2010 by the numbers

2010 was a pretty fabulous year in my opinion...... Here is just a quick rundown of the year by the numbers......

1 new kitty - Penny joined our family in January and has provided a lot of entertainment and a lot of love.

2 Adirondack chairs - new additions to the balcony and the majority of where we spent our summer..... sangrias in hand of course. :)

3 new babies - our darling niece Aven, Chrissy's new baby James, and Kat's new baby Graylon.

4 years of marriage to Bryce - it has all flown by so quickly and I couldn't have asked for a better partner in life.

5 weddings - Danced, ate cake and celebrated the special days with five of our closest friends this year.

6 rooms painted in our house - it took a lot of time but was well worth it!

8 girls only slumber parties - and some of the best memories ever!

9 day trip to beautiful Oahu - got to eat fabulous food, swim and tan all day, and even caught up with one of Bryce's old housemates!

15 credits that I have completed towards my Master's degree

28 years old - celebrated my 28th birthday in July and this has been my favorite age so far :)

50 miles that were ran and/or biked per month from May - August

75 years of the University of Portland School of Nursing - what an honor to celebrate 75 years of excellence on the Bluff!

114 miles roundtrip for a couples cabin retreat in Cougar, WA over the summer. The weekend was full of Scattegories, horseshoe and beer.

573 total friends on Facebook

628 nursing students that I am currently advising and overseeing.

1160 miles travelled to Sacramento and back in two days to help celebrate Christa's wedding. Was a fabulous trip with our dear friend Stevie full of good food, rockin' music, cupcakes and magazines.

My best friend's wedding

Sigh........ what a wonderful weekend. One of my very best friends in the world (the lovely Ashley Cantlon-now-Simonson) got married. It was such a special weekend full of laughter, tears, and delicious food. Here are some of my favorite highlights:

Friday - Ashley's bachelorette party. We went out to Lola's room to go dancing and it was 80's night. They had three large screens up playing the videos from back in the day so that we could all dance along. It was such a fun time and the music that was being played was so great no one could sit still for long despite how much our feet hurt. Favorite moment - all 25 girls forming a circle around the bride as she danced to Madonna's "Vogue".

Saturday - Dinner with family and friends at Lucky Lab. Delicious pizza, salad and dessert included. Afterwards, 10 of us (Ashley's closest friends) headed out to Edgefield to hang out in the soaking pool and get to know each other better. It was so much fun because all 10 of us have been in Ashley's life at different points (grade school, high school, college) and have all heard of one another and this was the first time all of us were in one room together. We had a slumber party with the bride and laughed until tears rolled down our faces. Favorite moments - 1) Talking to Ashley's dad about the wedding and how proud he is of her. 2) Hanging out in the soaking pool and sharing stories about who we are and how much we love our dearest Ashley.

Sunday - Ashley and her sister woke us up with mimosas and muffins. Afterwards, the two of them started to get ready while the 10 of us headed out to the site to help with set up. Ashley's parents and Joshua's parents greeted us with coffee and large smiles. We frantically helped set up chairs and set up the tables with centerpieces. Afterwards, we headed back to Edgefield for a nice relaxing brunch before we dolled ourselves up. We then headed back to the site (Bridal Veil Lake) for the wedding. The wedding was fantastic with the bride and groom doing their own vows, Ashley's father saying some kind words about marriage, Joshua's dad reading his favorite prayer, and then the bride and groom finally canoeing off towards the reception site. The food at the reception was delicious, the wine flowed, and the dancing was entertaining. Favorite moments: 1) Ashley's sweet vows. 2) Seeing Ashley's dad and Joshua both tear up. 3) Ashley's 5 year old nephew Brady grooving to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" at the reception.

Below are some snapshots from the big day........ Congrats to Mr and Mrs Simonson! I love you both!

What a great September so far!

Magic Mile Sky Ride at Mt Hood

Bryce and I rode the Magic Mile Sky Ride at Mt Hood and had glorious weather to hike around and check out Timberline Lodge as well. Despite years of living in Portland, that was our first time visiting that area and we had a wonderful time. The view was spectacular and the wind felt great as we hiked around.





Such a big kitty


Penny is officially a big, adult cat now and is eating "big girl food". She's been a great addtion to the house and has been getting along really well with our other cat Sydney. The two will frequently take cat naps together and even give each other little kisses now and again.






New addition to the Marquardt family


Chrissy and her husband CJ welcomed their first child on September 1st. Welcome to the world James Elijah! Bryce and I were fortunate to be able to go and visit the little guy when he was just 4 days old. He is absolutely precious and I couldn't be happier for my friends. I've known Chrissy for 10 years now and just know that she is going to be a spectacular mom.




I love this picture of Bryce and CJ cooing over baby James. Between the arrival of our cute niece and now sweet little James, Bryce and I are getting lots of time to hold and play with darling little babies.

Nehalem Bay Camping trip
Bryce and I took a nice little weekend trip to our favorite spot, Nehalem Bay. We had a great time sitting on the beach reading, warming up around the fire, strolling on the beach, eating delicious clam chowder, and just spending time together. Below are some of my favorite snaps from the weekend.

Family Camping Trip 2010

This last weekend we had a wonderful time at the annual Majors/Bates/Grimm family camping trip. We hiked, ate yummy food, enjoyed the sun, and oohed and aahed over sweet Aven. It was a wonderful time for everyone to be together, laugh and share stories. Here are some highlights..... all featuring Aven naturally. :)

Sacramento Road Trip

Just got back from a weekend trip to Sacramento. Bryce, my friend Stevie and I took a road trip down to California to attend our friend Christa's wedding. We accomplished a lot in 3 days. We were able to have breakfast with the Southern Oregon family, celebrated Bryce's and my 4 year anniversary, toured Sacramento (including the capital and Old Sacramento), got to know Stevie's mom and grandma, attended Christa and Greg's wedding and then made it all the way home. Below are some snaps from our brief but fun filled journey.