Small town living update....

Here's a list of fun things we've been up to lately:

*Rachyl's wedding in Napa was so much fun! It was so beautiful and the vows they said to one another were about the sweetest things I've ever heard.
*Concert in the park in Lakeport-occurs on Friday evenings during the summer. The one I went to was the last one for the summer though.
*Street Dance in Kelseyville-they have these every Thursday during the summer. Basically a band plays on main street and a few people dance, but others sit on the sidewalk and watch. It's mostly a social event where people just hang out and visit with one another. This past one was also the last one of the summer.
*Tobey Keith concert-The Lost Boys opened for him (the band I've mentioned in previous posts) and our friends gave us some tickets. The Lost Boys were awesome and Toby Keith was pretty good too. I'm not a huge fan, but he actually puts on a pretty good show. We planned on leaving early, but I was trying to hold out for "Should Have Been a Cowboy". We got tired though and left before he played it. Luckily, we heard it as we were walking to the car and stopped to dance. The song reminds me of OSU b/c they play it after every home game.
*Farmer's Market-every Saturday morning during the summer/fall people set up their booths outside of a nearby winery. We went to search for flowers, but they didn't have any :( So we settled for some produce.

That's pretty much it. The job search has slowed down a bit because I've hand delivered my resume to just about every place in the county and I'm running out of options. I'm hoping that something comes up though once school starts (Sept. 8th). One winery told me they have a few teachers that have been working part time so hopefully I can take one of their spots if a full time position isn't available. I'll keep you posted!

One Month Away!

The time has flown! I feel like I should be busy doing wedding stuff, but I really can't think of anything to do. Actually, I have one craft project to do, but it's top secret so I can't talk about it. Yesterday I spent the day painting canvas bags. The bags will be used for out of town bags for our traveling guests and they will also hold the bridal party gifts. It was a fun project and I'd post pictures if I could, but since I can't I guess you'll have to wait until the wedding to see them! I'm so anxious for my friends and family to get here. I can't wait to see everyone. I haven't seen most of my Texas friends and family since the end of February so a visit is long over due.

Speaking of the wedding, have I mentioned lately that my future husband is the most wonderful person in the world? He's always doing nice things for me, but today I came home to the biggest surprise that I've had in a long time. I walked in our living room today to find this:

No, not a random lady hanging around, a sofa and loveseat!! If you know me at all then you know that this is pretty much the greatest day of my life. I've been begging for a real couch for the past 2 and a half years. When Jake and I were talking about getting engaged he asked if I'd rather have a ring or a couch and I honestly had to think about it for a few minutes. In case you weren't fortunate enough to see our lovely furniture in Las Vegas, then let me paint you a mental image....imagine a lovely futon that had a mattress that was as hard as a rock and that would refuse to stay in a couch like position, thus always having a mattress that was sagging all the way to the ground and not attractive in any way. Oh, and let's not even talk about the workout required to remove the mattress cover for cleaning. I'm sweating just from thinking about it. That's not all though. We also had a lovely faded denim loveseat. I was not a big fan of the denim though so I put a slip cover on it. It was the slip cover from hell. It would move out of position any time someone sat down and I was VERY OCD about having it tucked in and looking somewhat presentable. Oh wait, I almost forgot to mention that the cover was practically torn to shreds from our little Sydney. Yes, the whole living room set was quite the ensemble. We sold both items on Craigslist before we left so our living room here in CA has been completely empty until today! Well I must be going now because I want to go home and enjoy my new living room.

Still Here....

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been a busy bee searching for jobs and whatnot. Nothing new to report on that topic though...still searching....Last weekend we went to Santa Rosa for the day. It was nice to be in a world filled with stores and restaurants. Speaking of restaurants, we went to Mary's Pizza Shack for lunch. I love this place. I was introduced to its wonderfulness a few years ago when I did an internship in Santa Rosa for the summer. The have the BEST ranch dressing. The pizza is great too, but the dressing really makes the meal :) There are a bunch in the northern California area so you should visit one if you ever get a chance.

This coming weekend should be fun too. Jake will be in Reno for a golf thing, but his cousin is having her bridal shower on Saturday and I'm so excited. Obviously all bridal showers are fun, but this one will be especially great because the person catering our wedding is also catering the shower. Jenna, my future sister, is hosting the shower so she took me with her to taste test a few of the things that will be served. It was delicious! My mouth is watering just thinking it. I think I need a job that involves eating. I wish I could be a food critic, but I'm really no expert and there aren't enough establishments in the area for me to critique anyway. Oh well, I'll keep dreaming. That's all for now. I'll try to post more often!!

Quick Update

We're here! Here's a quick update in bullet form because I'm too tired to construct a paragraph that makes sense:

• The house is such a mess and there's so much to do, but it's coming along!
• We've been staying with Jake's parents the past few nights, but we'll probably stay at our house tonight. Their house is just so cozy and ours is so dirty and in shambles.
• Our dryer doesn't work :(
• We have grapes growing in our backyard!
• We've had a lot of fun visiting with Jake's family
• Today was Jake's first day at work!
• We don't have cable set up at the house yet so it's really boring
• We really need a couch!
• I love that our house is entirely wood floors, but they get dirty so quickly
• The weather is AMAZING and perfect for running
• I plan on getting a disposable camera soon so I can show everyone pictures!
• We probably won't be getting the internet hooked up at our house so my internet addiction will have to die down a bit.

Our Last Night in Las Vegas

Well...we finally made it! Everything is packed and we're ready to head out in the morning, but first I have to recap our evening. Our last night in LV is one that I will always remember thanks to my future father in law and our wonderful friends. For your amusement, I'll begin this recap from the very beginning of the day. We woke up early to pack the last few things into the trailer and to clean before the carpet cleaning people arrived. We worked super hard and were exhausted by noon (the time the carpet people were scheduled to arrive). So we're waiting and waiting and about 12:30 Jake called to see where they were. They were running behind and promised to be here within 30-45 minutes. Well that didn't happen so Jake called back and they said they could arrive between 3 & 4. That made us angry so after several phone calls Jake finally found someone that was available today. So they came, did their stuff, we went to Jake's hair appointment and then back home for a few minutes before we were supposed to meet Jake's dad for dinner at Paris. My friend Christina (bridesmaid/high school bff/invitation designer) happened to be in town for her brother's b-day so she made plans to join us as well. While walking through the parking garage we noticed my friend Kim driving her car and she stopped to talk to us. I jokingly asked if she was here to eat dinner with us and she said yes. I was a bit confused, but excited to see her. Well, come to find out, future father in law called Kim and Jake's BFF to get all of our good friends together for dinner! It was fabulous and we were so excited to see everybody one last time. It's time to rest up now for the long drive tomorrow, but check back soon...the blog will have a new name the next time I write!

Things I'm Looking Forward to:

lakecounty.com

The big move is quickly approaching and while I'm still nervous about not having a job, I'm still very excited to start out new life. Here are the things I'm most excited for:

*Being near my second family

*Being able to run more than 3 miles because of the ridiculous temperatures at 5:00 am (yes it's actually dropped to 3 miles...ugh)

*Having my future little sister over to watch movies and eat popcorn

*Being surrounded by beautiful-ness

*Being able to go shopping with my other future sister and cousins

*Learning how to wakeboard

*Going to wineries

*Being only 2 hours away from San Francisco

*Having easy access to my future mom's closet

*Having a nice place for my family to come and visit (they aren't the gambling type and I know Las Vegas is not their ideal vacation spot)

Things I'll (Kind of) Miss About Las Vegas:

Obviously, the people in the post below are the important things I'll miss about Las Vegas, but here are some of the less important things that I've enjoyed the past 2.5 years:

Most wonderful Mexican food EVER. I can't say enough about this place. It's on Spring Mt. and Rainbow. If you live here then you should go right now and if you plan a vacation to LV then be sure plan a meal here. It's worth the $30 cab ride from the strip.

Most wonderful sandwiches EVER. This is an east coast establishment that somehow made it's way to LV. You have to try the Bobby, the Cheese Steak and the Capastrami. Really, get all 3 and share. You won't be sorry.

I'll miss Waking up with the Wagners every day. They're a husband and wife team and they're dorky but I love them. Jake will miss Collete Wieland, a reporter that's on in the morning. He loves her more than me.

This is Town Square. We pretty much live here when it's not ridiculously hot outside. It's located just south of the strip. I recommend going here if you need a break from touristy Vegas things. Yes, it's just like every other Town Square in the country, but when you live in a place dominated by bright lights, gambling and shopping malls that are inside casinos, then this is a nice place that makes LV seem more "normal".

I'll especially miss our hikes at Mt. Charleston. I know the hiking in California will be a million times better, but Mt. Charleston will always hold a special place in my heart :)

What I'll Miss About Las Vegas:

When we found out we were moving to Las Vegas I was very disappointed. I REALLY did not want to come for multiple reasons. And although it definitely hasn't been my favorite places to live, I've made some wonderful friends and will be sad to leave them. I will miss them all very much, but I will especially miss Erin (the girl in the last picture). I met Erin when I worked at Old Navy and she made my time there slightly less miserable. Then, once I started working at Marsh, I recruited her to come keep me company :) She is such a wonderful friend and I don't know how I'll survive at a new job without her! I'm comforted by the fact that I will see her in September for the wedding. It's been a long time since I've had to move and leave friends. Moving away from high school friends was hard, but kind of a gradual process. We all went our separate ways for college, but were always able to return "home" and visit with each other so by the time I moved to Las Vegas I was already accustomed to not seeing them very often. In regards to college friends, they all graduated a semester before me (I switched majors and added on another few months of school) so that was kind of a gradual change as well. This seems different though because it's more of a final goodbye. I'll definitely call/facebook to keep in touch, but I know I won't be able to visit very often because most trips will be reserved for visits to Texas. I feel so lucky to have met some wonderful people here and they are the reason I survived the not so wonderful city of Las Vegas.

The Pilot!

Jacob earned his private pilot's license today! He's been working so hard an it's finally paid off. I'm so proud of him and can't wait to go flying with him. The instructor that administered his test was very impressed with his flying skills so I'm not worried at all. He plans to continue flying and eventually become a certified flight instructor so he can teach our kids to fly. He can teach them to fly, but I'm going to teach them to drive :)

In other awesome news....today we had a taco eating contest and I won. Taco Bell offers crunchy tacos for 39 cents on Sunday. I bought 30. Jake ate 7, but I ate 11! I took pictures of the event but my camera decided to die so they cannot be posted. And when I say "die" I don't mean that the batteries died, I mean the entire camera just stopped working. It's a sad day. The camera took wonderful pictures, but it just got old :(

It's been a very exciting day and we both just woke up from naps. Time to be productive!

The Fray

Last night I saw Jack's Mannequin and The Fray with my friend Kim. We had floor tickets and were super close. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure....

Jack's Mannequin
(I had no idea he was also the lead singer of Something Corporate until he mentioned it during the show)

The Fray

Me and Kim