Holidays = Stress

Why is it that Holidays bring out the stress in people. This year I got my Christmas shopping done last night. Woot one week before Christmas. I have all the presents wrapped except two and just need to finish crafting Ryan's mom and sisters presents and then find a cute bow. My family on the other hand... seemed to start shopping today. Christmas cookies are not made yet, party plans are in the air and yet brings more and more stress. Oh I love the holidays.

I promise I really do I just wish it wasn't so stressful. Poor Ryan hasn't had time either as he is building the shop everyday which is coming together very fast. Ill post pictures soon. The roof got delayed until Monday and the door and windows till Thursday. So that puts us two days before Christmas. Lovely how construction has set backs.

With my toe surgery I was just told that I need to be out of work for another 6 weeks. This could get interesting as I'm about to run out of PTO. The surgery went differently than planned and instead of putting a pin in my toe they have to put a plate with four screws. This seems to take longer to heel. Also because I can't sit still one of the screws shifted to close to my joint and now has to be removed in a month. Oh joy. :/

For now I'm trying to only be on my feet for an hour at a time and take it easy. This will get boring very fast. I'm am trying to be active and do exercise that does not involve moving my feet. And when my car is fixed (Tuesday) I can go to the gym again!

Despite all these set backs I still love the Christmas season. I'm excited to spend it with my family and Ryan's. Tonight we are going to look at lights and I hope this will help put me into the Christmas mood. If not ill have to make more cookies :)

Surgery Day Three

Today is the third full day I have been home and I am handling it better than I thought.

Things that have made me happy so far:
-Planning a spa day with Katie.
- 20 Questions and candy from Jessica.
- Ryan coming to see me.
- My mom renting me lots of movies.
- Pain Killers.
- Balloons from people that care about me.
- My puppy.
- Cute text messages from my love.

Hopefully soon ill be able to walk around and be back to myself in no time.
I have no energy and just want to craft.

More to come later :)

Time flies by...

Wow! November is going by so fast. I don't even remember October ending. Soon it will be Christmas time. Here are some things I'm excited about or that are happening.

1. Halloween was so much fun. Ryan and I were able to throw a sweet party at a friends house and it turned out awesome! I decided at the last minute that I wanted to be a nurse and the outfit was very cute. Ryan wore his mullet wig and I guess we matched nicely. Katie, Nicole, Jackie, Jessica, and I all had so much fun dancing. The next morning.. wasn't so great.

2. I love the fall. The leaves are beginning to change colors and the air is getting crisp. I love this time of year. When I do getting married I want it to be during this time so that the fall leaves are in all the pictures. (haha I'm such a girl). I'm excited for Thanksgiving and to spend time with family.

3. I am getting surgery on my toe. They have to shorten the big toe on my left foot because it is too long and placing pressure on the rest of my foot. It will be an out patient procedure and then a two week recovery. I can't work for the first two weeks and then will have to wear a boot for six weeks. I hope it is healed by January so I can snow boarding! The time out of work will allow me time to do lots of crafts.

4. I can't wait to start Christmas shopping! This is my favorite time of the holidays and I love getting things for other people.

5. I had an interview Thursday that went really well. I am hoping to get a job somewhere with a normal schedule that allows me to have weekends off and not so much drama. I am going to keep applying as I cant stand retail anymore.

6. It has almost been a year since Ryan's dad has passed away and its becoming hard for him family. It is really hard to sit there and see them hurt and know you can't do anything to change it. Prayers for the family are appreciated. Monday we are going to the cemetery to visit. This will be good as I miss Denney too.

Here are fun random pictures from last month!

Fitness Goals

So its time to get back into shape. With my new found workout partner we have set short term goals for December 18th and long term goals for March 18. I want to become better at running but I don't feel like I'm making progress. I also would like to be more flexible but I don't see any improvement in that either.


The big problem... I don't seem to be motivated anymore.

Suggestions?

October is here!

I love the month of October! I don't know what it is about this month that makes me so happy. It could be because it is the beginning of fall and you can start to see the colors changing on the trees. I also like the feel of crisp air in the morning and warm sun in the afternoon. But my favorite thing of all is HALLOWEEN!

I love to dress up and this year I have the chance to plan a party (which I also love doing). Ryan thinks its crazy that I'm this excited and its only the 1st but I'm a bit crazy. Sunday were going with some friends to check out costumes. I have it narrowed down to two different choices.

The first

And the Second :)


Who will be the winner....

Oh glorious sunshine.

The sun seems to be gone but I'm so excited for October. I love the fresh crisp air and dark nights. I also love all the haunted corn mazes and houses. Ryan and I are going to try and go to a few this season and then get amazing costumes for all the Halloween parties.

With much needed sunshine Ryan and I took a mini vacation to Lake Chelan with our friends Jackie and Paul. It was so amazing (although we were only there a weekend). The cabin we stayed in, which was more like a house, was right on the Columbia River and only about three minutes away from a boat launch. We had to bring our toys so we spent the majority of our time out on the boat, wake boarding, and out on the jet ski. The sun was out the whole time with clear skies and a perfect 80 degrees on the water. The water even seemed to be glass calm for most of the time. We got a chance to tour the town, check out a car show and see some winery's. All in all it was a wonderful trip and lots of laughing. We got lots of great pictures which will come soon since I'm at work. Funny thing is as we were leaving Eastern Washington back over the pass all you could see were huge dark clouds. Oh how I love home.

Next is an adventure to Ryan's cabin on Whidbey Island with friends Katie and Ryan. This will be great as we get to spend some much needed time with them. I feel as if I never see them anymore :) Hopefully we will get to survey the property a bit for the new shop and then have some fun. It is always so relaxing there. I'm really looking forward to going.

Then ANOTHER vaca in October. That will be an epic weekend...

For now in my life im working on: Training my dog, working out, and other personal goals.

Could I be more in love.

Wow in four months Ryan and I will have been together for two years. That makes today our 20 month anniversary! I love him so much and couldn't ever imagine being with anymore more amazing. Just a thought I had. Im a happy girl :)

I loved you then, I love you now and ill always love you forever. :)

Life and all its wonders

Remember when we use to be little and the only thought on our mind was what cartoons were on or what we were going to have for breakfast. Why can't it be like that anymore. For some reason I haven't been in the best mood lately and I am trying to break it.

Things on my mind:

1. Although I love my job and the company I work for it makes it very hard to plan anything with friends or family because of my random schedule. I look forward to the day (if it ever comes) where I will have a consistent schedule and be able to relax on weekends. It becomes so frustrating when you are the reason everyone has to plan things differently or that you cant make plans until the schedules are out. Retail burns you out quick. I want to be able to see my love more than two or three times a week. Work prevents this.

2. I have recently feel more in love with the Bothell/Woodenville area. This or I'm just hating Marysville more and more. Every time I'm in the area I find something I adore. My favorite (besides Ryan) has to be the huge open Fields around the Seattle times. We went with our friends and their dog there and it was so fun just to be able to run in the Fields. I also love the fact that you can walk anywhere and there are actually sidewalks. The vibe is also rather awesome. I want to move there soon once I get other things in order. Maybe there will be a job opening somewhere around there and it will be like its meant to be.

3. School. In the Spring I finished my AA transfer degree and have yet to decide where I would now like to attend. I would like to get my BA and eventually masters but that is a long ways down the road. I have always been interested in physical activity and nutrition so I would like to get a degree in Exercise Science with a minor in nutrition or a Sports Medicine Degree. The college locally that has the program I want it Western but that it navigating away from the place I would like to be right now. Plus I'm not too in love with the school. I guess I will keep looking. For now I'm taking the fall off.

4. The gym has been taunting me. I use to be so good at going and then I stoped and my father canceled my memebership. It is so hard to get back into the habbit. I decided since I have so much exercise equipment and videos here why not just use my house as a gym. Ill try this for a while and see how it goes. I would love to join CrossFit as Katie has gotten me very interested but the lack of money right now wont let me. That is another thing on my wish list.

5. I am terrified to drive on the freeway. This has been the way since my friend died in a car accident when I was a senior and made me terrified of driving. I seem to be getting over this fear but not as fast as I want. Although it sounds crazy I would rather take all the back roads than the freeway, although the freeway would be much safer. I know have a GPS so I can't use the excuse "I may get lost" and I now I just have to face my fears. Encouragement please...


Happy Things:
I am in love with the most amazing boy in the world.
I have amazing friends and family.
I have some awesome vacations coming up
I had an awesome workout today.

Dalia's.Thhe are my favorite favorite flower. The most amazing ones are on the isalnd.

The beautiful Baby Island

This weekend I had the amazing experince of gathering with family and friends to spread Denny's ashes out on Baby Island. He grew up vacationing on Whidbey Island in the community of Baby Island. Here is where the cabin lays. We all met at the cabin and took a boat to the mini island. The island is about two minutes away but the tide was not far enough out to walk.

Here we all gathered and people told stories of his childhood and fun stories. Denny had told me many stories of him growing up but the stories friends and family told made me realize where Ryan got all his habbits from. Denny liked to blow things up, as does Ryan. Denny loved the Island, as does Ryan. Everything seemed to match up. Like father like son. They both were crazy haha. Ryan and Lyndsay laid his ashes and covered it with a brick they found imprinted with him name.

After we all celebrated at the cabin with lots of crab, salads, pies, and wine. People got a little tispy and we left to get more crab. Btw I feel in love with crabbing. Its so much fun, just being in the boat is amazing. Words cant explain how much we miss Denny but he will always be with us and we will see him again. It was good it be around loving people. We love you.

Here is Baby  Island. Its a quaint little thing but seems to be almost magical. The sand is made of crushed up shells and is almost pure white. Sea Otters come to the edge and greet you and the waves crash up against the rocks. Sometimes when you lift up a rock you can find all different kinds of sea life. I understand why Denny feel in love with the island as I did as well. Its hard to explain how relaxing it is there. Although I love the city I can see myself living there. :)

For your viewing pleasure fun pictures from the weekend.

View from the cabin.

Introducing Kyle and Brooke Brinlee

On July 31st my Cousin got married at the beautiful Deep Wood Estates in Salem, Oregon. The day was interesting but turned out to be very good. Days before the wedding my mother and I arrived to help get things set up. We ran around looking like chickens with our heads cut off. There was so much to get ready and not much time to do it. We prepared the salads ahead of time and tried to get most of the stuff ready the day before.

Wake up! Its Brooke's wedding day. We woke up at the crisp hour of six o'clock and were off to the salon to get our hair done. My hair was not exactly as I imagined it would be but Brooke liked it and that's all that mattered. Around ten we headed to the venue and that's when chaos occurred. The napkins didn't match each other, the table settings were not correct and I was force feeding my aunt before she threw up and pooped a blood vessel in her eye.

Brooke was a calm bride until she put on her dress. The photographer scheduled to take pictures of her placing her dress on at 1:00. Brooke decided at about 12:20 that she wanted the dress on and she didn't want to wait any longer. She began freaking out and throwing a fit so I send my cousin Ashley to go get the photographer. He didn't seem happy about coming in early so the rest of the day had a bit of a weird vibe. The boys took pictures with Brooke and the girls with Kyle. The bride and groom never saw each other. While this was all happening my mother, sisters, boyfriend, and val were running around trying to get everything prepared. Ryan had to run so many places I think he can now make his way around Salem without getting lost :)

At 3:00 the ceremony began. I lost it while walking down the isle. I'm not even sure why I was crying but it seemed to take my concentration off of walking. I tripped on my shoe, lost it behind me and almost took out the guy I was walking with. After getting everything back I saw my aunt crying and lost is again. I cried through the whole program. Brooke was a beautiful bride. I was so excited to see her married to the man she loves. After the ceremony everyone went to a cocktail hour while we took group photos. These included photos in the creek where we swore Brooke was going to fall and get her dress all muddy and an awkward pose with my cousin. The photographer promised this wouldn't happen.

The reception was next complete with all the normal wedding activities. I got to dance with my love and meet lots of new people. Brooke and Kyle made about $200 from wine and beer and almost $500 from the money dance. All in all they made some good money just from the reception. After they left we cleaned up and went home. I am still exhausted from all the running around. Being the MOH was hard work but I loved all of it. It was also exciting to see Ryan all dressed up :) My family loved him. By the end my uncle and cousins were picking on him. They were having MC Hammer contest and my aunt and him had inside jokes. I love him.

All this wedding talk made me start thinking about my own wedding. I now know what crazy stuff not to do and what things to do. But let me tell you it wont cost an arm and a leg. Congrats to Brooke and Kyle.

I made everyone matching shirts :)

The cariage house. We got ready in here.

Boe was the best ring barrer.

Here after outfit.

Cleaning up.

Sunday Night Dinner

For the first time in my life I made dinner all by my self. This could sound crazy my for the longest time meat grossed me out. I couldnt look at it or even eat it until about a year ago. Sunday night I decided to give it a try. Everything was going alright until I realized that I bought turkey cutlets and not chicken. One meat I really cannot stand is Turkey so I knew this would not go well. Seeing that they were so thin I burned them on the BBQ which made them very dry. I mixed cut up potatoes with onion soup mix and baked them in the oven. These by far were the most delicious. My boyfriend of course was sweet and said nothing negative but its the thought that counts right.


On a side note: Im on Oregon and have met so many dogs. I love dogs so much and they love me. Baxter and Sherman are by far my favoirte. :) But I miss my puppy.

Wedding Madness

My cousin is getting married in 14 days and I have been runnung around like crazy trying to get everything ready. Being the maid of honor I need to make a speech but I have yet to do this yet. So far I have planned the bridal party, bachelorette party, most of the wedding and now im attempting to get myself ready as well. She is having it at a gorgeous antique garden in Salem Oregon. (http://www.historicdeepwoodestate.org/)

For those that are interested here is what im wearing:

This dress but in black and cropped.

 I want my hair in a side messy bun.

With these cute bobby pins from Etsy. :)

Forks.. the land of the crazies.

Wow! Some people are way to into Twilight. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the movies, they are a good time but im not sure why some people worship it. While in Ocean Shores we were only about two hours away so the ladies, and my father, went to check it out. I had no idea the town would have been so Twlight crazy. Everything had renamed from Bella's cafe to Jacob's coffee stand. You could even buy "Twilight" firewood. Assuming this was the day after the release of the third movie people were everywhere. We spotted at least ten stores that sold only Twilight items and oh boy were they over priced. After seeing Bella's house (not the one from the movie) and checking out the town we made our way to La Push. The beach was beautiful but again covered in Twilight crazinees. I give the town only five more years of stardom and then it should die back down.

Food, Family, Beach, and Vampires.

Wow do I love Ocean Shores. This was my second time going but it seems to get better each time. Our semi-anual family reunion was held at a cabin in Moclips, Wa. It was a cute little cabin with two stories. Each story had three bedrooms, two baths, and a huge TV. Hot tub and beach access were included. We all had a great time and I got to meet my two newest cousins Beckett and Skyliee. I had lots of fun and relaxation but ate way to much and stopped my gym routine. Its going to hurt to get back into it.

Quinault Rain Forest