Flashback Friday - Family Vacations Part 1

This was originally posted in Dec 2007 on Myspace. We were on a family vacation that would include visiting aunts and uncles, disneyland, and a cruise...Enjoy!
And yes I know it is really Saturday, but I work on Fridays and couldn't quite get it done yesterday.

Part I
As many of you know, I am currently on a family vacation. This family vacation consists of my parents, my two younger brothers (22 & 17), and myself. To say I was a super excited for this trip would be a little less than the truth. I was excited but also a little scared. Traveling in the best of circumstances can be stressful, but traveling with my family, especially my mother, can be one of the most trying experiences ever!

Our journey was supposed to start at 8:30pm from the Eugene airport where we would catch a plane to Las Vegas. Our adventure did not start so well...apparently there were some weather issues in Las Vegas and no planes were taking off or landing there. This meant our flight was not leaving Eugene as they did not want to clog more air-space over Las Vegas. From Las Vegas we were supposed to catch a flight to LA and then on to our hotel room. Eventually our plane did take off at 12:45am, putting us in Las Vegas at around 2:30 am.

Once in Vegas we had to go to the ticket counter to be rebooked on another flight to LA. Unfortunately for us, the next flight to LA did not leave Vegas until 8:00am. Not what we wanted to hear. After being rebooked, we had to contact the hotel and rental car agency to make sure they held our reservations. And then...my mother decides to go gamble, just to kill time, ok, no biggie, until she breaks the slot machine! Yes, I did just say that she broke the slot machine. They had to call maintenance to come fix it so she could cash out her money. It is now 4:30am, our plane doesn't board until 7:30am and we have all lost our sense of humor.

My brothers and I decide to go to the gate and try and get some sleep. You can only get so much sleep on the, oh so comfortable terminal benches, fortunately we were able to find ones without armrests. Shortly after, my parents join us. We all sleep fitfully until about 6:30 and then we wait to board our plane. There are no more delays at this point.

We finally arrive in LA at 9:30am...a full 8 hours after our original arrival time. As a group we all trek down to the baggage claim and hope our bags have made the entire journey with us. They have. As we wait for the bags to come out on the carousel, two men in USC apparel start to comment on my t-shirt. I am wearing an Oregon Ducks tee. I have now been up for more than 27 hours, I am in my clothing from the day before, do you really need to start hassling me about my t-shirt and my team? P.S. My team beat your team, so there! I originally thought I would be arriving at 1:30am and had planned on a whole different outfit for this new day! Needless to say, this did not improve my mood.

After getting our rental car we hit the freeway on our way to the hotel, only the hotel is more than 45 minutes away. Bedraggled and exhausted we arrive at our final destination for the this leg of the journey. Keep in mind, my Aunt Kerry has a big BBQ planned at her house with all of my dad's family, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. for 2pm. First thing my mother says when we enter the room...don't forget we have to get to Kerry's by 2pm. All we all want to do is kick off our shoes and passout on a real bed.

My brothers and I manage to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before my mom is at it again...wake up, you have to get ready to go to Kerry's. Sam was NOT happy with our mother and basically told her to not speak to him. Ah, family time. We all miraculously manage to get showered and changed and over to Kerry's house by 2:15. It was fun to see family I haven't seen in years. And I am glad we did go over there, but by 7pm we were all crashing.

I am now back at the hotel room, oh and, all five of us are in one room with 2 queen beds and a sofa bed. I get the lucky privilege of sharing a bed with my youngest brother and if he tries to spoon me....! ;)

I am off to bed, you have no idea how excited that makes me. And tomorrow my mom has mentioned going to Disneyland, "The Happiest Place on Earth". Please wish us luck. I am going with the thought that all traveling has its mishaps and hopefully our mishaps all happened at the start of the trip and it will be smooth "sailing", wink wink, from here on out.

Good Night!

Hungry and Cranky make me fabulous to be around

Thursdays suck in the afternoon because I am so hungry I could eat an elephant. Not that I WOULD eat an elephant. I mean, they are endangered and are extrememly intelligent and recognize death and mourn their dead and bury their dead and have fascinating social networks consisting of matriarchs...

Anywasted, I am so hungry. But I refuse to eat anything after lunch because I have weigh in for Weight Watchers. And seriously, who wants to have the burrito they ate, weighing in on the scale with them? NOT ME!

Don't get me wrong, I don't starve myself. I eat breakfast and a reasonable lunch and sometimes when I am feeling super daring, I even eat my afternoon snack on Thursdays, total rebel, I know.

It's just that I am used to eating dinner around 6ish. But Weight Watchers doesn't even start until 6 and then it goes until 7 and I don't get home until 7:30. I am ravenous by then. But again, I don't want to eat right before I weigh in. I will empty my bladder and strip down to my skivvies and remove all jewelry before I step on the scale, but so help me...I will not eat right before I weigh!

Did I mention I am so hungry right now? I have been super 'good' this week too. I tracked everything I ate and stayed within my points. I don't want to mess up my weigh in.

Oh, and being hungry also has the tendency to turn me into an angry momma grizzly bear who just had her cub messed with and is looking for someone to take it out on. Just saying.

Do they make pull-ups for 27 yr olds?

I almost wet the bed this morning. No, seriously. I am almost 28 for crying out loud! Besides I was never the bed wetting kid. I was completely potty trained at 1.5, that's the only reason they let me into the preschool before I was 2. My mom and I were on a site visit and as the owner was showing us around I turned to them both and said, "I have to go potty." The lady was so impressed she allowed me to start before I turned 2...BECAUSE I WAS EFFING POTTY TRAINED!

I have been feeling less than 100% the last week or so and this morning I just couldn't do the whole "Get up and go to work all day" thing. The alarm went off and I told Mike I just couldn't go to work today. My whole body ached and my throat was scratchy. I remember thinking, I need to pee, I'll get up in a minute. Then Mike left.

The house got quiet and the dogs settled back down and I passed out again. Several hours later I remember dreaming and in my dream I was searching for a bathroom at this party I was attending. I was searching everywhere for a bathroom and finally I found one. I felt immense relief in my dream.

I headed into the bathroom, pulled my pants down, sat on the toilet and started to do my thang. I remember thinking in my dream, "Why does that door look like particle board?" When suddenly my consciousness kicked in and was all, "WHAT THE HELL?!" I wasn't in a bathroom! I was still in bed.

I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I made it, but just barely. But seriously a few seconds longer and I would be washing some bedsheets today. Not cool. Not cool at all!

Yeah, it's about me :)

Adrienne straight up called me out. Now I have to do it because I can't look like pussy! Hey Adrienne, do you still dislike the word MOIST?! AH ha ha ha!

"If your reading this, pretend I've just run up to you, shouted "tag your it" and punched you in the arm so you'll do this on your blog too. Booya." (I totally stole that line from Adrienne but she did such a great job of stating it the first time. Why mess with perfection?)


1. What is your occupation right now? Overpayment writer for the state of Oregon. Basically I review food stamp and medical cases and call people Liar Liar Pants On Fire or LLPOF (la-poofs) and make them give the money back to the state if they weren't eligible for it in the first place.

2. What color are your socks right now? Dude, totally not wearing socks. I was earlier, but then I got hot (not that I am not ALWAYS smokin' hot!) and decided to wear flip flops :)

3. What are you listening to right now? Mike and Little Jon talking about putting together a computer and using power tools (insert Tool Time grunts)

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Oatmeal and coffee. I am getting back on the Weight Watchers Wagon because I keep getting fatter and that doesn't make me happy.

5. Can you drive a stick shift? pssh, yes. It is super awesome when you are learning to drive and your little brother is hysterically crying in the backseat and telling your dad that we are all going to die. Yeah, no pressure.

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Um...oh, my mom. We are going to look at a house I might buy this afternoon

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes, I miss Adrienne, she always made me smile.

8. How old are you today? 27, but I look about 16 and in 37 days I will be 28...plenty of time for you to get me an awesome present

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Totally nerdy, but I love watching the Tour de France...LOVE IT!

10. What is your favorite drink? Coffee, beer is a close second and I also like diet pepsi, but I am trying to stop drinking soda because it is bad for my teeth and really does nothing for me nutritionally.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, I usually die it a more chocolately brown than I currently have.

12. Favorite food? French fries and cake...no idea why I am fat

13. What is the last movie you watched? I just went and saw "Taken" last night. I really liked it. And I am excited to see the new Star Trek movie too! Don't even think about judging me, yo!

14. Favorite day of the year? Thanksgiving. I mean really, it is a whole day dedicated to eating as much as you can, taking a nap and then eating some more. Did I mention I am a total fat kid?

15. How do you vent anger? I get super snarky and I will talk mad shit about you with my friends and I will clean and eat and then I won't be mad anymore.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? My little ponies and my brother Sam, I took him for 'show & tell' at preschool.

17. Cherries or Blueberries? Dried or frozen, I prefer blueberries. Fresh and nummy, cherries.

18. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Well if I email them first and I know they read my email then yes, I want them to email me back.

19. Who is the most likely to respond? I expect you ALL to do this!

20. Who is least likely to respond? I'm not sending this to anyone. C'mon you stoopid questionnaire... get with the program. (word, what Adrienne said)

21. Living arrangements? I live with my BF - Mike and all our crazy animals. But I am hoping to buy my first house this summer. SUPER EXCITING!

22. When was the last time you cried? Like really cry? And for like, sad stuff? Um, I cried yesterday (at work, awesomeness) because I am coming to realize things aren't going to end up the way I was hoping.

23. What is on the floor of your closet? shoes and Mike's dirty clothes...apparently it is really hard to get the clothes in the actual clothes basket, even though it is RIGHT THERE!

24. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? I am not sending this to anyone. But my oldest friend is Mellie Jean, I have known her since I was born and she calls me Perky or PerkyErky :)

25. What did you do last night? Read a book and went to a movie. 'Cause I am exciting like that.

26. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Cheesy yumminess in my tummy please.

27. Favorite dog breed? We always had rotties growing up so I am kinda partial to them.

28. Favorite day of the week? Thursdays, except for the part in the day where I get weighed at Weight Watchers, but otherwise Thursday because it is almost the weekend and there are good shows on that night.

29. How many states have you lived in? Just the two, Oregon and Idaho.

30. Diamonds or pearls? Yes please. Pearls are my birthstone, wink wink. And Diamonds are sparkly, I like sparkly.

31. What is your favorite flower? Roses and Lilies. So pretty.

The Gremlin named Jackie

This is Jackie the Jack Russell, doesn't he look sweet and innocent

No, I did not name him. Jackie was found running around outside my work on a busy street. He was so adorable and friendly and just so full of life and it was obvious he normally wore a collar, even though he wasn't wearing one now. I put an add in the local paper and on craigslist and then a few days later I took him to the vet and they discovered he was microchipped! I was very excited because he was such a sweet little dog and I just knew someone had to be missing him.

I tried contacting the owner on his mircochip and when the number didn't work, I sent a letter to the address. Nothing. Slowly it dawned on me that someone had abandoned him and was not trying to find him.

But he had wormed his way right into my heart and I knew if no one was looking for him he had just found his new forever home (even as I type this he is snuggled between my calves).

He loves to play with Shadow and sometime poor Shadow is worn out and just wants to be left alone...Jackie only has an on or off switch and when he is on, he is a little ball of energy.



He is an excellent squirrel spotter and once he spots one he gets Shadow in on it too. They are convinced one day they will actually catch one of the squirrels and the squirrels love to taunt them mercilessly.





Jackie is a crazy Gremlin impersonator and he is convinced he is as big as a 100 lb rottweiler. He has a knack for nailing all guys in the balls as soon as they walk in the door. And he is utterly fearless. And he is also the best little snuggle bug ever. I adore him.

Here are my boys looking like they aren't up to anything and as pretty as can be.



I love Shadow too!

May Day

Yes, it's May Day, but more importantly...it's my BESTEST FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY!

Her mom likes to tell her it was the one and only time she was on time for anything. May 1st being her due date. I would have to agree with her mom, but I love her anyway. She just operates on Jen-time.

She is also a smidge irked that she missed diamonds as her birthstone by one day. One freaking day! But emeralds aren't too shabby either.

I taught her how to drive. She would talk for me in large groups because she knew I hated it. I killed the moths and she killed the spiders. I am happy to let her turn a year older a whole month and half before I do so, she can tell me how she likes it and I can decide if I really want to do it too :)

Jen and I met a week before our sophomore year of college. She was the Resident Assistant and I was the Hall President (anyone who knows us now, knows this was destined to be the ultimate pairing leading toward world domination). And we were not impressed with each other. I had just driven 500 miles in 8 hours, a large portion of it on one lane highways stuck behind slow truckers. I was tired and cranky. Jen had already been in the dorm for a week prior to my arrival and I think was going a little stir crazy. The only people in the dorm that would house 50+ girls in less than week at that time were Jen and the other RA and now me.

Jen was new to the dorm and I was a "returner". She began asking me all kinds of questions about the house (our dorm was actually a co-operative and while still technically a dorm was in a house, similar to a sorority only totally NOT a sorority). She wanted to know all the house traditions and what was the cook like and how did it all work, etc etc. I just wanted in my room so I could start unloading my car. All I could think was, "Will this girl ever SHUT UP?!" and she thought "Wow, this girl is a total bitch!"

After school started there is an annual competition for all the residence halls aka dorms. It is called GDI (God Damn Independent), it was the counterpart of Greek Week on campus. We were "independent" of the Greek System. Each dorm competes against the others and a winner is named at the end of the week and gets a trophy and, more importantly, bragging rights for the year. GDI was the week Jen and I really bonded. We were both EXTREMELY competitive and determined that our dorm was going to win! P.S. we totally did!

The rest my friends is history. Jen and I lived together for 7 years from the time we first lived together. Sometimes people say you can't live with your best friend without ruining the relationship. That wasn't the case for us. We lived really well together, there was never any disputes over what belong to who, everything was just "ours".

After school I decided to move back to Oregon and Jen decided to move with me. She didn't want to stay in Idaho and I told her she could live with me. We moved back to Oregon and lived with my parents for almost a year. Then we got our own apartment. Along the way we acquired 2 kitties and a crazy scottish terrier.

Then Jen met Brad, the love of her life. It was hard for me to relinquish my spot as her number one. I had always been her other half, she was the Jen in my JenErica and I was the Erica in hers. No mere boy had ever come between us before, but Brad was different. He was "the one".

After two years in our apartment, Jen moved in with Brad. Those were some of the hardest times in our relationship. Because after 7 years of everything being a certain way it was all changing. Even though it was logical and we knew it would happen eventually it was still difficult. There were tears and fights, but we came out the other side, our friendship still solid and going strong.

This august Jen and Brad will be getting married and I am so excited for them. I am also lucky enough to get be by Jen's side as her maid of honor. This august will also mark 9 years that we have been friends.

We turned 21 together, we graduated college together, we turned 25 together! We even work together (how sick is that?!) I am excited for us to experience marriage and babies and grandbabies and retirement together. Because I know that is how long Jen and I will be friends.

So, today on her birthday, I want to wish her the happiest birthday yet and I know there will be many more to come!

Happy 28th Birthday, Jen! I love you!



Best friends

No we have NOT been drinking! Why do you ask?

We love the 80's!

Thousand Word Thursday

Completely blocking out the people sitting behind me on the ride while my youngest brother, Alex, has an identical expression as me and my middle brother, Sam, makes it look like his hands belong to Alex, all while trying to not fall out of the "log".

This picture makes me laugh everytime I look at it!