A Camping Post (Finally)

So, I am finally getting around to blogging about D and I's camping trip. We were intending on going for the 4th of July, but because D had to be on call, we were able to make it work the weekend before. We had such a great time! The weather was great and our time was very relaxing.

One of my favorite parts of our camping trip was all the history that is there. D grew up going to the river, and his Grandpa grew up there. So he told me all sorts of stories, and I loved them all. We even went on a drive and he showed me the homestead where is Grandpa grew up, and took me to see the school where his grandpa went. I love that kind of stuff!

All of the pictures are out of order, so you'll just have to go with the flow.

Enjoying the campfire!

One night while we were eating dinner we heard a loud noise in the bushes and I was convinced that it was a bear! Anyway, it is a long funny story that I won't share, but I was scared and made Devin park the truck next to the tent that night in case we needed to run to safety! lol. Notice that the tent door is strategically close to the truck doors!

One day we went to Florence to see the beach, and found some rocks to cuddle up on. The big splash in this picture was our failed attempt to photograph the seal that was playing right in front of us!

We ate really well while we were camping! And it was even fun to wash the dishes down at the river like this...




I even picked some weeds for the table so it would feel more like home!

I enjoyed most of my time either sitting here listening to the river and watching the bald eagle and hawk or floating on the river in an inter-tube just soaking up the sun.

It was such a perfect weekend, and of course I always enjoy my time with D when it is just us!

I love it down at the river and hope that someday we can take a whole family camping trip there. I think you guys would love it too!

I heart flowers

Updated with Pictures!

I still can't get blogger to let me add pictures to my blog...
But last night, I went to Freddies and bought a bunch of flowers, like the kind you plant.
I was so excited. I've never really planted flowers before. (plus they were having a sale and I had a coupon!) Anyway, after work last night, I sat in the shade enjoying the evening breeze and planted my flowers.

I love them.

3 little pots filled with color,

one little pot set on the table filled with summer joy,

one little pot filled with a romantic hydrangea

and simple white and red blooms now rest in the shade of a beautiful tree.

It feels more like a home now.

I can't tell you what flowers do to my heart. When I buy fresh cut flowers, I call them my "happy flowers." They make me smile and make my heart a little lighter, they just plain brighten my day.

Trying to Post

Well, I finally found the motivation to update my blog, but it won't let me upload my pictures! It says they uploaded but then they aren't here?!?!

Anyway, I will just give you a run down of a few things. The last few weeks have been really busy! It feel like I have hardly been home.

• I think it was June 12th, we had my friend Erica and her husband Kevin over for dinner. It was super fun. I haven't seen Erica since I flew down for her wedding, which I think was 3 years ago. I met Erica at church probably about 5 or so years ago. She was great and so much fun, and it turned out that she lived in my same apartment building! We had a lot of fun getting to know each other and hanging out while she lived in Oregon. But she moved back to Cali, so I never get to see her anymore. We recently re-connected after her Christmas letter that she faithfully sends to me, mentioned her blog! Anyway, they were coming up for a wedding so we planned a night to get together. We ate dinner at D's and then went to the cheesecake factory for dessert. It was so great to really talk to and meet her husband, Kevin. The only time I had met him was saying hello to him at their wedding. I was really excited too because she got to meet D. I am pretty proud of him and like to show him off. :) D loved talking to Kevin because he is a firefighter. D's dad was a firefighter and D always wanted to be to, so he was in heaven hearing all about it. Anyway, there are a lot of fun and I am so thankful for friends like Erica. We may not talk for a while, but we can just start from where we left off. She was a great friend to me while she lived in Oregon and continues to be a faithful friend. Our time with them was such a blessing.

• The next weekend, we headed up to Spokane for D's cousins' wedding. It was a brother and sister and they had a double wedding. I wasn't sure how it was going to unfold, but it was great. It was such a romantic and special wedding. The sister is best friends with the brother's bride and the brother is best friends with the sister's groom. Did that make sense? Anyway, it was precious. Then the reception was at my favorite place in the whole world, Manito Park. It was gorgeous! After the reception, we spend some time walking around to all the different gardens, they are just breath taking. I loved it. It was also fun to spend more time with D's extended family and get to talk and get to know each other a little more. His family is very kind and they all have such sweet hearts. I believe that his grandparents truly are building a legacy for their family. They just love each other so much, it is wonderful to see. Also, while we were in Spokane, D and I were able to spend a couple hours with my friend, Ben. I was able to see his house for the first time and he made us breakfast. It was also fun to hear D and Ben talk. They have never really been in a setting together to get to know each other. Ben is a very dear friend of mine, so of course it was terrific to see him as well. We weren't able to visit with his wife, Kayla, because she was off to throw her sister's bridal shower. But it was still fun to have time with Ben.

• Okay....let's see, what's next? I think the next weekend is when we went camping down on the Siuslaw river which was SO fun and SO relaxing. I have pics of that so, I will do another post when it will let me upload the photos.

• Fourth of July weekend, we went down to Eugene and stayed Friday night. I stayed with Kelly and had so much fun! I love being with my little sister. She can make me laugh like no one else, and truly is my best friend. I am so blessed to have the best little sister ever. ANYWAY, EARLY saturday morning, D came and got me and I went to pick up his nephews to watch them while D, his brother Bryan and sister-in-law, Erica ran the 10k Butte to Butte race. Blake and Caden are pretty funny and ALL boy. Kelly came with me and we went down to the park to meet D at the finish line. I have pictures of that too. THEN, Kelly, Jon, D and I went to a great breakfast and then headed to Richardson Park to float in the lake for a few hours. It was such a blast. It was pretty stinkin' hot, so it was a great day to float in the water. We laughed a lot and worked on our tans. Perfect day and perfect company! When we got back home that night, we worked in the yard for a couple hours and then went down the street to watch fireworks. It was fun, but the fireworks show, for whatever reason, left A LOT to be desired.

• Alright, so all of that leads me to last night. Last night was another chance for D to get to know my friends. Danielle and her husband, Ryan, are visiting from San Diego. We got to steal them away from famiy and grab a cup of coffee and chat for a couple hours. Danielle has been one of my best friends since first grade, and it is always a treat when we get to be together. And of course, it was really important to me that they meet D. No surprise that later that night I got both of their approvals in a text message! Danielle is another friend that no matter how much time goes by we can always just pick up from where we left off. We have a very special friendship and have done a lot together. My friendship with her is my longest standing friendship, and I know that we will be lifelong friends.

So as you can tell, we've had a very busy few weeks...and there is no slowing down in sight....this weekend we are hosting a friends 40th b-day bash followed the next weekend by TAMI BIRTHDAY WEEKEND! Woo Hoo....can't wait.

I have such a blessed life with amazing family and friends. Thank you Lord for blessing my life with all of these incredible people!

Pictures to come soon.....hopefully

You Know It's Summer at My Office When...

• ...You have an incredibly terrible headache from the carpet cleaning fumes
• ...You have an extra incredibly terrible headache the very loud dryers running to dry the carpet
• ...You have to lock yourself in your office because you are the only one in the building
• ...You pass the days by daydreaming about having the summers off like everyone else who works there
• ...You are startled into a heart attack because they start testing the fire alarms, forgetting that you are still in your office working

Fun Times