Part 2 of our end-of-the-summer adventures

Ok, so I showed you the horses. For the first day that we were visiting with my Grandma in Oregon, my uncle, Adam, was in town from Sacramento, too. So, before we took him to the airport, we all went and got hotdogs at Roake's. I'd heard my grandpa talk about this place so much when I was a little girl. He loved, and I mean LOVED Roake's Hotdogs. I was excited to finally try one for myself. I'll admit, it wasn't bad! They put a special, secret sauce of some sort on the 'dogs and that makes them extra tasty. Uncle Adam loves them a lot too, and I think he and Grandma went out for hotdogs two or three other times during the weekend that he was in town.

After our hotdog tasting, we took Uncle Adam to the airport to go back home to Sacramento. It was fun to have him there with us for a good part of the day! Next, we went to visit my Aunt Mia and Uncle Lance, my cousin, Jeff, and his new wife, and their darling new baby. In fact, Jeff's wedding that weekend is why Uncle Adam was there. We, unfortunately, missed the wedding by one day! Our jobs and packing up our apartment just wouldn't permit us to leave a day earlier. I was so sad to miss the wedding, but excited that Jeff wasn't leaving on his honeymoon for another week, so I could see him. Here is Aunt Mia and the baby of the hour:

Look at this crying face! So perfectly scrunched up! I can't get enough!

On our way back to Grandma's from Aunt Mia's, we came upon one of the most beautiful rainbows I have ever seen. Both ends of it could be seen, and it was double and triple- arched when you looked at it from certain angles. Very cool! My lens was just wide enough that I could fit the whole thing into some frames. Check this out!

We had so much fun with my grandma. She is one of my favorite people in the whole, wide, world. She is always a pleasure to be around. Never a dull moment!

Our next stop was Astoria, way up at the tip, top corner of western Oregon. This is where they filmed "The Goonies." It is a beautiful, costal town. We stayed there for one night at a KOA campsite. It was a lot of fun roasting hotdogs and playing card games with just the two of us. Here is a picture of our campsite. It looked like a corral. Weird, but whatever, I couldn't complain since I had electricity, a bathroom with showers twenty feet away from us, and a wi-fi connection. I was farting around on the internet while we were camping. Great fun. If you can't tell, I'm not really one for roughing it.

Here's my cute husband tending to dinner:It was soooooo good! I never used to like hotdogs, but I'm starting to like them now!The next morning we hit the road to go down to Bandon in southwestern Oregon. Here's what most of the drive looked like:When we got to Bandon, we were most excited to stop here. This is what we saw there:

One happy kitty

One HUGE set of paws

Lots of these little cuties. They were so little that I could have easily smuggled one out of the park in my purse.

With their mamas

Many funny faces

Eeyore

This is who we played with

This was our campsite in Bandon. So pretty and green. We had some amazing burgers there.

The next morning we headed back down to Sacramento. We unloaded the jeep of our camping gear, took showers, re-packed our suitcases, and jumped right back in the car so we could get to his parents' house in Lompoc (Santa Barbara County) by midnight. We LOVE driving for hours and hours at a time!

Part 3 coming soon!

"Well, as long as you're happy..."

So I got a job at Victoria's Secret. It's ok. I get an ok discount, but we can't combine it with sale prices, so that's kinda lame. There is a lot of really cute stuff there, and during my whole shift I walk around looking at stuff that I want to blow my paycheck on, so it's kinda dangerous.

Well, today, a co-worker was chatting with me. I need to mention that she is of a hispanic background. She was commenting on my wedding rings and asking how long I've been married, how long we've been together, etc. Then, out of the blue, she asks me what nationality my husband is. I didn't know why she asked, but I told her, "He's white." Then her whole demeanor changed, she kind of got stiff, and she said, "Well, that's nice. As long as you're happy. That's all that matters, right?" Then she suddenly walked away.

Um, ok?

What we've been up to for the last month or so... (Part 1: The Horses)

We have had a very busy end to our summer. It all started when we had to pack up our apartment on top of the three jobs between us, and the six photo shoots that I had to process. So, we finally got our apartment packed up and we took off to Oregon. First stop on the itinerary: Grandma's House!

When I was a litle girl I used to call this house, "Grandpa's Castle." Grandma and Grandpa built this house themselves. It was originally just the A-frame part that you see on the left side of he house, and then they added the rest of it on years later. It always seemed so big to me. In fact, the whole farm seemed so big to me. I guess it really had been a long time since I'd been there (about ten years, actually), because now that I'm bigger, everything seems so much smaller than I remember.

This is the beautiful forest drive up to the farm.

My favorite part of the farm: the horses!!!! (Please, pay no attention to the ugly girl in the pictures. Not my shining moment as far as looking fabulous was concerned.) This is me (ugh) and ol' Huck. He's a good boy, and he looks pretty good for being in his mid-twenties.

Well, he looked pretty good, except for the Rick James hair. His mane was so tangled and full of burs. I would have combed it out, but we didn't have time. That probably would have taken a good two hours to fix his mane. Maddy and I used to spend hours out in the paddocks with the horses grooming them. Unfortunately, this time, Brett and I had to take off. Someday soon, I will go up there again and give all the horses baths and clean out their hooves and brush them to a show-shine. Heck, I might even braid their manes for old time's sake.

Rick James:

Comet is such a sweetheart.

Horses are not very good at taking turns.


My Strider is a handsome boy. Please excuse my terrible, frumpy posture.




Then I took Huck for a ride. He wassn't very happy about being taken out of retirement, so his ears were back the whole time.

We can't forget about our wonderful Skala girl. She's almost thirty! She is the most well-trained horse I have ever riden. You say, "Skala, turn left," and she turns left! You say, "Walk" and she walks, "trot" and she trots. Its awesome. But, she's just so old I felt bad riding her, so I didn't ride her this time. I would have riden Strider, but last time I got on him he threw me and I broke my arm, so.... yeah. Bad idea.

More of our trip when I get home from work tonight!

Beautiful Monterey

This is where we live now

Lissy- need I show you more? :-P

Blegh.

Moving sucks. Better post coming in a few days after I get all settled down in Monterey.

Time for an update.

I realized that it's been a long time since I've filled everybody in on our beeswax so here is the latest scoop on our busy life!

Well, today is August 7th, and we're moving on August 30th, Labor Day weekend, (and my birthday! lame!). It's coming up very quickly. We really only have 3 more weeks to get ready and pack up the apartment, because on the 24th, we are taking a trip up to Oregon to visit my grandma and enjoy the beautiful, green, COOL forrestland. It will probably be my birthday vacation. (It makes me wonder if Brett's got any tricks up his sleeve!) I'm really excited for this trip because I haven't been to my grandma's farm in years. She keeps trying to sell it, so I need to hurry up and take Brett up there so I can show him what was such a huge part of my childhood.

We are about 80% sure that we've found our apartment. It will actually be in Marina, which is right next door to Monterey, and it's right on the beach, which is slightly awesome. Our apartment (if we get it) will be just a few blocks from the beach. The cool thing about Monterey Bay is that Monterey and all the other little towns near it are all right on the bay, so wherever you are, you are no more than ten minutes or so from the beach. The lame thing about Monterey Bay is that because everything is so close to the beach, you pay for it in rent. Even little, dumpy places cost a ton of money to rent, probably because of the beach views and access, so we were having a hard time finding a place. One bedroom apartments generally start at $1100, and two-bedrooms (which we need) start at at least $1200 but most are closer to $1400. Hardly any of the places allow pets, and if they do, they charge you a huge pet deposit and pet rent. We were lucky to come across this little apartment complex in Marina where the two-bedrooms are only $1000, AND they allow pets with a smaller pet deposit. They're not the nicest apartments ever, and they're pretty old, but they're clean and appear safe. And again, its RIGHT BY THE BEACH. Hello! So anyway, keep us in your prayers that the two-bedroom will be available for us when we move!

I'm pretty excited to not work two jobs anymore. Well, at least, I think I won't be working two jobs. Hopefully only one job so that I can put more time and energy into my photography business. The plan is that I'll be able to quit my day job sooner than later and be a full-fledged professional photographer. Aaaaah, it will be so nice to have my own business and not have to answer to a boss or clock in anywhere! I can't wait! Until then, I'm thinking about getting a job at a photography store, because, well, that would be perfect for me. I could learn a lot about photography and maybe get a good discount!

We've seen some pictures of the new Islands where Brett will be working, and we've visited the mall where it will be. It's going to be a REALLY nice restaurant, and its in a really nice, higher-class mall. The restaurant will have a different feel to it than the other Islands', which are really casual. This one's going to fit in with the mall. Brett has met all of his co-managers, and they all seem pretty cool.

I am getting so stressed out just thinking about everything we have to do before we move. And I have to be working 2 jobs during the next three weeks. On top of that, I stuidly took on five, that's right FIVE shoots in the last few weeks, which I've not even had time to barely touch. That just goes to show me how time consuming my business will be, so I'm going to have to work hard to make it lucrative enough that I can quit my day job and only do photography. GAAAAHHHH!! I just try not to think about it. But, I am excited for this big change in our life and the new beginnings that it will bring us! Wish us luck!

What a woman!

Happy Birthday to Lissy! She's 23 today, which means that I'll be 23 in 27 days. Check out this woman! I took 407 pictures of her a few days ago, and these are a couple of my favorites. Unfortunately, my photography blog will have to wait a few weeks for a post on her shoot as I have four - count them: 4! - other shoots that I'm working on, plus working two jobs and getting ready to move in less than a month. Ugh. Why can't there be like 50 hours per each day rather than a measley 24? Suck!

Anyway, I quite like Lissy. She's been my best friend since I was 6 years old, and we also happen to be (distant) cousins. We've been through thick and thin together, and have many years to come of more thick and thin. Hopefully, though, it will be thick wallets and thin bodies together from here on out! Hehe... Love you, Lis! I hope Dan and the puppy are treating you right today!

Ha! Check it out!

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Ancestors - Family reunion

Ah yes.

Morgan and Silk vanilla soy milk are together again. Sooooooooooo much better.

Good Morning.

Don't buy the Safeway brand of soymilk. It tastes like crap. Not worth saving the 50 cents instead of getting the Silk brand.

Following suit with so many of you girls out there...

What is his name?
Brett Adam
How long have you been together?
2 years and a couple months
How long did you date?
Hmmm, we dated for almost a year before we got married. About ten months, I think
How old is he?
30 (haha, my husband is over the hill.)
Who eats more?
Who eats more or who SHOULD eat more? I can hold my own, but I'm trying to let him eat more than me so I don't feel like a man.
Who said I love you first?
Him, I think? I remember when we started saying it, but I honestly can't remember which
time was the first. The first few times all felt kinda monumental I guess.
Who's taller?
Brett- He's 6'2" and I'm 5'7"
Who can sing better?
Um, probably me. I don't ever really hear him sing unless he's goofing off or singing in
Sacrament meeting and he actually is familiar with the hymn.
Who is smarter?
Um, definitely Brett. He's really old. He's had more time to gather knowledge than I've had. :-P
Who does the laundry?
Both of us. Whoever's available when the laundry is piled up.
Who pays the bills?
Brett. It's better that way.
Who mows the lawn?
We don't have one. If we had one, um, him. Unless I'm wanting to burn some calories.
Who cooks dinner?
Eh, me, most of the time. But whenever he cooks it's always really good and really healthy too.
Who drives?
Usually Brett.
Who is more stubborn?
I think it's a tie in that area.
Who kissed who first?
Brett kissed me first.
Who proposed?
Brett proposed.
Who has more friends?
Brett. Once again, he's had more lifetime to gather more friends. Haha... (JK Brett, if you're
reading this. You're not old at all! You're still my young buck! Love You...)
Who is more sensitive?
Me. I'm the one with all the frigging estrogen and PMS hormones shooting through my veins.
Who has more siblings?
Me. I have 4 siblings and he has 2.
Who wears the pants?
It depends.

I tag Steph, Meghan, Tara, and Lissy (if she HAD a blog. Lame.)!

News Flash!

New blog post at Morgan Werner Photography!

Check it out!

I've got a new blog for my photography stuff... Come see the fruits of my labors!