From Caseboltude to Falkdom...

Dearest family and friends,

Hello from the official Falk household! I guess I can honestly say that a LOT has happened since my last blog... more so than I have ever been able to boast in the past. It's funny, because so much of life is the same. And yet, we've entered into a whole new stage of life. This year has been so growing and changing! We purchased our first home (and have no plans to leave before beginning to rear our family and hope to stay in this perfect neighborhood until they're grown), started our life together as husband and wife, and have begun to build stakes here in our friendships, hobbies and faith. I've had a lot of people commenting on how happy we looked in our pictures, and I can honestly say I have never truly been this happy before. I have never been more aware of how blessed I am with the people in my life and where life is heading right now. So, without further ado, I'd better get started enlightening you with a brief (unlikely) synopsis of the goings on! I'll try to cover our wedding and honeymoon with a few choice pictures so that your whistle is wet enough to want to come visit us and see the full albums :)

The school year ended much more quickly than the previous year and with big aspirations for the next year. Many of the programs I want to implement have gained interest and I've basically been given a blank check for mayhem for the year as long as I plan well and test drive them on my classes first. Many of you may not remember the Life Project my mentor teacher Dave Gamon began a while back that models the scientific method through application and community service... well, I'm planning to bring the same idea to White River! I hope to instill in my kiddos the idea of thinking outside of themselves into their community or another and to actually USE their problem solving and critical thinking skills learned in science towards issues that EVERYONE deals with. I know not all kiddos will go into the science field, but every kiddo will need to learn how to impact others in a positive way using cause and effect and trail and error. Anyway, I don't want to take away from the obviously more interesting blog topics, but I am excited to be starting my third year in about a month and to get back into school mode in the next few weeks (I didn't let myself think about it until after all this wedding madness and wrap-up was finished so that I didn't go crazy).

After the school year ended, there were just two short weeks to finalize some wedding things and get ready for the big day! Thankfully, it was very low stress; as long as I was married at the end of the day, the rest was just details. My mom moved in the last week to help finish up some wedding projects... thanks for the help, MOM! Couldn't have done it without you :) not to mention, she was practically homeless since they sold their home in Gig Harbor. I guess there's so many bloggers in the family (now that my mom has one), I won't bore you by repeating the details :)

And finally, the big day came! The day I married my best friend, the best man I've ever known, the man I'll spend the rest of my life with through thick and thin... my Richard! Since most all of my blog followers were there, I think you know the jist of the story... but here's a few pictures of our special day :)

I adored my dress... I knew it was right because it made me feel as beautiful as Richard tells me I am :)

After our first sight!

My wonderful bridal party (missing my sis, Jen... if my photo editing skills were better, I'd put her in there!)

The Casebolt Crew missing a Hall

Probably my favorite :) my boys!

The new in-laws!

Just before the ceremony started, my MOH pro tem Chelsea Jackson brought me a vase of carnations and roses that had a note inside from Richard. It was an incredibly sweet and special moment. So blessed!

I missed Jen terribly but think it was the right decision for her to stay behind... and thanks to incredible technology, she didn't miss a thing! She was actually probably happier this way, sitting in her air conditioned home :) I'm so thankful for her and my new baby nephew!

My handsome groom :)

We were SO PROUD of your little bridal party members! We honestly didn't think Payton would make it down, but they were both perfect and good for the entire ceremony. Little kids for the win!

Husband and Wife!

Another favorite... I love how happy he looks :)

Our first dance to "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)"... this particular moment was one of the "I just wanna STOP" parts of the song. Couldn't expect us to be serious for too long.

My dad gave me three incredible things on my wedding day: the wedding of my dreams with the man of my dreams, a beautiful and tearful toast that didn't have a dry eye in the house, and wrote/performed for Richard and I a bagpipe tune called "Chelsea and Richard's Bonnie Wedding". It was amazing, we were floored! All Richard kept saying was, "this is the coolest gift EVER!" Love you Papa, with all my heart... I'll always be your little girl :)

So those are a very short few of the two thousand or so I've collected from our fabulous photographer Matt and some family friends with cameras. If you'd like to see the more extensive collection, again, I would love to show you in person :)

The day after our nuptials, we had as many family and friends as we could cram in our cute little house over for a brunch of leftovers (that barely seemed touched... but thankfully a friend of mine stayed at our house and was able to feast a bit! Not enough to finish it off before it went bad, but still...) and gift opening. We are totally set! Then our wonderful neighbors Luke and Tiffany, who have actually become very close friends and huge blessings to us, drove us to the airport where we boarded our red-eye (NEVER doing that again with drugs, booze or a combination... neither slept at all) and arrived in Miami the next morning for our Caribbean cruise! Again, we have about 900 pictures from our honeymoon (about 300 of which aren't blurry... winning) so I'd love to show them ALL to you if you can stomach the motion sickness! Otherwise, if you'd just like a taste, here ya go:

The cruise terminal with our boat!

 

The atrium of the boat... there's about three more levels above where you can see in this photo. We called the ship "Vegas on Water"!

Okay, so story... the boat had kind of a Luxor Vegas feel to it and the casino floor on the boat had pillars with Sphinx-like women on top of them. These Egyptian statues were, well, bare breasted... and we laughed quite a bit because they were all gold minus the nipples of each one. The most inappropriate area had obviously been rubbed off of EACH statue because of people touching them, so each one was either bright orange or green plastic. SO naturally, we had to have a picture helping to cover the indecency.

Key West

Key West boasted a lot of fun things... we went on the Conch Train (after a failed attempt to snorkel... sadly the weather stunk most all of the trip), went to the Shipwreck Museum and Aquarium, etc. But one of our favorite things was the plethora of statues. I could fill an entire blog with us act-posing with them, but just chose this most strangest one...

Puffer smile at the aquarium!

One of the things we were most proud of on our cruise was our choice to eat the strangest food we could find. These are conch fritters... you know, the aquatic snail?! Twas... interesting... we also had alligator, strange fishes, avocado and strawberry soup, and every dessert they pretty much offered. These fritters were in Key West, but we got pretty much all our food on the boat's phenomenal seated dining room!

Fancy dinner night that they almost wouldn't let us into... we didn't think to pack formal dress shoes and slacks on a Caribbean cruise so they almost didn't let Richard and I in. We had to plead our case to Guest Services and the maître d'hôtel to let us eat. But it was worth it for lobster night!

Our favorite towel animal :)

When we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico, we took a ferry to the mainland town of Playa Del Carmen and then a bus to Tulum, an area known for it's ancient Mayan ruins. So much culture and fun! Tada! I have tons of stories here, but again am short on blog space :) by far our favorite part of the trip!

Newlyweds! Just before...

The downpour that came from NOWHERE and dumped a few million bazillion gallons of water on us.

Yay! On Miami Beach waiting to hop back on the bus for our flight home.

We have so many stories we can't wait to share with you all, like how we became celebrities on the boat the last day of the cruise because of the Love and Marriage Comedy Show we competed in (were basically forced since we were the "newest newlyweds" on the boat by an hour...) and videotaped (yes we have a copy, and no you can't see it...), our Key West fiasco, etc. We realized we're not really cruise-type people, but still had the time of our lives! We were there for the opposite reason of most of the cruisers; it seemed like no one was really interested in the port excursions and we saw that as the point of the cruise. That and you only really have 5 hours at most anywhere. But it was an awesome experience and we want to send a HUGE thank you to my parents for helping make our honeymoon possible! We owe you BIG!

Once we got back, I ran around the greater Pacific Northwest area to see my new nephew (as shown below) and visit friends around us. Not to mention people visiting us, like my parents this past weekend who came for Falk time and the Highland Games (have an impressive burn to show for that one!) and some friends from Idaho coming up tomorrow for some camping. On the two to three days off that I had in between each trip up until this week, we started wrapping up wedding stuff. I'm thankful to say that my two-page to-do list of dress preservation, guestbook framing, house work and repairs, organization, filing, cleaning and sorting gifts, and much more is done as of the end of this post! Well, minus my last little project of painting our vows on canvas to hang above our bed :) and the big to-do list of house things like painting the inside and landscaping and such. I know I've been busier, but I'm starting to feel like a true homeowner. I can't imagine how people do it while they work, much less with children running around! So props to all you peeps out there makin' it work with the 9 to 5 and little 'uns :)

 Well, we've felt like we've had a child the last few weeks... my friend who lives and teaches in Alaska was in a tight spot with a dog she rescued up there (literally rescued from being shot and thrown in the ocean... oh if I could tell her stories from Little Diomede!) so we offered to hold onto her in our nice, big, fenced backyard. She's awful cute, but awful destructive and, well, unintelligent. We're about at our wit's end! But it's perfect puppy birth control for Richard... he grew up on a farm where there were always animals and has wanted a dog for a while. He didn't want to tie himself down yet, but this might have clinched it for a longer period of time. So yay for me! :)

Baby Boy Carter Scott Hall, the most perfect little baby boy I've ever seen! So excited to have another nephew! Ya did good, Mama Jen :)

Okay, I know this has been a beast of a post... but one last thing! Our WONDERFUL cousin Ryan is painting our house for us this summer, so we're going to be looking pretty different pretty soon! He's finished two sides of the house and will be wrapping up the rest in the next week or so and it looks fantastic! We also have started demolishing our messy flowerbeds in the front yard and by the door; they're just too overgrown from being unkempt and not being taken care of while the place was empty, so we have to rip it all out and start from scratch. We're hoping to have new bark and the beds cleared at least by the time the house is done, so here's some "before" pictures to compare to when I post the "after" pictures when it's all done! No more being the messy, trashy house on the block!

 

Well, I guess I'll let you all go for now. Again, let me know if you want to get together for more wedding and honeymoon pictures, I'm just itching to share :) hope to see you all soon, thank you for being my family and a part of my life! I don't know where I'd be without each and every one of you :)

 

Peace and love,

Mrs. Falk :)

A Long Time Coming...

Beloved friends and family, hello! I know, you probably gave up this blog like a bad habit, continually disappointed by my lack of additions to it in the last few months... this was not an intentional abandonment, but it was there none-the-less. So, I'm back! Not sure for how long, but long enough to enlighten you about the goings on of the Falk-Casebolt household!

This evening, after a beautiful day at church followed by a not-so-beautiful day organizing the garage, I sit in the crook of my super comfy couch with my monkey-picked oolong tea (according to the "tea expert" at the store, the monkey's where an old collection system? I won't question it, it's divine for this non-coffee person), looking back at my perfect home and wonderful life thinking, "how am I so blessed to have all this?!" Granted, each day has not been that way lately... and for only one reason. My new home is absolutely perfect for us (thank you to those who shared it with us this Easter!) and slowly but surely becoming our permahome, I'm falling more and more in love with Richard each day (not in the googly eyed sense, but in the more mature, partner in crime for life whether he likes it or not sort of way), my choir has been a phenomenal source of sanity in my week, I adore those women, Lily is feisty fun as always, and wedding plans/work are, well, done for all intensive purposes (all that's left is finalizing the ceremony and making the programs... everything else is set, invites are addressed, gifts are done, decorations and attire is complete, etc.). BUT, work has been quite the exhausting endeavor lately.

Apart from 14 hour days regularly (well, at least the last two months regularly), the demands and stresses of the job are definitely taking their toll. Taking enough of a toll to prompt me to explore other options. I know that I have been called to education in some form and building relationships with students is where my heart really lies, but I'm beginning to recognize that this calling can take many different forms! I've been looking into a masters potentially in school counseling to take that aspect, or I could continue my original plan of attaining my masters in educational psychology and, potentially, getting my doctorate in a related field to teach pedagogy at a university. But, at the same time, I love my kids and know that it'll get easier with time so don't want to abandon it so quickly. At the risk of building and living on a soap box, I'll just quickly say that I am not extremely pleased with where the educational system, including my school, is leading our youth. I think the whole picture is responsible, including family dynamic, but I'm looking forward to a cultural change altogether.

Anyway, enough of that. This upcoming week should be MUCH easier than last week was so I'm very happy! That and my wonderful father is coming to be a community member judge for our senior projects this week, so we'll get to spend a little time together :) two quick things that are upcoming though!
----- My choir has a performance coming up on June 1st at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Lakewood called "The Show Must Go On". It's our spring concert except this year we are doing a Broadway review as opposed to the tried and true choral-type arrangements. If you're looking for an amazingly good time and have always wished me to play Maria in The Sound of Music (I'm no Julie Andrews, but... well, that's it. I'm just not. And I'm mortified :/ ) then come on down! It'll be between $15 and $18 a ticket I believe. Oh, and I'm going to swordfight as a Frenchman if that's an incentive :)
----- Second, and this is kind of weird, my friend has a 7 year old male cat that she needs to find a good home for; she is moving in with new roommates who are extremely allergic to cats. Apparently he is an unbelievably relaxed cat, lets you clip his nails and everything, loves to play but is also a cuddler, and his name is Chronos. If you're interested, let me know! It's weird to put out there, but I feel terrible... I just really don't want another cat (nothing against the guy, really!) and will feel like less of a jerk if I at least TRY to find him another home other than mine. It's either that or the Humane Society :/

Well, I'm spent! I'm really looking forwad to seeing some of you ladies next weekend at my most surreal bridal shower (only because I still don't see myself as old enough and mature enough to be making these choices). I'm unbelievably excited! YAY! And I hope every last one of you knows that you are welcome at our home at any time :) speaking of which, here's a picture!

Love you all with all my heart,
Chels


"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival."
 - C.S. Lewis

A Portly Post of Predominantly Pictures

Well hello, didn't see you there! Actually, that's a lie... I knew very well who *cough* parents *cough* have been breathing down my neck for a new blog :) not that I blame them, quite a lot has happened with very little communication which, so I've learned in my relationships, can be quite detrimental? Yes, I believe so. So much has happened since we spoke last that I'm finally starting to realize why little blogs of seemingly little events is the way to go. Thankfully I took pictures over the last few weeks and they have jogged my memory about fun little outings and events that I've had with my wonderful fiance, my family, and others! But first, a quick update about life in general...

Well we're about five weeks (I think... it's about this time I lost all dimension of time last year) into the school year and, even with it's ups and downs, this year is a VAST improvement on last year. I have a lot more students/bigger class sizes and some interesting characters to say the least, but I am legitimately beginning to love what I'm doing! Don't get me wrong, I could really use a break from pubescent teenagers (especially with this past week being Homecoming Week... basically all my students were stir crazy because one dance per semester equals all the drama involved being crammed into one week. Oh, and add onto that funny costumes each day... but I felt pretty good on Superhero day with my cape, wrist cuffs and goggles; they called me Super Casebolt) and our administration are cramming meaningless tasks onto our plates with unreasonable timetables and I'm working later nights than I did last year (shockingly, but this time it's WITH students and to refine the stuff I already did last year for better learning/rigor)... but all in all it's been amazing :) over the summer, some good spiritual and emotional R & R inspired some mental growth on my part and my mindset has completely changed. Likewise, this means my attitude and outlook on my work has completely changed, making life so much easier, more enjoyable and comfortably out of my hands. If you would like specifics, I would love to share! But otherwise, I won't risk boring the masses :)

I have three honors classes, all pretty large (one is 35 kids... and they're loud... but they're really great kids, kind, funny, and HOLY NERDS! I call them my nerd herd) and two general classes. It's been fun! Also I've been in charge of my PLC's efficiency, been helping out a new student teacher (can't wait until I can have my own... the conversations about pedagogy and why we do what we do are phenomenal, and sadly often lost upon the veterans in my district), and have already been asked to do drama by some students... we shall see, the plate is fairly full. OH! And in case you're wondering how the biology state testing went for your kids last year, the results are in... two years ago our pass rate was 54% and this past year our pass rate was *drumroll please* 76%! I'm so proud of our improvement, we bumped from one of the lowest schools to being the 3rd in the state for science. Not too shabby! In general though, the year has gone well :) maybe to the point where I may want to stay here?! We shall see...

Okay, I've not delivered a very "portly" post so far so I promise I'll try to make this brief before tomatoes come at me through my computer screen... choir has been aMAZing as well! It's been wonderful getting back into a group of girls and working to create something great :) I wanted to let you know that we have two concerts each year and the dates for them are as follows (no pressure):

Christmas Concert: December 8 & 9 (we think...)
Musical Theatre Concert (he's made me Maria from Sound of Music... I'm no Julie Andrews, but hey, you know me!): February 16

And now on to the pictures! See attached captions to truly drink in the eventful goodness that has been my wonderfully blessed life these past few weeks!

 Thought I'd start us off with a nice dead animal carcass hanging in our neighbor's back yard and a lovely sunrise on the way into school.

 Richard and I took the gondola up Crystal Mountain one Friday evening and had a picnic dinner :) it was beatiful and somewhat comical; he's afraid of heights but wanted to go, so I neglected to tell him how high the gondola really went. Quite the ride!

 Happy Birthday Grandma! Love you more than words can say!

Rich and I also took a different afternoon to enjoy Mowich Lake with our books and lawn chairs :)

The Puyallup Fair was clastrophobic as always but too fun! And obviously included invisible sheep (as seen by the sign)... for some reason, Richard didn't want me to post this one...

The weekend after the fair was the state's free museum day; Rich read in an article that you can sign up to attend any museum in the state for free, so he took the day off and planned a full-on day date for us. And, like the good little frugal man I love, he of course tried to find the most expensive museum to visit so we got good bang for our buck. So this is a gorgeous piece of Christ asking for water from the Samaritan woman at the Seattle Art Museum!

 Ahh the Seattle Aquarium! Don't remember ever going, so we just HAD to :)

And my boyo was, quite literally, the only adult basically jumping into the tide pool... not surprising

 

 A b-e-a-UTIful Seattle sunset to cap off the perfect day on the town :)

 :)

Thought you would like to see the inner workings of a high schooler's mind... I had my kids create mnemonic devices to remember the order of "kingdom phylum class order family genus species" in organism taxonomy. Got some interesting ones in there... made a fun classroom competition though! Got donuts for the student who won "best device" in each class, even though I had to sneak them past admin (we aren't allowed to give treats to our kiddos).

I got a video of my classroom so that you all can see it... I feel truly accomplished in how I've made it home and my own. Took a while and some "borrowing" from abandoned rooms, but I absolutely love the outcome :) welcome to my second home! Sometimes it feels like my first though...

My first staff badge! I didn't get one last year because (honestly) I didn't shower on picture day. But now I'm all staffed up!

 

Some pretty flowers from my honey :) I think I've got a future in arranging! Not really... but not shabby.

And finally, my Lily of the day is actually a video. We've discovered over the past few months that the absolute BEST toy we have ever and can ever get our fur baby is actually not really a toy at all... you know those rings from milk gallons? Those and the lids are hours of limitless entertainment for both her and for us. So enjoy!

 

Love you guys, hopefully it won't be so long before an update :)

Chels

An Eastern Adventure

Hi again! So, don't mean to toot my own horn... but I'm actually blogging after our trip like I said I would! HA! To all you blog doubters *cough* mom *cough* I say "checkmate" :) Just kidding!

We got back yesterday from our 9 day trip to Priest River, Idaho and it was WONDERFUL! We got to spend a huge amount of quality time with all of his family members, moreso than I have before, and it was a huge blessing :) his family is so wonderful and I get along with them VERY well, but haven't truly had the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with individuals of his family... until now! I spent an especially large amount of time with Richard's mom, Kathi, and lover her even more now :) she is a very special, kind and understanding woman and I'm so glad we got to cultivate a closer relationship this week. Probably the best part of this trip, besides quality time with Rich's mom, was seeing how happy Richard was. I know he misses his family desperately and cherishes time with them; to see him and how peaceful/content he was is by far the best part of the trip :)

Anyway, on to the events! We decided to take a new trail over to the Eastside because, well, after four years of Snoqualmie Pass I wanted a new path... we've driven around Enumclaw and seen signs for Chinook Pass before so we said, "what the hey?!" and went for it. The views were INCREDible through the pass, probably one of my favorite drives in a long time... uuuuuupppp until the other side of the pass when it turned into desert Yakima yuck. But up until that, pure awesomeness!

Here's one of the many views of Rainier that kicked tuckus.



Once we met up again with I-90, it was the same-old same-old. Thankfully, we're pretty good at busying ourselves by chatting, singing obnoxiously loudly, and making some scenic stops:

Why hello, Vantage, you bustling metropolis you!



When we arrived to Priest River, we met up with Richard's cousin and Best Man Andrew who was able to get leave from the Army for the annual family camping trip. We then headed over to the traditional Priest Lake campground where Richard's parents, brother, and sister Michelle and her husband and son had already set up camp. Over the next few days, we swam at Priest Lake, ate heartily, and enjoyed a lot of good family time. Didn't get pictures because we had a "no phone" rule and my camera's batteries died, but I guarantee you that it was good times :)
When we got back into town, we (first) showered and relaxed and rehydrated. Then we took Richard's little brother Scott to Silverwood and enjoyed being pummeled by waves at Boulder Beach and obsessively riding the white water rafting ride until closing. It was tons of fun :) after that, we spend the day with Richard's biological half-sister Katie and her husband and three little boys and had some wonderful conversations... and then the day after THAT we went over to Richard's sister Britta's house for a barbeque she was holding in our honor!

Holy nephew invasion! It was so fun to spend time with them, but oh my little boys everywhere! As of now, the nephew count is up to 5... phew.

Britta and Michelle's sons Connor and Bodey are best buddies... they call each other ConCon and BoBo and they are inseperable. They also love cars right now, as any good little boy does, and got a hold of our car on our way out for the night :)



Like I said before, Kathi and I had some girl time throughout the week and I loved it :) the majority of our time was spent looking for decorations for the wedding at yard sales (some scary, some awesome) and an antique show one town over. We found three lanterns for table decorations and it was less than $10 total! Booyah :) also, when we were back at the house, she showed me some baby things of Richard's and this little gem:

D'awws. They took this picture soon after Katie (on the right) and Richard (cutie patootie in front) were adopted. He was about 8 months old and his half-sister was just over 2 years old. Too cute :) he has such a mature little face, it kind of makes me giggle!



It was hard for Richard to leave, but the big kid world beckoned... as did our fur baby! My dad was phenomenal in helping us by checking in on her, so thank you Daddy :) when we got home, she was pretty ticked off and distant, but warmed up really quickly. While trying to unpack, here was my little package :)

Anyway, lots to do to get caught up! I've been working on unpacking everything and getting life ready for, well, life. Two weeks left until I'm back to school and three more until kids are back. Man it went by fast!


Love you guys,
Chels

Busy, Busy July

Well hello again! And you all thought you wouldn't have a blog from me for four more months... FALSE! I'm back, sucka! Just kidding :)
This past July has been pretty busy between what I detailed in my last blog (Trotter's wedding, engagement pictures, Ocean Shores, the lake, King Tut/A+ Cert for Rich, hiking, etc.) and the time since the last blog around two weeks ago... so catch-up time!

First cool happenings was the stocking that Aunt Tanya helped me make! The background story: as most of you know, Grandma Book made stockings for most all of the family over the years that are treasured; it's not Christmas without Grandma's stocking on the fireplace/applicable fireplace substitute :) the stockings are so incredibly meaningful and speak volumes of the love that Grandma had whenever she did anything for her family. Well, I always had hoped that one day either Grandma or Grandma and myself could make Richard a Christmas stocking... almost like an inaguration into the family, you know? But that wasn't able to happen... it was a miniscule, inconcequential part of everything, but we found something so wonderful when going through the basement after Grandma was gone that made my heart leap. We found a cross-stitch stocking that Grandma had started but not finished. I cried I was so happy; it was an incredible find that had Grandma's love in it and I could finish for Richard! Everyone there were unbelievably kind in allowing me to take it and repurpose it; all it needed was a new name and a backing. So, a little over a week ago, I got ahold of master seamstress Aunt Tanya and she helped me make the most AMAZing stocking for him!

Tada! Ain't it beautiful? I am SO grateful for Aunt Tanya; she was such a great teacher and I was able to try all of it myself! It truly was a "teach a man to fish" situation and I am so thankful that she guided me through every step but gave me lisence to do it myself :) But holy cow, there's a LOT of steps that go into those things! Iron, cut, glue fabric, iron, iron, stitch, iron, stitch, stitch, invert, etc., etc., etc... Kinda glad it's made and now can just be enjoyed :) either way, I had so much fun with Aunt Tanya and later with Uncle Bob when he got home from work. Thanks guys!


The day after the stocking assembly, my Grandma Casebolt, cousin McKenna and I finished up our second day of Jam-a-palooza. Exhaustion was had by all, but that was awesome fun too! Our first Jam Day was ALL about the strawberries; this day, it was all about raspberries and apricot pineapple jam. We even got to u-pick and visit fruit stands; kind of broke up the kitchen time which was nice :) either way, the final jam count was 171 jars so we BETTER be set! I can't thank my Grandma and McKenna enough for all their help, I don't even know how! There's no way I could have done it without them and it was a ton of fun :) thanks to you guys too!


Then, the day after Jamming, was the Relay for Life. Aunt Tanya posted a lot of pictures so, again, I don't want to be redundant :) there were emotionally charged parts of it and some parts that weren't, so I'll keep this short and simple. First off, thank you everyone who came to be part of Jodie's Roadies; I know it was a really simple event/plan, but your presence made it really special and I so appreciate your coming. It was a huge gift to be able to just be around family and remember Grandma, even if most of the time it hurt too much to actually say. The support and love was felt without words, and I know Grandma would be proud of us :)

Love you, Grandma, miss you every day...

After Relay, Richard and I spent Saturday and Sunday at the Enumclaw Highland Games. I was really excited to take him there since it was his first Highland Games and it has become such a big part of my family (well, more my dad...). We enjoyed watching the pipe bands, talking with random people (Richard has a way of doing that... it's very sweet :) ), eating, shopping for potential family dogs at the kennel area, eating, looking through some vendors, eating, and... well, yeah. On Sunday, my dad and mom and Aunt Tanya/Uncle Bob joined us and we had a great time with them! I look forward to it every year and am already looking forward to it next year!

THEN, Monday was a relaxed day and I painted a wee bit... but Tuesday was a packed day! Toured some homes with our real estate agent (nothing yet...) and left immediately for Grandma Casebolt's while Richard went to work. I picked her up and McKenna met us at the house so that we could celebrate our jammin' with a day at Pike's Place Market! It had been years, from what Grandma said, since she'd been so we thought we'd break the tradition... it was lots of walking, lots of produce shopping and tons of fun! Probably my favorite part was hearing my Grandma continually say, "wow, this place sure has grown since I've been here last!" :) When we got back and had some supper, I jetted for an audition for a community women's choir. The director is one of my dad's pipe band instructors and a musical genius; apparently he and my dad have been talking for a while about me joining the choir, but it's quite the commute down by Lakewood/Fort Lewis... anyway, I've felt like part of me has been missing and it was time to get back into a choir-type group. So I auditioned and made it in! The practice was immediately following and I feel as though it will be the PERFECT group for me. Everyone there was legitimately kind and encouraging and I fit right in; that's saying something, especially when a lot of times choirs can be secretly competitive for individual attention. There were women of all ages and I was joking around and chatting with them already :) also, the director is incredibly musically gifted AND organized; a very rare trait for the "artsy fartsy" types. AND, what was most exciting to me, the music is apparently becoming more difficult as the choir shows it can handle it. I'm so happy about that! Part of the reason I've always loved choir was the musical challenge; another part of me being nervous about joining a choir is that I (feel awful saying this) didn't want a Sister Act pre-Whoopi situation, you know?! Anyway, I'll post when concerts are on here if you're interested in a musical evening :) I feel complete! Thanks Dad for setting it up for me and thanks a million to Richard for being so supportive of what makes me happy :)

Speaking of Richard, I have really exciting news! He's been applying to computer jobs almost every day since getting his A+ certification (wahooo!) but with the economy the way it is it's been slim pickings... but he is so kind and understanding of his customers at Rite Aid that they always love him. His regulars come to the store asking if he's working and come back when he does because he's so nice! It makes me extremely proud of him and is a huge testament of his kind heart :) but it's actually paying off too! They chat with him and find out that he works on computers and get his business card from him and, two weeks ago, an elderly woman gave him a call and had him work on her computer. She was so excited and thankful for his hard work and low costs, she referred him to local businesses and her family members and he's already gotten other jobs from it! The extra income is nice, but I'm just happy that he has the opportunity to practice his trade and network. I know it makes him happy :) so yay for growing opportunities and skills! And any prayers you could send his way for a computer or IT job would be appreciated more than you know.

Also, a quick Richard update about the accident, we've been attempting to work with the insurance company on a settlement and medical costs and they aren't really playing nice. So, we've got a few more tricks up our sleeve that we heard from legal council and, if they don't play ball, we'll need to seek an attorney. Any thoughts or prayers you can send us for that would be appreciated as well. We just want it to be done!

Anyway, enough gushing... we're leaving tomorrow for Spokane to see the Falk side of the family for the first time in three months and we're really excited! They've been saving their family camping trip and Silverwood trip for us as well as his sister's wedding reception :) It'll be great to see them and spend time with his nephews as well as talk wedding with them a bit... I'll blog about that trip when we come back :) After that it'll be a downhill slide to the beginning of the school year! It's happening waaaaay too soon... oh well, I keep reminding myself how lucky I am to get a vacation like this in the first place. Anyway, I love you guys with all my heart...

Enjoy the crazy cat lady picture :) at least it's cute!

Chels