Absence makes the heart grow fonder-

Well all I can say for myself is that my emotions have been up and done and the voices in my head have been very loud so I had gone into seclusion...
But I am crawling back out and that is good. I have a new focus and am ready to put all that behind me.

We started our vacation out by going to see this:
We loved it and 3-D at Cinetopia is awesome. We took in the flick in the living room theater-the only way to go...love Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's creativity. Hey, we even bought the first season of 21 Jumpstreet just because we used to love watching it.
Then our little getaway in Bend...when you travel with a photographer on a nice day and he says can we take the scenic route? Beware-a three hour trip can turn into 7 hours! It was a lovely day though and I had bought a gizmo to play the ipod in the car so whatever. And we found some stuff for photos that made Gary's best friend jealous he wasn't along so that was great. Lots of sleeping in a great room and one of us enjoyed tremendous breakfasts made to order! We really did have a grand relaxing time.

Then the day after we got home, after filling the car with gas the transmission gave out. At least it waited until we got home...so the next few days were spent hunting down transportation and taking out a loan from the bank which we have never done and are very apprehensive about but what are you going to do when the car stops in the middle of the road??!!We ended up with a 2007 Kia Spectra-never had something so new with so little miles...There has been some family stuff that I won't go into and Gary's step-dad died so that put a bit of a damper on things.

But there have been good things happening too...we found Gabriele's wedding dress! This isn't really it, I had to alter the image in case you know who popped on here, although I don't think he will. She told Nick she got a turtleneck dress so I made hers into one...
Maybe pink wedding dresses will be the wave of the future...NOT!

Oh and our Friday's with Nick and Gabriele continue. We have fun whatever we do. One night we decided to drive to Portland. No real destination but then I came up with an idea and luckily the Jeep is noisy because they didn't hear us discussing where to go. We headed over by Stars antigues and pulled up outside this bar. We told them we had heard it was a great place and they just happened to be playing some Beatle's music so we said that was why we had come. They had the most confused looks on their faces-it was great...
Actually Papa Haydn's was right next door! Here are the treats we got-

I think this was called a bourbon ball-
White Chocolate Mint Torte White chocolate-mint mousse over dense chocolate cake, wrapped in almond joconde cake and bordered with espresso ganache.
Boccone Dolce
Swiss meringues drizzled with semi-sweet chocolate, layered with fresh fruit and chantilly cream.
and with that sweet thought in your mind,
I'll end this post...

Remembering...

29 years ago, this moment, we were eating our rehearsal dinner. Well, we should have been-don't remember if we had one now that I think about it. Maybe Gary will let us know. (although we all know how often he reads my blog! May be more often now that it posts to facebook...)

I made the invites-at least the master print. I took calligraphy at Clark at the time and thought how much better it would be to fashion my own-the creativity goes way back folks!!

The next picture is our wedding party. I made the flowergirl's dress and the maid of honor made hers. The bouquet I have is a purse Gary's mom carried at her wedding and a corsage I wore when we left town. I was just shy of 21 years and Gary was almost 27. Do you notice the ruffle shirts and the big bowties and the satin trimmed jackets?

oh yeah baby!

I don't know why nobody was sitting in the aisle seats-that is where I always want to be at weddings.

so happy...

This is our "present opening" day. See the pile of wrap next to Gary? This gift...I returned it, why have one when I could use a knife? (now I have 2 different sizes of food processors)
This photo...just wanted to show the apartment. Dig that wall decor?! Stretched fabric on frame. Oh and it was 1981, brown and gold were where it was at...I don't remember the green carpet at all. I do believe that was my grandma's old couch.

Love Gary's long side burns!

We are heading to Bend tomorrow for 3 nights to celebrate and relax...the cameras are being packed so I'll tell ya all about it next week~

2 months gone...

2010 and two months have already flown by. It may just be that I am getting older, but it seems time is going by very fast!

Are you wondering what I have been up to the last few weeks? No...
Well I have been reading some fun novels, just to pass the time. We have actually had some clients in too. This is very different than past years and some of that is due to us taking December off...thanks Gary. I have been doing the spring yard round up- trimming things that didn't get chopped in the fall. Pulling weeds and putting down weed inhibitor. Gotta stay on top of it all. Amy and I also made a bunch of cards for the soldiers, it was fun to be crafting again. I went today to buy some extra tape that was on sale and got lured over to the paper section...if you have seen my supplies at home you would know I need to stay away from that particular section in a craft store. But I did find the greatest pad of bright, colorful 2 sided paper and 25o envelopes for $10. Need to get some more cards made I think!

Oh, I made this last week,
Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse-serves 6

2 t. instant espresso dissolved in 2 T. hot water.
Add 1/2 C. Nutella and dash of Kahlua.
Whip 1 1/2 C. whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in Nutella mixture.
Enjoy!!

I decided to paint the bathroom. I had washed some sections of the walls so many times I had worn away paint! So I used the same color we have in the hall and then taking inspiration from some wall vinyls I saw online, painted a huge dandelion puff. I think it looks great and less "fussy".
Please remember that although I am married to a photographer, my skills aren't as honed and you just get, honest to goodness, what I see.

We have a corporate shoot tomorrow and then heading to Cinetopia to see "Alice in Wonderland." I am a big fan of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp...

We are heading to an art show in Forest Grove on Saturday with Amy then off to Bend for our anniversary trip on Sunday-Wednesday. So much fun to look forward to!!!