This is a slide show of some of the many pictures I took.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Camping
So, last week was the 2nd annual family vacation for my family. We went camping near Preston, ID. It was a blast! All of us were there this year (parents, siblings, siblings families and Wil). We played games, listened to music (Jenn brought up speakers and we hooked iPods up to it), held our own Olympic games, and had an amazing showcase where we each had to perform two acts (one drawn in the morning and prepared throughout the day, one instant one). It was so much fun. It was hard to come back home and get back to work, school, and other responsibilities. I loved having Wil there and watching him interacting with my family. Everyone got along fine and everyone had fun.
This is a slide show of some of the many pictures I took.
This is a slide show of some of the many pictures I took.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Wedding Update
Well, as you can imagine, now that I am engaged, I have been working hard to figure out wedding details. I knew before hand that there would be a lot of things to think about and take care of, but it never really hit me until I had to start doing everything. Wil, being a typical guy, doesn't really care about any of it. He'll probably have an opinion on the food and that's about it. Even when I mention that, he says "Do what you want". I guess I should be grateful since I'm sure there are brides who wish their guy didn't have an opinion and they could do whatever they want. The problem I have with it is that there are times I REALLY want his input. I had no idea what I wanted to do at first (even now, I don't have much of an idea, just random thoughts), and I was hoping he might have some suggestions. No such luck.
Luckily, my brothers were smart with at least one thing in their lives (j/k guys, you know I love you) and married amazing women. Jenn and Steph (Jason and Josh's wives) have been amazing and are helping me with everything. Mom is there to gush and, let's be honest, to pay for everything (by the way Mom & Dad, have I told you how much I love you guys lately?).
I've been engaged for about 2 weeks now and I've already picked out the ceremony and reception area, decided on the wedding colors (black, dark purple, and a little silver), Wil picked his wedding band, Wil and I have our guest lists mostly decided on (just a few tweaks to make and addresses to get), our families have been informed and most of them have been given a "save the date" card, our engagement photos have been scheduled to be taken, I've decided on a caterer and she's already working on ideas for us, I've found a photographer, I've scheduled with 2 of my 3 bridesmaids to go look at dresses for them, and, the most exciting part, I've chosen a wedding dress. Wedding dress shopping was SO much fun. I had a hard time choosing between two dresses, but after standing in the one for a little while and seeing both dresses with a veil and tiara, the choice was clear. After taking a look at the pictures (Jenn took pictures so I could see the back of both), it was clear that I'd made the right choice. Mom said she knew I would get the dress I did as soon as I walked out in it. Jenn, Steph and I took a little longer to figure it out (it took me the longest of all four of us). Apparently, that was the easiest wedding dress shopping any of them had ever done. All of this is going MUCH more smoothly than I thought possible. It's amazing what you can get done when you have Jenn & Steph helping you (and the fact that I've been able to think of very little besides the wedding helps as well).
Wow, after all of that typing, I completely forget to mention the date of the wedding (I'm seriously scatter-brained). Anyway, there is still a whole lot to do, but I'm trying to concentrate on getting through work and school, and the preparations for the up-coming family camp out (it's going to be so much fun, and Wil gets to come with us this year!). Once the camp out is over, I'll get back to wedding planning, although I'll have to leave as much as I can (and as much as they are willing to do) to Jenn and Steph so I can get good grades and finish off my schooling before the wedding.
Everything is a little crazy at the moment, but I think I'm doing a good job of not going crazy. I haven't had a freak out lately, so that's good news. I'm really hoping that everything continues to run as smoothly as it has so far (wishful thinking, I know..).
So, now I should try to get my mind off of the wedding and get some more work done before leaving for the weekend. I just want to say another HUGE thank you to my family. You are all so amazing and have been so supportive about this, and have totally accepted Wil as part of the family. I love you all!
In the next post I'm hoping to put some pictures up of me and Wil together and our rings, but I don't know if that'll happen or not. We'll just have to see. :)
Luckily, my brothers were smart with at least one thing in their lives (j/k guys, you know I love you) and married amazing women. Jenn and Steph (Jason and Josh's wives) have been amazing and are helping me with everything. Mom is there to gush and, let's be honest, to pay for everything (by the way Mom & Dad, have I told you how much I love you guys lately?).
I've been engaged for about 2 weeks now and I've already picked out the ceremony and reception area, decided on the wedding colors (black, dark purple, and a little silver), Wil picked his wedding band, Wil and I have our guest lists mostly decided on (just a few tweaks to make and addresses to get), our families have been informed and most of them have been given a "save the date" card, our engagement photos have been scheduled to be taken, I've decided on a caterer and she's already working on ideas for us, I've found a photographer, I've scheduled with 2 of my 3 bridesmaids to go look at dresses for them, and, the most exciting part, I've chosen a wedding dress. Wedding dress shopping was SO much fun. I had a hard time choosing between two dresses, but after standing in the one for a little while and seeing both dresses with a veil and tiara, the choice was clear. After taking a look at the pictures (Jenn took pictures so I could see the back of both), it was clear that I'd made the right choice. Mom said she knew I would get the dress I did as soon as I walked out in it. Jenn, Steph and I took a little longer to figure it out (it took me the longest of all four of us). Apparently, that was the easiest wedding dress shopping any of them had ever done. All of this is going MUCH more smoothly than I thought possible. It's amazing what you can get done when you have Jenn & Steph helping you (and the fact that I've been able to think of very little besides the wedding helps as well).
Wow, after all of that typing, I completely forget to mention the date of the wedding (I'm seriously scatter-brained). Anyway, there is still a whole lot to do, but I'm trying to concentrate on getting through work and school, and the preparations for the up-coming family camp out (it's going to be so much fun, and Wil gets to come with us this year!). Once the camp out is over, I'll get back to wedding planning, although I'll have to leave as much as I can (and as much as they are willing to do) to Jenn and Steph so I can get good grades and finish off my schooling before the wedding.
Everything is a little crazy at the moment, but I think I'm doing a good job of not going crazy. I haven't had a freak out lately, so that's good news. I'm really hoping that everything continues to run as smoothly as it has so far (wishful thinking, I know..).
So, now I should try to get my mind off of the wedding and get some more work done before leaving for the weekend. I just want to say another HUGE thank you to my family. You are all so amazing and have been so supportive about this, and have totally accepted Wil as part of the family. I love you all!
In the next post I'm hoping to put some pictures up of me and Wil together and our rings, but I don't know if that'll happen or not. We'll just have to see. :)
Friday, July 11, 2008
My ring
I realized I did not post any pictures when I wrote about my engagement. Part of that was because I forgot, the other part was because Wil was the one to take pictures and I hadn't gotten them from him yet. So, other than the pictures that are on my phone and that aren't very good, here are the only pictures we have of my ring. It's getting resized right now :( so I can't get more until next Wednesday. Anyway, I LOVE my ring and think it is so amazingly pretty. Enjoy!
Engaged!
For those of you who don't already know, which probably isn't very many of you at this point, I am now officially engaged. Wil proposed to me on 7/10/08 at sometime around 10 am. I know someone will ask, so I'll just tell the story. Since I am a writer, it'll be written as it would as an excerpt from a book (yes, I am aware that I am weird).
It was a normal July day. I woke up feeling miserable, so instead of going to work, I called in sick. I went back to bed and woke up a few hours later feeling marginally better, although still not feeling well. I figured I should work on homework while I wasn't at work. My computer happened to be at Wil's house since that was where I'd done homework the previous night. I headed over to Wil's.
When I got there, he was just waking up as well. We decided to go to IHOP to get some breakfast. Nate, and Peter's little brother, Andrew, went with us since they hadn't gone to sleep yet and were hungry. It was good, as it usually is. We got back and Nate and Andrew went back downstairs. Nate fell asleep in about 2 minutes. Andrew went back to playing Crack Down. I was getting ready to start on some homework, but then Wil asked if I would like to sit out in the sun for a little while with him. It was early in the day, so we wouldn't be sweating like pigs, and we don't normally do anything outside so I agreed.
We opted to sit on the porch swing, which is probably my favorite feature of his mom's house. We sat, and cuddled a little without really saying anything at first. Wil then began talking about how he can't seem to find the perfect moment to propose (we had picked out a ring last Saturday so I knew it was coming and it was driving me crazy). I was forced to remind him that I'd given him quite a few ideas. I even added a few new ones, like taking a walk down to the pond that is near his mom's house. He reminded me that there was a pond on the porch right in front of us (one of those little porch waterfall pools that is super cute) so we didn't have to go down to the gross pond full of ducks and geese.
At this point, he pulled some change out of his pocket commenting that he hated change and handing it to me. I gladly took the change and put it in my pocket then snuggled up to him again. We sat for a few more minutes while he started to play with my ring finger on my left hand. He knows that bugs me since I really wanted the ring we had picked out last Saturday. I glared at him and said, "Stop being such a brat". He just smiled and replied, "But being a brat is what I do."
We were still sitting on the porch swing. I was sitting on the left side of him and had my right arm around his neck and my right hand was resting on my legs, which we swung over his legs. His left arm was around my shoulders while his right hand played with my left hand (being the brat that he is). He kept playing with my left ring finger as we sat. He showed me his right hand which had a cheap ring on it of his that he wears often.
"Is this what you want?" he asked me, even though I'm sure he knew the answer already. I told him, "No, that's not what I want because it would be WAY too big on me and wouldn't look good at all".
Then he said, "Is this the one you want?" and was looking at his left hand. I looked too and saw that he was holding the ring we had picked out.
I was excited now and said, "Yes!"
He grinned and said, "You can only have it if you plan to wear it forever." I replied, with an ear to ear grin, "It's so shiny that I think I can handle that."
He placed it on my finger and held my hand, and said, while looking into my eyes, "I forgot to mention. I come with the ring." I grinned again and said, "It's pretty enough that I think I can handle having to keep you too."
"You'll have to promise to keep both forever," he told me (both meaning him and the ring). I gave my promise and we hugged and he kissed me.
We sat there for a while longer just looking at the ring and swinging on the swing. A few minutes later, Andrew came out to inform us that he'd left his phone at IHOP. So, Wil and I went with Andrew to go get his phone (the car he and Peter use was broken so Wil needed to drive him and I didn't want to be away from him at that moment). After that, the day progressed with nothing really interesting happening. Neither of us were feeling all that well so we spent most of the day napping or just doing very little. It's kind of funny that we became engaged on a day when neither of us was feeling all that great. That's ok though. It was still a good day.
It was a normal July day. I woke up feeling miserable, so instead of going to work, I called in sick. I went back to bed and woke up a few hours later feeling marginally better, although still not feeling well. I figured I should work on homework while I wasn't at work. My computer happened to be at Wil's house since that was where I'd done homework the previous night. I headed over to Wil's.
When I got there, he was just waking up as well. We decided to go to IHOP to get some breakfast. Nate, and Peter's little brother, Andrew, went with us since they hadn't gone to sleep yet and were hungry. It was good, as it usually is. We got back and Nate and Andrew went back downstairs. Nate fell asleep in about 2 minutes. Andrew went back to playing Crack Down. I was getting ready to start on some homework, but then Wil asked if I would like to sit out in the sun for a little while with him. It was early in the day, so we wouldn't be sweating like pigs, and we don't normally do anything outside so I agreed.
We opted to sit on the porch swing, which is probably my favorite feature of his mom's house. We sat, and cuddled a little without really saying anything at first. Wil then began talking about how he can't seem to find the perfect moment to propose (we had picked out a ring last Saturday so I knew it was coming and it was driving me crazy). I was forced to remind him that I'd given him quite a few ideas. I even added a few new ones, like taking a walk down to the pond that is near his mom's house. He reminded me that there was a pond on the porch right in front of us (one of those little porch waterfall pools that is super cute) so we didn't have to go down to the gross pond full of ducks and geese.
At this point, he pulled some change out of his pocket commenting that he hated change and handing it to me. I gladly took the change and put it in my pocket then snuggled up to him again. We sat for a few more minutes while he started to play with my ring finger on my left hand. He knows that bugs me since I really wanted the ring we had picked out last Saturday. I glared at him and said, "Stop being such a brat". He just smiled and replied, "But being a brat is what I do."
We were still sitting on the porch swing. I was sitting on the left side of him and had my right arm around his neck and my right hand was resting on my legs, which we swung over his legs. His left arm was around my shoulders while his right hand played with my left hand (being the brat that he is). He kept playing with my left ring finger as we sat. He showed me his right hand which had a cheap ring on it of his that he wears often.
"Is this what you want?" he asked me, even though I'm sure he knew the answer already. I told him, "No, that's not what I want because it would be WAY too big on me and wouldn't look good at all".
Then he said, "Is this the one you want?" and was looking at his left hand. I looked too and saw that he was holding the ring we had picked out.
I was excited now and said, "Yes!"
He grinned and said, "You can only have it if you plan to wear it forever." I replied, with an ear to ear grin, "It's so shiny that I think I can handle that."
He placed it on my finger and held my hand, and said, while looking into my eyes, "I forgot to mention. I come with the ring." I grinned again and said, "It's pretty enough that I think I can handle having to keep you too."
"You'll have to promise to keep both forever," he told me (both meaning him and the ring). I gave my promise and we hugged and he kissed me.
We sat there for a while longer just looking at the ring and swinging on the swing. A few minutes later, Andrew came out to inform us that he'd left his phone at IHOP. So, Wil and I went with Andrew to go get his phone (the car he and Peter use was broken so Wil needed to drive him and I didn't want to be away from him at that moment). After that, the day progressed with nothing really interesting happening. Neither of us were feeling all that well so we spent most of the day napping or just doing very little. It's kind of funny that we became engaged on a day when neither of us was feeling all that great. That's ok though. It was still a good day.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
GNI & New Hair
I haven't updated my blog lately, so I figured I should while I have a little time today (life's been a little insane lately). On Wednesday, I got my hair cut. I mostly wanted to go in for a trim. My hair has gotten pretty long, but it looks great so I didn't want to get rid of a lot of length. My awesome stylist, McKenzie, decided that rather than having the few soft layers, she'd give me more layers, and rather than straightening it, like I usually do, she decided to curl it. Well, it turned out AWESOME! Everyone who's seen it loves it, especially me.
Last night was my family's Girls' Night In, where me, my mom, my sister, and my brothers' wives all get together for a sleep over. We usually have some sort of craft, game, or activity, but sometimes we just sit and talk. Last night, we designed our shirts for this year's family camp out. We decided that we'd all have blue shirts (in whatever shade of blue we wanted). We came up with a logo, and tag line, as well as nicknames for each of us in the family. We were all feeling very creative last night and came up with some great stuff. Here's the names we came up with:
Dad -- "The Reel Thing" -- Dad is our resident fisherman extraordinaire so this was fitting.
Mom -- "The Queen of ?" -- Mom is always asking questions and trying to understand all the silly things we joke and talk about. She has a wonderfully innocent and inquisitive spirit.
Jenn (mom of 3) -- "Mistress of Mayhem" -- Jenn balances single-motherhood of 3 crazy kids and a full time job. She's amazing and this nick-name perfectly describes her life.
Annee (oldest daughter of Jenn) -- "Reader Skeeter" -- Annee is a dedicated reader who is currently obsessed with the Twilight Series. She is also a big fan of Harry Potter so this was a great blend of her passions to represent her (she's so much like me, it's almost scary).
Tyler (son of Jenn) -- "Lord of the Games" -- Tyler is our mega-gamer. He's got so much game he could outplay most anyone! He's quick and smart and LOVES to win!
Dessa (youngest daughter of Jenn) -- "Lil' Wiggles & Giggles" -- Dessa is a BRIGHT & ENERGETIC spirit and LOVES to laugh! We have an adorable clip of her at campout last year doing this cute little wiggle dance -- hence the name.
Jenn & Jason -- "Miss B. Haven" & "Mr. Never Shaven" -- Jenn is the jokester, unruly, teasing, outrageous one in the family so her name was an obvious choice. Jason's had a nice rhyme and is VERY true -- the man hates to shave and grows facial hair faster than a Yetti according to his wife.
Wendee & Aaron -- "Wendi-lay-hee-hoo" & "Fix-It Guru" -- Wendee has such a fun name to play on so we had alot of fun with hers. Aaron and Wendee recently purchased a home and Aaron has become quite the Fix-It man so we felt this was fitting.
Matthew (Aaron & Wendee's son) -- "Little Boy Vrooom" -- Matthew is just under 3 years old and he LOVES all things that GO! Firetrucks and characters from the movie Cars are among his favorites.
Alyssa (Aaron & Wendee's daughter) -- "Princess Pea" -- Alyssa is the baby in our family; born just this last February. Her family t-shirt is actually a 'onesie' and it turned out super cute. When Alyssa is put down to sleep, she can always sense the slightest discomfort and has plenty to 'say' about it. So her name is a play on that story of the Princess and the Pea.
Josh & Stephanie -- "Sir Stinks-a-lot" & "Lady of the DANCE!" -- Josh's name is fairly self-explanatory. Sorry Josh, your wife picked it. We're assuming she has good reason. Stephanie is ALWAYS dancing about so her name was a no-brainer.
Jess (me) -- "Shutterbug" -- I am constantly behind the camera snapping pictures. In fact, I liked the shirts we made so much that I put it on this morning and took some pictures of myself in my new shirt.
Here are some pictures of my new shirt and my new hair. Keep in mind I did these after a late night up with the girls, so I don't look my best. Jenn also posted stuff about our GNI on her blog, so you can check out more by clicking on the "Jenn's Blog" link on the right (yes, I did just copy and slightly edit what she put for our nicknames. I really am that lazy today :P)
Last night was my family's Girls' Night In, where me, my mom, my sister, and my brothers' wives all get together for a sleep over. We usually have some sort of craft, game, or activity, but sometimes we just sit and talk. Last night, we designed our shirts for this year's family camp out. We decided that we'd all have blue shirts (in whatever shade of blue we wanted). We came up with a logo, and tag line, as well as nicknames for each of us in the family. We were all feeling very creative last night and came up with some great stuff. Here's the names we came up with:
Dad -- "The Reel Thing" -- Dad is our resident fisherman extraordinaire so this was fitting.
Mom -- "The Queen of ?" -- Mom is always asking questions and trying to understand all the silly things we joke and talk about. She has a wonderfully innocent and inquisitive spirit.
Jenn (mom of 3) -- "Mistress of Mayhem" -- Jenn balances single-motherhood of 3 crazy kids and a full time job. She's amazing and this nick-name perfectly describes her life.
Annee (oldest daughter of Jenn) -- "Reader Skeeter" -- Annee is a dedicated reader who is currently obsessed with the Twilight Series. She is also a big fan of Harry Potter so this was a great blend of her passions to represent her (she's so much like me, it's almost scary).
Tyler (son of Jenn) -- "Lord of the Games" -- Tyler is our mega-gamer. He's got so much game he could outplay most anyone! He's quick and smart and LOVES to win!
Dessa (youngest daughter of Jenn) -- "Lil' Wiggles & Giggles" -- Dessa is a BRIGHT & ENERGETIC spirit and LOVES to laugh! We have an adorable clip of her at campout last year doing this cute little wiggle dance -- hence the name.
Jenn & Jason -- "Miss B. Haven" & "Mr. Never Shaven" -- Jenn is the jokester, unruly, teasing, outrageous one in the family so her name was an obvious choice. Jason's had a nice rhyme and is VERY true -- the man hates to shave and grows facial hair faster than a Yetti according to his wife.
Wendee & Aaron -- "Wendi-lay-hee-hoo" & "Fix-It Guru" -- Wendee has such a fun name to play on so we had alot of fun with hers. Aaron and Wendee recently purchased a home and Aaron has become quite the Fix-It man so we felt this was fitting.
Matthew (Aaron & Wendee's son) -- "Little Boy Vrooom" -- Matthew is just under 3 years old and he LOVES all things that GO! Firetrucks and characters from the movie Cars are among his favorites.
Alyssa (Aaron & Wendee's daughter) -- "Princess Pea" -- Alyssa is the baby in our family; born just this last February. Her family t-shirt is actually a 'onesie' and it turned out super cute. When Alyssa is put down to sleep, she can always sense the slightest discomfort and has plenty to 'say' about it. So her name is a play on that story of the Princess and the Pea.
Josh & Stephanie -- "Sir Stinks-a-lot" & "Lady of the DANCE!" -- Josh's name is fairly self-explanatory. Sorry Josh, your wife picked it. We're assuming she has good reason. Stephanie is ALWAYS dancing about so her name was a no-brainer.
Jess (me) -- "Shutterbug" -- I am constantly behind the camera snapping pictures. In fact, I liked the shirts we made so much that I put it on this morning and took some pictures of myself in my new shirt.
Here are some pictures of my new shirt and my new hair. Keep in mind I did these after a late night up with the girls, so I don't look my best. Jenn also posted stuff about our GNI on her blog, so you can check out more by clicking on the "Jenn's Blog" link on the right (yes, I did just copy and slightly edit what she put for our nicknames. I really am that lazy today :P)
Monday, June 2, 2008
Life
I just finished up another session of school (wahoo!). Now I have a week off. After that, I only have two sessions left (5 weeks each, two classes each) and then I will have my degree! 11 weeks and counting until I am done with school. I can't wait! I'm so excited.
Wil is in Virginia visiting his brother's family. I'm sad because I miss him, but it's good for him to spend time with Mike, Jenny and Gabe. While he's in Virginia, I'm trying to get things figured out at my house. I've barely had time to sleep and eat lately, let alone clean, so my house is a disaster area. My goal for this week is to clean it up. It will probably take me all week to get it to a point where it's decent again. I can barely stand to be there as it is now. I also plan to get into a habit of working out every day. I'm going to do exercise videos and/or walk Rain daily.
Although I was without Wil this weekend, I still managed to have a lot of fun. Friday night was the cast party for Tempest at Danny's. That was a lot of fun. I mixed up the chili with cheese in it (turned out great), while Linda made cookies and we both tried to keep Danny's puppy away from the food. We didn't really do much, but it was so much fun. There were usually 3-4 conversations going at all times. I met two new people. Linda invited her friends Phil and Misha (I think that was his name...). They were a lot of fun too. I, of course, took way too many pictures. The slide show below are the pictures. At the beginning, I didn't realize that I was on manual, but the pictures turned out rather well still. then I got out my (or rather Wil's) external flash. Because I was bouncing the light off the ceilings and walls instead of into peoples faces, I had the flash facing all sorts of directions. I ended up flashing the light right at Mike and feeling horrible about it, and then a few minutes later did the exact same thing to Phil. Poor guys. Towards the end, Todd and Danny stole my camera and took pictures. It was loads of fun.
On Saturday night, I helped out at the ticket counter at the Empress for their play, The Foreigner. I stayed to watch the show, and it was great! I had a hard time hearing the actors at times, but got the gist of it and loved it. After the play, I stayed for Work in Progress as well (the improv team). They were awesome! Mumbling Murder Mysteries has always been one of my favorite games, but that was the best one I'd ever seen. I was dying of laughter by the end of it. It was great fun!
Wil is in Virginia visiting his brother's family. I'm sad because I miss him, but it's good for him to spend time with Mike, Jenny and Gabe. While he's in Virginia, I'm trying to get things figured out at my house. I've barely had time to sleep and eat lately, let alone clean, so my house is a disaster area. My goal for this week is to clean it up. It will probably take me all week to get it to a point where it's decent again. I can barely stand to be there as it is now. I also plan to get into a habit of working out every day. I'm going to do exercise videos and/or walk Rain daily.
Although I was without Wil this weekend, I still managed to have a lot of fun. Friday night was the cast party for Tempest at Danny's. That was a lot of fun. I mixed up the chili with cheese in it (turned out great), while Linda made cookies and we both tried to keep Danny's puppy away from the food. We didn't really do much, but it was so much fun. There were usually 3-4 conversations going at all times. I met two new people. Linda invited her friends Phil and Misha (I think that was his name...). They were a lot of fun too. I, of course, took way too many pictures. The slide show below are the pictures. At the beginning, I didn't realize that I was on manual, but the pictures turned out rather well still. then I got out my (or rather Wil's) external flash. Because I was bouncing the light off the ceilings and walls instead of into peoples faces, I had the flash facing all sorts of directions. I ended up flashing the light right at Mike and feeling horrible about it, and then a few minutes later did the exact same thing to Phil. Poor guys. Towards the end, Todd and Danny stole my camera and took pictures. It was loads of fun.
On Saturday night, I helped out at the ticket counter at the Empress for their play, The Foreigner. I stayed to watch the show, and it was great! I had a hard time hearing the actors at times, but got the gist of it and loved it. After the play, I stayed for Work in Progress as well (the improv team). They were awesome! Mumbling Murder Mysteries has always been one of my favorite games, but that was the best one I'd ever seen. I was dying of laughter by the end of it. It was great fun!
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