Moving Day!

Ok so I finally have some down time to update my blog and boy has a lot happened in my life... Starting with the move to Eugene. The night before I left my parents took Jim and I out to dinner, which was sad for me, I knew how much I was going to miss every one at that table. After Dinner Jim and I met up with Kari and Steve at Bella Cucina to have a few goodbye drinks and Megan stopped by to say goodbye as well. When I got home, Sarah (my little sister in every way except biologically lol) came over and we stayed up all night talking and putting off the fact that I was leaving in the morning. It was a very emotional night for me, but not nearly as emotional as the next morning. Saying goodbye to my parents and driving away was the hardest thing I have ever done. I am so close to my parents and I felt like I was hurting them by moving so far away, it broke my heart. I gave my Kitty kisses, cried with my parents for about 20 minutes and by 6 AM I was off driving. I stopped on my way to the freeway to pick up a very important part of my road trip, Jim! He wanted to come along to make sure that I got up to Eugene safely since there was a lot of storms going on in northern California and Oregon. We stopped and got Starbucks and we were on our way! The drive was pretty smooth until we got to the Siskiyou Mountains where it started snowing pretty hard. I was so thankful for Jim at that point. Although driving in the snow was a little nerve racking (or in my case being in the passenger seat), it was absolutely beautiful..

Lake Shasta, The water was so low!

Mount Shasta

The drive started getting a little scary!

Gorgeous!



Once we got into Oregon it was so foggy we could barely see in front of us!! We stopped in Medford OR to say one last goodbye to Delaine, who happened to be visiting her family in Oregon. I got to see baby Reagan one last time although she was sleeping :( but she looked so cute in her little car seat. I sure am going to miss that little girl!



Before we got onto the freeway we stopped at my favorite place in Oregon, Dutch Bros., a drive through coffee shop and got my favorite drink.. a kicker! Yum! After that it was just 2 more hours and we pulled up to the house around 8:30 just in time to have a yummy dinner with the Darcy's, my new housemates!!! It was a long but not to bad journey... emotional for sure but also exciting. Having Jim with me was the best part of the trip. It would have been so scary with out him and I just plain enjoyed his company.. and his driving haha. I appreciate him so much, especially since he had to catch a flight the very next day to be at work by monday! So thats it! I am officially a California transplant in Oregon as one gas station attendant called me the other day. More updates soon to come!!!

Christmas Kitty!

Harlie just loves the Christmas season... every year she parks her little furry butt under the Christmas tree and doesnt move until it is gone. She also finds all of the new decorations very interesting and thinks that they are there for her own personal enjoyment. Here are some cute shots of her Christmas morning. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this cat???





Isnt she just the cutest!!!

Christmas morning was great as always. I love waking up and starting a fire in the fireplace while waiting for mom and dad. This year I was so tired from the night before that mom and dad were sitting there waiting for me which is definitely a fist for Christmas morning! We exchanged gifts, had our delicious (and I mean DELICIOUS) Lox and bagels... a holiday tradition in the Need household. After playing with our new toys a little we started to clean for the rest of the family to come over. It was the perfect Christmas morning :)



Mom and Dad on Christmas morning

Our cute Christmas tree with the big white bulbs on it.. we were very excited for those this year :)

Yummy Lox....


Hope Everyone had a fantastic Holiday !!!!

Christmas Eve at the Cains

As the tradition goes; the Cain, Need, Hughes, and Vanluwen families go to the Cain household for Christmas Eve for tamales, gifts and fun. Usually some of us see each other twice a year (buena vista and christmas). We have been getting together Christmas Eve for over 15 years now maybe longer. This year Maxine and Paul came and brought Max's daughter and grandaughter. Ryan brought his girlfriend and my close friend Amy all the way from Sacramento, and Jeff brought his girlfriend Beth, then of course there was me, Brett, Sarah, Derek, Samantha and all the parents.We ate the typical Christmas Eve dinner of Tamales and then Sarah and I got addicted to Guitar Hero on Wii. We all exchanged gifts and chatted up a storm. I got to say my goodbyes to everyone which was nice, Plus seeing Ryan and Amy is always fun! Then I had to rush home and go to sleep so Santa could come :).

A visitor from Atlanta..

Finally after a long 3 1/2 years of not seeing my dear friend/ family member Jessie from Atlanta ( our mommy's have been friends since 3rd grade!!) , she came to visit! Unfortunately I only got to see her for two days because of Christmas and the big move of mine that I would be making in a few days but we had fun none the less. The first night I picked her up and grabbed a drink at Fridays really quick and the next day she was such a tired girl from all her hard work at home and travels that she slept the whole day haha!! But then we got all dolled up and headed to my favorite bar Howl at the Moon. I was glad I got to go one more time before I left. It turned out to be a "you sing it night" which is basically Karaoke, and though I did NOT sing, I was very tempted when some girls started butchering Hotel California, how dare they!! :) It was great to see Jessie and I hope it is not another 3 years before she comes to visit or even I go to Atlanta (seeing how it has been since 1994 for me lol).

Snow and Sushi... Can it get any better?

December 20, 2008


So being the snow freak that I am, I had to get up to Frazier Park after it snowed just to at least see it, touch it and get my fill ... as if I wasn't moving to the freezing cold slash snow in 2 days! Jim and I ventured up the grapevine (stopping at Starbucks for hot Chai Tea of course) and I must admit I was a little nervous because it had seemed all the snow had melted, but once we got there there was a ton of snow! Of course being the instigator that I am, I through the first snowball :) and that started a war. He got me really good when I thought it was over but then later while making a snowman, I took him by surprise and nailed him with the entire head of the snowman!! I won haha. We also found the top of a plastic box and decided to try and sled, it worked enough to have a little fun. All in all it was one of my favorite trips to the snow.



One loved guy!!!





After the snow we had to rush home so I could get ready for the premier party for the sushi restaurant/club that my dad built. It is called Club Sushi and is right next to the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd. a premier location. The party was allot of fun, we got to go in the VIP (where my dad has a lifetime membership along with Michael Jordan) and we got to eat a lot of yummy sushi. It was great seeing the final results of something I saw in the early stages of construction and seeing how proud my dad was that he was a huge part of the project. I loved spending time with my parents. Afterwards we walked across the street to Amoeba Records, the BEST used/new music store ever, where I purchased the Eagles album Desperado which I am absolutely loving right now! The day was a fantastic one, two of my favorite things, snow and sushi, with my favorite people....

Here are a couple videos of Jim and I sledding....

3rd Annual Christmas Party!!

On Dec. 19th Kurt and Kellie Newman threw their famous annual Christmas Party for the gang. It was a blast a usual. With delicious foods and deserts, fun games and great fellowship.. this year was especially important to me because it was the last time I was going to see a few of my friends before I move up to Oregon. I brought my friend Jim with me and he fit right in and had a blast playing guitar hero with the guys ( I sang ...badly haha). It was especially fun this year having two new additions to the gang, Reagan (Dan and Delaine's little girl) and Ethan (Kenny and Katherine's little boy). Also having both Kellie and Ashley pregnant, the gang will soon grow by two more!






I am really going to miss these friends, they have grown to be more like family. They are the kind of friends I can only hope to make up in Oregon! I am hoping that next year I will be able to make it down for the 4th Annual Christmas Party :)

My new home!

So it Eugene has recently been pounded with snow, which I learned is not as typical as I thought. Debbie took me a picture of my soon to be new home in ...oh gosh, 6 days!! So I thought I would share it with you!!!