Projects!

As nervous as I am about being jobless, I am excited for all the projects I can finally get done with all my extra time. I have made myself a daily schedule so that I accomplish writing projects as well as other projects around the house. Also, a schedule will keep me responsible and keep me from sitting on the couch day in and day out gaining weight and accomplishing nothing.

At this time, my home projects outweigh my writing projects and I have spent most of my first week jobless working around the house. Monday, I drove down to Portland to check out Kara’s new place and help her move some stuff from her storage unit into the new place. Her place is in a cute triplex, with two bedrooms, one car garage, and small backyard perfect for her and her roommate. Tuesday, I continued helping her move some stuff, hit up Kohl’s (for a great t-shirt sale), and then drove home to WA. I decided to stop at my parent’s house on Tuesday night, spend the night, and take Grandma out to lunch on Wednesday. I got to Graham early enough to go visit grandma on Tuesday night, turns out she had bible study on Wed. and would not be able to go to lunch. I visited with her for about two hours, we had some great conversations and it was nice to be able to chat with her.

It made me realize how much I really miss my family and how much time I need to spend with them, no regrets right? I invited Grandma over to the Rents house for breakfast on Wednesday morning which was nice to continue visiting with her. Thursday I spent some time with Kevin, which was good for us.

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Friday I began some projects I have been meaning to get to. A few months ago, we painted all the cabinets in the kitchen and the walls in the kitchen. I have been meaning to paint the pocket door, which leads to the dining room, and the trim around it and the kitchen ceiling area. There are a few areas on the wall I have been meaning to fix to that have either been smudged or painted with the wrong color. Friday I was able to bust out the painting gear and tackle those projects, and the room looks much better.

I was also able to clean out the refrigerator. Not only was there too much old or unused food items, the shelves were dirty and sticky and gross. It was awesome to be able to get projects done and finally crossed off my list. I look forward to crossing even more things off my list, and blogging about them.

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Next week, Kevin and I are going to North Carolina for Kevin’s work. I will be doing a lot more writing next week and then back to projects around the house again. I think everyone should take a week off work to just stay home and tackle those things on their lists that never seem to get done. Luckily, I’m not going back anytime soon.

End of an Era

April 18, 2009 marked my final day at Alternative Counseling. It was bittersweet ending to a yearlong job. I spent my last week a little differently than I had imagined. I wanted to do a bunch of things to make sure everyone would be okay without me, I know a bit conceited but I did a lot of minuscule mundane things every day. Instead, I spend a few days out sick with the flu. Let me lay out the week for you (those who even care). Monday, I had the day off so I cleaned the house. Tuesday, I went to work had some great groups (Tuesday groups were my favorite). Wednesday, I woke up sick and spent the day on the couch. Thursday, I woke up (TMI alert) puking out both ends. Friday, I felt a lot better so I went back to work. Saturday, was my last day and I went in for the last time.

Friday, when I finally made it back into work, I was thrown a not-so-surprise going away party. It was fun and I barely did anything all day. The boss brought in a ton of food, including some smoked salmon that he cooked up the night before. I told him to bring in a bunch of fruits and vegetables since junk food made me a bit queasy. I got an awesome bouquet of flowers from the boss, featuring a few of my favorites. I felt as if I really would be missed and I felt a little tug on my heartstrings with the goodbyes I received.

Saturday was an amazing day at work, and probably the most fun I have had in a long time, thanks to my Saturday morning crazy group. We laughed and joked and teased each other all through the group process, which lasted almost the full two hours. I gave a fun speech thanking everyone for helping me make my time as their counselor a great learning experience. I wished them all well and gave them my support through the rest of the counseling process. I never laughed so hard as I did with that group.

I was excited to leave, but sad at the same time. I learned a lot during my time there about life, laws, people in general, how to communicate more effectively, and most importantly I learned a lot about myself. I felt good leaving though, as if I was moving in the right direction. I was scared and nervous, but I know I am doing the right thing and I look forward to what the future holds for me.

Vegas: The Final Chapter

On our last day in Vegas, Kevin and I went out to Lake Las Vegas for some fun in the sun. It is one of Kevin’s favorite places to go and I had never been. We perused the Ritz Carlton and talked about how we needed to stay there next time we flew down. We journeyed along the Lake and walked together hand in hand (I was feeling mushy there for a minute). We checked out the casino, signed up for their player’s club card, and earned $5 in free slot play. Neither of us won very big that day. We continued our journey, checked out a few other Hotels along the lake.



Then, we saw these fliers for condos for sale for way cheap. Some of these places were $600,000, but the prices had dropped down to $150,000, which was a steal. We decided to drive around and look for some open houses, or just see what was out there. We only caught the tail end of one condo viewing so we checked it out, it was pretty spectacular. We discussed the pros and cons of having a condo out in Lake Las Vegas and if it would even be worth it. It probably won’t happen, but it’s one of those things that is great to talk about the “what ifs.”

After looking at way too expensive condos, we headed back to the Ritz Carlton area for some Gelato. We strolled along the water while we eat our tasty treats. There was a rental stand where you can rent paddle boats or motor boats and tour the Lake. Next time we are down there with Trenton that is something we really want to do.





I noticed there were fish in the water and I wanted to try to catch one. After much thought and consideration, I decided my Gelato would make some great bait and when they come close to the surface I would simply grab one. Sounded like a pretty awesome idea at that time. Kevin told me he would give me $1,000 if I caught a fish with my bare hands. Challenge accepted, was my response. I lay out on rocks, got some Gelato on my spoon, and stuck it in the water waiting for the fish to respond. A few venture close, but they were too far under the water. After a few minutes, the Gelato melted and I got bored. Kevin took pictures and was highly amused by my efforts.



After that, we headed on home where I took an awesome nap before heading out to another of Kevin’s friends’ home. We had an awesome feast of a dinner which consisted of chicken, steak, corn on the cob, melt-in-your-mouth cornbread, salad, chips, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Great trip, great people, great memories, and great guy. Who could ask for anything more?

Vegas Part 2

Our Vegas trip is long over, but I finally have some time to write about it. We had a great time. I already wrote about our first night, so lets move on.

Our second night in Vegas, I really wanted In N Out burger. I knew there was one up the street from the strip a bit on Tropicana. We took the monorail up to the MGM, which was in and off itself an adventure, thanks to my Kev. We walked from our hotel over to the monorail. Kev was trying to be the great gentleman that he is and attempted to move a sign out of my way. Somehow, he grabbed the sign wrong and sliced his finger causing blood to spurt out of the wound. We didn’t have anything with us to wrap it in, so he cupped his palm to catch the dripping blood. By the time we made it up the escalator, his entire hand was covered in blood and that was dripping down his arm. It was really quite gross, I gave him a ticket I found on the ground to wrap his finger in until we could find a bathroom. I don’t know how the boy does it, but he always seems to get himself into these situations.



Back to the In N Out Burger story…So, we made it to MGM, Kevin cleaned up his hand, and we crossed over to New York New York. As we started up Tropicana, we realized the road was going to run out and there was no possible way to get to In N Out Burger by walking. I was extremely disappointed, but what could we do. We ended up walking in and out of various casinos trying to decide what to eat. We spent some time in MGM where I got in a fight but lost.



Of all places we ended up at Denny’s. It was the least crowed and least noisy. After we finally ate, we walked all the way back to our hotel. Over the course of the evening we walked practically the entire length of the strip. Once back at the hotel, we decided to go soak in the hot tub. As soon as we got into the hot tub, the wind started kicking up (there was a huge windstorm the next day). After a few minutes of soaking and trying to avoid dirt in the eyes, we called it a night and headed to bed.

The trip was great and full of fun adventures. Life with Kevin is always an adventure and there is never a dull moment. I’m glad we both can look back at things and say “that was pretty fun”, instead of focusing on the negative. We laugh about it and say “this will be a great blog post.”



On a side note: I went to my favorite slot machine location (Slots-O-Fun)with the intention of spending some money on my favorite slot machine the Let's Make a Deal slot. Much to my great sadness, they no longer had the machines. I found a Monopoly game and won some money, but it turned out it was a penny slot, so I only won about $2. I gambled $5 all together and lost big.

Vegas, baby!

This week Kevin and I are in Las Vegas, my home once upon a time. I lived here 2001-2004; I had some of the best times and some of my lowest points in this city. I had no idea how much I really missed it here. The city itself is so full of wonder and mystery and holds many memories for me.



The flight in was long, we had a layover in San Francisco, and I got a little bit of work done on the flight. Once we landed in the city, I got this huge grin on my face and I couldn’t stop smiling all the way through the airport. Kevin kept looking at me and telling me how happy I looked, and all I could say was “wow, wow.” Walking outside the airport alone set off all kinds of thoughts and emotions off. We were picked up by a good friend of Kevin’s and went out to eat with his family. Our first night, we stayed at the Riviera ($30 a night special), the room was not fancy, as the hotel is not fancy. They charge a $3 service charge to turn on power in your room, what? I remember going to that casino a few times in my days here, not often, but enough to remember my way around. It was an interesting stay and we were both glad it was just for one night.



Wednesday morning, we pack our bags and walked across the convention center parking lot to the Marriott Suites where we would be staying for the remainder of our trip. This is quite a step up, if you ask me. Separate living and sleeping area; pull out couch, two tvs, very fancy. We checked in and then Kevin had to go to work, at the Convention Center running a booth there for his company. I had this huge room to myself and I sat in it all day, working on a large writing project. I got most of it done by the time Kevin got home. We were both in the mood for a buffet (its Vegas and the rock). We decided to walk the strip and check out some of the newer hotels, and there are a lot. We walked halfway down the strip until we came to the casino formerly known as the Aladdin, now known as Planet Hollywood or PH. Then we pigged out in the buffet, which was decent but not spectacular. We continued our trek along the strip by cruising through the Bellagio and Forum shops before heading home.

My Plate


Kevin's Plate


We stopped and watched the fountains at the Bellagio and as I looked around I teared up a little bit. At that moment, I realized just how much I missed this place. The lights, the warmth, the people, all of it just came back to me. I grew up a lot here; actually I would say that I grew up the most here. I learned a lot about myself, and this place had the biggest influence in making me the person I am today. I cried the hardest here, and I struggled the most here. I would not be the person I am today if it were not for Las Vegas. It is good to be back; I will really enjoy this trip and be sad to leave this place once again.