Tuesday, September 2, 2008

reflecting


i've been trying to write my vows. to get inspiration i went through our 'box of memories' and found this. i wrote it while watching grant do his thing at the ACSM Northwest conference in February. helps me remember why we are still here and doing what we are doing...

"i look at you at things like this and love how interested you look (and are). makes me happy to see how it excites you - i know all your/our hardwork is worth it if you find so much joy/interest/knowledge doing what you do. i love it when you ask questions of John, of speakers, of anyone you deem worthy (which is most) - they are so well articulated - you use your best words and voice. i love how brave you are - you seem to have no fear when it comes to the acquisition of knowledge. so cute you are in your suit that we bought you. i hope you wear something similar the day you become my OFFICIAL life partner"

Monday, September 1, 2008

Lost


i just finished the first season of Lost. is there a scarier tv show EVER? seriously! about a year ago grant and i watched the first episode together thinking it would be a good show to watch together from netflix. well we were both freaked out by the first episode and vowed never to watch it again. fast forward to a few weeks ago - i'm bored one night (we only have 5 channels) while embroidering and decide i need something new to watch. checked out abc.com and the only thing interesting was Lost. not sure if that was a good decision or not.

i'm having a hard time deciding if i'm gonna stick with the show. mostly because it scares me to the point of anxiety before i start a new episode and requires that i take frequent breaks while watching an episode. i also get incredibly frustrated with bad things happen to the character i like. sometimes i repeat in my head 'there are more seasons not everyone can die...'

i seriously get a heart attack from one thing or another every freakin' episode. grant probably finds it especially funny when i watch it next to him in bed with headphones on - there is lots of deep breathing and scarred out of my mind jumpiness.

anyway. i dont know who i am kidding. i will probably start season two tonight - i NEED to know what happens. i'm scared for walt...

Our Long & Fabulous Weekend

i don't want to brag, but i had a four day weekend. i've been taking fridays off and will continue to until the wedding. three days off has been nice, but four. MAN that is soo much better. i had enough time to get caught up around the house, work on the wedding, and relax. it was awesome.

i had a great weekend. grant had to work quite a bit, but it is good in some ways because he is getting done and that is the goal. lindsey and i worked on wedding cake attempt number three. the first two attempts can be found here and here.

we used duncan hins lemon moist delux cake mix. do you people know that this is THE cake mix to buy. it is freaking amazing. seriously. i probably won't ever make a cake from scratch again. so good. we threw in some poppyseeds (2 tbsp per box of mix is what we liked) for texture added a layer of raspberry jam in the middle and topped it with french vanilla icing (also store bought).






it turned out great (as you can see G enjoyed it). but is kind of huge so i threw away most of it. we can't have stuff like that around here in huge quantities - i'll eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner and i got a dress to fit into in a few weeks.

Lindsey had never embroidered so we took some time to show her the amazingness that is embroidery and then worked on some stuff for the Nie Nie Benefit.


I also made a little patch to sew into my wedding dress. I am so stoked on it. i just love it. it is my new monogram with our wedding date. i saw this idea in a magazine and HAD to copy it. it was my first time stitching on linen - SO much better than sweatshirt material FYI.




Saturday evening was spent watching the Ducks spank the Huskies - always a good way to spend a night in! And rounded out the weekend with a Sunday of just us. We reserved this date over a month ago as a day that no studies could be scheduled. I had planned a little adventure surprise to the Wildlife Safari but we decided that the day would be best spent hanging around the house. We each worked on things that needed to be done, but it was so nice to just have G in the house - makes me beyond excited and teary to think about how life is going to be once this PhD is done. Our evening was spent on our last date as an engaged couple. It has been too long since we did this and it was so fun to just talk and enjoy one anothers company.


Dinner and cocktails were had at Lucky Noodle - if you are ever in Eugene, you should eat here. SOOO good and the ambiance is great. Then we hit up the $1.50 to see Hancock. We both loved the movie. You know how now adays you see the whole movie during the previews? This movie has some great twists and turns that weren't shown and it was overall a feel good movie. Jason Bateman is funny in it - he is easily becoming a new favorite actor. Charlize Theron and Will Smith are great too and the little boy is adorable. Go see it. You'll have fun, i promise.

********Grant and I are both looking for good books to read on our honeymoon - let us know if you know of any!**********

Saturday, August 30, 2008

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???

Friday, August 29, 2008

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...

Thursday, August 28, 2008

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 =) ***