3/11/10 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that I get to head out alone tonight for some girl time with a friend I haven't seen in several months.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

THE COLD STONE GIFT CARD IS GOING TO ....

Kelly!!!

A little sidenote - Kelly's name is linked to Life With Boys,her regular blog, but she also has Love Lasts a Lifetime, a great marriage blog, and Cooking for the Guys, which is filled with oodles of recipes (including almost 200 with Weight Watchers points, for those who are doing that program).

I loved reading all of the comments! I was totally ready to have an ice cream potluck (or does it have to be called an ice cream social)? Anyway, I'd love to scarf a bunch of ice cream with my blog readers. Thanks for making this blog so fun for me!

HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY!!

Two years ago today, in a moment of spontaneity, I started this blog. In keeping with tradition (and I think one previous birthday celebration counts as a tradition), I'm going to give away something I love to celebrate the blog birthday. This year it will be a $5.00 gift card to Coldstone. Contrary to tradition, I'll actually get the date right on this year's celebration, rather than doing it a day late like I did last year.
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Oh my. I just noticed something as I typed that word while looking at the logo. I spell it as one word but the company spells it as two. Oops.

Anyway, back to the point. We're having a blog birthday celebration and you're invited. Simply leave a comment telling me something about ice cream. It could be the last flavor you ate, the brand you're loyal to, whether or not you've ever made it at home, your favorite Cold Stone (notice I made that two words) creation, the ice cream bar you loved the most as a kid, or whatever ice cream thought crosses your mind.

All comments left between now and 11:59pm tonight will be entered into the gift card drawing.
You can leave a comment without a Blogger account, but you'll need to include your name in the post. My family members can participate. International readers can enter too, but if they win, they'll have to give me an address in the states to ship the gift card too.

I'll get the party started. I absolutely love apple pie ala Cold Stone and Dreyer's cookies and cream, my dad's mom always had chocolate pudding pops at her house, we got an ice cream maker with Amazon gift cards we earned through Swagbucks and have made a few different flavors, and I used to eat a lot of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia in college.

I've never tried an ice cream I didn't like.

WE'RE NOT MOVING YET

Well, our big plan was to move in late March, but we're still in Beaverton.
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The apartment complex we want to move into doesn't have any ground floor units available right now. Since we can stay in our house as long as we want, we're going to just stay put for a little while in hopes that a ground floor unit opens up in the near future. I have no problem leading kids or lugging groceries up a flight of stairs, but it would be nice for our kids to be able to goof off without worrying about their floor being someone else's ceiling.

There are some risks and downsides to waiting, but there would be downsides to moving right now too. We'll be sure to let you know when the move is going to happen!

BROOKINGS, OREGON - PART THREE

Ok, this will be the last one of these posts about Brookings. Ready?

Actually, I want to point you toward Maryanne before I get started. And yes, this is the same friend who recently ditched her bargain shopping blog in favor of doing a photography one. The two of us and our siblings all grew up together and somewhere along the way she turned into a photographer. Her pictures of Brookings are my favorites in the whole wide world. As you scroll over her pics you'll see the names of some of the places I've told you about. If you're a Texan, then be sure to check out her album from your neck of the woods too.

Ok, now back to me and some of the things that come to mind when I think of Brookings.

Border - Brookings is the most southwestern part of Oregon, with California south and the Pacific Ocean west of it.

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Indian Sands - A pretty trail, amazing view, and lots of sand to play in.
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4th of July - Few things are better than fireworks over the ocean. Marriage proposals on the jetty do, however, make them an even better experience.

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Azalea Festival - A parade, street fair, and a gazillion other things going on around town make Memorial Day weekend the funnest weekend of the year and your best chance to run into old friends. My mom won the festival naming contest one year, my sister was a festival princess her senior year, and all three of us kids participated in the parade multiple times.

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Home - Go to the open area on the right side. Notice a thin hedge running through the middle of it? The area to the left was my last home in Brookings. Remember how I mentioned being able to hear the ocean from my room? Well, you can check out this map to see how close we were to the beach. A sexist goat, huckleberry lane, the zipline that almost killed Jimmy Greenfield, and hours spent playing tetherball - lots of memories.

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We moved an old 12x60 trailer onto the property and my parents hoped to eventually build a home. My mom got sick and that dream got put aside. However, someone eventually bought the property from us and did build a home there. Evidently it's for sale now, so you can sneak a peek at our old yard right here.
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Pictures from Mapquest, Port of Brookings-Harbor, Just Snooping, Picasa, and Mile by Mile.

And that's that. A little glimpse into the place I spent about a third of my life.

BROOKINGS, OREGON - PART TWO

All righty, here are a few more places that are part of life in Brookings. Click on the green words for more info on those locations. I've gone back and added links to the "Part One" post too.

Thomas Creek Bridge - About ten miles north of town and at 345 feet, it's the tallest bridge in Oregon.

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Pizza Deli - Ok, so they changed the name to Wild River quite a while ago and opened in other towns, but it will always be Pizza Deli to me. Yummy pizza (taco & Spirit of America are my faves) cut into manageable little diamonds.

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Azalea Park - Beautiful flowers, a perfect hill for kids to roll & run down, and where I'd have wanted my wedding to be if I'd gotten married in my hometown.

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Brookings-Harbor High School - The place I spent four years of my life. I wonder if the Local Market van still parks in front of the gym at lunch? I bought a lot of Sixlets from that van!

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Harris Beach - The great park all the out-of-towners like to camp at and a handy place to eat a deli sandwich from Ray's between school and work.
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Pictures from Panoramio, Jitka-Marek, Wikipedia, Brew Public, and Flickr.

BROOKINGS, OREGON - PART ONE

I think I'm going to do a few posts that show you the town I lived in from eight years old through high school graduation. It's a pretty place! I've got fond memories of all these places and sad memories from a few.

The port - Here's the mouth of the Chetco River. The picture makes me wonder if my love for the colors blue and green were influenced by growing up in a coastal town.

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Whaleshead - I lived across the highway and up a hill from this beach. We didn't have an ocean view, but I could hear the waves if I opened my window at night.
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Lone Ranch - I think this is the windiest beach in town, but it's a pretty place to be.
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Loeb - I spent a lot of sunny weekends up river at this park.
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Natural Bridge - This pretty spot is a little north of town.
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Pictures from Blue Pacific Realty, Navigator's Pointe, Shore Diving, and Panoramio.

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Stay tuned for more pictures, including some from one of my favorite photographers, in the next few days!