Dane Appreciation Day

D.A.D. day has been a tradition for 2 years now. Last year I accidentally celebrated the day 1 month early. This year I forgot all about D.A.D. day (given that it is a made up Holiday) and we didn't celebrate until 11 days late. I think the tradition is now that we will never actually celebrate on Dane's half birthday. :) We had a great time though. Dane and I slept in and when he woke up there were Hershey's kisses all over him, with a trail leading from the bed to the couch where I placed a bunch of goodies (Mountain Dew, Lime chips, cookies, and a card) for him. Then I took him out to Taco Bell (his favorite). We never go out to eat anymore so this was a treat for both of us. Then we came home, relaxed, played some games, and then packed some snacks and headed out to Golf. I didn't Golf (the belly would get in the way) so we got a cart and I was the driver/caddy. It was a lot of fun watching Dane golf with his nice clubs and he played a really good game with some beautiful shots. We took our time talking, eating snacks, and just enjoying the outdoors. Dane and I came back after golfing and played with our nieces and nephews that are in town from Michigan. It was Dane's moms birthday that day so all the kids came over and made dinner and ate ice cream cake together. Dane had a great day and so did I. It's sometimes more fun to do things for Dane than it is to have him do things for me, just because I love seeing how excited and happy he gets when I go out of my way for him. He is a great husband and deserving of 365 Dane appreciation days a year!

Life in Kennewick and 4th of July

Dane and I have been living in Kennewick from June 20th-July 31st. We have had a great time here relaxing and being with family. When it's not too hot Dane and I love to go on (short) walks. We usually walk around the fields at the middle school Dane attended. I took a picture of my favorite bridge, the Blue Bridge, here in tri-cities. I think it is so pretty and my dream house is right near the bridge, on the Columbia River. For 4th of July Dane and I watched the fireworks on the river. Tons of people gather on the edge of the river with their chairs and blankets and watch the show. After Dane and I attended a family bbq we headed out to the river with chairs, blankets, and lots of treats. It was so fun for me. I love community gatherings like these. :)

One Year Anniversary

On June 2oth Dane and I celebrated our 1 yr. anniversary as well as Dane's first Father's day. To celebrate we went to a Mariner's game a week before. The day before our anniversary we were driving home to Kennewick, so we decided to stop in Portland so that we could go to my fav, the Cheescake Factory. We got our favorite guacamole dip and I had a delicious Cucumber Salad, while Dane enjoyed a burger. We both got yummy cheesecakes for dessert and then finished our drive home to Kennewick in separate cars. On the day of our anniversary Dane and I had agreed to not get each other gifts (sticking to our budget!) so we got creative. I made Dane a crossword puzzle of anniversary/ father's day questions and a homemade video card.

We have had the best first year together. Seriously, we have grown so much, learned so much, and fallen 10 times more in love than the day we got married (and we were pretty dang in love then). Dane and I have the fondest memories of our first year together and talk about them all the time. We also are so excited for year #2 together because of all the exciting things we have to look forward to. Dane and I feel like we picked the exact right match for each other and we love to talk about our future 5, 10, 15, 100's of years down the road. We look forward to it all!

Seattle Baby Shower

My sisters threw me a beautiful baby shower in Seattle. Dane and I drove down from Medford to be with my family and celebrate our baby for just a couple days. The shower had amazing food and very cute decorations. Jodi made the diaper cake that was adorable and Jen made me a video of advice from all of my nieces and nephews to the song of "To make you feel my love". It was very sweet. I had so much fun visiting with family and friends and we got lots and lots of great gifts for Boston. Then I did a little shopping in Jen and Jodi's storage and borrowed tons of things from clothing to changing tables for Boston. Ariell, Cort and Willow were very sweet to come to the baby shower as part of their anniversary vacation. While the shower was going on, Dane took Cort to our favorite restaurant, Azul. After the Shower we all went to Luke's baseball game. It was fun to see him play and then we just hung out with the family the rest of the weekend.

Medford and Ashland Shakespeare festival

This summer Dane and I lived in Medford Oregon just 20 minutes from the Ashland Shakespeare festival. Dane and I spent a day at the festival walking around. It was beautiful and we decided to go see Pride and Prejudice there for our 1 yr. anniversary, but we had to cancel our tickets, because Dane's company decided to move us...once again. :( Our first night in Medford Dane and I were both pretty sad. The apartment felt lonely and Dane said he missed all of our homey decorations from our apartment. So the next day while Dane was at work I spent the whole day unpacking the living room and kitchen and I decorated with the few things we had. I then attempted to make us a lovely dinner. Dinner wasn't ready till about 9 pm and the only thing that turned out yummy was the beef and broccoli. The bread I made was too oily, the home made salad dressing was gross, and the homemade lemonade was too sweet. The dessert (brownies from scratch) was awesome. Even though the meal wasn't perfect Dane really appreciated the effort, and our place did feel a little more homey that night.

Lincoln City

Our very fun 5 day vacation to the Oregon Coast. We had a lovely time