A little bit of inspiration...

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning how to dance in the rain.

Ryan and I took a trip to one of our favorite country stores today. They had a pile of signs with the requisite quotes that have become standard decorations like "Live, Love, Laugh", etc... As I searched through them, one caught my eye. The quote above I had not seen before and I thought spoke volumes. I don't know about you, but I get very tired of people using quotes or sending quotes in emails (especially at work) to send a message... unless it is truly thoughtful and I felt this one was.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Todd's Big Day

We arrived in Portland on Thursday night but weren't surprising Ryan's big brother Todd until Friday evening. While we were in our hotel and otherwise enjoying Portland, Todd had some other surprises.

Surprise #1: Thursday evening, he went to the airport to pick up a friend..turns out it was his mom, Donna!

Surprise #2: Middle brother Mark rings the doorbell mid-afternoon Friday. Mark had also flown in from New Hampshire. Right now, Todd is probably thinking..."OK, guys. Who is next?"

So, Ryan calls Todd (from downtown Portland) to say Happy Birthday. He also adds that he knows Mom and Mark made the trip but he just wasn't able to right now with the work schedule but lets him know we will be out in May/June.

Now Ryan and I are so ready for Surprise #3 to meet Todd at Jake's Restaurant (also located in the Governor Hotel, where we stayed). We left a card with the maitre d' and described what Todd and Mark looked like. He agreed to give him the card before they entered. The card was from us and stated we were sad we could not be there but we arranged for a round of drinks on us...then when you flipped the card over, it said "... or you could join us at our table!". Good ideas don't always come to fruition as Ryan and I watch Mark and Todd waltz in and the maitre d' run after them with the card! Oh well, the minor detail wasn't important... Ryan ran up and gave his big brother a hug.Here are the three brothers at the Governor after the surprise: Mark, Todd and Ryan.

And, we are not done yet... Surprise #4: Cathy and Donna were back at the house arranging the food and gathering the friends for a surprise party! As we head back to the house, I was texting Cathy with our whereabouts so they would all be prepared. So, we all walk in to a relatively dark and quiet house and see Cathy and Donna greeting us with some yummy hors d'oeuvres and wine. Todd walks in.... and hidden in his office you hear...."Surprise!!!!" ...about 25 friends jump out and gather around.

Here is Todd with his friends after the surprise.

We had such a great time at his party! Kudos to Cathy for pulling all of this off - including arranging for us all to surprise Todd by flying in from across the country, arranging the food, friends, etc... A truly great time had by all! Happy 40th, Todd!

Another Visit to the PNW

Every year, Ryan and I travel out to the pacific northwest and more specifically to Portland, OR where his oldest brother, Todd and his wife, Cathy live with our two nephews, Owen and Grant (we have a few other posts detailing past visits). We love Portland, not only because we love to visit family but we just love the pacific northwest in general. It seems to suit us very nicely. So, we decided to take the 3 hour train ride to Seattle last year for the first time and loved it so much that did so again this year.

We flew in to Portland on a Thursday evening and got a taxi to our hotel, The Governor, which was amazing. I love Hotels.com - if you obsessively check for deals (like I do), you will always find something amazing. This was a 4 star hotel that we got for the price of a good dinner out... I'm all about good deals!

We couldn't see brother-in-law, Todd yet as we were to surprise him Friday evening so we had a good day to walk around one of our favorite places.

We swung by Henry's Tavern on 12th and Burnside upon arrival for some dinner and a pint of two (and a pomegranate martini for me!).

We also hit the Rogue Brewery for lunch on Friday where I tried the Chipotle Ale. Yummy with a kick!We did also hit some of our favorite stores and overall had a nice leisurely day walking the city. The next few posts will document Todd's 40th, the rest of our visit in Portland and our trip to Seattle as well....

Guster is home!

I had posted about a month ago about our new addition, Guster aka "Gus". Well, last Friday he officially made it home with Ryan and I to join his "big brother" Coodie. Gus has been a wonderful addition to our family. Where Coodie likes to hang around us but doesn't exactly like to cuddle, Gus is hanging around our necks and cuddling in bed with us. They get along fantastically - no hissing was ever involved in the introduction. Coodie stared at Gus with wide eyes for the first two days and now, Gus is old news to him. They play fight constantly and have even been caught sleeping together! We have found the perfect combo of cats. Here are some photos of our first week together:

Oh, and yes - just like typical siblings, they are even getting in trouble together. Here is Ryan after pulling them both our of the basement for misbehaving!

I am sure we will have many more posts to come about these two...

The Nothing

Do you all remember "The Neverending Story"? I loved that movie as a kid and I am convinced that while I was away in Rhode Island for work this week that the storm "The Nothing" that wreaked havoc in the movie actually hit New Hampshire and continues to hang around this weekend. The weather was terrible in RI but consisted of mostly torrential rains and overcast skies. As I was driving north home, I was struck by the damage that was done in some pretty severe wind storms. There were a few areas along the highway where at least 50% of the trees were broken in half. I was also following about 8 power trucks from out of state. You can see some of them in this photo:

Today, we woke up to these HUGE flakes of snow and a bit of a winter wonderland that we haven't seen much of this year (as opposed to our friends in the more southern states).

Alas, this did not last long and produced little accumulation. The sun then came out. Then we had sleeting rain. Then the giant flakes of snow again. Then the sun. Then the sleeting rain again. Then the sun again and the cycle continued....

Such strange weather....

When I am away...

...this is what happens.....

I was away on a business trip all week leaving Ryan and Coodie back home. I get this photo texted to me mid-week and just about had a fit. This is about a month's worth of food and we carefully portion his food out into small portions 3 times a day (otherwise he can't control himself!). I am a little over protective so he sent this to me just to poke fun. ha. ha.