Portland, Projects, New Furniture...

Okay, I've been called out about my lack of a new post, so I'm getting off my lazy butt and writing! I just got back from Portland for my WW leader training. It was so intense! It was like a normal WW meeting times 500! I was only there for four days and made some really awesome friends! I was super nervous to get up in front of everyone and talk. But I received a lot of good advice from the other trainees, trainers, and Michael that I was able to use to help me get over my stage fright! My presentation went GREAT and now I'm ready to lead my meetings! I have to do a little more mentoring/training back here in AK, but then I'll have my own meetings! :) I'm really excited about this! Oh, and on my flight to Portland, we flew right over the top of Mount Saint Helens!! That was incredible! And I have also realized I know nothing about Northwestern US geography. This is something I need to work on.

Some of you may have been asking yourselves what the heck I do with all of my extra time. Surprisingly, I don't have as much free time as one would think. I still wish there were more hours in the day! In between working at WW, volunteering at the animal shelter, searching and applying for jobs, getting me and the dog's exercise in for the day, and getting all of the other crap around the house done, I really am not that bored! Maybe I've just learned how to spread my projects out...Who knows! I have worked on some projects with my new found time:

This beauty here was a royal pain in my butt to assemble. After what seemed to take me ages to put together, I was then able to burn, stain, and varnish it. We now have this bench in our Arctic Entry so our "getting ready to go outside into the snow and cold process" is a little easier.

This is the next project I tackled. Luckily, this treasure was already assembled, so I just had to burn, stain, and varnish this one! Thank God!

I also wanted to take this time to thank Uncle Sam for finally giving us back some of the money he has taken from us all year long! Usually, Michael and I are pretty smart with any extra money we may come into and put it towards any debt we may have. However, this time we decided that we were going to buy new living room furniture! Our old furniture stunk of Frisky's cat urine, so it was time to get some new.

Our new bookshelf. Notice that on the bottom shelf are magazines and pamphlets of all the touristy things to do in Alaska! We are collecting this propaganda for all of you to use when you come visit us! ;)

And the crown jewels...the new couches!! We did get two COUCHES, not a couch and a love seat. Michael and I have a problem sharing the couch and neither of us ever wanted the love seat, so we decided to just get two long couches! When we each are stretched out on a couch, we can still hold hands so we get the best of both worlds! For the times we want to be all lovey dovey, we can both fit on one couch, as well. We actually tested couches in the stores for this requirement of us both being able to lay comfortably on the couch together. It was funny. We also got a new coffee table and end table because our old ones were way too short for this furniture. But don't fret that we got rid of all of our old stuff...we just moved that living room into the basement! So now, when you all come visit, there's extra space to vegetate! Perfect! So why have you guys not all booked your flights up here yet? We're going to feed you, be your tour guides, house you, AND give you your own separate "chillin' out" space? What more could someone ask for? :) I wouldn't wait too long to book your trip...with accommodations like these, we're going to fill up fast!