Monday, April 28, 2008

settling in

i think we are finally settled back in to our life... at least as much as we can with all that the next 8 months will bring (read: stress from a wedding, finishing a PhD, and moving across the world) eeeekkkk....  

this weekend was fun and pretty productive. we didn't spend much time together cuz G had several studies, but lindsey was in town and we worked on some wedding craftiness. i SOOO wish i could share it, but i want there to be some surprises. anyway... just so you know we are very impressed with ourselves! i also finally booked a dj and am slowly getting some of the details worked out. still SO much to do though... 

the rest of my weekend was spent cleaning our apartment from top to bottom....FELT so good. it took 2.5 hours, but it feels like we can actually relax now. (i am never fully relaxed when there is a ring in the toilet and piles of laundry to be folded.) 

no other exciting news... i just felt like i needed to post something. OH... i found a quilt shop in town and they have classes for cheap. I know i could figure it out on my own, but I think a class would be fun and less effort. I also really want to get into embroidery... there has been lots of inspiration on some blogs i read. like this....i mean i dont think i'll ever be that good, but aren't those amazing??? (i also want to read her book so... looks inspiring for when we have kids someday....)

oh... and pretty soon i'm going to put together a google calendar that will be posted on this blog for people to see who will be visiting when while we are in france and where we'll be traveling to. hopefully we'll have LOTS of you coming! 


Thursday, April 24, 2008

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

P.S.

*photo by kelly mccaleb*

i ordered kelly mccaleb's baby booty pattern and i am SOOOOOO excited for the day that i can actually craft something just for fun... when that day comes these are at the TOP of the list!!!


its been too long...

so we've been back for a few days... and i'm just now getting around to posting... i know its shameful, but there has just been no time...i'm very behind in life at the moment.

so here is the quick and dirty...

1. last weekend we were in LA for the family reunion for my dad's side of the family. here is a picture G took to demonstrate that yes, we were FOR SURE in LA...

2. It was good for me to re-meet a lot of family and for G to meet them for the first time. Also good for both of us to spend some time with my dad and brother... doesn't happen much...
my cousin Missy's kids... Jared the oldest is 15...haven't seen him since he was 7...weird.

G and Joel enjoying the food.

***didn't take many good pictures... i know its upsetting, but you'll just have to deal. you will receive some comfort when i get my copy of the group family picture***

3. on the way home our plane was delayed not 1, not 2, but 4 HOURS! (this was in addition to the 2 hour layover we already had)... it was pretty sweet, since we got in Monday morning at 5am and I had to be at work by 9...

where we spent sunday night...
NOTE: to give united some credit... they sent us each an email yesterday with $100 off a domestic flight or 20% off an international flight...


4. sunday marked exactly 5 months till our wedding... i was VERY sad that i couldn't post on that EXACT day and i know you too were very upset.. SO here is my announcement

"T" minus 5 months until we are married


this announcement used to be very exciting and is now getting to the point of stressful, but i think once we get settled back in i won't feel so overwhelmed...

5. a side note... today i realized another reason that ORI is a great place to work... once every few months they hire a local coffee place to bring a barista and espresso machine in and provide employees with free espresso and treats all morning... today was that day and it made me happy







Thursday, April 17, 2008

almost forgot....





aren't these SOOOO perfect for our wedding????? G hearts coffee.....


good day!



I felt A LOT like 'Foster' today, but it paid off!! I got up the nerve to ask for a raise I thought I deserved and got more than I thought I would... 20% increase!!!

This is HUGE for us! I'm quite proud of myself for asking because I was SOOO nervous! It helps that Kendra and I have the same job and were hired simultaneously so we went for it together. 

Anyway... Jess reminded me of this awesome post. I feel that way A LOT...i want to have all of the above, but I haven't gotten to the part where I'm totally content...hopefully i never do...i think that is what will keep me going! 

well its almost midnight and i just got home...still need to pack and wake up at 3am to fly to California AGAIN...surely tomorrow will be a GREAT day... right???

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

we're back (only til we go to california again...)

i haven't been in a blogging mood, but i'm feeling like i'm ready to report how our second weekend in california went. needless to say, 24 hours out of 72 in a car makes for a long weekend.

on the way down we stopped in roseburg so tori and dan (our road trip buddies) could buy a case of wine they like. the vineyard was beautiful...


we arrived in santa cruz late friday night, ate and went right to bed. we had a king bed...we need to upgrade to this at home ASAP! 

saturday we spent the morning running and taking a walk to the nearby beach. if we ever live
 in california this is an area i'd love to live (no doubt we can NEVER afford it). 





















We found the most amazing produce stand between our hotel and the beach...we couldn't resist stopping there three times in the 24ish hours we were in town. this sign was on the way too... we thought it was pretty funny.












now for the real reason we made this trek...a beautiful wedding... grant's friend jess got married in a very simple, but beautiful wedding at her father's house (who built this amazing three story deck complete with an antique bar, deli, and soda shop!) we were glad to make it because the couple lives in australia and probably won't make it to our wedding...it was worth the long drive



















grant's favorite road sign and a beautiful view on the way back...


















nothing else new to report...busy with wedding planning and another weekend trip. lets just hope after all of this traveling my stomach starts feeling better...

Thursday, April 10, 2008

real quick

san diego was awesome... so good to see everyone! there was a little conferencing and lots of utilization of the free happy hour. to top off the amazingness of free breakfast and free booze they also had free nacho cheese doritos every night...i 
heart embassy suites san diego!

i will get this pictures to everyone soon...we drive to santa cruz tomorrow...lets hope 9 hours in the car doesn't kill me... 









Friday, April 4, 2008

outta here yet again...

as i alluded to in the last post we are going to be out of town A LOT this month. just the thought of it makes me anxious, but i am calmed by the fact that it will all be fun.

we leave early tomorrow morning for san diego. we are going to attend the experimental biology conference and get to see lots of friends that have moved away! we'll be gone til early Thursday morning. the cool things about this are that 1. we don't have to pay for it 2. we are staying in this sweet hotel that has FREE happy hour every night and FREE breakfast (like full breakfast, not continental) every morning! I've never stayed somewhere so nice!

then friday we leave at 10am to drive to santa cruz for grant's friend, Jess', wedding...we drive back sunday.

we go to work for 4 days and leave the 18th 5am to fly to LA for the miller family reunion. i haven't been for about 12 years so that should be interesting and fun. im excited for everyone to meet grant-i think it will make the wedding more fun.

whew! can you see why i'm stressed?!?

don't expect too much from me in the next few weeks (i know you all wait anxiously for my next post, right??)

Thursday, April 3, 2008

i want i want i want

i've been slacking...BUSY week in prep of a crazy month of california traveling and wedding...i will write a true inaugural april post soon, but this will have to do for now.

did you notice i had a record post month in march? i'm very proud... still no match for jenni, but in my defense she has a lilly.

ok now to what inspired me to take a break at work and write this...

i love kelly mccaleb - her scrapbooking, her blog, her photos, and oh man her quilts, her etsy shop, she is awesome and i aspire to be creative like her... anyway... THESE are my new favorite of her creations... i can't even deal...i want a pair and i dont even have someone to put them on!

ok i'm done gushing...