Pretty Pink Princess Party

So I just attended Megan's wedding this past weekend... and I haven't even posted her bachelorette pics yet! I guess I better get on it! :-) We all met up in July, back at our old stompin' grounds in Hays, America. We sent Miss Megan on a scavenger hunt for her gifts, with clues leading her to all her favorite spots. Molly picked her & Brooke up at the house with her first clue leading to Cervs to pick up a snowball and a few friends... Mai, Amy & Michelle! From there, her next clue led her to me on the steps of good 'ol TMP...

Getting her next clue from Violet back in P-town!

Amy, Mai & Michelle

Molly and her cute pregnant self!! :-)

Best part is... it's all on tape!! So after high school, comes college... and her next clue led her to the home of the famous pre-game meal... an hombre at Guiterrez!!

Notice the reoccuring theme... PINK!! And where else do you go after a pre-game meal... Gross Memorial Coliseum, of course!! The home of the FHSU Tigers basketball team!!

A few shots along the way, of course!

And what comes after basketball season... baseball season! So after making her sing "Take me out to the ballgame" (the special Megan version) we ended up at Lark's Park. The home of FHSU Baseball and the summer league, the Hays Larks. We spent many a afternoons in right field with our swimsuits and coolers full of Miller High Life... and many summers chasing around those darn Larks, so it was only right to spend some time out in right field!

Amy, Mai, Michelle & Brooke

Harassing the players... just like old times!!
And Coach Leo just thought he was done with us!! :-)

Megan, Molly & I

After our quality time at Larks Park, we picked up one more friend, Jenny Leon and headed to the Rail... where Megan found all her high school buddies...

Christa, Holly, Megan, Alison, Me (honorary TMP'r), Jana & Jessie

College crew

Me & Alison

After the Rail it was time to hit the clubs. The Home, to our dismay, was closed for the weekend b/c they got busted earlier in the summer. Ugh. So we hit up a new club on 7th... Chuck's... run by an old college classmate of ours. It was just like old times... us girls, controlling the place (or atleast we think so)!! Fun times!!

Mai & Michelle

Brooke & I

Jenny & Molly

Somehow Alison and I got roped into singing "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" to Megan... while she danced, of course!!

Alison, Christa, Holly & Jessie

Cheers!!

Megan... just being Megan!

Me & Amy

Classic!

Megan & I

Molly, Brooke, Mai & Michelle

At one point, we tried to head over to Sip-n-Spin... but apparently the big 'ol town of Hays now required 2 forms of ID. What the...? Megan tried to persuade the cops... don't they know who she is??? Guess not, cuz we landed back at Chuck's... passing the huge lines of people b/c that's what we do. Right past the Larks that we harassed a few hours before... see ya!!!

Megan, Alison & I

Brooke & I

Molly, Mai & Michelle

It was such a great night... and it was awesome to have the whole crew together for a night of reminiscing, laughter, tasty beverages and of course... getting our groove on the way we do!!

Love you all!!

Sonic!!!!!!!

Sonic is another one of my favorites!! Funny thing is... we didn't even eat there. We just played on the playground... then went to Taco Shop... again!! :-)

On our way to Taco Shop!!

Fixin' the hitch... well, Chris is fixin'... Krisson is supervising!! :-)

And playin... Aaaahhhh....

Baby... in a bar?

That's right... you can't make a trip to Hays without going to the Q for a few games of pool, a greasy cheeseburger and my favorite... corn nuggets!!

Oh my goodness...

where has the time gone!? I can't believe it's been so long since I, master blogger, posted a new message!! I can't let Lily out-do me... so never fear... several new posts will be coming SOON!!

Perspective

So yesterday was a crappy day in the world of ME. In fact, the whole week hasn't been all that groovy... what, all 3 days of it. I was out with co-workers last night, having a great time, but when I made it back to my car, it was not feelin' the whole START thing. Lights, music... all came on. But when I turned the switch... no engine. After 6.5 yrs... it had no love for me, whatsoever. Luckily I was able to flag Sara down and she hooked me up with a ride home, and a friendly ear to gripe to. I got home, griped a little to Andee and then grabbed my computer to let all my thoughts out.

Writing seems to be a way of release for me. Now more than ever. And since praying at night tends to lead to sleeping... I opened up my laptop, and opened up my heart to God. I've been in a "funk" for quite awhile... discontent with life, craving something new, etc. So I started a new entry in my prayer journal... starting with the date, as I always do. 9/11. Hmm. Maybe my day wasn't as bad as it seemed. Maybe my week wasn't really as terrible as it could have been. Maybe the things in my life really aren't as frustrating as I originally thought. 5 yrs. ago... the day was much worse. And I wasn't even directly affected.

Perspective.

So I worked through those feelings, and moved on to some of the other things I've been tossing around in my head the past couple of weeks. I recently poured my heart out to my cuz regarding my discontentment. I still love everything about my life... my job, the city of Portland, my friends, working with the kids (altho this has been part of the battle as well)... my thing is, I've been doing the same thing for 6.5 yrs. Nothing has changed. I still have my adventures, and love every one of them. And I definitely love my independence and freedom... but when you're asked "So what's new?" and you have NOTHING new to tell them... that sucks. I've been saying the same thing for 6 yrs. I feel like I should have notecards with the answer, and just hand them out to folks. And this started back in May when Pillar was in town, and I hadn't really hung out with them for a couple of years and one of the guys asked what was new, and I had nothing to say. So I've been struggling with this for quite awhile now. ANYWAY, back to my story... I poured my heart out to Jak, and here she is with what I'm dreaming about... the family... husband to love & share everything with... 2 beautiful kids... and she's feeling the same exact way I am. Loving and appreciating the blessings that God has given us... yet still feeling a little discontent, like you're stuck and looking for something new & exciting to spark things up a little. The grass is always greener.

Perspective.

By the time I was done journaling, I had worked my way through the frustration to a point of thanksgiving & praise... knowing God was in control, no matter what. He has a plan for my life... plain & simple. I will continue to trust Him, knowing He knows the desires of my heart and loves me enough to bless me with them, if it's according to His will. And His perfect will is what I want... if I can just stay there in His arms and stop trying to work things out on my own, I know it will be all good.

Perspective.

Labor Day weekend

Stacey G, AndeeLynn and I headed north on I-5 this past Friday for our annual trip to Seattle! As always, there was much entertainment b/w the 3 of us... and endless "clowns". I believe these get-togethers have truly helped define my "clowning" skills!! ANYWAY... Stacey requested that we hit the hwy at 7pm. And of course, we left promptly at 7:35pm... due to no fault of mine, for the record. After 3 sightings and attempts, we finally made a quick pit stop at Dairy Queen, where I proceeded to order a Peanut Buster Parfait and stress my friends out (I'm allergic to peanuts)! We finally hit Andee's folks' house, chatted for a bit, then crashed... all 3 of us on the living room floor. Should have gotten a pic of that!!

Word to the wise... never get up to go to the bathroom...
your spot will be overtaken in a heartbeat!

Saturday morning, we headed to Redmond so Stacey could de-stress and get a massage. Andee and I filled our faces with Pizza Schmizza... covered ourselves with Bath & Body Works... and then waited around for Ms. Givens to be done with her massage. We headed back to the crib so Andee and I could nap (after our vigorous 2 hrs. of doing nothing) and Stacey headed off to Starbucks to work. Nothing like getting a massage to relieve the stress from work... just to continue working. Later that night we went to a place called Joey's on Lake Union. We sat outdoors on the patio and the view was beautiful... the sky was gorgeous as the sun set and then as the stars sparkled above us, boats were on the water, the Space Needle to our left... I was lovin' it! And apparently the scenery INSIDE the restaurant was pretty good, too... but I couldn't get past the cutie in green sitting at the bar, so I don't know what was happening inside! Oh, and my salmon dinner was fabulous!! I love living on the coast!! Jen joined us later in the evening after her WSU game was over and we all sat and chatted for another hour or so. It was a great night!!
Sunday we headed to Bumbershoot! It's a creative arts/music/festival with ALL kinds of fun stuff to see!! We went early in the day to get our tickets, b/c we wanted to make sure and get the Kayne West passes before they ran out. We caught about 2o minutes of a dance performance by the Rubberband Dance Group before meeting up with Andee's folks for lunch, we did a little shopping by the university and then headed back to get our seats at the Kayne concert!!

Don't ask.

DANG IT, ANDEELYNN!

No cooperation

Finally! Geez!

So my night vision on my camera doesn't work that well...
but after 6 yrs. of being in the NW, I FINALLY made it to the Space Needle!

Monday morning, we slept in a little later than we planned so we packed up the car and headed to South Center for some more shopping before heading back to P-town. The trip went quickly and we were back in town by 5:30. I dropped my stuff off and headed out to Violet's for one last time!! I got some good quality time with the girls, designed my own Barbie Fashion Show with the famous Mia Quinn, and then even got some good quality time on the couch, watching crap TV, while playing on our laptops with Violet!! It was a great weekend!!

Mia Quinn through the mass of boxes!!

So Mia Quinn gets an allowance for doing certain chores, including feeding the dogs. Well, Cannon took it upon herself to feed Griffin on Monday, then proceeded to eat her own snack on top of him while he ate. She then headed into the laundry room to feed Buster, but was quickly stopped before sitting on him. He's not as "tolerant" as Griffin! Too stinkin' cute!! :-)