Home Sweet Home!

This Tuesday we hosted a late holiday party for a section of our department. It was for the CASA volunteers for our county. They volunteer their time to advocate for abused and neglected children, and to be their voice to the judge in dependency cases (just a brief little education about what I do and who I work with....what a CASA/Guardian ad Litem are for those who don't know).

We have only had Tim's parents over, and a couple of our friends who really only stopped by to pick us up to go to dinner. For the party we had a group over. It was SO great to have people over. We had good food, gifts, and it made me love our home even more. :) (Is that even possible?)

Big Sky Motor Movie

One of my coworkers informed me that our home was built where the old drive-in theater was located. She sent me a link to prove it! How fun! There is an old building of some sort that is across the loop where we live. Tim just said the other day, "That really needs a bull dozer taken to it," because it's kind of an eye sore. Well, I'm going to have to take a better look at it. Maybe it's part of the old drive-in!

Yep, I'm posting about our boys. :)

The move has been a little stressful on the kittie boys. Apparently cats are not like dogs when it comes to moving or going to a new place. Dogs enjoy the adventure with their owners. Cats are attached to their environment. We were planning for the worst of Julius peeing on something brand new because he was mad about being uprooted. Other than living pretty much on the stairs for the first couple of days, he has adjusted. The two younger ones were fine from the second they walked in. They have double the space they had in our apartment, and don't know what to do with themselves. They sprint up and down the stairs and skid across the wood floors because they can't stop!

They have also already found all of the places they are not supposed to be. Including walking across the light fixtures in the bathroom and jumping on to some high window sills (which they can only get to after jumping on the dining room table) ugh. Sometimes they meow for no reason. I think they are trying to figure out where we are or just want to hear their voices echo across the house.

Here are some pictures of trouble (mostly Slater). Jasper has already figured out how to open cupboard doors and climb on in.

I went to grab some napkins for Tim and I. I turned around to see this.

We can never get all of them in a picture together because they are too wiggly. We brought their tower into our new home so they would have something familiar. It's currently in a horrible place and I plan on moving it somewhere else....they are daring me to move it.

SOLD!!!

Yay!!! We got the official thumbs up on Friday, and packed a load of boxes over to our new home. After a weekend of moving boxes and furniture, I was spent. I forgot how much work moving is, but all of the hard work is definitely worth it!

At work on Monday, one of Tim's associates asked him if we liked our house. He told her, "Every morning so far, I wake up, and the first thing I hear Kirstin say is, 'Can you believe this is our home?'" It's true. I still feel like I'm just in a vacation home or something.

Time flies.

I can't believe it's already DECEMBER! Tim and I have been married for over 4 and 1/2 months!

OCTOBER:
The last few months have brought us a lot of work (I even went and worked a few days at Tim's office for tax extension deadlines).

My dear Grampsy passed away unexpectedly in mid October. For his memorial we had a potluck at my Nama and Grampsy's home and all the cousins and aunts and uncles got together, looked through old picture albums, and talked about our memories. It's sad that it takes such a tragic event to get a whole family together. I hadn't seen some of my cousins in probably about 10 years, and I used to spend weeks at a time with them when we were younger! For his obituary, my Nama asked each of us to write 5 words or a 5 word phrase/sentence about Grampsy. Mine was: "Goodmorning Chef; Hotcakes with Love!". Every grandkid rembers craving Grampsy's breakfasts of bacon and hotcakes. It was always cooked with perfection. It's actually how I received my nickname of Bacon Queen.

A picture my cousin Amanda drew of Grampsy

NOVEMBER:
I am the person that is always on the real estate sites. I want to see the houses on the market in Pullman, see how long they stay there, and how much their prices change. Mostly, I just do a lot of dreaming. I always show Tim houses, and we always end up feeling a little defeated by what you can (or can't) get for your money in Pullman. I don't know why, but the Pullman housing market sure seems inflated for living in the middle of a wheat field!

About a month ago, November 18th to be exact, (I keep almost every activity of my life in my planner), Tim scheduled with a realtor to go look at some townhouses in town. Just to give you a little background, we've looked at houses before with this realtor, about a year ago. I'm not sure why, because we weren't planning on buying, but he humored us and took us anyway. Same thing this time....or so I thought.

It was funny because we walked into one home, and Tim had questions about it's stats (year built, sq. footage, etc). I rattled 'em off like an encyclopedia. Like I said, I'm on the sites all the time. I know what's around. :) It was just a normal, boring, run of the mill townhome. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I love our rental for what it is, and hoped that our first home would be something I would look forward to making a home. The second place we were supposed to look at had actually sold, apparently in a day.

Off to the third home on the list, which I literally rolled my eyes at because I had peeked in the windows (it's new and empty) and knew I wasn't going to want to leave. Sure enough, home #3 was #1 in my heart! I fell in love! Long story short, we started the home buying process (completely backwards). We put an offer on the home the next day!

Someone must be looking out for us because we got our apartment sublet (and didn't get caught with our cats we aren't supposed to have). I've been living with prayers in my heart and crossed fingers.

Tim isn't the biggest fan of eating off of plastic utensils and paper plates, but we have boxes packed and ready to go. We are waiting patiently.

Who Loves Photo Proofs? I do! I do!

The wedding proofs are in! Yay! Quicksilver has set up a website for us to log into to check out the proofs! It was well worth the wait. I think I'll find myself looking through them for hours. Our photographers really captured all of the parts of the day, and looking at all of the pictures reminds me of how wonderful our wedding day really was! The next thing Tim and I will do is plan a trip to the photography studio to give our ideas of what we would like to see for an album. I can't wait to print pictures to decorate!

It's about time...

It's been forever since I've posted anything. I'd like to blame it on pre-wedding life, but it's over now, so I have zero excuses!

Some catching up:

MAY:

At the end of May, Tim was the best man in our friends', Keith and Jacki's wedding. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! The wedding was held at a church in Endicott, and the reception was at the fairgrounds outside of Colfax. The conference room was transformed from fair to fairytale, and looked stunning! The Tylers headed back to Arizona after their wedding, and we look forward to the day they "might" move back to the Palouse!

The Tylers (note: Tim is second from the left...nice hops!)

JUNE:

Tim's birthday is June 29th. I got him a set of golf clubs, and you better believe that now he doesn't spend a day without thinking about golf, or heading out to the range or course. I'll head to work bright and early on the weekends to serve coffee, and Tim eagerly jumps out of bed to get some golf on. I am slowly getting into it. Given my competitive nature, and the game of golf, it's a little bit of a dangerous combination. :)

JULY:

July was a BUSY month! Fourth of July weekend was the most relaxing we were able to do. :)

The next weekend I had a bridal shower at the home of Sue Foster, who is Tim's mom's best friend. I got many fantastic gifts, but the most beautiful is a handmade Cougar quilt! My mom was able to come to town, and her and I headed over to Swilly's for wining and dining! It was great to spend time with just her!

The third weekend in July I ran my very first 1/2 marathon! My friend Emily was set to run it with me (as she has already run 2 in her running career), but she was ill, so after mile 3, I was on my own. It was the most grueling experience of my life. I learned a lot about how I should be training, and I'm hungry to run another one (because I know I can do better). On my way over to the Chelan area, I made a stop in Wenatchee to visit my friend Kristen (she was my little sis in the sorority) and her newborn baby! Kristen looked absolutely fabulous just days after giving birth, and Isabella is an absolute angel! I can't wait to hold her again!

Tiffany & Danielle made shirts for us and sported them as our cheering section

Baby Isabella Hankins & I

The last weekend in July brought bachelor and bachelorette parties. Tim headed over to Seattle for Imax movies, golf, and eating a lot of food with his friends. I spent my weekend in Walla Walla with my friends. We went wine tasting and went out for a night out on the town. Every time I get to see my friends we just start off where we left off, even if it has been months since we've seen one another. We realized that we are too old to be taking shots, but we had an amazing time! I have the best friends anyone could ever ask for!

AUGUST:

Tim and I got married on August first (we have been husband and wife for one whole month)!!! We were married aboard the Spirit on Lake Coeurd' Alene among a small group of family and friends. It was a beautiful (and very hot) day, but I barely noticed the heat in my happiness! We had the best time and getting married made us really think about how blessed we are to have the love and support of our families and friends.

We spent a couple of days in Coeurd' Alene and Spokane in what we called our "Mini Moon" right after the wedding. It was difficult coming back to reality, but easier when we realized we got to do it as husband and wife!

Now, back to work and the real world! We have our official marriage license so I can officially be Mrs. Kirstin Gehring (now I just have to find every business with my Anderson surname, and change it)! We are excited for Cougar Football season to start up!

Mini Vacay

Tim and I were blessed to be able to spend time at his associates' cabin this weekend on Lake Coeurd'Alene. I got 2 whole days off of work (talk about EXCITING)! We were joined by our friends, Keith and Jacki (soon to be The Tylers on May 30th!!!), and Jacki's sister and brother-in-law. It was great to see Keith and Jacki, since we haven't been able to hang out with them since their move to Phoenix last summer. We relaxed by the lake, bbq'd some amazing ribs, roasted up some delicious smore's, played some board games, and enjoyed one another's company. :) We complained about our horrendous winter, and they talked about living in 110+degree temperatures (apparently when the temperature hits 110 and over, you stop sweating). Here is the view we had every day from the deck. I'm in love.

Wedding Planning

Less than 3 months to go. Stress. I heart being a bridesmaid, but this time it's my turn to be the bride! I can't wait to call Tim my husband! I have zero fears or anxiety about being married to Tim, but the stress of planning is not my favorite. Actually I really am not a fan of it at all. Good thing I'm only doing it once! Everyone who knows me, knows I am a procrastinator. Procrastination and wedding planning aren't really friends. I'm being forced to be a planner and it is semi-miserable. Knowing the end result keeps me trucking along. :)

SOME FUN WEDDING DETAILS:

We are getting married August 1st on Lake Coeurd'Alene!

My 2 Bridesmaids (Darci & Emily):

Tim's 2 Groomsmen (Thaddeus & Cameron):

Bridesmaid Dresses:

The Groom and Groomsmen Attire:

Inspiration for My Bridal Bouquet:

If it's not apparent by the pictures, the colors for the wedding are a pale buttercup yellow and navy. I think the color scheme is kind of nautical, which could play into the wedding on the "Spirit of the Coeurd'Alene". :)

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Well, I'm doing it. I'm attempting to Blog. I wasn't a fan of the wedding website to post about wedding planning (hence the lack of posts), but I figure if I start with wedding stuff, I can move to real life events to document our lives. :) Could be a fun ride!