Wedding Planning in the New Year

So, I have totally been slacking in the wedding planning department. I was all excited at first, then it tapers off, then you get a new job, then the holidays come, its been crazy. But now I am starting to panic. April 25 will be here in no time! I ordered my veil yesterday - after a long, veil or no veil debate with myself. Now I've got to get on track with invites and flowers. And even though I thought I had a menu set, I'm being wishy washy on that and might change my mind. I haven't had a question up for a while either, so here is a new one - vote early and vote often!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. The Spencer/Stonehocker household now has a playstation and Guitar Hero, so we're pretty set! I realized I only took pictures of the dog this Christmas...oops. She's just so darned cute though!

Zane's 5th Birthday Party

It hard to believe that five years ago on Christmas Eve my godson, Zane Gibson came in to the world. We celebrated this weekend with a bowling party (which is a very interesting activity for a bunch of five year olds) and the birthday boy had a blast! I still can't believe the baby I watched over in the special care nursery has turned into this handsome boy!

It was a hot wheels birthday and he couldn't have been happier!


Of course the grown ups bowled too. Here are Jesse & Lesley with their best bowling poses.

Welcome, Addyson!

My friend Melissa had a beautiful baby girl yesterday (same day as her mom's birthday...29 years and 7 mins apart exactly), Addyson Marie Roll. She's weighing in at a very tiny 5 pounds, 6 ounces and 18 inches long and both mom & baby are doing great!

Fergie's First Christmas

I'm going to take a lot of heat for this picture, but I'm posting it anyway.

Fergie's First Snow

We had a beautiful snow fall today in Boise, but Fergie was definitely not in the mood this morning. When it was time to let her out to go potty she just looked at me like I was nuts. Here is her bolting for the house on our first try:

Once I put a sweatshirt on her, she realized it wasn't so bad:

Nia's Wedding

Last Saturday was my friend and former co-worker Nia's wedding day! I of course didn't bring my camera, but you can see some of their pics here. No pictures of the ceremony yet, but some fun outdoor shots. We decorated the depot with lots of Christmas trees, garland, and white lights - perfect for a December wedding. Made me get excited for mine :-)

Empty Bowls Survey

If anyone reading this attended the Empty Bowls event on November 28, please take a moment and follow the link below and answer a short survey about the event. Thanks!

Empty Bowls Survey

House Pictures

Where to start? Here's looking in to the kitchen:

The master bedroom - plain, but I find the black, white and blue very soothing and relaxing:

Guest room and bathroom:

Looking down the hallway:

The "living" area. I like how Fergie looks like a stuffed animal on the couch!

And finally, the built in tv shelves...I love that this takes up no floor space:

We've got one more bedroom with nothing in it and a laundry room that is already cluttered, so you don't get pictures of that. We also have a huge yard that Fergie loves to frolic in...its already dark out, or I'd get some pics of that too. I'm sure we'll have lots of summer fun out there.

Empty Bowls Pictures

The long line for soup and bowlws! It was like this from 11 am to 3:30 pm.

Picking out bowls...

And more bowls...

And some more bowls...

Busy Weekend

We had lots happening over the weekend, and sadly, I have no pictures to show for it, so you'll have to bear with all the text.

First, obviously, it was Thanksgiving. Holidays are always busy for us as we have two households to travel to. But Chris & I are quite proud of ourselves for not over doing it and stuffing ourselves silly. But damn, holiday food is good. I made enough green bean casserole for a week of leftovers, but sadly, we have no turkey. I guess one of these years I will need to do the cooking.

Friday was my first event with The Idaho Foodbank...Empty Bowls. We had nearly 2,300bowls and over 125 gallons of soup and were wiped out! All the soup was gone by six and we only have a handful of bowls left. Needless to say, it was a great success. This was a sink or swim moment for me and I'm happy to say I swam laps! Still waiting for a final $$$ total, but it HAS to be more than last year.

I was still pretty worn out on Saturday, but it was our friend Jeremy Bordner's birthday bash and we hit the town that night. We called it a night relatively early, but had a great time...thanks, Kirstin, for organizing such a fun night! When I finally looked at my phone that night I had a text from my friend Miranda who got engaged that day...hooray! Chris & I are together because of Miranda. She's a friend from high school and I wasn't really wanting to go to our high school reunion, but she convinced me. Thank goodness! We couldn't be happier for her and Josh.

Sunday we put up Christmas lights and cleaned out the garage. I love organizing! Chris discovered there was an attic in the garage and we went nuts throwing stuff up there.

All in all, a very productive weekend for us. I'll have pictures of the house up here soon I promise!

Happy Birthday, Anna!

On Friday night we went out to Red Feather to celebrate our friend Anna hitting the quarter century mark...which made Chris & I feel old. It was a great time though.
Here is Anna taking her birthday tequila shot like a pro:

More Engagement pictures

We came across some pictures that weren't on our original disc...its like getting them taken all over again! A few of my favorites: Also, is it just me, or did you all want to put your engagement pics ALL OVER the house? Every picture gets a frame! I haven't done this (I think I only have two up) but I totally want to!

Mobile Pantry

More work stories for you. I am already so gratified to be working here at the Foodbank. Yesterday I went to Filer, Idaho (its just outside of Twin Falls) with our "mobile pantry" that brings food to families in towns with no other resources for food. We served over 100 families there and one head of household commented that he really did not know how he would have fed his family this month had we not showed up. Wow. Just, wow.

As with every group of elderly volunteers I have ever worked with in my career, I had a nemesis within five minutes of showing up, but even that did not ruin the good feeling I had from helping to put food in so many bellies.

Scouting for Food

What an adventure my first food drive was! The support from the community was absolutely amazing. My post was at the WalMart on Eagle Road and boy scouts from the Meridian area collected food that had been left out and brought it to us for sorting (canned/dry goods) and loading on to the truck. We filled TWENTY pallets of food! It was amazing. The need for food is up 38% over last year and it is so nice to see the community stepping up and supporting the Foodbank. I feel very thankful to work here now and be making such a contribution to the community!

Happy Halloween!

Chris & I recycled our hippie costumes and joined my family for a fun night, easy going night. Here I am with my sisters the Geisha and Batman:

And for any South Park fans out there...my brother in law, Jesse, went as a hippie exterminator:

Lots of News~

We have a lot happening all of a sudden here. Most exciting, is that I just got a job with the Idaho Foodbank as their Events Manager. I am VERY excited to get back in the fundraising business and can't wait to get started working for this very worthy cause. Idaho Foodbank. My first event is November 28, so stay tuned!

Next, Chris & I will be moving into a house in November! Of course we were hoping to BUY a house, but the lay off and the economy changed those plans a bit. Instead, we are going to be leasing my best of friend's Liz's home (formerly the home of the Anderson's). The house is making the rounds in our circle of friends, but its a beautiful home and I can't wait to move and get out of this apartment. Its served me well, but with a fiance and puppy in here, we are started to feel a little cramped. Fergie will be excited for a yard and has already spent many days over there. I'm excited that Chris & I will be able to collect our belongings from family members homes all over town and have everything in one place!

FAAN Walk

Saturday morning was the FAAN walk for food allergies...walking towards a cure. We proudly went out to support our friends the Kearney's (Sarah did a FANTASTIC job organizing the first year event) It was a brisk morning, but perfect for the 1.5 mile walk. Of course we brought Fergie.

It was a rough morning, so daddy & Fergie needed a nap when we got home.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

One of the advantages to being temporarily unemployed is that I get to do stuff I wouldn't normally be able to do...like chaperone Zane and his daycare mates to the Pumpkin Patch!

The perfect pumpkin

Getting a little tall for the hay bale maze

New Wedding Website

We now have a wedding website, in addition to the blog (I'm loving all this free time!)

Check it out here.

another baby on the way...

But not mine! My cousin Corie recently announced her new little bun in her oven, or "baby appleseed" as its been dubbed since its roughly that size now. I couldn't be more excited - this baby will be the first for our generation and sure to be spoiled tons :-) Corie and I are 18 months apart and grew up like sisters, so I am hoping that our kids will do the same.

Pendleton Balloon Bash

Another trip to Pendleton has made it in to the record books. We were lucky to be able to fly every morning, but it was COLD - although it didn't snow like it did here in Boise. No balloon pictures yet, but the scaled down party room this year still lived up to its reputation.This will only make sense to a handul of people...but we had a backrub count of FOUR!

The economy hits home

I was laid off on Monday...what a surreal feeling. I haven't been unemployed since I was 17! I'm only two days in to it and already bored. Fergie is getting constant walks, I've ran some errands for Junior League, applied for a few jobs already. I'm fortunate to be in the position where I can take some time to find the job I REALLY want, not just the first one that comes along, but its still a strange feeling. So keep your ears open for anyone needing an event planning nazi!

October 4, 2008

We had a busy Saturday this weekend - starting off with See Spot Walk. It was chaotic, but fun. We couldn't believe that people were actually lining the streets to watch everyone go by with their dogs...I'm pretty sure the crowd thought our dog was the cutest.




That night we went to Josh & Miranda's 2nd Annual Hippie & Hookah party - it also wound up being a poker and Guitar Hero party too! Thanks for the great time guys, peace!

Baby Vaughn

We went to Utah last weekend to FINALLY meet baby Vaughn - I couldn't wait to get there! I think I held him most of the day, except for when I was trying to get Fergie in her new hand-me-down alligator costume. We had a great day with the Amidei's - wish they lived closer!

Bridesmaids Dresses

I think its funny how many times I've changed my mind about things in the few months that I've been engaged. Things I've been so certain on have completley been thrown out the window. I was obsessed with toile a couple of weeks ago...now I've moved on. Anyway, I was certain I wanted lilac bridesmaid dresses, until they were on. Once I saw this dress on my sister and cousin, I knew it was THE ONE!

Summer of Babies

It truly has been a summer of babies in my life this summer, as so many of my great friends have been giving birth to bundles of joy right and left! First came Vaughn, on July 4 - courtesy of Brooke & Tom Amidei!

Next up, Delaney Jane, baby number 2 for my friends the Hamilton's on August 4

The next day came Payton Bordner - another number 2 baby for the Bordner Family

And just today I got the picture from first time parents Heather & Ryan Skene that Isla has come to town...a couple weeks early!

And we aren't done yet! Marjorie McBride, Melissa Roll, and Sara Richins are all still due...although those will be fall and winter babies. There will obviously be no shortage of little bundles of joy for Aunt Shauna to snuggle with!