Our First Christmas

Well, it wasn't looking much like Christmas around here... until today. After much thought, we decided to get a Christmas tree. I pulled out the Christmas box and realized that the only decorations I had were a few candles and tree decorations. If we were going to feel any Christmas spirit it would take a tree, with the glow of the lights and the smell of the needles. Now we're in business.

Our "Peace" artwork from PB, it was a lot bigger than we thought it would be!

The tree adds some nice warmth to the room :)

I guess it's my year to put on the topper. When we were kids we really argued over it. Mostly because it meant that we got lifted up by dad and that was cool (cooler than a step ladder!).

Okay, so these are in reverse order...

Aww :)

Bridal Pictures

My cousin Macey, photographer extraordinaire, offered to take some bridal portraits for me. She also wanted to practice a few photography things like sun flares and some aloof shots. 

So I put that fantastic dress back on, did my hair and makeup and out we went. I thought I'd love having my dress on again, and it was fun to wear it, but really I felt kind of silly. All-in-all it was fantastically fun and we got some great shots. Here are a few:

It got to be so windy that we had to call it a day.. but yes, I really got in that river with my dress on. So COLD!

Married!

Our honeymoon was just wonderful and was a great way to start off our marriage. We were totally relaxed and had a wonderful time. Blake has been an amazing husband!

*sigh*

Well, we made it through the wedding, which means we made it through two moves and quite a bit of stress! Blake moved into our place in June and I moved my stuff over in July. However, I stayed with my parents during until the wedding, so the unpacking really only started when we got back from our honeymoon. It was a lot of work combining our lives and all those fabulous wedding gifts (Thanks everyone!) but here we are, the place is starting to feel like home and I'm just about ready to go back to work!

"God's Country"

It is no small secret that I am not thrilled about my future move to Tri-Cities. I love the West-side and all that is rainy and green. I don't really enjoy the blistering heat and prefer cloudy skies over skin cancer causing sun. Vitamin D-vitamin schmee.

Jared, my older brother, so kindly helped me move out of my old apartment and caravaned with me to Kennewick. He was there with me while I sadly packed up and lamented, pouted shamefully and constantly really, about having to move to the Tri-Cities. He would say over and over how he just didn't understand why I was sad. After all, I was moving to 'God's country', they grow things there, the earth is fertile, they have more sunny days and wide-open skies! Seriously, he reminded me of this hourly and tried to impress upon me just how lucky I was, after all, it was God's country!
I maintained that it was the desert and nothing good was in the desert (except Blake, but I'd rather him not be there either).

So Jared stayed for a week to hang out with Blake and to use our super high speed Internet. He had helped me unload my stuff into 'our' apartment. Blake had been 'living' there for a month now with his bedroom furniture, scant dishes, his TV and two camping chairs. I was providing most of the furniture and really didn't want any of his bachelor furniture to make it over the threshold! I went to live at my parents' until the wedding.

Apparently, during Jared's stay there was a pretty major wind storm because after Jared came home from his week in 'God's country' he gave me a hug and expressed deep sympathies that I had to move to such an awful deserted land. He said that the wind blew so hard dirt seeped into every crack around every door and every window. The wind/dirt sandblasted the writing off of an unopened case of soda in his truck bed and destroyed our barbecue. He reported with quite a bit of enthusiasm how horrible it was and that this place indeed was not 'God's country' but a dry, nasty, sand blower, of a desert.

Now if only this 'win' would somehow make it better to live there! At least he tried to be positive.. I guess ;)

Farewell Old Friend

It's time to move. It's silly I know, but I will miss this place. I know I'm moving on to better things: marriage, my first home with Blake, etc., but it's the end of this chapter and that still makes me sad. I just want to capture all that this place really meant for me. 

This was the first place I lived alone, and I have loved living alone! I've lived here longer than any of the other 11 places I've lived since I moved away to college. I moved in with a bed, dresser, desk and hand-me-down couch. I painted, decorated and furnished this place from top to bottom. This place represents my successful independence. This is where I really grew into my own life and style. This is where I really started cooking. The joy of every type of food and ingredient within minutes. Selection and variety at my fingertips.This place is what I'll think of when I remember my 20's. The convenience of Bellevue and Seattle in 20 minutes or less (when the M's weren't playing). Meeting friends for coffee, happy hour, dinner or drinks. Walking to the grocery store. Tuesday night dinners with Whitney. Ups and downs shared over food. Learning what it really means to be an SLP. This place is where I come at the end of a long day and melt into bed. This is where I cried with friends and laughed with friends. But more importantly:

This is where I lived while falling in love with Blake. I was painting the accent wall in the living room when he called to check on me late one night and for the first time I had expected him to call. I was putting together my bedroom when I realized he'd called every night that week...he must either be bored or there's something serious going on here. It was the weekend I felt helpless because a heavy piece of furniture had been delivered to the concierge and I had no way to get it into my apartment.. there he came to the rescue, visiting in his big truck.

This is where Blake proposed.

This is where he first said 'I love you'.
(Yes in that order)

I'm sure I'll look back and see that what I'm leaving behind is nothing compared to what I'm moving towards. But for now, it still stings to see this place be packed up and painted over.. all that hard work. That classic, old hardwood floor.. open and empty. My cousin was kind enough to photograph it before I started packing and moving. This is how I'll chose to remember it. Warm and full of life.

 

Here's a little preview!

In only 51 days and a few hours...

I was able to pick up my wedding band today from the jewlery designer... YEAH!! And the answer to your next question is.. yes, I wore it :) What!? I couldn't just leave it in my car.. or in my purse... what if something happened to it! If it helps, I wore it on my right hand, I only had it on my left hand to make sure it fits and take a picture :) I love it! Still have to get Blake's though....

Work Weekend

This weekend Blake and I met down in Kelso to help get my parents' house ready for the wedding. My mom and dad have been working really hard all spring and even last fall to get things caught up and spruced up. We were glad that we could finally help out, even just a little. The weather wasn't great, but it felt better to have a sweatshirt on than melt in the sun! Even though it was work, it was nice to be home and spend time with family. Jared even came up to help. It was really great to see him!

Blake was great with the pressure washer all morning and finished the lower levels of the house and front porch. It made such a difference! I didn't think to get before and after pictures, but I did get some pictures of Jared and Blake working very hard to scrape stuff off the windows and Dad up on a ladder spraying the wasp’s nests. That was so gross! You can see the mud streaking down the eave!

Mom and I did a ton of weeding, mostly with the ferns in the lawn area below our house. It was pretty gross but looked a lot better once we got the dead stuff and unwanted plants out of there. Blake and Jared worked hard edging around all of the tree areas. There is still a lot of work to be done; next week the plan is to paint all of the newly washed trim.

Blake will do the painting, while I do some other bride duties. I have arranged a play date for my flower girls. We're a little worried about the youngest one, Blake's niece Emily. We're hoping that if she warms up to Ada, then she will really make it down the isle. Then that afternoon I am going bridesmaid dress shopping with my friend Alicia. It should be fun, despite her aversion to shopping!

We also knocked out all of the invitations this weekend. I got Blake to help finally and my mom pitched in too. You can expect to see them in the mail this week! I can't tell you how good it feels to cross some things off the list!!

On the last leg of the weekend, Blake came up to Seattle and took a load of my stuff over. It was the beginning of a long process. It was mostly the stuff from my closets but it made me realize how much stuff I have! I hope to purge a lot of it (yeah for Goodwill!) it's hard to think about moving to a new life. Things that I very rarely use but consider it worth the space to keep, craft supplies and research articles.. now I have to question if it's worth our space. Not only do I question if I think it's worth it, but is it worth taking up our limited combined space. Hopefully it will help me get rid of things I don't need (and make room for all those great wedding gifts!).

Memorial Day Weekend

Blake and I went to his family's beach cabin in Long Beach for the weekend. It was such a relaxing time! Blake's mom, step dad Brad, and niece, Emily, were there too, as well as some of Brad's family.

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We love the peace and quiet that the beach brings. We usually go to this cute book store and coffee shop called Adelaide's and pick out a new cookbook, then browse the recipes while we drink our coffee. This time we picked out The Herbal Kitchen by Jerry Traunfeld. I can't wait to get started on my herb garden!

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We also like to make sure we add something to the cabin, but not something knickknacky. Last time we added a little Webber grill. This time we planted rosemary so that we wouldn't have to try to find it at the local grocery store. The local grocery store is pretty good, they have a great little wine collection, but are often lacking in the fresh herb department. Best of all, it's only two blocks away so we enjoy walking down there.

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We also enjoy going to the Saturday Market in the Port of Ilwaco. This time we found two great Sue Olson photographs for our new apartment. One of them I saw last time we were there and was sad that I didn't get it. We were glad that it was there again and also found another photo for our guestroom.

We spent the first evening sitting around the campfire with Brad's family. We do enjoy a good campfire!

Emily: eating her "roll," she did eat the hotdog later.

Nothing says Long Beach, Wa like the Marsh's Free Museum. It's what I used to think of when I thought of Long Beach, that and the go-carts. The irony is... I can't stand either!

We walked the boardwalk and caught the sunset.

Yes we are dorks... Really, I put him up to it.

The beach was just so big and the sun looked so small, I couldn't resist :)

The puzzle! We usually walk through town and go to all the little shops and pick out a puzzle to work on during our stay. This time we went for a round Thomas Kinkade.

What happened to April!

Well so much for once a month.. not that it matters because I think that my cousin Macey is the only one that reads this anyway ;) and I keep in touch with her fairly well (most of the time!).

Life moves so fast and I guess it only goes faster as the years progress. Not necessarily as we get older, but as earth adds years and we add technology everything gets kicked up a notch. I used to think that it was just because we were young that we thought time flew. Then I started working in geriatrics and I realized that the mature and wise elderly people felt like it moves faster every year too. I always thought.. but you're so slow, maybe you just can't keep up!? No, I really think that the world is going at a faster pace. Just like the dollar loses value, the second is too. Probably just America actually. That's also why we are so unhealthy.. stress, high blood pressure... strokes.. and that's what keeps me in business. Sorry! Kidding! I would have plenty to do if everyone stayed healthy and stopped stroking out.

Hey, I didn’t call it “Jillian’s blog of warm-fuzzies”!

So that leads me to my point, which is that my wedding is getting closer!! Blake should hear about his job this week, and in two weekends we’re going house hunting. I realized that moving out of my apartment and away from Mercer Island is like breaking up after a two year serious relationship. Every time I think of something that I had hoped to do with Blake here, or that I had hoped to do with friends or some plan I had for life that in mind would happen here. All of those standards that I have set so high and each time we have a sunny day and the sight of that clear blue water against the green trees and mountains takes my breath away… a little piece of my heart breaks. It’s like I’m slowly realizing that the life that I had planned will never happen.

However, just like in love, life goes on. You meet someone new, you appreciate qualities in someone that you never knew you wanted or needed and somehow you find yourself in love with the most unlikely friend that takes your breath away and amazes you every day. Now the likelihood of my falling in love with Tri-Cities is very slim, but the point is you just never know what is out there. The most unexpected things might sweep me off my feet. Like maybe I’ll learn to like the sun… we'll see!

Chasing the Wind

Well, in keeping with the once a month posting schedule ;) here I am again! I don't have any wedding updates to share but I do have some future Mrs. Chamberlain updates...

We've been looking at places to rent in Walla Walla. Blake and I went down last weekend and looked at the greatest townhouse.. and a few serious dumps. But the townhouse is really cute. Its downtown, really close to some cute restaurants, the farmer's market, Starbucks, and what they call 'shopping' down there. I can't tell you how much I like this townhouse. Especially compared to all of the other options out there. It's complicated though.. of course.. nothing I'm involved in can be simple ;) there are 2 and 3 bedroom townhouses, we want a 2 bedroom because we don't really need a 3 bedroom and they're more expensive, we may as well be making a house payment at that point. The 3 bedroom ones are waaay cool too, they have rooftop deck with piped in gas for your bbq and piped in hot/cold water for an outdoor kitchen. Soo cool, but again, more than we need. SOO the drama comes in now. There are only so many that are 2 bedrooms, and two of those are owned by the state for reduced income families. I know that people that don't make a lot of money need to live somewhere... but these places are SO nice!! The other available 2 bedroom units are pending right now... so if we want them, then we will need to sign a lease as soon as one is available.. if one is available.

The trouble with this is that we can only live in Walla Walla if Blake keeps working at Boise. It's too far of a commute otherwise. So he's miserable at his job right now, and is worried that it won't be around in 1 year. He has been very actively trying to find a job anywhere else lately, and if he is successful in that venture, then we'd need to break the lease and find a new place closer to wherever he finds a better job. The fact of the matter is.. I may have to move to tri-cities. I hate the thought of it, but it might have to happen. Ugg. It's just so gross there! Going from Mercer Island with nearby Bellevue to Tri-cities... not easy on the lifestyle I'm used to.

*Sigh* We'll see what happens! There are so many unknowns right now, which I don't like, but it continues to bring the two of us together and is really nice to have the experience to bond through.

Once a month, that counts right?

Well, the planning continues and the stress comes and goes. I'm trying to remember to enjoy the process and the moment, it only happens once! My current project is music (so if you have any contacts.. let me know). The DJ is a must to keep the reception running smoothly while allowing me to relax. My wish list includes live music for the ceremony, but we'll see if it works out. My challenge has been the location, not quite Portland and not near enough to Seattle. Things are slowly coming together though. I've started to get a handle on the flowers now, thanks to my Aunt Sandy. She's helping me out so much with her knowledge and experience with flowers. I'll post some pictures of my inspirations.. oh, and my dress :)

Green boquet photo courtesy of John Henry and www.wedding-flowers-and-reception-ideas.com/

Here's to the new year!

Well, I'm attempting this, we'll see how it goes! So of course like most newly engaged females my life has begun revolving around that special day. I went to the Seattle Wedding Show on Saturday, which was fun but a little overwhelming. I'm so glad that I bought my dress before I went. I was able to just enjoy looking at all the vendors, rather than stressing about checking that off of my list. Speaking of the list.. so far we’ve checked off the date and location, most of the guest list is compiled, there's dress and we started our Macy's registry! It’s coming along!

In other news, I got to see some good friends for dinner on Saturday. They are all dear friends from Western and it was so wonderful to see all of them and their significant others. We went out to Barolo and had a great time!