May Showers

Last weekend I went home for some good wedding planning on top of good friend and family time! I was in the airport last Thursday when I got a call from the Bridal Salon saying that my dress was in early! Woohoo!! You better believe that is the first thing my mom and I did Friday morning! It fits perfectly!! Sunday afternoon, Renee Schuster, Debbie Wright, and my Aunt Sharon honored Mike and I with a wedding shower! I must admit that I was a little nervous being the center of attention like that, but it turned out to be just a lovely time! The midwest was having crazy showers, though, and it was literally pouring and hailing as the guests started to arrive. I promise you Seattle does not have storms like that! This is the most beautiful centerpiece I have ever seen. I wish I had registered for a vase like that!
My mom and I in our fancy shoes. I just love her SO much. Thanks for all of your help last weekend mom! (She knows how neurotic I am, so she had all of my coping foods in place!)

Grandma Betty was able to come to the shower as well! It was wonderful to have her there!

This is Claire, one of my bridesmaids. She was able to come in to town Saturday night, and we had great time to catch up! (I hadn't seen her since October!!) She is getting married on June 21st, which is right around the corner!!!

Kappas are ladies. Pictured L-R. Britt (MOH), myself, Alison (reader). We were all Kappas at Mizzou, and we are very excited that the chairs at the reception hall have Fleur de Lis on them. (That was the Kappa flower!)

My new sister, Lindsey. I've always wanted a sister, and this is the perfect woman for that job!

Here come the gifts. I don't even own a spice, let alone enough spices to necessitate an entire rack! Just kidding. Mike and I are SUPER pumped about the spice rack! (apparently I had a nose itch as well!)

My mom handed out the gifts, and Britt recorded them. She is hilarious- she left me little notes next to the description. Thanks for your help ladies!

Apparently we got a kick out of the electric skillet!

Gnome is Where the Heart Is

At long last, I am posting pictures of our new condo! It is the result of me procrastinating on my paper due Monday, but that is ok! I had intentions of posting the pics in a methodical order, but I forgot that this site uploads backwards. Enjoy them anyway!

About a year ago, Arthur Alfred Albertson (AAA), accompanied Britt and I on our trip from Seattle-Chicago. He had an untimely fall off of the cliffs at the Badlands of South Dakota, but he has resurfaced here in this doormat to watch over Mike and me. I knew he would come back! (Thanks, Britt!)

The 'SOLD' sign

This is the guest bedroom; it's at the front of the house, and it faces our garage.. you can see it through the window. We will use this as our computer room too.

The master bath..not a great picture, but you can see the coloring. The walls are a variety of greens. One of these days, I think I will make them all the same green. I'll wait, though, until we can match it to our new shower curtain.

This is the master bedroom- there is a deck off of it. Don't worry, there is even a porch swing. Now, if it would get over 50 degrees here in Seattle, we could enjoy it!

On to the kitchen. This picture highlights the appliances, flooring, and cabinets. There is sort of a 'red theme' throughout, and I am totally ok with that!

The sink and the granite counter tops. They always look clean. I LOVE THAT!

The inside of the fridge (and our left over chinese takeout!) I love the bottom shelf because you can adjust the temperature for your particular veggies!

The outside of the fridge.. it fits just perfectly, and I don't think we'll mess with that.

Looking from the family room into the kitchen. There are a few industrial looking beams throughout. The previous owners installed track lighting on them... very nice look!

Looking from the kitchen to the family room. There is another deck on the first floor where we have our grill and hopefully some outdoor furniture soon. Our kitchen table now sits underneath the light fixture in the forefront.

Spanish tile floors. So beautiful. So cold! We are looking at getting a bunch of nice rugs! I also think that because they are so cold, our heating bill will be higher.. it just gives this overall chill to the downstairs. If you come to visit, bring your slippers.

The downstairs bathroom. More red. I love it! I think we are going to do a Parisian theme in here.. black and white pics that we took of the Eiffel tower. Thoughts?

You walk in the front door and see these stairs. To the left is the poweder room, and the family room is just straight back.

Our garage. Lots of storage.

This is our new little home, and we love it! I can not wait to move in in September. I am sure Mike is not anxiously awaiting all of the stuff that will come with me, but we will all adjust =). We have a running list of projects to do short term and long term. Hopefully after the wedding we'll be able to look at it!

You can sit in it and eat it

Happy Nurses Week...to all of you nurses out there, Cinnabon is offering free cinnamon rolls this week! The great thing is you can sit in them and eat them. (Kudos to all of you who appreciate that Jim Gaffigan reference). It's a shame that I won't be in any airports this week. Are there Cinnabon stores anywhere besides the airports???

Windermere Cup

Spring is here in Seattle. The city has been in bloom for the last month, but the leaves are just now starting to come in. This is my favorite part of the NW!! The multitude of diverse greens takes my breath away!

Saturday we went to the annual Windermere Cup. It's held at the UW, and there are 6-10 races held in the morning. The crew starts in Lake Washington and finishes in the Montlake Cut (which is where we were standing). Apparently the UW Men's and Women's varsity teams have been undefeated for years. We had to go check it out!

I thought it was appropriate to show the crowd with their umbrellas!

Purple and Gold, UW colors. Mike is totally in to rowing now, and he wants to take classes. It looks like a great work out! (I might join him.. though I would need to work on my core strength a little bit!) I love seeing him get all passionate about things- he's so cute that way.

This is the Montlake Bridge/Montlake Cut. Isn't it beautiful?? We were standing on the side with the band... anyone who knows Mike isn't surprised about that.

After the races they had a boat parade. I am not in Kansas (or Missouri) anymore. I thought this fire fighter boat was super cool!

On Sunday, in between pre-marriage class and church, we checked out this new park called Golden Gardens. It is right on the sound, just north of downtown. We grabbed a hot dog, did some studying, and enjoyed some Vitamin D.

If you look closely, you can see the Olympic mountain range. This picture is facing west. Breathtaking.