Update from Missy

So, apparently Jen doesn't take care of her blogging duties anymore (talk about lazy) so I'm going to take this chance to give you an update of my new house.

Jen moved in around October (though you wouldn't know it because her last house update was in August after she had ripped out the floor downstairs) but I didn't move in until November.

Rude.

THEN she took me BACK to the old house for a week while she went on vacation for Thanksgiving and she didn't even give me any leftovers.

DOUBLE RUDE.

Whatever.

Here's a bunch of pictures to tour the house.

First up, we got the view from the front door. I'm not allowed outside. Jen talks about a "harness" and "when it's not raining."

When you walk in, you see the staircase to your left. Nice new, soft carpet. Not worth ripping up, though.

Here's the view from the top of the stairs. Below you can see my Waiting Window where I sit and wait for Jen to get her butt home from wherever it is she goes all day so she can get back to giving me scratches and food.

 Ooof... I'm old... nearly 17 years old. Stairs are tough. Give me a minute.

To the right of the stairs you got the Noise Closet where Jen washes her clothes and the Best Room with the Best Bed.

This is the Best Bed. Jen usually kicks me out of this room.

I'm not a model. The camera just went off.

There's a bathroom in the Big Room, too.

Outside the Big Room is another bathroom.

This curtain doesn't keep me out of the tub.

 But I don't care enough to try right now.

 Down the hall from the bathroom (you can kind of see the door on the right edge of the picture) are two extra bedrooms for me.

 The room on the left is my room with my bed. Jen calls it a "Guest Room."

 Fun fact: I've learned how to open the closet doors!

To the right is also my room, but sometimes I'll let Jen sit in the chair and use the computer.

Another closet for me to open!

Here's the view from my second room. In the back are the stairs.

That's done. Downstairs again...

 Here's the view from the front door down the long a** hallway.

Pictures on the wall.

Down the hall on the left is a Tiny Door with shoes and other random stuff and a Big Door with a bathroom.

Jen sticks my litter box in the garage (storage and cat area). She used to just leave the door open but now I have my own small door. It's too annoying to open myself, so she rigged it so it stays open by itself. Nice. She closes it at night and makes me sleep in the garage, though. 

Moving down the hall you have the living room on the right...

... and the kitchen on the left. I'm too old to jump on the counters, which Jen likes. You can also kind of see the door to the balcony. I found out last week that I actually CAN fit through the bars on the balcony! And Jen thought I would be too fat... so much for letting me out there unsupervised in the summer!

There's a little bed in the corner. Jen pretends this is my bed. Cute.

Another view of the kitchen. Sometimes there are surprise snacks on the floor.

And this is the couch where I spend most of the day. Time not spent snuggling and getting scratches is time wasted.

So, yep. That's my new house. It's pretty nice. I like it. I get lots time to snuggle with Jen.


*Originally this was just going to be pics of the new place, Missy kept getting in ALL OF THE PICTURES. Then I remembered how one of the librarians at school use to write her new years family letter from the point of view of her cat so I thought I'd try it out. Missy is laying across my arms as I type this so I think it's appropriate.

Did I finish my "30 Before 30?"

4 years ago I created a list of 30 things I wanted to try and accomplish before I was 30 and I've tried to update you on how that has gone as each year has passed. 

Well, it finally happened and I turned 30. Did I accomplish my 30 things? Well, 21 out of 30 is pretty good, I think. Here's a complete run down of how I did on the whole list:

1. Graduate from the Portland State School Counseling graduate program
I did it! After two years of working part time, going to classes in the evenings, writing papers, reading, reading, reading, six months of clinical practice and then 9 months of stressful internships, and I did it! Graduated in June 2015.  I met some amazing people who are now doing amazing work at schools. Go team!

2. Sell a piece of my artwork

Nope. Didn't happen. Though I have given a lot away...

3. Go on a trip with my sister

Well, Chicky got married and moved to Idaho so that trip had to be canceled.

I DID, however, get to go on an amazing trip to Victoria BC with my girlfriend over the summer! It was so much fun! We walked around downtown, met up with some of her friends to go to the Butchart Gardens, and ate delicious food together (poutine, anyone?!).

4. Read the unabridged version of "Les Miserables"

Nope. I didn't even really try. It's still on the same page I left it at in 2013. I'm sorry, Victor Hugo. I'm just having a really hard time getting through Hugo's thoughts on the history of convents and religion in France. GET TO THE BARRICADES ALREADY. 

5. Move out of my parents' house

BOOM. DONE. And I'm keeping up a good list of all my firsts IN MY NEW HOUSE.

First time using my new toaster IN MY NEW HOUSE.

First pictures hung on the walls IN MY NEW HOUSE.

My first floor rug IN MY NEW HOUSE.

And Missy's first day... IN MY NEW HOUSE.

6. Decorate a room the way that I really want to
In 2013 I moved from my childhood room into what used to be my mom's craft room before my parents built the art sudio addition to the house. And I got to paint it and decorate it the way I wanted. And now I'm moving into a HOUSE and I get to decorate ALL OF IT.

7. Make something for my future home

I made a cute plate for my house! But it didn't turn out as nicely as I'd hoped... the writing was a littly wonky. But it was cute!

8. Shoot a gun (that one actually scares me...)

I put it off and put it off. I've had multiple people offer to take me to a shooting range but I just couldn't bring myself to do. Maybe this will turn into a bucket list type thing. 

9. Get a "real" job
Around about the time I went to Korea summer 2015, I was starting to feel a little worried about what I would be doing in the fall. I had done SO. MANY. INTERVIEWS. So many. And I had gotten so many phone calls and emails saying no, no, no. I got a couple of phone calls that were like, "It was down to you and another person, and we went with the person with more experience."

Then, in August, when I was in Santa Clara for my grandmother's unexpected funeral (rest in peace, Graham Cracker), I got a phone call while at the wake at my Aunt's house from a job in Newberg. We played a little phone tag and I got the interview set up. Then I got ANOTHER phone call from another school in Newberg asking if I wanted to schedule an interview for a little bit after my interview at the other school since I was in town.

Back to back interviews and both went well. I got tours of the schools showing me where my office would be, etc. As I as going into my second interview I got called off from work which turned out to be a blessing because I got a phone call from the district asking me to come interview with the superintendent (and the principal of the school from my first interview of the day). At that interview I was offered my pick of either position and while I felt like I knew which one right there, I told them I would sleep on it and call them in the morning.

Thus I became the school counselor at Mabel Rush Elementary in Newberg! Every day is an adventure. There have been many tears and lots of self-doubt, but I have been told by my principal I am doing well so I'm going to trust her judgement and continue working hard to create a better and more prevention focused program this year.

10. Learn a new skill
I learned several new skills in 2014. On a professional level, I learned how to do a whole bunch of things about what I will do as a school counselor. On a more personal level, I also learned some yoga. That was amazing. I was really surprised at how much I liked my yoga class and how good it felt. I have a hard time with meditation activities, and I feel like the yoga really helped me to focus on clearing my mind. I need to start doing it at home on my own. Great stress reducer.

11. Paint a piece of furniture

I painted my old little cube trunk (it used to have teddy bears printed all over it and I painted it pink!). But I can't find any of the pictures I took of the process. 

12. Have a theme party (perhaps "Nightmare Before Christmas"?)

I had a Halloween party at my new house this year! My friend Madi (she is a counselor at one of the local middle schools) and I cohosted. It was fun!

13. Make and send holiday cards
In 2013 I made and sent cute holiday cards... and took no pictures!!

14. Organize a recipe binder of things I can cook well

Nope. Still working on this one.

15. Take sister photos
Thanks to a JC Penney Groupon, Jesi and I got some adorable sister pictures summer of 2013.

Us holding the picture of when we first met. I'm the one with bangs in both pictures. ;)

16. Get a family portrait

Nope.

17. Cosplay

Nope.

18. Watch "Gone With the Wind" in one sitting

Nope.

19. Practice my language skills (Spanish? Korean?)
Well, I am definitely practicing. I have a fair amount of Spanish speaking families and I try really hard to go out of my way to speak with them in Spanish when I see them (same with my Spanish speaking students). I have been told I have a wonderful accent (why, thank you), but I still have a lot to learn! I really really REALLY want to do some more active practice. I'm hoping to find an imersion program (preferably involving travel, of course) where I can attack this language. I think I might have found something that also gives me graduate credit (which my district will pay for!) and I also have several friends at school interested in going, too! All right!!

20. Put fun color in my hair
I BECAME JEM!!! I had pink hair summer 2015. I was going to wait until I had a job but when July rolled around and I was frustrated with not getting hired, I decided to color my hair so it would be pink for the two weeks in Korea. It was amazing and I felt like a fairy princess. And then I did it again this last summer. I made it a bet with my kinders so I could have it on the last day of school. Love love love having pink hair. :)

21. Create a filing system for important documents

Yes! I have a nice binder/folder system for my important documents! Does that mean everything makes it into there? Nope. But it's set up and ready to function!

22. Take a fun class
During Spring term 2014, I took a couple of classes to do something fun for myself: yoga and watercolor. I liked the yoga, but the watercolor class was just annoying. It was mostly studio time. She didn't teach squat. If I'm going to take a class on something, I expect lesson plans and actual teaching of techniques or something. I was pissed. But, I got some time to do my own projects (which sucked because I don't know how to paint with watercolors, hence taking the class).

23. Learn to sing Korean karaoke
I decided to say yes to this one, though it is half-hearted. When I wrote this goal, I meant that I would be comfortable reading the Korean alphabet enough that I could sing Korean songs at a noraebang. Well, I'm not quite there yet.

BUT!

Mindy and I DID manage to sings a song in Korean when we went to the noraebang in Korea (mostly) AND we were able to figure out the  remote to work the basics of the karaoke machine at the noraebang.

In other news, I recently went with some friends to a Korean noraebang place in Beaverton that had the SAME GIANT REMOTES. And they had a sticker on the table with the translations! Look! It's so awesome!!

24. Bake GOOD cookies (all by myself!!)
I taught myself how to bake French macarons in 2014! I can't make a chocolate chip cookie to save my life, but I can make macarons. Very happy with that skill. I'm still trying to perfect the best filling for them, but I pretty much got the meringues down.



25. Write a letter to my future self

Nope. I should do that.

26. Go back to Korea (hopefully with a job there, but I'll settle for a vacation)
I went on a two week vacation to Korea last summer! It was AWESOME!!! I'm on the edge of deciding if I want to go back and work there (kind of feeling the vibe for western Europe), but that kind of depends on where I'm at in the next few years.

27. Tour Portland Shanghai Tunnels

Nope. I still want to do that!

28. Go to New York
I totally went to New York summer 2013!! It was SUCH A BLAST!! I saw five shows in one week, visited a million things, and generally drank my weight in water every day to keep up with how much we were sweating, it was so freaking hot. Check it out!

I'm in Times Square! In glasses because city air does not agree with my contacts.

29. Buy a car
My parents bought me a car for graduation in December 2014. His name is Fish and he is amazing.


30. Learn a new song on the piano
Christmas 2013! The piece was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be, but it's really pretty so I'm totally counting this one as done. Here's a video of it synchronized with dancing Christmas light. Just to be clear, I'm not actually the one playing it in this.  

House Update!

Update on The House!!

We are now a few weeks away from the beginning of the school year and we still have a good amount of work to do before The House is ready, but we are getting so close!! 

I got the walls all painted in July. Letty from work came one day and helped out which was fun! We were able to knock out the entire downstairs in one day. Dad helped with my bedroom (the high ceilings were not reachable for me on the ladder...), but, again, done in a day! Check out my light gray with teal accent wall. Oh, and I painted ALL THE TRIM. Which is horribly boring and tedious (but better than ripping out tile, I've now discovered). I'm pretty proud of all the lovely white trim. :) 

This shot also includes the beautiful new carpet. The old carpet was really gross. The previous owner had two elderly, incontinent dogs that peed everywhere. So much so, that it soaked through the old carpet AND padding to stain the subfloor (don't worry, we painted over the pee spots with special mildew stuff paint). We (re: Dad with help and sushi from me) are putting down laminate in the rest of the house.

A problem arose painting the stairway. The original idea was to have dad on the dual level ladder doing the cutting in and then I would come in with the extender and paint the rest of it. As you can see in the next picture, that didn't quite work out. About halfway through we decided he was going to fall off and die. So I'm going to be hiring some painters to come. Waiting on one more quote and then I can get that scheduled. Yay!

A few weeks ago Dad and I finished putting in the laminate upstairs (ignore the lack of baseboards). My dad is so cool.

Then my dad went on vacation leaving me instructions on how to work on taking out the tile from downstairs. He gave me a GIANT THOR HAMMER, a big iron stick, a scraper, a smaller THOR HAMMER, and instructions to bash it all to heck. You see this picture? This is two days of me working until I was no longer worthy to lift THOR'S HAMMER (ie: I am weak and my arms turned into very painful noodles). 

The last 10 minutes or so of this was me sitting on the floor despondently lifting and dropping the hammer trying not to cry. 

It was really hard. 

So I hit Google looking for power tools that help rip out tile. Some of the searches might have been a little sarcastic and mean spirited, but it ended up with me renting a legit jackhammer on Monday and busting that tile TO DUST. HELL. YES.

Dad did most of the work, but I helped! Again, I am weak and could only lift and maneuver the jackhammer for so long before I had to pass it back to the padre. But it went SO MUCH FASTER. The same size area that took me two days with THOR'S HAMMER took about 5 minutes with the jackhammer. 

We were able to finish the rest of the tile in about two hours of hard work. My entire downstairs is completely covered in dust which is fun, but totally worth it. Now I just need to rip out the layer that was between the tile and the subfloor (I don't even know what to call it) which is fun because it is nailed down AND cemented in some spots. Most of it is pretty easy, though. Then we can install the flooring downstairs (once Dad gets back from his cruise, of course).

What's left to do (in no particular order):

• Rip out floor thing downstairs
• Dump ripped out tile and floor stuff
• Install downstairs laminate
• Take nails out of base boards and paint
• Reinstall baseboards
• Put outlet face plates back on
• Caulk doors and do touch up painting on trim/walls
• CLEAN. SO MUCH CLEANING.

Some things can be done after moving in, but I'll still probably be moving into The House during the first few weeks of school. So excited to do a before and after post! Stay tuned!!