So much to tell, so much I tell you!

First off, I can't say anything without mentioning a trip to Utah that Greg and I took back in June to say goodbye to Grandma Jolley. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends. She was full of life and I was so glad to learn so much about her while we were there. The above photo was taken at the cemetery where she was laid to rest. It was a lovely service. Going out there was the first time I had the opportunity to meet the rest of the Jolley family. They are a great bunch and I only wish we could have been there under different circumstances to spend more time to get to know them. This is another "someday" thing. I know it will happen.


On to other news:
The good news is that the Royal's (everyone in the above photo) are going to be here on the 27th this month! And, the other good news is that we've moved so we have the space to entertain them! Yes, that's right, we live in a house now! With a yard- a HUGE yard, and a HUGE garage, and it is the cutest little house with a big covered front porch. I can't tell you how much we love living in a house. Mc. Greggor (yeah, sometimes i call him that) got to work on our yard the very first day we were in. He's in hog heaven with yard work. The garden beds are in pretty bad shape, so he went right to work digging and turning it up, and we have a compost going so he can amend the soil. We've got to get some fall crops going pronto before its too late. Thing is, what do you plant at this time of the year?

I have so many pictures to share. But it might be a little bit because we have no internet at home right now. Which is why I've been so MIA with blogging. Oh- wait, that's pretty much all the time (hehe). But I want to share pictures of our house, of our trip to Utah, of me that my talented friend Shelley took while I was in CO visiting, of Greggors (cause he's so handsome), and of the beautiful summer we're finally having!

By the way- hope everyone had a great 4th of July! It is my favorite holiday, we had our first BBQ to celebrate it and then set off some sweet fireworks and ran around with sparklers. Love living in Oregon! And it always makes me think of Grandma Suey and Ken- they were married on the 4th! Happy anniversary!

Colorado

I was recently in Colorado to help my friend Shelley photogragh a wedding (Shelley is the owner of Studio S Photography- she's amazing!). I only got a few shots of the trip, and then found out that my camera was acting faulty. Uh-oh. Luckily, I had another camera with me that did work, and she had a back up as well, which I used for most of the day. The wedding was big, and it was a long day, but was super fun. While I was there, I was able to meet up with some friends for dinner, see Justin and Emily's new baby boy, stop by my old job at Access, and catch up with some of the best girlfriends a girl could have. I miss Colorado and its big Rocky Mountains. They are so beautiful and majestic. I miss my friends that I made there. But I have to say, it was wonderful to come home to Greg, my cats, and the lush Willamette Valley.

Our Weekend...

The JDRF Gala on Saturday night was as good as expected. The only hiccup was me looking up the completely wrong address....what a detour....and so we were fashionably late, arriving just when the doors opened for dinner. We had a blast! The food was delicious, everyone, including us, looked fabulous. The live auction was very entertaining. One of the auctioned items was a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona for golfing. funny.

Today I went horse back riding. It was fun. I'm going to go again. Greg is cooking me my birthday dinner right now. It smells incredible! French pot roast with smashed potatoes. Mmmmm. Here are pictures of the weekend to sum it all up. I'm tired now...

This Beautiful World

Well Hello! I can't believe my last post was last month, and this month only has a week left in it! Where does the time go anyway? I can tell you this month has been busy. Greg had a birthday. He is now 27. And I turn 26 on Monday. For our birthday's, Greg found us some cool cruiser bikes on Craigslist. We've been bike riding fools ever since. But that is for another post.

Now, I want to share a few photos. Greg's been organizing them and putting them into folders. He said we have like, over 33,000 photos. Ridiculous I know. And I'm sure you're wondering why I don't share. It really is as basic as this....once I get home from work, I DON'T want to be on the computer. I sit on a computer all day long and when I get home I like to give my eyes a rest, and not feel like I'm working. Anyway, so that leaves all of those photos just sitting there. Someday....I'll have the time to organize, edit, and throw all those gorgeous, funny, and documenting photos into a book. Just glancing through them, I pulled out a few that we've taken around here in Oregon. I just love this state for it's beauty.

Below: The first photo is from the nature and wild life reserve, Ankenny; the second is from our walks down by the river; the third is from a December mountain drive; and the fourth is pretty flowers from the farmer's market last April.

Whenever I look through all of my nature pictures, I am reminded of God's love for us. Because no matter what is going on in life, there is always beauty to look upon. And here's wishing you a beautiful day in this beautiful world!

Tonight- we are off to the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Gala, where we will be all fancy pants and pretty, and eat, drink, dance and have a splendid time! I will have to post some photos of us all decked out to the nines!

Because it just sounds so good..

Have I told you that we acquired a turn table this year? Or have I professed my love for vinyl? No? Well, here it is- I love records! Why? Because they sound so good. If you listened to a song on your turntable, and then played the same song on your computer- I bet you hands down that you would prefer the sound of the record. It sounds so much richer- you can really pick up on all the instruments. We've amassed quite the record collection too. Today, I picked up three more. Eurythmics, ZZ Top, and WAR. At only $1 each and in such good condition- how could I say no? I'm loving the WAR album- it seriously jams!

Above is our turntable spinning Kings of Leon. That's right, current (and selective) groups still record on LP's. I love that they chose red vinyl- this record is one of my favorites! What else do we have in our collection? That, my friends, is to be shared with you on another day.

Cloudy Spring Sunday

This is the kind of day we are having. Happy Spring!

Snacks Anyone?

You know how sometimes between meals, or when you get home from work, and you feel a little hungry, but all you have in your cupboards is stuff you have to cook? All you need is maybe some nuts, dried apricots, crackers, or M&M's. Behold the snack jars. We kind of stole this idea from Kaitlin and Justin, they had lots of these cool Ball jars from her mom that they started filling up with items from the bulk section. I can't tell you how much money it saves us!

We found all of our jars at thrift stores around the area. Each one cost less than $2. You can also find them at antique stores, but be ready to pay around $15 per jar there. Antique stores are just all around more expensive because people go out and find all the cool stuff at the thrift stores, mark it double or triple (or sometimes more), and put all the cool stuff together in one easy to find location - antique stores. We happen to enjoy the hunt- and the bargains of the thrift stores. I'll have to do more posts about the stuff we find. We sure are enjoying our snacks!