PEARL JAM

I really don't know what to say about Pearl Jam. You hear from everyone they are "high energy" and they are, there are no other words to describe it. They just pure rock hard and continuously. Well worth Jim's money. Ben Harper opened and we are huge fans as well. We had so much fun, it was especially fun to see Jim so excited it was like it was Christmas for him. He really couldn't contain himself and that might have been my favorite part. This was my first time seeing them and I was excited but I had nothing on Jim, and this was Jim's like 10th time. I loved every minute of it. It was also their 50th time performing in Seattle and they felt a little nostalgic returning home. They played 3 or more songs off of just about every album. So everyone was singing along of course at the top of their lungs. They didn't play my favorite song, Courderoy of Vitalogy but I'll live. At one point they changed the lyrics to Supersonic and made it into Supersonics about our basketball team that moved to Oklahoma, but the venue they were performing in was the same venue the sonics used to play in and they even took our flag downs and they talked about that too in the song! It was awesome. Their logo tshirt for the night was the supersonics logo with pearl jam written just below it. I didn't buy one, I'm not a sucker like that but I really wanted one. IT JUST ROCKED. They are so amazing but I don't think Eddie's voice will take him into his 60's like bob dylan's or Bruce's has.
but it said Pearl Jam instead. SO COOL! I WANT ONE!







Here is the setlist

All the Single Ladies: DANCE OFF

Okay, so Jim took me to a charity event on Saturday night at the Century Ballroom where they hold all sorts of dance lessons, from the lindy hop to salsa. For this particular evening, a dance off was in order to the video "All the Single Ladies (Put a ring on it)." Now remember, I've posted about this before as my favorite video and honestly a bit obsessed with the song as well. It definitely had a different meaning to me now that I do have a ring on my finger but still it was so fun to watch! There were five acts competing for a prize and peppered between the performances was dancing, watching other videos on you tube of it, and watching beyonce perform at the grammy's or something. It was so much funny and so disturbing at times! I was laughing so hard! The guy I wanted to win won, but everyone was so good! I wish I had had my camera, but let me see if I can find some pictures of the event. They are also now starting Michael Jackson dance lessons, and I think I have to participate!

The Proposal: Part Three

JIM'S STORY

This was my big idea from the beginning was to surprise the heck out of Hayley. The original plan was way back in June involving Whitney and Tayler with a baseball game and to get the proposal in before we went to Kelly and Angie’s (and Oscar’s too) wedding. That didn’t work as planned as we have learned to find out. Basically the jeweler wouldn’t finance the entire ring so I saved all my money within a 60-day period that was allowed to keep the original offer on the table. I knew it would be crunch to get the cash but I knew I could do it, even trying to fit in money for Kaua’i. During Kelly’s wedding weekend is essentially when the surprise began. I informed her of what was going on and I was trying to get the money in time and it might not happen but just to ease her a little bit that I was in the works of getting it done. So when the 60 days was about up was the weekend a big sale was going on and I actually had the money I needed to buy it. Hayley calls me to inform me of the sale (after she tried it on again, #34 to be exact), I went down and got the ring. I conjured up this story about something went wrong with the dates of my application and the offer was no longer valid. Therefore they had to re-run a credit application and the offer was lowered which meant more time was going to be needed. I also told her that I was told that with the new catalog coming out soon that the ring might go back up again and it might take me longer to get the ring than anticipated. During the next month while I had the ring I kept bringing up various ways I was going to get the money by selling my guitars, or stuff I had around that I could go without just to make sure Hayley got the ring that she wanted. Hayley was losing hope, which was my plan all along. She even starting shopping for a cheaper ring if that would have meant getting engaged sooner. We had numerous conversations about it, getting a little bit tense at times. During this time I asked Tayler to step in and help by calming her down so nothing bad would happen in the heat of discussions. It also didn’t help that when she was at her mom’s reception in Pacwood that everyone was asking her when if/when we were going to get engaged. Hayley was almost at her bottom now. Kaua’i came and went about 3 weeks after I’ve already had the ring and four-day holiday weekend was upon us. I was supposed to go pick it up on Friday but Hayley showed up early and wanted to go on a ferry ride for the day. Opportunity #1 just received a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris circa 1985. Saturday we went to the mall where I needed to pick it up. I wanted to go to Target first where I would have a bag to use to put it in until I got home. Got the ring when she went in to buy the last bottles of her favorite hand soap or whatever. Got the ring, went to Macy’s to get a different bag and wrapped so no she couldn’t know what it was. Sunday was going to be the day but we ended up doing something else instead. Opportunity #2 gets crushed to a pulp. It worked out as well because Monday I was not with her so I drove to Yakima to talk to Mat in person to get his blessing. He obliged as well as showing me his newly acquired coin collection. After his blessing, I wanted to take Hayley out on Tuesday but she informed me that Wednesday worked for her better. Opportunity #3 just lost to Jason Bourne in a knife fight. Opportunity #4 came on Wednesday 09/09/09 and we all know it was a winner. You might think all of this was mean, but it was merely a payback to the last 8 months of Hayley constant reminders of what her friends were saying and asking, and all of the people she knows who were getting married or engaged. All in all, the point was to lower her hope, which got to a point that Wal-Mart became an option for an engagement ring, and create the element of surprise which she can attest I did. A surprise so big that when the question was asked, there was utter silence for at least 5 seconds. This was not the reaction I was expecting. I expected a throwing of the arms around followed by high pitched words. I even doubted for a quick second that did I just not do it right, I thought she wanted to get engaged. After those 5 seconds, then a nodding of the head, covering of the face, and some form of sobbing. With that relief, I put the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit because I had it sized when I bought the ring. I'm finally glad the wait is over, and now we get to look forward to planning this wedding....oh dear. Hayley is the one for me, she provides constant entertainment and a bright future for our 2-3 kids. I love you Hayley!!

Engagement: Part Two

THE PROPOSAL

Jim decided to take me out to dinner before I headed off to Nashville to be with my girlfriends. So he suggested P.F. Changs. My favorite restaurant and also where we had our first date once I moved back to Seattle. He also had just had a haircut and looked pretty spiffy (yes I said spiffy) in a nice button down shirt, something he usually doesn't need to wear to work. When I asked him about it he said he was just sick of wearing the same old thing in his closet (his Seahawks or U.W. shirts). Now, I should have been suspicious there, but I wasn't. I too, had just had my hair done that day and was looking rather cute too! So when it came time to get the fortune cookies, one of our fourtunes would be "A suprise will occur in the near future," or something like that. So we headed back to his place as I still had packing to do at my place before I left in the morning. So it was a good thing he invited me up rather than me just drop him off (I had picked him up from work).

I should preface this by saying that it has been a really busy summer and we were apart for 16 days! Which was very hard, so just the weekend before we got to spend some quality time but not enough time together from that 16 days apart. When we finally got to see each other again he said "that will never happen again, until one of us dies, that was way too long." I agreed.

So, we get to his place. He asks me if I want my 4.0 gift for summer quarter and I was like yes yes yes, because let's face it who doesn't love getting gifts! In fact, even when it says please forgo gifts, I think it is a lie, everyone wants gifts! So anway, there we are and he reaches under a pillow and pulls out an envelope. Now, if you read the previous post, I was expecting something from Macy's, perhaps the perfume from Issey Miyake, because he said he consulted with my sister Whitney on something to get me. And the only thing I could think of from Macy's that I wanted was that perfume. So when he pulled out the envelope, I thought maybe it is a gift certificate there. So I open it and...

It was the greatest love letter that has ever been written in the entire universe. He wrote a top five list of reasons he loved me and then later wrote in the letter, which i thought was adorable, "Now I know what you are thinking, why is there only 5? ...We will have years to create more top 5 lists..." Anyway, I was crying and my heart had lept and I was totally on cloud 9, except I still thought where is the gift from Macy's?! I'm horrible I know.

So after that he says "Want your other 4.0 gift?" and he tells me to clothes my eyes and hold out my hand. SO I do, thinking it is the perfume from Macy's. I hold out my hand waiting impatiently for my well-deserved gift. haha. He puts what feels like a box in my hand and I'm totally thinking it is the perfume box, and when I open my eyes it is a ring box that has taped to it, "Will you marry me, please???"

My initial reaction was shock and the adorable and polite "please" at the end. I looked at him started crying and said yes, at which he said "Um, want to see the ring." I hadn't even opened it. At that moment, all I could think about was "us" and our future life together, the 2-3 children we want, etc. It wasn't about the ring at that moment at all. So he finally opens it as I'm balling, and slides the ring on my hand. Then you can probably guess what happens next, some major make out stuff.

Then we make all the necessary calls and I leave on a plane for Nashville.

Engagement: Part One

THE RING

So let's go over the most important thing to some. The Ring. Here it is in all its glory. I think it is a total of 1.5 karats (spelling?) It was very hard to take a good shot! It is the ring I kept going back to over the last 7 months. I love it! Apparently he had had it for a month and I kept ruining his plans. He will tell his own story shortly for this blog. Also on the day he picked it up from being cleaned I was with him. Who knew?! We happened to be walking in Northgate Mall and I wanted to go to Bath & Body Works as some of my favorite stuff was being discontinued. So as we were walking I noticed the jewelry store where the ring I had been wanting was at, and I think I said "Oh look" and he said they are out of stock there. So I didn't even bother going over there if I couldn't try it on. Technically they were out of stock because he had bought it earlier that month from this particular store. So I go to my store and he said "I'm going to head over to Macy's to look at clothes." And I was like, okay. He said he would meet me back where I was. Well like 2.2 minutes later there he was back in my store with a Macy's bag and he said "I just had to go get your 4.0 gift real quick (At the end of every quarter Jim gets me gifts if I get a 4.0, this summer I almost didn't get a 4.0 and he said "let's just get you a finishing the quarter gift then." He's awesome like that). Needless to say he had gone over to the jewelry store picked up the ring from being cleaned and went to Macy's to have the counter girls wrap up the ring and put it in a Macy's bag to look like he had gotten something for me from Macy's. He was so worried I would walk to the jewelry store and try on other rings (I tend to do that) that he hurried back over to where I was.