Family

Manic Monday

/ Erin May / 1 Comment

This isn’t a real Manic Monday Post. It’s a short picture story about the last few weeks. Remember my resolution to get a puppy? Well here’s what up lately:

1524755_10101251780678396_1856288886_n

Dog sitting Hammy dog, which lead me to…

1601070_10101247550301106_963197524_n

The beginning of the savings plan…

1512395_10101256202851326_500980637_n

…and the Researching phase…

1546379_10101265249322126_264258548_n

…for about half a week, and then we dove in and got our sweet Osa bear!

1609778_10101260973715476_1448595235_n

Osa is 11 weeks old mutt, and a rescue from Mexico! She and her litter mates were found in a dumpster, then flown up to Oregon to find their homes.

1555491_10101267608614086_928237750_n

Osa was the name her Mexican Veterinario gave her, and we kind of love the idea of her being our little she-bear. We have now had her about a week and a half, and she’s been great!

1545670_10101270005011686_1966978402_n

…And she’s already got a boyfriend. Look at that smug mug.

Happy Monday!

2014 Resolutions? I only got one.

/ Erin May / 1 Comment

Last night, I couldn’t go to sleep. Partially because I took a long, migraine-induced nap in the afternoon, and partially because I was just too darn excited.

When the clock struck midnight and suddenly it was 2014, it hit me like a ton of bricks. As silly as it sounds, I can’t stop grinning over the fact that this is the year I’m getting married.

131208 - Erin and Kyle Engagement-137

photo by Joe Tobiason

Now normally, I am pretty snarky about New Year’s Eve, with its high expectations and low returns. I tend to make fun of the resolutions people make, and laugh about how my gym will be empty again come February.

That doesn’t keep me from making a million of my own resolutions, however. To be more creative, read more, be more attuned to my fitness, go camping, spend time with loved ones—the list goes on and on.  I normally try to come up with a yearly theme or saying to help guide me. Past examples include Eat the Marshmallow, Balls to the Wall, and Reckless Abandon.

This year, at the NYE party that unexpectedly included fire dancing (!), I was encouraging friends to come up with their sayings, with the prompt “2014 is the year of the ______.” Some of my personal contenders included:

“2014 is the year of physically reaching my peak, then slowly letting myself go” (this was mostly a joke. Mostly.)

“2014 is the year of the fire dance” (Okay, so I may have gotten a little excited at the party. This was a very “of the moment” resolution.)

“2014 is the year of getting a dog” (I’m still holding out for this one.)

…but what I keep coming back to is that 2014 is the year I get to marry the best guy I know. And that’s why I’ve just been too excited to sleep.

So there it is, my one simple resolution for 2014: Get Married!

Happy 2014, everyone!

Manic Monday

/ Erin May / Leave a comment

(Here’s a little GIF from our engagement session that has had me cracking up!)


Can you believe it’s only one more day until Christmas?

(I have this habit of shortening my countdowns significantly by never counting the day I’m on- it’s basically over, right?)

Because I’m much too excited to do anything but think about the holidays and spending time with family (old and new!), this week’s Manic Monday features only Christmas-related things.

Manic Monday

/ Erin May / 1 Comment

Hey there, my friends! Whew, did that weekend (and the week preceding it) fly by! I’ve got a lot of big things in the works- wedding stuff, work stuff, crafts and around-the-home projects.

And boy did we do a lot of stuff around the ole homestead this weekend, including winterizing the yard (read: cut it down until our yard waste bin is full four times over) and deep cleaning our house for a family gathering we put on to celebrate our engagement! We also cooked a whopping 11+ lbs of pork butt, which was tasty as pulled pork and fed a happy party of people.

Some photos of fall-type items around the house, post-deep clean:

photo 1 photo 2 photo 3

And here are some links I’ve enjoyed to start off your week!

  • With the weather turning and all of us heading indoors these days, I love these indoor trees from Remodelista. What a great way to have a little nature in your space!
  • I don’t need a coffee table (and arguably don’t need any more projects, haha) but I love this idea for a coffee table using found materials.
  • Taking something out-of-the-box and putting your own spin on it to make it unique is a fun hobby and a great way to have meaningful, unique belongings- this is a great idea for special occasion ballet flats (if they don’t fall apart as the day goes on!)
  • A pretty great reminder about the importance of being a multi-dimensional person. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!
  • I love this shelf Elise Blaha installed in her entry way! So versatile, and it just might be me but she makes it look pretty dern easy as a DIY.
  • I’m living in big sweaters this fall, and am pretty in love with this small collection from Oh Joy (especially #3). If loving big oversized sweaters is French, then heck yes I’m in!
  • As a lover of the GIRLS series, and even more so of the amazing female role model Tina Fey, I was pretty excited to see these two obsessions collide in the video below:

Remembering a Great Man

/ Erin May / 3 Comments

This past weekend, we held a service for my Grandpa Roy, who passed away a few weeks ago.

No matter how you slice it, memorial services are a strange thing. On one hand, you’re sad, and reflective, you miss the person you knew and are taking in what it means that they are no longer around. On the other hand, you’re remembering them and sharing these memories with loved ones in this great, communal, act- and you’ll catch yourself laughing a lot.

Grandpa Jaeger roy cabin

Saturday was a very powerful experience for me, because it demonstrated in so many ways what a great individual my Grandpa was, and how lucky I was to have known him. I loved hearing all these people telling stories about him- how he balanced his wild, trouble-maker side with an incredible work ethic and moral code.

My Grandpa taught me many things. He always kept a list of things to do every day, and made sure, if you happened to catch him in a moment of rest, to let you know all the things he had already done that day to deserve a break. He was an avid reader, and not only averaged 4 books a week, but also managed to read every book in the Lincoln City library. He loved a good laugh, and was a wonderful storyteller. And he was a man you could respect, and whose respect in return felt like a special accomplishment.

Thanks to him, I know the value of hard, honest work. I see where you can get yourself when you pull yourself up by your bootstraps. He always made a point of “doing things his way.”

Not a lot of people can say they grew up next door to their grandparents, and while I feel sad to have lost him, I feel so lucky to have known him as well as I was able to.