Adventures in Climbing and Cooking!

 

Yesterday, we took the morning to head over and explore Vertical World. 

Sean and I were planning on going last weekend, but exhaustion got the better of us.  Between his duty schedule and my work/rehearsal schedule, we haven't had a weekend (much less an entire day) together in weeks. So we try to make the most of the time we have. We sneak in a movie out here and there (and this has been a GREAT summer for movies), but this weekend we took Saturday morning and the hit the ropes! Or the wall, more appropriately.

  This was all Sean's idea and I have to admit, it was intimidating at first. It just seemed like one of those things "other people" (aka people who aren't me) do. But I promised to go along, so go along without complaint I did - and, like most things I've done in my life for those I've loved, it was great!

Sean made quick work of 2/3 walls. He climbed to the top and made a goal to conquer a certain route next time.

And yes, there will be a next time!

 As for me, I'm completely satisfied with my performance on my very first time climbing. I made it up my first 2 walls without falling! That felt pretty awesome. By the time I reached the bottom after wall #2, I found myself nearly drenched in sweat. What a great work out! If you're following my Personal Blog, you'll know that health and fitness is a big deal with me. 

The third wall did get the better of me and I didn't quite make it to the top, but I got very close! Next time...

Friday night we also had our first cook out experience!
Grabbing some charcoal and one of the community grills, we made some delicious steaks, complete with a wine and cheese appetizer. Delish!

It's turning out to be a great summer in the Pacific Northwest, despite the crazy schedules. Now, if only we could figure out a camping trip....

The Wedding Chronicles - LOTS of Good News!

Last night, I got 3 pieces of really good news!

1) Heather, one of my best gal pals and a gal I'd love to have in our wedding party IS PREGNANT! This is number 2 and their last one. It's really exciting! She's had a couple high risk pregnancies. The first one resulted in their still born son Dirk. The second was high risk, but resulted in a beautiful baby girl, Elena. And now they have another on the way! I'm really excited for them. What does this mean for the wedding party? DOES IT MATTER? My 'sister' is having a baby! We'll think about all that later - like when we have a date.  A life is so much more important than a 'day' (even an important one) in a life.

 

2) My mom started on the Hidden Mickeys!
My mom is AWESOME with a needle and thread. When I said I wanted Hidden Mickey's sown on my gown, she was honestly the first person I thought of to do it. Knowing she's very very busy and it's not a small undertaking, I never outright asked though. I hate for those that I love to feel pressure when she's already under so much from work.  However, with the date proving to be "sometime next fall", it gave her LOTS of time to work on it. Last night she surprised me by saying she's been working on it. YES!  I'm so excited that she's contributing to this unique experience (and ya'll will have fun looking for it, I'm sure). While the gown is a popular style, I wanted to really have something unique to make it "mine", ya know? 

3) Venue and Time Change!

So Sean and I looked into different venue options, since it's SO FAR out there, our budget has changed as well. While Shades of Green would be lovely I'm sure, we've FINALLY settled on a place and a theme, which helped me settle on bridesmaids dresses.  I've narrowed it down to 2 right now, so I'm going to ask a few ladies to try them on and send me photos before I decide for sure. It's a HUGE relief to find a location that encompasses all we both wanted for the wedding (Asian influence, Disney, natural, and COMPLETELY unique) without sacrificing anything. We were both instantly excited by the prospect. This is bound to be the best wedding ever - even if it means we have to par down our guest list to 40-50 people.

There are 3 things I can tell you:
*It's in Disney World.
*It's in the evening. The location does not do daytime ceremony's and that actually makes me very happy. On a personal level, I love this change. I feel like it'll really give Sean and me a chance to enjoy the day without a 5am wake up call. We can explore a park during the day or get a spa treatment, before having to be ready for everything. My girls won't have to wake up insanely early. Important occasions always fly by so having the entire day to relax, spend with family and friends, and get ready sounds much better than a 5am wake up call for hair and make up.

As for the exact venue, I'm keeping it a secret. When we have a little more information we might announce it, but that will be Sean's call. I'm tempted to keep it as quiet as possible until the actual day. It'll be the surprise of a life time! Don't get me wrong though - I'm ITCHING to blow it WIDE open! I'm sure everyone will think this is the coolest thing ever.



What's the third thing?

*Wear comfortable shoes!  ;)


 

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