So this past weekend was a long weekend (and a well deserved one at that). Wednesday evening Ginger and I headed to Portland. We left at 8pm and made it to Portland without any traffic problems. Driving the day before Thanksgiving on I-5 is a horrible ordeal, so I was happy to escape it.

Thursday (aka Thanksgiving) was spent helping my parents cooking and preparing for my 20+ family who would join us later in the evening. It is tradition for the family to help with the cooking and cleaning, but I did have a chance to squeeze in my traditional Thanksgiving nap! Thanksgiving itself was wonderful, full of family, stories and laughter. Most of my night was spent being a ‘jungle gym’ for my two young cousins. Needless to say, at the end of the night, my arms were killing me.

Friday I help my dad put up the Christmas lights during the day, and spent time with some of my high school friends on Friday night. It always amazes me that no matter how long the time passes, we still come together like no time has passed. I love that!

The last part of the weekend, I headed back down to Eugene, and suffered through the Duck game and prepared my house for the annual Llamasgiving meal. I did escape to see American Gangster, which I really enjoyed. Llamasgiving was filled with good friends and delicious food. The boys played with the Wii, and the women knitted and gabbed while we ate and drank. It was great to get all the llamas together, since we have all been busy with our crazy schedules. Thanksgiving in truly the time to spend time with the people who are important to you, and my weekend was no exception.

So I was over hanging out with the llamas on a long overdue dinner night, when the girls and I decided to take Susan’s new car to drive to my new house. As we were looking at the house, the seller and the seller’s real estate agent were in the driveway cleaning up. I shouted out of the car that I was just showing my friends the house. To my surprise, the agent said, “Do you want your keys?”. Of course I was over joyed to get my keys. Susan quickly parked the car and we ran towards the agent like little school girls! Rachel, Susan and I went into the house and looked around. Rachel rolled around on my living room carpet, while Susan stated that I needed better curtains (which I agree with). I got their approval and we headed back to eat with the boys. It was very exciting to get into the house and know that it was all mine! So I guess no more procrastination on packing…because I start moving tomorrow!

It’s been a rough couples days for me and I want to thank my friends and family who have been so helpful and supportive of me whether its in hugs, emails or phone calls. I truly feel blessed to have such amazing people in my life. Much love you to all!

Friday and Saturday brought good friends and family. With the much-anticipated Cal vs. Oregon football game, we had a full house on Friday night. My dad came down Friday evening, followed by Nicole and Jake, and Sarah and Andy all from Portland (Sarah and Nicole are good high school friends). With a full house on Friday, my dad and sister made a delicious home made spaghetti dinner. We all sat around ate and drank wine. It was so good to catch up with my girls since our visits are few and far between.

Bright and early on Saturday morning everyone was up early to get down to Autzen for the ESPN Game Day program. Everyone headed down early, except for me. I enjoyed laying on the couch until game time. My dad and sister went down early to see all the excitement, while I watched all the excitement on my comfy couch.

The football game was great, for the most part. Even though the Ducks couldn’t pull it out in the end, it was a fun and exciting game. I wish that end result could have been more positive, but I have to give credit to Cal’s well-executed game.

Post game, my dad and friends headed back to Portland, and I spend some more time with my sister. She took me to Grab ‘N Go, in which I benefited from her extra points…which I hope could be a weekly tradition. I am very proud of my sister. She has taken on a tough course load for her first year in college, and she is doing well. Week one down, nine and finals to go…