Taste of the Rogue

So we just got done with our biggest annual event, Taste of the Rogue! We have spent months and months and months preparing and procuring items for the silent and live auction, working with restauraunts, planning decorations, working on videos, programs, and slideshows ... and it was awesome!

This was my first TOR experience because I started at the Club just after it ended last year and from what I've been told, this year's TOR was the best that has been put on and it ran the most smooth, as well! My jobs for the event included creating the Live Auction Catalog, creating the Live Auction Slideshow and creating the videos that were played at the event ...

THIS video took me so much time, love and preparation and I am absolutely in love with it:

 

The event was a HUGE success and even though it was exhausting, it was a really great evening (and several months prepping for it)! I'm so blessed to be able to work events like these and to help inspire people to make a difference in the lives of the kids in our community!

Here are a few pics from the evening:

This was my FAVORITE part of the evening, our Sponsor A Kid ask - it was amazing to see how much response we got during this part of the program!

 

Meet Jessica & Megan - a few of my amazing co-workers!

The whole crew! This group worked SO hard to make the event as wonderful as it was!

March Fun {2014}

Where did the last month go? We have been so busy! Anyway, here's a quick re-cap of the fun that we had in March!

I was invited to attend a Zonta (a women's service organization group) Luncheon with my friend Talia so we got dressed up and pretended to be fancy for an afternoon:

I updated our picture board with the most adorable kids in the WORLD:

 

The Grower's Market started and we found our new favorite food: The Thai Guy Pizza from Rosie's Inferno! No Saturday will be complete without this yummy pizza from now on!!

 
 

We decided to act proactively this year and we built a "fence" to keep the snakes off our patio this summer! We built it out of wire mesh - we've had some skeptics weigh in on whether or not it will work and the jury is still out because it hasn't been warm enough to see them yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!! I'd really love to be able to spend some time outside this summer - we'll keep you posted!! :) I also planted some new strawberries from starts that I got from a friend AND my raspberries came in without a hitch! Now we'll just see if we can keep them alive!!

We had some really beautiful sunsets and evenings in March - our cold weather went away and we enjoyed time outdoors and going on drives!!

The Thai Guy pizza that we started buying at the Grower's Market inspired Nate to get creative with dinner a couple of times - he made a delicious BBQ Chicken Pizza - YUM!!

March was a very fulfilling month at work for me - I finally launched the website that I re-built for the Club! This thing was MONTHS in the making and I am so glad that it finally launched! If you want to check it out, you can see it at: www.begreat4kids.com. After the launch, my sweet boss Diann brought me these beautiful flowers - I didn't even tell her that Gerber Daisey's were my favorite!

So there you have it, our March in a nutshell!! :)

Ashlandversary

We took the Friday before our Anniversary off so that we could spend the day together! 

We wanted to get out and about so we decided to drive down to Ashland 

(for an "Ashlandversary") and spend the day there!

We decided to try out this British Pub called "The Black Sheep." 

It was a really fun place to eat and Nate really enjoyed his Bangers & Mash 

(I wasn't as daring, I just had a chicken sandwich - but it was delish)!

After we ate we walked around Ashland and strolled through the beautiful Lithia Park!

After we walked around for a bit we hopped back in the car and drove over to Emigrant Lake! It was empty for the day, which was lovely for us, so we chatted and took some pictures and took our time exploring!

We had a wonderful day together! I am so grateful for Nate -
my love, my rock, my husband and the love of my life!

14 Years

14 years ago today I married my best friend and the love of my life! As I have been thinking about our wedding day today there are a few things that stand out to me as favorite memories:

~ back then I was a big gum chewer! As we were taking pictures I remember Nate's Aunt Monica telling me to spit out my gum because if I didn't, I'd be chomping on it through our whole wedding video! I didn't have anywhere to spit it out because I was in a wedding dress, so his brave cousin, Brook, let me spit it out into her hand ... we laughed about that pretty hard!

~ my brother in law, Cody, rented a carriage for us so that we could have a few moments alone after pictures but before the wedding breakfast! The carriage took us around Salt Lake and then dropped us off at The Olive Garden, where we had our wedding breakfast/lunch! It was the perfect way for us to catch our breath and such a fun experience!

~ the mud! Oh the mud! The bottom of my dress and my shoes were SO muddy after taking pictures! My mom was kind enough to take my dress back to Logan and spot clean it for me before the reception.

~ after our wedding breakfast everyone filtered out and Nate & I were left at the restaurant, without a car because we took the carriage and without a clue as to where we were! We managed to get my sister on the phone and she gave us directions to the hotel, but we had to hike it in our tux and wedding dress - I can just imagine what we looked like, two young kids wandering around the city in their wedding clothes ...

Ah we had a wonderful day that day and have had SO many wonderful times since that day! I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful man has my husband and I am so grateful for him and for our relationship!

Miracles

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, 
our whole life would change.

~Buddha

Random February Fun {2014}

Ahhh, February! The month of love!! It has come and gone and of course was just as lovely as anticipated!

Here's what we did:

We cheered on the Broncos during the finals and the Superbowl - they didn't take it home this year but Nate was happy at how far they came AND it gave Tom a good reason to come down and hang out for a day or two!!

(This is how I really entertained myself during the game ...)

I began attending a 4 session Grant Writing Seminar with my friend Cyndi in Roseburg - I've really enjoyed driving with her and getting to know here a little better, AND I've enjoyed snapping a few photos when she drives as well ...

We have really been enjoying the rain these last few months and stopped outside the door one morning to take this picture:

I took advantage of one of the weekends that Nate had to work and had some musical fun:

I put my awesome drawing skills to use at work and drew this lovely girl for our Strengthening Families class - I know, I know, I won't quit my day job ... I don't know what's happening with her eyes, but oh well!

Nate & I have been in the process of re-decorating our bedroom little by little. We decided to go with reds and blacks. It started out with a few pieces to go on our wall, and then I made curtains and a bed spread, and then I found 12x12 canvas on sale so I bought four of them and this is what we created:

We each took opposite squares and had some fun with them! They aren't the most professional looking art pieces in the world, but we had a lot of fun making them!

 

Our room still has a lot of work to be done - next up is night stands and lamps, but it's getting there!!

Anyway, there's our random February fun!!