I love a rainy day...

Looking out my window this morning this is what I saw...

To you, this may just look like a dark living room and a view to the outdoors that says, "Gotta love Trash Day, Tuesday." So I guess it was hard to capture but what this says to me is, rain! Beautiful, wet, refreshing, wash-all-the-dirt-away RAIN. 

Now, ask me in a couple of months and I'll be loathing the rain and looking back longingly at those wonderful bright summer days that seem so long ago. But for today, I am loving it, every single drop. In fact, I was so excited that I donned my cute rain boots and went outside to play! Finn thought I was crazy, he sat in his cozy blanket-covered chair and watched me through the window. What a little pooper!

 

To top off this wonderful "fall-ish" day, I splurged. I waited until after 2:00 (b/c that's only fair) and then went bursting into our bedroom to wake Brian up. I exclaimed, "It's raining outside, did you know?!" It was a rude awakening, I'm sure, but it got the point across. I'd been waiting all day. I wanted to share this moment with him. I needed to get out of the house, don my rain boots [again :], hit up the nearest Sbux (located in the lovely downtown 'couve) and get me a PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE! That's right people, the one and only that we've loved for seven years straight...it's officially been soft launched. (Meaning it hasn't yet made it on the menu board of your local store but we've got the goods, pick yours up today!)

After an excessive amount of mumbling on Brian's part, I did manage to get him up out of bed and before we knew it we were backing out of the driveway. It wasn't until he almost ran over our trash cans that I realized I may have rushed the waking-up process, but somehow, we made it there and back without so much as another near collision. :)

We've since had dinner, he's back at work, and I'm being beckoned by a certain sewing machine. I can't think of anything better to fill a lady's rainy, home-alone evening.

And that, my friends, is why today, I love a rainy day.

My Very First, Very Own...

She's a dandy.  She's going to be handy.  She's aaaaaall mine!

...My very first, very own, brand spankin' new SEWING MACHINE.

[aka: my new "go-to" girl.]

She's my favorite purchase since this guy...

...Not that she's in any way going to replace him, but she 'n I, we can't wait to bond.

Oh, the options!
Did I mention, she threads herself? I didn't even know that was possible! She's a smarty, my girl.

Unveiled!

Isn't she pretty?! We're going to be good, good friends. :]

Meet my new friend, Steph

*She's beautiful.

*She's a servant, through and through.

*She's devoted to what she knows is true.
*She's "real." (I love that.)

*She's a hard workin' lady!
*She's wasn't kidding one day at work when she said, "We should hang out, I'm a good friend." (At the time, I laughed. But she's proven herself, she was right.)
*She's taken me under her wing, shown me around...

*She's "my Portland friend." :)

Here's what we've been up to...

A day in the city...

She loves taking pics too! We spent our day exploring the city, with Brian as our tag-along. We captured a bit of Portland and just a few of it's many, many bridges. The three of us had a lot of fun together. We met up with some of Steph's friends from PBC (http://www.portlandbiblecollege.org/about) for dinner. We ate at Escape From New York Pizza. Steph claims it's the best pizza in town.
As if we weren't full from dinner, we headed to frozen yogurt down the street and around the corner.
Following frozen yogurt, as if we weren't completely stuffed, we headed to Moonstruck. http://www.moonstruckchocolate.com/ I'd never even heard of it. (I felt so deprived!) But thank goodness, we've now been introduced. Mom, I can't wait to bring you when you come visit. It's chocolate heaven, you might die. :) Leaving downtown, we headed to one of Portland's "Movies in the Park."

Thrifting...

Since leaving Whatcom County I've missed The Restore dearly. Well, one day I stumbled across one in Vancouver, just 6 minutes from our house! That beats driving to Bellingham! Thank you, Habitat for Humanity, for providing me with this amazing resource. Steph and I are new regulars there. :) Here are our latest finds...

Steph's Baby Shutters!

I'll have to post a pic of the finished product soon...

My little collection of "diamonds in the rough." :)

Brian used to always say, "Make a friend," when I left for work. Since meeting Steph, whenever he says it, I quickly remind him that I already have. :)

He loves me :)

Yesterday was our first anniversary. It was different than I think either of us would have imagined, but nice. I've always had an appreciation for the little things, especially the quirky ones. ;) But now I'm learning, slowly but surely, to appreciate the little moments. Our current reality has shown me that being together isn't abt how much we're together but about enjoying the time that we're given. Here's how our day went yesterday...

Brian worked until 6am. I opened (4:30am.) I woke up to a "Happy Anniversary" text message. This may seem lame considering that couples are "supposed to" wake up together on their first anniversary. Either way, it made me smile, it did the job. Brian stopped by the store for my 10 minute break on his way home. I made him an extra de-lish beverage and we headed outside. He brought breakfast sandwiches, some amazing dark chocolate, and a big, beautiful bouquet. We enjoyed our breakfast on the tailgate of Brian's truck in the middle of the empty parking lot surrounded by Target, Sbux, Barnes & Noble, and an abandoned Red Lobster. Classy, huh?! I loved it. It was the fastest break of my life. After 15 minutes I realized I was 5 minutes past my alotted break time which is crazy b/c I'm usually very prompt. I went rushing back into my store, bouquet in hand. Thankfully, none of my coworkers said anything, I think I had a pretty good excuse. I spent the rest of my work day hearing customers ask, "Who's flowers," followed by the response, "Oh, it's Meg's anniversary, her husband brought them in. Isn't that sweet?" ...I sure thought so. :)

After work I stopped by Fred Meyer to grab a few groceries and give Brian a couple more minutes of uninterrupted sleep. (It's amazing how hard it is to be quiet!) Despite propping my flowers ever so carefully, they dumped over while I was in the store. The entire vase emptied itself precisely into the center of the driver's seat. A lovely surprise, for sure. After a frustrated bit of grumbling, I shrugged and figured there was no avoiding it, so I sat.

Upon arriving home, I let Finn into the house who, after jumping, licking, squirming, and whining, (He does that when he's overexcited.) ran directly to the bedroom door. In a matter of seconds, he had it pushed open and was in bed waking Brian. Once Brian was [mostly] awake we went out for pizza at one of our favorite places. When we got home it was time to pack Brian's "lunch" and off to work he went.

That was our day, our first anniversary, short but oh, so sweet.

These are my flowers, aren't they pretty? They're "Oh Happy Day!" (wedding) inspired. That's worthy of some major sentimental brownie points, right? Oh and they're super fragrant. In fact, my entire house smells wonderful thanks to them. Or is our house just that small? ;)

***I don't normally make a habit of keeping flower bouquets in the tub, it's just that I don't have a utility sink so the shower head was the next easiest way to refill the waterless vase. I will however admit that after overflowing the vase, I left it in the tub, to dry off. In the meantime, Finn found it and started pulling out the greens and shredding them all over the house. Needless to say, the bouquet is now residing on the dining room table, where bouquets belong. :)

Flashback to that day...

Notice the makeover that my "M" and "B" (also pictured above with the anniversary flowers) recently received? I got sick of stark black so out came the crackle coat, and metallic gold paint and... "Ta-Da!"

Back when...

November 2008, Deception Pass
Brian asked me to be his wife. [I thought, "Fiiiinally!"] I was so excited I forgot to say yes, until minutes later when he realized I had yet to answer and he anxiously asked again. :)

November 2007, Laguna Beach
Brian asked me to be his girlfriend. [I thought, "Fiiiiiinally!"] I said, "I would love to!"

...Ooh, how things have progressed since then!