Showers, Weddings, and..."Spring Break!"

There are lots of things to report on that I have poorly documented via blog. So these quick recaps will be mostly pictoral. Enjoy.

1. Courtney's Bridal Shower in the lovely Jenner. We stayed in the cabin of Vicky's step-sister, and it was INCREDIBLE. Perfect view of where the river meets the ocean. Liz forgot her underwear and had to wear her bathing suit, we took some jumping pictures, ate lots of food, looked at the view, Amy and I jumped in the cold, refreshing river, and then we actually did have Courtney's bridal shower at the beach. It was refreshing, delicious, and breezy.

2. A bunch of us roadtripped down to LA for Courtney and Cameron's wedding. We also took a quick pit stop at Disneyland for about 12 hours....

Yeah, it was mostly girls. That's because we have the most fun, which many people didn't know, including the conspicuous male in the pictures below. Who's fun now, Mark Pahnke? (And as evidence of our funness, this is a direct quote from a screaming girl who drove past us in a car as we were walking back to the parking lot at midnight: "OH MY GOSH!!!!!! YOU GUYS ARE THOSE GUYS FROM THE SPACE MOUNTAIN LINE WHO DID THE ANIMAL GAME! I LOVE YOU GUUUUUUUUUUUYYYYYYYYYYYSS!!!!!!!!)

We did eventually make it to Courtney and Cameron's wedding. A word on Courtney, and then a word on her wedding. Courtney is one of my favorite people in this whole wide world. This is an honor I have casually bestowed on many people, but this time I really mean it. She's the kind of cool that can be a little bit intimidating (Exhibit B: Burke), but she is one of the most caring and thoughtful friends that I have. And refreshingly witty. I enjoy her company more than she probably has figured out, and I'd just like to say that I'm extraordinarily pleased and grateful that I randomly moved to Berkeley so we could be friends. Also, and please excuse me if this offends others who are near and dear to me and whose weddings I have also attended - Courtney was jaw-droppingly the most beautiful bride I have ever seen, and her and Cameron's wedding reception was WICKED FUN. The absolute funnest wedding I have ever been a part of. Two words: Live Band Karaoke. Oh, that was three. Embarrassing. I don't have any pictures of it because I was so engrossed in having the best time of my life. Plus, they wouldn't do it justice and you'd all be left unsatisfied.

3. Spring Break! First I went to Portland to visit my best friend Kelli, her rad husband Dave, and their little Tyson. We did a lot of reminiscing about how our sophomore year of college we kind of checked out of Provo's social scene and pretty much just hung out with each other. Honestly, I can think of very few things from that year involved other people. We had SO MUCH FUN. We couldn't study in the same room because we'd always end up laughing too hard, we would bake entire pans of pineapple upside-down cake and have them consumed in minutes, we attended mass amounts of the BYU men's volleyball matches (a shameful obsession that looking back is pretty absurd, but at the time was undeniably the best use of our time), and THOROUGHLY enjoyed each other's company to the point where we required absolutely no other social activity. Sure, it sounds lame, but we both agree to this day that it was perfectly satisfying. Kelli is the perfect best friend for me.

Um, Dave didn't make it into any of the pictures, but he was totally there and I think he's fabulous.

After leaving Kelli, Dave, and Tyson, I drove over to the Oregon Coast and met my Mom and Mike there for the rest of the week. It was beautiful, oceanic, and mostly freezing. I love the ocean, and the trees, and the freezing temps, and I've decided that I could most definitely live in Oregon if the whole Washington thing doesn't work out (big sacrifice, right?)

I taught Mom the magic of jumping pictures. She, at first meeting, seems very regal and elegant (or serious and intimidating, depending on how you look at it), but really she's just kind of goofy and cute.

These houses are built on sand dunes. This seemed like a bad idea to me. Come to think of it, I think Christ specifically mentioned that one, in a rare architectural commentary....read the Bible, people!

This was the view from my ROOM. Said room was my very own little apartment for three whole days and it was infinitessimally cuter than my actual apartment in real life.

This is a sea lion "haul out." Cryptic term, I know - it's where the sea lions pull themselves out of the water to rest, fight, and make loud noises. It's also America's largest sea cave (or some similar claim to fame...).

Jumping picture blooper. I thought Mom looked funny.

There you have it. Those were some of the big things of late.