Prayers for my mom

Goodness, where do I start?

I struggled with whether or not to write anything about this.  Sometimes personal matters are just that: personal.  

Sometimes family matters need to stay between families.

But this is so much more than that.  And as my bloggy friends know, blogging is an outlet. 

--Taylor Swift writes songs--

--Miley shaves her head--

--I retreat to my bloggy--

My mother was seriously injured in a freak accident.  The perky tan little lady that I call "mom" was vacationing in Cabo San Lucas and lounging by the pool with her friend on their first day of their vacation.  Somewhere along the lines, someone left a hot tub cover unclipped on the 3rd floor of the resort.  The wind caught the cover and blew it hard enough into my mom's head that it snapped her neck in 2 places.

She was rushed to the hospital and received emergency surgery as she was far too critical to transport back to the states.  However, we now have her back in the states and I write my little bloggy post from a mini-recliner in an ICU room listening to pumps of the breathing tube, and beeps from her heart monitor. 

She's now a quadriplegic.  

Suffering from paralysis in all four limbs.

DEEEEEEEEEP BREATH.

She can move her feet and wiggle some fingers.  We are fortunate that she's such a healthy person (does it get more healthy than ultra marathoners?).  However even she's having difficulties keeping her lungs strong and her body relaxed. 

My mom is the world's sweetest, happiest person.  If anyone ever has anything to say about mom, it's always, "She's the happiest person I've ever met!"  This isn't fair that she was injured simply by laying by the pool.  None of this is fair. 

My mom runs as her form of therapy

She's an ultramarathon runner

An avid Yogi

And a health fanatic

Her life will forever be different and my heart breaks for her.

Please send your prayers and good thoughts to my sweet little mom.  She needs them more than anything right now.

Honeymoon Booked!

It's official friends, we've booked our honeymoon!! 

In September, Aaron and I will be traveling to....

THE GREEK ISLANDS!!

You guys have no idea what a "WIN" this is.  For starters, we argued for a good 2-3 months about where we wanted to go.

Aaron wanted rugged/hiking/backpacking/hosteling/adventure
I wanted relaxing/foreign/fun/culture

We went back and forth, and every conversation ended in me saying, "I'm not going on a honeymoon!!"

Compromise, people, compromise.

I've wanted to go to Greece for as long as I remember.  Greece, and building-an-orphanage-in-Africa, have really been my biggest passions.  My Grammy went to Greece when I was younger, and when she came back she couldn't stop talking about how beautiful it was and what a great time she had.

Well if my Grammy loved it then so will I.  So I decided then that I, too, would go to (and love) Greece.  In fact, I still wear a ring on my right hand that my Granny (not to be confused with "Grammy") purchased while she was in Greece.

Long story short - I'm obsessed with Greece.

So I was ECSTATIC when Aaron found an amazing deal for us to travel to my dream location.  We were able to pay for the entire trip so we dove all in and bought the vacation package!

We'll be spending 3 days in Mykonos, 3 days in Santorini, and 2 days in Athens.

ECSTATIC doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling about our trip!!

This will be the first trip Aaron and I have taken that doesn't involve camping, car-camping, trail mix, no-showers, sleeping bags, etc.

IAMSOEXCITEDICAN'TWAIT!

Have any of you been to Greece?  Any recommendations or suggestions?!  I'm all ears.

Weekend Updates!

Do you ever have those weekends where it's cold and rainy so sometimes it's easier to stay inside than do anything?

Aaron now has Saturday off work (hashtag PoliceProblems) so we've been struggling with what to do on rainy Portland weekends now that we actually get to see each other!

So Aaron's brother was in town this weekend which was a nice way to force us out of the house and do what Portlandian's do best:   

Drink Beer

This weekend was Portland's annual Zwickelmania.  Since Aaron always works Saturday's we've never been able to go.  So not only did we get to go but we got to share all of the fun microbreweries with his brother!

.... and by "all" I mean we were done after 2 beers.  His brother even got to see my allergy to alcohol take over my face and body.

Success!

Happy Friday and Valentines Day!

While I'd love to say my main squeeze and I have some hot plans for tonight, we don't.  It's not about the plans, it's not about the flowers, it's a lovely February Day to remind us to say, "I Love You" to those we care about.

... it's also an excuse to eat tons of chocolate and candy hearts and get through your Friday with a sugar high...

Via Instagram

Engagement Photos!

Now that we've shared our favorite engagement photos with our family and friends, I thought it was time I share them with my bloggy world too :-)

Last time I only shared a couple of photos ("sneak peak" if you will) so here are more photos from such a fun photo shoot!

Some fun facts:

• Aaron had more outfit changes than I did
• My 93 year old Grandma made the quilt in our photos
• The shoot was in Northern Washington (Mt. Baker Wilderness)
• Our photographers were the most FUN photographers EVER!  

Hope you all like them!

Miles Rewards!

Have you ever heard someone say, "I used my miles to buy my plane ticket/hotel room/other expensive things" ??

I feel like I hear it constantly.  Yet for the amount of times I've traveled, I've only earned enough Southwest points for a portion of a one-way ticket.

My facepalm moment was after asking someone how they earned their miles.

Credit card, idiot.

See I don't put anything on a credit card.  Anything.  My theory is if I have the money in my bank account why not just pay from debit?

And if I don't have the money in my bank account?  

Well I don't buy it.  

I'm terrified of credit cards.  I've managed to accumulate them, and I'm worried I'll make a charge and forget to pay it off.  So much to the point I check my credit card statements constantly worried I made a charge on the wrong card.  "Still at zero balance?  Phew."  I was lucky enough to grow up in a family where we paid cash for cars, didn't take out student loans, and didn't buy things we couldn't always afford. 

You see why I like to pay cash for everything?  Debt is the devil.

But I digress.

I started researching miles reward cards.  I'm in the process of planning a honeymoon, bachelorette parties, trips, etc.  And I want the biggest bang for my buck! 

I narrowed it down to two cards:

1. Capital One Venture Rewards
2. Chase Sapphire Preferred

After posing the question on my facebook about which one people preferred, I noticed a lot of my friends had Chase Sapphire and loved it.  Plus the bonus 45,000 points was a nice little incentive.

So I applied!  Got my card recently, and have transferred all of my recurring payments to the credit card (gym, sewage, garbage, etc).  The idea is to pay this card off every month because the interest rate is a nasty 15.99%.    BUT for every dollar we spend, we get a point back.  And for every dollar we spend on Travel and Dining (which is more than I'd like to admit) we get TWO points back!  Basically, for the money we're already spending we can now earn miles toward traveling. 

I've even gotten Aaron on board my excitement train.  We'll go out to eat and he'll look at me and say, "Chase Sapphire?!"  Yes honey, we're Chase Sapphiring this.

I felt so dumb for not having a card to earn miles.  I feel like I always hear people say they're paying for travel with Miles and I'm just NOW getting it.  However whenever I ask people what miles card they use, most people don't use one or have any idea what I'm talking about either.

Soooo I thought I would share my story on my little bloggy with my lovely bloggy friends.  If you enjoy traveling and don't currently have a Miles reward type of card, do your research and hop on the bandwagon.  Might as well earn rewards for the money you're already spending :-)

And for your Tuesday morning - an adorable photo of my loves.

My Crybaby Diaries

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Have you ever watched a video/movie and sat on the couch PRAYING no one will walk in and see you bawling your eyes out?  

Tears pouring out and snot having a hay-day.

That was totally me last night as a blubbering hot mess.

First, I watched this video.

Then, I read this article.

My little heart is hurting for all of these babies as I sit here and dress my pooch up in every outfit I can get my hands on!

So then I went to bed and told my lover-fiance:

"I want another dog."

It's Monday, Already?!

Sometimes you have those weekends that drag, then sometimes you have those weekends that FLY.

This weekend we  flew :-)

Friday was a zoo.  I've decided I'm never hosting an "Ice Cream Friday" day at work solo ever again.  I can't tell you how many times I wanted to put my sassy pants on and tell people to be thankful they were getting ice cream.

Straight from work I headed to a bloggy date with Brooke, Jessi, Laura, Jane, and Rachel at Saucebox in Portland.  By the way - they have an AMAZING happy hour.  My bill was $10.  $10!!  I'll be back.  But I had a wonderful time and the conversation was so easy!  The creepy thing with blog friends is you already know about each other.  So the conversation starts like this, "Hi it's so nice to meet you!  By the way I love the pictures of your apartment." 
Creepy? 
Not creepy? 
It's a bloggy thing.

After the bloggy date I picked up Aaron from home and we got more food (because that's what weekends are for - gaining back the weight you lost during the week - duh) and went to Powell's because I NEEDED my new Portland 2014 Events calendar.  Guys - if you live near PDX you NEED this calendar.  I lovelovelove my 2013 calendar and demanded to have the 2014 version:-)

Saturday Aaron and I slept in, spent the entire day together, and headed to a party with some friends.  To be totally honest, whenever I'm doing anything with that fiance of mine I am totally head over heels in love.  Too mushy? 

 

We also made an Ikea run to pick up some things.  I don't know who thought it was a good idea for us to live 15 minutes within an Ikea, but I'm pretty sure we've single handedly ensured all their employees will receive Holiday Bonus' this year.   We brought the Polly pup so we could show off her new Lumber Jackie hat!  Turns out dogs aren't allowed in Ikea, but we didn't find out till we were leaving

;-)  Shucks.  Plus - she's not really a dog - she's more like a little human. 

 

We seriously have problems.

 

And lastly, have you voted for the World's most adorable baby in the Gerber baby contest yet?  If you have a few extra minutes, show a fellow blogger some love and vote for Courtney's adorable little Mia (Entry ID 249510). 

What HE puts up with

I would LOVE to sit here and tell my pretty friends and family that I'm perfect, and an even MORE perfect significant other. 

But seriously guys, I'm no peach. 

I'm not entirely sure how he puts up with me, but he does.  If I were in his shoes, these would be my pain points:

I'm messy

Ask any of my roommates - I'm not tidy.  I mean I'm not dirty/filthy.  But I'm....cluttery.  I neeed those yoga pants right there on the floor.  How will I know where they are if they're put away?  And yes I neeed our bathroom counter to be littered with  different lotions, 2 different toothpastes, and lip gloss galore.  A box of tampons on the bathroom counter?  He has never ONCE complained.

That's a real catch, ladies.

I forget to turn off the oven

In all honesty, this is what inspired this post :-)  This is a nasty little habit of mine.  I don't know HOW people remember to turn the oven off.  The alarm is sounding, the food is hot, the steam gets in your face, the food NEEEEDS to be eaten asap.  The last thing I'm thinking of is turning the oven off.  Duh.

I'm insecure

If he had a dollar for every time I've called myself fat or insisted he checked out another girl, he'd be rolling in dough.  I wish I could say it's because he never calls me pretty or compliments my outfits, but that's quite the opposite.  Not only does he tell me how pretty I am and that he thinks I look great (even in the morning with yoga pants and bad breath), he also compliments my mom.  "Terry you look great today!"  She was astonished.

At the Astoria column

Beat it lady, he's mine.

I hate touching paper

Hate hate hate hate.  As much as I hate taking time off work.  Very few people really understand this about me.  So when someone hands me a receipt and I quickly throw it his way, he gets me.  If we fill out paperwork and someone hands me a copy, he'll take it for me.

Bedside Cups/Glasses/Tumblers

When the cupboards go empty and there aren't any cups left, your best guess is to check my night stand.  Where cups go to die.  I need ice water before bed, and because I was blessed with lazy bones it's easier to bring a new cup upstairs with me each night and accidentally forget to take it downstairs the next morning.

He deals with it.  And never has ONCE complained about the missing cups.

In truth, he doesn't  complain about anything.  Ever.  He calls me pretty.  Gives me love notes. And makes me laugh.

Boy did I luck out :-)

Engagement Photos!

Ok this post may be a little misleading.

When I say "photos" I really only mean 2 pictures (and I threw a 3rd in for giggles).  Aaron and I are sending a lot of our pictures as Christmas gifts this year for family (SPOILER ALERT) and we are trying to keep the pictures a surprise :-)

BUT for now here are the pictures we have shared with our friends and family!

We got our photos done in Northern Washington (Bellingham, WA) from Meg and Aaron with Evantide Photography and BOYHOWDY they were a hoot-and-a-half.  They were so much fun and Aaron and I LOVELOVE our photos!

Aaron was adamant that he wanted photos done up in the Mt. Baker wilderness.  Good luck love, good luck.  It was near impossible finding a photographer that would travel that direction and not charge an arm and a leg.

It must have been meant to be, because I happened to stumble upon Evantide who not ONLY were willing to travel to Shucksan/Mt. Baker, but were also conveniently having a photo workshop the same weekends we were considering!  They were extremely accommodating and I can't say enough good things about their business.  To top it all off, they were awesome.  So fun.  So funny.  You can tell in half of our pictures we're both laughing hysterically! 

When Yosemite is closed, head to Northern Washington

If you need to know something about me, you should know I HATE taking time off work.

Hate.

But my main squeeze and I decided to take a trip to Yosemite with my mom at the end of October.  Only problem was the government went on strike and closed down the planet national parks.

Queue - cancelled plans.  Rather than fly to Reno for our Yosemite trip and waste 4 days of PTO, we cancelled our flights and stayed in the PNW to do some hikes we've been eyeballing.

We also thought it was a good idea to bring our dogs.  Turns out we suck at coming up with good ideas.

Anyhow - we conquered the Mt. Pilchuck hike.  For you fellow PNWers - this is only a 4 mile hike but incredibly rewarding!  See for yourself ;-)

Then we booked it to the coast and did an 8 mile coastal hike.  Sounds nice right?  Guess again.  It was beautiful, but maybe for a couple of miles.  But when you're hiking for 8 miles on a flat beach you realize the scenery doesn't change at all. 

But regardless it was beautiful weather and I never pass up a chance to hang out with my handsome honey.