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Three big things happened in January.
1. I saw my sister!

2. She's 8 months pregnant!

3. I saw the sun!

These are big things because:

1. I don't get to see Brenna as often as I'd like since she lives all the way down in California.

2.I'm going to be an aunt for the very first time EVER. I finally get to witness our genes in action!
3. I thought to sun visits other planets in the winter time, much to my surprise, it's been down in California this WHOLE TIME. Sneaky sun. Come back to visit us soon in Oregon!

Here are pictures to prove all three statements are true:

1. Me with my sister

2. My sister big with child

3.Me having to wear shades

The Honeymoon

If people had a nine day honeymoon once a year, I think the divorce rates would go way down. Mark and I went to the Big Island for our honeymoon, it was amazing. I long for Hawaii on cold, short, Oregon winter days when students are needier than usual and I'm crankier than necessary. I sit back and remember when Mark and I were sitting on a wall next to the beach watching some kids get excited over a sea turtle. We were also eating shaved ice and giggling about the fact that we would be at the middle of our work day if we hadn't been on vacation. ::sigh::

Aloha from the Big Island!

One of the first photographs of Mark after we made it to our hotel.

First photograph of me. Look at that huge smile. I had already fallen in love with the island.

Here's one of the reasons I loved Hawaii so... Mai Tais. I tried one in Oregon when I got back home. Ugh. Not the same. Oh, those pineapples...

Jet lagged the next morning, we woke up before the sun and explored the island. The sunrises are not as exciting as the sunsets. On the Kona side at least...

I loved all the art that was displayed everywhere.

Hawaiin Food! Dragon fruit is fun on the outside...

... and the inside!

Poke. I have dreams about you.

The birds. They'd attack your food if you walked away from it. In order to get them off you have to flap your arms and make odd noises. And still, you don't scare them off, I think they finally pity you enough to move out of your way. They probably think something like "Geez, this lady must be hungry, she's sure making a fool out of herself. Let's move for her."

The one "honeymooning" upgrade we got was from a compact car to a Jeep.

We drove through the famous ranch in Kona.

I would have enjoyed this hike so much more if I handn't been so severly sunburned on my back (from the 5 hour snorkeling tour).

(us before that five hour snorkeling tour...)

(...us during...)

(... me after, pretending to sit down, I didn't as it was too painful)

Hawaiin warning signs are verrrry serious.

The shaved ice I spoke about! There was coconut ice cream in the middle.

Me on that wall I spoke about! Look at that turquois water! I come from where oceans are only ever gray.

Scene from our luau

Scene after our luau. Hee.

This is me on our helicopter tour

And Mark!

And the helicopter! Yes we saw lava.











Place of Refuge. I think those poles were supposed to scare enemies away... I welcome all though!

The volcano

An old lava bed. The greyest place in Hawaii.

We hiked a lot that day. Hiking is much harder in Hawaii because it's so awfully humid.

Mark looks like a sea turtle.

See what I mean about that sunset?

Mark and I at Huggo's on our last night in Hawaii

Bad Blogger

My poor blog, you've been negleted for so long. To catch you up... I done and got married. All pictures are in reverse order, so if you're reading the blog, you should read from the bottom of this post up. (photos from http://www.saravandepasphotography.com/ - if you're getting married, having a baby, engaged, want family
portraits... anything! Use her, she's so fun! She really made my wedding look lavish)





My older sister also took this photo after the wedding was over. We headed on over to The Yard House for congradulatory cigars, tater tots, beer, and football.










Forbes (the best man) happens to be a lead singer of an AC/DC cover band. And it was their band that Mark and I reconnected at during a concert. So it was a very sweet and romantic gesture that they played at the wedding... as you can see by the photos.

We were toasted.

Dancing to 'Shout!'

Our cake! Soooo yummy, I only got a bite of the cake that Mark fed me and didn't get a chance to eat anymore. But don't worry, I had plenty to eat and drink so I was merry enough.

I worked mighty hard on the face masks for the "photo booth." In reality, I didn't actually have a "photobooth" I just had props and let kids (and adult kids) play with them on their own. They were a great success.

Our first dance was to Adelle's version of 'Make You Feel My Love'

My older sister picked up some sweet parasols from a California Goodwill.

The Grand Lodge

Ringing the church bell!!!

Our wedding party.

Showing our new bling off.

Mr. & Mrs!

First kiss.

Everyone else prays as Angela looks for her mom. She was a perfect flower girl.

Pretty sweet church!

Mark found a letter I wrote to him back in high school. As a wedding gift he wrote back to my letter and gave me some really nice earings. I believe I'm re-reading my letter to him in this picture. Flashback to freshman year!

My sister got me an awesome hanger for my wedding dress. The wedding was a blur of a day, but a really fun blur. The weather reeeeeally made me nervous, I had my one 'Bridezilla' moment the night before when they were predicting rain all day (I purposefully had my wedding later so I could have it outside, it NEVER rains in Oregon after July 4th). Luckily the weather held out, even gave us some sun! I felt horrible for the folks getting married July 17th though, Portland had a record rainfall on that day. When Mark and I were packing up to go the next morning, they were setting up for an outdoor wedding at The Children's Cottage. So a big "THANK YOU!!!" to Mother Nature.