Sweetpea Shower

I was honored to have a second bridal shower thrown for me by Heather, this time with Kirsten as her co-hostess. 

 

Michelle and I got started on the food early; it looked so good, we couldn't resist.

Kirsten and Heather had a craft for us to do, making coasters out of tiles. Kirsten cut pieces of paper and we mod podged them onto the tiles. It was easy and fun and they turned out so cute! Everyone made one for me out of papers Joshua and I had picked out previously and then made a set of 4 to take home.

There were so many good papers to choose from, it was hard to decide. Everyone enjoyed working on
the project and being creative.

Then we went back inside for more food and presents.

Here are some of the coasters people made for us.

Me with my lovely hostesses, Kirsten and Heather. It was such a perfect shower; small, casual, no games, just friends hanging out. And, of course, delicious food!

A Sappy Serial (Part 2)

Hiking Half Dome after orientation week.

In 2006, we were on staff at Calvin Crest together again. We reconnected immediately and began enjoying our typical series of outdoor adventures.

Making breakfast burritos in Sherwood Forest.

Barbecuing chicken together for a fancy dinner.

Hiking Secret Falls barefoot.

Secret Falls was one of our favorite hikes.

Braiding Sarah's hair on her cabin porch.

We shared many happy experiences that summer. As the summer progressed, however, our conflicting work schedules diminished the amount of time we were able to spend together. The summer ended with us both thinking the other just wanted to be friends.

And Now, A Reminder that I Work on Accommo

We were off for over a week because we didn't have any groups here, so it was a bit weird to be back at work on Monday when the new Outdoor Ed group arrived. With all the wedding, summer, and baby preparations going on, there's not much brain space left for accommodations. The group has been good though, it's big, but pretty clean. Until last night. I was on pm shift by myself, of course, and when I went up to clean the bathroom in Westview, one of the teachers said, "Oh, you're the lucky one. It's pretty bad in there." Great. One of the toilets had gotten clogged and then overflowed, which mixed with mud and water seeping through the wall and tracked in by the kids because it had been raining all day. It probably was the messiest bathroom I've ever seen. Thankfully, the toilet plunged easily and I was able to get everything cleaned up without taking too much longer than usual.

A Sappy Serial (Part 1)

Staff dinner at Danny's Pizza on Saturday night
(Joshua borrowed a silly sweater)

 Over the next few weeks, we are planning to publish a series of posts about the history of our relationship. 

We met in the summer of 2005 when we were both working on staff at Calvin Crest. We hit it off immediately and enjoyed hiking together and watching the sunrise.

Sunrise in the AIM tree

Tiger Lilies on George's Fall

Joshua was a squire in Sherwood Forest

Joshua made the best breakfast burritos and hobo packs
and Sarah ate in his hamlet as often as possible.

We enjoyed spending frequent time together that summer. Both of us were attracted to the other, but we were also both convinced that the other did not have similar interests. Over the following school year, we kept in touch with occasional emails.

Honda Ride

When we visited Modesto over Easter, we brought back my mom's old Honda 70 trailbike. We drove up into a snowstorm, however, so the bike sat in the back of the van. After our visit to Visalia last week, we came back to warm spring weather. We decided to get the Honda out and take it for a spin.

  

Our first trip was up to Shadows of the Giants; we parked at the trailhead and walked the loop. The water is running well, and the air smells like summer.

 

Our second trip was down to Sherwood Forest, where we parked the bike in Reddingham and walked out to Adahi and back. The little bike was a trooper!

 

All told, they were fun excursions.

Stylish Jam Making

 We had a time off work this week because there was no Outdoor Ed group, so after the shower we stayed in Visalia for a few days. On Tuesday we had a strawberry jam making party. Mom had gotten some less than perfect strawberries at a discounted price from our local stand and we made three batches of jam. Earlier that day, we had been practicing hairdos for the wedding, so it was quite a fancy jamming party.

Strawberry Lemonade

Heather hosted a strawberry lemonade themed shower for my first bridal shower last Sunday. We invited the ladies from church and had a nice time. The shower started with a mad lib Heather had made about how Joshua and I met, the results were humorous.

Then we had a time of prayer followed by strawberry shortcake. Natalie helped pass out the slices of cake.

Next, I opened the presents. Natalie helped me with that too.

We chatted for a little while after the shower before everyone left. Natalie handed out these cute favors as people went out the door.

All the girls: Mom, me, Michelle and Emery, Heather and Natalie.

Me with the three lovely hostess. Louise opened her home for us to have the shower there, Heather planned everything, and Natalie passed out cake and favors.

Louise, Mom, and Betty.