Spring Things

My quarterly posting is now due:) There have been so many things that we have done in the last three months. Most noteable, we were able to see Jamie and Audra Palmer. Little Audra is so tiny and cute! I was so excited to see her. We also have been able to spend time with The Bolen Family as well. We went to the Portland Zoo with them and I so enjoyed talking with Amanda and listening to Klaire talk about the animals and make the noises of each animal she had learned. Children are so dear:) Over memorial day we saw Josh and Jane Johnson.

It was lovely Jane's b-day while we were there. We got coffee in the morning and laid pool side until the evening bbq Jane had for the occasion. She wore this cute little dress in the picture above. The bbq was delicious and Nick and I were surrounded by other fabulously talented photographers from the area. It was a wonderful weekend and I felt so blessed to spend time with the Johnsons.

Another grand event of the past three months was a dear wedding of a close friend of mine and near sister of Nick's. Little Ms. ...I mean Mrs. Haley Kauer. It was such a wonderful time to share with all the people surrounding Haley and Blake. Of course, on the drive down I had camera in hand for the usual pictures that usually don't turn out :P Nick was trying to teach me how to do "the serious face". This is what we got a near pout as I tried his moves and well didn't quite succeed. When I think of the whole weekend, it was so much fun in a few days. We stayed at Blake's parents with Nate and Sel and it was so pleasant. It was like our own little bed and breakfast. Of course, we expect the same hospitality and servitude from Blake and Hal... hehe... just kidding!

The rehearsal dinner was AMAZING! We had delicious Mexican and Carne Asada for the main dish. A girl after my own heart <3.>

The morning of came early....

Haley was ready to work on her day. I cannot say I even desired one bit to do the same on Nick and I's wedding day. The crew was ready to assemble flowers, center pieces, and whatever else becconed. Watching the room come together was picturesque. The bones of the ballroom are beautiful. The rich wood extends up the walls and the bricks set an even feel with the wood for the room. It is naturally warm and aged giving a romantic vibe to the room. Austie was putting her natural creativity to work with Skye's vision in mind.

Sel and I were washing vases, and boy was I glad I woke up late and didn't have time to shower:) Of course we all look just lovely since we stayed out past our curfew.

The bridal party gathered to practice the morning of with a little something of a dance by the bridesmaids for later on in the evening;)

While I was at the ballroom, Nick and Nate went to this amazing winery, where they woo'd the servers into letting them taste a bottle of wine that was over $200/bottle. I was a little jealous, but hey I was basking in Kauer weddness and festivities.

My camera was set on night mode and I didn't realize it so a lot of pictures turned out blurry. Bummer:( Haley looked stunning in this little number by a local designer named Sarah Seven.

Her dress was couture and beautiful. Her hair piece, veil, and make-up were done by another fabulous designer and make-up goddess, Austie Eckley. I loved Hal's dress and make-up and all. It fit her so well and was a bridal beauty.

Nate, Nick, and Justin are such dear friends and the wedding definitely re-united some other friends from Corvallis back in the day.

And then there was US... what would an event be with out a picture of Em and I. Please note a strange man making the picture funny. My dear lovely Em that I miss so much ;(

So I am just looking at this post and realizing I never posted it from the beginning of June.... I am going to make the rest real quick to get it up...

Nick's birthday was a "surprise" this year. I am not really sure if he knew that it was coming. We had some close friends/fam over and Nick's parents.

I decorated minimally:) but I LOVE to decorate so I had to! We had pad thai and potstickers for dinner.

For desert, we had Nick's favorite, Cheesecake and strawberry sauce. It was a really wonderful evening with such great friends:)

First Anniversary

So today is our anniversary:) Since I got a gum graft, we had to delay our plans:) So this weekend was pretty laid back! Friday we went to Corvallis and got tattoos. Yes, this was our "gift" to each other. Nick and I both really like the idea of having permanent rings to symbolize our vow to each other and God. We decided on bands that have III I VIII, the roman numerals representing the day we got married (well 2008 would be to long so we just got 8). It hurt pretty bad, but hey we asked for it. This morning after church we had an amazing breakfast together at Marco's:)

I cannot believe a year has already went by. Well, I guess a lot has happened over the last year. We were married by this time one year ago:) It is such a pleasant thought. I absolutely love living with Nick. The man he is, is amazing. He is so thoughtful and caring. He really makes marriage such a wonderful thing. I learn so much from him. He really is my best friend. Here are some pics from a year ago.

Oh how fun! I wish we were leaving for Mexico tomorrow again!

So, we will be going to McMinnville and staying at McMenamins Hotel Oregon and going on a wine tour. I am so very excited! Hopefully, I will take pictures and post them at some point.

To my husband, I love you and you are the most wonderful blessing from God. Without you, I would not be continually trying to be a better person. You continually reflect in my life the way a godly marriage should be and a person who loves god should desire to be. I thank you for your continual guidance in our marriage, and your faithfulness, trust, and love you continually offer me:)

Once again long time...

So I have decided I really like to blog, but I never really take or have time to do it as much as I would like. So here, once again, is my three month update for everyone:) The last few months have been great. We are still doing Monday nights with The Kappler's and then on Wednesdays Selena and I started a bible study which is still going strong. I am really happy she "really wanted" to do it:) hehe. We have a bunch of amazing girls and it has been really wonderful for me. Em is staying with us for a week, which is pretty darn fun:) I so wanted to post one of these pics of her that we took:) Hopefully she doesn't kill me, but hey she's a bestie so just gotta show my love for the beautiful chica.

    

So these are great... The first is a classic. She is obviously pouting because Nick has irritated her by taking goofy pictures while I was trying to take real photos. The second one is because of course he then makes her laugh:) I love that they love each other so much...hehehe!

                                           

I absolutely LOVE this one. It is totally not posed and catching Em so naturally. She is so sweet and I think her eyes and smile just breathe god loving, amazing friend, sweetness!

So that was one fun night, I am so happy Em lives up here. When I first left Corvallis, so many friends moved to different places. Colette in Seattle, Em in Corvallis, and Jamie and Andy in San Diego. Not to mention, we don't really live close to other friends in the Portland"ish" area. I am elated to have my college bestie living so close:)

Emily and I went to Seattle back in January. We stayed with Colette and Emily visited her mom and stayed with her some. So my love Colette, now lives in Seattle. Our freshman year we went to a Chemical Engineering conference in Seattle and so we had a little re-union. We took some identical pictures to when we were freshman... it was soo sweet to spend this time with her. Although, it really made me miss her so much and wish we lived closer:( Colette is one of those bestie friends that I will have no matter where we live. It is crazy to think we were freshman...oh well... yes, FIVE years ago! ugh, getting old.

     

This is driving into Seattle. I wish I had the other pics to post, maybe I will find them at some point and update the blog. Of course we went to pike's and walked around and then to our little spot we went five years ago....The Crab Pot!

        

Our feast was sooo good! Yes, we clear it out...nearly.

  

The shrimp were delicious, but were creepy with their little antennae and heads.

  

Before dinner and after dinner pier shots...

  

Walking back after dinner and riding back home.

                                                        

This was post shopping and eating...settling in with a wonderful brew pipeline by Kona Brewing. Our weekend together was pretty amazing. I hope that Nick and I can go up soon and Ross and Colette and all of us can spend the weekend together:)

In February, we went to Mr. and Mrs. Simcoe's wedding;) It was a very beautiful wedding followed by an elegant reception at Waverly Country Club. Tom, Julia, and Ava were there which was such a blessing to see them!

   

Nick and I at the ceremony, and Josh and Haley were next to us.

      

Little adorable Ava is getting bigger. I love this picture of Tom and Nick.

     

These pictures don't do justice of how cute they looked. Colsey's dress was beautiful!

 

My mom and I went to the Pittock Mansion on Valentine's day in the morning. It was really fun! It was a "private" tour (hehe) so we were able to see some really cool parts of the mansion. Then I got home and got ready for a spectacular evening with Nick and Steve&Jenna. We started by going to Thirst in Lake Oswego. It is a cute little wine bar. We had an amazing Bartender's choice flight (which the owner actually chose for us). There were three spectacular tastings. Nick bought a bottle of the white wine we tried:) Then we went to the family fun center in Wilsonville. This was a blast! I had never been there.  Last, we ate at an amazing Italian restaurant that Nick's friends Tim and Julie Patterson manage/work at.

                                     

Steve and Jenna riding some rollercoaster machine.