Hannah at the Chili!!

Last night was had a great night out with the Brown's, many Harris's, in addition to many friends! Hannah doesn't get the chance to go to the Chili much as Grand Rapids is pretty far. We had a great time, and even danced a bit to some classics!

Pretty sure we have dozens of pictures of the four of us...had to get one more!

Talent Show flashback: These boots are made for walking...

Sound Garden

This afternoon was actually sunny in Seattle, so Pat and I went for an impromptu adventure! First stop was Matthews Beach. It was so beautiful with the sun on the snowing mountains in the distance! Next stop was the Sound Garden on the NOAA campus in Magnuson. Neither of us had been there before. After signing in and getting our official clearance and parking pass we were all set. I had no idea what to expect, and although I would have missed them on my own, the sculptures were pretty cool. We both want to go back again on a day when it is windy to hear the chimes, but even in silence it was fun to see!

Sound Garden

Matthew's Beach

Aunt Marianne and Diana photo shoot

As Diana and I played after Lily went to sleep...

Fall Weddings!

This Fall we have had a great time going to lots of weddings!  Who knew the Fall was such a popular wedding time; although I am the first to admit non-summer weddings can be especially awesome :)  The first in the bunch was Pat's friends Chris and Katy down in California.  Sadly I couldn't go because I had class that weekend at SU, but Pat had a wonderful time!  Elaine was the maid of honor, Peter and Caroline drove up from Newport Beach, and Erica said it was too bad sitting between Nick and Pat on all the flights!

A beautiful view walking along the beach before the wedding

very pretty ceremony and location!

It's official

Next up was Andy and Mandy, or as we like to say at work, M-Andy.  Andy is a religion teacher at HNA and we were excited to celebrate with him and Mandy on their special day.  The ceremony was at Seattle U and then the reception was down in Sodo.  It was fun to see how much fun both Andy and Mandy were having all day and how much they loved the ceremony and also the party after.

Andy has been commenting how it's hard to get used to the ring...Pat said the same thing

the talented musicians, Matt and Taryn

yeah religion teachers

Third wedding in a row went to Ceci and Waylon!  Ceci and Pat went to Gonzaga together and we have loved all being in Seattle and getting to hang out lots over the years.  Jeanine was a bridesmaid and looked amazing!  We had a great time out in Poulsbo for the wedding.  Nate, Rachelle, Pat, and I took the ferry over to Bainbridge and had lunch in the downtown.  We all commented on how fun it is to take the ferry and that we should go over to Bainbridge!  Then we drive up to Poulsbo.  The wedding was near the casino and down at the water.  Such a beautiful location!!!

Jeanine looking awesome!!!

Ceci and Waylon say I do

The lodge 

                         

                         Prom poses!!  Cathy and Srini

Nate and Rachelle

Pat and Marianne

love this pic!

Ceci and her dad did a traditional Italian dance for the first dance...amazing!

Our last wedding for the Fall was another HNA religion teacher, Amanda...it's the thing to do these days.  Her and John met at Gonzaga, but as Pat and I were saying at the reception, he is too old to know any of her friends :)  I guess that means I am too, but I really wouldn't have known them at UP!  The wedding was up in Stanwood.  The other times we have been to Stanwood is to go to Maria's family's cabin, so this was the most dressed up we have been in Stanwood ever!

A beautiful ceremony with some of the GU priests presiding

What a great looking group of religion teachers!! (me, Julie, Amanda, Julia, and Sarah)

Lots of fun dancing with the beaming couple!

Lots of weddings, lots of fun times with friends!  It was lucky most of the weddings were around Seattle this Fall.  Now we don't have another wedding until February.  Thankfully it's in Arizona which I will not mind at all come February!

Fall Bucket List--carmel apples & Halloween

We tried to make carmel apples for the Halloween party at the Lambert's.  The carmel turned out great; hard not to with so much butter and sugar :)  But it turns out getting carmel to stick on apples is quite a challenge.  We ended up opting to cut up the apples and serve the carmel as a dipping sauce in the end.

ahhh...butter, sugar, and sweetened milk...

the corn holders worked great for dipping, but more carmel ended up on the wax paper than on the apples :/

The final product was not as expected but tasted great!  We had a great time celebrating Halloween, both at the Lambert's then at Holy Names.

Halloween at HNA is big!  Everyone dresses up!  Here is our group at the Pemco Northwest Profiles
(back: Sarah, Julie, Patti, Amanda, Jessica, and Lora
front: Becca, me, Julia, and Kelly)

Pat and I didn't have costumes as of 3:00 pm but we pulled through by the 5:00 party!
(back: Pat, me, Elaine, Erica, Nick, Sarah, Rachelle, Nate; front: Ali, Ryan, Christen, and Brian)

Ali and I loving Halloween!

costume in under 30 minutes without
spending money...I was proud 

Hot-lanta

Pat went to a conference in Atlanta.  When I went to text him to ask if he made it to "hot-lanta" my iPhone wanted to change it to "hot pants."  One of my favorite autocorrects to date!  The conference was okay, but Pat did play hooky one afternoon and walked around Atlanta a bit to see the capital and the birth place of Martin Luther King, Jr.  He was tempted to get gold teeth at a store he passed, but opted not to.

This is the memorial at the grave sites of Martin Luther King, Jr. an Coretta Scott King.
Pat also got to walk around the Ebenezer Church where MLK was the pastor and saw the house MLK grew up in.
Super cool! 

I loved this text from Pat from an authentic fried chicken restaurant.
I'm not sure what I like more, the food or the plates!

Fall Bucket List--Date Night and Pumpkin Pie--Check!

We are making great progress on our Fall Bucket List!  Last week we checked off two especially fun ones:  we baked a pumpkin pie and had a date night.

Last week we enjoyed making our first pumpkin pie (I know...I'm not sure how neither of us had ever made one before!), and then eating it.  It was surprisingly easy, turned out great, and was a great dessert to have and share.  Sean was one lucky recipient as I couldn't resist considering I see him most days at work and him and CJ are two of the people I know who like pumpkin pie more than anyone else.

turned out great!!

Last Friday, we had a date night out at the Seattle Rep.  I was especially excited about the play, Pullman Porter Blues, because the mom of two of my students wrote it.  Cheryl West is a playwright who has had plays and musicals all around the country, and this was truly an amazing one!!  We loved the music--lots of blues music--and learning so much more about the Pullman Porters.  It was an incredible show that we loved every minute of!

The M's meet Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, was at the Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, so naturally Margie, Maria and myself made sure it was on our calendars!  We have all be so inspired by Gretchen's books and love the inspiration about seeking happiness in our everyday lives.  It has been fun to share our love of this book and now, to go together to meet Gretchen Rubin.

Gretchen's talk focused on some concepts from her newest book, Happier at Home.  It was a great reminder about how practical happiness can be--such as having a fun breakfast on a holiday or intentionally greeting your family when someone comes home.  I even got to ask a question!!  (as Margie said, "Of course you asked a question" :)  I asked Gretchen about how it seems easier to do things that contribute to our happiness at the beginning of the week or the month, but then it's easy to get in a rut and forget about these things by the end of the week.  It's funny, I was sort of hoping Gretchen would have some silver-bullet answer--something clear and simple that I was missing.  Clearly, that was not the case.  Gretchen talked about how consistency is key with any of this.  We must help ourselves be consistent everyday, such as reviewing our goals each day to see how we did.

Overall it was a wonderful evening together!  We loved getting our books signed by Gretchen!!  She even commented on Margie's picture of the three of us with her on facebook the next day.  It was so exciting!

Maria, myself, and Margie ready for the big night!

Gretchen was a great speaker--funny, to the point, very inspiring 

We loved her!

A true highlight--meeting Gretchen with the M's!

We, just like everyone else there, were so excited to meet Gretchen.  We were also so impressed with how down to earth she is and how relatable she is.  You would never guess she has two books on the top of the NYT best seller book!

Fall Bucket List--Pumpkin Patch--Check!

Today Pat and I drove out to Auburn to go to a great little pumpkin patch.  It was such a sunny day we loved the chance to get outside and enjoy a fun, fall activity!  It was a little sad because the last time we went to a pumpkin patch was with Peter and Caroline--but we channeled them in choosing the best pumpkins :)

on the hunt

lots of great options

So many pumpkins!!!

If you build it, he will come...

Our 4 winners for the day 

Is that Shoeless Joe???