Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Tagged again!

I was tagged again. This time it was to go to your sixth folder, pick the sixth photo, and post it.

Since I have multiple folders, I went through Lightroom. This is one of the photos from our California trip at the end of May 2008. Gorgeous, isn't it?

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Sigh. I've been tagged once again - thanks Phylise!

Let me see. Seven things you don't know about me.

1. If there is a choice, I will always choose the 2nd stall in a public bathroom instead of the 1st. Too many times, the 1st stall is the one that is unflushed or just plain gross/disgusting.

2. I tend to collect things: fleece blankets/throws, Snowbabies, Hallmark ornaments (I have one series I've been collecting for 10 years). Oh, and water bottles. :)

3. I have over 500 music CDs, and I ran out of space to store them about 150 CDs ago. :)

4. I don't go to movie theatres any more, except for a "must see on the big screen" movie. Too many distractions, the air conditioning dries out my eyes, and I can't stop the movie to go to the bathroom. Plus it's cheaper to BUY the dang movie than see it in the theatre, and I get to keep the movie afterward.

5. My husband and I are the family archivists for both sides of our local families. My mother-in-law gave us the family negatives (not photos, the negatives) several years ago, and we archived them in negative sheets. The negatives take up an entire 3 inch D-ring binder. :) We used to have a darkroom in our first home.

6. My husband and I have several cameras, including the following: a Crown Graphic 4x5 field camera, a Bronica Etrs medium format camera, a Nikon N90s (all film), a Nikon Coolpix L15, and my trusty Nikon D100. Plus the camera my grandparents gave me as a graduation gift from high school, a Canon AE-1 program film camera. I used that camera until 2000, when it started not rolling the film along, and I missed out on photos. That's when we bought the N90s and switched to Nikon.

7. I have an entire bedroom devoted to a photography/craft space. It's in a constant state of mess, and it's not because of the scrapbook supplies! Somehow, it becomes the "dumping" ground for everything my husband can't figure out where to put, so it piles up. The problem is, it gets so messy that I'm overwhelmed trying to clean it up, and I can never finish cleaning in one sitting.

Friday, December 26, 2008

I did some shopping today at the day after sales! I scored three items of clothing, for a total "out of pocket" cost of $16! :)

At Macy's, I had a $50 GC and a $10 off coupon - which made my 2 pairs of Dockers pants FREE. I even got 2 cents back! :)

At Nordstrom's Rack, I got a $148 jacket for $16 (can't find the exact one, it's similar to this one) - it was 60% off last markdown price (39.97).

I got some awesome deals!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas 2008


Christmas
Originally uploaded by Rachel Houghton
Here we are at my mom's house on Christmas Day. My sister actually snapped this shot - I handed her my camera! Out of the 4 shots she took, this one was the best.

Monday, December 22, 2008

A buried Toyota Prius

I am so glad I don't own this car in our neighborhood. I think they are very lucky no one has hit their car yet, given how close those tracks are to their vehicle. This is right by the entrance to our subdivision.

Back Patio Snow


Back Patio Snow
Originally uploaded by Rachel Houghton
This is from 8 a.m. this morning. And yes, it is still snowing right now.

Sunday, December 21, 2008



4 p.m yesterday
10 a.m this morning
4 p.m. today

A bit subtle between the 2nd and 3rd, but look at the recycle box handle and the snow on the trash can behind the table.
Will it EVER stop?

***

THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST MONDAY.

SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE REGION TODAY. HOWEVER...TEMPERATURES REMAIN BELOW FREEZING. THIS WILL CREATE AREAS OF FREEZING RAIN AND OR SLEET...WITH NEW ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH.

FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET AND WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING...BUT WILL TURN TO MOSTLY SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. EXPECT CONTINUED ICE ACCUMULATIONS IN THE EVENING...WITH NEW SNOW OF 1 TO 2 INCHES AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE ON MONDAY...WITH AN ADDITIONAL OF 2 TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE.

***

Footsteps in the snow

We went to a friend's house this evening, and this is one of the photos I took as we walked back to the house after parking.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

December Snow


December Snow
Originally uploaded by Rachel Houghton
Taken at 4 p.m. today. I think we have 3-4 inches, judging from the height on the table.
I'm done with winter weather. Unfortunately, it isn't done with us.

Issued by The National Weather Service
Portland, OR
5:48 am PST, Sat., Dec. 20, 2008

... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 1 PM PST SUNDAY FOR THE GREATER PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER METRO AREA... AS WELL AS THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER VALLEY... AND THE INTERSTATE 5 CORRIDOR IN SOUTHERN WASHINGTON...

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND FREEZING RAIN REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 1 PM PST SUNDAY.

A STRONG MOISTURE LADEN PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA THIS WEEKEND. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF SNOW AND FREEZING RAIN TO THE GREATER PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER METRO AREA... AS WELL AS THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER VALLEY... AND THE INTERSTATE 5 CORRIDOR IN SOUTHERN WASHINGTON.

SNOW IS BEGINNING TO SPREAD INTO THE NORTH WILLAMETTE VALLEY EARLY THIS MORNING... AND WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD NORTHEASTWARD INTO SOUTHERN WASHINGTON BY LATE MORNING. SNOW WILL INTENSIFY ACROSS THE AREA BY MIDDAY... RESULTING IN SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATION BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO TRANSITION TO FREEZING RAIN OR SLEET LATER TONIGHT OR EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.

SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES ARE EXPECTED FROM THIS STORM BY THE TIME PRECIPITATION CHANGES OVER TO SLEET OR FREEZING RAIN LATE TONIGHT OR EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED TO FOLLOW THE SNOW IN SOME AREAS SUNDAY MORNING... PARTICULARLY NEAR THE GORGE AND ALSO IN WIND PROTECTED VALLEYS.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Friday, December 05, 2008

Sixteen weeks!

That's how long it has been since I started Weight Watchers again. In that amount of time, I've lost 9.0 lbs (almost the equivalent of a 10 lb bag of potatoes), gone down almost 2 pant sizes (and am mostly in the non "plus" section), reduced 1 cup/band size, and I've switched from Flex to Core.

I have to remind myself that weight loss is a slow and steady race. Nothing but the way I eat, portion control, and exercise is going to help this weight come off.

I've been very strict about my food and drink intake at home while I'm job searching. Unless it's a meal time, I can only get water or kool aid with splenda when I go into the kitchen - no snacks. It might be harder to do if I only had a one-level home, but I can spend most of my time upstairs and forget the kitchen is there unless I'm hungry or thirsty.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008