amy rocks, okay?

My apologies for the YouTube video and not simply the song itself, but this came on when I was looking for music today and talk about goosebumps. This is going to be perfect for my Gramps video :)

We were cookin up a little pasta dish the other night and I asked Dave if we could use up the stuff from my house. He pulls this guy out of the cupboard and I knew its sort of old but, wow. Best if used by date? 2008! For pasta!!! You know how many times I've moved and to how many different states!? While this specific box probably spent a lot of time in my parents basement, it's no doubt traveled to at least FOUR states. Holy crap I really should make an effort to keep food items out of the "kitchen" box, yea? :) cheers!

Mom comes to Portland and despite the long list of awesome wonderful things I'd love to show her here, we headed out par David's rad suggestion, to Silver Falls! :) And what a day! It was the most perfect day! (cheesy, cheesy I know, but it's true!) I can't say how much fun it is to have a friend to skip around and be silly with :) Anyway, Silver Falls is a big series of waterfalls that you can stop, hike anywhere from less than a mile to four, and explore up to ten (or more?) waterfalls in a day. It's a freaking blast and has become one of my favorite getaways from Portland! There are 3 waterfalls, count it folks, THREE!, that you can walk behind and marvel at the magnitude.  It was all too fun and I am so thankful to have Mom come visit so quickly after Gramps funeral. And, would you believe it, we went to the gym both mornings at the hotel! :) And had healthy breakfasts and got a good amount of sleep! Fabulous relaxation and a fun new hotel...

Titled "Dark Side", I kept waiting for something black and evil to overtake this all too cute scene, but forget it ladies and gentleman, it isn't coming. Many thanks to my brother's all-too-adorable girlfriend Sarah, for passing this one along :)  I did have to look up what the costume was that the dog walking out in the end was (cough, Imperial Walker, cough) because it's definitely my favorite part! I work next to a boarding kennel and our customers ask us each and every day if we get tired of all the barking and without even stopping I can't help but smile wide and politely respond, "Never, not at all." Go Dogs, You rock. 

THIS IS FABULOUS and I do hope you partake one day. Cheers, friends!  (from Kempt .) We usually take a pretty hard line against  phones at dinner , but a new trick just popped up that gives us hope for the future. It’s called  a phone stack , and it’s a buzzing, flashing reminder of every phone-etiquette rule the world seems to have forgotten. It works like this: as you arrive, each person places their phone facedown in the center of the table. (If you’re feeling theatrical, you can go for a stack like this one, but it’s not required.) As the meal goes on, you’ll hear various texts and emails arriving… and you’ll do absolutely nothing. You’ll face temptation—maybe even a few involuntary reaches toward the middle of the table—but you’ll be bound by the single, all-important rule of the phone stack. Whoever picks up their phone is footing the bill. It’s a brilliant piece of social engineering, masquerading as a bar game. It takes the phone out of the pocke...

Have you seen this family?! :) I know you've seen at least one of the people in this picture, and my friends, if you've seen me, you've seen my family. It's crazy to realize how much of each one of these people are in my blood. There are little things about myself that I won't understand or feel alienated by, worried that I'm different and wondering what's wrong with me, when in reality, I'm just a Clerget :) With a good side of Turner! And there's nothing wrong with me at all! :) We are all so incredibly different, and that's what's first to notice, but then as the conversation gets going, the stories start rolling, and opinions are shared (trust me, there's plenty!) you begin to see how incredibly alike we all are! I do wish that this picture included my cousins Derek & his wife Angela, as well as another Aunt and Uncle of mine, but I am so thankful to have this group in this setting at Gram and Gramp's hous...

This isn't my handiwork, as much as I'd like to say it is. It's my friends' Tyler Knott Gregson and he shared it with me when I was chatting with him about death and what it does to a family, and to an individual. I laid in bed a good hour this morning working something like this out in my head, but Tyler's version written just a few days ago, really makes me smile :) Always love you, Grandpa. Thank you for starting out all of us with a great life and a great example.  End of Days - Tyler Knot Gregson How will it come, when my number is up and my name has been called and the queue is behind me, and behind me alone?  How will I meet my end?  Will it be swift?  Will it be long and drawn out and will I know the truth behind agony?  Will I scream or will I close my eyes quietly and let a smile crawl across my lips for the very last time? Maybe, just maybe if I am lucky enough, my lightning will come back to finish the job she started 16 years ago.  Maybe ...

I will never forget this salted caramel hot chocolate. This day. My grandpa. The man who held the family together. Who worked so hard and knew so much. My gram. This birthday. The way I want to live my life with purpose. And make something of myself. Of my family. I want nothing more than to be near them now. More than anything. Nothing else will suffice. I dont even want to tell people my grandpa passed away because he is so much more than that. How do I begin to explain? I can't. He wasnt just a grandpa, he was everything. WAS. What am I saying? I don't want to say it happened because they will say they are sorry and I will just want to hit them because they don't understand. I don't want to hit you. How could you? He was the man. More than the man. I'm numb. Dang it all. He was great. So great. We are a lot closer of a family than I realized. Calls don't stop and no one has much of anything to say but lite of I love you's and I'm sorrys and sighs/t...