Away time, Home time

There is great value in taking time to get away and relax... I'm definitely enjoying the value of time off. Christmas was great - very quiet and relaxing. Over the past week I've just been spending time with my family, doing a little shopping, enjoying the company of friends, catching up on sleep, reading, playing Wii (aka making my arm sore!), and just enjoying being away from "normal life". After being in my job for right at a year, and only having taken off a total of about a week off from work, I have savored my time away from the daily craziness and found some quiet here in my comfort-filled "home".

The only struggle I find is what to really call this place. It is the home I was raised in so it is natural for me to refer to it as "home". Although I don't live here anymore, I haven't really lived here in about 5 years, and I don't plan on moving back in (I'm sure that's a relief to you Mom!). However it feels somewhat unnatural to refer to it as my parents' house - probably mostly because I walk into a room and it is so incredibly familiar and comfortable. Every room is filled with memories, good memories, sad memories, all kinds of memories fill this home. That's part of the charm of coming back to it. However the best part of being here is who I get to be with, and as I think about it more, I have decided that is really what makes it "home" to me. The three people who mean so very much to me are all here and that's what makes this location special. So while I am "grown-up" (whatever that's supposed to mean) and have a place of my own, this place will always be a wonderful mix of home AND my parent's place.

Here's to many wonderful memories to be made wherever you are in the coming year!

Happy New Year!

I made it to Medford in one piece

Tonight I am very thankful to be at my parents' home in Medford - the drive was long, but worth it. I'll post more about the drive and my new found skill - getting the chains on and off my car - probably tomorrow. I am exhausted - between the long drive, the stress of it all and just my body being sore from shoveling multiple feet of snow (not to mention the long hikes in the deep snow)....lets just say I'm so ready to jump in bed and sleep for hours on end.

Thanks for the prayers for a safe trip - I'm so very thankful to be home!

I'll be home for Christmas (no question mark included)

That's right, I'm going to make it home for Christmas. We got my car out of the snow tonight (had to dig about a foot and a half of snow away from my car, but we did it) and the chains worked like a charm. I have my car parked up in the Montgomery Park parking lot ready to go and I will be caravaning with a friend from High School all the way home. Please pray for clear roads, the other drivers out, and myself and Mary tomorrow as we head to Medford. It's looking like I'm going to get a 2 week Christmas vacation! =)

The weather outside is frightful

So just thought I'd share a few more pictures from the snow today. The plan right now is to dig out my car tonight/early tomorrow and get the chains on mid-day tomorrow and take a stab at getting out of town. We'll have to see how the Honda does.....

Today my roommate and I hiked out to the streetcar and took it down to the Pearl district to do some Christmas shopping and REI necessities for the probable chaining up and removing of chains in the next few days.

Enjoy the pictures of the "frightful" weather outside!

This is me and my car - I've got a bit of digging to do if I'm going to get anywhere in it...
Dad, do you think my car will make it? This is one of the blocks I have to make it up and out of...
Would you like to take a seat by our front door?


I wish I had a set of skis to get around on....
And just another shot of the car for good measure...
The goal is to try and get out tomorrow, but the backup is to wait and try again Christmas Eve. I've got a friend who drives a truck who can take me home late Christmas Eve or Christmas morning so one way or another I'm going to make it home for Christmas, it just might not be in the timing I'd like it to be. I'll keep you updated and maybe even post some more pictures soon. You're probably in shock at how many posts I have put up....let's just say I've actually had a little more time on my hands.

Take care wherever you are!

I'll be home for Christmas?

And it keeps coming down. Last night alone we got another couple inches bringing our total to somewhere between 10 and 14 inches in downtown Portland!!!! Everytime I look out the window I'm in shock. The studio is closed today so my roommate and I are just planning on walking down to the streetcar in a bit to try and get down to REI to get a shovel and a few more winter weather supplies. **This just in - the news just said we could get even five more inches of snow today and we might reach 20 inches total!!!!! WHOA.....still trying to figure out how I'm going to get home. Here are some pictures from outside right now....

That's my car right there on the upper left - you can no longer see the top of my back wheel.

So if you are snowed in, what do you do for breakfast? Fritata, hashbrowns & mimosas!
You gotta have some fun, right? We're praying for some relief sometime in here so that we can get out of town before Christmas. I'll keep you updated!

A week in review

Last week was a doozy of a week - things were rough at work, I ended up working about 60 hours alone last week. And in the meantime the weather was just plain gnarly. I walked to work everyday this week for obvious reasons and because of the hilarity of how I often looked all bundled up, my roommate took a picture every morning. Hope you enjoy a quick look at the different looks I sported on my way to and from work this last week.....

Day 1 - Monday
Day 2 - Tuesday
Day 3 - Wednesday
Day 4 - Thursday
Day 5 - Friday (I was really ready for a snow day this day, but no such luck)

It's going to be an interesting next couple of days. It's been a great, relaxing weekend filled with lots of rest and a little worry about how I will manage to make it home in time for Christmas (not to mention how I'll get my presents in time), but I know and trust it will all work out just fine one way or another. I'm going to get my laundry done this evening so that I can have my bags packed and ready for the first sign that the window is open to get down to Medford. The news is saying that the snow will probably still be here to an extent through next weekend - CRAZY! Please pray that there will be an open window before Christmas for me to get south safely. I'll keep you updated and try to post more pictures of the ridiculous amount of snow outside. I think we are up to 8-9 inches now!

"ARCTIC BLAST 2008"

The true Arctic Blast they've been talking about all week finally hit. I have about 7 inches of snow at my apartment which is just totally unreal!

Here is some pictures to document the snow outside right now. I'll follow up shortly with a post capturing the last week of nasty weather...

My car is the silver one on the left. You can see the snow drift is up to the top of my back wheel. I haven't driven my car now at all in a week! And it's not looking like I'll be driving it before Tuesday at the earliest.This is the front entry way to my apartment complex - can you tell where the walkways are?
And this is the back area of my apartment complex (the view from our dining room window). You can get a better idea of the accumulation from the small patio table....crazy!!!

Yesterday a friend came and picked up my roommate and I and took us up to his parent's house where they had 14 inches of snow. The picture below is of me and my roommate up where we were sledding.....you can kinda see my face?!?!

We had a great time sledding down their hill - I can't remember the last time I went sledding - and then having Chicken Pot Pie and playing some Tripoley. It was nice to spend some time with other people and big thanks to our friend who came and drove us there and back.

Our church services have been canceled this morning and my home community is meeting at 1pm today. My home community meets about a mile and half from my place so in a little bit I'll have to determine if it's safe for me to walk there or not. The problem is we have about 7 inches of snow and then last night the freezing rain came on top so the snow is very hard on top and then you have to trudge through the depth of it.

Just a teaser for some shortly coming posts: I'll be home for Christmas??? A wintry week in review, and All I want for Christmas is I-5 to be open and clear.

Take care and stay warm!!!

Wowzers

So it's been a doozy of a week. And I mean it's been one for the record books. Needless to say, work has been brutal, however I am very thankful to have a job.... you can see the press on the front page of the Oregonian (from yesterday) if you are interested.

And I can't find the cord for my camera, so I still don't have the pictures chronicling the weather the last few days for you. But I promise I will get them up sometime. Now where could that cord be???

In other news, I've now reached a point where I'm starting to think / worry a little bit about my drive down to Medford for the Holidays. I'm not going to really worry about it until tomorrow, but it would be really great if Christmas Eve was nice and warm all the way between here and Medford. Then for about a week it can snow as much as it wants to. And then by the first of the year it needs to be clear again. I really don't want to have to deal with weather for the drive down or back up. Good thing my dad taught me how to put my chains on the car.....might be time for me to practice again.

And it continues

Okay, so I haven't had a chance to get pictures up yet.....but I promise I will in the next few days of the crazy weather! I've been walking to work on the ice the past few days and I've gotta admit - this morning it would have been very comical to watch me as I shuffled my way along. I have yet to land on my butt.... but I'm sure it is only a matter of time.

The weather people are saying the next few days are going to continue to be pretty dicey, but we will see. I personally am praying for some warm rain tomorrow and then it can do whatever it wants to do after tomorrow. Well, at least up until the day before Christmas Eve - I do want to be able to get to Medford for Christmas!

I've been extremely busy these last few days and am now going to try to fall asleep for a few short hours before we start again, but wanted to check in quickly! Hope you are staying warm wherever you are reading this from.

(A little teaser on the coming pictures....my roommate has been chronicling my bundled up "just about to walk out the door" self every morning so far this week....stay tuned for more updates!)

The Arctic Storm....

has now arrived! When I woke up this morning, there was no snow, now the snow is coming down hard, and it doesn't look like it is going to stop anytime soon. I'll get pictures up later on today. Hope wherever you are you are warm and safe!

Snow? News?

So the forecasters are saying there's a chance for snow on the valley floor this weekend. I have to admit, I kinda hope they are right. It's been a while since I've had snow - we had a few touches of it last winter, but nothing significant. We'll have to see. Generally, as soon as the weather people say that it is going to snow, that jinxes it and there's no way it will. I'll keep you posted.

In other news, there really hasn't been much news.... life has gotten back to its routine after the quick Thanksgiving break and I'm just trucking along towards Christmas when I'm taking some much needed time off. I'm going to head down to Medford over the Christmas and New Year's holidays to be with my parents and sister and I'm excited to be with family and not be at work for a week and a half! I haven't taken a lot of time off during my first year of full time employment and this vacation will actually be my longest yet. I'm looking forward to being a little more liberal in taking my time off this year and I have a few fun trips up my sleeve....one of which I need to respond to an e-mail right now about.....