and one more thing

i wanted to show you guys random pictures that haven't yet been put on the blog. i thought you guys might like to see 'em. if not, don't look.




why not let this one start 'em off? we found this big cup at a store. who needs that much beverage? you will be happy to know that it stayed at the store, and it will not be making the trip home. so no random, huge cup as an embarrassing gift for anyone. although, now that i think about it, there is still time....


did i already show you dustin's new hoodie? i did not get a matching one, you will be happy to know.
baby emma no longer cries when i hold her. maybe we will start getting along.

at our coffee shop (across the road) the owner and his friends gather and sing opera once a month. we finally caught them this month. it was nice. they had a good time. and the place was filled with old italian couples singing along. i loved it.

you remember when we had hilary here? i was just getting to taking my org. chem final so things got a little hectic and she is not so well represented on this blog. just means you will have to make the trip again--or look at the pictures when we get home.

we even had dan and rose here when my parents were here. you remember that?

we found this big concrete slide in one of our city parks. there was cardboard right next to it. that cardboard makes you slide twice as fast. it was a lot of fun this day. this is the same day i had my interview at La Foot.

i did a bad, bad thing

i have been in love with a pair of shoes since before dust and i started dating. he got them at the new balance store (using my insurance discount) in portland way before we even started dating. he then re bought the same pair of shoes last year. i forgot he had re gotten them. i thought he had the same pair for 5+ years. so i rationalized finally buying them (45%off) from my work when my size came in. i was so happy. i put them on and wore them while working the whole rest of the day. i absolutely love them!


so dust might have been a little upset given the fact that we already dress alike due to both of us being sponsored by agent apparel in the early 2000's and then being sponsored by walker farm until recently. and we always wear jeans. so we do kinda look alike. but i do love my new shoes. so i was just getting over it when we went to my brother's house on thursday. he was not only wearing the same shoes as dust and i, but also the same shirt as dustin. so i guess it runs in my family to dress like dust.

well, howdy, folks!

we've been continuing to pack. i got several boxes shipped to the manix's farm. and tomorrow we will go to buy actual luggage so's we can get the stuff we need now and right when we get there--home. we even made the treck to my brother's to visit the baby and drop a car load off there. we got the kitties their kitty valium--just in case. we signed our outrageous lease, and sent a check. so i guess, come thursday, we might be ready to jump on a plane. we had the work dinner tonight. we went out with my two favorite people from work, matt and tim (and their honies) and another girl named manami. so i work monday and wednesday. then no more La foot. we had melissa and andy here wednesday night. they were on their way to get andy's dad. so it was nice to say good bye to them. we even went to the hot chip show on thursday with meg and forrest (our two favorite berkeley--ites). so we have had busy and fun times. we are continuing to eat out as much as possible in hopes that we will get sick of it, and not miss having great restaurants around. i think we are about done. ( but don't tell dust.) we have to just get a box for the rock band drums and mail them off ( we could not ship them before melissa and andy got here. they need it, too). other than that, i think we just have to put stuff in bags and go. not so bad. so it all seems real now, and i am ready to come home to my friends. below are just some pictures from the week. enjoy. next week, you could be on here!!


to ben's baby emma smiles now!



meg and forrest post amazing hot chip show!!

oh yes!

i almost forgot, i got another 100% on quiz 2. we'll see if we can get a turkey. that would pad the chem grade. also i bought a new "california approved" winter coat. it is no where near warm enough for vermont, so it will stay here for the summer. but i will describe it so you guys get a feel for it. it is a white, wool pea coat. single breasted and knee length. it will look nice with dressy clothes and fancy with jeans. i pretty much love it. when we first got here, they were way too expensive. but seasons change and with that, prices go down. and now that i am working, and it was 75% off. so i got it. when dust gets home, i will try to take a photo. you guys will love it. and happy birthday again to kristin, quinn and jack.

two birthdays have happened

since i last wrote, two very important people in my life have celebrated another birthday. they share a few similarities. their honeys are away, they are living in their own house, both don't usually do too much to celebrate their birthday, and i have not talked to either since before their birthday. so i am sad. i want to know what quinn and kristin did for their birthdays. kristin's birthday was friday, the 18th. i worked all day and got off too late to call her (durn those time zones). that day we were awoken by a call from our new car insurance company at 6:45 am (again--durn those time zones). needless to say, i woke up very grumpy. i don't usually get up until 8:45. so, i woke up 2 hours early. you all know how i don't like mornings. i would just as soon miss them all. but no! this guy called and left a message. can you believe it? after the phone rang, the neighbors started in with the hammering and the kitties started singing to get out of the room. when i got to work, i decided to be happy. it worked. just needed a mind change. then i came home at 6:30, and dust was grumpy. he was tired of being bored while i am at work. he is ready to work. to cheer him up and celebrate the coach's birthday, we made the 10 mile trip to the infamous in n out burger. it was a nice night. after eating we came home and watched more episodes of lost. not a bad day really.
the 18th is quinn's day. i was to work. it was chilly, and dust went to tahoe to see shea. i bought new shoes and watched lars and the real girl. it was good. it made me cry. i have been saying for a few days that i think i would feel better if i got a good cry out. i did feel better. i spent the nights with the kitties. i had bought a bottle of champagne, but the idea of solo drinking was not so appealing. so i watched the movie and did a little chemistry. i went to bed around 1am. as i turned out the light, albee jumped on the bed like usual. he looked for dustin, and jumped down. he went into the closet and just started putting on a show. i thought i was home free because there was no snoring from next door and no hammering from downstairs. i thought the night would be easy. boy was i wrong. the concert put on for mona and i lasted nearly half an hour. i did everything i could, but he just kept going back into the closet to cry. and dustin thinks albert doesn't like him!!! as albee got done, mona who was sitting patiently by the door, started her own chorus. i had to put her on the bed twice to get her to be quiet. she was much easier to pacify. the neighbors, never ceasing to amaze, began with the hammering at 6:30. this continued until 8 when a man walking down the street started screaming. ahh. life in the city.
i made it through both the birthdays. i hope they did, too. i hope they had so much fun, they didn't notice their honey was missing. i hope they got everything they wanted and then some. i hope they both want to keep the celebrations rolling when we get home. we want to celebrate with both of them. happy birthday, y'all.
and jack, dustin's dad's birthday is tomorrow. we will have to find a way to celebrate that here. any reason to celebrate. and we have a chilled bottle of champagne. :) take it easy, jack, don't work too hard. be sure to get a few games of hearts in. maybe get a doughnut during coffee time. eat a big piece of cake and a little one for me. make it a best day. know that we love all three of you. we love jack the most because he is the oldest (isn't that sebastian's logic?).

i'm back!!

hey team. as you know, i started my second semester of organic chemistry this week. for starters, the first two sections are covered by no book. no book. i mean this is a class i have no idea what is going on, and now there is no book. what is the deal? so i read and read and read all the little handouts i printed out at the library on monday. and today, i took my quiz. i was a little nervous becuase what do i know about organic chemistry? but turns out i know a little. i got a 100%. check out my big brain. ooooooh, cortney has a big brain! finally. i am back.

we also spent the day getting the car looked at. it was time for the transmission to be checked. so we got to walk all over our neighborhood running errands. it was nice. we ate a freeze (ice cream mixed with m&m's---yummy!) we mailed a lot of packages. so if you find your birthday coming (quinn and kristin), your gift should be there in, like, three days. so start getting excited. we wrapped. not just dinky boxes the post office gives you. real wrapping paper. we're fancy and citified. we also mailed our first box (my shoes) to the farm. should be there in 8 days). we got the call that the car was done in the middle of the afternoon and we walked down to get it. it was less than $70. never in my life have i had car maintenance done (besides oil changes, of course) for under $100. so that was nice.

we also started season 4 of the wire. this is the season everyone says is the best. i miss all my people i have gotten to know for 3 seasons, but i will get used to these little kids. and i know i am hooked because we watched the three episodes on the dvd. and no we get to mail it back to netflix. man, what a good day.

i'll have to tell you about the hiking trip we took with forrest last weekend. i got a few pictures, but you need to see forrest. that way you know he exists. and we saw cows in berkeley. we had heard rumors, but now we know that there really are cows in berkeley.

also we saw the bank job last night with the guy from the transporter in it. i like that dude. he is cute. it was a true story about a bank robbery in london. i liked it. it seemed like an old timey movie--all wind up, then climax, then credits. it was buy one get one free night at our brew and view, wednesday and all.

working tomorrow. i work right up until april 30th. then fly home the next day. can't wait to see you all.

dust goes to tahoe with forrest this weekend to get a little snowboarding in. i think he is ready to go there now. i am making him wait until saturday afternoon (he's working saturday morning), because i want him to bring me the car while i work. that way i don't have to park at my work. there is no parking around there, and the last time i parked there, i got a $36 ticket. so he has to wait until at least 5 to leave so that the two hour parking limit is not exceeded. also it means i get to tell my honey goodbye. see, big brain!

i know today was a nice day. i will have a few more before i get home. and this weekend, putney's temperature should be higher than ours. you go putney--ites. think of me while i am chilly and home alone with two kitties. not so bad, but, two days is nothing. hope you all have a good day, too.

one down nine to go

today was a day of doing. i realized that i had been living my life waiting for things to be over and done with. this is not usually like me. so this weekend marked me taking my life back and having fun. i am officially done with 90% of everything i set out to do here. the one exception is finishing organic chem 2. after quitting my job, i realized i had no more stress in my life. rent was paid, we have a place in vt, taxes are done, chem one is done and passed. why lose sleep? so i am done with all that. today, after my half day (i will give you that story in a minute), dust and i had a date. he was going to take me to the store where this shirt he had been talking about was for sale, and then we would go for lunch and delicious frogurt. i didn't eat breakfast so i would be ready to lunch. also i tried on a pair of my favorite pants and my butt was too big to fit in them any longer, but still happy, i changed into jeans and went to work.
monday's i get off at 2pm. bonus. dust and i went to telegraph, an area i usually try to avoid. but that is where the shirt was and the frozen yogurt is there, too. so we go. i bought him the shirt (a hoodie). and it looks good on him, too. but i figured he needed a treat. if for nothing else than just putting up with me the last few weeks. i must have been little fun, always trying to get things done....boring.
so we also ate ate at this salad place (pretty yummy--and cheap!) then off for the best frozen yogurt in the area. blueberry flavored with chocolate chips. what could be better.?!
at work, i spent the first hour and a half having no one but customers talk to me. finally, i spoke to the manager. one point for la foot and zero points for me. i asked if he had seen the news story about the man who buried the red sox jersey (go ortiz) in the new yankee's stadium. he laughed and everything was ok. finally, i had to tell him that quitting the job was hard for me, too. and get this he offered me and dust his futon in his living room just to get me to stay. part of me is flattered, but the other part just feels sorry for them. stuck with boring people to work with. needless to say, it made for a long four hour shift.
all is good, though, because even la foot is temporary. and dust looks so cute in his new sweatshirt. we got to sit in window and eat salads and laugh.
i even managed to start part two of my class today. i have a new teacher (though the class is still on line), but this one seems more promising. the teacher is more thorough (so far) and the last half of the class is on biological parts of organic chemistry. so even i may get through this.