Happy Birthday Sean

Last weekend was the weekend of Birthdays!  First we went out to dinner for Leanna's Birthday and then we went over to the Bowling Ally to meet up with Sean and company for his Birthday celebration.  This year Sean hit the big 3-0!!  Because this is a big birthday Sean got to have a 3 party celebration night.  First they had a party with Wii and dessert at their house, then it was off to cosmic bowling and after that they headed to Hollywood for some famous Hot Dog's from Pinks.  We showed up when it was time to bowl and unfortunately we were party poopers and didn't make it to Hollywood in the middle of the night.  They didn't get home until 4:30am. We had so much fun rocking out at the bowling ally.  I am really bad at bowling but it was still fun.  

Cosmic bowling just wouldn't be fun without crazy hats and masks right?  Leave it to Joy and Sean to spice up bowling with costumes!!

That's Keisha under those feathers if you can't tell.

I think we liked our hats a little too much!

 Chief Vergie

Here I am getting my groove on to Kanye West with the Birthday boy.  Bowling is so much more fun with good music blaring!  

We even got Barbara and Juan to have a little fun with the crazy hats, how cute are they?

Ron Burgundy?  Is that really you?

Joy is feeling good about her mad bowling skills!! 

Justine and Amber

Yea, I won first prize for my awesome dance moves!  How do you like my slinky dog?  Isn't he cute!?

Happy Birthday Leanna

Last weekend we helped Leanna celebrate her Golden Birthday.  We went out with her and about 20 of her closest friends to a fun sushi restaurant.  We all sat at the teppanyaki table and had a delicious dinner.  There was just one rule, everyone had to wear something gold.  Some of us didn't have much gold to wear so one of Leanna's friends brought gold beads so we could all be festive.

Leanna even got to wear the kimono, isn't she cute!

Our seating arrangement was a little mixed up...

Allen toke this picture of Emily, I just love it!  Can't you hear that great laugh?

SNL

I love SNL and I love Fred Armisen and this skit the other night just got me!!  It doesn't take much I guess!!  Enjoy ; )

Spell Master Heidi

I know, those words just don’t go together!!   Anyone who knows me well knows that spelling is pretty much the last thing I am good at.  Spelling was something I struggled with all through my educational career.  I am sure if you are a faithful blog reader you too have probably caught some of my mistakes on this very blog.  Kudos to you!  Although I have come a long way with my Spelling skills, it is something I have just come to terms with.  The funny thing is, even though my spelling and grammar might not be the best, you keep coming back to read my blog, don’t you?  Therefore, it must not be that big of a deal, right?  Needless to say when my principal asked me if I would be the Spell Master for the Fourth Grade, District Wide, Spelling Bee I was shocked.  I guess he didn’t realize I was the world’s worst speller…  I told him I didn’t think I could do it but he really believes in me and felt that I could.  So, I couldn’t say no, right?  The great thing about being a Spell Master is that you don’t actually have to know how to spell any of the words.  You are the person who runs the Bee.  You read the words and the sentences that go with them and then tell the students if they spelled them correctly or not.  It’s a pretty big job… no pressure!!  Even though the words are right in front of you, it is really nerve racking because Spelling Bees are very intense.  If you have ever been to one, you know that you could hear a pin drop in the room and you can just feel the tension.  You are nervous, the kids are nervous and the parents are nervous.  The first year I did it I really thought I was going to pass out, I am not just saying that either.  The second year, I couldn’t believe I had agreed to do it a second time.  This was my third year and although I was not as nervous, I still had butterflies.  Anyway, I am sharing this because it is a really exciting thing for me.  I hear it’s good for us to push ourselves out of our comfort zone every once in a while. For me being a Spell Master is exactly that.  I hate reading aloud.  I am not a good speller and the parents really make me nervous.  When it’s done however, I feel really good about myself.  Who would have guessed it, me a Spell Master?  Running a Spelling Bee???  It still makes me laugh!  I know you might think that fourth grade words would be really easy, trust me, they aren’t.  Even older, wiser teachers who I look up to because they have been doing these things for years still get nervous.  These kids are amazing!  They learn hundreds of words and pretty much memorize them all.  Many of the words are words that I have rarely, if ever, heard before.  The kids work so hard and most of them really know their stuff.  As weird as it is for me, it’s neat to be a part of something like this.  I don’t force myself to step out of my comfort zone very often but when it’s all said and done and the ribbons are passed out, I am always glad I did.   I bet the kids have no idea that even the judges are getting something out of the experience!

The After Party

Ok, so I just got to talk to the Bride!!  I was so excited!  I  had been waiting so patiently for her to come back so we could debrief the wedding and talk about everything!!  They had a great time by the way!  I was telling her about the after party that we had and she was totally jealous.  : )  Now, you might say how sad, they were headed off on their honeymoon how could she have been jealous?  Well, I am sure she wouldn't have really chosen to stay with us but she just knows that when ever you get this group together, lots of fun is bound to happen.

Needless to say, after the wedding we were all really tired but because the Cleavers live in Oregon and as Chris put it we hadn't seen each other in "10 years" (it really wasn't that long, but it had been several years) we could not pass up an opportunity for some late night fun.  Mark said that they were all going to go out for Karaoke and wanted to know if we wanted to come.  They said they were going to Bill's this "podunk" little bar in AG. The kind of place I am sure my dad warned me not to go to.  I was like seriously, the place with the stuffed lion in the window???  Josh, Andy, Jeff and I were the locals of the night and we had never been there and honestly thought we would probably never go there.  We were all so glad that we did because we ended up having so much fun!!!

Chris was wearing this hankerchif as a scarf and I was wearing my wrap on my head (we were really tired at this point remember) so we decided to switch...

Yikes!

Yes, this is much better

The bar turned out to be a lot better than any of us expected.  When we got there they were singing these country songs which was fitting for a bunch of people who seemed pretty... country.  Mark and I were planning to sing something we just didn't know what.  I really wanted something I knew at least some of the words to so I suggested Rihanna's Umbrella song.  I guess I was kind of kidding but Mark thought it was perfect.  We didn't know how people would react to us changing the music over to hip- hop but the funny thing was they loved it!!!  Everyone got up and started dancing, we seriously brought the house down!!!!  I mean, it's us, should anyone really be surprised?  Andy got the whole thing on video but for now these pictures will have to do.

Mark did the Jay-Z  intro part...

"Rain man is back, little miss sunshine Rihanna where you at?"

I did the Rihanna part, but I am not as talented as Mark so he helped me with most of it.

"You can stand under my Umbrella, ella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, eh-eh"

Chris was really excited!!

Even Jeff got into it!

Mark could not get over the fact that he was actually at a bar with Andy, my little brother.  To be honest, it was pretty weird for me too but it's so fun to be at the age where we can really hang out!

Later, Mark did the robot and Chris...

Did this!  

See, I told you there was a stuffed Lion in the window, I mean how can you miss it?

We were all sad when the Karaoke ended all too soon so we went over to this other little bar, yikes!!  This one took the cake!!  This lady was singing that Journey song you know, "don't stop believing"  or at least I think that's what it was.  She kept pointing at us like we should join in...  We only lasted there a few minutes!!

The Arroyo Grande Village is a whole different place after dark, can you see how scared we look here? 

Well, we all had a great time and we just hope it doesn't take another "10 years" for us all to get together again.  Hopeful next time Emily, Aaron, Amy, Sarah and Kellie will be there too.  

My Thoughts

What is this???  A post without pictures?  I know, weird right!  I always have pictures but this time, I have something to say…

Emily’s wedding was a really big deal for me and it really got me thinking.  I mean it has totally been like memory lane in my head since then.  It was so much fun seeing friends I hadn’t seen in a really long time.  I was reminded what it was like to be around people who really know me and with whom I can truly be myself without even trying.  It was wonderful.  I am so thankful for the friends I have now but there is nothing quite like catching up with those you share history with.

Because Emily and I have been friends for, forever I feel the need to say something. I just feel I have been planning this wedding as long as Emily has so I have had sometime to think about what I would say.  I guess what I am trying to say is that I am someone who needs closure so this toast is really more for my own sake than anything else.

Anyway, here’s my toast to Emily and Aaron

Emily and I have been best friends for what feels like forever.  Although we have known each other since we were kids I believe that our friendship really began in 7^th grade when our mom’s got us together to go see Annie.  They wanted to make sure we had good friends as we entered the harsh world of Jr. High.  Turns out our Mom’s were pretty smart because it worked!  We hit it off and became best of friends right away.  Although we didn’t go to the same Jr. High, we did go to the same youth group and we quickly bonded.  Some people remember Jr. High and High School as painful times.  It’s just the opposite for me.  I will forever remember those years as some of the best years of my life.  I know that without Emily it would not have been that way.  We had so much fun together.   We made lasting memories no matter where we went… So many memories from youth group, teaching 3 yearold Sunday School,  trips to Hume Lake (winter and Summer), SEMP, Mexico, Costa Rica,  countless late night sleepovers, a particularly memorable trip to Oregon to go to Jesus North West and to meet the Cleavers, I still can’t believe my mom let me do that but I am  so glad she did.  We bonded through so many things but I think the thing we bonded over the most was boys and our obsession with wedding planning.  To be honest I blame Mike and Kate who had us in their wedding when we were just in 8^th grade.  It’s funny that Mike would end up to be the one who would marry Emily and Aaron.  Amy is a little to blame as well because she was the older sister who was in a serious relationship at the time and actually had reason to start thinking about weddings.  On the trip to Mike and Kate’s wedding Emily introduced me to our very first Bridal Magazine and it was all down hill from there.  From then on whenever we went on a trip we would always stock up on bridal mags, and talk weddings the whole trip long.  I think that both of us were surprised when we got to college and found that most girls had never owned a bridal magazine.  They hadn’t picked their colors or their bridesmaids or anything.  They would say things like “but I am not engaged” or “I don’t have a boyfriend” and Emily and I would be like "so?"  We didn’t just plan the wedding, we spent a lot of time talking about marriage as well.  Some of my fondest memories will always be our late night conversations when we would make predictions about who we each would marry.  Although I think we had some pretty good ideas, some how we never predicted Aaron.  That would have been hard because we didn’t know him at the time.  I am so glad that God brought these two together.  My favorite question since Emily and Aaron got engaged has been “how do you like Aaron?”  It’s my favorite because I honestly couldn’t have predicted anyone more perfect for my best friend.  I love that she is totally herself when she is with him.  I know he will always cherish and take good care of her.  Aaron, I am proud to call you my new best-friend-in-law!!  So, here’s to Emily and Aaron.  It was a beautiful wedding, better than we even planned and I pray God will bless you as you start your new life together. 

I love you both!!

My Best Friends Wedding

Last weekend Emily and Aaron got married! The wedding was in Nipomo at Trilogy where her parents now live. It was a beautiful location and a beautiful wedding. We had fun getting ready for the big day and when it finally came it turned out perfectly. Emily looked amazing and I think she had the best time.

Getting Ready for the Wedding

The Flowers

After the rehearsal dinner Amy, Monica, Cara and I helped Emily do the bridal bouquets.  We each got to make our own.  This was the first time I had ever gotten to make my own bouquet.  I mean really, what kind of a bride lets the bridesmaids make their own bouquets?  It's pretty funny that Emily said she would be a mean bride because she was pretty much the exact opposite.   She was actually really easy going, she let us do our own flowers.

It was really a fun job and I was pretty proud of how mine turned out.