Can't Hardly Wait...

For 2008!!!

How about we recap a little bit of the year?

January:

My resolution was to study my butt off for the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam. I decided to get into a review class at PSU that was on Thursday nights. Poor Steven was stuck recording Grey's Anatomy for me for like 10 weeks. For this reason alone, our apple tivo purchase was well worth it. Much whining ensued...

February:

Birthday months have officially begun, Marlene, Shelly, Mom... More studying, more whining...

March:

More Birthdays, Chris and Tara...More studying, more whining...

April:

More Birthdays, Dad and Iva... More studying... cramming!!! A lot of whining...

Steven and I cooked Easter dinner for Mom, Dad, Shelly, Chris and Colin. Marlene and Larry stop by for dessert.

Test day!! Poor Steven was stuck shuttling Me and Darren around Eugene, picking us up lunch and hitting up Best Buy and Costco while we hit that test hard! We ended the day with a stop in Corvallis to enjoy some American Dream Pizza with Tara and a visit with Keith!

May:

Birthdays: Larry...NO MORE WHINING!! Test is over, Bridesmaids Party with Shelly, Engagement and Dinner at Portland City Grill with Steven, beginning of wedding planning! Lindsey's Fourth Annual 21st Bday party.

June:

More Birthdays: Steven and Colin, The start of the Baby Showers! Test Results: I passed!! Wahoo!

July:

Vacation!! Keith's Birthday/Our Anniversary... Fourth of July...

The infamous Rib/Back incident. I managed to sneeze so hard that I popped a rib out of place in my back. If this sounds painful, that's because IT IS! I was in the Chiropractor's office twice and spent the better part of a week on my back on the floor, trying to watch TV sideways. I think Jesse turned 25 in here somewhere... The Fray Concert!!

August:

More baby showers... Reunion, My Birthday/ Mandy Moore concert. Steven gets new job, house hunt and move... Mom and Dad buy new house, move in, ooohhhsss and ahhhsss...

September:

Labor day (spent moving with no TV! Stupid Comcast)...Steven starts new job! Bought dress for wedding...

October:

I believe we spent most of October lounging around the house, catching up on TV and hitting up the Beaver Games... Oh, and I went to Moses Lake for work.

November:

Wine tasting, Turkey Day, Black Friday (!!) and another Moses Lake trip (snowy!)...

December:

Full swing in the holidays!! Visits with Friends, Family and baking, decorating and celebrating! What a way to end a full and busy year, and tonight we're going out with a BANG!

On our list for next year:

A couple of big things: The Wedding!! The Honeymoon!! and Steven and Julie both turn the big 2-4 ( not really spectacular, but still) and possibly some mini-vacations not to mention to infinity and beyond!

Have a great New Year's Eve, be happy and safe and we're both wishing you all our best for 2008!!

Xoxo, Julie

Its beginning to look a lot like...

SNOW!

Time for a little update...

Since Thanksgiving (my last post) has come and gone, we've been pretty busy. I had to go to Eastern Washington for work the last week of November. I was traveling by myself, so Mom came along with me for the ride. We managed to make it to Leavenworth, despite the snow, but forgot our cameras :(. The picture above is of our trip back, just over one of the passes. It was pretty cold out, but we had our down vests, uggs and lots of gloves and extra water/starbucks.

After coming back, Steven and I went to the JHI Holiday party, which was very fun. I made a gingerbread house out of foam parts that were on the table. It was pretty spectacular (sorry no photos of it).

We got our tree and a wreath last Saturday from Larry and Marlene. Its up, with lights and wrapped presents under it (pics of this later). Steven and I were pretty dissapointed that we don't have a mantle above our fireplace, so we went to Target and bought a shelf. However, we have a bone to pick with their "shelfing system"...it does not support its own weight. Steven had to go to Lowe's and pick up some supports for it, but it does look pretty awesome with our stockings hanging above the actual fireplace.

Well, its been a busy December so far, Steven and I are both busy at work and before we know it we'll be needing to pick out flowers and tuxedos and bridesmaids dresses.

Until then, the countdown has begun: 13 days* and counting until Christmas!!

Have Happy Holidays!!!

~J
*Only 10 for when I get to start opening presents, you know I can never wait the entire time, I have to open some early.

Preparation...

I'm preparing for a glorious weekend. I know you all probably think I can't wait to eat some yummy turkey, have some pie and don't get me wrong...what could be better than this?

But I'll just tell you that I only get up before 5 AM on one day of the year. That's right folks, The day AFTER thanksgiving.

They don't call it black Friday for nothing people!

I've spent the last 360-odd days preparing the following:

1. Special cart maneuvers
2. Elbow throwing
3. Starbucks ordering (you have to be quick!)
4. Super List: A mix of Christmas presents and my own personal wants/needs ( I use the term loosely)
5. Training to spot % off signs
6. How to balance your purse, coffee cup, and list in one hand whilest picking through a pile with the other ( This is actually a hard thing to do! My secret is the "over the shoulder bag")

This is some serious action folks. I know you think I'm crazy, but I've converted non-believers. Its amazing and its less than a week away! I better go, I have more prep work to do! Will I see you at Fred Meyers? :)

Almost Thanksgiving...

Well its almost that time again. Time for turkey and potatoes and pies and holiday cheer. It would be totally awesome if I could get over the new weather pattern of depressing grey skies we seem to have encountered. For as much as I love the holidays, I seem to be sad to see the blue, clear skies gone this year. It almost pains me to leave for work when its dark and get home when its dark as well. But this is enough of this!

To cheer myself up I put up my christmas candles, kitchen towels (one new crate and barrel one got coffee all over it, but its ok, Steven saved it), snowman dishes and some other knick knacks.

This also makes me happy:

Photo "borrowed" from June and Rich... Thanks guys!

Yay for babies! June and Rich posted some new pictures of their new little one. That's me and Tara with Justin. He's very handsome, and was a very good boy for us, despite our fighting (jokingly) with each other over who got to hold him :)

Also, I bought a christmas cookie cook book. This way I can make festive cookies. Nothing cheers me up more than cookies...and cake, chocolate, sugar, yum yum! See, I'm already in a better mood just thinking about it.

Happy November!

Catching up....

Phew...its been a long few weeks. Our weekends seem to have just flown by!

Recently we've spent weekends out at the farms (both of them now),

Football games...
Watching way too much tv....

I seriously *heart* Jim and Pam from the Office...

And just in general being away from home. We took this last Sunday off to relax and catch up on the pile of movies we seem to have accumulated (among them, Fracture, The Queen and a bunch of others), then my Christmas Cookie Cookbook came in the mail and I'm dying to make some delicious cookies...and so did the Young Adventures of Indiana Jones (I couldn't resist buying it, I know the holidays are close!)... so we spent the better part of the day wrapped up in blankies watching and catching up with being home. ( Yes, that includes like 5 loads of laundry and vacuuming)

We've been enjoying the "homebody" feeling for a few days now. Its nice to have a few days down. Especially when I know that Thanksgiving, Christmas and all the fun festivities that go along with it are right around the corner, and I refuse to miss out on holiday fun! Also, having a cold will force you into hiding...if only to please your co-workers.

Anyways, here are a few things that need to happen in the next few weeks...

On our to-do list:

1. Find DJ
2. Find Officiant
3. Finish pile of movies and return to owners
4. Make lots of cookies (ok, its not really a "to-do" item, but I cannot resist)

If anyone has suggestions for DJs and Officiants we are looking!

Here's hoping everyone has a safe and fun Halloween. We'll be handing out candy between watching Pushing Daisies and Private Practice. Hope that we'll be seeing you soon!

~S & J

Ok...Awesome!

So, September came and went...but it was jam packed with football games, tv premieres, visits from friends to the new apartment and our first wedding consultation. We've settled in to the new place now and are pretty well acquainted with our new surroundings. I think we're both pretty happy to be much closer to work and what not, but we both miss some stuff about our old apartment. Oh well, we all need a little change sometimes, right?

It seems like the summer had one big burst (of 90 degree days) and then it fell flat in the bleak (60 degree) ness of fall. Now, we're gearing up for the holidays. In fact, I just got an invitation for my holiday office party this week. I can't believe it is already that time again.

As a recap, I spent most of the first 4 months of this year studying for my test, Steven studied for his test, we both passed and then went on vacation, got engaged, had birthdays and family reunions and then....bam, its now. Its holiday time again. I can't even believe it all....before we know it, the wedding will be here.

But before that can happen we have a bunch of stuff to do...photographers, officiants, florists, attire...ect. So, I guess we better get a move on it, right?

To this next quarter of the year I say:
-Holidays
-Wedding planning
-Apartment decorating
-Big job projects?

To the leaves turning crunchy, to your hot tea and apple cider, to hot showers after a rainy walk, to reading a book all day with a big blanket, To opening presents and eating turkey and seeing old friends and family and candles that smell like food! OK AWESOME!

Best wishes to those of you who will go slightly out of your way to step on that crunchy looking leaf, Jewels

Moving...the Shakespeare of it all...

So, we finally found a new place to live. Yay! This comes after having spent two whole days driving around Tigard/Tualatin/Sherwood/Parts of Lake Oswego, familiarizing ourselves with map folding techniques, arguing about which Boones Ferry Road is which, throwing up our hands in protest of ancient baseboard heating and the like.

The real treat of it was getting nice and cozy with our Thomas Guide. I managed to find a "Shakespearean" named street near the majority of places where we stopped of to look. Some examples:

1. House on Hamlet Drive...
2. Apartment complex near Tempest drive....
3. Apartment complex near Shakepeare drive....

Odd? Possibly. Funny? You bet. We had a good laugh as we realized we'd been driving by the same places and used them as landmarks. We'll be getting settled in tomorrow and this weekend. I'm still holding out that we'll be able to sneak off to the beach and enjoy one day of the long weekend. You never know!

Happy Labor Day! ~ Jewels

Birthday, Uncle Glenn and Moving...

Well, we celebrated my birthday yesterday and over the weekend. We did dinner with Larry, Marlene and Tara on Friday Night at Bryant Station. The food was really really good. Then, my friend Iva took me to see Mandy Moore in concert on Saturday night. We had a great time at that as well.


Sunday was a little bittersweet, as Uncle Glenn past away Saturday Night. We all rode out to Mom and Dad's new place and got to see the house and have a BBQ. Dad had to leave after dinner to go see Aunt JoAn and Janet. We'll be doing the memorial service on Friday. This is Glenn with Robert at the Reunion a few weeks ago. My best memory of him right now is him, in that orange shirt, riding that bike in the background. Such youthful spirit. I'll really miss him. Perhaps I can take on the ice cream making from here on. It probably won't be the same, though.


Last night Jesse and Lindsey met Steven and I at the Portland City Grill for my birthday celebration! We had drinks at happy hour and those gigantic cookies. It was a great end to the day and a good way to celebrate. Thanks again guys!

In the midst of all these things going on, Steven's accepted a new job in Sherwood OR. So, we'll be needing to find a place and move in the next two weeks or so. We're looking for a townhouse or larger apartment in the Tigard/Tualatin/Sherwood area. If you've got some information, please pass it on!

~Julie

Baby Showers and Dress Shopping...

Two totally unrealted topics.


First, baby showers!



We gave a lovely alphabet themed shower for June Feucht! That's me with Tara and June back in July. What a lovely Sunday we had!




Next was one for Janice Bee! We did it at the annual family reunion in early August. Here's her cake! Yummy! So cute what they did for the baby buggy...




That's me taking down the particulars of who gave what (the card inevitably gets mixed up from the gift)...

Then this weekend we had one for Brenda Lee! I (stupidly) forgot my camera. No pictures of this one yet :( It was fun getting to see everyone and eating all the yummy food ( I had way too much). We have one more for Melissa in September. All these babies will be at the wedding next year, so come ready to hold them!

In other news, I'm pretty sure I found the dress that I want. Going back to try it on this week and possibly buy it. One super big purchase down....countless smaller details to go!


Julie

Ikea- I sing praise to thee!

So, we went to Ikea on Sunday...that was a total mistake. We only got about 30 minutes in the store before we just could not take the madness any more. Steven promised me we could go back and actually buy something on Monday night, which is just what we did.


First purchase from Ikea....
Two hours and two people assembling later, we finally got them all put together. Then the real fun began as we attempted to reposition our entire bedroom at like 9 PM. We got the bed (and all the stuff under it) moved and the old nightstands cleaned out and put into the new nightstands and even placed and made room for possible purchase #2:

I think we need some more storage options because our apartment only has the one closet in the bedroom. It might take some convincing of Steven, but I think I can win him over to my side with an argument about leaving "The Godfather" poster up.

My real wish though is this:

Is that not just GORGEOUS?!?

Consequently, Steven and I have agreed that I am not allowed to go to Ikea alone with a credit card. Now you know why.

Vaca, The Fray, Ribs and more!

I'm back!

Well, Steven and I had a wonderful, relaxing vacation! I'll try to post some pictures of that later. We got back home and had a few days to unwind and get ready to go back to work after a week off.

Later that week I went to see The Fray in concert at Edgefield with some friends of mine:

Picture courtesy of nowwhat.com. We had a really good time. Then on Friday I went with my cousin to visit a family friend in the hospital. He was doing really good!

On Saturday I wasn't feeling very good, but I got up and made my buttercream frosting and caramel for some new recipes that I wanted to try. I must have had a violent sneeze because later in the day my back really hurt. A deep tissue massage and two trips to the chiropractor later I found out that I had popped a rib out of its "area" and that's why my back hurt so bad for four days! It took popping it in twice, so far, for it to stick...but I'm hoping that I'm better by the end of the day today. Its not really a vacation laying on the floor staring at the ceiling!

That's all for now, but planning should start to be in full swing soon! J

This post blogged from the desk, and heating pad, of Julie!

Almost Vacation Time!

It's almost our vacation time. Before we jet off for a fun week at the lake we have been tending to some small details at home. 1. I have been dress shoping. Found some awesome bling shoes at David's bridal. See below...and dyeable!


2. Been working on our announcements. Probably won't mail them until August. Just a head's up. We've been busy working on Baby Showers. I'm giving FOUR of them this summer!

3. Still working on making decisions and getting ready to meet with our "consultant" in late August. I've been looking at magazines galore. :)

See ya when we're back from the lake... Happy Fourth!

All good things....

Are worth waiting for!!!

I'm happy to announce that I've passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam that I took in April. I am now Julie Meloy, E.I.T. YAY!

I'm so very excited. It was a hard test, 8 hours of one pencil, keep you head down, calculator at the ready stress. They wouldn't even let me have a purse or bag. Everything had to be kept in a clear plastic bag. More security there than at the airport. At least you know that your engineers are competent. :)

Steven's taking me out to dinner to celebrate. I'm really looking forward to it. I spent four months studying for that. What a great sense of accomplishment, and a nice day today too!

Happily Yours, Jewels

Registered!

Last night we started the registering process. So far we have started one at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Right now we only have kitchen stuff up. We were distracted by The Next Food Network Star :) More to come later!

Wedding Website!

I made a wedding website!

You can visit it at

http://meloyandstanley.weddings.com/

There will be information on registery, hotels, directions to the site and much more. Currently you can read about how we met and how we got engaged and see some pictures. I have yet to upload an album, but I will do so eventually.

Currently, we are busy looking over menus, color schemes, making save the date annoucements, deciding on china patterns, dress shopping, getting ready to register and to go on vacation! Whew! The time is flying by....

I feel the need to post...

I don't really have anything to post about, but I felt the need to post.

Some Random Happenings:

1. Steven and I, on seperate occasions, glanced over some china patterns. Turns out we picked the same one, and its available at Costco! Yay!

2. Got together the supplies to make some engagement announcements/save the dates. Expect those as soon as I figure out how to print the vellum four to a page!

3. Slowly taking over our living room with Bridal Magazines. I'd love to start dress shopping. Any good suggestions for boutques/stores to look at?

4. Steven turns 23 on Wednesday June 13, 2007. He's so old! :)

This is from our get together with Lindsey and Jesse at Edgefield! Added 7/2/07

5. Still have yet to select some wedding colors.

6. Summer weather is here. Thank Goodness for air conditioning.

I think that's about all I have for right now...I can't stop looking outside. My sunshine is gone (for now at least).

Julie

We've set the date!

Mark your calendars for August 9, 2008!! The wedding ceremony and reception will be held at East Fork Country Estate.

Naturally, we are very excited!

~Julie

The Aerie at Eagle Landing

Now, don't get wrong...this was a beautiful place. It just wasn't right for us. I'll post pictures after I download them off my camera.

The golf course is gorgeous! Unfortunetly, they are undergoing construction for row houses near-by. They may ultimatly obstruct the view, which is very sad. Also, you can't count on when they will and won't be working either. They will, however, close down the holes near the site when a wedding is in progress, unlike The Resort.

The lady, Olivia, was very nice. She showed us around when we got there and we gave the tour to my parents after they arrived. The lawn for the ceremony was quite large and had some fountains near by. There was also a mini golf course which we could rent for our guests, you pretty much have to rent everything, at an additional fee (Even the dance floor!).

So, in the end, we decided to go with East Fork Country Estate.

The Resort at the Mountain

Can't say that I really liked this one all that much. It wasn't done up for anything, and was a bit hard to imagine being anything more than a big tent. I'm sure its beautiful, but it just didn't feel like "the place" to me.

The tent:


More of "the tent"...she went on about a 'Tulle Package' where they cover those metal poles with Tulle...yeah.

The view of the "laser leveled croquet grounds"....uh huh...


"The Limo"...yeah they would cart me around in that in my dress so I wouldn't have to go pee in a "port-a-pody"...


Thoughts?

East Fork Country Estate

Wow. we really liked this place. The lady was really nice and had great suggestions, and really liked us as well. We can also have a horse and carriage during the ceremony. I really liked the idea of that. See below for pics!

The dancing area:

The ceremony site, you can barely see the gazebo, but its there!

Some areas for pictures:
The ceremony site, from below:


Brides Changing room:
The view from the Bride's Changing Room Balcony!
There it is! What do we think?

Pictures from Lakeside Gardens

This is Lakeside Gardens:

Where we would be eating/dancing the night away:

Where the actual ceremony would be, pending, good weather:

Pretty tree, they have fountains too:

Fountains, they glow at night too:

My second best friend (After Steven) :
So, that's it in a nutshell... What do we think? More pics and stuff tomorrow!

Jewels

Lakeside Gardens Site Visit

Last night we went to visit the Lakeside Gardens. It was very beautiful with lots of flowers and a big lake. There was a swan in the lake who wanted to be my best friend. He seriously followed me wherever I went. It was kind of cute.

We met with the lady, also named Julie, and she showed us around. This was after we got there 45 minutes early and we all walked around on our own. Larry took lots of pictures. I'll upload those after I get them on my computer at home. It seems like it could be a good place. We want to look around some more though. They are already completely booked for August, but we could get August 30th, Labor Day Saturday, or anytime in September. Either would be fine with me!

More pictures when I get them, and two visits scheduled for Saturday. Its all very exciting!

This post was blogged from the desk of Julie Meloy.

Engagement Photos!

Larry agreed to take some pictures for us, like he did for graduation. We went out for a dinner and photo session. Kodi was very excited to be running around free while we were shooting.

This is a great picture, if only the shadow over Steven's face were gone!
Kodi was being a brat while we were taking this one!

This is probably one of the best pictures. I picked that flower myself!

More on Wednesday after the Lakeside Gardens visit. We drove by it on Saturday, on our way home from the Ash Scattering, and it looks awesome! I can't wait to go inside.

Pictures and Magazines!

I can't seem to download any pictures when I'm at my desk at work, so those are soon to follow!

Last night we met up with Larry and Marlene and Tara, who came home to stay with Kodi, and had dinner. Then the boys watched "Austin Powers" on TV and the girls took a ride to Freddies to get some more magazines and ice cream! It was a really fun night, picking out colors we liked, laughing and catching up.

We will start visiting some sites this coming week. On Wednesday night we are meeting with the people at Lakeside Gardens and a week from today we will be meeting with East Fork Country Gardens. I'm still trying to get appointments for The Resort at the Mountain, and a new place, Aerie something or other. Be looking for pictures and reviews!

This is my first attempt at blogging!

Friday night Steven helped me do the chores that we normally do on Saturday morning. He was telling me that we were going to do something on Saturday, but he wouldn't tell me what!

We got up Saturday morning and Steven went to the store, which we had forgotten to do, while I got ready for the day. When I was ready to do we got in the car and decided to go to our bakery to pick up our yummy fresh bread for the week. Steven treated me to a yummy fresh doughnut when we got there too. Then it was back in the car for our adventure!

We drove out to Hood River, because I had never been there before, and stopped at the Columbia River Gorge Motel (Hotel?). We went out to walk around the gardens and the waterfall behind the building. After watching some windsurfers for a bit, I sat down on a bench and Steven joined me. Then, before I knew it, he was on one knee with a gorgeous ring in his hand. How could I say no to that!?! After lots of hugs and kisses we went inside and had someone take our picture.

Then we got in the car and drove back home via the Old Highway. About halfway home we realized that all the cars in front of us were stopped and suddenly there were lots of people on the side of the road! We wondered what was going on and suddenly we turned to the right and there was an antique train, scheduled to arrive in Portland later that night, and train enthusiasts everywhere! I managed to get two pictures before we had to get going again. It was a real treat for us to see. We stopped at Crown Pointe, Vista House (our spot) for a look/photo op. Then we went to the Troutdale General Store for some lunch. Along the way we called Mom and Dad and Larry and Marlene too.

Then it was home, to make cupcakes and get ready for our fancy dinner at Portland City Grill (Thank You JHI Engineering!)... We had such a great dinner and I even got a fancy Bellini Martini and then we got those yummy cookies and ice cream.

It was truly a special and wonderful day....after that....the wedding planning began!