We love you Doug! Wish we saw you and Shannon more often! Here's to a great year to come!
So Josh had a pretty big birthday last week! He turned 30! Now I am a firm believer in that age is only a number and so is Josh! Josh is very young at heart and exceptionally youthful! He isn't a big party person so for his birthday this year we took a trip to Portland, Oregon! I was already heading out there for a conference so I thought it would be a pretty good idea to have a weekend away...just the two of us! We had a great time! Josh went salmon fishing and caught one...did I mention that when he was salmon fishing it was around 50 degrees and raining the whole time!
The next day Josh and I strolled around Portland. We walked down by the river and saw a parade of Great Danes! They were beautiful! There had to have been about 10 of them and it made us miss Nina! Portland is a great place...a big city, but walking around I think it made Josh and I realize even more that we are smaller town, coastal people! The city was interesting...all different types of people and things to do, but a little too much cement for me. The one thing that I did find amazing about Portland was the way they inter-mingled the trees within the city. There were tree's that were as tall as buildings all throughout the city. It was quite remarkable!
We spent the afternoon at the chinese gardens! While we were there we saw a "lion dance" which was amazing! They did a dance that told a story blessing the upcoming year.
Before we left the chinese gardens I made us get pictures taken with all the kids who wanted them too! I couldn't resist! God only knows when we'll see another "lion dance" again!
We finished the trip up by catching a movie that night and spending the last bit of the night walking around the city watching all the lights and people. All in all it was an amazing trip! We had a great time exploring Portland together...getting lost and getting found walking around the city. Happy Birthday Josh, I love you, you keep me young.
So this is a slightly delayed post, but two weekends ago was my dear friend Mel's bridal shower! That weekend was filled with her infectious laugh and overall carefree spirit. Mel has the ability to make anyone around her feel at ease in there own skin, she is a great friend! Her bridal shower started off with staying up so late watching love actually that I thought I was going to fall over...chatting about all the stepping stones that one takes on the way to true love, laughing about middle school boyfriends and reveling in the thought that we have grown so much that its the time in our lives where we are getting married, buying houses and having children. Time passes to quickly...try not to blink! The following day was filled with shopping and spending time with Mel's family! The bridal shower was that evening so we got all dolled up and made Mel close her eyes as I tried to navigate my way to downtown Wilmington! The bridal shower was amazing! Mel's bridesmaids did a fantastic job! 
There were all these amazing little details...like flags with an M on them and homemade flower arrangement! It was beautiful! The bridal shower was held at a little bon bon shop where we learned to make our very own bon bons! Mel opened all of her amazing presents and then we played some unique and funny bridal shower games. The bon bon making was like heaven...just imagine eating brownies covered in fudge for a couple hours! That evening we went out to dinner and I enjoy the laughter the most. I don't think I had laughed that hard in a long time! But now that I think about it I usually have some pretty good laughs with Mel! We ate and drank our way through appetizers, dinner and dessert and promptly went home and fell asleep! The weekend passed by in a flash! I got up the next morning and went for a run on Wrightsville Beach (which I miss doing terribly) and got in my car and drove home. It was a great weekend, one of many! Can't wait for the bachelorette party in a few weeks!