Congratulations Amy & William

September 20th

In celebration of my sister-in-law getting engaged, I took the opportunity to finally give them some nice photos for their walls. I met the couple in my own Issaquah backyard and found some pretty places to take their engagement photos. They were complete pros at taking direction and seemed so wrapped up in each other at times I had no trouble getting some candid and sweet moments. I am so lucky to have the second family that I do and I welcome William to the fold.
Congratulations to Amy and William!!!

Chasing Nicolette

September 19th

Earlier this summer I decided to purchase season tickets to the Village Theater in Issaquah. I was looking to find some entertainment in the arts, in something other than my standard movies, tv and reading. I ended up getting quite a steal after barganing with an elderly woman on the phone and wa-la! Mike and I end up with tickets to 6 shows for the 2009/2010 season! Last saturday we saw our third Village Theater show called Chasing Nicolette.


Chasing Nicolette is set in 1224 and deals with overcoming prejudice and meddling parents. I was amused that this was a musical romantic comedy set in midevil times. The show was both sweet and hilarious. I found myself giggling over most of the songs and smiling the whole way through.
The story is about the enduring love between a Christian Count and a Muslim Princess who fall for each other and vow to be together "come what may". But they first have to get out of their arranged marriages, escape a convent, and win a duel to prevent war.
This play was different in that the whole thing was spoken and sung in rhymed couplets. When I first read this I thought I might be annoyed with the choice in writing, but my love for poetry and shakespeare won out and I loved it! The show was witty, fun, and had some wonderfully romantic and funny songs throughout. But the show stealer was most definately Valere, the loyal and quirky servant.
If anyone is ever looking for something fun and different to do, I would recommend seeing this show. It will continue to play through the end of October.
Next on the calendar: Meet Me in St. Louis.

Love for ~ Keith Urban

September 12th, 2009




So for Manda's birthday last May I couldn't think of anything to get her, so I happened upon a Ticketmaster junk-mail and there it was! My present! A ticket to the upcoming, and now past, Keith Urban - Escape Together World Tour. Perfect, I said to myself. And a second ticket for myself while I'm at it! Not the cheapest concert in the world, but WELL worth it! We just love going to concerts, but don't splurge on them nearly enough.

So last night, my preggo sister and I headed off to the Tacome Dome...in stinky Tacoma. After a treak up a hill from cheaper $10 parking, we arrived and the tidal wave of excitement passed over us. There is just something about a big crowd and live music! And well, a cute guitar toting Aussie just adds to the wow facor. We upgraded/downgraded ourselves to the makeshift back row, where the cushioned chairs sat (only 3 rows behind our bleacher seats) and settled in for a sweet set list. Keith always does a bang-up job in chosing his songs. A good mix of the new and the old to keep us guessing. Then he sticks in these awesome guitar solos and makes his way through the crowd to play amongst the fans.

Needless to say the concert was REALLY good. It was the second time we've seen him and he didn't let us down. Fortunately I have a pretty decent point-and-shoot camera with a great zoom and video capabilities, so I got some great pics. from the back row! I will definately be seeing him again.

Ohio Bound

September 3rd-8th 2009

Mike and I decided to take a trip back to Ohio to visit my family who I hadn't been able to see since 2006. It was a long awaited trip and I was happy to be able to bring my husband with me this time. My aunt Kathy and uncle Brent were gracious enough to have us at their house for the 5 days we were there. I was anxious to meet my new 2nd cousin Noah, who now was going on 8.5 months old. He was a joy and so much fun to watch as he demanded to be walked all over the house and yard.

I was able to see almost all of my Aunts (Millie,Karen,Kathy) and my Uncle Phil along with their kids, all of which are very grown by now. I almost didn't recognize a few of them! We had a huge (40 person) BBQ/reunion on Sunday and Mike did a fantastic job of entertaining us with his guitar playing and we managed to have multiple games going on at once. Two of the favorites being Corn Hole and Ladder Golf (or Snake, as they call it back there).

Brent cooked up some mean hamburgers and Brats and everyone brought something yummy to eat. I even managed to make Apple Candybar "salad" and Lemonade Pies for the shin-dig. There was a lot of catching up, singing, and general merriment to be had. I spent lots of time with Grandma Edith and watched as the cousins caught fish from the pond out back.
In the evenings Kathy and I would stay up well into the night talking about all kinds of things and have to eventually make our tired selves go to bed so we could get up and start the next days fun. Which, a couple of times, simply meant driving to get lunch at the Made-Right. Tiny, yummy, loose meat burgers that are exclusive to Greenville. SO good. I think Mike ate five!
We went to see Lindsay and Greg's new home in Beaver Creen, which I might add is rediculously awesome! We spent an afternoon at the park and an evening playing mini golf. And everywhere we went there seemed to be ice cream! Which was alright by me!
After all was said and done, we had a great time with lots of great people. I know I will miss the closeness of a big family and sometimes wish I could just up and move to good ol' Ohio. For not having been raised around them, I sure feel like I am one of them and am so greatful to have such wonderful and caring people as my family. This trip has made me realize that I can't keep going as long as I have been without seeing them. Some people don't have the type of family I do and I won't take it for grated again.
With this, I will part with some more fun pics.!

Ocean Shores w/ Lindsay and Read!

August 14th-16th
Mike and I took a little weekend trip with two of our good friends Lindsay and Read to a beach house in Ocean Shores. We have been to Ocean Shores a bunch of times but we still find that going there proves to be relaxing and enjoyable. The four of us walked around town, spent time down by the jetty, and played games after yummy BBQ dinners. It was fun to get away from the monotony of work and responsibilities and simply enjoy good company, the ocean, and occasional kite flying. In between activities we managed to get in a couple good ol' VSH movies, including Pulp Fiction and Jurassic Park. But most of our time was spent keeping an eye out for Whales and Seals down by the jetty. The four of us got lucky enough to spot a few of them, which was very exciting!!! Lindsay has a newfound love of Pelicans or "peliculas" as Read called them (which actually is the spanish word for "movies") and we heard our fair share of seagulls each morning, noon, and night.

Our stay at "Gull Cottage" was as much fun as one could have in a small town on the Pacific and we would do it again in an instant.

Mariner's Fun

August 29th -

Mandy and I decided that it was time to grab our guys and go see another Mariner's game. We always have a great time at baseball games and this night was no different. While devouring the typical ballgame food (garlic fries, nachos, pretzels, carmel corn, bbq pulled pork, and peanuts), we proceded to cheer on our favorite Seattle team with excitment.

At first we were disappointed to learn that all the major players were absent. Big hitters like Beltre, Ichiro, Griffey and Johjima were nowhere to be found, either taking a break or on the injured list. But, never-the-less we settled in to watch the Mariner's beat Kansas City.

Sweeney's two-run double sparked the Mariner's four-run first inning. My new fav. Jack Hannahan hit a home run which always gets the crowd going. He and Jack Wilson managed back to back two-out RBI doubles as well. Rob Johnson contributed a two-run homer and Jose Lopez had a solo shot in the eighth.
Our main pitcher of the game, Ian Snell, was hit hard on the wrist by a fifth inning line drive and seemed to be in real pain, but got right back in the game as soon as he threw a few test pitches. The fans cheered!
We managed to stay ahead from the very beginning and won 8-4.

It was great to see some of our newer players show their stuff. All in all it was a great time. I have to admit that "single's night" is not the best night to attend (if you want to avoid drunken man-boys and baseball sluts), but I think we faired well considering Mandy was sick, we were in the nose-bleed section, and Philip was eating garlic fries.
Another great summer evening in Seattle.

Let's Talk Literature

For my first post I will explain my recent Lit. fixation. I have always been a big reader and have gone through many phases with this past-time of mine. My thriller/drama/mystery phase began around 13 and ended somewhere around 21. Thus overlapping my Fiction/Non-fiction/Memior Novel phase from 21 to 27. Which brings me to my most current phase (in both Lit. and Film), my Sci-fi/Urban Fantasy phase.

I never thought I would get to where I am honestly. I was never a big fan of the genre, but in taking on the four books in the Twilight Saga (which I read before the movie came out), I unwittingly thrust my brain into the realm of Fantasy and haven't been able to escape.

I should have suspected that I would enjoy the fairly new genre of Urban Fantasy as it caters to my love of vampires and "otherworldly" creatures, but I had no idea I would become what is now being referred to as a "Twihard" and fully supporting "Team Edward"...

Since finishing the four volume saga (in three weeks, which is actually slower than the 3 other gals I got to read the series) I have now taken on 2 other fantasy authors and 4 series all together. I have stuck mostly to Young Adult Fantasy as it tends to be a cleaner read. Meaning the plot lines are clear and there is not a whole lot of confusing wording and characters. An added plus to this "teen" genre is that most of the stories are geared toward female readers and delve into character building and relationships instead of blood, guts and fighting. Not that there aren't some good old fashioned wizard wars and vampire attacks in them!

Long live Harry Potter & JK Rowling!

To give a shout out to my favorite authors and give some referrals to those looking to branch out into this thrilling territory, I'll post a quick list of the series I have been enjoying over the past year and a half.

Twilight - Stephanie Meyer (Young Adult)

4 book series

Succubus Blues - Richelle Mead

(fellow Seattle-ite) Adult Fantasy

4 book series as of 2009

Dark Swan- Richelle Mead (Adult Fantasy)
2 book series as of 2009

Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead

(Young Adult)

4 book series as of 2009

The Heir Trilogy & The Demon King Trilogy

(Young Adult)
Cinda Williams Chima

So there you have it. These books have been one of my passions for the last year or two and I am more than happy to share them with you and support my favorite authors. One of which - Richelle Mead - will actually sign and dedicate her books to you if you buy them from the UW book store online. Now...how to contact Stephanie Meyer about this possibility.....

Some of you non-readers may have simply skimmed this post, but to those of you who are interested in knowing more about these series, let me know! I love to talk Lit.

Cheers to my few followers and cheers to my first Blog.