The Adult Contemporary Face Melting Rock Show

Now that I'm in my 30s, I think it is okay to finally admit this. I LOVE Sister Hazel. Yes, that band that is best known for their hits of the 90s like "All for you" and "Your Winter". You may even remember their songs from such blockbuster movies as "10 Things I Hate About You", "The Wedding Planner", and the huge motion picture "Bedazzled" (LOL).

When Josh first moved to Seattle and told me he liked them I made fun of him thinking the exact same thing you are now. Aren't they old news? Well let me tell you - they are amazing. I surprised Josh with tickets for his birthday and the show was finally last night. We were 2nd row of the Showbox front and center, and I stood their during the entire opening act just to save my spot. Just like I used to do back in the Glory Days...ladies remember Guster and Maroon 5? Almost the same except I was admiring 30 something (possibly 40 something) men instead of the sexy Adam Levine. Anyway, I just wanted to give a plug to Sister Hazel since they don't have a huge following on the West Coast. If you ever get to see them live, they are tons of fun. They rocked their little adult comtemporary butts off and even blew out a few speakers in the venue. Yes, it was a face melter!

The Signature Appliance

How do you know when you've officially entered married life? Is it the ring? Not quite. A marriage license? Well yes, but we don't have one yet. I think it comes down to one signature appliance that separates singles and live-in boyfriends from those who are married - the Kitchen Aid Mixer. While our wedding is still two months away, I officially feel like a married adult now that I have been gifted the much sought after mixer. I don't bake, and you could argue that I barely cook for that matter, but suddenly I have this desire to bake cakes and cookies. A huge thanks to the entire Eismann family for this incredible gift. I can't wait to use it!

Hard Work Pays Off

This past week, thanks to all of my hard work in 2007, I was awarded an all-expense paid trip for two to Puerto Vallarta for the annual Starwood Sales & Marketing Incentive trip. Let me just say, it was an incredible and much needed vacation.

The highlights:

• Arriving at The Westin Puerto Vallarta and being handed a margarita before we even stepped foot in the lobby. What a way to start off the week!
  

• The margarita, along with cheese and crackers waiting for me in my guestroom two minutes later.
  
• The deck from our room overlooking the pool and ocean from which we enjoyed above mentioned margaritas and cheese.

• The boat cruise we took the following day to Las Calietes, a remote cove an hour away from Puerto Vallarta. We kayaked, held a monkey, and even a little parrot…yes, I held a bird for about three seconds. The rest of our day was spent with me lathering on the SPF 50 or trying to find shade.
  
• The Outdoor Adventure of a Lifetime – need I say more? I’m glad I didn’t read the description carefully when I signed us up for this because had I read it there is no way in my right mind I would have done it. Riding a mule up the side of a mountain with the only way down being zip lining and repelling…um hello? Have you met me? I like to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground, and this really took me out of my comfort zone. But overall, it was incredible and I’m so glad I did it. Side note: doesn't Josh look so cute?

• Did I forget to mention the swim up bar in the hotel pool? Yes, after each day’s excursion Josh and I immediately went to the pool to order our afternoon margarita or cervesa with a side of chips and guacamole. I think I probably consumed more than a dozen avacados over the course of 5 days, but it was incredible!
  
  

• Our final night with the Starwood team, we enjoyed an amazing dinner on the beach at sunset, and then enjoyed the rest of the night dancing and mingling. Being the responsible person I always am, Josh stopped me in middle of the evening after I asked for a bottle of water instead of a drink and said, “Meghann, make some bad decisions.” I deserved to let loose a little, so the rest of the evening I spent celebrating!



• One more day on our own was a perfect way to end the week. We moved hotels to stay at the Sheraton Buganvillas. It was closer to Old Town Puerto Vallarta, so we took the opportunity to walk around the town and just relax. My mule riding, hiking, zip lining, repelling adventure the day before left me a little sore so I treated myself to a massage. And not just any massage – it was outside in a little bungalow over the ocean. It was so relaxing and worth every peso I paid for it!




• Our final night, we received a recommendation for a little place off the beaten path to have great mojitos and fresh fish. We ate more guacamole, and amazing fish tacos and mahi mahi. A Mexican band played a lovely song to Josh and I as we toasted our Mojitos on our last night in PV. What a great way to end the vacation!

69 Flights, 1311 stairs, and one BIG Climb for Leukemia

On Sunday, I participated in the Leukemia Society’s BIG Climb at the Columbia Tower in Seattle. That would be the tallest building in Seattle, and yes I climbed up the entire tower step by step. It was an exhausting and emotionally draining feat that I’m so glad I did. I got a late start to my training…two weeks prior to the Big Climb while the rest of my co-workers who were participating had started back in January. Needless to say, I’m just proud that I made it to the top! Yeah me!

As an added bonus, I guess I made the Sunday evening news on KING 5, but I missed it. I tried to find the video to link to, but apparently it wasn’t a big enough story to keep on the website. If I ever find it, I will post it. According to my co-workers, I looked happy as can be. I think it was actually complete and utter relief that I finally made it to the top after 23 minutes of climbing. Next year I’m going for under 20 minutes!

It is the big black tall building on the right side of this photo.

Tag...I'm it!

Rightfully so, I've been accused lately of not keeping up on my blog. It's not that I haven't wanted to share life updates or even 5 little secrets nobody knows about me; I've just been too busy with work in the last month to even plan my wedding let alone update my blog. So here goes...5 things you don't already know about me.


1. I've become a football fanatic since Josh and I met.


At first it was a harmless crush on Matt Hasselback, quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks. Yes, I know he has a dome head and inappropriate male pattern baldness, but in a hat he's hot! But over the course of the last three years, it has become much more than that. I have LOVED watching the Seahawks every Sunday, and then I also get really into the playoffs. It makes it even more fun that the Seahawks have been in the playoffs, and the Superbowl, in the last three years. But this year, my love for football also turned into absolute hate for the New England Patriots. I know they were the best team in the NFL with their perfect season and all, but there was nothing I wanted more than to see them lose at some point. It finally happened in the Super Bowl, and I was delighted! You might be wondering why I hate the Patriots. Let me explain. It comes down to the fact that I don't like Tom Brady because he is a bad daddy. He left his gorgeous and pregnant girlfriend for Giselle. I think that is wrong on so many levels, thus my distaste for New England. Sorry any Patriot fans out there.



2. I'm obsessed with Big Buck Hunter



Many people probably don't know what this is, so let me explain. It's a video game found in dive bars where you have a gun and you shoot wildlife like elk, deer, moose, and bighorn sheep. I'm so embarassed to be admitting this, but it all started a year ago when we were in Chicago visiting Josh's family. We were out with his friends one night and the guys were playing this stupid game and I piped up and asked to give me a chance. It was downhill from there. Josh and I found a hipster bar in Ballard that has it, but we never feel cool enough to hang out there, and on a Friday or Saturday night the bar is so busy that we wait too long to play. So, much to our surprise we found the game at a divey sports bar in Bellevue. We probably play at least once a month.



3. I talk in my sleep, and say very weird things



Just the other night I asked Josh "What did you put on the door?" He said, "There's nothing on the door, you're asleep." I said, "Is it going to pour sugar on me?" and he said, "Yes, it is going to pour sugar on you." Was I dreaming about Def Leopard? I don't know, but that is just weird. I used to scare Josh with my strange sightings at night too. I've seen little green men in the room, lots of spiders, green slime coming from the ceiling, and many more strange things that I'm sure Josh would like to forget. Now that he is used to it, he just likes to mess with me and see how far he can take my hallucinations.



4. I think the worst has happened to Josh when I'm not with him



This actually isn't very funny. But I seriously freak myself out if he is out with friends or on a hike with Lucy and he doesn't answer his phone. I start thinking that he has been eaten by a bear , been kidnapped or been in an accident. My heart races and horrible thoughts go through my head, as I obsessively call his cell phone over and over again. Granted, it's not like these thoughts are happening 5 hours after I would normally expect him to be home. I start freaking out about 15 minutes after my first call. He is getting better about actually having his ringer on when we're not together because this used to happen all the time when we were first dating. He's the guy that NEVER has his ringer on so he misses every call that comes through. It drives me crazy.



5. I usually don't enjoy shopping.

I say "usually" because there are times when I shop and spend money like there's no tomorrow. But for the most part I just don't enjoy it, and let me explain why. First, usually when I do shop I'm looking for something specific and that is the most frustrating thing to do because the "thing" that I'm looking for is never to be found. Second, I'm limited to specific stores like Gap, Banana, JCrew, etc because I CANNOT handle shopping in department stores or discount stores like Nordstrom Rack or Ross. Crazy right? I get way to overwhelmed with all the options that I end up wandering aimlessly, then get frustrated and leave. The only exception to my avoidance of department stores is shoes since this is very targeted and I don't have to dig to find what I'm looking for. Third, when I do shop I ended up buying more things that look like everything else in my closet (I have too many black turtlenecks in my closet - my old winter standby). Fourth, I can appreciate a well-accesorized person with a great bag, earrings, necklaces, shoes, etc. But considering the fact that I get overwhelmed just trying to shop for the basics, imagine my struggles with accessories. I just can't do it for two reasons - I am paranoid of picking the wrong accessories and I can't stand to sift through racks and racks of jewelry. And finally, having a job where business attire is required, I can't justify spending money on clothes that I can't wear to work. So until I have a job where professional attire isn't necessary or I am rich enough to afford a personal shopper, you'll see me in my black turtleneck.

The Woos

Josh and I are obsessed with our dog Lucy. That is probably obvious considering she played such pivotal role in our engagement, and she will probably be involved in our wedding too. More to come on that in the future because no, we have not set a date yet, nor have we decided what we want to do or where we want to do it. Anyway, I've been very busy lately, but thought it was time to share a couple videos of The Woos.

This little video was taken in the car ride after a morning at Marymoor Dog Park (normally she is not this dirty, but it's winter and very muddy at the dog park, so please don't judge). Make sure to turn on your sound to get the full effect. This is what Lucy does all the time. There are many different tones to her grunts and whines, and sometimes it becomes a very lound bark depending on what you ask her. Like, if you ask her "Lucy, where's the kitty?" she goes bananas.

Josh and Lucy go hiking quite regularly on Tiger Mountain which is less than a mile from our house. The top of this mountain also happens to be the launch pad for paragliders. Well, on this particular occasion, Lucy decided to chase the paraglider off the mountain.

By the way, if you watch Grey's Anatomy, you'll find this little tid bit interesting. Remember the last new episode that aired two weeks ago? The one where at the beginning McDreamy and McSteamy were hiking to the top of a mountain so McDreamy would show McSteamy where he was going to build his house? Well, that spot happened to be the very same spot that Lucy chased the paraglider off the mountain.

More videos and posts to come soon.

I just want to be home...

I'm a home body...there is no question about that. Everyone that knows me well, knows that I would enjoy being at home over pretty much anything. Even as a very young child I was known to utter the words, "I just want to be home," every time we were on a trip.

But every once in a while, it is time to suit up and leave the house for a special occasion. This time it was for Ashley & Josh's holiday party on December 15, 2007. Cocktail attire was required, so the sweat pants were replaced by a dress, and Josh had an excuse to wear his three piece suit. Doesn't he look fancy? I thought he looked like Justin Timberlake in the vest, but not because of his dancing. Anyway, I digress.

At some point during the evening I confessed to Josh that I was sorry for being such a crabby %@#!* lately, but that I was just coming to terms with the fact that we wouldn't be engaged before the end of the holidays. I told him I would get over it and be fine after the holidays, but just needed some time to get over it. Josh then proceeded to tell me how he has tried a few test runs on the whole engagement thing to see how I would handle it, and I failed miserably at each test. Apparently every test involved him saying "Let's go downtown to the ___________. You can really fill that "blank" in with anything, and my answer was always "No, I just want to be home." I called b.s. on him and his supposed tests because I knew he didn't have a ring and this was just another excuse to buy him more time. But he asked, "how am I ever supposed to surprise you with an engagement when you shoot me down with every spontaneous thing I attempt?" I said, "well, when you finally do it, maybe it just needs to be at home with Lucy since that's where I like to be most."

That was pretty much the end of that conversation, and the evening continued with more dancing and holiday festivities. And by about midnight, I was, of course, ready to go home. I begged and pleaded and said "I just want to be home..." I finally won the battle and we proceeded back home to Issaquah.

Now, this is how bad I wanted to be home. I made Josh take out Lucy while I put on my jammies, turned out the lights and jumped in bed before Josh was even back in the house. Ten minutes later Lucy and Josh came to bed and turned on the TV. Josh was trying to get Lucy to give me kisses which I was kind of getting annoyed with because I was trying to go to sleep, but then I realized Lucy had what looked like a hankerchief around her neck. I said, "Why is Lucy is wearing a hankerchief?" I then grabbed her and realized this was no hankerchief, it was a ribbon and attached to the ribbon was a ring sparkling in the light of the TV. I started screaming because I was completely shocked, and that scared Lucy who then jumped off the bed, so then I had to chase Lucy in the dark to come back to get my ring. At some point during this chaotic moment, Josh finally proposed the way I had told him to just hours ago! Yeah!!!!We're engaged!

Look how pretty and sparkly it is!

So, after all of my whining and complaining I learned that Josh has been carrying this ring around in his wallet for a month! All of those test runs that I failed at were actually proposal attempts gone bad. Well, it finally happened and I couldn't be more excited. However, I don't know when, what, or how we will get married, but I'll be sure to update you all in the near future when the decisions are made. For now, we're going to enjoy being engaged for a while.

Here are some more photos from the evening prior to the engagement. The actual engagement occurred on December 16, 2007 at 1:01 a.m.

Ashley already new at this point that it was about to happen.

I was still clueless and had lost all hope.

Ashley, thanks for making the evening of our engagement so much fun and memorable! I guess I'm glad now that the ocassion was cocktail attire. The story would not have been as sweet if we had been in ugly Christmas sweaters for the photos.

Merry Christmas everyone!