four-five-three-six-five

Hey All! This maybe old news for some of you, but Tom and I found out a few weeks ago that there was a documentary made about my hometown. Tom and I actually know the guys that directed it, Bill and Turner Ross. From the trailers and clips we've searched for on the internet, the documentary looks really good. Below I posted the trailer and a link to their website... Enjoy!

Congrats Bill and Turner on all of your accomplishments!
http://www.45365movie.com/

xoxo

Sunny Sunday

Last Sunday, we headed to the eastside of Portland. We went to Hawthorne, which is a trendier area with local shops and local food joints. (Oregonians absolutely love local anything.) It's a great spot and probably an area we'll visit often. We had lunch at Nick's Famous Coney Island and then headed over to Maria and Shane's place with David and Linda for a lil' cornhole and to play in the park. Enjoy the pics!

These cute little toy horses are all around the neighborhood...I'm not really sure why, but it's charming. :)

At Maria and Shanes Place.

Thanks for the cornhole set Big Bob...it's fabulous! Also, Loi Babe, everyone commented on the nice carrying case for it. :)

At the park. Below are pics from playing frisbee.... We're really good.

xoxo

Moving Making Saturday

Shortly after moving to Oregon, I learned that Tom's co-worker and great friend, David G. is very passionate about movies. Last year, he started making his own short films, and usually after a few months of editing, everyone gets together for the big movie premiere. Last Saturday, David asked to shoot a few of his scenes from his newest movie in our apartment. What we saw was fabulous, and we can't wait for the finished product!! Later that night Mark came over, we got food from Five Guys Burger and Fries, and settled in to watch the Blazers. Overall the Blazers did crappy, but the food was FABULOUS...hands down, the best fast food burger and fries I've ever had. I'm gettin hungry just thinking about it! :) Below are pics from our moving making Saturday.

Sketches of the movie scenes

David directing Shane aka "Joe Garcia"

Shane aka "Joe Garcia". He's suppose to be the stereotypical hillbilly husband.

This is take two of three. David will probably use the 3rd take, which is a tad funnier than this....but this one is still pretty good. Basically, Maria walks in after being fired from her job and finds her hubby being a lazy drunk. The quality isn't the best b/c it's from my lil' pink sony camera. :)

Five Guys Burgers and Fries


Heaven

xoxo

Easter 2009

This past weekend the Yannuccis came to visit. I think we gave them a great taste of what Portland has to offer and even got to go to the Columbia River Gorge to see some waterfalls. It was a little rainy, but we had a fabulous time. Below are some pictures from our weekend...Enjoy!

(Emily and Yanni- change the song to #3. hehe)

In preparation for Yanni's visit, I called ahead and found out he wanted oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I really liked the recipe and will be posting it at the end of this month. :)

When you come and visit, seeing this statue and taking a picture with it is a must.

Stopping for a quick picture infront of the famous Portland sign.


After church we all stopped for a brunch at one of our favorite breakfast spots, Beaterville Cafe. As you can kinda see from the picture, the inside has a lot of character and color.

Of course, after fabulous breakfast, we had to see where Tom works because it's much cooler than 90% of the jobs out there. As you can see, they like to pose like the Portland statue from downtown.



After visiting work, we took a nice, kinda rainy drive to the waterfalls.

The gang in front of Bridal Veil falls.


Yes, that weee tiny lil' figure down there is Yanni. Tom took this pic and standing from this distance, we were all getting kinda wet from the waterfall. Needless to say after this pic, Yanni was soaked on one side. :)


After the cold and wet weather, we warmed up at home with some dry clothes and Easter candy. [Side Story: A few weeks ago Tom went on and on about how much he missed his mother's Easter baskets and how she still made them when he was in college...oh brother...he was heavily hinting that he wanted someone to make him a basket. Sooo who would that someone be?? Yep, that's right....I made my 25 yo husband an Easter basket and his eyes lit up like a lil' kid. Since we were having company, I made one for everyone to enjoy...For my first time making Easter baskets, it was a lot of fun.]

Oh, the famous Cadbury egg. The one thing I would buy myself every Easter. It's takes me about an hour to eat it. I have to set it down for awhile b/c it's a lil' too sweet for me.


We had so much fun this past weekend. When you don't have family close by, it's just as nice to spend these little holiday weekends with great friends.

Emily and Yanni, please come back anytime. We absolutely loved having you over. If you come back next Easter, I promise homemade brunch, some filipino food and plastic eggs with a lil' candy and money. :)

xoxo

The Job Hunt

SOOoooooo after Christmas I thought finding a job would be a piece of cake. I mean, isn't there suppose to be a nursing shortage in this country?! Anywho, after many months of applying and hearing nothing, I finally got a job! YAY...HOORAY!!!! I networked through a lovely church lady and landed a job at a pediatrics clinic. All of the people in the clinic are ridiculously nice, especially the fabulous doctor that hired me on. It's an on-call position, but I'm gaining some great experience. Hopefully in the future, I can find a more stable job, but for right now this will do. I am very happy, and I know I am very lucky to get this job during this crazy recession. :) Below are some pics from my first day.



xoxo

PS. Jenny- See...the post is much better with fun pictures :)

Oh Pretty Days...

Yay!!! Finally, we had a beautiful cloudless day. For the past two or three weeks, the weather has been absolutely crappy...the gloomy and rainy days were really starting to get to me...yuck! Since it was gorgeous outside, we decided to spend our lovely day at Washington Park to visit the zoo and rose garden.

Tom and I were so happy about the weather we started to go a little nuts in the apartment.

I LOVE these trees...they are everywhere here and absolutely gorgeous. Do you see the blue sky in the background...haven't seen it like that in weeks...yay for clear days!

He looked a little sad... :(

This is a video of a fruit bat stretching

Tom has better photos of the zoo so make sure to check his blog. Since he was taking the better pics, I decided to be lazy and just take a few. Anyways...I hope you are all having good weather and going outside to enjoy it!!!

xoxo

Wicked

Wicked Wicked Wicked!!

Tom and I love musicals, and last Sunday we took the opportunity to see Wicked. It was phenomenal! Some parts were hilarious, which I expected, but it was also very dark. I didn't know much about it before going, and I'm glad I didn't. I thought the whole musical was cleverly written and fit in the Wizard of Oz story nicely. I highly recommend seeing it if it's in your area. :)

We got all done up for the musical and why not! There are not enough occasions in life to get all fancy schmancy, and we really enjoy it. :) It was funny to observe that people around our age wore things like plaid and jeans, and people of an older generation wore suits and dresses. I guess we were born in the wrong generation. hehe.

This is a picture from where we sat inside the Keller Auditorium. We had really great seats.

I hope you are enjoying the posts and are having a fabulous day!

xoxo

Domestic Goddess: Buttermilk Pie Challenge

Two weeks ago, I was challenged by one of Tom's co-workers, Adrian, to bake a buttermilk pie that was as good as the one they had in Kentucky earlier this year. I've tried three different recipes. The first one was terrible, but the second and third recipe I've tried we're pretty good. The second one had great flavor and the right amount of sweet for me. The third one had a more creamy consistency, great taste, but a little too sweet for me. For you Sidney or Piqua people that have experience The Spot's Old Fashion Cream pie, the taste is very similar. Since, I couldn't decide which one I liked better, I've decided to post both recipes and the website links. :)

If you like to bake Aunt Ruthie's Sugar Pie Farmhouse is a great website. She started putting recipes up on her blog and recently moved from a blogspot account to a .com website. This is where I found the two recipes that I liked the best. http://www.sugarpiefarmhouse.com/

Sister Lizzie's Buttermilk Pie:
(On the website I posted above, she also has a recipe for a pie crust. I haven't tried it yet. I used a store bought one...yeah, yeah...I know, it's not as good)

Ingredients:
White sugar (1-1/4 cup)
Flour (3 TBS)
Eggs (4 whisked)
Buttermilk (1 cup)
Vanilla (1-1/2 tsp)
Butter (1/2 cup, melted and cooled)
Nutmeg (pinch)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.

In a mixer, combine the flour and sugar. Next, stir in the eggs and buttermilk. Then, add the butter, vanilla, and a pinch or two of nutmeg.

Pour into pie shell and bake at 425 for 15 minutes then 350 for 40 more minutes. See if the pie center sets and if it does, let it cool and then chill. (To check if the pie sets, tap the side of the pie plate. Since this pie is more of a custard consistency, it should be a little jiggly. When the center sets, it's more stable in the middle than on the sides. If the center jiggles a little, it's ok to take out.)

Buttermilk Pie from YouTube:

Get your pen and paper ready! This recipe actually comes from a southern gal named India Galyean. She was kind enough to put this on YouTube. I found this link from the Aunt Ruthie's website I mentioned earlier. This is the recipe that has more of the custard consistency, and I thought was a little too sweet. (Tom thought it was just right..hehe). India also shows how to make a quick salty pie crust, which I actually did make and enjoy. This is a great recipe. The only thing I would change for the next time is to decrease the sugar content by either 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup. Enjoy!

From the adidas group, I think they favor the second recipe, but you decide for yourself! I hope you are all doing well...miss you...:)

xoxo