Wow, things have been crazy lately! Not only is planning a wedding from thousands of miles away tough but simultaneously planning a reception in January is hectic! I thought wedding planning would be super easy, low stress and fun, but instead it's a lot of trying to figure out how to make things work logistically while still wanting everything you'd get with a wedding here in the states. I've had to throw out a lot of ideas and do a lot of DIY projects. That part I don't mind!

We've finally found an affordable place to have a reception here in Albany. I haven't gone to see it in person but it looks really nice from the pictures! Here's the link to the Albany Wheel House. It's a new building down by the river with really pretty views of the Willamette.

In other news, we're just now figuring out and starting to put deposits down on things like a rental house, hotels, rental cars, beach dinner etc. I'm still working on a boat - that's my next hurdle!

Can't wait until November 9th! It's going to be beautiful and amazing with some of the people we love!

Kara

Passport Update

I was just told today we need to get the full passport book, which is good for 10 years. The passport card will not do.

"Visitors from the US are reminded that effective Janaury 8, 2007, all US citizens visiting the Caribbean must be in possession of a valid US passport."

I know it's more expensive, which stinks, but hey we'll just have to use our passports again in a few years! I'm thinking Fiji, The Maldives, Italy....

Here's the website for Turks and Caicos Tourism . They list the different airlines flying out of various East coast cities and their flight times. Ugh...3 hours from New York? Why can't we just live there! ;)

And just a little image to get those of you who need a little pep in their step excited....

One of the best beaches in the world! I mean seriously, how amazing is that water!?!


Please feel free to email or message me for more info!

Kara

Travel Dates

Colin and I have decided to tentatively travel to Turks and Caicos on November 5th/6th to Saturday November 16th. Everyone is welcome to stay as many days as they'd like! Stay a few days or the whole time! We're excited to vacation with our family and friends and aren't worried about "needing time to ourselves." We'd rather spend the time together with all of you! Ticket prices haven't been moving, but I'm keeping an eye on them so I'll keep you all updated! :)

Update: Photographer and Reception

We're so excited to book Stacy Jacobsen as our photographer! She does amazing work and I'm really excited to fly her down to photograph our wedding! She's well known in the Seattle area and has done a lot of my friends pictures which have all turned out amazing.

I'm also in talks with Bay Bistro to host our small reception after the ceremony. Word on the street is they have some of the best food on the island. Dinner on the beach and bonfire anyone? Yes please! Bay Bistro is located at the hotel next to The Sands which is the hotel we're staying at. So, we can get liquored up and still be safe. :)

We're really excited that planning is finally coming together a little. I feel so much less stressed now that some of the big things are being taken care of! If any friends or family has not yet let us know they're interested in coming, please contact me ASAP. I can get you more information!

Date Offially Set!

We set a date!!! And this one will NOT be getting changed. :) We will be getting married in Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean on November 9th, 2013! We are elated and so excited to share our special day with friends and family.

If you are interested in coming, please let me know sooner than later. We are looking into getting room blocks to make our stay at The Sands on Grace Bay less expensive. Rooms are around $200/night and airfare will be most likely around $800. I know it's spendy so of course we don't expect anyone to be there. But if you have the urge to plan an amazing trip and want to come, you're so very welcome!!! :)

More to come in the next few weeks...

Kara

We're gettin' hitched!

As Colin and I plan our wedding, we kindly ask that all family and friends check back on our blog regularly for any new information. I'll be updating regularly on hotel and airfare prices, attractions and any information we think you'll need to have the most amazing vacation ever! 

We can't wait for you to join us and are so thankful for the amazing people coming along on our journey! 

Kara and Colin

Hawaii

FYI...this is a PICTURE OVERLOAD post! They are not in any particular order or organized very well, but here they are! We had a fabulous time in Hawaii with Colin's family (minus a sister). It was beautiful weather and the sights were spectacular. We saw tons of whales and dolphins jumping in the ocean and went to some spectacular beaches. It was fun getting to see Brayden boogie board and develop through the week. He went from being cautious to freaking us all out by playing in the waves at the beach. And from not wanting to swim without his floaties to being a little daredevil and diving without any floatation devices and even attempting a back flip off the side of the pool.

We even got to kayak out to Captain Cook's Monument (British territory) and go snorkeling. That was the highlight of the trip for me. What a great experience to see all the fish and coral under water. We even found a fresh coconut and got to see a group of dolphins in the middle of the bay.

Colin and I at Hugos on the Rocks.

This was the first full day in Hawaii and by far the funnest day at the beach. The waves weren't too big. We must have stayed in the water for several hours.

Colin and I snorkeling at the monument with the underwater camera Laura and Justin let us borrow.

I had to post this picture. We tried to do an underwater picture in the pool and I was having a hard time not blowing air out of my nose. Oh and note: I can't open my eyes because of my contacts. :)

Last night in Hawaii

Of course, a couple of self shots.

About to leave the hotel to go to the airport. Now that airport was another story...stay tuned.

Dressed up to go out...to walmart. ;)

Brayden wanted to be in the picture too!

This was the first beach we stumbled on. It was GORGEOUS! This was a replica of a historical Hawaiian hut. Made for some pretty pictures!

You can see the hut in the background. This is looking at the lagoon and beach, which the island in the background. We saw a couple turtles there which was really neat. The water was super pretty too.

Not the cutest picture, but us with Brayden.

Colin and Brayden in the water.

After I went to bed one night, Colin and Jason decided to sneak into the hot tub, which was closed for the night. On the way out there, they saw this owl smack into a glass door a couple of times. Poor guy! They ended up helping him out into the open (and taking some pictures in the mean time).

Fresh off the airplane.

Last night in Hawaii - at the pool.


So Saturday we go to get on the airplane and last minute, we find out our flight is canceled. The next flight? Sunday at 1pm. So frustrated. That put us home to Albany about 2:30am, with Colin and I having to work at 8am. I called United Air and got nowhere with them. They refused to pay for hotel, taxi, everything. Oh, but they DID give us a $75 credit for a future flight. Whoopie! Anyway, Colin's dad called right after me and thankfully was able to make them give us a 10:30pm red eye flight on another airline. We get to the airport about an hour and a half early. PLENTY of time. Come to find out United hadn't paid American Airlines for our ticket. Which meant we couldn't get on until they got payment. An hour and a half later, we finally got confirmation and had to literally run to the plane. Everyone was waiting for us, but at least we got on the plane! We were home the next day to Albany at 12 noon. And we've been recovering ever since!

A new addition...

This is Bubba. He's a crazy little puppy that loves to play and snuggle. And by snuggle, I mean with anyone and everyone he can. I often find him spooning with Rissy or literally laying on top of her. He's a little over a year old and is a very good dog for being so young. He's a non aggressive, kid loving, fence hopping goofball. Colin and I have been babysitting him for the last couple months, which has turned into an adoption. More so because I couldn't allow this sweet little guy to be sent to a shelter. Being a pit bull mix, I didn't think there would be many people who would give him a chance, and to think of him sitting in a cage all day made me super sad. We weren't looking for another dog, but he's beginning to fit in nicely with Duke and Rissy. A little training - a lot of love is all it takes!

Even though he's a sweet dog, I was a little nervous about the Pit in him. The vet assured me he'll be a product of his environment and wasn't worried one bit. Bubba grew up with a little girl who is now 2. She crawls all over him which proves to us that Bubba is great with kids. We take him on runs and let him off leash. He's learning to obey our voices (aka, not run away). He's doing great so far. Today we met up with another dog who Bubba wanted to play with. We're confident he'll be a good dog for our family. Rissy absolutely loves him and Duke is warming up to his playfulness. :)

2011 Christmas tree hunting!

Yesterday Colin and I trekked up to the mountains with our friends Jake and Jaya, and their little girl Addison. We wanted to try out the Willamette National Forrest past Sweet Home to get a Christmas tree and do a little gun shooting. The last two years, we've gone to the Siuslaw Forrest (west of us) and got pretty Charlie Brownish trees, so we decided to head out the other way and try our luck!

We didn't think we'd find snow because the first hour or so we were searching there was non. We went a little further up and all of a sudden there was a TON of snow. About 12 inches in some areas! This was Addison's first time playing in snow and she was so cute, until she got cold. Then she was done with it. :) We also saw some cougar prints in the snow which kind of scared me a little. Below is a picture of it next to Colin's giant hand. Yikes! And of course Colin left his gun in the car. :/

We ended up getting a tall, skinny Noble Fir. Really pretty, smells great and fits perfect in the only nook we could find to put it. All in all, a fun tradition we've started! Happy holidays all!

(Are you happy Aunt Gale??? ;)

Welcome Baby Van!

Welcome to the world baby Van Gryffin Callon! Mr. Van was born September 7th. I drove up to Tacoma to visit him on the 8th - and what a cutie! Such a sweet boy. Eat. Sleep. Poop. Repeat. Love him! Keana, Josh and Joey are all doing great and loving having a new baby at home! I loved the time I got to spend with all 4 of them. Just wish I lived closer to spend more time together!

Beach boys and girls!

Ok, so I've been told my blogging has gotten "boring" (*cough* Keana), so I'm updating it about our trip today. It's funny how everyone posts about their kids, and I love reading those posts because they are all so adorable. When I post, I usually post about my fur babies and I sometimes wonder how silly I look! But my dogs are cute and I like to look back on my posts to see how they've grown.

I have lots of random pictures, mostly of the dogs, from our day trip to Waldport. Colin was a trooper and drove the hour and a half just to spend a couple hours with me and the pups playing on the beach. It was cloudy in Albany all day, but Waldport was so amazingly beautiful! Sunny, warmish and the smell of the saltwater gets me every time! I'm definitely going to need a beach house one day. :)

Before we ran them for 2 hours!

Apparently Mr. Sleepy found a nice spot on the sand. :)

Me and Duke's self pic. I was trying to hold him for a good 10 mins while a couple passed by with their dog since Duke has a naughty gene, or two, and barks at anyone and everyone.


BFF's!

Looks like fog, but it was pretty warm and steam was coming off the hot sand.

Had to get an action shot of both dogs!

Love this picture of Colin and be dogs!

This was all Rissy wanted to do - run in and out of the saltwater - take a swim - splash some more...

AND...he hates me for making him pose with the ball. hahaha

Mr. Scruffy after a long, hard day playing.

If Duke has to pose with the ball, so does Riss. I think right about this time Colin told me to stop taking pictures because I was going to ruin their eyes...with no flash. ;)

Birthday Boy's Bungee!

For Colin's birthday, we went camping with some friends. We headed up to Yale Lake Thursday night and camped out until we could find the perfect camping spot the next day. We boated back to a remote site - it was amazing! We were able to stay until Monday since we didn't have to work due to the 4th of July. So fun! On Saturday, Colin got his birthday surprise I'd be planning for the last 3 months. He was obviously nervous but excited too!

Here's the before picture.

The "right" before picture...

And the after "I'm glad I didn't die" picture.

Did I mention this is the tallest bungee bridge in the US? AND he got 2 jumps? Yep. Poor guy. He loved it though and it even made me want to try it...well, almost. The area was beautiful and some friends got to see Colin jump also. Not sure what I'm going to have to plan for his 30th b-day next year!

Below: Not sure why we all felt the need to scream, but it was scary to watch! ;) And no he didn't hit the bridge and yes he still has both balls! lol