Keep Portland Weird!

Once a year, the Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors (AHIA) holds a conference.   This year the conference was in Portland,  Oregon.   I was pretty excited for a change of scenery and have never been to the Pacific Northwest. 

My co-worker April and I left bright and early on Sunday morning for a 7:30am flight.  We made it to the gate just in time and took off for Denver, Colorado.  When we got to Denver around 9:30 local time, we had time to wander the airport and have a fabulous brunch.  Even the restaurants at the airport served local, farm-fresh food.  Then we boarded another plane for Portland.

High above the clouds....

The view from my hotel room....

When talking to people before our trip, the one thing we heard from everyone was how fabulous the food was.  We asked our cab driver for his recommendations, and he absolutely did not steer us wrong.  Sunday night we went to a local restaurant called Tasty N Alder.  O.M.G.  The food was divine!!  We shared some wagyu skirt steak, cedar plank salmon, skillet corn cake and sauteed swiss chard and kale.  SO GOOD!!!

It was a long day of traveling, so we were in our hotel rooms pretty early.  It's funny how I always dream of a quiet relaxing evening alone, but all I could think about while there was how much I missed Clint and the girls.   

We ate at more local restaurants, including divine stuffed salmon and crab cakes at a place called Jake's Famous Crawfish and heavenly Vietnamese at a tiny local favorite called LucLac.  Each evening we walked to dinner and explored downtown.  Portland was a really fun city, but I would have really loved to be able to explore the mountains nearby instead of staying in the city center.

Funny little things we found while exploring.  I texted this to Clint to see if he thought it would be a good souvenir for the girls.

One of my favorite spots is a bookstore called Powell's.  It's literally an entire city block,  Instead of each genre having it's own section in the store, There was a color coded room for each genre.  Also, the store sold used and new books.  It was really a cool spot!  We also did the tourist spot called Voodoo Donuts.  I'm not a huge fan of donuts, but ordered a fritter called the Memphis Mafia.  It's a donut made with banana pudding batter and covered in chocolate and peanut butter.  I ate one bite to try it and threw the rest out.  it was good, just way too much sugar for my blood!

Powell's book store

Who knew enough people still wore Dr. Marten's to need a place this big??  Then I started looking around, and people in Portland definitely wore them!!

The bike lanes downtown were really cool.  the were huge, green and in the middle of the one-way streets.

Tuesday morning April and i did a 5k that was sponsored by the conference.  It was early (we started at 6am), but we were so glad we got up and did it.  The path took us down to the river and over a bridge.  It was beautiful watching the sun come up!

My dinner at LucLac - One of the best meals I've ever had!!

VooDoo Donuts

By Wednesday I was definitely ready to get back to my family.  We had class that morning, then loaded up for the airport to catch a 12:00 noon flight.  We had to stop in Oakland, CA to pick up more passengers, then landed in Las Vegas for a layover.  April had never been to Vegas, so we talked about playing the slot machines while we were there.  It's so funny how the second you step off the plane you can gamble.

By the time we got to Vegas, we grabbed a quick dinner and sat at our gate.  About 20 minutes before we were to board the plane, April convinced me to go try our luck at the slots.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a big gambler, but I knew Clint would be disappointed if I didn't at least play some.  We found the closest dollar slot machine and I put in a $20.  I was un-enthusiastically pulling the handle to place my bets when I realized I was only playing one line.  No one EVER wins by betting one line.  I told myself when I played down to $15 I would bet 5 lines, increasing my bet to $5 per pull.  I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn't even notice on my 5th bet when the "Wheel Of Fortune" rang out.  April asked what that meant, and I explained that I got to spin the wheel.  As the wheel spun, I noticed the highest amount on it was $1,000, which was right next to $15.  I waited for the wheel to stop and it did - on the $1,000!!!!  I immediately cashed out and walked away with $1,015.  Not bad for started with $20!!  

This was the view sitting at our gate waiting to board the plane.

The Memphis Mafia.  This thing had to weigh 3 pounds.

The flight from Vegas was soooooo long and we didn't land in Nashville until after 11:00, getting home at midnight.  It was a fun trip for sure, and I'm sure by next year I will be ready for the next conference.  However, for now I'm thankful to be home with my crazy crew :)

Music City Hot Air Balloon Festival

So last week my friend from work, April, told me about a hot air balloon festival coming up.  She has 2 girls the same age as Madelyn and Aubrey,  and we have been saying we need to get them together.   The festival was advertised to have inflatables,  food trucks, live music and of course, hot air balloons!  Kids got in free, and adult tickets were only $8 so we decided to go for it!

I'm so glad we got tickets when we did because by the next day the event had sold out.  The girls told me that a ton of their friends ar school were talking about it, but they hadn't been able to get tickets.

After the girls Blaze game (which the boys won 46-0) we went home, changed clothes and waited for our friends to come over.  Although Madelyn and Aubrey just met Lilly and Mary that night, they were all laughing and giggling before we made it to the park.

I have to say, the event was not super organized.  Parking was a mess, and no one even asked for our tickets when we got there.  The girls played on the inflatables,  and they started blowing the balloons up.  That was really cool to see!  Everyone could walk right up to the hot air balloons to see them.

There were several food trucks, but the lines were outrageously long.  We decided to get in line for burgers, but after waiting for over 45 minutes, they ran out of food!!  The whole time we were in line the balloons were lighting up and we were able to get some pretty pictures. 

All of a sudden around 8:15 the music stopped and the balloons started deflating.  Everyone was super confused, as the event was supposed to last until 9:00, and really nothing happened.  It was very confusing! !

By that time, none of us had eaten so we still waited for the only 2 food options left - nachos and donuts!! 

Although the event didn't turn out as we had planned, the girls had a blast and we got some cute pics.  I guess mission accomplished!

Saturday Fun

Saturday was a busy day, but it was all FUN things!

First we went and picked up the Expedition from the shop.  That wasn't necessarily fun, but happy to have repairs done and (hopefully) no car issues for a while!

Once Clint got the truck, the girls and I headed to Brentwood Skate Center for Lola's birthday party.  Lola's stepdad, George, is a coach at Premier Athletics.  We became friends with him, then learned that they live in our apartment complex.  Lola is the grade in between my girls, and hit it off with Madelyn and Aubrey pretty quickly.  We've become pretty good friends with George, his wife Englysh, new baby Emery and Lola :)

The invitation said to wear your best neon, so the girls really got into it!  Clint and I told them how cool it would be to wear neon knee socks, and surprisingly we were able to find some with no problem!!

The girls have only been skating a handful of times, but they really love it.  I always think that I need to take them more often, but our crazy business gets in the way!

The girls getting ready to skate.

Aubs and Lola

I loved how Madelyn glowed in the blacklight room!

With the birthday girl.

We left the party, went home and got ready to go cheer at the Brentwood Blaze football season opener.  The girls were pretty excited about it, but we really had no idea what to expect.  They are cheering for the BBB team, which is 9-10 year old boys who have the highest skill level for their age.  One of the coaches is a former Titans player!!  Hopefully we will have a great season!!  Madelyn loves cheering because she gets to spend time with her 2 best friends, Sydney and Presley.  Presley's mom is the coach, and she does a fantastic job!!

Coach Linda made a banner for the boys to run through.

Unfortunately, the girls need to work on holding on to it!  The first boy to break through ran off with the banner still attached to him!!!!

Doing their thing....

The boys had a great game!  They beat the Spring Hill Hawks 26-0!!

New Car

So, the Altima finally bit the dust.  It was such a great car, and I'm  emotional about losing it for lots of reasons.  Mainly, my dad and I went and bought that car together.   Such awesome memories of that weekend filled with so much advice from my dad. 

He always told me not to get emotional about "things".  You could always find another car, and things are all replaceable.   He also taught me that weekend that even though I was a young woman, I had a voice and shouldn't let any salesman make me feel otherwise.   I was doing them a favor by buying a car, not the other way around!

The last few weeks I've put that advice to good use.  Every time we pulled up at the car dealership,  the salesman immediately approached Clint.   My opinion was only asked in matters like the color, and interior options.

We finally decided on an used Accord that we found.  It had 19,000 miles and was right under our cap of $20,000.  We agreed early on that it's possible to send a ton of money on a car, but we could easily be happy with a less expensive option.   I'm all about simplifying these days!

Tuesday night we got the girls to practice,  went to Honda and asked for their best deal on the car.  The salesman came back with a price only $400 under sticker.  I laughed, said no thanks and we walked out.  They followed us, asking if we came down a little more, blah blah.  I told him he was wasting our time.

As we were opening our car, the sales manager ran out asking if we could do a brand new Accord for $19k.  That's $5,000 under the sticker price and less than the used one!!  We agreed and an hour later I pulled off the lot in our new car!  I will drive the Accord since I drive so much.  In the first 5 days I've put 200 miles in it!!  We put new tires on the Expedition and had other (expensive ) work done on it last week so that will be Clint's car.

Anway, here are a few pics!!

Weekend

We tried to keep things fairly low key this weekend, since we were coming off the first full week of school.   The girls seem to really like their teachers and classes, but we can tell there will definitely be more homework this year.

Friday night Madelyn had practice,  then we went to eat dinner and were home relaxing by 7:30. 

Aubrey had coreography camp for cheer on Saturday so she had to be at the gym from 9am until 3pm.  We dropped her off, then went to look at cars.  We went to Nissan, Toyota and Honda and test drove a few different cars.  Right now I'm leaning towards the Accord.  In fact, we may go buy it this week.

When I picked Aubrey up I expected her to be worn out, but she was super happy!  A few of the moms from the team set up an ice cream sundae bar, so that helped her mood!  Saturday night we continued our Harry Potter adventure,  watching the 2nd movie.  The girls love this new Saturday night ritual!

Sunday morning was the grocery store before dropping Aubrey off for cheer day 2 from noon to 5pm.  Mimi gave Madelyn a couple of gift cards to Pinot's Pallette for her birthday,  so we met her best friend and off we went for some painting.  It was so much fun, and the girls really enjoyed it!!  What a great idea for a birthday present!

After picking Aubrey up we went home to study, clean, cook and get ready for another week.  I don't know how the weekends seem to go so fast!!

Super cute sundae bar

Aubrey got more whipped cream and toppings than ice cream!

These girls are never NOT doing gymnastics! 

Madelyn and Presley 

I was super impressed with their final pictures!

Williamson County Fair

We are getting close to my favorite time of year - fall!  I love everything about it: the excitement of football season starting,  cooler temperatures,  anything pumpkin, and the list goes on!  However,  the first sign of fall for me is the fair.

It's been a busy week with back to school,  the car breaking down and me having strep throat.  But there was nothing stopping us from going to the fair this year.   After Madelyn's practice last night we loaded into the truck and went for some rides and fair food :)

Luckily right when we got there we ran into Houston, Amanda and Hudson.  The kids had a blast riding and eating everything you can imagine from pizza, cotton candy, funnel cake and ice cream.

Right when we walked in, already excited! 

They eased into the rides, starting with the tug boat!

Waiting in line for the Pirate Ship.  On the ride Aubrey told Clint she wanted to throw up when they went up, but felt ok on the way down.

They love the farm exhibit 

This was right before we left, and it was late!!!

Another great year at the fair!