Something to talk about!

Okay so I finally have something to talk about! The term has ended, and I think I came out okay, no grades posted as of yet however! We went on a mini vacation to visit many of our friends and family on the other side of the state! We had a blast even though Nick had a cold the entire trip, he survived!

We left on Wednesday March 20th and returned on March 25th. Our trip included stopping at Fire On the Mountain (our favorite wing place in Portland)  http://www.portlandwings.com/index.php we even got to see our friend Andy! Thursday we were able to meet Vickie (Nick's mom) for lunch at The Spicy Pickle http://www.spicypickle.com/restaurants/oregon.html a we also checked out the OSU Bookstore down town and got Murph an OSU shirt!   Then it was off to visit my old work at Marquis Hope Village. I got to see all my old coworkers and almost every resident remembered me! :) Originally I said I would stay for only an hour or so, three hours later I was walking out the door grinning from ear to ear. Feels great to have such loving people who support your future goals! After that we stopped in Salem ate at Hawaiian Time http://www.yelp.com/biz/hawaiian-time-salem. After all that eating and friend time we were off to Coos Bay to spend 3 days with Nick's aunts uncle and grandparents. While on the coast we were able to go to the West Coast Game Park Safari http://gameparksafari.com/. It is like a mini version of a zoo it was pretty neat. I cant help but feeling sorry for animals in cages, but they are so beautiful to see! We also went to Old Town Bandon which has typical beach shops. Nick got hit on by some Gypsy ladies which kept him smiling most of the day! We were able to go to Mass with his family and eat yummy food along throughout the entire weekend. Grandma, Nick and I also went to the Casino. Nick was the only winner! Then it was back to Portland for another night before the long trek home! This time around we dropped off Murph at Grandma Vickie's (WE MISS YOU MURPH). Side note: the entire ride home we talked about how much we missed him and both agreed if it's this bad with a dog, lord have mercy on our future children! While in Portland we had dinner with our friends Joey and Mari, Hank, Chiba and Alison! It was great seeing everybody!

Then we headed home! On the drive home we took Historic Highway 30, stopped at Vista House and admired the waterfalls along the way!

Tomorrow is back to reality. Nick continues to work on the remodel. I am preparing for next term and will be working at the Pig during Spring Break week! 

okay so I have to be honest... technology is not my strong suit, I cant figure out how to upload pictures from my phone onto the blog without putting them on Facebook first! I am working out technical difficulties.

Vday thanks!

Also a quick thank you to everyone who has given us Vday gifts! :) We plan to go out to an early dinner tomorrow and then come home so I can study, so romantic I know! We will watch our movies  (Vickie) when I have a break from tests and get snacks to munch on too (Grams).

Twas the day before Valentines Day

Hey guys, its been a few weeks now since I have posted! I can tell Winter is nearing an end and Spring is trying to show its sunshiny face! The temperature is in the 20's- 40's!

I still haven't done any apartment pictures... sorry, guess that means you just need to come visit us! But seriously as soon as I find my camera charger I will take pictures and post them! Things in the apartment are coming along. The small bathroom is almost finished. I choose a great grey for the walls with white trim, I love it! Nick has done 90% of the the remodel. That includes patching, painting, laying floor boards, building things, etc. I really don't know what he does but he is filthy dirty at the end of the day so I guess he calls it work! :).. Murph and I do a good job at staying out of the way during all of this!

Nick has gone fishing 1x since living here and caught an 18" Trout. His goal is to catch a Steelhead, but we heard from a friend it took him 3 years to catch his first steelhead!

Nick also got the flu 2 weeks ago for about 3 days. He was miserable and sicker than sick! On a Wednesday he went back to work and worked through the weekend to make up the days missed. (Workaholic)!

Murph enjoys going downstairs to the drug store whenever possible to check out the updates on the remodel. He is so cute he makes his rounds of the store sniffing every inch and when he is done he comes back to us like, "ok guys good job, ill be back to inspect another day." He enjoys sleeping on the couch most of the day! I am excited to take him out walking when the weather warms up a little!

As for me.... School school school and working 2 days a week at the Little Pig in Baker. Originally I had thought I would be working at the clinic in Union but that has not panned out as planned so for now I will be mostly job shadowing, which is still great experience. Classes are a little tougher than I had anticipated but I am doing well enough :)! I have applied to a nursing school at Blue Mountain Community College. Its based strictly on a point system and they only take 16 applicants so keep good thoughts I get at least an interview! The point system includes GPA, % of prereqs completed by Fall '12, work experience, other degrees. Its all very competitive many people get straight A's and I am not one of those so that lowers my poinnts! I still aspire to do Physician Assistant but am coming to see that RN leading into Nurse Practitioner may be a more likely option. There is no time limit on finishing classes and no required job experience hours (however you get more points with job experience) so these are benefits! I am going to get my CNA license over the summer however and work as a CNA to help with my "points" for applications. I have been working ~3x a week which is a much improvement from our time in Salem! :) I am loving it! Now if I just drank less beer I might see some changes ;-)! 

Nick and I are enjoying Union a lot. As of right now we do laundry at my Grandma Mabel's and eat dinner with her about 1x per week. We have dinner and game night with my mom in Baker 1x per week and typically grab a beer with my dad 1-2x per week! Nick has continued with the Chamber Of Commerce and we hope to get involved in the school for coaching and so forth once the remodel is done! Next Monday we are both taking a CPR/ First Aid class to renew our licensees!

I think that is all for us here! :) I promise pictures will come soon!

one more thing....

Forgot to mention, the reason I had time to blog tonight..... Nick is in Boardman with Randal, Megan, and Jax

And ~1x a week we have enjoyed eating/drinking, playing games, and laughing with my mom! (she lives in Baker as well!) But.... she is a very busy socialite so at times we have to fit into her schedule!

Also, I forgot to mention we went shooting shotguns and a riffle with Erin. We had a blast staying the night with her! She makes AMAZING food and is an AMAZING host. I would encourage anybody staying in the Boise area to contact Erin to be the host! She has 1 dog, 3 goats, a horse and chickens to keep her busy. We were able to go into downtown Boise, Id and have lunch as well. (This was Nick's first experience in Idaho and he even said he really enjoyed it!) 

My first post!

Okay here we go! So I have officially made a blog! :) I hope to keep you up to date on our happenings here in Eastern Oregon and highlight the important things! So Nick has been here for 2 months now! and I have been here for almost 1 month, time is flying by and we are busy! Here are some highlights! I would like to note to all my family members mostly, I am terrible with spelling, grammer, and anything involved in writing so hang in there all you english folk! :)

• We still live in Baker City with my dad and Julie in my old bedroom while the apartment remodel is underway. 
• We have been staying at the apartment in all its craziness however 2-5 nights a week. We have limited kitchen appliances soo mostly sandwhiches, beer, oatmeal, o and Nicks burritos are ate while there. On the bright side my grandma loves making us a good meal whenever requested. 
• Murph is adjusting fine and is enjoying barking at all the new people. He is quite the commuter dog and travels well from place to place.
• Megan- I am busy with school mostly and working on establishing routines. After a not so good math test, I am refocusing and getting busy on better study habits. I am going to the gym 5 days a week and really enjoying this. I have made a couple friends at school and have enjoyed spending time with old friends as well! I am working at The Little Pig a cute coffee shop in Baker, which I worked at in High School.! Soon I will be volunteering/working at Union Family Health Clinic. 
• Nick is working on the remodels of upstairs, our apartment of the pharmacy and downstairs on the addition/remodel of the pharmacy. He is enjoying the local "small town shinanagins" and looks forward to when everybody in the town knows his name. Which is coming along well, I have been addressed as "oh you're Nicks girlfriend, the guy who is working over at Walts." So I guess he is trumping "oh you're Walt's daughter." He has been able to go fishing on the Snake with Jake McAlister and friends! Also wearing Jeans, Carharts, Romeos, and favorite website is now Cabela's.
• We are enjoying Barley Brown's in Baker, with their great brews and Brewski's in Union with Leslie and Mike. Shaff also enjoys a corndog or 2 at Stoplight in Union for lunch a couple days a week.!
• We had Joey, Mari and Chiba come visit us for the weekend which was a BLAST. Their trip included drinking at Barley Browns, shots at the Main Event and hot tubing at my dad and Julies. Joey, Chiba, and I went skiing at Anthony Lakes while Nick snow shoed and Mari worked on some studying! After skiing we enjoyed some Paizanos Pizza and relaxed. They were also able to come see the Pharmacy remodel and get a vision for the apartment. All of them said they would be back, so Ill take that as a good sign. 

That about sums up what is happening in Eastern Oregon!
Nicks "you know you're in Eastern Oregon when...."

• every overpass includes a cattle guard.  

Here's some links to a few of the spots I mentioned!
http://www.anthonylakes.com/ 
http://barleybrowns.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/LG-Brewskis/202717269745877?ref=ts&fref=ts
http://paizanospizza.com/