Lincoln City Family Reunion

For the past two years, Dave has been telling me how fun his family reunions are when everyone comes to the Oregon Coast.

Last week really was as fun as Dave described. Per all the sisters-in-laws request, I am actually going to post some pictures of family and fun.

Photos

I am taking a digital photography class right now and loving it! David also bought me a copy of Photoshop Elements and I have been having a lot of fun playing with some of my old pictures. So, here are some pictures I took in Thailand last summer.

http://www.photoshop.com/user/sarahpmyers/?galleryid=4aa6f34464d6444388b51e9cb83a469b&wf=share&trackingid=BTAGC

Definately worth watching!

http://vimeo.com/2893203

Williamsburg and Aunt Joan

Last month right after finals I got to spend a weekend in Williamsburg Virginia with my family.
Some of the highlights of the trip included:

meeting baby Abigail

talking about family memories by the fire

watching the Johnson kids do all the moves to High School Musical WHILE seat belted in the car

the Christmas decorations at Williamsburg

The second half of the trip we drove to North Carolina to celebrate the life of my Aunt Joan. She died unexpectedly and quickly last month. When my mom called to tell me the news, I just couldn't believe it. How could this vibrant, caring, and vivacious individual be gone so quickly?
I was so glad that I got to be at her memorial service. As a family, we cried together and laughed together and gave thanks for everything that Joan was to us. It is funny how sometimes it takes someone leaving to realize how much they really have influenced our lives. Joan was constantly caring for and nurturing everyone she came into contact with-- and she did it in her own Joan kind of a way.
Thinking back over the years, here are some of the unique gifts Joan gave me: birthday poems, foot massages with lessons in pressure points, dream interpretations, a trip to NYC, headache relief from pressure points, adventurousness, a love collage.

Joan was a wonderful part of my life and I miss her. But mostly now I am thankful for what she gave me. I am grateful for the interesting, thoughtful, and diverse gifts she gave to me, and to the hundreds of other people I don't even know about. I only hope that I can pass on her legacy and be as good of an aunt to my neices and nephews as she was to me.

The Best Reads of 2008

One of my favorite things in the world is to curl up with a good book and get lost in it.

Here are my top picks of the year:

Infidel- memoirs of a woman's journey away from the middle east and Islam. Read it!

Daughter of Fortune- historical fiction set during the San Francisco gold rush.

Blessings- plodding but richly layered story of an old woman's discoveries of her past and present.

Me Talk Pretty Someday- My first David Sedaris experience. Hilarious.

Garlic and Sapphires- The memoirs of the former New York Times food critic.

The Book of Air and Shadows- A Dan Brownesk adventure full of interesting details.

Dracula- The classic. I actually got nightmares. I could only read during the daylight hours because I was so scared.

So, my real reason for this post is because I went to the library yesterday and nothing caught my eye. I need some suggestions. What have been your favorite reads this year?

The Year in Review

Growing up, every year on New Year's Day my parent would make us sit down with a audio recorder and talk about our past year.

In honor of this family tradition, I decided to do a pictorial year in review.

 

January: Meeting Dave's second true love-- Oregon!

January: A preview of our California summer with a weekend getaway in the sun.

February: Seinfeld tickets at Caesar's palace, a day at the strip, and meeting Dave's extended family.

February: Dave is baptized by fire.  Washington DC, North Carolina, and meeting all the extended family all in one weekend.  OH MY!

April: The best day of my life.

May: The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh best days of my life-- our Caribbean honeymoon.

May- July: Sizzling California summer.

The rest of my year: exploring our new home in Oregon.