Fireflies in Charlotte!

I SAW A FIREFLY!!!! oh my goodness I freaked out.

Ryan and I had a fun night. We decided to play tennis instead of going to the pool to swim. I am finally getting better at tennis. We were working on my forearm hitting. Ryan said I was "bringing the heat." haha I think I just got lucky. It started to rain and as we were walking into the house he spotted a, "Lightning Bug." I was like....what is that? Well, apparently......in the South, they call fireflies Lightning Bugs. I got so excited because the only firefly I have ever seen was on A Bug's Life. Their bums really do light up. Ryan is a very skilled bug catcher so he palmed the firefly and we stuck it in a jar, ran into the laundry room, turned off the lights and watched the bugs bum light up.

I was excited.

We are still in love.

Our new baby!

Ryan and I bought a car! How exciting! We have been researching cars and narrowed in on Subaru's. Our requirements were: low miles, 4 wheel drive, lots of trunk space, and beauuuutiful. We have been looking to buy a car for a couple weeks and we decided to go down to a dealership to check out a car that was on AutoTrader. We came back with this baby! A 2005 Subaru Legacy. It was a bit scary to sign our lives away! But, it was great to do it together. Ryan is happy with the horsepower and engine. I am happy with its clean interior and beautiful paint job.

Counting down!

49 DAYS!!!!!!

SLIGHTLY FREAKING OUT!

It's Official!

Ryan and I finally finished the last piece to our honeymoon puzzle. On our wedding night we will be staying at "The Duke Mansion." It is an old plantation home built into a Bed and Breakfast, located in downtown Charlotte.

And then, we'll drive about 3 1/2 hours south to Charleston, South Carolina! We will be spending 4 nights at the Sheraton hotel which is located in the heart of downtown. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about Charleston. It's supposed to be one of the most romantic cities in the south...ahem ahem. Can't go wrong. Charleston is right on the coast so I'll be spending lots of time at the beach. Ryan's dad was able to give us his accumulated hotel Sheraton points due to many many work trips to Asia, so we're staying for Free! Ryan and I are both excited to splurging a bit on nice restaurants and fun activities!

AND: Ryan's parents have decided that since they are traveling this far for the wedding, might as well spend some vacation time as well! They are renting out a beach house for the whole family the week after Ryan and I get married. No worries, Ryan and I will be able to spend a few days with them at the end of the week. The beach house will be on Hilton Head Island, also located in South Carolina. Check out this beach:

Lots of R&R time. Can't wait!

Good Read!

Alright people, I just finished a great book. And it happens to be a series of books. Written by James Patterson, it is the first book of the Women's Murder Club. It is actually now a TV series. This one is called 1st to Die. I took it to the pool, to work, read it at stop lights, read it outside....you get the picture. I could NOT put it down. Patterson strategically writes his books with short chapters. My Favorite!!! Oddly enough, the story is about this serial killer who is murdering brides and grooms on their wedding night. Go figure. Ryan was confused why this book interested me so much. All I know is that I'm going to the Library on Monday to get the second book of the series!!!

She's one of the Pack now

Sophie with Ryan in the background!

OK. Now here is the latest SOPHIE story. Oh, I have so many. She amazes me with something new everyday. So yesterday, Ryan won the Fiance of the Year award (yes, there is such a thing!!). Sophie and I hung out all day from 5:30am when she woke up to go pee pee until I had to go to work at 5pm. Sophie had turned in to Esophena (as I call her other bipolar personality). Esophena is aggressive, hyper, obnoxious, bites uncontrollably, barks like mad, pees on the carpet multiple times...I could go on and on. Ryan decided that he would come over around 8ish and hang out with Sophie until I got home from work at 10pm. This is the story I came home to. Ryan and her went on a walk and he saw from a distance that she had picked up a stick, or what we thought was a stick, and take off running away from the house. Ryan ran after her and as he got closer, he noticed that that stick wasn't a stick....it was a DRIED UP BLACK SNAKE!!!! ew ew ew. So he tried to get it out of her teeth and as he did so, Sophie bit Ryan's toe and it started to bleed pretty badly. She was locked away in her area for the rest of the night. Ryan threw the snake away and I am trying to convince myself that snakes aren't in North Carolina.

We gave her a bath to disinfect her of the snake-ness. Esophena went away today and Sophie came back! We were so happy to have a cute lovey puppy.

Sophie sleeps like an angel.

My Surprise Bridal Shower!!!

Let me first set this up. For a couple of weeks, the girls at work have been talking about doing a goodbye dinner for our coworker Sarah who is going to work in New York for the summer. So, we were all planning on meeting at her house at 7pm, Sunday night, and have burgers and hot dogs! I walk through the front door and I see presents...and I'm thinking, Was it someones birthday? No....okay what else? They all started screaming and it was a Bridal Shower for me!
It was hilarious. All my favorite Gap girls all together. It was so much fun. I got some good things for the kitchen and some fun stuff for the bedroom. Sorry, I'm not going to show or tell what items I got!

I will say that my dear friend Jules got me handcuffs. HA!

It was the best surprise and I had NO CLUE. Seriously. Nothing stays a secret at the GAP. I couldn't believe it. I love those girls! Thanks for a fun night!

Deutschland!

Ingrid and Rob are in Germany for the next 10 days.

!!

After I get my raise....

I have been wanting these leather Top Sider boat shoes for about......10 bazillion years. Unfortunately they are $75, but holy crap it feels like you've stepped into heaven when they are on your feet. OO! I love them. So Ryan and I have decided, once I get this promotion, I get the shoes. Hooray!

Man of many talents

Just thought I'd post about my man, Ryan. He's amazing. I'm so lucky to have him!

Our Dear Friend MA

Mary-Alice Butler is an old friend of my family's. Mary-Alice and my mom served in the Stake Young Women's back in the Bothell Stake in Seattle. Mary-Alice hadn't even met my mom when she asked the Stake Pres. if my mom would serve with her. Talk about inspiration! My mom got the call the first month we moved to Seattle!

The Butler's have 6 children and a few of them are the same age as me and my sibs. We had some good times with them holding Family Home Evening and Labor Day BBQ's. They also had an adorable boxer named Lucy. We thought Apache and Lucy were boyfriend/girlfriend. It was cute. Unfortunately they too had to put down Lucy a month ago. But, we are praying that those two dogs found each other in the Spirit World :-). MA and her family moved to Chicago about 4 years ago! Lame! But the weird coincidence is that Ryan's dad and Ray Butler work for the same company! And, since Ryan's family is moving to Chicago, they are going to try to get together. Small world! Mary-Alice and her sisters/sisters-in-laws were having a girls week and they were staying just about 20 minutes north of us in a beautiful house on Lake Norman. I was so happy MA met Ryan. We're going to try to see the Butler's when we visit Ryan's fam in Chicago. Here are some pics!