25 Letters

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

My friend Tiffany and Palmer Concierge

So my friend Tiff is an entrepaneur. She's started Palmer Concierge (http://www.palmerconcierge.com). I'm super excited for her - she's super awesome at this kind of thing. She's doing anything from personal assistant stuff (christmas/grocery shopping, party/event planning, dog/house sitting, errand running, etc) and executive assistant stuff (excel/word processing, finances, filing, organiziation, etc).

So the next time you need help this holiday season with figuring out what to get that difficult to buy for person, or errand running before your holiday party, just call on Palmer Concierge! I know i'm going to!!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

One of my newest heroes

Although I have often said that I didn't want to ever run for political office, and that if God wanted me to do so He'd have to hit me over the head with a 2x4 - I have GREAT admiration for Sarah Palin. She is a mom of five who lives what she believes - and one of her most controversial beliefs is that she is pro-life, with the only exception being the life of the mother. The article linked below wonders why the mainstream media has hated her so much from the get-go. Is it that she reemed on them during her exception speach or is it because she lives out what she believes? It is an interesting read...let me know what you think.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTVkM2Q0MTEwY2NmYmJmYmUzNzI3NzdkOGQ2YzdhMTE=

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Fun Wedding Link

I found out about a year ago that our wedding had been showcased in a bridal magazine (they asked to feature some of our photographer's photo's and she picked ours). However, I couldn't ever get them to send me a copy and didn't even know the name of the magazine. I finally got a hold of our photographer and she gave me the link to the online version of Gulf Coast Bride. Check it out - it's really kind of fun! We're the first "real wedding" listed, just click on our names.

http://www.gcbride.com/real-weddings

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Comments now work!

Feel free to comment - David's got it working now! Would love to know who's been reading...

Seattle Overview

Because I wasn't able to keep up with our trip as it happened, I've put together a short overview. It was a great trip, and we have thoroughly enjoyed it. I think that I'm about ready to sleep in my own bed, and ready to be at home for a couple of days and eat some homemade food. Isn't that how a good vacation is supposed to go? Enjoy yourself to the fullest and then enjoy heading home?

Friday July 4th
Arrived in Seattle, visited REI, ate a yummy trout salad, walked around the Space Needle, found a place to chill in Olympic Sculpture Park, the guys grabbed Subway and we watched the fireworks over the bay. Michael drove us back to Whidbey as David fought sleep and I became comatose in the backseat.

Saturday, July 5th
Slept late, visited Michael's base, walked along the beach and looked at the crazy rocks and low tide, had coffee with Carrie and Mark, grocery shopped in Oak Harbor, grilled burgers, made guacamole and played Guitar Hero.

Sunday and Monday, July 6th-7th
Headed back into Seattle, stopped at Deception Pass - hiked and took pictures, got to Seattle and had crab, oysters, and shrimp at the Crab Pot on the Pier 57. Got up the next morning and had breakfast at Pike's Place Market and hung out there for a couple hours, Michael and David watched a movie that afternoon and I shopped, met back up for lunch at PF Changs and headed to the Space Needle to see Seattle from above. Took pictures and headed back to Whidbey.

Tuesday July 8th
Slept late, piddled around the house, went and ate fish and chips the Rock Fish Grill in Anacortes (the best fish and chips on the trip), visited a old hardware store, checked on the ferry for the next day and headed back to Whidbey for some yummy Papa Murphey's pizza and a movie at Michael's.

Wednesday, July 9th
Got up dang early, caught the ferry from Anacortes to Sidney, BC and got hooked on Hearts on the way over. Headed to the Buchart Gardens, grabbed an early lunch and enjoyed the gardens. Found and checked into our hotel in Victoria, had a cup of coffee/tea overlooking the harbor, walked around the downtown district and had some yummy food at The Keg, a steak and seafood restaurant. Played more hearts while watching the Speed channel in our awesome hotel room.

Thursday, July 10th
Got up, grabbed the Big Bus tour and did some sightseeing of Victoria. Visited Craigdarach Castle, a huge house built to be a castle in the early 1900 that has since been a military hospital, a college, and now a museum of sorts. Continued the tour to the edge of the island and back into the city for some british fish and chips (not nearly as good as the ones at Rock Fish). Did a bit of shopping and headed out to catch the ferry back. Ate leftover pizza and Michael and David put new memory in Michael's computer.

Friday, July 11th
Got up at a decent time, packed up and headed into Seattle to grab a couple of iPhones and see the Boeing Factory if we had time. As you could tell from the previous post, there wasn't any time for the factory, so after they got the phones and I shopped, we ate at the Cheesecake Factory and headed to the hotel. The guys kept playing with the iPhones, and we rented a movie on TV. Michael was out in the first 5 minutes...not kidding.

Saturday, July 12th
I got up and headed back out to Pikes Place market for a couple of things. By about 11am, the market was so crowded it was hard to walk. I headed back after grabbing a bouquet of flowers to take home (yes, you can think I'm crazy - David does) and met the guys as they were headed out of the hotel. We grabbed some food on the way to the airport...and here we sit!

Lots of fun, so much fun that I'm pooped. It was great to get to hang out with Michael, to see Care and Mark, to get to visit Canada (never been before), and to enjoy the weather. It's warmer today - didn't put on my jacket once - hot by Seattle standards, but the high is still 20+ degrees cooler than Austin. I told David that I felt like a weenie having to wear a jacket all week when everyone else was in tanks and shorts, but then I realized that they'd never be able to bear the Texas heat - and I felt better.

Hope you've enjoyed hearing about our trip - we enjoyed having it! Love to all of you!

iPhone

the following was written late last Friday in Seattle...

Friday, July 11th. The day that so many have waited for with baited breath. The day that my husband has looked forward to for at least 6 months. Actually, he's probably waited longer than that.

When we realized we were going to be in Washington the day the new iPhone came out, David told me that it would be fine if we weren't able to get one the day they came out. But when we got here, Michael told us he wanted one too. So, we tentatively decided to carve out some time to stop by an Apple or ATT store.

On our way into Seattle this afternoon, we stopped at an ATT store. Sadly, they were only given 40 and had sold out early this morning. So, David started calling all the stores in the area. After the first couple of stores didn't have any left, he called the two Apple stores in the Seattle area and both still had phones left. We headed to the Belleview store, which ended up being in a large mall (good news for me!) and the line in front of the store that didn't look so long. The guys headed up to the end of it and were promptly told that's not where the line started. They headed back to an employee entrance to the mall, and the girl in the Apple shirt told them to head down the hallway. After a long hallway and two corners, they found the end of the line. I was just laughing at them the whole way down. I told them I would come back with snacks, and headed out asking the guy at the very front of the hallway line (the first of three lines we found out later) how long he had been waiting. "4 hours." Are you kidding? Crazy.

Thankfully, that part of the line only took them 2 1/2 hrs - apparently ATT had some server issues that morning and things moved very slowly. Since we got there after they were up and running, the line was much better and the guys only ended up waiting 5 hrs in line. It was another hour to get it set up and purchased.

I asked Michael if it was worth it - because he wasn't an existing ATT customer it was much easier to set up his phone and get it going, so he was playing with it for about 30 minutes while David was still waiting - and he said he didn't know yet. But I got a pic of him grinning at his phone while playing with it - and within the hour he told it was definitely worth it. David said it wasn't worth it yet - his feet still hurt. Would it be when they quit hurting? Yep.

So all in all it was an eventful day. I got a lot of shopping done (I was tired before they were done waiting) and they both got new toys. While my day was more fun while it was happening, they ended up with a cool end product - one that has kept them busy ever since.

Friday, July 11, 2008

A few more highlights

So it’s been a few days...sorry about that. I decided not to bring my computer on this trip for several reasons. One, so that I wouldn’t be tempted to work, and two, so I didn’t have to carry it through the airports during transit. However, that has meant that I’m not able to blog whenever I want because I have to borrow either David’s or Michael’s computer.

As I am writing this, we’re on board a ferry headed back to Washington. We have spent the last 36 hours in Canada - more specifically on Vancouver Island. Most of the time we were in the city of Victoria but we went also to see the famous Butchart Gardens and actually landed and left from Sidney, BC. Please don’t be confused here. The city of Victoria is on Vancouver Island and the city of Vancouver is on the mainland of British Columbia. Oh, and the island of Victoria is MUCH farther north, and has nothing to do with either the city of Victoria or the city of Vancouver - well, except that they’re all in Canada. How’s that for confusing?

So, let’s go for highlights. The last time I wrote, we were just back from Seattle. I’ll try to catch you up without writing a dissertation.

Rock Fish Grill - We had a day in Whidbey between Seattle and Victoria and decided we needed fish and chips. Michael told us about this great little place in Anacortes - a small fishing town on the mainland about 30 minutes from his house. Man, were was it good! They were also a mini brewery, so David tried a sampler of beer - they give you 6 mini glasses so you can try different kinds. He decided that out of all of them he liked the Porter (dark) beer the most, but that they “brewed better tea than beer by far.” Don’t take that as a slam to Rock Fish - he’s just a bigger fan of tea than he is of beer. Oh, and I finally got a zip up hoodie! It’s the best - it’s from a cool little joint, and I am definitely enjoying the weather more with it to keep me warm.

Butchart Gardens - That place was amazing. Imagine a huge used up quarry - and then try and imagine what it would look like if you covered it in greenery, flowers of every shape, color and size, and trees taller than a three story building. The “Sunken Garden” is how it all started, and it’s one of the most beautiful places on the 100 acre property. The gardens were formerly the private gardens on the estate of the Butchart family - Mr. Butchart was one of the founders of Portland Cement. Mrs. Butchart began the gardens around 1910, and it has grown from there. On the property, to name a few, there is a huge rose garden (with hundreds of types of roses from across the world), an formal Italian garden, a Japanese garden, a star shaped pond (to house their duck collection), and the one that began it all, the Sunken Garden. It was incredible to see God’s paintbrush and creativity - the amazing colors, the shapes, the lushness, and the beauty beyond imagination. One interesting note, it was the only place we’ve been so far that I wanted to be wearing a t-shirt and shorts - sunny and very little breeze. Oh, and it had a GREAT gift shop (that I thoroughly enjoyed and the guys were super sweet and super patient - Michael told me he took a nap...).

This is as far as I can get now, we’re packing up and getting back to the car. I’ll update more tomorrow… I promise. Oh, and I’m having technical difficulties uploading the pics with David’s computer, but I’ll get him to help me with that tomorrow too. ‘night!

Monday, July 07, 2008

Seattle, take one

This was written for the most part on Monday night. I’m sorry for so many details - I tried to highlight some of the, well, highlights at the beginning. Hope you enjoy!

As our first vacation together as a married couple (besides our honeymoon and Camp Nikos - both of which don’t really count), David and i decided to visit his brother Michael who is stationed in Whidbey Island, WA. Whidbey is about two hours outside of Seattle, and as it is the closest metropolitain area, we’ve spent a good amount of time there too. Because I have, as David says, a bad filing system for my memories, I wanted to share some of the highlights of our trip with you and as a by-product, document some reminders so that i’ll be able to remember our trip later on. For your reading pleasure, I’ve provided a couple of highlights at the beginning so you won’t have to read the whole thing - which will most likely turn into a book when I get started.

Highlights

Cool weather - even though I knew it would be cooler than Texas by far, I wasn’t quite prepared. I’ve been chilly ever since we stepped off the plane. I brought several jackets, but none that have alot of warmth to them. So, I’ve found that if I layer the jackets, I stay pretty warm. Maybe I’ll come across a sweatshirt that I’ll just have to buy (but so far the tourist prices of $40 a sweatshirt have made me happy with what I have).

Seeing Care - It was a lot of fun to hang out with Carrie and Mark, my longtime friend who’s wedding I was in last Labor Day. Even though it was a short time, it was great to catch up, to have David and Mark be able to meet each other, and just to see an old friend for an afternoon. Good luck with the house friend!

Hanging out with Michael - Even though David and I have been a couple for over 3 years and have known each other for a lot longer, this is the most time I’ve spent with Michael by far. Since he was stationed in Japan for 3 years, and was only over there for about 6 months before I met him, there hasn’t been many opportunities to spend quality time with him. It’s been super fun getting to know the brother of David’s who is a whole lot like David. I laughed out loud earlier today when I heard him asking the guy behind the counter at Cold Stone Creamery how they kept the counters so cold. It was such a David thing to ask! Because Brian and David are so different, this has been a whole new experience - and a great one!

The Crab Pot - A local Seattle restaurant on Pier 57 where we ate at last night - Michael found it in the tabletop book in the hotel room, and it was yummy! Not only the crab a delicious local delicasy but had a fun atmosphere. There’s just something that happens to you when your table is covered with paper, you’re given a plastic bib to wear and a mallet and plank to eat your dinner with. I’ll just say there was talk of a food fight, but we restrained ourselves. Good times. (Ps. I did learn that boiled oysters are pretty good, but only when they’re hot. When they’re cool/cold....they remind me of...nevermind.)

The beginning of the longer version...

We left our house at 7:30am on July 4th. Thanks to Southwest, we were able to cash in one of my free tickets from being a frequent flyer and thus knew we were in for a day of traveling. However, we were pretty surprised that the traveling was as light as it was (note to self and other interested parties: if you can handle traveling on the day of the holiday, MUCH easier). The lines at security were short and we had plenty of time to grab food, eat and get on our plane. The flight was somewhat uneventful, although we did have to change aircraft because of mechanical difficulties in Phenoix and I nearly left the wedding present I was bringing to Care...but thanks to my very astute husband, I was able to retrieve it. In the process, he lost me, but thankfully we met back up and all the flight attendants were glad to see us and the wedding present on the new plane.

After Michael picked us up from our 7 hour flight, we grabbed food downtown and headed to REI. David needed shoes and we needed a Joby for his big camera. That place was crazy. The biggest REI i’ve ever seen. They have an almost 70 foot tall climbing wall in the store, bike trails around it, and a whole eco system outside that makes you almost believe you’re not in downtown Seattle. It was so crazy huge that I took several pictures. All of our pictures will be on our alleys.smugmug.com under the travel section - check them out! We chilled out downtown for several more hours before we headed down to the waterfront to watch the fireworks. The sunset was God’s show before the fireworks - it was gorgeous. By the time we headed home, David and I were pooped. I slept the entire way back.

The next day we slept in, had a big breakfast and just hung out. We headed into into town to hang out with my friend Care and her hubby Mark. On the way, we stopped by the base and saw where Michael works. It was pretty cool, and i’m not even into planes. The base, being on an island, has a coast line and we went and hung out for an hour or so just walking around. It was low tide so we were able to go way far out into where the water normally is and see lots of cool rocks, empty oysters and COLD water. After meeting Care and Mark at the small town carnival that was in Oak Harbor for the holiday weekend, we headed to Starbucks to warm up. Side note - although it’s ‘summer’ up here, it’s been below 70 every day besides today and I have been chilly the whole time. The college kids working Cold Stone today laughed at me when i said something about being cold - one said that he went and swam in the river today because he had gotten so hot driving around. And today was probably the high 70’s. Yes, high 70’s in the sun. Crazy.

Anyway, back to my story. We had a good time with Care and Mark hanging out. We got to see his parent’s place (they live on Whidbey) and gave them their wedding invite that I framed for them. They loved it and that was great. We grabbed food from the store and made burgers and guacamole Sat night - super yummy.

David needs his computer...so i’ll continue my story (since it’s taken me this long - 1 1/2 days - to get this written) later today or tomorrow.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

A good reminder to count all our blessings…and then pray for them!

Man, am I blessed to be an American! Sometimes we forget and take so many things for granted...videos like the one linked below are good reminders of all our blessings.

http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/Impish_Dragon/?action=view&current=Untitled.flv

God Bless our Troops!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Camp Nikos…

So I blogged about Nikos during Nikos...I just forgot to put it on this, our personal blog. You see, I was the official blogger for Camp Nikos, an inner city kids camp in Rosebud Texas. As usual, David and I were staff, David being the ultimate music, tech, video, photographer, all around phenominal guy, and I was Light Lady as well as the lady in charge of disipline for the girls, helper to Cheryl and David, and official blogger. I’ve given you snipets of some of our posts below, but you can read about the whole week at http://www.campnikos.com. You can also see pictures from camp on our smugmug website at alleys.smugmug.com/Mission%20Possible (we haven’t finished uploading them all so be sure and check back for more).

From June 8th

Our theme for camp is “It’s good to know the King.” The campers will be
learning about how God is real, how He can be known, that He can be
heard, and how He can be trusted! It will be an exciting week as they
(and we) learn these truths through activities, stories, verses, and
daily camp life. These aren’t always easy truths to teach or to learn
(especially when you think as concretely as a child), so pray
especially for wisdom, patience and energy for our group leaders

From June 10th

After everyone got off their bus and into their cabin or tent
“families,” they moved into their homes for the week, took a tour of
the campground and had their pictures made for their nametags. A yummy
dinner was waiting for them, and after that came the night service.
Night Service always begins with Mr. Sean singing “My Father’s House”
and many other fun songs. The worship ended with a CRAZY rendition of
“Come on and Dance” that wore EVERYONE out. Light Lady was next. The
campers learned Matthew 5:16 – “Let your light SHINE before others,
that they may see the good things you do and PRAISE GOD!” Light Lady
talked about how at Camp Nikos we reward “kingly” behavior and how we
want to see pictures of children with crowns on during the nights
service (the reward for small acts – like picking up trash, sharing,
listening to their leaders). We also have rewards for learning the
daily verses and have a ‘Camper of the Day’ for those who shined for
Jesus all day long. These campers get to put highlighter all over
themselves and come up in the black lights and dance with Light Lady in
front of everyone. It is a treat to watch these kids soak in the
positive encouragement from their fellow campers, their leaders and
Light Lady herself.

From June 12th

By the time you read this, it will be Thursday. It’s right about the
middle of the week. Group leaders are exhausted and kids are falling
into a routine, and as they as they get more comfortable with each
other, both blessings and challenges abound. One of the big challenges
for leaders is to stay consistent with their ‘family’ and to be on the
same page as their fellow leaders in their family. And to do this while
continuously loving on children that are in their care for the week
just adds to that challenge. Yet another challenge is being consistent
with the more challenging kids (those who are physically demanding
attention), they also have to remember to love on the kids who are
quiet and obedient. It’s like starting a family with four to eight
children – all at once.

On the flip side, one of the most rewarding things at this stage of
camp is to see the children begin to open up. They’re talking about
what they’re thinking, they’re smiling, they’re helping others, and
they’re talking about home life with their group leaders. These things
are what make the sand, the sweat, and the tears ALL worth it. Watching
these children become children again – instead of the streetwise,
harden people they have to be – man, it’s powerful.

Walking through camp tonight as everyone was getting ready for bed it
was so incredible to see how those relationships in each little family
are already so precious. Voids are being filled in these children’s
hearts with God’s love flowing through each group leader as they prayed
for their campers, talked to them and just loved on them in every
little way as they got ready for bed.

From June 15th

Friday

The last night of Nikos there is traditionally a water balloon
fight. The group leaders fill up water balloons all day long on their
breaks, and this year they did great. There were four full big
trashcans full of balloons and every group was assigned to a trashcan.
By the end of the fight, everyone was wet, muddy and happy. Thankfully,
showers were before night service.

The night concluded with a crazy night service – one for the kids to
remember. Not only did the kids watch a simulation of an airplane
flight through a storm, the slideshow was super long with pictures from
throughout the day – lots of fun. Even Light Lady was different. After
each camper of the day was announced and recognized, she brought up all
the leaders to recognize their hard work and give them an opportunity
to dance in the black lights. The campers loved it and all cheered for
their leaders. While every leader had gone above and beyond, the staff
at the camp and activity leaders provided feedback that one in
particular had ‘shined’ all week long. Ryan W. was recognized for his
outstanding love of not only just his campers, but also all those he
came in contact with. He had a difficult group of boys but his patience
and love were amazing to watch. As all cheered him on, he danced in the
black light showing his energy and fun personality.

Saturday

Because each camper who came was in some way plugged into
Mission:Possible and its programs throughout the year, the leaving was
easier than in past years. Thankfully, the end of Camp Nikos isn’t the
end of this kind of love for these kids. They will be loved on all year
by people volunteering in the after school program, at Big Fish Club,
during art centers, and at Crosstrainers. This made a huge difference
in the attitudes of the campers as we left. Although we still had kids
who wanted to stay and live at camp, there was definitely a peace and
hope of more to come. Group leaders and their campers exchanged contact
information to be able to keep in touch, and many of these campers will
see these amazing people throughout the year.

Thank you so much for your prayers this week. We have felt them and
have been encouraged by them. This camp is always amazing, but this was
an incredible year. There were hard times and every leader and staff
person was stretched to his or her limits. It would not be a lie to say
that we were blessed at least as much (if not more) as the children
were by the experience.

Friday, April 18, 2008

New Pics up

So I’ve been behind on posting pics from the last several months of our lives. If you’re interested in seeing them, visit http://www.alleys.smugmug.com. Some of the new albums are under Holidays, Friends, Travel, Weddings, and Us...the Alleys. I’ve featured a couple, but there are tons more, so don’t stop there! There are Christmas and Valentine’s pics, pics of family and friends, pics of camping, of concerts, of a Spurs game...hopefully it will show you what we’ve been up to the last several months.

Enjoy!

Our Leasurely Saturday Trip

A couple of weeks ago, we woke up on Saturday morning and David asked me what I wanted to do. “Sleep” was the first thing that popped into my head - and I said it as I reaiized it was a little after 8am. Most of you will remember that neither of us are morning people and getting up before 10am on a Saturday is definitely not prefered. He laughed and again asked me what I wanted to do that day. Finally I woke up enough to ask him what HE wanted to do that day.

He then told me we should take a ride on a train. “Really?” I’d never been on a train before so even though it was early, I jumped at the idea. We headed to Cedar Park (a little town about 15 min away from our house) we bought excursion class tickets. We were to ride in a 1950’s coach (that had aftermarket heating and air conditioning) on the ususally steam, but while repairs are made, diesel train. The train was scheduled to leave at 10am, but after getting a late start we headed out at 1010. Or so we though. We ended up getting behind a couple of freight trains, so not only did we end up leaving late, it took 4.5 hrs to get to Burnet! If you’re not from Austin, you’ll not know that it’s about 60 miles away. However, we made the best of it, drank our starbucks, watched out our window at the beautiful Texas countryside flying (or not so flying at times) by, roamed the train and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.

There was a guy who had a birthday on the train, so the volunteer car attendants sang and danced for him. It was great. If I can upload it, I will. It’s not the whole song, but gives you an idea of the experience for sure.

It was such a relaxing day, and just what the doctor ordered. When we got to Burnet, we headed off to grab some food before the almost 2 hr layover came to a close. We squeezed in some shopping at some of the quaint little stores on their square, and headed back to ride the train home. After a nap and a root beer, we were home.

My husband has some really good ideas sometimes, and this was one of them. It was a really neat experience and made for a really relaxing Saturday. You can see more of our pics on our smugmug  but I’ve attached a couple of the really good ones here.

He is our Holy Ground

A neat poem a friend sent to me - reminds us that not only are we special - but that He wants to use us and all the talents and abilities and gifts He has given us. Sometimes we stand in our own way to shining His light.

I AM YOUR HOLY GROUND


So many gifts hidden beneath pews

Gifts that were given to us to use

Gifts that were given by Gods own hand

Given to us ..do you understand?



But we strive as if God forgot

Trying to be someone we’re not

We need to dust off those gifts that we were given

We need to know we are loved and forgiven

We need to stop trying to be someone we’re not

Because that was part of the enemys plot

He trembles at the thought of Gods children walking

In all God has given that his words they are talking



He wants their gifts hidden beneath religious pews

Instead of being opened and USED!!!

Because then people would see with their own eyes

That Jesus lives he is alive



That he is saying “my children come

I AM HE…THE HOLY ONE

The ONE that you seek.. you have found

Come to me I’m your Holy Ground”



So many gifts hidden beneath pews

Gifts given to us by God to use!!!


I AM YOUR HOLY GROUND!!!!

Monday, March 31, 2008

Apologies and a New Blog

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Hellloooo!

So it's been WAY to long since I've written (yea, i know…over a month). After some encouraging from a friend, I made it a point to do this weekend. Since I'm 1 hr, 15 min from this weekend being over…I'm writing.

Many things have happened since I got my car - and btw I still love it (even though Michael thinks it looks like a minivan!). I'll try to catch you up (but I don't promise it'll be in order of occurence.

• I was privileged to be in my friend Care's wedding. She's who I lovingly refer to (for people who have seen my wedding pictures or who attended) as "my bridesmaid with pink hair." And pretty much that's all it takes. She's super fun, totally different than me in so many ways, and yet we're still close. The wedding was as unique as she is and probably the most untraditional wedding I've been involved in. It was great - it showed who Mark and Carrie are together, and it had the fingerprints of my dear friend all over it. Plus, it was in Portland, so I got to take a break from the swealtering heat of Texas to enjoy the mid to upper 70 degree weather. It definitely wasn't a restful trip, but I was able to catch up with old friends who I haven't seen in years, meet sweet little Elena (pronounced eh-leena…something it took me a couple of days to get), and see my friend so happy she couldn't keep her eyes from leaking. It was good.
• That weekend also marked another event. It was the longest that David and I had been apart since we've been married. Although I was sure he would miss me (because he's at home, and being left is MUCH worse), I figured I wouldn't miss him until toward the end of the almost 6 days. I was wrong. It might have had something to do with how sweet Mark and Care were together, and how weddings and the things leading up to them get you all emotional or the anticipation of the length of time that I was going to be gone, or the lack of sleep, or…anyway…I pretty much missed him by Friday (I left Wednesday). Missing him at night doesn't count or I would be even more pitiful. But we made it through, and in the process found out how fun texting pictures of ourselves to the other was. When I got home on Labor day, David had cleaned up our apartment and had 12 yellow roses waiting for me on the dining room table. He fed me Chuy's and let me do nothing for the rest of the day. It was a great homecoming.
• My sister came to visit me for a week! It was SUPER fun, she hasn't come for that long since I've lived here, and we had a great time. I did my best to leave work at a decent time, and she did her best to sleep past noon every day that I worked. She had just coordinated a 3 day conference for almost 4000 people, and as you would imagine, it wore her out. I was glad to be able to give her a haven to rest, and then took a day off to hang out with her. We ended up finding her a great dress for an upcoming wedding and she experienced Ikea for the first time. During our visit there I managed to set my phone down somewhere (yes, it would have to have been me to do that), but miraculously it was found the next day. That's a funny story too, but let's just say that when the only person who knows where my phone is lives in St. Louis, it makes for a difficult recovery. Thanks Ash!
• I finally got all my info for the lady who did our wedding video and sent it off. She returned the video within a couple of days, but hadn't remembered to use one of the songs she already had. Ugh. Jack Johnson's Better Together is perfect for the video…she's going to try to fix it. Because she lives in very Northern Florida, she apparently hasn't gotten to the point of using digital stuff, so I actually had to print out some pictures and mail to her. The positive side of this is that now I have ten awesome pictures from our honeymoon that I made into a collage. Steph finished it off for me - I just love her!
• We're getting ready to move. Yes, again. I know that you must think that I move all the time…and you're right. This will be our first move as a married couple and we did have a garage sale, so hopefully it'll be easier this time (or at least that's what I'm telling myself). Hopefully we'll be in the next place for a good long while. We went apartment/duplex/house looking yesterday. What we found? You can get a lot more space further out, but we still found a little place we're interested in the same general area we live in. We're turning in our application and looking at the place one more time tomorrow. When we are a go, I'll post some pictures. Anyone up for a packing party? I think that will be my social life for the next month. Ah well, hopefully this will be the last time until we buy a place.
• Speaking of social time…it seems like I really haven't had any lately. A lot has to do with the fact that I have greatly increased responsibilities at work and it requires more hours to get it done. Then, when I'm done there…I'm tired. It's the most I can do to get home and figure out what to eat. So, if I have fallen off the face of the earth, I'm sorry. It's not cause I want to - so email me and whine. I am really working hard at keeping a balance, so hopefully it will at least sorta be balanced. Hopefully when this transition time is over, I will be able to either delegate some of the responsibility or have it removed from my plate. Either way, it will be nice to get through and be done with the stress of not knowing. (I know I'm being cryptic, and I'd be happy to talk about it more - so ask me!)
• Oh, that makes me think of one more thing…and then I must head in the direction of a bed. We put ourselves on a budget. We had put together one that kept us within our means (but we weren't really getting ahead) toward the end of the spring, but this one is for real. It has less money to just spend, but it is somehow very freeing. I know how much I have to spend on gifts until Christmas, so I'm able to not feel bad about buying stuff this far out. I know that I have to get my hair cut a different month than I stock up on makeup, but yet I don't feel bad about doing either of those things. Besides, it helps us think long term, and truthfully, we're not farther than a year or so from our first big goal - so that's exciting and very doable. I'll let you know how it goes as we get further into it.

Thanks for reading the entire book I just wrote. Oops.

Love to you all. Let me know how you are doing - do stay in touch.