Decorating ideas for renters

I recently found this great slide show of great decorating ideas for renters at the Domino Magazine website (unfortunately March is their last issue!). For those of us who will be renting for the next few years, these tips can make our time as non-homeowners much more enjoyable!

This is one of my favorite ideas:

It has come to this

The story discussed in this editorial disturbs me. How is it ok to treat people this way (afterall, these are people) - some of whom have done nothing wrong but cross a line drawn in the sand seeking a better life? I think it's important to note that many people who enter the country without papers do not have any way to enter legally. It's not that they choose to enter illegally rather than going through the propper process. It's that there is no process for them because they have no US Citizen family, or they are not Olympic Atheletes, or they don't have their M.D. and are not sponsored by some specialty hospital who has the money to cover their immigration process. It seems to me that we treat convicted felons better than we treat undocumented immigrants! What upsets me the most, I think, is that this spectacle reminds me of photos I saw at the Holocaust Museum last month. I pray that we are not going there with our overzealous, xenophobic enforcement of immigration law.

I was there!

I traveled to DC for the Inauguration last week. Needless to say, it was very inspiring and historic. I could write a book, but I'll let a few pictures speak for the experience. To see all three albums on facebook, these are the links: Inauguration Day, DC Part I, DC Part II.

In front of the Jefferson Memorial

Jumping for Joy at the Jefferson

By the Washington Memorial

At the Lincoln Memorial

This guy was dancing to some impromptu music on the steps of the Lincoln. He was TOO cute!

Night on the Mall - this photo was taken by a freelance photographer and writer who I met in line and who happens to know several of the people I met during my study abroad in Latin America. It was quite an enjoyable and serendipitous night!

Ice Skating at the National Art Museum Sculpture Garden

4:45 AM on Inauguration Day - coming out from the Metro with a million people. EXCITED!

Dawn at the Capitol

Friends we just met - all trying to stay warm, but filled with excitement

Feeling patriotic and proud to be an American. A good moment.

The reason we all gathered in the freezing cold for hours and hours. President Obama!!

The huge crowd behaved itself but left a lot of trash. :(

Getting warm again at the Hawk & Dove - Cheers to the next 4 years!

Girls Weekend

This weekend I visited my friend Caris in Portland. Somehow I didn't take one picture the whole time I was there... but we had a great time. Friday night I had to ref a basketball game in Junction City, then met up with Tim and friends for dinner at La Perla in Eugene. By 8:00 I was finally on my way to Portland.

On Saturday we went to brunch at Pambiche, a Cuban restaurant in NE Portland. The food and atmosphere were truly authentic and very enjoyable, as was the company of course! Then it was off to bowling at Hollywood Bowl. I scored over 100 twice - quite an accomplishment for me! But Caris still beat me both games. After bowling we hit the theater and saw Gran Torino - such a surprising film! I highly recommend it.

We rounded out the evening with split pea soup (my first ever - YUMM!), and the Blazers game at Caris' parents' house on their huge HDTV. It was so fun to see how much the Blazers have changed in the last 5-10 years. They are selfless on and off the court, and they really work together as a team. Such fun to watch!

All in all, a fun time! Thanks for a great weekend, Caris!

Cameron & Christina's Wedding

So, I went to Estes Park, Colorado for my cousin Christina's wedding. I discovered I should be an event/wedding coordinator as I had so much fun pulling everything together in the last few days... Here are some photos:

Sisters - my mom, aunt Lura (the cake miracle worker) and Aunt Lesta (the mother of the bride)

Daniel and I dancing at the reception

Tim and I at the reception

The sweet and serene father-daughter dance turned CRAZY! :)

Cutting the beautiful cake

Family

Beautiful bride and groom

I played guest-book/program/gift table girl - and matched the theme too!

Steaming out the wrinkles in the wedding dress

White Christmas

This is my Christmas at Home in a few Pictures:

A Snowy Barnyard

Barn through the Trees

East Oregonian

The Boys in a Blizzard
(Daniel, Dad, Ben)

Parents in a Drift
(Mom, Dad and Mannie)

Snow Bunnies
(Tim and I)

Warming Up Inside
(Mannie and I)

Snow - the ups and downs

It snowed 4 inches in the Willamette Valley. Apparently this is a crisis. No one knows how to drive, and almost all the schools have been closed for 2-3 days. This is craziness in my mind. The temperatures have been anywhere between 0 and 32 degrees the last few days.

I got an e-mail from my mom yesterday saying "so far the weather here (currently zero degrees, and about one foot of snow) is not hampering too much." Now that's the Oregon I know! Who would have thought that one state could contain such diverse peoples from East to West? Oregon is just like that, though. And I love it.

The snow is beautiful to be sure. And I enjoy laughing at all the people who cannot drive in it. Those people with lift kits on their huge trucks that think they can speed and turn sharply in front of people without any consequences. Dumb. And then there are the poor people walking on the street who can't take a step without thinking they will slip and fall. I witnessed a woman in her 30s or 40s trying to walk down the sidewalk and hopping from not-so-slippery-looking-spot to not-so-slippery-looking-spot. She eventually couldn't find any more not-so-slippery-looking-spots apparently, because she got this trapped look in her eyes and just couldn't move any further. I vacillated between laughing at her and feeling sorry for her.

The downside to the snow is that all my reffing gigs thus far this week have been canceled. Dumb. That was Christmas money!

Oh, and we went to a "Holiday Sweater" party at our friends Kim and Alex's place this weekend... I think Tim won hands down. Bestest Holiday Sweater. See for yourself:

Inauguration Vacation

After thinking about it since November 4th, and constantly searching for affordable airfare, I finally purchased a round-trip ticket from Portland to Philadelphia for Inauguration week 2009. A ticket that had cost $480 on Monday, cost just $280 on Tuesday. It was a sign. *winks* I will be spending five days in DC this January, touring with my cousin Allyson and her husband Tobin and staying with my good friend Anna near Capitol Hill. I couldn't be more thrilled.

The only sad part is that Tim was unable to come. While I REALLY wish he could come with me to experience this once-in-a-lifetime trip, he encouraged me not to pass up this opportunity just because he couldn't come along. What a good hubby.

Anyone know of any great things I MUST do while in DC?

Sophie!

Big news everyone! Tim relented and let me get a kitty! :) I went to the Humane Society on Friday, picked out an adorable kitten named Kylie, and was working through the paperwork in the Cattery to adopt her, when this little gray kitten hopped up on my lap, curled up and started purring. It was done; she had chosen me.

As all the pictures indicate, I'm already quite obsessed with our little 3-month-old baby. Her given name was "Little Girrrrl" which was one too many "r"s for me. Sophie fit much better, and I think she agrees. She seems to be a bit more enamored with Tim than with me for the moment, but I have a feeling she will come around.

Her favorite perch - the back of the couch.

She also loves the windowsill

Napping on my leg - precious.

She wasn't too sure about me when she first came home.

He might look like a tough guy, but he's really just a big softy.

Debt

Did anyone else see this? Opinions vary on whether or not national debt is detrimental to the US as a whole. But with our economy tanking and this year's election drawing to a climactic close, it's certainly noteworthy that more zeros are necessitated to tally our nation's indebtedness to others. It will be interesting to see where our new president takes us, and and how long it will take individual Americans and our nation to dig out of their respective debts. The end of unwise debt, sadly, does not seem to be in sight. And individual Americans are not likely to see $700 billion thrust our way if we fail to manage our money wisely.

Thinking about NOT voting??

Check out this video... (but only if little ones are not around).

Glory Night

Apparently, many-a-year-ago, long before I joined my co-ed soccer team, our team was comprised of many more players. Somewhere along the way there was a nasty breakup between two of the team members, and the ex-girlfriend happened to not get along with the team captain, so she (the ex-girlfriend) took most of the best players and formed her own team in the same league - the Llamas. Over the last couple of years the two teams (The Llamas and The Green Team) have met multiple times but The Green Team has never managed to beat their arch rivals, The Llamas.

Last night, my 3rd soccer game ever, we faced off against The Llamas for the Civil War 2008.

No-one scored in the first half, though we went back and forth intensely the entire 45 minutes. The Llamas pulled ahead in the second half with two goals scored by men (in co-ed ball, men's goals count for 1, women's count for 2). 2-0 Llamas.

Then, about twenty minutes into the second half a miraculous thing happened. I was at the right place at the right time, Stephanie passed me the ball, and GOOOOOOAAAAAAALL!!!!!!! Game tied. (There may have been mild amounts of screaming, jumping, high-fiving, hugging, squealing, chest bumping etc.) Seeing the ball off your foot into the net is quite the addrenalin rush! Ten minutes later our amazing Norwegian soccer feind Toralf scored a goal from about 35 yards out (wow!), putting us up by one.

In the end, we managed to keep The Llamas from scoring again and won the game 3-2!

But, readers, what's important to note here is not the exciting and historical win for our team... what's important is: KENDRA SCORED HER FIRST GOAL! (just making sure we were clear on that.)

Go Green Team!!

Scars

I had my first adult bike wreck this week. It was all because of my foolishness. I was wearing impractical (yet very attractive) shoes and a pencil skirt, and was riding in a construction zone. Not the smartest thing in the world to do, right? To top it off, I tried to jump up onto a curb while paralleling that curb, something my biking instructor (Tim) told me explicitly not to do. As I was about to attempt the parallel-curb-hop I was thinking, "I really shouldn't do this; Tim said it wasn't a good idea...SHOOT!" CRASH, SKID, BRUISE! Fortunately I fell away from traffic and only sustained scrapes, bruises, a small gash and some road rash on my knee. I felt like such a child, limping back to work and cleaning my owies.

Tim calls my road rash "Reminder Burns". Not to get all philosophical or psychological, but our scars and road rash, whether physical or emotional, do serve as reminders of past mistakes and foolishness. I, for one, will not be attempting the silly sideways curb jump anytime in the near future!

Elsewhere in the life of Kendra ... work is going great! We have hired a person to take over the front desk/general office duties, and I couldn't be more thrilled. I am now moving into my office upstairs! I have several cases of my own, and am retaining several new clients every week. I think it's fun that I have clients from all over the world, not just Mexico. So far I have clients from: Nigeria, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Thailand, The Philippines, Peru, Laos, and Mexico. I love it! Now I'm in the process of turning my new office into a welcoming and professional space. Truth be told, my office needs to be on a home/office makeover show. But I'll see what I can pull out of my bag of tricks without the help of professionals!

Drawing to a Close

There are many indications in the valley that Summer is drawing to a close and Fall is rapidly approaching. This week our dorm-like apartment complex has been overrun by large trucks, U-haul trailers and parents galore. The school year is about to begin.

The Country Club pool closes for the summer today. While Tim's pool staff is thrilled to be done, I am sad to see the fun at the pool and on the tennis court go away. Just another indication that the beautiful Eugene summer will be gone before I know it.

Though the mornings and evenings are getting cooler, the 80 degree weather we had this last week gives me hope that all things summer are not lost. We've squeezed in a few boating trips, a hike up Spencer's Butte, and morning jogs in the last couple of weeks. My biking trips to work in the morning are getting rather chilly, but Tim is riding to the Honors College now too, so we can commiserate. Soon the evening bike rides home will be as cold as the morning.

But there is a lot to look forward to as Fall approaches. Tim won't be working crazy hours as the manager of the Country Club Aquatics. He will have regular hours at his part-time tech job and late hours only a couple days a week at EMT classes. I just started a fall co-ed adult soccer league with practice one night a week and games every Monday. I've never actually played soccer, but this league has been quite fun already. They keep asking me if I played rugby... does that mean I'm too rough? ;)

Eugene Celebration

I just got back from the Eugene Celebration with two of my girlfriends. It's like a big hippie fair, and it was soo fun! I had a very tasty Gyro with falafel, and we got some "drinking chocolate" (YUM!). There was plenty of live music of all sorts to enjoy, and people dancing in the street. If you enjoy people watching like I do, this is the place to be.

We also got free "Women for Obama" symbols painted on our arms. A good day.