Doug and Courtney Widener

Blending the Old with the New

2011-12-06T21:14:00.001-08:00

My new decoration colors that I added this year to our Christmas decorations are gold and silver. Since I didn’t want to do a total overhaul on Christmas decorations I added some of the mantel décor from the past three years back to the mantel to add in the blue and brown that is on the tree. I can’t wait to get super cute stockings in the future!

You can check out how I made the wreath in this post.

These little trees are new to the fireplace as well. I am not super happy with their decorations, but they will do for this year.

I found these great urns at Michele’s and while I was there I saw the topiary. In the future I would like to make these with white poinsettias in the gold urns.

And that is the mantel for this year….

Now head on over to Ten June and see some other great mantel decorations.

Signed, Sealed, and Ready To Be Delivered!

2011-11-29T21:35:00.001-08:00

I just love designing and sending out Christmas Cards. New people get added to the list every year and I just get so excited to send them a card. For the past three years I have used Tiny Pints for our cards. They are a great company to use and their customer service is awesome. Last year about 20 of our cards where creased in the wrong place. All I did was chat with someone on their website and replacement cards were sent out to me ASAP. When I went to order my Christmas cards this year I noticed a $25 credit on my account. They gave me this for my inconvenience for last year….AMAZING! I love when something goes wrong, someone goes above and beyond to fix it!

I have had my cards ready to send out for a few days now, but I always wait to get my first Christmas card in the mail before I send ours out.

Today my first card came from my Uncle Jim and Aunt Lynda.

And I am proud to say that our Christmas cards will be in the mail tomorrow!!!

Crafty Christmas

2011-11-27T22:09:00.001-08:00

I have been spending hours on pinterest lately and all the beautiful Christmas decorations have me wanting to redo our tree with a new color scheme. I am so trying to resist the urge and I just keep telling myself that we only have two more Christmases here and it would be a waste of money. I will just wait till we move and then do a total make over of our Christmas décor. Right now our color scheme is gold, silver, blue and brown (to match our living room) and Doug has requested that the next tree have red decorations.

So instead of totally redoing everything I decided to add a few cheap things that can go with any color scheme.

On pinterest I found this blog that gave instructions on making a wreath with ornaments. It was super easy to make.

I bought a few packages of shatterproof ornaments from Wal-mart and took all of the plastic hangers off of them.

Starting with the largest of the ornaments I began hot gluing them to the Styrofoam wreath that I picked up at Joann’s.

Then I glued the medium size ornaments on.

And finished with the smallest ornaments to fill in the holes and gaps.

I plan on hanging it on this mirror with fishing line using something else I saw on pinterest…an upside down command hooked to the back of the mirror.

I made these floral arrangements to add to our mantel with the wreath. I am very impressed with how they turned out!

Here is a little sneak peek at the mantel coming together.

Another new addition to the Christmas décor came from a Pottery Barn catalog. Pottery Barn has this Noel sign that I am in love with, but not so in love with the price. It is currently sold out, but I think it was about $300!

So here is my way cheaper version. (This is the best picture I have of it right now)

I took 4 12x12 canvases and painted them off white. I then traced letters that I made with my cricut onto them and painted them with brown paint. I tried to give them a Christmas look by spray painting them with glitter paint. I love how they turned out!

The lights are on the house and the inside is fully decked out. I will post pictures of all of our decorations tomorrow!

Photo Coasters

2011-11-27T20:42:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Heather and I got a little creative. After seeing Amey’s post over on her blog Sugar and Spice, I knew just the project that we could do. We followed Amey’s steps and made the cutest little coasters.

We ran to Home Depot for the 16 cent tiles and then to Joann’s for the felt, mod podge, and acrylic spray paint sealer.

We cut out our pictures to fit the tiles…

After that we glue the pics to the tiles with the mod podge. We applied several more layers of mod podge until we had a nice thick coat. With a hot glue gun we glued the felt to the bottom of the tiles and then took them out to the garage to spray paint them with acrylic sealer. I love how they turned out and you can never have enough coasters. (Heather and I both made 8.)

Baby Claire

2011-11-21T12:45:00.001-08:00

Remember this sign?…

Beautiful Baby Claire arrived November 3rd.

I love holding little newborns! She is so perfect!

Congrats Doug and Mary!

Made by Special Request

2011-11-01T21:50:00.001-07:00

Doug and I have another nephew on the way that is due at the end of November. When Ellen was here visiting she told me that Henry wanted t-shirts that said “Thing 1”, “Thing 2”, and “Thing 3” from the Dr. Seuss book. I thought that sounded like a pretty easy request. After bugging Valerie to tell me the name of “Thing 3”, she finally told me the name that they decided on. I picked up some red t-shirts from Wal-mart, grabbed some print and iron on paper from Joann’s, and spent a little time perfecting my design on the computer and here is the finished product…

Not sure how long the iron on will last, but I got the sweetest thank you phone call on Monday.

*Little side note – I mailed these shirts on Saturday and they got them on Monday! I love flat rate shipping boxes!

Halloween–Simpsons Style

2011-11-01T21:36:00.001-07:00

Doug and I decided to be Marge and Homer Simpson this Halloween! I wasn’t too excited about a store bought costume until I started looking on line. I found some great ideas to spice Marge up! I painted myself yellow, found some great shoes at Value Village that I spray painted orange, and I made bug eyes out of ping pong balls. The eyes were a little freaky…but hey it was for Halloween!

Our friends had some great costumes too!

A Bee and her Beekeeper…

Fred and Wilma…

All the Girls….

Heather was a Barbie Doll Styling head and I laughed out loud every time I looked at her!

Group shot…

We had a great time at our Halloween party and recovered all day on Sunday by being lazy on the couch. We had enough tricker treaters come by on Monday night that I unloaded all my candy on them. Diet starts on Tuesday…HAHAHA!

To Do List Update

2011-10-29T08:36:00.001-07:00

Here is our “Things to Do before we move in 2013” to do list update…

Go to a Mariners Game (baseball)
Go to a Seahawks Game (football)
Go to a Sounders Game (and why not a soccer game)
San Juan Islands (off the coast of WA)
Leavenworth at Christmas
Tulip festival in Mt. Vernon
Hike in the Olympic Peninsula
Canyon Beach in Oregon
~~San Francisco~~
Napa Valley
~~Disneyland/LA~~
Hawaii
Mexico with Charlie and Julie for their 30th bdays (and Doug’s too)
Halibut Fishing
Shooting an Elk (this one is for Doug)
~~California Beach~~
~~Redwood Forest~~
Catalina
Portland
Crater Lake

Hopefully we can accomplish all of this in 2 years!

Cali Vacay Day 6, 7, & 8–San Francisco (Thursday-Saturday)

2011-10-29T08:19:00.001-07:00

I am going to blog about San Fran as a whole because if I don’t I will never get finished blogging about our California Vacation that was over 6 weeks ago!

We started our Thursday morning off stuck in traffic crossing the Berkley Bridge. We paid a ridiculous 6 dollar toll, was late for our tour, couldn’t find parking, paid 28 dollars for parking, paid 10 dollars to a taxi to catch us up to our tour group, got on the wrong tour bus, kicked off the wrong tour bus, finally found the right tour bus, and then was told that we had about 5 minutes to run to the top of a very steep hill to take pictures of the windiest street in the world…Lombard St. and then joined our tour group. Wheeewwwww…now we could breathe and enjoy the rest of the tour.

We saw China town…

The famous Painted Ladies…AKA Full House houses!

Stopped by a lot of parks…

Drove across the Golden Gate Bridge…

And drove into Sausalito all with our tour group. We took a ferry from Sausalito back to San Fran that took us by our next point of interest…Alcatraz.

We had amazing views of the city from the Alcatraz island.

The sun was setting on the island on our way back to San Fran.

We then walked forever down to Fishermans Wharf.

Saw a ton of seals.

And that was all in one day! The next day we decided to tour around ourselves. We crossed back over the Golden Gate Bridge and went in to Muir Woods. Muir Woods is the closest part of the Redwood Forrest to San Fran.

After we were done tree-gazing we went back across the Golden Gate Bridge and this time we actually saw blue skies.

Doug drove down Lombard Street.

We drove around China Town looking for the place where they make fortune cookies.

Finally found the fortune cookie shop stuck back in a little ally. We bought some delicious fresh fortune cookies and the little owner guy really wanted to take a picture with…too bad that he was holding the cookies over his face.

We ended the day with a ride on the trolley!

Saturday was spent catching up on sleep and watching football. Doug was tired of being a city tourist and paying an arm and leg for parking. We can successfully mark a ton of things off our “things to do before we move” list!

Wednesday with Wrecks

2011-10-12T22:21:00.001-07:00

Wrecks loves his new bed!

It put him right to sleep!

Lets see how long it takes before he decides he wants to pull all the stuffing out!

Just a little touch of Fall

2011-10-11T22:07:00.001-07:00

Ellen was visiting this weekend, so with her help and a little help from pinterest we did a little fall decorating. I finally put my hours spent on pinterest to good use!

I wanted to go a little overboard decorating for fall after perusing pinterest and seeing all of the amazing ideas. I tried to contain myself and after spending 12 dollars on pumpkins and about 5 dollars on beans I brought a little fall into our house!

Pinterest copy cat #1…fill vases with corn, beans, and peas

My version….

Pinterest copy cat #2…pumpkins on candlesticks

My version with squash…

Pinterest copy cat #3….pumpkins in vases

My version on the mantel…

Happy Fall Yall!!!!

Cali Vacay Day 5–Pacific Coast Highway

2011-10-10T19:56:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday we said goodbye to Anaheim and headed to San Fran via the Pacific Coast Highway. We left Anaheim around 10 and got stuck in LA traffic for about 3 hours. We finally made it through LA and Malibu and decided to stop at In-n-Out burger. Not the best burger I have ever had, but it wasn’t too shabby.

Driving on the PCH was beautiful and also super scary at times! The road was very curvy and we were hugging the side of the cliff above the Pacific ocean.

We arrived in San Francisco just in time to see the sun set. What a long day of driving.

Cali Vacay Day 4–Disneyland

2011-10-10T18:47:00.001-07:00

We started Day 4 of vacation buying sunglasses. I lost my sunglasses on a ride the day before and Doug broke his the next morning. We found some that would do at a little shop next to the hotel. After buying sunglasses we were off to Disneyland!

The first ride we rode was Indiana Jones and lucky for us we were in the front of the car and Doug got to drive. Well he didn’t really drive but he pretended like he was.

Then we went on a little safari river cruise.

Next stop was Splash Mountain…

We watched Disney’s Cowboy Show and of course Doug was chosen to participate. They were doing a dating game show for the sheriff’s daughter. They blindfolded all the guys and had them answer questions. Maybe if I wrote this post weeks ago I could remember in more detail the funny jokes…but all I can say is I was laughing hysterically.

Doug was chosen out of the three guys…and here is his reaction when they took off the blindfold….

We rode so many cheesy rides (peter pan, Alice in wonderland, tangled…the list goes on and on) I was really surprised when Doug wanted to ride the teacups.

But once we got on I see why he wanted to ride them…

Dougs favorite part of the day was the huge turkey leg we had for lunch.

We had fun, but Disneyworld is still my fav!

Sad to say good by to southern Cali…but headed to San Fran on Wednesday!!!

Here is a picture of our hotel room that was within walking distance to Disney! Super cheap and oh so close!

Wednesdays with Wrecks and Cali Vacay Day 3 – Venice Beach, Huntington Beach, and Disney’s California Adventures

2011-09-28T22:24:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we went to the Washington Coast for the annual Orthopedic Retreat. We had a great time hanging out with all of the other residents and their families, but I think Wrecks had the best time out of everyone. He loved all the never ending commotion going on around him and he loved all the attention. We took him down to the beach so he could run off some of his energy.

Back to blogging about our Cali Vacation…which is taking me forever!!! On Monday we slept in a little…Doug had to keep reminding me that normal sleep in on vacation. We had breakfast at the oldest diner in LA and then headed to bum filled Venice Beach.

I wanted to stop at Venice beach because I had heard about all the different types of people that hang out here. Well all that was “living” on Venice beach were scary bums trying to sell their crazy crafts.

The one neat thing of Venice beach was the place where Arnold sculpted his muscles…Muscle Beach.

After our stroll on Venice beach we went a little further south to Huntington Beach. Doug wanted to spend a day on the beach and I thought Huntington Beach would be perfect. The scenery was beautiful…

But the wind was making me freeze and run from cover from the sand that felt like needles stabbing me all over my body! I tried my best to weather the sand storm so Doug could enjoy his day on the beach. Doug loves playing in the ocean…but the water was freezing! No wonder the beach was pretty empty!

We laid on the beach for about 2 hours before Doug relieved me from my misery. We headed to our hotel outside of Disneyland around 4. Palm trees lines all the roads that lead us to Disney…

Our hotel was only about 45 minutes from the beach, so when we arrived we decided to head on over to Disney’s California Adventures. A one day park hopper ticket to Disneyland is around $100, but we found a great deal on base for a 3 day park hopper pass for only $99. I thought that we would only use one day touring Disney, but since we had about 3 hours left before the park closed on Monday we tried to see as much as we could. We rode all but 2 rides that I wanted to ride before we came back to the hotel.

Off to see the original Disney on Day 4 of our Cali Vacay…

Wednesdays with Wrecks and Celebrity Stalking

2011-09-21T23:01:00.001-07:00

Someone got a haircut…..Let me introduce you to skeletor!!!

Wrecks had so many matts in his coat that shaving him completely was the only option the groomer had because the matts were so tight and close to his skin! She did leave him with a little goatee action…

Now on to our little Sunday night celebrity stalking in LA. While we were on Hollywood Blvd I picked up a map to movie star homes…

So thankful for a little GPS that we had in the rental car! The first place that it lead us to was Ben Affleck and Jennifer Gardner’s gate…

Most of the star’s homes that we visited were behind huge gates, so we were never able to see their actual houses (sad face). I wanted to know what was behind these gates…so as soon as I was at my computer I went looking for pictures of their houses on google. Here is an aerial view of Ben and Jennifer’s home…

The one house that didn’t have a gate was Betty White’s. It was so small and cozy looking. I attempted to find an aerial view of her home but all that came up was pictures of the White House….go figure! Oh and I forgot to mention that after we left Santa Monica the sun went down…Celebrity stalking at night seemed a whole lot more creeper!

Next up was Jay Leno. Here is his gate…

And here is the aerial view that I found. Check out the gross pool. I guess he is to busy driving all his cars around to clean it!

Nick Lachey and Vanessa Millinno’s gate was not that impressive…

But behind the gate lies a pretty nice pad…

We found Taylor Swift’s pathway up to her house, but we never found the driveway.

The road in the picture below is the one that we took to get to her house and where the gate is in the picture above is located on.

What a cute little place…

Here is Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitts amazing gate.

I guess Jenn (I get to call her Jenn now since I have been to her house and on the set of FRIENDS…we are like BFF! ha!) got the Beverly Hills home in the divorce. She recently remodeled the whole house and sold it for $42 million dollars. Chump change!

Doug’s favorite gate on our night stalking adventure…The Playboy Mansion…

I found a picture of the gate in the daylight and thought that I would share it…

So many sinful things have probably happened on this property…

We stopped at a couple of houses in Malibu on Wednesday while driving up to San Fran. The gates look way better in the day light! This is Julia Roberts’ home…

This Georgia girl tore down two houses on her property to build her dream home…

What a beautiful place…

Matthew McConaughey’s gate really reflected his Texas style to me…

This is the best aerial view I could find of his house…

I had a great time finding all these homes…Doug just went along for the ride. He is such a trooper! On to the beach and Disneyland tomorrow…

Cali Vacay Day 2–A Day in LA

2011-09-20T23:25:00.001-07:00

*****HEADS UP - - Extremely Long Post Ahead with Picture Overload*****

It has been just a little over a week since the day of our trip that I am about to write about and I am trying to remember exactly what we did. With that being said I am so glad that I do this blog. I do this blog 1)for family and friends to keep up with us all the way over here on the West Coast, 2)to have something to show our kids that we did have a life before they came along, and 3) so I remember! I have the worst memory ever! I go back and read our blog and say, “Oh yeah…We did do that! That was fun.” I love scrapbooking, but it was starting to get a little expensive so I hope to one day turn this blog into our little family book and have it printed out each year. Anyway, on with day two of our trip….

I love doing tours of places and learning all the interesting facts that often go untold. (My favorite tours to go on are ghost walks…I love freaking myself out!) Doug on the other hand just humors me and tags along. It surprised me when he was actually excited about the backlot tour that we did on day 1. When we were in Vegas we took a tour to the Grand Canyon. We were on the bus and Doug asked me to look around and tell him what I saw. I looked around and told him I saw people. He promptly said, “OLD PEOPLE! Old people do tours…people our age stay at the casino!” After I laughed out loud I told him that we do these tours now so we don’t have to do them later and we will be able to tell everyone about them when they want to do them. With that being said…Grand Canyon a must see…LA not so much!

We spent Day 2 of our trip on a Rasta bus touring LA…

First stop…Malibu. Not very impressive. The houses are crammed together and right on the beach with very little room between the house and the water. Not the beautiful beach houses that I was expecting to see.

The bus let us out at the pier…

Doug loves pointing out contradicting things…such as….

Views from the pier…

Next stop was the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. The 55-room mansion sits on 16 acres of land. At the time it was built, it cost over $3 million and was the most expensive home built in California up to that point.

The estate was a gift from oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny to his son, Edward "Ned" Doheny, Jr., and his family.

Following the purchase of the estate by the City of Beverly Hills in 1965, the property became a city park in 1971 and was subsequently added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 as Doheny Estate/Greystone.

The house and grounds are often used in filmmaking and television productions. The house's descending staircase is one of the most famous sets in Hollywood.

Greystone is now a public park , and is also used as a location for special events.

The estate is popular as a filming location due to its beauty, manicured grounds and Beverly Hills location.

Shot on location(from Wikipedia)

All of Me
Amazing Race 17, The - (final pitstop / finish line in Season 17, episode 12: "Hi. I'm Sorry. I'm in a Race")
Bare Essence (used as the Marshalls mansion)
Batman & Robin
Beautician and the Beast, The
Big Lebowski, The
Bodyguard, The
Dark Shadows (1991 revival) (used as Collinwood the Collins family's mansion / estate)
Dead Ringer
Death Becomes Her
Dirty Dozen, The
Disorderly Orderly, The (Jerry Lewis)
Dollhouse (Season 1 Episode 10 Haunted)
Dynasty: The Reunion
Entourage (Season 4 Episode 10 Snow Job)
Eraserhead
Falcon Crest (Season 9 Episode 6 God of the Grape)
Flowers in the Attic (movie based on the novel / book)
Forever Amber
Ghostbusters II
Gilmore Girls (used as Chilton Academy a prestigious preparatory school)
Golden Child, The
"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" (music video by Meatloaf)
Indecent Proposal
"It's Like That" (Mariah Carey music video)
"I Want Love" (Elton John music video)
Jumpin' Jack Flash (film)
Knight Rider (Season 1 Episode 1 Knight of the Phoenix)
Loved One, The
MacGyver (Season 1 Episode 12 Deathlock)
Mentalist, The (Season 1 Episode 21 Miss Red)
Murder, She Wrote (Season 2 Episode 6 Reflections of the Mind & Season 3 Episode 4 One White Rose for Death)
National Treasure: Book of Secrets (Benjamin Gates and Abigail Chase's mansion. Seen when Conner, Abigail's date, drives her up to the front door, filmed in the courtyard of the Mansion)
Phantom of the Paradise
The Prestige
Puppet Masters, The
Remington Steele (Season 3 Episode Blue Blooded Steele)
Rock Star
Rush Hour
Social Network, The
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2^[7]
Spider-Man 3
Stripes (Outside Courtyard)
There Will Be Blood^[3]
Vampire Diaries, The (promotional photoshoot)
The Inheritance (1997)
What Women Want (Lauren Holly’s wedding site)
Winter Kills
Witches of Eastwick, The
X-Men

The gardens were amazing…

And the views were gorgeous!

After we left the mansion we drove to Rodeo Drive…

Not only is this the most expensive shopping district in the world, but it is also a great place to people watch and window shop!

This famous shopping district stretches over 3 blocks and is lined with boutiques, shops, restaurants and luxury hotels!

Once an exclusive shopping area, it now also serves as a tourist attraction!

Rodeo Drive Fun Fact: Did you know that a horse path ran through the center of this shopping area until the 1950's? That's supposedly why it was called "Rodeo Drive"!

Doug found what he wanted to purchase…I had to remind him that his “manly car” (and a whole lot cheaper car) back home would be awfully jealous right now. Maybe one day honey…but for the now the corvette will have to do!

The Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel is located on Wilshire Boulevard, at the south end of Rodeo Drive. The movie Pretty Women was filmed here in the presidential suite!

Stopped for a photo…

Next stop was the Griffith Observatory…

I will let you guess who had to get a picture of this…

The views were spectacular of the City down below…

While at the Observatory we spotted the famous HOLLYWOOD sign…

History of the sign can be found here. The sign was conceived as an outdoor ad campaign for a suburban housing development called "Hollywoodland." Hollywood is actually named after Hollywood, FL!

The sign has seen its ups and downs. From people committing suicide by leaping from the letters to pranksters rearranging letters or setting them on fire. The sign is now monitored 24/7 by security guards and cameras.

Next up on our tour…Hollywood Blvd and the Walk of Fame! We only walked a small section and I took pictures of some of the stars that I recognized.

There are over 2400 stars on the Walk of Fame.

Some celebrities that are receiving stars in 2012 are Jennifer Aniston, Kate Winslet, Vin Diesel, and Scarlett Johansson. After being selected for a star you have to come in person to a revealing ceremony and pay $30,000 for the thing!

Also on Hollywood Blvd are some iconic Theatres. The Kodak Theatre where the Emmy’s are held…

The El Capitan where a ton of movie premiers take place…

The Chinese Theatre…

It has also been home to many premieres including Star Wars.

Among the theater's most distinctive features are the concrete blocks set in the forecourt, which bear the signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the present day.

George Clooney…

Denzel Washington…

Arnold…(Doug loves that he wore cowboy boots)

Sinatra…

After the tour we were dropped off at the Santa Monica Pier…

It was very crowded with people paying an arm and leg to ride carnival rides.

Santa Monica Beach is where Baywatch was filmed because it is usually pretty empty.

Doug excited that the tour for the day is over.

At this point he doesn’t know that celebrity stalking 1-0-1 is about to begin…he is unaware of the “Map to the Stars Home” booklet that I picked up at a souvenir shop!

He wishes that the end of the trail was the Santa Monica pier….Day 2 continued - celebrity stalking posted tomorrow!

Day 1 of Cali Vacay–WB Backlot tour and Exploring LA

2011-09-19T09:02:00.001-07:00

Picked up the rental and leaving the airport…Our first impression of LA was that it was a little dirty and old. But I guess all areas around the Airport and Downtown aren’t in the best shape.

Headed for Hollywood…

First thing on the agenda, a Warner Brothers Backlot tour…

George Clooney’s Apartment in ER…

Annie’s orphanage in the 1st movie…

I watched this movie so many times as a kid…I can see her singing right off this balcony…

This is the orphanage in the Annie remake and also was Jim Carey apartment in the Mask where he falls out of the building and says the line, “Look Mom, I’m road kill.”"

The two building where side by side…

Where the upside down kiss was filmed for Spiderman…

Stage 16 – The largest stage on the lot…

Underneath the stage there was a 2.3 million gallon tank of water. One of the things that they filmed here was the movie Perfect Storm.

The car from Get Smart…

The Gran Torino – Clint Eastwood actually owns this car and has loaned it to the lot. They said he comes and gets it when he wants to take it for a drive.

The General Lee – They had to rebuild the car after every episode.

The Car from the Hangover…I am glad that it was fixed.

Scooby Doo…

The Bat Mobile from the one with Val Kilmer…

Harry Potter…

My favorite part of the tour…The set of FRIENDS!!!

They bought this coffee machine for the set and forgot to hire someone to run it. Gunther was only supposed to be an extra for the day, but since he was the only one on set that knew how to work the machine, they kept him on and made a character out of him. We were told that every minute somewhere in the world a Friends episode is playing. Gunther now brings home 1/2 million dollars a year all because he knew how to work the barista machine!

I was so giddy knowing that I was touching all the things that the cast of Friends have touched in the past! The show is on Nick at Night and that makes me feel so old.

We went through the prop storage area and this stand up chandelier was pointed out. Only ten of these where made and only 4 are left. The studio has 2 of them and they are valued at 3 million dollars a piece. The studio no longer rents them out once they had them appraised.

Griffith Observatory…

Views from Griffith Park…

Doug had me take a picture of this bill board. He says the last time that he checked California was part of the US. AND WE SPEAK ENGLISH!!!!

Views from Mulholland Drive…

Really cool trees that we found in Beverly Hills…

Just driving through Beverly Hills…

Finally made it to our hotel…

Views from our room…

We saw a lot of LA and a lot of really expensive cars. No celebrity sightings…just a lot of people running red lights…apparently red is the new yellow.

And We Are Back…

2011-09-18T17:51:00.001-07:00

Doug and I went for a week down to California and marked a bunch of things off of our Pacific Coast to do list! We have made it back home, I have caught up on all of my blog stalking that I missed, picked Wrecks up from the groomers, and we are about to go and eat our last meal out for a while….Whew…What an afternoon.

I am working on pictures from the trip and will be posting a day by day recap all week long. I have been looking at the calendar lately planning our weekends for the rest of the year and cannot believe that there are less than 100 days till Christmas! Geeze this year has flown by!!!

Since Christmas is so close…I don’t want to miss out on fall. I found this printable over at Katieballa blogs (Head over to her blog and you can print your own printable) and plan on marking some of these off when Doug’s Mom comes and visits in a few weeks!

Ready for Fall?

2011-09-08T06:25:00.001-07:00

I know that the East Coast is ready for fall, but the Pacific Northwest is just now starting summer! The temps are finally kinda hot and there is not a cloud in the sky on most days. I have been playing outdoors after work, either watering plants or riding our bikes to enjoy the gorgeous weather while it last! I had to take a picture Heather because she insisted wearing a helmet when we went riding on Tuesday and in typical Heather fashion, she complained about wearing it the whole time…hhahaa…oh Heather!

Back to the main reason for this post….I may not be ready for Fall weather, but I am ready for fall fashion! I love layering light sweaters/cardigans and I love boots! I have been spending a lot of time browsing polyvore.com admiring all the great outfits that people have put together. You can create what they call a set…where you can piece a whole outfits together including a purse and accessories. It is a very addicting and time consuming site and really is just a place for me to go and dream because some of the items are so far out of my price range. Doug would kill me if I came home with shoes over $500! The best thing about the site is it tells you where every piece comes from and the price and can even take you directly to the site where you can purchase it. Here are some of my favorite boards…

Very basic and neutral…

Love the plain but simple jewelry…

I think I have most of these items to pull this look off…

Love the color of this top…

Coral is my favorite color this fall…

I have these boots and I want this jacket, not so sure about everything else…

The first board that I created! I love the jacket, but out of my price range :(…

I need me some toms…

Another pop of color…

Have the boots and want the papaya colored shirt…

So as you can see I am loving Boots, Cardigans, Scarves and adding a little pop of color when I can. I am ready to go shopping and see what I can find. I think I might even go to Target at lunch….

Wednesdays with Wrecks

2011-09-07T07:27:00.001-07:00

Someone was not ready to wake up this morning…he sure is not a morning dog!

Pink and Purple

2011-09-05T19:42:00.001-07:00

I love hosting baby showers (or any party for that matter) and I was really proud of all of my decorations for the latest shower, but I failed to take any pictures during the party. So here are some pictures that I stole off of Facebook and some pictures that I took after the party.

I found a lot of the decoration ideas on the blogs that I follow and on my new obsession, pinterest.

I copied the DIY garland from frogprincepaperie.com. I sewed all these 1 and 2 inch circles together and I think I might be sewing all sorts of shapes together in the future. I loved how the garland turned out.

This is from frog prince paperie…

This is my backdrop for the dessert table…

I covered a canvas in fabric and used my Cricut to make a banner that says “It’s a Girl”…

I used a tutorial that I found on you tube to make the tissue/puff balls and I loved them…something else that I will probably always do for decorations…super easy to do!!!

I covered a picture frame in the same fabric and used my Cricut machine to make a banner that read “Oh Baby” over the beverage station…

I made a diaper cake that I placed on the kitchen table. I used wrapping paper as a placemat underneath. Next time I might just use wrapping paper that coordinates with the party theme to cover the picture frames and canvas…much cheaper than the fabric.

My favorite area that I decorated was the fireplace and I took NO pictures of it! Here is a picture of me decorating it…

I took everything down from the mantel and hung a clothesline of sweet little girl clothes. I hung these pomander balls that I made over the painted/wrapped canvas. I found a DIY for them over at Pizzazzeri. Easy to make, but just a little time consuming… (again I didn’t get a good picture of them)

Here is a good picture of the mantle that I found on Facebook…

Here is Doug and Mary opening up Claire’s painting to reveal the name…

More stolen pictures from Facebook…

So glad that I could help host this shower for such a sweet couple!

I can’t wait to meet baby Claire in the next few months!!

From GA to WA…Our Accent Vlog

2011-09-02T00:19:00.001-07:00

I am doing my first link up with Jenna's Journey Blog. I saw her post and thought that we should take her little test to see if our Southern Accents are still hanging in the air. After reviewing our little videos I noticed that our accents might not be as thick as they once were, but our vocabulary is still southern.

(Please excuse that Doug and I look gross…We just got back from the gym)

Here is the list of words you have to say:

aunt, route, wash, oil, theatre, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, toilet, New Orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, spitting image, Alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pajamas, caught

The questions are as follows:

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on someone's house?

What is the bug that when you touch it, it rolls into a ball?

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you say to address a large group of people?

What do you call a spider that has an oval shaped body with extremely long legs?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What do you call it when it rains while the sun is shining?

What is the thing you change to tv channel with?

This was such a fun post! After being in WA for three plus years I have gotten very good at telling which Southeast state people are from just by hearing them talk. Even though I get told everyday by my patients that I don’t have a southern accent, I hope that once we get back home it will come back!!!

Wednesday’s with Wrecks

2011-09-01T07:29:00.001-07:00

Every Wednesday I am going to try and post pictures of our only child. And the only reason I have to do is because he is just so darn cute!

And because I am a day late with my new idea…you get two pictures of this sweet little guy.

Doug got a new toy this weekend. Doug loves his new toy, Wrecks on the other hand runs in the other direction when the guns come out of the safe! We had to work really hard to get Wrecks to go near Doug to take this picture.

Claire

2011-08-27T07:47:00.001-07:00

Last weekends baby shower went great. There were about 30 people that came, and the only problem that we had was that the house was burning up! Out here in the Pacific Northwest it only gets hot enough to need air conditioning about 1 week out of the year, we needed one on Sunday.

I baked a lot of yummy stuff for the shower. My favorite was pudding cookies. I will share the recipe later.

At the shower Doug and Mary wanted to reveal the name that they had decided on for their little girl and I was happy to help out. I painted a canvas with the name on it and they opened it at the shower for all their friends and family to see.

I started with the name (Which I went over a dozen time trying to make it perfect) and worked my way out from there…

Here is the finished product (I probably perfected the letters one or two more times after this picture was taken)…

Everyone loved the name and I am happy that they let me be apart of the surprise.

A lot harder than it looks!!!

2011-08-13T10:47:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to a friends baby shower. I love giving gifts that are monogrammed or have the baby’s name on it, but because I procrastinated I didn’t have time to order something off line. I decided I would try my hand at painting a canvas with the baby’s name on it to be hung possibly over the crib. I bought the paint, brushes, and canvas at JoAnne’s and started on my little project. I started on the name first because I thought the letters would be the hardest and I painted out from the name after that. Painting is a lot more difficult than drawing or coloring because it tended to go places that I didn’t want it to go. Even though Doug told me that it “didn’t look professional”…I still think it turned out pretty good. I am working on one more and when it is finished I will post it. Hopefully it will turn out a little better.

Not too shabby for a beginner!

Slave Driver

2011-08-03T14:54:00.001-07:00

I wasn’t sure how much help I would be getting out of Doug this weekend, but I was happily surprised. He marked a few things off his honey do list and also helped me in the yard. I had let the backyard and the side of the house get taken over by weeds and I have always hated the bark that was in the flower bed. I made it my mission to take back the backyard and side of the house this weekend.

We trimmed the shrubs in the front yard.

Before….

After…

The last time that I trimmed this tree Ellen was here to help me. I wish that Ellen was here this time to tell me which branch to cut because I think I got a little happy with the clippers.

Before…

After with some cute purple flowers under it…

The backyard taken over by weeds…

After with no weeds, pruned trees, new mulch, and new flowers.

We rented a power washer and Doug power washed the house. The back of the house was looking really gross.

I am so glad that Doug did it…it looks so much better.

I don’t have any after pictures of the house…just imagine it without all the mildew

Getting this Place Together

2011-07-31T22:42:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to get our house organized for a while now and it has even kept me up at night thinking of all the closets and drawers that I want to clean out! I finally went through every thing except for the kitchen pantry and love how much space I found.

Here are a couple of pictures of the office closet with every thing nicely placed in storage bins…

I organized all of the giftwrapping stuff under the bed into different bins…

Before….

And after all nicely tucked away under the bed…

The guest room closest with my craft supplies just thrown in…

And now all organized in their bins…

The laundry closet with its cute little baskets…

And I love my little $5.99 sign from Ross…

And now I can sleep peacefully at night without thinking about all the clutter!!!!

Goldendoodles Don’t Shed…

2011-07-26T20:04:00.001-07:00

It just all come out when you brush them!

Love these two!!!

This little Piggy…

2011-07-25T16:09:00.001-07:00

Got totally smashed!!!

Doug was out of town this weekend, so I spent it organizing our house and getting ready for a baby shower I am helping host in the next few weeks. I had some shower stuff stored in the garage, and because I just couldn’t wait on Doug to come home and get it down for me, I pulled the ladder down and proceeded to get what I needed down by myself. (Side note…Doug says that he sees a lot of injuries caused by people that fall off ladders and for me not to get on one when he is not around…well my trouble started before I even stepped foot on the ladder)

This is the ladder that we have…

I was trying to figure out how it worked by pulling all the knobs every which way and all of a sudden the tall part of the ladder slammed down right on my toe! I was jumping and hopping all around because my toe was in so much pain. Of course something like this would happen when my orthopaedic surgery husband is out of town.

As soon as Doug came home on Sunday we went to the hospital for an xray just to see what damage I had done.

Doug is pointing in the last picture where the tip of the bone is broken off. There is nothing that he can do to fix it, we just have to wait for the little bone to fuse back into place. The throbbing pain is gone, but I can’t really bend my toe. No more running for me for a little while…the elliptical trainer is my new best friend.

Favorite Things Party…

2011-07-21T22:22:00.001-07:00

I came across this party idea last week while I was in Colorado. It sounds like such a great way to get girl friends together just because. Thanks The Vaught Blog for sharing this. I can’t wait to host this party!

A Favorite Things Party- Here's how it works: Each person brings their favorite thing (anything you like.. your favorite lip gloss, favorite kitchen tool, favorite gift wrapping supply, a gift card for your favorite frozen yogurt, etc.). It can't cost more than $6, and each person brings five of the same thing. When you arrive at the party, you write your name on five slips of paper and throw them in a big bowl. The bowl is passed around, and each person takes five names (making sure you don't pick your own.. or two of the same name). One at a time each person introduces their favorite thing and then reads the five names they picked from the bowl, passing out their gift to those five guests. After everyone at the party has presented their favorite thing, each person should end up with five gifts to take home. It's always interesting to see what people choose, and some guests have started to bring a notepad and pen to jot down what people love.

One other thing that I found on her blog was something that she liked on pinterest…..too funny!

Colorful Colorado

2011-07-21T21:05:00.001-07:00

Last week Doug attended The American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society annual conference in Keystone, Colorado. I decided to tag along since I have never been to Colorado. I knew that I would be spending a lot of time alone while he was at all the lectures, but it was great to not have to worry about making sure this and that was done around the house. I sat in the condo and caught up on the many blogs that I follow and also caught up on matching my credit card receipts to the statements. This takes me forever and I don’t know when I will realize that I should just do it when the statement arrives and not put it off. I had a huge zip lock bag full of receipts that needed to be attached to statements from the beginning of the year. Can you say procrastinator????

I planned on working out everyday of the trip because for the last month I have been avoiding the gym like the plaque and everything is starting to jiggle. The first day I decided I would go down to the fitness room and workout while watching The View. I was on the elliptical for 10 minutes and the room was burning up. I guess Colorado is like the Pacific Northwest when it comes to air conditioning…when it is only hot enough to have one one week out of the year, it is not necessary to have one at all. I left the gym and thought that I would just jog outside because it was a beautiful day. I only ran about 500 yards before I realized why it was so hard and why I was already so out of breath. The elevation is a killer. I walked by they river for about 6 miles instead and it was some gorgeous scenery. I forgot my camera ( so no breathtaking pictures of my scenery), sunglasses, and most important sunscreen! I guess with higher elevation that means your are closer to the sun (DUH)…so sunscreen was greatly missed. My shoulders and nose are still recovering…all gross and flaky.

The only super exciting thing that happened on our trip was white water rafting down Clear Creek. Doug had a half day of classes on Friday and we took advantage of his free time. This winter there was record setting snowfall in the Rockies and only recently has it been hot enough there to melt. Not only was the melting snow causing the creek to rise, a bunch of thunderstorms had been passing through as well. The creek was the highest it has ever been on that particular day of the year. The rapids were awesome. Here are a few pics…

Our river guide was a Georgia boy named Bryan from Marietta that goes all around the country being a river guide in the summer and a ski instructor in the winter. I asked Doug what he thought his degree was in and he said, “Fun.” Wish I had a degree in fun! Doug and Bryan got to talking and discovered that they played against each other in high school football. It is such a small world!

The Cutest Pup on the Block

2011-06-15T21:07:00.001-07:00

I took Wrecks to the dog park this weekend and it was packed. The sun was actually out in the Pacific Northwest, but I still needed a light sweater. Wrecks was running around everywhere and of course he found the only mud puddle in the whole park to roll around in. Good thing we were headed to Dirty Paws (self service dog bath) afterwards. While we were at the dog park a little girl started cracking up when she saw Wrecks. She told me that he looked like a man in a poodle suit! Hahaha

I love this little guy!!!! (Well, if you consider 65lbs little)

Huge Riu Fans

2011-06-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

After Doug and I made our long list of places to go and things we wanted to do before we leave the Pacific Northwest, he realized that he could probably get the last week in June off. Do we decide to do anything on our list….no. I hope we get around to the list sooner rather than later, but I am so excited to say that we are going to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic the last week in June.

How we decided on DR, I really have no idea, but once we decided on our destination we needed to pick a hotel. We love doing all inclusive so we knew we wanted to go that route. I wanted to switch up our all inclusive resort since the last 3 all inclusive that we have done have been Rius.

May, 2009 Puerto Vallarta Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico

September, 2009 Cabo San Lucas Hotel Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas

May, 2010 Mazatlan Hotel Riu Emerald Bay

After reading review after review I just couldn’t decide on a hotel. I would read two good reviews and then two bad reviews. Travel agents say not to read reviews, but how can you not when there are so many of them. I was looking on Bookit.com and saw that they had a 4.5 star mystery hotel that was in our price range. Doug said to book it since I was having such a hard time picking one and I was really nervous when I did. So it turns out that no matter how we book our hotel, The Riu is where we are meant to be. The Mystery Hotel is…

Hotel Riu Palace Punta Cana

Funny huh?

All the Places to Go…

2011-06-06T21:58:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago at dinner Doug and I made a list of all the places and things that we need to do during the next 2 years that we will be living in WA. I love going to Mexico, but I feel that since we are on the West coast we should try and see everything we can before we go back east. The only thing that we have done that was on my travel list was an Alaskan cruise last August.

Here is our list and I will keep you posted as we get to mark things off…

Go to a Mariners Game (baseball)
Go to a Seahawks Game (football)
Go to a Sounders Game (and why not a soccer game)
San Juan Islands (off the coast of WA)
Leavenworth at Christmas
Tulip festival in Mt. Vernon
Hike in the Olympic Peninsula
Canyon Beach in Oregon
San Francisco
Napa Valley
Disneyland/LA
Hawaii
Mexico with Charlie and Julie for their 30th bdays (and Doug’s too)
Halibut Fishing
Shooting an Elk (this one is for Doug)
California Beach
Redwood Forest
Catalina
Portland
Crater Lake

Hopefully we can accomplish all of this in 2 years!

3 Years Ago Today…

2011-05-31T21:21:00.001-07:00

I married my best friend. This has probably been the hardest year on us because we have been apart for most of if. I am so glad that Doug’s third year of residency is almost over and our life can go back to normal. I am so looking forward to falling asleep every night next to the man of my dreams. Happy Anniversary Doug!

Westport, WA

2011-05-30T22:09:00.001-07:00

This weekend Doug and I went to a little coastal town here in Washington to go Halibut fishing. Doug was so excited, but the Wednesday before we left the Charter Boat company called to tell us that the Halibut limit had been reached for the season and that we could go bottom fishing instead. We were sad that we couldn’t fish for halibut, but we were still excited to go!

We arrived in Westport on Saturday and explored the town in all of 20 minutes. There really wasn’t too much to see in the little old fishing town, so we headed back to the hotel bar. Doug was pumped to find out that they were serving $1 16oz bud lights for Military. I was glad too because then I could order more fruity drinks! We ate dinner at a little fish shack. It was good, but after too many fruity drinks I gave most of my cod to Doug.

The one good thing about not going Halibut fishing was not having to get up at 3am to make it to the boat on time. The boat left at 6:30am and for the first time I took Dramamine before getting on board. The last few times that we have gone deep sea fishing I have felt a little woozy. So I decided that I would pre medicate before this trip. The water was super choppy and the boat was rocking all around. For the first time in my life I got motion sick/seasick and was throwing up over the side of the boat. I was one of two girls on the boat and Doug me that about a third of the guys were doing the same as I was. My sweet husband went back to the cabin to get me a water, he come back with the water in one hand and him a beer in the other. I was like REALLY! I am super sick and here you are drinking a BEER! Gotta love him!

We finally made it to where we were going to fish for sea bass. The sea bass were biting and we caught our boat limit of 220 in no time. Even as we were fishing I was still getting sick off the side of the boat. Doug and I caught a few lingcod, but only one was a keeper. We came home with two big bags of codfish. It was an awesome trip, but it will be a while before I go on my next deep sea fishing trip. I will need to forget about being sea sick before returning to the sea again.

Girls Night Out

2011-05-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

This past year I have been so thankful for Heather. She has been here to spend time with me while Doug has been gone so much during his third year of residency. Her boyfriend is in the Air Force and leaves for months at a time. We have been keeping each other company. We have dinner dates, movie dates, and my all time favorite dates…Karaoke at my house! Heather is so hilarious and keeps me on my toes not knowing what is going to come out of her mouth next. She has introduced me to her terrific circle friends. I don’t know what I would have done this past year without Heather and her group of friends.

Just a Little Yard Work

2011-05-30T21:30:00.001-07:00

Last Spring Doug and I joined our two flower beds in the front yard. There was a little strip of grass that was in between the two that needed to be removed. I started digging up the grass and stupid me I let Doug talk me into just using the weed eater to beat the grass out of the way. When we finished the flower bed it looked really nice, but of course a year later the grass was growing up through the dirt and needed to be dug out the correct way. I made it my mission a couple of Saturdays ago to redo the bed. Only one plant that we planted last year survived and the rest I pulled up. My neighbor gave me a few rocks to toss in the flower bed to draw some of the attention away from the electrical boxes and I love them.

I planted some Gerber Daisy on the corner and I hope they make it. Stupid Slugs have started to invade them and eat away at their leaves. I put some Sluggo (slug killer) out and hopefully the slugs will leave the premises soon!

Happy Birthday Jenn!!!

2011-05-10T21:36:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we spent celebrating my friend Jenn’s Birthday. We went north of Seattle to Tulalip, a casino/hotel. It really felt like a little mini Vegas. There were bars and clubs in the hotel and the boys enjoyed spending time in the poker room.

One of the things I was looking forward to was finding a new coach purse at the outlets that were right next door to the casino. I have been looking for a spring colored purse, but not one too terribly bright. This one is similar to the one I got…

I also found a wristlet that works perfect for when we go out. It holds my camera and phone just right. (I am too lazy to actually get out of bed to take a picture of my new purchases…so I found the closest pics online)

I brought a few decorations to hang in the room for Jenn’s Birthday celebration. As all the girls were headed out to the outlets, I told the guys how I wanted the room set up before they went down to gamble.

The food was set up just right…

The cupcakes were placed in the stand like I asked (except for the blurry picture)…

The rest went downhill… The guys took apart the streamers that were supposed to hang down in front of the door and hung it all over the room…

But when I saw how they did the streamers, I laughed a little and then said if you want anything done right you have to do it yourself…

Well I guess they did everything that I told them to do…just with a little twist.

We had a great time and can’t wait to go back!!!

Superhero Birthday Party

2011-05-04T21:09:00.001-07:00

This weekend we celebrated Kathe’s Birthday with a superhero themed birthday party! I had the idea of going has a super tooth fairy, but once we got to looking I thought I could just be a super banana for way cheaper. I love recycling Halloween costumes. I didn’t know if Doug was going to be able to go with me until Friday night. We started brain storming and Quail Man from the Nickelodeon cartoon Doug popped in my head. Doug loved the idea and we put it all together with only two stops at two different stores. We got ready for the party and headed out. We had to stop at the grocery store to pick up Kathe’s cake. I loved seeing the look on shopper’s faces as Doug walked by. Everyone was so confused and couldn’t help but laugh. I was not brave enough to go into the store with the banana on….and even tried to walk as far away from Doug as possible…I love this guy and oh how he makes me laugh!!!

And what is a superhero birthday party without a superhero birthday cake…

I am so looking forward to having a huge margarita tomorrow to celebrate Cinco De Mayo…..after working out of course!!!!

Let’s try this again…

2011-05-03T22:56:00.001-07:00

So it has been forever since I have blogged and I know everyone is wondering where I have been…insert hint of sarcasm here. I have been reading and following a lot of blogs lately. I have enjoyed sneaking a peek into peoples lives that I have never met…it is like the ultimate reality show. I love it when Doug looks over at the computer and asks whose picture is on the screen and I reply “I have no idea.” I am a creeper :P But hey they wouldn’t be blogging if they didn’t want people to follow them, right?

Well why I was at work today I thought I should keep up with all the crazy things that patients say to me at work and what better way then to keep up with them on here.

Funny Story #1…Last week I had this lady who hasn’t been in for a cleaning in over 3 years ask me over and over and over and over again what I was finding, while I am scrapping away at her teeth. I kept telling her I was finding stain, tarter, and plaque. I wanted to say to her, lady what do you think is in here diamonds, money, your lost puppy…you haven’t had these things cleaned in years and you obviously haven’t been taking care of them. I am finding tarter, tarter, tarter, and ummmm yes more tarter.

Funny Story #2…Well this isn’t really a funny story, but just an inside look at what we as hygienist deal with. My last patient of the day tells me that he brushes his teeth when he remembers and by the amount of crap in his mouth a toothbrush probably hasn’t been in his mouth in over a month. I want to say to people that don’t brush “how can you go so long with brushing?” I mean I brush twice a day and by the end of the day my mouth is so “fuzzy” that it is driving me crazy. So for the record, you should brush twice a day for at least two minutes and floss once a day. Please do this…I am begging you! Your teeth and your hygienist with thank you!

Funny Story #3…Today while at the gym with my friend/co-worker Lisa this young guy gets on the treadmill in the row in front of us. Lisa notices it first and she keeps looking at me and then at the guy on the treadmill. I finally get the hint and look at the guy on the treadmill and about fall off the stair climber laughing. This poor guy has either a half a roll of toilet paper or the paper seat cover (we couldn’t quite figure out which it was) hanging out the back of his shorts. I felt so bad that I was laughing at him, but I couldn’t help it. He finally noticed it when he looked in the mirror. He did a double take and quickly grabbed at the back of his shorts and puts it in his pocket. The sad thing is he didn’t get it all. He kept on running and noticed he didn’t get it all and grabbed at it again. I swear it had to have been half the roll. After about 5 minutes and 5 swipes he finally got it all! I have to give him mad props for finishing his run. I know if it were me I would have ran to the bathroom as soon as I saw the toilet paper trail coming from my butt and then probably would have called it a day.

Weekend recap to come tomorrow!

Love me some Jules!!!

2010-07-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends from Hygiene School came out for a visit over a long weekend in May. We had a great time...didn't take many pictures, but we did enjoy our time together. She arrived on Thursday night and luckily I didn't have to work the next day. We had a little mini spa day on Friday, showed her around Olympia...aka as shopping ;)...and when Doug came home we went out to eat. We spent Saturday up in Seattle. We had our own little personal tour guide Jenette show us around. Julie got to see Pike Place Market where she loved looking at all the flowers. They are simple amazing. So she could see more of Seattle we took the Ride the Ducks tour, which I always recommend. After the tour we went to see the Fremont Troll...a cement creature that lives under a bridge, kinda odd, but neat.

Julie and Jenette on the Ducks...

Weird Fremont Troll

We stayed the night up in Seattle. About 10 others girlfriends of mine came up to Seattle on Saturday night and we all went out to eat and then danced the night away. Since our night didn't end until about 4 in the morning we relaxed at home on Sunday. I was sad to see Julie go on Monday, but am super excited about coming home in September to be her Matron of Honor and see her walking down the aisle. Love you Julie Momlickivickicvokakjdflkajdkja!!!!! hahaha

Heather and Julie...

Reshma and Me...

Reshma, Heather, and Lynn...

Jenette, Reshma, and Me (Heather didn't get the memo that we were smiling for this pic...but props to Heather for an awesome crazy face!!! hehehe)...

Lena and Reshma...

Mary and Jenette...

Bath Time

2010-07-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

We have found the best place to give Wrecks a bath. Dirty Paws is a life saver! Wrecks is a huge dog that takes forever to bathe. He has tons of fur that can get all nappy. At Dirty Paws we don't have to lean over in the tub or chase him around with the hair dryer. We put him in the walk up tub and he just stands/sits while we shampoo, use face wash, put conditioner in his hair, clean his ears, and blow out his hair. I wouldn't say that he loves getting a bath, but he does tolerate it very well!

Whistler Weekend

2010-07-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

When we went to Whistler in January we bought a 3 day pass. We only used 2 days of the pass and had to use the third before the end of the season. We drove 4 hours after work on a Friday up to Whistler, skied on Saturday in good to crappy snow, went out on Saturday night in the village, and then drove back on Sunday. Whewwww...what a weekend!

Enjoying the slopes with Jenette and Christian (the dentist that I work with)...

Night out in the Whistler Village...

MIA

2010-07-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

I have fallen off the face of blogger earth! I can't say that I have been super busy with work or play...I have been just completely lazy! I mean I haven't even updated my dry erase calendar since April!!! I am going to try and get caught up on this blog. My goal is to be up to date by the time we leave for....wait for it....our Alaskan Cruise!!!! We are so excited to finally start marking vacations off our to do list. We have always gone to Mexico since we were getting such good deals. When we moved out here we had a list of vacation to go on. 1. Alaskan Cruise 2. Hawaii 3. Cities in Cali. Going to Mexico was never on the list. I am so excited to be scratching these places off.

When I last blogged we were about to head to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to meet up with the Harpers and Ellen. We had a great time with family. Skiing was not the best though, the cover was really thin. I put one heck of a scratch in my ski because I went over either a root or a rock. I am glad the even Doug realized that the skiing was not that great. I do have to say that Jackson Hole offers a great military discount---half off a daily ski pass!

We saw some really cool wildlife---Coyotes, Big Horn Sheep, Moose, and something that left blood on our back porch. HA!

Beautiful views from the porch...

The Harpers

Bennett playing in the snow...

At the top of the mountain...

I love the views from the top...

We surprised Henry with a party and a cake...after the shock on his face faded he proceeded to tell us how we didn't surprise him right because we didn't jump up from behind the couch...such a little stinker....

Everyone came to the top via the Gondola to join us for lunch...

Showing off our matching hats...Thanks Ellen!

Hope you enjoyed the pics....

More to come tomorrow!

Valentine's Weekend

2010-02-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

I know Valentine's Day was almost a month ago, but better late than never to blog about it.

We had a very fun filled Valentines weekend. Friday night we went out with friends and to a movie that started entirely toooo late. Doug and I both past out in the movie theater. The movie obviously was not that great. It was the new Mel Gibson movie and we highly recommend not going to see it, especially when you are very tired.

After sleeping in on Saturday morning, we went to Seattle to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch. The Harpers sent us a gift card for our Birthdays. So thanks for our Birthday present and our Valentines dinner :)

At the Crab Pot they just dump everything out on the table.

It can get a little messy...

After lunch/dinner we took our first ever ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. The Ferry ride was really neat and great scenery...the island that we went to was not as exciting. We walked through a deserted downtown area and then walked back to wait on the ferry.

We had a lazy Sunday relaxing and watching movies all day on the couch. Monday was President's day, so Doug and I were both off. We went to Crystal Mountain and had a beautiful day of skiing. The snow was great, the weather was great, and we even made it back home in time to unwind from a fun filled weekend!

This is Mt. Rainer in the background. It was such a clear day!

We are both excited about our week coming up of skiing in Jackson Hole and vacationing with Ellen, Judd, Valerie, and the boys. So glad tomorrow is Friday!!!

How many times do I tell him to floss???

2010-02-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

I cleaned Doug's teeth a couple of weeks ago. He is not one of my favorite patients, not because he is hard to clean (he is super easy and lets me dig and poke all I want), but because I know how he takes care of his teeth. I blame the dentist that he went to as a kid. He says that he never ever brushed or flossed when he was in middle or high school and when he would go to the dentist they would tell him to keep up the good work! Well, as I tell all of my patients that don't brush or floss, it has finally caught up with him. He had two cavities and a couple of other areas that we are watching. I am glad that we found them before they were too big and I am glad that he found time in his busy schedule to come back in and have them taken care of. Now I floss his teeth every night and nag him constantly about brushing! For all of you who don't take good care of your teeth be glad that I do not live with you and feel sorry for Doug who does. ;)

Dirty Dog

2010-02-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

Someone had a little too much fun at the Dog Park!

He loooovvveeeddd running and jumping in the puddles. He had a blast getting dirty!

But didn't really enjoy getting cleaned up!

Now he is a pretty boy! Love this dog!!!

Weekend in Whistler

2010-02-15T19:33:00.000-08:00

We had a great 3 day weekend at Whistler in January. We partied, skied, and ate way too much! We enjoyed ourselves and absolutely loved Whistler. It is the best place to ski. You never have to leave the village. There are great places to sit and unwind after skiing and wonderful restaurants for dinner. Everything is just so convenient! Definitely one of our favorite places!

We went to Whistler with Sean and Reshma. They totally out skied us. We bought a three day pass and on the third day we chickened out because it was raining. But not Sean and Reshma...they are hard core. They are even lucky enough to be in the crowd of some of the olympic events this week! Needless to say they love to ski!

After a long day of skiing.

It's a Girl!!!

2010-01-04T21:03:00.000-08:00

Julie Rea is having a girl!!!

When Julie told me that she was pregnant I knew that I probably wouldn't be able to attend any of her showers living all the way out here in Washington. When Doug told me that we could go home for a week over the holidays the first thing that I thought of was not only could I go to a shower for Julie, I could host one for her. Since Julie has so many close friends, I was not the only one in Atlanta that wanted to have a shower for her. Julie put me in contact with a few of her friends that had offered to have a shower and what a shower we planned!

Of course I seem to get a little carried away with all the small details that go into hosting a shower. The first thing that we needed was a theme. Julie's nursery is decorated in a jungle theme...so I ran with that. I found adorable invitations on line that had a monkey (perfect for the jungle theme) on them and were brown and pink.

I hung baby socks and animals from the chandelier.

With the help of my cousin Elizabeth I made a diaper cake that I am super proud of. (So proud of my work that I actually let a Julie have a sneak peek a week before her shower.)

We had a cute baby banner made by Brittney.

We had an amazing spread of food.

I found a bakery in Alpharetta that made this wonderful cake. Not only did it look awesome, it tasted just as good!

I loved all of the little girl clothes that we hung on the clothes line.

Thanks again to Brittney for donating her baby shower decorations.

I don't know where she finds this stuff...but again, too cute!

I think everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves.

We played a couple of shower games, including the dirty diaper game. I was amazed that 6 girls got all 7 of the melted candy bars right.

When you plan a party/shower there is always one aspect that you don't know how it will go over with the guest. I had the idea to get onesies and let guest decorate them during the party. At the end, when every one is finished, Julie will pick which one she likes best. I was completely surprised at how much fun every one was having decorating the little shirts. I guess everyone secretly loves craft time!

My personal favorite! On the butt there was another buckeye.

Julie with all of the shower host...

Julie's favorite onesie...

Loved the little animals on the cake...

Julie and Ellen...

Another silly idea of mine...

I ordered these stickers when I ordered the invitations. They say "Enjoy! From Julie's 'Bun in the Oven'". I had the same bakery that I ordered the cake from make cupcake that looked like Cinnamon buns.

Wasn't quite sure how they would turn out. They look pretty close to Cinnamon Buns.

I can't wait for little Elizabeth Nordmann Rea to arrive!

There's No Place Like Home

2010-01-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

Doug and I finally headed back to Atlanta after being away for over a year and half. It was so great to see everyone. We were only home for a week, but tried to fit in as much family and friend time as we could.

On Sunday, Doug joined my Uncle Allan and my brother Justin for some duck hunting. I am so glad that he got to tag along. He loves to hunt and I know that he has been missing out since we have been living in WA with his super busy schedule. He shot three ducks. While he was hanging with the boys, I spent time with my Nanny.

On Monday, we had Christmas with Doug's family. It was so much fun watching Henry and Bennett open their presents. When Henry opened his Bat Mobile, he was so excited. He told us, "Oh my gosh! I have always wanted this! I am not kidding! How can I ever thank you?!" It was so funny! Bennett's face was priceless as well, when he was opening all his Little People gifts. He didn't want to open anymore gifts after he opened his Little People Christmas parade. We had to open the rest of his gifts for him. Both Henry and Bennett have grown so much since we have last seen them. We are looking forward to spending a whole week in March with them in Jackson Hole, WY!

On Tuesday, Doug's Dad took us quail hunting in Alabama. Doug has taken me skeet shooting before and I didn't hit a single one. I tagged along on the hunt, just to take pictures and to be with Doug and his Dad. When we got to the hunting plantation, we shot some skeet to warm up. To everyone's surprise, I was nailing the suckers! Since I was shooting the skeet so well, I decided I would try to hunt some quail. It took me a couple of tries, but I eventually got one. After I shot it, Doug told me that I powdered it...apparently that is a good thing. The only other one that I got was a quail that landed on a tree branch. I got to shoot it out of the tree. The guys were a lot better shots then I was, and we got a grand total of 30 quail! I really had a great time...Doug was so excited that I enjoyed it. I think he already has a trip planned for us to go pheasant hunting in South Dakota...What have I gotten myself into ;)

We got to see a lot of our friends throughout the week and had a ball at Charlie and Julie's New Year's Eve party.

We have missed Atlanta and all of our friends and family, but we are enjoying our time out here in Washington. We will back in the Southeast one day, but for now we are exploring all that WA and the west coast have to offer.

Our Little Man is Growin Up

2010-01-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

Wrecks is 7 1/2 months old...I hope he stops growing soon!

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

2009-12-20T16:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that Christmas is only 5 days away! My oh my...where did December go?

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

2009-12-20T15:53:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Doug and I hosted an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. We thought about doing one last year, but just couldn't fit it into our schedule. We had such as blast that it will definitely become a holiday tradition for us. I already have a snow machine in the budget for next year's party.

We moved both cars out of the garage and hung red tablecloths on the walls to hide all of our storage space. I bought tons of tacky Christmas decorations from the dollar store and told Doug to have a ball putting them all up. He did a great job tackifying the garage! With the beer pong table in place we were ready for guest to arrive.

I also set up a little area for people to take pics with there sweaters. I bought plenty of props for people to use in their photos, including a Santa beard. I thought it would be a great place to get people there Christmas Card photos. We put up a Christmas Tree that we found at goodwill and put out our fireplace heater that we use to keep our room warm. The photo area was a great hit!

We had an awesome time and hope that all of our friends enjoyed themselves. We have so much beer left over that I have already started thinking of other parties that we can have in the future...in February I think we should have an 80's inspired Sweetheart Ball!!! I am ready to find how big my hair can get!

Christmas is in the Air...

2009-11-29T21:02:00.000-08:00

And on the house!

Three Years Ago Today...

2009-11-17T05:56:00.001-08:00

I met the man of my dreams, my soulmate, and my best friend!

November 17th, 2006 is when our love story began. I was out celebrating a friend’s birthday and Doug was out, well, because it was Friday. I saw Doug across the bar at Surrey Tavern during the beginning of the night and noticed that my friend Julie was talking to him. I asked Julie who she was talking to and she said, “Oh, that’s Doug. Come on over and you can meet him.” She dragged me to the bar where Doug was standing. She introduced me to him and we spent the entire night talking. We would break apart and go join our friends, only to find ourselves somehow talking to each other again. I gave him my number because I was going to “clean his teeth” when we returned from Christmas break. It was just an excuse for me to give him my phone number of course. I am permanently in his phone as “Courtney Hygiene.” Luckily I didn’t have to wait for the next semester to talk to him. He called me the next week and we went out a few times over Christmas break. School started back up and we have been inseparable since the beginning of 2007.

This photo was taken before we went out. Happy Birthday Brandi!

Pictures from over 3 fabulous years!

I am a super lucky girl!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

Family Tradition

2009-10-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

Doug has been carving really cool pumpkins every Halloween that we have been together. This year I even carved one!

He always does it with his serious face on...

Happy Halloween...

Even Wrecks wanted in on the fun. I carved a pumpkin that would match his costume.

He was such a good dog. He hates it when I put this hat on him, but he actually posed for a really long time for us to get a few pictures. I know that I have said it before, but I love this dog!

Doug's masterpiece...

My first carved pumpkin...

Love this time of year!

Love this Dog!

2009-10-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

I never thought that I could love a dog as much as I love Wrecks! He is my little buddy and we have been spending a lot of time together with just me and him with all of this call that Doug has been taking.

Here is his newest trick...he is super smart!

Give Me Five

2009-10-10T10:59:00.000-07:00

Wrecks' new trick....

Happy Fall Yall!

2009-10-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

The Weeks in Review

2009-09-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Before we left for Mexico we picked out new furniture for our living room. When we got back it was delivered and we absolutely love it. It matches the dinning room table so well. When we picked out the TV stand we decided that we would put the TV on the wall. I knew that this would be a project that Doug would have to do and who knows when he would have time to get around to it. To my surprise the furniture was delivered on a Saturday and Doug had the TV up on the wall on Sunday...record time for scratching something off of Doug's honey do list!

The TV Stand...(haven't quite found the perfect decor to go on top of it)

The Coffee Table...

The Sofa Table...

Last weekend we attempted to go sailing with Foley and the wind did not coorperate...aka no wind at all.

And since there was no wind, the only other way to stay cool was taking a dip in the Sound.

This weekend Doug and all the other Ortho Residents went to a course in California leaving me here with my buddy Wrecks. We went for a couple of runs, played outside, and Wrecks got a bath. This was my first time giving Wrecks a bath all by myself and he did awesome. His hair is getting long and he sat for me to blow dry his hair for probably 15 minutes. We have the best dog in the world!!!!

Just Another Day in Paradise...

2009-09-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Mexico on Monday afternoon and have had a blast ever since. We have met two really nice couples on their honeymoon, and have enjoyed our time with them. We went out to the ocean when we arrived, and Doug was mad because there was red flag, meaning the conditions were too bad to swim. We had brought our snorkel gear with us thinking that we could snorkel at the resort. Doug went into the ocean, with a red flag mind you, and came back a couple of minutes later saying that now he knew what a red flag meant. He had had his butt kicked by the ocean and was returning to lounge by the pool with me. There are always plenty of vendors on the beach to harrass you and Doug amused one of them by getting a henna tattoo. I just had to have a hat that Doug told me I didn't need. I promised to wear it every day. I only wore it on the first day and Doug got to say a big I told you so. This isn't the first time I have bought something that i didn't need and it probably want be the last.

The Riu resorts are beautiful. We stayed at the same hotel in Puerto Vallerta and absolutely loved it. This is the view from our room!

On Tuesday we met back up with our honeymooning friends and had a ball hanging out in the pool and at the swim up bar. At night we all ventured into Cabo and ate Mexican at Mi Casa. There was an awesome mariachi band that stayed forever at our table. After we ate we went and partied at Cabo Wabo. Good times with our new friends.

On Wednesday we went on a mini sub excursion. We rode on a boat that took us out to see Lover’s Beach, the famous rock arch, the sea lion colony, and then took us to snorkel/mini sub. We were the only people that were doing the mini subs and had the scuba diver guides all to ourselves. They would swim with us and then dive to the bottom of the ocean looking for interesting sea life for us to see and hold. They brought up blowfish, a sea urchin, and a starfish for us to get a better look. We also got to see a huge school of fish. When we first got in the water they surrounded Doug and he said that he was completely blacked out by the fish. The guides that we were with said that they have never seen a school of fish get that close to the subs.

We laid low on Thursday, just having another lazy/relaxing day out by the pool. Our trip was going by way to fast.

Friday we went and drove Dune Buggies through a dry river bed. It only rains maybe 4 to 5 days out of the year, and when it does flash flooding occurs. Luckily we missed the hurricane that came ashore just after we left. We also drove to the oldest town in Baja California. The people of the town all work down in the hotels and charge a $5 fee to let you drive through the town, which is in a National Park. After a short walk through the town we drove back down and had a blast driving on the beach. Doug scares me to death when he is driving…I just held on and let him have fun slinging me around and throwing dirt and sand up in my lap. Thank goodness they provided mask and bandanas to keep all the stuff out of our faces. We enjoyed our day away from the resort.

We hated to leave on Saturday, but were really excited to get back and see Wrecks. I think that he grew 10 pounds while we were gone!

Columbia River Gorge

2009-08-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went down to Oregon via the Lewis and Clark Highway, which looked out onto the Columbia River that divides the Oregon and Washington state lines. We stopped at the Mary Hill Winery, which is the first winery I have ever been too, and then we went and visited a replica of Stonehenge. There were about 30 cars that went on this tour with us. We had a blast with the Corvette Club and hopefully at the next meeting we will be official members. We look forward to all the adventures that lay ahead of us in the Corvette club and all the friends that we will meet!

He's Gonna Be A Big Boy!!!

2009-08-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Our little boy is growing up so fast. We took him to the vet to get some more vaccines over the weekend and he already weighs over 17 pounds!!! I wish he would stay this size forever. I don't think I can handle him being any bigger. He is a great puppy! He hasn't had too many accidents in the house and he loves being outside. He plays with all his toys and gives us the best greeting when we come home! We just love him to death!

He loves to give me hugs...not really but he lets me give them to him!

He is a super smart little puppy!

We are leaving in a week for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and are both so excited. We are both so ready to spend a whole week together without work and call...we wish that Wrecks could come with us :(