House Warming Party

On Friday, I had some friends come over for dinner and games! It became a house warming party since they were the first people to see my place all done. It was such a fun night!

One friend brought the sparkling cider and another brought the tulips!

Cheers to a new house/job/life in Portland!

Also, please notice my totally awesome Adidas sweatshirt! I totally got the hookup from work to shop at the employee store here in Portland with a 50% off coupon. Who knew Oregon had so many sports brand headquartered here?? Love it!

What the SNOW?!?!

This is what I woke up to! I thought I left this white stuff behind:)

Office Space

So with all the decorating vibes for my apartment it inspired me to get on top of my cube at work. I luckily had some awesome decorations that didn't quite work in my new place, but worked perfect for the office!

GO BYU!!!

Apartment: Part II

Ok, to resume the tour! The kitchen and dining room are such great rooms since they are all about food. I also had quite a bit of decorations from my last two places to work with so it was fun to make it work at my new place. It was quite amazing how well it worked out.

Dining Room

I love that the curtains I made for my last place totally worked here! I also painted the art work for my last place, but I think it works here too. I then found the rug and vase at IKEA and couldn't help myself.

I really wanted the teal and green to be the main colors with just a splash of red so the corner has a red vase and candle.

So I got this table for my microwave for my last place and I decided to use the same setup again. It is so nice not having the microwave taking counter space.

Kitchen

It started out as a pretty white and plain kitchen, but I had so much fun bringing in the green and teal with a splash of red.

A moment of inspiration came to use vases to decorate above the cabinets. We went to the dollar store and found vases, apples, and pebbles. Then I just fell in love with the teal pitcher!

I really wanted some art in the kitchen and after looking around this tree picture seemed to work the best. I wasn't totally sold until I put it up and loved how it pulled the everything together!

Well there you have it! I don't think the pictures do it quite justice so come visit!

PS I have a dishwasher now, but I almost miss handwashing!! It is crazy, but there is something so satisfying about washing dishes by hand.

Apartment: Part I

Ok, the grand unveiling of my new place. Mom and I had way too much fun decorating! Also, I am so surprised that I love decorating so much. I don't consider myself very crafty or artistic, but I LOVE color and organizing. It took a few days to get the ideas since it was a combination of a new layout, same furniture and decorations, and finding new things! But once the inspiration starting flowing it was so fun and I love how it has turned out. It just is so me!!

Living Room

My favorite thing about the living room is the fireplace! What can be more fun than having a mantle??

An up close look of the mantle. PS Anthropologie has the most AMAZING candles!

Naturally, next to the fireplace is the BYU corner!

So trying to get a love sac, couch, and love seat to fit in the same room required the TV to go in the corner. I actually really love the TV in this spot because it isn't the focal point of the room. I watch an occasional movie and BYU games when I get the channel so really this set up is perfect!

Also, please notice my awesome ottoman. I got a great deal on it because the sales-lady got the models mixed up and FREE delivery!

So that is my living room! The brown, blue, and black came together so nicely and I love the pink flowers accent. I think it is a very welcoming room so I hope to have a lot of guests!

Next up: Kitchen & Dining Room

First Day of Work

Today was my first day at Stockamp! (The name actually changed to Huron Healthcare last week). I felt that "first day of school" kind of excitement, which was quite a foreign but welcomed feeling about work.

Anyways, the first day was mostly orientation and training, but it was so exciting to see the hospital process and how our tools help hospitals run more effectively and efficiently. Of course, it will be even more exciting when I understand the tools and work with them! But I still have a lot of training for the next four months including two weeks in Chicago and a week at a hospital. It should fun and interesting!

Off We Go To Oswego

This week I moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon! It's about 20 minutes from Portland. But let's start from the beginning since that is a very good place to start.

Back in November, my friend asked me if I would be interested in interviewing with his company. I definitely was as I was looking to change things up. In late December, I did a phone interview with a manager and then was invited for a site interview mid January. For my first time to Portland, I flew First Class and had a great less than 24-hour visit. I got to see a lot of BYU friends and the interviews went smoothly. The following Tuesday, I got a call with "good news" and received the official offer on January 26th. They wanted me to start February 21st so that gave me less than a month to take care of everything in Salt Lake and move to Portland.

I gave my two weeks notice, which was probably the best birthday present I have ever given and had an apartment and moving truck lined up by the end of the week. Then I was able to see friends and party a little, too.

Mom flew into town to help me move and then Spencer, Miriam and the boys came down too! On Friday, mom helped me start packing and then on Saturday and Sunday we played with the family. Then on Monday, Spencer and Miriam joined the packing fun. By Monday night, the truck was loaded and Tuesday we were off! Portland or Bust.

So Tuesday evening, we stopped in Caldwell spent the night with Sandy and Dennis. They treated us like queens with a Salmon dinner, comfy beds, and fun conversation. In the morning, I also got to see Shalee, who is the best and dropped by even after working the night shift. Leaving Idaho, the weather was not too good, but we continued on. We arrived in Portland at 4:30 and got to the apartment complex at 5:00pm. I ran into the office and signed the lease (even though I had not even seen the apartment) because people were coming to help move me in at 6:00! Also, I loved when the manager saw the moving truck and realized I had not been to the complex before and had just arrived in town. I got a quick tour of the clubhouse and then got to see the apartment that I had just leased. EVERYTHING was AMAZING!

There was a lot of help from church, work, and friends. It only took about half an hour to get everything unloaded. Of course, it was hailing/sleeting just during that time. Got to love weather!

Anyways, let me just say nothing is impossible with God. His hand was everywhere and I felt extreme peace during the entire process. I saw miracle after miracle as things fell into place!