It's been to long...

I don't even know what to say, I am truly sorry for making you wait so long for a blog. I swear I have a huge line up of posts fighting to get onto your screen and off my iphone list...I swear. Life has been a bit crazy for Tom and I this past few months and I finally feel like the dust is settling a bit, although we are still quite busy...hmmm...maybe we have just become to accustomed to the dust and debris flying around in our lives. Anyways, before I begin posting more ideas on how to simplify your life, would you like an update about what we've been up to?

yeah that is what I thought.

Well, as told in previous posts, we bought a house and got the keys on April 8th. That gave us exactly a month until our lease was up and we had to move out of our apartment into the house. Ready...set...GO! Oh goodness, we worked so hard to get the house painted, replace the floors, install the new appliances, deal with a water heater that decided not to like water anymore and empty it's contents into our basement and take apart and then install semi new bathroom. Well, we did it...almost! The bathroom upstairs is now called the "bathroom in progress."

Larry, Tom's amazing dad came for a week to work on our to-do list and help us with anything we needed. It was amazing!

Then the week we had to move my fabulous mom came and basically packed up our entire apartment with her two hands while I was working and Tom was doing the work and school thing. We could not have moved without her!

Then it was just us! We slowly unpacked and got settled into our little homestead. The floors are still not completely finished, there are some paint touch-ups required, and the list goes on but WE DON'T CARE! We love living in our home and are completing projects when we can.

Then there were 3! We enjoyed living by ourselves for a week or two and then Danielle, Tom's sister moved up to Portland from Arizona to be our roommate. It has been wonderful to share this space with her and enjoy her company until she finds a place of her own. We are stoked to have some family in Portland too!

Then there were 4 but we ate it! We had our first annual Luau and cooked our first pig in the ground, Hawaiian style. We had a huge crowd and a lot of pork but it was a blast. The pig was donated by a local farm called Heritage Farms Northwest  and the farmers came out to the BBQ to have some of their pig and teach us about their farming practices. We felt like we were straight out of an episode of Portlandia....If you haven't seen this gem of a show, it is a comedy sketch that pokes fun at Portland culture. Check it out below.

Tom has now transitioned out of school/work mode into externship/work mode. Does he ever stop? I don't think so! He is doing his externship at a restaurant called Noble Rot. It is a popular wine bar/restaurant here is Portland. If you watch the food network, his head chef, Leather (yes, Leather!), was recently on the first episode of the new show Extreme Chef. Visit their website if you want to learn more. They have a rad roof top garden and delicious creme brulee :) [UPDATE: Leather offered Tom a job at Noble Rot! So proud of him and all his hard work!!!] Tom also drove the food truck back to Portland so we can put the final touches on Mac N' Dash and get her ready to set sail. If you haven't done so, search for Mac N' Dash on facebook and "like" the page so you can get the updates.

I am still working full time and volunteering while preparing to add grad school to my calendar in the Fall. I am so excited for this new adventure. I will be studying Social Work at Portland State University. Check out the School's site if you are interested in learning more.

And then there were 4! We adopted a beautiful dog from a local shelter. His name is Mazipan but we call him Marz or Marzy. He is a 5 year old Springer/Clumber Spaniel mix and is the cutest thing in the entire world. He is the best cuddler and loves to do everything with us!

Marz loves doing errands with me because he gets to ride in the car

And then there were 7! No we are not having triplets! Stop it with that baby talk. We are dog sitting for one of Tom's coworkers. If you know anything about us, we are not little dog people. But now we have three cute little dogs following us around and enjoying our yard. They are slowly growing on us :)

In order from left to right, their names are Hairy, Elliot, and CoCo

And now there are 10!!! Larry, Jen and Danielle's boyfriend, Matt are all staying will us for a few days. It may seem like a lot but we truly enjoy sharing our space with everyone. 

Well I know that has been an update of novel proportions but a lot has happened since we last met. I can't wait to start posting more simplifying posts here real soon.
I hope you are all well and enjoying the sunshine in your part of the world :)

At a Timbers vs. Sounders MLS game 

Jess