WARNING - begging might occur in this post

So, we are moving to a different house this weekend. WE NEED HELP! If you are in Bellingham this weekend and you really want to help a friend, PLEASE come! There will be pizza and beer and drinks and merriment. We need the muscle!

10 am - THIS SATURDAY - 610 14th Street

Post a comment and let me know if you can make it... Thanks!!

As it should be

For almost three years, these two men have worked hard on creating what they love - metal. The story of how they met is uncanny, and I will save it for another post, but for now, indulge me.

Rick and Matt have poured a lot of time, heart, and soul into their music. Matt actually moved here from LA to write music with Rick. If that isn't dedication, I don't know what is. I have watched these two grow as friends and as bandmates in more ways than I can count. Their partnership resembles many of the metal greats - Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, Vinnie Paul and "Dimebag" Darrell. The music they've written is going to blow the metal world away.

The sweat, energy, and emotion put into their songs is about to pay off. They are about to perform in their first two gigs as a band: CALBREA. They have worked SO hard, given up a lot of time with their families and friends, made a lot of sacrifices to make this band happen - and now it is paying off. Their first gig is in Portland at the Mt. Tabor Theater on July 18th, and the very next night (on my birthday!!) on July 19th, they make their Seattle debut at none other than Studio Seven. If you live in Seattle, you know Studio Seven is one of the premiere venues to play... Studio Seven sought out THEM to see if they could play! Needless to say, I am pretty proud of them. They have worked HARD for this.

If was very fitting that yesterday, after confirming the Seattle gig, Rick and Matt spent the ENTIRE day doing this:

They work so hard on music that they don't often get to enjoy each other. Cheers to you boys! Looking forward to an amazing weekend...

Beautiful... again.

My rose garden is in full swing right now... I don't know much about roses, or gardening for that matter. However, for the last four years, I have done my best to keep this rose garden beautiful and happy... I may have found success.

Now... if I can just keep these guys from EATING my success! For most of the afternoon, these three young bucks (literally) camped out in our back yard, resting in the shade, nibbling on the apple trees, being our personal (gas-free) lawmowers. But, when it was time to move on, they started going through what THEY thought was a buffet line in my rose garden. Rick was able to shoo them away before too much damage, but darn it if I will let them ruin my flowers! Wish me luck...

Flower from the garden

Flower from the garden
Originally uploaded by karynnorris123

Just a pretty flower to some, but to me, it is my favorite.

I love calla lilies. I wanted callas in my wedding bouquet for as long as I could remember. I don't know why, but I love them. When Rick and I got engaged, he had a bouquet of callas, and when we got married, I had them. I have a purple calla plant in the garden in my front yard. This one is from my mom's garden.

I don't know why I love them, but I do.

Tugboat Captain!

My brother Curt is a tugboat captain. He lived between Hawaii and California. He works on the tug for a month is Hawaii, then comes home to California for a month. When we were in Olympia, we had the chance to see him driving his boat. He was in port in Ballard for a few months while it was being refurbished.

We played on the beach while we waited for the tug to come in...


This is my brother, Curt! He is the captain. However, to me, I was just watching my brother drive a boat. He is very good at what he does, and his crew LOVES him. He is the best captain to work for, I'm sure.

Sitting in the captain's chair - with the Captain.

It was great seeing you, Curt! Happy Birthday...

Haircut Time

Well after last summer's haircutting fiasco, we thought it was best for the professionals to cut hair this summer. While we were in Olympia, we went to my childhood friend's, Shannon, salon to get new 'dos.

Before....

During...

After!

During.... look how long her "bangs" got!

During... again...

And after!
Much better when a professional does it!

Olympia trip

Last week, we set off on the train to visit Nani and Poppa in Olympia. This was the first train ride for the kids (that they remember). They LOVED it... I loved it. It was SO relaxing. The sights were beautiful. I saw parts of our state that I'd never seen.
We went
We went right under the Narrows Bridge in Tacoma. The kids loved that they could get up and walk around... I loved that I didn't have to drive!

One of the highlights of the farm is getting to help feed the sheep. Maddie and Taylor are both great helpers. They love to go out to the barn and help Poppa with the farm chores.

We got to visit my grandma Helen while we were there. She is 97 years old. We moved her up from California about five years ago. She is living in a group home close to my parents. She is slowing down a lot, and is on Hospice. But all things considered, she is doing good. That is her dog, Chica.

Another highlight for Taylor was driving the lawn mower. Believe it or not, he was actually really good at it!

Of course the week we were there, it was scorching hot! Needless to say, the kids spent a lot of time in the water... Olympia has a wonderful fountain park for the kids to play at.

Much fun was had playing in the water sprinker!

Thank you Nani and Poppa for such a fun trip!

Strawberry Time...

Bellingham has some of the best berries in the country. As a matter of fact, one of the berry farms in Bellingham supplies all the berries for Costco! The kids and I decided we wanted to have some fun, so we went berry picking for the first time...


They actually had a REALLY good time! We even made it out of the fields without eating ONE BERRY! I didn't expect that...


They were so proud of their efforts! Between the three of us, we picked 16 pounds of goodness!

Ah.... the reward!

Fourth of July

Fourth of July was a blast this year... no pun intended. We had some family and friends over to celebrate and watch fireworks over the bay. We splurges and got a few fireworks to set off in the driveway.
We had to have some token sparklers for the kids. They weren' too sure about them at first, but once they got used to them, they liked it!

Spencer thought they were really cool.

Rick and Brandon were the fireworks experts! They set them all off while trying to set everything on fire, as well. Leave it to the boys... They successfully set a couple things on fire, but my favorite event of the night was the TANK WARS!


For the record, Brandon won the final battle.

This was Taylor's position throughout the whole night!

This was the Chinese Lantern one. It was really cool... spun around and around. Then after it was done, they put a Blooming Flower inside and successfully set the whole thing on fire! Boys...

Belated Father's Day...

I am going to be working on some posts that are really late being uploaded... this being one of them!
We were camping (without the kids) over Father's Day weekend, so we celebrated it yesterday. Maddie made Rick one of his favorites: Chocolate Chip Pancakes!They are best when eaten with extra chocolate chips melted on top, then smothered with semi-frozen cool whip! SO yummy... can't you tell by his face:
Daddy, thank you for being the best dad ever! We love you...