WOW!!!!! I sure had a hellofa night last night! Now I'm sure a lot of people have seen a ghost, or at least thought they have, but last night was the first time I'd ever actually SEEN one. Sure I've heard my mom's stories about her bedroom, my grandparents old houses, and Mandy's stories, but I'd never actually seen one myself. I've been sitting there when something smashed to the floor by unseen hands, but that's about it. So I go over to Mike's house his family just moved into to see Mandy and hang out a little bit. Dan (Mike's younger bro) and Mandy were outside chillen on the porch with Mike's family that were over. One of his uncle's was in the house on the phone or something. So I walked in the front door, heading towards the backdoor to go downstairs to grab my keys. When you walk in the front door, there's this doorway into a hallway on the right, and I heard someone in a back room talking on the phone, and I saw another man just kinda standing in the hallway facing me staring. I thought it was someone in Mike's family so I almost just said "hey" to him as I walked past, but for some reason I stopped myself, and I remember trying to look at his face cuz that's naturally what you do when you see someone standin there, but I couldn't. I could only look as far as his chest, and plain as day, the guy was wearing a white t-shirt, and jeans I think. His hands were just at his sides, and I could even see his skin-he looked completely real. Except that in my peripheral vision of his face it was kinda blurry and shadowed-even tho in the house it was perfectly lit, and sunny. But at the moment, I thought nothing of it and just went about my business. Later on, Mandy and I were downstairs chillen, and the guys happened to leave us alone for a few minutes, and she immediately told me in a rushed tone "I need to tell you something, but I don't want anyone that lives here to know because I don't want to scare them" I'm thinkin "okayyyyyyy......wtf?" She proceeds to tell me about how she keeps seeing a ghost in the hallway just standing there. He wears a white t-shirt, is taller with a medium build, and doesn't look like he has much hair, or it's just really short. It hit me a second later, and I told her I had seen him too, but I thought it musta been someone who was visiting that day. And then I asked her if she has ever been able to see his face, and she thought for a minute, and softly said, "no." Well we decided we wanted to look into it-and we never felt a bad vibe from him or anything so we figure it's safe. If he was a violent one, stuff woulda already been thrown at us or at least moved. And then we thought it was weird that we're the only people that have seen him, and they've been living there for a couple of weeks now! We ended up going in and out of the house that day and every time we had to go thru the living room, Mandy said she saw him standing there-personally, I was covering my eyes cuz I didn't want to run screaming like a little girl in a rushed state, and knowing me, trip and fall down the stairs or something! Mandy had to go to the bathroom also upstairs, and to get to that you have to walk into that hallway, and when she came back she was white as a sheet! She said she didn't see him at all when she walked in there, and so she thought it was all good. But then as she turned to shut the bathroom door, that sigh of relief was cut short when she saw him facing her, just staring. She still couldn't see his face...So I finally get up the guts, and as we were walking in from outside one of our last times I said "I'm gonna look..." So I looked into the hallway and didn't see anything, but then I saw a reflection of a guy's head in this mirror thing, peeking around the corner of the hallway-I straight jumped up, and ran downstairs freaking out! Dan saw me panting for breath, shaking, and stuttering about nonsense-so he thought I was nuts! After I kinda got ahold of myself, me and Mandy decided to tell him and Mike about it. They said they haven't seen him or anything yet-but at least they didn't think we were crazy or something! We're gonna try and do a little investigating, but who knows! First stop..landlord's house! It's still scary to me tho, but I know he isn't going to hurt me, but come on! It's a freaking dead person for crying outloud! And not knowing why he's there, or what he wants from us is kinda freaky as well! So I'm going back over there today for a BBQ, and I will have to see if I see anything, and if I do-I'll have to bring my camera cuz someone will need to take a picture of the freaked out look on my face cuz that will definitely be something to remember! And laugh at later! PEACE OUT!!!!

May 28, 2003

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack! Well, it's been a very short week, and that makes me most happy because then I know the days are flying by and my baby will be home in no time! pssssst...hey Doug! How's my sexy, toned, Kuwaiti tanned bundle of hotness doing?? I miss ya! Can't stop thinkin boutcha, and I already have major plans for that cute lil butt of yours when you come home and you're finally all mine!!!!!! *giggle* Ohhhhhhhh.......if you only knew........
SO! I've been pretty busy at work these days with a ton of different projects going on, and the requests I get from people in the office on a daily basis so I haven't had time to do much with our site. New stuff to look forward to that I will be adding to the site is: A photo page of all the pix that Doug sends me from Kuwait; Carson, WA trip photo page; Graduation photo page; Photo page of random shots of me & friends while Doug's away for him to look at, and that's all for now. I ended up losing my main folder I keep on my computer at work that had all of my webpages saved in it, all of my graphics, and pictures because I upgraded the machine. I made a backup of what I thought was the main website folder, but it really was just the one I started out with, but never used it after that since I made a new folder that was way more organized, and had everything together. (.....wow! if that just wasn't a run-on sentence, I don't know what is!) So I'm just realizing this, and yeah...I'm a lil pissed, but I'm remaining calm......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Okay. I feel much better now!
*Sigh*...Beautiful Portland! Ever since the beginning of the week, and parts of the weekend, it's been starting to heat up around here. Today's about 70 or so, clear skies mostly and sunny. I'm inside all day so I never really realize exactly how hot it is out there until I leave work, and then it stuns me when I walk outside. And I know Doug's thinking....yeah, yeah! Stop yer bitchin! Try 110 DRY heat! That sh*t'll suck ya dry in no time, and burn you to death, so make sure you drink lots o' fluids so you don't turn into a big piece of leather! Not much to write about since it's been really mellow around home lately. The past couple of days I haven't hung out with my friends...okay FRIEND, but no one heard that! But I got to see Mandy for a lil while yesterday which was nice, but it's just been pretty boring here. Work, go home, sit at home and work some more, go to sleep, and start all over. Oh, and last weekend I didn't go out, but I went out on Friday. Carrie and Laura were going out of town for a camping trip at Sand Lake, and wanted me to go. It was just supposed to be straight partying every night until Memorial Day, and they had 4x4's & quads to ride which would have been awesome for me to get to drive one like a wild woman, not worrying about how fast I'm going or having a care in the world! But I decided..uh..NAH! What's camping, quad riding, partying with a bunch of people I don't know, and lake swimming without my other half?! I just didn't feel up to going without him cuz I don't think I would have had much fun if he wasn't there. That's something I would want to do WITH him, not wait until he's gone to do! Anyway, I'm getting off work so I will write more when I get the chance! Oh and a word of advice: NEVER! I mean NEVER....try and take naughty pix of yourself with a digital camera and a mirror.....it just doesn't work! Result: WTF??????!!!!!!! Solution: Person #2.

June 5, 2003

YAY! It's finally June! It's been getting nice and hot here in good ol' Portland. Up to 94 degrees today! I'm glad I don't have to deal with anything over 100 degrees like Doug tho! hehe. Works been really busy this week with random stuff, and computer problems that people need fixed so my days go by pretty fast at work. NICE! Today is the free Z100 concert at the waterfront with about 5 groups and only a couple of them I've heard of. But it'll be a nice, free way to spend an afternoon. Over the weekend I gardened a lot over at Doug's and filled up 2 big yard debris bags full of weeds! It's crazy! But at least it's coming along nicely, and hopefully will be finished doing the initial clearing out within a week. I like doing it so it's not like it's a chore. It's kind of a stress reliever for me, and I could always use one of those! There's lots of little projects I want to get done over there before he comes home. Just want to keep him happy! But I've been busy doing the usual-studying for my CCNA, swimming twice a week, gardening, working, learning guitar and hanging with my girl when I can. This weekend the girls want to go out, but I don't know if I'm going or where they want to go. I'll probably go if I can drink at home first, then I'll just have to pay to get in. Hopefully we go somewhere new-a change of scenery is always nice and refreshing. Well, Dougie gets to come home even earlier than we thought-they are sending him home from Kuwait on August 16th so he'll hopefully be home around the 20th or 21st. I can't WAIT!!!! Well, I'm going to get back to the office grind, and make my day go by faster! Gettin off early today-woohoo!

June 18, 2003

Well, well, well. It's been a little while since I added on to this page. Not much has been going on or changed lately. Last week something really scary happened at Mike's house when I was over there with Mandy-We were chillen in his room in the basement with his 2 pitbulls Doja and Shady. We heard some people walk in the door-it was Steven with some of his friends, and Shady ran upstairs to meet them. All of a sudden we hear Shady attacking something, and Mike's mom was screaming bloody murder, we didn't know what the F was goin on. Mike just took off upstairs while Mandy and I stared at each other in confusion. After a couple of seconds of bewilderment, we rushed upstairs towards the screams and growls. Turns out Shady had attacked one of Steven's friends' puppy pitbull he brought over. Shady had it by the throat, and luckily the boys got him off. The puppy was pretty shooken up after that, but it was over. All night Shady was trying to get at him. Then this week Mike's Uncle Norm brought over his dog, and Shady got ahold of him too-not smart people!!! Shady's also been slowly digging by the fence so he can get thru to the dog on the other side.
Last Friday us girls (Mandy, my mom, Mike's mom, and I) went to Vino's wine tasting and had a good ol' time! It was fun, we all got to hang out together, drink wine, eat finger food and talk. Mike's mom used to work at a wine distributor so we got to listen to her talk about wine which was cool, and I learned a lot from her. Before we left, Mandy and I picked out a couple bottles of wine-one that I wanted to get for myself cuz the label was too awesome to pass up, and one for Doug of course! Hope he likes it! Thursday prior to the wine tasting, Mandy and I wanted to go to the Red Sea since it's been a while. It was so gay! The whole downtown area sucked that night, but oh well. We ended up going home at 1 am. Then I had to go to the doctor the next morning. I had my dr. check my mole I have on my back and she said I'd have to see a dermatologist to most likely have it removed because it could be Melanoma. She also referred me to physical therapy for my neck and back from the car wreck of last year. And I'm on Zoloft now for anxiety-fun stuff. At least it isn't making me dizzy and naseous anymore! I feel it's working great on me, and I'm almost feeling back to normal. So next month is full of doctor appointments and such. I went to the chiropractor today and my back was so knotted up that it killed me to have her massage it, and my neck is all lumpy from stress knots and stuff. Speaking of stress, they might make Doug go to Iraq for the rest of his deployment and work out there. Great, like I wasn't worried enough right?! I just want him to come home, and have this TDY over with. We've got lots of great plans for when he comes home, and I'm really excited to start a new life with him. I've been non-stop working pretty hard over here while he's away, getting my life in order. Studying has been coming along pretty good and I can't wait to get the exam over with. Hope I pass the first time!!! Well, I better get back to work! Have Fun!!!

October 26, 2004

Yes, I know. I'm a SLACKER! So much has gone on since I last wrote and I'll try to bring it all up to speed. First of all, Doug had a perfectly safe TDY in Kuwait. I've still got pix somewhere from that...I hope. He brought home lots of goodies-Persian rugs for his house, presents for people, random things he picked up along the way, and linens and such. Of course lots of memories as well. Doug and I started going downhill starting in about February this year and I moved back into my mom's house. Lots of drama, lots of issues. I truly was about to walk away for good and about a week before I decided I would be better off alone, I found out that I was pregnant. I couldn't believe it! When I was late for my period, I was okay about it because I'm usually a couple of days late anyway. BUT, my period still never came and on the 10th day of no sign of it, I took a home pregnancy test before I went to work on a Tuesday morning. I remember kind of knowing something wasn't right the whole time I was late. I had period like cramps but no period. I was dizzy and eating like a horse. My boobs also felt different and more sensitive than normal. I had the most freaky, disturbing dreams I've ever had in my life as well. I was stressed out about up until I took the test and that morning my heart was pounding out of my chest. It was positive instantly and once I finally knew what was up, I calmed down considerably. The not knowing is the hardest most stressful part of it all. But once I knew, it made me almost cry because I was starting a little miracle inside of me. I hopped in the shower and told Doug at work that morning. I think we were both in a shocked sort of state and it didn't sink in for a while after that. We talked alot about it and of course didn't want to have an abortion. I don't believe in them anyway. We're doing really well and I've pretty much moved in again. We are just so busy with getting the house ready and the baby's room. I've been keeping extremely healthy by working out, eating right and doing the right stuff. I've gone thru so many articles and books and information that nothing has really come as a surprise this whole pregnancy. I was sick the first 3 months straight. I threw up at work a few times and at home a few times. But mostly I just felt sick throughout the whole day and would wake up feeling like I had a horrible wine hangover. I got a new job in August and quit the Corps at the end of July. I only had a weekend in between jobs. Doug and I went camping with my family for a little break before my new job started. We went to Beachside state park and had a good, relaxing time. Went crabbing and didn't catch shit, but it was still fun. We also just recently went and stayed in Astoria to go fishing and supposedly crabbing with my uncle and my dad and other family. We stayed in a Shilo Inn while they were all camping. Went fishing and caught a bunch of little ones-for practice I guess. Doug had the record for the smallest one-he didn't even know he had anything on his pole! I'm now about 30 and a half weeks pregnant and doing good. Mandy and I have been frequenting a day spa up in Vancouver to get facials and stuff. Last weekend I got a facial and Mandy got a massage. The previous weekend I was there alone and got a pregnancy massage. 2 words-WOW! My new job is in Vancouver as well and I work for Terex/Canica. I do a variety of things-office work and technical stuff. I'm getting benefits going now and a $1500 a year raise. I like it here, small office with 6 guys and it's very laid back. I went to the Corps recently to visit and got to see everyone. That was nice and they were all trying to guess what I'm having. Doug and I decided to not find out and it's been interesting ever since. Dad's been buying me lots of stuff for the baby and he's very excited. My mom's excited too and she's been working at a nursing home so now we need to find a new source of daycare. We've had 2 ultrasounds and Doug's been there for both of them. One at my first appointment (I got on OHP!) and then I was 10 weeks. Then we had one at Providence when I was 18 weeks along. We got about 5 printouts and saw so much. The baby was so active and it was so amazing to see all of that. They did a thourough scan of the baby, measuring every bone, and checking out its organs and head size. They even checked my kidneys. It was fun. I've done the glucose tolerance test and some other blood work to determine my blood type(A +) and such. It's been a wild ride so far. My mom's been taking regular belly pictures of me since August and we haven't done ones for October yet but it's neat to see how much I grow every month. I feel the baby move a lot and it's very active. This is the most amazing experience I've ever been a part of in my life! I'm so excited to see the baby for the first time and hold it. I'm due January 1st and I just hope it doesn't come early because we need all the time we can get to have everything squared away. My baby shower is this Saturday (Oct. 30th) and I'm looking forward to see what Doug and I get from our friends and family. It'll be a fun time. Carrie is also pregnant-She's due January 9th! Crazy huh? We have been working out together and it's nice to have a good friend to go through everything with-I'm very blessed. She is having a little girl and her and Tim now live together. They plan to get married in June next year. So, just been busy trying to get my life in order and ready for baby. Doing what I need to do but there's still so much that needs to be done. I'm enrolling in childbirth ed. classes right now and will be starting those in November I believe. I should be able to choose a family doctor once my insurance here kicks in. I'm worried mainly about that and setting up daycare. The insurance here is through Blue Cross/Blue Shield and I hear it's excellent coverage. After Doug gets divorced (which Julie served him his papers in April or something) I will be able to put him on my insurance as a domestic partner so he's covered. Although the Oregon Health Plan has been great for me. I don't pay any monthly fees, no co-pays and nothing for prescriptions. The delivery would only be about $209, but who knows now with the new insurance. We'll see. Anyway, I have to be getting back to work. Hopefully someday I'll be able to add more pictures to the website like I wanted to last year.

April 21, 2005

Yes, it's been a long time once again. The pregnancy went well, and I am now the proud mother of an almost 4 month old baby boy. We named him Christian Charles (right before we left the hospital). He weighed exactly 7 pounds at birth. I had him on the afternoon of January 4th, the day before I was to be induced. Guess he wasn't havin that! I went into labor the night before and by 2 am I had really strong contractions that woke me up from a dead sleep. I noticed I was bleeding so I called the hospital and was told to stay at home for 5 hours, and then come in. I walked around, tried to lay down but the pain was too strong. I took a bath and tried shaving my legs so I wouldn't scare anybody out of the delivery room with my woolies! Finally it was time to go to the hospital and Doug was the funniest ever! He was rushing to get all of his stuff together, wondering if he should shower first (c'mon! I'm in labor here!!), and when we finally arrived at the hospital he was so flustered he didn't know where he was going-even though he had been there plenty of times before! Once in the delivery room I was checked and they told me I was already at 7 cm dilated, which surprised every nurse in the room because I was tolerating it so well and not talking in tongues while my head spins around in circles. Since I was so far along already, I was able to be hooked up to the epidural right away-thank god!!!!!! From that point on it was a different ball game. I just kicked back, couldn't feel my legs or my stomach, cracked jokes and hung out. I should have rested, but with all the excitement going on around me, there was no way. A lot of people showed up for their support: My mom, Doug's mom, Mandy, my sister Megan, my dad, my brother, his fiance and their son, Doug's dad & stepmom & step sister. Other people visited us afterwards while we were in the hospital for a couple of day: Jen & Aaron, Layna, Doug's brother David and his family.
Anyway, after pushing for 4 hours, I could not get his head out so I opted for the use of forceps since I was exhausted and couldn't do it anymore. He was born @ 4:08pm, and I couldn't have been happier. It was such an amazing experience - that I still don't know how anyone can do it more than once.
Christian is doing so well. He's a very social person, loves to sit up and stand a lot (with our help of course), and he's constantly moving around. He's a very happy boy, always talkin, smilin and laughin. I've been back at work for almost 2 months now. Daycare is working out well, although the commute is horrible. He's well taken care of, but I do miss him during the days and wish I could see him for more than 2 hours after work before it's his bedtime. We have our weekends though.
Doug and I are doing great. It's his birthday on April 30th so I've been trying to figure out what to do for him. So far, I'm thinking....paintball with a group of his friends. Last time I took one to the head, but that isn't going to stop me from going at it again!! That's all for now..

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