Oh, Washington, How I Love Thee

As I was sitting inside listening to the pouring rain and wind on this lovely start to Memorial Day weekend, I began questioning my love for this state and then I remembered it IS awesome.

In one weekend, I can visit a rain forest, volcano, the longest spit in North America, islands, sandy and rocky beaches, as well as ride a train,ferry, and ski boat. I can enjoy every weather possible in one day if we're lucky. I can visit Children's Museums, the Science Center, the Space Needle, SAM, EMP, multiple zoos and animal sanctuaries, Point Defiance Park and the Seattle Center. I can eat every type of food imaginable without leaving town. I never have to look for a coffee shop to get a Chai latte (unlike when I was in San Diego). Hiking, biking, snow shoeing, skiing, water skiing, wakeboarding, swimming, skating....it's all close by!

Then I saw a list that I thought was funny:
You Know You're from Washington if...
1.You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Enumclaw and Issaquah.
2. You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), Deer & Elk Season (Fall)
3. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time.
4. You measure distance in hours.(doesn't everyone?)
5. You think people who use umbrellas are tourists.
6. You get a terrible sunburn on the first really nice day of summer.
7. You can't make it two blocks without seeing a Starbucks.
8. You can tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai food.
9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best and Tully's.
10. You can't imagine living through a tornado or hurricane but you secretly think earthquakes are kind of fun.
11. You can endure 100 days of rain and wind but an inch of snow means school cancellations. (so true!)
12. When you cross the mountains into eastern Washington and it feels like you entered a completely different country.
13. When you live in a small town and when you try explain where you live, you eventually have to give up saying other larger towns around you and say "Oh, never mind. Just NEAR Seattle."
14. When you think wearing a hooded sweatshirt 11 months a year is normal. (it's not?)
15. When you're out of state, people always ask you about the rain.
16. Smiling and waving at strangers is no biggie. (is this strange?)
17. Being pale isn't a big deal, because everybody is.
18. Whenever someone visits from another state you always start a fight over the fact that we have more stuff started in Washington than any other state. (Starbucks, Boeing, Microsoft, Costco, Sea's Best,"the wave," etc.)
19. You, or someone you know, lives "in the woods."
20. You can name 10 different apples.
21. You can smell the rain coming. (again, is this strange?)
22. You expect snow for Valentine's Day, not Christmas.
23. When you visit another state and it rains...and all the other people around you run and scream while you continue to slowly walk around in your flip flops and shorts.
24. You "Do The Puyallup" every year.
25. You feel guilty throwing something away that could be recycled.
26. You or someone you know works at Boeing or Microsoft.
27. You know the difference between "showers followed by rain" and "rain followed by showers".
28. The sight of Mt. Rainier is still awe inspiring.
29. Your lawn is mostly moss and you don't really care.(haha! Bruce and I were talking about how we like the moss because it stays low and it's soft!)
30. You use the word "sunbreak" and know what it means.
31. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
32. You never go camping without water proof matches and a poncho.
33. You can point to at least 2 volcanoes even if you can't actually see them through the cloud cover.
34. You often switch from heat to a/c in your car in the same day.
35. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
36. You know how to pronounce geoduck and know that it doesn't quack or have feathers.
37. You go to work in the dark and come home in the dark even though you only have an 8 hour workday
38. You realize no education is required to be a weatherman in Washington. Just make up different ways to say it's going to rain.
39. You know what 'Sodo Mojo' is
40.You think summer starts in July and winter in September. (well, mid-September really)
41. You know you better enjoy the snow the first day it falls before the rain washes it away
42. You prefer one mountain range to the other
43.When someone honks at you, you think they are trying to say "hi".
44. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Enumclaw, Issaquah, Steilacoom, and Sammamish.
45. You consider swimming an indoor sport.
46. You keep snow chains in your trunk but they've never been used.
47. Eating seafood isn't anything special.
48. You yell at the TV if they pronounce the name of a city wrong or make an inaccurate Seattle reference on "Frasier" or "Grey's Anatomy." (So true...)
49. You rarely wash your car because it's just going to get muddy again tomorrow.
50. You only visit the Space Needle if you need someplace to take out of town guests.
51. You've used every setting on your intermittent wipers. (In one drive, nonetheless!)
52. You lose your sense of direction if you go east of the Cascade mountains. (where are the landmarks?!)
53. You know the difference between a rhododendron and an azalea.
54. You think it's not a real windstorm until your lawn ornaments blow away.
55. You get pissed when you watch 10 Things I Hate About You, because you know that Stadium High School is not in Seattle. (And that paint balloon place has never existed at Gasworks Park, dang it!)
56.You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
57. You always have to specify "Washington state" instead of just saying Washington because of D.C.(OMG this is SO true!)
58. You do the "Washington Wave" when someone lets you cut in front of them in the freeway. (well, yeah, doesn't everyone?)
59. You know what an "oh shit" handle is.
60. You still call it The Bon even though now it's Macy's.
61. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye Salmon. (yes, 4th grade, Mr. Gurez)
62. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
63. You put on your shorts when it gets above 50 degrees but still wear a sweatshirt (did this look weird when I did it in Las Vegas?)
64. You know what a Frango is. (mmmm, mint is my fave)
65. You give directions using the Puget Sound and Cascades as points of reference. (haha, I remember when Bruce called me when he was lost and got mad at me when I asked which side was the river on so I knew whether he was heading east or west!)
66. You know 5 different ways to kill a slug.
67. You have more than 10 recipes that call for blackberries. (this can't be true of just Washington, could it?)
68. You've used the phrase "The mountain's out today"
69. You regularly pass volcano evacuation route signs when driving around town.
70. You live in utter fear of black ice
71. You miss the King Dome.
72. You don’t think the Panama Canal is anything special because it’s just like the Ballard Locks.
73. Seeing a submarine, aircraft carrier, or battleship isn’t a big deal.
74. You know the significance to the phrase, “My Oh My!”
75. You can name at least one bridge that’s collapsed or sunk in the last 50 years.
76. You consider a floating bridge a pain in the butt, not an engineering marvel.
77. You don’t grab an umbrella even though you know it’s going to rain.
78. You go to Wild Waves even when it’s raining because you know the wave pool is heated. (ahhaha!, it's the best time to go!)
79. You have to know what time of day someone’s traveling in order to tell them how long it will take to get somewhere. (for sure)
80. You remember where you were on May 18th, 1980 (and you know the significance of that date).
81. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.
82. You’ve actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
83. You buy new sunglasses every year because you’ve lost last year’s pair after such a long time not needing them.
84. It’s not a “real” mountain unless it has snow year round and has erupted within the last 200 years.
85. You can identify 7 different types of rain.
86. You know the difference between a "house boat" and a "boat house."
87. You know who J.P. Patches is.
88. You don't know what a turnpike is. (I had to google this: a toll road).
89. You know someone's house that has been partially crushed by a tree.
90. Within 20 minutes of your house you can visit a mountain range, the Puget Sound, a lake and a river.

Soon Summer will be here and I won't question why I didn't leave this place when I had a chance. I LOVE IT HERE!

♪♫ Aruba Honeymoon Here We Come ♪♫

Ok, we finally booked a Honeymoon. We were so kindly gifted a time share or two and really wanted to go to New Zealand, Australia, or Tahiti. Unfortunately, the times were just not working out for us. Sad, but not deterred, we looked to the Caribbean.




As you may know, I was obsessed over the possibility of HURRICANES but I did a LOT of research and "settled" on Aruba. We'll be staying at La Cabana Beach and Racquet Club near Oranjestad. La Cabana is located on Eagle Beach which is, according to "Travel and Leisure" magazine, one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Does this look like we're "settling"?


Bruce and I are not very good at sitting around and doing nothing but relaxing. Don't get me wrong, we like to relax a little, but we need things to do. I was worried, initially, that if we went to the Caribbean we would be bored and have nothing to do but be beach bums. Pleasantly wrong, we'll have ATVing, horseback-riding, swimming, snorkeling, kayaking (if I can convince Bruce) and hiking to look forward to. Can I get Bruce parasailing? Hmmm....

There is also a Wildlife Park, which is right up our ally, and I think we may have to stop by and see the Donkey Sanctuary just because it sounds strange. There is also a Butterfly Farm and Ostrich Farm ~ what the heck are they doing on that island? Caves! I love caves and there are a couple here to visit. Adventure awaits us :)


How wonderful it will be to travel as husband and wife. Time alone on an adventure celebrating our togetherness. Heaven.

http://www.aruba.com/ This is a website for Aruba. It makes me so excited to go. I don't want to wait until Oct. 15th! I just saw there is a Pirate Ship you can sail on. I think I should put it out of my mind and focus on my trip to Costa Rica, which is coming this summer. Or focus on the details of the wedding. That might be important too :)

Honeymoon Planning

We have been trying to plan our honeymoon but without much success. We should be having lots of fun planning it but we have to decide where to go first. That's the problem, though.

The Dilema

New Zealand
I would really like to go to New Zealand to have a big trip that would never happen at any other time in our lives. Unfortunately, I have a list of cons so I'm torn.

Cons:
1. The plane tickets are around $2500 for both of us. That's a lot of money when you don't have any.
2. The flight time is something like 13 hours. There is a stop in San Francisco and then it's straight on to New Zealand for 11 hours!
3. It will be Spring there when we go. I don't know if that would be good enough for Bruce even though he is not a sit-on-the-beach kind of person.
4. Possibility of planning a 2 week trip and hating it so much we end up getting a divorce as soon as we get back to the States!!!

Pros:
1. We have the option to use 2 different time shares to save us money while we're there.
2. There would be tons of fun activities to do ~ exploring waterfalls, beaches, forests, lakes, cities...
3. I love trying new things so I would have a lot of fun experiencing a new culture.
4. I would be with my favorite person.



Hawaii

Hawaii would be a very safe way to go. It's in the US, technically, I've been there before and know what to expect and every body seems to do it.


Cons:
1. It doesn't have the same appeal as going someplace more exotic for our honeymoon.
2. Been there, done that.
3. Supposedly transitioning into wet "winter" weather, so the weather may not be as nice as we hope (but temperature between 70-90 degrees).

Pros:
1. We could fly free to Hawaii using our airline miles.
2. Only a 6 hour flight.
3. Not a real chance of culture clash (which is my fear for Bruce who is not always as adventurous as I am).


Of course, we could always try the Caribbean also...
Caribbean


Cons:
1. Has anyone heard of HURRICANE SEASON???? Yes, October is in the trail end of the season.
2. The unknown factor ~ again, this could end in divorce if it doesn't go smoothly.

Pros:
1. Almost free flight. I can use my airline miles to fly to Florida and then pay for the jump to the island.
2. Potential for very beautiful weather and beaches.

I shouldn't be complaining. It's a good dilemma to have. We'll just have to do some more thinking but come up with a plan quick or we may be forced to go somewhere we didn't expect.

Ryan's 8th Birthday

Wow! Ryan is getting so big! For his 8th birthday we had over family and friends to celebrate. Ryan didn't want an extravagant party "just a football cake and some #8 balloons." Easy enough to do. We had pizza, played lawn games, talked a lot, and ate some cake and ice cream.

We had the party in the evening because Ryan had baseball practice right in the middle of the day. He woke up to a "Birthday King" crown and his pick of donuts :) He wore the crown all morning, even after getting his baseball uniform on. When he came back it was party time. He got his first San Diego Charger's jersey (yes, he's always loved the Chargers ~ or "Shockers" as he used to call them), multiple Star Wars Lego sets, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen DVD, a G.I. Joe assault vehicle, and a DVD player for his room. The boys played football outside for a bit but it was getting dark.

Ryan had his friend, Michael Velez, spend the night and they watched G.I. Joe on the big tv and went to bed late. Oh, yeah, and we found out Ryan can be easily tricked by Des. I found these cute little football candles and Des convinced Ryan they were made of caramel ~ so he tried them. He found out they are made of wax. What a nut!

We also celebrated Daddy's birthday since we couldn't celebrate on his actual birthday. He had to take advantage of the good weather for work. I made him a lasagna and some fresh Honey Wheat Berry bread. Yum! I had sent 2 bags of Reese's Pieces easter eggs home with Britt on his actual birthday. Mmmm....food. Daddy came to the party and also got a crown that barely fit on his head. He accessorized the crown with some light-up, flashing green glasses! They didn't show up well in the pictures but they were a hit at the party!

Here are some pictures of the party!

Centerpiece Inspirations

It's been difficult thinking of centerpieces that aren't flowers. I didn't want flowers for many reasons, but what else was I going to use? I searched the internet and rejected (and had others reject) games, succulents, apples, pears, and others I can't remember. I really liked the ideas of pumpkins, though, after seeing some other people's ideas. Here are some of the photos that will inspire my centerpieces. (That means mine probably won't look anything like these :)









I love the idea of having apothecary jars because I love those jars, but I couldn't justify buying tons of those. I love cake stands and glass bowls, also. I thought about having fall leaves around the bottom because the tables are pretty large (I believe they fit 10 people). I could add some berry branches as well because they have that beautiful fall red, too. Other ideas include tying the pumpkins with ribbons of various colors. Painting the pumpkins may be an option, but I plan on buying all sorts of pumpkins in different sizes and colors. My friends Katie and Raylene also offered their very cute Partylite Pumpkin pillar holders. I think they may be at the wedding table or with the wedding cake. They are so nice to offer them to me.

If you don't know already, my main color is a cranberry red. The accent colors are gold and orange. The pumpkins are fun and it represents the season we're marrying. I just wanted something different from the traditional floral centerpieces.

If anyone has any great ideas, please share them with me. I'm open to anything still at this point. xoxo

Bridal Gown Shopping

Yikes! Time for bridal gown shopping. I thought I had a clear idea of what I wanted in a gown when I went, but discovered I didn't. I went with mama, Des & Britt. We had a lot of fun. I was a little overwhelmed because everything looked so pretty on me. Initially, I thought I would like a really simple dress without a lot of bling, but I found that I did like all the sparkle (but not too much). I narrowed my choices down to 4, which I can't post because Bruce will not see the dress until we walk down the aisle. Des and Britt had a lot of fun judging the other brides that were there that day. Apparently, I was the prettiest and I'm not going to argue with them. I'll be going back on 2/28 to make my final decision. Daddy, Erin & Britt will be coming with me. I have 7 whole days to fret. I won't regret my decision because they are all really great choices.

Valentine Hike

We are not Valentine's Day kind of people. Don't get me wrong, we like seasonal treats and the spirit of a good 'holiday'; however, showing someone you love them should happen everyday, not just on Feb. 14th. We had a 4 day weekend and were really excited to go away for the weekend somewhere inexpensive but the flights were really expensive for those 4 days and hotel prices were up and many were already booked. You know why, right? It was Valentine's weekend. I was not happy.

Lucky for me I have someone who is nice enough to follow me as I dragged him to the Olympic National Park. I've wanted to go to Crescent Lake near Port Angeles because it is a glacial lake in a rainforest. Bruce let me lead him into the woods once again (something I thought he wouldn't do again after the accident 20 mile 'short' hike I led him into last summer). We hiked Marymere Falls, visited the viewpoints of the lake, and went to the Dungeness Wildlife Refuse to walk the Dungeness Spit which is the longest spit in the US at 5 miles one way. It was cool to see, but it was super windy the farther you walked the spit so we didn't make it to the end.

We saw an Elk herd and deer wandering about, as well as eagles hanging out in a field. I thought I was going to get killed by the man in the suspicious van that stopped next to us to watch the elk so we didn't stay for long. I'm glad we got to see them because a lot of the drive was super foggy and I thought we were going to end up dead in the middle of nowhere. Good thing that didn't happen :)