9/5-9/6: Our 1st Anniversary

Warning! There will be more than one picture in this post today!
We decided to celebrate our first anniversary over the course of two days. For two reasons:
1.) We wouldn't have to take an extra day off (the greatness of getting married on a holiday weekend)
2.) BSU's first game of the season took place on our anniversary and just a lunch somewhere wouldn't do our awesome year justice.

So we decided to go big! We spent the night in the new Northern Quest Resort hotel. It's 5 star and beautiful! We got a good deal on the smallest room (HUGE king bed!) and its somewhere I've been wanting to go. It just look so pretty and fun! We decided to have room service for dinner and dessert and then wrapped it up with a lovely brunch at Masselows (the same awesome restaraunt that provided our yummy dinner and dessert the night before). We then went home and prepared for what turned out to be a joyous BSU game.
Here's a little photo tour of our 1st anniversary:

Before the awesome and stressful BSU game :)

Loves :)

Out for brunch!

Unveiled!

Free stuff is prettier under a blue nightlight :)

Here's to another great year!

9/2 - 9/4: Food=love

I love food!
Any opportunity to eat I take...it usually backfires on me but I'm young and don't care :)
So here's to food!!!

9/2: Fall is coming! I know this not because of the chillier than usual temps, that fall smell, or the candy corn that is now gracing the shelves of grocery stores..no no..it's the sun and the sunsets. They've been beautiful lately! I saw one on the way to hanging out with friends and if I wasn't driving on the freeway I would have pulled over. The sun was hitting the whispy cirrus clouds just right to make it look like they were on fire. It looked like the sky was made of ice and that the sun was frozen in it. Gorgeous! The next day I woke up to the sun streaming into our dining room and it was a pretty shade of gold. I just wish my camera could capture it :( But instead it just looks a little yellow..

9/3:
The wonderful in-laws came up for Labor Day weekend to take care of some stuff in Sandpoint and for the regular check-up for Brand's mom (she is in remission from ovarian cancer and the check-up was so good she only has to come once a year now! yay Rose!) Anywho..they never come without bearing gifts of the foody kind. So our refrigerator is always stocked after even a quick 2 hour visit with them. (Not pictured: giant watermelon...)

9/4:
Boise has a lot of things that make it greater than Spokane. Besides its stellar football team and awesome family, it has a way to keep it's folks entertained. There seems to be something always going on that people can partake in..and a lot of it is free! I love it! Spokane just doesn't seem to have much of that, or they don't make a big deal out of it so no one really knows about it. But there is one thing that I have had the opportunity to partake in for the first time this year and that is Pig Out in the Park. It's a HUGE restaurant fair in Riverfront Park. It is about five days long and there is so much food to pick from! On top of that they have a lot of free bands to listen to..and a three beer gardens if that's what you're into. A couple of years ago The Clumsy Lovers played and I unfortunately missed out (Alaska methinks?). But this year I got a GIANT corn dog and it was delicious! It's a great warm-up for the fair in a week and it gets me all excited for funnel cakes, elephant ears, snow cones, huckleberry anything, and giant corn on the cobs! yay!! To make it even better, we met up with some great friends.

Food is therapeutic as well as necessary. Maybe that's why I got into the business of ending hunger. It humbles me to think that people aren't eating today and my refrigerator is full and to think of how much I spent on a giant corn dog. I talked with a client today who doesn't buy food because he has bills to pay first. It's a sad but all too common truth. Bills always come first and then empty bellies. I hope we can all think about those going without tonight and maybe give a little to your local food bank.

8/30-9/2: The little things make the big things even better

My good friend Christie is the one that inspired me to take a picture every day for a year. Her pictures are usually far different than mine (except the days we hang out and then we do the mandatory friend picture for picture of the day haha). I told her that her pictures are more exciting than mine (and prettier because she fixes them up on the computer). Christie is adventurous. Climb a mountain, raft a river, move to New Zealand adventurous. I'm not like that. So most of my pictures have been pretty mundane. But I'm trying to appreciate my mundane. And I like that even though Christie and I are great friends and in a lot of areas we're so similar, I like that in others we're so different. She inspires me to be more adventurous and spontaneous. The truth is most of my friends are like that and they help me realize I need to take advantage of the time we have and not think about everything. So yes my following pictures do not have mountains, beautiful scenery, or snapshots of my wonderful yardwork..but that's ok because honestly if I had those too often I'd be lying about my life. My life is Brand, work, my furry family, my not-so-furry family (oh and Josh and Stephen too), and my awesome friends. Sprinkle in TV and food and you pretty much know what's going on in my life :) But I like simple and routine with just a bit of a shakeup every now and again.

So here's a look into the mundane..if people didn't like mundane then we wouldn't have reality shows :)
8/30:

The Stand! This Stephen King Mini-series is what introduced me to the wonderful world of apocolyptica. End of the world stuff and how humans react is fascinating to me. That's the true reason I like zombie movies so much..I think they're the most terrifying not just because of the flesh-eating undead but because of the living that remain and what lengths we go to to survive...let me tell you..it won't be pretty.
The sad thing about Brand is..he's never seen The Stand! And since the awe of the apocalypse is something we share I had to share this with him. I borrowed it from my sister and we are about 2/3 of the way through and I can honestly say that Brand loves it. And he is not someone you have to worry about cheesy weird sci-fi either so that's even better that I don't have to apologize for it :)

8/31:

Friends! Here's a fault of mine..when my friends are around sometimes I forget to take pictures..aaah!!! So you'll have to see the lame representation subsitute I had to do instead..I apologize!
Anywho! My friend Amber was in town after being gone for almost THREE YEARS! Bahh! She moved to Dallas, TX to participate in a Christian art school. It's pretty much production boot camp! She had some amazing opportunities to learn about the film industry. She is hoping to be a director of photography doing music video shoots and would also like to do some freelance photography. It's so cool seeing your friends go after their dreams. She originally started out at EWU going for dental hygeine but quickly learned that it was the other side of the brain that she needed to work out. Timid and unsure Amber sent out on a 2 year journey of self-discovery and it is awesome seeing how she's grown. She has truly blossomed into a better version of herself. Her focus is clearer than mine and her ambition is huge! She will most likely be moving to Nashville to get started in the biz of her choice :) (starting off with a gig doing a music video!) I could not be more proud of her and I'm so glad she's back..at least for a little bit..up in the Northwest! And one of the best things about Amber coming over for a day (after a month long road trip on her own to all the places she's wanted to go to...how awesome!) was that Cassie came up for the day and night! We had such a blast and it took me back to the days we spent hanging out in their apartment growing up together :)

9/1:
Love

I'll never get tired of taking pictures with him. Yes..he is rarely serious..

Hopefully the next few months will bring less mundane but if you wanted to know if someone's life is more boring than yours..you found it..and I'm ok with that :)

8/26-8/29: You can't choose your family..

But even if you could...I'm not sure I could have chosen a better family. We're not perfect by any means but my family is my most precious treasure. I went home spontaneously for the weekend to make sure that my most precious treasure was still shining. I had a wonderful time with every single one of them. I really appreciated my time with every single person that has been a part of me since birth (well..Stephen...since YOUR birth but you get what I mean).
8/26:
I had a wonderful Thursday dinner with my mom, aunt, Josh, and my little Ollie. We then went to my dad and Julie's house and hung out. The best part was watching Ollie having a blast riding on the skateboard...he will be exactly like his grandpa.

8/27:
Thai food! May be one of my new favorite foods. My aunt and mom took me to their new favorite restaurant Mai Thai. Our waiter was so smart and helped me pick out a delicious yummy noodle delight meal. The food was great but the place was so beautiful! I want to go with Brand sometime because it was so romantic with a beautiful water feature and awesome lights. I can't wait to go back! The noodle delight contained perfectly cooked veggies (crispy and flavorful), yummy Thai noodles, and a perfect peanut sauce! The picture doesn't do it justice. For $12 you get a filling meal that is presented as a work of art.

8/28: Camera's battery died...having too much fun in Boise I suppose...sorry for the missed picture :(
8/29:
Nothing quite says "home" and "family" more than that beautiful blue and orange and that blue sure is beautiful. My mom got me something I will add to my treasure trove of blue and orange..BSU's appearance on Sports Illustrated. My sister said she was going to frame hers and I think I'll do the same. Season starts on our first anniversary and I'm SO anxious but excited. Go Broncos!!

My weekend home was much needed. I was able to take a break from work and spend time with family. I was sad Brand wasn't able to come but it was good to come home to him.
This past weekend was just another reminder of my amazing family. They were all supportive in their own way of the reason I was down there. I really do love my whole family and the great thing is..I know they love me.

8/18-8/25: Brand

A week of Brand:
Brand consumes my life as most of you know. He is my husband after all. Little did I know that he'd be the focus of (almost) 7 pictures in a row. One of the following isn't so much him as a hobby and desire we share (woah..cool the jets people..it involves a television show). But here is a week in the life of Brand...
8/18: Candy
You'll see a recurring theme in some of the pictures displayed in this entry. The theme is "high in sugar".  Brand has a sweet tooth. After all he did marry me :) Although the following picture represents what we purchased for MY sweet tooth, I have decided that a filled candy bowl is vital to the survival of a happy Brand.

8/19: Pudding Part 1
Brand's breakfast is similar to my 2 year old nephew's on a camping trip. If it's pudding..he's happy. I've tried to encourage him to eat something a little more...adult (bagels for crying out loud!) but he sticks with his easy pudding...sigh...I guess we'll both be diabetic by the time we're 30...

8/20: A deadly obsession
Brand and I started our marriage out in a funny way. Falling in love together...with a emotion-less serial killer named Dexter. We watched Season 1 and 3 before we got married and finished after we got married. Hot nights in our tiny apartment are synonymous with the hot Miami killer nights for Dexter Morgan. Staying up late to watch the next episode, then the next quickly became our favorite thing to do. We finished just in time to check out the first episode of season 4 that Showtime so graciously TEASED us with on XBox instant Netflix. We had to wait until we pre-ordered season 4 to see anything. But it came and went and now we're done. It was fantastic and I loved it. It is probably what turned Brand into more of a TV junkie than he was before he met me. We are becoming Showtime customers pretty soon just to see what other anxiety attacks Dexter and his killer crew can give me...I took a pic of the cover but knowing that not everyone has seen it I had to cut out some vital parts of the cover so all you get is his bloody name :)

8/21: He's got a huge heart and a beautiful doggie
Brand woke up very early with me to accompany me to my place of work to distribute over a hundred bags of pet food to our disabled adults and homebound seniors in Spokane. We brought along our trusty sidekick, Santa Paws to help make sure that the best friends of our seniors are being fed too.

8/22: Brand's love for reading and his love for me mix together to form a beautiful love child...
Harry Potter!! Brand has FINALLY started reading the series after much poking and prodding from me. He said he was embarrassed to read them but after Twilight comes out he feels better about coming to the more awesome side. He feels he has to start from the beginning even though he thinks he won't like the first few but I have a feeling they won't be so horrible to him :) He happily (HAH) posed for this picture to show off his wonderful awesomness.

8/23: Pudding Part 2
After a much needed essential grocery trip, Brand pointed out that he didn't have a lot of snacks to eat. We were so focused on the building blocks to great meals that we forgot about the building blocks to great laziness! Didn't take me long to go out and purchase another staple to Brand's survival...his oh so healthy breakfast that was mentioned earlier. Brand goes through pudding fast. So I stocked up on the chocolatey goodness. I guess he'll be having breakfast for even longer...

8/24: His computery geekiness is his super power
Brand's genious and patience with HP IT provided us with this lovely box. We shipped it out to get the AC adapter connection all fixied up! I'm pretty excited. This notebook is more than just a laptop to me and more than just my connection to cyberspace..it was my wedding present from Brand and even when it's broken and duct tape doesn't hold it up anymore, I'll keep it forever. So I'm glad HP sent us a nice little bed for it's trip to wherever computers go to get a little surgery done :)

8/25: Sometimes change isn't his thing..
Try hard as he might, Brand just could not steer away from his usual pudding breakfast. After he left for work I noticed this little present for me on the countertop...not really low in sugar but at least it's a breakfast food..

Brand is pretty amazing. With our first anniversary coming up I've been looking back over our past year. And it's not his sweet tooth or his computery geekiness or even his willingness to get sucked into my TV crazyness...it's his warmth, compassion, and his love for me. He is ultimately selfless and I can't believe I get to be married to such a great guy. I really love you Brand :D

8/17: There I fixed it!

Sorta...
lately my laptop has been on the funny side. It won't recognize that it's plugged in unless I hold the cord a certain way. Well..the battery died before I could get it to a place to charge and it's been out of commission all day! Pretty sad for me. It may be lame but not only is this my computer..it was also my wedding present from Brand. So no matter what happens to it..I'll keep it forever. But until it gets fixed, we found a way to keep it charging. It did it's best when I stood it on it's side and kept the cord at an angle. After holding it for about 20 minutes I decided to see if I could figure out a way to keep it going.
Brand suggested jimmy rigging a docking station (p.s...anyone know where that term came from? it's weird to me). I came up with the idea to do it between the couch cushions. It was working and I didn't have to use my thighs anymore but it needed a little extra help to keep the cord at JUST the right angle. So I taped it to the bottom of the laptop. And it worked! It's currently charging and soon I'll take it down for the night so any rambunctious kitty cats and clumsy dogs don't do any more damage to it.

So in case the cleaning post didn't convince you I take after my dad....this should...sorry there's not string.

8/15 and 8/16: I make this look good..

8/15:: Sometimes you just look good. The face looks good, the outfit looks good, and the hair cooperates. On Sunday I had the bathroom to myself since Brand was visiting friends in Odessa. I didn't feel like straightening my hair so I decided to have some fun. Not too fancy but definitely something I loved and will do again (if the stars align and my hair listens to me..)

I call it a whoopy di whoo with a hanging flang. Yay!

8/16: I love city alleyways for pictures! If I were a photographer I would totally take advantage of them. I love fire escapes, decorations in the apartment windows, trash, and grafitti. So cool! We have a pretty sweet alleyway behind our work. It's been used in multiple straight to video movie films (saw them shoot a car crash scene for a Ving Rhames old time gangster movie). Since I've had to walk a block or two to work I usually cut through the very well lit and watched alley. I've always wanted to take a picture of the grafitti on our wall because it's kind of neat.

Above our white sign telling our volunteers that this door does not open, someone wrote an interesting statement. It said: As long as there is planet earth, we are not homeless!
I thought that was pretty cool. We have a lot of homeless seniors and what I've been told a lot of homeless people camp out around our work at night. Some make their mark with vomit, blood, feces, or urine. Others write thought-provoking quotes like these.
And p.s. I love the SOB at the top. I get to write this often for Shortness of breath..but it makes me laugh when I'm dealing with a jerky client who has SOB in their file...ahhh if only that was a real illness...