by jltitus on December 21, 2008
The last week here has been…. well, CRAZY! We’ve gotten a huge dump of snow here in the last week. I think we’re up to the fourth snow storm coming in the next day or so. Today marks day 9 of being stuck at home, except for a brief amount of time on Friday, when the weather cleared and we had time to get Christmas gifts. We now have 8 inches for now and a 1/2 inch of ice on top of that snow here in Hillsboro, Oregon. I can’t believe it’s this bad. I’m pretty sure that this snow storm is worse than the storm of 2003/2004. I mean already highway 84 has been closed several times and chains have been required for all cars around town for days.
When this crazy weather started I was excited at to prospect of a white Christmas but now, it’s looking like it’s gong to be a small affair for Christmas because the snowy weather is supposed to continue for the next week which will mean bad roads and I don’t want my mom and Eric’s parents making a treacherous trip like that. Like I said… this is day nine and I’ve got cabin fever so bad… heck, even Eric has cabin fever. We’ve played video games, watched movies and tv.. for tons of hours. We’ve even broken out a puzzle to do… that’s how bored we are. We’re both sick of being home and getting bored with it all. I’ve taken some time to make some holiday caramels and I think here in a bit I’ll make some sugar cookies. I think the other thing that stinks is that this isn’t much of a Christmas break, because we can’t go anywhere, or do anything. In any case, I’m hoping the weather improves so we can all have a wonderful and safe holiday.
Tagged as:
hillsboro,
portland,
snow,
winter
by jltitus on July 21, 2006
Thanks Josh B for the picture 
Ok, this is Portland where anything over about 80 is considered hot around here. They’ve been expecting this heat wave for a while. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be worse and there is already an ozone warning asking people to stay at home and not run things like lawnmowers and things. I know I’ve only been here, in Oregon, for 6 years but I don’t remember heat like this or an ozone warning at all. Last time I heard an ozone warning was in 2000 when I lived in Arizona. Tomorrow, I’m staying in a scrapbooking I think. Too hot to be outside.
Tagged as:
heat_wave,
hillsboro,
hot
by jltitus on July 4, 2006
Tonight was amazing, it was everything I’d hoped and more. All the neighbors came together and we had the most amazing BBQ. Everyone came but people from one house. I thought that was pretty good. It was great to meet all my neighbors after saying “hi” and waving for so long. We all realized that of the 8 houses in the Cul-de-sac, five of us work for Intel. We got to meet the babies in the neighborhood too. The whole night was just terrific. Eric did a wonderful job being the grill master. Everyone brought a dish or two for the potluck. We had more food than we knew what to do with. All of us ate very well.
Lara, the girl in this picture was the first to start the fireworks party. He dad, Brian had bought some fireworks for her to shoot off and do. She started with a sparkler and was a little nervous about holding it and swinging it around. Next it was the popits (you throw them on the ground and they make a snap or pop sound). Lara was nervous with those two but it wasn’t long and she was grabbing handfuls of them and throwing them as hard as she could. It was cute and funny at the same time because she’d throw them and not all of them would pop so, Subash walked around and stepped on them to pop them. We all joked with him that it looked like a new dance.
Later in the evening, when it got dark, Sammy and Pla broke out their Costco sized box of fireworks and started the show. Between Sammy, Pla, Eric and Brian they had two,three and at one point four going at the same time. It was a great night. Everyone said they had a good time and were glad I set it up… next up, and end of summer party after we’re back from Boston.
Click the picture for the rest of the pictures, there are some wonderful fireworks pictures. I’m getting better all the time with the new camera. I love DSLR!
Tagged as:
fireworks,
friends,
hillsboro,
neighborhood
by jltitus on July 4, 2006
I can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait. Today is the neighborhood BBQ. It should be a lot of fun. I love our neighbors and celebrating the 4th is going to be the best ever. I got my camera ready to go for the whole evening so look forward to pictures later. Yesterday I went to Costco and got all the things we needed for the BBQ. It was fun buying all the party things. I love parties. I love hosting them and having people over. The best part is as the host it’s my responsibility to make sure everyone is having a good time and making it as easy for everyone to enjoy the night. I think some people forget about that sort of thing but I think it’s important to be at ease but also make sure everyone is having a good time. There’s nothing worse than going to a party, dinner, etc where you’re not having fun or they can’t be bothered.
I’ve been excited about today so much I needed to distract myself from it all. I could have done laundry and things like that, things that need to be done but instead I’ve been scrapbooking. I LOVE scrapbooking! Today I’ve done several layouts and had a blast doing it. I love the creative process of it all. I love selecting the pictures, the paper and creating a unique and fun layout. I’ve noticed too that I have more simple layouts than I used to. It’s like ti do the paper and pictures first then I pick the embellishments to add a little “pizazz” to it all. Oh, crap! it’s 3pm. I got go put the pop in the cooler. I’ll post later with pictures and things.
Tagged as:
bbq,
hillsboro,
neighborhood
by jltitus on June 28, 2006
I’m going to make this quick because I should really be heading for bed right now. So about a week and a half ago I was outside talking to Brian, on of our neighbors, and his girlfriend about the 4th of July and what we all had planned. We got to talking and the idea of a 4th of July Celebration in the cul de sac developed. Nothing super impressive but a BBQ and potluck where all us neighbors in the cul de sac get to really meet each other, socialize and shoot fireworks. So we both talked about it and of course me being me, I said that I’d take care of letting everyone know and plan it. Well Monday I made these simple little invitations and took them around to each of the houses. The plan was to knock on the door and introduce myself and invite the family to a BBQ, unfortunately only one house had people answer the door so I just stuck the invitation in the door to the other houses. I was sort of bummed thinking a person would get the invitation, wonder who the heck was this Jona person as was the invitation legit. Well today it was confirmed. I got two emails from family that I’d left them invitations and they said they were coming. WOO HOO. That along with Eric and I, Brian and his girl friend and Sammy and Pla, the people that were home and are great friends, I’ve got 5 of the 8 houses confirmed for the celebration. I’m so excited. I think it’s going to be a great night.
OK. off to bed.
Tagged as:
hillsboro,
neighborhood,
party_plans
