Great Tip!

I don't have kids yet, and I'm not planning to for a couple years still, but because of my job and my future goals I'm always interested in learning parenting tips. I found this on MSN.com. I encourage everyone to read it. It just has some great advice to raise happy children. Enjoy!

http://lifestyle.msn.com/familyandparenting/raisingkids/articleab.aspx?cp-documentid=8150607&GT1=32001

Walk With Me

I wanted to post about the event I have been planning for the past few months called Walk With Me. For those of you who don't know, I've been working for Easter Seals Washington since November 2007. That is the reason why I chose Eastern for my graduate program. My title is Philanthropy Assistant. That means I work with Paul and Tim (they are in our Seattle office) and we raise money for our programs. I write grants and I also plan events with them. The Walk was my first major event. It was pouring outside, but 75 participants showed up to walk for people with disabilities. We raised about $10,000, which is awesome. Here are some photos from the day.

This is my friend Molly from graduate school. Molly and Brittany came to help make sure no one got hit by the cars. They did a great job! No accidents!

Here is my sister Michele. She stayed under the umbrella. My dad is pushing her. She used a wheelchair because walking a mile is too much for her.

Here is Logan and Paul. Logan has started a magazine for youth with disabilities. Check it out at www.loganmagazine.com. If you know someone who could use it get them signed up, its great. Paul was an Ambassador for the walk. He has also spoken to the United States Senate advocating for people with disabilities.

You can see my mom in this picture walking through downtown.

I have to give a special thanks to DJ. He helped me plan this event and he was the perfect volunteer. He woke up with me at 6am to start hanging up signs. He forgave me when I got mad at him for losing my scissors. He gave me a big hug when it was over and let me sleep for 14 hours. He forgave me when I woke up at 4am and woke him up to look at things I found online. He is a great guy.

The Receptions are finished!!

After a month of wedding we are finally finished!! I have to admit I had a ton of fun planning my dream wedding and receptions with DJ and my mom, but with school and work, I'm ready for a break from planning. I can't complain though, both receptions were awesome! We called our receptions "Garden Dinner Parties" because we just wanted to plan a party and have fun.

In Moses Lake we had Shish-ka-bobs, rice salads, homemade rolls, watermelon, grapes, and the delicious Strawberry Cream Puffs made by Brother Anderson. Drex Palmer and Scott Carver were our amazing BBQers. Theresa ordered her husband a chef's hat and apron for the occasion.

The party lasted from 6 to 8:30 in Perrins backyard. It was a gorgeous Saturday, warm and sunny. I also got to see a lot of my favorite people I don't get to see enough. Tiffany and Cassidy were able to stop by, even if it was just for a moment. I love going home to Moses Lake.

Spokane's Reception was truly a miracle. The weather forecast was high of 92, thunderstorms in the evening. What does that mean, an extremely hot and humid day that ends with an extreme rainstorm, and that's exactly what happened. We held our reception at Plantes Ferry Park in Spokane Valley. We started setting up at 8am. It was extremely hot, but cloudy all day. As the time for the reception neared, we had a couple of raindrops, but nothing major. At 5:45, 15 minutes before our guests were to arrive the wind picked up and the rain drops became more frequent. Well, I always had faith that my Heavenly Father cared enough about my garden dinner party that he wouldn't let nature ruin it. So DJ and I said a quick prayer to stay the weather till we were done at the park. He did. And of course, it was more perfect then I could have expected. The clouds were perfect. The kept out the sun so our family pictures turned out perfectly. The few drops of rain cooled the temperature so DJ could wear his tux without being too hot. The weather was perfect and the food was amazing. We had hamburgers, sausages, hot dogs, pasta salads, watermelon, and strawberry sauce on bunt cake.

This is one of our shots, DJ is so handsome.

I'll post more shots when I get them, the photographer is making them all pretty. You can check out some of her stuff at http://www.flickr.com/photos/chelseakrieger/.

I'm so sorry I'm such a slacker when it comes to posting. But I'll explain the past month so you can understand why.

Most importantly DJ and I got married!! May 9th was the big day. It went perfectly thanks to my parents, DJ parents, Brittany, Kelly, Stacey, Kim, and our family members showing up on time. Our close family friends Mervyn and Brenda came down with their daughter Stephanie. And even though none of my high school friends were able to come, two of their moms came to support. Brenda Goodrich and Susan Byington came over just for the wedding. We got married at 3pm. Afterwards we went across the parking lot to a family dinner prepared by DJ's mom Linda and his Aunts.

This is a picture of everyone who was at the Temple.

This is my hot husband DJ.

This photo is DJ and I coming out of the Temple.

We went to Sandpoint for four days after the wedding. It was so beautiful and our room was perfect. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast called The Waterford. We highly recommend it. Here are a couple of photos from the honeymoon.
I've also been kept very busy by graduate school. I'm finishing up my last paper for the spring quarter. I'm going to take the summer of to focus on the next thing keeping us so busy, our very ghetto house.

I'm not kidding, here's some more pics!