Wow - What a week!

This week was pretty busy for Colin and I. He's been having an increasing number of patients and I've been working at a video relay center being the "middle man" interpreting between hearing people using a telephone and deaf people using a video phone (think web cam). The people there are great and it gives me some work during the summer when freelance is few and far between!

Last Friday Colin and I took the dogs to the river to swim and play. When we were ready to leave, they were soaking wet so they rode in the pick up part of the truck. Duke isn't used to this and was on the side of the truck too much and fell out while we were driving about 15 mph. I saw it happened and completely lost it. (If any of you know me, Duke is my baby and I think I'd just die if anything happened to him!) He was okay, but got scuffed up pretty badly. After seeing that he was bleeding all over me we noticed a big gash under his chin. We took him to the vet's office at 8pm and thankfully our neighbor (the vet) was just about to leave. He examined Duke and found that he did need stitches. So, 5 stitches, antibiotics, and a couple numbing shots later, we were headed home. Amazingly, he doesn't seem to be sore and his stitches are in a spot that he can't lick/scratch at. Poor guy. Here are a couple pics:




Despite the trauma of this all, (well, probably more to me than Duke really.) we headed over Saturday morning to Waldport, OR to go crabbing with some friends/family. The dogs came along too. We crabbed Saturday and got 7 total. This morning we packed up and headed to the beach to let the dogs de-energize before the car ride home. I was so excited to get this picture of them:



The whole ride to Waldport Rissy couldn't relax. She was WAY too excited, so I whipped out the camera and took a picture of us.


Next weekend we're going camping for a night just the two of us and the dogs. Then, the weekend after Labor Day we're off to Eastern Washington to go white water rafting with my parents and Laura/Justin. We're super excited about that! I'll be sure to take lots of picture and post them. :)

Our little Nepali spunkster...

If anyone wants to read more about Gita, read my sister's blog. It is very descriptive and gives great perspective on Gita's past and present life. And how cute does she look in her new dress?!? And with her sticker book? AND with her photo album? Ok, I guess she's just cute in general. :)

Our little Gita...

I wanted to share this super sweet picture of "our little Gita". That is what our family has officially been calling her. When Laura went to Nepal last month, she met and fell in love with this cute little girl. Her zest for life and spunkiness won over her heart, which in turn has won over ours. When Laura met Gita, she had 2 changes of previously worn (by other kids) clothes like most the other girls. This is the brand new dress Gita picked out to start the new school year off. To me, it's amazing how a $4-$6 (American money) dress can make a little girl so giddy. It's unbelievable the things we take for granted.

A little background on Gita - she was rescued from slavery from another family she had been working for. Her parents sold her into slavery to be able to afford a better life. After selling Gita, her parents then moved to India with Gita's brother who is worth more because he is male. Two weeks prior to Laura arriving in Nepal, Gita had been rescued by the place Laura volunteered at. She and other slaves are known as the Kamlari girls - aka - the slave girls. Once rescued, Gita lived at an orphanage in Narti which provided her with a roof over her head, food and an education. Gita has recently been moved to Kathmandu 12 hours away, to be given better schooling and living conditions.

I'll keep everyone updated on this beautiful little girl! We get updates through the Volunteer Nepal owner Michael from time to time so I'll be sure to pass it on! Please keep your fingers crossed that Gita transitions to Kathmandu well and enjoys living there.

Let them eat Cake!

I Just wanted to share a couple of the cakes I've done recently. Colin's family friend Kelly taught me how to lay fondant last month so I could make a cake for my mom's 50th birthday party. She's so skilled and I was so lucky to have her help me out! Thanks Kelly! The other cake was done for a friends anniversary get together. Those Dahlias were fresh from my flower garden!

Mom's Cake

Anniversary Cake

4 years and counting...

Happy 4 years of dating to my lovely boyfriend and I. :) We started dating 4 years from today after meeting in the tiny town of Sweet Home Oregon. I'm very lucky to have such a supportive, smart and wonderful boyfriend to help me through this thing I call life. I'm so fortunate to have someone who shares the same beliefs as I do and keeps me in check when I seem to go overboard. Love you babe and here's to many more years!

Forget the proposal, it's PARTY time!

Aside from all the hoopla with Laura & Justin getting engaged, we just HAD to party it up for Laura's 28th birthday! Here are some of the pics that were taken that night...

What's a post without a self picture?

My high school friend danny and I (with my pimp cup)

Dad, L's future Mother-in-Law, TJ

Beer margaritas anyone?

Dude, where'd Lee go? Simmer down there Mrs. Handy!

L's future sister in law Jayme

Lee & Justin

L's future sister & brother-in-law
Dani & Jared (and a sleeping baby Evie too!)

Jen & I

Laura & Lee

The shirt Dani got her for her b-day, says "We love auntie Laura"
from Ky, Chance & Evie

Happy 28th Birthday Laura!

Perfect way to top off a great day...

Last Friday (July 17th, my sister's b-day) I was invited by Laura and Justin to go to a fundraiser for Point Defiance Zoo called Zoobilee. Basically you get all fancied up and go to the zoo, eat, drink and be merry. It was such a good celebration...especially because Justin finally, after 4 1/2 years, asked Laura to marry her. If you want to read how he did it, go to her blog here.

Before getting into the limo.

L & J with the "Proposal Tree"

Ok, so Mrs. Handy #1 has a ring, Ms. Handy #2 has a ring...
I'm feeling a bit left out. :)

Justin's best man Brian, Justin, Laura & I

Apparently people like to walk in front of us as we take pictures,
then get mad at us. haha

Had to rest the feet and call the boyfriend.

And this is what happens when there is unlimited alcohol,
a designated driver, and a nerve racking proposal over with.
Did you notice the bling on the left ring finger?

Update on Laura's Nepal trip...

Just wanted to update some of you on my sister's trip to Nepal. She will be coming home this Wednesday after a month in Kathmandu and Narti. From the few emails, updates from Justin and her blog, she has had a great time but to see the countries poverty is a bit unbearable. Their culture is completely different from ours and the views on women are especially different.

Laura worked in an orphanage for a couple weeks with girls who have been in slavery and abused. Most of them have scars from being beaten during their time in slavery. Thankfully, they were rescued and now live in the orphanage where they receive care and schooling. They have few possessions and often can't afford the luxuries we have here including fruit, meat and clothes. Most of their meals consist of rice and curry vegetables.

One of the reason's I'm writing this is because my mom and I were just on the phone talking about possibilities for collecting clean, undamaged, used or new clothing to send to these orphanages. If any of you do have items you can donate, I'd love to start collecting them so we can ship them to these little girls who have little to nothing. (ANY sizes, anything you might give to a thrift shop or any of your children's/niece's/nephew's outgrown clothing would be really fabulous.) To me, it puts a new perspective on going out and buying a $60 pair of jeans when it is equal to 4,620 rupees. To give you an idea: a coke is 15 rupees, a skirt is about 400 rupees ($5.20) and a nice meal might cost 77 rupees ($1). It makes me realize how frivolous our culture is and how such a small amount can make a huge difference. Completely eye opening.

If you want to see more about Laura's trip, you can go to her blog at: Laura's Nepal Blog

If anyone has any clothes or contributions to donate, please email me at KaraHandy@gmail.com

I think together we can help makes the lives of these sweet girls a little more happy. Please wish my sister a safe travel home and I'll post more when I have more information to share on her trip!

4th of July

This 4th of July we were lucky enough to have our good friends Trent and Tiffani come to Albany from Portland with their almost 16 month old daughter Madison. Colin went to school with Trent and Tiffani and I became good friends during that time. It's amazing seeing Madison now that she is so big, because we were at the hospital the day she was born. Seems like just yesterday!

We had a small BBQ which included Colin's parents. It was a nice and relaxing day...and super hot too! I think it was in the mid 90's. Madison was even brave enough to try out the kiddie pool. Well, kind of. Lets just say she got used to the idea after Trent jumped in with her. Later that night we headed down to a park in Albany and watched the fireworks show.

Here are a few pics from the day...

Madison is SO happy! Barely a peep from her all day!
How stinkin' cute is she??? I personally think she looks like the Gerber baby.

And she's just learned how to give kisses!

Did I mention Tiff's almost 7 months pregnant with her 2nd?
A little boy this time! How amazing does she look?

Oh I just love how squishy she is!

Here you go Katie!!! Finally snapped one of her big belly.
If that's what you want to call it! :)

Let's just say Madison didn't exactly love the idea of the kiddie pool.
We had to fill it with warmer water so she'd sit in it.

Happy Birthday Colin!

7.2.09


Happy 27th Birthday to my wonderful, smart, hansom boyfriend Colin! He's certainly accomplished a lot in his 27 years of life including getting his BS & Doctor of Chiropractic (DC), buying his first house and getting the chocolate lab he's always dreamed of! (And girlfriend too...right?) :) I know he will have a great birthday with a BBQ at his parents and a couple of softball games in the evening...and I'm sure he'll find a way to squeeze in a few beers in the meantime! Happy Birthday Colin...I love you!

Peace Out!

As Colin's 2 year old nephew would say, "Peace Out"! We're on our way to camp on the Potholes sand dunes tomorrow through Sunday. We can't wait to see the puppies play and for Rissy to swim...hopefully! And I personally can't wait for Colin to get to experience this with my family. (Our tradition since I was a baby). I'll post pics next week!

A dollar here, a fish there...all in a days work.

Last Sunday Colin and I headed up to Detroit Lake and a nearby river to go fishing with Granny, Gramps and Colin's cousin Tarren. It was about an hour or so away and had really beautiful scenery! On the way up to the Lake Granny made a deal that the first person to catch a fish, and the person to catch the biggest fish would get a dollar each. First we headed to the River and fished for awhile. Guess who caught the first fish??? Muah! Guess I just got myself a dollar! Guess who broke their fishing pole first? Colin! The darn thing just snapped right off at the end!

The scenery was really beautiful around Detroit Lake. It's about 45 minutes east of Salem and is a huge lake! Sunday was free fishing day where you didn't need a licence to fish so we were just hoping to get a few to take home. I had to take this picture below because Colin just LOVES to get his picture taken! He always begs me to whip out the camera! :)

Gramps and Tarren tried to figure out where those fish were but there didn't seem to be much in the river! And poor Tarren slipped in the river a little and got one of his feet wet...poor guy. It was definitely a cold river!

We got to the lake after not having much luck at the river, and all but Granny fished for about an hour or so with not much more luck! Once Granny decided to pick up a pole she caught about 6 in a row! While all of us just watched her. We eventually started to get some bites and it was as if a school of fish just passed on by for about an hour!

Next time we go fishing, we're for sure bringing Granny along!

So I ended up catching the biggest fish of the day, a real whopper I know, so I got a total of $2! I must have just gotten lucky!

I couldn't NOT take a picture of my first dollar earned! :)

A little more wiggle room...

Just to keep myself accountable...

I've lost a total of 19 pounds since the middle of January! As a reward for myself, when I lose 20 pounds I'm buying myself a "skinny" dress! Our good friends Dan and Mandy are getting married August 1st and I'd love to find a cute dress for their wedding! And also a couple more "events" this summer. Yay for a skinnier me!

Getting Bigger!

Rissy lost her first tooth last night. She probably swallowed it or something because I saw it hanging then the next hour it was gone! She also had a nasty tick...probably from camping last weekend. Colin got it out with some tweezers. The darn thing popped right out! She's gained another 6 pounds in the last 2 weeks and is bigger than Duke now! We are taking her camping with my parents at the end of June and we are SO excited to see if she will swim or not! She's a lab so I'm sure she will!

That's all for now!

What a difference a few months make...

Here's a fun side by side shot of the old yard and the new one. :) Look at the difference!