the adventures of tom & marissa

2012-02-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

Tom gave me the iPhone 4S for Christmas this year. I had wanted an iPhone for awhile and was very excited to open it on Christmas morning. It took me awhile to figure out Siri. I heard people talk about Siri, but hadn't a clue what it meant. In fact, I had my phone for a couple weeks before I discovered her! Since then I've been asking her all kinds of questions. She's programmed with some witty responses, but most of the time she's actually helpful. I captured the screen on a couple of impressive responses she's had so far. At one point I asked, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" You can see her answer below...impressed? Another time I asked her my name and she came back with a witty response, "You're asking me, Marissa?", but then pulled up all my contact information (which I've blocked out some in case I get some creepos looking at my posts...probably not likely though.)

Siri has also remembered that Tom is my husband, and if I say "call husband", she brings up Tom's number. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

Tom's sister, Cecelia, is getting married this September. We've made a big event out of wedding dress shopping for the last two weddings, mine included. The dress shopping is happening this weekend, so I put together gift bags for each person in our group. They turned out better than I had anticipated, and I can't wait for the weekend so we can dig into the goodies!

Her wedding colors are black & champagne with a touch of red. So everything in the bag coordinates with the wedding colors. The sheets on the front have our appointment times, places, and addresses with driving directions from each spot. This way no one will get lost and hopefully cuts down on any stress. The bags are filled with treats, tissues, sparkling cider, and games with cute red pens for each person. We're going to play Bingo and Tom picked out the prizes for each winner.

You can imagine my surprise when he came running from the back of Target with these little gems. First, how perfect are the prizes!? Second, can you believe Tom picked these out on his own?! Hopefully everyone has a good time. More importantly, hopefully Cecelia finds "The Perfect Dress"!!!

Snowmageden!

2012-01-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

We made it to the MSN front page!

That's right folks, it's snowing in the PNW. Not only is it snowing, but it's a "Major Snowstorm." I do get a little amusement out of the commotion of the snow. It's not something we see every year, and when we do, it's generally a couple inches, definitely not 10-12!

Snow/Slush/Ice

Inexperienced snow drivers

Disaster on the roads!

So, today I'm dreaming of a sunnier, warmer, more relaxing place...

MLK Jr. Day

2012-01-16T10:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day

What an influential being who has changed so many lives. I've been reading up about MLK to find out more about him besides the, "I have a dream" speech. I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know much about him. I am impressed with his views & achievements. What I was most impressed with was his vision and foresight for the future, where we needed/should be. To think this happened in the 60s is amazing to me, and gets me fired up to stand up for what I believe in and be a better part of a great nation.

MLK once said what he wanted people to remember him by, and I think it stands true, even for those (like me) who didn't know much about him in the first place.

"I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. And I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."

"Bring it out still mooing"...uh....I don't get it?

2012-01-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Marissa, and I don't eat meat.

Well, that's not exactly true.

Growing up I was a very picky eater, there were foods that I just didn't like to eat. In fact, 'didn't like' is probably not a strong enough description. There were foods that I could barely choke down because I disliked them so much, sometimes I was not able to get them down, or keep them down...you get the picture. These foods were most always variations of red meat. Hamburger, steak, venison...ew especially venison. My mother is also labeled as a picky eater because of her same distaste for meat and other foods, so I was lucky to be born into her family where I was not forced to eat food I did not like.

Growing up in a home where my food choices were respected, I assumed every household was the same. Granted my parents made me try foods, and there were times I didn't eat dinner because I refused to eat what was made. It was understood that you were, at least, supposed to try the food. If you then did not like it, you wouldn't eat it, but you would sit at the dinner table with the rest of the family. Being a family with six differing schedules, dinner was sometimes the only time we had together. This of course changed as we got older, started working, and moving out of the house, but I still remember family dinners being some of the best memories from my childhood.

After graduation, I took a different route than most of my friends and went straight into the working field, instead of going to school. With the assistance of my sister-in-law {Julie} & her sister-in-law {Karen}, I got into a field I love and happened to be good at. It's very right brained with a hint of left brain, which is exactly how I would describe myself and my three siblings. I've married a man who is completely opposite, we both appreciate each others abilities because they are so unlike our own, and I'm grateful for that.

The field I'm in takes a lot of people interaction, hand holding (figuratively), with a touch of of schmoozing. The schmoozing usually consists of lunch and dinner appointments or meetings with customers, colleagues, and account representatives. I love this part of my job, however, it's a part of my job I dread the most, especially with new people. Getting together with a group of people you barely know, and being the only person to not order a steak, or any meat for that matter, is somewhat embarrassing. Generally someone else is footing the bill, so people tend to order what they wouldn't normally if they were paying for themselves. When it's your time to order and you say, "Can I get the house salad with a baked potato, please.", people start to ask questions. Without a doubt, the next 10 minutes are focused on you, the weirdo who doesn't eat meat, like it's some sort of human rarity they've never heard of before. Obviously, people don't care what I eat, and the person paying loves that I just ordered a $12 meal compared to the $30 meal the guy next to me just ordered, but it's always (emphasis on always) awkward when it comes time to order.

Over the years my taste buds have developed more than they were when I was 18. With that, so has my confidence, experience, and personality...meaning I've found ways around the topic and learned how to shorten the post-order discussion of my somewhat unique (but not really unique at all) taste buds. For awhile, chicken became my go-to meal, when out for work-related events. I even went through a phase, of almost a year where I kind of liked it, kind of. I would order it with pasta, or vegetables, and would actually eat a few bites.

Even now, I've gotten to the point I can eat chili, nachos with beef or chicken, or bacon. Tom of course is very proud of the fact, and I have to give him props for actually getting me to this point because it has literally taken years.

There were a few reasons I felt like expressing it in a blog post. First, it really needed an update, I've plastered my celebrity encounter all over FB, Blogger, & any other app that it linked...just like you guys, I'm tired of looking at it. Second, see the first. jk. Actually, I started thinking about it last weekend, and the topic of food, respect, and needs has been on my mind ever since.

My sister-in-law and her fiance spent the weekend in Bellingham with Tom & me. One night we met up with a group of friends in Seattle and we happened to start talking about food. You'll never guess how we got on the topic. Anyway, my sister-in-law {Cecelia} mentioned their dad made them eat everything that was on their plate. She told a story of how she squirted too much ketchup on her plate one night, and she had to sit at the table and eat all of the ketchup before she was dismissed. In true Marissa form, I questioned the reasoning. She explained it to me that he was teaching her a lesson, it wasn't necessarily about the ketchup, but that she took more than she should have, and the next time she made sure to only take what she needed.
So, lesson learned.
That's what got my mind rolling....I like the lesson she was taught, we should all be mindful of our needs and the hard work our parents put into meeting those needs and wants. What I struggle with is the way she was taught the lesson. It's not just Tom's parents, my grandparents did it to my mom, and from what I've heard it seems to be a common, yet strange, parenting strategy (aka abuse). Forcing someone to eat a whole plate of food they don't want or need doesn't actually prove anything to the child, except that 'you are the boss and they must do as you say' (robot voice).

After going round and round with myself, in my head, I realized I do this now....to myself. I avoid telling people I'm a vegetarian, or more accurately a pescetarian, because I don't want to have the conversation, or I don't want to be the weird one at dinner. Why do I force myself to eat meat when I dislike it? Why do I feel the need to disregard my own wants to please someone else? I realize it's not a big deal, you're probably saying, 'hey eat the meat or don't because we don't care', and that's why you guys are all my friends. So why do I punish myself? The answer is that I have no idea why. After days of battling with myself over this topic, how I want to raise my children, and what is right or wrong for myself and my family, and whatever else goes along with it, I've decided what to do. I am making a promise to myself to not eat meat if I don't want it.
Simple as that!

So, my name is Marissa, and I'm a Vege/Pescetarian.

My First Celebrity Encounter

2011-11-30T12:55:00.000-08:00

How many of you know who this guy is?

If have have no idea, don't worry, before Saturday I didn't know him either.

We were all together at The Showbox hanging out before the last game of the year and in walked this guy. There was speculation from a few of the guys of who it was, but I had no clue. So my friend and I decided to verify for ourselves whether he was who the boys said, or whether he was some poor guy who was going to get harassed by a couple young females (see pic above for young females...ha!)

We were a little nervous at first so we walked by and went to the restroom instead, then decided it was time to approach.

I said, "Excuse me, what's your name?"

He said, "I'm Walt, maam, what's your name?"

There was the confirmation. We chatted for a little while, then asked if we could get a picture. Then my friend and I went back to our group and bragged a little about our celeb-encounter.

So...he is Walter Jones, former Seahawks offensive tackle! I looked him up on Wiki awhile ago and read this about him, of course this further validates his celebrity-ness.

"Jones was perhaps the best at his position in the NFL during the early part of the century."

Girls Trip

2011-11-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

Last weekend a few of the females in my family came up to Bellingham for a girls trip. It had been a long time since I had seen the twins, or the rest of my family for that matter. So the trip was much needed on my part. We packed 8 women in our little house and Tom took care of all of us! Here's a few pics from the weekend...in no particular order....

Rylee & Kenzi eating Coldstone.

Tom napping with Ellory.

Steph & Rylee walking down Boulevard Park.

Kenzi got upset while we were at Woods Coffee. She walked away from our table with a big frown on her face, hid behind the baskets, and stayed there watching us for a few minutes. I'm not sure if she was hiding and thought we couldn't see her, or what, but either way it was adorable.

Tom painted fingers and toes.

The girls took baths. Adorable little things! Don't they look like they could be sisters? Ellory is a cousin, but I swear she could be their older sister.

We had lots of dance parties!

Ellory was in my car and I asked her what her favorite song was. She said, "Shake your booty." Critter said it was probably a song she made up, but I asked Ellory how it went, her version sounded similar to "Shake Your Groove Thing." I started singing that to her and she screamed, "Yeah! That one!" So we downloaded it when we got home and danced to it on repeat for awhile. Then we switched over to 'Baby' by Justin Bieber and did the same thing!

The girls helped Jules play piano one morning.

Little Ry-cakes helping out. Isn't she presh?

We took a ferry to one of the islands near Bellingham, Kenzi fell asleep in the car and was super cuddly after we woke her up. I took full advantage of it! We cuddled for about 20 minutes because she didn't want to be put down. #LOVEDIT

Little Miss Ellory loves the ferry! She's been on it a few times and you could tell she remembered it. She ran around, played with Tom, and ran some more. It has been so fun to see her turn into a kid from a toddler. I love this girl!!

This is my all time favorite picture. Tom was throwing Kenzi up in the air and catching her. They were both cracking up. You can see the huge smile on Tom's face as they share a little rest moment before he tosses her back in the air. I've been calling him the Kid Whisperer because he's so good with them! Must come from being the oldest of 3 siblings, and the oldest of 37 grandkids!

I miss everyone so much and can't wait for Christmas!! It's right around the corner!

Silhouette Machine

2011-11-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

I've had a Cricut for awhile now, and I've used it for a lot of craft projects. However, I wish I had done my research a little more and found a machine to better fit my needs. The Silhouette machine is my number one on my Christmas wishlist. I stumbled across this blog a couple weeks ago after searching for Thanksgiving craft ideas, and I've become an addict!

This week she is doing a giveaway, so go over to her blog and enter!!

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2011/11/bonus-giveaway-silhouette-cameo.html#more-28577

If you have a Cricut and want to read about the differences between the two machines, take a look at this blog post....

http://www.iamjustlu.com/2011/01/silhouette-vs-cricut-eternal-debate.html

Count Your Blessings

2011-11-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

Since September we've had two friends lose one of their parents. Both due to unexpected tragedies. When a friend loses a parent, it's hard to find the right words to comfort them. You want to help, but you don't want to bother them at their time of sorrow. You try finding comforting words, but know that nothing you say will help the pain go away.

I thought I'd take a minute and give my parents a shout out. After the last two months I realize they won't be around forever and our time on this earth can be over at any time. The thought of death is frightening, but the thought of life, without someone you care about, is even scarier. I see more of mom and dad in my actions every single day.

I remember giving my mom a hard time about her turning into her mother, so I have to laugh each time my actions are similar to hers. A couple weeks ago I was talking to my SIL on the phone, as I casually laughed about something, she stopped me and said, "You sounded just like your mom right then." My first reaction was, "Oh no...", but the more I think about being 'just like my mom', the more I embrace it. I can't say enough good things about her. She has always had this tender way about her that I can only hope to share with my children. She was never afraid to get on her hands and knees with us to play, learn, or even cry.

She would let us stay up late every once in awhile and sit in our room with us while we laughed and talked. We always had fun, engaging activities to do when we were younger. Looking back on them, I realize they were generally educational, that's what you get with a teacher mom, but she had a way of making them a lot of fun. My mom, although soft spoken, is very blunt and never sugar coats a word. I love it because you always know where you stand with her. There's no ulterior motive behind her actions and words. I've definitely got the blunt part down, but I need to work on my sincerity.

As my mom always says, "There is no doubt you are your fathers child." (Usually while shaking her head in loving disapproval.) My dad and I have shared a special connection as long as I can remember. Being the first daughter has a lot to do with it. I always looked up to him as I was younger and wanted to be just like him. A lot of my passions today came from his influence. Music has always been a big part of my life, and a hobby we are able to share.

We always had music playing in the background at our house; anything from Allman Brothers to ZZ Top to Tanya Tucker. My parents bought me a piano when I was 10 and it has been such a blessing in my life. I was even lucky enough to have a husband who values my love for music and gave me a piano for my 22nd birthday.

Our personalities are what we share the most. We're both lo

ud, always trying to say the last word, all while attempting to make someone laugh. If no one laughs, we will. When I first moved out I called my brother & sister-in-law every single day. They would put the phone on the couch while I was talking, and could still hear every word I was saying....without speaker phone.

No one has ever accused me or my dad for being quiet! My dad is the type of person who will open his heart to just about anyone he meets, I hope that I am the same way with the people I meet day in and day out.

I've been blessed with two amazing parents who are some of my best friends today. I literally can't imagine life without them, and I hope I don't have to for awhile. I'm glad to know, even if they aren't around in years to come, that they are a part of me. It's times like this I wish they lived closer, I miss them tremendously and can't wait for Christmas so I can see them!

Diwali

2011-10-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Our neighborhood is pretty small with only 15 houses total, no more an be built due to the nature wetland directly behind us. We've gotten to know a lot of our neighbors pretty well and we seem to have a friendly, close community which not all people get to experience. The 'hood is full of many different backgrounds, I joke with Tom about him being the minority. We have one set of neighbors in particular who have been very welcoming. We've been to their house a few times over the past few months as we're getting to know them a little better. They happen to be Hindu and moved to the United States from Fiji about 10 years ago, if I understood them correctly. There are two brothers living in one house with their wives and children. Their family is extremely close. The brothers parents, who live in Surrey BC, are often at the house for weeks at a time. One of the wives has had her father staying with them for 3 months, he still lives in Fiji. They always have a house full and Tom and I have been lucky enough to experience their culture a couple of times over the last few months.

Tuesday night Tom and I were working on the final pieces of our fence, which looks amazing by the way, and one of the brothers came over and invited us for dinner Wednesday night as a thank you for giving them our old fence panels.

The last time we were at their home for dinner was during one of their prayer ceremonies that they do each Saturday, so the house was full of people, music, and food. When we walked into the house last night, I expected there to be more people, but it was just them and us. It's hard to say whether that put a little more or less pressure on us. We're so unfamiliar with their traditions and way of life that when there are a ton of people around it's easy to copy someone else, but when it's just us, we're in the spotlight.

The two wives and their daughters were dressed in traditional Hindu dresses. I have to admit I love the dresses. (My mom will get a kick out of that because when I was little, I wanted to be Indian.) The dresses are multi-colored with rhinestones and gold, they're very flashy. The married women wear a red dot, called a Bindi, on their forehead. They said they wear red because they are married. The younger girls wear jewels instead of paint that usually matches their dresses. They have a brand new baby, and her Bindi is always black.

We chatted for a few minutes when we first arrived, and soon after the wives brought Tom & I a plate of fruit, sticky rice, and dumpling. They compared it to an appetizer. I love the way they eat, I told Tom I could really get used to it. All the food is vegetarian with lots of vegetables, rice, and breads. It's amazing they're all so skinny!

The second plate was even more delicious, to be honest, and couldn't even tell you what it was. Mashed up veggies, wrapped in a weed. This time there was a different type of dumpling with basil, so good. There were sticks that looked like fries, but when I bit into one it was crunchy and had a sugar coating....way different than I expected, but still good!

They explained to us while we were eating that they were celebrating Diwali that night. I immediately thought of The Office, and there were times I did feel like Michael Scott. Completely awkward and confused....

They talked about their traditions for the Diwali celebration back in Fiji. One of the wives compared it to Christmas meaning it is the biggest holiday for them, they even exchange gifts. For those of you who don't know, Diwali is the Festival of Lights and it's never the same day. The day is decided by when the moon lines up with the sun...?? All the details were coming from 6 people who are very difficult to understand, so I'm sure some of the information was lost in translation. They celebrate for 5 days and it's also the beginning of the year for them. After hearing that, Tom and I felt very grateful we had been invited to share in such a spiritual holiday.

The part Tom and I were excited for and dreading at the same time was the Kava. It's a special drink they make that comes from the Kava plant. The side effects are pretty crazy, but it's a lot of fun. The first time we tried it was a few months ago and they warned us that there is no alcohol or illegal drug involved. I guess they could tell I was concerned by the look on my face. The first time I tried it, I was sure I was allergic because my tongue went numb! All I could think was, "Oh my goodness, I'm having an allergic reaction and we're going to have to leave Prayer so I can go to the E.R.!!!!" Later I found out that is one of the side effects. The taste isn't great, it's like the taste of a raw potato, but liquid form. You get used to it. The funnest part is being involved in the tradition. Knowing that all other Hindus celebrating Diwali were doing the same thing was very exciting and made us feel like a part of their holiday and traditions. It's not often that I drink anything out of a bowl unless it's soup!

So we had been at their house for almost 3 hours already and it was getting close to my bed time, so we're trying to find a nice way out of there since it was nearing 10:00. They gave us no clues that they wanted us to leave, so there wasn't an out. I'm glad we didn't leave because around 10:30 they set out the main course. Their phone had been ringing all night with calls from family members and friends wishing them a happy Diwali. Each time it rang I kept wondering why people were calling so late, it took my a while to figure out. We all do the same on Christmas morning, calling family members to say Merry Christmas. Anyway, they brought out all the food and this time I ate with the women. (Last time Tom & I ate first before anyone in the house.) The food was delicious! Again, I had no idea what I was eating, but it was all good. Homemade tortillas that were super thick with crushed beans inside, white sticky rice, and more veggies. They cook with a lot of garlic, onions, and spices. They actually gave me a recipe for my favorite dish, so I can't wait to make it at home. I ate until I was stuffed and then some.

After the women ate, they cleaned up the table, re-set new dishes and more food and let the men eat. I think it's really neat they let the women eat first. It seems like the women do so much for the men, refilling drinks, cleaning up after them, etc. I was surprised to see them eat first.

After dinner we sat around chatting a little more, and around 11:40 I had to call it quits. I was so tired! We said our goodbyes and thank yous and headed home!

Our first Diwali was a success and hopefully we get to be involved in another one next year!

Update

2011-09-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Tom and I have been on the go all summer, which makes it hard to find a time to blog. I seem to always be debating whether I should delete all my social networking time wasters, but I came to the conclusion that I'll never be rid of them. Why? Because I really like them; blogs, facebook, & even twitter, even though it totally confuses me!

We're now back into football season. I have to say I'm either lucky, or crazy, or both! We are season ticket holders and get to go to every home game. The games are in Seattle, so it's a 90 minute drive each way, but definitely worth it. We have a big group that gets together every week and we meet about 5 hours earlier and start the "Tailgate" process. There's a core group at each tailgate and we always have a few stragglers which keeps it exciting. It's one of my favorite parts about Saturday, we get to catch up with everyone we haven't seen during the off season, and hang out with the people we see on a regular basis, off season or not!

I imagine tailgating was a lot different when the guys were all in their early 20s, but it has even started to transition into a whole new process in the last year. We've been through the wedding phase and our now entering baby phase. A lot of our friends who have gotten married in the last few years are now starting to have little babies!

It's so much fun, and is changing the dynamic of the group. It's so fun to see these grown men, all dressed in purple, gushing over a newborn, or running around with a 2 year old thinking the 24" tall person is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

A couple weeks ago it was way too warm in the Pacific Northwest. No one is used to that kind of heat, and two of the guys, Tom being one of them, fell asleep after the game! I made a joke how I bet it would have never happened 10 years ago, but there was some truth to it.

So far this season has been the best. I didn't watch a lot of football before I met Tom. My family is and always has been a music family. So while others were watching football on Saturday & Sunday, we were at music gigs. (Or dancing around the living room with a brush-microphone trying to perfect every lyric to every Ella Fitzgerald song....including the duets with Louis....I was and am a total nerd.) It took me a few years to understand the game to a point I could enjoy it for 4 full hours! I still don't fully understand it, but I absolutely LOVE it and can't help feeling like I missed out on a lot of good games in my pre-football past. This season we started out with a new quarterback, so I feel more invested in the team than I did before. And I finally got over the idea that I couldn't be an open fan towards a college team that I was never a student at. We're off to a great start to the season, and we have many more tailgates to go!

And hopefully we'll be bringing by a baby in the near future! :)

More job pictures

2011-09-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite trend....white cabinets! They are so clean & crisp.

A client gave me a crinkled up page from a magazine and pointed to the crown moulding. That clipping had been their inspiration for the kitchen. They purchased an older home (50+years old), tore out walls, moved windows & doors, and extended their kitchen.

I'd say we got it to look pretty close to the picture, with making a few changes to stay in budget!

Do I have the best job ever, or what?!

Disneyland

2011-08-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

I met my parents and two of my nieces in California for a family reunion last weekend. We had a couple days to spare before and after the reunion, so my dad was kind enough to take us all to Disneyland! I haven't been for 17 years, and this was the first time for Niki & Remi. We left my aunt Martha's house extra early and there were already tons of people in line!

Niki & Remington with my parents, about to enter the 'Happiest Place on Earth!'

Only 10 am and already tired of aunt Muffin taking pictures....

Small world was my moms favorite ride. I remembered it being pretty lame, but I thought it was fun this time around. Must be the age difference....or I'm turning into my mom. Oh no!

Mom with Remster....

Niki & Dad cooling off in the shade.

Thanks Dad for the trip to Disney, we had a blast!!

My fun job

2011-07-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Soran Girls

2011-07-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

Soran Girls

Pictures by Eldad Efendi Photography

How gorgeous is this tree??

If you are looking for an amazing photographer in Whatcom County, give Eldad a call. He is one of the most talented photographers I've ever met. His wife is right up there with him, she's the one who designed our wedding invitations, they too were amazing!

Check out Kerri & Eldad here...

http://www.kerriefendi.com/

http://www.eldadefendi.com/

Fireplace fix!

2011-06-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

Remember my post about a remodel with a surprise hidden behind the wall? Even though we had to change our layout completely to accommodate, it ended up working out beautifully!

You'd never know what's behind it, looks like a real cabinet!

2011-05-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

I finally decided it was time to go through all the boxes I brought home from my parents house last year. It was so fun to take a walk down memory lane. I collected jewelry boxes when I was younger, and it brought back so many fond memories each time I opened one of the boxes or drawers to find little treasures. I apparently liked to collect shiny rocks, there were quite a few in the boxes, stick-on nails, pencils, stationary, tons of jewelry from my Grandma Johnny (dad's mother) and my Grandma Andersen (mom's mother), and even some treasured items from my Great Grandfather Jones (mom's grandpa).

However, some of the favorite items I found were homemade items from my mom, so I took pictures to send to her before I packed them in our storage containers....part of our new garage organizing idea.

A box to add to my collection, handmade and hand painted. Mary Englebreit was big back then, as you can see.

This "Marissa" block has been around as long as I can remember. It was a staple in my bedroom decor until high school when I finally packed it away.

Same with this little gem, another homemade piece that has been around as long as I can remember. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I'm keeping them forever. Tom accused me of being a pack rat, but these are things you can't get rid of!

2011-04-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

I finished a project a few months ago that was fun & challenging, not to mention the homeowners were a hoot to work with. Their house is in the shape of an octagon, and it is quite amazing inside. The ceilings have a very tall vault that meets in the center of the house where a drop down light box shines light over the whole house. I've never worked on a cabinet design with so many angles, it was extremely challenging to get the design right, and even more challenging getting my installer on board with the new idea of all these angles!

The end cabinets were custom built by our installer to fit into an odd angle in the bathroom wall....nothing had a 45 degree, so it was always a guess...

We modified the cabinet height so the top rail would line up exactly with the pantry wall.

There is a really cool corner cabinet that pulls out, it's called a "Magic Corner" and is a great solution for the old blind corner cabinets that most of us have in our homes.

It's amazing how dark their cabinets are already, when they first shipped they were really light with a pink tint, after only a few months they've become more red, and will continue to darken over time. I love cherry for that reason!!

Rain, rain, don't go away...

2011-04-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

Call me crazy,

but I LOVE Washington weather.

Nothing beats the smell of fresh clean air after a long down pour.

Nothing beats the amazing plant life due thanks to all the moisture.

Nothing beats never having to wash your car because it rains all the time.

Thank you Vitamin D supplements for letting me appreciate the 11 months of gloomy weather without depression from lack of sunshine.

I heart the rain.

Love this view from my huge window at work!

Day 8: Favorite Band

2011-04-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

Day 8

Favorite Band or Artist

My all time favorite band is and always has been...

Led Zeppelin

My brother listened to Zeppelin a lot when we were younger, and of course I idolized him. What younger sister doesn't want to be just like their older bro? Since he liked Zeppelin, so did I, which turned into an actual love and appreciation for great music.

When most girls had crushes on Justin Timberlake or Nick Lachey, I had a crush on Robert Plant. What a weird kid, right?

In constant effort to break up our marriage, Tom will say, "This band sucks" every time he hears one of their songs. What a bum. If that doesn't get to me, he'll follow it up with, "Stairway was their best song." since he knows I completely disagree. This all coming from a guy who listened to Sports Radio when I first met him.

Day 7: Most Treasured Item

2011-04-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Day 7

My most treasured item

My mom gave me a ring when I turned 8 years old. She received the ring from her mother on her 8th birthday, who had received it from her mother on her 8th birthday.

I remember her telling me that as an eight year old I was now responsible enough to have the ring and I needed to save it until I had my own daughter who I could pass the ring along to. I was nervous when she first gave it to me, afraid I would lose it somewhere, or that someone would steal it. But, I still have the ring, and hopefully one day I'll have a daughter I can give it to!

Day 6: Person you'd love to trade places with for a day

2011-04-11T15:54:00.002-07:00

Day 6

Person you'd love to trade places with for one day

This is an easy one for me to answer.

Samantha from Bewitched.

Not only is Bewitched one of my all time favorite shows that I used to watch with my mom, but I always dreamed of being a witch! Not the scary Hokus Pokus type, but the all-to-friendly Samantha or I Dream of Genie type of witch.

Besides, Aunt Clara is my favorite character on the show, everyone could use an Aunt Clara for some good laughs!

Day 5: Favorite Memory

2011-04-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Day 5

My favorite memory

Tom and I got married last September in Washington. The weather in September is all over the board, so it was a toss up whether we'd see sunshine or rain on our big day. As the day came around, the rain seemed like it would hold out for awhile. There were a few clouds in the sky, even a light sprinkle that morning, but it had pretty much cleared up that afternoon. As nature would have it, about 30 minutes before the ceremony was planned, it started to drizzle.

Of course Tom and I weren't supposed to see each other before the wedding, so we were trying to make decisions using a go-between. Luckily I told Tom the day before that I was going to get married outside NO-MATTER-WHAT. I didn't care if everyone was cuddled under the awning and I was standing in the pouring rain with just Tom, but my dream was an outdoor wedding, so an outdoor wedding I would have.

Tom's uncle was amazing that day, he ran around to 5-6 dollar stores in the area and cleared out their umbrella inventory. I think we ended up with 70+ umbrellas total; green, burgundy, black, and blue. The daring guests still sat on the soaking wet chairs outside, the same chairs our amazing family frantically wiped off with towels right before the ceremony. Groups also huddled under the awning to stay dry. There were little groups of families and friends all over, both standing and sitting. It was so relaxed and you could feel the love and strong bonds in the area. My dad and I walked down the aisle, chatting about the rain and Ellory, trying to keep my mind off tripping. We shared one bright blue umbrella that was Julisa's, I had decided last minute that I wanted the blue one, so she traded me. (Ah, sister-envy, it's always ongoing...) I walked down the muddy aisle with my dad, and he handed me off to Tom. Tom had his own green umbrella, my dad took the blue one back to where my mom was sitting and we went on with the ceremony.

Now my favorite part....

So here we are, trying to focus all our attention on each other, saying our vows, and not passing out. It's pouring rain at this point, so no one can hear us, but who cares, right? We're trying to hold hands, but this umbrella is just getting in the way. I kept scooting it towards Brad, our Officiant, and good friend because he didn't have an umbrella. Finally, Tom looked up at me, after fiddling with the umbrella one last time, and while looking into my eyes he tossed the umbrella aside. I laughed in relief and complete happiness. The three of us were completely soaked, but it was one of the most favorite moments of my life. Thankfully my sister-in-law is a stylist and I was 'good as new' a short 15 minutes later with a whole new do!

Day 4: Favorite Night

2011-04-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

Day 4

Favorite Night

As I was thinking about my favorite nights over the past few years, I couldn't narrow down just one that stuck out. Of course I love the night Tom proposed and I love late night discussions with the girls. Then I started thinking back to nights when I was younger, there is one in particular that we still talk about, so I figured that would be the perfect one!

My sister, Julisa, & I shared a room until I was in my teens. We would stay up in the middle of the night talking and laughing. We created our own night games. I got a call from Critter (that's Julisa's nickname from birth) one day telling me she made her boyfriend play the "Wake Up Game" which was one of our favorite games to play at night. We were both cracking up because it's so dumb, and only we remember the rules and it's too hard to explain all the rules to one person, so everyone else is awful at playing the game...totally our fault. It was made for sisters...who shared a room practically their entire childhood...tangent.

Moving on to favorite night...

You know how you tend to get giggly & giddy when it's really late? You've exhausted yourself with work and school, and you're just tired? Well, we were having one of those nights, especially my mom. If you know my mom, you understand she is an 'early to bed, early to rise' type of lady. So a late night with mom is always a treat. Crit & I no longer shared a room at this point, but we were all three upstairs in her room playing a game. I can't even remember what the game was, but there were cards and one of them was explaining something about how a hyena laughs. The cards were so stale, I'm sure the game was educational because my mom was into those types of games. We were all three cracking up at the game, and then Critter, with perfect comedic timing, said,

"Annette laughs like a hyena."

Completely capturing the monotone voice the cards would have if they could've come to life. As soon as the words slipped out of her mouth, the hysterics started. There was rolling on the floor laughter, followed by tears, followed by that dry-heave type laughing where you can't breathe...you know the type. Since that night, which was probably 10-12 years ago, anytime one of us says in a monotone voice, "Annette laughs like a hyena" we all three get a giddy grin on our face and start laughing.

Day 3: Favorite Show

2011-04-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

Day 3

Cast from my favorite show

I have a lot of "favorite" shows, so I'm going to narrow it down to one of my current favorites.

Parenthood.

Does anyone else watch this show? I love the family dynamic. I cry at the end of every episode, especially when Max, the Autistic son, is involved in a scene. One of the more recent episodes he found out he was had Aspergers and he was askin

g his parents what it was, why they didn't have it, etc. I realize it's just a television show, but it was so good! I also LOVE Lauren Graham

Day 2: Closest Friend

2011-04-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Day 2

Person you have been closest friends with the longest.

I've got a handful of friends who have been around since elementary school. However, the one person I've known the longest, family aside, is Kimberly Ann Smith.

My mom was Kim's mothers visiting teacher in 1987. Since I was only 2 years old, she would take me to Janet's house during her visits. Kim & I would play for hours together while our mom's chatted in the front room. This turned into play dates, which turned into sleep overs, and has since become a life long friendship!

We've shared a lot of things over the past 23 years. In fact, the first boy to hold Kim's hand was also the same boy to hold my hand for the first time. He was quite the ladies man, he knocked off two hand holding sessions while walking us both home from school in 3rd grade. It caused a temporary wedge in our friendship, until we got to her house and dished about over after-school snacks. Although we don't spend a lot of time together anymore since we live in different states, we still stay in contact and I know I can always count on her! She's also got the cutest little babe, he's more of a toddler now, and looks just like her!

Day 1: Fifteen Facts

2011-04-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

Fifteen Facts About Me

1- My entire family calls me Muffin.

People that were close to me when the nickname was created also refer to me as Muffin. Most others think it's crazy, and the name makes them uncomfortable, which cracks me up.

(I also answer to Muff, Muffy, Muffin-head, or Muffin-face)

2. I don't actually enjoy desserts.

It's ridiculous, I know. You're thinking to yourself, "Shouldn't she be much smaller if she doesn't like dessert?" I enjoy some parts of different desserts, but in general I don't particularly care for them. For example: I don't like cake, but I love frosting. However, most frosting is too rich, so I can only handle a couple bites. 'd much rather snack on a bowl of chips & salsa!

3. I believe in ghosts.

It sounds completely crazy! Tom thinks it's hilarious, but I'm totally serious.

4. Karaoke is my favorite pastime.

For years I was a closet-karaoke-er, belting out the tunes in my brother's basement with his wife all hours of the night. The first time I actually attempted karaoke in public was about 4 years ago. I was too nervous to go at it alone, so a friend joined me on stage. We butchered Black Velvet by Alannah Myles. The pity claps were worse than no claps at all. I've since redeemed myself on stage and now I LOVE the high of being up there!

5. I've lived in 3 states in the past 4 years.

Idaho, Utah, & Washington. Washington has been my favorite so far!

6. Mexican food is a daily diet component for me.

I eat Mexican food every day, literally, every day. It's delicious and I love it.

7. I'm bugged by the strangest noises.

The 'click' of the mouse drives me insane, it's probably one of the worst on a scale of bad noises for me. Especially late at night. Loud breathing is another one that gets to me. Whining, it must be the high-pitched baby sound, the washer spinning, even with my fancy new one. I don't mind loud noises, nail tapping, lawn mower, or many of the other standard obnoxious noises though. Weird, I know.

8. Mary Higgins Clark ruined me.

Just Kidding.

But not really.

I went through a phase where I was always reading one of her books. Because of the story lines I come up with the most outlandish scenarios when left alone. I go through so many "What if...?" combos in my mind, I have to lock all the doors, close the windows, and have my phone set to emergency dial...JUST IN CASE. Completely ridiculous, but as MHC has proven book after book, you can never be too careful!

9. I have to talk myself out of calling my sister-in-law on a daily basis.

I know she has a life, sometimes I have one too, but every time I get in my car, my instinct is to call her. I try to keep 1-2 days between phone calls. (Jules, I hope you are laughing right now, it's part of my neurotic behavior to not be obnoxious.) We find subjects to talk about, even if it's not new or juicy. I can't tell you how many times we've solved world peace in a 45 minute convo.

10. I'm a TV show crier.

Whether it's House, Brothers & Sisters, Parenthood, or The Office, I will cry at the sappy parts. Doesn't matter if I've seen it before, or even if I know it's fictional...if it's sad, I will cry. Yesterday it was B&S when Kitty shaved her head, after her hair fell out from the chemotherapy. It was such a significant moment in her television life, so, I cried.

#10.5: Tom ruins EVERY crying moment by saying, "Are you crying???" like it's some big surprise! And to that, I always back hand him. In the face. Just kidding...kinda.

11. I love Fonts.

I'm completely obsessed with fonts. I think Comic Sans is a crying shame of a font. I get font newsletters each month. If I find a new font I love, I will perfect my handwriting to match it. This is probably a stem from my childhood obsession with pens. I collected pens, all types & colors. Every few months I would get out my collection (like hundreds & hundreds of pens) and make sure each one of them still worked. I would take a few sheets of paper and doodle words and shapes in all sizes and colors. For Christmas one year when I was little, I sat on Santa's lap and asked for a ream of paper. What kind of child asks for paper?

12. I hate talking on the phone.

Unless it's Julie.

I love face to face interaction, therefore I really dislike the tele! I have a hard time trying to make conversation when there isn't something to actually talk about. Doyouwannaknow which one drives me most crazy?

"Hey, what's up?"

"Not much, what's up with you?"

"Not much."

....radio silence....

I much prefer the latter.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Not much, what's up with you?"

"Oh man, I have a story for you!" or "You'll never guess what happened to me!?"

13. I love being sold.

That sounds so weird. Let me explain. You've heard people say, "I hate being sold." referring to a car salesman trying to make a deal, or a Realtor trying to push you in a certain direction? Well, I love it. Why? I too am in sales, so I appreciate someone who works hard at gaining my business, especially if they do it in a constructive and exciting way! I get excited going through the process and listening to others sales presentations. What's funny about this is that Tom, who is also in sales, absolutely hates being sold!

14. I'm constantly at war with finger nail polish.

I always paint my nails. I have bottles and bottles of finger nail polish from clear to black and all colors in between. For whatever reason I can't keep it on my nails! It usually goes like this...

Base coat

Desired polish color (1-2 coats)

Top coat

Dry over night

Shower in the morning

Find slight blemish in polish

Pick at it until completely scuffed

Forced to remove all polish before work

Apply base coat after work

and repeat...

I have no clue why I can't leave it alone!

15. I've got cankles.

Yep, numero 15 is about my abnormally large ankles. I don't mind then too much anymore, but they really used to get to me. Tom's got 'em too, so we know our kids are totally screwed in the ankle department.

30 Days, 30 Pictures

2011-04-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

30 Days, 30 Pictures

A friend of mine has been posting pictures the last few days in an album named "30 Days 30 Pictures" on Facebook. There is one question for each day that is supposed to be answered with a picture. Instead of adding a new album on Facebook, I've decided to join in on the fun through Blogger since it's a bit more intimate. Most of my blog followers know me very well, but for those of you who don't can follow me for the next 30 days to find out more!!

Designer Nightmare

2011-03-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

I thought it was a myth.

When I first got into cabinetry, I went to a training session in Salem, OR. Not only was it my first time traveling by plane, it was my first time with a group of Kitchen & Bath Designers. Dinner the first night was at an upscale restaurant in the hotel. I listened to stories all night about crazy customers, common mistakes in design, cabinet manufacturing mumbo jumbo, and a whole lot of jokes that didn't make sense at the time. One I remember quite vividly, an older woman said, "You'll never escape!" followed with laughter from the group. Here I am 7 years later, unable to tear myself away from this interesting, stressful, yet rewarding career.

One of the stories I heard that week in Salem was about the designers worst nightmare. Finding a fireplace behind a wall. This scenario had happened to a few designers, usually working on remodels in older homes. Each story the designer had gone through the whole design process, some had even ordered cabinetry, only to find out during the demolition that there was a huge masonry structure behind the wall that couldn't be removed.

Over the years I've heard so many variations of the story, I started to believe it was an old designers wives-tale.

I believed that until Monday.

I got a frantic call Monday morning from my contractor who is the middle of a kitchen demo. We designed a beautiful kitchen that included removing a pantry and two walls. I had different renderings of each new wall, all the cabinets selected to fit perfectly. The remodel was going to look amazing. It so happened while they were knocking out the wall, they found...you'll never guess...a FIREPLACE behind the wall! The tale is not a myth, it actually happens! Unfortunately it can't be removed because it is structural important to the home. So, we designed around it. Thank goodness for false panels and good installers. I'll have to post pictures when we have the install complete. The fireplace will be covered to look like a tall oven cabinet, and since there is a hole in the center big enough for a cabinet, it's still going to be semi-usable space. It turned out to be okay.

Even though the fireplace created drama and added stress the beginning of the week, yeah I had heartburn for two days in a row, but it also made me feel like I had been inducted into the Cabinet Designer club. It finally happened to me, I finally got the fireplace behind the wall! Luckily it happened prior to ordering cabinetry!

Projects

2011-03-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

I have this ability to convince Tom I need things that I want.

One of the things I needed was a router. It only took a little convincing after the first confused look and sarcastic response, "Why do you have to buy a router?" We found the perfect one on Craigslist, picked it up later that day from a very chatty recently widowed woman, and started working on our project that evening.

That was in June.

I'm finally getting around to finishing the project I started in June....a wedding present for my sister-in-law who got married in, whelp, July. So much for "needing" the router for "all" the projects I was going to do, and all the money I would save being able to make gifts instead of buy them, and how personal they are going to be, etc etc etc. (These are all my standard selling points to Tom when I want something. Cricut, router, etc.)

Notice the Gandolfos sandwich wrapper behind the plaque. They make the most amazing egg salad sandwich, and they have the best customer service ever! They always remember Tom and me, they even remember my order every time. Love it!

Anyway, after we painted & glazed the board, I cut out black vinyl letters on the Cricut. The same Cricut I couldn't convince Tom to let me buy without enlisting the help of Julie, my lovely sister-in-law, who told Tom that I really needed it if I was going to be a successful crafter. ba ha. Gotta love family, especially when they are helping over embellish a want into a need.

We have a hideous old desk that has somehow made it into the office of each house we've lived in. Not only is it ugly, but surprisingly sturdy. My frugal husband won't let me dump it because it "still works", so my solution was spray paint. I figured a good layer of black paint would make it easier to hold onto it until I can find the perfect desk for the space.

So, after a few coats of paint, here it is! Looks way better than the original version, right? It also matches the bookshelves on either side!

Puerto Plata, Republica Dominica

2011-02-26T19:24:00.000-08:00

Our trip to Puerto Plata was absolutely amazing! The resort was wonderful, the scenery spectacular, and the people were sweethearts. We ventured off the resort one of the last days we were in the DR and went to a local beach in Sosua, a town about 30 minutes from Puerto Plata. The sand was extremely soft, it was impossible to keep from running my hands through the sand all day.

I even ventured into the water, which is a feat for me! The water was so clear, I could see the sand on the floor the entire time I was in the ocean. It was so beautiful.

The resort has a huge Welcome Party each Sunday for the guests. There was a live band playing all different genres of music, a little bit of something for everyone. They had all types of dancers too, so of course, we had to get our picture taken with these guys. It was pretty warm that night, could you imagine being in that mask & getup all night? I would have had a heat stroke!

Poor Bradyn did NOT like all the noise. There was a saxophone player who was way too loud for my liking, so you can imagine what it was like for this poor little guy!

We went on a city tour to explore the "real" Puerto Plata. It was eye opening, and a lot of fun! We were so amazed with the overall moral of the Dominican people. Everyone we saw was smiling from ear to ear, whether they were walking down the street, relaxing under trees, working, or playing. We saw a bunch of kids, who most didn't have shoes on their feet, and they were still as happy as could be! It was amazing.

Our taxi driver (left) spoke Spanish the first hour of our trip, then out of nowhere, when we were talking about where we were from, out came the perfect English...he said, "oh Seattle, where the Mariners are!" And that was the end of our quiet non-English speaking taxi driver, and the beginning of our loud English speaking, baseball loving, karaoke dj on the side, taxi driver. Our tour guide, Edwin (on the right) was pretty fun too, but ended up being quieter than the driver. :)

Our city tour ended with a cable car ride to the top of the mountain/hill in the city. Tom was pretty nervous about the ride, and whined about it all the way up. On the way back down, we were waiting for the cable car to take off, and I said to him, "They run these all day long, nothing is going to happen." Of course since I said nothing would happen, something did. We were cruisin' down the hill in this cable car when it came to an abrupt stop, we all lost our footing and flew forward. The car was swinging in the air for about 5 minutes, until finally it started going again. I thought Tom was going to die! The car-controller guy made us feel real safe when he said, "Don't worry, we'll be fine!" Yeah right. After we started going again he took out a roll of toilet paper and held it up for Tom and said, "Just in case."

View of the mountain when we were heading up, you can see why Tom was freaked out about the cable car...it would have been a long fall to the ground!

Bradyn fell asleep with his blanket over his head one night. It was so cute, I had to take a picture!

Mike, Heidi, & Bradyn

They are such a cute family!

One of the days we went to Ocean World, which was similar to Sea World (on a much smaller scale). They had a tiger exhibit where you could actually wade in the water and stand right next to the tiger. The only thing separating you from Mr. Tiger, was the glass window, you can see it behind Tom & Bradyn. It was pretty freaky to stand that close to an actual tiger, but exciting at the same time!

So this picture was taken with no zoom...I was literally a foot away from the glass.

Cool, right?

So, the scariest part about the whole tiger area is that when we walked in, he immediately spotted Brady. His eyes followed him all down the walkway, and he was walking back and forth in front of the glass when Tom was holding B. Then when Tom set him down, out of the water, the tiger looked up and stared at him. It creeped everyone out. Even worse was the 16 year old attendant, sitting on the bench, not paying attention to anything. It was obvious if anything were to happen, he would have been the first one out of there! :)

Can you spot the crab????

Wall*Mart, not the be confused with the Wal*Mart most of us are used to.

Ah, take me back to this place!

Washington Snow Day

2011-02-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

I figured all the Utahans & Idahoans would get a kick out of this!

Due to this white fluffy stuff, barely dusting the streets, we are experiencing the following as a city:

School closures

School delays

Co-workers unable to make it to work

Bosses unable to make it home from the airport

Accidents

Basically, total chaos

Yes, from this measly 1-2" of snow.

Gotta love Washington!

2011-02-21T08:45:00.000-08:00

My new favorite technology is....

Skype.

I love being able to see my family whenever we talk. Especially the kiddos!

It's the best thing ever, can't believe I waited so long to sign up!

Edit

2011-02-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

Tom must have read my latest blog post because I received this email with attachment a few hours later....

I'm not cheating...

2011-02-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

Tom and I are testing out a new diet...it's an extremely low carb plan.

So far, my stomach wants to eat itself. I'm also delusional. Why? Because Tom doesn't seem to be in as much pain and suffering as me. Last night he was his normal, chipper, obnoxious self. I, on the other hand, have turned into a bear. So I've convinced myself that Tom is cheating on our no/extremely-ridiculous-mean-low-carb diet. I know he's at work right now, stuffing his face with garlic bread, smothered in cheese, and dipping it in Alfredo sauce! (I know he's not, but I'd really like him to not be perfect about the eating deal, while I'm clearly suffering!)

I've been monitoring my food intake for awhile now. I've stopped drinking coffee, and almost completely cut out soda. That's been going pretty well, and it was really easy compared to this whole carb deal. Bottom line, I love Carbohydrates. Sandwiches, fruit, pasta, bread, bread, oh and did I mention bread.

Here I am, sitting at work, unable to concentrate, because my stomach is talking to me, trying to convince me to eat my Valentine's Day candy from my mother-in-law...which is conveniently in my purse...which is right next to my chair...taunting me.

On the bright side, I will be here in 7 days!

Quote of the day

2011-01-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

"the best way

to predict your

future...

is to create it"

2011-01-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

We were so excited the Huskies made it to a Bowl Game this year! The attendance was amazing, the outcome even better!

The day after our wedding we all went to the Washington vs Nebraska game at Husky Stadium. As most of you remember, we got our butts handed to us on a silver platter. It was not the greatest moment in football history, not to mention it was sort-of a downer after the wedding festivities the night before!

The Holiday Bowl in San Diego was a chance to redeem ourselves from the total stomping months before. As you can see from the score board, it was a success!

How amazing is this flag?

We had quite a few people with us at the game, here is just a handful from our group!

Me & the Huz

On a side note- in 1 month and 1 day we will be traveling to Puerto Plata! So excited!!

2010-12-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

Presidential Suite, booked.

Flights, booked.

New York layover hotel, booked.

(not a bad place for a layover!)

Piece of mind, settled.

February vacation with the Lee Family in the beautiful

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic!

We can't wait!

Apple Cup 2010

2010-12-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

We have so many exciting adventures planned for the next few months, I can barely concentrate during the day! So a quick blog post, then back to work. (Work is really getting in the way of internet surfing and vacations!)

Last weekend was Apple Cup in Pullman, WA. Tom & I drove over Friday night after work with a couple of his buddies. Not only was the weekend a total blast, with memories we will never forget, but the Huskies took on the Cougs and ended up winning by 1 touchdown! The game was exciting, nerve-racking, and freezing cold!

Tom & Jeff preparing food for the group.

Jeff made the most amazing chili for the tailgate...it was so delicious!

The Tailgate

Note our fire-pit. Best decision ever. It's pretty cold in Pullman, the fire came in very handy to keep us warm!

Lynaya & me right before kick-off.

Dana & me after the big W!

So now Washington is off to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, CA. This will be my first Bowl game, so I'm pretty excited to go! Also excited to spend New Years in California!

2010-11-19T16:03:00.000-08:00

Maybe one day I'll own a house large enough for a whole Mother-in-law suite above the garage complete with it's own kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, living room, and bedroom. In the mean time, I'll keep designing MILS for other families.

They used Cherry cabinets with a really dark finish and I absolutely LOVE it! As usual, right? I only post my favorite jobs. The pictures don't do it justice. The cabinet color is so rich and you can see the wood grain through the finish really well, ah, it's amazing. The tile work was fantastic, too! Love the glass back-splash and the granite, although pretty standard, had some really fun veining too it.

Happy Friday!!

2010-11-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

D'yawannaknow what drives me absolutely bonkers?

When I'm asking a question and the person I'm directing the question to shouts out an answer BEFORE I have a chance to finish my sentence.

Absolutely bonkers I tell ya!

2010-11-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's time to become an adult, I guess! I got a call from Mamacita last week asking if I could take home the cardboard boxes full of my 'stuff' that she has been holding onto for the last 6 years. Thank goodness she hasn't charged me a storage fee! She has reminded me ever-so-kindly the last few years that I have quite a few boxes still at the house. I found out the boxes have been conveniently moved into the middle of the basement living room, this is so I can't forget to take them with me. My excuse started with not having room in an apartment for ALL my stuff....then it changed to not having a vehicle to move all the boxes with....now I have no excuse, we have our own home and a truck to boot!

Thanks Mom for holding onto all my belongings for the past six years. I'm sure when I go through the boxes I won't know why I kept most of the stuff, but it should be a lot of fun to rummage through!

*********

The countdown continues!

In exactly one week Tom and I will be headed on our long drive to Idaho Falls! I received this adorable little letter in the mail the other day from my favorite Remington Marie!

I read it every morning because it totally makes my day!

*********

Lastly, just in case any of you aren't linked to Dave & Steph's blog. Take a look at these adorable napping beauties! They are so perfect!

Love them!

Love my job!

2010-11-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

Best part of my job...seeing the drawings come to fruition!

Love this little entertainment bar by the kitchen with the black accent X-wine rack!

16 days!

2010-11-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

The countdown begins! I know it's only been a couple months since I've seen my family, but it feels like forever. Tom and I decided to drive to IF for Thanksgiving. That's right, we're driving. It's approximately 15 hours in the car, but Tom won the 'discussion' because if I had it my way (and an extra $1200) we would be flying! Bellingham to Idaho Falls is such a ridiculous plane ticket, we usually fly Seattle to Boise and drive the rest of the way, but it ends up taking a full day anyway, so we might as well save some cash and make the trek in the good ol Ridgeline. Bonus for the family, we're bringing the dogs too!

Not only am I super excited for Thanksgiving, but we're staying a few days afterwards so we can see....

'This production is the live-stage incarnation of the 1954 classic film and features all the music, spectacular dance, and holiday nostalgia...'

I haven't seen White Christmas before, so it's a first for me and I can't wait! Even my brother is excited to go, so it must be a good show!

Another holiday favorite of mine that I have missed the last couple years is...

The Forgotten Carols is my most favorite holiday tradition. The play is adorable and entertaining, the music is amazing, and the story is touching. This is Tom's first year of seeing the performance, although he's been forced to listen to the album the last four years!

It should be a great Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see my family, play with the nieces and little nephew, and relax for a few days before we head back to Washington!

Cabinet Nerd

2010-11-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

I frequent a Kitchen & Residential Design blog and came across this company called Henry Built who is a custom cabinet maker in Seattle & New York.
I absolutely love their sleek products and designs...
http://www.henrybuilt.com/

They also dabble in another company called Viola Park, which is the semi-custom line of Henry Built Cabinetry. Again made in Seattle, and again, gorgeous.
http://www.violapark.com/

Day 1- No Coffee

2010-11-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

No Caffeine Day #1

I'm doing pretty good so far, although it's only 8:50 a.m.

I decided yesterday that I was tired of feeling tired. While brainstorming ideas to keep myself motivated during the winter season, I realized I have a dependency for caffeine that could not be healthy in the slightest. Not only am I packing on the negative calories from all the soda, energy drinks, and morning coffee, I'm also physically and emotionally addicted to these energy supplements. How gross is that? I started thinking how it would be ridiculous if I were unable to put down the caffeine for awhile, if I couldn't do it, then I really did/do have an addiction.

My morning White Mocha no whip has become a staple in my pre-work routine. I drive up to the Woods Coffee window Monday-Friday and most the time I don't even have to give them my order, they have it ready when I pull up. (I wonder if I threw them off this morning!)

There are approximately 350 calories in my White Mocha's that I have been drinking every morning for a couple years now.

For lunch I usually hit up a drive thru or run home, either way I have a Pepsi which is 100 calories, or a Monster energy drink. Monster only has 20 calories, but I can only imagine what all the other ingredients are doing to my body. Eek! Calories are not my only concern though. Getting back to the beginning of my ramblings, I'm tired of feeling tired. I've become so dependent on the three daily doses of caffeine that by the end of my work day I'm too exhausted to do anything at night. That means I get home, turn on the television, mess around on the internet (all while sitting on my lazy arse on the couch) and wait for Tom to come home. Then Tom joins me! Bah! I fall in and out of sleep all evening until Tom finally gets me to go to bed. I want to have more natural energy. I'm hoping my switch over to water will help this happen. So, around 1:00 this afternoon I will be 24 hours into my caffeine freeze!

A Few Wedding Faves!

2010-10-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

My little Eric, using my powder puff on his face. He was covered in shimmer powder by the time he was finished. Niki, my 8 year old niece, and I exchanged an awkward look as she said, "Muffin, you're going to be in trouble!"

Obviously I wasn't there for this part...however, it's the cutest picture I've ever seen! Tom helping Bolt, his best man, put on his tie pre-ceremony.

Even cuter...Bolt helping Tom out. I love that you can see how excited Tom is!

So glad we had the ceremony outdoors, even though it was pouring rain. This picture was taken after Tom threw our umbrella aside so we could hold hands. My pre-ceremony hair was AMAZING! My post-ceremony hair, was, well...thank you Sam & Cecelia for the quick re-do so I looked presentable! :)

My dad and brother played a special song for me. My dad was tearing up through the song, he kept apologizing afterwards for not being able to sing it, but everyone thought it was amazing! I loved it! They played "Just Remember I Love You" by a band called Firefall. Look it up!

Cheesy picture, but I thought it was awesome! We decided to go with no wedding band for me since the curve in my engagement ring is so unique. The bands all take away from the lines around the ring. I love it! Oh, and Tom's is cool too...I guess. :)

Me giving Jules a hug after her wonderful MOH speech. Loved it!

This was after he PROMISED there would be no cake smashing....I should have known.

I have a ton more "favorite" pictures...but it's too much for the good ol blog. I posted even more on facebook, so take a look!

Fun Little Cabinet Job

2010-10-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

Got to work on a remodel with one of our installers/contractors a few months ago. I finally got around to taking pictures. The customer was SO FUN to work with. She was always happy and pretty easy going. So...here are a few snap shots of her remodel1

So, yeah, I can never take a straight picture. My left leg must be significantly shorter than the right.

However, I love love all the warm tones and her backsplash is my favorite!

Her sink is totally awesome by the way...

She chose a laminate countertop which usually requires a top mount sink, but our installer has a source for under mount sinks with a laminate top. The edge is completely sealed too, so there is no room for water leakage! I love it!

They originally had a step down seating area, so even though it looks pretty 'standard', it's a huge improvement from the original layout.

Back to work now...

We're Married!

2010-09-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Best. Day. Ever.

Thanks to Tom's cousin, Katie Pelton, for the picture!

We made it to Our day!

I could not have asked for a more perfect wedding...

I enjoyed the morning with my family, playing with nieces and nephew, listening to music, watching cartoons, going over final details with Cheyenne, etc. We made it to the venue, started the primping process and thanks to Samralee & Staci, everyone looked amazing!

The rain came poured down all afternoon and evening. Thanks to Julie & Joe for finding 70+ umbrellas for our guests since Tom and I were determined to have an outdoor wedding in this beautiful, yet rainy state.

I bit my lip the entire walk down the wet, grassy aisle because I was trying to hold back tears of joy. I couldn't believe so many people showed up, and they were all sitting outside, in the pouring rain, just for Tom & Me! What an amazing feeling of love and happiness.

Happenings

2010-09-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

My 25th birthday was last Friday, Julie (Tom's mom) took me to the Icon Grill in downtown Seattle. The place is pretty cool inside, it's all pink and has blown glass decorations all over the building. She secretly told them it was my birthday, so after dinner they brought out a yummy little dessert for me! It was pretty good!

Parking was quite the adventure. I have a hard time getting my Xterra into little spaces, so I figured I'd just park in a garage. I pulled into the first parking garage I saw, not realizing it wasn't for public parking, residents only. The attendant took pity on me, not only did he let me park there, but he didn't even charge me! I was very grateful for his compassion because the traffic stressed me out when I'm in my little ghetto-cruiser at night.

The next day Samralee and I drove up to Canada and spent the night in a bright PINK hotel! The rooms were pretty cool, they each had a balcony that hovered over the pool. Pretty sure that's against all safety codes in the United States!

See....it's literally pink.

We wandered down the streets of Vancouver that night and found this guy trying to make some cash. He had a little sound system set up and was rapping, totally free style. It was fun to watch for a few minutes. Vancouver was crazy at night! The police block off the streets downtown and there are hundreds of people that wander from bar to bar. We found a little pizza joint and hunkered down for a couple hours enjoying people-watching. It was pretty entertaining! There were a few groups out for Stag & Stagette parties....yeah that's what Bachelor/ette parties are called in Canada. I was thinking, "What the hell is a Stagette?" when the waitress was telling us about why it was so crazy downtown that night.

I got back to my house on Sunday, started a load of laundry, and sat down to relax. I heard a loud crashing noise and my first thought was that my washer had fallen over! I ran into the other room and it was still there, making the loudest hissing noise I've ever heard, but not spinning at all. I couldn't even turn it off, had to wait for it to run the cycle. I put my not-so-awesome skills to work trying to fix it, but it was still broken. So Tom and I spent Monday, Labor Day, searching for a new washer/dryer. We debated between replacing just the washer since the dryer worked, but it came down to a couple deciding factors.

1- The other units were OLD already, so eventually we would need to upgrade the dryer anyway. 2- You get an awesome deal on both if you buy them as a set. So even though it was more expensive to buy two, it was less in the long run if we were replacing the dryer later.

3- Come on, I can't have mismatched appliances!

4- Their LG. I love LG!

So we decided to go with both the washer & dryer. We get a $250 rebate because we're helping out the environment by using these instead of the other ones. How crazy is this, this washer uses 20 gallons less than my old washer. Yes, 20 GALLONS LESS!! It's crazy to me how much water is actually used in one wash cycle, absolutely amazing! Anyway, I stinkin' love the dumb machines, it's ridiculous. Their like my new babies. They sing to me a little song when they're done washing and drying. They have on/off buttons and way more options than I even need. If only they made dinner...hmm...I think I'm onto something!

In exactly one week from today I will be married! Eeek!

Busy Saturday!

2010-08-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

Tom's family threw me a bridal shower in Tacoma this weekend and it was so much fun! All his family members who live in the area came, even his aunt and cousins who live in Oregon! I'm so excited to be joining the Soran family!

We had a "Wine & Cheese" shower. Julie's brother in law took her shopping to help select the wines. He did an amazing job because they were all delicious! The color scheme was all black and white with damask accents everywhere. The rooms were all decorated and looked absolutely perfect. My shower was definitely fancier than the wedding will be. I loved it!

The cake was not only gorgeous, but absolutely delicious!

Samralee is quite the baker, she made these cupcakes and I may not fit into my wedding dress because of them. They are so yummy, the frosting is addicting! Mmm....

We played a game called, "That's what she said!"

The guests had to answer questions about me and got prizes if they answered them correctly. Julie gave me a sweatshirt that has TWSS on the front. I wore it yesterday and I'm sure people thought I was crazy, but I love it!

My soon to be sisters!

The shower was amazing, I had so much fun visiting with family, opening gifts, and stuffing my face full of chocolate, cheese, and wine! Thanks Julie for such an amazing shower, and thanks to my soon to be family for joining us!

After the shower Tom and I headed to Seattle for his employees engagement party. They've been engaged for a couple months and are planning a wedding for August 2011. Her parents threw a great party at their vacation home right on Alki Beach. The view was absolutely amazing, the weather was perfect for an outdoor party, and the sunset was beautiful.

You can see Seattle downtown from the beach, I loved the view!

Then we decided to stay in Seattle for a few more hours to see a band from a kid I went to high school with. They were playing at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Seattle. I thought they were playing at 10:00, turned out they didn't go on stage until 12:30. Tom wanted to head home pretty bad, it had already been a long day, but I wanted to support a friend from IF, so he stayed up with me! We even got Bolt to come out and join us, that ended up cheering Tom up. :) So my friend Sam is in a band called The Sammus Theory. Afterwards we got to talk to Sam for awhile and he even signed a cd for us! It's always exciting seeing someone from the past, especially up here!

The band interacting with the crowd! So fun!

My body still aches from jumping and dancing around like a fool all night, but it was worth it!

I passed out in the car on the way home because I was totally exhausted after such a long day! Tom was such a trooper to drive me all the way back to Bellingham that night. We pulled in around 4 a.m. Sunday morning. Needless to say, it was a great Saturday and a sleepy Sunday!

2010-08-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, haven't had a lot to blog about lately, but I promise better posts will be coming soon!

2010-08-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

My brother receives emails from an artist of drawings she does daily. He sent me a pic of the one from today which looks exactly like me! Well, like a 15 year old Marissa...it's crazy!

What do you guys think? I would say the only differences would be my eyebrows are a little more shaped and my chin is slightly longer. Other than that I think the nose, eyes, eye-lashes, cheeks, and shape of chin are exact!

Kinda trippy!

2010-08-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

An article on CNN about the origin of names for different dog breeds...

Beagle: The exact origins of the word "beagle" are a bit mysterious, but anybody who has spent much time with the breed will believe the most commonly accepted story. The American Kennel Club traces the name back to the 16th century, when the hounds became associated with the French word becguele ("noisy person") thanks to the din of their howls during hunts.

We are lucky our Beagles are not barkers! Now if I could just get Champ to stop whining all the time.

They are the most adorable puppies (see proof below)

They do make pretty good companions, minus the whining and pooping on themselves, oh yeah and their three second attention span...

We love 'em though!

To brag or not to brag...

2010-08-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

I've been at my company for one year this month. A little over a year ago I was working pretty hard on a presentation for a company I had only heard of in Bellingham. They sold doors, trim, and hardware and had a stain shop on site. After a few long talks with Tom about which direction I wanted my career to go, we decided it best to go after something new. Bellingham being a pretty small area, in a down market, there wasn't much opportunity for designers. I set up a meeting with the owners of this little local shop about the prospect of setting up a cabinet department. Luckily they had already been thinking about extending their business, but had not made any steps in that direction yet. I met with them one morning, presentation in hand, and excited about all my ideas for their company. Long story short, they loved the ideas and decided it would be a good idea to bring me on as their cabinet designer/salesperson.

Well my ambitious numbers on the presentation didn't really work out as planned. The building industry was pretty slow which made it hard to find profitable jobs. The contractors were (and are) extremely loyal, let's be honest, it's hard for a lot of guys to trust a 20-something year old cabinet designer who just opened up shop in the area. Last, my prices were way too high for the market at the time. So after a few months of figuring out the appropriate pricing structure, me getting out of my shell (including cold calling, which I hate!), and more permits being released, we are finally making sales!

It's fun to look back on the last six years that I have been designing and remember the trends, companies, and places I have been...that's for another blog post...

The reason for this one is that I heard some industry gossip from our cabinet rep today...and it involved me!

We have only one other dealer in the area who sells the same cabinet line as our company. She seems to have a successful business, anyone today who is still in business is usually successful. She called our sales rep to find out if there was anything he could do about ME stealing HER cabinet business and clients!

When he told me this I had a couple of thoughts right away...
1) Really? I'm stealing her clients? We haven't sold THAT much to be able to 'steal' a client.
2) She knows who we are? Cool!
3) I felt bad for her, for a second, because quite possibly I have taken a couple of clients that were buying from her in the past.
4) Again, she knows who we are! Oh yeah, and she has a problem with us because we are obviously (and finally) becoming a successful cabinet company! Yeah, the cabinet company that we started from ground up in the last year!

I haven't considered us as being competition with anyone because most of the guys have been so loyal to their custom cabinet suppliers. Now I know there is competition out there and it gives me a little boost to keep on designing! So, I was pretty excited to hear that we are making our presence known in the cabinet world in our area! We went into the business hoping, but not knowing that it would be a success. Now that we are making regular sales, we are even getting return clients, and our name is finally out there as more than a door and trim company, I'm really feeling like this could be my home fore even longer!

As an acquaintance recently told me....
You're title is Marissa Perez, Kitchen & Bath Cabinet Designer, OWN IT! (...and that's my prep talk for the day!)

Hot Ears?

2010-08-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

I finally caught my summer cold, it decided to visit a few months later than usual, but still made it's trip to my nose/throat. I've been dealing with that all week, no big deal, it's just a cold. However, my ears have been on fire the last couple days. Yesterday I thought it was due to the ridiculous heat we've been having in Bellingham. I'm talking 90 degree weather, which is insane for this area. We're talking record heat for northwest Washington. All you Idahoans laugh at 90 degrees, but let me explain this whole humidity deal is a pain in the neck! Everything just sticks to you, the weather feels like it should read 300 degrees on the thermostat. Not only is it miserable, no one is prepared for it. Most places don't even have AC! Who needs AC in Washington where it rains all time, right? Anyway, I was sure the ridiculous heat was attributing to my red hot ears. This morning they started burning up again, it's not nearly as hot outside. In fact, I had a sweater on this morning because I was a little cold. Ears, still on fire.

So I go to my trusty doctor...aka Google search...and type in "hot ears", simple as that. This is what I get back as search results:

Anxiety and Stress Forum- Hot Ears & Face!
The little blurp underneath the title says, "Hot Ears And Face! . I was diagnosed with anxiety a few months ago. When I feel stressed, my ears get really hot, like a fever."
Next one down, "...sympathetic nervous system..." followed by "...food allergy..." and last one I glanced at was, "...Menopause..."

So comes handy the process of elimination. Probably not menopause, I'm only a quarter century old here, come on. Food allergy, humm maybe, but not likely. I haven't eaten anything different than usual lately. Sympathetic nervous system, getting closer now. The one that makes most sense...stress...yes folks, that makes most sense.

Can I just say, I've always handled stress pretty well, or at least I thought I did before all the wedding mumbo jumbo. Good thing is I only feel stressed every once in awhile, for the most part I'm enjoying it! Every once in awhile when we're super busy at work and I'm ordering cabinets that I know will be installing the week I'm off, and when I'm trying to get bids done while ignoring phone calls from family members, caterers, or the wedding venue, etc. That's when I feel the stress coming on. So I apologize if I ignore your phone calls, it's not out of anger, I'm just really busy at work (which is wonderful) and I when I do have a free minute to myself (which is rare, very rare) I want to spend it alone, with me and the voices in my head.

So, here's to a fun wedding that's going to happen in 32 days whether we're prepared or not and here's to no more hot ears! (Yes, that's me holding up an imaginary champage flute full of dreams!) Whelp, that's enough cheese for one post...back to the grind!

Name

2010-08-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to decide what to do with my last name....

Options:

Marissa Perez Soran

Marissa Soran

Hmmm.....what to do, what to do?

I don't have a middle name and I've been told you're supposed to take on your maiden name as a middle name and married name as the last name.

Is there a rule about names? I always joke about getting completely rid of Perez so I'll finally stop getting mail and facebook messages in spanish, but now that I'm getting closer to having to make the decision, I don't know what to do!

Engagement Pictures. Done!

2010-08-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

We finally found a free weekend to get together with our photographer for "Engagement Pictures." Apparently that's what you're supposed to do when you get engaged...neither of us are about the details, so we're pretty proud that the session actually happened.

Out of hundreds and hundreds of frames, there were about 50 pictures that I wasn't blinking! So here are a few sneak peaks of Tom and me!

Look at those sausage fingers!

Yes, he's laughing. At what? We'll never know...

We are at Gas Works Park in Seattle which is where Tom said the "L Word" for the first time eva! So of course we had to take a couple pictures there. You can see the city on the left and if I remember correctly one of the houses on the right is where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed!

I know I say this all the time, but I'm saying it again. I LOVE this city!

I heart this little pic! I thought it would be cheesy, and it might be, but it's my fave!

Cheesy again? Yes. Totally awesome? Yes!

He even said, "This one is pretty cheesy, but always turns out!"

Note to self- Next time tons of pictures are taken, lay off the Lycra! Geez! I liked the ruffles on the sleeves so much, I forgot to find something to hide the ruffles on my belly! Good thing Tom likes 'em!

Just over a month and we will be married!! Eek!

To, Too, Two...so hard to remember which one to use!

2010-08-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Too many people confuse to, too, and two. Every once in awhile doesn't bother me since it could be a typo. However, when it happens daily on a status update, you know the person just can't tell the difference. (This coming from the Queen of run-on sentences and excessive use of ellipses...)

Here's a reminder to all of those who have forgotten the meanings...

To has two functions. First, as a preposition, in which case it always precedes a noun.

I'm going to the store

Secondly, to indicates an infinitive when it precedes a verb.

I need to study

Too

Too also has two uses. First, as a synonym for "also":

Can I go too?

Secondly, too means excessively when it precedes an adjective or adverb.

I'm too tired

Two

Two is a number.

One, two, three...

Neurotic much? :)

2010-08-02T15:17:00.001-07:00

Random Pics

2010-07-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Bridal shower weekend in Salt Lake City!

Countdown- 27 hours!

Best part....

I get to see the RyKenzies! I love and miss those cute little twinsies and they are making a special appearance! Can't wait!!

Julie sent me pictures from her phone last week in an attempt to make me jealous.

Guess what?

It worked. :)

Look at Rylee's precious little face!

On another note...how adorable is my fiance with his niece, Bailee?

Blue eyed babies!

On another-other note...

We have a builder who puts together the cutest affordable houses right

outside the city limits.

Look how cute the cabinets are!?

(Because I did them!)

FONTS--

2010-07-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's not a real read-worthy blog post, but here I am still typing....

I found the best website! I'm a sucker for cute fonts, but I can't stand the bleh "Comic Sans" or "Lucida" etc. There are a couple websites I've used in the past who offer different styles of font, but they all bore me. (Yes, I'm the weirdo who judges people when they use a dumb font. In fact, there was an article about it the other day because someone used Comic Sans and it was ALL over the news. Did you know there is actually a website called http://bancomicsans.com/main/ to which I crack up!)

Back to my font find...which most people will find completely immature once they see the font style...

These people: http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/ (whoever they are) take submitted handwriting samples and turn them into fonts! They are all pretty similar, but I've been having a hay day with them! I got my download on, which is SO easy BTW, and now I'm using them on my cabinet designs! Of course I'd never print it on an actual quote, but they're so much fun on the design layout because it looks like my handwriting, and to be honest, I only need simple pleasures to keep me entertained and happy at work. One being the bag of chips ahoy in my desk drawer that's always taunting me. Two now being handwriting fonts!

Now I'm getting ready to take my calligraphy class after work...as if I wasn't busy enough over the next couple weeks!

TWO MORE DAYS UNTIL SLC BRIDAL SHOWER NUMERO UNO FOR BRIDE MARISSA!

Wedding Weekend Numero Dos

2010-07-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Spa Day

Mani Pedis all around for Sam's big day!

Bridesmaids holding up the bride

Not hard to miss the bride! :)

~Wedding Weekend Numero Uno~

2010-07-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Doug & Sara VanderWel

The happy newleyweds!

Tom & Cecelia Soran...better known as Papa & Nana

All the brothers and sisters in the Soran fam.

Tom, Chris, Mary, Joe, Louise, Nana, Tim, Tony, Joan, Steve, & Papa

The whole family!

Me and my cute fiance!

Tom & Julie at the reception...

Nicole & me at the reception...

she reminds me of a girl I knew in Boise who I loved,

so of course I automatically loved Nicole!

Picnic with family the day after...

Centerpiece? Chip Bowl? Something?

2010-07-13T16:58:00.000-07:00

Record bowl.

I somehow want these incorporated in my wedding.

Now I just need to convince Tom!

Correction

2010-07-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

I have to make a correction to the post below.

Tom read it and said "It sounds like you girls were being naughty the rest of the night!"

So I thought I'd clarify....there was nothing "naughty" about the night. We had the bride do a scavenger hunt where she had to talk to a lot of random strangers and do things like:

* Kiss a bald man on the head
* Sniff a strangers butt like a dog (which was hilarious & creepy)
* Have a guy serenade you
* Have a man practice walking down the aisle with you

There were two full pages for the scavenger hunt. We took pictures along the way, but I figured that would be for us girls to see and remember what a fun night we had watching the bride ask strangers for the weirdest favors...which is why I didn't share the pictures on my blog. (There Tom, better? Hehe)

I seriously can't believe people actually participated! Seattle is crazy, but I LOVE it!

Weekend Festivities

2010-07-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Samralee's Bachelorette Party!

Our night started out with a limo taking us to Seattle for the night.

Our limo driver, Doug, was awesome!

He stopped at a gas station to let us pick up treats and drinks for the road. Held the door open every time we got in and out of the car, and bumped the music for us!

We beat Cecelia & Bailey to the Icon Grill, so we sat out on the street for awhile waiting with our bags and all. Doug stayed with us for awhile, but no one wanted to climb back in the limo, so he finally took off.

All the girls at dinner...

You can see our scavenger hunt lists on the table.

After dinner we walked around downtown crossing off things on the list.

I'm not revealing pictures/videos for this portion of the evening...

It was fun though!

Special thanks to all the crack heads and tourists on Seattle streets willing to do anything for girls in short skirts!

The morning after...mmm...breakfast!

So many happenings this summer!

2010-06-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

Soon to be wed...Sam & Michael

Tom's oldest younger sister Samralee is only a month away from saying "I Do" to her adorable fiancé Michael and I can't wait for the day to be here already!

Sam is putting together the fairy tale wedding we all dreamed of when we were little. We had a chance to sit down on Sunday during Father's Day and go over more details...it's going to be absolutely amazing! I'm trying to help with some of the DIY projects and I'm hoping they look more Professional than Do It Yourself! For some reason it's more exciting working on other people's wedding than it is your own!

The one keeping me sane through wedding planning

Meet Cheyenne, my sorta wedding planner! She is going to kill me for stealing her picture, especially this one, but I love the baby bump, so I had to!
Anyway, Cheyenne is a real time wedding planner...gets paid for it and everything. She has been so helpful during the planning process.
She's making my guest book, put together the wedding schedule, and is always sending over good ideas. I'm so grateful to have her around!
Did I mention she lives in Alaska?
Yeah, that's when you know you have a good friend, when she is willing to help you out while living in a different state and about ready to have baby #2 at no cost! Did I also mention she is putting together all the details to my bachelorette party too?
I tell her all the time I wished she lived closer!
Don't you all wish you had a Cheyenne?

Sneak Peek!

We have been doing a few little remodel projects to the new house we just purchased. I'll post real pics as soon as it's clean, but here's a little teaser for now.

This is a shot of our hallway before the new door and trim package. Flush hollow core birch doors with standard 2 1/4" colonial casing. Very bleh, right?

Here is the updated 3 panel VG Fir solid wood doors with 1x3 casing, a big tall header, 1x5 base, and if you look close you can see the plinth blocks on the bottom!
More pictures to come!

We found suits!

2010-06-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

We finally found suits after months of looking. Well that may be a slight exaggeration. We have looked only a few times in the last few months, but the whole process is exhausting. Tom's attention doesn't hold too long when it comes to wedding decisions and I think sales persons are crazy, so we end up drowning our failure in chips & salsa! Last weekend we stopped by a wedding place in town and I asked the dreaded question, "Do you guys RENT suits?" The lady had me follow her to the back where all the books were, showed me this picture, and that was it! The decision took all of 10 minutes to make and that included her taking Tom's measurements!

One more item to check off my list!

2010-06-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

I had a customer who didn't have the money to replace her entire kitchen, but wanted to update the overall space. Her cabinets were the honey oak that was ever so popular for probably more than a decade. We chose a matching door style to the original cabinets that are still on the perimeter of the kitchen and added a small island with an accent color. The color looks black in the pictures, but is actually "Raisin" which is a very dark espresso type color.

She was also able to do a solid granite top which gave her kitchen a face lift without the enormous cost! I love jobs like this!

Keys in hand!

2010-06-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you're sick of hearing about it, but it's my blog so bleh. :)

We met our realtor at the house today and he gave us the keys! The builder and his wife stopped at the house and chatted for a minute too, so that was exciting.

We're now waiting for our door and trim package to be installed which is happening on Tuesday. I'll post before and after pictures when it's all complete!

Now on to packing...

Have I mentioned we don't have a free weekend until the third week of August!!!!!!!!!!! AH!

Life Lessons...

2010-06-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

Life Lesson #1:

Never judge a book by it's cover.

We all learn it when we're little, but how often do we actually follow the rule? Today I was totally called out on judging the book by the cover.

So Tom and I had to run errands today. We started with Costco and ended a few hours later at the mall. When we were walking through one of the stores Tom said, "I left my phone in my car." and I reminded him he had it at Costco. So we retraced our steps for the next hour or so looking everywhere for the phone. The last stop was Costo, he went inside to look for it and couldn't find it anywhere. It hadn't been turned in either, we assumed it was somewhere in the store though.

I called the phone probably 20 times in a 2 hour period and finally gave up for awhile. I tried again a little while later and someone answered. The guy could barely talk and what I could make out wasn't fun. 1- He was living on the Indian reservation. 2- He couldn't pronounce his words properly. 3- He couldn't figure out his address.

So automatically I came to the conclusion that he was a drunk Indian who stole Tom's cell phone, couldn't figure out how to crack the password, and was sick of me calling so he answered it anyway.

He struggled with the address, so I wrote down the directions he gave me and we went on our way to find the cell phone. Turned out the road didn't exist, the one we thought it may be didn't go low enough with the numbers to actually make sense. I tried calling the cell phone a few more times and he finally answered again. I told him I couldn't find the house and passed the phone to Tom.

Oh yeah,

Last week I watched a show about Indian reservations in South Dakota where drinking is a huge problem along with rape and horrible abuse. Something like 3 of 4 women are raped and/or beaten and they have nowhere to turn on the reservation because the men rule the place. So of course I've fabricated this whole situation in my head how the guy with our phone is a huge dirt bag and he might stab Tom and then rape me in a drunken fit.

So the guy tells Tom his wife will meet him at the gas station, and then has the nerve to ask if there will be a reward. Tom agreed, but at the same time we were both so mad because he is the one who took the cell phone!

The wife pulls up and this is where I had my rude awakening.

She is a lady in her mid sixties, dressed in normal clothes, driving a normal car, and pretty clean cut. She gets out of her car, cell phone in hand, and explains how sorry she is about the whole situation. She had taken her mentally ill husband to Costco with her today where he picked up the cell phone without her knowledge. The first time he answered she was out of the house and was unable to talk to us. He told her about it, which is when she realized he had a strangers cell phone, and because it was password protected she couldn't figure out how to call us back. Apparently he had a stroke awhile back and has not been all there since. Tom tried to give her money for bringing the phone and she wouldn't accept it at all.

I felt horrible afterwards. It was a nice reminder to not be such a witch though. I was so mad and just positive they were awful free loading humans, turns out I was the awful one in the situation. We both drove home in silence, feeling bad for them, feeling like jerks, and reminded of that lovely saying that has been impressed in our brains since we were little..."Don't judge a book by it's cover."

Eek!

2010-06-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

Yep.

It's me.

Dropping my last rent payment in the box.

Whoop!

2010-05-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

It's funny how wedding planning invites everyone's opinion, whether it's wanted or not. There are few people's opinions that actually matter to me, the rest are usually followed with a bland response. I never want to offend, but I have my style, I'm good with it, it hasn't changed in years, so there. (Followed by me sticking my tongue out in true Annette fashion...yes I'm turning into my mother...hope Tom likes her!)

It's amazing how many people dislike the idea of different bridesmaid dresses. Everyone asks with excitement, "What are the girls wearing?!" Not like you ever know what they mean when you say, "Cotton sateen dresses, all different styles, in Clover." What the hell is cotton sateen? Clover, is that green like sage, or green like St Paddy's Day? My favorite response is, "Different dresses?" Yes, they are all different. None of my bridesmaids have the same personality and none of them have the same body shape. Why not different dresses? I can't even count the negative responses on one hand anymore...it's so weird. And it's always hidden by, "That's cute." Cute is code word in wedding world for someone not agreeing with your choice of styles.

So for proof that I'm not crazy or trashy (well I might be slightly trashy, but that's because I love sweat pants and flip flops, and I'm totally comfortable wearing them in public....don't hate.)

Look at these pics to prove my sanity!

This blog post might make me more insane, but whatev!

BTW, don't these girls look adorable!

2010-05-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

We bought our refrigerator for the new house last Sunday! Our builder let us deliver the fridge last night even though we have three more weeks before closing. It's a standard refrigerator, pretty deep because it was really inexpensive, but it still fit in the space.

Getting it into the house was the hard part! The laundry room door which is right off the kitchen is only 30" wide. So yeah, that math doesn't work. We had to take the entry door off the hinges to get the fridge inside the house. Then the guys had to carry it all the way through the house into the kitchen because I didn't want them to scratch the floors. (We'll leave that up to the dogs!) They finally got it in place and it looks great!

We met two of our neighbors last night and they seem like really nice people. One of the guys helped with the fridge fiasco, he even let us use his tools since we weren't prepared to take the door off the hinges.

Next step, washer & dryer! We're wishing we hadn't sold ours when we moved to Bellingham, but maybe this will be a chance to upgrade!

They have started building the fence, so we're really excited!!!

No better feeling than

2010-05-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced there is no better feeling than a pair of new jeans

(or three new pairs!)

Thanks Tom for taking me shopping yesterday!

2010-05-23T15:21:00.001-07:00

We pulled off the ultimate task! A surprise party for Julie. She had no idea, it was so great! Thanks to everyone for helping out and for keeping it a secret! Her surprised expression is priceless!

Good News!

2010-05-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our 3 bedroom, 2 bath rambler!

June 11th Tom & I will officially be

the proud owners of this

adorable little home!

We are so excited to finally call

ourselves homeowners.

Although this will be the smallest

house we've lived in together,

it has so many advantages

over any of our previous homes!

Best part...

it has a fenced backyard!

Eeek!

No more whining Beagles!

The builder is putting up a 6'

fence that will extend to the ground

so our littles can't escape and wander

around the neighborhood.

...Bliss...

Tis the season for Birthdays!

2010-05-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my...

sister-in-law

bestie

role model

comedian

therapist

music teacher

chef

rock

I miss your face and wish I could be in Idaho Falls to enjoy sloppy joes while celebrating your birthday. Thanks for always being on the other end of the phone listening, chatting, laughing, or crying with me. I hope you have a great day!

Happy Birthday ED

2010-05-05T16:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday E.D.

& Happy Cinco De Mayo!

How can you not love this kid?

He's growing up so much and it kills me to be missing most of it! ED has the cutest voice of any child you've ever listened too, I'm serious. He also has the longest eyelashes, they are even longer than mine. He knows he's adorable and bats his eyes and grins with that beautiful Perez/Liester smile all Tony & Julie's kids have.....oh I love it!

Miss you EDster!

Once upon a time

2010-05-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

I used to consider myself a "Cabinet Designer."

I've traded my heels, slacks, and White House|Black Market shirts for jeans and t-shirts. With that come a title change. Today I consider myself a "receptionist/cabinet salesperson" Why the title change? Could it be the industry changing? I've read so many articles talking about the consumers leaning more towards functionality in place of the extravagance. Everyone is watching their spending, a lot of clients I meet with are even afraid to submit a request for an estimate for fear of the price. Instead of designing cabinetry for gorgeous custom homes, I'm placing boxes for mediocre spec houses.

I've gone from beautiful vanities....

To simple vanities....

And extravagant kitchens....

To bare bones kitchens...

I still love to see finished products, even if it is on a $2000 cabinet job, but I would much rather see the finished product of a design that took me months and hours upon hours to create. I miss getting to know the customers life details to help them design a beautiful, yet functional space for their lifestyle. Lately my relationship with customers is based on price. How inexpensive can they get the cabinets? When Tom and I were wandering through houses two weeks ago, even the more expensive houses had the cheapest finishes in them. I'm wondering if this is going to go on for a long time or if it will soon change? Let's hope it starts turning around so I can go back to designing cabinets!

Bottom line: my industry has become boring, I need a high end cabinet fix before I lose my mind. :)

Proof that we are procrastinators...

2010-04-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

We decided about a week ago to try taking advantage of the first time home buyers tax credit....which ends on Friday. Our poor Realtor!

Most of you know this, but here's my repetitive update anyway.

We liked a house, it was a "fixer-upper" and we were a day late and a dollar short. Well not a dollar short, in fact probably a dollar or two (thousand) more, but still literally about 1 day late. I would say it's not meant to be, but in all reality we totally waited too long to pull the trigger.

So, we met with a Realtor who is also in my networking group. (They're getting their moneys worth, however I'm spending way more than what I'm getting in return! One day someone will want to buy cabinets, right?) His name is Paul and he's awesome to work with, because that's his job, but he's still awesome. I like to pretend he's doing all this footwork because he likes us and wants to help, it eases the pain of thinking how much money he makes when the deal is all said and done. He spent the weekend with us looking at tons of houses. We have narrowed it down to three that we LOVE. They all have their own great qualities and the decision making is tough! We only have until Friday to get a deal signed to be able to use the tax credit....we are running out again tonight to take a look at them one more time and decide which one to make an offer on.

I'll keep everyone updated and if we don't end up just throwing the towel in, I will soon have pictures to post!

Cutest Little Ones!

2010-04-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

I miss these little ones SO much! Seriously, take a look at them, they are so stinkin' adorable!

http://dsperez.blogspot.com/

Invitations

2010-04-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to finally have invitations sorted out!
I joined a local networking group called Whatcom Young Professionals. We meet every Thursday morning at Woods Coffee, another local spot, and do a 'meet & greet' and introduce ourselves and our companies to the group. It's a good way to meet people and hopefully get business referrals. It's fun to miss a little work time to chat with people, especially since I hardly know anyone in Bellingham. Believe it or not, I'm a little shy when it comes to meeting new people....

Anyway, I met a girl named Kerri who makes custom stationery including wedding invitations, special events, parties, etc. I figured it couldn't hurt meeting with her to see what it all entailed. We set up a meeting at Woods Coffee, the same one we "network" at once a week. We started off looking through her portfolio at different invitation samples from basic to very intricate and gorgeous items. I found a couple different samples I was interested in and we moved on to colors and paper style. I was having a lot of fun thinking of the possibilities, but also afraid it was going to be out of my price range. She asked about the details of the wedding, what my colors were and what my dress looked like. I know she was trying to get information about what style and design would fit our venue/wedding/personalities, but it was so fun to have someone with an unbiased opinion to chat with for an hour. She also mentioned there were a few funky new fonts she wanted to try out and hasn't had the opportunity yet, so hopefully we will get to try one out! Anything to keep it casual and non-traditional!

I was pleasantly surprised after receiving the estimate options! We ended up going with such a fun casual invitation that is still unique. We haven't gone over the design part, but I hope she has a couple things in mind especially after seeing all the cool stuff she came up with on her website! I can now check invitations off my to-do list and move on to the next item without any worries!

You guys should take a look at her website to see a few of the awesome invitations.

www.kerriefendi.com is her websiste...

Happy Birthday Remington!

2010-04-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

* Happy Birthday *

to one of my favorite Littles!

Remington Marie Perez

Always has a huge grin on her face.

Loves Tom.

(Every time I talk to her she say, "Can I talk to Tom?")

Has the cutest stutter when she talks too fast.

Gorgeous eyes.

Can get you to do anything with that cute little personality!

Always happy.

Very thoughtful, especially for a child.

All in all, she is adorable and I love her!

(And I secretly hate that she's getting older!)

2010-04-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

IT ALL STARTED WHEN I TRIED CUTTING AN ONION WHILE TOM AND I WERE MAKING A LATE NIGHT SNACK....I KEPT TELLING HIM I DIDN'T NEED STITCHES AND IT WAS EMBARRASSING THAT WE WERE IN THE E.R. AND THEN MR DOCTOR PROVED ME WRONG....

IN THE E.R. HOLDING MY FINGER ABOVE MY HEART TO STOP THE BLEEDING.

TOM, NOT AMUSED. I GUESS THERE IS A REASON HE DOESN'T LET ME USE KNIVES.

OUR ER DOC WAS HILARIOUS. MADE THE ADVENTURE VERY ENTERTAINING. THE FIRST THING HE SAID WHEN HE SAT DOWN WAS, "YOU'LL BE FINE, I LEARNED HOW TO FIX FINGERS YESTERDAY!" LATER HE SAID, "I DON'T LIKE BLOOD SO I CLOSE MY EYES WHILE STITCHING PEOPLE UP."

I'M A FIRST TIME E.R. PATIENT! I'M SURE PEOPLE THOUGHT WE WERE CRAZY FOR TAKING PICS DURING THE PROCESS. I HAVE AN AWESOME WRAP AROUND MY FINGER! WE WERE THERE FOR 4.5 HOURS AND TOTALLY SLEEP DEPRIVED, BUT IT WAS FUN!

Adele

2010-04-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

As you all know

I love music.

If you haven't listened to Adele

you are missing out.

If you're daring and want to download a song

try one of my favorites...

"Right As Rain"

"Hometown Glory"

Muy Bueno...

2010-04-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Many yawns later, I made it.

No morning mocha.

Way to go will power....

It's Time

2010-04-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

Every weekend I say to myself (and usually to Tom as well), "Alright Self, Monday is the day I'm going to start my diet and exercise! I need to lose weight!" Then Monday rolls around with a tiresome start and my first stop before work is Woods Coffee for a 20 oz White Mocha. Hello calories! I do better at lunch with my 5" sandwich from Port o Subs, but it's not great because I love their mayo/mustard mix. Then by dinner I'm screwed because I'm exhausted from the day and usually end up eating out with Tom. We then end up at a local restaurant sharing nachos, which are unhealthy in every way, and polishing off a couple drinks at the same time. Again, hello calories!

So today, another morning passed where I didn't get up to go to the gym, instead laid there in bed thinking about it until I fell back asleep after setting the alarm for an hour later. Thinking nothing of it, I got up and ready for the day. Grabbed my 20 oz mocha on the way to work and added a fruit and nut oatmeal to the list because I was hungry. I'm already up to like 800 calories before 9 am...ugh. I get to work and open up my email to see pictures my soon to be father in law sent over this morning. First let me add, I don't feel fat, I don't think I look fat, and I don't think I am fat. I do know I'm bigger than I have ever been before due to lack of moving around during the day. I know I look bigger because I can't fit into my old jeans, I hate wearing fitted shirts because of the "love handles" and my chin is getting an extra friend below it. Soon people are going to say, "Marissa has more chins than a Chinese phone book!" No bueno! Ok, so back to this picture Tom's dad sent. I looked at it and wanted to scream! What happened to my body! This is the first time I've seen it in a full body picture that's not backed up leaning against something hiding my holy hips! See for yourself....(no I didn't have to pee, not sure why I'm holding myself in the pee-dance position!)

After discussing my issue/goal with Tom this is what we came up with.

If I lose 8 lbs by May 1st, I get a new pair of pants under $50.
If I lose 10 lbs by May 1st, I get a new pair of pants with no price limit.

So the goal is month by month because I feel that's more attainable than saying I want to be a certain weight in 5 months or whatever.

The first challenge....lunch with no soda! I LOVE Pepsi, so instead I'm going to try a ...dun dun dun... water!

Our Crafty Project

2010-04-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Tom and I decided to make picture frames for our entry way last weekend. I thought it would be a good way to save money, but I'm pretty sure it ended up being more expensive, either way it was fun. We started with printing off a few pictures at Costco from our family pictures we took last summer. The prints are inexpensive so we went with 11x14's. Then found the right size glass for the pictures. That's was actually the $$$ part, I should have shopped around for old frames at goodwill, but we were lazy so we went to Michaels and bought glass. Ouch. Then we went to Tom's work and dug through the scrap moulding pieces. (Luckily he is the sales manager of a moulding plant, so we walked right in and the scrap piles are heaping bins of goodies for crafters!)

Tom was my handy man for the day....he used his miter saw and cut all the necessary pieces for the frames. After they were glued we stained them dark to match our piano and dining room table.

This was the first finished frame. We did three of the same, but only hung two up on one wall. I finally got to use my Cricut for something fun too. We found a cute quote and cut out the vinyl letters in brown and stuck them to the wall! Big thanks to Tom for hanging the frames and sticking on the letters! I love our entryway!

And how appropriate is the quote!? "Home is a place where you come in out of the rain" literally since it's always raining in Washington!

The Fun Part

2010-03-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

As you all know, I've been stressed to the max with wedding 'stuff' and trying to figure it all out. Last Friday Tom's cousins came over for dinner and drinks. Christopher's fiancé, Courtney, gave me very valuable advice for wedding planning. She said that at first she was stressed to, but her mom had her make a list of the items that needed to be done and split them into two columns. The first column is basically tasks that have to be done. The second column consists of fun things. During the planning process you get to do one "fun" thing for every "boring" thing. Of course I decided to reverse it. So last Saturday I went to Cicada Bridal which was the shop I liked best from my dress shopping experiences.

Tangent: So I went dress shopping with my bridesmaids, MIL, and a couple other girls. Every place I called I said, "Hey, I want to spend under $1000 on my dress, so what's the price range for your gowns? I don't want to waste anyone's time by trying on dresses I don't want to spend the money on." Every place I called had the same response promising there were TONS of dresses in my price range. The first place we went to was Cicada Bridal, they make custom gowns on site, but also have a standard line that is less expensive than the custom dresses. The lady who helped me was awesome and I loved their dress styles. I tried on a handful of dresses and fell in love with a couple of them. The second place we went was I-Do Bridal which was the worst dress shopping experience so far. First it was so crowded we could barely walk. They didn't have places for the girls to sit, and their dresses were disgusting. Most of them had stains (which you have to clean after purchasing) and they were all the same style, which was not the look I was going for. The sales person kept putting me in dresses I didn't want to try on. I kept saying things like, "I don't like poofy dresses...I don't want it big on the bottom....I don't want jewels at all....no not even a little bit." Everything looked like a prom dress, they were gross. Seriously this girl brought me the same dress, different jewels, each time. Ugh. After about 20 minutes I said, "I don't think this is going to work out." and got dressed as fast as possible. The third place was La Belle Elaines. Ha, I knew when we walked in that I couldn't afford it. This was the place that the girl said their dresses were $3,000-$8,000, so I told her I was planning to spend under $1,000 and she said, "Oh we have tons of dresses under $1,000 it's totally worth coming in." Whelp, she lied, kinda. They had tons of gorgeous dresses that were extremely expensive, they had a cool walkway that was lit underneath so you looked amazing in the dresses. Then they had this section that was dresses from the last few seasons, used to be display dresses, were dirty from trying on, and were all size 10's. Needless to say, none of them fit and I had no intention of buying a basically used gown, even with a small budget.

This isn't the dress I chose, but for some reason it's the only picture I was smiling in...and I like posts with pics...so here's one for you!

So I went into Cicada and the lady said, "Marissa I'm so glad you came back in, this material came in last week and it made me think of you!" She had it pulled before I even got there and of course I fell in love with it. My dress is going to be raw silk (mmm...best feeling ever....) and it's FUN on the bottom. It goes along with the casual feeling we are going for and even though it was 3X what I wanted to spend, I love it! Oh yeah, did I mention it's custom...meaning I will be the FIRST person to not only wear the dress, but the first person to have this exact material combination, and it's going to be made to fit me and only me! So that's pretty exciting and it totally has turned me into Bridezilla!

So I'm checking off a fun item from my list!

2010-03-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here's my not so funny story.

Marissa measures a cabinet job for a remodel.
Customer beats Marissa up on price until it's to her satisfaction.
Customer needs to order right now.
Customer's dad promises no walls will change and window will stay in the same spot.
Marissa orders cabinets.
Cabinets arrive.
Marissa sets up cabinet delivery.
Marissa walks in to check on job to find the installer ruining everything.
Installer has toe kick on wrong.
Marissa explains the toe kick is 4 1/2" tall just like every other stinkin' cabinet.
Installer has blind corner in wrong position.
Marissa explains it has to be pulled & he has to make sure the fill is large enough to clear the stove.
Installer asks what the wood pieces are for.
Marissa explains they are crown moulding for the tops of the cabinets.
Marissa gets into her car to cry because installer is an idiot.

Weeks go by. Job should have been installed weeks ago.

Marissa checks on job.
Installer left his openings for dishwasher and range almost 1" too wide.
Customer ordered a larger window than the original.
Those two added up caused the entire wall to be off.
1.75" reveal on one side. 3.5" reveal on the other side.
Beautiful cabinets look like crap.
Customer wants Marissa to give discount or order new cabinet.
Marissa wants to punch installer in the face.
Marissa will not be giving any discount.
Marissa will not be recommending installer to anyone ever.
Marissa's boss is calling customer in the morning to explain.
Marissa is frazzled and wishes people were more competent.

2010-03-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

I read this article on msn today and it cracked me up. This was Tom for the past three years until he finally broke down and proposed....with what I would call a substantial rock. (Smile!) Really though, he brought up all three points that this guy did in his email to Prudence. So funny.

Dear Prudence,I am very much in love with my girlfriend of four years and want to spend my life with her. There is one thing preventing me from popping the question: the diamond ring. My girlfriend is not overly superficial but has made it clear that she needs a "moderately good-sized ring." I am young, in graduate school, and have no money. I would have to take out a loan to buy her what she desires. In the long term, money won't be the issue, so my objections to buying an engagement ring are mostly philosophical: 1) Buying a diamond ring seems like buying a woman. 2) If we are equal partners, what is she buying me? 3) Diamonds fuel conflict around the world. 4) They are expensive yet inherently worthless. I have told her how I feel, and she sees my point but has indicated a ring is necessary. I can't imagine proposing to her without one. Should I wait to propose and in the meantime try to change her mind, just buy her a stupid ring already, or take this impasse as an indicator of future conflict and move on with my life? (I don't know if I could do the last one.)

—Ringless

Dear Ringless,

I hope your graduate studies are in something more remunerative than philosophy, not only so you can eventually buy your girl a ring, but because philosophy doesn't seem to be your strength. Let me take your objections one by one: 1) Oh, come on. 2) Oh, come on. 3) There are "conflict-free" diamonds. 4) Many valuable things are inherently worthless. But despite my objections to your objections, in general I agree with you. (As I would, since I don't have, and didn't want, an engagement ring.) I find it ludicrous to consider going into debt to buy a piece of jewelry. If you can't painlessly write a check for a ring, you can't afford it. And I find it distasteful to think that a woman who wants to marry her boyfriend wouldn't consider herself engaged unless he shows up with a substantial rock. If you've been together for four years, and are ready to be married, then you both should be ecstatic to take that step, even if it means she has to have a naked ring finger for a while. Propose to her and tell her that you're hoping the two of you will build a happy, even prosperous, life together and that when you're more financially secure, you will happily get her a ring she will enjoy. I agree with you that it seems nutty to break up over your "philosophic" objections to a ring. And I hope she's not so "overly superficial" that she would refuse your proposal because it lacks sufficient carats.

-Prudie

The Knot causing knots in my stomach

2010-03-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

I just received an email from theknot.com and the title read, "YOUR WEDDING IS ONLY 6 MONTHS AWAY" on the top of the page.

I usually welcome their friendly reminders of what needs to be done next. "This month you need to: followed by a list of things that need to be done." Since our wedding isn't going to be the traditional big fancy event, I don't have to do all the things The Knot reminds me to do. When I saw this email today, I had to open my google calendar to count down the months. Yesterday was the 6 month mark!

Why the knot in my stomach? Well, we have the following things done.
* Photographer
* Venue
* DJ
And...that's it....I have so much work to do and ONLY 6 months to do it!

Last weekend my sister and sister-in-law came up from Idaho Falls to help with wedding planning. It was so fun to see them and I realized how much I miss them. As for wedding 'stuff' I now feel more stressed than ever. My awesome sister-in-law was asking all the tough questions. I have a good idea of what I want, but a not so good idea of how to get there.

Last night Tom and I went to Bob's Burger & Brew for dinner and a St. Paddy's Day drink and had the following conversation/argument.
Tom, "What's going on, I feel like your just out on everything."
Me, "Well I kind of am. I'm so stressed with all the wedding stuff."
Tom, "What are you stressed about?"
Me, "We haven't paid for anything. We have two $25 deposits down and that's it. So what happens on September 18th? We just pull $9,000 out of who knows where and pay the balances on everything?"
Tom, "I'll pay for the venue tomorrow, will that make you feel better?"
(At this point our tones were, well, not as pleasant as the beginning of the conversation.)
Me, "No, I'm stressed and we have so much to do and I can't do it by myself."
(Best part...are you ready...?)
Tom, "Well I don't know what you want me to do, it's like you want me to help plan everything!"
(I kid you not ladies, he said those exact words!)
Me, "I do want your help!" throwing my arms up in the air for emphasis.

Seriously, he wants me to do all the planning? Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I give him a list of 'To-Do's' that will be easy and also take all the responsibility off my plate? Or do I just plan everything and do whatever I want?

I suggested going to Hawaii or somewhere tropical for the wedding and whoever can afford to make it, makes it. He didn't like the idea at all. He said, "Neither of our parents would be able to do that." So my response was, "Who cares." As you can probably imagine, the rest of our night was not so great.

My plan tonight is to complete "Save The Dates" that I felt so inclined to make myself when I was feeling 'crafty', narrow down the guest list, make a seating chart while watching tv and then go to sleep! The ultimate goal is to keep the stress level down....so I'm kicking Tom out for the night. He is going to watch the Husky basketball game while I work...on our wedding...go figure.

This is a blog post cheat.

2010-03-09T17:15:00.000-08:00

It's not really a post...sorry...

On Friday my sister-in-law Julie and my sister Julisa will be in town. They are flying into Seattle late afternoon and will be here gracing me with their presence ALL weekend! I seriously can't wait! I used to see them all the time when we lived in Salt Lake because a 3 hour drive was simple and cheap!

So pretty much, I get to spend time with two of the people that contribute to overage charges on my phone bill! (What can I say, I like to talk on the phone!) The one thing that would make it complete is if Steph and my mom were coming too!

That's all I have today...lame blog post, I know...but I can't wait!

Whoop!

Seattle Underground

2010-03-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Tom had a customer in town this weekend, so we got to be tourists in our own city (can I call Seattle "my city"....? Probably not, but I'm going to anyway because it's more exciting than calling it "The place we go to every weekend when we want something to do, not there's anything wrong with Bellingham because we love it too.")

Anyway, we took Don, the customer, to the Seattle Underground which is a 90 minute tour of...dun dun dun...underground Seattle. (I'm sure you got it already from the name.) In 1889 there was a huge fire and to make a long story short, they basically built a new city on top of the old because it was easier than remodeling all the old buildings. The history was fun to listen to, they tempted me to buy a book about it, but I didn't since it would probably sit on my nightstand for months while I watched my favorite shows on hulu...darn that tv!

I can't post all my pictures because I'm making my family take the tour when they are in town for the wedding later on in the year, but here are a few sneak peaks!

Old toilet and sink from before the Seattle fire!

We were standing in the first level of the building that was covered up later when they built a new city on top of the old!

Can you believe the original sidewalks looked this good? Goes to show the quality of work 'back in the day', seriously those grout lines are amazing for being so old!

Isn't this gorgeous! An original door from the late 1800's! I wanted to take it home!