Keep Calm and Carry On

*all images via Pinterest

Where's That?

When family or friends ask us where we live (unless they live in the Portland area), they almost always say: Where's that? when we tell them Fairview (not to be confused with an awful institution that is no longer!). 

Some fun facts about Fairview*:

1. There is an amazing wild rabbit population.

2. It's where people who want to get away from Portland city life go to veg out.

3. There is zero sign of elderly people - really - we have yet to see any members of the senior community.

4. Amazing restaurants are within a 5 mile radius.

5. population: about 9,700.

6. Fairview has a newsletter in lieu of a newspaper.

*completely made up by S and T due to our observations. except for #5 - that one is pretty much true. And #6.

To kick off the summer in our new little city we ventured over to Blue Lake Park for an afternoon. It is so gorgeous and huge! So many play structures for kids, family bbq's and some crazy Frisbee golf games. Take a look at our afternoon in the park via 2 videos..

Seriously YouTube? You pick that photo of me to be the default photo for that video. Good grief. I know it looks like I'm giving it the wow one of the cats just used their box stink face, but it was such a fun and pretty day. 

I was going through our summer time photos and videos because I'm someone who just loves loves loves the summer time and could have it for 3 seasons instead of just 1. (I'd make an exception for winter time - peppermint hot chocolate, Christmas, snow flurries.. ahh.) But since meeting this guy..

I've been changing my tune about this whole fall thing slowly but surely. Maybe a new pair of mid-calf, slouchy brown boots have something to do with it? Well time to start making our home 'fall ready' .. and by that I mean I am making several of these..

via Pinterest

Have a lovely week. Toodles friends!

Prayin for Portland!

Check out the video below and learn a bit about something super amazing going on in our city: Portland.

Seven Promo from JP Watson on Vimeo.

Pretty cool huh? We have been steadily attending Solid Rock (Sunday mornings back in Beaverton when we lived there this past winter/spring time) and have been going to their downtown location on Saturday nights the last 4-6 weeks. John Mark who was in that video is one of the Pastors at Solid Rock and we love listening to him speak. What's even cooler? He's my husband's age! Which leads me to another cool thing: About three quarters of the church community there is between 18-35 years old. We feel like we fit in and have found a cool cause to be involved with. It's called Seven. Just like what was mentioned in the video (or if you couldn't load the video..) for 7 weeks on Wednesdays, there are gatherings at a different church each evening (on top of the early 6:30am crew and noon group) at 7pm that get together to pray and talk about how we would love to see Portland grow and build a terrific community of believers and also just ways to strengthen what is already here too. We went to the first night (last night) and it was incredible! Take a look at the photo below..

via original photo on Solid Rock's Facebook page

Plus there was an over flow of more people behind this camera person in the large foyer area too. The whole church was packed! (I would estimate over 1,000 people easily.) It was so cool to be among other believers and really amazing to be with SO many people in our age group! I totally encourage friends to come and enjoy the event on Wednesdays or even take time at home during that 7pm hour and think of ways that Portland could use prayer. I'm a newbie with prayer and half the time speak in bullet points of thoughts and ideas, but it's all good God loves any way that you can communicate with Him. :)

It felt great to pray for colleagues, community leaders, restoration of our lives, neighborhoods, families, marriages, teachers and even the local economy. But that was just our small group of 5 people, imagine what over 1,000 people were adding to that list!

I love Portland and I am learning how prayer can change things or help us understand why God has things happen the way He does. I have loved learning so much through the teachings at church and we are excited for next weeks gathering too. I will close this blog entry with a photo of Travis becoming baptized and a member at our previous church a few years ago. This was truly the beginning of 'our' walk as a couple and was quite a beautiful moment indeed.

It's all about Dad today: Happy Birthday!!

Sigh.. I knew that I would write a post (or many many more in the future) dedicated to my Dad and what better timing than his birthday to write one for him! My dad passed away almost 4 years ago (I was 22 at the time) and it is so hard to put it into words exactly what it is like to lose a parent. But - I want to keep this post light and happy, I have already had a few tears today and I want to be able to smile a little more tonight and enjoy the day a little bit like he would have. 

So without further ado: Happy Birthday to my Dad - THE David Lee Self.

 

Yes, before I was born my dad was an animal trainer at Sea World. He looks pretty fabulous riding on that whale! :)  He always had the dream growing up to work at Sea World and he made it happen! He started out selling balloons around the park at 15 years old and in a few years was training to work with killer whales, dolphins, sea lions and other marine life. I love this photo of my Dad. We have it blown up and framed in our living room and it is so cool to see what my dad was like and the things he got to do. 

Below are a few of my favorite photos of my dad. He was an amazing man!

this must have been in the early 1950's. I love that cardigan!

barefoot, surfboard, sun tanned. that was my dad in a nutshell. He grew up living in southern California.

My dad invented this move that many animal trainers still use today at Sea World. It's called the Roman Ride when you ride on the backs of 2 dolphins. How cool. I would love to swim along a little dolphin one day. 

Moving to the 80's (aka I was brought into this world!), this is one of my favorite pics of my Dad and I. Him complete with a windbreaker, baseball hat and making sure I was snug and secure with him - and outside. (Most photos of my dad and I are taken outside.) He taught me how to throw a softball, play tennis and didn't miss any opportunity to listen to the questions I had. And I had many questions about the world, sports, life and school. Maybe that's why he got me the Greatest Answers book as a kiddo?

At my college graduation in 2007, I was so happy that he got to be there to share in the moment that I had graduated college. He was so proud and although he didn't feel 100% that day, he was not about to let that stop him from seeing his youngest graduate with a degree. 4 months later he passed away but my prayer was answered 1 year before I graduated. I wanted my Dad to see me graduate and know that I achieved what him and I had talked about all during my high school years. Graduating with a college degree. 

Happy Birthday Dad. I love you so much and I love to brag about you and know that I had the best dad. Thank you for staying up until the wee hours of the morning to make sure I made it home (late) but safely.

Thank you for asking the boyfriends of the past many questions to make sure they treated your daughter right.

Thank you for setting such an incredible example of how a husband should love a wife. 

Thank you for being my Coach, Counselor, Security Guard and driving instructor (who knew the car went that fast down Kuebler road?!).

You are the greatest and I always love telling Travis about you and can't wait to tell future little Waltzes all about their cool Grandpa and what he was like. 

"I love my girls. I'm so lucky!" - David Self talking about his wife and 2 daughters on lots of occassions. :)

But we all knew we were the lucky ones! :)

Our Engagement

One of the best moments in my life occurred this very day (it was just the 19th back then) 2 years ago. On a trip to Seattle, Travis and I enjoyed a day of fun typical Seattle things - Pike Place, eating fish and me gazing forever at the Space Needle. Travis said after a yummy dinner downtown - "lets go to the Needle tonight and go the top!" So of course I said 'okay - sounds good.' We get to the Space Needle and get ready to go to the top and see all the lights and views from the top of Seattle. It was absolutely gorgeous. On a starry night, lights glowing all over down town I definitely was taking in the moment and snapping some photos. Travis said he wanted to get someone to take a picture of us at the top, so I handed him my camera and watched him talk a little longer than usual to someone on how to take a photo using our camera. So, he comes back and I get ready to pose for a photo together, but then the guys says "ok we're rolling..." to which Travis says "he is not taking a picture of us, he is taking a video. I thought this would be something you would want to share with everyone one day and as a memory for us to have." I was a little suspicious about what was going on at this point, but rolled with it. Then Travis gave an incredibly romantic speech to me (and in front of about 2 dozen people outside on the Needle and asked me if I would marry him. Amazing moment. Take a look below to see the photo taken right after we became engaged and after happy tears were wiped from our faces.

Of course I will also include the link and video of our engagement. Yes, it is dark - it was at night friends! :)  Turn up your speakers and then hug someone you love. :) 

"I am my beloved and my beloved is mine" - Song of Solomon 6:3

100 Less Things

Well it's been about 5 months at our new place which we both love immensely - but I'm starting to get the "I want our own house" itch. There is a neighborhood a short walk away that we want to live in one day and the houses are within our imagined budget. 2 things first though.

1. Before we embark on our own piece of real estate I would love to have all debt be poof! gone. I imagine that Sallie Mae will still be next door at that time, but then she'll be outta there fairly soon after. 

2. I will also need to get over my house commitment phobia. Growing up I had the fortunate luck to live in the same house from baby life to leaving for college. I figured growing up that once you found a home - that was The Home for Life. Obviously now I see differently (moves are unavoidable at times or you need to expand your living quarters for a few other little beings). In the back of my mind though I still think "well if we did get a house - would we be there for 5 years? 10 years? 18+ years?"

The other aspect to this (and the title of this post) is that growing up my parents had a very clean, organized and still playful living environment for me and my sister. So, what I would want to do is maintain that type of lifestyle for T and I, but also for a future family. To get to that point you have to 'clear the clutter'. My folks were very big on if we don't need/use/have 2 of that - then out the door it went. However, don't ask me how my beloved stuffed toy dog ended up in the Goodwill pile one day. Yes mom I'm aware that she only had 1 eye that wasn't scratched out and had definitely been through the washer a time or ten, but I still remember that sweet little plushy pup 19 years later. Moving on ..

When Travis moved into my old apartment with me, he had lots of comic books (I still don't know how many large tupperwares he had of comics - my last count was 5 and he had well over 2,500 comics), movies, heavy furniture and a kitty. Mixing 2 people's things together (for life never the less) who are quite different can be a little challenging. Naturally I figured none of my 'stuff' would need to be minimized or simplified. Wrong-o! 

I had read an article about a guy who went to live with just 100 Things. Feeling ambitious and inspired, I let Travis know that I would be getting rid of 100 things (Lord knows I cannot just be with only 100 items.) So I started going through my closet, the kitchen, the den, kitty toys, movies, books, etc. Before we moved out of that apartment to our current spot I had already gotten rid of 82 things. Then once we moved here, we went through all our dvds and got rid of the cases to condense them all in this cute little guy. Go below and click on the Page Break to see the itemized list of what we got rid of! Clearing out things that aren't used anymore or worn anymore or just don't need anymore is something I love to do. I love a simple, clean and relaxing place to have as our home. =]

An update on the September Freeze Out.. I have been doing great on my Starbucks limit. I have improved on eating more lunches packed from home than going out to grab something fast and easy. Wait for this one.. wait .. wait .. This whole week we have eaten IN for dinner! That is huge for the Waltzes. By this point in the week we would typically have felt 'deserving' of a fun meal out. We have been able to put a little bit more money towards a few debts and the routine established is one that I feel we could maintain. One thing that would make this better for us is to plan out our week of dinners, grocery shop regularly (I'm thinking once a week) and get the debt monkey off our back. It is great seeing the numbers go down. I know I will be jumping for joy everywhere once my students loans are dunzo (remember that line from early Laguna Beach?).

I'm excited for a few blogs that are hanging out in the hopper waiting to be updated and posted.

One celebrating my Dad's birthday. (miss him so much everyday.)

One about friendship. And one that will be a video of me showing you a play by play on how to make this gorgeous wreath for fall time.

Want a break down of our 100+ things we were able to get rid of  ...??

Wannabe Gym Rat

So there was a point this summer when I was going to the gym frequently enough, that the staff knew my name when I walked in. They knew which class I was heading to on a certain night. They asked how my work day went. I miss my little gym family. And in the last 2 weeks I have been to the gym this many times: zero. Womp, womp. Those who know me very well, know that I am quite hard on myself. I could blame the fact that it has been super hot out and I just didn't want to head out. I could say well we were on vacation one of those weeks, so that is reason enough. I could even say I just had 'too much' to do around the apartment and wanted to just relax in the evenings. But to me, those are excuses and I need to keep myself accountable. I kept track at work on a little calendar for July and August how often I was going to the gym and giving myself small 'rewards' for doing great (new gym clothes, cute Nike's). 

I have always loved being fit and athletic. Growing up I always wanted to be The Best. To toot my horn a bit for a moment.. I played softball growing up in elementary school (made All-Stars in my last year), played volleyball on a whim in middle school (made the A team my first go around) and played tennis all 4 years in high school (all 4 years on the Varsity team). To maintain sports activity in college I always took a p.e. class each term (kickboxing was my favorite) and played intramural soccer and softball.Toot toot!! I knew growing up I had a more athletic figure and felt good about it. I was physically strong, healthy and could keep up with the boys. ;)


When Travis and I went on a trip to Pacific City after his birthday 2 summers ago, that was when it hit me. I felt very out of shape and definitely did not have that strong gusto that I was used to having. If you've ever been to Pacific City, chances are you have seen the massive sand hill that lots of people try and climb to the top of. I can tell you I have made it to the top twice and the second time was a struggle. But I will share some moments of success from that day..

It is  hard to tell with this angle, but behind me is a huge, tough incline of a sand hill. Serious. Tough!

I did it!

He did too. :)

Well it's time to get back on track for September (and October, November, December..).  My husband is quite the avid runner these days (he does the fitness regime: Couch to 5K), and while I know that I do not enjoy running I love jumping, kicking, dancing, running on a field or tennis court. But you know what I love even more. A challenge. I will keep those goals going just as I had them in July and August. I know I can get back in the swing of it, I just let 'life' keep me from maintaining it. But, the gym will become part of 'life' again. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely do not want to be an orange woman with ginormous muscles - I want to be who I was before. Someone who was/is strong, fit, capable of running a mile without stopping to walk and constantly looking for the next challenge. 

Except this time, I have a teammate.

Groupon, Gifts + Good Intentions

Groupon is not a friend of mine. Oh yes.. I went there. The G word is known to be heard in my home, my work life and even as an app on a mobile. (we need to bring back the word 'mobile' instead of cell phone - whatcha think?) Every morning it's fun to see 'new' messages in my gmail, but no more! Bye bye Groupon and Living Social. They were threatening to damage my September Spending Freeze. We are suckers for the 'gotta buy it now!! it's a discount!' overnight stays in Seattle, at the beach or trying out new places around Portland. However, if you weren't planning on spending the money at a certain place - why spend it at all? Allow me to hop on my soapbox for a moment. Companies like these among others make their money off of consumers getting into that "gotta have it! gotta have it now!" feeling. Sometimes the aftermath of this is thinking 'okay but I got it at a deal', but sometimes those deals were not things you thought of purchasing in the first place or worse - never get used. Eeeee. 

You know what is fun during a spending freeze though.. gift cards, gift certificates or registering for wedding gifts as seen below. 

Almost 2 months ago, we celebrated our 1 year of marriage. Travis surprised me with a gift certificate for a fabulous spa spot on the west side. I was finally able to use it yesterday with an amazing pedicure (love the parafin wax and cozy slippers they put your feet in) and a terrific massage. Fabulous! Gifts like those are great for people because if you are someone who does not want to spend a lot of money on a 'luxury' expense, someone gifting that is super thoughtful. Hear that guys? You're welcome lady friends. :)

Brief update on my spending lately with the Sept. Freeze: I haven't bought any clothes (good), sticking to my one Starbucks a week (except for buying a fun drink for nephew and niece.. so I'd say that is going 'fair'), but we ate out on our vacation. And I did for lunch most of last week too (yikes!). But it was vacation.. and Dairy Queen is something we do not frequent at all nor did we have time to go grocery shopping last week. I freely admit after I went to go grab a sandwich one of my co-workers promptly held me accountable.. "isn't it only Day 2?" Yes, and it was a moment of weakness and poor planning. I have found that I need to prepare a bit more for my days.. you don't even want to know how long I hit snooze before waking up to get ready for work! :)  Well that is all for the moment.. but I have lots of blog post ideas brewing in my curly-haired head.

I feel like this post was all kinds of all over the place. 

Many more posts will follow this suit I'm sure. :)

Is it fall yet? (by Travis)

THIS HEAT. Sorry, I'm rude; that is no way to say hello. My name is Travis, I am (among other things) the other half of T&S. I am 31, enjoy cooking, comic books (yes really), music, outdoor activities, and not hot weather. I know my wife loves it (and I love my wife), but me? Not too much. But why??? Why why why?? Well, I'll tell you why. Stop being pushy.

For one, as someone who enjoys cooking, I cant cook as much. Not that I can't, I just shouldn't. We do not have AC (yet), and if were to ever have people over when it's hotter than the dickens and then proceed to whip out the ol crock pot for say, some tasty extra-hot Travis Chili we had better be prepared to share our hidden stash of wet-naps as well to wipe away the sweat that will surely be dripping down the sides of the face of......Aunty June...or whoever. And that is not a sacrifice I am prepared to make. Those are mine. MIIIINNEEE. But in all seriousness, I enjoy cooking in colder weather. I just do. It just seems more scenic for some reason.

Another thing I can't do it sleep. I enjoy sleeping, but when I feel like I'm wrapped in an electric blanket in a sauna, I have fever dreams that would make Hunter S Thompson jealous. It makes me a captain cranky pants too! And the cats! All they do it sleep! Or drink?!

See, some of you might enjoy this......"weather", but for others of us it is tearing us apart! Look at Weger! Look at him!! He will never be the same (until tomorrow)!

Anyway, I need to cut this short, but what I am going to do from time to time is pop on (when Shelby is preoccupied) and post shorty rants, some of my favorite recipes, maybe a movie review, and...if you are polite, I will take the time to answer some of the most common questions about comic books. I know how you ladies love the comics.

Labor Day Weekend!

Ohhh summer evenings. I am going to miss nights like this in a few weeks. Right now I can look out the window and see the gorgeous sunset and pale pink sky. Oregon you're so pretty.

ever road tripped with a kitty? we have! (I think this was in 2009.)

Over Labor Day weekend we were with the Waltz family down in southern Oregon. I love visiting my husband's family. They are only a 5 hour drive away (instead of having to hop on a plane to visit mine - but always makes for a fun trip to California or Florida). We have a routine set nearly every trip we go down south. Load up the car, drive 2 minutes, drive back to our place for something we have forgotten to say g'bye again to our furry kids, stop in Eugene for coffee + snacks, pass the Rogue River and be welcomed by Medford. 

So this trip was full of a few firsts for me. Well - first we did watch the Ducks lose not play as well as they could have.. but still had a good bbq with all the Waltzes that night. After a late night DQ run it was time for bed since we were heading to Crater Lake on Sunday! I had never been and it was sooooo beautiful out there! 

We took the trip with Travis's brother Kevin and his wife Bonnie. Here are a few photos of our afternoon at the Lake.

Sunday night it was bbq #2 with Travis's sisters and brother with their spouses and kiddos. Love summer nights, bbqs and kids running around shoeless. =]  After more food and ice cream, we had a long game of Clue to round out the night. I so love these nights with Travis's family. Food, ice cream, board games and lots and lots of laughs. 

A couple fun photos of the evening.

so cute right? She is a giggly girl. And just one of the reasons I love being an Aunt.

Monday morning we were packing up and getting ready to head out to Travis's Grandma and Grandpa's farm. I got to feed a horse for the first time! Although I was scared he would eat my hand, I made a new friend in a brown horse named Shorty. I LOVE going out to his Grandparents house. It is way out in the country, beautiful scenery, family photos everywhere and his Grandma is the best cook! Before getting out to their house we picked up our other niece and nephew to take them to Starbucks (they already have a puppy, what's a little espresso going to hurt?) .. kidding of course. We got them hot cocoa and a smoothie. *With extra sugar. ;)  One of the traditions Trav and I have with them is to go to a book store and get one book each under $10. Below are their finds..

 

I also picked a berry off a berry bush and ate it for the first time. I know I know.. I haven't 'lived', but really I promise I had a great childhood - just 'city style' I guess? One of my favorite things though about our trips to southern Oregon is seeing Travis with his family. I love seeing where he is from, who he grew up with and how everyone meshes together. I am so blessed to be part of this family and always look forward to seeing everyone. Family is super important to us and I look forward to one day starting our own little Waltz crew. =]

We Love Our Ducks

Tomorrow.. college football season! Yes! You know that even on vacation we will watch the game and wear our green and yellow gear. Get ready... !

Saved by Turkey Burgers

a Couple Spot out in front of a shop on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands

One day on our Honeymoon the pre-wedding/wedding day stress and festivities caught up with me and I wasn't feeling too fabulous.. I took an afternoon nap after a hike only to wake up and see that Travis had created a picnic inside our lodge room. The grocery stores and restaurants don't stay open too long into the evening on certain week days in the summer on the islands, so Trav had gone out and purchased some goodies so we'd be good to go for dinner. I loved that and that moment realizing what an incredible man I had as my husband who was taking care of us and being understanding of a not-so-perfect wife who does not know a lot about cooking. Where was I going with this..? Oh yes - in relation to the spending freeze!

So, I will admit I was ready to fess up that I would be picking us up some Red Robin or other to go dinner since we hadn't done a full on grocery trip in a while or meal planned at all lately. In talking tonight about what to do, I saw we had 2 turkey burgers in the freezer and some other side dish items that would work. Travis grilled up the burgers, steamed the veggies and used his extra curricular cooking skills once again tonight. A man who can cook and enjoys cooking! Love him so much. (I'm quite a good dish washer and cleaner upper, so yes I do my part too.. I don't get away from kitchen duties so easy, wink).

I (we) did not spend one cent on eating out today. Fist bump from me to you! 

Back in April, I started to log our spending daily and look at it at the beginning of the next month. I was shocked to see how much we had spend on eating out versus groceries. It was super eye opening for us. In months since we are progressively getting better with spending and saving.. but for birthdays, bbqs, trips to see family, vacations.. you can't always be saving and do as much without giving yourself a break or 2 or 7. For me it is much more tangible to set a goal instead of totally going cold turkey on something. As long as the debt goes down and our savings can grow - I'm happy as a clam (never understood that saying.. how can you tell a clam is happy??). We've been hitting our main goal: spend less than we earn. Kind of basic right? If you spend more than you make - you don't have anything to show for it. But so many of us do spend more and want to have more. While there is nothing wrong with wanting a great life for yourself (whether that's a vacation, nice home or Red Sox season tickets), you have to be willing to go without a few things every now and then to make up for the past or current experiences. Know what I mean?

Anyway - day 1 success.. but I can't make promises the next 6 days will be like that! We are visiting the husband's family this weekend and if I wanna treat our niece and nephew out to a fun lunch and too much ice cream - I just might. I mean it is hard to convince a 7 and 9 year old about the feast that is a turkey burger.

PS: 2 days until the first Duck game of the season!! Lets go Oregon!