O'Rear 2008 Year in Review

Happy New Year!


January

The big news in January was that I turned 30! We didn't celebrate much because we planned a trip to Las Vegas in March, when we thought it would be warmer. It was, but not by much!

February

I looked for something worth blogging about in February, but it appears it was a rather boring month for us!

March

March was the big Vegas Trip! Jeff and I went and 14 friends joined us. It was a great trip. We went to see a Cirque du Soleil show, played some cards, and had a great time! Here's a photo of me and my friend Tabetha, dressed up for a night out on the town.

April

In April I started talking to a friend's company about a job opening they had. I went to Richland to visit Lara and Mom in April as well, and as we were driving to Walla Walla for a shopping trip, I got a call on my cell phone offering me the job. After working at Rafn for more than 3 years, it was a big change for me!

May

In May I started my new job! I went from a company of 100 employees to a company of 7,000 employees. It goes without saying that it was a big adjustment!

Jeff's birthday was in May and we had a Pirates vs. Ninja themed party. Everyone got in the spirit and came in costume. Here are some great pics!

June

No great photos for June, unfortunately. We went to Roller Derby for the first time and saw the Rat City Roller Girls! It was a lot of fun once I figured out what was going on. Also in June we participated in the Jet City soccer tournament, but it looks like I didn't take any photos.

July

July was another uneventful month, but we made up for it in August!

August

This year we celebrated out 9th wedding anniversary! Can you believe it? In 2009 we plan to do something special for our 10th anniversary, but we haven't figured out what that will be.

Jeff's sister Stacey got married in August, so we flew to LA for that. We were both members of the wedding party and it was a lovely wedding. Here are some pics:

Also in August was our summer vacation. We went to Lake Shasta and spent the week on a houseboat with our friends. Jeff and I both wakeboarded for the first time!

September

September is when we started getting quotes for our bathroom and kitchen remodel. It was, of course, more than we had hoped it would be, but we are moving forward. It had to be the worst time to try to get a home equity loan, since this was the month of the major bank failure. But we managed to get everything squared away.

October

Jeff started his new job in October. He was very excited to start something new, and he has been very happy there.

Here are some Halloween photos:

November

In November we went down to Eugene for a University of Oregon football game. They said it was the wettest football game at Autzen Stadium, and I believe them. I had a raincoat on, but it soaked through and my jeans were saturated with water. I had to buy some Oregon sweats to wear on the ride home. But Oregon won! Go Ducks.

I didn't take any photos of Thanksgiving. We spent the day with Jeff's parents. It was a nice holiday.

December

Here's Jeff and I at my company's holiday party:

Here's a photo where you can see my dress:

The big news of December was our snow storm! We had snow that stuck around for 2 weeks. That almost never happens in Seattle. I think the deepest it got was about 10 inches at our house! I really don't like snow, and this storm just reinforced those feelings. I didn't drive anywhere for about 2 weeks. I took the bus (when it showed up!) and Jeff drove a little bit in the Subaru. I can tell you who did love the snow - Guen! Here is an action shot of her catching snowballs.

Merry Christmas!

The bad thing about the snow is that it prevented us from going to Richland for Christmas. My mom and dad were on a mission for two years, so it has been a few years since we have been able to spend the holidays with them and also my sister, Lara, and her husband and kids. So that was a bit of a disappointment, but luckily Jeff's parents live very close now and also had to cancel their travel plans, so we spent the holidays with them. Here we are in front of the Christmas tree with Guen.