What a wedding!

It was very nice-the bride looked beautiful, and both she and the groom were smiling from ear to ear. It was great to meet Josh's mysterious Uncle Dean, who is a great dancer and a lot of fun. Now it is on to Shagbart Court (Josh's childhood home in Madison), the Dells (not the Dalles), hopefully a waterpark and dinner at Ishnala!

We made it to the land of cheese!

We landed in Milwaukee at 7 am (5 am PDX time), tired and lacking caffeine but happy to have made it. After Gail picked us up, we made a quick stop at Cracker Barrel (hadn't been to one of these in years) and headed to Beaver Dam. Josh did some reconnaissance before we headed out and learned that Nancy Zieman, of Nancy's Notion fame, lives in Beaver Dam. So we made a trip to a quilter's mecca, her shop! I found some great patterns, but had to limit myself on the fabric given the new luggage weight fees for the plane ride home! There's another quilt shop in downtown Beaver Dam that we'll be checking out tomorrow - don't know if I'll be able to resist the call of fabric! After Nancy's Notions, we tried out frozen custard at a local landmark, Culvers - where we even ran into the groom and his family. Then it was time to head back to the motel where everyone is staying to hang out. I finally got to meet Josh's Uncle Dean and we say Aunt Mary - I can't wait for the wedding tomorrow!

On our way!!

on our way and a bit of a test to see if phone photo blogging via email will work!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! What a wonderful first weekend of summer!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

We started with a successful yard sale for the folks on Saturday (and the rain thankfully held off). Then Rob, Jenn and Jack made the trip down south to visit and we got to break in the Wii, which rocks. Thanks to the Rushers for the bowling game, which is a lot of fun!

To go with our opening of the Wii, we had homemade sundays. Good thing we also got the Wii fit (which is brutally honest to its users, and I apparently have the body/coordination of a 46 year old!!), since we had Voodoo doughnuts the next day. They were out of bacon maple bars, so we had to make the bacon ourselves:

Maple Bacon Doughnuts
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

At first, Sunday looked like it would be cloudy and overcast, but the sun came out for our first foray into geocaching:

Alberta Street Geocache
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

Geocaching is a lot of fun, and a great way to take a nice drive/walk, too. We headed out to Sauvie Island where we found:

Robin's Egg
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

And we also found this:

Tiny Frog
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

Thanks again to the Rushers for initiating us into this new hobby and a really great weekend!

This is the site of the company we sold the photo to:

Vibrandt! Check out the "About Us" link - very cool ads. We may have to travel to the UK to check it out!

01_Tiare_Moorea_Tahaa_Raitea_Huahine (1)

01_Tiare_Moorea_Tahaa_Raitea_Huahine (1)
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

Holy moly - we actually *sold* this picture for commercial use today via Flickr. It is so cool - someone looking on Flickr for pictures contacted us about arranging for rights to use the picture on a product. We're not sure what the product is (it can't be disclosed yet because it is still in production, but it seems to be in the soap line), but we're going to be sent product samples and a contract arranging for use. Given the type of use (packaging) there won't be credit on the product itself, but if asked they will!! Kudos to Josh for the negotiations (I would have let them use it for free). We're not precisely sure who took this photo, but I might have taken the lucky shot since it was on the Sony (and I have a thing about taking flower pictures). So WOO HOO to photo team Rosenbaum - we're turning pro. Does this mean I get to deduct the cost of a new camera?

Like the new look?

I was getting a bit overwhelmed by the purple combo, so thought I'd go for a more soothing combo. We're currently debating the merits of moving over to Wordpress, but aside from some recent publishing difficulties, I do like blogger. HTML is a bit of a pain, and I'd have a slightly layout if I could figure out how.

And to go along with the new look, we now have another game system: The Wii!!! I m super excited. We've not hooked it up yet but they have an Arctic Tale game (where you get to play a big polar bear or a baby polar bear), so how cool is that? Actually, what tipped the scales for us was the Wii Fit. It is SO cool - and might actually make exercise more fun, or I should say, less sucky. We're not quite ready to buy it on Amazon (where it is in stock, but $100 over retail), so we're scouring the local Targets and Best Buys. Josh was the serious shopping stud tracking down the Wii itself only a day after we decided to take the plunge into a new gaming system. Get ready for some action shots soon!!

UPDATE: Josh is a super-duper shopping stud and a sweetie since he bought the Arctic Tale game home as a suprise - thanks sweetie!

Happy Birthday Josh!

B-Day Wishes from Jack and Tori
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

this great pic was technically for my birthday, but the sentiment is the same!

Not many people get Happy Birthday sung to them with an accompanying tap dance, but Josh is just that special so thanks Leina and Kevin!! Let's see, we started with Starbucks in the morning, lunch at Casba's, then down to the McLaughlins' for Busters and yummy cake (and the tap dancing birthday song). Josh says a BIG thank you for all the wonderful goodies from everyone too - we are both so fortunate to have some of the best and most thoughtful people in the world for friends!

Dad's Day 2008

Happy father's day to all the great fathers we know and love: Dad, Ted-Dad, Kevin, Rob, Kevin, Jeff, Jerry, Michael, Kerry. And a special happy father's day from Melo to Josh for all the walks, ran or shine!

We took a trip to Spirit Mountain - the remodel has done wonders from the buffet, it is seriously good now. Josh came away about $40 up, and Dad had a good time even without the big win. I figure he's saving his gambling karma for Powerball, which isn't a bad thing!

So, happy father's day to all the dads out there!

This will have to count for my entry on 6/14

Since we were over Heather and Colin's from noon to midnight yesterday playing Twilight Imperium, a very intense space board game. The game is a ton of fun, but there are so many rules that I've not quite figured out a good strategy yet. All I know is next time, I'm going for War Suns from the very beginning as well as Mecator Rex (center planet that is key to getting a lot of objectives). Oh, and dreadnoughts - those are good, too.

Friday the 13 ain't that bad

because it's still Friday!! And I got to catch up on former office gossip, eat really yummy cheese and pomegranate cosmos at my Jenn's cool downtown high rise. It has the most awesome view of the river and downtown, and would be the most excellent place for watching downtown fireworks. It made me realize that this will be the first year going downtown to watch the work from my former office building isn't a possibility, but like last year, we have way more fun watching (and setting them off) at home. Plus, we're planning a big BBQ aka like last year (Chrissie - you better still plan on coming - Josh is already buying more fireworks. . . for the girls of course!) I'll have to check out Martha Stewart for some crafty decorating ideas to hide the still hideous front porch - I can't wait for fall when we have a hopefully new beautiful place to decorate!

I love my webkinz

and I have apparently regressed to being a 4th grader, but the games are fun! I have two supercute polar bear webkinzs, one from the McLaughlins and one from the Rushers (both families seem to know of my love for polar bears!) Thanks you guys - I now have another way to fritter away time on the internets!!

back up and running

just in time to post for today. We're having some "issues" with blogger, and might be making the move to wordpress soon. Very soon. Thank goodness for in-house tech support!

Melo says

Melo
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

where has the sun gone?

too tired to post a picture

of the wonderful cutest little purse Chrissie made me for my birthday - I love it. You'll just have to trust me (until I get around to taking a picture and posting it) that it is super cute, and made of some of my all-time favorite fabric by Sandy Gervais - flirtations! Thanks Chrissie!!!

Sweater for Katherine (Baby Katherine, that is)

Sweater for Katherine
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

A bit blurry, but this little precious bundle is wearing an almost Kat original. It was a Shibuiknits pattern for a kimono sweater with some embellishments by me on the ruffled sleeves and what I like to call tulip-ended tassels for the ties. I loved the mix of pink and green in the yarn, and despite the small needle size and number of stitches, the pattern was great. It's all about eliminating seaming on the finishing bits! Baby K, you look great!

The Justice League - Justice Almost Prevailed

Rose Festival - PDX - 6/8/08
Originally uploaded by eyeballina.

We got to the finals . . . but didn't get any bling. We raced hard and overall we were super excited to make it to the finals at all. So, better luck and paddling for us all next year.

While we didn't get any medals, I did get a load of great birthday presents. From my mom, dad and Mickey, I got gift certificates for Joann's (always a fav) and Kmart (for some new kitchen duds to go with the fridge and stove). From the Rushers, some of the best cards ever and polar bear magnets and stuffy. From Gail, I got a beautiful framed fabric art piece and some gorgeous sea foam green pearl earrings. From Ted, the super cool stove top latte maker - I can't wait to try it!! Thanks everybody!

And from Josh and Melo, a pair of real roller skates which I can't wait to try out, a tiny(tm) serger, and my several of my wish list books off Amazon -- on top of my awesome sewing machine! Thanks, sweetie!

we're in the finals!!!

well, after thinking we'd be three races and out this year, we done gone made it into Division 4! So, as long as we come in 3rd or higher. We get bling!

heartbreaking first race

well, we had a great first race and one of our fastest
times ever, but we missed the flag so technically came
in 4th (really it was 2nd).

Actually it's not that bad-we might actually have a
chance in the heats tommorrow and i might not die from
exertional asthma!

Today's the big day . . .

Off to the races! But first, off to Starbucks. Jenn, Rob, Jack, Tori (and Cooper) - I LOVE the presents and cards (snail and email). I've got to enlist some computer help to figure out how to post the pictures.

Tomorrow is the big day!

2008 Justice League
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

Y'up - another year of Rose Festival Dragon Boat races are here. So, here's to hoping for good weather to paddle in and celebrate the b-day. And drink Starbucks, lots of Starbucks . . . .

Happy Birthday, Erica!!!

First cake in the new oven
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

If you were here, you could have had your very own cake cooked in our nice new oven!! And a big kiss from Melo. And a trip to a yarn store, maybe 2 if you're good. But now you'll just have to wait until the fall when you better be coming to visit! So, enjoy your birthday (officially the 6th, but it is the 6th your time as of this posting) and know I miss you tons!

Finished Crayon Rolls for the Girls

Crayon Roll
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

I love how these turned out, and it was so much making a rainbow with fabrics! The project was from Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts and I am hoping to use some of my left over rainbow stripping for another project, the Coin Quilt, from the same book--using the new sewing machine!

Paradise with a view of Paradise

Paradise with a view of Paradise
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

I'd like to be back here right now. On Ta'haa with a view of Bora Bora in the distance. And yeah, the water is that blue - no photoshopping! (And, there's that much of the drop off where the turqoise changes to deep blue and that's where the sharks are . . . ) Given it is June 3, 50 degrees and raining in Portland, Ta'haa looks even more inviting.

A (re)use for gelato cups

A use for gelato cups
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

And Kevin thought I wouldn't use these - ha! They are the perfect size for pudding/jello and leave plenty of surface area for cool whip on top! Reason #345 to eat more gelato!

Shout out for Greg's animated short film

for the Walk for Rice fundraiser. You can see the great film short here. I love the little Mochi character!

Very yummy sweet roll recipe

And we had all the ingredients, save brown sugar which was easily remedied with a trip to Safeway (with a bonus in-store Starbucks) and the pecans which we skipped. These are really really good, we used up the crescent rolls and you don't even miss the white sugar coating! Here's the recipe from About Southern Food:

Ingredients
5 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 (8 oz.) packages crescent rolls
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon (I added some Tahitian vanilla sugar for added yumminess)

Preparation
Melt 5 tablespoons butter in 9 x 13 x 2-inch inch pan and add next 3 ingredients and stir. Lay crescent roll dough flat, working with 2 triangles together at a time and pinch perforations together. Brush with 3 tablespoons of melted butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar and cinnamon mixture. Roll up from short end and cut into one inch pieces. Place in buttered cake pan and bake 20-25 minutes at 375°.

Enjoy!