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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Cooking Class

Back in May I made 5 goals for myself to achieve in this next year (read here). I accomplished one of the 5 goals a few months ago with starting my book club. The saving money goal is a constant process but things are going well there. My goal to be more flexible with my time and be more present in my everyday life is a daily challenge. Luckily, I feel like I am learning and becoming more aware of my thoughts, feelings and actions, allowing me to appreciate what each new days brings.

The next goal I wanted to start working towards was becoming more involved with cooking/baking. I can't help but constantly think of food. I have such a strong desire to always have the smells of sauteed onions or fresh baked desserts fill my home. I sit at my desk and keep thinking through different recipes I could try and different cooking techniques I want to learn. I think this new obsession is a result of all the cooking shows I watch. It is like a drug. I have thought so many times recently... "if I am always thinking and wishing I could be cooking or baking, should I go to school to be a chef?"... then I remember, I don't want restaurant hours. So, instead of going to some extreme to fulfill this need to be creative in the kitchen I decided to start looking up fun cooking classes. Sur Le Table in the Pearl offers different cooking classes basically everyday. For a week straight I would just drool over my computer at work looking at the different classes and the kinds of foods I could learn to make. I decided that  maybe this was a great way to get my cooking "fix" and not do anything drastic. My friend Jessica and I are going to our first cooking class in a couple of weeks. It is called "5 Summer Pastas" and we are super excited. I really hope that this cooking class is fun and informational because I would love to find an outlet for my cooking/baking passions and maybe take a class once a month. Hopefully things won't get too messy at this class so I can take some pictures to share with you. 

Lastly, my goal to learn to play the piano is still in the forefront of my mind. This week I researched piano teachers in Portland. It is hard though because so many are very structured and only teach kids and I really want to find a teacher who doesn't force me to do recitals. I really just want to learn how to read music while learning to play the piano. I love the sound of the piano and the way music makes me feel. Music has the ability to connect people who don't have anything in common, yet, gives them a sense of belonging. I want to be able to provide that type of environment, even if it is ever only in my home. Plus, I want to learn to play every Christmas carol out there so I can start the tradition of having a family/friend sing along session each holiday season. :) 
If anyone knows of any great teachers in the Portland area, I would be very appreciative of a referral!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

It's Gonna Fly By,,,

From Here
I updated my calendar today with all the Fall activities I know I have coming up and HOLY CRAP!! Starting September 1st, Luke and I don't have one free Saturday, or for that matter not one completely free weekend until December 17th!!! Our weekends will be full of wedding showers, bachelorette parties, weddings, baby showers, OSU football games, Vegas, Lake Shasta, working cheer events and my birthday. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited for Fall and all the fun activities that come with it but man, when I saw my calendar I got a little overwhelmed. Fall is my favorite time of year and I don't want to blink and then have it be gone instantly. I just pray that I can be as present as possible and enjoy every minute for what it is, a blessing full of love, family and friends. Wish me luck!!



Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Last Few Weeks

Well it has been a little while since I have updated the blog! I feel like the last few weeks have been super busy but full of fun! 

Luke and I celebrated our one year anniversary on July 24. We took off Monday so we had a great three day weekend. On Saturday we drove to Corvallis and Luke and I made great BBQ food at my parents house for our two families. It was so fun to see them all together again celebrating over a meal; the last time that happened was the night of the wedding. We took a walk around the neighborhood after dinner and sat on my parents deck and played some Pajaggle (a puzzle like game). Overall, a really blessed night. Unfortunately,  I didn't get any pictures. Bummer.

Sunday, our actual anniversary, we just hung out around Portland and enjoyed the day. We went to one of our favorite Taverns in the city, Henry's. They have an all day happy hour on Sundays that is awesome. After our lunch we walked around the Pearl District and ended up buying a new duvet cover! We have been looking for months for a new one we both like and finally found one! For dinner on Sunday we "recreated" our wedding dinner. I finally got to use our china, our wedding champagne glasses and we drank Airlie 7 wine which we had at our wedding AND we made almost all the same food. To top off the likeness of our anniversary dinner to our wedding reception dinner, Luke played all the music that was playing during our wedding reception. It was a great night! I think we made a few traditions that we want to continue!
Luke and I at Henry's.
On Monday after two days full of fun and lots of activities we just wanted to do things around the house. We were so excited about our new duvet cover that we decided to really spruce up our room. We woke up, got some coffee and then went to the paint store. We spent most of the afternoon painting our bedroom. When we had finished and were letting the paint dry, we went to go see the last Harry Potter movie. It was AWESOME! If you don't know already but I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. On a side note, I feel like my childhood ended when the movie ended. Harry Potter was such a huge part of my childhood and really was what started my love for reading. Okay, back to the anniversary weekend. It felt so good to get our house clean and really just reorganize and get rid of loads of crap we don't need.
The following weekend was the wedding of our close friends Charlie and Sarah. Luke was an usher and I helped out at the gift table for the wedding. One of our best friends, Curtis, came down from Seattle for the wedding and stayed with us all weekend. It was really fun having him down. The wedding was so beautiful and I could feel the love in the room. I really believe Sarah and Charlie were made for each other, a marriage blessed by God. Here are a few pictures:


Now, we are finally to present time! This weekend Luke and I both had off from work which was nice because the fall is coming up fast and it will only get busier. Friday night, we went out to celebrate my friend's Jessica and Jennifer's 25th birthday. The night was fun and full of laughs.
Jennifer and Jessica, the beautiful twins.
Kristen and Garrett...those twos were dancing queens.
The love birds, getting married in October!
Then yesterday, we did things around the house and finished up some things in our room! Here is what our room looks like now:


And that is our new duvet cover!! We love it! Just enough color and pattern but not too overwhelming. Also, Luke and I have started another fun thing for keeping track of travels. The giant world map on the wall we had steamed and mounted on foam board. We bought some pins and have four categories (colors) we use to determine our travels. White - where Meghan has been; Black - where Luke has been; Pink - where we have been together and Teal - where we want to go together. It has been super fun to remember where we have been together and pick spots we really want to go. If I had it my way, there would be a teal color pin in every single city on the map. Luke definitely needs to control me and my instinct to put new pins everywhere!