Aloha...sort of...

Yikes. What a trip it's been. It's not exactly what i had in mind. It's beautiful here and the water is warm and clear. But it's also hot...and crowded. It's like a mix between Las Vegas and Disneyland. There are tons of people trying to solicit tours and timeshares. No one talks to you unless they want to sell you something. The best time we've had so far is outside of Waikiki. If I had known what i know now, I would have planned for another another island...somewhere a little more secluded.
And then the shark diving tour got cancelled. A tiger shark ruined my day. I never thought I would say that. We rebooked for Tuesday so hopefully it'll work out and be worth the wait.
So, we finally found a fairly secluded resort with these man made lagoons... absolutely beautiful. We spent about 2 hours in the water and had a great time. Then we get back to the hotel and Matt, carrying beer, falls UP the escalator, gauging 3 of his toes. He was bleeding pretty bad but should be fine. He still wants to climb Diamond Head. Wish us luck.
And we're going to a lu'au tonight. Very excited about that. It'll be the first time that we've been here that I've had actual Hawaiian food. Isn't that crazy???!?!?
Anyway, I'll fill you in about it more when we're back...

I don't have a catchy title right now so this will have to do

Hello ladies. I wonder if you still check this. You'd think that with all that's going on I'd be blogging out my ass. Oh well. I'm relaxing on the couch right now and am feeling sleepy. And it's only 8:23. I had an interesting day today. I went to a meeting with the Governor's office to talk about the stimulus money coming to Oregon and how it's going to be used for Health Information Technology. I went feeling totally out of my league and managed to sound intelligent on more than one occasion. That's a nice feeling. I also didn't have to go to the office which is nice. Is this post boring you? I'm bored with it, i think. Ok, so on to wedding stuff. I'm way ahead of the curve on almost everything. Going shopping at Costco for the rehersal BBQ on Saturday. Matt and i have the rest of the weekend dedicated to wedding playlist finalizing (taking a short break that evening to watch Malibu Shark Attack). I'm sure we'll do some battle over it. This project has been his baby during the past year but I told him, I'm getting the shit on there that i want. Wish me luck. Next Saturday, we're going to Astoria to meet Jim. It'll be awesome to be there and take pictures as he finishes his bicycle trip. I wish Beth and Travis were getting here that day so they could come. Ah well. The placecards are printed. THe guest book is finalized. The menu is finalized. The wines are selected. The ceremony is written. All I need is Mother Nature to cooperate. At this point i would rather it rain than be as hot as it's been. Going up to 100 this weekend. Let's just pray that Oregon gets it out of it's system by the time you're all here. Can you guys think of anything I might be forgetting? I really can't wait to see you all. It's gonna be so much fun. Ok, i may nap now.

Drunk bike rides and pick-up lines

Seriously, I went to happy hour, got good and buzzed, put on my super sexy helmet, and the funniest thing happened. I stopped at my stop sign (being extra cautious because I'm drunk) and this guy in a heaped-up, orange, beat-up car stops(though he had no stop sign). So, i made a face and started biking through. Then his car stalls. I laugh, openly, at his humiliation and he says, "Baby, i was just trying to catch up to you." I continued to laugh at his expense and pedaled my way home. Great story, eh? Now I'm home, sweating all over the goddamn computer. It's been ages since i felt like blogging and yet, this experience immediately made me want to share.
Things are good here. I can't believe I'm gonna be married soon. I'm so fucking excited...not for the ceremony or exchange of vows or anything remotely life-changing, but for the fucking party at the brewery. All you light beer bitches better suck it up and be ready to drink some good 'ol Oregon beer. There's 6 different kinds. You've gotta find one you like. Terry, you're exempt from the bitches comment as you liked and drank Mirror Pond when you were here...come to think of it, we went to the other Bridgeport Brewery when you here. But i digress...Chrissy, that picture of you with Mattie on your belly is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Every time someone tells me a baby story, i immediately tell them a story about my nieces and nephews. Yes, I'm that asshole...
So, I guess Matt forgot to tell his Dad and stepmom and that his cousins/step-siblings(his dad married his brother's widow...think about it) were not invited to the wedding. Awkward. Apparently, his first question was, "Well, who from Mary's family is coming?" Like, I invited my 20 fucking cousins and not his extended family. Whatever...they're weird.
I'm finally feeling better...had a sore throat for what felt like forever but i think it's finally gone now.
I guess that's it...I'm being promoted at work. Gonna be the federal relations and OEW coordinator. Cool, huh? If one of you could tell me what any of that means, can you let me know? Thanks. I think I'm in over my head. But i get to go to D.C. in February and meet with Oregon's congressional delegation. Maybe I can extend my trip and take a train into Philly.
Ok, well, I need to shower...and get another beer.
Love you ladies...miss you...

Aloha!!!

Hi y'all. So, I have some wedding updates. First things first. Matt and I have decided to go on a honeymoon. A real one...not a trip to Pittsburgh. We're gonna go to Hawaii....in October!!! Woohoo! How cool is that? The sucky thing is that it means we're not coming home for Christmas. Sorry, but I just know we're not gonna have a chance to travel much when we get back east. And I want to experience a tropical vacation. I'm so excited.
Let's see, what else? We went to pick out our wedding invitations and I was shocked at how expensive they were. For 25 invitations it was gonna cost over $200. Fuck that. We ended up going to a fun stationary store, picked out pretty paper and we'll just design them ourselves. Cost $45. I know that makes me sound cheap but in the same vein of it all, we extended the open bar another half hour. And we picked our menu and went with the giant appetizer package. Oh yeah, it's gonna be awesome.
But of course, and when I was talking to mom, she wanted me to remember that you people with the babies aren't gonna be able to stay late and party. Like I don't know you have kids. I'll make sure there's mucho fun to be had before the kids start to get crabby. I promise.
And the last update is that we're going to register...at Target. We really didn't want to get a bunch of stuff since we're moving but Matt's worried that it's rude to assume everyone's going to want to give us money. Oh well, at least I get to use the gun :) Now I just have to figure out what to register for.
I think that's it. Matt's been really great. After I talked to mom yesterday I was all stressed out and he's able to talk me down from the ledge. I was also freaking out to tell her we're not coming for Christmas (I haven't yet). Oh well. Put in a good word for me, would ya?
Love ya ladies.

So it turns out I "Exceed Expectations"

Well, I could have told you that! Just had my anal review (yes, spelled correctly. It's a funnier word than annual). So, my boss loves me and I'm awesome and all that, but seriously, if I want to do something more than be an "administrative assistant" forever, this probably isn't the place to do it. My boss offered a few opportunities for me to pursue here but is also encouraging me to "spread my wings" and all that because she wants me to be successful. Sounds great and everything and if I wasn't planning on leaving Portland in a year and half I'd probably start looking for other stuff now. Probably a project manager or program coordinator position at another non-profit. I've definitely decided (especially with crap economy) that I want to stay in non-profit. I hate money so much. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have and all because it buys you stuff...like happiness, but overall, it makes you crazy. I'd rather feel like I'm contributing something. Plus, i don't want to have to wear suits. I hate the corporate look. But i wonder if that's going to limit me when i move. I'll have an awesome resume at that point but who knows what the job market will be like then. So, anyway, that's my day. I decided after being told what am an awesome employee I am that I should goof off and blog to you guys. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, do you?
So, in other news - Matt and I are meeting with the reception people this Friday after work. We're trying some wines that we selected and also some cake samples. They have this stuff called Beerimisu that sounds awesome (don't worry Strawberry, we'll get something else for Meggie). I think we may have decided to go with beer and wine only for the 3-hour open bar. With the exception of 2, maybe 3 people, I think everyone will be OK with beer or wine. I feel a little cheap doing it but Mommy said it was OK, so there :) If you guys have strong feelings the other way, let me know so we can maybe reconsider. Ummm...we're also starting to work on the playlist for our wedding. It's gonna be such an awesome soundtrack. I'm really glad we decided to do it that way. We're also going to be meeting the ceremony musicians soon to select music. I think I'll leave that final decision to Matt since the accordionist was his idea. I think that's the latest wedding stuff i have right now.
I really miss you guys and look forward, more and more, to moving back. Just keep thinking good thoughts that the economy will be back on track by then.
Oh yeah - and I think I'm going to be Mary Falls-Staley. Don't worry...the kids (if we have any) will be just Staley. I just couldn't get on board with losing the Falls in my name. Oh yeah - and I really think Matt believes that there is a wedding leprechaun to do all the planning and organizing. He really doesn't understand why I'm working on stuff now when the wedding isn't until August. I love him dearly but sometime he drives me nutso!

I'm back bitches!!!

Actually, it's convenient because I just finished an On Demand fitness cardio/sculpt workout and now I can't move. Seriously, my legs are like jelly - I'm about to make some toast. Wow, gross, huh? Anyway, I'm home celebrating our Presidents, past and present, except George Bush, and I'm taking advantage of the home computer. I'm really sorry I don't blog more, but I'm on the computer all day and when I get home it's the last thing I want to do. I'd blog at work, obviously I'm not one for a strong work ethic, but seriously, if i don't work at work, shit doesn't get done. It's pretty outta control lately but I like it. I'm good at what I do, and everything I do now, will make me that much more bankable when we move back east. I'm praying that our plan can still happen. Even if the economy's a little out of the crapper, I want to move. Right now I'll just focus on getting through the wedding and then I'll freak out about moving :) Speaking of wedding stuff, things are moving along. We have most everything under control. Chris, I think you're the only one who I didn't tell, but Sandra has offered us her house for a rehersal dinner the night before the wedding. That was the last thing I was stressin about...I was nervous you wouldn't all have been able to meet before the wedding but it looks like it'll work out. I think we found our wedding musicians so that's awesome. We'll only need them for an hour or so, so not too expensive. We'll get to work on our IPOD wedding playlist soon - we're probably gonna go a couple rounds on that one. Keep the suggestions coming if you have any more. I think that's mostly it for now. I'd say in another month, we'll ramping back up and I'll start being super anal again, preparing itineraries and whatnot. Matt thinks I'm nuts but if it was up to him we'd wait until July to do all this and then we'd break-up because that is just not possible.
Speaking of Matt - we had a nice week with his birthday and Valentine's Day. Went to a nice restaurant Friday night to celebrate both days. Funny thing - instead of flowers, he bought me a 12-pack of these 22oz new "hop harvest" beers that are delicious. And why you ask? Because hops are flowers. How sweet is that?? Needless to say we had a delicious seafood dinner Saturday accompanied with yummy, hoppy beer.
I guess that's about it. I've seen all the Best Picture nominees and cried at all but one of them. I hope The Reader wins. Mostly because of Kate Winslet's awesome rack. We're going to have an Oscar party here. People can vote on who they think will win each category. The person with the most will get some lame prize at the end of the night. Maybe a hug from me.
Ok -I'll sign off now - I'll try to do this more often...Love you gals. You're all awesome women.