Our wonderful photographer, Penny Sylvia, posted a wedding slideshow of our wedding on her blog. Go to the link below to see the pics . . .
http://www.portraitsbypenny.com/newblog/?p=377
Friday, January 23, 2009
25 Random Facts
I recieved this on my facebook page and I thought it was pretty cool to do so I am posting it here too.
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. Have fun!
1. My middle name is Kane, which is the first initial of each of my grandparents Katherine, Alvia, Nadine and Edwin
2. Now this is very embarrassing but I sucked my thumb until I was 15 and only quit because my mother told me I could not get my driver’s permit. Yeah, I know it’s shameful!
3. I love to read!!
4. Currently, I am obsessed with reading teen science fiction books – Trust me they are fabulous!!
5. After I got married (to my wonderful hubby Geoff) I went from a 4 syllable name to a 6 syllable name and had this fact pointed out to me by my instructor of my Project Management training class.
6. I love the ocean and hope to have a house close to it one day.
7. I treat my two pups, Casey Jones and Terrapin, as children they even understand “Give mama a kiss”
8. I am very proud to be a home owner.
9. I just received a promotion
10. I think it’s wonderful that my husband’s best friend is my brother.
11. I love to host gatherings at my house! And if you ask our friends then I think they would tell you that Geoff and I through a mean pumpkin’ carving party and other swanky events.
12. I want a new TV, a new car and a baby this year (not in that particular order)
13. My parents love antiques and because of them I love anything vintage.
14. I wanted a wedding dress (and overall look) that was a reflection of me and had that vintagey flare. I guess I did a good job because when Geoff and I were able to talk after our ceremony he told me again and again how beautiful I looked and how everything so “me”.
14. I have a vintage purse collection that I am super proud of.
15. I still sleep with a dragon pillow I had as a child.
16. I have only broken one bone and it was my eye socket.
17. I worked in a record store while in college (Recycled Records in Monterey is amazing and if you’re ever there stop by) and I love the sound of an LP playing on a record player.
18. Geoff and I would love to buy Recycled Records from Mike some day.
19. I have several notes from friends in early High School that say “McCaulie loves Geoff” on them.
20. I was lucky enough to marry my best friend.
21. Sometimes I miss the “old” days, specifically college and the friends I had. We were inseparable and I wish we were closer.
22. I’m selfishly wishing for my jersey girl to reclaim her Cali roots.
23. I love having wii nights with the Teresa’s.
24. I have an obsession with purses and shoes – oh yeah it’s bad.
25. I can honestly say that I love my life.
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. Have fun!
1. My middle name is Kane, which is the first initial of each of my grandparents Katherine, Alvia, Nadine and Edwin
2. Now this is very embarrassing but I sucked my thumb until I was 15 and only quit because my mother told me I could not get my driver’s permit. Yeah, I know it’s shameful!
3. I love to read!!
4. Currently, I am obsessed with reading teen science fiction books – Trust me they are fabulous!!
5. After I got married (to my wonderful hubby Geoff) I went from a 4 syllable name to a 6 syllable name and had this fact pointed out to me by my instructor of my Project Management training class.
6. I love the ocean and hope to have a house close to it one day.
7. I treat my two pups, Casey Jones and Terrapin, as children they even understand “Give mama a kiss”
8. I am very proud to be a home owner.
9. I just received a promotion
10. I think it’s wonderful that my husband’s best friend is my brother.
11. I love to host gatherings at my house! And if you ask our friends then I think they would tell you that Geoff and I through a mean pumpkin’ carving party and other swanky events.
12. I want a new TV, a new car and a baby this year (not in that particular order)
13. My parents love antiques and because of them I love anything vintage.
14. I wanted a wedding dress (and overall look) that was a reflection of me and had that vintagey flare. I guess I did a good job because when Geoff and I were able to talk after our ceremony he told me again and again how beautiful I looked and how everything so “me”.
14. I have a vintage purse collection that I am super proud of.
15. I still sleep with a dragon pillow I had as a child.
16. I have only broken one bone and it was my eye socket.
17. I worked in a record store while in college (Recycled Records in Monterey is amazing and if you’re ever there stop by) and I love the sound of an LP playing on a record player.
18. Geoff and I would love to buy Recycled Records from Mike some day.
19. I have several notes from friends in early High School that say “McCaulie loves Geoff” on them.
20. I was lucky enough to marry my best friend.
21. Sometimes I miss the “old” days, specifically college and the friends I had. We were inseparable and I wish we were closer.
22. I’m selfishly wishing for my jersey girl to reclaim her Cali roots.
23. I love having wii nights with the Teresa’s.
24. I have an obsession with purses and shoes – oh yeah it’s bad.
25. I can honestly say that I love my life.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Honeymoon Series
We're still waiting for the digital copies of our wedding pictures so, in the mean time, I'm going to skip ahead and post about our Honeymoon. Thanks to some amazing wedding guests we were able to buy a new camera right before we took off for LA. I was so excited to use our new camera that I took over 500 pictures while we were at Disneyland. While you may be thinking that over 500 is minimal for a honeymoon I should clarify we were only in Disneyland 3 days ;)
We arrived in LA on Thursday evening and we took the Disneyland Express shuttle to our hotel. It was so nice to be able to sit back and relax and not have to navigate through LA. I've always 
wanted to stay at the Disneyland hotel because it's the original, and I am so glad that we did. The Disneyland Hotel is amazing! Not only is it classic but you walk out onto Downtown Disney, which if your an adult that is the best because you have all the restaurants and bars right at your fingertips.
Due to my excessive picture snapping I will have to post multiple times on our Honeymoon at the Happiest Place on Earth!
Our Arrival & The Disneyland Hotel
We arrived in LA on Thursday evening and we took the Disneyland Express shuttle to our hotel. It was so nice to be able to sit back and relax and not have to navigate through LA. I've always 
wanted to stay at the Disneyland hotel because it's the original, and I am so glad that we did. The Disneyland Hotel is amazing! Not only is it classic but you walk out onto Downtown Disney, which if your an adult that is the best because you have all the restaurants and bars right at your fingertips.
When we checked in with the front desk person, Silvia, upgraded our standard room to a Downtown Disney view room. Though we were on the fourth floor and looked mostly into a beautiful tree (it felt like we were in a tree house) we could here all the live music from Downtown Disney so it made relaxing in our room much nicer.
After we settled in there was a knock on the door, and to our surprise Silvia sent us chocolate covered strawberries and two glasses of Grand Marnier to celebrate our honeymoon. It was perfect - I love chocolate covered strawberries and the Grand Marnier tasted great! ;)
We then headed for a night out. We had dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen and listened to wonderful live jazz and blues music and then we headed to the Uva Bar in the middle of the District. It was the perfect way to end the first night of our honeymoon :)
Next up . . . our day in the Park
I have a blog?
Wow...many entries already and I didn't even know I had a blog! This post is to commemorate me discovering "New of The Feus..." Play that banjo terrapin!-Geoff
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Inspiration
Happy Inauguration Day (well day after)! I had not heard this story before, but I think it’s the perfect way to appreciate the power of yesterday. It's refreshing and humbling to know that our President was a man of grace and generosity without chance of reward in his youth. Both Geoff and I watched the inauguration at work and then I watched it again at home with all the other inauguration things we recorded. If you didn't get to see his speech, find it on youtube or another place online because it was amazing! It will be one for the history books, I’m sure of it. Just listening to him made me feel inspired and proud that he is our leader. Go Obama!!
[This article was posted in VG, a Norwegian newspaper, back in October.]
Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old at the time and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first shehad to get all of her belongings across to Norway. The date was November 2, 1988.
At the airport in Miami, things were hectic as usual, with long lines at the check-in counters. When it was finally Mary’s turn and she had placed her luggage on the baggage line, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
“You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway,” the man behind the counter said. Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
“I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions,” says Mary. Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.
“I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, ‘That’s OK, I’ll pay for her.’” Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before. “He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?”
Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man. “He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants,” says Mary.
She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.
The piece of paper said ‘Barack Obama’ and his address in Kansas, which is the state where his mother comes from. Mary carried the slip of paper around in her wallet for years, before it was thrown out. “He was my knight in shining armor,” says Mary, smiling.
She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.
In the spring of 2006, Mary’s parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.
In a letter to Mary’s parents dated May 4, 2006 and stamped ‘United States Senate, Washington DC’, Barack Obama writes: I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami Airport. I’m happy I could help back then, and I’m delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States Senator
The parents sent the letter on to Mary. This week VG met her and her husband in the café that she runs with her friend Lisbeth Tollefsrud in Åsgårdstrand.
“It’s amazing to think that the man who helped me 20 years ago may now become the next U.S. president,” says Mary delightedly. She has already voted for Obama. She recently donated 100 dollars to his campaign.
She often tells the story from Miami Airport, both when race issues are raised and when the conversation turns to the presidential elections. “I sincerely hope the Americans will see reason and understand that Obama means change,” says Mary.
[This article was posted in VG, a Norwegian newspaper, back in October.]
Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old at the time and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first shehad to get all of her belongings across to Norway. The date was November 2, 1988.
At the airport in Miami, things were hectic as usual, with long lines at the check-in counters. When it was finally Mary’s turn and she had placed her luggage on the baggage line, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
“You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway,” the man behind the counter said. Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
“I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions,” says Mary. Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.
“I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, ‘That’s OK, I’ll pay for her.’” Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before. “He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?”
Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man. “He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants,” says Mary.
She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.
The piece of paper said ‘Barack Obama’ and his address in Kansas, which is the state where his mother comes from. Mary carried the slip of paper around in her wallet for years, before it was thrown out. “He was my knight in shining armor,” says Mary, smiling.
She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.
In the spring of 2006, Mary’s parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.
In a letter to Mary’s parents dated May 4, 2006 and stamped ‘United States Senate, Washington DC’, Barack Obama writes: I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami Airport. I’m happy I could help back then, and I’m delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States Senator
The parents sent the letter on to Mary. This week VG met her and her husband in the café that she runs with her friend Lisbeth Tollefsrud in Åsgårdstrand.
“It’s amazing to think that the man who helped me 20 years ago may now become the next U.S. president,” says Mary delightedly. She has already voted for Obama. She recently donated 100 dollars to his campaign.
She often tells the story from Miami Airport, both when race issues are raised and when the conversation turns to the presidential elections. “I sincerely hope the Americans will see reason and understand that Obama means change,” says Mary.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
New Year . . .
OK so I started this blog last year with hopes to document all the wedding plans. What I didn't realize is that buying a house, decorating said house and planning a wedding left zero time for anything else! But now that it's the new year I hope to get on the ball and blog my heart out.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Home Sweet Home
So Geoff and I just got the word that we're homeowners! We're both so excited to finally be in a place that's ours and that we can update however we choose. It's the perfect size too! Four bedrooms - ours, a guest bedroom, an office, and a nursery for when we have our first little one :) It has 3 baths and it's a tri-level which is a floor plan that we love! With a little landscaping it will be a perfect first home!! Below are some pics to give you an idea of how truly perfect it is!
Welcome
About Me
me
celebrating the royal wedding
the hubs
such a handsome fella
Casey Jones
aka Bubbas...our first born
Terrapin
aka Baby Boy...our snuggle baby
my boys
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