In-N-Out

Anyone from SoCal knows what I am talking about. Its SOOO hard to live without. Bob's Big Boy was another southern California food staple that I had to hit up on my short visit.

Worst Weather in a Decade

Yea, who would have guessed that the weekend I planned to visit sunny southern California, the worst storm in ten years would be making an appearance just off the Pacific coast. I did get one day of sunshine and an amazing sunset (my first one in over a month). I began the day with a run through Oxy's campus-reminiscing of course-, then had lunch at Olvera St. with the girls and family followed by 4-wheeling with my sister and dad.

A Field of Wild Flowers

I did ALOT of hiking in May. The weather in Hood River was amazing for that time of the year and I took full advantage of it by being outdoors as much as possible. Here is a picture that was a contender for my Christmas card this year (until I decided to start a blog instead). It is from Dog Mountain a 7 mile hike. The trail itself is pretty intense, very steep and very windy, but the view from the top of several Cascade peaks is well worth the effort.

Home for the Holidays

This year, I stayed home and my mom and sister came to visit me here in Oregon. We didn't get a white Christmas, but had lots of fun doing small town winter things. Here's a quick list: visiting an alpaca farm (mom got spit on!), exploring ice caves, shopping in downtown Hood River, snowboarding and much more!

Sweet Sixteen

My baby girl has turned 16!

My Chubby Princess

The original title of this post was "My Princess GiGi," but as I write this my legs are falling asleep because of the weight of my chubby kitty sleeping on my legs, so I thought it was fitting to change the title.

I want to introduce the newest member to my family. Gidget, aka "GiGi." She came with that name Gidget, but it reminded me of how much trouble I got for chopping off the hair of my mother's vintage Barbie doll named Gidget when I was a child so I went for a more sassy nickname.

I got GiGi in April when she was about a year old. She was found under a trailer park home in the snow in January. It was rumored that she had been bullied severely by the male cats in the trailer park. As a result, she was quite skittish when I first got her, but something about her appearance and timid demeanor tugged on my heart strings.

I am happy to say that while she is still a shy cat around other people, but she is very loving and attached to me. She has made an excellent companion for me and I am happy that I was able to provide her a calm, loving home.