Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 was spent here in Seattle.  My cat LOVES the Christmas tree.  This is her new spot and she will just sit there and stare at the lights.  It was so cute.  I love this cat.  :)  

My little Misu (short for Tiramisu)

This year, my cousin is up here with her boyfriend's family.  His family lives in Kirkland, so we got to spend some time with them as well.  It was nice to have some extra family around, since most of Steve's family doesn't like us, so we don't really get to have a lot of family get togethers anymore!  (Tara is from my mom's side of the family.  They still like us, but just live in all different states... Montana, Wisconsin, Colorado and California!  That's a lot of states considering I only have two cousins and my mom only has a brother and sister!)  Anyways... can you tell I am a little sad about my lack of family?  Oh well, back to our time here...

Tara and Dustin... so cute! :)

All three of us... not the best pic of me... but what are you gonna do?

My parents... Laura and Steve

Me and Tara

Here is my mom and me at church.  Steve didn't feel good so he didn't go.  The service was okay... a little cheesy.  I don't know why they try to modernize the Christmas story.  Setting it to modern music and changing song lyrics and dancing around is just silly to me.  Just tell the story/act out the story, but don't try to make it modern... we all know it happened a LONG time ago! :)

All in all it was a decent holiday, but I missed my boyfriend!  Oh... did I not mention him?  His name is Ryan and he lives in Boise.  Here is a pic of us two...

We have been dating a couple months now and he is amazing.  He's pretty much the yin to my yang and I have a good feeling about him.  :)  Oh yeah and he's disease free... if you don't remember that story... click here...  We didn't get to spend Christmas together but we did get to spend Thanksgiving and we will spend New Year's together.  Soooo grateful for that!  I hate that he doesn't live here or that I don't live there, but we are making it work.  Anyways...love to you all!  Hope you had an amazing holiday. 

Natalie's Baby Shower

One of my most favorite people had their baby shower this weekend!  My good friend, Natalie and her hubby Dylan will be welcoming a little baby boy in February of next year!  I can't wait.  I want to hold that bundle of love right now!  :)  We all got together at this swanky restaurant in Greenlake on Saturday to shower her with love. :)  This was the menu: Appetizers: Onion Tart-lets, Salmon bites.  Soup: Celery cream. Entree: Your choice of Mahi Mahi or Duck Con Fit.  Dessert: Apple cobbler with cinnamon ice cream.  Yum!  And super fancy! :)  Needless to say no cheesy games were played at this party.  (However, if you invite me to your shower... I will play your games with intensity! :)

Here are some pics from the day:

Shakira, me and Nicole

Shakira and me

Nicole and me

Such a pretty mom to be! (You can hardly tell she's preggers!)

Presents!

Balloons!

Me and ducky

Nicole and Natalie

Kate's Wedding

In the hopes of not completely neglecting my blog... I have to post about one of my oldest and dearest friend's wedding.  I have known Kate since 8th grade.  We met at church and then both went to Meridian together.  But, we both had totally different friends.  She was on the dance team, and as we all know I cannot dance. :)  I drank in high school, she did not.  However, we had church as a common bond and we did a lot of amazing things together... mission trips to Mexico, anyone?  Yes please!!  Then, we went to SPU together and the fun continued.  Then she left Seattle (and me!) to go to grad school in so-Cal... and it was there she met her hubby to be! :)  I blogged about meeting him here!  Since he seemed like a decent guy... I let him propose. :)  J/K... I had nothing to do with it! :)

So, anyways... she got married on October 15th, and to say she was a beautiful bride would be an understatement!  She looked flawless and could not stop smiling! :)  I was so happy for her!  Here are some pics from the day... sorry there are not more!  It is super hard to be in the wedding and take pics!

Ready to go!

Kate and her Aunt

Kate and Aubrey

Kate and Me :)

Mother in law, Kate, and her Mom :)

Sisters (in law :)!

This is what happens when you give my mom a camera... blurry pics... but still cute

Dancing with her daddy...

Kate, you are one of my most favorite people and I am so glad I got to celebrate this day with you!  I wish you and Adam all the best because you only deserve the best!  Love you!

My Birthday!

I love my birthday.  Even though I am not super excited about getting older, I love a reason to get together with my good friends for good food, good wine, and great conversation.  (That statement alone makes me sound old!)  Here are some pics from my birthday dinner at Purple Wine Bar.  (Love this place.  It has amazing food... a bazillion wine choices and a great atmosphere.  If you are in Seattle try it!)

Me :)

Marissa and me and Liam's head

Me and Shakira

Natalie, Nicole, and Me

The Life of a Single Gal

So... I had a suggestion to post honestly about what it is like to be single.  Since it's no secret I want to meet someone amazing and get married... well, here goes.  I'm in school.  I work full time at a pretty time consuming job (meaning I have to take work home with me... in fact I should be working right now!)  I'm busy.  When I do have free time I either catch up on sleep or hang out with my girlfriends.  To get married, you have to date, but in my super busy life, I meet very few new people.  This whole school thing is only a year long, so I can deal.

So... imagine my surprise when I go to take my final and a cute guy starts talking to me at the desk.  Long story short... he asks me out and we met up last night for some drinks.  Ugh... longest two hours of my life!  There was just no spark.  He was vegan... I'm sorry for all of you who are vegan.  Vegetarian is one thing... gluten free is understandable because I've had my own digestive issues.  Vegan is just too much!  The guy ordered pizza with no cheese!  That's the best part!  I happily ate my caprese... savoring the mozzarella and being so grateful for cheese! :)

Anyways... so we just had nothing in common.  We went for a walk and talked a bit, but I was just bored!  I finally said I had to get up early... so I had to head home.  I gave him a half hug, thanked him for dinner and headed home.  As I was walking into my apartment (less than 15 minutes later)... I get this text.

You are a beautiful and smart woman and I feel like I need to be honest with you.  Not that I'm trying to jump into bed with you, but about 5 years ago I had a girlfriend who wasn't honest with me and now I have herpes.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!  WTF????  I mean seriously... we didn't even kiss.  Not that I'm trying to jump into bed with you?  Who do you think I am?  We hung out for 2 hours!  That is not necessary information to disclose at this time.  And, look, I am sorry that happened to him.  I'm not a cold hearted bitch... but ewww!  I don't even know this guy!  Why would he tell me that?  That's at least maybe third date material!  Ugh... so yes... this is why I hate dating.  It is why I stay in my own little area and hope my prince will fall into my lap... preferably disease free...

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Good Karma for the day! :)

The Band Perry

I love love love this band!  I love country, and next to Taylor, these guys are my new fav.  (They sing "If I Die Young" but their whole CD is amazeballs!)  I went to their concert at the Evergreen State Fair on Tuesday.  And, the best part of small venues/not that famous people yet?  You get to meet them!  Here are my pics below.  I went with one of my best friends, Marissa.  She and I love concerts so much and are always down to see a show together!  Great night!  Oh... and I got their autograph too, as well as the pic!

We weren't that close...but just wait!

Kimberly Perry... so cute!!

Marissa and Me

Here we all are... Neil, Marissa, Kimberly, Me, Reid