Saturday, November 5, 2011

Yes, I'm moving to Portland!

Sorry this has been so delayed, my life is on one of those trains where it does not stop! Gosh so much has happened in the month of October, I can't believe it's gone already. I thought things would slow down after this summer but they obviously didn't!  So here is the Portland story.

Cody participated in a study at Athlete's Performance here in Phoenix.  If you have never heard of this company they are mostly involved in training professional athletes during their off seasons.  Cody and a some of his staff at ASU decided to take part in a study where they had to swallow this little thermometer and do a bunch of work outs for a few weeks. They took his core body temperatures during these long work outs so they could collect data.  Cody had a big impact on some of the employees there and was informed about their sister company Core Performance.  To make this short Cody had a few interviews and they fell in love.  He will be shadowing out at Athlete's Performance before they need him in Portland.  His position in Portland will be leading corporate wellness for Intel's headquarters (yes we are hoping to get some free computers :). 

This opportunity came out of absolutely nowhere. We weren't looking to move anytime soon. We thought maybe a 3 year commitment out here but it's only been a year and half.  We had to take this opportunity, I mean Portland come on! We know a few people who live up there and have heard some amazing stories about it. The city sits right on the river and you can see Mt. Hood looming in the background. We will be an hour from the coast and 3 hours from Seattle.  I'm so excited to live in the Pacific Northwest! I keep thinking about all of the new things I will get to experience and all of the beautiful places I never thought in a million years I would get to see. My doors are always open ladies so please come visit me!

As for my job situation, I was offered to be the Supervisor at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront.  I honestly think this move was meant to be because the position opened up the same week Cody had his interview. I thought to myself I'm never going to get this because why would they bother with a girl who lives in Phoenix and isn't even living in the city.  With the help of my amazing boss she gave me the courage to attack this head on.  I had two phone interviews and a final Skype interview which was the most awkward thing ever but the best interview I ever had. It was three women who at the end of it said "we love you, we want you to have the position". They are going through a 6.5 million dollar renovation and want me up there December 3rd to help with it.  That's a little soon but we are figuring out the move date this week. We will be getting reimbursed for all of our moving expenses which will help us out a lot.  

We almost bought plane tickets to come home for Christmas this year at a crazy high cost of $450 a piece.  We both had the time off to come up but something just didn't feel right about it.  The cost, the going back and forth between Dayton and Cincinnati.  It's like deep down we knew something was going to happen, so glad we didn't waste the money on those tickets! I am sad I won't be home for Christmas but I plan on going home around February or March. I haven't even seen the place I'm getting married at in person! But that's a whole other story that I will get into on a much calmer date. 

Another exciting note, my dear friend from Ohio State is competing in the Ironman out here in Phoenix.  He will be out on the 16th for a week with all of his family and a few of his close friends.  We will have 4 hotel rooms at my JW and lots of fun adventures.  If anyone has watched a simple Triathlon you know it can be long but this kid is swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and finishing it all up with a full marathon! The cut off time is 17 hours! I'm so proud of him and can't wait to be there at the finish line with everyone who supports him most! 

I will post again at the end of the week. Please update me on your lives! Miss all of you. 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Fall is on the way!



Two weekends ago Cody and I decided to head up to our favorite city in America.  Flagstaff is about 2.5 hours north of Phoenix.  The city sits at 7,000 ft and has the most amazing weather.  We went to a mountain bike race called Barn Burner.  Cody works for a company on the weekends based out of Phoenix called Red Rock Racing Co.  It puts on local triathlons in the city and puts on this mountain bike race up in Flagstaff.  While up there a local brewing company asked us to help volunteer.  Four Peaks Brewery has the most delicious beer I've ever experienced in this state, I won't say in my life because I've had some damn good beers in different states. For four hours we got to serve this delicious beer to dirty, tired, mountain bike racers.  While serving this beer I had conversations with people from all over the country and poured myself endless cups of Kilt Lifter (my fav. of the brews).  We received free t-shirts, hoodies, caps, you name it we got it! 
After our hours of having fun we had some more fun drinking by an open fire with lots of friends! We spent the night in our tent and woke up to the most amazing sunrise.  For about an hour we threw the ball to Bear in the fields at 6am and enjoyed every second of the morning. There was a large peak that we were curious about and decided to climb it.  Little did we know this peak was sitting at 10,000 ft and we weren't aware of the afternoon storms that would be blowing through the area. We were almost to the top when a hail storm blew threw and forced us to hide out in a cabin that was built in the early 1900's by the people who were placed up there to watch for wildfires.  This cabin saved us at the perfect time.  At the top we had the most amazing view of the San Francisco Peaks.  It was a weekend to remember. 

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Hi friends!!

Sorry I have been gone for so long. Some BIG things have been happening in my life. 1 I started a new job, it is what I have been doing here in the springs. The only that has changed is now I am a full time employee of this company and no longer being contracted out. 2 I bought a house!! It is a townhouse and I LOVE it!! I will post pictures soon, I just need to finish finding homes for all the things have I have managed to collect. I cant wait for visitors to come see it!! HINT HINT! But I will post again soon with pictures of my new home! I have a Pikes Peak view from my bed which is amazing, and also will be crazy because as soon as the current cloud cover breaks I hear there will be snow up there, 14000 feet is COLD! I also have an amazing view of Garden of the Gods, which is all natural red rock formations, it is amazing!

This weekend we are going to the Reds game because they will be in town playing the Rockies. Then on Saturday we are heading camping if it is not too cold! (it has been getting into the 40s at night). I thought the OH river valley had crazy temperature changes, but 40 degrees in a day or 2 is fairly common here. It was upper 90s and setting temp records last week, today our high was 60. CRAZY, but I do enjoy it!

Take care all and hope to hear from you soon!!

Monday, August 22, 2011

100th Post- A dedication to Ashley!!!


This 100th post if for our dear friend Ashley! Her Birthday was yesterday and I couldn't be more thankful that she was brought into my life! She is one of those friends that is always there for you and always knows how to put a smile on your face.  Our lives might not be in the same zip code let alone the same state but she will always be close to my heart.  I think what I love most about Ashley is that she's not afraid to get dirty! I can always count on her to go on an outdoor adventure with me and sleep in a cramped up tent with a wet dog! I can't wait to see what is in store for her future, she already followed her heart to Colorado with nothing holding her back.  She goes for what she wants and that's what I admire most about her.  She has taught me how to be more spontaneous and daring! So thank you Ashley for being one of my best friends and for always sending me picture messages of Max! I can't wait to climb mountains with you and get our pups together one day. I love you! 

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Things I'm Obsessing Over for August

Here are some recent obsessions...thought I would share 

1. Flipping Out on Bravo, Jeff is amazing. I want to flip houses and have an assistant like Jenny!

2. Peppermint tea, try it. I love drinking it before bed.

3. Redwood Trees. I'm reading a book called Wild Trees.  It follows the lives of the first biologists to measure the height of the Redwoods on the coast.  Now all I want to do is plan a vacation to see them. I'm tree obsessed right now.

4. Pistachios. All day every day.

5. Incubus has a new album, obsessed. Cody surprised me before we went on our camping trip with tickets for the show in PHX in October, counting down the days! I'm the crazy girl at concerts who jumps around and hugs everyone, I wish I could go to a concert daily. 

Monday, August 1, 2011

Missing in Action for about 3 months!


Sorry ladies! So much has happened in the past 3 months that I kind of forgot about this.  I got engaged, I'm living in my first real place with actual space, I got a promotion, I survived a 100 year dust storm, all of this with a smile on my face! It's August 1st and it's my 5 year anniversary.  I surprised Cody this morning with a brand new food processor wrapped in page tear outs from one of my magazines (I like to reduce and reuse). All of you know how happy I have been since we started dating and I honestly couldn't imagine my life with anyone else.  Now that we are engaged this anniversary feels a little more special than the other four.  Knowing I get to marry him next year puts the biggest smile on my face.  I will have wedding updates on here now, we have the location picked out and the date.  The wedding list is 90% done, we just meet so many people out here who knows who I will meet in the next year and who I will have to cut from the list made now to make room ;).  We are keeping it around 125-130.  Apparently that's a "big" wedding but I feel like it's a perfect number.  So this is all we have figured out as of now.  More details to come. 

My girlfriends out here want to do a trip to Vegas this fall or next spring.  I was thinking it would be fun it my AZ girlfriends and my Ohio girlfriends all had a long weekend in Vegas.  Thoughts? We could stay at the Cosmopolitan, the most amazing resort in Vegas! Since it is a Marriott property we get rooms super cheap.  Just a thought, please comment if you are interested in doing this! You girls would love my friends out here, the meeting would be amazing! 

We went on the most amazing camping trip last week for 5 days.  We headed up to Northeast Arizona to a place called Strawberry, AZ.  Coconino National Forest sits at 7,500 feet so the temperatures during the summer are amazing.  A high of 90 during the day with no humidity and a low of 60 at night.  It was a nice escape from the 100+ temps here in the valley.  We cooked on an open fire, hiked during the day, looked at a million stars at night, and Bear explore every single deer dropping! It was really nice to get away from cell phones and computers and traffic for 5 days.  We really connected on our trip and realized a few things that we forgot.  I suggest camping to re-connect with the one you love, being alone with just him and Bear really brought us closer together.  

Have a happy Monday! Miss you!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Oh so delish!

I've grown to be a big fan of Holly's summer pasta salad and decided we needed our own rendition here in the Taylor home. I made the first batch last night for girl's night, where we celebrated our twin friends' birthdays while they are in town from their homes in New Orleans & San Diego. So far, everyone loves it... including Jon and the kids I watch. I made it this particular way, but have included other varying ingredients I plan to try throughout summer.

It's time to start sharing delicious summer recipes my friends!

Summer Pasta Salad
  • 1 lb angel hair
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes
  • (or 5 fresh tomatoes cored & diced)
  • 1 green pepper diced
  • 1 cucumber sliced thinly
  • 1/2 block Mild Cheddar Cheese diced
  • 1/2 block Monterrey Jack Cheese diced
  • Italian Dressing (about 1/2-3/4 bottle)
  1. Cook pasta, drain and run under cold water.
  2. Add all ingredients to pasta.
  3. If using canned tomatoes, drain and rinse before adding.
  4. Refrigerate at least 1-2 hours before serving.
Yields 12-15 servings.

Other optional additions/substitutes: red peppers, zucchini, basil, salad seasoning, garlic, olive oil