Random things...

First of all, our marriage counter at the bottom of the blog says we've been married 2 months and 2 weeks today! :) Yay!!! Time is really flying...


I got my birthday present early from my parents this week. A BEAUTIFUL University of Texas diploma frame (I capitalized BEAUTIFUL for my 2 close girlfriends who graduated from texas a&m univ. They will enjoy that... ha,ha!). It really is pretty, with a burnt orange suede matte and a gold longhorn head. Nice! My old diploma frame had been damaged several times in my moves. So, after 14 years, I decided to ask for a new one. :)

Next on the list of "things"... Brandon's birthday is June 23rd. Yesterday, I got to shop for a "Husband Birthday" card for the 1st time! Yay!!! :) I'm having fun!


Another random thing... My parents keep a very clean house. Their favorite cleaning tool is a Swivel Sweeper. Normally, they buy one for $40 at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I found it at Ross tonight for $25!!!! I bought 2 for that price! :) I love deals!


And lastly... I can't get over the weather and conditions here. For instance, the sun doesn't completely set until around 9:45 pm. It's so crazy to see light in the sky until almost 10 pm. Brandon & I both comment on it almost every day. It still amazes him, too. :)

This morning when I woke up, it was 49 degrees outside and our heater was running. Brandon leaves the heater on 64 and never moves it. Seriously... I can't believe how cold it was today on June 16th. The high reached 69, but it was still kinda chilly in the shade at school today. There's always a strong wind/breeze here, especially at our house and B's parents' house because we both live on hills on the edge of the gorge.


I took this picture this morning. It's the view out of our water closet window. You can see our neighbor's roof. Sunny & 49 in the Evergreen State... Gotta love it!!! :)

Our Fax Anniversary!

One year ago today, June 14th (Flag Day), I attempted to fax my job application to the school district where Brandon worked. The fax didn't go through and the secretary alerted Brandon (Technology Director) to the problem. He called me and left a voicemail on my cell while I was working out at the Wellness Center in Beaumont.

:) Brandon & I were talking about it last night. I can't explain it, but when I heard his voice on the voicemail, I got giddy and so excited! At my job, I received business calls from men on my cell and office phone all the time. I never got excited by the voices on those calls. But I did get excited when I heard Brandon's voice. I'll never forget that moment- where I was standing, the way the sky looked, everything. I told him, "I think my soul knew." :) Something magical happened and all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Finally! My Love appeared on the scene... :)

Tomorrow is the 1-year anniversary of our first phone call. :) Life is good! Wow... what a difference a year makes!!!

Fun Sunday with my Hubby! :)

Yesterday morning, we went to our church and out to lunch to a really cute pizza place. Then, we went to Walgreen's (something we enjoy doing :). We came home and B took a nap while I talked to my mom. Later, we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to finally complete our wedding registry. Yes... my showers were 3 months ago and we are just now getting the rest of our stuff. Anyway, BB&B held a special wedding event for couples who have gotten married in the last 3 months. We got extra discounts and refreshments. There was also a drawing for a set of pots & pans. We didn't win, but that's ok because my pots & pans set is one of my FAVORITE things we got yesterday! Love my Cuisinart pots & pans!!! :)

Here I am... a very happy girl in the parking lot with 2 baskets full of our stuff! :)



We also went to Kohl's (in the same shopping center) and finished our registry stuff there, too. Afterward, B & I had a little date at one of our fav places in Vancouver. It's called "Big Al's". I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it in at least one other blog post. Their restaurant is a sports grill. There are fun games (sort of like Dave & Buster's or Jillian's in Houston) and there is a bowling alley, all under the same roof.



Anyways, we got to see the end of the NBA championship on the big screens. We got to sit side-by-side, facing the big screens in this really comfy, circular booth. We had so much fun sitting close & cuddling. It's like we were 17 or something. And the food was deelish!



After that, we went to play games for a little while. Here is a picture of the 2nd love of my life... SKEEBALL! :)



Then, we came home, unpacked our BB&B/Kohl's goodies and watched a movie on the couch. :) It was a great day & night with my honey!

Beautiful Saturday in the Gorge

Brandon's sister, brother-in-law & nephew went with us to the Bonneville Dam and Fish Ladder today. It was a gorgeous day, around 69 degrees and sunny. We drove about 30 minutes to the dam. Afterward, we went a couple of miles farther to Skamania Lodge.



All the fish going upstream in the Columbia River have to pass through the fish ladder. There are 2 people who COUNT EVERY FISH for 16 hours a day (Can you imagine???). Anyways, it was very neat to watch Ethan as he looked at the fish passing by the windows. The fish pass quickly and the water is murky. They hardly ever come right up to the window. I got a couple of great pics of the fish swimming toward Ethan and Mohit.



This was my first time to see Skamania Lodge. It was so nice! I'm excited to go back with the gift certificate Brandon's office gave us as a wedding present. Woo-hoo! :)



We thought we were going to eat dinner there, but instead, we just enjoyed the beauty of the lodge and grounds. Brandon & I sat and watched Brianna, Mohit and Ethan play croquet. Fun! :) Click to enlarge...



We left Skamania Lodge and drove across The Bridge of the Gods and ate dinner at the same restaurant we went to in the winter after we hiked at Wahclella Falls. YUM!!! :) The view from your table is amazing and they have awesome hamburgers.



Ethan was pointing at the Columbia River as we passed over Bridge of the Gods, saying "Water!" :) He's 2.5 and really cute!

Click on the link below to see the pics from today...

Bonneville Dam & Skamania Lodge

Dinner with Dave & Holly

I just came home and got under 2 blankets. It's 56 degrees & there's a chill in the air. Brrrr!!!

Brandon & I are having a farewell dinner with our marriage coaches tonight at 6:30 pm. Dave & Holly coached us for 6 weeks before we got married. They also go to our church. They are moving to Hong Kong for 2 years for Dave's job. We are going to miss them! They are leaving July 1st, which is just around the corner.



I snapped this picture passing by the restaurant. This is a great place not far from us called Applewood Bar & Grill.


We took this picture in the foyer of our church back in February. We love Dave & Holly!

Panther Creek Falls

Click on each picture to make it bigger...





This past Saturday, Brandon and I invited one of our friends here to go with us to Panther Creek Falls. It's only about an hour away. It was a beautiful day!

Click on the picture below to see the slideshow. The pictures are beautiful!

Panther Creek Falls

:) I'm a good wife!

As an early SURPRISE birthday present for Brandon, I arranged for a yard makeover. Our yard was really overgrown and had an insane amount of weeds. I found a really great company who removed all the weeds and manicured our yard. They did flower bed cleanup and weeding, decorative tree pruning, bark dust bedding and a major weed knock-down on the back and sides of the house.

Brandon & I left the house this morning at 8:30 am. The yard team arrived at 10 am. We got home about 2:30 to see our cleaned up place. It was fun to anticipate the surprise!

The yard company didn't lay out new bushes/plants. They just cleaned up our existing landscaping. Brandon thinks it looks GREAT and now we might go buy some decorative plants and enhance the backyard & front beds. We don't really have a "backyard", it's more of a "path".

I wish I would have taken "before pictures" of the front. I'm almost never alone to do it and since it was a surprise, I didn't want to tip Brandon off. Surprises are great! :)

Our front door is on the side of the house. This is a view down the side. It was weedy & ugly. Now it's just dirt and mulch. Nice!



We have an "L" shaped back porch/deck. It's great. Half of it is covered and half isn't. Anyways, the side-path wraps around the house and deck to the back.


This is the view of the back of our house. I love our kitchen "pop-out" breakfast nook.


Like I said, it's not a lot of "yard", but I'm so excited that the yard cleanup has been done! :)

2-Month Anniversary!

Brandon & I have been married for 2 months! April 2-June 2 :) You know, Saturday was 8 weeks. I like to celebrate on the Saturdays since we were married on a Saturday. But, Brandon likes to celebrate on all of the 2nds. Let's celebrate both! Yay! :)

Brandon had a great 1st day at LCC! Thanks for praying! And next Thursday he will start his last 6-week class for his masters degree. He's really glad it's almost over! :)

I wish I could say I had a great day with 1st grade. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but let's just say I'm dreading going back tomorrow. :) ha...

Have a great evening! :)

New job tomorrow!

If you read this tonight or first thing in the morning, say a prayer for Brandon as he starts his new job tomorrow (Thursday, June 2nd). I'm so happy for him, but I know transitions can be challenging sometimes. He will work Tuesdays and Thursdays at the College in June while he finishes up with the school district here the other days of the week. Thank God that's coming to an end! :)

Say a little prayer for me, too. I'm subbing in 1st grade tomorrow at a school I've never been to. I always have a little apprehension going to a new campus. Also, 1st graders in the month of June... could be challenging. Our school district will be in session until June 22nd. Can you believe that? It's good news for me because I can work more days. But those poor kids!

Thank you! :) Have a good Thursday!

Bye-bye, Texas plates...

I'm very glad to be in the Pacific Northwest, but I'm sort of sad to take the Texas plates off my car. I'm a sentimental girl. :(

The Ford company headquarters in Dallas FINALLY sent my car title to Washington. It took from April 25-May 31!!! That's crazy!!! Supposedly, they were "backed up". You're supposed to change your license plates within 30 days when you move from out-of-state or potentially you can be ticketed. We arrived in my car after the honeymoon on April 12th, so I've been pushing it to the limit. I was very glad to go pick them up yesterday.

Getting my new license plates was the last step of my married life transformation. Everything else has been done now. :) Yay!