Ms. Tooth

A story so good, it just had to be documented on the blog...

It was this past Monday night, the first day of summer school. Wes and I had spent most of the day driving from PSU to a PCC campus to get books and meet with advisers. Naturally, the evening found us sitting on the couch with our noses in our new books. It was 9:30 at night when we heard a knock on the door. We were slightly surprised, seeing as how only UPS drivers knock on our door. Wes answered it and before I knew who it was I heard a "Is Katie around? it's a good one." I knew it was our neighbor Doug now. I came to the door a little nervous fully suspecting I was going to have to step into a motherly-role to his 7 year old daughter (Doug is divorced, and let it be known I have come to the rescue with lipstick and lipstick application for a Halloween costume once upon a time). Then, Doug says, I need a letter from the tooth fairy.

He explains that his daughter Flora has lost her 3rd tooth (3 in 30 days) and she is starting to get suspicious of how similar the handwriting is of that of her mom's and the Toothfairy's. Earlier that day the mom discovered a note from Flora which I was given to dispose of:


If you can't read it, it says:

"Dear Ms. Tooth,
Please give me a super tiny sock. Love, Flora"

Supposedly the mom knits baby socks frequently and this is what she wished for in exchange for her tooth. Anyway, I was happy to step in as the Toothfairy and wrote a letter that said:

"Dear Flora, I see you have lost another tooth. Congratulations! (smiley face) Keep on Smiling! Love, the Toothfairy"

And it even may have been all decked out in pink.

See? Wasn't that such a good story? I thought you'd be happy to hear.
Not only do I dabble in art stuff, I now have an in with the tooth fairy.

(that would be an interesting business wouldn't it? Sell letters from Santa, the Toothfairy, the Easter bunny and maybe even the Stork that dropped you off on the porch.)

Keep on Smiling,
Ms. Tooth

Camping at Lewiston lake

For the past 5 days Wes and I have been sitting in lawn chairs, staring at trees and squirrels and discussing the mating calls of different animals. Oh and of course doing all of the above while eating. I honestly think that one of the best parts about camping is the snacking. With that said, it was a fabulous camping trip with Wes' side of the family. We did miss a certain couple of people who couldn't make it this year (Sue, Greg, Scott, Rebekah, Nick, Olivia) BUT we had a really great time.

We did a lot of:
sitting
reading
eating (meat eating too by certain non-meat eaters I might add *wink*)
bocci ball (sp?)
fishing
playing chess
coloring in color books
napping
smore-making
fire-staring

it was all so so good and much much needed. My soul has been revived and now my body is a wee bit sick. I have a sore-throat, I sound pretty bad but I'm crossing my fingers for a quick recovery.

Hope all the Dads out there had a great father's day. Here are our pictures from the trip:









Check out our new canopy! We even discovered it has a nifty clothing line on it!




Thanks to the family for taking care of us, letting us mooch for some of your food and coloring in color books with me. And thank you Aunt Lin for saving the worlds best marshmallow stick in your trailer for next year! :)

On June 13th...

I had my first extremely relaxing night of summer.
Wes was working and the evening was mine for the taking. After a long day of laundry, dishes, and tidying up, I decided to sit down to a good meal and a movie. This was my second day in a row of craving red wine (yes Marisa, you heard that right.) so I thought, why not go get some? I walked myself to the grocery store, picked out a red wine I recalled liking, some Parmesan cheese, pasta, asparagus, and some mushrooms for the pasta sauce. Pair this amazing pasta meal & wine with the movie Becoming Jane and I had myself a ridiculously perfect girls night. :) It was the perfect kick off to a great summer.

However, it should be known... I had to watch a youtube video to figure out how to open the wine bottle. ;)

Two Year Anniversary

So, two years today at this very moment I was probably just finishing up getting my hair done with my maid of honor Ashley Whipple (who now has her own blog! Click her name) and heading to meet up with the other girls for makeup.

I watched our wedding video again yesterday. Probably the first time since our last anniversary and it brings back so many good memories. It is so fun to see so many faces that we haven't seen in a while.




To see a couple more pictures from our big day all taken by the amazing Will Parris, as a refresher go here:
http://parris-studios.blogspot.com/search/label/Katie


Its funny because while I know that an anniversary is about celebrating the amount of time that we have been married, all I can think about this morning is all those people that were there on our wedding day. All of our bridesmaids and groomsmen who stood up in front of all of those people with us (some of them in very uncomfortable high-heels I might add). All the nice things that were said during the ceremony and at the reception. Our parents, our siblings (Alex, your tears during the ceremony are PRICE-LESS!) and all of the family that came to support us. Jim Manker, our youth pastor who married us. Will Parris who took all of our pictures that day... and the rest of the people that made up the 250 who attended.

All I can think about is all of the support these people have shown us over these past two years. We have done a lot of things in the past two years that I never would have thought we (or I) would be doing. Things as simple as eating a meal that looks like this:

ha ha I know that is silly but its true! Two years ago I most definitely would not be fixing that for dinner but now I am.

In the past two years we have: learned tons about food, learned a lot from the people of Portland, met a lot of great people, learned so much about children through my numerous nanny jobs, spent many late nights working on art projects and philosophy papers, the list goes on. So many of these things seem simple and yet they have added so much joy to our married life. We are so happy.

So this is a thanks. Thank you to all of you who have listened to me cry on the phone (or on the blog ha ha) about nanny jobs, apartments, school, and stress. Thank you for listening and encouraging and loving and supporting us even when we are so many many miles away. Thank you for emails and comments, and having genuine interest in our lives. We love you and your support means everything to us.

So, thank you.

Here's to another great year! I wonder what this next year will bring...

My Visit To California...

For my birthday my parents gifted me with a trip home, and I graciously accepted. :)
To sum up the trip:

I had lots of mama-and-me time. We had a blast shopping, going out to lunch, and getting pedicures.
I had lots of family time. We went out to dinner twice and went to Cirque du Soleil to celebrate all of our June birthdays.
I got to see my new little nieces and how big my nephews are getting.
I got to see a bunch of Wes' family including fellow Oregonian cousin Caleb who I had no idea would be there.
I got to see my cousin's baby and more extended family.
It was so refreshing to get a taste of some good weather and be surrounded by family. Here are some pictures:

Baby Peyton!

Two of my sweet nephews: Ethan and Mason. Ethan just turned 5 and Mason turned 4.
My last day in town my brothers and I took my mom to sushi for her first time ever. Unfortunately, she didn't like it.

My sister-in-laws and new twin nieces...
My Brother in law and cousin caleb with the girls...
My with.... Sophia? I can't tell them apart at all.
Me with Sophia and Gabriella...

It was a great time! Thanks Mom and Dad for this amazing gift. And thanks to all family who rearranged there schedules to see me. Can't wait until the next time,

Katie

At Last

It feels like Summer in Portland. It feels so so good. I am always amazed by how much energy the sun can draw out of me. It is estimated to be in the 70s all week. I hope that sumer has officially begun and that we will no longer be seeing rain and hail.

Besides the summer weather, summer break has begun!! Wes and I are officially done with Spring quarter and have been since thursday. It feels so good. I have been in such a school-auto-mode for so long that I still wake up thinking about what homework I need to start and then I remember that I am born free!

I have said it once and I will say it again, There is nothing like a Portland summer. I am so enamored with the green trees, and activities that people part take in. I love walking down the street and watching ten bikers go fleeting past. I love seeing people sit on their porches playing guitars. Oh summer... how we love you!
soon to come: pictures of my trip home!

Wes and I leave for camping with the Scoville family this wednesday. After that the summer plans just continue to roll right in. We are excited!!

Happy Sunday to you all,
Katie

I'm Back!

After 5 days in Sacramento, I have made it back to Portland once again! Working hard at Palios. Tomorrow I will be done with this quarter! Praise the good Lord!!! :) Talk to you all then ...

A Familiar Friend...

So this moment is just so blog-worthy that in all of my 40 minutes left before school starts I just had to hop on and share.

You know those moments where you are stuck? Where life has you so bogged-down that you can't see past your own problems/stresses/nerves? I have felt this way for the past two days. (Well, maybe in and out of it for the past month) But I was doing SO WELL for the past two weeks. Stress free, clear-headed, continuously talking myself away from feeling overwhelmed with final projects, and tests. Yesterday, I broke. I couldn't handle it anymore. I went to work and could no longer carry it all. Mostly stressed, and nervous because of the biology test I had to take last night, I was just... tired. The feeling carried over to today even though I got sleep and the test was over. I got up early to get things done for school today. Went to school early and found myself with time to sit in the coffee shop on campus and calm down. As I sat completely succumbed by my final printmaking project. What do I hear?

"Yuppedy, Yuppedy, yay!"

Yes. You read that right.

"Yuppedy, Yuppedy, yay!"

I sat straight up. These words, my dear blog-readers, are words spoken by one special person and one special person only. Patrick. Patrick was the youngest of the three men at the JBS residential program Wes and I both worked at last summer. Though I loathed working for the place, I genuinely cared for the residents. Since JBS closed down we have heard that the guys have moved on to much better circumstances and I haven't seen them since. So, I looked around and there he was. Patrick, sitting amidst a group of other guys, surely out with his day program. He won't remember me, but I can't stop smiling. I am still fighting tears as I sit in this moment. I feel free from being "stuck." Stuck in my own self-pity and stress. I continue to work, and a man comes over to me and says "Excuse me, do you mind if I play?" as he points to the piano I am sitting directly next to. I say "Not at all" and I am now sitting here, typing in freedom, smiling and holding back my tears thinking, "Good one God. Good one."

Just when you feel as though you can't see past your current circumstances, God can surprise you like that. God is laughing with me: "Nice try Katie... but you'll be fine... "

The simply beauties in life.... like the sound of a piano, or the sound of a familiar friend. Happy Wednesday everyone. I look forward to see you all this weekend. I leave for CA tonight.