Engagement Photos

Nate and I had our engagement photos done last weekend and I was very happy with the results. Here are a few pictures from the bunch we did.

It's a debate between the second and fourth pictures as to which one is my favorite. For tonight, at least.

'Twas the Month Before Christmas

Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.

See the PC Police had taken away
The reason for Christmas -- no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About shepherds and wise men and angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say --
December 25th is just a "holiday."
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit,
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Rihanna, an X Box, and I-Pod,
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanza
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word "Christmas" was nowhere to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penney's and Sears,
You won't hear the word "Christmas" -- it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, now Darden, now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen,
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!

At the top of the Senate there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith,
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded,
The Reason for the Season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate "winter break" under your "dream tree,"
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say,
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ... not Happy Holiday!

-- Anonymous Author

Trip to DC

I know I'm posting this one a little late - over a month late in fact - but I did want to share the fun trip that Nate and I took to visit Melany and Ryan in Washington, DC in October. Obviously, if you've read my previous blogs you know that while in DC Nate proposed. Yeah! But this post is for the other things that happened on the trip. The sights we saw, the fun we had, the memories we made and all that jazz. So, without further ado, our DC trip!

I originally thought to make the attempt to put the pictures in order, but after adding all the pictures in I decided that I'm lazy tonight and will simply show them as they got added. :-)

Nate and I in front of the Supreme Court chamber

Red Bull was sponsoring a display in Union Station. The art was made entirely out of Red Bull cans. I thought that it was really neat.

Arlington Cemetery - So many graves.

The Changing of the Guard - these gentlemen were amazing. When they turned they would click their heels and make a loud click sound. Their precision was so awesome that when all three turned and clicked their heels you only ever heard one click.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers

I thought this was so neat. The grocery store had a scanner that you checked out when you got into the store. You then scanned all your items as you walked through the store. To leave, you merely handed your scanner and your credit card to the checkout person, paid, and walked away. If you were thinking ahead you could bag all your groceries as you shopped in the store. I can't wait for this to come our way. Here, Ryan demonstrates.

The Hope Diamond and the necklace that she originally sat in.

My ring compared to the Hope Diamond. I still like mine better!

A REALLY neat display at the Museum of American History. They had the First Ladies' dresses, dishes, jewelry, and other items on display.

One of my FAVORITE pictures of Nate. Standing next to the anti-nuclear protest sign near the White House. As Nate is very pro-nuclear, being a nuclear engineer and all, I got a kick out making him stand next to the sign.

Nate and I in front of the White House.

While visiting the World War II Memorial I noticed these placards all around the entrance. They show the depiction of the war from start to finish. The first image shows the reaction at the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbot to the last image showing our soldiers returning home. The interesting thing about this memorial when compared to the Vietnam and Korean Memorials, is that the WWII memorial celebrates America and Americans coming together in our countries, and our soldiers, time of need. The memorial isn't so much about the war as it is about America's reactions and agricultural/industrial involvement. A very different idea from what I was expecting.

In front of the Lincoln Memorial. People, this is why I LOVE to travel in the off-season. I saw what this memorial was like in the summer when the Duggars (love my 18 Kids and Counting show) traveled to DC. The TV show showed the Duggar family having to wade through a sea of people just to get close enough to see the Lincoln statue. By traveling just a few weeks outside of tourist season - I believe DC's tourist season officially ended in the beginning of October - you pay less, have smaller crowds, and only have to deal with a little bad weather. Rain jacket and you're good to go.

Fraternity and Sorority houses. Much different from Sigma Kappa's house at WSU.

My first visit with a dinosaur. I'd never seen real dinosaur bones before. They're HUGE!

The Declaration of Independence. Did you know that if you touch the glass to point out the grammatical error the security guard will continually yell at you until you stop touching the glass? Who knew? Now, in my defense there were no signs saying 'don't touch the glass' (at least none I saw) and spotting a grammatical error in one of our country's most important documents is kind of a big deal. What I want to know is how did he know I was touching the glass? Did a sensor go off? Did he have super human vision? I still want to know.

The Jefferson Memorial (at least I'm pretty sure this is it)

That's all, folks! I hope you enjoyed looking at my pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

March 6, 2010

It's official! Our wedding date is March 6, 2010. It's funny but after meeting with Father Champeaux and setting the official date I don't feel as stressed as I did. I guess it's the fact that with the date set everything else is just icing on the cake. Good to have but not the important thing. Oh, don't get me wrong I'm sure that I'll still stress about getting vendors setup, ordering the dress, finding bouquets I like and all that. But I now know that, should everything else completely fall apart, I will still be Mrs. Nathan Carstens in four months. Very exciting!

We're Engaged!

Nate proposed! We're engaged!

Nate and I decided to head up for a week's vacation to Washington, DC where we were visiting his cousin, Melany, and her new husband, Ryan, as they were there on a year's work assignment. The whole time I was getting ready for the trip I kept telling myself that even if a proposal didn't come I would still have the best vacation I could possibly have. Luckily, though, the engagement came! Nate proposed! We're engaged! Now it's a mad dash of planning as we're hoping for a March 2010 wedding and that's coming up very quickly according to the wedding planning world. I would personally like to know who decided that a year was the time frame considered normal. I love this guy and want to spend the rest of my life with him. Why make me wait so long to get to that point? Anyways, that's not the point of this post. On to better things!

Here's the proposal story. The morning of our engagement started out with me thinking that it'd be just another day of touring the city with Nate. We went out and got into the rental car and then Nate said that he'd forgotten something and would be back. When he came back it was with our suitcases in tow. I was completely shocked! I had thought that a proposal might be coming on this trip but I never imagined it would come like it did. We drove to Dulles International Airport where we hopped a flight to Newark, NJ. The capital of romance. :-) In New Jersey we got all fancied up and headed out to see The Phantom of the Opera at The Majestic Theatre in New York City. I'd also like to add that the seats we had were Orchestra level. ORCHESTRA level!!! I was 10 rows away from the front of the stage, dead center middle. It was like the people were performing in my living room they were so close. After the play we had a fun Italian dinner then went back to the hotel where Nate ended the romantic evening with the much anticipated proposal.

Now, you might be thinking about how sweet and romantic this proposal was. But what you don't know is that it didn't almost happen! Our fight was delayed by 5 hours in Newark, we missed our dinner reservation as the cab ride into the City took over an hour, and we made the play's start time by 15 minutes. So at this point in time I'm thinking that everyone else has gone off-kilter and that Nate, knowing how he likes to have things go according to plan, wouldn't propose. So as we ate at this quirky Italian Pub I convinced myself that the proposal wasn't going to happen.
Well, we headed back to Newark and were just chatting about the day's events when we got to the hotel. Once inside the room Nate suggested I take off my shoes and lay down on the bed and relax for a bit. I did so and as soon as my head hit the pillow Nate turned off the lights. Written on the ceiling, in glow in the dark stars no less, were the words "Marry Me". I was so shocked and amazed that a proposal was really here that I think I must have said "oh, my gosh" and "are you kidding me?" a bunch of times. At that point Nate pulled out a small white box, got down on a knee, and said "Teresa Joanne Akers, will you marry me?". Then he pulled the box open to show a Jack in the Box bobble-head ring.

I have to divert from the story just a bit. A few months ago I'd been sleeping when I dreamed that Nate was proposing in front of my boss and co-workers and had done so with a small ring that had a small Jack-in-the-Box bobble head instead of a diamond for a center stone. I was so afraid of this happening (seriously, in front of my co-workers and with a car bobble-head!) that as soon as I could I woke Nate up (mind you, this was probably around 3am) and told him that I didn't want him to propose with a Jack-in-the-Box ring but that I still said yes in the dream so that he knew I'd say yes no matter what the ring looked like. So when I saw Nate on his knee with the Jack-in-the-Box bobble head I lost my wits and actually asked if he was playing a joke. No joke! Nate had cut the bobble-head in two to make a little box for my ring. It was the PERFECT way to bring my proposal full circle. It was then that I said 'yes' and our engagement began!

So on a day that started with nothing going right, there was a perfect ending to the night. (I just now realized that rhymes.)

At this point we're madly trying to catch up on sleep (just got back from DC tonight), trying to get a church/reception place/date for March 2010 as that's when we'd really like to get married, and starting wedding dress shopping as it appears that dresses take months to order in. Hopefully we can get the few necessary items planned for as soon as possible so that we can focus on just enjoying being engaged without going crazy over details. For those of you who have gotten married, I'm open to all suggestions, comments, and advice you may have for us!

I feel just so lucky to have Nate.

Visiting WSU - Happy Birthday Dad!

For my Dad's birthday, back in September, I bought a group of us WSU football tickets. Work was sponsoring a trip up to Pullman that was such a great deal I couldn't pass it up. For a mere $45 we got the bus ride to Pullman, tickets into the game, snacks on the ride up, and a pizza dinner for the ride home. It was a steal! So Dad, Mom, Nate, Nate's friend Scott (who was a fun addition to the group), and I hopped on the bus (or hopped as much as one can do at 8am on a Saturday) and headed up to Pullman. I was particularly looking forward to the trip as it's been a year since I've been back. And oh, my gosh the changes that have been made.

First up. Who decided that college student's needed a full-service restaurant on campus? The Doopus Boomer Restaurant (named after a cartoon character famous for describing the Hanford site life) was a place that could have been plopped in the middle of any decent-sized city and made a decent business. Yummy food (the chili bread bowl was EXCELLENT!), good beer, and pretty good service all available to those that have no problem drinking Bush Light from a key and having leftover cold pizza for breakfast.



The biggest thing that got me was comparing this upscale restaurant to what we had when I was on campus. A normal campus dining hall, Taco Bell, and Burger King. Does this look like Taco Bell? I know Scott was making fun of me for the many times I said that, but holy hannah, it was such a change! Some of the other big things I noticed were greatly widened sidewalks (where once two or three could walk abreast it was now ten or so), The Bookie being in the CUB and the old Bookie spot being a bus stop, I would have sworn that there was a great big gazebo or building missing from next door to Bryan Hall, the steep hill that went in front of Todd Hall to the Stephenson Towers was now alternating steps and ramps (which means no more watching Freshman slide down that path due to the wrong choice of shoewear for snow covered, heated sidewalks), the Todd Hall coffee cart now being a coffee corner, and great big wall coverings in Todd Hall talking about how awesome the business school was. I spent many a year in Todd Hall so these changes were most apparent. It was also fun showing Nate around campus so that he could see where I was molded into whom I am today! Okay, totally cheesy but I did enjoy showing him around. Including making him understand that I really did mean uphill, both ways, in the snow and wasn't just pulling his leg. :-)

The other really neat thing about heading up to Pullman was that I got to meet up with two sorority sisters (Sabrina and Stephanie) whom I haven't seen in, literally, years. I think I last saw Stephanie at graduation in 2002 and Sabrina at Aleisha's wedding in 2003? It felt so good to see them, give them a great big hug, and catch up on both old and new times. One of the biggest changes, simple as it is, was seeing Sabrina with short hair. And by short, I mean above the shoulder. For as long as I can remember it was long and thick to easily go into a ponytail. But the new look is just adorable (and sexy!). I enjoyed catching up with my girls so much that Nate had to literally drag me away so that we could go into the stadium to watch the game (our original intent!).

As you can see we had pretty decent seats. We didn't win the game (it's a rebuilding season people, two more to go) but it was fun watching Nate and Scott get into it. Two big records were made. The first being the longest touchdown run/pass in the school's history (99 yards) and the second being the only time we've ever seen a penalty against the kicker for running up to the first down line and then punting the ball away. Nothing dull with our Cougars.

In the end, we had a fun (albeit cold!) day. I got to hang out with my brother (who's currently going to school there), show Nate my old stomping ground, catch up with my sorority sisters, and celebrate my Dad's birthday. A great ending to a fun Saturday.

Happy Birthday, David!

My brother, David, turns 22 today. Gosh, I remember 22. I was a Senior at WSU (Washington State University) and starting to have serious concerns over what my future would be like after graduating. As I only had a month before I graduated, this was a very up and coming future. But David has chosen a slightly different path. One that I am TREMENDOUSLY proud of.

After graduating from high school David chose to become a Marine. This decision steered him away from the typical course of teenage to adulthood as he didn't graduate high school and then immediately spend four to five years in a university getting 'book' learning before graduating and finding out what real life was about. Nope, not my brother. After graduating from Boot Camp in September David headed off to college with the plan to be like everyone else. But the Marine Corps, and our country, had other plans. In February of the following year David was informed that he was being called to duty to fight in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This meant that prior to finishing his Freshman year of college he had to unenroll from Central Washington University and enroll in additional Marine Corps training to get him geared up for Iraq and war. In June, when most kids were heading home for a summer of fun and earning a bit of money, my brother headed to Ramadi to fight for the freedom of many. Nine months later our prayers were answered and my brother returned to us not only of sound mind, but of sound body. And, boy, were we praying hard for both. My Mom required him to stay at home for a year and go to Columbia Basin College (CBC - a local Junior College) just to make sure that being in Iraq and fighting in the war hadn't caused any problems that might surface as time went by and David got readjusted to life back in America. After a year, and Mom's clean bill of health, David decided to enroll at WSU to restart his university learning.

So here we are. David's starting a four-year school well after most student's do and thriving. He's learning 'book' smarts but also has the life smarts that most are missing at this time. He turns 22 and gets to experience, not fear, but excitement as he lives those great years of adult treatment with little responsibility. I hope he has the greatest time!

In the end, Happy Birthday little brother. You make me very proud!

Junkin Family Reunion

Over Labor Day weekend my Mom's side of the family had their annual family get-together. Because of everyone living either across the state or in another state altogether, getting together in the winter-time is usually hard to do. Everyone has to drive over at least one Mountain Pass and the Thanksgiving/Christmas Holiday season is already so busy with just the family that's in-town it's gotten to be a huge hassle to get the entire family (30 and counting) together to celebrate at Christmas. So about a decade or so ago the family decided to celebrate Christmas in July. The passes were clear of snow, the warm weather allowed people to get outside and not be crammed into small rooms, and the later time frame meant a more relaxed (and enjoyable!) pace.

This year the reunion was at my parent's house. Or rather, the very, very tiny rental house that they're living in while their new house is being built. So there was quite a bit of shuffling going on to get everyone a bed. Let's just say that to get everyone a bed four houses/apartments were involved. But we all worked it out and had a great time. The only sad part was that it was Haylee's turn with her Dad so only Uncle Bobby and Aunt Nancy got to see her before she went to Owen's (they came up a day earlier than the rest) and David was busy up at WSU so he never made it down, either. For those of us that were there, though, the days usually began with the golfers going off to their morning/afternoon round of golf, then everyone (including those who didn't golf) coming back to the house to have lunch and chit-chat, then the card-playing would begin with only minor interruptions for dinner and viewing whatever big thing had happened on whichever sports game was on TV (and there were a lot of them!).

The 'time sure changes thing' part that I noticed out of this reunion was how early everyone went to bed. In times past I remember waking up on my airmattress in whomever's basement at 2am to laughter from all the adult's reminescing about times gone by. I somewhat expected the same, but perhaps should have thought about how much time has gone by. Most night's people started to head off around 10pm and the latest anyone every stayed up was midnight. I guess things can't stay the same forever, but it was weird to be one of the one's who closed out the evening instead of being told that it was time for the kid's to go to bed so the adult's could have adult-only conversation. Not only was I included in the adult's conversation (which has been going on for a while now, thank you) but I closed out the evenings. Just...what growing up and getting older is about, I guess.

There was some exciting news to be shared as my cousin Mindy announced her recent engagement. Very recent in fact as she was engaged just the Tuesday before heading over to the reunion. Due to other commitments on his part we weren't able to meet her fiancee' (albeit her Mom and Dad already had) so I'll just look forward to meeting him whenever I'm next in Seattle or at the wedding.

Here are some pictures of the weekend and the fun we had!

Auntie Sue, Grandma, Uncle Bobby, and Keola (the dog) enjoying catching up with the family.

Bo (Katie's boyfriend) and Katie catching up with the family.

Uncle Roger, Dad, and Uncle Bobby enjoying their time golfing.

Who's the Best Golfer?

Nate and I visiting with everyone.

Aunt Nancy cooking another YUMMY meal!

Mindy and Uncle Bobby playing Cribbage
(with the rest of the family in the background playing cards or Solitaire)

Katie, Grandma, and I teaching Nate how to play King's Corners

Mindy, Me, Grandma, and Mom just back from taking Mindy to David's Bridal to try on wedding dresses. I'll admit, Mindy twisted my arm and I tried on a few myself. It was lots of fun, but I'm going to wait to do this again until Nate actually proposes. I just felt a little fraudish trying on dresses when I wasn't really a bride-to-be. Oh, well, Mindy had lots of fun and even found the dress she eventually bought!

At the end of the weekend I was sad to see everyone go as I'd had a great time and knew it would be a while before we would see each other again. But, family is family and we love each other no matter how long it is between getting together. Until next time!

Transition is DONE!

It's official! I got off work at 12:30am Thursday (this) morning (after working 17 hours straight, thank you very much) with a successfully completed migration of 'transition' data into our production environment. Sure, there's the little cleanups of data and reports to run tomorrow but the bulk of the work is OVER!!! I am officially on the downhill slide of overtime work, and very thankful for that. Hello normal work days and free weekends! I am overjoyed at the thought that it'll be another ten years before this activity comes around again and, God willing, I won't be involved!

Sleeping In!

I love sleeping in.

There, I've said it. I'd much rather laze the day away by sleeping in until 11:30am, getting up and making a full-fat lunch, sitting down in my chair to watch hours and hours of TV and/or read books, and then stay up late just to do the same thing over again the next day. But lately, my life has been the exact opposite. Due to work craziness I'm usually working late every night, shoving something edible in my mouth that tries to be healthy, crashing in my bed, and then waking up at an hour that only God and Famers should be up at, just to do it all over again. Frankly, my dear, I don't like it. So when an opportunity arose this weekend to be lazy and catch up on some much needed 'Me Time', I took it. Do I feel a little guilty that I didn't cram a weekend of Portland in, or that I'm probably not going to see more of my parents like I should, or even that I don't plan to really hang out with people this weekend? You, bet. I feel like I should be doing these things. But I'm not going to. Because sometimes I need to recharge my batteries and I do that by slowing down and hiding. So this weekend, I'm recharging and gearing up for all that's needed of me in the weeks ahead. See you on Monday!

Portland Bridge Pedal 2009

Last weekend I participated in one of the most fun weekends I've had this year. Nate, Nate's Dad David, a friend of the family Tim and I decided to participate in the Portland, OR annual Bridge Pedal event. It's a bike event that takes you over 6, 8, 9, or 11 different Portland bridges depending on which route you sign up for. We decided to take the plunge and sign-up for the 11 bridge route which would take us across 37 miles of hills, bridges, freeways, and side-streets. As it had been about a month since I'd been on a bike I was a little nervous about how I would do. Overall, though, I'd say I did really well. Here's a map of the route we took:

We started the morning at about 6am with a yummy breakfast, got into our biking gear (a BIG thank you to David for the padded pants - they made a HUGE difference in my soreness the next day), and drove out to our starting point to start biking at 7am. Once there we had a minor hiccup in that Tim, one of the Carstens' former exchange students, had gotten lost on the way to the starting point and was in danger of missing the first couple of bridges as we were on an 8am deadline to get across this one bride (Sellwood) which closed down to bikes and opened back up to traffic. Eventually Nate, David, and I said that we'd start the biking and keep in touch with Tim to know if we needed to meet up later on in the route. It turned out that Tim is a fast biker as we weren't even across the second bridge when he caught up to us. That was his work-out for the day!

David, Me, and Tim on break!

During the bike ride we past a lot of interesting sights. There was the man on the old-fashioned bike that stood up much taller than the crowd, a tandom bike with four people and a baby carriage in back, and a woman with a seat that squeaked the entire time she was pedaling, among other things. There were also a couple of accidents that I hope everyone recovered from. The scariest one was around the second or third bridge just as you were leveling off from the downhill side. It looked like the rider lost his balance or ran into the barrier, but either way the bike was all twisted and the rider was taken away in an ambulance. Very scary! And a great lesson in the necessity of helmets and caution.

What Great Form I Have!

Towards the end of the bike ride my thighs were deciding between being pretty much mush or screaming in agony. Luckily, though, Nate was there to help push me up the big hills. It was a sweet surprise the first time. I was biking along trying to keep up a good steady pace (I was the slow rider out of the four of us) as to not get too far behind everyone, when suddenly I felt this reassuring hand on my back and my bike just flew! It was much nicer having the help up the hill to keep up with everyone. I'm sure I could have done it on my own, as I was NOT getting off the bike and walking, I would have just done it at a much slower pace. Around hill four or five, which was the very end of the day I was praying for that hand on my back again. I'd worked myself out of energy!

Nate and I taking a break!

Overall, though, I had a great day. So much of a great day that I'm actually thinking of buying a road bike and better gear and taking up biking. We finished the route in about 3.5 to 4 hours and I burned (as I was wearing my heart rate monitor) over 2,000 calories!!! Great exercise! The rest of the day was spent in exhaustion, though. We got back to his parent's house, had lunch, took a 1.5 hour nap, got in the car to drive back to the Tri-Cities, I took another 1.5 hour nap, got home, and I was in bed by 9pm (a very early night). My little body was tired!

I DID IT!!!

All in all, a lot of fun and something I DEFINITELY want to sign up for next year.

Boys and Their Toys

Last weekend Nate finally purchased the hitch receiver that he's been wanting ever since he got a bike rack (for the car) for Christmas. New hitch receivers can cost up to $200 and Nate thought that was a riduculous amount of money for a big hole that attaches to the back of your bumper. So he's been shopping around at the various junk yards waiting for the time when a receiver hitch that fit his SUV became available. On Saturday he found one for only $50! It was a steal. That following Monday we went to my parent's house to have dinner and visit with my Uncle and Cousin who were in town. Well, after my Dad found out about the new 'toy' he had to go check it out. I didn't know but my Mom got a picture of the two of them having their guy time of the day.

That's Nate on the left and my Dad on the right. Both are grease-stained, dirty-covered, and having a great time. I'm glad that they both like to do this type of thing because my Mom and I are definitely not putting this as a Top Ten activity of what we'd like to do.

Camping at Silverwood

The weekend of July 24-26 my parents, Nate, Karen, and myself went camping near Silverwood Theme Park. WSU had a Coug Day at Silverwood where we got tickets, dinner, and door prizes for a great discount price. As Nate had never been to Silverwood, and everyone was itching to go camping, so we thought this would be a fun trip. We were right! The camping itself was really hot and muggy but we were all so relaxed and joyful that we really didn't mind (other than a few fun-loving complaints as everyone went to bed sweaty).

On Saturday the group went to Silverwood to ride the roller coaster rides and to enjoy the new Boulder Beach Water Park (which is a part of the Silverwood Theme Park). We got a few great pictures (especially the one below of Mom on the roller coaster), had a blast swimming in the wave pool, enjoyed some yummy BBQ, and then headed home to another relaxing evening in front of the campfire. One note is that if you ever want a Large Sno-Cone, only get one. Get two and you'll find you have enough sugary ice to feed a small army.

Sunday brought an unexpected rain storm, but with a 10x10 canopy we were all set to stay nice and dry until we felt like leaving. The only hiccup was that we were supposed to be out of the campsite by 1pm. Well, at 12:30 a park ranger came by and, sort of snappishly, asked when we'd be ready to leave. I've never had a ranger come by before the leave time to try to hurry people along. It was a Sunday so the likelihood of campers coming in was small, and the campground itself was pretty tiny so it wasn't as if he had huge rounds to make to get everyone out. I don't know if I took this the wrong way or not, but I just didn't like it. It was obvious we were packing up, just let us be. Well, we quickly packed up the rest of the camp gear, roasted a few hot dogs for lunch, and then were on our way home. It was agreed by all that we'd had a great trip and would like to do it again. Although, the consensus was that we'd probably just hang out in the water park as the lines for the rides were a little too long and we had more fun in the water. Until next time!

Mom, Karen, Nate, and I on the Tremors Roller Coaster

(LOVE Mom's Face!)

Nate and I After the Roller Coaster

Karen, Nate, and I on the Roaring Creek Log Flume Ride

Mom and Dad Enjoying The Day

Nate Cooking Breakfast

Back at the Campground in the Rain Storm

FREEDOM! Dave Ramsey Style

This past week Nate told me some GREAT news (which he said he didn't mind me posting on my blog). He paid off his Citi Bank credit card and he is now officially DEBT FREE!!! I'm so proud of him. Two years ago he moved to the Tri-Cities from Boston with almost $30,000 in debt between student loans, a 401k loan, and credit cards. He started chipping away at the debt before he met me, but once he realized how important being debt free was to me he made it an effort. The funny part is that once the student loans and the 401k loan had been paid off we talked and decided that we'd rather move forward on 'us' things (me: engagement ring, him: house) sooner rather than later and so made the decision that we'd pay off the last of his debt after we got married. I had no idea that he was scrimping and saving even more than he was mentioning to me with the thought that he'd still pay off debt prior to getting married. What a great suprise! Now, this means that going into marriage we'll be debt free! I know that this doesn't guarantee a happily ever after life, but considering that the majority of couples fight over finances I'm very happy to know that we've beaten one battle before it even got started.

As a side note - I was encouraged by my parents to see a financial advisor to talk about my finances and he recommended to take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class to get a better handle on my budget and debt. I started Dave's class in January 2007 with $11,000 in debt and by April 2008 I was officially debt free with a fully funded emergency fund of six months of expenses. It's such a great feeling knowing that all your money (well, that which isn't immediately taken by the government) is for your own use, whatever that may be. If you're interested, check out www.daveramsey.com and type in your zip code to find a Financial Peace Univerity class in your area. I HIGHLY recommend it!

A Unique Wedding Processional

I saw this video posted by a friend on Facebook and had to add it to my blog. This just looks like a fun group of people. And kudos to the bride and groom for making their wedding a reflection of themselves - fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Family Time is the Best Time

This past weekend my mom invited a bunch of family friends over to the Horn Rapids pool for a swim and BBQ get-together. Let's see there was our family (Dad, Mom, Katie, David, Haylee, me), Nate, the Calverts (Jerry and Gayla), the Heatons (Kurk, Shawna, and their daughter Morgan), co-workers of my mom's (Aureka, her husband, and their two kids Abby and Ellie), the Walkers (Brian, Katie, and their kids Grant and Madeleine), and Karen. All in all there were 22 of us at the pool. Wow, until I just counted I didn't realize how many of us were there. No wonder both the baby and big pool seemed overflowing!

Anyways, there wasn't any special event going on or anything we just hadn't seen each other in a while and thought getting together for friends, fun, and food would be a good thing. The pool came in extra handy, too, as we've been experiencing 100+ degree weather lately.

I thought the funniest part of the day was when I was playing with Haylee in the pool and she saw a toy and started loudly saying "My toy! My toy!" Well, since Haylee is 2 it seems like everything she likes is 'hers' so I kept telling her 'no, Haylee, that's not your toy' and she just kept saying "My toy!". Eventually I caught my mom's eye and asked if the toy Haylee was pointing at was really hers or not (because this loud proclamation of 'mine' had never gone on so long). Turns out that it WAS her toy. I apologized many times for not believing her. But, not 10 minutes later another toy became "My toy!" Did I learn my lesson from the last experience? Nope. I gave the same disbelief act until Mom set me straight. Turns out that my parents brought about 6 different pool toys for people to play with! I had no idea. Maybe next time I'll really give some thought into whether something is Haylee's before discounting it. Maybe. :-)

Playing with all the kids.

Nate and I helping Haylee ride the dolphin.

Haylee LOVES the water.

Hayee did NOT like me holding Grant.