crazy busy...

This was another crazy busy weekend filled with celebrations with friends and family.

You know you are starting to go a bit loopy when you almost put soy sauce on your waffles instead of syrup... that was a close call.

 

 

 

The check engine light came on in my car earlier in the week, and I did what I generally do when that happens-- nothing except cross my fingers that it is just a loose gas cap.  Turns out I wasn't so lucky this time around and Ye Olde Alero needed a brand new battery.  Thankfully it died at soccer and Ryan was with me to manage jumper cables and whatnot.  We drove it to Autozone before it gave up for good.

 

 

 

But what do you expect when you have a car with this many miles on it? 

 

Friday night Ryan and I picked up the girls and took them to the rehearsal for his brother's wedding.  I just sat and watched.  These were tucked into each pew which I thought was so clever...

 

 

 Saturday night was a little backyard bonfire to celebrate the wedding of my friends Max and Selena.  They married themselves on a beach in California. 

 

 

 It was a casual affair with tons of great fall foods, sparklers, and roasting marshmellows.

 

 

Ryan and I loved sitting by the fire so much, that he immediately began scouring Craigslist for one of the free standing fire pits.  

 

 

 

 

Sunday I picked up Isaac and we went straight to the wedding of Ryan's brother Patrick to Debbie.  It was a beautiful ceremony...

And a lovely reception. 

 

 

What were you up to this weekend?

 

 

 

 

Engagement Photos!

Probably you've already seen the sneak peek from facebook, but we got our cd full of pictures from the delightful Erin Bertoni.  Here are some of our favorite shots that didn't make the cut for our Save the Dates.  

We started at Boathouse Row, worked our way through the Water Works, the gardens behind the Art Museum, the Rocky Statue, the art museum steps and then the other way with the city as a backdrop.

 It was nearly 100 degrees in thick, eastern PA humidity. I am surprised I didn't end up with sweat marks everywhere. 

I am also completely unaccustomed to not wearing sunglasses outdoors (no exaggeration, I wear sunglasses

all

the

time. 

I am very squinty in these pictures that made the cut, so I can only imagine how many pictures on the cutting room floor must have featured me with my eyes totally closed, grinning away.

Yay for touristy monuments in Philly!!

 FYI wedge flip flops were a terrible choice for this session.  We did a lot of walking that day and I felt like I spent a lot of time clenching my toes together to keep them on while I tottered up hills and stuff.  Also, I feel like they photographed like of oafy looking. 

July already...

Isaac

Has been playing some soccer.  I have been watching a lot of Psych on Netlifx and he has been watching with me.  It always takes me by surprise that he is acually following the plot.  He is such a good, patient, clever little guy and I am so proud of him.

Ryan

Is still in North Carolina on business.  For those keeping track, we are over the two month mark, far longer than any business trip should ever be.  Isaac asks me almost everyday when Ryan will be back.  I was able to squeeze in a weekend trip to Charlotte to visit during the middle of a heat wave.  There was a bit of a snafu with a cancelled connecting flight that had me in a hotel room in Atlanta Thursday night, but other than that it was a nice trip and so good to see him and all of the stores he has been running. Saturday we spent the day at a science museum.  Here is Ryan in their rainforest:

Wedding Planning

Is coming along slowly.  We have a tenative date (December 1st holla!), but we still really haven't nailed down a reception site which is sort of making me twitchy (see previous post).  We have made some progress in other areas though.  A Craiglist ad helped find a talented photographer in our price range (actually we got over 100 responses, with a wide range of abilities-- some truly look like entries from this website.  A DSLR camera and a photoshop program does not a photographer make...).  We have a date set up with her to get some engagement photos taken at boathouse row.   I bought a dress and I decided to borrow my sister's veil.  So we have made some progress. 

Work/School/Misc

I have been teaching the summer program for special ed students and it is a lot of fun.  I really enjoy the teacher I work with.  She will be one of the special ed teachers I will work alongside in my new building, so at least there will be one familiar face there.  I have also been writing IEP's for the summer and have been swamped!  It has been keeping busy for sure but it is nice to have the extra cash. I have spent a lot of time shuttling Isaac from sitter to sitter, but I think I should still end up ahead in the end.

 I wrapped up my teaching science class and in two weeks I have my second summer class which is the same class and professor but the topic is social studies. 

Thursday I am off to Alaska for the long awaited trip to see my sister.  Very excited!!!

In case you haven't heard...

My finger looks much prettier these days.  =)

So Isaac has been begging for an escape to the beach. Finally, Thursday we had nothing planned, so I thought, why not? We had swim lesson in the morning and then we got on the road. I thought leaving around 11 would ensure that we would miss traffic but it was terrible the whole way there. Evidently President Obama was in town and there was also a Phillies game. Isaac was a trooper though and once we finally got over the bridge to Jersey we found Ocean City to be quite deserted and the perfect temperature.

We made sure we had plenty of time in the water and in the sand....

Isaac was so cute. He kept saying "This is fun, but the beach is more fun with your whole family." Then we did the old get changed with a towel wrapped around you trick (well, Isaac did. Not me!)

Of course we couldn't leave Ocean City without hitting the boardwalk. We went on a few rides....

and I almost got sick on the tilt-a-whirl, a sign that I am surely becoming really old. We also got some food, although we didn't sample what seems to be the big trend this summer:

A friend of mine assures me they are "life changing" but I don't want to find out.... There were also tons of crafty stuff. I took pictures of them to tuck away in my "things-I-could-probably-make-cheaper-if-only-I-had-the-time-and-motivation" file.

And of course, what would the Jersey shore be without the T-shirts? This was one of my favorites.

It was a lovely day. Hopefully we will be able to get down there a few more times before the summer slips away....

525,600 Minutes

It's been another great year. I am truly blessed.

I'm now the mom of a smart, friendly and happy kindergartener!

I turned 29 and had several fabulous celebrations including a family dinner in at a Hibachi and a dinner with friends in the city at Tria.

Birthday Nutella Panini.... yum!!

I've made it to a couple of concerts. I started off the year seeing Vs. the Earth on New Years Eve. I mingled with some friendly lesbians to see Sarah McLachlan and Sara Barielles at the Lilith Fair. And thankfully 2010 didn't pass me by without a chance to see the best band in the whole wide world: Counting Crows!

**Swoon**

I've been to a bunch of good plays including The Merry Wives of Windsor at the PA Shakespeare Festival and Wicked. This was also the first year the Isaac was old enough to appreciate the theater and we took him to several productions including Harold and the Purple Crayon in the city, The Emperor's New Clothes, and Frosty. He was also able to come with us to seee the traditional Christmas Panto at People's Light and Theater company instead of staying home with my dad like years past. "Grandpa and I are finally old enough!" he declared this year. It's so exciting to be able to share that with him now.

I had a great tan. I logged many, many hours by various pools and on the beach. I put some miles on my bike (though not as many as I should have).

I got a new phone when my old one died. Had a good laugh when the guy went to take the sim card out and a huge pile of beach sand fell out.

I successfully jump started a car without causing an explosion or electrocuting anyone.

I've been fortuneate enough to go on some wonderful family vacations.

There was our quick get away to Florida in the spring:

Our annual week at the Jersey Shore:

My sister got married!

So did one of my good friends from college Nicole: I went through a break up. I listened to a lot of Alanis. I moved on and went on more dates. I saw my old long-time college bf WJM in the flesh and didn't die. I've made some new friendships.

And rekindled some old ones.

I figured out how to use my sewing machine and did some crafting: I have one tooth less than this time last. Tooth 31 is now gone! I stopped eating red meat in July. I rejoined a gym, started (and subsequently quit, whoops) a running regimen. I got back into yoga. I discovered Zumba.

It's been a pretty great year. I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for me.

another friend takes the plunge

Whew! I just returned from the Jersey beach (it was sort of Mid-Jersey [Monmouth area] so I don't think it qualifies for the term Jersey Shore, which is a South Jersey thing). My randomly assigned freshman year roommate/good friend was getting married and it was a lovely ceremony and a very fun time. It was the first time I have been a ceremony actually on the beach. It's always such a contrast to go to a non-LDS wedding when you are used to culture hall receptions and 6 week long engagements. By any standards, it was a very elegant and lovely wedding. Here's their wedding announcement.

I did what I love to do at weddings: ate good food and danced like crazy. They had a great live band and everyone was getting down, old and young. Nicole had provided flip flops for everyone to wear during the ceremony and they came in handy for dancing as well. Leopard print stilettos are good for looks but not for long haul. Good times.

Of course, because it's me, I got nailed on my way down for talking on my cellphone and driving. I got off with a warning but still ended up with a parking ticket before the weekend was over. I left my car overnight near the beach where the ceremony was held and evidently there is no parking between 3 am and 5am. Oops. They didn't even give me a ticket, just a notice telling me when my courtdate is, so I'm going to have to call tomorrow and try to get that straightened out. This is my life.

So this should be my last "big thing" for a while. I'm looking forward to some weekends at home. What did you do this weekend?

more fun candids

Most of these were taken by my Uncle Darsono..

Waiting....

And waiting.... How cute are my mom and her sister with their grandsons?

We were instructed by the photographer to show some leg. Um... no.

And this about summed up his attitude for most of the time after they came out of the temple. He would hardly be in any pictures. (Also, he refused to wear black socks because they are "so ugly". But you couldn't tell when he was standing.)

He wouldn't look up at the camera.

No matter how much I tried to coax.

This is how he spent most of the time during the wedding party photographing.

This picture cracks me up. Clearly we are dancing with each other but we are both staring off into different directions.

This was during the recieving line (slightly out of order here, sorry).

My bestest friend.

My folks can get down.

Tom was cutting a rug too.