4 years ago today

I've honestly been lazy. I have photos from Montana that I am planning on posting at some point in my lifetime. Buuuut I just haven't really had a good chance. I will though.



But really, this post is about today....


4 Years ago today... I met up with a really cute guy that I liked a lot to go to a snowboard video movie premier.

4 Years ago today... I hugged that guy for the first time.

4 Years ago today... I kissed that guy for the first time.

4 Year ago today... I knew that I had found the most amazing guy ever and all I wanted to do was spend every moment with him and we started dating on this day.

On this day, Today... I'm married to the love of my life and get to be with him forever. And tonight we're going to munch some yummy Italian food to celebrate 4 years of being together and happy. It might seem silly to celebrate when we started dating, but I love it. I think of that day as one of the best of my life. When we started dating, there was no one else for either of us. We've been connected at the hip since. I'd almost say it was love at first sight. :)

I can't wait for more adventures, hand in hand, by each others side.

Our first official date, September 30th 2006

Another date, October 2006

First time snowboarding together, November 2006

November 2006

Friday Q & A

Woohoo! Happy Friday! :D

1. If you could speak with a different accent, what would it be (i.e Australian, Scottish)?
Totally Australian. Who doesn't like an Australian accent?

2. Can you fall asleep anywhere? (i.e floor, couch, deck)
If I'm tired enough, yes. I'm teaching myself to sleep on the bus and I'm getting a lot better at it. It's always a bit painful when I wake up though.

3. Do you use public restrooms? If so, do you sit on the toilet?
Yes and yes, but only with seat covers or TP as a seat cover.

4. If you were stuck in an elevator for 24 hours, what celebrity would you most want to be stuck with?
This is hard. I don't pay any attention to celebrity stuff so I don't really know much about them. Maybe Reese Witherspoon? She seems like a lot of fun.

5. Where did you & your significant other go on your 1st date?
Well the first time we hung out we went off-roading, it wasn't technically a date though. Our real first date was up in the mountains at this big house for a snowboard video premiere party. It was a great first date and we've been inseparable ever since.

The day we met. My truck on the right and his on the left.

Our "official" first date.

Friday fives

1.What's your "comfort food"?
Well I LOVE macaroni and cheese w/ turkey hot dogs and broccoli. Tortellini is my other fave.

2.One thing that's on your mind right now?
Camping tonight and needing to pack. Not till I get off work though.

3.What's the best advice you've ever received?
I really don't know. Nothing stands out as the best ever. I like the advice to choose your battles. That can be a life saver in a relationship of any kind.

4.If you found $10 today, what would you do with it?
Probably put it in my wallet and forget about it. Ha ha....

5.What is your least favorite thing to clean in your house
Dishes! I don't know why I hate them so much, but I do. And they kinda gross me out if there is food left on them. Yuck.

Things that are making me happy today.

Just a random list of things that are making me happy today.

Has the week just flown by for anyone else? Not complaining at all!

1. On Tuesday I found out that the new owners of the cottage we are renting at Seabrook totally changed the sleeping set up. What was 3 rooms and 3 large beds before, was turned into 2 large beds and 4 twins. Ummmm... Not gonna work. We have 3 couples coming and none of us are going to sleep on separate twin beds.

I called them and told them we had picked that cottage because of the 3 bed/3 room set up specifically and that the new set up was NOT going to work for us.

Well, the lady I spoke with told me that they could switch our rental to a different cottage, at no extra charge. She gave me 2 options. The one I picked is way nicer than the 1st one, still has a hot tub and is $40 a night more! But we get it for the same price!

I'm honestly even more excited now. We lucked out!

The NEW cottage we're staying in.

2. I got 4 cans of banana chips delivered to me yesterday. I swear I could live off those things if I had to. They are AMAZING!

3. I've been trying to eat healthier and try some new stuff. One of these things is coconut juice and coconut chips(plain sliced coconut). Coconut is said to be very healthy.
The juice is delicious and a great way to rehydrate after a workout. I purchased some from Top Foods last week and it wasn't cheap so I only got 2 cans. Well on Monday, I forced Ryan to go to our local natural food store PCC to see if they had coconut ice cream(which they did and yum) and wanted to check their price on coconut juice. Well, I was very pleased to find it was cheaper than the normal grocery store!
I also purchased some coconut chips to try out. They're pretty good, but I discovered they are amazing mixed into yogurt! Yay!

4. Saturday is my amazing husband's birthday. He's turning 26. I got him something he really wanted for his birthday and am excited to give it to him.

5. We're going camping tomorrow with a bunch of friends. One of them has family property up north on the sound. It's a beautiful spot and I'm excited to camp there. We're only staying one night though because of Ryan's birthday.
On a side note, the Lululemon outlet store is on the way home. :D Hopefully I can talk Ryan into stopping there. I really need a couple more pieces of workout apparel now that I'm going so often.

...and then it was Fall.

I didn't know Fall had officially started today till about 3 min ago when I searched it.
It was cold enough this morning for me to believe it. 49° when I left my house at 5am.

So on Monday I drove in to work so I could get home early, it was a nice treat not riding the bus.
On Monday afternoon there was a large warehouse fire in South Seattle(where I work) at an old Sunny Jim peanut butter plant.
You could see the smoke for miles. As soon as I got on the highway, I discovered that the fire was REALLY big and the smoke was wafting over the highway and holding up traffic.
So of course I had to get some pics with my phone. We were only going about 35mph and I was just holding my phone up and clicking(being semi safe).
It was a bit scary. I rolled up all the windows and turned off the air and made sure it was on recirculate. The smoke was really heavy and actually made my eyes sting. It was super intense driving through it.
Even after I made it past the blazing fire, the smoke still lingered in between the two hills in Seattle. It was gross looking and smelling.

Going north, Seattle skyline on the left side of the photo.

Just about to the fire.

You can just see the big fire hose in the air spraying water above the concrete barrier of the highway.

1. What is your Zodiac sign? Gemini. I think for the most part it's very fitting. I tend to flit from thing to thing and I can also change my mind quickly.Some typical traits we're said to have:
Adaptable and versatile
Communicative and witty
Intellectual and eloquent
Youthful and lively
Nervous and tense
Superficial and inconsistent
Cunning and inquisitive
2. Name 3 things that are always in your purse besides your wallet. Chapstick, phone, keys
3. Which magazines do you look at the most? I enjoy some 4x4 and car, specifically Subaru magazines, but I am more of a book person.
4. Do you pluck or get your eyebrows waxed? Once and a while if I have a stray hair I will pluck it but I don't on a regular basis. When I was in elementary school, another girl accused me of plucking my eyebrows. I was shocked because I never had and it made me self conscious for a while. Now I am thankful for manageable brows.
5. How often do you go grocery shopping?
Not very. We usually only go to the store every few weeks. I want to start going more often though. I want to get more fresh fruits, veggies and meats in my diet. We tend to eat a bit too much processed food, even though it's semi healthy stuff.

I just feel like writing.

Sitting in an old truck at Bannack Ghost Town, Montana Sept. 2008

No interesting or exciting post today. I just felt like saying something. I'll probably end up rambling. Heh....

Our computer is STILL at the Apple store waiting on a part to get fixed. Supposedly, they are replacing the LCD. Not exactly sure what that entails but they are waiting on the part to get sent to the store before they can do anything.
Ryan and I were hoping they'd just have to replace our computer with a 27". We're still fuming over the 27" i macs coming out 2 weeks after we bought our 24". For the same price. Stupid technology.
So anyways, I can't post any cool photos from the last couple weekends because my computer has been gone since Saturday.
Multiple times Ryan and I have forgotten that it's gone and go to do something on it. It's crazy how much you realize you use something when you can't use it anymore.

Our weekend was good. Whidbey Island was fun even if it didn't work out perfectly. We had to wait for the ferry for 3 hours because one of the boats was broken. Not cool. Especially when you haven't eaten dinner(or lunch for that matter) but can't go buy dinner because you have steaks, potatoes and salad waiting to be made. Also, I ended up getting an allergy attack on Sunday so that put me out for most of the day. It was sad.

Just getting back into the daily routine. Which in case you're curious, kinda sucks.
Get up at the crack of dawn (4:15am), ride the bus, walk, ride another bus, walk some more, work, walk, ride the bus, walk some more, ride another bus and then get home around 5pm. I'm going to CrossFit tonight, yay! After CrossFit, try to have energy to clean/eat/breathe/get anything done and hope to get in bed by 9:30pm, at the latest. Ugh.

Let me just say, I LIVE for the weekends. I feel like I never have enough time during the week. Going to CrossFit has taken up a lot of my spare time, but I wouldn't give it up. I feel so much better so it's truly worth it. BUT... I really wish there were more than 24 hours in a day.

See, I am rambling. (sigh)

Let's hope the computer gets fixed soon. I miss it!

Also:

Happy Friday! 9/17 Edition

It's the end of the week again. Imagine that!
Nothing much exciting to report this week. I did do CrossFit 4 days this week, so I think that's pretty exciting. :)
Plans for the weekend include:

• Taking our I Mac into the Apple store to get looked at. :( It's only a year old and in the last week has developed a couple lines across the screen. I'm not very happy about that.
• Cleaning our fish tank.
• Going to our friend Ryan's cabin on Whidbey Island Saturday afternoon to camp and hang out with him and his GF Kelsey.
• Give Torkie a bath.
  
  

1. What is the first nightmare you remember?
Hmm... I can remember an old one where I was walking on train tracks and a train was coming but I couldn't move fast enough to get out of the way. When the train hit the dream ended. Pretty typical nightmare I think.


2. Even if you’re not a sports fan, what’s your favorite sport to play/watch?
I enjoy watching the Seahawks play most of the time and I also enjoy watching hockey live.

3. If you could pull off one piece of trendy fashion, what would you want it to be (jeggings, hats, thigh high boots, etc.)?
I REALLY wish I could stand to wear high heels. I'm a wimp though. I don't enjoy being in extreme pain, which is what happens if I wear anything over 3.25". It's sad because I see soooo many cute shoes. Ryan hates high heels though because he thinks they're ridiculous and bad for your body, which really, they are.
I also really love all the cute boots out for fall. I can't wear most of them because of the size of my calves though. It makes me sad.

4. Did you make good grades in school?
I did up until HS. I lost interest in school at that time. Oops.

5. What magazines do you subscribe to?
None anymore. I used to get Snowboarder, 4Wheeler and Cosmo. I also had a subscription to a bridal magazine before I got married, can't remember which one though.

A Pet Is For Life

This is pretty sad but makes a wonderful point. I want to adopt the cartoon doggie now!
If you're thinking about getting a pet, please seriously consider adopting from a shelter or rescue group!

A Pet Is For Life

Photo hunt failure...

So I totally dropped the ball on the August photo hunt.
I had a hard time finding ideas for all the topics. What I was able to find I wasn't able to get up and posted in time for the deadline.
:(
I decided I might as well post them here. I hope to do better on the next photo hunt which I do plan on participating in.

Something In Season

Feet

Something Masculine

Light

Eco-Friendly

Something Wet

Something Dry

Hello Friday.

Happy Friday everyone!

This week flew by for me. Which might have had something to do with the fact that it was only 3 days. I love short weeks. I wish I could work 4 10 hour days every week instead of the normal 5 8's.

We don't really have anything going on this weekend. I'm not sad about this though. It will be nice to just relax and spend time with my husband. I'm thinking about baking some yummy bread. We once again have a ton planned for the next couple weekends.

I might be taking some photos for some friends this weekend. The weather is supposed to be nicer tomorrow so hopefully we can make it happen. Excited and nervous to do it because I still don't have a lot of experience with portraits, but I adore them (the family) so I think it will be fun.



Five Question Friday brought to you by My Little Life.

1. Do you feel guilty spending money on yourself?
Not really. I work pretty hard so I feel like I can splurge once and a while. I don't buy a lot of stuff though.

2. How well do you know your neighbors?
Not very. We've lived at our house for 2.5 years and barely met any of them. One of them actually had the nerve to come and yell at me last summer for having multiple cars at our house. I was totally caught off guard and it really upset me. She's on my dislike list now.
Since we started the garage, EVERYONE stops and talks to us now. It's actually really nice. We've met and talked to a lot more people now and everyone has been really nice to us. I think people appreciate that our home improvements make the neighborhood nicer. Also, I think they've realized we're not just rude and irresponsible young people after all.

3. What age are you looking forward to being?
I would like to stay 25 forever. I really don't want to get any older. This is my ideal age that I was looking forward to being.

4. Do you get excited when the mail comes? Why?
Sometimes... Lately, we mostly get junk mail and bills. Not exciting. I love it when I am expecting something good though, then it's exciting. Speaking of, I don't think we've checked the mail in 3 days. Oops.

5. What is your earliest childhood memory?
I have some faint pictures in my head of living on the farm in Carnation. I think I was about 2 then. More clear though, I remember playing with clay in preschool, so about 4 years old.

Changes

Credit

I've thought a lot about how as one season comes to an end, I always seem to be ready for the next. Maybe that's natures way of alleviating boredom.

I'll miss summer, but I'm starting to crave fall. Colors, warm clothing, spiced cider and of course, Halloween. Then I will start to hope for crisp, cold and blue sky winter mornings and maybe even a little of that white stuff we so rarely see around here. The cold will start to get to me and I'll wish for spring and new flowers and leaves. Soon though, I'll dream of warm mornings and warm nights without 5 layers of clothing. As the hot days and endless sun become tiresome, fall will be back to welcome me to a new season and a fresh start.

I guess I'm in a thoughtful mood today.

The last couple months and days even, I've felt such animosity towards children that I sometimes fear I'll never want my own. I feel like I am constantly having things happen around me that reinforce my distaste for children. Unruly and rude children in restaurants. Screaming, whining kids in stores. It's unpleasant to say the least.

Yet, looking at one of the blogs I frequent, I start to get a little tug again. Her photos of her new born baby girl stirred something in me.

Maybe I'm not hopeless. Change is always happening it seems and fresh perspectives should always be welcome.

Back home and tagged!

Well I made it to Montana and back with NO problems.
The drive there was about 11 hours. Had a great couple days with my mom.
The drive back was some how only 9 hours. I made great time.
More on this later though...

Little fuzzy guy napping on the way to Montana. Which he did pretty much the whole time.

Ashley over at My Carnival Ride tagged me in a Q & A game. I feel honored! :)

Here are the questions she picked:

1. If you could pick any decade to have grown up in, which would you choose?
Hmm.... That's a hard one for me. I love the simplicity of the older decades, but they had their problems. I would love to experience the 30's and 40's and the pioneer times in the wild west. :)

2. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I was very interested in being a marine mammal biologist. I loved whales and dolphins.

3. If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?
Yikes. I don't know. I don't like a lot of girl names very much. I'll keep mine for now. :)

4. If you could go on a road trip with anyone, dead or alive, who would you choose and where would you go?
My husband. He is the best road trip companion. And I would have us take a month and go across the whole USA. We did a lot of the western part on our honeymoon but I want to see more. :)

5. What is the best concert you’ve ever been to?
Tool. I've seen them 3 times and every time was amazing. U2 also puts on a really great show.

6. What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
When I was a little kid I ate an ant. Other than that, some people think sushi is weird.

7. What is your all-time favorite song and why?
I can't pick just one. I have a lot of favorite songs. They change every few years too. A special one is Don't Cry Out by Shiny Toy Guns. It reminds me A LOT of when Ryan and I met/started dating. It has really special memories attached to it.

8. What is your biggest phobia?
Well I HATE bees. I will run from them like a crazy person. Or spiders. Ewwww. Fleas also really creep me out.



I'm so happy this is such a short week for me.
Fall has officially come to the Northwest. I'm a little sad but excited for the changes. I can't wait for Halloween and all the fall colors.

Excited!!!

I just made our reservations to stay here October 8th, 9th and 10th!

Isn't this place just too cute?

I'm so EXCITED!!!!!

We're going with 4 other friends and staying for two nights. The last photo is one I took from the beach at Seabrook last year when we first checked the place out. It's so pretty and because it's away from Ocean Shores, it's more private.

We did end up renting the house/cabin I mentioned here. Torkie even gets to come too!

October is looking pretty good now. Bring it on Fall!