The Summer of Weddings

This summer was the Summer of Weddings for us!  We were honored to be involved in some way, big or small, for all the special couples that were married this summer.  It was often stressful trying to coordinate with so many people in different states about a multitude of topics, but in the end, everything came together.  This post will mostly be full of lots of pictures, which is what everyone wants when they hear about a wedding.

Wedding #1: Chad Cook & Bryan Stafford
Date: July 27
Locations: Moscow, ID / Pullman, WA
Roles: Z-Groomsman for Chad; R-Bridesmaid for Bryan

Chad & Bryan at their reception

Our first wedding event was for Chad & Bryan.  Zack was one of Chad's groomsmen, and I was one of Bryan's bridesmaids.  Both guys each had four groomsmen & bridesmaids, so it was quite a large bridal party.  The ceremony was beautiful and on the University of Idaho campus, by the Admin building.  The weather was perfect and it was just a wonderful day.  The reception took place in Pullman, which was a lot of fun.  Lots of food, dancing and a photo booth with goofy props.  We were both so happy and honored to be included in Chad & Bryan's wedding day, they make a terrific couple and we love them both!

Wedding #2: Delaney Reilly & Rich Gittings
Date: August 16
Locations: Boston, MA / Avon, CT
Role: bride's family

Delaney & Rich outside the LDS Boston, MA temple

The next two weddings were within 4 days of each other.  On opposite sides of the country!  Zack's sister Delaney got married to Rich in the LDS Boston temple on August 16.  And my brother Kenny was married in California on August 20.  The Reilly/Gittings wedding was a day filled with family, fun and several hours in the car.  First we drove from Connecticut to the Boston, MA temple, about an hour and half away.  Family pictures were taken on temple grounds.  Delaney was an absolutely beautiful bride (I love her dress so much!) and it was obvious that Rich was so happy to be her husband.  After temple pictures, we loaded back into the car and drove to Avon, CT (near Hartford, a really rich, snooty-type part of CT).  The drive took about 2-3 hours, and we arrived in time to have a light dinner with all the family that had traveled there for the wedding.  I finally got to meet the Reilly grandparents who live in Florida, as well as some of Zack's cousins and aunts I had only briefly met, when we first started dating.  It was nice to have some time with the family to catch up before the ring ceremony and reception started.  Zack played the guitar with Liv (violin) and a boy from their ward, Preston (cello) for prelude before the ring ceremony.  It sounded great and created a nice atmosphere for the ceremony.  The reception followed, which included lots of dancing and a cheesecake bar.  I loved watching the younger kids from the Reillys' ward dance all night. 

Wedding #3: Kenny Van Vliet & Kristen Paetz
Date: August 20
Location: Clayton, CA
Roles: Z-Groomsman for Kenny; R-Bridesmaid for Kristen

Kenny & Kristen

 
Our next wedding in California was also a lot of fun and full of family and friends.  Kenny and Kristen were married and had the reception at a beautiful, huge house that belonged to the bishop of my parents' ward.  Both Jenna and I were bridesmaids for Kristen, and Zack along with my cousins Matt & Jordan were groomsmen for Kenny.  The ceremony was for close friends and family and it was very nice.  I tried not to cry as I watched my brother get married, but it was hard not to tear up.  The reception was fun, it was nice to see old friends from the area.  Plus, the cake was amazing.  They had a Swedish princess cake, which was incredible.  There was a great turnout and it was plain to see how happy Kenny and Kristen were.

Wedding #4: Emily McCormick & Michael Allen
Date: September 1
Location: Moscow, ID
Roles: Z-Asst. to Rachel; R-Food Captain

Emily & Michael cutting their cake

 
The last wedding we were involved with was for one of Chad's best friends, Emily.  She was also a bridesmaid in their wedding, and we've hung out before.  She's the sweetest girl and several months before her wedding, she asked if I would be in charge of the food for her reception.  I was glad to help, and understood the importance of making sure things ran smoothly for her wedding day.  Thankfully, Zack offered to help me, and I was so glad to have him around.  He was so helpful, as well as Bryan, who offered to help when he could.  Before the reception started, I set up the food tables, organized it and made sure everything would be prepped and backups would be ready to go once people started eating.  It actually went smoothly, there was a ton of food and I received praise from all of Emily's family for my help.  It was a lovely reception, and it was nice to be able to help. 

And now for the best part, pictures!

before C/B ceremony

close-up!

being goofy

bridal party

waiting for C/B & co. to arrive at reception

cake!

waiting to eat

photobooth fun with Kandace & Gabe

this might be my favorite, actually

first dance

:)

LDS Boston temple

looking handsome

goofy siblings

  

:)

ring ceremony

first dance

with Reilly side of the family

I love this picture, Kenny was holding up his jacket so he wouldn't see Kristen before it was allowed

just married!

all siblings & cousins

pretty sisters

another goofy one

nicer

Princess cake!

feeding each other

first dance (love that dress!)

cutting cake

Short Update

Not a whole lot has happened this past month.  For a while the weather was nice, then it turned cold & rainy (50 degrees in mid-June!), and now we are having a record-breaking heat wave.  Zack has been enjoying his new job, more or less.  He's had some run-ins with clouds of mosquitoes (one day he came home & his arms were covered in bites, ugh), a tick here or there and only one major sunburn.  He's actually quite tan!  Work for me has slowed down, as the schools are on break.  August and September will definitely be busy, though.  I got a new chair for work, which I know doesn't sound exciting, but I was pretty pumped for it.  I made Zack come along with me as I tried out a bunch of different types of chairs at Staples & Office Depot.  Then I found the one.  It's a Tempur-pedic (I didn't even know those existed!) and I fell in love on first sit.  So I ordered it the next day and it arrived within a week.  And I put it together all by myself!  And now my back doesn't hurt (as much) after work. :)

A few weekends ago we went camping with Kandace & Gabe on a beach by the river.  We took Penny with us, who proved once again, that she is just an amazing and well-behaved dog.  It was her first experience with water and at first she was a bit nervous.  We think it was because the sand/silt would change as she moved through it.  My favorite thing she did was run alongside the water as waves from a passing boat lapped up on the shore.  She didn't quite know what to make of the waves.  We had a nice time, the weather was beautiful and we had the area all to ourselves.  The river was too cold for swimming, but it was nice to walk around in.  The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at Kandace's parents' place in Lewiston.  Her parents were camping and arrived later in the afternoon.  Then we had dinner with them, as it was Father's Day.  It was nice to be included as part of the family.  (Plus having that cute dog of ours doesn't hurt; they love Penny!)

Here are some pictures from the past month:

I rode in the back w/Penny while we drove around, looking for a campsite

on the way to Albion to visit friends

happily sniffing the air

50's housewife Penny

:)

cautious little pup

panoramic view of where we camped

new chair!

Blur of Updates

I know I've been bad about updating the blog with our life happenings, but the past two months have been absolutely crazy for us. We are just now getting back into the pace of life and catching our breaths. Here are some of the major happenings:

Digilent to National Instruments
I don't know if I've even mentioned it on the blog, but long story short, the company I work for, Digilent, was recently bought by National Instruments.  The deal closed at the end of last year, but changes didn't start happening until April.  Despite all the prep work we supplied NI (mountains of paperwork: benefits, employee stock plan, life insurance, 401(k), etc), they still haven't gotten everything completely figured out and squared away.  It has been very frustrating.  We are supposed to be getting access to their intranet this month, but that's debatable.  I still love my job, though, and am finally feeling confident in my position and have undertaken more responsibilities that will hope my advancement in the company.  Also, I'm getting a new chair soon, so that's great.

Zak's new job
Zak recently started a new job as a laborer for the WSU grounds crew.  He is already enjoying it; he gets to ride on the 4-wheeler, spend time outside, do physical work, and get paid decent money for it.  I am also thrilled because we get to carpool to and from work together!  This job will last until mid-August, and then he will return to his school-year job at UI.   


Rachel the semi-runner
I decided to give the Couch to 5k program another shot, once the ice had gone away.  For the first few weeks, Zak and Penny came along with me, but eventually I went at it on my own.  Not that I didn't want their company, but Zak had several other obligations and priorities, and running by myself with Penny still isn't something I like to do (she's so strong! and there was too much for me to focus on), so I went rogue.  Last week I finished the program!  Today was my first 'free run', and it was my best time yet.  I can now run 2.65 miles in 30 minutes and to me, that is HUGE!  I am going to work on improving my time, and I would love to do a local 5k run by the end of the year.  I have been surprised with how much I've enjoyed getting up early and running through our neighborhood.

First emergency
First off, everything is fine and we are all ok.  On the second day of Zak's 2-week camping trip for school, I got a call from him from the hospital in McCall, ID.  I quickly left work (everyone was so kind and supportive throughout all of this) and Jenna and I drove to pick Zak up.  It was an 8-hour round-trip and I would not have been able to survive that day if my sister wasn't with me.  Zak had an urethral stricture and was prescribed 2 types of antibiotics, Vicodin, and had a catheter in for the next week until his surgery day.  For a week he basically laid or sat on the couch, depending on what was comfortable, and took his pills and tried not to complain too much.  The day Jenna flew back to CA was the same day as Zak's surgery at 6am.  Jenna's flight was at 6:40, so after our farewell, I rushed back to Moscow to wait until the surgery was over.  It was successful and Zak woke up in the recovery room talking about how his head felt like macaroni & cheese.  We actually had a very pleasant experience with everyone at the hospital.  The nurses laughed at Zak's jokes, were funny and personable.  After an hour or two after the surgery, I took him home and took care of him.  He had to have a catheter in until Friday, and once he took that out, everything has been great.  He has a follow-up appointment on Wednesday, but he feels great, so we should be good to go. 

My sincere thanks for our family and friends for all their help and support with this.  Special shout-outs to:
-Reilly parents, who took care of getting the truck fixed (it stopped working 2 days before Zak left), it helped so much to know that was taken care of
-Gabe, for lending us the Jeep for a week
-Jenna, for being incredibly helpful, sweet and supportive.  She is truly the best sister anyone could ask for, and I'm so so glad she's mine :)

Jenna's visit
Jenna spent 2 weeks with us!  It was a great trip, with lots of fun adventures and food.  I was lucky to get several days off, or work 1/2 days when she was here.  I especially loved having our friends meet Jenna, who have heard about her for 2 years but have not met her.  Likewise, she was excited to meet our friends (& their pets); all the times spent together with friends were fun and I'm so happy everyone loved her/she loved them!  She was thrilled to meet Hampton the pig, who is now a PIG (he's so big!) as well.  We played games, had a marathon of Daniel Craig as James Bond, went camping, made food, and rode roller coasters at Silverwood.  It was really fun for me to have her around, because she is such a delight and always willing to help.  After driving almost 9 hours in Gabe's Jeep to get Zak, I collapsed once we got home.  She made us dinner and it was amazing.  Penny loved her, and loved snuggling with her on the couch.  We all loved having her here and can't wait for her next visit!

Wedding season
There are 3 big weddings this summer!  Zak's sister Delaney is getting married in Boston in August and a few days later, my brother Kenny is getting married in California.  We are still trying to finalize flights and trip details, but it's an exciting time!  Our great friends Chad & Bryan will be getting married here at the end of July, and we are both in the wedding party.  I will also be helping Chad's best friend Emily with her wedding at the beginning on September--I am going to be in charge of the food, etc.  We are so excited to be a part of these weddings, as we love all the people involved! 

General/Penny
Penny is about a year old!  We still love the crap out of her and she still loves us!  With all the chaos in our lives lately, she probably has been acting out a little.  We have come home more than once to find a hole (or two) she's dug while waiting for us to return.  We've been told it's probably separation anxiety, so we are taking actions to fix that.  Now that the weather is nice, we leave her out in the yard on a tether.  The cord is long enough that she can rest in the shade by the bushes or the shed and get to her toys, etc.  So far it's been a bit of trial and error; we came home one day to her waiting for us at the gate...which is NOT accessible if she's on the tether.  She had dug it up.  Of course.  We've also come home to her wrapped around the bushes or poles by the patio.  It's funny because she's a very smart dog, but she can't figure out how to unwrap herself?  We have also been working on some new tricks, like balancing a treat on her nose.  She has not gained the composure yet to accomplish that, but she is getting good at waiting until we say a command. 

Most nights she sleeps with us, sometimes she leaves in the middle of the night to go to her bed.  I usually go to bed earlier and will read until I get tired.  It's very cute because she will watch me pull and rearranged the blankets and wait until I get into bed and then she hops up on and cuddles with me.  She loves to sit/lay next to me, but it's better if she can have most of her butt on me in someway.  It's really silly, but sweet.  She is getting really good at jumping to catch the Frisbee, it's so fun to watch her!  It doesn't seem like her leg is bugging her at all.  She runs, jumps, plays just fine.  She's a very happy, loving dog.

Other general updates...we are currently working on some ideas for the yard.  A few weeks ago I acquired some heirloom tomato seedlings.  I was on a run and there was a sign saying they were free, so I ran home with two of them...and then drove back to get a few more.  They are in a big pot inside, but we are about to transplant them to the window box by our bedroom.  I have seeds for squash, cucumber and lettuce, and while I have hopes for all of them to do well, I'm most concerned about the tomatoes.  I have some flower seeds that I'd like to plant in a different section of that yard.  Zak wants to build a little stone patio, we have started to look around to get ideas on what will work the best.

I apologize for the lack of pictures.  I have a bunch from Jenna's visit, but they are also on Facebook, so you can view them there.  I think that's everything for now! 

Quick Trip to Boise

Zack and I spent a quick weekend in Boise for a concert. And this wasn't any concert, this was a BIG DEAL concert to Zack; his favorite artist since he was in high school who recently resurfaced to tour. This was Jeff Mangum, of Neutral Milk Hotel, an indie folk band from the late 1990s.  When Zack heard about the concert a few months ago, he emailed me immediately and said we must go to the concert.  AND tickets were going on sale that day!  So, being the dutiful awesome wife I am, I waited until the tickets went on sale and snatched up two of them for us. 

As the date got closer and closer, I decided to make this trip extra special for Zack, since he did describe this concert as a 'bucket list item' for him.  I wanted to make sure we did what he wanted, had food and music he liked and to make the weekend as memorable as possible.  I had a fun time planning the music, food and ideas for the trip.  After we had gotten everything ready, dropped off Penny in Albion, I told Zack to sit back, relax and enjoy the trip.  We had a nice drive down, the trip took about 6 hours.  And it's a really pretty drive!  It was nice to have some time just to ourselves, and have discussions and conversations about almost everything. 

Dropping off Penny--her head is in my lap, she can't stay away from me sometimes...

McCall, ID

We only had a few hours before the concert by the time we arrived in Boise (even with ALL of my prep work, I had forgotten that Boise is on MST than PST, so we lost an hour!), so we quickly scoped out downtown Boise and got dinner at a place called Fork.  Everything was really delicious and it was so nice to walk down the block to the theater! 

Pretty for dinner!

Lest you forget how silly Zak is..

It was weird explaining to the waitress that we were here for a concert, not an anniversary?

Zak's delicious BLAT sandwich & salad

This was my face the entire time I ate my dish of salmon with pasta and a basil/caper sauce.

As one might imagine, the line was 99% your typical hipster 20-something college aged kids.  I felt a little out of place, because it seemed like everyone there had the same obsession and intensity about the concert like Zack.  I just did my best to make the night enjoyable for both of us.  The theater was this really neat Egyptian-themed theater.  And when I said themed, I mean the entire stage and columns were covered in Egyptian-style scenes of people, activities, animals.  It was pretty cool! 

Before the line formed

!

Awesome, right?

I loved these pillars

The opener act was ok, but very slow and quiet.  I took a mini-nap in the seat (nice movie theater ones, even)  By the time Jeff Mangum took the stage, the excitement in the room was noticeable.  He put on a very excellent show and encouraged the audience to sing along.  I hadn't listened to him that much previously (mostly when Zack had it on in the house), and it's not really my taste of music but I was thoroughly impressed with the concert.  He is very talented and passionate about his music.  I'm pretty sure Zack was singing along to every song.  I even sang along to the ones I knew!  It was an excellent concert and I'm really glad we were able to make it.  We weren't allowed to take any pictures, but I did manage to record the encore on a voice memo for memories.

Proof we were there. And unsure of where to look for the picture.

Really wish we could've taken off with a poster, but it wasn't an option.

The next morning we didn't have to leave immediately, so we had a leisure-filled morning of watching Rambo on the hotel tv and eating breakfast.  Once we checked out, we briefly explored the Gem & Mining Museum and then got back on the road. 

ROCKS AND THE LIKE.

Definitely 'not touching' the mining explosive thing..

Where I would've been sent in the early days of Idaho history...

Black-light room

 

Drive home