Aubrey + Clayton

Aubrey just sent me the link to their engagement pictures. I couldn't wait to share! Valerie Carnavale is their photographer and she did an amazing job. Here's a few of my favorites.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

The Happiness Project

I just finished reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. I'm recommending it for all my avid readers out there. It is a fairly quick read and very refreshing. I'm not going to go on and on about the book. I will let it speak for itself. Below are a few of her key points.

Twelve Personal Commandments

Be Yourself.
Let it go.
Act the way I want to feel.
Do it now.
Be polite and be fair.
Enjoy the process.
Spend out.
Identify the problem.
Lighten up.
Do what ought to be done.
No calculation.
There is only love.

Four Splendid Truths

First: To be happier, you have to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.
Second: One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
Third: The days are long, but the years are short.
Fourth: You’re not happy unless you think you’re happy.

On a side note. Pup made it successfully to Canada last night. He found the couch in Brandon's apartment and has already settled in. I know he is loving that cooler weather!

Pups First Flight

Pup travels to Canada today to be with Brandon. He is on a 4 1/2 hour direct flight from Houston. We went to his favorite place in the entire world this morning -- the dog park for one last time. I see rain clouds forming outside and thunder rumbling so please keep us in your prayers as he travels today! I am sure everything will work out fine but still makes me a bit nervous.

Obviously... He isn't nervous at all.

Fort Saskatchewan - Edmonton Suburb aka HOME SWEET HOME

Brandon and I are signing for our apartment this week. We will be living in Fort Saskatchewan which is a suburb of Edmonton. I still plan on looking for jobs in Edmonton and the commute will only be about 30 minutes. Our new apartment is in a lime green building that has been converted from a bowling alley into urban lofts. Its a two bedroom so everyone come visit! I'll post plenty of pictures when we finally get moved in. The quirky thing is that we will live a couple of blocks from the downtown park (Canada loves their parks. There are over 10 in this small town). This particular park is part of the urban grazing program of Fort Saskatchewan. The town owns a small herd of sheep and they graze around the community cutting down on lawn maintenance. :)

Fort Saskatchewan scenery

Bathtime

While I was packing today I kept hearing the strangest clunk, thunk sounds coming from the bathroom. Guess who I found in the bathtub!

Why do you think he was in there?
a) he really loves baths
b) he was thirsty
c) he was trying to find a little piece and quiet from the radio blaring and the packing tape/boxes galore
d) all of the above

:) Happy Packing!

Washington State Roadtrip Extravaganza

For the big holiday weekend I booked a flight to visit the hubs in Lewiston, ID. Turns out my pledge mom, Lisa Beehler (now Watson!) lives 2 hours north of the yard in Spokane. Saturday we traveled up to visit her and the new husband, Chris. We had an excellent time white-water rafting! This is something I've always wanted to do so I was pretty excited to check this off the bucket list.

Sunday, Brandon and I decided to go on a mini-vaca and roadtrip the state of Washington to Seattle (another bucket list item). On the way there we stopped at Cooley Dam. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. I didn't realize that the eastern part of the state is pretty much all desert due to the mountain range, sun/shadow effect. However, it was still beautiful. FIVE hours later we ended up in Seattle and b-lined it for the space needle.

We met my friend from the freshman year dorm (Miss Ashley Flad!) out for drinks in the evening. It was so nice seeing her and having our own little tour guide. She took us by the famous wall of gum.

Sunday we got up and went down to Pike's Place Market and the Pier. We saw the famous original Starbucks and of course i had to get a cup of Seattle's Best coffee.

... NOW on to Canada!