Mo Bros

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This year Josh is s going to be a Mo Bro, which I guess makes me a Mo Sista - we're a  Mo Fam! We don't Mo alone. 

Who is Mo? What the heck am I talking about? Movember! It's pretty simple Moustache + November = Movember. For the month of November, men grow mustaches to help change the face of men's health (get it - change the face). Here's the websites description of the mo-vement:

“Movember is the month formerly known as November, where men and women across the globe join together to raise awareness and funds for men’s health. Men grow and women support a Mo (moustache) for 30 days becoming walking, talking billboards. Movember supports world-class men’s health programs that combat prostate and testicular cancer.

Men who support Movember, called Mo Bros, start by registering at Movember.com. Mo Bros start Movember 1st clean-shaven, then grow and groom their Mo, for the rest of the month, raising money along the way. Women who support Movember, called MO SISTAS, also start by registering at Movember.com. MO SISTAS champion the Mo by registering and supporting the Mo Bros in their life, spreading the important message of men’s health, leading a team and organizing events.”

On November 1st, Josh shaved. When I saw him, I didn't quite recognize him. I've known him with a beard now for three something years. Then all of a sudden he gets a shave and cuts his hair. Funny how my opinion of the beard has changed. When we first met, I refused to let him grow a beard. But when he moved to the Northwest before me, and grew a beard, I suddenly think it's great. So I was sad to see the beard go. But I'll survive the month...I think. 

Prior to the shave, he let the bread grow. It was pretty...uhh, how shall I say this, it was luxurious. Here's a before and after:

Josh is the Captain of Team Logic 20/20, his office's team.  And I'm joining a team at my office, team name is TBD. If you're wanting to help the cause, donate to Josh's team here. I'll write some follow-up posts to keep you posted on his moushache progress. Maybe he'll grow something like Mr. Pringles. 

Down Low, Up High

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On Saturday our bed went from being down low to up high. How? We got our bed frame!

You may recall back in early November I wrote about our new mattress (Comfy at 35 and 60). This was our wonderful Sleep Number mattress bed. Unfortunately, our mattress came before the frame because the frame was on back order with Crate and Barrel. Translate this to mean: we've been sleeping on the floor.

Okay, well it wasn't the floor, but the mattress sitting on the floor. Luckily, the mattress is pretty high, so it turned out to be a relatively a normal height. HOWEVER, now that we have the bed frame, that normal height isn't so normal. We are now sitting a royal 30 inches from the ground.

We sort of feel ridiculous being so high. If it were a bigger house and a bigger room, it would look very elegant. But being a smaller apartment with a smaller room, it's a bit tight. My feet dangle as I sit on the edge of the bed. I'm just fearful, I'll wake up in my usual slump to get out of bed, forget it's high and fall flat on my face. I can picture it now.

Our New Bed Our New Bed Frame

Take a careful look at the pictures. Look at the bed stands...see where they compare to the bed? Yes, my friends, that's how Josh & I roll, I guess you could say we're high rollers in a way.

Theobroma Cacao

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A.K.A. Theo, some pretty dang good chocolate. (if you're curious in the title, go here, it's the name of the cacao plant that sprouts the bean for the chocolate).

Did you guess right? I mean, did you guess which option we chose for our first checkmark off the kitchen chalkboard? I asked you in my 365 post. Yea, go back and read it. I can't believe you forgot already. Sheesh. J/K (<--Did you know a guy at my work actually just says the letters J/K. Annoying).

The answer: Theo Chocolate Factory. You should have guessed it from the title name. Clever little name. We learned this on the tour we took on Thursday. It was a great tour actually. It was an hour long and we got a brief outline of the process of making chocolate from the bean to the bar. Then the lady took us through the factory, as it was running, and explained the machines and flow of the factory. It was cool to see everything in progress and the workers. We also went into their chocolate confectioners room. Along the way, she also fed us chocolate - started with really dark to milk.

The flavors of chocolate they have there are pretty interesting. There is Hazelnut Crunch, Chai, Coconut Curry, Mint, Chili, and more. Then all those delicious chocolate smells waft through the air of Fremont.

Another fact we learned on the tour was that their machines are more old fashioned, and they apparently got them in an auction in Germany, Switzerland, a few other European countries. Neato. They had to go with smaller machines because of costs and production.

Well, that's really about it. The shop also has tons of tasters too. It's a good place to visit. If you visit, perhaps you'll be taken here for a tour. Wink Wink.

Cacoa Beans

365

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Hurray! Congrats to me! Throw the confetti! Why? Because today is the one year (or 365 days) anniversary of beginning my blog. Calm down now, I know you're excited.

3 - Three Reasons Why I Started

  1. An easier way to keep in touch

  2. A way to share my photos

  3. Josh was bugging me to do it


6 - Six Reasons Why I Love It

  1. Keep in Touch

  2. A conversation piece

  3. Allows me to be creative

  4. Able to learn new technology and improve writing skills

  5. I love it because you love it (I hope)


5 - Five Things You Can Expect To Come

  1. More photos (yes, more)

  2. Reviews of books and music (if I can get through this one book...)

  3. Seattle life

  4. Things that will make you laugh

  5. New topics (this is a given...I was running out of ideas for this one)


And in regards to my last #5, below are some posts you might see coming up. This is a board that is in our kitchen which I've created a list of things we're interested in doing here in Seattle. We were hoping to check one of each month. The first is coming this Thursday. Can you guess which one?

Now, Celebrate!

Boxes

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Packing, Packing, and more Packing. Did I say packing? Yes, we're packing. Icky packing. Our home is now boxes and boxes. Today, we moved the boxes to the garage now too so the place is empty (almost). Yuck boxes. And also, a farewell to the rocking chair. It's going to good hands. Bye Bye childhood rocking chair. I'll miss you (but not your space-eating ways).

IMG_5410

Leaving Home to go Home

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Two homes. One girl. You heard me right; I have two homes. One home is here in Eugene and the other is in Encinitas (childhood slash where my parents still live). And it is to my Encinitas home that I'm headed for this afternoon. I'm flying down for a long weekend. I'm looking forward to enjoying some quality time with my parents and it'll be a nice little break from the rain (but the rain ain't that bad really). Plus, this will give Josh some time to focus in on finals prep which is coming up. I'll write a weekend recap when I return! Don't miss me too much--wink wink.

I'm Reviewing the Situation

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I hope you're breaking out in song like I do with my blog title. No? Not singing the Oliver song too? Blush. Oh well, I'm a dork, what can I say.

Glee Soundtrack: Since we're singing, let's start with a review of my recent music purchase. I even pre-ordered the album on iTunes since I like the TV show so much. This sums it up: Glee makes me happy. I listen to the album and I'm jammin'...I'm jammin' around the house, at the gym, or on the road. And not only is the music good, but the show is as well. The show is funny, unique, edgy, and just something I look forward to each Wednesday.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: I just finished this yesterday. Yes, the title is long and strange, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Like the title, this book is unique (sorry I used this word again, but it just fits best in both instances). It is composed of letters--just letters between all the characters. I was worried at first of not being able to keep track of the different people, but as you read on, it just clicks. The setting is post WWII and is about a writer looking for a topic for a book to write and how she enters the lives of the people on an little island in the English Channel. I highly recommend!

Pudding: I thought I'd just throw in a review on a new snack I've been eating lately. Don't fret, it's not replacing my precious froyo in any way, but it's not as chilly in cold weather. What? Pudding! I jazz it up too. I add banana, vanilla wafers, and whip cream with either banana or chocolate pudding. Bowl licking good!

That's the review for today! Like my random entires, you'll see reviews every once in a while too. If you didn't read my earlier review, it's The Critic.

...I think I'd better think it out again! (<--that the end to the Oliver song)