5 years on Sunday...

It's been 5 years on Sunday that my dad died. For those of you who don't know, he died very suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack. He was really young and so were Autumn and I. She was 22 and I was 26. I can't believe it has been 5 years. In some ways I can hardly believe 5 years has come so quickly. But on the other hand, it's been 5 years since I have seen my dad and it feels like an eternity. I miss him every day. Here are two of my favorite pictures.

Me, Dad and Autumn, circa 1980 and yes, it's a waterbed.

Dad and me just before walking down the aisle in 2000. The insider story on this one is I had just vomited downstairs because I was so nervous. My dad is cracking joke after joke to calm my nerves. He had just offered to let me puke in his tux pocket when this picture was taken.

Weekend at the Lake...

My BFFs, Meagyn and Emily's family own a house on Lake Nahwatzel on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Every year since we graduated from PLU in 1998 except one we have gathered at the lake for a weekend in the summer. We being Meagyn, Emily, Erika, Teal and myself. There have been various combos, spouses, siblings, this year, a child, but always the same core group. Over the years at the lake, we have laughed, we have cried, we have skinny-dipped, we have often gotten drunk, and mostly just appreciated each other. These year was no exception. We did skip the skinny-dipping this year - it rained on Saturday, per usual trip to the lake, rainy on Saturday and sunny on Sunday. Here are the pics:

This is, from left to right, Teal, Soumen, Jason and Meagyn. Yeah Jason, good fishing!

Soumen, Cody and Jason trying to catch a bigger fish!

The Morse Family: Teal, Cody and Jason

Cody working hard...

Jason and Cody...with Cody sleeping hard...

The Girls (left to right) Emily, me, Meagyn, Erika and Teal

The Anderson: Christian and Erika

The soon to be Karmakar Family: Soumen and Meagyn - getting married in November

The Keys Sisters - Emily and Meagyn

Fr-Erika and Fr-Amber

Car Repairs....

Why? Why? Why? Why? Geez.... So my Wrangler has been having some rumbling in the front passenger side tire. It was also popping out of 1st and 2nd gear and reverse. So, worried that it may be something serious, I made an appointment at the dealer. Since it has less than 30k miles on it, I figured, get it in while it was still under warranty. Well, I am an idiot and forgot that it was 36,000 miles OR 3 years. And, 3 years has come and gone. So, turns out they could not, of course, replicate it popping out of gear. The rumbling was my brake pads rubbing against the shoes or something and I had to replace the front breaks. So frustrating. Oh well, it is now fixed and better... I guess.

Too much laundry...

UGHHHHHH!!!!! Cesar and I just spent 2 hours folding and hanging laundry. We have been living out of the guest room as a closet. I have had to go to the guest room every morning to find my clothing for the day. So, finally, we put it all away. It took FOREVER!!! We watched part of Cape Fear as we did the laundry, the one with Robert DeNiro. I LOVE that movie. He is so awesome/creepy in that movie. Anyway, back to the laundry, I told Cez we are never ever ever letting it get this bad again. Ha! Yeah Right.

On a side note, Lexi, the white cat who licks herself bald and has to wear tiny dog t-shirts to prevent her from doing so, went a whole month with no bald spots. But she started in again today and has a beaut on her chest. sigh.... Why do I get the freaks?!!

The pink mouse's journey to Seattle...

Cesar and I went to Seattle for our 5th anniversary in February 2005 for a long weekend. We went to the Space Needle for dinner, where we had actually had our first official date 7 years before. We stayed in a super fancy hotel in downtown Seattle and we parked the car and walked everywhere all weekend. The night we checked in, I unpacked my shoes and found that one of the cats had put "Pink Mouse" in my sneaker and "Pink Mouse" came along for our trip. So, Cesar and I, being the dorks we are took "Pink Mouse" everywhere and took pictures of her journey. Here is the photographic evidence of "Pink Mouse's" trip to Seattle.

Where we found the stow-away:

Looking out at the view from our room:

On the Monorail, going to the Seattle Center, where the Space Needle is for dinner:

On a park bench in the Seattle Center:

On the top of the trash can, in the rides area at the Seattle Center:

Gazing up at the Space Needle before dinner:

Looking out at the beautiful view from the rotating floor of the needle (You can't see "Pink Mouse" but trust me, she is sitting on the ledge - we had to take the picture quick so the waiter wouldn't see).

Goodbye Seattle. We love you...

Stopping off in Tacoma to see Christian and Erika, and of course Homer...

Random Pictures...

I haven't posted many pictures lately and thought it was time to add some. They are very random.

My sis, Autumn and I at the Christmas parade in Salem:

My very close to perfect dog, Bella:

A very cool moon pic Cez took: