Tagged by Toni!

10 years ago.....

1.) I was 19, wow
2.) I just started dating Nick
3.) I was playing volleyball at Multnomah
4.) I was cramming for exams in college
5.) I was about 10 pounds thinner. :(

5 Things on my "to do list" today.....

1.) Get Ethan to school
2.) Get my chai, of course!
3.) Prepare for vb practice
4.) Do laundry
5.) Try to get a nap, which I did!

5 Snacks I enjoy.....

1.) Melted cheese on crackers
2.) Brownies
3.) Kettle popcorn
4.) Cantaloupe
5.) M&M's

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire.....

1.) Pay off our debt
2.) Put away money for kid's college
3.) Buy new clothes
4.) Take my hubby on an awesome vacation
5.) Take each of my close girlfriends on fun trips

5 Places I have lived.....

1.) Oak Harbor, WA
2.) Reading, PA
3.) Stafford, VA
4.) Portland, OR
5.) Vancouver, WA

5 Jobs I have had.....

1.) Babysitter
2.) Barista
3.) Camp Counselor
4.) Receptionist
5.) Title Clerk

I'll tag...MIA!!!!

Sideout Sistas!

One of my all time favorite top 5 loves (besides God, my family, chai, friends, not always in that order) is playing volleyball. I've been playing since I was 14 years old and I always find I'm learning how to improve my game and work harder. I love to block and when I get a great pass I tend to celebrate because I used to be horrible at it. :)

I was asked to play with in a league that needed a couple more players on their team and thankfully my schedule allowed it. We're called the Sideout Sistas! My friend, Miss, whom I played with in college at Multnomah is on the team too so it's so fun to get to play with her again as well. We're awesome, by the way. We've won our first three games so far. It's been 7 years since I've been able to play volleyball on a team and I'm enjoying every bruised and sweaty minute of it.

Look at that form! My jr. high team should take notes. Oh yah, in case you haven't heard, I'm a coach for the jr. high girl's team at Ethan's school. I'll get pics of that up soon enough. It's...a challenge to say the least.

Miss and I, down and ready for the pass. Nothing gets by us, most of the time. :)

Bam, look at those hops. Mama's still got it!

Blocking, so fun!

Our awesome team: from left to right, Heather, Stacey's back, a little of Indyra's head, Miss, Annette and me.

More Edits!

Here's some more cute pics of Reagan that I edited just for fun. I love the rich colors in her sweater and the contrast with the natural tones behind her. Enjoy!

How Big Does Your Garden Grow?

Bigger than I ever thought it would! If you know me a little, I do NOT have a green thumb. And what started out to be a little project because the kids really wanted to plant pumpkins for the fall turned into something way bigger, and alot more fun than I thought it would be.

I don't have the foggiest idea of how to plant a garden. But I figured we'd just plant the seeds and find out. Well, every single thing we planted took over the yard in abundance. We've thinned and picked and still the plants continue to flourish. I guess God can make a gardener out of even me. :)

So here's what was chosen: some sunflowers, vine tomatoes, two types of pumpkins, come carrots and another flower that never really grew.

The kids really wanted to helped build our garden. Easier said than done.

Isn't it so pretty and leafy? Yah just wait. It was like watching Cinderella's pumpkin and all those curly cues just get bigger and bigger.

And here's our garden today. The sunflowers are WAY taller than me. We've already picked and eaten our carrots because, again, not knowing what I was doing, planted them in clumps and they just grew together and not very big, but were very yummy. The poor tomatoes don't have enough support from the wimpy stakes I bought. Ugh! I guess I'll know for next year.

Senior Pictures with Jenny!

My babysitter, Jenessa (we call her Jenny), was having a hard time finding someone to take her senior pics. When your jobs are babysitting and church work and your parents can't pay for it, the pickin's are slim. She'd had a couple people lined up to do them but they backed out on her. She loves photography and really likes my camera, so I offered my services. Not that I'm a wonderful photographer by any means but I thought I'd give it a try. So our payment policy is going to be some free hours of babysitting. Totally a win win to me. :)

Starting out with coffee from Starbuck's always puts things in good perspective. We went down to Columbia Way in Washington, right on the Columbia River that separates Washington and Oregon. I just tried to snap her as we went and we used ideas we both had. There were alot to choose from, but here's a few that I thought turned out cute of her. I hope she likes them and finds them adequate for use as her senior pics.

I snapped a few of Reagan too as we went. She was our little helper.

Isn't this one awesome? I tried some of the editing tools on my computer. Maybe I'll dink around some more but thought this turned out beautiful of her.

Jenny's the best babysitter in the world. She's babysat for hours on end for me, at a moment's notices when I was having crisis and even for free a few times. We love her and think of her a part of our family. When I pick her up, Ethan asks me to stay out a long time so he can play with her. :) Thanks Buddy. Hope you like your pictures, Jenny!

MOMS Leadership Retreat 2008

This last weekend I went to our church's MOMS Leadership Retreat. It was at a camp out in the sticks so were pretty rustick (for me, anyway). It was so fun, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. We did alot of training for our upcoming year at MOMS as leaders but we also did plenty of goofing off. Get a bunch of moms together and you never know what might happen. Here's some highlights from the retreat.

One of the things we did was a photograph scavenger hunt. We were in three teams so most of these are of me and my team: Go BROWN!!!!!

Brown team from left to right: Rose and baby Malakiah, Courtney, Renee, Kat, me, Tracy, Michelle and baby Joe (not hers, just giving mom a break).

Bras on a flagpole, always a good idea!

Wrong Way!

The trust fall. Good job, Kat. And we were the only team to actually fall, the others just pretended. We should have won.

I love my Kat, I'm so proud of her!

First day of Kindergarten!

Today was Ethan's first day of Kindergarten. He was so excited that he was up at...6:30am! Whyyyyyyyyy?!? We got him to school and he did just great, found his hook and his seat and went right to work. It's true, this stuff if harder on the parents than it is on the kids, although I wasn't choked up or anything, not like last year. He loves going to school and was really sad that he couldn't stay all day and have hot lunch with the other kids. Next year, buddy, you'll be there all day, for the rest of your life. :) Ha, ha, ha!!!!

Reagan wanted to be pretty for Ethan's first day too.

All set to go with his new backpack.

Of course, Reagan had to have her Dora backpack on too.

Hanging his bag on his hook.

Finding his name on the attendance chart.

Ready to work!

Ummm, Reagan was REALLY bummed that she didnt' get to go to school with brother, too.

Beemer, Baby!

So before I go any further, no, it's not my car. I know, sad. Part of the joys of having a husband who is the Used Car Manager of a dealership is that sometimes he brings home "goodies". Now, TECHNICALLY I'm not supposed to drive them, but a little jaunt to Starbuck's never hurt anyone, now did it?

trying to look like I actually belong in a car like this...ha, ha!

ahhh, yum!

Hey, a girl can dream can't she? :)

Our Last Bit of Summer!

MMMMMMMMM! There's no place like home. We visited my parents up in Whidbey Island one last time this summer. We celebrated about 5 birthdays at once since we don't get to see each other that much and the cupcakes were our "birthday cakes". Here's a few pictures from what's left of the summer and into my favorite season of all, FALL!!!!

I love this picture of Reagan and my Grandma 'Layne (Elayne, Reagan's middle name). She has her little mouth full of cupcake and she's trying to talk to her, so cute.

Reagan and her Daddy, playing a little baseball with Ethan.

4 Generations of Larsen's

Reagan is sooooo proud of her new purse from Grandma Nettie and inside is the best: new strawberry "chatstick" and her "pretty lip" (lip gloss). She feels very grown up.

Ethan and his new "Cars" umbrella

Nick hitting it home at one of his softball games.

Goodbye, summer. It's been good. Now bring on the crispy leaves, cool breezes, warm clothes smells of baked goods. Can't wait! :)