As for the start of the new year, not much has changed. I'm still working at the Loft, teaching and coaching siwmming and applying for teaching jobs. I just recently applied for my second teaching job this year that didn't come through because the administration already knew who they wanted to hire beforehand...it definitely gets disheartening at times, but I'm trying to keep my heart open to what God wants from my life.
On a different note, I wanted to put pen to paper or fingers to key pad, what I hope to accomplish this year. My friend Christen Waller came up with 101 to-do items in 1001 days. I don't know if I can come up with that many at the moment, but here is a shortened list of places to go, hobbies to learn and accomplishments to tackle for this year and/or the year to come!
Start learning how to play the guitar. 1a. Get a guitar.
Print off many of the digital pictures I have shot in the last 4 years.
Deep clean my car.
Train for and run a half marathon. I just need a goal to achieve, it's part of my personality.
Read a book a month, since I have an entire bookshelf in my house with unread books.
Find my place in church ministry.
Go back to Seattle.
Make home made croissants.
Try to blog once a week
Go snowshoeing and/or cross country skiing before all the snow melts (in 6 months) :)
Go camping (finally) with Evan.
Try a new food.
Go to Picnic Day this year in Davis.
Go to the Portland Zoo.
Pay off my Loft credit card.
Try a new workout class, and dedicate at least a month to actually showing up to each class.
Visit a new city.
I think that's all for now. I will mark off each one as I start or complete one of them! Here's to a new decade and hopefully some change!
I know I haven't blogged in forever, I will blame it on the holidays instead of my lack of desire to blog. The biggest change in the last couple months is that Evan and I added a new member to our family, Jack! We love him so much and he brings so much fun and joy to our life!
We spent Thanksgiving in Pebble Beach with my family and had a fun visit with Ben and Katie too! We celebrated Evan's 26th birthday with my family up for the holidays. For Christmas we spent the holiday at Evan's parents and enjoyed a relaxing day with family and dogs!
For New Years our wonderful friends Ben, Katie, Katelyn and Charles and all their dogs came up to visit! We had so much fun going out to eat, watching movies and football, playing games and watching Jack and Hamlet play! We loved every minute of it! Here are pictures to document the fun times!
It seems that it has been basically 3 months since I last updated! I kept trying to update and I would get distracted or our internet wouldn't work. So I put together a picture montage of events from the last 3 months or so, in no particular order. I will try to be better about updating!
On Halloween morning, Evan and I drove over to Eugene to be one of the VERY few USC fans at the USC vs. Oregon game. We had fun tailgating with friends and Evan's work (that's how we got the great free tickets!). Besides the rain and the terrible loss, we had a great time.
We stopped at Sisters Bakery for the first time since we've lived here on the way over! So yummy! At the end of September I was blessed to buy a cheap ticket down to CA for Amanda Wayne's bridal shower! God definitely answered my prayers of wanting to see my college friends so much! I had so much fun hanging out with Ben and Katie in their new home and especially catching up with friends, like Amanda, that I haven't seen in over a year! I am truly blessed by these incredible friends! On the first Sunday in October, I woke up to this scary sight! Evan was hunting with our friend Kip, and needless to say they came this morning, to not spend another night in the cold snow, with no deer to be found. Luckily it melted off the next day! The last weekend of August, we packed up all of our things and moved to this cute, new little house! It is 3 bed, 2 bath, garage, fenced backyard, and most importantly, it has a dishwasher and garbage disposal! Yes, Evan and I have gone almost 2 years without either! We love it so much and love even more that we have more space for more friends and family to visit! September 16 was my 24th birthday! Evan took the day off and surprised me completely by driving to Portland for the day! He had made reservations at this amazing restaurant, Francis, for lunch where I had THE BEST macaroni and cheese (above) that I have EVER had!!! Then we walked around an artsy part of Portland, then went to the mall (since we don't have a real one in Bend :) and Evan bought me this sweatshirt I had wanted so much and the cutest tall black boots that I wanted! That morning I also opened my pasta maker attachment to the Kitchen Aid mixer! Needless to say Evan spoiled me!
This the most amazing authentic Italian restaurant that Evan took me to for my birthday dinner in Portland. The waiters barely spoke English, it was like we walked into a little town in Italy, where the Italian grandpa opens the door for you and the whole family is running the restaurant! We had a house warming part a few weeks after we moved in! It was so fun to have 20+ of our closest friends and family in Bend to hang out with! Evan relived his IM glory days at Davis by playing with our church's softball team. He had such a fun time hanging out with friends and playing softball during the fall! In the picture is Evan, Kip and Jon, some of his closest friends here! For Labor day weekend, Kip and Kristin invited us to spend 4 days with them on Shasta Lake at Kristin's cabin on the lake! We played in the water, played on jet skis, played games with Kip's parents and celebrated Kristin's 24th birthday! We had such a blast and can't wait to go back! At the end of August I drove with Kristin on a last minute trip to Spokane, WA for her friend's wedding! We had so much fun, we spent the night and partied all night with her high school friends in one of the most elaborate, incredible weddings that I've ever been to! Good times and good memories! On August 18, Evan and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary! We had an awesome camping trip planned, below are the pictures of the great camp site we picked out after we drove an hour down the road to the Cascade Lakes. As we were unpacking our car at 8:30 at night, we realized that our tent had to tent poles....after a few pictures, we decided the best thing to do was drive back home :( We ended up having a fun day, we watched Julie and Julia, went to an amazing dinner (above) at 900 Wall in town and had a couple people pay for our dinner for our anniversary!
That's all for now! I will try and do better at updating the blog :)
The other night we had the craziest thunder and lightning storm I've ever seen! I literally sat mezmorized in my bedroom for at least 30 minutes watching just a part of this storm that lasted hours! God sure is amazing and powerful!
When the lightning flashed, it lit up the ENTIRE sky, it was practically blinding!
Part of the lightning.
How dark it was when the lightning wasn't flashing!
I'm probably a total dork for posting this, but my car rolled over to 100,000 miles last weekend as we were driving through the Cascade Lakes! My parents bought it for me 4 years ago, when my other car completely died in the middle of the road multiple times. This car has seen numerous trips to Oregon from California and to California from Oregon. It has had many friends, going on many trips from our girls camping trip (where PGBEIS was born, right Sam :)) to driving to weddings to driving away from our own wedding! This car has smelled like chlorine after so many swim practices and smelled like Christmas trees that Evan and I have cut down and taken home.
Thanks to such a great car that has brought so many fun memories. Here's to another 100,000 :)
This weekend on July 18, 2009 the little sister I never had got married in Chico to a wonderful guy! I have known Erika since she was only 2 years old, and I have had the joy to witness their relationship since it started in high school 5 years ago! The wedding was beautiful, I laughed, I cried, it was an amazing time to witness the start of the marriage, see great friends and family!
Jaclyn and me, before she moves from France to Germany at the end of summer! First Dance! First kiss and Mr. and Mrs. Tumminelli! So happy :)
Mom and Dad
Cutting the cake and eating it! They were nice to each other :)
The happy couple! I hope they have a wonderful honeymoon on their Mexican cruise!
Brian and Erika Tumminelli! I will never get sick of going to weddings, watching a couple dedicate their lives to themselves and the Lord. My favorite picture!
