Trial and Error

Jeff's been trying out some new looks for the wedding. Here's one he worked up! Yep, that's him...not to be confused with a Norwegian foreign exchange student. So, what do you think?

Playing With Fire

So, I don't know if I've mentioned it..but I like photography. Mostly I'm a point and shoot kind of girl and I most definitely prefer human subjects. Jeff gave me a great camera for Christmas 2005 and I've been playing paparazzi with it for a little over a year. I kind of wish I had the patience to sit down and figure out how my camera works (I hate reading instructions, especially when they're technical) but then I think, it does the job. And my "just get it done" attitude wins again.

So, what you see below is me playing around with the shutter speed on my camera. No instructions read, just trial and error. I wrote this backwards using a lighter..and I meant every word ;)




And now I have a confession to make. Before I got engaged (and even afterwards, if I'm being honest) I thought of every situation as a possible "engagement opportunity." For instance, when I worked at Fireworks during the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of college we sold a necklace with a spinning silver pendant. To the normal passerby it appeared to have random dashes and slashes in the metal..but if you took the time to spin it you'd see that the dashes on both sides formed the words "i love you"-an optical illusion. I thought, wouldn't it be awesome if it said "will you marry me?" That way one could give it to the love of their life and maybe they wouldn't notice it at first, and just maybe they'd be at work daydreaming and get to spinning that thing and then....you get the idea.

Well, I had the same flash of imagination when I took the above photos. I thought, wouldn't it be nice to go on a romantic dinner and then ask the waiter to take your photo? You'd pose together while either the boyfriend or a friend in the background (ok, so I haven't completely figured out the logistics) wrote in fire, "will you marry me?" Then the girlfriend would do the typical "let me see it, I want to make sure I looked good"-thing (yes, we live in a digital age) and imagine her surprise...and to have that moment on film!

I need not dream anymore...my knight in shinning armor found an incredibly surprising and sweet way to propose. AND it was caught on film! But, for some reason I can't stop my mind from working this way. So, I'm offering up my services! If anyone needs a good brainstorming session on how to propose, I'm available.

2006 Highlights

I thought I should do a year end review of 2006...but as I started to think about this past year I realized that often the days blurred into one another. Too much work and not enough play! Here's what I came up with, but I'm sure I'm missing a couple of great memories. Anyone want to jog them for me?

FEBRUARY- I was a bridesmaid in my friend Dina's wedding. We have known each other since 1st grade. I still remember Dina and another girl approaching me and my then best friend, Sarah, on the play ground. She walked up and said, "all you guys care about is your hair and your make-up"! (meanwhile I was NOT wearing make up at the ripe age of six, but I must say my hair was incredible ;)) Sarah was not too thrilled about this comment and promptly smacked their two heads together. Sarah got in trouble, of course, but Dina and her friend never bothered us again. I guess bullying works?

APRIL- Miss Sylvia June Myron was born...April 4, 2006. A girl!


THEN

NOW

April 21, 2006- Blakely Walter Simonsen was born. What a cute, soon to be, first cousin once removed in-law. ;)


MAY- Dallas 2006! It's a tradition for my college friends to have an annual reunion. So far it's been Seattle twice (here's to a third one in March!) and Dallas once. We're hoping to be able to reunite in more exotic locations in the future...italy, france, greece to name a few. But, that's in the future and this is about the past. Memorial day weekend was spent on Lake Palestine, about two hours outside of Dallas. We had quite the adventure; fighting off 100's of mosquitoes that got "let in" to the house, beaching our pontoon boat in shallow alligator filled water (I don't care if I never saw one- there WERE warning signs), cooking up a storm, and generally soaking in the sun and enjoying each others company. I look forward to many many more. Love you!

JUNE- The arrival of the next generation for our little Gough family (I can say that now, it's 42 days away). Simon Hayes Gough, born June 12, 2006. 5 weeks early but a healthy and happy baby boy. He just gets cuter and cuter, what a lucky Auntie I am.


THEN

NOW

JULY-AUGUST- Many fun filled days and nights at the Lake House with the Myrons. What a getaway in Renton of all places! Kim- your parents are gracious hosts and I'm hoping we'll be doing more of the same this year. ;)
They make take our summers, but they will never take our FREEDOM! (Freedom was our pet bird at the lake house)

OCTOBER- I got engaged! Click here for a trip down memory lane.

DECEMBER- Besides the obvious Christmas fun I also had a dear friend return back home with her husband after living in England for the past 14 months. It was so good to see you Alisha and Dan, I was sad to see you go.



And that about covers it...my 2006! I challenge all the other bloggers to recount this last year, it's never too late. I was almost discouraged not to do it, apparently there's something inside me that believes if you don't get things taken care of immediately you've lost your opportunity. But, I'm learning that's not true AND it's kind of fun to do things late; send gifts, blog about events, say thank you. I guess there's truth in the saying "better late than never".

Goodbye 2006, hello 2007!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

It's my Dad's birthday today and he left early this morning with my Mom to go to Palm Springs. Hope you have a wonderfully relaxing time to celebrate and enjoy the company of your wife!



I love you!