Davis Asher Gwyn
Welcome new little one... (we like to call Dash)
arrived on Monday evening (11/22) in the midst of a snowy blustering day
Congratulations to my sister Kate & brother-in-law Tim on the newest member of their family!!
This Beautiful Life
Saturday, November 27, 2010
For my Mother
"A Mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity, when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts"
-Washington Irving
Thanksgiving fell on my mother's birthday this year.
Yes, that is what I meant to say.
To describe my mother is impossible.
She is many things to many people, beyond a mother, wife, sister, grandmother.
She is... a counselor, a chef, an accountant, a motivational speaker, an improvisational comedian, a feminist, an advocate and still amongst all of that she was able to raise 4 strong, intelligent and independent women. (if I do say so myself ;) )
Instead of trying to explain how thankful I am for her, I will share some of my favorite memories of growing up with a mother like mine.
*Watching I Love Lucy together after my older sisters left for school
*Going on adventures... this could be taking a detour home to follow a fire truck or ambulance to see what was going on, taking a walk during heavy wind storms, knocking on the door of her childhood home to have a look inside
*Singing to Amy Grant in the car... my head jerking back & forth in reaction to my mom pumping the breaks to the music
*Trips to the Ocean with my mom & sister Kate
*Coming home from WWU on school breaks and talking to her about all of my own adventures
*The "21 questions" she asks before I would leave the house... where will you be, when will you be home, do you have your cell phone...
*Hearing her talk in many silly accents
*Seeing her happy and tearful face on my wedding day
For this & every year I am thankful for my mother
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Honeymoon Part II
On Monday we once again packed up our bags & checked out of the hotel, this time successfully :) We took a taxi to our next hotel that was within walking distance to Old San Juan and had it's own private beach. We brought our things up to our new room and checked out the view from our balcony.
Then we walked into Old San Juan to walk around on our own. The tour we did a couple days before was great but there was just so much to see in just this part of San Juan
that we were looking forward to exploring on our own. We had so much fun 
getting lost on the windy cobblestone streets and stumbled across a Ben & Jerry's. We slipped in to cool off in their air conditioning and have a bit of ice cream. Then we continued up the street and found a Don Collins. Ryan was excited to go in and check it out. We had such a blast in there talking with the staff. The man who helped us was from Chicago and had a cool accent to prove it. He offered us several cigars to try and a couple of shots of rum to go along with them. We took our time hanging out there to finish our cigars and chat. It was a fun place!
Next we took a short walk to another one of the forts. Which I think
was the largest and was also situated next to a historical cemetery where only prominent political figures where buried. I wished we could have gotten closer to read some of the names but there was not a way to access it from up above by the fort. 
After the fort we took a walk along the water on a boardwalk that was in between the ocean and fort walls. I wish I had a picture of this because it was so cool looking. There were also several interesting statues and monuments along the way.
On Tuesday we spent the day sun bathing on the hotel's private beach. It was so much fun! They had men that would come out and set up an umbrella to provide you with a little shade, which was necessary because it was SO hot! This was the first day of the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) conference so there was also a free BBQ and a ton of games to win prizes. Ryan and I tried a few of them and earned about 35 AAU $s. We figured they would exchange for gift certificates or coupons to the hotel restaurants... much to our surprise at the end of the day they exchanged these dollar for US dollar. If we had known that we would have worked a little harder! All in all we walked out with about $45 but some people made hundreds. It was CRAZY!
Wednesday Ryan went to a couple meetings for the conference during the day and I laid out on the beach and finished my book. That night we did an moonlit kayaking tour in the luminescent bay. We couldn't really take any good pictures on this trip because of the light but it was definitely a fun excursion. We kayaked through these mangroves and saw iguana sleeping in trees and of course the beautiful luminescent water. If you put your fist in the water and then opened it, it looked like an explosion of light coming out of your hand... I also let some water trickle down my arm and it looked like glitter! This is caused by the type of plankton in the water there. The tour guide compared it to fireflies but in the water and the difference is that this plankton could not control it's light like a firefly can...it just reacted immediately to touch.
Thursday we spent out at the beach and also walking around Old San again picking up souvenirs and gifts for family. Friday was our last official day of vacation and we had such a fun day! We did a catamaran snorkeling tour that lasted all day. I was a little hesitant toward the snorkeling given my bad experience with this in the past but Ryan had never done it before so I wanted him to be able to go. We first went to a little desert island and snorkeled at a reef along it's shore. While we were there it began to down pour rain! It was so cool because if you were treading above water with your head up you could hardly see because of all the rain & wind but once you put your face in and started snorkeling you couldn't even tell because it was so calm and warm under water. We took a break for lunch and then the captain took us out snorkeling a little further in the ocean. This was my favorite because the water was clearer, the reef was deeper and there was prettier fish. We spent a while snorkeling around the area and then I started to get a little scared when I stopped to think about the fact that we were out in the middle of the ocean and there might be sharks around somewhere... once I thought about that I snorkeled REALLY close to the boat :)
Then we walked into Old San Juan to walk around on our own. The tour we did a couple days before was great but there was just so much to see in just this part of San Juan
that we were looking forward to exploring on our own. We had so much fun 
getting lost on the windy cobblestone streets and stumbled across a Ben & Jerry's. We slipped in to cool off in their air conditioning and have a bit of ice cream. Then we continued up the street and found a Don Collins. Ryan was excited to go in and check it out. We had such a blast in there talking with the staff. The man who helped us was from Chicago and had a cool accent to prove it. He offered us several cigars to try and a couple of shots of rum to go along with them. We took our time hanging out there to finish our cigars and chat. It was a fun place!Next we took a short walk to another one of the forts. Which I think
was the largest and was also situated next to a historical cemetery where only prominent political figures where buried. I wished we could have gotten closer to read some of the names but there was not a way to access it from up above by the fort. 
After the fort we took a walk along the water on a boardwalk that was in between the ocean and fort walls. I wish I had a picture of this because it was so cool looking. There were also several interesting statues and monuments along the way.
On Tuesday we spent the day sun bathing on the hotel's private beach. It was so much fun! They had men that would come out and set up an umbrella to provide you with a little shade, which was necessary because it was SO hot! This was the first day of the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) conference so there was also a free BBQ and a ton of games to win prizes. Ryan and I tried a few of them and earned about 35 AAU $s. We figured they would exchange for gift certificates or coupons to the hotel restaurants... much to our surprise at the end of the day they exchanged these dollar for US dollar. If we had known that we would have worked a little harder! All in all we walked out with about $45 but some people made hundreds. It was CRAZY!
Wednesday Ryan went to a couple meetings for the conference during the day and I laid out on the beach and finished my book. That night we did an moonlit kayaking tour in the luminescent bay. We couldn't really take any good pictures on this trip because of the light but it was definitely a fun excursion. We kayaked through these mangroves and saw iguana sleeping in trees and of course the beautiful luminescent water. If you put your fist in the water and then opened it, it looked like an explosion of light coming out of your hand... I also let some water trickle down my arm and it looked like glitter! This is caused by the type of plankton in the water there. The tour guide compared it to fireflies but in the water and the difference is that this plankton could not control it's light like a firefly can...it just reacted immediately to touch.
Thursday we spent out at the beach and also walking around Old San again picking up souvenirs and gifts for family. Friday was our last official day of vacation and we had such a fun day! We did a catamaran snorkeling tour that lasted all day. I was a little hesitant toward the snorkeling given my bad experience with this in the past but Ryan had never done it before so I wanted him to be able to go. We first went to a little desert island and snorkeled at a reef along it's shore. While we were there it began to down pour rain! It was so cool because if you were treading above water with your head up you could hardly see because of all the rain & wind but once you put your face in and started snorkeling you couldn't even tell because it was so calm and warm under water. We took a break for lunch and then the captain took us out snorkeling a little further in the ocean. This was my favorite because the water was clearer, the reef was deeper and there was prettier fish. We spent a while snorkeling around the area and then I started to get a little scared when I stopped to think about the fact that we were out in the middle of the ocean and there might be sharks around somewhere... once I thought about that I snorkeled REALLY close to the boat :)
All in all this was a very fun trip! We did everything we had on our list to do and didn't get sun burned! A real accomplishment for Ryan ;)
Below are some more pictures of our trip that didn't really fit in well above
Our Honeymoon - Part I
The much over-due honeymoon post....
Ryan & I were very much looking forward to escaping the wet & dreary Seattle for the sunny & warm San Juan, Puerto Rico. The night before leaving we dropped the boys (Henry & Scout) off at our GREAT Dog Walker's home, Shorehound Dog Walking Co. If you live in the Shoreline area and are in need of a dog walker, house sitter or dog sitter they are wonderful!
After dropping the boys off we drove down to my parent's house in Sumner to spend the night so my dad could drive us to the airport in the morning. The next morning we started our journey bright & early, arriving at the airport just before 6am to check our bags & catch our 7:30am flight.
This first day was spent mostly traveling since both flights totaled about 11 hours and by the time we arrived in San Juan it was almost 11pm. Once landing at the San Juan airport and getting our bags we took a taxi to our hotel, picked up our keys and promptly headed to bed. We were exhausted!
The next morning we woke up in time to catch the hotel's complimentary breakfast. To my surprise this was not your normal continental breakfast of mini muffins, toast and dry cereal... they had an omelet bar, pancakes, bacon, sausage, pretty much anything you could want for breakfast. I don't know if this is a normal continental breakfast in Puerto Rico but if it is, the hotels here in the states have some explaining to do!
After breakfast we stopped by the travel desk to see what excursions they had available for the weekend. We didn't make ANY plans before leaving Seattle, other than our flights & hotels. To our surprise they had a group leaving that day for the tour of Old San Juan and Bacardi Rum factory. We were all over it until we found out it was leaving in less than 30minutes! While Ryan paid for the tour I ran upstairs to our room to shower & get ready for the day, which I did with time to spare before the tour guide arrived...just barely ;)
Our tour guide named Louis took us to the capital building in Old San Juan. The architecture & Murals were beautiful, as you can see. After the capital building we went to one of the original forts protecting Old San Juan. The original Puerto Rico was called Porto Rico... I bet you can't guess what that means, huh?
Yep, rich port. I believe there are 4 forts all together. During our vacation we visited 3 of the 4. The other was on a small island and harder to get to. The tour guide said that it was once used for the mentally insane and incurably ill... I bet it would have a fun ghost tour!
After touring Old San Juan, the capital building & the first fort we took a break for lunch at a popul
ar local cafe. We had some delicious traditional Puerto Rican food and the best Margaritas... hence the silly pictures we took including my hives :(
(Now I have picture proof to show my doctor!)
Ryan & I were very much looking forward to escaping the wet & dreary Seattle for the sunny & warm San Juan, Puerto Rico. The night before leaving we dropped the boys (Henry & Scout) off at our GREAT Dog Walker's home, Shorehound Dog Walking Co. If you live in the Shoreline area and are in need of a dog walker, house sitter or dog sitter they are wonderful!
After dropping the boys off we drove down to my parent's house in Sumner to spend the night so my dad could drive us to the airport in the morning. The next morning we started our journey bright & early, arriving at the airport just before 6am to check our bags & catch our 7:30am flight.
This first day was spent mostly traveling since both flights totaled about 11 hours and by the time we arrived in San Juan it was almost 11pm. Once landing at the San Juan airport and getting our bags we took a taxi to our hotel, picked up our keys and promptly headed to bed. We were exhausted!
The next morning we woke up in time to catch the hotel's complimentary breakfast. To my surprise this was not your normal continental breakfast of mini muffins, toast and dry cereal... they had an omelet bar, pancakes, bacon, sausage, pretty much anything you could want for breakfast. I don't know if this is a normal continental breakfast in Puerto Rico but if it is, the hotels here in the states have some explaining to do!
After breakfast we stopped by the travel desk to see what excursions they had available for the weekend. We didn't make ANY plans before leaving Seattle, other than our flights & hotels. To our surprise they had a group leaving that day for the tour of Old San Juan and Bacardi Rum factory. We were all over it until we found out it was leaving in less than 30minutes! While Ryan paid for the tour I ran upstairs to our room to shower & get ready for the day, which I did with time to spare before the tour guide arrived...just barely ;)
Our tour guide named Louis took us to the capital building in Old San Juan. The architecture & Murals were beautiful, as you can see. After the capital building we went to one of the original forts protecting Old San Juan. The original Puerto Rico was called Porto Rico... I bet you can't guess what that means, huh?
Yep, rich port. I believe there are 4 forts all together. During our vacation we visited 3 of the 4. The other was on a small island and harder to get to. The tour guide said that it was once used for the mentally insane and incurably ill... I bet it would have a fun ghost tour!
After touring Old San Juan, the capital building & the first fort we took a break for lunch at a popul
ar local cafe. We had some delicious traditional Puerto Rican food and the best Margaritas... hence the silly pictures we took including my hives :( 
(Now I have picture proof to show my doctor!)Next came the Bacardi Rum Factory. The factory was located outside of town across the bay
from the forts we visited. Our tour included 2 drink coupons each so we enjoyed some refreshing beverages while we waited for the English speaking tour. The primary language in Puerto Rico is Spanish, although most p
eople speak/understand English so we had no problem. Overall the tour was pretty blah and felt more like a walking/interactive infomercial but we managed to have fun anyway.
That night we returned the hotel in time to enjoy the "Manager's Reception" which consisted of an open bar and snacks such as popcorn, peanuts etc. We were surprised to hear that this was a daily reception and there was no limit to the amount of drinks you were allowed per room. These Puerto Rican's are really hospitable!
When we returned to our room we continued to be impressed by the hotel, as we realized the housekeeping staff had left us a little friend to keep our bed warm.
A little puppy dog made out of fresh towels!
On Sunday morning we woke up extra early to catch a tour to the rain forest, which left at 9am. AND we had to have breakfast of course!
Our tour guide to the rain forest was hilarious. He was from New Jersey but moved to Puerto Rico with his wife who is originally from there. (as a side note, we met his wife later on in the day as she was taking a tour to the rain forest as well!)
The tour of the rain forest
included a hike down to a pretty waterfall with 
a little wading pool where we took of our shoes and dipped our feet. Ryan took this opportunity to do a little boulder climbing and along with two other guys from our tour. They climbed down the waterfall, past where the local kids would go. I anxiously waited for him to return and took a few pictures. Luckily he di
d return without and scrapes or bruises. 
The next morning we packed up our belongings and loaded up our backpacks to check out of the hotel and move on to our next one. Just as we were finishing checking out the receptionist let us know that since our hotel stay was already paid for we wouldn't be refunded for the last night. Ryan & I looked at each other confused... we thought we were only booked through Sunday. But no, we were booked at this hotel through Monday! So we went back up to our room and unpacked everything again and spent the day laying by the pool reading :) One more day to enjoy complimentary breakfast and drinks in the evening!
Honeymoon Part Deux soon to come!!
(I have a strapless dress on in this picture... just thought I should let you know)
from the forts we visited. Our tour included 2 drink coupons each so we enjoyed some refreshing beverages while we waited for the English speaking tour. The primary language in Puerto Rico is Spanish, although most p
eople speak/understand English so we had no problem. Overall the tour was pretty blah and felt more like a walking/interactive infomercial but we managed to have fun anyway.That night we returned the hotel in time to enjoy the "Manager's Reception" which consisted of an open bar and snacks such as popcorn, peanuts etc. We were surprised to hear that this was a daily reception and there was no limit to the amount of drinks you were allowed per room. These Puerto Rican's are really hospitable!
When we returned to our room we continued to be impressed by the hotel, as we realized the housekeeping staff had left us a little friend to keep our bed warm.
A little puppy dog made out of fresh towels!
On Sunday morning we woke up extra early to catch a tour to the rain forest, which left at 9am. AND we had to have breakfast of course!
Our tour guide to the rain forest was hilarious. He was from New Jersey but moved to Puerto Rico with his wife who is originally from there. (as a side note, we met his wife later on in the day as she was taking a tour to the rain forest as well!)
The tour of the rain forest
included a hike down to a pretty waterfall with 
a little wading pool where we took of our shoes and dipped our feet. Ryan took this opportunity to do a little boulder climbing and along with two other guys from our tour. They climbed down the waterfall, past where the local kids would go. I anxiously waited for him to return and took a few pictures. Luckily he di
d return without and scrapes or bruises. 
The next morning we packed up our belongings and loaded up our backpacks to check out of the hotel and move on to our next one. Just as we were finishing checking out the receptionist let us know that since our hotel stay was already paid for we wouldn't be refunded for the last night. Ryan & I looked at each other confused... we thought we were only booked through Sunday. But no, we were booked at this hotel through Monday! So we went back up to our room and unpacked everything again and spent the day laying by the pool reading :) One more day to enjoy complimentary breakfast and drinks in the evening!
Honeymoon Part Deux soon to come!!
(I have a strapless dress on in this picture... just thought I should let you know)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A New, Old favorite
Have you ever fallen in love with an old song? One you may have heard many times before but never really listened to the words? Well, this is my new favorite song! It makes me feel so thankful for the love I have been given, the family I was lucky enough to be born into and the new family I just became a part of. This song motivates me to do better for others. To see other people with a kind heart, not judging or assuming I know their life. We are all different, yet the same ;) We are all doing the best we can, from where we are standing.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
I Believe - A 9/11 Tribute
In Rememberence of September 11th
My story
This morning in September started just like any other. I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock and went down stairs to eat breakfast before heading out to school, I had just started my senior year in high school and was looking forward to having fun and easy classes. When I got down to the kitchen my sister, Katie, was sitting at the counter eating cereal and my mom was pouring her coffee. Neither of them were talking which seemed normal at first for being so early in the morning. I remember then noticing that my sister was watching an action movie on tv and I asked what movie she was watching... thinking it was weird for her to be watching an action movie in the morning... usually we just watched a few minutes of the news or Good Morning America etc. She replied with "this isn't a movie, this is the news Sally". I don't really remember anything else after that moment, I think the three of us..my mom, my sister and I just sat and watched in silence. I don't remember what I wore that day, or when I actually got to school but I do remember the overwhelming feeling of fear and sadness everyone felt when I got to school and saw the faces of my classmates and teachers. I remember my Civics teacher focusing our lesson this day on political relations between counties and theories about what would happen next in our American society...there would be a war, there would be an increase in war related movies, a sense of increased community. This is a day I will never forget, one that has several moments in the day etched into my memory. Moments of shock, confusion and great sadness. In memory of those who died on September 11th, please post your story here to make sure we never forget.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married....
6 days and counting...
Yep, that's it ya'll (Okay, someones been watching too much Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta), only 6 days until Ryan and I say "I Do". I am SO excited! Over the last few weeks I have been asked by various friends, family and even random acquaintances if I am nervous or excited of course my immediate response is that I am excited! But honestly, I am a Little nervous too. But only because I am worried I am going to cry during the ceremony. First of all, you should know I don't have one of those cute cries I look like I'm about to throw up when I really cry, it is not a pretty picture y'all! :P Plus I want to show how happy I am and be able to enjoy every moment of the day and not be a blubbering fool.
Right now Ryan is off in Las Vegas for his "The Hangover" themed Bachelor party. In fact, I was woken up at 9am this morning by one of his groomsmen sending me a text "Umm.. we lost Ryan" I told him to go find the asian mafia ;) His flight is supposed to get in later this afternoon, hopefully he will be on it!
Last night I drove down to my sister Amy's house in Sumner for a long over-due sister night. We had planned to go to a craft store and pick up some supplies to make fabric flowers for the bridal party's hair. We only needed 3 simple things, felt, hair clips and the elusive wire fabric ribbon. Who knew this ribbon would be SO hard to find!?! We started our journey off at the Ben Franklin's in Bonney Lake and after a few more stops we ended up finding just the right shade at Joanne's on South Hill. We thought it was a success!! ... until we realized they didn't have enough of it to make enough for all of the bridesmaids. So after all that, we decided to just hot glue, already made fabric flowers to the clips. I will have to post a picture on here once I find my camera, they turned out pretty cute! They actually match my hair piece really well because they also have white feathers and pearls too, very Great Gatsby-ish!
Well, I better get going. Some dogs are very much in need of a trip to the dog park. I think I'll be extra nice today and take them to Magnuson which is farther away but is by far the largest one and has water access so Henry can swim to all his delight!
Until next time :)
Sally Jane
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Cheers
As I sit here listening to the boom and crackle of fireworks in the distance, inside my house I am surrounded by two sleeping dogs sprawled out on the floor and a hunky man asleep on the couch next to me...sometimes life seems so perfect, my kind of perfect that is :)
I decided to start this blog somewhat cautiously. Wondering to mylsef, Do I really want to put my life out there for people to read, am I really "that" girl? Then I decided with all of the exciting things going on in my life right now (Wedding in 2 months, Graduating from grad.school in 4 months and making our new house a home) and all of the millions of thoughts I have every day, I think this would be both a good way to document who I am at this part of my life and to share interesting things going on in the world as well as some of my favorite music etc. So here it goes... here to the beginning of something great ;) (let's hope!)
I decided to start this blog somewhat cautiously. Wondering to mylsef, Do I really want to put my life out there for people to read, am I really "that" girl? Then I decided with all of the exciting things going on in my life right now (Wedding in 2 months, Graduating from grad.school in 4 months and making our new house a home) and all of the millions of thoughts I have every day, I think this would be both a good way to document who I am at this part of my life and to share interesting things going on in the world as well as some of my favorite music etc. So here it goes... here to the beginning of something great ;) (let's hope!)
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