jeff had a birthday - shout hooray!

Hooray for Jeff! Happy 26!

last night

was beautiful.

We met Mitt!

Through my job, Jeff and I had the opportunity to meet Governor Mitt Romney this past week! We both felt so lucky to shake his hand and get our picture with him (along with my candidate and his wife). Governor Romney was very personable and genuine; we felt privileged to meet him.

dear autumn,

The calendar tells me you are here, but the thermometer is telling me a different story. When will the 90 degree days end so I can wear sweaters, turn off the a/c, and make some delicious pumpkin cake? Please come as soon as you can.

Yours truly, Karla

hip hip hooray for Jeff!

Yay for Jeff! We just found out he passed all 4 of the CPA exams on his first try (hip, hip!) I'm telling you, he is one smart guy! And we are THRILLED his crazy days of studying are now behind us. We enjoyed a little celebration at Texas Roadhouse in his honor. Apparently he still doesn't like me taking his picture, but I'm posting this one from a few months ago. Feel free to post your congratulatory remarks to our budding, young CPA - I'll make sure he gets them. :)

Spud Day!

A little late, but here are some of my favoite photos from last weekend. Saturday was Spud Day - one of the biggest days of the year in little Shelley, Idaho. Oh, how I love being from a small town! Pictured above is one of the legendary *free* baked potatoes.

And here are the runners up to the legendary Spud Tug, which is a tug of war over a pit of mashed potatoes...Really. Great job guys - I'm so proud!

crafty craftiness

In case you think I don't craft anymore...

here's some proof to the contrary. :)

labor day weekend

Aahhh - I love 3-day weekends, and Labor Day weekend was no exception! We decided to make a trip to Oregon with our day off because I've never been there. So Monday morning we (finally) cleaned up some lingering moving messes, packed our lunches, and ran for the border!

Enjoying our picnic in the booming metropolis of Adrian, Oregon. Can anyone verify that people actually live there? :)

Mmm...our lunches included tasty homemade Oreo cookies (thanks for the recipe, Krista).

We may or may not have gotten lost on this dirt road,

but we eventually ended up on this one (a tribute to my high school alma mater)

and saw this lovely site.

Oh - and I didn't forget to color in Oregon on my map!

All in all a great day and a fun adventure. :)

welcome to beijing!

Like many of you, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Olympics this year. I have especially enjoyed the swimming and gymnastics. And how about those Opening Ceremonies?! A-MAZ-ING! Go check out the pictures (including the one above) at this link I found on Jordan's blog - absolutely stunning!

A few months ago, long before the Olympics, Jeff introduced me to this song, the welcome song for the Olympics. He found out about it in his Chinese 101 class last semester. The way he described it to me was "a thugged up version of 'Do Your Ears Hang Low?' " I know, sounds random, but you'll see why. Make sure you pay attention to the subtitles for the occasional phrases in English. We've been know to randomly sing, "We are young!" or talk about our "glory day" in our everyday lives. We seriously love this song!

the fair

Yes folks, it's fair time in Boise! Jeff and I went to help out with a booth last week for my work. After our shift, Jeff was kind enough to walk around with me while I snapped some pictures. I enjoyed catching the bright lights and motion on my camera.

getting ready

take off!

winner!

So this post is long overdue, but I won Kriseten's giveaway back in June - yay! Who doesn't love free stuff - especially cute free stuff?! Be sure to check out Kristen's Etsy shop if you haven't already - she's one talented gal!

four years

four years ago today

I married my best friend.

so glad I did :)

simple

As we were waiting to get into our apartment, one of the things I looked forward to most was unpacking the things I bought at Ikea before we moved, including these lovely little vases. At a mere $1.99 each I couldn't pass them up! I love the bright simplicity that white brings into a room.

my job

So, I have a job! I am working on a political campaign - I just got my business cards today, which makes it official! It is crazy to finally be doing something related to my Political Science major (not that I really remember too much from my classes at this point) - almost too good to be true, as I've told Jeff. I get excited to see the "City Center" sign on my way to downtown in the morning and the glimpses I get of the Capitol throughout the week.

You may be wondering what all these rural pictures have to do with a political job. One of the perks (at least I see it as a perk) of working on a campaign is the long drives you get to take to deliver yard signs, participate in parades, etc. I really have enjoyed getting to know the Boise area, including the more remote parts of this corner of the state. Don't get me wrong I LOVE driving into downtown everyday for work, but I really am a country girl at heart!

How can you not love that white fence against the green field?

And these sunflowers were pretty, but we saw big fields of ones that were HUGE compared to these! I'm hoping to go take some pictures of those at some point.

seven days, seven posts

So, the sporadic posting continues.

This past month has really been a crazy one for us. What, with living in a hotel for about 3 weeks, doing the job hunt thing, finally moving into our apartment, Jeff taking another CPA exam...whew! However, we are finally getting settled, and I have set an ambitious goal for myself: I am going to try to do a post a day for the next week. We'll see how this goes...

As for today, enjoy this lovely picture of the Capitol building, which I see everyday on my way home from work. Yes, I have a job folks! More to come on that tomorrow.