Summer Fun

I am having such a good summer! All the correct documents for our Spanish visas are slowly being accrued. I took Alex up to Laytonville for the first time and he saw a nice view of the real "country living" lifestyle. Oh yeah, and being a brother-in-law (weird to say that). The family and I had a good time camping in Prarie Creek (minus Evan because he was working) and I am having a blast with my best friend Jordan! We are having such a good girls weekend and are getting tattoos today! Also Tapas tonight to try a little Spanish food!

Us hiking Pig Rock in Laytonville

Hiking around Fern Canyon

Our Wedding 7/1/11

Two days ago Evan and I got married! We got married in the County Clerks Office at 4 and then partied all night! I was super nervous all day and I am so glad that it is over with! Evan's parents, my parents, Alex, Evan's grandpa Doug, and our friends Mike, Michelle, Waldon, Jordan, and Garrett were all there. Jordan took all of these awesome pictures for us. Afterwards (after lots of champagne at my parents house), we went out to dinner at Kobe Steakhouse, which is a tepenyaki restaurant, and had a delicious dinner. Then we went to our house and drank more champagne and played beer pong. Travis and Linda (Evan's parents) played my parents at beer pong and my parents won. It was hilarious to watch. We also ate delicious cheesecake from Cheesecakes Unlimited for dessert. Then Kassie and her boyfriend Danny came over and it was really good to spend some time with them. The night wound down around 3 in the morning so we slept in til 10:30.

We had such a blast but I am happy it is over so I can catch up on some sleep! It was great when we woke up yesterday morning because Jordan had cleaned up the whole house! We all went over to my parents house for waffles with delicious Farmers Market strawberries and blackberries. Then everybody left except for Evan's parents and we decided to head over to the Sundial Bridge to see the Arboretum. That's when disaster struck....

We were walking towards the bridge and I told Evan to look at something and he stubbed his toe on the metal cyclone fencing that the city put up to keep people out of the bushes on 4th of July. He looked down and went white (whiter than he already is lol). The metal essentially sliced really deep through his toenail and further up his toe and was bleeding profusely. I patched up my new husband in the parking lot and whisked him away to a health clinic for a tetnus shot and some potential stitches. I got to fill out all the paperwork for him as his wife, which was very convenient because he was pretty shaken up and had a hard time writing. After getting glued (not stiched) back together we got him some whiskey and went to watch the USA v. Columbia Women's World Cup game. He is very happy because he is not going to lose his toenail, it will probably just have a ridge in it where it was sliced through.

Today we are doing absolutely nothing and enjoying having a quiet house! Except for Alex's metal music that is.

Shes got rhythm

I got my mojo back, I'm back in the groove, I've got my rhythm back! I have been going for runs since I started living in Redding but up until today I was just not feeling it. The run would seem to drag on for a lifetime even if it only lasted 20 minutes! I think I'm finally acclimating to the heat and little bit higher altitude. I felt great today! Much better than when I ran/walked to my parents house and wanted to die. I was even kicking ass at water pong with Alex and James. Can't wait til I have enough endurance for some river trail runs!

We're getting married in 4 days! Crazy! I need to work on my tan when Jordan gets here so I don't have horrible sports bra tan lines on my chest lol.

Alex and I took the plastic sheeting off the top of the overhang today and it is amazing how much more light comes into the dining room and how beautiful the trees are! I wish I could post some pictures but Evan has my camera cord and he is in Laytonville. I really hope it rains tomorrow so I don't have to worry about watering my zucchini-layden garden. I'm getting really excited because some of our blackberries are ripening and I ran by some bushes today that had some ripe ones.

I went to the Farmers Market on Saturday with my mom and it was really fun. It had a lot of farms and crafts people, it was pretty comparable to the Arcata Farmers Market except it was blazing hot.

Alex and I haven't turned on the air conditioning yet in an effort to save energy and money but I have a feeling that we are going to have to turn it on by Wednesday so the people who are staying here start to hate us lol.

I'm getting pretty excited for our fun weekend ahead!

Update

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything, probably because I have been very busy and just haven't felt like taking the time to do it. But I feel like now is the right time to recount everything that has been going on since my last post.

Evan and I are getting married on July 1st! Our immediate families will be there along with Evan's grandfather and our best friends, Jordan and Garrett. Then we are going to go out to dinner and drinks to celebrate. I bought my "wedding dress". It is purple and cost me $50 and I plan on wearing it many other places. Basically, this was just an excuse for me to go shopping lol. Our honeymoon will be Spain so we aren't really doing anything else besides having our big, fun reception party on Labor Day weekend in September!

I am more excited about the party than the wedding itself! It is going to be so much fun to drink, eat and be merry with all the friends and family that we love. Kegs of Raspberry Lambic, Guiness, and Great White here we come. Still haven't decided on the food yet. I'm leaving the meat choices up to Evan because I really have no idea how much meat costs and what is best so I will stick to planning out what vegetarian dishes we want. We are going to get the party catered so we don't have to stress out about the food and enjoy ourselves.

I am in Laytonville right now enjoying the beautiful weather and catching up with my future parents-in-law even though they pretty much have been for the last couple years already it feels like. Tomorrow I go back to Redding to work on the house some more and get in some good lake time. I also have a soccer game, which is going to be a blast.

We went to Oysterfest in Arcata last weekend and had a great time besides the fact that I drank too much 3 days in a row and definitely need a week or 2 to recover. I wouldn't give up sneaking beer out of my water bottle with my best botany buddy Erika for anything while eating oysters though lol.

I got to see Richelle and Emily and I just cannot believe that Emily is walking! She was so cute when I walked her up the stairs of Jordan and Garrett's apartment! She is absolutely loving walking! It made me feel good that she still recognizes me even though it's been over a month since I saw her.

In terms of Spain, Evan and I have a visa appointment in San Francisco on August 25th and it feels like there is a never-ending pile of things to get finished before we are ready for that appointment. Still waiting on FBI background checks...

I'm excited to get back to Redding and see how my little garden is doing and work on cleaning and organizing the garage and shed. Can't wait for the 4 and a half hour drive back to Redding in the blistering heat tomorrow...Yay for air conditioing!

Fun Weekend!

I had such a fun weekend! Sarah and Eric came up for Maddie's wedding and we had a blast! We went and visited Turtle Bay and basically had a good time playing drinking games and wandering the neighborhood lol.

Our awesome personalized robes that Maddie got us for being bridesmaids

Evan is the asshole

Sarah is the asshole

Intense staredown...lol

Mmm margaritas

Good times! Maddie looked so beautiful at the wedding and everything turned out really well even though I was skeptical about the bridesmaids outfits at first.

Now back to work for me fixing up the house I grew up in!

Sweat

I went for a pathetic run yesterday that lasted for only 15 minutes because I was sweating. When I run in Humboldt I don't sweat. Some things are going to take a little getting used to. :)

Squirrels on the roof

There are squirrels running from one tree to another across the roof. I actually have a roof over my head now instead of another apartment. It is so nice to be living in a place with a yard again, especially because the weather is great here, with high around 75 degrees.

I spent all day yesterday moving furniture around, unpacking, and cleaning. Today Alex and I will be taking large loads of dishes, ugly furniture, and clothes to the thrift store.

I thought it would take a few days to adjust to living in the house I grew up in and having the master bedroom instead of my little bedroom. In fact, it's like I never left. Everything feels so natural. Hearing the same sounds of the house, doing the same routines like taking out the trash and feeding Sparky, they all feel easy. Not to mention yelling at my brother. It is really weird to think that I have been gone for 4 years. I also forgot how funny it is to look out into the backyard and watch the cows walk by.

On the agenda for today: pull weeds in the garden, prune some shrubs outside my bedroom window to let more light in, thrift store, get fingerprinted AGAIN (long story), and sweep the patios.

I will probably make some eggs for dinner.

I miss everybody in Humboldt and I'm hoping to make the house nice ASAP so that my amigos can come over and visit me and enjoy some fun in the sun!