SNOWMAGEDDON

We are officially snowed in! We are breaking records here kids. In the 11 years i have lived in Portland I have never seen it snow like this. Being from Utah this kind of snow Is not new to me but I sure haven't seen it in a long time.

Nicole's boss called her yesterday and pretty much told her to not bother trying to come in for the next several days and my job site is completely closed until after x-mas. so....here we are. Honestly we needed to be snowed in. It really has gotten to the point with N's job where we never feel like we see each other. We have very little quality time together. Sunday is our day together but it is often taken up by social engagements or grocery shopping. Hot!

Although we are officially snowed in we have been able to make it out and about a little bit. We put chains on the car before the snow got too crazy and have been to the store and to play cards with some folks who live fairly close. It takes at least 20 minutes of defrost to even think about leaving the driveway but it has been worth it to get out of the house for a bit.



At this point I cant remember what days we did what activities so I will just name a few...

did a mini version of our annual bad x-mas light tour

made it to our favorite chicken wing restaurant

made banana pancakes

played lots of mille bourne (a french card game I just taught N)

we made snow ice cream

played canasta with ana and kenny

watched movies

started the second season of 30 rock

cozied up the house

have eaten WELL

nicole and pickle have had a few park dates

kept the chickens alive by thawing their water several times a day (poor girls)

we have had a kitty visitor named pants. temporary situation but its been nice to have him for a few days.

last but not least, got an effing virus on the laptop so if posts are slow to come in the next little while you know why....sorry Cindy!

the very best part of all of this is that Nicole and i have had lots of quality time. we have desperately needed this time to just be cozy and stuck in the house. We haven't even gotten close to killing each other yet. Tomorrow we will prepare our stockings and have a nice little x-mas eve, just the two of us....and pickle of course.

here are some pics from the last few days.....

























Tonight is x-mas eve. We made it to the store today to get ingredients to make Hungarian soup. We plan to have a fire and snuggle with Pickle and open our stockings. It should be a sweet little x-mas eve. I will post pics in a few days.

Happy holidays to everybody,

T

2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!

Its our anniversary today and its a little sad. N had to work at 8 tonight, so we didn't get much time together before she had to leave. I miss her already. Its not like its the end of the world that we didn't do anything for our anniversary. It would have been nice to go to dinner or something like that but real life gets in the way sometimes. I think what it ultimately comes down for both of us is that we are OVER her schedule!! I know she will stalk me from work tonight so I thought I would do a little something to entertain her. here goes...

It all started with a little snow



Myspace.
A joke...2 jokes. You must have really liked me.
This or that.
A date? Not yet.
Overalls. A date? YES!
Anna Bananas.
The dog park....You ran away!
Some tea.
A kiss.
Lunch on a rainy day.
LOTs of tea!!
Crabbing.
And the shuffle begins....


Remember this weekend? Mad on Mars and that hotel with wanda?



We have done a lot in the 2 short years we have been together. Weekend trips, road trips, plane rides...domestic and foreign. Bought a house, made a home, loved.



Sometimes you are a nasty little thing but I love you more than anything in the world, baby!



I mean who is cuter than us?



I mean hotter.



Costa Rica?

I'm sorry our night wasn't perfect like last year but It sure does comfort me to know we have many years to come. You got a real deal this year with that buy one year get one free. Thats my little miser!!


baby, the way you move is right in time with me....


xoxo

T

A LITTLE LESS GRINCHY

As i mentioned before, my heart size has increased about 2 sizes this holiday season. just uploaded the pics and thought i would share....

We went to get our tree yesterday. We decided to drive across town to go to a tree stand with a good cause. We got our tree from "voo-doo doughnuts" this was amazing for several reasons....1. the proceeds went to benefit homeless youth and 2. we got a coupon for 2 free doughnuts. Now, these are no ordinary balls or grease. The variety at voo-doo is outstanding! Lets just say if you want a tang doughnut you can have one...or how about a captain crunch doughnut? no? Well, you could always go for the maple bacon (with real bacon strips on it)!! Just sayin....



Before we left I told Pickle that we were going to bring the park to him. He was confused but i think he gets it now. Quite the little helper...



Picky with his very own ornament....



The whole family...

LOVE IS LOVE

I guess if everybody and their frickin dogs are blogging, i should too. Pickle encouraged me to start this thing so here we are. He will be helping me through the process since he is like 10 times smarter than me.

A little history on our family....

Pickle and i have been together for just under 6 years now. It was love at first site and we recount the day we met, often. He was my guy instantly! I never knew i could love a dog as much as i love him. I tell people we share a soul and I'm mostly not kidding.

Pickles favorite things:

1. food
2. me
3. his mom (Nicole)
4. the park
5. his ball (especially when its new and still has a squeeker)
6. bones
7.rolling in shit at the park
8. his lobster toy
9.keeping the yard squirrel free
10. chickens

Almost exactly 2 years ago the sweetest girl you have ever met came and changed everything. While avoiding her homework one night, Nicole was doing a little stalking on myspace. It just so happens she thought i was cute and asked me to be her friend. After 10 days of daily emails and a phone conversation i convinced her to go on a date with me. On December 9th we will have been together 2 years. On our one year anniversary we exchanged rings to symbolize our love and commitment to each other. Fortunately we live in a state that recognizes our commitment legally through "domestic partnership" which means we have the same legal rights as a married couple. the first day we could (February 4th 2008) we were at that courthouse to file the paperwork required to make our commitment legal. I could go on and on about this subject and how i think its a disgrace that this country can't get passed their religious bigoted views to see that my civil rights should not be something that gets voted on...that love is love and it shouldn't be up to anybody else to tell me who i can and cant love. I will leave it at that but i think you get my point.........

Now back to my sweet girl. N finished her medical lab technician program and has been working in her field for just over a year now. I have also recently finished an apprenticeship and I'm a full fledged electrician. It is really nice to be in similar places in life where we are both establishing successful fulfilling careers. We bought our house just over a year ago and have really enjoyed making a home together. We have already done so much to improve it and make it ours. Last spring i built a chicken coop and we raised 4 beautiful hens, last summer we had a stamped concrete patio put in the back for lounging and fires in our fire pit, in the fall we hired some friends to build a beautiful fence and landscape our front yard and it looks amazing!

N and I took a trip to Costa Rica in November and it was really wonderful. I will try to post some of those pics but most of you have already seen them so....

Is everyone sitting down? Good cause what I'm about to say may shock you.....I have decided to get a christmas tree and hang some stockings. I know, I know it seems unreal right? Well, I've decided to try to be a more accommodating partner to N who loves certain things about this time of year. Honestly it's not worth the conflict and I'm actually enjoying it a little bit, however, the no present rule still applies. I haven't de-grinched that much people. We got our tree today and pickle was such a good little helper, I think its cause he is excited about his special ornament.

pickle and i are really excited about our new blog and will try to keep everybody updated on the reg.

peace,

T