RIP WaMu

WaMu, we've been together for a long time now... We've been through great times (remember $46 a share?) and we've been through bad. The last four months have been extremely hard, and the last 3 weeks have been even harder. I am sad to see you go, as you were the first company who I actually cared for as an old friend.

I simply cannot believe you're gone.

The largest bank failure in US history. My job, my identity, my home.

Rest in peace.

First Day of School (Round 4)

So today is the first day of school... again. Since graduating in 1999 (that hurts to type lol) I have attended a junior college, a university in China (Guilin University of Electronic Tech), the University of Washington, and today Lake Washington Technical College.

I believe that I am going to be 70 and still in school... with no degree higher than a BA. I've never really known what I want to do with my life. as far as the Who/What/When/Where/Why questions, I've only got the "Who" part down. I know that banking is definitely not my calling, although I truly love the people I work with. Someday I'll find my niche.

What I'm really especially excited about is the opportunity to study art. I really haven't had much exposure to art at all, and I look forward to seeing how little artsy skills I actually have. The only art class I've attended was in HS. Having javascript:void(0)a complete introduction to color theory and drawing will be very interesting. I can't wait to see how my cartoon dinosaurs evolve.

Missing?

So I've been in a bit of a dark place lately... A lot of stuff hit us, and I am just trying to take everything one day at a time.

Happy things:

I'm starting school tomorrow! I'll be attending classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while still working full time.

Abigail Vandermeyer celebrated her 3rd B-day on August 16th. We had a Hello Kitty themed party for her, complete with pizza, punch, and poker. She is so spoiled.

Unhappy things:

Our cars got vandalized- someone poured polyurethane foam down Val's gas tank, and dumped foam on my new car's paint job.

We're talking about pushing the wedding until 2010. With the way the economy has been we've been unable to save anything for our wedding. What we did save we had to use to fix our cars.

Have you seen the news regarding WaMu? Everyday, hours on end, I've been answering questions regarding FDIC insurance, and the status of WaMu stock. I can't wait for things to get better.

So there you have it. We're alive and healthy... Just trying to roll with the punches.

Val Learns to Ride

For the 4th of July Val learned how to learn a motorcycle, I started my own business, and we made pasties for dinner. Might have been the best 4th ever!

This will be the summer of Many Pounds.

I made this today for dessert. Super easy, turned out quite yummy too.

Strawberry Pie

1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup sugar
1/4 strawberry jello
~4 cups strawberries
cooked pie crust

Bring water, corn starch, and sugar to a boil and boil for 1 minute while constantly stirring. Remove from heat, add jello. Cool for 1 hour.

Wash and slice strawberries, throw them in pie crust. Pour gelatinous mixture over the berries, cool for 2 hours.

Great for a hot summer day!

Do you know what these are?

Those are the marbles from two Ramune drinks. I'm going to start collecting them.

Sweet Tomato!

 

My first tomato has shown up on our patio! This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Brief Update!

 

So in the mist of our cruise ship excitement, I forgot to share with you an interesting event that transpired.

Val got his hair cut!

I had set up an appointment for my birthday to visit a private hair studio (hairbyjoey.com) and Val tagged along. The guy did such an awesome job on my hair that Val was brave enough to sit down in the hot seat. And voila!

So here's a pic of him rocking his new hair-do in Mexico, right by La Bufadora. Rock it, honey!

Also, I was having a bit of a rough day on Monday so I decided to become an ordained minister. It's now Reverend Julie to you, buddy! So if any of you need to get married in a pinch, you know who to go to. I'm also legally available to do exorcisms, but I promise you that all I'll do is throw nail polish remover and to chant in Latin.

Dolphin Video!

I have no idea how I managed to take this video... I think I accidently switched on the video on my camera when I was running around trying to get a decent shot...

For Nichole and Yana :)

 

 

 

 

Val and I saw dolphins in the wild. :)

We're Back!

Another day, another layout

So I've been playing around with the idea of updating my page... again. Something about this doom and gloom weather that makes me want to scream and look for something that's a tad springy. Well, here we go! Let there be birdies!

I've done the yearly life review and decided to focus on two things: Haiku and fitness. A haiku a day for the entirety of my 27th year. And running. A lot of it. I've discovered that I actually enjoy running quite a bit, although I tend to run myself into shin splints and knee problems. I've backed off for the last 2 weeks and will resume it as soon as this crazy month is over. I'd like to be half-marathon ready by 28- I think it'll help the stress levels as the wedding gets closer and my body will get back into shape.

I genuinely feel sorry for Val- I don't want him to be the poor hot guy who settles for a girl who promptly eats her way to fatsville. While I love my food, I treated it as a coping mechanism while dealing with some serious stress issues. I've since discovered alcohol (just kidding).

Anyway, haiku time:

The sun rays stinging
Pale skin turns angry and red.
Pain for Mexico.

Times are a changing

Thank goodness we saw a little sun today!

The last few weeks have been really difficult to get through. I normally experience a good deal of depression right around my birthday anyway, so having a constant gray theme for the last couple of weeks really did a lot to cheer me up.

I looking forward to Ensenada.

Guess what?

I'm so spoiled.

My sweetie bought me a trip to Mexico! Our cruise ship leaves Monday.

Ring and a Rose

 

When the weather is so crappy it's really nice to have something indoors to focus on. Thanks for the beautiful roses, Mom!

Note to Self:

Don't drink and pay bills. Thanks!

Wedding Details

We've decided to get married at the Thornewood Castle in Lakewood, WA. After viewing it today in person, we watched There Will Be Blood. Ironically enough, the castle is actually featured at the end of the film.

Nothing in the world quite like looking at your sweetie and at the screen, knowing that next year you'll be married at that very location.

Here are some pictures that I took this afternoon of the castle.

Love is in the details.

I got engaged on a sea plane.

It's just as awesome as it sounds.

In honor of Valentine's day and our monthiversary, Val had made scheduled a tour of the Seattle area via seaplane and set a reservation at McCormick & Schmidt's directly following.

I should have noticed how nervous the poor guy was. And normally people don't tear up when the plane is taking off... but he was all sorts of romantic and nervous looking. I figured he was just excited to be flying on a float plane!

So while we were mid-air and just after passing a gorgeous lighthouse, he tapped me on the shoulder. I look over and he has an open ring box in his hands. He had tears in his eyes and asked... "Will you?"

I just stared. I was stunned.

After a few moments he told me to try it on, and it's been sitting on my pretty little hand ever since.

And for those of you who care about the specifics of the ring, it's a beautiful 2.33 carat reddish/pinkish/orange sapphire surrounded by half a carat of diamonds. It's a color changing stone, so the colors are dependent of what light you view it in. It's very close to a Padparadscha sapphire, although it has a tiny bit more red to it.

And for those of you who care about the specifics of the plane, it was a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter. More info here.

And for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of that fateful afternoon.

Sunday Morning

So it's been a little over a week since Val decided to spoil me with a seaplane tour of the Puget Sound. It seems like so long ago,

An Official Update? Nah...

I'm sorry I waited so long to really update this. Since my last post a lot has happened. Since the post before last, even more has happened.

There's really no pleasant way to say it, so here it goes. On November 26th, my dad decided to have a banana split, some cold duck, and some cranberry sauce. He ate these treats, went to sleep, never woke up. He was sick for a long, long time, and while it's a slight consolation that he's no longer suffering, it still tears me up to think about it. I miss him more and more each day as the realization sinks in that I won't see him again. He was almost lucid all the time towards the end... I'm glad we were able to talk as much as we did before he died.

On the bright side of life, my brother is getting married to a really wonderful girl named Sarah next year in July. My dad got to see the ring that my brother picked out for her, and he really enjoyed seeing it.

Val and I aren't wasting anytime on making wedding plans of our own. Since Saturday we've picked out the dress, picked out the date (May 16th, subject to change!), and have an idea for what we want our themes to be. I'm so excited... Val and I make a great team, I'm really really flattered he wants to make it permanent.

Engaged

We're getting married!