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.