Dear Chelsea in 2011, Love Chelsea in 2012

Dear Chelsea in February 2011,

Breathe. Next year life will be beyond your imagination. You will be married to the most incredible man. Your wedding day will be the happiest day of your life, you will be so calm. Don't worry. All the planning your doing right now...you can relax. None of that is going to matter the second you walk out of the barn with you dad and see Matt at the end of that aisle. After that, the day will be the clearest blur of your life so far. You will get in that car at night to head to the hotel with Matt and feel the happiest and most relaxed you've ever felt your whole life. Those bubbles and that paper chain...don't worry about them, they don't go out and you don't realize it until a week later. Spend all the time you want deciding the cupcake flavors but know that you aren't going to have one that day...or anytime after. You won't mind, you'll be on an incredible honeymoon with Matt in Sunriver, OR. Yes, Sunriver, OR. Stop planning that Disney World trip, it doesn't happen. Sad? You'll be sad for a bit, but you'll soon learn that it's not the end of the world. You'll then find that your Sunriver trip will be a very important week for you and Matt. You will fall in love even more. Don't think that's possible? You just wait! He'll keep surprising you with how much he has you falling for him. You'll fight too. Some pretty good ones too. You always figure it out, don't worry. You're going to learn a lot about each other this year. You'll learn to suck it up and say sorry right away. You'll be wrong a lot, get over it. I wish you could read this now because I'd love to tell you that if you hug Matt even when you're more mad at him than you've ever been before...you'll feel safe to just tell him you love him and you'll both be able to breath and realize what's really important. You two sure do fight about some dumb things sometimes.

Matt will work from home with you. You'll spend more time together than you ever have before. This is both a blessing and sucky at times. With Matt's ADD and your un-diagnosed ADD, you both have your awesome quirks. But, like I've been saying...you'll always work it out. I can't wait for you to see how much you love Matt and how much he loves you back.

Do not stress about money. I know it seems hard now. It is hard now. By this time next year, you'll be just one month from being 100% out of debt and be getting a new car in a few months. Think I'm joking? Hard to believe huh?! No joke. Oh and give up on your Jeep idea and give into Matt's want for a Nissan Rogue now...you'll end up wanting that one anyways. You'll expand your program. You'll have 3 employees. You'll teach not only at the Community Center but at 3 other preschools with tons more on the way. You're going to be just fine. More than fine, great! You'll achieve your 5 year goals in this one year. Don't stop working hard though. It doesn't happen easily. Matt will do amazing things in school. He gets the highest grade in his math class two quarters in a row! You'll be super proud. He'll be proud too...but very humble. He will continue teaching you to be that way. You're going to learn a lot from him this year. He's smart, that husband of yours.

Matt will have a contract towards the end of the year that will end a month early. No need to panic though, you have expanded your program so much that you can survive and still save. I know what your saying, Chelsea. "Yeah right!" It's true, you two budget! You actually budget and save money. Are you laughing now? Well don't. It's true. You also don't have a baby and you're not pregnant or anywhere near planning on that. You're going to have so much fun expanding your program that you'll want to keep waiting to start your family to see just how many goals you and Matt can accomplish first. You'll pay Matt's car off and Matt will be a lot farther in school. You should really just stop planning now...just stop planning and breathe. Trust God. You will see one year from now that God is great. He has a plan. You can have a plan too but things will always be His plan. Throw away all your notebooks full of 5 year plans, lists and goals...Matt will make you throw them away soon anyways. You'll be mad, but then you'll love him for it. He knows you, Chelsea. He knows you more than you know yourself. Face it. Take his advice. Watch football. Switch all your files to your computer and don't use paper anymore, it will make him happy.

Some fun things...you'll spend 6 weeks with your sister, Cylie, this summer and you and Matt will have an awesome trip to Vancouver where you'll reconnect and fall in love yet again. You'll learn how to cook and make some dishes that Matt will call "better than Panda Express." You'll have fun signing your new name. You and Katie will become great friends. She'll be your best friend. She's going to be pregnant next month and they'll have a daughter, Avery. You'll hire some great staff and become close with one of them as well. You'll always miss your family, but will be so busy that the homesickness won't exist. You'll continue talking to your mom & dad everyday :)

This is going to be a good year for you, Chelsea. Remember, just breathe. These are going to be the greatest 12 months of your life. You're going to grow up, but you'll still have a lot to learn.

Love, you in February 2012.  

Our Lovely Weekend

We had a very fun and relaxing weekend. One of those weekends where I feel like we did so much but am asking myself, "what did we all do?"

Friday:

*I finished up camp and Matt came to watch their little performance. It was a pretty good camp. Full; 30 kids. 

*On Friday night we watched "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (you can guessed who picked that one) and brainstormed a lot for our new Emerald City Dance plans...we've got something amazing up our sleeves. When it happens...dreams are going to come true.

Saturday:

*I met two of my friends, Casie & Jessica, at Starbucks in Redmond Town Center for our first Book Club. I had so much fun talking with them. We met at 1:30 and before we knew it, it was 4:00!

*Then...we went and got my iPhone!! I now am the proud owner of a beautiful white iPhone 4S with an awesome lime green bumper. 

*We also finally got me a new Vera wallet. I've had the same one for 3 years and it started ripping :( I love my new one though. I also love how at Vera you get cute little tissue paper in your bag and your receipt goes in an envelope.

*We ended our night watching "Water for Elephants"...love.

Sunday:
*Chilled in bed all morning and played with my new phone :)

*Katie came over this morning and we made a bunch of tutus! I love spending time with her :)

*UDA/UCA (Universal Dance Association) College Nationals was on ESPN2 this morning...that's like watching the Super Bowl to me.

Cogsy was sitting in my lap and I got excited, started screaming (like Matt would watching Cal), and he scratched me...bad. My mouth was open because I was saying "OH!!!" and he got scared and scratched me with both paws at my face grabbing my bottom lip and scratching down my face....I was bawling. I was so scared and in so much pain. I had some awesome red marks for a while. I was mad at him for a while until I realized that he was scared because I screamed. .... still, ow!

*This afternoon we headed out to Office Depot for some of our supplies we needed for our "big idea". 

Now...we're watching the Academy Awards and eating a yummy Trader Joe's dinner. 

Tomorrow I am interviewing another instructor :) 

Pinterest Friday!

I now have an absolute all-time favorite pin. This is a hard one to beat. I have said in the past that if we ever have a daughter I hope she doesn't want to dance because I fear I'd be too hard on her. Now that having a baby is something that is feeling closer and closer (no, not that close...just clos-er) to being something real, my dreams of having a little girl have changed some. I see all these little ones dancing in their little ballet shoes and tutus and how they spin around so happy and carefree...I can't wait for that to be our child. Actually, girl or boy. (Matt agrees that if we had a boy who wanted to be in ballet it would totally 100% be allowed, of course.) 

This idea is so beautiful to me. It would be our shared most precious piece of art 

(my future daughter and I). The only change I would hope for is that my daughter's shoes would have a lot more holes in them. The more holes, the more dancing. I love getting holes in my dance shoes.

I really want a swim suit like this for our Sunriver trip this year. I do realize I am thin, but I think I would feel better in a one piece. This is one I would feel super cute in and I could wear it down to the pool with some jean shorts and Toms (on our bikes of course).   

One month until The Hunger Games!! Eeeee!! 

These look so so yummy. I'm a sucker for s'mores! Do you remember those little s'more packs..they were like the cheese and crackers packs. I used to eat those all the time when I was little.

Future Lanese halloween costumes :) If we had four I would add a chimney sweep too.

Breakfast this weekend. Yum.

Ooo with these too!

This week has been a whirlwind. I can't believe it's already Friday. Vancouver led straight into camp. I'm always a zombie after camp. Yesterday, Matt came with to camp for the day and played Camp Counselor because I was short staffed and he now fully understands why I am so so tired. Dancing for 6 hours a day is hard enough...then add being in charge of 30 kids and instructors...woooo. I love doing camp. It's a good thing because this summer I'm doing 10. Last summer we did 5. Grow, grow, grow. It's going to make the summer go way too fast. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend, we're relaxing and getting organized this weekend :)

Vancouver (Part 4: Stanley Park, Heading Home)

I am hosting/teaching a dance camp all week this week and now Vancouver feels like it was so long ago...we were just there 2 days ago :) We are craving being back on vacation. It's so nice to have time to spend solely on each other. 

Here are the last photos from our trip.

We decided to just drive around Stanley Park on this trip because it was raining and I had to get home because I had camp in the morning.

Lions Gate Bridge

Such a good weekend together!! 

I still feel like newlyweds :) When does that title not exist for us anymore? 

Officially on US soil...immediately got a bajillion text messages about camp and my teachers subbing. Crossed the border and had to start working. Lame. This was me texting lesson plans to my sub for that next morning lol.

The Peace Arch between Canada and the US.

Our ride home was looonnnggg. What should have been a 3 hour ride turned into a 6 hour drive. We took a "detour" on hwy 99A instead of hwy 99...oops. Canada is sucky at having signs on their roads. We couldn't find signs anywhere. We waited at the border for about an hour and a half and then Matt almost got arrested. Well, not really. You're supposed stop when the car ahead pulls up to the interrogator...Matt didn't stop lol. We were talking about all the crazy technology and didn't see the stop sign...oops. We got scolded and told that normally she would have to pull our car to the side and keep us for 2 hours while they inspected every square inch of us and our car....awesome. I'm so glad we didnt' have to do that. #1 we were starting and #2 I was completely ADD focused on prepping camp. 

We had an amazing trip!!!! I can't wait for our next one :)

Vancouver (Part 3: Dinner & Aquarium)

(Ok, dinner's in the oven...I can write this last post before it's done)

We really had the best time on our trip. I'm already excited to start planning our next trip together! 

After a long morning of driving, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, lunch, walking around town and hanging out in our awesome room...it was time to go out again!

We walked around Burrard St. and had fun window shopping. We bought an awesome bath bomb for me at Lush because our hotel room had a huge bathtub and cozy robe that was calling my name for when we got home :) I liked Vancouver a lot but definitely appreciate Seattle even more now. I love where we live so so much. I love our city. I love the feeling I have walking around Seattle. Vancouver wasn't bad, just different. Not as busy or exciting. 

We walked around for a good hour debating back and forth between a few restaurants. We knew we definitely wanted to eat somewhere we hadn't before. We decided on a steakhouse called, The Keg. We were both extremely happy with our decision! I'm not a steak fan, I actually don't like it at all. I don't really like meat that much. I'm not a vegetarian, but I just would rather eat pasta :) I wanted Matt to be happy because he always lets me pick, so...steak it was.

The Keg has now forever changed my mind on steak and from now on, if Matt makes steak, just bring out the goat cheese and pecans and I'll be a happy girl. O.M.G. Best dinner ever. My mouth is watering just thinking about our dinner. Matt said his steak just melted in his mouth. Mmmm!! So good. The restaurant was really dark and romantic. I had wine and Matt enjoyed a beer. We were seated in a booth which happened to be next to a drunk guy that had just gotten dumped. He was so loud and obnoxious that by the time it was time to order, we knew his whole life story lol...our waiter was amazing and moved us :) We got free drinks! We had a great time talking and just sat there for a long time enjoying our food and each other. It was perfect.

(mine)

(Matt's)

After dinner we headed back to our hotel. I've been having some insane weeks teaching all these classes so as a treat, Matt said that I had to take a bath and read my Kindle by myself for a while :) It didn't last long because I wanted to spend time with Matt but after I got to curl up in the hotel robe and felt like Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" :) I loved it! 

The next morning we slept in until like 9 or 10 and got out around 11. I had Starbucks for breakfast and Matt...he had The Works :) (fries covered in um...well, everything) LOL. I got some new shoes and a scarf at H & M too. We then wanted to head to Stanley Park. When we got there, we parked and then saw signs for the Aquarium. We thought, "why not?" and bought our tickets! We were so glad we did! The Vancouver Aquarium is great! We did so much there! There was a dolphin show, Beluga Whales!, a fun 4D Planet Earth show, otters, seals, & some awesome fish. We ate lunch there too.

We definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Vancouver!

(I'll post a video of the dolphin show later too for my baby sister, Cirrah!)

"Baby beluga in the deep blue sea, you swim so wild..." oh wait.........sad :(

I loved the Beluga Whales!!!

4D Planet Earth show! ... we always take pictures like this when we have 3D glasses on lol.

Awesome, awesome day! (dinner's done now though) To be continued.....................

Vancouver (Part 2: Out on the Town)

After we had a blast at the suspension bridge, we decided to go explore the city. We couldn't check in until 4pm so we still had a good 3 hours. We parked in the middle and the first thing we discovered was the Olympic Cauldron. Matt really thought that was neat. 

There was also an awesome orca whale statue and that is our power animal. 

(Ha, anyone watch Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory?)

It was beautiful seeing the ocean. It was a crummy day, but that's to be expected around here :)

We then found ourselves heading to the historic Gastown area of Vancouver. It was neat. Gas lamps lined the streets. I was a little disappointed in the shops (very touristy) but I have a feeling we just weren't in the right place. Before we left for our trip Katie & Chris told us about an Irish pub that they used to eat at for dinner/drinks and dancing, "The Blarney Stone". We walked right next to it, so decided to eat there for lunch...Chicken Strips & Fries of course. The Pepsi was nasty. I forgot that it would taste different...so weird.

After lunch we were officially exhuasted. Remember, the day before was my girls competition that we were up at 5am for...then up at 6am to leave for Vancouver followed by a long drive...we were done.

We headed back to find our hotel. We had to go to a visitors center to find the address. (We weren't thinking and completely forgot we couldn't use our phones once we crossed the border). 

We loved our hotel so much! It was beautiful! We got there around 4pm and then just hung out there until dinner. 

View from our window. 16th floor.

If I keep going, this post is going to be never ending...I'll follow up with dinner and Monday later. Time to go make dinner for Matt before he leaves for school :)

Vancouver (Part 1: Arriving & Capilano)

I've decided to split our Vancouver trip up into a few different blog posts. We were just there for 2 days but we did so much stuff and I took an insane amount of pictures. It was our first time out of the country together and we did fabulous. No map (no phones with maps) and no agenda. Just us, in Vancouver exploring. It was amazing. We had the best weekend together. I love when we have little getaways, it's so great to reconnect.

So...I'm just going to let the pictures do most of the talking. I won't be able to help adding captions, but if I really journaled about everything...it would take forever to read.

So...

We left on Sunday morning at 7:30am. I did not sleep in the car (I promised Matt I wouldn't). Getting in through the border to Canada was pretty quick, 20-25 minutes. It was neat seeing the slight changes. For instance, we went from our speedometer reading 65 to it reading 100. That was weird to get used to. 

The first thing we did when we got into Vancouver was to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was the one thing I really wanted to do on our trip and I am so glad we did it. It was so beautiful and scary and just a really fun thing to do together. We went there even before checking in to our hotel. We arrived around 10:30/11:00am. I couldn't believe how brave I was. I thought I was going to be a little scared, but I did it without even hesitating. Matt was freaked out and was so annoyed that I wanted him to take pictures of me on the bridge because that meant stopping. That thing moves! I mean like you feel sometimes like it could flip. It was so awesome! 

My goofball husband :)

No pictures of me on the way across...Matt wouldn't take any and wouldn't let me hold his phone on the bridge lol.

We're alive!

Once you get over the bride, there is the Capilano Treetop Adventure. You go on bridges from the tops of the trees. We felt like we were at Disneyland in Tarzan's treehouse, except real. So awesome!

This photo doesn't look scary, but I'm actually up on a bridge at the tops of huge Douglas Fur trees!

Disneyland?

View of the bridge from a walk we took around on the tree bridges.

Then, it was time to head back across! Remember...there are tons of pictures of me because Matt wouldn't let me hold his iPhone. I'm laughing here because Matt was freaking out when guests in front of us were shaking it and I thought it was fun.

There was yet one more adventure before it was time to leave. If you have a fear of heights, this trip is not for you :)

Walking along the side of the cliff. It kind of looks like it in this picture, but there is no ground under me.

See :)

Chillin' off the edge of the cliff :)

So handsome...

View of the bridge from the cliff.

And then we were done. We were there for probably an hour and a half. It was just $30 each and it was an awesome experience. It's super peaceful and quiet. We loved it!

And that was our Sunday morning. 

We had such a blast together...and that was only the very beginning of our trip. 

To be continued...