Cute Picture

Our future sister-in-law, Courtney (yeah!), sent us this picture after a very joyous Christmas at Bill and Tracy's house. I keep forgetting to add it to our blog.

De Marr + Tiller

Steve and I were very lucky to be in Arizona this past weekend to witness the wedding vows between Avery De Marr and Lindsey Tiller. Avery was a groomsman in our wedding and was Steve's roommate his freshman year at Seattle University. Avery proposed to Lindsey this summer on a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge and we were lucky enough to meet her when we all had dinner here in Seattle.

Steve and I headed to Phoenix on Thursday evening and arrived about 9:30pm or so. We hung out at Avery and Lindsey's home and all the boys played "Rock Band", which is a video game where you actually get to play guitar and drum-like instruments to famous songs. I got the hang of it...a little. On Friday morning, the boys headed out for some golf while a few of us got our nails done. Even though the nails only look good for a few days, it's nice to splurge for a mani-pedi every once and a while. I got to pick up Brooklyn at her school with Lindsey and head to McDonald's for some scrumptious chicken McNuggets. After my nap on Avery's famous couch, we headed to the rehearsal and then for a tour of their house that is currently under construction. Amazing! It made us just a tad jealous, but it was great to see Avery and Lindsey so excited for their married life in a new house. To finish off the night, they had a great rehearsal dinner and we all played more "Rock Band".

The day of the wedding was really relaxing from my viewpoint. Steve and I had lunch with all the boys at a local brew-pub and then I went shopping with another guy from Seattle U who needed a new outfit for the wedding- shoes, pants, shirt, and tie. We were pretty proud of the quick shopping and the maneuvering of Phoenix freeways using our handy GPS system in the rental car.

The wedding was an intimate outside garden wedding- amazing for February!! The reception was fantastic as well and included a Grease Lightning "skit" and quite a bit of alcohol. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves thouroughly and here are some pictures to prove it. We all ended up back at Avery's house...a few fond memories as well as blackmail stories were created that evening.

We flew back on Sunday afternoon after a wonderful brunch at Lindsey's parents' house. We couldn't ask for better weather during the weekend. It was a bit hard to arrive in Seattle to rain, but we're pretty used to it.

Special thanks to Steve and Cayla Samms (soon-to-be), who let us stay at their house in Phoenix. They are friends of Avery and Lindsey's and generously opened their house to us. We especially enjoyed being around their dogs, Darwin and Sydney. We hope to see them this summer when they get married in Sumas, which is just N of Bellingham. Special thanks also goes out to Ma and Pa Brooks who stayed with Lucy when we were gone.

It was fun for me to get to know some people better. Being the new one to the circle can be hard at times, but I'm finally feeling like I know people's names and a bit about them. We got to hang out quite a bit with Jim Schmidt, Greg Heinzman, Matt (the best man), Scott (the other groomsman) and Whitney, Soren, as well as getting the chance to meet Korva Coleman, who officiated the wedding, is Avery's cousin, and is also on NPR quite a bit. Finally someone famous!! :)



The DJ's famous for pulling a few schenanigans at his receptions. One involves the groomsmen and a Grease theme. Interesting eh? We dressed up as greasers and the DJ danced like he was 1970's Travolta. Good thing I had a few drinks in me!

Is Anyone Reading?

We (mostly Jenny) are wondering who out there is actually reading our blog. If you could click on "comments" at the end of this message and type us a little message, we (mostly Jenny) would be really excited.

Comps

For all of you who are "in the know", you know that I took my comprehensive exam for my masters in school counseling (Seattle U.) on January 26th. It lasted 4 hours and consisted of 3 essay questions. I just got a phone call this evening letting me know that I passed. This is a huge relief and a big weight off my shoulders. Thanks to all of you who were rooting for me! Lucy and Steve are happy to have me back.

Reznor

Last time we were hiking at Shoreview Park in Shoreline, we ran into our vets (they're married) and their yellow lab puppy, Reznor. At the time, he was about 4 months old, much smaller than Lucy, and super cute. We've been trying to get together again since then and both of our schedules have been crazy. It finally worked this morning and we were able to take another hike at Shoreview. Reznor is now 6 months, 50 pounds, and still very cute. He's going through his awkward stage, so his legs are not quite in proportion to the rest of his body. We were proud of Lucy- she's graceful when running and swimming, and she's remained quite a friendly and social dog. Part of the hike runs past Hidden Lake and Lucy was submerged before we knew it. We didn't bring a ball with us, but she enjoyed fetching sticks and had a better sense of direction than crazy Reznor who's still working on his coordination and doggy paddle. We're all hoping to hang out again and possibly take the pups snow shoeing. Steve and I haven't been yet this year and we're excited to see what Lucy thinks. Here are some pictures of Reznor and Lucy- he's the darker of the two and soon to be bigger. Right now, they're the same weight, but it looks as though he has a ways to go. Lucy is starting to look like a dog instead of a puppy, which is a bit sad for both of us. It is wonderful, however, because she is now more independent and doesn't require constant supervision.

Spokane Sissies

Some of you might have heard about the amount of snow Spokane has received in the last few days. My mom says it's the most snow she's seen in Spokane since 1967. The snow plows no longer have devices to drop in order to prevent driveways from being snowed-in or cul-de-sacs for that matter, which are plentiful on the street where my parents live. My parents' snow blower can't handle the depth of the snow this year and the Spokane School District is even closing school, which never happens in Spokane. We think they're over-reacting a bit. Get over it. Suck it up. We're only kidding of course. That amount of snow would cripple Seattle for a month.

Week in Review

Well, this has been a crazy week. Today, my cohort of school counseling interns took our comprehensive exams, which lasted 4 hours. They gave us 3 essay questions, but one of the questions had like 20 parts in it. Ugh. We're hoping we all passed because if not, we have to take it again in April (just those who didn't pass). A bunch of us went drinking afterward, which was a great way to celebrate another milestone. I decided that I had to get away from home last night, so I packed up and spent the night at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Seattle. I went to PF Changs for dinner and had a wonderful bath last night with newly purchased bubble bath. I even painted my fingernails and toenails. Granted this was just another way to put off studying, but it was great nevertheless.

A few people had birthdays this week. Happy birthday to Tracy Brooks and to Sally Cassidy! I love you both! Tracy is Steve's oldest brother's wife. She's been a great sister-in-law. Sally is my supervising school counselor at Explorer. She's taught me everything I know...especially how to make kids cry. It's not as bad as it sounds...

Steve and Lucy remain as cute as ever. I feel luckier everyday to have them in my life. How borning it would be without them. It would be a little cleaner too, but I'll talk about that on another day.

Let the games begin- I don't have to study anymore!