Hawai'i

We are enjoying our time in Hawai'i so far!

We arrived Tuesday morning and picked up our rental car. A 2010 Mustang convertible. I love it! Driving with the top down makes me very happy! We hung out in Waikiki all day Thursday and didn't do too much because we were tired from the flight.

On Wednesday we once again played in the ocean at Waikiki and quickly learned I need a boogie board :) We walked out about 1200 feet and stood and watched the surfers ride in. They are so graceful. We also drove out to Waimanalo to eat at Ono Hawaiian Steak, the best roadside food on Oahu.

On Thursday we spent all day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a great time. My mind played an April Fool's Day joke on me and caused me to leave my camera at the hotel so I have no pictures from the day :( We had a tour guide and took a canoe ride through the center. The dinner at the luau was great. We both ate SO much!! The night show, HA Breath of Life was amazing. At one point they has 12 guys twirling fire sticks (not sure what they are really called, but you get the point right?). We were in the 2nd row at center stage and could feel the heat from the fire. And, I didn't have a panic attack so it was a WIN all around.

Today we spent the afternoon at the beach and even though we applied lots of sunscreen (yes, I put on sunscreen, even though I HATE!!!! it) we are both a little pink tonight.

The room we have at the hotel is nice. We are staying at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. We stayed here last year too. The rooms are about as nice as a Best Western, but we are one block from the beach and paid less than $100 a night. The bed is comfy and the staff is nice. We have a pool view room with a double balcony so we open our glass door at night and can hear the live band play and the ocean coming in.

If you want to see picture you can click HERE to see them on my Facebook page.

Date Night

Last Saturday I got a call from my cousin Tinsel. She wanted to know if we wanted to join her and her husband Shane (who is my actual cousin) at the Silvertips game. Since I love hockey and Kelly doesn't mind it we decided to go. We invited Megan to come too. She didn't want to stay behind so she decided to come. She didn't want to feel like a 5th wheel so she found a "date". She invited Kathleen to come with us. The game was great. We won 5-0. Hockey is always better when your team wins.






After the game we hung out at Mondo's.

My tongue matches my shirt

Megan, Tinsel and Shane

Twilight

I love Twilight. I love the color the sky turns and the way the world changes. Everything calms down a little. Like we are all waiting for the sun to dip below the horizon.



These were taken on a warm February evening in Lynnwood outside our house. It was a peaceful time as Kelly and I stood on the porch and watched the sun leave and the moon arrive.



Love is always sweeter in the dimming light of twilight.

My wonderful Sunday

Sunday was a bright, sunny day in Seattle. Kelly and I had planned on going to Pike Place Market but Megan convinced me to go wash my car at Mom's. The weather was GReaT!! I was in a halter top and didn't get cold until the sun went down. Even though I know Kelly wishes we would have gone to the market, I was happy doing what we did.

After we cleaned all the cars I put air in all the bike tires and Talia and Jackson went on a bike ride.

Jackson back from the bike ride

Then Kelly brought us Taco Bell (he is such a good husband). We ate in the sun on the grass and enjoyed the weather.

"HI!!"

Family Shot

The sun moved behind the trees and out of mom's front yard to we moved to the street. Not the best location if a car comes, but we survived.

Megan only had 3 camp chairs so she used her stadium chair.

Talia was playing the guitar (with only 3 strings)


Kelly did this to her..

It started to rain today but I am still in a good mood. All that sun sure boosted my vitamin D. I am always vitamin D deficient, even in the summer, but in the winter... I am way too low. I take sunshine in any amount I can.

Kelly and I in the sun

When the sun finally went away :( We all went inside and sat by the fire. Brian and Kain came over and we talked. I played with the kids outside. Pushed Kain on the tire swing. The Kain, Jackson, Talia and I played 2:2 basketball. Me and Jackson vs Kain and Talia. We had to stop when Kain went home, but we were tied 5-5. We'll have to finish soon!

Glorious February

So far I am loving February. It has been so warm and sunny. It was above 60º today. Here is a picture of the sunny skies yesterday from work:



It feels more like May than February. It is still pretty cold at night and I have had ice on my windows in the morning. I am so in love with the weather. If this is "Global Warming" I say BRING IT ON!!! I can deal with a little less rain and a little more sun in Seattle.

Today Kelly and I took Maddy and Buster to the dog park out in Silver Firs. We normally go to Marymoore Park in Redmond. This park was much smaller but the dogs had a good time. They have been pretty quiet since then which means we did a good job wearing them out :) We also stopped by to see dad and place flowers on his grave. But he already had some that were fresh... So now I have flowers in my kitchen.

After the park we went into Seattle to have dinner with one of my co-workers. Kristina and her boyfriend Shawn drove over from Spokane for the weekend. We had a really nice dinner at Paddy Coyne's in Seattle. Dinner was really good. I started working with Kristina about a year ago. She works in sales and I have helped process some orders for her. We had never met in person so it was nice to put a face to the name.

The pub was CRaZy tonight! It was SO loud and there were people singing. I have never seen it that way, even on St. Patrick's Day.

I am not sure what we are doing tomorrow, but I am sure I will be outside in the sun. I need all the vitamin D I can get.

Why I love Kelly

I love Kelly because when I am having a rough day he buys me one of these...

Today he got me Cookies 'n Cream. You have no idea how happy a milkshake can make you after a loooong day at work... and then an hour+ drive home. Only in a messed up place like Seattle does it take you 68 minutes to go 22 miles at 6pm.... I digress...

F'Real Milkshakes are sold at the Chevron by our house. I never thought a milkshake from a gas station could be good... It just sounds bad.... But they are soooo good.

Heaven.. In a cup.

Valentine's Day

I had a great V-day weekend!

Friday after work, Kelly and I went to Megan's. We watched the Olympic opening ceremonies. I love the Olympics. They inspire me. I like seeing people achieve their life long goals.

I thought Vancouver did a great job! They incorporated so many wonderful Canadian things into the show. It was beautiful and showed off the talent of Canadians.

On Saturday, Kelly and I went to the 13th Ave Pub & Eatery to meet Melissa and Sean. It was PACKED in there. I have seen the pub my entire life and I had no idea it was so popular. It was a little too crowed for us so we went back to our place to hang out. Megan came over for a while and we all had a good time.

On Sunday Kelly made me breakfast. He made me "catastrophe" (eggs, hash browns, sausage, peppers and onions all mixed together). MMMMMMM it was delicious. We went to Costco and I bought him jeans for a V-day present. Then I vacuumed and steam cleaned the dining room. You can tell how romantic I am. But a clean home is a happy home, right?

We had planned on making dinner at Megan's for her, Talia and Jackson so Kelly had to go to the store. Kelly came home with my V-day present. Now I should preface this by mentioning the fact that I am not into V-day. It holds no meaning to me. It is just another day out of the 365 (or 366) days I tell Kelly I love him. So I would not have cared if I didn't get a present. But my loving hubby found something at the store and knew I HAD to have it.

So, what did he get me.....???



A NEW VACUUM!!! YAY!! **HaPPy DaNCe**

I have wanted a bag-less vacuum for a while. He heard me complaining all morning how much I hated my old one. He was a little nervous to get it for me. TV sitcoms always show the guy getting the girl a household appliance and the girl freaking out. Not me. I was so happy I vacuumed 3 times :D

I was amazed how dirty my carpets were, even after vacuuming and steam cleaning that morning. It was a great, unexpected present and I couldn't be happier with it.

I am so lucky to have a husband who gets me and my strange wants. He is the best person for me and I am so happy and in love.... all 365 days of the year.

My favorite Holiday

FORGET VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

St Patrick's Day is coming!!! 3/17 is bigger than Christmas in the Shane house. Kelly has a lot of Irish blood running in his veins, and I have a little. But on St. Paddy's Day we are both 100% Irish.

It is a holiday all can enjoy. We wear green, drink a lot, pinch people, celebrate a lack of snakes, honor redheads (the one and only true minority!!! According to my dad), and celebrate the luck of the Irish.

Only 5 more weeks!!!!

My gift to Kelly

I forgot to mention this in my last blog.

I woke up this morning sicker than a dog (and I have 2 so I know how sick they can get). I have been taking antibiotics because I have bronchitis. The bronchitis was annoying but I was dealing with it. I went to the doctor for cough medicine (with codeine.. Its the best). He put me on the death pills. They SUCK!! They have made me sick for 2 weeks!!! Of course, my cough is almost gone, but really, the nausea is driving me crazy. Luckily today was my last day of taking them :)

So, I was home from work today and checking my email. I received one from Groupon. They have deeply discounted stuff everyday. Companies offer large discounts to them as long as so many people buy the product. I bought Kelly a 3-hour cooking class from Blue Ribbon Cooking and Culinary Center He is not sure what class he is going to take yet, but it was such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up. Only $48 and he gets to cook. After everything is made they have a dinner party and eat everything they made. I am not going because I don't like to cook. But I like eating what he makes. I think he will go to the English or the Greek classes. Either way, he will have a good time.

Beautiful Sunset

Kelly and I went to see the sunset at Edmonds Beach today. It was amazing! Bright red light lit up the Eastern sky and shot rays of red through the clouds over the Olympic Mountain Range. And I caught it all on camera. Unfortunately for me, I didn't make sure all of the pictures I took were uploaded to the computer before I erased all the pictures from my camera. I only uploaded 15 of the 30 I took. But I still like the ones I have, so it is not too big of a loss.















I love taking pictures and I especially love taking pictures of ferry's. They are part of the charm of the Puget Sound area. Kelly and I were discussing me going to cosmetology school so I could learn how to do hair and makeup and take pictures of people for a living. While I think that could be fun, taking pictures of people is not my favorite. I like taking pictures of nature. Snow on the trees, flowers in my parent's yard, the water, sunsets.. all of it. My pictures may not be the best, but they are beautiful to me.

I am glad I haven't taken lots of photography classes, or I might judge my pictures too much. I don't think I would like them as much if I really knew what to look for in a picture.

Things that make me happy

Concerts
Concerts make me happy for lots of reasons.. I love live music. I like the energy of the performer and the interaction with the crowd. I love it when the improve during a song or stop singing and let the crowd sing to them.
I like when the singer doesn't hit the right note or messes it up in some way. It reminds me these "stars" aren't perfect. They are a regular person like me (they just have more talent and $$$$).
Karaoke also makes me happy. I like getting up there and singing loud (and off key). It is like being a rockstar for 3-5 minutes.
This week I got to be happy twice this week. Last night we went to karaoke at Mondo's. Megan & I sang Piano Man. We rocked it!! We only missed a few notes :)
On Wednesday Kelly & I saw Elton John & Billy Joel. What a show!!! I didn't know most of the Elton songs but he did an excellent job. Now Billy... He was amazing! No one performs like he does. This was my second time seeing him. I was impressed both times.
Kelly has had a long time love for Billy Joel and I love that we can enjoy it together.

It's been awhile

So much has happened in the last 6 months....

2009 was such a challenging year. So many ups and downs...

(in chronological order mostly...)
The good stuff:
Getting Engaged
Planning the wedding
Trip to LA
Trip to Hawaii
All of our day trips around the state
Our Friend Sean coming home safe from Iraq
Trip to Utah
The wedding
VEGAS!!
And all the great nights out

The bad stuff:
My dad being sick
Finding out there was no surgery we could do to "fix" dad's belly
Kelly losing his job
My dad passing away

As I was making this list of all the good and bad stuff from last year it is interesting how some of the bad things also seem like good things.

First, my dad getting sick (that sounds bad.. keep reading). Watching dad struggle was the hardest thing I have done. My dad was the strongest person I knew. He could unscrew any bolt (and tighten a bolt so strong I couldn't unscrew it) or open any jar. I had seen him have surgery and not take pain med's. To me, he was Superman. Knowing there was nothing that could be done to heal him, I wanted to spend time with him. I am always so wrapped up in Whitney that I often forget that I won't always have people in my life. The last year of my dad's life I was there almost every Thursday (unless I was sick... Didn't want to pass it to him). Also, when mom wouldn't be home with him Kelly and I would go over. He didn't always need someone around to help him, but he got lonely and needed people to talk to. I am sure my mom asked us because we are the one's without kids (they take a lot of time I've heard) and our schedules are so flexible. I know my dad felt bad that he was "ruining" our night. More than once he told me that he was sorry we had to be there and that he would be OK if we left. I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen, that I loved those nights. There were even a few times I took the day off work to be with dad. Dad and I never talked about anything important but as I look back, I cherish every minute I had with him.
One of the times mom asked us to come over was on 09/15. She had things to do. Dad had gotten worse and she didn't want him alone. Kelly and I were over. My dad had gotten his appetite and taste back. He wanted milk chocolate covered cherries. I went to 9 stores to find them... Let me tell you, NO ONE had them (dark chocolate, no problem, but milk... not a chance). I finally called and told him that like it or not, he was getting homemade ones. As I was making them, Kelly mentioned chocolate covered bacon. Scott had seen something about it on TV. Dad thought that sounded interesting. So I made chocolate covered cherries, blueberries and bacon. My dad loved them, especially the bacon (it sounds gross, I know, but it is good). Kelly and I stayed at the house awhile. I didn't want to leave, but had to work early the next morning. That was the last time I saw my dad.
Being able to be of service to him up until the end was a blessing to me. He was always there to help me with anything from moving 1,000 miles to spelling. I am so thankful for all of the moments we had together, good and bad. I think that losing him quickly would have been too much to handle, but having him get sick allowed me time to show him that I love him. It also allowed other people to show how much me meant to them. There was not a single time I was at my parent's that someone wasn't stopping by to visit him. So while him being sick was bad, it was a good way to say goodbye.

Kelly losing his job is also one of the bad/good things. Bad because we need the money to live, as well as to support my shopping habits. Being on a budget does not make me happy. There are 2 reasons this was a good thing (well maybe there are more reasons, but right now, only 2 things). First, being on a budget is g...go.... good for me (even though I HATE HATE HATE it!!). I have needed to learn to control my spending for a while. This has been a great way to learn.
The other good thing is that Kelly got to take care of dad for the last month of his life. My mom had to go back to work right after Kelly got laid off. It was nice to know dad was always taken care of. And it also gave Kelly time to get to know dad better.


Now, the wedding stuff... That was ALL good!! I had a great night and I love being married to Kelly. I love being with my best friend and sharing all of our fun times together. I have all of the pictures on Facebook.. To see our wedding picture click HERE

I am hoping 2010 is a great year. We are trying to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon as soon as possible. We are just waiting to hear about a job for Kelly. I hope we get to go :)

Wedding Registry

We changed our Honeymoon location... Check it out
CLICK HERE

Wedding Registry

I updated our wedding registry if you are interested in looking at it.
PLEASE let me know if you have suggestions or questions.

Click here to see it.

Whitney

Wedding Update

So Kelly and I (finally) picked a date! We are getting married Nov 7th, 2009. I even booked the place already so I cant't change my mind again =)
Kelly and I have been super busy getting things ready. I want to have it all ready long before the wedding so I am not stressed as it comes closer.
Here is what I have already done:
1. Bought wedding dress (And it was 2 sizes smaller than normal and will have to be taken in.. YAY!!)
2. Picked out Bridesmaid/groomslady (kelly hss a girl on his side)dresses. We will order them a little closer to the date of the wedding as the girls are either going on diets, trying to get pregnant, or having a possible growth spurt (she's 11).
3. Designed and purchased everything (but flowers) for the center peices
4. Came up with budget
5. Created guest list
6. Booked venue (for ceremony adn reception)
7. Picked colors/theme
8. Registered


Instread of a traditional register we decided to register for a honeymoon. Kelly and I have everything (and then some) that we need for our house, so we don't need things. We created a honeymoon registry so people could help send us on our honeymoon! Click here to see it.

I will keep you posted on everything as we get closer to November.

weight Loss... 2 weeks to go

Sorry I haven't been posting weekly. Here is where we stand as of 02/22

Kelly: -8 pounds!!!
Whitney: -21.7 pounds!!!

Engagement photos

Here are a few of our engagement pictures. They were taken on 01/31/2009 by Michelle Taylor Photography
We are at Seal Beach, CA



Michelle Taylor Photography


Michelle Taylor Photography


Michelle Taylor Photography


Michelle Taylor Photography


Michelle Taylor Photography


Michelle Taylor Photography


Michelle Taylor Photography


Michelle Taylor Photography


Michelle Taylor Photography


Michelle Taylor Photography

Oh Happy Day!!

Today was a good day. I stayed home from work and spent the day with Kelly. We didn't do too much, just ran errands. After we were done with that we went to my parents. We spent the afternoon visiting with my mom and dad.

I made everyone dinner tonight (shocking, I know!!). After dinner we were all sitting around talking. My mom grabbed her camera. She said she wanted to take a picture of us sitting in front of the fireplace to remeber the day I actually cooked. Kelly was standing up but I started to sit down. I stood up and asked "Do you want to sit or stand?" He said "Well, I was thinking I could do this..." And then he got down on ONE KNEE!!!! He proposed to me in front of my parents!!!!! I said "YES!!!"

I am so happy we are getting married!!!!! And I loved that my parents were there when we got engaged. That was really important to me and Kelly. I can't wait to start all the planning. We are planning on next summer... YAYAYAYAYAYA!!!

Upcoming weekend

I am so excited for this upcoming weekend! For Christmas Kelly bought us a trip to LA, and we leave on Friday. I can't wait to get there and see sun =)

How excited am I to go?? So excited that I took Thursday off too. Just kidding. I took Thursday off so I could spend time with my dad. We don't have the specifics yet, but he will be leaving soon (hopefully) to have surgery and then recover. It is a long process and he, and my mom, should be gone for about a month. I adore my dad and I know I will miss him so I wanted to spend some time with him before he is gone. I love my mom too, but she is healthy and I will be able to call her as much as I like (yay for Verizon Wireless and unlimited IN calling).

Today was to be my last day of the month at work. But after working for about 2 hours this morning I got SUPER SUPER sick and had to come home. I felt really bad because we were so busy and there was some year-end stuff I had to rush thru with my manager that had to be done by end of month. I am starting to feel better. I have been sick off and on all month and it is really annoying. I had my yearly physical with my doctor 2 weeks ago and I am all healthy, so my never ending cold needs to go away =)

So now I am home with my dogs relaxing. I love being home with them. They are so much fun. Buster is calm and happy to lay around with me all day. Maddy is CRaZy but makes me so happy. She is always ready to play. I have already let her out 8 times to chase squirrels. She seems to be able to sense when I am bored or wanting to play because as soon as I realize it, she is bouncing up and down and getting ready to jump all over me. I love that she jumps all over me, snaps at me (playfully) and lets me push her around and never bites me. I think her favorite time is when I dance around like a crazy person (that happens a lot), she gets really excited and tries to bite my knees.

I am really looking forward to getting to LA on Friday. We are having dinner with my friend Michelle and her hubby Chris at their place that night. Chris made a tiki bar a little while ago and IO have been wanted to see it for a while. I just saw Michelle and Chris at their wedding in September, when I went down with Megan & Melissa. We didn't get to see them much because they were so busy with the wedding and honeymoon. It will be nice to spend time with them. Michelle is a great photographer and I am hoping she'll be able to get some nice shots of us while we're there.

Weight Loss Week 2

Second Week's results:
Kelly: -2.4 pounds!
Whitney: -3.9 pounds!

Total weight loss:
Kelly: -5.9 pounds!!!!!
Whitney: -15.7 pounds!!!