Happy 2nd Birthday Oliver!!

Last night, Stu and I left Kenton and Katrina's house during a snow shower that was softly covering the trees, sidewalks, and roads and this morning we woke up to Noah texting Stu that it had kept up all night!  We were so excited.  I don't think that we have ever showered so fast!  

We walked with Noah down to the Starbucks on 12th and Washington for some yummy hot chocolate and watched cars and trucks try to drive onto the 105.  Very entertaining!  This truck got stuck halfway up and had to slowly back down the hill.

After we got back to the house, Stu and I ran in a woke Oliver and Cinder up.  It is Oliver's birthday today so we surprised him with a giant bucket of snow!  He wasn't sure at first but soon was trying to tunnel into it!  Cinder wasn't very into it but Oliver was having a blast.  He didn't know what to think about it and would tunnel for a few minutes and then jump out and hop around, honking and trying to scratch an itch at the same time.  He does that when he is excited.  Haha.

Today, Stu and I will be celebrating our Christmas together since we will be driving up to Portland tomorrow and I will be flying to New Mexico in a few days.  We have a tradition of making a yummy dinner together and opening presents!  Of course, yesterday, when we should have gone to the store for our dinner fixings, we didn't.  And since we didn't feel very safe driving on the snowy/icy streets today, we decided to walk to Safeway.  I know!  The whole way!!

13th Street!!

A very happy and friendly Squirrel!

We decided that we would go to the Dog in a Box behind Safeway for lunch because I love chili dogs!  But after shopping and deciding not to get anything besides our Christmas dinner stuff since we aren't going to be in town very long, we realized that it was closed.  So...we walked to the Bierstein.  Which was closed.  Then I deposited a check at the bank.  Then we walked to the Eugene City Brewery because we knew that we didn't have anything to eat at home.  It was closed.  Then we walked to the bus station (Stu really had to pee) and then across the street to Pita Pit which seems to be the only thing open on this snowy day.  All the while, I was carrying a backpack with canned veggies and potatoes in it.  I know, I'm amazing.

It was definitely an adventure!  Now I get to clean the house and do lots of laundry to get ready to go out of town.  I hope that you guys all got to enjoy your SNOW DAY!

Congrats Stu!

I know that everyone (all two of you) who read this blog will already be aware of this, but Stu graduated this year with his bachelors and has been kind of taking some time off from stuff and looking for a job at the same time.  He decided to become a substitute for EEP to keep himself busy while looking and ended up being able to be hired for a real position in another classroom!  While we at Howard are a little sad that it means he won't be able to sub in our classroom and hang out as much anymore, we are very excited that he is now part of the EEP team.  (I am going to talk my boyfriend up right now...) but he is an excellent teacher and I know that he will do an awesome job.  Congrats Stu!  

Decorating the Christmas Tree

I love the Christmas season.  Getting presents is definitely a plus.  And it helps that my birthday comes with the holidays but mostly, I think that it is just the fun of getting to put up lights and decorate the tree and hang stockings that makes me enjoy it so much.  I love that the weather in Oregon actually starts to get cold and I can bring out the scarves and warm gloves.  I love that it is actually somewhat okay for me to randomly start singing songs.  And I love that I get to go out and try find that perfect gift for friends.  You know, the one where they open it and say, "Wow!  I can't believe you remembered that I wanted this," or, in some cases, the one that makes them go into a fit of silent laughs.  

This year I started the Christmas decorating early...like I do almost every year.  I put up the Christmas lights before my Thanksgiving Break and made Stu suffer through decorating the Christmas Tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  I think after four years of Christmases he still groans when I drag out the Christmas box but he knows me and obliges because he knows that it makes me happy.  Every year we try to find new, fun ornaments and this year our tree has taken on a Europe theme but my favorite one is still the one that I made before Stu and I were dating.  

Mike, Loni, Me, Stu, and Clair

Being Sophomores in college, my roommate and I were a little short on money so instead of buying all our decorations, we decided to make some.  This is one of my favorite pictures of my college years.  We were freshmen in the dorms and this ragtag group of people were always together.  Stu was one of my best friends and you rarely saw him on the girls floor without me hanging around nearby.  We were all hanging out in the hall when one of the girls on the floor asked to take our picture.  I just love it!  You can tell that we were all so goofy and happy.  I suppose that it helps that I ended up dating my best friend in the picture.