Adventures in Oregon: Thanksgiving and My 24th

I feel like a slacker for posting so late. Everyone else was so prompt with their Thanksgiving posts. I hope I didn't keep you in too much suspense.
Brody and I decided to spend our first married Thanksgiving with his Mom and step dad and step family in Oregon. Wow it was quite the trip, very different from my usual Thanksgiving. We arrived in beautiful Coquille, OR after a 16 hour drive, much happy to be out of the car and delighted to be in a warmer climate. I had heard that Brody's step grandparents lived on a farm, but I wasn't prepared for the plethora of animals. They had 3 dogs, cats, a cow, chickens, goats, sheep and baby piglets. I felt like Sandra Bullock off of the Proposal. I was totally out of my element. I had never collected eggs from chickens or milked a goat (which made a poor attempt at) and had never waded through so much mud in my life. I never realized how much of a city girl I was. Well the farm had many benefits. We ate wonderfully delicious organic food the entire time. In fact, Phyllis (his step grandma) is such a wonderful and talented cook that I think I gained 5 pounds, Brody says he gained 9!!

While in Oregon, I celebrated my 24th birthday. It started out with my name and birthday being read on the news (thanks to phyllis) and wonderful pancakes for breakfast. We then went whale watching, but didnt see any. We went to dinner at a yummy Italian restuarant and then to New Moon. Brody bought me awesome new running shoes (to run my half marathon in)! I also got lots of cards and well wishes from my great friends and family :)Before going to dinner for my Birthday

This rest of the week was spent crabbing, eating, 4 wheeling at the sand dunes, shopping, beach hopping and looking for lighthouses. It was a blast and tons of fun. I will post some of the pictures I took. My great mother-in-law took tons of pictures (so I didnt have to) and is sending them to me soon so I'll probably post more later.
Brody attempting to milk the goat. It was hillarious!

Looking none to fabulous after a long day of crabbing. I am holding my fruits of my labor, we ate it later that night! yummy!

The Results

I know you have all been waiting anxiously to see which style of rain boots I chose... Well I went to Target last night all prepared to drive Brody crazy while I tried on all the different galoshes (there were 24 options on Target's website) When we arrived I felt kind of childish. I shouldn't have been that excited to pick out boots. I finally find the aisle of boots and to my disappointment there are only 2 different kinds of galoshes (not to mention one of the styles only had a size 10 left, unacceptable!) Lucky for me the one style available was cute and purple (my favorite) So thank you to my coworkers and my reader, jessie :), for the advice, but these were my only option. I do love them though! yay for rain boots!

I know I look pigeon toed!

A Dream Come True!

So I've been fighting an internal battle for quite sometime. You may wonder what could this battle be. (it may seem insignificant, but to me this is serious business) I keep you from the suspense and just tell you... I have frequently resisted the urge to purchase a shiny new pair of rubber galoshes. The day that they started making the new trendy galoshes was a happy one for me. I have a strong love of boots so for me this was too exciting! Saying all this, I am amazed that I managed to keep myself from purchasing a pair. For once my practical side showed up and I decided that a pair of rubber rain boots were just unnecessary when I lived in a state where it never rains (If I was still living in PA this would be a different story). Still on the random days that it has rained in Utah I have regretted my rationale that told me not to purchase boots. So with all this being said you can imagine my joy when my mother-in-law called the other day saying that galoshes were a must have for our trip to the Oregon coast for Thanksgiving. Oh I am definitely giving thanks! I can finally purchase (with no regrets) a fine pair of rubber boots (what girl doesn't need a pair of those in her closet?) I was delighted to see that Target offered gazillions of choices. Now which ones to choose...any suggestions? I will be going tonight to make my celebrated purchase

I enjoyed the sailor theme
Didn't know if the plaid would be overwhelming.

Time is flying by...

Yesterday I was inspired to start updating my blog. So I'm going to promise publicly that I will start embracing blogging. I do it at work all the time, I might as well enjoy it in my free time as well. So since I haven't been doing very well posting, I will summarize the last two months with random pictures and a brief write up about what has been happening in the exciting lives of Brody and Kristin.
The last two months have literally flown by. The days have been filled with work, studying and working on potential grad applications for me, and for Brody about the same minus grad school. I have also been trying to master the many skills that would qualify me to be a domestic goddess. I am making some improvements in the art of cooking but am far from finding success in the world of cleaning and decorating (ahh just not enough time or money) someday...
I spend a lot time cooking (compared to what I did as a single girl) Brody not so much so I decided to document the first and probably the last time he chose to enter the kitchen to do something other than eat :) Don't worry, I still love him

.
Proof that he was doing the work!

Our scrumptious meal of vegetable tempura served on his Asian dish set

We have also had tons of time to play with friends. Brody's long lost best friend from high school suddenly reappeared at our reception with his amazing girlfriend. They have become some of my favorite people. Peng is hilarious and Rachel is so sweet. We have had fun trying all types of food with them (Peng has a very developed palate) and recently we attended a Jazz game together.

Trying to look good after Peng made me run the whole way to the stadium in 4" heels

Rachel is the best!

I promise that my next posts will be more organized and less disjointed! I look forward to keeping this updated!