Camping 101

So, I went camping this weekend with my sister

and my friend, Mallery and discovered that

we're really bad at it....not the enjoying of it

but in the planning and packing for it.

So, for those of you who haven't gotten

much practice at camping and

tend to forget the essentials, I came up

with a few pointers for entertainment and

survival.

Take lots of really lame pictures.
Crank Coldplay in your car and engage in

some awesome interpretive dancing, which will

result in the guy across the way asking you to turn

down the devil music.

Use a hunting knife instead of a can opener,

since you forgot to pack one.
Crawl through the brush and pick marshmallow

roasting sticks that you can carve with the

aforementioned hunting knife

Climb trees for entertainment

Take hippie, tree-hugging portraits

Eat pinecones when you're hungry

Take more ridiculous pictures
Go for long walks into the sunset.... While drinking coffee that was

made over a pathetic fire

since we forgot propane for

our stove

Bribe the camp host into letting

you have some of his propane stash so you

can cook over a real stove

Go for nature hikes

Read about where all of the elk used

to live

and participate in some more interpretive

dancing (see sign)

Coffee Shop Planning

So, most of you probably know that I'm in the process of starting up a coffee shop with my family. I will be running the place as soon as it opens, but getting a business going takes a ridiculous amount of hard work and planning. We not only have construction issues to deal with, but city codes, decorating, menu choices and so much more. I'm a bit overwhelmed and was hoping for some ideas.

I know that many of you have managed shops or in some way, worked in coffee and I would love any advice you could throw my way. ie: most profitable hours of operation; menus; promotional ideas; unique ways to set us apart; cleaning lists (Jenna, this has your name all over it)

Here are some pictures of the place. We spent the winter doing the inside but as you can see, the outside needs a little lovin. It gets painted this week and the yard is currently tore up and ready for pavers to be installed.

Don't worry, the color is changing!

Venitian plaster walls: I love these

but they look way better in person

Look What I Found

I just recently came across some candid shots

from our wedding. I pulled out ones of you guys

(the Corvallis crew) and thought you might

enjoy. Has it really been a year?!!

Tristan and Jackie

Madras and Heather

I think I see a Denny and Abby:)

Me and Brandon
Jim and his loversThe Hurts
Me and my brudda

Nate and Casey, our Spanish guitarists
Sound guy Jake
Dodson and Madras
And who can forget Joel!

That's Sergeant to you

He's going to hate me for posting this, but
I can't help it, I'm proud. Jim got promoted

to Sergeant this week! He has moved up

very quickly in ARMY....woohoo!

He gets pinned this weekend at his training.

Guess I need some new pictures of the man in uniform!

Indoor Glory!

So, for those of you who didn't know, Jim

and I play on an indoor soccer team,

and although we love it, we don't necessarily

win every game. However, we finished off

a great weekend with a double header

and won both games!!!

Our tough team in National Guard uniforms

My war wound. The second game was against

a bunch of prison guards (no joke) and I got in the

way of one of their shots. If you look closely, you can

see the soccer ball imprint. Pretty rad huh?

1 Year....Woohoo!!!

Today is our one year anniversary!

Crazy how fast the time flies.

We rented a room in the lodge

at Odell Lake to celebrate. It was

a wonderful, relaxing weekend.

The boat we rented to catch fish....it didn't work
It was so flippin cold!
How's that for posed?
Reelin her in

Our cozy rustic room
Double chin fun
Right out our window
At the lodge restaurant...big-haired and giddy

A Good Weekend

We saw most of you this weekend at the marriage retreat,

which was not exactly what we were expecting

but quite good, nonetheless. Here are some pictures

from a family barbeque we had at Jim’s parents

on Sunday before we headed back over the mountain.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Jim III in true form

Heather and Mags eating some relishJim's face in every picture!

The nieces and nephews with Mandy

Heather and I went garage-saling on our cruisers

but came home empty handed:(