***I apologize now for the length of this post***
It should be noted that my Birthday is by far my favorite day of the year, and I know I should stop liking it so much now that I am getting older but I can't. Also, it should be noted that Jim hates his birthday (and pretty much thinks its pointless to celebrate it). My Birthday and our anniversary are only a couple weeks apart and Jim always stresses out about what to get me. I usually try to give him a one month warning and send him my wish list in advance so he has plenty of time to shop or plan, because I want to make it as simple as possible for him. Some of my list included small projects around the house I wanted to do and others included material things like shoes, clothes etc. Well, I am not quite sure what got into him this year but Jim went all out!
A couple days before my actual birthday he organized a surprise BBQ at our house after I got home from work. Or I should say he tried to organize~See my bday is a little tricky because its on July 3rd and usually for the most part all of our friends are out of town, at the lake, spending time with their family, etc. So it gets a little difficult to plan a party on the actual day...hence having it a few days early. Well, we had some people show up and a lot of others who couldn't quite make it but all in all it was a solid effort and I was quite impressed with the thought involved and the sneaky tactics of getting my phone and stealing all my numbers in it. After the BBQ I went with some friends to the movies where we saw Public Enemies with Johnny Depp. I would say it was a good move but not great, but the acting as always was phenomenal.
On my actual birthday I got off early from work (which really threw off Jim's plans for the day) and opened my present: My new Cardi Uggs which I have been wanting for a couple years now. So excited to get to wear them (however, not excited about the winter weather that will force me to wear them)! After opening my present we headed to Tonicx to soak up some sun, and a few beers before meeting up with Justin and Patty at Twigs for dinner. From there we headed to the new Piano Bar downtown. I had been there once before and thought it would be a fun new place to hang out for the evening. We had a great time and ran into quite a few other people we knew. If you have never been I highly recommend this bar: great atmosphere, great entertainment, and great drinks! :) For the 4th of July Jim and I head out to my Aunt's Lake place on Lake CDA, and just relaxed with my family, did some reading, tanning and swimming and all in all had a great weekend.
That covers my birthday but Jim's planning and scheming did not stop there. He still had our anniversary coming up which I must say he really blew me away with how much time, thought and effort he put into it. He called my boss to get me a day off work, called my girlfriends in Seattle, to see if we could stay one night with them, planned everything we were going to do while in town and to top it off surprised me with a super nice hotel room!
So Thursday night we road-tripped it to Seattle, where we met up and stayed with Fuller, Dawn and her brand spanking new fiance, Dave. Friday morning we woke up and Jim had a whole day at the Zoo planned. I cannot even convey how much I LOVE THE ZOO! Again I realize I should grow out of this faze at some point, but its never going to happen. I go to pretty much every zoo in whatever city I happen to be in. I know its pretty much the same animals everywhere but I don't care. I think part of what I love is seeing little kids reactions when they are there for the first time and get to see all the animals up close. I just love it, and Jim could totally do without it so it was sweet of him to take me. Here are a couple of the animals we saw that day
It should be noted that my Birthday is by far my favorite day of the year, and I know I should stop liking it so much now that I am getting older but I can't. Also, it should be noted that Jim hates his birthday (and pretty much thinks its pointless to celebrate it). My Birthday and our anniversary are only a couple weeks apart and Jim always stresses out about what to get me. I usually try to give him a one month warning and send him my wish list in advance so he has plenty of time to shop or plan, because I want to make it as simple as possible for him. Some of my list included small projects around the house I wanted to do and others included material things like shoes, clothes etc. Well, I am not quite sure what got into him this year but Jim went all out!
A couple days before my actual birthday he organized a surprise BBQ at our house after I got home from work. Or I should say he tried to organize~See my bday is a little tricky because its on July 3rd and usually for the most part all of our friends are out of town, at the lake, spending time with their family, etc. So it gets a little difficult to plan a party on the actual day...hence having it a few days early. Well, we had some people show up and a lot of others who couldn't quite make it but all in all it was a solid effort and I was quite impressed with the thought involved and the sneaky tactics of getting my phone and stealing all my numbers in it. After the BBQ I went with some friends to the movies where we saw Public Enemies with Johnny Depp. I would say it was a good move but not great, but the acting as always was phenomenal.
On my actual birthday I got off early from work (which really threw off Jim's plans for the day) and opened my present: My new Cardi Uggs which I have been wanting for a couple years now. So excited to get to wear them (however, not excited about the winter weather that will force me to wear them)! After opening my present we headed to Tonicx to soak up some sun, and a few beers before meeting up with Justin and Patty at Twigs for dinner. From there we headed to the new Piano Bar downtown. I had been there once before and thought it would be a fun new place to hang out for the evening. We had a great time and ran into quite a few other people we knew. If you have never been I highly recommend this bar: great atmosphere, great entertainment, and great drinks! :) For the 4th of July Jim and I head out to my Aunt's Lake place on Lake CDA, and just relaxed with my family, did some reading, tanning and swimming and all in all had a great weekend.
That covers my birthday but Jim's planning and scheming did not stop there. He still had our anniversary coming up which I must say he really blew me away with how much time, thought and effort he put into it. He called my boss to get me a day off work, called my girlfriends in Seattle, to see if we could stay one night with them, planned everything we were going to do while in town and to top it off surprised me with a super nice hotel room!
So Thursday night we road-tripped it to Seattle, where we met up and stayed with Fuller, Dawn and her brand spanking new fiance, Dave. Friday morning we woke up and Jim had a whole day at the Zoo planned. I cannot even convey how much I LOVE THE ZOO! Again I realize I should grow out of this faze at some point, but its never going to happen. I go to pretty much every zoo in whatever city I happen to be in. I know its pretty much the same animals everywhere but I don't care. I think part of what I love is seeing little kids reactions when they are there for the first time and get to see all the animals up close. I just love it, and Jim could totally do without it so it was sweet of him to take me. Here are a couple of the animals we saw that day
After the zoo, we walked to My brother Sean's house which is close by and hung out with him and his fiance, Teresa. From there Jim surprised me with a super nice hotel room at the Fairmont in downtown Seattle. Probably the nicest place I have ever stayed and it was a great location, however I do not think the concierge was too impressed with my answer when he asked if we had dinner reservations yet and I said "No I think we will probably find a dive bar to eat at on our way out tonight." Lets just say we are not their typical clientele but it was fun to pretend for a night. 
After changing and relaxing for a bit in our room we started our walk to the south of downtown for the Mariners game that night. Seriously the guy covered all his bases on this trip. It was a good maybe 2 mile walk to the stadium and we did indeed stop at a bar to eat dinner on the way. The game itself was not so great as the M's lost but really there is not much better than watching a baseball game in the middle of summer at Safeco Field.
After the game we headed back to our fancy schmancy hotel where we tried to find a convenience store so we could get a couple beers and not pay out the ass for them but there was none to be found so we pretty much just went to bed after our very busy day.
Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed back down to the south of downtown, but not for another M's game...this time we were heading to Qwest field for a Sounders soccer game! These games are crazy intense fun! I don't actually remember a better time I have had at a sporting event. Seriously the crowd is so into it. Its only a 90 minute game (with a 30 minute half) so they go by super fast and they really are action packed. This might be a bold statement but I think I would go to one of these games over an M's game if I had to choose. It probably helped that we had amazing seats thanks to Sean, and that the Sounders won, but I am telling you, if you ever get the opportunity to see a game you have to go!
Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed back down to the south of downtown, but not for another M's game...this time we were heading to Qwest field for a Sounders soccer game! These games are crazy intense fun! I don't actually remember a better time I have had at a sporting event. Seriously the crowd is so into it. Its only a 90 minute game (with a 30 minute half) so they go by super fast and they really are action packed. This might be a bold statement but I think I would go to one of these games over an M's game if I had to choose. It probably helped that we had amazing seats thanks to Sean, and that the Sounders won, but I am telling you, if you ever get the opportunity to see a game you have to go!
After the game we got back in the car and this time we were headed to Portland. One of Jim's old college roommates, Matt, just moved there and we have not seen him in over a year so we decided to go spend the night with them. We had a great time and lived it up like we did in college, although I remember recovering quicker back in the day than I do now. I did take pictures but I was told they were not allowed to be put up on facebook or the blog so lets just say drunken debauchery ensued on Saturday night, as it always does when these two get together:) Sunday morning we woke up and had some delish breakfast cooked by Matt, we layed around and watched a movie and then headed to Beaches Restaurant in Vancouver that Jim has been craving since we moved from there. It did not live up to his memories so we headed next door to McMennamin's Bar where I drank a few Blackthorn Ciders before I had to catch my flight back to Spokane that evening. This is where Jim capped off the trip. I absolutely HATE the drive from Portland to Spokane. Its my nemesis. It feels like it should be so much shorter than it is, there is no scenery, and basically it just sucks. Jim knows this so to cap off the weekend he bought me a ticket home so I would not have to drive. He earned major bonus points for this but he does not think I see thru his other reasoning for doing this. He got to have another night in Portland with Matt, without me there so the real drunken debauchery could take place and he could go to the Nike employee store on his own and not have to worry about me buying a bunch of stuff. See after 3 years of marriage I have learned a thing or two :)
All in all it has been an absolutely amazing July but its not quite over yet. This weekend we have Jim's brother Joe's wedding which I am sure will be a lot of fun and will result in another post. Coming up in August we have our 2nd Annual McCollum, LaBelle, Snyder (or McLaSnyd if you will) camping trip up at Priest so I am very much looking forward to the next couple weeks. I hope everyone is enjoying thier summer as much as we are!
1 comment:
Way to go, Jim!! Congrats on 3 years!
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