Finally....Christmas music can be played, and holiday decorations can be put up

Thanksgiving in Nehalem was fun, laid back, and there was lots of food. There wasn't as many people as last year, but I am glad that Tia and I could be there. Cam is on his way to Nehalem as I am writing this. I am very excited to see him. It was hard to not spend Thanksgiving with him as a family, but at least we will get to spend Christmas and New Years together.

Tia and I have been doing all kinds of things since we have gotten here. I have gone running everyday for an hour on the beach and Tia has gotten to go and play on the beach. Today there was a slight incident where she almost got bit by a dog, but I rescued her. Mean dog anyways. :(
Tia has figured out that her grandpa is the "weak link" and will cave in and gave her food. When we are eating at the table she just circles his chair and waits, and waits, and waits until he finally caves in. Generally it doesn't take that long!

Cam will get here tonight in time for dinner and then we will get to hang out tomorrow and then leave for home on Sunday. I wish that he could have came down for the whole trip, but maybe next year he can. I think that Tia misses her daddy.

When we get back the craziness begins! I love Christmas, baking, decorating and of course listening to Christmas music. Since I won't have much to do on Monday and Tuesday I will probably clean the house and start putting up the decorations, of course while listening to Christmas music! :) I am hoping that Cam will let us get our tree up within the next week or so. There isn't anything better than the smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree. I love holiday baking, but its bad on the waistline so I plan on not baking quite as much as I did last year. I went overboard last year and baked for 2 days straight; almond roca bars, carmel chocolate brownies, sugar cookies, peanut butter bon bons.....tons of not so healthy stuff. :)

I will officially start school at Alpine College to obtain my CMA certificate on Wednesday. I am so excited! I made sure that I had all of my stuff ready before I left for Oregon; pencils (check), pens (check), notebook (check), binder (check), uniform (check...well its ordered....should be here in 5 weeks). Now I just need to retrain myself in how to study!

And....we are off!

Tia and I get to leave for Oregon tomorrow. I am so excited to get to go home for a couple of days. I am bummed that Cam can't come down until Friday, but at least he will get to spend a little bit of time with us at the beach. I just finished packing so all that is left is to pack the car and leave in the morning after I go for a run. I am hoping to leave no later than 8AM, but we will see....

It has been a busy last couple of days! Besides packing for the trip, I cleaned the whole house, packed/stacked our wood for the winter, got caught up on laundry, helped Lindsay w/some moving stuff, and finished everything that I needed to for school. The highlight of the weekend was of course watching New Moon! Cam rolled his eyes through the whole entire movie and then at the end (it was a cliff hanger ending) exclaimed, "Great! Now I will have to watch the next movie!". Haha. Yes, you will Cam. You really have no choice....your wife says you have no choice. :)

I feel like this trip to Oregon will be the last for a while. Things are going to get really hectic around the Malcolm household...beginning December 2nd. I start my CMA program on December 2nd and it is a 9 month program. I feel like I signed my life away this morning, but I think it will be a good thing for me. I will be going to school at Alpine College, Monday-Friday from 8AM-12PM. In the afternoons I will either have work for Thomas Hammer or a Biology class at SCC. I have to get my BIO classes out of the way to accomplish my longterm goal of completing the radiology program at SCC. That is a couple of years out, but I am excited. I may need to practice poking people with needles and such so if you are willing...let me know!!!! :)

Cam, Tia, and I wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

One Vaca Down...One Vaca To Go!

Cam, Tia, and I had a blast on our roadtrip to visit his grandparents in Sisters. It was the first trip in our new car! The weather couldn't have been better this time of year. It was a little chilly, but not as cold as Spokane was when we left. We didn't get lost along the way and Tia enjoyed the bed I made for her in the back of the car.

We got into Sisters about 9:30 on Saturday night. Sunday we just hung out around Sisters and visited a local fish hatchery. That night we went to a local Brew Pub in town called Three Creeks. They had amazing food! Cam and I each tried a different beer; I don't remember what his was called, but mine was called "Knotty Blonde". Haha. They gave me some coasters to take home with us. You should check out their website: http://www.threecreeksbrewing.com/

Monday we spent the day shopping in Bend. I love that city! We went to the Nike outlet and I got some cold weather running clothes. Then we went to the Old Mill District to check out REI and I went into the Duck Store. The Duck Store was pretty much amazing. I wanted to get Tia a little Oregon football jersey, but they didn't have any pet stuff. Boo to them! I really wanted an Oregon football jersey for myself (they are so coooool), but I figure I should save my money. Cam would not accept that as a "necessary purchase". For lunch I got to take Cam to my most favorite burger place in Bend. It's called Pilot Butte Burgers and they are literally AMAZING! I think Cam was impressed. :)When we were there somebody ordered their 18oz burger. It was HUGE!!!!! I wanted to take a picture of it, but I didn't want the guy to think that I was a crazy person. Check out their website:http://www.pilotbutte.com/

We headed back to Spokane on Tuesday so that Cam could go back to work on Wednesday and so that I could finalize my financial aid for school. I was hoping that Cam would be all eager to move to Bend, but he wasn't much of a fan. :(

Now, it's almost time for our second vacation. Tia and I leave for my parent's house on Tuesday and then Cam is going to come over on Friday when he gets off of work. Should be a quiet Thanksgiving this year, but I am looking forward to the trip home. I get to see my parents and my best friend. Couldn't be more perfect!

Whew! We are ready for vacation!!!!

These last two days have been totally crazy. I am so exhausted. I forgot what it feels like to work! I spent both Thursday and Friday in Pullman at WSU so that the students could pick their very own Wazzu blend of Thomas Hammer Coffee. It involved a long car drive both days and lots of unpacking the car, setting up equipment, walking, talking, handing out samples to collect votes, re-packing equipment, loading the car back up, changing locations, etc. Its super hard work lugging huge rubbermaid containers around and setting up the equipment. I am drained! We couldn't park close to any of the locations we set up at so we were lugging equipment around everywhere. It was super fun though and we got a good reaction from the blends that the students got to sample. I am very much looking forward to our trip to Sisters tomorrow. When I got home tonight, I cleaned out the car, packed Tia and myself, and cleaned the house. I think we are set. Cam hasn't packed yet, so hopefully he will get the ball rolling tomorrow or else we will leave him home. :)

Tia Bean Malcolm

Most of you already know that I am totally, completly crazy about Tia. Cameron is to, he just doesn't admit it to everyone. :) I never considered myself to be a dog person, but now I can't imagine not having Tia.
Since I haven't been working, I get to spend all day playing with her. She loves it! We go for two walks everyday, play, take naps, and play some more. She is so much fun to be around and she pretty much brightens my life. At has taken her some adjustments to having mom home all day. For instance, she can't sleep all day like she used to. Now that I keep her interacted a lot more than she is used to she passes out every night. At first Cam thought that she was sick because as soon as he would get home and we had dinner she was out cold. Snoring away.....I thought it was funny. We are now adjusting to our new schedule and enjoying every moment of it!

Sometimes we have to take toys for walks....hula girl walked for 2 miles with us today

Yes, Tia packs her toys the for the whole entire walk

Thank goodness we don't have to walk her toys everyday :)

This is what we look like after a long day with mom

Tired baby girl!

Check out Tia's video below by clicking on the link below....it's pretty funny!

Tia's Carrot Video

Here is another funny video of Tia...she was playing with Tucker

Tasha's Birthday Weekend

Besides the rain we had all weekend, my birthday weekend was pretty fun. Cam's mom came over on Friday night to have pizza with us. She baked us a yummy birthday cake, 1/2 german chocolate and 1/2 white. It was delicious!

On Saturday we hung out around the house and then Cam took me out to his dad's house to shoot his guns. I had never shot a gun before and I was f-r-e-a-k-i-n-g out!!!! I think that it took Cam over an hour to convince me to do it. I eventually did do it, 4 times to be exact. :) I hope Cam was proud of me....

Saturday night we got invited to go to a friend's house in CDA for dinner. Paul and Brenda picked us up and we drove out to CDA together. The dinner was authentic German food which I don't think any of us had ever had before. They made German mac n cheese which was delicious and a saurkraut roll. I had never had saurkraut before and it actually wasn't that bad. For dessert we had sinful Kahlua cake which was amazing. After getting home a little before midnight we were all very tired...and stuffed. :)

It rained all day on my birthday, but we still had fun. Cam took me to Starbucks in the morning so that I could get a gingerbread latte and then we came back so he could watch some football. In the afternoon we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to use a gift card we got for our wedding. We got some random stuff for our house and got Tia a pink snuggie for Christmas. After that we had an early dinner at a Mexican restuarant in town. Later we went to Cold Stone with Paul and Brenda. I love their pumpkin ice cream!

It was a busy weekend and looks like the next couple of weeks are going to be crazy. I got offered the PT job at Thomas Hammer so I am going to work their about 20 hrs a week while looking for a job at a hospital and of course going to school. I officially start my training on Wednesday and then I will just work Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The job will be perfect because it won't get in the way of my classes or homework. I am hoping that it will only be temporary and that I can get a PT job at the one of hospitals in town. I start my volunteer hours for the radiology program in December at Sacred Heart. I need 80 hours in order to apply to the program. Should keep me busy!

On Saturday I have a baby shower to go to for my friend Emilie. I am so excited that she is having a little girl because they are fun to shop for. I got her lotsa great stuff! After the shower Cam and I are driving to Sisters, OR to stay for 3 days at his grandparents house. Cam had 2 vacation days left and we have been talking about going to visit them forever so it just seemed like the perfect time so I don't have a whole lot going on.

After we get back from Sisters depending on how my work schedule works I plan on driving to my parents house a couple of days before Thanksgiving with Tia. Cam has to work the Friday after Thanksgiving so he would leave Spokane then and get to visit over the weekend. Tia is really excited to go to the beach!!!!

Cam's Birthday

Cam turned 26 on November 3rd. What an old man! Haha. Even though he had to work, I hope that Tia and I gave him the best birthday possiable. I took him to work (pretty lucky for him!) and then I met him downtown later so that we could catch an early movie. We saw Law Abiding Citizen. It was an okay movie, but there were parts that were a tad to icky for me to want to watch. Cam was making fun of me because I kept closing my eyes. :)

After I had taken him to work, Tia and I baked him his favorite cake, chocolate with raspberry filling. It turned out really yummy. I made a 3 layer round cake with the raspberry filling and chocolate frosting. Tia got to lick the spoon and bowl.

Once the movie was over we stopped back by the house so he could change his clothes, open presents, and have a piece of cake. Then we went to the casino so that he could meet up with some friends at the cigar lounge for a drink. It was really fun and low key.

Yes, I know I put the "2" on backwards....good thing I am going back to school! :)

Happy 26th Birthday Cam!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Cam, Tia, and I had so much fun! On Friday night we went to Halloween party that my friends were having. There were lots of great costumes. My favorite was "Octo-Mom" and Cam's favorite were the Mormon missionaries. Here are some pictures of our costumes....

MJ is alive!

Momma Bumble Bee

Baby Bumble Bee

Our week was fairly jam packed as usual. Cam was busy at work and I was busy trying to get my school stuff lined up. I was officially accepted to SCC so now I just have to finalize my financial aid, meet with my advisor, and find a part time job. Wow! My meeting with my advisor is Monday morning and then I hope to have my FAFSA complete in the next couple of days. I am starting to get excited about going back to school, it will be a great opportunity for me and the perfect time to make the change. I was contacted by the cross country and track coach at SCC so I am thinking I might make the most of this adventure and do some running too! I don't know how I feel about competing with some 18 year olds- I hope that I am not too slow!

Cam loves me being home all day. Haha. I do everything inside and outside of the house and cook him dinner every night. I have raked both the front and back yard for leaves and pine needles, bagged everything I raked up, done laundry, cleaned the basement...the list could go on and on! Tia also gets to go to Manito pretty much everyday and play.

Tia sporting her pink camo jacket from her Gramma & Grandpa

On Saturday I took Tia to Petco to buy some treats and food. Generally the whole process of taking her wears me out. Trying to juggle her, my purse, and the basket of goodies is close to impossible. This time I took a different approach:

Not a happy camper @ Petco

Look at that pathetic face!

Tia was less than impressed! I got an evil eye for the whole car ride home and for pretty much the rest of the day. I loved the idea though, it made shopping with her so much easier and a lot quicker too!

On Sunday I did a 12k run at Qualachan. Last year after running it I never said I would run it again, now after this year I will NEVER run it again!

OUCH!

I fell not once, but twice. The second time was much worse than the first. I banged up my elbow and my knee pretty good. It hurt! I sat there for a couple of minutes (not gonna lie, I cried), then I got myself up and walked for about 2 miles and then I bucked up and ran the rest of the way. It really isn't a course that you should be racing on, but I felt really good when I started and was in first until I fell. Bum deal! My knee and elbow still both hurt incrediably bad. My elbow hurts to bend and is already black and blue. Hopefully I am able to move tomorrow, but I don't think I will be running for a couple of days. :(