8.98

finally got a new purse... i love my old purse but i've had it for over a year and it's served me well, but it's starting to look a bit shabby. maybe it's looked this way for a while and no has told me. anyways i got this one while charlene was here (pics arriving soon) at steve and berry's from the SJP line BITTEN. everything is 8.98. it's so wonderful. too bad i just read that they are going bankrupt...

long time no post

so it's been a while... thought i would catch up a bit. I have a billion pictures to post. this first little pic is of parker's ankle after spraining it in an intense game of b-ball. his poor ankie....i wouldn't let him go out and walk on it for 7 hours so i made him come to the pool with me. sad story, i know. i got him a better wrap later...this one i found in our dinky first aid kit. his ankle is just about back to it's normal strength and will hopefully be stronger for it.so the day after parker sprained his ankle, we flew to st. George for Jon and Jen's wedding! this is a pic of mount St. Helens from the plane. don't ask me why, but this is the only picture i took at the wedding. i guess i got caught up in all the excitement and let amy do all the picture taking. i stole this one of the bride and groom from her blog. this pic is of us transporting the cake in the back of my dad's car from the reception to the luncheon for the next day. It was like 10:00pm and still like 90 degrees. needless to say...i for sure thought those layers were going to slide right off with every turn. it didn't...but i was ready to document it if it did.

the happy couple. have to love that princess bag. they are so in love.

we had a really fun 4th. we went to a pancake breakfast at the church...the 4th just wouldn't be the same without it. then i actually went out knocking with parker for about an hour. sort of fun but i would never be able to take that much rejection. haha it was fun seeing parker in action. gotta love this face from parker...classic.we went downtown to gas works park for the fireworks which supposedly ranked top 5 in the country. they shot off the fireworks from that barge in the middle of the water.we grabbed some thai food near where we parked (like a mile and a half away). It both parker and my first experience with thai food. it was really yummy...probably shouldn't have gotten it so hot...our noses were running all night. i don't know if it was authentic...(we'll have to ask John and Erin!)..but it was good.check out the mass of humanity. there were people everywhere. we actually lucked out for getting there so late and getting a really good seat. the people around us had been there since 11 am and we didn't get there till...7ishisn't that skyline great?

yay for fireworks. it was definitely the best show i've seen! can you beleive i've only ever seen the firework show in st. george? best part: they flew this big army helicopter thing around the bay during the national anthem and it was carrying a big flag underneath it. awesome.

we splurged the other day and got all our favorite foods at the grocery store. not on purpose, but when we got home we realized everything we bought. pringles are my new favorite...except when i eat so many i get sick. parker snuck off while we were shopping and came back with sushi for lunch!! what a husband! how did a girl like me get so lucky.he knows what i like! ha

snoqualmie falls

we went to this waterfall last sunday and had a little picnic. it was super fun and beautiful. here are some pics.

take me out to the ball game....please!

so the mariners supposedly aren't all that good...and they lost the game we went to last saturday...but we still had a good time! the field is right beside the train tracks and every time a train would drive by, it would blow it's horn. the field is also right next to the seahawks stadium..which parker is dying to go to a game when the season starts. it was my second mlb game and parker's first! Ben and lisa, the owners of elite, bought the office tickets for selling so well! apparently when they went to buy the tickets all the nose-bleed family section tickets were sold out so we got reallly good (and expensive) tickets. so thanks ben and lisa.

Tiger!

for those of you who hadn't heard...tiger won the U.S. Open today. It's a good day at our house to say the least! Parker loves Tiger...sometimes i think Parker thinks he is Tiger.

DAD's

Happy Father's Day! fathers day reminds me of what a great dad i have! he is awesome! we have done so much fun stuff together and he is such a great example to me. he's caring, hard-working, goofy, spiritual, loving,...all the things a good dad should be and more!... and just try to keep up with him on a bike... I love my dad!! Parker's dad, brent, is also an amazing dad! Boy am i grateful for him! because of him, i know parker is going to be an amazing dad because of his dad's great example. If you have ever met him, you know he is the sweetest, most caring man ever. He always makes me feel so great. He loves his family and the church. i just love that guy. such a great dad and father-in-law!

pizza + birthday

we made pizza on sunday with sarah and jordan. still trying to perfect that crust, but it turned out pretty dang good. the bbq was the favorite. we had more friends over that night for games and parker's moms ice cream dessert thingy that is way harder to make than i had guessed and basically turned out to be scrambled mush but still tasted really yummy.parker opened his presents in the morning and had a omelette and smoothie..after work that night we had cake and ice cream over at the office with everyone. it was tylers birthday too so they got to share a cake:) all in all it was a great couple days and to top it off, the five systems parker sold on saturday (yes five!) all got installed on his birthday. yay for parker! he is so amazing.

where in the world...

...is charlene going? a very important peice of mail may be arriving soon at charlene's house. any guesses where she's going?

happy 25th

to the love of my life! happy birthday to my parker! parker is such an amazing husband. i absolutely love being married to him. he is my best friend. he is super thoughtful. he makes me laugh, even if i'm sad or mad. he continually makes me want to be a better person. I love you parker! hope you have a great birthday!

j + j

jon and jen got their bridal pictures taken this weekend in st. george. jen is so beautiful and jon is so handsome! and the photography is awesome. check out their picks by denise hoogland here.

the crab pot

mark + lisa

went downtown again last weekend to meet up with some of parkers family friends, the Stevens. really fun family and a fun place to eat. they basically bring your dinner out in a big metal bowl filled with all this yummy seafood + corn + potatoes, dump it out on butcher paper, hand you a bib and a mallett and let you go at it. definitely a treat! parkers mom and lisa have been friends forever and i hadn't ever met her or her family so we were glad that we were able to meet up with them and their family.

sister kiser

robyn, one of my best friends in the whole world is leaving on a mission tomorow. i can hardly beleive it. she is honestly the epitomy of true friendship. not only is she super understanding, loyal, and loving but she is one of the most energetic, fun-loving, optimistic people i know. we were on cheer for three years together and we survived high school together. we went through young womens together. she convinced me to run my first marathon...and pretty much my second one too. we trained together. she is probably the most disciplined person i know when she sets her mind to something. she amazed when she ran her half iron man! and i know she WiLL do an Iron man someday! haha. robyn is an amazing example to me. parker and i love her and will really miss her while she's in little rock, arkansas. she is going to be such an amazing instrument in heavenly fathers hands like she always has been. good luck robyn! did i mention she makes THE BEST chocolate chip pumpkin bread (pretty much insert any delicious baked good here) ever?! (parker is already missing those!)

mint

if i had $495 to spend on a dress, i would buy this. check out Mint by jodi arnold. there is a trunk show this weekend here in seattle. she has the prettiest clothes! i just can't imagine paying that much!

why the weekend was so great...

this was the color of the sky... finally

our awesome new friends sarah and jordan.
eating dinner on the waterfront.

french fries.
pretty lights.
the office.

new bishop.
sloppy joes.
memorial day boating.
time with parker.

honey + wheat

my new-found friend sarah, kneeding away

not bad for our first time. i think the dough needed to rise a little more but supposedly that part gets better with practice. my mom sent me two different methods of making it and we made it the pioneer way... no bread mixers for us. my baking skills are slowly improving and it's actually really fun. ha.

Heat 1 cup water in microwave about 1 minute (warm, not hot, bathwater)
Pour into large mixing bowl.
Sprinkle over water 1 ½ Tbls yeast.
Sprinkle 1 Tbls sugar and stir briefly.
When very foamy, add 1 more cup water that has been heated as above. Stir.

Add
½ cup oil
½ cup honey
1 Tbsp. salt
Stir to combine.
Add flour 1-2 cups at a time, until its too thick to stir with a spoon.
Add flour 1 cup at a time with your hands until its pretty smooth. If its whole wheat, it will still be shaggy at this point.

Pioneer Method
At this point you can let it rest for about 30 minutes. It will rise a bit. Punch it down and Add flour if its still sticky. Knead it about a minute or so.
Turn out onto OILED table, and knead, , until very smooth, like a baby’s bottom. AS you knead it, it may get sticky again, so add flour as needed just to keep the stickiness down.
After 5-10 minutes of kneading, put it into an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel or an oiled saran wrap, and let it rise 30-60 minutes, till double in bulk.
Punch down, Turn out onto table.Knead again briefly, divide into 3 or four loaves, place immediately in oiled bread pans , or make free-form rounds or loaves and place directly onto the baking sheet. ( you really can’t handle them after this point so put them into or onto what you’re going to cook them on.)
Let them rise until doubled, but no further. Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 25=35 minutes. The loaves are done when a light tap on the bottom makes a hollow sound

saturday is a special day

saturdays are quickly becoming my new favorite day of the week, right after sundays. Sundays are the only day of the week that parker doesn't have to work so we get to go to church and hang out all day. saturdays are great cause he gets home around 5:30, as opposed to 9:30+ which is when he gets home on weeknights. we get to eat dinner at a normal time and possibly cruise around seattle looking for fun stuff to do or just stay at home and watch a movie. anyways i love saturdays because they go by a lot faster than the other days of the week. today i think i'm going to try making homemade bread. i had to leave my kitchen-aid in utah for lack of room in the car so i'm going to have to make it by hand. also i didn't bring my bread pans...parker told me i wouldn't use them... so i'm going to just make them on a cookie pan...hopefully it will look as good as martha's. i'll let you know how it goes.

pb kisses

made these last night... they were mmmmm,mmmm good. thanks to amy and her little cookbook that i was able to get my hands on. ran out the door with a warm one in hand to go see this

fully enjoyed it as much as i did the first one. definitely recommended to anyone that liked the first one.

help wanted

i am getting super frustrated trying to find a job. not just any job but a job that isn't the exact opposite hours of my husbands work. not too much to ask right? it's my own fault though because i didn't really start looking for a job until i really wanted to be starting one. doesn't work that way i guess. it's funny how the thing i thought i didn't want to be doing is the exact thing i wish i were doing right now. now i have to wait 4-6 weeks for paperwork to go through. don't worry. i'll find something in the mean time.

maddie

missing this face today. the cutest 2 year old neice i have! i love that purple lipstick mustache too..

garmin

we got this little life-saver at target after we had been out here a few days. we spent some of our target wedding money to get it and we got a good deal too. It has been SO nice to have...we don't have to think about how to get somewhere before we leave because it tells us exactly where to go. we just can't forget to use our own brains sometimes.