Hudson Family Trip: Summer '15

The Hudson Clan swung by for a quick visit during their amazing summer road trip. We had such an amazing time and Liam and Alex (Magnus) are simply the best nephews we could ask for! We had so much fun together: we went to Mount Hood Adventure Park, dressed up as astronauts, launched rockets, played Lego video games, played with action figures, went to Wings & Waves Waterpark and watched Star Wars Episode IV for the first time! We laughed, played, tickled and screamed! What a blessing having these two little guys around was...exactly what I needed to remind me what truly matters.

Killer (b. 2001- d. 2015)

I would like to begin this particular post with the understanding that I truly hesitated in posting about this particular subject. I don't think there is a way in which to inform people about a new purchase like this and not seem braggadocios about it. I treat my blog like a digital scrapbook which allows Hubby and I to look back over the years and remember all the cool (and not so cool) stuff we have experienced. I am simply including this as one of those cool things.

A year ago Hubby and I started seriously talking about a new car. We wanted to wait until after we purchased a house and I got a job (check and check!). We started test driving vehicles and we narrowed it down to two: either the Camaro or the Challenger. We test drove them again and again but I couldn't stop thinking about the Challenger. Hubby did a ton of research and liked what he was hearing about the 2015 model year, so we waited. He actively started looking about 3 months ago and we started visiting dealerships back in May. 

We finally ran across one that we really liked with all the features we wanted and it was right down the street. We went in to see it in person because we weren't sold on the color. We loved it! The sticker price, however, had much to be desired. The dealership had marked the car $2000 over MSRP. When Hubs tried negotiating they virtually threw us out and called Matt "sarcastic and smug". Neither of which he was being, might I add! Hubs continued to seek out vehicles but we couldn't find just the right one. We had resigned ourselves to having to order the car online and wait months for build/delivery or travel out of state when suddenly the exact car we liked showed up at a different dealership. We called to see it and when we asked how they acquired the car they stated they got through a dealer trade. It WAS the exact car from the other dealership we got thrown out of! We already had our financing in order so yesterday we brought home our first brand new car as a married couple (and for the price we wanted)! Happy anniversary Hubby!

14 years ago I purchased Killer brand new off the lot with only 11 miles on her. Besides Piper the Cat, it is the thing I, personally, have owned for the longest. It was more difficult than I thought to leave without her yesterday especially knowing that she will get parted out. Killer -- we have been through a lot -- you got me to and from work for 14 years, carried every puppy and kitty I have ever had, drove us to Vegas to get married, got me through college and made the trip from Arizona. You were a good old girl and I will miss you.

Meet my new baby! I have no idea what her name is yet as I don't know her well enough.

You cannot force a name, she will tell you when the time is right.

Yes boys, she is a V8!

The sport track pack with sport seats

Exterior Color: Redline Red

Interior Colors: Black and Ruby Red

Zoological Wildlife Conservation Center (ZWCC Sloth Sanctuary)

For Hubby's birthday I decided to surprise him with a visit to a sloth sanctuary right here in Oregon. For those of you who didn't know, sloths are Matt's favorite animal! ZWCC provides a safe environment for hundreds of sloths at their 100 acre home. On weekends they open this special place to the public for a fee. It is a fee well worth paying as all of the proceeds go to caring for these unique and endangered animals. The room we entered this afternoon had approximately 10 sloths inside varying in adult age (no babies). We fed them cucumber and pet them for about 40 minutes before our encounter was over. This sanctuary isn't just for sloths either, they also have rescued primates, wolves and cat-like carnivores. Very cool experience indeed!

Notice the wound on the sloth's hand...

this little guy got in a fight over a female.

All the ladies begging for a snack

All the sloths woke up for an afternoon treat

Sweet boy who would also let you kiss him.

Such an amazing animal!

I couldn't help but smile during our visit. These animals are so fun and gentle!

Bed time

Cobra Helicopter Visit (includes video)

Hands-down one of the coolest things about working at the museum are the visits from our active duty military, especially the helicopter crews! I have now met Army Blackhawk, Coast Guard and Army Cobra crews. 4 Cobras landed at the museum on June 16 around lunch time. I was teaching  at the museum that day and took the opportunity to show my students what awesome American power looks like!

Camp Cascade

Most of the time I love my job! It is only when office politics, pettiness and LONG hours enter the picture that I absolutely despise it. I almost always enjoy going out on outreach, the kids are really fun, the teachers are very nice and people are appreciative of what I am trying to do. Thursday was one of those days. I went out to Camp Cascade, an outdoor summer school, about an hour and a half away from work in the middle of nowhere. No cell reception...no wif-fi...just us and the wilderness! Wonderful!

Roads End State Park

Hubs and I have been wanting to take a trip to the coast for months now but haven't had any time with our work schedules. We finally both took a day off (the same day off!) and took the girls to the coast. It wasn't the sunniest day or the warmest day but it was wonderful to have some time with my hubby and my puppies.

A trip for Trudy. She loved the water and was mesmerized by the waves.

Our old girl...almost 15 years old!

Sweet Lily who loved to dig in the sand

Stormy skies and cool wind but no rain

Resting Trudy's back

Hangin' with her dad

They were tuckered out on the ride home!

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival

A couple weeks back Hubs and I took a few hours out of our weekend to spend it outdoors. We have heard good things the past few years about the tulip festival in Woodburn, so we checked it out. The Wooden Shoe farm takes up 40 acres of land and each year they arrange the bulbs differently. I was most impressed with the Queen of the Night tulip as it is such a dark purple color it almost looks black. Spring time in Oregon is simply the best!

Organized Space, Organized Mind

Anyone who has known me for about 2 seconds knows that I love an organized space. Whether it is my home, my car or my work space, I need things to be in a certain place and I need to know that those items will be in that spot when I return to look for it. You can call this anal retentive or obsessive-compulsive, I don't mind. I am growing to embrace these strange ticks that I have! With this knowledge, you can imagine that the closet in our classroom at work looking like this darn near put me into a catatonic coma. I couldn't function, something had to be done! Over spring break I took the opportunity to organize and tada! Clean, organized and labeled. I feel better now. :-)

Before

After

Teeny Tiny Bedrooms: Closets

Hubs and I have a list of projects for the house so long that it is sometimes overwhelming! The list started out on the white board but got too long, so we transferred it to a piece of paper that hangs on the fridge. Each time we get something done, we mark it off and focus on the next project. The closets were Hubs' latest project. He completed the master bedroom closet about a month ago and finished the other closet a few days ago. Both of us purged our wardrobes and rid of ourselves of even more items that we didn't need anymore. Despite the reorganization we still have to co-exist using two separate closets. 

Master Bedroom Closet: BEFORE

Master Bedroom Closet: AFTER

Computer Room Closet: AFTER

Shen Yun

My boss invited me to attend a show with her last night in downtown Portland called Shen Yun. Promotionally it had been advertised all over TV for the past few months and while it looked interesting, I would never have attended on my own. When she invited me, however, I jumped at the chance. Shen Yun is a combination of ancient Chinese traditional and folk dancing, mixed with ballet, gymnastics and live orchestration. While there did seem to be an anti-communist and religious agenda involved, the costumes and production value of this show made it worth the 2.5 hour investment.

2015 NCAA Tournament

Aside from going to the Arizona vs. Oregon game back in October, Hubby and I haven't had much of a chance to do anything together since I started back to work. My job is demanding and I don't often have days on the weekend to go out and have a good time. That all changed today when Hubs and I went to the first round of the NCAA tournament in Portland @ the Moda Center. Our Arizona Wildcats trounced the Southern Texas Tigers 93-72! 

Great seats, great game, great man to spend it with!!

Spring Arrived Early this Year

The weather in OR has been unseasonably warm. We are expecting cooler temperatures and rain in the middle of the week but overall we have been hovering in the upper 60s. The daffodils and tulips are out a month early, the trees are budding and the deer are back! We have had more deer than ever before. This particular morning (pic below) there were 8 of them wandering through our yard!