New York, New York...

Way back in September I went to New York to spend some time with my bff, Kristen, for her 30th birthday. It was a fabulous trip and I pretty much saw, did and ate everything! 3 months later, I am now finally able to get my pictures organized and ordered. But instead of downloading them in 3 different places I thought I would just add the link where you can view the photobook I put together on snapfish. Sorry no captions to any of them but most are self explanatory. Enjoy!

Turkey Day...

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, and not having blogged in a few weeks, and the added fact I will not be able to spend the day with my family, I thought it a good time to blog about what I am most thankful for this year. So without further ado, here it is.

• My amazing, hard working, hilarious, loyal, thoughtful, supportive husband.
• My phenomenal, hilarious, stupendous, glorious girlfriends. Seriously could not get through life without them. They are more like family then friends
• A job I love and actually look forward to going to (well most days anyway), and that affords me the ability to travel and take time off whenever possible.
• My co-workers who make work enjoyable and who sacrifice everyday to do our job.
• My parents. Who, god bless them, are the most loving, supportive, forgiving and helpful parents on the planet.
• My In-laws who help Jim and I daily, both at home and life, in general.
• My siblings who challenge me and entertain me all the time.
• My health which I can say for the first time in a long time has actually been on the up and up this year!
• My nieces and nephews who are a source of great joy and entertainment and make me hopeful that I can someday be as good a parent as their parents are :)
• Both Jim and my friends who make life so much more enjoyable. We truly are blessed to be surrounded by such amazing, inspiring, awesome people.

bookworm...

With the weather taking a turn for the cold, once again I have gotten into a big ol' reading fix. I had a few comments about my last book review post, so I thought I would update on what's been peaking my interest lately.

I will start with the fiction

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks: I love Nicholas Sparks books and have read every single one. The Notebook, The Wedding and The Rescue are among my all time favorite books, EVER. This book was good; not great. Very typical tragic romance that kept me interested but I had the tragedy portion figured out halfway through. Still would recommend it to Sparks fans but would for those reading him for the first time it would not be my highest recommendation (for whatever that's worth).

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close: I found this book through my recommended reads link on Amazon. Apparently I have a type :) It was a good, quick, easy read. The ending was a little sudden and I felt could have used a little more closure on the whole story. Overall, I liked the story and think it would be a good fun read for an all female book club. Parts of the characters reminded me of different females in my own life so the whole story was very much relatable.

One Day by David Nicholls: There was a lot of advertisements and hype about this recently since it was made into a movie starring Anne Hathaway. I have not seen the movie and the concept of the book really intrigued me, but I don't think it followed through very well. The whole book follows 2 characters throughout their adult life and every chapter basically checks in on where the characters on on the same day each year. Like I said in theory it sounds pretty interesting; but something I cannot quite pinpoint was lacking. It was a very slow read for me. The whole thing builds and builds (and builds) but then the climax and ending seemed rushed. Even though the movie did not fare so well in the theaters I still wanna check it out and see if its any better.

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult: Another one of my favorite authors. I think I have read if not all pretty damn close to all of her books. My favorite is 19 Minutes followed closely by My Sisters Keeper (the book is 10x better than the movie)! Like Sparks, her books follow the same kinda of pattern: well developed characters, highly researched and detailed hot topics, followed by a surprising twist. She is not every ones cup of tea but I love the topics she covers, and this book was no exception. Highly recommended.

Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Wesiberger: A good, fun, quick, easy read! Perfect for a cold, snowy day when you just want some mindless entertainment. Curl up and enjoy!

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein: Pretty sure this book is a couple years old but had heard a lot about it recently and decided to check it out. Another one with an interesting premise. The whole story is voiced by the main characters dog. If you are a dog lover you will like it. I laughed, I cried, and then I went home and loved and hugged my dogs.

Room by Emma Donohue: Lots of word of mouth recommendations on this one. This book is very good but very hard to read. I say hard simply because of the subject matter. The book is written in the voice of a 5 yr old boy who has lived his entire life in one room. His mother was abducted in her teens and has been forced to live and raise her captives child in the room. Amazing-but like I said hard. This was not something I could read in one sitting, simply because it was pretty haunting. That being said, I still highly recommend it.


Now on to the non-fiction. I am not sure why but I have been on a bit of a Non-fiction kick lately. Maybe it the gossip lover in me but I find it fascinating to read about other people's lives.

I already wrote about Thunderdog here but it bears repeating. Its a great read and I think everyone should check it out.

In the President's Secret Service by Ronald Kessler: I loved this book so much I bought it twice. I was halfway thru when I accidentally left the hard copy on a plane, so I went to my handy dandy kindle and downloaded it as soon I discovered I lost it. This book is right up my alley. All about gossip and criminal justice. What could be better! :)

596 Switch by Ryan Leaf: A must read for Coug Fans! Especially Coug fans still agonizing over the last 2 seconds of the '97 Rose Bowl. Leaf may not be the best writer known to man but he does a good job of describing what went on behind the scenes of the '97 season and make you feel like you are there all over again. By writing this Ryan also helps redeem his once shaky character and popularity.  I am once again proud to call Ryan Leaf a coug after this book.

Bossypants by Tina Fey: Hilarious. I love her. I love this book.  :)

Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me by Chelsea's Family, Friends and other victims: Hilarious. Easy. Fun. If you like her other books, you will LOVE this book.

I am currently reading Rob Lowe's book Stories I Only Tell My Friends. I am about 4 chapters in and totally into it. Lowe is a fantastic writer and story teller. Again this feeds my love of gossip, and boy does he have some. He has lived a fascinating life and his take on it is quite enjoyable.

Also waiting on my kindle are A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard  and Ashley Judd's All That is Bitter and Sweet.  I am not sure either one will be an easy read, and I may have to take some time before tackling either. I am sure Dugard's will be very difficult at times; but after seeing some interviews and a few excerpts of it I think it will, in the end, be a message of hope.

Well that's all from me, for now. If you have ready anything good lately let me know. I am always looking for new recommendations. Happy Reading!

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo books are the perfect gift for any occasion.

Must love dogs...

It has almost been 10 yrs since the U.S was attacked on September 11th. I honestly can not believe it has been that long. I, as I'm sure most of you, can remember exactly where I was and how I found out about what was happening that morning. It is something that is ingrained in my mind and I am sure will never fade. Because of the looming anniversary date it has been on TV and in the media again and for some reason I have found myself more drawn to the TV specials and articles and books about different peoples stories. I just finished reading: "Thunder Dog: the true story of a blind man, his guide dog, and the triumph of trust at ground zero" by Michael Hingson. I won't go into great detail because well the title says its all. The author was on the 78th floor of the world trade center when it was hit. The book is his accounts of what happened...well his accounts and his guide dog's, Roselle. Yep Michael is blind and his dog saved his life that day. The thing is its not just a great story about the journey Michael took on September 11th; but the journey he has faced every day since he was born without sight.

I wanted to share Michael's Guide Dog Wisdom with you. It's the top 10 things Michael learned from his dog Roselle that day; and definitely something we could all learn from:

1. There's a time to work and a time to play. Know the difference. When the harness goes on, it's time to work. Work hard; others are depending on you.


2. focus in and use all of your senses. Learn to tell the difference between a harmless thuderstorm and a true emergency. Don't let your sight get in the way of your vision.


3. Sometimes the way is hard, but if you work together, someone will pass along a water bottle just when you need it.


4. Always, but always, kiss firefighters.


5. Ignore distractions. there's more to life than playing fetch or chasing tennis balls.


6. Listen carefully to those who are wiser and more experienced than you. They'll help you find the way.


7. Don't stop until work is over. Sometimes being a hero is just doing your job.


8. The dust cloud wont last forever. keep going and look for the way out. It will come.


9. Shake off the dust and move on. Remember the first guide dog command? "Forward."


10. When work is over play hard with your friends. And don't forget to share your Booda Bone.
    

Obviously some of these will make better sense once you read the book (and you should read the book!) but it just goes to show dogs are much smarter than we ever give them credit for :)

blink and you missed it...

August was a whirlwind of a month for us. I think I was gone more than I was home. BUT I loved every second of it and really wouldn't have it any other way.

It started with an evening up at arbor crest winery celebrating Megan's birthday. If you have never been up there you should check it out. They had a live band (Sammy Eubanks!) and you just bring your own snacks and seats and hang out and drink there amazing wine. We had quite the crew this year...I am already looking forward to it again next year!

2 days after the winery we set out for our 4th annual camping trip up at priest. This is by far my favorite summer tradition and I believe it deserves its own blog post so look for that soon!

The day after camping Megs and I headed to Seattle for a 4 day all girls fest. Our friend Landis's boyfriend flew her in for a visit, THANKS MATT! We were able to be together for the first time in a loooong time! These girls mean the world to me and I don't know what I would do without them. We all communicate a ridiculous amount via email, but its so much better in person! There is really nothing I wouldn't do for any one of them, seriously these girls are my rock. I am truly blessed every single day by each and every one of them!!!!

Our time together pretty much consisted of eating, drinking, and talking...with a few excursions thrown in for good measure. Here we are the first night toasting to what else...US (and fuller and jax who couldn't be there)

here we are again that same night at Kings hardware discussing our million dollar idea. Shhh I cant talk about it yet but just you wait its BRILLIANT :)

The 2nd day we decided to be tourists and hit up the Space needle. I have never been up to the top before and it was a gorgeous day for it. I did not fare so well on the elevator up (i had to close my eyes and squeeze dawn's hand) but I was able to make it out to the deck and take in the sights.

beautiful days like this remind me why its called emerald city...it really does sparkle, doesn't it?

Our last night in town we hit up a sounders game. I have been before but a couple of the girls hadn't. it wasn't a regular season game so it wasn't as packed and intense as usual but we still managed to have a good time!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip-us celebrating the win and each other :)

This sign kinda epitomizes a girl trip. If you have a group of girlfriends you know what I mean. We don't do it maliciously, its just one of those things that happens. if you cant read it it says: "don't talk about yourself, we'll do that after you leave" HA! I love it :)

been a little busy...

Its been quite a while since my last real update so here is a quick run down of what we have been up to the past few months.

We went to a six de mayo party with a donkey:

I broke my foot:

Simpson, Katie and I went to a Boyz II Men concert and met the Boyz!!!

PJ and Amber got married, on a boat, in Seattle:

they had karaoke at the wedding:

I got kidney stones :(

I went to Beth Lamanna's Bachelorette Party in CDA, it was also on a boat :)

Jim and I went to an Indians game: its the summertime thing to do!

Matt and Jenah got Married...FINALLY!

And Beth and Nick got married last night:

So that brings us to today. I am finishing my last shift before our 4th annual mclasnyd camping trip commences on Tuesday... Seriously can.not wait!