Girl formerly known as a Bogle

I've been tagged by good ol' Chelsea P. So enjoy my narcissistic ways. I love interviewing myself!

A...attached or single: attached for 12 years and 5 months to my awesome husband Chris. I got super lucky. He takes good care of me.
B... best friend: I just can't answer that. It's a little too 3rd grade for me. I love all my friends.
C... cake or pie: definitely cake, or sometimes pie.
D... day of choice: I love a good Thursday.
E... essential item: my contacts. I would literally be lost without them.
F... favorite color: Right now it's gray, but I love tons of colors. My fave changes frequently.
G... gummy bears or worms: neither, they make me gag. It's like eating silly putty.
H... hometown: Chandler AZ
I... indulgence(s): Chipotle burritos
J ...January or July: Do I really even need to answer that?
K... kids? B-man 11, Maser 9, and Sida 7
L... life is incomplete without: all my family
M... marriage date: August 18th 1995
N ...number of siblings: 4 sisters. Monique, Elise, Emily, and Megan. 5 brothers. Bobby, Jaimie, Tom, Chris, and Ty. I love all their guts!
O... oranges or apples: Apples in September and October. Oranges Nov-January.
P ...phobias or fears: I don't have any phobias, but my fear makes up for it. I'm afraid to do anything for the first time. I have to force myself to try anything new. I do hate scary movies too. I haven't watched one in years. Is that a phobia?
Q... quotes: I love the Walt Whitman quote at the bottom of my blog. I'm sorry to say, I need the reminder.
R... reason to smile: Sunny days, witty friends, silly family, good memories, and obnoxiously loud music.
S ...season: Summer & fall
T... tag three friends: Anybody who has laid their eyes on this post.
U ...unknown fact about me: check back later. I'm still thinking.
V ...very favorite store: Nesting on Main in Concord Mass. It's the best store I've been in so far, but believe you me, I'm still checking all the rest just in case I find a better one.
W... worst habit: being lazy
X... x-ray or ultrasound: Huh? Who cares? Dang X!
Y... your favorite food: I've said it once and I'll say it again... burritos of any kind!
Z... zodiac: libra, Apparently I'm diplomatic, indecisive, urbane, romantic, gullible, easygoing, easily influenced, sociable, idealistic, and self indulgent. You can choose the ones that best fit.

I can't get these two rooms out of my head. I love them and want to incorporate so many of these things into my home.

"In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways."

Edith Wharton

And my head aches

The Decemberists show last night was so much fun. I actually thought it started out a tiny bit slow. I was getting a little worried. I would have never expected their show to be boring. About half way through they seriously redeemed themselves. It must just take them a while to get warmed up or something. They started getting the crowd involved ( yes, It got very silly). It was awesome! There was some singing and raindrop fingers involved. There was also a little running in place and crowd surfing. A lot of la da da da daing. You know, all the usual. I was surprised how many of the songs I didn't know. I am apparently missing an album or two.

Love this video. Colin dedicated it to Mitt Romney last night. Very controversial! Well maybe not in Portland, but it would have been with my family.
I have to say one of the best things about the concert was just watching what Colin Meloy does with his mouth when he sings. It is so bazaar! I guess that's how he gets all those awesome sounds to come out though. I also just love all the crazy stories they set to music. You get pulled into a miniature epic with every song. So cool! The whole band was very funky and fun to watch. Especially the accordion/keyboard player.
Brenda, I'm dying to hear all your opinions!
Megan, I bought Catcher a little Decemberists t-shirt. It's so cute.
Doesn't Colin Meloy kind of remind you of Nathan Rawlins?

Chris needs a photo with him and his pet for work. So we headed out for a mini shoot. 15 pictures and they both had had it. I did manage to get a few acceptable shots though. Which one do you guys like best?

down in the dumps

I've noticed not a lot of you are posting and commenting today. Is everyone in a funk because of the bad news? Is the fact that Heath Ledger died this morning making the idea of blogging unbearable? It is very sad to me as well. I'm taken back to the River Phoenix fiasco. I don't think I have fully recovered from that either. So young, so talented. Why are the drugs so hard to resist? We miss you River and we will miss you Heath. I've heard there are many benefits to talking about your feelings in times of tragedy. If anyone needs to have a good gab session feel free to let it all out in my comment section.


I do realize this sounds very irreverent. I don't really mean it to. Kind of. Take it as you will.

Sid style

While we are on the subject. As a fun MLK day activity, Sid and I decluttered her room. She got rid of this!

She kept this!


What is wrong with my child?
Though I seriously worry about her teddy bear taste I did not say a word. I simply wept as I shoved the adorable brown bear in his goodwill (grave) bag.

gentle guidance

Sidney and I tend to disagree on what she should wear. I have always been a "gentle guider" and will never fully relinquish my post. I admit my life( and Sid's) would be much easier if I could just let it all go. Some days, like when she won't be seen by her public, I'll let her wear whatever lame clothes she wants. Other days, she will actually pick out some pretty cute stuff. Then there are the days when I walk out of her room with steam coming out of my ears and her bottom lip is so pouty it almost hits the floor. Usually at that point I've quit speaking to her and she finds something so-so out of the choices I left on her bed. Then I realize how ridiculous I'm being. I don't want Sid to look like nerd though. We are trying to come up with good compromises.

This is a "Sid's controversial items list". Of course, I love these things.

1. leg warmers ( she has worn them, but they were highly contested )
2. her red ruffled slip, I love it under dresses.
3. Ugg's, She absolutely refused until I got mine. She got 2 pairs from the neighbors. $1.00 each!
4. Anything that involves putting her hair up.
5. Red, white, and blue sundress. Probably my favorite thing she owns. It looks so cute with jeans and a sweater.

This is how I want Sid to dress

This is what she prefers.

This is a compromise

Negativity alert!

I am having a night! A night that can only be described as " if you ask me one more question I will karate chop your pinky toes off" kind of night. Nothing bad has happened. No one stole my cat. No one cut me in line. No one stepped on my foot. I am just crabby. Plain old cross & crabby. So please no one ask me a question. Not one!
I will do the question asking around here!

Why do people like to track dog crap on my carpet?

Why can't people use their blinkers when they are turning?

Why do bloggers ( you know who you are ) put those stinking copy the letter things in their comment section?

Why can't I get those stinking letter things right on the first try?

Why do I say "yes" to things that I want to say "no way" too?

Why are Cinnabon cinnamon rolls fattening?

Why is that all the questions I can think of right now?

I'm going to go take some deep breaths and regret not buying those dang cinnamon rolls.
Ok fine, that's a lie I'm going to go make banana bread and steam clean my carpets.

Tamale night

Last night, my little brother Chrispy and his girlfriend Katie came over. We had decided to make tamales. The only problem is that our new church schedule is the late one. 1-4 pm. I actually love that time slot, but it was a little late to start making tamales. Chris and Katie arrived around 5:00 and we all busily put the tamales together. Then we waited and we waited and we starved and we waited. We finally busted out the salad that was to go with the tamales. It was a good appetizer! I think it was about 8:30 when we tasted what we had all been dying for (except for Chris C, he had special Mac n' Cheese waiting for him. He doesn't like tamales. As he pulled his dinner out of the microwave it splatted all over the kitchen floor. Poor, poor Chris! He ended up having toast). They were super good. Chris made vegetarian tamales. I went with the classic pork.
While we were waiting for the food, the party broke out. My kids got their much anticipated Uncle Chrispy time!



I love having Chris here in Portland. It's nice to have my own flesh and blood brother around.

The winner is...

The winner of this



is Stephanie! Congrats to you. I will deliver it this week.
Thanks for playing everyone!

I'm so RANDOM (My kids favorite word of the month)

Apparently everything I say is "just so random". If that is the case, well then, I guess my posts will be too.

I'm trying to fight a slight Chipotle addiction. I think I have a chicken burrito(black beans, hold the cheese and sour cream) at least twice a week. A few weeks ago I had a fabulous idea of making my on Chipotle burritos and freezing them, but that never ever happened. Their adobo chicken is just so dang good. I have to admit though it is not limited to Chipotle. If there isn't one close by I'll just hit Q-doba. It's not quite as good but it will do. I need help.

I'm super excited for the Pride & Prejudice party @ Sarah S's house this Friday. If anyone has not heard of this yet, please know it is an open invitation to all. 6:00 dinner. 7:00 movie. Yes, it is the 5 hour version so be prepared for a long and glorious night. I can't wait!

I've decided to do another GIVEAWAY! Everybody thank Jody. It was her idea. Just leave a comment on this post and you could be the lucky winner of the Origins Spice Odyssey body scrub featured in previous post. It is my attempt at apologizing for boring you all with that sofa crap ( we bought the Dexter! ). Keep in mind I ship. So if you live far away, no worries. Wow, I don't think I have said "no worries" since a had a massive crush on TJ! That was a long time ago! And for all you men out there, I think there are two of you including my husband, you can comment and win this for your significant other. And for those of you that don't roll around in dirt & dill all day, you can give it to someone who does! After you take a huge whiff of the best smell on earth, of course.

My next few weeks totally rock the fricken house! I'm feeling like one lucky girl. I get to buy new furniture for my living room, I get to go on a group ski day with some friends, I get to see The Decemberists in concert, then Elise and Steve come up for another ski trip, then I have a hair appointment with the best hair dresser ever, then I have a book club beach getaway! Wow, that is a lot of fun stuff for me.

This is Chris's sister Joyce and our niece Catie. I wanted to send props out (I can't believe I said props) to an awesome sister in law. She RANDOMLY set me up on the National Do Not Call list. She is awesome for many more reasons, but that is the one for today.


Well, I guess that's all my randomness.
Oh, the giveaway will end Saturday night.

We are looking for new furniture . These are all front runners. What do you think? Anyone have any great upholstery experiences? Any recommendations?

I took a little time out yesterday to do a little after Christmas shopping. While I was doing this shopping I remembered I was out of My favorite cleansing product in the entire Portland Metro area. So I ran my little self over to Origins and picked up this...



Now, I will admit that this product is not for everyone. I have tried pushing it on a few very undeserving ( only because they don't like it ) associates of mine. I definitely recommend you rush out and buy this stuff. in fact, stock up just in case, but only if you...

Have ever had a craving for dirt.
Gag on the smell of any and every perfume ever made.
Could sit in warm rain forever.
Can't shop at Bath and Body Works, Body Shop, Crabtree & Evelyn, or the likes there of for fear of breaking out in over scented induced hives.
Have fig, DIRT, cloves, MUD, or pine on your favorite things ever list. Or if you...

Just want to be totally hip!


Seriously, this stuff is the best!

Favorites from Mt Hood

Mason is very excited to learn how to fix up cars. I think Nick was excited to show him a few things.
Boston was determined to get lincoln on a board. the view!

We had to get a shot of the men doing the dishes. Yes, it is that rare!
Lincoln and Grandma.He's just too cute. I can't help myself.

We exiled all the gassy ones to one couch.Mason after boarding.

I never really said much about Christmas on this crazy blog, so I'm going to show ya'll my two favorite pictures from this holiday season. I did not take either of these pics, but they were both taken by my camera, so I claim them.

The first one (taken by Elise) is the front gate into my parents house (please click on the pic for the full effect). They have lived in that house for almost thirty years. Inside the front gate, on Christmas eve, is where my family gathers. Inside the gate, is where I not so secretly long to be every December 24th. Inside the gate, Mom will be busy like nobody knows busy. Inside the gate, there is a crowd that should be contained in a conference center not a living room. Inside the gate, there are fresh tamales and chulupa (the best in the world). Inside the gate, everyone is exchanging gifts and anxiously awaiting the expressions given in return. Inside the gate, there is more noise than can be heard by human ears. Laughing, debating, children screaming with delight, not because of what they just opened, but because of who is tickling, chasing or running around the house with them. Inside the gate, the nativity is being performed by eager children and overheating grown ups. Inside the gate, there are real logs burning in an ancient fireplace. Inside the gate, is what I love most about this world. Inside the gate. (I didn't mean to get so poety, I just couldn't think of a way sufficient enough to finish that last thought) This second picture was taken by Chrispy at my house on Christmas Day. I love the glow in this house. The snacks thrown on the table after dinner. The kids rushing down the stairs together. The rest of us lazily visiting in the tiny room. This shot really tells the story of Christmas at my house. To be honest, it was probably freezing in that room (thanks to Chris C.), but I definitely felt the warmth of Christmas that night.