A CDA Weekend!

This past weekend was in short a super huge weekend with family, friends and little sleep. First we drove Friday morning with a truck full of wedding reception items.

We got to town in time to pick up Jay's niece the beautiful miss AJ so her and Uncle Jay could go to the wedding rehearsal. 

I stayed behind with Jay's aunt, cousin and grandmother so we could design the reception decorations. It was nice to breath for a few before heading off to the rehearsal dinner.

After the rehearsal dinner we finally were able to head over to our really good friends house to relax and get some sleep. When we got there I was able to give my good friend her late birthday present, play a board game and just unwind. I love our friends!

Saturday morning happened very quickly and the day flew by similar to my wedding day. There was setting up the reception, dropping off people, getting ready, going to the wedding, running to get food ready, being at the reception and dropping our niece off. It was so very busy and I couldn't describe it better than pictures can.

So after we took the dancing princess aka AJ Johnson home it was time to spend time with our friends. Here is a look of what that was like. Mud bogging time!

Then there was Sunday. I slept in because my infertility medication had me all spinning in such a bad way. Jay helped with the clean up and made sure that his brother had the support he needed. After that we decided we would risk getting home late to go meeping on the beeping in the jeeping... In English we went Jeeping with our friends.

So this past weekend was spent with family and good friends. I am reminded of how thankful I am for such an amazing husband. Baby I love you and I am so proud of the the friends we have that are as amazing as you. KG & CG you guys are the best! Thank you for everything!

A Big Weekend!

So many things are happening this weekend it is CRAZY! Why is it such a big weekend you ask? It is my brother-in-laws wedding. Since my step-brother got married before I knew him, my brother eloped(ish) and my step-sister only required me to man the guest book at her wedding I was under the impression a siblings wedding requires nothing but a hot date (which I now have for any event and man did I get lucky). Well I was wrong in thinking this would be simple. So here is what we have going on from now through Monday.
Wednesday is final pick up day. Jay and I have to go pick up the last of the reception items we are responsible for (Sue and Kyle if you are reading this don't freak out I promise we will get it). Wednesday is also printing and cutting wedding programs I was able to design this morning. I will toot my own horn here. I was given a simple list with the desire of a baseball theme and I feel like I hit it out of the park (pun intended)!
Thursday is awesome day! Jay's Aunt V, Nonna and my super awesome cousin Seth hit the road for CDA! On top of that it is back to school night and I get to go support my super cute nephew Shaun. It is his first year of Kindergarten and he and I have a bond you can't break so this is really exciting for me. You may be able to tell why I am addicted to him from the photo below.

Now it is Friday and we don't have to go to work. So we sleep till noon and then get Starbucks right? Yeah no. We are getting the truck loaded and hitting the road no later than 8 am. Have you met my husband before 8 am on any day?! Well I can tell you it is so not a pretty sight. It doesn't matter we must hurry towards CDA. We hope to get there by 2 pm which means I still miss the bridal shower but I know my future sister-in-law will understand. Regardless, I will get the hubby to the rehearsal on time. On top of this we are staying at a couple friends house of ours and I am very excited because I have such a cool birthday present for her that I can hardly keep the secret. This is also the day I give my future sister-in-law a present she has no idea about but has been in the making for months (oh and there were four people who had a hand in this present so it is more special than you can guess). 

Saturday is here and I wish I could share the program I made because I am very proud of it (I really did do it all from scratch and what makes me happy is that the client is happy). Okay so it is not only wedding day but it is I get to see my niece AJ day! Since she is the only one who doesn't live in Oregon I don't get to see her much. I do get letters, pictures and phone calls from her so it gets me by. I have to be careful not to reveal wedding details because I don't want to spoil the day so I will stop talking now. But wait, there is more! It is mud bogging time! The friends we are staying with have their truck Big Red in the big mud bogging event. So after all the wedding things are done it is time for getting dirty in the mud. I have never been but I am very excited. 

Sunday is the breathing day. It is the day all of it is done and we can wake up after sleeping in and return home. The drive home will be nice especially because I won't have to take the stupid infertility medication that day. Well I look forward to next week when I can tell you all that actually happens this weekend and update you all on what is next.

Labor Day 2013

Labor Day weekend is one of the few things I look forward to each year. The company Jay and I work for does not give as many holidays off as most companies do. To be honest as much as I wish they would I agree with how things are. We work for a company that serves the public and is really only closed two days a year Thanksgiving and Christmas. So if our retail locations are open it is only right that we at corporate should be as much as possible. Anyway, I digress. This year for Labor Day we decided to head East and I am so happy we did. We spent time with one of our closest friends, our family and most importantly each other. Right now paying attention to each other and trying not to let the frustrations of infertility come between us is our highest priority. So here is a look into our awesome adventure!

Top Left - Our gas mileage in our awesome Subaru (super happy we could choose the commuter car we wanted instead of having to settle); Top Right - The view out my widow as we started our journey Saturday morning (there is nothing more awe inspiring then the sun through the trees); Bottom - My oh so handsome husband and me on our happy weekend (I swear he gets more amazing after each year)

Top Left - Hay squares from the field nearest to the only rest stop we pulled over at (you can tell I am a city girl because I have only seen rolls of hay before); Top Right - Informational sign regard the highway we were on (really have only known about Route 66 so I always take time to learn what the history is); Bottom Left - View from halfway to our destination (I swear Oregon is the most beautiful state I have ever been to and I have been to close to half of the states in our country); Bottom Right - Just a tree (trees to me are the explanation of life for example, if you have firm roots planted in good soil and given the elements needed to grow you can do amazing things)

Our Saturday Night - Our First Night (having fun at our destination excited to see the best of friends)

Top Left - My first minor league baseball game Hillsboro Hops vs. Boise Hawks (from what I understand this is where the potential pro ball players start); Right - My at my first minor league ball game gear (my husband always brings me home at least three gifts from every trip he takes without me and his last one to visit his brother produced this shirt as one for the team his brother played for last season); Bottom Left - Before the game (I guess it is normal in every sport for the umpires or refs to talk before the game)

Top Left - A special visit on the field for a young fan (I think this is my favorite part of sports); Top Right - Score at the start (see everyone starts out on an even playing field it is up to each of us how we preform in the game of life); Bottom Left - Really cool camera shot (really have no clue who this is but it was such an awesome shot I had to include it); Bottom Right - Number 42 the Great Jackie Robinson (my husband twisted my arm to watch the movie 42 and I am glad he did not because I enjoy sports which I don't but because of the message it sends about racism)

Top Left - Road to Jays G-Pa's (Monday we hit the road and this is what we started with); Middle Left - Peek into the valley (I thought the scenery was changing); Bottom Left - Back to boring (then I thought it was going back to desert; Top Right - Real beauty (now I knew I was heading in the right direction); Bottom Right - Almost there (my last photo before getting to Jays G-Pa's house) 

Top Left - The fence (Jay and Grandpa Larry built that together when Jay was 14); Top Right - Trucks (it seems that on Jays side of the family all the men drive trucks guess it is in the blood); Bottom Left - The garage/coop (so it seems chickens don't mind the sound of the big trucks); Bottom Right - The house (I fell in love as soon as I saw this house)

Left - The barn large (such a piece of beautiful family history); Right - The barn up close (Jays Grandpa Larry built an A for his wife Anne with horse shoes when he rebuilt this part of the barn romance just goes to shoe that romance doesn't mean spending every dime you have on shoes, flowers or jewelry)

Left - Jays Grandpa Larry showing me the chicken coop (when we go there I got a tour and then when I wanted to take pictures I got an extra special tour); Top Right - The chicken (only one in the coop sitting on its eggs); Bottom Right - The rest of the chickens (on the deck next to the pond is where the rest of them set up shop)

Top Left - The lamb (OMG I loved this little five day old guy and I even got to hold him); Top Right - The property (yes 22 acres of beautiful Eastern Oregon farm life); Bottom Left - Anne's garden (I hope one day I can learn to grow crops half as good as her); Bottom Right - The bulls (so the story goes that the neighbor has bulls and the property line would run parallel to Anne's garden until one day Anne made such an upset that the neighbor created a space between his and Anne's land at his expense)

Top Left - Onions (holy smokes I wish I was hanging onions to dry and cook with); Top Right - Fresh Berries (to make jam can we say yum); Bottom Left - Fresh grapes (my mouth hasn't salivated this much in my entire life); Bottom Right - Hornets Nest (so Jays Grandpa Larry killed the hornets but the nest remains...very scary)

Top - Sheep in a storm (the sheep came back in a hurry but still in a neat line when the storm rolled in); Bottom Left - The roster (Jays Grandpa Larry keep trying to get us to take him home because he crowed at 5 am ever morning...um big NO); Bottom Right - One of the dogs (they have so many awesome animals but the dogs and cats really were so cute)

Grandpa Larry, Jay and Anne (you can see the family resemblance with Larry & Jay here and the happiness of a Grandpa with his Grandson plus don't forget Anne in the background) 

Bottom Left - Hole in the Wall (on our way home we saw a view area and had to pull over); Bottom Right - The Old Road (so the story goes there was a highway next to a river as you can see here); Top - The Hole in the Wall (then one day the hill had a land slide and covered the road and the river as you can see here)

This was one of the best trips we have taken and we can't wait to take Jays Grandpa Larry up on his offer to come back!

 

Three Years

I am a bit old school in the fact that I actually still write letters to people. I write them to my grandmothers, other family and friends. There is just something wonderful about receiving a hand written letter over a phone call or a text. Tonight I wrote a letter to a friend, some of it was just shooting the breeze, some of it was venting and then when I reread it before I sealed it in an envelope I realized there was something more in it that I hadn't even noticed while writing it. You see tomorrow is my three year anniversary (dating) with Jay. We had barley known each other for a week before we started dating so it is kind of a three year everything with him. Circumstances this year mean that my anniversary is going to be spent like this: picking him up from the airport at 1:30 am, home to sleep till 6:30 am, work 8 am to 5 pm, gym 6 pm to 7 pm, dinner (if we are lucky) 8 pm to 9 pm and then bed by 10 pm. Not a very romantic way to spend a milestone. So as I was reading this letter feeling sorry for myself regarding my three year anniversary I was stopped dead in my tracks and started to cry. In reading my own words that had just come flying out of my pen an hour earlier I realized how absolutely perfect my life is to me and how this anniversary is the best I have ever had. Now I want to share with all of you what I saw that shifted my whole attitude with the warning that it is a bit sappy.

You know how I feel about Jay. I wake up in the morning and breathe just because he exists. When I sing along to my favorite song it is because it stirs an image of him in my mind. When I pause in the middle of a field to look at the heaven on earth surrounding me it is because he has taught me to take pleasure in these things. When I go to sleep at night I am able to drift off with a slight smile on my face because next to me or a million miles away I know I am safe because of him. He is the air I breathe, the warm sun on my face, the cool breeze through my hair and the soft touch on my skin. He is me and I am him. 

The Super Shady Secret

As many of you know Jay is the air that I breath, the wind beneath my wings, the yin to my yang and all of that other sappy romantic stuff. I try my best to make him feel appreciated every day but I fail miserably. Because of that I tend to go a bit overboard for birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. This year is no exception. The plan for his birthday started off normally. I wanted to get him something signed by his favorite sports player Damian Lillard...wait, second favorite (Kyle will always be his first). So I called in a few favors and upped the anti a bit and got him a basketball signed by the 2012 -2013 Portland Trail Blazers team.

This is where this story should stop but I knew in my heart it wasn't enough. So I thought long and hard about what else I could possibly get him that would top it all. Then it hit me. Well, it was handed to me. We were on our way to work one day when Jay started talking about how much he missed his best friend Steven. It was as if the perfect birthday gift was handed to me on a silver platter. All I had to do was fly his best friend home for his birthday. Wait...no that wasn't right. All I had to do was fly his best friend home for his birthday and get his dad, step-mom and step-siblings to come too! Wait...not that wasn't right either. I had to do all of that and wrap it up in a nice little surprise party! Okay, long story short here is where it went a wee bit overboard. You see Jay performs miracles every day for me and everyone else he knows. He puts lotion on my feet every night, sings to me in the car, plays with my hair until I fall asleep, jumps when family needs help, puts in 1,000% at work, cheers his brother on for every game, is the Great Uncle Poop for 12...yes 12 nieces and nephews plus has the audacity to tell me at least twice a day how beautiful I am. So here is what wound up being. I rallied the troupes and what a marvelous bunch they were! Everyone was in on the surprise party. First I sent out the invites.

Then I engaged in super shady phone calls, text messages and meetings!

So what wound up happening? Well a whole lot. Flew Steven up from Vegas, had dad & Jody down from CDA, a birthday card from Addie was made, Kyle & Sue sent the first birthday wishes from sunny Georgia, presents were had and a penguin was even decapitated! All in all it was a good day. The end result was all I had dreamed of. Jay felt celebrated and on top of the world! Happy birthday love of my life! BTW I am done with surprise parties and keeping secrets from you so from now on all your birthday presents will be bought!

Lessons 101: School

I did really well in high school. I got straight A's for the most part with a B here and there. I played in a number of bands. No, not the cool ones where you have groupies. Marching band, Jazz band and Wind Ensembles (yes the stories are true I did play the tuba). I did however get to go to Disneyland to perform with my Jazz band when I was in the tenth grade which for a band geek is super cool. Not to mention I was in State Select, guested with the state orchestra and was overall a band guru (in my eyes anyway). Once I got to my junior year I decided that having a social life was so much more important that anything school had to offer. I don't think I am much different than most people in that respect but I do look back and regret screwing up a full ride to Boston on a music scholarship. If any of you out there who are reading this are stuck in that awful state of existence where emotions, hormones, self-worth and social acceptance run rampant (aka high school) please heed my warning. Stay focused on school. I know it sounds redundant but take it from someone struggling to move up in their company in part because of a lack of education. Long story short I took the easy road. Partied with my friends, enjoyed the world around me and decided going into to the work force was better than going to class and doing homework! Once I woke up I started back to school. Only this time it wasn't a free ride to one of the best colleges in the country. Instead it was community college. Please don't get me wrong community college is a great option for many different reasons (too many to get into now) but it is harder at the same time. If you ever have played the game Life it is skipping college in the beginning and taking night classes when you get to the middle hoping to pull a new salary card higher than the one you got stuck with at the beginning. Skipping over the juicy details of my sordid life we find ourselves in the present and the reason for my post tonight. I am officially on a school break for the summer and am happy with the results of my spring semester. I was able to walk away with only two semesters left before my first college degree and my GPA is a 4.0! What is even better than that is my hubby who just started college after 10 years of being in school has a 3.4 GPA after two semesters. So here is today's lesson. Stop for one second before doing the stupid thing you think is a good idea. Imagine your life five years from this very moment. Think of all the cool things you want and want to do. Then ask yourself do you want to juggle having a full time job while going to school full time and supporting your family all while seeking the infamous thing known as sleep (that illusive thing others enjoy)? All of this while you work on your life 23 of the 24 hours a day? Or, do you want to dedicate yourself to school, enjoy the friends you make, the social events you are invited to, cruising through your classes and once in a lifetime experiences only college at the right time offers? Both roads lead to the same place. Just remember. One is packed with fun, love and experiences the other determination, road blocks and hardship. Either way work hard and do better than me because the end result is more than worth it!