In Memorium: Our beloved Sanka Cat

Doug and I had a very sad and unexpected thing happen this morning. We lost a very sweet pet and dear friend, Sanka. We are not sure what caused his death, but were very shocked and extremely upset this morning to find him no longer with us on the floor in our room. We rushed him to the emergency vet, however he had already passed on and there was nothing they could do to revive him. We initially thought he may have gotten into something that poisoned him, but the vet said he could have had an undiagnosed/unknown heart weakness or condition and his little heart just gave out on him. Whatever the cause, we will miss him terribly, and are thankful for the 2.5 years we were able to spend with him. He was a great love- always there to meet us at the door when we got home from work, and the first to nudge us awake in the morning for breakfast. He was never a stranger to new faces, a constant companion and a never-failing friend. He loved his brother Mr. Jackson- they were best friends and played and slept together constantly. He always knew how to cheer us up when we were sad, and get a smile on our face after a long day. We will always love and be grateful for him and look forward to seeing him again in our eternal family.

Easter Fun

We've had a great Easter this year! We colored eggs Thursday night in anticipation of our annual Mayo tradition- Easter Egg Tee Off (more to come on that later in this post). I made a huge mess of it, like I always do but it was lots of fun.

I went up to Portland for the weekend. My dad had a 2nd back surgery to repair a herniated disk on Tuesday, and was supposed to be doing VERY little. To my dad, this means, he can still drive, lift things up and down the stairs, and maybe even climb a ladder and clean the gutters; to the doctor this meant no driving, lifting or major activity. So I went up to help drive him around to the necessary appointments he had and try to convince him to be a lazy bum and stay off of his feet. I had a great time with him and my mom, and even got to be there when the Easter bunny came and hid eggs for my nephews to find.


I came back to Bend sunday afternoon, so that Doug and I would have a chance to have our own Easter together. We have a tradition started last year out of sheer boredom and leftover Easter eggs. Last year when sitting around on Easter, I said to Doug... "Wouldn't it be fun to tee up Easter eggs and hit them with your golf clubs? It would be kind of messy though." Doug looked at me and said, "So what?! They'll clean off ok!" and now it's a super fun things we do. This year we made 3 dozen eggs and went off into the Deschutes National Forest and lined up em for shooting practice with Doug's 22 caliber pistol. That was pretty hard. I have really bad aim and couldn't hit any but Doug nailed a couple. After that we set off to start teeing up the eggs. If you haven't ever done this, which I am sure you haven't, because let's face it- it's pretty wasteful, destructive, and messy, but that means its FUN!





It was a great day, and I hope you all had as much fun this Easter as we did!!

Keeping things in Perspective

We all have those days where we think about all that is going wrong in our lives. You know, that whole, "woe is me" attitude that drags us down. Well I was having one of those days on Wednesday, and I came across this article on the web that put everything back in perspective. As "bad" as we may think we have it there are always people out there who are struggling too in different ways and they are usually the ones who handle it a lot better than we do. I think this guy's is an inspiration, and I hope thinking of him, his situation, and even better- his attitude can help me keep things in better perspective when I get down.

http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/64390/what-are-you-looking-at

Which is better? The Movie or the Book?

I have a lot of free time at work, so i have started reading fervently. I can tear through a 600 page book, if it's a good read, in like 3 days. I really love books that have movies based on them- it's so interesting to see what is added and left out of the movie and how it is different/better/worse than the book. Which is better. I think it depends. In some situations, I love seeing what the movie makers do with the characters, costumes, and scenery of the book. It makes it all so real to see it on screen. But often times there is much more in the book than they have time to put on screen, so you miss the true parts of a book when it's crammed into a 2 hour movie. Here's my take on which is better-

The Other Boleyn Girl
The movie is well done, but I really recommend reading the book if you see the movie or see the movie if you have read the book, because they are so very different. Many facts from the book are altered in the movie, and I don't know that this really adds to the movie. I knew I hated the character of Anne in the movie, but I didn't really hate her until I read the book and learned of all the things she really did that weren't included in the movie. I love Mary's romance with William Stafford in the book. It's so underplayed in the movie, and the contrast between Anne's HORRIBLE behavior is exemplified when you also read of her soft sister Mary's LOVING relationship with her children and husband. BOOK IS BETTER

Harry Potter Series
I am a die-hard HP fan!! I love love love the books, and it's so fun to see what you imagine from the book appear before you on the screen. I really love the actor's portrayal of the characters on screen, and the magic makes it so much more believable when you see how it's interpreted onscreen. But again, there are so many details that get left out of the movie for time's sake that I would much rather get it all and read the book. The next HP movie they are making will be 2 movies that continue where the other left off since they can't fit everything from the one book into one movie. This is why I think the BOOK IS BETTER



Memoirs of a Geisha
I saw the movie before I read the book, and it was because of the movie that I ended up reading the book. The movie entranced me, and left me totally in love with 1920's japanese Geisha culture, costume, lifestyle, elegance, EVERYTHING! The colors and cinematography in the movie were awesome! I had to get the book. And so I tore through it in 3 days and totally loved the book so much more. Again there were so many changes and ommissions to the movie that I really loved the things the book provided me that the movie didn't. You see a different and more detailed side of the characters, especially Hatsumomo and you truly grow to HATE how cruel she is to Sayuri. I love them both but the BOOK IS BETTER


The Painted Veil
Again this was a movie first-book second deal, and I think I liked the movie better. They were very much the same but I appreciated more the way and order in which the movie told the story compared with how it was told in the novel. I loved to see the relationship blossom between Kitty and her estranged husband on screen rather than how is was hardly mentioned in the book. Maybe that's because I am a hopeless romantic but either way, the MOVIE IS BETTER


Girl With a Pearl Earring
I really loved the movie, but I really loved the book and the greater element of detail that is has in it. I love seeing when I remember from the movie in my mind when I read the book, but even better than that is when the book goes a place the movie didn't and that whole other door is opened. In this case, I think that happened in the book and the BOOK IS BETTER

If any of you avid readers out there have any suggesstions for more books and movies I should check out, my library card is ready and waiting!

Death Cab for Cutie IN BEND!

So Bend is kind of a small town. Only 75,000 people. We don't even have a bonafide indoor mall if that says anything. But my FAVORITE band ever- Seattle based "Death Cab for Cutie", is coming to Bend Memorial Day weekend for a concert at the amphitheatre here!! I am so stoked! Doug and I saw them in Orlando and they were amazing... so I cannot wait to see them again, just weeks after their new album is released! I already got tickets on presale online- I got tickets 7 & 8 if that tells you how eager I was. What an awesome way to kick off the summer!!

I also found a great site where you can get the presale codes for concerts for free. (Most sites like that make you pay 5 bucks for the code.) Bookmark this- if you are a concert-goer like me, it's really a gem! http://presale-codes-passwords.blogspot.com/search/label/3%2F13%2F08

Woody the Wood Pecker??!

So a funny thing happened this morning when Doug and I were getting ready to leave for church. I kept hearing this sound, a rattling sound on something metal, almost like a jackhammer. Here's a replay for you:

Sarah: Doug, what's that sound? What could the neighbors possibly be doing now?
Doug: Hmm, I don't think that's the neighbors. It sounds like a wood pecker.
S: A wood pecker? No way, are you sure?
D: Yes, it sounds like a wood pecker is pecking on the chimney flume.
S: Noooo, really? How would it get in there?
D: It's not IN anywhere, but it's pecking on the chimney.
S: Well, I still think it's the neighbors or maybe someone outside with a drill or something.
D: I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it's a wood pecker. (laughs)
S: Well we should turn the fire on and he will fly away.
D: No, that would be mean, if he is pecking on the flume, he will learn soon it's not wood and leave on his own. We don't want to kill it.
S: I don't think it's a wood pecker!

We leave for church, and when we get outside in the parking lot far enough to see the roof, lo and behold, there's a little wood pecker pecking away on the chimney pipe. We could not stop laughing! I guess he did figure out it wasn't wood and flew away because it's been quiet all day, but what are the odds?! Doug was right! ;0)

My New Do

So I have continued to feel lately like I needed a big girl haircut. No more of this high school layered shoulder length style I have always have. SO... I went extreme and whacked it all off! What do you think of my new "assymetrical inverted bob?"

House Hunting

With the housing market and interest rates continuing to drop, at least here in Bend, Doug and I have really started to seriously think about getting into a house sometime this summer. Our apartment lease ends in April, so we are at a good point to start looking at our options. Right now we live in a 4 plex, in a great part of town, and if it weren't for the fact we are throwing our money away every month and that our college kid neighbors across the hall like to party 7 nights a week and litter the hall with energy drink cans and cigarette butts, we wouldn't be so eager to leave. When Doug was out of town last week I ended up having to call the cops to report them because of the loud music, shouting outside, slamming the front door and breaking bottles in the parking lot. We are soooo over it. Time to grow up and get in a big boy/big girl house.

Bend isn't the cheapest place as far as housing goes, but the prices are dropping, and we've seen a couple homes advertised that we could definitely afford. All of these are new construction, which is kind of nice. In some ways I'd like to get a home that is already in an established neighborhood with, hopefully, a larger lot than most newer construction homes have, but it's looking like the most affordable option for us to pick a plan and have it built. And that would be nice- new home, no problems, and most things still under manufacturers warrenty. Plus it would give the chance to put in the kind of yard and plants we want, pick out colors and flooring, and make it ours from the ground up. Exciting!

But it is a give and take situation. You get a new home, but here in Bend, that means, NO YARD! We looked at one home yesterday afternoon that had a detached garage behind it, where the backyard would be, and instead of grass or anything, you just have a concrete slab that is 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep and NO room for entertaining, or having a dog, which are must haves for us. We saw a home on Saturday that we really liked, in a great area of town, and may get to tour this week that does have a smaller yard, but at least its a yard! With grass and a fence and room for a dog to play fetch and someday, to have the little ones play around in. So we are pretty enthusiastic about that option. We would get to pick out which lot we would like it on, and that is good too. The turnaround time for a home to be built there would be about 60-75 days which would be awesome! So we'll see. We are still scouring the market for anything else we can find in our price range.

Exciting times! This picture of the house above is the one we are excited about maybe building!