Oregon Trip

Last March we took our first vacation. We did a road trip along the Oregon coast which is absolutely stunning. Being from the east coast it was really cool to see the rocky cliff beaches. It was cold and wet most of the time but we had an awesome time and we plan to go again in the summer.

These are the Sea Lion Caves. They are on the southern end of the coast and I guess it's hit and miss as to weather or not you will see them. The day we went was a hit. There were hundreds there and the cave echoed with their growls. It sounded like the sound track to a ghoul movie. It was actually pretty erie but amazing at the same time.

This was pretty much the only sunny day we had. We met up with Jeff's uncle in Florence Or and he took us around to some of his favorite spots. This boat is actually a restaurant where we had clam chowder for lunch. The only downside is that it did move and I admit we both got a little motion sick on it. But still a cool experience.

This is what I call the "Lewis and Clark" picture. It's Jeff and his uncle (who was an excellent tour guide).

Sand Rails in Florence. I swear I thought I was having a heart attack while riding on this. We actually wrecked at the beginning. (The sand was wet so not a smooth ride). It was fun but I don't know if I would do it again. Jeff by the way loved every minute of it.

Er "rat" icate

This story I must admit is a little embarrassing and reveals that I can sometimes be a bit of a ditz. Here in the Northwest we received quite a bit of snow before Christmas and as a result I was stuck at home for several days. I like to stay busy so I decided to do a thorough cleaning of my house. This included going out to the garage and organizing things that were left out since our summer of house painting and yard work. While I was out there I noticed we had a mouse (I didn't see it but they like to leave presents to let you know they are there) so I made a mental note to tell Jeff that we had mice and we needed to get rid of them. However I sorta forgot to tell Jeff. He went to the garage sometime later and found the same presents I did so we got traps and set them up. The traps kept springing but nothing was in the traps. This may be enough information for you guys to guess that we didn't have mice, but I don't have experience with rodents. Since the bubonic plague happened I sort of frown upon rodents in the home and we always had cats growing up (real barn cats). We got bigger traps and poison but by then it was too late, one of them had decided to die somewhere under the house and the odor that filled our house was intense to say the least. There is nothing you can do once this odor creeps in. I tried candles and even putting out plates of coffee grounds to absorb the odor nothing works except for time. We did eventually catch 2 rats in the traps. I'm pretty sure the others that we had ate poison and are now rotting beneath my tub because the smell went away and came back. Now we're not gross people who just let rats rot beneath our house. Jeff took several trips under the house to look for the culprits of the odor but alas the house was recently insulated and who knows where they decided to crawl up and die. I'm not really sure if there is a moral to this story but I have included a picture of my brave "eradicator" armed with yellow dish gloves and a "I so don't want to do this" look.

Here we go

So I have been avoiding doing a blog for many reasons. One I suppose was that I wasn't sure I would have anything to blog about. I also didn't want to have another thing on my list to maintain, and part of me didn't want a blog simply for the reason that everyone is doing it. But trends and lack of time aside Jeff has convinced me that a blog would be fun. So we are beginning 2009 as bloggers. I will try to get pictures on here of our vacations that we took last year and our recent domestic adventures. We are constantly working on something around the house so we'll try to keep everyone updated.
Jeff is still currently employed with Smith Barney (thankfully) however it looks like his paychecks may soon say Morgan Stanley if the buy out that is being discussed occurs. Jeff says this won't really affect his position which is good but I have gotten past worrying about employment and I figure whatever happens, happens.
I am still employed at a small company assisting in the accounting department. I am also still working on getting into the Dental Hygiene program and will hopefully be starting the program next fall.
Jeff and I are now in the process of training for our first triathlon. This is something I never imagined myself doing, I've never been particularly sporty although I stay in good shape. But it now seems like an exciting challenge and it will be fun to train together.
Well I hope you all enjoy following the blog and as always any tips or requests are welcome as long as they are sent in good taste.