just because

I made peanut butter cookies! they were delicious, and they looked so good I had to take a couple pictures

I just love cooking and baking!

I'm a slacker, but I'm making up for it

So I know, I haven't blogged in forever, but I've been busy. Number two thing that has happened since we last met: I got married! Obviously, you should already know this. We got married on July 22, 2009 in McCall, Idaho. It was beautiful and the whole few days were great. Here are some pictures.

brownies! really, brownies say me...not cake

Oakley!

So, a lot has changed since the last time I was really blogging. Number one change: we got a puppy! We got him in June, he is a purebred golden retriever, he is now six months old. Introducing Oakley:

hangin by the creek

he fell in

then he was sleepy

helping Daddy fish..or not

he loves the water!

he looks so old now, but he's still got a lot more growing to do

Thanksgiving practice

So, I was thinking about what to make for dinner a couple weeks ago, it had just started cooling down and I was (and still am) excited about the prospect of Fall, what a wonderful season. Then I started thinking about the holidays, I LOVE the holidays! I am so excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas and family and snow....THEN I got THE . BEST . IDEA. EVVERRR! Thanksgiving dinner! So I went to the store and got some turkey breast (oh hey no I was not making a whole turkey! I didn't have all day anyway) and stuff for dessert. Then I made turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy and corn, and I tried to make some homemade rolls...yummm my favorite...but they did not turn out as I had hoped. Unacceptable. Needless to say, they did not make it to the table.

I surprised Chris with the meal and he was pleased. :)

Then, dessert. My real favorite part. Cherry pie - the BEST pie there is. Don't try to argue that point, it's not up for discussion, it is just fact. Anyway, I was so pleased with this pie, that I decided to take a picture of it to remember this wonderful Thanksgiving priactice.

ULTIMATE FRISBEE!!!

I know it is totally dorky, but I'm on an intramural ultimate frisbee team with my architecture student group. I'm awful at it, but I have so much fun! I'm a pretty terrible thrower, and I can't catch anything that is too fast, or high, as I am 5'1" and have absolutely no vertical, but get this! I am leading scorer right now. This is complete strategy, because when a girl scores it's worth double the points, so since I'm pretty useless in general, I try to hang near the end zone and when the frisbee comes my way, I'm there to catch it and score the mega points. It's exilharating...particularly when there was a minute left, we were one behind, and I scored the winning goal! Best moment of my life!....ok, not really, but it was awesome. Of course I have to give major thanks to my teammates who are actually fabulous athletes and just make me look good.

Anyone up for a game of frisbee? Just let me know.

What's the big deal?

I am getting married on July 22, 2009. Many people find this odd because...it is a...Wednesday. Yes, I am getting married on a Wednesday. Got a problem with it? too bad. Whoever said weddings should be on weekends? The Saturday I wanted was taken, so I thought, I can get married on whatever day I want. So, I picked July 22nd because it is exactly a year since the day Chris proposed to me. Plus, Wednesday seems less random than, let's say, a Monday or Thursday. Don't you agree? It is nicely in the middle, and since it is sort of a destination wedding (we are getting married in McCall) all of the guests are coming from out of town, so they can just make it a whole week vacation event. So, in choosing a Wednesday, I am actually giving the gift of a week-long vacation...right? Just agree with my logic and we'll all be happy.

Well, that is my rant about my wedding date. That is all I'm going to say about it...so stop asking "why a Wednesday?"...that's why.

Engagement photos!

The other best thing that happened last summer...I got engaged!

About a week after I got back from Rome I went camping with Chris and his family at the Oregon Coast. It was a ton of fun, even though it was really cold. Tuesday, July 22 was a particularly great day. We went on a really beautiful and relaxing hike which included a fantastic 70' high suspension bridge.

Later that night after dinner Chris and I decided to go down to the beach together. We took a blanket and sat and watched the sunset. There was no one else on the beach (probably because it was still really cold). We were bundled and I was quite comfortable when Chris said he wanted to straighten out the blanket so I needed to get up. I replied very matter-of-factly that the blanket did not need to be fixed. After unsuccessfully pressing the issue a couple more times he finally just told me to get up. A little annoyed, I stood up and when I turned around he was on his knee with a ring and asked me to marry him.

It is at this point that most women would exclaim yes! This was not my reaction. My reply was, "are you kidding me?" he stayed there, a little confused and I asked again if he was kidding. It was around this time that I realized this was not a joke and I took the ring and started crying and we hugged. I don't think I actually ever said yes, but I think he knew the answer.


Chris and I had been going out for almost five years, but I still was not expecting the proposal. I am so excited to be getting married and spending the rest of my life with such a great person.

Rome Sketches

While in Rome one of my classes was a sketching, here are some of my sketches