Updated

I have updated my blog, so be sure to scroll down and see all the new posts!

So long ago, but still blog worthy

Before Halloween (so long ago, but our we finally got a card reader for our camera) we went to a corn maze out in Snohomish with our friends Soren, Kylee and Michael and Megan. We decided to not do the haunted maze, and just stick to the one you are supposed to get lost in. I think we went the 'normal ways' for about 20 min, then it turned into total chaos.

Bad picture, but this was taken right before going into the maze.

Taking a break before we started goofing off.

the guys decided it would be a great idea to see who could launch the corn husks the farthest. Minor detail, it was really dark and couldn't see them once they were like 5 feet away. But that didn't spoil their fun.

Soren jumping in on a nice self portrait

We decided to challenge the boys to a race to see who could get out of the maze first, Guess who won!!

On the 12th day of christmas

my true love gave to me



12 Drummers Drumming

And for all those posts that said my TRUE LOVE, you think I would have figured it out, but no. Nathan was my true love giving me the 12 days of christmas!

I have the best husband in the WORLD! Not every husband would do something so thoughtful and time consuming as this. I count myself pretty lucky! I love you Nathan!

Painting the kitchen

Cabin fever day 2! We didn't go to work again, all snowed it. But we wanted to do something besides watching TV, wrapping presents or staring at the walls. So we decided to paint some walls! We had gotten some paint chips from a walk to Lowes earlier this week. We wanted to get colors that would match our dishes. Here are some before pictures:

And here are some of the after!!

Not everyone can pull off a green and yellow kitchen, but we can!

On the 11th day of christmas

my true love gave to me

Eleven Pipers Piping

On the 10th day of christmas

my true love gave to me

Ten Lords a Leaping

Haha, this is a good one! Except you watch it, start making fun of it then realize how good it actually is!

We got cabin fever!!

Church was cancelled today, and we were inside all day yesterday. Needless to say we were getting a little bored. Nathan has been saying that I should straighten his hair before we get it cut. Well, we had nothing better to do, so while watching Its a Wonderful Life, I whipped out my straightener and created this!

He walked into the bathroom and started crying he was laughing so hard! I actually really like it, but he couldn't take himself that serious when he thought he looked like a member of the Beatles.

On the 9th day of christmas

my true love game to me

Nine Ladies Dancing

I must say, this 12 days of christmas person really knows me! I freaked out when I saw this! I was hoping to get it for christmas, but I got it before!!!

on the 8th day of christmas

my true love gave to me

Eight Maids a Milking

On the 7th day of christmas

my true love gave to me:



Seven Swans a Swimming

On the 6th day of christmas

My true love gave to me:

Six Geese a Laying

On the 5th day of christmas

my true love gave to me:



Five Golden Rings

We are 2 before taking the picture....oops!

On the 4th day of christmas

One the 4th day of christmas my true love gave to me:

Four Calling Birds

This person is so good!!

Gingerbread houses

We invited Chris and Allison, and Michael and Megan over to make gingerbread houses. Mike and Megan had already made their house, but came over for a little while to give us some pointers and help us eat our yummy christmas treats!

On the 3rd day of christmas

my true love gave to me:


Three French Hens

Christmas tree!

We have our christmas tree up, its actually been up for over a week now. Since we've only been married a year and a half, we don't have a ton of ornaments. So we get a smaller tree, but a real tree none the less. Nathan's mom would give her kids an ornament every year growing up so they would have them for when they got married. We have a lot of those ones on our tree. We have carried on a tradition that my family has and that's getting ornaments from places we go, or of things we have done in the past year. Also, we have colored lights on our tree. I have heard of a lot of people calling them ugly, but I like them. So they aren't ugly to everyone. And the 1 present under the tree? Yeah that's from nathan to me. Lets just say that christmas shopping is a little behind this year.....

On the 2nd day of christmas

my true love gave me:




Two Turtle Doves

1st day of christmas!!

Someone is doing the 12 days of christmas for us! This is so exciting for me!

One the first day of christmas my true love gave to me:

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!


That's what I have to say to life right now.

1 bride is better than 7 if you ask me

Unless its 7 brides for 7 brothers! And that's exactly what my wonderful husband took me too last night!! (Actually last night, 12/4. This is an actual post of something that happened recently, surprising I know!)

If you have ever seen the movie, which is amazing, its just like it! But I would say way better because it's live. Nathan told me to not plan anything for friday because he wanted to take me to the play. But we were actually able to find tickets on Craigslist for thursday for 1/4th the cost of the face value!!

Our seats where on floor level on the right side about 20 rows back. They were awesome! Back far enough to see the whole stage and we were able to see over the peoples heads in front of us.

The music was superb. Did anyone else know the orchestra only has like 20 people in it at the 5th Ave? I had no idea! The amount of music they produce is insane! I had to keep telling myself that it was not recorded.

The singing was crazy! A few times I got goosebumps. I know that is kinda cliche, but I really did.

And of course, the dancing was great! They had I think like 4 or 5 big dancing scenes. I think I had the biggest grin on my face like a 7 year old during those parts. Actually probably through the whole thing.

Bottom line, go see it. It's a great production. And if you are going to see it, look on craigslist for tickets. You might be surprised with the deals that you can get from there.

Ok, so I'm a little behind

So I will (and have) posted a few make up posts for passed events. For all the work, I better get some good comments! ;)

I just want to be sure to have those memories saved, even if they are from like 2 or 3 months ago! Better late than never right? At least that's what i tell myself......

Pumpkins!

Chris and Allison invited a group of us over (before halloween) to carve pumpkins with them for FHE. We decided to go with just one pumpkin to carve, because I usually take about 3 hours to do just one. Here are some cute pictures of the evening!

Happy Turkey Day!! (tomorrow)

Since I probably won't be on the Internet tomorrow, I just want to wish everyone a Very happy thanksgiving. I love this time of year, especially this holiday. Not only do we get 2 days off work, but it's a day to remember all the things that we have been given, and all the things we have to be thankful for. I hope you can take a few minutes to remember all the blessings that you have and for the real things you have to be thankful for.

(And that can include ALL the good food you will be consuming!!!)

I promise...

So I promise to update my blog this week, maybe even tonight.

But I have to write about what happened last night. Nathan and I were sitting on the coach watching TV after having finished dinner. I got up in his face and was asking him something that now I can't remember. I was being annoying and giving him little kisses on his face when he licked my face. I mean straight up licked me, but not once, twice before I could get away. So I pulled away, waited, then licked his cheek. Most people would think this made the situation an almost equal situation. Oh no, not to Nathan. He started to come towards me on the coach, and I started screaming, WE'RE EVEN!!!! WE'RE EVEN!!!!!! A scratched hand, knocked over TV tray, messed up hair and wet face later, he made sure that he was way ahead in this situation.


We are so weird.........

I'm lame

I have so much to blog, but don't want to write anything till I have the pictures downloaded, but the pics are still on the camera. So, I will try and remember to do that some day this week. I have just been so lazy...... Not like anyone really reads this anyway, but I will still get them up soon.

we are blessed

As some of you may know, Nathan was laid off 3 weeks ago from Dynamic Diesel. The economy in the area just wasn't doing too well. I think everyone knows how the economy is doing nation wide, and on top of that Boeing has been on strike. Between these 2 events, work slowed down almost to a halt. Nathan being the newest addition to the company became the lowest man of the totem pole. So, he was put on 'temporary' laid off.

He handled this much better than I did. I think I spent the rest of the day crying on and off at work, thinking about the most horrible things that could happen next (it was more than slightly ridiculous, but scary none the less). But Nathan took it like a champ, he saw it as a much needed vacation. Not that he wasn't looking for a job, but it was a little bit of time for him to not be working and relax.

After applying to a few different places and actually turning down a job, we have found a very nice fit for him. Its called Alignments Plus, located in Bellevue WA. He is liking it so far and it seems the guys are pretty cool.

I wanted to thank everyone who has us in their thoughts and prayer. I'm getting a little choked up just writing this. This experience has helped Nathan and I become that much closer and has taught me a thing of 2 about the real world and being an adult. Neither or which, I found out, I really like all that much. All of the kind words, deeds and thoughts have not gone unnoticed. We love and appreciate all of our family and friends!!

Tag, I'm it!

Emily tagged me. So I guess I have to fill this out.



4 Random Things I Love About My Husband



1. He is such a hard worker, no matter what he is doing, he always does his best

2. His testimony, he doesn't talk about it much, but its very strong.

3. His cooking ability. I'm pretty lucky to have a husband that likes to share the cooking!

4. His patience. I am not always the easiest person to live with, so for that I am thankful!



4 Jobs I've Had


1. Sienna Technologies, Inc. (currently)

2. Phonathon (I called alumni and parent's of students for donations to the different departments as WWU)

3. Nanny for about 4 different families

4. Old Navy


4 Movies I've Watched More Than Once


1. Ever After

2. Devil Wears Prada

3. Save the Last Dance

4. Beauty and the Beast



4 TV Shows I Watch


1. Ace of Cakes

2. Ugly Betty

3. Food Detectives

4. CSI



4 Places I've Been


1. Vegas

2. Disneyland and World

3. Mexico

4. Washington DC


4 of My Favorite Foods


1. Mac and Cheese, from the box

2. Tacos

3. Peanut butter

4. Anything chocolate


4 Places I Would Like to Visit


1. Egypt

2. Paris

3. Hawaii

4. Rome


4 Things I Look Forward to in This Coming Year


1. Christmas

2. My sister's wedding

3. Nathan getting a new job!!

4. The seasons changing


I tag: Anyone that wants to fill this out!!

Night out on the town!!

Last weekend Nathan and I went on a date with Tyler and Fern. We went out to the Jet City Improv at the Historic University Theatre. But first w needed to kill some time. So we went to a Tully's down the street and played Skipo. For those that have not played skipo before, it's pretty fun, even though I'm pretty sure I haven't won yet. (if you know me, that says a lot about a game)

Jet City improv is very similar to who's line is it anyway. They play different games where the actors have to improv based on audience participation. What I really liked about the Jet City, is they pride themselves in being clean family appropriate comedy. Not too easy to find in Seattle. They were so funny! Fern and I had a lot of fun giving suggestions!

After the show we went to Beth's Cafe. Only the best place to get omelets. Fern forgot to tell Tyler about the 'type' of people that worked there. I'm pretty sure he was a little leery of the place when we first went in. If you've never been there before the place seems pretty shady, but its definitely a diamond in the ruff. We had a great time, the food was amazing like always!

It was a lot of fun, can't wait for our next Oppie/Thompson date night!

Offical Business..

I had a really neat experience last night. I was able to take part in listener advisory board meeting. I filled out a servey for movin 92.5 about their morning show. They also asked if I would be willing to take part a member of the listener advisory board. I said yes, but figured I wouldn't get picked. So I took the survey and forgot about the whole thing.

Monday I get a call from Maynard, one of the producers/dj's on the show asking if I wanted to come in on wednesday. I went into their office in Bellevue wednesday evening along with 14 other women and they asked us about what we listen to in the mornings, what we do and don't like about their morning show (the ladies room) and what suggestions we have for them. It was a really neat experience. They were really interested in what we had to say and wrote down the ideas we came up with. I'm interested in seeing if they use any of our ideas!

After the meeting, they took us around the studio and we got to meet Kaz, the evening DJ and listen to him talk on the air. They sent us on our way with a goodie bag with a waterbottle, pen, window cling, etc. But the best thing they are giving us is a pair of tickets to their house party!! Its a big concert they do one a year (like most radio stations) with a bunch of old school groups. Like last year they had Coolio, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, Naughty By Nature, and
Tony! Toni! Toné. So I'm excited to see who they have this year!

So in recap, I have gone to Shrek the music for free (which by the way in AMAZING!!!!! If you have a chance to see it, GO. I can't even explain to you how cool it was, costumes, the stage, quality of singing and acting were supurb. Its going straight to broadway after it's here in seattle) I will be going to so you think you can dance, the house party and we will be going to Phantom of the Opera this year too. Its the year of shows, in the last 4 months of the year at least!

One more thing for you to be jealous about...

Yup, we must just be that cool. I'd like to think so.



So please try not to start stalking us because you are so jealous that you want to become like us. Our amazing friends Fern and Tyler Thompson are really the ones to be jealous of. They were given tickets to Shrek the Musical, and just happened to have 2 extra tickets. Because we have bribed them to be our friends, they have asked us to go with them!



What is Shrek the musical you ask? Its the untold stories of Shrek based on the movie and book (didn't know there was one). And after a pit stop in seattle, the show is off to Broadway!!



You can read more about it here.



I will let you know all about it after we go tonight! I can't wait!!!

I'm obsessed!!!

That's the first step to change right? Admitting you have a problem? Well, if you call being addicted to a TV show, then I guess I have a BIG problem.



I don't watch a ton of TV, or really follow that many shows. Except for So you think you can dance!! It's pretty much my favorite show. I love it so much I had a co-worker put the finally on a DVD for me because my DVR missed it.



And now Nathan found a way for me to prolong my addiction of the show. By finding tickets to the show is Tacoma. That's right, you heard me right!!! We are going on september 20th to the So you think you can dance show!!! The tickets sold out really fast, I mean in like 45 min. So where did we find out tickets you ask?? Only the best place to find things you can't live with out. Craigslist. I have to admit, I (speaking only for myself, not sure about nathan) have NEVER spent so much money on a set of tickets, I actually try not the think about it, but when else will I be able to see them on stage. Oh, that's right never!!



So try not to be jealous next time you see me knowing that I will be going to the best show, on the planet!!

My wife thinks I won't do this.

Contrary to popular belief i do know how to put an entry into a blog. As of late my typing has been hindered from three stitches on my pinkie finger and two stitches on my middle finger, and to top it off the tip of my finger is broken. Now I try and do things as Amy would with my left hand and I'm not as versatile as I thought. How did it happen? Lets just say I had a disagreement with a 5 ton jack at work, and I came out a little worse for wear. Good thing I waited two days after our final softball game to mangle my hand. Softball this year was incredible!! We had the best team by far with a final record of 7-1 for the regular season. We lost our "playoff" game by a slim margin of 2, coming up just short on our last rally. My personal belief is that any softball team in that league is as good as the females who play on it. Most outfielders would come in shallow for the girls and play deep for the guys. I think our team was the only one where the outfielders didn't have to move. Every girl on our team could hit, run, throw, and play their position as good as anybody. We were short a few of our regular females for the last two games and ended up losing. That's softball according to Nathan anyway. All things considered life is good. Enjoying our new residence at the luxurious Crest view town homes. The amenities are fabulous and mimic the lifestyle of a 5 star resort.......almost. Anywho just thought I'd put in my two cents worth on the blog and show the blogging world I am real and not just the guy in the pictures next to the gorgeous redhead.
Signing off,
Nathan.

Change things up a bit...

I decided to change my blog up a little bit. Let me know what you think!!

So far behind...

So we have been VERY busy lately. I had my birthday weekend of fun, the next weekend we moved, then the weekend after that we went to San Fran for a week! Needless to say, I haven't had much time to write! But I will do some catching up.

June 28th

This was my birthday extravaganza day! It was started off by an AMAZING trip on the Duck in Seattle. If you have never ridden on the Duck, I suggest you do. Leilani and Michael came along with us. We went at 10:30 and the weather was perfect. They drive you around the settle area telling you all about the city, and then they drive straight into the water by gas works park. We got an unobstructed view of the Seattle skyline from the water and got to see all the house boats on the lake. I still talk about how cool it was.

That night we went to Red Robin for my birthday dinner with a bunch of my friends! That is always fun. That was my 10th time having dinner at Red Robin for my birthday. Gotta love it!!

June 4th weekend

Thursday the 3rd, moving day. On how fun, right. We tried to get as much packed as we could during the week, but with parties, and just life, we weren't as packed as we would have like to have been. But between my family, Nathan's family and some great friends, we were able to have everything out of our apartment, into our town house by Friday.

We had a pretty laid back 4th, starting with a BBQ at my parents house. Our good friends Tyler and Fern with cute kids Mack and Henry came over for the day also. We played games, rode the moped and just had a good time hanging out. We then set off fireworks. We only had a few go off really close, including one that went off about 2 feet from all of us. I'm not sure if Tyler will ever set fireworks off with my family again.

Week and Weekend of July 7th

We try to unpack as much as we can so we can pack up to leave for San Fran (I will post about our trip in another blog after I get ALL the pics on our computer) I love being in a town house!! It feel so much more homey than an apartment. Plus, instead of their being about 80-100 apartments, there are only 20 town houses. And, there are 6 other couples that we go to church with who live in our complex.

Even with all the stress and excitement we have had, things are going really well. Sorry for the really long post without pics, I promise my next post will have lots of amazing pictures of our wonderful trip to San Fran!!

Birthday update #1

So Nathan took me to a very nice Italian restaurant last night. Now its not just any Italian restaurant, but one that my Turkish boss recommends as being true Italian food. And was it ever! The name of the place is Assaggio Ristorante in Seattle on 4th Ave. For the first time since we have been married, I think I got a more expensive dinner than nathan! We shared 2 appetizers and I got Grilled beef tenderloin, gorgonzola, red wine sauce and nathan got Sautéed veal, prosciutto, sage, white wine & butter sauce. So good! Glad we branched out and tried new things!!

We forgot our camera, so all these pics are from the Internet, I'm lame, I know!

But before we got down to Seattle, Nathan gave me my birthday present. Oh was I surprise!! He got me a Garmin!

For those of you who don't know, I'm not always the best with directions and knowing where I am in unfamiliar places. I do great off directions, but usually have to print them out. Well, now all I have to do it type in the address, and Cloe (that's what we named her) tells us where we are going! You can also look up places, like gas stations, restaurants, and banks, and it will show you the ones closest to where you are at! Thanks Honey, I love it so much!!! I'm so spoiled by my husband!!

After Assaggio, we used the Garmin to direct us to the Melting Pot for some dessert (even though we knew how to get there). We got some drinks, and a chocolate peanut butter fondue to share!!

I also received so many texts, email and messages on myspace and facebook from all my friends and family. I feel so blessed to know how many people love me and to know that I am surrounded (near and far) by the most amazing network of people! Thanks for making my birthday so special!

More birthday festivities to come soon...

Happy Birthday to me!!

Its my 25th birthday today (Amy)!!

Not only is it my 25th birthday, but I turn 25 on the 25! Pretty cool!! Keep checking back for more details on Birthday events as there will be several to come later....

Oh how true...

I stole this from my friend Bonnie's blog. And I wish it was just a joke....

Hopefully this won't hold true all summer long.

Weekend...

So this was a pretty busy weekend for us. It started with Leilani's wedding on friday. Everything went pretty smooth, so all the planning paid off! I think I should start a side business of a wedding planner. I couldn't be happier for the 2 of them! They looked so happy and she was beautiful!!

Saturday was spent with my grandparents who were visiting from Wisconsin. Oh how I have missed them! We started the day off at Patty's eggnest in Mill Creak and then later drove down to the museum of flight. Its pretty cool! That was my first time ever going there. Nathan and I decided that we are going to go back sometime and fly in one of the airplanes they have there! I let you know when that happens!

Sunday was of course father's day. We made eggs benedict at my parents house in the morning then went off to church. Lunch was at my parents, and we had really good salmon! We have become the masters of sharing holidays! After lunch and some Wii playing, we ventured up to Nathan's parents were we had dinner. We also have some Wii playing time and had this really good cheese cake with fresh strawberry puree and strawberry slices! So good!

We are both so thankful for our fathers this time of year. The blessings of having our fathers so close are wonderful! I am thankful for having been raised in a family with a righteous priesthood holder. I can't wait for the day to have our children call the man I love 'Dad"

I love the kids, but not THAT much

So Nathan and I are still in the nursery, and we love the kids in there. But we don't love getting sick from being in there! I think this is the 5th time we have gotten sick from the kids in the nursery. And its the same thing everytime. Sore throat, tired, dizzy, etc. Your run of the mill cold.

We have the kids use hand sanitizer, we try not to have them put toys in their mouths, but to no avail. Any suggestions on how not to get sick? Any would be great, I can't be missing work every other week!!

Happy Anniversary Mr. Oppie!!!

Happy Anniversary Nathan! I love you so much, much more that I ever thought I could love someone. Thank you for the most amazing year of being married. I couldn't ask for a better friend, partner in crime, eternal companion, husband and future father to our children. You make me want to be a better women so I can try and be the wife you deserve. I love you so much and look forward to all of our anniversaries to come! Keep the adventures coming!

The Anniversary cake Edmond's Bakery made for us. We did our wedding cakes through them and this is their gift to us!

Trip!!

That's right! We went to Long Beach Washington this past weekend for our Anniversary. And what a great time we had! We left right from work on friday and got into Long Beach at around 10 pm.

Nathan thought it would be fun to drive on the beach. I said ok, but was really nervous and told him not to get stuck. So we are driving in the pitch black down toward the water when our car all of a sudden sinks about 4 inches. Yes, we got stuck in the sand. I then proceed to freak out even more after nathan tries to get unstuck, can't and tells me I have to drive while he pushes from the front. We finally got out, just shy of my starting to cry. I'm so weird.

The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast in town. While eating I was doing my usual of listening to other people's conversations and her a lady talk about the light houses. We went to the 'free museum/gift shop' and looked around for about an hour. It reminds me a lot of "Ye olde curiosity shoppe' on the water front in seattle, really weird and cool at the same time. While paying for the treasures we found, I asked the cashier lady about the light houses and she gave us directions.


This is the Light house at North Head. So cool! Its the first light house I have ever seen in real life. You can read more about it here.

This is a picture of this cool cove by the light house. We then went to the other light house on the coast called cape disappointment. It was nice little hike out to the light house, and had an AMAZING view of the mouth of the colombia and ocean. You can read more about the light house and cape here

Sunday before we had to leave, we drove down to the beach to take one last look at the beautiful beach and get some more pics. Look at Nathan's hair! It was so windy, but you can't tell because my hair was pulled back, so it just looks like he has really big hair.

It was a wonderful anniversary trip. We didn't have to worry about anything but each other and enjoying the short time we had to ourselves.