Snow!

The night before last we got 6 inches of snow. It was so beautiful to see, especially because I have never been in that much snow before. The only problem is that we live up a hill/mountain and don't have snow tires on our cars. CJ did have a pair of snow chains that he put on his truck so that he could go to work. I still can't drive around, because there is a lot of ice now and so CJ wants me to stay at home where it's safe. I'm not too unhappy about that though :) Here are a few pics, the first one is right when it started to snow and the rest are after.Oh, and the best part of it, and one of my favorite moments living up here, was of this video. There were 5 deer walking around behind our house, so I went outside to take pictures, and decided to try to feed them. And they let me feed them 3 apples! They came right up to our deck where I was throwing the apples off. It was awesome! The video is choppy and horrible, oh and for some reason whenever I am around or see a cute animal I talk like a moron, but it's still cute.

Christmas tree fiasco

So since I have been so good about not spending money on things we don't need, i.e. clothing, makeup, etc., it was agreed that I deserved a Christmas tree. So with a $15 budget, we went out and found a great tree. Now when we were packing up our cars to move up here, the only thing that I couldn't bring was my fake tree. I did manage to bring all of my decorations, including my fake tree stand. This being said, when we got our tree we thought we would be able to use the fake tree stand for our real tree. We were wrong, well, sorta. Handyman CJ cleverly managed to Jerry-rig our tree up, drilling screws into the tree to hold it up, and it finally worked. The only problem was that the tree needs water, but we couldn't figure out a way to keep a bowl of water under our [barely standing] tree. So now a week later our tree is brown and has lost it's smell. And I have lost my job (yes, I've already been laid off!) so we will have to make do with a dead tree for the rest of the month. CJ said it reminds him of Charlie Brown, so he's not all too unhappy with it.

Turkey Day! (minus the turkey)

This year CJ and I couldn't make it out to Vegas to be with family for Thanksgiving, but we made the best of it and decided to try and cook by ourselves. Instead of turkey we used cornish game hens, because we didn't need a big turkey, and also because they were only 2 bucks each. We made all the usual side dishes though, and it was delish! Even though we didn't get to spend the holiday with our family, it turned out to be a great day. I've decided that I actually am grateful for being here in Eugene. Yeah it's all new to me and a bit lonely at times(well only when I'm at home by myself), but CJ and I have really been able to focus on us. Not everyone gets the opportunity to get up and move to a new place, so I'm thankful that we were.

Honey, I'm home!

So yesterday was my first day at my new job. I am working for a property management company, which is just what I was looking for, because that was my favorite part of my last job. Yesterday also happened to be CJ's day off, so he got his first day all by himself! I was so surprised when I got home! As I walked through the door, I was greeted by my handsome fiance, saying "Welcome home, Baby!". Then he took me over to the table (well breakfast bar, we haven't bought a table yet) where I feasted on a delicious meal! He even gave me a choice of wine or juice (the beer is his of course). I could really get used to this ;)

BEST PURCHASE EVER!!!

So a couple months ago my coworker Danielle sent me this joke email with a little note attached that said, "This is for you, Molly!" thinking I would get a laugh out of this thing called the "Beer Belly". I took one look at it and knew that for me it was no joke, but that I HAD to buy it for CJ. So I went to the actual website, and found THIS BAD BOY:

And then they had one for the females too!
Let me tell you about these babies...

The dude one is a sling that you wear around your shoulders that hangs down by your belly, and has a pouch that can be filled with over a six pack of beer (or beverage of your choice) with a camelbak-type straw that goes to your mouth. The object is to wear this under your clothing, making your alcoholism invisible to the naked eye. All it looks like is a fat beer belly.

Then they made one for the lady boozer, but instead of a sling for a beer belly, it is a sports bra that has 2 pouches that holds over a bottle of wine with the same type of straw, making it appear that you have some nice Tig O' Bitties!

So the other day we went to a minor league hockey game just to get out of the house. We wore our babies to the game so that we wouldn't have to purchase the over priced beers they had for sale (still need a job). Here we are being super sneaky...

Like I said, BEST PURCHASE EVER!!!

I need a yob!

Yes, I meant to write "yob", or job with a soft j, like our friends below the border say it, which is more meaningful I think. I frickin need a job. Seriously. I've been going out looking and applying and turning in resumes, but, so far, to no avail. Someone hire me dammit. That is all.

Settling In

So let me back track a little to how we got to Eugene. We decided against renting a U-Haul because they are a total rip-off. Even renting a trailer to tow was way too much money, so we decided that we would only take what we could fit into our 2 cars. So CJ built this ghetto fabulous chicken coup-looking contraption around the bed of his car with wood and wire fencing. He looked hilarious driving around in that thing! At first we put the mattress on top of his cage thing, but stopped at Walmart before we got out of town to buy more straps so that we could put it on top of my car, thinking it would be too much weight on his poor little Ford Ranger. So after an hour of switching and tying we were on the freeway. The very next exit we had to pull off because the mattress was blowing off my car. So, on the side of the freeway exit ramp, we AGAIN switched the mattress back onto the top of the hoopty wagon. So we ended up leaving town about 3 hours later than expected. Here is a picture of CJ and his masterpiece. He should totally get a job on Pimp My Ride.
So to get to Eugene from Vegas you have to drive through Reno, which luckily CJ went to college there and still had some friends (and family) that live there and offered us a bed for the night. We stayed with Kyle and Suzie, who are newlyweds, so it was nice to drill them on weddings and honeymoons and all the stuff that we, excuse me, I am obsessed with right now. It was great to see them, even if only for a couple hours.

So then we were on our way to Eugene. We were thinking the drive from Reno was only another 6 hours or so, but no, it was another 9 1/2 hours. But we made it!

After unpacking our things, our house is finally coming together. Well with one problem... WE NEED A COUCH!!! We couldn't bring our couch in the move, and so we have been laying on the floor watching tv. We love television so much that we will make the sacrifice. All we keep saying over and over again is "WE NEED A COUCH!!!" Notice Exhibit A:

So we got our cable hooked up the very next day after we arrived, but the internet wasn't working for a few days afterwards. This became a huge problem because of the fact that we are in an unfamiliar place and have no idea how to get anywhere, let alone have a clue what the hell is in this town. So finding a couch would have to wait. But this would not stop us from watching the tube. CJ got the most brilliant idea: let's bring the mattress upstairs in front of the tv until we get a couch!!! Please notice Exhibit B:

Also notice the HUGE smile on my face now that we solved the couch situation. A COUCH CAN WAIT!

I would like to take this opportunity to show everyone in the desert what it looks like when the seasons change:

CJ got suckered into taking a picture under the tree, too.

Before we moved into our neighborhood we heard that there were deer and "wild turkeys" roaming around all the time. Well, they weren't lying. Here are the turkeys using their "right of way".

And here is a view from our front porch. Any way you look there are hills of trees.

And here's our home! COME VISIT US!!! We'll get a couch!

And here's a view from our back deck.

We really do love our house. We are already getting home sick, and are experiencing a major culture shock, but we're getting the hang of it.

Our Perfect Day

So before I post about our new home and Eugene and how much we love it and hate it, I had to share with everyone our perfect day. It was amazing. CJ found out he didn't have to start work until 2 days after we had planned on, so on our last free day we decided to drive out to the Oregon coast. It's only about an hour drive, and it is so worth it.



First off, the drive to anywhere in Eugene, whether it be to the coast or just to work, is beautiful. Especially at this time of year, when the leaves are changing colors and falling from the trees. For the most part the highways are one way streets, but it's not bad, because the trees pretty much engulf you.

So when we finally got there, we took one look and knew that we would be spending a lot of our free time taking the drive to the coast again. I don't think I've seen a prettier beach before.
We paid $20 to take a tour of the sea lion caves, only to find out that the sea lions haven't been in the caves for about a month and a half, and they come seasonally or randomly. It was still a nice walk with an awesome view. The cave was really cool, but we were a little dissappointed that they don't let you go further down. Still very romantic ;)

We drove up north just a little further so that we could get onto the beach. It was so calming and peaceful.

Hello, CJ.

So then we both had a serious craving for crab legs. We walked up and down the streets of these littles towns for over an hour looking for ONE PLACE that had crab. How can you be a restaurant on the coast and not serve crab legs? Well finally we found a place that did, and it was cool because all the sea lions that we paid to see were actually just lounging on the docks right in front of our restaurant. Success! CJ and I turn into monsters when we eat crab together. We don't talk, don't look at each other. We only focus at the task at hand, which is feasting on crab. And that we did.

So then we started the drive home, and our timing couldn't have been better, because it was the beginning of sunset. So we stopped at every possible stop and looked at the view and took some pictures.

So then to top off our amazing day, we carved pumpkins and baked pumpkin seeds. CJ's pumpkin turned out great, his is the monster on the left. Mine is the poor attempt at a spider web. It started out perfect, then somehow I lost my concentration and screwed it up. Oh and don't think we free-hand it, we totally cheat and buy the little carving kits with the picture booklet. I thought I could do the most difficult one. No. No, I could not.

And that was our perfect day!!

"Lights so bright, palms sweat, blackjack on a Saturday night"

So I decided to start a blog because CJ(my fiance) and I are LEAVING LAS VEGAS. We are randomly moving up to Eugene, Oregon. So random that I have never even been there before. Sounds crazy, but we are both super excited! We were both raised in Vegas, and besides him going to Reno for a few years for college, we've never lived outside of Sin City. The fresh air, slower pace, and peaceful atmosphere will be such a nice change. But I will miss my friends way too much. This week I have been trying to get in some hang out times with all of my loved ones. It was bittersweet to see them all one last time, or at least for a long time :(

In other news, we have officially set a date! On October 10th, 2009 I will be Mrs. Molly Hillstead, or as Jasmine will then call me "Hottie Hillstead". This nickname came along when I told Jasmine that CJ liked the name Hawthorne for a boy. And she said she'd call him Hottie Hillstead. I told her I thought that name was stupid, but she insists that someone will one day be called "Hottie Hillstead", so I got the nickname instead. (Let me clearify that we are NOT having babies anytime soon, just chatting about names)

Anywho, wish us luck!

P.S. If you can figure out where the title of this post is from, you're a winner.