and this creative one
and this fun pose up
And super awkward pictures like this one
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
childhood pics
One other fun thing about scanning old pictures is getting to see awesome photo shoots like this one
feeling nostalgic!
Ben and I met 7 summers ago. I was going through some of the scanned pictures from back then and came across some that make me smile :) It feels just like yesterday.
life for the past month
we've been busy. good busy. I woke up yesterday and it felt funny to not have to sneak around the house in the morning trying to not wake the guests. It felt odd to not have to start the dishwasher because all the dishes were used up in a day. A gallon of milk has started to last more than 2 days. Suddenly we can't get through a costco size package of blueberries as quickly.
After my mom left town, Ben's parents came into town the next week and then my dad, brother & his girlfriend, Kelsey came into town the following week. Seattle provides an endless possibility of things to do, so we didn't have a hard time coming up with lots of fun events!
A morning down at Pike Place for my dad to get some seafood for his feast later on.
lunch at MOD (Made on Demand, although it could be for Mean Old Dad). Don't worry about Mark's eye patch, he got into a brawl outside the restaurant.
Disc golf in Mountlake Terrace - you should have seen the put that I made.. I shocked myself!
A delicious seafood feast
A picnic at a local state park on I-90
Not pictured are Ben and his dad staining our deck back to its original color, our neighbors rapping at 2 am waking my mom up, walking greenlake to watch the milk carton derby, and taking a stroll through the Edmonds farmer's market. Did I mention I love Seattle?
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
summer happenings
whew, it's been a while since I've posted a "what we've been up to lately" post. Even though it hasn't felt like summer, we've been going full throttle with all sorts of summer fun. My mom came into town a week ago and we had a blast spending time outdoors. Like.. 
Going to an outdoor concert. No, Ben doesn't normally wear a suit to concerts- he met us during his lunch hour.. doesn't he look so snazzy.
Nothing says summer like a little berry picking:
Afterwards we went on a bike ride.. poor Sais was not a happy camper about having a huge helmet on her head riding around during her nap time. My sister and I left the rest of the crew and made the ride back to the car with Saish screaming in the back. I'm sure we looked totally sane passing by people singing old mcdonald with a screaming baby on back. 
Fortunately, she wasnt scarred long term. Here is proof:
Mid week I got broncitis so I was down for the count for almost a week, but we still managed to make it out to Couer de lane to meet up with Ben's parents and the Cooks for some 4th of July festivities. Even though I wasn't feeling great, it was nice to read and relax. I have wanted to go to the lake house for so long after hearing Ben talk of all his memories of wake boarding, tubing, etc. It was a blast!
My mom left this morning and we said goodbye with a little Portage Bay Cafe. Yum!
Monday, June 21, 2010
V.C. O'Neill
My grandpa passed away a couple of weeks ago at the age of 100! We are all thankful that he is in heaven, reunited with his wife and probably singing karaoke or water skiing. Grandpa was an incredible man that did so many things in his life time. He built his house in his 70's and was water skiing I think close to his 80's. 
Even though I only saw my grandpa usually once or twice a year, my time at his lake house in Wisconsin are some of my most vivid memories of childhood.
One of the first things I would do when we got to house was sneak several or maybe the whole bowl of Peppermint Patties that were set out.
Then I would go downstairs to this closet that always smelled like moth balls and get out this Ronald McDonald stuffed doll that for some reason I had a strong attachment to.
Most of our time was spent outside. There was a well next door that I always loved visiting. I also loved floating around on inner tubes in the shallow part of the lake.. except I was always afraid to touch the bottom because of the sea weed.
One of the best parts of our visits (my mom might disagree) were the water ski weekends/reunions. My grandpa would get really into planning this big showcase. The event normally started by him blowing a blow horn (one year right into my ear) Then we would all line up (one year we all wore shirts from our schools) and we would pass the mic around and share some info about ourselves. Then we topped it off by singing "on Wisconsin" After that, we would get our skis and get ready for the water skiing part of the event. Grandpa would always ask his neighbor to go out on his boat in a certain part of the lake to get additional footage. Then one by one, we would ski a particular course, ending in letting go of the rope and trying to ski into a floating laundry detergent bottle.
Grandpa was not just known for his planning abilities. He always seemed to have a new hobby. For a while, he was in to building various items out of wood in mass quantity. One year it was reindeer and another time it was clocks. Another hobby he got into was making color photo copies. He had this awesome printer and if you wanted anything blown up, he could do it for you! Then came burning cd's. This hobby lasted probably the longest. He would go to the library, pick out some cd's and then burn them for everyone. He seriously had the largest cd library of anyone I know. The best part was that he would record the cd rather than burning it, so you would often receive a cd with 3 tracks that were like 20 min long. One of his last hobbies was karaoke. VC and his girl friend Dottie would hold many shows for people in their retirement community. I really wanted Ben to experience my grandpa, so last summer we took a road trip out to the mid west and we got in a few hours of some karaoke!
Just to prepare you, we had never heard these songs before and instead of having words on the screen, he would print out the words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VTUGP8JEWo
Even though his death is a real loss, I am thankful for these memories that he helped create for me.
Even though I only saw my grandpa usually once or twice a year, my time at his lake house in Wisconsin are some of my most vivid memories of childhood.
One of the first things I would do when we got to house was sneak several or maybe the whole bowl of Peppermint Patties that were set out.
Then I would go downstairs to this closet that always smelled like moth balls and get out this Ronald McDonald stuffed doll that for some reason I had a strong attachment to.
Most of our time was spent outside. There was a well next door that I always loved visiting. I also loved floating around on inner tubes in the shallow part of the lake.. except I was always afraid to touch the bottom because of the sea weed.
One of the best parts of our visits (my mom might disagree) were the water ski weekends/reunions. My grandpa would get really into planning this big showcase. The event normally started by him blowing a blow horn (one year right into my ear) Then we would all line up (one year we all wore shirts from our schools) and we would pass the mic around and share some info about ourselves. Then we topped it off by singing "on Wisconsin" After that, we would get our skis and get ready for the water skiing part of the event. Grandpa would always ask his neighbor to go out on his boat in a certain part of the lake to get additional footage. Then one by one, we would ski a particular course, ending in letting go of the rope and trying to ski into a floating laundry detergent bottle.
One of my favorite parts of our trips were the excursions to the union to get some ice cream.
Grandpa was not just known for his planning abilities. He always seemed to have a new hobby. For a while, he was in to building various items out of wood in mass quantity. One year it was reindeer and another time it was clocks. Another hobby he got into was making color photo copies. He had this awesome printer and if you wanted anything blown up, he could do it for you! Then came burning cd's. This hobby lasted probably the longest. He would go to the library, pick out some cd's and then burn them for everyone. He seriously had the largest cd library of anyone I know. The best part was that he would record the cd rather than burning it, so you would often receive a cd with 3 tracks that were like 20 min long. One of his last hobbies was karaoke. VC and his girl friend Dottie would hold many shows for people in their retirement community. I really wanted Ben to experience my grandpa, so last summer we took a road trip out to the mid west and we got in a few hours of some karaoke!
Just to prepare you, we had never heard these songs before and instead of having words on the screen, he would print out the words.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VTUGP8JEWo
Even though his death is a real loss, I am thankful for these memories that he helped create for me.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Becoming a Crowl
It's Friday and that lovely time of the day where I zone out at work and head over to Kelly's Korner to see what the "show us your life" topic is. This week is sharing your proposal story. I started up this blog after we were engaged, so I thought it would be fun to relive the proposal night!
The proposal story started the night before the actual event by Ben telling me over dinner that his grandparents were sending up a package (randomly being sent to my apartment) that needed to be signed for. I thought it sounded kind of sketchy, but I didn't think too much of it.
On my drive home from work the next day, I called my sister to tell her my suspicion. I remember telling her how dumb I would feel if it really was a package being delivered. While still on the phone with my sister, I pulled up and saw a note flapping on my door. I thought, "oh my gosh it really was a package." As I looked closer, the note said "when you get home, call your sister." Well conveniently enough, I was already on the phone with her! She read me a clue.. something about going to get my favorite Chai. I only like Chai from Starbucks so I figured that out quickly.. only problem is that there is 8 million Starbucks locations in Seattle. Luckily she had an address. Off I went down to Starbucks. I was told to tell the Barista my name and she would give me the next clue.
At Starbucks, the barista told me to call my parents for a clue. I called them and got a clue to go to a florist. There I picked up a rose and got another phone # and a clue to go to Barnes & Noble where Ben had preordered a wedding planning book. There I got another # and a clue to go to Simply Desserts where I picked up dessert. Yes, another clue and # that led me to a thai restaurant where there was food waiting to go. By this time, I was anxious for it to be over.. I was driving all over in the middle of rush hour and I am the WORST parallel parker. Last but not least, I got a clue to go to Golden Gardens, a local beach park. It was a cold and rainy January night so there was no one out there except my man with a rented propane heater and his guitar.
He played a song for me, washed my feet, and said some beautiful words that all seemed to blur together. Finally, he got down on one knee and asked the important question.
8 months later, we said I do!
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