Guest Bathroom Complete!

Jacob and I finished painting/decorating the guest bathroom this weekend... and I LOVE it!  It's fantastic and great and... purple!! =)

Take a look!

I love the color.  I love the framed photos (floral and butterflies... care of myself, Jacob and some friends).  I just love it! =)

Question For the Mothers

Since I've moved to a different part of town (and didn't really care for my last doctor) I'm going to be getting myself a new, more accessible primary care physician.  There is a Providence clinic pretty near by, and I've pulled up their website and looked at the different bios for a few different female doctors who also specialize in obstetrics (since I know I'll be needing it relatively soon).  I am down to two potentials.  My question for you is, as I soon would like to start planning a family, and will have (I'm sure) a LOT of questions, how important is it that my doctor be a mother herself?

Of the two candidates that I'm considering, one is a mother and one (it appears) is not.  As a new mom, would it be beneficial for me to have a doctor who has been through it before and can add some personal-experience guidance to the process?

Thoughts please. =)

Capture the Cruze!

I've mentioned before how much I love The Amazing Race.  I am mostly envious of all the traveling and experience in different countries, however I am also a huge fan of puzzles and adventure.  I blogged back in October about a Halloween scavenger hunt that Jacob and I did with a couple of our friends around Portland.  It was a was a blast.  We won "Best Costume" and had a great time.  So, when I heard on the radio about another scavenger hunt that local Chevy dealership were putting on, "Capture the Cruze" (with the grand prize of a new Chevy Cruze) I was IN! =)

Jacob and I arrived at Pioneer Square this morning at 10 am to check in (everyone was required to pre-register), and were surprised at the number of people that we found!  (Especially since everyone was required to "apply" for a spot in the challenge...we were all told that it wasn't guaranteed.... I find that hard to believe now! lol).

This is a view of the front of the line, from where Jacob and I started out.  The line went down an entire city block, around the corner, and then into the square.  I heard one of the guys behind me talking to his friend.  Apparently they had spoken to some contest official prior to the big day and were told that there would only be a hundred people in the race... there were probably closer to a thousand.  He said, "well, at least the odds are slightly better than the lottery". lol

Waiting in line... not sure what to expect

I want the red one!

Jacob and I never had any illusions that we would actually WIN the car.  Way too many people that were WAY more into it than we were.  Plus, since we don't have "smart" phones, we knew that we'd be at a disadvantage.  But, we both love a good adventure, and this was definite that. Plus, we got a free t-shirt out of the deal!

All suited up and ready to go!

Donations were taken for Doernbecher's Children's Hospital

The weather in Portland has been pretty hit or miss the last week.  There has been a LOT of rain... and rain was in the forecast for today.  Knowing my luck, I decided to guarantee that it would NOT rain by actually being prepared and wearing my rain boots! lol

It worked!  No rain! =)

For two hours Jacob and I walked around a (very small) section of the city trying to figure out clues sent to us via text message (the contest used a system called SCVNGR that delivered clues via text or app.  It was a pretty cool system, but, like all things electronic it definite was frustrating--especially in a race setting!-- and had it's downfalls). 

Hundreds of people in blue running around this small area of downtown definitely turned some heads!

The messages would give us an address or intersection, and then a clue/puzzle that we had to solve.  For instance, the one that threw us for the biggest loop had to do with finding a "storm" above a gift card store and figuring out what "group" created the storm.  We were standing outside this store for several minutes trying to find anything that remotely looked like a storm.  I felt like the biggest idiot after 5-10 minutes when I looked up across the street and saw this Verizon ad:

Lots of the clues had to do with math (add the number of vowels in the building sign to the year the namesake of the building moved to Oregon), but everything was clearly in view on historical monument/building signs etc. so, even though we had a "phone a friend" on standby, we never really needed to use him.

I think we hit about 30 different clues in the two hours that we had to play.  The winner was based on how many points could be obtained in two hours (each correct answer was two points).  We all reported back to the square at 1:00 for the winner announcement.

Two hours later... tired, but happy.  And the sun was shining!

As I mentioned before, the grand prize was a new car.  Second place was a cruise in the Caribbean.  I would have been over-the-moon-happy with either (in fact, I'll be happy if we just get in some of their facebook photos! lol).  But, alas, we didn't win.  Oh well.  Maybe next year. ;)

We had a great time, got a lot of exercise (I'll definitely be sore tomorrow!) and got to spend some time together doing something that we don't normal do (I kind of relish those opportunities).  Plus, we got to "refuel" afterward with some Buffalo Wild Wings. =)

I'm Married

Sometimes I don't remember that I'm married.

Just the other day I was talking to someone who has never met Jacob before, and I was *this* close to calling him "my boyfriend"... which is several steps back!  I caught myself, but it still kind of took me by surprise.

I have gotten used to writing and (almost) saying my new name*, but for some reason I still have a hard time accepting the reality of it.  Even after more than 7 months!  I think, maybe, it's because nothing really has changed... we just got really fancy dressed up one day and had a big party and then life went back to normal.  One of my clients asked me the other day "how is married life?"  All I could really say was "eh... not much different".

Did anyone else have similar experiences?  Or am I just weird? =)

*What's weird is that one of my younger brothers is engaged to a girl named "Brittany"... which means that (though it's spelled differently) the world will gain back a Brittany Boyer just over a year after it lost one...

Weird times two... one of my OTHER brothers is also dating a girl named "Brittney"... super odd... and really strange when we're all together.

Where I Spend the Least of My Time

I am NOT a "housewife".  I don't enjoy cleaning, cooking, etc.  If I had to stay home all day, I think I would go absolutely crazy.  That being said, I don't spend much time in the kitchen... however, we have a gorgeous one, and I thought I'd share it. =)

Our kitchen is part of our "great room"... one ginormous open space that includes the kitchen, dining area, and a "sitting room" type of space around our fire place.  I love the openness to it.  I really enjoy hosting dinner parties, etc., and I think this space will allow me to do so quite effectively.

I can say that I own an apron! lol  Thanks to my bridal shower. =)

View from the "sitting room"

Fabulous deep drawers... means I can tuck away the few baking supplies that I DO have. =)

One of my favorite things about our kitchen is our fridge.  We purchased it from City Discount Appliance in Portland.  I do NOT recommend them.  Their customer service was horrible once we finally brought the fridge home and started to have problems with it (it froze EVERYTHING... and since it a digital display that only ranges between certain temperatures, we were unable to manually fix the problem).  They didn't return our calls, put off coming out to look at it, ordered parts before they could figure out the problem (I guess just crossing their fingers that it would work)... just generally sucked.  So, don't do it... no matter how good the prices.

Jacob finally took matters into his own hands and managed to fix the problem with... duct tape! =)  We had to cover several of the air vents that were coming from the freezer in order to regulate the temperature in the fridge, but, ultimately it works and now our milk is liquid again. =)  And I'm back to loving it.

Food for two people doesn't even make a dent in this beast!

Lots of freezer space, too.  Love it!

I ordered a new coffee table and end table for our sitting room the other day, they should be here soon and then I can do the big reveal on that room!  We are also working on painting the guest bath this weekend... I'm excited to show off that one, too!

So far I'm loving this home owner thing! I LOVE color and am enjoying the ability to paint walls whatever and whenever I want! =)

One Room Done!

Two months in to buying/moving in to our new home, Jacob and I are finally done unpacking, organizing, and decorating ONE ROOM. lol  It has been quite the process, especially since the house is bigger than any space we've lived in before, meaning we don't have enough "stuff" to fill the space (a blessing and a curse).

It occurs to me at this point that I don't think I've shared any photos with you of the house.  I think I'm going to try to do it room by room and things get done/accomplished, however, here are a few shots of the exterior of the house (it's pretty much "done").

We have plans to put in a garden and a fire pit, extend the back fence, and, some day, put in a hot tub.  But, for now the yard is exactly what we want/need it to be.

The house was more than move in ready when we purchased it.  It was a flipped property, so the interior was gorgeous and we didn't need to do any work to make it livable... which is exactly what I wanted.  I've always wanted to be able to paint and decorate, but I didn't want to HAVE to do it.

The house is three bedrooms, two baths with a "great room" (kitchen, dining and sitting room in one big open space), a laundry room, and a tv/family room.  We did bits and pieces here and there, but the first room that I can say that we have "finished" (at least for now of course) is the family room.

Before

The whole house looks like this.  White trim, taupe walls, and the wood floor... an awesome blank slate. =)  Unfortunately, since we didn't have much in the way of time between getting the keys and moving out of our apartment, we had to move everything in before doing any prep work (i.e. painting).

Furniture in... kinda blah

Jacob and I had a paint color in mind for a "reverse-accent-wall"... we were going to paint three walls of the room, and leave one the taupe color that it already is.  A couple weekends after we moved in, we headed to Home Depot, got our supplies, and decided to get moving!

Jacob prepping the paint

I LOVE color... but I was still a bit nervous with this first stroke! =)

We finished painting one wall... and as I started to paint the second I started to wonder if the rich color that we chose was going to be TOO much for three walls of the room.  I mentioned it to Jacob, we looked around a bit, and decided to finish with the two walls, and then "live with it" for awhile and see what we thought.

Painting done!

We were really happy with the way the paint turned out.  I LOVED the color and it goes really well with the taupe that was already there.  Now we just had to decorate.

After some searching around, I was able to find an awesome deal on a PERFECT area rug at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  My grandma was kind enough to make us some curtains for the room (and the three bedrooms, too!).  Finally, I pulled out all of our framed photos and updated the photos inside (many of the old ones were "mine" or "Jacobs" and not really "ours"... so I changed that).  The photo project took me the good part of a weekend with all the choosing (we have a LOT of photos to choose from!), the printing, the framing and the arranging.  But now the rug is down, the photos are up, and I'm ready to pull back the curtain on our first "finished" room!

Entry way from the front door... see the red wall?? =)

One thing I love about the house... TONS of windows!

First photo wall (the one you see in the mirror reflection in the first photo above)

Ta da!

So many awesome memories!

The "Wedding Wall"

So, there you go... room number one. =)  The others are coming along... we are slowly acquiring furniture to fill the other spaces, and hanging photos/art/etc.  I hope to start painting room number 2 (the guest bathroom) next weekend or so. 

I've never been a "home improvement" type of person... but I am definitely a nest-er! =)

Kinda Boring.. and still klinda gross

Life is kind of boring right now.  Maybe this weekend I'll sit down and really do some good bloggin', but right now I just feel kinda blah and like "who wants to read that all I'm doing is going to work, coming home, eating and going to bed?".  We have done a pretty good amount of stuff around the house, and I do want to share some of that, but even the house setup has been put on hold for the last couple of weeks.

As you may remember, I had a wisdom tooth pulled, and then I got a sinus infection.  What you DIDN'T hear is that, just a few days after I got on the antibiotics for the infection, I came down with a cold.  So, for the last week I've had a sinus infection on the right side of my head, and a cold on my left.  It's been kind of interesting.  Not to go into too much gross detail, but nose blowing really illustrated the segregation of the two illnesses.

Thankfully I finished my antibiotics this morning, and my cold is finally subsiding a bit (I am now at the point where I can breathe and eat AT THE SAME TIME!).  I'm hoping to be completely better by the weekend, as I already have plenty of fun plans and I want to enjoy myself! 

Still Alive...

It's been almost a week since I've blogged anything.  I have excuses... I've been busy, I've been sick (I ended up getting a cold on top of my sinus infection... it's an interesting experience)... and, I just haven't felt like blogging.  I don't know if I'll finish the "30 Day Challenge", we'll see.  It just seems to me that I have other things going on in my life and writing about random stuff just isn't really doing it for me. =)  

I've done so much stuff around our new house over the last few weeks that I want to share/talk about... so maybe I'll go there... we'll see where the next couple of weeks takes me. =)