Ed & Sue Slide Show

I was able to quickly put together a slide show for my father and Sue before the wedding! It's full of pictures before/growing up and a recent/together photos. It was played on repeat before the wedding for guests as the arrived. What a fun day!! So much more to stories and wedding photos to come!

Hiking.

Tuesday night my roommate Kelli and I took off right after work and headed to Spencer's Butte to get a little exercise before some friends came over for dinner. We made it to the top no problem, and enjoyed the beautiful view of Eugene at night. I have not seen that view for a long time, made me really appreciate where I live. We then of course had a photo shoot and headed down the Butte. There was a point half way down where the path folks and I naturally, with out thinking twice, took the path to the right and Kelli following closely behind stopped me a few steps in and asked if that was the right way. I then realized I had no idea if it was, that I just started going that way. So Kelli read the sign and told me it's the other path we were supposed to take. So I listened to her and head down the new path. About a mile and a half down, we finally realized that we were not on the right path.... The one I choose was the one we were supposed to be on all along. So, embark hike number 2. After we made it to the split we ran down the Butte jumped in the car and made it home in perfect time for our friends to be there and a pizza just being pulled from the oven

Life is Full of Good Ideas

Christmas Cookies.

Just wanted to share some pictures from Christmas Eve at Sue's house. Probably some of my favorite cookies I've ever decorated. Get my father and I together and details become the most important part and each cookie takes about 5 minutes each. At one point Sue had about 15 cookies to my dad and mines 8. Great way to spend Christmas Eve.

The crew

My dad's favorites that he made.

My Favorite! (Sorry it's sideways)

The unpurposeful animals. I don't remember what the bottom left was supposed to be, but turned into a turtle, bottom right was supposed to be a sleigh, turned to a whale, top was supposed to be santa but turned a fish.

The total of the cookies.

What made your day so great?

I started the day on New Year's Eve with no concrete plans. All I wanted was to be in Carlsbad going to dinner with my cousins, taking a walk on the beach and then fast forwarding through Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve (with Ryan Seacrest) barely being able to make to midnight - I looked at plane tickets with no money in my pocket with hopes that there would be some sort of miraculous special to San Diego. No such luck. I then considered driving to Florence to at least get the beach part - too wet. What's a girl to do?

She is to live large with the blessings she's got here at home. I spent the early evening bowling with my mother, Jen, and church friends. That group of people have got some life in them. I had an incredible time. Didn't bowl too well, but still worth every minute. The best part however was after bowling, I went to the grocery store to buy some food for the next evening event and while checking out the cashier asked how my day was. I replied with great, a normal, don't think twice about it response. He then shoots back at me:

"Oh ya, what's made your day so great??"

Wait, what? That's not the way this goes. It's supposed to go, "How are you? Good. How are you? Good." And then on with your day. I was so surprised by his questioning that it made me really stop and think, has my day really been great so far? Do I have to tell him my day really hasn't been great and I just said that to avoid any further conversation with him? But to my wonderful luck my day had been great. It took me a few seconds to respond, but then I got to tell him, "I went bowling with my mother!" He was genuinely surprised, happy and I could tell, a little jealous, of what I got to do. It then lead to great discussion after that, I mean for as much time as you get in a grocery check out, but how often do you really ask details beyond the surface level "good"?

Shortly after that encounter, I went home, made some artichoke dip from scratch, shaved my legs, put on a party dress and went to a friends house for some good conversation, drinks, Rockin' New Year's Eve, and a snow ball dance!!

Great way to end the old year and bring in the new one. Who would have thought?