Engagement night pics

On August 18, 2009 Jared and I became "officially" engaged. I say officially because we already planned on getting married when I was done with school. Here is a picture of my ring.

That night we went out to dinner for my friend Gina's birthday at AJ Spurs.

Hot Chillys Photo Shoot

Jared was recently a model for the clothing line Hot Chillys. Our friend Kaelyn is the graphic designer/ photographer for the clothing line. She needed some models for the upcoming catalog. Our friend Honda was also in the photo shoot. It was done at our house on a very hot day. Even hotter when you are wearing black long underwear. Jared liked his fake mustache.

Our chickens got in on the modeling as well.



The theme was mexican if you can't tell already.

This was the final picture that made it into the catalog. Kaelyn photo shopped our garage door out and put in this backdrop. It will be the cover page for the section of Hot Chillys in the catalog. Turned out pretty well.

Our Trip to Oregon

We went to visit our Pecot parents up in Selma, OR at the end of July. It was fun to be there in the summer. We usually go for Thanksgiving and it is much colder then. We brought our friends Mike and Lauren up with us. They had always wanted to go to Oregon. Mike and Lynne have a large creek (below) that runs through their property. Since the temperature was over 100 degrees during our visit we spent a lot of time in the water.

Lauren, Mike, Lynne, and Mike (their dogs are Tundra and Roxy)

This is the deepest spot in the creek. Jared thought it was a little cold. Mike obviously did not.

We made strawberry jam one morning.

We also killed and butchered 3 roosters and then ate them for dinner that night. Below is a picture of the chopping of the head by Mike.

Jared helped his mom and dad with the plucking.

And once done, it actually looks like a chicken you would buy in the store.

One of our day trips was to the neighboring town of Cave Junction. We turned down a street called Tikilma ( a big hippie area) and drove until we reached a very cool hotel/ lodge of tree houses. That's right, every room is a tree house. We all decided we need to go back and stay the night. They had horse back riding, zip lines, and swimming.

This is a map of the place. When you stay there, they put your name in the box by the tree you are staying in.

Lauren and I with a wood carving at the tree house place.

My coffee cup this morning

LOVE

does not consist in gazing at each other

but in looking together in the same direction.

-Antoine de Saint Eaupary

California Mid-State Fair

August in north county brings the hottest days of the whole summer and a little event called the mid-state fair. It is actually quite a big event for us little town people. I have been going since I was a little girl, riding the rides and eating funnel cake every year. I even camped out there when I had dairy goats in 4-H. Over the last couple years though, I have found it rather annoying and irritating with the crowds of people, the overpriced EVERYTHING, and the 105 degree weather. Every year I say I'm not going and every year I end up getting sucked back in. This year was no exception when I won Kelly Clarkson tickets from Farm Supply. None of my friends wanted to go so my mom kindly offered. She didn't know any of the music but said she loved live music so it would be fun. Our seats were about 14 rows back in the middle. The closest tickets I have ever had at any concert.

My mom and I before the concert.

The opening band was The Jane Carrey band, Jim Carrey's daughter.

Kelly Clarkson rocked it! My mom and I had so much fun. She was great to see in concert. What a voice! Thanks mom for coming with me!

Then Jared won tickets on the radio to Styx and REO Speedwagon. The next day, he won two more tickets. So, the next night we went back to the fair with our friends Mike and Lauren. I'm not really into older rock music and I couldn't get over the fact that the musicians looked so old but tried to dress and act so young. Everyone else seemed to have fun.

Two days later I was invited to see Lady Antebellum on a free stage at the fair with a bunch of girls. We had a blast eating all the fair food, shopping, and riding on a roller coaster. Nicki and Devin sat behind us.

Amanda and I.

After the ride I was slightly sick to my stomach and bruised on my left side from the force of the ride. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun.

We ended the night with Lady Antebellum. Fun times!

More garden bounty

Our squash plant flowering.

Hiro helping in the garden.

One of the three melons that were all eaten by some wild animal. Possibly a raccoon?

My corn that became ripe while we were in Oregon and was picked too late. It was all bad. So sad!

A banana pepper harvest. We have been stuffing them with cream cheese and garlic and then wrapping it in bacon and throwing it on the bbq. Delicious!

Our first green beans.

Garden Update

Most of the garden has really taken off over the last couple weeks. The corn is taller than me now. This picture is of the corn and our tomatoe plant.

This half of the garden is one big mess. We really had to squeeze everything together to fit it in the garden. In the back of the picture is some melon plants and cucumbers. The front is tomatillos and basil. I will be making a lot of pesto this week and freezing it into ice cube trays.

This is the first tomatillo!

Some budding green beans.

My zucchini plant is not doing so well. There are some zucchini growing but most of the leaves are dying. It is getting enough water. Maybe it has a fungus or something. I hope it makes it!

My first yellow crook-neck squash!

The banana peppers are doing very well.

We planted the green beans up against the first row of corn. Now the corn is acting as a trelis for the beans.

G-man's Graduation

So I'm feeling very old these days. Not only is my little brother now a legal adult but he has recently graduated high school and will be attending the same college as me come this fall. I am very proud of him and was excited to be at graduation. I can't believe it has already been nine years since I graduated from the same high school. Yay class of 2009! Grant's girlfriend Kelsey also graduated.

We got to the graduation 1 1/2 hours early so we could get a good spot in the bleachers. My mom, dad, and grandpa did crossword puzzles to pass the time.

I worked on my tan.

Family picture time!

That weekend, we had a joint graduation party with some other families whose sons have been friends with my brother since elementary school. We had a pinata, mexican food, and a jousting bounce thing. Just about everyone got into the jousting. Jared had to pause to answer the phone. It must have been very important.

One of the more hilarious matches was my mom and aunt Carol. They laughed so hard there wasn't much jousting.

My grandfather and brother.