three.weeks!

so excited & ready!

little sign i made for our day after brunch. got the stuff from martha here. i know i know hers is better - but she is martha and i am nicole. don't look too closely its kind of shoddily made, but it will do and looks pretty good if you dont get too close!

i know, i know...fashion statement of the year. I HATE platform flip flops. for some reason i just think they look ridiculous (sorry if you wear them...) - why would you wanna walk on a big huge piece of rubber stuff? despite this i just spent $35 bucks on these...very depressing. my dress is long. i didnt want to pay the $150 to get it hemmed. i bought tall beautiful shoes. i realized i'm going to be crying for mercy after an hour. bought flats. ha! didn't work. have to wear horribly ungly flip flops with the most expensive, beautiful dress i will ever wear. sweet. only saving grace is that no one will see them, right???

homeownership?

i've been on this kick lately that maybe we can afford a house in some of these potential post-doc places. according to the FHA we can! it will be something small, but our dollar will go further in the midwest than it would here. for instance in detroit (in a nice neighborhood) we could afford this little cutie...going for only $107,000

- no joke there were houses listed for under $25,000 albiet in a crappy area, but still isn't that crazy???

we are currently dreaming of a little place with puppies running around and maybe some rugrats in a year or two...

Campus Tour

i took a stroll around my beloved UO campus tuesday to take some pictures for a wedding related thing that i'll be able to show you someday (soon). it made me once again realize how blessed we have been to spend this long in Eugene. lately all i can think of is getting out of here, but if i take a minute and look around i know we are very lucky to have spent this long in such a beautiful and unique place.

do you guys know about eugene? you need to come here if you haven't been - or at least oregon in general. i've never lived anywhere else - but here is pretty awesome. its just so green and has such diversity. eugene in particular is like no other place in the world. i can say this honestly and without hesitation - you'd understand if you've been here, believe me. ok so i sort of digressed... back to UO...

I HEART this campus - seriously is there anywhere more amazing and perfect? i am really unsure why it never occured to me to get married here - in front of knight library - that would ahve been awesome. but if we would have had to have university catering make food then that would suck. again i digress... here is the beauty... just buildings not really the lush stuff...

willamette hall
*excuse the pictures - i didn't even attempt to picnik them*

Erb Memorial Union (EMU) Ampitheater

lillis business complex

roma - not on campus per se but holds a special place in our hearts

PLC - probably the ugliest building, but i kind of like this picture - soo many long hours of lecture in 180

knight library
this picture does not do this most amazing building justice... see...

me

esslinger hall - many an hour has been spent here - lots of good (and stressful) times

the rec

the infamous hayward field - i'm a little in love with this picture

autzen stadium - will be in use saturday against the huskies!

**i'm too lazy to link to things... use google like everyone else =) ***

Blogging

The blogging community is amazing. Seriously - if you aren't a part of it you should be. Over 165 auctions are starting today to benefit The Nielson Family - amazing! a complete list of auctions can be found here - there is some seriously awesome stuff up ... maroon five tickets in AZ, amazing strollers, j crew clothes, handmade everything... amazing!

Nie Nie

i read a lot of blogs. i love them and the sense of belonging, understanding, inspiration, and hope i gain from reading them. unfortunately i had never stumbled along stephanie nielson's blog until kelly mccaleb posted about the accident she and her husband were involved in.

i started reading through her archives and fell in love with this creative, dedicated, and happy family. nie and mr. nielson are SO in love and they have the most beautiful and eclectic little family. they survived the plane crash, but stephanie sustained burns on 80% of her body and chrisitian 30% and the other person who was with them didn't make it. they have months of recovery ahead of them.

i've been so overwhelmed by what to do to help. i've never met these people, but i feel so much for them. they live in mesa, arizona. her family lives in utah and have taken their four children there to be cared for while they recover.

there is a lot going on in the blogosphere to help this little family and i thought i might make a small difference if i let you know about all the ways you might be able to help.

1. Tomorrow has been deemed Nie Nie day by Design Mom - go buy something!!!

2. One More Moore is hosting a Nie Nie Benefit - i don't know what yet, but i am going to donate some handmade and vintage things to be sold.

3. You can donate by clicking on the Donate to Nie Nie button on my sidebar ---->

4. You can also donate by going to any Wells Fargo and donating to the Stephanie Neilson Fund or going to any Bank of America and donating to the Stephanie & Christian Nielson Recovery Fund

5. All ways to help are listed here

Updates and very poingnant insight into handling something of this magnitude can be found on stephanie's sister's blog. i cry every time i read it.

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UPDATE on us:

we got a call from Seattle today - funding fell through for the position that they were offering Grant. bummer. he was very excited about the possibility of working up there. i think we are going to stick with focusing on detroit & missouri. midwest - here we come! now if only i could get back the $69 i paid for UW nursing school to do a background test on me.

a scientist in the making

grant has been working so hard to finish and this last protocol has thrown him every curveball out there but he made his way past them all and it looks like it is smooth sailing from here on out. i am so proud of how inventive this setup is so i must show it to you.

seriously - can you believe how insane this is? not only are these people hooked up to every piece of equipment imaginable they have to sit in a tub for 45 minutes in water that is 10 degrees celsius with the goal of dropping their core temp to between 35 and 36 degrees C - BRRR! i couldn't do it if my life depended on it. oh and did i mention that they do this twice (two separate study days) and one of the times they are made hypoxic? that alone usually leaves me in tears!

Bachelor/Bachelorette Weekend

Bachelorette

my weekend at the beach was amazing. i seriously couldn't have dreamed a more perfect way to spend my last night out as a single girl. we took lincoln city by storm. the 'coastal boys' (and girls) were very excited by our presence.

We drank, danced on a bar, drank the worst irish car-bomb ever, got paid to dance with boys, talked to the townies, drank, danced, sang (aka screamed into the mic), LAUGHED soo much, danced some more. these girls are the kind i will forever be able to be myself around - that is one of the absolute most important things in life. THANK YOU ALL! (the rest of the story in pictures...)





this picture is for eric. aren't those little feet funny? my mom found foot shaped rocks and painted them like a foot with a flip flop.... random and funny...

Bachelor

Grant had an equally awesome time with his boys in Portland. They stayed at the always great Embassy Suites - remember the FREE HAPPY HOUR?? roamed around portland - a few strip clubs thrown in and some pool = one awesome night! Here are some pictures...

grant recovering on the couch

if you are so inclined you can view the rest of the photos here

Outta Here again...

tomorrow morning I'm heading to Portland to see if my dress will ever fit me and then driving to the coast for my BACHELORETTE WEEKEND!!! my girls rented a house @ the coast in Lincoln City. On the agenda... karaoke (i've never done it!), long walks, good food, laughs, chick flicks. should be awesome. i'll be back monday with some good pictures.


oh and in case you are wondering my other half is headed to Portland for his BACHELOR PARTY!!! watch out girls - the boys will be on the loose! BE GOOD....

I HEART LIBERTY MUTUAL

seriously. we have our renter's insurance through them and also have all of our wedding/engagement rings insured. every time i have to call them to ask questions or change our policy i get the most amazing, patient service. we had to up our policy to $1 million dollars to cover anything that happens at the wedding and they were easy peasy to deal with! PLUS it is SO inexpensive to be fully covered $18 a month for a one million dollar policy! LOVE THEM!!!!!

one.month.whoa.

i am in absolute disbelief that exactly one month from now i will be a married woman. i don't know what i'm more amazed by - that it is FINALLY (almost) here or that i'm actually getting married. growing up - getting married and becoming a mom were always among my greatest aspirations, but i never believed it would actually happen for me. now here i am a mere four weeks from an actual dream coming true (sorry - i know its cheesy...)

the past few weeks of wedding planning have been difficult. i'm in this phase of constantly questioning the decisions i made months ago and can't change as well as endlessly worrying about silly decisions like how to wear my hair. up or down up or down up or down - i may just go crazy and rip my hair out before that decision is made and i feel ok about it! as much as i am anxious about it all i am excited to see all these months of work come together. i hope it looks in real life like it does in my head. i'm also getting really excited for the actual day -
i'm so in love with our ceremony and music
i can't wait to be around so many people we love and love us
i can't wait to wear my wedding dress (if it ever fits properly) and drink a cold beer out of the bottle
i can't wait to see grant at the end of the aisle - that is when it will all feel real
i can't wait to bake all week prior with my mom, aunts, and girls
i can't wait to get ready with my girls (and FINALLY see patty and jess!)
i can't wait to get the pictures back and finally get to show all of the fun little details
i can't wait to spend 9 days with grant all to myself (the dissertation can wait) we may never see mexico - we've vowed to sleep in everyday and drink margaritas in bed

I.JUST.CAN'T.WAIT. (just have to write my vows...)

Boston

i made it back. boston was awesome. within hours of arriving i told grant he needed to look into post-docs there so we could live there at least for a little while. fat chance, but a girl can dream can't she??

it was a pretty laid back trip - just what i needed. we did a little sightseeing (when the weather cooperated), a little conferencing, and a lot of eating. there are about 1 billion dunkin donuts there - SO good! and our hotel was by this really cute neighborhood with lots of cute restaurants and an AMAZING ice cream shop.

kendra and i hung out wednesday and thursday and then on friday her friend Alisha arrived with her baby - Ella James. It was so good to finally meet them - we've emailed and kept up with one another through the blogging world. Alisha is a great photographer (even if she doesn't know it yet) and posted her pictures here. Don't judge my photos - hers are WAY better. but you get the idea...

Sunday they all flew home and my aunts picked me up for a day by the ocean and scouring antique shops. (i found some great embroidered pieces & and a silk print of a mother nursing her baby...show you later...) we had a great time catching up and talking about the wedding...i can't believe i get to see them all again in a month!

I flew home late last night to a very tired and worn out (but happy to see me) grad student - he is so sweet and welcomed me with a card and flowers...