Juneau

Here's the amazing Juneau once again. This is starting to turn into more of a Juneau blog than a girly and boy blog, but that's ok, because he's girly and boy's boy.

Drama Drama Drama

    This last week has been a bit dramatic to say the least. Right after our last post, Dan's bike was stolen. Yes, that's right. The love-of-his-material-life LeMond. He left for class about ten minutes before I left for work that night - and he took my keys on accident. I had my spare and he was able to lock one of his bike locks so we figured it'd be ok. When Dan walked out of class the bike was right there, perfectly ok. Teresa was nice enough to give him a ride home to pick up his spare lock keys but when they got back to campus fifteen minutes later...it was gone. Poor man was devastated. Dan's even admitted that he'd rather somebody steal his car than his bike!

This event was a catalyst for even more problems over the next few days. Dan was (and still is) checking everything from craigslist to ebay religiously in the hopes to find it up for sale. While perusing for it, he found a great deal on a bike up in Portland. He talked to the guy and finalized the sale with us to head to Portland in the morning to pick it up. I had to call several coworkers to get my shift covered and we purchased a bike rack to take my bike (which was discovered in our hunt for the LeMond and was too good of a deal to pass up) so we could go on a ride through the city after. We'd arranged to call him when he got out of church at one. After getting a bit...lost...in Portland and taking a small stroll around an arboretum we headed into town. We'd just walked into Powell's when we got ahold of the fella and had to turn around. ( Boo! ='( ) Unfortunately...we'd locked the keys in the car. UGH! So we had to call somebody to get us back into the car. Dan called the bike's owner to let him know we'd be a little late and was told he'd received another offer that he was thinking of taking. After a bit of convincing, the guy said he'd still give it to us since it would be rather sketchy of him not too after we'd already driven all the way up there, finalized a deal, etc. The lock smith was a bit late so by the time we hit the road we'd tried calling Al (the bike guy) several times. He'd told us to drive up to WASHINGTON and meet him at a LA Fitness right off the freeway. We got there and waited...and waited...and waited...and tried calling a million times. After sitting there for over forty five minutes we finally headed back south without a bike. The guy had sold it to somebody else and didn't even have the decency to let us know! After we'd taken the day off and driven across state lines! UGH! People!

The next night I come home from work to be told by Dan that he'd sold his car. What?? I hadn't even known he was putting it up! We'd talked about it before, of course, since he doesn't ever drive it and we really don't need it, but he'd decided to put it up that night and sold it just a few hours later. So I hopped back into my car without dinner and we drove 30 minutes south to meet the guy. Turns out...he backed out too. After saying adamantly that he was taking it and Dan had told about a dozen people it wasn't available still. UGH! People! Since Dan had gotten such a great response to the ad, he's put it back up for more money. Hopefully we'll be able to get more out of it after that guy backed out - at least then he would have done us a favor instead of a disservice. 

Between work and school the rest of the week was pretty calm. Friday Dan was invited to go snowboarding with one of the girls in his program and her roommates. He had a blast, of course! I'm sure all of you reading know how much he LOVES his snowboarding. Meanwhile, I headed up to Portland with Teresa and Melissa. Mel's just moving into a new place and wanted to get some things at IKEA. I ended up picking up a small shelving unit for the kitchen (what a difference it's made!) and a couple of small cheap end tables that we use pushed together to make a coffee table. Great purchases! It was a great trip and we spent a little time in Teresa's cute old neighborhood which made her extremely Portland-sick. Oh, and I introduced the girls to mochi ice cream! If you've never tried it, you're missing out! Trader Joe's carries one of my favorite commercially available brands (try the strawberry) or some Whole Foods carry them too. They're my favorite dessert. 

For Vday we did nothing special. We just hung out like we normally do and then I worked in the pm. Sunday night we'd talked about going to the Eugene Ballet's performance of Swan Lake but decided against it when we realized that we could only get the student discounts on Saturday. But we were invited to go play laser tag and get pizza and beer with some coworkers of mine that afternoon. I was so excited! Until I got a migraine. I've been getting a surprising amount of headaches lately even had to call in sick to work once last week because of it. Anyway, we spent the day around the house and made a trip to the store for provisions. It'd been a while since we'd stocked up and our fridge was starting to look kinda sad...Oh, and we made an attempt to eat at PF Chang's since we have that gift card but it was still too much of a wait so we just went to this little mexican place in the Oakway center. It was our first time eating out since probably October. We still need to figure out when we're going to get PF though. We've already almost lost the gift card several times!

As far as the serious stuff goes, Dan's paper is now officially in the review process for possible publication. I'm so proud of him! Plus he's set up a meeting with Jerry Tindal (one of the men he most admires here) about research job possibilities with him next year. Plus he's talked to his old principal at Willow Springs and she told him that they were switching to a traditional school year and that there would likely be job openings next year. Yay! It would be great fun for him to go back to his old school (which his sister Katie also works) and a traditional school year would be better for us than a year round one too. It would leave the summers open to possibly head back to Alaska or somewhere else for the tourism seasons. Especially with my school schedule too. Who knows where we'll end up but things are looking up! Dan's leaving it up to me to decide where we go and I'm waiting to see how my credits transfer and what job opportunities he'll have. Hopefully we'll know for sure in a couple of months. 

In the meantime, here are some cute videos of Juneau from the last week. Oh, and one of Dan drunk and playing on our exercise ball. =) Enjoy!

Updated Hair

So here's the final result. You can't tell much since my hair is so dark but I chopped off about 3 inches and added layers up to my chin. Quite the change!

Our Latest Adventures

    So we've been busy! These last two weeks have been a lot of fun and we've had quite a few mini-adventures along the way. 

    First things first - Dan has submitted a paper for publication! He's been working with Julie Alanzo to refine it a bit more. They've submitted it to a rather prestigious publication first. If that doesn't work out, he'll resubmit to anther journal or two. He won't find out for probably another six months or so. Plus Dan's officially graduating summer term. That means that it's pretty official that we'll be moving back to Salt Lake City this August/September. It'll be an interesting transition to head back but we both think it'll be a good thing. We've even talked about how, as soon as I finish my degree, we might come back so Dan can work on his Ph.D. In the meantime, we're just going to be spending as much time as we can exploring and enjoying Oregon while we're still here. 

    We started out last week with a night of indoor camping. Yup, that's right! It was a bit chilly outside to really go so we pitched our tent in the living room and spent the night mock camping. It was complete with hot dogs, popcorn, even a "fire" via our computer screen. Juneau couldn't figure out what what the hell we were doing and had a tendency to be either on top of, or under, the tent. We'll definitely need to use the rain fly when we actually go out in the wild again because of all the holes he punched in it!

      Saturday morning we had the distinct pleasure of a VERY early employee appreciation party for my work. They had a poker tournament with the top prizes of ipods, digital cameras, etc but...I lost the first round. Oops. At least I got a gift certificate to PF Chang's that we'll lose before we use. After all, we haven't gone out to eat since...October? Unfortunately, the woman selling us the Jazz vs Blazers tickets for Saturday night backed out at the last minute so instead of watching our team play (and get their rear ends handed to them) I ended up working. Ick. 

     Sunday we had some people over for the Super Bowl. A few canceled but Simmyung, Ester, Will, Melissa, Teresa, and Andrew came to drink beer, eat pizza, watch football (and The Office), and just have fun. It was a blast and now we're talking about getting together again to 

go bowling and ice skating sometime soon. You know, I've only gone ice skating once? 

            

  Monday we went to the park and fed the ducks before taking a walk along the river. It was a very pretty day. Later we painted some flower pots. We thought it would be a good time and cheaper than buying pots we didn't like to begin with. Dan took on a very ambitious design of Donald Duck and ended up spending several hours on it through the next two days but his turned out fantastic. Plus, that night I made a drastic move...I dyed my hair. Dark brown. Yes, even darker than what's in the picture below. I decided the next night that I wanted it even darker than that so we dyed it once again. I'm still getting used to it, especially since the last time I dyed my hair I was in Hawaii. That's a long time! Once I get the time I'll be heading to the salon to chop off some length. How much is yet to be decided. I'll put some pictures up once I get it done. 

     See you next week!

Whooohooo!

Since our last post...

OBAMA'S PRESIDENT!

Teresa's Inauguration CelObamabration Party

Dan got his new computer! 

Do you think he might be a little excited?

Juneau cuddling with his little sheep.

    Ok, so since our last post, quite a bit has occurred. First, Dan got his new macbook. As you can probably guess he was VERY excited. He even made angelic choir sounds while unwrapping it. He's finally gotten a bit used to the idea that it is his very own. He's always on it dinking around these day. Oh, and we finally have our very own, awesomely fast internet! 

     I also made a trip up to Washington for a few days to visit family. My mother was still up in Marysville taking care of Grandma Krueger after her surgery and I wanted to say hi before she headed back to Utah. Plus, it was her birthday. =) Happy Birthday, Mama! My first night there we played cards at Patty's house as she made ready to move back to Juneau for a few months. The next day we took a trip up to the Angel of the Winds casino. We went there for the 99c Salmon & Chips and ended up playing a few slots. Grannie lost her $, Mom broke even, and I ended up by $45. Not bad! On my way back to Eugene, I stopped and visited my Grandma and Grandpa Roberts. Grandma, of course, made sure I had plenty to eat before I was allowed to leave. Allison also stopped by their house right before I left so I got to say hi to her briefly too. It was a very short trip (just two nights) but it was great to see everybody!

     Last weekend we also had Simmyung and his wife Ester over. Simmyung is a Korean student in Dan's master's program. He's out here studying for two years to refine his english further. We had a lasagna, garlic bread, and salad dinner but ended up talking so much that we never even got around to dessert before they had to leave. The boys even got in a guitar battle (with Ester encouraging Simmyung to go home and practice every day until he could be on par) and agreed to go golfing and play table tennis together. Actually, that is where Dan is now - playing ping pong with Simmyung. 

     Tuesday night we went to Teresa's house for an Inauguration CelObmambration Party that she threw. We all talked, ate cake, drank champagne, played games. She even made us tshirt to help us celebrate. Obama is president! Whoohooo! Na-na-na-na Na-na-na-na Hey Hey Hey Gooooooooodbye Bush! 

       All in all, it's been a great few weeks. We're still playing with our new kitty and exploring Eugene. This next week I have an employee appreciation party, there's the Jazz vs. Blazers game that we're thinking of going to, AND there's always Super Bowl which we're planning on throwing a party for. Meaning, we'll have even more to post later!

Love you all and hope you're doing well!

Life in Oregon

Thus Far

Here are a few pictures of our times in Oregon. It's everything from Eugene and our new home to Christmas with Dan's family. Unfortunately, it didn't load in proper order and is being stubborn so I'm not even going to bother sorting it. =) It'll be a jumble hunt! I will admit, we haven't been taking as many photos so the majority are from Christmas time.

Enjoy!

Our first Ducks game. It was vs. Boise State and was amazingly fun until the fourth quarter...then I got hit with food poisoning. At least we had a popcorn bucket near by! 

One of our many trip to Alton Baker to feed the ducks and geese. 

We adopted two squirrels at our house: Harvey (above) and Harriette. 

Our new home!

Not too bad, huh? Free futon, cheap chair, and end tables made of cardboard boxes. 

Christmas on the coast with the Andersons.

 This pictures includes all the extended family who came out for a few days. 

Down the beach just a bit from the Christmas beach house. 

Juneau! Note the typical Manx body with the extremely large and tall back legs. So cute!

He's on our porch "hunting". 

Dan, Kathy (his mom), and John (his dad) watching the sea lions in Newport. 

There's my man!

Stopping for a small hike on the way back from Depoe Bay.

 Sean, Me, Dan, Kathy and John (who's taking the picture).

Oregon coast for Christmas. 

Still going strong. 

Amazingly, he's asleep. Juneau loves to sprawl out on our laps and snooze...then wake ME up in the middle of the night to play. The rascal has already figured out I'm the lighter sleeper. 

We fed the seagulls from the beach house's porch. They'd come up and hover until we threw the bread at them. =)

Just a little wet after playing on the beach one night. 

Dan, Me, Katie Strong, & Anthony Strong .

The Anderson siblings. =)

Sean, Katie, & Dan.

Depoe Bay, Oregon. 

Crazy birds!

John Anderson watching the waves. 

Harvey and his new feeder. 

Dan on a hike. Spencer's Butte, maybe?

YAY! A new blender! 

Xmas/Anniversary with Dan. 

A picture of us on Spencer's Butte in Eugene. 

A hike we took up Spencer's Butte in December. 

Girly & Boy

Julia Roberts and Daniel Anderson

Ok, at Dan's suggestion, we're going to give the world of blogging a try. He takes the photos, I write. In theory, anyway! =) We'll try to post periodically about our lives and what we're up to. 

First thing's first...we got a kitty! On December 29th we welcomed a playful young Manx into our home. We named him after the town I grew up in where

 we both spent this past summer and fell even further in love. Juneau is a total doll but he's had a rough start so far. The poor guy was locked into a garage at his first home and still suffers from claustrophobia. On top of that, the little guy came into our lives with ringworm, a cold and fleas! He wasn't getting any better with the meds that the cattery gave us so we took him to the vet yesterday and he's on new stuff that should help. Oh, and we found out he's over a year old. We'd thought he was about 6 months so now we have a huge bag of kitten food just hanging out. Oops. 

Juneau had a few rough nights when he got home too. During the day he was the sweetest thing ever but at night he'd yowl at the top of his lungs and wander the house checking every nook and cranny for the other cats. Unfortunately, he's deaf and subsequently has a very loud, very odd cry. Let's just say the first week we had him, I didn't sleep much but still worked overtime and was ready to start sleeping in the car if I needed to! He's been great since then and it's amazing to get some shut eye now. 

Juneau is definitely a Manx to the fullest though. He will follow us into every room, is fiercely loyal, and actually likes water. We're having a bit of a hard time training him: he's deaf so yelling at him doesn't work; he doesn't mind the spray bottle; he's stubborn and independent so if you just move him, he'll just hop right back into doing what he shouldn't have been doing in the first place; and if you give him a little whack on the nose he'll just whack you back. We're loving it though and are VERY happy with our new kitty. We definitely got the right cat for us!

Dan just started his second term for UO's Masters of Educational Leadership program. Apparently his new Stats professor is quite the character! While Dan's looking forward to the term, it pales in comparison to his excitement over his new MacBook that should be coming tomorrow. =)

We also got some potentially great news just two days ago - Dan should be able to graduate this summer or fall quarter! That's much sooner than we originally expected. Now we're just trying to figure out if we'll be staying in Eugene or if we'll be heading back to Utah. Both have their pros and cons. 

Eugene - we love it here but the chances of Dan getting a teaching job are slim. Plus, the economy sucks here and my credits didn't transfer over as well as I'd expected. 

SLC - Dan could easily get a teaching job there, tuition is lower, money would be better, and I could finish my degree in less time. 

Dan will be meeting with his advisor in about three weeks to see about when he'll matriculate. In the meantime, I registered for a few online classes with USU. Yay! I'll still be working full time but now I'll be getting a little closer to my degree while we figure out where we'll end up. I just hope I get enough sleep!

As far as my job goes, I quit my job at Chevron in December and made those days available to the restaurant. It's paid off! Last month I earned the highest tip percentage in the entire restaurant and since coming back from our Christmas vacation with Dan's family I've been working more (and better) shifts and my income has at LEAST doubled. I just hope it keeps up like this!