kayaking with MBI ladies

today, several of us from work took the afternoon off and went kayaking on lake union! this was a total dream come true-i've been wanting to do this for 5 years and it was everything i imagined it to be-warm (80 degrees), sunny, water sparkled like diamonds, houseboats were great (including the "Sleepless in Seattle" one!). i can't wait to get back out there!!

in true seattle style, we kayaked across lake union to Ivar's Seafood Bar, pulled our boats up on the dock, had some delicious seafood (courtesy of MBI-it was a 'bonding' activity), and then boated back.
the clan

shirley

mairead, juli, kristin, jen and me

sandy and linda waited for us at Ivars

we dominated the dock

kristin and juli
jen, kristin, shirley

kristin and i



we kicked butt...

we named our boats-big bird and kermit the frog :0)


I LOVE THIS CITY!

navy blue angels

forgot to put these up a while ago.
For the whole month of July, Seattle celebrates Seafair-simply a party because we live by the sea...so they have various events to highlight occupations, food, etc...
well, at Seafair weekend the Navy Blue Angels were here, so a few friends and i treked over to the eastside to watch the show.
it was so exhilirating when they flew low over you! we even saw the pilots salute us

amy, megan, laura and i

can't say i've ever sat in the middle lane of I-90...



SO excited!!!

wedding photos-part 4

janelle and andy
britney and kristen
gettin' down

THE END!!!
(all photos were a combination of mine, laura, rachel and rachel's)

wedding photos-part 3

the reception was a total party! we had a blast!
opening prayer-evan, nicole's brother, praying and hugging nicole with shawna and curtis, nicole's parents, in the foreground
his 'other' sisters
aren't the dresses gorgeous?!
this is our "they're married!!!" face...ha.


bj and rachel-LOVE THEM!!

kerri and hailey
evan and nate

wedding photos-part 2

rachel and i

nicole and her boys-the two younger ones she used to babysit and they were the bell ringers announcing the bride-the older one is a family friend-he was the ring bearer
this is grandpa

my HOT shoes

rachel and steve

the guys' tuxedos
keepin' the dress clean
the adorable bell ringers

the smooch

THEY'RE MARRIED!!!!

wedding photos-part 1

the wedding day started at the hair salon
krista and kristen
her beautiful updo with a flower

flower girl hailey






hailey sneeking a peek at....
...this

catch-up

i'm having one of those "oh my, i have so much to catch up on" moments...
my life has been full of such wonderful stuff but i feel like i desperately need to catch up on books that have been collecting dust in a box somewhere, emailing/calling friends that are long overdue (sorry!!), mailing birthday packages, and then there's, you know, grocery shopping-how do you not have time to do that?! surprisingly, my girlish figure has expanded rather than decreased but i'm working on that too...
-all in due time i suppose-

wedding weekend-friday part two

nicole's reception was at lairmont manor in bellingham-an old, huge house with unbelievably beautiful grounds-we went the day before to drop off all the flowers and prep for the next day
laura's ballet pose my best attempt at michelle kwan-ha
the food pavilion



rehearsal


the radiant bride
lois, james' mom, bought these beautiful french linens for the rehearsal dinner tables-complimented by colorful dahlia clusters

wedding weekend-friday

kerry, nicole's aunt is really good with flowers and has a friend, jenny, who has probably an acre of amazing gardens and they put their brilliant minds together to help us come up with vases, bouquets, and centerpieces for the reception site

jenny, sandy-family friend, nicole, shawna
jenny's garden



an arrangement i'm proud to say i created!!

wedding weekend-thursday

spa appt for french manicures/pedicures


later that night we had a bbq at nicole's house with the wedding party
travis-one of james' friends from wheaton

rachel, friend from lyden, and james
steve, james' best friend/best man, and laura
krista, nicole's little sister, and jennifer, james' little sister

rachel and jessica, james' sister
manning the grill
night time tennis

National Left-Handers Day

to my beautiful mother and fabulous sister, both of whom proudly claim to be in their 'right' mind-HAPPY LEFT-HANDERS DAY!!! :0)
starting a cartwheel to the left side is about the only thing i can do decently with my left hand...

words

Women use an average of 16,215 words a day; men, 15,669--a difference that is not statistically significant.
--Science, 7/6/07 University of Arizona
to my family who think i talk too much-i'm not that significantly above average, ok?! ;0)

a few from the bachelorette party

more to come...

my kids

carly trying to do 'ghetto lips' with me-she doesn't quite have it down yet...hmmm i may not either-ha!
this is one of my favorites of all time
i love her smile
this kid is gonna be a heartbreaker-he's so beautiful
trying to get some part of my face into the picture that carly is taking-max wasn't so lucky
take 2 was much more successful (minus the snot running out of max's nose that promptly ended up on my shirt afterwards...)
their big beautiful eyes
one more :0)

boxless kitchen and bengay

no pictures yet b/c i can't find my camera cord but let's just say the new carpet is gorgeous, the kitchen is unpacked and my bedroom is 1/2 way there-starting to breathe a little easier...
next task: some bengay for my sore muscles (like that, pa?!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

to the only brother i've ever known...haha...HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY!!!!!

i wouldn't trade you for anything!

moving update

midnight snack: banana/peanute butter
bed time: 3:45am
old house: spotless
new house: full, full, full
me: so happy to be there

(pictures to come)

awoke: 7:20am
stinky dump: 8am
parking ticket: 9am :0(
new carpet :0): thursday