Portland!

We just got back from our trip to Portland, Oregon! I don't have my photos ready yet (we got home late last night and I'm at work now) but I will hopefully get those done tonight or tomorrow. I just wanted to get down what we did before I start forgetting everything!

On Tuesday, we got up early and drove to Anderson, California. We took a longer way into Oregon because we wanted to drive through the forest-y parts of northern Cali. It was absolutely beautiful and I'm so glad we decided to go that way! Miles and miles and miles of pine trees and it was great! I collected a few pine cones and we drove with the windows down because it they smelled so good. That night we got to our hotel around 5:30 or 6pm and just relaxed for the evening, after eating at the hotel grill. I had steak and Cody had a burger, pretty yummy!

On Wednesday, we got up a little early and headed into Oregon. This was a very pretty drive as well, so even though it was a long drive, we enjoyed it! We got to our hotel around 3pm and headed over to Bora Parts to visit our VW part-supplier Aaron. I was glad to be out of the car, so I enjoyed seeing his warehouse and listening to the conversations there. They were busy, but we were able to chat and spend some good time there. They even let Cody drive one of their go-carts they had. He had way too much fun driving it around the parking lot. Aaron later took us to his house to look at two TDI Passats he was selling. They were both very fun and in great condition, but the logistics and costs just didn't work out. Who knows, maybe we'll go back and get one later! While we were waiting for Aaron to get back from a delivery, we ate some dinner at a Lebanese restaurant that was pretty great! We had a chicken kabab pizza and it was way too filling. First time I'd tried Lebanese and I wasn't disappointed!

On Thursday, we decided to head to the coast (in Newport) to beat the rain that was coming. We were so glad we went when we did! The coast was beautiful and I know that it would have been very different if it had been raining. We saw the Yaquina lighthouse and we even got a tour! It had a very cool spiral staircase and the tour guides were even dressed up like the watchers back in the late 1800's. We loved the rocky beach in this area. It wasn't as warm as the Newport Beach we're used to, but it was much prettier. I even saw some sea lions poking up to check us out. From Newport, we headed over to Tillamook to see the cheese factory! It was great! We've always been fans of the cheese and ice cream, so we got both while we were there! AND an awesome t-shirt, I'll post a photo of it later. We saw some very beautiful look-out points all day. We hurried back to Portland for Beyond Bizarre, a walking-tour where we learned about some local hauntings. We hadn't intended to sign up for this tour, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Sometimes I get scared, but I am always interested in hearing about local legends and stuff like that.

On Friday we went to Multnomah Falls in the morning and it was amazing! It was a little rainy, but it worked out! We went to Powell's City of Books back in Portland later on. It was a pretty great book store! Way too big to handle in the 25 minutes we spent there. I'd like to go back if we ever go to Portland again and spend more time in there. After the bookstore, we went to dinner at Applebees because I had a gift card leftover from a birthday. It was delicious! We drove over to the temple after eating, but it was much too rainy and dark to get decent photos. It was beautiful, I'd love to go back to get some photos some day.

On Saturday, we went into town for the Saturday Market they have every weekend. It's a lot like what Spanish Fork is like during Fiesta Days. Food carts, t-shirt vendors and everything else you could think of! We got some great t-shirts and ate great food. The people-watching was exceptional as well! After the market, we went to the Oregon Zoo and we were very impressed! It is organized very well and we got to see most of the animals even though it was rainy. They had a great enclosure where we fed Lorikeets and I had 5 of them on me at the same time! Cody got some great photos on his phone. After the zoo, we got back into town to eat at Flying Pie Pizzeria. We had salads and BBQ chicken pizza, very delicious!

All in all, it was a great trip! I can't wait to go back, though I'd rather fly if we can. Cody thinks we should move there, but we haven't talked about it seriously yet. It would be very hard to leave family and friends behind, but I think it would be good for me personally and for our relationship. This is the kind of thing I wish we would have considered when we were first married. It would have been VERY hard to leave, but I don't want to move out of state when we're getting to the point when we want to have kids. Obviously, there will be a lot of praying involved if we consider moving there. I loved it there, but living there might be a completely different story. ANWAY, hopefully photos will come soon. Great trip!

Update!

Cody and I are selling our house! And no, you didn't just time-travel back to 2008 when we were selling our first home.. Oh man, I'm trying very heard not to get my hopes up. But we've had two showings this week (3 total showings in all) and we've only had our house listed for 3 weeks!

Why are we selling? Going along with our goals for 2012, we want to start living more within our means. And we both believe that means getting rid of excess room (four bedrooms and an unfinished basement with no kids? yeah...) and getting rid of debt! We only have a little left to pay off on my car, and then if we can get a house with $400 less on the monthly mortgage, it would help make the way for me to not have to work full-time. My parents are of the opinion that Cody should just get a second job to supplement any missing income, but I don't want to open THAT can of worms..

We would like to stay in Spanish Fork, but we are considering moving further north if we can get something we like in the same price range. The only thing keeping us in Spanish Fork is family, and since we both have cars, visiting them wouldn't be a big deal. Cody's job at Stampin' Up is going so well, we just want to try to make the commute shorter for him if we can. We wouldn't move up there if it's more expensive though, that's for sure.

I am also switching jobs! I was offered a warehouse position at a skincare company on main street in Spanish Fork, so I have put my two-weeks notices in and I start the new job on Feb 20th. I was hoping to find an office job, but I do enjoy warehouse/shipping work a lot more and I am excited about that. It's full-time with full benefits and the company seems to be doing very well. I just can't handle working two part-time jobs anymore; it's stressful! I've loved working for Nu Skin so very much, I'm really sad I couldn't make it work. Part of me wishes we had tried to sell the house sooner, sold it, and gotten into a cheaper house so we could've afforded me working just part-time. But, no sense in looking back, right?! I'm moving forward and I'm very excited for this new job!

Jeremy is getting married tomorrow! I'm hoping to have some photos to share after this weekend, it should be great! It's been too long since I last posted, so I'm very sorry if everyone is shocked. I don't think I even mentioned that he ended up coming home from the MTC a week after he went in. I don't know all of the details (none of my business, of course), but it appears that he didn't feel worthy to be out there and when he was finally honest with himself, he admitted he didn't really want to go in the first place. I am very proud of him and I think he was brave to confront those feelings and come home. I can't imagine how hard those two years would have been had he just kept those feelings inside. I am sad that he felt it was important enough to keep those feelings hidden all through getting ready for his mission. I just don't remember ever being that concerned about pleasing my parents and family, but I have no idea what it must have been like for him.

He and Mackenzie figured out they wanted to get married shortly after that and tomorrow is the big day! I've taken some time to get to know her better and even though she is very young, she is very sweet and I know that she and Jeremy are very good together! Understandably (but very frustrating), my parents have been pretty negative about the whole arrangement. They would've liked for Jeremy to fix things and go back on his mission, and then when we had ruled that out, they wanted them to prepare to marry in the temple. I would've loved that too, but once a couple decides they want to get married, I believe they should do it! Since they are not currently worthy to be sealed in the temple (it would probably be a year before they could), I think the best thing is to get married and then get sealed later. I'm sure it's going to be hard for them to stay focused on that goal, but I think they can do it!

ANYWAY I'm very excited about the wedding tomorrow! They've been pretty casual about the whole thing, so I'm hoping that will translate into them enjoying the day and not stressing! I took Kenzie to get our nails done last Saturday (since I'm going to be a brides maid and one of their colors is black, black tips for me!!!) and it was good to have some time to talk. She and I haven't talked about anything really deep, but I do feel like we're getting there. I really hope to get closer to her because I'm so close to Jeremy! I really have so much hope for them to prove everyone (i.e. their parents, her dad isn't too happy about it either) wrong and be so happy and perfect for each other! Their anniversary will be exactly one week before ours and that means our 6th anniversary is NEXT SATURDAY!! I can't believe it...

Well, that's all for now.. I will hopefully update again soon with a house selling or something else exciting

Tchussy!!

how well do I know Cody, you ask?! hmmm

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Right now, it's a toss-up between American Pickers, Parking Wars, or White Collar. He watches all of these on Netflix, so he can watch them all day long if he wants!

2. You're out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? RANCH, of course!

3. What's one food he doesn't like? One? HA! Seafood.

4. You go out to eat, what does he order to drink? Coca Cola Classic or Mountain Dew.

5. Where did he go to high school? Spanish Fork High, same as me!

6. What size shoe does he wear? 10!

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Right now, he is obsessed with antique clocks. But he's also working on a coin collection, all thanks to his Grandpa passion for the same. 

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? That's hard! Right now, we've really been enjoying canned chicken with mayo and cheese, then "made" on our sandwich maker and it's like a grilled cheese with chicken! SO YUMMY..

9. What would this person eat every day if he could? I have a list because he's actually answered this out loud! Canned cranberry sauce (without the seeds), pickled beets (from the can, sliced), reece's peanut butter cups, and pickled eggs.. I may be missing something, but he loves these items!

10. What is his favorite cereal? He's not a big cereal-eater, but he really likes honey-nut cheerios.

11. What would he never wear? Skinny jeans! lol

12. What is his favorite sports team? He's not really into sports, but I think he tries to support Utah Jazz when he can. His dad loves Jazz Basketball :)

13. Who did he vote for? Obama, but he's not a big supporter these days..

14. Who is his best friend(s)? Jason Boogert and Kyle Weatherspoon!

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? I get mad at him when he tickles me!

16. What is his heritage? I believe he's British and German.

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? OH! Rainbow chip cake with rainbow chip frosting! He loves it so much. A little like Funfetti, but the chips are WAY better with rainbow chip.

18. Did he play sports in high school? No. But funny story: He and his friends were on the heftier side in high school and one day they were sitting the gym on the bleachers just talking. The football coach walked up to them and said, "There's my new defensive line! Wanna try out?" And they just said, "meh" HAHA I love that story. 

19. What could he spend hours doing? Going through coins looking for rare or valuable ones, playing the right board games, playing certain computer games, or playing with animals (other people's dogs or cats)

20. What is one unique talent he has? He just absorbs information. Mostly things he's interested in, of course. But he's just amazing with learning! When he was 16 and wanted his own car, he got started with VW's and quickly learned they were high-maintenance. What did he do? He learned how to fix everything on them! He can look at one and tell you the year, engine, transmission, and whether the engine has been messed with at all. And he's like that with everything he learns; he just dives RIGHT in. I love it!

How well do you know YOUR Lover?

Come on 2012!!

Cody and I had a great discussion tonight about what our goals are for the new year! Here are a few highlights:

Cody

-Get more active riding bike more often, eating better
-Pay off piano. Yes, we bought a brand new piano last year .. *sigh* If we pay it off before November, there's no interest!
-Pay off our white car especially after having the engine re-built, what a mess!
Sell the house whatever equity we might make on the sale of this might help with paying off our debt

Felicia

-Get rid of those pesky 10-15 lbs! I've been pretty discouraged for 2011, so NO MORE! This goal is more than reasonable!
-I want to read a ton of books, so I'm hoping the Kindle Fire I got from NuSkin for Christmas will help with that. I want to at least read The Hobbit before the movie comes out this December.
-I just want to be a better me! I've had a lot of ups and downs with doing the essentials in the gospel last year, so I plan to get on track with that this year. Being in Young Women's should help me, for sure!

Basically, our goals are more financially and physically centered, but I believe we can accomplish them! And if everything goes well financially, we're hoping to try out this baby-making game that everyone ELSE has been doing recently! Yet another reason why I want to try to get rid of those extra pounds! We both think we've waited long enough and we need to get our priorities in order!


GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!