Metolius River Camping

Colin and I went camping with our good friends TJ & Alaina and Abby & Adam at the end of July. We were planning on camping at Suttle Lake near Sisters Oregon, but there was literally NOTHING available! After some phone calls to the rangers office and some driving around scoping out sites, we FINALLY found a decent one. In fact, it was one of 3 available in the whole Deschutes National Forest!

Our site was right on the river and just beautiful! Although the water was freezing, the girls took a 5 hour trip to Suttle Lake to soak up some sun and go antique shopping in the little town of Sisters.

Duke and Rissy came along too. They had to be chained up most of the time but loved hanging out with us. Rissy liked the fast river water a little too much. She jumped in on Sunday morning right in front of me and wasn't a strong enough for the current. I ended up in the river to save her in my sweats! Poor thing. She just doesn't know her size or strength yet!

Here are a few pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

Mr. Duke sunbathing

Rissy watching the fly fisherman fishing.

Miss Trudie! Somehow she got a hold of a piece of leftover corn.

This picture makes me smile. :)

The boys playing poker.

The girls playing rummy.

Girls trip to big lake for a little sunshine and floating.

The only couple picture I took all weekend!

Only in McCleary...

Colin played in a softball tourney in (teeny, tiny) McCleary, WA about an hour from my parents house in July. Colin, our friend Dustin and I loaded up in Granny and Gramp's RV and hit the road for a 3 hour, very shaky, car trip. It was super cold, and not sunny AT ALL. Luckily, we had my sister visit Saturday morning whom brought bacon covered maple doughnuts. Goss. BUT, Colin and his buddies loved them! I was happy eating the cookie crumble one. Later that day, my parents came and watched Colin play. We then went to a really good bbq place. Yum!

The boys didn't play very well so the tourney was short lived, which meant we had to find something to do. SO, we hit up the local dive bar and had at it! Karaoke, chair bull riding, and too much to drink which caused a pretty good hangover in all of us. And I've got the evidence below. :)

My home run hitting machine!

Yes, this is McCleary where you can park in the outfield to watch the tourney.

If he can make a goofy face, I can too!

No shower, no makeup, scary!

Cheerleaders! Ashley and I.

Boys will be boys...

A few drinks in

And some pretty sweet sweats from Gramps...

And we've got chair bull riding!

Only in McCleary will a bar let you do this.

Vintage Nimicks...

I've been a terrible blogger lately but wanted to share this awesome picture from Laura and Justin's wedding. Isn't this neat? It's like, modern vintage. I love it!

5 Years...and still going strong

Yep, that's right. 5 years from the day we met. I'd say that's an accomplishment! I can't believe he stuck around through my crazy and constant house renovation ideas, and that I'm still here after dealing with his obsessions like a 135 gallon fish tank! I guess that's what makes the world go round and our lives a little bit more...eventful. ;)

I just looked up the traditional gift for a 5 year anniversary. It was...wood! Although I don't consider Colin and I dating 5 years an anniversary, I definitely got wood all right. A whole forest full! (See above post)

So, happy 5 years to my wonderfully patient and sometimes crazy boyfriend, Colin. I hope 5 years one day turns into 70!

Nimick Wedding

This last weekend was the wedding of my sister and her husband Justin (weird to say!).The day was pretty gloomy but it didn't end up raining for the outside ceremony. Instead, it held of until the reception where it poured like crazy. Good thing we were inside!

The ceremony was nontraditional and fun. Low key, short. Perfect. The reception was beautiful in the Puyallup Pavilion. Everyone ate a ton, danced their feet off and had a great time until 1am. We even had a beer bong event and the best candy bar ever! The best part? We got to drive down to the ceremony and home in a short bus. Yep. A short bus loaned to us by a friend. Decked out with a tv playing music videos. :)

It was nice visiting with out of town family and friends like my grandmas from Colorado and Missouri, my aunt/uncle/cousin from Virginia, my uncle from Oregon and my other aunt/uncle from Idaho/Montana and my mom's good friend from California. Even though it was a short visit it was fun to see everyone!

Also, a very happy 28th birthday to Colin! His birthday was the same day as the wedding so he got a giant celebration!

Here are a few pics of the rehearsal, wedding prep and actual wedding...Enjoy! We sure did!

Mary's Peak

Today my new friend Abby and I went hiking up Mary's Peak. It wasn't as much of a hike as we had hoped but the views were amazing. The pictures don't even come close to giving it justice. Apparently, on a clear day you can see all the way to the ocean, which is a good hour and a half drive from our house. We could see Mt. Bachelor and Sisters Mountains as well as a couple others we didn't know the names of. The peak we hiked to had a 360 degree view of the Willamette Valley.

We're hoping to go up again on a clear day so we can see the coast and also bring the boys. As you can see by the pictures, Duke tagged along. Poor guy was tired when he got home but he loved it. Next time I think I'll bring along Rissy and see how she does.

I just want to note that this is the 2nd blog this week. I'm on top of it! ;) Enjoy the pictures!

And...we have a yard!

The last few weekends Colin and I have been working really hard at redoing our yard. Since we bought this house in October of 2008 we knew this was a big project for us. Little by little we starting working on it. Taking out those rhodies, raking the leaves, cutting down the tree, killing the grass/weeds, and finally installing sod. It's amazing how much brighter and bigger the yard seems without the rhodies and tree!

Not sure if you remember, but last spring we redid the front yard with the help of our families. I was dying to redo the back yard but we just didn't have enough time and/or money. My goal for this summer was to finish it so I could lay out in the sun and enjoy being at home! We got a new hammock and set up some flower beds. Also we set up our veggie garden in some unused space on the side of the house. I'll have to post a pic of that later. Here are some pictures of our progress...

This was taken the first night we saw the house. We knew we would be buying it before we even saw it because it was Granny & Gramps rental property that they graciously sold to us.

Here is the mess of a yard we had last weekend! The sprinkler systems were already installed and we were just waiting to finish prepping the yard. Notice the tree and rhodie is gone!

Almost done prepping. The sprinklers were marked by the orange flags. Also I made a flower bed to the right, next to the house, which has different kinds of flowers and shrubs.

Looking from the back corner of our yard (near the fire pit). We were about 1/2 way done laying the sod. And yes, it's super muddy because it rained on us all morning!

Looking the other way. 1/2 way done. Colin's dad came to help for a couple hours which was MUCH appreciated! His mom did something just a great - brought us pizza when we were starving! ;)

All done. The fire pit will be so neat once we get the gravel in around it and cut the tree's limbs above it.

Wa - La! Beautiful! Sprinklers are on, now we just wait for the roots to set! We had to buy some chicken wire so the dogs don't dig up the yard while we're waiting for it to set.

Excited? YES!!! And muddy. But I'd rather be muddy and tired and have a nice back yard that I can enjoy this summer than be squeeky clean with the old back yard!

I knew we'd be excited for the final product but I had NO idea we'd be this happy. And now that we have 2 dogs they'll need a place to run and play without getting muddy. I think we'll be spending a LOT of time outside this summer - and who knows, maybe another puppy? (Ok, totally just kidding. These 2 are enough for me...for now.)

Now...on the the next project. ;)

What's a bachelorette party without big hair, blue eyeshadow and poofy dresses!?!

Last weekend we all packed up and headed up to Leavenworth, WA to celebrate my sister's bachelorette party. The weather was absolutely amazing - we got SO lucky! Friday night we just hung out and did some girly chat. Then Saturday we headed off for a day full of surprises! Laura's fiance, Justin, and his brother, Jared, set up a wonderful day and night for us. First, we went to three separate wineries to wine taste after being picked up in a stretch escalade limo. Laura was given one bottle of wine at each winery, which included one bottle of Ice wine. This kind of wine is made from frozen grapes picked at approx. 8 degrees, then the juice is extracted out of it. We also tried a chocolate cherry wine which was really interesting.

After wine tasting, we headed off to a surprise dinner reservations at the Mexican restaurant South which had balloons, signs and personalized place mats waiting for us. So cool! We then headed back into the limo to change into our '80's bridesmaid dresses for a night out on the town. Lets just say, out of the three bachelorette parties in town, we were by far the most memorable! We had LOTS of stares, pictures taken, and people asking if we were going to prom. ;)

Below are some pics to showcase the night...

Me sewing my dress to make it short while mom and Sarah poured mimosas!

So ready for the limo!

In the lomi

At the first winery, in our private room!

Outside of South, the restaurant

Don't be jealous. We know we're sexy!

I know you love the blue eyeliner too.

First bar we went to.


NEXT UP: Bridal Shower