Good Friends~

Mike and I went up to Bellingham last weekend to visit with our good friends Elan and Ashley. Elan has been a wonderful friend of ours for about 10 years now. We met my Sophomore year at Western and have stayed close ever since. A few years ago, he met Ashley. I loved her right away and she seemed perfect for him.

We had a great time visiting with them and celebrating Elan's birthday. I took the opportunity to take some engagement photos of the cute couple while I was there. We decided on Western's campus, which I thought was perfect since that is where we all met.
Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding dear ones! I love you very much and can't wait to see you get married.

Elan and Ashley ~
To be wed on Orcas Island, September 25th 2010!

The End of LOST

May 23rd 2010




Last night was the series finale of Lost. I thought I would do a tribute post to the show that kept me engrossed and reeling for that last 6 years. It's true it was way out there, and at times I became confused. But I never let that ruin the show for me. I took it as it was meant to be received. A Sci-fi drama. It was messy and mind bending and I am glad there were writers out there who weren't afraid to treat their audience like they had brains. Some of the plot lines took some time to work out, but some were meant to remain a puzzle. I appreciated the show's character developement, intricate story, and willingness to be different.
I will truly miss the characters I've come to know, and the musing between friends over "what the heck is going on?!"




















RIP my favorite characters~
Hugo "Hurley" Reyes & James "Sawyer" Ford

Richelle Mead Book Signing!

This evening I finally fulfilled something on my bucket list! I have always had the goal of meeting one of my favorite authors.
Well this evening I did!



















I have been reading Urban Fantasy for a couple years now, as many of you know. One of the authors I have been obsessed with (in a healthy way of course) is Richelle Mead. She has three series out right now and I have read them all. All except the latest two that came out this month. I mentioned Richelle in one of my first blogs as being a popular author located here in Seattle. Her main hub for book signing happens to be the UW bookstore.

Lucky for me, Seattle is only 20 minutes away and and she began her book tour in town! I left in plenty of time and got there in time to get a good seat and buy her newest book. After the reading and a question & answer slot, I got in line for the signing and was able to get three books signed and chat with her for a minute.
She was very down-to-earth and quirky - just like a couple of her characters.
It was, to say the least, a great experience.

Dream Home Tag

I was tagged in my sister's blog to post what what my dream house would be like. I decided to indulge her. It's always hard to find photos that show exactly what you would dream up, so these are just close approximations.

I have always dreamed of having an old (but well taken care of) Victorian home somewhere on a tree lined street in an old part of town. Here are a couple of houses I found that were close to my vision~

































Master bedroom, bathroom,& walk-in closet ~











































Guest bedrooms~


























Guest bathroom ~




















Future would-be kids rooms ~






















Kitchen~

























Living rooms~













































Home Theater Room! ~





















And last but no least, the pool/backyard ~


















So there you have it! I may never come close to my dream home, but it's nice to muse over it!

Life Update~

Let's see...it's been a while and I am not too good at keeping up on this, but here goes!

I am still on my Sweets Strike. DAY 42! I am allowing myself one cheat day at the closing of each month and still eating fruit like nobody's business. My last cheat day landed around the time of Elsa's birthday so I made sure to wait until then to splurge. Mike and I went to get a shake at Jack in the Box (yeah, I know, not too special) and it was SOOOO good. Some people say you will lose your craving/taste for sugar after a while. Well I hope for that, but I highly doubt this will happen. That fast food shake was so darn good! Then after dinner we all had Costco Cheesecake with strawberries! YUM! So here I am back on my low sugar diet and doing just fine. Well, I can't say it's been easy, I mean, I miss sour patch kids with a vengence! But it's doable.
Next topic:
I am getting the travel itch. I don't have anything set up and it is truly hard on me. I feel bored and antsy and just feel like I am gonna freak out if I don't do something about it. We are planning a Memorial Weekend trip to long beach with some friends, but beyond that there is nothing! Now, we are really trying to save money and put it towards practical things like building a new computer and paying off debt. But I get to thinking about how healthy it is to be stuck in a "dead zone", So to speak. What is really important in life? Always doing what is logical and practical? Or destressing your mind and body when you need it most? I am looking into some different vacation options beacause I feel that although staying home and saving that money would be the 'right' thing to do, I don't think it is the best thing for me. Wish me luck on finding a way to juggle our limited funds!

Next: I am beginning a journey into the past. My family's past to be exact. I am slowly gathering information about my mom's family history. Who was related to who and where they came from; Geneology stuff. It's quite interesting and time consuming. But, I have the time and there is no rush so it's the perfect side hobby. Boy, this would be easier if I had a computer program to store all the information in! Ah well...

Other goings on:
I will be attending 3 weddings this summer (1 in July and 2 in September). I do love my weddings! I will be doing the hair and Make-up for one girlfriend and taking some daytime prep. photos for my sis-in-law Amy. She booked a great photographer for the wedding and reception, but wanted me to take some throughout the day of people and preparations. Exciting stuff! The third wedding will be on Orcas Island and I am very excited to make a weekend out of it with my good friends Elan and Ash.

I am also hoping to spend some quality time at a concert and some Mariner's games this summer. Just need to wrestle up more cash after my supposed vacation, computer building, wedding gifts, and out of town wedding overnighters...Yikes!

All in all, I think I will keep myself busy. The rest of my down time can be devoted to work I suppose.... But I may just decided to replace that with Bennett time. :) Sounds like a much better time to me.

Check back in later! Oh, and by the way, whoever gave me this blasted head cold is going to suffer!