Can you say “KICKING MYSLEF?” OMG..we were invited to a small wedding of our good friend’s daughter this past weekend. It was in the late afternoon and not a clue it would be any different than an average wedding celebration.

I grabbed my Canon 40D two different times and both times said “nah”….it will just be in the way and I will be in the way as well with my white stick and camera trying to take pix.

Well the minute we arrived at this stuning park on the outskirts of Portland Oregon I turned to Steve and said DANG DANG DANG…the photo opportunity of a lifetime. All the wedding party were in fairy wings !!!!!!!!!! Arrrrrrrrrgh!!

So thank goodness for the iphone . I became the official iphone wedding photographer and the REAL photographer was having a ball.

I so envied her having a REAL camera ….but with that said, I did catch some fun moments with a lot of old school grain that added to the medieval feel.

AND OF COURSE THE BRIDE WAS HAVING A “FLING” AT HER WEDDING!!!

I’ll tell ya…Steve and I had such a great time last weekend buying a car!! We drove everything from sporty little coupe’s to boxy utility vehicles.  From our favorite color (and Blings) Orange to red to everything inbetween.  When it came down to it the car we  loved the  most only came in neutral colors and black………so we went totally STEALTH…black car..black leather, black windows!!

This is our new Honda Accord EX-L Sedan  V-6…waiting for the paperwork to get done!!

Here is Steve and our super nice sales guy figuring out the GPS and Bluetooth system.  Wow things have changed a lot in the 4 years since we bought the Escalade.  Love being able to talk hands free from the cell phone.  Felt like an episode of Night Rider!!  David Hasselhoff..eat your heart out!! His talking car “Kitt” has nothing on our GPS gal…… LOL

This morning I found this post above on the AMAZEE site which got me very excited!!! In the Amazee/Facebook rally we have climbed from #3 to #1 for the $1000.00 prize for Karen Tracy’s fund!!! OMG keep spreading the word you guys!! Click the Amazee blog post above to access the instructions on how help us win!!  It costs nothing and takes only a moment.

OUR AMAZEE PROJECT FOR KARENS FIRE FUND IS HERE

And yet another blog post ABOVE about our awesome project..thanks to AMAZEE and you all for making this happen for our good friend Karen!!!  Please take a moment to sign up for our AMAZEE PROJECT for Karen as a show of your support. You will be able to access the discussions if you are a member.  From here on in I will only be posting my updates concerning Karen Tracy at this page…but again you must be signed up to read the updates.  Right now I’m updating in 5 places and it’s taking so much time.  This should  help keep all the info in one central location.  Thank you so very much for your help and understanding

Hugs….Sandra

While we were out test driving cars today, Bling took it upon herself to wander off and surprise us with her lovely new purchase.  Now she’s on mission to get an orange scented air freshner thingie to hang from the rear view mirror and I’ve heard giggles and whispers between her and Fling Fling about a new car bra and seat covers too…whoopie cushion style!  An orange crate trailer isn’t out of the question eithher

She stole our thunder to say the least but our new car will be cool too.  Will update here with some iPhone shots from the car lots today.  We are keeping a short leash on Bling…shes got a mind of her own.!!!

YES WE ALL HAD FAR TOO MUCH FUN FOR ONE DAY AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE VIDEO BELOW

Wow I didn’t realize how hard it would be to let our Escalade go.  Our 4 year lease is up today and we are returning her.  Before I hear screams of GAS GUZZLER and HOW COULD YOU DRIVE THAT THING (common phrases we hear driving down the road in Oregon..lol)….keep in mind we were hauling 4 dog crates full of our precious Chow cargo to shows every weekend.  A smaller car just wasn’t an option

2 years ago that part of our life changed and today we are no longer showing dogs so it’s time to “Green it Up”.  OMG you should see the cars we are looking at.  I’ll update here soon on what we end up with. Scroll down for more

The last thing I asked Steve to do as he walked out the door to return the truck was to open the back hatch all the way then close it before he left the driveway.

Why???

I lost  my dear Chow Magenta in my arms laying in my lap in the back as we drove to the emergency vet last year.

I know, it was a weird request but important to me.  Had a good cry over her again too.

GOODBYE ESCALADE!! YOU ESCORTED OUR PRECIOUS FAMILY  MANY SCENIC AND SAFE MILES!!!

Here are a few of the highlights from Steve and Flings Beijing adventure.  They were at an IBM meeting most of the time but took a few hours out each day to see the city!!  More pix on the way of some of the fun sights they saw.  Thank you Steve for bringing me back such awesome panda stuffies!!! The little dressed one has cheeks that light up when you squeeze her and she says smooooooooooooch….I LOVE YOU!

When Steve showed me this photo my first reaction was ‘YOU TRIED TO MAKE A LETTUCE WRAP OUT OF FLING!!!!”

Steve assured me he had staged Fling against a beautiful green leaf and gave the panda her own chunklet of Bulgogi pork to eat. What a guy!!!