The 2nd Semester of Spanish Love Song

You just knew there would be a sequel to the 1st Semester of Spanish Love Song. Do enjoy this as much as we did!!! Happy Monday!

Tagged...Random Stuff!

My cousin, Meredith, tagged me to share 7 random things about myself. I think ya'll are going to get a kick out of a few of these!

1. I can never EVER find my keys. I literally throw them where-ever when I walk into the house or someone else's house for that matter!

2. I hardly ever wear a coat even when it's really cold. I did this when we lived in Utah and it snowed there! I'm just hot-natured, I guess.

3. I can pretty much quote the entire movie, Tommy Boy.

4. I pluck my eyebrows while driving. Lindy has hated this about me since we were missionary companions 9 1/2 years ago! Some things never change.

5. I'm addicted to the white noise of a fan when I sleep at night.

6. I have to have all clothes and towels folded and stowed PERFECTLY and facing the same direction or I will un-do and re-fold it all! Just ask anyone who has ever helped me do laundry.

7. I HATE to iron. I'd rather scrub a toilet. My husband is the King of "Ironing" but since he has 25+ dress shirts and slacks we use our local environmentally-friendly dry cleaners. Some conveniences are truly worth every penny.


I tag: Lindy, Tori, Lori, Rach, Michelle, and Amy. Thanks, Meredith--this was fun!!!!

Tagged...

I've been tagged many a' times and finally need to do this! Here goes:

10 Years ago:

I had just finished my first two years of college and moved back to Portland, Or, temporarily. There, I worked at the Warner Brothers Television station in Portland, Oregon as a National Sales assistant, the Portland Opera selling season tickets, and Lane Bryant for the holiday season. I had three jobs because I had decided 3 months earlier to serve a mission and needed to pull together some funds to go. I hung out a lot with my stellar friend, Michelle. We even worked at the Opera together and had a lot of fun laughing at our boss, Christopher HYink. I was getting pretty pumped for my 21st birthday only a few months away. Life was good and busy. I talked incessantly about where would I be sent on a mission. I had a standing date with my parents to watch Law & Order every week!


5 Things on my To-Do List today:

1. Make Pancakes for Sofia's First day of School/Take Sofia to School
2. Set up my new hot red Shuffle with some sweet workout playlists
3. Hit the gym
4. Play with my girls, read them a story, and teach Sofia a primary song.
5. Laundry, laundry, laundry...this is an eternal to-do list item.


5 Places I have lived:

1. Portland, OR
2. Houston, TX
3. Taragual, (a tiny town in Honduras)
4. East L.A., Californ-I-A
5. Salt Lake City, UT


5 Jobs I have had:

1. Grants and Contract Officer
2. President of a Non-Profit Organization/Chapter
3. Assistant Bank Manager
4. Admin Officer
5. Lifeguard/Swim Instructor


3 of My Bad Habits

1. Procrastination
2. Not going to sleep when I should.
3. Worrying about things I can't control. (Amy-this is one of the many areas we align :D )


Things I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire:

I'm not a materialistic person at all...so I wouldn't naturally go out and buy a bazillion new things. There are a few key items I'd happily use the money for: a new house, probably a bigger car, pay off student loans, I'd invest a lot, and help anyone in my family go to college. Oh, and we'd go on a sweet vacation touring Latin America...and then Europe!

Things people don't really know about me:

1. I fractured my hip doing the cabbage patch dance when I was 15. Yes, it is possible to do, I'm living proof!
2. I'm pretty self-conscious when I speak Spanish even though I'm fluent. (probably because Ryan speaks the language perfectly!...not really, I was this way before I met him. I guess I just hate the idea of speaking incorrectly)
3. I won Champion at the County Fair and then went onto "State" (Oregon State Fair that is) with an award-winning eggplant I grew when I was 10.
4. I can do long multiplication and fractions in my head pretty dang fast.
5. My favorite musician growing up was Kenny G and my favorite pop-star was Debbie Gibson.

"$100 Bucks goes to the First Person who...

...dares to clean our kitchen." Those were Ryan's words tonight as he walked through a kitchen that seems to have been on a cleaning strike for, oh, say a week?!?! The only other unfortunate souls who have been privy to such a sight are my Mom because she came by yesterday and fortunately found time to unload the dishwasher--THANK YOU! And, my BFF, Tori, because she was here last week when I cleaned it.

Yes, I do love a clean house and generally need it to remain sane. It just didn't make the cut this week. Fine!!! I'll go clean it now and stop blogging about it. Ry, does that mean I get a hundred bucks!?!?!? Certainly, I'd still be eligible? Tell ya what, Ry: ...we do it together and I'll split the money with you (as a one time courtesy, of course) What do you say?!?!? Are you in?

The One Semester of Spanish Love Song

This is freakin' HILARIOUS!!!!!!




Have a great weekend everyone!

June Birthdays

In celebration of the birthdays of our two daughters (Sofia: June 10th, Sydnei: June ??) and my preggo cupcake craving, I've chosen to redecorate the page with nothing other than cupcakes! Cute, huh?

mmmm....Cupcakes

As some of you may recall, during my first pregnancy with Sofia I was so dang sick I was hardly able to enjoy the various cravings so many women experience throughout their pregnancy. That is until the last month of my first pregnancy. When I hit about 34-weeks ish--my craving for cake set in, cake with LOTS o' buttercream frosting. This particular craving was such a joy as it's already one of my favorite sweet indulgences when I'm not pregnant.

Well, much to my delight the cake craving has returned with this pregnancy. It's truly the only real consistent craving I have on a daily basis. All the other cravings I've experienced this time around (and there have been more since I wasn't as sick as long) have been random and never stuck. The cake craving hit about a week before Mother's day and it's hasn't gone away. Darn. Wink wink.


Unfortunately, we found the single layer cake supply is quite unreliable at the grocery store. So, in one of Ryan's stellar husband efforts to feed my craving he substituted with cupcakes. They're always at the grocery store and Safeway has the best ones....so we've discovered. They're so good and keep me from eating a whole cake. I can have one, and yes, sometimes two, and then the craving is satisfied and this momma in her last miserable weeks of pregnancy is pacified...that is until the next day when she has to have another cupcake!

Just so you all know, I made a promise that after Sydnei is born, we won't buy anymore cupcakes on a daily basis. It's just during the last weeks of pregnancy. Promise! (For the record, I kept the same promise after Sofia was born.)

We Hit the Jackpot!!!!!

No, we didn't go to a casino, gamble, and hit the million dollar jackpot (dang it!), instead we went to garage sales and shopped craigslist religiously and that's the jackpot we hit baby! As a result, Sydnei's room is ready to welcome her into the world.

I mentioned a few posts ago that I scored some great puzzles and alone time garage sale-ing one Saturday morning. Well, let me just say I haven't stopped since then. Back in April my in-laws came to town for a visit. (still need to post about that, sorry I haven't yet, D&C) The Friday they were here, they joined me for some good-old-fashioned garage sale bargain hunting. It was awesome! We literally hit the "garage sale jackpot" and quite honestly, the success hasn't ceased. Allow me to share some of my killer finds and how Sydnei's nursery has come together perfectly and quite inexpensively.

This picture shows the crib set I purchased at the garage sale with my in-laws. I love the story behind this. First off, I lifted it up and asked the man running the sale how much he wanted for the set, he turned to his wife, and she quickly responded, $10 bucks??? I said, super, I'll take it. The crib set came complete with bumper, double layer bed skirt, diaper stacker, and changing table pad cover. Right after I agreed to purchase it the wife couldn't stop talking about how much she loved the set and that she purchased it for her first child. She explained:

"we had it custom made at pottery barn kids...you know...with your first child you do everything custom. By the time my son was born I just chose my favorite boys crib line they offered."

I, of course, smiled, nodded my head, and acted like I understood. In my mind, I kept thinking, "Right, right, I totally know what you mean considering I'm shopping for baby stuff at a garage sale!" Ha ha ha...Thanks to her high end taste and initial investment, we're able to enjoy this sweet set.

Continuing on at the same garage sale, check out this solid wood changing table with drawer and new changing pad. Can we say $25 big ones for this bad boy? Hello! Talk about a steal! I couldn't believe it and was so dang excited and grateful to have found such a stellar table for a rock bottom price. The changing pad cover I mentioned that came with the set is pictured. Oh, and you'll notice on the bottom shelf just next to the wipes, a sage green changing pad cover, from the same line at Pottery Barn Kids. Yep, I paid a lady $7 bucks for it at a garage sale over a month after I purchased this table. It still blows my mind how I managed to piece this all together from different sales.

The precious diaper stacker that came with the crib set. Note the satin hanger that it hangs on was 50 cents at a garage sale--such a sweet touch.

Here is a nice close up of the brand new, never used, lambs and ivy musical mobile. The same day I came home from finding the crib set, I did a search for a mobile on Craigslist. This precious little thing popped up for sale by a lady not far from our house for $5 bucks!!!!!! Apparently, the seller had decorated for a girl and was surprised with a baby boy. I couldn't believe she only wanted $5 for it. It sells for $49.99 new on babies r' us.com! Simply amazing. Here's a link to prove it: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2299870.

Another craigslist score, this green glider which came with ottoman (not pictured) is in excellent condition and cost me a whopping $30. I love that I have one upstairs and downstairs. When I rock Sydnei in the middle of the night (gearing up for the 2-3 month sleep deprivation period) I won't have to go downstairs and it matches the color scheme! YAY!!!

Continuing on, we found this solid wood dresser for $40 on craigslist. The previous owner put brand new nobs on the drawers and casters on the bottom. Each drawer is set on metal gliders so if either of the kids try to pull the drawer out, it will not fall on top of them, what a nice safety feature. The drawers are big and deep and this bad boy is going to be around for years! The lamp on top of the drawer was one I had in college (> 10 years old) and the sage green lamp shade is one of the two things I actually purchased new for the room.

This darling lavender gingham check valance was the only other item I purchased new for the nursery. It goes PERFECTLY with the pattern of the crib set.

This hamper that I LOVE was a gift from my good friend, Lindy. Seriously, I'm so practical, I would have never purchased it and would have just used some hamper I had around the house but she knew how much I loved this one. Thanks, Lindy. It goes perfectly with the nursery. :)


Here is a picture of the whole room, the killer closet door mirrors help provide a panoramic view and as my father-in-law states: "they're supposed to make the room look bigger!"

To recap cost:

Crib Set: $10
Changing Table w/Changing Pad: $25
Extra Changing Pad Cover: $7
Musical Mobile: $5
Glider w/Ottoman: $30
Dresser: $40
Lamp Shade: $13
Valance: $17

GRAND TOTAL: $147.00.....CCCChhhhh-ING!!!!!

All in all, we're very much a "reduce, reuse, recycle" frugal, and practical kind of people. We feel that by finding the vast majority of these items in excellent used condition is a way for us to do our part to reuse and recycle these items for good. We have been blessed more than we ever believed possible and couldn't feel more grateful and humble to be prepared for Sydnei to join our family.

Stay tuned for a couple of extra unprecedented finds: Cradle set (from the same garage sale as the crib set), Reese Li designer diaper bag compliments of craigslist, and finally a gender neutral baby papasan vibrating bouncer chair from another garage sale 10 days ago--in perfect condition. I just haven't taken pics of these things yet.

We're so excited and ready...now if Sydnei could just decide to be born!!!


p.s. Ry said this post sounds like I'm introducing products on the Price is Right...LOL...fantastic, mission accomplished.

A couple of my favorite highlights....

of the American Idol Finale. Although, let me preface this with the fact that I was not an avid watcher of the show this season, I guess I found it boring so many times that I cut if from my list to watch. It did remain on the DVR schedule so we managed to watch the finale in fast forward mode.

First of all...get a load of this. I can watch it 50 times and laugh hysterically each time--I bet you can too!




...and finally, the Love Guru, my favorite part--everytime he greets or says good-bye to someone he says, "Mariska Hargitay!" Seriously, so freakin' hilarious! (For those of you out there that are not Law & Order SVU fans...Mariska is the star of the show as Olivia Benson.

Puzzles galore...

A few weeks ago I woke up one Saturday morning and decided I needed some alone time. Ry was working from home and Sofia was still asleep so I got dressed and headed out to do some shopping. Keep in mind I didn't have the cash flow to go real shopping so I opted to cruise around town and check out some garage sales.

It couldn't have been anymore relaxing: me, myself, and I jamming to some death cab for cutie--singing my little heart out, the windows down--because it was actually warm, enjoying the beautiful Oregon country and scoring some killer deals at the garage sales.

Which leads me to the purpose of this post to share my killer find: puzzles. Yes, care bears, strawberry shortcake, and sesame street. I paid a buck for 3 and took them home to Sofia. They are 24-piece puzzles and the minute I walked in the door we sat down at the kitchen table and I taught her how to put them together. She hasn't stopped doing them and I just keep finding more and more at garage sales! It only took me once to teach her how to put them together and she does it all on her own. After she finished putting a few together she asked me to take her picture as she was so proud of her accomplishment...here is our princess sillygoose.


Sofia has this thing about looking everywhere other than the camera...thus the "looking off in the distance" pose. Ryan didn't want me to post this pic as he's in the background but I just couldn't help myself! I love that his hair looks like it's 5 feet tall!

Sorry about the mini-hiatus

Hi everyone, I'm so sorry I've been MIA online (and phone...and e-mail) for over a month now. Life has been utterly hectic with a bazillion things to do preparing for Sydnei, family in town, a couple of premature labor scares etc. My exhaustion has increased by a factor of at least 50, oh and the nausea and vomiting is back although not to the degree of the first and second trimester! (So grateful for that). I have so much to blog about it's unreal! I've made a goal today that I'm going to post at least once a day this week to get caught up. I figure I've got a couple of weeks left to get the blog up-to-date before Sydnei could decide to make her entrance into the world.

Toodle-oo for now,
Stormy

One week from today....

Dwight and Andy as seen in the "Local Ad"
episode set to repeat tonight.

...The Office returns! While multiple episodes will air tonight, the NEW episodes start next Thursday, the 10th. We've already watched all the episodes airing tonight, after all, we have had to "recycle" every episode saved on DVR from this season for five whole months!!!! 7 days and counting...

Rainbow Brite Rules

Tonight we had some new friends over, the Espino Family. We made pizza, the girls played, and visited. It was so much fun! As the Espino's were leaving, their daughter, Natalie, found a birthday card that belongs to Sofia with a beautiful unicorn and rainbow on it. She wanted so badly to take it with her. We promised to make one just for her and so I did a google image search.

In the midst of my search, I found this image of Rainbow Brite with her sidekick on her horse, Starlite. Oh, the warm feelings that quickly returned and the smile that landed on my face. I loved Rainbow Brite in 4th grade and even still have my Rainbow Brite lunch box and thermos from that year. Oh the memories. :) Anyone else out there Rainbow Brite fans?!?!?

Meal Planning + Eating Leftovers = Efficiency

I've been diligently meal planning for a month. It's not only helped me to be more organized and eat out less, but it's also allowed me to really evaluate the trends in our schedules and how to better plan for the nights where things don't happen the way we had intended.

This week, I scheduled a "leftovers" night in the middle of the week and an FFE night on Saturday to provide flexibility to our weekend. The reason I chose to make leftovers night in the middle of the week is because by Wednesday we have at least 3-days worth of leftovers...food that is perfectly yummy and completely edible. It frees up a mid-week night of cooking and also encourages us to eat what we already have and minimize waste. After all, by the end of the week no one wants to eat what we cooked 4-6 days ago!

I was excited to go into the refrigerator and literally pull out a ton of food. Food that is appetizing and already prepared! Here is a rundown of tonight's "leftover menu."

1 serving of Grilled Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes + Veggies
2.5 servings of Beef Enchiladas + Mexican Rice
1 grilled hamburger
1.5 servings of Fettuccine Alfredo
All the fixin's for a Turkey Sandwich

Above all, there is something to meet everyone's appetite and taste buds tonight and chances are very little to no food will go to waste this week. I just love it when I discover ways to improve efficiency! (and not just discover ways, actually implementing them is the true accomplishment) :D

Marinades are our friends

I had planned one week to have "Lime Marinated Broiled Salmon" for dinner. As many of you know, having tried that recipe, there is at least an hour of marinating time prior to broiling it, not to mention the time it takes to prepare the marinade.

We arrived home at 6:00 one night and I knew it would be forever until we ate if I made the salmon. Sure, I could just make something else on the menu for the week, but this preggo mama was totally pumped about the salmon! Being the "results-oriented" person I am, (you Arcadians out there know what that means--wink, wink) I looked out in the garage to find my saving grace: a bottle of Lawry's Brand, Havana Garlic and Lime marinade. (I promise, this isn't a "blog commercial!") The flavor was perfect and the closest I could get to the original recipe.

Anywho, I grabbed it and quickly marinated the salmon. I even only marinated it 30 minutes and the flavor still absorbed nicely. Moral of the story?

1) Always have some marinade on hand to make a super delish dinner fast;
2) Lawry's brand marinades are our friend--no matter what flavor you use; and finally,
3) go ahead and purchase 20 bottles of these bad boys when they go on sale for a BUCK at Albertson's, you'll definitely use 'em all!

p.s. We're actually grilling pork chops tonight and they've been marinating in the steak and chop flavor...yumm-o.

p.p.s. My favorite flavor of all is the Sesame Ginger one, it rocks my cooking world.

The Office is coming back!

FINALLY!!! Beginning April 10th, we'll be in full swing again with Michael, Dwight, Jam, Kelly and Darrell, oh my gosh....I CAN'T WAIT! Good thing I did as Andy did on the "Women's Appreciation Day" aka the "Phyllis gets flashed" episode where he went to "check the web" while Dwight ran out to hunt down the perpetrator, and Jim called the "real police."

So for those of you who didn't already know, the evening of April 10th, only 7 weeks from today, is going to ROCK!!!!

New Hair-Do

As so many of you know I have been sporting the "flip out" look or some variation thereof, since my mission. Yes, people, my mission--oh can we say, 8-9 years ago?!?!?! Yikes, I'm old. Oh well, that's not what this post is about...

Ever since we moved to Portland, I've (make that we've) had the hardest time finding a decent hairstylist. We had two in Utah during out 6-year stint there and they were phenomenal. Thanks, Jennifer and Shelly. wink wink. It's taken until 14 months after our arrival to find someone that we feel may just have the potential to measure up to our past hairstylists.

I took a risk and went for a new style that I thought would work and our new stylist, Blair, knocked it out of the ball park. YAY! So may I officially present, the new and improved Stormy, withOUT the flip!

Hogheaven in Houston

For my 30th birthday, Ryan and Sofia gave me a plane ticket to Houston, Texas, to visit my Best Friend, Tori. From January 3-7th, I was flyin' solo with Tor. It was awesome and we had an absolute blast. (Thanks, Tori--wink wink) From eating the most amazing steak fajitas at Papasito's to throwing a surprise party for Tori's friend, Anela while sipping "virgin" strawberry daqueri's, to late night talks, a trip to the gym and plenty of shopping in between it was an all out girls weekend! I even re-vamped my sunday best wardrobe! YAY! Oh, and we even celebrated Kings Day--complete with the traditional King Cake. It was cool to spend 4 days in the city where I was born and even find the apartment building my parents lived in when I was born. That was really something special for me because for a moment I could sense the love and excitement my parents had when they welcomed me into the world. I am naturally super sentimental and couldn't help but feeling so grateful to my mom and dad for all of their sacrifices and love they gave to me and our special family.

So here's some photos to highlight the best weekend ever--Tori feel free to add anything I may have left out. :)

Presenting, my BFF, Tori!!!

...and here we are drinking our virgin strawberry daqueri's

Anela (the birthday girl!), Me, Tori having a great time...

The apartments where my parents lived when I was born

After thirty years, my mom could still remember the exact address:
9550 Long Point Road, Houston, Texas

Movie and dessert night at The Chocolate Bar
...everything there is chocolate--chocolate candies, chocolate ice cream, chocolate cheesecake, chocolate pie...the list goes on and on and on!

No doubt, they live up to their motto!

So sorry this is all we had left to show for our decadent dessert spread...which included three different kinds of icecream and a three or four layer chocolate cake with cream and chocolate sauce. Holy Mother of Mercy--I could use a trip there right now!!

Kings Day was January 6th--we celebrated with many friends of Tori and of course, the traditional King Cake. It was absolutely scrumptious. It brought back memories of my childhood when my Grandparents Britton would ship us a King Cake every year. Before returning to Portland, I went to the bakery and purchased one for my Momma and fam--so yummy.

Tori's friend, Danny, and Tori. Seriously, I loved this guys hair. It reminded me of Ryan's hair when we were first married. Ryan didn't cut his hair for nearly 8 months and it looked just like this! Awesome.
I ate a dove chocolate and the inside of the wrapper said: "Your presence is often the best present." I think that sums up perfectly how I feel about my best friend, Tori. LYLAS to the MAX!

Upon returning to Portland, I was greeted by my sweet hubby, Ryan, Sofia, and my mom. Sofia came running towards me with two dozen GOREGEOUS long stem red roses--it was so nice to be home and with my family again. Thanks to each of you for making this trip possible, it was a blast.

Fine, YOU WIN, Pregnant Brain!

For those of you who may or may not recall, pregnant brain struck big during my pregnancy with Sof. My mind was pretty much worthless and so it seemed that I lost brain cell after brain cell as the days went on. Some would try to console me by saying my brain cells were just taking a brake while others (bless their heart) actually told me the truth. Once you get it--it never goes away and only gets worst with each pregnancy thereafter.

Being the type of strong-willed, stubborn, and determined person that I am, I have tried to fight the pregnant brain theory...only to fail each and every dang time. Well, today was no exception and in fact was the frosting on the cake, the cherry on top, even better--the straw that broke the camels back!

That's right folks, I give up. I'm no longer going to fight it...pregnancy brain theory is true and my experience today solidified that for me.

It's Wednesday, January 2nd, I'm swamped with a disorganized house, a daughter who is dying to go back to school, some killer nausea and vomiting all morning, packing for my trip to Houston, laundry, oh and my nice thought to make meals for my family while I'm away. Sofia and I rush out the door a few minutes before 1:00pm to drive her to school about 30 minutes away. We arrive at what seems to be 20 minutes late only to find the doors locked. The Director and her teacher, Maestra Claudia, come to the door only to say, the school is closed today and doesn't re-open for classes until tomorrow, the 3rd. (which means the 4th for Sofia since she doesn't attend on Thursdays) That's right, everyone, I'm the 1 out of 120 parents who failed to read the newsletter where it stated that school doesn't resume until the 3rd. Which by the way, in the back of my mind, I swear I read it but instead read the 2nd--something my mind must have hallucinated.

Being the super efficient, ultra-organized freak that I am--I was utterly humiliated by my mistake. It was that moment where I realized my fight against pregnant brain was over and I had lost. On top of that my precious Sofia couldn't understand where the "ninos" were and didn't want to listen when I broke the news that Mami made a mistake and there was no school today. UGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!! The Director and teacher couldn't quite understand until I just started rambling about pregnant brain and how I was losing my mind. Being the empathetic beings they are, they were polite and laughed with me. I explained to them that in the month of December I had paid Sofia's tuition late, the rent late, and now this....I failed to mention the less important things like: finding myself in a room in my house and having no idea why I'm there, never being able to remember what the date is or even the day of the week, or calling someone on the phone only to immediately forget my main purpose in calling. The beauty that came from our trip to the school was that I actually remembered to pay the tuition on time...

So, there you go. It's over. I'm pregnant, a bit retarded, and the latests self-proclaimed victim of pregnant brain. Or actually I'm not the latest victim...I've just been in denial for a LONG time!

"Ry, I have a feeling I'm about to get pulled over..."

....turns out I was right. Twenty seconds later, the siren and lights went on. I slowly pulled over and into a K-Mart parking lot. Down went my window and here goes:


Officer: "Good Evening. Do you know why I pulled you over?"

Stormy: "No sir, not really."

Officer: "Well you swerved back there into the bike lane, and well, it's the holidays, I want to make sure that you're not driving under the influence or talking on your cell phone."

Stormy: "No officer, it was neither, I sneezed." (I refrained from mentioning that I was holding my legs together to avoid pee-ing my pants. Considering I had to pee like a Russian race horse and the baby feels like it's literally sitting on my bladder!)

Officer: "Oh, okay. That makes perfect sense. How about you give me your driver's license, registration, and insurance information."

Stormy: "Sure, no problem. Sweetheart can you help me find the insurance card and registration?"

Officer: "I'll be back and you can keep looking."

(about 5 minutes later)

Officer: "Were you able to find that information?"

Stormy: "Well, we found an expired insurance card and registration from Utah, we're still working on it."

Officer: "Okay, then. I can check to see if your insurance was renewed. Be right back."

(another 5 minutes later)

Stormy: "We found the Oregon registration!"

Officer: "Thank you ma'm. Well everything checks out just fine. I'm not going to give you a warning or ticket, I simply wanted to make sure you weren't driving under the influence."

Stormy: "Officer, rest assured we weren't driving under the influence, in fact, my husband and I have never drank an ounce of alcohol in our lives."

Officer: "WHAT?!??!?!?!"

Stormy: "Nope."

Officer: "Wow. That's amazing."

Stormy: "You know what else, officer? This past July marked the 10th anniversary since I received a traffic ticket...AND I was only 5 months from my 10th anniversary of not being pulled over!"

Officer: "Well, that's wonderful. I'm glad you're driving safely. All I have to suggest is that you go home and prepare a "traffic stop packet" in the chance you get pulled over, this way, you'll be more prepared."

Stormy: "Absolutely, Officer, will do!"

(about 4 minutes later)

We finally finished cleaning off the dash which was covered with the glove compartment contents.