Happy Birthday Reid

The big 2-4! Tara has only a few months to brag that she is "younger and wiser" : )

Birthday dinner consisted of a store-bought cheese pizza, which we then topped with chicken, roma tomato, mushroom & spinach! And we found some holiday brews from a local brewery in Oregon.
Sorry, no cherry pie. But I did make ice cream sandwiches!

Reid playing in his birthday present. He was excited to get it all set up!

Merry Christmas!! Our Day In Pictures

Our first Christmas as a Jennings Family was a success. While we both missed our family and friends, we were thankful to have each other and are eager to see them next week!!

Christmas Eve ham glazed in a chipotle-raspberry sauce...YUM!!

Ham, fresh green beans & roasted potatoes

Christmas morning with our stockings!

Tara in her Christmas owl pajamas

And Reid decked out in his new Gonzaga gear...slippers and all!

After presents came Christmas morning breakfast. Cinnamon rolls, fruit salad, spinach & ham quiche & mimosas!!

We had a grand idea to go hiking in the afternoon but then got lost finding the trailhead. Better luck next time! This is Liberty Lake. One place we are thinking of moving once Reid graduates.

Christmas Cookies

Saturday morning I baked Christmas cookies with one of Reid's classmate's wife and her friend. They were super delicious and so much fun to decorate. We left the boys to watching football/basketball!! Can't wait for the holidays to arrive and to be back in Kansas.

Jennings Family Christmas Letter

The month is January, wedding planning is underway

Tara took a trip to San Diego

Visiting the Jones' for a few days

Reid is down to the last semester

And law school applications are in

Now, let the waiting begin

February brings reason for celebrating

Reid is accepted into law school,

Gonzaga University with scholarship including

Although Tara's dress fitting was filled with doubt

It is her birthday, the big 2-3

Let us sing and shout!

'Marching' on the wedding dress is in

Only 2 months to go

Until the big moment of friends and kin

Our final K-State basketball game in the student section was a treat

The Wildcats brought home the win

As we cheered, 'Fighting ever fighting for a Wildcat victory!'

Nothing glooming about the April rain

Showers for celebration

Bridal, bachelor & bachelorette, let's pop the champagne!

Out in Manhattan, Reid is studying hard

And accepting an engineering honor

Called the St Patrick award

Onto May, let the wedding bells ring

As we say I do

Cutting cake, tossing bouquets, exchaning rings & dancing

Before the big day Reid is walking across the stage

An architectural engineering degree in hand

Time to to make another scrapbook page

Celebrating in June, the honeymoon was great

Jamaican Me Crazy Mon!

Clear waters, sandy beaches, the resort was top rate

Now packing our bags and heading out west

The Collins family is driving out too

Helping with the move, they are the best

The 4th of July means fireworks of many

Down at Riverfront Park

The ooh's and aah's come in plenty

Tara decides it is time for a change

Off to the salon she goes

Cutting 6 inches, boy does it feel great

August brings our first guest to town

Catching up, reminiscing

Even climbing a mountain & hiking back down

Summer break is over & Reid is ready to start school again

Law school will be different

Let the reading, papers & studying begin

Now in September we're questioning our move

So far away from family & friends

Just not able to get into a groove

But Tara is starting a new job doing gymnastics coaching

Teaching kids to jump & tumble

This should be quite entertaining

It's October now and Mark & Patti are here

Visiting Coulee Dam was a treat, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho a beauty

Both are near

Tara welcomes her second employment

Thankful to her former company

Working from home is quite the enjoyment

November means the holidays are nearing

We invited some friends

And cooked our first Thanksgiving

Anxious to put up all the holiday decor

We started early

The Christmas tree, garland & stockings in a row

Ending the year is the month of December

Reid is turning 24; we became an Aunt & Uncle

This was definitely a year to remember

But before it's all over we found the money & time

To make the trek back to Kansas

Visiting family & friends, even a K-State game, divine!

Wishing you Happy Holidays from the Jennings Family

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year & May God Bless Thee!

We're back!!

We both want a dog real bad but know it is not the right time in our lives yet. So, we have turned to fostering dogs on Facebook!

Tara's first choice Jamaica was adopted only 1 day after choosing to foster her!!! So here is Tara's next foster dog. Meet Bentley...

Reid, having never had a dog before, is very much looking forward to his first dog. Until then, he has chosen to foster Champ!!

And Tara, being the animal lover that she is, found a cat to foster as well. She chose Daphne because looks a lot like Buffy and Jody, both whom passed away this year. Daphne is in rememberence of Tara's cats...

(Daphne)

Can't wait for Christmas to arrive and to back home in Kansas.

We're Approved

So our trip to Spokane was successful and we are both definetly glad we went out there. There were some areas we would have not felt so comfortable in. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I feel like the typical "Johnson County Brat" after seeing Spokane. It is like an oversized Manhattan...just take away all the college students. But I think it will be a good fit for Reid and I and there were a ton of parks to go to and plenty of stores within walking distance from our house. Here's a preview...

http://www.rentals.com/Home-Rentals/Display.aspx?ListingNumber=824009

Busy, busy weeks coming up but we're SOO ready to be settled!

3 More Weeks!

The busy weekends continue as we get closer and closer to the big day!! My maid (now matron) of honor was married yesterday, which seeing everything put together for hers made me really excited for our day to come!

Next weekend we are heading out to Spokane to hopefully find some housing then the next weekend Reid is finally graduating and then the big day arrives. Until then, we are just finishing up last minute scheduling and purchasing of some details.

I can't believe all the crazy things coming up but we are so ready to just be settled!

Happy Easter

We hope everyone had a wondeful Easter! Only 6 weeks until the wedding and we can't be more excited for it to be here. Although planning is getting a little more stressful right now, we have a phrase that helps us hang in there...JAMAICA, ALL-INCLUSIVE!

We are preparing for upcoming parties these next few weekends as well as starting to house hunt for our trip to visit May 9-10. Everything is happening so quickly it is hard to believe this is the start of our new lives!

Western Bound

This weekend we made an important decision...we had spaghetti for dinner! Okay, that was lame. We decided where we are moving to. Reid is going to accept the offer & scholarship to Gonzaga so Spokane, WA here we come!!!

Last week Tara found out some interesting details about her job. They have decided to shut down the Kansas City offices and ideally re-locate to Bellevue, WA (Seattle suburb). There are opportunities for home-based positions, so that is the next thing on our agenda to figure out.

Other than that we are getting excited for the wedding. Time is flying by and it will soon be here before we know it.

I love you

Fake Patty's Celebration

This past weekend was the last home basketball game for Reid and I for many years. Lets just say we shed a few tears

After the game we headed down to Aggieville for a little Fake Patty's Day celebration! Let's just say that is an experience in itself that you have to be totally prepared for.

When I came into town Friday evening, I got to see the Konza Prairie burning. I thought it was soo cool I went and picked Reid up and took him to see it as well. Well our lives are slowly becoming consumed with wedding plans. I can't believe how fast it is coming!! And last but not least a quick law school update. Reid did not get in to Wake Forest or Colorado. Still waiting on 4 more letters/packets!!

Out With The Old And In With The New

Reid and I both had a crazy/stressful week. Reid had to frantically find time to work on a 50% design development submittal for his senior project due Wednesday and I was just having "one of those weeks" at work. The company that bought us out asked us to track our daily tasks in 2 minute increments. That is ridicilous and pile that ontop of computer problems and it just doesn't make things go so smoothly.

I finally purchased my new computer I've been talking about doing for a while.

This is the new set up in my room ! Kinda cramped but it will do for 3 months. I am getting rid of my laptop and trying out a desktop. It will be more or less the "family" computer.

Aside from a new computer, Reid and I got our own phone plan this weekend. For the past week, Reid had to leave his phone open, or the screen would freeze and he couldn't use his phone at all. It was kinda sad. But with our new phones came new numbers...

Reid: (913) 548-7630 Tara: (913) 548-7954

Last but not least Reid was in town this weekend for a (pre) birthday dinner with my family and marriage counseling. We both agreed that this was one of the better sessions we have had. All those books must be paying off.

The Good News Continues...

So even though our bball game didn't end so well, we came home to more exciting news!

Reid got accepted into Gonzaga and they offered him a scholarship! Always good news to hear. I don't think either of us expected to hear from schools this soon but it's been great news so far and hopefully more to come. Back to the waiting game...

I Think A Congrats Are In Order

Reid received his first letter from a law school back and....WAS ACCEPTED!! He made it into Golden Gate University in San Francisco. Although we more than likely won't end up here, unless he doesn't get in anywhere else, it is still exciting to know you made it! So Congrats Reido!!

I had my dress fitting last week and get my dress back in 1 month. I keep making monthly tasks of things to do and I can't believe things are starting to come together. I think Reid and I are ready for this whole planning process to be over so we can finally be together and settled where we will be for the next 3 years of our lives.

School is keeping Reid busy this semester and work has been pretty busy too. Helps time fly by on top of all the wedding stuff coming up that needs to be done. Only 3 1/2 months to go...CRAZY!?!

4 Months And Counting...

I can't believe how much time is flying by, and it is about to go even quicker with many details to sort out. This past weekend we picked out our cake design, ordered invitations & looked at tuxedos. Slowly things are starting to come together, but I'm very glad Reid and I decided to get things done a little at a time and in advanced. It is making the whole planning process not stressful (knock on wood).

We both have some adventures to look forward to this next weekend. Reid is heading to Chicago for an engi-nerd, I mean engineering conference while I'm heading to sunny southern California to visit a friend/bridesmaids.

What a boring post...but our lives are really just consumed with wedding planning right now!

Overall we both had a wonderful Christmas. We found plenty of time to spend with both of our families and even some time to visit my relatives in Texas! This is our best take of a Christmas photo...

Of the 7 years we have been dating, this is only our 3rd New Years Eve that we have spent together. We stayed in Manhattan, hung out with friends, and headed down to Aggieville to watch the Apple drop. Eve 6 was also there playing before the ringing in of the new year.

I think it is safe to say we are both very much looking forward to the year 2009. These first 6 months are going to me the most exciting none the less with an acceptance (cross our fingers) into law school, a wedding, and a big move. But just some highlights of 2008, Tara graduated from Kansas State with a degree in Mass Communications and found a job after 1 1/2 months of searching with a legal research company. We took a trip to Colorado to check out CU Law School which led to Reid narrowing down his school choices and after a very long process turned in his applications, and last but not least we bought our first car together!!

As for new year resolutions, I told Reid that he should be more willing to let me help out in the kitchen. So we woke up New Year's Day and made breakfast together. I got to cut the peppers and make the eggs all without Reids help...a major accomplishment!!

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year and best wishes for 2009.