Happy Birthday Ben!

Today is Ben's 32nd birthday. We celebrated this weekend so we aren't doing anything exciting tonight. I don't have any pictures to post of the celebration because I'm a slacker and didn't take any. We had a good time though, Ben got a North Face fleece from the commune and an iPod shuffle from me. The shuffle is his 3rd shuffle in about a year. The first two I destroyed, Ben never takes them out of his pockets and I am notorious for not checking pockets when I do laundry. They went through the washer and dryer. I am going to try not to wash this one, what I should have purchased along with his shuffle is some stock in Apple (if I could afford it) since between the two of us we have owned about 10 iPod devices.

Today was also my first day of work and I am pooped. I haven't worked in 3 months and on my first day I had to be there at 6:30 am which meant getting up at 4:30am in order to leave by 5:45. Ugh. At least my normal hours will be 7-4, with half days on Fridays so I have that to look forward to. I am not looking forward to taking the Max (light rail) to work tomorrow but I'm going to give it a try since Ben needs the car.

I have never been so tired in my life. I'm ready for some Thai food, a walk with the dogs and bed by 9:00.

Portland Erin Hearts Trees

SUBTITLED: PORTLAND ME.
For some reason everyone in the house (except Chris who calls me FGOTS but that's a whole other story) has taken to calling me Portland Erin; same goes for Ben, he is now Portland Ben. We even call each other by this nickname. This especially applies when one of us does something different or out of the ordinary, some examples...

"Portland Erin smells like rosemary."

This one from Jess while we were weeding the area around the overgrown rosemary bush in the garden. Arizona Erin doesn't weed.

The Garden



"Portland Erin is a slug lover."

This little nugget was also from Jess after I touched a slug on the same weeding adventure mentioned above. As if touching a slug wasn't disgusting enough on it's own Jess than picked it up with a leaf and chased me around the yard with it. It feels a little like living with my brothers all over again.

Slugs are not a common occurence in Arizona, I saw only one when I was little and was absolutely repulsed by it. This has not changed. As kids we poured salt on the slug and watched it shrivel and die (kids are mean). The first thing I said to Jess once she had dropped the slug was, "go get the salt." I resisted the urge though because hey, slugs have feelings too.


"Portland Erin gets all the jobs."
Yep, that's right. Three job offers in 2 days. Just in case anyone doubted my awesomeness, Portland Erin rocks! I think I have made a final decision on which I am accepting so I should be joining the ranks of the employed on Monday. Woo hoo!


There was going to be a point to this whole blog but Portland Erin has the stomach flu, is tired and can't remember why she started this blog. Plus it's cold (it snowed here today) and I'm going to take a nap.

**The above picture was photographed by Portland Erin on a hike in Forest Park last week. Portland Erin hearts trees. And now this post is at its end, I promise to no longer refer to my self as Portland erin (or in the 3rd person).

New Music

Ben and I, and the dogs, made the move to Portland in my Montero pulling a U-Haul trailer. This made our top speed on the highway about 60 mph (going downhill), more typically it was around 45-50. Needless to say we spent a lot of time in the car together but somehow managed to live through it. We love each other more than anything in the world but for those who are familiar with our dynamic, this was no small feat.

Anyway, somewhere in southern California I turned to Ben and said "I have been thinking I want to start listening to Bluegrass music."

Ben replied that strangely enough he also had been thinking he wanted to get into Bluegrass music (yes, we are made for each other).

That was the end of the conversation until last night. We had our first real night out on the Portland town last night. We went to dinner at Zay Toon and has a smokin' veggie burger. Then it was on to Alberta Street Pub for some live music.

Before leaving the house I did a quick search for live music on Alberta St. (A nearby artsy neighborhood). It seemed the place to go was the pub and crazy enough, their live music tends towards Bluegrass or Irish music. We did a quick search on myspace for the band that was playing and they sounded okay but we were keeping our expectations low.

The band, Joy Kills Sorrow rocked. They were so good I almost cried. (I almost cry a lot so this isn't saying much). I LOVE music but I almost never make it through a full live show unless it's someone I'm familiar with and like. I get bored plus I turn into a pumpkin around 10:30. When this band was done I found myself hoping they had played for another hour.

Check them out!

A little bit of Barack...

"I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners -- an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts -- that out of many, we are truly one."

Love him!

If you have a little time, whether you are a Barack supporter or not, you need to watch this speech. Barack speaks so openly and honestly about race in this country (even if it's not what you want to hear). I'm not ashamed to admit I cried a little.

Here's the video.

For more on race or his background from Barack, The Audacity of Hope is required reading. A book written by Barack before he was a politician.

Life

Here are some pictures from the last few days which should give you a pretty good idea of what we are up to lately.

First, a picture of Ben. I realized I don't have any posted of him so this is proof I'm not just making him up.

Some gratuitous pictures of the dogs...because they're the best dogs ever.

Here is one of Wallace looking handsome and kingly and then Beatrice in her element, annoying the crap out of the cat. It is an adventure with 3 dogs and a cat in the house. My dogs aren't used to cats, Milo isn't used to dogs as energetic as mine. It is pretty much non-stop barking for one reason or another. The delivery of the mail is like nothing I've ever seen. Milo harbors a deep, burning hatred for the mailman. Wallace has picked up on this and now they both stand on the chair in front of the window and growl and howl at the poor man. He must be terrified that one day they are going to bust through the glass and rip his throat out. It takes about 10 minutes to get them calmed down. Other than that they really are sweet. I promise.

The nephew at the park near the house. Under my tutelage he is becoming a frisbee master.

Here is the whole family on an evening walk. We do this everynight which is kind of a nice ritual. Every night someone cooks dinner, we eat at the table and mostly talk to the nephew about his day at school or listen to him perform Hannah Montana songs for us. Then whoever didn't cook immediately clears the table, does dishes and we all bundle up for a walk with the dogs. It's a ritual I hope Ben and I continue once we are in our own place, it's a nice way to unwind every night and it works off all those calories we consume from Chris's vegan desserts. Dessert every night is another ritual but one that we just can't continue in the new house. I am feeling it in my jeans.

Recovering Mormon

Oh crap, here goes. I am about to alienate a lot of people. Oh, who am I kidding, I'm going to enjoy it. A little. I'm actually half joking but I'm sure this post will bring a considerable amount of judgment. I can handle it, hit me with your best shot.

I consider myself a recovering Mormon. I was baptised and went to church on and off for years. It has only been in the last couple of years that I came to terms with the fact that I don't believe in God and I am disgusted (that's not the right word but I can't come up with a better one right now) by organized religion. I have so many friends and family who are Mormon and Christian and while there are a few who I don't see eye to eye with I still love and appreciate them and their beliefs. I try to be open with them regarding my own beliefs in a respectful way. Even more than that I appreciate my friends who have strong faith but still are tolerant and open minded. Those who are willing to go beyond their religion and be accepting of everyone.

I do realize that most of you are probably condemning me to hell in your mind right now. That's okay, since I don't believe in hell I'm not particularly worried. If there is a hell there are a lot of other reasons I'll be going there but I guess since I don't believe in God all of those other things are really just gravy. If it turns out I'm completely wrong I know a lot of other awesome people who will be dancing on the coals with me so at least I won't be lonely.

This week a "Christian" woman, Sally Kern made public comments regarding homosexuals. She compared them to terrorists. "Gays are a bigger threat than terrorists and Islam."

There are two things very, very wrong with this statement. A) Gays are not a threat. B) Islam is not a threat. I am in this blog going to focus on the gay comments (I have a whole other blog on the terrorist/Islam comment)

Did you know that according to her, gays are indoctrinating our children to think that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle? Can you believe the audacity of those crazy homosexuals? (That last bit was sarcasm by the way)

Why is it okay to teach children that acceptance of different lifestyles is bad or evil. Why can't we just teach them that all people are different and it's okay to be different. No matter your sexual preferences, the color of your skin or your religion.

Stop for just one second and listen to her speech and then everytime she says gay or homosexual replace it with a word that applies to you. It could be brown or Mormon or Jewish. No matter what word you substitue the speech is still hateful and hurtful. I want to rant and swear and punch Sally Kern in the face but that would make me no better than her.

I try to take comfort in the fact that someday I will have kids and when they are my age they will live in a different world (hopefully). I hope you are doing your part to fight against hatred, for me I will work on being more empathetic to those around me. I know I am not particularly eloquent but I hope I made a point without being offensive.

Running

Today, I start running. Let's face it, I need to lose weight and I have nothing better to do with my time right now.

So, I am going to run the Pints to Pasta 10k on September 7th. I figure if I put it here for all to see I can't back out. I expect everyone to check in and see how my running is going.

I am also going to shoot for the Helvetia Half Marathon on June 14th but that seems so close. We'll see, I'm going to try to keep my goals attainable.

Carrie - If you wanted to come visit me then, we could run it together. That would serve as some serious motivation.

Ben and I are going to look at a house at 3:00 and afterwards is my first run.

Today I rode my bike in the rain.

I feel like a real Portlander for the first time. These people ride their bikes EVERYWHERE. Ben bought me my spiffy little bike over 2 years ago and I think before Portland it had seen daylight oh, maybe twice. Needless to say it's a very happy bike these days with all the use it's getting. Trips to the grocery store, I even rode it to pick up the nephew from school. And yes, today I rode my bike to Fred Meyer in the pouring rain. Though you know I'm still a Phoenix girl when you see me riding down the street in my Portland gear (North Face fleece and rain jacket, courtesy of Ben's dad for my b-day and my Earth shoes ) but with a grande soy white chocolate mocha from the Bucks in the slot that should hold my water bottle. Some things will never change.

Some other updates:

-For my BFF Carrie - No one seems to know why you can't pump your own gas here but Jess and Chris seem to think it was to create more jobs or something. Thank goodness for that because if I don't get a job soon I will be seriously looking into it as a career.

Speaking of jobs I have my first interview today. Send me all your positive energy today at 3:15. (I am supposed to be preparing for my interview right now, instead I'm blogging). It's a disease.



-Here's the pic of my far out new shoes as promised.



-Here is a pic of the nephew. He is so handsome! It was spirit week at school this week and this particular day was crazy hair day.

The kindergartners with their mohawks were too cute. Ben and I love taking him to school everyday. We go to the cafeteria since his school provides free breakfast for all students. He eats his second breakfast while we wait for the bell to ring. We are endlessly entertained by the elementary school kids, so carefree. Now that the kids are getting used to seeing us everyday they are starting to open up. They love us, we are like rock stars in the morning. It's good for the ego, even if they are only 5 year olds.

-Ben made our first Portland friends this week. It's a nice married couple, he did some work on a guitar for the husband and the boys are new best friends. I haven't met them yet but we are doing happy hour on the 21st. (MFBD's, if you don't get here soon they could supplant you as our couple BFF's. Hurry!)

-I am responsible for dinner two nights a week (Monday & Tuesday)cooking has never really been my thing but I gotta tell you, I am, dare I say it? Awesome! Who knew I could cook? And vegan cooking, it's like some sort of Christmas miracle. I started off slow but now that I am rolling, watch out culinary world. I think there may be a cooking show in my future. Hey, I need a job, maybe restauranteur. I am, apparently, a cooking genius. I made Thai food last week and it was delicious. Not having a job has helped my skills tremendously. If it takes 3 hours to cook, no big deal. What else do I have to do, besides ride my bike.

So, overall this has been a good week for my emotional state. Last week, not so good. I miss everyone terribly. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will have our own place by May. We love staying here and taking care of the nephew but need a place in order to house all the friends and family we know will be visiting this summer.

Think of it, when it's a sweltering 115 there, it will be a balmy 80 here and I'll cook for you.

Next on Erin's blog: Conquering public transportation. Stay tuned...

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday was last weekend, the 8th to be exact. (Don't worry if you missed it, I don't hold grudges)

Anyway it turned out to be an awesome weekend. Ben took me out to dinner on Saturday night. We went to an awesome little place in the Mississippi Arts district called Equinox where I proceeded to get so full and so drunk that I couldn't sleep that night. That's how you do it when it's your birthday. The food was fabulous. We were excited to have a quiet night out just the two of us.

Ben got me a much needed digital camera. Ours has been on the fritz for a while, sometimes it works but mostly it doesn't. It's an adorable, tiny little brown camera. Brown being my color of choice for all things these days. Bless him for knowing that.

On Sunday night we had dinner with the commune (Jess, Chris and Akeke). Chris made the most amazing vegan chocolate cake. We were all so excited to eat it that I forgot to take a picture with my snazzy new camera. Damn! I did take a picture of the awesome shoes they bought me for my b-day and as soon as I get them uploaded I'll post them. I know you are all going to be checking back regularly now, right?

Anyway, all is going well in Portland. More storie and pictures coming soon.

**Wow, I say awesome a lot. Note to self: Find a synonym for awesome.

The hunt...

The job hunt is in full force. I spent the entire day from 9:00-3:30 applying for jobs, writing cover letters. I don't understand why people aren't lining up to hire me, I'm awesome.

These Portland applications are hardcore. I'm talking essay questions and lots of them. I cannot ever remember having to answer a "supplemental questionnaire" when applying for a job but it was required on all 3 positions I applied for today. This means it took 2 hours just to get an application completed for one job.

The tricky part is they don't tell you the word maximum for your answers until after you have written them and tried to submit. Only then do I find out that I am 200 characters over the limit.

I cannot express to you how awesome my answers were and then I had to cut them down 50 words. These people don't know what they're missing. Those answers would have rocked their world.

The joys of unemployment.