Rose City Cats

One of the first things Hubby and I did when we got to Portland was find a way to watch the Arizona basketball/football college games. Last night we met up with the Rose City Cats Alumni group @ Macadams Bar and Grill to watch the basketball game vs. Washington. We lost 69-67 but it was a heart stopper!

A little piece of home

Thank you Hubby for taking me to the game despite being sick. :(

Nice People!

I don't know what it is about Tucson (the heat!) but people aren't nice there. At all. Heck, I will admit it, I wasn't particularly nice. Whether you are at the grocery store, bank, school or convenience store, everyone has a general displeasure about them. Not in Portland! Everyone I have had the opportunity to speak to has been extremely nice. Everyone who works in a customer service position has been kind and talkative. Everyone has been helpful and smiling. It is so foreign to me, I don't know quite how to react, I just smile dumbly at them with a look of confusion. :)

In addition, they don't have recorded messages or call routing here. When you call a utility company (electric, gas, cable, trash) they pick up the phone to speak with you. When I called the DMV a polite woman answered on the first ring! When we called the electric company regarding a problem, they had a repairman out here within 20 minutes! The service in Portland is outstanding!

Snow Day!

I awoke to snow this morning! Not much, but enough to get excited about. It is supposed to snow even more tonight after the sun goes down and is also expected on Monday and Tuesday.

Updated @ 1:00 in the afternoon:

 View of the backyard from the master bedroom

 View from the guest bedroom of the front yard

 Front yard: Japanese Maple

 Front yard

 Front yard: Our Giant Christmas Tree

 This one is for Bruce: the Garden Gnome

 The girls love the snow!

 Trudy always poses so nicely...

 Lily does not!

Time to warm up in front of the fire.

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

Hubby took me out to OMSI for lunch and a fun day at the museum! OMSI is a terrific museum to bring young children to since there are so many hands on activities and stations, however, as a couple without kids (and germaphobic) it wasn't as enjoyable as we had hoped. We are both looking forward to visiting the planetarium, submarine and the theatre next time we visit. :)

 Gloomy day in Portland

 Bridges that span over water, that is new to me

 USS Blackback submarine

 Finally inside an Apollo capsule (good thing I am "child" sized)

Room 1: 1/2 Bath

While I have begun some preliminary job seeking, for the moment I am focused on making our house look nice and feel cozy. One thing I know for certain is that once I start working the momentum to decorate the house or do chores will vanish. So, while I am home, I thought it would be nice to show you pictures of the rooms as I complete them. I started out small with the 1/2 bath located at the foot of the stairs.

First and foremost you should know that Hubby and I haven't ever really had a decorating style. I have always joked that our style is "frat boy chic". We have only purchased a few items ourselves, the rest are hand-me-downs from friends and relatives. I don't see that changing in the near future, so what I have focused on is creating rooms which are full of things we love AND have a story behind them!

The framed poster on the wall is signed by the entire 1994-1995 Arizona Wildcat Basketball team including Lute Olsen. I acquired these autographs myself at a practice session @ McKale Center.

The two magazines on the wall are the only two times the Cats have been on the cover of Sports Illustrated (as far as I know).

The total cost for this room was $15.00 (two red hand towels and a navy blue soap dispenser). Everything else I already had.

The Story of Our House

Our home was built in 1987 by the students of Tigard High School. There are a few things around the house that make a lot more sense now that we know this home was a school project. :) The previous tenants had lived here for 12 years. When the housing market bottomed out, they decided to purchase a home. They were smokers and thus explains all the updates (paint, carpet, linoleum) that were completed before our tenancy. The city of Tigard is divided into zones or neighborhoods. Our house is located in the Cook Park Neighborhood. Apparently, the Cook Park area is highly sought after as it hosts the largest park in the city, Cook Park (duh), which spans 79 acres and borders the Tualatin River.  Cook Park is just a half mile away!

Pros and Cons Regarding Oregon

Pros:
1.  Absolutely gorgeous scenery (there are trees everywhere!)
2.  Big backyard with an outstanding deck
3.  Area for a garden
4.  Fireplace
5.  People are friendly
6.  Neighbors are quiet
7.  All kinds of new wildlife and domesticated animals (crows, squirrels, chickens, roosters and goats)
8.  You can drink water straight out of the tap and the water is soft

Cons:
1.  Constantly wiping wet, dirty puppy paws
2.  Colder than I am used to
3.  I get lost easily and have no idea where I am most of the time
4.  Nothing ever dries: hair, towels, or puppy feet

The "Kids"

Well, as you can see here the "kids" are adjusting well to the new house, new yard, and new stairs. I think the dogs are tired of the stairs, however, as Trudy required me to carry her down this morning and Lily is running up and down a little slower than before.

The Drive to Oregon

I don't have a tremendous amount of pictures from our drive to Oregon, mostly due to stress levels and driving so much at night.  Here are a few I managed to snap:

 

On the road, leaving Tucson heading to Phoenix

Sleepy puppies already, they have no idea the ordeal we are about to put them through.

 Wednesday night (12/28/11) we stayed in Kingman

 Thursday morning (12/29/11) we left for California, we visited San Luis Obispo where my sister lives and than headed towards San Francisco.  This photo is from somewhere between SLO and San Fran. We ended up staying over night in Petaluma, California.

We left Petaluma on Friday morning (12/30/11) and trekked on. This photo was somewhere in Northern California.

Humboldt Redwood State Park

Humboldt Redwood State Park

 Outside Eureka, California

 Double Rainbow!

 Crescent City, California (close to the Oregon border)

Sunset along the North Pacific

We technically arrived in Portland on Saturday 12/31/11 just after midnight.  We stayed in Hubby's hotel room which he had been using since arriving in Portland and when the sun came up, we picked up the keys to the house.  That day we unpacked the entire truck and moved everything into the house.  That night we stayed up and watched the ball drop and were promptly in bed around 12:02. :)

We were greeted in 2012 with the most lovely of sunrises.  Welcome Phillips family to Oregon!

Hello Oregon!

Hi everyone!  Just wanted you all to know that we arrived safely in Portland on Friday night.  We picked up the keys to the house on Saturday morning and celebrated our first day in our new house on New Years Eve.  Unpacking has commenced and all the animals are settling in nicely.  Our internet was finally hooked up today, so expect pictures and more in the coming days.