Unemployment

Friday, July 16th, served as my last day of work and first day of unemployment. In an effort to fill my newly found spare time I called up my good friend Ali (who is on maternity leave for another month) and invited her, Lillian (the baby) and Lucy (the dog) over for a walk along the beach and lunch with Colie and I.

As Ali pushed Lillian in the Bob I took the driver's seat as the dog walker. While it was an overcast day, we still enjoyed the scenery, chatted as if we hadn't seen each other in weeks (it had only been a matter of days) and walked ourselves a good 2.5 - 3 miles along the waterfront with a mid-point stop off for lunch down by the ferry docks.

We had planned to eat at Endolyne Joe's but when we spotted a Mexican restaurant nearby, we quickly changed our minds. After convincing the restaurant to open up their outdoor patio and allow us to bring the dogs, we were sipping on Corona Lights and snacking on chips and salsa while the pups rested and Lillian had a bottle.

It was a pretty nice little Friday if you ask me. Now, if I could just find someone to pay me for doing nothing... I'm pretty dang good at it if I do say so myself.


Napping sweet pea.


Als and Lily.


Snagging some snuggles.

Visitors from NYC

Remember the guy who married us? His name is Paul and he is a riot. He lives in NYC so we don't get to see him very often and when he's visiting Seattle he has so many people he wants to see while in town that often we only get to see him for a sliver of time. This time we were lucky and got to have Sunday night wine time with him, Monday morning Starbucks and croissants at Bakery Nouveau, dinner at Purple on Tuesday night and on Thursday we were joined by his girlfriend Liz (Lizard as Brad likes to say) at yet another delicious dinner at Sitka and Spruce in Capitol Hill. The food was insane. Great friends, great food and great wine. Brad even got a new t-shirt out of the deal.

Roses are red.

When a flower truck pulled up in front of the house today, two thoughts went through my head:

1. "Flowers!? Wow, Brad is really on his game. What a sweetheart!"
2. "Flowers!? These must be a joke. I bet they're for Brad."

Can you guess which thought was the right one? Yup, you guessed it. Number two. This special delivery was not for me. I have a pretty good idea who they are from and the intended recipient is definitely Brad.

Not only is Brad a real prankster but so are his friends...wonderful.

Another one bites the dust...

And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust! Yep, another one down. My college friend Carisa McCathern will become Mrs. Dana McCracken come March 2011. Her lovely fiancee proposed to her on July 4th at her family cabin where they were able to celebrate among 25 of Carisa's family members and fireworks.

Last night eleven of us WSU girls gathered at Eastlake Bar and Grill to congratulate the bride-to-be, hear the proposal story and see the ring. The bride is ready to do this thing as she already has the date set and the dress purchased!

Congratulations Carisa!


The bride and her bling.


The bling! (On Jennifer's hand...we like to try eachother's rings on!)


Kitty Kat and Kimmy


Ali, Brooke and Jennifer


Shannny, Carisa and Steph


Jillian and Sarah


Kimmy and Ali

Father Brad

Well the unthinkable is happening. Brad is going to officiate a wedding. Someone was crazy enough...I mean brave enough...I mean smart enough to give Brad a microphone and a captive audience. Who is this crazy couple you might be asking? Well, they are our close friends, Brooke and Jake. It wasn't even a dare or a joke when they asked him. They really want him to be the one to help them tie the knot this August. Apparently they were impressed with his speaking abilities after hearing the vows he wrote for our wedding last summer and his toast/thank you speech at our reception. I must say...he did a pretty dang good job. :)

Brad is taking his role very seriously and even dressing the part. This is what he wore to Jake's bachelor party in Cle Elum this weekend. Please note that the cross was broken and taped back together after suffering damage during a Father Brad/Groom Jake wrestling match. I can't imagine there was any alcohol involved...


So serious.


The full outfit included black socks and black dress shoes.

There's another Kertson on the way...

I bet you thought was going to say I was pregnant.

I'm NOT.

Instead, we are proud to announce that we are going to be an Auntie and Uncle once again to Connor William Kertson whose arrival is expected this September. Proud parents, Scott and Anneliese, are bursting with pride and we are beyond happy for them. This Saturday we showered Anneliese and Baby Connor with love at a jungle/safari themed shower in Maple Valley. We had a fabulous turn out with both grandmas-to-be, a great-grandma, aunts (even one from California), cousins, second cousins, sister-in-laws and a niece. Baby Connor received adorable outfits (that were boyish enough to make his daddy happy), toys, puzzles, books galore. Not only will this little boy be loved but spoiled to boot!

Scott and Anneliese - We are so happy for you and cannot wait to meet Connor in just a matter of weeks. What a blessing this little one will be to your lives and ours. We're looking forward to adding another boy to the family and pray he comes out ready to give the older Kertson boys a run for their money...















The invite...inspired by the theme of Connor's nursery.


The mommy-to-be, Anneliese, opening one of many adorable outfits.


The spread.


We had a "wild" time. Get it? Wild animals...


My fave baby shower decoration idea, hanging onesies for mommy to take home!


Our littlest guests.


Enjoying the food and chatting with family.

A West Seattle Sunset

Although we've lived in West Seattle for three years (which is hard to believe...man time flies) we JUST found that we live half a mile from one of the most beautiful walks in Seattle. We try to take Colie for regular walks around the neighborhood and while "mixing it up" one evening we stumbled upon this incredible find. Literally just a 5-10 minute walk from house and you are waterfront at Lowman Beach Park with sweeping views of the Puget Sound and surrounding islands. How did we go three years without realizing this? If you continue to walk past Lowman and south on Beach Drive you end up walking into Lincoln Park and along the waterfront to Colman Pool and the ferry docks. We've managed to do this walk a few times now and each time it is more beautiful than the last. Here is a picture of our most recent outing:

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Going to Vegas used to mean a weekend of complete and total madness. Times they are a changin'...sort of. We headed to Sin City on June 30th for five days of fun in the sun. While it was a vacation for me, it was "work" for Brad. Well, not really "work" in the sense that you are thinking. He was there with Matt Brown, an MMA fighter that was fighting on the UFC 116 card at the MGM. While Brad spent the afternoons and early evenings running fight related errands around the city and training in the makeshift mat rooms in the MGM ballrooms, I spent my time sleeping in, hanging out poolside and plowing through two books in five days. Our evenings were spent having dinner, doing a tiny bit of gambling (think $0.25 Blackjack machines and $20 for three hours of play) and heading to bed early (early for Vegas that is.) While our week was pretty low-key (which resulted in very few opportunities worth taking pictures of) we did manage to squeak in one night of traditional Vegas antics and of course we paid the price for it the next day. Unfortunately the fight didn't turn out how we wanted but a good time was had nonetheless. Lesson learned, Vegas is not for the weak of heart, weak of liver or 30 somethings who think they can hang like they did in their early 20's.

See ya next time Vegas...


View from our room at the Luxor.

Brad likes to call this picture "the art of knowing where to stand."


The only picture I took of us all weekend!


This picture explains our "night out" on the town. Zoikes!


Wait, this one might explain it better. (Kidding...the camera was on self-timer which was confusing the heck out of me.)

Congrats Guinan!

My friend, Kristin (AKA Guinan or Guino), ran off to Hawaii and got married in April. Well, she didn't exactly run but she did do it on short notice so there was little time put together a proper bachelorette party for her before she tied the knot. In classic KD/WSU fashion we didn't let the fact that she was already married stop us from celebrating and a surprise party was thrown in honor of her last night of "bachelorettehood"...even though she is really an old married woman now.

Congrats Kristin and Marcus, we are so happy for you!


The bride in all her glory.



Kimmy taking a "tequila muppet"...the pictures capture it all.


What a great group of ladies (and this is just half of them!)


Now for a goofy one.


Note the dirty straws and the name of the beer. BAD! The cupcakes were even worse. They came from a place called the "Erotic Bakery." I'll let the name speak for itself.


Sister-in-laws, Brooke and Ali, drinking wine spritzers (yes we're getting old) through erotic straws (we may be old but we're certainly not mature.)


Classy Jamie. Very classy.


"The Sprtizers" (minus me.) The real reason I took this picture was to show off the fact that Steph is taller than Ali and Brooke....because she is wearing 5 inch heels, courtesy of Jamie.


Brooke, Kimmy, Steph and Jamie.

And there she stayed...

Brad sat her up in the corner and there she stayed. So weird!

Los Lubetkins

Our dear friends, Nate and Helen Lubetkin, paid us a visit a few weeks ago. These two live in San Francisco (althouh Nate grew up in Woodinville and Helen went went to college in Tacoma) and we only get to see them a few times a year. It has become a tradition to hang out with them in West Seattle the night before Thanksgiving and we look forward to seeing them (and having a hangover on Thanksgiving) every fall. Lucky for us, we got to see them before Turkey Day this year as they planned a trip to Seattle for a friend's wedding and to celebrate Nate's dad's birthday. Our evening did not dissapoint as we kicked it off at the house (where we broke out some of the tacky Christmas lawn art) and then headed to our fave local hangout, Beveridge Place Pub.

Thanks for the laughs Lubetkins! We wish you lived closer...


Nate and Kimmy posing with the Nutcracker.


Helen taking a turn.


Brad, Helen and Nate enjoying the deck before it got to chiily and we had to head inside.


Helen and Kimmy


Some late night snacking.


Los Lubetkins!


Kimmy and Brad


The group.