Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Wednesday's List: Alabama/Oregon (Part 1)

It's Wednesday!  That means it's time for Wednesday's List. Join me and write a post in list form, then leave a comment and let me know you are joining me so I (along with others) can check your list out! I LOVE LIST!

I've been pondering this list for a while.  The difference between Alabama and Oregon.  Believe me the list is quite long so I'm going to break this into 2 parts. So...here goes :)

The Difference between Alabama and Oregon (Part 1)

- The Weather.  Oh, I could say so much about the difference in the weather...but then I'd get all depressed that I'm still having the Winter Blues...so I'll keep it short. It rains a lot here. A LOT...but not a lot all at once.  It drizzles all day long here, where in Alabama it pours for an hour or two then the sun comes back out (most of the time).  The Winter is LONG here and short Summers, BUT when it is Summer here it's WONDERFUL.  Absolutely perfect weather to play outside.  Alabama Summers can be Too hot for most people (I just so happen to love the heat...) and lots of humidity (which I'm loving living without).  Also no Tornado's here and I don't believe I've seen lightening (thunderstorms) since I've been here.

- If someone invites you to their house to eat here in OR usually you will not be offered Coke products...you will have water or wine. (or Coffee)

- Lots and Lots and Lots of Coffee here.  Everyone drinks it...even kids...  Coffee shops are EVERYWHERE.  There are these drive-thru coffee places that are about as small as a walk-in closet.  At our old house in Springfield, OR you could go a mile (or less) in any direction and hit one of these coffee shops. (I just counted 7 that were in a mile of my old house!)  We lived 1 mile away from 2 different star bucks.  Seriously! CRAZY and I LOVE it!

- Kids.  Kids don't wear hair bows here...or not a lot anyways.  Here kids wear layers.  Leggins, skirts, rain boots... RAIN BOOTS are everywhere.  Alabama kids wear dresses.  Frilly dresses and Bows!  I don't see a lot of frilly dresses here in Oregon.  Also it seems in the AL kids wear a lot of initialed clothes, bags...well anything you can initial.  I don't hardly see anything initialed here...especially not clothing.

 - Speaking of Dresses.  Someone once warned me about this one.  I got my hair cut by a girl about my age just after we moved here.  She was really interested in the South.  She said she really wanted to be a Southerner, wear a sundress, bake a casserole and show up at a picnic. haha! :)  I wondered why people in Oregon don't wear dresses.  Well, this Summer I figured it out.  It's only warm enough to wear dresses for about a  month or two here (for me anyways! ha!).  So, why buy a dress when you can only wear it for one month?  Or maybe for real Oregonians there is another reason...

ORGANIC.  Oregonians are all natural.  There are several grocery stores here selling all natural foods.  I know there are people in AL that eat all Natural foods, Organic and Gluten Free but here it's to the extreme! 

- In AL you have Rednecks.  In Oregon you have Hippies.

- I don't have to pump my own gas here in OR!!! It's actually illegal to pump your own gas and I LOVE it!

Dogs.  More people here have dogs than in AL it seems..  If you have a dog here it's really a kid.  You can take your dog to work, church, out to eat.  I see more dogs in the strangest places here than ever before.  It seems in AL people don't take their dogs everywhere with them...Dogs are USUALLY just pets...maybe in the backyard or some even in the house.  Some have hunting dogs.  

Well, there you go... just a few differences.  Come back next Wednesday for Part 2.
If you've been to both AL (or the South, really) and OR (or the North West), I would love to hear the differences you noticed. :)



Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Pinterest: Frozen Yogurt Drops!

I found this on Penterest HERE.
I'm not sure why I didn't think of this myself.  I'm not big on the texture of yogurt so why not freeze it?
Baby Knox had a clinic in Eugene a week or so ago so April and Neal Dropped off Raegan and Charger for a few hours to play with the girls.  I thought this would be something fun Rae and Deci could do together.
All you do is get any flavor of Yogurt. (I would recommend not getting the yogurt with real fruit pieces in it because the fruit has a hard time coming out of the hole in the bag)
Put the yogurt in a zip lock bag.
Cut a hole in one of the corners of the bag and squeeze out drops onto a baking sheet.
Put the pan in the freezer for one hour. Then they are ready to eat!
YUM!
This will be such a fun snack for Summer!

Check back in next Monday where we will start Marriage Letters back up! :)
Go on over to The Run a Muck and check out the topics for the month of April on Marriage letters.
Next week: On Serving Together

Monday, March 26, 2012

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!!

I miss a lot of people in Alabama and one of those I miss the most is my dad and today he turned 60!
I actually can't believe it.  60 seems so old and my dad seems so young.
I dedicate this blog to my dad because, well...60 years is a long time to live and I just so happen to miss him a lot.
I remember being younger and we were camping.  My dad was cutting up wood for the fire and hurt his leg.  He had to go to the hospital and I remember seeing him walk into the camper and I started crying.  I'm not sure how young I was but I remember not wanting him to be hurt.  I've been called a daddy's girl for quite sometime now.
There are 2 things that really stand out about my dad. 1. He LOVES the water!
 and 2. He LOVES ALABAMA!  Alabama Football that is... The picture below cracks me up and I didn't realize it until now but I think my dad has the same shirt on in both pictures...  The picture on the left is my dad holding Deci.  The picture on the right is my dad holding Journey. :) Roll Tide!
 I do believe it's the same shirt below also. ;) We don't help the cause any by buying him Alabama shirts for every birthday!
 Below: Mine and Q's wedding day
 My dad has survived a lot.  When I was younger he was in a really bad car accident where he could have died.  My little brother Kyle was in the car with him when it happened.  They were on their way to pick me and Lee up from school.  Also a few years ago the doctors found a spot on my dads head that was cancerous.  They removed it along with a patch of hair from his head that is still gone.  I am so thankful to still have my dad in my life...even if it's 2,800 miles away.
The Evans Family Reunion.  Left to right: My older brother Lee, Younger brother Kyle, Me (pregnant with Deci) and my dad.

 My dad is such a good cook! Especially french toast, chili and hamburgers!
The picture above, Deci was helping my dad make french toast.


 
My dad, his wife, my 2 step sisters and my 2 brothers.


Last night I missed my dads 60th Birthday Party.  This is the hardest part about living in Oregon...I hate missing these huge events.  So, Dad, Sorry I couldn't be there yesterday...and today.  I'm glad to call you my dad!  Happy Birthday, DAD! I love you!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Neighbors

A few weeks ago I asked Q to go to Wendy's to get us something to eat.  When he left he saw a group of neighborhood kids who had just moved in a house down the road from ours.  So he bought 8 Frosty's for them. (I might add here that he forgot to give them the spoons.  Breanna later wondered why our bag had 8 spoons in it. haha! Whoops!) Q and I left for date night right after this and as we were driving down the street past their house they were waving like crazy at us. :)
A week later I heard someone knock at the door.  It was a young boy from that house bringing us cookies that his Aunt made.  He said it was because "some man bought us frosty's last week." haha!
I loved living in that neighborhood...I LOVE getting to know neighbors.
I have still not met any of our neighbors around our new house but today as I was pulling out of the driveway to go to church the lady that lives beside us was out smiling and waving at us as we pulled away.  Maybe I'll bake her some cookies this week. :)

Friday, March 23, 2012

Where have I been???

Well...MOVING and unpacking and no internet... and it's been over a week since I've blogged! Eeeek! I know, shocking. I have to admit that it's been quite nice.  I love to blog and I feel the need to blog.  I want to post pictures about what we're doing and keep family updated.  I love recording our life on here but If I'm honest, it was a great little break. I actually picked back up the 5th Harry Potter book and read almost a whole chapter without falling asleep! It's nice going without the internet for a little while.
(excuse the pictures that aren't edited....you're lucky I've posted pictures at all! ha!)

    We are loving our new house and I can not wait to post pictures but It's so far from being put together.  I still and finding boxes that I need to unpack.  I want to do a post soon of our old house compared to our new house and all the funny things like the fact that we didn't have a backyard...or really not much of a yard at all, so we had our trampoline sitting in our drive way! Yes, you could spot the Alabama rednecks from a mile away!  ha! Now we have a backyard and I LOVE it!

   We've also found a gymnastic place that's close by where I take the girls once a week for open gym.  They are having so much fun and we are getting to meet new friends.  We haven't met our neighbors yet (which I miss our old neighbors terribly!) but we hope to venture out and meet them soon.  Quinton met one of them who is an elderly lady in her 80's once when I wasn't with him.  I told Deci about her and now she is so excited about Granny (Q's grandmother) meeting her when she is here in April so they can be best friends. :)  She said they are both old! haha!

  Ohhh, I have to tell you the funny thing that happened this week:  We got snow! Yep SNOW in March.  Happy Spring! And to make things worse funnier, in Alabama it was 85!
  Well, I just wanted to stop in and say hello...I'm still here!

Friday, March 16, 2012

It's Friday! A Week Review In Pictures

I'll start this post off by telling you that I've met an AMAZING friend this week.
Her name is Kylee....which confuses me every time I say it because it's like meshing my 2 brothers names together... Kyle and Lee...but not really... but I keep wanting to say it that way. I'm sure she hates this! ha! :)
ANYWAYS, She really is amazing and I am so glad my friend Holleigh introduced us.
She is originally from Ohio and moved out with her husband this past Summer.
It's nice to have another friend here who understands how hard it can be to live so far away from family.
Go, NOW, and check out her really cute Clutch she just made! (I saw it in person and it really is as cute as it is in the pictures!)
Now, on to my very CRAZY week:
Sunday night we had our very first meeting about the Beautiful Mess in the basement we will be meeting at to do outreach...did that sentence even make since?   This whole Beautiful Mess stuff should have had it's own post but man when do I have the time...something HUGE is going on this week...

 Do you know what happens if you leave a one-year-old alone in a room with baby wipes??
Well, this is what mine does:
 Every. Single. Time. Why do I keep leaving them where she can get them??

 So, This HUGE thing that's been going on this week...and the surprise I talked about last Friday, HERE is that we are MOVING!!  Just to another place in the same area...it just has a back yard, dishwasher, bonus room (for the girls toys and guest to stay), and two bathrooms!!!! Which we don't have ANY of those things in the house we are living in now....well, I mean, we have a bathroom, just not 2. ;) So, this week every day I've been loading up my car with boxes and taking them to the new house.  I'll do a moving post soon and post more pictures.
Box tunnels are the best!
Brooke, Breanna, and Maribel
Look! Our closet is CLEAN!

 Seriously, I LOVE these pictures! I love these girls so much.
 (Don't let all these pictures fool you, they do fight a lot too!)
Yesterday morning we met one of Deci's friends from school at a local indoor gym to play.

Since Brooke is here visiting us in Oregon at the Moment, I'll leave you with a post (click HERE) from the past about the one and only Brooke and I'm thinking maybe I should get her to potty train Journey while she's here. 
And, I'll leave you with this picture.  I've never been a fan of BIG sunglasses but there is just something about Oregon that makes me feel like I can branch out...what do ya think?
Haha! These are Breanna's that she got at Forever 21 for like $2.  I think I need some! Kerrie would be proud!
Wow, That was packed FULL! Happy Friday Everyone!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Wednesday's List: Bucket List

It's Wednesday!  That means it's time for Wednesday's List. Join me and write a post in list form, (doesn't have to be bucket list) then leave a comment and let me know you are joining me so I (along with others) can check your list out! I LOVE LIST!

Can I just tell you that I've been wanting to share with you my bucket list for a while,
BUT at the same time I feel that my bucket list isn't yet complete...
I started a bucket list several years ago in a Journal and that Journal is currently boxed up. So I'm going to try and remember as well as I can what was on that original list.  Plus I've added some and taken some off.

My Bucket List:
 (in no particular order)

1. Visit all 50 States in the USA
2. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
3.  Take my daughters on a foreign mission trip
4. Visit New York City
5. Go on a road trip across the USA
6. Go skiing in "real" snow.  I've only skied down a hill when I was 10 on fake/man-made snow.
7. Run a 10k...or a 1/2 marathon...
8. Adopt a child...or two
9. Go see the Grand Canyon
10. Get a Tattoo
11. Learn to Knit something that's not square or rectangle (not a headband/scarf/ear warmers)
12. Go on an overnight hiking trip
13. Scuba dive with my Dad and Brother somewhere besides my dads pool
14. Volunteer somewhere at least once a year, every year
15. Visit the 7 wonders of the world
16. See my girls give their lives to follow Jesus...to make their life about Him.
17. At some point, live in a State that is closer to family
18. Ride on a Train
19. To be dept free. We only have my student loan left to pay off!
20. Buy and sewing machine and learn to use it.
21. Get another passport (mine expired in 2009)
22. Take Journey to Mexico (Deci went when she was 13 moths old)
23. Have a street party for our neighbors.
24. Memorize a HUGE chunk of Scripture
25. Personally feed a homeless person...not as in spoon feed them but buy them food and hand it to them.

I would like to add that sometimes I feel like we make bucket list and they are very selfish and worldly.  Mine is no different.  When I think of a bucket list I think of things to actually do to cross off...it's hard to cross off "be less selfish" or "learn more about the bible"  or "Be a better Mom." etc... but there are several things that I would like to change about myself before I "kick the bucket"...I'm just not sure that I'll actually be able to do these things and cross them off a list...they are ongoing.  Maybe that's another list post...

Bucket list items that I took off my list:
-bungee jumping
-sky diving
Like I ever really had enough courage to do either of these and now I have 2 kids that would have a hard time living without me if something went terribly wrong...but maybe one day when they are older I can add these back on my list...maybe. ;)

Have you posted a List lately? I would love to read it!
Happy Listing!




Sunday, March 11, 2012

Another Beautiful Day in Oregon

We've had very unusual weather lately in Oregon...either that or I'm getting use to the cold and rain...
No, I think it's just been a little unusual.
Last March it rained EVERY SINGLE DAY in Eugene.
We've actually had sunny days a lot this past few weeks and I LOVE IT!
So we spend a lot of time outside when it's pretty.
(I decided to take my "real" camera out this day, you'll be thankful for the change from my blurry phone pic's!)
Don't let Deci's outfit fool you.  It was warm but not quite warm enough to be in a Summer dress.  She's just a kid with tough skin.  I think it was 63..or 65 this day.
We went to visit a rose garden and got to see this lovely tree that is 130 years old.
From what I hear, I need to make a trip back to see it in late April, early May because it blooms these pink flowers.  It's a Black Tartarian Cherry tree.
Deci decided she wanted to take a picture and why not? If you're a mom you understand the lack of pictures I find myself in with my kids...

We also went to visit a new park.  I am honestly still amazed at how many parks and playgrounds are in the area.  I've been in Oregon over a year and I find new parks every week.
Journey is just at the age now when I can let her go down some slides by herself and she loved this one! I couldn't get her off of it!  Too bad somewhere along the day we lost one of her shoes so she had to walk on the mulch barefoot. Ouch! She's tough though and if it meant she could go down the slide again she didn't care.

Deci wanted to take one more picture and this is what we get:
I think it's perfect...maybe the best Q and A picture yet. ;)

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Journey's First Haircut

Journey's hair is growing so fast and I have no idea how to fix little girls hair.  With Deci all I've had to do was brush it in the bath and then leave it alone.  God knew what he was doing when he gave this "Tomboy" a girl with curly hair... Now I'm having to "fix" Journey's hair and I'm trying to do the same thing that I do with Deci and it doesn't always turn out.  It's not as curly as Deci's but not straight either... 
I decided that I should get her hair cut...just in the back at the bottom.  Deci didn't have a "professional" haircut until last year. I say professional because I trimmed Deci's once myself just to get rid of some of the baby hair so it wouldn't tangle so much.
Our friends, Thania and Maribel, stopped by!

Our friend Katie cut Journey's hair and Maribel took pictures. :)
We put on Yo Gabba Gabba Video's on the computer to keep her still.
She did SOOO Good! It was way easier than I thought it would be.  Yo Gabba Gabba was a big hit.
Deci got her hair trimmed also since she hasn't had it cut since last Summer.
before pic.

Deci and Katie

Deci did great also and Katie was so fast!
(For some reason I forgot to take after pics.)