Skiing!

Saturday, December 4th, 2010 was bound to be an epic day. Matt's favorite hobby, after flying, of course, is skiing and he has been trying to get me up to the slopes for awhile. Since I had the weekend off because I couldn't travel to Moscow, this was the perfect opportunity. So after a quick trip to Next Adventure on Friday night to get me some used ski/snow pants and some goggles, we were on our way to the slopes for some night skiing on Saturday, along with our friend Kyle (whom he like to call Yak).

First off, I must add that if you have never had to walk around in ski boots, it is an interesting experience, since the way they are designed makes you bend your knees. This immediately made me nervous because I have a knee condition that can be aggravated by added stress. I hoped beyond hope that my knees wouldn't give out on me. Then I got my skis. I mentioned to the employee that it was my first time, so he gave short skis (135) and made the screws on bindings really really loose (so if I crashed, my boots would detach from my skis easily, how smart of him!). I would also like to mention that the ski brand was Atomic, so I just told myself that I had nuclear powered skis, thus making them powerful and nearly indestructible (however, if something goes wrong, it really, really goes wrong). I was finally all ready for the bunny slope!

This is were I almost had a crying breakdown. Pointing my skis downhill absolutely terrified me and it didn't help that 1. I was the only person older than 6 who was learning, and 2. There was a snowboarding instructor that kept whizzing in and out of people. Matt skied backwards as he verbally led me down the hill, and guess what! I didn't fall at all! Granted, I was pretty much going perpendicular down the hill and snow plowed the entire way, but hey! I made it! I again freaked out, but this time at the rope pull, I didn't want to fall off in front of everybody or get run over by other people coming up the pull. But I got the hang of it, and got all the way back to the top without incident.

I mastered the bunny slope after a few more rounds (without falling, ever!) and my only nervousness become running over children or getting run over by snowboards. I attribute my fast learning skills to my childhood unicycling. I know that sounds weird, but unicycling is all about balance and I think because I already knew how to lean correctly in turns (yes, you have to do that on the unicycle)and keep a center of balance really helped me. I didn't need to learn how to balance, I just needed to learn that going down the hill really isn't all that scary and which foot to put weight on when turning.

Matt then decided that I could graduate to the easiest green slope. I then had to get over one of my other fears- the chair lift. I am afraid of heights, especially when I am not secured in the seat, it's windy, and I'm thirty feet above my death. Anyways, with an arm around the center pole and a death grip on my arm rest, I mastered the chairlift and it got less scary as we went up. However, my non-falling streak would come to an end, as I didn't stand up soon enough as we unloaded and I fell coming off the chairlift. But according to Matt, everyone does that, and not bad for that being my first fall.

Ok, so the top of the green slope is a lot higher up than it looks. Really. And again, I'm afraid of heights, but I started down the hill, zigzagging perpendicular as to control my speed. My first actual fall skiing happened about 50 feet later, I think I got going to fast and didn't know how to respond, but fortunately, I knew it was coming, so I purposely fell so I would come to rest next to the tree instead of running straight into the tree. The term "tree hugger" has a whole new meaning to me now. I got back up and continued down and made it most of the way down again until I fell again, I think this time because it was way steeper than I wanted to deal with, and the wind was blowing furiously, thus exposing the ice underneath the nice powder that was present at the top. But I made to to the bottom! My two crashes weren't big enough that I was hurt or cause my skis to come off!

My second run was nearly perfect, I didn't fall at all, even off the chairlift, and went down most of the way without stopping. Granted, I was still snow plowing the entire way, but considering it was really icy and only my second time, I think that's good! I also got a little more adventuresome this round and pointed my skis more downhill than perpendicular.

My third run I got going even faster, still snowplowing, though. I nearly made it down the slope without crashing, I fell about three quarters of the way down because I got going too fast over an icy section that scared me. But I also fall before I actually fall (if that makes sense, that way I'm the one controlling the fall instead of the fall controlling me). I wasn't hurt at all, but it took me about 15 minutes to recover because the way and place I fell, I had to take my skis off, and I couldn't get my second ski back on! I had Yak and Matt nervous, waiting at the bottom of the hill for me, but I managed to get down. We then took a break, but then decided we should head out since we were hungry, I was getting pretty tired, and the slope was getting icier and icier as the wind kept blowing.

The only part I still don't like is when I'm on the chair lift, the extra weight of the skis hanging off my feet puts a lot of stress on my knees and my knees hurt the entire way up. My right knee seems to be strong enough to handle it, now I know I need to do some stretching and strength exercises on my left knee before I go up again! And I want to go up again! I had a lot of fun! I don't know if I'll ever be brave enough to try black diamond runs (man, they look steep!), but it's amazing how even the second time you run a slope, it doesn't look nearly as steep! I look forward to the rest of the skiing season and hopefully we can get my dad, and even my mom, to come down to ski with us! My dad LOVES skiing, and apparently, that gene was passed on to me! Now that I've gotten a taste for, realize I'm actually kind of a natural at it, and I didn't run over any small children, I am kind of addicted to it!

Lenny

Well, looks like I have some updating to so with regards to the new addition to our family! In October, Matt and I obtained a terrarium and supplies from our good friends Danielle and Jerrik. Having been introduced to bearded dragons from some housemates at Idaho, I really really wanted one, since they are very personable reptiles and we can't have a kitten or a puppy. Cue Lenny's entrance!

He has adjusted well to his new home over a month later! He enjoys being held and watching us whenever we are in the room, although like any juvenile, has a short attention span and begins to run around the house after a few minutes and thus begins a wild dragon chase. It is hilarious to watch him try and run across the linoleum or the wood furniture, with claws he is unable to get much of a grip! As he gets bigger, hopefully he will calm down and stop trying to run away!

I have classically trained him a la Pavlov, unintentionally, however. He has learned that when the plastic baggie that I use to dust crickets comes out, he is about to get fed. Lenny gets very excited and starts running up and down the length of his terrarium and then the hunt is on! This goes to so you how intelligent these creatures can be! I am also trying to introduce him to veggies, so far he enjoys dandelion flowers and greens, peas, and the occasional treat of broccoli (you can't feed them too much broccoli or they get vitamin A toxicity). He doesn't seem to enjoy carrots all that much, though. Which is fine, actually, since the greens are healthier for him anyway.

We actually can't tell if Lenny is a male yet, since it's hard to sex them as juveniles, but fortunately we have picked a name that can morph into "Leni" if Lenny turns out to be a female.

We enjoy Lenny immensely and can't wait until a puppy and a kitten can join him in Mississippi!

Congratulations!

Well, I'm a thinkin' that congratulations are in order for my sister. It still hasn't really hit me yet, I think because I haven't seen her yet, but my lovely sister Rayla and her wonderful boyfriend Keith are engaged! Yay! Just when I thought I was done planning a wedding, looks like I'm going to have to put in my suggestions here and there for another one! You know you're getting old when your younger sister is getting married. So congratulations to Rayla and Keith! We can't wait for the big day!

October!

October has thus far been awesome. The weather is even cooler which makes Matt and I jump for joy enjoy our morning coffee just a little bit more ;)

October has brought awesome developments. Firstly, Matt successfully completed his first non-relay marathon. He ran in the Portland Marathon yesterday (10/10/10) and now can no longer walk. However, he still somehow enjoyed it, although I will never, ever understand that. Especially since he usually complains about running. Boys are so weird.

Our high school friends Jerrik and Danielle are visiting us for a few days and have brought two wonderful "presents." They brought their pug puppy Maverick with them, so Matt and I get to play with a puppy during the day! This dog is insane and loves running everywhere and all the time, which is great. Matt and I can't have a puppy in our apartment, so this has been an awesome time to experience. Danielle has given us her terrarium set up, so Matt and I are going to get a bearded dragon soon! I am so excited! It's the next best thing to having a puppy or a kitten, seriously. I absolutely love bearded dragons and have been wanting one for a dew years now. I am stoked. Matt has already named the dragon Charles, even though we don't have it yet. And that will be the name even if it is a girl. So my previous statement of "Boys are so weird" gets proved yet again. If it's a girl, though, we will call her Charlie for short.

If only the Seahawks were having as good an October as Matt and I. How could they possibly lose to the Rams? SERIOUSLY? I still can't believe that happened. I should probably stop talking about it now before it makes me even more angry. Hopefully the bye they had this weekend gives them some extra practice time that they desperately need. Hopefully we can win a game off our own talent soon instead of taking advantage of the other team's mistakes. That's all good and everything, but you can't rely on that. Oh, Seahawks.

September Updates

Well, it looks like it's about time to update this here blog. Somehow, in my opposite of busy days, I never find the time to write about my life. So now as I find myself alone, instead of watching the new episode of House (thanks ever so much , Kelly, for this new addiction of mine), I have decided to tell you about the month of September. Fasten your seatbelts and please keep your hands and all other appendages inside the vehicle at all times.

After the initial shock (not to mention my head throbbing migraine) of the move, Portland has finally raised itself from the "Suck Meter" to the "Not So Suck Meter." While I think that I will always like Seattle better (I mean, come on, the Columbia and Willamette Waterfronts are nothing to the Puget Sound), it has improved and I am finding myself not hating it quite as much as I did. I still think there is not nearly as much to do here as there was at home, but that's mostly because I'm not a hippie and I don't enjoy running marathons (a mile is good enough for me). However, Matt and I did make it to the Rose Garden overlooking downtown, my first time visiting where the roses were actually in bloom, and let me tell you, the perfume those roses were giving off was amazing. Just opening the car door brought in the heavy rose-scented air. It was worth it just for that.

I met up with my good friend Erin, whom I've known since middle school and I haven't seen in about 5 years. I was stoked that I would have a friend in the Portland area, but she moved about a week and a half after I moved down here. I miss her already, but I was so blessed to have spent even just one day with her here!

A few weeks ago we headed off to the Oregon Zoo, where I might be willing to admit is actually better than the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. I mean, this zoo is build around the forest, instead of in the middle of a neighborhood and then designed to look like you're in the forest. It's pretty awesome. Matt was of course highly entertained by the monkeys and ducks and greatly enjoyed the Bald Eagle exhibit (America!). I, on the other hand, flipped over the baby elephant (AWWWWWWWWW!), the really active polar bear, the sea otters (of course), and the tigers, although they were tiger napping and not all that visible, nor as entertaining as Mike Tyson's tiger in "The Hangover". Definitely the highlight of my weeks here, even though it was absolutely pouring (who would have thought?).

It has finally (FINALLY) cooled down so our apartment is no longer around 90 degrees. I take it as a great sign that my feet are freezing in the morning when I saunter to the kitchen to make the coffee and that I need to unfold the Seahawks blanket while I watch the morning news (on Fox, of course).

I have also begun knitting again and have many projects (aka scarves, that's all I make) for numerous people that I'm working on. Someone needs to have a baby so I can try my hand at making baby blankets, I think that would be fun.

It should probably also be mentioned that I did have a successful interview and my transfer was approved, so I do work from time to time ;) I was transferred departments, however, so now I get to take care of all the animals in the store and work on the fish wall. OH BOY! Although it gets rather boring when the store is slow, I love my job. Not glamorous, but the next best thing to working in a zoo. Hey, I should look into their volunteer program...

Matt hasn't been up to much. Other than running marathons, he did travel down to Texas for 5 days for his flight physical. These doctors run them through every kind of test imaginable, including a psychological one, and basically decide whether you can be a pilot or not. Word to any pilot-seeking cadet out there: DO NOT eat really greasy food the day before your blood test. It will cause an unusually high spike (or not so unusual, considering the fat content of greasy food) in your triglycerides and cause the doctors to freak out and have to redo the test, which means you have to be starved of food again the following day. They don't really tell you what happened to your test, either, so you lie awake all night freaking out about what you might have failed. All's well, however, and at the end his flight doc told him there isn't anything weird in his file that should prevent the pilot slot. GOOD NEWS! Of course, the day after he left, I was puking my guts out with no possible way to go to work or go to the grocery store, but thank goodness it was only a 24-hour thing. And thank you to all the ROTC 800s who offered assistance, it made me feel so much better that I had some friends "worried" about me. Man, I love the military, they all take care of each other.

And life moves on, into September. Goodness, I love Autumn.

Portland

All of you know our first few days in Portland haven't been the greatest. Here's the entire scoop on that.

-Moved down on Wednesday. Got infected with a cold and also got a migraine as we rolled into town.

-It was an uncomfortable 95 degrees. Which normally wouldn't bother me, but I had a migraine, and only one of our windows opens. I felt really bad, not being able to do too much unloading, but I was also nauseous. Once the bed was set up, I threw myself onto the bed and took a nap. Woke up to take my dad to the train station, then continued with my nap once we got back home.

-The electrical system is from, oh, the 1500s, and none of the outlets have 3 prongs. Thank goodness Fred Meyer sells adapters for only 99 cents.

-Our shower is underneath the stairs. There's only so much room to stand in until you hit your head on the ceiling. The bath ledge also comes up to about my knees, so it's like jumping hurdles to get into. POSITIVE NOTE: This lends to an awesome, deep bath.

-Our couch, our beautiful, comfy, awesome couch, doesn't fit through either door to our apartment. Thankfully, the other Air Force 800 cadets are babysitting it for us, while we received their couch. They got the better end of the deal, however.

-Setting up our internet and cable has been a complete NIGHTMARE. And after 5 days from the first call, it's still not set up. And won't be for another day. Which is why I'm sitting in the Pilot House on U of Portland's campus, stealing their wireless.

It can only get better from here, right? Here are some positives that have happened to us:

-Matt and a few other Air Force friends ran the Hood to Coast relay marathon. Meaning they took turns running from Mt. Hood to the Oregon Coast in Seaside. Matt's first leg was six miles of downhill from Mt. Hood.

Summer Updates

Alright, it's been awhile, so here's an update on the Darnell's first summer together!

- First off, we need to congratulate Emily and Kevin, Brandy and Trent, Megan and Pat, Jill and Chris, Celia and Jake, Kat and Trey, and Heather and Joe, all of whom also got married this summer. Best of wishes, everybody!

-Our first apartment was awesome. Unfortunately, no pictures. And we never made it into the pool. Lame.

-Matt got his pilot's license! I've been up two times and he has also taken up Trent, Jerrik, Zack, my parents, and even my WWII vet grandfather, whom thoroughly enjoyed his ride!

-Other than that, we didn't do anything very entertaining.

And now we're in Portland.

Honeymoon in Vegas!

Our first night, we stayed at the Tulalip Resort and Casino, in Marysville, WA, since our flight wasn't until Sunday afternoon. Tulalip was AWESOME. We went to dinner there at a seafood restaurant. Since the hotel knew that we were on our honeymoon, when we came back we had a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries, sitting on top of numerous chocolate shavings. 2 of my favorite things combined into one!

The next morning, we finished packing, picked stuff up at both our parents houses, and had breakfast with his parents. My dad dropped us off at the airport. This is the first time that Matt and I had gone flying together. Matt got to experience my, err, love for flying. Or lack of it. Lets just say, during take off, I have a death grip on my seat handles. I don't enjoy taking off. And I married a pilot. OH, well. Thank goodness I do not have to fly, as well.

Vegas was amazing. However, all of you who have made fun of me for living in the middle of nowhere for the last 4 years, Vegas is in the middle of nowhere more so than Moscow/Pullman is, I will have you know. Vegas is in the middle of the freakin' desert, and absolutely no majors towns around it for hundreds of miles. It is also surrounded by severe mountains, so I will never again think Moscow is all by it's lonesome.

Naturally, we visited Vegas on a record breaking day. We were there on the hottest day early in the season. Apparently, June 6th is the earliest in the year since record keeping began that it has reached 110 degrees. That's a lot to get used to, when you're used to 50 degrees and raining.

We stayed at the Mirage, which is perfectly located in the middle of the strip. We were in walking distance to the Venetian, Bellagio, and Caesar's, among others, and from those hotels we could take trams or monorails. We saw every hotel south of Treasure Island except the MGM. Our favorite hotel by far was the Mirage, but we also liked the Bellagio and the Venetian. Matt also liked the Monte Carlo, and I liked Paris.

We laid pretty low, not partaking in much activity. Our main activity was sight-seeing, walking through all the shops and hotels in the morning. The pool at the Mirage is awesome and we spend most afternoons there, where one day we enjoyed Pina Coladas, which are my new favorite alcoholic beverages. The Mirage's main attraction is the volcano out front, along with the dolphin habitat and Sigfreid and Roy's Tiger and Lion exhibit. If you know me AT ALL, you should know that my favorite by far was the dolphin and tiger exhibit. We tried to see all the hotels' free shows, like the Mirage's volcano (really awesome), the Bellagio fountain (also really awesome), and Treasure Island's Siren and Pirate show (really trashy and lame, thus disappointing).

Las Vegas was extremely fun and enjoyable, except one aspect. Food there, especially just normal food, is ridiculous, and you get no food prep stuff, like a coffee pot or a microwave, in your hotel room. A simple breakfast of belgian waffles runs over $10, and we won't even mention lunch or dinner. We choose to eat at the food courts most nights and ate only 2 meals a day, having breakfast late in the morning and dinner in the evening. Thank goodness every hotel had a Starbucks, which was only a few cents more from their normal prices, so we ate most of our breakfasts there. We also discovered a Denny's, which was also normally priced. Everything else, though, was ridiculous. Only in Vegas will you go to a burger diner, order a $12 burger, and not get fries with it. Seriously. A side of fries was an additional $8. LAME. We did enjoy on "fancy dinner," as we called at. Matt and I chose to go to Mesa Grill, which is Food Network's Bobby Flay's restaurant. BEST CALAMARI EVER here! (Well, he called it "Crispy Squid," but we all know that's calamari). I enjoyed my 16-spice rubbed chicken with mango-garlic sauce, and Matt enjoyed his mexican-spiced pork tenderloin. For dessert we had churros with dark-chocolate dipping sauce. I never had churros before, they were awesome!

Unfortunately, honeymoons have to end. On Friday, when we got to the airport, security was a complete joke. Firstly, the agents running the x-ray machine didn't realize that there was a bag stuck in the machine and that 1., no bags had gone through the machine for about 2 minutes, and 2., the line of people for their machine kept getting longer and longer. Once the lady in front of Matt said "Hey, I think there's a bag stuck...", the agents freaked out, and it took about 10 of them to wonder out loud what they should do, while the lady took about 5 seconds to stick her arms in there and free the bag. I feel safe. Then, I was "randomly" picked by the metal detector to be searched (to prevent against racial profiling, of course). The TSA agent made me walk through the metal detector 3 times, with it beeping everytime, and then made me stand in the plastic cage until I could get searched. Interestingly, the female agent only patted my back. Good thing she didn't check my legs, where I was hiding my very thin sword from my hip to my ankle ;) What a nightmare.

We had a layover in Portland for 2 hours, but fortunately while we were there, the F-15 squadron from the Portland Air National Guard were flying, so Matt and I got to watch them land and taxi over to the base. It kept Matt pretty happy.

Now we're back home, slowly but surely getting our apartment set up and organized. We are loving living by ourselves, but a little shocked at how much money it cost to stock up the kitchen with food and get everything you need that you took for granted, like toilet plungers and kleenex. We knew it would cost money, but underestimated all the stuff we needed. But we're slowly but surely getting there.

That being said, does anyone have a couch? We're in the market for one ;)

Wedding Day! June 5, 2010

Our wedding was everything that I wanted it to be! It was absolutely amazing! I want to thank everyone who came to celebrate with us, and everyone who helped make our day one to remember. We really appreciated your presence and everything you did! Now lets start at the beginning

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, praise God! We were so worried, since the previous 14 days contained non-stop pouring. We got married at our church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, where I was baptized. The girls started getting dressed at 9, since pictures started at 11. I had 4 bridesmaids: my sister, Rayla, was the maid of honor, and Alex (best friend), Kelly (college roommate for 4 years), and Brittany (Matt's sister) were the other 3 bridesmaids. Brittany was our hair stylist, and she did an excellent job! She curled my hair, and braided and curled everyone's hair, and also did my make-up. The boys took only about 10 minutes to dress. Matt, also, had 4 attendants: his best man, Jerrik (a last minute scramble, since his original best man, Joe, had a mandatory Army obligation), Cory and Zack (elementary friends), and Kyle, aka Yak, a college roommate.

Everything went smoothly (unless you consider constant calls back home to my dad, for him to bring this and that that we left at home), until about 45 minutes before pictures were scheduled to start. We realized that we had left the bridesmaids dresses at home! And dad was not there anymore! My mom, the only one dressed, rushed home to get them (fortunately we live only 10 minutes away). Once they arrived, COMPLETE mayhem as girls started shoving themselves in dresses. But, it being a wedding, something else happened, too, and all to Rayla, poor girl. We realized that the clasp on the back of her dress had come off, so my mom and grandma had to speed-sew the clasp while she was in it. I was even helping curl hair! Then, somehow, Rayla managed to get lotion all over her dress, and it didn't come out with just water. My mom and grandma again came to the rescue and were ironing her dress while she was wearing it. And this is the scene that my photographer came in on.

From there, everything went swimmingly. The pictures started on time, even, and we all worked so well together that the pictures ended ahead of schedule! Since the weather cooperated, we got to take them outside, too! This was really important to me, because the fountain outside the church was built in memory of all children who have past, and the thought came after my brother past 11 years ago. In this way, my brother was able to attend the wedding.

The ceremony lasted about an hour. We left for the reception at Country Village in Matt's dad's FORD MUSTANG!!!!!!!!!! VROOM!!!!!!!!. The reception only lasted about 3 hours, but I think everyone had fun! We learned a very important lesson, though. Even if you set the buffet line at the end of the receiving line, it still goes really slow. And we were hungry hungry hungry. We did get to eat, though, eventually, and it was delicious, along with the cake, which my mom's best friend made. Our first dance was "Lost in This Moment" by Lonestar, and the father-daughter was "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney. A big hit (in my opinion, anyway), was the line dance to Cotton-Eye Joe, which we danced 3 times. My sister caught the bouquet and Yak caught the garter. From there, we danced and hung out until we left for our honeymoon.

I feel so lucky that our day was executed perfectly and we only had minor stressors at the beginning! We were able to relax at the wedding, which definitely allowed us to have fun! Thank you so much, everyone, for such a wonderful day!

Bachelorette Party and Rehearsal Dinner

Hey everyone! Here's the big update! So, the bachelorette party was small, just 3 of my 4 bridesmaids. We went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in downtown Seattle and then proceeded to a Mariner's game, which they WON! Hallelujah! I take full responsibility for it, since I was there.

The next night, Friday night, was our rehearsal. The rehearsal went very well, onsidering the entire bridal party was college students, and thus rather, well, INSANE. But once I used my teacher's voice, which I inherited from my mom, everyone listened. Since my new in-laws know me so well, they appropriately picked Purple Cafe and Wine Bar for the rehearsal dinner. It was delicious! WE all had a great time, too, and I must say that the other dinner guests were probably glad when we left, since we had a 20 person party that definitely kept the chatter going! It was a great way to relax the night before, and unlike most brides, I slept really well that night.

Graduation

Wow! Have I been a little late on this! But graduating and traveling and unpacking will do that to you!

Let's see... The first weekend in May, Matt attended the Commissioning ceremony of many of his ROTC friends. He is definitely looking forward to commissioning next year! Since then he's been at home, working at the local airport.

One of my bridesmaids, Kelly, through me a "fake" bachelorette party during finals week when all of us had finished our finals. Many of my Idaho friends cannot come out for the wedding, so this was a way for us to get together. We had dinner at our apartment and finished the evening at one of the Moscow bars, the Garden Lounge, where we enjoyed martinis. The experience was really fun! I'm looking forward to my "real" bachelorette party

I graduated on May 15th with a degree in biology! YAY! Our graduating class at Idaho was probably over a thousand, but the ceremony only lasted 2 hours. My high school graduation had only 85 students and lasted an hour and a half... hmmm... I graduated the University with a 3.2 GPA; a little lower than I originally thought, but still respectable, I think. I at least got on the Dean's List 3 times, 2 of those my senior year.

Coming home, however, was an interesting experience. My sister and I left Moscow in our car. My parents had the truck and travel trailer and traveled up to Spokane to pick up my grandpa. When they were outside Spokane, in between cities, of course, one of the wheels on the trailer fell off when they were traveling 70 mph. Thank goodness no one was hurt. Unfortunately, they had to travel an hour to Moses Lake to rent a trailer, drive an hour back to the broken trailer, now sitting all alone on the side of I-90, unload all of the crap from the trailer to the new U-Haul, and left, rolling into home at about 10 pm. Quite an adventure. Fortunately the only damage the occurred was to one of my bookcases and one of my fish tanks. Interestingly, the fish tank was in the car's trunk, so I don't understand how that happened, but I was able to put my tropical fish in with my dad's fish, so in the end it all worked out.

Now Matt and I are busy working and getting ready for this wedding! We got the marriage license yesterday, so we are almost good to go! We are looking forward to our Vegas honeymoon... at this point of the planning, we need a vacation.

May Updates

It's officially less than one month until Matt and I get married! Wow, the time is absolutely flying! Right now, however, wedding planning has somewhat halted as Matt and I finish the semester up.

Matt finished last week. He watched many of his friends commission, but he has to stay another year until he can experience that milestone. For the time being, he's working on finding us another car and figuring out our apartment situation while he works at the airport. Tuxes were finally decided on, so that is all done!

I have just finished up with dead week and am heading into finals week. I took my ornithology lab final today; ACED IT! So I have an A in the class and don't have to take the final. That means that I only have one final to take on Wednesday and then I am done with my college career! It's hard to believe that I am graduating in 8 days! And second consecutive semester on the Dean's List, so I am really excited!

These next 30 days are going to be absolutely insane with wedding planning and work for both of us, so this next week I plan on relaxing as much as possible in between the studying for my final. Las Vegas and marriage, you're only a short time away!

2 MONTHS!

I can't believe our wedding is only 2 months away! It seems so close, yet so far away. Most of the big-ticket items are decided, now it's into the knit-picky details that one would not normally think of. Such as the color of the ribbons on the boutonniere. And the pen I want at the guest book. That is the least of my worries, really. Weddings are a ridiculous amount of work. Elope.

Too bad both of us are swamped with school/ROTC items to be doing. Both of us have a huge presentation coming up. Since we both kind of stink at public speaking, the nerves are rising! Especially mine, since my presentation is more of a debate. And if you know me at all, you know that I avoid arguing/debates like the plague, especially with people I don't know very well.

Milestone! I finished all of Jane Austen's completed works on Easter Sunday, concluding with Persuasion. I think that was one of my favorites. I relate mostly to Anne Elliot, since she is a rather reserved, kind individual who is easily persuaded by her close friends. However, she eventually follows her own beliefs, which I think describes me. I also like Pride and Prejudice and Emma. Sense and Sensibility was definitely my least favorite, although I eventually did get into it. It's rather slow at the beginning. If any of you are looking for a good Austen movie adaptation to watch, the 2009 BBC version of Emma is fantastic! By far my favorite Austen movie.

It's snowing here in Moscow on Easter Monday. Not the Eastery-ist of days, since it is rather cold and windy and unpleasant. However, one can just assume that the angels are just so happy that Jesus rose yesterday, that they lost control of themselves and decided ti throw confetti at each other.

Happy Easter everyone! Hope that this Easter season is a very blessed one for you!

Skype

So Matt bought me a laptop over spring break and it has a built-in webcam. I cannot believe that it has taken us four years of long distance to discover Skype. May I proclaim that Skype is pretty outstanding and I don't know how we lived without out. This will make our last few weeks of long distance easier.

PS: I totally beat Matt at Battleship while we were on Skype. It was awesome.

Also, if you're wondering why I named the blog Life is Like a Box of Chocolates, it is because life in the Air Force is going to be unpredictable and we will never know what we're going to do in the near future.

March Updates

The wedding is getting close! Come June 5th, we will be married!

Important news: Matt found out in February that he got a pilot slot in the Air Force! So come May 2011, he should start flight training! This has been a dream of his since he was a child, so this is an awesome achievement and I couldn't be happier. So our first station will most likely be Mississippi, Texas, or Oklahoma. I'm rooting for Mississippi. It's only a few short hours away from New Orleans!

March was the month of Spring Breaks, so here are just some major events that happened during the month that are mention worthy:

-Matt spent the majority of his spring break in Moscow with me, but once home made arrangements for our summer apartment. We have a place to live! Yeah!
-My bridal shower was March 14th. Rayla did an outstanding job! It was a small affair, with local family members and close friends, but we had fun playing games such as "Sara Scattergories" and "Bridal Bingo." Plus, I made bank! I got an awesome Dyson vacuum- that's purple! Oh, yes.
-Went down to Portland to finish up our marriage class and have some fun. Good news: we're compatible!
-Hung out a lot with Brittany and Sara and visited sights such as Pittock Mansion, Multnomah Falls, and Vista House. We almost got blown away!
-My friend Nikki from Idaho had her baby on March 19th! His name is William George Dalton and he is an absolute cutey! I finally got to hold him on day 6 of his life. I can't wait until Matt and I start having children.



Here I am holding Baby William and trying to appease the cat at the same time



I love holding babies!



Sara Sandwich! This is me with Brittany, Matt's sister, and Sara, Brittany's best friend (she's my friend too!)



Matt and I in front of Multnomah Falls, the second tallest waterfall in the US



Rayla went a little crazy decorating...



Surrounded by presents!

Welcome to our blog!

The purpose of this blog is to update friends and family about our goings-on as we start our new life as a young married couple in the Air Force. We hope you enjoy following us on our travels around the country (possibly the world!) as we take everything life throws at us!