My First Canning Experience..

...WAS A BLAST!

We were in Yakima last weekend and our friend, Sara's parents gave us TWO boxes full of delicious hand picked tomatoes and I was in heaven.. bound and determined to figure out something to do with all these tomatoes! Anyone who knows me, knows I love tomatoes.. Recently, my Mom shipped a box of her home grown tomatoes to me (that's how much I love tomatoes) I ate BLT's for days.. pure bliss!

So, I rounded up Sandy - my MIL and experienced canner - to show me the ropes of preserving tomatoes. She was happy to help and offered her kitchen and supplies. We had a blast canning the tomatoes and even got Garrett and Mike to lend us a hand! I cannot wait for winter to get here so that I can make delicious spaghetti and chili!

We started with 1 box of Roma's (above) and one box of beefsteak tomatoes.

Boiled, peeled and sliced them

Chef Lauren cooking the spaghetti sauce!

Final product(5 hours later):

7 quarts of Tomatoes
7 pints of Tomatoes/onions/peppers
4 quarts and 6 pints of sauce!

We're Moving!

That's right we are thrilled to announce we are moving to a cute little HOUSE in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle! It is a darling little house built in 1925 with 2 beds 1 bath and a basement (yeah storage). We have decided to rent for another year in order to save more money but we (mostly me) were about to go stir crazy in our little apartment. Don't get me wrong we love our little apartment it is really nice and we have lots of cherished memories there but we are mentally ready to be in a house with a yard! We also love living on the 'Eastside' but we want to experience city life and think this is the perfect opportunity and time to do so! Garrett's commute will be almost nonexistent and mine shouldn't be too bad. AND the icing on the cake is that our good friends Drew and Emily live right next door!

We get the keys on the 8th but can't start moving until the 13th or so. Our plan is to move in slowly since we have our apartment until the end of September. Shoot us an email if you would like our new address!

Let the packing begin!

Welcome Chloe and Carter!

Garrett's cousin Katie had her twins Chloe and Carter on Thursday, August 21st! I cannot wait to meet them! I hear the babies and mom are doing great! What a blessing!

Happy Birthday Chloe and Carter!

Carter Jay 5.7lbs (left)
Chloe Kate 5.12lbs (right)

Congrats Jerame and Katie! Such a sweet family of 4!

YAY for TWINS!

Loves it!

My favorite moment of THE HILLS Season 4 Premiere last night:

The look Lauren gave Lo when she commented on Audrina's friends. Priceless.

I STILL love tubing!

This weekend Drew and Emily invited us on their boat to enjoy this hot weather. We had too much fun out on Lake Washington.. and I am paying for it today.. I feel like I got hit by a bus. After the guys did some wakeboarding, we decided to bring out the tube! Tubing is one of my all time favorite water sport activities.. growing up my Dad would sling us children around on the tube and we would hold on for dear life while loving every minute of it! Some call it child abuse, others say it's just plain fun! Yesterday was the same, with only a minor casualty.. a big bruise on my chin!

Garrett and I were tubing we hit a huge wave (got like 5 feet in the air) and somehow his knuckle came up and popped my chin and then, of course, we fell off. It didn't hurt at all and I was ready for another go. Got back on the tube, situated and ready to go. I reached up and felt my chin because it was a little achy and realized it was swelling and decided I better get off and let someone else have their turn. As the day progressed, it went from red and swollen to a black and blue bruise. I iced it for a bit when we got home and the swelling went down, but it is still black and tender. Nothing a little concealer can't fix! It was totally worth it though.. we had too much fun with Drew and Emily and I still love tubing!

Em and I holding on for our lives!

The boys enjoying a cold one in Lake Washington!

Jedi Mind Trick Friday

Guess who gets to leave work early today? MEEE! Yipee! I guess my boss read my mind or I somehow jedi mind tricked her in letting me off early! I'm heading to Juanita Beach, book in hand to soak up some rays!

Happy Friday!

The HEAT is ON

The heat is on for the next few days in the Northwest!! This little sun loving Southern girl could not be happier, it's what I've been waiting for all summer long! On days like this, I believe everyone should get to leave work at noon. Just look at that forecast.. SUNNY HOT SUNNY HOT! :)

Signed,

Working girl, stuck in the office.

Auburn gals + WSU guys = LOVE

OK, I'm so excited! One of my greatest friends from college, Diana, is visiting Seattle until Monday! Her boyfriend, Kyle actually grew up in the Seattle area and went to WSU but lives in Tampa... did I mention he is a COUG!? (She has such good taste) So they are coming for one of his friends weddings but I'm hoping I can steal them for a night or two :) YAY!

This is Diana and I circa 2006 at my bridal tea!


Kyle, Diana, Garrett and I at the Coug game in Seattle last year!
Can I get a WAR EAGLE & GO COUGS!?!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

This weekend was pretty laid back for us. We got lots done around the house and then went to a Mariner's game on Saturday evening. Since we have been going a lot this summer it was so nice to have a down weekend to regroup and relax at home!

We even got to see the most beautiful rainbow when we were at the M's game! It was perfect because the weather was pretty bad all weekend but it cleared up for us at the game! I just love rainbows :) they are magical!

It was a great game but in the end the Mariner's lost to the Tampa Bay Rays 7-8, after 11 innings.. the game lasted until about midnight.. we left after the 9th inning and caught the rest at home where it was warm!

What to do when slow at work?

...how bout create a slideshow? Sure why not? I was just going through some old pictures of Garrett and I and decided to upload them online to preserve them. Enjoy!