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!

Wedding Planning... the anxious stage.

Now that this is all real... it can sometimes be hard to believe. I have found that being far away from my family has been the hardest part of wedding planning. All the planning business seems to come so naturally to me. We have decided where and when we want to get married. We have decided on our wedding party. i have begun making some of the decorations for the reception. We have a timeline for the next few months. But all of it seems so overwhelming without my family here. It's a damn good thing that Christmas is only next week, otherwise I would probably have a hard time. Both Dave and I work on Christmas Eve, but then will be going down to my Nana's house for Christmas. I am really excited to see my Dad, sister and Nana. Jackie will be coming home with us after Christmas and staying until after the New Year. Hopefully she can help me with some stuff, considering she is the maid of honor. After we get back from Nana's we are going up to Dave's parents to see his sister Abby and her husband Paul and have some family time with them.

I really WOULD like help with all of this wedding business, but it seems pointless at this date. We still have 284 days left until our wedding. But if you think about it, that is only 9 months and a few weeks away. SO MUCH TO DO!

But for now, a preview of our engagement photos can be found on Annie's blog at http://itakepic-tures.blogspot.com/2010/12/dave-and-jess.html . I am also working on our wedding website, so when it is a bit more complete, I will post the address.

Engaged!

So, on my birthday, Dave suggested that we drive out to the coast for lunch, and watch the stormy weather, before having to be back for my dinner with my ladies from work.

So we got in the car and drove out. We had lunch at The Chowder Bowl and then (after Dave begged me) we walked out onto the beach in full rain gear. We walked out until my favorite pair of 7 for All Mankind jeans were soaked through. Dave turned on me and told me he had a question for me. I told him I was gonna throw up because I knew right then what was happening. He instructed me to not throw up on him, then told me he wanted me to be his forever. He got down on one knee and asked me if I would marry him. I said yes through my hysteric sobs, and then told him that the ring felt so heavy on my hand. I think I was in shock, and the cold rain and wind didn't help haha. Unfortunately for all of you, no one was there to take pictures or document what happened. But lucky for us, it was all for us to have.

We have already set a date, September 23, 2011 and are working on booking a site here pretty soon. I will keep you all updated, however, I suck at blogging to it might be a bit delayed. I do have a wedding website that I'm working on, and I will post that link when it looks a little more complete.

Coffee Fest

So, being the crazy busy person that I am, I actually didn't take many pictures while at Coffee Fest because we were so busy the whole time. I did get just a few though.

At the entrance to the main show floor. Behind me while I took this picture was the sky bridge to the main building of the Washington State Convention Center, and to my left was were the latte art competitions went down.

Here are a few of the entries for the latte art competition on day 2. Desiree and I are convinced that we should compete next year. We could do this!

On our first night, Portland Roasting and Ghiradelli invited us to a "function" at the Seattle Center and Jimmy Hendrix museum. We walked down there from our hotel, and I got this shot when we got to the Seattle Center. We had the entire Music Experience to ourselves (there were about 30 of us), plus free drinks at the bar compliments of Ghiradelli.

I took this from outside our hotel.

On our last day we went down to the Public Market. It was Sunday, so there were TONS of people around, and lots to look at. Below is a picture of me, Garrett the manager of the cafe and awesome dude, and Des my assistant manager, friend, and little dog lover.

It was so fun! We had so much to look at and learn. It was a great experience!

Lack of blogging skills

Wow. I am really slacking on this blog thing. The point of this whole thing is to give my family and friends a place to see what I'm up to (and who knows if anyone really reads this thing). Anywho, I said I would update with all the pictures from Adam and Jamie's wedding... but since the first blog took so long... forget it. All I can say is, I bought waterproof mascara for that weekend for a reason, and I put it to good use. I cried every 2 minutes during that ceremony, I made TONS of new friends, and we all had the time of our lives.

Moving on...

Since August many things have changed in my life. Dave is working three jobs now (that's right... three). He is still delivering bread for Big River 5 mornings a week. He is also now hosting lunch Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday at Big River. And to add to that, he is now working at the Corvallis Cyclery a few afternoons a week. He's a busy boy. And that's a good thing. Because I'm just as busy.

I was recently promoted to the manager position at my coffee shop in Corvallis (might I add that was my second promotion in under 4 months. Go me). As soon as I was told that I would be stepping in as manager, I was busier than a bumble bee. My first week of manager I worked seven days, caught a mild case of strep throat, and worked over 43 hours. Yeah. Killer. Since that first week things have gotten a little easier. I am now recovering from another cold, but things are running more smoothly. There were a few mishaps those first few weeks (like the week that Food Services of America delivered us a case of Grey Popon mustard instead of our usual 30 lb. box of Ghiradelli white chocolate. I threw a fit. We still have that box sitting in the back room... we did get our chocolate 2 days late.... after I yelled (politely) at a few people on the phone.)

The last weekend of October we are going to Coffee Fest though, a perk of being manager now. A trip to Seattle with my boss, Paul, fellow manager of the cafe, Garrett, and my assistant manager, Desiree. In honor of this upcoming trip, I would like to share with you a video I found on the Barista Guild of America blog. It makes fun of how dramatic and ridiculous competing professional baristas can be.

Hope all is well with everyone! I'm really looking forward to my trip and to the holidays. I miss my family! Got to get going... Dave should be home from work soon!

The Week of the de Laveaga Wedding

So, as I mentioned in my last post, Dave's good friend (and now my good friend too), Adam, got married last Sunday. We packed up the Subaru on Wednesday after we got off of work and sped off to Central Oregon. Adam and Jamie's families has set up for us to be there with them for most of the week. There was so much to do and so many new friends. Let me break it down for you:

Wednesday: Dave, Jess, Brian, Romo, and many others drove from Corvallis to the main house (also known as the girl's house because it was were the bridesmaids stayed with the bride's parents). It was also Jake McGinnity's birthday, the bride's little bro. So a BBQ and party soon commenced. There was hot tubbing, glow-golf, and shot-gunning of beers. There was also a giant banana.

I passed out at about 11:30, the boys stayed up late.

Thursday: We awoke to a smokey house. Even though the doors and windows were closed, the wind was bringing smoke to the resort from a wild fire south of Sisters. Mrs. McGinnity (a.k.a. Boss, yup, that's her real nickname) made "egg squishy", and fruit salad for breakfast. Soon after that, the boys and I packed up all our stuff and moved into the bachelor house, a condo on the other end of the resort. We then proceeded to organize a large river float in Bend. The boys all piled into their cars and took off while I waited for Sarah to arrive at the resort. She arrived not too long after they left, so we caught up with them in Bend. By then they had realized that a float was too much effort, so we settled with hanging out at a river front park and wading in the water.

Dave and I decided to celebrate our 2.5 "anniversary" with dinner at Deschutes Brewery (alone) and had a nice drive back to Eagle Crest together. Then more hot tub action (8 dudes, and Sarah and I in one hot tub, all at once) more beers, then bed.

Friday: We woke, some of us in a more delicate state than others, to a day full of celebrations. The boys had planned an all day bachelor party for Adam and left quite early for disc golf on Mt. Bachelor, mountain biking, eating, and other boyish activities.

As for me and Sarah... we layed around. I had a nail appointment at 11, followed by lunch with Sarah, then we popped in on Jamie (the bride) to see if she needed anything. We then all went and laid by the pool for a few hours. Then we all showered and met back at 8 for the bachelorette party! We took a few cars to Bend and started at a nice restaurant called 900 Wall. We were there for a bit before we decided to move, and it just so happened that we went to the same bar as the boys! After that the parties joined forces for a night to be remembered, and forgotten ;) I was up until 3:30ish. The boys were up until 4:50. Yikes.

Saturday: We all woke up on Saturday morning really late. (And for me that's like 10:30). The boys need to get a fitting in for their suits in Bend. So we all piled in cars and drive out. We went to lunch, then went in for the fitting. All the boys had really bad gas by this point, so it ended up a pretty funny event. By the time we had finished that, and got back to the resort, it was time for us to get all cute for the rehearsal dinner. I was considered a "spouse" in Adam and Jamie's mind, so I got to attend. It was so much fun, and I even got a few tears in thanks to Gus, the bride's little sister, when she started to talk about Adam and Jamie and their love for each other.

Sunday as the day of the wedding. It was amazing. We all cried, and danced the night away. I will miss all of those people so much, and can't wait to get everyone together again!

Jackie's Second Visit and Ragnar Relay

So after a week of being away, Jackie drove back up to Corvallis (all in one day, might I add) and helped me to prepare for Ragnar. In the days leading up to the relay, I didn't have much to worry about but getting everyone together and hitting the road (I set it up this way... I have anxiety about leaving on time and being places on time...) The day of our departure finally came, and, thank goodness, I had volunteered to work a short morning shift at work. Had I not worked, I probably would have been having a heart attack by the time we finally left.

Annie, Dave's baby sister, came down the night before. Jackie was there. Sarah came over. Lissa drove up early. Kasie and Justin came and got coffee from me, then came over later. Schwartz, Persons, and little Persons all showed up (with minutes to spare). Everything seemed to be going to plan. When we arrived in Salem to meet Romo and John Wulf, the stressful bits began to bear their teeth. Romo, Schwartz and Wulf all wanted to drive their own cars up so that they could part with us after the race to go to various parts of Washington. Well did that turn out to be a fiasco or what?! A caravan 5 cars long on I-5 though Portland, Olympia, Tacoma AND Seattle is a tricky thing. By the time we got to Everett, where we were leaving the spare vehicles, Dave and I were both so frustrated with the situation that we were yelling at each other. Not to worry, 5 minutes later we had kissed and made up... per standard procedure. :)

So we got the campsite by 10pm, set up, had a snack and hit the hay. Of course, I could only sleep in until 5am. I was really tired. As I emerged from my tent, I found that Lissa was missing. Only to find her asleep in her car, because she had been up all night throwing up. Food poisoning. Awesome. We packed up quickly and set off to the starting line.


There's Dave at the start in the white shirt, pulled up black shorts and stylish head band. By 9:30am, we were off! We didn't run into any problems until the second van's night run. Lissa was feverish and unable to run... So they had to shuffle runners around in order to complete their legs. Well Kasie got hurt in the process and they fell 2 hours behind schedule. When I woke up at 5am on the grass at Deception State Park, and no phone call from the other van, I panicked. We were far enough behind that the clean up crew for the exchange set ups would be catching up quickly. I had to make a quick decision and have Sarah skip her leg, and have Dave start straight away, so as to make up for lost time. The other van was hurting so bad that they skipped a few of their third legs as well... unfortunate but we finished in a timely manner.


Team Photos at the finish :)


I am still recovering. Have yet to run... I attempted a run a few days ago... only to find that it hurt REALLY bad. For all Ragnar pictures, good and bad, check Facebook ;)

Dad then came up to visit us on the Friday after... it was good to see him! I miss him lots and lots. We are constantly attempting to talk him into moving up here closer to Dave and I, because when Jackie leaves, he is going to be really lonely. Hopefully, Dave and I can get a bigger place and maybe he can come up for Christmas and all that. Hopefully.

So now, without even blinking, we are moving on the final event of the Summer of 2010. Adam, one of Dave's good friends, is getting married this weekend in the Bend, Oregon area. We are all REALLY excited to get the WHOLE gang together and celebrate our bro tying the knot with an AMAZING girl. Lots of pictures and stories to come. :)