It's been a while...Let me catch you up!

Wow, it has been forever since I have posted a blog! I really should get on this much more as I had previously promised to do.

So, here's the quick and dirty on what's been happening:

1. June 20, 2009: Clint and I got married!

2. September 10, 2009: Clint and I bought a house!

3. September 19, 2009: Clint and I moved into said house!

So, in more detail...

1. Yes, we tied the knot! For those of you who were not there, it was a beautiful day and everything turned out really well! We got incredibly lucky with the weather and made it through our minor hiccoughs. We had a cocktail hour preceding the ceremony where we mingled with guests, ate and drank. It was cool. The ceremony was fun, laid-back, and iconic at times. We said the "I do"s, we kissed, Clint sang a song. It was my favorite part of the day! Then we had an awesome reception with amazing food (thank you Cabbage Patch), Champagne cake that my amazing sister made (thank you Jillian), and silly dancing (thanks to ALL)! There are pictures posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/39100691@N06/.

2. We bought a house! Finally! You can ignore every single other post I have about houses, as the one we bought is none of those. Yes, we had previously tried to purchase a couple of houses, the last of which was under way for 6 1/2 months. At the end of July, we decided we were tired of being handcuffed to that house, and we walked away. The next day we hired a new agent, and four days after that, we found our house! We knew almost immediately that this was our house; it just felt right! We made our offer after sleeping on it, it was accepted the very next day, and all was groovy!

So about our house: It is located on the edge between Mill Creek & Bothell, sandwiched between Mill Creek Town Center and Thrasher's Corner. It's about 2.5 miles from where our wedding was. : ) It is a 1979 tri level with 3 bedrooms plus the master. Here's a brief description.

Main Floor (where the front door leads in): Straight ahead is the kitchen. Immediately to the left of the Front Door is our Pub Room with a slightly recessed floor. This room has high, vaulted ceilings with a fireplace at the far end and 3 floor to ceiling windows. In the far corner between the kitchen and the pub room is the dining room with a slider leading outside and real hardwood floors. Walk through the kitchen and to the right are stairs to:

Downstairs: Coming down the stairs alongside the kitchen leads you into the TV room. There is a slider leading to the patio grill area. The TV room is huge. Walk through the TV room to the hallway that has doors leading to the laundry room/bathroom, garage, and 3rd bedroom that is our office.

Now go back to standing in the front doorway. To your right are stairs going upstairs to the bedrooms. The first door on the right is the Multi-Purpose room that will be my craft room and Clint's music room. The second door on the right is the guest room. At the end of the hallway is the guest bathroom, and to the left is the Master bedroom.

Our backyard has evergreen trees that tower over the neighborhood, and therefore shade our back yard making it impossible for grass to grow. I don't think any of the previous owners ever did anything with the back yard, so we have 30 years worth of growth to take care of. A project for next summer...At least we have a front yard with grass!

Here are a few pictures from the previous owners. It will look a lot different with our new paint colors & our things, but at least you can get an idea until we get some new pictures, or even a video walk through!

Engagement Photos!

Go here:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=522049008/a=29419058_29419058/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Weight, STP, etc.

There are just under 13 weeks until the STP, and I'm nervous! Clint and I went for a nice ride a week ago; we did a very easy 30 miles with a couple of women that he works with. It was a beautiful day, and we rode along the Burke Gilman Trail. We are registered to ride the Lilac Century in Spokane at the end of this month, on the 26th. We did this ride last year, and had a blast. It is beautiful, it was warm, and the sun was shining! We are looking forward to it!

We went snowshoeing this past Saturday; finally! We bought snowshoes on Valentine's Day at REI's "Garage Sale." I am so glad that we finally got out to use them! But with all of the new snow that Steven's had lately, it was no easy task. Even with the snowshoes, each step sank down at least a foot, sometimes up to our knees. We were the first people on the trail since the big snow, so there were no tracks to follow. And the trail was not very trail like, in my opinion. I was expecting something like the x-country ski trails we were on at Sunriver, OR. But no, we were literally walking right through the thickets of trees, around branches, pu and over stumps, etc. The only "trail" part about it was that every now and again there was an orange flag tied to a branch to let you know you were going the right direction! It was very hard work, but we had a blast!

When we got back to the rental shack, they were selling off their ski rentals for wickedly reduced prices, so Clint and I each got x-country skis, boots, poles for next winter!

And last comment for this post; Clint and I have been making a really big effort lately to eat right, choose healthy foods, and reduce our calorie intake. I have been trying to stick to around 1,500 calories per day, and I think I'm coming in pretty close to that. Since we began this on March 2nd, Clint has lost 15lbs. and I have lave lost 9 lbs. We are both feeling a lot better about ourselves, we have more energy, and our moods have improved! The sunshine may have helped that last point, but either way, it's great. It's not very fun sometimes, like when we want beer and a burger, but we have scheduled "cheat meals" when we can eat whatever we want, guilt free. We have a cheat meal every 2 weeks, and it's amazing how much we look forward to them! We talk about what we want to eat for our cheat meal almost as soon as our last one has passed. It's just a little motivation to stick with the part that sucks during the week so that we can indulge (moderately) every now and then. It helps keep us going through the weeks.

Ta-ta, for now!

STP 2009

I am officially registered to participate in the 2009 Seattle to Portland bicycle ride; 204 picturesque miles along the I-5 corridor during the second weekend in July.

This will be my fourth time participating in the STP, and I am looking forward it more that before. Why? The last time I rode, I didn't finish. It was very bittersweet, completing 150 miles in just one day is, to this day, my personal record. However not finishing the ride was a huge dissapointment.

This year we are riding over the course of two days, which will be much more enjoyable. Trying to push through and complete the ride in one day meant missing out on a lot of cool stuff! Over two days, you have the luxury of time, of rest, and of better food. One day was just too stressful and took a lot of the enjoyment out of the ride.

I have 5 months to get in shape, which means lots of seat time! Building up muscle is one thing; preparing your rear end for torture is another.

So if, in the future, you notice that I am walking a little funny, instead of laughing, give me a big "Way to go!"

Appliances!

Clint and I bought our new appliances today! We purchased a new Maytag 3000 Series washer and dryer in crimson red, and a Kitchenaid French Door refrigerator! They are so beautiful! The washer and dryer are just like the series that has the TV commercial with the monster truck driving over the washer and dryers, just without the steam! We purchased them from a local store here in Everett; they will hold them for as long as we need until they can deliver them! And we got a great rebate for purchasing all three pieces together! Here are some pictures, and new pictures of the outside of the house! Doesn't the Jeep look perfect in front of the house? Love it!

House of a Different Color...

OURS! That's the color! Clint and I accepted and signed a contract on a house last night! This house has everything that we were looking for, and more! It's going to be a great house for us! Here are some pictures!

New Year's Resolutions

While I have never really made resolutions in the past, I feel like this is a good year to start. Below are the things that I want to challenge myself to do in 2009:

1. Stop complaining about things that don't matter. I like to hear myself talk, and I like sympathy. But complaining is boring and gets me nowhere.

2. Stop swearing. There are much better and more clever ways to convey a point than resorting to foul language. It's unbecoming, and it makes me sound stupid.

3. Utilize my friends. I am fortunate enough to live within about an hour of most of my friends, yet I seem to find all kinds of excuses to not see them. "I have to wake up really early." "An hour is a long way to drive." We say so often that we should spend more time together, yet we never do. I want to change that. I want to stop being comfortable making excuses and propose ways to spend time together. So when I call you to see if you're available, help me out and point out flaws in my plan that will hold me back.

4. Stop being lazy. Clint and I ask each other frequently, "What do you want to do today?" And more often than not, the response is "I don't know." This inevitably leads to doing nothing and wasting the day. There are so many things to do if only we could break out of our rut and do them. Instead of the usual "I don't know" response, I will provide several options. They may not all appeal to us at the moment, but I refuse the path of inaction. There are parks for hiking, snowshoe rentals, bicycle trails, and museums all within reasonable distance from us. Wouldn't it be nice to make a list of the places we'd like to go, and then actually work on crossing them off? All it takes is a little creativity and motivation. This leads me to my next challenge;

5. Become more active. Because I am comfortable with my sedentary lifestyle, it is difficult to imagine anything to the contrary. But I remember a time in my life not too long ago when I was active; I would hike with my family, ride my bike, and just get out and about. Again, I need to utilize the resources around me and make a conscious decision to MOVE IT, MOVE IT!

6. Branch out my craftiness. I make cards. That's about all I make. And while I thoroughly enjoy making cards, and my cards are nice, I have the tools to do more. I want to be more creative and try new crafty things like scrapbooking, or making jewelry. How cool would that be? Handmade cards AND gifts! Just kidding. Mostly. I see a lot of things that I like that make me think, "Oh, I could make that!" But I never do, even when the parts and pieces are waiting for me. I should try it!

7. I want to complete a sprint Triathlon. SWIM - BIKE - RUN. This will become my mantra while training for a triathlon. I have dreamed of completing a triathlon in the past, but never done anything to get myself in shape to do it. A sprint triathlon is a 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run. There are several in the Puget Sound area in this coming year, and I want to complete at least one of them. How awesome would that be? Now I just need to find a pool to use for the swim training.