Merry Christmas!

What a weekend! Friday we went over to my parent's house for Christmas eve dinner with my Mom's side of the family, then Bryan and I had Christmas morning at our house; then back to my parent's for breakfast and presents... after that we went up to other grandma and grandpa's up the street for another gathering (photo attached!) and then to Bryan's parent's house for yet another Christmas with the family and a delicious dinner! We were incredibly spoiled and filled with goodies all day. It was wonderful. It is so nice having the majority of our family so close by; we are both very lucky. We had a fantastic day and we hope you did as well!

Tree pics

Last Sunday we went out and got a tree! I apologize about the slow-posting, I figured it was time to spread a little cheer (better late than never!) We both got a little lazy this year and decided to 'save' a tree from Lowes rather than go out and hunt one... right now the tree has undergone only two puppy attacks; hopefully Walter will learn that we're not doing this just for him! (His favorite thing outdoors are trees; I'm sure he found it awesome that we brought one inside)

Happy early Christmas :) (Yesterday, tons of Christmas shopping-- more to go! It never ends!)

Brie + Burger = Awesome.

My parents bought half of a free roamin' cow, and were sweet enough to give us a few pounds of hamburger from it... Bryan got ahold of it, ad behold! A roasted garlic and brie stuffed burger, with brie on top. HOLY COW (literally). Amazing beef, amazingly cooked-- I was so impressed I had to post! Apparently, happy cows make happy cheese (and happy beef as well! Well, sort of... :)

Pizza, haircuts and family

Friday Grete came over for an impromptu Pizza night-- we ended up making (with Grete's amazing home made pizza dough) a margharita pizza (with basil, mozzarella, tomatoes and prosciutto), pepperoni with kalamata olives, and a Chicago style deep dish pepperoni... so tasty. The end of the night left everyone sleepy (notice my sleepy boys... adorable!)

Yesterday Mom and dropped by to drop off my sister's treadmill (thanks Sister!) and stayed for dinner. Yesterday was neat too, I got my mom out to Issaquah with me to visit Kyle at Sorella to try and fix my now grown-out bob-- such a fun day!! We went to a tiny Mexican place next door for lunch.. no pics of the hair as it was a first-round fix, but it was a great day overall! So much fun!

Brrrrr.

Last week brought a tiny snowstorm, which brought icy roads and the coldest wind I've felt since Bellingham-- none of which seemed to bother our puppy at all, who thought it was the best... here are a few pics from the other week!

ATTACK.

Just a few snapshots of a Walter-snuggle attack that happened on the couch... our puppy is a dork. (*notice*... the 'no couch' rule lasted all of 3 weeks... it was worth a shot!)

A visit from Amy...

Amy (my sister) popped over last Saturday to bring Walter a couple of toys (by a couple I mean TONS). It was so neat to steal her for a Saturday! We made breakfast and played with the pup, it turned out to be a pretty awesome day :D

Sorry this took so long to post-- I just felt the need to share!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Fall everyone! Just thought I would share a few updated pics of Walter-- he's finally sitting still long enough for me to take some photos of him. The past few days have been quite fun-- I am trying to figure out how to get photos off of my camera; I was invited to a co-worker's house to help make wine yesterday! It was very neat to be a part of; they were pressing 400 pounds of cabernet grapes for the second round of fermentation. The smell was incredible! I think one day I will try to do a small home kit... :)

This Halloween we are taking it easy-- it has been the weekend of movies and tasty food! Today the menu is stew and tasty bread... I'm very excited!

Meet Walter!

My 25th birthday was this past Saturday... and I was surprised with great news-- Bryan finally gave in bought me a puppy for my birthday! We just found him this week. He is an 14 week old golden retriever named Walter. So far he is still adjusting to his new home -- but so far he is doing better each hour! He is quite the snuggler... right now he wants nothing more than to curl up in your lap; or to pass out on you all together. I will be sure to post often about puppy updates!

....and a bit of squishiness

...I also realized that I never think to take photo proof of how adorable my husband is, so I thought I would post my coming home surprise :) Which made my day after getting home far too late (thanks for picking us up, super awesome parents!). I'm a lucky gal :)

San Diego!

Last week Brittany and I went to San Diego for Printables Training (learning how to make templates for our online store/coding/crazy data merging info) and were lucky enough to stay a bit longer than we were planning. Sadly I only got pics of the zoo-- Brittany has much more that I plan on stealing from her. While we were there we did quite a bit of shopping, eating, and pretty much visiting every beach we could find. Overall I would have to say Coronado beach and the San Diego Zoo were big highlights-- as well as the fantastic Italian restaurant Brittany found, and the great hotel we were able to stay at. I would say as far as work trips go, this was a fun (and sunny!) one.

Painted fireplace and kittens

Before...
After...

Bryan and I were going on a walk tonight when we were met by an adventerous kitty who right up to us and showered us with snuggles. She was skin and bones, and followed us home (Turns out, we have a very hard time parting with cute.) After looking tremendously hungry, we brought her in for some tuna and water, which of course meant she would stay for the night! We have some friends that are going to take her tomorrow since Bryan and I are both allergic to cats. So sad we can't keep her!! There is talk that we might trade her for a stray bunny (are all the cute animals attacking homes these days?!) Anyways, I wanted to post a pic of the cutie while she was here!

Also-- I painted the fireplace! I think it looks much better. My parents were also sweet enough to come by and fix our bathroom electrical problem-- we once again have light in the main bathroom!! (What would I do without my Mr. Fix-It father?? I don't know!)

Our one-year anniversary is coming up on Saturday, and I can't believe how fast time has gone. As Bryan is working and I will be at a wedding on San Juan Island, we will be celebrating all week.. crazy! I'm a lucky girl and happy that life is good :)

Fancy burgers!

Yesterday we had Anna and Louis Daniel over for some dinner and board games. Anna brought over some buffalo meat, and together we all made the most fantastic burgers... well... ever. Feta, peppered bacon buffalo burgers. With steak/basil/feta/basalmic reduction snacks beforehand, it turned out to be quite a nice night! The boys even took off to chase down the ice cream man-- notice, I have Louis Daniel's first reaction to a 'choco-taco' (he is from Quebec, and lived in France for 6 years-- I had no idea how silly the concept was until he pointed it out!) Following the delicious food we popped open a few bottles of wine and played board games... all in all it was a pretty great night!! They are wonderful and spoiled to have such amazing foodie friends!

The new furniture!

As the house has finally been cleaned, I felt like it was finally the time to take some new pics of the Ikea adventure findings! We got a new dining room set; (the chairs on the ends are fantastically comfortable-- and the covers come off so you can wash them! Woohoo!) a new bed, dresser, and a new work desk for Bryan to do his models on. All in all everything makes our house look a lot bigger I think-- and a lot more put together! Getting a shorter bed was a great fit... we both have nightstands now (Notice! It holds my Twi-crack!) and being shorter makes our room seem a lot more huge. It's sad it's hard to take pics in there... Our dresser has also doubled in size; but since its wide and short we have a whole new wall to decorate. Overall it was a great trip! We love everything and can't wait to have a giant dinner party with our new table (it has two leaves in it, so it can hold up to 8-10 people). Our house is growing up!

Mom and Dad's new puppy!

I couldn't post all of the excitement, so here are pics of Riley (mom and dad's new wheaten terrier) too! (Story on next post :D

Lots of change!

The theme of the past few weeks have been change! Let me list a few of the new ones (I find lists are the easiest way to think about 1,230,304,394 things at once, especially when they are all big and could easily take up way too many pages of stories!)

1. Bryan and I both have new jobs-- officially! And are well on our way of settling in. It's been a great step for both of us, and have been really great moves for us both career-wise. Hooray things starting together! (Bryan is a beer distributor for Marine View Beverage, and I am the new marketing designer at Burkhart Dental Supply)

2. I cut all my hair off! It's officially a 'bob', although still pretty long-- perhaps I shall call it a 'robert'. (I would post pics, if I liked taking photos of my face. Which I don't.)

3. We just got new furniture for the bedroom/dining room/office. Chris and Brittany are officially the neatest people ever, as they helped put it ALL TOGETHER. Which, if you know Ikea furniture, takes a vast understanding of Swedish pictographs and the ability to do magic with an allen wrench. THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH! (And Josh too for helping us lug everything out and around the store-- I think we had 4 carts worth. Ouch!) I have 'during' pics here, I will be sure to post the finished products soon! (We are very excited!)

4. My parents got a new puppy yesterday-- Riley! He is a soft coated wheaten terrier. SO CUTE. Right now he is the curious type; more interested in chewing your pinkey and sneaking under the deck than cuddling. But he is PRECIOUS. I love him already (and it looks as though he likes Bryan too, as he was under full puppy attack for a good 5 minutes. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!) Mom and dad came over for dinner today to introduce us to Riley... we had so much fun!! (Thanks for coming over family :D We got to use our new dining room set too!

Overall, much excitement plus lots of sunshine equals a very happy me. Couldn't ask for more at the moment :)