Viva Mexico!

My husband and I have never had a honeymoon.  We REALLY need a vacation.  When we were hanging out with our friends over the weekend one of them said he thought it would be great if the three of us couples went on a trip together.  His parents have a time share in Mazatlan.

Nuff said......

Tonight we got the call that next August we are set for two weeks in the Mexican sun.  I may or may not be able to go the entire two weeks but ten days could be possible.  All I have to do now is get my passport and buy our plane tickets.  All the more reason to get a job fast since I have the money in savings right now for that.

I googled the time share and the photos are amazing!  There are five different sites.  I don't know which one we are actually staying at but for your viewing pleasure....

I'm so ready for sunsets on the beach, fruity drinks with umbrellas, sun and sand and surf and relaxation.

  Viva Mexico!

May Ramblings

Hello blogger peeps!
I really feel bad for not posting a lot lately.  I just havn't had much going on.  My couch slipcover is in stall mode until I can have a weekend free of plans to tackle sewing the slipcover which I spent three hours pinning as well as the back and seat cushions.

I'm excited about a few things though.  I was a little premature but updated my sidebar for some of our debt.  It's not official or anything but this month we will have not one but two cars paid off.  The ironic thing about this is neither of them are driveable.  How crazy is that?  We are using our tax return to pay off our old daily driver my 1999 Subaru Forester which just went through engine number two and is sitting waiting for the title so we can sell it to someone who wants it for parts (car universe, please grant my wish).  That will be paid this Friday.  Our last payment to my dad for our 1987 Porsche will be a week later.  Problem is it needs a little bit of work to make it driveable. 

We got our new to us Saab back last Friday after it needing a new engine (what is it with us and engines?).  The dealership paid to have a used one with less miles put in.  We had only owned it less than 48 hours when that debacle happened.  I'm really liking the Saab.  It's super comfortable with leather seats, dual climate control (front and back), heated seats all around (the SK's are loving that!), a sun roof (oh how I missed that), a killer stereo system, hand controls on the steering wheel for the stereo and more.  This is more C's car than mine so I will bide my time and save my pennies until I can get this...

I'm not gonna lie.  I kinda dig the racing stripes.  Never thought I would say that.  I DON'T dig the four fog lights on the front of this one and I would certianly love a sunroof too.  This car is so me.  Grey is my go to color in so many ways lately.  We painted the living, dining and hallway of our condo in grey.  Our Saab is silver with grey interior and I want me a grey mini cooper!

By the end of the month I will have put $950 on CC # 4 which is scheduled to be paid off in July.  In fact, all of our credit cards should be paid off by year end.  Yee Haw!  Once that happens I can relax and plan a real vacation.  A vacation to somewhere like Hawaii or Mexico.  Pretty much anyplace full of sun where I can stick my toes in the sand, drink fruity drinks with little umbrellas and relax.

I am starting a career development class in 13 days (yes I am counting) that I am super excited about.  I have a big birthday coming up at the end of July.  I am contemplating going here for the Saturday before my birthday.  Wine and Yurts, what more could a girl ask for?  They have a spa too!

The Yurts featuer King sized beds, sky dome in the center of the roof, private bath, refrigerator, iPod docking station, sitting area, patio deck, wifi and vineyard or river gorge view.

Meanwhile, I am totally addicted to this design blog House Tweaking.  Dana and her husband just bought a new (to them) house.  They have decided to downsize so she can stop working and take care of their two boys full time.  The new house is lovingly named The Underdog.  It's a mess they are remodleing while still living in their old house that is for sale.  I am really intrigued by this because my husband and I are looking at three years until his youngest graduates from high school.  One of our ideas is to buy or build a small open floor plan house. 

Another is to sell our condo and live in an Airstream trailer like this guy (Apartment Therapy is so cool!). 

Buying a rambler we could make our own is certainly something we consider.  We are thinking of moving to a warmer climate so the house buying may possibly be put on hold for a few years.  When I look at photos online of houses for sale in my area I really try to look past the old cruddy kitchen cabinets and hideous flooring to see the potential for the four walls I am considering.  Watching Dana and her husband as they turn their Underdog in to the home of their dreams will be certain inspiration and a great guide.

Speaking of addictions, I am currently adddicted to the TV show Supernatural.  We borrowed season one from our neighbor.  Right now we are on season two which we have to get from Netflix via DVD (how old school) since it's not streaming.

Today was a nice sunny day here in the greater Seattle area.  It got to 60 at least.  I am so ready for the grey gloomy days of winter (and even spring) to be gone.  One thing about our area is even when it's warm during the day it cools off at night unless you are in eastern Washington or it's August.

Well, I have rambled enough.  Hope you all are well and more more consistent posting coming soon.  Like the reveal of my slipcovered couch!

Grand Plans

So with my post yesterday about the likely probability of a sabbatical in the future, I am now in full fledged planning mode. This of course includes multiple screenings of Eat Pray Love and Under the Tuscan Sun. Afternoons with homemade bruschetta and red wine and intensive yoga sessions. It started with grand visions of international travel, living in exotic locales and jet setting from country to country with our little dog in tow (sensitive stomach and all). But that is really not enough. That is not what I want. My sabbatical idea has already morphed in to the concept of intense periods of work followed up by mini travel sabbaticals of three or four months. The intense periods of work are not at a typical day job but making films. I like this concept alot since it essentially extends the sabbatical over the course of several years and allows these mini retreats to be here in the US or abroad but we always have a "home base" to come back to. This allows me to travel and see the world which is really what my passion is. Unless I replace Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel. So what I am really planning for is transitioning from the current way I earn a living in to another means of earning a living. Something that flows a little more with my goals. The key is planning. I am a planner. I can obsess over a spreadsheet like nobody's business. I love a good list too. I want to start traveling as soon as I can.

In a perfect world, C & I would have some sort of alternative income stream. Something that could bring in enough money per month to meet our living expenses so our savings would be there if we need it but not necessary to dip in to for silly things like groceries or to pay the phone bill.

It's not that I need massive amounts of money to buy all sorts of lovely things. I just want the security of the available funds to know that I don't need to go back to a mind numbing horrible day job ever again. I don't mind living modestly. After all, you can't take it with you.

Our "home base" woube be a small structure about 1500 square feet such as a Katrina Cottage. KC 1185 would do nicely square footage wise. Some small adjustments like bedroom # 2 would not exist and the kitchen would use that space plus there would be room for a pantry and eating nook. Bedroom # 1 would be the TV room. It would be great if it was on a lake and some what private.

I plan on investing in a good camera to take photos of all the places we visit. I plan on packing my laptop to chronicle my travels and possibly write a novel that has been rattling around in my brain. I plan on connecting with my husband and hope that friends and family members will meet up with us along the way.

Looking Forward

I have been thinking a lot lately about life after debt. It will be a while but I want to be prepared when we no longer have the debt. All I can think of after building up a nice emergency fund and savings account is how to spend some of it - on a really nice vacation.



The hubs and I have not taken a real vacation in years. You know the kind where you get on a plane, passport in hand and fly off to some tropical location? We never even had a honeymoon.



In fact, I would love it if we could actually put real life on hold and travel for a couple months. Not certain that is possible but it could be fun if its doable. Maybe that is a goal for down the road. I don't want to negate all the hard work we are putting in now and of course the trip would be paid for with cash.



Places I would love to see in no particular order....

• Greece


• Italy


• England


• India


• New Zealand


• Morocco


• Russia


• Turkey


• Czechoslovakia

I just feel along with a great trip I should do someting to shake things up so to speak.

Have you ever completed a great goal and just felt the need to celebrate in some way?

Oregon Trip - The Beach & The Goonies

Sorry I have been so busy it's taken me a while and three posts to gett this up from our Oregon trip. Been so tired so my writing is somewhat - well ug!

Anyway, After a yummy dinner Saturday night for our anniversary we woke up early, ate breakfast and hit the road. Highway 26 to highway 101 along the Oregon coast. First stop, Cannon Beach. The hubs and I are movie geeks so when an opportunity presents itself to see some filming sites we do not hesitate.

Do you recognize this site? For any of you growing up in the 80's this is the backdrop from a rather famous scene from the Goonies. Remember when the ORV races through the streets of Astoria after picking up one of the Fratelli brothers from jail and they "enter" a race on the beach? This is that beach.

Next up the road was Seaside and finally Astoria. We did more Goonies sight seeing with a stop at the house used for Mikey and Brand's residence. It's a private residence and this was at the bottom of the driveway. Goonies are encouraged to take photos but to hoof it on foot.


The house pretty much looks the same as when it was filmed 25 years ago.

Couple other sites in town were the Flavel House Museum where Mikey's dad worked and the county jail from that infamous opening sequence.


Another favorite is Kindergarten Cop, also filmed in Astoria. The school from the film just happens to be right down the street from the Goonies house.

A few other movies were filmed in the Astoria area like Short Circuit, The Ring (1 & 2) and Into The Wild to name a few.

Edit - If you are in the area and are interested. There is a 25th anniversary Goonies weekend in June 2010.

Oregon Trip Continued

On Saturday of our trip we drove to McMinnville to visit the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum home of Howard Hughes Spruce Goose.

I never realized how large the Spruce Goose is. This thing completely dominated the space in the room. It was amazing to be standing on the floor looking up at it.

Some of my favorite planes at the museum. A Ford Trimotor. They loaded the luggage in to the wings of the plane.

The interior is really cool looking but not as comfortable as current planes I think.

A B17 Flying Fortress.

Yakolev

Oregon Road Trip

Last Saturday my husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. We had been wanting to visit McMenamins for some time and settled on the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. Our drive down Friday was made even better by the donation of my father's Porsche Boxster. About two hours in to the trip my wish was granted and we put the top down. It pretty much stayed down the entire trip. I came prepared with a scarf. How very Hollywood chic!

We took the scenic route and got off I5 at Longview/Kelso to drive down a winding ribbon of highway 47. Full of logging trucks and plenty of twists and turns the hubs was excited to drive the Porsche around. The car took it VERY well.

Forest Grove is just a 40 minute drive west of Portland. It's a small college town in an agricultural area of the state. This is where our hotel, the Grand Lodge was located. McMenamins is owned by two brothers from Portland, Oregon. Their multiple properties are location in Oregon and Washington states. They brew beer, distill wine and roast coffee beans. We usually like a dark beer, you know the kind you have to chew. All kidding aside, their Terminator porter was the only think we drank all weekend

.
Upon our arrival we found out they were having a Medieval Festival. We wandered around the tents that were being set up and then headed in to get some grub. Perfect timing for 1st happy hour. Yes, they have TWO happy hours a day. We ordered two burgers, fries and a salad for $12 and our beers were half off. After the drive and the food and the wandering I needed a nap (below is the view from our room).

Our room was European style with a sink but the bathrooms were shared. Conveniently the womens bathroom was right next door and had heated tile floors! There is original artwork all over the building.

These little faces popped up everywhere on the property. Amazing marble in the bathrooms and "baseboard moldings" in the hallway. Hand painting on the lights as well.

After our nap we went to 2nd Happy Hour at the outdoor bar. $4 for my meal of hummus, pita bread and a salad of mixed greens, red onion, hazelnuts and bleu cheese (and several Terminators) was perfect! There were several people from the Medieval festival at the bar dressed as pirates and wenches and there was even a belly dancer and drummer or two.

There was a room of the entry with a fireplace and wonderfully cushy couches. I took the opportunity to read a book for a while in there. So cozy! There was great art all over the property like this guy below. Two of them, one by the room off the entry and one in the restaurant.

More to come from the rest of our weekend.

The Forest Grove property of The Grand Lodge originally built in 1922 as a Masonic lodge.

McMinnville is just a 50 minute drive SE of Forest Grove and in the heart of Wine country of the Willamette Valley.

Anniversary

Today is my wedding anniversary. The hubs and I stole away to McMenamins Grand Lodge in Oregon for the weekend. It's been a wonderful trip so far. Tomorrow we go home. I will share photos etc. Here is one from our wedding day six years ago.



As we were coming back on to the property we saw a couple in wedding attire getting their picture taken. Memories.....

An Actual Weekend Away

My husband and I will be celebrating our 6 year wedding anniversary in April. Ever since we got married we had always planned to take a weekend trip for our anniversary. We did it in year 1 but have not since.

Yesterday I booked two nights at the McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove, Oregon. The package we got was two nights, $60 credit for dinner and $20 credit for breakfast for $185. That is a heck of a deal in my opinion!

There are a few things we want to do while we are down there but mostly just relax and pretend we are on the Italian Rivera.

Christmas Planning

WooHoo! I just ordered this ornament kit from Knit Picks! I think its a pretty reasonable price for 22 hand crafted ornaments. I really wanted to make some for my tree and will, even if I have to buy some extra yarn in the colors I need - I will have the patterns. I figure these will make great "little extras" for gifts this year.

I am trying to be better prepared for Christmas this year. I have already bought two spendy gifts for the kids and am halfway through a pair of socks for SD. I have not been knitting on them because she is here for vacation. I am so busy at work that I have not had much time to knit at lunch and so tired I have not been knitting in the car on the way to work (the hubs and I carpool). Once they go back to their moms I'm sure things will go back to normal and I can take advantage of it.

Tomorrow we are headed to Forks which is in the northwest corner of the state. I have never been there and since the kiddos (and I) have read the Twilight books and seen the movie, and since its practically our back door, we fidured we would make a day of it.

Vagabonding

Part of the motivation for becoming debt free is the opportunity to travel for extended periods of time. Because of debt we really have only taken one real vacation together in our eight years as a couple.

The plan:

• Become consumer debt free in three years.
• Sell our condo in five to six years.
• Reduce our possessions to what is necessary and store large items we intend to use upon our return -or- build/buy a small house.
  
• Save enough money to live & travel on frugally and simply for up to two years.

Enter vagabonding. What is it you ask? I think it's best put this way, "a deliberate way of living that makes the freedom to travel possible".

The hubs and I have tossed around a few ideas. With the sale of the condo we could buy a Mini Clubman and Airstream. Although this would be extremely cool, the airstream trailer is only 22 feet long and opens out for you to be able to sleep. Not practical if this is our "home" for any length of time.

We have contemplated the 4-hour work week philosophy of working for a few months and taking mini retirement vacations for a few months at a time. This would require a permanent residence that we could come home to and house our reduced but necessary possessions (negating the need for a long term storage unit). This would also require an extremely flexible job and career change.

In the world of extremely flexible jobs we have a couple options.

• The hubs could get a job working on board a cruise ship (he currently works for a cruise line) and as his wife I can come too. This has some opportunity for international travel as well - bonus!
  
• Move to and area with a film industry (an interest for both of us). Working on a film for a few months then taking time off. We have a little film experience under our belts and can always get more in the next few years.
• Become independently wealthy.
  

The small home option would be something like the Katrina Cottages which at roughly $110 per square foot to build are pretty reasonably priced. All we really need in a small home is an open floor plan for the main part of the house to include our kitchen and great room space for living and dining, a master suite of bedroom, bathroom and walk in closet and a half bath (for guests) and utility space as well as a covered porch and that is really all we would need. I am partial to plan numbers KC517, KC697, KC888 (bed 2 would be open living space) & KC936 (with optional master suite and upstairs as loft space).

More things to research and a debt reduction plan to keep following. The possibilities are endless and the future is closer than we might think!

Totally Cool Travel Idea!

I read this article on the unclutterer blog that I thought was great. I too have had the nasty habit of brining back too much from a vacation. Later it goes in to a scrapbook which I might look at or sits in an envelope to one day go in to a scrap book.

I had heard of a similar idea from a friend years ago where they take a small garden gnome on their trips and take photos of him. It started as a joke. they took a friends small garden gnome and held it for ransom. Delivering photos of it to the friends taken in places all over the city.

I am so going to do this on my next vacation!

Omak Stampede

Last weekend we were in Omak which is located in North Central Washington. Chris biological father lives in an old church about eight miles north of Omak in Riverside. His girlfriend lives in the original Omak hotel (The Paperboys band wrote a song about it) and she runs the Breadline Cafe. Below a photo of the Hotel.

Chris dad is a glass blower and half of his church is his studio.

Above is a shot of the sign for his glass studio. Below is a shot of the bell tower at the church.

Last weekend was the 75th anniversary of the Omak Stampede and Suicide Race. The Stampede is a rodeo, fair and Native American pow-wow (some of the fair grounds are on Colville Indian Reservation land). We watched native dancers inside the teepee's and ate yummy Indian tacos.


The Suicide Race started in the 1930's as a publicity stunt and the brain child of Clair Pentz to draw interest to the annual Omak rodeo. Horses and riders numbering around twelve at a time have a 100 yards to run and then race down a 225 foot hill at a 62 degree angle. They cross the Okanogan River and end up in the stadium. From the sound of the starter gun to the end it's over within a couple minutes. Below is a shot of the hill from across the river. This particular race was ran at 9:30 Saturday night.

The race traces it's roots to Native American endurance races. The building in the photo above is a pump house and the local EMT's stand in front of it in the event of an injury. Just above the pump house you can see a fence that travels the length of the hill. To the left (as you are facing it) people are allowed to line up and watch the race. Below is a look from the top of Suicide Hill looking down on the Okanogan River.

Here you can see horses and riders charging over the hill.

We watched a qualifying run the weekend before during the day. Below you can see just how steep the hill is.
Horses and riders as they are entering the river. If you look closely enough you can see some of the horses have no riders. Don't worry - no one was hurt - just disqualified.

Below you can see the Okanogan river as it curves through town and the stadium the riders end up in. Just beyond the trees at the bend of the river (and across it) is Paula's Hotel where we stay when we visit.
This race has been featured in a 1966 Disney film called "Run Appaloosa Run".

Sunday morning we had a private party at Paula's restaurant to watch the parade. There were very large Steer.
A pipe band (didn't catch their name and not certain of their tartan).

The One Armed Bandit. Yes that really is a man on a horse on a trailer pulled by an eighteen wheeler.

No parade is over without the Shriners.

Dressed in various costumes.

As for this next weekend. I think I'm going to lay low and chill out.

Tourists In Our Own Town

Last weekend was the 35th anniversary of the death of Bruce Lee. We happen to live north of Seattle where Bruce (and his son Brandon) are buried. So, off we went to Lakeview cemetery.

The area where they are buried is right off the road and right next to a gentleman who was interred in 1895. There are several other gravestones of various ages around them with a bench directly across from their headstones. Lake Washington is the view to the East (not pictured).

Apparently that day we had just missed the History channel and there were still quite a few people there when we arrived. One guy had even set up a video camera and was reading a monologue in to it.

Next to the cemetery is Volunteer Park which houses a conservatory and the Seattle Asian Art Museum. I walked by people doing impromptu theater in the park as I made my way to the conservatory. I found Waldo inside.


This bell was in the "Waldo Room". I imagine it's from some ancient temple in Asia.

The orchid house is first as you walk in the door. I love Orchids but don't have the right space in my home for one. I tried to keep one but sadly she didn't make it.




















These photos were taken pretty close as there is wire mesh in front of them so you can't touch them. I stuck the lens of my camera between the bars.
























One day I do hope to have a greenhouse of my own. As far back as I can remember I have fantasized about having a glassed in conservatory attached to my home. A room where I can sit and read from a hammock and feel like I am in some tropical location. Maybe even have a few birds and fountain or afternoon tea.

Conservatories are one of the "romantic" Victorian things I have never let go of idealizing. It represents to me a different time and laid back more gentrified pace of life.



The movie Greencard with Gerard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell perfectly describes the more modern use of a Greenhouse I would choose to adapt.
Andy's character moves in to an apartment in New York with a conservatory. The montage of scenes where she takes it from old and worn out to a beautiful oasis is the coolest part of the movie for me.






























Below is a photo of the ceiling in the entry. Most of the glass is clear with the exception of these pieces.

The conservatory has a carnivorous plant collection they feed every Saturday. One thing I learned about these type of plants. You can create a little lagoon area near your patio and plant these and they are just as good as citronella candles or bug lights. They will keep your patio bug free.

The size of some of the plants are huge! You almost feel you are in a tropical jungle at times. I don't remember what temperature they keep the different rooms in but there is definitely a mugginess to the air.




















If I lived in an area of the country that was warmer I would probably have some of these plants in my garden. I do have a trumpet vine and hope that it lasts the winter.