things that show up when cleaning out your desk

I got a new (to me) desk at work today. My old desk was nice but big and bulky. My new desk is much smaller and actually has more storage space. Plus, it's turned around so it faces the door, which is always a plus! I found a few unexpected things while cleaning out the old desk, which I've had since the spring of 2006:a wedding shower invite from...

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recent realizations

I really like curry. I mean, I knew I liked curry before, but I've recently started this diet (I haven't blogged about it yet . . . I will sometime), and one of my favorite recipes is curry chicken and rice. In fact, I'm having it for lunch today. I use a yellow curry powder I got at the supermarket, but I hear there are other types of curry, as well. I'll have to look into them.Unfinished websites are really annoying. I was on a camp's webiste...

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off the oregon trail: thoughts after returning home

I’m so glad I took Wednesday off—it would have stunk to get home at midnight and then be at work by 8.While in Bozeman, we couldn’t use any hair products because Sarah’s sister is allergic to scents. My hair behaved reasonably well, so I thought I might try going without any hair products for the rest of the trip. I changed my mind when we arrived in Cannon Beach and my hair went crazy. Duh! Bozeman’s low humidity is what allowed my hair to behave...

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on the oregon trail: day 14

We slept in a bit on Tuesday . . . at least until Mom started calling! We hadn’t told her we’d be sleeping in, so she thought calling at 8 would be fine; I think she was a bit confused when I answered my phone with my sleepy voice.We had coffee at Wild Boar Coffee, just off the Colorado State campus. I really liked my coffee; Val thought hers was...

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on the oregon trail: day 13

Monday morning, we headed off to Salt Lake City. Val had looked up a Starbucks location, but she hadn’t looked up driving directions—she just looked at a map and tried to figure it out. As we approached Salt Lake, I was driving, and she was navigating. I got off on the road she said . . . which turned out to be the right road, just 10 miles or so...

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on the oregon trail: day 12

This was the day we had to say goodbye to both Beth and Nate. We went to Bagels by the Sea for breakfast, and then we waved goodbye to Beth and headed for the Portland airport so Nate could catch his flight back to Nebraska. (He is currently on a mission trip in South Dakota.)Our last picture all together!Val let him take her phone so he could call...

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on the oregon trail: day 11

We spent Saturday in Portland. Beth had to work again, so it was a good day to go. It was also good because our cousin Kim and her husband Rob had the day off and were able to meet us downtown. We met at the Saturday Market, which would have been lots of fun to browse through if we were shoppers. But I’m certainly not (with some notable exceptions),...

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on the oregon trail: day 10

Friday. It seems so long ago now, but I'll do my best to remember the important details of the day!Our morning began with a lovely French toast breakfast cooked by Nate. Steph had pancakes because she got it into her head that she doesn't like French toast, due to some soggy, nasty stuff Val and a friend made like 8 years ago. We then went for coffee...

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on the oregon trail: day 9

Yesterday was a hiking/walking/nature day.We ventured out quite early in order to see the tide pools around Haystack Rock at low tide. It was well worth our early getting up time. Steph took hundreds of pictures of the starfish, crabs, clam shells, barnacles, and sea anemones. (Well, it wasn't really hundreds . . .)Haystack Rock. (Not in the morning,...

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on the oregon trail: days 7 & 8

We’ve had an eventful two days! We left Spokane at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. But before we left, I took plenty of pictures of Sharon’s yard and living room for Mom to see. What a good daughter I am!We stopped for gas and coffee about an hour into our journey. The Starbucks we stopped at was connected to a Mexican fast food restaurant, which gravely concerned...

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on the oregon trail: day 6

I. LOVE. MONTANA.That's what I've decided after spending parts of five days in that lovely state. I guess we should only count four of those days, though, because the first was just an overnight in Cooke City, and that "city" definitely didn't make Montana look good!We left Sarah's at 10 this morning. Our first stop was, you guessed it, coffee! This...

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on the oregon trail: days 4 & 5

I was having too much fun in Bozeman with Sarah to take the time out to blog, so here's the recap of our 4th of July weekend. (Sarah, you may need to make corrections!)We slept in slightly on Saturday, then we embarked on our amazing hike. We stopped off first at Wheat Montana to get sandwiches, then we went over to The Leaf & Bean for coffee....

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on the oregon trail: day 3

We left our motel in Cooke City at 10 a.m. After filling up with exorbitantly costly gas, we headed back into Yellowstone. (While I think Nate and Steph were just fine with going back--and perhaps even wanted to see some stuff, Val and I would have been more than happy to kiss Yellowstone goodbye for good. However, only one road goes through Cooke City, and our options were Yellowstone or a long, windy road that would have added a few hours to...

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on the oregon trail: day 2

No internet access last night--we stayed in the middle of nowhere, so here's the update on yesterday's activities:We decided to sleep in a bit, since our trip the day before took 13 hours. After a quick trip to Walmart and a drive through Starbucks, we headed out toward the Grand Tetons. The drive to the Grand Tetons was spectacular. The drive up Highway 191 from Rock Springs to the Grand Tetons was one of the prettiest drives I've ever been on.We...

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coffee across the country: day 1

Val and I love coffee, and we both agree that Barista's (where she works) serves some of the best coffee we've ever tasted. One of our goals on this trip is to find truly great coffee. All the coffee we taste will be compared to Barista's--is it better, just as good, or worse?Rating system: (devised by Val, in terms an ice cream lover can understand....

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on the oregon trail: day 1

This morning, my two sisters, cousin Nate, and I embarked on our great cross-country adventure. We'll be traveling to the Oregon coast to visit Nate's sister Beth.Before we could leave, though, my car needed to be fixed. On Sunday, the cable that allows my driver's side window to roll up and down broke . . . with the window completely down! My dad...

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