New favorite site

Britt's entry -

A new site that I found through another blog is quickly working its way onto my top 10 list: www.etsy.com

It's basically a selling forum exclusively for independent artists, but 'artist' could be anything from knitter to jewelry maker to baker. A great way to support independent start-outs!

My favorite part is the ability to shop by color! There is a gradated color bar you can click on and it will pull up items from the site that precisely match that color. Too cool. You can also "shop local" from sellers who are located close to home, or from 'favorite' lists that were put together buy other buyers, or from sellers who are still looking for that very first sale!

If only my budget wasn't shot. *sigh*

One of our favorites

We haven't seen many pictures from the wedding yet, but here is one taken by Sean's mom (I believe) that we absolutely love!

Sheesh, what happened to you guys?

Britt's entry -

Ok, it's been an admittedly long time since the last post. A lo-ong time. I get it. If it makes any difference, we've been incredibly busy, as you may have noticed.

We're married!

It was 8 1/2 months of planning that went amazingly smoothly. Sean was absolutely fantastic - involved, supportive, creative, excited, involved... and involved. He wanted to take part in everything, which I completely appreciate about him. It was such a relief to know that he was interested in all the decisions and I wasn't going solo in the planning. We tried not to let it overwhelm us, though. I made lists (which everyone apparently still finds amusing, but let me tell you, it was effective) of what needed to be done and in what order so we made sure not to miss something, and then we usually took on one task every weekend. That way it was only a short time commitment, because in spite of wanting to be involved, Sean still got burned out pretty quick.

And then, finally, or maybe suddenly, the day big day was here! I'll do another post later about the whole whirlwind weekend, but here is what happened in the meantime....

Cooter got neutered. 'Nuff said.

Sean's blood sugar problems progressed really rapidly, which indicated Type 1 Diabetes, and he was moved to insulin therapy. He's gotten amazingly comfortable with giving himself the twice daily and mealtime injections, but its still been a big lifestyle change. My purse gets loaded up with his tester and injection pen any time we go out, so he'll soon be getting his own man-purse. (shhh, ha-ha!!)

After hundreds of hours spent commuting to Costco corporate, Sean decided to head back to the warehouse in Woodinville, right down the street from our house. His new schedule is Tues - Sat, 4 - 12:30 and he absolutely loves it. He's driving a forklift and constantly challenged and also moving, which is good for his Diabetes, and he gets to come home and still have practically a whole day to run errands, do chores, relax and take naps - not necessarily in that order.

Sean ran his first 5k, the St. Patty's Day Dash, and brought home a giant green foam top hat to show for it. If you need to borrow it for future parties, please let me know and I will send it to you right away and never mention it again.

I went to my first Mariner's game in the private suites, courtesy of a hotel my dad is working with to plan a work conference next year. Man, when I win the lottery I'm so buying a suite. Totally. And you'll all be invited anytime you want. Make note of that.

My gardening was curtailed not only by the wedding planning, but also by the late snow (!) that hit after the seed starts had popped up, ending up in a 90% kill rate. Lame-o. The starts I planted to make up for it later were subsequently drowned in the torrential downpours of May and June. Double lame-o. Guess our carrots will continue to be provided by Albertson's.

And... that puts us pretty much up to date. Hmmm. We need to get out there some more and get some good material for blogging. Now that we're married (!) we should have more time! This summer we're hoping to spend more time with our friends and family, so if you want to get together, just say the word!

Dude, the ski trip is cancelled.

Britt's entry -

Sean doesn't get a lot of chances to go skiing, so he was super excited for weeks in advance of a trip to Steven's with our friend, Jason. He normally snowboards, but Jason is a lapsed skier, so they both rented skis and gear ahead of time and packed up the night before, then met in Monroe and headed up the pass in Jason's Honda Pilot.

After a stop for gas and another for a big breakfast, they were about 15 minutes from the pass and coming around a bend when Jason said something about a Jeep. Sean looked up and saw a hard-top Jeep Wrangler coming straight at them, sliding sideways into their lane - and both cars were going about 40 miles an hour. Sean lifted his hands so his forearms were next to his head and braced himself for the impact.

The passenger side of the jeep careened into the front end of the Pilot, crushing the front end entirely and setting off their air bags. Glass from the windshield showered in on Sean and Jason, cutting into Jason's hands.

Luckily, Sean's responder training from the military kicked in and he went into action. After a few moments the airbag gas had dissapated a bit and enough time had passed to make sure no one else was going to hit them, Sean got out of the car and asked bystanders if anyone knew the mile marker. He called 911 and reported the basic details of the accident, then helped Jason out of the passenger side since the driver's side was wedged shut. Jason seemed to be in shock from the impact and was dizzy and disoriented, so Sean got a coat on him and wrapped an extra sock around his bleeding hand.

Sean walked around to the Jeep and made sure the driver, who was alone, was breathing and moving. Inside his car and scattered around it were empty beer cans and some that were in the process of emptying after being tossed around. They may have just been leftovers from a different day, but it didn't look good when the officers arrived.

Across the street was a parking area with about 15 people getting ready for the pass, putting on chains, who would have been directly in the line of impact if their car hadn't stopped the Jeep.

Soon the officers and fire crew arrived and took down reports of what happened. The Jeep's driver was pinned in, but they got him out without having to cut into the vehicle. An ambulance took Jason down to the local hospital in Monroe and Sean rode along. They called me around 11, an hour and a half after the accident. It went something like this: "Sweetie, don't freak out. We got in an accident but I'm ok."

We saw the driver being wheeled out of x-ray, along with his four little girls who were with us in the emergency room. His neck was strapped onto the board along with his arms, but he looked conscious.

Both of the guys were sore, and will probably feel it more tomorrow. Jason had to have x-rays for his hand just in case, and they picked pieces of glass out one-by-one with tweezers, which, in case you were wondering, he reports is a painful experience. But by all accounts they were incredibly lucky and it could have been much, much worse.

The worst part is that they never got to go skiing. Bummer.

*Note: My dad said, "Tell him it's going to take more than that to get out of marrying you."*

Ski trip cancelled

I lost my engagement ring.

Britt's entry -

Or, to be more accurate, Cooter lost it.

Cooter likes to curl up in the bathroom sink and watch us get ready, and he also enjoys digging through my things to find hair clips and rubber bands he can play with. He bats them around and carries them through the house. I usually take off my ring when I get ready for bed so I don't get soaps and lotions on it, and I put it under my makeup bag so he doesn't mess with it.

I woke up on Thursday morning and it wasn't there anymore. I looked under the bag, in the bag, all over the counter, all over the ground nearby - no ring. I spent most of the morning looking under the bed and in every crevasse in the bedroom. I took another, smaller ring and tried to fit it down the sink, but the stopper got in the way, so I knew the engagement ring wouldn't have fit. But, I took the trap apart just in case and found... nothing.

I was kind of hoping Sean had picked it up and put it in a safe place, or hid it from me to teach me a lesson, but nope, he didn't know where it was either. I got home Thursday night and he had scoured the whole house with a flashlight, and even taken apart the whole bed, but couldn't find it either. We looked with flashlights under all the cupboards and trim and edges we would think of. I found a lot of hair clips and rubber bands, but no ring. And Cooter just watched us, not saying a word about where it might be. We even told him that if he brought it back, he wouldn't have to get neutered next week.

So Friday night I cleaned out the vacuum canister and started vacuuming in every place I could think of, hoping I hear it getting sucked up. Still, lots of rubber bands, milk jug tops, and assorted other Cooter-toys, but no ring.

Sean and I started moving appliances, starting with the fridge. And there it was, way in the back, behind the wheel where we couldn't see it looking under with the flashlight.

What a relief!! That would have been a very unexpected wedding expense. And since Cooter didn't help, he'll still lose his balls on Wednesday. We had a deal.

A whirlwind. Well, more like a twister or Hurricane Katrina.

Britt's post -

Whew, it's been awhile since I put something up here, but that's not because there wasn't anything going on. We've been super busy preparing for the holidays and the wedding all at once. Last weekend we went to Sean's parent's house in Seabeck for their family Christmas, so we had to have all our shopping done early! Their family is really gracious about always holding Christmas on some other weekend so that no one has to choose between households for the holidays. The kids were all great, the family was wonderful, lots of food and fun! Nicholas won at Pictionary and Aleah showed us she's over her shyness - that girl opened up overnight and became a talkin' machine and a big ham to boot!

Christmas 2007

I think we're most proud, though, that Roscoe didn't pee on anything in the house - way to go buddy!! Such a special day *sniff*

Since getting engaged on October 31st, I bought my wedding dress, we picked our location (which comes with catering) and date, we booked our photographer and officiant and are working on a DJ/MC and the rehearsal dinner. All that will be left soon is to say, "I do! I seriously, really, really, do, baby! Whoo-hoo! Yeah!" or something along those lines. You can see more at http://www.seanandbrittgetmarried.com/.

This coming weekend we have Christmas festivities at Sean's sister, Tanya's, house in Sequim, with his dad's side of the family. Still not done shopping yet, but we're close!

I love the holidays, but man, I could use a nap. Mmmmm, nap. *drool*

Jumper makes a decision.

Britt's entry -

Last week, Sean got home and Jumper was sleeping in our bed. Now, normally, that wouldn't be such a big deal, right? I mean, cats like to sleep, and beds are comfortable, makes sense. The thing is, the day we brought Roscoe home in January, Jumper didn't step foot inside again.

We brought him in a few times to show him that it was ok, or to give him a break from the cold, but he struggled and tensed up and made a break for the cat door every time. The cat hasn't suffered, though. He has a nice perch on the workbench, complete with a towel over a heating pad, and, let's face it, this was his choice. Well, apparently he's changed his mind. He now walks right past the dog and into the bedroom and sets up for a nap. Go figure.

Riding the SLUT *giggity*

Britt's entry -

SLUT stands for South Lake Union Trolley, and I was the on the very first ride for the purple car! It waited at the stop outside my building during the opening ceremonies, and I got on and waited for it to start up, which was based on when the Mayor's trolley was ready at Westlake. I'm part of history!

Our neighbors like Christmas. And the Seahawks.

Britt's entry -

Every year our neighbors down the road go all out on their Christmas decorations. They staple lights across every inch of the front of their house and the roof, they spread lights across the lawn and all over the tree in their front yard, they have all the blow-up decorations one person can fit into 300 square feet - it's a Christmas bonanza.

But, it's probably pretty easy to decorate for Christmas when you never took down the lights from last year. Yep. I guess there comes a point when you're closer to next December than the previous and you just let go.

So Sean and I were driving past the other day and were surprised to see that they were building a huge framework in the driveway and getting ready to attach lights to it. But, we couldn't figure out what it was from our angle. It didn't take long before they mounted it on their roof and that Seahawks logo was a beacon of team spirit for all to see. Freakin' thing looks seriously professional. We're pretty impressed.

My new favorite site of the day - jibjab.com

It's up!!

Our wedding website has a permanent URL - bookmark it , baby!
www.seanandbrittgetmarried.com

Happy Tofurkey Day!

We're thankful for... YOU! Thanks for visiting : )

Our wedding website

Hi all! We've set up a blog exclusively about our upcoming wedding details, so check it out at http://home.comcast.net/~britt.anderson/
(This link is subject to change so check back here if it doesn't work later on down the line.

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

Britt's entry -

Our proposal

It was Halloween night and after a long day at work and an evening at the gym I arrived home in my sweaty workout clothes and pulled into the garage. Sean met me at my car door and said, "Here, put your things down." I asked him if I could put them down inside and he said to just set down all my bags right there on the garage floor. With a slight sigh, I followed instructions. He handed me a glass of Chardonnay, smiled and said, "This is your goblet of courage," then handed me a small flashlight, "and this is your torch."

"These are your instructions," he added, giving me a Halloween napkin which read: Welcome to the Chamber of Doom! A very dangerous journey lies ahead…collect all the clues along the way to complete the key.

"Hidden in the house, at eye level, are clues to help you complete the key, which will get you into the treasure chamber, " he continued.

I thought to myself, "Man, Sean must have been really bored waiting for trick-or-treaters to show up. But I'll play along." I opened the door and was greeted by the "Demon Dog" and the "Cat that steals your soul". The lights were all out and every candle in the house was lit, and playing on the stereo was some not so scary Halloween music, which, he assured me, was very scary music a minute before.

A Halloween napkin was taped along each wall, every few feet, with a letter written on it. As I pulled each one down we kept getting interrupted by kids at the door and had to stop what we were doing, set down everything in our hands, Sean grabbed the dog by his collar, I grabbed the bowl of candy, and we gave them their treats. We were probably interrupted 5 times.

Finally, I got all the "clues" together and laid them out on the coffee table. Based on the letters themselves, I had a pretty good idea of what it would say, and sure enough, it spelled out "I LOVE YOU MOST," which we all know isn't true since I obviously love him the most. (Note: Yes, we're goofy like that. We say this to each other all the time. And yes, we know its nauseating, which is why you probably haven't heard us do it much in front of other people.)

Anyway, I filled in the hangman squares on the napkin "key" I found on the guest bedroom door, opened it up (because the key was correct, mind you) and saw a bouquet of flowers and a card sitting on a storage container. It was really sweet of him, and not at all out of character to get me flowers just because or to make a show out of it. I smiled and thanked him and went to give him a hug, but he told me to read the card first. I turned the flashlight onto the card.

On the front was a jack-o-lantern that said, "Thinking of you…" and on the inside read, "…gives me a warm glow inside. Happy Halloween!" and hand-written at the bottom was, "And will you marry me?" I stopped smiling, shocked, and turned around to flash my light at him. Sean was down on one knee with the ring box open in his hand. "Willyoumarryme?" he said at the speed of light.

I paused for a minute, frowned, and told him I'd need a few days to think about it. No, I Didn't!! Jeez! Of course I immediately said yes and threw my arms around him!

We went out in the light so I could get a look at my new engagement ring and we could call friends and family to let them know immediately.

At one point some kids saw us kissing and turned back down the driveway before knocking. FYI - apparently that's the most effective method keep them away if you've run out of candy.

So now Sean and I are engaged and starting to plan our wedding! That is so cool to type out! Wedding, wedding, fiancee, wedding, engaged, husband-to-be, wife-to-be, engaged, married! Whoo! Trying to get it out of my system.

Crazy Cooter: My personal memoirsChapter four: My Training Begins

I wasn't always a champion fighter. I know that sounds difficult to believe, but biting and clawing my way to the top didn't come naturally to me. Since I started so young, it did appear to be second nature, and I never bothered to correct the people who called me "Evil Kitty" or "Troublemaker", so the reputation stuck and helped instill fear into the hearts of my enemies and eventually the giants.

I started off small, the way many champion fighters did. When the male giant reached to pick me up, I would bare my teeth and whip my head forward so my little jaw landed on his finger or wrist. It took several weeks of practice before I could get him to recoil in surprise at the sudden pain. He called it, "Jeez!" and I felt that was an appropriate term. Once I was more mobile, I could hide in the folds of covers and Jeez! their noses in their sleep, or under the bedskirt and Jeez! their ankles. I was an attack cat learning the trade and Jeez! was my specialty.

After mastering Jeez!, I moved on to hand-to-hand combat skills. My paws weren't even as big as a piece of the Roscoe's food when I began learning how to do the "Ow! Dammit!" The essence of this move is to impale your victim with your claws as many times as possible before they say, "Ow! Dammit!" But the particulars of how to accomplish this are far more complicated than can be described in writing. It involved everything from becoming one with your environment to the art of deception. In fact, deception was one of my strong points. Especially as a kitten, I was able to transform my appearance so as to seem, as the female giant called me, "a cutie-patootie". This would inevitably put me in close proximity to a vulnerable place - shoulder, face, hand, it didn't matter. The longer I held up the charade, the more vulnerable they became, until, at a planned, precise moment, my razor talons (sharpened on my climbing tree, a matter for a different story) would instantly torpedo into their skin. Palms were more difficult, but wrists and chests were like pulling a hot knife through butter.

At a certain point, the giants came up with what they probably thought was a deterrent to the Jeez! Ow! Dammit! combination - they would toss me into a pile of clothes, blankets or pillows to get me away from them as quickly as possible. Well, if I could have shouted "Whee!" I would have. Those trips soaring through the air were some of the most fun a kitten could have! It only enticed me to practice my tactics on them further.

However, the older I got, the more the giants began to learn my giveaways - the butt wiggle, the ears back, the huge eyes - and prepare themselves for attack. It got so that I could only get in brief moments of combat before the day was through. Luckily, the Roscoe rarely defended himself past walking away… which helped with my target training.