Good job love!

The Vice President of Airport Towing nominated my husband Daryl for Tow Person of the Year with the Towing and Recovery Association of Washington. While I don't know what he said to nominate my husband I strongly believe its because of everything that he has done to make sure that the company goes on after the sudden and tragic loss of two family members of the company. Airport and Burien Towing are a close nit family run business so it hit the company, family, and friends hard with the loss that they had this year. The tow truck is a gingerbread tow truck that was donated for the auction. There were two Tow Person's of the year both because of a tragic loss in the company. Once again, good job love. I'm proud of you.

Yoga

Today, I start yoga classes with a friend and coworker. What made me decide to do yoga? Well, I want to start feeling better and start getting into shape. Since Daryl and I plan on trying to have a baby in the next 2-3 years I want to be in better shape than I am now before we start trying. Plus I also want to lose 20 pounds. While I have started eating better, eating better is only the first step to being healthier. Along with that comes exercise. While I just said the one thing that I do not do on a regular basis I am going to start. Mostly because I will have the motivation to keep it up since I will be going at the same time as my friend. We are doing this as a team, to support each other. But there are other health benefits to yoga. Since we will be doing hot yoga... yoga in a 105 degree room, it will help relieve stress as well, as well as help with my asthma. Thankfully I haven't had a problem with my asthma in a long time but still I don't want to mess around with it. I want to help it. Yoga is supposed to help increase lung capacity as well. We will be going to Bikram Yoga here in Bellevue, WA close to where we work. http://www.bikramyogabellevue.com/index.html


On a work note, it is review time and I have to fill out my review and figure out where I want to go within the company and what I need to do in order to obtain that goal. While it means more hard work is ahead for me in order to achieve my goal, I think it will help achieve the overall goal of using my education that I worked hard at achieving. Yes it will also cost me some money for the training, and while I probably could see if the company would pay for it, knowing that everyone is having to shrink budgets because of the economy, I'm not going that route at all. I will see what I can do when I decide to move forward with the additional training. I know I will do it but it is just a matter of time and money. For now, I need to finish filling out my review. Figure out what my strengths are and where I need to develop.

My Best Friend

Without Stacy I would not have been sane on my wedding day. She helped me plan that beautiful day from the very first day. She once old me when Daryl and I got home from our vacation to Victoria, that everyone had expected me to come back engaged and were all saying, "What happened?" Little did we know at the time that Daryl had planned on proposing when we were in Victoria British Columbia. He had not purchased my engagement ring yet, and in fact he was trying hard to shake me from his side so that he could go to the jewelry store to purchase the ring. He later told me that he had planned on proposing in Victoria but that the atmosphere at the restaurants just wasn't right. He said, "The one restaurant that was perfect we ate at on our first night there and I didn't have the ring yet." Too funny!

Anyway, without Stacy's help I would not have made it to my wedding day. I owe a lot to her and I don't know if I will ever be able to repay her for what she did for me. I will always be in her debt and in her gratitude. I will always be there for her and her family no matter what. To my best friend, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

My weekends have been consisting of...

For the past two weekends all I have been doing is scrubbing walls in my kitchen. I still have the living room to do. Why? Two weekends ago I got a wild hair to see what color the walls actually were. The walls haven't been cleaned since Daryl inherited the house from his dad. Why would they when he barely stayed there up until I moved back in two years ago? I got a wild hair and decided that I was going to make this house feel like it was my house as well. Why not? After all Daryl and I did get married right? It should feel like my house as well! Now if I had been thinking I would have taken before pictures before I started scrubbing with a sponge and 409. But I got smart after I had already been scrubbing! So you will have to follow me here.

Before Pictures:
























In Process: See the difference?













After: WOW what a difference!
















































Ok in this picture the only thing that hasn't been scrubbed yet is the ceiling. I haven't figured out how I'm going to clean the ceiling yet. Tried the mop which is how that streak got there but unless the mop is really dry it drips in your face. And the sponge on the mop isn't worth scrubbing with and its hard to get elbow grease into it as well.



That is what I have been spending my weekends doing. I still have the ceiling and half of the kitchen to do that is blocked off with boxes and other stuff. When they get moved I'll do that side. In the meantime I can start in on the living room. Look for that post later on! I promise I'll post the honeymoon posts soon as well.

Assistance needed!

We have a lot of house renovating to do and a lot of projects that need done. With that said I have started a project on the inside of the house that I would like assistance on! If you are willing to get a little dirty and use some muscle power let me know! I need the help or this project may just take me the next two months to do!

Ok with that said, what the heck am I doing that I need help with? I'm scrubbing the kitchen and living room walls in preparation to paint them. Why not just prime them? Because the primer coat won't stick to grease, and soot and whatever else is on the walls. I've scrubbed a little bit and watched the walls turn three shades lighter with a little elbow grease and a lot of patience. If you want to help give me a call!

Thanks!

Look for...

As soon as we get back from Maui, please look for honeymoon posts!

Graduation Day

As if there wasn't enough happy things going on this year between the wedding and the honeymoon I also finished school this year! Exciting! Today, September 19, 2008 is the day that I graduate with my bachelors degree in Information Security. I'm happy. Tuesday we leave for Maui on our honeymoon, and while i will miss the boys I'll be spending it with my husband

Our Songs

We have two, ok well three songs, that are our songs. The first two are the same song but by different artists. John Michael Montgomery and All For One's "I Swear" and the last is Shania Twain's "You're Still The One". The photo above is our first dance, and if you were at the wedding you may have heard us singing along to our songs as we danced. The songs and the meanings behind the songs mean something to us and will always be true. To my loving sweet husband I say this with tears in my eyes, "Forever and always, I love you."

The lyrics to our songs are below.

"I Swear"

I see the questions in your eyes,
I know what's waiting on your mind
You can be sure I know my part,
Cause I stand beside you through the years,
You'll only cry those happy tears,
And though I make mistakes,
I'll never break your heart.


> I swear, By the moon and th stars in the sky,I'll be there
I swear, By the shadow that's by your side, I'll be there.
For better or worse,
till death do us part,
I'll love you with every beat in my heart,I swear

I'll give you every thing I can,
I'll build your dream with these two hands
We'll hang some memories on the wall.
And when, the silver in your hair,
You won't Have to ask if I Still care
Cause as the time turns th page,
My love won't age at all

I swear, By the moon and the stars in the sky,I'll be there
I swear, By the shadow that's by your side,I'll be there
For better or worse,
Till death do us part
I'll love you with every beat of my heart,I swear

I swear, By the moon and the stars in the sky,I'll be there,
I swear, By the shadow that's by your side,I'll be there
For better or worse,
Till death do us part
I'll love you with every beat in my heart
I swear, I swear.


"You're Still The One"


When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.
And after
all this time, you're still the one I love.)
Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong


> (You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)


Forever and alway, I love you Daryl.

Wedding Photos from Friends

On Saturday, August 16, 2008 I married my sweetheart, Daryl. It is appropriate that we married on the 16th of August as it was also our 8 year anniversary of being together as a couple. Now we are officially married and will celebrate our marriage every year on the 16th of August. I have to thank everyone who came to share our special day. I need to especially thank all of my friends and family who helped get the venue set up, me ready, keeping me calm, as well as the cleanup of the venue on Saturday. You guys and gals did a spectacular job, and we appreciate it a lot. Although I am very anxious to see the photos from my photographer, I was pleased that friends were taking pictures that day as well and posted them where I could see them.

Bachlorette Party

I'm Proud of you love

I am very proud of my husband to be. Despite very tragic losses of two of our friends whom we considered family, Daryl has been promoted to General Manager of Airport and Burien Towing in Burien Washington. Congratulations my love. On top of this responsiblity, he will still be driving a tow truck and working long hours. I also suspect that we will be going to more tow shows in the near future. I will do my darnedist to be by your side at every show and help as much as possible. I love you, Daryl. Forever and always.

Brian, Mark you are family to us and always will be in our hearts and in our thoughts. We know that you are looking down on us and watching everything that we do. We love you, we miss you. We always will.

Sweeties

Life.........

Hope

by Brian Quinn

When all about you is black with gloom,
And all you feel is pending doom.
When your bones are racked with grim despair -
When every breath is a gasp for air.
Keep on going, though you need to grope,
For around the bend is a ray of hope.

A ray of hope is perhaps all that's left,
As your will to live has been bereft.
You've lost it all, it's just no use!
You can end it all, you need no excuse.
But throw away that piece of rope,
And give yourself a chance of hope.

Just give yourself another day,
Brushing aside what your thoughts may say.
This is your life and you can make a new start,
By ignoring the brain - just follow the heart.
Taking baby steps in order to cope,
And minute by minute you'll build on your hope.

Build on your hope,. one day at a time,
Though the road be steep and hard to climb.
The hurts of the past - they should be dead.
The fears of the future are all in your head.
Just live in the present and refuse to mope
Your life will sparkle for you're living in hope.

The poem above is from http://100-poems.com/poems/life/0186001.htm

Why do things happen the way that they do? I know things happen for a reason, but sometimes those things stink. Things are falling apart for my wedding and its nothing that I can control.
If it wasn't for my fiance and my best friend I am sure that I would have lost it by now. I owe them both a lot and I don't know if I will ever be able to repay them. All I want to do is cry and I'm sure at some point either today or this week that will happen. I miss Brian and Mark and I miss them dearly. I wish they were here. I know Brian would be telling jokes doing anything that he could to get me to laugh. Mark would find a way to make me smile. Brian, you may be up in heaven but you will always be our best man.

Beach Time!

Ok I haven't been to the beach since Poseidon was a young pup. Since it was a nice warm day out I figured that I would take him today.

I thought I had a picture of him as a young puppy at the beach for comparison but I can't find it at the moment.

Here are the pictures from today (7/20/08).


Poseidon obviously loves the water. We went to Seahurst Park in Burien, Washington. This is the same park that I brought him too when he was just 9 weeks old. He was a little hesitant about the waves at first but not for long! Within a few short minutes he was pulling me deeper into the water and going after all the waves he could get too.

I eventually was able to drag him back up the beach so I could set our bag down that included plastic bags to clean up after Poseidon, water dish for Poseidon, bottle of water for Poseidon, mom's cell phone, mom's tennis shoes, and mom's soda. Note from Poseidon, "I can't wait to go back to the beach! Although next time I hope mom has her water shoes so she doesn't have to worry about getting sand in her tennis shoes or getting her feet cut. Yes mom got cut and yes mom cleaned it out."







Poseidon just loves the beach, he also loves chasing his tail in a circle. But he had fun especially since he got to go into the water and it was more than just his paws most of his body was under water at some point.







I don't know who is more tired after today's adventure. Poseidon or myself. I happened to look into the back seat at a stop light and saw this and had to snap a photo of him.

All of these photos are from the camera on my phone. I didn't take my other digital camera with me because I was expecting to have a harder time to control Poseidon. Maybe next time.



Note from Mom: next time bring towels to dry off and clean off feet with, extra bottles of water, water shoes that were ordered for honeymoon to protect feet and therefore save tennis shoes, sheet to protect back seat from dog hair and sand.

Bridal Shower

I got many great gifts that I absolutely enjoy for my bridal shower this past weekend. One of which is something I have been wanting for a long time. Many thanks to everyone who gave me a gift, thank you cards will be going out soon. This is just one of the many gifts that I received.

I got gift cards, a towel wrap, photo albums, picture frames, tea for one, and so much more!

Thank you everyone!

Helmet Head

1st Birthday Party for Toby!

Toby is the son (one of the two) of a friend of Daryl's and mine.

The pictures in the slideshow are from Toby's first birthday party on Sunday. He turned one on Father's Day.



I'm still working on the video that I took that day, hopefully I can get it posted as well.

Weddings

Such a beautiful reception it was...... and there is no way that mine is coming close to it. I'm not competing with it either not even trying to. I just wanna have fun....that's it.



To the left Sam and Toby Storer, just two of the three Storer grandkids that I babysat during their aunts wedding ceremony. We later joined them for the reception.










Sam and Toby's cousin Liam joined us for our little party time before the actual reception.












Liam looks a little confused at what is actually going on. They later just started playing with the toys that their Grandpa had brought over earlier for them to play with.










While I had tried to get all three boys down for a nap while the ceremony was going on, it didn't happen. All three boys were extremely tired and the reception hadn't even started when I got little Toby to fall asleep. Here he's in a family friend's arms giving me a little bit of a break from holding him.







A picture of the bride and groom with the bride's brothers. Left to right starting from the back:
Brian, Jared, Kenny (groom) and in front the beautiful bride Teresa.

Congratulations you two!

Just stuff

With 2 months and 13 days until my wedding there is still a lot to do. Probably some that I haven’t even thought of in all reality. But am I going to sweat about every single detail? No. Why not I am a bride aren’t I? Yes I am a bride, but I feel that if I sweat about every single detail whether it is big or small something will go wrong. Something will go wrong anyway no matter what I do. It’s how I handle it that matters. Knowing that something will go wrong no matter what it will be easier and more enjoyable for me. There is no reason that I need to stress myself out because of the wedding. Take everything in stride, have a good laugh and keep on going like that’s how you planned it to happen anyway. So with that said, “Have fun and remember that you make a difference in this world!

My Birthday Present from my loving wonderful fiance!

Ok I have to admit that one an occasion I had borrowed my fiance's Garmin GPS to get me somewhere that I was unsure of how to get to because my best friend couldn't go with me to get my wedding gown fitted for the alterations. I guess that gave him the idea to get me one for my birthday....

Cause I got a TomTom One XL for my birthday on Saturday.

Thank you Sweetie!




You can add my address as a poi (point of interest) to your tomtom by clicking below!

This is Tumble, who happened to be sleeping on our carport looking so relaxed. She's a sweetheart. Thought I would share since I'm usually posting pictures of Zeus and Poseidon.

Wedding....school....exhausted!

Between working, taking care of 2 German Shepherds whom I treat as my children, planning and preparing for my wedding, on top of school, I'm just exhausted. I honestly can't wait till August to come even though I'll be a little more stressed since the wedding will be close at hand as well as the end of school.

Did I just say end of school???? Yes I did. Next quarter which starts in June is my last quarter of school. Graduation is in September! I will be graduating with my Bachelor's degree in Information Security Systems. A few relatives have pushed for me to go on and get my masters degree and I have responded no. I am done. I have achieved what I wanted to achieve for now. I need a break. I have been going to school and attacking it hard for the past 5 years. I'm exhausted, would like some time to relax and enjoy life, spend more time at home with my dogs and gaming and spending time doing crafts or stuff around the house. To my family and friends, I have appreciated the support that you have given me all of these years while I have been going to school. I know I may not have shown it or said it as much as I should have but I appreciate it. Thank you!

Honeymoon plans? We recently booked our honeymoon plans for Maui, Hawaii. We won't be taking our honeymoon until towards the end of September due to school and graduation. Am I looking forward to Maui? Yes. I've never been there, have no clue what to do there yet. But I look forward to having time to relax from both wedding and school, and while we both will miss our dogs (they will be going back to their doggie resort that they went to when we went to Oklahoma and Arizona last year)...i look forward to the time to ourselves. Will my cell phone be with me? Yes. Will i answer? Probably not, if its turned on at all. Will I have my laptop with me, definately....but don't expect me to answer cause I probably won't. I can't speak for my sweetheart on that but I plan on exploring as much as I can. I want to go snorkeling, whale watching just for starters

Woot!

I was just told that I'm being moved from a contract to a permanent employee sometime this month! Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh

Tired of it all

I'm tired of people complaining that their gowns cost too much. I'm tired of people saying oh you can pay for it. HELLO? The gowns can be worn again, and are meant to compliment my wedding gown. No I'm not going to pay for your gown because Daryl and I are paying for 90% of the wedding ourselves. I'm sorry that you don't like the fact that people had to pay xxx for their gown you dont like it you could have said, no and told me that you were backing out of the wedding party. I'm tired of the bitching folks. You don't like it ....deal with it....... realize that weddings are expensive in the first place, and unlike some of you my parents are not paying for my wedding. I'm not one to put that burden on them. Deal with the cost and realize that you can wear the gown for other occasions or you can put it up for sale after the wedding on craigslist or in a consignment shop to try and recoup some of the cost. Remember: you could have said thank you for asking me to be in your wedding but I would rather not. You had the option of backing out.... While yes the gown is designer it is also of good quality where it won't fall apart.

This is supposed to be a happy day for me and a happy time for me ......and guess what....because of all the bickering and griping its not. I'm done. If you want out of the wedding and have already paid for your gown, put your gown up for sale unworn at a consignment shop or on craigslist for the price that you paid for it before any alterations are done and tell me to my face either via phone, in person, or via email that you don't want to be in the wedding anymore. I won't be mad...i wont be upset...I'll understand...........

Our Engagement Photos

We had our engagement photos taken on Saturday March 22, 2008 at Don Armenti Park in Seattle, Washington near Alki Beach. Here is a slideshow of our engagement photos.

2008 is a big year!

Well, so far 2008 has started off with a bang for me. On January 2, 2008 I was offered a new job, which I accepted. I had been unhappy where I was at for some time, and putting up with abuse of a sort from my supervisor. I was frustrated because I was not able to use my education and began to question why I was going for my bachelors degree in Information Security at the time. That changed on January 2nd. I started appreciating that I have worked so hard at my education. I immediately turned my resignation in, which was not received well at all, but I expected that and in the end reaffirmed my decision to leave. Was it scary? Yes. Did I question my decision? Yes I did, I began to wonder if I was doing the right thing, but after talking it over with some friends whom I could trust and felt would give me a honest answer and some soul searching on my own, I felt that I was doing the right thing.

I have been at my new job for a total of 3 weeks now. In that three weeks I have gotten us caught up with everything, gotten inventory done, arranged to have PC's and monitors recycled, and in fact can add an item to my resume that I am now familiar with, something that I was told that I would never have a chance to do at my previous job. I have handled everything in the office by myself on four occasions, whether it be due to weather, sickness, or having to go to another office to install hardware. But I have proven that I can handle what happens in the office without supervision, and with relatively no assistance. I have been told that I am doing a great job, and that everything that I have been doing is very much appreciated. I have also been told from an admin that they have heard nothing but wonderful stuff from others in the office about me. They are saying "Fast response, great attitude." While I am on contract with this company for 3 to 6 months, after that I can be hired on permanently, at this point I have no doubt that I will be hired on permanently.

When I was at my previous company, I would come home frustrated, go outside during the day on the verge of crying or wanting to put my hand thru a wall. It was not a healthy situation at all. I don't know if I could have stayed there much longer and kept my sanity. While I will say this for them, they gave me the opportunity and I did learn a lot while I was there. I got some experience which helped me obtain the job that I have gotten now. But with that company there was no way I could have reached my personal career goals. They didn't have the need for a 3rd system administrator. My suggests to improve security, both physical and data, were unwanted, being told that its not needed. Not needed? I highly doubted that. In order to protect your data and keep your business running, it is highly recommended that only authorized personnel have access to your servers as well as your phone systems. Not needed, I don't think so. What happens in the cause of an emergency? What are employees supposed to do if there is no power? What is their Disaster Recovery Plan? What about Business Continuity? I won't answer those questions here because I know the answers to them.

With my new job, I have come home with a smile on my face for the past 3 weeks and I am loving my job.

Ok I said 2008 is going to be a big year, so what else is happening this year?

Well...............
I will be graduating with my bachelors degree this year as well, right now the current debate is do I graduate in June or September? Will explain this later in another post when I get word back from my school chair.

so thats 2 things for 2008 so far.....what else?

I get married this year. Saturday August 16, 2008 I get married to one of my best friends. I say one of my best friends because I have 2 best friends. I believe you can have more than one best friend.

Wedding plans are coming along and things are coming into place. We are having our engagement photo session next month.

Poseidon:


Zeus: