Camping at South Beach

We had a really great time camping at the beach. It was so relaxing, which is exactly what we needed. Friday we left work early, and headed right over.

It was a really nice campground. We set up our tent, and took a walk to the beach. It was a nice paved trail through a foresty area that dropped you out on the beach.

Then we headed back to camp to grill some hot dogs and made our fire and just sat around the fire talking until we turned in at about 11. I think it is so amazing that Trav and I can spend so much time together and still enjoy talking for 5 hours by the fire. Seriously, what can we still find to talk about?? :)

We woke up early.....7, went back to sleep, 8, went back to sleep, 9, went back to sleep, and 10...we finally got up. Our air mattress was just so comfy with our sleeping bags! This was the first campground we've stayed in that had showers, so we took a shower and then headed to the beach again. We walked along the water for a while. They were having a surfing competition, so we watched that a little and then headed back to camp to make lunch. After lunch we headed into town to a little sports bar to watch the Beavers get creamed by Penn State. We still had fun though.

Then we headed back to the beach, and a little later back to camp to make dinner. It was a very yummy dinner. Hamburgers, corn on the cob, grilled onions, and baked beans!

After dinner we made another fire and again sat around it talking until 11! I really don't know what we found to talk about, but it was a great time.

We headed home on Sunday, and did our regular Sunday chores and errands. We finished off the evening with a couple movies.

The showerhead we found at the state fair was a GREAT purchase. Our showers are SO enjoyable now. It's like a spa treatment.

I've really been enjoying work lately to. Weird I know, but I feel like I've really come into my own here and I'm getting along really well with Scott and Tim, so it's been fun. Of course I would rather be on vacation, but it's nice to enjoy work when you have to be there!!

3 hrs till we're camping on the beach!

Happy September!
September is already here, and unbelievably the summer is coming to a close. It went by so fast. I think it goes by faster every year!
We are continuing to stay busy through September so far! I hope things slow down a little in October so we can get a few house projects done. We'd like to paint the fireplace in the living room, get a new dishwasher, and put blinds up in all the windows!
I am really looking forward to camping at the beach this weekend. We've been wanting to go to the beach, and do more camping this summer, but the weather hasn't been the greatest. This weekend is supposed to be beautiful on the coast! The nicest I've seen it all summer.
Next weekend we are going to OSU's first home game! OSU vs Hawaii! I hope we win, but regardless the games and tailgating before them is always a lot of fun.
Trav and I have been doing really well. We installed our new showerhead last night and got to use it this morning. It is amazing! It is huge though, and used up all our hot water in abut 5 minutes! It has a valve you can put on it to reduce the water usage, so we're going to put that on before the next shower, and hopefully we'll get a good 20 minute shower out of it. A good, HOT, 20 minute shower! It's like having a mini spa right in the bathroom.
I have been really enjoying my job. I've enjoyed it the whole time, but in the past few months I've really gotten comfortable with my co-workers/bosses, and with all my work which has made it fun at work.
Trav and I have been talking about a few parts of life that are frustrating, but it's been nice to have each other to lean on and vent to. We pretty much agree on everything so even if we just want to have a good 2 hour b*tch session, we can relieve a lot of stress.
We've recently been watching the presidential campaign. John McCain chose a woman named Sarah Palin as his vice president which was a real shocker because no one has really heard of her. We've watched her speak a few times and she is a great speaker. She seems to stand up for what she believes in and go after what she wants and doesn't stop until she gets it. It's going to be an interesting election year to say the least!
Well, I'm going to finish up my work and then Trav and I will be on our way to Newport to relax and enjoy the weekend. :) Have a good one.

Labor Day Weekend

Trav and I had a great Labor Day weekend. There were so many things we wanted to do, it was hard to chose just a couple! We contemplated camping, because we haven't got much camping in this summer, but it's such a busy camping weekend and we didn't have a spot reserved so we decided not to do that. We hadn't made it to the State Fair for the year yet, so we decided to do that. We also decided to try a new church with my parents, and we haven't been to the Oregon Coast yet this summer, so we decided to head there as well.
We haven't had the best weather this summer, so camping and going to the coast, etc hasn't been available as much as I would have liked!
So Friday night Trav and I decided to have some drinks....I had about a bottle of red wine to myself....we went to bed at about 3am. I woke up to 5 male paramedics standing around my bed. I thought it had to be a dream so I closed my eyes again, but then I felt that I had oxygen tubes in my nose and I could hear a bunch of people talking about me, so I realized it was real. When I opened my eyes the 2nd time, One of the paramedics said," Welcome Back Sarah. Don't move your arm ok, and don't panic about all the blood on your sheets, we had a little trouble getting your iv in. Do you know whats going on?" I had been scanning the room and by this time I had finally located Trav, standing at the foot of my bed next to a couple other paramedics. I realized that this must be happening because I'd had a low blood sugar, so I nodded yes at the guy who asked if I knew what was going on. I looked at my arm, and the pool of blood next to it. Blah, that grossed me out. One of the medics said, "We heard you were partying like a rock star last night". I tried to laugh...a little snicker is all I managed. They took the oxygen mask off, and took the iv out. The lead medic told me I should go to the doctor for a follow up, and had me sign a release saying that I didn't want to go to the hospital. After they left Trav came over to me and hugged me. He started crying. He said he didn't know what to do. He woke up at 6 and I was shaking and he couldn't wake me up. He knows how much I hate it when he calls the ambulance (he called it one other time before we were married when we wasn't with me and when they got there I woke up and opened the door for them, so after they left I called Trav upset that he had called them. He said I was really out of it and he didn't know what else to do. So he didn't want to call them prematurely again), so he tried everything to wake me up, but I guess I just wouldn't. I told him it was ok that he called, he did what he had to do. Poor guy. We took a shower and hugged a lot, and then went back to bed...in the guest bed since there was blood all over the sheets in our bed. Trav said they had 3 medics holding me down and one trying to put the iv in and they still had trouble because I was jerking my arm away. Sounds about right. I hate ivs and blood draws!
We slept in until about noon, when we finally got up and got ready for the fair. I know it was the wine. I've been having trouble with lows in the morning, but never ever have I not been able to wake up because it's so low. Never. It sucked. But I'm alive and well and we've given Trav a few more ideas of things he can give me to help me wake up when I'm unresponsive before calling 911.
The state fair was a blast. I got these awesome slippers that you put in the microwave to heat up and they warm your tootsies. And we got a new shower head that you adjust up and it's flat and wide so it'll be like the awesome shower that was in the ceiling at the Hard Rock Hotel!
Sunday we went to the new church and then went to Pings afterwards. Then we cleaned and ran all our errands and that evening Air came over to watch a movie. We ended up talking from 7 till 11! It was a good talk. We didn't start the movie until 11, so it didn't end until 2.
Monday we slept in and then went to the coast. We layed on the beach and drank champagne that my mom had given us for our anniversary and then went to Mo's for dinner. It was really relaxing. We got home in time for the season premiere of Gossip Girl. :)

Our 3 yr anniversary, and vacation

August 20th marked Travis and I's 3 year wedding anniversary. They have truly been a wonderful 3 years. Everyday I thank God for Travis. He is my soul mate, and my very best friend in the world. He understands me like no one else and he loves me for who I am. I know we have another 70 years to go!
To celebrate our anniversary, we went on a vacation to California. We stayed with my cousin, Lacee, and her boyfriend Hunter. We've stayed with them a couple times and we always have a blast.
Friday the 15th we worked until 2, and then we were off to the airport. We arrived in LAX at 10:30, where Lace and Hunter picked us up and drove us to Orange where they live.
We got set up in our room (We got to stay in their roommates room since he was on vacation at the same time we were there, and it was GREAT to have our own room), chatted and then hit the sack.
We woke up early Saturday and went to Laguna, to a beach called 1000 steps. It's a hard beach to find, so it was really private. There are about 500 (it feels like 1000) steps that go straight down from the street to the beach. All the houses on the street have a set of their own private steps, except a few of them had elevators! It was an amazing beach. We played in the waves for a couple hours. There were some big waves! I got taken out a couple times. We laid on the beach for a few more hours, and just enjoying the sound of the waves and relaxing!
Sunday we went to visit Huntington Beach, and went to a cool restaurant called Hurricanes. We got beers and margaritas, and fish tacos! Yum! It was another great day spent relaxing on the beach. I really can't get enough of that!
Monday we were up early. We left at 8am to head to San Diego and go to SeaWorld! It was a lot of fun. We watched the Shamu show, the Dolphin Show, the circus show, and the Sea Lion show and went to all the exhibits. I love Sea Lions. They are so funny! We went on a few rides while we were there to. It was a lot of fun.
We left at 6 and headed to our hotel, the Hard Rock Hotel. It was AWESOME. Our room came equipped with a bottle of vodka and mixers, about 20 mini bottles of different liquor, several bottles of wine and beer, and lots of snacks! They had the music of our choice playing in our room. The beds were feather beds, with feather pillows. The bathroom was incredible, and the shower had the shower head on the ceiling which makes for an amazing shower. It was really cool. Trav and I went to the outdoor pool while Lacee showered. It was surrounded by couches and beds and the water was a great temperature...very warm! There was an outdoor bar right next to the pool that had lots of places to lounge in comfortable booths with fire pits. We took a quick dip before heading back to the room to take our shower and get ready to go out for dinner. We got all dressed up and ended up going to one of the restaurants downstairs. It was really nice. I got fish taco's....they were delicious!
Tuesday we took another dip in the pool before getting ready to go. After checkout we went to Mission Beach in San Diego. It was really neat. There was a carnival right on the beach that we walked through. We went to "Roberto's" a little Mexican restaurant, for lunch. I got a chicken burrito that was amazing. It has grilled peppers and onions, cheese, a special sauce, chicken, all on a homemade tortilla. It was amazing. I don't think I've ever had a burrito that good. Trav and Lace also got burritos and agreed they were the best they'd ever had. After lunch we went and layed on the beach, and played in the waves some more. It was so relaxing. We left at 4 to head back to Orange.
That evening we met friends at a Mexican Restaurant called Tia Juana's Restaurant for Taco Tuesday. They had taco's for .75 each. And they were wonderful! I had a chicken, beef, and fish taco. They also had pitchers of fresh fruit Raspberry and Watermelon margaritas!
Wednesday marked Trav and I's 3 year anniversary. We had a lazy day. We slept in, watched some tv, took a walk around the neighborhood, and just enjoyed each other company. That afternoon we went shopping for our gifts for each other. The 3 year gift is supposed to be leather, so we found each other new leather wallets. I LOVE my new wallet. It's black leather and so cute. Trav picked out a new brown leather wallet that just one fold instead of 3. It also has a zipper section so he can keep change in his wallet now! He likes it a lot.
That evening we got ready to go to a nice restaurant in Costa Mesa called Mesa. We'd heard great things about it.We got there at 8, and were seated right away. The restaurant had no windows, it was all lit by candle light. There were fires next to the tables, to keep you warm as you dined underneath the stars because it had a retractable roof. That was really neat. It had a great ambiance. One of the walls was completely covered in ivy which was also cool. The staff was very friendly, prompt, and helpful. We got an mushroom appetizer that was delicious. Travis got the tenderloin steak as his main course. It came with caramelized onions. It was the most amazing tenderloin we have ever had, and the onions were to die for. 5 stars for that meal! I got the halibut that came with spinach and mashed yukon gold potatoes. It was so tender and just melted in my mouth. It was amazing. Everyone loved their meal. We had a great time there and it was the perfect place to celebrate our 3rd year together.
Thursday we went to Raging Waters water park in San Dimas. It was a perfect day, nice and warm. We went on lots of water rides and slides! Our favorite was Neptune's Fury. It's on a 3 person tube and you start by going through a waterfall and going into an enclosed dark tube. By the middle it's pitch black and your whipping around turns and down dips, and getting soaked of course. It was so much fun! There was a lazy river that we floated a few times, a wave pool, and fun house, about 8 other rides, and a couple slides. I didn't like the slides that you went down without a tube or mat as much. It was a great day! We left at about 6, and headed back to the house for dinner. We went to In and Out Hamburgers. I got a hamburger animal style. They put grilled onions on it and it is delicious! Yum! We need In and Out's around here.
Friday we got up, made breakfast, and got ready to go to LA! We started at Venice Beach. We didn't get in the ocean, we just walked along the path and enjoyed the scenery. We headed to Beverly Hills and to Sunset Strip afterwards. It was really cool. The mansions in Beverly Hills were amazing. It was fun just to look at them! We parked and got out to walk along Sunset Strip. It's fun seeing all the places you see so much on movies and tv. We spent the afternoon sightseeing. After the strip we drove down Rodeo Drive and admired all the shops that we could never afford to shop in!
Our flight left at 8:30, so Lace dropped us off at the airport at 7......I can't believe how fast our trip went! We did so much fun stuff! We got home at about 2am and finished out trip by going out to Denny's for breakfast before bed.
The weekend was spent unpacking and cleaning, and running errands to get ready for the week ahead! It's back to normal life again now.My brother house sat while we were gone. He did a fabulous job watering the lawn and feeding the kitties! When we got back we heard that it rained here in the valley most of last week, so it was a good time for us to be in Cali....where it was 85 and sunny everyday! Whats with the rain in August?Well, thats all for now! We're working on getting caught up at work! At least we have a 3 day weekend coming! :)

August Rush

No, not the movie. :) I just feel like time is continuing to fly by.
There are only 6 days left before we leave for our vacation to Cali to stay with Lace and Hunter. We have so many big plans while we're there! SeaWorld, staying the night in San Diego at the Hard Rock Hotel, which looks AMAZING. Touring San Diego, going to Raging Waters Water Park, going to an amazing restaurant for our 3 year wedding anniversary. This restaurant has a roof that rolls away, so you can see the sky while you enjoy your meal.
Of course we will also be visiting several beaches. Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Huntington Beach top the list. We were invited to a pretty big party in Hollywood at a popular nightclub as well, and we are going to spend a day in LA, checking out Beverley Hills, etc. It is going to be a wonderful, and much needed trip!
My friend Lindsey recently announced that she is pregnant. Congratulations Lou! I know how much you've wanted this and it's finally here! I know you will be a wonderful mother. You're dreams are finally coming true!
Last weekend we went boating with Lindsey and Brian and her family. It was a lot of fun! Trav when tubing for the first time. He didn't want to try it, but once he got out there he loved it. I enjoyed just relaxing in the boat!
Last night we went to Carino's for the first time. We've been wanting to try it since it opened in July. It was pretty good. Nothing amazing, but good food. We went with Linds, Brian, Jeff and his new girlfriend Liz.
Today we are doing yard work and tonight we are going to Mon and JD's for a BBQ and some Wii fun! Tomorrow I'd better start packing because our trip is right around the corner!!
Travis continues to be an amazing husband and best friend. I rely on his advice and understanding very much, and he is always there to give me what I need. I love his will to always make things better. I've really noticed him striving to make the yard look good this year, and it's fun to see the improvements he makes on it. It is really looking so much better! Your hard work is paying off baby!
We're coming up on our 3 year wedding anniversary, and in November we will celebrate 10 years being together! It's been a great 10 years and I'm looking forward to so many more!

Slow down summer!

Man, the summer is flying by so quickly! We love to take advantage of the good weather while it's here, so evenings and weekends are packed!
Last weekend Trav and I had 4 BBQ's! We started out Friday at lunch BBQing hot dogs. Yum. That evening we went to Linds and Brians to BBQ with them.
Saturday we woke up early, got all our chores done, and then we went for a bike ride on a little trail by the river in Albany. It was a great ride, and a beautiful trail that I didn't even know existed! We brought our little floaties with us and at the end of our ride we pumped them up and floated in the river for a while. It was a hot day so the water felt really good!
We got home at about 6, cleaned up, and headed to a BBQ at Mon and JD's. We had a good night with them! JD made some really good burgers!
Sunday Trav and I worked in the yard. It was REALLY hot on Sunday, and we both ended up getting burned. Trav got a worse burn than I did. We got a lot of yard work done though! Our yard is looking so much better. That evening we had my parents and brother over for a BBQ. It was my parents 30th wedding anniversary on the 15th, so we wanted to celebrate with them! 30 years is a huge accomplishment! Congratulations Mom and Dad!
Last night we went to the Linn County Fair. We got off work early and biked there. It was a fun ride. We had a lot of fun looking at all the animals! I love the bunnies and they had a baby tiger that was SO cute. At 8:30 Craig Morgan had a concert there. It was a great night. On the way home we stopped at McDonalds for an ice cream cone!
This weekend we're not sure what we're doing. :) It's pretty much the only weekend for the next month and 1/2 that we don't have plans! We might go to the coast for a day, or we might just work around the house and go shopping. Trav got a raise and it was effective on this check. I told him off the first check he could take the extra from his raise to go buy some new clothes. Congrat's to Trav! I'm so proud of you!
Well, 30 min's left until the weekend starts. Have a great one!

4th of July

It's hard to believe that the 4th of July, and our long anticipated 3 day weekend, are over. We had a great time though. We ended up having a BBQ at our place, because we had a lot of friends we wanted to spend the 4th with!
We started on the 3rd! After work we BBQ's some hotdogs before meeting Robbie and Becky at River Rhythms with a couple bottles of wine! We had fun catching up with them.
The 4th we slept in, and at 10 got up and went grocery shopping for all our BBQ goodies. We got chips, pretzels, hamburger, hot dogs, lettuce, tomato, baked beans, jello for the dessert, corn on the cob, veggies for a veggie platter, watermelon, strawberries, and grapes for a fruit platter, and Rachelle brought potato salad!
And of course we got wine and beer! When we got back, Trav mowed the lawn while I cleaned up and started preparing the food. We were ready by 2, which is when we told people they could start showing up. Ladd arrived at about 2:45, my brother showed up at 3ish, and EVERYONE else got there between 5 - 6! We spent the afternoon throwing the football, sitting on the porch swing, and playing the Wii. At 6 we fired up the grill and ate! We had a great time. At 9 we left for the Timber Carnival to see the fireworks. When we got back we headed to the park to light off some illegal works that Ryan had brought, and some legal ones that Ladd brought. They were all awesome. We got back to the house and played the Wii until a little after 2 when we finally went to bed!
Saturday we slept in. We wanted to go rafting but the sun never really broke through the nasty clouds, so we ended up watching old movies on the couch. It was a good day. Late that evening Trav and I went night blading. We used to do that a lot when we were 16 - 17 and it reminded me of back then.
Sunday we did our chores and my parents called and invited us up for a BBQ and to play some games outside. The sun came back so we got to enjoy the weather out on the deck.
Now it's back to the work week.....I'm anxiously waiting for Friday!
By the way our camping trip was wonderful! We had a really great time with Ladd. The camping spot we got was great, but we still like our secret spot at Yukwa the best! We took a hike on Saturday and it was pretty hot so we took a quick dip in the Metolious River! Burrr! That river is 40 degrees. It was refreshing though! I can't wait to go camping again!