Happy Solstice!

This past weekend was spent celebrating the beginning of summer in Seattle's balmy 50 degree, rainy weather. We did so by attending the Solstice parade in Fremont...my very first one ever! And let me tell you, it was an experience to say the least. Lucky for us, my bestie works at Compendium, Inc. which happens to have the perfect rooftop for viewing the parade. And lucky for Lanie, Liz's office is also dog friendly. :-) You are always guaranteed to see your fair share of nakedness when attending the Solstice parade, as it begins with bike riders/skateboarders/scooter riders rolling around the streets of Fremont completely nude...minus some body paint here and there. As a matter of fact, it's at this very event roughly 20 years ago that one of my best friends, Meredith, saw her very first glimpse at the male anatomy in all its glory.

Zoom at your own risk.

It is Solstice, after all.

Just enjoying the view. :)

After the Solstice parade, Shaun and I divided and conquered since it was a few of our dearest friends' birthdays Saturday evening. Shaun headed to the M's game to celebrate the 30th birthdays of our friends Kyle Prosser and Steve Hill. And I was off to a fabulous Italian restaurant, Tavolata, to celebrate my boopie turning the big 2-7 with seven of our bestest girlfriends. Shaun needs to start taking more pictures of his events when I'm not there, so he can be fairly represented on the blog. But for now, enjoy some pics of girls being girls. :-) Happy Birthday, Mere!

Forever friends.

This may or may not have been posed.

Sunday, we were on our way bright and early to Gig Harbor to celebrate Father's Day with Shaun's family. It was such a wonderful day. Shaun is still waiting for his Father's Day gift from Lanie...but I reminded him that Lanie didn't get me anything for Mother's Day either. :-)

Another great sign for Steve's collection.

Porter is too cute. :)

Engagement Party

This past weekend we celebrated our engagement in Gig Harbor...and Shaun & I agree it was much more than we ever imagined it would be. It was absolutely perfect. :-)

Friday afternoon, my siiiiiister flew into Seattle from San Francisco and we spent the evening at her best friend Kimmy's house in West Seattle. It was a wonderful night full of Kimmy's homemade apps, yummy wine, good friends, experimental 'skinny girl' margaritas and great convos. Note regarding 'skinny girl' margaritas...these are basically tequila martinis. So if you like that kind of thing, this drink is for you. :-)

HH at Kimmy's!

It got chilly...luckily Brad has close to 100 track jackets. :)

Saturday was the BIG day! Jaymee & I picked up my mom and cousin at the airport and us four girls were on our way to Shaun's parent's house in Gig Harbor. I couldn't have been happier that they all flew in for our engagement party, which I never expected them to do in a million years. But to my surprise, when I walked into Pam & Steve's house my dad was causally sitting in their living room. It literally took me a good 3 seconds to realize that wasn't normal and how did he get there. Turns out my dad decided to surprise me and made the 12 hour drive over from Montana on Friday, so he could be there for our engagement party on Saturday. This made everything complete. And to top it off, the weather could not have been more beautiful. We were blessed with a 70 degree, blue skies, sunny day.

Most of our closest friends and family were able to make the journey out to Gig Harbor Saturday afternoon and Shaun & I were overwhelmed with gratefulness. It was so wonderful to be able to visit with everyone, especially since our actual wedding day is still over a year away! We'd like to say a special thank you to Pam, Steve & Liz for organizing and putting this day together for us. It was an incredibly special day that we'll never forget. Now, only a little over 14 months until the wedding! :-)

4 Months Old

This is a tad bit belated, but happy 4 month birthday to our little Miss Lanie. :-) She turned 16 weeks on Monday and is weighing in around 33 lbs which is almost double what she weighed when we brought her home about a month ago. (And yes, I realize I talk about her like she's our baby...I treat her like she is too. :-)) She is gaining weight and muscle by the day...we swear she grows an inch every night! Shaun and I read somewhere that if you double your puppy's weight at 4 1/2 months, that is roughly what they will be full grown. So I guess we have two more weeks to go!

Puppy Photo Shoot!

photos by Shaun Kehrberg :)

Going to the Chapel

Well we aren't technically going to a chapel, but we are getting married. :-) And we now have our venue, date and photographer secured! My goal was to have these three things locked down by the end of April, but life kind of got hectic there for awhile.

The Venue

Shaun & I luckily agree on the most important things that will make-up our wedding day, including the type of venue we are looking for. We both want the celebration to feel more like an experience than a day on the calendar for our closest friends & family. We want to have the opportunity to spend an ample amount of time with all of our guests that are coming from near and far. All of our favorite weddings that we have attended in the past accomplished this very thing. We wanted to find a place with either a rustic barn, high rafters, twinkle lights, etc. or a beautiful venue on the water that wasn't high trafficked and had an intimate feel that allows us to make the wedding our own (rather than having to follow strict rules about menus, times, decorations, etc).

After researching venue after venue, we were finally pointed in the right direction by my bestie Liz, who sent me the link for the Resort at Port Ludlow. Once we met with the wedding coordinator and completed our tour of the property, I looked at Shaun and knew we were both thinking the same thing...this place is perfect! It's a ferry ride and short drive away from Seattle and is a smaller Inn with only 37 guest rooms located right on Ludlow Bay with views of the Olympics. And to top it off, the people we are working with are extremely friendly, responsive, flexible and eager to help make our wedding day exactly how we imagine it to be.

The Date

As a lot of you know, we have jumped around from September to May to June...and have finally landed on August as our wedding month. :-) My dad is a farmer, so we had to be careful to choose a date that didn't interfere with seeding or harvest which we were, of course, more than happy to do! After finding the Resort at Port Ludlow, we knew June would be too risky being that we are going to be right on the water and it tends to get more chilly the closer to the water you get. So we decided the end of August would be perfect...and less stressful for me not having to worry as much about mother nature's crazy antics. (Not that you're ever in the clear in Washington.) So our official date is August 27, 2011!

The Photographer

The single most important thing for our wedding, besides the venue, was finding the perfect photographer. Because let's face it, after this important day/party is all said and done, the photographs are what we will have left to remember it all by when we're old and forgetful. :) Similar to the venue, we did lots and lots of research on photographers and came back to the photographer that initially caught my eye at a wedding expo I went to with Liz awhile back (secretly, before even being engaged) and that I have been following their blog ever since. Their artistic, original style is unmatched in my opinion. They are a husband and wife team who shoot with 7 different cameras, some of which use their own homemade lenses. And in addition to all of that, they are the sweetest people to work with. We are confident Heather & Jon of One Love Photo will capture all of the moments of our special day better than we could ever hope for.

And now I can relax for a little while before submerging myself in full wedding planning mode. :)

Memorial Day Weekend

I kicked of Memorial Day Weekend a few days early with a quick trip home to Montana on Thursday morning while Shaun stayed behind to work and take care of Miss Lanie. My mom flew me home so I could visit my granddad who is 98 years old and hasn't been doing so well health-wise lately. I also lucked out and got to see my Aunt Candy since her already scheduled trip coincided with mine! I wasn't sure what to expect and was honestly a bit nervous before we walked into my granddad's room, but it didn't take long before he was flirting with the nurses and being as ornery as ever. Same ol' guy I've always known and loved. :)

I flew back home to Shaun & Lanie Friday night and the rest of the weekend was spent doing absolutely nothing, together...one of our favorite pastimes that we don't get to do enough of. :-) (We didn't feel so guilty about this thanks to Seattle's weather forecast.) We did make it down to Tacoma on Saturday night for our friend Rhyan's BBQ and Kim's 25th birthday! Sunday, we ventured out to Sleep Country and FINALLY bought a new mattress...which meant rearranging and redecorating our new and improved guest room that now has our old bed in it. No more air mattresses for our guests! I am unnaturally excited about having an actual, legitimate guest room. More than a normal person would be, I would expect. :) But Shaun entertains my excitement and just let's me go. He even helps with hanging pictures since that is not my forte. So once Monday night rolled around, we felt like we accomplished a little bit and felt rested after two nights of real sleep. All in all, a successful weekend despite the dreary weather!