Snowshoeing...brrrrr!

We went snowshoeing today at Willamette Pass! It was really fun and not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. There was SOOOO much snow...it was crazy.




My favorite picture of Grant ever! Lindsey says he looks like a true mountain man!



Fish Face!



This video makes me laugh so hard...my little comment at the end is pretty classic (I didn't know it was still recording)

Two Year Anniversary!

Today was our 2 year anniversary! Its funny because sometimes I can't believe its only been two years, but at the same time it seems like we just started dating.

We had a great day...I met Caitlin for breakfast (soo good to have some time with her), we ran errands during the day, and met up with the McCords this afternoon. It was sooo good to see them...and we are happy to report they are doing very well!

We wanted to do something fun for our anniversary, especially since it is the last time we will celebrate it in December (by this time next year we will be married and our anniversary will be in September)...so we made reservations at this great restaurant called the Melting Pot.

This is us posing all decked out before we left...



Course number 1 was cheese fondue with bread, fruit, and veggies...YUM!!





Course number 2 was salad...definitely not the highlight of the meal. Then we moved on to the main course number 3. It was several different types of meat that are set on the table raw and then you cook it in the fondue pot...SOOO GOOD!




Rosy cheeks from all the wine....


The last course was white and milk chocolate fondue with lots of yummy dippers!




Grant couldn't bear to see any of the food go to waste so he was VERY full...



This is my favorite part of the night...Grant was trying to wow me with a magic trick and in real life it wasn't very impressive, but look at how great it is on video... (ok I just watched it with sound and it isn't as impressive when you can hear the mint hit the table...haha)

White Christmas?!?!

Christmas was really great this year. We spent it with both of our families all in one day! It was the Simmons' in the morning, then to my mom's for brunch and my dad's for dinner. It was really fun, but exhausting so we're going to try to spread it out a little more next year.

Can you believe we actually had snow in Oregon on Christmas this year?! First time since 1990! It didn't stick around long, but it was nice while it lasted.



Opening a few presents (we're so spoiled!)



My mom and Tim digging in...



Me being a goof while helping my dad make dinner...



Joel, Me and Grant at my dad's



Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures of or with the Simmons this year...we'll have to try harder next year!

Christmas Kitty

My mom was doing some last minute wrapping and Rossi started to join in...here are some cute pictures of him all wrapped up!





He decided now was a good time to get clean...

Wedding Cake Round Two...

Making this cake is a very long process involving baking, leveling, slicing, crumb coating, cooling, and decorative frosting. Sadly the only part that really matters and that I need to practice is the last part...the decorative frosting! Well I tried a new frosting recipe this time and it turned out MUCH better than last time in terms of taste and consistency. But I still have quite a bit of work to do on my frosting technique. The good thing is that all the little mistakes don't look as glaring once it is all done.

Here is the mess I made making frosting batch number 1 (I made 6 in all...oh yes that means this little cake has over 24 cups of powdered sugar just in the frosting!)



These are the four layers that make up the top layer of the cake just before I add the 'crumb coat'



Here are both layers with their crumb coats cooling in the fridge. The crumb coat is a kind of protective layer of icing that makes the decorative icing easier to apply.



After the crumb coats were cool I was able to apply the basketweave decorative frosting. Here is the final product... We decorated it with Christmas holly to get the effect of what it will look like with flowers on it.

(It looks better if you stand back so this picture gives you that prospective)



Here is a close up just so you can see that I am actually improving over my last attempt!

Lindsey & Sarah's Christmas Party

Sunday night we went to a small party thrown by our good friends Lindsey and Sarah! We had a great time...it was really laid back and best of all we got to play games! Here are the two pictures I took...(Lindsey you have to email me the rest)

Shoes

This morning we are packing up so we can head to Portland to spend Christmas with our families. As I was packing Grant stopped me to ask...what is all that for? My response...I don't know what I'm going to want to wear. He proceeded to laugh and take pictures of all I had packed...How is a girl to know what she is going to need for the next 5 days??

Kitty

We inherited a kitty last weekend! He is my brother's cat, but we are babysitting for the break. His name is Rossi, but we prefer Kitty or Ross. We've fallen in love with him and are going to have a hard time giving him back!!!

He follows us around the house (he hates to be alone while we are in the house) and meows when he wants some love...isn't he cute??

France? Yes, Please

Update: Grant emailed Jean-Luc last week and we are officially going to live in France for a year!!! There are many details to be worked out, but we are extremely excited and maybe a little scared.

We hope that we get lots of visitors...start booking dates with us soon Ha!

Grenoble by night...

Happy Birthday to Me!

Saturday was my 24th birthday and I had soooo much fun! Lindsey & Janelle were in town as were my parents. We all had lunch and went to pick out our first Christmas Tree! We went home and had a chill evening...decorating the tree, playing games, and eating homemade chili! My brother, his boyfriend, and Kendra joined us too...we had a BLAST!!!

Thank you all for making me feel so special!


With our free tree (yes I said FREE...so sweet! Thanks David!)



The whole gang at the Christmas Tree Farm..it was freeeeezing!



Decorating for our first Christmas under one roof...thank goodness for that!



We didn't have a tree topper so Grant and Lindsey got creative with some cardboard and aluminum foil...not too shabby!

The Annual Christmas Party...

Friday night was the annual Human Physiology Christmas Party!!! It was a really fun time and just as outrageous as usual. I can't believe it has been 2 years since Grant and I began dating!! Of course I was the most out of control, but hey I was about to turn 24 so I wanted my 23rd year to go out with a bang! Here are some pictures from the night (the rest are in our online albums-link is in the sidebar...I finally updated them)

France??

We've been in some pretty deep discussions lately about an opportunity that Grant has been given. We have friends and colleagues who live and work in France and have offered Grant a position as a post-doctoral fellow for a year.

Our current hope is for Grant to finish his dissertation December 2008 and if we go we would move to France in January 2009 and stay for 1 year.

Funny thing is that when I first heard about this I was immediately like ok lets go... on board and ready for an adventure. As we've gotten more input from people the decision has gotten more and more confusing. Some people think that a post-doc in Europe may adversely affect Grant's career prospects, others think it will boost them, still others say who cares and that we should go just for the opportunity to live abroad. We recently spoke with a very wise man, called Dr. Klug...he did a post-doc in Germany and all he could say was... WHY AREN'T YOUR BAGS PACKED!! To still further the confusion...we aren't sure if I will be able to get a visa to work over there. Maybe good cuz I can just play and if people visit I will have no obligations... maybe not so good cuz I get really sad and down when I have too much time on my hands. Today I spoke with a European woman that I work with and she thought I was crazy to worry about a work visa...she said they are easy to get..especially in France. And I spoke with Dr.Klug's wife (she didnt work while they lived in Germany) and she was like...this is the one time in your life when people won't let you work...live it up!

Hmmmm...what are we to do? I think at the moment we are definitely leaning toward going, but we've been back and forth. At this point I don't think we are in a rush to make a decision, but we will have to figure it out in the coming months. I think I REALLY want to go, but I know things will be hard...like the fact that we would need to try to learn some semblance of French in the next year.

We would live in Grenoble... see it?? It is kind of near Italy and the Alps?? Oh and did I mention I've been to Grenoble and it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen??



Climbing in Grenoble September 2006

Seattle Weekend

Sorry we haven't posted in a while! Our lives have been busy (well at least Grant's has!) but nothing very "bloggable" has happened.

Finally we have something to share... This weekend we went to visit our friends Joe & Janelle in Seattle. It was a good weekend, but very full of driving! We got up there late Friday night and Grant spent some time in Tacoma with a few of his buddies from undergrad. Then Saturday morning Janelle and I went to pick up my wedding dress. It arrived 2 months early!! It is beautiful and I love it! It needs quite a bit of alterations, but hopefully after all that is done it will fit perfect! I have lots of pictures, but I can't post them for fear of G seeing them... so here is a little picture of the boutique I got it from (worked out well that it was in Seattle!).



Now that we have the dress in our apartment it has been SO hard not to show Grant! I think I'm going to take it to my mom's this weekend so that I don't give into the temptation...plus if its is at our place I will probably want to try it on everyday...

The rest of Saturday we spent just hanging around the house watching football. We did make sushi for dinner though...it was SO easy and fun! I hadn't ever done it before, but I can't believe how much they charge for sushi now that I know how easy it is to make! We also played an extremely close game of cranium...which was fun, but that game gives me really high anxiety (there is just too much pressure to guess or draw or act correctly!!)

Sunday we had a pretty lazy morning and then geared up to go to Grant and I's first NFL game!! Joe plays on the Seahawks practice team so he got us free tickets. We watched the Seahawks beat the Bears 30-23... it was a really good game and super fun.

The view from our awesome seats...


Joe and Janelle...


Me & Grant...

Wedding Fabric!!!

I found it!! I saw a fabric in a wedding magazine that I loved and was perfect to use as a 'theme' for our wedding MONTHS ago. I've been in search ever since...and a few weeks ago I actually found it! I was just searching endlessly online one night and I saw it... I couldnt believe it!! YAY!! Anyway... the next task was to find a way to get it...I called every fabric store in Eugene and one of them agreed to order it for me!

I'm soo excited...my mom bought me a whole bolt (18 yards) and I ordered it on Monday...it should be here in a few weeks. We will use it for things like table runners, the guys pocket hankies, ring pillow, to wrap bouquet handles, etc. Its just perfect...poppys are my FAVORITE flower and it has all three of my colors!! OH and...we want to have guests sign a quilt square instead of a guest book and then after the wedding I'll sew them all together to make a quilt...this and some solid fabric will make up the rest of the quilt!

Jack-O-Lanterns!

To end our whirlwind weekend we carved pumpkins with Potter and Sid last night....

Gettin' the gunk out!





Taking a break...



Potter & Sid showing off their handy work



Our handy work! Anyone surprised that Grant's was football related? He is going to be so bummed when college football is over!