seattle trip plans

We decided that we need a little vacation yesterday, and once I found out that train tickets to Seattle is cheaper than driving, I cemented my plans. We are going to go for a weekend at the end of Feb. I am sooo very excited. Seattle is about a 3 hour train ride from Portland. What I am most excited about is that Seattle has Daiso. Daiso is a japanese store where nothing is over 3 dollars, but everything is wayyy cool. I have always wanted to go to one, just how Ikea seemed magical to me before they built one in Portland. I am giving myself 100 dollars to spend at Daiso. That is a lot of crap!!!! Also, the hotel is super cool, cheap and mod. It is right on the ocean. We have a lot of exciting plans while we go and I cant wait to have cocktails in the train bar!!!
It will be a nice break from school and work!!!
Seattle is so close to Portland, but the funny thing is that I havent been there since my 18th birthday!!! bunny hasnt been there since he was a kid.

good weekend

starting school soon, kind of nervous. this is a good weekend, bunny went back to work just now. i have been having so much trouble waking up in the morning! We mostly spent time hanging around the house, but I did get my North Face backpack yesterday.
I also went to target and got some cute sponges with dots all over them and some pajama bottoms on clearance for 3 dollars. I shop in the little girls department and I always get funny looks, so does bunny(when he is with me). It really has nothing to do with my weight, either, I shopped there even when I was bigger. It is just because my frame is so small. Not all stores do I have to do that, but i do at target. It doesn't really bother me because its cheaper and they make children's clothes so grown up nowadays, too bad for the kids.
I made split pea soup, and I have to say, it is very good. I love spooning it over rice. The last two days the weather has been so dark and gloomy making it hard to leave the house unless you have to. Today at least there is some brightness, so I am going to try to get out for a bit.
Well, I am going to finish making my cappuccino. After bunny gets home today we are going to Bolt and getting more fabric, then I am going to make the Noren curtains for the living room tonight.

sunnyish morning

today is great because we both have the day off. last night was good, we tried to go downtown shopping, but the van was acting finicky and so we didnt want to get stuck downtown in rush hour. so we went to new seasons and got a few things: hazelnut bread, vanilla soy ice cream, granola, etc. we also went to our favorite coffee shop down the street and had cappuccinos. i gave my little dog a bath yesterday, so he is looking all handsome and i dont mind him sleeping next to me now.
i crashed fairly early last night and slept in until 10 am this morning. I think I really needed it, because I feel really good right now. It was nice to wake up to sunshine and when i had my morning smoke, my favorite robin-red breast was perched on the fence, greeting me! i have a favorite bird and a favorite squirrel that frequent our yard.
bunny is at the hardware store, i am having a cappuccino, trying to get motivated to get dressed. i would like to take a long walk today, but we will see how the weather is in an hour or so.
i am going to make oatmeal cookies today!
right now i am about to make bunny hashbrowns, bacon, and eggs. i just dont have the appetite for that right now, and he likes his breakfast food ultra greasy, i like to cook that stuff, but not eat it a lot.
i would like to go to powells (the largest bookstore in america, located downtown portland) today, but i dont think we are going to. i have been missing our bed and breakfast we stayed at for our honeymoon, so this picture is where i wish i was having breakfast right now!

translucent and webby

its ugly this morning. bunny had to be at work at 7 and he tried to get me out of bed, but i couldn't. i might have said something nasty, too, i don't remember. my mom called him and told him to not let me go to work, that she was worried about me. She said"I am worried about her, her skin is translucent and webby" She also told him not to tell me, which he did of course tell me.
My mom is cute, but she always thinks I am dying. I think its because I almost died in the hospital when i was 3 and was in the hospital for about a month. So she has always been scared that it will happen again. But I feel pretty good. I don't feel the greatest and mornings have been rough, but I feel like each day is getting better.
it was supposed to snow today, but it is just just pouring buckets of rain. i wish it was snowing instead. i think when bunny gets home we are going to the bookstore. anyways, i wish i had some granola and milk!
last night was good, we were both tired and after the ham, we watched my neighbor totoro and fell asleep.
i think when i start to feel a little better today that i will give my shih tzu nigel a bath, he is kinda scary looking/smelling right now!

back to work

got a late start today, made bunny late for work. it has been hard because i feel a lot better at night and cruddy during the day, so it has been hard to wake up. last night i had wayyy to much much coffee (i think my bro in law andrew and i split 5 pots of espresso!) and so after all the xmas festivities were over and bunny was geekig on the computer, I cleaned out the closet (which had been driving me crazy while i was sick, but had no energy to do anything about it.) and got super organized, so this morning was a little easier on me than normal. i really like it when i get the coffee pot loaded the night before. sometimes i feel as if i am always making coffee! anyways... we have ham to last us about 4 years! i love having lots of meat around.
my mom is out running errands and i am just hanging out answering telephone calls. i am going to get a new north face backpack for school with the gift card we got for xmas. bunny is going to get his book on leopard for the imac. he is really learning a lot on the new computer. his goal is to get a job at the apple store this year. new seasons is a great job, but it is really starting to hurt him physically. plus, his discount is great now at the store, but just think of the discounts on ipod touches, etc!
well, tonight will be left overs of course! i have a bento that has:
ham, stuffing, rice pudding and spinach salad.
i am going to run some errands after work and then take a long walk home, i think.

christmas yuki day

Today has been a wonderful christmas!
We woke up and I made coffee and bunny gave me his gift a DIY tote bag kit
that he put together, fabric from bolt, a pattern, and straps.
so cute!
Then we did the yearly tradition of going to game crazy and i got him a controller.
It snowed today, so beautiful, like we were in a snow globe, the flakes so big i swear i could see snowflake pattterns.
it was so pretty and romantic. we had coffee and watched the snow from the front deck. then we listened to music with andrew
and i set up an appetizer table which i am quite proud of.
i am so happy today and so happy to be with bunny
we had dinner just now and it was stuffing and our maple smoked ham from new seasons. it was great.
best christmas ever! oh yeas, and i saw the most beautiful robin red breast in the snow today! it was magical!

christmas snow

its snowing on christmas!
bunny got me beautiful fabric from bolt

merry christmas eve

today was good. my worst time of day being sick lately is in the morning until around noon. but after that I went to walgreens with andrew and then fnished the sachets. I also made deviled eggs, which i added way too much mustard to. too bad my taste buds are all out of wack and i cant tell. anyway, they looked pretty in my pink pyrex. last night i made sugar cookies, which are pretty cute, but i want to get better at my decorating technique.
then bunny and i went to my moms and everything was waiting for us and we had turkey and mashed potatoes, she made cute little cheese logs and sent us home with one. she also made the rice pudding she used to make for us growng up, with cinnamon sticks in it.
it was lovely, then we opened presents and drank coffee. i was on a budget, so i made gift packages for my everyone my moms had 3 sachets, a framed photo of our family at my wedding. marque's had a purse, sachets, lipstick, and a check for ten dollars. darlines had vanilla candles, sachets, lotion, and some fancy dark chocolate.
casey got a pocket knife, gift card for camping supplies, a japanese woodblock print book, a set of mLuxe organic soap w/ goats milk, honey, and almonds. very beautiful.
i got an enraved heart shaped key ring thats actullay pretty cute, a gift tin of homemade rum balls and cookies and candies, a jeweled compact, a makecase thats also suprisingly efficient, money, a framed photo of my niece, and some incensce.
it was fun. i am so tired now.

rainy day muffins

So, today is super ugly outside! I did venture out to the store and the whole way my umbrella kept flipping inside out! It was nice, still. It was fun to see the Christmas decorations that are starting to pop up in the neighborhood.
When I got back I started on my healthy muffin mission
Here it is:

Cranberry-Apple Whole Grain Muffins:

1 small apple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup yogurt
1 cup water
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
add flax seed, sunflower seed, etc as wanted
honey- enough to glaze muffins
mix dry ingredients in large bowl
mix wet in smaller bowl
combine wet in dry bowl, mix well
pour in to prepared muffin tins
bake at 400 deg, until no longer mushy ( these muffins will be a little moister than most because of all the yogurt)
I use a toaster oven for my baking and it took about 30 or so minutes to bake.
When muffins are out and cooling drizzle tops with a little honey as icing
I just ate one and I have to say I am pretty pleased. These don't taste like coffee shop muffins, because they are pretty healthy ( no butter, oil, eggs etc.) but for a whole grain treat, they are sweet and satisfying. I hope bunny likes them!!
Oh yeah, they make about 12 sm. muffins or 8 large ones, depending on how many extra seeds and stuff you add.
I have to call the Apple store now because bunny is waiting for me to get some answers about the Imac!!!
I think I may make chicken curry tonight?