All because two people fell in love...

Jeff and Yvette's wedding was PHENOMENAL! It started with the rehearsal and dinner and everything kept getting better and better. The setting of the ceremony was something out of a storybook, the weather was fantastic, the ceremony was blessed and the reception was perfectly planned. Seriously these two pulled off one of the best weddings we have been to. Every tiny detail captured them so perfectly and it made me jealous that I will never get to plan another wedding for myself  :)   I am not alone when I say we all had the best time and we have to get together again soon!!!

sorry the pics get blurry but that's a good indicator of how the night went :)

17 mile drive...

Jim and I decided to make a real vacation out of Jeff and Yvette's wedding and headed down to California a day before the rehearsal dinner. We didn't really know what we were going to do but just wanted to get away and relax a bit. We got in to town around 10 am and after picking up the rental car, getting lost, and checking into the hotel we had several hours to spare before meeting peeps that evening at the hotel bar.

On the advice of some of my co-workers we took our lovely rental car and headed down to Monterey to check out the 17 mile drive that goes along the coast. It was about a 2 hr drive just to get to Monterey and several times we both thought, this better be worth it. But boy did it live up to the Hype! It was beyond gorgeous and Bea-U-TIFUL!!!! so much to see and not nearly enough words to describe how pretty it was.

Did I mention the drive takes you right thru Pebble Beach Golf Course!?!

I wish I was a better photographer and better writer to really show it off and describe it. If you ever get the chance you should definitely take the time to go on this drive and see it for yourself. We promise you won't be disappointed!

Lucky in love...

Yes, I hit the Jackpot when I married Jim, and into his family, but the point of this post is about how lucky I am that the man I chose to marry has surrounded himself with the BEST people EVER! Seriously. The friends I married into could not be better. These boys are beyond amazing. From day one, they accepted me (well all except John Lamanna but that's another story:) and protected me. Hard to do in a town like Pullman, WA. I knew I made it with his college friends when we sat around his gross apartment, playing drinking games, and I impressed them by  *ahem* "making room" for more beer. Classy, I know.

His roommate Matt was a little different story. I could never really tell if he liked me or not; and I was afraid I may have been cramping his style by always hanging around. That all changed when somehow we ended up the only ones left at the bar and we ended the night with a quality H2H, Jim McCollum style. The next afternoon, while Jim was at class, Matt made me watch Trekkies 1 and 2 with him.  Since that day I knew I was part of the crew or at least an assumed plus one of Jim's.

It has been a long eight years since then and slowly but surely more ladies have been added into the mix, and all the guys have started to settle down. I am so grateful for the women these men chose to share their lives with. We don't just put up with one another, we genuinely get a long and have a ton of fun together. I would pick any, and all of these women to be friends with; had I met them under different circumstances. I am just lucky I don't have to do that, and we are all part of the wives club now. And yes it is a club...you have to be able to pass the test of sitting thru numerous drinking nights, listening to the same college stories, over and over, and over. and over again. To make a long story longer I have known how lucky I am since the day I met them all, but it became even more evident when we ALL got together in San Francisco, this April, to celebrate Jeff and Yvette's wedding*...and a good time was had by all!

*more posts to come on this soon

puppy love...

We actually had some sun the other day so Jim and I decided to make the most of it and enjoy it while it lasted. Jim cooked up some burgers and sausages on the grill and we sat outside and played with the dogs for a bit. We were able to get them to sit still long enough for a few pictures. Don't be fooled though we had to attempt about 30 shots to get these 3, and behind the camera Jim is holding the tennis ball in order for them to "sit" and "stay". Regardless of how it happened, I was very happy with the results.

Miss Beasley McCollum age 4 1/2

Miss Bledsoe McCollum age 3 1/2

Sisters

As much as these two drive me nuts sometimes, I could not love them more. Even if these calm moments are few and far between these two faces can always help put a smile on mine. 

PS: don't be surprised if these pictures show up on this years Christmas card. As I said its very hard to get them to sit still for a picture :) 

#hungergames2012...

If you know me you know I have a tendency to become slightly obsessed with certain things, some would call it addictive personality disorder, I simply call it love and devotion. Such is the case with the Hunger Games books. I had first heard about them through my friend, Stone, a good 3 years ago, but it was not until about a year an a half ago when I was working graveyards that I finally decided to read the first one.  Not gonna lie, to me the premise sounded terrible and not anything I would be interested in but I had 8 hrs to kill and nothing better to read so the hunger games it was. 1 chapter in and I was HOOKED.   I could not put it down, nor could I shut up about it. Pretty sure I read all 3 in 5 days. Honestly something about these books just infected me and I spread it around like the flu in daycare. A few months after reading it I heard they were turning them into movies, while I was hesitant at first after seeing a couple of the castings I became just as excited to see the movies as a 12 yr old twilight fan. Since all my girlfriends had read the series and were just as obsessed as I was we began joking around that we should meet up to watch it together.  Ha ha ha that would be so funny and great but we would never actually do that...or would we?

Cut to March 24th, 2012...Moses Lake, Washington.

Me, Megs, Jax, Stone & Jamie enjoying the beautiful scenery that Moses Lake has to offer...Gotta love that beautiful water tower and potato smell.

I've decided I will never not travel with Jbass, this girl comes prepared! here we are enjoying some homemade bloody's from a Mason Jar.

Enjoying reuniting with a toast at the Moses Lake golf course. Thank God we were the only ones there!

These ladies light up my life (and apparently my eyes)!

Also this post would not be complete without a shout out to our driver, entertainer, and Moses Lake tour guide, Al.  The cub made the trip very informative and fun, so to him I would just like to say "Hi."

I hate to brag...

Aren't these two the cutest little boy and girl you ever did see! 

This is my nephew, Louis, who I call Quattro and my niece, Magdalene.

I love thier smiling faces and how happy and joyful they are. This also makes me thankful that they have eachother to grow up with and I know they will share such happy memories together, just like my siblings and I did.

Thanks for the picture Sheila!

 

PS: Aren't footie PJs adorable!?!