MeriAnne's Pics

Tribute to Brian Moore

2011-01-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

For my friends who aren't on Facebook, the following a video tribute to my husband Brian Moore who passed away way to early in life. But while I grieve his loss deeply I know that he is finally home, healed of all illness and spending his days in perfect peace at the feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wow an update

2009-05-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

I know that it has been ever since I posted and it hasn't been for a lack of things to post. We have been very busy. My new job is going well, albeit somewhat challenging. I seem to be finding myself in positions where I am having to clean up accounting messes. This most recent challenge was created by a very green inexperienced young person fresh out of college who thinks they know accounting. There is a lot that can be said for real life experience and learning that it is ok to ask for help when you are uncertain on how to do certain tasks. Why is it that younger people have such a hard time with that concept???

But I am slowly untangling the mess of plugged entries and sloppy accounting and hope to finally be able to present this company with real financial statements.

At home we have been busy getting our yard put together and planting flowers. Of course with all the rain the last week, I am really starting to get behind. I have grand plans on what I want to do, but we shall see what really gets accomplished this year.

Because I like taking so many pictures I finally reached the limit that I can post on Blogger without having to hand over $$$$. So my wonderful husband did some searching on the web and found that no one had used my name for a domain name yet. So he set me up with my own domain that I can now load all my pictures on. It is still a work in progress, but I am slowly getting everything transferred over there. If you want to pay it a visit the address is:

http://merianne.org/gallery2/main.php

At some point I will move my blog over there, but one step at a time. I will admit it is much much easier then anything I have ever used to upload pictures and much quicker.

God is so good

2009-03-06T16:33:00.000-08:00

Just yesterday I was writing about how I was expected a period of unemployment after my temp assignment at Epud was coming to an end. I had resolved that I was ok with that and that my faith was in God's providence that He had plan grander then me.

When I got into work this morning I got a call from my recruiter and amazingly they have another assignment for me starting on MONDAY!!! I feel so very blessed beyond measure and thankful that in this very turbulent and uncertain time God has so richly provided for us.

It reminds me of a verse that was shared with my family when my dad was so ill.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Oh, and I just have to share an incredible picture I took a few weeks back when we were out at the coast. It is of the light inside the Yaquina Head Lighthouse which we climbed to the top of. Not an easy climb. What I didn't realize until yesterday when I was working with the picture for a project at work was that I managed to get the reflection of the hill and coastline in the top of the picture.

What is next

2009-03-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

I am about to face another new milestone in my life. For the first time ever I am about to become unemployed. Other then for a brief period after my dad passed away, I have not known where I would be going to work. I have always felt very blessed that when I needed a job God was able to provide me one. Yet even now I know He has a job already planned out for me. I feel very fortunate that for the last 6 months I have had an incredible opportunity to work for a really fun company in Eugene. I have been since September on a temp assignment through Accountemps working at Emerald People's Utility District. It was originally a job that was supposed to end in November or December, then got extended into January, then the end of February, and just when I thought it was about to end they needed me for one more week. I have tried not to think about what is coming, but with all the doom and gloom in the news these days, reality is starting to sink in.

But then as I was driving home tonight a song played that reminded me that once again reminded me that I don't need to fear the future and how thankful I am to know that God is in control.

Newsboys - Lord (i Don't Know)

You are the author of knowledge
You can redeem what's been done
You hold the present and all that's to come
Until your everlasting kingdom

chorus:
Lord I don't know where all this is going
or how it all works out
lead me to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

You are the God of tomorrow
Turning the darkness to dawn
Lifting the hopeless with hope to go on
You are the rock of all salvation

chorus

Ohh Lord, you are the author
Redeeming what's been done
You hold us in the present
And all that is to come

Lord we don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead us to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

Where has time gone

2009-03-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

Whew...I can hardly believe it is March already. I have had such lofty goals of posting more on this blog, but it seems like there are hardly enough hours in the day anymore. Brian and I went to the coast for Valentine's weekend, back to Surfrider Resort where we got engaged. It was a much needed get away. Brian's job has been keeping him busy and if that wasn't enough in late January we had Kitty distemper attack 2 of our cats. 1 cat, Tiger spent 3 days in the kitty hospital and his brother Grey Kitten managed to escape the hospital stay since the vet said we would go broke if had to hospitalize all the cats. They let us treat him at home, but it meant that both cats were kept in Quarantine in the house for almost 2 weeks. And since we were afraid the other cats might also get sick, they have all be quarantined inside the house since Tiger got sick. That is 7 cats in a rather small house. Getting away for a few days from the chaos was wonderful. Now we are on the road to getting them all re vaccinated and eventually freedom from them having to stay inside.

And that is coming none to soon, because the temp assignment I have been on since September of last year is finally coming to an end this week. I am not sure what is next. The job market in the Eugene/Springfield is horrible. Just today another large employer announced they were terminating almost all of their 2000 employees.... But my wonderful husband has faith that I will find another job soon. This is such a scary time for so many people, for our country, for our world. But I find solace in a Bible verse that reminds me that God is in control and He knows our future.

Jeremiah 29: 11-14 - 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Fireproof

2009-01-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't blogged in a long time, but I wanted to share about a movie we watched last night.

If you haven't had a chance to see this movie, or haven't heard about it, I highly recommend it. While the acting leaves much to be desired (there previous movie - Facing Giants had far better acting) the story and message of the movie is very good.

Marriage takes work and I am so thankful to be married to someone who understands that. While we are still early in our marriage neither of us is ignorant of the challenges that are ahead. I think this movie was a good warning that we need to make sure that we are focused on what is important and what love really means. And above all, in a fire never leave your partner behind.

White

2009-01-08T22:26:00.001-08:00

White cat walking on white snow.

Cat Pic's

2008-12-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

I of course can't resist posting some recent pictures of our herd of cats. Now that the weather is colder and wetter they are spending even more time inside being bums.

Moe came home for a few days in November. We came home one afternoon to find him standing guard on the roof of the house.

It is not uncommon to have 3 or more cats sharing the couch with us at night.

I got up one morning to discover an Osama cat sleeping in the bathroom sink. Why??? I have no idea. But she looked quite content to be there. She can find the strangest places to sleep.

Passed out on top of the fridge.

Oh no.... you found my hiding spot.

This is Fraidy Cat and in the last couple of weeks he has made huge improvements in becoming a less wild cat. He will now sit on the couch with me and spent almost a whole week sleeping at the top of our bed. Just this week he has decided that it is safe to come into the house even if "Humans" are watching him. We used to have to open the door and then turn our backs before he would come in. He is the most vocal of all the boys and always has lots of words to share with us.

Tiger (on the left) used to protect his little brother Fraidy Cat when they were kittens. For some reason they all like sitting on boxes and often there is a battle over who gets what box.

Or, their other favorite place to sleep is in the clean basket of clothes.

Grey Kitten stealing my spot on the couch.

Sunday after Thanksgiving Brian put Christmas lights up on the outside of the house. Of course the task couldn't be completed with out the assistance of Osama. When she couldn't get on the roof via the ladder she ran around back, climbed a tree and got up on the roof.

Sable spends a lot of time outside because she can't behave inside. This is her sitting on the dog house asking to come in.

And Grey Kitten and Osama think sitting in the front window is just the greatest place. When we left for Thanksgiving Grey Kitten was looking out between the window slats and when we came home 3 days later he was in the same place.

November Adventures

2008-12-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

I just realized it has been over a month since I posted anything. I knew we had been busy, but didn't realize just how. We are still slowing working on getting me unpacked. It is a challenge trying to fit all my stuff into a much smaller place, but slowly one box at a time we are getting there. My Cd's and DVD's are now nicely stored in the new bookcases we got. And slowly Brian is adding my music to his music server. It feels good to toss another empty box into the recycling bin. It gives me hope that someday I will be able to use the spare room as an actual room and not a storage place.

For Thanksgiving we went up to Seattle to have dinner with my mom's family. That was fun to see everyone. My Aunt Michelle made a fantastic turkey that was so incredibly moist. You could barely pick the meat up with a fork. I certainly ate too much that day. The next day we got to go visit my Grandma. She was unable to make the trip down for the wedding and she had not gotten to meet Brian yet. It was a very special visit and it was fun to share our wedding pictures with her.

I am still working on my "temp" assignment with Accountemps that started back in September. It now looks like I will be there until the end of January. I am very thankful that they have kept me on for so long. It has been a challenging job, while at the same time a lot of fun. I am still hoping that I might someday find permanent employment with this particular company.

Fall Colors

2008-10-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, even though I had much to do at that house. The spare room is still packed with all my boxes waiting to get unpacked, thank you cards are still waiting to be written and I have yet to plant 2 mums I bought over a month ago. But knowing that we only have a few days of really nice sunny fall weather left, I couldn't help but ask Brian if we take a drive to find some more covered bridges. There are enough rainy weekends coming up to stay home and do inside stuff. For the last year we have been trying to find all the covered bridges in Lane County. There were 3 bridges between here and the coast that we had yet to visit. So with cameras in hand we headed out to search for them. What an amazing day it was. The fall colors were utterly amazing.

The first bridge we went to was the Coyote Creek Bridge which is located south of Veneta.

After Veneta we turned north towards the other 2 bridges we were looking for. Along the way we stumbled across a small unnamed state park. Someday we will have to go back and explore where this bridge goes.

The next bridge we intended to visit was Lake Creek or Nelson Mtn Bridge, but we missed the turnoff so we continued on toward the Deadwood Bridge. This bridge was a little more challenging to find. But we eventually turned up a little country road that lead to the bridge.

This bridge was actually very unique, because the flooring is installed at a noticeable slant so that traffic rounding the corner would travel more safely. This was also the hardest bridge to photograph because the lighting was so dark.

I loved how the creek under the bridge meandered on by.

On the way back we finally found the Lake Creek Bridge, which is also know as the Nelson Mtn Bridge since it is located on Nelson Mountain Road.

My attempt at an artistic shot. This is a close up of the reflection of the leaves in the water.

Finally we stopped at Fern Lake Reservoir. We have tried stopping here previously but the park is always closed. We finally found a parking lot on the north side that was actually open. The reservoir is used for flood control in the winter and they are in the process of draining all the water out.

It was near sunset so I was able to get this cool silhouette of 2 people and a dog.

This area is normally under water during the summer months.

And of course I just couldn't resist getting pictures of the sunset.

Poor Kitty

2008-10-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

My kitty Spot is having a rough couple of months. First his home is invaded my a dog a many many wedding guests. Then his owner moves away and leaves him behind. (He couldn't come to Springfield with me because we have to many cats down here and to small of a house)

The at the beginning of September while I was up at my mom's and loading my trunk with more items to move, he jumped on the roof of my car while I was in the house and managed to shut the trunk on his rear foot. Cringe Cringe Cringe.. but luckily the weather stripping prevented any major damage to be down and he recovered pretty quickly.

Then just over a week ago my mom came home to discover that he had been in another cat brawl and this time lost big time. He had ripped his ear bad enough that both she and my sister felt a trip to the vet was necessary. (They were both afraid to call me with the news until they knew his condition.) Sadly the tear was bad enough the vet could not stitch it back up and he got to spend a night in the kitty hospital so they could clip his ear. :( :(

He will survive this recent ordeal, but his days of roaming free outside I think are probably over. And I really hope this is the last of his bad luck for the year... I am starting to wonder just how many lives he really has left.

Snow!!!!

2008-10-23T20:07:00.001-07:00

A couple of weekends Brian and I went for a day trip to Sisters, OR via the Old McKenzie Hwy in the hopes of finding fall foliage. We had attempted to take this route last year, however the highway was still closed. http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2148/ . It is closed for the winter months due to snow. The road is also very narrow and at points very windy. You hope you don't run into a large vehicle going the opposite direction. While the drive is very beautiful, it isn't one you would want to take if you were just trying to get to Sisters. But if you are looking for a pleasant drive with lots of time on your hands and want to see some amazing scenery.....this is one not to miss.

The sign below is a good depiction of what the road is like, lots of twists and turns.

We knew there had been snow on the pass the day before and it wasn't long before we started seeing it.
Just a dusting at first....

Then a little bit more......

We stopped at a trail head to get out and take pictures. Little did we realize just how cold it was outside. brrrrrrrrrr... And I left the gloves at home.

I loved the look of the trees with snow on them against the blue sky.

Don't let the straightness of the road fool you... it doesn't last long.

Then we got into much more serious snow. We had been driving with the sunroof open so I could take pictures since the road doesn't have enough of a shoulder to pull over. So we got to experience snow falling into the car as well.

And then some fall color, albeit covered in snow.

We decided to take a little jaunt down a side (gravel) road that said it lead to a lake. It was worth it since the lake was very beautiful.

The best part of taking the Old McKenzie Highway is that you get to drive through a most unexpected scene in Oregon.... Miles and miles of lava beds. Virtually utter and complete devastation. Last year we did this trip from the Sisters side and we both felt out breath being taken away as we rounded a bend in the woods and came across the first of the lava beds. I experienced the same feeling again this year coming at it from a different direction and knowing what I would be seeing.

What really amazes me is that in the midst of all of this destruction and fields of lava, trees still continue to grow. Or should I say struggle to grow.

If you look beyond this tree, you not only see the lava but also the remains of a rather large wildfire that ripped through this area.

To the south you can see 2 of the 3 Sister's.

And unlike last summer, the addition of the snow to the ground made the paths of the ancient lava flows very visible. You can't really tell from the picture, but you could almost see ridges in the snow that were similar to lava flowing.

Another picture from the sunroof.

This is the Dee Wright Observatory. http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2148/places/11694/

When you go up to the observatory there are cutouts, lava tube viewing windows, all the way around that you can use to take pictures of the various mountains or craters.

Belknap Crater

Little Belknap Crater

Mt. Washington

Mt. Jefferson

There are more mountains to see, but it was bitterly cold inside there with the wind whipping through and my fingers were starting to turn purple from the lack of gloves. We quickly made our way back down to the car to turn the heat on.

We were going to head back to Springfield via Santiam Pass, but decided to drive down to Bend and then Hwy 58. And when we were almost home we stumbled across yet another covered bridge. This is the Office Bridge and is the longest covered bridge in Oregon. It was originally built to provide access to a lumber mill across the river.

Goofy Cats

2008-10-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but post the latest pictures of some of our cats. With the weather getting colder they are getting friendlier and less afraid of me.

This is Tiger. He is a very muscular boy cat. While he doesn't like to be held, he does like to cuddle in the bed at night and chase my feet under the covers. He used to run in terror when I came in the room and now he will sit on the couch with me.

This is a common scene in the evening. I think there was a 4th cat on the couch right before I snapped the picture.

This is Moe and he is the latest to figure out that inside is pretty cool. It took him just a few minutes of being inside for him to relax and cuddle. I woke up in the middle of the night to find him sleeping in this box. Sunday morning I woke up and found him sleeping upside down next to me.

Grey Kitten with his "I don't feel good" look. He got into a fight with a neighbor cat last week and lost. Poor kitty had to go to the vet and now has to endure 2 weeks on antibiotics. He really wasn't feeling well last week, but Saturday night he started to perk up and was back to his weird self.

Grey Kitten also thinks Brian's shows make good pillows.

This is Fraidy Cat. He is still the most fearful of all of them. I can't approach him, but he does sit on the floor and looks up at me with those big eyes. He wants attention, but is to scared.

Grey Kitten trying to convince Fraidy Cat not to be so scared.

Silver Falls State Park

2008-10-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

On our trip back from Vancouver last weekend, we went to Silver Falls State Park. It was a wet grey day, but the drive back through the country side was still beautiful. I had never been to Silver Falls so I was excited to see what was there. Most of the waterfalls are only accessible by hiking, and neither of us was up to that. But we did get to see 2 falls.

The first was North Falls.

After a short drive we came to the campground/picnic area.

A fall leaf.

The lodge at Silver Falls.

This is South Falls.

For the brave at heart you can hike to the bottom and then behind the falls. Neither of us are brave at heart, so we stayed up at the top.

Looking down at the bridge at the bottom of the canyon. I am sure the hike down is easy, but don't even want to think about the hike up.

This is the creek above the falls.

I thought this little girl was so cute peering through the bridge.

And in case you ever wonder where Christmas trees come from.... we drove through miles and miles of Christmas tree farms. This one even had it's own special view point on the side of the road.

Side Trip - Jefferson, OR

2008-10-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Vancouver and we made a couple of side trips both on the way up and back. Back in August we took the train to Vancouver and when we went through Jefferson, OR we noticed a very cool looking bridge and made a note to make and return some day to photograph it.

The picture below is my attempt at being artistic.

I'm not sure the age of the vehicle bridge, but a sign at the top of the railroad bridge says 1906, which I assume is when it was constructed. 102 years old!!!

The 2 bridges were somewhat mirror images of each other, both with similar arches.
A quick shot of fall foliage.

ROAR!!!!

2008-09-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, seriously this cat is only yawning and is actually a very sweet kitty. Brian was out taking pictures the other day while I was napping and caught Grey Kitten mid yawn. Grey Kitten is the only one of the wild cats that isn't all that terrified of people. And he has one really great trick that he uses all the time. He will get up on the couch and sit next to one of us and then slowly he will place his chin on your arm and look up at you with his big beautiful eyes, almost saying "aren't I just soooo cute."

Life in Springfield

2008-09-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

I have been really bad at posting lately. I have been busy unpacking, getting settled in and mostly trying to find a job.

I love living down here. I love the quietness and just general laid back attitude that this part of Oregon seems to evoke. I hear people talk about how bad traffic is around here, but after commuting to downtown Portland for 7 years, Eugene/Springfield have a long ways to go until they truly experience "bad" traffic. So far the worst I have seen is when UofO has a home game and one happens to be foolish enough to drive past Autzen Stadium prior to game time. We did that over Labor Day just so I could see what it was like. I was glad not to be one of the people living near the stadium or one of the thousands trying to find parking and not go broke in the process.

Job hunting has been very frustrating. There have been several large companies with huge layoffs in the area and given the current ecomony jobs are scarse. Add to that the fact that salaries down here are much lower then Portland. I have had a couple of interviews, one with the company Brian works for in fact. That would be a great opportunity, but they are uncertain of what they really are looking for. I had another company offer me a position but at a much much lower salary then I feel my experience calls for. So Brian & I decided that it probably wasn't the job for me. At the same time that offer came along I also received the opportunity for a temp position through Accountemps. It is for probably one of the best companies to work for down here and one that I would LOVE to work for pemanently. It is for Emerald People's Utility District and they provide electrical service to the outlying communities. Ironically....they also offer internet access for their customers and Brian maintains their internet servers. In fact it was their server that crashed while we were having our wedding pictures taken. Brian was thrilled that I got this opportunity, he loves the company and hopes that something permanent will open up for me. I started last Monday and the job goes through November. It felt good to get back to work.

The past weekend was the Eugene Celebration. Brian and I went on Saturday to see the parade and explore the area afterwards. It was fun. Nothing beats a small town parade.

And of course, this being Eugene, one nevers knows what one might see in a parade........

After the parade was over with we wandered around downtown through the farmers market and then over to the celebration area where we found sitting under a tree reading Moby Dick Brian's friend and groomsman from our wedding, Jamie. It was fun to catch up with him.

Honeymoon - Sunset in Lincoln City

2008-08-17T19:06:00.003-07:00

What trip to the beach isn't complete without an amazing sunset???

Ok, so not my best sunset shots. It was a pretty boring sunset. But I did get some great pictures of the waves crashing on the shore.

And I couldn't resist trying out the movie feature on my camera to capture the sounds of the crashing surf.

When we first arrived at the beach there was a huge sandcastle just out our window:

By morning this was all that was left:

A different view of the hotel. We were on this side.

Dog prints in the sand.

Honeymoon - Monday

2008-08-17T15:08:00.002-07:00

After spending a second wonderful night at the B&B we left to head south to Lincoln City. However, since the direct drive is rather short, and being the photographers that we are, and not being able to miss an opportunity to make a short drive take all day we decided to head a little bit north and take the 3 Capes Scenic Drive which starts in Tillamook and heads south along the coast, past 3 lighthouses and some amazing views. http://pacificcity.org/3capes/drive.html Our first stop was an amazing vantage point looking north up the coast and across Tillamook Bay. There had apparently been a landslide, probably last winter, that created this amazing vista.

And of course, our after wedding decorations as staying firmly in place.

The next stop just up the road was Cape Mears State Park, home of Cape Mears Lighthouse, the shortest lighthouse in Oregon, the largest Sitka Spruce tree in Oregon, and the Octopus Tree. We missed the largest Spruce tree, but did make the short hike to the Octopus Tree. It was pretty impressive to say the least.

This view is looking south down the coast and toward Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge. http://www.fws.gov/oregoncoast/3archrocks/

These rocks are home to thousands and thousands of nesting seabirds.

Our first glimpse of the light house.

This is looking north and more nesting grounds for seabirds.

The black specks on the top of this rock are birds. Thousands of them.

Another peak of the lighthouse.

I thought this little girl walking to the lighthouse was so adorable.

A better view of the sea birds.

And then, when we got down to the lighthouse and we looking north we caught a glimpse of some military jets in the sky. I assumed they were the fighters out of Portland on a practice run.

It wasn't until we got home and were looking at the pictures that we discovered it was actually the Blue Angels we were watching. Pretty cool in my book. We watched them fly south a bit so a few maneuvers and then they headed back north and past us.

Our next stop was in Oceanside where we looked northward toward Cape Mears. It was rather windy and a little on the cold side so we didn't stay there long.

This is another view looking south down the coast at a viewpoint off Hwy 101 north of Lincoln City.

We finally arrived in Lincoln City and Inn at Spanish Head where we were going to spend the 3rd night. What an impressive hotel. It is built right into the side of the hill.

Our room was on the second floor, above the pool. Nice for close access to the beach. Not so nice when the fire alarm went off about 10 minutes after we got in the room and we had to climb 7 flights of stairs to evacuate. Seriously...they won't let you evacuate to the beach.

Honeymoon - Sunday

2008-08-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we had a leisurely morning and then set out to explore Tillamook. Our fist stop was at Munson Creek Falls. It is the highest waterfall on the Oregon Coast and was pretty impressive. Although when we turned down the road to the falls Brian and I wondered where we were headed. First it is a nicely paved road with a lane in each direction, then it becomes a wide gravel road and then a very narrow gravel road. But we finally arrived at the end of the road, er parking lot. It was a short fairly easy hike to the falls. However, sadly because of the winter storms several trees were down across the path so we couldn't go all the way.

Next we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. What a busy busy place. Although not much cheese making was going on since it was Sunday. Just tons and tons of tourists. We got some ice cream and picked up some cheese from the store and headed on up the road.

Our next stop was Rockaway Beach where we went and laid on the beach for a nap for awhile. There was someone flying a kite above us and I was able to snap this picture.

We then went back to the B&B to get our picnic lunch and then headed south to Tierra Del Mar to sit on the beach and have dinner. While we were there the fog rolled in and soon most of the surrounding landscape was shrouded in fog.

Honeymoon Pictures - Sandlake Country Inn

2008-08-14T10:21:00.001-07:00

Hi All!!! If you want to see wedding pictures drop me an email and I will let you know how you can view them.

Since it is going to be so hot today I am trying to do activities inside that will hopefully keep me and the house cool. That means I probably won't get much unpacking done. But I can get caught up on emails and post some of the pictures from our honeymoon.

We went on a short honeymoon but it was a very much needed break. We had an amazing time. The first 2 nights we went to an amazing B&B near Pacific City, OR. The Sand Lake Country Inn - http://www.sandlakecountryinn.com/index.htm . If you are looking for a place to escape to where you won't be disturbed this place is it. No phones!! Even cell phones. And for those of you who know that was something Brian especially needed. He is on call 24/7 and the cell can go off at any time. Including on his wedding day. Yes, in the middle of pictures a server crashed and his cell phone started screaming. He tried his best to deal with before the wedding, but finally just had to turn the phone off. When we left after the service he turned it back on and was able finally to fix the problem just as we dropped out of cell range. We didn't realize until the next day when we left the B&B and got onto 101 that we had been out of cell range the whole time. It was GREAT!!! Brian thanked the innkeepers for being located out of cell range and said that we would be back.

I can't rave enough about the B&B. It was beautiful. We had the Starlight Suite - http://www.sandlakecountryinn.com/rooms-starlight.htm. It is the entire top floor of the B&B. It was so amazing. It even had a jacuzzi tub which I couldn't wait to soak in. And the bed was incredible...I wanted to bring it home with me.

And unlike many B&B's, you get breakfast delivered to your room. And it isn't just any little breakfast. It is a 4 course feast!!!! I regret not taking a picture of the huge basket full of food. Let just say it kept us full for most of the day.

For lunch/dinner on Sunday Brian ordered their Togetherness Package, which is a picnic basket filled with food that you can take down to the beach.

Although it doesn't look it. The basket was filled with food and we ended up bringing most of it home with us to eat over the next couple of days.

I also didn't get many pictures of the B&B since, well, my mind wasn't on taking pictures. But here are a few:

This was the view out our deck:

Up the main path to the front door.

But of course the best flowers were the ones that we brought all the way from Vancouver on the back of the car. They were a little dried out by the time we arrived, but would you believe we didn't start losing flowers for about 5 days!!! Amazing what duct tape can do.

Pre Wedding Pictures

2008-08-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

The week before the wedding was very busy. My brother and his family arrived on Monday night and Brian's family arrived on Wednesday. Because we were a group where the kids nearly outnumbered the adults I planned to fun events for us to all do together. On Thursday we went to Multnomah Falls and Bonneville Dam. It was a perfect day for a trip to the gorge. Surprisingly there was very little wind. For those unfamiliar with the Columbia Gorge, it tends to be a large wind funnel with winds so strong it makes driving and standing difficult.

Most of the group decided to make the short hike up to the bridge. I choose to stay behind since my foot had been bothering me and I didn't want to risk injuring it.

Then after hiking to that bridge, everyone except my mom decided to make the hike up to the top of the falls. I don't have any pictures from that, but from what I am told they had the time of their lives. They ended up breaking up into 2 groups since the girls had to take frequent breaks to tie shoes and take pictures.

While they were climbing the falls the rest of us stayed behind and explored the gift shop and cool shade outside the lodge.

There is a rather sweet story about the picture below. These two darling girls are our two youngest nieces - Katie, Brian's Niece is on the left and Janessa, my niece is on the right. Katie is very outgoing while Janessa is quiet and more reserved. This was the first time they had meet each other and were both scheduled to be flower girls in the wedding. A first Janessa was a little shy about interacting with Katie, but then Katie went into the gift shop and both both of them a special purple rock. When she presented it to Janessa outside the gift shop, the two were inseparable from that point on. It was like they had known each other all their lives.

Enjoying the fun company outside the Multnomah Falls Lodge.

Two new best friends.

Once we finished at the falls we made a quick trip to the dam for a picnic and to let the kids see the sturgeon. Unfortunately because the hike to the top of falls to longer then planned this part of the trip got cut very short. But from what I heard everyone still had fun.

I love this picture of my sister.

After our fun day outside we headed inside for the wedding rehearsal. It was a good thing the wedding wasn't that evening, because during the day the construction crew had decided to do some work on the ceiling above the stage. There was a big ugly hole and brown paper all over the stage. And Kerry our wedding coordinator had spent 4 hours the day before mopping the whole area. Sadly it all had to be done again on Friday. But I didn't care because as I have stated over and over again - all that really mattered was the Brian and I were getting married.

After the rehearsal we went back to my mom's for dinner. I had arranged to have a scrumptious dinner catered by Goldies Texas Style BBQ - http://www.goldiesbbq.com/. If you are in the Portland/Vancouver area be sure to pay these people a visit. We have known Charles and Goldie for over 20 years and I can't begin to tell you how great their food is. YUM YUM YUM!!!!

This is my brother, Andy (on the left) and Brian's brother in law, Todd (on the right).

This is a picture of Tori, my maid of honor and good friend since before high school (on the left) and my sister Cathy, on the right.

This is a picture of Paul & Debbie MacLurg. I first met them back in 1987 at a college retreat right after they had gotten married and right before they moved to Vancouver. They eventually came on staff at New Heights and led our college group for several years before Paul became an Executive Pastor at New Heights. There wasn't any one else that I wanted to marry us. And luckily all though they have gone on to pursue other career interests this year, they were available for our wedding. Paul helped make it a fun day.

This is a picture of Brian (right) and Jamie (left), his best man and former roommate from College. For those of you who remember I also worked with David another roommate of theirs from college. Sadly David was not able to be at the wedding because of a preplanned family vacation. But we will plan another college roommate reunion at a later date. Apparently the three have not seen each other since David's wedding 20 years ago.
This is Brian's dad, John, his sister, Julia and of course the adorable Katie. If I remember right she was trying to tell a very interesting story.

Janessa, Katie and Katiana (far right), another one of my nieces. They were playing horsey with the jump rope and their were quiet elaborate instructions that went along with whole process.

Married!!!!!

2008-07-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update. Brian and I are back in Springfield after spending three fantastic nights at the coast. It was so nice to get away and really relax after a few stressful months for both of us.

Now onto the real work. Unpacking, finding a job and settling into my new life in Springfield, OR.

I will write more after I have had a chance to catch my breath and hopefully post a few pictures. (ok, more then a few)

Counting down the days

2008-07-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can hardly believe it is now less then one week until our wedding. I can't begin to express how excited I am. But not so much for the wedding, but for finally being able to begin our new life together. No more 2 hour drives to see each other for just a few hours and we will actually be able to say good night in person instead of over the phone.

And because we have both been so stressed over the last few months with work related issues, we are both looking forward to spending a few days at the coast away from the craziness of life.

Yesterday was my bridal shower and that was alot of fun. I got lots of really pretty things and guess I will have to burn my old worn out night garments at last. I called Brian afterward and told him we might need to get me a bigger dresser. He laughed and said only if I promise to wear everything.

Today I took my rings in to have them attached together. It was sad to have to part with my sparkly, but I know that I will get it back and can't wait for Brian to put it on my finger next Saturday!!!!! In the meantime I may wear the temporary ring we got back in January. It just isn't as pretty or as special.

Flower Market

2008-07-14T14:02:00.001-07:00

Today I got to do some more fun wedding stuff. A friend of my mom's is a florist and today she and her husband took me to a wholesale flower market to pick out fresh flowers for the wedding.

I should have been a florist. I could have spent all day in there. And the smell was just amazing.

This blue flower below is going to look great and really pop with the Black Eyed Susan's from my mom's yard that we plan to use.

I think we are going to use the roses below for my bouquet. I loved the soft purple color in them.

Now I just have to figure out what I want the bouquet to look like.......

Wedding Update - 2 weeks to go!!!!!!

2008-07-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe out wedding is 2 weeks away. I am getting so excited. While things have been very stressful getting everything finished up at my job I am so happy that planning this wedding has been such a fun experience. Last night I got to go down to the church we are going to be married at to meet with our wedding coordinator and see the work that has been done on the building. I was very please, although as I told Kerry I could have easily gotten married there before they started all the work.

But just so people can see the difference, this a picture from February when we first went to visit the location and before any work was started.

And now, the after picture.....

All of the blue carpet was removed and refinished. The pews were repositioned to make wider aisle ways and had the very ugly blue cushions removed.

This is where our reception will be held. It is right behind the sanctuary. During the service the tall doors separating the 2 rooms will be closed, but we will open them afterwards to open up the space

The stage was set for another wedding. It gave me some great ideas on how we can make our stage much more beautiful. I am hoping to use one of my mom's antique lace table clothes for the unity candle table. Then we will be lining the front of the stage with freshly planted flower pots.

This is a picture of an antique Victrola that we are going to use to put the guest book on.

I got a few quick pictures of some of the stained glass.

Finally, this a picture of the Bride's room. Again, another amazing room. I would someday love to live in a house with a room like this.

I actually got to watch another wedding rehearsal last night. It was interesting to say the least. I learned alot, but most importantly I witnessed some things that I will not allow to happen at our wedding. Mostly the fact that I felt our wedding coordinator was very much taken advantage of. This building is a work in progress and we were all made very much aware of that from the beginning. They could not guarantee what condition the building would be in come the wedding, but Kerry has worked very very hard to get that changes that have been done completed. She has poured her heart and soul into it. And yes, there are still many many imperfections. But if one can't look at an old building and love it despite it's imperfections then one should choose somewhere else to get married. Kerry even fought for us when the church wanted to cancel our weddings because of the construction. I feel so very privileged to be able to be married here.

So when you come to our wedding, there may not be "real" bathrooms, rather porta potty's outside. And yes there will be a giant dirt pit just off the main entrance - that will eventually become a childrens playground. No there isn't any fancy lighting, but who needs lights when the light that comes through the magnificent stained glass windows is so amazing. (BTW, those were almost removed during the construction for repair - but once again Kerry saved the day and fought to keep them in until after the wedding.) You will probably see patchwork on the walls, and I am sure that other discerning critical people could spend their time picking out imperfections. But at the end of the day what matters most to Brian and I is not the appearance of where we are getting married, but that we will BE married and that we get to share such a special moment with the people that matter most in our lives. And I hope that all who attend our wedding will feel the same way.

Moving

2008-07-09T21:32:00.000-07:00

Those who really know me know how much I hate moving. It always ends up with me in tears and something always goes wrong. I think it goes back to when we moved as a kid and I didn't want to move. When I moved back to Vancouver from Seattle in 1999 I proclaimed to my mom that I was NEVER moving again. EVER!!! If I was going to have to move then Prince Charming was going to have to come and move me himself. Ha! Little did I know that a few years later that Prince Charming would come into my life and get to experience the joy of helping me move.

We decided to move my stuff before the wedding instead of trying to do it afterwards. First we were going to try and do it the weekend before the wedding when we would have lots of help with my sister and her boys here. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that I didn't want to have a bunch of help and since Brian's house is smaller too many people would make the job even more complicated. So because we both had a 3 day weekend over the 4th we decided to make the move then. And Brian so graciously agreed to drive the Uhaul with all my stuff. Poor guy spent 8 hours that weekend in the car (he had to drive up to Vancouver, then drive the Uhaul down to Springfield, then ride back to Vancouver with me and then drove his car back home)

The toughest part of this move is trying to decide what I am taking with me, since not all my stuff would fit in Brian's house. (Poor guy, I don't know if he realized just what a pack rat I am??) What I would leave with my mom and what I would toss. Tossing stuff would be easy, if I could just find time to figure out what to toss. I decided to leave the clothes until later since that can easily be moved in the car. So I choose to move the big and heavy stuff. Mostly books and a good part of my craft items. (Someday I hope to get back to my craft projects)

I thought I was packing a ton of stuff, but when we got the Uhaul loaded I was surprised to see just how little it really was. So after getting it packed we headed down the road.

Once we got to Brian's house the cats were quick to check out the new arrival. Especially Osama. She was very curious.

I had just a little help putting all my cookbooks away.

Osama quickly claimed this storage container as hers.

And Miss Sable even decided to be a little playful for a bit and pose for some pictures. A rare event for sure. That was until she rolled too much and feel off the step stool.

All in all it turned out to be a very fun weekend. Brian and I were both exhausted but we both know at the end of all of this we will get to finally be together. And I once again learned why I love him so much and just how lucky I am to have met such a wonderful man that I get to spend the rest of my life with!!! :) :) :) :)

1st Wedding Party

2008-06-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

The company I work for, Schmitt Industries, threw a Going Away/Getting Married party for Brian and I yesterday. It was so much fun. Brian of course was required to be there and it was fun to have him there.

This is Patty our Office Manager, she put together such a wonderful spread, the food was very yummy.

Our yummy cake :)

I was asked to choose what kind of food I wanted and last year we had a BBQ at lunch time that was so much fun, so I requested that we BBQ again. David was so gracious to bring in his BBQ and cook all the food.

David BTW also happens to be a former college roommate of Brian's. Of course I did not know that when I went to work at Schmitt. We discovered that last summer when Brian joined me at a company dinner and he and David spotted each other. They had not seen each other in 20 years. Such a small world. At the party yesterday Brian told people that he knew I was the one he was supposed to marry after that event. It was obvious that God had truly brought us together.

Some of my coworkers. I have really enjoyed this job and everyone is so pleasant to work with. I will miss all of them.

I don't have any candid pictures of Brian & I and I really love these two.

Of course after we got done eating we got to practice cutting the cake. The group wanted us to feed each other cake, but I think we will save that event for the real wedding.

Ironically this party fell on the 1 month mark from our real wedding.

Wedding shoes and things such as that.......

2008-06-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am doing really bad at keeping up to date on my blog postings. Between getting ready for the wedding, training a new person at work and preparing to move it seems like the day just escapes me.

But I continue to amaze myself at how I am managing to find some nice things for the wedding without have to pay a hefty price. I started out planning this wedding hoping to keep a tight reign on costs and outside of my wedding invitation disaster I have done pretty well.

My dress I was able to buy off the rack at a discount and then had a lady from our church who is a seamstress do the minor alterations. She did an amazing job and I am very pleased. She is even letting me borrow a petticoat she had so I don't have to spend unneeded money on something I would only wear once. So my petticoat will be my something borrowed.

Then for my veil, I had in my mind what I wanted it to look like and searched high and low for it. My mom wanted to make the veil portion, so I just needed to find the headpiece that it would attach to. Ughhh.... I wanted something simple and elegant and again not to expensive. I found exactly what I wanted at the local craft store. It is a beautiful headband covered in pearls. The veil is this pretty material that has a slight shimmer to it. The last time I went to get my hair cut I took it with me to show my hairdresser and was beaming with pride when another customer came up and said her daughter had exactly the same headpiece and veil for her wedding. I said that was interesting since my mom made mine. Turns out her daughter had purchased hers and while I paid under $10 for the whole thing, they had spent a hefty some. So that made me feel good that I can be frugal and at the same time still have something that looks elegant and expensive.

Then last weekend I was out shopping for interview clothes and just happened to find my wedding shoes on a clearance rack at a shoe store!!! The shoes have been the hardest for me to find. I don't wear heals anymore but since my dress can't be hemmed I needed something with some height. But most of the shoes I was finding either had no heal or very tall skinny heals. Ok, I have a hard enough time walking in tennis shoes, I can only imagine what I would be like in a big heavy dress and tall skinny shoes. So all I wanted where some nice shoes in beige or white with a comfortable wide heal. I could have taken a risk and just ordered some, but when it comes to shoes I prefer to try them on and walk in them a bit. I found exactly what I was looking for a Factory Brand Shoes and even better, they are a silver color that I can wear again with other things. So that is a huge plus in my book.

I can't wait to wear my whole ensemble and even more I am excited for Brian to see me all dressed up. I never in my life thought I wanted a wedding and while I am managing to keep a level head I am really looking forward to our wedding and being able to share the day with our families and friends.

Ughhh Wallpaper Removal & Wedding Plan Update

2008-05-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

Brian and I are in the midst of cleaning, painting and doing some updating to his house in preparation for me moving in. For Memorial Weekend we attacked his kitchen. While it is a somewhat normal sized space it is very poorly laid out and has some very old very worn out wallpaper on the walls. The layout we can't do much with at this point. But the wallpaper had to go. What a horrible miserable project. Brian, bless his heart had been working for the 3 weeks before at taking it down and had made some great progress. Saturday we worked on removing what was left mostly behind the fridge/stove wall. Ughhh!!!!!!! There were so many different combinations of wallpaper layers, paint layers and unfinished wallboard.

But the best part was that when we pulled the stove out we discovered that we could actually change the location of the stove by 45 deg and open up some much needed cabinet and counter space. Whoo hoo!!!!! So after putting up a couple coats of primer and the 1st coat of wall color we went to Jerry's and bought our first cabinet for the area. I can't wait to see it in place.

The wedding plans are moving along pretty smoothly now. I went last week and met with the seamstress that is going to alter my dress. It was fun to put it on again. I do really love it and can't wait to show it off. Brian still has not seen it nor knows what it looks like.

Last weekend when I was in Springfield, I got to meet Jamie his roommate from college and best man for the wedding. What a nice man. Brian, Jamie and David, one of my co workers, we all roommates in college. Of course we didn't figure out the David connection until last fall. It still amazes me at what a small world it is.

So my big search now for the wedding is a cake topper. I have looked at some many and have yet to find a single one that I like. Most seem so cheesy or to young for Brian and I. I am starting to wonder if it would be in bad taste if I went without one???

Whew....

2008-05-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Well the invitations are finally done. But not without much drama. Right after we got engaged I found these cool do it yourself invitations that included a picture with the actual invitation being printed on vellum. I liked them because alot of people have either never meet Brian or seen us together. And after I bought the 1st box I did a test print on my home printer. No problem, the vellum printed just perfectly so I foolishly thought I was good to go. This past week I spent getting our picture figured out and pulling together the final pieces to print everything. Friday night I started the print process. I am not sure if it was due to the heat but my printer choose to not behave. First I couldn't get the labels to print correctly. They would print fine on plan paper, but stick the label paper in the printer and the alignment got all messed up. Then the printer decided that it need to grab 2 or 3 pieces at a time and Windows couldn't seem to figure out that the printer really wasn't jammed. Arghhh.... I finally resorted to copying the labels on the printer and not printing them off the computer. Next I tried printing the invitations out. The first few went just great. But it went downhill from there. Either the printer would grab too many at once or even feeding them one at a time it would fold the vellum as it pulled it in. And poor Brian, the whole time is on the phone with me trying to get me to calm down as my blood pressure is quickly rising. Finally about 1 am I gave up and decided to take the whole project to Kinko's to print in the morning.

After a few hours of sleep I got up, gathered up my stuff and went to Kinkos. Only to find out that they won't print on vellum because it jams their machines. They were nice however to refer me to another place in town that could do it. However, after driving in circles trying to find the other printer I discovered they are only open Mon-Fri 9-5. Arghh!!!!!

Sooooooo...I came home just a wee bit more frustrated and decided to give my printer one more try. I figured it I was patient, fed the pages one at a time and helped guide them through, while it might take me a few hours I could get it done. I also set up a fan in the room to keep it cool. After printing about 10 I was starting to feel better about the process, things were going smoothly. Was I ever wrong. Let's just say the whole project went to hell from there. I finally threw in the towel and called Brian in tears saying I was off to find us some new invitations. The printer seemed to print card stock just perfectly so my only hope was to find something like that. Luckily I found something I liked at Michaels and they told me that if I had any problems printing they would gladly take them back. So back I home drove with my new invitations with fingers and toes crossed that this time they would work.

I cautiously ran a few through the printer and after I was confident that all was well I printed them in small batches until they were all done. Yeah!!!! While they are not the really cool ones that I had originally picked out, they are nice invitations and even have a little detail that is similar to my dress on them.

I still wish I could have figured out a way to add the picture, since it is a great shot. I took it the weekend we got engaged. But I will figure out someway to incorporate it into our wedding. (Brian had suggested that we cover a wall at his house with the pictures since I have about 75 copies of them.)

A Few Pictures

2008-04-30T20:15:00.001-07:00

I love springtime and all the new blooming flowers and everything look so new and fresh. This spring I haven't taken nearly as many pictures, mostly because I have been busy with wedding stuff and work. And the weather here has been so weird it hasn't really been all that conducive to getting out and taking pictures. But we have had some fairly decent evenings this week so I got out with the camera.

In the backyard at my mom's is a very old very large cherry tree. It is loaded with blossoms right now...I hope that means lots of cherries in a few months.

Spot always has some story he has to tell me. Whenever I am outside taking pictures he can usually be found close under foot. Although trying to photograph him can be difficult. In this picture I think he was unhappy because it was so wet and cold outside. He really wants summer to come so he can lounge in the yard and roll in the dirt and become a brown cat again. With the nice weather over the weekend, he started getting a start on his summer brown tan.

Somehow a few years ago we ended up with Lupin in a couple of flower pots. Not sure how it got there but I sure love it early in the spring, especially right after it rains. It captures drops of rain so beautifully.

When I zoomed in closer on the above picture I couldn't believe all the detail in the reflection, including the clouds in the sky.

My mom has some amazing peonies growing the the front yard this year. And they are huge. I planted one of these in Brian's front yard and hopefully next spring we will have the same flowers blooming outside our bedroom window.

My mom's hand in comparison to one of the flowers.

And finally, a silly cat pictures. My 3 cats have all decided that they like sleeping on the dinning room table on towels. Of course you would never catch all 3 there at the same time. Spot was only there briefly and sitting as far away from the girls as possible since they might both pounce on him at any moment.

This weekend I am going down to Brian's and if the weather is as nice as they say it is going to be we are going to try and get out and get some exercise with our cameras in tow. Of course there will also be more painting to do. I am hoping to get the hallway done and the shelves that go in the spare room.

Weekend Happings

2008-04-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

What a weekend. Brian and I had our first and turns out only meeting for premarital counseling. (Don't worry we are still getting married.) I think we tend to puzzle people. Back in February we took an assessment test that our church gives to couple contemplating marriage. It is part of a pre-marriage class that the church offers. The assessment was a ton of questions covering everything from children, to conflicts, to religion, to self esteem, to your individual families and childhood. We each took separate tests. The results of the assessment are then used by the leader of the class to know how to gear the rest of the course. However, due to a lack of interest, the particular session we enrolled in only had 2 other couples sign up and both of those couples were in the early 20's. So the leader made arrangements for each of the couples to receive some individual time with him. Saturday Brian and I got to meet with for the first of what was to be 2 sessions. I was especially curious to see how Brian and I did. We do such a great job of communicating and have talked about so many things from the very beginning. I was sorta nervous, but not too bad. But I really had no reason to be nervous and it actually turned out to be a very fun session.

Brian got to start out by telling our story. I love hearing him tell it, he really lights up when he talks about how we meet. Then we each got to tell our separate spiritual story. Again I love listening to Brian tell his. While we each had very similar childhoods and similar experiences. Hearing Brian talk about challenges he faced after college and his battle with depression and how he overcame it makes me appreciate all the more what a strong person he is.

Then we got to the specifics of the assessment test. Here is where it got interesting. Brian and I answered most of the questions the same. So much, that if we hadn't answered a few questions differently, the counselor said he would have thought we had copied each others test. Then he gave us a simpler more concise set of questions to answer about what we saw as strengths in our relationship and areas of growth. Again, without looking at each others sheet, Brian and I pretty much gave the same answers. lol.... Next he showed us a graph that showed based on the test results what type of relationship we had. There were 4 different levels and amusingly Brian and I were mostly above the top level in all areas. And the areas that we had the greatest difference in answers were not areas of huge concern. Finally he asked us to point on a chart to where we each say our relationship and surprise surprise, we both picked the same box. :) By the end of the 2 hours the counselor said that unless we had some specific areas of concern that we wanted to go over with him, that he didn't see the need for us to come back.

Today Brian and I each looked at our e Harmony profiles from 2 years ago and were not surprised to see how similar they really were. Not that Brian and I are clones of each other, we are different in many ways, but I think all of this has shown us that in the things that really matter in life, in the things that are important in insuring a long lifetime marriage, we are very similar. And it just reassured me that we are making the right decision to get married at this point in our relationship. (not that I was having any doubts) And I also believe that our individual strengths and weaknesses are great compliments to the other person's strengths and weaknesses.

Then tonight as we were saying goodbye, Brian said the most special thing to me about our relationship. Something he had never shared with me before. He told me that last September when we discovered that I was working for his former college roommate's father, that was the moment he realized that I was the person God had destined for him. He only wishes that our paths would have crossed 25 years earlier. But I reminded him that those 25 years have made us into the people we are today and that we needed to go through those experiences to be able to appreciate just what a special gift we have in each other.

Cats Cats Cats

2008-04-12T22:32:00.001-07:00

I was at Brian's today and snapped a few pictures of his cats.

This is the prince cat - Shilo. He is very sweet and spends most of his day pondering life.

Sable - the devil cat. She spends most of her life trying to find Osama bin Kitten who she feels she must destroy. Last night I tried to make friends with her and am now sporting a nice big deep scratch on the inside of my hand.

This is Moe, one of the kittens that was born in Brian's front yard last summer.

Grey Kitten - another of the kittens born in the front yard.

This is Mom 1 trying to attack a tree. She was the first momma cat to have Kittens in Brian's front yard. He has been able to adopt out 2 of them and Moe has yet to find a home.
This is Osama bin Kitten - the terrorist cat. She loves to sit on top of the fridge and smack Brian in the head as he walks by. Poor kitty always has to been on the look out for Sable the Devil Cat who has a death wish out for her.

Osama, trying to look innocent, but really waiting for the next opportunity to attack Brian.
And these 2 darlings are my cats. Grey Socks is the one with the bird in mouth and Spot is her brother. And yes he got his name because he was born with a black spot on his forehead, however it disappeared when he turn a year old. These 2 will be staying with my mom when I move to Eugene. We are going to get Brian down to 3 cats and hopefully leave it at that.

Over the Hill ?????

2008-04-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

Ughhhh... you know I wasn't really dreading turning over the hill today. That was until I woke up this morning with a terrible stiff neck. :( It is one thing to be getting older but to have to feel older is entirely unfair. Oh well.... guess that is just how it goes.

On a more happy note, Brian surprised me at work yesterday with a beautiful bouquet of long stemmed red roses. Yeah!!!!! Thank you sweetie, I loved them so much and yes you did do a good job of embarrassing me.

So what am I doing for my birthday?? Not working that is for sure. I have taken the day off from work. Instead my mom and I are going to drive down to Springfield to visit Brian. My mom has not been down there yet so I figured it was a good opportunity to show her where I am going to be living. We are also going to try and get a few flowers planted in the front yard. Plus Springfield has some really fun Antique Stores that my mom has been wanting to explore so we are going to fit that in as well. The weather is going to be nice so it should be a fun day.

Weekend Beach Trip

2008-03-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Brian and I went on a little get away to the coast. He has never been out to Cannon Beach or north of there and since we are thinking about honeymooning out there I thought it would be fun to just take a trip with him out there. We had a lot of fun and the weather on Saturday was AMAZING!!! Sunday was miserable, but that was ok because we wanted to be back in Vancouver in time to go to Easter services at church.

Our first stop for the day was Camp 18.

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregoncoast/oregonian/related.ssf?/outdoors/hiking/hike26.html

It is a really cool restaurant and logging museum that my parents used to stop at on their way to the coast. It is at mile post 18 on Hwy 26. Outside are various old pieces of logging equipment.

Then we went on to Cannon Beach and walked out on the beach to see Haystack Rock.

And I got this great picture of Tillamook Rock Lighthouse.

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=135

This seagull came and landed just a few feet away from where we were sitting. I think he knew how much I love taking pictures of seagulls cause he seemed to pose for some of my shots.

Cape Disappointment

The last place we stopped at on Saturday was Cape Disappointment. My mom and I had been here a couple of years ago and hiked out the to the lighthouse. A hike I don't plan on doing again, but we got a great view of the lighthouse from the road out to the north jetty.

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=115

Brian found this cool formation on the side of the rock cliff near the lighthouse. If you look closely you can almost see a face.

And of course I couldn't resist taking a picture of Brian taking pictures.

Of course he was none to happy when he saw me with the camera pointed his way. :) He doesn't like having his picture taken.

But we had a really fun time just being together and the weekend came to an end to quickly.

Plans are coming along

2008-03-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, things are really starting to come together. Last week I found a photographer for the wedding. After checking out several online and actually meeting with one I was a little scared that I would not be able to find one that meet our budget requirements and that I felt comfortable with. I was ready to include my tripod and camera with my wedding day essentials. But our wedding coordinator came to my rescue and recommended someone who is just wonderful. She has already photographed a wedding at the same place we will have our ceremony so it was great to see those pictures. So Yeah Kerry for being such a valuable resource.

This past weekend I was down at Brian's and we painted the 2nd bedroom. We are really great partners on projects. He did all the brush and detail work while I did the roller work. We had the room done in no time. It looks great and I managed to pick out a paint color that matches perfectly with an area rug that we want to put into the room.

This weekend we are headed out to the Southern Wa Northern Or coast to check out some honeymoon locations. It will be fun to get away and play for a bit. We have been doing so much work lately between wedding plans and his house, I want to make sure we also take time to play together.

But I am just happy that all the major plans are now out of the way. But then keeping the wedding simple meant simple plans and in the end I hope very little stress and a great celebration. Hopefully in the coming weeks we will get a registry put together and then I can share that.

Ceremony & Reception Location - Take 2

2008-03-08T08:07:00.002-08:00

I discovered that not all the pictures uploaded of the church uploaded when I did my last post so I am adding a slide show of the pictures. What a beautiful building. I had to go to the post office in downtown Vancouver after work yesterday and just couldn't resist doing a drive by.

Ceremony & Reception Location

2008-03-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

Brian, my mom and I got a tour of where we are going to have our wedding and ceremony. Last fall our church purchased a building in downtown Vancouver, the Columbia Arts Center.

The Columbia Arts Center is located in Vancouver, Washington, USA, at 400 West Evergreen Blvd. Originally constructed in 1912 as a Presbyterian church to replace the wooden structure that burnt in 1911.

It is a beautiful old building. Lots of amazing stained glass. Right now the building is in the midst of a pretty major renovation, but luckily most of that is taking place on the basement level. About the only major changes that will be happening on the main level will be changing the current paint color. For whatever reason, the City of Vancouver painted over all the beautiful woodwork with 2 shades of very ugly blue paint. So our wedding coordinator from church is going to work on at least getting it painted a more neutral shade since stripping the woodwork is cost prohibitive. There will also possibly be some changes made to the stage area. But the building still has all the original wood floors, pews, balcony chairs, and even an antique Victrola in the reception area which we will use to put the guest book on.

Originally we were going to have the reception on the balcony level, but after touring the facility today we decided to hold the reception on the main level. There are some large doors that close of the sanctuary from the main lobby so for the service we will have those doors closed and then after the service open the doors to revel the reception area. While in the pictures the area doesn't look that large, in reality it is a pretty big room.

I am getting so excited. Everything is really starting to come together.

This is looking from the stage to the area where we will have the reception. The large doors between the 2 rooms will be closed during the service and then opened at the end for guest to move to for the reception.

(And I have been told that the circular white objects are the cooling system and Kerry has assured me that the building stays very cool. A plus because it will most like be a little on the warm side when we get married. I was afraid that because it is an old brick building that it would be to warm.)

Guests will enter through this door on Evergreen Blvd. The plan is to put potted plants on the post and tulle on the railings. There is another entrance on the opposite of the building but for traffic flow purposes we will only be using this one.

Found It !!!!

2008-02-24T18:40:00.000-08:00

Tori and I went out to a bridal shop in Beaverton today and I found my dress!!! I had a couple of people recommend this place to me, but this time instead of just showing up I called ahead to find out if they had a dress that would fit my requirements. Unlike other places that gave me generic answers and told me to just come in, this place actually went and checked their inventory and then told me they had a dress that sounded like it would work.

So we went out there today and I love it. It is beautiful. Simple, but elegant. And NOT strapless!!! And the best part - I can buy the dress off the rack and it will need very little alteration- it fit perfectly and if I lose a little weight between now and the wedding all the better, and it is 50% off. I am taking my mom on Wednesday to give it one final look before I actually purchase it. But I know it is the one.

Sorry, but I can't post any pictures because Brian and I are in agreement that he can't see the dress until our wedding day. And I think I will just leave it as a surprise for everyone. :) But I am glad that I am very close to crossing that off my list.

Now to find some bridesmaid dresses. I am looking for something that can be worn again and both people in my bridal party want something conservative to wear, which I totally respect. All of the dresses at the bridal shops are way to fancy and way to expensive. Today Tori and I walked through Washington Square Mall and it is amazing that small inventory of dresses that are in stores now. And what they do have is either too casual, to old lady looking or too formal. I was hoping with Easter coming that the selection would be greater, but I guess dress wearing is becoming less and less popular. But I know, like with my dress, we will find something and it will be beautiful and elegant.

Wedding Update

2008-02-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

My ring is now officially on my finger. Yeah!!!

Brian and I met in Salem for dinner. What a wonderful evening. We had dinner at the Willamette Valley Grill. If you are ever in Salem be sure to stop there, what a great place to dine. Before dinner I gave Brian the box that contained my ring. (Since we had purchased it in Portland I had picked it up.) He asked me to marry him again and I enthusiastically said YES!!! And he then placed the ring on my finger. WOW! did it ever sparkle in the light of the restaurant. I couldn't stop looking at it all night.

Now it is more real then ever. And today I found out that the pastor we have asked to marry us in case our first choice isn't available said yes. So now we can officially reserve the date at the church. Now we just need to figure out the rest of the details like finding a dress, a photographer, flowers, invitations, cake.......etc etc etc

Ok the invitations are almost settled on along with the cake. Those were actually easy. I had seen a cake I liked in a magazine and then when I went into the first place that I was considering getting my cake from I opened up their brochure to find almost the same exact cake!!!

The dress is becoming a whole other issue. What a frustrating depressing processes. I have been told I will know when I find my dress, but I am starting to have my doubts. The "popular" style of dresses this year is strapless and I am sorry but that won't work for me. The funny thing is, I have yet to talk to a single person that would wear a strapless dress. But still that is what all the bridal stores are full of. And if they aren't strapless they have these really really long trains that only make the dress weight even more. I don't think I am being to unreasonable in what I am looking for, a simple, elegant, white dress that doesn't cost a fortune and will be comfortable to wear in July when it will most likely be a little warm. One option I am exploring is having a dress made......I have been given a couple of suggestions for seamstresses, one of which I have seen their work and it is amazing. I am going to check out a few more places before I decided for sure.

But all in all I am really getting excited. Last night after dinner Brian and I sat in the car and talked about the wedding, but more importantly our life after the wedding. I can't wait to spend my life with him. To share the joys and sorrows, the ups and downs. And above all knowing that every morning I will get to wake up next to this very special man.

My Sparkly :)

2008-02-07T19:32:00.001-08:00

When Brian proposed he had not gotten a ring. He wanted it to be something that we picked out together. Let me first say, and I apologize if I offend anyone, but there are some very ugly rings out there. I had no idea what I wanted and Brian kept telling me how much he liked his mom's simple solitaire and band, then I realized that I also very much liked a similar setting that my mom had. We had first looked at a couple of stores in Eugene, but after not finding anything either of us liked we decided that getting a ring was not something we should rush into and would give it some time.

Last weekend Brian came up and we went out to the Shane Co. We had checked out there website and gotten several ideas for things we liked. Can I say that I was very impressed with them. The service was amazing!!! Neither of us has any experience in purchasing diamonds and other then some reading on the web came into the store very green. The sales people were very patient to explain everything and gave us just enough samples to look at. It didn't take long for us to both agree on which ring to get. In fact when the salesperson brought it out, Brian's comment was "Wow does that sparkle!!" I knew from that comment it was the ring I wanted. I LOVE IT!!!! I have never owned anything so beautiful and feel so privileged that he wanted to get it for me.

I picked up the ring yesterday and for now it is safely stored away in it's box until Valentines Day when we are meeting in Salem for dinner and Brian gets to propose all over again and put it on my finger. I can hardly wait.

As for our other wedding plans. Things are moving along slowly. We have picked a tentative date - July 26, 2007. It is only tentative in that I need to get a firm commitment from the pastor at church we want to marry us before the church will put it in stone and right now he is uncertain of his plans for this summer. This particular pastor I have know for almost 20 years and can't imagine anyone else doing the ceremony. So please pray that all the details will get worked out. We should know in a month.

Although we had originally wanted to get married on the coast, the logistics and cost made that prohibitive. So instead we are going to get married here in Vancouver, but not at my home church because the building is just to institutional for me. Late last year our church purchased a beautiful old building in Downtown Vancouver that used to be an old church and well become the West Campus for our church. Although part of the building is undergoing renovations the sanctuary area is untouched, complete with beautiful stained glass windows. So if all goes well that is where the ceremony will be. Our wedding coordinator is excited, she has done one other wedding there and said that it is just really moving to stand in the same place that 100 years ago another couple may have gotten married.

Beach Trip

2008-01-21T18:33:00.001-08:00

This past weekend Brian and I went and spent a couple days in Newport, OR. I have always wanted to go storm watching on the Oregon coast and Brian wanted to take me to the Oregon Aquarium. The weekend turned out to be much more then I expected - Saturday night while sitting in our hotel room Brian asked me to marry him!!!!! I of course said YES!!!! He had been planning it since November and did a great job of keeping it quiet. We haven't set a date or worked out any details yet but hopefully in the next few weeks we will get it figured out. But I just couldn't wait to share the news.

New Sauvie Island Bridge

2007-12-28T13:56:00.000-08:00

This morning I went down to watch them move the new Sauvie Island Bridge into place. It was constructed off site and then barged to it's new location.

A view of the new bridge from the existing bridge.

Christmas Tree Lighting - 2007

2007-12-16T18:23:00.000-08:00

After Thanksgiving Dinner Brian and I went down to Esther Short Park in Vancouver for the annual Christmas Tree Lighting. Portland has a big Christmas Tree lighting every year, but I enjoy our's in Vancouver so much better. And this year was even more spectacular with a crisp clear sky and full moon.

Sunrises

2007-12-16T18:05:00.000-08:00

We have had some amazing sunrises. My mom and I got up early Thanksgiving morning and drove out to Camas to try and get some pictures. As the sun was coming up some geese appeared making for some fun shots.

The mountain in the background is Mt Hood.

The first couple of pictures are from a few days prior where there were clouds in the sky. What you can't see in those pictures is that the position of the sun was causing Mt. Hood to cast a shadow up into the clouds that was sorta a mirror image of the mountain. Since I was in the car driving to work I couldn't get a good shot.

California Trip 2007

2007-12-16T14:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am more then a little late in getting these pictures up. But in October Brian and I took a trip down to Oakland to visit his parents. We went down via the Redwoods and had a very fun time. I went a little camera crazy and I think I took about 600 pictures.

Day One - Springfield, OR to Eureka, CA

We saw the first of the Redwoods on our first day. Little did I know what was to come. We made it to Crescent City to visit a light house that can only be visited at low tide. Then on our way to Eureka we passed several signs warning of Elk crossing. When we came around one bend in the road we found out why. A herd of Elk were grazing in a field along the side of the road.

Day Two - Eureka to Oakland, CA.

So I thought the redwoods we saw the first day were huge, but the ones we saw this day made those seem small. Originally we had planned to take Hwy all the way to the Bay Area, but after spending 3 hours going about 60 miles in the Redwoods we decided to save the coast for another trip.

Day Three - The Bay Area

Brian spent day 3 giving me a complete tour of all his favorite places in the Oakland/ San Fransico Area. The weather was amazing and there was so much to see.

Day Four - The Bay Area

On Sunday of our trip we went to church with Brian's parents and then they gave us more of a tour of Oakland. The most moving part of that day was going to the tribute wall in Oakland for the victims of the Oakland Fire. I had not expected to me so affected by it, but after viewing all of the tiles that had been made I found myself moved to tears.

Later that evening Brian and I headed up above Berkley to get some fantastic Sunset shots of San Francisco. The fog moved in while we were up there and I think I got some of most amazing pictures that night.

Beau Brian

2007-09-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, Brian was officially given a nickname tonight thanks to my former roommate's husband. He is now calling him Beau Brian. I thought it was cute so I am posting a picture that was taken of us last weekend before we went on a dinner cruise with the company I work for.

So funny coincidence from that night. Turns out that one of my coworkers was a former roommate of Brians in college. We really do live in a small world.

Wildife Safari, Winston, OR - Labor Day 2007

2007-09-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Brian and I went to the Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR on Labor day this year. What a fun day. If you want to check out their web page it is:

http://www.wildlifesafari.org/experience.asp

It is the only drive thru wild life park in the Northwest and WOW!!! So many animals and so many that you can get very very close to. We had Emu's come right up to the car window. And were within feet of bears and buffalo. I went a little crazy with the camera so if you have the time I have included a slide show of the pictures that I took. You are allowed to drive thru the park twice so we went once in the morning when we got there and then later in the afternoon after having lunch and visiting the village portion of the park.

While in the village we got to catch the end of the elephant show and even was able to go up and touch the elephants. In case you have never petted an elephant, they have very furry skin. I tried my best to get some close up shots of them.

Dee Wright Observatory

2007-08-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

Doris Ranch Living History Festival

2007-08-12T17:03:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday Brian and I went to the Doris Ranch Living History festival which included a reenactment of a civil war battle. We both got a chuckle of the so called "experts" that sat in front of us and didn't know the difference between the Union and Confederate soldiers. Even I knew that the soldiers from the North had uniforms while the soldiers from the south wore what ever they had. Most of my pictures are of the southern soldiers since we were seated nearest to them.

Afterward we wandered through the ranch to see there exhibits. The participants had camped out there for the weekend in period tents. Fortunately it was a warm weekend.

Springfield & Cottage Grove

2007-07-06T12:56:00.001-07:00

4th of July 2007

2007-07-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

Brian and I went to the 4th of July celebration at Island Park in Springfield, OR on Wednesday. It was alot of fun. I did a ton of playing with my new camera and took lots of random pictures of people in the crowd. Then once the fireworks stared I went crazy with pictures.

Brian was just amazing the whole day. Even ran home after I discovered that I had left the memory stick to my camera back at his house. Then for the fireworks he let me borrow his tripod so I could get these amazing pictures.

NTSU 2007

2007-07-06T11:59:00.001-07:00

Cats & Squirrels

2007-06-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

New Camera

2007-06-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a new camera and have been having so much fun taking pictures with it. I love Macro Shots and this camera even has a Super Macro setting. Way cool!!!

Hope you enjoy this slide show of some of the flowers in our yard.

Rose Festival Floats

2007-06-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

I got to try out my new camera taking pictures of floats for the Portland Rose Festival Parade. They are constructed right next door to where I work and we got to go take a tour on Friday afternoon.

Beach Trip

2007-05-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Brian and I went on another road trip. This time we went out to Florence to visit the Sea Lion Caves and along the way ran across another covered bridge. One of these days I am going to be able to say I visited all of the covered bridges in Oregon.

Today's bridge was Wild Cat Bridge. We almost missed it since you can't really see it from the road. But it was worth the short double back just to see it.

Wild Cat Bridge cross Wild Cat Creek and this is a view from the bridge.

Our next stop along the way was Heceta Head where we stopped for a picnic lunch and a walk along the beach. It was a perfect day to be on the beach.

After we had lunch we walked down near the water to take some pictures. Brian was much braver then me and ventured out on the rocks. While he was taking pictures of waves I found this rather interesting section of very wet moss along on of the rock walls.

After leaving Heceta Head we traveled north along Hwy 101. We stopped at an overlook along side the road to look back at Heceta Head. When we pulled up this seagull was sitting on the wall. He did not give up his post the entire time we were there.

Our next stop was the Sea Lion Caves. After a short walk and then an elevator ride 240 down we reached the entrance of the cave. There were lots of sea lions on the rocks.

After watching the sea lions for a while we ventured up another arm of the cave where we were able to look out toward Heceta Head. I managed to happen to snap a picture of the lighthouse just as the light was coming around.

Road Trip - March 17, 2007

2007-03-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Brian and I took a road trip out east of Springfield. The weather was amazing and just the perfect day for a drive in the country. The following are some of the pictures from our drive.

Lane County is home to 20 covered bridges. We got visit a few of them along the way.

This first bridge is the Unity Creek Covered Bridge and found it accidentally on the way to the Fall Creek Reservoir.

The next place we visited was the Fall Creek Reservior for a picnic lunch and then a walk around the shore. There was lots of interesting ground coverage and no shortage of driftwood.

The next bridge that we stumbled across was the Pengra Creek Covered Bridge. It contains 2 of the longest timbers ever cut for a bridge in Oregon.

This a view from the Pengra Bridge.

Our next stop along the way was a the Leaburg Dam along the McKenzie River that included a fish hatchery.

The final bridge we visited was the Goodpasture Bridge and is the 2nd longest covered bridge in Oregon.

Our final stop for the day was Sahalie Falls. It was an amazing sight.

My Kitties

2007-03-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of my kitties.

Spot, the ferocious hunter

Being Mom is so stressful

Hopefully the kids won't find me for hours

Snow is so cool

It was a long hard day of bird hunting.

OK, who spiked my milk this time???

Pictures from today

2007-03-10T20:04:00.000-08:00