it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

i am so behind on this blog...this update is going to take forever. ugh.
so the day after thanksgiving, jarrod and i went to the tree lighting at pioneer courthouse square.

after the lighting, we decided it was time to decorate our own space, so we went to the mall to find the She&Him christmas album (we bought that and a few others) and then to michaels and did some shopping for a small christmas tree and tiny ornaments for that tree. once we got home, we put some christmas music on and started the decorating. here's what became of that:

that's not even the completion of the decorations, but right now, my phone doesn't seem to want to load the newer photos, so this will have to work for now.
a week after the christmas decorating in our space, i went to The Festival of Trees (http://oregon.providence.org/patients/programs/providence-festival-of-trees-Portland/Pages/default.aspx) with athena and her daughter, maggie.

then a few days after that, jarrod and i headed to seattle for an early birthday present.

and yesterday was my birthday. i can't upload any pictures right now bc my computer/phone is being dumb. i can tell you that we went to multnomah falls and then we went to fred meyer so jarrod could buy supplies for the lasagna he was going to make me for dinner, from scratch!!! and guess what, it was DELICIOUS. he did a great job!!! he also made me cake balls. they consisted of triple chocolate cake mix covered in white chocolate. yum, yum, yum!!!! :D while the lasagna was in the oven, etc, we had a How I Met Your Mother marathon (because it's finally streaming on netflix) and we just chilled and were lazy. a little bit after dinner, i was told by one of my roommates to come upstairs so we could eat the cake anthony had baked for me. anthony, analise, and jarrod sang me happy birthday and then we all enjoyed a delicious chocolate cake with chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles. :) it was a lovely evening. i ended my birthday at the movie theater screening of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. so....all in all, i had a wonderful birthday!!! :D
i know this didn't really go in depth, bc there's pictures to (hopefully) explain everything. if there's anything in particular you want to know, just ask. :)
and so now, i think you're all caught up (mostly)...
;)
-sarah-

Oh, the IRONY.

yes, i am aware that it has almost been a month since my last update...no lie: nothing has been going on. we've gone christmas shopping....that's about it. now you're caught up.
to the title of this blog post: our tv died today....and it's almost black friday.... and i was just talking to someone at work about a 42" LCD sharp tv that's at best buy for only $200. at the risk of becoming the HUGEST HYPOCRITE on this planet, i thought about going to stand in line- jarrod suggested it too, so don't yell at me! BUT i will NOT be going. somehow, we'll survive w/out a tv... and maybe we will still be able to get a deal somewhere sometime soon. the only problem with getting a new tv is the money we would be using for the iphone 4s will either be going to that (the 4s) or a tv now. UGH. decisions, decisions. so, we'll see which is chosen first. *sigh*
on to more important things. i've noticed on fb that a lot of people are/were saying what they were thankful for each day leading up to today- thanksgiving. i thought that was a great idea, strangely enough, but i figured i'd forget and then fall behind, so i skipped out on that. there's no reason i can't do that now though. so here it goes

24 things I am THANKFUL for: (in no particular order)
1. I am thankful for jarrod's record player, which is allowing me to listen to probably my favorite album of all time: Wincing the Night Away by the shins. Never heard of it? look it up, for reals! it's seriously one of the best albums ever made, EVER. back to the record player- i'm thankful it is keeping me company as jarrod is at work and the tv is dead. :P
2. I am thankful for my cat, Iris, as she is also keeping me company right now, looking so cute and content on the top of the couch. she may just seem like a cat to anyone else, but she truly is a great friend of mine- she's always there to help me lower my blood pressure (http://www.catsplay.com/thedailycat/2003-09-22/mind_happycat/petting/petting.html) and keep my physically and psychologically healthy. she is my child and i love her with all of my being. i'm so glad she came with us to portland, or should i say, i'm glad she actually loves us after putting her through that. she's such a sweet girl. :)
3. i am thankful for my car- the MOST AMAZING car on the planet. she may look like a piece of junk, but she is a fighter. she has been through so much; traveled so far, and has gotten me to every destination safely. she is probably my most prized possession. would you believe i only paid $250 for her? (split the total with my parents- $500 total) she is worth every penny and more. she's more than paid for herself. i love that car!!! and even though i do daydream about the day i will own a mini cooper, or any other car for that matter, i will always have a special place in my heart for the car that helped me reach my dreams.
4. i am thankful for fingernail clippers. i don't know what it is that causes me to constantly pick at my nails and the skin around my nails, but it's something i do, and if i didn't have fingernail clippers on me at all times, i'd probably end up ripping my nails off altogether.
5. i am thankful for my job at the movie theater, no matter how much i hate it. it may be the worst place in the universe, but it still introduced me to some of my best friends, whom i hope to stay friends w/ until the world ends, even after. haha. oh yeah, the theater pays me....that's pretty nice. haha. but seriously, i am aware there are plenty of people out there w/out jobs who are struggling everyday, and i am grateful to not be one of those people. i just need to remind myself of that fact sometimes.
6. i am thankful for wifi and internet access, so that i may keep in touch with friends and family almost constantly.
7. i am thankful for unlimited texting, bc man, i go through those things like no other. there was one point in time when i only had 250 or maybe 500... needless to say, i went over that limit every time.
8. i am thankful for garage sales and thrift stores. as you know, i am a pretty cheap person- i really hate spending money, but when i come upon good deals, it's hard not to spend money, so i'm glad there are places for people like me that actually do have quality items. haha (this was brought to mind by the robe i am currently wearing that's keeping me toasty warm- i bought it at a garage sale.)
9. i am thankful for the house we now live in and i am grateful to the owner of the house to take a chance on a random couple from texas that she knew nothing about. (thanks, brandi!) this house truly is amazing. it feels like home. :) we have so much space in the basement and we're getting such a great deal on everything. i'm glad we found it when we did. who knows what would have happened if we didn't find this house?
10. i am thankful for my friends and family for being so supportive when jarrod and i decided to move over 2000 miles away from them. i know it was/is rough on them (still), but i'm glad they were brave enough to let us follow our dreams. not only did they wish us luck in our journey, but they also helped us get here by donating items to multiple garage sales, AND purchasing stuff from those same garage sales to help us get out here. thank you!!!
11. and now separately: i am thankful for my friends. they have gotten me through so much and helped me grow all my life. w/out them i would be a completely different person, or worse, i wouldn't be alive bc i didn't have them to help me and support me and make me laugh when i really needed it. i love you!!!
12. i am thankful for my brother. for a while there (when we were really young) i really couldn't stand him. man, i think i really hated him...but then something happened- he turned into the coolest person and brother ever and we started getting along. he's such a great guy and he was/is always capable of making me laugh uncontrollably. mom always did say, "if you're brother wasn't funny, you probably would have killed him." haha. i am glad we get along so well now, but slightly upset that we can't spend as much time together anymore. i know, i asked for that though. haha.
13. i am thankful for my parents (mom, dad, gene): they, made me the person i am today through their teachings, guidance, and discipline. they were strong when they needed to be and kind and caring when that was called for. haha. but seriously, i am truly grateful to them for how i turned out. mrs. arispe asked me once what my parents did to make stephen and i turn out so well. i honestly don't know, but what i do know is they did something right. so much could have gone wrong, but bc of their guidance, we turned out just about perfect. thank you for that!!! you are the greatest parent's in the world!
14. i am thankful for jarrod's parents/family who accepted me into their family as soon as we met that day right before our first trip together to six flags. (even though i was really quiet and shy and continued to be that way for quite a while) they have taught me so much and helped me grow and they have shown me so much love, it's overwhelming. i am grateful that they trust me enough to drag (not really) their youngest son with me to portland. i am glad they were always willing to help with the move even though i know it hurt them to let us go. thank you for all of the love and support!!!
15. i am thankful for jarrod hartfield, who is the strongest person i know. i don't know how he puts up with me sometimes, as i can rarely put up with myself at those times, but somehow, he does it and i am very grateful for that. i am so glad he is always there for me and cares for me. :) he's seriously one of the best people in this universe, no lie. haha. i love him and i am thankful i have him to call my own. 
16. i am thankful for leftovers. i am about to go upstairs and get me some left over spaghetti! yeah! an easy meal. woot woot.
17. i am thankful for books and movies. i love that they have the ability to whisk you away to another world in a split second. it's always comforting to know that at any given moment, if needed, you can transport yourself to another time and place and just forget about everything you were worried about or bothered by. 
18. i am thankful for my comfortable, warm bed that i will be sleeping in very soon. i love that bed. haha.
19. i am thankful i don't have to work the "actual" black friday. i will get to go to sleep very soon as opposed to retail workers who will be working overnight and screwing up their sleep schedules. i'm so glad i don't have to go through that and i am incredibly sorry to those of you who do. 
20. i am thankful i live in such an amazing city. the people here are crazy, sure, but the the beauty of the city and it's uniqueness cancel the weirdness out (occasionally). this city has given me so many fun and exciting opportunities to do different things. i look forward to spending more time with this city and learning more about it.
21. i am thankful for photographs. i just love that we can capture a moment forever. it's like memories you don't have to keep in your head bc the pictures are there to remind you. :) 
22. i am thankful for music. music has a special place in my life, as a former band member, but also just in general. music helps me vent and express things that i can't do myself. music is a powerful thing and i am grateful that i can experience it's beauty in different ways.
23. i am thankful for my health. for some reason, i seem to have a really great immune system (knock on wood). i love that!!! i hope my immune system is always as strong as it is now. i really hate being sick. haha.
24. i am thankful for my life. it's a pretty easy life, even if i can't see that sometimes. i do get stressed out a lot, but i really shouldn't. i have everything i need and more and i am truly grateful for that.


that took me almost 2 hours. once again, i remember what i don't update anymore. haha.
alright, i think that's it. by now it's friday in tx, but i'm gonna say it anyways: HAPPY THANKSGIVING, everyone. i hope it was lovely and filled with joy.
-sarah-

When you're done doing whatever and when you're through doing whoever, you know DENTON county will be right here waiting for youuuuuu....

i'm sure everyone knows this song (at least my friends in texas do) but that's no reason to not post a video of such a great song.

as you now know, we went back to texas last week. what a great time it was!!! haha. i got to surprise mom (see facebook [http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150455020928825] for video of the reveal. haha) and i got to eat at all of the places i have been missing so much! YES! anywho, since it's been a while since the visit (we flew back to portland a week ago) i'll go ahead and upload pictures so it'll be easier to explain all that went on.

our flight to texas. idk where we were, exactly, but the mountains looked SO COOL!

this was taken right before departing Denver International airport. It just looks like rain, but it was actually 29 and snowing. our flight to tx was delayed about 10mins so that they could power wash the snow off the plane.

i don't have a pic of landing back at dfw. i was just too excited to get off the plane. haha. once we claimed our baggage and stepped outside, i regretted that though. haha. it was 85 degrees and i had started sweating. gross. the weather that day was just crazy in each place we were. we left portland, where the first frost of the season had happened. it was 35 degrees! then we got to denver where snow was covering the ground and it was 29 degrees. and then, back in dfw, it was 85, sunny, and humid. just crazy!!! hahaha.

jarrod's mom came to pick us up, and when we walked in the door of their house, this is what awaited us. :D we have mentioned multiple times how much we've missed wolf brand chili. we had just ran out of the set my parents sent us the day before landing in dallas, now we should be set until at least christmas (wink, wink!). the big red on the steps is there bc we thought we wouldn't be able to find any here in oregon. fortunately, winco carries big red, so there was no loss there!

the smore and apple....something

samoa

once we had dropped off our suitcase, we decided it was time to roam around the square. the first place we went: denton square donuts, aka: denton's version of voodoo donuts. jarrod got the smore and apple something or other. i got the samoa. all were very tasty!!! i'm kind of upset that something so cool came along AFTER we left, but then again, we have the ORIGINAL donut shop here, so no hard feelings, i guess. haha. we continued to walk around the square for a bit and then headed back to the apartment/house/loft.

MARCO!!! was the text i received from brittnye when she had just parked her car outside the loft. then up came her and avery to see us. :) 

once jarrod's dad got home from work, it was off to ROOSTERS for dinner!!! oh man, i cannot describe how much i miss roosters burgers. they probably have the best burgers i have ever had. and now, i'm craving roosters. that's just great. anyways, the food was absolutely delicious, as always. and that was one food location marked off my list on the first night we were there. yummm, roosters...
once we got back to the hartfields after dinner, jarrod and avery played all night long it seemed like. haha. it was cute to watch though. brittnye and avery left bw 9:30-10 and then craig came over to fill their place. once we were all caught up, it was bedtime. jarrod, craig, and i would have to wake up pretty early the next morning for the big surprise.

the campus theater :)

the courthouse

the above are pictures i took the next morning (thursday) before we were about to leave for old west. the view from jarrod's parent's place is so amazing! haha. :) if you can't tell, it was rainy that day. turns out we had brought portland weather with us. it was in the 50s and rainy all day. i enjoyed it. :)
so on to the surprise: at 8:30 (6:30 oregon time...but i won't get into that...) we were set to meet up at old west cafe to surprise mom. she had no idea we were even in denton until we walked up to her table at the cafe. (see video for visual. haha) her reaction was great. what you don't get to see in the video though, is mom getting up to hug me and she was crying. it made me teary-eyed too. it was so wonderful! hahah. so, we went on with breakfast as if we'd never been gone. i had my cheyenne (YUM) as always, and we just talked about everything that's been going on, including how long we had been planning this surprise (i bought my plane ticket mid-july). once we were done at old west (check number 2 on my list of food i MUST EAT while in texas), stephen drove mom and i around town while jarrod went back to his parent's to spend time with his family. i won't go into detail about all that was done. i will tell you that stephen was starting to lose his patience with us while driving us around bc he just wanted to go back home to go to sleep. haha. in short: we went shopping; we were looking for the final touches to our halloween costumes. once we were done with that, we headed back to the house (my parent's) where we watched scared shrekless and then stephen fell asleep. i was starting to get hungry again, finally, after my huge breakfast, so it was time to go visit another spot on my food checklist:

CHICK-FIL-A!!!! man, you have no idea how much i wish they would build a chick fil a close to here. there is ONE in washington, close to seattle, but it's still difficult to get to. anywho, i had a chicken sandwich. yum, yum, yum. mom had chicken nuggets. :) i enjoyed our lunch together, just the 2 of us. :) after chick fil a, we went to walmart for some groceries where i ran up to erma to give her a huge hug, and i secretly talked to catalina about the halloween party (which was also a surprise early birthday party for mom). after walmart, it was back to the house for FAMILY NIGHT where we had grilled hot dogs (i miss those even though it's easy to do. we don't have a grill here, so yeah...) and watched the 7th game in the World Series.

mickey!!!

ginger in a plastic bag

watching the world series

preparing dinner

just chillin

i left the house with jarrod around 8:40 so that we could go to cinemark to see my old work buddies. we walked in and everyone started freaking out. my neck was almost broken by a certain mattie myers.... chris swung me around and mr. cole ended his phone call just to talk to me. ;D i felt so loved. it was really nice to see everyone there. i will admit, i do miss that place, but only bc i miss my fellow coworkers/employees (not that my coworkers/employees here are terrible, bc they're not. they're pretty great too). jarrod and i left the theater around 10 and headed back to his parent's place where it was time for bed, bc once again, we'd be waking up early the next morning.
friday: jarrod went to grapevine/dallas to meet up with his best buddies from work for lunch at one of his checklist food locations: torchy's tacos. idk what all they did, so i won't talk about it. haha. ask him for more info. i, on the other hand, had a brunch date with my grandparents (on my dad's side- the BOWS!) in greenville at ihop. we were at that table for 2 hours. man. haha. but it was really nice to see them and catch up with them. :) once we left ihop, it was a race against time to get back to denton to pick jarrod up for a 3:25 showing of Puss in Boots 2d. idk how we made it with 10 minutes of previews left, but somehow, we did. while my parents and brother went inside the auditorium, jarrod and i talked with the managers/employees again until it was time for the movie to start. puss in boots was really good. it was very cute, but then again, i'm a cat person, so i relate to all those little cat qualities they put in the movie. haha. after the movie we stopped at walmart for i don't even remember what bc i was so exhausted. haha. and then we headed back to my parent's house for dinner and some lazy time. jarrod and i definitely took a nap. it was much needed. around 10, pegues picked us up to take us to hooligans for a meeting with friends that we hadn't seen at the theater. it was your typical bar night (for us). it was like having the gang back together again. what a great time! haha. :) around 2 (closing time...haha) we walked back to jarrod's parents and then it was BEDTIME.
saturday: i was hoping i would get to sleep in, but once brittnye came to say bye to us (since she was flying to north carolina to see her sister and new born niece) i couldn't fall back asleep, so i texted mom to let her know i was awake. i watched some spongebob and talked with jarrod's dad before showering and heading out with my mom to.....OLD WEST CAFE, again!

YUM YUM YUM. i almost wish i hadn't taken a picture of the food bc now i REALLY WANT that too. ugh. haha. so mom and i just talked during breakfast and i had to keep not saying certain things bc that night was the night of her surprise bday party. haha. after breakfast it was back to the hartfields for me where i thought i was gonna die of exhaustion...eventually, my strength and energy came back and then we headed out to whataburger (checklist number 3) for lunch. i didn't take a pic there, which is a shame. haha. after lunch it was back to the hartfields for some extra lazy time (thank you for that, bc i NEEDED IT!) where i fell asleep during marley and me. originally (in the plan) hartfield time on saturday was supposed to be "help set up for the party time" but fortunately, gene let me chill and he and my uncle, grandparents (mom's side- guajardo), etc set up for the party. THANK YOU FOR THAT!!! haha. i headed back home around 6, where i made some brownies for the party and watched hocus pocus with mom and gene until it was time to start getting ready for the party. mom did my hair and then headed back to her bathroom to do her hair and make up. in that time i got to text 500 people about what was going on and how we were gonna be a little late. eventually, we finally left the house for the party at catalina's. gene and i had our hands full with food, so naturally, mom had to open the door. and SURPRISE!!! she was confused, until she saw her mom (dressed as a nun) and then it finally clicked. haha. mom was very excited to see her family there, though she admitted that she wouldn't have dressed as drunk snooki if she had known her family would be there. hahahah. i don't have many pics from the party, but i'll post the ones i do have.

this is actually not a pic i took. i was still stuck in the doorway while everyone swarmed in on mom. heather fondren took this pic.

 

 

 

my arrow through stephen's head. haha

daddy and stephen :) daddy is richie tenenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums

me as katniss everdeen. yes, she and i are the same person.

it turns out i don't have very many good pics from the party (erma and catalina were taking pics all night though, so there will be evidence. haha) BUT i do have a video of my mom and grandma dancing.

so i do believe everyone had a great time at the party, especially mom. haha. while we were driving home that night she asked, "are there any more surprises i need to know about?" ahhaha. and gene and i both said no. the surprises were over. haha. we got home and it was bedtime.
sunday: we got to sleep in!!! i didn't wake up til 11!!! and then i watched some spongebob, woke jarrod up, and showered. sunday was the day of our fish fry lunch. the hartfields (including evan and avery) and daddy came over. jarrod and i played soccer with avery for a bit and then we ate lunch, talked with everyone, had an overall good time. then it was time to say bye to the hartfields. :'( and then we just sat around and watched 30 rock until it was time to leave for our flight. saying bye was still difficult....it took everything i had not to cry all the way home, on each flight, etc. so sad. i missed/miss everyone already! lame. haha.
and yeah......so that was our visit back in texas. idk when the next texas visit will happen, but i do know i will get to see a lot of people this summer, which i'm looking forward to! if only that weren't so far away!
man, i remember why i don't like updating: this post alone took almost 2 hours to do. ugh. haha


okay, so now, life is back to normal, normal being working all the freaking time. woo. we haven't really had much time to do anything, though yesterday we did freeze our butts off at the saturday market while we were searching for some christmas presents. yep, that's right, we're christmas shopping already, and guess what? we have a few people crossed off our list now. YEAH!
today we're gonna go see in time and maybe do a bit more christmas shopping at clackamas town center. that's about it.
the end....almost.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NAN HARTFIELD!!!!! :D


-fin.- ;)