Day 213

Shhhh...don't tell Rob his birthday present came today!

I had it delivered to my office, just to make sure he didn't see the package.  I managed to sneak it home in my Mickey Mouse bag, and into the guest bedroom completely undetected.  I wrapped it up all festive like with a matching bow, then quickly put it in the nightstand for hiding and safe keeping until his big day on Saturday. Sure hope he likes it!

Day 212

Did you hear that?  It was the sound of a bomb that went off...right there in my office, spreading paper debris everywhere!

Today, the first part of our annual city budget is due.  That means any revisions for our current 2012 budget, as well as our proposed 2013 budget are both due.  And even though the Chief and I have our process pretty streamlined, it still means quite a bit of work has been done, lots and lots of review in a short amount of time, and everything else that has come up has taken a back seat...as indicated by the sea of paper on my desk.  It was so ugly, I just had to snap a photo.

This is the 'before'.  In a couple weeks when things settle down and all the back seat stuff gets cleared away, the 'after' will look much better!

Day 211

Leo knows...it's the Dog Days of Summer...and he's kickin' it by the pool with some cool shades on!

Rob and I had every intent on heading back down to the boat races today, until we couldn't get out of bed...and rolled out late...really late.  So, he decided to do his usual Sunday thing of mowing the lawn and doing some things around the house.  I decided to head over to Mel's with Kim and have a little girl time by the pool.  It was really nice...just the three of us hanging in the pool...well four of us if you count Leonardo!

After the races were over, everyone headed back to Mel and Jordon's for swimming, diving, cannonballing and just some general splashing around in the pool to cool off. 

Thanks again Mel for offering up your home, your lovely patio and refreshing pool to us all!

Day 210

Like I said yesterday...it's Water Follies time again! It has been years and years since I have been to the races, but today I took part in the annual festivities, and had a blast doing it!

Thanks to my now 'former' co-worker, Terry, Billie and I were able to get two sets of 3-day wrist bands that included pit passes, and several parking tickets.  As part of the Water Follies group, Terry has offered these tickets up to us every year, but we have always declined.  This year though it seemed like something fun we could do with Rob and Keith...neither of which had ever been.  I have to admit, the draw really was more for the airshow portion, but I think we all wanted a taste of the overall experience.

When we arrived at the park, we headed straight for the pits, to take a bit of a tour, and get up close and personal with the boats.  We hung around just for awhile waiting for the airshow to begin.  When we finally decided to explore the rest of the park, we walked only feet out the pit gates and ran into Bre's mom Trish, who had some prime beach front real estate...so to speak!  She had three tents located along the river, just outside the pits and was kind enough to let us throw up our chairs and have a seat!  We really couldn't have stumbled into a better deal...thanks Trish!

The two-hour Over the River Airshow had several different participants.  First, there was an all-women skydiving group - the Misty Blues, who parachuted out with American flags.  The US Coast Guard had a helicopter and performed a mock rescue.  There were several planes doing some aerobatics, including the Lucas Oil Bi-Plane in the photo above and the Firecat Jet, in the photo soaring near bridge.  But the best part was the Air Force Heritage Flight at the end.  It showcased a state-of-the-art F-16 fighter jet, along side a WWII P-51 Mustang.  Seeing that vintage plane was really cool, but that F-16 damn near blew our socks off...literally!  When that thing roared up over the banks of the river, you truly felt your insides shake.  I'm not joking when I say that the first somewhat unexpected pass over caused dogs to bark, kids to cry, and car alarms to go off, just from the noise and vibration.  It was really something.  And even in it's subsequent pass overs, you only thought you were ready, but it shook your foundation each time!  Every year I hear them come into town, see them pass through our skies, but seeing them up close and personal was pretty impressive.

We really hadn't intended to stay down at the park beyond the airshow, but once it was over there was some qualifying laps, and a heat for some vintage hydroplanes, so we stayed a little while to catch that.  It wasn't too exciting, just a couple of boats out on the water kicking up their rooster tails, but they were loud and that was kind of cool.  It reminded me of the good old days when I was a kid, and during the whole week of boat races, anywhere you were, you could hear that loud thunder on the water.  It really was the pinnacle of summer.

Day 209

Look at sweet little Amelia...we wore the poor girl out!

It's Water Follies weekend, and that means first things first...the Allied Art Show in Howard Amon Park.  Even though we all know we are going to see most of the same stuff we saw last year, the idea that there just might be something new, something different, or that one thing that calls your name, drives us to go back year after year.

Today was my Friday off, so in an effort to beat the Saturday crowd, we all headed down first thing this morning to check things out; Mom, Billie, Melanie, Ryanne and Ryanne's little sister Amelia. But the parking and people situations were already crazy, and sadly the stuff did turn out to be the same ol' schtuff! I didn't buy one thing.  But it was still fun to be with the girls, browse a bit, run into a couple familiar faces, and munch on a little kettle corn.

Until next year Art in the Park!

Day 208

For some reason, Thursdays seem like a good night to eat out?  I'm not sure why, but they just are.  Tonight was no different...well, I guess it was a little different, it wasn't Mexican!

Tonight Rob and I had dinner at Famous Dave's.  He had never eaten there, and I was craving the BBQ Chicken Salad...it's so yummy!  After we were seated, our waitress asked if we had ever been in before.  When Rob told her he hadn't, she indicated she had a little gift for him at the end of our meal.  I have to admit, forever the skeptic, I couldn't imagine what kind of 'gift' she was talking about.  Turns out, she actually gave us a bottle of their signature Rich & Sassy sauce.  I thought that was a pretty nice gesture.  Now we can have Famous Dave's at home!

Day 207

July is drawing to a close...and yep, you guessed it, I don't have anything to photograph today.  So here it is, my July Precious Moments calendar.

This month's plate happens to be one of my favorite's.  It is a picture of a patriotic drummer boy, and says, 'Marching To The Beat Of Freedom's Drum'. Again, I just love all the red, white and blue and 4th of July decor; I hate to see this last bit of it go away. But it'll be back out again next year for sure!

Day 206

Since checking out the Inspiration List worked for me yesterday, I did it again tonight.  This time I looked at the Capture Your 365 July List and today it just said...Peaceful.

So here's one of my sweet little girls, Baylee all snuggled up for the night...peaceful, in her bed.  I have to admit, the photo is kind of two-fold. It's me who is also feeling more peaceful about her lately, relieved at her slow but steady recovery with her injured legs. She's able to get around better on her own and appears to be in little pain if any...mainly she just seems stiff and locked up. 

Here, her eyes are actually rolled back in her head as she has little peaceful puppy dreams.

Day 205

Okay, I was at a loss tonight for a photo so I took a look at Fat Mum Slim's July List.  Today it just said...Mirror.

Well, this mirror happens to be the bane of my existence!  This is my 10x magnifying mirror that I keep on the bathroom counter.  I spend more time in front of this mirror than I care to confess.  Just ask Rob, who is constantly telling me to step away from the mirror and stop 'picking' at my face.  It's just that this mirror speaks to me...or more like yells at me...LOOK at that imperfection, CHECK OUT that wrinkle, please pluck THAT, or that's an UGLY whitehead, blackhead or whatever...you fill in the blank! 

The hard part to remember is that most people probably don't get close enough to see what the 10x mirror sees, but nonetheless, who wants to risk it??

Day 204

Rob and I went on a little excursion today.  Kind of like old people, we took a Sunday drive!  I'm really only joking.  We actually had a romantic day, just the two of us...hanging out, exploring new places, and having a picnic in the park for two.

We decided for our outing we would head towards Pendleton. Rob had never been there, and it had been years and years since I had.  There is a place Rob had seen around Wallula, a basalt rock formation he wanted to explore called Twin Sisters, so we headed there first...where this picture of the Columbia River was taken.  It was hot out there today, but absolutely beautiful.  We climbed up a small trail, and this was the awesome view we enjoyed!

We got back in the car and headed south into Oregon along the river, which was a very pretty drive.  It may sound funny, but I don't think I had ever crossed into Oregon without crossing a bridge.  It was a busy day on the water, with lots of folks trying to cool off and enjoy the river's banks.

We headed into Pendleton, and thanks to my trusty iPhone, we were able to find a cute little park right next to the infamous Round-Up.  We spread out a blanket, pulled out all of the food I packed, kicked off our shoes and enjoyed a lovely little lunch in the park. 

After we packed back up again, we just took some time to explore Pendleton.  It's a cute little town, but unfortunately they must roll up the sidewalks on Sundays!  We did a little walking around their historic downtown area, as well as the River Parkway.  We really liked it there, and hope to go back again...this time on a Saturday!

Day 203

Tonight we celebrated Billie's birthday with some dinner and Rum Barrels at Cedars!

Billie was out of town last weekend on her birthday, so we celebrated tonight.  Unfortunately we were missing a few of our 'gang', but we managed to have a pretty good time nonetheless. 

Billie, Keith, Mom, Bre, Shauna, Osanin, Melanie, Jordan, Rob and I celebrated and had a great time.  We ate a lot, drank a lot, and laughed a lot...sort of our standard protocol for get togethers!!

Instead of birthday cupcakes for Billie, I decided to try my hand at cake pops again.  I wanted another opportunity to give them a try, and Billie missed them on the 4th of July.  This time with a few changes things went much smoother, they turned out just as delicious but much prettier and more uniform...and well...summer birthday festive!

Happy Belated Birthday Billie...hope your birthday week was extraordinary!!

Day 202

This is Nevan.  She is quite a happy little girl...and a ham to boot! And those piggy tails you see hide her little devilish horns!

Today, our former co-worker and friend Nicole stopped by the office with Tegon and Nevan...and her swollen belly with Baby Number #3 due to arrive soon.  While they were there I snapped a few photos of the kiddos.  I just loved this picture of Nevan, who is always so full of smiles...it's contagious.  Even when she's being naughty you can't help but laugh a little!

Day 201

Yum!  Salsa Bar trio from the Hacienda Del Sol.

Today was one of those days that left me with very little desire to cook dinner or clean up a kitchen.  When Rob picked me up from work, I asked if he would take me to dinner at what has recently become our favorite Mexican restaurant.  I think we have been eating here almost once a week for the last couple months.

I even went back in my blog and did a search on it, and found that I mentioned the first time we ate here together on March 10 (the joys a of a blog...a personal diary of sorts!)  And we've been returning ever since.  One of the things we love about it is their salsa bar, with about eight different salsas, including the cabbage salsa I love, and the fresh tortillas Rob loves!!  And to top it off, it's right up the street!

Day 200

Do you see that Post Title...Day 200!!  I can't believe it!  200 days of taking a photo everyday...AND blogging about it. 

I realize now in looking back, I've had to let a lot go...a lot of expectations of myself, and expectations of perfection in order to make this work (I seem to have trouble with those darn 'expectations' all over the place!).  Sometimes I get a little behind in my blogging and I have to remind myself it's okay, and sometimes I may even cheat and snap a photo the next morning of something I missed or forgot the night before...but that's okay too.  And, I've certainly had to let go of the expectation that I would have 365 delightfully fascinating photos!!

Case in point...today's photo.  It's a photo I snapped tonight with my phone and ran through Instagram of Mom's hosta in her backyard.  It's full of little purple blooms right now...attracting all kinds of bee friends!! But I thought it was pretty, and I thought the lighting was interesting, so it's today's photo.

Day 199

To Have And To Hold Forevermore...

On Saturday, I shared that I put away all of the 4th of July decor, which made a little room for a few new, fresh additions...like this one.

Tonight I thought I'd share this little Precious Moments that is actually the cake topper Mom bought me (us) for my bridal shower.  There are so many Precious Moments bride and groom figurines out there to choose from, but this one is perfect...To Have And To Hold Forevermore.  I love it so much, and will treasure it always! 

Because it's new, and because Rob and I are still 'just married', I thought it needed a little time on display before joining all of the others inside the curio cabinet.