Brandon and Angela Laws

Baby Blog

2011-11-20T19:53:00.001-08:00

For anyone who may be interested, check out http://www.parkerlaws.com Brandon made us a website to write about our pregnancy. He is a great writer and has some really cute posts and then I have been putting up pictures and writing about different weeks.

Boy or Girl?

2011-10-14T14:52:00.001-07:00

Just got back from our 2nd prenatal appointment and we got to hear babys heartbeat and schedule our next ultrasound. Countdown is officially ON! 3 weeks and 4 days until we get to see our baby again and hopefully find out if baby is a he or a she! I cant wait! I feel like its a girl but maybe thats just because I would love a girl since we have a name picked out if it is in fact a she! A boy would be great too, of course. That's what Brandon is rooting for ;-) Now, if only this morning sickness would go away...

So far, it has been a great Friday. Brandon and I both took today off and have been able to spend some time together. We went over to the new cinetopia theater and saw 50/50 (GREAT movie! Definitely need to bring a giant wad of tissues for it!) It was our first time at the new theater and we had purchased and awesome groupon deal for it. It was empty since we went during the day on a week day. Only two other couples in there and we sat in the "living room" which is for 21+ and Brandon ordered a beer and I got a lovely non alcoholic soda ;-) and there is a TON of leg room and they even have comfy little ottomans for your feet to rest on. Cant wait to go back and use our other groupon we purchased!

Just a short little update for today, life is great and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Im off to go spend some more time with the hubby :-)

We're gonna have a baby!

2011-09-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

Yep, thats right! We are pregnant and going to have a baby!

I know it has been a long time since either one of us has wrote on here but things have been busy and then once we found out we were pregnant I couldnt write on here because the only thing I wanted to write about was that we were going to have a baby! We finally had our first doctors appointment earlier this week and the night before we actually heard the babies heartbeat on the doppler that my cousin is letting me borrow and then at the doctor we got to see our baby for the first time and it was an amazing moment I will never forget! (I think we might be having a mermaid child, look at the picture, what a cute little mermaid blob!)

I am 10 weeks and Baby Laws is due April 5th and we couldn't be happier!

um... hello? Remember me?

2011-07-04T12:39:00.001-07:00

Wow it has been a long time since Brandon or I have wrote on here. I suppose a lot has been going on since we last wrote.

Our adorable niece, Riley Gray Mutschler was born in May and she is so sweet and I love her to pieces! Tricia and Nate are wonderful parents and it is so nice to see them so happy with their new addition! I am looking forward to watching her and getting some Auntie time on Fridays when my sister has to go back to work.

Our furbaby, Mia just went in on Friday to get spayed. She ended up having her hernia fixed, getting spayed, 3 baby teeth extracted, her nails clipped and her rabies shot and the poor little girl is not feeling well at all. I dropped her off Friday morning which was somewhat sad for me but not as sad as it was when I picked her up that afternoon, I dont like seeing her so sad and hurt! She is still barely walking, she will just take a few steps and then fall over and cry. I called the vet and she said it isnt normal that she is doing that but if the incision looks fine then it probably isnt an infection and that perhaps she is just more sensitive and needs some more pain medicine. I am really hoping we just have a giant wimp on our hands and that there isnt anything really wrong with her. She must take after her mommy and wants lots of extra love and attention when we arent feeling well ;-)

Brandon has been playing softball once a week and also playing basketball twice a week so he has been busy with that on top of working hard on his side projects as well as at Xenium. Plus, he has to get in some golf time on the weekends, too! :-) He is such a hard worker!

Work for me has been going well. Nothing crazy and exciting to write about. I am mostly looking forward to the end of this month when Brandon and I will be heading to the beach to stay at the Stephanie Inn for our anniversary. I have read and heard only good things about this place and am excited for some time alone with Brandon and an extra long weekend away to relax!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July!

Work is Play

2011-03-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

Quick update

Last week, I took a few days off from work; the first time since August I have taken any sort of extended time off. I planned a mini-trip down to Irvine, CA for a three day event called "Meet the Masters."

I had the opportunity to go for free, all I needed to do was video tape the event; an easy trade to make for a ton of good information on investing, taxes, setting up business structures and other vital business topics.

I've been down before, but this time I didn't have to go alone. I went with my good friend, Doug Utberg, who happened to be speaking at the event, so it was a nice little get-away from the rainy Oregon weather.

A few days into the trip, though, I started getting a little home-sick, particularly because I am a home-body, and since we have a new little puppy, Mia, it's so hard to leave! I absolutely love being around her (and my wife, of course!). I tell you though, that first day I was back and got to see both of them, it's the greatest feeling ever.

And more thoughts...

As my time rolls on, I realize how important it is to make use of every second we have. I have reduced almost all wasteful activities like watching TV or videogames and replaced them with spending quality time with Angela and my family and other productive business activities.

About this time last year, I started freelance writing for extra cash and to start my own home-based business, and although I am still doing that, I have started picking up Search Engine Optimization (SEO) projects to expand my home-based business activities. Ultimately, I believe this could be a full-time business for me, as soon as I write a business plan and find new clients in the small business sector.

Ever since I became a big part in the development of Xenium's new corporate website (www.xeniumhr.com) I have really developed a passion for SEO and web-content development. It's been a success for our company so far, so it really solidifies the fact that I can do this on my own, given the fact that almost every business person, including myself, has their own website.

Just today, I finished up a project for Robert Adrian Music and I'm pretty excited about the results. When I started, he had nothing optimized and the navigation and structure were not very user-friendly; so when I got my hands on it, I cleaned up the code, optimized it for the search engines and gave him some content ideas for ongoing maintenance.

This project only took me about eight hours to complete and it was all pleasure for me! The bonus was that this type of work has great monetary rewards, which is an incentive for me to keep pushing forward.

The way I see it, if I love doing it, why not make a business out of it? Sure, I'll keep my day job, for now, but I'm happy to sacrifice the leisurely activities to build something I'm excited about. At the end of the day, it really is my entertainment.

-Brandon Laws

2011-02-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

So, as Brandon earlier posted, we have a new addition to our family. Mia is so sweet and really fun and a little crazy. :-) I cannot believe how much I love this little ball of fur! I thought maybe it would tame my baby-crazyness but instead I think it is making me want one more. :-) If I love an animal this much, I cant even imagine how much I will love our first child! ah, someday!

New Addition to the Laws Family

2011-02-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

Angela and I have been talking about it for years and we finally decided to do it since we now have our own home. It was sort of an impulse decision, due to the fact that it came together in a matter of hours, but we finally added a puppy to our family.

Our new puppy, Mia, is a mix of Yorki, Shitzsu and Lhasa Apso, and will get no larger than 12 lbs from my understanding. I never wanted a large dog, so Mia is a manageable size for Angela and I.

We picked Mia up on Saturday afternoon and spent the remainder of the evening getting the bare essentials for Mia and showing her off to our family members. It's always funny to me how a puppy can always warm a person's heart... even if they aren't a fan of dogs!

The first night was an experience. Let me say that I am quite a sucker when it comes to whimpering. At 2 am, soft cries gradually turned into real cries, which led Angela to get up and immediately take Mia outside. I'd like to say it stopped there, but it continued every time we put her back in the crate.

If you guessed that I couldn't handle the cries, you are right. I brought her out and had her sleep in the bed with us after the second pass at putting her in the crate around 3:00am. On the first night with a new home, we would have been wise to let Mia cry it out instead of bringing her into the bed with us, but my gosh did she look comfortable!

She slept very well in the middle of us, and quite honestly, even though it might of taught her a bad habit of sleeping on the bed, I'm okay with it. I love this little fur-ball!

Check out this video of Mia and her first evening with her new parents.

Much Has Happened

2011-02-05T13:34:00.000-08:00

At Buffalo Wild Wings

It seems like eons since either Angela or I have written on this blog; but I suppose it has really only been since November that one of us posted something... Ah yes, it was a picture of our lovely new home that Angela posted, before it was actually 'our' home.

Well, I came to officially announce that we have purchased and moved in to our new home, which is our first. (Yeah, I know, I am a few months late on writing about this!)

Entry way to our home

It seems like it has been a long time coming for this point in our lives. Still, I don't think it has fully hit me what we have accomplished. All the hard work Angela and I have put in to working while going to school and going to school while working, has paid dividends for us, and we are truly blessed to be in the position we are in. I often think about how many days, nights and weekends we gave up just to work a little bit harder to accomplish our goals.

To think that Angela and I paid our way through college, paid for a wedding, and then put a chunk of our savings down on our home and to still be ahead financially, seems like an impossible thing to accomplish for a couple of young people nowadays, but we did it!

I now ask myself, "what next?"

Funny thing is, I have known what is next for a long time and think about it every single day, just as I did with the previous accomplishments. I am a true believer in positive thinking and goal making, because as long as you stay up and keep pushing to achieve the goals, there is no way you cannot hit them; even if they seem far-fetched in the beginning. As you move forward, you always inch a little bit closer each time.

So what is next on the list? Child, rental property, 2nd rental property and own, but not directly manage, a business - in that order exactly.

These goals are shared by Angela and I, but I am very confident that she would be perfectly content with only hitting the first goal in that list (a Child)!

This is a short post, but I promise to write a little more often for personal reasons. I have been so stuck in business mode and writing for other people that I haven't made the time to write about us!

If you want to see what I have been doing for business writing, I built a website to deliver marketing content to owners, executives and marketing professionals in the small business sector at www.brandonlaws.com. I also do some freelance writing for www.jasonhartman.com and www.speakingofwealth.com for those that may have some interest in business and investing.

It's almost ours...

2010-11-21T18:51:00.000-08:00

SO EXCITED! We close on the 30th. More to come once it is OFFICIAL! :-)

Major YUM!

2010-11-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

Brandon and I have noticed that we often eat the same things every week so I decided to spend part of the day searching for some new recipes before we went grocery shopping this afternoon. I decided to make a really yummy shrimp alfredo for dinner tonight and it was SO yummy! I made enough to feed an army so Brandon is bringing some for his brother to have for lunch tomorrow and we are going to have it for dinner again tomorrow night haha. It was so yummy that I thought I would share the recipe with all of you (all 2 or 3 of you that read this!) ;-)

SPICY SHRIMP ALFREDO
12 ounces penne pasta
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, diced
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 (15 ounce) jar Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup cream
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente; drain.

2.Meanwhile, melt butter together with the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic, red pepper, and mushroom; cook over medium-high heat until soft, about 2 minutes more.

3.Stir in the shrimp, and cook until firm and pink, then pour in Alfredo sauce, Romano cheese, and cream; bring to a simmer stirring constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir drained pasta into the sauce, and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

I am normally not a fan of Alfredo sauce from a jar, I prefer to make my own. However, I love the idea of using the jar of sauce since it is quick and easy and then adding a few things to make it more yummy. I also bought a bag of frozen, raw shrimp that was already deveined and with the tails off so that saved me a good chunk of time as well. I used parmesan instead of romano cheese. Also, it was definitely a SPICY dish so if you dont like spice, I would use 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper-or less. I used the whole teaspoon of cayenne. B and I like it spicy wink wink.. (KIDDING! Hi Mom!) Oh, and the sauce was a little runny so I ended up adding about a tablespoon of cornstarch to some water and mixed it into the sauce to thicken it up.

Overall I rate this dish a 10 outta 10 for sure and will definitely be making this often. I bet it would even be yummy with chicken instead of shrimp!

My tummy is so full!

Whats for dessert?

PS. Next time I cook this meal, I will get to cook in this kitchen:

Swim, Bike, Run!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

I SURVIVED!!!!

This past Sunday I did the Deschutes Dash Sprint Triathlon in Bend and had an absolute BLAST! I am still on a "Tri High" and want to do another one already!

My final time ended up being 2 hours and 3 minutes. Which was 39 minutes slower then the fastest person in my age group and only 1 minute and 30 seconds slower then my sister, Tricia. I am really proud of my time and already have a goal of finishing in less then 2 hours next time! The swim was COLD and I had a really hard time catching my breath, I think next time I will plan on getting in the water a few minutes before the race starts so that I can get used to the water. I swam the 1300 yards in 20 minutes. The bike was absolutely awful for the first 6.5 miles. It was all up hill and SO many people passed me. I kept thinking, if i hear "to your left" one more time I will just cry. I cannot believe how slow and hard the bike was for me, but the downhill part was fantastic haha. I did the 12.5 miles in 1 hour and 4 minutes. The run part is what Im most proud of because if you know me, I HATE to run! I never run much more then a mile without stopping to walk, I just really really HATE to run. BUT I pushed myself and even after being exhausted from the swim and bike, I ran the 5K in 33 minutes! Another thing that could have really helped to cut my time down is my long transitions. After my bike ride I couldnt find my spot where all my stuff was and once I found it, I couldnt get my bike back on the rack so that was an extra minute or so that I could have done without!

I had so much fun and had a smile on my face the WHOLE time (well I probably wasnt smiling for the first half of the bike ride. But 2 deer crossed the street right in front of me and my bike and that made me smile!) Brandon just told me tonight that it is funny how I am not competitive at all. He video taped the whole thing and during the swim I spotted him multiple times and stopped to wave, I even yelled up at him from the water at one point. It really is such an awesome feeling to cross that finish line and know that although Im not competitive and not in it to win, I really pushed myself, tried my best and had a blast!

Thats all for now, I will write and post some pictures about the rest of our weekend in Bend another night!

-Angela

Happiness

2010-07-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

I just read a friends blog (well I suppose she is more of an acquaintance but she is really sweet and fun to be around the few times that I have been around her so I'm going to stick with friend!) Anyway, she wrote:

"I keep having the best day ever. Every day. Every weekend is the best weekend ever. And I'm not even lying. Life is so good when you choose to be happy, when you love what you do, when you surround yourself with loving and supportive people, when you remove the negativity and bad influences. MY LIFE IS SO GOOD. I am thankful."

How very true! If only more people had this way of thinking!

If you want to be happy then choose to be happy. Find the good out of every situation. Surround yourself by positive people. It really is that easy.

My husband is so talented...

2010-07-11T22:02:00.001-07:00

Random video from last August when we were at the beach

I think I can, I think I can...

2010-07-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

The Deschutes Dash Tri is fast approaching! I have my tri shorts, my wet suit, goggles, swim cap, etc... BUT I dont feel physically ready which is the most important part but oh well! I survived the first sprint tri I did in Seattle two years ago and hadnt really trained at all so I am feeling pretty confident that I will do even better this year.

We are leaving on Friday to head to Bend and will be there through Sunday. I am SO looking forward to having three days off, especially after the busy work week I just had! We are talking about doing the Deschutes Brewery Tour on Friday so that should be fun.

Next time I write I will let you know how the Deschutes Dash went and hopefully have some pictures to post! Ill also write about getting acupuncture, I have my second appointment this thursday! So until next time friends!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-05T20:18:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!!!! I thought I would post a few pictures from last weekends camping trip.

My best friend from beauty school, Christina, and her fiance invited us to go camping on Christina's families land in Vernonia. We went up there with them and Brandon's brother Darren and a few of Christina's friends and her parents on Saturday evening and came back Monday.

Although the weather was yucky and it rained Sunday night (which was interesting to wake up in a puddle of water in our tent...) we all had a blast. Here are a couple pictures....

I tried to post more then just these three but apparently I do not know how to use Blogger very well... Oh well!!! :-)

Bride to be Brittanica!

2010-05-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was Brittany's (better known as Brittanica!) bachelorette party. It was such a fun night and so great to see Brittany and reunite with some other high school friends as well. We started the night at a friends house and eventually a pink limo picked us up and took us out to Portland to dance the night away! Kimmie and Shelane did a great job planning her party and Im pretty sure Brittany had a blast (as did the rest of us!) So, thanks Shelane and Kimmie and thanks to Brittany for getting married so that we could have this fun night together! :-)

Brittany was my very best friend in highschool and got into some silly fights here and there and always made up and started back where we left off. She is the friend who I can go months without seeing and once we do get together its as if we have been hanging out all along! I wish we wouldnt have grown apart as much as we have but I am so greatful to still have her as one of my friends!

Congrats Brittanica, I am so glad you have found a great guy who treats you like you deserve and who makes you happy. I am so excited to see you get married this weekend, you are going to be one gorgeous bride!

Videos...Videos...Videos

2010-04-20T21:54:00.001-07:00

Given that I purchased a new computer that can keep up with my high def camcorder, you will be seeing a lot more videos being posted on here. I have had the chance to go back through the wedding videos, upload them, and even edit to make them ready for everyone's viewing pleasure!

Here is one of my favorite videos that I edited. It's not the best editing work, but the speeches are wonderful and worth every second watching. I hope you enjoy one of the best moments of Angela and my lives.

What's up with the Laws family?

2010-04-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

Jeez! It's been a while since either one of us have written on our blog and felt it was time to catch up. Interestingly enough, nothing crazy has been going on with us; but we are doing well and we wanted to let everyone know that.

Angela and I have been busy with work, and on occasion, will get to the gym for a nice little workout at the YMCA down the road. For me personally, work has been going very well. I have tackled a few new projects and have developed a few great mentors in the marketing and executive space that helped me greatly in terms of learning. I am also doing some side projects to earn a few extra bucks and to increase my writing capabilities.

I started my own business officially, under my name, writing press releases for a podcast radio show called "The Creating Wealth Show". It's been a fantastic opportunity and I am thankful I have the learning opportunity of writing "professionally," even though my writing isn't quite that caliber! I am really excited I took the first step in being a business owner and getting to the other side of the tax code; because we all know the tax code is written for business owners, not for employees.

There have been some exciting family things going on too! My cousin Alishia gave birth to Owen Young about four months ago and I captured a little video Easter day that I wanted to share:

My cousin Sheena is also pregnant, and we are all looking forward to the day she gives birth! It will certainly put the pressure on Angela and I; but I think we are ready :-)

Updates to come later... maybe even from Angela!

Softball Season is here!!!!

2010-03-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

Brandon played in his second softball tourny of the season and they were undefeated for the weekend and the tourny champs!!! I missed the games yesterday since I was working but got to watch them play all day today. I was miserably cold but it was still a fun morning/afternoon getting to watch them play and chatting with the ladies! Next time, Im wearing more layers and bringing more then the two blankets I had! :-)

Life is GREAT!!

2010-02-19T17:53:00.001-08:00

What a wonderful week it has been!

It started with Brandon and I getting memberships at the local YMCA last Friday and we have actually gone 5 outta the 7 days. (okay okay, I went 4 because I refused to get up one morning when the alarm went off way too early!) :-) But still, I am pretty proud of myself for going 4 times and actually have decent work outs, too. This morning I decided to go swim and I was praying that it would be empty but there were 2 people in each lane except one. So I joined that lane and we just split the lane which is nice because I can go at my own pace. However about 15 minutes into it, a woman joins our lane so we then have to circle swim which gave me major anxiety because I then felt like I was being chased by the older, super fast guy that was on my tail hahaha. So, I decided that was enough swimming for one day! ;-)

I have also been really into cooking this week. We both decided we wanted to try eating a lot healthier and to also try not to go out so that we can save some extra money! I went grocery shopping last Friday and bought tons of produce and some other healthier choices of snacks and foods. Which is a daily bummer when I wanna snack on something bad for me and we dont have anything here! ;-) As far as our meals have gone, everything I made this week we have really liked. I have been making recipes from a few cookbooks that I have. I made stuffed peppers one night, home made Fettucini Alfredo with parmesan zucchini on the side, crunchy lime tilapia with orange flavored green beans and red pepper on the side and then tonight we had crab and herb pasta with salad. So it has been fun to be able to try some new recipes and to stay in every night and not go out and spendy money!

I have also been busy at work this week. I normally have Friday and Sunday off but last Sunday we had an open house which was packed with lots of new people and we got a good amount of enrollments and tons of trial classes scheduled which was great! Oh, and I have made my tv debut! Keep it local on channel six came and taped one of the parent/child classes I teach and interviewed the owner/gym director and a few of the parents and that aired this week so things have been going great at work and I am even heading up to Seattle with the owner/gym director and the assistant gym director for a training this weekend.

Some really exciting news that happened this week is that one of my very best friends, Christina and her boyfriend, Andrew are ENGAGED! He proposed on Valentines Day and I am beyond excited for the two of them. She asked me to be one of her Bridesmaids and I am so honored to get to play a special part in their big day!

The cherry on top to this week has definitely been the beautiful weather. How can you not be in a good mood when the sun is shining in February, right?

I hope that everyone who is reading this had a fantastic week as well!

Ange

Update on the Laws Family

2010-01-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since I, Brandon Laws, have had a chance to write a blog post. Well, I wouldn't say I haven't had a chance, but I clearly have been lazy to do so :-)

Things have been a lot of the same for me. Basketball once a week on Thursdays, a few Blazer games sprinkled in here and there, and of course, work.

Speaking of work, it has been great. I have been given some great opportunities and been able to freshen up a lot of our marketing materials and processes over the last few months, and it has been quite a learning experience for me. I even, Friday during the day, taught an Intermediate Excel Class to about 20 of our employees at Xenium. Even though I didn't do as well as I had thought I could, it was a great learning experience for me and I was glad to get the chance to teach others what I know and have learned over the years.

Angela and I have both realized that it is time to get back into the gym. At the start of February we are going to enroll at the local YMCA in Sherwood, down the road from our place. We both noticed we haven't been the healthiest two people in the world since we have been married, but I think it was partly the dark and gloomy winter nights that got us sitting on the couch most evenings - but I also think it was those Blazer games on TV that got me :-)

Family things that are going on: my brother, Darren, just graduated from PSU and is looking to either pursue a master's program or possibly to go out and get some experience. Either way, he is one smart guy and I am really proud of him for finishing.

My cousin Alishia just had a baby. Owen Clay Young was brought into this world on a very snowy night in Tualatin and he is the most precious baby ever! John and Alishia will be great parents!

That's about it for now, but I am sure Angela has some other exciting things to share with everyone soon; like recipes on her favorite dishes or even what just happened on Teen Mom, a ridiculous reality TV show on MTV that I had to watch with her one evening last week.

Eating Well Serves Two

2010-01-26T21:42:00.000-08:00

I got a few cookbooks as wedding presents and finally took some time to go through them. One of the books, "Eating Well Serves Two" has recipes for quick, healthy meals for two people. PERFECT! I found a recipe for beer battered fish tacos with an avacado salsa and decided to give it a try. Here is the recipe:

beer battered fish tacos

3 Tbls flour
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/3 cup of beer
8 ounces tilapia fillet cut into 1 inch wide strips (I used two small pieces of fish)
2 tsp oil
4 corn tortillas warmed

combine flour, cumin, salt, cayenne and then whisk in the beer to make batter and coat the fish pieces with the batter and drop into a pan that is over medium high eat with the oil. Took about 2-3 minutes on each side to cook and get brown.

tomato and avacado salsa

combine 1 diced tomato, 1/4 cup red onon, 1/2 minced jalepeno, 3 Tbls lime juice, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper. Then, stir in 1/2 diced avacado and 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

They were SO yummy. Brandon and I loved our dinner! The fish tacos took no time at all to prepare or make and the salsa took a little while to chop everything but it had so much flavor!

So yummy that I had to share!

-Ange

Try a Tri

2010-01-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

So, I just signed up for the Deschutes Dash Sprint Triathlon. It is in July and my sister and brother in law and some of their friends also signed up and we are talking about getting a house for a three day weekend during that weekend of the Tri.

I am VERY excited and really hope I can get myself to actually work out and train for this one. You may remember that Summer of '08 I did my first sprint tri and didnt train like I should have. However, I finished the race alive so at least I know I can do it.

It was such a great feeling crossing the finish line last time so I am looking forward to doing this. Maybe I will be able to do the full Tri next time! :-) Plus, I really want to get into shape. I definitely have noticed my body changing and getting a little more chubby in certain areas so it it is time to stop being lazy and get my butt into gear!

Wish me luck cause Im going to need it! :-)

-Ange

Family

2009-11-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

As most know, family is absolutely the most important thing to me. The time I spend with family wouldn't be given up for anything; that's how much I treasure it!

I had a chance to visit my father's side of the family today, whom I do not see very often. It's great seeing them, and what I love most is that their eyes seem to light us when they see Darren and I.

I have been extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful and loving family, and today's event was another reason why I have such a strong belief in the love my family has for each other. Not only is my immediate family wonderful, but I am blessed to have in-laws whom I also dearly love. I count my blessings daily because I don't know what path I would be on without my family. I hope to extend that love to my future children and grandchildren someday that my parents and grandparents have given me all my life.

A gift for Teacher Angela

2009-11-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

I thought I would tell you about a very sweet gift I received the other day from a five year old boy in one of my gymnastics classes. (I apologize ahead of time for the really poor quality pictures!) Anyway, another instructor and myself teach a gymnastics class on Wednesday afternoons that has twelve 4, 5 and 6 year olds and we were starting class in a big circle going over the rules and everyones names and this boy comes running in a few minutes late and sits next to me and says "I have a gift for you, Teacher Angela!" I really thought nothing of it and had forgotten about it by the time class was over.

After class, I gave all the kids stamps on their hands and feet and walked into the lobby where all the parents are and where the kids were putting their shoes on and getting ready to leave and that boy came up to me and says "I have a gift for you!" and he hands me this Christmas stocking:

His grandma was right behind him and said that he had planned this all on his own. Him and I are both sitting on the ground and he helps me open it and he poors out everything that is inside:

Here is a closer look, first there is this small rose boutineer like thing in a plastic container with two foam smiley faces:

Oh, and the Christmas stocking was pinned shut with this pin:

There was also a flattened penny from tillamook and another random coin:

and three nickels:

You could tell how excited he was to give me this gift and he told me that it was mine to keep and I thanked him for such a thoughtful gift and even sent him a thank you card in the mail. It totally made my day to not just be given such a cute and sweet (& completely random haha) gift but to see how excited he was to give it to me and to know that these kids I teach and hang out with every week really enjoy having me as their teacher.

This gift also made up for the fact that this same boy on that same day had, on accident, jumped and hit me in the face giving me a swollen, bruised lip. haha! :-)

Yummy Muffins

2009-11-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

So I have been on this baking kick lately. A few weeks ago I made a chocolate cake and then last week I made s'more brownies and today I made dark chocolate chip orange muffins!

I was showering and thinking about Christmas and for some reason I thought about these:

In our christmas stocking my mom always put oranges in the bottom of them and a few years, we got these instead of oranges, so yummy!

Anyway, I bought dark chocolate chips a few weeks ago and I would google a chocolate orange muffin recipe and found a bunch. A lot of them used ingredients that i didnt have but I finally found a really easy recipe. It called for buttermilk which I didnt have so I googled "buttermilk substitute" and found out that you can add lemon juice to milk and let it sit for a few minutes instead of using buttermilk.... gotta love google!

Here is the recipe:

1 stick butter
2 eggs
1 c. sugar
2 c. flour
Fresh grated peel of 1 orange (1 1/2 tsp. to 1 tbsp.)
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. miniature chocolate chips

Beat butter and sugar until creamed. Beat in eggs. Add grated orange peel. In separate bowl, combine buttermilk and baking soda and powder. (Don't worry it if curdles.) Squeeze the juice from the orange (6 to 8 tablespoons) into buttermilk. Add buttermilk and flour alternately 1/3 at a time into butter mixture. Fold until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. (Don't overmix.) Spoon into muffin pan. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

I have really dark muffin pans that I have been burning the bottoms of all my muffins pretty so I turned down the over to 350 and cooked them for 17 min and they turned out pretty fantastic!

Of course, all these yummy treats are not what Brandon and I need to be eating all the time (neither is the Burger King we had for dinner HAHA...) So I sent s'more brownies with him last week to bring to work and Im sending him with most of the muffins to bring to work tomorrow. So hopefully him and I don't end up looking like this...

Anyway, just thought I would share this yummy recipe!!

-Angela

Halloween

2009-11-08T21:17:00.001-08:00

I have nothing exciting to write about but I thought Id share a photo from Halloween. Brandon and I were matching fairies, he was way prettier then me :-)

Date Night

2009-10-09T18:45:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention that tonight, Brandon and I are having a "date night"

I just finished getting all dolled up and am waiting for him to pick me up so we can go to dinner and then we are gonna watch a movie after that. We havent been able to spend any time together this week because he has either came home late and Im already in bed or Ive came home late and he has been in bed. So I am very excited to get to spend the evening with him!

Good thing this isn't a first date because he was supposed to be here at 6:30 so he is over 20 minutes late. hahaha

Ill end this post with a picture from probably like 6 months or so after we first started dating....

Happy Fall!!

2009-10-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

I am so excited that Fall is here! I love the new chilly weather, especially since it has been sunny out also! Although, I know the rain is on its way but I am okay with that! I really cannot believe it is already October, the months are just flying by and before I know it, it will be Christmas time...

A lot of people have been asking us about wedding pictures. Hopefully we will get them soon. Its only been a little over 2 months and I think our contract with our photographer said 90 days, so it should be soon! Brandon and I have been considering getting some additional pictures of us taken. We decided not to have engagement pictures taken and I would really like to have some cute "every day" pictures of us to put up in our place. Not really a priority right now but something I would like to do eventually!

Brandon and I have been thinking about getting gym memberships so that we can get into shape. Well, so that he can stay in shape and so that I can get into shape! :-) I'm so glad my job involves me to be active every day or else I would be a 300 pound woman by now with all the crap Ive been eating! I would really love to start working out though that way I can be in shape and be ready for my next triathlon this summer! Unfortunatly, our aparments dont have a gym built and it doesnt seem like it will be built any time soon. But, we have a Snap Fitness here in Sherwood and there is the Y here. I also work right next door to a 24 hour and down the street from Club Sport. I think I would prefer to go somewhere here in Sherwood. I really want to be able to swim though since thats the one workout I actually enjoy. So I guess with those requirements, that just leaves the Y. We shall see!!

All of these thoughts of working out and getting into shape have made me hungry, time to go raid the kitchen ;-)

I love my sisters

2009-09-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

Old pic, I think from 2007...? But I found it and thought I should say that I love my sisters!

Happy Birthday Nate!!

2009-09-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

So its been awhile but nothing is really new and exciting in our lives!

Everything is going pretty well! We have been having some troubles with my silly car and after having it towed three times and been to two different shops 3 or 4 times in the past 3 months and about $1000 later, my car SHOULD be good as new... We will see :-)

Work is going great for both Brandon and I. Im working just over 40 hours a week and I absolutely LOVE my job. I love the people I work with and I love the classes I teach, especially the Parent/Child classes with the kids under 3, they make me smile every time. Brandon still loves his job and everyone he works with as well and we both feel very blessed to have jobs we enjoy working at every day!

I am so excited that fall is approaching, I love when the seasons change and Im looking forward to the leaves changing and for the weather to be cooler, I dont even mind the rain. Plus Halloween is just around the corner and that should be a lot of fun. I think I may be a fairy this year and make my own fairy skirt. A little girl came to dance class at work in a colorful skirt that her mom made, so that is my inspiration :-)

Im looking forward to tonight, Kelsey and her husband Trevor are coming over and so is Tricia and Birthday Boy Nate and Denise and her boyfriend Josh and I am making chicken enchiladas. YUM YUM (hopefully!)

Well, laundry is calling my name and so is a shower... Ta Ta

Is this real....

2009-08-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

I really want to know if this is a real 911 call. I cant imagine someone being so ridiculous!

What a wonderful week...

2009-08-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day of vacation and oh how this week has been enjoyed!

Last Friday was our rehearsal followed by dinner at Bob and Kamera's for the wedding party, their significant others, our grandparents and parents and it was a lot of fun and delicious food. We had tacos, enchiladas, rice, chips and salsa, etc... YUM YUM! Brandon and I recently purchased a video camera so we taped a few parts of the night. I ended up saying goodnight to Brandon and heading to my moms just before midnight (maybe earlier, dont really remember)

I woke up on Saturday and was pretty much just bored and anxious and excited. I paced around the house all morning long hoping the clock would move faster :-) Just before 200, Christina, Tricia, Jaime and Denise started to do their hair and makeup (Just so happens that Christina is a hairstylist and was nice enough to help the others!) Katie came and started my hair and makeup at 2 and we were rushing out the door at 400. Timing was actually pretty perfect.

We got to Rock Creek and I immediately put my dress on and the girls put theirs on also. Kamera got a little bit of that on video tape also and then I walked out to the hall to see Brandon for the first time that day. Bob taped us seeing each other. We both were teary and just hugged and kissed and then off we went to do pictures with our wedding party. Then the ceremony was ready to start (all of this from 2-6 went by SO fast) I wasnt nervous at all, I think just because time was flying by and I had already seen Brandon and was just beyond excited to walk down that aisle and marry that boy :-) I think my dad may have been more nervous then me? As I was walking down the aisle it was a really weird feeling to have so many people staring at me and it was then that I realized all of those people were there supporting Brandon and myself and that is a WONDERFUL feeling. I saw Brandon and finally made it up there to hold his hands and look in his eyes and from that moment till the end of the ceremony, it was just the most happiest and wonderful moment in my entire life. I will NEVER forget the way I felt at that moment. After the ceremony Im pretty sure the only two phrases I said the rest of the night were "This is the happiest day of my life" and "Im the sweatiest bride EVER" haha. The first thing we did after being introduced as Mr and Mrs Brandon Laws at the reception was sneak off with the whole wedding party to take a shot of whiskey. Luckily, our wonderful photographers and Chris (our amazing videoographer for the evening- we owe you BIG time Chris) were there to capture the start of a fun night. After that, we ate dinner (yes brandon and I did get to eat- a little!) and we mingled with everyone and then danced our night away. It was awesome because the dance floor was packed till the very end and all of us were dancing like crazy people. (or maybe that was just me....) :-) Our ride came to pick us up and Brandon and I were whisked away to the most amazing hotel in portland, The Lucia. SO fancy shmancy. Him and I ate at the bar right when we got there haha and then of course we came back to our room and went straight to sleep ;-) Overall, our wedding was everything we had hoped it would be and then some. It was great to have everyone there (over 180 loving, caring, wonderful friends and family) and our flowers were beautiful, the cake looked and tasted great, our DJ was a hoot, Brandon looked so handsome, I felt pretty in my dress, I could go on and on....

As for our honeymoon, we have been calling it our minimoon. We hope to be able to go on a big vacation like a cruise sometime soon! But it was awesome just getting to relax at the beach. We stayed at the starfish manor in lincoln city and we spent one day at the salishan spa and had a couples massages and relaxed in their outdoor heated pool area. We lost some money at the casino and had a wonderful dinner there one night. We ate at our favorite diner in lincoln city where we shared a ginormous burger and yummy milkshake and my favorite day was when we filled out hotel room sink with ice and champagne and beer and drank all afternoon while playing cards and took a trip down to the beach. On our way home we stopped by the tillamook cheese factory and then to my moms house and his parents house to open all of our wedding gifts and oh my goodness it is overwhelming with how much stuff we got. We were so thankful for everyone who came to our wedding and supported us on shared with us our special day and then to recieve gifts from people as well is just unbelievable. Thank you to everyone, we love you all!

As for tomorrow, it is back to work I go... So not ready but I guess I have no choice :-)

PS: Congrats to my cousin Julie and her husband Matt on their new bundle of joy, Ryder. He was born yesterday and I cannot wait to meet him! Im sure Madeline will be a wonderful big sister!

PS#2: Congrats to our friends Britney and Joel on their new son Garrett who was born this morning. I know you both will be fantastic parents and I cant wait to see his cute face and sing him the rap I made for him haha ;-)

The Laws Wedding

2009-08-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

I will be updating this post periodically once I upload more clips from the wedding. My computer is very slow so it may take a few days to work up the patience to get them transferred.

Thanks to everyone for the support and love!

-Brandon and Angela Laws

Wedding < One Week

2009-07-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

With less than one week to go, Angela and I are getting our things in order. All the money saved up seems to be quickly dissapearing but the love is ever so strong! (Cheesey eh?)

Just about everything seems to be lined up for the wedding thanks to Angela and her hard work on all of the planning. Now we just need to enjoy ourselves and pray it is not 105 degrees like today. If that happens, either we will need more beer or the clubhouse will need to bring in more water!

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day. Although I cannot disclose where and what I bought, I will say, that the groomsmen gifts I bought yesterday are pretty cool; and I hope the guys like them! In addition to the gifts, Angela and I made a trip to VideoOnly to make a large purchase. We bought the camcorder we wanted!

I did quite a bit of research on cameras and found this model to be one of the more user-friendly and high quality units. I think Angela and I are very happy with our purchase, especially after we plugged it into our Plasma tv to see the recorded video on the hard drive. Needless to say, we were both shocked with how "high Def" it really was. Our main purpose for purchasing this was for the wedding and honeymoon (versus hiring a videographer), and we are very excited we will be able to capture it with this.

This may sound lame, but I will post the video we capture of our wedding on here for our friends and family to see!

You will hear from us when we are Mr. and Mrs. Laws... much love!

Bachelor Party FUN!

2009-07-14T17:49:00.001-07:00

Oh... what a fun weekend! I had been looking forward to this trip for quite some time ever since I found out the guys had planned for us to go to Black Butte for golf and many other adventures.

The day began with an early buzzer from the alarm clock. We had a tee time at Glaze Meadow Golf Course in Black Butte at 11am, so we had to leave by 7am in order to check in. We took 3 cars full of golf clubs, beer, and alcoholics and followed each other down and arrived at the Ranch about 10am. Come to find out, some of the guys (PAT) started drinking on the way down and managed to get 6 beers in!

After we arrived at the golf course, we loaded our bags full of beer and got ready to start the round. We played a 2 man scramble and my partner was Pat. We managed to play pretty good, but ended up losing to Bryce and Matty.

Below is a picture of us before we all teed off on the first hole. (we were not drunk at time)

After the round of golf, we checked into our house. I was amazed to say the least. This place was huge and managed to hold all of the guys we brought.

We decided to start things off with a bang by playing some beer pong and ordered some pizza. In all honesty, everything after that was basically a blur, but I know we went to the pool sometime after that.

After the pool, some of us decided we would go to the lodge where they had an outside bar near the lake, and the rest of the guys stayed back and ordered the UFC fight.

The above picture is us at the bar outside. We were all drunk by this point, and one person managed to basically get us kicked out!!! haha

Although there was much more that went on, I sadly do not remember most of it! That is how your bachelor party is supposed to be right?!?! One thing I am happy of is that we were all safe and we didn't do anything stupid. I am fortunate to have friends and family that care enough to be involved in my bachelor party and we all had a fantastic time. This was exactly what I needed!

Here is another cool picture I took while we were wasting time:

Wonderful weekend!

2009-07-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend and hope all of you did as well!

Our weekend started on Thursday night where we headed to Brandon's parents house to stay the night since Brandon was going golfing at the butt crack of dawn Friday morning! So I got to sleep in while he went out and golfed all morning. He came back and we headed to washington to his grandparents who live just after the looooong astoria bridge. We had a good time up there. We got to see his BOTH of his grandparents which was so great and spend some fun time with his family. We set up a tent and had a BBQ and sat around the fire. We headed back on Saturday and showered and then went over to my grandparents for their BBQ which is always fun and after that we came back home.

Today was a really great day. I woke up around 8 and started cleaning this apartment like crazy for some reason, which needed to be done so thats good. We ate and then headed to the pool and eventually came back and I gave him a haircut (he is looking even more studly then ever!) and we even made cookies together!

Overall, it has been a really nice 3 day weekend together and we are so glad we go to spend it with our families! Now its time for another work week and then another weekend of fun! Im getting my hair done Friday and then going to the coldplay concert and Brandon has his Bachelor party in Black Butte and I am having my Bachelorette party this weekend. FUN FUN!

Burned Out!

2009-06-27T18:29:00.001-07:00

Life isn't supposed to be as hectic as it has been for Angela and I lately. I have been on the go constantly with the overwhelming amount of softball, and Angela has been terribly sick over the last 2 weeks... but don't worry, I have been taking care of her... when I am home!

I felt I needed to get my frustrations out; softball is supposed to be fun, but for me, it no longer is. I play about 6-8 games a week, and if there is a tournament, I am looking at 14+ games for the week. There are so many great things in life, but I believe if a person overwhelms their selves with work and something else, they may miss out on the other good stuff. It seems all I do is work and play softball... when I would rather be with Ange the majority of the time, and play softball and golf on occasion.

Angela has been a trooper for putting up with me over the last 3 months with softball... so we are going to go get some Red Robin now! PEACE OUT! :-)

I cant believe June is almost over...

2009-06-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

Really, can any of you? We are already making 4th of July plans and I swear it was just Christmas! Time is just flying by and soon enough it will be our wedding day!

So excited and cannot wait for that day and that moment when I become Angela-la-la-laws haha! I had my hair and make up trial last week which was really fun. I was REALLY sick and she even made sicko feel pretty! :-)

I have been sick since last Thursday and I finally feel somewhat human but my face just throbs constantly. My sinuses need relief!!! Whats even worse then the way I feel is the fact that I have barely had my voice since Saturday. It is very difficult teaching classes and leading camps at work when you can barely speak. Now I just sound like a man who has smoked for half his life. Oh well, cant complain too much. It could be WAY worse but I just hate being sick. (Who doesnt though, right?)

Well, I wish I had some cool pictures to post or a fun story to tell but once again, I do not.

Maybe next time!

Angela

updates

2009-06-08T20:03:00.001-07:00

Been busy busy busy working and still loving my new(ish) job. Its the last week of winter/spring semester so its "showtime" week which is exciting. The kids get to invite their parents, family and friends into the gym during their class to show the routines they have been working on for the last 19 weeks. Im excited because that means that next week is the first week of summer semester and I will be starting off from the beginning with the kids and I will have my own classes and wont be training in random ones. With that said, if you have kids between the ages of 4 months up to 12 years, you should come in to The Little Gym in Lake Oswego and try out a class for free!!! :-)

The invites are almost completely done and ready to be sent out hopefully in a few days. Thanks to my mom, she has been such a huge help and has done a ton of the work and I really appreciate it. I dont know what I would do without her!! I cant believe the wedding is only 8 weeks away, so exciting!! Itll be here before I know it!

Well Brandon and I are lounging on the couch this evening, which we dont get to do together too often with his crazy softball schedule! So Im going to get off this and enjoy my time with him!

Don't become a Lemming.

2009-05-30T17:20:00.001-07:00

I subscribe to a list of eAlerts and podcasts through newspapers and itunes. I find a tremendous amount of articles to be to the point, well written, and short - without any bias; so that I do not waste my time. On the other hand, the local news or national news on TV has lengthy bits, contain a lot of puffery, and much of it is pure entertainment in my opinion.

One should be careful about forming opinions based on what they see on the news strictly because the news exists for a few reasons: ratings and spreading a message.

There are many people who base their opinions strictly from what they see on the news and do no real thinking for themselves. The average person essentially takes an entertainment piece and turns it into their own opinion. When you have multiple people in the nation who watch the same content and form those same opinions, the general public can become manipulated into believing something they normally would not believe in. But since you have a massive number of people believing in the same thing it is hard to not be swayed.

This is very extreme, but think of the local or national news as puppets and somewhere behind the scenes lies a puppet master - which in my opinion are the politicians. If politicians or any particular group want to get a specific message into the general public, the media is a perfect outlet since it reaches a wide group of people.

I am not coming out to say: Do not watch the news!!! All I am saying is if you decide to watch the news, watch it from an objective point of view. If you really want to find the news without the extra sugar, there are multiple websites, podcasts, videocasts and newspapers I would certainly recommend... that can give you the information you need without all of the drama and political bias. We live in the information age, take advantage of it, but DO NOT be fooled!

- Brandon Laws

Blueberry

2009-05-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

I realized this morning that Brandon must really love blueberries.

Today is my day off and when I finally rolled outta bed I went to find something to eat for breakfast. We have blueberry bagels, blueberry pancake mix, blueberry muffin mix and blueberry frosted mini wheats. hahaha I had to laugh and then decided on yogurt instead (no it was not blueberry it was rasberry)

Well, time to go camp out on the couch until Brandon gets home then we will head to his softball game (when does he NOT have a softball game?!)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, it is GORGEOUS out!!

we're alive, I promise!

2009-05-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have abandoned our oh-so-great blog but we have been busy little bees! We moved to Sherwood last weekend and are so happy here. Our place is very cute and it is so nice to be living together again. Plus, sherwood is a great little place. We are both much closer to our jobs and we have some friends nearby as well as my sister and brother in law!

Our wedding is just around the corner. Been working on wedding invites, definitely need to get those out soon. Lots of little things that we need to figure out, trying to get things done without getting too stressed out in the process!

Well, I promise one of us with write more soon. Its time to enjoy the rest of this holiday, it is so beautiful out!

-Ange

Saying goodbye...

2009-05-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

It was time to say goodbye to our family cat, Patches Marie Kato Hatley (yes, she has two middle names. Marie, because it sounded pretty and Kato because that was her mothers name haha) She would have been 14 next week.

Our friend Kelsey, had a cat that had kittens almost 14 years ago and we begged our parents to let us have one. We took Patches home and loved her instantly. I remember noticing right away that the black spots on her back looked like a "G".

She was always so playful, loved to chase a rubber cows head we had (weird, i know) and the little sticky balls you get from the 25 cent machines. We used to torture the poor kitty, we would dress her up and put her in our baby doll carriers. She always loved to jump on our backs and lay there and purr, she even did that a few months ago when I was cutting my moms hair. She always wanted to "help" like that ;-)

Everyone used to comment on how FAT our cat was. She was pretty plump thats for sure but this last year she has lost so much weight. I knew she was getting skinny, very bony but didnt realize just how much she had lost until seeing old pictures of her. She started to cry all night when we sleep, wanting someone to get up. She was always hungry, eating way more then usual. She would often puke and didnt really play anymore. These last few weeks, the puking became more often and she even started to poop on the carpet almost daily and stopped cleaning her fur.

We decided it was time to say goodbye. We called a vet and they came out yesterday. He was very nice and we are so greatful he came to the house because it would have been so traumatic for her to be taken to the vet. It was very hard for all of us and we are all going to miss our oh so cute, oh so sweet, furry little friend.

Decisions

2009-05-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

As a pitcher, I worked hard, focused and got to a whole different level during a game. I didn't throw particularly hard but my curveball is what threw off batters when I utilized it correctly. In certain situations, I would rely on my past experiences and knowledge to decide what was the right pitch for that given moment. Many times my curveball was my out pitch, and it kept batters guessing for what pitch was coming next, but most of all, I used it to be in control of the game when I had the ball in my hand.

Sometimes a person can make mistakes; there were times I threw certain pitches at the wrong time and the batter would smash it but I think that is what made me successful as a pitcher. I tried my hardest, made mistakes and learned from them in preparation for the next batter, game or season. If you learn from each mistake then you may not make the same one in the future.

There are things a person can control and there a things a person cannot. I like to separate the two. As a pitcher, you can control how you pitch - where it was thrown, what type of pitch, and speed of it; however, you cannot control what the batter does. If you gave it your all, meaning you read the situation correctly but the batter just happened to beat you at that moment why not learn from it and move on? Too often our minds can get caught up in the past that we do not look to the present or near future.

Every decision we make should be one we are confident in and will see it through to the end. EVERYONE makes mistakes in decision making, so learn from them and change the approach next time. Do not harp on the things you cannot control because you can only control the things you do.

I used the baseball example because it is a fact: you cannot control the way the batter swings or reads that given pitch you just made, but you can control which pitch you make and where you throw it. This directly relates to every decision in your life. If you do not like the way any given situation, relationship, event, habit or job is going then make a decision to change it - do not try and change someone else because they are probably not the problem - you are. And your chances of changing someone else is next to impossible - change yourself! Your whole world can change if you as an individual can take action in improving your decision making and what you choose to focus on day-to-day.

Learning is really important to me, and my goal is to share the important things I learn in life with others. Thanks for reading :-)

-Brandon

Wedding invites...

2009-04-29T14:29:00.001-07:00

So we need to get these wedding invites made but before we can actually print them and put them together, we need to figure out the wording. And of course, we cant agree.

Here is what I like:

The miracle of love is

that love is given to us

to give to one another

Angela Nicole Hatley

and

Brandon Michael Laws

together with their parents

invite you to shae

a day of happiness

as they begin a life of love

Saturday, the first of August

Two thousand nine

Six O'clock in the evening

Rock Creek Country Club

Hillsboro, Oregon

Reception Immediately to follow

here is what Brandon likes;

Happiness does not exist

unless it is shared

Angela Nicole Hatley

and

Brandon Michael Laws

Together with their parents

invite you to witness

the beginning of a life

full of love and joy

Saturday, the first of August

Two thousand nine

Six O'clock in the evening

Rock Creek Country Club

Hillsboro, Oregon

Reception Immediately to follow

we both dont want invites that just say, we invite you to our wedding this day this place this time and we definitely want it to say "together with our/their parents" So does anyone have any other ideas for us?

I also found this one online and like it

Together with our parents we invite you

to share our joy and support our love

as we are exchange vows and are united

in the commitment of marriage

SnowKate's full name

and

SnowMate's full name

Saturday, the thirtieth of April

two thousand and five

at five o'clock

Winery Name

Napa, California

Food and festivities to follow

heeeeeeeelp :-)

WOW

2009-04-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

So I got this from http://melissaktran.blogspot.com/ You have to watch it, these girls are AMAZING!! For anyone who reads this that was on the red hots jump rope team with me at ladd acres back in the day, I know you will appreciate it :-) Its kind of a long video but it gets even better towards the end. Im impressed!

2009-04-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

just a boring tuesday, random day off... Schedule has changed AGAIN for me. I basically work the most random times and random days now. unfortunatly looks like I will be working weekends and evenings aka the exact opposite schedule of brandon lol but Ill take what I can get and try not to complain too much ;-)

I have been working on wedding invites, we are making them and I think I may already be regretting that decision haha, actually I think they will turn out pretty great, just might be a lot more work then I was thinking!! 109 days left according to the wedding countdown on theknot.com AND almost exactly one month till our apartment will be ready for us to call home!!

I feel so lame, I never have anything to write about except work and the wedding and our apartment! Oh well, ta ta!

NEVER Take things in life for granted

2009-04-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

I am a people watcher, I will admit that. It can be a great thing and work to one's benefit in a numerous amount of ways. But not only do I watch, but I listen. Opening your ears is important to pick up on the little things that can help shape your life in the best possible way.

I have found from watching and listening others that people in general are very negative - about everything. Here is the kicker though: as a person listening in, or perhaps being in the conversation, this can affect your mind in the worst possible way if you are weak minded. Let's say a person you work with comes and says that no one's job at work is safe and that they may be laying someone off at any time... as a person listening, what do you react with? Let's say you take everything that person says to heart. You might dwell on it all day even though there is nothing you can do about it. Here is the thing though, you can do something about it! Get it out of your mind!!! Negative thoughts produce negative results, thus making you less productive throughout the day. I know this because this has happened to me for split seconds at a time until I catch myself. While working you could ask yourself over and over again, "what if I am next or why is life so cruel to me?" In the mean time, you have been so unproductive because you have been thinking negatively the whole day and have accomplished nothing by thinking this way - and the environment has proven to control you.

My point to this is, why don't we go into every day with an upbeat attitude and be thankful for what we have? Be thankful for the opportunities, health, family, friends, job, money we all have... or whatever it may be and know that we have control over our own actions, not anyone else's! I gaurantee that if we all take this approach life would be so much better for everyone.

-Brandon

Random but...

2009-03-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

So I noticed that sometimes Brandon and I dont ever let you guys know who it is that is writing the post. Do you guys end up figuring it out? Random, but I just noticed that...

-ANGELA (not Brandon) :-)

I love Friday's

2009-03-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

So I have a new work schedule for the next few weeks, possibly more then that but for sure the next two are this way. I work Sunday-Thursday rather then Monday-Friday. Kinda bummed to not have the whole weekend off with Brandon, plus my hours were cut by switching the schedule (just by a few, thankfully - cant complain too much, im VERY thankful to even have a full time job right now!) But peoples availability has changed due to a spring term starting for 2 of the girls who are in college. All in all, its not too bad of a schedule and should work out fine for now. Im still enjoying work, its been busy this week cause of spring break, time flies when we are slammed!

Moving day is just about 6 weeks away, Im getting very anxious! We went to bed bath and beyond and got a bunch of cute bathroom stuff. chocolate colored shower curtain and bamboo trash can, toothbrush holder, tissue cover, etc. Although my work drive will end up being kinda bad, Im very glad that Brandon will finally be closer to his job. He has ALWAYS had to drive a long ways for jobs and school in the past, so its his turn to not have to do that!

Wedding countdown is just over 4 months! We changed where we are getting our wedding cake and have finalized that and I have decided I am going to make invites so went and got paper for that and have made a rough draft, hopefully they turn out as cute as I am picturing haha! I am very excited that everything seems to be coming along and we should be able to finalize a few more things in the month to come!

As for other things we have been up to, we went and saw a movie last weekend, The Knowing. I thought it was alright. Pretty good movie until the end. The ending was ridiculous haha. We are going to see I Love You Man tonight hopefully with our friends Christina and Andrew. Christina is my best friend from beauty school and is one of my bridesmaids, I miss seeing her 5 days a week. We were attached at the hip at school, she brought me coffee almost every morning and we would sometimes hang out after school, our stations were always right next to each other. I swear I would have gone crazy there if it wasnt for her! Its hard getting to see each other with our work schedules now. But I am very happy for her, she is working as an apprentice at Tres Bon in the Bethany area. If you are looking for a new stylist, I would definitely recommend her, she is very good at what she does!!!

I hope all of you who may be reading this enjoy the weekend!!!

ME WANT TOYS!

2009-03-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

I have been researching High-Definition camcorders lately because they are dropping in price, they have very good quality pictures, and most importantly - I WANT ONE!

Since Angela and I are getting married in August, it would be nice to have a HD camcorder to tape the wedding. With the way technology has advanced, it is easy enough to tape it, upload it on to the computer and share with friends and family.

After seeing some friends' videos on this blog and seeing what capabilities the internet and computers will allow, it is becoming more of necessity for me to buy this!

We went into VideoOnly yesterday and spoke with a sales-rep about this camera, shown in the pictures below. The video quality was amazing, it took great still images, and the video stabilizer was amazing! This is something I have wanted for years now; and since I have not bought anything big since my GPS last year, I think this is something Angela and I can enjoy! See the pictures below for sex appeal!

How Low Can You Go?

2009-03-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I was able to experience something I believe everyone should in their lifetime: sitting 6 rows from the floor at the Blazer game. (see picture below)

I was able to go with one of my best friends Josh. First of all, we are both die hard fans so it made it that much more fun! Secondly, it was Friday night, which means I could drink a bit more than usual :-)

We had such a great time and I made it on the Jumbo-Tron for our section winning a Subway Gift Card. I had such a blast because we felt like we were right in the game. I am used to sitting in the 200 level so this was a treat! The tickets were only $100 a piece.

I will be doing this again in the future if I can find another deal like this!

Angels's ABC's

2009-03-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

Alphabet soup
Give it a try, but you have to do it right. Copy this whole thing, go to your profile/notes/new note, right click and paste, put the subject back in the title line.

Then comes the hard part. Replace my answers with your own! Then over to the right you can tag as many of your friends as you'd like…include me too, please, so I can see.

Come on, you're already here, what else have you got to do? :)

A
- Available: negative
- Age: 23
- Annoyance: i will not say
- Animal: I love my kitty, im sure she will be the only cat i will ever have. I want a puppy

B
- Birthday: 01/05/1986
- Best friend: my seeesters
- Blind or deaf: how can you choose?
- Best weather: blue sky, sunny but not hot. i dont like to sweat and i dont like to shiver
- Been in love: yep
- Believe in magic: believe in it?
- Believe in Santa: no

C
- Candy: i love dark chocolate and sometimes i crave sour patch kids or something sugary like that
- Color: red and green
- Chocolate or vanilla: dark chocolate
- Chinese or Mexican food: Mexican mmm
- Cake or pie: cake
- Continent to visit: all of them
- Cheese: i love cheese. period.

D
- Day or night: night
- Dancing in the rain: i love to run around when it is POURING

E
- Eyes: blue/green
- Everyone's got: AIDS! Okay no, thats awful. But thats the first thing I thought of cause brandon sings "everybody's got aids. aids. aids. aids." Its from south park or family guy i think...
- Ever failed a class: geography, freshman year fall term at wou. THe grade was decided from 3 tests and thats it, it was a huge lecture class that i had at 8am. bad news.

F
- First thoughts waking up: I cant wait to go to bed tonight, haha sad but i always think that
- Food: with a glass of wine is nice

G
- Greatest fear: not being able to have children
- Goals: be stable financially, get married (can almost check that one off!), have children, enjoy every day
- Gum: i chew it daily
- Get along with your parents: yes

H
- Hair Color: right now its light brown with some blondish highlights
- Height:5'3 1/2
- Happy: yes, very
- Holiday: christmas
- How do you want to die: old, quickly, painless

I
- Ice Cream: rocky road, mint chocolate chip, carmel praline, mmm i love ice cream
- Instrument: i can play a mean recorder ;-) I also played flute and learned clarinet and saxiphone also.

J
- Jewelry: my beautiful ring from brandon and diamond earrings from my mom
-Job: I work at Palm Beach Tan and I LOVE it, even if it isnt a real career :-)

K
- Kids: someday
- Kickboxing or karate: kickboxing, i would LOVE to do that
- Keep a journal: I guess this is sorta like a journal

L
- Love: best feeling ever
- Laughed so hard you cried: another great feeling

M
- Milk flavor: yuck. i dont even put milk on cereal
- Movies: i love red box
- Motion sickness: not usually
- McD’s or BK: mcdonalds iced coffees haha

N
- Number: 2

O
- One wish: health and happiness for me and loved ones

P
- Pepsi/Coke: fresca!
- Perfect Pizza: all kinds
- Piercings: i have my ears, belly button, nose and right above my clavicle hahaha and no im not joking

Q
- Quiet: makes me nervous most of the time

R
- Reality T.V.: unfortunatly yes
- Radio Station: z100 but only cause im too lazy to ever switch it
- Roll your tongue in a circle: huh?
- Ring size: 4 and a little

S
- Song: dont have a fav right now
- Shoe size: 7.5
- Salad dressing: blue cheese or my moms honey mustard
- Sushi: SICK
- Shower: I never want to get out cause i know i will freeze
- Strawberries or blueberries: STRAWBERRIES

T
- Tattoos: one that i hope will fade fade fade away. its on my hip and its 3 silly stars
- Time for bed: 10 or 11
- Thunderstorms: i enjoy them

U
- Unpredictable: life

V
- Vacation spot(s): I have only been to washington, oregon, california, Maine and las vegas and maine was favorite vacation but id love to go to hawaii and australia

W
- Weakness: taco bell, so bad
- Which one of your friends acts the most like you: none really, probably my sisters are the closest, we are all easily amused and equally wacky
- Worst feeling: guilt
- Worst Weather: hot and humid

X
- X-Rays: i think my teeth were the last xrays taken

Y
-Year it is now: 2009
- Yellow: sun, easter, spring
Z
- Zoo animal: monkey

We're moving...

2009-03-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

... and we are SO excited! No, we arent buying a house (I wish!) but we are still very excited to get to be living together and even better, its in Sherwood! Its a brand new complex right by 99 that is still in the process of being built. They have 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments and 2 and 3 bedroom town homes to rent. We decided on the 1 bedroom apartment. We originally thought 2 would be better but they are almot identical in square footage so why not have a bigger bedroom rather then 2 smaller rooms. Its kinda nice knowing we are going to be the first ones living there! Our apartment will be ready in May, so about 2.5 months until moving day! I really am beyond excited. Brandon and I lived together from september-march of 2007 so 1) that was quite awhile ago and 2) that wasnt a very long time so I am very ready to move out of my moms house and have a place of our own. Here are some pictures of what it will look like.

Great Times

2009-02-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have written a post so I thought I would take the time to give an update on my thoughts and life.

Angela and I have been busy with work and planning the wedding. Surprisingly, the wedding planning is coming together very nicely thanks to her. I like to think my role is more the "budget guy" because I am good at that; and we should all do what we are good at (which is why I am not doing the decorating or floral arrangements!).

Work has been great - I love where I am at in my life right now. Angela could tell you, I am a night and day difference from who I was when I was working as an insurance agent. I was so unhappy doing it. I am just fortunate I took action to get out. Insurance was a great experience because I learned a lot about who I was; but it was not for me. I honestly do not know how people can make a career of it (too stressful). But now, things could not be better. Xenium, where I am employed now, is such a great company. We have such a great team and the leadership is wonderful. I really cannot say enough about it. There is something refreshing about looking forward to going to work, and then coming home and having a big smile on your face. Life is great.

This is probably the most exciting point in my life. The anticipation of getting married, the growth in my career, and eventually leaving my parents' house for good are some of the things that are really positive in my life.

Besides work and wedding planning, softball season is approaching; so I am looking forward to that. I have been reading and also listening to books on tape to better my education and positive thinking a lot lately for my enjoyment. Oh! and something I really have been enjoying lately are two websites I just discovered - Hulu.com and Pandora.com. Hulu is like the youtube of tv shows online and pandora is an online radio. Very entertaining for the price of FREE!

Until next time...

I love days off and coupons!

2009-02-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

So normally I work M-F but a girl I work with really wanted last sunday off so we traded shifts. I worked for her Sunday and she worked for me today. It was nice having a random wednesday off! I woke up with Brandon and he dropped me off on his way to work and I decided to go tanning and then I went to Panera and got a coffee because I had a coupon for a free coffee. yum yum! THEN I realized I had a coupon for Jamba Juices new oatmeal for only a dollar and Jamba happens to be right next door to Panera so I got oatmeal with berry goodness and brown sugar mixed in. MMM. What a wonderful morning, tanning, free coffee, almost free breakfast, so awesome!

I also went and tried on wedding dresses with my mom, tricia and nate just to make sure that the dress I have is THE ONE. That was fun, I like putting on a million gorgeous dresses (and a few not so gorgeous ones too, blech!) So it is official, the dress I have is definitely without a doubt the most amazing dress ever and I cannot wait to wear it. :-) Enough wedding talk...

Alright it is time for me to get off my butt and force myself to work out...........

Its February!

2009-02-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a little while since I wrote anything on here so I thought I would write about whats new. (even though there really isnt anything spectacular that has happened recently...)

I did just delete my myspace and facebook, not really sure why other then I spent too much time doing nothing on there I was HOPING that the time I would waste looking at peoples pictures or writing lame comments to people that I would work out instead but obviously thats not happening. YET. I will. I am going to sign up this month to do the Danskin Triathlon in August again. I had a lot of fun last year and it made me realize that I can do anything I put my mind to because let me tell you, I was terrified the second I got into that lake water. It was my groups turn and they were doing a little pumping up before they counted down and I seriously started to tear up and panic. I wanted to sneak out but I didnt and even though I barely trained, I didnt give up and crossing that finish line was an awesome feeling. Especially having my sister and cousins right there with me! So this year, Im going to train and instead of having the goal of just finishing and not dying, I want to finish with a better time then last year! Plus, I figure it is a good way to get in shape for the wedding as well.

Speaking of the wedding, it is now less then 6 months away! YAY! :-) Most everything is figured out or mostly figured out. Still need to decide on invites and finalize the guest list but we have the place, I have the dress, bridesmaid dresses are picked out, cake has been tasted and chosen. MMMM.

Brandon and I went and tasted cake with my mom the other weekend and it was funny because I had a dream about our wedding cake a few nights before and it was poppyseed with rasberry filling and when the woman brought out samples, the one in the middle, right in front of me was poppyseed with rasberry filling and let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS! So that is biggest tier and then we have two other tiers with different (almost equally delicious) kinds and a side cake with another kind. 4 kinds of cake? AWESOME!

Here is a picture of the bridesmaid dresses, they look cuter in person, I think.

I dont like how the model has the tie around the middle, I think we decided it looks best being tied in a bow in the back. I wanted short dresses for them, not sure why, just did. and all of the bridal dress shops I went to I didnt like any that I saw plus they were really spendy and Brandons mom was able to get a really good discount on the dresses for us.

I cant wait for August to get here! :-)

Not a whole lot else is new on my end. Ive been working full time monday-friday at the tanning salon which is awesome. Its nice having weekends off with Brandon and actually working full time. I know it may not be a "career worthy" job but its one that Im getting good hours at, I really enjoy working there and the people I work with, I have weekends off right now and not only am I getting to save for the wedding, Ill get to be tan for the wedding too haha

Hopefully Brandon will write on here soon, he should have some positive updates by the end of this week! :)

-Ange

4th photo

2009-01-14T22:49:00.000-08:00

So I liked everyone elses blogs with their "4th photos" so here is mine. (the 4th folder and 4th picture from that folder)

So that picture was taken when Tricia flew home to visit for Jaime's wedding and her and I decided we were going to take each others "senior pictures" we thought it was hilarious and so when Denise came home, we took hers and then Brandon and Lu came over and we took their senior pics too. Here is my favorite one from each of them:

Sad. I cant find one of Lu's! :-(

This was also the night that we made the bucket of frozen slushy blue rum mix and we stuck 5 straws in it and drank that and even have a picture of what looks like patches (our cat) drinking outta the straw.

We then took turns playing in my moms extra wheelchair (well mostly brandon popped wheelies in it)and we each took a picture sitting in the wheelchair next to momma wheels.

It ended up being a pretty fun night of random wheelchair playing, picture taking and bucket drinking!

Alright its way past my bed time... For some reason when I am not spending the night with Brandon, I end up going to bed WAY too late!
-Ange

New Year!

2009-01-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

I realize it is a New Year and everyone has plans to do something as a routine like working out five days a way, or lose 10 pounds. Realistically this sort of goal may only last a few weeks before you break habit.
If you really want to achieve goals why don't people set themselves little stepping stones to set themselves up for success for the long run? For instance, you want to lose 10 pounds? Create small steps to achieve this goal. For example, you can urge yourself to cut back from eating fast food 1 time a week instead of 3. Or, jog for 20 minutes 3 times a week. These small daily activities and habits might just get you to where you want to be a few months down the road. WHY DO PEOPLE WANT INSTANT RESULTS? Instant results teach you nothing! and in most cases, you end up reverting back to your old habits anyway; or in extreme cases, make you worse off.

That is all I have to say about the New Year resolution stuff...

Updates:

Angela and I have been doing great. We are trucking along, working and enjoying each other's company. Angela recently had a birthday on the 5th. We had a nice time at Benihana's together and got a great picture there; soon to be posted later!

For myself, I have been working at Xenium and loving it. I am very happy with my position and feel like I can be a huge contributor in the future.
I have also been reading at a steady pace. Currently I have been reading a book called "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. It was written in the 1930's and might be one of the most content rich books I have ever read. I am learned so much in it that can apply to my daily life. I urge everyone to read it!

I think that is enough for this post. More to come later :-)

- Brandon

Happy Birthday Tricia!

2008-12-26T15:36:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! Brandon and I both did. Both of our families Christmas Eve plans were canceled due to the weather so we all hung out at his parents house and ate, drank and played pictionary. Always a good time over there! I didnt stay long, I went to my house and she stayed at his for the rest of the night/ Christmas morning. I realized that is most likely the last time we will wake up on Christmas morning without each other. Kinda exciting knowing that we will soon get to start our own Christmas traditions! Him and I went to the Blazer game last night which was fun even though we were both exhausted and the Blazers lost, it was still a pretty good game for awhile there!

Today is Tricia (my sister) 26th birthday. Happy birthday T-Mut!! We are all going out to the roadhouse for dinner and drinks and then bowling after, should be a good time. Then in just a matter of days, it is mine and Denise's birthday! woohoo! (january five for those who dont know)

What else? Tomorrow was supposed to be my last day at the salon and spa but I got a phone call saying not to come in because it is so slow. So, Bye Bye NB. I start my new job in Tualatin Sunday. Im really excited to see how what its all about and excited to have better hours and better pay! And Im even more excited that its over in Tualatin because now Brandon and I both work in that area and that means we are one step closer to being able to move around there!

Ill write more about my new job next week. :-)

The Purpose of Christmas

2008-12-23T13:22:00.001-08:00

I was given this book from a co-worker and decided to actually sit down and read it. It is written by Rick Warren, the author of "The Purpose Driven Life" I was expecting to read more about the real Christmas story and soon realized it is a book meant to be given from a Christian to a non-believer in hopes that they will read this book and that it will "transform your life... forever!"

It says that the purpose of christmas is a time for celebration, salvation and reconciliation. Dont get me wrong, I do know that lots of people, including myself sometimes forget the true meaning of Christmas. And the author makes a lot of good points, I just was a little dissapointed that the book didnt seem to tell you much about the christmas story it seemed to be more about getting people to join his "peace plan".

Either way, Im still glad I read the book because it did say some things that really stuck in my mind. It talked about how the bible says "You are only hurting yourself with your anger" and he writes "Resentment is self-destructive because it always hurts you more, and it prolongs your pain. While the people who hurt you go on with their lives, resentment causes you to get stuck in the past. You need to let it go." And it explains that reconciliation is not the same as resolution. "Reconciliation focuses on the relationship, while resolution focuses on the problem. Always focus on the reconciliation first." For some reason that part really stuck out to me.

Anyway, obviously there is a lot more to the book then just what I have wrote. I just thought I would write a little bit about it since I just finished it last night and because Christmas is just a few days away and even though this wasnt the best book in my mind it is always good to remember what Christmas really is about so try not to stress about presents, finances, this crazy weather we are having and share this special time with those you love and remember the "reason for the season"!

Snow, Work, Reading, and Deciding Our Future

2008-12-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog I have written since Angela set this up, and since we are sharing, I thought I would write about where we are in our life and what things we both have been enjoying as of late.

I like to think that I have taken a dramatic change in my life and Angela too, but I will talk about mine and she can talk about hers later. The last six months have opened my eyes and I have learned more in this time than I ever did in 4 2/3 years of college. I will say this: FORMAL EDUCATION CAN NEVER GIVE YOU WHAT REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE CAN GIVE YOU. Therefore, if you are a recent high school graduate and you are not sure if you want to go to college or you have an idea and want to start your own business... Go with your heart and take that idea and turn into a business. Life is about taking chances, and I think I did that with becoming an insurance agent. It has not been the greatest job in the world, but the experience has been priceless.

Most of you know I became an insurance agent right after graduating college. It was a chance I took at the time financially, but I was in a low risk situation because I had no debt and a lot saved. Insurance is not a steady business; it is up and down with pay and activity. As much as I felt I did not belong, I realized it has been a life changing experience. I have met some great people and have matured as a business man. Needless to say, it has not worked out for me. I picked the worse time in the world to become an agent because of the economy; but I will not make excuses though. I was flat out not meant to be a salesman. I do not have the right personality for it. I care about what people think, I care about being honest, and I look out for other's best interest; which, as a sales person, is not a good thing necessarily.

Skipping ahead:

I was offered an excellent position at a small corporation called Xenium. Everyone is great there and I fit in really well within the corporate environment. I am the happiest I have been in a long time for that very reason. I will update on this position in other blogs; I want to get to other topics before this entry goes on forever!

Reading

During my time as an insurance agent, I met a guy named Doug. What first started out as a life insurance lead, it turned into a friendship, but most importantly, a life altering experience for me. Doug single-handedly has guided me into making rational financial decisions by pointing me to books and free information that furthers my education in the subject of personal finance. I have never read so many books in my life than I have in the last 3 months. As much as I hated reading before, I love it now. I am learning so much every day I pick up a book or listen to a podcast... I encourage others to do the same.

Snow

Not going to lie... I hate snow. However, without this snow and ice I would have never probably learned how to drive in it. Driving from Hillsboro to Tualatin in the snow/ice will teach you a lot about yourself as a driver, and about others too! As much as Angela and I enjoyed the snow on Sunday, I think we both agree that snow just makes it stressful to those people who need to get somewhere. The other day, I watched a SUV spin and crash into a barrier on I-5 right next to me. Right then, I realized how dangerous this weather really is; so do not take it lightly when having to travel in it!!!

The Future:

Angela and I are very clear with each other which direction we want to go. I think we are the couple that knows exactly what we want and where we are going to be. For me, I know we will be financially independent sooner than most people retire because I am a hard worker and I will invest and save my money correctly. I also see myself making a good salary that will help me achieve that goal. For Angela, I see her working, but not too much. She will be a great mother someday, and I honestly believe she was meant for that. If we can have it our way, we would live in Tualatin/Sherwood, I will work and make a good living for us as she stays home with the kids. I honestly see that happening someday, but for now, she will work until we can get rid of all of her school debt.

We are on the right track though. We are getting married in August, together we have little to no debt, we know where we want to be in 2 years, and we have great friends and family to get support from along the way. I think that is the biggest thing. People around us have influenced us so much. We have seen what kind of people we want to be, and what kind of people we do not want to be. I think the people around us have showed us exactly that.

Until my next entry....peace out!

Winter Wonderland - December 14, 2008

2008-12-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

Its not every year that us Oregonians see snow but we definitely have been this year. It started snowing Sunday, Dec. 14th and I ended up getting off work early (good thing cause my car does not do well in this weather, it wouldnt even go up the baby hill in the parking lot!) Anyway, I ended up going over to Brandon's and we played in the snow like little kids and took a walk to the elementary school and played on the swings and slides. :-) We took a few pics:

It ended up being a pretty fun day and to top it all off, Tricia and Nate made it to Oregon that night so we got to see them too. They drove all the way from Maine in 5 days and are now settled in their apartment in Sherwood. Very glad to have them back!

Blazer Game - November 24, 2008

2008-12-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

Brandon is a HUGE Blazer fan, him and his friends/family purchased season tickets and split up all the games between them and Brandon even purchased tickets for a few extra games as well. He ended up with really good seats and asked me to go with him. It was the second Blazer game I have ever been to and it was a really fun date night for us. Here are a few pictures from that night:

Brandon's 23 Birthday- August 29th, 2008

2008-12-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

I made this for Brandon on his birthday and still think its pretty darn cute so I thought I would post it :-)

First post - Engaged

2008-12-18T15:18:00.001-08:00

Hello all! Brandon and I thought it would be kinda cool to have a blog together for everyone to be able to see what we are up to and for us to be able to write and post pictures of fun things we are experiencing together! As most of you know, we have been together for over 3 years and are engaged and planning our wedding for August 1st, 2009. Brandon proposed August 13, 2008 while we were at his annual family camping trip and it was the most perfect moment and once we got back home he posted this for everyone to read:

Having a ring in my possession for over a month was probably the hardest thing to keep to myself.

I had this vision in my mind of waiting to propose to Angela at my family reunion camp out in Florence (August 13th). I thought, if this is something I look forward to each year and I want her to be a part of my family, why not ask her there? Plus, it is the perfect place in the world as far as I am concerned.
The day of the 12th, we headed down to Florence to meet the rest of the family down there. My mom packed the ring for me, so that I did not expose it to Angela prematurely. The whole family knew I had intentions of proposing on the 13th, so it came as no surprise to them.
The morning of the August 13th, my plan was to go for a walk/jog with Angela early in the morning to propose. She was training for a triathlon for the upcoming weekend as it was, so it turned out to be a perfect excuse to take a walk down to the lake.
We jogged for a bit, and Angela decided to take a seat on a bench right next to the lake. In my mind, I was like, "jackpot! She did the hard work for me" since I wanted to be sneaky and find a good location; she did it for me! The spot was as beautiful as could be. The hedges were cleared next to the lake, enough room for two bodies and a bench looking across the lake to a boat house and the sand dunes. Granted, the fog was covering the lake but the sun was starting to poke through enough to where the lake was gorgeous.
(This picture is essentially the view we had, although it is not the exact spot)

[not sure what happened to the picture]

We sat down on the bench and caught our breaths from the jogging/walking and made some small talk. That is about all I could do at that point since my heart was about to explode from nervousness.
But then it came time, where I had to just lay it out there and do it. I nervously asked her how much she loved me. Her response was simple, but the gesture told me everything. With her arms outstretched as if she was going to give me a bear hug, she explained that she loved me, "this much!"
Then she turned around and asked me the same question, as we stare each other square in the eyes, "how much do you love me?"
I pulled out the box with the ring inside slowly, and got to one knee next to the lake, and said, "I love you this much. WILL YOU MARRY ME?"
Both of us quickly had some tears as she said yes. We hugged and kissed quickly after; and that began the start of our lives together.