Today is my Grandma's birthday! Easy to remember, the first day of spring! Well, when the first day of spring falls on the 20th that is! I'm so thankful for her and the fact that we live close so we get to see her a lot. My Grandma Vincent passed away right after I was born, so Grandma Lois is the only one I've ever known. I'm not sure how old she is today, and I find myself not wanting to know either. It's just a number, right? I feel the same way about everyone in my life. I know what year my parents were born, but unless I do the math (yes, I even have to use a calculator for that!), I don't know the actual number. My sister is 7 years older than me, but unless I count on my fingers, I can never remember her actual age either. It's better that way. I really don't like to see people getting older. And besides, the older they get, the older I'm getting.

Anyway, we are all going to Applebee's (ick) at 1 for my grandma's birthday. Is it just me or does Applebee's have the most generic food ever? My mom and sister and I decided that everything comes already cooked, they just put it on a plate and warm it up. I'm not sure why my grandma likes Applebee's so much. If I remember right, one time there was a LADY BUG in her salad. And another time rocks. Like they forgot to wash the salad before putting it on the plate or something. Oh well, whatever she wants!

I can't believe it's Friday already. What happened to the week? And the month!? Joe really wants to go skiing tomorrow. I thought after 3 days of skiing at Whistler last weekend he'd be tuckered out, but I guessed wrong. I don't know why I'm not that excited about going. I guess I just am done with winter and everything associated with it.

Jessica delivered the rest of our engagement pictures yesterday to me at work! We are so happy with them! She did an amazing job! Here's a few more...

This is so stupid! First off, we never received an initial notice, just a final notice. However, because everyone is so upset about it, I've been hearing about this for weeks.

As of yesterday, all Comcast customers have to have a stupid box to view any channel over 31. We already have one in our family room, but we have never had one in the bedroom or our work out room. So now we can't get any channel over 31 on those two. How can they do this!? All of the channels I watch at night in bed are over 31. TLC, HGTV....and now I have to wait until Joe gets the stupid boxes hooked up. And Joe only watches ESPN, Sports Center (are those the same?!) in the workout room so we have to have one in there too. I guess we wouldn't have to, but after he spent so much time getting that room set up, I want him to be able to enjoy it! We also pay to have all of those channels! The TV in the workout room is the one that he mounted on the wall so we wouldn't have to deal with cords and stuff. Where are we supposed to put the damn thing?? Stupid Comcast...

In other news, the Spelling Bee was great on Tuesday! I lost interest in the Spelling Bee pretty early on, but it was fun to hang out with the girls. Mrs. Julian, one of my teachers in 6th grade, and her husband own the Kelso Theatre Pub so it was fun to see her. I think she was pretty excited to see me! For some reason she's always liked me. Weird, huh?

As of April 1st, I will be double covered with health insurance. YAY! I'm back full time at Clary's again, so that kicks in again. Frustrating after all the crap I went through to get on Joe's, but I'll take it. Someone at work told me there's no such thing as being "double covered" but after confirming it with the insurance broker and Joe's insurance, there is. It would be a benefit for the insurance companies if I wasn't, but why would I let them get away with that?! And besides, Clary's pays all of our insurance so I don't have to pay anything out of my paycheck. An awesome benefit. Their premium will probably go up at renewal next year being that I'm damaged goods though. When I was trying to get health insurance, every provider rejected me because of my cancer. I understand it increases their cost a lot, but I was done with treatment and probably healthier than I've ever been before. Even with at crazy $10,000 deductible they still wouldn't accept me. Crazy.

What else? I'm a little worried I'm becoming like my dad as far as sleeping habits go. I find myself waking up earlier and earlier every morning. And the bad part is I'm ready to get up. I'm all about early rising but I really think that 3:30-4am is a little too early....

Jessica emailed me last night and said she has the rest of our engagement pictures done. I can't wait to get them from her today! Now we'll have all of the pictures digitally and be able to have Molly start working on our save-the-dates....which should have been done a month or two ago. Whoops.

By the way, we have a wedding website! Check it out at http://www.katieandjosephswedding.com/. I'm still working on it, hopefully it will be totally finished soon. Sign our guestbook! You'll be the first! :)

Happy Thursday!

We are thrilled with our pictures! Believe it or not, I hadn't looked at them until last night. We wanted to look at them together and since Joe was in Whistler all weekend, I patiently waited until we were together to look. Joe doesn't believe me but it's true! Actually, I did sneak a peak at one. But only one!! I couldn't resist.

Jessica did a fabulous job! I know she will do a great job of capturing the moment on our big day. I'm so glad I found her. I have a feeling we'll be using her a lot in the future. You should see her baby pictures! They are amazing!

Joe had an amazing time at Whistler. I'll post some of his pictures when I have more time. Good thing I didn't see the pictures before he went----I wouldn't have been so ok with staying home for the weekend!! I did have a great weekend though. Something about being home alone with the music up and the smell of pine-sol from cleaning always puts me in a good mood! I'm not as motivated when Joe's here----I just want to hang out with him! So it was good to get stuff done around here. And on Saturday George, Kim and Sophie took my mom and I for dinner at 3 Doors Down in Portland. I posted a link because it was just that good! Kim and George have eaten there for years, but we just now got around to trying it. You must go if you live nearby!

I am really excited for tonight! I am going to the Altrusa Spell-abraton Spelling Bee at the Kelso Theatre Pub with Joanna! Her husband is a contestant and come to find out, the lab even has a team in it. Should be a good way to spend St. Patty's Day. A little on the nerdy side, but hey---that's ok with me!

Hope everyone has a good day!

Sneak peak!

Jessica posted a preview of our engagement pictures on her website.....take a look here! I'm not sure, but I think if we get a certain number of comments on her blog we might get a free print. So feel free to comment!

Joe is having a blast in Whistler. He called me on my way to work yesterday and said the gondola is right outside their window. So neat! I'm so glad he was able to go. And not have to take vacation days to do so! His work schedule is amazing!

I slept in until 8:30 today!! I can't remember the last time I slept in that long! I must admit it felt wonderful. I've been so busy at work, getting there at 7ish every morning. In addition to my job, I'm also helping with fleet. I'm responsible for calculating all of the deals, getting drivers coordinated and delivering all of the fleet vehicles all over Washington. It's fun! I love the drivers and it's nice seeing a finished result at the end of each day. I even successfully recruited my mom to drive yesterday!! I think she enjoyed it! And because Joe has Monday off, I have him scheduled to work as well. He was pretty pumped when I told him he'll be driving a 2009 Tahoe with push bumpers and prisoner seats!! :)

Last night was girls night! Jenny, Kendra, Joanna and Kendra's sister Emily went for dinner at Azteca then Joanna, Kendra and I went to see, "He's Just Not That Into You." It was so much fun! Margarita, Mexican food and great friends. It was great catching up with Joanna! I read her blog everyday but haven't seen her in years!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Joe leaves for Whistler tomorrow! He's going with his cousin Gil and a few others until Sunday. I'm a little sad I'll be missing out on the festivities but thinking about trying to keep up with him makes me exhausted! They're staying in Whistler Village though so a few days of shopping and relaxation would be nice. Oh well, next trip....

We had our engagement pictures last Sunday with Jessica Lemmons. The weather cooperated for us and we had a great time. It was good practice for the big day! We can't wait to see how they turned out!

Nothing much new going on. I thought my appointment with Dr. Nichols was last Thursday but it's actually tomorrow. I think after tomorrow my appointments will be every 6 months instead of every 3. We'll see! I can't believe it's already been 1 year!

Hope everyone is having a good week. Happy Wednesday!

I had this adorable card from my sister (and Sophie) waiting for me when I went out to get the mail I LOVE getting fun mail! Especially when it's not bills and/or junk mail.

I love my sister! Thanks for the card Kim and Sophie!

One year ago today....

We were on our way up to Seattle to meet with Dr. Conrad. Furthermore, we were hours away from finding out the results from the pathology report. Has it really only been a year?! In some ways it feels like a lifetime ago---in other ways it feels like it never happened---it's so weird.

I can't remember what time my appointment was last March 3, but I know that after we left with the news, we decided to stop by U Village! Nothing like a little retail therapy to make things better! :) Actually, when we parked we started calling people and the reality of everything started hitting hard so we just drove home. March 3 was one of the only days I cried. It was when my sister called Shirley to tell her the news and when she was telling her she started crying. Then it was like a chain reaction in the car. Oh man, I hope I never have to have a day like that again. I will say I'm so glad that I was the one who had to go through everything. People say I was "so strong" throughout everything, but had I been the one watching one of my family members go through this, I don't think I would've held up as well....

Here's the post immediately after my appointment last year. I hate the "f" word, but not when it comes to this t-shirt!

I meet with Dr. Nichols, the oncologist that I saw in Portland, Thursday. Although I don't think my year of remission is considered until after I've been done with chemo for a year, I consider this week a huge milestone and can't wait to get another good bill of health from him!