Our walk home

We had a mandatory employee meeting for our department yesterday.  These are never fun.  Every casino is the same and seems to attract the same kind of employees.  Dealers are notorious for having gigantic egos in combination with being very lazy and greedy. 
I really hope Skott and I don't EVER become this way.

We have a new Games Manager that is really trying to make things better.  This, of course, is brought about through changes and better policies and procedures.
You would think she was asking everyone to give up their first born child.

So, after sitting there for over an hour listening to all the whining, sniveling, arguing, and complaining, the meeting was done.  Understandably, we were both very irritated and fed up with all the attitudes.  We had decided to walk to the meeting to try and get some exercise in.  On the way there, we were running a little late so we just took the streets/sidewalks.  But on the way home, we had plans to walk along the beach.

Let me tell you, it is hard to be in a bad mood when you walk outside and see this:

It was gorgeous and warm and sunny with no wind at all.
As we walked along, the sun quickly started to set.

By the time we got home an hour later, I was feeling at peace (despite the fact that Skott found two pieces of beach glass and I, again, found none).



Seeking input and help

Found out last week that the casino is doing an ugly sweater contest for Christmas for the employees.

I want to win it!

Any suggestions?  I was also wondering if anyone had any creative ideas where Skott and I could dress up together/complimenting/etc.... 

I am going to have to start hitting the used stores early... as I have already scoped out the heinous prices on ebay.  Apparently, this is a very popular party idea.

A sad death

My airpop popcorn popper died last week.  It was my only evening off and I was craving popcorn and this:

Seriously, it's the BEST!

A low-calorie snack that tastes like artery-clogging, heart attack-inducing love of my life?!?!

And of course, it was after 9pm so there was no where to go buy another popper.  sigh

Since then I've been too busy to go shopping but you can bet this coming Thursday (my next night off) you will find me relaxing with sandy feet, a glass of wine, and a big bowl of bacon-flavored popcorn!

Day off at Oceanside

Last Thursday we both had a day off together.  We planned to get up early, but when the alarm went off, we hit snooze, then when it went off again, we just shut it off and slept two more hours.  Aaaaaahhhhh!  Nothing like waking up feeling totally refreshed!
We decided to head north to one of our favorite beaches:  Oceanside.  It was an absolutely perfect day -sunny and no wind.

This is the beach when you first get there.  To the right of the photo is a giant rock cliff.  There is a passageway cut through the rock that allows access to another beach:


looking through one of the holes in the passageway




Skott getting ready to climb down to the other side (end of passageway)



This is the view on the other side.  This is where Skott proposed to me :)  It's a very special place to us.

We were wandering along the beach and saw this (dead) jellyfish.  I was really excited, as we usually just see bits and pieces of them, never a whole one.

Then we walked on a ways and I saw this HUGE one that still had all it's organs visible:

We climbed rocks, searched for beach glass, laughed, and had a great time...

It was a nice break.
Skott is working full time at the casino now.  I am part time.  I am also doing a temporary job and with the way the schedules have fallen, I am doing a lot of double shifts.  Thank god for naps :)

Lincoln City is a tourist destination, so we meet a lot of interesting guests at work.  It is a refreshing change from the "screamers" I used to get at the hotel, and the isolation Skott used to experience as a driver.

We miss everyone terrribly and want to you to know that you are all welcome to come visit anytime :)

Warning

Warning:

If you don't like pictures of the beach, you might want to stop reading my blog now.... -just sayin'

The beach has always been very humbling to me.  The feeling I get when I stand there with my toes in the sand and that vastness laid out before me is undescribeable.  It really centers me, calms my mind, soothes my emotions, and reminds me that life is so big, so wonderful, and to never take it for granted.

We managed to not be working the other night at low tide.  I couldn't capture the anenomes like I had hoped, but here are some shots of the tide pools we stumbled upon.

We even saw a seal come up on the beach!  It was really neat to watch it.  Even though there are lots of signs posted to give the wildlife their distance, people still get stupidly close to snap pics.  And then some dumb chic was letting her dog run off leash and wasn't paying attention and her little weiner dog ran right up and spazzed out on that poor seal.  It was barking and circling the seal and the dumb chic was chasing her dog around the seal.  All the while the seal is snapping and lunging at her and the dog.  Dumb people.  Even the people in the oceanfront hotels were drawn out to their balconies by all the commotion and started yelling at her to get control of her dog.  It was sickening.  I felt so bad for the seal.

We are both back to work at the casino.  Luckily, we are on the same shift even though it is graveyard (8pm-4am).  The first night back was a little nerve-racking but dealing cards is like riding a bike.... you forget some of the finer points, but you never really forget.  Skott got full-time at the casino and I am part time.  I am also doing a temporary job for a retail store that is moving/opening a new location.  The dogs have adjusted pretty well.  Life is very busy right now, but I couldn't be happier

Life on the Farm

We were very grateful our home sold in this current housing market, and even more grateful that Dad and Sherry opened their doors to us this summer!

SherDen Farm is such a beautiful, relaxing place!  Thanks for sharing your wonderful home with us!


Jack (the cat) supervising Dad and Skott hanging the bat box on the silo



Skott and Dad baling hay.



Daddy and his "Powermaster" tractor

Lindsey visited.  This is her mix puppy "Sasha"



This is a hilarious shot of "Big Boy" Roscoe buck



Lots of yummy goat milk and cheese curds courtesy of Solo and Blossom!  This is Dad and Solo.

I loved how this twin always kept her feet up on the rail when you fed her



Milo on the birdbath

Nia snoozin on my stomach one lazy afternoon

Taking the dogs on a "walk"

View of the farm across the valley

The sky was amazing that evening!



The old hay barn



Skott took a lot of great shots from inside the barns one afternoon



View of the farmhouse from inside the barn

The following photos are not photoshopped or anything.  Skott actually took them with his phone one morning after work.  This is looking out over the garden into the hay field.  Soooo pretty!

Back Online

We had one last family dinner together the Sunday prior to our move.  We went to Round Lake.  It was a gorgeous day!

Mason, Skott, Aundray, (Nic), Max

Carrie made the most delicious homemade chocolate and bacon cupcakes!  YUMMM!!!

Our move back west was challenging.... to say the least!  Our biggest hurdle was the fact that no one would rent to us without us viewing the property in person first.  Fair enough, but also extremely frustrating in that no one would "pre-approve" us before hand (run our credit, check references, etc) so that we would be ready to sign once we found something.

My Dad helped us load the truck on Monday.  Hard to believe everything we have easily fit into a 10'x20' storage unit:

Measuring to make sure its all going to fit into truck :)

We left early Tuesday morning.  I am so glad Skott had the skills to drive that huge truck and trailer!  He volunteered to take the dogs with him so I had the nice, quiet car all to myself!  Good thing! -he told me Fucie whined for the first couple hours.  Eventually, they settled down to this:

We drove from about 7am until 11:30pm.  We stayed in Billings, MT.  Ran through the sprinklers at the hotel trying to locate an outdoor outlet so we could plug our freezer in.... We were so exhausted!  Izzy was nervous and panted the ENTIRE night.  She was literally shaking the entire bed.  After a little sleep, we woke up and headed out.  Hit a lot of construction that afternoon around Yellowstone.  Made a quick stop in Jerome and visited "Mamma Jerri".  Then headed on to Glenns Ferry where we stopped and visited Skott's "Mom and Pop" and his Aunt Joyce.  Then on to Boise/Meridian for the night.  We stopped at Heidi's first.  Mom and Seth drove up from Utah, and Rachel and Josie were there also.  It was wonderful to see everyone and we really appreciate them all coming over, despite the late hour.  Got to hug and kiss my sweet niece Ayla.  I haven't seen her in over a year.  Wow! -what a difference.  She was so cute toddling around and kept trying to feed the dogs bits of food through the (closed) screen door.  Adorable. 

We left Heidi's to go sleep at Josies new place.  Wish we would have had more time to visit.  In fact, I should have just skipped sleep altogether that night thanks to more panting by Izzy.

We left Boise Thursday morning and continued on to Oregon, arriving late at night in Lincoln City.  The retarded desk clerk misdirected us and we ended up getting "stuck" in the lower lot with the truck and trailer because the ramps into the lot were too steep to get out and there were a couple vehicles blocking the way.  Finally managed to position the truck as to not block anyone and we collapsed into bed.  The next morning we went out to move the truck and got a lovely scolding by the day shift front desk lady.  Love it when you call ahead to make arrangements for things, are given wrong information, and still get yelled at because no one can communicate or pass down messages.  Ah well, we got it all straightened out amidst dealing with a gushing toenail from Izzy... she drags her back legs when she walks and she managed to snap off her toenail below the quick.  Luckily, a vet clinic was close by and we were able to get some styptic powder to stop the bleeding but not before she had made a giant mess of the bathroom floor.  Oh, and did I mention we were supposed to be out doing drive arounds with the rental people?  Yah....  it was a crazy morning.

The place we really wanted had just been rented out the day before.  We looked at a couple places in the morning, then the landlord had some other appointments so we went and got breakfast/lunch where we discovered we had ran over a nail somewhere so off to Les Schwab we went.  Thankfully, they got us in quickly and fixed it up for no charge.  After that we went back and looked at another place and decided it was the best of our options at the time.  It is a duplex townhouse, built in the 1970's, but very roomy!  We love the fact that we are only about 4 blocks to the beach. 

We FINALLY made it to the beach about 5pm!

We had to stay in the hotel all weekend until our credit check came back.  Late Monday afternoon we got the keys and started unloading the truck into the garage.  It took SO LONG to unload.  We were already a day over our allotment on the truck so we decided to just return it that night.  Oh, but before we could return it we went and picked up a washer and dryer we found on craigslist.  Then we headed to Salem, which is an hour away (but the nearest Penske drop-off).  Ate our first fast-food of the entire trip, and consequently, both got sick on the way home (when will we ever learn?), and got to bed around 2:30am.

Whew!