Wednesday, April 24, 2013

What to do in Corvallis Oregon

Corvallis is a beautiful city located in Central Western Oregon, and is filled with all sorts of fun activities to do for an evening, day or even a week. It is a must stop if you’re driving north or south through Oregon, and you certainly won't regret it! Here are a few of the top activities you can do while visiting the Corvallis Oregon area.

Oregon State University

Home of the Oregon State Beavers, Corvallis is an exciting college town that has a lot going on during all times of the year. If you plan your trip out right, go tailgate at a Oregon State home game in the fall months. There are also plenty of civic events going on throughout the year, or you can casually stroll through their beautiful campus.

Wine Country

Most people don’t think about wines when they think of Oregon, but the Willamette Valley is an ideal place for growing a variety of wines. Although lots of the big reds that you’ll see in Sonoma and Napa Valley to the south don’t do as well up in the Willamette Valley, they make some great white varietals including Pinot Grigio, Gewürztraminer and Riesling. If you're doing research, try and find a tour bus to take, that can pick up up and drop you off at some of the best wineries around the area.

Corvallis Knights Baseball

A great activity to do during the summer season is to stop by a Corvallis Knights baseball game. They are a local team favorite that gets quite a bit of support, and you get a chance to sit up close to the action and watch a great game.

If you’re ever considering living in the Corvallis area, I would look at some homes while you drive on by as well. Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers is a real estate agency in the area that can help with all your real estate related needs.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Spring Cleaning and New Projects

Yes, it's that time of year for us. Not quite warm enough to pack away jackets and boots and relax in the sun, but not so cold to where stepping outside requires insulated gloves and a fur-lined jacket. We've decided to participate in the neighborhood yard sale weekend next month, so we're slowly going through boxes in the attic and starting on some home projects we've had on our checklist all winter.

One of said projects is working on kitchen improvements. When we bought our house, the kitchen had some pretty ugly tile. We didn't mind so much at first, especially with little ones crawling about, but now that they're a little older and we have a bigger budget we've decided it's time for the floor to get an upgrade. We're thinking vinyl flooring - the stuff that looks like real wood but isn't. Supposedly it's scratch resistant and doesn't stain, and seeing as it's not wood, spills won't seep into the flooring like it would with porous wood. Anyway, we're just trying to find a good company to go through. A friend of ours recommended this place, Carolina Flooring, so we might be giving them a shot. We're definitely open to recommendations, though!

Another project is working on improving my DH's home office. He works from home about 2-3 days a week and right now his space is a bit of a mess. He also wants some new furniture. Back when we lived in Michigan we used to purchase used office furniture through this company, but now that we're down south, we're trying to find a new place. We're too cheap to pay full price for something new (prices for new, quality chairs are outrageous), so we'd like to find a place that sells used/refurbished office furniture for reasonable prices. He really just wants a new desk and chair, but I've also been looking for storage space so we can get that space tidied up.

Other than that, we're trying to get rid of clothing we don't wear and trinkets we no longer want or need. It feels so great to declutter!