Merry Christmas!

Russ and I had a great first Christmas as a married couple. We didn't do gifts this year and decided to use our money to bless others including the little guy we are sponsoring through World Vision ( I will write a post on this in the near future). This being said, I couldn't resist ordering the above t-shirt. My mom and I both bought them for our hubbies. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas full of love and time spent with family and friends.

Oh Christmas Tree!

In New Zealand Russ grew up celebrating Christmas camping on the beach since it was the middle of summer! When he came to the states Russ usually spent the day snowboarding. This year we wanted to start some of our own family traditions. Of course this will include snowboarding on Christmas Eve but one thing I really wanted was a little tree for our first Christmas together. Russ said he would try and be into it but that I would have to lead the way. After getting our tree, we decided to pick out a "First Christmas" ornament. I was looking through the never ending display at Hallmark when suddenly I realized Russ was nowhere to be found. The next thing I knew he had picked out a Wolverine ornament...collector's edition and said we just had to get it. Hm..thought he wasn't into it huh? Who knew Wolverine would bring out his Christmas spirit?! We set up the tree next to the fireplace and it's perfect. The "action shot" of Wolverine was taken by Russ, ha!

A Look Back...

Here is the video we showed at our rehearsal dinner. Our good friend Monika helped me put it together. Enjoy!!

Russ and Rach...Better Together from Monika Eggehorn on Vimeo.

Newlywed Life

Russ and I have now been married for 4 months!! It has gone really fast and we decided that the best way to keep our families in New Zealand, Norway and all over the States up to date, would be to start a blog. Our wedding was everything we could have imagined and we were blessed to be surrounded by such a great group of family and friends. After a relaxing and much needed honeymoon cruise to Alaska, we have settled into our new place in Sammamish. I am teaching my third year of 2nd grade at Samantha Smith and I absolutely love it. Russ just finished a job erecting the second building for the new Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation downtown Seattle. He is now beginning the steel erection for Amazon.com's new building. It's been great living together...no more long drives through traffic to see each other. We usually try to hit the gym when we get off work and then make dinner together....well, I make dinner but Russ usually helps with the dishes. Stay posted for more updates. I will try and be consistent!