Wedding Plans, School, and Cooper

Well, nothing too exciting has happened since Christmas, Mack and I had a great time at home, but were happy to get back to Portland and settled back into our routine. I started school a week before Mack, so he had time to lounge around and do nothing, and when I say 'nothing' I mean it! But he is now starting his second week of school and seems to be enjoying his new classes. I took the GRE (Graduate something Exam) for the second time, and got a much better score (in the 69th percentile). That makes me feel a lot better about my grad school applications, but now I have to just sit and wait to hear from the schools. My classes aren't so fun this semester, they are more the necessities rather than what is actually strongly connected with Speech Language Pathology. I'm taking Advanced Audiology, Neurology, Statistics, and Language Disorders. I'll just be happy to get this term over with and have my responses from the schools I applied to!
Cooper is doing well. He has surgery to get fixed and de-clawed a few days after we got home. We thought the surgery might slow him down a bit but he was still as wild as ever and hardly sat down, which lead to some problems with his paws and he had to go in for a second surgery. But now he is doing really well. He is still trying to figure out why he falls when he leaps onto the window curtains and tries to climb them. But it's kinda funny to watch. It snowed in Portland a few nights ago and we took Cooper out to see his first snowfall. He was absolutely ecstatic. We put him in his sweatshirt he got from Bobbie and Frank for Christmas, and he had lots of fun trying to catch the flakes in his mouth. He has also gotten into some trouble climbing on the shelves above the washer and dryer. He jumps up and then climbs around in the rafters... I got him down and blocked that off... Pictures below.
The wedding is starting to feel real! We booked the venue when we were home for Christmas, the original date we wanted (July, 20) was taken, so we decided to go for July 5th! That's a Friday, and as the date says, the day after the fourth, so I'm having fun with ideas for the the 4th with everyone. There was a bridal fair in Spokane the weekend after we left, so Mom took a friend and booked a DJ and found our (most likely) caterer! As for the big news... I got my dress! Over Christmas Mom, Dad, and his Fiance Roz went to the one bridal store in Spokane that I hadn't been to yet. I had no idea I was going to find THE ONE and really wasn't planning on it at all, but I tried it on, Marcella (the owner and expert seamstress) Made numerous changes-- adding rhinestones, changing the straps, adding an awesome bow-- and that was it! I look like a total movie star and I didn't even want to look at anything else so that's done too! Wow crazy how things work out!

Home for Christmas

Coming back to Spokane after being away for so long was nice, but different. It was weird seeing Spokane, not as home, but where I grew up. Mack and I have gotten so used to the mild Portland weather, that Spokane seems terribly cold! We have been mostly lounging; I worked at my summer job at the school district for one day and got to see all the kidos I taught this summer, which was nice. We have been doing a lot of shopping and seeing families. Mom's birthday is tomorrow and Christmas the next day. Buddy is very excited about Santa coming. We made a gingerbread house tonight, I think Bud had a lot of fun, but it was hard for me to not try to make everything look perfect. Hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Break

To get in the Holiday spirit, Mack and I, along with our friends, decided to go up to Zoo Lights. The Oregon Zoo sets up this wild show of Christmas lights in the shapes of animals, and you ride a train through it. Clearly, since this seems perfect for a 5 year old, I was stoked. But, alas, after a beautiful clear day, it starts pouring down rain ten minutes before we were set to leave. The troubles of living in Portland. So instead, we had everyone over to our house to make gingerbread cookies! We had a total blast and made quite a mess.

After a week of finals for both Mack and I, we are finally on winter break. I finished the semester with a 3.75 GPA which should help my chances of getting into a graduate program for next fall. We are getting packed up and ready to leave for Spokane on the 16th. Christian, one of Mack's friends from the dorm will be staying at our house to watch over Cooper while we are at home. Mack and I are both sad about leaving him here, but we feel it's best to not tote him around when he hates the car so much. We will be back in Portland by the 9th when I start winter quarter. We are both very excited to go back to Spokane after so long away. I'm sure we will have lots of fun adventures. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the Christmas decorations everywhere! My favorite album as of late has been Michael Buble's Christmas album. Check it out if you haven't heard it.

Thanksgiving dinner

Well, my first Thanksgiving dinner went well. Of course I was very stressed about making everything perfect, but it all turned out well. I got a specific kind of turkey so that it had a pop up timer, but then found out it didn't have a popper! I was so nervous I was going to cook it too long, or not long enough. But it all worked out in the end as things usually do. Once we all sat down to est, we had 9 people: Momma, Papa, Mark (Mack's uncle), Starla (Mack's Aunt), Cuinn (Cousin, Scout (Cousin), Ryan (Mack's friend from school) and Mack and I. Dinner went well and we had my homemade pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. After dinner we relaxed a bit, and then Mack, Cuinn and I headed out to Walmart and Best Buy for a little shopping. Though it was busy and a bit crazy it was worth it after getting a blu-ray player for Mack for $70 less and Cuinn got a new xbox game for half price. We have a few more days of everyone in two and we have a few things planned. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's finally Thanksgiving! I am so excited to have Mack's family here to cook for and be with! I thought in honor of the day, I would try to list the ten things I am most thankful for. Here it goes:

1. My family- I have a big family spanning the entire United States and I love them all. Though at times they may drive me a little crazy, they created the foundation for me and greatly shaped who I am today.
2. My friends- Both new and old, and even the friends that didn't turn out to be such good friends. I believe I learned something from all of them. My friends keep me sane, drive me crazy, and most of all, help me have fun.
3. My fiance- Mack is just amazing to me. He helps me with everything from dishes to math. I love him very much and I'm so excited to see what our future together holds.
4. Cooper- Though the little fur-ball irritates me to no end sometimes (mostly when he wants to play 'attack the feet under the sheets' when we are trying to sleep) he makes me happy in a way I don't understand.
5. My brother- The hardest thing about moving to Portland is not being able to see Buddy anytime I want. I have never been this far away from him and gone this long without seeing him. FaceTime (a video conferencing program) has given us the opportunity to talk face-to-face and I love seeing his smile when he sees me on the screen. Buddy is the reason I am who I am. I love him so much and can't wait to see him for Christmas.
6. My mom- She has been with me, and stood by me through everything. She has been my rock and my best friend. She is the strongest woman I know and I'm so happy she understands her phone well enough that we can talk everyday.
7. My Grandma and Grandpappy- Though they live in Iowa and Texas, I feel very close to them from the emails we exchange, the little cards we send each other and even the coupons Grandma cuts out for us. I love them both very much and miss them greatly.
8. My soon to be family- Mack's family is absolutely wonderful! From the first time I met them, they made me feel like part of their family. Scout is constantly reminding me of what it was like to be so young, and Cuinn has been so much fun to watch enter high school and excel at everything he does.
9. Social networking- Yes, I know it sounds stupid and materialistic to be thankful for things like facebook and iphones, but these outlets allow me to stay in contact with family and friends around the world.
10. My Grandpa T- This will be our third Thanksgiving without him and I miss him so much. He taught me how to make our crystal water glasses sing, that before you eat a black olive you put them on your fingers, and to take time to appreciate everything you have in life.

There is so much more that I am thankful for, the list would never end. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and doesn't eat too much!
Love

Practice Thanksgiving

This weekend we had a lot going on. Mom and Dad came into town Thursday afternoon and we got to go out to a nice dinner before Mack had a workshop at school. Friday, I didn't have school because of Veteran's day, but Mack did, so Mom, Dad and I did our grocery shopping for my dinner on Saturday.
When Mack was done with school, we picked him and one of our friends up and headed to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) for the Body Worlds exhibit. This is an exhibit that travels all over the world and has real bodies plasticized and parts removed so you can see the muscles and bones. Of course Mom, being a nurse, loved it. She was totally in here element explaining to Jordan and Mack what happens in surgery, what parts of the body are, and what she has seen in different surgeries. Dad and I had fun watching a little old lady following Mom around listening to her stories and nodding along like she was part of the conversation too. I enjoyed the Audiology and Larynx section because I have been learning about them all quarter. After the museum we went to a pub downtown for dinner and then our usual Friday movie night at the dorms.
Saturday was the day everyone had been waiting for. Because Mack's family is coming for Thanksgiving, I dubbed November 12th Practice Thanksgiving and invited all our friends from the dorms to come eat with us. Mom helped me with everything while dad taught Mack his jobs (Green bean casserole and carving the turkey). I went all out with a 14.5 pound turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, dressing, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, and a homemade pumpkin pie cheesecake. We had 6 friends over, making 10 of us total. Everything turned out successfully, and I am very excited to make dinner for Mack's family.
As with every time Mom and Dad come, the time went by way too fast and it felt like they had just gotten here when they had to leave again. But with our schedule so crazy for the next couple weeks the time will fly by and then we will be home for Christmas!

Cooper the Model

I was working on homework in the kitchen the other night, when Mack yelled for me to see what Cooper was doing. I ran into our study area and found this...