House Projects and Crazy Big Mushrooms

Janelle's dad was up again this weekend to finish the bedroom heater project and did some other little projects as well. Like remove the crazy glass plate heater in the kitchen.

Before...............................After

We have to finish that one up still, but it is so weird how this giant heater just leaves a tiny little hole in the wall to patch and then paint over the area. Its so nice to have a handy dad! While he was here he noticed some giant mushrooms that sprouted up on one of our little flower gardens. It is a little hard to tell how big they are from the pictures, but they are cool!

Crazy Cats!

When Janelle's parents were up last weekend, Janelle's mom brought a new scratching block for Tony and Missy. They LOVE it! Missy immediately began scratching on it and doing things like this:

She even drooled on it! Tony has become much more brave and actually spends time with us on the couch now, but we haven't ever been able to get any pics of it since he still will bolt if you move too much. When Janelle's parents were here, no one could find Tony anywhere. They were baffled. Janelle later discovered that Tony has ripped a hole in the box spring and was inside the bed! The joy of owning cats....

The handsome Tony

Redecorate

So we did a little redecorating last weekend. Here is our new rug!



And new couch pillows.


We also got some seat cushions for the dining room chairs. Plus, Janelle's dad came up and did some work on the second bedroom and has put in a new heater. Yea! Thanks Dad!

Summer

So now that you are all caught up from our wedding and honeymoon, its time to catch up on everything else. We had a very busy summer filled with several outdoor volleyball tournaments for Matt, including another very successful JWI, despite Matt being a little under the weather that day.

Highlights of our summer included an activity packed trip to San Diego to celebrate Matt’s parent’s 40th wedding anniversary. The whole Weaver family was there with their significant others, children and even some in laws! We stayed in an amazing rental house, and surprised the Weaver parents with decorations and matching shirts for everyone. We went to Sea World, The Wild Animal Park, and Soak City, a waterslide park. The Wild Animal Park was very hot, but we agree that it was our favorite attraction. The waterslide park, which Janelle was very much looking forward to, was poorly run and did not live up to expectations unfortunately. But overall the trip was great; there was lots of time in the pool at home and some competitive rounds of Tripoli.

We also spent a weekend in Leavenworth at Janelle’s aunt Carolyn and Uncle John’s cabin. The weekend started out a little rocky with Matt losing his wallet before leaving for the trip, but we decided to press on and still make the best of it and had a quiet, relaxing time hanging out at the cabin and browsing the shops in town. Upon his return to work, Matt found his wallet that he had misplaced in the lab and we were both relieved for that!

The annual summer camping trip with the Parker parents fell on Labor Day weekend this year, which ended up being one of the worst weather weekends of the summer. We headed up to Orcas Island anyway and had a beautiful site in Moran State Park. We braved the elements and tested out the waterproofness of our new tent. It passed with flying colors! We also had new sleeping bags which kept Janelle warm all night which is a tall order, so we were very pleased with this purchase as well. Luckily we brought Matt’s volleyball canopies which saved us from getting soaked. We also were able to fit in some nice hikes/walks in the area and drove up to the top of Mt. Constitution. It was freezing up there, but worth it to see the amazing view. Janelle was especially pleased that we were able to do this, since earlier in the year, we took a trip to Orcas and the road was closed to the top. We tried to hike all the way, but Janelle got a migraine in the middle of the hike and was “defeated by the mountain”. She vowed to be back to see the view and now the mission is complete.

Tony, the new addition our family has continued to slowly warm up to us and will now sleep on the couch with us, but not on our laps! He is a night owl and has unfortunately caused some nights of disrupted sleep with his galloping up and down the hall after toys, chases with Missy, and attempts at opening cupboard doors. He is also a bit of an escape artist and has bolted out the door and through a window to have some adventures outside. Luckily he came back and we were able to get him back in the house, but we aren’t ready for him to be an outdoor cat since he is so scared and skittish still.

Whew, so now friends and family you are caught up on our lives!

Honeymoon

The day after the wedding consisted of a wonderful brunch hosted by Matt’s parents at their rental house in Bellingham and another opportunity to visit with friends and family. Then we headed home for some needed rest time and to say good-bye to Missy before heading off to PUERTO RICO! We left very early Monday morning, feeling very glad that the morning commute was not taking us to work but rather to sandy beaches! After a somewhat long travel day, we picked up or rental car in San Juan and used trusty Garmina (Janelle’s couldn’t live without gadget, the GPS navigator) to get us to our vacation condo.

The next morning we woke up to our amazing view from our high-rise condo and were very excited to hit the beach (and Starbucks, which as you can see from the pic was spotted from our balcony). We spent our week long vaca relaxing, relaxing, seeing some sights and did I mention relaxing?

We were a block from the beach, so we spent time there often, but we were also able to make some trips into Old Town San Juan, Clara Caves, and the rainforest. It was a very nice break from our busy lives and then it was time to return to our crazy cat Missy, who had been cared for very well by cousin Amy.

Five Month Anniversary

Its hard to believe it has been five months since our wedding! Last Friday was our five month anniversary, so in honor of this we're finally posting about the actual day itself! (Plus we obviously got very behind in our blogging, so this gives us an excuse to catch up.)

After the rehearsal party in the morning, celebrating Janelle's birthday, and getting all dressed up, we took pictures with our amazing photographer Laura Totten. It was beautiful and sunny, and the pictures turned out awesome! Janelle then was chauffeured to the ceremony location, the Squalicum Boathouse, in her generous Aunt Kris and Uncle John's minivan. Her dress took up the entire back seat! Pictures continued with Janelle getting colder and colder, so she had to go inside and warm up before the ceremony.

Then it was on with the show! The bridal party walked out to an instrumental version of Imagine by John Lennon and one of Janelle's most cherished memories from the day was getting walked down the aisle by her dad Bruce. We joined in the ring of flowers and exchanged vows. It was a short and sweet ceremony with Matt's dad reading a beautiful poem, which was another very special moment for us. The location and view were exactly what Janelle had envisioned for the day, so we were very happy about that. The weather could not have been more beautiful (although the sun was in Janelle's eyes the whole time!) and again made for gorgeous photo ops!

Then the ceremony was over, Janelle breathed a huge sigh of relief since this part of the day she was most nervous about, and we got to spend a few moments alone taking in the fact that we were now husband and wife!

The quiet did not last long though and then it was time to par-tay! There was great food, the best music anyone could ask for since Janelle put it all together meticulously for weeks, and lots of laughter, catching up with old friends and family that hadn't been seen in awhile, and even a little dancing. In honor of Janelle's birthday tradition, there was homemade pie made by her mom Lisa instead of cake, and there was a slide show in her honor. The night went by quickly, and Janelle crammed her dress into Matt's decorated jeep and we were off to the Chrysalis hotel.

Update on Life:

Hey all, things continue to just roll along in our lives as they tend to. I have had the opportunity to play in some nice v-ball tournaments this summer, mediocre success but good friends and some good fun. This last event was a charity tournament to raise $$ for the American Cancer Association. There was gorgeous weather, 70+ teams, and we were able to raise close to $5,000!! Not a bad day at all. The garden continues to grow well as we are now harvesting raspberries every day with quite a crop remaining. We even caught a picture of Missy trying to harvest some berries for herself!! I also have been able to pull some nice radishes while the carrots and lettuce continue to sprout up. Just for the fun of it I planted some corn, beans, and pumpkins to one side, we will have to see if anything turns out from them. Always fun to experiment with the growing stuff, we certainly have enough space to spare for a few trial plants each season. In the meantime the lilies that I planted have started to bloom and combined with my daisies gives a great contrast I think. In other news we added a new member of the family in the form of a orange tabby cat named Tony. A 3-year old male he is slowly settling into the routine at our place and him and Missy are becoming friends it appears. Nice that they can share the space together and keep each other company while we are at work. He is a little skittish as of yet but slowly improving I think, only time will tell. Janelle is rolling along in her new job as an intake person for one of the counseling programs at CCS. She is at least "OK" with the position for now and certainly helps reduce stress with us both back to having steady jobs. I am also planning to interview for a possible teaching job at the Univ. of Phoenix in the next month or so. I have seen myself doing teaching at least sometime in my life so this might well prove to be the chance to get my foot into the door on the profession. Looking forward to the opportunity regardless.

Gardening Fun

One of the passions I have found since moving into our house almost 2 years ago in Oct. was gardening. Honestly I never thought that I would enjoy the pursuit but find it to be really cathartic for me. Doing some mindless physical labor every now and then certainly seems to keep me focused on important things and allow me to get out any and all extra energy I might have on any given day. At Janelle's urging I do everything as green and organic as is possible. I compost all of our yard waste that I can, use grass cuttings and natural fertilizers/sweeteners on the lawn and basically never use chemicals in the yard at all. So far we have been rewarded with some great growing lawn, flower beds, and a small garden plot. This year I have planted tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, radishes, carrots, pumpkins, and a couple types of peppers. After last years poor crop I decided to be aggressive about the peppers and have constructed my very own mini greenhouse to help them along. Only time will tell!! Meanwhile I have some great luck with the lupine from last year that have grown to shoulder height in 3 great colors and bring in swarms of fuzzy bumblebees, great for pollinating all of my plants and creating quite the soothing background hum that just says "garden" to me. I have also had great success in transplanting several large patches or irises, last year to the front patch and this year to the side area along the driveway. TONS of flowers result for some good color to accent the house. Fun to try new stuff with now a garden patch filled with Lilly, lupines, fig and apple trees, veggies, roses, raspberry and strawberry vines, euphorbia (sp?) and even the fun "puff-ball" flowers on the chives plant. Now if only those peppers will grow this year!! If you have never tried you hand at this I would certainly recommend the experience. Start small, don't sweat a few dead plants and let yourself get buried in the pure nature of it all. ;-)

Missy is weird!!

As I continue to sift through pictures and fill in the details from our wedding and the related events I thought I might entertain you with a video of our odd cat. Missy has a thing for the small, sparkly balls that you buy at the pet store. She goes crazy for them, then sits on them as if to forget that she has them, only to go crazy once again upon the discovery of the ball sitting beneath her. She is quite crazy but certainly keeps us entertained at home, as she is quite a snuggler. Nothing like having some weird animals to complete the family.!!

Saturday, April 25th - Set-up & Janelle's Birthday!!

The big day finally arrived. First things first though....not only was this the day we were getting married but also the birthday of my gorgeous bride Janelle. That is right, the big 3-0!!!! She was so gracious in allowing us to have the wedding on her special day, also makes it easier for me to remember the anniversary date!! We showed up to the boathouse bright and early to be met there by the members of the intimate wedding party including my brother John, sister Michelle, and sister-in-lay (Janelle's cousin) Amy. The parental sets also showed up to help and our great audio/visual crew for the event in the form of Justin Paulson and John Paulson. Nothing like having some extended family to give jobs to!! We ran through the details of the ceremony, practicing the timing with the music, walking pace, changes based on our outside/inside location, and general spacing for the event. As we finished up the details many of the same folks from the previous night arrived to help set up the basics for the event prior to the caterers arrival along with celebrating the birthday girl on her day. Amy's mom Kris provided great doughnuts and coffee from our favorite B-ham bakery, Lafeen's Donuts. Yummy!! After I crammed way too many into my mouth and got on a nice sugar high I got to sing along with the crew in the annual b-day song as she blew out the candles on her pastry. Following the sublime melody I got to sit next to Janelle and watch as she opened the several gifts that friends and family had brought. A nice haul with some cute shirts/wraps for our intended tropical honeymoon, a nice pitcher to go with our newer dish set and even a pair of "Just Married" t-shirt to wear on the aforementioned trip. What a fun way to start our big day with all of the friendly faces and nice gifts. After we left Janelle's parents graciously stayed at the Boathouse to keep the doors unlocked and to meet the caterers when they arrived. The ladies went off to get their hair done for the big event and the guys hit a local brewery to catch the start of the NFL draft where our local team was picking high in the 4th overall position!! We arrived just in time with friends to see the big moment, have some great food, and share a few beers and laughs before heading back to the hotel the get dressed and have the first round of pictures. Just you wait!!

Friday - April 24th Rehearsal Dinner

After getting to Bellingham, WA after work, late on the 23rd Janelle and I had a chance to get a little extra sleep, have some breakfast and then get rolling on the day. As the ladies went off for a trial hair appointment followed by nails at a local salon the boys hung out at the rental home my parents had in Bellingham for the weekend. Napping with the nieces and just taking it easy was just what the doctor ordered on this afternoon. After reconnecting we have some time to just relax before heading out to freshen up and get ready for the first major event of the wedding weekend, the rehearsal dinner. We decided on a local place we had actually not gone to before, the Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen. A little bit of a stretch as we really did not even know what the food would be like but it certainly made for a unique location and some regional flair. We got there to a nice ovation from the ~30 friends and family awaiting us in in our covered space outside the brewery. My folks had added some nice decorations to the tables with pictures of Janelle and I along with some cool potted flowers that are going to have a home in my home flower beds in the next few weeks. Everyone had a tix for one for the beers made right on site and we all ordered from a menu we decided on from their base fare. Everything tasted great and the pizza I chose was good as was the tuna from what Janelle told me. ;-) To help out with everyone getting to know one another we had made up a stylized "flow chart" so people could see how everyone was related. The fun pics at least made for some fun conversation. Thanks to my sister Michelle for helping put the piece together for the evening, people really seemed to enjoy it. I had also put together a small trivia contest with questions about Janelle and I. It was fun to emcee the short game around the festivities with the winners getting some bride and groom-shaped rubber ducks!! We also received a really nice toast from my sister-in-lay Amy (Janelle's cousin) and my brother John. Very heartfelt and fun, thanks a ton guys. My sister also read a simple blessing from my mother, much as at my brother's wedding she needed someone else to read to avoid the tears, very sweet from the mam-bear!! It was great to get a chance to see so many of my childhood friends and family in the form of the whole Allen and Madden families who had been so close to us growing up in Flagstaff, AZ as a boy. As per usual when this group rallies together there was lots of laughs, just a few pics (shocker!!) and stories to be had by all. According to our best recollection it had been 10-12 years since all of the 3 families had been together in their entirety. What fun!! We even had a few rounds of the local train running right by our location, the track was within 20 feet of one end of the covered area we were in. What a shocker and quite loud. However it was a great treat for the kiddies there and they all eagerly anticipated the follow-up train after the first had passed. After a few more beers, hugs, and a little dessert (I had the nice chocolate mousse) the crowd drifted off to get some sleep for the big day to follow. We also we able to transfer into our nice room at the Chrysalis Inn and Spa. What a gorgeous view and location to get ready for the big day. More pics of this locale to come!! Thanks everyone for making the rehearsal dinner such a success and for the Weaver units (Strode and Judy) for hosting the first night of fun.

So much to catch up on!!

Where to even start?!? The last few weeks have been exciting, tiring, eventful, memorable, and countless other things all rolled into one big blur it seems. Here is a basic synopsis of the events and I plan to fill in with blogs about all the major happenings as I sort out the pictures and finally unpack from all the traveling!! On Thursday, April 23rd Janelle and I headed up to Bellingham,WA for the start of our wedding festivities. After some nails and hair items for the ladies Friday night was capped off with a great rehearsal dinner at the Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen. The next morning we celebrated Janelle's 30th B-day with some great doughnuts, set up and rehearsed for the ceremony, and enjoyed the great company of family and friends. After some football draft for the boys and primping for the ladies it was pictures at our gorgeous hotel and at the site itself. A great ceremony and reception followed as our intimate affair took place in a gorgeous setting as the sky cleared and allowed for our outdoor ceremony and some amazing sunset shots later in the day. The next morning we had a nice final brunch to open a few more gifts, say goodbye to many of the out of town guests and head back home for to get ready for the next adventure. The next day came all too soon as we headed out at the crack of dawn to get our flight from Seattle to sunny Puerto Rico for 8 days of sun, sand, nature, and fun. After a long travel sequence home we arrived to find one needy cat and the house still standing!! All good things. I will do my best to fill in the story as we go. It was amazing to see all of the family and friends for the special events and had a hard time thinking it could have gone any better all things considered. Once again Janelle's birthday magic gave us a perfect day for our special event. More to come, I promise!!

Digging into the past:

After the recent gifting of some family flatware heirlooms to Janelle I just had to go on a little archeology mission to try and find out what I could about the gorgeous set of spoon that Lisa was so generous in passing along to us. A little history of the spoons within the family is as follows. Engraved with the letter "T" they originally were the property of Alice Odell Tracy, Janelle's Great-Great-Grandmother. They were passed along to her daughter Alice Merle Tracy Parker. This was continued with the passing along to Dave and Donna Parker, Janelle's paternal grandparents. From there they moved to Lisa and on to Janelle. Amazing to have something passed through 5 generations of related women!! I certainly felt like I was on Antique Roadshow as I looked for any marks, patterns, or whatever I might be able to find as clues to the origin of the spoons manufacture. What I found was quite satisfying and a cool little chunk of history from my point of view. ;-) Using the cameras here in the lab I was able to get some really nice close-ups of the impressions on the back of the spoon's neck, and was then able to match these with patterns I found online. Both the lettering and the small impression of the Stag's Head matched a famous American-made flatware company that has been around since the early 1800's; R. Wallace & Sons Mfg. Co. Started in Chesire, Connecticut in the 1833 the company has gone through several permutations within the Wallace family and remains today as Wallace Silversmiths and can be found in Boston, MA. At one time it was the largest producer of table flatware in the world!! I was even able to find the specific pattern engraved on the spoons. It is called the "Louvre" pattern, a pattern that was discontinued in 1893. By my calculations that makes the spoons at the very least a mere 115 years old!! Not too shabby I would say. In any case it was a great chance to do a little historical searching and learn a little bit more about my soon-to-be in laws at the very least. Hope you enjoyed the facts as much as I did!