Our Oregon Trails: An Eventful December

December was an incredibly busy month! I normally avoid all retail stores in December because of the crowds full of crazy people. This year, I had to face the frantic masses. I even picked up as many extra hours as I could. Brandt started at the bank and continued to work at Target after he was mostly recovered from his surgery.

Brandt's Gallbladder Recovery

Brandt started at the bank a week after his surgery. He spent two weeks training and, fortunately, spent most of that time sitting down at a computer. Now Brandt is officially working as a teller! He went back to Target two weeks after his surgery and had some difficulty bending over to reach lower shelves but it's slowly getting better.

On December 31st, we went in for Brandt's last procedure to remove his impacted gallstone and the stint. Everything went well and I brought him home a few hours later. He was only given Tylenol, instead of the great drip in his IV he had after they removed his first gallstone. He felt nauseous and had a headache all day. He's feeling a little better today but still has a headache.

Cary Elwes Came to Powell's Books

A view from where Cary Elwes was speaking.

Brandt and I are both big fans of the Princess Bride and the actor who played Westley wrote a book about the filming recently. He came to Portland and we made sure that we were there. I had hoped to get a signed copy of the book but it was a much more popular event than we anticipated and they were sold out. The store was packed and people were filling up the interior of the mall as well. We were able to squish in among the book shelves and could hear him perfectly. After he began speaking, we moved and could even see him from our new vantage point. Carey told stories we'd read on the internet but with much more detail. He is a wonderful story teller and hilarious. We even heard a few new stories.

We were over among the shelves on the left.

After we got back, we put Princess Bride quotes on our love frame. We wrote funny ones and sentimental ones. I had to take a picture of Brandt's sweetest quotes.

That was the first night in a while that I fixed my hair,
so a selfie felt necessary.

Our First Christmas in Portland

Fortunately, we set up our tree before Brandt went to the hospital. We enjoyed decorating it together and this is the first year I've had my childhood ornaments. It was fun for each of us to talk about Christmas memories as we each went through our ornaments.

We have a fireplace, but no mantle. We hung our
stockings under the kitchen opening in the hallway.

We decided that our Christmas gift to each other would be tickets to Zoo Lights at the Portland Zoo. We didn't think we'd have anything under the tree but we were happy to have the day off together. Then our families surprised us! We received several packages from loved ones and our tree was filled. It's been hard being so far away from home and it made us feel a little closer knowing our families had us in their thoughts.

Our new tree skirt. I love it!

Even the dogs got presents.

A house divided but still full of love.

My 1989 ornament. The dog's head bobbles!

Brandt has several adorable mice ornaments.

An ornament from my preschool is still in good condition.

Brandt's Chicken Coop Choir. It "bawks" a song when you
plug in the lights.

One of my favorite ornaments, for its simplicity.

Skyping with the Family

Some of my family crowded around the computer during our chat.

My family got together the weekend before Christmas to celebrate. Obviously, I couldn't be there so my sister-in-law set up a Skype date. I rushed home after a 10 hour shift and loved my first experience on Skype. It was great to see everyone and it was adorable when the little kids argued over not being able to see me on the screen. Brandt was at work so the dogs joined me while I chatted with family. It made the distance feel a little smaller.

Opening Presents

We opened our stockings from Brandt's mom on Christmas eve. The first thing I did was give the dogs their presents and Cedric enjoyed them the most. He claimed all three as his own and now associates crinkling paper with joy. It was hilarious to open presents the next morning and see the excitement in his eyes as he hoped for more squeakers. We spent the rest of the day watching Christmas movies and enjoying each other's company.

Cedric loves his Jabba the Hut squeaker.

Buddy wishes all the presents were his but this one was for Brandt.

Christmas aftermath!

Brandt's Birthday

Brandt turned 30 this year and hasn't exactly been looking forward to it. I got him an ice cream cake, like his mom always does. This year, I splurged on one with Reese's Blizzard instead of the white layer. It wasn't very good. The chocolate layer ended up being white and the middle part (as everyone knows is the best) was not made right. But it was an ice cream cake and still tasted pretty good.