Live With Less

This blog is intended to be an outlet for all of my forms of communication. Take note that I am very rarely serious, almost always sarcastic, constantly surprised by my own stupidity, sporatically intelligent, and annoyingly attached to a book most of the time. And as of January 5th, 2009, I am participating Project365. Basically, I will take at least one picture a day for a year and post it with a little blurb. Feel free to join me in this quest, people!

Day 42



This was a super fun day in Vancouver BC! First, my sis and I went to the Vancouver Aquarium and got to see some really amazing exhibits and the most adorable Beluga Whales. The Jelly Fish are always my favorite creatures at aquariums and I thought it was cool that the Oregon Aquarium has some of the same species. Heather and I also went Canadian bowling again. It's a blast - much more fun than regular bowling! After our games, we went in to one of the most unique shops I've been in for awhile - Cherry Bomb. My friend Brian would have loved this store! We ended the day walking around familiar streets downtown, passing by the 2010 countdown clock for the Winter Olympics that are to be held in Vancouver BC ;)




Day 41



Heather and I went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge today. It wasn't as scary as I thought, thank goodness! The treehouse portion of the park was pretty cool. Walking up high in the trees was humbling, as the trees seemed even bigger than from the ground! The last picture is of the city from our building's window. It was a beautiful day and we got to walk around the city once again, this time around Robson Street. We discovered a bowling alley and attempted to play the Canadian way - way different from American bowling!

Day 40



Valentine's Day was spent galavanting around downtown Vancouver. We first hit the Chinese Gardens (1st one ever outside of China), then we walked around Gastown and shopped at some tourist traps. We then headed off to Fuel for Heather's birthday dinner - 5 courses of a lot of foods that we couldn't even pronounce! The salmon dish was my favorite ;)

Day 39 - Vacation to Vancouver BC



My sister and I stayed overnight in Federal Way on Thursday so we can see our friends this morning. Their little girls were freakin' adorable! We then drove through Seattle up to Vancouver BC for our long weekend vacation. Look for more pictures over the next few days of Canada ;)



Day 38


First day of vacation... and this is the cleanest (and warmest) rest stop I've ever been in! Just had to take a picture to capture the rarity of it!

Day 37


I was bored... and I had to contain myself from making this picture even more creepy with Photoshop ;)

Day 36



I love walking around downtown Portland during my lunch breaks... I come across some of the most random things and see some of the most amazing buildings. This project is such a blessing because I am much more aware of my surroundings and it's like I'm seeing things new all over again. City Hall is something that I see on a regular basis, but on the day that I took this picture it just stood out.

Day 35


For 2009, my sister and I created little posters listing attributes that came to mind about each other. This is the poster my sister made up for me. I keep it in my room where I can see it everyday to remind myself that I am more than what my self-esteem says that I am.

Day 34


Where the bloody hell is Heather's passport?! My sister and I spent ALL DAY tearing our house apart looking for her passport for our upcoming trip to Canada this next weekend - with no luck! However, according to the Homeland Security website, all we need is our driver's license and a birth certificate to go over the border both ways (at least until July 1, 2009). I'm going to call them tomorrow just to make sure... otherwise it's $$$ to order a replacement passport RUSH - but we are going on vacation damnit!!!

Day 33


My sister and I goofed off a little on Saturday with an impromptu visit to Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center. An afternoon of cold grilled cheese, a White Cherry Slurpee, 890 game tickets, and one Jumbo Candy Necklace later and my sister and I were done acting like kiddies!

Day 32




These first 2 pictures are just from a common park area near where I work in downtown PDX. The last picture is just me wishing ;)

Day 31


My mom and I went to lunch and I got a couple of snapshots on the way back to work. My mom wanted me to take a picture of the reflection of the KOIN Center building on the side of the Keller Auditorium. The other picture is of the small courtyard/park in front of Portland City Hall.

Day 30


I saw this in a window on a walk downtown during my lunch. It was for a advertisement for HairM - a salon for men.

Day 29


There's nothing better when you're sick than watching a comfort movie... and luckily, The Princess Bride was playing on TV tonight. There's something about the name Humperdink that just makes me giggle!
Oh, and I kind of got a picture of Pip with his eyes somewhat open - finally!

Day 28




Meet my new toy! Heather and I found this little guy at Urban Outfitters and I had to get him to see what he could do! He's a 35mm Fisheye Lens camera (retail $48.00). Very retro, very awesome! I've got some practicing to do with him, but so far, I really like the effect of the lens. What do you all think???

Day 27



Homage to Bruce Campbell (and BJ).

Day 26



I surprised my friend and coworker Veronica (aka Vern) with a gag gift on Friday - a life-sized cut out of Edward from the Twilight movie. She thinks he's very, very, VERY cute... lol. She won't let me post any pictures of her, so I'm putting up this one of my friend/co-worker Brenda. I love it!

Day 25



Lunch and dinner ;)

Day 24


So I thought I'd spice things up a little bit with a video... my digital Sony Cybershot camera has a nifty video function, however, it automatically zooms in and out, so when I move it, it tends to go in and out of focus - so I apologize for some of the blurriness. But at least you get a close-up view of kittens at play... through a door. Normally, BitBit or Pip try and pull Shanks' paws, but they were only mildly interested when I was filming ;)


I'm also sneaking in a picture of the mess on my desk (the right side of it, anyway)... this is the section of my cubicle that is a temporary parking space for papers, invoices, notes, receipts, envelopes, books, oh lord - you name it! There's even a box of cereal, for crying out loud (which I disposed of right after I took this picture because it's been there since 2008 - and I couldn't remember if it has been there since November or December)! Dude, when I find the time, I need to do some clean-up!

Day 23



I wasn't really in a picture taking mood today... so here are 2 pictures from my room. I have a map of Scotland marked with places I've been and places I want to go to. I also have these little collectible ring "boxes" that really need dusting (as you can see) - this little guy was my first ;)

Day 22



  1. My sister was in a crafty mood tonight, so she made her first two fleece-blanket-by-kits tonight. I caught her fingers in a tying frenzy!
  2. Shanks, being Shanks.
  3. Shanks sniffing my finger after I ate my leftover pasta with shrimp... hmmm... shrimp...
  4. Pip, blinking yet again!

Day 21




Sunday was a work day for me... so I had to find little things to break up my 4 hours of OT. A little bit of snow fell in the morning, so I thought I'd try to take a picture from my floor of the park behind my building. Sorry about the reflection, but it's still a cool picture.
Then, as I was walking to my car to head to the grocery store, I encountered this little squirrel. He/she let me take a few pictures before freaking out (hence the last picture). So cute! Everytime I see a squirrel, one of two things pop into my mind... Eddie Izzard and The Sword and the Stone.

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