Only one weekend left.

Sean and I had a lovely day yesterday! We spent a lazy morning eating pancakes and then headed out to Anacortes to peruse the downtown area. We went to several antique stores, an old hardware store that could pretty much be considered antique as well and some used book stores. Un feliz viaje! Or something like that. I ended up with a jar of buttons, an old Oprah's book club book and an lampshade pencil sharpener for my papa's birthday. I must admit I was most thrilled with the last one, he has a collection of random pencil sharpeners in odd shapes and his birthday is a little over a month away so the timing was perfect! Then we headed back into town and got MORE goodies. Sean got some Bath & Body Works air fresheners for the cars and I started my work shopping with a 40% off wool coat and 25% off watch from Macy's. Ahh, it was a heavenly day..and made even more heavenly with the delectable cinnamon roll from Calico Cupboard. Then we came home and cuddled up with some movies...it's been a while since we've gone out and spent the day doing randomness so it was a really nice change of pace.

Today I get to study...my first exam is on Thursday! ekk. I'm still scared which means I still need to study. And since this is exam week it also means this is my last week before work. ekk, again. I feel like I've been waiting forever while at the same time it snuck up so soon!

Well, I have many more 06' layouts to share...

Enjoy the fleeting moments, 08.10.06: I can't get enough photos of Sean and Penelope together. This one just touches me in a special place, I don't know if it's Sean's shirt..the way Penelope is so interested in her surroundings...how peaceful they both look with the water in the background...whatever it is, it melts my heart. I love them!

Love Love, 04.14.06: This photograph was taken of Sean & I in Portland, Oregon the night we went to see Larry the Cable guy live. The Blue Collar Comedy dvd was watched many times by Mr. Dowell and as a birthday gift I thought tickets would be nice, who doesn't enjoy a good laugh? Well, at least we had a good laugh when we got there because getting there was no laughing matter. Portland is about a three hour drive from Seattle, at least it is supposed to be. Instead, a dump truck decided to get in an accident somewhere between Seattle and Portland on south bound I-5 during the same time period we were travelling which meant the journey was extended by another 2.5-3 hours. We got to our hotel after much moaning and groaning, Sean is the WORST person to be stuck in traffic with - he gets all stressed which makes him annoyed which makes him not want to speak or even sing, so needless to say we both had a huge sigh of relief when the cars started moving. We didn't have much time before the show because of all the traffic so we parked our car near the venue and headed towards the bright yellow 'M' we noticed on our way in to grab a bite. While eating my nuggets I decided I better take a quick peek at the tickets just to verify the time. Whoops! The show started 15 minutes ago and we're in a big grease hole eating piles of grease, not cool. So we rushed over to the theatre to see the opening act leaving the stage and Larry coming on stage. We enjoyed him a lot - redneck jokes from a redneck are always amusing, just a little bummed we missed the opening act. But anything that could go wrong that night did, so it was fitting. hehe Overall it was a good trip and left us wanting to explore Portland a little more in the future on a more pleasant note. This is also where we purchased our first Starbuck's mug. A city mug...a souvenir we've continued to pick up in places, literally, all over the world! The title is from the song by Parachute VA - She is Love...an 2009 song but a fitting title for what we have for each other.

M.A.M.A.S. house, 11.26.06: M.A.M.A.S. aka: Mark, Andrea, Mark, Amina, Sean. Those were the original roommates of Mamas house. Sitting on the floors of our furniture-less new home we came up with that and it stuck, even as the roommates changed. Here is a revised version; Mark, Mark, Sean, Penelope, Andrea & Jos. We were all ecstatic at the sight of snow; we pulled each other in clothes baskets behind the car, slide down the hill a few times, then crossed our fingers super tight hoping there wouldn't be school in the morning! ha, like that would happen. UW hasn't closed down for ANYTHING in over thirty years. But we can hope, right?

Study, 12.12.06: A tribute to my great study habits in college. Me sitting on Sean's bed with my computer and notes, instead, watching tv with head phones on so I don't disturb him while he studies. Oh the days of finals...I will miss you.

Our first day together, 04.29.06: Yes, the BEST birthday present ever, Penelope. Sean told me to close my eyes because he was going to give me my birthday present a week early - I complied eagerly. Then he placed a warm bundle of joy in my fingers and the tears started rolling. I was overjoyed! Every time I saw a dog I always exclaimed, "ohhh, look at the cute little puppy dog." (That may or may not have been in a baby voice?) So, to have my own little puppy dog, I don't think anything could have made me happier at that moment. She immediately started giving me her tiny little kisses and love happened. It's like we were meant to be mother and dog. hehe It didn't take long to choose a name, because as soon as she cocked her head when I said Penelope the deal was done. And she didn't waste time making herself feel at home either! We found an old 'Lucy' ball for her to play with and she wasn't shy about playfully nipping with her sharp baby teeth - all of it was just lovely. Just a taste of the years to come with our playful third wheel, not the third wheel you want to toss, but the third wheel you need because your a trike. Yes, she belonged with us and always will!

Last but not least, I created this little note book to keep handy for things I want to remember. Like my dad telling me the other day that as a third grader he punched a kid's face, knocking out three teeth, because he called him Watermelon! hahahah I hope to fill it with lots of goodness like that.

Ouhh la la, Christmas.

I know it's not even Halloween yet but I saw this cute idea the other day while I was blog hopping and I couldn't resist..so here is my version!

Isn't that the cutest? You can pop candies, trinkets, little messages, whatever your heart desires in the muffin tin and the magnets are strong enough to keep everything in place! Annd it was so simple to make! All you need is; 24 cup muffin tin, thin magnets cut in to 2.25" squares, a few pieces of coordinating papers cut into 2" squares, then some numbers & embellishments to give the Advent calendar it's finishing touches. The calendar I did above is less traditional, so I am trying a more traditional approach with the colors you see below as well. It's such a versatile idea; you could do circles instead of squares, add some ribbon for it to hang from, make it horizontal instead of vertical, and the embellishment options are endless! I'm just so tickled!

Aside from my little calendar adventures, I did manage to finish a few lingering pages for our 2009 album.

Delightful, 03.22.09: Oh my papa, finding the words is hard…so I think I’ll start with some things I don’t want to forget.

1. Every morning when I wake up he greets me with: “Well good morning princess”
2. When Nana’s talking up a storm at the stove top, Papa will stand behind her moving his lips and make funny faces because he can’t get a word in edge wise.
3. He often says, “I wouldn’t pay a penny for her, but I wouldn’t sell her for a million dollars” when referring to my nana. He adores my nana.
4. He loves talking about the civil war.
5. He loves to show you all the goodies in his safe. Growing up in a farm family with no indoor plumbing and ten siblings he has a right to be proud of serving in the Air Force, raising five kids and living comfortably in retirement.
6. His parents eloped across the state border to get married back in the day.
7. Every night before bed he winds the clock his mother bought at age 16 from an auction.
8. Papa looked like Elvis when he was younger; handsome and confident.
9. Papa is a collector, pencil sharpeners, bottles, newspapers…his house is filled with garage sale finds, along with his shed and his attic. But he can tell you a story about each one, or at least a story from each item’s time period. He’s a wonderful story teller.

I love him from his head down to his toes. His shaky hands that make you want to hold him, his tearful eyes as he told me how proud he is of the woman I’ve become, the hop in his step and cheerful whistles as he wanders about the yard trying to be useful. I love how he is always attempting to make you laugh and is so endearing you can’t help but smile. I love you Papa, and I hope we get to spend many more years together. Layout design inspired by Elizabeth Kartchner.

Summer Camping, 07.10-12.09: Camping in a new way. Sleeping on an RV, taking hot showers at night, turning on the heat in the morning…yet able to sit around the campfire with smores, walk in nature soaking up sun and chat with our ‘real’ camping friends day and night. Yep, I think I could get used to that. I didn’t have too many shots around the campsite but I did love these particular ones. Sean and Andrew have the identical stance, too cute. Then Plop and her bonnet; Sean always flips her ears up, but while going through pictures the other day I realized this is the only shot I have of him doing it. I guess I’m usually too quick to remedy her appearance. Lastly, the flowers – we had beautiful weather our whole trip and I think that this encompasses it.

Well life isn't all fun and crafts, I signed up for the first of four tests of the CPA exam today. It feels good to have a date in mind, but also makes me a bit anxious. Many hours listening to lectures, trying my hand at practice questions and hoping I'm on track. Come Oct. 29th we'll find out if I did enough though! Then I can tweak my practices for the following three exams, oh the fun that lies ahead.

This past weekend Sean did have some real fun though, paintballing. Him and a buddy headed out to a local course for a few hours and I am still hearing about his aches and pains. He had a few good welts but apparently all the woes were worth it. Sneaking up on unsuspecting opponents, taking out four at a time...the joys of capture the flag and paint balls. I took a more chill approach playing a round of bingo with my mother. Our game consisted of cheetos, chocolate and dobbing. hehe

That's about it for this evening, just trying to keep warm in our cold little home.

Oh my, a married woman.

Again with no blogging, but worse this time. Hmm, what has happened since the last post?

1. Officially moved onto the RV for who knows how long.
2. Sister, Stephanie, and her family came to visit from Texas.
3. I GOT MARRIED.
4. Sean & I went to Jamaica for our honeymoon.
5. We had a largely successful garage sale.
6. Getting back into the grove of normal life as I know it.

Sean and I our enjoying our new married life in our humble abode aboard the RV. Yes, I did say married for about the third time in two sentences. On August 14, we tied the knot, and I made these cute little announcements (which will be mailed out as soon as Costco mails them to me)with the beautiful photos our photographer Victor took of us. (Font is Ali Edwards.)

We left the same night as the wedding for Jamaica, which turned out to be one step up from Ghana. :) No really, it was beautiful and we had a fabulous time - it just needs a little monetary assistance. I'm working on the album already, I know a go getter, so hopefully within the next two weeks it'll be complete and I'll have lots of colorful layouts to share. Fingers crossed.

Back to the wedding, I couldn't have asked for anything more lovely - thank you dad for making it possible and everyone else for coming! It was the perfect way to say 'I do' with our immediate family to witness it on a beautiful morning and bless it by sharing a dance with us. I also wanted to thank Am's for planning a girls day while Steph was out - it was really nice getting to spend time with all my sisters & ma at once. The last time that happened was hmm, two years ago?

This will truly be a year to remember; 2 college graduations, 2 new jobs, a wedding, a honeymoon, a new place, heck if I'm super ambitious I may even become a CPA! Not to be more cheesey then I've already been, but best of all it's brought me closer to everyone in my family. Much love the the far spread clan.

Okay well that is enough gush for one night, adios.

Another day, another week.

The sun has poked it's pretty head out today and is supposed to stick around all weekend, whoo hoo! I'm headed over to Amy's this afternoon for some brisk walking and a little Jillian Michael's workout. Fun times, I'll let you know how weak I am when I wake up in pain tomorrow morning from curling cans of green beans and doing knee push ups.

Wedding news...Sean and I are planning to register this weekend, Macy's for home stuff and Sear's for tools, lord knows how we will fit even more into the RV! haha We're also in search of some outfits for our engagement session photo shoot, we haven't done that together in a while so it should be interesting to see how quickly we get bored of each other's pickiness. :) Aside from that nothing new, we are still in search of an officiator and florist...and have yet to plan the wedding shower or rehearsal dinner. All with time, I wish I could believe myself...you could say I've been a bit stressed lately and my body is letting me know!

How lucky are we...:These are some photos we took on our walk yesterday. We went down to Lake Washington through Magnuson park, where Sean proposed to me exactly nine months ago! As the wedding has been consuming my thoughts lately - it's really helped me reflect on Sean & I, and how lucky we are to have been able to grow up together and find love so young. We can go on a walk around the neighborhood and that is like a date, no need for frills just laughs and quality time together. I can't describe how happy I am to just be me around him and vice versa - sometimes I feel like we could have telepathic conversations we know each other so well! haha Any way, I just wanted to have a place for this special spot and feelings in our album...and I wanted to use my new cricut! One last note, happy birthday Landen! I wish I could help you celebrate your special day but I hope you have a good one nonetheless! Hugs and kisses!

Zoo, school and a little sunshine.

The first week of classes is always a little crazy - and this one seemed a little long even with Friday off from both school and work. I think I am going to have to learn to take advantages of the weekends this quarter so that I at least have something to look forward during my long monotonous school week. I did have a chance to make a birthday card for Carol though, which is shown below.

This weekend the sunshine poked it's head out and fingers crossed it'll stick around a little while. Yesterday Amy invited me to the zoo with her and Andrew and being so unmotivated with school work I spent my Sunday morning making a layout of our afternoon together.


An afternoon at the zoo: Amy, Andrew & I spent a long afternoon at the zoo wandering the exhibits and eating Dippin' Dots. We saw quite a show from the giraffes, being very playful and affectionate with one another and were awed by the cuteness of the baby ocelots. We also learned that Bamboo, the eldest Asian elephant at the zoo, had a bit of a temper, throwing a log through a window not long ago and saw the bearded lizards perform an eerie head bob. Lastly, we visited the much anticipated flamingo exhibit, gawking at their pink knees, pink feet and awkward beaks. It was a lovely afternoon that flew by, and before we knew it all the exhibits were closing for the evening. Pencil lines sketch #128.

Tennessee.

Well now that birthday's have past I have a few more cards to share. The first is for my nana's 75th birthday and the second is my sister Amy's 30th birthday.

Tennessee: What a trip. I hadn't seen my Nana & Papa for nearly five years so the visit was long over due. Going back to their little place in Murfreesboro brought back memories, and I will cherish so many more that were created in the past few days. During morning breakfast hours and the hours after supper, I heard tales of moon shining in Kentucky, seances in Liverpool, wild, and younger, nights in San Diego and the value of family. It was a mix of emotions, laughing constantly at the antics being told but holding back tears when sentimental comments were made that I will remember forever.

Ma and I did leave Murfreesboro for a few day trips. We first visited the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home, one afternoon; learning about him rising up from a poor Irish immigrant to the 7th President of the United States. Then we visited Nashville with Aunt Jay; stopping by the Country Music Hall of Fame, visiting the War Memorial only to learn Papa had been in the Korean War and ending up at the Tennesse State Museum. Lastly, we took a drive with Aunt Jay to Chattanooga where we explored Ruby Falls, Rock City and the 119 year old Walnut Street Bridge.

Birthday's Galore.

This past week it was both my mother's birthday and Sean's birthday. Ma's birthday was on a Saturday this year so I was able to spend the afternoon with her, Amy and Andrew seeing a movie (Gran Torino) and eating at Red Lobster (for the first time!). The movie was great - I was laughing about 80% of the time because of Clint Eastwood's racey remarks and the message of the story was, of course, heartwarming. It is a tear jerker though, more like a 'sob' jerker, but well worth it because of all the laughs. Sean's birthday, on the other hand, fell on Tuesday - quite possibly the worst day of the week this quarter from Sean's perspective. He is typically at school from 6am - 9pm on Tuesdays, so I did what a could. A little boxed cake with a tea light candle no less, a quick scavenger hunt and of course his present. Oh well, it gives us an excuse to celebrate it again this weekend!