A bit of teaser...

Hello!  Just wanted to get caught back up.  As much as I tried to resist the holiday season approaching, it is now here.  I think it was the day after Thanksgiving, at work, as the girls continued to beg me to put up Holiday decor, that I finally came to terms with it.  I just didn't think that Christmas would come up so fast on us after the wedding.  But... it has!

This week is finals week.  Dave finished his tests last night, and was only half-way relieved.  He still has to grade all the final essays from the class that he is TA'ing for, which is about 70 of them. He isn't too stoked about that.  But he is on campus now, working on it, while I enjoy the complete silence of our house.   Yes, that's right, I said SILENCE.  It is very rare, in a house full of 4 grown people, 3 of which are boys, for silence to occur.  During this last term, I had scheduled myself to close twice a week, since that is what was needed for the shop.  I have found that once all the boys leave for work or school, I can watch whatever I want on Netflix, or just sit and wander the internets in silence.  I have found that this is my favorite.  I am TOTALLY aware that one day, whenever that day might come, that there will be little Spackmans running about, and I will miss this time of quiet, where I can blog in peace, to the sound of the clock ticking. So I have to take advantage (the sad truth is... after I finish this entry, I will use the rest of my quiet time before work posting schedules for the rest of December, since I will be gone for 10 days from the shop.)

Anyway, I have been very busy with work.  We have been consistently more busy this week (try over $1300 of coffee sales a day.  Yes, we sell a lot of coffee), which means that less of the side chores get done while I'm there.  And it is exhausting to have to be smiley and nice for 8 hours straight, even to the mean people.  I will be very happy to have some time on vacation, to re-charge my happy customer service battery.

In the mean time, our wedding photographer sent me some pictures to use for our Christmas cards this year (which have now been ordered!!!)  So i figured I would share them with you...  the others will be here soon!

So now... without further ado...

 ... <3

I'm back!

Yes, yes, I know.  I haven't been blogging.  At all.  Well with the wedding coming and going quickly... and all the events leading up to it, and all the plans we had after it... it was just super busy.  Still is.  I will wait until we get our pictures back to be reminiscent (which should be by the end of the month...)  So until then... here's what is going on...

We had a romantic weekend in Cannon Beach for our "honeymoon" a few weeks ago (it was also to celebrate that a year ago we got engaged... at the beach...)  Our good friends Jody and Brian Page got us the weekend as a wedding gift.  They were in Seaside the same weekend, celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary (it's the day before our wedding).  We spent Saturday night with them watching the Beaver game on TV and going to dinner.  It was super fun!

Dave found multiple items with lighthouses in the bathroom at Brian and Jody's condo in Seaside

Haystack!

The next weekend was Halloween weekend.  I ended up being a zombie "Cheerio" (the cheerleaders from Glee... I LOVE Glee!  I want to be able to bust out in song like they do...)  And Dave was zombie "business man."  We had friends over for a fun little shindig.  I even baked 4 dozen pumpkin cupcakes for the occasion and decorated them all cute!

Dave said this picture was really scary... :)

As many of you know, I am the manager of a local coffee shop, which keeps me extra busy.  It was an honor to find out that readers of the Mid-Valley Newspapers voted Coffee Culture as "Best Coffee Shop" in all the land!  The sign below is now proudly posted in our front window.  (Side note that might make you smile:  we are now serving eggnog.  I tried to resist as long as I could.  I had a sweet older woman ask me today... "Do you have... well, I guess it may turn to scrambled eggs, but could you make an eggnog steamer?!"  It was the customer quote of the day.  And the answer is yes, we can make them. No, it won't turn into scrambled eggs.  Yes, it is delicious, especially with whip cream on top.)



Dave and I have made it to a few home football games.  Lucky for us, we know people.  Lots of people.  For the Stanford game, we were given really close seats on the 50 yard line.  It was a great game, even though we should have won. :(



Finally, the Subaru has been fitted with new "shoes."  Instead of the playful, summer-y gold wheels that were on before, she now wears these WRX, gunmetal grey wheels, equipped with winter tires and black lugs.  Some of you may have heard that I sold my car (BIG sad face).  I knew it was time to give her up, and we only need one car right now anyway.  So now Subbie is my daily driver and Dave gets to drive... I mean ride... his bike to class.  I did, however, get him some really nice rain gear with the money I got from selling my car, and I let him drive whenever we go anywhere together.


So that's what's up.

I also had the idea to start a barista blog... just to catalog all the crazy things that happen to me every day... we will see... I can barely keep up with this one!

Okay... here we go!

After 11 months of planning, a few minor breakdowns and frustrations, the day is almost here.  Looking back to the day we got engaged, I have no idea how much work and effort I was going to be putting into our wedding day.  Now it's only 11 days away.  CRAZY!
My dress is bought and paid for.  It is at my Aunt Candy's house, where we will be spending a few days before the wedding.  Dave's suit is almost done.  We went to pick it up yesterday and it still needed the pants shortened just a bit.

All the decorations that I have made myself are almost done.  I still need to finish the escort cards (they tell each person which table we would like them to sit at), and but some last minute touches on some things. (And I have to make 2 more table numbers because we are at maximum capacity for the barn, 120 people.  I had to ask that the girls from the coffee shop not bring dates...)  I don't want to post any pictures yet... I want everyone to be in awe of my work at the wedding ;)

Daddy and Jackie will be here in 8 days.  They are driving up to Portland next Tuesday, and picking me up along the way, along with all my baggage, decorations, etc.  I'm really excited that they will be here so early.  I need them to keep me calm and distracted.  Then, Tuesday night I'm picking Lissa up from the airport!
Then Wednesday, the flowers should arrive at my Aunt's house.  We will probably arrange the centerpieces and give all the flowers some food.  Then Lissa, Jackie and I will go get mani-pedis.  Then the bachelorette commences, I really have no idea what's in store, but I have been told to start hydrating ASAP.

Thursday will bring a busy day.  First off, recovery.  Then Dave will drive up from Corvallis (he has orientation and paperwork for school Wednesday and Thursday morning).  We have rehearsal at 4 and rehearsal dinner at 6.  Gotta get all cute for that!  Then off to the hotel I will go, and Dave will go spend some time with his family at his parent's house.

Then the BIG DAY!  It will be jam-packed with things to get done, but at least I'm ready for it all.  Everyone keeps asking if I'm getting nervous or if I'm ready.  I have had numerous people tell me "You look so calm!"  and one friend told me, when visiting me at work, "And you're at work right now?!"  All this just makes me more nervous.  I told Dave last night I think I have an ulcer.  It's probably not true, but every time I ate yesterday, my stomach started cramping immediately.  Although, I just had some scrambled eggs and my usual soy vanilla latte and no cramping yet.  This week I really need to be careful of what I eat so I don't upset my tummy.  So, Jamba Juice will be seeing a lot of me this week.  I LOVE that Jamba!  So delish and so healthy.  I'm sure, with all the craziness going on, I won't be able to post until after the wedding.  But hopefully there will be LOTS of pictures!

Yay!  Wish me luck!

Time alone...

Well, if you cannot tell by my sudden lack of blogs, I have been a very busy lady. Since it is summer time, the shop itself isn't busy, but everyone is taking time off for vacations. Not to complain, but when the other girls go off, especially when going on trips together, it means I get to be the one to pick up that slack. For the last month or so I have been working 6 days a week, but have been able to keep it under 40 hours somehow. I usually leave early and don't do anything work related when I get home. I have also been trying to finish up wedding things, but being at work all the time, then coming home exhausted and not wanting to move from the couch doesn't help get anything done.

Dave and the boys went to see their friend Tyler and help him celebrate his birthday this last weekend, and since I had to work, I had to stay home by myself. Friday night a few of the girls from work came over and we ate brownies and watched a movie. It was nice to have the company.

Even though I didn't get Saturday off, I only worked a few hours in the morning, then I had the rest of the day off. I wasn't really sure what to do with myself... so I just started doing the things I wanted to. (I realized at the end of the day, that this is what I did all day, and it was WONDERFUL. I didn't have to do anything for anyone else, eat what others wanted to eat, or entertain anyone but myself.) So I ate. And ate again. Watched some Netflix while eating. Then I took a nap. Then I showered (with the door open). I called my sister. I got ready to go see a movie by myself, but I ended up driving to the coast. I watched the sunset by myself. Drove back from the coast, following the light of the BIG FULL MOON. Ate fast food while driving. Watched more Netflix until I fell asleep on the couch.

I totally needed that time to myself. I wasn't lonely at all... I was a little bored though. It's not often that I have time alone to spend doing things for myself, instead of working or cleaning.

In a few weeks, Dave will be gone backpacking with his dad for a week, so I will be alone again (but I am scheduled to work six days and OVER 40 hours that week). Should be good. :)

Wedding Shower

On June 25th, our good friends, the Page family, hosted a "couples" bridal shower for Dave and I. When we had been engaged, Jody immediately expressed that she wanted to host a party for Dave and I. She wanted it to be a couples' shower so that everyone could come and be together. It was mildly stressful for me, because both my parents were coming, plus extended family, plus Dave's family. I began to think of it as a "run-thru" before the actual wedding. Jackie and my mom came up on Thursday before the shower and stayed with Dave and the boys and I. Then we all headed up on Saturday morning for the party!

The first family photo in a VERY long time... I made sure that we got one though.

Dave and I with my Mom and Dad.

Me and my beautiful rehearsal bouquet. I had no idea that this was a thing... but Jody and Aunt Molly brought Jackie a paper plate and with the ribbons from the presents we received that day, her and my friend Ali put this together for me. I LOVE all the colors and can't wait to use it for the rehearsal! (And it's hanging on the wall in our room right now with all the cards we got... including the one from my Dad that made me cry in front of everyone :))

Opening presents. We got the BEST ones! Dave has already made bread with our bread maker (and it was delish!) and we have made waffles every morning this weekend (thanks Dad!) And we have used all the BBQ gadgets that we got too!

Love this photo!

It was so fun! The girls took me out to the bars in downtown Portland after the party... and when we got home around 1am, all the boys were up making waffles and nachos! We had a REALLY good time. I felt so lucky to have so many amazing friends and family that came out. We have the best family and friends EVER... and we are even more excited (if at all possible) for the wedding and having that whole group plus some together again! <3

It was a great break from the stress that has been building up in my system... and after having a nice long chat with my boss about how things were going, I felt reassured and refocused on my duties as a manager. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal... but sometimes it's hard to keep track of everything. Especially after the shower, I can focus back on work and doing my best everyday, instead of worrying about what I need to get done when I get home from work.

Speaking of which... since Jackie has been here, I've put her to work, helping me with the wedding invitations. I won't give anything away but they turned out AMAZING and I can't wait to send them out to everyone (Abby... you're lucky you get to see it before ANYONE else!;))

Happy Independence Day everyone! Jackie and I are headed to the beach! It's supposed to be really nice! Dave and the boys went on a mountain bike ride on the Mckenzie river... so we will see them tonight!

Stress is bad for you: A rant of sorts

Days left until the wedding: 97 (double digits baby!)

The last to weeks have been very high stress for me. The biggest reason is work (I'm working 6 days this week, which comes to about 46 hours of work). I know what you might be thinking out there in blogger land... "How could managing a coffee shop be stressful?! What could possibly go wrong?!" The answers... yes very stressful and everything can go wrong.

Last week I had to "let go" of an employee for the first time. This person had been causing me some small headaches here and there, and was difficult to train. They did this weird thing two weeks ago of going over my head and putting in their two weeks notice to MY boss, the owner of the company, just a few days after I had written them up for being late. This person never mentioned to me that they had been hired for another job and was planning on leaving, even though I knew about it from my boss. Long story short... last week during finals week this person didn't show up to their assigned shift, no phone call, no nothing. When they called to apologize to me about it, I explained that I knew about them leaving and I already had their shifts covered for the rest of the week. "It was meeting you..."

So, this week I had to change the schedule up a bit because of this person no longer working for us... and come to find out my newest hire has two other part time jobs that limits them being able to work when I need them to work. When I had hired her, she had one other job... but this second is a surprise. But now, not only that... she seems to know everything already and doesn't like being told what to do (It is my job as her manager and trainer to tell her what to do, and how to do it... this is a problem...) So we shall see...

But I ALSO have a girl leaving at the end of the month to have her kidney removed and put into her father, for which she is a match. He is very sick and needed a new kidney. She is so brave. And it's too bad she is leaving because she is an AMAZING barista (never known someone with rosetta making skills like that girl).

In the mean time, no one told me that Food Services of America (our food supplier) is no longer carrying Monin caramel syrup, which is our second most popular flavor. So the last two weeks I have ordered it, and it never comes... all four bottles I have ordered each time. I finally started to demand answers, and found out that they no longer carry it. Ugh.

And the last thing sitting on my shoulders like a 1,000 pound parrot is the wedding. Again, don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Dave and cannot imagine the rest of my life without him, and I cannot WAIT to call him "hubby"... but it is the event itself that is stressful. First up, a week from today is our bridal shower. It's going to be great fun! But all of our friends and both of our families will be there. I just want everything to go just right. And hopefully it will :) But... you never know... And I need to go purchase our invitations and start putting them together, before I forget or loose track of time.

But it is times like these that make you appreciate what you DO have. Like AWESOME employees. Gina and Sara rock my socks off. They are amazingly hard workers with their heads on straight. They love the shop as much as I do, and it shows. And my loving fiance, who listens to me rant when he gets home from work, and always offers helpful advice. And then gives me good hugs and kisses.

As I keep telling myself, everything will work out in the end. It always does. I think my two most recent hires will be amazing baristas and hard workers. And three months and one week from now our wedding will go off without a hitch! It will be fun and amazing and beautiful. Oh I can't wait!

Wedding Planning: Gettin' it done!

Days left: 110

So now we are inside of 4 months left until gettin' hitched. Mind blowing for Dave and I. I told him we are almost under 100 days and he just gave me his nervous laugh. We both know that we are excited to get to our wedding day!

This morning over breakfast we were talking about how crazy busy this summer and the rest of the year will be for us. We started to joke and say "remember how busy 2011 was?!"

Today was fun... we did a "Mary's Peak Rally" with Romo.

Dave with his serious driving face

I let my hair air dry during the drive... it was flying out the window the whole time...

Somewhere near Alsea...

We came home in time for the weird warm weather rain to start again. So I decided to sit down at my laptop and get some wedding things done. We have been shopping around for Dave's wedding band, and last weekend he finally found the type of ring he really wanted. Only problem was, gold is the metal he wanted and it's REALLY expensive. So we have been hunting on the internet for the ring he wanted at a decent price (and by decent I mean under $500, no joke... gold isn't cheap right now). But we did! We found the exact one for a great price! So I ordered it fast, to avoid the price changing tomorrow. (It's happened... haha).

We have also picked out favors... which we are waiting to order so they aren't just sitting around, and I think we have decided our wedding invitations too.

I ordered my veil this week and I already found my shoes. I was describing my veil to Romo's girlfriend, Krista (Ta for short) and I guess Dave was eavesdropping. He told me later that he heard me and said he's really excited to see me all done up. Then he said "Man, I better be looking GOOD because it sounds like you will be looking HOT." Just put that kid in a suit and he looks AMAZING. I know he will be looking good.

Half of my bridesmaids have their dresses officially bought and ready to go.

Cupcakes (yes, I said cupcakes) are all lined up, with all four flavors (yes... FOUR different flavors!) picked out, just the official decorating decisions need to be made.

It's all coming together. I'm feeling less stressed about it all the time. There are a few things here and there that I still have yet to book or make official (like a DJ... but I'm waiting to hear back about prices). But overall, I have worked really hard to get so many things done already it won't be hard the next few months. It will just be the day of stuff that will have be freaking out. Luckily I have the most amazing bridesmaids in the world, so I know they will be helping me the week of and day of.

In the mean time, our shower is in 2-ish weeks. Which should be SO fun! Hopefully there will be lots of pictures and stories from that!

Three days after our shower, Dave and I are going to see our favorite band, My Morning Jacket, play at Edgefield with some of our closest friends (haha come to think of it it will be Maid of Honor, Best man, and his best lady, and groomsman coming with us!)

Ooooo and the summer will keep getting more busy! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Love, Jess

Wedding Planning: The Website

So, now that I have officially been down to business, making plans and calling people and confirming things, I have updated our wedding website to a useable status. There were a few pages on there that I was waiting to work on because I needed more info. There are still a few things that need to be finished... but that will come with time. So family and close friends, check it out! Let me know what you think! I haven't given this to ANYONE yet, not even my parents, because I wasn't ready yet. But I'm ready now. Oh, and the address will also be included with the formal invitations, so those who are invited can check out all the details!

Planning: Photography!

Funny how my blog is called Keeping Up, and yet I can't even keep up with my own life. But as part of my life right now, I will briefly discuss my last wedding planning accomplishment: photography. For anyone who knows me well, or who has been to my house at any point in the last ten years, I love pictures. (It doesn't matter which house, as long as it is the space I have the authority to decorate). I knew that when I did get married someday, that the pictures would be really important because I would probably try to hang them everywhere in my house.

Sooooo, picking my wedding photographer would be an important choice. And I have made my decision final. Ben Becker. I first heard of Ben when the boys were talking about him every once in a while, but I finally got familiar with his work about a year ago. Dave's good friend Adam has a twin sister, Lin. Lin married Adam's best friend from high school, Ben. Adam got married last summer, and Ben was his best man. Since Dave was a groomsman too, we got to spend lots of time with Ben and Lin during the week-long celebration of Adam and Jamie's wedding.

Ben is a super creative, dedicated photographer. I'm really excited for him (and Lin) to be at our wedding and capture the most amazing moments. Even the ones that Dave and I might miss. And I want us to look like a rockstar (slash) couture model.

Here's his website. Check him out!

Planning, Planning: flowers

I realized the other day that I have gotten into the habit of thinking about wedding planning CONSTANTLY. I find inspiration everywhere, as I do with any creative project I'm working on. So it has become habit to go looking for inspiration when I'm not busy with work or Dave. I got so inside my head this afternoon on the way back from having lunch with Dave downtown that I tried to drive back to our old house in town (which is across town). And I had even said to Dave as we were finishing that I will be glad when I won't have to worry about the wedding anymore, and just enjoy being married to him... haha. But anyway...

My dress is in the making. They will be shipping it June 23rd to the shop I bought it from. I went last weekend while in town and picked out my sash color (which is a brilliant peacock blue).

I have been shopping around for flowers, DJs and Dave's ring the last few weeks. I think this sounds kind of crazy, but I might go with mail-ordered flowers. I know. Crazy right? I read in one of my many bridal magazines that there are wholesale flowers available online for cheap. So I went and checked it out. I had met with a florist about a month ago to get a quote, and it was much more than what I was expecting. This wholesale flower thing doesn't seem so bad. They come in sturdy boxes all arranged and ready to go. The only thing is, I will only have a general idea of what they will look like until they get here... but I guess it is the same as trusting design to a florist, right? I'm not that much of a flower snob to be super worried about their exact appearance. They will be flowers, bright colored ones, that smell nice. That is all I want for our flowers and our wedding. I'm getting to the point where little things like that don't stress me so much...

or maybe I'm just loosing it... haha.

Oh well. I e-mailed the online company, growersbox.com (the collection I like is called the Bright Collection and the picture above is an example of the bridal bouquet), to ask them a few questions, so hopefully we will get good answers. I think it will go well... I just have one of those good feelings. I feel like I can trust my gut feelings on something like this, especially if it means paying only half as much as using a local florist. :)

They also have boxes of just flowers and greenery that is cheap, allowing me to arrange my centerpieces in the way that I want. I would rather pay less and work a little harder myself (or put my maids to work ;)) than pay an extra $400

Above is what I am thinking for centerpieces. I will probably use different flowers than those above, but I love the idea, and they would be easy to put together the morning of the wedding.

Something I have looked up today, regarding our mini-moon, is where we will be staying the weekend after the wedding. Our first choice is McMenamins Edgefield, but they might already be booked that weekend (I'm not 100% sure yet, I need to call). Our second choice is McMenamins' newest hotel, the Crystal Hotel, which is in downtown Portland. It would be awesome if we could do that too, all the best coffee is right within walking distance ;) (*cough*cough* Stumptown) We have yet to book our room, so we shall see!

Honeymoon...?

So, shortly after setting the date for our wedding, Dave decided that it was time to become a full-time student again. We soon realized that class for OSU starts the Monday after our wedding, which is a Friday. So we decided that we would probably spend the weekend somewhere nearby with our cell phones turned off, then go on a real honeymoon during winter break. Our roommate, Chris, recently showed me this video, and this is one of my votes for our honeymoon! No joke, as soon as I finished the video the first time, I told Dave that was where I wanted to go (more likely though, we will probably go somewhere warm).

It's the Volkswagen factory in Germany and it is something out of the future (those damn Germans and their seamless engineering) But it's really cool and I would still love to go there someday...

Coffee Nerdery: A favorite

One of my favorite videos ever. I'm a total coffee nerd, I know, but that machine is a crown jewel! ugh! I want it!

Cappuccino, Intelligentsia from The D4D on Vimeo.

However... I can DO that. :) All day, every day!

Matthew and Me

Ah how time flies by, and how the blog gets ignored. I should have made it my New Years' resolution to blog more... maybe I did and I forgot to write it down with the others. Oh well... my life marches on (but it feels more like running sometimes).

Things are going well. Shortly after New Years, I went home for the weekend to visit my Daddy for his birthday. It was low key. We went to our favorite restaurant in town, Buon Appitito (it is TO DIE FOR italiano), and did lots of laying around the house watching Law & Order like my Dad loves to do.

The weekend before that, Sarah and I took on the Portland Bridal Show, to get good ideas and meet some vendors for the wedding. There were SO many WOMEN there. Brides, bridesmaids, moms, aunts, grandmas, ugh. I work with 5 other women (even though I love them so, they are enough woman for me) so this was almost too much for me. Sarah did a great job of asking questions, grilling them on what they do, what they can do for our wedding, and asking for sample slices of cake. At one point, she walked away from me, to throw away a napkin from a previous sample slice, and came back with a whole cupcake! I have no idea how she pulled that off. But then she proceeded to carry the cupcake around for the next 30 minutes or so, until we sat down to watch the fashion show. She later told me she was using it as protection, threatening the bridezillas (in her mind, not out loud, of course) with the pink and white frosting on top. Haha. She didn't like getting bumped into so much. It was fun though! We made some good connections, and I even made an appointment at a bridal salon!

And quicker than you can say "bridal couture", my appointment day had arrived. The boutique is called Anna's Bridal, in Lake Oswego. They carry a lot of the brands that I had been admiring in the magazines I have bought over the past few months. Of course, going in, I had no intention of buying, but just getting a good idea of what I might like. I asked Sarah and Meghan, another bridesmaid, and Meghan's mom, Jody (who is like a mom to me, she has known me since I was little) to come along. We got there a few minutes early, and so they ushered me into the office to fill out an info card while I waited for the consultant to be ready for me. As we waited, a tall, slender, tan, model-esque physique strode in and sat down behind the desk. He busied himself there for a few minutes while Sarah described her excitement to me, to help calm my nerves. He looked up and asked "Who's the lucky bride?!" I rose my hand in reply. He began to ask me a bunch of questions about our wedding: where, when, outside/inside, what type of dress I had my eye on. He then filled me in on the trunk show happening there that day, for the Matthew Christopher Bridal Couture line. He then informed me that he was THE Matthew Christopher. IN THE FLESH! Standing before me in all couture glory. He was totally flattered when I told him that I was familiar with his work. He stood right up and said "I have a few dresses you might like. Come with me." He picked out a dress called Peggy Sue first. I about passed out when he showed it to me. It was PERFECT. But one isn't enought. He picked out a few more for me, and sent me on my way with the consultant to the dressing room. Peggy Sue was the first dress I tried on. I then tried on about 10-15 more, but each time it reminded me how much I loved Peggy Sue. I put it back on at the end, and realized that it was the one when Sarah burst into tears. Matthew measured me, and helped me get a good vision of the finished product (were making a few small changes, such as making the neckline more of a sweetheart). He was SO much fun to be around. It is AWESOME that he goes around to bridal shops for trunk shows and helps out. At the end, he asked me if I had had fun, and I told him yes. It was a bit of a rush, and it went by so quickly. But getting a custom made couture wedding gown, picked out for me by the man who designed the dress, it could not have been more perfect. Anyway, check his 2011 line out, it is divine :) www.matthewchristopher.com

And a fun little fact, he is the male model in EVERY advertisement for his line. (but the mustache is fake... haha) I think that is so awesome!

All other wedding things are moving along! I'm getting really excited! It's going to be a BLAST!

Christmas and New Years

In a violent blur, both Christmas and New Years have come and gone. But not without lots of ups and downs. For Christmas my Dad, Jackie, and Nana came up and we all stayed at my Aunt Candy's house. To be honest (and Candy, if you are reading this... this is a huge compliment to you, your home, your husband and your dogs), it opened my eyes to something brilliant.

When I was growing up, we leaved near Aunt Candy and her family, but in my memory we didn't spend a whole bunch of time with them. Then we moved away to California. Since being back in Oregon, I haven't spent time there still. But after Christmas, after being away from my family, after missing them so much during this exciting and important period of my life, I REALLY want to spend more time with my aunt and her family and her house and her dogs. (Here come the tears). Anyway, back to Christmas... we opened presents on Christmas eve, and stayed up late (which is huge for me). On Christmas day we went over to Dave's parents' house and spent the day there with Donna, Kent, Annie, Abby, and Paul. It was great fun! After eating way to much and being much too tired, we went back to Aunt Candy's. It was awesome being able to see both families in one go, and spend time with everyone. But boy did it wear me out (and stress me out...) haha.

After Christmas, Dad and Nana drove home, and so did we with Jackie in tow. We came home to find that our rat friend, whom we had found taking in our pantry the week before, had returned and left "dropping" presents in our living room. It had also chewed off/ stolen 2 pairs of shoe laces off of Dave's shoes (which we later discovered, it had used them to build a nest... GROSS). Over the course of the next few days, the Rat War had begun. We set traps, which it was able to avoid. We set out poison, which it ignored. We chased it through our house one night when we came home and found it under the washing machine. We had the handy man fill it's entrance holes with spray foam, which it chewed through. Finally, after laying awake all night listening to it running around our house, and after about 10 e-mails to the landlord, he sent over a friend who was an experienced exterminator. He set 5 traps in our tiny apartment. The next day, after coming home from dinner, we found that the traps had finally worked. And poor Jackie, though all this, ended up sleeping on the floor in our bedroom because it was the only room it hadn't managed to get into.

So, while the Rat War was going on, we celebrated Dave's parents' anniversary with dinner at Big River one night with the whole Spackman crew. We celebrated the coming of a New Year at home with party poppers and champagne. And now, it seems, things are getting back to normal. I have lots of random pictures, so check out Facebook in the next few days. It was fun having Jackie here, but it never lasts long enough.

I think, for the new year, (especially since I'm getting married in September), that it is time to loose some weight. I have a goal, but I donno if anyone wants to hear how outrageous my ambitions for myself are. So far, I'm struggling with eating better and working out... but I am taking my vitamins and getting good sleep (especially now that the rat has... um... perished.) I need some motivation, I am such the fair weather runner... speaking of which I need to charge my ipod... haha.

2011 should prove to be a good year. Lots of planning and projects for the coffee shop, including adding a SECOND espresso machine... we will see how it goes. Wedding planning is coming along nicely. We have our venue all set up, now its on to dress shopping. We might be moving soon, so hopefully there won't be any fleas or rats where ever we end up. But we need more space... we have too much stuff.

Here's to a great 2011!