Back in the Mitten

We had a fabulous several days back in Michigan at the end of August. We were coming home for the weekend to go to my cousin, Melissa's wedding, but extended the trip a little bit to do a little planning for our own wedding and hang out with more friends and family. We got in Wednesday afternoon and spend the evening hanging out with the parents and little brother and relaxing. Thursday we started some wedding planning by meeting with the caterer to go over potential food selections. It went really well and she was able to come up with an amazing menu of different food stations as well as hor'dourves for a cocktail hour between the ceremony and the receptions. It all made me so excited!! After that we all headed over to the theater again so Ryan could see it and we could get a few more ideas. The caterer came with us too and Aunt Elaine met us out there as well. We all walked around the place throwing out fun ideas as we went along!

Thursday night we had the Dougherty side of the family over for a little dinner party and Kristen's family all stopped by as well. It was so good to see everyone and let everyone meet Ryan finally! 

Friday we spent most of the day with Jordan and Kristen doing a little engagement photo shoot for them. It was so much fun and the pic turned out really great! My lovely fiancee is such a great photographer! We started out downtown Rochester at Knapps with some milkshakes, then headed out to the park for a little more naturey pics. Later in the afternoon we went out to Yates Cider Mill...mostly to get some cider and donuts, but took a few more pics there! What a fun day!

Lots more pictures here!

By Friday night Jason was in town, and Dipti came over as well, so we all headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings for a little drinky drink and some hot wings!

Saturday was the big wedding day! We wedding was supposed to be on the waterfront in downtown detroit, but it ended up being a little bit of a rainy day so it was moved into a little tent next to the Omni. It still ended up being an awesome wedding and a great party. Melissa looked amazing!! It was great to see all the Raetz Family too while we were home!

Great times were had by all! After a relaxing rest of the weekend in Michigan, I was off again, this time to DC!

Swimmies

Ben had a big and potentially terrifying weekend. Since it was sunny and in the 90s, we thought a little dip in the water would be appropriate. We took the dogs to Magnuson dog park which is right on lake Washington. It's got a great little spot for the dogs to go swimming. Tara jumped right in and started swimming around with all the other dogs. She was a little uneasy about the waves when she was standing in the shallower part and almost got knocked over, but she had a lot of fun in the water. Ben, on the other hand had a little more fun showing off his cuteness to all the people around. We tried to dip him in the water a few times, but he didn't not seem to like it at all. When he got out he started shaking really bad, so eventually we gave up. Someday he better like to swim!

Saturday night we went to our first Seahawks game. It was just a preseason game against the Titains, but it was a lot of fun to be there! We might even be interested in looking into season tickets next year. Again it was also really pretty to see the sun setting against the city from the stadium. Seahawks ended up wining 20-18, and we got to see a few former Auburn players on the field again!

Sunday we got busy on a few little wedding details. We started registering!! We went to Bed Bath & Beyond to get started, and ended up with almost 100 things before calling it a day. We still need to go back and pick out a few more things, but we got a great start! We poked around Macy's too, but I think decided there wasn't really anything there to register for that we couldn't find comparable items to at BB&B. We're also going to register at REI, which I'm sure Ryan is more excited about. We'll see how all that goes, and that might be it! It'll be nice to get it all done! We also shopping around a little bit for weddings bands. I think I found exactly what I want, but I'll probably still shop around a little more and I still need to get my engagement ring resized too. Can't wait to get that done!

Just a few more days and we'll be heading out to Michigan! Can't wait to see everyone and get some more planning done! Then it'll be off to DC to do some training (ie. visit Evelyn for free!). It's going to be a busy rest of the month! So much to do!

I FOUND MY DRESS!!!!!

This Sunday I went wedding dress shopping with Leigha and Sarah. There was one dress that I had found online that I really wanted to try on before I made any decisions about other ones. Good things I went because it is soooooo 'THE dress'! We went to the Alfred Angelo boutique and the lady really freaked me out at first. I told her I knew exactly which dress I wanted to try on and started looking through their catalogue to show her, but I couldn't find it!!! I tried to explain to her what it looked like and she kept bringing out the wrong dresses and telling me she couldn't think of any other ones it could be. I started getting a little nervious thinking that they no longer carried it or something! Luckily we busted out the trusty iPhones and quickly looked up the image from the website to show her and get the style number off of it. Relief finally set in as she finally found the right one! I tried on a few different dresses but knew I was in love with the one I had come in for and actually found one other one that I really loved too. Leigha was kind enough to be my photographer for the day. We left the store with the choices narrowed down to the top two. After looking though the photos, I knew I had to go with the one that I had originally fallen in love with! Although pictures will not be posted on here, I do have a few that can be viewed at your request!

We spent lots of time this weekend playing with baby Benjamin and getting more fun things for him, such as his rockin' new dog tag which should come in later this week. Tara is slowly warming up to him and he tries really hard to make her like him, but she is just not very into playing with anyone. She's getting better at tolerating him though.

This weekend I also picked up supplies for my first wedding craft project. I'm planning on making felt ruffle wreaths to hang on the aisle of the ceremony. I thought it would be warm and fitting for a winter wedding and we could incorporate our color schemes into the ceremony a little more. They are a tedious little project, but I think they'll turn out really cute! I'm going to see how it looks with little yellow oragami flowers on it as well.

This week my bible study treat is cookies and cream cheesecake cupcakes! We spent a little time browsing through Barnes and Noble this weekend (a favorite pastime) and I read through Martha Stewart's cupcake book. Since I had no intensions of actually purchasing the book, when I started drooling over these cupcakes, I quickly iPhone googled the recipe to make sure I could find it online without having to bring the book home. Success!

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends"

I tried a new little recipe for my bible study treats this week. I made orange/almond whoopie pies. They turned out perfectly and were devoured with great compliments at bible study. I think I might have to give a few more whoopie pie recipes a try in the near future, they're such a great little snack size treat!

Since I've been going to this Bible Study, we've been going through the book of John. Last night we did the second half of chapter 15. One of the verses that really stood out to me was John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends". Since I live in a Navy town, most of the people at the Bible study are connected to the Navy in one way or another. The guy who leads the study made a point that this verse is used a lot in military memorials. I feel like a lot of people that I know or hear about in the Navy have that love mentality based on patriotism, but I wonder how many people would lay down their lives for Jesus. Jesus spoke the words right before he gave the ultimate sacrifice and died on the cross. It really makes me evaluate how severe that love is. Jesus also commanded us in the same passage to love one another as he has loved us. That's a pretty high bar to strive towards and I am quite certain that I fail misserabley quite often.  We also discussed what makes a Christian a Christian. So many people claim to be a Christian because they went to church when they were little or because their parents were.  Just because someone doesn't do drugs or murder people doesn't make them a Christian, and I think society as a whole has been forgetting what it really takes to get into heaven. Just something to think about.

Baby Benjamin!

We got a new little puppy this weekend!!! Ok, so that was the biggest news of the weekend, but that was just Sunday. I drove down to Seattle Thursday night just in time for a farewell BBQ for Aaron on our roof deck. He cooked up some delicious wings and we all hung out by the fire enjoying Aaron's last night in Seattle. Friday morning I headed over the water to the Kitsap Navy base for an Officers' meeting. We got to take a tour of the submarine training facility including playing in a full sized simulator of the control room. It was pretty awesome. At the end of the day I finally got to have my little promotion ceremony! I officially got promoted about a month ago, but I had to wait to do the oath and paperwork with the CAPT. Now it's really official. Good thing I at least got my raise a month ago. Now I'm a Lieutenant Junior Grade :)

[Me Re-affirming my Oath]

Saturday night we got to do a little celebrating in honor of being promoted. There were actually several people who got promoted this summer, so 4 of us threw a combined celebration at a billiard in Seattle. The Navy tradition for promotions is called a 'wetting down' were the person getting promoted gets to use their first paycheck increase to throw a party for everyone else...goodie. At least there were 4 of us throwing our monies in so it could be a pretty decent party with all our colleagues. Also part of the 'wetting down' tradition is to get wet down...so towards the end of the night we each got a little surprise in the form of a glass of ice water being poured on our heads. Somehow they coordinated a sneak attack on all 4 of us at the same time. Well done fellow officers.

Sunday was the big day! We had been looking for Boxer puppies and found this little guy online and knew he was the one. Too bad he was also all the way down in Portland, so we had a nice little drive to get excited. We picked him up, hit up the Petco on the way home, and had a few hours to play at night before bed time. So far he's doing really well and only whines a little bit when he gets in his crate. Yay for little Benjamin!

When we got home Tara was eagerly awaiting us and was in for a little surprise. I think right now she's just wierded out by how small he is. She'll put him in his place if he starts acting up, otherwise she just ignored him. Hopefully when he gets a little bigger she'll pretend to play with him every once in a while!

Aaron's Last Weekend in Seattle :(

Ryan's little brother, Aaron, has been living in Seattle with Ryan and interning with their firm since the beginning on June. Apparently time has flown by and it is now his last week in Seattle. Since last weekend was his last weekend in the Pacific NW, we decided to get in a few last big things. We left Saturday morning for Portland after dropping of Tara at Leigha and Nino's house for a little sleep over (I think she had lots of fun!) We ended up being joined by one of Aaron's friends (also named Ryan) who had come up to Seattle from Olympia for the Capital Hill Block Party the night before. So the four of us road tripped it down to Portland. One of the things I had wanted to do last time was our first stop this time around. Voodoo Doughnuts. The line wasn't quite as long as the last time we had stopped by, but it was pretty toasty out so that 30 minute wait seemed like a long time. While in line, the founder of the store popped in for some doughnuts and a little photo op with a few people in line. We didn't know until after he left that he was the owner...he kind of just seemed like some wierd random guy who thought it would be cool to get people to take pictures with him...now we know. Once inside the tiny shop, I was a little overwhelmed by the lengthy menu and not knowing what was involved in each menu item. Since the line was so long outside I felt a little rushed to make a selection at the counter. In my haste I ordered a 'butterfingerer'. As one might assume it was a doughnut covered in butterfinger. Ryan and Ryan got the fruit loop doughnut...covered in fruit loops, and Aaron got the signature 'voodoo doughnut' shaped like a little voodoo doll with a jelly filling. It was certainly an amussing experience, however, I'm still not completely convinced that it was worth the wait taste wise. Perhaps a little more research on my options may give me a more educated selection and better experience next time. It's certainly an odd little place.

After our doughnuts we wandered around the waterfront enjoying the Saturday market and festivities at the beer fest and the beautiful weather! We ended up at a bar for a late lunch and a few games of table shuffleboard. Although this was my first time playing on a table as apposed to the full courts, Aaron and I made a winning team both games. VICTORY!

We had dinner plans Saturday night at the Urban Farmer (the awesome place we went last time in Portland) so we decided to head back to the hotel to rest up and freshen up a little bit and of course enjoy the pool after the slew of small children vacated it.  A couple hours later we headed back into town for some delicious food! Once again we were not dissapointed. This place is so cute and the food is amazing! We started out with the cheese plate, which I'm pretty sure I could just have a cheese plate as my meal. There were 4 different cheeses. My favorite was the gouda...mmmmm. I followed this with a plate of scallops...also my favorite! It was so good and I love the presentation. It's definitely a place we can't go every weekend, but it's nice to splurge a little every once in a while, and it's well worth it here!

After our late dinner we headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. Sunday we drove back to Seattle, picked up Tara and prepared for our next adventure...a Sounders game! We had a great time at the game and the city in the background was really pretty as the sun was setting. The only problem is we were about 15 minutes late to the game in which time all three goals of the game were scored!! How does that happen?!? My tickets said the game started at 8pm, so we were there a little before 8 and the game had already started! Not fair! Oh well, it was still a lot of fun and a good experience of the Seattle pride in soccer!

I also made some cute little rhubarb tarts this weekend. I think they may have been better than the cupcakes, mostly just because you could taste more of the rhubarb and I love rhubarb!

I heart Rhubarb ;)

I miss having rhubarb growing in the backyard. I've been wanting to make something with it for a long time but I was having such a struggle giving in to paying the outrageous prices for it in the stores. I'm so used to having an overabundance of it for free. I might have to bring back some of it from Michigan in August...hope there's extra mom!

I finally gave into my urge to buy and bake with some rhubarb tonight and made some rhubarb cupcakes...yes, I love cupcakes. I took this cake recipe and made little cupcakes, then put a cinnamon cream cheese frosting on it. Quite frankly, it could probably do just fine without the frosting and make great muffins, but the frosting just looks cute. So we'll see how they go over at bible study tomorrow night! I think they're fabulous!