Sorry about the Word Verification

I hate those things...but I keep getting spam comments.
I'm a bit ashamed that I am sacrificing freedom (to post comments) for security (from spam).

I'm a complete chicken

Seriously. How many people really fall and die when riding a chairlift? (If it's a lot--don't tell me. I don't want to know). The snow was slow and powdery, I was with my best friend (who was being very understanding), and I didn't fall once. So why did I sit in the lodge the rest of the day?

Humph. Because I'm a chicken.

ENCHANTING!

I just watched Disney's Enchanted at the theater pub. It was such a wonderful movie! It makes me grin just thinking about it! I loved the classic Disney animation with a slightly sarcastic (but still innocent) twist. I love the music--a bit tongue in cheek, but a classic Disney soundtrack in its own right. And I adored the actress. Her eyes really sparkled. I think she was a really real princess.

Sigh.

I think I'll get off the computer and find True Love's Kiss (=

Depot Bay

What a great weekend! (And what a terrible weekend to forget the camera...). Alex and I spent the weekend on the Oregon Coast visiting our nephew Garrett. Garrett just got the coolest new job at the Oregon Coast Aquarium (in Newport, OR). He's an IT guy--web page design, etc. The coolest (albeit smallest) part of his job: maintaining web cams. Like the web cam in the shark tank!!! He's getting SCUBA certified so that he can dive IN the tanks. So cool.

Anyway, he found himself a roomy 2 bedroom apartment in Depot Bay. ON Depot bay. His house is on the north point of the peninsula, one house back from the rocks. Wowwy Wow wow it is a great location. Not bad for a 23 (?) year-old college drop out (=

We're real proud of him and it was fun to spend the weekend with him. We also picked up his girlfriend (she lives 2 hours inland) for the weekend. We definitely remember how tough it is to date long-distance, so we were happy to help them spend the weekend together.

Highlights: De-bearding mussels that Garrett harvested near his house (yuk yuk yuk!), playing Super Mario Bros. 3, driving 20 minutes to find fast food because we turned left and not right, playing last-man-to-run-away-from-the-oncoming-waves and watching Alex get soaked to ensure a win, hopping on rocks in the early morning--hand-in-hand with my guy.

Secret Date

Alex and I have a tradition of occasionally surprising the other person with a secret date. Either of us always has free license to plan and carry out a secret date, and then demand the other person get the time off of work or other obligations. It has been a really fun tradition. Past Secret Dates have included an overnight trip to the Oregon Redwoods and Oregon Cave, Lunch on the Willamette Queen (a river boat), Blazer basketball games, Ice Hockey, Keiser Volcano baseball games, and lots more.

Last night Alex took me on a secret date to the Harlem Globetrotters at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland! It was so fun! He got "suite" tickets from work (the boxes with your own kitchen and bathroom--completely unnecessary...). It was wild and crazy. Something in my memory says that the H.G. came to our school for an assembly when I was younger. It was one of the most unique secret dates ever! My favorite part were the "Harlem High-Fliers (straight from Kenya, Africa)." Unnecessary human pyramids, ridiculously low limbos, and death defying double dutch--true entertainment.

(for the record, The Globetrotters beat the Generals...but it was pretty close...)

Peter and Tayva wedding photos

Introducing....

Peter & Tayva Case
February 19, 2008
Mt. Timpanogas Temple

such a shy boy...

I got old

I'm 27! Whoa. I'm old! I had a fun birthday--but hectic. Wednesday Feb. 13th (my b-day) we spent much of the day cleaning and packing to get ready for our trip to Utah for Pete's wedding. Alex gave me my birthday presents (including some great cd's and a cute bag) in the morning.

I worked a 1/2 day and we went to the local dinner/movie theater (Northern Lights Theater Pub in Salem) that night for a special Valentine's dinner. The evening was a disaster--but we had a good laugh about it!

What we expected:

Enjoying a candlelight 4-course dinner while watching Stardust over a bottle of sparkling apple cider. Dinner: A luxurious fruit/cheese platter, a yummy salad, the main course (me: chicken cordon bleu and garlic mashed potatoes; alex: prime rib and garlic mashed potatoes), finished off with a triple chocolate dessert.

What we got:

We were escorted to our table--on which sat 2 flickering votive candles and a bucket of ice with our bottle of sparkling cider. The excitement in the air was contagious! The entire theater was visibly excited for a fun and unusual night. Our fruit was...well--it was very tasty, but brown (and the cheese was floppy). Perhaps they had set up a little too early? We sat through a few previews, and then a long preview came on for August Rush. It was a really really long preview. They brought our salad (which was yummy) and the preview continued. Then it struck me! This was not a preview!

"Excuse me," I whispered to the waitress, "is this the movie tonight?"

"Oh yes!" She gushed, "isn't it wonderful!"

Hum. She ended up giving us 2 free movie tickets for the confusion (apparently Stardust was only playing at the 2-14 V-Day special, but not at the 2-13 V-Day special. There were many confused and frustrated patrons that night...).

We enjoyed August Rush, really--but we had just seen it and were really looking forward to seeing Stardust (which we had also already seen).

When dinner came...there was more mirth. The potatoes: instant. The meat: dry and grisly. Also, we didn't start on our cider until more than 1/2 way through the movie because we had to ask for a bottle opener. Not the best 50 bucks we ever spent.

I think the best part was after the movie was over and we were all filing out past the main cook and owner of the theater (who had excited smiles on their faces). "How was dinner!?" Mr. Chef inquired.

Believe me buddy, you don't want to know.