Sonogram today

Traffic was really thick trying to get into Beaverton today. We JUST made my apt. They called me in right away and the technician was ready.
She didn't say anything for probably the first 10 minutes. It was hard to tell much from the tiny screen. Finally she pointed at the heart and said "156 that's good"
A huge sigh of relief from both Nate and I. I'm not exactly sure what she was taking pictures of for the next 15 minutes but it was good to see the heart beating.
She did point out the arms and very long legs.:)

After it was done I asked if everything looked good. Because she's not a doctor she is not authorized to say " good" but she did congratulate us and encouraged us to spread the news to our family and friends. :) I think that means everything looked good!!

We will see our doctor in 2 weeks. She will let us know more then.

As for my nasea, well it is getting better. She did measure me at 11 1/2 weeks today ..... Almost in the clear!

Thank you for your prayers. We sure appreciate it. Neither of us slept well last night. I think we were both nervous. We will sleep well tonight though. ;)

Christmas shopping done!

It's 5:30pm Monday and our shopping is complete!

This year is unique for us as we will have a low key Christmas with just the 2 of us. I havnt been feeling very well lately, so we are really looking forward to a restful week.

That is why I am stunned that our shopping is already done!
Yesterday I had a quick burst of energy so we hopped in the car and ventured out to the mall. It was a zoo!! But in less than an Hour we were in and out. Our parking spot hardly had a chance to take a breath of fresh air before it was quickly taken again by new shoppers.

Our presents are all wrapped and under the tree. Nates stocking... Or legging as we call it, is plumb full and dragging on the floor. I'm not sure that the little push pin will hold it up much longer. It's either a lot of rocks or a heavy treat. We shall see!!!

Tomorrow morning is my sonogram apt. They want me to drink 32oz an hour before my apt begins....let me remind the audience that my previous apt was an hour behind schedule. Oh my goodness my eyes are already swimming just thinking about that. I'm not sure if I will be able to accomplish that feet. But here we go.....

Best birthday gift!

Monday is my birthday, but Nate couldn't wait to have me open my gift.
This morning he made me a pancake breakfast and handed me my birthday card.
Inside were tickets to see Bill Cosby live!!!! I was so suprised and excited. He knows me well... I have always enjoyed BC's comedy. The show isn't until January but that will be something we can both look forward to.

I'm so excited!!!!!!

It's that time of year...

I love Christmas! Most of you know I listen to Christmas music almost year-round. Why keep the cheeriness to only one month a year? =)

I do wait until this month to start watching Christmas movies. Yesterday it was Charlie Brown's Christmas...how cute!

Well, most of you know that Nate and I are expecting a baby in July. It's been exciting news. I'm still in the process of getting used to my morning sickness. My work fortunately is very flexible with me if I ever give them a glazed over look and head for the door. Yesterday I was actually able to put in a full day! I'm praying that I will be able to continue to do that. It's good for me to be there with everyone. I really have been enjoying my work, the people I work with are very encouraging and I love working with college aged students.

We are really enjoying our little place as it continues to get more and more put together. Last weekend my family came up for a few days and they helped get our first Christmas tree! I love that smell of fresh trees!! It fits perfectly in the corner next to the fireplace. How cozy! Probably one of my favorite parts of our tree are all the christmas ornaments from over the years. Each one has a different story or memory. I'm sort of sentimental that way. I enjoy looking through all of them and being reminded of why we picked that one out.

Another new addition to the family - our mac mini! Leo has successfully converted one more family member to the world of Apple. =) I think we'll really enjoy using all the picture/video programs especially when our baby arrives.

Have a great first week of December!

True confessions

I am a craigslist junkie.


As a kid I was probably more familiar with antique stores and valuable items than the average 9 year old. Over a course of many years I watched my mom slowly collect her favorite dish set piece by piece. We made frequent trips into antique stores. Sometimes our errand runs just happened to pass by the antique stores. The musty smell became ever so familiar as did the white head ladies in pink sweaters. For the longest time my mom's Christmas and birthday gifts were pieces found in local stores.

The coveted turkey platter was the hardest to find and certainly the most rewarding to welcome into our home. I don't have too many vivid memories of our trips, but I do remember the turkey platter find. Oh the excitment!

Unlike some antiques, these dishes haven't known dust as they are often brought out for family get togethers.

Well as I said before, I'm a craigslist junkie. It's the antique store of today minus the musty smells and those sweet ladies in pink sweaters.

We are now owners of our own liberty blue set. Thanks to craigslist.

Pumpkin Carving

Last night we went over to a friends to carve some pumpkins. The rouge pumpkin pictured here ate all of the pumpkins we carved so we can't post our pumpkins. They were eaten.

a HUGE time saver

craiglook

this may just change your craigslist life.

skype

We got to skype with my sister, Leo and Daniel tonight. I love skype!! It's like we're all in the same room even though our rooms are 2,938 miles away. We got to take a tour of her new spacious 2 bedroom apartment...it really is VERY spacious compared to their previous NYC apartments. Leo even has his own studio! I'm sure they will enjoy this place.

The ACE hotel that she works for serves stumptown coffee in their coffee shop. I guess people really love stumptown out there, so they go to the hotel just for their morning coffee. I like that something from our little Portland has made a name for itself in NYC.

We're big stumptown coffee fans. They know how to make some smooth coffee and they do a really great job of training each barista that serves stumptown. That way it will always consistently meet their high standards no matter where they are serving it.

Airport

I picked Nate up from the airport Wednesday. He was so tired and a little on the sick side. That is the second person I know this week who got sick flying. Must be the season.

We spent yesterday morning antiquing in Lafayette (Oregon....not Indiana,Ben). I've never been there, but they have a TON of great furniture. We didn't get anything, just browsed the store. The rest of the day Nate spent on the couch recouping from his fever.

Home again

It's been really chilly out this week. I've been enjoying sipping on hot beverages by our fake fireplace. It doesn't have the same affect as a regular fire but it's still festive.

So Nate is on his way back to the west coast, or left coast as some call it. He's been out in PA visiting friends from college. I wish I could have gone with him but It is good for him to see his friends on his own too. He told me on the phone many times that he misses me and that a week is a long time to be away. I agree, a week is a long time! This past week has been pretty busy with family things and work.
My work has been picking up a lot in the last few weeks. Today I could feel my shoulders tensing up while I was sitting at my desk. I had to remind myself to relax,:) a few times i would get up and walk into our waiting room to stand in front of the gas fire place. You can see the whole center of campus from there. I watched out the window at all the college students walking to and from classes. That was relaxing....being reminded that I don't have homework... My day ends at 5. Awesome.

We are getting daily reports about my grandma's health. I was able to visit her this last weekend. It was nice to see how she was doing after hearing about her stroke. I didn't know if she would be in good spirits or not. It was very encouraging to talk with her and see that she was talking just fine. She seemed positive when talking about her therapy sessions. Some of the tasks she is supposed to do during therapy are a challenge for her, but it was encouraging to hear how hard she is working at it and how motivated she is to get back to almost full recovery. Thank you for your prayers. Please keep praying for her recovery and endurance to continue this hard work.

And real quick a few things I have noticed while Nate has been gone:

- he does the dishes more often than I realized;)
- we don't go through milk or cereal as quickly
- I fill the quiet house with sounds from the radio and online shows.
- I go shopping in my spare time;)
- less dinners get made because it's just me.
- I can get away with chewing my finger nails...
- and last but not least, I realize how much he is a part of me. Can't wait to have him home!!!

Grandma

Hello all,

Just a quick post to have you keep my Grandma Stuewe in prayer. She had a stroke earlier this week. It sounds like she is coming out of it well and has a good chance of excellent recovery. She will be doing therapy for a while to relearn how to use her hand and I think her leg? If you could keep her and my Grandpa in your prayers that would be great. I'm sure it shook him up too. This week was their 58th wedding anniversary.

Thanks all,

lissa

Tip jar

Google has so many interesting tools. Yesterday Nate introduced me to Tip Jar. I must have spent 2 hours browsing tip jar!!!
Basically you can search any topic to find out what other people are doing to save money. I looked up vacations, airfare, electricity, Internet,insurance, groceries etc... It was neat to see how creative some people are with their resources.

We have been thinking more about putting our garbage service on will call (as suggested by my Aunt Sharon). Last week I completely forgot to set it on the curb and really we can still fill it up more. Between recycling and composting we just don't have that much garbage anymore.

Another money saving tip I learned.....smirk on my face.... Hanging your laundry to dry!! Yes, even in the cold months..;) we ran to bi-mart and picked up some clothes pins. I think Nate will make a clothes line for me this week. I will have to keep you posted on our "winter dry cycle."

Ding dong

One of our favorite restaurants in LC serves homemade ding dongs... Strange I know. They are actually very good and nothing like what you would see sitting on an end aisle shelf. These ding dongs would be described as chocolate cake with a light cream filling covered in a rich ganache sauce, topped with a raspberry reduction sauce... Yum!

We tried making them today. I think they turned out pretty good. Angela and Bruce were my guinea pigs. I think they liked them :)

Nate took a picture. I'll try to attach it later.

Well Angela and I got killed in pinochle tonight. The cards were just not in our favor. I think we finally ended in the positive... Yikes! We'll get en next time;)

Basketball!!!!

I was just reminded today from my Blazers subscribed email that individual ticket sales open tomorrow at noon!!!

Oh my gosh I can't wait!!

Steak with potato- parsnip mash

That was our dinner tonight thanks to Real Simple. I have been intentionally trying out a few of their recipes in this months issue... Mostly because as our former housemate Bruce would say," no one really makes magazine meals" so we are trying a few of them out to see if it is worth it.
We almost always default to chicken dinners because it's easy and usually cheaper, but this was fun trying out top sirloin steak. We found we couldn't eat as much of it as we would chicken because it was heavier.
The parsnip mash potatos were pretty good .... After I added a few things like sour cream, garlic salt, plain yogurt and a little curry. I think we would try this recipe again. I might try sweet potatos instead of parsnip to see how that tastes.

The Ginger snaps are almost out of the oven... Mmm can you smell them???!!!
Nate had a sweet tooth and before you could blink he had the cookie dough made and all rolled out on the baking sheet.;) sometimes you've got to give in to those cravings... And who was I to stop him;)

Oh my gosh the timer just went off!

Good night!

Russian tea

Last night at the cider press party we pressed enough apples to make 20 gallons of cider!!! They got distrbuted between the 5 households. We took 2 gallons home. I like heating it up with a cinnamon stick:) yum!

Fall is my favorite time of year. There are so many great things to look forward to. This morning I woke up and ran straight to the kitchen to make our first batch of Russian tea for the season.

Here's the recipe:

1/2cup lemon iced tea without sugar
4cups tang
3 scoops lemonade ( about 3/4cup)
1 tsp cloves
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice

Mix it all in a bowl and then pour small portions at a time into the blender to really get it all ground together.




Things we like to do in the fall:
- corn mazes
- watch soccer games
- ride our bikes
- drink chai lattes
- sit by the fireplace reading
- I like to pull out my knitting projects


Yay! I'm so glad it's fall!!

$20

Do you remember that$20 we saved from the grocery store? Well last night we were about to go to the theatre to watch Julia & Julie. A quick decision and a u- turn later we were on our way to blockbuster to buy a few movies. They always have sales. Yesterday they had a 5 for 20 deal. Yep, we expanded our movie selection. A few of them were wild cards as neither of us had seen the movie, but I think overall it was a fun choice;)

So tonight we are joining the common house for their weekly Friday BBQ. Bruce is bringing out his cider press as well! Apples are really hard to find right now, so we won't be making any cider but it is always fun to watch.

And it will be fun to connect with the common house folks again. I miss little General:)

Dinner

The first recipe we usedfrom Real Simple was the beef tacos.... Super easy!
They were filling and healthy for the most part. We both had 2 tacos and we still have enough for lunch tomorrow. I give it an A!

Routine, dreams, food and a dryer

I woke up this morning with a to do list creativly woven into my dreams. Work has taken over my mind already. In less than 3 days back from vacation we have been thrown back into the work routine in full swing.

I think this might be a busier fall than last year. Our campus has already seen more visitors this last week.

Different tangent....
Real Simple has some great recipes in it this month. Nate and I went to winco last night to get the ingredients neede for 3 of them. Being that it's the end of the month we had a strct limit for our groceries. Nate carried the calculator around the store while we shopped. I think it might have saved us a good $20 adding things up as we went along. We quickly decided we could substitute items in order to get what we really wanted.


Dryer... Speaking of dryers;) ours broke. One of the things I love about renting... You call your landlord to fix things and they are happy to do it! Oh the bliss.


Well time to start working on that to do list I keep dreaming about.

Restful week!

Last week was our long awaited vacation...and oh what a restful break it was! Everything was just so wonderful, the weather was perfect, the company was great (Nate and then my whole Stuewe family), and the schedule was...well, unplanned. =)

We decided to bring our bikes and try out the bike rack my Grandpa had given us. It worked perfectly on the car. We mostly rode around the neighborhoods of Lincoln City, but one day we decided to ride down to a favorite coffee shop at the other end of town. Several uphill's later, we made it to Pacific Grind Coffee with our magazines, cards and camera. Now we're not Lance Armstrong or nearly close to it, so that 8 mile bike ride left us pretty tired.

We spent a lot of time on the beach listening to the mesmerising sounds of the waves. Some friends of ours had given us new restaurant recommendations and of course we had to try that out! Hawk Creek Cafe in Neskowin is a new favorite. Not only is the food unbelievable, but the cozy atmosphere makes you feel right at home. Neskowin is a small little town with a very secluded beach. We sat on the sand watching the waves for a long time. If you every get a chance to visit Neskowin, bring a book and a blanket and just park it on the sand. That will be an afternoon well spent. =) I also watched a seagull successfully convince an older couple to share their chicken with him....ha ha...little did they realize he was the first of about 80 more to fly by!

The second part of our trip was spent with the Stuewe's at Beaverly Beach state park. We stayed in a yurt and everyone else had their RV's. The view from my grandparent's site was of the ocean!! It could not have been a better spot. Of course we parked the main food tent at their site so we could all enjoy the sunset after dinner.

I think I've finally washed all of my camp fire smelling clothes. I sure do enjoy camp fires at night!

Driving home on Sunday we decided to continue with the vacation mentality. We stopped by our favorite "red box" movie rental and picked up "Marley and Me."

What a cute movie!! I never ever cry in movies, especially about animals, but this movie was so good. I couldn't fight back the tears. Mostly, I appreciated the pro-marriage theme in this movie as well as the good humor. It was definitely a good one.

More updates to come...we're back in our daily work/life schedule. I'll try to post more pictures later.

A big balloon!

Lately I have been waking up before my alarm. I love it when that happens! Today, I woke up well before my alarm. Our windows let in a lot of natural light and the birds were chatty.

I got up, walked into our living room, opened up the curtains and WOW there were probably 4 hot air balloons flying overhead! It was gorgeous! I ran outside in my pajamas...hoping my neighbors wouldn't be up...and got a few pictures. My pictures don't do it justice because they definitely look much bigger in real life. You can hardly see the passenger basket that high in the air...

Our town has a hot air balloon launching site and they usually fly out early in the mornings to catch the best weather. We had a summer staffer who used to work for them. He would chase the balloons in his truck and meet up with them wherever they landed, usually in a field. Apparently if you do this "chasing" bit 10 times you can get a free ride in a balloon!

Potlach...a tilikum fundraiser

Tomorrow will mark the "end" of our summer busy season as we head to Fox for the Tilikum fundraiser, Potlach. It will be much different this year. 1. It will be held in the Fox newly renovated cafeteria, 2. it will be free to attend! 3. We are only hosting it for 1 night 4. It is open to all who want to come rather than by invitation.

I'm excited to see some of these new changes come into play for Tilikum. I think tomorrow will be a really good event. We're looking forward to reconnecting with a lot of people, some of which are past summer staffers. It is always good to see them in town.

We will be taking off shortly after that for our vacation!! Wooo hooo!!! We can't wait. I already have a list of places we want to eat, fun things to do in the area, etc... I think mostly we are looking forward to a very unstructured schedule and the weather is supposed to be fantastic! I have been able to sleep in a lot more lately with my new work schedule, but Nate has not been able to do that yet.

We have been able to relax in the evenings more lately.

One thing that we have noticed about being in our own place now is that we have had a lot more time to read in the evenings. One of my favorite things to do right now is turn on my local jazz to station and sit down to a good book and tea. very nice!

I hope your weekend will be restful!

catching up with friends

This last weekend and these next two days have been our "catch up" days with friends.

Friday we had some friends over for a BBQ and played Ticket to Ride, one of our favorite board games. Afterwards, our friend Rick got ambitious and brought over his extreme yoga video and a few of us tried to finish it...but man was it hard!! I always thought I was flexible, but this extreme yoga pushes the limits! I'm sure Carmen could do it, she's been trained in yoga.

Saturday we took off for the ocean beaches to enjoy a little sand time and some surfing. Nate and I didn't surf, but we watched our friends Rick and Christine go out for a bit. It must have been a great day for surfing because I counted at least 19 other heads out there. Rick said it was some of the best surfing he's done in Oregon. Afterwards we explored our way into Newport and tried out a new restaurant recommended by our friend Jake McMillian. It's called Cafe Mundo, and yes it was divine! I think they had one of the best menus I've seen in a while and we all agreed that their artistic/industrial atmosphere was inspiring!

Sunday was our catch up day with Justin. We've had the privilege of working with Justin at both camp and Fox. He's an admissions counselor there now and will be taking off in the next week or so to travel the NW recruiting students. We thought we would get a concert in before he took off. Portland was showing a free concert with Pancake Breakfast, a folk/jazz/ho-down kind of band. We met at Justin's house for a pancake breakfast before taking off to hear Pancake Breakfast...very appropriate, don't you think. =) anyway, we loved their sound! And we all agreed this band is worth watching as they are far more entertaining live then they are on their CD.

Last night we had a BBQ with my good friend Kayla. She lives about 20 min. away with two other girls our age. It was good to catch up with her and her roommates. I can't believe the last time we saw her was November!! Well, for good reason it's been a busy year. She has been in a masters program to become a Nurse Anesthetist at OHSU and boy has that been an overwhelming program. But she's almost done with just a year and a little more to go.

Tonight we're having a few camp friends over for dinner to catch up and see what is next in store for them. I think I'll make beef stroganoff...mmm.. yes that sounds delightful!

It's been a good week of meeting and greeting friends. ahhh, it feels good to catch up.

End of the summer

Well, it's over folks...another great summer has come and gone at Camp Tilikum. This is a picture of this year's brave staff. They were a TON of fun to get to know and work with. I think you can tell by this picture that there were plenty of great personalities to keep this summer full of laughter and good memories. We'll miss them!

The picture is taken after our training week. We decided to celebrate the finish to our training with a "Beard party." Who knew there were so many great beards out there!

If you would like to see a video put together by one of our staff, Steven "Grasshopper", you can see it here:

He did a great job of really highlighting camp for what it is.

The kids were great this year....as always.

Now it's time to recoup. As of our our friends, Joe Thouvenel (also in camping), put it - recuperation before vacation. =)

HOT!!!

Yesterday it was so hot that Nate and I went to a movie to escape the heat. We watched the newest Harry Potter. We were on our way home around 10:30pm and saw the temp on the bank sign....93 degrees!!!! I sent our top sheet through the cold shower before heading to bed... Strange I know but it cooled us off in our 93 degree home.

Stay cool and run through sprinklers:)

house sitting

Nate and I have been house sitting for some friends. They have a really great place that overlooks some orchards and tree lots. We're enjoying the outdoors, their animals (sheep, llamas, dog), and the quiet of the country.

Barista challenge?

I guess there's a competition for everything. Today Nate and I traveled to the convention center to watch the US Barista competition. It was intense! These barista's were timed on how well they could pull shots of espresso! They had to meet certain criteria. I'm sure there were at least 6 judges per barista. Two of them would walk around the equipment and rate them on cleanliness. Another judge had a stop watch to check how long it took to pull the grounds and tamp it down. I mean, it was unreal! We got some good coffee while we were there. We even got to check out some coffee equipment. Now we'll know what to keep our eyes out for on Craigslist. =)

A small victory for Oregon!

I was stunned to read in the Oregonian about the need to cut 10 comics due to budget cuts! They provided a link to cast your vote for your top comics in hopes of eliminating the "least favorite." When I heard the news I immediately spammed my email friends and "encouraged" them to vote for my favorite comic, Cul de Sac. I don't know what I would do without my daily dose of Alice. She brings so much laughter to the little things.

Well, two weeks have come and gone since the voting of your favorite comics had begun. I had voted on any available computer in a mile radius. I knew today they would announce the decisions for the comic cuts.

You can only imagine my DELIGHT when I read the article from the editor.
Apparently I was not the only one in Oregon who felt the need to have/keep/and not lose ANY of the comics let alone my favorite. In fact, 1,000 emails, 400 letters and thousands of votes later finally had them convinced to NOT cancel any comics from the Oregonian! Hurray for our little victory in Oregon. My Cul de Sac comic may continue to shed light on the life of a little 4 year old in pre-school. And oh how funny she is!

Thank you to all who voted!

You may read the article on this link:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonianeditors/2009/03/were_not_dropping_comics_after.html

Sea lions

We're in Newport this weekend. Bruce found a cabin on the beach that we could all stay at for our house retreat. We've been playing a lot of games...taking personality tests...eating sweets (yep, we're eating sweets this weekend) and sleeping in!

This afternoon we took a walk down at the old historic bayfront. You could hear the sea lions barking down by the docks, so we headed down there. I think we stood there for about 20 minutes watching them lounge and occasionally bark at each other. They are hilarious to watch! And oh my gosh they're HUGE! I'm pretty sure they were at least 700lbs. each, not even joking! But wow, they know how to relax!

We're headed back home tomorrow. It's been nice to hear the ocean from our living room. The view from the window is of the ocean and a light house. I could get used to that.

It's a beautiful day!

It's another beautiful day here in Newberg! I walked to work this morning and tried to think up all sorts of ways I could move my cubicle out to the center quad. Can you picture a lone desk with a large computer outside in the lawn. I would love it! Patch all the phone calls through my cell phone!

It supposed to be in the high 50's today. The sun is out. I have seen more people taking walks and jogs. Even the smell of BBQ is out. I think we're all ready for summer!

A new discovery

A new discovery was made just a few weeks ago. It's not too often that I go clothes shopping, but when I do it takes me FOREVER to find something that fits just right. (you can verify that fact with my mom). I tend to be a picky shopper. Not that my clothes style benefits from it, I just like things to fit well.

A few weeks ago, I walked into Kohls to check out their 80% off sale. In bee-like fashion, I began circling the racks in no particular order. I bounced from one section of the store to another. My arms were full of great deals. As the weight of the clothes grew heavier and heavier I glanced across the aisle to see a few shirts I liked. Then some pants struck my attention. These pants were different from most pants. Oddly enough they didn't appear to need any hemming! I quickly dropped my arm load of clothes and snatched as many of these magical pants as I could and made a direct line for the fitting room. I tried on the first pair. To my great surprise they fit PERFECTLY! What was this great miracle that I had found?

Could it be? Yes, I am a petite....all these years and I have been shopping in the wrong section.

Mom, I'm a petite.

Day spa for the car

I discovered a jewel living in Pennsylvania. It's called the Cloister. And this is the website: http://www.cloistercarwash.com/

In summary, it is a day spa for your car! And I loved it. I would take our car there regularly for it's "pedicures and up-dos."

Since we've moved back to Oregon I have not quite found anything that has matched the quality of the Cloister...until now!

We took our car into the Ford dealership in Corvallis for it's regular oil change. I wasn't expecting any special "grooming" for this car, but I was wrong.
They not only checked the oil, rotated the tires etc... they also vacuumed and washed the car.
She was looking mighty fine cruising through the car lot.

I think we have found our Cloister substitute.

Perhaps one of these days we can treat this car to a real Cloister after a much needed road trip to Pennsylvania!