The new addition

Andrew and I have wanted a puppy for a very long time. Last month we had a few goals that we wanted to accomplish and we told ourselves that if we accomplished them, we would finally get a sweet little puppy! 

September came, goals were met, and the search began. 

We didn't have any clue as to what kind of puppy we wanted. 

We knew that it needed to be fairly small, not too big of a shedder and a good family dog. 

We looked around online at different sites and I found a lady who had 5 little cockapoo's.

Andrew called and the next day we went and visited the pups. 

Oh.My.Goodness. 

Sweetest things ever, if our bank account would have allowed, I think I would have picked threee! 

We decided on a little girl, she was the only one out of four crazy brothers and too cute to pass up!

We brought her home the next evening. 

Meet Clover 
our 8 week old furbaby ;)

We are kind of obsessed with her already. But in a totally good way, of course ;)

Ok, call me crazy, but I would love to be a sahm -- puppy style. 

Park, nap, snack, fetch. Repeat. 

Sounds good to muah. 

(I'm only half kidding here...) 

And him. Don't get me started, she already has him completely wrapped around her little paw ;)
... but seriously.

Heaven is for real

I bought this book for my sister's birthday.
I picked it up to read just a few pages.
I couldn't put it down.

I decided, since the house was clean and I didn't have work, that it would be just fine to keep reading.
And that is just what I did, kept reading, until a few hours later, I had finished the book.

So, yes. I read it in one day.
And then I gave it to my sister, and she finished it in a day and a half.
Now my mom is reading it. 

It.is.amazing.

Eeek!

This last weekend was completely AWESOME. 

Andrew and I headed straight down to Corvallis after work on Friday evening. We met with an amazing couple for a few hours and then headed over to my sister's apartment where her and Jordan had prepared a delicious dinner for us! We ate, watched Bridesmaids, and then passed out! 

The next morning we woke up early and were headed to the stadium. 

The filming of Extreme Makeover Weight-loss Edition was going to be  on campus and I couldn't miss out on possibly getting a shot of the amazing CHIRS POWELL! :) 

Annd...I MET HIM! 

nbd... 

 For the record he is so SO nice and he looks even better in real life! 

Talesha and Jordan had to leave before the filming because Jordan had an amazing day planned out for them... I think my sister was a little bummed she wasn't going to be able to see Chris... But I knew what was in store for her later that evening and wasn't too concerned that she would be just fine!  ;)

After the filming Drew and I headed right across the street to cheer on The BEAVS... sadly, they aren't looking too hot this year. 

We still had a blast and ran into a few friends that we haven't seen in awhile!

That evening we headed back to Talesha and Jordan's apartment and decorated for the following day. 

Little did my sister know that she would be getting engaged that night and the entire family was coming up to surprise her when they got back! 

Jordan is such a romantic. He planned out an amazing day for them. They started with some shopping in Portland, where my sister got to pick out three outfits and then they were headed off to the coast. 

He wanted to propose on the beach, but go figure, the Oregon coast was a tad too windy... So they drove back to a super nice hotel room that he surprised her with. 

He went through each year that they had been together and symbolized each one with an object... on the 7th year, he pulled out the ring and got down on one knee. Ahh! And my sister was completely caught off guard, she had absolutely no clue!

 A perfect proposal. 

We all had so much fun celebrating the lovebirds. They are planning on getting married September 8th, 2012. This will mark the 8th YEAR that they have been dating--they started dating their first day of high school! So sweet. 

We love them both oh so much and can't wait for this year. 

Weddings are my absolute fav thing and I'm so excited to help my little sister plan for the best day of her life <3 

With her taste it is going to be just lovely! 

Summer/fall 2012 is going to be filled with so many lovely weddings. People are just falling in love left and right in Oregon. Sheesh. :)

Sunriver

Over Labor day weekend we spent a few nights in Sunriver with Andrew's side of the familia. It was a great little get-a-way and a teeny tiny little break since we have been pretty busy lately! 

We layed out in the sun, ate Melinda & Mike's yummy yummy food, floated the Deschutes river, (which btw is my new fav river to float), went wine tasting, bike riding, exploring, hot tubbing and spent lots and lots of time relaxing and enjoying family. 

Mornings spent in the sun, 

reading a great book 

and sipping some coffee are my 

absolute favorite ones. 

fyi, this book, 

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

is rad. 

Wine tasting.

 Since neither of us are wine connoisseurs, 

we mainly went around and asked to sample the ones that we could pronounce...

We know we're cool. ;) 

This little trip was just what we needed to charge our batteries.

<3 

A few lately's

I have spent mornings with this little guy, aka, best baby in THE world. We play, go for walks, read books, sleep, well he sleeps & I watch TLC/read. 

~~~~~~

I surprised my amazingly awesome and hard working husband with a picnic in the park, New Seasons style. We.LOVE.New Seasons. And we are so excited because one is due to open up literally right in our back yard in a few weeks. Yum! 

~~~~~~

Drew and I made a quick trip over to the Hawthorne Street fair. We made a stop for some iced coffee and then spent the afternoon walking around to the various booths and trying to decide where to eat ;)  We He decided with Nicks's Famous Coney Island. 

Drew ordered the original Coney Island 

And I just ordered a cup of chili. Both were delicious.

We saw a few (or maybe a lot) of interesting things. One being this skunk tail.

 Afterwards we visited a lovely park and talked about our dreams & future... one of our favorite things to do! 

~~~~~~

I got to see this sweet girl and help celebrate her 23rd birthday in Corvallis. She is now living in Reno and I miss her SO much. 

~~~~~~

And lastly, I will finally have a consistent work schedule & won't be bouncing around through the agency anymore, hoooo-ray. Monday's & Wednesday's I will be watching two little boys.  Both are being potty trained, help me Lord.
And then on Tuesday's and Thursday's I will be with an adorable little 2 month old baby girl.

So Monday's & Wednesdays will look like this:

And Tuesday's & Thursday's will look like this:

Best of both worlds, I suppose. 

Annnnd, no work on Fridays! 

mt. thielsen

Saturday morning we woke up at 5am, packed the car and headed east with the family to conquer the infamous Mt. Thielsen. My dad, being the avid hunter/hiker/anything outdoorsmen type of guy he is, warned us of what was to come, but we didn't really listen. It was a 10 mile hike round trip. And we had no idea of what we were getting ourselves into...

Bright eyed and bushy tailed @ approx. 5:30 in the am.

It was a B-e-a-utiful hike! (and we took lots of pics!)

Tippy-top = 9200 feet and yes, that is where we were headed

                                                                                     

Our Perfect water advertisement... ;]

It was 4.9 miles to the top. Drew, Molly and I decided to stop at about 8600 feet... We dubbed it Common Sense Point. ;) It was insanely scary up there! Like holding-onto-rocks-in-order-not-to-fall-off-the-mountain scary! But the rest of the crew went to the TOP! And almost all of them said it was the first and last time they would be doing that... just a tad bit sketchy up there. 

See?!?! 

Hi dad! Aye yi yi... 

Those are people up there, and these pictures do not even do it justice.

Hmm, let's see, I said about 19 prayers while I watched the unexperienced mountain climbers that are my family grasp rocks for their dear life. Started feeling a little better about the situation... and then enter two insane hikers (the real deal, with hiking sticks and all) who decided to tell us that this mountain is dangerous, especially with the amount of people we had in our group. Well, thanks lady... back to praying I go...

We waited for about an hour for the rest of them to climb the last 600 feet to the top. Then back down the mountain we all went... mainly sliding down on our behinds. Going downhill was surprisingly worse than going uphill, and it took so much longer. We look like we know what we are doing in this pic, but about every 2 minutes someone was either on their behind or grabbing the person in the front or back of them and trying to catch their balance. It was hilarious, and I have no idea how I am related to my father.

Me = 23 year old, uncoordinated, fell 3 times on my bum kind of hiker...
Dad = 46 year old, conquer anything, help my daughter down the side of the mountain kind of hiker...

It took us almost 8 hours round trip and we finished off the with some pizza at Diamond Lake.

Minus the yucky blisters, scratches (on our bums & hands from falling!) and horrible sunburns it was a great time with the family! For our next "hike", we are shooting for something a little less traumatizing ;) 

a love letter from mr. edwards

to the most amazing woman in the world,

i am so thankful to have you in my life and to have been blessed to spend the last 7+ years with you. it is so hard to believe that for 365 days we have been mr. and mrs. somehow, you've found a way to make me fall in love with you more every single day that we're together. you make me smile, make me laugh, encourage me, humble me, inspire me, push me, amaze me and, most importantly, love me.

this last year has been a whirlwind that has surprised us, shocked us, let us down, exceeded expectations, lifted us up, threw curveballs, the list goes on and on. however, and i believe the best part of this last year, is that it showed us how exciting and amazing our future will be. if year one was only the beginning i can't even imagine what the future has in store for us.

i still remember the vows you made to me, to us and to god. you have lived up to them every day since and i thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. my only hope is that i've been as good a husband as you have been a wife to me. you deserve the absolute best and i'm going to fight every day to make sure that happens. 

you are the greatest thing in my life and i'm so very lucky and blessed to have you.

happy one year anniversary.

to the end of the universe,

-andrew james