Amanda + Nate = Love

(okay, so this posting is way over due, but I couldn't _not_ post it)

Back in February we were up in Portland, Oregon for my brother's wedding. We flew up Tuesday night so that we could be part of the preparations (got there pretty late in the evening after some minor confusion at the airport - turns out that our flight got moved to 5:00, not 6:00 - who knew!?). Wednesday we went to lunch with Amanda's family and then crossed town to hang out with Carson, Amy & Jason. Thursday more family came to town and several of Nate's friends from Wisconsin arrived. It was Valentine's Day and we all celebrated with pizza and beer at my mom's place.

Over the next few days all of the regular preparations ensued... we spent some time at the tux shop making sure all the gents would be looking sharp and us girls went to the nail salon to get our nails in tip top shape. The rehearsal dinner was at The Jupiter Hotel... a very hip place.

Of course we spent most of the day on Saturday getting ready (hair, makeup and nails for this many bridesmaids can take a really long time) and the wedding started pretty much right on time that evening. The ceremony was pretty traditional and quite personalized for Nate & Amanda. Carson was a star ring bearer and the flower girl had a very sweet way of throwing the petals very dramatically. The reception was amazing. My favorite part was when they opened up the floor for guests to give toasts/speeches. Of course my brother Jason (best man) did a fantastic job. It's somewhat expected that he would rock the speech since he's always good at those sorts of things, but still always a pleasure to hear him speak. But what was quite extra-ordinary were all of the off-the-cuff toasts and speeches made by so many of the guests. The words people had to say about Nate and Amanda were really very touching. The afterparty was back at The Jupiter Hotel... I hadn't seen people drink this much since college! Good times!

Over the course of our time in Portland, Aaron and I stayed for a few nights at my mom's place in Beaverton and then a few nights at Jason & Amy's place. We got to be the first ones to stay in their new converted basement! Worked out perfectly... they can expect to see more of us up in Portland with such a nice place to stay over.

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Aaron recently turned 32 and we celebrated for nearly a week! On the actual day of his birth, I fixed him one of his favorite lunches to eat off our special red plate. For those who don't know - we have a red plate that people get to use when it's their special day. Birthdays, promotions, etc.

Friday night we didn't have our usual volleyball game so we instead planned for dinner with Aaron's family at Cozy-Mel's Mexican Restaurant. Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Parents, and sister all came out for a good time.... margaritas were flowing!

The creme-de-la-creme of Aaron's birthday was the Rock Band party Saturday night. A few of our friends stopped by to play, drink, and hang out. It was pretty much exactly how Aaron would want to spend his birthday. Of course, I kinda felt like I was planning a 12-year old's party - complete with a cake - but it was a lot of fun. ;) Some photos from the night are here... but there aren't many. Those of me were at the very end of the night (3 am!) dead to the world from exhaustion.

Baby Fu!

Our good friend's Karen & Jonathan had their baby! Yay! Aaron and I brought over some homemade freezer meals to help lighten the housework since clearly their day to day lives are drastically changed from just a few days ago.

After stopping to see the baby we went to Dr. Dave's annual Super Bowl party. Aaron got to show off his Rock Band skills (he seriously rocks as a drummer) at half time. I think I may have closed my eyes for a few minutes during the third quarter, but was awake in time to see the Giants pull out the win! I always like seeing the underdog come out on top. :)

Mammoth

This past weekend we were up in Mammoth with some of the guys that Aaron plays Sunday basketball with. Brent pulled together a group trip for Brian's birthday. It was our first of a couple of ski trips this season (we're in the works of planning at least one more) and everything went great! Aaron had a hell of a time getting the right size chains for our new car. We did actually need them, so it's a good thing we had some that worked. Saturday's riding was beautiful! Clear skies and packed powder - just how we like it. It snowed most of the night through Sunday so we had fresh powder to play in. It's actually pretty tough to get around in anything super deep, so Aaron and I stayed on the groomed paths, but we still had an awesome time!

I (heart) NYC!

This weekend we were in New York City! We stayed with my dad, Julie, and Jenn and also spent some time with Lisa and Timmy. We arrived on Thursday evening... just in time for a crock-pot roast dinner at my dad's place. Friday morning we lounged a little and then headed off to Brooklyn to visit Aaron's cousin Dani at her vintage shop. It was my dad and Julie's first time at Go Fish, but we had been there before. We stopped at a local cafe for lunch and were worried for just a minute when they didn't appear to have any open tables for four. But, my dad being my dad just asked if we could move a table into the front area of the cafe where they have benches for people waiting. They were cool with it and we were happy because we didn't have to wait!

Back in Manhattan that evening we took Misha the dog for a walk and then arranged to meet up with Atul from Austin. Aaron had an 'it's a small world' moment earlier that morning when he had run into this long lost friend on the street. We may have found the diviest (is that a word?) bar in all of New York, but it was fun to catch up with Atul. After dinner with my dad we met up with Lisa and Timmy in the upper west-side for a glass of wine.

Saturday we had tickets to the matinee showing of Spring Awakening. Thanks to the TKTS booth we had seats for all 7 of us at orchestra level! Great show and fantastic music! Viewer be warned: contains adult content.

Timmy treated Aaron on Sunday to an ice-hockey game at Madison Square Garden. Aaron thought it was pretty funny how people started chanting for the Giants since they were going to be playing against Green Bay that night for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. While the guys were doing their thing, Lisa and I got a mani-pedi at her favorite salon. It brought back fun memories from my last visit since that was where we had our nails done for wedding in May.

Our flight home was on Monday, but since it was a late afternoon flight we had time to fit in one more thing. Aaron hadn't EVER been to the Empire State Building and the weather was clear so that's where we headed. It was soooooooooooo freaking cold at the top! The wind just cut right through you but the views were worth it. We were pretty disappointed with how commercial the experience was - they tried to up-sell you the entire time you were in line. We calculated that if you said 'yes' to everything they wanted you to buy (audio tour, pop up map, IMAX experience, green screen photo, etc), it would have cost over $100 per person! Are you serious?! Only in America could we come up with a way to squeeze that much out of a tourist for essentially what amounts to an elevator ride.

Anyway, even with everything that we fit in over the weekend we felt relaxed and that we were able to get some quality time in with the people we love. Click here for the full collection of photos. It was a great trip!

Seeing white & green!

White: snow! Aaron and I had our first day of snowboarding for this season today. We just went to a local mountain which (not counting the line into the parking lot) is only about 1 1/2 hours away. I think we were able to pick up pretty much where we left off from last season - skill level wise - but embarrassingly, I had the hardest time with the lifts today. Urgh - I took three spills just getting off! I've already got a bruise on my knee and I'm waiting for one to surface on my hip. But not too bad for first time back in about 9 months. Aaron did great - his only major mis-hap was when some other guy clipped his board. Other than that though, we had a nice day carving up the mountain.

Green: grass!! Okay, so it's only the tiniest, itty, bitty, tinsey, winsey, littlest bit of grass, but when we got home from boarding there it was. Poking out from the ground. Yay! We might actually have a lawn in our way back!! We've been watering and hoping for warmer weather so that the seed we laid down on New Years day would germinate. And sure enough - I think it will. :)

Blogity blog blog - not much new

2008 has had a relatively quiet start for Aaron and I which also makes for a quiet blog. I've been making a stronger effort at going to the gym - which has even included a 6:30 AM yoga class. I give myself a big pat on the back for that one. Aaron pats my back too, but he hasn't yet been to the class with me.

I've taken another trip to Phoenix for work, which was the first one since before the holidays. With that stretch of a break it made it not seem too wearing. Actually, I like the layout and design of the Phoenix office *much* better than the Los Angeles office, so I don't mind going. It's just the overnights and the long days that kill me.