Farm-time fun!

By Kendra | Published: April 13, 2010

Alysia and Soren joined us out on the farm for a leisurely afternoon. It was finally warm enough to take the dogs on a walk along the property while Soren enjoyed a beautiful view of the forest from the wagon!

I love listening to Soren talk to the animals. “Hi chickens, bye-bye goats, here baby horsey!” He is just the cutest!

Mom loves to show off her animals and Soren loves the tour every time! He always asks about the baby horse and loves to help collect the eggs!

The animals LOVE having visitors… unless we kick them out of the round-pin for photo-ops! But how could we pass this up, sooo cute!!!

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Home Sweet Home

By Kendra | Published: April 12, 2010

We finally made it! After living in Hawaii for almost three years Vinh and I have finally made it home to Spokane.

Reunited!

Alysia, Patrick and Soren met my mom and I at the farm, I was SOOO excited to see them! Soren loved his ukulele because its what they use on his favorite movie Lilo & Stitch!

Playing a Beach Boy's tune

And I met my mom’s new puppy, Taffy. She is full of pizazz and never stops wiggling. She’s smart too, she picks up on new tricks really fast.

Mom gets a surprise smooch from Taffy

Vinh cuddles up with Buddy for a nap

Alysia threw a great St. Patty’s Day party the weekend after we got back. We sat around a fire in the backyard and ate tons of delicious food. Then we ended the night with Alysia’s yummy green Jello shots!

Thanks for a great night Alysia! We’re happy to be back!

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Wedding Dresses Round 2!

By Kendra | Published: April 1, 2010

I have planned nothing for the upcoming wedding, but I have tried on plenty of wedding dresses. Every time I sit down to do something serious like plan the budget, I start looking at dresses. That’s the fun part!!! I have an entire year and a half to plan the serious stuff… right?

So when Vinh and I stopped through Seattle on our move back to Spokane I COULDN’T WAIT to go wedding dress shopping with Bridget!!! She was amazing! She made all of the appointments and took care of all of the dirty work. I am not good at dealing with sales people and Bridget asked all the right questions, she’s the perfect right-hand-lady! Thank you Bridget!

La Belle Elaine Bridal had an amazing selection, I could spend an entire day in there! This was my favorite dress out of them all, I was devastated when I had to take it off and leave it at the store. But $1675 = OUCH!!! Thankfully, after a careful review of the pictures, I have gotten over it. It is beautiful, but it gives me no shape. What do you think about it?

This dress has the best train I have EVER seen!

This dress was also a gem, but after careful review I again noticed that this dress gives me no shape. At the bargain price of $500 I was VERY tempted, but it needed too many repairs. It was beautiful, but I know I made the right choice.

I am in love with all of the beautiful details this dress has.

The best shop by far was Cicada, their dresses were amazing! All of there dresses are designed and made on site. And the customer service was very pleasant, I never felt pressured in the least.

This dress awesome! I loved the shape of it and it was incredibly comfortable. Not to mention, Cicada will customize anything you want!

My favorite silhouette

Then I tried this one and fell in loooove! Love the shape, love the poofy butt, love the shape, love LoVe LOVE!!!

This dress was incredible, I loved it!

I want it!… or something similar. Although I’m not the hugest fan of this particular lace but they can use any lace you want!

Okay. that is all for now. I cannot wait to go shopping for wedding dresses again!!! Thanks for such a great few days Bridget!

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…and Seattle!

By Kendra | Published: March 30, 2010

After a fabulous week in Kansas City we headed to Seattle for a week with the lovely Borowski’s! We had to fly out from Minneapolis, so we rented a car and took a fun little road trip straight into a Minnesota fog blizzard. Which is where we became the most freezing that we have been in years.

Finally we are in Seattle, and we got to meet Mochi! The best part of our trip may have been joining her to the dog park… or it may have been how she methodically woke Vinh up every morning by nuzzling his face.

Mochi

Ben and Bridget were very accommodating, we definitely got the relaxing trip we needed. And Bridget made some fabulous vegetarian meals for us, my favorite was the cauliflower macaroni and cheese. Thank you Bridget!!!

Vinh and I had to make a trip to Ivar’s at Pike Street Market because I have recently discovered that I L♥VE fish & chips!

I had an amazing time wedding dress shopping with Bridget, she was so supportive and made all the appointments for me. It was an incredible bonding experience and I can’t wait to go back to Seattle for more wedding dress shopping!

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Our journey home

By Kendra | Published: March 30, 2010

What better time to travel than while we are in the process of moving! On our way back to Spokane, Vinh and I took a detour to visit family. First for a week in Kansas City so I could meet his dad’s side of the family.Vinh’s family could not have been more welcoming, right away I felt like part of the family.After dinner Uncle Tuan showed us around Kansas City. He’s like a walking encyclopedia, Kansas City is really cool! We stayed at Hanh and Bob’s house, and Vinh was finally reunited with his Cousin Tommy.Then we got to visit with Auntie Nghia, who may have been the sweetest person I have ever met.And for the grand finale I finally got to meet Cong, Vinh’s dad. He was so sweet, it was really cool to see where Vinh gets his charm from. . . And he can finish a crossword in like 10 minutes! WOW!Then Vinh’s cousin Claudia and her boyfriend took us out for the evening. We had so much fun driving around town and shopping in all the boutiques! She treated us to sushi, where we happened to run into cousin Cher. So we all headed out to Paciugo’s for some amazing gelato. . . in fact I’ve been craving it ever since!I had an incredible time with everyone and I feel so lucky to be joining this family. Hanh and Bob were very hospitable and they made Vinh and I feel right at home. Everyone was generous and made sure we had a good time. Vinh and I were so happy that we got to take the time to see his family and can’t wait until we get to visit again!

TO BE CONTINUED… In Seattle!

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Mahalo Hawaii, its been fun

By Kendra | Published: March 29, 2010

Our time in Hawaii has finally come to an end, so we ended it the best way we knew how. With all of the amazing friends we made and some drinks!!! Here are a few photos out of a billion…

By the time the night came to an end we only had a couple hours before arriving to the airport. We went home, finished cramming stuff into our luggage, and kissed our beloved Hawaii goodbye.

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Why I love hawaii…

By Kendra | Published: February 27, 2010

Tonight I am sitting at home sick, trying to figure out what to do with myself. Its hitting me hard that I am set to leave the paradise I have called home for three years one week from now. Living here has been the most incredible experience and even though it was hard sometimes, I wouldn’t have changed anything. So I started sifting through the thousands of Hawaii pictures I have stored on my computer and tried to compile those that represent my most favorite memories. There were so many I had to cut them in half, then again… and again.

So… (drum roll please!) Here is my Hawaii collage masterpiece!

 

This collage is dedicated to Mary (Vinh’s mom), because she loves to make collages.

This is just a small sampling of our favorite people, places, and events in Hawaii. I am going to miss this all so much, but it has been so much fun making these memories!

 

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A little piece of my heart is missing. . .

By Kendra | Published: February 21, 2010

A ridiculously small dog took it. He stole it. Anyone who knows me knows I like BIG dogs.

Here are some examples:

But last week Vinh and I were walking by a pet store and came across this teeny tiny Chihuahua that stole our hearts. It was so weird, I have never fallen for a little dog before. He was so small and sweet and well-tempered. I just wanted to whisk him away and put him in a little outfit and carry him around in a little bag! Now I get it, I could never understand people who did that!

If this puppy was at a shelter and not at a store for $900, I may have disowned all of my beliefs about little dogs and taken this little guy home. He was such a sweetheart, I really hope he found a good home!

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I love my life

By Kendra | Published: February 20, 2010

The last three years in Hawaii have been incredible, but sadly it is coming to an end. Vinh and I are trying to make the most of our last few weeks here and today our good friend John welcomed us to the hotel he works at for a relaxing day at the pool.

The beginning of a wonderful day

The pool is on the fifth floor and overlooks the Waikiki Harbor.

I live for days like these, it makes me want to stay here forever!

Thanks for making our day off a fabulous one John!

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A handcrafted, beautifully intricate work of art… and its mine!

By Kendra | Published: February 14, 2010

After only 3 weeks of anticipation my engagement ring has arrived!  Vinh knew I couldn’t wait so he graciously brought it to me at work!

My darling coworkers insisted that he recreate the moment and present it to me down on one knee. I thought it was a brilliant idea!

Even the wrapping was a work of beauty and elegance!

The wrapping was so beautiful!

Finally! I get to see my Tacori masterpiece! Putting it on made the engagement feel even more real. No more clunky pretend rings from Claire’s, it’s the real thing!

Its perfect! I never imagined I would be wearing the ring of my dreams. I have torn out magazine pages of this ring saved from years ago.

I am one lucky lady. Beautiful ring, amazing relationship, and the perfect man.

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