"The road to a friend's house is never long." -Danish Proverb

So far, we are having a great 2009! However, I attribute part of this to our great start to this great new year.... it was spent with awesome friends (hence, the headline). Shortly before New Year's Eve, Jeff and I had realized that in all 5 1/2 years we've been together we have never really taken part in "exciting" New Year's plans. Obviously, we always have fun together...but that's just it, it's always been just us. Except for our first year together, as Jeff didn't invite me to spend it with him & his friends, lol. (I love you hunny, if you read this, as you are probably rolling your eyes - and no, I won't let you live that one down) :)

Anyways...off track. This year, Stef & Trey came up to Seattle to stay with us and ring in the new year downtown. The night started off almost questionable, as we headed downtown late. This was due to me and a little fiasco thinking that I lost my ID right before we left, hahaha. Needless to say, found it! After dinner we headed towards the Seattle Center and were w/in a block radius to watch the Space Needle fireworks. They were awesome! We were a little rain-soaked by the time we left, but it did not matter or dampen our spirits at all. Following that, we were entertained by Chopstix & watching the really drunk people get sick outside, walking for what felt like miles to find a cab, having the longest cab ride of my life (and I kid you not, almost peeing my pants) and playing Rock Band until 4:30 in the morning. Obviously, we were having a great time.

All I can say is thank you, to Stef & Trey...for a great start to this great new year! I have known Stef since she moved to Camas when we were Sophomores in High School. We have been through a few moves, distance, heartbreak, loss, a lot of growing up, a wedding & most of all...many many fun times together. They visited us when we lived in Boise and now Seattle, and I've always tried to make it home to see them a few times a year... the distance between our houses is never long (or at least we never let it get between us).

I hope that both Stef and Trey know how much their friendship means to us. :) And, I hope that everyone else had a great New Year's. We wish you a happy new year, full of great friendship, love and adventure!
Love, J

Here are some shots from our night (sorry some of the quality isn't good):

Just your normal commute in Seattle

Trying to get to Linds'. Not sure if I was going to make it. Flooded roads and insane traffic. Boo. But I made it. Yah. Wish me luck going home. p.s. I love my sister.

UPDATE: sorry all, for the random stuff my phone added to the bottom of my post...not sure if I will do that again. how annoying!

MIA - the last 3 months

So, I'm still sick and not feeling up to writing a whole lot, even though I have so much I wanna blog about. In the meantime, here's a recap in photos of what we've been up to the last 3 months. BTW...it's snowing here...AGAIN! Grrr.

OCT/NOV '08: Lots of family stuff - helped my beautiful cousin Tarah & her friend do their hair for Homecoming, Thanksgiving in Maple Valley, Pike Place Market w/ Jeff's Dad; and a little bit of fun with the girls back home.

NOV/DEC '08: Metallica concert, McNeley Xmas Party (where we were the only ones festively dressed), hosted a family get-together w/ a sweet white elephant exchange, snowed-in & worked from home for almost a week, and LOTS of Christmas fun with the family.
**Got a job in November as well, whoohoo - working at AT&T Mobility's B2B Marketing

Some Changes

Okay, it's time for some brutal honesty.... I do not think I will ever get Jeff to blog on this site; which I am okay with. I must admit however, that I do not want to strive at only posting the things about 'our' life because of it. You may see some changes from here on out with the blog, mainly that there will be more stuff/style of just 'mine' :) In all reality, Jeff is the other half of 'my' life, so it will be natural for me to post about 'our' life together.... and I'm keeping the URL the same.

This may be seen as selfish, but in all reality, this blog is being written for myself and a way for me to creatively express life events, opinions & passions....and in order for me to be successful at it, I'm gonna have to open up the doors. I think I haven't posted very much for two reasons - 1) I'm a procrastinator (since this post is about honesty), and 2) I'm always striving to post stuff about only the things we do together & not the other aspects of my life. Since keeping up on the blog is one of my New Year's resolutions, I'm relaying this message to you and hoping it helps me feel free to post more stuff about my (and our) life.

I am pretty confident that those already tracking this blog (which is probably a small number), or those that find it down the road, will not mind or notice this change.... since I haven't been very good at blogging lately anyways! teeheehee

Feel free to leave me a message, all, so that I know you are out there!

Love ~J

p.s. I just spoke with Jeff about this and he reminded me that he would love to post on this blog, all I have to do is show him how. So, keep an eye out for a post from him. Maybe I'll have to take all of this back, lol.

A long time coming...

These have been a long time coming. They are not much, as my camera doesn't have the best zoom, but they'll give you an idea of how close we are to Lake Washington and Gene Coulon Park in our new place. Needless to say, we are very happy with our new apartment and location in Renton. We've already had guests (i.e. the pics of Gail & Lindsay...and Mama Lois :) came to visit this past weekend)...enjoy!

(from our balcony)


(the not-as-pleasant view of Boeing from our balcony & our view of Mt. Rainier that will be nice once they finish the condos)


(us & view of Bellevue at sunset)


(Coulon Park)


(lunch from the park with Gail, Jeff's mom & Lindsay, my sister)

Pets

This is a little dedication to our current children..hehe :) our kitties! I couldn't help myself, as I found this awesome site that allows you to download their free application to create your own online scrapbooks, pages, postcards, etc. It has many other cool features...you should check it out: Smilebox

Make a Smilebox postcard

Make a Smilebox postcard

Dedication...kind of...

This is somewhat of a dedication....to my dear friend Michelle, who encouraged me to start actively posting in this blog (requested a few months ago, oops) and has a fun blog of her own that I love reading. She is a gorgeous, kind-hearted, energetic and loving person. Michelle 'tag'ed me earlier in the month to respond to this silly post about high school memories. For you, Michelle, I will definitely kill some time by re-posting it. Love you!

****************
1. Did you date someone from your school?
'Date' / 'Went out', whatever you'd call it, yes. All for short amounts of time, nothing long or serious for me in high school.

2. What kind of car did you drive?
'Old Blue' - 1990, Blue, Volkswagen Jetta. She was great...until some crazy person followed me up our private road, hit me & ran! Then, it was a lil' ghetto.

3. What was the most embarrassing moment of high school?
Not really sure if I can recall a most embarrassing moment. However, I did just tell Jeff yesterday the story of when I tripped and bit the dust in the middle of a Varsity Volleyball game. It was pretty funny. (Jacqueline still likes to mind me of it.)
OH, I can think of another, but it is still so embarrassing that I will not repeat it.

4. Were you a party animal?
No

5. Were you considered a flirt?
I don't think so..maybe a little when I was younger, but not so much through high school.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
Not in high school, but I played the clarinet in junior high.

7. Were you a nerd?
What does that really mean anymore? I don't think I was.

8. Were you on any varsity teams?
Yep - Volleyball, Basketball, Softball :)

9. Did you get suspended/ expelled?
Ohh...maybe I should rethink the 'party animal' question...not really, but I did get in trouble for just being at a party and was suspended from 2 Volleyball games my Senior year.

10. Can you still sing the fight song?
Heck yeah! "Give a yell, give a cheer, for the Papermakers here, we are fighting for old Camas High. We are brave, we are bold...na nana na na na... So, fight, fight, fight, we're gonna win tonight! Shout out your numbers brave and strong - GO TEAM!"
I should've been a cheerleader, haha.

11. Who were your favorite teachers?
Mr. Ronig (because it was Art, of course), Mr. Croswell (because he was so cooky & kind-hearted) and Mr. Huegli (just loved Yearbook & Graphic Design).

12. Where did you sit during lunch?
In the lunch room? eh? Or, going to Burgerville with Jessie Buck :)

13. What was your school's full name?
Camas High School

14. School mascot?
Mean Machine


15. Did you go to Homecoming and who with?
Yes - Kyle Carpenter, Travis Eubanks & Skyler Mantz

16. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
It would seem kind of sad if I said yes. I don't think this is truly how I feel because I don't have any regrets and treasure every moment that I had through that time, but I only wish that I got to see my friends half as much now, as I did then. Like Michelle said, it's a fine line. There are many more great adventures life has had for me and many more to come :)

17. What do you remember most about graduation?
That I kept trying to pause time and take everything in. I remember thinking...Wow, this is all moving so fast! But what I remember the most is hearing my best friend sing the national anthem, getting to sit near all the people that meant so much to me, and having my Dad hand me my diploma.

18. Where did you go senior skip day?
Definitely at school. I learned my lesson about trying to skip (even if it was 'skip day'), the fear of being caught by Mrs. Anderson (Vice Principal) again kept me in class.

19. Were you in a club?
Natural Helpers, Yearbook & Key Club

20. Have you gained some weight since then?
That is such a stupid question! Of course I have...that's all I'm going to say.

21. Who was your prom date?
Brandon Evans, Mike Hayworth & Joe Stevenson

22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?
Heck Yeah! Now, getting Jeff to go to his...that's another story...

23. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself?
Take a little more serious the things you know you have a passion for...as you get older, it can get hard to pursue them to the degree that you once wanted to. And, learn not to procrastinate earlier in life, lol.