It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring....

Otherwise known as our Easter weekend trip to Portland, OR. We headed out last Thursday to spend the weekend with Galen's family and for a suprise birthday for a family friends. Which his family had been planning for like 6 months and pulled it off with out a hitch. Totally awesome!


Galen's mom picked us up at the airport and we headed straight to Kenny & Zukes for a late lunch/dinner with Galen's dad. Galen has been talking about this place since he visited there with his sister durning our last trip to Oregon, last June. According to Galen, "they have the best Pastrami ever." Since well, I am a chicken and I don't really like meat, I went with a hotdog. I did try the Pastrami fries which weren't too bad... (not my favorite but don't tell Galen)


After dinner we walked around the Pearl District with Carl. It was "First Thursday" the art galleries were free and there were street vendors that were selling art and crafts. It was so fun. We went to a gallery called "Bullseye" or something like that. Any way they had a bunch of glass pieces, my favorite was a glass camera and a glass apron. I totally enjoyed all of the buildings downtown. I was bummed I didn't bring my camera with us. We went to "Cupcake Jones" for dessert and OMG, they are best cupcakes ever! I highly suggest this place.


Friday, we went Boutique shopping with Lois. Galen wasn't excited but I was! I totally love boutique shopping. It reminded me of our trip to NYC. Definately a highlight for me. We met Galen's sister for dinner at Bamboo Sushi which was totally amazing. We love sushi! Then we wrapped up the night with a movie (The Blindside) at McMinnamins Pub (pretty sure I didn't spell that correct) this too was fun. I think this was Galen's favorite part even though he didn't want to really go there. But honestly who wouldn't like a movie theater where you can order food and drink beer. Totally a different movie experience than I am used to. The place was awesome, down below there were tables and up above where we sat it was theater seating and then every other row was replaced with a table. If you are ever in Portland it is a must try even if you don't want to drink beer :) My ginger ale was wonderful...


On to Saturday... We woke up and Carl made sourdough waffles. Waffles are my all time favorite and so is sourdough so it was a great day for me. Then we went hiking up to some waterfalls. Hiking in Oregon is amazing. The forest looks as though it is a live, all the trees have moss hanging down like fur.


Time to PAR-tay! The suprise party went off with out a hitch. Gough  walked into the restraunt and was totally suprised. We got to see a lot of people Galen's family knows from Moscow and Mark, Sarah and Julia Galen's friends from Moscow . We finally met Mark and Sarah's beautiful boys! Noah and Silas are total hams. (Galen is now baby hungry) He keeps telling me how cute their babies are. It is pretty cute because this is a side of Galen I haven't ever really seen.


Sunday we went for a walk and Lois made meatballs and sauce for dinner. They all are wonderful cooks. I need to learn how to cook still. It was fun to finally see Galen's parents new home. I loved it and I was suprised Galen did too. Galen is kind of territorial and I didn't think he would like it since it wasn't the Moscow farm. The house has so much character and a great livingroom and a fun studio above the garage. It really fits his mom.


Our flight was delayed an hour which, I think is a pattern the last time it was too! But overal it was a good flight. Up came Galen's bag and then we waited and waited and my bag never popped up. I was getting nervous but in the middle they had switched another flights luggage to a near by carosel so I thought I would check to see just in case there was a mix up. Then I see a grey bag and I yelled to Galen to help me get it. He comes back and says that isn't yours. So panic sets in... Galen heads to the office and I just stood between the two looking for my bag and thinking I have flown my entire life and this has never happened. Galen comes back and says it appears someone accidentally took my bag instead of theirs and they pulled the other bag and trying to contact the passenger. All I can think about is my new boots, all my other shoes, my clothes and I start doing the math and I'm frantically telling my mom I have over $400 worth of shoes in that bag alone not to mention all the clothing and 2 Northface coats. Finally they got a hold of the guy and had him bring back my bag. I have never been so shocked and sad all at once. I just sat outside the office ready to cry. Galen though jumped into action and handled everything so well and just got things done. Needless to say we got a travel voucher for having to sit there for so long.


In the end it all worked out and we had a great visit. Even with the rain! I officially am homesick for the Northwest.

I have the best hubby in the world...

So, I have been sick since Sunday and even though I am a whiny baby when I am sick my husband has made me homemade chicken noodle soup and taken care of me without complaining at all... The other day he was told about a "home remedy" that "works wonders"...Needless to say, I woke up to him putting a maxi pad that had vix smeared on it on my throat. I gotta give him props I don't know any other man that would do that just in hopes it would make his wife feel better. I don't know if it helped but we will say it did because it is the thought the counts. Like I said he is the best hubby ever. Now all I need is to be able to get some sleep at night! Dang this cold...

For a good cause....

I need your help! On March 24th I am going to "jail" for Jerry's kids. (Muscular Dystrophy Association) You can help me raise my bail money before the 24th by going to http://www.joinmda.org/2010stgeorgelockup/tiffanee_b/ and making a donation to MDA. Thank you for your help!

Saying goodbye...

Galen and I went to Ohio this week to say goodbye to a great lady. Galen's Auntie(which was really the only grandmother he knew on his dad's side)passed away and we went with his family to celebrate her life. It was a great service. The greatest thing was listening to all the stories that people had about his auntie, whether they knew her for a minute or a life time the story was always the same about how loving and great of a woman she was. I know this has been extremely hard for Galen and his family and I am glad that I was able to meet this lady that touch so many people. Galen was able to reconnect with his cousins that he hadn't seen in over 12 years. It was neat to meet some more of his family. Sad that it had to be this way. Thank you Auntie for being such a wonderful person. You will be greatly missed...

2010 we have officially begun...

We are officially almost 1 month in to 2010... Here is an update of what is going on in our lives. Galen is working like crazy to win his family weight lose challeng. I on the other hand am working really hard to gain the weight he has lost:) Galen has done such an amazing job of not only being in the lead of the weight loss challenge but also changing his eating habits and going to the gym daily. I admire him for this because I simply love junk food way too much. Plus, even though I love to run, bike and swim; I never make time for it. Galen has been pretty tied up with this weight loss challenge and of course getting ready for softball!
Galen's resoultuions for the new year..
1. stay healthy
2. find a new job
3. this is mine for him: not leave his socks on the coffee table:)

As for me... Well, I am back to school after a nice long Christmas break. My count down to the end of my degree has begun. I can officially say 1 week down. I am dreading this semester because well, it is all the classes I put off taking. But I will feel better when I am done or at least that is what I keep telling myself. I have been busy getting back into photography(www.sweetnshabbyphotography.blogspot.com) as well as getting back into sewing and making fun stuff. I am working on teaching myself how to knit, not too sure this is going to work out for me:) Here are some of the New Year's resolutions I have made...
1. Take myself to Paris next year
2. Not let the little things get me down
3. Run the St.G marathon (reality: with work and school this is going to fall on my list next year but it is a goal)
4. Enjoy life! Definately need my beach cruiser bike for this task! Hint, hint Galen:)

Mack, well he has been busy distroying all the toys he got for Christmas and being our best friend. I often wonder what goes through his head or what he would say if he could talk. I have never met a dog like him. I never knew a dog could have such a personality. I truely believe he makes us better people.
Macks resolutions...
1. use my dog bed
2. not sleep 24/7/365
3. go to the park more

In a nut shell that is what we have on our plates. I can't believe 1 month is down in 2010...time flies so lets have some fun! Oh and we are going to be an aunt and uncle; my brother and his wife are having a baby(July 31).

Christmas 2009

This was my first time spending Christmas with Galen's family and our first actual celebration of Christmas in our house. Galen's family joined us in St. George this year for Christmas. We picked them up on Wednesday in Vegas and had a great dinner and then headed back to Utah. We spent Christmas eve getting all the final details ready for the big day. I made pork salad for dinner and then we hung out and stuffed stockings and put out gifts. Our gifts made our tree look even smaller than it really was. Mack woke us up early on Christmas, I think he was more excited than all of us. He ran back and forth from the living room to our bedroom for like an hour until I finally got up with him. It was totally funny.

I had a blast even though I was missing my family and very much homesick. Luckily I was able to talk to them several times and Galen was very helpful to make me feel like I still had them here.I pretty much have the best husband ever. I got some of the best gifts this year. My grandma made us a beautiful quilt, my mom and dad got me a new sewing machine(I am so excited to use it), Galen's family got me a new lens for my camera and a pen pad for photoshop and Galen got me some amazing ear rings, a firepit for our backyard and a bunch of other stuff. I think I was totally spoiled this Christmas.