it's done! . . . well almost

so we've got the house *done* enough to list. check out the pics. mac did an amazing job of designing this complete remodel. i couldn't have done it without her. as many of you have read, we started this project in the first week of march and, although we - ok well, *i*, have a few things to finish up it looks like we're ready to list the house. yay!

here are some pics of the finished project - i'll post here later when the house is listed so everyone can send it to all their friends & family to find a buyer! i'd love to keep the house *in the family* so to speak ... just too cool of a house to let go of completely. we've put a lot of heart & soul into this project. would hate to see someone come in & destroy the house.

anyways ... on that note ... here are the pics:



today i'm gratefule for . . . an amazing experience

big news . . .

so big changes are a-foot . . . what else is new, right? well, the big news is that mac and i bought a house together and we've moved in. my house is days away from being finished and listed by our fabulous real estate agent and mac's house seems to have rented. we moved in last weekend and are doing our best to settle in as we split our time working on our respective places. the new house is very cool and has a great story. it's only a few blocks from each of our current homes so it's nice to stay in the 'hood. we found it while out on a dog walk one night. mac will tell the long-winded story that makes me look bad but i'll keep it short and say i wasn't pleased to be walking as far as we ended up walking that cold rainy late night. but in the end it all worked out since we, in fact, now the owners of that cute house we happened upon. it's a super-cute 1924 bungalow that has only been owned by 3 families (including us). it was built along with the house next door by a brother and sister with their families in the middle of what was an apple orchard then. most of our neighbors have lived there since before i was even born so it's nice to live on an established block. the dogs seem to be working out their issues in a new space which is nice to see as well. i promise to post some pics soon and for those of you that are local, i'm sure the summer bbq season will be happening very soon.

in other happenings, mac and i took the opportunity to get away for the weekend for some much-needed r&r/quality time. my officemate was nice enough to take the pug for the weekend and boo came along for the ride. a friend of mine scored me *fantastic* seats to the storm home opener and we had a blast at the game. drove up on saturday and explored some of mac's old neighborhoods after having lunch at red mill burgers. after a quick stop at the hotel to shower and drop off the dog, we headed over to the kingfish cafe for a cocktail then off to key arena for the game. one of mac's friends met us for the game and then we headed back to the kingfish for dinner. we had a brief heart attack when boo was nowhere to be found in the hotel room upon our return. turns out he'd been a bit of a noisy nelly and they'd taken him to hang out at the reception desk. he was in his glory and just having a ball. we enjoyed a lazy morning on sunday before heading to meet some of mac's friends for brunch at a mexican place in the fremont 'hood (forgive me for not remembering the name). then headed back to portland.

we're already making plans for our next trip up so we can go to another game and check out the "American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music" exhibit at the experience music project. all in all, it was a great weekend and has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. the work has been hard but the house is coming out great and our new house is amazing already. we are so pleased.

today i'm grateful for . . . an amazing partner which whom i get to share a home and many adventures