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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

"The Best Way To Spread Christmas Cheer Is Singing Loud For All To Hear"




What a fabulous Thanksgiving we had! I met Sarah Palin twice (without
having to spend the night in a line), went Black Friday shopping with
my sis and got great deals without getting up at the crack of dawn,
ate delicious large amounts of food at 3 Thanksgivings, and was
blessed beyond belief by all the memories and time spent
with family. And now, it is officially the Christmas season, despite
all the overly eager decorators out there who were confused about
which Holiday came first and put everything up before Thanksgiving.
Now we can all decorate without fear of looking like we are in a race
of who can put their decor up first and rush Christmas the fastest. I
am currently in the midst of decorating my house and boy is it hard to
find the time. My plan is to be done before Friday so we can get
our tree up and decorated and then relax under all the glowing beauty the lights have to offer.

There are so many things I love about Christmas! I hope I can find the
time to enjoy them all! Some of my favorite traditions include: Christmas music on several radio stations 24 hours a day, seasonal drinks like Eggnog Lattes, Starbucks Red Holiday cups, non stop decorating my house, picking out a new ornament with Jeremiah every year (usually some
crazy cool interactive type one), going to all the tree lots and
stores to find the best tree, only to end up going back to tried and
true Fred Meyer, watching all the Christmas shows I own on TV just
because everyone else knows they are on and might be watching too, how
I always tell someone their present on accident (already been my
mom this year), looking at the Christmas section of every store
every time I go (makes for some really long trips to the store), the
scent of pine and peppermint, candy cane shakes from Burger Ranch,
seeing my niece and nephews all excited about lights and presents, of
course the baking, especially Rich Almond Snow Drops, Peanut Butter Cups, and
Honey Cookies and how I try every year to make them, but they never
come close to my moms, cuddling up with cocoa filled with marshmallows to watch Elf, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story marathon, Charlie Brown, and Surviving Christmas, SNOW, looking at Christmas lights on all the houses, sending and receiving Christmas cards, seeing the UPS truck out all the time and hoping it stops at my house, the joy of giving, the fact that I know the true meaning of
Christmas and it doesn't compare to all the lights and gifts the world
can offer! Merry Christmas!!!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

'Tis The Season To Give Thanks











"Thanksgiving... thanks and giving. What do these two words mean? Giving . . . the . . . the act of imparting or bestowing. Now, putting these two words back together . . . we have . . . we have . . . Thanksgiving. The . . . the bestowal of gratitude. . . and . . . and looking around I see that we . . . we have so much to be grateful for. Just the fact of . . . of being together is . . . is something to be grateful for." -Perfect Strangers Thanksgiving Episode, where they think a turkey ate Jennifer's ring and crash the neighbor's family Thanksgiving to find it. The quote sounds so serious... but if you have seen the episode you know it was anything but... and hilarious!

But onto a more serious note, there is so much to be thankful for everyday in life! Unfortunately, I tend to fall into the trap of comparing myself to others and their things, instead of looking at the abundance of what I have and being grateful. Often I find myself easily stressed out and focusing on the negatives more than I like, but when I stop and think about it... I have so much to be thankful for and do not deserve all the blessings God has bestowed upon me. So, at this time of year I am taking a moment to stop my madness and take note of all I have to be thankful to God for.

What I am thankful for: My handsome husband who will do anything for me, my loving and fun family and all the beautiful new editions we welcomed this year, having the opportunity to spend quality time with my niece and nephew who crack me up and are so smart, in-laws who I love, a new job that provides for my needs and doesn't leave me emotionally exhausted anymore, my husband's job and all the good things he does for Fluor (even thought he has to travel sometimes), a beautiful home with a yard and deck in a great location and just blocks from the river, a warm delicious meal every night (even if it means being lazy and eating out), my car I bought this year, vacations, being able to do home improvements, my new photography hobby, my H1N1 vaccine, the opportunity to get a college education, and most importantly God's grace and peace when I don't deserve it! Thank you Lord!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Smile

During a long day at work this week, I was recalling back to myself some of the funny things my 2.5 year old nephew Eli has said to make the day a little easier. Man that kid has a great sense of humor! Anyway, I wanted to share them and hopefully put a smile on your face like I know he did mine.

The funny things my E says:


The other day I was having him say lines from "Elf," he loves that movie, and I told him "E say 'Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?" and E says "Buddy the elf... uh orange!"


Another day, while playing with my iPhone, he clicked on the Myspace app my cousin put on it and asked me what it was. I told him it was Myspace and E said "You space? Mimi, I gonna play with you space."


While hanging out with his mom one day, they were looking at a map or something, E pointed to Utah and asked what it was. So, Holly said "That's Utah," to which my nephew replied "My tah?"


While hanging out one summer night, a commercial for some online college came on that started out with a lady asking "Do you hate your job?" Eli looked at my mom and asked "Hey Gram, you hate you job?"


There are many, many, more funny things he has said, but those were the most recent things that I am still laughing about! What blessing he is!


Sunday, November 8, 2009

Say Cheese!

After many birthday giftcards and saving up I finally purchased my first DSLR! I ended up getting a Nikon D5000 after countless hours of researching the best entry level DSLRs online, in photography magazines, and by visiting Best Buy a thousand times. The girl that works in the camera department was quite familiar with me by the time I came in to buy.


I am so excited to shoot tons of Holiday pictures and play with all the cool settings.There is so much more to a DSLR than an ordinary digital camera and I feel like it will take me forever to learn how to use everything the camera has to offer, but practice makes perfect and I have some very beautiful subjects to practice on as you can see.

I am up for shooting anyone that will let me practice on them, so let me know if you are feeling a little "America's Next Top Model" sometime!










Sunday, October 4, 2009

When It's Time To Say Good Bye For The Summer

Wow, I have not had a second to blog and probably should be doing other things right now, but a girl deserves a break right? Well, summer has sadly come to an end and I was not ready, as usual, but the beginning of fall offers lots of excitement that cannot be denied. Many things have occurred since my last blog that I have been wanting to blog about, so here it all is in a condensed version.


The end of summer brought the BFC Fair! I love the fair! I love the food, especially elephant ears with all their cinnamon and sugar goodness, wasting money on games, the ferris wheel, and the free concerts! This year was the best fair I have been to in a while. The day was great... half day of work, lunch at Zips, and then off to the fair with the hubby to meet up with friends and family to have some fun. We watched my cousins band Run From Cover play, I got to ride some rides with my nephew (those kids rides are crazy), and to top the night off I got to see Night Ranger play "Sister Christian." I must have been the loudest fan! This day was one of my summer highlights. Thanks God!

That same weekend was also mine and Jeremiah's first wedding anniversary. But with all the events occurring that weekend, i.e the fair and a friends wedding, we decided to celebrate the following weekend. So, the next weekend we went out to eat at Tagaris. We had been wanting to go forever and finally had the perfect reason. It was delicious, but personally get me some french fries and some chicken fries and I'm happy. Jeremiah did say it was the best steak he ever had, however. I still can't believe a whole year has passed and feel so blessed every day to be married to my sweet hubby!


A couple weeks into September my hubby found out he had to go to a training in Greenville, SC for 3 weeks. Major booooooo from me! Thank God for my family for keeping me company while my hubby was away. I had lots of fun going to the sausage fest with my angels, playing American Idol, and having girl nights while my hubby was away. But let me tell you, boy was I ready for him to come home last Friday!


Now that Jeremiah is home life and all it's busyness has resumed full force. We celebrated my birthday last weekend as well and had a blast! I was spoiled rotten and blessed beyond all I could ever deserve by my wonderful family! I received so many gift cards to go towards my first DSLR camera and am expecting to buy one this next weekend. I can't wait to start taking pictures! But for now we are finishing our kitchen floor and preparing for our Halloween, excuse me Harvest party, on October 31st. We have so much work to do this month, but I am excited to have a new marble tile kitchen floor and to get my oven back in the kitchen to start my fall baking! Although it's been a hectic start to fall, I feel so happy and blessed to have spent some wonderful and special time with my mom, sister, niece and nephew, my cousin and Trenton, and aunt and to have my hubby home safe and sound now. Alright, time to get to planning our Harvest party! Hope to see you all there!
























Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Christmas Miracle

I was writing my latest blog last night, which talked a little about how Lil' Jackie Lyn had been missing for a week, when lo and behold she showed up on our door step! I heard meowing outside our door and thought it was this orange stray we call Bonkers, who frequents our house (thanks Jeremiah), and almost didn't open the door, but something inside me said to just check. And when I did you can't imagine my surprsie! Lil' Jackie had been missing about a week and somehow found her way home! She was starving and tired, but happy to be home. We are so thankful she is home safe and it made my night to see her! Thank you God! I will be posting the aforementioned blog soon, so come on back yo!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Blessed


This weekend, while my hubby was out of town working with his dad, I spent some quality time playing games and eating S'mores with my mom, sister, Aunt Marie, cousin Jennie, and my angels Eli, Trenton, and Harper! What blessings they truly are! They are a good distraction when I am missing my hubby!

Eli had me laughing all throughout the grocery store and definitely has me wrapped around his finger! He tried to get me to let him crawl through the shelves and would look at me with his big blue eyes and sweet smile and I would just melt! He is so much fun, but no wonder his mom can't take him shopping alone anymore... I also got to snuggle up and eat popcorn while watching The Alien Movie (War of The Worlds) with E, which is rare now that he is such an independent big boy. He is such an awesome kid! ! I was in Heaven!

My Harper also gave me lots of snuggles! Well, she is only a month old now and had no choice, but I know she loved it! Wow she is growing fast! She is getting the cutest chubby little thighs and the most adorable little cheeks! She is so precious and delicate I could just kiss her all day! Soon this beauty will be Eli's age running me around the store and getting away with everything. I am beyond blessed!
On a sad note, however, Lil Jackie has been missing since last Wednesday. We finally brought her to our house a couple weeks ago, when we brought home our new kitty Teddy Ferguson Atkins (a.k.a. Ted Ferguson). The two were finally getting along and Jackie Lyn was adjusting to her new home, but somehow she got outside and we haven't seen her since. We will be posting signs my cousin sweetly made and offering a reward in hopes someone has seen her or can offer some information. I am so sad and want her to come back to me. Who knows maybe she will make her way back to my mom's somehow, it happens! Until then, I have my wonderful family to comfort and distract me from missing her. They are amazing and I AM BLESSED!


*** Jackie has been found (see above post) I just wanted everyone to see what I was about to post last night.


















Saturday, August 8, 2009

I Love Vacation!

The last week has flown by! We had so much fun on our vacation and made such great memories! I feel so blessed to have seen so much of God's beauty in this world and to have had so many great experiences with all of His creations and to have done it all with my hubby and best friend! Our first day of the trip was spent on The Alpine Slide at Mt. Hood and was so much fun! I totally recommend it! You sit on a sled with teflon pads on the bottom and go down a huge luge type slide. Younger kids can do this as well, since you control how fast you go. Of course, Jeremiah was flying down the mountain twice as fast as anyone else. I also picked up some speed too. Definitely a great beginning to a fabulously fun trip! Oh, I almost forgot, we got to eat at Pietros Pizza and won a ton of tickets on a bonus game after Jeremiah jokingly prayed to win, and so of course we gave the tickets to a sweet little girl nearby. It was so cool how God totally used this night to bless a little girl and her mom who were so grateful for something so simple as tickets for a prize! Isn't the way God loves little children awesome?!
The next day we made our way into California to see The Trees of Mystery! Who knew The Redwoods were so old and BIG! We didn't make it to the tree you drive through because we found out where it was after we left and were back at our hotel in Crescent City. Bummer :( But we saw amazing sights and got some great pictures! While in Crescent City, CA we went up to a lighthouse on the beach that you can only get to when the tide is low. It was very cold here in good ol' CA surprisingly... but so memorable.

The next morning we got up and drove to the inspiration for the trip... The Bandon, Or. Walk-Thru Safari and Game Park! I never thought I would get to pet or play with any wild animals as a child, but always dreamed of holding a baby tiger or some kind of cat cub. Well, my dream has finally come true! Here you can feed reindeer, play with a baby leopard or lion cub (or whatever other animals they have for interacting with that day), and see many others close up. I had so much fun and was like a little kid running around this place. I would definitely go back! The baby leopard was so cute and I think Jeremiah and I were the only ones to get in trouble for petting his head and making him jump out of all the people and children that were in line hahaha! After this wild experience, we drove onto Newport, Or. for our next adventure! Along the way we stopped at Coos Bay and a few other lookouts and saw a whale and tons of Sealions through our binoculars. Once in Newport, we ate dinner at the classic Arctic Circle (they have the best fry sauce and milkshakes ever) and fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean at our hotel on the beach. What an unbelievable day!


Our next day in Newport was spent at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, The Undersea Gardens, and The Wax Museum. Unfortunately, Ripley's was a letdown and only had replicas and posters to read and the Undersea Gardens was not so cool after going to the aqaurium. The Wax Museum was fun and made for some good photo ops, but was pretty small. The aquarium, however, had the shark tunnel and tons of cool sea life to see. I was excited we were there since it was officially shark week on the Discovery channel. In addition to the days activities, I was also desperately trying to find a good place get some fudge, but picked the wrong place and was disappointed. So, my mission became finding good fudge before I could come home. Luckily the mission was accomplished on the last day!

That night we strolled over to the tide pools on the beach and saw tons of little fish and crabs swimming around in the shallow water. Then we got down to business and made a fire on the beach to make s'mores! It was so romantic to sit by a fire with the hubbs and roast marshmallows for the yummiest summer treat ever invented!
The next day we went in the jacuzzi and then ate at Arctic Circle one last time before heading onto our next destination. But first, we stopped in Lincoln City where it was sunny and quite a bit warmer and took some fun photos on the beach. I think we would stay in Lincoln City the next time we come to the Oregon coast.





Finally, we made our way into Portland where we started out with some shopping and then met up with a friend and went out for dessert at Rock Bottom. That night we got some much needed rest in our 5 star hotel room that was as small as a dorm room! So weird! The next morning we got up and headed to Beaverton to drive The Malibu Gran Prix Cars! We drove them a couple years ago when a ski trip to Mt. Hood fell through and had a blast and decided we needed to go back. These things aren't your normal go-carts friends. You have to have a drivers license to drive them and they can go very fast! After a few spin outs and beating our times, we ate lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and got back on the road. This time the destination was home... but at a leisurely pace :)

On our way home we took the historic highway to Multnohmah Falls where we saw a beautiful smaller waterfall just before the big falls and had to get a picture. Once at the big falls, the destination was the fudge and ice cream kiosk! I have seen the falls many times, and while it is always beautiful I NEEDED chocolate and some good fudge! So, when Jeremiah asked, "Do you want to see the falls?" I very quickly responded, "No" as I made a beeline for the fudge kiosk. Then it was time to get back on the road and get home. Just being in the car made me sick at this point and I was ready to get back to the dry desert heat that is my home. No, Really! Nature is beautiful, but the those windy mountain roads will get ya and the coast can be chilly. I am so glad we did a trip like this before we have children and more responsibilities. It was definitley worth the ride! Now to get planning on our next tropical vacation! :)

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Woohoo July!

Wow! What a month! This sure has been an eventful summer so far! I feel so blessed to have had so many awesome things happen this month!

First, my niece was born on July 15th and what a beautiful blessing she is! Harper Josephine Mehling came in at 6 lbs. 6 oz. and is doing fantastic! She was even out celebrating Jeremiah's birthday with us on the 18th! Which brings me to the next big summer event... my hubby's big gaming birthday bash we held at our house. Jeremiah even finished putting crown molding up in the living room just in time. And although it was too hot to be outside on the deck, I think everyone had fun indoors still. The boys had an awesome gaming set up going on downstairs and played for hours without us girls hearing a peep! The next day we woke up early to meet my sisters-in-law and father-in-law for some white water rafting down the Deschutes river in Oregon. Man was I nervous! My first rafting trip years ago had me scared and I was not the most gung-ho on this trip. But it turned out great and we had a blast!


Also, this month I started my new position at PNNL and so far so good. I am excited to learn some new skills and figure out where I want to go career wise. But for now we are busy planning our anniversary vacation drive down the coastline. We are going sliding down The Alpine Slide at Mt. Hood Ski Bowl, shopping in Woodburn, to the Bandon animal park where you can hold baby tigers, the Redwoods, the beach, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and to Malibu Gran Prix to drive the fastest go karts this side of the US! I can't believe we have almost been married a year! Holy Cow! I am so excited to make more memories with my hubby and celebrate this big event! Oh, did I mention my father in law, mother in law, and own dad have birthdays this month too?! I LOVE SUMMER!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Hmmm... Sweets or Photos

So, I am at a crossroads where I am trying to decide between picking up photography as a hobby or cake decorating? I would love to start a little business and need to start practicing my trade of choice. I think I'll start with cake decorating, since I already have a lot of supplies and it's cheaper, and I do not own a professional type camera. But I am saving up for one... so if anyone has any suggestions or advice shoot it my way! I would love to add this service to my event planning endeavors, or just go this route for now. As, many already know, the unit I work on is shutting down and I have not been thrilled about be pushed into another unit, therefore I am taking this time to evaluate my options and push myself forward into other adventures and skills. Wish me the best!

p.s. I'll post a few cakes I have made already soon! I have always been a baker :)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Wedding Bells

I never was the girl who planned her wedding from the time she was two. Even as I got older it seemed too mushy gushy to be preparing for a day, way off in the future, in hopes that prince charming would some day come. Not too mention, that what one likes when they are 16 isn't exactly the same thing they like when their 25. I'm not saying there weren't things I liked or disliked about weddings, but I always saw weddings as dramatic, boring, and never about their true meaning.

I also have to say, there were times I thought I might never get married, and if I did, I would probably run off somewhere exciting and do it. But somewhere in midst of planning my own 5 1/2 month long engagement, I really began to love everything about weddings. Picking colors, themes, invitations, food... it was all a little overwhelming at first, but I became addicted to finding ideas I loved and making them my own.

I also loved the control and creativity that came with planning my wedding. When I would see photos of beautifully decorated weddings, I couldn't help but think of how these weddings were a representation of each unique couple and what went into making the day all about them and their commitment to one another. I see weddings as the perfect opportunity to share your love and what all you're about as a couple with those who know and love you. Every detail tells your guests something about who you are together and I find that so special.

That brings me to today and my joy for planning events of all occasions! I see every event as an opportunity to share a little piece of yourself, your company, your child, your family...whatever or whoever you may be planning for... with those around you. And to me, life is all about relationships and creating memorable events enjoyed together can only make them sweeter!

Thanks for reading my first blog! Below are some pictures and ideas I had for my own wedding. Hope you enjoy!

This is a bench at our church's outdoor ampitheater where we were married. My husband's aunt tied on matching tulle bows and flowers to our chairs as well.









This is the ice cream cake we had at our wedding, made by Dairy Queen, and decorated by yours truly. Sorry, it's hard to see because it's fogged up in the freezer.

















I made these signs for the chairs to match the invitations and programs. I tied them on with the same raffia I used to tie the programs together. The stickers were from Target and I used them on all our favor boxes as well.














This is the veil I designed and my aunt made. She makes fabulous veils! I cannot believe how much veils can cost out there.