Oh yeah.

And... GO ENGLAND!

We're leaving bright and early with our portable tellies. =)

2nd on the 2nd.

We are off to relax in the San Juan Islands with my parents this weekend in celebration of our 2nd anniversary. Really, two years already? It's just amazing how fast it comes and goes...

Even though I'm constantly looking at our wedding photos since I'm still working on the scrapbook (!), S and I intend to look at our album and watch our DVD every anniversary, as well. This year, I want to share the above shots. They're sweet, goofy, and all around fun. Just exactly how the event itself was.

The first photo was taken by our pal, David Greenberg, just as Shawn and Eric were spreading rose petals along the aisle. When I saw this shot after the wedding (and even now), it made me weepy. One of my best friends and husband-to-be were actually spreading rose petals for me? I still can't believe it, so I treasure this photo as proof immensely. The last image is one of S's faves. He buckled over in laughter the first time he saw it--practically crying over the expression on Troy's face, in particular. They all look pretty darn funny to me--each trying to act suave and coming off just the opposite. ;)

So, this has turned into quite the rambling. I'm just so thankful I have these photos to bring back that rush of excitement and overwhelming feeling of love we experienced each time I revisit them...

Too wet, too cold, too hot.

People here sure like to crab about the weather. The thing is, it finally became nice this weekend. We had a little taste of it about a month ago, but now, it's warm and sunny. We can actually have bare legs at the beach just down the street. And what happens? Local reporters start declaring that it's a "heat wave" and residents are overheard saying things like "thank god for iced coffee!" Well, I can tell how hot it is--Indiana hot minus the humidity, so darn near perfect! It was such a long, wet winter/spring, that I sure would enjoy a little appreciation of what Mother Nature is giving us now...

Wahoo!

Well, we got up bright and early (6:30 am!) to head over to Fremont for the live Ecuador v. England game. Arriving shortly after 7:00, we found a line snaking around the block. The George was so packed that we never made it inside the pub, but watched on the big screens out in the parking-lot-turned-beer-garden. The scene above shows just a small portion of the lot, so we're guessing that around 350 people were in attendance. Everyone was in good spirits again and Auri even knitted really cool red and white wristbands for us to wear! The best part: England wins again! Although they're going to have to step it up from here on out... =)

Random photo from last weekend...

We drove 2.5 hours to check out the view from Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. As you can see in the photo above, a cloud decided to drop on our heads as soon as we got to the top of the mountain. Needless to say, the drive back down (with 0 visibility) about made me poop my pants.

Public transport revisited.

The bus has been anything but convenient for me lately. Last week I was heading home to meet H, at which time we were going to drive up to the George & Dragon Pub. The bus outside my work was 20 minutes late, and then proceeded to break down halfway to my connecting bus. Instead of waiting for another one to show, I hoofed it the remaining 12 blocks. Of course, the connecting bus never showed either. An hour and fifteen minutes of bus-related travel, and I made it about a mile down the road.

Today the bus was 10 minutes late, then proceeded to get stuck in accident-related traffic for nearly an hour. When I got to the connecting bus, it broke down about a mile from my work stop. Needless to say, I walked the rest of the way.

It shouldn't be this challenging to be a one-car household!

A hairy situation.

I just came home and SAT in a hairball.

Who does that? I must be tired... or else we should have chosen a different upholstery for our couch because it's the same color as hairball! =(

Third game, third post.

Some eye candy for the ladies, and a little good luck for the team vs. Sweden tomorrow! Not that it matters because they're moving on to round 2. ;)

We'll be hanging out at the George again tomorrow night to watch the game. Woo!

If you have the fever...

You can download this swell desktop pattern to support England at home. =)

Or a whole mess of teams here (including a swell Landon Donovan wallpaper).

World Cup Fever.

Heather, Nathan, Auri, and I made it out this evening to our favorite British pub, the George and Dragon, for England's second World Cup match. They won the game 2-0, but you'd never know it from the headlines on The Guardian: "Witless England Dig Their Way Out". Hilarious!

Some highlights:
"At the close England's players departed to cheers, but the scorn at the interval is the sound they should replay in their minds."

In reference to injured star striker Wayne Rooney: "Talisman he may be, but after the metatarsal injury that has educated the nation in one tiny area of orthopaedics, Rooney is also a forward dulled by seven weeks on the sidelines." This line is just too funny--one can only imagine the diagrams of gnarly feet that the country had pounded into their heads over the past several weeks.

And, on embattled forward Peter Crouch: "Crouch had been even more extravagant when England were not riddled with fear."

Gotta love those descriptions.

The Guardian did give a smartassed nod to one of their stars, Michael Owen, in a related article with the immortal headline: "Crouching lion, hidden Owen".

Don't miss the next match on Tues, June 20...

Snapshots from the City of Roses.

The City of Roses.

Things we learned during our weekend in Portland:

Portland is a small city with a minimal skyline and trees everywhere.

Oregon has no sales tax, a fact we enjoyed taking advantage of.

Pumping your own gas is illegal in Oregon.

The International Rose Test Garden is lousy with roses.

Buying strawberries at a roadside stand is a good thing in Oregon.

Powell's isn't so much a "city" of books, but rather a "world" of books.

The Oregon coast is worth the 1.5 hour drive.

Portland has perfect gelato, too!

People in Portland are generally smartasses.

Those same people are generally covered in tattoos.

We like people in Portland.

To view the entire photo album, visit our collection at Shutterfly.

In the Pacific.

We've just returned from a wonderful trip to Portland and the Oregon coast. Man, what a freaking cool town Portland is! We have a lot of snapshots to share, but first, I have to sort through them all!

Nerdy, but happy.

Oh happy day! I came home to the new Scrapbooks etc. magazine in our mailbox. Our wedding gondola ride is featured in my layout on page 55. I'm a total nerd to post a pic of this, but I am a little too excited to see that they turned my layout into a "sketch". ;)

{Click images to enlarge}

This is it.

Well, I quit my job at the newspaper today. I'm finishing at the end of the month. I've only been there 2 days a week, so this will free up time that I need to start working on my own business. I'm planning on freelancing when possible, but otherwise, am working on an invitation & baby announcement studio. More on that when the website is finished... =)

On a different note: Today is Bluebee's day of reckoning, according to Shawn. His red eyes and devilish scheming will bring the end of days!

Love thy pod.

Shawn came up with the swell idea to make modern day "comps" for each other--custom playlists for each other's iPods. =) In the process, we checked out our most played songs to discover the following: Bloc Party rules our house! No surprise there, really. Editors, Supergrass, and Elefant were also well represented.

Shawn's most played song: Bloc Party, Banquet - 12 plays
Heather's most played song: Bloc Party, Two More Years - 19 plays

I'm now wondering what songs rule our friends' pods...if anyone cares to share. ;)

Snap. Crackle. Pop.

Ever have one of those days where things couldn't get any worse, but they somehow manage to?

Our computer just exploded. Literally. We heard some strange snapping and popping noises, followed by the smell of smoke.

Delightful.

{And I'm so thankful to be married to a sys admin who not only knows what needs to be done to fix it, but also gets a laptop for work use...}

Who I don't like.

Since Katie Couric is officially leaving NBC this week to anchor the CBS Evening News, I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I absolutely can't stand her. She is the single most irritating and disingeuous person on TV masquarading as an impartial correspondent. Good luck, CBS, and enjoy the many upcoming years of fake pathos. At least we won't have to sit through any more of her smarmy interviews for a while.

And while I'm on the subject, does anybody really like Craig Ferguson? NBC really missed the boat when they didn't offer the Late Night gig to Michael Ian Black. Ferguson gets by on that pseudo-Scot confusion, but doesn't actually offer any good jokes or even witty banter, and those "interviews" he conducts are physically painful to watch. What a complete waste of a perfectly good time slot.

Am I stuck in 1994?

A twelve-year old goal (to be "bigger than The Beatles") has finally been reached:
British Vote Oasis Album Best of All