Ch-ch-ch-changes

Wow, a lot of people have stuff going on lately.

One of Dan's best friends just got engaged (and got a kitten)

Jess moved back to DC to start her job

Meghan found an apartment in Maine (and in the pictures, it looks lovely!)

Laura got an apartment in Alexandria

Dana's sister just had a baby (making her an aunt for the 7th time!)

My boss's partner is having a baby next January

Two of my co-workers are getting married this summer

Is this just what happens from here on out? Lots of life events, all happening concurrently? It's sort of overwhelming.

Congratulations v.14

Congratulations to my cousin Christine and her fiance Kevin! 

They got engaged yesterday :) And isn't this picture sort of ridiculously happy looking (this is not from yesterday, apparently they are always this happy looking).

You may remember this post where I was having dreams about this very event, but my predicting the future skills are a little off - I was about...10 months early.

Paint crew

Scene: Missy and Franklin have bought and moved into their first new place. Home improvement is needed, ugly yellow paint must be covered. Cue several nights of college crew painting parties. Apparently, we really like painting because we are positively giddy in these photos. It may have just been that several of us were in the same state at the same time.

Winner in above photo: Franklin with blue tape. Seriously, don't we all look disgustingly happy?

Rosa loves to paint! Especially over the previous owner's hideous paint job! (Seriously - I never thought I would mock anyone's paint, but wow.)

Cabinet doors anyone? Also - the living room you see here now has couches and chairs and such.

Ben sanding, freakish injury and all.

I focus on what's important.

See, you can have fun AND take the proper safety precautions. Good job Franklin!

Congratulations v.12

A bit of a belated welcome to Madeline Alayne Foster! She was born on October 17, weighed 5 lbs, 1 oz and was 18 inches long. She's home now with Meredith, Geoff, Chloe and Delilah. This is her Halloween look. Hopefully we'll get to meet her soon :)

Highlights of home

So after the Gorge trip, and working a couple of weeks, I headed back to the East Coast for a week. Dan didn't come with, because when we were making plans, we were unsure about his work stuffs. It ended up being a good thing - he got called for some interviews while I was away! Funny how it all works out.

Anyhow, my main reason for coming home was to celebrate my grandma's birthday, which the whole family came in for. We all stayed for a couple of nights, hung out at my aunt's house, watched some football, went to church and a very fancy dinner. I didn't even know they had fancy dinner spots in Johnstown, but they do! Where I ordered a prime rib side (like surf n' turf) and they brought me a prime rib the size of two people's heads. Seriously. AND, my cousin Megan's boyfriend, of two months, came to everything! Met the whole family (which as many of you know, is kind of overwhelming with my family), came to the fancy dinner AND brought my grandma flowers. It was so cute. He's a keeper.

But overall, my grandma had a great time and didn't have to make one single meal or do a bit of cleanup. Successful weekend.

Other exciting happenings:

I got to visit with Kelley, Laura and the boys for a few hours. They are SO BIG. Not in a "what are you feeding them?!?!" way, just in a "gosh, kids grow so fast!" way. We opened the door and they crawled (!) over to me, and I had to lay down. They are easily the cutest, most adorable, happiest, want to squeeze them babies ever.

Got down to Blacksburg to visit for a couple of days to do lots of buying Tech gear, driving around and exclaiming at new buildings, reading at the river and such. So relaxing. Blacksburg in the fall is wonderful. I stayed with Tony who has the best dog ever (second to Parker and Cosmo, obviously). Anddddddddd she sort of loves me.

Met Lily, Chris and Holly's daughter. She is also a ridiculously happy baby. Except in the car seat, but whatever, no one's perfect. Most of the time, she giggles and smiles at everyone and has smooshable cheeks. It's pretty great.

The time Phish crashed our friend's wedding

Holler, I'm finally getting around to posting (Franklin's) pictures from Ben and Jess's wedding, which was now about 5 weeks ago. The entire weekend was pretty gorgeous.

Dan and I took the red eye to Albany on Thursday evening. I literally left the unit after training my RA staff since 10 AM, and went directly to the airport. We took an enormous plane to Chicago, where we switched to a teeny tiny jet, which made me uncomfortable. Jess's brother picked us up, and went to Jess's parents' house, where they very kindly let us nap and take showers before we all headed over to the Mansion. (fyi - "The Mansion" should be said with a heavy accent)

Most folks arrived on Friday evening, so we ordered dinner in and drank a lot of wine, while people arrived all night. It was a rockin good time for everyone to stay in one place, so that we were all together most of the time, and didn't have to worry about going anywhere else. Saturday, we went to the rehearsal, and then got all dressed up and went to the Saratoga racetrack to watch the horse races, which is what people DO there. People were into it, let me tell you. Jess's family went to the track at 6 AM to reserve tables for us to sit at later that day, and then people had to hang out there all morning and afternoon to keep saving them, it was crazy. Saturday also included a BBQ dinner back at the Mansion for anyone coming to the wedding, followed by wine, dancing and ridiculous photos.

Sunday, of course, was the wedding, which Phish was invited to. The amphitheater they were playing in was literally right next door to the wedding hall. However, we didn't hear a damn thing once the (awesome!) band started playing at the wedding. Because it was pouring rain, we did see a lot of scantily clad Phish fans right up against the doors of the hall trying to get some cover from the weather.

The wedding was gorgeous. And Ben and Jess are both very pretty people. All in all, it was very aesthetically pleasing.

The Mansion Inn, site of wedding good times

At the races, blending right in with our hats

BBQ before dark

BBQ after dark. We love wine.

The Hall of Springs, wedding site

Fancy groomsmen

Josh and I walking down the aisle before the ceremony. Afterwards, our smiles are more forced because Josh was sweaty and my feet were numb.

Ceremony, all personal and emotional and stuff.

College crew with the newest bride and groom.

Wedding pictures for Uncle Mike

The culmination of the Deep South Roadtrip was Brian and Christy's wedding in Houston. Honestly, pretty much everyone who reads this blog was there but I thought Uncle Mike might enjoy seeing some fabulous photos. Plus, the roadtrip series needed a finale entry, don't you think? I had the BEST time with you all in Houston. Hugs. The groomsmens' tuxes were very fancy, as displayed here by Franklin and Josh.

Clearly enjoying ourselves at the reception. We figured we wouldn't be able to get a photo with Brian and Christy until later, so we worked with what we had.

Cutting the cake.

Shiny and happy married couple :)

Um, this is why we love you so much.

B. Drake.

On the way out from the reception.

At the bar after the reception. Christy brought her bouquet and wore her tiara, and kept yelling "I just got married!" at random strangers. It was amazing.

General Life Update: KK

A lot of our posts of late have been very picture heavy, so I think a "How the heck are you?" post is in order... Most of what we've been doing lately gets posted here, although you all really do get the highlights - our everyday is not quite as adventurous as this blog may lead you to believe. :) Currently, I have a bit more free time because it's summer session here and I'm not in charge of any the residence halls over the summer, and instead my primary responsibility is working on the training team, planning hall staff training in August. While training is a huge task - I'm on a 6 person team working on it, so it doesn't consume my life. I've been reading a lot, I'm up to 30 books for the year. Dana and Larry were here to visit a couple of weeks ago, and we had some fantastic adventures with them - campus tours, wine tasting, SF highlights, Alcatraz, and skydiving, which Dan is going to write a separate post about for tomorrow. Just before coming to visit, they moved into the house they just bought - which is amazing for them! I'm so impressed that they have a HOUSE, like grown-ups or something. I know that several of our close friends have homes that they bought too (Kel/Mike, Mer/Geoff, Chris/Holly, Matt/Katie, Tommy/Kristen) but this was more impactful for me. I think because Dana and I finished grad school at the same time, and so we officially started "being grown-ups" at the same time too. Clearly, we have different paths, but she feels much further ahead on hers. Hmph. Anyhow, it was great to see them. You may have heard in the news lately that California has approximately $13.48 to its name, which makes it hard to pay it's millions of employees, provide decent education, and the like. So, while I am NOT in danger of losing my job (mom, please read that sentence as many times as you need to) all educational institutions in the state are taking big cuts. Because I work for an auxillary unit of the university (which means we have our own source of income beyond tuition - ours is room and board) we aren't hit as heavily as some other campus units. But, the university is considering either pay cuts across the board, or furloughs - which basically amount to a pay cut. If the university enacts either of those plans, we will have to do the same...just because. So, next year should be super exciting! *Heavy sigh* I have had two dreams in as many weeks that my cousin Christine is engaged. Uncle Mike - any news you want to share? Lily and James are doing just fine - although they have developed quite the endearing habit of waking up and then waking us up at 4 or 5 in the morning. We're working on it. The scavenger hunt diamond ring thing continues to be weird. I'm slowly telling my colleagues and people here about it, but it's hard to do because most people kind of stop listening and make their own assumptions about how the story ends. The pictures that the event released (that we posted here after the fact) are not helping matters. And, no I don't wear the ring around. If there is any more related news, trust me, you'll all be the first to know :)

Congratulations v. 10

So, Meredith confirmed some of our suspicions and announced today that she and Geoff are expecting their first preshus baby this November!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations v.9

Introducing...Thomas Emery Watts III :)

He arrived Friday, April 17th weighing in at 8 lbs, 6 oz! Kristen and Tommy are, obviously, enamored. See below.

Trip East: Part One

The trip we just took home was the longest amount of time we've been away from California since we moved out here. So, in our minds, it was a super long time, which meant that we had plenty of time to see everyone we had ever met in our entire lives. Turns out, that means a lot of time spent driving from place to place and days packed full of things to do and little sleep...but it was so worth it. I needed a good healthy dose of friends, family and home. Trip summary: Places visited: 4 (DC area [including DC, Reston and Arlington], Eastern Shore, Richmond, Johnstown) Different beds slept in: 5 (Mom's house, Dad's house, hotel in Johnstown, Dan's parents in Richmond, Matt's beach house on the shore) Miles put on rental car: 1300 Trip East Part One: Jet lag and babies So, we got in really late, went straight to mom's and "crashed." Dan crashed. I was wide awake until something like 4 AM. So, much of the next day was spent lying around, Dan doing laundry (he flew to DC after 10 days in Texas working South by Southwest), and getting the rental car. We had dinner with mom...Ledo's pizza. (food #1 I was excited about that I can't get in California) And then, we went over to Laura's who had prepared quite the Mexican feast for Missy, Franklin, Sarah, Mike, Kelley and the babies. Of course, Frank and Blue were also there, and were attempting to covertly sneak Ryan or Jack away when Kelley wasn't looking. (alright, let's be honest, it was mostly Blue). We spent a lot of time watching the babies, talking about what the babies were doing, saying what we thought the babies would say if they could talk, feeding the babies, you get the idea. After the babies left, we looked at each other blankly for awhile, and then Missy, Laura and I tried to name all the cast members of all the Real World seasons ever (can you believe they're on season 23?!?!) We did pretty well, up until I'd say the last 5 seasons when we kind of lost interest. You want baby photos? Excellent. Ryan, close up of his cheeks. They demand pinching. He was only taking a power nap in this photo. He was completely, totally cashed out and then woke up ready for more play about 20 minutes later. Ryan, clearly having an awesome time with me and Laura. The next day, Laura, Dan and I went over to Kelley's to hang out, have lunch, and "lend a hand" (which roughly translates to hold the babies as much as possible). Mission accomplished. We hung out through lunch, two feedings, lots of spit ups - mostly on me, although Jack got Kelley really good when he shot formula out of his nose...twice, doggie excitement, and more laughing. Nighttime found us home with mom for dinner, and then over to Missy and Franklin's for a night of Wii playing. Good lord do we love the Wii. More baby photos? You are insatiable. Jack and his big eyes. Jack and Dan both actually asleep. You can't really tell in this photo, but Jack's pacifier says "Chicks dig me" which is you know, adorable. And true.

Congratulations v.8

Well, you all know that Kelley had her baby boys almost 2 weeks ago now (10/17) but just wanted to say an official huge congratulations to Kelley and Mike on the arrival of their beautiful, healthy twin boys Ryan and Jackson. We love you all!!

Congratulations v.7

Lots and lots and heaps of congratulations to Holly and Chris! They are expecting their first child the first week of June. 4W4L generation 2 continues to grow. Love you both!

I learned how to link!

10 years ago, I was in high school. 13 years ago, I was in middle school. With some of the people who read this blog. Who have been my family since then. We are close. We rely on each other. We have been through a lot. High school, college, grad school. Graduations, moves, apartments, new homes. Break-ups, breakdowns, marriage, divorce, death, and now birth. We've welcomed so many partners and spouses into the fold - and even though we can be a tough group to warm up to - now I can't imagine us without them. Now our family is growing in a whole new, beautiful way. It is hard for me to even comprehend that some of us have started a family of their very own. I can not believe that we're growing up enough to do that. And I can not believe that we still have each other to watch this all unfold together. I'm still kind of overwhelmed by it all, so you should just read Laura's post over here and I'll write some actual cohesive thoughts later.

Favorite West Wing episode?

I'm not sure about my favorite episode ever, but Noel is definitely in the top three. It's a combination of the fact that it's about Josh (love!) and it's some of the best writing in the series, and Yo Yo Ma is on it, but wow. Everytime I watch it I get goosebumps. As I write this I'm thinking that I even might have writted pretty much this exact same spiel at some other point on this blog. Oh well. At least I'm consistent. Anyway, do you have a favorite episode? If not, make one up.

As a side note to that, Missy got to meet Bradley Whitford. OMG. He told her to call him "Brad." OMFG. Envy. I am green with it.

To answer some questions from the last post, Outside Lands is a huge three day music festival going on in Golden Gate Park August 22-24 with a whole bunch of bands/artists that I would love to see. More info here: http://www.sfoutsidelands.com/

And Laura, I actually saved my stimulus check. It's crazy I know, but I'm trying to save again since I used a lot of my savings recently to pay off all my credit card debt. I know it was the adult, responsible thing to do. It is CRAZY how much more fun the beginning of the month is without worrying about credit card bills.

I'm going to a wedding in Ohio this weekend for a friend from grad school. Thinking about the number of my friends who have gotten married since I graduated from college is kind of mind-boggling. First, Kelley and Mike (they should get some sort of first place prize) Then Tommy and Kristen, Mer and Geoff, Matt and Katie, Nikki and Ted, Jean and Lee, Holly and Chris, Dana and Larry. And now Candy and Matt. (Worth nothing that Kel is also in the lead with children! Seriously, she needs a ribbon or something)

Also, it is ridiculous that Erin Lancione, and Jenny Hansen (have you seen Jenny's pictures on Facebook, she looks stunning!) got married recently and this weekend Lisa is also getting married. (I mean, there are countless other people from SLHS that are also married, we don't need an exhaustive list or anything...but if you want to try and make one, I encourage you to do so) Is something in the water? Geez.

Goal: I'm hoping to have something else to talk about besides the West Wing in the next post.



That's Candy and Matt on the left (their wedding this weekend), Dana and Larry in the middle. This was taken graduation day from grad school - seriously, we'd been trying to get our men in the same place for two years. This is the first time it happened. This weekend will be the second.