... to say goodbye to her beloved sister.

My younger sister Alison is in the Army as most of you know. Well last October we found out that she would be going to Iraq this summer. Summer has come and Alison is still going to Iraq. She left on the 22nd for Wisconsin for additional training, from there she will be sent to Kuwait for a bit and then to Iraq. It was a rough day saying goodbye to her, we all had a rough time.
I could not believe the dedication and devotion the men and women have for their country. For moms to leave their husbands and kids, for dads to leave pregnant wives, boyfriends saying goodbye to their girlfriends... What an honor it is to have a sister serving her country. I can not describe the pride I have.
Alison will return to us next august so please be praying for her safety and the safety of those around her. I know she will be a great asset to her team and will be a light in the darkness. I love her tons and miss her so much.

... to spend time with my precious family.

My family wanted to spend time together and do something fun. So we hopped in the car and drove to Seattle in search of fun. We found fun at Northwest Outdoors Center on Lake Union. We rented some kayaks and headed out on the lake. We explored the house boats where some crazed swimmer attempted to tip me over, crazy. We viewed the docked boats and then on to the shores of Gasworks park. It was perfect out on the water, we enjoyed every minute of it! We then headed over to Southcenter to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (which is quite the disappointment.) We finished off the day by having a scrumptious dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. What a great day it was with the fam!

I found my dream vehicle at Southcenter, a moped!

... to Alejandra and Devin's wedding!!

WAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Congratulations to Alejandra and Devin Schock!! I love you both and I am so very happy for you!

Alejandra's wedding was perfect in every way, nothing went wrong. I had a blast the whole night, (except right before the toast I was so nervous!) The wedding was at a gorgeous mansion on Fox Island right on the water with a view of the Tacoma Narrows and the top of Mt. Rainier. The wedding started at 4 and the party did not end until 11. There were all the usual fun times, the toasts, the cutting of the cake, the tossing of the bouquet and garter, and of course lots of dancing. Alejandra and Devin did a salsa number for their first dance it was so wonderful!

... to a Bachlorette Party!!!

Whew, has this month been crazy or what! I threw Alejandra her bachlorette party last thursday. It was a ton of fun and was relaxing for her.
We started the day out at Starbucks and then moved on to my favorite event, glassblowing! We all went to the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio to have some fun. It took us a while to pick out colors, style and shape, but once we got everything figured out things got real hot... literally.


The guy made Alejandra a rose as a wedding gift.
All the bridesmaids minus one were there and a couple of friends. The party included Alejandra, Nicole, Charly, Lera, Jenny and me. What a fun group! Glassblowing was a blast, everyone enjoyed it!
Glassblowing was followed by a relaxing picnic in Point Defiance Park.

We were starving by then and definately needed the smorgasbord. The day ended at the rehearsal dinner on Fox Island.


It was a fun-filled day!