nick and kioko 

kioko's favorite spot
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"workin in a coal mine goin down, down, down...."

i have been so spoiled this summer with only working a few days a week and only putting in 5 hours each day. i'm in for a big shocker when i start school along with work, being married and oh yeah, fun things. this past week i was able to pick up some extra shifts (which i'm very thankful for) and even though i still worked 5 hours or less each day, it's been awhile since i've gone to a job 5 days in a row. *sigh* sounds pretty pathetic huh? this week as also been teaching the kitten what not to do. she was really good at listening at first, now she's wild and likes to test us. oh the joys of a little pet! she's still cute and it's hard to get mad at her for too long once she cuddles up next to you for a nap. for some reason her favorite place to sleep is on our night stand with the computer. nick says it's cool there, i think she's just crazy. today is our last wedding of the "season". well, the last one we can attend. we will have been to four and missed six. can you believe we were invited to that many? insane. in a few years we'll all be having babies together. but let's not think about that too soon. nick and i want to do a 5 year anniversary cruise with all of our friends who got married this year (plus dave who will be in march or something soon and micah who was two years ago). going by ourselves would be ok, but to have everyone with us - now that would be fun. we all have to start saving now - i'm really looking forward to it so i hope it really happens.

it's about time!

color wedding photos are in! woo. it was quite the adventure to get them to the correct file so on and so forth (it would bore you if i told the whole story). in order to stay within my free membership with webshots i have deleted a few pictures from other albums...i figured you'd seen them plenty of times. don't worry -all the wedding ones are there. soon i will have to open a new account to keep from paying. we had 350 to go through and these are the best ones in my opinion. enjoy looking through them. i will have many of them printed by the open house in winchester also. http://community.webshots.com/user/iluvgsus01

Kioko the kitty

as you can see below, we have someone new living in our home. i went to get her last night all on my own (which was hard because i'm usually indesicive) however, she made it an easy choice. she kept coming up to me every time i went into the room and was more spunky than any of the others. she's not only playful, but very cuddly too. nick and i didn't get much sleep last night because she likes to snuggle in bed, but at your neck and all over your face. we will have to teach her to go to the foot of the bed. so we're enjoying our new little friend and teaching her "rules" for the house like not climbing on the counters or up our legs when we have shorts on (ouch!). for those of you around here, feel free to come and visit her any time :)

another one
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Kioko our new kitten
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consider these please...

right now i'm killing time by looking up possible names for our future kitty. nick seems to want our children to have japanese names, so i thought maybe the cat could have one instead. well babynames.com is giving me some laughs...in the english section! seriously you can put together any two names you like: how about Janessa (jessica and vanessa) or Brandice (brandi and candace)? here are a few others i got a chuckle out of Chakaluka which is apparently from the names chakra and luka (which we all hear every day) Jenaya meaning trendy and hip Olencia it's a combo of olivia and valencia, but does not have a meaning Teela or you can name your daughter after anything you see: Butterfly, Cinnamon, Lark, Honey, Star, Snow (or Snowy) and for the boys: Bat short for bartholomew Dragon Rangle meaning cowboy Satchel Studs meaning a house this was kinda fun...have a look for yourself if you'd like! and if you name your children any of these please, please let me know!!

don't wear green on thursday...

well i've had a couple of very pleasant days - that means low humidity and a good breeze - and i acutally enjoyed being outdoors getting my tan back. i was so dark from the wedding and now it's all faded. since my hours at work are decreasing every week (thanks to a manager who plays favorites) i took two days and spent them at lake calhoun. **sidenote** i was going to just write "the lake" because that's what i would normally say in a conversation. that's what people say around here even though we live in the state known for it's 10,000 lakes. lots of people own cabins on lake property in the northern part of the state and if they have spent the weekend there they say they went to their "cabin up north on the lake". hello! we live in the southern part of the sate - that does not help me visualize where you were. the point is - i would like to be specific about the lakes i spent my time at. ***end sidenote*** yesterday the original plan was to swim in a friend's pool, but it was closed. however, we did get to see his new kitten and play with it. it made nick and i decide we want a kitty for ourselves. we've been putting it off, but we couldn't wait anymore after being around one. we attempted to go "kitty shopping" last night, but the shelter doesn't keep them with the grown up cats. cats around here cost money and i'm not a fan of that. i mean at home the adds in the paper are for free kittens (i found several in the winchester star online). here you have to pay so much for them. i guess it evens out because the ones here have their shots and at home you have to pay for all that yourself. anyway - at kitten is in the near future :)

winchester here i come!

nick and i have made offical plans to visit winchester friday the 12th-monday the 15th. we booked our tickets tonight. thank goodness for frequent flyer miles that bought us both our tickets! i was worried about driving with just two people all that way for only a two or three day visit. not worth the 17 hours in the car for that. so if you're going to be around, stay tuned for more info on a possible reception my mom will be hosting. it sounds like it will be an open house on saturday or sunday. i'll keep you posted. i'm looking forward to going home. it's always a comforting feeling. especially when it's been so long.

sweatin like a fat kid chasing the ice cream truck

i don't know how much longer i can take this heat and humidity!! and i'm so confused by it too. confused in several ways. one: it has never been this hot here the past two summers. i mean last summer it was so mild i could barely take my girls to the pool because it was too cool. it was nice - but not hot enough to swim. two: it rained non stop in may and half way through june. now we haven't had any rain this month. everything went to super green to brown and one city here almost drained its water tower twice in a week. three: i'm sweating like crazy! never in my life have i been this sweaty. i mean why even take a shower these days? as soon as i get out i'm sweaty again. (just kidding by the way i do shower daily) this part could be because we only have a window unit in the bedroom for air and no a/c in the car and i've been spoiled all my life with central air and a car with air that functions. still it's hot and i can't handle it anymore! just to give you an idea of the hotness...when we take things out of the fridge they are dripping with condensation within mere seconds. not to mention you can see the cool air escaping the fridge when you open the door! last night my chocolate chips were melted before i made the fondue. geez. we have to live with our blinds closed to keep out the sun. kind of depressing and we're missing out on our awesome skyline view. but although it sounds miserable (and sometimes it is so much that i throw little fits) i can make due. like yesterday i took a quick walk to the light rail station. it's kinda like the metro, but it only goes back and forth on one track through one part of town. and rode it to the mall of america. both the train and the mall were nice and cool and kept me happy. not to mention i was shopping :) until then i will make it through the sweat and giant hair and will in the end be a stronger woman. i hope.

i love technology...

today we finally purchased nick's birthday presents (his special day was on the 2nd) so now we have a webcam, microphone, wireless mouse and keyboard. the camera and microphone are because we live far away from our families and they like to see us. not to mention we don't really call nick's family in italy considering what the phone bill would be. i'm hoping some of you back home have a webcam too. then i can see you more often :) the wireless mouse and keyboard are for our wanna be desk in our room. it's really one of our nightstands because the desk wouldn't fit anywhere in the house. so now we have more freedom in working on the computer. i also discovered msn messenger. yes, i know everyone has it already...but for the longest time i was very dedicated to aol. msn seems to do so much more and it definitely looks cooler. anyway....if you have an msn name i would love to know. right now i only have like 8 people and 4 of those are nick's family. if enough people have it i may make a complete switch. maybe - change can be hard for me sometimes. you can email me your info if you'd like, or just start talking to me online. my name is the same as my email: rachelcgray@gmail.com

comments anyone?

i'm wondering how many people actually read this thing. a few of you talk to me about what you have read, but the others i have no idea. i'm a little curious as to if this is worth keeping online. i know my girls from home tend to be aol profile stalkers like me and we enjoy keeping up with each other's lives. but are you gals reading it? according to how i set this thing up anyone should be able to leave a comment - even non members. i highly encourage you to leave comments when you read something of intrest or just want to say hello. i'd like a bit of interaction with this thing every now and then. now don't all of you go crazy on this one :) but keep in mind that if something sparks a thought in your head - i would like to hear it.

kissy kissy
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in the meantime

there are some new wedding pictures online. they were given to us by nick's sister and are all pretty good. while we wait for our photographer to resurface you can enjoy these. wedding photos from alicia

ALL black and white photos

while we still wait for the color photos to come (i think our photographer has disappeared) you can take a look or order from any of our black and whites: Getting Ready Before the Ceremony Ceremony

false alarm

i did not - i repeat - i did not see celine dion. of course it was too good to be true! i brought up the fact that she was in the store with a co-worker the other day and he was like, "oh yeah she really did look like her didn't she?" and told me how they talked about how she is mistaken for celine all the time. what!? he told me it was her! how rude! and here i though i had a life changing moment. it was false, all just a lie. *sigh* i suppose one day i'll see a star. in case any of you are wondering if i am one of the next timberwolves dancers - the answer is no. i'm still recovering from the killer workout i received. every muscle in my body aches and i can barely walk. i didn't realize how technical the tryouts were going to be. i had worked out and was in pretty good shape, but not for triple pirouettes and splits. not to mention i've been choreographing my own dances for years and had a hard time with some of the choreography. they were very "jazzy" and not the hip hop i've been taking classes for. but now that i know what they are looking for i have a whole year to perfect my skills. that means dancing several days a week again and working out more frequently. i don't regret trying out - who knows it may have been too demanding with student teaching this year, but i'm not giving up - i will dance on tv one day!!