Merry Christmas from Oly.

Merry (belated) Christmas! We spent Christmas this year with Josh's parents in Olympia, Washington. This post is a little delayed, but if I procrastinate it any longer, it'll never happen. So, because I am lazy, here are a few pictures from the day and some captions:

As usual, all of the family dogs were present, and Josh went crazy for them...

Josh and his parents' massive Airedale, Teddy.


Josh and Kitt and Arian's dog, Boutros. (Josh really wants a big dog ... can you tell?)


Josh and his mom prepping the Christmas feast.


Josh's grandparents showing off their Christmas present -- a trip with the kids. I love his grandparents so much. They are the sweetest people. And, they are such an inspiration to given they just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary!


Josh's brother, Kitt, and his wife, Arian.


Josh's nephew in a hamburger beret he won in the white elephant gift exchange. (I made away with a bunch of Lindt chocolate -- score!!)


Josh's cousin playing with his new toy -- a car with a balloon on top. He and his sister are so stinkin' cute, I swear.


After dinner, Josh and Jason decided to play ping pong in the garage. Josh found an old Viking hat with braids.


This picture makes me laugh so hard, my side hurts. What can I say, he's special. :)


I hope you all had wonderful holidays, full of family, friends, and good times. Here's to an even better 2009.

My One and Oly.

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest! Here's a little recap of what we have been up to since touching down Friday morning:

We left the airport Friday morning and Josh and his dad dropped me off at Bellevue Square to meet Taryn for lunch and a little shopping. As always, it was wonderful to spend the afternoon with Taryn. We both got some good shopping done, each leaving Nordstrom's with new shoes.

Friday evening, we went to Josh's brother's house, and I went to bed super early (I was exhausted having only slept two hours the night before). Josh and his bro, Kitt, hung out, caught up, and drank a little beer.

Saturday morning, we headed down to Olympia bright and early to set up "the grange" for the anniversary party. I had no idea what "the grange" was (despite a few covert google searches on my Blackberry, with no luck). For those of you city girls like I, "the grange" is an association of farmers. The association usually has a little social/dance hall for its members. This particular grange was built in 1928 and reminded me of 1940s dance halls my grandma used to talk about. It was really very cute and rustic.

Josh's whole family was there, and Josh's grandparents seemed so happy. They danced and mingled with the rest of the family, and Josh and his brother selected some great Big Band music that seemed to complete the whole feel. Oh, and there was lots of wine. :)

Happy 65th anniversary!

After the party, Josh, Kitt, Kitt's wife Arian, and I headed to downtown Olympia to celebrate Arian's 30th Birthday!

We started the night off at McMenamins Spar Cafe. I had been here before McMenamins took it over, and it looks pretty much the same. We found a little table in the back, ate tots, and Kitt and Arian played pool.

After leaving the Spar, we went to The Royal, a bar set up to look like a trendy living room from the late 1970s with bocce ball games set up on either side of the bar. I really loved this bar. It was cozy but hip. Who knew such cool bars existed in Oly?

I'm not sure what's up today. Guess that's all part of the adventure of hanging out with Josh & family. :)

Pre-teenaged sensations

If you are reading this, then I just figured out how to blog from my Blackberry! How cool is that?! (It makes me feel like singing that song from Napoleon Dynamite: "Ohhh, I love technology. But not as much as you, you see. But I still love technology. Always and forever. Always and forever.")

So, where were we? Ah, last time I blogged, Josh and I were about to pick up the most adorable creatures on the planet for the evening. Well, I ended up picking up the girls (Josh had a rugby game), and they wanted to go to the mall (insert 12 year-old-girl-squeal here), so that's where we went. Come to find out, my little cousins are in love with Juicy Couture. This came as a bit of a surprise, probably because at their age my idea of "designer" was Arizona Jeans and The Gap. Whatever. So, we look at all things "Juicy," and then head to Claire's where they begged me to let me get their ears pierced. Funny, girls. They settled for magnetic earrings.

Of course, one mall was not enough for my favorite pre-teen mall rats, and since Josh and I are huge suckers, we agreed to take them to the Camarillo Outlets after some begging. Our first stop? The Juicy Couture outlet. Good Lord, those are some expensive sweat pants! I mean, I love a good splurge, but this is one store I do not get. I guess that makes me officially old. Before I know it, I will start complaining their music is too loud.

Next stop was my favorite spot at the outlets: the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet. The girls were convinced once I told them Saks had Juicy Couture. Although, they kept calling it "Stacks 5" which was cracking me up. Turns out there was a big sale at Saks, and the girls ended up finding deeply discounted Juicy Couture zip-ups, so we bought them for their birthdays. I know, I can't believe I bought designer items for two little kids, but what can I say? I am a sucker who cannot say no to those two little things. However, as a public service, I am adding this inability to the list of things to fix before getting knocked up so my children are not spoiled brats. You're welcome. :)

After the mall, we grabbed dinner and then headed back to the house and met up with Bug (my sis) and Jackie. We all went into the hot tub and chatted before putting the girls to bed.

Monday we went to see 27 Dresses. It was pretty much what I expected. Then, we went to Grandma's for dinner and dropped the girls off.

The rest of the week has been busy at work and kind of stressful. Ah well.

At least I am out of the office today. Josh and I are in Seattle/Olympia for the weekend to celebrate Josh's grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary. (How amazing is 65 years?!) I love being back in the Pacific Northwest where, ironically, it is not raining. Glad we left the fugly weather behind!

Bang!

It's another chilly day here in Olympia. We had a lovely breakfast in the morning. My father-in-law was a farm boy growing up and loves the outdoors, hunting, and, well, guns. Just so you know, I am pretty anti-gun as a rule.

Anyway, my dad showed some interest in my father-in-law's guns, and before you know it, the plan was to go to a shooting range. I had planned on staying at home and reading my book, but I could tell Josh really wanted me to go. Plus, I heard a comment about the "girls staying home," and I decided I could do whatever the boys were doing.

Anyway, I have never shot a gun before. It was alright, I suppose. Although, I must admit, I am an excellent shot. :) Check it out: