It's my last day as a single woman. My last day with my last name. It's my last blog before I'm married.
It's good. A little sad about the name thing, but that is to be expected. Excited to marry my sweetie, excited to start our life together, and soooo ready for a vacation. Next time I post you'll get to see pics of weddings and jungles!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Jessica & Barry
Well, I'm almost caught up on my delinquent summer blogging. This was my most recent trip to Oregon for my dear friend Jessica's wedding.
It all started with 6 hours in the airport. I had a work meeting in SF, so my boss dropped me off at the Oakland airport right after our meeting. I had very smartly arranged a 9 something flight because I assumed I would have to drive to Oakland during Friday rush hour traffic. So I wanted it to be late. The meeting came about last minute, and my boss wanted to drop me off before rush hour, so I was super early, arriving around 4-5. I checked in, and tried to get on an earlier flight. I got some dinner, contemplated buying the new Harry Potter book, which was just out, but I decided against it cause it was $38!!! in the airport.
I strolled around the single wing of the airport I was in, and waited to find out if I could get on standby. Turns out the earlier flight was over booked and they were even asking people to give up their seats. No luck there. I continued to stroll...and contemplate Harry Potter. Then my actual flight got delayed 2 hours...alas...I gave in, bought the Harry Potter book, and had a second round of food attempting to entertain myself for another few hours.
After a long wait in the airport, and a very short flight, I arrived at home around 2am. My parents happily picked me up in the wee hours of the morning, and I got home and crashed. Thankfully, the next morning I got to sleep in a bit. I enjoyed a nice breakfast with my parents, it's like a B&B every time I go, and then my other dear friend Mary came to pick me up for the wedding.
I had a wonderful drive to Eugene with Mary. We got to catch up and reminisce about college days and the good ol' drive to Eugene. We arrived at the arboretum where the wedding was held right on time, and we were greeted by this sign. I love how the directions lead us to 'the first oak grove on the right'. How beautiful!
As we walked towards the oak grove for the ceremony, I snapped a picture of the out door hall where the reception would take place. 
And I sneaked in to check out the flowers. Since I knew I would be doing this myself soon, I was very curious about her details :).
Then we sat outside in the oak grove and waited for the ceremony to begin. It was such a nice treat to be in Eugene in the summer. The weather is beautiful, green and sunny. And I spied friends all around, as we waited for the festivities to begin. Soon the processional started, and in no time here came Jessica with her dad. Isn't she gorgeous!
And here is a shot of the happy couple after the vows and ceremony!
We headed over to the reception hall, and started the party! It was such a beautiful venue with trees and bright flowers. Here are Jessica and Barry cutting the cake.
The wedding wasn't too huge, so I got to have plenty of time with the bride. I was very happy for that! At a Sadie Hawkins dance....over ten years ago, Jessica and I went together cause we didn't have any boys we wanted to take. Each couple could go through a fake marriage ceremony at the dance if they wanted to (performed by our AP history teacher), so way back when, Jessica became my wifey! And I hers of course. But I guess it's good timing for us to officially relinquish ourselves to our husband, and husband to be. But here is a photo of us none the less!
And last, but not least, here is a photo of a foursome that was hard to separate throughout college and high school. Me, Renata, Jessica, & Mary. Unfortunately, #5 could not make it (we love you Katie!!), but we thought of her all through the party. We have SO many photos of us like this, and we even usually end up in the same order.
It was awesome to be there to celebrate with Jessica and Barry, and so much fun to see my dear friends. Now my own wedding is a week away, and we'll get another photo just like this! But I'll be the one in the white dress ;).
It all started with 6 hours in the airport. I had a work meeting in SF, so my boss dropped me off at the Oakland airport right after our meeting. I had very smartly arranged a 9 something flight because I assumed I would have to drive to Oakland during Friday rush hour traffic. So I wanted it to be late. The meeting came about last minute, and my boss wanted to drop me off before rush hour, so I was super early, arriving around 4-5. I checked in, and tried to get on an earlier flight. I got some dinner, contemplated buying the new Harry Potter book, which was just out, but I decided against it cause it was $38!!! in the airport.
I strolled around the single wing of the airport I was in, and waited to find out if I could get on standby. Turns out the earlier flight was over booked and they were even asking people to give up their seats. No luck there. I continued to stroll...and contemplate Harry Potter. Then my actual flight got delayed 2 hours...alas...I gave in, bought the Harry Potter book, and had a second round of food attempting to entertain myself for another few hours.
After a long wait in the airport, and a very short flight, I arrived at home around 2am. My parents happily picked me up in the wee hours of the morning, and I got home and crashed. Thankfully, the next morning I got to sleep in a bit. I enjoyed a nice breakfast with my parents, it's like a B&B every time I go, and then my other dear friend Mary came to pick me up for the wedding.
I had a wonderful drive to Eugene with Mary. We got to catch up and reminisce about college days and the good ol' drive to Eugene. We arrived at the arboretum where the wedding was held right on time, and we were greeted by this sign. I love how the directions lead us to 'the first oak grove on the right'. How beautiful!
As we walked towards the oak grove for the ceremony, I snapped a picture of the out door hall where the reception would take place. 
And I sneaked in to check out the flowers. Since I knew I would be doing this myself soon, I was very curious about her details :).
Then we sat outside in the oak grove and waited for the ceremony to begin. It was such a nice treat to be in Eugene in the summer. The weather is beautiful, green and sunny. And I spied friends all around, as we waited for the festivities to begin. Soon the processional started, and in no time here came Jessica with her dad. Isn't she gorgeous!
And here is a shot of the happy couple after the vows and ceremony! 
We headed over to the reception hall, and started the party! It was such a beautiful venue with trees and bright flowers. Here are Jessica and Barry cutting the cake.
The wedding wasn't too huge, so I got to have plenty of time with the bride. I was very happy for that! At a Sadie Hawkins dance....over ten years ago, Jessica and I went together cause we didn't have any boys we wanted to take. Each couple could go through a fake marriage ceremony at the dance if they wanted to (performed by our AP history teacher), so way back when, Jessica became my wifey! And I hers of course. But I guess it's good timing for us to officially relinquish ourselves to our husband, and husband to be. But here is a photo of us none the less!
And last, but not least, here is a photo of a foursome that was hard to separate throughout college and high school. Me, Renata, Jessica, & Mary. Unfortunately, #5 could not make it (we love you Katie!!), but we thought of her all through the party. We have SO many photos of us like this, and we even usually end up in the same order. 
It was awesome to be there to celebrate with Jessica and Barry, and so much fun to see my dear friends. Now my own wedding is a week away, and we'll get another photo just like this! But I'll be the one in the white dress ;).
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Happy Birthday To Me!
My friend Katie sent me a bday email with this pic. She was the first to send me anything from this website. I think it's hiliarous!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Wes' Graduation
Another belated post, but better late than never :)
June 2007 - Wes Graduated! It was a very exciting day. One Wes and all his family and friends have been waiting for. It's been a long process, but well worth the wait. The day started out at church, then we high tailed it over to my uncle's, which was the meeting point for carpooling over the hill to Santa Cruz. We scarfed some sandwiches, divided up, and started over the hill for the festivities.
We wanted to get there early because we had a HUGE amount of people who turned up to celebrate with Wes. Here is a photo of the early comers saving seats for 24 people! We had parts of 3 rows all staked out.
And here is Wes anxiously awaiting the ceremony. Isn't he cool in his graduation get up?
And here's one of the two of us before the ceremony. It was funny...every time we stood together for a second, people started snapping photos of us. I guess its just a preview of the the wedding day experience!
Since we were so early to get all our seats, we had to wait quite a while for the ceremony to start. But once it did, we were not disappointed. Leave it to the engineering department to start off the ceremony with the "Imperial March". Literally....it was hilarious!
After the processional, we got to see Wes' shining face in the stands. Can you see him?
Here's the action shot of Wes getting his diploma. A little blurry, but this was the moment!
After the ceremony, there was a reception in the courtyard, and we were able to take some photos with the graduate. Here's Wes with his fan club! 
And here's a great shot with a very very proud mother.
Once the photos were done, we headed back over the hill to meet more people eager to celebrate with Wes. We met for dinner and drinks at the Rock Bottom. We had a very long banquet table all to ourselves.
And here's Wes sporting one of his graduation gifts. Now he's a bonafied Engineer!
Wendy and Jeff brought a cake to celebrate, and we had lots more reasons to celebrate. Both my parents and Jeff had birthdays, and it was Father's Day! Here's the cake filled with celebratory words.
And here are the four celebrants blowing out their candles.
How often do you get to blow out candles for graduation? It was a special day!
June 2007 - Wes Graduated! It was a very exciting day. One Wes and all his family and friends have been waiting for. It's been a long process, but well worth the wait. The day started out at church, then we high tailed it over to my uncle's, which was the meeting point for carpooling over the hill to Santa Cruz. We scarfed some sandwiches, divided up, and started over the hill for the festivities.
We wanted to get there early because we had a HUGE amount of people who turned up to celebrate with Wes. Here is a photo of the early comers saving seats for 24 people! We had parts of 3 rows all staked out.
And here is Wes anxiously awaiting the ceremony. Isn't he cool in his graduation get up?
And here's one of the two of us before the ceremony. It was funny...every time we stood together for a second, people started snapping photos of us. I guess its just a preview of the the wedding day experience!
Since we were so early to get all our seats, we had to wait quite a while for the ceremony to start. But once it did, we were not disappointed. Leave it to the engineering department to start off the ceremony with the "Imperial March". Literally....it was hilarious!After the processional, we got to see Wes' shining face in the stands. Can you see him?
Here's the action shot of Wes getting his diploma. A little blurry, but this was the moment!
After the ceremony, there was a reception in the courtyard, and we were able to take some photos with the graduate. Here's Wes with his fan club! 
And here's a great shot with a very very proud mother.
Once the photos were done, we headed back over the hill to meet more people eager to celebrate with Wes. We met for dinner and drinks at the Rock Bottom. We had a very long banquet table all to ourselves.
And here's Wes sporting one of his graduation gifts. Now he's a bonafied Engineer!
Wendy and Jeff brought a cake to celebrate, and we had lots more reasons to celebrate. Both my parents and Jeff had birthdays, and it was Father's Day! Here's the cake filled with celebratory words.
And here are the four celebrants blowing out their candles.
How often do you get to blow out candles for graduation? It was a special day!
Friday, August 10, 2007
R&R - The highlights
Well as many of you have already seen on Rebecca's blog...she and Richard got married! And her blog definitely chronicles it best. But I wanted to share some highlights of my photos, now that I have my cord back. (Can you tell how happy I am to have my cord back??)
So here we go....R&R's wedding....from Elaine's perspective :)
Sarah and I flew into DC and rented a car, then drove to Fredericksburg. We ate some lunch down town, and then met at the church for the rehearsal. R&R got married in an historic colonial church. So historic, in fact, that the pews had doors on them! (I don't know if doors actually make something historic, but what the heck). Rebecca's nephew Toby said what we were all thinking...he went in the pew, closed the door, and said..."It's like jail." Here is Sarah demonstrating.
After a good laugh about the doors, the rehearsal continued. This was the part I felt most embarrassed....good thing I'm waiting til after the wedding to publicize this. I totally forgot Rebecca had asked me to do a reading. The pastor asked those who were reading to come up to practice...and I had a very odd sense that was supposed to be me. Then my memory confirmed it! Rebecca had asked me so far in advance, I clean forgot! Thank goodness she is super prepared and had the scripture printed out for us. Otherwise, my folly would have been made public at the rehearsal. Which I would imagine wouldn't make for a very calm bride. (Mental note...I should print out scripture readings for my readers too!)
Here's the wedding party...rehearsing in action!
We had a lovely dinner with other family at friends after the rehearsal. Sorry guys, no pics of that.
Here is the outside of the beautiful church the day of. You can see Toby on the stairs in his little tux in the second photo if you look closely.
And a lovely self portrait of Sarah and I with the church in the background. (Sarah was shocked at my desire to take a self portrait...but I'll soon win her over....whahahaha.)
Again I'll refer to you R&R 's blog for proper wedding photos, but here are some of my favorites.
Rebecca & her sister making their first entrance into the church.
The happy couple at the reception. I, along with many others, interrupted their dinner to take a photo. 
Jeff & Sunil showing off the awesome favors. 
Favors and centerpiece.
Awesome cake! (How do you like my artsy angle?)
Another awesome self portrait, this time Wendy joining us.
And finally....the get away car!
It was a beautiful wedding, and always a joy to watch good friends get married.
After the wedding, we were trying to walk of the big dinner, so we took a stroll around Fredericksburg. Here come the fun pics! First off...you know how some cities have ceramic animals all over town with various decorations? The only other time I've seen it is when I was in Spain and Bilbao had decorated cows everywhere. Well, it must be more than just cows, cause we saw decorated fish every where. Here is a sampling... (the first one was even out side the restaurant where we had the rehearsal dinner!)
And finally, I always love funny signs. And our walk around town really gave me quite the photo ops. They are all funny for different reasons.
Hmm...makes you wonder who applied last time???
And last, but not least. Propaganda at it's best in the DC airport. Both shirts have the name of the candidates and the same catch phrase "Changing History!" (Note the color choices for an added bonus.)
Anyway, there you have it. R&R's wedding plus the lucky bonus photos!
So here we go....R&R's wedding....from Elaine's perspective :)
Sarah and I flew into DC and rented a car, then drove to Fredericksburg. We ate some lunch down town, and then met at the church for the rehearsal. R&R got married in an historic colonial church. So historic, in fact, that the pews had doors on them! (I don't know if doors actually make something historic, but what the heck). Rebecca's nephew Toby said what we were all thinking...he went in the pew, closed the door, and said..."It's like jail." Here is Sarah demonstrating.
After a good laugh about the doors, the rehearsal continued. This was the part I felt most embarrassed....good thing I'm waiting til after the wedding to publicize this. I totally forgot Rebecca had asked me to do a reading. The pastor asked those who were reading to come up to practice...and I had a very odd sense that was supposed to be me. Then my memory confirmed it! Rebecca had asked me so far in advance, I clean forgot! Thank goodness she is super prepared and had the scripture printed out for us. Otherwise, my folly would have been made public at the rehearsal. Which I would imagine wouldn't make for a very calm bride. (Mental note...I should print out scripture readings for my readers too!)
Here's the wedding party...rehearsing in action!
We had a lovely dinner with other family at friends after the rehearsal. Sorry guys, no pics of that.Here is the outside of the beautiful church the day of. You can see Toby on the stairs in his little tux in the second photo if you look closely.
And a lovely self portrait of Sarah and I with the church in the background. (Sarah was shocked at my desire to take a self portrait...but I'll soon win her over....whahahaha.)
Again I'll refer to you R&R 's blog for proper wedding photos, but here are some of my favorites.
Rebecca & her sister making their first entrance into the church.
The happy couple at the reception. I, along with many others, interrupted their dinner to take a photo. 
Jeff & Sunil showing off the awesome favors. 
Favors and centerpiece.
Awesome cake! (How do you like my artsy angle?)
Another awesome self portrait, this time Wendy joining us.
And finally....the get away car!
It was a beautiful wedding, and always a joy to watch good friends get married.
After the wedding, we were trying to walk of the big dinner, so we took a stroll around Fredericksburg. Here come the fun pics! First off...you know how some cities have ceramic animals all over town with various decorations? The only other time I've seen it is when I was in Spain and Bilbao had decorated cows everywhere. Well, it must be more than just cows, cause we saw decorated fish every where. Here is a sampling... (the first one was even out side the restaurant where we had the rehearsal dinner!)
And finally, I always love funny signs. And our walk around town really gave me quite the photo ops. They are all funny for different reasons.
Hmm...makes you wonder who applied last time???
And last, but not least. Propaganda at it's best in the DC airport. Both shirts have the name of the candidates and the same catch phrase "Changing History!" (Note the color choices for an added bonus.)
Anyway, there you have it. R&R's wedding plus the lucky bonus photos!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Wedding Stuff
Well good news and bad news. I'm home sick. I came down with a horrible sore throat last night and it has ballooned into a sore throat with a temp of 100 degrees. Boo!
But the good news is I found my cable to transfer my photos! I've spent a while now uploading photos from a summer of weddings and Wes' graduation. I'm way too pooped to even think about narrating them just yet, so I'll post them later. But in the mean time. Here are some fun photos of wedding stuff.
But the good news is I found my cable to transfer my photos! I've spent a while now uploading photos from a summer of weddings and Wes' graduation. I'm way too pooped to even think about narrating them just yet, so I'll post them later. But in the mean time. Here are some fun photos of wedding stuff.
Elaine & Wes Heads (a plethora of save the dates)
Assembling Invites
Raffia Galore!
Assembling Invites
Raffia Galore!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
WMD with 31 days to go
Ahhh, another Wednesday Morning Donut day. I had told myself I was done with dessert for the month of August. You know, just treat my body extra well for the last 31 days of my singleness. So I look and feel my best come September 1st. I gave up dessert, among other things, for lent this year. I was surprised that I could do that for 40 days. But, then again, I was allowed dessert on feast day on Sunday. I guess it's easier to give up dessert for the sake of Jesus than for my own wedding. But that's probably a good thing, so I'm not beating myself up about it.
But alas...the temptation was too great. How do you have coffee WITHOUT donuts with WMD in your face? 9 people in the office and 2 dozen donuts/bagels/pastries? It is practically my duty to eat a few.
Oh well, maybe next Wednesday I'll do better.
But alas...the temptation was too great. How do you have coffee WITHOUT donuts with WMD in your face? 9 people in the office and 2 dozen donuts/bagels/pastries? It is practically my duty to eat a few.
Oh well, maybe next Wednesday I'll do better.
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