Chaos Love: love, life, design and more.

Back from the second checkup today!

Posted in: chaosgurl, pregnancy on February 23, 2010 at at 8:21:00 PM 3 comments    

It's Cam's birthday today! So far I have made him feel extra special by reminding him of the miracle of life inside me and the nausea that it brings. By not eating in my sleep, I wake up feeling fine for about 20 minutes until my body turns on me. Of course eating crackers in the middle of the night is not very appealing and I'm still getting into a rhythm of how this all works. Tonight we'll have a few people over, grill up some steaks and see how I last. Having quite a few errands to run today, hopefully I can keep it together enough for Cam to have an enjoyable day :)

Posted in: chaosgurl, chaoslove, pregnancy on February 15, 2010 at at 10:44:00 AM 0 comments    

I am starting this blog a bit late. But as with all situations as delicate as this, rushing is something that one needs to resist. But now, all seems "safe" enough to proceed and publicly shout "Hey look! Im not broken after all!"

Posted in: chaosgurl, pregnancy on February 7, 2010 at at 10:22:00 AM 3 comments    

Thanks to all for your warm wishes and support!
Cam and I have had such a blast this past year and it all has been going by so fast! This coming year brings us into a realm of real security and comfort as Cam establishes work in America and we start going on trips together such as Amsterdam coming up in 6 weeks! With him having steady work and me getting done paying medical bills, we know that this year will have a lot of good times in store. We had a lot to celebrate and last night we went to Rocky Butte where we were married back in our youth and had a picnic of bread, exotic cheese and local wine. If my foot was in good order, I would have brought the trampolines. But we did bring the space helmets, of course, for photographic moments!

Posted in: anniversary, chaosgurl, photography, portland on July 22, 2009 at at 10:40:00 AM 0 comments    

When it comes to a declining economy and everyone, including the media, always reminding you so, begins to sink into your mind. You begin to think, that your calm little world is about to explode into a chaos of havoc and crime and will to sink into a demise similar to Gotham. That's kinda how I feel this week.

At work, people every other day come into report that their computer/ iPod/ hard drive, etc. was stolen and we are meant to do something about it. These people, I do take seriously and we send out emails to staff reminding them to keep an eye out for so forementioned stolen object. That gets 10X more serious when your own sister experiences her first break in by some desperate meth head/kid who saw her shiny white laptop and made a run for it. The guy (we'll assume its a guy) busted in through her bedroom by pushing in the air con and the continued to scavenge his way through the small apartment, nabbing a backpack in order to throw the laptop and a digital camera into. On his way through, he spots Kim's vintage cookie jar with "Munchies" painted on the side in old 70's style. He snags a chocolate bar and takes a bite of it. Upon realizing its baker's chocolate, he abandons the unsweetened bar and proceeds to grab Kevin's screwdriver in order to hit up the next door neighbors' apartment. (They had fortunately moved out the week before). The police made their stop at the apartment and went through the protocols but the forsenic inspector found the best fingerprints, nonetheless, on the abandoned candy bar in the kitchen. If this guy has every had his prints logged before, an arrest can be made on account of a CANDY BAR.

Meanwhile in other news, that same night, the lights were stolen off my bike. This is very unfortunate for me because if I get anywhere, its on bike. However, the situation is almost laughable.

Meanwhile today, two more people reported stolen laptops. What kind of country are we living in?

The best part about living in economic decline is seeing your friends on the daily news – alone sitting at a bar, as was the case with a co-worker friend of mine. The story was about how not as many people are going out to eat or drink in this past few weeks. I'm going to vote that drinking has not been affected.

But there's hope!
Get out and vote!

Posted in: chaosgurl, portland, technology, united states on September 28, 2008 at at 9:47:00 PM 0 comments    

Today was day that embedded itself into history. July 11th marks the worldwide day known as the release of the new iPhone just in case you didn't notice. Crazy geeks and hipsters gathered at Apple stores and AT&T outlets in order to claim the ultimate prize: a phone.

But wait, you say, who took all these pictures? Uh, that was me of course; in line to get my phone, because I am neither above or below everyone else. I am a whore to new shiny gadgets. It is all Sam's fault really. He is my capitalist consultant. It was Sam who got me to sit in front of Toys R Us to get a Wii at 3am in order to buy my $299 Wii in order to sell it on Craigslist before Christmas for $500 and now it is Sam who convinced me to sell my old iPhone for $400 and buy the new one for $199. Sam is going places in life.

Anyway, back to the Opening! Sam and I arrived at the Apple store at 6:30 in the morning. The line was pretty timid. Maybe 75 people back after some of these folks had been CAMPING outside the mall since midnight. Their determination makes them much more worthy than us to receive the coveted iPhone. Sam and I had to work sometime that morning but we were pretty confident that the line would scoot along pretty speedily. I began to feel like we were in an airport after awhile wainting to check into our flight as stood between our rope barriers. But the Apple staff were very genial and passed out bottles of water and even cups of coffee as people piled up behind us. We half expected a breakfast cart to come out next stacked with hotcakes.

We did find a fellow coworker at the beginning of the line - excuse me, not the beginning but NUMBER ONE in the line. He had been there since 12:30am. The store opened at 8. Sam and I waited another 1.5 hours before we got in the store. We were so relieved to get out of the halls of the mall as it has become very claustrophobic.
Getting in the store was a breath of fresh air. The staff was overly friendly and helpful and my iPhone was purchased, activated, and in the bag in under 10 minutes. We met up with our coworker who had nothing but trouble buying his iPhone as activating it with AT&T is mandatory and the network kept failing. So although he waited nearly 10 hours for his phone we ended up walking out around the same time. Poor Sam on the other hand was not granted the miracle of the phone as he was not the sole account holder for his AT&T account. He took it well enough, although I'm sure he would have killed someone given the chance. He had to go to and AT&T store to get his iPhone. But by the time he got there, the phones had sold out.

This whole AT&T shenanigans is the whole reason why Cam could not participate in the good times of waiting in line to pay money.

Afterwards, Sam and I went back to work 2 hours late and had to apologize to customers that although we were an Apple Reseller, we didn't have iPhones to sell them . *insert evil laugh here*

If you are wondering what is so great about an iPhone but don't want me to write 5 more pages of blogginess then you can check it out here!

Posted in: apple, chaosgurl on July 11, 2008 at at 9:42:00 PM 0 comments    

I really wanted Cam to do this post. But since I am the one home today and HE is at WORK, well I guess we know who's in who's place!

Last weekend we went to the Ditch! which should always be spelled with an exclamation point on the end. A friend through Kim whose family owns a large plot of land in Idaho, has a tradition of throwing a party on their property every year which is dubbed "Water in the Ditch" due to the ditch in the back of the house which has water in it. This tradition has been celebrated for 25 years and the generations that have attended keep coming back and bring their next generation with them. I would love to go into great depth of the great times we had but first.. here are some pictures so you can get the main idea :)

First of all, Kevin shaved his beard off which no one, including Kim, had ever witnessed before. He sported instead a giant walrus mustache.
Some people arrived days ahead of us to set up and when we arrived Friday night after midnight, lawn real estate was hard to come by. It was a very cozy community with plenty of utilities and easy to meet your neighbors.

Yay for sunshine! We had a lot of it!
Overlooking the fire pit to the stage.
Among just camping, we tried many new fun things... like acupuncture! Beth Hazzard, a girl I met through Kim, has been studying Chinese medicine for the last 5 years or so. She is skilled in the philosophy of Chinese medicine as well as the science of the practices in the Western world. She had brought on the trip a few needles which she then proceeded to poke into me in stragic places in my legs, wrists and my head! I had told her that I had told her I had specific pains in my back and my dreams had been been very vivid lately. This was enough for her to find the exact spots on me to plant her pins. I can't say I'm completely sold on the idea of acupuncture although I'm sure it can be helpful in certain circumstances. Being pinned down in a chair listening to loud rock right next to me from the stage certainly had a certain calming effect on me.
Looking a bit ramshackle, Kim and I both get visions of grandeur of owning something just like it someday.

The band list for the evening. I regret not being able to get a picture of its creation. Damon created the type with nothing but a magnifying glass in which he burned the titles in.. even in cursive!!
Cam succumbing to the joys of the pool. I had sadly forgotten my suit.
The main house and everyone clear of the area in order not to get too sunburned!

Saturday afternoon brought hot clear blue skies and then suddenly with his Aussie sixth sense, Cam sensed a storm coming in and in an hour and half the sky was gone. Dust rose over the horizon and wind pumped up to a near 40mph. Everyone ran to rescue their poor tents which the wind picking up fron the ground. The bands continued to rock out on the stage and everyone was in a frenzied chaotic state. Cam took a cute picture of me protecting my eyes with my bonnet from the flying dust. I for the most part went and laid in the tent and watched the tent violently shake and shift. It was so soothing to me I was able to take a sound nap.
The storm evaporated as quickly as it had formed about 2 hours later and everything was back to normal.






Nothing like a weekend of crazy people, crazy rock, crazy wind out in the middle of nowhere to regain your senses!!

Posted in: chaosgurl, party time, photography on June 25, 2008 at at 2:13:00 PM 0 comments    

A couple of weeks back I got serious about this Australian immigration thing. Now that Cam is affixed here in the USA, now I want to be able to get back to Oz. At that point we would have free reign to go wherever we liked with the freedom of birds. Up till now, I assumed marrying Cam was my ticket to get back in and override the ban that was put on my VISA almost two years ago now saying I could not come back for a total of 3 years.

So, I called the embassy.

I talked to a nice woman, whom I was thrilled had an Aussie accent, and told her about my situation, and the reasoning that I had been granted this ban when my Uni was handling my VISA extension in my behalf so I wouldn't have to go to the immigration department and wait in line all day. Had I have been told to go there, instead of just sending Sydney Uni a piece of paper, I would have done so. The Immigration building was only right down the street!

So the nice woman laid her cards on the table. I would have to fill out an application online stating my case and applying for Visa 676 which would essentially override my current ban. Having married an Australian citizen had no merit in this process. Once the application was submitted and approved I would still have to contact an immigration officer for final approval for admittance.

A few days ago, I received my reply. Australia said no. They still needed a bit more from me and if it was the country's best interest to let me back in. If I could not prove my worth I was labeled simply as a RISK. As much as I would love to pursue this issue, I would not win by saying that I was just misinformed or that the Uni messed up. And, obviously I have no other reason to go to Oz other than getting my tan back, therefore my argument is already been brushed off the table.

The 75$ fee isn't all that much to have gone to waste but I sure could have used it on something a bit more worth while if I was going to be told off so quickly. I was hoping Cam and I could get somewhere warm in the cold month of November but I guess we will have to go somewhere else!

Posted in: australia, chaosgurl, immigration on at at 12:50:00 PM 0 comments    

Sometimes we all question our job. Are we getting enough out of it? Are we getting paid enough? Are we advancing ourselves? These are the questions that have been going through my head for quite sometime. However, last week, my boss Dan made it clear that something was going down on Friday and I had to be there in order not to miss it.

Now, life on my front has not been so interesting in order to blog about lately although I had been on repelling excursions and jazz shows... although this definitely was. I tend to blog when a train of thought has been altered. And I can say now that my renewed faith in the company which I currently serve has been preserved.

A business division of our company called Irisink ran a contest starting 3 months ago allowing individual salespersons to refer customers to their services therefore getting the lead transfered into tickets for a raffle. Irisink received many leads from all 7 Mac Stores and transferred them all into the pot. We were all told about this back in February. Apparently May was the the month of the drawing and Yours Truly was in for a surprise.


Those crazy guys had me in suspense all week that I was either going to get a promotion, get fired or get transferred but instead they gave me a giant check accompanied by a surprise party complete with an adorable cake. I was put on the spot and hugely shocked how above and beyond they went just to tell me I'd won. It was gorgeous. I might stick around just awhile longer with the Mac Store. :)

Posted in: chaosgurl, employment, portland on May 13, 2008 at at 8:21:00 PM 1 comments    

hey blog!

nice to see you again!

Portland is getting warm and I have reacted with allergies that continue to haunt my sinuses. No biggie though, Cam and I have had plenty of distractions with his new job and me thinking babysitting a co-workers ferret while she is away was a thrilling idea. All in all, we have had a fun filled week and I'm sad its at its end.

I am always complaining to Cam about wanting a pet. Unfortunately since we have signed a lease that says "no pets allowed" that rules out even owning a goldfish. People are always asking us when we would consider having kids. How can I even consider such an idea if I have never even owned a cat on my own for awhile? Having a ferret for a few days is a perfect starter pet. She was brought home after work in her own cage as my co-worker had to California for the weekend. Julie, as the ferret is named is a very young and charismatic ferret.

She immediately showed her cleverness as well by ignoring Cam and I's attentions by mapping out her territory. Starting at one corner, she headed her way around the entire perimeter of the room, being sure to go behind large items in order to stay close to the wall. Once that was established, she managed to master the stairs. As soon as she saw there were no other ways to get behind the closed doors we purposefully shut, she then saw us suitable to play with.

Ferrets are extremely active for about 5 hours total a day. The rest of the time, they sleep. We let her run around in the evening until she exhausts herself and curls up in an obscure place to sleep. In the meantime, she spends all the entire time finding places that we haven't thought of to escape through. I dub these places "holes to Narnia." If she was to find a hole under the cabinets that we hadn't known of, then we would have no track of her. The hole doesn't connect to anywhere that we have access to!

Anyway, Julie has been a super fun addition to our little domestic life and I'm sad I have to give her back tomorrow. Oh, and by the way, don't tell our landlord you know anything of Julie.....

Easter was put into full swing this year. Kim and I made a few eggs and Cam and I watched a bit of Moses on TV, because it just gets more entertaining everytime you watch it. Here are some eggy pics.

We went to Kevin's brother Joe's house for a luscious Easter brunch that felt more like Thanksgiving. Full of food and mimosas we spent a good part of the day lounging around and talking about nothing and everything while it poured rain outside. Spring does look a lot like winter....

Posted in: chaosgurl, easter, pets, portland on March 23, 2008 at at 9:31:00 PM 0 comments    

I cannot recall the last time that I stood and stared at the moon. Sunsets are usually the more dramatic activity, but tonight was different. Cam and I don't get out of town much and a lunar eclipse always makes for a good excuse. It also was a good excuse to visit our favorite wedding hill, Rocky Butte. It was the highest point we could think of and since it miraculously wasn't raining in Portland, we took off, prepared with cameras and food for later.

We rented a Zipcar and got up the hill with plenty of time to spare. I wasn't sure if it would be completely packed or deserted. But it had to be one or the other. As it turned out, there wasn't much parking when we arrived and shortly after, there was no parking at all. Families poured into the park, equipped with cameras, telescopes, astronomy books and of course, all their kids, who couldn't care less about the moon having a shadow on it. One kid was enraptured with the rotating spotlight in the middle of the park and I overheard his dad say "Hey bud, the moon's over here!"

Many people came poorly equipped and were disappointed when the moon didn't show up with their cell phone camera.

I don't think I have ever seen Cam so excited about a photographic endeavor. He took nearly 200 photos in two hours of the phases passing through. I of course, had to do my best with the littler camera that I had and took some of these great beauties.



It was a super fun time and there were definitely a lot of interesting people there as well. But for Cam and I, we will be visiting Rocky Butte for the next galactic event, whatever and whenever that shall be... stay tuned for actual REALLY GOOD photos that Cam took!!

Posted in: chaosgurl, photography, portland on February 20, 2008 at at 9:44:00 PM 2 comments    

How could we forget to put in this classic photo??

After the traditional dress up the snowman and pose, Cam was sent to destroy the evidence of any fun snow activity. I regret not taking a burst photo. It was quite the spectacular tackle.

Posted in: chaosgurl, photography, united states on January 10, 2008 at at 9:09:00 PM 0 comments    

Whew!

So we have come through Thanksgiving weekend and Black Friday and the following weekend unscathed!

Of course Cam was quite impressed with the intensity of seriousness we give these holidays. We noticed quite a few establishments offering themselves up for those who had nowhere to go or people to see on Turkey night. It's a night, almost as much as Christmas, where it is imperative that you be SOMEWHERE and with other people. It doesn't really matter where, just as long as you can report later that you were indeed doing something.

Cam and I were graciously invited to Kevin's sister's house along with about 18 other people to their beautiful house in Mt. Tabor. While the Marcotte brothers worked on getting the turkeys perfectly basted, the crowd mingled in order to distract ourselves from our hunger. We went on a short hike up the hill to an old volcano mound that a nice park had been built upon. The neighborhood was very cute and kitsch and on our way back we snagged a house-for-sale flyer with modest asking price of 1.3 mil.

When we returned, dinner was almost ready and we admired the pretty table that Julie and the kids had helped lay out.

Now Cam knows how to make a turkey out of tracing your hand on paper.

Our Thanksgiving meal, I could say was very traditional and at the same time not. We all ate our delicious food and then afterwards stayed at the table and played a charades game. From there, some people drifted away to tend to children or cleaning up. Most of us stayed and drank wine and gossiped about this and that. Most of the Thanksgiving meals I have attended have usually involved football or at least a TV blasting the Macy Day parade, but there was never a hint of either during the evening. Sitting at the table, one can only take for so long so I went and helped 6 year old Grace color a picture of the Little Mermaid, while Cam drew Optimus Prime for 7 year old Ben (who now worships Cam as well as OP).

Afterwards, I gave up trying to be formal and passed out in a chair. I was upset on our way home that I had done so, but I really had no other choice. Sometimes, you just want to be tranquil mood instead of making conversation after gorging yourself.

The next day was Black Friday. It's a bit of a ridiculous American tradition created on its own accord, where the masses immediately give up on one holiday and dive head first into the next. It's recorded every year as being the biggest shopping day and people start around 4am in order to get the best sales (Yes, the mall opens around then.) The Mac Store was madness but people there wanted the best deals mostly for themselves, perhaps wanting to save a buck on that iPod before they have to start spending money on everyone else. It's a day that is just as gluttonous as Turkey Day.

And so here comes Christmas! Cam and I have to put up our lights now!

Posted in: chaosgurl, party time, united states on November 27, 2007 at at 1:43:00 PM 0 comments