been feeding it (note the "it" since I still haven't been adventurous enough to find out its gender) for about 6 months now and don't have the heart to leave her behind or take her to the pound (I don't think anyone would take her). So this is the message I got from my father on the Monday following her visit to Olympia. I'm not sure the process of committing the elderly, but I'm seriously considering looking in to that.

Saturday, July 20th: In the post previous to this one, you will see that Ryan and I had fallen in love with a house. It had so many things we loved, including this faceplate for the light switch. Ryan's Aunt Lady's spirit animal was an elephant so we took this as a sign that we had to get this house (she was also very into signs). I still haven't given up hope on this house, the elephant is still speaking to me.

Sunday, July 21st: During a Sunday Soprano's marathon, Marley just couldn't be bothered to sleep in the light. He dug his little kitty head deep into the blankets and napped like that for a long time.

Saturday, August 27th: Ryan and I were supposed to be packing our life's possessions on Saturday, but he wanted to take the morning to go golfing. So I slept in a little and boy cat and I read this entire book. It was a delightful way to start the weekend.

Saturday, August 27th: To recognize our last weekend together in our first place, I made Ryan do something we had never done before: Swing on the swings at the park in the back of our house. It's kind of a bittersweet feeling moving out of our house on Bond, it holds a lot of memories from the last year. The park is something we've always looked at out our back window, but have never gone to. Finally, I made us do it. I didn't tell Ryan where we were going, but we just went! We swung for about 10 minutes until Ryan declared his equilibrium was broken and we walked home, but not before snapping this winner.

Sunday, August 28th: We did most of our packing in waves so the cats didn't get very suspicious or freaked out about the whole process. On Sunday, Ryan promised he would pack the kitchen up and this was when boy cat started catching on. Obviously he wanted to help. This was what we were trying to avoid! Without opposable thumbs, it makes Marley very clumsy. Thankfully, we avoided major incident.

A Week in Photos: Weeks 18 & 19

Monday 4/29: A while back, in thanks for a framed photo we gave Ryan's stepmother Jenny, she sent me this wonderful handmade necklace. After meeting her in Florida and seeing her don a similar design, I thought I would give mine a go.

Wednesday 5/1: After getting back from Florida, before returning the huge suitcase our friend Jenn let us borrow, Marley decided to make a home out of it. I don't know what it is about our cat and suitcases, but they LOVE them! For about a week period, we had another suitcase on our dresser and Peanut would not leave it! But we finally got Marley's hideout back to it's owner, Ryan and I should probably think about getting our boy a kitty house.

Friday 5/3: One of our KLEAN Alum came by to say hello to us and bring in his most amazing dog. Maximus is a Boerboel, basically an African Mastiff. Ever since seeing the first Harry Potter, I have been in love with Mastiffs. I don't know that I would ever be able to have one, too much slobber, but Maximus is one amazing specimen. Such a handsome boy!!

Friday 5/3: My fabulous friend and sponsor Vern had his belly button birthday on the 3rd. For those who aren't in a 12-step program, it basically means he aged another year! Our friend Vinessa baked this fantastic cake which featured a Narwhalicorn. We celebrated with sushi in Seaside!

Friday 5/3: On our way back from sushi, it was pretty hard to miss the Coast Guard helicopter searching the coast line for something in the water. Living in Astoria has some downsides (as I have already mentioned on here numerous times), so it took about two hours for us to find out what was actually going on. Ryan was even trying to listen to the police scanner to no avail. Apparently someone had called in that a 13 year old boy had been skateboarding down by the river and had fallen in. In actuality, a drunk guy saw two kids skateboarding and heard something splash into the water and only one kid run away. He called it in, and thus, this situation ensued. Thankfully, no one actually fell in the water, it was a good display that if something were to actually happen, the Coast Guard would swiftly get into action!

Saturday 5/4: Nothing gets Ryan going more than me finding picture of his "awkward phase" and posting them on the interwebs. And nothing gets me laughing more than doing it. Ryan put on Facebook in response to this photo that he was breaking up with me, which his mother actually believed. Too good. I found this little gem buried deep in a pile of things that came out of the Acura Ryan sold to a buddy, this was a gleaming picture of him at the fine age of 18 when he was having his first college experience. So good.

Saturday 5/4: I have been eying these adirondack chairs for at least a year now. Ever since Ryan and I moved into our little house with a deck, I have been daydreaming about sunbathing on our porch. We acquired a set of ice cream parlor chairs and table about a year back, but the refurbishing process on that came to a halt when it started raining in the fall. Unfortunately I left them out all winter and ruined their new coat of paint and I can't bring myself to want to do it all over again. I'm thinking of just posting them on Craigslist now that I have these beauties. The red is just so happy and pops on our porch, and they are comfortable to boot!

Sunday 5/5: The problem with having indoor kitties is that they get so jealous when you're outside and they can't be! This last weekend in Astoria was probably one of the most beautiful I have seen since living here. It was in the 80's both days and we had the windows flung open throughout the whole house. This toys with our cats emotions though. I was sitting in the aforementioned adirondack chairs right near the window, only to have Peanut meowing and playing with my hair. Such is the life of a house cat. Time to get kitty leashes!

Sunday 5/5: Since it was so nice over the weekend, Ryan and I decided that on our Sunday date day, we would sit out on the porch and BBQ for the first time of the year! I know we probably could have BBQed through the winter under our covered patio, but we aren't that dedicated to the art. Ryan is a steak fanatic, so of course we picked some up at Fred Meyer. And this picture ensued.

Monday 5/6: Our boy cat doesn't like to be picked up. He actually starts making noises like "uuumph ummph" (because we think he has a deviated septum and can't meow like a normal cat). So sometimes, to torment him, we pretend like we're trying to catch a wild animal (which we are). On this fine day, Ryan was running around our room saying he was trying to capture a "kitty-tor". Like that show "To Catch a Predator". It was hilarious and Marley was having none of it.

Friday 5/10: The most exciting thing happened. I was finally able to mooch a book for Ryan! For those of you who don't know, I am a Bookmooch addict. For those who don't know what Bookmooch is, I can do a post on it later, an updated one from this one. Ryan had been wanting the biography of Steve Jobs for a while now, so it was just meant to be when I saw this guy come up! When it arrived, it was in really good condition and a hardback! Boom.

Saturday 5/11: One thing I love to do when I go home to Olympia, is check out the Capitol Campus. I grew up going there while my dad was working and there's something about it that is still magical to me. I have taken Ryan there plenty of times before, but this time I wanted to take him to the heated bench. For those who didn't grow up in Olympia, the heated bench is basically like it sounds, a big wooden bench that has air ducts underneath it that shoot up hot air. Unfortunately, the "heated" part of this equation was no longer working. Still, we were able to walk around the campus seeing all of the war memorials and checking out the colored fountain. I showed Ryan all of the places I used to roller blade when I was younger, and all of the spots I used to play hide and seek. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane!

A Week in Photos: Week 13

This last week was an amazing, short work week! Ryan and I decided that going to Chelan for the Easter weekend would be a relaxing way to take our first mini-vacay since KLEAN's opening in January. We took Friday off and made the 7 hour drive on Thursday night. Only two of the pictures this week are from before we left for Eastern Washington.

Sunday 3/24: The spring cleaning bug has bit me. I have been looking through all of the things we own right now and thinking what I can sell, donate or toss. These three words run through my head like a mantra whenever I'm in my house. I've been tossing around the idea of selling my old Homecoming and Prom dresses for a while, they take up a lot of space and I'll never have a place to wear them. So naturally, I had to try all three of them on while taking pictures to put on Craigslist. It was a nice little moment in time where I got to feel super girly and pretty, Ryan loved it too!

Wednesday 3/27: It's been a weekly tradition for me and Ryan to go with our Executive Director, Milt and Program Director, Leetha to The Depot's Wednesday burger night for about two months now. The Depot is this charming little restaurant in Seaview, Washington where an old train station was converted to an eatery. It has the best food on the peninsula, in my opinion, but it comes at a hefty price. During the winter months, their slow season, they suspend their regular menu on Wednesday nights and offer a more affordable alternative, burgers, to allow for the community to enjoy this wonderful place. Each burger is specialized to your preference, a checklist of toppings is provided and you build your own burger. My personal favorite: Buffalo meat with tomatoes, avocado, blue cheese, bacon and jalapeños, hold the bun. This is a tradition both Ryan and I have come to absolutely love.

Thursday 3/28: After a 7 hour drive up to Chelan, my boy was tired and a little grumpy. Since we worked a full workday and then tackled this drive, all he wanted to do was hop into a comfy bed. Since Dian was still in Seattle with Dan, she gave us the go ahead to catch some zzz's in her extremely luxurious king sized bed. I mean really, you SINK into this bed and it embraces you. Paired with the blackout blinds and flat screen TV, there really is no need to leave. I just love this picture of my little king looking all comfortable and disgruntled. He's so handsome even when he's upset.

Friday 3/29: All week I had been watching the weather predictions for Astoria, and all week people had been saying it was going to be the most glorious day ever on Saturday. What tickled me so much about the situation was that it was going to be the exact same temperature in West Hollywood where our other KLEAN location is. I have WeHo saved on my phone in order to taunt myself and kick myself for not moving down there! Their average temp is more inline with what I want to live in down the road. Someday!

Friday 3/29: With waking up early on the weekdays, my body doesn't always stay shut down even on the weekends. Thankfully though, this time I had something awesome to look at. There is something about being in Chelan that just calms my soul. Ever since I lived there for a summer in high school, it's been such a peaceful place for me to return to. With getting up at 6:30, I was able to catch the sun rising over the lake around 7:00. It was amazing.

Friday 3/29: Before leaving work on Thursday, we received the coins for all of our graduating clients. Ryan played a major role in designing these and they turned out really well. The detailing the company did as well as the 3D effect and the weight of the coins make it look really classy and something for the clients to really look forward to getting.

Saturday 3/30:  Something I love most about doing when I get to Chelan after a long period of being gone is checking out the little boutiques and seeing what's new. Ryan never likes walking around town for fear of who he will run into and the small talk he will be forced to have (I have the same fears when returning to Olympia). I convinced Dian to take a walk around town with me, she was happy to "act like a tourist". So in keeping with acting like tourists, I had to get my picture taken when the town bear statue. Any time I look on Facebook or pictures of Chelan on Instagram during the summer, I always see late night drunken escapades with the bear. I thought it was high time I get mine!

Sunday 3/31: As it is with most book addicts, I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to purchase any more novels until I have read at least 10 of the books I already own. And like other addicts, I lied to myself and relapsed. After having finished the third in the Vampire Academy series, I needed to read the next book. There is a book store in Chelan and I told myself it was probably not a good place for me to go into. Alas, I did. I told myself I probably shouldn't buy any books, but of course when I walked in there, I was overwhelmed by the joy bookstores bring me. I walked upstairs to the Young Adult section and started looking for Richelle Mead books. The only book they had in the series was obviously the next book I need to read. So obviously I bought it. I wonder if there is a Book Buyers Anonymous. I'm Erin and I am a book addict. 

A Week in Photos: Week 12

It was a strange week in photos, I  realized I hadn't taken a single picture on Thursday, so I hustled up and made sure to be looking outside my normal photo-taking box. Damn you March Madness for overtaking my life! Here goes:

Thursday 3/21: After watching the Pac-12 tournament and hearing all the controversy over Oregon getting a 12-seed, I knew I had to get the guys at the treatment center amped up about March Madness. There is nothing more exciting and fun than the tournament and we're always trying to introduce bits of sober fun into the newly recovering persons life. On Monday I handed out blank brackets and told the guys and one of the ladies to have them back to me by Thursday at 9:15. All week I was fielding question on team stats, records and the tournament history. Excitement was building all week!

Thursday 3/21: One of our favorite places in Astoria is the Columbian Theater. It's not an unheard of concept, it's a theater with couches, a bar and pizza, kind of like the Living Room Theaters in Portland. The balcony has been converted into all couches making it a very lovely and comfortable place to watch a flick, not to mention it's only $4 a person with cheap eats! We decided to double date with a couple to see Lincoln which we had held off on seeing in the regular theaters to see here! It was a lovely night.

Friday 3/22: A few years ago for Christmas, my grandma made me a knit throw that was amazing. We still have it but it's looking a little haggard due to numerous washings and two lovely kitty cats. Somehow the word got along to my grandma that we needed a new one. My mother delivered this gem to us last weekend when she was down visiting. This throw is no different than the last, Marley couldn't wait to get his little kitty paws into it!

Saturday 3/23: With the weather starting to improve, Ryan has been itching to get on his bike. This weekend has been a very lazy weekend for me, so I opted out of going to the speaker meeting at the facility which gave Ryan the opportunity to ride solo for the first time this season. He was out there shining up his bike all afternoon and I was able to snap this pic right before he took off. He looks like my own version of Son's of Anarchy Jax Teller. Swoon.

Saturday 3/23: Having spent the afternoon and evening at home, I was able to watch basketball until my heart was content. After watching a wonderful Oregon win, I watched my bracket implode thanks to Gonzaga. I had them going all the way unfortunately and as you can see Marley is as upset about the situation as I was.

A Week in Photos: Week 9

I promise I will be working on a full post for this week. I love my week in photos, but I do have something that I am working on that I'm really looking forward to sharing for the first time. I promise this blog is going to be more substance than just pretty pictures of my life!! For the time being though, enjoy the sparkly things :)

 Sunday 2/24: Both Ryan and I work at KLEAN, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Long Beach, WA. It's a small community where health care providers have to work together and support each other. A group of KLEAN employees attended a fund raiser and auction for the Ocean Beach Hospital in Long Beach. It was a Mardi Gras themed event which all of us had a blast and Ryan even took home a silent raffle item!

Monday 2/25: Sometimes our kitties allow for very sweet moments that I have to capture on camera. Seeing my two boys in a frame together is the best. Marley isn't much of a snuggler and as you can see here, he's pulling away pretty quick, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid this picture!

Tuesday 2/26: Monday and Tuesday I got a nasty head cold. I spent those two days reading and resting. I finished two books in two days, The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigani and Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta, both of which were AMAZING! The copy of Saving Francesca I had was from Bookmooch, so I figured I would pay a good book forward. A first happened for me, someone mooched a book from me from another country! I shipped a book off to Slovenia, fingers crossed it get's there safely and in good condition!

Wednesday 2/27: A milestone birthday in early recovery is your 18 month mark. It's something that I'm pretty proud of and something that has mobilized me into action. I've asked someone to start working the steps with me which I have put off for long enough now. To celebrate, my lovely boyfriend set in motion getting me a cake and getting my co-workers to gather the clients together to sing me happy birthday. It was a wonderful day!

Thursday 2/28: For "Throwback Thursday" this week, I wanted to post a scenery shot since it's been a while. I think Astoria is one of the most interesting places to live, you can always find something beautiful if you are looking for it. Sometime last year, my dad came down for a weekend visit, and it just so happened a fleet of pirate ships were in town. The Hawaiian Chieftain, the Lady Washington and a ship from the Royal Canadian Navy were making a tour of the West Coast ports. The bight colors and the many masts are truly awe-inspiring up close.

 Thursday 2/28: There is a site that the men of my workplace love. It's called The Chive. It's a compilation site of pictures, stories and videos of things in life that are ironic, satirical and funny. There's a whole cult following of people that say things like, "Keep Calm, Chive On", "KCCO", so on and so forth. For a while now, Ryan and my good friend Vern have been trying to get some Chive swag. They have a huge section of shirts and other things that are all Chive related, that are all literally the most difficult things on earth to purchase. Whoever is doing their merchandising is definitely using the tenet of supply and demand, seeing as how NOTHING IS EVER IN STOCK. There is now a black market on eBay for Chive goods where shirts are going for almost triple the original asking price. I think I have made it my life mission now to acquire some of their goods seeing as how it's so damn hard, it's like they are personally challenging me. The one time before this that I even came close to acquiring anything they produce, their server crashed as I was trying to check out because so many people were on their site trying to do the same thing. It was a maddening experience. This time though, when the email notification of something being in stock sailed into my inbox, I dropped anything I was doing and figuratively sprinted over to the site. I was almost in like a shopping blackout as I quickly added items to my cart and checked out in a matter of 30 seconds. I'll tell you, this was one of the most stressful 5 minutes of my recent life. My pulse was racing, I had the cold sweats, my hands were clammy, it was an unreal experience. But, I came, I saw, I conquered. I was able to secure two Chive shirts for the two men in my life. Erin 1, The Chive 0.

Friday 3/1: I know I take a lot of pictures of my cats. I know I probably talk about them too much in real life also. I think I have a complex where I actually think they are real people. Like their personalities and actions make me think of them as my good friends. I realize this places me in the category of "Crazy Cat Lady", but that's a title I will accept with pride. I would caption this photo, "Like A Boss", Peanut looks very Don Corleone-esque here and I love it. Our cats are like moths to flame with the gas fireplace we have, this is a common affair. I just so happened to walk out of the kitchen to find her in this position, lounging in the heat.

 Saturday 3/2: Our new Saturday routine has become going to Long Beach to catch the AA community dinner we host at KLEAN, followed by the weekly speaker meeting. We're doing it as a way to bring the AA community into the treatment center and get them involved with what we're doing, as well as allowing the clients to hear the stories of men and women who have firmly planted their lives in the roots of AA, in hopes that the clients might hear something that saves their lives. When I was in treatment, this was one of my favorite meetings to go to, I love hearing the experience, strength and hope of others, it reconfirmed for me that a) I am an alcoholic just like them and b) that I was in the right place. This week we rode over with our good friend Brandon and a new sponsee of Ryan's. We had about an hour to kill before the dinner, so we headed to the beach to fly some kites Brandon had in the back of his rig. It was an amazingly random hour of kite flying and good weather, I was able to snap this pic right about sunset. We all had a blast.

Saturday 3/2: This is another photo I captured while at the beach. The guys were busy flying kites, I was busy finding the good shots. I don't know when I became so obsessed with documenting my life, maybe after all the years of blacking out and forgetting. A long line of having no memories can be really disheartening. I guess that's why I'm doing this blog, to remember where I've been years from now so I can look back and get a snap shot of what I was doing and how I was feeling. In this picture I loved the way the light was bouncing off the water as the tide was coming in, this is also to show that I was most inappropriately dressed for an outdoor occasion such as this.

A Week in Photos: Week 8

Sunday 2/17: About two years ago when I was living in Portland I got used to going to New Season's market for lunch everyday. This is where I picked up the habit of testing out as many Kombucha drinks I could find. I have finally settled on the Grape Chai Synergy Kombucha being my absolute favorite. This summer, that's all I could drink, but with each costing about $3 a pop, I had to give the habit up. On my weekly Sunday grocery trip, I finally gave myself permission to get one again, and oh my god, it was a heavenly experience.

Monday 2/18: After giving up one addiction, alcohol, I found that I have replaced it with another, books. And my cat, but that wasn't the priority in this photo. I was showing a fellow book lover my piles of shame, aka the piles of books I have yet to read. This picture doesn't do the situation justice, there's a whole third stack with more unread books back behind those piles. My goal is to read 80 books in this calendar year, this will get me well over half that mark. As I have said before, there could be worse addictions...

Tuesday 2/19: Every morning, without a doubt, our cat Marley jumps into the bathroom sink. And it's always when I'm either mid-teethbrush or face-wash. Ryan, over the years, has allowed for him to become water snobs, only drinking out of the kitchen or bathroom sinks. I have decided that in the next place we live, we will need two sinks, one for humans and one for kittens.

Thursday 2/21: For a "throwback Thursday" photo this week, I dug one out from the dark days, aka my past drinking life. This was the summer of 2009 on a trip to Chelan to see Ryan. I think it's amazing how far we have come in the past four years. Both of us are sober now, living productive and fulfilling lives together. It only took us two false starts and seven years to get here, but I finally have the man of my dreams.

Friday 2/22: This is a large gummy bear. I have never seen such a thing before. I had to take a picture and obviously give a size comparison next to my Oregon house key. Why? Because Go Ducks!

Saturday 2/23: It's not often that Ryan ventures out of his office at work, but when he does, he can be seen doing this or sneaking food out of the back door of the kitchen.