Honeymoon booked!

I literally just finished making reservations, and I am so excited to tell you about our honeymoon plans!  We decided to keep things simple and local.  We don't have a lot of time for a big adventure post-wedding, and many have recommended a more mellow and relaxing trip, so we decided to go to the lovely state of Oregon!

As some know, the night of the wedding we will stay at the Cadyville Carriage House in downtown Snohomish.  It's adorable, completely private, and there is even a hot tub!

The day after we hope to meet up with some of the out of town family before we leave, and we have 5-6 hours of "Take 2" photos (at Gas Works Park, Mercer Slough Nature Park, and Heritage Hall - where we got engaged).

After passing out on Sunday night, on Monday morning we will drive to Cannon Beach, Oregon.  We will stay for two nights at the Surfsand Resort - right on the beach, and just north of Haystack Rock.  On Tuesday we're planning a day trip south to the Nehalem Bay Winery (home of delicious blackberry wine) and Tillamook - yes, a cheese factory tour!

Cannon Beach - photo by Kyle Pearce

Wednesday after a stroll on the beach we will drive south to Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  I have been wanting to go for years, so it will be a real treat to see Hamlet and Pride and Prejudice.  For our two nights in Ashland, we will stay at the Pelton House (hehe, the last name of two in our wedding party!).

After plays on Thursday, Friday morning we will drive north to Crater Lake.  I've never been, and Dave says it is amazing!  We will spend a night in the Crater Lake Lodge.

Crater Lake - photo by Stuart Seeger

On Saturday we will continue back north to Portland.  After our recent trip to the city, we think it will be great to spend an evening in town on our way back home (to reality).  We will likely be at one of the Westin hotels (thanks, mom!).

Sunday we come home.  It's crazy to think about that!  We come home and go back to work, but we're married!

Being a grad student is awesome!

Why is it awesome?

Because I get to read really cool kids' books for class (among other reasons).  For instance...

In my reading comprehension class my small group selected Reading With Meaning by Debbie Miller.  Yes, you are right, this isn't a kids' book.  But, it's a truly inspirational guide to teaching reading in the primary grades.  She offers a thorough and thoughtful list of recommended readings for teaching various strategies. I'm crazy about this book.  It includes daily reading workshops for 1st graders, book choices, and coffeehouse poetry night - I'm in love!

But I digress.  For my class, I have to teach two lessons - a "Think Aloud" (modeling a strategy to students) and a lesson based on Debbie Miller's book.  Here are some of the books I've been considering:

Crow Call by Lois Lowry (I've picked this one for the Think Aloud, modeling mental images).  This is a new book, and it's gorgeous.  Lois Lowry wrote Number the Stars, which I was obsessed with and read at least 20 times in elementary school.

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (I might use this for a lesson on predicting/asking questions of the text).  This was one of my favorites growing up.  I remember my mom reading it to me, and I love it just as much today.

I'm also doing service learning at the Seward Park Environmental and Audubon Center, helping them organize a Super Saturday family program.  We settled on "Decomposition Rots!" for the title (I'm so easily entertained!).  I'm trying to come up with some reading activities, and here are a couple of the books:

A Log's Life by Wendy Pfeffer.  This book has gorgeous images, and really paints a clear picture of how a tree decomposes into soil.

Under One Rock by Anthony Fredericks.  Adorable, and perfect for younger audiences and budding readers to tackle on their own.

I love what I do. :)

Recap of our Portland Adventure

It has been awhile since I was on here, but I thought I would talk about the recent trip to Portland that Jackie and I took. We had been talking about taking a trip for quite awhile so one night Jackie starting researching the trip and in no time she had booked the entire adventure from start to finish!


The trip started out at 5:00 am when we had to wake up in order to get dressed and catch our bus into downtown Seattle. By 7:30 we were checked in with Amtrak and boarding our train for the 3 hour ride into Portland. The trip was relaxing and scenic and although I don't think that it saved us time I do think that it was much easier and less stressful than driving and fighting highway traffic. After arriving in Portland we set out for the Bed and Breakfast where we would be staying.

Portland has a great light rail system that makes getting around the city very easy so we bought our tickets and set out from the train station. It wasn't until later that we realized that we were riding in a free ride zone and didn't actually need a ticket...oops. Our B&B was a 15 minute walk from the light rail station which gave us an opportunity to get our first taste of the city. The B&B that we were staying at is called Portland's White House Bed and Breakfast and it lives up to it's name! The building looks like a small version of the White House and the decorum continues throughout the entire house.

After checking in we dropped our bags off in our room and found 2 fresh baked oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies which were to die for! We then spent the rest of the day wandering around the city browsing through fun shops and eating and fun restaurants and cafes. If you are ever in Portland and have any appreciation for books, magazines, reading, or literature then you must go to Powell's Books which is by far the largest book store of new and used books that I have ever seen. The science fiction section alone was bigger than some book stores and contained authors that I have never heard of. Eventually I was so overwhelmed that I had to leave otherwise I don't think that I could have ever pulled myself away.

The second day in the Portland ended up raining all day so we spent most of the day sloshing around the city dodging into shops to dry off. We spent most of our time in the Pearl district which seemed to be a little more modern and boutique than the rest of the city that we had seen. After a nice lunch at the Deschutes Brewery we started back for the train station to begin our trip home. The train ride home was not quite as relaxing and stress free as the trip down due mainly to the 8 year old girl bouncing around the cabin with no response from her parents. Eventually we arrived back in Seattle and made our way into the Seattle bus tunnel to catch a bus back to Kirkland and spend the remainder of our weekend vacation relaxing and preparing for the week ahead.

Getting out of the city for a long day and a half was great and I am looking forward to our next excursion. Amtrak just recently resumed service to Leavenworth so maybe that will be in our future.

Progress: Our DJ, wedding rentals, and music!

In just about a week we will be at the 6 month mark.  I can't believe how much we have done and I'm afraid to think about how much is left to do!  Here's a little summary of what we have done:

• Date - August 21, 2010
• Venue - Craven Farm (see this post and this one)
• Officiant/Premarital counselor - Tiffani Mondares-Riggs
• Wedding dress - Customized for me!  Not giving it away...(see my earrings)
• Groom's attire - From Men's Wearhouse
• Caterer - Andy Elf
• Photographer - Brett Szemple
• Florist/flower source - Farm across from Craven, sells at Pike Place Market
• Cake - The Radical Cupcake (Marisa and I graduated from the same program at UW)
• Makeup artist - Kaarin Boyd Designs (Kaarin and I went to school together)
• Hair salon - Gene Juarez Academy

Wow, that makes me feel accomplished!  And the newest additions to the list:

DJ - Bugsie Productions
Finding a DJ was a challenge!  It's so hard to tell who is right for you from a website.  We feel really lucky to have met Craig.  He seemed to get us right away, and we feel confident that he will create a great atmosphere from the ceremony on through the cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing!


Rentals - ABC Special Event Rentals
This morning Dave, Rick, and I went to ABC's showroom in Mukilteo.  I'm so glad we did!  We had the chance to touch the different china, flatware, and linen options, and play around with different arrangements.  We will have a khaki/light brown for the main tablecloths on the dinner tables, with white runners.  The set up will be two rows of long tables, a subtle nod to Outstanding in the Field (alright, maybe we're not that cool, but...).  The cocktail hour will have some extra-special bright colors, including blue tablecloths for the bistro tables and fantastic green plates.  I think these things will be perfect to help us complete the atmosphere.

Now that we have a DJ, it's time for some music options!  We want something more contemporary for our procession and the bridal entrance, so we're contemplating Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Better Together.  For the recessional, we're thinking All I Want is You.  The cocktail hour will be more of the contemporary songs, and mainly instrumental/jazz for dinner.  As we get into the dancing, we're hoping to play some favorites that will please everyone (including this one just for my dad!).  We're thinking of What a Wonderful World for the father-daughter dances, Brighter Than Sunshine for our first dance, and Feels Like Home for our last slow dance.  We're definitely open to opinions, so let us know what you think (or if you have requests!).

And happy almost Valentine's Day!